Those which cheer the mind, are not one and the same; for as the heart is variously disturbed, either by anger, love, fear, hatred, sadness, &c. So such things as flatter lovers or appease the angry, or comfort the fearful, or please the hateful, may well be called cordials; for the heart, seeing it is placed in the middle between the brain and the liver, is wrought upon by reason, as well as by digestion, yet these, because they are not medicines, are beside my present scope.
And although it is true, that mirth, love, &c. are actions, or motions of the mind, not of the body; yet many have been induced to think such affections may be wrought in the body by medicines.
The heart is chiefly afflicted by too much heat, by poison, and by stinking vapours, and these are remedied by the second sort of cordials, and indeed chiefly belong to our present scope.
According to these three afflictions, viz.
- 1. Excessive heat.
- 2. Poison.
- 3. Melancholy vapours.
Are three kinds of remedies which succour the afflicted heart.
Such as
1. By their cooling nature mitigate the heat of fevers.
2. Resist poison.
3. Cherish the vital spirits when they languish.