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PRECIOUS STONES.
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again.
I commend it as a secret; and it ought to be kept as a treasure. These
few lines as concerning this matter alone is worth ten times the price
of the whole Book, were there nothing else in it besides, that one had
occasion to make use of; I am very confident of this. The deplorable
wasted Patients who have been long in tedious Consumptions, Phthises,
and Hecticks, if they make use of it, will give me thanks for this
notice ; whilst they may have Reason enough to Curse even the memories
of the Quacking Blood-suckers who, as they have drain'd them of a good
part of their Estates, would, by a continuance under their hands (for
all their Specious methods of cure) have fool'd them out of their Lives
too."
Mirfield
must have been a thinker, whose words of medical wisdom were well
considered, and still deserve attention. " Gluttony," said he, " slays
more than the sword ! Foods are not to be mixed, but a meal of bread
should be taken in the morning, and a meal of meat in the evening ; and
in this all doctors of faculty agree ; but we English, from long habit
hold the reverse." Yet he counsels every one to bear in mind the
judicious lines :—
" Si cena levis, vel cena brevis, Raro molesta; Magna nocet; Medicina docet;— Res manifesta."
He
advised Prelates, of sedentary pursuits, to have a rope in their study,
hanging from the ceiling, and knotted at the end ; on which they might
take exercise ; or to use weights in their hands (thus anticipating our
modern dumb-bells) if not able to get outdoor activity. As a further
fact, somewhat relevant to the salt-water
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