- 1. Of Medicines temperate.
- 2. Of Medicines hot.
- 3. Of Medicines cold.
- 4. Of Medicines moist.
- 5. Of Medicines dry.
Of Medicines Temperate.
If the world be composed of extremes, then it acts by extremes, for as the man is, so is his work: therefore it is impossible that any medicine can be temperate, but may be reduced to heat, cold, dryness, or moisture, and must operate, (I mean such as operate by manifest quality) by one of these, because there is no other to operate by, and that there should be such a temperate mixture, so exquisitely of these qualities in any medicine, that one of them should not manifestly excel the other, I doubt it is a system too rare to find.
Thus then I conclude the matter to be, those Medicines are called temperate (not because they have no excess of temperature at all in them) which can neither be said, to heat nor cool so much as will amount to the first degree of excess, for daily experience witnesses that they being added to medicines, change not their qualities, they make them neither hotter nor colder.
Their use. They are used in such diseases where there is no manifest distemper of the first qualities, viz. heat and cold, for example; In obstruction of the bowels, where cold medicines might make the obstruction greater, and hot medicines cause a fever.
In fevers of flegm, where the cause is cold and moist, and the effect hot and dry; in such, use temperate medicines which may neither encrease the fever by their heat, nor condensate the flegm by their coldness.
Besides, because contraries are taken away by their contraries, and every like maintained by its like, they are of great use, to preserve the constitution of the body temperate, and the body itself in strength and vigour, and may be used without danger, or fear of danger, by considering which part of the body is weak, and using such temperate medicines as are appropriated to that part.
Of Medicines hot.
The care of the ancient Physicians was such that they did not labour to hide from, but impart to posterity, not only the temperature of medicines in general, but also their degrees in temperature, that so the distempered part may be brought to its temperature, and no further; for all things which are of a contrary temperature, conduce not to cure, but the strength of the contrariety must be observed, that so the medicine may be neither weaker nor stronger, than just to take away the distemper; for if the distemper be but meanly hot, and you apply a medicine cold in the fourth degree, it is true, you may soon remove that distemper of heat, and bring another of cold twice as bad. Galen, de simp. med. facul. lib. 3. cap. 12.
Then, secondly, Not only the distemper itself, but also the part of the body distempered must be heeded; for if the head be distempered by heat, and you give such medicines as cool the heart or liver, you will bring another disease, and not cure the former.