Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CLI. Which is more healthful, to become warm by the Fire or by Exercise. (Book 151)

THey who question the necessity of Fire for recalefying our Bodies chill'd by cold the enemy of our natural heat, deserve the rude treatment of the ancient Romans to their ba∣nish'd persons, whom they expell'd no otherwise from their Ci∣ty but by interdicting them the use of Fire and Water; know∣ing that to want either was equally impossible. Without Fire our Bodies would be soon depriv'd of life which resides in heat, as cold is the effect and sign of death. And as Aristotle saith, those that deny Vertue would not be otherwise disputed with but by casting them into the fire; so would not I otherwise pu∣nish those that decry it, but by exposing them to freez in mid∣winter, instead of burning a faggot for them. What could little Children and old people do without it? For though the na∣tural heat be of another kind then that of our material fire, yet this sometimes assists that in such sort that those who digest ill are much comforted by it, not to mention weak persons and those that are subject to swoonings. Moreover, the external cold must be remov'd by an external heat, as Fire is, which heats only what part and to what degree you please; but motion heats all alike. As the Sun (which some Philosophers take to be the Elemental-fire) contributes to the Generation, so doth Fire concur to the conservation of Man; not by immediate con∣tact, but by the heat which it communicates to the Air and the Air to our Body, which by approaching or receding from it, tem∣pers its excess in discretion, and thereby renders it sutable to our natural heat, not destroying Bodies but in its highest degree; as also the Sun offends those at Noon whom it refreshes at rising and setting.

The Second said, That the violent action of Fire which de∣stroys all sublunary Bodies, argues its disproportion with our natural heat; which disproportion renders the Stoves and places heated artificially by Fire so noxious, and makes such as love the Chimney-corner almost always tender, scabby, and im∣patient

of the least inclemency of the Air; that heat against nature not only destroying the natural but corrupting the hu∣mors and exsiccating the parts. But the bodies of Plants and Animals inur'd onely to natural heat are far more vigorous, whilst the same is secured against external cold by Bark, Hair and Skin, and those defensive Arms which Instinct taught our Fore-fathers so long as they were guided by Nature, in Caves of the Earth which moderate the injuries of the Air much bet∣ter then humane Art can do; or else by thick clothing which reflects the fumes incessantly issuing out of the pores of the Bo∣dy; from which repercussion, proceeds the warmth of our Gar∣ments. If cold happen at any time to over-master the natural heat in the external parts, the same is presently reviv'd (but dis∣sipated by fire, before which infirm persons frequently fall into fainting fits) by motion and exercise which heats all Bodies, and much more such as are animated, driving the Spirits and Blood (and with them heat) into the agitated part. Of the benefit of which motion we cannot judge more certainly then by its effects. For as Fire takes away the Appetite and dulls the Senses of those that sit at it, so Exercise encreases it and renders the Body and Mind much more lively. Wherefore I conclude for Exercise against Fire, without which a late Physician liv'd twenty years, seeing no other but that of his Candle, and without employing his Wood, as Sylvius did who run up and down Stairs laden with two or three Fagots, more or less according as he was cold, till he was warm, and then he laid them up till ano∣ther time.

The Third said, Exercise is not more profitable to such as are accustom'd to it, then hurtful to others. Which Sedentary persons find true when they play at Tennis, or Hunt, or use such other violent motion. For every sort of motion is not Exercise, but only that which is perform'd with some streining, whereby respiration is render'd more frequent, the Arteries dilated, the Spirits and blood chaf'd, whence oftentimes they break their vessels, and beget Fevers, Pleurises, Fluxes, Head-aches and Catarrhs: which is a manifest proof that 'tis better to leave the Humors and Spirits in their natural temper. For Health consists in a just proportion of the Humors, which are gene∣rated by the Concoction of temperate and moderate Food; which Concoction is perform'd better during rest then during motion, and in the sleep of the night then in the labour of the day. So also are excrements better expell'd when the Body is quiet then when 'tis in motion, which brings a confusion of pure with impure; Insensible transpiration is sufficiently effected only by the internal motion of Nature without the help of external, which Nature hath not prescrib'd Animals, although they have no need of Fire, being naturally Furr'd, Feather'd, and other∣wise guarded against the injuries of weather, and yet their age is almost as regular as that of immovable Plants. Man, on the

contrary, by reason chiefly of his several violent exercises hath no prefix'd time of life, which labour (inseparable from exer∣cise) wears and consumes more then his years, and makes him old before his time, depriving him also of that contentment and pleasure which makes us live. Moreover, since things are pre∣serv'd and acquir'd by the same causes, lost health which is re∣cover'd by rest and the bed, cannot be preserv'd by travel; which, besides consuming our radical moisture swifter then the natural heat doth alone, hath the same effect that motion hath in a lighted Candle which is sooner spent when stirr'd then when at quiet.

The Fourth said, That since Fire introduces into us a foreign and contranatural heat, as besides the inconveniences already alledg'd, the sweating of the head testifies, 'tis more hurtful then Exercise, which only rouses up the natural heat enfeebled by the apertion of the pores caus'd by the Fire in Winter and the Sun in Summer, when for that reason Exercise ought to be less. The incommodity Exercise brings to unaccustom'd Bodies ought not to hinder their being form'd thereto by little and little, and by the degrees recommended by Hippocrates in all changes. For if Physicians contribute all their skill to correct distempers drawn from the birth, much rather may they endea∣vour to turn bad customs into good; as being an easier task. Thus Galen was not accustom'd to cleave wood, nor Pittacus King of the Mytelenians to grind corn, yet they exercis'd them∣selves in these labours for their health. And indeed some Ma∣ladies, as those which proceed from a cold and moist distemper, are cur'd by exercise; especially if they come from repletion. Thus Nicomachus of Smyrna was so monstrously fat that he could not put his hand behind him, yet was brought to a mode∣rate bulk by Exercise. On the contrary, Germanicus whose legs were somewhat too slender brought them to a competent pro∣portion by Riding; the concussions whereof shake the Stone out of the Kidneys. Recovering persons need Exercise so much, ac∣cording to their strength that 'tis the most safe means of restor∣ing it, and old men are chiefly preserv'd by it. Antiochus the Physician and Spurnia, both of them 80 years old, preserv'd their Senses and strength, entire by walking a great way every day on foot. And yet Fire is less hurtful in that age by reason of the coldness and thickness of the skin which gives not its heat so free entrance, nor so easie an issue to that within.