The Sweating Sickness: A boke or counseill against the disease commonly called the sweate or sweatyng sicknesseCaius, John
History
The Sweating Sickness: A boke or counseill against the disease commonly called the sweate or sweatyng sicknesse
Caius, John
Medicine -- Early works to 1800; Sweating-sickness -- Early works to 1800
Wherfore if _Esculapius_ the inuentour of phisike, y^e sauer of
mẽ from death, and restorer to life, should returne again ĩto
this world, he could not saue these sortes of men, hauing so
moche sweatyng stuffe, so many euill humoures laid vp in store,
frõ this displeasante, feareful, & pestilent disease: except
thei would learne a new lesson, & folowe a new trade. For other
wise, neither the auoidyng of this countrie (the seconde reason)
nor fleyng into others, (a commune refuge in other diseases)
wyll preserue vs Englishe men, as in this laste sweate is by
experience well proued in Cales, Antwerpe, and other places of
Brabant, wher only our contrimen ware sicke, & none others,
except one or ii. others of thenglishe diete, which is also to
be noted. The cause hereof natural is onely this, that they
caried ouer with thẽ, & by lyke diete ther incresed that whiche
was the cause of their disease. Wherefore lette vs asserteine
our selues, that in what soeuer contrie lyke cause and matter
is, there commyng like aier and cause efficient, wil make lyke
effecte and disease in persõs of agreable complexions, age, and
diete, if the tyme also doe serue to these same, and in none
others. These I putte, for that the tyme of the yere hote,
makethe moche to the malice of the disease, in openynge the
pores of the body, lettynge in the euill aier, resoluynge the
humores and makynge them flowable, and disposing therfore the
spirites accordyngly, besyde, that (as I shewed in the first
cause of this pestilente sweate) it stirreth and draweth out of
the erthe euill exhalations and mistes, to thinfection of the
aier and displeasure of vs. (18) Diet I put, for that they of
the contrarie diete be not troubled with it at all. Age and
complexion, for this, that although it spareth nõ age of bothe
kyndes, nor no complexion but some it touchethe, yet for the
most parte (wherby rules and reasones be alwayes to be made) it
vexed theim of the middle age, beste luste, and theim not moche
vnder that, and of complexions hote & moiste, as fitteste by
their naughty & moche subtiltie of blode to fede the spirites:
or nigh and lyke to thesame in some one of the qualities, as
cholerike in hete, phlegmatike in moister, excepte thother their
qualities, as drinesse in cholerike, & cold in phlegmatike, by
great dominion ouer thother, did lette. For the clene contrarie
complexiõs to the infected aier, alwaies remaine helthful,
saulfe and better then tofore, the corrupte and infected aier
notwithstandyng. Therfore cold and drie persones either it
touched not at all, or very fewe, and that wyth no danger: such
I say as beside their complexion, (whiche is so harde to finde
in any man exacte and simple, as exacte helthes) were annoied
with some corrupt humoures & spirites, & therfore mete by so
moch to receiue it, & that by good reasõ. For nothing can
naturally haue power to do ought against any thing, excepte the
same haue in it selfe a disposicion by like qualities to receiue
it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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