| 
i 
i 
ei | The nine and twentieth Booke 
fumme of money. As for example, thata cataract or pearleinsthe eye isto bee couched rather 
and driven downe by the needle,than quite tobe plucked forth. Wherby itiscome to paflethar 
itisa very good turn &the belt forus(as the cafe flandeth)thar we have fo greata numberoffuch 
murderers & theeves in the Commonwealth:torlaflure you inis not long of any fhame and ho- 
neftie(whereof there is none in them)but their malicious emulation,being fo many astheyiare, 
that the market is well fallen,and the prices come downe of theit workmanthip. Notorious it is, 
that Charme the abovenamed,Phyfician tharcame from Marfiles, bargained with one’ patient 
-that.he had,to have two hundred thoufand Sefterces for hisicure, and yet hee was but altrauinger 
and a provincial inhabitant. Al{o as well knowngitis thae¢ /azdis Ce(ar upon acondempeanon 
and judgement, tooke at one time by way of confifcation,one hundred thoufand Sefterces from 
one Alconies,who was no better than a Chirurgian or wound;healer : who. beeing confined into | 
France,and afterwards reftored;gathered up hiscrums again and.gotas much within fewyears. 
Tam. contentalfo,that thefe faults thould bee laid not upon the art but the men chatprofeffe. it: 
Neicher verely doe Lmeane to fhew.and seprove the bale, abject, and ignorant fort of that crew.: 
nor how litle order and regiment they obferve.in the cure of difeafes,or inthe ufe of bainesand 
hotwaters : how imperioully they prefcribe: otherwhiles to their patients moft freight diet :and 
again,when they are readie many times to faint & die undertheir hands for want of fultenance, 
how they be forced to. cram them as it were, and give chem/meat upon meat, oftentimes in one 
day, before they have digefted the former viands. Moreover; how they doeand ondoe, altering 
the manner and courfe of their proceedings athoufand waies,, mifliking and bethinking them- 
{elves afterthey have done a'thing ; making aimith mafhand mingle mangle inithe kitchin of ~ 
thofe victuals which they ordaine for their poor patients :befides.a deale of mixtures and fophi- 
flicat compofitions of drugs and ointments, Far there is nofuperfuicie tending unto vain plea- 
fures and wanton delights that hath overpafled their hands. And fince] light upon the mention 
of thefe drougs and fpices, for mineown part 1 amyerely perfuaded,that our. auncettours & fore- 
fathers were nothing well pleafed with the bringiag in ot fuch forraine wares,which bearfohigh 
prices and are extreame deare :and that Cuio never thought of thefe drougs and mixtures,nox 
forefawthefe corruptions by them occafioned, when hee blamed fo much and condemned this 
*i,Treacle, artofPhyficke, Yerfee what accouatthere ismade of acompofition called * I heriall, deviled 
onely for excefie and fuperAluitie : Compofed itis of diverfeingredients farre fetched and deare 
bougiit: whereas Nature hath beftowed upon.ns and prefented to our eyes fo many wholefome « 
fimples,and every one of them by. it felfe medicinable and fufficient Moreover,another ansidot 
and confetion there is,confitting of no fewer than four and fiftie fundrie forts of drougs and in- 
gredicats, all of diverfe weights, and {ome of them are prefcribed to carie the poife precifely of 
the fixtiech part of one denarius or dram.Now would | gladly know. what god he was(for furely it 
paflech the wit of man thus ro difpenfe the ingredients, & calculat their vertues, to a fingle feru 
ple) that taught firft this {ubtile and intricat compofition 2 By which it appeareth manifeftly, 
that rhis geere bewraiech onely a vaine oftentation,and all to givea glorious and wonderfull lu- 
{tre to the art,for to make it better accepted and more vendible.And yet the very Artifisthema- 
{elves are not ywis{o skiitull, asto know that whereof they make profeffion. For! my felfe have 
feene thefe that goe for Phyficians put commonly. into their medicines and receits quid pro qui, 
coe | and namnely,in ftead of the Lidian *Cinnabaris, *Minium; which.is no better than a very poy- 
dragon, La- fon, as I will prove and thew hereafterin my Treatife of Paiaterscolours: which errour procge: | 
aby Species, deth onely from this, that they are not well feene in Grammar,nor in the proper fignification of 
x Medien, , Words. Butthefeand {uch like errourscouch and concerne the health of every ong in particylar, 
mincrall Ver- As forthofe abufesin the art of Phyfickywhich azo feared, forefaw,and would have prevented, 
million, they be fuchas are nothing fo hurtfull and:daungerous as the xeft, and indeed {mall mattetsia 
the opinion of man:and fuch as.the principal! prefeflours and maifters of this att doe avowand 
confefle among themfelves. Howbeit,even thofedevifes,as harmeleffe as they feemetobe,have | 
been the overthrow of all vertue and good mannersin our Romane State, meane thoferhings 
which wee doc and futfer in our health.:.our exercife of wrefiling,our greafing and annoinung 
with oile for that purpofe, brought.in forfooth and, ordained by thefe Phyficians for to preserve 
outhealth, And what fhould | {peake of their drie ftouves, hot houfes,and ardent baines,which 
they would beare.menin hand to befo,gaod for digeftion df meatin their flomackes? Yercould © 
Tnever fee any, when he came forth of them upon his ownfeet, but he was more heavie & found 
4 himfelie 
