THE QVEENES' WELLS. THAT IS, A Treatise of the nature and virtues of Tunbridge Water. TOGETHER, With an enumeration of the chiefest diseases, which it is good for, and against which it may be used, and the manner and order of taking it. BY LODOWICK ROWZEE, Dr. of Physic, practising at Ashford in Kent. LONDON, Imprinted by john Dawson. 1632. Recensui hunc librum, cui titulus est, [The Queens Welles, or a Treatise of the nature and virtues of Tunbridge Water] Qui quidem liber continet triginta et tria folia, in quibus nihil reperio, quod non cùm utilitate publicâ imprimatur, modò intra tres menses proximè sequentes typis mandetur. Ex aedibus Fulhamiensibus, jun. 3. 1632. Guilielmus Bray Episcopo Londinensi Capellanus Domesticus. AS divers medicinable waters are daily found out in many places, so is it a very profitable labour to make true observation of their effects, and best manner of using them, specially by men of learning and judicious understanding, and such as have been accustomed to the frequent use of them, both in themselves and others, whereby they may make their observations more true and certain. Such an one we take this Author to be, concerning the Waters near Tunbridge, whole pains taken herein we doubt not, but will be very useful to all such as shall have occasion to make trial of them. john Argent. Precedent of the College of Physicians at London. Ottuell Meverell. Fellows of the said College. Richard Spicer. Fellows of the said College. TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE, EDWARD Lord Viscount Conway and Kilulta, and one of his MAJESTY'S most Honourable privy Counsel of his Kingdom of IRELAND. MY LORD, INgratitude is the foulest vice in the world, and as the old saying is, Ingratum si dixeris, omnia dixeris. I may have incurred the imputation of it these six & twenty years (for so long it is since I harboured under your Noble deceased Father's roof) for not expressing my thankfulness for the courteous usage I found at his hands, both here in England, and at the Briele in Holland. What want of opportunity hindered me to express to him now dead, opportunity now offering itself, I will strive to do it unto your Lordship his living Image. But a small expression it is, God knoweth, yet all I may at this time, and though it be very mean, yet do I think that your Lop:: will receive these two fountains of water as courteously at my hands, as Artaxerxes did the two handfuls of Persian water, which Sinaetas offered him. It is the nature of Noble and Generous Spirits not to have so much regard to the worth of the things offered them, as to the affection wherewith they are offered. I have known your Lop:: a teneris unguiculis, and always observed, even in your tenderest years, a most Noble disposition, and withal both at the Briele and at Leyden a natural inclination to follow Minerva as well as Mars. This, together with the courteous affability it ever pleased you to use me withal, maketh me now believe, that your Lordship will give favourable acceptance to this small labour of mine, for Acceptissima semper Munera sunt, Author quae preciosa facit. Receive it then, My Lord, as an earnest of what would be done, if ability concurred with desire, by Your Lordship's most humble servant, L. ROWZEE. A TREATISE CONCERNING THE Nature and virtues of Tunbridge Water in KENT. CHAPTER I. Of Water in general. ALbeit my main scope in this following discourse, be concerning Tunbridg water, yet will it not be altogether fruitless, or unpleasant, I hope, to the Reader, if I say something, as it were by way of Preface, touching water in general. Water is a substance so absolutely necessary, that no living creature can subsist without the benefit of it, nor no tree bring forth its leaves and fruit, nor any plant its seed, if they be deprived of that vivifical moisture, which maketh them all to grow and prosper. That this is true, you may observe it in Summer, for if Raine be wanting but a few weeks, how hinderly be all things? How do all plants whither in that season, when they should chief flourish? For this cause perhaps it was, that Hesiodus thought water to be the most ancient of all the elements. Of this opinion also was Thales Milesius one of the seven wise Grecians, who made water the sole principle of all things. Empedocles likewise jumping with them, said that all things were made of water; and Hippon in a Lib. 1. c 2. de anima. Aristotle terms the soul water. Hypocrates goeth not so fare, but yet he calleth water and fire the two principles of life. True it is, that by water Hippon doth understand our seed, and Hypocrates our radical moisture. The Latins upon the Etymology of the word Aqua, water, do derive it from à et qua, quasi à qua vivimus, vel à qua omnia fiunt, by which we live, or out of which all things are made. Others will have it quasi aequa, because there is nothing more equal and smooth then water, when it is not tossed with the wind. But b Exercit. 745. julius Caesar Scaliger disliketh these Etymologies, and will derive aqua from the obsolete Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, which anciently did signify water. This Element seemeth to challenge a kind of rule and dominion over the rest, for it easily transmuteth air into itself, extinguisheth fire, and devoureth earth. And to go no higher, than our grandfather's memory, nor farther than our neighbours, the Ocean Sea swallowed up above one hundred thousand Acres of ground at one clap in Holland. Nay it aspireth even unto the heavens, and which is strange, it doth not only get up thither in itself alone, but carrieth with it whole shoals of fishes, heaps of stones, and diverse other heavy substances, which afterwards fall down with it. Most creatures live without fire, without water none; & with water only, without any other sustenance, a c Cael. Rhod. Lib. 13. c. 23 Spanish maiden is reported to have lived a long time; and Albertus writeth of a Melancholy man, who by the space of seven weeks lived with water only, one draught of which he took but every other day. The d d. Lord Verulam also hath produced his opinion of late, and holdeth that Trees and Plants live and are nourished merely by water, and that the earth is as it were, but a Stabilimentum unto them, to keep them steady, and from being beaten down by the wind. He proveth it by Rose bushes, which being put into water, without any earth, & kept upright in the same, not only brought forth leaves, but fair Roses also, And the e Psal. 1. royal Prophet saith, that a tree planted by the rivers of water, bringeth forth his fruit in due season. Much more might be said concerning water, but because I intent to be brief, let this suffice. CHAPTER II. Of the differences of water. IN the Creation God said, f Gen. 1.4, 5. let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And GOD made the firmament, and divided the waters, which were under the firmament, from the waters, which were above the firmament. g Psal. 29.10. And David saith, that the Lord sitteth upon the flood, that is upon the Orb of the waters; and where he exciteth the creatures to laud the Lord, he speaketh thus, h Psal. 148. v. 4 Praise him ye heavens of heavens, and the waters that be above the heavens. Those waters are likened in another place to a i Ezech. 1.24. terrible crystal, and said to be, as it were, k Exod. 24.10. a paved work of Saphir stone. l Rabbi Levi Ben jarehij in Gen. c. 1. And some go so fare, as to define the place and seat of those waters, and say, that they are as much above the primum mobile, as the primum mobile is above the elementary waters, but whether they ever were there to take the just distance, I do not know. That there should be water above the firmament, many men think it strange, and yet the deluge, besides the express word of God, proved it to be true. For if all the water of all the Seas, Lakes, Ponds, Rivers, & Fountains in the world, had been drawn up into the heavens, in like manner, as we do in distillations, yet would not their quantity have increased, but there would have returned back again, by rain, no more, than was ascended up, nor so much neither perhaps, because though you be never so careful in your distillations, and use Glass vessels never so well luted, yet will you still receive some loss; and so the flood had not gone fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. But why this should be stranger, than all the rest of the wonderful works of God, there is no reason. The massy and heavy Globe of the earth and water standeth, as it were, in aequilibrio in the centre of the world, suspended by the omnipotency of God. Nay all his works are universally so admirable, that there is no less wonder in the smallest Gnat, then in the biggest Elephant, in the least weed, that creepeth upon the ground, then in the tallest Cedar. But of those waters, which are above the firmament, and of those, which were gathered together under the firmament, namely the Seas, we speak here but by the way, though concerning the Seas diverse curious and pleasant questions might be handled, as touching the saltness of it, the ebbing and flowing of the same, why it can endure no impure things, and the like. These things I say, might bring some delight to the Reader, but they are beyond our scope, and therefore I will only speak briefly of those waters, which are potable, and in common use amongst us, either for diet or Physic. They are commonly divided into Fountain-water, River-water, Wellwater, rainwater and pond-water. The pre-eminence thereof is commonly given to Spring-water, but in general that water is accounted best and wholesomest for diet, which is pure, and without any taste, but such as water should have. For most water retaineth some savour of the ground through which it runneth, and albeit to those, who do not use to drink water, it be imperceptible, yet diverse of those, who drink nothing but water, will as easily perceive a difference betwixt water and water, as we do betwixt beer and beer, or wine and wine. The best water also is lightest, but that lightness is not to be considered by weight (for snow-water is most light, and yet unwholesome) but by the thinness of the parts thereof, and by the speedy heating and cooling of the same, as Hypocrates well observeth. Let this suffice to have been briefly touched concerning the differences of waters in general, and let us now say something with like brevity concerning the original of Springs and Rivers. CHAPTER III. Of the original of Springs and Rivers. IT is a common received opinion, derived from Aristotle, that the generation of water proceedeth from air condensated into the same, in the bowels of the earth, and distilling, as water doth with us from a Limbicke. But it is hard to imagine how the nature of air should be so speedily corrupted, and turned into water, and in that quantity too, that should maintain the continual course of so many Springs, and so great a number of Rivers as are in the world, diverse of which are of such vastness, and of so swift a course, that a man might justly think, that the whole element of air, which in its own nature is but very thin, should scarcely suffice to maintain the course of that abundance of water one only day. And as for the reason they allege, that air is retained within the concavities and porosities of the earth, ad vitandum vacuum, which nature doth abhor, and afterwards is converted into water, it is but a very weak one; For those concavities are still full of air, as well elsewhere, as where Springs and Rivers do flow. But if the transmutation of air into water, were the only cause of the flowing of all Springs and Rivers, surely their streams must needs be but narrow, & their course slow, and of small continuance. Besides, if this were true, how could the Sea, think you, contain that excessive abundance of water, which perpetually runneth into the same? The ancient opinion than is the truer, that all fountains and rivers come from the Sea, and are transcolated through the veins and porosities of the earth, where in their passage they leave their saltness. Plato Aristotle's Master was of this opinion, and before him Thales Milesius; as also m In Libro de mundi opificio. Philo, n Lib. 3. c. 9 Nat. quaest. Seneca, and o Lib. 1. de ortu subterran. Georgius Agricola, which without question they had learned from the Hebrews. For thus speaketh the Preacher, p Eccles. 1. All the Rivers run into the Sea, yet the Sea is not full, unto the place from whence the Rivers come, thither they return again. This is a most clear and express text, and which alone shall suffice to prove this point, especially seeing the rule and law of Nature doth suffragate unto the same; For wheresoever there is a repletion, there must needs an evacuation be. But some perhaps may say, we see indeed all Rivers run into the Sea, but we do not see how they come from it. True, but when we see that for all the abundance of water, which runneth continually into the Seas, the same are not increased thereby, but remain still the same, we must needs imagine that they disburden themselves some where. For otherwise, the waters had long ago overwhelmed the world, and reached up even unto heaven, seeing that the g Gen. 7. Flood, caused been by rain of forty days, ascended fifteen cubits above the highest mountains. Besides our very senses may persuade us, that the original of Springs and Rivers is from the Sea; for diverse Springs of fresh water are in sundry places, which seem to sympathise with the Sea, and to imitate the motion thereof by a kind of ebullition. And which is strange, and yet a thing avouched by diverse good Authors, those things which were cast into the River of Alpheus in Grecia, were afterwards found in the fountain called Arethusa, near Syracuse in Sicily, though there be a great distance of Sea and land betwixt them, which gave occasion to the ancient Poets (who did use to involve all the secrets of nature in their fables) to feign that Alpheus and Arethusa were a couple of lovers, which were transformed, the one into a River, and the other into a fountain, and of them speaketh r Lib. 5. Metam. Ovid, saying In latices mutor, sed enim cognoscit amatas, Amnis aquas, positóque viri, quod sumpserat, ore, Vertitur in proprias, quo se mihi misceat, undas. But whereas I said before, that for all the water, which runneth into the Seas, they remain still the same, I would not be mistaken, for I know that the Seas have sometimes gone beyond their ordinary bounds and limits, but it hath been when they were, as it were commanded so to do by their Creator for the punishment of men's wickedness, or whensoever men have gone about to alter the natural seat and state of the same, and the ordinary course of Rivers. Of God's judgements there are divers examples, as s Lib 2. Of Polybius that excellent Greek Author, whose works I lately finished to translate into English, my translation being ready for the Press, if it can find any room there. And as for Polybius, I dare boldly say here by the way, that there is not any better or more necessary Author extant in his kind, especially for three sorts of men, Princes, Statesmen, and Soldiers. And whereas the Emperor Charles the fift was wont to say, that there were but three Books necessary for a Prince, Polybius for Wars, Machiavelli for State-matters and policy, and Castiglio for behaviour, if he aimed at a compendium he might very well have left out the second, seeing for State-matters and honest policy, enough of it may be found in Polybius, who for judgement, sufficiency, virtue, and honesty (though but an Heathen) went fare beyond Mach●●vell; ●nd f●● more 〈◊〉 ●●●loy●●●t & ex●●●●●ce, ha●ing been in great pla●●s ●f au●hori●●ie, both in c●vill and marshal affa●res, and familiarly acquainted wi●h that great Roman Scipio ●fricanus. & with Caius Laelius. Whereas Machiavelli was but a petty Secretary or Town-clerk o● th● City of Florence, grown famous only through the wicked Maxims and Positions contained in his writings, and especially in his Prince, where he setteth forth that Monster ●f Men, Caesar Borgia, bastard-sonne to the like father, Alexander the sixth Pope of Rome, as a pattern to be imitated by such, as desire to get rule and dominion to themselves. And it seemeth by a passage of the seventh Chapter of his Prince, that he was acquainted with him, and perhaps a Counsellor of his in his murders, poisoning, and other devilish exploits. But Polybi●● 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fare from doing the like, that there are infinite digr●s●ion● in his works, in which he reprehendeth the vicious act●ons of men more sharply, than some other Authors, which profe●● themselves Christians. Olenus & Helice, two of the 12. Cities which made the Commonwealth of the Achaeans, which a little before the battle of Leuctra were drowned by the sea. Antissa, Tindaric, Burrha had the like fortune also, being swallowed up by the Sea, together with all their Inhabitants. And that it might the better appear that the finger of God was in it, all such, as thought to have escaped by shipping, perished as well as the rest, being drowned & overwhelmed by the waves. And of those who have endeavoured to contract and pin up the Sea into narrower limits, by wrlls, dikes, and other works, divers of them have often sustained great damage by the same; as for example, the Hollanders, who, as we said before, lost above 100000. acres of ground by such means, which the Sea, after the overthrow of all their dikes and strong works, took away from them, as it were by Letters of reprisals. This were enough to teach men that it is but in vain to go against the order established by God, and the ordinary course of Nature; yet it is worth the noting also, and a thing not to be considered without admiration, that all those Princes, who purposed to cut the Isthmus of Peloponesus, which is a neck of land betwixt two Seas, containing according to Mercator in his Atlas' Major, some five miles in breadth, died all before the work was begun, as Caligula, C. Caesar, Demetrius, Nero, and Domitianus. CHAPTER FOUR Of waters of strange nature and effects. ALL Springs of Waters are actually, either hot or cold. Of those hot Springs some are of so excessive heat, that a man would think it were water boiling upon the fire; and amongst other there is a vein of it running under a street in a village called Porcet near the City of Akin in Germany. In the middle of this street there is a hole, which they call Hell, with three or four bars of iron over it, in which the neighbours round about, in the Summer time, when they have no fire, do use to seethe their eggs, letting them down with a Net into the water, and in a small space of time they may be boiled hard; of which I was twice an eyewitness, being there first in the year 1610. after the siege of Gulick, and the yielding of the Town to the States, with that brave Soldier, Sir Horace Vere, now Lord of Tilbury, & the second time with that worthy Knight, Sir Henry Palmer, now Controller of the Navy. The cause of those hot Waters is commonly ascribed to Mines of Sulphur or brimstone inflamed within the bowels of the earth. But few of those hot waters, as at Akin, Porcet, in the Pyrenean Mountains, at in Sommersetshire, and elsewhere, have any great or extraordinary taste of brimstone, as they should of necessity have, if brimstone melted and burning were the cause of their heat, that mineral being of so piercing a nature, and of so entensive a faculty, that never so little of it burning upon a few coals, when our women dry their tiffanies, filleth a whole room with the strong sent of it. Besides, such a great quantity of water running continually, and so many years and ages together, had long since extinguished those fires; or if there were such flames within the bowels of the earth, the same would long ago dried up the water, and reduced the earth into ashes. Another reason there is, that you shall find no hot Springs where fires do break our, and albeit the hill Vesuvius & Mount Aetna burn continually, yet are there no hot Springs about them, though they be environed by the Sea. And for all the late wonderful and extraordinary eruption of fire out of the said hill Vesuvius, or Monte de Soma, as they call it now; which hath been so violent, that the houses of Naples, which are eight or as others say twelve miles from the same, were all covered very thick with the ashes thereof, yet do they not write that the water which gushed out at the foot of the said hill was hot. Besides, albeit there be many hot waters in Italy (for those that have written of them, reckon few less than threescore) yet shall you see no where a mixture of fire and water in those parts. Which makes me think with some, that the cause of the heat of those waters proceedeth from their motion and agitation in the bowels of the earth, falling from Cataracts and broken Concavities in the same. That this may be true, it may be proved by the Sea, for though it be actually cold, yet if it be tossed by a Tempest but of three or four days (and it is seldom that a storm lasteth longer) the water thereof will sometimes become very hot. Besides, we have many very sulphurous Springs, which are never but cold; as for example, one of the four Springs used at the Spa called Geronster, which tasteth so strong of the brimstone (as myself can speak by experience) that divers of those, who drink of it, are constrained to hold their noses whilst they are a drinking, and the Sulphurous fumes of it are so piercing, that they do speedily intoxicate the brain, and cause drunkenness, though it be but for a little time, being soon discussed away. * Since the writing of this Treatise, & when I was come to London about the Printing of it, I lighted by chance upon Dr. Iordans learned & elaborate Discorse of Natural Baths and Mineral waters; wherein he hath a peculiar opinion concerning the actual heat of Mineral Water, which he ascribeth to the fermentation of Minerals, and illustrateth the same with reasons and examples. I am so fare from disliking it, that I applaud it, and leave both his and mine opinion to the choice of the Reader, for in those abstruse things we have no certain knowledge, but only probable conjectures. Howsoever, the least probable of these two opinions is fare more likely, than those imaginary actual fires, which the vulgar opinion holdeth. Now for the other Springs, which are actually cold, there are sundry differences of them, according to the several substances they do run through, and the nature and effects of some of them are very admirable. Some do turn into stone whatsoever is cast into them, especially if the things cast in be or a lose and porous substance, as leather, balls, gloves, and such like; and Pliny and others describe divers Springs of that nature. But not to go out of this Island for examples, there is a Spring of that nature in Wales in a piece of ground belonging to Sir Thomas Middleton. And the quick activity of some of those Springs is wonderful, and almost incredible; for Bodinus doth t Lib. 2. The. at. Nat. affirm, that, he hath seen sticks of wood, straws, and such like small things converted into stone in Lacu Piceno et Alliensi fonte Avernorum, within the space of two or three hours. So that Pliny's assertion, who u Lib. 35. c. 13. saith, that earth is turned into stone in a fountain of Gnidus within the space of eight months, is no more to be wondered at. The same Author, namely, Pliny, x Li. 31. c 2. maketh mention of two fountains, the one called Cerone, which maketh the sheep, that drink of it, to bear black wool, and the other Melan, which maketh the wool of the sheep, which drink of it white, and if they drink of both, their wool will become of two colours; And of another called Crathis, which procureth whiteness, and of a fourth called Sibaris, which causeth blackness in the sheep and Oxen, which drink of the same. Nay, the same effect is seen also in men, which drink of them, for those that drink of Sibaris, become blacker, harder, and of a curled hair, and such as drink of Crathis wax whiter, softer, and of a smooth hair. He bringeth in also other Waters, which have the like effect in changing the colour of such as use them. He saith likewise, that there are two Springs in Boeotia, near the river of Orchomenus, whereof the one strengtheneth memory, and the other causes oblivion. A fountain in Arcadia called Linus preserveth conception and hindereth aborsement, and on the other side, the river called Amphrisus maketh women barren. Cydnus, a river of Cilicia helpeth the Gout in the feet, as appeareth by the Epistle of Cassius Parmensis to Marcus Antonius; and contrariwise by the use of the Water, which is in Traezenen, all men get the Gout in their feet. All such as drink of a lake called Clitorius, begin thereby to hate wine. Polyclytus relateth, that the water of a fountain in Cilicia serveth in stead of Oil; And Theophrastus, that the like is done by the water of a Spring in Aethiopia; and Lycus, that the water of a fountain in India burneth in a Lamp. The like is also at Ecbatana. juba speaketh of a Lake amongst the Troglodytes, which for the hurt it doth, is called the madlake, and saith that it is bitter and salt thrice in a day, and then fresh, and so again at night. The same Author also maketh mention of a Spring in Arabia, which bubbleth up with such force, that it casteth forth whatsoever is thrown into it, though it be never so weighty. There are two fountains in Phrigia, the one called Claeon, and the other Gelon, having those Greek names from their effects, for the first maketh men cry, and the second makes them laugh. There is an hot Spring at Cranon, and yet without excessive hear, which being mingled with Wine, and kept in a vessel, keepeth the same hot by the space of three days. There is a river in Bythinia called Olachas, into which if perjured persons be thrown, they feel as much heat, as if they were in a flaming fire. In Cantabria there are three Springs but eight foot asunder, which running together make a goodly river, and every one of them by turns becometh dry twelve times, and sometimes twenty times a day, so that a man would think there were no more water in it, whilst in the mean time his next neighbours be full, and flow continually. There is a brook in judea, which is dried up every Sabbath. In Macedonia, not fare from the sepulchre of Euripides, there are two brooks running together, the one having very wholesome water, and the other poisonous and deadly. Quod si quis, saith y Lib. 31 c. 2. Pliny, fide carere ex his aliqua arbitratur, discat in nulla parte naturae majora esse miracula. If any man think, that some of these things are past belief, let him learn that there are no greater miracles in any other part of nature, than in Waters. But if any man desire to know more concerning the various nature and effects of Springs and Rivers, let him read the thirteenth dialogue of Simon Majolus, Bishop of Vultuaria, in that Tome of his Works, which he intitleth Dies Caniculares, and there he will find wherewith to satisfy his curiosity. I pass now to mineral and medicinable springs, which use to be drunk. CHAPTER V Of Mineral and Medicinable Springs. Mineral waters, by their manifold turnings and windings under the ground, are as it were impregnated with divers virtues and faculties of the several minerals, through which they run, and draw with them, either the faculties, or substance of the same, and sometimes both. And therefore as mere pureness commendeth ordinary Springs and Wells, so doth the various mixture of several things, though sometimes of a contrary and repugnant nature, procure commendation to medicinable waters. Some of them are beholding for whatsoever they have to the several kinds of earth, which they pass through, and lick, as it were, by the way, as Bole, Ochre, Rubric, Chalk, and the like; Others to liquors or congealed juices, as, Alum, Bitumen, Brimstone, Nitrum, Coperose; And others again to Metals, as gold, silver, Iron, Copper, Tin, Led. There are some also, which own their virtues to stone, as Crystal, Marble, Pumice stone, Lapis Haematites, and the like; and others to the roots of trees & plants, though these be rare, either because trees do not root so deep, or by reason that medicinable springs are commonly in barren soils, as on the contrary wheresoever there is a fruitful soil, there are no mineral or medicinable springs to be found. Out of all these subterraneal substances divers springs draw sometimes contrary faculties, or at least such as have but small affinity one with another, and from hence it happeneth that oftentimes one & the same medicinable spring cureth divers diseases, which are either contrary one to another, or at least have but small affinity together. It is of this as it is of Theriake or Mithridate, which are compositions consisting of a great number of simples of contrary and repugnant natures, as it were huddled together by chance; and yet when those compositions have had their due fermentation, and that those several simples have wrought one upon another, and become to be incorporated together, there resulteth afterwards an universal form in the composition, which maketh it excellent for most diseases, and as it were a general Panpharmacon. And in that regard some do merrily call Mithridate the father, and Treacle the mother of all medicines. But that we may the more accurately distinguish betwixt mineral Springs, we must consider the nature of the minerals, and look which of them have affinity together, & which not. Bitumen, Salt, Sulphur, Coperose's Copper, are hot, and therefore they have a faculty to cut, cleanse, open, dry, extenuate, and disperse. z Lib. 5. de Metallici●. Albertus Magnus, and after him Andernacus and others, do reckon Sal nitrum with these, and hold it to be hot, which might be granted them, if by nitrum they understood that nitrum, whereof a Lib. de aere locis et aquis. Hypocrates, b Lib. 5. c. 89. Dioscorides, c Lib. 31. c. 10. Pliny, d Lib. 9 Simp. Medicam. Galen do speak; But I do not think that either Albertus or Andernacus ever saw it, because it began to be scanty & hard to be found in the time of those ancient Authors before cited after Hypocrates. But our Saltpetre, which is now called Nitrum amongst us, is as fare from that ancient Nitrum, Quantum Hipanis veneto dissitus Eridano. For if gunpowder were not enough to prove the coldness of Nitrum, in which its opposition and contrariety to Brimstone is so manifest, yet were the Sal prunellae of the Chemists (which is nothing but Nitrum purified from its dregs with Flores sulphuris) sufficient to evince it, a very little of it put into a glass of Wine, making it so cold, that one is scarce able to drink it. And to this purpose I remember that when I was in Holland, the Prince of Orange, Maurice, was wont always in the Summer time to have some of it thrown into the water, where his Wine lay a cooling. That Sal prunellae also is the best remedy against the heat, dryness, & roughness of the tongue in all fevers, and especially in that Hungarian-feaver called Prunella, from that symptom, which gave likewise the name of Sal prunellae to that purified Nitrum, by reason of the excellency of it in assuaging the same. And the more to confirm this, one of the four springs of the Spa called Tounelet, and consisting chief of Nitrum, is so very cold, both in the mouth, and in the stomach, that few can endure it, and in that regard it is very little frequented; and during my stay there I do not remember that I ever saw at it more than a Capuchin friar, and another Clergy man, who used it for the heat of their livers; in which case it may do good, if the stomach be not too weak. Silver, Iron, Tin, Led, are accounted cold, and by reason of their astringency, to be at least in the second degree. Gold is likewise placed amongst these, though a man might perhaps with better right account it temperate. Now in regard of this variety, some springs are called Nitrous, Sulphurous, Bituminous, Aluminous, etc. according to the only or predominant mineral, of which they do participate. But yet some there are, in which it is a very difficult matter to know the same. So the Vberlingunians in Suevia do dispute to this day, whether their mineral Spring proceed of Lead or Copper. In like manner, the Italians are not well agreed whether the virtue of the mineral water about Lucca cometh from Iron or from Alum. And a great man, that was one of the chiefest Chemists of this age, doubted whether he should call the Empsenses Aquae Aluminous or Nitrous; so hard a thing it is exactly to distinguish in things, that are compounded and permixt. But it is now time we should go to Tunbridge water. CHAPTER VI Of Tunbridge Water. THe water commonly known here amongst us by the name of Tunbridge water, are two small Springs contiguous together, about some four miles Southward from the town of Tunbridge in Kent, from which they have their name, as being the nearest Town in Kent to them. They are seated in a valley compassed about with stony hills, so barren, that there groweth nothing but heath upon the same. Just there do Kent and Sussex meet, and one may with less than half a breath run from those Springs into Sussex. It pleased our gracious Queen Marie to grace this Water by her presence two years ago, so that those Springs may justly be called, as some do call them now, Queen Mary's Wells. The taste of the water is not unpleasant to those, who have a while been used to it, and it is a sure thing, that no man is able to drink half so much of any other liquor, though never so pleasant unto him, as he may of this. What other minerals it runneth through, besides Iron and the rubric of Iron, which is seen on the ground, over which the water runneth, is not yet well known, for there hath been as yet no digging near about the same. The greater part of those that drink of it, are purged by stool, and some by vomit, as well as by urine, which perhaps should argue some other minerals, besides Iron. The same may peradventure be discovered in after times. Howsoever though there were no other minerals thereabout, besides Iron, yet Iron being a mettle, and all metals, according to the Chemics, proceeding of two principles, Sulphur and Mercury, wheresoever there are any metals bred, there must also of necessity their principles be. Besides this, all metals have also their peculiar salts, and Iron in particular hath a great deal of volatill salt, which is it that dissolveth in the Chalybeate wine now so much in use. Now Iron is of an astringent and corroborating faculty, and hath an opening virtue withal, as may be seen by the powder of steel (steel being nothing but a defecated Iron) which is used with good success in the green sickness, and in all other diseases proceeding from obstructions. But here I shall seem perhaps to some to contradict myself, in making Iron both astringent and opening, which the vulgar think to be two qualities incompatible in one subject, and yet they are deceived, for to open and corroborate have no such repugnance, but that they are together in many Simples. Now concerning those two Springs, a question doth often arise amongst those who are there a drinking, which of them should be the better and stronger, but being so contiguous and near together, certainly there can be no manifest odds betwixt them, and though I often tasted of both immediately one after the other, yet can I not say, that I ever found any perceptible difference betwixt them. Yet will I not deny, but that it may so fall out, that at some times the one may appear stronger than the other, according as the Water may participate more of the virtue of the minerals at one time, than at another; But I think that there can be nothing constant in it, though they may alternatively something differ one from another. This shall suffice to have been spoken concerning those Springs. It followeth now that we make an enumeration of the chiefest diseases their water may be used for, wherein we will chief follow experience, seeing it is an empirical remedy, & yet so, as we shall not exclude reason. For albeit it be empericum remedium, yet must we not use it altogether empirically, nor make it a Panpharmacon, or a Panacea, a medicine for all diseases, and send thither promiscuously all sorts of Patients, as some Physicians do to the like Springs, when they are at a nonplus with them, and after a long time can do no good upon them in chronical diseases; For than they send them to those mineral waters, tanquam ad sacram anchoram. Which causeth those Springs to become infamous, and to lose the credit they justly deserve (the common people ordinarily judging of things by the event) when some miscarry after the use of the same, either because they were already too fare spent when they were sent thither, or by reason their diseases were not to be cured by that remedy. CHAPTER VII. The chiefest diseases, against which Tunbridge water may be used with good success. BEing now to reckon up the chiefest diseases, which Tunbridge water is good for, we will not go a capite ad calcem, from the head to the heel, but begin at that, which it is most generally good for, and that is obstructions, which are the causes of infinite diseases. This water than doth effectually open all manner of obstructions, wheresoever they be lurking, and especially the obstructions of the mesaraical veins, of the spleen, and of the liver, and that better, than any Apozems or other physic whatsoever. For those obstructions being stubborn, and requiring a great deal of Physic to be removed, and Physic being both loathsome and chargeable, people grow weary of it, before a Physician shall have run a quarter of the course, which is necessary for the removing of those obstructions; and that is the reason that so many are troubled with chronical linger diseases, which in their own nature are not incurable; but only remain uncured, either because the Patient is not able or willing to undergo such a course of Physic, as is requisite for his recovery, or because he loveth his purse too well. But these Waters bring no charges, and after one hath been used a little while to them, the taking of them is not troublesome at all, but the longer a man continueth the use of them, the more he may, and being taken in a large quantity, they cannot choose but open effectually. Wherefore they are of excellent use for all diseases, which have their dependency upon obstructions, as all long and tedious agues, quartanes, and the like; for a dropsy, the black & yellow jaundice, the Schirrhus Lienis, or hard swelling of the spleen, which the common people call an ague cake, the scurvy, the green sickness, the whites in women, and the defect and excess of their courses. And albeit this last assertion seemeth to have some repugnancy, in that we ascribe two contrary effects to one and the same agent, yet there is no such matter, for the one is done by opening of obstructions, and the other either by cooling the blood, when it is too hot and sharp, and so provoketh nature to expulsion, or by corroborating & strengthening the retentive faculty. And it is the property of all equivocal agents to their operations according to the variety of their objects, and of the matter they work upon; so the Sun melteth Wax, and hardeneth Clay. This water doth also cut and extenuate tough, clammy, and (if I may so speak) Tartarean phlegm, and in that regard it may be much available for those, who are used to be troubled with the Colic, when such an humour is contained in their guts. It scoureth and cleanseth all the passages of urine, and therefore is good against the gravel & the stone in the kidneys, Vreteres or bladder, where also it dissolveth and washeth away a kind of clammy phlegmatic excrement bred in the bladder, which sometimes stopping the passage of ones water, maketh him believe that he is troubled with the stone; as happened to one, that was himself a very skilful and famous stone-cutter, who being fully persuaded that he had a stone in his bladder, gave himself to another of the same profession to be cut at Namurs; But when he was cut, nothing was found in his bladder, but such a tough humour, which might have been dissolved and voided with facility by the help of the Spa water, which was but a day's journey from him. It is good also (in regard of the astringent and healing faculty it hath) for all inward ulcers, and especially for those of the kidneys and bladder, and of the Musculus sphinater, which openeth and shutteth the same. And in confirmation thereof diverse have been cured of a bloody urine, which had long troubled them, & amongst the rest a worthy Kentish Gentleman, with whom I went thither the last year. It is good also against all inveterate Dysenteries or bloody Flixes: as also all other Fluxes of the belly, whether it be Leienteria, Diarrhaea, or Fluxus hepaticus. It doth likewise extinguish all inward inflammations and hot distempers, and yet for all that the stomach is no whit hurt by the actual coldness thereof, but rather corroborated and strengthened, and appetite provoked, yea in some but too much, as in myself for one; For whensoever I drank either at the Spa or at Tunbridg, I was never able to fast with patience until noon, but must needs offam latranti stomacho offer, cast a bit to my barking stomach, before the rest of my company went to dinner. For this cause when I was at the Spa, a Spanish Physician, who was come thither with the young Prince Doria (who was then but a youth) would not let him take the water above two or three days, when he saw such an effect in him, fearing that he would receive more hurt by the excess of his appetite, than benefit by the water; and so after a long and troublesome journey from Italy thither, he returned home without any profit. The nerves or sinews, and the original of them, the brain, are strengthened by the use of this water, and consequently it is good against the palsy, inclination to an apoplexy, lethargy, and such like diseases of the head. And some Paralyticks have been seen, who sometimes voided all their water by urine, and at other times were as effectually purged, as if they had taken a strong potion, and withal sweated abundantly all their body over. All these evacuations, and vomiting also, are sometimes seen in other diseases, as well as in that; Nay besides that in some women you shall have an evacuation by urine, & per menses simul & haemorrhoidas. The cause of all Rheums and Distillations is likewise removed by the help of this water, and all diseases cured, which have their dependency upon the same, for all that verse of Schola Salernitana, jejunes, vigiles, sitias, sic rheumata cures. Convulsions also, Headache, Migraine, & Vertigo, are driven away by the use of the same, if the patiented be constant and not too soon weary. Against vomiting and the hickot, it is used with good success. Those that are troubled with hypochondriacal melancholy find a great deal of ease by this water. It helpeth also the running of the reines, whether it be Gonorrhoea simplex or Venerea, and the distemper of the Parastatae arising from thence, as likewise a certain carnosity, which groweth sometimes in the conduit of the urine, nay and the Pox also, the water having a notable potential drying faculty. It driveth away besides all manner of worms, whether they be ordinary ones, or ascarides or taeniae. It may be used also for the Gout, but it must be with some caution, and the body must be extraordinarily well prepared and purged before, because it hath sometimes brought the fit upon some, who were well when they came thither. Outwardly applied it doth help sore eyes, red pimples, and other external infirmities. More diseases, which have affinity with these, it may be used for, but I will content myself with this enumeration of the aforesaid ones, and pass to the time, manner, and order of taking the water. Yet must I not forget in the behalf of women, to tell them that there is nothing better against barrenness, and to make them fruitful, if other good and fitting means, such as the several causes shall require, be joined with the water. CHAPTER VIII. Of the time, manner, and order of taking Tunbridge Water. SOme that shall read the next foregoing Chapter, will perhaps say, that I make this water a direct Panpharmacon, a remedy for all diseases, and therefore wiil give small credit unto it. But for all that, daily experience doth, and if it continue to be used, will more and more confirm what I have said to be true. For very few of those, who live at the Spa (whose Water hath great affinity with that of Tunbridge) and in the Country about it, and make that Water their ordinary drink, as many do, and myself have seen there very aged people, that did never drink any thing else; few of them, I say, are troubled with headache, heartburning, stone, obstructions of the kidneys, liver, or spleen, falling sickness, & the like, and as for the jaundice, Dropsy, and Scabs, they do not know what they are. Myself during my stay there being once rid out to take the air with a couple of Gentlemen, and a shower of rain coming, we made to a Country house near hand to shelter ourselves, and after the taking of a Pipe of Tobacco, I requested the goodman of the house (who was a very old man, and yet fresh and lusty, and with very few grey hairs) to give us a cup of his beer, but he answered me, that he never had had any beer in his house, if we would drink good Pouhon, it was at our service, and he had a fresh vessel of it abroach. Pouhon is the name of that Spring of the Spa, which standeth in the middle of the Town, and by the same name they call also the Water thereof. But to return to our matter, Temporibus medicina valet, data tempore prosunt, Et data non apto tempore, vina nocent. and so water. The time then of taking those waters, is either the season of the year, when to come to them, or the time of the day, when to drink of the same, Concerning the season of the year, Summer is the fittest, when there is a settled warm and dry weather, as in the dog days especially. Cùm Canis arentes findit hiulcus agros. And the chiefest months be june, july, Angust, and September, although the Dutch, who naturally love good Beer and Wine better than Water, use to have this rhyming verse in their mouths, Mensibus in quibus R. non debes bibere Water. And according as the year prooveth, a man may sometimes come sooner, and continue later. In general, whensoever the weather is clear and dry, the water is then best, as well in Winter, as in Summer, yea in hard frosty weather the Water is commonly strongest, the antiperistasis of the air hindering that there is not so great an evaporation of the mineral spirits of the Water. For when the weather is rainy or misty, and that jupiter doth per cribrum mingere, piss through a sieve, as Aristophanes merrily speaks, the water looseth much of its virtue, Myself have known at the Spa a Friar of the reformed order of Saint Francis, a good honest temperate man, who assured me, that having been there three whole years together continually for the stone (of which he shown me a box almost full, of several forms and bigness) and taking the Water all the while, both summer and winter, when the weather was seasonable, he found diverse times the water better, stronger, and of a more speedy passage in frosty weather, then in the middle of Summer, without ever perceiving any inconvenience by the water, no more at that time, then in Summer, for all he did always drink it cold. For some that use to take it in cold weather, do warm it, but sure the water cannot choose by that means but lose a great deal of its virtue, which in the warming evaporateth away, seeing that in the very transporting of it, the same doth happen. When the Spa water is bottled to be sent away, albeit those who have the charge of it, be never so careful in stopping the Bottles close with boiled Cork, and pitching them over, yet will the mineral spirits find way, in so much, as when you come to open them, you shall still find some want, and sometimes a pretty deal, especially of the water of the Savenier, which is more subtle and spiritual, than that of Pouhon. But to return to the matter, there is no more to be said, but that in a word the Water is always best when the weather is clearest and driest. Now concerning the time of the day, the morning, when the Sun is an hour more or less, high, is the fittest time to drink the water. For when the Sun beginneth to be of force, it doth attract some of the mineral spirits, and the water looseth some of its strength; and betimes in the morning it is also best walking. And you are so to drink the water, as you may have taken the quantity, which you intent to take that day, within as small a space of time, as conveniently you can, without oppressing your stomach too much, as within an hour, or less, if you be able. Those that lie not too very fare from the Springs, and are able to use their legs, shall do better to come thither afoot, than to ride, because so they shall heat their bodies more. Yet do I not intent they should be so hot, as to sweat, or to be ready to sweat, for that would do hurt, but I mean only that their natural heat should be something awaked and excited, because then the water will be the better attracted, and have the more speedy passage. After every glass, or every two or three glasses, according as you shall be able to take it, it will be good to take a few Carraway comfits, or Coriander-seede, some Galingall, Zedoar, Elycampane, Angelica-roote, or such like, to help the digestion and passage of the Water. In some it is necessary, that they should have some Electuary, Lozenges, or the like, appropriated to the grief, for which they take the Water. Divers do take Tobacco after their water, which I do not dislike, especially if they hold it a good while in their mouths, before they puff it out. Moderate exercise after it is very available, but I utterly dislike it, if it be too violent, as running, leaping, jumping, as some in wantonness use to do. For that kind of exercise is rather a hindrance, than a help, to the digesting of their water, and many times all the good it doth, is to bring it up again, weakening by that means their stomach, which in vomiting doth always suffer. True it is that if the stomach be foul, it is not amiss sometimes so to do, and I am not against it. After you have taken your full quantity, it will do well to walk and stir there up and down, and to compose yourself to mirth with the rest of the company; For those that look to reap benefit by Tunbridge, must turn away all cares and melancholy. In your return to your lodging, I hold it better to ride, than to go afoot, because sitting upon your horse, the inward parts, as the muskles of the belly, the guts, and the stomach itself are thereby borne up and contracted, and by the jogging of the horse moderately stirred, and so consequently your water will be the better digested. The sign of the through-concoction of the same is commonly when your urine beginneth to have a tincture and to be coloured, and then may you go to dinner; But of this we will speak of purpose when we come upon diet. I said before, that the best time of the day to take the water was betimes in the morning, and I mean also it should be the only time for that day. For I have known some, who took it twice a day, namely, in the afternoon also, but I could never approve of it, and my reason is, that if they take it soon after dinner, their meat will not be digested, and the water forcing to make way for itself, will draw with it the Chylus raw and unconcocted, and so cause crudities and obstructions, which will do a great deal more hurt, than the water can do them good; And if they take it later after dinner, their water will not be digested before Supper. Once a day than is enough, lest you have worse speed by making too much haste. Now for the whole quantity of the water to be taken in one morning, it is a thing, which cannot justly be defined, in regard of the difference of bodies in age, sex, strength, and other circumstances; But generally those that are able to drink most, receive the most benefit, so that they do digest and void their water well. And here it is, if any where, that the Greek Proverb should take place, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, aut bibe, aut abi, either drink, or be gone; If you cannot tipple, this is no place for you. Yet must every man ever have this general rule in memory, a juvantibus & laedentibus optima judicatio, the best judication or direction is from those things, which do good, and from such as do hurt. You shall see some that arise to a great quantity, and Invenies illic, qui Nestoris ebibat annos, Three hundred ounces, according to Nestor's years. Yea, and some a greater quantity. And it is a thing, that will make the very women there filling the glasses to laugh, to see some patients sent thither by ignorant Physicians, and appointed to take ten or twelve ounces of water, and arise perhaps to twenty or thirty ounces. But this may be a rule for a body of competent years and strength to begin at thirty, forty, or fifty ounces, and to arise by degrees, increasing their quantity every day, to an hundreth, an hundreth and fifty, or two hundred ounces, more or less, as they shall be able, and so again to decline and decrease by degrees, ending were they began, when they are to leave the water. As for the time of every man's stay there, it is a thing which cannot be defined; for in some diseases some weeks suffice, in others divers months are not enough, nay in some they have need to come thither the next year, and the next to that too. This I hope will suffice for the time, manner, and order of taking Tunbridge water, I will now pass to the preparation of the body of such as are to take it. CHAPTER IX. Of the preparation of the body of such as are to take the Water. I Have set down before the chiefest diseases, which may be cured by the help of this water, but I am not so to be understood, as though I meant that the water alone were sufficient for the same in all of them, without any other helps. For albeit this be an empirical remedy, yet must it not be used altogether empirically, but with reason, discretion, and circumspection, otherwise hurt, rather than good, will follow the use of it. Many have fall'n into diseases, as fevers and agues, by coming unadvisedly and unprepared to those waters, although, as we said before, there is nothing better for agues, than they are, if they be rightly and advisedly used, the body being first prepared and purged. For although blood by a sole distemper of heat may cause a fever, yet cannot the other humours do it, as e Lib. 2. de diff. febrium. Galen well observeth, unless they putrify, which they will not do if the body be free from obstructions, and perspirable, and therefore that body, which is to be taken with an ague, must first be obstructed. Now these waters being very diuretical, when they meet with a foul body, having a repletion of gross humours, they easily and speedily carry the same with them into the veins, which not being able to give passage to such a quantity of humours, they are thereby obstructed and stopped, and those humours being there retained and wedged in, and not perflated or ventilated, they inflame and putrify, and so produce a putrid fever or ague. Wherefore those that love their health and life, must before they use the water, if they have not a very pure body, prepare and purge the same to prevent all inconveniences. Now according as bodies do differ in sex, age, temperature, quality of the peccant humour, and other circumstances, so must they accordingly diversely be prepared and purged. And in that regard we have not thought it good to set down here any forms thereof, but refer those that shall come to the water, to the advice and counsel of learned and skilful Physicians, and such as are withal well acquainted with those kind of waters, which is the main point. And as for those, that come fare off, they may take Physic at Tunbridge, and it will be best for them so to do, because if they take Physic before, and presently travel upon the same, it may produce some danger. If the resort to the Water continue, and that there be competent company at the same, I do purpose by the grace of God to be there every Summer (for it is a place I like) and if any be pleased to confer with me, I will be ready to afford them my best counsel; and they shall find there variety of Physic appropriated to the several diseases which the Water is to be used for. Neither is it enough to prepare the body and take Physic before coming to the Water, but it is requisite also, in some diseases, to take something now and then during the time they use the Water, to help the working of it, and to cause a happy and prosperous effect by the same, and so much the more, because some are not able, either by reason of business, or otherwise, to stay there a competent time, and therefore have need of some other help. For some diseases are so stubborn and difficult to be eradicated, that we must fight at all weapons against the same, and yet all little enough too. Some unlooked for accidents also happen there sometimes, which have need to be redressed and helped by other means. But of these things neither myself, nor any man else, can speak but in general terms, and therefore I will conclude, and pass to the diet requisite to be observed there. CHAPTER X. Of the Diet to be observed by those that use Tunbridge Water. Diet amongst Physicians is taken in a larger signification, than it is with the vulgar, for besides meat and drink, it comprehendeth air, motion, and quiet, things retained and voided, sleeping and watching, and the passions of the mind. All these must be rightly ordered, both to preserve, and to restore health. As for air, it must be taken such as it is found there, and I think there is no great exception to be taken against it, being thereabout pure and wholesome enough. Of motion and quiet we have said something before, when we spoke of exercise, as also of the passions of the mind, when we wished all such as come to the Water, to compose and frame themselves to mirth, and to leave all cares and melancholy at home. Concerning sleeping & watching, a moderation must be observed therein, though it be better to sleep something too much, then to watch too long, and therefore you shall do well to Sup betimes, and to go to bed betimes, animo securo, quieto & libero, that the first, second, and third concoction may be ended, before you take the water. And as for things voided and retained, you must endeavour to have the benefit of nature by all manner of ordinary evacuations, as by stool and urine, and the private excrements of the brain, at the mouth and nose. And thus much in brief concerning those things, we will now come to meat and drink. Bread is commonly, and with most men, the chiefest part of food, and therefore though always, yet here more especially, you must have a care to have bread of good pure wheat, well handled and seasoned in the making, and well baked; For the excrements & ill humours, which are heaped by the use of ill bread, are worse than those, which proceed from meat. Ravell bread generally is wholesomer, than manchet, and not so apt to breed obstructions, having some of the bran left in it, which is detergent, and maketh it pass the better. As for meat, let every one feed upon that, which he hath been most used to, so it be good meat, yielding good nourishment, and of easy digestion; and let him shun the use of sauces, which have much butter & spices in them. For it was a good admonition of Disarius, a learned Physician, in f Saturn. 7. c. 4. Macrobius, Vitandos esse cibos, qui ultra sitim & famem appetentiam producerent, that those meats were to be avoided, which did lengthen appetite beyond hunger and thirst. If you can, be you contented with one dish at a meal, for multa fercula multos morbos ferunt, many dishes bring many diseases, and perniciosa sentina est abdomen insaturabile, an unsatiable belly is a pernicious sink. In foul bodies especially, over-feeding doth a great deal of hurt, according to that Aphorism of g Lib. 2. Aphor. 9 Hypocrates, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. The more you nourish foul bodies, the more you hurt them. In a word, a moderate sober diet is always best, but especially here. As for the kinds of meat, albeit amongst the flesh of fourfooted beasts, Pork and Veal be chief commended in our books, yet here in regard of their moisture, I prefer Mutton before them. And if Pork be to be avoided, much more Pig, Lamb, and such like flashy meat. As for Beef, though it be discommended by most Authors, yet good Beef, well fed, and of an indifferent age, may be used without scruple, especially by such as have been accustomed to it, for those Authors were never acquainted with our English Beef. If Oxen indeed be killed when they are so old, that they be passed labour, their flesh cannot be wholesome, nor is to be commended. But for our good succulent Beef here, I verily think, that if those Authors were alive again, and should taste of it, they would be so fare from forbidding it, that to the contrary they would commend it. For if they do so much commend Veal, I see no reason they can have to discommend good succulent Beef. Besides Mutton and Beef, you may sometimes have Capons, Hens, Pullet's, Chickens, Pigeons, Partridges, Pheasants, blackbirds, and other small birds, Rabbits, and the like. And because some Hares are sometimes caught about Tunbridge, it is a question, which some ask, whether those who are there at the waters, may feed upon them. They are grown infamous and banished from most Tables undeservedly, out of a conceit that they are melancholy meat. But I will now take their cause in hand, and vindicate them from that imputation, if I can, saying with Martial, Inter aves turdus, si quis, me judice, certet, Inter quadrupedes gloria prima lepus. And lest I seem to give too easy an assent to the Poet, (though he was not a mere Poet, but well grounded in natural Philosophy) I will strive to prove, that it is not melancholy meat, but meat for melancholy men. First, I will bring in h Lib. 3. de alim. Galen to patrocinate unto him, who prefers the blood of a Hare, before that of Hens, Pigeons, and all other birds, and saith that it is most sweet and dainty. Now if Hare's blood be so good, how can the flesh thereof be nought, which is made and produced by it, flesh being nothing else but blood coagulated and converted into the same? The same Author i Ibidem initio libri. saith also, that Hare's flesh breedeth better blood, than Mutton or Beef. And if these two come every day to the Tables even of the noblest and richest persons, why should the poor Hare, which is better, and yields better nourishment than they, be banished from the same? After Galen, learned Heurnius reckoneth Hares flesh in the first place amongst those meats, which altar melancholy in the kidneys, but to alter and free from melancholy, and to breed melancholy, cannot both be done by one kind of meat. For if any man would fly here to similitude of substance, or to an hidden property, he should deserve to be hissed at. But they say it is a melancholy fearful creature. What reason they have to call him so, unless it be because he shuneth & runneth away from the dogs, which pursue him, I do not know; But if that be all, do not Wolves, Bulls, Bears, yea and Lions also, the like? If we may believe those, who have been in Africa, an old woman there, or a child with a stick in their hands do drive away Lions, as we do dogs here. And a Hare is not so fearful, but that you shall see some of them turn about, and look upon the dogs after a daring manner. They do not lie in holes and burrows, as Coneys do, which in that regard should be more melancholy, and yet they are in most common use amongst us, and accounted the best meat. And as for their food, it is the same with that of Partridges, the excellency whereof is no where controverted, and with the use of them only the Pox may be cured, as Cardan holdeth, who could speak of it by experience, as having had that disease seven times, as himself witnesseth in that book of his, which he entitleth De utilitate ex adversis capienda; and sure his witness is not to be rejected. Let the Hare then return in use, and be readmitted to his former pre-eminence, so he be not too old, but of a competent age, as of a year or less. But as for waterfoule, you shall do well to abstain from the same. Concerning fish, though it be for the most part unwholesome, and apt to breed excrementitious and slimy humours, yet for a change you may sometimes eat some river-fish, that is firm and not slimy, as Trout, Gudgeons, Pikes, Perches, and the like, either broiled, or boiled in Wine (if you will go to the charges) rather than in Water, and corrected with Fenell, Spearemints, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley or the like. But for Mints in particular, let those women, that come to the water for fruitfulness, refrain the same, because it is thought it hindereth conception. At your fruit you may use some Raisins of the Sun, a bit of Marmelade, a roasted Wardon or Pepin mith Carrowayes, or the like; But in all this you must be sparing. Now for an end of all, I must repeat what I have touched before, namely, that you avoid variety of dishes. For the nature of several meats being divers, and sometimes clean opposite and contrary one to another, & some sooner concocted, and other later, from hence those evils will arise, against which you come to seek help from the water, as crudities, wind-griping, pain of the reines, obstructions of the mesaraical veins, rawness of the Chylus, and consequently of the blood, which shall be made of the same, and such like inconveniences, which by a sober and moderate diet may be avoided. Thus much concerning meat. As for drink, good ordinary clear Beer, and of an indifferent strength and age, is best, and it is the ordinary drink of this Island, and which agreeth best with the nature of those which are bred in it. Yet if any having been used to drink Wine at meals, desire to continue the same, I am not against it, if so be they be not of too hot a constitution, and have no principal part offended through excess of heat; For a cup of Wine or two at meals doth but help to make the better digestion. And for that purpose Sack or Claret are better than white Wine, because white Wine, by the diurecticall faculty it hath, passeth too soon away, and before the Chylus be throughly perfected, and so it may carry some of the Chylus raw and unconcocted with it, and consequently breed crudities and obstructions. And thus much concerning diet. The Conclusion of this Treatise. HAving briefly run through the chiefest things needful to be known and practised by such, as shall desire to use this Water, I will here end with an exhortation unto them to be well advised concerning the nature of their diseases before they come, and when they are come, to observe the rules & directions contained in this Treatise, as also to be constant in the use of the Water. And although perhaps some of them perceive little or no benefit at first by the same, yet let them not be discouraged, but persevere in the use of it. For some having been there once with small or no profit at all, the next year after, upon a second trial, have returned home perfectly cured. It is the ordinary reward of constancy and perseverance in the end to hit the mark they aim at. Every thing in this world hath a certain period, before which it cannot come to a full perfection. And so herewith I wish all happy and prosperous success to all such, as shall come to these Springs, and will be ready at all times to afford them my best help and counsel. Now as for this Treatise, I do not look it should have a privilege above all other writings, to be exempted from controllement and carping; For it were better luck, than any man ever had, that exposed himself to the censure of the world. There are fare more fools, than wise men in the world, and as a Spaniard well observeth, Vn loco haze ciento, one fool maketh an hundreth more such (most men having their wits pinned upon another man's sleeve) and the greater fool commonly is the bolder censurer, which maketh Books to be variously received, liked, and entertained, according to the variety of the Readers understanding and capacity. Pro captu lectoris habent sua fata libelli. Upon the reader's wit the fates of Books depend. But the best is, that I ever was regardless of the multitude, as well in this, as in all things else. If the judicious Reader find any just fault with any thing contained in this Treatise, let him remember that humanum est errare, that to err is incident to the frailty of our humane nature. But I never was so wedded to mine own opinions and conceptions, but that upon better information, I ever was, and ever will be willing to acknowledge mine errors, if I committed, or shall commit any, without esteeming it any shame so to do, no more than many good and worthy Authors have done, when they published their retractations. FINIS.