double refined Sugar half an Ounce of Mirrh and mix them well together Use it thus First wash your Ulcer with Rain Water very clean dropping some of the forementioned Spirits into your Ulcer then apply this Poultis following Take one Quart of Rain Water Parsley Mint and Balm of each a like Quantity cut small two Ounces of good Sugar as much Bread as will make it of a fit Consistency for a Poultis make it boyilng hot stirring it all the time then put a Glass of Wine Sider Ale or good Beer into it lay this Poultis on every three Hours always washing it with the Rain Water and Spirits If this Method be observed it will Cure almost to a Miracle To Cure Gaul's or the Skin being rubbed off by any accident Take Spirit of Wine and Vinegar mix it well together wash your Sore every Hour for a Day or two laying on it a Diaculum Plaister This will heal and Cure the most inveterate Gaul in a few Days time An Excellent Poultis to Cure Sore Breast's Take one Quart of Rain or River Water some Sorrel cut small half an Ounce of Coriander Seed beaten to Powder two Ounces of good brown Sugar as much Bread as will make it into a Poultis make it Boyling hot stirring it all the time then it is done Apply this every Hour or every two Hours as warm as your Blood on a Linnen Cloath for two or three Days more or less as you see occasion and remember to wash your Breast with good Water and fresh Butter beaten together every time you apply the Poultis and you need not doubt but with God's Blessing the Cure will be Effected in a short time A rare Poultis to allay all Swellings or Contusions in any part of the Body Take one quart of Rain or River Water Rosemary and Balm cut small two Ounces of Sugar a Glass of Wine Sider Ale or good Beer as much good Bread as will make it into a Poultis make it boyling hot stirring of it all the while then it is done Lay this pretty thick on a Linnen Cloath as warm as your Blood every Hour or at least every two Hours for a Day two or three according to the occasion washing of it well with Spirit of Wine wherein Sugar is disolved This is a safe and secure remedy Another excellent Poultis to Disolve Ripen and Cure any Rising Swelling or Boyl in the Flesh viz. Take white Lilly Roots good Figgs boyl them soft in River or Rain Water then Temper them together add as much Bread as will make it thick enough for a Poultis add to this one Ounce of white Sugar and half an Ounce of Carrâ—way Seeds beaten to Powder stir them all together on the Fire till they are boyling hot then it is done Apply this Poultis every Hour washing the Grieved part with Ale and Sugar every time you lay the Poultis on this is a Noble Poultis and is likewise good to cure sore Breasts applyed as abovesaid The best Spirit of Scurvygrass is made Thus. Take the Leaves of Scurvygrass some Horse-Redish-Roots Scrapt small put this into a Glass or Earthen Vessel put to it as much strong double Spirit of Wine as will cover it stop this Vessel close and let it stand three Days and three Nights then Pour it off into Glass Bottles when settled you may put it into other Bottles and then it is fit for use This is called The plain Spirit of Scurvygrass and it is the best that is made you may take in a Morning of this Spirit from 60 to 80. or 90. Drops in good Water Beer Ale or Wine fasting two or three Hours after it then eat some of our Gruel with Bread How you may make this plain Spirit of Scurvygrass into a purging Spirit Take one Quart of this plain Spirit put into it one Ounce of Rozin of Scamony and half an Ounce of Rozin of Jallop both beaten to Powder let it stand one week andâ— then it will be fit for your use Take 50 60. or 80. Drops of this in a Glass of Ale Beer or Wine Drink plentifully of our thin Gruel after it staying within it will purge you very well and not gripe or but very little An Excellent Drink against the Stone Gravel and other Obstructions Take Scurvygrass Leaves the Seeds of Dorcas some Horse-Redish-Scrapt put them in an Earthen Vessel and then add as much White-wine as will cover the Herbs Seed and Roots let them stand five Days and Nights then pour it off and keep it in Glass Bottles it will continue good four or five weeks Take a Sack Glass of this and a like quantity of Water every Morning fast two Hours and then Drink at least a Quart of our thin Water-Gruel either of the cold or hot The constant use of this is not only a prevention and Cure but it moves most sorts of obstructions of the Stomack begets appetite Generates good Blood causing it to circulate freely How to purge by Herbs and Foods When you are minded to purge your self with both ease and safety and to preserve your Health then observe the following Method viz. In the Morning drink a Quart of our thin Water-gruel either the cold or the hot Eat a small piece of Bread with it at dinner take Spinnage Lettis Onions parsley and Sage wash them and Eat plentifully of them with your Food be it what it will at night Drink a like quantity of Gruel and Eat some good Bread as you did in the Morning this you must do for four or five or six Days together more or less as you see Occasion the like Method you are to observe If you would purge your self with Carrots Turnips and Parsnips as you did with Herbs with this Variation viz. Drink your Gruel and Eat your Bread Mornings and Nights and at Dinner Eat only Carrots Parsnips or Turnips boyled only in good Water and Eat them freely with no other thing but a little Salt and Bread during these several Days you may Purge your self to what degree you please Another way to Purge by Food 's and Drinks Drink in the Morning at several times three Pints or two Quarts of thin Watergruel at Dinner drink a Pint or a Quart at Night drink a Quart more and Eat some Bread This Method will Purge or at least will keep your Body open let your Foods at Dinner be what it will the Body being kept open and cool doth prevent and Cure Various Diseases in hot costive constitutions An excellent Poultis against the Headach Pain in the Side also a rare Remedy against the disease called St. Anthonies Fire Take Sage Parsley and Balm of each a like quantity cut small one Quart of Rain or River Water one Pint of Whitewine three Ounces of white Sugar two Ounces of Coriander Seed beaten as much good Bread as will make it fit for a Poultis mix them and stir them over the Fire till they are boyling hot then it is done
observe the necessary Rules of Temperance how careful then ought Mothers and Nurses to be in ordering their Children A great part of the Children that die especially in Towns and Cities is occasioned either by the Intemperance of their Mothers during the time they go with Child or afterwards by their unnatural and badly prepared Food and suffering them to eat to excess also by their keeping of them too warm and too close from the Air and lapping of them up in several Double Clothes and Swathes so tight that a Man may write on them and then puting them into warm Beds and covering them up close If a strong Man was so bound up he could not endure it without great injury unto his Health Besides the Window-Curtains are drawn and also the Curtains about the Bed by which means the Air becomes so hot and sulphurous that it causes great Disorders to attend both the Mothers and the Children This ill Kind of Management does also cause such a Tenderness both in the Mother and the Child that on every small occasion they are liable and apt to get Colds and divers other Distempers Also Women have the entire Management of all things that concern our Healths during the whole time of our Lives they prepare and dress our Food and order all things in our Houses both for Bed and Board There is not one Man of a hundred that understands or takes any notice whether his Food be well prepared or not and if his Bed stinks he is used to it and so counts it all well Mens Time and Study is chiefly taken up about getting a Livelihood and providing things necessary for themselves and Families so that there is not one among a thousand that understands any thing what belongs to the Preservation of his Health Whatever the Women do and say touching the Preparation of Food and other ordering of Families for Health most Men believe not making the least scruple or question of the truth thereof And well they may For the chiefest Doctors of our Times do bow before them and are altogether as subject to the Rules and Directions of Women as other Men. Where are your Doctors that teach Men Sobriety in their Lives or the proper and natural way of preparing Meats fit for the Stomach Which of them adviseth against the evil Custom of keeping their Chambers so over hot when People are sick and in the time of Womens lying in Child-bed Why do they not advise them not to have their Curtains so close drawn both before their Windows anâ— Beds insomuch that they are often times in a manner suffocated for want of the fresh Air For I affirm That all sorts of People that do keep their Beds let the occasion be what it will have ten-fold more need of the refreshing Influences of the Air than others that are up For the Bed being much hotter than a Man's Garments are when he is up the thin refreshing moist Vapâ—urs that do penetrate the whole Body more powerfully when a Man is up are thereby hindered This is one chief Reason why a Man cannot digest a Supper so well in Bed as if he sits up All Men know that the Bed destroys Appâ—tice If a Man go to Bed aâ— Eight a Clock and lies till Eight in the Morning he shall not be hungry but it he goes to Bed at the same time and rises at Four in the Morning though he sâ—s still without Action yet by Eight he shall have a good Stomach to eat and drink so great is the power of the Air For when a Man is up his Body is cool and the pure Spirâ—s and thin moist Vapours of the Air have power to penetrate the Body which Element the Body sucks in like a Spunge thorow the Pores and this doe not only cool and refresh â—he Spirits and the whole Body but also powerfully strengthens the Action of the Stomach But I pity the young Children most who are so tender and of so delicate a Nature both in their Body and Spirits that every Disorder does wound them to the very Heart Nothing is more grateful and refreshing to them than the pleasant Air It comforts their Spirits and cauâ—eth a free Circulation of the Blood and Radical Moisture begets Appetite and makes them grow in Strength But on the contrary hot sulphurous Airs with great Fires and warm Clothing do not only hinder the Circulation of the Blood but suffocate the Spirits and destroy the Appetite causing an unnatural Heat to possess the whole Body whence does proceed various Disorders and Diseases making them to cry and be very froward Also close Bindings and over-warm Clothings and thick hot Airs do oft in weak-spirited Children cause Convulsions Vapours and Fumes to fly into the Head sometimes occasioning Vomitting which People call Windy Diseases Again the Food of most Children of late years is so enriched with West and East-India Ingredients that is with Sugar and Spices that thereby their Food becomes so hot in Operation that it does not only breed too much Nourishment which generates Obstructions and Stoppages but it heats the Body drying up and consuming the Radical Moisture and infecting the Blood with a sharp fretting Humour which in some Complexions and Constitutions causeth languishing Diseases contracting the Breast and Vessels of the Stomach and hindering the Passages of the Spirits so that the Joynts and Nerves become weak and feeble In others with the help of bad Diet and other Uncleanliness does cause Botches Boils and various sorts of Leprous Diseases Also many that have wherewithal will frequently give their Children Sack strong Drinks and fat Meats as long as they will eat which is abominable and absolutely contrary to the Nature of Children There are a hundred other Disorders and Intemperances that many Mothers and ignorant Nurses affect their Children with which I have no room in this place to discourse of Therefore I commend unto the Women Milk that is raw only made so hot as the Mothers or Nurses Milk is when the Child socks it and sometimes Milk and Flower boyled together giving it the Châ—ld about tâ—e warmness of Breast-milk and indeed neither Children nor others others ought to eat any Food hotter Also no Children ought to drink any kind of strong Drink I could commend Water as the most wholesom but it being contrary to our Custom ordinary Beer may do well or rather small Ale If Women did understand but the hundredth part of the Evils and Diseases those indulging and intemperate Ways do bring both to themselves and Children they would quickly be of my mind which I never expect They are too wise CHAP. III. A short Discourse of thâ— Pain in the TEETH Shewing from what Cause it does chiefly proceed and also how to prâ—vâ—nt it THE terrible Pains and Diseases of the Teeth do chiefly proceed from two Causes The first is from certain filthy Phlegmy Matter which the Stomach and Vessels do continually breathe and send forth which does lodge
both personal and Real Security Neither do I believe there is any firmer or better way of Conveying or Intailing Estates on our Children and Posterity than by Works of Mercy and Almsgiving being assured according to the Word of God that they are the likeliest Expedients and Antidotes against the secret Canker and give our Children a sure and lasting Title to their Inheritance For Retaliation of Rewards and Punishments is the Indispensible Law of God which will have its Execution either in this World or that which is to come This our Saviour further exemplifies in the Parable between the Sheep and the Goats when he says to the Sheep on his Right Hand Come ye blessed into the Kingdom prepared for you for I was hungry and you fed me naked and ye cloathed me sick and in Prison and ye administred unto me But to the Goats he says Go ye cursed into everlasting Darkness prepared for the Devil and his Angles for you have neither fed cloathed nor administred to me And further when they expostulated with him saying Lord when did we see thee hungry naked sick or in Prison His Answer was Insomuch as ye did it not to one of these little ones ye did it not to me Hence it is Evident in so many plain words what Christ's Sheep were justified for and for what the Goats were condemned the first had Charity the latter not therefore to do good and communicate those Gifts the Lord hath intrusted us with is one of the most Binding and Fundamental Precepts in the Christian Religion Charity being therefore the first true step to all Vertue that we may obtain the Blessing of the Almighty upon the Publick Undertakings and all our Private Lawful Endeavours let us resolve to go on chearfully and lay up a Treasure in Heaven by being Liberal to the Poor and Needy upon Earth And for the better and more singular performance of these Duties our Holy Religion and Interests obliges every one in his Station avoiding Covetousness and Expensive Sensuality to betake our selves to Sobriety and Temperance which are the great Promoters and Encouragers of Charity with proper and due Fasting which is none of the least Vertues for they all proceed from the Fountain of God's Grace and an inward Ground or Divine Principle in the Soul This is what I have given my Mind to think of and do believe it my Duty to Recommend the same to my Fellow Citizens wherein I humbly Pray That my good Will at least may be accepted though it should happen that some of my Notions are not altogether approved of for I am conscious to my self of no other aim than the discharge of my Duty to persuade Men to be really what they profess themselves nominally viz. Disciples and Followers of Jesus Christ in whose Service I am Gentlemen Your Well wishing Friend Thomas Tryon The Vse and Vertues of several Sorts of Gruels and Pottages viz. Water-gruel and Milk-pottage have the first place not only for their Excellent Qualities and Friendly Agreement they have with the Stomach but also they are easy Come at able by the Poor and Meanest of People next in Rank do follow many other sorts of Brave Exhilerating Pottages viz. Pap made with Wheat-flower and Water or with Milk Water and Flower Barley-gruel Herb-pottage Pease-pottage Furmity Buttered Wheat Possets Bonny-clabber Flummery Caudles made of Beer Wine Cider or other Liquors with Oat-meal also with Eggs and Chocolate all which are the most agreeable friendly Foods to Nature being easie of Concoction and do afford greater Strength and generates better Blood and finer Spirits than most do imagine which are the Sinews of Health and they may be eaten freely without any danger of Surfeits either with Bread or without for these Liquid Regions do as it were contain the Sominary Vertues both of dry and moist Aliment contributing a more Sublime Nourishment than strong hard salt Foods being tempered with such equality of Parts whence do proceed such an Innocent Power and Ravishing Balsamick Vertue that the frequent Eating thereof do fortify strengthen and refresh Nature to the highest degree being endued with a certain innate Power and Vertue not only to help to digest harder Foods but they cleanse and open all the Passages and are a Powerful prevention of Obstructions and gross Phlegmy Humors and at the same time supplying Nature with a substantial brisk Nourishment and sweet friendly Moisture provided they are mixed and prepared with Judgment and all that Love their Health ought to Eat them at all times of the Year but more especially in Summer and hot Seasons they make no noise nor cause any insurrection in the Body so that after a Meal of such Foods there is felt no inequality or indisposition the Body doth not Burn with an unatural Flame nor the Crown is not pestered with Fumes and Vapours in a word they are endued with all the good united Vertues both of the Vegetable and Animals Kingdoms besides these Pottages have such a Sympathetical Agreement with the digesting Liquor of the Stomach called the Menstruum Whose Office is to fit qualifie and prepare the Food for separation and digestion being of a mild gentle Nature and Operation imitating the Dew of Heaven which doth bow apply and incorporate its sweet Dews and moist Vapours to all its Off-spring whence all things become impregnated with Life Power and Vertue For this cause all Pottages do not only strengthen the Appetite and the Aâ—tractive Facultieâ— and Powers of Nature but they are easily melted into Chyle without any manifest trouble or molestation to the Stomach for the nearer affinity the Foods have to the Menstruum the easier they are digested and sharper is the Appetite because the sweet Vertues of such things are drawn forth into all the Members and Parts of the Body gently and mildly supplying them with a fit and proper Nourishment with far more ease and pleasure to Nature than from hard strong salt Foods neither doth our Friendly Homogenial Pottages heat consume or dry up the Menstruum or Radical Moisture as gross Flesh Fish and Cheese do from whence do proceed after the eating thereof Indisposition and an unatural Drought which renders the whole uneasie and unfit either for the Business of the Body or Mind therefore it is observable that in the Eastern and Southern Parts of the World where the Natives drink Water their Foods being most or all made into Pottages where they never or very seldom eat any Flesh Fish old Cheese salt Butter and but little Bread in gross as the Custom is in the Northern Parts of the World therefore the Gout Stone Scurvy and many other Cruel Diseases are not known which Distempers do for the most part proceed and are generated by the constant feeding on strong hard salt crude Foods and the drinking of strong harsh sharp Drinks being all of a disagreeing Nature to the Menstruum of the Stomach and therefore they do mightily obstruct Nature stop the Passages begetting sharp windy Humours thick Blood dull and heavy Spirits which are the Original Causes of the Gout Wind Stone Scurvy and many other Diseases For this Cause when any Languish under those forementioned Distempers the Learned advise them to live on some of the above-mentioned Gruels and Pottages for if such Foods recover lost Health pars ratione consequently it must maintain and promote it Thomas Tryon FINIS
Poyson in the Body it does so powerfully strengthen and awaken it that in a moment it over comes the pure Oyl of Life and the pure Spirits become suffocated and then the Natural Life is at an end for every Property in Nature both in the evil and also in the good does with highest diligence seck out its likeness and wheresoever it findeth its Simile there it joyns forces and mightily stirreth up its own Quality which when it happens in the Evil Nature as it does in Brandy Rumm Rack and other Distilled Liquors then it endangers the Health and Wellfare of the Body Nor is it otherwise in all sorts of Food and other Drinks if the pure Vertue thereof be separated or any way destroyed for then forth with the darâ— Brimstony Spirit is set at lâ—berty which before the Separation the Balsamick Body and pure Spirits did qualifie and hold Captive that it could not manifest its self in its own Nature but being separated from the good Properties and Friendly Principle this dark fiery sulphurous Spirit becomes of a furious Nature and Operation endeavouring to bring all in Subjection to it self therefore such Liquors or Spirits frequently taken burn up the Radical Moisture and Natural Heat and are grreedy devourers of the sweet Oyl in the Body whence proceeds General Obstructions Crude Windy Humours Consumptions unnatural Heats and Flushings loss of Appetite Reachings to Vomit and many other Disorders and if those of the Female Sex take to drink such Spirits as of late years they do too frequently the Evils are doubled unto them 2. In all the before-mentioned Spirits that have passed through those cruel harsh Fires where the Air hath not its free Egress and Regress the pure Spirit and sweet Body is totally destroyed which is the Root of Motion and Fermentation therefore such Spirits will not Work or Ferment as all other Drinks and Liquors will even water it self but you may put what quantity of Sugar you will to Brandy Ramm or any other Distilled Spirits they will continue a strong Fire void of Moâ—ion or Fermentation this doth further declare that all the good Principles and Vertues are destroyed by the Preparation and that there remains only a strong fixed Fire which has its Uses in Physick as is mentioned before but not otherwise 3. Such Spirits being frequently drunk do generate various Diseases according to each Mans Nature and Constitution and the Climate whether hot or cold for they do powerfully Prey upon the Natural Heat consuming the sweet Oyl and pure Spirits for the Balsamick Body and pure Spirits of all such Liquors being destroyed in the Preparation they become an Extream which Nature in her simplicity hates and for this Cause such Liquors cannot Administer any Proper or Agreeable Nourishment to the Body or to the pure Spirits it cannot give what it hath not it hath only Power to awaken the Central Heat or Fire which ought not to have been kindled and this it doth by a Sympathetical Operation for all Meats and Drinks have power in the Body to awaken and strengthen their likeness for this reason all Wise Men Skilled in the Mysteries of Nature have commended simple Meats and Drinks because most such things are as it were equal in their Parts having no manifest Quality that does predominate violently over the other but yet contains a sufficient Noarishment for the Body and also for the Spirit for Meats and Drinks ought to be equal in their parts the Spirit ought not to be separated from the Body nor the Body from the Spirit but both ought to be Administred together for the Body without the Spirit is of a gross heavy dull or dead Nature and the Spirit without the Body is too violent and fiery but the Health of Mans Body and Mind doth chiefly consist in the equality of both do not all Meats and Drinks wherein any Quality or Property of Nature is â—xtream whether it be in Vertue or Harmfulness if not sparingly taken certainly discompose the Harmony both of the Body and Mind For every Quality begets its likeness and so on the contrary Concord and Harmony are tain'd by their likenesses if there be not a Sympathetical agreement between the Stomach and the Meats and Drinks both in Quality and Quantity the Unity and Concord of the Properties of Nature are immediately broken whence proceeds various Diseases according to the degrees of the Disorder This every one ought to understand or else they may unadvisedly lay heavier Burdens than Nature can bear for most Diseases are generated through surplusage of Nourishment For unto weak Heats there ought to be Administred a proportionable Food but stronger Heats will admit of stronger Foods and greater quantity which all Persons might know if they would but observe the Operation of their own Natures for no Health nor Harmony can be continued where the parts do disagree aniong themselves What Harmony can the most skilful Master of Musick make if the strings of his Instruments be some too sharp and others too flat even so it is in the Elements of the Body and also in the Mind 4. For Man is the most Beautiful and Perfectest of all God's Creation and â—is Image called by the Antients the lesser World for in him is contained the true Nature and Properties of all Elements Numbers Weights and Measures therefore Man is both capable of and and â—lable to receive all all Impressions and to be influenced by all things he communicates with or joyns himself unto as all sorts of Meats Drinks Imployments Communications and whatever else he suffers his Will or Desires to enter into the same things have power respectively to awaken their Similes therefore all extreams are perilous to the Health If Men and women were but sensible of the danger and terrible Diseases that are contracted by the frequent eating and drinking of those things that are unequal in themselves as Brandy Rumm and other Spirituous Drinks and high prepared Foods they would not so eagerly desire them Do not all or most that do accustome themselves to such things quickly spoil their their Healths Nature is Simple and Innocent and the Simplicity thereof cannot be continued but by Sobriety and Temperance in Meats and Drinks that are simple and harmless which will not only gratifie Nature but contribute both due and moist Nourishment for beyond all lushious fat compounded Dishes of the Richest Food and Spirituous Drinks as it appears by many hundreds of poor People who are constrained by pure necessity not by Wisdom to live for the most part on simple Food and mean Drinks their Labour hard Cloathing thin open Air cold Houses small Fires hard Beds standing on Earthen Floors by all which means they are not only preserv'd in better Health but also enabled to endure Labour with more ease and pleasure than the Intemperately Supet flâ—ous can lie a Bed or sit by the Fire O then how excellent are the ways of Temperance and Sobriety They free the
in abundance Therefore the Wise Antients did account it a Crime for Women to drink strong Drink or Wine tho' their Countries did afford Wine in abundance and good reason they had for the whole preservation of Mankind resides chiefly in the Temperance and Government of the Women if they are Intemperate the Radix of Men is corrupted are we not like to have very Fine Hopeful Healthy Children when the Mother by excessive Pampering her unweildy Carcass has contracted more Diseases than an Hospital Or when they are put out to some Drunken Nurse that instead of affording them wholsome Natural Milk Suckles them up with the unconcocted Dregs of that Brandy with which she daily overcharges her filthy Stomach The Nature of Women will not bear Excess in Meats and Drinks as Mens will without manifest danger to their Healths and also to the Health of their Children most Windy Diseases both in Women and Children being caused by their Intemperance both in quantity and quality They overcharging their Nature with Food containing too much Nourishment and Drinks that are too strong This is chiefly observable amongst Wanton Citizens and the Richer sort of People who pay dearly for the Lickerishness of their Palats by the Diseases that thence arise they being much more Distempered than the Ordinary pains-taking People I confess their are hardly any Women in the World so Intemperate and such great Lovers of there Bellies as the English nor is there any Nation more subject to Variety of Diseases and therefore they are afflicted with divers Distempers which Women in other Countries know nothing of And as our Children are generally weak Peuling Rickety and Sickly so the occasion thereof is too evident since they are almost made Gluttons from the very Cradle their Mothers gorging and feeding them till they loath their Victuals and often cast it up again and when they have been Cramming all day the good Woman entertains her Gossips with Stories what a little Stomach her Child has and that she can get it to eat nothing and She wonders how it lives and indeed so she may but for a quite contrary reason for this oppressing Nature with Excess in Youth is not only the cause of the Death of many but in others it sows such Seeds and lays foundations for Distempers that they can scarce out-grow them also many Women out of the like foolish fondness give their Children strong Drink which is very destructive to their Health Nor is it become unfrequent for Women not only to drink Brandy but also to smoak Tobacco which two things have a great affinity Tobacco being an Herb of Mars and its Poysonous fulsome attractive Nature from Saturn the common use of it in Pipes is very injurious to all sorts of People but more especially to the Female bex except it be taken very sparingly in a Physical way for some watery and windy Diseases but the usual taking of it destroys the Physical Vertues and Operation thereof only the daily Smoaking it may be profitable to Gluttons and those that Eat and Drink to Superfluity of Rich Food and strong Drink and live idle lives for such want Evacuations but Exercise and Temperance were much better for their Health Tobacco and Brandy are certainly utter Enemies to Women and also to their Children for their Spirits and Balsamick Body whence their true Life shines is more volatile and tender than Mens and their Natural Heat is not so strong for this cause Women cannot bear or endure any extreams either in Meats Drinks or Exercises without manifest danger to their Healths they being generally more sanguine than Men and their Central Heat weaker therefare all kind of inequality makes deeper Impression on them and they are sooner moved to all kinds of Passions for Women in their Radix are compounded more of the sweet Friendly Sanguine Nature their Dignificaâ—ion being chiefly from the Element of Water but the Root of Mens Nature is from the strong might of the Fire And for the same cause Women are more Chaste than Men and of colder Natures tho' many Men do believe the contrary but they are greatly mistaken in this particular having no true understanding of Nature they have judged thus hardly of Women because many of them are so easily drawn into inconveniencies by the pretended Friendship of Men but I do affirm that their being so easily overcome is not from their unchaste desires but chiefly from their Friendly Courteous Efleminate Natures being of a yielding Temper which is essentially in the Root of their Lives and when a Man has once awakened in them the Love-string which is quickly done he may command them as he pleases now finding them comply they imagine that of them which they find in themselves Not but that some Women are as unchaste as Men but then such through the Power of their depraved Free-Wills and Wanton Imaginations have forced Nature out of her simple Innocent ways compelling her often to do that which she perfectly loaths The wise Antients understanding this Nature and Constitution of Women and considering that the whole welfare and health of Mankind depended chiefly on their Temperance and Discreet Conduct did therefore direct them to an higher degree of Temperance and thought it requisite and so absolutely necessary that both the drink alotted for Women in most Countries was and is to this day pure Water and their Food as Innocent and Natural they eat Flesh sparingly living much on raw and boiled Herbs Fruits and Greens which is a most sublime Diet. And by this means their Women and Children are not afflicted with such a number of cruel Diseases There is no Country in the World where their Children and young People are so generally subject to the Small Pox Kings-Evil Joynt-Aches and many Leperous and languishing Diseases how many of them yearly die with Convulsions and Windy Distempers which generally they receive from their Mothers How many Miseries and aking Hearts do Women endure with their sickly Children And what Women are free from Vapors and Windy Diseases Fainting Fits weak Joynts and Backs their Blood corrupted breaking out in small spots in the Flesh of several colours their Stomach cold and their Natural heat not able to digest their Food without a Dram c For all which Evils there is no Remedy so long as our Women do continue the frequent Eating of fat gross Flesh without Herbs and other sweet high prepared Food and drinking strong Liquors as Brandy c. and taking Tobacco for these things do continually heat the whole Body thereby awakening the Central heat which is very injurious to Women for it presently sends Fumes and Vapours into the Head and the fierce Fires with venemous Particles do penetrate the whole Body drying up and consuming the pleasant moist cool airy Vapours suffocating the pure Spirits which otherwise would replenish the whole Body and sharpen the Appetite it also dulls the Senses and possesses the Blood with a sharp fretting humour and hinders
go to Bed they lie close and after a little time when they begin to be hot or sweat they are generally willing to lie a little further off that they may cool themselves but cannot do it without great difficulty and trouble by reason of the softness of the Bed and those Banks that rise on each side Besides such soft Feaâ—her-Beds do over-heat the Reins and Back making all the parts tender and causing sweatings and many other Inconveniencies to attend the Body Feather-Beds also are nothing so easie as Quilâ—s after a little time being accustomed to them they are also extream fulsom and by their heat they do powerfully dry up the Radical Moisture causing a general faintness to attend the whole Body But on the contrary hard even Beds that lie smooth are not only easie through custom as is mentioned before but a Man may turn freely both sleeping and waking They harden and strengthen the whole Body especially the Back and Reins make the Nerves and Sinews strong preventing the immoderate Evacuatâ—ons by Sweating and keeping the Body in a temperate Heat Bâ—sides such Beds may be often changed with but little Trouble and less Cost they send forth no stinking fumes or steams as Feather-Beds do but are sweet and clean Certainly nothing is more healthy nexâ— to Temperance in Meat and Drink than clean hard Beds 8. All sorts of Beds especially Feather-Beds ought to be changed driven or washed at the least three or four times in a Year or else it is impossible to keep them sweet and clean and to prevent the Generation of Vermin or the other Inconveniences before mentioned Would not every one condemn a Man if he should wear a Shirt a Year and lie in Sheets seven Years Which if any should do it would not either endanger his Healâ—h or bring half the Inconveniencies on his Body as old stinking Feather-Beds do which possibly stunk before ever they were lain on by reason of the fulsom Excrements that the Quills of the Feathers coâ—â—ain Also Feathers do câ—â—tainly contain an unclean putrified Matter that hath a near Affinity with the Nature of Bugs and therefore Feather-Beds are more apt to breâ—d them than Wool or Flocks though both will do it if the forementioned Rules be not observed But if you are not willing or so lowly-minded to have Straw or Chaff-Beds under your Quilts then you may have Flock Beds with Canvas-Tickings which may be both aired and washed as often as you please with little Trouble and Charge If any shall question the Truth of what I have alledged concerning Beds I desire they would please but to try the Experiment by filling a Bed with the freshess and cleanest Straw or Chasâ— which will smell very pleasant and having so done let them lie on it half a year in a corner of a Room as Beds generally stand and then smell to it and instead of sending forth a pleasant Scent as it did at first it will send sorth a strong fulsom musty Steam or Fume And if this will do so what will Feathers do that in the Root of Nature are unclean fulfom Excrements of a hot strong quality Therefore they have the greater power not only to attract and suck in to themselves the fulsom Excrements that are breathed forth of the Body by Sweatings and the like but they have also power to retain such evil Vapours And when others come to lie on them and are throughly hot it awakens those pâ—â—â—icious Steams which often bâ—ing many Inconveniencies on the Body Besides it is very unpleasant to lie in such Beds a Man must always be forced to keep his Nose above-board Indeed each Man 's own Bed does not stink or smell strong to himself because he is accustomed to it neither does a Tallow-Chandler smell those horrible Scents and pernicious Fumes that old Tallow sends forth when it is melted But let any other Person that is not accustomed to it be near such things and it will be very offensive to him Even so it is in all other stinking Trades and things of this Nature so that the greatest Slut in the World does hardly smell her own House or Bed stinâ— For in Man is contained the true Nature and Property of all things both of Good and Evil therefore he is both liable and also apt to receive all Impressioâ—s and to be wrought on by all things he shall either communicate with or joyn himself to whether it be Cleanness or the contrary Also by Meats Drinks and communication all things have power by a Sympathetical Operation to work on Man because he is like unto all bearing a proportionable Nature unto all things If People did understand this they would prefer Sobriety and Temperance with Cleanness far beyond what they do and then Men would not be subject to so many Diseases as now they are 9. Heat and Moisture is the Root of all Putrifaction and therefore Bugs are bred in Summer but they live all the Winter though they are not then so troublesome They harbour in Bedsteads Holes and Hangings Nitting and Breeding as Lice do in Clothes But all Men know that Woollen and Linnen are not the Element of â—ice but they are bred from the fulsom Scents and Exrements that are breathed forth from the Body The very same Radix have Bugs and if there be any difference they are from a higher Putrifaction and therefore they are a more noisom stinking Creature 10. The whole Preservation of Mens Health and Strength does chiefly reside in the Wisdom and Temperance of Women Therefore the Ancient Wise Men in former Ages did direct and accustom their Women to a higher degree of Temperance than the Men. Which Customs of Sobriety the Women of several Countries do maintain to this day as in Spain great part of France Italy and many great Countries under the Dominion of the Grand Seignior Their Women do always drink Water their Food being for the most part of a mean and simple quality and for this reason neither they nor their Children are subject to several Diseases which our Women and Children are Wine and Strong Drink should be sparingly drunk by Women till they are past Child-bearing because the frequent and common drinking of strong Drinks does generate various Distempers in the Female Sex such as are notfitâ—o be discoursed of in this place which their Children often bring with them into the World If the Seed be good yet if the Ground be bad it seldom brings forth good Fruit. Also Women are our Nurses for fifteen or sixteen years and they do not only suffer us to be Gluttons by letting us eat and drink often of their ill-prepared Food beyond the power of the Digestive Faculty and more than the Stomach can bear but many of them will intice us to Gluttony and some will force their Children to eat even against their Stomachs till they cast it up again Now if it be a difficult point for a Man of Age and Experience to