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
2wholesom 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
3becomes 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,
4being 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
5gross 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
6such 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
7and 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
8Influences 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
9does 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:
10And 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
11cannot 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
12try 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
13the 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
14up, 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
15Bed 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,
16which 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.
