then let them be beaten in a mortar, let the flesh be anointed with the oil of balm, and dryed in the shade.

A man must take heed, that the sun-beams do not fall upon the flesh before it be dried, nor afterwards; For the sun by his power doth spoil the flesh of its virtue, so that it expells no poison received either by bite, or in any

*

drink.

Avicenna hath reported such things in his fifth canon, Also in his chapter, Of the leprosie, he commends mountain vipers and white, and ordereth that the head and tail be cut off both at once.

In like manner royal Haly in his last discourse of his practice advises that those be had which live in houses and salt waters, and young ones, in which is a red colour inclining to brownness, whose heads are flat.

Also in his chapter, Of the leprosy, he saith, that a certain quantity of their trochisces may be taken with Arrian wine; And Avicenna saith with red wine: But Arrian wine is red. As for the preparation, enough is said already.

The property of the viper, as Haly saith in his second discourse of his practice, is to purge the inner parts from superfluities,

Hence it is evident of what monient the true preparation of medicine is. + Treacle, the most serviceable medicine in common use, sufficiently shows the virtue of the viper, which is the basis of that famous composition. Nay, treacle alone, or some mixture with it, is the mountebanks sheet-anchor to save their wrack in the Stygian lake: For these fellows must, to please the people, either poison their guts upon the stage as often as they break their fasts, or they must keep two lents in one year. I find treacle in the description of Orvietan's secret, a noted illiterate mountebank in Rome, who promised others immunity from poison by his electuary, but at last died himself of poison, These cheats are well set out by the father of the poets.

saperfuities, and to bring out the venomous humour to the skin, and to get it out by sweat, or lice, or excoriation, to heal the venomous bites of animals: and Galen saith in that exposition, that there is not a medicine better than this for strengthening the inner parts, and clearing the body of bad humours.

But it is also necessary, that some other medicine be aricially mixt with it, which may in like manner overcome the poison, such as Cassia lignea, Zedoaria, citron red.

After the same manner Avicenna speaks of the serpent in his second canon; but he does not express whether he would be understood of the viper, snake, or dragon; his words are to this purpose; " The flesh of the serpent, when prepared, forceth all the humours to depart to and penetrate the skin, and properly when a man is pùrged; it also prolongs life, maintains the faculties of the body and preserves the sense and youth; it hath a great power of drying, yet but gently of heating: But it hath an admirable virtue against the + leprosy: It hinders the approach and increase of the kings evil, it cures the griefs of the nerves, it shar

Aut inertes, aut insani, aut quibus egestas imperat :
Qui sibi semitam non sapiunt, alteri monstrant viam,

far the sake of English empiricks, thus:

In science or in arts divines they're none,
But superstitious bards, who charms do boast,
Lazy, or mad, or under want they groan:

They'd be your guides that never that way crost:

pens

The reason of this may be drawn from that similitude, our author mentioned in his second chapter, which by physicians since his time is called signature. For as the serpent renews his youth by casting his skin yearly; so in medicine he produceth the like renovation.

† And so from his spots we may guess him good against the leprosie.

pens the sight:" for Avicenna testifies this in his fourth canon, Of the disposition of the visive faculty; also the use of it preserves health.

But the Latins, as it appears to me, speak of the snake. For they say, it is good for the dropsical and them that are troubled with the spleen, and them that have any defect in their sight; also that it is useful to recruit all the faculties, and that it brings aid and assistance towards the curing and removing acute distempers.

The son of the prince Abohaly, in his canon, Of the leprosie, saith, that a man ought to cease from the use of this flesh, when he is troubled with a mist before his eyes, or an inflammation of his belly.

Haly affirms that this flesh is not to be given, but when diseases come from the ill nature of the humors; and that it is not to be used, except it be mixt with styptick spices, that have a property against those diseases, and the mixture must be of so long continuance, as till it be fermented, otherwise it will be nothing worth.

The quantity of the aromatick spices in my judgment ought to be such, namely, One part of the flesh, and seven of the aromatick spices. This holds true if the place be not hot, nor the complexion high.

But if the place be cold and the complexion chill, there ought to be one part flesh; and ten of the aromatick spices.

And, as some think, these are the things which ought to be mixt with it, cloves, nutmeg, mace, citron rind, zedoary and a little musk.

Some have judged this flesh should not be taken, but when the sun ascends. Perchance the thing was made of this serpent, which was given to a certain lady in Germany

in

• Here he illustrates what he said before in chap. II. That "out of the « serpent, hellebore and gold, no mar can fetch any noble or sublime opera❝tion, unless he be wise, skilful, and have of a long time experienced them."

in our days. For it happened that there were two sisters, both fair, one of which moved with eavy gave the other poison to drink, so that her hair and nails came off, and she endured wonderful misery: After she had taken this medicine, she looked like a girl of twenty, although she were much older; her hair that before was black turn'd flaxen, and an equal complexion of white and red did succeed.

CHAP. XIV.

Of Things that excite the Animal Faculty, refresh Mens Bodies, and quicken motion.

ALL wise men, that have yet treated of the regiment of health, constantly affirm, that the aged, and men well grown in years, presently after they are risen from sleep, should be anointed with oil; So royal Haly in his fifth treatise, Of the regiment of old men,

For such anointing excites the animal faculty, and with it all the rest; for all other faculties depend of and proceed from

• We find in holy writ, before Hippocrates lived, wine was man's inward, and oil his outward analeptick: And unction was used by him, and by the sons of art for many ages after him: Only the wisdom of our age knows scarce any use of it, except contra pruritum, and pruritum venercum. An erroneous neglect undoubtedly. Nothing can be more apt for our author's purpose; since old mens natural heat, as a weakned garrison, slights the out-works, and fairly retires to the fort of the heart, till supplies come from without. Now unction is an evacuation to the outer parts of the body, because it heats, atteBuates and melts those useless humours, that are discharged to and lodged in he habit of the body; and then of themselves they dissipate and evaporate; And so there is way made for the vital flame to play from the heart. But if the unction be hot, it not only softens the out parts, but its virtue reacheth the very inward humours, and so heats, attenuates, and disperses them.

from that as Avicenna saith in his first canon, Of the faculties.

But with what things this anointing should be made, physicians do very much vary.

For the son of the prince Abohaly in his chapter, Of oils, affirms, that all kinds of oil refresh the body, and help its motion: But if all do this, it cannot otherwise chuse, but that one sort must be better than another.

Haly in his treatise, Of the regiment of old men, thinks that old men should be anointed with the oil of squill, and with the oil of violets mixt with the oil of chamomel, and with the oil of dil.

But Aristotle affirms in his book, Of the secrets of secrets, that anointing ought to be made with sweet smelling ointments in the morning, at convenient seasons, that is, in autumn, and winter with ointments made of myrrhe, and with the juice of an herb which is called a blite; in summer and spring time unguento carasino (made with sanders) enilegis, and the juice of enablatti: And he affirms this in his canon, Of baths.

I shall say nothing of the making of ointments, but that sheeps suet may be mixt with every ointment.

Campanus Germanicus, who lived a long time ago, saith, the wise men of India after sacrification did lay on this very thing with oil of balm.

The son of the prince, in his canon, Of weariness, where he speaks of balm, saith, it ought to be fortified with wax or pitch, that it may long retain its virtue and operation.

And thus we see one oil operates more strongly on old men than another.