it was occasionâ—d by a suffocation of the Vterus He nam'd this malady from a Greek word which signifies without respiration He pretended that one might live in such a condition the space of thirty days He gave out that he had infallible remedies for all sorts of diseases and for old age nay that he was able to raise the dead He had a very singular opinion about the manner of the formation of Animals (a) Galen de Semin lib 2. Cap. 3. He believâ—d that some parts of their bodies were contain'd in the seed of the male and others in that of the female and that the Venereal appetite in both Sexes proceeds from this desire that the disunited and separated parts have to be rejoynâ—d As for (b) Id de Hist Philosoph Respiration he suppos'd it to be perform'd after this manner As soon as the humidity which at the beginning of the formation of the Foetus was very plentiful begins to lessen the air succeeds it insinuates it self through the pores after which the natural heat endeavouring to get loose it casts the air without and when the heat re-enters the air follows it again The first continues he is call'd inspiration and the second expiration The Foetus or Infant in the mothers womb according to him has the use of respiration Hearing is performâ—d by the means of the air that strikes the interiour part of the ear which winding in the form of a Cockle-shell and being joynd to the highest part of the body like a little Bell discerns all the impulsions of the air that enter into it The Flâ—sâ—â— is compoâ—â—d of an equal proportion of each of the four Elements the Nerves of fire earth and two parts of water the Nails are made of Nerves condens'd by the contact of the air The Bones seem to be composâ—d of equal parts of water and earth but for all this they were made of the four Elements among which the water and earth were predominant Sweat and Tears proceed from the thinner particles of blood The Seeds of Plants are as it were their Eggs which fall from them when they are ripe Empedocles writ concerning Phyâ—iâ—â—â—m Verse and composâ—d six thousand 〈◊〉 upon thâ—â— argument He had so great an esteem for this art that he pretended that Physicians to whom he joyn'd Southsayers and Poets had much the preheminence before other men and came near the immortal Gods He had a disciple callâ—d Pausanias who was likewise a Physician Empedocles was born at Agrigentum a City of Sicily and according to Diogenes Laertius flourish'd about the 84th Olympiad Suidas pretends that he follow'd the profession of a Sophist at Athens His death was extraordinary Some say that being desirous to examine the fire of Aetna with too much curiosity he came so near that he was consumed by them Others have affirm'd that this was an effect of his vanity and that he was ambitious of dying thus that disappearing all of a sudden he might be taken for a God Alemaeon another disciple of Pythagoras was of Crotona he particularly apply'd himself to the study of Physick His name deserves to be preserv'd to all posterity if what a (c) Chalcidâ—â— in Platouâ—s â—imaum Commentator upon Plato tells of him be true viz. that he was the first that anatomiz'd Animals to instruct himself in the several parts of their bodies The Reader will be surpriz'd that it was so long before Anatomy was introducâ—d into Physick and will hardly conceive how they came to bestow the name of Physicians or even of Chyrurgeons upon men that under stood nothing of it But this wonder will vanish when he considers that I have already said upon this subject in the Chapt of the Asclepiadae As Alcmaeon's Writings have had the ill fate to be destroy'd by time we know but little of his Anatomy but what we find in Galen which indeed more properly belongs to Physiology He suppos'd that the Hearing was perform'd by the ear being hollow within as we find all hollow places refound when the voice penetrates them As for Smelling he pretended that the Soul whose chief seat according to him was in the brain receiv'd all odours by attracting them in respiration He imagin'd that the Tongue distinguish'd tastes by its humidity by its moderate heat and its softness The Seed according to him was a particle of the brain The Foetus was nourish'd in the womb by drawing nourishment on all sides of its Body which is like a Spunge Health according to its Hypothesis depends upon the equal mixture of heat dryness cold and moisture nay even of sweet and bitter and other things On the other hand diseases arise when one of these predominates over the rest and by that means destroys their union and society Epicharmus of the Isle of Cos was likewise a hearer of Pythagoras He writ of natural Philosophy and Physick and is frequently quoted by Pliny when he describes the virtues of any simple (d) Tiraquell de Nobilitate cap. 31. 'T is reported that his Writings are still to be seen in the Vatican Library Eudoxus receiv'd his instruction from Archytas a famous Pythagorean He liv'd somewhat later than the above-mention'd (e) See the Chapt. of Chrysippus We shall have occasion to speak of him hereafter CHAP. VIII Of Heraclitus Democritus and some other Physicians that were Philosophers THe Pythagorean Philosophers were not the only persons that concern'd themselves with Physick Heraclitus the Ephesian who liv'd in the 69th Olympiad that is to say about the same time with Pythagoras and had a Philosophy peculiar to himself applied himself likewise to the study of Physick History informs us that this Philosopher pushed on by his morose austere humour which occasion'd the report that he always wept retiring into a solitary place to avoid the conversation of mankind and living only upon water and herbs fell into a Dropsy This obblig'd him to repair to inhabited places to find better conveniences of being curâ—d not that he did it to have the advice of the Physicians for instead of following their direction he was in hopes to expose their ignorance to the world by making them witnesses of the cure which he expected to work upon himself He once demanded of them in obscure terms as his manner (a) Diogenes Laeat if of rainy weather they cou'd make dry which not being understood by the Physicians he dismiss'd them and shut himself up in a Stable where he cover'd all his body with dung hoping by that means to consume or drain the superfluous moisture that was in his entrails but he did not succeed in his design for he died of this disease soon after Heraclitus â—s aim in putting this question to the Physicians was to instruct them that they ought to endeavour to cure distempers as God cures those of the great bodies that compose the world by balancing their inequalities and setting contraries in opposition one to another For said he all things
receive life and sensation He affirms elsewhere that it is this faculty which gives nourishment preservation and growth to all things The manner wherein nature acts or its most sensible administration by the means of the faculties according to him consists on one side in attracting what is good and agreeable to each species and in retaining preparing or changing it and on the other side in rejecting whatever is superfluous or hurtful after she has separated it from the good The Physick of Hippocrates generally turns upon this hinge as also upon that inclination which as he supposes every thing has to be joynâ—d with what agrees with it and to remove from all that is contrary to it self supposing first an affinity between the several parts of the body which is the reason that they sympathize reciprocally in the ills they suffer as they share the good that arrives to them in common according to the great Maxim which he establishes (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that every thing concurs consents and conspires together in the body with relation to the animal O Economy as we shall find more particularly in the following Chapter Thus I have shown what it is that Hippocrates calls nature He no otherwise describes this principle of so many surprizing operations unless it be that he seems to compare it to a certain heat whereof he speaks after this manner (f) De Carâ—â—bus What we call heat or hot seems to me to have something of immortal in it that understands all that sees and knows as well what is present as what is to come At least we find a great resemblance between the effects which he ascribes to that heat of which more hereafter and those which he attributes to nature As for the rest altho Hippocrates acknowledges in some places fire water air and earth or fire and water in particular to be the first elements of the bodies yet he seems in others to admit three different principles the solid the liquid or the humid and the Spirits which he explains otherwise (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Equidem lib. vi sect viii by the container the contained and that which gives motion But as he particularly made use of these principles to explain all the accidents of humane body we shall forbear to give his meaning of them till we come to that Chapter In one of Hippocrates's Books which is entituled of Flesh (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the latter is more natural and answers the subject of the Book better according to others of principles we find something very singular concerning the formation of the universal world and of Animals in particular He at first supposes that the production of man or his being that he has a Soul that he is in health or that he is sick all his good and ill fortune in the world that he is born or dies to proceed from things (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 elevated and above us or the coelestial bodies By this we may understand the Stars the influences of which according to this Author have no small power over humane bodies But he explains himself when he ascribes all the above-mention'd things to that immortal heat of which above that is generally suppos'd to be the same thing with what he calls nature in other places The greatest part of the heat continues he that I have describ'd having gainâ—d the highest place at the time of the Chaos form'd that which the ancients call'd the Aether another part of this heat or the greatest part of the heat which remain'd continuing in the lowest space which is call'd Earth there was a meeting of Cold and Dry there and a great disposition to motion A third part keeping the middle space between the Aether and the Earth made what we call the Air which is likewise somewhat hot At last a fourth part that lay nearest to the Earth and was the thickest and most humid of all form'd what we call water All these things having been jumbled together by a circular motion at the time of the above-mention'd Chaos that portion of heat which continu'd in the earth being dispers'd into several places and divided into several parts in one place more and less in another the earth was dried up by this means and form'd as it were (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 membranes or tunicles in which the matter growing hot as it were by a sort of fermentation that which was most oyly and least moist was quickly burnt and so form'd the Bones but that which was more viscid and in some measure cold not being combustible form'd the Nerves or rather the Tendons and Ligaments which are hard and solid As for the Veins they were form'd of the coldest and most viscid parts the more glutionous parts being dry'd by the heat and from thence came the Membranes and Skins of which they are compos'd The cold particles which had nothing in them oleous or viscid being dissolv'd produc'd the humour or liquor which these Membranes inclose The Bladder with its contents were form'd after the same manner as were also all the other cavities In those parts continues Hippocrates where the glutinous exceeds the fat the Membranes are made and in those where the fat is stronger than the glutinous Bones are produc'd The Brain â—â—ing the (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Capital City seat or proper place of cold and glutinous which the heat cou'd neither dissolve not burn t is first of all formed of the membranes in its supersâ—â—e and afterwards of bones by the means of a small portion of fat which the heat had roasted the marrow of the back-bone is made after the same manner being cold and glutinous like the brain and consequently very different from the marrow of the bones which being only fat is not cover'd with any membranes The heart having likewise a great deal of glutinous matter in it became haâ—d and glutinous flesh inclos'd in a membrane and hollow The Lungs being near the heart are thus formed The heart by its own heat presently dries up the most viscid part of the moisture makes a sort of scumm full of Pipes and Channels being likewise filled with divers little veins The Liver is made of a great quantity of moist and hot that has nothing fat or viscid in it so that the cold being too strong for the hot the humid is coagulated or thicken'd Upon the same foot Hippocrates reasons about the production of the Spleen the Reins and some other parts What we have already cited may serve to give a Specimen of his manner of Philosophizing Upon which I make this reflection that this System of Hippocrates seems to be not very different from that of Heraclitus the heat by which the former supposes all things to have been produced being very near the same thing with fire which according to the latter was the origine or principle of all Bodies as we have observed above
into the lungs (c) Gell. llb. 17. cap. 11. Macrob. lib. 17 cap. 15. which made one of the Ancients say that Plato gave posterity occasion to laugh by meddling with that which was not his business But he that said this did not consider that Hippocrates and other Physicians before spoken of were themselves of this opinion and that Plato apparently spoke only after them This Philosopher imagined also another part or sort of soul which desired not only meat and drink and all that was necessary for the body but which was the Principle of all appetites or desire in general This soul was posted between the Diaphragm and the Navel it was quartered in the lowest part and farthest from the head that it might not by its agitations and commotions disturb the reasonable soul which is the best part of us in its meditations and thoughts for the common good These troubles or disturbances of the inferiour soul were excited by Phantasms or Images presented to it by the liver the liver having been polishâ—d and made shining that it might reflect the Images which were communicated to it to produce trouble tranquility or pleasure in the inferiour soul according as the liver is it self troubled by the bitterness of the Bile or sedate and calm thro' the predomination of sweet Juices opposed to the Bile Besides what we have already said of the heart and of the soul lodged there Plato held this further concerning it The heart says he which is at the same time (d) Viâ—â— Pag. the source of the veins and of the bloud which (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See pag. whirls rapidly in all parts of the body is set (f) See pag as a Centinel or Serjeant that when the Choler is inflamed at the command of the Reason upon the account of some injustice committed either without or within by the desire or passions presently all that is sensibly in the body disposes it self by opening all its pores to hear its menaces and obey its commands The opinion of this Philosopher concerning the manner of respiration is no less peculiar He believed that there was no vacuum in the world but that the Air which escaped out of the Lungs and Mouth in respiration meeting that which surrounds the body without pushes it so that it forces it to enter thro' the pores of the skin and flesh and to insinuate it self into the most remote parts of the body till it fills the place which the other left after which making the same way out again by the Pores it forces that without to enter by the mouth into the lungs in inspiration We see by this that Plato confounded transpiration with respiration pretending that both one and t'other were performed together as it were by two semicircles As for the flesh he thought it compounded of water fire and earth and a certain sort of sharp leaven biting and salt These are some of Plato's thoughts of a humane body in its natural state As for the causes of its destruction which are diseases old age and death he supposed in the first place that the bodies which are about ours disolv'd and melt it continually after which every substance which gets loose or exhales returns to the principle from whence it was drawn he supposes in the second place that the blood which is according to him a fluid matter form'd of the Aliments by a peculiar artifice of nature which cuts and reduces them into small pieces by means of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fire which rises in our stomach after the air or breath He supposed that this blood whose redness was an evident token of the impression of this fire served to nourish the flesh and generally the whole body and to fill up the vacant spaces of it as it were by a sort of watering or general inundation This being supposed he maintained that while we were young this bloud abounding in all parts not only supply'd what was dissipated or diminished of the flesh which as was said was perpetual but after having fill'd up what was wanting it furnish'd matter of increase to the mass of the body from hence it is that in our youth we grow and become larger but when we are advanced in years more of the substance of our body is spent than the bloud can supply or restore therefore we diminish by degrees Those principles also of which our bodies consists which Plato calls Triangles which in our youth were stronger than those of which the Aliments were compounded reducing them easily to a substance like themselves become disunited and relaxed by having so long endured the shock of other triangles this causes old age which is followed by death especially where the triangles whereof the spinal marrow consists are dissolv'd and disunited so that the bands by which the soul was fasten'd to it are intirely broken and let it loose As for diseases which attack us in all ages and precipitate the usual time of death he suppos'd that our bodies being composed of the four Elements before named the disorders of these Elements were the chief causes of them These disorders consisted in the excess or deficiency of any of these Elements when they did not preserve the proportion of their first mixture or when they changed place leaving their own place for another To explain himself more particularly he adds that the fire exceeding produced continual and burning fevers that if the air over-ballanced it produced quotidian intermitting Fevers If the Water Tertian Fevers and if Earth Quartanes The Earth being the heaviest of all the Elements must have quadruple the time to move it self in that the fire has and the rest of the Elements in proportion Plato did not confine himself to these generals only but proceeded to the particular explication of the changes that befall our bodies in relation to the bloud and humours which are the immediate causes of distempers While the bloud says he maintains its natural state it serves to nourish the body and to preserve health But when the flesh begins to corrupt or to melt and dissolve the humour which comes from it entring into the veins carries this corruption along with it and changing the bloud in several manners turns it from red to yellow and bitter or sower or salt so that that which was pure Bloud becomes part Bile and Phlegm or Serosities What we call Bile says Plato is particularly produced from the dissolution of the old flesh it is an humour that assumes divers forms and is very changeable both as to colour and taste but it is chiefly distinguished into two sorts the yellow Bile which is bitter and the black Bile which is sowre and pricking As for the Phlegm and Serosities or Water Plato seems to confound them or to make but one sort of humour of them The Phlegm according to him is produced from the new flesh and the serosities or waters which are designed by the particular names of sweat
in which is a small quantity of moisture like Urine so that the Heart is as it were in a sort of Bladder It was form'd after this manner in a Case for its better defence Of the Liquor there is but just as much as is necessary for the refreshment of the Heart and to preserve it from being over-heated It distils from the Heart which draws to it part of the moisture which the Lungs reserve from the Drink For when any one drinks most of it falls into the Stomach the OEsophagus (a) The Gullet being as it were a Tunnel which receives what we swallow whether Liquid or Solid But the (b) The upper-part of the Wind-pipe Pharynx draws a little of the Liquor into its cleft the Epiglottis which is as it were the lid of the Pharynx hindering the greatest part of it from falling into it As a proof of this if we make any Animal whatsoever especially a Hog drink Water tinged with blue or red and cut his throat while he is drinking we shall find this water charged with the Tincture But every one is not fit to make this experiment We are not to make any difficulty of believing that part of the drink slips into the Aspera Arteria But it may be ask'd how comes it then to pass that in drinking too swift the Water getting into the cleft of the Pharynx raises a violent Cough It is because the quantity of the Water being too great opposes directly the return of the Air from the Lungs in expiration Whereas when a little slips in at the clift slipping gently down the sides of the Aspera Artiria it hinders not the Air from Rising But on the contrary facilitates the passage by moistening the (c) Wind-pipe Aspera Arteria The Heart draws the moisture from the Lungs at the time of inspiration and after the Air hath servâ—d the use of the Heart it returns by the way it came But the Heart sucks up a part of the moisture which passes into its Bag letting the rest return with the Air. This Air being return'd as far as the Pallate (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 escapes thro a double passage and it is necessary that it shou'd go out and the moisture also they being of no use to the nourishment of the Body How can Wind and Crude water serve for the nourishment to a man not but that one and t'other have their use for they serve to fortifie the Heart against the Evil it is naturally afflicted with that is excessive heat The Heart is a very strong Muscle not for its Tendons but for the hardness and compactness of the Flesh It has two distinct Ventricles in one inclosure (e) E. v 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one on one side and t'other on t'other which are not like to one another the one is on the right-side at the mouth of the great Vein and the other on the left and they take up almost the whole Heart The cavity of the first is greater than that of the latter and is more soft but it extends not quite to the point of the Heart the extremity of which is solid it appears as if it were sewed or fixed to the Heart The Left Ventricle is situated directly under the Left Nipple to which it answers in a right Line and where its pulsation or beating may be felt Its sides are thick and it has a cavity like that of a (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mortar which answers to the Lungs which moderate by their nearness the excessive heat of this Ventricle for the Lungs are naturally cold and receive a further refreshment by the inspiration of the Air. Both these Ventricles are rough and as it were coroded within especially the Left (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The natural fire or heat which is born with us has not its Seat in the Right and it is something wonderous that the Left which receives from the Lungs an Air which is not temper'd or mix'd shou'd be the most rugged it was likewise made thicker than the other for the better preservation of the aforesaid heat The Orifices of these Ventricles are not visible till the Ears of the heart be first open'd or cut off and its head or basis When they are cut off we find two Orifices in either Ventricle but the Vena Cava which comes out of one of them is not seen after it is cut These are the Fountains of Human Nature and from hence flow those Springs that serve the whole body These are the streams that give life to Man and when they dry up he dies At the Exit of these Veins the Vena Cava and great Artery and all round the mouth of these Ventricles there are certain soft and hollow bodies called the Ears of the heart they have not however any perforations like the Ears nor do they serve to hear sounds but they are the Instruments by which Nature draws the Air and shew themselves the Work of an Ingenious Workman who considering the Heart ought to be very (h) The Author says this place is very obscure that he has translated it as well as he cou'd that if he has not succeeded extraordinarily in it that he has for his comfort the company of the rest of the Interpreters in his misfortune solid as being form'd of blood coagulated or thickned at the mouth of the veins and that it ought to have likewise the faculty of drawing has fix'd Bellows to it as Smiths do to their Forges that it might draw the Air by this means In confirmation of this we see the Heart in one part continually agitating it self and the Ears in particular to dilate and subside in their turns I am likewise of opinion (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the small veins draw the Air in the Left Ventricle and the Artery in the Right I say likewise that that which is soft is most proper to draw and to be inflated and that it was necessary that (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which the Author supposes the right Ventricle of the Heart to be meant * But I rather think that the Auricles were still intended as by comparing them with the precedent and subsequent expressions will appear what was fix'd to the Heart shou'd be refreshed since it partakes of the heat but the Engine which draws the Air ought not to be so large lest it shou'd overcome the heat I ought likewise says Hippocrates to describe the hidden Membranes of the Heart (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are an admirable Work some are spread within the ventricles of the Heart like Spiders Webs they close the Orifices of the ventricles of the Heart and send their threads into the substance of the Heart They seem to me to be (m) See the Chapter of the Nerves the Nerves or the Tendons of this Entrail and the Origin or Place from whence they spring (n) Tâ—â— Aorta signifies
of the Trojan War since which we have been better informâ—d in the Historical Truth of Fact for all his skill lay in the cure of wounds We may urge likewise that if Esculapius or his Sons had been Physicians they wou'd have known how to Diet their Sick better a principal part of a Physicians skill * Athenaeus uses this instance as an argument of the temperance of Homer's Heroes which begat so good a Constitution that thoâ— wounded they might drink Wine 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 pernicious in inslamations thick and very nourishing and this Nestor the wisest of the Greeks advises Machaon the skilsullest in these Matters to do every day so long as he shou'd be laid up From hence Athenaus infers that 't was not the practice of the great Men of Times to drink Wine but upon extraordinary occasions But whetherâ— this Advice was suitable to the Wisdom of Nestor or the Skill of Machaon I leavs the learned Reader to judge Vid. Athenaeum lib. 1. p. 10. They wouâ—d not have given Eurypylus when wounded Broth made with Wine Meal and Cheese ground in it nor wou'd Machaon himself with a wound in his shoulder have drank Wine which Physicians hold to be hurtful to wounds The answer Plato made to this objection gives so particular an Idea of the Physick of Esculapius and his Sons that I can't forbear citing it at length (b) De Repub Lib 3. This discourse is atridg'd by Maximus Tyrius Serm. 29. 'T is absurd says he that Men shou'd want Physicians not only for Wounds and Diseases arising from an ill disposition of the Air and the uncertainty of Weather but from those too that spring from Sloth and Luxury which silling em with Water and Wind as if their Bodies were Lakes or Sinks have obligâ—d the Successors of Esculapius to invent new names of Flatus and Defluxions or Catarrhs never heard of before What makes me conjecture at least that these Distempers were unknown in Esculapius's time is That his Sons at the Siege of Troy did not forbid the Potion that a Woman gave to Eurypylus when he was wounded made of Cheese ground and Meal sleep'd in Wine of * Homer calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The great variety of ancient conjectures about the derivation of the name shews the uncertainty of em which whoever is curious to know may consult the Scholia of Dâ—â—vious upon the 11th Book of the Ilias and Athenaeus p. 30. Nâ—â— is it less uncertain what sort of Wine it was Athenaeus gives us two descriptions of it directlâ— contrary one to aâ—â—ther For the first see the so eâ—â—ing Note the other we find pag. 30. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Here the Pramnian Wine is neither thick 〈◊〉 sweet but a rough hard strong Wine The testimony of Aristophanes which he immediately subjoyns is to the same purpose that the Athenians neither loved harsh grating Poets nor crabbed Pramnian Wine that cortracted their Brows and their Anus The Reader may compare this passage with that in the note immediately foregoing and as he pleases take or rejest either Pramos which are things that increase Phlegm You will say doubtless that the draught was ridiculous and not at all proper for a wounded Man but you must know that the Physicians that succeeded Esculapius knew nothing of the Physick now in use before Herodicus who is as it were the †So the Author translates it whose words I thought it best to stick to not having at present an opportunity of consulting the Original PAEDAGOGUE of DISEASES He being Master of the Academy where the Youth exercisâ—d and finding himself a Valetudinarian contrivâ—d to make Gymnastick that is the Art of Exercising the Body a branch of Physick which brought both upon himself and those that came after him a great deal of trouble How so you 'll say Why he brought himself to a lingring death for observing too carefully a distemper in it self mortal which of consequence he cou'd not cure he gave himself so entirely to enquire after a remedy that quitting all other affairs 't was the business of his Life to torture his own Carcass so that tho' the least deviation from his constant method of living were a disease to him he arriv'd not at Health but at Old Age which we callâ—d the PAEDAGOGUE or if you please the GOVERNESS or NURSE of DISEASES not of the DISEASâ—D Oh! noble Fruit of his Art yet such as the Man deservâ—d that did not know that 't was not out ' of Ignorance or for want of Experience that Esculapius forbore to teach his Scholars so painful a method but because he was of opinion That in all Cities and well regulated Societies where every Man has his task assign'd him no Man can or ought to have leisure to be a Valetudinarian all his Life and bestow his whole care upon his Carcass To be convinc'd of the Justice of Esculapius's proceedings we need only to reflect upon the different conduct of Labouring Men and Gentlemen in such cases If a Mason or a Carpenter falls sick he desires his Physician to expedite his Cure by VOMIT or PURGE or Manual Operation either by Incision or Cautery If he orders him a long course of Physick he tells him That he has no leisure to be sick that he can't afford to protract a Life of misery and languish perpetually idle under the protection of Physick He dismisses his Physician and returning to his usual course of Life falls to work and recovers his health or if the Disease proves too mighty for him he dies and is rid at once of Life and the troubles of the World * I find our Masons and Carpenters and all other Artificers of another mind as fond of Life upon any terms and as willing to be idle as e'er a Gentleman of 'em all and I doubt they 're so all the World over whatever they might be in Plato's Common-wealth This no doubt is the true use that all Mechanicks ought to make of Physick to whom Work is so necessary that when they can follow it no longer Death is a favour But it may be objected that with the Rich that live upon their Rents the case alters for they can't be reduc'd to that hard choice of Working or Dying But consider that whatsoever a Man's Condition or Profession be the Publick Good requires that he shou'd not be idle but that every one shou'd be industrious in his station which cant be while he is wholly taken up about himself and his solicitude for his health makes him fancy himself continually sick Thus this new Physick is not only injurious to all the Individuals but also to the Community in general T was upon conviction of these Truths that Esculapius limited his Instructions to the use of a sound Constitution and good Education and was contented to teach the Method of curing Diseases arising from external Causes only by a few Remedies taken or Incision made without changing their
less noble by the mothers side as being the 19th descendant from Hercules He was not content with learning Physick under his Father he had Herodicus above-mention'd for his Master in that faculty He was likewise the disciple of Gorgias the Sophist Brother to that Physician and according to some of Democritus the Philosopher as we gather from the above-cited passage of Celsus But if he learnt any thing of this latter t was in all probability by the conversations chiefly which he had with him when he was intreated by the Abderites to come and cure this Philosopher It is likewise credible that he was a follower of Heraclitus as we shall see hereafter If Hippocrates was not looked upon to be the first inventor yet all antiquity gives him this honour at least of being the first that re-established it after Esculapius and his Sons It may also be affirmâ—d that by the great reputation he acquir'd he has effac'd the glory of all that preceeded him except the God of Physick himself so that in the History of Physick we cannot conveniently stop any where between the God and him or make any considerable Epoch but in passing all at once from one to the other altho there was above seven hundred years difference between them Pliny makes Hippocrates the author of Clinic Physick which we have ascrib'd to Esculapius for 't is not probable that it was so long before the custom began of visiting the Sick in their bed but what distinguishes this Physician so eminently from those that came before is that according to the observation of the same author (b) Primus Hippocrates medendi praecepta clarissimè tradidit lib. 26. cap. 2 he is the first that clearly laid down the precepts of Physick reaping great advantage from the knowledge of the age he liv'd in and making Philosophy servicable to Physick and Physick to Philosophy (c) Lib. de decenti habitu We ought to joyn says the same Author Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy for a Physician that is a Philosopher is equal to a God Upon this account the (d) The Greeks called 'em 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Reason or Ratiocination and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Opinion or doctrine The Empâ—i al Phâ—sician◠〈◊〉 claim to him likewise Dogmatick or Reasoning Physicians call'd so in opposition to the Empirics have unanimously own'd him for their head as being the first that assisted reason with experience in the practice of Physick The Philosophers mention'd by us in the preceeding Book were well enough vers'd in the art of reasoning but wanted experience or practice Hippocrates is the first person who possess'd both one and the other This may seem to contradict what I have already advanc'd upon the credit of Celsus viz. that Hippocrates separated Physick from Philosophy For a Salvo to this seeming contradiction we need only suppose that Hippocrates who was descended of a Family where he as it were suck'd in Physick with his Milk finding this Art in the hands of Philosophers who had lately engross'd it to the prejudice of the Asclepiadae thought there was no better way to support the declining honour of his house than by using his utmost efforts besides the knowledge deriv'd to him by tradition to acquire all that learning which gave these new Physicians so great a reputation in the world But after he had made himself Master of it he openly declar'd that altho the lights of Philosophy were very serviceable to give a man a just Idea of things and to conduct methodically and in the right way such as design'd to carry arts to perfection yet however that Philosophy was not sufficient of itself to perfect a man for all professions if he did not descend to the particulars which did not belong to its jurisdiction that Philosophy had nature in general for its object but that Physick in a special manner applies itself to nature as it had a relation to man whom she consider'd under the different circumstances of health and sickness that it did not follow that a man must be a Physician because he was a Philosopher unless he had study'd humane body in particular and instructed himself in the several changes that befall it and in the proper methods to preserve or restore that since 't is impossible to acquire this knowledge without long experience he ought to employ his whole time this way and quit the general name of a Philosopher for that of a Physician tho this oblig'd him by no means to forbear Philosophizing in his profession And this is what Hippocrates meant by joyning Philosophy with Physick and Physick with Philosophy CHAP. II. Of the Philosophy of Hippocrates IF we may believe (a) De Nat Facult lib. 1.8 2. De deecret Hipp. 5. Methâ—d med lib. â—e Element 9. Galen Hippocrates no less deserved the first place among the Philosophers than the Physicians He likewise affirms that Plato has rejected none of Hippocrates's opinions that the writings of Aristotle are only a Comment upon the Physiology of the latter and that Aristotle is nothing but the interpreter of Hippocrates and Plato from whom he borrow'd his Doctrine of the first qualities â—ot cold dry and moist T is true Hippocrates seems in some places to declare for the four Elements air water fire and earth This at least must be acknowledg'd that in his Book of the nature of man he opposes those Philosophers who only maintain one But he establishes another system in his first Book of Diet where he makes mention of no more than two principles fire and water one of which gives motion to all things and the other nourishment and encrease These contradictions with some others that we shall take notice of hereafter proceed from the many interpolations in the works of Hippocrates The passage we cited last is one of those which anciently were suppos'd to belong to another Author What is more certain and of greater importance to the business in hand Hippocrates makes it appear in most of his Writings that he acknowledges a general principle which he called nature to which he ascrib'd a mighty power Nature is of it self sufficient to every animal and that in all respects She performs every thing that is necessary to them without needing the 〈◊〉 instruction from any one how to do it Upon this foot as if nature had been a principle indued with knowledge he gives her the title of just he ascribes a (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For Power Faculty or Virtue It is sometimes employ'd to signify the heighth of ' em virtue or virtues to her that are as it were her Servants (d) Lib. de alimento There is says he one only faculty and there are more than one 'T is by these faculties that all operations are perform'd in the bodies of animals They distribute the blood the spirits and heat thro all parts which by this means
the great Artery only in all the succeeding Anatomists hâ—â— Hippocrates under that name comprehends the Vena Arteriosa also the Aortae These Membranes are disposed by pairs for to every Orifice Nature has fram'd three which are round above in the form of a Semi-circle Those that know these Membranes wonder how they can shut the Aortae And if any one (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which words Foesius translates thus Siquis veteris instituti probè gnarus mortui animalis corde exempto hanc quidem demat illam vero reclinet neque aqua in cor penetrare nec Flatus emitti poterit And Cornarius much after the same manner Siquis veteris eximendi cor mortui moris goarus aliam auferat aliam reclinet neque aqua c. Why these Translators render the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that of Mos or Institutum which it does not signifie is a mystery to me it ought to be translared Ordo with relation to the Membranes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to Erotian is an Attick Word signisâ—ing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Order I explain alsâ— the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ancient by the term Natural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ordo vetus seu naturalis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Erotian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auferat I read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 firmet which I suppose to be the true reading but that the former crept into its place through the error of the Copists misled by affinity of the sound of those two Words who understands the ancient Order or the natural Order and Disposition of this Membrane takes out one rank or keeps one rank stretch'd and closes the other neither water nor wind can get into the Heart These Membranes are disposed with more Art or more Exactness on the Left-side than the Right The reason of this is because the Soul of Man or the Reasonable Soul which is above the other Soul has its Seat in the Left ventricle of the Heart This Soul has not its nourishment from the Meat which comes from the Belly but from a pure luminous Matter separated from the Blood This Matter which serves for Aliment to the Soul is abundantly furnished from the neighbouring Receptacle of the Blood and casts its Rays round as the Natural nourishment which comes from the Intestines and Belly is distributed into all parts and for fear lest that which is contained in the Artery shou'd hinder the course of the nourishment of the Soul and give a check to its motion the Orifice of this Artery is closed as aforesaid for the great Artery is nourished from the belly and intestines and not by this first or principal nourishment But the great Artery is not nourished by the blood which we see as is manifest by opening the left ventricle of any Animal for we find it quite empty or find nothing in it but serous humour or a little Bile and the aforesaid Membranes but the Artery is never without blood nor the right ventricle This Vessel therefore gave occasion to the making of those Membranes for the passage out of the right ventricle is likewise furnished with Membranes but the blood moves upon that side but feebly This way is open on the side to carry the blood thither for its nourishment but it is shut towards the heart so that way is left for the air to pass insensibly from the lungs to the heart not in great quantities for the heat which in this part is but feeble wou'd be over-power'd by the cold the blood not being naturally warm no more than water which receives its heat from elsewhere tho most believe it 's hot in its own nature This Book of the Heart will give us the greatest Idea of the Anatomy of Hippocrates and his exactness but it is one of those that is not acknowledgâ—d either by Erotian or Galen What the Author says in the beginning of this Book of the passage of one part of the drink into the Lungs being a very ancient Opinion and maintained by Plato who must have it from the Physicians that preceded him of which Hippocrates was most considerable we might infer that the Book in which this Opinion is maintained is his but those who forged this Book might on purpose insert this opinion to warrant its antiquity We shall see hereafter further proofs that it is spurious in the Chapters of Aristotle and Erasistratus This opinion is repeated in the Book of the Nature of the Bones It is indeed amply refuted in the fourth book of Diseases but most Authors agree this later book not to be Hippocrates's We shall find something more of importance in the Chapters of the Fibres We have seen already three different Opinions taken from the Writings of Hippocrates concerning the Origin of the Veins there is yet a fourth and what is more particular This later opinion is to be found in the same book with the third I mean the book of the Nature of the Bones in which the Veins are derived from the Head The passage is this The veins which are spread thro' the body and which give it (p) See the Chapter of the Nerves the spirit the flux and the motion are all branches of one Vein whence it draws its Origin or it terminates I know not but supposing a Circle a beginning is not to be found Something like this is what we read in (q) De locis in hom sub initia another place There is no origin or beginning in the body but the parts are equally both beginning and end for in a Circle there is no beginning There are some other passages parallel to these (r) Lib. de Alâ—men The nourishment comes from the inward parts to the hair nails and outward superficies It goes likewise from the external parts and superficies to the internal All agree consent and conspire together in the body And a little after (s) Ibid. The great Principle reaches to the extremities and the extremities to the great Principle (t) Ibid. The Milk and the Blood come from the superfluity of the nourishment or are the remainder of the nourishment of the body (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same word is to be found in the first book of Diet. We find there likewise these following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to turn about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gyration or turning round 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 terms used by Hippocrates to signifie the Mechanism of our bodies by an allusion to the methods used by Artificers of all sorts in their Shops The Circulations go a great way in relation to the Faetus and to the nourishment after the nourishment is perform'd what remains returns and turns to Milk and becomes nourishment to the Mother and afterwards to the Faetus And again the same way which leads upwards leads also downwards or there is but one way which goes both upwards and downwards
The little difference there is between these two names and especially between the H and the 〈◊〉 which are the two first letters occasion'd of being put often one for the other and in the Manuscript copies of Hippocrates the former is sometime called Prodicus sometimes Herodicus (e) Comment lib. 6. Ep dem Galen following the first reading mentions two Physicians named Prodicus of which one was of Lentini the other of Selymbra but he does not determine of which he speaks in the place he comments upon referring the reader to another place where he says he has explainâ—d himself The first seems very probable to have been Hippocrates's master the other his scholar As for their names Plato and Plutarch always call'd the first Herodicus for the better distinction we may continue that name to him and call the latter Prodicus We have seen what Herodicus could do Prodicus composed several works which are cited by Galen but he seems to set no great value upon them He accuses him for not following the method of his master nor of the rest of the ancient Physicians but of amusing himself to quibble upon words or names which is never the sign of a man of ability in any profession whatsoever Galen gives an instance of this false niceness of Prodicus upon the word Phlegm which is a Greek word and which the Latins have render'd by that of Pituita All the ancient Physicians understood by it a cold thick humour but Prodicus only would have the Phlegm to be hot grounding upon the Etymologie of the word Phlegm which is derived from another Greek word which signifies (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Gal. de Hippoc Platen decret lib. 8. cap. 6 de natural facul lib. 2. cap. 9. to burn giving the name of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 snot to the first sorts of humour which as we have said before was otherwise call'd Pituita Dexippus or Dixippus another disciple of Hippocrates was a Coan as well as himself Suidas tells us that he wrote a book of Physick in general and two other of Prognosticks The same Author adds that Dexippus being sent for to Heccatomnus King of Caria to cure his sons Mausolus and Pixodarus who had each of them a desperate disease which he refusâ—d but upon condition that Heccatomnus should cease to make war upon the Carians whereupon Vossius observes (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 instead of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Voss de Philosoph that we ought to read the Coans instead of the Carians it being more likely that Dexippus should endeavour to ease his own Countrey from a War to which we may add that it is not likely that the King made war upon his own subjects Aulus Gellius tells us that Dexippus or Dioxippus as he calls him was also for the (i) See the Anatomy of Hippocrates and the Paragraph of Philistion in the Chapter foregoing immediate passage of the drink into the lungs We know nothing of his method of practice except that both he and Appollonius who is the third of Hippocrates's scholars within our knowledge have both been censur'd for giving their Patients too much to eat and letting them perish with thirst Erasistratus said banteringly of them that they made twelve doses of the sixth part of a Cotyla of water which they put into so many little waxen cups and gave their Patients one or two at most in the heighth of a burning feaver The Cotyla was a measure that held about nine ounces Galen says that this was a piece of malice in Erasistratus who did it with a design thro' the scholars to scandalize the master We have nothing further concerning Appollonius Ctesias a Cnidian Physician came immediately after the former being cotemporary to Xenophon We are inform'd by (k) Lib. de Artic. comment 3. Galen that he was of the family of the Asclepiades and Kinsman to Hippocrates The same Galen takes notice that Ctesias corrected Hippocrates for teaching the way of reducing a dislocated Thigh-bone pretending that this reduction was to no purpose for the head of the bone being once out of its cavity it could never be kept in after what care soever were taken but that it would slip out again We know nothing more concerning Ctesias his Physick except that being taken prisoner in the battle wherein in Cyrus the younger was beaten by his brother Artaxerxes Mnemon he cured a wound which the latter had received in the fight After which he practis'd Physick seventeen years in Persia and became as famous a Historian as Physician by writing the History of Assyria and Persia taken from the Archives of those Countries CHAP. III. Opinions of Plato concerning Physick AT this time also Plato liv'd being born in the eighty eighth Olympiad This Philosopher following the steps of Pythagoras and Democritus and the other Philosopher Physicians of whom we have spoken wrote as they did of several things relating to the Theory of Medicine particularly of the Oeconomy of a humane body and the principles whereof it consists The Pythagoreans says (a) Var. Hist lib. 9. cap. 22 Elian applyed themselves very much to Physick Plato also was very much addicted to it as well as Aristotle and several other Philosophers We shall take notice here of what is most considerable upon that subject in the writings of Plato as far as we understand him which is not always very easie to do We shall be a little the more large herein because we meet with divers things which relate to several modern opinions and others which serve to iliustrate those of Hippocrates Plato having supposed two universal principles of all things (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 God and Matter the first form which he supposed Matter to take was Triangular and that from these Triangles the four sensible Elements were afterwards produced the Fire Air Water and Earth of which all bodies seem'd to him to be compounded As for the humane body he thought that its first formation commenc'd from the spinal marrow which marrow was afterward covered with a bone and these bones with flesh In consequence of this he held that the links which joyned or fastened the soul to the body were in that marrow which he call'd the seat of the mortal soul The reasonable soul he lodged in the brain which he said was a continuation of that marrow and look'd upon it as a soil purposely prepar'd to receive the divine seed As for that part of the soul upon which depend Generosity Valour and Anger he plac'd it near the head between the diaphragme and the neck that is to say in the breast or in the heart in which he followed Pythagoras He held that the lungs encompassed the heart to refresh it and to calm the violent motions of the soul which was lodged there as well by the refreshment which it received from the Air in respiration as from the liquor which we drink which he supposed to fall in part
or tears are only the phlegm melted or dissolved In another place he seems to confound the phlegm and serosities with the Bile when he says that what we call sowre phlegm is the same thing with the serosity of the black Bile But in the explication of the effects of these humours he restrains himself to the two principal which are (h) See Pag. the Bile and the Phlegm and he acknowledges that these two juices by their mixture with the blood are the causes of all distempers When the Bile evaporates outwards or discharges it self upon the skin it causes divers sorts of humours attended with inflamations which the Greeks call'd (i) See Pag. Phlegmons but when it is confin'd within it produces all sorts of (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning diseases The Bile is especially hurtful when it is mixed with the blood it breaks the orders of the Fibres which are according to him small threads scatterd thro' the blood that it might be neither too clear nor too thick to the end that on the one side it should not evaporate and on the other might always move easily in the veins This Bile continuing its havock after having broken the fibres of the blood pierces to the spinal marrow and destroys the links of the soul before spoken of unless the body that is to say all the flesh melting or dissolving breaks its force When this happens the Bile being overcome and obliged to depart the body throws it self thro' the veins upon the lower belly and the stomach from whence it is discharged by stool and vomiting like those that flie out of a Town in an uproar and cause in their passage Diarrhaea's and Dysenteries and other discharges which prove often healthful The sweet or insipid phlegm occasions Tumours and some impurities of the skin and when it mixes with some little bladders of the Air it is then call'd (l) A sort of Dropsie in Hippocrates See Pag. white Phlegm If this Phlegm mixes with the black Bile and penetrates into the receptacles of the brain it causes the Epilepsie or Falling-sickness The sowre or salt Phlegm is the cause of all diseases comprehended under the name of Catarrhs or Rheums and brings disorder and pain upon what part soever it falls We must here take notice of the Idea which Plato had of the Matrix or its properties and some of its diseases (m) See Pag. the Matrix says he is an Animal which longs impatiently to conceive and if it be long disappointed of bearing Fruit is is enraged and runs up and down the whole Body and stopping the passages of their Air it takes away respiration and causes great uneasiness and an Anfinite number of Diseases These were the sentiments of Plato upon the causes of diseases upon all which we shall not trouble our selves to make reflections We shall confine our selves only to what he says concerning the Acidity and saltness of the humours it being of importance to our History to take notice of it because of the several Systems that have been since built upon that foundation Hippocrates had before spoken of the sowre and the salt but he has mention'd them only upon the account of their effect without shewing their Original which Plato seems to have discover'd and therein to have made an improvement upon him We may observe first that the Philosopher speaks of an Acidity and saltness which is nâ—turally in the body in a slate of health Such is the sowrness and sweetness of the flesh which he says consists of Water Fire and Earth and besides that a sowre salt leaven as has been already observed He does not say from whence this leaven comes but by his manner of expressing himself it seems not to be drawn from the common Elements but to be something different from the Water Fire and Earth which have their share apart in the formation of the flesh In the second place Plato held a saltness and sowrness which were praeternatural which are in the humours which cause diseases He seems further to deduce the sowre and salt from the same source with the natural sowre and salt that is from the flesh which corrupting and dissolving according to him infect the blood and turn it into Bile and into Phlegm But this latter sowre and salt are something different from the former tho' they come from the flesh for this is an effect of their corruption the other is the principle of the preservation But Plato not explaining himself any further thereupon neither shall we enlarge He adds a third sort of sowrness which is that of the black Bile which of bitter becomes sowre when the bitterness which is natural to it is alternated and subtilized to a certain degree It may be urged that the Greek word which we have translated (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sowre might as well signifie pointed or sharp as sowre both in this latter passage and in all those before cited The Greeks having only one word to express both meanings but 't is plain from the opposition in which Plato put this word to (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter that the former ought to be translated sowre and not pointed which is not so naturally opposed to bitter as sowre is Plato speaks elsewhere of sowrness and holds that it has its Origine from things sharp and pointed which have been subtilized or attenuated by corruption and reckons it the occasion of Fermentations and Ebullitions which arise when the gross and terrestrial humours begin to move and to swell or rise up It is observable that Plato to these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are Adjectives joyns the same Substantive that Hippocrates did which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which according to the sense of Hippocrates may be translated by the words force power faculty or virtue as well as by the words savour or taste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sapor Acidus sowre taste as Serranus translates it as for the rest Plato thought as Hippocrates did that diseases had their fixed periods for duration As the time of the life of every Animal is regulated by its lot when it comes into the world this time can néither be hastened nor delayed but by an effect of the passions which come likewise themselves by a sort of necessity So likewise diseases must of necessity have their course and we ought rather to seek to temper them and stop their progress by means of (p) See the mâ—thod of Hippocrates in acute diseases prudent diet and exercise than by medicines especially those which purge which ought never to be used but in cases of extremity otherwise of a small evil you make a great one and of a single one many By this we may see that Plato did not deviate much from the principles of Hippocrates and as he lived at the same time with him or very near it being born in the eighty eighth Olympiad 't is