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HARVARD
COLLEGE
LIBRARY
NOTICE.
A limited edition (210 copies) of this work was
originally printed on extra large superfine tinted paper,
for subscribers only. A few copies of this edition are
still on hand/ and can be obtained on application to
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J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
PHILADELPHIA.
/
.1 -■ ■»■— ■ J-»- - _
ftegfmen S?anltatte jfcaletnitanum.
Code of Health
OF TUB
School of Salernum.
TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH VERSE, WITH AN
INTRODUCTION, NOTES AND APPENDIX.
BY
JOHN ORDRONAUX, LL.D., M.D.,
Prof, of Medical Jurisprudence in the Law School of Columbia
College, N. Y., Etc, Etc, Etc.
" Laudibus aeternum nullum negat esse Salernum ;
Illuc pro morbis totus circumfluit Orbis,
Nee debet sperni, fateor, doctrina Salerni."
Immortal praise adorns Salerno*» name,
To seek whose shrine the World's infirm once came ;
Nor should this Age, her Laws of Health, disclaim.
PHILADELPHIA
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1 87 i.
MLR /55.« 60
■*—•*■
J /
4' *J±cc~ '(Xfi-M .
£/& #. /Ai'^
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 18694 by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania.
, «•"N.**»».»*»^-»,/'*» .'•N.'*»..
LIPPIlltjOTT'a PBB88,
rHILABILPIU.
TO
NATHAN SMITH LINCOLN, M.D.,
Professor of Special Operative and Clinical Surgery in the National
Medical College, Washington, D. C,
this
MEDICAL FOSSIL, NEWLY PRESERVED IN ENGLISH VERSE,
is
Affectionately Dedicated,
AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO HIS HIGH PROFESSIONAL AND CLASSI-
CAL ATTAINMENTS, AND A HUMBLE MEMORIAL OF THE LIFE-
LONG FRIENDSHIP OF A COLLEGE CLASSMATE.
INDEX OF SUBJECTS.
CHAP. FACT
1. Of Mental Conditions and of Certain Remedies 47
2. Refreshment for the Brain 49
3. Of Noontide Sleep 49
4. Of Incarcerated Flatus. 51
5. Of Supper. 51
6. The Rule for Apportioning Meals 53
7. Food to be Avoided 53
8. 9. Food that Nourishes and Fattens 55
10. Of the Qualities of Good Wine 55
11. Of Sweet White Wine 55
12. Of Red Wine 57
13. Of Antidotes to Poisons. 57
14. Of Air T 57
15. Of Over-drinking 57
16. Of the Best Kind of Wine 59
17. 18, 46. Of Beer and Vinegar 59
19. The Appropriate Diet for each Season 61
20. Of Correcting an Improper Drink 61
21. Of Sea-sickness 63
22. Of Condiments in General 63
%
6 Index of Subjects.
CHAP. PAGH
23. Utility of Washing the Hands 63
24. Of Bread. 65
25. Of Pork 65
26. 45. Of Must 67
27. Of Drinking Water. 67
28. Of Veal 69
29. Of Edible Birds. 69
3a OfFish 69
31. Of Eels and Cheese 71
32. Of Food, and Drink at Meals 71
33. Of Peas and Beans 71
34. Of Milk for Consumptives. 73
35» 36. Of Butter and Whey 73
37. Of Cheese. 75
38. Method of Eating and Drinking. 77
39. Of Pears 79
4a Of Cherries. 81
41. Of Prunes. 81
42. Of Peaches, Grapes and Raisins 81
43. Of Figs 83
44 Of Medlars. 85
47. Of Turnips. 85
48. Of Animal Viscera 85
49. Of Fennel Seed 87
5a Of Anise 87
51. Of Reeds 89
52. Of Salt 89
53. Of Tastes and their Qualities 91
54. Of Wine-Soup 91
Index of Subjects. 7
CHAP. PACK
55. Of Diet 91
56. Of Dieting. 93
57. Of Cabbage 93
58. Of Mallows 95
59. Of Mint 95
60. Of Sage 95
61. Of Rue 97
62. Of Onions. 97
63. Of Mustard 99
64. Of the Violet 99
65. Of the Nettle 99
66. Of Hyssop. 101
67. Of Chervil 101
68. Of Elecampane 101
69. Of Pennyroyal 103
7a Of Cresses 103
71. Of Celandine 103
72. Of the Willow 103
73. Of Saffron 105
74. Of Leeks. 105
75. Of Pepper 107
76. Of Dullness of Hearing 107
77. Of Ringing in the Ears 107
78. Things Hurtful to the Sight 109
79. Things Strengthening the Sight 109
80. Of Allaying Toothache 109
81. Of Hoarseness in
82. Of Remedies for Catarrh Ill
83. Cure for a Fistula 113
8 Index of Subjects.
OHAF. PAGS
84- Of Headaches 113
85. Of the Four Seasons of the Year 113
86. Number of Bones, Teeth and Veins in the Body. 115
87. Of the Four Humors in the Human Body. 115
88. Of Temperaments. — The Sanguine 117
89. The Bilious Temperament 117
9a The Phlegmatic Temperament 1 19
91. The Melancholy Temperament 119
92. Of Complexions. 1 19
Indications of Plethora 121
Indications of Excess of Bile 121
Indications of Excess of Phlegm 121
Indications of Excess of Black Bile 123
93. Of Bleeding, and of the Age for Bleeding 123
94. In what Month it is Proper, and in what Improper to Bleed. . 123
95. Of Obstacles to Bleeding 125
96. Circumstances Relating to Blood-letting. 125
97. Of some Effects of Blood-letting 127
98. Of the Size of the Wound in Blood-letting 127
99. Things to be Considered in Blood-letting. 127
100. Things to be Avoided after Bleeding 129
101. In what Diseases, Ages and Quantities Blood-letting should
Occur 129
102. What Parts are to be Depleted and in what Seasons 129
103. Of the Benefit of Bleeding from the Salvatella Vein 131
Specimens of English Translations 132
Index of Subjects.
APPENDIX.
CHAP. PAGB
1. The Physician's Praise. 137
2. Objects of Medicine. -. 137
3. Limits of Medicine. 137
4. Inconveniences of Physicians. 139
5. How to Forestall the Ingratitude of Patients 139
& Demeanor Necessary for the Physician. 143
7. Of Quackery 143
& Exhortation to Health 143
9. Hygiene 145
10. Winds 147
11. Autumn 147
12. Winter. 147
13. Regimen of the Months. — January 149
14. February. 149
15. March 149
16. April 151
17. May 151
18. June. 151
19. July 151
20. August 153
21. September 153
22. October. 153
•
23. November 155
24. December. 155
25. General Rules for Eating. 155
26. Order of Supping. 157
27. Cider and Perry 157
A*
J
io Index of Subjects.
j-
CHAP. PACK I
28. Mead 159
29. Coffee 159 1
3a Of the Use of Baths 159 «
31. Effects of Sparkling Wine 161
32. Effects of New Wine 161
33. The Time and Mode of Sleeping 163
34. Of Nature's Calls 163
35. Of Eggs 165
36. The Delights of Life 165
37. Valedictory. 167
PREFACE.
TO cherish the memory of our professional i
with becoming reverence, and to fan the dying
cmliers of classical scholarship on the hearthstone of
modern Medicine, have been the impelling motives to the
preparation of this volume. For its text, however old it
may appear, now that nine centuries have rolled their en-
gulfing tides upon it, is one which, whatever its rhetorical
merits, can never be worn out in human estimation. The
preservation of Health is a living problem in every age.
And, although disenchanting Science, through her prying
handmaids, Physiology and Chemistry, has rudely shat-
tered the old medical idols seated at the gateways of
Nature, and carried the torch of investigation into a world
not dreamed of by the Salernian masters, yet their writings,
as embodied in the following Code, re-echo with intuitions
which our meridional philosophy both accepts and demon-
strates to be the expressions of great fundamental laws, that
must have been inscrutable to these Medical Fathers.
Aside from these facts, however, the wisdom of succes-
sive generations has set the seal of its approbation upon the
12 Preface. ;
Regimen Sanitatis Salerni as a work of transcendent merit.
Though written in the early twilight of the Middle Ages
and in inferior Latin, it at once took its place alongside of
such classic productions as the Aphorisms of Hippocrates.
No secular work, indeed, ever met with more popular favor,
nor infused its canons so radically into the dogmas of any
science. It was for ages the medical Bible of all Western \
Europe, and held undisputed sway over the teachings of its \
schools, next to the writings of Hippocrates and Galen.
For centuries, the educated world, laymen, as well as phy-
sicians, pondered over its broad truths, its quaint sugges-
tions, its astute interpretations of physical phenomena and
its aphoristic sayings, as the hoarded wisdom of all pre-
ceding time. And though its merit is not enhanced by the
framework of Leonine verses in which the subject was set,
it would be unjust to suppose that even this masculine, un-
varnished measure, without any quality to recommend it
save its sonorous cadences, had no part in introducing it to
popular favor. Little wonder is it, therefore, that it became
a Book of Proverbs among physicians, a sort of Vade Mecum
in fact, which, down even to modern days, each one felt
bound to commit to memory, as Cicero tells us Roman
boys did the Twelve Tables, ut carmen necessarium. To
such a celebrity had this Poem attained even to the present
century, that it has passed through, as one critic asserts,
two hundred and forty editions, while others say only one
hundred and sixty-three. Be this as it may, either figure
expresses a popularity not commonly acquired by any
secular work.
With such a record to introduce it, litfle need be said in
explanation of its reappearance, beyond what was stated in
the opening sentence of this preface. The Poem — how-
ever barbarous its Latin, however limping in structure and
faulty in syntax, as well as prosody — will always speak for
I Preface. 13
(itself, and prove its own highest worth to consist in the
} pointed common sense which sparkles in almost every line.
1 Copies of it have also become so exceedingly rare that
\ few, even, of our largest libraries contain any. It is fast
Incoming, therefore, a lost constellation in the firmament
of letters ; and, inasmuch as with the decreasing attention
paid to classical culture among physicians of our day the
writings of the early masters are gradually drifting into
oblivion, I have, out of love and reverence for them,
endeavored to rescue this waif from Lethean submersion,
and to present it, "tricked out in the new-spangled ore"
of a versified English translation, as a contribution to our
own medical literature.
No English translation of the Regimen has appeared since
1617, and that one being susceptible of improvement no*
less in language than in versification, as may be judged by
the specimen annexed, I have accordingly undertaken the
task of producing as literal a translation in verse as the
spirit of the original, its medical dogmas, aphoristic say-
ings, the differences of idiom between the two languages
and the cramping exigencies of prosody, would permit. It
has been my aim, throughout, to secure fidelity of translation
rather than grace in paraphrase, since the pith of an apho-
rism would often be destroyed by diffusing this latter
through the waters either of circumlocution or of a meta-
phor; and yet, with a double-rhyming Latin line, it has
been impossible at times to give a literal interpretation
within the mechanical limits of heroic verse. Nothing but
a tour de force could accomplish it. How far, therefore,
I have been able to serve the English, without misinterpret-
ing the Latin, the reader can best judge for himself. And
if I shall have succeeded in rekindling a flame of admira-
tion for the labors of the Medical Fathers, however humble
they may appear by the side of those of our Athenian
2
14
Preface.
| ■ . ■ ii ■ i ■ urn ■ i i ■ ■ i ■ ■ ■ i ii ii i m i i - - _ «
civilization, I shall have secured a tribute to the sovereignty!
of science and the memory of her pioneers, such as is tool
apt to be neglected in the midst of the rapid and gigantic )
strides of this Age of Wonders. J. O. '
Roslyn, N. Y., August, 1869.
INTRODUCTORY.
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF SALERNUM.
Terra Salcrni.
Urbs Hiirlm saemta, Minerva: sedula nutria ;
Koiik 1'hysicic, pugil cucrasiic, cultrix Medicinal ;
Asserl» Natunc, vita: paranympha ; salutis
Proiiuba fida ; magis Lachesis soror, Atropos hostis ;
Morbi pernicies, gravis adversaria mortis.
qui tanqaam sole nitentl
Et niiet, el nitutt illusli is fama Salcrni. 1
THESE words, written by a mediaeval poet of renown,
are not an inflated metaphor, terminating in an empty
boast. The earliest school of Medicine in Christian Europe
has, even in the fragments of her doctrines which have de-
scended to us, bequeathed an imperishable legacy to the
Healing Art, such as no other academy ever did. And to-
day, after nine hundred years have added their stores of
acquisition to the past achievements of the human mind in
science and art, the name of Salernum still stands without
^ y„, '.U a iJ *""**■
> Aegidius Corboliensis. Lib: de Virtut: et Laud: Comp : HedKew
In Leyser's Hist. Poet :"et Poem" rvtedi-AevL Cited in Croke's Regi-
men Sanilalis Salem i lana : p. 54. * \
l\.L<L H7 I It
1 6 Introductory.
a peer in historic grandeur, as the true Day-Star and Herald
of Didactic Medicine, among the Western nations. Ttye
representative and expounder of the Hippocratic doctrim
embellished with the later culture of the Arabians, liter
school became the repository and fountain of all pait
learning, the strong pillar of tradition and the most jealous
guardian of conservative Medicine. An uncompromising
enemy to empiricism in every form, she still practiced (a
boundless liberality toward proficiency and culture in medij-
cal scholarship wherever found, inviting to the privilege ; s
and honor of a seat in her faculty, the wise of either sex ;
thus anticipating by centuries all subsequent medical schools •
in this act of intellectual justice ; and after collecting the
floating, fragmentary knowledge of previous generations,
has given it to the world developed and digested in special
treatises by her ripest scholars. No school of Medicine
in any age or country, if only for this, can ever over-peer
her in renown ; and even, as in the Universities of Europe
during the Middle Ages, at the bare mention of the name
of the learned Cujacius, every scholar instinctively uncov-
ered himself, so at the very name of Salcrntnn, that foun-
tain and nurse of rational Medicine, every physician should
recall her memory "with mute thanks and secret ecstasy,"
as among the most spotless and venerated chapters in the
history of his art.
According to a native historian, 1 the city of Salernum
was so named from salum (salt), and Lirnus, the river
1 Antonio Mazza, Historia Urbis Salerni, in Grscvius, Thesaurus
Antiq. Ital. vol : 9, part : 4 : § 9.
Michael Zapulle "Nel Compend. dell' Histor: di Napoli," fol: 267,
says:
" Fu Salerno edificate da Sem, come si legge ncll* officio parti col arc
di quella chiesa, approbate da Sommi Pontifici, e nelle Croniche di
quella Citta."
I Introductory, ' 17
whfich washes it ; while according to more ancient chron-
iclers, it was founded by, and derived its name from Shem,
th& elder son of Noah.
/ " Salernum post diluvium a Sale Noe pronepote conditum.
I Exulta, cujus studio,
{ Arphaxad, Sale primogenitum tuo nomine nuncupavit"
1 \nd in the church, during the festival of Sts. Fortunatus,
v vas sung, after mass, this anthem :
" O Salernum, d vitas nobilis quam fun davit Sem."
According to these same traditions, Shem founded five
cities in Italy, all whose names begin with S., viz. : Sipon-
tum, Samnia, Salernum, Surrentum, Sena-Vetus. But it is
far more probable, and all contemporaneous history favors
the idea, that Salernum, whatever the etymology of its
name, was founded by Goths, Suevi or Lombards, any of
which tribes might, in their general migration through the
fallen Roman Empire, have colonized on the shores of
Southern Italy. The position of the city, with the sea on
the south and sheltering mountains on the north, whose
sides were clothed with balsamic forest trees, seems always
to have been considered an inviting one to strangers, and
when its monks, stimulated into additional activity of mind
by the labors of their brethren in the neighboring monas-
tery of Monte Casino, began to study and to practice the
scientific medicine of the Greeks and Arabians, the influx
of invalids and students into the city became proportion-
ally great. Indeed, the renown of these monk-physicians,
carried possibly in the mouths of itinerant Crusaders, spread
over Europe, and led the poets of that and subsequent ages
to speak of the city as Urbs antiqna Salernum, celebrata per
Orbem. And from this generally admitted pre-eminence
in medical learning, its school stood as the recognized head
of dogmatic Medicine, and representative of the last and best
culture in the Healing Art down almost to the sixteenth cen-
2*
1 8 Introductory.
: ; v
tury. Such was the fame, founded upon merit, of this little
city in which Minerva found so many untiring worshippel
The School of Salernum.
The Medical School of Salernum dates back to the nintla
century, although writers disagree so extensively upon the
question of its origin, whether ecclesiastical or lay, that it?
is hardly worth our while to open any discussion upon it.*/
That a school existed there, flourished, and was the ac-
knowledged head of all European medical academies
during the Middle Ages, is an established fact no longer
to be gainsaid. As early as 984, Adalberon, bishop of
Verdun, is recorded to have visited Salernum for the pur-
pose of obtaining medical advice; and the abbot of Monte
Casino, Desiderius, afterward known as Pope Victor III.,
also came there in 1050 for the same purpose. Peter of
Amiens, writing about the same time, mentions in terms of
high praise Gariopuntus, one of the masters in its school,
as an aged philosopher greatly skilled in medical lore.*
And in 1057, according to an authoritative historian,' Ru-
dolph, surnamed Mala Corona, who was himself an adept
in the physical sciences, on visiting Salernum, as any
scholar would the seat of a flourishing university for the
purpose of communing with its distinguished lights, found,
in the person of a learned matron and professor, Trotula,
the only intellect that could successfully combat with his
own. But a few years later, Roger, Count of Sicily, con-
1 PUCCINOTTI, Storia della Mcdicina, Tom : ii., p. 247. Livorno, 1855.
1 EcoU de Salertie. Introduction, par 1c Dr. Charles Daremberg.
Paris, 1861, p. xxiv.
* Rudolphus Mala Corona Physicae scientiam tam copiose habuit, ut
in urbe Psalernitana, ubi maxim ae Medicorum Scholae ab antiquo tem-
pore habentur, neminem in medicinali arte praeter quandam sapientcm
mulierem, sibi parem inveniret. Ordericus Vitalis, Keel : Hist : lib :
3, ad Ann. 1057.
Introductory. 19
firmed by letters patent the ancient privileges of its College
of Doctors. Romualdus, 1 writing in 1075, speaks emphati-
cally of the high renown already achieved by Salernum, of
which place he had not only been archbishop, but had also
obtained a wide reputation as a skillful practitioner of medi-
cine. The archives of the Neapolitan kingdom contain the
names of Salernian physicians of as early a date as 846,
and in whatever way the school is mentioned by mediaeval
writers, it is always spoken of reverentially, because of its
great antiquity.
The Greeks, who, in the persons of Hippocrates and
Galen, must be considered as the founders of all rational
Medicine, have always maintained a foothold for their doc-
trines in some of the medical schools of Europe. And to-
day, Monti>clier, the former rival and present successor of
Salernum in dogmatism, is perhaps the purest Hippocratic
school in the world. While it is true that the medical
Fathers were translated into Latin as early as the sixth cen-
tury, as appears from a passage in Cassiodorus,' yet it would
seem that their authority was somewhat rivaled by the more
practical treatises of the Methodists, who, for a while at
least, held sway in the schools. The subsequent develop-
ment of medical learning among the Arabians and their
sedulous culture of the Fathers, whose treatises they had
translated and adopted in their seminaries, revived their
waning authority among those Western nations with whom
Arabian civilization had come into contact. But whether
this orthodoxy in medicine was carried to Salernum by the
Saracens or not (and their visits, originally of a predatory
nature, do not antedate the middle of the ninth century),
1 Romualdus, Chronic Salernit: in Muratori, Script Rer: Ital : Vet:
vol : vii., part 162.
* "Legite Ilippocratem et Galenum lingua Latina" conversos." Mu-
ratori Antiq : Ital : vol : Hi., col. 930.
2o Introductory.
all writers agree upon the fact that her early, constant and
uncompromising conservatism had, from the first, won her
the distinguished title of Civitas Hippocratica, 1 a title of
which she was herself justly proud, since this legend was
inscribed upon her seal.
But although an enemy to Empiricism and Methodism,
either of which creeds had been considered as essentially
heterodox even in the days of Galen, her dogmatism in
practice was guided by a rational interpretation of the
elements of general pathology. Hence, according to the
Practica of Petrocellus and the Passionarius of Gariopun-
tus about A. D. 1040, the form of practice of her physicians
was essentially Methodist (doctrines of strictum et laxum) in
their pathology, but dogmatic, or more properly Hippo-
cratic in their therapeutics; 1 yet, as it is alleged, without
any consciousness of the opposite character of the two
systems, the former of which they would have been horri-
fied to adopt suo proprio nomine. It is not necessary, how-
ever, in this connection, to discuss in detail the peculiar
tenets of this renowned school. They may have been
purely Hippocratic, or partly Themisonian. They may
have professed humorism alone, or combined solidism with
it. Their pathology and practice may have been consistent
or contradictory, and a critical historian might properly
embark upon the task of analyzing and settling this long-
mooted point. But to us it is not a question requiring dis-
cussion here. Let Salernum have been more or less tinc-
tured with progressive ideas in Medicine, sometimes relaxing,
sometimes narrowing, her dogmatic conservatism, she has
still come down to us through all the varying phases of nine
centuries as the unquestioned fountain and archetype of
1 Antonio Mazza, Hist: Salami, cap. ix.
2 DareMberg, Op : cit : p. xxi.
Introductory. 21
orthodox Medicine, and the mother of all subsequent medi-
cal schools.
The Statutes of the college of Salernum are remarkable
for the jealous guardianship which they exercise over the
purity and proficiency of candidates for medical degrees.
The school had selected for its patron St. Matthew, and
for the motto on its seal the words "Civitas Hippocratica."
Its Faculty consisted of ten prof essors or Magistri, who suc-
ceeded each other according to seniority. 1 The examina-
tion of candidates was conducted \* ith great strictness, and
consisted in expositions either of Galen's Therapeutics, or
the first book of Avicenna; also in the Aphorisms of Hip-
pocrates and the Analytic? of Aristotle. If successful, the
candidate received the title of M. A. and Physician.
Candidates were required to be twenty-one years of age,
and to produce proofs of having studied Medicine for seven
years. As yet the degree thus obtained did not authorize
one to practice indiscriminately in every department; for,
if the candidate desired to be admitted to practice Surgery,
it was required in addition that he should study Anatomy
for one whole year. But every one, to whatever degree
admitted, must first swear to be true and obedient to the
Society of Physicians — to refuse all fees from the poor, and
to have no share of gains with apothecaries. A book was
then put into his hands — a ring upon his finger — his head
was crowned with laurel, and he was dismissed with a kiss.
These statutes were modified from time to time, although
the spirit of rigid honor and medical orthodoxy in which
they were cast was never abated to the last. Again, an-
other law required that the candidate should have accom-
plished three years of study in logic, and five years in both
medicine and surgery, before he could be admitted to an
1 SprengeFs History of Medicine, vol : 2, p. 142.
«2 Introductory,
examination. He must also swear to conform to estab-
lished rules, and among other things servare formam curia
hactcnus observatam, and inform the authorities whenever
an apothecary falsified drugs.
On the other hand, apothecaries were obliged to com-
pound medicines as the physician directed and to sell them
at an established price.
Frederick II., A. D. 1225, gave to the Universities of
Salernum and Naples the exclusive right of conferring
degrees and licenses to practice medicine in the kingdom
of Naples. The candidate when admitted received the
title of Magister, and was so confirmed by royal authority.
A still later law required, after five years' study, another
year of practice with an old physician. But during these
five years the candidate might still teach in public. An-
other rule, which was evidently considered of more than
ethical obligation, forbade every physician to share in the
profits of apothecaries or to keep a drug store himself.
The instruction imparted in the school was restricted to
such principles alone as were found in the authenticated
texts of Hippocrates and Galen.
The fees of practitioners were duly regulated according
to time and distance. Thus, for office-calls and those
within the city limits during the day, physicians received
half a. tarenus ; l for calls outside the city three tareni if
1 The tarenus was a gold coin equal in value to two Neapolitan carti/ii,
or about twenty-eight and one half cents of our money» gold standard.
At this rate, our illustrious Masters of Salernum received fourteen and
one quarter cents for office-calls and such as were made in the city ;
and seventy-five cents for those made out of town.
Content with little, like Hippocrates,
They practiced more for honor, than for fees.
But when the fee was earned, the visit made,
Without delay, they asked to be repaid.
Vid. Appendix, Ad Prceccwendum Aegrorum Ingratitiuiinem.
Introductory, 23
entertained at the patient's house, otherwise four; and the
patient might call in the physician twice during the day
and once during the night. The poor always to be at-
tended gratuitously.
Druggists (stationarii) and apothecaries (confectionarii)
were placed under the supervision of physicians, who were
forbidden to merchandise with them as to prices, or to own
any share in their profits. And both those who sold and
those who manufactured drugs were first sworn to a strict
adherence to the Codex; their number was limited, and
the cities or towns in which they could follow their avoca-
tions carefully designated. The prices allowed to be charged
by them were based chiefly upon the perishable nature of
the articles. Two Imperial inspectors were charged, in
connection with the Medical Faculty, with the duty of
superintending the preparation of all electuaries and syrups.
In matters appertaining to medical police, such as contagious
diseases, sales of poison or love-philters and other charms,
the laws at Salernum were in advance of the age, and
hardly surpassed even in our own day. Those, in particu-
lar, relating to apothecaries are worthy of imitation and
adoption in every civilized country.
The same emperor, Frederick II. , who had legislated so
wisely in his ordinances regulating medical instruction and
practice, dealt a fatal blow to the school at Salernum when
he erected a rival academy at Naples. By whatsoever mo-
tive induced, his knowledge of, and respect for the sacred
traditions clustering around this old Hippocratic shrine,
should have made him hesitate and refrain from dealing it
a wound destined to sap its existence. But so it was ; and
from that moment the active life of the institution began
to diminish. Bologna and Paris, both jealous rivals of
Salernum, and who had essayed by imitation of her teach-
ings to eclipse her didactically, soon took advantage of
24 Introductory.
their opportunity. The infusion of Saracenic Medicine into
the Hippocratic doctrines at Salernum became more and
more apparent, and only in the department of surgery do
the Greek traditions still appear to hold their original sway
during the period of her decline. And yet, such is the
ingrained respect of the human mind for whatever has
survived the erosions of time, that we instinctively retrace
our steps in periods of doubt to consult ancient authorities,
if even but traditional ; such/ in fact, is the historical mo-
mentum of a great name, which, once crowned in the temple
of Fame, can never be dethroned or stripped of its sove-
reignty, that, as late as the middle of the last century
Salernum was still considered the mater et caput of medical
authority in ethical matters, for in 1748 disputes as to pre-
cedence in rank between physicians and surgeons having
occasioned painful differences among French practitioners,-
the Medical Faculty of Paris addressed an official letter to
the Faculty of Salernum, requesting their counsel and as-
sistance in the formation of a judgment upon the issues then
raised before them. This is^the last historical appearance
of the famous School of Salernum, for a sweeping royal
decree of 181 1, centralizing instruction in a few designated
centres, virtually completed her downfall, by assigning to
her a place among gymnasia or preparatory institutes only.
Thus died the venerable and venerated mother of all
Christian medical schools amid the splendors of a merid-
ional civilization, of which, in her own department, she
had been the day-star and morning-glory. The first to rise
from the darkness of the Middle Ages, and to aid in the
revival of medical letters, she continued faithful to her
trust and her tenet» for more than mm tcHturies. What
school ever did an much for medical learning? Or where did
rational Medicine ever And ho firm and enduring a shrine?
It i* nad to think that not a «tone of the old University is
Introductory, 25
now standing — that not a fragment of the valuable collec-
tion of MSS. contained in her once opulent library still
remains in Salernum ; but scattered here and there on dusty
shelves and in unfrequented corners, they have been left to
the chance discovery of some mousing antiquary. But for
all this, the name and fame of Salernum cannot die, and
the prophecy of the poet, whose lines we have already
quoted, continues to be fulfilled :
" quo tanquam sole nitenti
Et nitet, et nituit illustris fama Salerni."
For the art of printing, as early as 1480, enshrined in
enduring forms the writings of her distinguished masters,
and although but little known among the physicians of
modern times, even by name, their works have not perished
. on that account. They still live in history, and still merit
recognition at the hands of those who most honor them-
selves when they honor the traditions and the laws, the
philosophy and the recorded wisdom of their professional
predecessors. Forming as they do, a professional legacy,
they are to be esteemed for what they have done, not for
what they can now do; since, like an heir-loom, their
worth lies more in their history than in any presently con-
vertible value. And wherever any man shall be found who
carries into the conception of his professional relations, and
the obligations he owes to them, something higher than a
craven, artisan spirit of acquisition, he will be proud to
remember those great names which have adorned his own
calling ; anxious to know something of the taste and of the
quality of their labors, and more anxious still to carve a
line, to raise a stone, and to preserve, untarnished, their
memory from the effacing hand of time.
Of the many learned men who flourished at Salernum,
and whose names, exhumed from the dust of centuries by
s n
26 Introductory.
M. de Renzi, 1 have now been enshrined in their proper
historical niches, it must suffice, in a sketch of this kind, to
mention only the leading ones. To those who may be in-
clined to pursue the subject at greater length, we would
recommend the perusal of Peter Diaconus, De Viris Iilus-
tribus, also the Chronicon S. Monasterii Casinensis, auctore
Leone, and continued by Petr : Diaconus ; Fabricius, Bib :
Med: et Infim: Latin: and Mabillon, Annates ordinis S.
Benedicti; and lastly, A. Mazza Hist : Saterni f in Graevius
Thesaurus ; and Romualdus, Chronicon Salernit. in Mura-
tori's Scripts. Rcr. Bat:
Of these distinguished men who wrote on medical sub-
jects, Abbot Bertharius was one of the earliest, but what
was the particular topic discussed by him is not definitely
stated. His successor Alfarius wrote upon the four humors.
Desiderius also distinguished himself as a physician no less
than a philosopher and theologian. Constantine of Car-
thage, who came to Salernum after a long curriculum of
study at Bagdad, was known as a voluminous writer and
on many topics. A disciple of his, known simply as John,
published a book of Aphorisms, and Gariopuntus wrote
about the same time. Nicholaus wrote a work entitled
Antidotarium. Musandinus wrote on Dietetics; Maurus
upon Urine and Phlebotomy ; Bartholomaeus and Cophon
upon Practice. There were also many graduates of Saler-
num distinguished in other walks of life than that of medi-
cal practice, and whose names have descended to us ; such
as the famous St. Bruno and Romualdus.
With true chivalric respect for intellect wherever found,
Salernum also opened her halls and chairs of instruction to
eminent women, several of whom became professors and
have left works on Medicine not inferior in character to
1 CcHectio SalernUana: Napoli 1852-59: vols. 5.
Introductory. 27
those written by their masculine colleagues. Thus Abella
wrote a poem in two books: "De Atrabile et de Natura
Scminis Hum am ; Mercuriadis wrote De Crisibus, de Febre
PestUenti; de Curatione Vulnerum, de Uhguentibus ; Re-
becca, de Fcbribus, de Urinis et de Embryone ; x and Trot-
tula, de Mulicribus Passionibus" The justice of allowing
every human being to fill whatever sphere in life God has
endowed him or her with fitness for, was a dogma in the
Salernian ethics, which might be profitably imitated in this
day of superior intelligence; and the safety of doing so
was fully vindicated in the writings of these female physi-
cians, who proved themselves the most conservative and
orthodox of writers, as they must have been of teachers.
The Poem called "Regimen Sanitatis Salernitanum,"
or sometimes simply designated as "Schola Saler-
NITANA."
Whatever may have been the value to medical literature
of the writings of the School of Salernum — contributions to
science, which, as now collected, form many volumes* — the
chief renown of her didactic essays rests almost exclusively
upon her famous Poem De Conservanda Valetudine? which,
under various names, and finally complimented with the
title of Flos Mediance, attained such an unparalleled celeb-
1 Croke's Regimen Sanit : Salernit : p. 14.
» Collectio Salernitatia ; ossia docutnenti inediti^ e trattati di Medicina
apparteneitH alia Scuola Medica Salernitana, racolti e illustrati da G. E. T.
Menschel, C. Daremberg e S. Renzt, premessa la storia della scuo
larc publicata a cura di S. de Renzi, Napoli, 1852-1859, 5 vols, in 8vo.
8 Quod Academiam Salernitanam maxime commen davit, et ejus glo-
riam transmisit posteris, opus est illud, De Conservanda Valetu-
dine.
Zacch : Sylvius, in Pracfatio. Schola: Salernitanse Roterodami 1648 :
28 Introductory.
rity as rendered it a carmai necessarian*} in the mouth of
every physician, down almost to the eighteenth century.
Not to have been familiar with it from beginning to end,
not to have been able to quote it orally as the occasion
might require, would, during the Middle Ages, have cast
serious suspicion upon the professional culture of any phy-
sician. Indeed, it was a general favorite among the edu-
cated of every class, and looked upon, like Solomon's Prov-
erbs, as a People's Book, useful to all who could appreciate
its wide yet broad and common-sense suggestions as to the
conduct of our physical life. So universally were its merits
recognized and endorsed that an edition of it was printed
as early as 1480. 2 Since- that time, according to Mr. Baudry
de Balzac,' two hundred and forty editions of this famous
Poem have been published, and in almost all the languages
of modern Europe. Sir Alexander Croke, 4 from whose
edition we have prepared the subjoined list, has collected a
descriptive catalogue of one hundred and sixty-two.
Editions of the Schola Salernitana.
The first edition, with the commentary of Arnaldus de
Villa Nova, appears to have been printed at Montpelier,
1 Nullus Medicorum est, qui carmina Schola Salerriitanae ore non
circum tcrat, et omni occasione non ere pet.
Zacciis. Sylvius ut Supra.
* At Montpelier. Vid. Brunct, Manl : du Lib : vol : 3, p. 541.
» Colltttk SulfTHitana. Naples, 1852, t 1, p. 417 : and re-cdited by
Messrs Darembcrg and Rcnzi. Naples, 1859. pp. 128.
The early editions vary in the tMt given to the Poem. In some it is
A'^imtH Stttitotis StiUmi; or AMm$m SaitrNttaHa t seu De Ciwstrvanda
£*w IWtiudint; while the MSS. usually style it /fiw AMiciua.
See Sylvius ut Supra.
< For a detailed list of all these editions, including place and year of
publication, and name of editor, see Crokk's A'<£»«h** SaMt&tiis SaUrni
A«m*jn, Oxford, 1830, p» 67.
Introductory. 29
A. D. 1480, in quarto; and there have been subsequently
issued in the original Latin no less than one hundred and
seven editions.
Of translations, • generally repeated in succeeding edi-
tions, the earliest being in German, A. D. 1474, there have
been issued of editions :
In German 16
'* French, 1 earliest A. D. 1501 19
" Italian, •« " 1549 7
" Dutch, " " 1658 I
" Bohemian," " 1721 ;... 1
" Polish, " " 1532 I
" Hiberno-Celtic " I
" English,* earliest " 1530
And including the present one 10
Forming with the before-mentioned 107 in Latin, a grand
total of 163
A popularity so general, and extending through so many
centuries, could not have rested upon any ephemeral basis
derived either from the character of the poetical form in
which the work was presented, or any particular admiration
either of its authors or of the person for whose benefit it
was originally written. Prejudices born of extrinsic causes
do not long survive, nor do succeeding generations adopt
them with alacrity, or seek by imitating their subjects to
perpetuate them in kind. Truth alone endures the succes-
sive criticisms of time, and when any work of man has
1 Two more should be added to these, viz. : that of 1825 and 186 1.
* Of these nine editions, only three appear to have contained different
translations, and of these last, only two have hitherto been printed, the
others remaining in MSS. Even the elegant edition of that most fin-
ished classical scholar, Sir A. Croke, does not give a new English
version of the poem, but repeats an ancient translation. For extracts
from these early versions see page 132.
3*
30 Introductory.
commanded admiration for centuries, we need not ask
what constitutes its basis. It is the condensation of truth
in compact, suggestive sentences, adorned by the elegance
of rhyme, and thus invoking the harmony of numbers to
the aid of memory, which has given to this Poem an un-
dying charm. ..Written in plain, untechnical language,
saturated with the broad common sense of daily experience,
and prescribing for all the necessities and all the dangers
of practical life, it at once comes home, as Bacon said of
his Essays, to "Men's Businesse and Bosomes;" and the
innumerable imitations of it which sprang up in mediaeval
Europe, wherever a rival medical school existed, attest in
the most forcible manner possible the high and fixed
reverence it commanded in public estimation.
History of the Poem.
The history of its origin is tinged with a hue of romance,
which, although adding nothing to the merits of the pro-
duction, cannot well be omitted in any sketch of its life.
The facts are in great measure historical, being connected
with the first Crusade against the Infidels by Christian
Europe, and there is nothing born of the imagination, or
borrowed from minstrelsy in the person mentioned, or the
circumstances associating him with the Poem. Divested
of all legendary haze, and brought into the broad, search-
ing sunlight of investigation, it is simply the epic of a
brave but unfortunate prince and Christian warrior, of a
noble and self-sacrificing wife and princess, and a commu-
nity of grateful physicians and philosophers, who, in
addressing this ripe, consummate fruit of medical wisdom
to a Norman prince, have left a legacy for all time to all
mankind. And following the purest lodes in the mine of
wisdom, they have enshrined their utterances in brief, sen-
tentious dogmas, so full of truth that all men subscribe to
Introductory, 31
them at once, and sing their author's praises from Pole to
Pole :
Hacc sunt quae scripsit Regi Schola docta Salerni,
Dogmata, quae totum lustrant per sccula mundum
Testantur studia antiqui, at per magna Salerni.*' 1
14
Robert, duke of Normandy, and second son of the
Conqueror, having joined the first Crusade under Godefroi
de Bouillon, and being on his way to the Holy Land,
tarried during the winter of 1096 at Salerno, at that time
the metropolis of the Norman duchy of Apulia. During
his stay there, he doubtless became acquainted not only
with the high repute of its school of Medicine, but person-
ally with its Faculty. In the spring, after visiting the
celebrated convent of Monte Casino for the purpose of
recommending himself to the prayers of the monks and
their patron saint, Benedict, he sailed for the Levant,
arriving in time to take part in the siege of Nice. After
the fall of Jerusalem, at whose siege he received an arrow
wound in the right arm, which assumed a fistulous cha-
racter, hearing of the death of his brother, William Rufus,
he started for England to claim the throne, and on his way
through Italy stopped to consult the physicians of Salerno
about the critical state of his arm. The wound having
been caused by a poisoned arrow, the physicians were of
opinion that no relief could be obtained until the poison
was first eliminated from this part by suction. The risk
which any one, who might wish to undertake it, was sup-
posed to incur, led this brave and pious prince to hesitate
in asking such a favor from any of his followers ; and he
was likely to have retained his disability to the last, when
his wife, hearing what was the opinion of his medical
1 Io: Francis: Lombardus, in Burman Thesaur. Antiq. Ital., vol: 9,
pt. 4.
$2 Introductory.
advisers, and without informing him of her intentions, on
several occasions, while he was sleeping, performed the
task of sticking the wound, and eventually changed its
entire character, whereby it soon healed. This being ac-
complished, in addition to a special prescription given him
for the cure of fistulas (vid. cap. 83), the Faculty of the
School, in general council convened, indited for his benefit
the celebrated Regimen Sanitatis, which constitutes a true
code for the Preservation of Health. It is addressed to
him as king of England, for such he was de jure, upon
the death of his brother, William Rufus, and, although he
never attained the throne, it seems idle to assume that it
could have been addressed to any other personage. The
historical and the internal evidence both point to him as
the only one intended in the salutatory line.
One of the latest and best authorities upon the subject
of the Salernian writings, having himself been a most in-
defatigable collector and commentator upon them, Dr.
Charles Darcmberg, librarian of the Bibliotheque Mazarine,
is of opinion that the Regimen Sanitatis Saicmi, as con-
tained in the edition commented upon by Arnaldus de
Villa Nova, is the work of medical rhupsodists, impersonal
in its origin and therefore of uncertain date. The follow-
ing are his words :
"If it were permitted me to compare trivial things with
great ones, I should unhesitatingly say that the Regimen,
as transmitted to us in the text of A. de Villa Nova, is the
work of medical rhapsodittts — that it represents a poetical
cycle which Ant ap|wam in the middle of the eleventh
century and terminates with the beginning of the fifteenth,
and leave* no possibility of determining cither the date or
the origin of the *m tensive interpolations, or any ability
to decipher it» tlrst common foundation» since all verses
which appear in the Salernian writing prior to the edition
Introductory. 33
of Arnaldus de Villa Nova are written in an impersonal style
and without name either of author, or of work. Every
one seems to have had a share in its production, and it
is no one's work in particular, or rather it is the faithful
echo of universal common sense in matters of hygiene."
And, again, speaking upon the idea of the Poem, he thus
expresses himself:
"Whatever may have been the original form under
which the Regimen may be conceived to have existed,
either as medical advice addressed ex professo to some
distinguished personage of its own day, or a tissue of
aphorisms and proverbial phrases originally isolated, it is
nevertheless true that its essential character, as appears
from the commentary of Arnaldus de Villa Nova, is ex-
clusively dietetic, and excludes, therefore, all descriptions
of diseases and special therapeutics — that long list of
simple or compound medicines which figure in certain
MSS. and many other matters, which evidently do not
enter into the plan either of the author or the collector." 1
It is impossible, therefore, with any regard for historical
truth, to ascribe the authorship of the Poem to any single
person. And though it has commonly been credited to
John of Milan, perhaps critics, in their distant and recon-
dite searches after its origin, might have done better had
they looked nearer home and confined themselves to its
first line, which distinctly announces the fact that it is a
work by Schola tota Sa/erni, or, in other words, compiled
from contributions offered by its Faculty incorporate.
It must be remembered, also, in any critical study of the
Toem, that it does not belong to the classical school of the
Augustan days. It is not written, consequently, in Virgil-
ian Latin. This, indeed, might be inferred from its rhym-
U
1 Ecde de Salcrm: Introdn. pp. 56 and 58. Paris, 1861.
B*
34 Introductory.
ing character, since rhyme is no essential part of versifica-
tion ; and among the Roman poets we find no rhymes of a
later day than those of the Early Republic, such as occur
in Naevius and Ennius, and even then only occasionally,
and, as it were, without intention. The Latin of the
Schola Salernitana cannot otherwise be considered than as
a barbarous dialect, strong, rough, ungraceful in expres-
sion, a sort of Fescennine verse, such as rustics might have
repeated under the Old Empire, but now had become the
jus et norma loquendi among the educated classes in that
crepuscular age. And I cannot do better in this connec-
tion than to quote the very able and impartial criticism,
upon it of Sir Alexander Croke, 1 in the words that follow :
"The style is, of course, somewhat barbarous, and the
inaccuracies have, probably been multiplied by the mistakes
of transcribers. In many places the grammar can hardly
defend itself. The avaxoXouOov and change of person are fre-
quent. The conjunctions and other particles are sometimes
deficient, and at others redundant. The arrangement, in
general, is not immethodical, though some few lines seem
misplaced. In the versification, the quantity of syllables,
and even the accent, are frequently disregarded," etc.
Of the Versification.
As may be perceived, the Poem is written in Leonine 1
or rhyming verses, a style of poetry which is said to have
been a favorite one among the Normans, who always pre-
ferred it in their epics of great men, as having a more
sonorous measure than the simple hexameter. Thus, in
the epitaph on Duke Rollo, it is recited in such lines that
1 Op: cit 31.
* For more particular details concerning the Leonine verse, see the
very scholarly "Essay on Rhyming Latin Verse," by Sir Alexander
Croke. .
Introductory. 35
"Dux Normannorum cunctorum norma bonorum,
Rollo ferus fortis, quern gens Normannica mortis
Invocat articulo hoc jacet in tumulo."
And, again, in an epitaph on the duke of Sicily:
" Linqucns terrcnas migravit Dux ad amocnas
Rogerius sedes, nam Coeli detinet aedes."
The Leonine verse admitted of many varieties, based
upon either a hexameter or a pentameter. The former
admitted of thirty-four forms, the latter of only four.
The situation of the rhymes also varied in many ways :
1st. Whether at the end of the lines, thus producing the
ordinary couplet, e. g. :
" Maurus, Mattheus Salomon, Petrus, Urso, moderni
Sunt Medici, per quos regnat Medicina Sale mi."
2d. Whether in the middle, the line being divided into
two rhyming parts, these constituted the simpliccs Zeonint,
and are the ones commonly used in the Schola Salernitana,
although its verses often fluctuate between the first and
second classes.
Of the simplices Leonini the following are illustrations :
" Fons, speculum, gramen, haec dant oculis relevamen, .
Mane igitur montcs, sub serum inquirite fontes."
Some early bard has attempted it not unsuccessfully
either, *in a marriage between the English and Latin as
follows :
"Friars, friars, woe be \.oye, ministri malorum,
For many a man's soul bring ye, ad poenas infernorum.
When fiends fell first from Heaven, quo prius habitabant, \
On earth they left the sins seven, et fratres communicabant"
And the witty author of Father Prout's Reliques has
certainly achieved a double triumph in this respect, having
given us, in the Eulogy on Prout, and the lines addressed
36 Introductory.
to the unfortunate L. £. L. "Specimens of two classes of
jpeonine verses, viz. :
! In Mortem Venerabilis Andrea ProuL Carmen.
I
" Quid juvat in pulchro Sanctos dormire sepulchro !
) Optimus usque bonas nonne manebit honos t
, ' Plcbs tenuiyfaro.Pastoris condidit ossa,
Splendida sed miri mens petit astra viri"
Etc, etc., Reliqtus, p. 27.
T0LE.L
Lady for thee, a holier key, shall harmonize the chord,
In Heaven's defence, Omnipotence, drew an avenging sword;
But when the bolt had crushed revolt, one angel fair, thoughyhw/,
Retained his lute, fond TsXXxxbutel to charm that gloomy vale.* 1
Reliques, p. 314.
u
3d. Whether the line was subdivided into two, three, or
four distinct rhyming parts, varying according to the form
or application of the rhyme, e. g. :
" Pauper amabilis, et venerabilis est benedictus,
Dives inutilis, insatiabilis, est maledictus."
* - * * * * * *
O Valachi, vestri stomach i, sunt amphora Bacchi,
Vos estis, Deus est testis, teterrima pest is."
4th. Whether each word rhymed with its corresponding
one, e, g. :
"Quos anguis dirus tristi mulcedine pavit,
Hos sanguis mirus Christi dulcedine lavit."
Texts.
It would require a volume in itself to speak chronologi-
cally of the various texts and editions of this celebrated
Poem. The popularity which it acquired, as well with the
educated laity as physicians, led, in the Middle Ages, to
innumerable imitations. Some, with more temerity than
good taste or justice to posterity, undertook to remodel it,
Introductory. 37
and in so doing simply accomplished what honest Dog-
berry wished some kind and friendly hand might do for
him. Aside from this, interpolations have doubtless found
their way, in great number, among its pregnant lines, but,
inevitable as it must have been with any production become
a classic hundreds of years before the birth of the art of
printing, and dependent, therefore, for its circulation upon
manual transcriptions or oral repetitions by men of vary-
ing intelligence, there is internal evidence, presumptive,
if not primd facie, of the superior authenticity of one edi-
tion at least, among the early ones, and which all subse-
quent students of the Poem or historians of Medicine
have definitely accepted and recognized. This edition,
consisting of three hundred and sixty-two lines, is accom-
panied by a voluminous commentary from the pen of Ar-
naldus de Villa Nova, a distinguished scholar and physician
of the thirteenth century, and one of the foremost men of
his day. After studying Medicine in the leading schools
of that age, he visited Salernum, and in gratitude toward
Frederick of Arragon, king of Sicily, from whom he had
received some marks of distinguished favor, he wrote his
famous commentary on the "Schola Salernitana." This
commentary, the first ever written and printed with the
text, has never been surpassed for clearness, vigor or
grace, and it has always been accepted as the best gloss or
exposition of the Salernian dogmas extant. It was always
considered both the ediHo frincefs and the editio reccpta
among the most critical scholars, and all subsequent edi-
tions, whatever their complexion or corrections, have been
founded more or less largely upon this. Many of these
editions now exist only in a very small number of copies
and in a few of the oldest libraries of Europe, so that I
have been unable to find them in any of our American
collections. While their consultation, in a matter -of
4
38 Introductory.
scholarly research like this would have afforded me su-
preme gratification, I am persuaded that the text followed
by me in the present edition is entirely orthodox, being
founded upon that of Zaccharias Sylvius, published at
Rotterdam, 1657 1 — an edition which includes Villa Nova's
text and commentary entire, and has been pronounced the
editio recepta of modern times. Diligently comparing its
text with that of Sir Alexander Croke, published at Oxford
in 1830, and the later revised text published at Paris in
1 86 1 (being an extract from the many volumes of Salernian
writings collected by Drs. Daremberg and Renzi), I can
but think that I have obtained as near a fac-simile of the
original Poem addressed to Duke Robert of Normandy as
can be reproduced. In doing this, I have not ventured to
make any fresh corrections, where even repetitions of the
same rule occurred superfluously, or clauses seemed paren-
thetically intruded into texts already sufficiently clear.
For, although these might justly be suspected of having a
different paternity from the original, yet they have stood
so long the merciless inquest of critics, that it has seemed
to me their title to remain there was made good and inde-
feasible by prescription. Five hundred years of undisputed
occupancy are a title to possession such as few things can
show ; and since there is no historical evidence against the
validity of that title, the presumption naturally follows
that their right is an established one.
Besides reproducing the entire text of Villa Nova's
edition, I have annexed to the various sections such addi-
1 Sciiola Sai.kknitana, sive l)c Conscrvanda Valetudinc Pracept?
Metrica. Autorc Joanne dc Mediolano (hactcnus ignoti) cum luculcnta
et succincta Arnoldi Villanovani in singula capita cxcgcsi. Ex recen-
tionc Zaccharisu Sylvii, Medici Roterodamensis. Cum ejusdem Praefa-
tione. Nova editio, inelior et aliquot Medicis opusculis auction Ro-
teroxlami, Ex : ( )fficina Arnoldi Leers, 1657.
Introductory. 39
tions as are embodied in his own commentary, as also
further ones derived from the Paris edition of 1861. For,
although its editor, Dr. Daremberg, in common with all
students of the ScJwla Salernitana, is of opinion that its
text was originally limited to the subject of Dietetics, as
shown in Villa Nova, he has nevertheless collected in his
edition of 1861 many desultory writings of the Salernian
Masters, upon various topics belonging to Medicine. From
these I have made such a selection as was deemed sufficient
to exhibit the views of those writers upon topics of general
interest, in and out of the profession. These excerpts will
be found collected and arranged in the form of an Ap-
pendix.
The original Poem contains three hundred and sixty-two
lines. Villa Nova's additions and those of the Paris edi-
tion of 1 861, as annexed by me to the various sections,
give one hundred and twenty-one more, and the Appendix
itself contains two hundred and sixty-one, making a total
of seven hundred and forty-four lines. I have been stu-
dious to keep these additions separate from the original
text, and wherever they occur their origin is duly stated.
In preserving the separate sections with their appropriate
titles, I have carefully followed the editio recepta, differing
in this respect from Croke, who prints it as a continuous
poem, and Daremberg, who interpolates many passages
not found in Sylvius. All these, as appeared to me most
proper, being foreign matter of questionable authenticity,
I have transferred to the Appendix.
Subject of the Schola Salernitana.
The topics discussed in the Poem relate to the six non-
naturals, as they were called by the Galenic school, viz. :
air, food, exercise, sleep, excretions and the passions, and
they are all introduced as texts (afterward enlarged upon)
4o Introductory.
in the opening apostrophe to the Duke of Normandy. 1
These were the great pivots around which all ancient thera-
peutics turned. They were considered to be the pillars of
•successful medical practice, without which, in fact, no
treatment could be said to have any foundation in the laws
of nature. And viewing, through the lapse of centuries,
the importance paid by the Medical Fathers to Hygiene as
a co-operative science to Medicine and the chief fountain
of those collateral aids and compensations which enabled
them, with so much less knowledge than we possess, to
cope successfully with disease, it may be seriously ques-
tioned whether we moderns give attention enough to this
department of sanitary science in actual medical practice,
or make it, as generally as we should, an integral part of a
medical education. The best essays of Hippocrates and
Galen are upon Hygiene — essays which may still be read
and followed with profit, for they are applicable to all
times and places, and all conditions of mankind.
Commenting in detail upon them, Arnold of Villa Nova
expounds to us in a graceful and lucid style the correspond-
ing ideas of the great masters, whether Greek or Arabian,
concerning these topics, and, like a true philosopher,
believed in a system of Hygiene which regarded the body
as essentially under the dominion of conservative laws — vis
medicatrix natures — which laws were constantly striving to
re-establish their authority when dethroned, sua spofite, and
1 Many of the descriptions, if not most, of the therapeutic virtues of
herbs mentioned in the text are evidently borrowed from a poem enti-
tled "£>e Virtutibus Herbantm" written by a physician named Odo bonus,
who, singularly enough, wrote under the name of ^Kmilius Macer, a
Roman poet of the days of the Republic, to whom a poem, similarly
named, is credited, although nothing of it has been preserved, except
an occasional fugitive line (Vid. Mattaire). Vid. Odobonus t in Fabricius,
Bib: Lat: Med. et Infim: Aetatis: lib: xiv., p. 468, and similarly,
Macer, lib : xii., p. 3.
Introductory. 41
in advance of all human intervention in their behalf; and
looking to this as the keystone in the arch of Medical prac-
tice, delights in quoting great authorities in support of his
own views. With the modesty of a great mind, he, al-
though among the greatest of his century, never offends
by any dogmatic assertion of his own views, but always
places them behind those of Rhazes, Avicenna, Averroes,
Galen, etc. In this respect his commentary is strikingly
impersonal, although in itself a fine specimen of didactic
composition. And its Latinity is so far in advance of that
of the Poem itself, as to afford a striking evidence of the
contrast between the productions of lettered and unlet-
tered men in the same field of professional composition.
The following is a specimen. Speaking of cheerfulness,
he thus expresses himself:
" Lsctitia enim calorcm excitat naturalem, spiritus tem-
pernt, et putiorcs reddit, virtutem corroborat, setatem flori-
dam facit, juvenile corpus diii conservat, vitam prorogat,
ingenium acuit et hominem negotiis quibuslibet obeundis
aptiorcm reddit. Hujusmodi porr6 sunt cibi suaves et
bona succi, vinum subtile ac delectabile, boni et fragrantes
odores, delectabilium rerum commemoratio, et cum amicis
et familiaribus frequentior et jucunda conversatio. Quare
ut Eobanus noster diserte canens admonet." 1
1 For obvious reasons I have rtot translated this passage, since, as all
scholars know, style is untranslatable, and, desiring to give a specimen
of Villa Nova's, I could only do it, therefore, in the original.
4 $
42 Introductory.
" Utere convivis non tristibus, utere amicis,
Quoa nugae et risus, et joca salsa juvant
Qucra non blanda juvent varii modulainine cantus ?
Hinc jecur et renes, aegraque corda stupent
Nam nihil humanas tanta dulcedine mentes
Afficit, ac melica nubile vocis opus.
Tange lyrara digitis, animi dolor omnis abibit,
Dulcisonum reficit tristia corda melos."
Atque hactenus quidem dicta, magna ex parte hisce etiam
versibus, ex Hieronymo Fracastorio complexi sumus.
** Tu tamen interea effugito quae tristia mentem
Sollidtant, procul esse jube curasque metuinque
Pallentem, ultrices iras, sint omnia laeta.
Alma Ceres te in hoc, Bacchi quoque laeta juvabunt
Munera, sic dulces epulae sic copia rerum,
Sic urbis, sic ruris opes, et summa voluptas,
Visere saepe amnes nitidos jucundaque Tempe.
Et placidas summis sectari in montibus auras,
Accedant juvenumque chori, mistasque puellas."
Quod disert^ admodum apud Ovid, lib: i, Epist. 4.
" Quod caret alterna requie durabile non est,
Haec reparat vires, fessaque membra levat"
Introductory. 43
" Use joyous feasts, with cheerful friends unite,
Whom quips and cranks and pointed jokes delight
What mortal lives to whom enchanting songs
Bring not consoling joys, in clustering throngs ?
To him, whose nature ne'er is moved by these,
Will pangs of heart leave little worldly case.
For naught does human breast so much rejoice,
As melody from Music's dulcet voice.
Strike but the harp— black Care, dethroned, will fly,
And golden Joy instead, thine heart lift high."
Again, and as germane to the same subject, we quote
the following verses from Jerome Fracastorius.
" Fly thou sad things, which load the tender heart,
Bid pallid fear and every care depart
Let vengeful hate, great source of all distress,
Give place in turn to perfect happiness.
Let choicest food and joyous wine delight,
And feasts where plenty reigns at kingly height
View cities and survey the country's treasure,
And let it ever be supremest pleasure
To wander where, with fascinating mien,
Tempe's fair groves and glitt'ring streams are seen.
Or, mastering some lordly mountain high,
Gain purer breezes from the morning sky.
But where'er placed, amid what charms, forsooth,
Be there at hand a choir of maids and youth."
Which idea is eloquently expressed by Ovid, Book I.,
Epist. 4, as follows :
•• Deprived of rest, all prematurely die,
'Tis this alone that doth our strength supply."
REGIMEN SANITAT1S SALERNITANUM.
Hoc opus optatur, quod Flos Medicine vocatnr.
Let tbi», the Flower or Medicine, be
The choten Book of all for thee.
CONSERVANDA BONA VALETUDINE.
LIBER SCHOL^: SALERNITANiE.
De animi 'flatJjnnatiis et IWmrttifi quitniatiam
ainjjulatiliuB.
A NGLORUM REGI scribit Schola tota Salerni.
Si vis incolumem, si vis te reddere samim,
Curas tollc graves, irasci credo profanum.
Parce mero — ccenato parum, non sit tibi vanum
Surgere post epulas ; somne fuge meridian urn ;
Ne mictum retine, nee comprime fortiter anum;
Hsc bene si serves, tu longo tempore vives.
(Adilitio a. v.)
Si tibi deficiant medid, medici tibi fiaiit
Haec tria — mens lseta — requies — moderata diaeta.
ON TUB
PRESERVATION OF HEALTH.
CODE OF THE SCHOOL OF SALERNUM.
©f iWcntnl QFotriHtions, ant of ttectam KnnrtitB.
SALERNO'S SCHOOL, in conclave high, unites
To counsel Kncland's King, and thus indites :
If thou to health and vigor wouldst attain,
Shun weighty cares — all anger deem profane,
From heavy suppers and much wine abstain,
Nor trivial count it, after pompous fare,
To rise from tabic and to take the air.
Shun idle, noonday slumber, nor delay
The urgent calls of Nature to obey.
These rules if thou wilt follow to the end,
Thy life to greater length thou mayst extend.
■ {Addition a. v.')
Shoiildst Doctors need ? be these in Doctors' stead —
Rest, cheerfulness, and table thinly-spread.
1 These letters, wherever they occur, refer to Arnold of Villa
Nova's Commentary, whose text we have followed. .See page 38.
48 JDe Conservanda Bona VaUtudinc.
II.
JDe (Jtonfottatione Ctecefiri.
LUMINA mane, manus surgens gelida lavet aqua,
Hac iliac modicum pergat, modicum sua membra
Extendat, crines pectat, dentes fricet. Ista
Confortant cerebrum, confortant caetera membra,
Lote cale ; sta, pranse, vel i, frigesce minute.
Additio De Recreatione Visus a. v.
Fons — Speculum — Gramen, haec dant oculis relevamen,
Man& igitur montes, sub serum inquirito fontes.
{Additio in Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Sero frequentemus littora, man& nemus;
Hi praesertim oculos recreant, visumque colorant,
Coeruleus, viridisque, et janthinus, addito fusco.
III.
Bt JBturno 01b* iWeribiano £omno,
SIT brevis, aut nullus, tibi somnus meridianus.
Febris, pigrities, capitis dolor, atque catarrh us,
Quatuor haec somno veniunt mala meridiano.
On the Preservation of Health. 49
2.
Uefteafnnent foe tf)e 18tam.
AT early dawn, when first from bed you rise,
Wash, in cold water, both your hands and eyes.
With comb and brush then cleanse your teeth and hair,
And thus refreshed, your limbs outstretch with care.
Such things restore the weary, o'ertasked brain ;
And to all parts ensure a wholesome gain.
Fresh from the bath get warm. Rest after food,
Or walk, as seems most suited to your mood.
But in whate'er engaged, or sport, or feat,
Cool not too soon the body when in heat.
{Addition a. v.)
Recreation for the Sight
Groves, Brooks and Verdure, weary eyes relieve,
At dawn, seek Mountains, Streams at dusky eve.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1 86 1.)
At eve the shore, at morn the groves, frequent,
Whose varied hues, to cheer the sight, present
Blue tints and green, with dusky-yellow blent
©f Noontfte ShUtp.
LET noontide sleep be brief, or none at all ;
Else stupor, headache, fever, rheums will fall
On him who yields to noontide's drowsy call.
5 c
50 De Conservatula Bona Valetudinc.
(Additio in Ed Parisii, 1861.)
Si quis fort^ cupit somno indulgcre diurno,
Si consuevit ita, minus illi culpa nocebit ;
Dummodo non longus somnus, nee proximus escae ;
Sed brevis, capite recto sumetur, et ipsi
Qui dormit, liceat sonitu finire modesto.
Mensibus in quibus R, post prandia somno fis aeger,
Mensibus in quibus US, somnus post prandia bonus.
IV.
He Jflatu m albo tjrtrnto.
QUATUOR ex vento veniunt in ventre retento;
Spasmus, hydrops, colica, vertigo, hoc res probat
•V.
He (Soma.
EX magna ccena stomacho fit maxima poena ;
Ut sis nocte levis, sit tibi ccena brevis.
On the Preservation of Health. 51
(Addition from Paris Ed. of 1861.)
Perchance, should some one crave a midday nap
From habit — then, t'will cause him less mishap.
But let none sleep soon after having fed,
Nor long, and always with uplifted head.
To point these rules, t'is fitting to rehearse,
To him who sleeps, this rude, untutored verse :
Post-prandial sleep, ye mortals, put afar,
In any month whose name includes an R.
Post-prandial sleep 's alone salubrious,
In months, whose names their ending have in US.
4.
©f incarcerate* JFlatu*.
FOUR ills from long-imprisoned flatus flow,
Convulsions, colics, dropsies, vertigo ;
The truth of this the thing itself doth show.
5.
©f Supper*
GREAT suppers will the stomach's peace impair.
Wouldst lightly rest ? curtail thine evening fare.
52 De Conservanda Bona Valetudine.
VI.
Be Btepotriticme ante ctbt Sumptionem.
TU nunquam comedas stomachum nisi noveris esse
Purgatum, vacuumque cibo, quern sumpscris ante
Ex desiderio id poteris cognoscere certo ;
Haec sint signa tibi, subtilis in ore saliva.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Inanis venter non audit verba libenter.
VII.
Be Vitairtritf dfib i#.
PERSICA, poma, pyra, lac, caseus et caro salsa,
Et caro cervina, leporina, caprina, bovina,
Haec melancholica sunt, infirmis inimica.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Anserina caro salsa, sicut est anatina.
Frixa nocent, elixa fovent, assata co-ercent ;
Acria purgant, cruda scd inflant, salsaque siccant.
Non comedas' crustam, choleram quia gignit adustam.
Urunt res salsae visum, spermaque minorant,
Et generant scabiem, pruritum sive rigorem.
On the Preservation of Health, 53
6.
€f)e mule for apportioning ifleal*.
EAT not again till thou dost certain feel
Thy stomach freed of all its previous meal.
This mayst thou know from hunger's teasing call,
Or mouth that waters — surest sign of all !
{Addition from Paris Ed., 186 1.)
An empty sfomach, calling loud for food,
To hear long tales is in no willing mood.
dfooti to it aboftrt.
THE luscious peach, the apple and the pear,
Cheese, ven'son, salted meats and e'en the hare,
With flesh of goats, dyspeptic throes provoke,
And crush the weak 'neath melancholy's yoke.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
Salt is the flesh of ruffled ducks and geese ;
Fried meats do harm ; while boiled give peptic peace ;
And fragrant roasts, digestive powers increase.
Bitters will purge — crude things in all cause wind,
And salted meats the body dry and bind,
While crusts give rise to bile of darkest kind.
Salt things consume virility and sight,
And psoric torments breed of direst might.
a *
54 &e Conservanda Bona VaUtudine.
VIII. IX.
JDe ffliftt* bene Nutneittftu* et impfafluentifma.
OVA recentia, vina rubentia, pinguia jura,
Cum simila pura, naturae sunt valitura.
Nutrit et impinguat triticum, lac, caseus infans,
Testiculi, porcina caro, cerebella, medulla,
Dulcia vina, cibus gustu jucundior, ova
Sorbilia, mature ficus, uvaeque recentes.
X.
JDe ISom Vini %)ropnetattl)U0.
VINA probantur, odore, sapore, nitorc, colore,
Si bona vina cupis, haec quinque probantur in
illis,
Fortia, formosa, fragrantia, frigida, frisca.
XI.
9e Unto Sulci et 2U6o.
CORPORA plus augent tibi dulcia, Candida vina.
Alii sic,
Sunt nutritiva plus dulcia Candida vina.
On the Preservation of Health. 55
. 8, 9.
jfoolr tf)at fcotf) Noutfefje* an* jFatten*.
EGGS newly laid and broths of richest juice,
With ruby wine, increase of strength produce,
Wheat and milk make flesh, brains and tender cheese,
Marrow and pork, as taste they chance to please.
Or eggs, with art prepared, or honeyed wine ;
Ripe figs and grapes, fresh gathered from the vine.
10.
©f tije (Qualities of ffioo* fflffli me.
THE taste of wines, their clearness, odor, shade,
Arc living proofs of their specific grade ;
You'll find all those that are of highest source,
Fragrant, frigid, fair, fuming high with force.
R
II.
©f Stoeet miffitt fflSttme,
ICH, heavy wines that are both sweet and white,
The body's size increase, and e'en its might
56 De Conscrvanda Bona VaUtudhie,
s
XII.
JDe Vino Hirtto.
I vinum rubens nimium quandoque bibatur,
Venter stipatur, vox limpida turbificatur.
XIII.
JDe Hetfjalium Vtwtnotum $Umetrit*.
ALLIA, nux, ruta, pyra, raphanus et theriaca,
Haec sunt antidotum, contra lethale venenum.
XIV.
Be aete.
JE
R sit mundus, habitabilis ac luminosus,
Nee sit infectus, nee olens fcetore cloacae.
s
XV.
Be Nhma Vini IJotaiione.
I tibi serotina noceat potatio vini,
Hora matutina rebibas, et erit mediciiia.
On the Preservation of Health, 5 7
12.
WHOE'ER of too much ruby wine partakes,
Himself, forsooth, both hoarse and costive
makes.
13.
Of amftrote* to poisons.
THE radish, pear, thefiac, garlic, rue,
All potent poisons will at once undo.
14.
©f Sit*
LET air you breathe be sunny, clear and light,
Free from disease, or cesspool's fetid blight.
IS-
©f ©betsTmnftmg*
ART sick from vinous surfeiting at night ?
Repeat the dose at morn, 'twill set thee right
c*
58 De Comervanda Bona Valet udinc.
XVI.
Be iWeliott Vino.
GIGNIT et humores melius vinum meliores,
Si fuerit nigrum, corpus reddet tibi pigrum.
Vinum sit clarum, vetus, subtile, maturum ;
Ac ben£ dilutum, saliens, moderamine sumptum.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Dum sal tan t atomi, patet excellentia vini.
Vinum spumosum, nisi defluat, est vitiosum.
Spuma boni vini in medio est, in margine pravi.
XVII. XVIII. XLVI.
2De «tetebiaia et Sceto.
NON sit acetosa cerevisia, sed bene clara,
De validis cocta granis, satis ac veterata.
De qua potetur stomachus non hide gravetur.
Crassos humores nutrit cerevisia, vires
Praestat, et augmentat carnem, generatque cruorem,
On the Preservation of Health. 59
16.
«M \\)t m$t lint* of fflJftme.
RIPE, good old wine imparts a richer blood
To him who daily tastes its tonic flood;
But when too dark — beware! the danger's great
• That you may grow inert, and not elate.
Let wines be fine and clear, mature and old,
And mixed with water, still, their sparkle hold ;
Then quaff a mod'rate draught, secure and bold.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 186 1.)
Bright beads, when rising fast in any wine,
Bespeak good quality and vintage fine ;
But sparkling wine, unless its tide jlows free,
Is false and doubly base in quality.
In good wine beads and bubbles take their start,
Resilient ever from the central part.
In wines depraved and drugged the bubbles spring,
From out, alone, the margin's narrow ring.
17, 18, 46.
©f ISeet an* Vintqau
NO acid taste should lurk in wholesome beer ;
Brewed from sound grain, it should be old and
clear.
Let not the stomach ever burdened be,
By long potations, unrestrained and free.
6o De Conservanda Bona Valetudinc.
Provocat urinam, ventrem quoque mollit et inflat
Infrigidat modicum ; scd plus desiccat acetuni,
Infrigidat, macerat, melancholiam dat, sperma minorat,
Siccos infestat nervos, et impinguia siccat
XIX.
<a>u« btetu* ratio quoltbet attnt tempore fit ttttli*.
TEMPORIBUSveris modicum prandere jubcris,
Sed calor ujstatis dapibus nocet immodcratis.
Autumni fructus caveas, ne sint tibi luctus.
De mensa sume quantum vis tempore Brumae.
XX.
UDe prabo $)otu corriflenbo.
SALVIA cum ruta faciunt tibi pocula tuta,
Adde rosa florem, minuitque potenter amorem.
Or the Preservation of Health. 61
From beer gross humors and great strength will start,
And sizy blood be formed in every part.
It spurs the reins and flesh augments in all,
The bowels frees and e'en distends withal.
Vinegar cools, yet chiefly dries the blood,
The body wastes — a melancholy flood
Of ills begets, and procreation chills,
While nerves and flesh it withers and distills.
19.
3Tljc Appropriate Diet for eaclj Season.
SLENDER in Spring thy diet be, and spare ;
Disease, in Summer, springs from surplus fare.
From Autumn fruits be careful to abstain,
Lest by mischance they should occasion pain.
But when rapacious Winter has come on,
Then freely eat till appetite is gone.
20.
<©f Correcting an Improper JDrinft.
OF all the cunning draughts that you can brew,
The best is Sage, combined with graceful Rue.
Let rose-leaves be into this mixture brought,
And love's desires will quickly come to naught.
6
6a De Conservanda Bona VaUtudine.
XXI.
JDe Nauaea itflauna.
NAUSEA non poterit haec quemquam vexare,
marinam
Undam cum vino, mixtam qui sumpserit ante.
XXII.
JDe ffienetalt ffioirtumettto.
SALVIA, sal, vinum, piper, allium, 1 pctrosclimim,
Ex his fit salsa, nisi sit commixtio falsa.
XXIII.
JDe Sfttilitate futumia JMamittui.
LOTIO post mensam tibi confert munera bina,
Mundificat palmas, et lumina reddit acuta.
Si fore vis sanus, ablue saepe manus.
1 The ancients ascribed great prophylactic virtues to garlic, a tradi*
tion of which is still cherished among the lower classes of Continental
Europe. Says the Roman Herbalist :
«
Allia qui mane jejuno sumpserit ore,
Hunc ignotarum non laedet potus aquarum,
Nee diversorum mutatio facta locorum.
******
" Haec ideo miscere cibis messoribus est mos,
Ut si forte sopor fessos depresserit illos,
Vermibus a nocuis tuti requiescere possint 1
Mackr, lib : I. cap. 5.
»»
On the Preservation of Health. 63
21.
SEA-SICKNESS its fell gripe on none will fix,
Who wisely with their wine salt water mix,
And to each threatened qualm this draught prefix.
22.
<8>f (BonTrimenia (n (ffienetal.
PEPPER, parsley, sage, garlic, salt and wine,
Use these, as sauce, lest meats should ill combine.
23.
mtllU)) of 3<Sta*Ij(ng tf)e JUatrt*.
FROM washing after meals two gains arise :
The hands are cleansed and strengthened are the
eyes.
If thou in health prolonged wouldst ever stay,
Wash frequently thy hands each passing day.
Whoe'er will garlic, fasting, chew,
At morn, escapes diseases,
Unharmed — may drink of waters new,
And travel where he pleases.
* * * * *
Thus reapers mingle it with food,
That should they, wearied, sleep,
It may, from every noxious brood,
Their bodies safely keep.
64 De Conservanda Bona Valetuditu.
XXIV.
Be Vane.
PANIS non calidus, nee sit nimis inveteratus,
Sed fermentatus, oculatus sit, bene coctus.
Modic£ salitus, frugibus validis sit electus.
Non comedas crustam, choleram quia gignit adustam.
Panis salsatus, fermentatus, bene coctus,
Purus fit sanus, qui non ita, sit tibi vanus.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Non bis decoctus, non in sartagine tostus.
Est omnis vitiosa repletio pessima panis.
Plus panis comedas cum pisce, fructibus, herbis,
At cum carne minus, duns sed adhuc minus ovis.
XXV.
2Qe (Same |)occhta.
EST caro porcina sine vino pejor ovina ;
Si tribuis vina, tunc est cibus et medicina.
(Additio a. v.)
Ilia bona sunt porcorum, mala sunt reliquorum.
On the Presmuium *f HtmWu 65
24.
©f IStta».
NOR fresh nor old be bread, but spongy, light,
Tasteful, well baked, of wheat freed from all
blight
Nor yet forget, whene'er you take a bite,
To shun the crust, lest some dark flux should smite.
Wholesome is raised, well-baked and seasoned bread ;
None other should upon thy board be spread.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1 861.)
Nor doubly-baked, nor toast in frying-pan ;
Excess in bread's the worse excess for man.
With fish, fruits, greens, cat bread without regard,
But less with meat, and least with eggs cooked hard.
25-
Of Vorft.
INFERIOR far to lamb is flesh of swine,
Unqualified by gen'rous draughts of wine ;
But add the wine, and lo ! you'll quickly find
In them both food and medicine combined.
{Addition A. v.)
Entrails of swine alone arc fit for food ;
All other beasts' should wholly be eschewed.
6*
66 % De Conservanda Bona VaUtudine,
XXVI. XLV.
Be iWuato.
PROVOCAT urinam mustum, solvit cito ventrem,
Hepatis emphraxim, splenis generat, lapidemque.
XXVII.
JDe aquce Votn.
POTUS aquae sumptus, fit edenti vald& nocivus,
Infrigidat stomachumque cibum nititur fore cru-
dum.
(Additio a. v.)
Vina bibant homines, animantia coetcra fontes,
Absit ab humano pectore potus aquae.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Si sitis est, bibe quod satis est, ne te sitis urat ;
Quod satis est, non quod nimis est, sapientia curat.
Potus aquae nimium stomachum confundit et escas.
Si sitiant homines calidi potare fiuentem,
Temporis ardore, modice tunc frigida detur.
list pluvialis aqua super omncs sana, hetosque
Reddit potantes ; bene dividit et bene solvit.
Est bona fontis aqua, quae tendit solis ad ortum,
Sed, ad meridiem tendens, aqua nocet omnis.
On the Preservation of Health. 67
26, 45.
©f Jttuat.
NEW wine at once doth diuretic prove,
And sluggish bowels tends to freely move ;
The spleen and liver causes to congest ;
And sometimes, too, incites a lithic pest.
27.
©f Btfnfthtfl fflJBaiet.
WHO water drinks at meals hath mischief
brewed ;
The stomach chilled voids undigested food.
{Addition A. v.)
Let men drink wine, let beasts for fountains crave,
But water-drinking never men enslave.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1 861.)
If very thirsty, drink just what you need,
Lest thirst should some consuming fever breed ;
Nor stint yourself, but take enough, no more :
So speaks in every age majestic lore.
Yet too much water drunk the food disturbs,
The stomach frets, and thus digestion curbs.
'Mid summer heats, should you desire to drink
From fountain cool, you need not trembling shrink.
Rain water is by far the best potation,
And gives our jaded spirits exaltation.
68 De Cmurvmmda B*m* Vmictmduu.
XXVIIL
Be Game Uitulina.
UNT uutritivae multum cames vitulinae.
<^
XXIX.
SUNT bona gallina, et capo, turtur, sturna, columba,
Quiscula, vel merula, phasianus, ortygometra,
Perdix, frigellus, otis, tremulus, amarcllus.
XXX.
s
I pisces sunt molles, magno corpore tolles,
Si pisces duri, parvi sunt plus valituri.
On the Preservation of Health, 69
All things, indeed, it can dissolve, digest,
For 'tis great Nature's sov* reign Alkahest. *
Fountains whose currents flow toward the East,
Give waters wholesome, both to man and beast
Fountains that look toward the sunny South,
Unwholesome waters give to every mouth.
28.
©f Vtal.
THE tender flesh of sucking calves, when sound,
Doth in the richest nourishment abound.
29.
CAPONS are sweet, stares, turtle-doves and fowls,
Blackbirds, gay pheasants, flesh of horned owls ;
The partridge, chaffinch and the kingly quail,
Amorous duck and tremulous wagtail.
30.
©f JFi*h
w
HEN fish are soft, the largest you should prize ;
When hard, most healthy those of smallest size.
7o De Conscrvanda Bona VaUtudinc.
XXXI.
Be AitguUIa et wmitCfjU etfant lit ©aaeo.
VOCIBUS anguillae pravae sunt si comedantur —
Qui physicam non ignorant, haec testificantur.
Caseus, anguilla, nimis obsunt si comedantur,
Ni tu saepe bibas, et rebibendo bibas.
XXXIL
Be «tfbf ^otugque (n ikairtfo.
INTER prandendum sit saep& parumque bibendunx.
Si sumas ovum, molle sit atquo novum.
XXXIII.
De %}im (et dFatHS).
PISUM laudandum decrevimus ac reprobandum.
Est inflativum cum pellibus atque nocivum,
Pellibus ablatis sunt bona pisa satis.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Corpus alit faba, constringit cum cortice ventrem.
Desiccat phlcgma, stomachum lumenqilc rclidit.
Manducare fabam caveas, parit ilia podagram ;
Mundat, constipat, nee non caput aggravat, inflat.
Jus olerum, cicerumque bonum, substantia prava.
On the Preservation of Health. 71
31.
<Df ISete atrti atfieese.
BY eating eels the human voice is hurt,
As learned Doctors everywhere assert ;
But cheese with eels is worse than all, they say,
Unless to Bacchus you devote the day. .
32.
<Df iWeat an* Dtfnft at Jtteal*.
TAKE short potations at your meals, but oft,
And let all eggs ypu cat be fresh and soft.
33.
©f $)eag an* ISean*.
SPEAK we of peas in an approving way,
Nor meanwhile fail against them to inveigh.
Unshelled, they cause a dire, flatulent mood ;
But shelled, become most admirable food.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1 861.)
Though beans will nourish, yet their husks are prone
To cause in all a constipated tone.
They dry the phlegm, the stomach hurt and eyes ;
Wherefore shun beans, since they to gout give rise.
They cleanse, but bind, and also cloud the wit ;
All broth of pulse is good — all pulp unfit.
1% De Cemservamda Bona Vaktmdbu.
XXXIV.
De lacte ITalitttf.
LAC phthisicis sanum caprinum post camclinum ;
Ac nutritivum plus Omnibus est asininum.
Plus nutritivum vaccinum, sic et ovinum.
Si febriat caput et doleat, non est bene sanum.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Humectat stomachum, proprium nutritque calorcm
Hepatis, et stomachi contemperat immoderatum,
Provocat urinam, confert pinguedine dcmpta,
Et mollit vcntrem, humores solvere fertur.
Lac vaccae multum confortat membra calore ;
Dissipat humorum morsum nocivum calidorum ;
Carnes augmentat, matricis vulncra sanat ;
Humectat corpus hominis lac, atque refrigat,
Quaeque cibaria dura turbida viscera reddunt
XXXV. XXXVL
Bt %Jut2>tO ft g>eco.
LENIT et humectat, solvit sine fcbre Butyrum.
Incidit atque lavat, penetrat, mundat quoque
Serum.
On the Preservation of Health. 73
34.
©f JWilfc for atoiummptfbe**
GOATS' milk and camels', as by all is known,
Relieve poor mortals in consumption thrown ;
While asses' milk is deemed far more nutritious,
And, e'en beyond all cows' or sheeps', officious.
But should a fever in the system riot,
Or headache, let the patient shun this diet
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1 86 1.)
The stomach's gently soothed, and moistened too,
The liver nourished with fresh heat anew ;
The loins more active are, the fat's dispelled,
The bowels freed, and every taint expelled.
Cows' milk gives wonted heat to every part,
And quickly dissipates the acrid smart
Of tainted humors, with a soothing art;
Increases flesh, to pangs of womb gives ease,
Can moist the body, and its heat appease ;
And whatsoever things remain still crude
Within, converts to salutary food.
35, 36.
©f Gutter an* Mttfjeg.
BUTTER soothes, moistens — all this without fever;
Whey proves a cleanser and a full reliever.
7 D
74 &* Gmsi rviimiiM B*ma Pairfmdfme.
XXXVIL
Sc Costa.
CASEUS est frigidus, stipans, crassus, quoque durus.
Caseus et panis, sunt optima fercula sanis.
Si non sunt sani, tunc hunc non jungito panL
Caseus cU se Ipso. a. v.
Ignari medici me dicunt esse nocivum,
Sed tamen ignorant cur nocumenta feram.
Expertis reor esse rarum, quia commoditate.
Languenti stomacho caseus addit openi.
Caseus ante cibum confert, si defluat alvus ;
Si constipetur, terminet ille dapes.
Qui physicam non ignorant, haec testificantur.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Caseus ante cibum, cibus est, post, medicina,
Caseus et cep£ veniant ad prandia saepe.
Caseus ille sanus, quern dat avara manus.
Caseus est nequam, quia concoquit omnia sequam.
On the Preservation of Health. . 75
37.
©f Ottjeege.
CHEESE naturally is both cold and cloying,
Heavy and crude, and to digest annoying.
Yet those in health their hunger can appease,
With nothing better than plain bread and cheese.
But poor dyspeptics ever must beware,
How they mix bread with this deceitful fare.
(Addition a. v.)
A Soliloquy, by Cheese.
Know-nothing Doctors speak of me as ill,
Though what the harm I do they know not still.
Tis rare I injure wiser ones, who link
Me, fitly, to good food or congruous drink.
A languid stomach is by cheese o'ertaxed ;
'Tis good before our meals if one's relaxed ;
If costive, then the feast with cheese dismiss,
For doctors all are well agreed on this.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1 861.)
Let cheese be food whenever you begin
Your meal, but after that be medicine.
Let cheese and dainty mushrooms oft unite
To furnish you with a delicious bite.
Cheese is a wholesome dish in any land,
When e'er dispensed by an unlavish hand.
Cheese is a surly and capricious elf,
Digesting every substance but itself.
j6 Dt Conservanda Bona Valctudinc.
XXXVIII.
INTER prandendum sit saepe parumque bibendum.
Ut minus aegrotes non inter fercula potes.
(Additio a.v.)
Ut vites poenam, de potibus incipe ccenam.
Post pisces nux sit, post carnes caseus adsit.
Unica nux prodest, nocet altera, tertia mors est.
Singula post ova, pocula sume nova.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Vinum corde vetus corpus desiccat et urit,
Et choleram nutrit ; ventrem constringere fertur ;
Si jungas aquam moderanter, corpora nutrit,
Saepe bibendo parum, pondus laxas epularum,
Et liquor ipse tibi proderit, atque cibus.
Vinum lymphatum generat lepram cito potum ;
Illud ergo convenit non sumere, ni bene mixtum,
Si vis perfecte, si vis te vivere recte,
Disce parum bibere, sis procul a venere.
Post vinum verba, post imbrem nascitur herba ;
A
On the Preservation of Health, JJ
38.
iWet&o* of ISathtg an* Uttnking,
T meals to sipping only, cling perforce,
And for health's sake drink not between each
course.
{Addition A. v.)
Would you no peptic torments ever feel ?
With drink, instead of food, begin each meal ;
Nuts always add to fish ; to meats add cheese ;
One nut is good ; another brings disease ;
A third with death's own fangs mankind will seize. 1
And also, after every egg you swallow,
Let instantly a fresh potation follow.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
Old wine is apt to burn and desiccate,
Make bile, and e'en, 'tis said, to constipate ;
But, sparingly diluted, quickly gives
Fair sustenance to everything that lives.
By sipping merely, often it corrects
Of heavy meals the dolorous effects ;
And thus may Bacchus, when he's fitly wooed,
In point of worth stand close allied to food ;
But wine, when drugged, to leprosy gives rise,
And to be used, needs water as a guise.
1 The first nut is, by Villa Nova, supposed to 1>e the nutmegs the second
the walnut, and the third the vomic-nuU
7*
78 De Gmservanda Bona VaUhuiine.
Post studium scire, post otia multa perire ;
Post florem sequitur fructus, post gaudia luctus.
Si vox est rauca, bibe vinum, quod bibit aucha.
XXXIX.
Be |)gtte.
A DDE potum pyro, nux est medicina veneno.
Fert pyra nostra pyrus, sine vino sunt pyra virus.
Si pyra sunt virus, sit maledicta pyrus.
Si coquis antidotum pyra sunt, sed cruda venenum.
Cruda gravant stomachum, relevant pyra cocta gra-
vatum.
Post pyra da potum, post pomum vade cacatum.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1 86 1.)
Ante cibum, stringunt, et post, pyra sumpta, resolvunt.
Pyra sumantur, sed post bona vina sequantur.
On the Preservation of Health. 79
So, if in perfect health thou wouldest be,
Drink little wine and far from Venus flee.
Herbs spring from showers, and pointed words from
wine,
While knowledge springs alone from thought's deep
mine.
Yet, beast-like, many mortals daily perish,
Clinging to sloth with an undying relish.
Flowers yield to fruits, and joys to sorrows pale ;
When hoarse, then like the goose, drink Adam's ale.
39-
©f Hear**
PEARS should be followed by deep draughts of
wine ;
The nut for poison is a balsam fine.
Though plenty, pears are, without wine, a bane ;
And if so, cursed be pear-trees and profane !
When cooked, all kinds of poison they expel,
But raw, are in themselves a poison fell,
That loads and gnaws the stomach with fierce pain ;
While cooked, such torments they expel amain.
Then follow this, as a most useful rule —
Drink after pears, from apples go to stool.
[Addition from Paris Ed., 1 861.)
Pears bind, preceding food ; purge when they follow ;
Then, after pears, of good wine take a swallow.
So De Canscrvanda Bona VaUtuditu.
Anus pedit dum coctana cruda comedit ;
Si fuerit cocta, tunc est cibus et medicina.
Omnia mala mala, prater Appia Salernitana.
Quando capis poma, de vertice due perizoma,
Quando capis pyra, tunc primo de vertice gyra.
Tolle peripsma — post ede pulpam — sperne arullam,
Persica — pyra — poma cum cortice sunt meliora.
XL.
De (ffietaate.
CERASA si comedas, tibi confert grandia dona ;
Expurgat stomachum nucleus lapidem tibi toilet,
Et de carne sua sanguis eritque bonus.
i
XLI.
De ^Jcunia,
NFRIGIDANT, laxant, multum prosunt tibi prunae.
XLII.
UDe llerofcftf, IKacetnte et $)a*aulte.
PERSICA cum musto vobis datur ordine justo
Sumere ; sic est mos, nucibus sociando racenios.
On the Preservation of Health. 81.
When raw, they will the lower bowel move,
When cooked, both food and useful physic prove.
Bad are all apples but the Appian kind,
And ere you eat of them pare off the rind ;
For pears the same rule always bear in mind.
The peel removed, the pulp you then may eat,
Though peach and these, impeded, are far more sweet.
40.
CHERRIES you'll find are of benign intent;
They purge the stomach, and the stone prevent,
The blood throughout in healthy tone augment.
41.
©f Crimea*
PRUNES cool the body and the bowels move —
To all, in many ways, a blessing prove.
w
42.
4M ^eadje*, ©tapes an* Habring.
ITH peaches you should always use new wine,
For they, in proper order well combine.
D*
82 JDc Conscrvanda Bona VaUtuditu.
Passula non spleni, tussi valet, est bona reni.
(Additio ex. Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Utilitas uvae sine granis et sine pelle ;
Dat sedare sitim jecoris, choleraequc calorem.
XLIII.
SCROFA, tumor, glandes, ficus cataplasmati cedunt,
Junge papaver ei, confracta foris tenet ossa.
(Additio a. v.)
Pediculos, veneremque facit, sed cuilibet obstat.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Impinguant et alunt, varios curantquc tumores.
Seu denter crudae, seu cum fuerint bene coctae.
Pectus lenificant ficus, ventremque relaxant.
On the Preservation of Health. 83
And 'tis the fashion, too, when nuts are swallowed,
That they should by the juice of grapes be followed.
Though raisins will cure coughs, they hurt the spleen,
And yet the kidneys keep in mood serene.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1 86 1.)
Stripped of all skin, deprived of all their seed,
Grapes are of highest use in times of need ;
They soothe the swollen liver's angry heat,
And cool the bile in its own ardent seat.
43.
©f JFit*.
FIG-POULTICE will our bodies rid of tumors,
Scrofula, boils and even peccant humors ;
'Twill surely draw — add poppy-heads alone —
The splintered fragments from a broken bone.
{Addition A. v.)
Breed lice and lust in all who use the fruit,
And yet Love's call, in turn, chill at its root.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
Figs soothe the chest, and figs the bowels scour,
When raw or cooked with corresponding power
Both feed and fatten and relieve us too,
From every kind of swelling, old or new.
84 De Conservamia Bona Valetudine.
XLIV.
JDe iWwpttia,
MULTIPLICANT mictum, ventrem dant iEscula
strictum.
Mespila dura bona, sed mollia sunt meliora.
R
XLVII. 1
Bt Iftapi*.
APA juvat stomachum, novit producere ventum,
Provocat urinam, faciet quoque dente ruinam.
Si male cocta datur, hinc torsio tunc generatur.
(Additio a. v.)
Radix rapa bona est, comedenti dat tria dona ;
Visiim clarificat, ventrem mollit, bene bombit.
Ventum saepe rapis, si tu vis vivere rapis.
XLVIII.
. Bt Sit ratal turn Vmttibuti.
EGERITUR tarde cor; digeritur quoque dur&.
Similiter stomachus, melior sit in extremitates.
i Nos. XLV. and XLVI. will be found combined with Nos. XVIII.
and XXVI., antf.
M
On the Presefvation of Health. 85
44.
EDLARS the bowels heat and constipate,
The kidneys too they strongly stimulate ;
The hard are best and mostly in demand,
And yet for food the soft much higher stand.
47.
<©f &utnfp0.
THOUGH eating turnips may impart delight,
'Tis known that they much flatulence excite.
They spoil the teeth — they also spur the reins,
And when ill-cooked cause most tormenting pains.
(Addition a. v.)
Its root is good, and gives us blessings three —
Purges, and aids the sight, and wind sets free.
And yet on turnips if you daily feed,
You'll reap of wind a most prodigious meed.
48.
©f Snfatal Uteceta.
THE heart much time requires to digest;
And also 'gainst rejection 1 will protest.
1 Alluding to the ancient custom of vomiting between courses.
8
86 De Conservanda Bona VaUtudine.
Reddit lingua bonum nutrimentum medicinae.
Digcritur facil£ pulmo, cito labitur ipse.
Est melius cerebrum gallinarum reliquorum.
XLIX.
Bt Sbtmint JfomtcuU.
OEMEN foeniculi pellit spiracula culi.
(Additio A. V.)
Bis duo dat marathrum, febres fugat atque venenum,
Et purgat stomachum, lumen quoque reddit acutum.
fir ftitteo. ?
IT* MEN DAT visum, stomachum confortat Anisum.
»* Co(ua dulcoris aniso fit melioris.
On the Preservation of Health. 87
The same with tripe — while other members, distant,
Are to digestion far much less resistant.
A high and healing name do tongues sustain,
While lungs digest themselves with little pain,
And food become, as dew glides into rain.
But brains of barnyard fowls will ever stand
Highest of all such food in any land.
"M
49-
©f jf etmel g>ertu
ONG spices, fennel, as 'tis known full well,
Hath power supreme all flatus to expel.
{Addition A. v.)
Many the virtues fennel seed displays,
First, fever in its presence never stays ;
Next, it kills poison and the stomach frees,
And last, to human sight gives increased ease.
50.
THE sav'ry aniseed the stomach cheers,
And human sight improves as well as clears.
The sweeter kind all others overpeers.
88 De Conservanda Botia Valctudine.
LI.
Bz Spotofo.
cruor emanat Spodium sumptum cito sanat
s 1
(Additio a. v.)
Gaudet hepar spodio, mace cor, cerebrum quoque
moscho ;
Pulmo liquirita, splen capparis, * stomachumque ga-
langa.
LII.
Bt Sbalt.
VAS condimenti praeponi debet edenti.
Sal virus refugat, et non sapidumque saporat
Nam sapit esca male quae datur absque sale.
Urunt persalsa visum, spermaque minorant,
Et generant scabiem, pruritum, sive rigorem.
(Additio A. v.)
Sal primo poni debet, primoque reponi,
Non bene mensa tibi ponitur absque sale.
On the Preservation of Health. 89
REED-ASHES quickly put a stop, you'll find,
When drunk, to haemorrhage of any kind.
(Addition a. v.)
The liver glows beneath reed-ashes' touch;
Mace cheers the heart, its nut the brain full much ;
Capers the spleen — liq'rice the lungs admire,
The stomach fresh galanga's spicy fire.
52.
©f Salt.
SALT-CELLARS ever should stand at the head
Of dishes, whereso'er a table's spread.
Salt will all poisons expurgate with haste,
And to insipid things impart a taste.
The richest food will be in great default
Of taste without a pinch of sav'ry salt.
Yet of salt meats, the long-protracted use
Will both our sight and manhood, too, reduce ;
And beyond all, let none express surprise,
To loathsome psora and to cramps give rise.
{Addition a. v.)
On tables, salt should stand both first and last,
Since, in its absence, there is no repast.
9o De Conservanda Bona Valetudine.
LIII.
Be i&apotttu* ac eorum (JQuaUtatrtma,
HIC fervore viget tres, salsus, amarus, acutus ;
Alget acetosus sic stipans, ponticus atquc ;
Unctus, et insipidus dulcis, dant temperamentum.
LIV.
JDr Vippa, 1
B
IS duo vippa facit, mundat dentes, dat acutum
Visum, quod minus est implet; minuit quod
abundat.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Vippa famem frenat, oculos dentesque sercnat,
Et stomachum mundat, sic anhelitum quoque fugat ;
Ingeniumque acuit ; replet, minuit simul offa.
LV.
Bt JDteta.
OMNIBUS. assuetam jubeo servare diaetam.
Approbo sic esse, ni sit mutarc necesse.
1 From Vinum and Pants.
On the Preservation of Health. 9 1
S3-
<8K &a0te*, an* tfjrit <©ualWe*,
THESE three are foremost — bitter, acid, salt-
Acids cool, bind ; and styptics have this fault ;
The oily, sweet, insipid though they be,
From all extremes will keep the body free.
54.
WINE-SOUP will always give you comforts four:
Clean teeth and a sharp sight, an increased
store
Of flesh — should you deficient be in this ;
Or, if obese, your flesh it will dismiss.
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
Hunger it checks, while soothing teeth and eyes;
The stomach frees aYid asthma mollifies ;
The wit increases, good sound fat produces,
And daily share of needed food reduces.
w
55.
©f Dfct.
E hold that men, on no account, should vary
Their daily diet until necessary ;
92 De Conservanda Bona Va let u dine.
Est Hippocras testis, quoniam sequitur mala pestis.
Fortior est meta medicinae certa diaeta ;
Quam si non curas, fatue regis, et male curas.
LVI.
Bt Stomhtfattatfoite JDtetae,
QUALE, quid, et quando, quantum, quoties, ubi,
dando
Ista notare cibo debet medicus diaetando.
Ne mala conveniens ingrediatur iter.
LVII.
Bt Gtmlt.
j
US caulis solvit, cujus substantia stringit.
Utraque quando datur, venter laxare paratur.
On the Preservation of Health. 93
For, as Hippocrates doth truly show,
Diseases sad from all such changes flow.
A stated diet, as it is well known,
Of physic is the strongest corner-stone.
By means of which, if you can naught impart,
Relief or cure, vain is your Healing Art.
56.
©f Dieting.
DOCTORS should thus their patient's food revise —
What is it? When the meal ? And what its size?
How often? Where? lest, by some sad mistake,
Ill-sorted things should meet and trouble make. 1
57.
©f (Safibage,
IN cabbage we strange contradictions find ;
Its broth will loose, its leaves in contrast bind.
But broth and leaves, when used together, prove
A laxative, and thus the bowels move.
1 Horace, though not a physician, wrote long before the Salernian
masters these memorable words :
" At simul assis
Miscueris elixa, simul conchylia turclis ;
Dulcia se in bilem vertent, stomachoque tumultum
Lenta feret pituita. Vides ut pallidus omnis
£oena desurgat dubia." — Sat: lib : 2, 2 : 76.
94 De Canservanda Bona VaUtudine.
LVIII.
DIXERUNT malvam veteres quia mollit alvum.
Malvae radices rasae deducere (axes,
Vulvam moverunt, et fluxum saepe dederunt
LIX.
MENTITUR mentha si sit depellere lenta
Ventris lumbricos, stomachi vermesque nocivo3.
LX.
Be Salbfa,
CUR moriatur homo cui Salvia crescit in horto ?
Contra vim mortis, non tale 1 medicamen in hortis.
Salvia confortat nervos, manuumque tremorein
Tollit, et ejus ope febris acuta fugit.
Salvia, castoreum, lavendula, primula vcris,
1 Malva from tnollire ventrem,
* The original has est, but this plainly contradicts the preceding line.
I have accordingly substituted (ale, as better illustrating the general
high character of the plant, of whose virtues the subsequent lines serve
to give a more detailed exposition.
On tJu Preservation of Health. 95
58.
m jfttalloto**
MALLOWS our fathers called them in their day,
Because they've power to soothe the alvine way.
Their roots when ground the bowels tend to move ;
Moreover, too, Emmenagogue they prove.
59-
©f fiSiint
MINT falsifies its much-exalted fame,
Unless it quick relieves, and can reclaim
Our bowels from a strange and faulty state,
Disposing them at times to verminate.
60.
©f Sflfl*.
WHY should he die, whose garden groweth sage?
No other plant with death such strife can wage.
Sage soothes the nerves, and stills a trembling hand,
And sharpest fevers fly at its command.
The beaver, sage, and lavender will bring,
With tansy, and the cress, first gifts of spring,
96 De Conservanda Bona Valetudinc.
Nasturtium, athanasia, haec sanant paralytica membra.
Salvia salvatrix, naturae conciliatrix.
LXI.
Bt i&uto.
NOBILIS est Ruta quia lumina reddit acuta.
Auxilio rutae, vir lippe videbis acute.
Ruta viris minuit Venerem, mulieribus addit.
Ruta facit castum, dat lumen et ingerit astum.
Cocta facit ruta de pulicibus loca tuta.
LXII.
2>t Oleepte,
DE caepis Medici non consentire videntur.
Cholericis non esse bonas dicit Galienus.
Phlegmaticis vero multum docet esse salubres,
Non modicum sanas Asclepias adserit illas,
Praesertim stomacho, pulchrumque creare colorem.
Contritis caepis loca den u data capillis,
Saepe fricans, capitis poteris reparare dccorem.
On the Preservation of Health. 97
In palsied limbs, a new awakening.
For guardian Sage is nature's soothing king.
61.
©f 3fcue,
OF use to sight, a noble plant is Rue; a
O blear-eyed man, 'twill sharpen sight for you I
In men, it curbs love's strongest appetite,
In women, tends to amplify its might.
Yet rue to chastity inclines mankind,
Gives power to see and sharpens, too, the mind ;
And instantly, when in decoction, frees
Your house for ever from tormenting fleas.
62.
©f ©Itfolt*.
DOCTORS in Onions different virtues see :
Quoth Galen, they should never given be
To bilious men, with whom they'll disagree.
Yet for lymphatics deems them wholesome food.
Asclepias praises them in highest mood.
The stomach's friend, complexions fair they start,
While onions rubbed upon a hairless part,
Cure baldness, and, you thus can soon repair,
Your tonsure, and bring back all fallen hair.
E
9$ De Conservanda Bona Valctuditu.
(Additio a. v.)
Appositas perhibent morsus curare caninos,
Si' trita cum melle prius fuerint et aceto.
LXIII.
EST modicum granum, siccum, calidumque Sinapi,
Dat lachrymas, purgatque caput, tollitque vene-
num.
LXIV.
JDt Fiola purpurea.
CRAPULA discutitur, capitis dolor, atque gravedo,
Purpuream dicunt Violam curare caducos.
LXV.
JDe ffiUtica.
/| ^GRIS dat somnum, vomitum quoque tollit et
«*1— * usum,
Illius semen colicis cum melle medctur.
Et tussim vetcrem curat, si saepc bibatur.
Frigus pulmonis pellit, ventrisque tumorem,
Omnibus et morbis subveniet articulorum.
On the Preservation of Health. 99
{Addition A. v.)
They'll cure dog-bites, and give relief, 'tis said,
In Oxymel, when on the surface spread.
63.
©f Hftusrtart.
MUSTARD the human body heats and dries ;
Poisons expels, and clears both head and eyes.
64.
HEADACHE, catarrh, the violet dispels,
And falling fits and drunkenness expels.
65.
©f t$e Nettle.
THE nettle to the sick man slumber brings ;
Checks qualms, and need of all emetic things.
From painful colics patients may be freed
By eating honey which contains its seed.
When in decoction used, it will drive ofF
Catarrh, or any long-protracted cough ;
From ventral tumors give relief as well,
And joint diseases cure with magic spell.
loo De Conservanda Bona VaUtudine.
LXVI.
HYSSOPUS est herba purgans a pectore phlegma.
Ad pulmonis opus cum melle coquatur hys-
sopus ;
Vultibus eximium fertur reparare colorem.
LXVII.
Bt Ct&tefoUo.
APPOSITUM cancris tritum cum inclle mcdctur,
Cum vino potum latcris scdare dolorcm
Saep& solet, tritam si nectis desuper herbam,
Saepe solet vomitum, ventremque tenere solutum.
LXVIII.
Bt ISnula Otampana.
ENULA campana reddit praecordia sana.
Cum succo rutae succus si sumitur hujus,
Affirmant ruptis nil esse salubrius istis.
On the Preservation of Health. 101
66.
HYSSOP among all purging herbs is best,
And frees from phlegm the overburdened chest.
When cooked with honey 'tis esteemed the chief
Of balms to give the lungs complete relief.
Its use, by some, is said to give the face
The highest character of human grace.
67.
<!M (ffljcrAitl.
FRESH honey, when with pounded chervil mixed,
Cures cancer, if upon its surface fixed.
First steeped in wine, then drunk, it will provide
Relief for any form of aching side.
Applied in pulp, 'twill oft, as all agree,
The stomach void, and e'en the bowels free.
68.
©f Elecampane.
ELECAMPANE brings joyous health to all
Thoracic organs, whether great or small.
To drink its juice, combined with that of rue,
Is the best thing that ruptured men can do.
9*
io2 De Conservanda Bona Valetudinc.
LXIX.
CUM vino choleram nigram potata repellit ;
Appositam veterem dicunt sedare podagram.
LXX.
Be Naatuttio.
ILLIUS succus crines retinere fluentes
Illitus asseritur, dentesque levare dolorem,
Et squamas succus sanat cum melle perunctus.
LXXI.
CiECATIS pullis hac lumina mater hirundo,
Plinius ut scribit, quamvis sint eruta reddit.
LXXII.
De Sbalict.
AURIBUS infusus vermes succus necat ejus.
Cortex verrucas in aceto cocta resolvit.
On the Preservation of Health. 103
69.
DECOCTIONS made with any kind of wine,
Will cause the blackest jaundice to decline ;
And bound on any old arthritic part,
Relieves at once its overpow'ring smart.
70.
THE juice of early cresses, it is said,
Checks falling hair, whenever on it spread.
Cures toothache, too, and when with honey smeared
On scalp, at once 'tis from all lichen cleared.
71.
©( atelantrine.
SWALLOWS, to their blind young, with celandine,
Restore, 'tis said, their wonted vision fine ;
And Pliny writes that if this be employed,
Vision returns to eyes of old, destroyed.
T
72.
<8>t tf)e Mtt Koto.
HE juice of willows, poured into the ear,
All insects causes thence to disappear.
io4 D* Cottservanda Bona Valet udinc.
Hujus flos, sumptus in aqua, frigescere cogit
Instinctus Veneris, cunctos acres stimulantes
Et sic desiccat, ut nulla creatio fiat
LXXIII.
Be «toco»
CONFORTARE crocum dixerunt exhilarando.
Membra defecta confortat hepar reparando.
LXXIV.
Be ^orro.
REDDIT foecundas mansum per saep& puellas;
Illo stillantcm poteris retinere cruorem,
Ungis si nares intus medicamine tali.
{Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Si fucrint cocti, porri sunt plus valituri.
Crudi, detestabiles cholerico ventove feraces.
On the Preservation of Health. 105
Its bark in vinegar of any sort,
When macerated long, dissolves a wart.
Its tender blossom drunk in water cools
Consuming love, and fierce excitement schools,
And all productive power thus overrules.
73.
©f Saffron.
SAFFRON, 'tis said, brings comfort to mankind,
\\y giving rise to cheerfulness of mind.
Restores weak limbs, the liver also mends,
And normal vigor through its substance sends.
74.
©f leeittf.
THE leek will all young women fruitful make,
Who of its substance constantly partake.
Should ever bleeding from the nose begin,
'Twill yield at oncp to this drug, smeared within.
{Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
When cooked they're best ; when raw they're doubly
vile,
And fruitful in producing wind and bile.
B*
lo6 De Gmservanda Bona VaUtudiue.
LXXV.
Be Viptit.
QUOD piper est nigrum, non est dissolvere pigrum,
Phlegmata purgabit, concoctricemque juvabit
Leucopiper stomacho prodest ; tussique, dolori
Utile, pracveniet motum, febrisque rigorem. 1
LXXVI.
Be ffitabitate atrtitu*.
ET mox post escam dormire, nimisque moveri,
Ista gravarc solent auditus, ebrietasque.
LXXVII.
Be ftimxitu Murium.
METUS — longa fames, vomitus, percussio, casus,
Ebrietas, frigus, tinnitum causat in aure.
1 Quodque movcrc solet frigus periodica febris
Compescit, febris si sumitur ante tremorem.
Macek, lib. 3, cap. i.
An ague-froxen blood, with warmth can fill,
And fever break, dispensed before a chili
On the Preservation of Health. 107
75.
ALL peppers black make food digest with haste,
' Cure phlegm, and help us to repair our waste.
White pepper is the stomach's dearest friend,
And coughs and pains brings to an early end.
'Twill interrupt the chill of any fever,
Or prove, if raging high, supreme reliever. 1
76.
©f 2DulIiU00 of Rearing.
TO sleep soon after having taken food,
And exercise when frequently renewed,
With drunkenness — all these in turn appear
To dull, betimes, the sharpness of the ear.
77-
©£ ^Ringing in t\)t lEac*.
EMETICS, blows, all accidents and fear,
Dangers, long fasts and drunkards' wild career,
Will cause continued ringing of the ear.
1 See note on opposite page.
io8 De Conscrvanda Bona VaUtuditu.
LXXVIII.
Bt Vim* Nocumenti*.
BALNEA, vina, Venus, ventus, piper, allia, fumus,
Porri cum caepis, lens, fletus, faba, sinapis,
Sol, coitus, ignis, labor, ictus, acumina pulvis,
Ista nocent oculis, sed vigilare magis.
LXXIX.
FCENICULUS, verbena, rosa, chelidonia, ruta,
Subveniunt oculis dira caligine pressis,
Nam ex istis fit aqua, quae lumina reddit acuta.
s
LXXX.
Be IBoIote Dentium &rtanlo.
IC dentes serva, porrorum collige grana.
Cum hyoscyamo ure adjuncto simul quoque
thure.
On the Preservation of Health, 109
78.
(TjHngtf JQuttful to tf)e S>tfl!)t.
MUCH bathing, Venus, blust'ring winds and wine,
And wounds, or any serious blows, in fine.
With lentils, pepper, mustard, also beans,
Garlic and onions — by such hurtful means,
With too much labor amid dust and smoke,
Weeping, or watching fires, we thus invoke,
With long exposure to the noonday sun,
The direst wrongs that can to sight be done.
But vigils are, by far, more noxious still
Than any form of single-mentioned ill.
79-
©( flEfjmgs Strengthening t$e &tgf)t
FENNEL, vervain, rose, celandine and rue,
Cure filmy eyes and give them sight anew.
From each a potent eyewash may be made,
To strengthen them when sight begins to fade.
80.
©f aliasing flEootDacfte.
THUS treat your teeth whene'er they chance to
ache;
The seeds of leeks, selected wisely, take ;
10
no De Conscrvanda Bona Valctudhic.
Sic per embotum, fumum cape dente remotum.
N
LXXXI.
Be «aucrthte Vocte,
UX, oleum, frigus capitis, anguillaque potus.
Ac pomum crudum, faciunt hominem fore raucum.
LXXXII.
Kj>eumati0 Kemrtria.
JEJUNA, vigila, caleas dape, valdd labora,
Inspira calidum, modicum bibe, comprimc flatum ;
Haec bend tu serva, si vis depellere rheuma.
Si fluat ad pectus, dicatur rheuma catarrhus ;
Ad fauces bronchus ; ad nares esto coryza.
On the Preservation of Health. 1 1 1
Burn them with sweet frankincense mixed,*nor yet
To introduce some henbane leaves forget ;
Then through a funnel broad allow, forsooth,
The smoke to be slow drawn into the tooth.
81.
©f ?l}oar0ene00.
OIL and raw apples, nuts and eels, 'tis said,
With such catarrhs as settle in the head,
And leading, too, a long intemp'rate course
Of life, will render any person hoarse.
82.
©f Uemrtte* for titatartfi,
FAST well and watch. Eat hot your daily fare,
Work some, and breathe a warm and humid air ;
Of drink be spare ; your breath at times suspend, 1
These things observe if you your cold would end.
A cold whose ill effects extend as far
As in the chest, is known as a catarrh.
Bronchitis, if into the throat it flows —
Coryza, if it reach alone the nose.
1 Holding the breath was a form of exercise much observed by the
ancients in their gymnastics. Mercurialise in his treatise on this subject,
quotes Galen as recommending it very highly.
ii2 De Conscrvanda Bona Valetudine.
LXXXIII.
Bt duration* jFtetute.
AURIPIGMENTUM, sulphur, miscere memento ;
His decet apponi calcem, commisce saponi.
Quatuor haec misce. Commixtis quatuor istis
Fistula curatur, quater ex his si repleatur.
LXXXIV.
Bt IDoIoritm* 4tapitt0.
SI capitis dolor est ex potu, lympha bibatur.
Ex potu nimio nam febris acuta creatur.
Si vertex capitis, vel frons aestu tribulentur,
Tempora fronsque simul moderate saepe fricentur ;
Morella cocta nee non calidaque laventur ;
Istud enim credunt capitis prodesse dolori.
LXXXV.
Se Quatuot Aititf ffemtforfbug.
TEMPORIS aestivi jejunia corpora siccant,
Quolibet in mense, et confeit vomitus quoquc
purgat
Humores nocuos, stomachi lavat ambitus omnes.
Ver, Autumnus, Hyems, JEstas, dominantur in anno;
Tempore vernali calidus fit air, humidusque,
Et nullum tempus melius fit phlebotomise.
On the Preservation of Health. 113
»3-
Otute for a jFtetula,
WITH sulphur, orpin mix — bear this in mind —
And add some lime, with yellow soap combined ;
By these in mass commingled well and milled,
Fistula's cured, if four times it is filled.
84.
©f JllerOjacfte*.
IF wine give headache, water drink alone,
To follow tippling fever's very prone.
Should crown or forehead heated be and ache,
Light frictions of these parts let patients make,
And with infusions hot of Morql lave ;
Tis said from headache they have power to save.
85.
®f tfte jFout Season* of tfte Seat*
SUMMER the body dries through its long fasts,
And useful are emetics while it lasts.
They cleanse the system of all humors ill,
By flooding fully each detergent rill.
The seasons in their turn control the year,
In spring we have a tepid atmosphere ;
And to let blood no fitter days appear.
10*'
ii4 De Conservanda Bona Valctudine.
Usus tunc homini Veneris confert modcratus.
^Corporis et motus, ventrisque solutio, sudor,
Balnea, purgentur tunc corpora cum mcdicinis.
JEstas more calet sicca, et noscatur in ilia
Tunc quoque praecipu£ choleram rubram dominari.
Humida, frigida fercula dentur, sit Venus extra,
Balnea non prosunt, sint rarae phlebotomise,
Utilis est requies, sit cum moderamine potus. v
LXXXVI.
Be Kumero ®mum, Bentmnt t\ Vtmtuwx.
OSSIBUS ex denis bis centenisque novenis,
Constat homo, denis bis dentibus et duodenis ;
Et ter centenis decies sex quinque venis.
LXXXVII.
He <©uatuor J&utnoribu* Jljumani OTorponc.
QUATUOR humores in humano corpore constant,
Sanguis cum cholera, phlegma, melancholia.
Terra melancholicis, aqua confertur pituita.
Aer sanguineis, ignea vis cholerse.
On the Preservation of Health. 115
Then mod'rate homage paid to Love, will bring
A solace sweet to every living thing.
Let purgings, baths and perspiration be,
With exercise and medication, free.
For dry is summer with its wonted heat,
And chiefly we must study then to meet
The fiery bile, and quell it in its seat.
Me cooling dishes used — be love denied;
Baths and blood-letting, put them both aside,
And rest to temp'rate living be allied.
86.
Number of 13 on eg, ftectlj an) Vzim in tlje $}uman
iSoty).
OF bones, man's body, as is plainly seen,
In all has some two hundred and nineteen ;
Of teeth, in number, thirty-two contains,
With full three-hundred-five-and-sixty veins.
87.
<n>f tfje jFouc ftuutocg fn tfje ftuman Ktoty).
FOUR humors form the body in this style,
Atrabilis, 1 Blood, Phlegm and yellow Bile.
With earth atrabilis may well compare,
Consuming fire with bile, and blood with air.
1 The ancients made a distinction between yellow and black 6ile, analo*
gous to our own expressions of Cystic and Hepatic.
u6 Ve Conservanda Bona VaUtuditu.
[Additio A. v.)
Humidus est sanguis, calct, est vis aeris illi.
Alget phlegma, humetque illi sic copia aquosa est.
Sicca calet cholera, et igni fit similata,
Frigens sicca melancholia est, terras adsimilata.
N
LXXXVII1.
2De Cetnpetatuta.
Sanguinea.
ATURA pingues isti sunt, atquc jocantes,
Semper rumores cupiunt audire frequenter.
Hos Venus et Bacchus delectant, fercula, risus;
Kt ticit hos hilares, et dulcia verba loquentcs.
Omnibus hi studiis habilcs sunt, et inagis apti.
Qualibct ex causa nee hos leviter movct ira.
• Largus, anians, hilaris, ridens, rubeique coloris,
Cantans, carnosus, satis audax, atque benignus.
LXXXIX.
Gtftolerica gtbe Uiltoaa.
EST et humor cholerae, qui competit impetuosis.
Hoc genus est hominum cupiens prxcellere
cunctos.
Hi leviter discunt, multum comedunt, cito crcscunt.
Inde magnanimi sunt, largi, summa petcntes.
Hirsutus, fallax, irascens, prodigus, audax,
Astutus, gracilis siccus, croccique coloris.
On the Preservation of Health. 117
{Addition A. v.)
Blood is moist, warm, and vital as the air ;
While phlegm is cold, through water's copious share ;
Bile burns like fire, where'er it flows along ;
Gall, dry and cool, to earth bears likeness strong.
88.
©f Cempetament.
The Sanguine.
SUCH are by nature stout, and sprightly too,
And ever searching after gossip new.
Love Venus, Bacchus, banquets, noisy joy,
And jovial, they kind words alone employ;
In studies apt — pre-eminent in arts,
No wrath from any cause e'er moves their hearts.
Gay, loving, cheerful and profuse in all,
Hearty, tuneful, wherever fate may call ;
They're florid, bold, and yet benign withal.
89.
Clje fttltou* ^Temperament.
WITH headstrong people yellow bile sorts well,
For such men would in everything excel.
They learn with ease — eat much and grow apace,
Are great, profuse, and avid of high place.
Hairy, bold, wrathful, crafty, lavish, shrewd,
Their form is lithe, complexion saffron-hued.
n8 Dc Conscrvaiuia Bona Vale tu dine.
XC
IJftlegmatfca mbe IWuftoaa.
PHLEGMA viros modicos tribuit, latosque, bre-
vesque.
Phlegma facit pingues, sanguis rcddit mediocres.
Otio non studio tradunt, sed corpora somno.
Sensus hebes, tardus motus, pigritia, somnus.
Hie somnolentus, piger, in sputamine multus.
Est huic sensus hebes, pinguis, facie color albus.
XCL
iWelancfiolica*
RESTAT adhuc choleras virtutcs diccrc nigrae,
Qua rcddit tristes, pravos, pcrpauca loqucntcs.
Hi vigilant studiis, nee mens est dedita somno,
Servant propositum, sibi nil reputant fore tutum.
Invidus, et tristis, cupidus, dextraeque tcnacis,
Non expers fraudis, timidus, luteique coloris.
XCIL
Be dolortfius.
HI sunt humores qui praestant cuique colores.
Omnibus in rebus ex phlcgmatc fit color albus.
Sanguine fit rubens ; cholera rubea quoque rufus.
On the Preservation of Health. 119
90.
&!je ^Ijleamatfc temperament
PHLEGM breadth imparts, slight power and stature
short,
Forms fat, and blood of an inferior sort.
Such men love case, not books — their bodies steep,
And heavy minds and slothful lives in sleep.
Sluggish and dull their senses almost fail ;
They're fat, to spitting prone ; their mien is pale.
91.
Cfte iWelancftolfi Cemperament.
OF dark Atrabilis we've next to learn —
Which renders man sad, base and taciturn ;
In studies keen, in mind not prone to sleep,
In enterprise unfaltering to keep.
Doubting, artful, sad, sordid misers, they
Are timid, while their hue resembles clay.
92.
©f ©omplexfott*.
BEHOLD the diverse humors which bestow
Varied complexions on all here below ;
From phlegm a pale complexion comes in all,
A dusky or florid from blood or gall.
i2o De Conservanda Bona VaUtudine.
(Additio ex Ed. Parisii, 1861.)
Corporibus fuscum bilis dat nigra colorem ;
Esse solent fusci quos bilis possidet atra.
Istorum duo sunt tenues, alii duo pingues,
Hi morbos caveant consumptos, hique repletos.
Indicia Redundantis Sanguinis.
Si peccet sanguinis, fades rubet, extat ocellus,
Inflantur genae, corpus nimiumque gravatur,
Est pulsusque frequens, plenus, mollis, dolor ingens
Maxime fit frontis, et constipatio ventris,
Siccaque lingua, sitis, et somnia plena rubore,
Dulcor adest sputi, sunt acria, dulcia quaeque.
Indicia Exuberantis Cholera.
Accusat choleram dextrae dolor, aspera lingua,
Tinnitus, vomitusque frequens, vigilantia multa,
Multa sitis, inguisque egestio, tormina ventris,
Nausea fit, morsus cordis, languescit orexis,
Pulsus adest gracilis, durus, veloxque calescens —
Aret, amarescitque, incendia somnia fingit.
Indicia Redudantis Phlegm atis.
Phlegma supergrcdiens proprias in corpore leges,
Os facit insipidum, fastidia crebra, salivas,
Costarum, stomachi, simul occipitisque dolores,
Pulsus adest rarus, tardus, mollis, quoque inanis,
Praecedit fallax phantasmata somnus aquosa.
On the Preservation of Health. 121
(Addition from Paris Ed., 1861.)
Black bile o'er bodies its dark color throws,
And in its grasp each mortal dusky grows.
These last are thin, the sanguine stout and tall ;
Let those dread tabes — surfeits, these appal. \
Indications of Plethora.
Plethora's face is of a florid shade,
Her eyeballs large and very glaring made;
While cheeks and form with mass are overlaid.
The pulse is quick, full, soft ; there's frontal pain,
And thirst, lewd dreams, and constipation reign,
While fluids bland to acid turn amain.
Indications of Excess of Bile.
Pain of right side and loaded tongue show bile,
Vomitings, vigils, ears that ring a while.
Thirst, nausea, looseness, colic's painful smart ;
Poor appetite and biting cramps of heart.
The pulse, though light, doth bound with fev'rish start.
Bile spreads throughout its bitter taste of gall,
Burns, and gives rise to fiery dreams in all.
Indications of Excess of Phlegm.
Excess of phlegm disturbs a healthy state,
Harms taste, gives loathings, tends to salivate.
Gives pain of stomach, ribs and back of head ;
The pulse is rare and soft, its strength all fled,
And wat'ry dreams by artful sleep are bred.
11 F
122 De Conservatuia Bona Valet udine.
Indicia Abundantis Melancholia:.
Humorum pleno dum faex in corpore regnat,
Nigra cutis, durus pulsus, tenuisque urina,
Sollicitudo, timor, tristitia, somnia tetra ;
Acescunt ructus, sapor, et sputaminis idem.
Levaque praecipue tinnit vel sibilat auris.
XCIII.
JDe $lj)le6otomta, *e Rctatt Vljlebotomlce.
DENUS septem vix phlebotomiam petit annus.
Spiritus uberior exit per phlebotomiam.
Spiritus ex potu vini mox multiplicatur,
Humorumque cibo damnum lent& reparatur.
Lumina clarificat, sincerat phlcbotomia
Mentes et cerebrum, calidas facit esse medullas,
Viscera purgabit, stomachum ventremque coercct,
Puros dat sensus, dat somnum, taedia tollit
Auditus, vocem, vires producit et auget
XC1V.
<B)uibu0 Mtmibm Gtonbemat, <0}uitnt*be Koceat
Vljlebotomta,
TRES insunt istis, Maius, September, Aprilis,
Et sunt Lunares, sunt velut Hydra dies.
On the Preservation of Health. 1 23
Indications of Excess of Black Bile.
Whene'er this dreggy humor doth invade,
The pulse is hard, the renal stream delayed,
The skin throughout assumes a dusky shade.
Gloom reigns, and fear and dreams of darkest hue,
And acid belchings, taste and spit, ensue.
The lightest sound borne on the atmosphere,
Whistlings and ringings causes in the ear.
93.
©f iSlertjfnfl, an* of tfje 3fle for ISlertrfng.
ERE seventeen years we scarce need drawing blood;
High spirits fall by hipping life's own flood.
Wine may restore a wonted, joyous mood,
But loss of blood is late repaired by food.
Bleeding the body purges in disguise,
For it excites the nerves, improves the eyes
And mind, and gives the bowels exercise.
Brings sleep, clear thoughts, and sadness drives away,
And hearing, strength and voice augments each day.
94.
in toljat Jttoiitt)* (t t* proper, an) tofjat Improper to
ISlert.
CALLED lunar, are September, April, May,
Because they move beneath the Hydra's 1 sway.
1 The constellation Hydra, or the Water Serpent, was, in ancient As-
tronomy, supposed to exercise a controlling influence over the phases
of the moon.
124 -O* Conservanda Bona Valctudinc.
Prima dies primi, postremaque posteriorum ;
Nee sanguis minui nee carnibus anseris uti.
In sene vel juvene si venie sanguine plenae,
Omni mense bene confert incisio venae.
Hi sunt tres menses, Maius, September, Aprilis,
In quibus eminuas, ut longo tempore vivas.
XCV.
JDe Imprtfmentt* iitylebotomte.
FRIGIDA natura, frigens regio, dolor ingens,
Balnea post coitum, minor aetas atque senilis,
Morbus prolixus, potus repletio ct escas,
Si fragilis, vel subtilis, sensus stomachi sit,
Et fastidit, tibi non sunt phlebotomandi.
XCVI.
<Q)U8 fflirca Uence S>ectfonem ©fombairtia.
HJEC facienda tibi, quando vis phlebotomari,
Vel quando minuis, fueris, vel quando minutus.
Unctio sive lavacrum, potus, vel fascia, motus,
Dcbcnt non fragili tibi singula mente teneri.
On the Preservation of Health. 125
Two days-^-September first, May thirty-first —
For bleeding and for eating goose are cursed.
When blood abounds in full age or in youth,
May'st bleed in any lunar month, forsooth;
Yet chiefly in September, April, May,
Bleed freely, if you would prolong life's day.
95.
Of Obatacle* to ISlertjfng.
COLD nature, clime, or when some sharp pain laces;
And after baths that follow love's embraces ;
In youth, old age, amid disease's traces ; *
Or when of food a surfeit overplies
The stomach, and to constant qualms gives rise,
Then letting blood is truly most unwise.
96.
©frcumatattce* delating to 13looWett(ng.
WHATEVER amount of blood you wish to let,
Or great, or small, these rules do not forget :
A bath, inunction, cord, the arm to bind,
Some wine, a stroll ; lose never these from mind.
11 *
126 De Conservanda Bona Valetudine.
XCV1I.
IDe «BJuffmjfoani VjjUbotomte IBfttttihM.
EXH1LARAT tristes, iratos placat, amantes
Ne sit amentes, phlebotomia facit
XCVIII.
Be j&cfamu» <B)uantitate (n Vtxw 2>ectiime.
FAC plagam largam mediocriter, ut cit& fumus
Exeat uberius, liberiusque cruor.
XCIX.
<©u« in Vtnm Sbtttiont (Songfterairtw.
SANGUINE subtracto sex horis est vigilandum,
Ne somni fumus laedat sensibile corpus.
Ne nervum laedas, non sit tibi plaga profunda.
Sanguine purgatiis non carpas protinus escas.
On the Preservation of Health. 127
97.
4M some lEffect* of bloodletting.
BLEEDING soothes rage, brings joy unto the sad,
And saves all lovesick swains from going mad.
98.
®f tlje &t?e of tlje fflSSJoun* m Vlooteletting.
A MEDIUM-SIZED incision always make,
Whate'er amount of blood you wish to take ;
The copious vapor rising sudden, flees,
And thus the blood escapes with greater ease.
99.
{Tljiitg* to fie (ttottartetrt fit ISlootelrtttng.
WHEN one is bled he should for full six hours
Most vigilant maintain his mental powers,
Lest fumes of artful slumber too profound
Should all his mortal nature sadly wound.
For fear that thou some slender nerve shouldst mar,
Conduct not the incision deep nor far ;
And being purged through blood, and thus renewed,
Haste not at once to sate thyself with food.
128 De Conscrvanda Bona Valetudine.
C.
<S)uce post Webotomiam Vitatiba.
OMNIA de lacte vitabis rite minutus,
Et vitct potum phlcbotomatus homo,
Frigida vitabis, quia sunt inimica minutis.
Interdictus crit minutus nubilus aer.
Spiritus exultat minutis luce per auras.
Omnibus apta quies, est motus vald& nocivus.
CI.
<8)uiiui3 JWoi'ftte et gletatftua $)fjleftotomia tfonbt;
nfat, et (Quantum Sanguinf* quoijuc tempore Xta
tcaJmttnum
PRINCIPIO minuas in acutis, peracutis.
iEtatis medias multum de sanguine tolle.
Sed puer atque senex toilet uterque parum.
Ver tollat duplum, reliquum tempus tibi simplum.
CII.
<8)u& iWembia quoque ^Tempore Vence Section e
Vacunntia,
VER, aestas, dextras; autumnus, hyemsque sinis-
tras.
Oft the Preservation of Health, 129
IOO.
£f)tngs to 6e Sbofte* after ISUrtmg.
ALL things from milk as are in gen'ral made,
And draughts of wine, of whatsoever grade,
Should every one dismissed, avoided be
By recent subjects of phlebotomy.
Cold things are also hurtful to the weak,
Nor let them, dauntless, brave damp skies or bleak ;
For vigor only comes once more to these
From sunshine mingled with the passing breeze.
To all rest proves an everlasting gain,
While exercise occasions certain pain.
101.
In tofjat Ufeeaaes, &ge# an* ©uantftfe* ftloofr
letting *fjoutt) occur,
ACUTE disease, or only so in part,
Demands blood-letting freely from the start.
In middle age, bleed largely without fear,
But treat old age like tender childhood here.
In spring you may bleed doubly at your pleasure —
At other times alone in single measure.
1
102.
fflSlJjat $att* ate to 6e Deplete* an* at tofjat
Seaaon*.
N spring, and likewise in the summer tide,
Blood should be drawn alone from the right side.
F»
130 Dc Conservanda Bona VaUtuditu.
Quatuor haec membra, hepar, pes, cepha, cor, vacu-
anda.
Ver cor, hepar acstas, ordo sequens reliquas.
cm.
9* <ttomui(rtite ex Sectfone 5albattll*»
EX salvatella tibi plurima dona minuta,
Purgat hepar, splenem, pectus, praecordia, vocem,
Innaturalem tollit de corde dolorem.
On the Preservation of Health. 131
In autumn sere, or on cold winter's day,
Take from the left in corresponding way.
Four parts distinct we must in turn deplete —
The liver, heart, the head, and last the feet.
In spring the heart — liver when heats abound,
The head or feet, whene'er their turn comes round.
103.
©f ti>e ISmeftt of ISIertrhtfl front t|)e Sattatella Vtiti.
TO mortals there will come superior gain,
From tapping oft the Salvatella vein ;
It frees the voice, spleen, liver and the chest,
And heart, whene'er abnormally distressed.
132 On the Preservation of Health.
Specimens op the English Translations, op which
there appear to have been three heretofore
made, viz.: a.d. 1 575, 1607 and 1617.
The first from a MS. in the Library of Corpus Christ! College, Oxford,
dated 1575 :
"The puisante Kinge of Brittannye
The schole of famous memorye,
Salernum, biddes him selfe to frame,
If healthe he woulde and kepe the same ;
Geve cares noe place within thy brest ;
Lett fretting furies be supprest ;
Too muche of wine use not to swill ;
Suppe you but lighte, eate not thy fill ;
At meate to sitte soe longe a time,
To rise is not soe greate a crime ;
At noone geve not thye selfe to slepe ;
Nor use thye water for to kepe.
"He maye that liste this to observe,
Him selfe longc time in healthe preserve.
When physicke harde is to be hadd,
Three things may be in steede.
The minde in noe wise must be sadde,
Meane reste and dictte muste thee feede.
I»
On the Preservation of Health, 133
The second called the Englishman's Doctor, London, A. D. 1607 :
" The Salerne Schoole doth by these lines impart
All health to England's King, and doth advise
From care his head to kcepe, from wrath his harte.
Drink not much wine, sup light, and soone arise.
When meat is gone long sitting breedeth smart ;
And after noone still waking keepe your eies,
When mou'd you find your selfe to nature's need,
Forbeare them not, for that much danger breeds,
Use three physitians still — first Dr. Quiet,
Next Dr. Merry-man, and Dr. Dyet."
The third called the Regiment of Health, London, 161 7 :
" All Salerne Schoole thus writes to England's King,
And for men's health these fit advises bring.
Shunne busie cares, rash angers, which displease ;
Light supping, little drinkc doe cause great ease.
Rise after meate, sleepe not at aftcrnoone,
Urine and nature's neede, expell them soone.
Long shalt thou live if all these well be done.
When physicke needes, let these thy doctors be,
Good diet, quiet thoughts, heart mirthful, free.'
12
»
APPENDIX.
The following Precepts are Excerpts from the Paris
Edition of t86i, and with the exception of the
first few, touching the art and practice
of Medicine, relate to the gen-
eral SUBJECT OF THE POEM.
136 Appendix.
SENSUS et ars medici curant, non verba sophists ;
Hie aegrum relevat curis, verbis necat iste.
ittrttctng ©bjectum.
NOSSE malum, sanos servando, aegrisque medendo ;
Consule naturam, poteris prudentior esse.
Est medicus, scit qui morbi cognoscere causam ;
Quando talis erit, nomen et omen habebit
Sunt medico plura super aegris respicienda ;
In membro crasis, atque situs, plasmatio, virtus,
Morbi natura, patientis conditiones.
Digcre matcriam, crudamque rcpelle nocivam,
Mollifica duram, compactam solve, fluentem
Et spissam liquefac, spissam lenique fluentem.
JMrtHrin* ILtiBttesL
CONTRA vim mortis, non est medicamen in hortis.
Si medicus cunctos ;vgros posset medicari,
Appendix. 137
5Ti)e Vbmtian'x tytai&t.
GOOD common sense and leechcraft cure disease.
Not empty words of boastful, lying quack ;
The first combined give suffering mortals ease,
The last to perish, leave them on the rack.
©fijecte of iWe&icfne.
FROM laws of health and sickness learn disease;
Who studies life, her laws more wisely sees.
The greatest duty of the Healing Art
Is first to know whence all diseases start.
A skilled physician will be always sure
To read disease, and somehow work a cure.
A doctor, in whatever patient's case,
Has many blind and knotty points to face ;
As heat of parts, their posture and their form,
Disease, the patient's strength to breast its storm.
He must change solids, check a growing tumor,
And swellings soften into transient humor ;
Or liquefy deposits quickly growing,
And turn them all into some matter flowing.
A
&im(t0 of Jttrtfchte.
LAS ! no herb in any garden grows
That can avert grim Death's unerring throes.
12*
138 Appendix,
Divinus magis deberet jure vocari.
Non physicus curat vitam, quamvis bene longat ;
Natura, quae conservat, descendens, corpora sanat.
iWrtuci Incommotoa.
STERCUS et urina medico sunt fercula prima ;
Hydrops, quartana, medico sunt scandala plana.
a* Ikgrabnrtutut Hegrocuui Jnaiatitutomcm.
NON didici gratis, nee musa sagax Hippocratis
iEgris in stratis serviet, absque datis.
Cum locus est morbis, medico promittitur orbis ;
Mox fugit a mente medicus, morbo recedente.
lnstan tor quaerat nummos, vel pignus habere;
Fidus nam antiquum conservat pignus amicum ;
Nam si post quseris, inimicus habcris. 1
1 A mediaeval physician, by the name of Ericus Cordus, thus wittily
alludes to the ingratitude of patients :
Tres medicus Nicies habet ; unara, quando rogatnr,
Angdicam ; mox est, cum juvat ipse, lKus.
l\vkt ulvi curato, poscit sua pranuia moibo,
lloiiidus apparet, tcrribili»que Sathan.
Appendix. 139
Were doctors skilled enough to undermine
Each fell disease, they'd almost be divine.
But, as all practice shows, no doctor can
Make life anew, though he may stretch its span.
Nature this power most jealously reserves —
Alone the body heals and life preserves.
Inconbemence* of ^tigsfctana.
THE dish which first the doctor's advent greets,
Holds what his patient morbidly excretes.
Dropsy and stubborn quartans on their part,
Are glaring scandals to the Healing Art.
?1}oId to ^forestall tlje Sngtatfttrte of Vatientff»
KNOWLEDGE not gratis comes. Nor without fees,
On sick men, would attend Hippocrates.
When any doctor first attends a call,
The patient would bestow the world and all ;
But once relieved and safely out of bed,
The doctor's aid from memory has fled.
And most of all if he should dare to ask
Reward or pledge due for his thankless task.
Three faces wears the doctor : when first sought,
An angel's ; and a god's, the cure half wrought ;
But when, that cure complete, he seeks his fee,
The De'il looks then less terrible than he.
Good's Hist. Med., p. 227.
140 Appendix,
Dum dolet infirmus, medicus sit pignore firmus ;
^Egro liberato, dolet de pignore dato.
Ergo petas pretium, patienti dum dolor instat ;
Nam dum morbus abest, dare cessat, lis quoque restate
Empta solet care multum medicina juvare.
Si qua detur gratis, nil affert utilitatis.
Res dare pro rebus, pro verbis verba solemus ;
Pro vanis verbis, montanis utimur herbis ;
Pro caris rebus, pigmentis et speciebus.
Est medicinalis medicis data regula talis ;
Ut dicatur da, da, dum profert languidus ha, fia /
Da medicis primo medium, medio nihil imo.
Expers languoris, non est memor hujus amoris ;
Exige dum dolor est ; postquam poena recessit,
Audebit sanus dicere ; multa dedi.
Appendix, 141
For an old pledge is a good bond 'twixt friends,
Until collected, when all friendship ends.
Let doctors, then, while sick men groan and whine,
Demand that they some legal pledge assign ;
For when their pangs and suff 'rings all are flown,
O'er pledges given they will curse and groan.
Then always ask the patient for thy fee,
Ere yet from danger he is saved and free ;
Since, when released from fell disease's claw,
None pay the doctor till compelled by law.
Hence, 'tis that every costly drug is thought
Much better of, for being richly bought ;
While from all skill which gratis we bestow,
No usefulness is ever deemed to flow.
Things pay for things, words pay for words in kind;
For vain words give the cheapest herbs you find.
For high fees give such precious drugs as are,
The costly compounds of the species-jar.
Let doctors, then, of whatsoever school,
Remember to observe this prudent rule :
When tortured patients cry out, 0/t, dear me /
Then let each say, Pll thank you for my fee.
Yes, pay; discharge the obligation now,
Ere like the rest the thing you disavow.
Men freed from pain, we find, too soon forget*
How much to faithful doctors they're in debt.
Be sure to ask your pay, while lasts the pain,
Or else at law a suit you must maintain ;
And the recovered man, indignant, will
Exclaim : I've paid, tzvice paid, this costly bill.
14« Appendix.
(ftoirtitumt* Necessaries /Wrttco,
CLEMENS accedat medicus cum veste polita;
Luceat in digitis splendida gemma suis.
Si fieri valeat, quadrupes sibi sit pretiosus ;
Ejus et ornatus splendidus atque decens.
Ornatu nitido conabere carior esse,
Splendidus ornatus plurima dona dabit
Viliter inductus munus sibi vile parabit,
Nam pauper medicus vilia dona capit.
iWrttcaatec,
FINGIT se medicum quivis idiota, profanus,
Judzeus, monachus, histrio, rasor, anus,
Sicuti alchemista medicus fit aut saponista,
Aut balncator, falsarius aut oculista.
Hie dum lucra quaerit, virtus in arte perit.
lEi&ottatio Sanitate
TKSTATUR sapiens quod Deus omnipotens
Fundavit physicam : prudens hie figurat illam.
Ad finotn propcrat qui nuxlo natus erat;
Nunc oritur, moritur statim, sub humo sepelitur.
Appendix, 143
JDemeanor Neceaaatj? for t^e $f)B0(c(an,
LET doctors call in clothing fine arrayed,
With sparkling jewels on their hands displayed ;
And, if their means allow, let there be had,
To ride, a showy, rich-attired pad.
For when well dressed and looking over-nice,
You may presume to charge a higher price,
Since patients always pay those doctors best,
Who make their calls in finest clothing dressed,
While such as go about in simple frieze,
Must put up with the meanest grade of fees ;
For thus it is poor doctors everywhere,
Get but the smallest pittance for their share. *
©f <©uacftetj>.
THERE is no fool, whate'er the sex or grade,
Monk, barber, Jew, comedian, or old maid,
Soap-boiler he, or pompous alchemist,
Bath-keeper, forger, or poor oculist,
But has his name among wise Doctors placed,
And thus through greed the Healing Art's disgraced.
?£ri)ottation to J&ealtt),
THE wise man says, God made the Healing Art,
And skillful thus describes its proper part.
All creatures to their end are hurried on,
Live briefly, die, return to earth anon ;
144 Appendix.
Sub pede calcatur, vermibus esca datur.
Huic succurratur, quod bene quis diaetatur.
Vitam prolongat, sed non medicina perrennat.
Custodit vitam qui custodit sanitatem.
Sed prior est sanitas quam sit curatio morbi.
Ars primitus surgat in causam, quo magis vigeatis.
Qui vult longinquum vitam perducere in aevum,
Mature fiat moribus ante senex,
Senex mature, si velis esse dici.
TRISTE cor, ira frequens, bene, si non sit, labor
ingens,
Vitam consumunt haec tria fine brevi ;
Haec namque ad mortis cogunt te currere metas.
Spiritus exultans facit ut tua floreat aetas,
Vitam declinas, tibi sint si prandia lauta,
Qui fluxum pateris, haec ni caveas, morieris :
Concubitum, nimium potum, cum frigore motum,
Esca, labor potus, somnus, mediocria cuncta :
Peccat si quis in his, patitur natura moleste.
Surgere mane cito, spatiatim pergere sero ;
Haec hominem faciunt sanum, hilaremque relinquunt.
Appendix. 145
Their bodies, daily trodden 'neath our feet,
To worms afford a palatable treat.
Whoe'er by diet rules his daily life,
Prepares himself to breast its wearing strife.
This Physic does by rules, but still cannot
Extend life's course beyond man's destined lot.
Who guards his health, his life in turn makes sure —
Prevention far surpasses any cure.
Let art then check disease's devious ways,
That mortals all may have increase of days.
Hence he who wishes long in life to stay,
Will aged manners wear before their day,
That hale in age all greet him by the way.
$}j>gune.
DEEP sadness, anger, or unwilling toil,
All render human life an early spoil
To Death, and thus they hurry on each soul
Toward the last inevitable goal ;
While cheerful spirits, magic-like, will raise
Life's tone, and thus prolong its term of days.
But such as unto pompous feasts incline
In youth, invite a premature decline.
Who tampers with a flux may lose his life,
The same with cold, much drink and am'rous strife.
Food, labor, sleep, when moderate each day,
Do good — 'tis surfeits hurry on decay.
To rise betimes, at evening to walk late,
Keep man in health, contented and elate,
is G
146 Appendix,
Vtntu
SUNT Subsolanus, Vulturnus et Eurus, eoi,
Circinus occasum, Zephyrusque, Favonius affiant,
Atque die medio Notus hasret, Africus Auster,
Et veniunt Aquilo, Boreas, et Caurus ab Arcto.
AutumniM.
FRIGIDUS Autumnus siccus prohibet tibi fructus ;
Humida cum calidis prosunt; vini sunt capienda;
De farinacea caveas et phlebotomia ;
Proficit ac usus veneris tibi nunc moderatus.
EST Hiems tempus frigidum, humidum, gelidumque;
Calida cum siccis, quantum poteris, tibi. tol lis;
Phlebotomia modo dabitur, purgatio nulla.
De rusticis simul assatis comedemus.
Omnia carnosa bona sint mixta piperito,
Et tunc venereus semel in mense valet usus;
Venereum do consilium, si lex patiatur.
Quae si non patitur, tunc his stultum videatur,
Haec definivit medicorum concio tota;
Nam qui sic vivit, saluti sit sibi vita.
Appendix. 147
ALL Eastern winds their rise take with the dawn,
While Western rise when Phcebus has withdrawn.
The moist South wind comes with the mid-day's glow,
And from the Pole the boist'rous North winds "blow.
autumn. 1
AGAINST dry fruit the autumn chills protest,
Then moist, warm things, with ripe old wine, are
best.
All farinacea shun, and bleedings, too,
But Venus mildly served will comfort you.
WSSLinttx.
THE winter months are cold and damp and drear,
And tables then should groan 'neath gen'rous
cheer.
Be bleedings slight ; be strong purgations none,
And roasted dishes to a turn be done.
With pepper season every kind of meat;
And once a month refresh love's urgent heat.
This we advise if one can set a rule,
Which, if not proved, proves him to be a fool.
Who keeps this law, physicians all agree,
Through life in health unceasingly shall be.
1 The hygiene of spring and summer will be found in Chapter
LXXXV. of the original Poem.
148 Appendix.
IN Jano Claris calidisque vinis potiaris ;
Laedit enim medo tunc potus, ut bene credo ;
Ne tibi languores sint, aptos sume liquores ;
Nee nimium cogita ; communia fercula vita.
Balnea sunt grata ; sed potio sit moderata.
Escas per Janum calidas est sumere sanum.
dFeftruartu*.
NASCITUR occulta febris Fcbruo tibi multa :
Potibus et cscis, si cautc vivere velis,
Tunc cave frigora : de pollice sumi cruorem.
Si comedis betam ; nee non anserem, vel anethum,
Potio sumetur : in pollice tunc minuatur.
JHarttus.
MARTI US humores pandit, generatque dolores.
Venas non pandes ; radices sedulo mandes ;
Sume cibuni modice coctum ; si placet, jure.
Balnea sint assa. nee dulcia sint tibi cassa.
Appendix. 149
Iftcgtmrn of tlje JWontlj*.— 3famtatj>,
LIGHT mulled wines in January drink,
For Mead is then unwholesome, as we think.
And that thou niayst nor languid feel, nor tame;
Partake of liquors of strength-giving fame.
Task not too much thy mind, spurn common fare,
Baths then arc good, but in all drink be spare.
In January hot food always eat,
Since this will furnish a most wholesome treat.
FEBRUARY breeds fever in our veins;
Eat little and escape repletion's pains.
Nor bleed from thumb ; be careful of a chill,
And should you cat of goose, or beet, or dill,
Take wine ; then may you bleed your thumb at will.
JWatcf).
MARCH humors brings and giveth rise to pains ;
Then cat of roots, but open not thy veins.
Take meats but slightly cooked, and take their juice;
Of vapor baths and sweetened food make use.
13 *
150 Appendix.
flprilte.
SE probat in vere Aprilis vires inhabere ;
Cuncta renascuntur ; pori terras aperiuntur.
In quo calefit sanguis recensque recrescit,
Venter solvendus, cruor pedis est minuendus.
iUajus*
MAJO secure laxari sit tibi curae ;
Scindatur vena ; sic balnea dantur amoena ;
Cum validis rebus sint balnea, vel cum speciebus.
Absinthi lotio ; edes cocta lacte caprino.
Junius.
»
IN Junio gentes perturbat niedo bibentes ;
Atque novellarum fuge potum cerevisiarunx.
Ne noceat cholera valet ita refectio vere :
Lactucae firondes ede; jejunus bibe fontes.
Julius.
CUI vult solamen Julius praebet hoc medicamen :
Venam non scindas, nee ventrem potio laedat ;
Somnia compescat et balnea cuncta pavescat,
Ac Veneris vota ; sit salvia ; ancthum nota.
Appendix. 151
ftpril.
APRIL new life infuses into Spring,
And all things bloom at earth's awakening.
The blood grows warm and upward shoots through heat,
Then purge yourself and from the foot deplete.
WHEN May has come, just purge yourself at will,
Be bled, and take of sumptuous baths your fill;
Let spicy balsams through them be diffused,
And wormwood lotions also freely used.
Whatever things are chosen then for food,
In milk of goats should first be steeped and stewed.
3fune.
MEAD sickens men, nor is it fit for food
In June, nor any ale that's newly brewed.
And to disarm the bile adopt this rule :
Eat lettuce leaves and drink from nature's pool.
WHO would some solace find e'en in July,
From all blood-letting and strong drink must fly;
His sleep abridge, of baths and love take heed,
And drink ptisans of sage and aniseed.
15 a Appendix.
glUgH0tU0.
QUISQUIS sub Augusto vivat moderamine justo,
Raro dormitet ; frigus, coitum quoque vitet ;
Balnea non curct, nee multa comestio ducet ;
Nemo laxari debet, nee phlebotomari.
Potio vitetur ac lotio nulla paretur;
Hie calidos vitare cibos, hoc mense nocivos.
September.
FRUCTUS maturi Septembri sunt valituri,
Kt pyra, cum vino, poma, cum lacte caprino ;
Atquc diuretica tibi potio fertur amcena.
Tunc venam pandes, species cum scmine mandes.
<8>ctober.
OCTORKR vina pnestet, cibos atque ferinos ;
Nee non arietina caro valet, et volucrina.
Ouatcmis vis comedo ; sed non proxordia laede,
Lw ede capiinum» caryophyllum lacque ovinum.
Appendix. 153
9ugu0t.
WHOEVER would in August rightly live,
But little slumber to himself must give ;
Will fly love's warm embraces, fear a chill,
Shun baths, nor eat at any meal his fill.
Nor should he either purge himself or bleed,
Drink wine at all, or even bathe, indeed ;
But chiefly, let no hot and luscious meats
Tempt any one to gastronomic feats.
September*
GOOD is ripe fruit by rich September strewed,
Goat's milk, grapes, crabs, pears — all make
wholesome food.
Use diuretic drinks, bleed then at will,
And of stone fruits take undismayed your fill.
©ctotjet,
OCTOBER brings us corn and wine and game ;
Then flesh of goats is good, wild fowl or tame;
Eat when you like, but still your stomach spare ;
Goats' milk and ewes', with cloves — be these your fare.
G*
154 Appendix.
Nobemfcet.
IPSA Novembri dat regula ; medoque bibatur,
Spica recipiatur, mel, zingiber comedatur.
Balnea cum venere, tunc nullum constat habere.
His vir languescit, mulieris hydrops quoque crescit.
December,
SANiE sunt membris, calidae res mense Deccmbri ;
Caulis vitetur, capitalis vena secetur ;
Lotio sit rara, sod phas et potio cara ;
Frigore'saepe tegas caput, ut sanus ibi degas.
Ut minus aegrotes, cinnamona reposita potes.
CR en era leg irCegulce OttfcatumuL
SI non consuesti ccenam, ccenare nocebit.
Res non consuetas, potus, cibos peregrinos,
Pisces et fructus, fuge crebras ebrietates.
Omnem post esum bibere, ne te fore laesum.
Qui possit vere debet haec jussa tenere;
Non bibe ni sitias, et non comedas saturatus ;
Est sitis atque fames modcrata bonum medicamen ;
Si super excedant, important sajpe gravamen.
Cures quando bibes ; sanus post talia vives.
Quandocumque potes parce; post balnea potes.
Ccena brevis, vel ccena levis fit raro molesta ;
Appendix. 155
Nobemtw.
TAKE for November this, as wholesome creed :
Eat spice and honey, ginger, too— drink mead.
Baths weaken then, and nuptial rite deprives
Husbands of strength, and dropsy brings on wives.
December.
WARM things employ in cold December's reign ;
Cabbage avoid ; bleed from the temple's vein.
Shun baths, but let all food that's rated dear,
Like wine and pheasants, form thy daily cheer.
From draughts of air let thy head guarded be,
And for health's sake drink only cassia tea.
©ntrtal llulea fot ISathtfi.
WITHOUT the habit, suppers never suit ;
Shun then strange meats and drinks and fish
and fruit.
And frequent revels, of disease the root.
Take wine for health's sake after every course,
And those who can let them this rule enforce.
Drink not when needless ; eat not out of mood ;
For thirst and hunger tonic powers include,
While surfeits bring of direst ills a brood.
Note when you drink, that you may not fall ill,
Note what you drink ; drink after baths your fill.
156 Appendix.
Magna nocet, medicina docet, res est manifesta ;
Nunquam diversa tibi fercula neque vina
In eadem mensa, nisi compulsus capienda.
Si sis compulsus, tolle quod est levius.
Si sumis vina simul et lac, sit tibi lepra.
O puer ante dabis aquam ; post prandia dabis.
Pauperibus sanae sint escae quotidians ;
Coena completa completur tota diaeta.
Pone gulae metas ut sit tibi longior aetas ;
Ut medicus fatur ; parcus de morte levatur.
©rto Gtrnnm.
PRiELUDANT offae, praecludant omnia coflae.
Dulcitcr invadct, scd duritcr ilia radet,
Spiritus ex vino quam fundit dextra popino.
Sit tibi postremus panis in ore cibus.
Non juvat a pastu sumpto flagrantior ignis.
Post coenam stabis aut passus mille meabis.
Uteres r )>*«* ct t Vtxt.
T AM sua Ncustriaci jactent pyra, pomaque campi,
| IV quibus elicies mustum, calidosque liquores ;
l^Uvxl si sorbcbis, pingucsces atque vakbis.
Appetulix. 157
Tis heavy, not light, suppers that give pain,
As common sense and doctors both maintain.
Unless compelled, you never should combine,
At one meal, divers sorts of food or wine ;
Hut if constrained, then take the lightest cheer;
From wine mu\ milk a lepra will appear.
Routine before and after meals demands
Water, dispensed to wash convivial hands.
With wholesome dishes be all paupers fed;
Let supper close our calls for daily bread.
Curb appetite and thus prolong your breath —
Temp'rance, the doctors tell us, laughs at death.
<©rtet of Supphtg.
BEGIN with meats, with coffee then conclude ;
Eschew such drinks as toper hands have brewed,
Which burn our flesh, yet palate all delude.
Be bread the last of anything you eat,
And after meals shun fires that give much heat
But supper over, then your time beguile
With rest, or gently strolling for a. mile.
OTftet an* ^etrg.
IN Neustria's fields sweet pears and apples grow,
And wines and liquors armed with fiery glow.
Partake of them as oft as you prefer,
And health and flesh on you they will confer,
u
158 Appendix.
ODULCIS medo, tibi pro dulcedine me do !
Pectus mundificas, ventrem tu, medo, relaxas.
Hoc dicit medo : qui me bibit, hunc ego laedo ;
Hoc sic vult medo ; cum confcstim sibi me do,
Stringit medo venam, et vocem reddit amoenam.
Ctoff&um,
IMPEDIT atque facit somnos, capitisque dolores
Tollere coffaeum novit, stomachique vapores j
Urinare facit ; crebro muliebra movit
Hoc cape selectum, validum, mediocriter ustum.
Be ®0tt ttalneorum.
SI vitare velis morbos et vivere sanus,
Haec precepta sequi debes, aliosque docere ;
Lotus, jejunus, post somnum non bibes statim ;
Detecto capite sub frigore non gradieris,
Nee sub sole ; tibi sunt quia haec inimica.
Rheuma, dolor capitis, oculus flens, ulcera, plagse,
Repletus venter, densa aestas, balnea vetent.
Balnea post mensam crassant, sed ante macrassant.
Humida pinguescunt, ast arida saepe calescunt.
Ventre repleto, balneum intrare caveto,
Sed cum decoctus fuerit cibus, ipsum habcto.
Appendix. 159
JWeatK
O SWEETEST Mead ! I yield myself to thee,
Who cleansest chest and keepest bowels free !
Though Mead replies, I always cause regret
Where'er I'm drank; still, Mead, I love thee yet;
For fatal bleeding thou dost hinder often,
And human voices lovest well to soften. '
(ttoffee.
COFFEE to some gives sleep, to some unrest,
Headache relieves, and stomach when oppressed;
Will monthly flow and urine too procure.
Take it slow-roasted, each grain picked and pure.
©f tije 2U*e of ttatf)0,
WOULDST thou have health ? Into disease ne'er
fall?
These precepts learn and promulgate to all.
When fresh from sleep and fasting, drink thou not,
Nor walk bareheaded in cold air or hot ;
Such things do harm in whatsoever spot.
Headache, catarrh, ophthalmia and fresh wound,
Surfeit, or when great summer heats abound
On bathing put their veto most profound.
Baths after meals make flesh, before, deplete.
Wet baths will nourish ; dry cause only heat.
i6o Appendix.
Si fornicasti, vel balnea si visitasti,
Non debes scribere, si vis visum retinere.
Balneo peracto non immediate cibato ;
Dimittas potum, nam expertis est bene notum.
jEquoreum lavacrum dessicat corpora multum,
Dulcis aqua stringit, infrigidat membra lavacrum.
Balnea sunt calida, sit in illis sessio parva,
Corporis humiditas ne continuetur in illis.
Vini Sufctfli* £ffectu0.
VINUM subtile facit in sene cor juvenile;
Sed vinum vile reddit juvenile senile.
Dat purum vinum tibi plurima commoda ; priinuni
Confortat cerebrum, stomacluun reddit tibi keUun,
Fumos cvacuat, et viscera plena relaxat ;
Acuit ingenium, visum nutrit, levat aures,
Corpus pinguificat, vitam facit atque robustam.
Villi Nobt ISffrctu*.
DANT nova pectori majorem vina calorem ;
Urinam procurant, capiti nocumenta ministrant
Sunt calcfactiva generaliter omnia vina.
Kbrius cflicitur citius potans vina nigra ;
Ventres constringunt, urunt, et viscera bedunt
Appendix. 161
All bathings shun soon after having fed,
But when digestion's done, no bathings dread.
Just fresh from nuptial rite or bath refrain
From writing, if your sight you would maintain.
Fresh from the bath to cat is never good,
Nor drink, as experts long have understood.
Salt water dries the body very much —
Frcs/i, tones it ; that of wells chills by its touch.
In warm baths never make a lengthy stay,
Lest inner moisture be increased this way.
lEffccte of Sparkling Jfiflline,
SOUND wine revives in Age the heart of youth,
While poor wine acts the other way, forsooth.
Pure wine on all refreshment will bestow,
In brain and stomach cause a cheerful glow,
And stagnant currents force anew to flow.
'Twill all depressing, carking gloom remove,
Sharpen the mind and also sight improve ;
Quicken the ear and the whole body nourish,
And cause old age with youthful bloom to flourish.
ISffeete of Neto Saline.
NEW wines inflame the breast, the reins excite,
Injure the brain and have a burning might
Dark wines are quickest to intoxicate,
To burn, destroy, as well as constipate.
14*
1 62 Appendix*
STroipu* tt iW 0*110 HBonninrtH.
SEX horis dormire sat est juvenique senique ;
Septem vix pigro, nulli concedimus octo.
Ad minus horarum septem fac sit tibi somnus.
Si licet ad nonam, nunquam ad decimam licet horam ;
Si potes, ad noctis normam rege tempora somni ;
Si natura dolet, lucis primum adde trientem ;
Praestat enim dormire die, quam membra quiete
Frustrare ; et lucis pars prima aptissima somno est.
Utilis est somnus moderatus cuique animali,
At nimium diuturna quies mala plurima profert.
Pessima forma recumbendi est dormire supinus,
Utilis est tussi prona, sed lumina laedit ;
In latus alterutrum praestat se praebere somno
Intentum, et si nihil prohibet, latus elige dextrum.
In dextro latere somnus tuus incipiatur;
Ad latus oppositum finis tibi perficiatur.
VtHtofiita* tt Jttictura*
IN die mictura vicibus sex fit naturalis ;
Tempore bis tali, vel ter, fit egestio pura.
Non cesses mingens, si Rex processerit iens.
Antiquo more mingens pedis absque pudore ;
Mingere cum bombis res est saluberrima lombis.
Appendix. 163
?Tije Cfme antJ JWotoe of Sleeping.
SIX hours of sleep suffice for sire and son,
Seven hours wc grant to sloth, an eighth to none;
In less than seven be all thy sleeping done.
If nine arc needed, take not thou a tenth ;
Conform thy sleep to night's appointed length.
Should health demand, from morning take a third ;
Better that one from bed all day ne'er stirred,
Than rob his limbs of their accustomed rest ;
And for such sleep the morning hour is best
Sleep in due measure profits every one,
But through excess much ill is often done.
Nothing is worse than on the back to lie ;
While prone relieves a cough, yet hurts the eye.
'Tis well to change from side to side at night,
And, naught forbidding, choose at first the right.
Upon this side begin thy night's repose,
And on the left let sleep her season close.
©f Nature 1 * ©all*.
AT least six times in every fleeting day,
Some tribute to the renal function pay,
And twice or thrice all alvine calls obey,
Nor pause should e'en the King pass by that way.
For usage old asserts that 'tis no shame
To yield to Nature, whatsoe'er her claim.
164 Appendix.
Non ventrem stringens, retines bombum veteratum ;
Nam ventum retinens, nutris morbum veteratum.
©ba.
SI sumas ovum, molle sit atque novum.
Filia presbyteri jubet haec pro lege teneri;
Quod bona sunt ova Candida, longa, nova ;
Haec tria sunt norma ; vernalia sunt meliora ;
Et gallinarum tibi sint, non aliarum.
Post ovum bibens, medico clam surripo poenam.
Anseris ovum non bene nutrit, nee bene solvit ;
Gallinae coctum, non ex tote bene nutrit,
Et leviter solvit ; non est sanabile frixum.
Post ovum molle, bonum haustum tibi tolle ;
Post durum, bibe bis, sic sano corpore vivis.
Hcetificantia.
CARMINA Isetificant animum, persaepe jocosa
Fcemina; jucunda cole, desere litigiosa;
Appendix, 165
But that good comes, so it is well believed.
To parts most distant from the ones relieved.
Such then as dare her warning voice neglect,
May soon some unrelenting ill expect
WHENEVER eggs before you are displayed,
Select the soft and those just newly laid.
The Elder's daughter gives this rule to you,
That eggs are best when white and long and new.
These rules again observe : the best are borne
By barnyard fowls, and laid at early morn.
Drink after eggs will keep you strong and sound,
E'en when the doctor is himself around.
Goose eggs of little value are at best,
And oftentimes not easy to digest.
While those of other fowls in kind allied
Are easy to digest, except when fried.
With a fresh drink let each soft egg be followed ;
Should eggs be hard, then let two drinks be swallowed :
From such precautions may good health be borrowed.
M
2Tije JBclffiljt* of TLiU.
USIC sweet solace brings to all mankind,
With fair companions of a joyous mind.
i
1 66 Appetidix.
Ssepe tibi vestis novitas sit speciosa,
Interdumque thoro sit arnica tibi generosa.
Fercula sic sapias, et pocula sume morosa ;
Indulgere gulae caveas, contemne gulosa ;
Vivere morose studeas, fugias vitiosa.
Falrttcete.
EXPLICIT tractatus qui Flos Medicinae vocatur.
Auctor erat gratus, per quern fuit abbreviatus ;
Sublimis status coelo sit ei preparatus ;
Christi per latus stet cum Sanctis elevatus.
Amen :
FINIS.
Appendix. 167
Shun mournful thoughts, each fleeting pleasure seize ;
Let garments rare thy fancy daily please.
May some dear maid her genVous love bestow,
To make thy heart with kindred passion glow.
The choicest food and dainty cups prepare,
Yet shun excess and glutton's luscious fare ;
And study ever to direct thy life
In pleasant paths, and far removed from strife.
TJalrtuctotp.
THE Flower of Physic endeth here its strain ;
The Author, happy o'er his garnered grain,
Prays that in Heaven there be prepared for him,
A seat near Christ, and His blest Seraphim.
Amen!
FINIS.
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