ten of them but two or three are enough for those that are troubled with an hot Liver CHAP. XCI Of Plums Name IN Latine Pruna in English Plums Of these are found infinite sorts Choice The best and most commendable are the Damascene Plums so called from Damascus a City of Syria where they grew Qualities Plums are cold and moist But of the several sorts of Plums some are sweet others are sharp and sour They are cold in the beginning of the second degree and moist in the end of the third Commodity They purge the Choler extinguish Heat take away Thirst refresh and moisten the Body whence their Juice boyled may serve to excite the Appetite and to quench the thirst in Feverish Persons and thereof is made an Electuary with Scamony and without to loosen the Belly with the pulp or in-side of Damascene Plums and Manna With the infusion of Sena Polipodium Anise-seed and Cinnamon is made another excellent Electuary whereof the quantity of half an Ounce being taken before Meals does pleasantly loosen and make the Body slippery and is grateful also to the Palate as Marmalade of Quinces Hurt They are hurtful to those whose Stomach is cold and weak to decrepid and phlegmatick Men and such as are troubled with Cholick pains Remedy The hurt of Plums is remedied and corrected by eating Sugar with them at the first Course or eating after them salt Meats and drinking good Wine they are very good for Young Sanguine and Cholerick Men chiefly in Summer CHAP. XCII Of Cucumbers Name IN Latine Cucumer in English a Cucumber Choice The best Cucumbers are such as are large and fully ripe Quality They are cold in the end of the second degree and moist in the third Commodity The Cucumber is an excellent thing for the cooling and refreshment of those that are thirsty in Summer for it qualifies the heat and lessens the dryness of the Tongue they are a good Remedy for the Reins and Bladder provoke Urine are very convenient for hot and dry Stomachs râ—store those that suffer indispositions by reason of over-much heat Hurt The Cucumber used too often is of very bad Nourishment and if not quickly concocted by the Stomach 't is corrupted and converted into Humours little inferiour to deadly Poison It diminishes the Sperma genitale and extinguishes the Venereal Appetite begets slimy Flegm in the Stomach the which despersing it self raw through the Veins occasions long Fevers Cucumbers in Flegmatick mens Stomachs causes nauseating Cholick pains and Hypochondriack Passions Remedy It must not be eaten before Meals for like Radishes it rises in the Stomach after Dinner it is less hurtful and more easily digested Cucumbers are naught for Old Men and such as are of a cold and moist Complexion and to qualifie it let them eat a few Seeds of Anise They are good for Young and Sanguine Men and being boyled are less hurtful CHAP. XCIII Of Straw-berries Name IN Latine Fraga in English Straw-berries Choice The best are the red and through-ripe Straw-berries large of a pleasant Odour and such as grow in the Garden are better than the wild Qualities They are cold in the first degree and dry in the second Commodity They are very pleasant to the taste extinguish the heat and sharpness of the Blood and refreshing the Liver they quench the burning Choler take away Thirst provoke the Urine and excite the Appetite Their Wine dries up the fluxes and rheums of the Eyes and clear the Sight applyed to the Eyes taking away the little Clouds of the Eyes and cleanse the Eyes hurt by the Small-Pox The Straw-berries do not receive any venomous quality from the Toads and Serpents though they often tread upon and pass over them as being of a very low growth they stop Loosnesses and Flux of Women and are good for the Milt the Decoction of the Leaves and Roots drank eases the inflammation of the Liver and cleanses the Kidney and Bladder and the Water of Straw-berries distilled stops the Bloody-flux in all parts Hurt They are of little Nourishment and are easily corrupted in the Stomach Straw-berries are very hurtful to trembling and Paralitick Men and those that are troubled with convulsions of the Nerves their Wine intoxicates they easily putrifie whence those that eat many of them fall often-times into Malignant Fevers Remedy They must be first cleansed from their Leaves and from all filth afterwards put into good White-wine and then eaten sprinkled with Sugar They are convenient in hot Weather for Young Men and for Cholerick and Sanguine Complexions and strong Stomachs they are to be eaten before other Food and in a small quantity as Cherries Mulberries and such other Fruits CHAP. XCIV Of Melons Name IN Latine Pepo in English Melons or Pompions Choice You must choose such as are of an exquisite Odour and Taste pleasant to the Palate fresh and ripe Qualities Melons and Pompions are cold in the second degree the Melons moist in the end of the second the Pompions in the third Commodity They are very refreshing they cleanse the Body provoke Urine take away Thirst stir up the Appetite Those that eat of them secure themselves from the Stone and Gravel and therefore the Emperour Albinus was so much delighted with them that in one Night he eat ten Melons of Ostia and an hundred Peaches of Campania which were counted the best of all others Hurt They cause windiness and the Belly-ach and therefore such as are grieved with Cholick pains ought to abstain from them for they breed naughty Nourishment easily converting themselves into the same Humours that they find in the Stomach and by reason of their coldness they are difficultly digested They do moreover excite Vomiting and Cholerick Fluxes and being corrupted they beget Malignant Spotted Fevers Remedy They are not to be eaten unless with an empty Stomach because as is said before they are changed into the same Humours they meet with in the Stomach The eating of Melons is also good if after them you eat old Cheese salted Meats and drink good Wine after them but not very strong They are good in hot sultry Weather and agree with all Ages except Decrepid Flegmatick and Cholerick Men to whom they are very pernicious Advertisements concerning Flesh FLesh is more nourishing than all other Food for being hot and moist it is easily turned into Blood and afford great Nourishment concerning which it will be good to observe these following Rules I. You must always take notice That Flesh Herbs Fruits Corn and Wine are to be chosen in high and odoriferous places such as are refreshed with wholsom Winds and recreated with the warm beams of the Sun where there are no Ponds Lakes and standing Waters for in such plâ—ces they are quickly corrupted II. That the flesh of all those Creatures which live in Fens Marshes and standing Pools be avoided to wit of Ducks and Geese III. The flesh of Creatures too Old are naught hard dry sinewy of small Nourishment and hard to
and in the continuation of Infirmities But here you ought to take notice that if such a Custom be naught you ought by little and little to change it into a good one but a sudden change is altogether to be avoided as very dangerous therefore it is good to accustom ones self to every thing to the end that a sudden change may not in any wise be hurtful The Order also is to be observed in our Diet whence Meats easie to digest easie to go down and the most tender if they are taken after Meals swim on top and corrupt The things of an easie Digestion are known by the faâ—ility of eating them and you may conclude them such which are quickly roasted Such there ought always to precede Food of a contrary quality that is of difficult Concoction And if you have roast and boyled Meat together begin with the boyled as being the most easie to be digested and the same is to be understood of soft Eggs and Milk The things therefore of an easie digestion are to be taken before hard moist before dry liquid before solid and Laxatives before Astringents All this is meant of a Stomach which is in no wise indisposed The Delectation likewise is to be considered for by how much the more pleasing the Meat is so much the more easily 't is digested and by the Stomach more willingly is received But you must take notice that you ought not at any time yield that unwholsom Meat should be given to sick persons but you may sometimes permit them to have a little of such Food as will hurt but little and such whereof the badness may easily be corrected The time and season to take any Food is when the Stomach is empty having quite concocted the precedent Victual and in the Morning before the Air grows too hot and in the Evening when the Air begins to be less hot but with limitation that eight hours intervene betwixt one Meal and t'other And in the Summer you must eat in cool Places and be thinly cloathed and free from Sweating but in the Winter the contrary is best Besides when you perceive a good Appetite it is not good long to defer eating for the abstaining from Food when you are hungry fills the Stomach with putrid Humours because the Stomach at such time as it has an appetite not receiving any nourishment wherewithal to sustain it does attract the circumjacent Superfluities filling it self with naughty Humours The Sick in the time of their Fits ought not to eat any thing 'T is also necessary to take notice of the time of the Year for in the Winter which is cold and moist you ought to eat liberaâ—â—y and drink but little but let the Wine be strong In the Summer which is hot and dry little Food is sufficient and very temperate In the Spring you must eat a little less than in Winter but drink a little more So in Autumn eat a little more than in Summer but drink less and less Water with your Wine And therefore to this purpose is said Temporibus Veris modicè prandere juberis Sed calor Aestatis dapibus nocet immoderatis Autumni fructus caveas ne sint tibi luctus De mensâ sume quantumvis tempore Brumae In Summer the Food is to be considered To young Children moist Victuals best agree but to young men being hot and dry the contrary Food is most convenient For old men such Food as heats is best and moistens their solid Parts Moreover Children should eat often to render their natural Heat more strong but old men seldom their Heat being weak Infants and Children require more Nourishment but a lesser quantity is sufficient for middle-aged and old Men who can very easily undergo Fasting but young Men hardly and Children not at all especially if they be lively and vigorous The Climate likewise or Place of their Growth is to be considered in Foods viz. of Herbs Fruits and Flesh For Muttons in Italy and Greece are not very good but in France and Spain are more sweet and more wholsom On the contrary the flesh of Veal and of Pidgeons are in Italy better than in France or Spain and this proceeds either from a purer Air or sweeter Soyl in those Countreys And lastly the Nature of each â—ne and the particular Propriety is to be considered and therefore it is necessary that the best Physician be a Philosopher for some have loathed and abhorred Cheese others Wine others Garlick c. Some that are lean and of an hot and dry Complexion desire to eat two or three times a day others that are fat and moist are content with one Meal a day for to those that have a fat and big Body two Meals a day is very hurtful Besides all these things it will not be amiss to observe in your Diet these following Instructions 1. Eat not to Satiety for if you should eat more Food than the Stomach is well able to bear thence proceed infinite Crudities and therefore it is better to abstain a little than to cram your self too full for as it is written Gluttony kills more than the Sword for the superfluous abundance of Victuals suffocates the natural Heat as too great a plenty of Oyl puts out the flame of a Candle and therefore it is good to rise from the Table with an Appetite as it is bad to eat without an Appetite 2. The great variety and diversity of Foods is to be avoided because they beget many Distempers especially if those Foods be of contrary qualities for their Concoction is weakned and corrupted and as the variety of Meats delights the Palate so it hurts the Health whence a wise man being asked Why he contented himself with one only dish of Meat at Meals replied Because he would not make work for the Physician So that one single Food at one time is sufficient and most wholesom whereas the diversity of Tasts is hurtful and the multitude of Viands most pernicious And therefore our Ancestors lived much longer than we because they never used but one simple sort of Food that is Bread and Flesh whereas we using so great an abundance of all things our Life is shortned and exposed to so many Infirmities Do not we see the Horses the Cows and other irrational Creatures how they are troubled but with few Diseases only by a constant use of one and the same sort of Food And therefore a great Philosopher coming into Italy wondred at two things That the Men eat twice a day and that they never slept alone 3. That being at the Table you ought not to discourse much to the end that the time may not be prolonged at the Table and that the first Food may not disgest before the last and so the parts of the Food become unequal whence proceeds Corruption and Putrefaction 4. That you do remain a little while not adding Victuals to Victuals before the first be digested 5. That the Food be well chewed for
Commodity Chich-pease are of a great Nourishment apt to loosen the Belly and provoke Urine to beget Milk and Seed whence they excite Venery provoke the monthly Courses and the Cicer arietinum more strongly provokes the Urine than all the rest cleanses the Liver removes the obstructions of the Milt breaks the Stone causes good Colour contributes to the Lights purges the Breast clears the Voice and facilitates Child-birth Hurt Chich-pease do indeed nourish greatly but they are windy and if eaten fresh or ill boyled beget many Superfluities in the Body and in the Intestines or inward Parts and are hurtful and very pernicious to the Reins and the Bladder Remedy They are less hurtful if they be steept in Water during the space of one whole night to soften them and boyling with them Rosemary Sage Garlick and the Roots of Petroselinum or Stone-parsley by some called wild Alexander but you must rather use their Broth than the Pease themselves with boyled Wine mixed therewith and Cinamon but it must be eaten in a small quantity CHAP. XX. Of Beans Name IN Latin Faba in English Beans Choice The Bean is that which is big and clear shining without Spots and is not Worm-eaten Qualities It is cold and dry in the first degree but the green are cold and moist and they are but little more than temperate in cooling and drying they bind loosen cleanse fatten and are windy Beans are good at the cold time of the year for the Countreymen and the fresh are good for those whose Stomach is hot Commodity Beans are very nourishing purge the Breast and the Lungs and therefore are good for the Cough and make the Voice clear The Decoction thereof being drunk hinders the Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder and the Bean by a certain propriety and quality thereof hinders the Distillations and Defluxions from falling into the Breast which would cause great Coughs it provokes Sleep and is good against the Megrims Hurt It breeds soft and spongy Flesh having the same effects in Flesh as Corn in Pyes or Puddings it swells the Body begets cholick Distempers troubles all the Senses renders the Wit gross and stupid causes turbulent Sleeps and full of trouble The green do cause very much Excrement and nourish more lightly hurt those which are troubled with Pains in the Head beget Windiness gross Humours and Obstructions Remedy The French-bean is the most secure and least windy The Favetta or Small-bean much used by the Italians in Lent fryed with Oyl is least windy Beans boyled with Salt Origan and Fennel is very good as likewise if you boyl them with an Onion or eat that raw with them If you boyl them without their Husks with Leeks adding thereto Saffron Pepper Cinamon or Cummin these things take away their Windiness and do not puff up but are more easily digested In short they ought to be corrected with hot and attenuating things CHAP. XXI Of Lupins Name IN Latin 't is called Lupinus in English Lupins or Kidney-beans Kinds There be two sorts of Lupins Garden-Lupins and wild but these latter are not used in Food Choice You must choose those which are found large and heavy Qualities The Lupins are hot and dry in the second degree Commodity The Lupins that are first boyled and afterwards beaten in Water nourish best and thus eaten they excite the Appetite and take away the nauseating of the Stomach they kill the Worms open the obstructions of the Liver and Milt and make one have a good Colour The Bread is good wherewith the flower of Lupins and Beans is mixed sweetning first the Lupins and drying them in an Oven afterwards pounding them for this being added to the flower of Wheat makes excellent Bread easie to be digested and wholesom if it be made and preserved well Hurt They beget gross Nourishment and are of themselves hard to be concocted being of an hard and earthy Substance Remedy First boyled and afterwards beat in Water they are less hurtful especially eaten with Salt or some Spice CHAP. XXII Of Pease Name IN Latin Pisum in English Pease Choice The fresh and tender are the best and not Worm eaten Qualities The fresh are cold in the second degree and dry in the first and moist temperately They dry something less than Beans and refresh nor are so windy as Beans and have not much of an abstersive faculty Commodity They beget good Nourishment and they are eaten as the Beans but they are different in this that Pease are not so windy or abstersive and therefore are not so easily evacuated out of the Body as Beans but boyling Beets with them they loosen the Body The fresh or green Pease are very pleasant to the Taste stir up the Appetite cleanse the Breast expel Coughs they are good for an Asthma and all the Distempers of the Breast these fresh may be dryed in the shade and eaten in Winter for they are very agreeable to the Palate Hurt They beget Windiness The fresh Pease eaten with their Cods are laxative cause Sighs and induce strange Thoughts they do not digest very well and are hurtful to those that have weak and loose Teeth Remedy Let them be well boyled with Salt and with much Oyl afterwards sprinkling a little Pepper on them and juyce of Orange or other sharp Fruits but oyl of sweet Almonds is the true sawce of Pease CHAP. XXIII Of Rice Name IN Latin Oriza English Rice Choice The largest and whitest Rice is counted the best Qualities It is hot in the first degree and dry in the second it is something costive and moreover it stagnates is abstersive and has a kind of sharpness in it Commodity Rice is boyled in fat Broth whereby it nourishes sufficiently and is pleasant to the Palate It binds the Body cures Fluxes is a temperate Food and it fattens a man boyled with Milk it is more nourishing It is good for the Pains in the Stomach and griping of the Guts if it be boyled with Oyl or Butter being seasoned with Almonds and Milk and Sugar it increases the Seed nourishes better but it is gross and difficult to be digested given to Hens it will make them lay more Eggs. Of the flower of Rice the white part of the flesh of Capons milk of Almonds juice of Oranges and Sugar hereof is made by the Italians a pleasant Food call'd Bianco mangiare or White-meat Hurt Rice being too long time used causes Obstructions and being windy is hurtful to those that are troubled with Cholick pains Remedy The badness of Rice is removed if you first wash it and infusing it into the decoction of wheaten Flower after boyl it in fat Broth or in Cows milk or milk of sweet Almonds putting thereto Sugar and Cinamon it is good in the Winter for Labourers and young men but to old and flegmatick folks it is very hurtful Advertisements concerning Herbs ALL Herbs are of a slender Nourishment and of a naughty subtil Juyce and watery having many Superfluities and
chosen first and those of Aegypt are the best Qualities The green is cold and ought not to be used in the Body or eaten but the ripe has a pleasant Odour The dry is hot Commodity It is very useful for the Stomach because it represses and keeps down the venomous exhalations which would ascend into the Head Being drunk wiâ—h sweet Wine it kills the Worms It preserves tâ—e â—lesh incorrupted The Comfits of Coriander seed eaten at the end of a Meal does help the digestion of the Meat without keeping it in the Stomach and fortifies the Head and the Brâ—in Hurt The over-much use thereof offends the Head obfuscates the Understaâ—ding and disturbs the Mind Its Jâ—ice drank is deadly Poyson and those that drinâ— thereof bâ—come either dumb or foolish for it quite bereaves them of their Senses Remedy Iâ—s pâ—rnicious â—ualities may be remedied by stâ—â—ping it one Night in Water afterwards Canâ—yiâ—g these Coâ—iander-seeds with Sugar whereby thâ—â— become not only not offeâ—sive but they do verâ— much contribute to the Health Let thâ—se that â—ave drunk the Juice thereof take the â— wder of Egg-shells with â—rine or Treacle with Wine CHAP. XXXVII Of Tarragon Name IN Latin Dracunculus hortensis in English Tarragon Choice The best is that which is fresh tender and that which grows in fruitful Gardens and is sufficiently watered and the Leaves that hang on the ground are not to be chosen but the top and the most tender Qualities 'T is hot in the beginning of the third degree and dry in the first Commodity 'T is the best Herb that is to make Sallads and Sawces and it is used in cool Sallads instead of Rocket it is cordial causing a good Appetite and increases Copulation and wonderfully comforts the Stomach and the Head cutting the Flegm 'T is a very aromatick Herb and being eaten is an Antidote against the Plague and other Corruptions it cures the cold Pains of the Teeth and Gums by washing them with its decoction made in White-wine Hurt It heats the Liver and attenuates the Blood Remedy It is eaten with cold Herbs as Endive Lettice and Borrage-flowers but not by young sanguine and cholerick men especially in Summer 't is good for old men at all times CHAP. XXXVIII Of Cichory Name IN Latin Cichoreum in English Cichory or Succhory Choice The most tender is the best and the tops and that which has a blue Flower always turning to the Sun Qualities Cichory is cold and dry in the second degree and the wild is more bitter abstersive and bindiâ—g Commodity It contributes wonderfully to the Stomach opens the obstructions of the Liver and is the most powerful and effectual Remedy that can be to keep the Liver clean and opens the passages thereof very much It is good for the Reins Hâ—rt It hurts those that are grieved with a weak Stomach and cold and the juyce which it begets is of little and not good Nourishment so that it is more commendaâ—le in Physick than in Food It is â—urtfâ—l to rheumatick men Reâ—edy Bâ—ing boyled in Water and afterwarâ—s eaten with Oyl and Vinegar and Grapes in a Salâ—ad or â—lse raw with Mint-vinegar and mixt with Garlick and other hot Herbs it is less hurtful ' Ti good in Summer for young men and thâ—s that are of an hot Complexion may use it at all tiâ—â—â— â—ut it is â—ad for those that have a cold Stâ—â—ach and are subject to Catarrhs and these therefore ought not to eaâ— it raw but boyled in Broth of good wholesom Flâ—sh CHAP. XXXIX Of Endive Name IN Latin Endivia and Intybus in English Endive Choice The Garden-Endive is the best and most tender but you must not tarry till it has a Stalk or Milk in it that which is put under ground and made white is the best Quality It is cold and dry in the second degree but the Garden-Endive is more cold and moist than the wild Commodity It refreshes the Liver and all the inflamed Members quenches Thirst provokes Urine and in the Summer causes a good Appetite removes the Obstructions purges the Blood cures the Itch allays the burning of the Stomach being eaten boyled in Flesh-broth in the Summer-time it refreshes all the Bowels Hurt The use of Endive is not to be approved of in those that have the Stomach cold it hinders Digestion aâ— little and offends paralitick and trembling persons Remedy The white is to be eaten in Winter by those whose Stomachs are weak and cold adding thereto Pepper and Raisins of the Sun or a little boyled Wine the boyled is less hurtful than the raw 't is good for young cholerick and sanguine men 'T is eaten with Mint Rocket Tarragon and other hot Herbs CHAP. XL. Of Fennel Name IN Latin Faeniculum and Marathrum in English Fennel Choice The sweet and Garden-Fennel is the best but let it be fresh and tender Quality The sweet is hot in the second degree and dry in the first and the wild heats and dryes more strongly Commodity It very much provokes Urine and Milk and brings down the Flowers It removes old Obstructions purges the Reins and wonderfully contributes to the Eye-sight but the dry must be used in a little quantity for otherwise it will inflame the Liver and hurt the Eyes it purges the Breast and the Brain Hurt It is a sharp Food hard of Digestion and of a very bad Nourishment It attenuates and inflames the Blood of such as be cholerick it weakens and consumes the Body and by the use thereof is begot Melancholy so that it is more convenient and wholesom in Physick than Food Remedy The tender is the best and it is to be eaten in a small quantity The young Fennel which is boyled is to be open and put a little while in fresh Water to take away its naughty and poysonous quality which the Serpents leave in it It is good to rub the Eyes withal but you must eat but little thereof for in time it will breed the Stone which as being opening carries gross matters into the straight passages of the Urine where they afterwards condense and become Stones and Gravels CHAP. XLI Of Sampier Name IN Latin Crithmum and Faeniculum marinum in English Sampier Choice The green and sweet smelling is best for Pickle Quality 'T is hot and dry in the third degree salt to the Taste and something bitter because of its drying and abstersive faculty Commodity Pickled it preserves the Stomach Liver and Reins Hurt It inflames the Blood Remedy 'T is not good for young men in Summer but for old in Winter and then but a small quantity thereof CHAP. XLII Of Lettice Name LAtin Lactuca English Lettice Choice The Monks and French Lettice is the best and withal tender especially if it grows in fruitful Gardens Those that begin to have Milk are to be rejected they must not be washed but gently and tenderly cropped Quality 'T is cold and moist in the second degree Commodity It is easie to be digested
Complexions and all Ages except decrepid Men. Hurt If you eat many of them they begeâ— windiness offend the Stomach of those that arâ— troubled with Cholick pains and are full of Crudities they hurt the ulcerated Reins cause Thirst and are naught for the Liver and Milt and opilate they cause the Itch and breed many Lice Remedy When you eat the fresh you must drink fresh Water after them whereby they find an easier descent in the bottom of the Stomach and temperates their heat or else eating Pomegranats after them or other Food sauced with â—â—e juice of Oranges and Sorrel CHAP. LXVIII Of Apples Name IN Latine Poma and Mala in English Apples Choice There be almost infinite sorts of Apâ—les but the best are the sweet great and coâ—ured and above all such as are most ripe â—he Pippins challenge the superiority and preâ—erence beyond all others next to them the â—ear-mains c. Qualities The sweet Apples are hot in the â—â—rst degree and temperately moist but the sharp â—nd sour Apples are cold and dry Commodity They notably comfort the Heart â—pen the Breast ripen Flegm make one spit and â—re good baked for those who are in Health if â—heir Stomach be very weak because they comâ—â—r it and excite the Appetite but then they â—ust be roasted under the ashes and eaten with â—omfits made of Anise-seed of these is made â—he Syrup of Apples which is a great Cordial â—nd is good against Melancholy Passions Hurt They hurt them that have a weak Stoâ—ach and those that are troubled with pains in â—he Nerves especially if eaten raw and in a â—reat quantity They must be suffered to hang â—n the Tree till they be throughly ripe otherwise â—hey are very pernicious and of very bad nourishment The sour and sharp Apples cause wiâ—diness and much Flegm and make the Memorâ— short Remedy Apples become very good by roastinâ— and eating them with Sugar or else Cinnamoâ— or Sugar of Roses after them The Pippins aâ— least hurtful Apples may be kept all the Winteâ— in Hay but let them not touch one another CHAP. LXIX Of Medlars Name LAtine Mespilum English Medlars Choice The best Medlars are tâ—â— biggest which have Pulp enough and little Stoneâ— but let them be well ripened either in Hay 〈◊〉 hang'd up in the Air. Qualities Medlars are cold in the second degree and dry in the first Commodity They are pleasant to the taste comfort the Stomach and the Belly mitigate thâ— heat of the Stomach stop Fluxes stay Vomitinâ— but provoke Urine Their stones also beâ— to powder and drank in White-wine togethâ—â— with a few Roots of Parsley boyl'd do send oâ— the Stone and Gravel of the Kidneys There bâ— found a sort of Medlars without any stones whicâ— being grafted on a Quince-Tree come to be 〈◊〉 a notable largeness and pleasant taste Hurt They are slowly digested and do likewise hinder the digestion of other things anâ— many burden the Stomach breeding little bâ— gross Nourishment Remedy Eating after them pectoral things as Violet-Sugar Liquorish Sugar-câ—ndy c. they lose their hurt They are good in Winter for young cholerick Persons and such as have a strong Stomach CHAP. LXX Of Nutmegs Name IN Latine Nux Myristica in English Nutmegs Choice The best are the fresh red heavy solid fat and full of moisture Qualities They are hot and dry in the end of the second degree and astringent Commodity They make the breath sweet increase the sight held in the Mouth they cure the Vertigo and Syncope strengthen all the Bowels and especially the mouth of the Stomach the Liver the Milt and the Matrice they provoke Urine and stop Vomiting excite the Appetite consume the Windiness cause Digestion and are very good in Sauces for those that have a weak Stomach and for a cold Liver because it heats notably to anoint your self with the Oyl of Nutmegs is very good for the Stomach and trembling Members Hurt They cause inflammations of the Body and therefore they ought not to be eaten by Young Cholerick and Sanguine Men chiefly in hot Weather but Old Flegmatick and Melancholick Persons may make use thereof in their Victuals most securely and especially in Winter They are moreover very hurtful to those that are troubled with Piles or Emrods and those that are bound in the Body because Nutmegs are very astringent Remedy They are less hurtful if used but a little at once and mixed also with Ginger which by its moistness qualifies and allays their dryness CHAP. LXXI Of Pepper Name IN Latine Piper in English Pepper Choice You must take care in choosing it that the grains be not hollow dry and light but fresh heavy and black for then it is manifest that it is throughly ripe and good Qualities Pepper is hot and dry in the end of the third degree Commodity The white Pepper grows in one Plant and the black in another and there is as much difference between them as there is between the Vines which bear red Grapes and those that bear white Black Pepper helps Concoction excites the Appetite disperses Windiness fortifies the Stomach and strongly heats the Nerves draws dissolves and removes the dimness of the Eyes It hastens Child birth is good against the Cough and all Distempers and Defections of the Breast being beaten to powder and masht with Raisins of the Sun it draws down the Flegm from the Head and preserves the Health Hurt It hurts hot Complexions in Summer and in hot Countries inflames the Blood and dries the Liver Remedy It loses most part of its hurtful qualities by a moderate use thereof and is most wholsom for Old Men that are Flegmatick and full of Rheums but in cold Weather and eat with cold and moist Meats but not too finely powder'd but big unless you desire it should penetrate into all the parts of the Body then beat it very small CHAP. LXXII Of Pears Name IN Latine Pyrum in English Pears Choice Of these also as of Apples there be infinite sorts but the best are first the sweet and well-ripe Muscadine the second the Icy Pear the third the Bergamot the fourth the Bon Chrestien and the last are Wardens and hard Winter-Pears which are good baked Qualities Pears for the most part are cold in the first degree and dry in the second Câ—mmodity They are pleasant to the taste excite the Appetite strengthen the Stomach and cause a more quick evacuation of the Excrements The Bergamots are the most wholsom they are good against the Poison of Mushromes and Snails they make good Perry and putting them into a Glass of Wine if they sink to the bottom they signifie that the Wine is pure and right but swiming on the top they discover that the Wine is mixed with Water and falsified Drying them in the Sun or Oven first quartering them and picking out their Kernels they are very good in the Winter put into Wine or hot Water and sprinkled with a little Sugar Hurt Being eaten before Meals
cleanses it from Flegm mollifies the Breast clears the Stomach is good for the Kidneys the Bladder and the Eyes Hurt It causes Thirst and therefore when with thirst you perceive a bitterness in your mouth you must not use Sugar for then the Stomach is full of Choler wherein the Sugar converts it self and is very pernicious to the Stomach and naught for men of an hot Complexion as are the young and cholerick men Remedy The Malignity of Sugar is qualified by eating it with Pomegranats or sour Oranges CHAP. CLVII De Sappa Name IN Latine Sappa and Defrutum in English Wine and Water sodden together till two third parts are boyled away Choice New Wine of sweet Grapes is the best and it is better and more clear if it be made of white rather than red Mustum Qualities 'T is hot in the second degree for though by the Decoction it receives heat yet this proceeds from the Natural heat It is moist temperately Commodity It nourishes strongly keeps the Belly slippery recalls the Pulse and is good against the binding of the Breast Distempers of the Lungs Ulcers of the Reins and Bladder and against Poyson Hurt It is hard of digestion and by its sweetness opilative and therefore is altogether inconvenient for such as are troubled with Obstructions in the Liver and Milt It is of a gross substance and therefore windy and naught for the Stomach Remedy It must not be used for Food but Sawce and therewith put Pepper and other Aromatick things in Winter or else mix with it sharp and acid things which cause an equal temperament CHAP. CLVIII Of Salt Name IN Latine Sal in English Salt Choice The best is the white thick and dry Salt Qualities It is hot and dry in the second degree astringent purging dissolving and attenuating and therefore is said Sal primò poni debet primoque reponi Amongst all Sawces it is most commendable and without which no Food is good because it is very necessary to preserve the Health and is put into Food to render it more savoury according to this Verse Name sapit esca male quae datur absque Sale Commodity Salt is put into Victuals for three Reasons First that thereby the Food may descend more easily into the Stomach it being of an heavy substance Secondly to make it more savoury And thirdly because it resists Poyson and Putrefaction consuming by its dryness that moisture whereby putrefaction might have been occasioned it excites the Appetite and digestive Faculty it hinders the Stomach from nauseating and loathing the received Food dissolves attenuates and dries up the superfluous moistness provokes the Entrails to evacuate their dreggs and is therefore used in Clysters and Suppositories Hurt Things too much salted are acute beget Melancholy and Vapours offend the mouth of the Stomach breed naughty Nourishment dry up the Blood weaken the Sight diminish the Seed cause Scabbiness and Itch Ring-worms and other such Tumours and breakings out in the Face and Body and stop the passages of the Urine Remedy You must use it in a small quantity and 't is not good for such as as have the Breast streightned or have salt Humours Finis Condimentorum CHAP. CLIX. Of Water Name IN Latine Aqua in English Water Choice The best is the clear pure and subtil Water free from all tastes and that is the best which being set on the fire is easily heated and taken thence is soon cool In the Summer let it be cool in Winter warm let it neither be salt nor bitter nor taste of Mud Brimstone c. nor any Mineral Waters Let its Fountain be situate towards the East and run to the North The Water which runs on pure Earth is better than such as runs upon Stones you must take care that it be not heavy nor burdensome to the Stomach but light and quickly digested On the contrary those Waters are naught which run from Marshy places which have any ill smell or participate of Minerals as also are snow-Snow-waters and Ice dissolv'd and likewise such as in Winter are cold in Summer hot for all such cool the Stomach and obstruct the Milt Qualities It is cold and moist Commodity It is good for hot fat and fleshy Men and mixt with Wine for such as use much Labour and Exercise And though this does not nourish yet it refreshes and restores the strength and is the conduct of the Food excites the Appetite and oportunely given in burning Fevers it produces a joyful and happy success for it is most contrary and disagreeing with the Nature of Fevers refreshing and moistening the Body It does likewise very much contribute to Nightly Distempers Hurt It is bad for such as are too hot lean and idle Men and such as unaccustomed to drink it such as have a weak Stomach and are troubled with Convulsion of the Nerves It hurts the Teeth the Breast and weak Entrails the drinking of fresh Water is bad for Old Men and those that use it too frequently will inevitably fall into Old Age and cold Infirmities Remedy The Malignity of Water is corrected by beaten Pepper and if you would drink it immediately you must put therein Anise-seed and for sick Men boyl therewith Cinnamon and such like things Else make honey-Honey-water or Metheglin which has great Vertues takes away Thirst cures the cold Infirmities of the Brain Nerves and Joints is good against the Cough cuts and expels gross Flegm from the Breast and Stomach moves the Body and the Entrails purges the Bowels and passages of the Urine and therefore is good against Cholick-pains Advertisements in the Choice of Wines WIne is reckoned amongst Food because every thing that nourishes is Food and amongst all the Liquors we drink Wine may justly claim the Superiority for it is more wholesom and by reason of its subtil and penetrating substance it mixes better with the Mass than does the Water and other Drinks Besides that it is most pleasant and grateful to the Palate it restores the radical Moisture and chears the Heart Wine is a most sweet Liquor and an excellent restorative of all the Faculties and is the most certain prop and maintenance of our Life and therefore our Ancestors called the Tree Vitis quasi Vita as if it were the Tree of Life But the use thereof is to be regulated by these twelve following Instructions I. That when the Wine is strong and full of Spirits you must always mix Water therewith either simple Water or else the decoction of Aniseed or prepared Coriander and with it mingle so much Water as may suffice to take away the Heat and Evaporation which gets into the Head And because you may make a better mixture and the hot parts of the Wine may be cooled mix it an hour before you drink it but if the Wine be small and waterish do not mix it for it moistens the Body too much and causes Windiness in the Entrails and intoxicates more easily and therefore such as have a
weak Stomach should omit this II. That you never drink Wine after Dinner or Supper until the concoction of the Food be ended for then it helps Nourishment penetrating more easily the Body whereas at first it would hinder Digestion III. You must have a care that you do not drink Wine cooled with Snow or icy Water for it is very pernicious to the Brains Sinews Breast Lungs Stomach to the Entrails the Milt Liver Kidneys Bladder and causes Wind whence it is no wonder that such as use Wine in Snow or Ice are troubled with Cholick pains Infirmities of the Stomach stoppage of Urine and other pernicious Evils whereas the ancient Grâ—eks were wont to drink it hot with good success IV. You must avoid drinking Wine fasting because it troubles the Understanding induces the Cramp is exceeding hurtful to the Brain and Nerves fills the Head whence proceed Catarrhs which is seen by experience in the old Turks who drinking no Wine are nâ—t much troubled with Catarrhs or Tooth-ach whereas we who use it frequently begin to perceive Rheums and Catarrhs in our Youth Therefore when you find that the Wine has offended your Head and causes Pains therein immediately provoke Vomiting V. That it is not convenient after fresh and moist Fruit to drink a thin Wine for the Wine being a good Penetrator does presently induce and lay open a passage to the Members for the malignity of this Fruit But this is to be understood if you drink a superfluous quantity thereof but if you drink it moderately it corrects the hurt of all such Food VI. If at the same Table both small and strong Wine is used begin with the small reserving the strong for the last which comforts the mouth of the Stomach and helps Digestion VII That by how much the Food is more cold and gross so much the more need is there of strong Wine but when the Food is more subtil hot and digestible let the Wine be weak and therefore such as feed on Beef and Fish are to drink stronger Wine than such as feed on Pullets c. VIII That such as use much Wine ought not to eat much for Wine serves instead of Meat and Drink and therefore Nature cannot easily digest them both IX Wine that is weakned with Water is more wholesom and commendable than that which is naturally weak for the latter more easily putrifies X. That such as have a weak Brain a hot Liver and Stomach and dwell in sultry Countreys ought to drink a little Wine mixing Water therewith but if cold the more Wine and less Water will not be amiss XI You must also observe the season of the Year for in Winter drink very sparingly but strong Wine in Summer more largely but small and mixt with Water XII You must moreover consider the Age for as Wine is very bad for Children so it is most proper for old men seeing that it qualifies and allays their cold Complexion And therefore Plato denies Wine to Children gives young men leave to drink it moderately and allows old men a more plentiful use thereof saying that Children before they are twenty two years old ought not to drink any Wine because that will add fire to their fire and young men ought not to drink it strong but well tempered The Qualifications of Good Wine GOod Wine ought to be clean pure and clear inclining to a red called Claret or Cherry-colour but let it be of stony and mountainous Places situate towards the South Let it be of an excellent Odour for such Wine increases the subtil Spirits nourishes excellently and breeds very good Blood let it be of a pleasant Taste but let it by no means be too sharp or sweet but of a middle temper for if too sweet it inflames obstructs and fills the Head but the sharp or sowr Wine hurts the Nerves and Stomach and begets Crudities Of Bad Wine THE gross stinking corrupted flat Wines are unpleasant to the Taste and unwholesom all which are to be avoided for they cause the Head-ach corrupt the Blood breed melancholick Spirits and in short are destructive to the whole Body Of Watrish Wine THE weak and watrish Wines will not endure a great mixture of Water nourish smally do not heat much and may therefore be safely given to feverish persons They do not offend the Head having few Vapours they allay the Head-ach caused by moistness and the pains of the Stomach that proceed from Heat Of Strong Wine FRom the aforesaid things we may draw up this Conclusion viz. That strong Wines do not at all contribute to the preservation of the Health no more do Wines of Corsica Malmsey Muscadine and the like especially being fat and red for they nourish too much The Effects of Good Wine moderately drank WIne if used discreetly and moderately does communicate innumerable Benefits both to the Body and Mind For as to the Mind it is rendred more secure and calm the Spirits are strengthned and dilate themselves Joy and Gladness is augmented sad and unpleasant Thoughts are banished it clears the Understanding excites the Wit bridles Anger takes away Melancholy enlivens and encourages the Spirits changes Vices into Vertues makes an impious man pious a covetous man liberal a proud man humble a lazy man diligent and careful a dull and heavy man facetious and witty Then as to the Body it is very nourishing resists Putrefaction helps Digestion and breeds good Blood cuts Flegm dissolves Windiness provokes Sleep excites the Appetite fattens healthy men restores consumptive men opens Obstructions concocts crude Humours provokes Sleep opens a passage for the Superfluities whence Wine was justly called by the Ancients Theriaca magna since that it heats all cold Tempers and refreshes hot as also it dryes the moist Tempers and moistens the dry The Remedy of the Malignity of Wine TO correct the Malignity of the Wine you must not eat sweet and opening things but bitter and astringent Whence Wormwood taken before hinders Drunkenness and the same effect have seven or eight bitter Almonds or a Sallad of Lettice and Kernels of Peach-stones before Meat as Marmalade of Quinces and such like after Meat Of New Wine NEW Wine called Mustum is of a difficult Digestion offends the Liver and the Entrails swells the Belly by the Ebullition which it causes in the Body whence arises Windiness it provokes the Urine induces the Dysentery is of a gross Nourishment c. but one good quality it has for it loosens the Belly Of Old Wine WHen the Wine is above four years old it is hot and dry in the third degree and the older it is the more heat it acquires The best is such as is odoriferous something strong full of Spirits which is neither bitter nor sowr but pleasant to all the Senses helping the expulsive Faculty dissolving ill Humours it is good for those that have raw Humours in the Veins and in the other Vessels it hurts their Sinews who use it too much 't is naught
for Copulation because it dryes up the Seed disturbs the Understanding offends the little skins of the Brain and hinders Sleep whence 't is to be used for Physick and not for Drink unless you use it very moderately and mixt with much Water 'T is naught for young and cholerick persons but good for old men especially in Winter Of Rough Wine THE Wines which are properly Rough have so small a heat that they scarce arrive to the first degree and are dry in the second They are good for the great Heat in quotidian Fevers Inflammations of the Liver and dryness of the Stomach they refresh take away Thirst cure Fluxes stop Vomiting but let them not be too sharp or sowr but moderately binding subtil and not of too high a colour they are good for young men of an hot Stomach and are naught for flegmatick and old men because they bind the Breast beget Coughs do neither nourish well nor breed good Blood and hinder Sweat Of Red Wine THE Red Wine is hot in the first degree and as to the rest temperate The best is of a subtil substance clear and shining it breeds very good Blood nourishes well takes away the Syncope and makes Sleep pleasant the gross burdens the Stomach hurts the Liver and Milt causing Obstructions and is slowly digested the dark red is more nourishing and more obstructing Of White Wine THE Wine of a Citron or Limmon colour is called White-wine It is odoriferous and strong hot in the beginning of the second degree and dry in the first it must not be kept longer than a year for it will be too hot let this Wine be clear made of ripe Grapes growing on Hills It resists Poyson and all Putrefaction purges the Veins of corrupt Humours gives a â—ood Colour increases the Strength chears the Heart corroborates natural Heat provokes Urine and Sweat causes Sleep is good against the quartan and quotidian Ague it comforts the Stomach and being well tempered with Water is good at all times for all Ages and Complexions provided it be not too old Vinorum Finis CHAP. CLX Of Ale and Beer Name IN Latin Cervisia in English Ale and Beer Choice You must choose the clear thin and pure Ale Quality Ale is hot and moist Beer is cold and moist Commodity Beer and Ale is the common and familiar Drink in England and no doubt but profitable and wholesom it is as Experience shews but the different Preparations or brewing thereof make no small difference in the Drinks The difference of Waters of which it is made is greatly to be considered therefore according to their Natures you must judge of the Drink Also the different Corn or Grain is to be considered As Drinks made of Wheat Malt nourish more some people mix Wheat and Barley together others mix some Oats with Barley for Malt generally in Ale are used no Hops or less Hops than in Beer therefore Ale is more nourishing and loosens the Belly Hurt All new Drink is very unwholesom especially if it be troubled or thick for it obstructs the Bowels and breeds the Stone Remedy If it be not too strong but clear and thin all hurt thereof is remedied whereas the thick and muddy Ale is very unwholesom for if Ale goes in thick and comes out thiâ— Then needs must leave some Dregs within Divers Ways to loosen the Body FRom eating dâ— proceed many Superfluities in our Bodies part whereof are consumed by Exercise and part râ—main behind which are to be expelled by Art The Superfluities are different according to the diversity of places whence they proceed such is Spittle Snot Sweat Urine the Excrements of the Belly and other Filth and Dregs of the Body which if not driven forth â—occasion many Evils as Obstructions Fevers Aches and Imposthumes and therefore with all diligence one ought to evacuate them either by Nature or by Art By Nature using moist and liquid Foods By Art taking some Clyster in Summer made with oyl of Violets and Roses in Winter with common Oyl or of sweet Almonds or else making a Suppository of Butter filling a leaden Pipe with Butter and a little Salt The other way is To take half an ounce of flower of Cassia a little before Meals or else an ounce and a half of honey of Roses loosning or else syrup of Roses three hours before Dinner once or twice a week To this purpose it will not be amiss before Dinner to eat half an ounce of Calabrian Manna or to drink it in a little Broth Or else and it is a soveraign Medicine likewise dissolve Manna in burrage-Burrage-water afterwards distil it iâ— a hot Bath in a great Limbeck whence proceeds a most clear and pure Water whereof take one or two ounces at night before Supper or in the morning six hours before Dinner FINIS
City it is shortned Likewise change of Air is sometimes very requisite and necessary though that change should not be made suddenly but deliberately and by little and little And because to the rectifying the Air the Clothes do in some measure contribute defending the Body from it for this purpose wear those Clothes that be warm and dry in the Winter get a Suit of Lamb-skin Fox-skin of a Marten or Ermin and for a good warm pair of Shoes take the skin of an Hare which is very good against the weakness and infirmness of the Hams or else that of a Fox which strengthens all the Members Some make their Clothes of Wool Cotton or Silk for those that are made of Linnen are least of all warm Cover well the Body by Night especially the Head which is the Cell or Domicile of the rational Soul from which are derived many indispositions wherefore one must take great care that the Head be neither too hot nor too cold and there be many that in the Night-time cover their Head close with warm Clothes for whilest a Man sleeps the natural heat retires to the inward parts and the outward parts are deprived of their heat whence they are easily offended by the external Cold aâ—d likewise whilest a Man is awake much heat and many Spirits by the Operation of the interiour and exteriour Faculties ascend into thâ— Head and by that means render it more hot Therefore there is most need in the Day to keep it cool but in the Night warm One must also beware of being too much in the Sun or near the Fire and not to wash the Head too often for these hot things open dilate and rarifie the parts of the Head and more readily dispose it to receive a superfluous humidity In the Winter 't will not be unuseful to sprinkle your Clothes with this sort of Water Take of Iris Florentina or Flower-de-luce Zedoary Spikenard ana one Ounce Storax Mastick Cinnamon Nutmegs Cloves ana half an Ounce Juniper-berries three Drams Behen Amber Musk ana one Scruple Distill all these things with Wine In the Summer take of Rose-water four pounds of the best Vinegar one pound of Red Roses one handful and a half Camphire half a Dram Musk seven Grains Spice of Diambra Flower-de-luce ana one Ounce pound all these except the Spice the Musk and the Camphire and dissolve them all in Rose-water which being put into a Limbeck cover it nine days under Horse-dung You may also make use of this Powder to sprinkle on your Clothes adding Rose-water Take Red Roses Violets ana one Ounce Peel or Rind of Citron Solanum or Night-shade of Myrtle Lignum-Aloes ana one Ounce Camphire Amber ana half a Scruple Musk Behen ana five Grains and make of this a thin Powder 'T is also good to carry Odoriferous things in your Hand in the Summer-time a Sponge dipt in Rose-water or Rose-vinegar and smell to it often or carry with you this Odoriferous Ball Take of Roses one Dram Red Coral four Scruples Water-Lillies one Dram and a half Bole-armoniack one Dram â—â—orax Calamita one Dram and a half Lignum-Aloes two Scruples Mastick one Dram Lâ—danum two Drams Amber Musk ana two Grains these are pounded and so made into a Ball. In the Winter carry a Sponge infusâ—d into Vinegar wherâ—in steep Cloves and Zedoary Or else carry in your Hand this Ball of Amber Take of Ladanum half an Ounce Storax Calamita two Drams Bezoar Mastick ana one Dram Cloves Nutmegs Crocus Dyers-Grains white Wax Lignum-Aloes ana one Scruple Amber half a Scruple Musk dissolved in Malmsey five Grains make it into a Ball. Besides this there is need of defending the Breast and Stomâ—â—k with Lamb-skin or Hares or with a Pillow of Feathers seeing that the Stomack indisposed is the Mother of the Distemper Besides the Clothes which are used for the Head and Stomack make an Odour of Saffron Lignum-Aloes anâ— Amber for these things strengthen the Brain buâ— the Musk is to be left out by reason of its toâ— great Evaporation the hands are to be often covered with Gloves in the Winter made of Fox-skin in the Summer of Hares-skin Kids oâ— Lambs The last thing though not the least to bâ— observed is That with the greatest diligence anâ— care you avoid coldness of Hands or Feet since that infinite Distempers are wont to proceed and flow from thence CHAP. II. Of Motion BEcause Motion is not only requisite to the preservation of the Health but also very needful towards a good habit of the Body therefore after the Air it remains to treat of Exercise the which is a most powerful and prevalent thing to keep us in health being that which purges and drives away the superfluous Humours of the Body which are in such sort dissipated and dissolved that there is no longer need of Physick where this is not wanting There be many sorts of Motion and that is the best which is not violent as Walking but is a regular motion of the Body as being most kindly and most agreeable to the Members but that Motion which is caused in a Coach in a Ship on Horse-back or the like is the least wholsom Some Exercises are strong and wearisom and others moderate light and weak The temperate Exercise is that which contributes much to the Health for it corroborates the natural Health wasts the Superfluities enlivens Youth chears old Age and hinders Fulness fortifies the Senses renders the Body light and agile strengthens the Nerves and all the Joynts for the exercised Parts become more robust This also consolidates the Members aids Digestion keeps the Passages of the Body clear and open so that the smoaky Vapours of the Spirits may find a better and more free issue the which are the chiefest instruments in the conservation of humâ—ne Life being the reason that the Food finds an eaâ—â—â— concoction digestion and assimulation of Parts and finally a cause of the evacuation and expurgation of all the Superfluities The light Exercises are Fishing Fowling and such like Divertisements which chear the Mind and as moderate and temperate Exercise does wonderfully contribute to the Health so overmuch Idleness is very pernicious Rubbings are also exceeding useful for they hinder the Humours from falling into the Joynts and doing it in the right time that is when the Superfluities shall be evaporated from the inward Parts it helps Digestion recreates the Body and opens the Pores whereby the moist Humours and Vapours of the Body obtain an easier passage It also swiftly draws the Blood to the outward Parts it thickens the subtil Bodies and attenuates the gross hardens the soft and mollifies the hard and fiâ—ally confirms the natural heat The quantity of the Exercise reaches so far as the Body can bear without growing too weary that is till you wax hot having a fresh colour and begin to sweat which so soon as you perceive change your Cloaths and dry well all the Members and put on other Cloaths
that is caâ—led the first Concoction and is as it were an half Digestion whereas an imperfect Chewing hinders and retards Digestion One ought not therefore to swallow it down whole as the Gluttons do but first chew it sufficiently till it become very small and then swallow it down 6. That all hot Meat is better than cold especially in Winter for the actual heat of the Food temperates and allays the coldness of the Drink but you must not therefore eat the most hot Hot Meats indeed do most please the Palate for Hunger being a desire of hot and dry we always covet hot Food whereas Thirst being a desire of cold and moist it requires cool things 7. That in the Winter we use gross Meats for at that time the natural Heat is more united in the inner Parts but in the Summer the contrary happens and therefore at such time a light and slender Food is most convenient the natural Heat being then but weak 8. That the quantity of the Meat be double to that of the Drink the Bread twice as much as Eggs thrice as much as Flesh and four times as much as Fish Herbs and Fruits 9. That you do not use Broths too much at Meals for it causes the Food to swim in the Stomach loosning and taking away the Appetite begets too much moisture whence afterwards proceed divers Infirmities whereas those which eat dry Meats live much longer 10. And lastly Because in Meats and Drinks it is hard to perform every thing exactly and never to mistake Therefore let this be your general Rule That if at any time you eat naughty Meat it ought to be tempered and allayed by its contrary What is to be done after Meals AFter eating always take some astringent thing without drinking any thing or at least but a little after it as Pears Medlars Quinces Cheese or a glass of fresh Water which things do as it were seal up the mouth of the Stomach whereby the natural Heat becomes more strong and hinders the Vapours from mounting up into the Head Many take half a score Coriander-seeds sugred others a piece of Marmalade of Quinces which helps Digâ—stion and the weakness of the Stomach And after Meat it is good to walk a little and moderately and then to sit down whence is said Post pransum stabis aut gradu lento meabis Which ought to be biggest Dinner or Supper MAny affirm that the Supper ought to be larger than the Dinner especially in Winter since that the Natural heat strengthens it self in the Night but the contrary ought to be practised in Summer or if a Man be indisposed and infirm then the Dinner is to be the largest unless he be troubled with fits and accessions of the Ague For that a large Supper is more wholsom the reason they say is this because the coldness of the Night recalls the Natural heat to the inward parts whereby the Digestion and Concoction of the Food is much bettered besides that sleep does best of all concoct the Food not only in the Stomach but also through all the parts of the Body but in waking we see the contrary happen For the Natural heat extending it self to the exteriour parts leaves the interiour quite destitute or at least that which remains is very weak To this Opinion our Use and Custom is altogether contrary chiefly in those who are exposed to Catarrhs and Phlegmatick Distempers for at Night the Natural heat weary and tired by the businesses of the Day is not so strong and robust as in the Morning and at Night the Food of the Morning is not well concocted The resolution of this doubt is that the Supper ought to be light especially for them whose Bodies are subject to Night-Distempers as Rheums Defluxions and the like besides that from a large Supper are created many evaporations in the Head whereby it is not a little offended and therefore if the Brain be any ways indisposed a little Supper is sufficient notwithstanding that there is a longer space of time betwixt Supper and Dinner than betwixt Dinner and Supper and therefore that at Night a greater quantity of Victuals will be concocted because it is not the number of hours but the working of the Faculties which concocts which in the Morning by reason of sleep is stronger and therefore at this time a larger proportion of Food is more agreeable than at Night For Ex magnâ coenâ stomacho fit maxima poena Vt sis nocte levis sit tibi coena brevis Coena levis vel coena brevis fit raro molesta Magna nocet Medicina docet res est manifesta An Advertisement concerning Corn. COrn is called by several Names according to the several sorts thereof viz. Maslin Rye Barley Wheat and Spelt c. The good are known by their Colour Weight Order and Age for the new and green Corn is too moist and viscuous and difficult to digest and very windy The old Corn is dry and nourishes little CHAP. XIII Of Maslin Name IT is called in Latin Far in English Maslin made of Wheat and Rye or Wheat and Barley Choice The best Maslin is that which is fresh and very clean Quality It has the same quality as Wheat and Barley but it is temperate in the first Degree Commodity Maslin is of great Nourishment and therefore eaten with Meat it nourishes wonderfully and fattens those that are lean being more nourishing than Barley and because it is of a gross nourishment it is good against Fluxes and Catarrhs as well as Rice but boyled well in fat Broath it softens the Body The Romans used it to make Bread and it would endure many Years Maslin is made of Wheat and Rye putting it to steep in Water by little and little afterwards beat it in a Mortar and dry it in the Sun whereby it thickly grinds so that of one Grain are made four or five parts and being dry may be kept a long time and is of good Nourishment in such manner that it corrects the vicious and naughty Humours of the Stomach Hurt Being not well boyled and prepared it begets gross and slimy Humours and is windy and if eaten by those who have a weak Stomach it hardly digests it self and therefore it is not good for Old Men and if used too often it very much opilates and obstructs the Liver and causes the Gravel in the Kidneys Remedy The hurt of Maslin is corrected if it be well baked with Vinegar and Garlick and if it be seasoned with Honey or Sugar it loses its clamminess and is easily digested and being boyled in good Broth it is an excellent Food for those that are in Health and for Sick also provided it be moderately eaten In many places they make Cakes of it which if well seasoned are pleasant to the taste and of great and good Nourishment CHAP. XIV Of Wheat Name IN Latine it is called Triticum in English Wheat Kinds There be many sorts of Wheat named from their
therefore in the choice of them observe well these following Rules I. That you eat but a small quantity of them and that they may better nourish use them boyled in Broth. II. That none but Lettice be eaten raw and that also with Vinegar to allay the boyling of the Blood the heat of the Liver and Stomach III. In Winter use hot Herbs in Summer cool in Spring and Autumn temperate IV. That you do not eat Herbs which begin to put forth their Seed V. That Herbs be eaten at the beginning of Dinner since that almost all are laxative CHAP. XXIV Of Sorrel Name IN Latin 't is call'd Oxalis and Acidula in English Sorrel Kinds There be several sorts thereof but Garden-Sorrel and wild are the chief Choice The Garden-Sorrel is the best and of the wild that which is not red but all over green Qualities It is cold and dry in the second degree Commodity It is very pleasant in raw Sallads mixt with other Herbs for its smart and sharp taste which it has it is very agreeable to the taste it is very good in pestilential and burning Fevers for it stifles the heat of the Choler extinguishes Thirst resists Putrefaction excites the Appetite and stops Defluxions In Summer Flesh and Fish are to be sawced with the juyce of Sorrel instead of Vinegar or Verjuice or juyce of Oranges and so Eggs which renders them very pleasant and excites the Appetite Many eat Sorrel raw with Bread others use the decoction thereof either in Water or in Broth or Water of it distilled or else the Syrup of its juyce Sorrel takes away the nauseating and squeamishness of the Stomach it is good for the Kidneys breaking and expelling thence the Stone and Gravel The seeds of Sorrel drank in Wine are an Antidote against Poyson stops Rheums and Fluxes frees and preserves one from the Plague Hurt It nourishes little binds the Body of those that use it too often hurts melancholy persons and sowrs the Stomach Remedy Let it be eaten in a Sallad mixt with other Herbs among which let there be Lettice which is moist Rue or Mint which is hot it ought to be used only in hot Seasons and by young cholerick and sanguine men and also in hot Distempers CHAP. XXV Of Marjoram Name IN Latin Amaracus and Sampsuchus in English Marjoram Qualities 'T is hot and dry in the third degree its Faculties are to digest to attenuate to open and to strengthen Commodity The use of Marjoram is very good and necessary in Food for it corroborates and cleans the Stomach and mundifie it expelling thence the Choler and Flegm the smell thereof comforts the Brain and it is very useful and effectual given to Dropsical Persons and it is good to bring down Womens Monthly Courses Hurt It is too sharp whence it causes the boyling and inflammation of the Blood Remedy It is to be used in a small quantity and never in hot Food but rather in such Meats as are of a cold quality and windy and which beget gross and slimy Humours CHAP. XXVI Of Dill. Name IN Latine Anetham in English the Herb Anise or Dill. Choice The best is that which is fresh and is not seeded Commodity It is used for sawce with Meats in Coleworts in Fish and other sort of Victuals it has a pleasant taste helps the Stomach to concoct the Food lessens the Hickets and sneezing and mitigates the pains of the Body increases Nurses Milk dissolves the windiness is good for the Nerves and binds the Belly Hurt The too frequent use thereof hurts the Eye-sight dries up the Sperma or Seed offends the Stomach because it is a sharp Food moves belching begets gross Humours is hard of Digestion provokes nauseating and offends the Reins Remedy It must not be too much nor too frequently uâ—ed with hot Food but with Fish it may be securely used Their bad Qualities may be allayed by mixing therewith Parsley Bete and Burrage or Lettice CHAP. XXVII Of Anise-seed Name IN Latine Anisum in English Anise-seed Choice The first in goodness is that of Aegypt which is the fresh and black Quality It is hot and dry in the third degree and of a subtil substance sour bitter sharp digestive and dissolving windiness Commodity This Seed cures a stinking Breath renders the Mouth sweet is good for Dropsical Persons removes the Obstructions of the Liver provokes Urine and stops the white Fluxes of Women mitigates Thirst and the decoction thereof drunk dissolves the windiness of the Body is good for the Liver Lungs and Stomach because it aids and strengthens digestion it cures the pains of the Head provokes Milk breaks the Stone helps the Nerves and comforts the Brain hindring the Vapours from rising up toward the Head a little of this made into Comfits is good after Dinner and taken before Water it rectifies it it is very useful in Pies and Pasties Hurt It excites Lusts and is unprofitable to the Stomach unless when windy Remedy It must be used moderately Young Cholerick and Sanguine Men must abstain from it especially in Summer CHAP. XXVIII Of Asparagus Name LAtine Asparagus English Sparagus Choice The Garden-Sparagus is better than the Wild the fresh are to be eaten and those which with their tops do not bend down Quality Sparagus is abstersive and temperately hot and moist Commodity It is quickly boyled whence the Proverb Citius quam Asparagus coquitur It nourishes more than all other Herbs is is good for the Stomach purges the Breast mollifies the Body provokes Urine increases the Sperma genitale cleanses the Kidneys from the gravel mitigates their pains and likewise the Loyns Hurt Being used in too great a quantity iâ— offends the Stomach induces nauseating especially when it is eaten fresh and by its bitterness it increases Choler and makes the Urine stink though it hath passed through all the Body And lastly if much used by Women it makes them Barren Remedy Let it be boyled and let the firâ— Water wherein it was boyled be thrown away afterwards season it with Oyl Salt and Peppeâ— adding thereto Juice of Oranges or Vinegar boyleâ— in Wine it is very good It does not agree witâ— Cholerick but Old Men eaten in moderate quantity and hot and well seasoned it is more wholsom boyled in fat Broth. CHAP. XXIX Of Betony Name IN Latine Betonica in English Betony Choice The best is that which grows on Sunny Hills and is tender being eaten boyled in Broths Qualities It is hot and dry in the first degree and cutting Commodity The Betony is full of infinite vertues whence comes the Italian Proverb You have more goodness in you than the Betony It is good for all the internal Passions of the Mind in whatsoever manner it be took It is good for those who have took any poisonous thing and it is very credible that being used in Food it preserves one from all those Evils and Distempers which it has the faculty to heal and it is good for the Jaundice
eaten boyled or in a Sallad mixed with Lettice Sorrel and such like Herbs Advertisements concerning the Roots of Herbs WE have said enough concerning all the Herbs which are used with Meats it remains now to treat of the Roots where by the way you must take notice that in the Spring and Summer their virtue disperses it self into the Leaves Flowers and Seeds but at Autumn and Winter they are more strong and vigorous Though it be true that their use is more frequent in Physick than in Food for they have almost all a naughty Juice and are hard to be digested Those Roots may be securely eaten which grow in the Garden and are of a young fresh and tender Plant. The Roots have two parts the skin and the wooden parts and in some the peel is best The outward part is more hot than the inward so that in cold Roots the out-side is the best as in the hot Roots the in-side especially if they be not woody Now as to the length of them the middle part is the best except in those Plants which have a sweet Marrow near their buds as we see in Gardens CHAP. LV. Of Garlick Name IN Latine Allium in English Garlick Choice The fresh Garlick is the best which is that which in Lent is eaten in Sallads and the dry which is laid up having many buds Qualities It is hot and dry in the fourth degree and sharp it is of a biting digestive opening and cutting Faculty Commodity Being eaten in Food it is an Antidote against all Poison and therefore is called the Country-mans Treacle It kills and drives the Worms out of the Body provokes Urine is good for the biting of Serpents very useful for Dropsical and Tisical Men and makes the voice good It corrects the hurt which the change of Air or Water may cause and temperates the coldness and moistness of Sallads Garlick is exceeding good for Sea-men for it purifies the Air corrupted with the stink of Tar and Pitch and helps Sea-sick Persons The Agliata a sort of Food amongst the Italians is made of Garlick Nuts Salt and Bread with two leaves of Sage which is very pleasant to the Palat and Stomach and excites the Appetite Hurt It hurts the expulsive faculties the Head the Brain and the Eye-sight it causes thirst is naught for big-bellied Women renews old pains dries up and burns the Blood hurts the Emrods or Piles and Women that give suck it causes a noysom and stinking Breath 'T is a sharp Food and offends the Liver which is the principal Foundation of the Health and when the Garlick sprouts it is more hurtful for that is a sign of putrefaction Remedy By boyling it loses its malign qualities but the vertues become more weak The raw hurts less if eat with Oyl and Vinegar It is good for Old Men in Winter but naught at all times for Young The stinkingness thereof is corrected by eating after it raw Beans Parsley or a little Rue CHAP. LVI Of Carrets Name LAtine Carota English Carret Choice The red are the best the great sweet ones and those of Winter Quality They are hot in the second degree and moist in the first Commodity The red and the white are well tasted both pickled and out of pickle they provoke Milk Womens Courses and Urine and open Obstructions Hurt They nourish less than Turnips neither are they so eaâ—â—ly digested they cause windiness c. Remedy They are to be well boyled and seasoned with Vinegar Oyl and Mustard or Coriander or Pepper and boyled in good Broth of Meat they lose all their naughtiness CHAP. LVII Of Onyon Name LAtine Caepe in English Onyon Choice The biggest are the best and such as grow in Marshy Ground of much Juice of a round shape Quality It is hot in the third degree and dry in the second Commodity It corrects that hurt which the change of Water induces causes a good Appetite attenuates the Humours makes a good colour and increases the Seed Hurt Being eaten raw in a great quantity it causes the Head-ach inflames the Blood dims the Sight and hurts the Understanding it increases Lust opens the Emrods and causes over-much sleep Remedy If you boyl it it loses the malign and naughty qualities and becomes very good especially with Parsley To eat it raw it must be cut in pieces and steept in fresh Water whereby it becomes sweet It agrees with cold Constitutions and cold Seasons but is hurtful to the contrary CHAP. LVIII Of Mushromes Name LAtine Fungus English Mushromes Choice Those that grow in the Fields called Spungy and Meadow-Mushromes that look like the Yolks of Eggs are the least hurtful Qualities They are cold almost in the fourth degree and moist in the second Commodity They are pleasant to the Stomach they stir up the Appetite and drink up all the Sauce The Mushromes then that grow upon the Rocks in the shade being dryed and powder'd and thereof taken the weight of a Scruple with Wine and Broth mitigate the Cholick pains and Gravel provoking Urine and driving forth the Stone but it is to be taken four hours before Meat Hurt They cause stupidness and the Apoplexy and suffocate Remedy The pickled Mushromes are good enough being cleansed and well boyled with sour Pears Basil Bread Oyl Salt and Pepper 'T is good to eat but a little thereof and to drink good Wine after it CHAP. LIX Of Parsnips Name IN Latine Pastinaca English Parsnip Choice The most tender and such as grow in fruitful Grounds are the best Qualities They are very hot and abstersive Commâ—dity They are eaten boyled and prepared divers ways and they have the same vertue as Carrots for they provoke the Courses and Urine and remove Obstructions Hurt They give but little and that too ill Nourishment they are slowly digested cause much windiness stimulate Lust excite the Itch breeding bad Blood and full of Superfluities Remedy They lose their ill Qualities if they be soundly boyled first taking away their wooden Marrow from within and afterwards season them with Oyl Vinegar and Mustard or else first boyl them and afterwards fry them with Butter and salt them They are good in cold weather for young men and for all Complexions except old and flegmatick men This following way is also good Steep them first in two Waters then in a third Water with Lettice Coriander and Onions adding after Oyl Vinegar Pepper and Honey or boyled new Wine CHAP. LX. Of Leeks Name IN Latin Porrum English Leeks Choice The best sort is that which grows in marshy places and small Quality They are hot in the third degree and dry in the second Commodity They provoke Urine and the Courses dissolve Windiness incite Copulation and boyled with Honey purge and cleanse the Lungs and eaten with Salt clear the Stomach of Flegm the Leaves boyled and thereof a Plaister made cure the Emrods roasted under the ashes and eaten they qualifie the poysonous faculty of the Mushrooms they are good against
Drunkenness and mitigate the cholick Pains they cure the Asthma or shortness of Breath drank with Water of Barley or Honey they expel the Cough cause a good Voice and make Women fruitful The Heads boyled in two Waters bind the Belly and are good against the Tenesmus Hurt Being eaten raw they beget Windiness offend the Head cause frightful Dreamâ— dim the Sight burden the Stomach and hurt the Ulcers of the Reins and Bladder They cause the Head-ach beget naughty Humours and corrupt the Gums and the Teeth Remedy By boyling them twice and putting them in fresh Water their Hurt is taken away You must eat with them Lettices Endive and Purslain they are the â—ood of Plow-men and of those which labour much They are to be eaten after all other Meat CHAP. LXI Of Radishes Name IN Latin Raphanus and Radix in English Radish Choice The best Radishes are the tender and sharp which have been first nipt by the Frost and those which have a black skin are the sweetest Quality The Radishes are hot in the third degree and dry in the second they are digestive cutting abstersive and rarifying Commodity Eaten they provoke the Urine mollifie the Belly expel the Stone and Gravel from the Kidneys and Bladder Radishes are pleasant to â—he Stomach cutting them to pieces and putting them in Water with Salt they increase the Milk and make the Drink relish They are good against the poyson of Mushrooms boyled they are good against old Coâ—ghs and eaten after other Food they move the Body Hurt They make the Body lean they cause Windiness and move stinking Belches They are of a slow Digestion offend the Head breed Lice hurt the Teeth and the Eye-sight increase the pains of the Sinews and Arteries and do cause Hoarsness Remedy Being well washed in Water and afterwards eaten with Salâ— they become less hurtful Eaten after Supper they do not help Digestion as many have thought but the party that eats them remains thereby prejudiced though it is true that Radishes agree best with them whose Stomach is hot and not apt to beget Windiness after Suppeâ—â— They are good in cold weather for young men and those that labour much but very unwholesom for others CHAP. LXII Of Scallions Name IN Latin Ascalonia in English they are called Scallions Choice The red hard little and sweet are the best Quality They are hot almost in the fourth degree and dry in the second Commodity They are very good to waken and excite the Appetite which is weakned by a superfluous Heat they are good to make the Drink relish more savoury they increase the Seed and stimulate carnal Copulation Hurt They cause Windiness multiply the gross Humours make the Head-ach they procure Thirst and raise a desire to sleep offend the Eye-sight and make the Tongue rugged And you must have a care of using them too often for they hurt the Nerves whence they are very hurtful to old and Epileptick men Remedy They are first to be squeez'd well and afterwards steept a little in Water then season them with Vinegar Oyl and Salt adding thereto a little Sage and Parsley hereby they become more sweet and nourishing less windy and easier digested but they require little boyling They agree with hot Complexions CHAP. LXIII Of Tartufoli Name IN Latin Tubera in English or rather Italian Tartufoli which because they are but lately known in England it will not be amiss to give a short description thereof It is then a certain Excrescence within the ground without any Root or Stalk but always hid under ground therefore to find it the Italians lead a Hog in a string who as soon as he smells them for the Tartufoli are of a strong smell will stop and dig with his Snout and then he that leads the Hog digs out the Tartufoli Choice The male that is the black are bettâ—r than the wâ—iâ—e which are the female as likewise the thickest and biggest with a hard skin let them be also fresh not putrid but of a good odour Quality They are hot and dry in the second degree and suck up all the sawce whereunto they are put Commodity Being eaten both boyl'd and raw they are pleasant to the taste for they have the smell of Flesh They excite venereal Desires and multiply the Seed they are of a gross Nourishment though not bad Chesnuts roasted under the ashes afterwards cleansed and boyled in a Skillet with Pepper Oyl the juyce of Oranges with a little Salt are very good eaten after to qualifie the Tartufoli The Tartufoli dryed and put into a Chest or Trunk where Cloaths are do impart to them no unpleasant odour Hurt They are windy melancholick destructive to the Nerves Head and Stomach They cause bad Breath and being used too often beget Apoplexies and Palsies and are hard to be digested those that are sandy are naught for the Teeth Besides there be some of them which suffocate as the Mushrooms do they cause pains of the Stone stoppage of the Urine and bring the Gout Remedy They are to be washed with Wine and afterwards boyled in fat Broth with Cinamon and let pure good Wine send them down but they must be eaten at the end of the Meal Advertisements concerning Fruits ALthough Fruits are not to be reckoned amongst nourishing Food seeing that their nourishment is but little and that they are apt to breed putrified Blood and are full of many Superfluities nevertheless they being used for other Commodiâ—ies and Benefits in a manner physically we conclude that they must not be used too often nor too much at once for that which is taken physically and not for nourishment ought to be used in a small quantity and seldom Now the first benefit which we receive from Fruit is That they mitigate the Choler extinguish the heat of Blood refresh and moisten the Body Therefore they are to be eaten before other Food and you must drink after them Wine mixt with Water to the end that they may pass the more readily to the Veins and refresh and therefore in Summer they best agree with cholerick and sanguine Complexions The second good is That theâ— loosen the Belly and therefore they are to be eaten in the beginning of the Meal and you must presently eat other Food after them But betwixt these Fruits and your Food some small time ought to intervene such are Grapes Figs Plumbs Mulberries Peaches and Cherries The third good is That they bind the Belly and to do that they are to be eaten before Dinner such as are Cornels Quinces Service-berries Medlars c. But they must not be eaten in a great quantity because they are very difficult to be digested and are of naughty nourishment But in short for the use of Fruits take these following Rules I. That all Fruits are to be avoided by gouty folks especially moist watery and viscuous Fruits for they are full of Vapours II. That all fresh and moist Fruits are worse than the dry III. That the
grieved with pains of the Stone and the Falling-sickness Remedy It s hurt is remedied by roasting it well especially those parts which are most humid and eat it with Oranges or else baking it with Pepper and Salt but the boyled is to be eaten cold if at all CHAP. XCVIII Of Deer Name IN Latine Dama in English a Buck or a Doe or Fallow-Deer Choice Of the Deer let those that you choose be young fat and exercised enough which dissolves their naughty Humours and purges the Blood from many superfluities and makes them more easie to be digested nevertheless they incline to Melancholy as do almost all Wild Beasts Qualities They are hot and dry in the second degree Commodity They are of a great and good Nourishment and in this they excel other wild flesh they are good against the Palsie Cholick pains and make lean such as are too fat Hurt They are hurtful to lean and slender folks because they breed a sharp Blood and cause Convulsions of the Nerves especially if the Beast be old for then it is more difficultly digested 'T is naughty flesh in hot Weather Remedy When it is boyled 't is to be well sawced with Oyl or Butter to the end that the flesh may become more moist and more easily digested At great Mens Tables they eat this flesh boyled roasted and baked in Pies or great Pasties 'T is good in Winter for Old and Flegmatick Men but does not in any wise agree with Young and Cholerick folks The Female of this Creature is one of the most fearful Creatures that is and most weak having no manner of Weapon or Defence to preserve her from Doggs and Wild Beasts as she thus complains Dente timetur Aper defendunt Cornua Cervum Imbelles Damae quid nisi praeda sumus CHAP. XCIX Of Wether Name IN Latine Vervex in English a Wether Choice The young Wethers of one years growth are to be chosen for then their flesh is very good and agreeable both with sick and healthy Persons Let them feed on sweet Herbs and so they will excell all Flesh Qualities This flesh is temperately hot and moist Commodity It breeds good Blood because 't is sweet of a good nourishment and easily digested the Broth of Wether-Mutton is excellent for it is very good against Melancholick Humours and maintains the Body in an equal Temperament Let it be eaten boyled with Parsley or else the hind-quarters roasted with Rosemary and Garlick beaten together Hurt When the flesh is Old 't is hurtful for it is drying both by reason of the Age and for want of its Stones is of hard digestion and less sweet and pleasant Remedy Let the flesh be young and boyled with opening and Cordial Herbs or roasted as is shewed before This flesh is good in all Seasons and Countries and for all Ages and Complexions CHAP. C. Of Stags Name IN Latine Cervus in English a Stag. Choice The young and sucking is to be chosen or else let it be gelded Qualities The flesh is hot in the first degree and dry in the second Commodity The flesh of the young ones is a very laudable Food and of good Nourishment The Horns of a Stag burned drive away all Venomous Creatures and the Bone which is found in their Heart is very Cordlal and a good Antidote against Poison and therefore used in Treacle Hurt This flesh breeds gross and melancholick Humours hard of digestion nourishes little causes Palsies Tremblings and Quartan Agues Remedy Boyling it together with the Heads of other gross Animals or baking it in Pasties but let it be young or gelded and it is not hurtful 'T is not to be eaten in Summer chiefly by Old and Melancholick Men in Winter more securely for in Summer they feed on Vipers and Serpents The Hanches are the best part CHAP. CI. Of the Wild and Tame Boar. Name IN Latine Aper in English Boar whereof is made Brawn Choice The flesh of that Boar which has been long Corn-fed is the best Qualities It is hot and moist Commodity Brawn made of the flesh of tame Boars and young is a delicate Meat having not so much excrementitious moisture as Bacon or Pork Hurt The hard and horny part is difficultly concocted Remedy It must be well pickled in Brine and the longer you keep it the better it grows CHAP. CII Of Rabbets Name IN Latine Cuniculus in English a Rabbet or Coney This Creature is very like a Hâ—re though less by their continual digging their Berrâ—es under Ground they have taught Men the wâ—y of Undermining whence the Poet says Gaudet in effossis habitare Cuniculus antris Demonstrat tacitas hostibus ille vias Choice You must choose the young fat Rabbet in Winter its flesh in the Night Air becomes tender The old ones have an impure flesh very unwholsom and unpleasant to the taste Qualities The Rabbet is cold in the beginning of the first degree and dry in the second though less dry than the Hare and of better Nourishment Commodity 'T is of good and large Nourishment consumes the superfluous moisture and flegm which it finds in the Stomach and comforts it This flesh is whiter and much less dry than that of a Hare and therefore nourishes better and is more easily digested provoking the Urine and is good for such as are troubled with the Leprosie Hurt It is hurtful to Melancholick and chiefly to Decrepid Persons and in hot Weather for it begets gross and very bad Nourishment and this flesh is not very pleasant to the Palat. Remedy This flesh is less hurtful if boyled a little and afterwards roasted with odoriferous Herbs Cloves Nutmeg or Cinnamon and well larded CHAP. CIII Of Hares Name IN Latine Lepus so called from the lightness of its feet and swiftness in running which gift is bestowed on this Creature instead of Weapons whereby he may save himself from other wild Beasts and the Hunters In English an Hare Choice The best is the young Hare caught by the Dogs after a long Chase in Winter the flesh hung out in a clear Night becomes tender Qualities The Hare is dry in the beginning of the third degree and hot in the first Commodity Young Hares are very sweet and pleasant to the Stomach boyled in Water and Wine with Sage or roasted with Sage and Cloves or else baked They are good for such as are too fat and desire to be lean they cause a good colour and beauty in the Face whence the Poet jesting says Si quando Leporem mittis mihi Gellia dicis Formosus septem Marce diebus eris Si non mentiris si verum Gellia narras Edisti nunquam Gellia tu Leporem The Blood of an Hare fryed and eaten is good against the Dysentery inward Imposthumes and old Fluxes breaks the Stone and Gravel in the Kidneys and Bladder and drives it out the Brains of a roasted Hare eaten cures the trembling of the Members and the same thing facilitates the breeding of Teeth in Infants and lessens
the Time the Age the Food the Place the Air and from being gelded You must therefore diligently observe these four things And first The Time Because at such Time as Birds couple as well domestick as wild Fowl they thereby grow lean and feed little the which is manifestly apparent in tame Fowl Hens in the Winter after they are trod do fatten sufficiently and become tender some Birds are better in Summer at which time they eat the Corn others in Autumn because they eat Grapes Figs Apples Berries and such like Fruit other Birds are more acceptable in Winter as Thrushes Black-birds Wild-geese Cranes and all Water-fowl Secondly The Victuals For some feed on Flesh as Eagles Vultures Kites and others that have crooked Tallons as feeding on Carrion are not eaten by us some live on Worms but most eat Corn as Pidgeons Doves Turtles c. In short some are nourisht on Land others in Rivers some in Lakes and others in the Sea and there is no small number of Birds which feed on Herbs And 't is observable that besides this the flesh of wild Fowls have always the taste of such things as the Birds feed on as of Ants of Worms of Fish of Slime and of Mud. Thirdly The Place Mountain-Fowl are always to be preferred before the rest before tame Fowl and such as frequent Marshes Fens and Lakes For according to the variety of the Place the flesh is varied and changed as sometimes to be dry of few Excrements and easily digested or moist full of Excrements and of a difficult concoction which does often happen in the same Bird. Besides gelding or cutting a Fowl makes it fat and sweet as appears in the flesh of Capons Fourthly and Lastly The Age. For the flesh of young Birds is always better than that of old which is hard dry and difficultly digested and of small nourishment But now let us proceed in particular to the flesh of Birds which are used for Food CHAP. CX Of Ducks Name IN Latine Anas in English a Duck. Choice The young fat tender and wild Duck is the best Qualities 'T is hot and moist in the second degree Commodity The Duck is the most hot of all the other tame Fowl its Wings and Liver are the best because they give a good and ready Nourishment When it is fat it fattens and causes a good Colour clears the Voice increases the Seed kindles Lust expels Windiness and strengthens the Body the Liver of a Duck is a delicate and whols m Food cures the Hepatick Flux Hurt 'T is of an hard digestion and gross nourishment it inflames and makes Feverish such as are of an hot Complexion The flesh is hard of a bad and excrementious nourishment Remedy The wild and young Ducks are least hurtful and such as having been killed two days are first made tender by hanging in the open Air afterwards eaten roasted full of Odoriferous Herbs and Spices The Old Ducks are the worst especially such as are brought up and frequent the Streets of the City and are nourished with the filth and nastiness drinking the stinking Water which runs down the Channels The best are such as live in the open Air whereby they become more wholsom and acceptable to the taste The Duck is good in cold Weather for hot Stomachs and such as labour much CHAP. CXI Of Capons Name IN Latine Capo in English 't is called a Capon Choice The best is the young fat and well-fed Capon that is brought up in the open Air. Qualities The Capon is temperate in all Qualities Commodity It nourishes better than all other Food and greatly also increases Lust and for the daintiness of its flesh goes beyond all others for it begets perfect Blood and equallises all the Humours makes a good Brain excites the Appetite agrees with all Complexions is good for the Sight strengthens the Natural heat but let it not be too fat Hurt The superfluous and over-much eating thereof is very pernicious to idle and sedentany Persons by reason of its copious Nourishment and the great quantity of Blood which it breeds in the Body and therefore 't is no small cause of the Sciatica and Gout to which Disease 't is credibly reported that the Capons are very apt and subject to more than any other Fowl Remedy You must eat but little thereof and perform some large Exercise after it 't is good at all times for all Ages and Complexions and therefore alluding to 〈◊〉 goodness and usefulness instead of Capâ—ne the Italians say Qua pone which signifies bring it here set it before us CHAP. CXII Of Pidgeons Name IN Latine Columba in English a Dove or Pidgeon Choice Such as live in Dove-houses and Towers are the best of all especially when they leave their Nests beginning to feed themselves and are of an indifferent bigness Quâ—lities The tame Pidgeons are hot and moist in the â—econd degree the wild are more hot and less moist Commodity The Pidgeons as well those that live in Houses as those that build in Towers afford good Nourishment breed excellent Blood are good for Old and Flegmatick Men strengthen the Legs cure the Palsie increase the Heat in weak Men stir up Venereal desires purge the Reins and are easily digested using them in the Sickness-time they preserve a Man from the Plague provided he eat no other flesh The wild are very good for pains in the Joynts and Limbs and contribute much to the Eye-sight which is weakned for want of Spirits to tremblings and augment the strength Pidgeons split asunder in the middle are very beneficial being applyed to dying mens Feet Hurt They are very unwholsom for hot Complexions kindle and inflame the Blood wherefore they do not agree with feverish Persons they burden and make the Head heavy especially the Heads of them And the wild Pidgeons do the same though much more the which are of a difficult digestion and are a great cause of Fevers Remedy Taking away their Head they are less hurtful and likewise boyling them in fat Broth with Verjuice Plums Vinegar and Corianders They are good in Winter for Old and Flegmatick Men. CHAP. CXIII Of Pheasants Name IN Latine Phasianus in English Pheasant so called from Phasis a River of Colchis where these Birds resort in great multitudes Choice The best Pheasants are the young fat and hunted ones Qualities The flesh of a Pheasant is temperate in all Qualities and is of a middling sort betwixt a Patridge and a Capon Commodity The flesh of this Bird is most agreeable with Humane Nature 't is the Food of great Lords and Princes it comforts and strengthens the Stomach is of a great nourishment fattens exceedingly so that lean and slender Persons by the use of this Food in a short while gather flesh And so the Hectick Fevers and Tisical Persons as well as those that are in Health find the benefit of this Food it increases the Vigour and all the Faculties neither does it beget superfluous moistness In short
and Cholerick Men. CHAP. CXL Of the Tunny-Fish Name IN Latine Tucos in English the Tunny-Fish Choice The young ones are the best caught in the Month of September and you ought to choose the lean ones rather than the fat Qualities 'T is cold and moist in the second degree Commodity It s flesh heals the bitings of Mad Doggs The Eggs are salted and thereof is made Botarghe which does very much excite the Appetite Hurt It breeds much Excrements is hardly digested burdens the Stomach and increases Flegm Remedy It must be broyled fresh on the Grid-iron with Salt and Coriander sprinkling it continually with Oyl and Vinegar with a little Fennel or a sprig of Rosemary CHAP. CXLI Of Salmons Name IN Latine Salmo in English a Salmon Choice Choose that which is young sweet and tender Qualities Salmon is cold and moist in the first degree Commodity This Fish is very pleasant to the Palate being of a tender flesh and very easily digested it affords a good Juice and is inferiour to none nay by some is accounted the best of Fish Hurt When it is pickled in Salt and hardned with Smoak 't is of an hard digestion Remedy Let it be boyled and afterwards pickled in Vinegar Some broyl it fresh on the Grid-iron CHAP. CXLII Of Soles Plaice and Turbet Name IN Latine Solea Passer Rhombus in English Soles Plaice and Turbets Choice The fresh are best eaten as soon as taken Qualities They are hotter than others as being Sea-fishes Commodity These Fishes are highly commended amongst Sea-fish for they have a delicate flesh and are of an easie concoction being white fleshed they yield good Juice plentiful Nourishment and are not easily corrupted Hurt Being dryed in the smoak they are naught and harder of concoction Remedy You must eat good sawce with them which will qualifie all their malignity CHAP. CXLIII Of Gudgeons Name IN Latine Gobius and in English Gudgeons Choice They must be chosen out of clear Brooks and boyled or rather fryed alive Qualities They are an harmless Food and temperate in all Qualities Commodity Gudgeons are the best amongst the small sort of Fish and are a very wholsom Aliment easie to be concocted and remain not long in the Stomach and are profitable both for Pleasure and Health and may safely be given to sick Persons Minnows Dace and other little Fish are like these Hurt They are soon corrupted if eaten after things of an hard digestion Remedy They must be eaten first CHAP. CXLIV Of Perches Name IN Latine Perca in English Perch Choice The biggest are the best Qualities They are cold and moist of a glutinous and slimy substance Commodity They have a soft moist and tender flesh Hurt They have a very excrementitious Juice and nourish smally Remedy They must not be mixed with several Meats CHAP. CXLV Of Cod-Fish Name IN Latine Asellus in English Cod-fish Choice Eat it whilest fresh and tender Qualities 'T is hot and dry Commodity If fresh 't is of good Juice and easie Concoction Hurt When dry it is not easily digested and is of a gross nourishment Remedy Such as labour much may eat it CHAP. CXLVI Of Barbels Name IN Latine Mullus Barbatus in English a Mullet or Barbel Choice The little ones are better than the great and such as are caught in stony places and not in muddy Ponds or still Seas Qualities They are hot in the first degree and dry in the beginning of the second Commodity They are very pleasant to the Palate drowned or suffocated in Wine and eaten they extinguish the Venereal Appetites and drinking the Wine induces an odium or averseness to all sorts of Wine after that This Fish being applyed to the biting of Venomous Creatures heals it Hurt Their flesh is hard not easily digested the Wine wherein they were suffocated makes Men impotent and Women steril and eaten too oft it hurts the Eye-sight Remedy It must be broyled and eaten with Oyl and the Juice of Oranges or Vinegar whereby it will keep many days and become better 'T is good in hot Weather for Cholerick Men for those that use much Exercise and have a strong Stomach CHAP. CXLVII Of Trouts Name IN Latine Trutta in English a Trout Choice Let it be big and bred in swift Waters Qualities 'T is cold in the beginning and moist in the end of the first degree Commodity The River-Trout nourishes well breeding a cold Humour which refreshes the Liver and Blood and therefore good in burning Fevers They increase the Seed and are good in Summer for Young and Cholerick but naught for Decrepid and Flegmatick Men. Hurt They are easily corrupted and therefore are to be eaten presently Remedy Let them be boyled with half Water and half Vinegar and eaten with some sharp sawce And so we have done with the Fishes next we will treat of Sawces and Spices and first of Vinegar CHAP. CXLVIII Of Vinegar Name IN Latine Acetum in English Vinegar from the French words Vin aigre sharp Wine Choice The best is that which is made of the most excellent Wine wherein let there be infused some Roses or Elder-flowers and let it be old Quality The Vinegar is cold in the second degree in respect to the heat of the Wine and so much the more by how much the Wine is older and more strong but it has a certain heat which it has acquired from putrefaction though the coldness does overcome that heat in it The Vinegar that is made of weak Wine is cold but that which is made of old is hotter but its piercing acuteness does not proceed from the heat but from the cold sharp and subtil parts thereof as is the North Wind. It is moreover dry in the third degree Commodity 'T is cutting digestive and opening 't is very good to extinguish the heat of Choler and Thirst strengthens the Gums excites the Appetite removes Obstructions aids Digestion and is good for hot and moist Stomachs weakens the Blood the Choler and resists Putrefaction therefore in the time of the Plague many used it to preserve themselves Hurt It breeds melancholick Humours offends the Nerves and Sinews hurts the Stomach and the Joynts and is very bad for Women that are troubled with Fits of the Mother is inconvenient for lean folks pricks the Stomach and the Intestines spoils the Eye-sight diminishes the Senses and lessens the Seed weakens the Strength offends the Breast begets Coughs and those that use it too much grow old and withered immediately therefore is not good for Ladies for it causes wrinkles c. Remedy You must not use it at Breakfast and always moderately and let it not be too sharp And boyl therewith Raisins or else Anise-seed or Parsley-seed and Fennel which things remove all hurt from it and lastly add thereto a little Sugar CHAP. CXLIX Of Verjuice Name IN Latine Vva immatura and the Liquor Omphacion in English Verjuice Choice You must choose such as is not too sharp but of a pleasant taste Qualities