Take him to books and poetry, you’ll swear
This king was born in thick Bœotian air.
Francis’s Hor. lib. 2. ep. 1.
Prudent men will chuse as pure, as warm, and as dry an air as they can; for such an one, by giving strength to the fibres, is salubrious to the lungs, and promotes the circulation. A frigid and dry air is supportable: a moist air is highly pernicious, as by it all the disorders of studious men are aggravated; for it increases laxity, stops perspiration, and occasions catarrhs, pains, and palsies. Every man of learning has it not in his power to repair to Baya or Alexandria, nor does it suit them all to breathe the country air, which is the purest; for there are more that compile than think. The country is not a proper place to pursue such studies; but any man may chuse a healthy habitation in town, and live in a lightsome house, a high apartment, refreshed by a breeze in summer, and enlightened by the sun in winter. He should take particular care to have fresh air let into his chamber every day; without this precaution he lives upon the infected: it should be cooled in summer, and not kept too warm in winter; for the learned, like all weak men, as was the case of Augustus, are ill able to bear excess of heat or cold: too great a heat relaxes the nerves, but intense cold causes convulsions. In the dog-days we become unfit for labour, as also in the severe cold of winter; and the more tender the constitution, the less it is able to withstand the weather. Such was that of Milton, whose nerves were relaxed to such a degree in the heat of summer, that he[49] was almost reduced to a state of imbecillity. But the air should be warmed in winter, a fire being kindled for the purpose; for this fresh air succeeds the corrupt air that goes off; nor do exhalations remain, nor does the head grow warm, nor do the feet become cold, which is of great consequence. Cold in the feet hurts the weak by causing pains in the head, the throat, and the breast; it disorders digestion, causes dreadful colicks, obstructs perspiration, and prevents sleep to a very great degree. I have often cured men of note, who had long been without sleep, though they had recourse to the most efficacious remedies, by advising them to warm the soles of their feet at a fire, every night before they went to bed, till the sense of heat became painful. Others have been greatly relieved by a gently stimulating plaster applied to the soles of their feet, and left on both night and day.
I may probably, respectable auditors, appear to descend too much to particulars, and to dwell too long upon trifles; but nothing is little or inconsiderable in physick: and it is a thing of so much importance to keep the blood from the heads of men of learning, that they should neglect nothing which may contribute to this end. They should therefore take care not to keep it warm with too much covering, or rather they should use themselves to go bare-headed from their childhood. Some men of learning have been so bold as to wrap their heads with a towel dipt in cold water, that they might be able to continue the longer at their studies: and what will not an inordinate desire of knowledge excite men to? Such rashness should be avoided; but it is of service to all, and especially to studious, sedentary men, to wash their ears, their faces, and their whole heads, hair and all, every morning in cold water. It is very good for the literati, when they feel the blood forced up into their heads, not to walk, or inquire sollicitously after medicines, but to sit upon their chair in total inaction, without ever uttering a word.
The same necessity of keeping the blood from the head should prevent the learned from indulging in sleep after dinner; or, if they should sometimes be forced to yield to sleep, let them imitate the illustrious personage, so often mentioned already, Augustus Cæsar, who with the cloaths and shoes he had on took a short nap, having covered his eyes with his hand[50]. I must likewise add this caution, that they should never compose themselves to sleep, without first unbinding all their ligatures. To wash their feet in warm water is likewise of great service to them.
These are the chief helps by the assistance of which the learned will be enabled to prevent the ill effects of study; but when their application has produced real disorders, they will have occasion for other remedies. You will sometimes see them, when nature is quite exhausted by study, fall into a consumption: then the severity of the disorder requires some efficacious remedy; and the best is entirely to lay aside study, meditation, and books, to bid a long farewell to their musæums, and, giving themselves up to leisure, chearfulness, and country pleasures, to think of restoring their bodies alone, without troubling their heads about cultivating their minds; but let them become what men were designed for by nature, ploughmen or gardeners.
Difficile est longum subito deponere amorem,
Difficile est: verum hoc, qua lubet, efficias.
Una salus hæc est, hoc est tibi pervincendum.