Samuel-Auguste Tissot

“ A great deal depends upon the age, with regard to which we should not be so indiscreet as to bear too hard upon youth, nor exact from them over great tasks; for nothing so totally exhausts and destroys the strength. I have often found boys of a penetrating genius, tinctured with learning beyond what could be expected from their years, and always with some concern, as I saw how it would end; because our youthful days should be consecrated to exercise, and to acquiring strength by its means, and not to severe study, which obstructs both vigour and growth. ”

“ Some men are by nature insatiable in drinking wine, others are born cormorants of books, and never glutted with the acquisition of learning: nor should it be pass’d over in silence, that almost all the learned men, who are look’d upon as its masters by the human species, all liv’d to a great age; as Homer, Democritus, Parmenides, Hippocrates, Plato, Plutarch, Lord Bacon, Galilæo, Harvey, Wallis, Boyle, Locke, Leibnitz, Newton, Boerhaave. ”

“ But nothing renders study and application more pernicious than the sadness that accompanies them: study is capable of clouding the temper of the happiest man with melancholy: if real and external causes of grief are added to this, the mind, overwhelm’d with so many strokes, at last sinks under them, and in its own ruin involves that of the body. ”

“ It would be a pleasure to me, reverend pastors of the church, and illustrious professors of divinity, to declare aloud how much physick is indebted to religion; I would gladly vindicate the principles of physicians from the imputations of ancient calumny, and prove that religion is strongly supported by a science, which, being totally conversant in the contemplation of an admirable creature, demonstrates from the wonderful mechanism of a man in health, and the surprising cures of the sick, the existence and great wisdom of the Supreme Artificer, and that even to the most obstinate. ”

“ And Plutarch, an admirable judge of what is right and becoming, declares it to be a shame, that the learned should spend days and nights in useless investigations, and at the same time neglect the art of preserving their health; being, doubtless, ignorant that the healing science was formerly look’d upon as a part of wisdom, and that those chiefly requir’d medical assistance, who have impair’d their bodily strength by anxious thought and watchfulness. ”

“ Cruel remorse of conscience, on the other hand, destroys the powers both of mind and body; because the mind being a prey to grief, such is the will of the Author of nature, the fibres are relaxed, and both health and beauty vanish. I cannot without horror recollect the shocking inquietudes of some men, who, having abused the gifts of God, could not, without inexpressible terror, see death approach, which renders the Deity more awful. ”

“ Some men of learning have been so bold as to wrap their heads with a towel dipt in cold water, that they might be able to continue the longer at their studies: and what will not an inordinate desire of knowledge excite men to? ”

“ And why should I forget you, learned, dear, and now [177] happy uncle and Mentor, who, having lived your whole life, whilst in health, as we promise to live when we are ill, enjoying, to an advanced age, a conscience void of offence, a genius replete with vigour, and faculties acute and penetrating; not only taught us how to live virtuously, but likewise have instructed us how to die well.
But it is time for me to put an end to my wandering discourse; for I am ashamed to detain you any longer, respectable auditors. ”

“ Therefore, young men, avoid a dirty pleasure, equally injurious both to your health and your studies, and which should be left to those who have recourse to it for the killing of time. The muses fly those studies that smell like a stable, and delight in a purer air; for one of the chief sources of health or sickness is the air which environs us, in which we live, and by which not only our bodies are affected, but whose power our very minds experience. ”

“ Let us not forget Herodicus, a man of learning, endowed with extraordinary intellectual faculties, but the most infirm of all mortals, who by exercise alone so confirmed his health, that he lived entirely free from disorders to a hundred years of age, and composed a treatise upon the gymnastic art. Let us not forget Socrates, the wisest of mankind, who thought it worth his while to learn this art. Strato, being troubled with the spleen, had recourse to exercise, which cured him. ”

“ It cannot indeed be denied, that there are men whom nature has endow’d with a Milonian stomach, and intestines of iron, who can bear with impunity the labour of the mind, bodily inaction, and excesses of gluttony. But are they therefore more happy? By no means; for then the vessels are overwhelm’d by the load of humours, the cellular membrane swells with fat, the viscera are press’d on every side, the whole habit grows turgid, they become heavy and indolent, the slightest motion puts them quite out of breath, and they sweat all over ”

“ Chearfulness of temper is the source of health, and a virtuous life is the source of chearfulness: a good conscience, a mind pure and clear of all contagion, are the best preservatives of health; and if the learned were without them, it would be a shame: for of what use is learning without wisdom? ”

“ Thus render’d unequal to the task of study, the learned are at last under a necessity of quitting their belov’d pursuits; for, as the strength of their nerves diminishes, their attention fails, the memory begins to lose its tenaciousness, the ideas are obscur’d, and an uneasy sensation of heat over the whole head, a dreadful palpitation, the most extraordinary weakness, and a groundless fear of approaching death, oblige them to discontinue their application. ”

“ Whilst the powers of the mind, or in other words, the strength of the brain surpass the age, nature, which is unequal to many tasks, forgets the body; the whole machine is overwhelm’d with languor, the fibres want strength, and severe disorders bring on an untimely death. ”

“ But if early studies are hurtful, it is no less dangerous to attach oneself to study in an advanc’d age; for habit becomes gradually a second nature when we begin from our tender age; but at an advanc’d period it is no longer susceptible of new habits; and the fibres of the brain accustom’d to rest, are torn before they can receive new and regular motions. I not long since with difficulty cur’d a native of this country, who in his fortieth year laying aside mercantile business, to pore night and day over the works of Newton, Clarke and Locke, had totally disorder’d his brain. ”

“ Whilst the illustrious Tycho Brahe, riding in the same chariot with the emperor, suppress’d his urine, he pay’d for his ill-tim’d modesty by death; and I even now have under my care a man of learning, who by a long suppression of his urine became unable to contain it; nor can he void it when he thinks proper, but it runs from him night and day by drops.
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Retirement from all human society is likewise hurtful to them; for man, whom nature made for man, she intended also should be benefited by society. ”

“ We should not, however, imagine, that the learned alone destroy their health by mental labour; it is of no consequence what the object is that engages the mind, if it applies a considerable time and with earnestness, it wastes both its own strength and that of the body. Kings, senators, ministers, ambassadors, and all those concern’d in the administration of public affairs, are subject to the same unhappy fate which [88] the learned deplore, if they labour with equal assiduity in transacting public affairs, as the learned in perusing books. ”

“ Hippocrates in three words expresses the whole alimentary diet of all ages, all ranks of men, and all conditions, ὡς ὁ πονος εστι και ἡ τροφη, food should be as labour; for, as he says elsewhere, if the aliments are overcome, that is, if they are subdued by the powers of the body, they invigorate it; if they overcome it, that is, when they get the better of the digestive powers, they give rise to many bad effects: and Plutarch justly observes from Hippocrates, that health arises from the exact equality of bodily exercise and the aliments taken. ”

“ Physicians, however, should never forget, that the patient, whom they have under their care, is a man of learning, and cannot, of consequence, have the same strength with which most other men are endued: as they have relaxed fibres and thin blood, they are not so capable of bearing phlebotomy: but the intestines are often filled with a collection of filth, which must be purged off; so that, as the illustrious Ramazzini has long since observed, it is better to have recourse to other evacuations with them than to bleeding. ”

“ And every weak man must know by experience, how much too great a use of the eyes weakens the head. Of this I have already given an example, and have often found it by experience; for when I contemplate any object a considerable time, after the fit of a fever, or any other disorder, and before my health is quite recovered, I am seiz’d with a vertigo, a sickness in the stomach, and a disagreeable listlessness of the whole body. ”

“ It is observable that fools always eat and drink a great deal, and yet digest perfectly well, even though they lead a sedentary life, and do not surpass others either in the bulk or strength of their bodies: whilst men of genius and abilities, though they have strong muscles, and take exercise sufficient, are obnoxious to crudities in the stomach and slowness of concoction [8] . Boerhaave, who resided a long time in a city renown’d for learning, has observ’d that studies excite a disagreeable sensation at the upper orifice of the stomach ”

“ Nor is it less laborious to continue our accustom’d studies too long, when old age approaches. The soul that animates our bodies, is indeed immortal; but so long as it is connected with a feeble frame, it must be influenc’d by its nature. ”

“ Nor does the medullary part of the brain suffer alone, but the very eyes themselves can perceive the force of the thinking soul, extended beyond the brain: for whilst we look upon a man that meditates seriously, all the muscles of his face appear stretched, nay sometimes convuls’d. Nor does the brain, the medulla of which is the source of [20] the nerves, suffer alone, but they themselves are hurt; and Plato has admirably shewn, in the masculine style in which he so greatly excell’d, how much the exercise of the mind prejudices the body. ”

“ The labours of the mind should therefore be retrench’d, as the declining powers of the body direct; the latter becomes incapable of bearing the same burthens, the former of pursuing the same studies, which in this period of life soonest break the constitution, and destroy the brain; and are of so little use, that old men consult their glory no less than their health, by retiring betimes. ”

“ I have often found, that the exercises of the mind so weaken the sensibility and motion of the stomach and intestines, that the power of purgatives is entirely counteracted by meditation and constant study.
Learned patients, when just out of a disorder, recover their sleep very slowly, and it often is not to be recovered without the assistance of wine, which is of wonderful efficacy in this case, by restoring a due tone to the stomach, debilitated by warm liquors; firmness to the nerves, strength to the whole body, and spirits to the dejected mind. ”

“ A sound mind in a healthy body; and consequently the great men, whom I have just mention’d, owed their reputation more to their extraordinary genius, than to industry and application; and prevented the ill effects of their severer studies, by allowing themselves intervals of leisure, by taking proper exercise, and by the dissipation both of business and amusement. ”

“ I must still grieve for a friend of a penetrating genius, an excellent understanding, of strict morals, and one that seem’d born for a better fate; who being animated with too great a love of learning, and in particular of the medical science, by reading night and day, observing, making experiments, and meditating, at first became sleepless ”

“ Even strength itself has its disadvantages; for whilst robust and vigorous young men devote themselves to study with unbridled ardour, the power of the soul, being rous’d and strongly stimulating the whole system, so increases the action of the solids, that there arise diseases occasion’d by too violent a motion, such as inflammations and malignant fevers; and when these disorders are once begun, they return for some years, till the strength being entirely broken, chronical [98] disorders succeed, according to the common fate of mankind. ”

“ At the beginning of my discourse I displayed the advantages of exercise: let it therefore be observed as an inviolable rule by the learned, to dedicate an hour or two every day to walking, that the lungs may be recreated by a free use of the air, that the stagnant humours may be thrown off, perspiration renewed, the limbs strengthened, and the nerves repaired. Boerhaave chose for this purpose the hour before dinner. Nor is walking alone sufficient. ”

“ Friction in a great measure produces the same effects with bathing; for if the whole lower belly of a person, whilst he lies supine in bed in the morning, with bent knees and an empty stomach, be rubbed all over with a rough cloth, he will be greatly benefited by it: by this artifice the motion in the abdomen is increased, the stagnant juices are thrown out, the secretions are increased, the excrements [165] are prevented from staying too long in the body, and innumerable diseases are cured, which, as you have been frequently told, are caused by a slow circulation. ”

“ Digestion will be more easy, sleep sweeter, the head seldomer clouded, and the strength greater, if, laying aside wine, we quench our thirst with pure water alone.
Wine has one fault that renders it exceeding hurtful to the learned; it forces the blood into the brain, and increases the several disorders thereof, head-achs, megrim, and the like, which are hardly to be cured without laying aside the use of wine: all these disorders are wonderfully removed by drinking [147] water, which prevents too great a quantity of blood from being gathered in the head. ”