Batman vppon Bartholome his booke De proprietatibus rerum, newly corrected, enlarged and amended: with such additions as are requisite, vnto euery seuerall booke: taken foorth of the most approued authors, the like heretofore not translated in English. Profitable for all estates, as well for the benefite of the mind as the bodie. 1582.

De Lacte. cap. 63.

MIlke is where licour & swéete, gende∣red of bloud by working of heate in teats & paps of beasts. Or as Ari. saith li. 18. Milke is bloud sod & defied, and not corrupt: For when the childe maye not for greatnesse be fed by the nauell, then kinde ordaineth him milke of menstru∣all bloud, that commeth of the paps and teates and is there digested and sod: and 〈◊〉〈◊〉 white colour of the whitenesse of the ke••nels of y^e teats and paps, as Con∣st•••••••••••• saith. lib.••••••••. For milke and menstrual bloud be all one kind: therfore 〈…〉〈…〉 so sad the child with∣out y^e 〈…〉〈…〉 ••erson shall not milke be 〈…〉〈…〉 nor 〈…〉〈…〉 therafter, but it 〈…〉〈…〉 against kind for in y^e time 〈…〉〈…〉 milk is compleat us beaste. 〈…〉〈…〉 or 〈…〉〈…〉 bring forth there 〈…〉〈…〉 men ••o diuersity. 〈…〉〈…〉 must 〈…〉〈…〉 her good ofte•• a 〈…〉〈…〉 milke to 〈…〉〈…〉 when it so well diuissed, and that is needfull for 〈…〉〈…〉 of beasts y^t is sweet, for all beast 〈…〉〈…〉 & well digested, as he saith. li •••• 〈…〉〈…〉 li •• Ari saith, that no beast y^e lateth egges hath milk, nor 〈…〉〈…〉 and paps, & in euery milke is a th•••• part & watry: and a thick part so called 〈…〉〈…〉 & the more thick milke is, the wor••e ch•••••••• is therin. And milke of beasts y^t be tooth∣lesse aboue, re••u••eth, and milke of beasts with teeth in either sawe, reneath not, nor tallow of such beastes: And milke of such beasts is sweete and thin as Ca∣mells milke, and Mares milke, and As∣ses milke. Also hee saith there, y^t in some countries the people abode not concepti∣on of Goats, but frote their tears & do∣ders with nettles, & then first commeth out blood, & after as it were matter, and at last commeth good milke,* 1.1 not much worse then the milke is when they haue yened. No milke is in the tears of men generally, though it seemeth y^t it happe∣neth otherwise: some hearbe haue white humors, as Titimallus, & some trees al∣so. The fig tree hath humour white as milke, as Ari. saith ther. Milke of beasts renneth, & among all beasts, the Batch

hath thickest milke, except hares & sows, & is most thicke in farrowing time, and waxeth thin afterward, as Ari. saith, li. 6. in fine. The Cowe hath no milke be∣fore coluing, and hath good milke after. But when it is first tongeuled, it is as it were a stone, and that happeneth when it is medled with water, as he saith. Al∣so li. 9. he saith, that when a child is no∣rished with hot milke, his teeth springeth the sooner: and after cleansing, womans milke multiplieth and increaseth: Some women haue milke onely in the head of the teate, & some in other places of the teate. And when the milke hath not good digestion, then it congealeth, and the breasts hardneth, for all the breasts bee right soft. And if any haire cōmeth ther∣in there falleth a great sicknesse y^t is cal∣led Pilosa,* 1.2 and the ach ceaseth not ere y^e haire commeth with y^e milke, or rotteth, & commeth out in that wise. And while the milke commeth & renneth, menstru∣all bloud is not generallye found. And some melch woman bleedeth menstrual bloud, when her bloud is right moist, & much when children sucketh, and be fed with much thicke bloud that haue the cramp. If the nurse haue much multitude of milke, oft it noyeth and gréeueth. And a black woman hath much better milke, and more nourishing then a white woman. And Isaac in Dietis rehearseth such properties of milk, and many other, and sayth in this wise.

Milke is generally diuided in thrée man∣ners, for some milke is swéet & new mil∣ked, & other is sowre & olde milked, or meane betwéene both. The sweet is most sauoury, & friend to bloud, & nigh there∣to, and tourneth soone into bloud, and is therefore good nourishing of bloud. And is compowned of thrée substaunces, that be diuers in vertue & in working. One maketh thin and cleanseth, the second is thicke and stoppeth, the thirde maketh soft and thinne. Farthermore the sub∣staunce of whey is watrye, and maketh throne the Cheese, the Chéese is cold and thicke and stoppeth, therefore creame is vertuous and soft: And so milke with watry substance thereof is sharp, & tem∣pereth and softeneth thicke humours, & washeth and biteth the wombe and the guts, and laxeth and putteth out, and thirleth y^e veines. And openeth the stop∣pings of the liuer and of the splene, and namely of the milke of Camells. And such milk helpeth them y^t haue the drop∣se, as he saith. And there it followeth al∣so: Good milke and temperate in his three substances, cleanseth the members with his watrynes, and withstandeth venim, & moisteth y^e mēbers as butter, & beareth meat w^t his cheese from the mouth of the stomack to y^e ground thereof. Also milke is commended, for it nourisheth well the body, & turneth into likenesse of bloud, if it be taken temperatly & in due time af∣ter cleansing of y^e body: and if it be taken into a body y^t is not cleansed, or in vn∣due time, is tourned into euill humours that it findeth, and increaseth them, and is resolued and turned into but fumost∣lye, and is so cause of head ach, and if it ••nd matter of leauer, he kindleth the se∣ners heat, if it finde the kinde heate fee∣ble, then it sowreth sene, & is sowre in that stomacke, for when there is much humour and little heate, then is bredde sowrenesse or rotting of fleme: therefore milke shal not be oft taken, but the body be temperate, and the stomacke void: for if the body be cleane of rotted humore & Cholera, & the milke is well digested, it nourisheth well the body, & maketh good bloud, & much flesh. And moyst••••th the body without, & maketh the skin fayre and tender, as he saith. Also hée sayth, it accordeth to them y^e drinke milke to bee fasting, and eate the milke hot and new milked, and they should not eate ere the milk be defied. Also it néedeth to beware of too great trauaile & moouing, vntil the milke come downe into the place of di∣gestion, & be defied. For of vnordinate mouing and trauell, commeth too much heate sodeinelye gendered. And by such heat the vnctuositye is resolued and tur∣ned into euill fumositie and gréeuous, & the thicke part leaueth vndigested, and breedeth many manner corruption, as be saith. And chosen milke (as he saith) shall haue foure qualities, colour, odour, smel, and sauour. The colour most be white & cléere, without any yeolow, red, or wan.

Good odour without heauy smel: The hu∣mour meane betwéene thicke and thin. And a drop thereof put on the naile, abi∣deth continual, and droppeth not away. And such a drop is shapen broad béneath & sharpe aboue. The sauour is good, if it be not medled with bitternesse nor with saltnesse. And among these diuersities of milke, womans milk is accounted kind∣ly most temperate, for all milk followeth kindly the complection and kinde of the beast y^t is commeth of. And for the com∣plection of mankinde is most temperate and more nourishing: therefore it easeth most smarting in the corners of the eien. And all that is said before of goodnesse of milke is found in the same discourse.

Notes

• * 1.1

  The Sovv Thirtle. & y^e Spurge, vvhereof are seuen sundry kinds, ha∣uing mil¦ky iuyce & biting.
• * 1.2

  Grovving of haire in y^e nipples of the brest.