And here it may not be amiss to relate what I some years ago discovered, in order to mens freeing themselves from sickness that may happen after eating; for being invited to dine at a certain table, where there were several good dishes of meat, I was over-persuaded to eat more than I should, and in a little time after dinner found myself began to be sick. I went out, and in a private place attempted to vomit, by tickling my throat with my finger, but could not vomit as I designed; only by this means I raised up two or three mouthfuls of thick, tough phlegm, upon which I found myself better, and my sick qualm went off. I took the hint it gave me, and have done the same several times since, and find that the getting up the phlegm, which, like yeast upon beer, works up to the mouth of the stomach, a man may free himself from some kinds of sickness after eating. And I remember it is an advice given by one Vaughan, in a book long since printed, intituled, _Directions for Health_, for men who feed high, to put their finger in their throat when they rise in the morning, to make themselves puke, or void the phlegm which can be raised, as an excellent way to preserve health; and it is said also to be an absolute preservative from the gout, by a good writer. [Sidenote: _The quantity of water needful._] I will conclude with this note, that, in such distemper where water-drinking will be available for a cure, the same must not be drank sparingly, but plentifully; as (for instance) to ease the gripings in a looseness or flux: for, if but a pint of water should be drank, ease would hardly succeed; but, drinking in about an hours time a quart or three pints, the sharpness and evil quality of the humour offending, will be so far diluted or weakened, that immediate ease will follow. If the season be too cold to drink cold water, you may warm it a little upon the fire, or put a hot toast of bread into every pint. And the same is true in fevers, or in pains from gravel or the cholic: A small quantity will not be effectual in these cases; for in the cholic a quart is necessary, which ought to be carefully noted; and, in a fever, a little water will rather increase the burning, which large draughts, often drank, will soon take off. Rest, fasting, and drinking much water, after a vomit or two, is a course that never yet hath failed to cure fevers, by clearing the stomach of that sordid filthiness which causeth the distemper: for a happy issue will certainly follow such a course, if the fever is simple, and not complicated with such other distempers which will resist all remedies: For in many cases nothing can prevent mortality, as is evident by the death of the best physicians themselves, and by the death of many who consulted with them for a cure, since many die under the hands of the most able doctors, as well as quacks. [Sidenote: _Grief and frights._]