ourse, to arrive to the
Knowledge of his Patients Diseases: There yet remains we should unlock the
other Ventricle of his Brain, to behold the Subtilty of his Fancy in
groaping at the Causes of Diseases, which, tho' the Poet declares (_Felix
qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_) to be cloathed with the darkest
Clouds, yet by the Virtue of this following Principle, aims at this Mark
immediately, _viz._ That most Diseases are caus'd by Choler, Phlegm,
Melancholy, or abundance of Blood: Of these, two are suppos'd to be hot,
namely, Choler, and abundance of Blood, and the other two cold, to wit,
Phlegm, and Melancholy, and consequently Causes of hot and cold Diseases:
These four Universals being reduced to two general Categories; under the
Notion of hot and cold, any one having but the Sense of distinguishing
Winter from Summer, may, in the Time of an _Hixius Doxius_, instantly
appoint a Cause for almost every Disease: So that a Patient discovering
his Trouble, it may be a want of Stomach, bad Digesture, Fainting, Cough,
Difficulty of breathing, Giddiness, Palsy, _&c._ his Vulgar Physician has
no more to do, but take him by the Fist, to feel whether he be hot or
cold; if he finds him cold, then summons in his old Causes, Phlegm, and
Melancholy; which ready, and quick pronouncing of the Cause upon a meer
Touch, doth almost stupify your Patient, thro' Admiration of _AEsculapian_
Oracle, hitting him in the right Vein to a hair's breadth: For, quoth he,
indeed, Mr. Doctor, I think you understand my Distemper exceedingly well,
and have infallibly found out the Cause; for every Morning as soon as I
awake, I spit such a deal of Phlegm, and moreover, I must confess my self
extreamly given to Melancholy. This jumping in Opinions between them,
makes Mr. Doctor swell with Expectation of a large Fee, which the Patient
most freely forces on him, and so the Fool and his Monies are soon parted.
Now it's two to one but both are disappointed, the one in his
unexperienced Judgment, t'other in his fond Belief; for, state the Case,
the Disease takes its Growth from Choler, or abundance of Blood, or any
other internal Cause; there is scarce one in a hundred that are
indispos'd, who is not subject to hauk and spit in the Morning, and being
reduc'd to Weakness, by reason of his Trouble, must necessarily be heavy
in the Passions of the Mind, and incident to melancholy Thoughts, through
the Memory of his Mortality, occasion'd by this Infirmity: So that