Book IIU

and barren 5 whereiore the Dutch have a fcoifing Proverb again# A rmtobfr fuch that are worn out, and quite broken by venery, Froech hengfl gainflfucb as Froech ghuyle 5 the cotnparifon being taken from horfes, who if they T/Plefrm back Mares often, ortoofoon, they will quickly grow old, and borfacxhZped will never be fit for any warlick fervice. But what difference there is between men and women, or what caufe or reafon there is in it, that a woman is fooner barren than a man, and ceafeth to eje& her feed, if any perhaps {hould require to know, I fay it is the natural heat, wherein a man excells. For fince a woman rA man is hotter is more moyd than a man, as her courfes declare, and the foft- tban a mman, neflfe 0f her body 5 a man doth exceed her in native heat.
Now heat is the chief thing that conco&s the humours and A man U longer changes them into thefubdance of feed 5 which aliment the wo- .puitfuiktlma 1T1an wanting, fhe grows fat indeed with age, but {he grows barren fooner than a man doth , whofe fat melts by his hear, and his humours are difiolved , but by the benefit thereof they are elaborated into feed. Alfo I aferibe It to this, that a wo¬ man is not fo ftrong as a man, nor fo wife and prudent, nor hath fo much reafon, nor is fo ingenious in contriving her affairs as a man is.
XU' ‘j
CHAP. XXV,
1 v* V, \ _
* I ' - .
who chiefly take difeafes from others j And how it comes about that chil¬ dren grow welly when Pbyflck is given to the Nurfe.
Since contagious difeafes infed all that come in the way of them yet they infeft no men fooner, than fuch whofe Natures are of much affinity one with another 5 as are Parents and Children, Si- tiers, Brothers, Coufins, who are in danger, almoft on all haifd,and the difeafe fpreads amongfl them. And the nearer any man is of bloud and kindred, the fooner he catcheth this mifehief from others, by reafon of Sympathy, that is, confanguinity and agree- pndredfQOMfr ment in humours and fpirits. Wherefore when the Plague is infefted, hot, ^ contagious difeafes rage, I ufe to fpeak to people of one blood, to flay one from another, and live fomething farther from them, leaft the peftilent Ayre {hould infeft them, that will fooner lay hold of acquaintance and kindred, than drangers, and fuch as nr . r • , * are not ailyed, though none be free from danger. The fame rea- wSm!'* fon fervesfor Nurfes, and children fucking at their bredsj for when the Nurfe is fick, all the force of the difeafe comes to the child, and the Nurfe is helped by it, and efcapes the danger. For the -force of the difeafe being diffufed through the veins that are the receptacles of bloud (and milk ufeth to be made exactly from bloud ) the child draws forth the word and impure aliment,
whence k falls out that the whole force of the difeafe reds upon
the
4 . — .
Chap.25.
who chiefly take dtfeafesfrom others .
thecbild, bccaute the bloud which is the fubftancc of the Milk,
isinfe&ed, and tainted with a feavourifh quality. Wherefore
they muft be prefencly weaned chat they fuck not in the difeafe
and be polluted with the vicious juice. Alfo Nurfes fometirnes fick^itdren .
take dileafes from fucking children, but they are not fd dangerous, mr~
becaufe there proceeds not fo great force of the Malignity or con-
tagion from children, as from Nurfes, whofebloudls hotter, and
more corrupt.
But in curing difeafes in children, (becaufe that age cannot awat with Phyfick) I ufe this ftratagem, that I give the Phyfick to the Nurfes, to drink, for the force of the Phyfick foon runs through the bloud that the milk is made of, comes into the Brcfts, and the Milk receives the quality of it : foif it be a purging medicament, it will purge the child ; if it be aftringent, it will flop and bind him. Like wife if they be naturall y fubjed to a Cough, or Afth- ma,I givefuch things as may dilate and cleanfe the breft, as Hy- fop,Horehound, Orris root, Elecampane, Licoris, Figs, Savory,
Sometimes I command to bind up in a fine rag, fuch Medicaments as are proper for the child, and t6 give the infuflbn of them, as ic is commonly called, efpecially where that age hath learned to drink, and can put the cup to the mouth; wherefore I ftudy to find an arc how %o handle young children, old men , childing-wo- men, and filch as lye in, fick people, and fuch as are in labour with child, as the condition of every body requires, and the na¬ ture of the difeafe, having allwaies in my mind that faying of Hippocrates, we muft yecld much to age, to the climate, to cu- t x A b l7 ftome. And as Marriners as the weather ferves and the wind, fometirnes fold in their fheets, fometirnes hoife up their fails, and make all they can, and turn the Rudder now this way, now that way : as Shoemakers fit our feet with Shooes, Taylors make smejijmS- our clothes fit for our bodies, as NUrfes give children meat chew- tudeifrmc§m- ed when they are very young, and do not cram them with folid mnthm&- meat; as Mafters deal with Schollers according to their age and wit, and firft teach them their letters, then (olid learning. As we read Saint Paul was very careful 1 to do in delivering the "inyftcries , ' of our faith, and in teaching the Cotinibiar/s^ who being not Capa- 1 C6T‘ ** bleofmorefublime do&rine, he fed yet, as children with milk, thatis, he let fall his words according to their capacities.* fo a Skillfull and experienced Phyfitian, handles every man according to his difpofition, and gives fuch things as may profit and do no hurt at all. ' > /
By thefe reafons and examples I ufe to flop the mouthes of fome young fmatterers in learning, who will let no Phyfick be given to Children, old men, child-bearing women, and to fuch as are weak by travel in child-birth, of which there are none but muft be ftrengthened with thegreateft care, and a very convenient diet, and, by a wholefomcufeof Phyfick, that can do no hurt3be brought *o their former health. Sol doubt not within three dayes alter
they
Of the skin of the Culture.