26 NATURAL HISTORY. 



ing powder, and other powders, or liquors, which 

 the physicians call &quot; errhines,&quot; put into the nose, 

 draw phlegm and water from the head ; and so it is 

 in apophlegmatisms and gargarisms, that draw the 

 rheum down by the palate. And by this virtue, no 

 doubt, some purgers draw more one humour, and 

 some another, according to the opinion received : 

 as rhubarb draweth choler; sena melancholy; agaric 

 phlegm, &c. but yet, more or less, they draw pro 

 miscuously. And note also, that besides sympathy 

 between the purger and the humour, there is also 

 another cause, why some medicines draw some hu 

 mour more than another. And it is, for that some 

 medicines work quicker than others : and they that 

 draw quick, draw only the lighter and more fluid hu 

 mours ; and they that draw slow, work upon the 

 more tough and viscous humours. And therefore 

 men must beware how they take rhubarb, and the 

 like, alone familiarly ; for it taketh only the lightest 

 part of the humour away, and leaveth the mass of 

 humours more obstinate. And the like may be said 

 of wormwood, which is so much magnified. 



39. The fourth cause is flatuosity; for wind 

 stirred moveth to expel : and we find that in effect 

 all purgers have in them a raw spirit or wind ; which 

 is the principal cause of tortion in the stomach and 

 belly. And therefore purgers lose, most of them, 

 the virtue by decoction upon the fire ; and for that 

 cause are given chiefly in infusion, juice, or powder. 



40. The fifth cause is compression or crushing ; 

 as whei) water is crushed out of a spunge : so we see 



