Nine books of physick and chirurgery written by that great and learned physitian, Dr Sennertus. The first five being his Institutions of the whole body of physick: the other four of fevers and agues: with their differences, signs, and cures.

CHAP. II. Of the Signes of Causes, and of Humours in par∣ticular.

AS for what belongs to the signes of every humour in particular gone before, * 1.1 signifies that blood doth a∣bound, and a plethory as to the vessels is present, as is ex∣pressed before in the Lib: 2. Part 2. chap: 3. The habit of the body is fleshly and firm, overspread with an habituous vapour, the veins are fuller, and especially after exercise and heat swel; the muscles are extended, the strength of Na∣ture is increased, with a certain proportion of blood, and if the blood fil the veins so ful that they cannot be cooled, or fanned enough, it grows thick, and seeks to weigh down the inferior parts, hence the muscles of the leggs being filled with blood are moved with paine, and wearisomness ariseth. Re∣spiration is more difficult after labour, in their behaviour they are merry and pleasant, and their discourse and memo∣ry duller, their sleep is profound, and more durable and pleasing, with flattering dreams, and of red things, and blood; the pulse is great and strong, all natural actions are excel∣lently performed; the urine is more plentiful, and moderate in substance, and colour, and the contents therein are plen∣tiful, the colour of the whole body, and especially of the face is red, and rosie, the reins of the cies are red, the skin being touched is hot, yet that heat is gentle, they easily to∣lerate evacuations of blood, by what means soever made, sparing diet takes away the wearisomness, and quencheth thirst, but they are offended by hot and moist things, and all things which increase heat; idleness and food, increasing blood hurts them, but a plethorick constitution is known as to its strength, by gravity of body, an unequal pulse, signes of crudity, and oftentimes by signes of putrifaction; begin

Sweet flegme abounding is known from the causes which conduce to the generation of flegme, if they have preceded, * 1.2 of which above Lib: 2. part 2. ch: 4. Moreover, those which abound with flegme are dul, flow, lazy, and unapt for moti∣on, more stupid in their senses, dullet of apprehension, pro∣pense to sleep, and sleep more soundly, they dream of wa∣ters, and raine, snow, haile, ice, and of drowning, their manners are unbeseeming, they are not easily angry, the pulse is little, dul, thin, and soft; they are not troubled with thirst, their desire is weaker, they are affected with cold diseases, moist, and durable; they send forth many flegmatick excrements, and abound with spittle, their urine is white, pale, sometimes thin, sometimes thick and troubled; their dejected ordure is crude, & pituitous; the whole body is thick, white, soft, and more cold to the touch; heating and drying things, cutting and atenuating, and eva∣cuating flegme advantage them, they easily indure fasting. On the other side all cooling, and moistning things, and thickning, and those which retaine and increase Flegme, of∣fend them; if the Flegme be sour, all those signes are the more vehement, but salt Flegme is known from the prece∣ding causes, of which is spoken before, thirst is present, a salt taste, those things which are cast out are crude, but withall biting. Moderate salt things delight them; too much drying and heating things hurt them.

Choler is known to abound if the causes, * 1.3 and dispositions of the body have gone before, which conduce to the gene∣ration of Choler, proposed before, lib: 2. part 2. chap: 9 as if a man be not drowsie, but watchful; if he dreame of fire, thunder, and lightning, and contentions, and is ful of activi∣ty in motion, and rash or precipitate in consultation, is easi∣ly angry, the pulse vehement, swift, frequent, hard; if his concoction be depraved, and turned into a nitrous crudity, if the appetite of meat be less then the appetite of drink, hot and dry diseases afflict him, and those which have a swift motion, and symptomes arising from choler; if the u∣rine be yellow, and splendid; the excrements coloured with cholour, the habit of the body is dry and leane, and carries with it lively heat, the colour of the body is yellow; cold and moist things, and such as purge choller, as also acid things delight them; hot and dry things, as also fasting hurts them.

Melancholy is known to abound from the causes and dispositions going before, * 1.4 propounded aboue lib: 2. part 2. chap: 6. For what belongs to the consequences, those which abound with a melancholy humour are silent, full of thoughts, stable, and pertinacious, and slow to anger, who nevertheless are not easily pacified; their sleep is turbulent, perplext with horrid and terrible dreams, they are sad and fearful without any manifest cause, they have a little pulse, dul, thin, and indifferent hard, their colour is yel∣low, dun or duskie, almost black, they desire meat and Venery moderately, they are void of thirst, and abound with spittle, they make much Urine, and if none of the me∣lancholy be evacuated therewith, it is thin and white, or if some of it flow with it, it is thick and black, and they sweat plentifully in their sleep, the Hemorhoids either flow, or are suppressed, much wind is in the body, and they are apt to four belchings, the habit of the body is lean, sharp, and hard, the colour yellow, the spleen sometimes swels, and grows hard within them; tubercles appear in the veins, and they are affected with other melancholy diseases.

Black choler is a signe of yellow choler and melancho∣ly mixed together, * 1.5 and the indications of melancholy ap∣pear, but joyned with manifest signes of heat, whence mad∣ness, a canker, a Leaprosie, and such like diseases arise.

Aboundance of serous Humours are collected, * 1.6 not only from the antecedent causes, whereof we have spoken be∣fore, but also from a somewhat moist and pale body, and the Urine is crude and aqueous.

Moreover, * 1.7 winds discover themselves by those signes which are reckned above in the lib: 2, part 2, chap: 7, more∣over fluctuations, & rumblings & tumblings in the guts, and Hypochondrias are perceived, and switching pains without gravity, & wandring, & such as suddenly arise, & suddenly va∣nish; also a humming and buzzing in the ears, pantings of some parts of the body, belching, breaking wind backward, or in the paunch are discovered, and the Urines are frothy.

Malignant and pestilent humors, * 1.8 how they may be known is spoken amongst fevers, but the signes that poison is drank are, if any biting happen in the stomack, or guts, to any sound man, after eating and drinking, and if the belly or stomack be moved to expel, and their colour within six hours turn yellow, and spottie; if the extream parts of the body grow cold, and swounding, palpitation of the heart, and

swelling happens, but if one be hurt by the biting of any living creature, or with a prick, or sting, or froth, and the offended part should mortifie, become putred, should be inflamed and swel, and the paine be great, and those symp∣tomes before mentioned appear, it is a token that the li∣ving creature was venemous.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Signes of Plethory.
• * 1.2

  Flegme.
• * 1.3

  Of Choller.
• * 1.4

  Melancho∣ly.
• * 1.5

  Black Choler.
• * 1.6

  Of the se∣rous humor
• * 1.7

  Winde.
• * 1.8

  Poysons.