CHAPTER VI.

_Of Medicines appropriated to the spleen._


In the breeding of blood, are three excrements most conspicuous, viz.
_urine_, _choler_, and _melancholy_.

The proper seat of choler is in the gall.

The urine passeth down to the reins or kidneys, which is all one.

The spleen takes the thickest or melancholy blood to itself.

This excrement of blood is twofold: for either by excessive heat, it
is addust, and this is that the Latins call _Atra Bilis_: or else it
is thick and earthly of itself, and this properly is called melancholy
humour.

Hence then is the nature of splenical medicines to be found out, and
by these two is the spleen usually afflicted for _Atra bilis_, (I know
not what distinct English name to give it) many times causes madness,
and pure melancholy causeth obstructions of the bowels, and tumours,
whereby the concoction of the blood is vitiated, and dropsies many
times follow.

Medicines then peculiar to the spleen must needs be twofold also, some
appropriated to _Atra bilis_, others to pure melancholy; but of purging
either of them, I shall omit till I come to treat of purging in a
chapter by itself.

1. Such medicines are splenical, which by cooling and moistening temper
_Atra bilis_: let not these medicines be too cold neither, for there is
no such heat in _Atra bilis_ as there is in choler, and therefore it
needs no such excessive cooling: amongst the number of these are such
as we mentioned amongst the cordials to repel melancholy vapours from
the heart, such temper and assuage the malice of _Atra bilis_.

2. Those medicines are also splenical, by which melancholy humours are
corrected and so prepared, that they may the more easily be evacuated:
such medicines are cutting and opening, and they differ from hepaticals
in this that they are no ways binding; for the spleen being no ways
addicted to concoction, binding medicines do it harm, and not good.

3. Sometimes the spleen is not only obstructed, but also hardened by
melancholy humours, and in such cases emolient medicines may be well
called splenicals, not such as are taken inwardly, for they operate
upon the stomach and bowels, but such as are outwardly applied to the
region of the spleen.

And although sometimes medicines, are outwardly applied to hardness of
the liver, yet they differ from splenicals, because they are binding,
so are not splenicals.