42 NATURAL HISTORY. 



those natural inclinations to the contrary. And 

 therefore in diseases of that kind, let the physician 

 apply himself more to purgation than to alteration ; 

 because the offence is in the quantity ; and the qua 

 lities are rectified of themselves. 



Experiment solitary touching preparations before purg 

 ing, and settling of the body afterwards* 



65. Physicians do wisely prescribe, that there be 

 preparatives used before just purgations ; for cer 

 tain it is, that purgers do many times great hurt, if 

 the body be not accommodated, both before and 

 after the purging. The hurt that they do, for want 

 of preparation before purging, is by the sticking of 

 the humours, and their not coming fair away, which 

 causeth in the body great perturbations and ill 

 accidents during the purging ; and also the diminish 

 ing and dulling of the working of the medicine itself, 

 that it purgeth not sufficiently : therefore the work 

 of preparation is double ; to make the humours fluid 

 and mature, and to make the passages more open : 

 for both those help to make the humours pass rea 

 dily. And for the former of these, syrups are most 

 profitable ; and for the latter, apozemes, or prepar 

 ing broths ; clysters also help, lest the medicine stop 

 in the guts, and work gripingly. But it is true, 

 that bodies abounding with humours, and fat bodies, 

 and open weather, are preparatives in themselves ; 

 because they make the humours more fluid. But 

 let a physician beware, how he purge after hard 

 frosty weather, and in a lean body, without prepa- 



