e various Mixtures
might be regulated and proportion'd: There's no doubt, but those whose
Constitutions are Cold and Moist, are naturally affected with Things
which are Hot and Dry; as on the contrary, Hot, and Dry Complexions,
with such as cool and refrigerate; which perhaps made the _Junior
Gordian_ (and others like him) prefer the _frigidae Mensae_ (as of old
they call'd _Sallets_) which, according to _Cornelius Celsus_, is the
fittest Diet for _Obese_ and Corpulent Persons, as not so Nutritive, and
apt to Pamper: And consequently, that for the Cold, Lean, and Emaciated;
such Herby Ingredients should be made choice of, as warm, and cherish
the Natural Heat, depure the Blood, breed a laudable Juice, and revive
the Spirits: And therefore my _Lord_ [69]_Bacon_ shews what are best
Raw, what Boil'd, and what Parts of Plants fittest to nourish. _Galen_
indeed seems to exclude them all, unless well accompanied with their due
Correctives, of which we have taken care: Notwithstanding yet, that even
the most _Crude_ and _Herby_, actually Cold and Weak, may potentially be
Hot, and Strengthning, as we find in the most vigorous Animals, whose
Food is only Grass. 'Tis true indeed, Nature has providentially mingl'd,
and dress'd a _Sallet_ for them in every field, besides what they
distinguish by Smell; nor question I, but Man at first knew what Plants
and Fruits were good, before the Fall, by his Natural Sagacity, and not
Experience; which since by Art, and Trial, and long Observation of their
Properties and Effects, they hardly recover: But in all Events,
supposing with [70]_Cardan_, that Plants nourish little, they hurt as
little. Nay, Experience tells us, that they not only hurt not at all,
but exceedingly benefit those who use them; indu'd as they are with such
admirable Properties as they every day discover: For some Plants not
only nourish laudably, but induce a manifest and wholesom Change; as
_Onions_, _Garlick_, _Rochet_, &c. which are both nutritive and warm;
_Lettuce_, _Purselan_, the _Intybs_, &c. and indeed most of the _Olera_,
refresh and cool: And as their respective Juices being converted into
the Substances of our Bodies, they become _Aliment_; so in regard of
their Change and Alteration, we may allow them _Medicinal_; especially
the greater Numbers, among which we all this while have skill but of
very few (not only in the Vegetable Kingdom, but in the whole _Materia
Medica_) which may be justly call'd _Infallible Sp