AND ENGLISH PHYSICIAN ENLARGED. 
377 
. Of Medicines temperate. 
Of Medicines hot. 
Of Medicines cold. 
Of Medicines moist. 
Of Medicines dry. 
oP et 
Of Medicines Temperate. 
If the world be composed of extremes, 
then it acts by extremes, for as the man is, 
so is his work: therefore it is impossible 
that any medicine can be temperate, but 
may be reduced to heat, cold, dryness, or 
moisture, and must operate, (I mean such 
as operate by manifest quality) by one of 
these, because there is no other to operate 
by, and that there should be such a temper- 
ate mixture, so exquisitely of these qualities 
in any medicine, that one of them should not 
manifestly excel the other, I doubt it is a 
system too rare to find. 
Thus then I conclude the matter to be, 
those Medicines are called temperate (not 
because they have excess of temperature 
at all in them) which can neither be said, 
to heat nor cool so much as will amount to 
the first degree of excess, for daily expe- 
rience witnesses that they being added to 
medicines, change not their qualities, they 
make them neither hotter nor colder. 
Their use. They are used in such dis- 
eases where there is no manifest distemper 
of the first qualities, viz. heat and cold, 
for example; In obstruction of the bowels, 
where cold medicines might make the ob- 
struction greater, and hot medicines cause a 
fever. 
In fevers of flegm, where the cause is 
cold and moist, and the effect hot and dry; 
in such, use temperate medicines which may 
neither encrease the fever by their heat, nor 
condensate the flegm by their coldness, 
Besides, because contraries are taken 
away by their contraries, and every like 
maintained by its like, they are of great 
use, to preserve the constitution of the body 
eS and the gu itself in ang 
and vigour, and may be used without dan- 
ger, or fear of danger, by considering what 
part of the body is weak, and using such 
temperate medicines as are appre to 
that part. 
Of Medicines hot. 
The care of the ancient Physicians was 
such that they did not labour to hide from, 
but impart to posterity, not only the tem- 
perature of medicines in general, but also 
their degrees in temperature, that so the 
distempered part may be brought to its 
temperature, and no further; for all things 
which are of a contrary temperature, con- 
duce not to cure, but the strength of the 
contrariety must be observed, that so the 
medicine may be neither weaker nor strong- 
er, than just to take away the distemper; 
for if the distemper be but meanly hot, and 
you apply a medicine cold in the fourth 
degree, it is true, you may soon remove that 
distemper of heat, and bring another of 
cold twice as bad. Galen, de simp. med. 
facul. lib. 3. cap. 12. 
Then, secondly, Not only the distemper 
itself, but also the part of the body dis- 
tempered must be heeded; for if the head 
be distempered by heat, and you give such 
medicines as cool the heart or liver, you will 
bring another disease, and not cure the 
former. 
The degrees then of temperature a are to 
be diligently heeded, which antient physi- 
cians have concluded to be four in the quali- 
ties, viz. heat and cold, of each we shall 
speak a word or two severally. 
Of Medicines hot in the first degree. 
Those are said to be hot in the first de- 
gree, which induce a moderate and natural 
heat to the body, and to the parts thereof; 
either cold by nature, or cooled by accident, — 
by which natural heat is cherished when 
weak, or restored when wanting. __ : 
Effect 1. The first effect then of medi- 
cines hot in the first degree, is, by their a 
sweat and temperate heat to reduce the 
