ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 191 



manding medicine, so that medicine can no longer command 

 the disease. For except Yenice treacle, mithridate, dias- 

 cordium, the confection of alkermes, and a few more, they 

 commonly tie themselves strictly to no certain receipts: the 

 other salable preparations of the shops being in readiness, 

 rather for general purposes than accommodated to any par 

 ticular cures; for they do not principally regard some one 

 disease, but have a general virtue of opening obstructions, 

 promoting concoction, etc. And hence it chiefly proceeds, 

 that empirics and women are often more successful in their 

 cures than learned physicians, because the former keep 

 strictly and invariably to the use of experienced medicines, 

 without altering their compositions. I remember a famous 

 Jew physician in England would say, &quot;Your European phy 

 sicians are indeed men of learning, but they know nothing 

 of particular cures for diseases.&quot; And he would sometimes 

 jest a little irreverently, and say, &quot;Our physicians were like 

 bishops, that had the keys of binding and loosing, but no 

 more.&quot; To be serious; it might be of great consequence if 

 some physicians, eminent for learning and practice, would 

 compile a work of approved and experienced medicines in 

 particular diseases. For though one might speciously pre 

 tend, that a learned physician should rather suit his medi 

 cines occasionally, as the constitution of the patient, his 

 age, customs, the seasons, etc., require, than rest upon any 

 certain prescriptions; yet this is a fallacious opinion that 

 underrates experience and overrates human judgment. And 

 as those persons in the Roman state were the most service 

 able, who being either consuls, favored the people, or trib 

 unes, and inclined to the senate; so are those the best phy 

 sicians, who being either learned, duly value the traditions 

 of experience; or men of eminent practice, that do not de 

 spise methods and the general principles of the art. But 

 if medicines require, at any time, to be qualified, this may 

 rather be done in the vehicles than in the body of the medi 

 cine, where nothing should be altered without apparent 

 necessity. Therefore, this part of physic which treats of 



