Damnosa quid non imminuit dies?
Ætas Parentum pejor avis; tulit.
Nos nequiores, mox daturos
Progeniem Vitiosorem.
Europeans then must have their Constitutions impaired, and their Strength exhausted, by living like the Inhabitants of Asia, Africa, and America; especially since Macrobius, in Lib. 7, Saturnal. Cap. 4. shews, that the most simple Aliments are the most salutary, and easily digested. Besides, Socrates ordered his Pupils to abstain from such Meats and Drinks as created an Appetite after Hunger and Thirst were satisfied. But, according to the Chinese, Tea produces an Appetite after Hunger and Thirst are satisfied; therefore the drinking of it is to be abstained from. The same holds true with respect to Chocolate, and Coffee. But I return to the Chinese, who are accustomed to Water-drinking, and a frugal Life. Hence, their Physicians, whom Martinius, in the Preface of his Atlas Sinicus, seems to prefer to those of Europe, no doubt, enjoin them the Use of Tea, in order to prevent the Generation of excrementitious Humours; or, when generated, to carry them off by Stool, or Urine; for, it is certain, from what has hitherto been said, that Tea is moderately heating, bitter, drying, and astringent. If it should, for these Reasons, be said, that Tea is justly to be commended for a Weakness of the Stomach, I answer with Celsus, in Lib. 1. Cap. 8. "Our Countrymen ought not to be believed, who, when indisposed, covet Wine, or Water, and instead of charging their own Luxury, lay the Fault on the Stomach, which has no Share in it." This Passage is equally applicable to Tea, Coffee, and Chocolate, and seems to insinuate, that such Persons, in order to satiate their Thirst, falsly accuse their Stomachs. If this were more carefully adverted to by the Patrons of the Chinese Delicacies, and especially those who look upon Tea as a Panacea, they would use it more sparingly, especially in a bad State of Health; because Celsus, in Chap. 3. of the same Book, tells us, "That Changes ought to be gradually and slowly made; since that to which the Patient is not accustomed, proves, hurtful, whether it be soft, or hard".
But the Chinese Method of using Tea, is not agreeable to the Custom of the Europeans, and therefore hurtful to them.
Hence the Germans, Saxons, and Inhabitants of other Nations, in the Baltick Sea, being neither accustomed to much Wine, nor to dilute it with Water, are generally seized with malignant Fevers, when they go into France, or Italy; because every fixed Substance fixes such as is volatile; whereas, such as is volatile, resolves that which is fixed. Hence the thick and fœculent Blood of the Germans, consisting of saline, sulphureous, fixed, and volatile Parts, and being changed by the Regimen of France, and the Heat of the Sun, is subtilized by the Tartar and Sulphur of the French Wine, especially in such Germans as took great Care of their Health, when in their own Country; and in those who enjoyed good Health, their Blood is not only subtilized, but also ferments, undergoes an Ebullition, and is despumated. Hence arise Spots of different Colours, produced by the Blood variously corrupted. But these I have considered more fully in my Digressio de Febribus Malignis. This Doctrine is warmly inculcated by Hippocrates, who, in Lib. de Fract. Senectut. §. 6. tells us, "That the Age and Constitution of one Person, differ widely from those of another." But this Assertion, how true soever, is but little adverted to by most of the Europeans. But I think it incumbent upon me, for the Reasons now alledged, to warn them against the Abuse of Tea; especially since we find, that this Herb does, by no means, answer the Encomiums bestowed upon it by the Chinese and Japonese. I own Tea is of a more drying Quality than many European Herbs; but, for this very Reason, the constant Use of it is so far from procuring Longevity, especially in Persons of a middling Age, that it rather accelerates old Age; which, according to Macrobius, in Lib. 7. Saturn. Cap. 11. is, "an Exhaustion and Dissipation of the vital Liquor, by Length of Time; for old Age is dry, for Want of natural Moisture, and sometimes moist through a Redundance of peccant Humours, produced by Coldness of Constitution." Since then Tea, by Means of the Sulphur it contains, is of a more heating and drying Nature than Ginger, Cinnamon, Pepper, Cubebs, Cardamomis, or Arabian Castus; hence, it necessarily follows, that it is injurious to old Persons, and such as are of a dry Constitution, and loose Texture of the solid Parts. On account of this dry Constitution, and natural Marasmus of old People, which no Art can prevent, they become thirsty, and more addicted to tippling, than in their younger Years: Hence arises the German Proverb, If a young Man knew the Pleasure of drinking in old Age, he would be saving in his younger Years.
It is not, therefore, the native Heat, but that fatal Dryness which renders the Members cold, and the Skin corrugated, which renders old Persons fond of drinking; and for this Reason, I have, in my Commentaries, universally commended a moistening Diet for them. Hence, the Inhabitants of those Nations, who, besides Tea, daily drink Wine, ought carefully to guard against all sudden Changes in Diet and Regimen. Thus, when a certain celebrated French Physician, endeavoured to perswade a Person of eminent Rank, who was, generally, twice or thrice a Year seized with a Catarrh, to change his Regimen, and give over the Use of Wine, or, at least, dilute it with Water; because, in all Probability, the Physician told him, that cold Water powerfully corrected acrid Humours. Upon this, the Person of Distinction asked the Physician, whether he was in good Health? To whom the Physician replied he was: Then, says he, continue to drink Water, or Wine and Water, till you can drink no more; but you shall never, on account of slight Catarrhs, which are rarely offensive to me, perswade me to accept of a French, or Italian Regimen, instead of a Danish, and German: Nor will I drink Water instead of Wine, or Ale. I am at present full of Flesh and Blood, and enjoy a good Appetite: My Forefathers, for many Years back, were of the like Constitution, and used the same Regimen I do; but if, in the sixtieth Year of my Age, I should begin to drink Water, I am afraid I should rather resemble you than them; for you, who are a Water-drinker, though you enjoy good Health, yet you are emaciated, have a cadaverous Countenance, and seem to be rather a Skeleton than a living Person. I wish all Persons, especially such as are old, would follow the Example of this Gentleman, and obstinately reject Tea, which so dries the Bodies of the Chinese, that they can hardly spit. It is also an egregious Mistake, not only among the Persians, but also among most other Nations, to think that the Seed Bon, or Ban, which when toasted is called Coffee, and which I have taken Care to have engraved in the Plate after the History of Scurvy-Grass, No. 11, 12. of my Quadripartitium, is of so cooling a Quality, as to produce Impotence, even in those who use it frequently; for it only dries them. Thus Casmin, the Wife of Sultan Mahmud, after her Husband had so weakened himself by the Use of Coffee, that he had been impotent for many Years, is said, when she saw the Preparations making, for gelding a generous Persian Steed, to have told the Persons employed in that Work, that there was no Occasion for so much Trouble, since, by giving the Horse Coffee, he would become like her Husband, the King. This Story is, with the same Circumstances, related by Olearius, in his Travels through Muscovy and Persia. Coffee, then produces Sterility in the Persians, not because it is cold, but because it gradually dries their Bodies, by means of a certain Sulphur, as peculiar to itself, as those of Opium, Tobacco, or Agnus Castus are to them. As the Agnus Castus, or Vitex is, by Galen, said to be dry in the third Degree, like Rue, and to consist of very subtile Parts, it is impossible it should produce Impotence by rendering the Seed cold, which it diminishes and dissipates, not so much by the Subtilty of its Parts, as by its peculiar Sulphur. The incomparable Hoffman, both in his Variæ Lectiones, and in his Treatise de Medicamentis Officinalibus, has treated accurately of the Vitex. But, if that Author had been still alive, he would have agreed with me in this, that what Galen ascribes to the Subtilty of the Parts, not only of all Simples, but also of such Things as act by their whole Substance, such as Opium, Tobacco, Agnus Castus, Chinese Tea, European Tea, or the Myrtus Brabantica, or the Chamelæagnus Danica, is to be ascribed to their small sulphureous, and excessively dry Parts. Thus the Seeds of the Agnus Castus affect the Head, and from what has been said, it is sufficiently obvious, that the Seeds of the Chamelæagnus contribute principally to intoxicate the Country People, who prepare their Ale with it: The Seeds of the Agnus Castus, according to Hoffman, "do not convey Flatulences to the Head, except when they affect it by the Subtilty of their Parts (which I call their sulphureous Quality) just as Wine, whose Taste and Smell they have, according to Pliny, affects the Head, and procures Sleep." All these Properties of Wine, as well as of our Chamelæagnus, proceed from their Sulphur, which is grateful to the Nerves: But these Effects could never be produced, only by Galen's Subtilty of the Parts. But to proceed, in the Words of Hoffman: "Another Proof of the Subtilty of the Parts of Agnus Castus, (which I call its sulphureous Quality) is, that its Seeds, whether crude, or toasted, discuss Flatulencies of the Intestines, and most powerfully when toasted; since these do not so much affect the Head as the former." Thus, it also happens, that an Account of the artificial and careful Toasting of the Chinese Tea, by which most of its sulphureous Parts are dissipated, it prevents Sleep in the Chinese: Whereas, the European Tea, or Chamelæagnus, renders the Country People, as it were, intoxicated, and disposed to Sleep. But these different Effects are not owing to any occult Qualities of the Chinese and European Teas, but manifestly to the sulphureous Parts, of which the Chinese has a far smaller Quantity than our Chamelæagnus. Thus, it is certain, that prepared Vipers may be safely eaten, and that Dioscorides roasted Vipers for Food; so vast a Difference there is between artificial Preparations, and natural Productions. But to proceed: Hoffman, with respect to toasting the Seeds of the Agnus Castus, tells us, "That in toasting, the remarkably subtile Parts are dissipated." These remarkably subtile Parts, I call sulphureous, which the Persians also dissipate, by an artificial toasting, from the Seeds Bon, or Ban, conveyed to them from Egypt. Thus, the celebrated Hoffman, only differs from me in Words, but not in Sentiments. The same also holds true of Chocolate. I, therefore, conclude, that all these Substances are of a drying Quality, on account of their sulphureous Parts. I would, therefore, advise all Europeans to have a due Regard to these Things, to preserve Youth by moistening Substances, and prevent old Age, which is brought on before its due Time, by Means of these drying and sulphureous Commodities; though, at the same time, I do not prohibit the Use of moderately hot Substances. Let no one condemn me for making Repetitions; since it is a Maxim, not only of Policy, but also of common Humanity, That the Safety of the People, is, of all other Laws, the most essential and important. If, therefore, an immense Reward was bestowed on the Man who preserved a single Roman Citizen, I may, certainly, hope for Indulgence, when, by repeated Expostulations, I attempt to preserve all Europe, by perswading its Inhabitants not to exchange our own salutary Regimen, for that of the Asiatics, and Chinese, by following their Custom of Tea-Drinking. Martinus Martinius, indeed, in his Preface to his Atlas Siniticus, greatly extols the Chinese Regimen, in the following Manner: "Their Drinks, says he, whether prepared with Water, Wine, or Rice, must always be warm; they macerate their Tea in particular in boiling Water, which they drink as hot as they can bear. When I was accustomed to this Regimen, I commended the Chinese, and condemned the Europeans, who are so fond of drinking cold Liquors; for, in China, the Inhabitants, by drinking their Liquors warm, both extinguish Thirst, and so dissipate the redundant Humours, that they hardly ever spit; nor are they afflicted with Crudities of the Stomach, as the Europeans are: They have also fewer, and less violent Diseases; neither are the Stone, the Gout in the Hands and Feet, and other similar Disorders, known among them." But these Things happened to Martinius, in China, and not in Europe. Nor shall he ever perswade me, to change the European, for the Indian Regimen. Since, according to Martinius himself, some of the Inhabitants of that Country, on account of the Pythagorean Doctrine, of the Transmigration of Souls, religiously abstain from Flesh, and think,
----Scelus est in Viscere Viscera Condi, Congestoq; Avidum pinguescere Corpore Corpus, Alterusq; Animantem Animantis vivero Letho.
Martinius, therefore, makes an insufficient Enumeration of Causes; since the good Health of the Chinese, is not totally owing to the Use of Tea, but to various other Circumstances, which we shall not here enumerate: Only I shall, from the Amphiatridius of Johannes Boterius, published in 1600, observe, "That in the various Districts of China, the Clemency and Salubrity of the Air is so great, that a Pestilence has never been remembered to rage universally in them." For the Sake also of those who want the sixth Part of the Theatrum Europæum Johannis Bleau, or the Novus Atlas Martinii, I shall, from the Preface of the last-mentioned Author, take the following Passage: "In Practice, the Chinese Physicians surpass those of Europe, who are more addicted to Dispute and Speculation, but less successful and happy in the Cure of Diseases, than the former." But, if a Chinese Physician was to practice on the Baltick Shore, where endemial Scurvys rage, it is hardly credible, that he would cure them with greater Success, than a skilful European Physician does; since, according to Hippocrates, there are many nominal, but few real Physicians. The same Author, in his Prisca Medicina, informs us, "That most Physicians resemble bad Pilots, who, if they steer the Vessel in a smooth and calm Sea, can prevent the Detection of their Ignorance; but, when they are attacked by blowing Winds, and violent Tempests, it becomes sufficiently obvious, that the Ship must be lost through their Fault, and Want of Skill." But to drop the Defence of the European Physicians, I shall return to the Asiatics. Martinius then, in the Passage last quoted, tells us, "That the Chinese Physicians generally prepare their Medicines of Simples and Decoctions; that they use Unctions, and Frictions, but not Venesections, which they look upon as an irreparable Error. They rather chuse to reduce the Blood to a due Temperature, by Fasting, and refrigerating Medicines; for, say they, because Broth boils in a Pot, the Broth is not, therefore, to be poured out, but the Fire to be removed from the Pot." But this Comparison is certainly far from being just: And, a little after, the Author subjoins, "In China are great Numbers of Chymists, who confidently boast of producing Gold, and preventing Death by Means of their Medicines. The Design of these Men is like that of their Brethren in Europe, to extort Money from the credulous and avaritious Part of their Fellow Creatures."