The marrow of physicke, or, A learned discourse of the severall parts of mans body being a medicamentary, teaching the manner and way of making and compounding all such oyles, unguents ... &c. as shall be usefull and necessary in any private house ... : and also an addition of divers experimented medicines which may serve against any disease that shall happen to the body : together with some rare receipts for beauties ... / collected and experimented by the industry of T.B.

CHAP. XIII. Of Repletion, and Inanition.

Of fulnesse. REpletion or fulnesse is made two waies; either in quantity, or in quality; in quantity, the body being distended with too much meate, drinke, and humours, and in so great a quantity that nature cannot overcome, from whence proceed infinite sorts of maladies: in quality, when the meat exceedeth without any de∣fluxion or society of any humour; fulnesse in quantity is either Repletio ad vasa, or ad vires fulnesse to the ves∣sels: as when the stomacke and veines are so full that they are distended and stretched, that some are forced to vomit up againe that which they have taken in so great quantity; fulnesse to the strength, is when the bo∣dy is loaded with more meats than it can well beare, or the vertue, force or faculty thereof digest: There is also a fulnesse of humours caused sometimes by one humour, sometimes by all; when it is by one humour, it is called cacochymia, that is an evill juice, whether it proceed from a chollericke, phlegmaticke, melancho∣licke, or serous humour; fulnesse that is caused by all

the humours is called plethora by the Greekes, in Latine, plenitude, because it is an equall excesse of all the hu∣mours.

Witnesse what it is. Inanition or evacuation is the expulsion of humours & excrements which are troublesome either in quantity, or quality, and this is either univers••lly or particularly; the universall evacuation is the cleansing of the whole body from superfluous humours by purging, vomiting, sweating, opening a veine, scarification, friction, ba∣thing, &c. the particular evacuation is only by evacua∣ting, and purging some one part, as the braine is dis∣charged by the nose, pallat, eyes, and eares, the lights by spitting, the stomacke by vomiting, the intestines by stoole, the liver, spleene, kidneyes, and bladder by urine, and this is done either naturally, or artificially, the Physitions art helping nature to performe it.

Evacuati∣on. Evacuation is very necessary to prevent diseases, be∣cause excrements are the originall of divers, therefore it is chiefly commanded that the body be purged, & exo∣nerated; some excrements are good, which are only in quantity excrements, as seed and menstruous blood; others are altogether unprofitable, which are excre∣ments both in quantity and quality, as sweat, urine, and ordure, which are (as I have shewed you) generall, and the evacuation of the braine which is particular: First therefore, the retention of the seed doth acquire the force of poison in the body, as it happens in young widdowes that suffer suffocation in the wombe; so like∣wise the overmuch flowing thereof hurts the body as much, for they had as good lose so much bloud: this you may perceive in sparrows, which scarce are known to live above two yeares, and the males lesse; therefore

whosoever desire to preserve their health, Vener. let them not use venery but only to satisfie nature, that is for necessity, not for pleasure: also those that are melancholicke and cholerick are more prejudiced hereby then the phleg∣matick, or sanguine; for the phlegmatick, are freed from many diseases, because the naturall heate encreased ex∣pels phlegme: Age is also to be considered, for young men that are in their flourishing age suffer more hurt then old men, that are cold and drie.

The immoderate and overmuch use of venery pro∣cures divers discomodities, as the faintnesse of the spirits, forgetfulnesse, losse of sight, stinking of the mouth, diseases of the joynts, as trembling, palsey, gowtes of all kindes, both in feet, hands and fingers, crampes, run∣ing of the reines, pissing of bloud, shedding of urine un∣voluntary, and divers times the French pox, with exul∣ceration of the privities.

Menstruous fluxe. The monthly purgation, evacuates not onely the hu∣mours and ill juice of the belly, but also it cleanseth the body, and whole masse of bloud, it diminisheth not the bloud at all, but only taketh away the impurity thereof, for the crudest, thinnest, and the most faeculent bloud is purged by the wombe, which if it stayed, would gene∣rate many dangerous diseases by its putrefaction; for bloud restrained putrifies, therefore in such, that often misse their naturall purgations, it is very fit, and ne∣cessary that they take decoctions, sirrups, or pilles, such as are to provoke them.

Now for the evacuation of tumours, I have seene divers that have dyed by the unskilfulnesse of such as had them in cure, or else by their carelesnesse, by letting the matter flow forth altogether at one time (and not by

little and little, and at severall times as it should) wher∣by not a little quantity of the spirits, and heat hath flow∣ed out therwith, and so consequently a dissolution of all the powers.