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Title: A Treatise of Cleanness in Meats and Drinks, of the Preparation of Food, - the Excellency of Good Airs, and the Benefits of Clean
Author: Tryon, Tho.
Language: English
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*** Start of this LibraryBlog Digital Book "A Treatise of Cleanness in Meats and Drinks, of the Preparation of Food, - the Excellency of Good Airs, and the Benefits of Clean" ***
by the Library of Congress)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A
TREATISE
Of CLEANNESS in
Meats and Drinks,
OF THE
PREPARATION of FOOD,
THE
Excellency of Good Airs,
AND THE
BENEFITS of Clean Sweet BEDS.
Also of the
Generation of Bugs,
AND THEIR CURE.
To which is added,
A SHORT DISCOURSE
OF THE
_PAIN_ in the _TEETH_,
Shewing from what Cause it does chiefly proceed, and
also how to prevent it.
By _T H O. T R Y O N_.
_L O N D O N_, Printed for the Author,
and sold by _L. Curtis_ near _Fleet-Bridge_.
1682.
_Of Cleanness in Meats and Drinks. Of the Excellency of Good Airs, and
of the contrary. Of the Benefits of Clean Sweet Beds, and of the
Inconveniences of Feather-Beds. What Matter it is that does occasion
the Generation of that pernicious Vermin called Bugs, that so many
Hundreds in this City, and other great Towns, are infested with;
more especially in_ Holland, Italy, New-England, Barbadoes, Jamaica,
_and in many other Places. That they are never bred but where Beds
are: And that their being generated from Wooden Bedsteads, or from
Hogs Hair in the Plaisterings of the Walls, is a meer Story,
promoted inconsiderately by Persons mistaken in the Productions of
Nature: Also, How all such Persons as are troubled with them may be
cured without using Medicines, and Directions how to avoid ever
having them again._
I. _Of Cleanness in Food._
What is more profitable for all Lovers of Health and Wisdom, than Food
that is Radically Clean? And as Bread hath deservedly the first Place,
together with Herbs, and various sorts of excellent Fruits; so the next
is Milk, which of it self is a brave, mild, and most friendly Food to
Nature, very fit and profitable for all Ages and Complexions; and if it
do not agree with some People, it is because their Stomachs are made
sharp and soured by superfluity of dainty Food, and the continual use of
strong Drink. Also Milk being altered, it makes many sorts of wholesom
healthy Food. Next to these, are various sorts of Flesh, which being
killed in their proper Times and Seasons, and when they are free from
their Uncleannesses, Surfeits, and other Inconveniences, which most
Beasts are subject to; and if care be taken also that they be well and
moderately seasoned with Salt, and boyled in plenty of River or
Spring-water (which is the best of all Waters except Rain-water) they
become wholesom Nourishment. For, River-water hath the advantage of
running through various sorts of Earth, by which it sucks into it self a
fat, oylie, and saline Quality, which the Surface of the Earth does
plentifully afford; which also is the cause of all Vegitation, and the
lovely Green Colour which all Vegitables are cloth'd with, does arise
from this Saline Quality. For these Reasons, River-water will Brew,
Boil, and Wash, and it is more profitable in all Uses in Houswifery,
than Spring or Pump-water, and far wholesomer for Men and Beasts to
drink. Also your Vessel in which your Food is boyled, ought to be
uncovered all the time it boyls; for if the Air have not its free egress
and regress, the pure Spirits in the Food become as it were suffocated,
and then the Food so prepared becomes dull and heavy; for the Air is the
Essential Life of the Spirit; and all Food that hath not plenty of
Water, and the free Influences of the Air, in its Preparation, does
certainly lose its natural Colour, with the pure Smell and Taste: for if
those three Qualities be not preserved in all Preparations of Food, then
the genuine Vertue and lively Tinctures are in part lost. The same is to
be observed in all Physical Operations. And if the above-mentioned Order
be not observed, then the Food is not so pleasant to the Pallate, nor so
easie of Concoction; it lies heavy in the Stomach, dulling and
stupifying the Senses; it generates a gross Nourishment, and bad Blood,
whence does proceed many Diseases: Whereas if the above-mentioned Rules
be observed, and your Fire quick, that your Food do not stand still, or
cease from boyling, till it be sufficiently done, the Effects are
contrary. It is also much better the Food should be a little
under-prepared, than too much: For when the gross phlegmatick Body of
any Food is by Preparation digested, then presently the lively
spirituous Quality is set at liberty, whence does proceed a most
pleasant Smell and Taste; which pleasant Quality, before the
Preparation, lay hid or captivated in the Body of Phlegm; but so soon as
this phlegmatick Body is in part destroyed, the Spirit becomes Volatile;
and then, if the Preparation be continued, those pure Spirits do either
become suffocated, or evaporate; and then the sweet Balsamick Body turns
as it were sour. For these Reasons, all sorts of Food, either over
prepared, or twice prepared, are of a strong fulsom taste and smell; as
all Meats heat again, and also Pottages, and all such things, do
obstruct Nature, and generate many Diseases. But if the forementioned
Rules be observed, the Food so prepared is not only more pleasant to the
Pallate, but far lighter of Digestion, and breeds better Blood. For that
Universal Distemper (the _Scurvy_) which reigns so much in _England_, is
chiefly caused by Food ill prepared, and the eating of too much Flesh,
and Fat things, especially in the improper Seasons of the Year, _viz._
from _July_ to the last of _November_. In this Season the Sun, which is
the true Life and Power of all things, declines; and all sorts of
Herbage, which is the Food of all Beasts that are generally eaten, doth
the same: The Grass all this Season is fraught with a gross phlegmatick
Matter; besides, it is a fainty hot time; the Air, which is the
Cherishing Life of all things, is more gross, and full of Humidity, than
all other times of the Year; the Spirits of all sorts of Creatures are
also weak, and on any Accidents are quickly wounded, or evaporated, more
especially those Beasts that come from remote Parts to great Cities.
Besides, it is then the principal time of their Generating, which
renders them unclean. Are not the People ten-fold as sickly in this
Season, and double the number die, than they do at other times? Also you
may observe, That the Rots amongst Sheep, and Murrains that attend other
Beasts, are all or most of them in this Season: Therefore all sorts of
People ought to be more careful of their Health, both in Exercises,
Meats, and Drink, that they do not exceed either in quantity, nor eat
things that are improper in quality. This is the time that all
Shepherds, and also those that are Drivers of Horses, and indeed all
that have the Government of Cattel, ought to have and use double the
prudence in the management of them, than at other Seasons of the Year,
as I have more largely discoursed in a small Treatise, which I intend to
put forth, if I am permitted, of the Preservation of Sheep from the Rot,
and Horses from Surfeits.
There are three Marks by which every one may know whether the Flesh be
good. The first is by its pure White and brisk Red Colour, when Raw. The
second is by its continuing its firmness, being plump or swelled when
boyled, having a brisk and lively Taste, and that after eating it feels
easie and pleasant in the Stomach. The third is, by its taking Salt
well; for if your Flesh be free from Heat and Surfeits, and not
over-fed, which charges the Body with gross Phlegm; as also if it be not
kept longer after it is killed (as indeed it ought not) than it be
thought to be cold, before it is salted; all such Flesh will take Salt
greedily, and it will not only keep longer from Putrifaction, but it
will eat much sweeter, and breed better Nourishment. For, if any sort of
Cattel be over-fed, surfeited, or any other Inconveniency attends them,
and they be killed before they have recovered themselves of those
Injuries; or if it be in _August_, _September_, or _October_, this Flesh
will not take Salt so well as the former, neither will the Salt preserve
it half so long from Corruption. Also, as it is before-mentioned, if
Flesh be kept too long after it be killed, such Flesh will not receive
Salt into it, as other will, which is salted as soon as it is cold: For
by keeping it does certainly lose its pure Spirituous Quality, so that
the Body becomes heavy, gross, and dull. Does not the Life and Spirits
of most sorts of Food waste and evaporate by keeping, if there be not a
proper way of Preservation used? If Flesh, by any Inconveniencies, have
lost its pure lively Spirits and Vertue, Salt then hath no power to
preserve such Flesh from Putrifaction: For Salt cannot preserve the Body
from Corruption, but by vertue of the pure subtile Spirits, which are a
pleasant Habitation for the Salt to incorporate it self with: For Salt
will not preserve Flesh from Putrifaction, any longer than the Vertue
and Power of the Spirit does continue, as it does appear by all salted
Flesh and Fish: For through length of time the Spirits become either
suffocated, or evaporated, and then it presently falls into
Putrifaction: And yet this same Flesh does still continue Salt; for Salt
does not destroy and purge the Flesh from its Corruption, but
incorporates it self with the Essential Spirits, and those two do as it
were tie or hold the corrupt Part Captive, till the Spirit and Life of
the Flesh be spent or wasted, and then the Flesh falls into
Putrifaction, which cannot be recovered, eitheir by Salting, or any
other Art, to its first state: But if the Salt had purged or destroyed
the Humidity and gross part, then there would have been no Room nor
Matter for Putrifaction, and then it would have continued firm and
sound, as many other things do, which are freed from that gross humid
Matter from which Putrifaction does proceed. Therefore Flesh is
naturally the most unclean of all Food, it being of a gross phlegmatick
Nature; and if Care be not taken, and Order and Temperance observed in
the Eater, it generates abundance of crude and noxious Humours.
2. Cleanness in Houses, especially in Beds, is a great Preserver of
Health. Now Beds for the most part stand in Corners of Chambers, and
being ponderous close Substances, the refreshing Influences of the Air
have no power to penetrate or destroy the gross Humidity that all such
Places contract, where the Air hath not its free egress and regress. In
these shady dull Places Beds are continued for many Years, and hardly
see the Sun or Elements. Besides, Beds suck in and receive all sorts of
pernicious Excrements that are breathed forth by the Sweating of various
sorts of People, which have Leprous and Languishing Diseases, which lie
and die on them: The Beds, I say, receive all these several Vapours and
Spirits, and the same Beds are often continued for several Generations,
without changing the Feathers, until the Ticks be rotten. Besides, we
have many Feathers that are Imported from several Countries, which are
the Drivings of old Beds, the Uncleanness whereof is not considered. As
to the Nature of Feathers, they are of a strong, hot, fulsom Quality:
for, Fowls, of all Creatures, are for the most part the hottest; and
their Feathers contain the same Nature: Therefore the constant lying on
soft Feather-beds, does not only over-heat the Back and Reins, weakning
the Joynts and Nerves; but they have power also not only to receive but
retain all evil Vapours and Excrements that proceed from, and are
breathed forth by various Diseased People. Hence it comes to pass, that
sundry Distempers are transferred from one to another, by lying upon or
in such Beds, which Distempers do secretly steal on a Man by degrees, so
that he cannot imagine whence the disorder proceeds, or what the Cause
thereof should be. But I would not have the Reader mistake me; all
People are not subject to get Diseases this way: There are some whose
Constitutions are strong, and their Natural Heat and Spirits are
vigorous and lively, by the Power and Vertue whereof they withstand and
repel all such evil Vapours and Scents as do proceed from such Beds,
when a Man is hot and sweats in them, that they have no power to seise
the Spirit: But, on the contrary, when such People shall lie on such
Beds, whose Natural Heat is weak, their Spirits few, and whose Central
Heat is not able to withstand or repel those Vapours and Scents which
such Beds send forth when a Man is hot in them, this last sort of People
are subject to receive Injuries, and contract Diseases: For those evil
Vapours do powerfully penetrate the whole Body; and if they are not
withstood by the Central Heat and Power of the Spirits, then these evil
Vapours do seise the Spirits, and incorporate themselves with their
Likenesses: For every particular thing does sensibly and powerfully seek
out its Likeness, and wheresoever it finds its Simile, it hath power to
incorporate, and become essential. These are the chief Reasons why one
Man gets Diseases by lying with Diseased Persons, and in unclean Beds,
and others not. It is a general Custom, when Men go abroad or travel, to
desire clean Sheets, imagining them to be a sufficient Bulwark to defend
them from the pernicious Fumes and Vapours of old stale Beds; but it is
too short. For, it is certain, that most or all Beds do perfectly stink,
not only those in Inns and Houses of Entertainment, but others: Not but
that every ones Bed does smell indifferent well to himself; but when he
lies in a strange Bed, let a Man but put his Nose into the Bed when he
is thorowly hot, and hardly any Common Vault is like it.
Now this sort of Uncleanness, which does proceed from old Beds, is not
only the greatest, but also the most injurious to the Health and
Preservation of Mankind, and the least care is taken to prevent it:
Every one that can, will have plentiful Changes both of Linen and
Woollen Garments; for if they have not, Experience does shew, that the
Excrements and Breathings of the Body will generate Vermin. Also do not
most People take care that their Furnitures are daily brushed and
rubbed, and their very Floors washed, as though they were to eat their
Food on them? But all this while they lie on Beds that have not been
changed, or hardly aired, in several Years. Let any indifferent Person
judge, which is most pleasurable and healthful, to have a clean Floor to
tread on, which costs many hard days Labour to keep so, and is dirtied
in a Moments time; or to have a clean sweet Bed to lye on. There is no
Comparison to be made, the difference is so great; the one being
essential either to Health or Sickness, the other an indifferent thing.
If there was but the tenth part of the Care taken to keep Beds clean and
sweet, as there is of Clothing and Furniture, then there would be no
Matter for the getting of Diseases, nor for the Generation of Bugs. I
would have all Housewifes, and others, consider the Reasons of these
things. Are not Lice, that troublesom Vermin, bred from the Breathings
of the Body, for want of often Change both of Linnen and Woollen? And
will not Fleas breed from the very Dust of Chambers where People lie?
Also any Woollen that hath been used about Beds, although the cold
Winter hath destroyed them, yet if these Clothes lie in any close place,
where the Air hath not its free egress and regress, these very Garments
will generate Fleas the Summer following: but if these Clothes had never
been used about Men and Women, they would never have bred Fleas: for
there is no Matter of Element in Wooll or Cloth for the Generation of
such Creatures; but Wooll, Cloth, Furs, and Hair are chiefly the Element
of Moths, and sometimes of small Worms; that is, if such things are kept
in Places where the refreshing Influences of the Air have not their free
egress: for all such Places do contract great store of Moisture, which,
when hot Weather comes, causeth Putrifaction, whence all such Vermin do
proceed. But if those things be in daily use, and exposed to the open
Element, they never breed any Vermin: So that the Generation of those
things are generally caused by Accidents; not but that there is Matter
in the Radixes of such things for the Generation of such Vermin.
3. From the pernicious Smells and putrified Vapours that do proceed from
old Beds, are generated the Vermin called Bugs, (of which, neither the
Ancients, nor the Modern Writers of this Age, have taken any notice)
according to the Degrees of Uncleanness, Nature of the Excrements, and
the Closeness of the Places where Beds stand: for some Peoples
Excrements are not so unclean as others: Also in all close Places,
especially in Cities and Great Towns, the Spirits and thin Vapours of
the Air are suffocated, which makes the same Air Sulphurous and Humid,
whence does proceed Putrifaction. Therefore it is not to be thought a
General Rule, _That all old Beds should breed Bugs_, as some (who are
ignorant of the Operations of Nature) will be apt to say, _If one Bed do
breed them, why not all?_ No, it is according to the nature of the
Uncleanness, and other Accidents that do happen: For where (as is said
before) the thin pure Air, with the refreshing Influences of the Sun and
Elements, have their free egress and regress, all such Matter is
destroyed whence such Vermin is produced. The Original of these
Creatures called Bugs is from Putrifaction, occasioned by stinking
Scents and Vapours which do proceed from the Bodies and Nature of Men
and Women, and the mixing or incorporating of these Vapours with moist
and sulphurous Airs: For where there is no Heat nor Humidity, there can
begin no Putrifaction. Therefore all that have attributed the Generation
of this Vermin to Wood, as Bedsteads, and the like, are grosly mistaken
in the Productions of Nature; for there is no Matter in Wood that can
generate such a Vermin, it being productive only or chiefly of two
Creatures in _England_, _viz._ of Wood-Lice, and a small Worm. These
Wood-Lice are never generated but in Places where the Sun and Air have
not their free Influences, so that there is store of Humidity
contracted; and when the Sun comes to such Degrees of the Zodiack, this
Creature is generated, which is of as different a Nature from Bugs, as
sweet Wood is from a stinking Bed. Also Wood does breed a certain small
Worm, but never till the Salts Nature and Power is decayed through
length of time; then the Air enters it, which does presently cause it to
contract a humid Quality, from whence proceeds Putrifaction, whereof,
when the Sun is powerful, this Worm is bred. But so long as Wood
continues sound, and is kept dry, the Air having its free Influences on
it, I affirm, That no sort of Wood ever breeds any kind of Vermin.
4. There are many also that attribute the Generation of this Creature to
Hogs Hair, which being mixed with Lime, and Houses Plaistered with it,
does occasion (say they) the Generation of Bugs. Now it is most certain,
that there is no possibility in Nature for this Production: For no kind
of Hair ever breeds any Living Creature, except it be put into Water or
Mud when the Sun is powerful, and then this Creature, thus generated,
retains its first _Species_, _viz._ a Hair, with a live Head, which was
its Element whence it proceeded: but if you take it out of the Water, it
presently dies: So also it doth when the Sun declines in Heat, as most
sorts of Vermin that are bred through Heat and Moisture do. But Hair
being mixed with Lime, all Matter of Generation is thereby totally
destroyed: For Lime does chiefly contain a harsh, fiery, keen, sharp,
corroding Quality; it is so sharp, that it does destroy all Life, and is
as contrary to it, as Light is to Darkness; the predominant Quality in
it is the Salts Nature, from which no Living Creature can be produced.
Besides, if there were never so much Matter in Hair for the Generation
of such Vermin, Lime would destroy it; for in Lime there is only a
Sal-nitral fiery Vertue.
5. If the Reasons before-mentioned be not sufficient to convince the
Ignorant of their erroneous Opinions in this particular, then I hope the
following one will, which is more familiar to every one. It hath never
been known, that this troublesom Vermin was ever seen in Warehouses,
Kitchens, Parlours, Dining-rooms, or any Places where Beds have never
been, except they have by accident been brought into such Rooms or
Warehouses, by Furniture of Chambers that have been troubled with them,
though all such Places have the same Furniture as Chambers, except Beds.
6. From the same Substance or Matter whence Bugs are bred, is also
occasioned the Generation of many nasty Diseases in the Blood; so that
the destruction of the Matter that breeds them, is of greater
Consequence than most People are sensible of: And if these following
Rules be observed, I dare affirm, That the Generation of Bugs will
cease, and also many other Inconveniencies and Distempers, that are got
by this sort of Uncleanness, will be avoided.
First, You are to destroy all Press-Bedsteads which stand in Corners of
Rooms, being made up with Boards so close, that the Air cannot penetrate
or dry up and consume the moist sulphurous Vapours that are contracted.
These sorts of Beds, that stand so, are apt to have them more than
others. Also you are to set your other sorts of Beds as near as you can
in the most Airie Places of your Rooms, exposing them to the Air the
most part of the day, with your Chamber-Windows open, that the Air may
freely pass, which is the most excellent Element, that does sweeten all
things, and prevents Putrifaction. In the Night also you ought not to
have your Window-Curtains drawn, nor your Curtains that are about your
Beds; for it hinders the sweet refreshing Influences of the Air, so that
the Air of all close Places becomes of a hot sulphurous Nature and
Operation; the thin pure Vapours, which do wonderfully refresh Nature,
are as it were suffocated: And this preventing the Influences of the
Air, is in an especial manner observable, when People are sick, or out
of order; as though the sweet pleasant Air had been the Cause of their
Disease: such Rooms being so very close, with great Fires in them, that
if a healthy Person do but continue three or four Hours in them, the
fulsom Steams and thick Vapours will much disorder him, and take away
the edge of his Appetite: And if so, what will the Operation be on those
whose Spirits are weak and disordered with Distempers?
What is more pleasant and healthful than good Air? It chears and
comforts the Spirits, it opens the Passages of the Joynts and Nerves, it
purifies the Blood, creates an Appetite, increasing Strength and Vigour:
But, on the contrary, hot, thick, sulphurous Airs do not only obstruct
the Passages of the Spirits, but suffocate them, loading the Joynts and
Nerves with evil Juices, whereby the Limbs and Members become full of
pain, causing a general Tenderness to possess the whole Body, and
destroying the Appetite, and the Power of the Digestive Faculty in the
Stomach. Also, do not all Houses and Places grow musty, and contract too
great store of Moisture, if the Air be any way prevented, by
Window-shutters, or the like, that it cannot have its free egress and
regress? Therefore moderate Clothing, hard Beds, Houses that stand so as
that the pleasant Briezes of Wind may air and refresh them, and also
Houses that are full of Windows, are to be preferr'd: For where the Air
hath not its free Influences, the Spirit becomes dull and heavy, this
being the true Life of the Spirit in every thing.
7. Now the certain Means and Way not onely to prevent the Generation of
this Vermin, but also to preserve Health and Strength, are Straw, or
rather Chaff-Beds, with Ticks of Canvas, and Quilts made of Wooll or
Flocks to lay on them; which certainly is the most easie and pleasant
Lodging that can be invented: and a little Custom will make it appear
friendly to Nature, and in every respect far beyond the softest
Feather-beds, on which, when a Man lies down, he sinks into them, as
into an Hole, with Banks rising on each side of him; especially if two
lie together, when first they go to Bed they lie close, and after a
little time, when they begin to be hot or sweat, they are generally
willing to lie a little further off, that they may cool themselves, but
cannot do it without great difficulty and trouble, by reason of the
softness of the Bed, and those Banks that rise on each side. Besides,
such soft Feather-Beds do over-heat the Reins and Back, making all the
Parts tender, and causing Sweatings and many other Inconveniencies to
attend the Body. Feather-beds also are nothing so easie as Quilts, after
a little time being accustomed to them; they are also extream fulsom,
and by their Heat they do powerfully dry up the Radical Moisture,
causing a general Faintness to attend the whole Body. But, on the
contrary, hard, even Beds, that lie smooth, are not only easie through
custom, as is mentioned before; but a Man may turn freely, both sleeping
and waking: They harden and strengthen the whole Body, especially the
Back and Reins, make the Nerves and Sinews strong, preventing the
immoderate Evacuations by Sweating, and keeping the Body in a temperate
Heat. Besides, such Beds may be often changed, with but little Trouble,
and less Cost; they send forth no stinking Fumes or Steams, as
Feather-beds do; but are sweet and clean. Certainly nothing is more
healthy, next to Temperance in Meat and Drink, than clean hard Beds.
8. All sorts of Beds, especially Feather-beds, ought to be changed,
driven, or washed, at the least three or four times in a Year; or else
it is impossible to keep them sweet and clean, and to prevent the
Generation of Vermin, or the other Inconveniencies before-mentioned.
Would not every one condemn a Man, if he should wear a Shirt a Year, and
lie in Sheets seven Years? Which if any should do, it would not either
endanger his Health, or bring half the Inconveniencies on his Body, as
old stinking Feather-beds do; which possibly stunk before ever they were
lain on, by reason of the fulsom Excrements that the Quills of the
Feathers contain. Also Feathers do certainly contain an unclean
putrified Matter, that hath a near affinity with the Nature of Bugs; and
therefore Feather-beds are more apt to breed them, than Wooll, or
Flocks; though both will do it, if the forementioned Rules be not
observed. But if you are not willing, or so lowly-minded, to have Straw
or Chaff-Beds under your Quilts, then you may have Flock-Beds, with
Canvas Tickings, which may be both aired and washed as often as you
please, with little Trouble and Charge. If any shall question the Truth
of what I have alledged concerning Beds, I desire they would please but
to try the Experiment, by filling a Bed with the freshest and cleanest
Straw or Chaff, which will smell very pleasant; and having so done, let
them lie on it half a Year, in a corner of a Room, as Beds generally
stand, and then smell to it; and in stead of sending forth a pleasant
Scent, as it did at first, it will send forth a strong, fulsom, musty
Steam or Fume. And if this will do so, what will Feathers do, that in
the Root of Nature are unclean fulsom Excrements, of a hot strong
Quality? Therefore they have the greater power not only to attract and
suck in to themselves the fulsom Excrements that are breathed forth of
the Body by Sweatings, and the like; but they have also power to retain
such evil Vapours: and when others come to lie on them, and are
thoroughly hot, it awakens those pernicious Steams, which often bring
many Inconveniencies on the Body. Besides, it is very unpleasant to lie
in such Beds; a Man must always be forced to keep his Nose above-board.
Indeed each Mans own Bed does not stink or smell strong to himself,
because he is accustomed to it; neither does a Tallow-Chandler smell
those horrible Scents and pernicious Fumes that old Tallow sends forth
when it is melted: But let any other Person, that is not accustomed to
it, be near such things, and it will be very offensive to him. Even so
it is in all other stinking Trades, and things of this nature: so that
the greatest Slut in the World does hardly smell her own House or Bed
stink: For in Man is contained the true Nature and Property of all
things, both of Good and Evil; therefore he is both liable and also apt
to receive all Impressions, and to be wrought on by all things he shall
either communicate with or joyn himself to, whether it be Cleanness, or
the contrary. Also by Meats, Drinks, and Communication, all things have
power, by a Sympathetical Operation, to work on Man, because he is like
unto all, bearing a proportionable Nature unto all things. If People did
understand this, they would prefer Sobriety and Temperance, with
Cleanness, far beyond what they do; and then Men would not be subject to
so many Diseases as now they are.
9. Heat and Moisture is the Root of all Putrifaction; and therefore Bugs
are bred in Summer; but they live all the Winter, though they are not
then so troublesom. They harbour in Bedsteads, Holes, and Hangings,
Nitting and breeding as Lice do in Clothes: But all Men know, that
Woollen and Linnen are not the Element of Lice, but they are bred from
the fulsom Scents and Excrements that are breathed forth from the Body.
The very same Radix have Bugs; and if there be any difference, they are
from a higher Putrifaction, and therefore they are a more noisome
stinking Creature.
10. The whole Preservation of Mens Health and Strength does chiefly
reside in the Wisdom and Temperance of Women. Therefore the ancient Wise
Men in former Ages, did direct and accustom their Women to a higher
degree of Temperance than the Men. Which Customs of Sobriety the Women
of several Countries do maintain to this day, as in _Spain_, great part
of _France_, _Italy_, and many great Countries under the Dominion of the
_Grand Seignior_. Their Women do always drink Water, their Food being
for the most part of a mean and simple Quality; and for this Reason
neither they nor their Children are subject to several Diseases which
our Women and Children are. Wine and strong Drink should be sparingly
drunk by Women, till they are past Child-bearing; because the frequent
and common drinking of strong Drinks, does generate various Distempers
in the Female Sex, such as are not fit to be discoursed of in this
Place, which their Children often bring with them into the World. If the
Seed be good, yet if the Ground be bad, it seldom brings forth good
Fruit. Also Women are our Nurses for fifteen or sixteen Years; and they
do not only suffer us to be Gluttons, by letting us eat and drink often,
of their ill-prepared Food, beyond the power of the Digestive Faculty,
and more than the Stomach can bear; but many of them will entice us to
Gluttony, and some will force their Children to eat even against their
Stomachs, till they cast it up again. Now if it be a difficult Point for
a Man of Age and Experience to observe the necessary Rules of
Temperance, how careful then ought Mothers and Nurses to be in ordering
their Children? A great part of the Children that die, especially in
Towns and Cities, is occasioned either by the Intemperance of their
Mothers, during the time they go with Child, or afterwards by their
unnatural and badly-prepared Food, and suffering them to eat to excess;
also by their keeping of them too warm, and too close from the Air, and
lapping of them up in several Double Clothes and Swathes, so tight, that
a Man may write on them, and then putting them into warm Beds, and
covering them up close. If a strong Man was so bound up, he could not
endure it, without great injury unto his Health. Besides, the
Window-Curtains are drawn, and also the Curtains about the Bed; by which
means the Air becomes so hot and sulphurous, that it causes great
Disorders to attend both the Mothers and the Children. This ill kind of
Management does also cause such a Tenderness both in the Mother and the
Child, that on every small occasion they are liable and apt to get
Colds, and divers other Distempers.
Also Women have the entire Management of all things that concern our
Healths, during the whole time of our Lives; they prepare and dress our
Food, and order all things in our Houses, both for Bed and Board. There
is not one Man of a hundred that understands or takes any notice whether
his Food be well prepared or not; and if his Bed stinks, he is used to
it, and so counts it all well. Mens Time and Study is chiefly taken up
about getting a Livelihood, and providing things necessary for
themselves and Families; so that there is not one among a thousand that
understands any thing what belongs to the Preservation of his Health:
Whatever the Women do and say touching the Preparation of Food, and
other ordering of Families for Health, most Men believe, not making the
least scruple or question of the truth thereof. And well they may: For
the chiefest Doctors of our Times do bow before them, and are altogether
as subject to the Rules and Directions of Women, as other Men. Where are
your Doctors that teach Men Sobriety in their Lives, or the proper and
natural way of preparing Meats fit for the Stomach? Which of them
adviseth against the evil Custom of keeping their Chambers so over-hot,
when People are sick, and in the time of Womens lying in Child-bed? Why
do they not advise them not to have their Curtains so close drawn, both
before the Windows and Beds, insomuch that they are oftentimes in a
manner suffocated for want of the fresh Air? For, I affirm, That all
sorts of People that do keep their Beds, let the Occasion be what it
will, have ten-fold more need of the refreshing Influences of the Air,
than others that are up: For, the Bed being much hotter than a Mans
Garments are when he is up, the thin, refreshing, moist Vapours, that do
penetrate the whole Body more powerfully when a Man is up, are thereby
hindred. This is one chief Reason why a Man cannot digest a Supper so
well in Bed, as if he sits up. All Men know, that the Bed destroys
Appetite. If a Man go to Bed at Eight a Clock, and lies till Eight in
the Morning, he shall not be hungry; but if he goes to Bed at the same
time, and rises at Four in the Morning, though he sits still without
Action, yet by Eight he shall have a good stomach to eat and drink; so
great is the power of the Air: For when a Man is up, his Body is cool,
and the pure Spirits and thin moist Vapours of the Air have power to
penetrate the Body; which Element the Body sucks in like a Spunge thorow
the Pores; and this does not only cool and refresh the Spirits, and the
whole Body, but also powerfully strengthens the Action of the Stomach.
But I pity the young Children most, who are so tender, and of so
delicate a Nature, both in their Body and Spirits, that every Disorder
does wound them to the very Heart. Nothing is more grateful and
refreshing to them, than the pleasant Air: It comforts their Spirits,
and causeth a free Circulation of the Blood and Radical Moisture, begets
Appetite, and makes them grow in Strength: But, on the contrary, hot
sulphurous Airs, with great Fires, and warm Clothing, do not only hinder
the Circulation of the Blood, but suffocate the Spirits, and destroy the
Appetite, causing an unnatural Heat to possess the whole Body; whence
does proceed various Disorders and Diseases, making them to cry, and be
very forward. Also close Bindings, and over-warm Clothings, and thick
hot Airs, do oft in weak-spirited Children cause Convulsions, Vapours,
and Fumes to fly into the Head, sometimes occasioning Vomiting, which
People call Windy Diseases.
Again, The Food of most Children, of late Years, is so enriched with
_West_ and _East-India_ Ingredients, that is, with Sugar and Spices,
that thereby their Food becomes so hot in operation, that it does not
only breed too much Nourishment, which generates Obstructions and
Stoppages, but it heats the Body, drying up and consuming the Radical
Moisture, and infecting the Blood with a sharp fretting Humour, which in
some Complexions and Constitutions causeth Languishing Diseases,
contracting the Breast and Vessels of the Stomach, and hindering the
Passages of the Spirits, so that the Joynts and Nerves become weak and
feeble: in others, with the help of bad Diet, and other Uncleanliness,
does cause Botches, Boils, and various sorts of Leprous Diseases. Also
many that have wherewithal, will frequently give their Children Sack,
strong Drinks, and fat Meats, as long as they will eat, which is
abominable, and absolutely contrary to the Nature of Children.
There are a hundred other Disorders and Intemperances that many Mothers
and ignorant Nurses affect their Children with, which I have no room in
this Place to discourse of: Therefore I commend unto the Women Milk that
is raw, only made so hot as the Mothers or Nurses Milk is when the Child
sucks it; and sometimes Milk and Flower boyled together, giving it the
Child about the warmness of Breast-milk; and indeed, neither Children
nor others ought to eat any Food hotter. Also no Children ought to drink
any kind of strong Drink: I could commend Water, as the most wholesom;
but it being contrary to our Custom, ordinary Beer may do well, or
rather small Ale. If Women did understand but the hundredth part of the
Evils and Diseases those indulging and intemperate Ways do bring both to
themselves and Children, they would quickly be of my mind; which I never
expect; _They are too wise_.
A SHORT DISCOURSE
OF THE
PAIN in the TEETH,
Shewing from what Cause it does chiefly proceed,
and also how to prevent it.
The terrible Pains and Diseases of the Teeth do chiefly proceed from two
Causes. The first is from certain filthy phlegmy Matter which the
Stomach and Vessels do continually breathe and send forth, which does
lodge or center in the Mouth, especially between the Teeth, and on the
Gums; and some People having fouler Stomachs than others, such do
breathe forth very sour, stinking, phlegmy Matter, which does not only
increase the Pain, but causeth the Teeth to become loose and rotten: And
for want of continual cleansing and washing, those Breathings and this
Phlegmy Matter turns to Putrifaction, which does eat away the Gums, as
though Worms had eaten them: And this Defect is generally attributed to
the Disease called the _Scurvey_; but it is a mistake: the Cause is
chiefly, as is mentioned before, from the Stomach, or for want of
Cleansings.
2. This Distemper of the Teeth and Gums does also proceed from the
various sorts of Meats and Drinks, and more especially from the
continual eating of Flesh, and fat sweet things, compounded of various
things of disagreeing Natures, which do not only obstruct the Stomach,
but fur and foul the Mouth, part thereof remaining upon the Gums, and
between the Teeth. For all such things do quickly turn to Putrifaction,
which does by degrees corrupt both the Teeth and Gums. Besides, our Beds
take up near half the time of our Lives, which time the Body is not only
without motion, but the Bed and Coverings do keep it much hotter than
the Day-garments, especially of those that draw the Curtains of their
Windows and Beds so close, that the pure Spirits and thin refreshing
Vapours of the Air are hindred of having their free egress and regress,
which does dull and flatten the Action of the Stomach; and this is the
chief Cause why Suppers lie hard in the Stomach, and require more than
double the time for perfect Concoction, than the same Food does when a
Man is up, and in the open Air: For this Element, if it hath its free
Influences, is sucked in, as by Spunges, through all the Pores of the
Body, and does wonderfully refresh, comfort, open, and cleanse all the
Parts, having power to assist and help Concoction: but hot, dull, thick
Airs do destroy the Action of the Stomach, and as it were suffocate the
pure Spirits, drying up and consuming the Radical Moisture. Therefore
the Night does foul the Mouth more than the Day, furring it with a gross
slimy Matter, especially those that have foul Stomachs, and are in
Years, which ought to be well cleansed every Morning.
3. Whatsoever are the Disorders in the Body, the Mouth does always
partake of them; besides the Evils that the variety of Food, and the
improper mixtures of Flesh and Fish, and many other things, which do
foul and hurt both the Teeth and Gums. When any Person is disordered
with inward Diseases, does not the Mouth quickly complain of the Evils
thereof? This very few do consider in time.
4. It is to be noted, That most People do attribute the Diseases of the
Teeth to Colds, and Rheums, and other outward Accidents. It is true,
outward Accidents will further this Disease, but then there must be
Matter before-hand, otherwise outward Colds can have no power to cause
this Pain. The same is to be understood in all Stoppages of the Breast,
and other Obstructions, as Coughs, and the like. For, if any Part be
obstructed, or there be Matter for Distemper, then, on every small
occasion of outward Colds, or the like Accidents, Nature complains. If
your Teeth and Gums be sound, and free from this Matter, take what Colds
you will, and your Teeth will never complain, as daily Experience doth
shew. For all outward Colds, and other Accidents of the like nature,
have no power to seise any part of the Body, except first there be some
inward Defect or Infirmity: Suppose the Teeth be defective, then the
Disease falls on that Part; or if it be the Head, Eyes, Breast, Back, or
any other Part or Member of the Body, that is obstructed, the Evil is
felt in that Part. Therefore if the Mouth be kept clean by continual
Washings, it will prevent all Matter which may cause Putrifaction; and
then Colds, and the like Accidents, will have no power to seise this
Part, or cause this terrible Pain. Even so it is in all other Parts of
the Body. If Temperance and Sobriety be observed in Meats, Drinks, and
Exercises, with other Circumstances belonging to Health, then Stoppages,
Coughs, Colds, and other Obstructions, would not be so frequent on every
small occasion: For Temperance has an inward Power and Operation, and
does as it were cut off Diseases in the very Bud, preventing the
Generation of Matter whence Distempers do proceed, increasing the
Radical Moisture, and making the Spirits lively, brisk, and powerful,
able to withstand all outward Colds, and other Casualties of the like
nature.
5. There are many various things, of divers Natures, prescribed by
Physicians, and others, as Washes to preserve the Teeth and Gums; but
most of them, if not all, to little or no purpose, as daily Experience
teaches: For, all high, sharp Salts, and things of a sour or keen
nature, do rather cause the Teeth to perish, than the contrary; as do
all hot Spirits, be they what they will: Many have destroyed their Teeth
by the frequent use of such things, and it hath hardly ever been known
that any such things have ever cured or prevented the aking Pains of the
Teeth, but Water only. Many Examples I could mention, if it were
convenient. Physicians, and others, do daily prescribe such things for
the Cure and Prevention of this Disease of the Teeth, which most of them
do know by experience can do no good, but rather the contrary: But when
People come to them, they must give them something for their Money; for
Interest and Ignorance have more affinity with this sort of People, than
Vertue, and the true Knowledge of the Nature of Things. Most certain it
is, That the Shepherd and Husbandman do know far better how to prepare
the Meat for their Cattel, and also how to preserve them from Disorders,
than many Physicians do their Food or Physick: and a Man shall
understand more by conversing with some of this sort of People, than
with the Learned: For the Shepherd and Husbandman understand something
of Nature; but most of the Learned are departed from the simple Ways of
God in Nature, putting out their own Eyes, and then boasting what
Wonders they can see with other Mens: They have invented many Words to
hide the Truth from the Unlearned, that they may get the greater esteem.
This hath chiefly been done to advance Pride and Interest; so that the
Divine Eye is departed from many of them, who never make any Inspexion
into the true Nature of Things, being contented to take other Mens
Words, let it be right or wrong, as long as they have Authority and Law
on their sides, wherefore should they trouble their weak Heads?
6. The best and most sure way to prevent the Diseases and Pains in the
Teeth and Gums, is every Morning to wash your Mouth with at the least
ten or twelve Mouthfuls of pure Water, cold from the Spring or River,
and so again after Dinner and Supper, swallowing down a Mouthful of
Water after each Washing: For there is no sort of Liquor in the World so
pure and clean as Water; and nothing doth cleanse and free the Teeth and
Gums from that foul Matter which does proceed from the Breathings and
Purgings of the Stomach, and from the various sorts of Food, so well as
Water: The use of other Washes is to little or no purpose; but whosoever
do constantly wash their Mouths with Water, as is before mentioned,
shall find an essential Remedy. All hard Rubbing and Picking of the
Teeth ought by any means to be avoided for that is injurious to them.
Also whensoever you find your Mouth foul, or subject to be slimie, as
sometimes it will more than at others, according to the good or evil
state of the Stomach, though it be not after eating; at all such times
you ought to wash your Mouth. This Rule all Mothers and Nurses ought to
observe, washing the Mouths of their Children two or three times a day;
and also to cause their Children to swallow down a little Water, which
will be very refreshing to their Stomachs: For Milk does naturally foul
and fur the Mouth and Teeth, and if they be not kept clean by continual
washing, it causes the Breeding of Childrens Teeth to be the more
painful to them.
7. To keep your Teeth white, one of the best things is a piece of a
_China_ Dish, or a piece of a fine _Dutch_ Earthen Dish, made into fine
Powder, and the Teeth rubbed with it.
8. Few there be that understand or consider the excellent Vertues of
Water, it being an Element of a mild and cleansing Nature and Operation,
friendly unto all things, and of universal Use: But because it is so
common, and so easily procured, I am afraid that many People will be
like _Naaman_ the _Syrian_, when the Prophet _Elisha_ advised him to
_wash seven times in the River of Jordan to cure his Leprosie_; it being
the Ignorance and Folly of most People, to admire those things they do
not know, and, on the other side, to despise and trample under foot
those Things and Mysteries they do know; which the Learned in all Ages
have taken notice of: For, should some People know what Apothecaries and
others give them, they would despise the Physick, and have but little
respect for their Doctor.
All Housewifes do know, that no sort of Liquor, be it what it will, will
cleanse and sweeten their Vessels, but only Water; all other Liquors
leaving a sour stinking Quality behind them, which will quickly cause
Putrifaction: But Water in its own nature is clean and pure, not only
for all Uses in Housewifery, and the Preservation of Health; but the
Saints and Holy Men of God have highly esteemed this Element, by using
it in the exteriour Acts of Divine Worship, as having a Simile with the
Eternal Water of Life, that does purifie and cleanse the Soul from Sin.
_FINIS._
Transcriber's Notes.
This Book is 300 years old and the advice given has been superceded by
more modern methods and is only of historical value.
The spelling is not consistent.
Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with
underscores.
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