Book III OF THE PLAGUE 249

both material and spiritual; for example, sphragis 1 drachm,
unicorn'!s horn 1 scruple; vinegar 12 oz.; rose—water 1 oZ.

Moreover, in Britain, in case the sweat is held back, either
because the patient is not in the habit of sweating because his
flesh is thick, or when it has been hindered from some other
cause, I should not object to the use of those remedies which,
as I have said above, are normally sudorific, and at the same
time offer resistance to the contagion. In other fevers which
are not so acute as that just described, though compared with
those that are called merely malignant they are acute, the fol—
lowing treatment should be employed. In the first place, the
diet should be more generous than in what are called punctic—
ular fevers (typhus). 'The object of this is to maintain the
patient's energies, which in true pestilent fevers are greatly
enfeebled, because these fevers are analogous either with the
spirits or the sharper humors, and hence the putrefaction is
rapid and more extensive. But do not give the patient wine;
some doctors do prescribe it, even undiluted, but they are wrong,
because it raises the fever to the highest pitch, and moreover
the patient's strength can be restored by other means without
this risk. He should drink either oxycras?* or pomegranate
wine and water, or lemon juice and water. Meat I should give
only when roasted, and it should be frequently sprinkled with
rose—water while being cooked; also the dishes which women
call meat jellies. Let them have dishes of lettuce, endive and
borage, bitter cherries, rice, panie,?* with a little vinegar or
verjuice. Vou may allow salads made of chicory, dodder,
oxalis, borage, leaves of melissus, condrilla,?^ the kind which
the peasants call 'crencanum!, also those made of the blossoms
of the citron, bugloss, borage and the like.

In these fevers I do not approve of phlebotomy, because they
very seldom have their origin in the body; they come from
without, either from fomes or the air, or are conveyed from one
person to another. But in whatever way they may arise,
venesection can do very little good, because the germs cannot
be removed; and it may do great harm, because the contagion
will be carried inwards and the blood will be disturbed too
violently. Therefore not only in lenticular fevers but also in
true pestilent fevers, experience has shown that the majority
of patients who had undergone venesection, died. Hence in
these fevers, also, it will be better to reduce the blood by cuppings.