AND ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 
217 
8. All opening medicines, and such as 
provoke urine or the menses, or break the 
stone, may most conveniently be given in 
white wine, because white wine of itself is 
of an opening nature, and cleanses the 
reins. 
9. Let all such medicines as are taken 
to stop fluxes or looseness, be taken before 
meat, about an hour before, more or less, 
that so they may strengthen the digestion 
and retentive faculty, before the food come 
into the stomach, but such as are subject to 
vomit up their meat, let them take such 
medicines as stay vomiting presently after 
meat, at the conclusion of their meals, that 
so they may close up the mouth of the 
stomach ; and that is the reason why usually 
men eat a bit of cheese after meat, because 
by its sourness and binding it closes the 
mouth of the stomach, thereby staying 
belching and vomiting. 
10. In taking purges be very careful, 
and that you may be so, observe these rules. 
(1.) Consider what the humour offend- 
ing is, and let the medicine be such as 
purges that humour, else you will weaken 
nature, not the disease. 
(2.) Take notice, if the humour you 
would purge out be thin, then gentle medi- 
cines will serve the turn, but if it be tough 
and viscous, then such medicines as are cut- 
ting and opening, the night before you 
would take the purge. 
(3.) In purging tough humours, forbear 
as much as may be such medicines as leave 
a binding quality behind them. — 
(4.) Have a care of taking purges when 
your body is astringent; your best way, is 
first to open it by a clyster. 
(5.) In taking opening medicines, you 
may safely take them at night, eating but 
a little supper three or four hours before, 
and the next morning drinking a draught of 
warm posset-drink, and you need not fear 
to go about your business. In this manner 
_ You may take Lenitive Electuary, Diaca- | 
tholicon, Pulp of Cassia, and the like gentle 
electuaries, as also all pills that have 
neither Diagrydium nor Colocynthus, in 
them. But all violent purges require a due 
ordering of the body; such ought to be 
taken in the morning after you are up, and 
not to sleep after them before they are done 
working, at least before night; two hours 
after you have taken them, drink a draught 
of warm posset-drink, or broth, and six 
hours after eat a bit of mutton, often walk- 
ing about the chamber; let there be a good 
fire in the chamber, and stir not out of the 
chamber till the purge have done working, 
or not till next day. 
Lastly, Take sweating medicines when 
you are in bed, covered warm, and in the 
time of your sweating drink posset-drink 
as hot as you can. If you sweat for a fever, 
boil sorrel and red sage in your posset- 
drink, sweat an hour or longer if your 
strength will permit, then (the chamber 
being kept very warm) shift yourself all 
but your head, about which (the cap which 
you sweat in being still kept on) wrap a 
napkin very hot, to repel the vapours back. 
I confess these, or many of these direc- 
tions may be found in one place of the 
book or other, and I delight as little to write 
tautology as another, but considering it 
might make for the public good, I inserted 
them in this place: if, notwithstanding, 
any will be so mad to do themselves a 
mischief, the fault is not mine. 
eee ent neem 
ROOTS. 
Acanthi, Brance Ursine. Of bearsbreech, 
or brankursine, it is meanly hot and dry, 
helps ache and numness of the joints, andis _ 
of a binding quality, good for wounds and _ 
broken bones. Dioscorides saith, they are 
profitable for ruptures, or such as are — 
bursten, or burnt with fire, a dram of the 
ee erie ge morni 
