Based on a diagram from Isidoe of Seville - Weebly

Unit Three: Typology in Islamic Medicine
<strong>Based</strong> on a diagram from Isidoe of Seville, Liber de responsione mundi (Augsburg,
1472).
Each Unit of the healing course is titled. The first unit is called "Islamic Medicine in History 101".
Each Unit is furthermore divided into sections and each section is represented by a file. Each section or
file has a quiz attached at the end of it. As soon as you finish the reading, please take the quiz. When
you send the quiz to me and I correct it you get credit for the quiz.
Readings that are optional are in GREEN.
You may purchase these books if you desire more information on a certain topic.
Readings that are provided online are in BLUE.
To access these readings you must link to the address I have provided you.
Readings that are provided in my own private lectures are in RED.
These are full lectures that I send you via e-mail. You download them to your computer via e-mail.
Readings that are provided by e-book are in ORANGE.
The are entire books or collections of writings that I provide you via e-mail. You download them to
your computer via e-mail.
Goals of this unit
The goal of this unit is to introduce the student to the ideas of temperament and
physiological type. This method of viewing bodily health was used in pre-Islamic as
well as Islamic times and is still heavily used today in China as well as India and
other areas. This unit strives to familiarize the student with the history of typology
from pre-Islam to the present as well as teach the student how to use a working model
of these theories. You will be sent texts familiarizing you with the FOUR elements of
Hippocratic and Islamic healing, as well as the FIVE elements related to Chinese
typology. Each civilization divided the elements differently. The Greeks had four, the
Indians three (fire, water, earth), and the Chinese five (earth, air, fire, water, and

wood). Even in the Western world, this way of looking at the patient was prevalent
until the 1700’s.
Summary Lecture for Unit One: History of Islamic Medicine
Recommended Texts for this Unit
Remember that these texts are recommended but not required.
Huff, Toby E. “The Rise of Early Modern Science: Islam, China and the West.”
Chishti, Hakim. “Traditional Healer’s Handbook.”
Korngold, Efrem. “Between Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine.”
Required Reading for this Unit (Sent via e-mail)
1. IHC 3_1 History of the Four Humors
Burns, Kristie Karima. “The History and Theory of Temperament in Islamic
Medicine.”
“The Three Schools of Greek Medicine.”
“The History of Temperament and Temperament Theory.”
“The Shepherd’s Calendar” – Visual
“Yorubic Medicine” by Tariq Sawandi
2. IHC 3_2 Humors in Islamic Medicine
3. IHC 3_3 World Humors
Burns. Kristie Karima. “The Five Types in Detail.” – Excerpted from “Between
Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine” with notes and clinical additions by
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND (Chinese)
Tabke, Amjiki. “The Four Tantras” (Tibet)
Kenkya, Kagakushi. “Ayurvedic Medicine” (Ayurveda – Indian)

Cross- Cultural Comparison Chart (Many Cultures)
Little, David. “The Temperaments in Homeopathy.” (Homeopathy)
Steiner, Rudolph. “The Four Temperaments.” (Education and Philosophy)
Keirsy & Jung Temperament Types (Modern Usage of Temperament)
Humors in Everyday Life
4. IHC 3_4 Humors in Literature
Gower, John. “The Four Complexions” – Excerpt from Chaucer
Oppenheim, E. Philips. “Peter Rough and the Double Four”
Kingsley, Charles. “Westward Ho!”– Chapter 22
Stoker, Bram. “Dracula.”– Chapter 5
Johnson, Ben. “Comedy of Humors.”
Found at: http://www.luminarium.org/editions/outofhumor.htm
Hamlet, a humeral diagnosis
Humors in Shakespeare
MacKay, Charles. “Memoirs of Extaordinary Popular Delusions (Vol. 3)”
Astrology and the Four Humors – Visual
5. IHC 3_5 Usage and Application of Humors
Burns, Kristie Karima. “The Physical Characteristics of Temperament.”
Burns, Kristie Karima. “Temperament and Depression.”
Mondoux, Channon. “Cooking for the Humors.”
“Humeral Properties of Foods and Herbs” by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
6. The Four Humors _Chart – NEW 2007
Introductory Lecture to this Unit
From: The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001.

According to ancient theory, any of four bodily fluids that determined man’s health
and temperament. Hippo crates postulated that an imbalance among the humors
(blood, phlegm, black bile, and yellow bile) resulted in pain and disease, and that
good health was achieved through a balance of the four humors; he suggested that the
glands had a controlling effect on this balance. For many centuries this idea was held
as the basis of medicine and was much elaborated. Galen introduced a new aspect,
that of four basic temperaments reflecting the humors: the sanguine, buoyant type; the
phlegmatic, sluggish type; the choleric, quick-tempered type; and the melancholic,
dejected type. In time any personality aberration or eccentricity was referred to as a
humor. In literature, a humor character was one in whom a single passion
predominated; this interpretation was especially popular in Elizabethan and other
Renaissance literature. One of the most comprehensive treatments of the subject was
the Anatomy of Melancholy, by Robert Burton. The theory found its strongest
advocates among the comedy writers, notably Ben Jonson and his followers, who
used humor characters to illustrate various modes of irrational and immoral behavior.
In medicine, the theory lost favor in the 19th cent. after the German Rudolf Virchow
presented his cellular pathology.
From: Ancient History, N.S Gill
WHEN TODAY'S DOCTOR prescribes an antibiotic to fight infection, he is trying to
put the patient's body back in balance. While the drugs and medical explanation
may be new, this art of balancing bodily fluids has been practiced since
HIPPOCRATES's day. In the Hippocratic corpus (believed not to be the work of a
single man of that name) disease was thought to be caused by isonomia, the
preponderance of one of the four bodily humors:
Yellow Bile
Black Bile
Phlegm
Blood
Four humors matched the four seasons
Autumn: black bile
Spring: blood
Winter: phlegm
Summer: yellow bile
The Humors and the Elements
Earth: black bile
Air: blood

Fire: yellow bile
Water: phlegm.
Too much earth made one MELANCHOLIC; too much air, SANGUINE; too much
fire, CHOLERIC; and too much water, PHLEGMATIC.
Too much Earth: Melancholic
Too much Air: Sanguine
Too much Fire: Choleric
Too much Water: Phlegmatic
Finally, each element/humor/season was associated with certain qualities. Thus
yellow bile was thought of as hot and dry. Its opposite, phlegm (the mucus of
colds), was cold and moist. Black Bile was cold and dry, while its opposite, blood
was hot and moist.
Black Bile: Cold and Dry
Blood: Hot and Moist
Phlegm: Cold and Moist
Yellow Bile: Hot and Dry
As a first step, the prudent Hippocratic physician would prescribe a regimen of
diet, activity, and exercise, designed to “void the body of excess humour.”
According to Gary Lindquester's
History of Human Disease, if it was a fever -- a hot, dry disease -- the culprit was
yellow bile. So, the doctor would try to increase its opposite, phlegm, by
prescribing cold baths. If the opposite situation prevailed (as in a cold), where
there were obvious symptoms of excess phlegm production, the regimen would
be to bundle up in bed and drink wine.
If this didn't work the next course would be with drugs, often hellebore, a potent
poison that would cause vomiting and diarrhea, "signs" the imbalanced humor
was eliminated.
We might assume such Hippocratic ideas sprang from speculation rather than
experimentation, but observation played a key role. Furthermore, it would be
simplistic to say ancient Greco-Roman doctors never practiced human dissection.
If nothing else, doctors had anatomical experience dealing with war wounds. But
especially during the Hellenistic period, there was extensive contact with the
Egyptians whose embalming techniques involved removing bodily organs. In the
third century B.C. vivisection was permitted inAlexandria where living criminals
may have been put to the knife. Still, we believe "Hippocrates," Aristotle, and
Galen, among others, only dissected animal bodies, not human.

So man's internal structure was known primarily through analogy with animals,
inferences from the externally visible structures, from natural philosophy, and
from function.
Such ideas might seem far-fetched today, but Hippocratic medicine was a great
advance over the supernatural model that had preceded it. Even if individuals had
understood enough about contagion to realize rodents were involved somehow, it
was still the Homeric Apollo, the mouse god, who caused it. The Hippocratic
aetiology based on nature permitted diagnosis and treatment of symptoms with
something other than prayer and sacrifice. Besides, we rely on similar analogies
today, in Jungian personality types and Ayurvedic medicine, to name just two.
Introduction to Humeral Theory from the Wicipedia
Interactive E-text
Just press on any of the underlined and colored words before for more information on
that topic (you must have your browser window open for this to work).
The four humours
(Redirected from Bodily humour)
The four humours were four fluids that were supposed to permeate the
body and influence its health. The concept was developed by ancient
Greek thinkers around 400 BC and it was directly linked with another
popular theory of the four elements (Empedocles). Paired qualities were
associated with each humour and its season. The four humours, their
corresponding elements, seasons and sites of formation, and resulting
temperments are :
Humor Season Element Organ Qualities Temperament
Blood Spring Air Warm & moist Sanguine
Phlegm Winter Water Brain Cold & moist Phlegmatic
Yellow bile Summer Fire Warm & dry Choleric
Black bile Autumn Earth Spleen Cold & dry Melancholic
It is believed that Hippocrates was the one who applied this idea to
medicine. Humouralism as a medical theory retained its popularity for
centuries largely through the influence of the writings of Galen (131-
201). While Galen thought that humors were formed in the body, rather
than ingested, he believed that different foods had varying potential to be

acted upon the body to produce different humours. Warm foods, for
example, tended to produce yellow bile, while cold foods tended to
produce phlegm. Seasons of the year, periods of life, geographic regions
and occupations also influenced the nature of the humors formed.
The imbalance of humours, or "dyscrasia", was thought to be the direct
cause of all diseases. Health was associated with a balance the humours,
or eucrasia.The qualities of the humors, in turn, influenced the nature of
the diseases they caused. Yellow bile caused warm diseases and phlegm
caused cold diseases.
In On the Temperaments Galen further emphasized the importance of the
qualities. An ideal temperament involved a balanced mixture of the four
qualities. Galen identified four temperaments in which one of the
qualities, warm, cold, moist and dry, predominated and four more in
which a combination of two, warm and moist, warm and dry, cold and
dry and cold and moist, dominated. These last four, named for the
humours with which they were associated-- that is, sanguine, choleric,
melancholic and phlegmatic, eventually became better known than the
others. While the term "temperament" came to refer just to psychological
dispositions, Galen used it to refer to bodily dispositions, which
determined a person's susceptibility towards particular diseases as well as
behavioral and emotional inclinations.
Methods of treatment like blood letting, emetics and purges were aimed
at expelling a harmful surplus of a humour.
Although completely refuted by modern science the theory formed basis
of thinking about causes of health problems for more than a thousand
years. It was seriously challenged only just before the 17th century.
There is still a remnant of the theory of the four humours in the current
medical language, we refer to humoral immunity or humoral regulation to
mean substances like hormones and antibodies that are circulated
throughout the body.
The theory was a modest advance over the previous views on human
health that tried to explain in terms of the divine. Since then practitioners
started to look for natural causes of disease and to provide natural
treatments.
For Review
Sir William Osler Book: Chapter 5
http://www.bookrags.com/books/teomm/PART5.htm
Additional Readings Online
These are optional resources – they are not required reading

The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton (This is heavy reading)
Available Free Online at:
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/textidx?c=moa&idno=ACM8939.0001.001&view=toc#resultstoc
On Air, Water and Places by Hippocrates available at:
http://classics.mit.edu/Hippocrates/airwatpl.1.1.html
On the Natural Facilities by Galen 170 AD
http://www.esp.org/books/galen/natural-faculties/html/title.html
Optike Glasse of
Humours, The
The diagram from The Optike
Glasse of Humours is a guide
to the system underlying
science and psychology in
Renaissance Europe.
According to the theory of
humours, the human mind
and body are intricately
connected to the physical
universe.
The diagram shows four
bodily fluids written around
the center of the chart. <strong>Based</strong>
on their balance in the body,
these fluids created a certain
personality or "complexion":
Sanguine (warm and moist, creating a balanced, happy
disposition); Choleric (hot and dry, creating an energetic or angry
disposition); Melancholic (cold and dry, leading to a sad or bitter
disposition); and Phlegmatic (cold and moist, creating a slow, mild
disposition).
The second ring aligns the humours with certain times of life:
adolescence, adulthood, old age, and senility/childhood. The third

ing concerns the times of the year: spring, summer, fall, and
winter. The fourth ring follows the four winds or directions: south,
west, north, and east. The fifth ring corresponds to the four
elements: air, fire, earth, and water. The sixth ring aligns the
humours with what were considered the major planets: Jupiter,
Mars, Saturn, and the Moon.
The constellations are arranged around the outer circle. A person was born
with a certain disposition, but any of the elements written in the rings could
influence the individual throughout his or her life. -CL
The Optike Glasse of Humours by Walkington, Thomas. London: Martin
Clerke, printer and bookseller, 1607. STC 24967.
Islamic Healing Course : You are HERE!
1.History of Islamic Medicine 101
2.History & Influence of Islamic Medicine 201
3.Theory and Typology in Islamic Medicine 101
4.Theory in Islamic Medicine 201
5.Herbs of the Prophet Muhammad (saws)
6.Herbs of the Qur'an
7.Herbs of the Arab World
8.Aromatherapy and Spiritual Healing
9.Herbal Preparations
10.Healing with Prayer & Other Alternative Therapies in the Prophetic Tradition
11.Nutrition in Islamic Healing
12.Putting it all Together - Case Studies & Practicum - Practice on a Virtual Client
NOTE: All student work done in this course becomes the property of
“The Islamic Healing Course” to use and distribute as they see fit. Credit
for work will be given when used and this usage does not cancel your
joint ownership of the material or rights to use it in any way you also see
fit.

Unit Three: Chapter One
Burns, Kristie Karima. “The History and Theory of Temperament in Islamic
Medicine.”
“The Three Schools of Greek Medicine.”
“The History of Temperament and Temperament Theory.”
“The Shepherd’s Calendar” – Visual
“Yorubic Medicine” by Tariq Sawandi
The History and Theory of the Temperaments in Islamic
Medicine
By Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
"Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the difference of night and
day, and the ships which run upon the sea with that which is of use to men, and
the water which Allah sendeth down from the sky; thereby reviving the earth
after its death, and dispersing all kinds of beasts therein, and (in) the ordinance
of the winds, and the clouds obedient between heaven and earth: are signs (of
Allah's sovereignty) for people who have sense" (Sura'tul Baqarah, 2:164).
According to Avicenna, Allah has made all kinds of people as well as all kinds of
beasts and they can be roughly categorized into four types. In fact, as far back as
Hippocrates in 450 BC, the idea that people could be categorized according to
"types" was very popular and was used as a key to self-development,
relationships, job choice, and even health care and maintenance. Hippocrates,
and later Avicenna, defined these types as sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and
phlegmatic and taught how each type could live a healthier and more personally
rewarding life. As Muslims, we can use this insight to help our community grow
together, to nurture family relationships, to inspire self-improvement and to heal
ourselves.
Physically, the sanguine element has historically represented the nutritive aspect
of metabolism; the choleric element, the stimulating and heating aspect; the
phlegmatic element, the fluid, cooling and purifying aspects; and the melancholic
element, the coagulating, solidifying, drying and concentrating aspects.
A quick definition of each temperament personality usually notes its reaction to
stimuli in their environment. Thus, the sanguine temperament is marked by quick
but shallow, superficial excitability; the choleric is characterized by a quick but
strong and lasting reaction; the melancholic temperament is defined by his slow
but deep response and the phlegmatic is famous for his slow but shallow
excitability. The first two are extroverts and the last two are introverts.
In the Qur'an, Allah describes man as being created from water (32:8), which is
cold and wet; earth (3:59), which is cold and dry; clay (7:12), which is cold and
wet; and a sounding clay (55:14), which is hot and wet as it is transformed or hot
and dry as it is beaten by the wind.

Although the terms used in the Qur'an vary from the terms used by
temperamental "healers" during the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), the
elemental qualities of man remain consistent. Thus, the sanguine element
corresponds to the hot and wet sounding clay as it is transformed; the choleric
element corresponds to the hot and dry sounding clay as it is beaten by the wind;
the melancholic element corresponds to the cold and dry earth; and the
phlegmatic element corresponds to the cold and wet water (or raw clay).
Although Allah has created each person to have all of these elements,
practitioners of temperamental healing have observed that each person usually
contains a predominate element.
The opposing idea that all people are alike is a twentieth century idea stemming
from the 'democratic' idea that if we are all going to be free and equal that we
must also be alike. Many popular books on the modern market propel this idea
even farther. Books like 'The McDougall Plan', 'The Zone', and 'The Atkin's Diet'
all claim that their diets are the best for everyone and largely discredit any claims
that different diets may benefit different types. Furthermore, most discipline
books recommend raising children using only one form of discipline and most
self-help books recommend that their method is the "one and only" way to
success. On the other hand, books like 'Eat Right 4 Your Type', 'Between Heaven
and Earth' (a book on Chinese Healing) and 'The Medicine of The Prophet' each
emphasize the importance of recognizing people's health needs according to their
various types. The beauty of an Islamic society is that it allows equality but does
not define equality with being alike. For example, in the Qur'an it says:
(9:71) And (as for) the believing men and the believing women, they are
guardians of each other; they enjoin good and forbid evil and keep up prayer and
pay the poor-rate, and obey Allah and His Apostle; (as for) these, Allah will show
mercy to them; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
(9:72) Allah has promised to the believing men and the believing women
gardens, beneath which rivers flow, to abide in them, and goodly dwellings in
gardens of perpetual abode; and best of all is Allah's goodly pleasure; that is the
grand achievement.
The fallacy of equality through being alike is extremely evident in the women's
movement of the 1960's and 1970's that sought to create equality of the sexes
by turning women into men. This failed because women and men are unique.
They can only be equal if they work to improve their unique qualities within their
own functional boundaries. In much the same way, the theory of temperament
states that people in general must also function within their own boundaries and
type. Rather than struggling to become something they are not, or abusing
others because they are not as they expect them to be, people must develop
themselves and appreciate others according to the gifts Allah has given them.
Many mainstream Americans have difficulty using this valuable system of healing
because they cannot get beyond the idea that "everyone must be the same to be
equal or right". Many Christian writers have also explored the temperaments,
however, they are largely rejected by the church because many church
authorities do not leave room for Christians to learn outside their religion. The
authorities of the church say that since it is not written in the Bible it cannot be
true. Even so, a number of modern writers have gained much popularity in the
past ten years for their spiritual insights into the classical temperament system.
Some of these writers are even claiming that the system of temperaments is
inherently Christian, although the Muslim physicians were the ones to cultivate
and perfect the system. These writers are: Tim LaHaye, (Spirit-Controlled

Temperament (1967); Transformed Temperaments (1971); and Why You Act the
Way You Do (1984)), and Florence Littauer, Charles Stanley, Larry Burkett and
John G. MacArthur.
As Muslims we are uniquely suited to gain from the scientific research in this field
as the prophet Muhammad gives us permission to, "Seek knowledge from the
cradle to the grave... even as far as China" and also emphasizes the uniqueness
of the individual within the equality of the society. In other words, Islam has no
problem accepting the idea and usefulness of the system of temperaments.
Some of the most prominent Muslim scientists, such as Avicenna explored the
theory of temperaments in great detail and an entire field of Islamic Medicine
called Unani Tibb, is devoted to healing through the temperaments. Healing
through temperaments was popular at the time of the prophet and some of the
methods the prophet mentions in the Hadith such as cupping and cautery were
popular "balancing" methods in this field of medicine. In addition, the hadiths
frequently refer to the 'hot' and 'cold' qualities of foods, which was another tool
used by this healing system.
Avicenna developed his theories based on the Hippocratic definition of the four
humors which existed in the body called black bile, phlegm, blood and yellow bile.
Before Hippocrates, however, the ancient Greeks had at least three humors they
worked with which very much resemble the present day Ayurvedic system of
temperament and healing. The idea of four humors, though, most likely
originated with Hippocrates, who observed upon examining blood that the red
portion of fresh blood is the blood humor, the white material mixed with blood is
the phlegm, the yellow-colored froth on top is the yellow bile, and the heavy part
that settles down is the black bile (sauda).
Avicenna developed this Hippocratic method even farther when he stated that
intercellular and extracellular fluids were secondary humors and that the origin
and action the four humors or essences (Arabic: akhlat) and their ultimate fate in
the digestive process are affected by diet. Avicenna defines the elements as
simple substances which provide the primary components of the human body.
Although he also recognized the substances of blood, black & yellow bile and
phlegm, he also correlated these to the four elements of earth, air, water and fire
and assigned these four elements temperamental qualities of cold, hot, moist and
dry. He also pointed out that although there is a close association between a body
fluid and its humor, the humor is considered separate and independent of the
body fluid.
Other Arab Muslim Physicians who used the theories of temperament are Abu
Bakr Muhammad Zakariya Al Razi (865AD), Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya (1292), and
Jalalu'd-Din Abd'ur-Rahman ibn Bakr as-Suyuti (1445). All speak extensively in
their works on the humors and how a practitioner can heal the sick through
balancing of the humors.
Plato(340), Aristotle (325) , Adickes (1907), Spranger (1914) , Kretchmer
(1920), Fromm (1947), Meyers (1955) and Keirsey (1987) have all explored the
four temperaments in their own way as well. Even Winnie The Pooh explored the
temperaments using Pooh as an example of the melancholic, Rabbit as the
choleric, Tigger as the sanguine and Eeyore as the phlegmatic type.
Islamic Unani Tibb Medicine was formed by refining the theories of Hippocrates,
Avicenna and later Arab physicians even farther. Unani Tibb recognizes the four
humors, the corresponding elemental qualities and temperamental qualities.
However, Unani Tibb further divides the human being into 2 'virtues' and 3

'faculties'. Using the four element system, Unani Tibb recognizes that each
human is made up primarily of the progressive and procreative virtue and a
second, physiological virtue. They also define people as being divided into
corresponding and interactive faculties which are called: the vital faculty which is
akin to the spiritual side of a person, the natural faculty which is akin to the
physical being of a person and the psychic faculty, which has little to do with
"psychic" ability, but actually relates to the conscious and unconscious mind. It is
believed that a person is born into a certain temperament though their physical.
The Three Schools of Greek Medicine
It is evident that among such a group of peoples as the Greeks, varying in state of
civilization, in mental power, in geographical and economic position and in general
outlook, the practice of medicine can have been by no means uniform. Without any
method of centralizing medical education and standardizing teaching there was a great
variety of doctrine's and of practice in vogue among them, and much of this was on a
low level of folk custom. "
Back in B.C. Greek civilization there were three different schools of medicine which
you could belong, the Cinidian school, the Coan school, and the Alexandrian school
of Medicine. Below is a vague outline of the three schools. All of the information is
not in this outline yet.
The Cinidian School
• Euryphon was its best known physician and founder of the school. He was skilled
in anatomy, wrote much on remedies, and was particularly known for writing on
human milk from the breast for consumptives (people who had tuberculosis).
• Their approaches to disease are indebted to the Egyptians.
• Herodias was a gymnastics trainer who turned physician and became famous for
over-exercising his patients, even in fever.
• The Cnidians divided up diseases according to symptoms, over-emphasized
diagnosis, and over-elaborated treatment.
The Coan School
• Draws from Mesopotamian tradition in medicine.
• Best and largest of the three schools.
• Hippocrates is the school's leader.
• Coan physicians took opportunities for gaining experience in anatomy afforded by
warfare.
• They laid very great force on prognosis and adopted a largely expectant (wait and
see) attitude towards diseases.
• Empedocles of Agrigentum (c.500-c.430 BC) led to the belief that the heart is the
center of the vascular system and the chief organ of the pneuma (blood) which was
distributed by the blood vessels. This belief was rejected by the Coan school.
• Anaximenes (c.610-c.545 B.C.), an Ionian predecessor of Empedocles, defined the
function of the pneuma.

• Pythagoras of Samos (c.580-c.490 B.C.) believed that the number was the basis of
philosophy. This is his equation:
The universe was represented by: 2
and was divided by the number:12
whence we have three worlds and four spheres. These in turn, according at least to the
later Pythagoreans, give rise to the four elements, earth, air, fire, and water---a
primary doctrine of medicine and of science derived from ancient Egypt. The
following is the thoughts on these four HUMORS, and what they meant to the rest of
the Greeks,.
THE FOUR HUMORS
…
WATER
Qualities: cold and wet
Humor: Phlegm
Body part: Brain
AIR
Qualities: hot and wet
Humour: Blood
Body Part: Blood
FIRE
Qualities: hot and dry
Humour: Yellow bile
Body Part: Liver
EARTH
Qualities: cold and dry
Humour: Black bile
Body part: Spleen
With the rise of Greek Civilization, physical ills in the West were no longer

lamed on the gods or sin, but on imbalance within the body itself. The
Greeks, like the Indians and the Chinese, believed in balance. To be
balanced the Four Humors must not be disturbed. If they were disturbed the
result would be disease. "The Greeks believed in the existence of four fluids,
or humors, within the body, the balance of which was vital for health. The
humors corresponded to the four elements, and had the same qualities; they
were also associated with particular parts of the body.”
Alexandrian School
• Alcmaeon of Croton (c. 500 B.C.) a pupil of Pythagoras. He began to construct a
positive basis for medical science by the practice of dissection of animals, and
discovered the optic nerve (in your eyes) and the Eustachian tubes. He also studied
embryology (the study of the development of a child from the point where sperm
meets egg to birth) and described the head as being the first part of the fetus (unborn
child) to develop. He also said that health depends on harmony, disease on discord of
the elements (earth, air, fire, water...as mentioned above) within the body.
History of Temperament and
Temperament Theory
"Tradition has it that fat men are jolly and generous, that lean men are dour, that short men are
aggressive, and that strong men are silent and confident. But tradition is sometimes wise and
sometimes stupid, for seldom does it distinguish between the accumulated wisdom of the ages and the
superstitions of ignorance."
The doctrine of temperament can be traced to the theory of humors which is a microcosmic form of the
macrocosmic theory of the four elements (earth, water, air, fire) as first proposed by Empedocles (V
B.C.) and the four qualities (dry, wet, cold, hot). Humoral theory states that there are four body
humors, and their proper mixture is the condition of health. The theory is ascribed to the school of Cos
and more precisely to Polybos, son-in-law to Hippocrates (Sarton, 1954). Before him, the greek
hylozoists had devoted their attention to the cause of illness and the function of the humors as
evidenced in the teachings of Anaxagoras and more so in those of Democratis and Alcmeon (Roback,
1928).
The four humors are fluid substances: blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile. A healthy condition
is a result of balanced proportions to each of the humors in respect to their combination, strength, and
quality. Discomfort and pain result from either a deficiency or excess of any one or combination of
these fluids. Each humor/fluid is differentiated by its color, evident tactile differences, degree of
warmth or cold, and differences in dryness and moisture making temperaments subject to seasonal and
temperate influence. The principles of therapy were based on cure by opposites (allopathy) (Levine,
1971).
The theory of temperaments was the fourth in this dialectic ascension of theories. Temperament theory
suggested that though the proportions of the humors may vary considerably, they could be reduced to
four types of mixtures or temperaments (crasis) according to the predominance of a given humor. Since
there were four humors, it was proposed that there could only be four temperaments and therefore four
kinds of healthy equilibrium, not one, and that men could be subdivided into four psychological groups
named after the prevalent humor: the sanguine, buoyant type; the phlegmatic, sluggish type; the

choleric, quick-tempered type; and the melancholic, dejected type. The theory was alluded to in the
Hippocratic The Nature of Man (Peri physios anthropou) and its elaboration was continued by
Eristratos (III-1B.C.) and by Asclepiades (I-1B.C.). The Greek physician Galen's (130-200A.D.)
treatise, Pericraison, De temperamentis was so well formulated that it remained the standard authority
until the 16th century, when Andreas Vesalius and, later, William Harvey amended Galen's theories
with their medical discoveries.
East Indian traditional Ayurvedic medicine has its basis in humoral theories. That is, the human body is
a macrocosm of the universe. The seven body substances-bone, flesh, fat, blood, semen, marrow, and
chyle-are the product of three humors: kapha, or phlegm; pitta, or bile; and vata, or wind. Health
depends on the equilibrium of these humors, and sickness is a disequilibrium. The point of equilibrium
depends on age, sex, temperament, climate, nutrition, and the nature of daily activities.
A smaller branch of traditional medicine on the subcontinent, and one common to Muslin areas, is the
practice of Yunani or Unani. This is the medicine of the ancient Greeks, translated into Arabic and
Persian and then slowly modified by its practitioners, the Hakim. The works of Galen are excepted
figuratively and in detail. True to this Mediterranean tradition, the medicine has four humors: yellow
bile, black bile, phlegm, and blood. These humors combine with the four primary qualities of heat,
cold, moisture, and dryness. If the humors and qualities are in equilibrium, a person is healthy; if not,
illness results.
Human differences have been the subject of faith, theory, and observance throughout history.
Gnosticism was a religious philosophical dualism that professed salvation through secret knowledge, or
gnosis. The movement reached a high point of development during the 2nd century A.D. in the Roman
and Alexandrian schools founded by Valentius. The Gnostic sects set forth their teachings in complex
systems of thought. Characteristic of their position was the doctrine that all material reality was evil.
Central to their convictions of salvation is the freeing of the spirit from its imprisonment in matter. In
Gnostic thought, a divine seed is imprisoned in every person. The purpose of salvation is to deliver this
lost seed from the matter. Gnostics classified people according to these three categories: (1) Gnostics,
or those certain of salvation, because they were under the influence of the spirit (pneumatikoi); (2)
those not fully Gnostic, but capable of salvation through knowledge (psychikoi); and (3) those so
dominated by mater that they were beyond salvation(hylikoi). Temperament theory played a
predominant role in Gnostic faith.
Wycliff's sermons, published in 1380, appear to be among the first English literature to allude to the
temperaments, or rather, the humors. Shakespeare described the four temperaments in Cynthia's Revels
and later in Every Man Out of His Humor. Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy provides a detailed
description of the humoral doctrine.
Further speculations arrived with the onset of the scientific revolutions of Copernicus, Galilei, and
Harvey. At the onset of the eighteenth century, Andreas Rudiger in his Physica Divina reduced the
number of elements responsible for temperamental differences to two: aither as cause of the light
qualities, and air as cause of the heavy qualities. With Harvey's discoveries of the circulation of the
blood, temperament emphasis shifted from the composition of the blood to its movement as the
determinant of differences in temperament. "In a word, the humoral doctrine was beginning to change
into a solid theory." (Roback, 1928, p.48).
Stahl and later Hoffman, proposed to take into consideration three factors into their temperament
theory: (a) the constitution of the blood, (b) the porosity of the tissue, and (c) the width of the blood
vessels. Haller in the middle of the eighteenth century laid the beginnings of modern experimental
physiology resulting in the theory of humors receiving a permanent setback. Haller proposed that the
connection between the blood and the temperaments is not a necessary one but that parts through which
the blood flows, or rather their strength and irritability, are fundamental in accounting for
temperamental differences. With research in nerve physiology, the doctrine of temperaments took a
new direction. The nervous system was not to be the seat of temperament (Roback, 1928). Chief among
the new scholars was a student of Haller. Wrisberg combined the four humors into a double category:
choleric-sanguine, and melancholic-phlegmatic.
At this same time, the science of philosophy stepped in to "dismiss all the materialistic theories as
either worthless or so highly speculative as to be of little assistance" (Roback, 1928, p.50). Plater's
Philosophische Aphorismen and Kant's Anthropolgie produced new sets of temperaments. Platter
proposed that temperaments be composed of: (a) the attic or mental, derived from the preponderance of
the higher physic organ (auditory, visual, and tactile); (b) the animal temperament, resulting from the
preponderance of the second organ over the first; (c) the heroic temperament, where both organs or

systems are well matched; and (d) the faint temperament produced by the lack of energy in either of the
two organs. Kant's treatment of character places temperament between two marks of individuality
which he calls characteristic and character. Temperament is regarded by Kant to be a mode of
sensibility. "The temperaments he considers both as physiological facts, such as physical constitution
and complexion of humors, and psychological tendencies due to the composition of the blood"
(Roback, 1928, p.52).
The phrenologistic teachings of Gall and Spurtzheim attempted to create a new science which
purported to localize abilities and disabilities to specific regions of the brain, and dismissing the
determinate faculties. Spurtzheim in Phrenology in Connection with the Study of Physiognomy
considered the study of temperaments as the first step in phrenology. Phrenological temperaments
became known as (a) the motive, based on the muscular system, (b) the vital, indicating a
predominance of the alimentary system, and (c) the mental temperament, drawing its strength from the
nervous system.
Toward the middle of the eighteenth century, the French physician Halle distinguished between general
temperaments, partial temperaments, and acquired temperaments. General temperaments were linked
with the vascular, nervous, and motor systems. Partial temperaments corresponded to the various
regions of the body and the fluids, pituita, and bile. The acquired temperaments resulted from
environmental influences on the primary temperaments (Roback, 1928).
The study of temperament in the nineteenth century represents an embodiment of ideas from immediate
predecessors. Influenced by the powers of electricity, Schelling felt that temperaments shared the same
fate of opposites as did electricity. Organisms were said to contain two polar principles of gravity and
light (substance and movement) which "were it not for the predominance of the one or the other in the
individual, would yield total identity, where all differences would be obliterated" (Roback, 1928, p.63).
Temperament anomalies occurred when there was an imbalance in the three dimensions.
Temperaments according to Johannes Muller became the forms of psychic life. A co-worker of Muller,
the German-Jewish anatomist Jacob Henle, based his theory of temperaments on the tone of the
nervous system, speed of the reaction and its duration (Roback, 1928).
In 1795, Shiller conceptualized two psychological types, the Idealist and the Realist. The German
philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche in his first book, The Birth of Tragedy (1872; English
translation, 1968), introduced his famous distinction between the Appolonian, or rational, element in
human nature and the Dionysian, or passionate, element as exemplified in the Greek gods Apollo and
Dionysis. With a blend of the two principles, either in art or in life, humanity achieves a momentary
harmony with the Primordial Mystery. The Swiss writer of epic poetry, stories, novels, dramas, and
essays, Carl Georg Friedrich Spittler in his epic Prometheus and Epimetheus (1881; English
translation, 1931), reflecting the pessimism of Schopenhauer and the romantacism of Niezsche
describes two types called Prometheus and Epimetheus.
In 1892, Pilo's Nuovi Studi sul Caratter looked for the basic differences of man in the chemical
composition of the blood and its thermicity. Pilo identifies four general temperament characters: the
plethoric, the serious, the bilious, and the lymphatic. In 1907, Dr. Erich Adickes proposed dividing man
into four world views: dogmatic, agnostic, traditional, and innovative. Alfred Adler spoke similarly of
four mistaken goals: recognition, power, service, and revenge. In 1920, Eduard Spranger told of four
human values that set people apart: religious, theoretic, economic, and artistic (Keirsey, 1984). The
American philosopher and psychologist William James, one of the founders and leading proponents of
pragmatism, considered philosophies to be expressions of personal temperament and developed a
correlation between tough-minded and tender-minded temperaments and empiricist and rationalist
positions in philosophy.
Carl Gustav Jung (1923), felt he possessed two separate personalities: an outer public self involved
with the world and his family and peers and a secret inner self that felt a special closeness to God. The
interplay between these selves formed a central theme of Jung's personal life and contributed to his
later emphasis on the individual's striving for integration and wholeness. Jung proposed that motivation
be understood in terms of a general creative life energy-the libido-capable of being invested in different
directions and assuming a variety of different forms. The two principal directions of the libido are
extroversion (outward into the world of other people and objects) and introversion (inward into the
realm of images, ideas, and the unconscious). Persons in whom the former directional tendency
predominates are extroverts, while those in whom the latter is strongest are introverts. Jung also
proposed to group people according to which of four psychological functions or types is most highly
developed: thinking, feeling, sensation, or intuition.

Shortly after the publication of Jung's book, Psychological Types, Ernst Kretschmer (1925) published
his book, Physique and Character in which he describes the "Cycloid" and "Schizoid" types. In 1942,
William Sheldon published The Varieties of Temperament in which he presents a system for treating
the problem of individual differences in terms of what appears to be basic components of temperament.
These components in turn are tied back to and interpreted in terms of basic components of morphology.
The emphasis is upon the constitutional factors, upon the relatively stable qualities of an individual that
give him his basic individuality. Sheldon's study extended through a period of five years analyzing the
morphological and temperamental characteristics of 200 young men. Sheldon created a scale for
temperament based upon 60 traits categorized into three groups: Viscerotonia-characterized by general
relaxation, love of comfort,sociability, congeniality, gluttony for food, for people, and for affection;
Somatotonia-characterized by a predominance of muscular activity and of vigorous bodily
assertiveness; and Cerbratotonia-characterized by a predominance of the element of restraint,
inhibition, and of the desire for concealment.
A major breakthrough in typology came in 1942 with the emergence of the Myers Briggs Type
Indicator (MBTI). Isabelle Myers and Katherine Briggs based their conceptual framework on the
typology created by Carl Jung. They felt that differences concern the way people prefer to use their
minds, specifically the way in which people make judgements. Myers and Briggs identified
"perceiving" as the process of becoming aware of things, people, occurrences, and ideas. "Judging"
includes the perceived process of coming to conclusions. Together, perception and judgement govern
much of one's outer behavior.
Joseph Hill (NP) looked to develop in education the level of precision and accountability found in
medicine and law. He based his work on Gestalt psychology and research by Kagan and Witkin. Hill
developed the concept of cognitive style mapping and the classification of learners in terms of sensory
preference; Auditory, Visual, or Tactile-Kinesthetic.
In 1928, William Marston in Emotions of Normal People investigated motor consciousness as the basis
of feeling and emotion. Marston's psychonic theory of consciousness traced the affective consciousness
to mechanistic-type causes; that is, to nerve impulses, thence to bodily changes and, ultimately, to
environmental stimuli. Marston viewed people as having two axis with their actions tending to be
active or passive depending upon the individual's perception of the environment as either antagonistic
or favorable. By placing these axis at right angles, four quadrants were formed with each
circumscribing a behavior pattern; dominance produces activity in an antagonistic environment,
inducement produces activity in a favorable environment, steadiness produces passivity in a favorable
environment, and compliance produces passivity in an antagonistic environment. Marston proposed
that learning by inducement and submission is pleasant; learning by trial and error (compliance and
dominance) is painful.
Walter Clark's Activity Vector Analysis (AVA) was developed as a psychometric instrument around
Marston's theory. John Geier's (1972) Personal Profile: WORK Behavior Characteristic Interpretation,
describes behaviors in terms of how others see you, your behavior under pressure, and how you see
yourself. This theory of dimensional behavior adheres to the precept that behavior changes can and
does take place. The four-section indicator developed by Geier tests for Dominance (D), Influence (I),
Steadiness (S), and Compliance (C).
Keith Golay, 1982) described four basic and distinct learning types by the individual's pattern of
learning. <strong>Based</strong> on the work of David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates, as well as Isabelle Myers, Golay
believes that personality predisposes the learner to certain ways of thinking, wanting, liking, and
acting. Golay classifies learners as; Actual Spontaneous, Actual Routine, Conceptual Specific, or
Conceptual Global.
David Keirsey (1984) combined Kretschmer's temperament hypothesis with Jung's behavior
description, and with Nietzsche's and Spitteler's Greek typology. Keirsey notes themes in the various
observations and the consistent tendency of human behavior. He observed four patterns: Sensing
Perceiver (SP), Sensing Judger (SJ), Intuitive Thinker (NT), and Intuitive Feeler (NF). These four
patterns are temperaments-the way in which human personality interacts with the environment.

The Shepherd's Calendar, published by
Nicholas Le Rouge, Troyes, c1495.
FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

1. Choleric
2. The Sanguine
3. The Phlegmatic
4. The Melancholic.
Yorubic Medicine: The Art of divine
Herbology
Tariq Sawandi
Yorubic medicine is indigenous to and widely practiced on the African
continent. Yorubic medicine has its roots in the Ifa Corpus, a religious
text revealed by the mystic prophet, Orunmila, over 4,000 years ago in
the ancient city of Ile-Ife, now known as Yorubaland. Within the last
400 years, this healing system has also been practiced in the day-to-day
lives of individuals in the Caribbean, and South America, in large part,
because of the traditions brought over by African slaves arriving in the
Americas.
Orunmila's teachings were directed at the Yoruba people which
centered around the topics of divination, prayer, dance, symbolic
gestures, personal and communal elevation, spiritual baths, meditation,
and herbal medicine. This ancient text, the Ifa Corpus, is the
foundation for the art of divine herbology. Although Yorubic medicine
has been practiced in Africa for over 4,000 years, its fundamental
principles are little known to Westerners around the world. Among the
various medical techniques for diagnosis and treatment, Yorubic
medicine provides an important and valuable system worthy of study.
The purpose of Yoruba is not merely to counteract the negative forces
of disease in the human body, but also to achieve spiritual
enlightenment and elevation which are the means of freeing the soul.
As with all ancient systems of medicine, the ideal of Yoruba herbology
is to condition the body in its entirety so that disease will not attack it.
(The term Osain is also used to describe Yorubic herbology. The word
"Osain" means "the divine Orisha of plants". I will also use this term
throughout the essay.) Many Westerners take it for granted that
"African medicine" is a vague term for a collection of medical "voo
doo". This myth about African medicine crept in over centuries of

misunderstandings. What is left is the negative image of primitive "voo
doo" witch-doctors. This "voo doo" mentality is devoid of the sacred
realities born of African thought in respect to religion, philosophy, and
medicine. Therefore, the reader must separate witch-doctor myths from
the genuine article when considering African herbal medicine.
In order to understand the system of Yoruba medicine, it is important
to have some knowledge of the historical conditions that gave birth to
this African art of healing. Many factors and dynamics were involved
which influenced the beginnings and the development of this
indigenous medicine.
The Yoruba history begins with the migration of an East African
population across the trans-African route leading from the mid-Nile
river area to the mid-Niger. 1 Archaeologists, according to M. Omoleya,
inform us that the Nigerian region was inhabited more than forty
thousand years ago, or as far back as 65,000 B.C. 2 During this period,
the Nok culture occupied the region. The Nok culture was visited. by
the "Yoruba people", between 2000 and 500 B.C. This group of people
were led, according to Yoruba historical accounts, by King Oduduwa,
who settled peacefully in the already established Ile-Ife, the sacred city
of the indigenous Nok people. This time period is known as the Bronze
Age, a time of high civilization of both of these groups.
According to Olumide J. Lucue, "the Yoruba, during antiquity, lived in
ancient Egypt before migrating to the Atlantic coast." He uses as
demonstration the similarity of identity of languages, religious beliefs,
customs, and names of persons, places and things. 3 In addition, many
ancient papyri discovered by archaeologists hint at an Egyptian origin.
Like almost everything else in the cultural life of Egypt, the
development of science and medicine began with the priests, and
dripped with evidences of its magical origins. Among the people,
amulets and charms were more popular than pills as preventive or
curatives of disease. Disease was considered to them as possession by
evil devils, and was to be treated with incantations along with the roots
of certain plants and mystical concoctions. A cold for instance, could
be exorcised by such magic words as: "Depart, cold, son of a cold,
thou who breakest the bones, destroyest the skull, makest ill the seven
openings of the head!...Go out on the floor, stink, stink, stink!" In
many ways, this provided an effective cure, known today by various
contemporary medicine as psychosomatic. Along side the incantations
that were used, the sick patient was given a foul tasting concoction to
help ward off the demon housed in the body.
The Egyptian principles of magic and medicine
There was a tendency of Egyptian physician and priest to associate
magic with medicine. From such origins, there rose in Egypt great
physicians, surgeons, and specialists, who acknowledged an ethical

code that passed down into the famous
Hippocratic oath. The Greeks derived much of
their medical knowledge from Egyptian
physicians around 750 B.C. The influence of
Egyptian medicine was so great on European
culture that even to this day Egyptian concepts
still have its signature in modern Western
medicine. For example, when a medical Doctor
writes a prescription he uses the Egyptian symbol
for health Jupiter) with the symbol for retrograde=
Rx This means, "I curse your health in retrograde"
= death.
During the reign of King Menes, there developed a body of knowledge
which centered around magic, medicine, philosophy and religion
which is known as the Memphite Theology. Egyptian priest physicians
saw the ideal of medicine as a magical principle: "that the qualities of
animals or things are distributed throughout all their parts".
Consequently, within the universe contact is established between
objects through emanations (radiation), the result might be sensation or
cognition, healing or contagion. 4
There is no doubt the Memphite Theology played a major role in
evolving Egyptian medical theory. To them, magic and healing was
"applied religion". The Memphite Theology is an inscription on a
stone, now kept in the British Museum. It contains theological,
cosmological, and philosophical views of the Egyptians. It is dated 700
B.C. and bear the name of an Egyptian Pharaoh who stated that he had
copied an inscription of his ancestors.
According to the Memphite Doctrine, "The primate God Ptah,
conceived in his heart, everything that exist and by his utterance
created them all. He first emerged from the primeval waters of Idun in
the form of a primeval Hill. Closely following the Hill, the God
(Atum) also emerged from the waters and set upon Ptah...out of the
primeval chaos contained 10 principles: 4 pairs of opposite principles,
together with two other gods: Ptah, Mind, Thought, and Creative
utterance. While Atum joins himself to Ptah and acts as Demiurge and
executes the work of creation.
a. Water is the source of all things
b. creation was accomplished by the unity of two creative
principles: Ptah and Alum, the unity of Mind (Nous) with
Logos (creative utterance).
c. Atum was Sun-God or fire-God
d. Opposite Principles control the life of the universe.
e. the elements in creation were fire (Atum), water (Nun), Earth
(Ptah) and Air.
The gods whom Atum projected from his body were:

1. Shu (Air)
2. Tefnut (moisture)
3. Geb (earth)
4. Nut (sky)
Who are said to have given birth to four other Gods:
5. Osiris
6. Isis
7. Seth (opposite of good)
8. Nephthys (unseen world)
The Egyptian concept of cosmology, like the Chinese doctrine of Yin
and Yang, and the East Indian system of Tridosha (Pitta, Vata, and
Kapha), offered a comprehensive explanation of the natural forces of
the universe. There were other ideals which the Egyptians developed
such as the Doctrine of the Soul. They believed that the soul and body
were not two distinct things, but one in two different aspects, just as
form related to matter. The soul is the power which a living body
possesses, and it is the end for which the body exist, the final cause of
its existence. By the time the Third Dynasty arrived during the reign of
King Zoser, Imhotep, the great African physician had expanded on
much of the earlier theories of medicine. Imhotep is regarded as the
"real Father of Medicine". He diagnosed and treated more than two
hundred diseases. Imhotep and his students knew how to detect
diseases by the shape, color, or position of the visual parts of the body;
they also practiced surgery, and extraction of medicine from plants.
Imhotep also knew of the circulation of the blood, four thousand years
before it was known in Europe. His sayings and proverbs, which
embodied his philosophy of life, were handed down from generation to
generation. He is best known for his saying, "Eat, drink, and be merry
for tomorrow we shall die."
Imhotep also promoted health by public sanitation, by circumcision of
males, and by teaching the people the frequent ipse of the enema.
Diodorus Siculus, the historian tells us: "In order to prevent sicknesses
they look after the health of their body by means of drenches, fastings
and emetics, sometimes everyday, and sometimes at intervals of three
or four days. For they say that the larger part of the food taken into the
body is superfluous, and that it is from this superfluous part that
diseases are engendered."
The habit of taking enemas was learned by the Egyptians from
observing the "ibis", a bird. that counteracts the constipating character
of its food by using its long bill as a rectal syringe. Herodotus, the
Jewish historian reports that the Egyptians, "purge themselves every
month, three days successively, seeking to preserve health by emetics
and enemas; for they suppose that all diseases to which men are subject
proceed from the food they use."

We can see that the Egyptians recognized the connection between food
(disease) and the cause of certain pathological diseases. In Africentric
science, all life (i.e. elements) is created by harmony and recreates
harmony. A disease is viewed as harmonizing healing crisis of the
body. When a person gets overloaded with waste, toxins from
constipating junk foods, drugs, alcohol, caffeine, nicotine, sodas, fried
foods, bleach white flour, enriched flour, white rice, dairy products,
cooked pig and blood in meat, salt, white sugar, incorrect food
combinations (i.e. protein and carbohydrates=meat and bread or
potatoes) the body reacts with a healing crisis (cleansing reaction).
This cleansing is called a disease by Western medicine. Actually, the
disease is the "food itself". Western medicine tries to cure the body
from curing (cleansing) itself with a cure (drugs) and/or surgical
mutilations. Oddly enough, Western doctors blame the cleansing
reaction.
The concept of universal harmony is characteristic to African thought.
Africans believe there is a harmony in the universe - the circling of the
planets, the tides of the earth, the growth of vegetation, the lives of
animals and people all are related. All that is in the universe emanated
from the same source, one universal Mind.
The ancient Egyptian priest looked out at the universe, and noted the
ratios of the different planetary cycles, and counted the rhythmic
periods in nature. They also calculated the ratios of the human body.
They put together a "sacred" geometry which were a set of
mathematical ratios and proportions. They believed that these ratios, if
used in the sound of music and the architecture of buildings
(pyramids), would resonate with the life forces of the universe and thus
enhance life. The ancient physician/priests of the Nile Valley were said
to have been instructed in temples which were called "Per Ankh". In
today's language they would be called the "House of Life".
Of the thousands of medical papyri originally written, less then a dozen
have been discovered, and of that number, the Ebers Papyrus and the
Edwin Smith Papyrus are deemed the most profound. The Edwin
Smith Papyrus was published in 1930 by James Henry Breasted, who
had spent ten years translating the document. This papyrus describes
48 different injuries to the head, face, neck, thorax and spinal column
and the appropriate surgical methods for attending to them. It is
suspected that the Eighteenth Dynasty scribe who was responsible for
copying the original text only wrote the first 48 cases dealing with the
upper third of the body. There are more than 90 anatomical terms
referenced in the Edwin Smith Papyrus, and there are more than 200
terms listed in various Nile Valley medical literature.
This papyrus is also of great importance because of its use of the word
"brain" and references to the neurological relationship between the
brain (spinal cord and nervous system) and the body. The Ebers
Papyrus (ca. 1500 B.C.) explores a broad range of medical science and

includes chapters on the pulse and cardio-vascular system,
dermatology, gynecology, ophthalmology, obstetrics, tumors, burns,
fractures, intestinal disorders and much more. There is also
considerable evidence that physicians in Egypt (also Kemet) practiced
circumcision, brain surgery and were extremely well versed in
gynecology and obstetrics. By 2000 B.C. physicians in Egypt had
already created an effective organic chemical contraceptive. This
formula consisted of acacia spikes, honey and dates, which were mixed
in a specific ratio and inserted into the vagina. Modern science has
since discovered that acacia spikes contain lactic acid, which is a
natural chemical spermicide.
Pregnancy and fetal sex tests were conducted by Egyptian herbalist
who soaked bags of wheat and barley in a sample of a woman's urine.
Urine from a pregnant woman was known to accelerate the growth of
certain plants; if the barley sprouted, it meant that the woman was
pregnant and was going to give birth to a female child, and if the wheat
sprouted it meant that she would give birth to a male child. The urine
pregnancy test was not rediscovered by modern science until 1926 and
the wheat/barley sex determination test was not developed until 1933.
In 1987, the National Academy of Sciences published a report by the
National Academy of Engineers entitled "Lasers: Invention to
Application". In a chapter titled "Lasers in Medicine", the author,
Rodney Perkins, M.D., suggests that a form of laser therapy was
actually used in Egypt. Dr. Perkins states that: "The use of the laser in
medicine and surgery has a relatively short pedigree of less than two
decades. Although the range of laser radiation extends both below and
above the visible portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, that
radiation is, in a sense, only a special form of light. The use of other
forms of light in medicine has a longer history. There is documentation
that the ancient Egyptians recognized and used the therapeutic power
of light as long as 6,000 years ago. Patches of depigmented skin, now
referred to as vitiligo, were cosmetically undesirable. Egyptian healers
reportedly crushed a plant similar to present day parsley and rubbed
the affected areas with the crushed leaves. Exposure to the sun's
radiation produced a severe form of sunburn only in the treated areas.
The erythema subsided, leaving hyperpigmentation in the previously
depigmented areas." 5
When looking at Nile Valley Egypt and its contributions to natural and
herbal medicine, it must be understood that we are not just talking
about Egypt alone. We must consider the whole continent which
extends over 4,000 miles into the geography of Africa. Many tribes
and African nations contributed their share of herbal and medical
wisdom. This would include the Sudan, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Mali, Libya,
and dozens of other African nations. The Nile Valley, however,
became something of a cultural highway which made it a great
historical stopping place for wisdom and knowledge.

Out of Africa came the world's first organized system of herbal and
medical science. This knowledge was so profound, much of it passed
from the Egyptians to the Phoenicians, the Yorubas, to India, Syria,
Babylon, the Middle East, to the Greeks, the Romans and from the
Romans to Western Europe. The three major herbal systems,
Ayurveda, Chinese Traditional Medicine, and Western herbology were
extracted from the knowledge created by the priests and wise men in
the Nile Valley. When this gigantic work is completed, I believe the
evidence will reveal information that will amaze humanity.
Early in its history and its development, Nile Valley civilization
created a basic way of life that attracted teachers, and priests from
other parts of Africa, always enriching the original composite of the
Nile Valley. By the time the Yoruba people made their journey to the
Nile Valley, led by the mystic prophet Orunmila, Egyptian priests had
accumulated centuries of herbal and medical knowledge. The Yorubas
drew from this treasure chest of wisdom, and incorporated it into their
own religious and cultural customs. The key point, in respect to the
evolution of Yoruba medicine, is that Egyptian knowledge, coupled
with the earlier Nok people, produced the outcome of Yoruba herbal
practices.
From a conceptual standpoint, Osain herbalism is a religion, a
philosophy, and a science. Born from this concept is the idea that
oneness with the Creative Essence brings about a wholeness in the
human essence. Seekers, or aspirants of the system of Osain, or
Yoruba, seek to bring themselves into alignment (balanced health) with
his spiritual being (immortal reality) and his relationship with the
Divine Cause. This is achieved through herbs, spiritual baths, right
living, diet, rituals and self-development which are meant to maintain a
healthy and happy life. Thus, Osain is a divine journey to the inner self
which encompasses all aspects of life.
As envisioned by the ancient prophet, Orunmila, of Yoruba, the Ifa
Corpus (Cosmic Intelligence) is the text of Osain herbalism. Orunmila
saw that dual levels of potentiality existed in the human body. Through
him, we understand that the study of animate and inanimate, manifest
and unmanifest, visible and invisible worlds leads to fundamental
understandings of the processes of growth and life cycles of trees and
plants, the lives of insects, animals, and. human nature. Through the
guidance of Orunmila, the principles of Yoruba Cosmology evolved:
"The Self-Existent Being (Oludumare), or the One Source, who is
believed to be responsible for creation and maintenance of heaven and
earth, of man and women, and who also brought into being divinities
and spirits (Orisha) who are believed to be his functionaries and
intermediaries between mankind and the Self-Existent Being
(Oludumare)". 6

It was through the Ashe (Nature) that matter and
forces of creation evolved from. This was created
by Oludumare for a divine purpose. The union of
the Orisha (angelic forces) and Aba, (human
development) gave birth to the dual potentiality of
the human spirit. It is the goal of man to align his
earthly consciousness with Ori (the physical and
spiritual head) in order to connect with his
divinity.
The Orisha, which are the angelic forces of
Yoruba context: Elegba, Obatala, Oshun, Ogun,
Yemoja, Shango, Oya, and others too numerous to mention. In the
herbal context, each require special herbs and foods to bring out the
life force energy that bring about their qualities. This "bringing about"
is a dual endeavor as the herbalist need follow certain guidelines and
practices to efficaciously heal or correct imbalance of physical health.
"Orisha" as a term, is actually the combination of two Yoruba words (I
discovered that the root word is from the Egyptian god Osiris who had
other qualities, "Osh", meaning many, and "iri", meaning to do or
many eyed. Osiris came to mean Omniscient). "Ori" which is the
reflective spark of human consciousness embedded in human essence,
and "sha" which is the ultimate potentiality of that consciousness to
enter into or assimilate itself into the divine consciousness. 7 From this
idea, we can see that given the right encouragement of the human
consciousness, man can heal himself along with the use of herbs and
foods as special inducements. From this standpoint, the Orisha assist in
the development of (iwa-pele) or balanced character. This is the
premise of true Yoruba medicine. The connection between one's
consciousness (Ori) and one's behavior (iwa-pele) is clearly seen as a
way of maintaining a correct attitude towards nutrition and lifestyles in
order to ward off sickness (negative spirits) and disease.
Disease according to the theory of the Ifa Corpus, is caused by
oppressive forces known as "ajogun". The Orisha are spirits of heavensent,
to continually wrestle with the human nature in order to uplift it --
to purify it. The "ajogun" are the "demonic" beings. They are all
earthly and heavenly forces whose destructive intent is to off-set the
human body. It is the job of the Oloogun (medicine healer) to help the
patient overcome the opposing forces that disrupt their health.
When understanding the African's use of demonic and spiritual
agencies in medicine, it is important to understand that this concept is
used merely as a cosmic-tool to explain physical phenomena in nature
which is unique to African thought. When the Europeans came into
Africa and saw the African dancing in a frenzy with their bodies
covered in ashe, they did not understand or comprehend, so they
labeled it primitive, savage and backward. They hadn't made the
connection between the Creator, spirits and their manifestation in

nature as the African had done. The Western mentality couldn't
understand because of their materialistic way of seeing.
Because the Osain system have many Orisha which serve different
purposes, we will only focus on Erinle-Orisha, the Orisha of medicine.
The seven major Orisha are examined in table one. (The Yoruba's were
obviously inspired with the seven Orishas by the ancient Egyptian's
concept of the seven openings in the head.)
Table 1: The Seven Major Orisha
Orisha Attributes
Obatala Creator of Human Form, White purity, Cures illness and deformities.
Elegba
Ogun
Yemoja
Oshun
Shango
Oya
Messenger of the Orisha, Holder of Ashe (pover) among the Orisha,
he is prime negotiator between negative and positive forces in body,
enforces the "law of being". Helps to enhance the power of herbs.
Orisha of Iron, he expands, he is divinity of clearing paths,
specifically in respect to blockages or interruption of the flow vital
energy at various points in the body. he is the liberator.
Mother of Waters, Sexuality, Primal Waters, Nurturer. She is the
amniotic fluid in the womb of the pregnant woman, as well as, the
breasts which nurture. She is the protective energies of the feminine
force.
Sensuality, Beauty, Gracefulness, she symbolizes clarity and flowing
motion, she has power to heal with cool water, she is also the divinity
of fertility and feminine essence, Women appeal to her for childbearing
and for the alleviation of female disorders, she is fond of
babies and is sought if a baby becomes ill, she is known for her love
of honey.
Kingly, Virility, Masculinity, Fire, Lightning, Stones, Protector/
warrior, Magnetism, he possesses the ability to transform base
substance into that which is pure and valuable.
Tempest, Guardian of the Cemetery, Winds of Change, Storms,
Progression, she is usually in the company of her counterpart Shango,
she is the deity of rebirth as things must die so that new beginnings
arise.
In the body, the Erinle-Orisha can be understood in terms of metabolic
energy which activates, or stimulates the other Orisha. Each Orisha is
characterized by certain attributes and is in charge of specific organ
functions. Each has its dual force of ajogun (demonic force) and Orisha
(positive force). The Orishas also have special places or main locations

in the body where they can accumulate, or cause havoc and disease.
Therefore, it is important to use the corresponding herbal treatment to
correct the derangement.
Table 2: Physical Correspondences
Orisha Physical Correspondences
Obatala brain, bones, white fluids of the body
Elegba sympathetic nervous system, para sympathetic nervous system
Yemoja womb, liver, breasts, buttocks
Oshun
circulatory system, digestive organs, elimination system, pubic area
(female)
Ogun heart, kidney (adrenal glands), tendons, and sinews
Shango reproductive system (male), bone marrow, life force or chi
Oya lungs, bronchial passages, mucous membranes
EWE (Herbs)
The use of herbs and plants, called ewe in Yoruba, is of great
importance. Herbs are picked for medicinal, and the spiritual powers
they possess. In Yorubaland, herbs are gathered by the Oloogun, or by
the various types of herbalists who inhabit the regions where Osain is
practiced. The population can usually obtain herbs either by private
practice or from the marketplace in town. In the Americas and the
Caribbeans, Osain based practitioners are also directed to use herbs as
medicine. Here the Oloogun or priests, as well as devotees alike gather
herbs for medicine, baths, and religious artifacts. Because of the widespread
practice of Osain in the New World, Nigerians and people from
other African countries have begun to set up herbal businesses in
increasing numbers. More and more indigenous herbs are now being
made accessible to devotees here in the Americas. It is said that ewe
(herbs) are for the "healing of Nations" and many health food stores
provide them in powder, leaf, and capsule form. Adherents to the
traditional practices of Osain are usually advised to use herbs as
medicine before going to Western allopathic drugs for healing. There
are many books written on the subject of herbology. Therefore,
researching the possibilities of herbal use is recommended. Table 3
below shows herbal directives. They provide examples of the ewe
based on the presiding Orisha correspondence. It is best that novices
seek out divination before attempting to get and prepare herbal
formulas. It is also advisable to rely on priests and qualified herbalists
to begin the healing process before getting involved with the properties
and powers of herbs yourself.
Table 3: The Ewe and Presiding Orisha Correspondences

Orisha Ewe (HERBS) for Medicinal Usage
Obatala
Skullcap, Sage, Kola Nut, Basil, Hyssop, Blue Vervain, White
Willow, Valerian
Elegba All Herbs
Oshun
Yemoja
Ogun
Oya
Shango
Yellow Dock, Burdock, Cinnamon, Damiana, Anis, Raspberry,
Yarrow, Chamomile, Lotus, Uva-Ursi, Buchu, Myrrh, Echinacea
Kelp, Squawvine, Cohosh, Dandelion, Yarrow, Aloe, Spirulina,
Mints, Passion Flower, Wild Yam Root
Eucalyptus, Alfalfa, Hawthorn, Bloodroot, Parsley, Motherwort,
Garlic
Mullein, Comfrey, Cherrybark, Pleurisy Root, Elecampane,
Horehound, Chickweed
Plantain, Saw Palmetto, Hibiscus, Fo-ti, Sarsaparilla, Nettles,
Cayenne
The following is a recommended way to prepare these herbs: The
herbs can be used along or in combination with other herbs. Add the
herbs to a pot of mildly boiling water (to prepare a decoction). Let the
herbs steep for about thirty minutes before straining. The remaining
herbal solution is then prepared as a tea. In some instances the herbal
solutions are used in diluted form for enemas. Enemas are among one
of the most effective treatments in cleaning out the colon which is the
seat of many diseases. In Osain, sugar should never be added to herbal
solutions. Honey may be used, however, along with some lemon.
Diagnosis and Treatment

As one can see, we have a useful system of
categorization which applies to all levels of
disease and treatment. To understand the
application of Osain herbology, lets's take as an
example a person suffering from a bronchialpulmonary
condition including cough, and
spitting of white mucus. The approach of Osain
herbology would be to determine which of the
Orishas are out of alignment. Osain would do
this by taking into account the patient's manifest
symptoms along with locating the main areas in
the body where the mis-alignment (disease)
occurs. Our patient would be considered to have
a mis-alignment in the "Oya" and "Obatala"
Orishas. Oya Orisha predominates in the lungs,
bronchial passages, and the mucous membranes.
The Obatala Orisha is responsible for white
fluids of the body which is located in the throat region of
Orisha/Obatala (also known in Yaga as the 5th Chakra, see diagram 3).
The condition can be corrected by prescribing the patient with
Comfrey and Sage, as an herbal tea, or applied externally by a spiritual
bath.
From this example, one can get an idea of the wholistic treatment
approach of Osain Herbology. However, the emotional and spiritual
causes of disease would be taken into account in order to appease the
negative forces of ajogun to make the cure complete according to
traditional Yoruba religious practices. This would include herbs,
spiritual baths, symbolic sacrifice, song, dance, ani prayer, as well as a
change of diet.
Some may argue that there is a fine line between "medicine" and
"superstition" in the rituals of Yorubic healing arts. The art of
medicine, as Yorubic practitioners understand it, involves practices by
which human beings hoped to be able to understand and control the
forces of the universe. Myth, legend, drama, ritual, dance, in addition
to whatever it may be, are vehicles for carrying profound knowledge
about the human experience. Every culture has its roots in esoteric
concepts, philosophies, and religious practices. Constructively using
spiritual archetypes allows man to energize and intensify life to a
surprising degree. A careful study of history will show that Europeans
developed from a background of taboos, and superstitions, as well as
mythical beliefs. The Chinese thought Westerners barbarians and made
no attempt to learn from them until recently.
The Yorubas believed that the Orishas of the celestial world were
emanations of Oludumare (The One Source) who conceived the
universe by a series of emanations, and in this way it is possible to
reconcile the unity of God with multiplicity. The One Source was the
First Cause or Creator, the necessary Being in whom essence and

existence were one. It is through incantations, drums and dance, and
special herbs that one can communicate to the human body by
awakening the internal Orishas, and thus return to unity, spiritual light,
and health.
Western medicine deals in the area of eliminating the symptoms that
have manifested in the physical body, while Yorubic healing deals
with the elimination of the root source of the problem. All illness is the
result of imbalance of the physical, mental, and spiritual aspects in the
body. The Yorubic healer who cures the person of the symptoms has to
dissipate the negative energies. Unless he addresses the cause of the
disease, the sickness will eventually come back.
The only complete healing for a ailment must include a change of
"consciousness" (Ori) where the individual recognizes the root cause
and does not wish, or feel compelled to violate its pain. So the Western
doctor, by removing the discomfort through drugs, has temporarily
taken away the motivation (iwa-pele) for their patient to look for the
true healing. However, as the patient's state of consciousness asserts
itself, they will again violate the same natural law and eventually have
another opportunity to receive motivation in the form of a new ailment
to learn what they are doing wrong. Whenever we listen to our bodies,
it moves to provide us with the training and the appropriate knowledge
that we need to regain our balance.
The Integration of Yoruba medicine into Planetary
Herbology
I have tried in this essay to accomplish the first part of a pleasant
assignment which I rashly laid upon myself about two years ago: to
integrate African medicine into the scheme of Planetary Herbology. It
is no exaggeration to say that this work would not have been possible
without the pioneering work of Dr. Michael Tierra. My goal was to add
to the tremendous work Dr. Tierra laid out in integrating Eastern and
Western philosophies and the principles of Chinese, Japanese,
Ayurvedic, and North American Indian herbal medicine.
After close study of the herbal principles applied in African medicine, I
noticed the fundamental unity and similarities within and between
other herbal systems. Namely, Ayurvedic, North American Indian
herbology, Western, and Chinese herbology. This was due partly
because of the historical and cultural links of each of these systems.
Yet, it is well to remember that the meeting of cultures have also
triggered tremendous creative explosions in medicine and philosophy.
East Indian medicine was born in a meeting of the Black Dalilia (the
Black Untouchables) and Indo-Europeans. Chinese herbology adopted
some of its principles with the meeting of Egypt. Japanese medicine
was born in a meeting with Chinese culture, and Western herbology
sprang from a meeting of the ancient Greek and Egyptian priests.

These are only a few illustrations; much of what I find exciting and
interesting.
Let us look at the correspondance between Western herbology and the
Egyptian system. The Hypocritic humoural theory was taken from
Egyptian Magical Principles (see diagram 1). The
basis of this theory was the belief that the human
body was made up of the four elements of which
the whole material world was composed: fire, air,
earth and water. It was also believed that each
element possessed certain qualities: hot, dry, wet,
and cold. These elements could be mixed in more
ways than one, and the various mixtures gave rise
to different temperaments and "humours". The
proper balance of elements preserved the health of
the body, and a lack of balance led to illness
which called for the doctor's healing magic. The
Yoruba priests adopted this same system with
sleight modifications. In the Yorubic system, the
four elements became: Shango (the fire element),
Oya (the air element), Yemoja (the water
element), and Elegba (the Ashe, or earth element).
Traditional Chinese Medicine places primary
emphasis on the balance of qi, or vital energy.
There are 12 major meridians, or pathways, for qi,
and each is associated with a major vital organ or
vital function. These meridians form an invisible
network that carries qi to every tissue in the body.
Under the Yoruba system, the major meridians are
the 7 Orishas. The flow of vital energy is
represented by Ogun, which is the divinity of clearing paths,
specifically in respect to blockages, or interruption of the vital energy
at various points in the body (see table 1). Upon close study, it
becomes evident that the Orisha modes correspond very easily to the
Chinese concept of qi. Also in Traditional Chinese medicine, the vital
energy comprises two parts: Yin and Yang. They are considered
opposites masculine and feminine, heavenly and earthly. The
theoretical equivalent of Yin and Yang in Yoruba is represented by
Oshun (the divinity of feminine essence), and Shango (the divinity of
virility, and masculinity). It is interesting to note that just as Yin
represents the quality of cool and Yang the quality of hot, Oshun
represents the power to heal with cool water, and Shango is
represented by fire (heat).
Physical and spiritual balance in Yorubic medicine is best described by
the concept of "Aba", or human development. Aba is a circle in the
center which is aligned with the seven Orishas, each of which is
represented by smaller circles of the opposite colors of black and
white. The smaller circles represents the ever changing nature of

Orisha (spirit) and ajogun (demon), and each Orisha demonstrate that
each contains the potential to transform into its corresponding demon
(or disease). (see diagram 4) It is the job of the African healer to bring
the internal Orishas into alignment. This coincides with the Chinese
belief that the universe is forever changing through Yin and Yang.
In the Yoruba system, the seven Orisha's have many counterparts, or
partners that bring about various qualities or spiritual forces. This
reciprocal relationship, in turn, gives rise to the four elements, and
other attributes which influence the physical world. (see diagram 5)
As in Western and Chinese herbology, the Yoruba system incorporates
environmental and emotional states. Yoruba priests believe that the
Orishas govern a law of human passions and desires which, if
improperly indulged, or violated, will prevent a person from gaining
spiritual benefit from the external acts of rituals. Demons, or negative
spirits enters the body through the five senses, the imagination and the
carnal appetites. The Chinese also recognize the "seven emotions" as
causes to disease. The "seven emotions", or "evil vices" approximates
"the law of human passions and desires" in Yoruba medicine. For
example, under the Yoruba system, someone suffering from guilt can
bring on a multitude of evil spirits, or illnesses, The Elegba Orisha, is
the primary negotiator between negative and positive forces in the
body. The emotion of guilt can put Elegba into a negative disposition,
which in turn, can effect the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous
system. Physically, the negative disposition can cause chronic
digestion problems, and a weakening of the immune system.
Shango Orisha represents the fire element and is hot and dry in nature. It is
considered to be the Protector/Warrior, and possesses the ability to transform base
substance into that which is pure and valuable. It is associated with the color red.
It's season is summer.

Elegba Orisha represents the earth element and is dry and cold in nature. It is the
Messenger of the Orisha, Holder of Ashe among the Orisha, and is associated with
the colors red, black, and white,
Yemoja Orisha represents the water element and it is cold and wet in nature. It is
the Mother of Waters, and is associated with the color blue and crystal. It's season
is winter.
Oya Orisha represents the wind, or air element and is hot and wet in nature. It is
responsible for the winds of change, and is associated with the color reddishbrown.
It's season is spring.
The Oloogun (priest) may prescribe the patient various herbal
combinations to be included in a spiritual bath to cleanse the person of
negative influences which have impacted upon their aura essence. The
spiritual bath is given along with prayers and incantations especially
designed to help ward off the negative spirits. As in Tradition Chinese
Medicine, the Yorubic priests help to cure physical symptoms by
treating the emotional vice that lead to the ailment in the first place.
Like other traditional medicines with a long history, Yorubic medicine
focuses on the individual and what imbalances may be contributing to
or causing illness or disease.
Now let's look at Ayurveda in light of Yorubic herbal principles. I
found that there were many comparisons between the two systems. As
I mentioned earlier, racially and linguistically, the East Indians and
Africans have a common origin, going back to the ancient Sumerians,
Babylonians, Egyptians, Phoenicians, and Dravidians. Ayurveda
developed in contemporary contact and mutual influence from these
ancient societies. Note the startling resemblance between the linguistic
terminology of Yoruba and Ayurveda, very often the same sounding
words, meanings, and similar spellings. These similarities in names can
hardly be coincidental:
Yoruba Ayurveda
Osiris Iswara
Ishtar Ishvara
Samad Samadhi
Orisha Dosha
Maye Maya

Ogun Guna
Obatala Vata
Khepsh Kapha
Ayurveda holds that the body is governed by three basic biological
principles, or doshas, that control the body's functions. These doshas
and the functions they govern are:
vata -- movement
pitta -- heat, metabolism
kapha -- physical structure
The Indians believe that each individual has a combination of doshas.
Imbalance of these doshas is the cause of disease. A Vaidya (Ayurveda
doctor) seeks to achieve health through the balancing of the three
doshas. The Oloogun's under the Osain system utilize a similar
concept. They believe that the body is composed of seven Orishas
which exist in focal points of the body. These Orishas are in harmony
when in perfect alignment, and the result is balanced health. They
believe that when a person is in spiritual alignment, demons cannot
produce illness. At the very foundation, both systems draw from
religious and philosophical view points, which brings a mind/body
approach to medicine and life. Ultimately, the beliefs of Indians are
similar to those of the Africans. Both are also rooted in the belief of
supernatural forces for the minor ills of life. Oblations, charms,
exorcisms, astrology, oracles, incantations, vows, divination, priests,
fortune-tellers, and demonic spirits are a part of the historic picture of
Africa and India. It should come as no surprise, then, that in Osain and
Ayurveda, symptoms and diseases that could be viewed as mental

thoughts, or feelings are just as important as symptoms and disease of
the physical body.
In terms of therapeutic approaches, both systems have many
comparisons. Ayurveda uses the Panchakarma for purification and
removal of toxins in the body. Osain utilizes the spiritual bath for this
same purpose. Ayurveda and Osain saw purification as a means of
purging the body of possible infections and impurities, a practice
which has proven to have a rational basis. It is recorded that the ancient
Hindus used ritual purification in minor cases by such simple
ceremonies as being sprinkled with holy water, and in major cases by
more complicated methods, culminating in the Panchakarma. This
purification consisted in drinking a substance called ghee, or clarified
butter. A little more to the taste of Africans was the religious precept to
use the spiritual bath; here again a hygienic and spiritual measure,
highly desirable in Osain medicine, clothed in a religious form to expel
the evil spirits that might have entered the body.
According to Osain herbology, medicinal herbs, spiritual baths,
prayers, and meditation is the cornerstone of health. Many of the herbs
users in Osain are specifically selected to effect a particular Orisha in
the body, including the energies and therapeutic properties inherent in
the nature of the herb. The herbal properties are absorbed into the
human dimensions and assist in the dissipation of negative influences.
The ewe (herbs) are also classified and used in order to enhance one's
Ashe. This is essential in Yoruba medicine in order to bring one's
nature back in contact with the inherent force of all creation. This
"contact" with the inherent force involves a tri-lateral process which
includes:
1. Nature (Ashe)
2. Angelic forces (Orisha) ------------------ ewe (herbs)
3. Humans (Physical forms)
By enhancing the ashe in the human form, the spiritual channels are
increased in power in order to allow the internal Orishas to gain
leverage over the oppressive negative forces which are upsetting the
balance of the body. Now let us compare the Western system of
classification with the herbal properties of the presiding Orisha
correspondence:
Obatala: Antispasmodic, stimulants, nervine, diaphoretic
Elegba: All herbs (herbs used for harmonizing)
Oshun: Alteratives, blood tonics, cholagogues, emmenagogues, antipyretics,
expectorants, carminatives
Yemoja: Perturient, tonics, diuretics, cholagogues
Shango: emmenagogues, astringents
Ogun: Rubefacients, antianemics, antihemorrhagics, nutritive tonics, cardiac tonics,
diuretics

Oya: Antituesives, demulcents, expectorants, antiphlegmatics. Bladder infections,
prostate planets, impotence, wasting diseases.
The Planetary system of herbology also recognizes environmental
energies at the core of its principles. Environmental energy is also
categorized in herbs using the Osain system of herbology.
Furthermore, herbs are categorized. according to numbers, colors, and
directions.
Table 4: Color, Number, and Natural Environment
Orisha Color Number Natural Environment
Obalata White 8, 24 Mountains, Woods
Elegba
Red and Black, White
and Black
1, 3, 21 Woods, Crossroads, Gateways
Yemoja Blue and Crystal 7 (salt water) Oceans, Lakes
Oshun Yellow 5 (fresh water) Rivers, Lakes
Ogun Green and Black 3 Railroads, Woods, Forges
Shango Red 6, 12
Oya
Reddish-brown, Rust,
earth tones
9
Places struck by lightning, base
of trees
Cemetery, places hit by
Hurricanes, Storms
It is believed by Africans that where a plant grows also affects its
spiritual powers (energy) to heal. For instance, the Oya Orisha is
considered the Guardian of the Cemetery. Any plants that are found
growing in cemeteries, are said to have the enhancing powers of Oya.
More specifically, the Oloogun priest will search for cemetery plants
growing in brownish-rusty areas which is believed that Oya Orisha
hides its spiritual powers. The number nine is associated with the
number of Orisha counterparts which also accompany Oya Orisha.
Yemoja Orisha, the Mother of Waters, is said to contain her powers in
Lakes, and oceans (salt water). Plants in these areas are used to help

protect energies of the feminine force. Examples of some of the herbs
used under this classification is kelp, aloe, and Squawvine which have
traditionally been used to treat female imbalances in the amniotic
fluids in the womb of pregnant women. The direction that a plant is
picked in a particular area is also important under Yorubic medicine.
The Orishas are said to concentrate their spiritual energies in particular
directions just as the internal Orishas reside in different parts of the
body. After comparing the Yoruba system of direction with the "four
directions of herbs" classified in the North American Indian medicine
wheel, I discovered striking similarities.
Oshun, is represented by the color yellow. This Orisha indicates medicines which
effect the circulatory system, digestive organs, and the elimination system. Its
direction is East.
Ogun, is represented by the color green. This Orisha indicates medicines which
tone the tendons, and sinews. Its direction is south.
Elegba, is represented by the color black. Medicines indicated are herbs which
effect the Brain and nervous system. Its direction is West.
Obatala, is represented by the color white. This Orisha indicates white purity, and
herbs that cure human deformities. Its direction is North.
The four directional energies that correspond perfectly with the
wisdom of the Native Americans were: 1) Oshun; 2) Ogun; 3) Elegba;
and 4) Obatala. Again, Yoruba medical principles give us a system
which harmonizes with the directional energies given in Planetary
Herbology. One can perceive a universal wisdom that is common in
every culture and system of herbal medicine. If the universal energy is

One, then the foundation on which the four energies rest is Universal
Energy. In other words, if the universal center is the source of all great
herbal inspirations, then these four directional energies are the vehicles
through which the inspiration becomes manifest. There is no other
explanation for the similarities between herbal systems around the
world. Every ancient culture taught the "sacred four". They indicated
that we must pass through all four aspects, or directions, if we are to be
complete and balanced human beings.
In earlier times, working these herbal principles into universal energies
was something that was done by the great medicine men. Today, we
are left to work these things out on our own. This can be an
illuminating process. The essay I have given is by no means complete.
It is merely a basis to establish the integration of African Medicine into
the family of Planetary herbology. I invite your questions and
suggestions for the topics given. I look forward to our dialogue.
References:
1. The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concepts by Baba Ifa Karade (Samuel
Weiser, Inc.; York Beech, Maine; 1994), p. l
2. Michael Omoleya, Certificate History of Nigeria (London & Lagos:
Longman Group, 1986), p. 15
3. Cheikh Anta Diop, Precolonial Black Africa (Trenton, NJ: Africa World
Press, co-published with Lawrence Hill, 1992), p. 216
4. Stolen Legacy by George James (Julian Richardson Assoc.)
5. Nile Valley Contributions to Civilization by Anthony T. Browder (The
Institute of Karmic Guidance, Inc; 1992)
6. Omosade Awolalu, Yoruba Beliefs and Sacrificial Rites (White Plains, NY:
Longman Groups, 1979) p. 3
7. The Handbook of Yoruba Religious Concept , ibid., p. 23

Unit Three: Chapter Two
Summary of The Unani System of Medicine
This ancient medical tradition, with its origins in the Mediterranean world and its
development in the Middle East, was brought to India with the spread of Islamic
civilization. The system came to India as a result of Muslim conquests in the region
from around the 10th century A.D. Thus, an originally transplanted medical system,
became indigenous and traditional over the centuries, to the extent that today it is
commonly used.
The Unani system of medicine was founded on the principles propounded by Galen, a
Greek practitioner. Kitab-al-shifa, the magnum opus of Abu Sina, an Arab
philosopher and physicist, also known as Avicenna in English (A.D. 980-1037),
played a role of great importance in the development of this system. In fact, it was not
only Abu Sina but many other Arab and Persian philosophers who contributed to its
growth and development. Their role is evident from the fact that today this style of
medicine is not known as Galenic, as it was earlier called, but the Unani (Arabic name
for Greek) system of medicine.
The essence of the Galenic system was the so-called humeral pathology which,
having originated in the Hippocratic school of Kos, came to be modified by Aristotle
and by medical schools such as Penumaticians. It was molded by Galen into a
comprehensive and well-thought-out theory, the main point of which was that food,
after being ingested was transformed by natural warmth in the stomach into different
substances. Part of these were useful to the body and after a second transformation in
the liver was transported by the blood to the different organs of the body, while the
waste was excreted. The main products of this process were the four cardinal humors:
blood, mucus, yellow bile and black bile. These humors were combined with the four
primary qualities: warmth (or heat), cold, moisture (or dampness), and dryness.
If the four humors and the four primary qualities were all in a state of mutual
equilibrium, man was healthy. The influence of exterior factors such as climate, age,
profession, customs, etc caused a dominance of one of the four humors to be observed
in every human body. This gave a man his individual habit and complexion, his
"temperament", which may be sanguine, phlegmatic, choleric, or melancholic.
The magic word of this system was eukrasia, or more comprehensively symmetria
(Arabic i'tidal). It was by conserving symmetry in the different spheres of his life that
a man protected his health and it was by teaching his patients how to conserve or
restore it that a physician made himself indispensable in the Galenic system. The
Galenic physician was meant not only to be a simple practitioner busy with curing
bodily diseases but an ethical instructor as well.
Another characteristic feature of the Galenic system was the Aristotelian relation
between the general and the particular. What the medical textbooks contained were
only the general facts of anatomy, pathology, therapeutics, etc. From these general
rules, physicians had to derive the appropriate individual treatment for a given case by
means of logical procedure, especially by the so-called analogical conclusion

(analogismos). This was why in the Unani system it was not possible to be a good
physician without having thoroughly learned the rules of logic.
Hospitals were built by both rulers and noblemen from the beginning of the Muslim
rule, but their endowment was looked on rather as a matter of philanthropy than as
part of a ruler's administrative duties. The development of hospitals was encouraged
in India by a large number of Iranian doctors who migrated here in the reign of Akbar.
Through them the number of hospitals increased in his and in succeeding reigns. Both
(Ayurvedic) vaidyas and (Unani) hakims were employed in these bimaristans
(hospitals), suggesting that there was recognition on the part of the hakims of the
merits of the other system. The most important Muslim medical text produced in
India's Miyan Bhowa's Madan-ul-shifa-Sikandarshahi (The Mine of Medicine of King
Sikander), completed in A.D. 1512 and dedicated to the Sultan of Delhi, Sikander
Lodi, fully recognized that the Unani system in its pure form did not suit local
conditions, because the climate was different and many Unani drugs were hardly
obtainable in India. On the other hand, Indian medicine knew of many drugs equally
efficacious but not recognized in the Unani system. The practitioners of the two
systems seem to have collaborated because each had much to learn from the other and
further improved their own respective systems this way.
Today, the Unani system of medicine is practiced in India. Thanks to the pioneering
work and research of a charitable organization Hamdard and various Tibbiya colleges
located throughout the country, this system of medicine is in no danger of going into
oblivion.
Arabic Terms used in Unani Tibb – Origins in Islamic Medicine
It is one of the seven basic physiological principles. The word Khilt (Humor) literally
means an admixture. As blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile are intermixed
inside the blood vessels. That is why, these are known as 'Humors'. And this
admixture is known as Blood because blood content use to be more in this mixture
compared to other humors and the color of the mixture is dark red. But these humors
are of different types and properties and serve different functions.
There is some sort of difference of opinion between the definitions of Akhlat
(humors) given by different physicians. Of these the following definition seems to be
more appropriate in view of the diverse properties and function of Akhlat.
"Akhlat are the moist and fluid parts of the body which are produced after
transformation and metabolism of the ailments, they serve the function of nutrition,
growth and repair, and produce energy, for the preservation of individual and his
species. A right proportion and inter mixture (homeostasis) of them, according to
quantity and quality constitutes health, and "unright" proportion or imbalance (su'almizaj)
according to quantity and quality, and irregular distribution leads to disease".
The father of medicine Hippocrates (460 B.C.) postulated the humeral theory.
According to him - "The body contains four major kinds of humors dam (blood),
balgham (phlegm) safra (yellow bile) and sauda (black bile); a right proportion,

according to quality and quantity, and mixing of which i.e. homeostasis constitutes
health and “unright” proportion and irregular distribution, according to their quantity
and quality constitutes disease."
The term Akhlat applies to all fluids of the body irrespective of their color, location,
quantity and quality. Akhlat are not only four in number. The four major humors,
blood; phlegm; yellow bile and black bile can further be subdivided.
CLASSIFICATION OF AKHLAT (HUMOURS)
Various criteria have been adopted in Tibb for the classification of akhlat, which are
as under.
1. According to their locations.
2. According to their colors.
3. According to their usefulness;
4. According to being primary of secondary fluids.
5. According to their quality of fineness and coarseness.
6. According to their quality of being normal and abnormal.
SANGUIS-BLOOD (AL-KHILT AL-DAM)
Dam (blood) is regarded as mixture of all four kinds of Akhlat i.e. dam, balgham,
safra' and saud. But since the red color is dominating hence, the whole mixture is
called as dam (blood).
The temperament of blood is hot and moist.
PHLEGM (AL-KHILT AL-BALGHAM)
All the white or colorless fluids of the body are called as balgham (phlegm). The
temperament of balgham is cold and moist.
YELLOW BILE (AL-KHILT AL-SAFRA)
All the yellow fluids (and compounds) of the body are called as safra. And those
fluids are also called as safra, which express the signs and symptoms attributed to
safra.
The temperament of safra is hot and dry
BLACK BILE (AL-KHILT AL-SAUDA)
Sauda is inferior most amongst all the Akhlat (humors). Position of suada is next to
safra. The temperament of sauda is cold and dry.

What is Unani Tibb: How is it Related to Islamic Medicine?
Please read the information on Unani Tibb from the following website. You will need
to link to all of the references in the article to read all the information I have assigned:
http://www.unani.com/origins.htm
Note from Kristie Karima Burns, instructor: Unani Tibb is a branch of medicine
that could more accurately be called “Medicine of Avicenna”. For this reason it is
not pure “Islamic Medicine” as Avicenna compiled information from all regions
and religions to create his unique methods of healing.
Assignment for Chapters 1 & 2
Answer the following Questions using at least two paragraphs and three references
(either online, book or magazine):
1. What is the difference between Unani Tibb and Islamic Medicine?
2. What are the four humors and how do they function in the body?
3. According to Unani Tibb, how does a person become ill?
4. According to Unani Tibb, how does a person heal?

Unit Three: Chapter Three: Humeral Theory in Other Cultures
1. Burns. Kristie Karima. “The Five Types in Detail.” – Excerpted from “Between
Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine” with notes and clinical additions by
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND (Chinese)
2. Tabke, Amjiki. “The Four Tantras” (Tibet)
3. Kenkya, Kagakushi. “Ayurvedic Medicine” (Ayurveda – Indian)
4. Cross- Cultural Comparison Chart (Many Cultures)
5. Little, David. “The Temperaments in Homeopathy.” (Homeopathy)
6. Steiner, Rudolph. “The Four Temperaments.” (Education and Philosophy)
7. Keirsy & Jung Temperament Types (Modern Usage of Temperament)
8. Humors in Everyday Life
5. Assignment
READINGS
1. Burns. Kristie Karima. “The Five Types in Detail.” – Excerpted from “Between
Heaven and Earth: A Guide to Chinese Medicine” with notes and clinical additions by
Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND (Chinese)
FIRE-WOOD-EARTH-METAL-WATER
(CHOLERIC-SANGUINE-BALANCE-MELANCHOLIC-PHELGMATIC)
TYPOLOGY: THE FIRE TYPE
This type is roughly equivalent to the choleric type in Islamic Medicine
These are the general characteristics of the fire type. Keep in mind that not all of these characteristics
may fit with you but they should be about 80% accurate. Also, you may realize when reading this that
you have experienced all of the characteristics below, but at different points in your life. You may have
modified or balanced your type out as you got older and some of the more extreme behaviors are no
longer exhibited. If you feel thus typing does not fit you at all or is only about half accurate please tell
me and we can explore the possibility that you may fit better in another type.
OUTLINE OF THE FIRE TYPE
The fire type’s exaggerated power is immolation.
Their collapsed power is disintegration.
Their preoccupation is stimulation.
They are compelled to consume.
They dread gravity.
They seek the perfect lover.
The dislike conflicting needs, desires and attractions.
They are obsessed with pleasure, intimacy and seeking the divine.
They have an aversion to separation, boredom and pain.
Their somatic poles are containment-dissipation, embodied-disembodied, and active-reactive.

They tend to seek excitement and make contact.
Their existential doubt is: How do I express myself?
Their emotional addiction is to be in love.
Their spiritual fear is to be cut off.
THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
The fire types like to fuse the mundane with the extraordinary. They can unite things and people with
the enthusiasm and heat they generate. With their tremendous catalytic energy they bring the
transforming power of light. love, and awareness into the world. They are enchanting and persuasive
and are natural salespeople. Although people would buy for them because THEY are selling rather than
for the product itself. Using personal magnetism and the gift of expression, they can assemble a group
of individuals into one body. The very experience of astonishment and joy that the fire person inspires
in us makes us glad. The power of fire comes from the capacity to liberate heat and light and realize joy
and fulfillment. So fire types need to temper their chemistry and contain their fervor, conserving as
well as sharing their resources, withdrawing and separating, as well as embracing and merging. Fire
relishes excitement and delights in intimacy. They are keenly intuitive and passionately empathetic.
They believe in the power of charisma and desire. They love sensation, drama, and sentiment. They
like to be hot, bright and vibrant.
TYPICAL PROBLEMS
The fire type may experience problems with anxiety, agitation, and frenzy. The may suffer from
nervous exhaustion and insomnia. They may also have palpitations, hypoglycemia , rashes or palsy or
strokes. They have a tendency to migrate to mind-altering substances (anything from coffee to
chocolate or alcohol and illegal or prescription drugs). They typically have problems with disturbed
sleep, bed-wetting as a child, disturbances of the heart, disturbances of speech or sensation, and blood
pressure and circulation problems. These are all problems to be on the look out for as a fire person gets
older.
THE BALANCED FIRE
The balanced fire person is: lively, communicative, charismatic, optimistic, sanguine, aware, tender,
empathetic, devoted, enthusiastic. and alert. They often have a soft, willowy physique, graceful hands
and feet, soft, warm, moist and stretchy skin, and a long neck, arms and legs. When overweight they
tend to be more cherubic and softly chubby, rather than bloated or pear shaped.
Fire is balanced by:
Eating greens
Garlic/onions
Carrot/celery juice
Chives
corn
duck
eggplant
fig
leek
olive
pear
peppermint
walnut
basmati rice
Brown rice
Millet
vegetables
carrot juice
Avoiding milk, sodas and junk food
THE EXAGGERATED FIRE
The fire person can become exaggerated when there is congestion of blood in the system and
accumulation of heat and depletion of moisture or ...when the Kidneys are weak (the water element in
the body), they can no longer restrain the fire element of the body and the fire person become very
exaggerated. This can happen through weakened adrenal function, lack of exercise, and exposure to

allergens or improper diet of foods that weaken the kidneys. Fire can also be exaggerated by heat
through activities that are heating (arguing, sports, exercise, dancing, etc...), foods that are heating (see
chart at bottom of page) and hot weather or temperature. The fire person also tends to become
exaggerated in the summer and fall, from 11AM-3PM and 3AM-7AM. During this exaggerated state
the fire person may experience profuse or frequent perspiration, flushed face, irregular or rapid
heartbeat, chest pain, painful urination, hot flashes, erratic pulse, become overly heated, sores on the
mouth, tongue and lips, Dry, painful eczema and bed-wetting. Their personalities will also shift during
this exaggerated state to become more: excitable, grandiose, Pollyanna, hypersensitive, sentimental,
adoring, avid and anxious. You can detect states of exaggeration by watching for these clues in
personality, temper and physique.
Fire can become easily exaggerated by:
Hot weather and summer (you need to work harder on yourself in the Summer)
Hot, spicy and sweet foods
The hours of 11AM-3PM and 11PM-3PM
Anxiety, agitation and fighting
Lack of Sleep
Milk, Cheese, Eggs, Seafood, Poultry, Meat
Nuts
Broiled Foods
Dry Roasted
Fried Foods
Doing more than one thing at once
When exaggerated use these foods:
(although keep an eye out for collapsed states when you use them too much-see below)
Raw foods
Raw dried foods
Steamed foods
Sautéed Foods
Soft, Juicy Fruits
Dried Fruits
Vegetables
Root Vegetables (Kohlrabi, potatoes, radish, carrots)
Grains (in moderation)
Rest
Prayer
Yoga/Meditation
Sleep
Massage/Reflexology
Reading
THE COLLAPSED FIRE
Fire can become collapsed when the heart becomes weak, the liver becomes weak or the spleen
weakens. This can happen with improper diet (too many cold and moist foods), damage to the organs,
or simply eating foods or substances that weaken the organs. In this collapse state fire people may have
trouble with slow, irregular pulse, weak heart, chilling or overheating easily, low blood pressure
(hypoglycemia and getting hungry quickly after meals), faints or gets dizzy easily, anemic, pale with
flushed cheeks, tires easily from excitement and cannot maintain their enthusiasm for activities or
follow through. Their personality in this state may become startled, mute, flirtatious, giddy, confused,
sensitive, lost, infatuated, selfish and panicky.
FIRE PROBLEM SPOTS
Fire people have trouble with boundaries, space, separation, stimulation, future, unknown, dreaming,
expression, sleep, thinking, pleasure and pain.
FIRE IS AGGRAVATED BY
Hot weather and summer
Hot, spicy foods
Sweet foods

Hot activities
Fire is strongest in childhood
DIET FOR FIRE
The fire type easily becomes unstable, requiring, a secure, peaceful environment with a regular routine
to balance overly expansive tendencies. Fire types need to be careful of burning themselves up. They
need to take time to be by themselves and recollect and calm themselves. They also need to eat foods
that moisturize and cool without creating cold or weakness (and thus a collapsed state). Good things for
the fire type are: Juicy fruits and vegetables, warm soups, and adequate liquid intake, denser root
vegetables, sea vegetables, legumes, and fish protein. Raw and cooked foods can be used to balance her
states of hyper- and hypo activity. Warm, cooked foods can stimulate her when she is slowed down and
tired, and cool, raw foods can cool her down when she is overexcited. She should use ice cream, spicy
condiments, yogurt, and ices drinks rarely. For the adult they need to avoid overindulging in curry,
sugar, alcohol, caffeine, tea, chili, and salt (this also applies to children if they are exposed to such
things as colas, tea, or sugary foods).
HOT ACTIVITIES
Running
Walking
Exercising
Arguing
Yelling
Talking (Neutral)
Praying
Meditating
Yoga/ Tai Chi
Resting
Sitting
Reading
Sleeping
COOLEST
YANG (HOT)
Milk, cheese, eggs, seafood, poultry, meat
Legumes (beans)
Nuts
Seeds
Grains (NEUTRAL - not yang or yin)
Roots and tubers (potatoes and carrots are here)
Vegetables
Drier, harder fruits
Soft, juicy fruits
YIN (COOL)
Cooking methods are also cooling or heating
HEATING
Broiled
Dry-roasted
Fried
Baked
Sautéed (neutral)
Steamed
Raw or dried
Raw fresh
COOLING
RELATIONSHIPS WITH FIRE
Fire people are most nourished by wood people and would be lucky to have one of these as a parent,
friend or husband
Fire people nourish earth people

Fire people restrain metal people and would inhibit or annoy these types of people
Fire people are restrained by water people and should have one of these around to help them with their
expansive tendencies.
Fire is most subject to damage from heat and this injury usually enters thought the head, upper back,
nose, mouth and throat.
The color for fire is RED
AFFIRMATION FOR FIRE
It is useful for you to repeat them so you can remember and encourage the good things about yourself
daily.
THE FIRE TYPE
Dancing light, penetrating, warming
Envision a brilliant, glowing red
Cozy, joyful, giving, loving
Ripe, mature, blooming, bearing fruit
Expressing your feelings -
An outlet to give and receive love
Prayer, meditation, spirit
The tongue speaks its heart:
Soul communications
The belly laughs
My undistorted personality is Lively, Communicative, Charismatic, Optimistic, Sanguine, Aware,
Tender, Empathetic, Devoted, Enthusiastic, Alert
“A lift of joy in the times of trouble
The touch of innocence in a jaded era
The word of wit when we’re weighted down
the lift of humor when we’re heavyhearted
The ray of hope to blow away our black clouds
The enthusiasm and energy to start over and over again
The creativity to charm and color a drab day
the simplicity of a child in a complex situation”
You must also remember your weaknesses and try to avoid them, balance them and be aware of them.
Keep the following in mind:
You have tendencies to:
Talk too much
Not follow through
Find it hard to see fault in yourself
Be fickle and forgetful
Interrupt and answer for others
Be disorganized/immature at times
The fire type/ sanguine needs a Savior
Without divine help she cannot:
Curb her tongue
Control her ego
Not think too highly of herself
A spiritual center is very important for this type
RELATING TO THE FIRE TYPE
Friends and relatives need to understand:
Tends to burn up those around them. They are very free in giving and in taking emotion, things and
support. Since they are very free in giving and very enthusiastic in their generosity they do not feel they
ask too much of others. What they do not realize is that others (who are not fire) do not have their
burning passion and energy and are actually UNABLE to give what they can. So the fire person ends
up “burning up” their friends and family with their requests and needs, but at the same time always
feels unsatisfied because their own needs are not met. The fire person needs to understand this. They

need to understand that other people are willing to give them what you want. They DO love the fire
person and want to make them happy as their friends and family, but they are unable. It is not their
fault, nor does it mean they are shallow, unloving or unworthy of a fire person. The fire person also
needs to understand that the demands they put on their friends and family may be too much. Not just
for their sake, but for their own. For when the fire person asks for too much and are constantly
disappointed, they will be hurt and sad and withdraw. Instead, they need to expect less from the people
around them and “disperse your fire”.
Because of her nature, she may tend to “burn” or flare up due to certain outside influences. (These are
listed above). When she becomes “exaggerated” then her personality and physical body become out of
balance. In this state, since her heart controls her physical body, when it becomes too strong during
these emotional/physical flare-ups, her heart could then suppresses her lung energy. In that case, years
of being in an exaggerated state of emotion/physical state could bring the body to the point where the
heart energy will completely overwhelmed the lung energy. This can cause asthma, eczema and other
allergic conditions.
KEY PROBLEMS
The key problems of the fire type are dehydration, bad circulation, and instability of mental function. In
order to remain fluid, the fire type needs adequate liquid and meditative activities.
When the fire type is exaggerated the strength of the heart and heat of the fire person can attack the
lung, which in turn weakens the skin (which is related to the lung) and leaves the person wide open to
absorb toxins. When this happens the body also becomes excessively dry (due to excess heat) which
leads to problems such as dry mouth, cough, thirst, sweats and/or sores in the nose and throat.
Emotionally this person becomes restless and sensitive. When the lung is weakened it cannot properly
nurture the kidney and the kidney becomes weak. In a short - the excess “heat” of the body burns up
the “water element” which is the kidney
TYPOLOGY: THE WOOD TYPE
This type is roughly equivalent to the Sanguine type in Islamic Medicine
These are the general characteristics of the wood type. Keep in mind that not all of these characteristics
may fit with you but they should be about 80% accurate. Also, you may realize when reading this that
you have experienced all of the characteristics below, but at different points in your life. You may have
modified or balanced your type out as you got older and some of the more extreme behaviors are no
longer exhibited. If you feel thus typing does not fit you at all or is only about half accurate please tell
me and we can explore the possibility that you may fit better in another type.
OUTLINE OF THE WOOD TYPE
The wood type has the exaggerated power of domination.
They have the collapsed power of compression.
Their preoccupation is with work.
The wood type is compelled to win.
The wood type dreads confinement.
The wood type seeks the perfect cause.
The wood type dislikes conflicting purposes, choices, and impulses.
The wood type is obsessed with solutions, change and impulses.
The wood type has an aversion to powerlessness, bondage and dependency.
Their somatic poles are tension-relaxation, starting-stopping, accelerated-decelerated.
They tend to risk and stay busy.
Their existential doubt is “What is the purpose”?
Their emotional addiction is to be aroused.
Their spiritual fear is to be helpless.
KNOW YOUR TYPE:
You will feel the worst between the hours of 11PM-3AM and 11PM-3PM. Try to plan accordingly
since you know these low times are coming. Plan to rest, eat well or at least not be at your best. These
hours are not the time to: have guests, do a big project, and have a “discussion” with someone. You
will have your worst episodes in the Spring and Summer, your weakest times of year, you will be

worse when exposed to wind or heat (going out in the heat to shop, or leaving the car window open
when driving, etc...). Sour, greasy and spicy foods will also exaggerate your condition. Any sort of
stimulants will be extra dangerous to you This includes all drugs, alcohol and caffeine. Your strongest
time of day is dawn (do your meditation, prayer, etc... then if you can).
UNDERSTANDING THE WOOD
It often helps friends and family to know which type of person you are so they understand that some
things you do are not directed to them (or against them) but are merely an expression of your type.
Some people find it useful to share this section with their friends and family:
The wood type seeks challenge and push it to the limit. They admire speed, novelty and skill. They like
action, movement and adventure. They like to be the first, best and only. The wood type sees the world
from their point of view. This is often misinterpreted as selfish, but it is not. The wood type is not
necessarily selfish. They simply have a strong sense of self. They actually do spend a lot of time
thinking about others, but because they always fit others into their world view the image they
sometimes convey is that of a self-serving person. Loved ones need to realize that wood types have a
strong need to create a perfect world around themselves and have high ideals. Because of this
requirement, they see the world from themselves as a point of reference. Remember the good things
about wood people are their durability and ability to bounce back and regenerate from a bad situation.
A wood person is constantly regenerating. While others may wilt or slowly fade away in life as they get
older or more repressed or in more and more difficulty, the wood person is constantly regenerating
their body and themselves to stay on top of life. Because of this constant re-generation, wood people
need a lot of time for themselves. This may make them seem distant from their friends and family at
times, and they themselves may even deprive themselves of this time if they don’t see that others
around them are “needing the same”. However, a wood person NEEDS to take time to regenerate
themselves. They strive hard in life and are usually up against many challenges. They need time alone
to refresh for the next adventure/challenge that is ahead. Loved ones should make sure they get this
time. Even if the wood person insists, “Oh, I don’t need help”, “Oh I can get along. I don’t need time to
myself”. Don’t listen to them! Wood people have a hard time admitting they need anything and you
may have to force them to take the time for themselves or at least to not feel guilty about it when they
do. Wood people as mothers usually need help around the house in the form of a houseboy, maid,
mother-in-law, sister or helpful husband or friend. Wood mothers cannot “do it all alone” and still stay
balanced. They can certainly do it all alone, but their own health and the balance of the house will
suffer.
BASIC RULES FOR EATING
Avoid rich foods and eat greens daily - Swiss chard, parsley, mint, coriander, chives, argula (jarjir),
rigla, dark greens, lettuce (dark green), etc...
YOUR WEAKNESSES-TO WORK ON
Intensity
Restraint
Sharing
Cooperation
Ambiguity
Obstacles
Anger
Intolerance
Impatience
PROJECTS TO WORK ON WEAKNESSES
1. Count to ten - time outs
There are some who say “time outs” were created for parents - not the kids! This is so true!
Time outs are actually good for both. When you feel your anger is rising with ANYONE, excuse
yourself for a time out. With adults this could simply be excusing yourself to go to the bathroom or get
a drink of water. With a child you could explain to them that you are taking a time out. With a store
keeper you could simply say, “I’ll think about it and come back later” and then leave right away.

Whatever works. The point is to FEEL when the anger starts to rise and then wait a few minutes.
Within that few minute span the anger would have dissipated enough so you can deal with the situation
or forget about it. This will take practice. Don’t give up. Keep trying and reward yourself for each time
you do this successfully. Don’t look for perfection right away. Look instead for “small goals”. Start
with the goal that you will do this exercise successfully once, then set a goal for twice, then set your
goal for one half a day without an episode, then set a goal for a whole day. Soon you will be finding
that your outbursts come only once a week. This is probably the best anyone can hope to achieve! Once
a week is about “normal” for this personality type. Once a month is a miracle but is also a good longterm
goal.
2. Wait for things - to buy, to talk (conversation). Practice waiting. When you want to buy something
or talk in the conversation practice waiting. If you want to buy a shirt, wait a couple days first. If you
want to talk, let the person finish a couple more sentences first. See what happens when you wait.
Observe your reactions to waiting.
3. Exercise/ walk - your type has a lot of excess energy that can seem endless when spent on yourself,
but often is “repressed” when it is all spent on others. You need to exercise to keep your energy levels
flowing evenly and to keep your organs in balance.
4. Affirmations - you need to constantly remind yourself of all the positive things about yourself and
about others. Start with yourself and you will slowly start to see others in a brighter light as well.
Repeat the affirmations below, adding to them as you think of things you like about yourself or life.
This may seem simplistic and silly, but it really works! This actually works better than any herb or
medicine on the earth. I have personally seen many people cured, or changed just by using affirmations
and nothing else. Be sure to keep this paper and read your affirmation daily.
5. Prayers - your type needs to connect with their maker on a regular basis to remain steady and feel
they have a place they can come to which is safe, private and protective. This is what you need and can
find in prayer. Prayer is also a good “time out” for this type. When you find your anger pressure
building up, excuse yourself to pray. Even if you don’t want to. See what happens.
6. Find a hobby - Your type has a great need for personal growth and is very intense. You need a place
to put this energy and intensity other than your friends and family. To put all your energy and intensity
that you have in your family and friends would mean that you are probably either smothering them or
you are too emotionally intense with them. Find a project or hobby for yourself that is only for you to
let out some of this energy so it does not all get poured onto family and friends. This could be reading,
yoga class, Koran classes, sewing, knitting, cross-stitch, studying, teaching, correspondence courses,
etc...this must be done at least once a week and must be only for you.
7. You need regular hands on touch in the form of massage, reflexology, facials, etc...this is to so the
natural tension that is in your muscles and system and get them used to the feeling of relaxation. Part of
the reason you cannot relax is because you are not used to feeling that way and the body naturally
migrates to what is natural for it. Create a regular schedule of relaxation so your body will slowly
realize that relaxation can be a “normal” state.
8. Together with number seven, you need to create a time each day when you relax. This could be
anywhere from 30 minutes to 1 hour. EACH DAY. You need to relax each day. For the same reasons I
stated above and also because of your intensified condition now you should follow this daily. In the
future you could afford every other day. You can choose any activity to relax you. This could be:
watching TV, reading a book. writing e-mails, cooking, taking a bath, taking a nap, yoga stretches at
home, an exercise video, watching a video, writing a letter, meditating, praying, reading Koran,
studying. Ideally this activity should be done alone and in the home.
9. Find a healthy outlet for your sense of competition. An art contest? Board or card games, a sport?
Find some way you can compete in a healthy way or else you will find yourself competing with
everyone around you.
REALIZE YOUR STRENGTHS
AFFIRMATION TO REMEMBER YOUR STRENGTHS-

The wood type is a pioneer and usually the first to try new things in their family or peer circle. The
“wood” type has the difficulty of being hard to accept by others. Their powerful personalities are hard
to deal with by others. While the earth person is usually universally liked, the water person is usually
independent enough that at least people do not dislike them, they just let them be, metal types are
admired for their hard work, and fire types are charismatic and attractive. Wood types are simply
“perfect” and this drives everyone nuts! Wood types need to realize that this constant demand of
perfection in themselves and others is difficult to live with. They also need to realize that they have
some wonderful qualities, that although they are not universally appreciated and not appreciated at all
in some cultures (for women) that they posses valuable qualities and they need to remember, that just
because others may not see these as good qualities, that they are their God-given gifts to this earth and
without the wood types, the human race would not be where it is now. Wood types, especially women,
are often made to feel they are not good enough, they don’t fit in, or they are not doing things right.
You need to make yourself understand (and others will follow once you convince yourself) that this is
not true! Wood types need to be comfortable being pioneers and do what they feel is right with
conviction and enthusiasm and let others know that they are comfortable with this and that they are not
rejecting what others say and do but they have different things to offer. Make a point of offering what
you can of your uniqueness so that others will recognize your qualities more. Don’t hide your strengths
or try to be like others want you to be. For instance, one of your strengths is in your bravery and your
sense of adventure. Perhaps, then, you should be the one to offer to take your friends and relatives to
interesting places. People can appreciate that when they are with you life is exciting yet they can feel
safe with you and still have their excitement. Another good quality you have is your determination.
Show others how you can finish a project to the end, and help others finish their projects as well. You
would be a good person to support someone with less determination who is trying to diet or finish a
course or class. They can appreciate that without you they would not have been able to finish! Wood
types make a great contribution to the earth, which is just as important as all the other types. The only
difference is they don’t always get the appreciation and love that they should for their contributions!
In a situation where your type becomes “exaggerated." This exaggeration will completely suppress
your “earth” qualities which woods may have a lot of. The earth qualities are ones of compassion,
kindness, love, gentleness, support and nurturing. “Wood” naturally controls the “Earth” qualities so
you need to be extra careful to keep balance in your personality so that your earth qualities can remain
strong. An example of an “earth” person would be the stereotypical “perfect mother”, always giving
and never asking for anything in return. You may have many of these qualities, but the wood type
represses them when it becomes exaggerated. At the same time you need to accept the fact that you can
never BE an earth person or another type and that you are the type that you are. You can nurture the
other types and create emphasis and balance in these types, but you will always tend to be the type you
are.
Repeat the following affirmation daily and add to it as you think of things. This will strengthen the
good qualities in yourself that you already have. The best thing is once you let these good qualities
shine and appreciate them yourself, others will too! Some of these qualities may be weak now or yet
undiscovered, but they are all there in potential.
Affirmation to recite daily:
I seek challenge and push myself to the limit. I enjoy and do well under pressure, I am speedy, novel
and skillful, and I am action packed, moving and adventurous. I am a pioneer. I am good at what I do! I
am confident, assertive, bold, ambitious, powerful, competitive, direct, committed and decisive! I am
confident, assertive, bold, ambitious, competitive, powerful, direct, committed, and decisive. I am
flexible and durable and strongly rooted, I have motivation and willpower, I have a clear vision and
inspiration, I am intuitively alive and creative, I express my anger and am assertive, I renew my daily
relationships and watch them grow. My power is in my capacity to rapidly expand and build up under
pressure.
NOTE: Wood types often find that their growth happens in cycles much like the trees or plants that
“wood” comes from. You will progress spiritually or physically or mentally (Spring and Summer
blossoms of the tree), then you will fall back an regress a bit (Fall), you will reach a complete low
(Winter) and then you will once again blossom even bigger, brighter and better than before (A year’s
growth of the tree is always progressive). Sometimes a wood person may even find himself or herself
following this pattern in exact sync with the seasons. Note that if you live in a very hot climate that you
may experience your winter symptoms most likely in the summer and your Spring/Summer symptoms

in the Fall/Spring.
A wood type is like a plant in a vegetable garden. The spring comes and the plant grows larger
and larger and stronger and stronger until one day it blossoms. How well the plant does is
directly related to the soil it grows in and the gardener that tends it. So the wood person is very
effected by the people around them, the place they live in, the weather and all other external stimuli
including books and movies. The wood person is also very affected by the “gardener” that tends them.
This usually is the spouse, mother, father, friend or doctor. A person “tending” a wood person needs to
remember that the wood person needs regular watering (praise, love, nurturing), regular sunlight but
not too bright, moderate weather (avoid extreme temperatures), needs to be weeded (guide them in
what is good about them and gently pull what is bad out), etc....Then in the Summer its blossoms
become fruit and it offers this fruit to those around it. The wood person/plant rarely keeps the fruits
of its labor for itself. The plant (wood person) enjoys a period of fame, appreciation, blossoming and
fruition in the summer. A period of high energy and giving. A well tended wood person or one
“grown” in good nurturing surroundings has the ability to produce fruits that surpass anything a person
can imagine. Wood people in bloom and fruition and the most amazing of all the types. The only irony
is that they are only like this about one fourth of the time. They should not expect from themselves, nor
should others expect for them to be constantly brilliant and “in season”. Because...Then comes the
fall, the fruits start to become less, the richness of the green plant fades, and it starts to go into a
cycle of decline. The leaves change color and the fruits eventually fade away, the plant wilts and
starts to mulch it self into the soil around it and decompose. This is the beginning of a low period
for the wood person. They may start to wonder where all their energy is going, where are all their fruits
and where are their green leaves? They may ask, “What is happening to me? I was once so wonderful
and now I am not!” A wood person is still functioning at this time but when unaware of what is
happening to them they may spend all of their energies trying to hold onto “summer” instead of
accepting that Fall has come. After the fall comes the inevitable wintertime. The plant is
completely mulched into the ground and “dies”. This is the lowest time for a wood person. They
will be at their lowest energy point, they will have lost almost everything they think is theirs and they
will usually become depressed, low, or reclusive during this time. Some may even feel like they want
to die. Others will question the meaning of life. Extreme cases may even try suicide. But then the
spring comes again and the plant once again starts to blossom. And this time (the next year) it
blossoms even more splendidly than before because the mulch from the year before has enriched
it's soil even more. It does not matter what the soil was to begin with, the next year is always
better for the plant as each year it’s mulch enriches the soil around it. This is the time when the
wood person realizes that they have gone through one of their regular and frequent spiritual or personal
growth periods. They will look back on the silence of the winter and the transition of the fall and
realize how much they were enriched by this time. In the summer they will have bigger and better fruits
than before.
Using this analogy as a guide can guide the wood person and the people around them. What does a
plant need to grow? What will kill a plant and what will hurt its growth? What will cause it to blossom
and fruit and what causes undeveloped fruits? You will see that there are many analogies that can be
drawn. Moving, for instance is harmful to a wood person as they are constantly forced to re-mulch in
new soil. This will slow the development of a wood person although in some cases it can also
strengthen the person (plant) and cause a new, stronger breed to grow because of it’s constant
adaptation. Another thing that is harmful to a wood person is being enclosed. A wood person in spring
and summer hates being shut in and enclosed. They need to feel that their roots have space to grow
down, and that their leaves and branches have space to grow up. Periods of “drought” (being neglected
as a child or being neglected by a spouse) or periods of “flooding” (being spoiled as a child or being
constantly given what they want as an adult) can be equally damaging to a wood person. Remember
not to water your wood person too much (spoil them) or neglect them. The happiest plant is one where
everything in it’s life is regular. The happy wood person likes to be watered at the same time every day
and to have all the sun; water, food and nurture come to it in regular steady intervals. For this reason
another wood person cannot truly nurture another wood person on a regular basis. Also, for this reason,
the wood person becomes highly disappointed and affected when life presents challenges (droughts and
floods and attacks from locusts to the garden). The wood person needs to realize that the challenges are
a normal part of life and that the seasons are a normal part of being a wood person. A wood person
experiences these seasonal changes on a daily basis to a small extent, on a monthly basis to a larger
extent and on a yearly basis to the most extreme extent.

Wood types hate being told what to do because it is an invasion of their privacy. Telling a wood type
what to do without an invitation is like knocking on their door and announcing you have “dropped in to
visit” at midnight or 5 in the morning. If you have something to tell a wood type, write it down or
remember it and then bring it up again when they ask for help. If they complain or say in exasperation
“What can I do?” this is not asking for help. Asking for help means that they sit you down and say, ‘I
have this problem. Can you help me?” Wood people are most receptive in this state. Another way to
get through to a wood person is to simply state what you want/ that your opinion is even if they are not
in a receptive state and then leave. Don’t try to get a response and don’t say your opinion over and over
trying to pound it into them. They will register what you have said, file it away, and when they are
ready they will “listen” later.
You find much variance within the wood type all the way from Psychotic to Psychic. The reason for
this is the level of self-awareness and nurturing they have. The two most important things for a wood
type are self- awareness and nurturing. If a wood type is not aware of who they are and thinks they are
“broken” because they are not like everyone else, if everyone else thinks they are broken and if they
suffer from a lack of nurturing foods, people and places, they enter psychotic states such as clinical
depression, manic depressive syndrome and extreme psychosis or schizophrenia. The more aware a
wood person is means they become more aware of who they are so they are better able to control their
being and emotions rather than their emotions and being controlling them. If they are also surrounded
by nurturing, loving people, friends, places and food, they will grow to be more and more balanced.
Along with this balance many wood people will find that what they originally thought to be crazy
sensations are actually psychic experiences.
Wood types are usually viewed as gifted in some way as they are the only type that produces fruit
effortlessly. Instead of being “hybrid” to produce fruit or taught to or not able to at all, they naturally
do so many things. However, their fruits are not a result of hard labor, but of nature and for this reason
they are often envied by their peers for their ability. They may also feel guilty and self-conscious
themselves for being so skilled without having to work at it. A wood person does not usually have to
attend college or school to learn to read or write or to learn anything at all. A wood person learns
naturally from books and the world around them. However, school to a wood person should be taken
advantage of as a grounding experience and an opportunity to practice balance and social skills. The
best school for a wood person would be one that appreciates all angles of education (handiwork, music,
spiritual, mental and social as well as academic) and not just the academic aspects of education. To
emphasize only the academic aspects of education in the wood person is to cause more imbalances in
them. This will be obvious in their worsening mood swings, depressions or social problems.
A wood person is the most misunderstood type because of their seasons. A person who meets them
when they are in spring will be constantly searching for that spring when “fall” and “winter” arrive.
When “spring” comes again they will once again think they have a handle on the person only to
encounter fall and winter once again. This confuses them and paints a picture of inconsistency and
fragmentation to the outside world when really the friends and family of the wood person need to
understand that the wood person is composed not of one season but of many seasons and that in itself
IS THEM.
A wood person needs a guide - a gardener and the sun so to speak. They need a spiritual path in life
(their sun) and they need someone to tend them and to guide them in their growth and make sure they
get the proper nutrients (the gardener). A wood person’s growth becomes unruly and uncontrolled
without a “gardener” and they will die without the “sun”.
A wood person needs a lot of sleep. In the spring and summer they need more to help them cool off and
in the winter they need more to relax and reflect. Sleep provides the wood person with what they need
most - rest, cooling, balance, perspective, quiet time, privacy and dreams.
RELATIONSHIP TIPS WITH THE WOOD CHILD/SPOUSE
Most wood people I know are told three things by their spouse or parent that reflect the typical
frustrations people have with the wood type. They are, “You are stupid (or spacey or flaky)!” , “Don’t
be so selfish”, and “Control your anger” or “Cool down, chill out!” or “stop overreacting”. Below are
some ALTERNATIVE things the wood person should say to himself or herself and the friends and
family should say to them. The above statements seem to let off steam and express our frustration with
the wood person BUT they are damaging the psyche of the “wood” and they do not guide nor teach

them at all. You will see no results when you use the statements above and may feel frustrated for a
long time. The alternative statements below will get better responses from a wood person:
DON’T SAY: “You are stupid, flaky, spacey or forgetful”. Instead here are some ideas, which you can
use according to circumstances and age of the person:
Say, “You have become distracted and need to focus. Why don’t you drop one of the activities you are
doing right now? Why don’t you cancel that appointment/ commitment?”
Say, “You need to regain your focus. I’m just reminding you. Why don’t you take a time out? Why
don’t you take some quiet time?”
Two things that work GREAT for a wood type child are “Time outs” and “vacations”. But they must be
presented properly. When you feel the wood person is becoming overloaded you should tell the child,
“Why don’t you take a break for a minute and after your time out we will talk about it, decide another
activity, do something together, eat, etc...” For a more drastic situation you can pull the child from all
of their activities for a day or two and give them a “vacation”. I usually include NO TV and NO
visiting friends during this vacation. I try to make the vacation fun for them in some way so they do not
feel punished. This is not a punishment (a time out is sometimes a little punishment) but is a time for
them to rest.
DON’T SAY, “Don’t be selfish”
Instead remind the wood person:
“You are seeing things from your world again. You need to step out and get an outside opinion or
perspective. Look at some people who are worse off from you. Imagine you are someone else. What
would they think of this situation? What would they do?”
For a child you can offer a specific example, ‘What would Winnie the Pooh do in this situation?” for
instance or “What would uncle George do or think?”
DON’T Say, “Chill out. Control your temper!”
Instead say, “You are misdirecting your energies again. You need to take a walk, paint, write, jump,
dance, or exercise or get out of the house” Perhaps they simply need to change the activity they are in.
Perhaps in general they need more activities to do and are bored or under stimulated in general.
The key thing to watch in a wood person is over stimulation (over watering the garden) which creates a
selfish and dissatisfied attitude or under-stimulation which creates an angry and dissatisfied individual.
The wood type themselves also need to realize what stage they are in. They will be either under or over
stimulated most of the time so they need to seek balance and when they are not balanced they need to
hold their tongue about their TEMPORARY dissatisfaction and instead administer the “cure” (which
would be either to cut down or increase activity and nurturing and/or nutrition).
A wood child THRIVES on structure and as an adult they crave and need organization. They are often
skilled at organizing their homes, people or projects. Ironically, though, they often have trouble staying
within their own organizational bounds because of the constant balance seeking they are doing. As a
wood person becomes more aware and balanced they will find it easier to stay within their own bounds.
Wood types tend towards left sided ailments.
Wood types tend towards yeast infections. This is probably because they usually are “abusers” of sugar
and bread. They have found that sugar offers a temporary relief during their low cycles and that bread
offers comfort during their high-energy cycles (it slows and cools them down) so they use these
substances constantly in a subconscious effort to balance themselves. When a wood person learns to
balance without abusing food and to eat more balancing foods in general they will become more
balanced themselves and usually have less struggle with the yeast infection. When a wood person is
acting spacey or “not there” check their sugar consumption or blood sugar levels (Have they eaten
lately?), when a wood person acts angry and depressed check their bread consumption (has it been too
much?).

HOW TO DEAL WITH THE CHANGING SEASONS ON A DAILY AND YEARLY BASIS.
The biggest challenge for a wood person is their constantly changing “season”. These seasonal displays
can change with the seasons, they can change on a daily basis and they can even change with outside
pressures. Trauma can induce an early winter and over excitement or stimulating food can cause a
“summer”. The only constant in the wood’s life is that they were born with four seasons and will
always have them. Thus the issue is not how to get rid of them, but how to deal with them the best.
STEP ONE: Realize the seasons are there and that you are not crazy. The information above is a first
step in realizing that. There is also a book on the market called, .The Highly Sensitive Person (?) by (?)
recently recommended by a friend and which has also been recommended in the past by a family
member. This book can apply to any of the types so it does not offer information specific to the wood
type (I don’t think) but does offer general information on sensitive people. The Water person can be
sensitive because of their determination and dreamy passion. The Fire type is usually sensitive because
their life is based on sensation, the Metal type can be sensitive because they are disturbed by anything
that is not of their type, and the earth type can be sensitive to everything because they feel they must be
responsive and nurturing to everything they encounter. The wood type is sensitive simply because that
is their nature. Over-sensitivity that is not dealt with in a positive way is “normal” in most types but
does indicate an imbalance and need for development within the parameters of the type.
STEP TWO: Realize that you are super-sensitive to the atmosphere around you and that you need to
learn techniques to deal with this sensitivity. You need to know three things: A. How to process all the
information you get being so supersensitive B. How to file the information you get and C. How to
block certain sensations or information that may cause you to “winter”. Or, alternatively, how to
process these so they will not cause a “winter”.
TYPOLOGY: THE EARTH TYPE
This type does not exist in any other typology system. It is considered by many the representation of
the person most balanced in all the types
These are the general characteristics of the earth type. Keep in mind that not all of these characteristics
may fit with you but they should be about 80% accurate. Also, you may realize when reading this that
you have experienced all of the characteristics below, but at different points in your life. You may have
modified or balanced your type out as you got older and some of the more extreme behaviors are no
longer exhibited. If you feel thus typing does not fit you at all or is only about half accurate please tell
me and we can explore the possibility that you may fit better in another type.
OUTLINE OF THE EARTH TYPE
The earth type, when exaggerated has the power of obstruction.
When collapsed their power lies in stagnation.
They are preoccupied with details.
The earth is compelled to interfere.
The earth person dreads torpidity.
The earth person seeks the perfect family.
The earth person dislikes conflicting roles, loyalties, and frames of reference.
The earth person is obsessed with manipulation, pleasing others and security.
The earth person has an aversion to change, dislocation and independence.
Their somatic poles are dense-porous, active-passive, and filling-emptying.
They tend to seek comfort and avoid isolation.
Their existential doubt is: What is my role?
Their emotional addiction is to be needed.
Their spiritual fear is to be lost.
THE BASIC TYPE
Unification is the guiding principle of the Earth type, the “peacemaker”. Through her power to
establish and sustain relationships, she nurtures and promotes our connectedness with each other and
our world. Focusing on what is mutually shared, she synthesizes what is divided and antagonistic into

what is unified and interdependent. She/ he is a peacemaker and as such values serenity and stability,
mediating conflict with her gift for converting discord into harmony. She is the master of positioning
and leverage, able to alter her perspective, grasping what is central to achieving the most cooperation
with the least sacrifice. Chameleon like, she can assume and enhance the attributes of those around her,
putting people at ease in an environment of trust. The “peacemaker” embodies sympathy and caring, a
ready advocate for those in greatest need - of friendship, sustenance, and recognition. Negotiating
peace for its own sake, she tirelessly serves humanity as the great balancer, equalizer, the preserver of
families and societies.
TENDENCIES OF THE EARTH TYPE
Although the earth type can be readily diverted to help another, she keeps her own quandaries to
herself, hiding worry behind a congenial, cheerful front. She is sweet; she has an amiable disposition,
an engaging smile and a sweet tooth. She respects the maxim that: “ Kind hearts are the garden, kind
thoughts are the roots, kind words are the blossoms and kind deeds are the fruits.” She is popular and
accommodating and grounded in herself so she can afford to give and take with ease. Contributing her
advice with diplomatic craft, she eagerly organizes other people’s lives with a faculty for resolving
their personal or social dilemmas. She is a patient listener and draws even strangers out into
conversation.
The home is the center of operations for the Earth type, where work, recreation and domestic life are
mixed contentedly. The Earth type has difficulty saying no and is often compelled to take on more than
her share of other people’s projects or predicaments. This extra weight increases her own mass (see
physical tendencies below) and the she becomes prone to languidity and sluggishness.
Just as silos full of harvested grain engender a feeling of abundant prosperity, she feels enriched and
complete when she is filled to her limit. Similarly, her impulse is to be generous - her deepest wish is
that everyone has as much as they need and want. She resists change that she anticipates might
jeopardize security and stability. As a squirrel collects acorns for the winter, she stores away surplus to
assure that needs are met.
Pleasing other people, something utterly important to Earth types, can leave little room for fulfilling her
own desires, creating and empty feeling in the midst of life that seems replete. Because she sometimes
mistakes this hunger for satisfaction with a craving for food, eating becomes and means of filling up.
If the Earth person’s environment is constant and generous she functions optimally. However, when
life is unsteady and unpredictable like “feast or famine” she can become greedy and acquisitive in the
face of opulence, fearful of deprivation and impoverishment in sparse times. When life is going well
and is steady financially, metally, and physically the earth person is perhaps the most balanced of all
the types. But the minute a bit of instability hits - financial trouble, threat of divorce or relationship
trouble or physical injury, the earth person automatically starts to “store up” energies and things. They
may eat too much with an underlying sense of urgency that it may not be available tomorrow or they
may buy things they don’t really need right now or they may become “distant”, saving their emotional
energies for better circumstances.
INTERNAL RELATIONSHIPS
The earth type has conflict within her/himself with their water and wood element. There is always
tension between earth and water. Earth wants to share (distribute) and accommodate (absorb) and the
water wants to withhold (store up) and harden (consolidate). This can manifest as the earth person
becoming too meddling and arranging and enveloping things and not keeping enough distance in
relationships.
The other area of conflict often shows up in the liver area because tension between the spleen (earth)
and liver (wood) can cause stagnation in the liver through stagnation in the spleen. This can cause the
earth person’s emotions to become too heavy and intense when her/his liver is too weak to stimulate
and disperse the muddy energies of the spleen (earth). This is when pettiness comes in and everything
in life seems to be weighty and earthshaking and the earth person reacts too strongly or “overreacts” to
situations in their life.
When the kidney and liver become overbearing and congested in the earth person, the heart and lungs
will become weakened and under active often causing sleeplessness, increase in allergic reactions,

feelings of panic and/or breathing problems. The opposite can also happen. When the heart and lunges
become overactive the kidney and liver can become hypersensitive and erratic.
INSTABILITIES
When the Earth type becomes unstable, she oscillates between being empty and full, indulgent and selfsacrificing,
self-centered and self-depreciating, grandiose and defeated, meddling and apathetic,
bingeing and starving.
The stable earth person would be: Nurturing, supportive, relaxed, oriented, sociable, sympathetic,
considerate, agreeable, poised and attentive.
The “exaggerated earth” person tends to be overprotective, meddlesome, inert, stuck. Crowding,
involved, worried, conforming, lugubrious, overbearing.
The “collapsed earth” person is spoiling, clinging, amorphous, vacillating, ingratiating, attached,
scattered, wishy-washy, precarious, and fawning.
THE PHYSICAL TENDENCIES
The earth type tends to be fleshy and strong rather than sinewy or tight. Her power is in her mass,
carried in a round body, with solid hips and thighs planted firmly in the ground. The earth type does not
HAVE to be fat, they can be thin, but they can gravitate to weight gain so they will have/need a
lifelong program to maintain their ideal weight especially after childbirth and age 30-35.The inherent
capacity to absorb makes the Earth type vulnerable to becoming overburdened and overweight.
The balanced earth person should be aware of their weakness, which are: metabolic, muscle and
lymphatic dysfunction, venous disorders, digestive disorders, weight management and fluid balance.
The Collapsed earth person may find they have: soft lumps and swollen glands, sore and weak lumbar
region, weak ankles and wrists, hunger but can’t decide what to eat, prolapsed of stomach, uterus, or
intestines, varicose veins, slow healing of cuts, easy bruising, tender muscles, bleeding gums, tooth
decay, hard to lose weight, bloats easily and poor muscle tone. These problems usually arise from
depletion of moisture, accumulation of damp and cold (a lot of raw foods or cold and damp weather),
and a weakness of the liver, spleen or kidney (kidneys include the adrenal glands which are depleted in
times of stress). In this state the heart and the lung become drained and weakened and the kidney and
liver become overbearing and congested.
The exaggerated earth person would find trouble with conjunctivitis, excess appetite, water retention,
irregular bowels and urination, tender gums, PMS with lethargy, hunger and swelling, sores of the
scalp, heavy, aching head and eyes, sticky, puffy eyelids, sticky mucus in nose and throat, sticky saliva
and perspiration, and swollen or sensitive spleen and liver. These problems may come about from
congestion of moisture in the system, accumulation of heat and dampness (too much milk, meat
products or hot and damp weather and activities), and disharmony or liver-spleen or spleen-kidney. In
this state the heart and lung become hyperactive and the kidney and liver become hypersensitive and
erratic.
A diet of cold or raw foods eaten for a lengthy time will create too much cold and swing the earth
person onto the “collapsed” state of the pendulum unless they heat the diet up a bit by eating things
warm and using warm spices with the cooling raw foods. However, in the hot summer, when the
tendency is to become heated, they may benefit from the cooling foods to help balance them. In short,
the earth type is very sensitive to the extremes of hot and cold, so the optimum health would be
achieved by striking a balance of hot and cold. Do not eat too many cold foods or too many hot ones;
do not do too many cooling activities or too many hot ones. Keep a balance.
LISTS
Foods, cooking methods and activities are listed in order of hottest to coldest. If you find yourself
overheated then chose from the cooler foods and activities. If you find yourself cold and stagnating
(weight gain, lethargy, depression, stagnation), then chose from the warmer foods. Ideally you should
cook balanced meals, neither hot nor cold. When you find yourself low and lethargic do some heated
activities and eat some hot foods. If you find yourself heated, angry or sleepless, try some cooling
foods and activities. Watch out for a tendency to abuse food or substances in this effort to balance.

Sometimes people find that they migrate to sugar, drugs, prescription pills or chocolate to bring them
“up” and then migrate to baked goods, breads, alcohol, valium, prescription pills, etc...to bring them
back down. Learn healthier ways to monitor balance in your body. The ultimate balancer is sleep,
which creates an “upper” and a “downer” for people.
HOT ACTIVITIES
Running
Walking
Exercising
Arguing
Yelling
Talking (Neutral)
Praying
Meditating
Yoga/ Tai Chi
Resting
Sitting
Reading
Sleeping
COOLEST
YANG (HOT)
Milk, cheese, eggs, seafood, poultry, meat
Legumes (beans)
Nuts
Seeds
Grains (NEUTRAL - not yang or yin)
Roots and tubers (potatoes and carrots are here)
Vegetables
Drier, harder fruits
Soft, juicy fruits
YIN (COOL)
Cooking methods are also cooling or heating
HEATING
Broiled
Dry-roasted
Fried
Baked
Sautéed (neutral)
Steamed
Raw or dried
Raw fresh
COOLING
The earth person is ruled by their spleen or stomach.
AGGRAVATIONS OCCUR WITH
The worst times and things for the earth person are:
Late summer and change of season
Humidity, Heat and Cold (extremes)
Sweet, sticky and cold foods
7AM-11AM and 7PM-11PM
Earth is most likely to be collapsed in the fall or spring and Exaggerated in the late summer and winter
For an earth type disturbances are likely to show up in the water area of the body (restrained by earth)
or the wood area of the body. The water area is the bladder-kidney area and the wood is the gallbladder
and liver. So an earth type may experience things like sore lower back, swollen ankles, PMS water
retention - all indications of kidney disturbance. When dampness in the spleen hampers the capacity of

the liver to make decisions and initiate action. The effect is then to create an unsettling feeling of doubt
and insecurity. Then the characteristics of affability and gregariousness that are so much of earth are
hemmed in by an undercurrent of irritability and vulnerability. With difficulty or trauma, the earth
person becomes easily imbalanced and distorted.
Earth is many times plagued with the following complaints: Disturbances of digestion and absorption,
disturbances of lymphatic circulation, disorders of fluid distribution, diseases of the muscles, disorders
of the veins and blood, indigestion, poor appetite or overeating, loose bowels, anemia due to mal
absorption, hemorrhoids, bruising.
Injury enters earth through their head, joints, lower back, and lower abdomen.
UNDERSTANDING EARTH
Loved ones need to understand that Earth types want to be involved and needed, they like to be in
charge, but not in the limelight, they are agreeable and accommodating and want to be all things to all
people, they seek harmony and togetherness, and the insists upon loyalty, security, and predictability.
Their typical problems are worry, obsession and self-doubt, meddling and over-protectiveness,
overextending themselves, lethargy, indigestion, unruly appetites, water retention, and muscle
tenderness. And unrealistic expectations and demands. An earth person may sometimes seem shallow
to friends and family who do not understand them because they do not spend a lot of time swelling on
the meaning of things and have the rare ability to enjoy things (such as movies) for their entertainment
(the action and scenery) rather than their meaning (spending long hours thinking or talking about the
meaning of a film. Sometimes they do not even “get it” at all.
STATS FOR EARTH
The color for earth is yellow-ocher
The sound for earth is humming (music or chanting)
The tissues of earth are mouth, lips and gums and muscles
Earth becomes strongest as one matures
Earth is in the center of all directions
RELATIONSHIPS WITH EARTH
Earth is nourished by Fire (Fire people bring out the best in Earth people)
Earth nourishes Metal (Earth brings out the best in a Metal person)
Earth retrains Water (keeps water under control or in balance)
Earth is restrained by Wood (Is kept in balance by wood people, or is inhibited by depending on their
receptiveness and the other person’s maturity development)
Earth is subject to injury by Dampness
Injury usually enters through the head, joints, lower back or lower abdomen
Sexual values for earth embrace connectedness
KEEPING EARTH IN BALANCE
She needs to recognize when she is too dense (congested) or too porous (scattered and dissipated) and
then rearrange herself to adjust back. She requires a routine that activates her physically and diverts her
mentally. Regular and appropriate nourishment, emotionally, intellectually and food-wise are means to
avoid the “feast and famine” feeling that promotes imbalance.
AFFIRMATION
The power of earth comes from the capacity to link, nurture, and sustain. Earth types need to balance
their devotion to relationship with solitude and self-expression, developing self-reliance as well as
building community.
FOODS FOR EARTH
Fluids, starches, sugars, fats and sticky glutinous foods are her/his undoing, particularly in the form of
confections, pastries, pastas, milk cheeses and rich sauces made with butter or oil. She/he needs ample
roughage and fiber to move the gluttonous things out of her system. Warm, dry condiments (ginger,
pepper, parsley and cardamom) help her/him eliminate excess gas and moisture. She/he should also
avoid refrigerated or iced foods because the cold engenders dampness and depresses the digestive fire
of the stomach and spleen.

TYPOLOGY RESULTS: THE METAL TYPE
This type is roughly equivalent to the melancholic type in Islamic Medicine
These are the general characteristics of the metal type. Keep in mind that not all of these characteristics
may fit with you but they should be about 80% accurate. Also, you may realize when reading this that
you have experienced all of the characteristics below, but at different points in your life. You may have
modified or balanced your type out as you got older and some of the more extreme behaviors are no
longer exhibited. If you feel thus typing does not fit you at all or is only about half accurate please tell
me and we can explore the possibility that you may fit better in another type.
The depth to see into the heart and soul of life.
The artistic nature or appreciate the beauty of the world.
The talent to create a masterpiece where nothing else exists.
The ability to analyze and arrive at the proper solution.
The eye for detail while others may do shoddy work.
The aim to finish what they start.
The pledge “ If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right”
The desire to do things decently and in order.
OUTLINE OF THE METAL TYPE
The metal type, when exaggerated becomes restricted or restrictive.
When they are collapsed they become contractive or constricted.
They are preoccupied with rituals.
They are compelled to control.
They dread crowds.
They seek the perfect system.
They dislike conflicting mores, standards and rewards.
They are obsessed with perfection, order and differences.
They have an aversion to spontaneity, pollution and decrepitude.
Their somatic poles are tight-lose, closed-open, thick and thin.
They tend to follow a higher order and make judgments.
Their existential doubt is “what is right?”
Their emotional addiction is to BE right.
Their spiritual fear is of becoming corrupt.
THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
The metal type is guided by “transmutation”. this means they seek the perfection of form and function.
Through his power of discernment, they distill what is good and pure from what is course and
primitive. In his striving to extract order from chaos, they mold situations so that people perform their
tasks with elegant precision. Defining and refining, this “alchemist of life” is the keeper of standards
and measures, the source of aesthetic and moral values, the defender of virtue, principle and beauty.
They are the master of ceremony and discipline. Like a monk shut away in retreat, serene, detached and
unflappable he instructs us in the meaning of ritual and doctrine, providing structure that enables
people to apply the metaphysical to the mundane. The power of metal comes from the capacity to
shape and refine.
The metal type is sensitive to all aspects of environment and has a keen sense of smell. Their selfawareness
is bound by a well-developed talent for detachment and discrimination: they are adept at
separating their own ideas and desires from those around them. Skilled at carving distinctions, the
metal type cuts though ambiguity.
Everyone knows exactly where they stand with the metal type. Neither gullible nor easily ruffled, the
metal type remains aloof, difficult to know intimately. They prefer not to mix business with pleasure.
They maintain some emotional distance from their spouse and children yet they are always correct and
fair, providing equal time and favor in meeting their needs. The metal dislikes conflict and disorder,
preferring conformity over strangeness and composure over excitement. Pleased when others are
satisfied with their roles and obligations, they expect life to be agreeable and sensible. Their patience
persists as long as people do their share and follow established procedure, insuring that events transpire

according to plan.
The metal type judges right and wrong, success or failure according to how closely actions match
principles. They sometimes over identify with standards, methods and schedules and covet their own
authority and expertise, not willing to relinquish any part of it. When the execution of their carefully
rendered schemes is derailed, they fall back on rigid adherence to rules and regulations in an effort to
reassert control over disturbingly fluctuating circumstances. Their striving for perfection can be a
source of disappointment since no one may be able to meet their standards including themselves.
Emotionally, this translates into a reluctance to share themselves with others. Disillusioned with their
efforts to make the world flawless and good, they sometimes resort to reinstating order by means of
punishment and prohibition. In the face of having the righteous and reasonable denied them, they are
willing to sacrifice the pleasures of spontaneity and intimacy for the sake for safety and control.
TYPICAL PROBLEMS
This pattern of inhibition interferes with the rhythmic activities of the body. When the cadence of
respiration and elimination are interrupted in their lungs, skin and intestines, this may lead to problems
like asthma, constipation, lack of perspiration, and dryness of skin or mucus membranes. They can also
develop sensitivity to odors and changes in temperature and humidity, which trigger sinus congestion,
sneezing or headaches. Asthma and constipation are somatic expressions of their inability to exhale,
release and let go with the undulating flow. It is difficult for someone like the metal type to get rid of
toxicity or negativity. Retention of physical and mental wastes are often retained resulting in tumors, or
a diminished capacity for emotional receptiveness.
Because the metal is so tight and perspiration scarce, the rarely catch cold, but if their defenses are
overwhelmed, and infection will penetrate quickly into the interior and what would have been an
ordinary flu is instead pneumonia or bronchitis.
The metal type typically has problems with: indifference and inhibition, being autocratic, strict and
persnickety, formal, distant and unnatural. They can experience stiff joints and muscles, dry skin and
hair, shallow breathing, they are sensitive to climate and are sometimes plagued with respiratory
disorders, skin ailments, dehydration, elimination, lubrication, venous circulation, and lymphatic
circulation. They are prone to airborne allergies (dust, etc..) and often complain of shortness of breath,
coughing, excess phlegm, vulnerability to colds and flu, slow healing of skin and hemorrhoids or
varicose veins.
THE BALANCED METAL
The balanced metal person is methodical, discerning, scrupulous, accepting, neat, calm, disciplined,
honorable, precise, and reserved. When the metal person becomes imbalanced they may exhibit some
of the unbalanced characteristics below:
TO STAY BALANCED
The metal person needs to stay balanced to stay healthy. Their key issues are stiffness, dryness and
inhibition. To preserve self-sufficiency and openness, the metal type needs to create a buoyancy of
spirit and resiliency of structure. Keeping skin elastic with massage or brushing (loufa) helps the metal
avoid becoming indifferent to sensation and emotion. Aerobic exercise, a high-fiber diet and good fluid
intake, are important for the metal. Opening the bowels, relaxing the chest and stimulating the skin will
help the metal remain pliant and open to new ideas and inspiration. Socially, the metal needs to insure
that involvement with other people becomes a ceremonial if not celebrated part of their daily life. It is
important for them to put themselves in situations that demand spontaneity as well as discipline, faith
and instinct as well as knowledge and reason.
IMBALANCES OF THE METAL TYPE
THE EXAGGERATED METAL
The imbalanced “exaggerated” metal person can be ritualistic, prejudice, perfectionist, stoical, austere,
indifferent, strict, self-righteous, dogmatic, and/or cool. The metal person can become exaggerated by
congestion of moisture in the system, depletion of moisture (too much hot or acidic foods), and
accumulation of heat in the system (weather, hot foods and activities), and weakness or disharmony
with the lung-liver relationship or the lung-heart relationship.

THE COLLAPSED METAL
The imbalanced “collapsed” metal type can be ceremonious, dilettante, petty, resigned, sloppy, numb,
compliant, hypocritical, lack conviction and/or elusive. Collapse most often results from depletion of
moisture, accumulation of damp and cold, wind, weakness of the spleen, lung and kidney.
A person can exhibit both collapse and exaggeration at the same time.
IMBALANCES TO COLLAPSE OR EXAGGERATION
Imbalances in the metal person - which may result in collapse or exaggeration are caused by Fall and
Spring time, wind, heat-cold, foods that are cold, dry, spicy and bitter, and sweet, sticky and cold
foods. Examples of such foods are raw salads and vegetables, which are cold, sweets like ice cream,
which are cold, and sticky, hot spices in the food and bitter foods like vinegar or bitter herbs. Their
symptoms are worse from 3AM-7AM and 3PM-7PM.
METAL PROBLEM SPOTS
Metal people have difficulty with control, disappointment, emotional expression, intimacy, authority,
relativity, disorder, and spontaneity.
DIET FOR METAL
The metal type should avoid too many cold activities, cold foods, spicy foods, bitter foods and sweets.
The chart below indicates activities and foods in a chart form going from most hot to most cooling:
They need A LOT of fiber in their diet in the form of oatmeal, brown rice, and vegetables. However,
make sure the vegetables are cooked usually as a lot of raw foods are too cooling to them.
HOT ACTIVITIES
Running
Walking
Exercising
Arguing
Yelling
Talking (Neutral)
Praying
Meditating
Yoga/ Tai Chi
Resting
Sitting
Reading
Sleeping
COOLEST
YANG (HOT)
Milk, cheese, eggs, seafood, poultry, meat
Legumes (beans)
Nuts
Seeds
Grains (NEUTRAL - not yang or yin)
Roots and tubers (potatoes and carrots are here)
Vegetables
Drier, harder fruits
Soft, juicy fruits
YIN (COOL)
Cooking methods are also cooling or heating
HEATING
Broiled
Dry-roasted
Fried
Baked
Sautéed (neutral)
Steamed

Raw or dried
Raw fresh
COOLING
RELATIONSHIPS WITH METAL
Metal people are most nourished by earth people and would be lucky to have one of these as a friend or
parent.
Metal people nourish water people.
Metal people restrain wood people .
Metal people are restrained by fire people.
The color associated with metal is WHITE.
AFFIRMATION FOR METAL
These are good to repeat:
Imagine your body’s vast network.
Take energy into your lung.
Let go of all that is unnecessary.
Receive and store energy, eliminate wastes.
The skin breathes...
Spicy foods open the pores.
Ginger, garlic and onions.
Let go of what is inside.
Cleaning mucous and toxins
Like the falling leaves, let go.
Grieving releases a loss.
Deepen your breathing.
Channel your energy.
Consciously use the tools you have been given.
This “poem” emphasizes the good things about the metal type:
The depth to see into the heart and soul of life.
The artistic nature or appreciate the beauty of the world.
The talent to create a masterpiece where nothing else exists.
The ability to analyze and arrive at the proper solution.
The eye for detail while others may do shoddy work.
The aim to finish what they start.
The pledge “ If it is worth doing, it is worth doing right”
The desire to do things decently and in order.
RELATIONSHIPS AND THE METAL TYPE.
Metal types need to remember that not everything in life can be perfect, so relax. That when they can
perfect themselves, instead of worrying about other’s perfection they are some of the most successful
people on earth. Metal types need to realize that not everyone is as good at they are or a perceptive as
they are about what is right and orderly and good in life. They need to overcome their lack of intimate
communication skills and express in very clear words what they want done by the people in their lives.
Making a list for a spouse is often helpful, as spouses of the metal types often do not understand what
their metal-type spouse wants from them. Metal types need to understand that the world is not always
perfect and that not everyone even views perfection in the same way they do. So the metal person
needs to take a lot of time to recognize what things in life she/he does appreciate from those around
him/her because this is the hardest thing for the metal type to see. They are very good at seeing
imperfections and solving “problems”. They may also be good listeners and people may migrate to
them because they are very good at solving problems. But they often find no help for their own troubles
because their own demeanor of perfection and order have created an image in others’ minds that they
“do not need help”. That is the message they give people. So if you are a metal and you do need help
and support you need to start showing people your weaknesses and vulnerable side as well or simply
ask for help. This means taking the time to apologize, admitting mistakes and talking about fears and
insecurities or emotions. Without that communication to people around you they will never think or

feel you need their help and you will find yourself running your life all by yourself.
RELATING TO A METAL TYPE
When you are relating to a metal type you need to remember the things that are inherent to their type
and not take everything personally. A metal type appreciates things to be in their proper order so be
sure you find out what this “means” to them and try to follow it as closely as you can. If they feel that
all their friends should arrive on time, then perhaps it is good to try to do that for them. Life is a matter
of cooperation and compromise with different personalities. With the metal type they are not very
demanding when you figure out what it is they want. This is because they do not fluctuate like some
other types and change what they want every other day, or something of that nature. The ease in the
metal type is in their regularity. They may be very demanding in the few things they do expect, but
once a friend or spouse, figures these things out it is usually easy to keep a metal person calm and
happy. The irony is that a metal person is not very communicative and will often not tell you what they
want. You need to be observant for the messages they send you. They may say, “Are we going to have
a party in this room?” meaning that perhaps the room is too bright and crowded or they may say
sarcastic things like, “My wife thinks my paycheck belongs at the designer shop”, meaning he thinks
his wife has too many clothes. Or a woman may say, “Do you remember where the dirty clothes
hamper is?” meaning that she expects that he put his clothes away in the hamper when they are dirty. A
metal person has many demands and has a certain view on how the world should run, but at least you
can take time to figure them out. The initial investment is larger than the maintenance time. People
often feel the metal type “does not need them”. But this is untrue. The metal type needs people very
deeply, they just do not show it in the way that we are used to (romantic movie style). Don’t let their
cool or aloof demeanor fool you. Be there for them and they will reach out to you if they find you their
on a regular and predictable schedule. You may want to just plan on making yourself available to this
person every day at a certain time. Even if you just sit in silence with them for that hour, they will find
comfort in knowing you are there for that predictable time every day and when they do need someone
they will reach out for you. The tricks to relating to metal are to strive to be more predictable for them.
You should not strive to meet all of a metal person’s demands, nor should you completely disregard
them. You should instead strive to meet their most important demands on a REGULAR basis. This
includes all aspects of a relationship from talking to physical demands, to household demands.
TYPOLOGY: THE WATER TYPE
This type is roughly equivalent to the phlegmatic type in Islamic Medicine
These are the general characteristics of the water type. Keep in mind that not all of these characteristics
may fit with you but they should be about 80% accurate. Also, you may realize when reading this that
you have experienced all of the characteristics below, but at different points in your life. You may have
modified or balanced your type out as you got older and some of the more extreme behaviors are no
longer exhibited. If you feel thus typing does not fit you at all or is only about half accurate please tell
me and we can explore the possibility that you may fit better in another type.
The stability to stay straight on course.
The patience to put up with provokes.
The ability to listen, while others have their say.
The gift of mediation, uniting opposing forces.
The purpose of peace at almost any price.
The compassion to comfort those hurting.
The determination to keep your head, while all around are losing theirs.
The will to live in such a way that even your enemies cannot find anything truly bad to say about you.
OUTLINE OF THE WATER TYPE:
When exaggerated they tend to negate everything.
When collapsed they tend to become petrified easily.
They are preoccupied with: secrets.
They are compelled to: criticize.
They dread: invasion.
They seek the perfect: teacher.

They dislike conflicting: visions, stories of expectations.
They are obsessed with: mysteries, facing death and facts.
They have an aversion to: exposure, distraction and dissolution.
Their somatic poles are: hard-soft, cold-warm, retaining-releasing
They tend to: seek solitude and avoid exposure.
Their existential doubt is” Where do I come from?”
Their emotional addiction is: to be protected.
Their spiritual fear is: to be extinct.
THE BASIC CHARACTERISTICS
The water type is like a philosopher in her relentless quest for the truth. She brings to light that which is
hidden, uncovers new knowledge and dispels mysteries. Scrutinizing life until the meaning and
significance of her impressions coalesce to a germ of understanding, she is like an old-time prospector
with a nose for nuggets, sifting through the gravel of notions and beliefs, tireless in her effort to
apprehend the nature of reality. Just as the miner digs through tons of ore before unearthing a single
gem, the “philosopher” searches doggedly for the truth, which, like a diamond, is esteemed not only for
its radiant sparkle, but for its abiding hardness as a tool to advance civilization. It takes s a long time to
crystallize the fossils into this precious stone. Time is the pick and shovel of the water type who yearns
for meaning that transcends the rudderless meandering of human affairs. As she offers insight into the
world, she relies on her hope that knowledge will be married to wisdom; power with compassion and
aware that destiny is the final authority. Able to envision what can be, she is critical of what is by
comparison. She discerns the inevitable disparity between apparent and ultimate reality.
She has an imaginative intellect and has a sense of where things begin and where they are going. She
wins respect for her thoughtfulness and originality. She does well when inspired by the enthusiasm and
motivation of others. Left to her own devices, she is a thinker rather than a doer. She savors the life of
the mind so much that it is easy for her to just sit and cogitate while the world goes on around her.
She is at home in the dark and secluded spaces of her inner life, where attention extends beyond the
pedestrian details of daily life. Alive in the world of ideas, she is relatively indifferent to the world of
the mundane.
A paragon of integrity, she is unwilling to compromise principles for the sake of peace or pleasure.
Bordering on eccentricity, she resolutely holds her views, regardless of the fact that they may be
outside the mainstream. Kate experiences herself as resilient and self-sufficient, preferring the rest of
her family to be the same. Relishing the accessibility of warmth and intimacy, she also requires the
freedom to withdraw emotionally into a protective shell of solitude. Deeply loyal and committed, she
regards the continuity of family as more important than harmonious daily happenings.
Solitary by nature she runs the risk of being isolated socially. Relying on other people to push through
her armor, captivate her and draw her out. Because she inhabits such a deep interior world, it is hard to
know what she is thinking or feeling from the outside. Taciturn and removed, she is not always aware
of the distance she maintains or limits her relationships with. She periodically seals herself off from
external affairs, seeming not to require the society of others because she is so cloistered within her own
mind. Yet, at a certain point she emerges from her cocoon to reconnect with society.
TYPICAL PROBLEMS
Under conditions of prolonged estrangement, she can become so physically inactive and reclusive that
as if in suspended animation, she becomes unresponsive and inaccessible. This hard, deadened
expression leads to apathy and depression. Negativity and a cynical attitude begin to color her
perceptions, sabotaging her desire for and expectation of fulfillment. Suspicious of people using her for
their own ends, she loses faith easily. She sees others as merely living in the moment, wasting time
while she plans prudently for the next 100 years. Enjoyment of the ordinary pleasure of contact with
friends and
Co-workers elude her grasp as she observes the world turn false and unreal juxtaposed to the vivid
profundity of her inner life. Her private thoughts and dialogues become her most precious possessions,
her secret refuge from the clamor and clutter of the life outside her mind. Entrapped in this pattern of
retreat, she may dread her life becoming an endless winter of hibernation, without promise of spring.
She resists rising out of bed in the morning, her back sore, limbs stiff and chilly. He libido and gusto

for life and love fade. Moaning and groaning, she feels grouchy, muttering complaints about minor
aches and pains. However, she is patient. Time is the healer for the water type as she endures. She is a
survivor.
COMPLAINTS OF THE WATER TYPE
The water type most often complains of soreness and pain in the lumbar region, loose teeth, deafness
and/or tinnitus, thinning and loss of head hair, weakness and pain in the ankles, knees and hips,
weakness in hearing and vision, impotence, infertility, miscarriage and genetic impairments. They may
exhibit disorders of growth and development, including problems of fertility, conception and
pregnancy. They may have disorders of the central nervous system (MS, Muscular dystrophy, or
cerebral palsy) , diseases of the spinal column, bones, teeth and joints, and disorders of fluid
metabolism.
THE BALANCED WATER
Is candid, introspective, modest, watchful, objective, curious, ingenious, careful, particular, thrifty,
sensible, and lucid.
THE IMBALANCED-EXAGGERATED WATER
Can be blunt, withdrawn, reticent, penetrating, detached, scrutinizing eccentric, suspicious, demanding,
covetous, cynical, and/or preoccupied.
THE IMBALANCED-COLLAPSED WATER
Is sarcastic, catatonic, anonymous, voyeuristic, cut off, critical, fanciful, phobic, fussy, miserly,
pessimistic, and/or absentminded.
A person can exhibit both collapse and exaggeration at the same time.
IMBALANCES TO COLLAPSE OR EXAGGERATION
Imbalances in the water type leading to collapse or exaggeration or a mix of both come from Winter
and Summer, Cold, Dampness and dryness, cold, sweet, raw, salty foods and beverages. The water type
is worse from 3PM-7PM and 3AM-7AM.
WATER PROBLEM SPOTS
Water people have difficulty with sociability, introversion, conformity, generosity, hypochondria,
isolation, communication, exposure, trust and confidence.
DIET FOR WATER
The water person should avoid cold, damp, sweet, raw and salty foods when they can. These are the
foods that will cause the greatest imbalance in them. The should also avoid a lot of “cold”
HOT ACTIVITIES
Running
Walking
Exercising
Arguing
Yelling
Talking (Neutral)
Praying
Meditating
Yoga/ Tai Chi
Resting
Sitting
Reading
Sleeping
COOLEST
YANG (HOT)
Milk, cheese, eggs, seafood, poultry, meat
Legumes (beans)

Nuts
Seeds
Grains (NEUTRAL - not yang or yin)
Roots and tubers (potatoes and carrots are here)
Vegetables
Drier, harder fruits
Soft, juicy fruits
YIN (COOL)
Cooking methods are also cooling or heating
HEATING
Broiled
Dry-roasted
Fried
Baked
Sautéed (neutral)
Steamed
Raw or dried
Raw fresh
COOLING
RELATIONSHIPS WITH WATER
Water is nourished by metal types
Water nourishes wood types
Water restrains fire types
Water is restrained by earth types
The color for water is BLUE
AFFIRMATION FOR WATER
These are good to repeat
Visualize yourself floating
Flowing, moistening, merging
The reservoirs, river and streams of your body
Going deep within for the wisdom of life.
The depths of the unconscious mind,
Facing the darkness of the unknown,
Sexuality, the courage to be vulnerable,
Aging with grace and health.
Massage your lower back,
Avoid cold foods and sugar.
Limit your salt intake.
And always listen to your dreams.
The Phlegmatic water type has...
The stability to stay straight on course.
The patience to put up with provokes.
The ability to listen, while others have their say.
The gift of mediation, uniting opposing forces.
The purpose of peace at almost any price.
The compassion to comfort those hurting.
The determination to keep your head, while all around are losing theirs.
The will to live in such a way that even your enemies cannot find anything truly bad to say about you.
RELATIONSHIPS AND THE WATER TYPE.
Water types have a quiet will of iron. They may seem quiet and “push-overs” at times but they will turn
into a wall when pushed against their will. They may resist change and seem lazy at times and may not
be the most exciting people you know but they are kind, take time with their friends and family, are
easy to get along with, and inoffensive, good listeners, they have compassion and concern and do not

get upset easily. Keep in mind that the life of the water type is to be appreciated for its steadiness rather
than its excitement or romantic nature. This type is often unappreciated since they do not provide the
“glitter” and “glamour” that attracts a lot of people, but they are usually appreciated by their friends
and family who know they can always depend on them.
2. Tabke, Amjiki. “The Four Tantras” (Tibet)

The Four Tantras
Four Tantras
The basic text of Tibetan Medicine
http://www.peacenvironment.net/3intro/4tantra.html
The basic text of Tibetan Medicine is called the "Four Tantras" and was
taught by Buddha himself. All Tibetan physicians study it.
Tantra means "lineage". It is composed of four books:
The First Tantra is called "Root Tantra" and it contains very
briefly an explanation of all diseases. It is like a seed.
The Second Tantra, composed of 31 chapters, is called
"Explanatory Tantra". It explains all about the anatomy and
physiology of our body; the process of birth and dying.
The Third Tantra, composed of 92 chapters, is called "Oral
Transmissions Tantra" and deals with the cause, the nature, the
treatment of diseases and their classification.
The Fourth Tantra, composed of 25 chapters, is called "Last
Tantra" and it explains the 18 methods of diagnosis,
pharmacology and support, or external treatments.
The entire text includes 156 chapters.
Buddha gave the teachings of the Four Tantras in Benares (Varanasi,
India) when he was 71 years old. He gave them in order to benefit
sentient beings, not to allow doctors to become rich.
For this reason, Tibetan Medicine stresses the attitude a physician should
have. In the past, in India and Tibet, doctors would not present the patient
with a fee. Patients would simply give an offering and if they did not, the
doctor would not complain; his main goal was the practice.
The motivations that bring people to study the Four Tantras are diverse:
to be healthy and live a long life; to practice the spiritual path; to
accumulate richness; to be happy.
Those who study this text to become rich have a wrong motivation and
misunderstand the main goal, that is, to benefit others.
The text begins with a phrase in Sanskrit: Amrita hridaya angha ashta
guhya upadesha tantra nama. Amrita hridaya means: "the essence of
immortality". It indicates that the Four Tantras are like the amrita, the
nectar of immortality. If we drink amrita, or if we study and follow these
teachings, we become immortal. In Sanskrit amrita means: "immortality
nectar"; hridaya means: "essence". Anghameans: "branches", ashta
means: "eight"; eight branches. Guya upadesha means: "secret oral
transmission", an oral instruction that is not taught in public, instead, it is
taught only to whom is truly interested and wishes to learn. Whoever
receives these teachings has to keep them secret.
This introduction to Tibetan Medicine follows the medical thangka

(painting) of the medicine tree (see picture above). The first medical
thangkas date back to the time of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Desi Sangye
Gyatso was a great master and he conceived 80 medical thangkas in
order to offer some clear and immediately understandable outlines of
Tibetan Medicine as well as to allow illiterate people to study medicine.
The Medicine Tree
The medicine tree has two main branches: the left one is the branch of
health; the right, the branch of disease.
At the basis of the general theory, we come to the three humors: wind,
bile and phlegm. These three humors exist in all of us, whether we be
healthy or sick. The cause of their existence is the three poisons: hatred,
attachment and ignorance.
The three mental poisons are the roots of the three humors and the three
humors are the fruit of the three mental poisons.
In the medicine tree, blue is the color for wind, yellow for bile and green
for phlegm. Inside our body, there are 7 constituents and 3 excretions.
The essence of food, when transformed, produces these constituents.
Waste is expelled through the three excretions. When this system works
well, we are in good health. The number of chakras, three, five, nine and
so on, varies according to the Tantra that explains them: each Tantra has
a different chakra system.
In the Tibetan medical system we consider five 5 chakras: the chakra of
the head, throat, heart , navel and secret chakra (at the genital organs).
Furthermore, we have 5 types of wind, 5 types of bile and 5 types of
phlegm. Wind, Bile, Phlegm
The 5 winds are:
1. The life-sustaining wind that resides in the head chakra, governs
the bodily functions and sustains life. It is the wind that permits
actions such as breathing, swallowing, sneezing and spitting.
2. The ascending wind that resides in the throat chakra, whose
function is to produce sound when we talk, gives us a pleasant
appearance, makes us strong and active and is responsible for
memory.
3. The pervasive wind that resides at the heart chakra, pervades the
whole body and allows for all movements.
4. The fire-like wind that resides in the navel chakra, allows for the
functioning of the internal organs (heart, liver, intestines...); its
main function is the digestion. It distinguishes the nutrients from
the wastes in the food that we eat. The finest part of the food that
we eat is transformed into blood, bones, muscles and so on (the
seven constituents). This wind allows for the process of
transformation.
5. The descending wind that resides in the secret chakra, flows in
the bladder, in the intestines and in the genital organs; its function

is to expel sperm, menses and urine.
The 5 biles are:
1. The digestive bile. If you divide the stomach into three parts, this
bile resides in the upper. Its function is to refine and digest food
and to strengthen the other four biles.
2. The coloring bile that resides in the liver, whose function is to
give color to the parts of the body.
3. The accomplishing bile that resides in the heart, whose function is
to bring up thoughts, worries, anxiety, anger etc.
4. The sight bile that resides in the eyes, whose function is to allow
us to see. If it weakens, our sight also weakens. While this bile is
healthy, we have perfect sight.
5. The pigmenting bile that resides in the skin, whose function is to
color the skin. When we have a bile sickness our skin changes
color and becomes first yellow then black.
The 5 phlegms are:
1. The sustaining phlegm that resides in the chest, sustains all other
four phlegms; its function is to move all body fluids.
2. The decomposing phlegm that resides in that part of the stomach
where the food is not yet digested, whose function is to grind all
kinds of foods.
3. The tasting phlegm that resides in the tongue, helps to be aware
of tastes.
4. The satisfying phlegm that produces the satisfaction feeling
resulting from whatever is good in life.
5. The connective phlegm that resides in the joints, allows us to
move them. When it does not function well we experience pain
and joint problems.
To be in good health all these humors have to be balanced. When a
humor becomes weak or too strong it creates unbalance and therefore,
disease.
Constituents and excretions
When we eat, our body transforms the food until it forms the 7
constituents; if we eat rich food the transformation is faster. The food
essence becomes blood; from the blood derives flesh, from the flesh fat,
from the fat bones, from the bones marrow and from the marrow sperm
and ovum.
The 3 main excretions are: sweat, urine and feces. We have 15 humors, 7
constituents and 3 excretions: in all, 25 components. If these 25
components work well, we are healthy; otherwise, we become sick.
In the medicine tree are depicted three animals: the rooster, the snake and
the pig. These three animals symbolically represent the three mental

poisons: the rooster symbolizes attachment, the snake hatred and the pig
ignorance.
The three mental poisons are the cause of the diseases of the three
humors and of the three humors themselves. Attachment produces wind;
hatred produces bile and ignorance produces phlegm.
Attachment produces wind: you will notice it when you have long
sessions of sexual activity, without pause; the next day you will feel
confused, full of air and with a headache. This is just an example; in fact,
attachment produces many types of wind.
Hatred produces bile: you can clearly see it when you get very angry.
Your body temperature increases and your face becomes red. Doctors
advise to drink water to calm down.
Ignorance produces phlegm. When phlegm increases we become fat,
lazy, slothful. We feel like doing nothing, we don't even feel like eating.
Imbalance and illness
Now we are going to explain the right side of the medicine tree, the part
on imbalance and illness. The three mental poisons are the cause that
generates the three humors, but they are also the primary cause of all the
illnesses. Therefore, if we want to heal ourselves deeply, we have to treat
our mental poisons too. This at the subtle level.
At the gross level, the sicknesses are caused by many factors, for
example the climate. If the climate is unusual, if the seasons are not
balanced, it is easier to become sick. For example, cold weather in
summer or too hot a summer or too cold a winter.
Other factors of disease are diet, behavior and so on. Furthermore there
are many malignant spirits that cause health problems. Many Westerners
do not believe in spirits but in Tibetan Medicine we talk about them.
We fall sick due to wrong diet; for example, when the climate is hot the
bile humor increases: if we eat a lot of meat and drink a lot of wine
(warming foods) the bile humor increases even more and we become
easily sick. We fall ill due to wrong behavior: for example, if we wear
heavy clothes in summer or if we stay naked in winter, when it is very
cold.
Localization of the three humors
Phlegm diseases affect the upper part of the body.
Bile diseases, liver and kidneys.
Wind diseases, back and lower part of the body.
The phlegm humor, which is of the nature of ignorance, resides in the
brain. This is the reason why phlegm diseases affect the upper part of the
body.
When Tibetans become angry they beat their chest, because anger resides
in the heart chakra. Anger is of the nature of hatred: when we lose temper
our temperature increases and, since heat is of bile nature, bile increases.
Attachment produces wind; wind resides in the secret chakra and is
produced from various attachments, like attachment to sex and so on.

The three humors move in specific places. Each one hits its own
territory: for example, bile does not affect the feet.
Wind
If we have a strong wind disease, the first trouble we experiment is pain
in the bones. This means the bones are a way of the wind. As for the
sense organs, the wind runs through the ears: therefore, with strong wind
problems ears will ring.
Sometimes the trouble is so strong that hearing is hindered. The wind
also goes through the skin: with strong wind problems the skin flakes off.
The five vital organs are: heart, liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen. The wind
runs through the heart; with strong wind problems the heart suffers; for
example we can have strong palpitations and so on.
The wind runs also in the central "vital" channel of the body. The hollow
organs are: where the sperm forms, bladder, gall bladder, intestines
(both), colon, stomach. The wind humor runs through the hollow organs:
with a serious wind disease we feel inflated at the level of the navel. So
the wind enters the bones, then the ears, the skin, the heart and the
hollow organs.
Bile
Bile enters the blood, therefore when we have bile problems the veins
become thicker because the blood circulates very quickly and it gets very
warm. Bile problems make us sweat very much; when we sweat a lot it
means the bile humor is unbalanced.
Among the sense organs bile resides in the eyes: a high bile makes the
eyes yellow. Vital organs: liver. Hollow organs: intestines, gall bladder.
Due to bile imbalance the eyes become yellow and the liver swells.
Phlegm
Phlegm circulates in meat, bones, fat, sperm. Normally an imbalance of
the three humors is detected in the faeces and the urine; serious phlegm
problems are well diagnosed from the urine.
When phlegm becomes unbalanced, we have catarrh from the nose and
the tongue become thick and swollen. Phlegm is found in the lungs,
spleen, stomach, kidneys, bladder and feet.
The three humors do not only divide body zones but also the various
types of environments and life ages.
Division according to age
Tibetan Medicine explains that from 0 to 16 years old we are children;
from 16 to 70, young; and after 70, old.
Old age is the time of life when wind humor prevails. Due to this reason,
wind diseases happen especially during this age. Children or young

people rarely suffer from wind disorders. Wind diseases caught at an old
age are difficult to heal.
Youth: this is the age in which bile prevails. Therefore bile problems are
more difficult to cure and easier to get.
Childhood is the phlegm age of life: at this age phlegm problems are the
most difficult to cure.
Division according to geographic areas and seasons
The first drawing (in the medicine tree) represents a mountain with snow
and wind: that means a very cold and windy place. This place has the
nature of wind, where we catch wind diseases.
The second drawing represents a hot desert, like Rajasthan in India. Hot
places favor bile disorders.
The third place is green, wet and rainy: a place very conducive to phlegm
diseases. This is true both for warm and wet and cold and wet
environments. What matters is the presence of much dampness.
Seasons
The Four Tantras also explain how the seasons influence the humors.
In summer wind problems manifest: people feel weak, especially in the
morning and in the evening.
Bile manifests in autumn: it gets worse during the day and in the evening.
Phlegm manifests in spring, when everything sprouts: many people suffer
from heartburns, a sign of a phlegm worsening. Especially in the evening
and at dawn.
It is very important, for diagnosis and cure, to take into consideration all
these factors: age, geographic area and season.
Incurable diseases causing death
Our life depends on three conditions: vital energy, fortune and karma. If
vital energy, fortune and karma are not depleted we keep on living.
Otherwise there is nothing we can do, we have to die.
If one of these conditions comes to an end even positive things, like
appropriate treatments, can cause death.
For example, for a patient with fever it is normally good to drink water.
But, if one of the three life supporting causes is missing, even water can
change into a poison and kill the patient. The favorable cause becomes
unfavorable and provokes death.
The picture of the burning house represents a poisoned patient that
nobody can help: for him even treatments become poison. Another
picture shows a broken central channel, or shushuma. This too is a cause
of certain death: the central channel cannot be repaired. Even a fever too
high is a cause of certain death. And wind problems, when they become
very serious.
When we are very weak no medicine can help; our body is not able to
assume medicines and therefore we die.

Then we have "changeable" incurable diseases.
For example, the disease appears as a bile problem and so it receives a
bile treatment but, during the cure or shortly after, it manifests as a wind
or phlegm disease and so on. These are the changeable diseases.
Diseases caused by spirits
Diseases provoked by spirits can manifest in different ways but they have
one thing in common: they are not curable by medicine.
We need to go and see a Lama who will make a mo (divination), or
something like that, to discover the origin of the problem.
After that he will prescribe some ritual. Only after the ritual has been
performed and the spirits exorcised the patient can start taking medicines.
In fact, the medicine become useful only after the spirit has left. It may
also happen that a sick people receive a visitor from far away and when
the visitor departs he gets worse. This means that the visitor was
followed by spirits that damaged the patient.
When we are born 5 different spirits are born with us, which will
accompany us throughout our life.
We have also a thing called la, our vital energy. In the world exist some
spirits, the Don, that can steal the la from a very weak person. From then
on the disease gets worse and if the la is not recovered, the patient will
die. There exist some special pujas (ceremonies) to recover the la.
Karmic diseases
Karmic diseases are due to negative actions committed in our past lives.
They are not curable by medicine. Like with the diseases caused by
spirits, the only chance is to go to a Lama and ask the right purification
practice, for example the "100 000 prostrations".
In Tibet many times people that were considered incurable after these
practice were healed. Unfortunately, it is not always possible to escape
the consequences of a particularly heavy karma. Sometime, no cure
exists.
Types
As we have seen, in Tibetan Medicine there are three humors. When we
are born, for karmic reasons, hereditariness and so on, we can have a
constitution more connected to one humor than to the others.
Very rarely we have pure types or the balanced combination of the three
humors. More frequently we have the combination of two humors (one of
the two stronger). So we can have wind-bile types or bile-phlegm types
and so on.
How to recognize the types:
Lung type: lean, bent, with a bluish, dry skin; dry hair; very
talkative. It cannot bear the cold (he is always looking for warm
places). He is a great walker but gets easily tired. He is very

eactive.
Bile type: always thirsty and hungry but not necessarily fat. Hair
is blonde and the skin yellowish. Very intelligent. He is also very
proud and arrogant and becomes easily angry. Phlegm type:
basically fat, with white complexion. His skin is cold. He is
always sticking out his chest. He has little appetite. He is very
patient and slow.
The phlegm type person is very lucky; the bile type comes second
and the wind type is the less lucky of the three. Also from the
point of view of life span, the phlegm type has the longest life;
the bile type comes second and the wind type last. This is the
nature of the three humors.
How to Recognize the type in a child
With small children phlegm nature prevails but a good Tibetan doctor
can still recognize their type.
How to prolong life
There is a method to prolong life: by saving the life of many beings in
danger.
For example, by buying and the let free animals that is going to be killed.
In India people go to fishermen, buy fishes and let them free. Saving the
life of living beings is the best method to prolong life. This behavior is
followed both by Buddhists and by Hindus.
Also the Nagpo Gutup pill, which is made of 9 substances and contains
many blessings, from the point of view of Tibetan Medicine has the
potency of prolong life and makes us more happy.
The Five Elements in Tibetan Medicine
Amji Tabke
In the Tibetan tradition the elements are five: space, wind, fire, water and
earth. All phenomena, both internal and external, on the subtle or gross
level, their formation, destruction and existence depend on them. Our
own body consists of numberless particles formed by these elements.
You should not think that the five elements are like atoms or particles;
they are rather principles or forces.
For example: earth corresponds to mass/extension, water to fluidity, fire
to temperature and wind to movement; space allow other elements to
exist and to interact.
In Tibetan tradition there are different systems that explain the elements:
according to medicine, to astrology (in particular to the Kalachakra
Astrology), to Tantra and so on. Apparently between these systems there

are little differences but, if we look carefully, we can see that, at a deeper
level, the explanation is the same.
The elements characteristic shows also their function: earth gives
solidity, weight and mass; water gives fluidity and cohesion (the power
of the water is to keep things together, like when you mix water with
flour); wind is movement; every movement depends on the wind
element; fire is the temperature, what ripens; and, lastly, space allows
other elements to interact, grow and transform.
When the five elements - the five energies- are in harmony there is
health, development, growth; when they are out of balance the result is
sickness and destruction. This is true at microcosmic level, which means
our body, and also at macrocosmic level. A serious disharmony between
the elements of our planet causes flood, earthquakes, fires and so on.
The beginning and the end of the universe itself, and of our planet,
depend on the five elements’ harmony or disharmony. Our body grows
and ripens until the five energies co-operate. Death is caused by the
dissolution of the elements: they stop to co-operate and then dissolve.
Birth and death are the most extreme examples; there are also less serious
imbalances that we experience every day.
For example: the wind element, called "wind humor" in Tibetan
medicine (Tib. Lung), usually resides in the middle part of the body,
level with the hips. If, due to an imbalance, it abandons its "home" and,
according to its nature, flows upwards we experience headache, fears,
and anxiety.
If you had been in Tibet or Nepal, or if you have just seen pictures of
these countries, you have surely noticed that Tibetans hang everywhere
flags of five colors: white, red, blue, yellow and green (the colors of the
elements). The purpose of these flags is to re-equilibrate and harmonize
the five elements: for example, for the Dalai Lama long life they would
hang green flags, because he is born in a wind element’s year.
Elements are influenced by many factors like climate, season or even the
time of the day.
Spring, for example has a strong influence on the "phlegm humor";
because of that in this season we often feel tired, sleepy and a little weak.
You should not feel confused if before I was speaking about elements
and now I am speaking about humors; in fact they are the same thing. In
Tibetan medicine we mostly speak about humors: "wind humor"
correspond to the wind element; "bile humor" to fire and "phlegm
humor" to earth and water.
Illness manifests due to an imbalance of the humors and the duty of the
Tibetan doctor is to bring them again to harmony.
If the wind becomes too strong, the doctor will intervene to control it; if
it becomes weak he will give medicine to make it stronger and so on.

I took as an example the wind humor because I know very well Italian
people (but I think it is the same in all the advanced countries): in Italy
life is becoming very complicated, fast and stressful. All these situations
over stimulate the wind humor and unbalance it.
I meet many patients with wind problems so I give them the right cure to
pacify it.
Another fact is that Italian people like sweets very much. Sweet flavor
has a cold quality and it damages the digestive fire and weakens the
kidneys. In that case I have to give medicines that strengthens the
kidneys and increase the digestive fire.
When the doctor prescribes medicines he has to take into consideration
also the daily cycle of the humors.
Wind element tends to manifest in the morning, so the medicines to
control wind are given in the morning or in the evening.
Bile imbalances tend to manifest during the day, so the medicine for bile
problems are usually given at midday but also at midnight. Medicines for
controlling phlegm problems are given in the morning and evening.
Before we spoke about the "Four Tantra", that is still the fundamental
text in Tibetan medicine. This text is divided in four parts; the first one is
called the "Root Tantra". The Root Tantra explains that the primary
causes of illness are the three mental poisons; attachment, hatred and
ignorance (or, in other words, attraction, repulsion and inertia) which are
the mental aspects of the elements. Attachment corresponds to the wind
humor, hatred to bile and ignorance to phlegm.
One single humor, or two or three humors together, can be the cause of a
disease.
In this respect we have seven groups of diseases.
Another way to classify sicknesses, in Tibetan medicine, is to divide
them in four categories:
1. Temporary diseases, which do not require any treatment. Of
course if you take medicines you can recover faster.
2. Diseases caused by spirits, negative energies, black magic and so
on. The only cure for these problems are special rituals (Pujas).
3. Karmic diseases: problems caused by very negative actions done
in a previous life. They are very difficult to cure and also to
diagnose. When all treatments fail the chance is that the problem
is a karmic one; so the doctor can suggest to the patient a special
practice of purification like, for example, prostrations.
4. Actual diseases: caused by the humors imbalance; this is the
normal field of a doctor.

3. Kenkya, Kagakushi. “Ayurvedic Medicine” (Ayurveda – Indian)
Comparative studies of the tridosha theory in Ayurveda and the theory of
the four deranged elements in Buddhist medicine. At:
http://www.ayurvedic.org/ayurveda/index.asp
Researchers Endo J, Nakamura T studied comparative studies of the tridosha
theory in Ayurveda and the theory of the four deranged elements in Buddhist
medicine
It has been said that the tridosha theory in Ayurveda originated from the theory
of the three elements of the universe. The names of these three doshas, which
are roughly equivalent to humor, are vata (wind), pitta (bile), and kapha
(phlegm), corresponding to the three elements of the universe: air, fire, and
water.
On the other hand, Buddhist medicine which has a close relation to Ayurveda is
based on the theory of the four elements of the universe which includes the earth
as well as the three elements mentioned above.
Greek medicine on the other hand, is founded on the theory of the four humors,
i.e. blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Furthermore, even in Ayurveda,
like in "Sushruta Samhita", the theory of the four humors can be found: this
includes the above-mentioned tridosha plus blood as the fourth humor. "Timaios"
by Plato also mentions this. We compared these various theories and pointed out
that the tridosha theory had its origin in the theory of the four elements of the
universe.
The process of the formation of the tridosha theory is considered as follows: (1)
"Earth" was segregated from the four elements of the universe owing to its solid
properties, and was rearranged into the seven elements of the body called
"dhatu"; and the other three elements. "water", "fire", and "air", were integrated
as the tridosha theory, namely, the theory of the three humors, owing to their
properties of fluid; (2) "Blood", assigned to the element of "earth", was
segregated from the tridosha because "blood" was considered to be comprised of
the properties of every humor without having its own peculiar properties.
Therefore, the diseases caused by deranged "blood" were regarded as an
aggregate disease caused by the other three deranged humors. Then the
category of the disease, caused by deranged "earth", did not appear.
(Kagakushi Kenkyu 1995;34(193):1-9.)

4. Cross- Cultural Comparison Chart (Many Cultures)
Chart Copyrighted 2002-2003 by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
The Four Humors – a Comprehensive Charts of Types and Imbalance
Chart One: Diagnosis of Underlying Type
Hot & Wet Hot & Dry Cold & Dry Cold &
Wet
Humor Blood Yellow Bile Black Bile Phlegm
Personality Sanguine Choleric melancholic Phlegmatic
Chinese Wood Fire Metal Water *
Greek Element Air/Wind Fire Earth Water
Ayurvedic Element Vatta Pitta NONE Kapha
* note that the Chinese system includes a the fifth division of “earth” which is not found in
other systems
The Four Humors
Season Spring Summer Autumn Winter
Time Dawn noon dusk midnight
Age Childhood Youth Maturity Old Age
Color Aquamarine red White purple
Region East South West North
Physique Good Lean, joints large Emaciated Effeminate
Skin Flushed Yellowish tinge Dark & Hairy Pale & Weak
Feel of Skin Firm NA Rough and Hard Soft & cool
Hair Normal Hairy Hairy Absent chest
Mouth Canker sores Bitter taste NA Sticky Saliva
Tongue Red Rough and dry NA NA
Odor Rancid Acrid fishy rotten
Flavor Sour bitter spicy salty
Urine NA NA Dark Colored White
Appetite NA poor faulty cravings NA
Expression anger joy sorrow fear
Voice Hollering Giggling sobbing groaning
Dreams Sees red things Sees fires, yellow flags Fear of darkness Sees waters,
blood, etc… yellow objects, the sun terrifying black things river, snow…
Sense hearing smell touch taste
Power Expansion Fusion Contraction Consolidation
Archetype Pioneer Wizard Alchemist Philosopher
Desires Purpose Fulfillment Order Truth
Path Action Compassion Mastery Knowledge
Virtue Fervor Charisma Righteousness Honesty
Dimensions Movement Space Shape Time
Injury from Wind Heat Dry Cold

Dreads Confinement Gravity Crowding invasion
Tends to Risk, stay busy Seek excitement Make judgments Seek solitude
Chinese Organ Liver Heart Network Lung Network Kidney
Avicenna Organ Circulation Liver skeleton muscles
Ch. Excretion tears sweat mucus sexual
Av. Excretion saliva sweat, tears feces urine
Meyers-Briggs SP NT SJ NF
E.E.Milne Tigger Rabbit Eeyore/Gopher Pooh/Piglet
Jung Feeler Sensor Thinker Intuitor
Plato (340 BC) Artisan Guardian scientist philosopher
Kretschner (1920)Hyomanic Melancholic Hyperasthetic Anesthetic
Sprangler (1930) Aesthetic Religious Economic Theoretic
Fromm (1947) Exploiting Hoarding Marketing Receptive
Keirsy (1967) Artisan Guardian Rational Idealist
Sensation Security Knowledge Identity
Seeking Seeking Seeking Seeking
Geometrics (78)Squiggle Triangle Square Circle
Types A & B Type B Messy Type B Motivated Type A Compuslive Type A Casual
PSI Promoter Controller Analyst Supporter
Enneagram Helper Adventturer Asserter Peacemaker
Romantic Achiever Perfectionist Observer
Animals Monkey Bear Owl Dolphin
True Colors (78)Orange Green Gold Blue
Charley BrownSnoopy Lucy Linus Charlie Brown
Comics Snoopy Jason Ziggy Cathy
Celestine Poor me Intimidator Interrogator Aloof
Prophesy
Chart Two: Detecting Imbalance
Imbalance Seen from Chinese Point of View
Exaggerated Domination Inmolation Restriction Negation
high blood pressure Enlarged heart Overexpanded chest Hypersensative
Oily skin and hair sweating Dry cough, tight chest headaches
Boils flushed face Sinus headache above eyes
Cramps-long muscles Chest pain Nasal Polyps lack of sweat
Vertigo Painful urination Dry hair, skin, scalp lack of urine
Ringing in the ears Erratic pulse, strong No sweat Hardening of
Constipation w/cramps Overheated Stiff spine and neck blood vessels
Sciatica Sores of mouth, tongue large pores and cartilage
Pain in the Ribs Pulmonary hypertension constipation rigid joints
Heartburn Dry, painful eczema dry cracked nails bony tumors
Difficult Swallow Easy sexual excitement scanty urine weak digestion
Eye/ear pain But difficult to please Dry nose-throat precocious sex
Shingles weak digestion
Accident prone shrink gums
Hard, thick nails little sleep
Breast pain atonic
Tendon injury constipation
hypertension
Collapsed Compression Disintegration Constriction Petrification
Labile Blood pressure Slow pulse Narrow chest dulled vision
Hypoglycemia irregular pulse Frail physique dulled hearing
Blurry vision weak heart Short of breath ringing in ears
Sensitive to light chills easily incontinence weak and stiff
Sensitive to sound overheats easily Congestion spine and
Cystitis low blood pressure moles and warts lower joints
Itchy eyes anemic headaches from disc problems

Tendonitis faints or dizzy easily sadness Cold buttocks
Dry nails tired easily loss of body hair frequent
Brittle nails cannot sustain sexual varicose veins urination
Lax joints excitement cracked nails osteoporosis
Tense muscles Premature orgasm soft nails premature gray
Irritable colon enlarged lymph nodes Infertility
lacks stamina
Hard to wake
Loss of appetite
Common PMS sleep disorders respiratory disorders Memory
Problems Lateral headaches heart/ arteries skin ailments alertness
Migraine heart rate disturbances dehydration distorted
TMJ disturbances of speech elimination bones & teeth
Facial neuralgia blood pressure & lubrication cysts
Hypertension circulation issues venous circulation disrupted sleep
Sexual Dysfunction lymphatic circulation patterns
Painful menses
Substance abuse
Imbalance from Avicenna’s point of view
Headache Headache Headache Headache
Delirium Delirium Delirium Lethargy
Lethargy Insomnia Stiffness Lethargy
Weak Limbs Nose itching Insomnia Melancholy
Nose itching hard eyelids hallucinations madness
Poor vision boils on eyelids canker sores forgetfulness
Enlarged tongue canker sores diphtheria paralysis
Canker sores dull teeth cancer weak limbs
Swollen palate discolored teeth excessive appetite convulsions
Trembling lips coughing swollen stomach muscular tense
Loose teeth pleurisy vomiting trembling lips
Tooth spaces feeling of smoke in chest heartburn trembling
Diphtheria heart attack swelling of liver swollen lids
Slackness uvula excessive appetite jaundice shedding lash
Pleurisy swelling of liver flatulence styes
Swelling of liver jaundice arthritis pupils dilated
Hemorrhoids hemorrhoids gripe eyelid dandruff
Swollen testicles gripe bladder swelling odor from nose
Constant errection anal ulcer ringing in ears colic
Convulsion of penis burning urination excessive libido enlarge tongue
Cracked nails swollen testicles swelling of womb bad breath
Excessive menses varicose veins canker sores
Yellow nails thickened nails swollen palate
skin cancer white lips
Swelling of lip
Dull feel teeth
Gum ulcers
Swelling uvula
Diphtheria
Constriction in
Throat
Asthma
Coughing
Pleurisy
Heart feels
Being pulled
Downward
Deficient
Appetite
Severe thirst
Vomiting
Upset stomach
Convulsion of

5. Little, David. “The Temperaments in Homeopathy.” (Homeopathy)
Link to this article here:
http://www.simillimum.com/Thelittlelibrary/Constitutionaetiologymiasm/temperaments1.html
Stomach
Liver obstruct
Liver swell
Itching anus
Gripe
Colic
Kidney ulcer
Constipation
Bladder swell
Urine retain
Inability to
Get errection
Excessive
Menses
Swelling of
Womb
Backache
Joint ache
Arthritis
Sebaceous
Cyst
Pimples
Acne
Baldness
No nail growth
Boils
Scabs
Dandruff
Sweat
6. Steiner, Rudolph. “The Four Temperaments.” (Education and Philosophy)
Rudolph Steiner
Winter 1908-09
"When it is a case of mastering life, we must listen for life's
secrets. These lie behind the sense-perceptible."
IT IS AN oft-repeated and a justifiable opinion with regard to all the realms of human spiritual
life, that man's greatest riddle here in our physical life is man himself. We may truly say that a
large part of our scientific activity, of our reflection, and of much besides in man's life of -
thought, is applied to the solving of this human riddle, to discerning wherein the essence of
human nature consists. Natural science and spiritual science try to solve from different sides
this great riddle comprised in the word Man. In the main, natural scientific research seeks to
attain its final goal by bringing together all the processes of nature in order to comprehend the
external laws. Spiritual science seeks the sources of existence for the sake of
comprehending, of fathoming, man's being and destiny. If then, on the one hand, it is
unquestioned that man's greatest riddle is man himself, we may say that in relation to life this
expression may have a still deeper significance in that it is necessary on the other hand to
emphasize what each of us feels upon meeting another person-namely, that fundamentally
each single person is in turn an enigma for others and for himself because of his special
nature and being. Ordinarily, when we speak of this human enigma, we have in mind man in
general, man without distinction regarding this or that individuality. Certainly many problems
appear for us when we wish to understand human nature in general. Today, however, we are
not concerned with the general riddles of existence, but rather with that enigma, not less

significant for life, that each person we meet presents to us. For how endlessly varied are
human beings in their deepest individual essence!
When we survey human life we shall have to be especially attentive to this riddle that each
person presents, for our entire social life, our relation of man to man, must depend upon bow
in individual cases we are able to approach with our feeling, with our sensibility rather than
merely with our intelligence, the individual human enigma that stands before us so often each
day, with which we have to deal so often. How difficult it is regarding the people we meet to
come to a clear knowledge of the various sides of their nature, and how much depends in life
upon our coming to such clear knowledge regarding those people with whom we come in
touch. We can of course only approach quite gradually the solution of the whole riddle of the
human individual, of which each person presents a special phase, for there is a great gap
between what is called human nature in general and what confronts us in each human
individual.
Spiritual science, Anthroposophy, will have a special task precisely regarding this individual
enigma-man. Not only must it give us information about what man is in general, but it must
be, as you know, a knowledge that flows directly into our daily life, into all our sensibilities and
feelings. Since our feelings and sensibilities are unfolded in the most beautiful way in our
attitude toward our fellow men, the fruit of spiritual scientific knowledge will be revealed the
most beautifully in the view we take of our fellow men because of this knowledge.
When in life a person stands before us, we must always, in the sense of Anthroposophy, take
into consideration that what we perceive outwardly of the person is only one part, only one
member, of the human being. To be sure, an outer material view of man regards as the whole
man what this outer perception and the intellect connected with it are able to give us. Spiritual
science shows us, however, that the human being is a complicated entity. Often, when one
goes more deeply into this complexity of human nature, the individual is then also seen in the
right light. Spiritual science has the task of showing us what the innermost kernel of the
human being is. What we can see with the eyes and grasp with the hands is only the outer
expression, the outer shell, and we may hope to come to an understanding of the external -
also if we are able to penetrate into the spiritual inner part.
In the great gap between what we may call human nature in general and what confronts us in
each individual, we see nevertheless many homogeneous characteristics in whole human
groups. To these belong those human qualities that today form the subject of our
consideration and that we usually call the temperament. We need only utter the word
"temperament" to see that there are as many riddles as men. Within the basic types, the basic
colorings, we have such a multiplicity and variety among individuals that we can indeed say
that the real enigma of existence is expressed in the peculiar basic disposition of the human
being that we call temperament. When the riddles intervene directly in practical life, the basic
coloring of the human being plays a role. When a person stands before us, we feel that we
are confronted by something of this basic disposition. Therefore it is to be hoped that spiritual
science is able to give also the necessary information about the nature of the temperaments.
For though we must admit that the temperaments spring from within, they nevertheless
express themselves in the whole external appearance of the individual. By means of an
external observation of nature, however, the riddle of man is not to be solved. We can
approach the characteristic coloring of the human being I only when we learn what spiritual
science has to say about him.
It is of course true that each person confronts us with his own temperament, but we can still
distinguish certain groups of temperaments. We speak chiefly of four types, as you know: the
sanguine, the choleric, the phlegmatic, and the melancholic temperament. Even though this
classification is not entirely correct in so far as we apply it to individuals-in individuals the
temperaments are mixed in the most diverse way, so we can only say that one temperament
or another predominates in certain traits-still we shall in general classify people in four groups
according to their temperaments.

The fact that the temperament is revealed on the one side as something that inclines toward
the individual, that makes people different, and on the other side joins them again to groups,
proves to us that the temperament must on the one side have something to do with the
innermost essence of the human being, and on the other must belong to universal human
nature. Man's temperament, then, points in two directions. Therefore it will be necessary, if
we wish to solve the mystery, to ask on the one hand: How far does the temperament point to
what belongs to universal human nature? And then again on the other: How does it point to
the essential kernel, to the actual inner being of the individual?
If we put the question, it is natural that spiritual science seems called upon to give
enlightenment because spiritual science must lead us to the innermost essential kernel of the
human being. As he confronts us on earth, he appears to be placed in a universality, and
again on the other side he appears as an independent entity. In the light of spiritual science
man stands within two life streams that meet when he enters earth existence. Here we are at
the focal point of the consideration of human nature according to the methods of spiritual
science. We learn that we have in the human being, first of all, what places him in his line of
heredity. The one stream leads us from the individual man back to his parents, grandparents
and more remote ancestors. He shows the characteristics inherited from father, mother,
grandparents and all preceding ancestors farther and farther back. These attributes he
transmits again to his descendants. What flows down from ancestors to the individual man we
designate in life and in science as inherited attributes and characteristics. A man is placed in
this way within what we may call the line of heredity, and it is known that an individual bears
within him, even in the very kernel of his being, qualities that we must certainly trace back to
heredity. Much about an individual is explicable if we know his ancestry. How deeply true are
the words uttered with regard to his own personality by Goethe, who had such a deep
knowledge of the soul:
My father gave my build to me, Toward life my solemn
bearing, From mother, comes my gayety, My joy in storytelling.
Here we see how this man, who was so knowledgeable of human nature, has to point to
moral qualities even when he wishes to refer to inherited characteristics.
Everything we find as transmitted from ancestors to descendants interprets, in a certain
respect, the individual for us. But only in a certain respect because what he has inherited from
his ancestors gives us only one side of the human being. Of course the present-day
materialistic conception would like to seek in the line of ancestry for everything under the sun.
It would even like to trace a man's spiritual being (his spiritual qualities) back to ancestry, and
it never wearies of declaring that a man's qualities of genius are explicable if we find signs,
and indications of such characteristics in this or that ancestor. Those who hold such a view
would like to compile the human personality from what is found scattered among the
ancestors. Anyone who penetrates more deeply into human nature will of course be struck by
the fact that beside these inherited attributes, something confronts us in each man that cannot
be characterized otherwise than by saying: That is his very own, and we cannot say, as a
result of close observation, that it is transmitted from this or that ancestor. Here spiritual
science comes in and tells what it has to say about it. Today we are able to present only
sketchily what is involved in these questions, to indicate only sketchily the findings of spiritual
science.
Spiritual science tells us that it is certainly true that the human being is placed in the stream
that we may call the stream of heredity, the stream of inherited attributes. Besides that,
however, something else appears in an individual, namely the innermost spiritual kernel of his
being. In this are united what the individual brings with him from the spiritual world and what
the father and mother, his ancestors, are able to give to him. Something else is united with
what flows down in the stream of the generations that has its origin, not in the immediate
ancestors, the parents, and not in the grandparents, but what comes from quite other realms,
something that passes from one existence to another. On the one side we may say that a
man has this or that from his ancestors. But if we watch an individual develop from childhood,

we see how from the center of his nature something evolves that is the fruit of foregoing lives,
something he never can have inherited from his ancestors.
What we see in the individual when we penetrate to the depths of his soul we can only explain
to ourselves when we know a great comprehensive law, which is really only the
consequences of many natural laws. It is the law of repeated earth lives which is so
unescapable at the present time. This law of re-embodiment, the succession of earth lives, is
only a specific case of a general cosmic law.
It will not appear so paradoxical to us when we think the matter over. Let us observe a lifeless
mineral, a rock crystal. It has a regular form. If it is destroyed, nothing of its form remains that
could pass over to other rock crystals. The new rock crystal receives nothing of its form. Now
if we rise from the world of minerals to the world of plants, it becomes clear to us that a plant
cannot originate according to the same law as a rock crystal. A plant can originate only when
it is derived from the parent plant. Here the form is maintained and passes over to the other
entity. If we rise to the animal world, we find that the development of species takes place. We
see that the 19 th century considered this discovery of the development of the species as
among its greatest results. Not only does one form proceed from another, but each animal in
the body of the mother repeats the earlier forms, the lower evolutionary phases of its
ancestors. Among the animals we have a rising gradation of species. Among human beings,
however, we have not only a gradation of species, a development of kinds, but we have a
development of the individual. What a man acquires in the course of his life through
education, through experience, is just as little lost as the animal's succession of ancestors.
A time will come when a man's essential core will be traced back to a previous existence. It
will be recognized then that the human being is the fruit of an earlier existence. This law will
have a peculiar destiny in the world, a destiny similar to that of another law. The opposition
against which this teaching has to assert itself will be overcome, just as the opinion of the
scientists of earlier centuries-that the living can originate from the lifeless-was overcome.
Even into the 17th century the learned and the unlearned had no doubt whatever that from
ordinary lifeless things not only lower animals could be evolved, but that earthworms, even
fish, could originate from ordinary river slime. The first who declared energetically that the
living can originate only from the living was the great Italian naturalist, Francesco Redi (1627
to 1697), who showed that the living derives only from the living. That is a law that is only the
forerunner of another: namely, that the soul-spiritual derives from the soul-spiritual. On
account of his teaching he was attacked, and only with difficulty escaped the fate of Giordano
Bruno. Today burning is no longer the custom; but anyone who appears with a new truth
today, for instance, anyone who wishes to trace back the soul-spiritual element to the soulspiritual,
would not be burned, to be sure, but would be looked upon as a fool. A time will
come when it will be considered nonsense to think that a man lives only once and that there is
not something permanent that unites itself with his inherited characteristics.
Spiritual science shows how what is our own nature unites with what is given to us by
heredity. That is the other stream into which the individual is placed, the stream with which
present civilization does not wish to be concerned. Spiritual science leads us to the great
facts of so-called re-embodiment or reincarnation, and of karma. It shows us that we have to
take into consideration the innermost essential kernel of man as that which descends from the
spiritual world, uniting itself with something that is given by the line of heredity, with what it is
possible for the father and mother to give to the individual. For the spiritual scientist what
originates from the line of heredity envelops this essential kernel with outer sheaths. And as
we must go back to father and mother and other ancestors for what we see in the physical
man as form and stature, for the characteristics that belong to his outer being, so we must go
back to something entirely different, to an earlier life, if we wish to comprehend a man's
innermost being. Perhaps far, far back, beyond all hereditary transmission, we may have to
seek the human being's spiritual kernel, which has existed for thousands of years, and which
during these thousands of years has entered again and again into existence, again and again
has led an earth-life, and now in the present existence has united itself again to what it is
possible for father and mother to give.

Every single human being, when he enters into physical life, has a succession of lives behind
him, and this has nothing to do with what belongs to the line of heredity. We should have to
go back more than centuries if we wished to investigate what his former life was when he
passed through the gate of death. After lie has passed through the gate of death he lives in
other forms of existence in the spiritual world. When the time comes again to experience a life
in the physical world, he seeks his parents. Thus we must go back to the spirit of man and his
earlier incarnations, if we wish to explain what now confronts us as the soul-spiritual part in
him. We must go back to his earlier incarnations, to what he acquired in the course of them.
We have to consider how he lived at that time, what he brought with him, as the causes of
what the individual possesses today in the new life as tendencies, dispositions and abilities.
For each person brings with him from his former life certain qualities. Certain qualities, and
also to a certain degree his destiny he brings with him. According as he has performed this or
that deed, he calls forth the reaction, and feels himself thus to be surrounded by the new life.
So he brings with him from earlier incarnations the inner kernel of his being and envelops it
with what is given him by heredity.
Certainly this one thing should be mentioned, because it is important, since actually our
present time has little inclination to recognize this inner kernel of being, or to look upon the
idea of reincarnation as anything but a fantastic thought. It is considered today to be poor
logic, and we shall hear materialistic thinkers objecting over and over again that what is in
man arises entirely through heredity. Just look at the ancestors, he says, and you will
discover that this or that trait, this or that peculiarity, existed in some ancestor, that all the
individual traits and qualities can be explained by tracing them in the ancestors. The spiritual
scientist also points to that fact.
For example, in a musical family musical talent is inherited. That is supposed to support the
theory of heredity. Indeed, the law is expressed point blank that seldom does genius appear
at the beginning of a generation but rather stands at the end of a line of heredity. That is
supposed to be a proof that genius is inherited. Here one proceeds from the standpoint that
some person has a definite characteristic-he is a genius. Someone traces back the peculiar
abilities of the genius, seeks in the past among his ancestors, finds in some ancestor signs of
a similar characteristic, picks out something here and there, finds this quality in one, that in
another, and then shows how they finally flowed together in the genius who appeared at the
end of the generations. He then infers from it that genius is transmitted. For anyone whose
thinking is direct and logical that could at best prove the opposite. If finding qualities of genius
among the ancestors proves anything, what does it prove? Surely nothing else than that
man's essential being is able to express itself in life according to the instrument of the body. It
proves nothing more than that a man comes out wet if he falls into the water. Really it is no
more intelligent than if someone wishes to call our special attention to the fact that if a man
falls into the water he gets wet. It is only natural that he takes up something of the element
into which he is placed. Surely it is quite self-evident that the qualities of the ancestors would
be carried by what has flowed down through the line of heredity, and has finally been given
through father and mother to the particular human being who has descended from the
spiritual world. The individual clothes himself in the sheaths that are given to him by his
ancestors. What is intended to be presented as proof of heredity could much better be looked
upon as proof that it is not heredity. For if genius were inherited, it would have to appear at
the beginning of the generations and not stand at the end of a line of heredity. If anyone were
to show that a genius has sons and grandchildren to whom the qualities of genius are
transmitted, then he would be able to prove that genius is inherited. But that is not the case. It
is limping logic that wishes to trace back man's spiritual qualities to the succession of
ancestors. We must trace back spiritual qualities to what a man has brought with him from his
earlier incarnations.
If now we consider the stream that flows in the line of heredity, we find that there the
individual is drawn into a stream of existence through which he gets certain qualities. Thus we
have before us someone possessing the qualities of his family, his people, his race. The
various children of the same parents have characteristics conditioned in this way. If we
consider the true individual nature of a human being, we must say that the essential soulspiritual
kernel of an individual is born into the family, the people, the race. It envelops itself
with what is given by the ancestors, but it brings with it purely individual characteristics. So we

must ask ourselves: How is harmony established between a human essence that perhaps in
earlier centuries has acquired particular qualities, and the outer covering with which it -is now
to envelop itself that bears the characteristics of family, people, race, and so forth? Is it
possible for harmony to exist here? Is it not something in the highest sense individual that is
thus brought into earth life, and is not the inherited part at variance with it? Thus the great
question arises: How can that which has its origin in quite other worlds, which must seek
father and mother for itself, unite with the physical body? How can it clothe itself with the
physical attributes through which the human being is placed within the line of heredity?
We see then in a person the confluence of two streams. Of these two streams each human
being is composed. In him we see on the one side what comes to him from his family, and on
the other what has developed from the individual's innermost being, namely a number of
predispositions, characteristics, inner capacities and outer destiny. An agreement must be
effected. We find that a man with must adapt himself to this union n accordance i his
innermost being on the one side, and on the other in accordance with what is brought to him
from the line of heredity. We see how a man bears to a great degree the physiognomy of his
ancestors. We could put him together, as it were, from the sum of his various ancestors.
Since at first the inner essential kernel has nothing to do with what is inherited, but must
merely adapt itself to what is most suitable to it, we shall see that it is necessary for a certain
mediation to exist for what has lived perhaps for centuries in an entirely different world and is
now again transplanted. into another world. The spirit being of man must have something
here below to which it is related. There must be a bond, a connecting link, between the
special individual human being and humanity in general, into which he is born through family,
people, race.
Between these two, namely what we bring with us from our earlier life and what our family,
ancestors and race imprint upon us, there is a mediation, something that bears more general
characteristics but at the same time is capable of being individualized. That which occupies
this position between the line of heredity and the line which represents our individuality is
expressed by the word temperament. In what confronts us in the temperament of a, person
we have something in a certain way like a physiognomy of his innermost individuality. We
thus understand how the individuality colors, by means of the qualities of temperament, the
attributes inherited in the succession of generations. Temperament stands in the middle
between what we bring with us as individuals and what originates from the line of heredity.
When the two streams unite, the one stream colors the other. They color each other
reciprocally. Just as blue and yellow, let us say, unite in green, so do the two streams in man
unite in what we call temperament. What mediates between all inner characteristics that he
brings with him from his earlier incarnation on the one side, and on the other what the line of
heredity brings to him, comes under the concept temperament. It now takes its place between
the inherited characteristics and what he has absorbed into his inner essential being. It is as if
upon its descent to earth this kernel of being were to envelop itself with a spiritual nuance of
what awaits it here below, so that in proportion as this kernel of being is able best to adapt
itself to this covering for the human being, the kernel of being colors itself according to that
into which it is born and to a quality that it brings with it. Here shine forth the soul qualities of
man and his natural inherited attributes. Between the two is the temperament-between that by
which a man is connected with his ancestors and what he brings with him from his earlier
incarnations. The temperament balances the eternal with the transitory.
This balancing occurs through the fact that what we have learned to call the members of
human nature come into relation with one another in a quite definite way. We understand this
in detail, however, only when we place before our mind's eye the complete human nature in
the sense of spiritual science. Only from spiritual science is the mystery of the human
temperament to be discovered.
This human being as he confronts us in life, formed by the coming together of these two
streams, we know as a four-membered being. So we shall be able to say when we consider
the entire individual that the complete human being consists of the physical body, the etheric
body or body of formative forces, the astral body, and the ego.

In that part of man perceptible to the outer senses, which is all that materialistic thought is
willing to recognize, we have first, according to spiritual science, only a single member of the
human being, the physical body, which man has in common with the mineral world. That part
that is subject to physical laws, that man has in common with all nature, the sum of chemical
and physical laws, we designate in spiritual science as the physical body.
Beyond this, however, we recognize higher supersensible, members of human nature that are
as actual and essential as the outer physical body. As first supersensible member, man has
the etheric body, which becomes part of his organ ism and remains united with the physical
body throughout his entire life; only at death does a separation of the two take place. Even
this first supersensible member of human nature-in spiritual science called the etheric or life
body; we might also call it the glandular body-is no more visible to our outer eyes than are
colors to those born blind. But it exists, actually and perceptibly exists, for what Goethe calls
the eyes of the spirit, and it is even more real than the outer physical body because it is the
builder, the moulder, of the physical body. During the entire time between birth and death this
etheric or life body continuously combats the disintegration of the physical body. Any kind of
mineral product of nature-a crystal, for example-is so constituted that it is permanently held
together by its own forces, by the forces of its own substance. That is not the case with the
physical body of a living being. Here the physical forces work in such a way that they destroy
the form of life, as we are able to observe after death when the physical forces destroy the
life-form. That this destruction does not occur during life, that the physical body does not
conform to the physical and chemical forces and laws, is due to the fact that the etheric or lifebody
is ceaselessly combating these forces.
The third member of the human being we recognize in the bearer of all pleasure and
suffering, joy and pain, instincts, impulses, passions, desires and all that surges to and fro as
sensations and ideas, even all concepts of what we designate as moral ideals, and so on.
That we call the astral body. Do not take exception to this expression. We could also call it the
"nerve-body." Spiritual science sees in it something real and knows indeed that this body of
impulses and desires is not an effect of the physical body but the cause of this body. It knows
that the soulspiritual part has built up for itself the physical body.
Thus we already have three members of the human being. As man's highest member we
recognize that by means of which he towers above all other beings by means of which he is
the crown of earth's creation, namely, the bearer of the human ego, which gives him in such a
mysterious, but also in such a manifest way, the powers of self-consciousness.
Man has the physical body in common with his entire visible environment, the etheric body in
common with the plants and animals, the astral body with the animals. The fourth member,
however, the ego, he has for himself alone, and by means of it he towers above the other
visible creatures. We recognize this fourth member as the ego-bearer, as that in human
nature by means of which man is able to say "I" to himself, to come to independence.
Now what we see physically, and what the intellect that is bound to the physical senses can
know, is only an expression of these four members of the human being. Thus, the expression
of the ego, of the actual ego-bearer, is the blood in its circulation. This "quite special fluid" is
the expression of the ego. The physical sense expression of the astral body in man is, for
example, among other things, the nervous system. The expression of the etheric body, or a
part of this expression, is the glandular system. The physical body expresses itself in the
sense organs.
These four members confront us in the human being. So, when we observe the complete
human being we shall be able to say that he consists of physical body, etheric body, astral
body and ego. What is primarily physical body, which the human being carries in such a way
that it is visible to physical eyes, clearly bears, first of all, when viewed from without, the
marks of heredity. Also those characteristics that live in man's etheric body, in that fighter
against the disintegration of the physical body, are in the line of heredity. Then we come to his
astral body, which in its characteristics is much more closely bound to the essential kernel of
the human being. If we turn to this innermost kernel, to the actual ego, we find what passes

from incarnation to incarnation and appears as an inner mediator that rays forth its essential
qualities.
Now in the whole human nature all the separate members work into each other; they act
reciprocally. Because two streams flow together in man when he enters the physical world,
there arises a varied mixture of man's four members, and one gets the mastery over the
others impressing its color upon them. Now according as one or another of these members
comes especially into prominence, the individual confronts us with this or that temperament.
The particular coloring of human nature, what we call the actual shade of the temperament,
depends upon whether the forces, the different means of power, of one member or of another
predominate, have a preponderance over the others. Man's eternal being, that which goes
from incarnation to incarnation, so expresses itself in each new embodiment that it calls forth
a certain reciprocal action among the four members of human nature-the ego, astral body,
etheric body and physical body-and from the interaction of these four members arises the
coloring of human nature that we characterize as temperament.
When the essential being has tinged the physical and etheric bodies, what arises because of
the coloring thus given will act upon each of the other members. So that the way an individual
appears to us with his characteristics depends upon whether the inner kernel acts more
strongly upon the physical body, or whether the physical body acts more strongly upon it. The
human being is able according to his nature to influence one of the four members, and
through the reaction upon the other members the temperament originates. The human
essential kernel, when it comes into re-embodiment, is able through this peculiarity to
introduce into one or another of its members a certain surplus of activity. Thus it can give to
the ego a certain surplus strength. Or again, the individual can influence his other members
as a result of having had certain experiences in his former life.
When the ego of the individual has become so strong through its destiny that its forces are
noticeably dominant in the four-fold human nature and it dominates the other members, then
the choleric temperament results. If the person is especially subject to the influence of the
forces of the astral body, then we attribute to him a sanguine temperament. If the etheric or
life-body acts, excessively upon the person, the phlegmatic temperament arises. And when
the physical body with its laws is especially predominant in the human nature, so that the
spiritual essence of being is not able to overcome a certain hardness in the physical body,
then we have to do with a melancholic temperament. Just as the eternal and the transitory
intermingle, so does the relation of the members to one another appear.
I have already told you how the four members express themselves outwardly in the physical
body. Thus, a large part of the physical body is the direct expression of the physical life
principle of man. The physical body as such comes to expression only in the physical body.
Hence it is the physical body that gives the keynote in a melancholic.
We must regard the glandular system as the physical expression of the etheric body. The
etheric body expresses itself physically in the glandular system. Hence in a phlegmatic
person the glandular system gives the keynote to the physical body.
The nervous system and, of course, what occurs through it we must regard as the physical
expression of the astral body. The astral body finds its physical expression in the nervous
system. Therefore in a sanguine person the nervous system gives the keynote to the physical
body.
The blood in its circulation, the force of the pulsation of the blood, is the expression of the
actual ego. The ego expresses itself in the circulation of the blood, in the predominating
activity of the blood. It shows itself especially in the fiery vehement blood. One must try to
penetrate more subtly into the connection that exists between the ego and the other members
of the human being. Suppose, for example, the ego exerts a peculiar force in the life of
sensations, ideas and the nervous system. Suppose that in the case of a certain person
everything arises from his ego, everything that he feels he feels strongly, because his ego is
strong. We call that the choleric temperament. What has received its character from the ego

will make itself felt as the predominating quality. Hence, in a choleric the blood system is
predominant.
The choleric temperament will show itself as active in a strongly pulsating blood. In this the
element of force in the individual makes its appearance in the fact that he has a special
influence upon his blood. In such a person, in whom spiritually the ego, physically the blood,
is particularly active, we see the innermost force vigorously keeping the organization fit. And
as he thus confronts the outer world, the force of his ego will wish to make itself felt. That is
the effect of this ego. By reason of this, the choleric appears as one who wishes to assert his
ego in all circumstances. All the aggressiveness of the choleric, everything connected with his
strong will-nature, may be ascribed to the circulation of the blood.
When the astral body predominates in an individual, the physical expression will lie in the
functions of the nervous system, that instrument of the rising and falling waves of sensation,
and what the astral body accomplishes is the life of thoughts, of images, so that the person
who is gifted with the sanguine temperament will have the predisposition to live in the surging
sensations and feelings and in the images of his life of ideas.
We must understand clearly the relation of the astral body to the ego. The astral body
functions between the nervous system and the blood system. So it is perfectly clear what this
relation is. If only the sanguine temperament were present, if only the nervous system were
active, being quite especially prominent as the expression of the astral body, then the person
would have a life of shifting images and ideas. In this way a chaos of images would come and
go. He would be given over to all the restless flux from sensation to sensation, from image to
image, from idea to idea. Something of that sort appears if the astral body predominates, that
is, in a sanguine person who in a certain sense is given over to the tide of sensations,
images, etc., since in him the astral body and the nervous system predominate. It is the
forces of the ego that prevent the images from darting about in a fantastic way. Only because
these images are controlled by the ego does harmony and order enter in. Were man not to
check them with his ego, they would surge up and down without any evidence of control by
the individual.
In the physical body it is the blood that principally limits the activity of the nervous system.
Man's blood circulation, the blood flowing in man, is what lays fetters, as it were, upon what
has its expression in the nervous system. It is the restrainer of the surging feelings and
sensations. It is the tamer of the nerve-life. It would lead too far afield if I were to show you in
all its details how the nervous system and the blood are related, and how the blood is the
restrainer of this life of ideas. What occurs if the tamer is not present, if a man is deficient in
red blood, is anemic? Well, even if we do not go into the more minute psychological details,
from the simple fact that when a person's blood becomes too thin, that is, has a deficiency of
red corpuscles, he is easily given over to the unrestrained surging back and forth of all kinds
of fantastic images, even to illusion and hallucination-you can still conclude from this simple
fact that the blood is the restrainer of the nerve-system. A balance must exist between the
ego and the astral body-or speaking physiologically, between the blood and the nervous
system-so that one may not become a slave of one's nervous system, that is, to the surging
life of sensation and feeling.
If now the astral body has a certain excess of activity, if there is a predominance of the astral
body and its expression, the nervous system which the blood restrains to be sure but is not
completely able to bring to a condition of absolute balance then that peculiar condition arises
in which human life easily arouses the individual's interest in a subject, but it is soon dropped
and the individual's interest quickly passes to another. Such a person cannot hold himself to
an idea and in consequence his interest can be immediately kindled in everything that meets
him in the outer world, but the restraint is not applied to make it inwardly enduring. The
interest that has been kindled quickly evaporates. In this quick kindling of interest and quick
passing from one subject to another we see the expression of the predominating astral
element, the sanguine temperament. The sanguine person cannot linger with an impression.
He cannot hold fast to an image, cannot fix his attention upon one subject. He hurries from
one life impression to another, from perception to perception, from idea to idea. He shows a

fickle disposition. That can be especially observed in sanguine children, and in this case it
may cause one anxiety. Interest is easily aroused. A picture begins easily to have an effect,
quickly makes an impression, but the impression soon vanishes again.
When there is a strong predominance in an individual of the etheric or life-body which
inwardly regulates the processes of man's life and growth, and the expression of this etheric
body, the system that brings about the feeling of inner well-being or of discomfort, then such a
person will be tempted to wish to remain in this feeling of inner comfort. The etheric body is a
body that leads a sort of inner life, while the astral body expresses itself in outer interests. The
ego is the bearer of our activity and will directed outward. If then this etheric body, which acts
as life-body and maintains the separate functions in equilibrium, an equilibrium that expresses
itself in the feeling of life's general comfort-when this self-sustained inner life, which chiefly
causes the sense of inner comfort, predominates, then it may occur that an individual lives
chiefly in this feeling of inner comfort, that he has such a feeling of well-being when
everything in his organism is in order that he feels little urgency to direct his inner being
toward the outer world, is little inclined to develop a strong will. The more inwardly
comfortable he feels, the more harmony will he create between the inner and outer. When this
is the case, when it is even carried to excess, we have to do with a phlegmatic person.
In a melancholic we have seen that the physical body, that is, the densest member of the
human being, rules the others. A man must be master of his physical body, as he must be
master of a machine if he wishes to use it. But when this densest part rules, the person
always feels that he is not master of it, that he cannot manage it. For the physical body is the
instrument that he should rule completely through his higher members. Now, however, this
physical body has dominion and sets up opposition to the others. In this case the person is
not able to use his instrument perfectly, so that the other principles experience repression
because of it and disharmony exists between the physical body and the other members. This
is the way the hardened physical system appears when it is in excess. The person is not able
to bring about flexibility where it should exist. The inner man has no power over his physical
system; he feels inner obstacles. They show themselves through the fact that the person is
compelled to direct his strength upon these inner obstacles. What cannot be overcome is
what causes sorrow and pain, and these make it impossible for the individual to look out upon
his contemporary world in an unprejudiced way. This constraint becomes a source of inner
grief, which is felt as pain and listlessness, as a sad mood. It is easy to feel that life is filled
with pain and sorrow. Certain thoughts and ideas begin to be enduring. The person becomes
gloomy, melancholic. There is a constant arising of pain. This mood is caused by nothing else
than that the physical body sets up opposition to the inner ease of the etheric body, to the
mobility of the astral body, and to the ego's certainty of its goal.
If we thus comprehend the nature of the temperaments through sound knowledge, many
things in life will become clear to us, but it will also become possible to handle in a practical
way what we otherwise could not do. Look at much that directly confronts us in life! What we
see there as the mixture of the four members of human nature meets us clearly and
significantly in the outer picture. We need only observe how the temperament comes to
expression externally.
Let us, for instance, take the choleric person, who has a strong firm center in his inner being.
If the ego predominates, the person will assert himself against all outer oppositions. He wants
to be in evidence. This ego is the restrainer. Those pictures are consciousness-pictures. The
physical body is formed according to its etheric: body, the etheric: body according to its astral
body. This astral body would fashion man, so to speak, in the most varied way. But because
growth is opposed by the ego in its blood forces, the balance is maintained between
abundance and variety of growth. So when there is a surplus of ego, growth can be retarded.
It positively retards the growth of the other members. It does not allow the astral body and the
etheric body their full rights. In the choleric temperament you are able to recognize clearly in
the outer growth, does not permit the astral body to color that very thing that his ego-force
draws inward, although it is colored in another person. Observe such an individual in his
whole bearing. One who is experienced can almost tell from the rear view whether a certain
person is a choleric. The firm walk proclaims the choleric, and even in the step we see the

expression of strong ego-force. In the choleric child we already notice the firm tread. When he
walks on the ground, he not only sets his foot on it but he treads as if he wanted to go a little
bit farther into the ground.
The complete human individual is a copy of this innermost being, which declares itself to us in
such a way. Naturally, it is not a question of my maintaining that the choleric person is short
and the sanguine tall. We may compare the form of a person only with his own growth. It
depends upon the relation of the growth to the entire form.
Notice the sanguine person! Observe what a strange glance even the. sanguine child has. It
quickly lights upon something but just as quickly turns to something else. It is a merry glance;
an inner joy and gaiety shine in it. In it is expressed what comes from the depths of the
human nature, from the mobile astral body, which predominates in the sanguine person. In its
mobile inner life this astral body will work upon the members, and it will also make the
person's external appearance as flexible as possible. Indeed, we are able to recognize the
entire outer physiognomy, the permanent form and also the 'gestures, as the expression of
the mobile, volatile, fluidic astral body. The astral body has the tendency to fashion, to form.
The inner reveals itself outwardly. Hence the sanguine person is slender and supple. Even in
the slender form, the bony structure, in all that confronts us outwardly, the expression of what
is inwardly active, the actual deep inner force-nature of the man, of the complete ego.
Choleric persons appear as a rule as if growth had been retarded. You can find in life
example after example. For instance, from spiritual history the philosopher, Johann Gottlieb
Fichte, the German choleric. Even in external appearance he is recognizable as such, since
in his outer form he gave the impression of being retarded in growth. Thereby he reveals
clearly that the other members of his being have been held back by the excess of ego. Not
the astral body with its forming capacity is the predominant member, but the ego rules, the
restrainer, the limiter of the formative forces. Hence we see as a rule in those who are
preeminently men of strong will, where the ego restrains the free formative force of the astral
body, a small compact figure. Take another classical example of the choleric Napoleon, the
"little General," who remained so small because the ego held back the other members of his
being. There you have the type of the retarded growth of the choleric. There you can see how
this force of the ego works out of the spirit so that the innermost being is manifest in the outer
form. Observe the physiognomy of the choleric! Take in comparison the phlegmatic person!
How indefinite are his features.
How little reason you have to say that such a form of forehead is suited to the choleric. In one
organ it is shown especially clearly whether the astral body or the ego works formatively, that
is in the eye, in the steady, assured aspect of the eye of the choleric. As a rule we see how
this strongly-kindled inner light, which turns everything luminously inward, sometimes is
expressed in a black, a coalblack eye, because, according to a certain law, the choleric we
see the inner mobility of the astral body in the whole person. It comes to expression for
example in thee slim muscles. It is also to be seen in his external expression. Even one who
is not clairvoyant can recognize from the rear whether a person is of sanguine or choleric
temperament, and to be able to do this one need not be a spiritual scientist. In a sanguine
person we have an elastic and springing walk. In the hopping, dancing walk of the sanguine
child we see the expression of the mobile astral body. The sanguine temperament manifests
itself especially strongly in childhood. See how the formative tendency is expressed there,
and even more delicate attributes are to be found in the outer form. If in the choleric person
we have sharply-cut facial features, in the sanguine they are mobile, expressive, changeable.
Likewise there appears in the sanguine child a certain inner possibility to alter his
countenance. Even to the color of the eyes we could confirm the expression of the sanguine
person. The inwardness of the ego-nature, the self-sufficient inwardness of the choleric,
meets us in his black eyes. Look at the sanguine person in whom the ego-nature is not so
deep-rooted, in whom the astral body pours forth all its mobility-there the blue eye is
predominant. These blue eyes are closely connected with the individual's invisible inner light,
the light of the astral body.
Thus many attributes could be pointed out which reveal the temperament in the external
appearance. Through the four-membered human nature we learn to understand clearly this

soul riddle of the temperaments. Indeed, a knowledge of the four temperaments, springing
from a profound perception of human nature, has been handed down to us from ancient
times. If we thus understand human nature, and know that the external is only the expression
of the spiritual, then we learn to understand man in his relation even to the externalities, to
understand him in his whole process of becoming. We learn to recognize what we must do
concerning ourself and the child with regard to temperament. In education, especially, notice
must be taken of the kind of temperament that tends to develop in the child. For life's wisdom,
as for pedagogy, an actual living knowledge of the nature of the temperaments is
indispensable, and both would profit infinitely from it.
Now let us go further. Again we see how the phlegmatic temperament also is brought to
expression in the outer form. In this temperament there predominates the activity of the
etheric body, which has its physical expression in the glandular system and its soul
expression in a feeling of case, in inner balance. If in such a person everything is not only
normally in order within, but if, beyond this normality, these inner formative forces of ease are
especially active, then their products are added to the human body. It becomes corpulent, it
expands. In the largeness of the body in development of the fatty parts, we see what the inner
formative forces of the etheric body are especially working on. The inner sense of ease of the
phlegmatic person meets us in all that. Who would not recognize in this lack of reciprocal
action between the inner and the outer the cause of the ofttimes slovenly, dragging gait of the
phlegmatic person, whose step will often not adapt itself to the ground. He does not step
properly, so to speak; he does not put himself in relation to things. That he has little control
over the forms of his inner being you can observe in the whole man. The phlegmatic
temperament confronts one in the immobile, indifferent countenance, even in the peculiarly
dull, colorless appearance of the eye. While the eye of the choleric is fiery and sparkling we
can recognize in that of the phlegmatic the expression of the etheric body, focused only upon
inner ease.
The melancholic is one who cannot completely attain mastery over the physical instrument,
one to whom the physical instrument offers resistance, one who cannot cope with the use of
this instrument. Look at the melancholic, how he generally has a drooping head, has not the
force in himself to stiffen his neck. The bowed head shows that the inner forces that adjust the
head perpendicularly are never able to unfold freely. The glance is downward, the eye sad,
unlike the black gleam of the choleric eye. We see in the peculiar appearance of the eye that
the physical instrument makes difficulties for him. The walk, to be sure, is measured, firm, but
not like the walk of the choleric, the firm tread of the choleric. Here it has a certain kind of
dragging firmness.
All this can be only indicated here, but the life of the human being will be much more
understandable to us if we work in this way, if we see the spirit activating the forms in such a
way that the external part of the individual can become an expression of his inner being. So
you see how significantly spiritual science can contribute to the solution of this riddle, but only
if you face the whole reality to which the spiritual also belongs, and do not stop merely with
the physical reality, can this knowledge be practically applied in life. Therefore only from
spiritual science can this knowledge flow in such a way as to benefit the whole of humanity as
well as the individual.
Now if we know all that, we can also learn to apply it. Particularly it must be of interest to learn
how we can handle the temperaments pedagogically in childhood. For in education the kind of
temperament must be carefully observed. With children it is especially important to be able to
guide and direct the developing temperament, but later also it is still important for anyone in
self-education. For the person who wishes to train himself it is invaluable that he observe
what is expressed in his temperament.
I have pointed out to you here the fundamental types, but naturally in life they do not often
appear thus pure. Each person has only the fundamental tone of a temperament, besides
which he has something of the others. Napoleon, for example, had in him much of the
phlegmatic temperament, although he was a choleric. If we would govern life practically, it is
important to be able to allow what expresses itself physically to work upon our soul.

How important this is we can see best of all if we consider that the temperaments can
degenerate, that what may appear to us as one-sidedness can also degenerate. What would
the world be without the temperaments-if people had only one temperament? The most
tiresome place you can imagine! The world would be dreary without the temperaments, not
only in the physical, but also in the higher sense. All variety, beauty, and all the richness of life
are possible only through the temperaments. Do we not see how everything great in life can
be brought about just through the one-sidedness of the temperaments, but also how these
can degenerate in their one-sidedness? Are we not troubled about the child because we see
that the choleric temperament can degenerate to malice, the sanguine to fickleness, the
melancholic to gloom, etc.?
In the question of education in particular, and also in self-education, will not the knowledge
and estimation of the temperaments be of essential value to the educator? We must not be
misled into depreciating the value of the temperament because it is a one-sided
characteristic. In education the important thing is not to equalize the temper. aments, to level
them, but to bring them into the right track. We must clearly understand that the temperament
leads to one-sidedness, that the most radical phase of the melancholic temperament is
madness; of the phlegmatic, imbecility; of the sanguine, insanity; of the choleric, all those
explosions of diseased human nature which result in frenzy, etc. Much beautiful variety
results from the temperaments because opposites attract each other. Nevertheless, the
deification of the one-sidedness of temperament easily causes harm between birth and death.
In each temperament there exists a small and a great danger of degeneracy. With the
choleric person there is the danger that in youth his ego will be determined by his irascibility,
by his lack of self-control. That is the small danger. The great danger is the folly that wishes to
pursue, from the impulse of the ego, some kind of individual goal. In the sanguine
temperament the small danger is that the person will lapse into fickleness. The great danger
is that the rising and falling tide of sensations may result in insanity. The small danger for the
phlegmatic is lack of interest in the outer world; the great danger is stupidity or idiocy. The
small danger in the melancholic is gloominess, the possibility that he may not be able to
extricate himself from what rises up within him. The great danger is madness.
When we contemplate all that, we shall see that a tremendously significant task in practical
life lies in directing and guiding the temperaments. It is important for the educator to be able
to say to himself: What will you do, for example, in the case of a sanguine child? Here one
must try to learn from the knowledge of the entire nature of the sanguine temperament how to
proceed. If other points of view must be considered concerning the education of the child, it is
also necessary that temperament, as a subject in itself, be taken into account. But in order to
guide the temperaments the principle to be observed is that we must always reckon with what
is there and not with what is not there.
We have a child of sanguine temperament before us, which could easily degenerate into
fickleness, lack of interest in important things, or instead, quickly become interested in other
things. The sanguine child is the quickly comprehending, but also the child who is quick to
forget, whose interest it is difficult to hold upon anything whatever, just because interest in
one subject is quickly lost and passes over to another. This can grow into the most frightful
one-sidedness, and it is possible to notice the danger if we look into the depths of human
nature. In the case of such a child a material-minded person will immediately come forward
with a prescription and say: If you have a sanguine child to bring up, you must bring it into
reciprocal activity with other children. But a person who thinks realistically in the right sense
says: If you begin with the sanguine child by working upon forces that it does not at all
possess, you will accomplish nothing with it. You could exert your powers ever so seriously to
develop the other members of human nature, but these simply do not predominate in this
child. If a child has a sanguine temperament, we cannot help him along in development by
trying to beat interests into him. We cannot pound in something different from what his
sanguine temperament is. We should not ask: What does the child lack? What are we to beat
into him? But we should ask: What as a rule does a sanguine child possess? And that is what
we must reckon with. Then we shall say to ourselves: We do not altar these characteristics by
trying to induce any sort of opposite quality in this child. With regard to these things that are
rooted in the innermost nature of man we must take into consideration that we can only bend
them. Thus we shall not be building upon what the child does not possess, but upon what he

does possess. We shall build exactly upon that sanguine nature, upon that mobility of the
astral body, and not try to beat into him what belongs to another member of human nature.
With a sanguine child who has become one-sided we must appeal to his sanguine
temperament.
If we wish to have the right relation with this child, we must take special notice of something.
For from the first it becomes evident to the expert that if the child is ever so sanguine, there is
still something or other in which he is interested, that there is one interest, one genuine
interest for each sanguine child. It will generally be easy to arouse interest in this or that
subject, but it will quickly be lost again. There is one interest, however, that can be enduring
even for the sanguine child. Experience shows this, only it must be discovered. What is found
to hold a special interest must be kept in mind. Whatever it is that the child does not pass by
with fickle interest we must try to bring before him as a special fact so that his temperament
extends to something that is not a matter of indifference to him. Whatever he delights in, we
must try to place in a special light. The child must learn to use his sanguineness. We can
work in such a way that we be-in first of all with the one thing of interest to him that can
always be found, with the forces that the child has. He will not be able to become lastingly
interested in anything through punishment and remonstrance. For things, subjects, events, he
will not easily show anything but a passing, changeable interest, but for one personality
especially suited to a sanguine child-experience will show this-there will be a permanent,
continuous interest, even though the child is ever so fickle. If only we are the right personality,
or if we are able to bring him into association with the right personality, the interest will
appear. It is only necessary to search in the right way. Only by the indirect way of love for one
personality is it possible for interest to appear in the sanguine child. If that interest, love for
one person, is kindled in him, then through this love straight-way a miracle happens. This love
can cure a child's one-sided temperament. More than any other temperament, the sanguine
child needs love for one personality. Everything must be done to awaken love in such a child.
Love is the magic word. All education of the sanguine child must take this indirect path of
attachment to a certain personality. Therefore parents and teachers must heed the fact that
an enduring interest in things cannot be awakened by drumming it into the sanguine child, but
they must see to it that this interest is won by the roundabout way of attachment to a
personality. The child must develop this personal attachment. One must make himself lovable
to the child. That is one's duty to the sanguine child. It is the responsibility of the teacher that
such a child shall learn to love a personality.
We can still further build up the education upon the child's sanguine nature itself. The
sanguine nature reveals itself, you know, in the inability to find any interest that is lasting. We
must observe what is there. We must see that all kinds of things are brought into the
environment of the child in which he has shown more than ordinary interest. We should keep
the sanguine child busy at regular intervals with such subjects as warrant a passing interest,
concerning which he is permitted to be sanguine, subjects not worthy of sustained interest.
These things must be permitted to affect the sanguine nature, to work upon the child. Then
they must be removed so that he will desire them again, and they may again be given to him.
We must cause these things to work upon the child as the objects of the ordinary world work
upon the temperament. In other words, it is important to seek out for a sanguine child those
objects toward which he is permitted to be sanguine. If we thus appeal to what exists rather
than to something that does not exist, we shall see-and practical experience will prove it-that
as matter of fact the sanguine force, if it becomes one-sided, actually permits itself to be
captured by serious subjects. That is attained as by an indirect path.
It is good if the temperament is developed in the right way during childhood, but often the
adult himself has to take his education in hand later in life. As long, indeed, as the
temperaments are held in normal bounds, they represent what makes life beautiful, varied,
and great. How dull would life be if all people were alike with regard to temperament. But in
order to equalize a one-sidedness of temperament, a man must often take his self-education
in hand in later life. Here again he should not insist upon pounding into him, as it were, a
lasting interest in anything. But he must say to himself: According to my nature I am sanguine.
I will now seek subjects in life that my interest may pass over quickly, in which it is right that
the interest should not be lasting, and I will only occupy myself with that in which I may with
complete justification lose interest in the very next moment.

Let us suppose that a parent should fear that in his child the choleric temperament would
express itself in a one-sided way. The same treatment cannot be prescribed as for the
sanguine child. The choleric will not be able easily to acquire love for a personality. He must
be reached through something else in the influence of person upon person. But in the case of
the choleric child also there is an indirect way by which the development may always
be guided. What will guide the education here with certainty is: Respect and esteem for an
authority. For the choleric child one must be thoroughly worthy of esteem and respect in the
highest sense of the word. Here it is not a question of making oneself loved through the
personal qualities, as with the sanguine child, but the important thing is that the choleric child
shall always have the belief that the teacher understands the matter in hand. The latter must
show that he is well informed about the things that take place in the child's environment; he
must not show a weak point. He must endeavor never to let the choleric child notice that he
might be unable to give information or advice concerning what is to be done. The teacher
must see to it that he holds the firm reins of authority in his hands, and never betray the fact
that he is perhaps at his wits' end. The child must always keep the belief that the teacher
knows. Otherwise he has lost the game. If love for the personality is the magic word for the
sanguine child, then respect and esteem for the worth of a person is the magic word for the
choleric.
If we have a choleric child to train we must see to it before everything else that this child shall
unfold, bring to development, his strong inner forces. It is necessary to acquaint him with what
may present difficulties in the outer life. For the choleric child who threatens to degenerate
into one-sidedness, it is especially necessary to introduce into his education what is difficult to
overcome, so as to call attention to the difficulties of life by producing serious obstacles for
the child. Especially must such things be put in his way as will present opposition to him.
Oppositions, difficulties, must be placed in the path of the choleric child. The effort must be
put forth not to make life altogether easy for him. Hindrances must be created so that the
choleric temperament is not repressed, but is obliged to come to expression through the very
fact that certain difficulties are presented that the child must overcome. The teacher must not
beat out, educate out, so to speak, a child's choleric temperament, but he must put before
him just those things upon which he must use his strength, things in connection with which
the choleric temperament is justified. The choleric child must of inner necessity learn to battle
with the objective world. The teacher will therefore seek to arrange the environment in such a;
way that this choleric temperament can work itself out in overcoming obstacles; and it will be
especially good if these obstacles pertain to little things, to trifles. If the child is made to do
something on which he must expend tremendous strength so that the choleric temperament is
strongly expressed but actually the facts are victorious, the strength employed is frittered
away. In this way the child gains respect for the power of facts that oppose what is expressed
in the choleric temperament.
Here again there is another indirect way in which the choleric temperament can be trained.
Here it is necessary first of all to awaken reverence, the feeling of awe, to approach the child
in such a way as actually to arouse such respect, by showing him that we can overcome
difficulties that he himself cannot yet overcome. Reverence, esteem, particularly for what the
teacher can accomplish, for his ability to overcome objective difficulties-that is the proper
means. Respect for the ability of the teacher is the way by which the choleric child in
particular may be reached in education.
It is also difficult to manage the melancholic child. What must we do if we fear the threatened
one-sidedness of the melancholic temperament of the child, since we cannot cram in what he
does not possess? We must reckon with the fact that it is just repressions and resistance that
he has power within himself to cling to. If we wish to turn this peculiarity of his temperament in
the right direction, we must divert this force from subjective to objective activity. Here it is of
special importance that we do not build upon the possibility, let us say, of being able to talk
him out of his grief and pain, or otherwise educate them out of him because the child has the
tendency to this excessive reserve because the physical instrument presents hindrances. We
must particularly build upon what is there, we must cultivate what exists. With the melancholic
child it will be especially necessary for the teacher to attach great importance to showing him

that there is suffering in the world. If we wish to approach this child as a teacher, we must find
here also the point of contact. The melancholic child is capable of suffering, of moroseness.
These qualities exist in him and we cannot flog them out, but we can divert them.
For this temperament too there is one important point. Above all we must show the
melancholic child how people can suffer. We must cause him to experience justifiable pain
and suffering in external life, in order that he may come to know that there are things
concerning which he can experience pain. That is the important thing. If you try to entertain
him, you drive him back into his own corner. Whatever you do, you must not think you have to
entertain such a child, to try to cheer him up. You should not divert him. In that way you
harden the gloominess, the inner pain. If you take him where he can find pleasure, he will only
become more and more shut up within himself. It is always good if you try to cure the young
melancholic not by giving him gay companionship, but by causing him to experience
justifiable pain. Divert his attention from himself by showing him that sorrow exists. He must
see that there are things in life that cause suffering. Although it must not be carried too far,
the important point is to arouse pain in connection with external things in order to divert him.
The melancholic child is not easy to guide, but here again there is a magic means. As with the
sanguine child the magic word is love for a personality, with the choleric, esteem and respect
for the worth of the teacher, so with the melancholic child the important thing is for the
teachers to be personalities who in some way have been tried by life, who act and speak from
a life of trial. The child must feel that the teacher has really experienced suffering. Bring to his
attention in all the manifold occurrences of ,life the trials of your own destiny. Most fortunate is
the melancholic child who can grow up beside a person who has much to give because of his
own hard experiences. In such a case, soul works upon soul in the most fortunate way. If
therefore at the side of the melancholic child there stands a person who, in contrast to the
child's merely subjective, sorrowful tendencies, knows how to tell in a legitimate way of pain
and suffering that the outer world has brought him, then such a child is aroused by this shared
experience, this sympathy with justified pain. A person who can show in the tone and feeling
of his narration that he has been tried by destiny, is a blessing to such a melancholic child.
Even in arranging the melancholic child's environment, so to speak, we should not leave his
predispositions unconsidered. Hence, it is even advantageous if-strange as it may sound-we
build up for the child actual hindrances, obstructions, so that he can experience legitimate
suffering and pain with regard to certain things. It is the best education for such a child if the
existing tendency to subjective suffering and grief can be diverted by being directed to outer
hindrances and obstructions. Then the child, the soul of the child, will gradually take a
different direction.
In self-education also we can again use this method. We must always allow the existing
tendencies, the forces present in us, to work themselves out, and not artificially re-press
them. If the choleric temperament, for example, expresses itself so strongly in us that it is a
hindrance, we must permit this existing inner force to work itself out by seeking those things
upon which we can in a certain sense shatter our force, dissipate our forces, preferably upon
insignificant, unimportant things. If on the other hand we are melancholic, we shall do well to
seek out justifiable pain and suffering in external life, in order that we may have opportunity to
work out our melancholy in the external world. Then we shall set ourselves right.
Let us pass on to the phlegmatic temperament. With the phlegmatic child it will be difficult for
us if his education presents us with the task of conducting ourselves in an appropriate way
toward him. It is difficult to gain any influence over a phlegmatic person. But there is one way
in which an indirect approach may be made. Here again it would be wrong, wrong indeed, if
we insisted upon shaking up a person so inwardly at ease, if we thought we could pound in
some kind of interests then and there. Again we must take account of what he has.
There is something in each case that will hold the attention of the phlegmatic person,
especially the phlegmatic child. If only through wise education we build up around him what
he needs, we shall be able to accomplish much. It is necessary for the phlegmatic child to
have much association with other children. If it is good for the others also to have playmates,

it is especially so for the phlegmatic. He must have playmates with the most varied interests.
There is nothing to appeal to in the phlegmatic child. He will not interest himself easily in
objects and events. One must therefore bring this child into association with children of like
age. He can be trained through the sharing of the interests-as many as possible-of other
personalities. If he is indifferent to his environment, his interest can be kindled by the effect
upon him of the interests of his playmates. Only by means of that peculiar suggestive effect,
only through the interests of others, is it possible to arouse his interest. An awakening of the
interest of the phlegmatic child will result through the incidental experiencing of the interest of
others, the sharing of the interests of his playmates just as sympathy, sharing of the
experience of another human destiny, is effective for the melancholic. Once more: To be
stimulated by the interest of others is the correct means of education. for the phlegmatic. As
the sanguine child must have attachment for one personality, so must the phlegmatic child
have friendship, association with as many children as possible of his own age. That is the
only way the slumbering force in him can be aroused. Things as such do not affect the
phlegmatic. With a subject connected with the. tasks of school and home you will not be able
to interest the little phlegmatic, but indirectly, by way of the interests of other souls of similar
age, you can bring it about. If things are reflected in this way in others, these interests are
reflected in the soul of the phlegmatic child.
Then also we should particularly see to it that we surround him with things and cause events
to occur near him concerning which apathy is appropriate. One must direct the apathy to the
right objects, those toward which one may rightly be phlegmatic. In this way quite wonderful
things can sometimes be accomplished in the young child. But also one's self-education may
be taken in hand in the same way in later life. If it is noticed that apathy tends to express itself
in a one-sided way, one should try to observe people and their interests. One thing more can
also be done, so long as we are still in a position to employ intelligence and reason at all. We
can seek out the very subjects and events that are of the least interest to us, toward which it
is justifiable for us to be phlegmatic.
We have now seen again how, in the methods of education based upon spiritual science, we
build upon what one has and not upon what is lacking. So we may say that it is best for the
sanguine child if he may grow up guided by a firm hand, if some one can show him externally
aspects of character through which he is able to develop personal love. Love for a personality
is the best remedy for the sanguine child. Not merely love, but respect and esteem for what a
personality can accomplish is the best for the choleric child. A melancholic child may be
considered fortunate if he can grow up beside someone who has a bitter destiny. In the
corresponding contrast produced by the new insight, by the sympathy that arises for the
person of authority, and in the sharing of the justifiably painful destiny-in this consists what the
melancholic needs. They develop well if they can indulge less in attachment to a personality,
less in respect and esteem for the accomplishment of a personality, but can reach out in
sympathy with suffering and justifiably painful destinies. The phlegmatic is reached best if we
produce in him an inclination towards the interests of other personalities, if he can be stirred
by the interests of others.
The sanguine should be able to develop love and attachment
for one personality.
The choleric should be able to develop esteem and respect
for the accomplishments of the personality.
The melancholic should be able to develop a heartfelt
sympathy with another's destiny.
The phlegmatic child should be led to the sharing of the
interests of others.
Thus do we see in these principles of education how spiritual science goes right into the
practical questions of life. When we come to speak about the intimate aspects of life, spiritual
science shows just in these very things how it works in practice, shows here its eminently
practical side. Infinitely much could we possess of the art of living, if we would adopt this
realistic knowledge of spiritual science. When it is a case of mastering life, we must listen for
life's secrets, and these lie behind the sense perceptible. Only real spiritual science can

explain such a thing as the human temperaments, and so thoroughly fathom them that we are
able to make this spiritual science serve as a benefit and actual blessing of life, whether in
youth or in age.
We can also take self-education in hand here because when it is a question of self-education,
the temperaments can be particularly useful to us. We become aware with our intellect that
our sanguineness is playing us all kinds of tricks and threatens to degenerate to an unstable
way of life; we hurry from subject to subject. This condition can be countered if only we go
about it in the right way. The sanguine person will now, however, reach his goal by saying to
himself: You have a sanguine temperament and you must break yourself of it. The intellect
applied directly is often a hindrance in this realm. On the other hand, used indirectly it can
accomplish much. Here the intellect is the weakest soul-force of all. In presence of the
stronger soul-forces such as the temperaments, the intellect can do very little; it can work only
indirectly. If some one exhorts himself ever so often: For once now hold fast to one thing-then
the sanguine temperament will again and again play him bad tricks. He can reckon only a
force that he has. Behind the intellect there other forces. Can a sanguine person count upon
anything at all but his sanguine temperament? In self-education too it is necessary to try to do
also what the intellect can do directly. A man must reckon with his sanguineness; selfexhortations
are fruitless. The important thing is to show sanguineness in the right place. One
must try to have no interest in certain things in which he is interested. We can with the
intellect provide experiences for which the brief interest of the sanguine person is justified. Let
him try to place himself artificially in such situations, to put in his way as much as possible
that is of no interest to him. If then we bring about such situations in ever such small matters
concerning which a brief interest is warranted it will call forth what is necessary. Then it will be
noticed, if only one works at it long enough, that this temperament develops the force to
change itself.
The choleric can likewise cure himself in a particular way, if we consider the matter from the
point of view of spiritual science. For the choleric temperament it is good to choose such
subjects, to bring about through the intellect such conditions as are not changed if we rage,
conditions in which we reduce ourselves ad absurdum by our raging. When the choleric
notices that his fuming inner being wishes to express itself, he must try to find as many things
as possible that require little force to be overcome. He must try to bring about easily
superable outer facts. He must always try to bring his force to expression in the strongest way
upon insignificant events and facts. If he thus seeks out insignificant things that offer him no
resistance, then he will bring his one-sided choleric temperament again into the right course.
If it is noticed that melancholia is producing one-sidedness, one must try directly to create for
himself legitimate outer obstacles, and then will to examine these legitimate outer obstacles in
their entire aspect, so that what possesses of pain and the capacity for suffering is diverted to
outer objects. The intellect can accomplish this. Thus the melancholic temperament must not
pass by the pain and suffering of life, but must actually seek them, must experience
sympathy, in order that his pain may be diverted to the right objects and events.
If we are phlegmatic and have no interests, then it is good for us to occupy ourselves as much
as possible with quite uninteresting things, to surround ourselves with many sources of ennui,
so that we are thoroughly bored. Then we shall completely cure ourselves of our apathy,
completely break ourselves of it. The phlegmatic person therefore does well to decide with his
intellect that he must take interest in a certain thing, that he must search for things that are
really only worthy to be ignored. He must seek occupations in which apathy is justified, in
which he can work out his apathy. In this way he conquers it, even when it threatens to
degenerate into one-sidedness.
Thus we reckon with what is there and not with what is lacking. Those however who call
themselves realists believe, for example, that the best thing for a melancholic is to produce
conditions that are opposed to his temperament. But anyone who actually thinks realistically
will appeal to what is already in him.

So you see spiritual science does reality and not divert us from actual life, but it will illuminate
every step of the way to the truth. It can also guide us everywhere in life to take reality into
consideration, for those people are deluded who think they can stick to external sense
appearance. We must go deeper if we wish to enter into this reality, and we shall acquire an
understanding for the variety of life if we engage in such considerations.
Our sense for the practical will become more and more individual if we are not impelled to
apply a general prescription, namely, you must not drive out fickleness with seriousness but
see what kind of characteristics the person has that are to be stimulated. If then man is life's
greatest riddle, and if we have hope that this riddle will be solved for us, we must turn to
spiritual science, which alone can solve it for us. Not only is man in general a riddle to us, but
each single person who confronts us in life, each new individuality, presents a new riddle,
which of course we cannot fathom by considering with the intellect. We must penetrate to the
individuality. Here too we can allow spiritual science to work out of the innermost center of our
being. We can make spiritual science the greatest impulse of life. So long as it remains only
theory, it is worthless. It must be applied in the life of the human being. The way to this goal is
possible but it is long. It becomes illuminated for us if it leads to reality. Then we become
aware that our views are transformed. Knowledge is transformed. It is prejudice to believe
that knowledge must remain abstract. On the contrary, when it enters the spiritual realm it
permeates our whole life. Then we face life in such a way that we have discernment for the
individuality that enters even into feeling and sensation and expresses itself in these, and that
possesses great reverence and esteem. Patterns are easy to recognize To wish to govern life
according to patterns is easy, but life does not permit itself to be treated as a pattern. Only
insight will suffice, insight that is transformed into a feeling one must have toward the
individuality of man, toward the individuality in the whole of life. Then will our conscientious
spiritual knowledge flow into our feeling in such a way that we shall be able to estimate
correctly the riddle that confronts us in each separate human being.
How do we solve the riddle each individual presents to us? We solve it by approaching each
person in such a way that harmony results between him and us. If we thus permeate
ourselves with life's wisdom, we shall be able to solve the fundamental riddle of life that is the
individual man. It is not solved by setting up abstract ideas and concepts. The general human
riddle can be solved in pictures. This individual riddle, however, is not to be solved by this
setting up of abstract ideas and concepts, but rather must we approach each individual
person in such a way that we bring to him direct understanding.
That is possible only when we know what lies in the depths of the soul. Spiritual science is
something that slowly and gradually pours itself into our entire soul so that it renders the soul
receptive not only to the large relations but also to the finer details. In spiritual science it is a
fact that, when one soul approaches another and this other requires love, love is given. If it
requires something else, that will be given. Thus by means of such true life wisdom we create
social foundations, and that means at each moment to solve a riddle. Anthroposophy works
not by means of preaching, exhortation, or harping on morals, but by creating a social basis
on which one man is able to understand another.
Spiritual science is thus the sub-soil of life, and love is the blossom and fruit of such a life
stimulated by spiritual science. Therefore spiritual science may claim that it is establishing
something that will provide a base for the most beautiful goal of the mission of man: genuine,
true, human love. In our sympathy, in our love, in the manner in which we approach the
individual human being, in our conduct, we should learn the art of living through spiritual
science. If we would permit life and love to stream into feeling and sensibility, human life
would be a beautiful expression of the fruit of this spiritual science.
We learn to know the individual human being in every respect when we perceive him in the
light of spiritual science. We learn to perceive even the child in this way. We learn little by little
to respect, to value, in the child the peculiarity, the enigmatic quality of the individuality, and
we learn also how we must treat this individual in life because spiritual science gives us not
merely general, theoretical directions. It guides us in our relation to the individual in the
solving of the riddles that are there to be solved. These solutions are to love him as we must

love him if we not merely fathom him with the mind. We must let him work upon us
completely. We must let our spiritual scientific insight give wings to our feelings, our love. That
is the only proper soil that can yield true, fruitful, genuine human love, and this is the basis
from which we discover what we have to seek as the innermost essential kernel in each
individual. If we permeate ourselves thus with spiritual knowledge, our social life will be
regulated in such a way that each single person, when he approaches any other in esteem
and respect and understanding of the riddle "man," will learn how to find and to regulate his
relation to the individual. Only one who lives in abstractions as a matter of course can speak
from prosaic concepts, but he who strives for genuine knowledge will find it, and will find the
way to other people. He will find the solution of the riddle of the other person in his own
attitude, in his own conduct. Thus we solve the individual riddle accord in as we relate
ourselves to others. We find the essential being of another only with a view of life that comes
from the spirit.
Spiritual science must be a life-practice, a spiritual life factor, entirely practical, entirely living,
and not vague theory.
This is knowledge that can work into all the fibers of man's being, that can rule each single act
of life. Thus only does spiritual science become the true art of living and that could be
particularly shown in the consideration of those intimate peculiarities of man, the
temperaments. Thus the finest relation is engendered between man and man when we look a
person in the face and understand not only how to fathom the riddle, but how to love, that is,
to let love flow from individuality to individuality. Spiritual science needs no theoretical proofs;
life brings the proofs. Spiritual science knows that something can be said "for" and "against"
everything, but the true proofs are those that life brings. Only step by step can life show the
truth of what we think when we consider the human being in the light of spiritual-scientific
knowledge; for this truth exists as a harmonious, life-inspired insight that penetrates into the
deepest mysteries of life.
7. Keirsy & Jung Temperament Types (Modern Usage of Temperament)
Explore the various types using the link below:
http://ancienthistory.about.com/gi/dynamic/offsite.htm?site=http://keirsey.com/about
KTS.html
The Keirsey Temperament Sorter is designed to identify different kinds of personality temperament. It
is similar to other devices derived from Carl Jung's theory of "psychological types," such as the Myers-
Briggs, the Singer-Loomis, and the Grey-Wheelright. The questionaire identifies four temperament
types: Guardian ["SJ"], Artisan ["SP"], Idealist ["NF"], and Rational ["NT"], each of the four types
having four variants as follows:
The Four Temperaments
Guardian SJs: Supervisors(ESTJ), Inspectors(ISTJ), Providers(ESFJ), Protectors(ISFJ)
Artisans SPs: Promoters(ESTP), Crafters(ISTP), Performers(ESFP), Composers(ISFP)
Idealists NFs: Teachers(ENFJ), Counselors(INFJ), Champions(ENFP), Healers(INFP)
Rationals NTs: Fieldmarshal(ENTJ), Masterminds(INTJ), Inventors(ENTP), Architects(INTP)
8. Humors in Everyday Life

Humors in Everyday Life
The four humors to types of Flowers.
Rose: A dozen roses received on Valentines Day bringing romance, love and
devotion to mind. CHOLER
Daisy: Plucked petals fall gently in the afternoon accompanied by the "she
loves me, she loves me not" chant "She loves me not." - oh, MELANCHOLY
Carnation: The universal flower for friends and family. They are a thoughtful
and kind memento. BLOOD
Dandelion: In the innocence and freedom of youth. a boy offers his mom a
tenderly picked dandelion from the field. PHLEGM
The four humors to flowers or plants.
Assigned Topic: Humors
Example: flowers and plants
The four parts:
Blood = Rose
Choler = Venus Fly Trap
Phlegm = Ivy
Melancholy = Lily
I used a rose to represent the humor Blood. Rose is often a symbol of love.
Every Valentine's Day, a rose is the flower of choice. I chose the Venus Fly
Trap for Choler because of its aggressive leaves. At the slightest touch they
snap shut to form a trap to catch food. Ivy represents Phlegm. You can make
it go up a wall or cascade down some rocks. You can twist it and bend it
around something to form a shape. It does not care. It will grow where you
"tell" it to. I used a lily to represent Melancholy. A lily often has
spiritual meanings associated with it (example-an Easter Lily). When
someone
dies, it is customary to have flowers at their funeral. A lily is often used
at funerals. A funeral brings about feelings of depression as one tries to
cope with the loss of a loved one. A funeral also brings about feelings of self
reflection. In the face of death, one tends to question their own existence.
The four humors to different parts of the hydrologic cycle

1.Melancholy; Keyword: cold/dry and winter/night: In the hydrologic cycle this
would relate to the state of ice. Also, molecules at this state are rigid and
not vibrating. This relates to the keywords winter and at night. This is the
period when animals hibernate and when people sleep (i.e. referring to the
still of the night), respectively.
2.Phlegm; keyword: cold/wet This can be related to the hydrological process
of freezing. Also phlegm has been described as slow , which also fits in this
case. You would think of moisture as wet and as it reaches the freezing point
it is cold and its molecular vibrations are slow.
3.Blood; keyword: hot/wet. This would be the melting process or possibly the
boiling point. When something begins to melt it has to be exposed to
something
hot. In the case of water it moves to its liquid
state and is wet. As the website says "it's what thaws out after winter is over".
4. Choler; keyword: hot/dry The only problem with relating the hydrologic
cycle to this is the dry part. Other than that it seems to fit. Here it could be
compared to the beginning of the gaseous state known as the process of
evaporation or more fitting the boiling point. At this state the molecules are
in a heated condition. They are moving fast and violently running into one
another until they are released into the complete gaseous form and disperse
into the air. You could associate the dry part to what is left over after the
water has all evaporated.
The the four humors represented in specific film genres
An example of each Humor in Film Genres and Titles:
Melancholy: the dark comedy(I.e. Very Bad Things) - from the title you know
that there is nothing good going to come in the end. And nothing does. The
film is riddled with mishaps, blood and most of all death and destruction. A
group of friends end up turning on each other in a wave of drugs and murder.
(Its still pretty funny though)
Phlegm: just about any movie by the Coen Brothers (I.e. Blood Simple, Fargo,
The Big Lebowski) - they toss the audience around in a scheme of
characterizations and situations (displacement), so in the end you are looking
for meaning to what you have just seen.
Blood: did someone say Chris Farley? I think that you could relate the blood
humor to any of his films, since his physical humor alone keeps the "tempo" of
the film going. The script could suck, but as long as he is being his usual self
(loud and destructive) who cares? Who does not like to see a loud, obnoxious
fat guy cart-wheeling around on the screen?
Choler: if I am correct, I think that I could label Spike Lee's Do The Right
Thing in this category. The story is about racial tensions between blacks and

whites in Bedford Sty, Brooklyn, NYC. The story is set in summertime, and
this summer (in the film) is especially hot, signifying the heating of tensions in
the neighborhood.
The four humors as they apply to the following movies:
American Pie
Pretty Woman
American Beauty
Romeo and Juliet
In my opinion, Romeo and Juliet is the easiest to see that it represents
phlegm because this is one of the greatest tragedies ever written. Next, I
associate American Pie with blood because it is a movie filled with comedy
and humor. Pretty Woman is a movie that I associate with choler because it is
a romantic, love story. Last, but not least, is one of my favorite movies
American Beauty. I associate this movie with melancholy because it is an
ironic and ingenious movie about the unhappy realities that exist in the pursuit
of the so-called American dream.
The four humors to Winnie the Pooh Characters.
Blood - Pooh: Pooh is just so lovable. He's whimsical in his special way. He is
not hot-tempered; he's a fairly mellow fellow just trying to get "hunny" for his
belly. He's a pale yellowish-orange color, like a daffodil blooming in the spring.
Choler - Tigger: He's very passionate about being a tigger! "That's what
tiggers do best!" He is also insanely energetic or quick to become offended,
etc. He's almost bipolar--extremely happy or extremely sad, but he's mostly
happy. Tigger's color is a vibrant, intense orange like the mid-day summer
sun.
Phlegm - Piglet: This character always seems to be afraid of everything. The
one quote I remember Piglet saying often is "Oh, dear" with the tone of
despair. Piglet is not particularly strong (physically or emotionally). He's rather
lethargic. Piglet's extremities are a pale pink color, although his torso is more
of a burgundy color, like fall leaves turning that reddish-brown.
Melancholy - Eeyor: This poor donkey is always moping around. He always
seems depressed no matter what is going on around him. Losing his tail (held
on his carcass with a thumbtack), does not really phase him. His coat is a
dark gray color, like an overcast winter day.

Exam style question:
Relate the four humors to any typical Winnie the Pooh Cartoon
The four parts:
Blood = Piglet
Choler = Rabbit
Phelgm = Winnie the Pooh
Melancholy = Eyore
Piglet makes the logical choice for the humor blood. He is loved by all of the
other characters and he is friendly as can be. I chose Rabbit for the the humor
Choler. He is always getting upset with the other characters at the drop of a
hat. Whether it is tigger bouncing him or gopher digging up his garden.
Winnie the Pooh perfectly displays the humor Phelgm. He is as gentle as can
be. His biggest worries in life seem to be eating honey and sleeping. Ah...
what a life! One might see the friendly Winnie the Pooh as being an example
of
the humor Blood. But, with his noted laziness I think he is a much better fit
in this category. Eeyore, of course, displays the humor Melancholy. He is
always depressed and moping around. He never seems to shed that dismal
look on life.
9. Assignment
The assignment for this chapter is to take one of the readings above or even another
system of medicine altogether and compare it to the Islamic System of Four-types.

Write 2-4 pages. You may make a chart or you may write. Focus on comparing the
WAY the two systems view the human body. The Islamic system views people as
having four types and within these are balance and imbalance. What does the system
you are comparing with view the human body as having? Why do you think this
system is different? And last, but not least, can you find some similarities with the
two systems?
Write one paragraph for each:
1. How do the Islamic temperaments relate or not relate to the homeopathic
temperaments?
2. How do the Islamic temperaments relate or not relate to Steiner’s temperaments?
3. Write a comparison between any of the following and the four temperaments in the
same style as the article “Humors in Everyday Life”. You may chose from the
ideas below or come up with your own. Humors as they relate to:
• Your family
• Famous figures in Islam
• The positions in Islamic prayer
• The colors
• Animals
• Hobbies
• Foods

Unit Three: Chapter Four: The Humors in Literature
1. Gower, John. “The Four Complexions” – Excerpt from Chaucer
2. Oppenheim, E. Philips. “Peter Rough and the Double Four”
3. Kingsley, Charles. “Westward Ho!”– Chapter 22
4. Stoker, Bram. “Dracula.”– Chapter 5
5. Jonson, Ben. “Comedy of Humors.” Found at:
http://www.luminarium.org/editions/outofhumor.htm
6. Hamlet, a humeral diagnosis
7. Humors in Shakespeare
8. MacKay, Charles. “Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions (Vol. 3)”
9. Astrology and the Four Humors – Visual
Assignment for This Unit
As your assignment for this unit I want you to answer the following two questions in a
short one-paragraph essay:
1. Please give one example from each reading where the author uses a humor to
describe a character. Make a list and give the name of the character if it is
available.
2. Do you think using typology “labels” a person?
Introduction
This is intended to be an entertaining unit more than a serious study unit. However, at
the same time I want you to pay close attention to how the idea of “types” and
“humors” have been, in the past, such a “normal” concept to the point where they
were used as descriptive words in literature and it was assumed that everyone would
understand them. It is only in today’s world that these subtle differences in humans
have been pushed aside in favor of something called “equality”. Indeed, to this day, if
you mention to some people that there is a useful tool such as typology they often run
the other way and say “I don’t want to be labeled”.
Keep in mind that typology is not a label. It is a tool and a roadmap for a person and
those that know him. Once you become aware of a person’s type (including your
own) you know what to expect, you are not so surprised anymore and it is easier to
find a diet that works for this person, a lifestyle that suits this person and to predict
certain reactions and health situations depending on their current diet and lifestyle.

What “saves” typology from being a label is that the true student of typology realizes
that there are layers in the concept of typology. A person is usually predominantly one
type. However, all humans possess some of each type and this combination is what
makes us unique. On top of this combination there are other factors that make each
person unique. Some people may have a certain type because of years of conditioning.
It is amazing, years later, to discover the inherent type hidden under years of
conditioning. In addition, certain life conditions and health situations can bring one of
the four types more to the surface. So a “Fire” type can become more of an “Earth”
type in some situations.
As you can see “typing” people does not necessarily “label” them or even take the
“fun” out of getting to know them. It simply provides what I feel is the BEST place to
start in getting to know them. And it certainly does provide good opportunities in
literature from Shakespeare to Chaucer to A.A.Milne!
Read on and enjoy…
1. Chaucer
John Gower on The Four Complexions [or Humors]
Confessio Amantis, Bk VII, 380-520
[After a discussion of the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire) and the four
elemental qualities (dry, moist, cold, hot) which combine in the elements, Genius, the
priest of Venus, turns to the four humors.]
Note: Old English was spelled much differently than the English of today! This may
be difficult for some students to wave through so don’t worry too much about it – but
for those of you who can make it through the text – enjoy!
380
385
390
Bot lest nou what seith the clergie;
For upon hem that I have seid
The creatour hath set and leid
The kinde and the complexion
Of alle mennes nacion.
Foure elementz sondri ther be,
Lich unto whiche of that degre
Among the men ther ben also
Complexions foure and nomo,
Wherof the Philosophre treteth,
That he nothing behinde leteth,
And seith hou that thei ben diverse,
So as I schal to thee reherse.
listen
i.e., Aristotle
leaves

395
400
405
410
415
420
425
430
435
The myhti god, so as I finde,
Of man, which is his creature,
Hath so devided the nature,
That non til other wel acordeth:
And be the cause it so discordeth,
The lif which fieleth the seknesse
Mai stonde upon no sekernesse.
Of th'erthe, which is cold and drye,
The kinde of man Malencolie
Is cleped, and that is the ferste,
The most ungoodlich and the werste;
For unto loves werk on nyht
Him lacketh bothe will and myht:
No wonder is, in lusty place
Of love though he lese grace.
What man hath that complexion,
Full of ymaginacion
Of dredes and of wrathful thoghtes,
He fret himselven al to noghtes.
The water, which is moyste and cold,
Makth fleume, which is manyfold
Foryetel, slou and wery sone
Of every thing which is to done:
He is of kinde sufficant
To holde love his covenant,
Bot that him lacketh appetit,
Which longeth unto such delit.
What man that takth his kinde of th'air,
He schal be lyht, he schal be fair,
For his complexion is blood.
Of alle ther is non so good,
For he hath bothe will and myht
To plese and paie love his riht:
Wher as he hath love undertake,
Wrong is if that he be forsake.
The fyr of his condicion
Appropreth the complexion
Which in a man is Colre hote,
Whos propretes ben dreie and hote:
It makth a man ben enginous
And swift of fote and ek irous;
Of contek and folhastifnesse
He hath a riht gret besinesse,
To thenke of love and litel may:
Though he behote wel a day,
[Melancholy]
gnaw, consume
[Plegm]
forgetful
[Blood, Sanguine]
fits, is characteristic
of
[Choler]
ingenious
irate, wrathful
strife, foolish haste

440
445
450
455
460
465
470
475
480
On nyht whan that he wole assaie,
He may ful evele his dette paie.
After the kinde of th'element,
Thus stant a mannes kinde went,
As touchende his complexion,
Upon sondri division
Of dreie, of moiste, of chele, of hete, [the elemental
qualities]
And ech of hem his oghne sete
Appropred hath withinne a man.
And ferst to telle as I began,
The Splen is to Malencolie
Assigned for herbergerie:
The moiste fleume with his cold
Hath in the lunges for his hold
Ordeined him a propre stede,
To duelle ther as he is bede:
To the Sanguin complexion
Nature of hire inspeccion
A propre hous hath in the livere
For his duellinge mad delivere:
The dreie Colre with his hete
Be weie of kinde his propre sete
Hath in the galle, wher he duelleth,
So as the Philosophre telleth.
Nou over this is forto wite,
As it is in Phisique write
Of livere, of lunge, of galle, of splen,
Thei alle unto the herte ben
Servantz, and ech in his office
Entendeth to don him service,
As he which is chief lord above.
The livere makth him forto love,
The lunge yifth him weie of speche,
The galle serveth to do wreche,
The Splen doth him to lawhe and pleie,
Whan al unclennesse is aweie:
Lo, thus hath ech of hem his dede.
And to sustienen hem and fede
In time of recreacion,
Nature hath in creacion
The Stomach for a comun Coc
Ordeined, so as seith the boc.
The Stomach coc is for the halle,
And builleth mete for hem alle,
To make hem myghty forto serve
pay his debt
(copulate)
natural inclination
seat, dwelling place
spleen melancholy
dwelling place
phlegm
Choler
i.e., Aristotle
Aristotles' Physics
wreak revenge
Cook
boils, cooks

485
490
495
500
505
510
515
520
The herte, that he schal noght sterve:
For as a king in his Empire
Above alle othre is lord and Sire,
So is the herte principal,
To whom reson in special
Is yove as for the governance.
And thus nature his pourveance
Hath mad for man to liven hiere;
Bot god, which hath the Soule diere,
Hath formed it in other wise.
That can noman pleinli devise;
Bot as the clerkes ous enforme,
That lich to god it hath a forme,
Thurgh which figure and which liknesse
The Soule hath many an hyh noblesse
Appropred to his oghne kinde.
Bot ofte hir wittes be mad blinde
Al onliche of this ilke point,
That hir abydinge is conjoint
Forth with the bodi forto duelle:
That on desireth toward helle,
That other upward to the hevene;
So schul thei nevere stonde in evene,
Bot if the fleissh be overcome
And that the Soule have holi nome
The governance, and that is selde,
Whil that the fleissh him mai bewelde.
Al erthli thing which god began
Was only mad to serve man;
Bot he the Soule al only made
Himselven forto serve and glade.
Alle othre bestes that men finde
Thei serve unto here oghne kinde,
Bot to reson the Soule serveth;
Wherof the man his thonk deserveth
And get him with hise werkes goode
The perdurable lyves foode.
Text adapted from:
starve
given
provision
[THE SOUL OF
MAN]
joined together
taken

The English Works of John Gower, ed. G.C. Macaulay,
EETS e.s. 81-82 (London, 1900-01).
2. Oppenheim
CHAPTER IX
Peter Ruff and the Double Four
by E. Phillips Oppenheim
THE PERFIDY OF MISS BROWN
Peter Ruff came down to his office with a single letter in his hand,
bearing a French postmark. He returned his secretary's morning
greeting a little absently, and seated himself at his desk.
"Violet," he asked, "have you ever been to Paris?"
She looked at him compassionately.
"More times than you, I think, Peter," she answered.
He nodded.
"That," he exclaimed, "is very possible! Could you get ready to
leave by the two-twenty this afternoon?"
"What, alone?" she exclaimed.
"No - with me," he answered.
She shut down her desk with a bang.
"Of course I can!" she exclaimed. "What a spree!"
Then she caught sight of a certain expression on Peter Ruff's face,
and she looked at him wonderingly.
"Is anything wrong, Peter?" she asked.
"No," he answered, "I cannot say that anything is wrong. I have
had an invitation to present myself before a certain society in
Paris of which you have some indirect knowledge. What the summons
means I cannot say."

"Yet you go?" she exclaimed.
"I go," he answered. "I have no choice. If I waited here
twenty-four hours, I should hear of it."
"They can have nothing against you," she said. "On the contrary,
the only time they have appealed for your aid, you gave it - very
valuable aid it must have been, too."
Peter Ruff nodded.
"I cannot see," he admitted, "what they can have against me. And
yet, somehow, the wording of my invitation seemed to me a little
ominous. Perhaps," he added, walking to the window and standing
looking out for a moment, "I have a liver this morning. I am
depressed. Violet, what does it mean when you are depressed?"
"Shall you wear your gray clothes for traveling?" she asked, a
little irrelevantly.
"I have not made up my mind," Peter Ruff answered. "I thought of
wearing my brown, with a brown overcoat. What do you suggest?"
"I like you in brown," she answered, simply. "I should change, if
I were you."
He smiled faintly.
"I believe," he said, "that you have a sort of superstition that as
I change my clothes I change my humors."
"Should I be so very far wrong?" she asked. "Don't think that I
am laughing at you, Peter. The greatest men in the world have had
their foibles."
Peter Ruff frowned.
"We shall be away for several days," he said. "Be sure that you
take some wraps. It will be cold, crossing."
"Are you going to close the office altogether?" she asked.
Peter Ruff nodded.
"Put up a notice," he said - "'Back on Friday.' Pack up your books
and take them round to the Bank before you leave. The lift man will
call you a taxi-cab."
He watched her preparations with a sort of gloomy calm.

"I wish you'd tell me what is the matter with you?" she asked, as
she turned to follow her belongings.
"I do not know," Peter Ruff said. "I, suppose I am suffering from
what you would call presentiments. Be at Charing-Cross punctually."
"Why do you go at all?" she asked. "These people are of no further
use to you. Only the other day, you were saying that you should
not accept any more outside cases."
"I must go," Peter Ruff answered. "I am not afraid of many things,
but I should be afraid of disobeying this letter."
They had a comfortable journey down, a cool, bright crossing, and
found their places duly reserved for them in the French train.
Miss Brown, in her neat traveling clothes and furs, was conscious
of looking her best, and she did all that was possible to entertain
her traveling companion. But Peter Ruff seemed like a man who labors
under some sense of apprehension. He had faced death more than once
during the last few years - faced it without flinching, and with a
certain cool disregard which can only come from the highest sort of
courage. Yet he knew, when he read over again in the train that
brief summons which he was on his way to obey, that he had passed
under the shadow of some new and indefinable fear. He was perfectly
well aware, too, that both on the steamer and on the French train
he was carefully shadowed. This fact, however, did not surprise him.
He even went out of his way to enter into conversation with one of
the two men whose furtive glances into their compartment and whose
constant proximity had first attracted his attention. The man was
civil but vague. Nevertheless, when they took their places in the
dining-car, they found the two men at the next table. Peter Ruff
pointed them out to his companion.
"'Double-Fours'!" he whispered. "Don't you feel like a criminal?"
She laughed, and they took no more notice of the men. But as the
train drew near Paris, he felt some return of the depression which
had troubled him during the earlier part of the day. He felt a
sense of comfort in his companion's presence which was a thing
utterly strange to him. On the other hand, he was conscious of a
certain regret that he had brought her with him into an adventure
of which he could not foresee the end.
The lights of Paris flashed around them - the train was gradually
slackening speed. Peter Ruff, with a sigh, began to collect their
belongings.
"Violet," he said, "I ought not to have brought you." Something
in his voice puzzled her. There had been every few times, during

all the years she had known him, when she had been able to detect
anything approaching sentiment in his tone - and those few times
had been when he had spoken of another woman.
"Why not?" she asked, eagerly.
Peter Ruff looked out into the blackness, through the glittering
arc of lights, and perhaps for once he suffered his fancy to build
for him visions of things that were not of earth. If so, however,
it was a moment which swiftly passed. His reply was in a tone as
matter of fact as his usual speech.
"Because," he said, "I do not exactly see the end of my present
expedition - I do not understand its object."
"You have some apprehension?" she asked.
"None at all," he answered. "Why should I? There is an unwritten
bargain," he added, a little more slowly, "to which I subscribed
with our friends here, and I have certainly kept it. In fact, the
balance is on my side. There is nothing for me to fear."
The train crept into the Gare du Nord, and they passed through the
usual routine of the Customs House. Then, in an omnibus, they
rumbled slowly over the cobblestones, through the region of barely
lit streets and untidy cafes, down the Rue Lafayette, across the
famous Square and into the Rue de Rivoli.
"Our movements," Peter Ruff remarked dryly, "are too well known for
us to attempt to conceal them. We may as well stop at one of the
large hotels. It will be more cheerful for you while I am away."
They engaged rooms at the Continental. Miss Brown, whose apartments
were in the wing of the hotel overlooking the gardens, ascended at
once to her room. Peter Ruff, who had chosen a small suite on the
other side, went into the bar for a whiskey and soda. A man touched
him on the elbow.
"For Monsieur," he murmured, and vanished.
Peter Ruff turned and opened the note. It bore a faint perfume, it
had a coronet upon the flap of the envelope, and it was written in
a delicate feminine handwriting.
DEAR Mr. RUFF:
If you are not too tired with your journey, will you call soon after
one o'clock to meet some old friends?
BLANCHE DE MAUPASSIM.
Peter Ruff drank his whiskey and soda, went up to his rooms, and

made a careful toilet. Then he sent a page up for Violet, who came
down within a few minutes. She was dressed with apparent simplicity
in a high-necked gown, a large hat, and a single rope of pearls. In
place of the usual gold purse, she carried a small white satin bag,
exquisitely hand-painted. Everything about her bespoke that elegant
restraint so much a feature of the Parisian woman of fashion herself.
Peter Ruff, who had told her to prepare for supping out, was at first
struck by the simplicity of her attire. Afterwards, he came to
appreciate its perfection.
They went to the Caf=82 de Paris, where they were the first arrivals.
People, however, began to stream in before they had finished their
meal, and Peter Ruff, comparing his companion's appearance with the
more flamboyant charms of these ladies from the Opera and the
theatres, began to understand the numerous glances of admiration
which the impressionable Frenchmen so often turned in their direction.
There was between them, toward the end of the meal, something which
amounted almost to nervousness.
"You are going to keep your appointment to-night, Peter?" his
companion asked.
Peter Ruff nodded.
"As soon as I have taken you home," he said. "I shall probably
return late, so we will breakfast here to-morrow morning, if you
like, at half-past twelve. I will send a note to your room when I
am ready."
She looked him in the eyes.
"Peter," she said, "supposing that note doesn't come!"
He shrugged his shoulders.
"My dear Violet," he said, "you and I - or rather I, for you are
not concerned in this - live a life which is a little different
from the lives of most of the people around us. The million pay
their taxes, and they expect police protection in times of danger.
For me there is no such resource. My life has its own splendid
compensations. I have weapons with which to fight any ordinary
danger. What I want to explain to you is this - that if you hear
no more of me, you can do nothing. If that note does not come to
you in the morning, you can do nothing. Wait here for three days,
and after that go back to England. You will find a letter on your
desk, telling you there exactly what to do."
"You have something in your mind," she said, "of which you have not
told me."

"I have nothing," he answered, firmly. "Upon my honor, I know of
no possible cause of offense which our friends could have against
me. Their summons is, I will admit, somewhat extraordinary, but I
go to obey it absolutely without fear. You can sleep well, Violet.
We lunch here to-morrow, without a doubt."
They drove back to the hotel almost in silence. Violet was looking
fixedly out of the window of the taxicab, as though interested in
watching the crowds upon the street. Peter Ruff appeared to be
absorbed in his own thoughts. Yet perhaps they were both of them
nearer to one another than either surmised. Their parting in the
hall of the Continental Hotel was unemotional enough. For a moment
Peter Ruff had hesitated while her hand had lain in his. He had
opened his lips as though he had something to say. Her eyes grew
suddenly softer - seemed to seek his as though begging for those
unspoken words. But Peter Ruff did not say them then.
"I shall be back all right," he said. "Good night, Violet! Sleep
well!"
He turned back towards the waiting taxicab.
"Number 16, Rue de St. Quintaine," he told the man. It was not a
long ride. In less than a quarter of an hour, Peter Ruff presented
himself before a handsome white house in a quiet, aristocratic-looking
street. At his summons, the postern door flew open, and a man-servant
in plain livery stood at the second entrance.
"Madame Ia Marquise?" Peter Ruff asked.
The man bowed in silence, and took the visitor's hat and overcoat.
He passed along a spacious hall and into a delightfully furnished
reception room, where an old lady with gray hair sat in the midst
of a little circle of men. Peter Ruff stood, for a moment, upon
the threshold, looking around him. She held out her hands.
"It is Monsieur Peter Ruff, is it not? At last, then, I am
gratified. I have wished for so long to see one who has become so
famous."
Peter Ruff took her hands in his and raised them gallantly to his
lips.
"Madame," he said, "this is a pleasure indeed. At my last visit
here, you were in Italy."
"I grow old," she answered. "I leave Paris but little now. Where
one has lived, one should at least be content to die."
"Madame speaks a philosophy," Peter Ruff answered, "which as yet she

has no need to learn."
The old lady turned to a man who stood upon her right:
"And this from an Englishman!" she exclaimed.
There were others who took Peter Ruff by the hand then. The servants
were handing round coffee in little Sevres cups. On the sideboard
was a choice of liqueurs and bottles of wine. Peter Ruff found
himself hospitably entertained with both small talk and refreshments.
But every now and then his eyes wandered back to where Madame sat in
her chair, her hair as white as snow - beautiful still, in spite of
the cruel mouth and the narrow eyes.
"She is wonderful!" he murmured to a man who stood by his side.
"She is eighty-six," was the answer in a whisper, "and she knows
everything."
As the clock struck two, a tall footman entered the room and wheeled
Madame's chair away. Several of the guests left at the same time.
Ruff, when the door was closed, counted those who remained. As he
had imagined would be the case, he found that there were eight.
A tall, gray-bearded man, who from the first had attached himself to
Ruff, and who seemed to act as a sort of master of ceremonies, now
approached him once more and laid his hand upon his shoulder.
"Mon ami," he said, " we will now discuss, if it pleases you, the
little matter concerning which we took the liberty of asking you to
favor us with a visit."
"What, here?" Peter Ruff asked, in some surprise.
His friend, who had introduced himself as Monsieur de Founcelles,
smiled.
"But why not?" he asked. "Ah, but I think I understand!" he added,
almost immediately. " You are English, Monsieur Peter Ruff, and in
some respects you have not moved with the times. Confess, now, that
your idea of a secret society is a collection of strangely attired
men who meet in a cellar, and build subterranean passages in case of
surprise. In Paris, I think, we have gone beyond that sort of thing.
We of the 'Double-Four' have no headquarters save the drawing-room
of Madame; no hiding-places whatsoever; no meeting-places save the
fashionable cafes or our own reception rooms. The police follow us
- what can they discover? - nothing! What is there to discover?
- nothing! Our lives are lived before the eyes of all Paris. There
is never any suspicion of mystery about any of our movements. We
have our hobbies, and we indulge in them. Monsieur the Marquis de

Sogrange here is a great sportsman. Monsieur le Comte owns many
racehorses. I myself am an authority on pictures, and own a
collection which I have bequeathed to the State. Paris knows us
well as men of fashion and mark - Paris does not guess that we have
perfected an organization so wonderful that the whole criminal world
pays toll to us."
"Dear me," Peter Ruff said, "this is very interesting!"
"We have a trained army at our disposal," Monsieur de Founcelles
continued, "who numerically, as well as in intelligence, outnumber
the whole force of gendarmes in Paris. No criminal from any other
country can settle down here and hope for success, unless he joins
us. An exploit which is inspired by us cannot fail. Our agents
may count on our protection, and receive it without question."
"I am bewildered," Peter Ruff said, frankly. "I do not understand
how you gentlemen - whom one knows by name so well as patrons of
sport and society, can spare the time for affairs of such importance."
Monsieur de Founcelles nodded.
"We have very valuable aid," he said. "There is below us - the
'Double-Four'- the eight gentlemen now present, an executive council
composed of five of the shrewdest men in France. They take their
orders from us. We plan, and they obey. We have imagination, and
special sources of knowledge. They have the most perfect machinery
for carrying out our schemes that it is possible to imagine. I do
not wish to boast, Mr. Ruff, but if I take a directory of Paris and
place after any man's name, whatever his standing or estate, a black
cross, that man dies before seven days have passed. You buy your
evening paper - a man has committed suicide! You read of a letter
found by his side: an unfortunate love affair - a tale of jealousy or
reckless speculation. Mr. Ruff, the majority of these explanations
are false. They are invented and arranged for by us. This year
alone, five men in Paris, of position, have been found dead, and
accounted, for excellent reasons, suicides. In each one of these
cases, Monsieur Ruff, although not a soul has a suspicion of it,
the removal of these men was arranged for by the' Double-Four.'"
"I trust," Peter Ruff said, "that it may never be my ill-fortune to
incur the displeasure of so marvelous an
association."
"On the contrary, Monsieur Ruff," the other answered, "the attention
of the association has been directed towards certain incidents of
your career in a most favorable manner. We have spoken of you often
lately, Mr. Ruff, between ourselves. We arrive now at the object for
which we begged the honor of your visit. It is to offer you the
Presidency of our Executive Council."

Peter Ruff had thought of many things, but he had not thought of
this! He gasped, recovered himself, and realized at once the
dangers of the position in which he stood.
"The Council of Five!" he said thoughtfully.
"Precisely," Monsieur de Founcelles replied. "The salary - forgive
me for giving such prominence to a matter which you doubtless
consider of secondary importance - is ten thousand pounds a year,
with a residence here and in London - also servants."
"It is princely!" Peter Ruff declared. "I cannot imagine, Monsieur,
how you could have believed me capable of filling such a position."
"There is not much about you, Mr. Ruff, which we do not know,"
Monsieur de Founcelles answered. "There are points about your career
which we have marked with admiration. Your work over here was rapid
and comprehensive. We know all about your checkmating the Count von
Hern and the Comtesse de Pilitz. We have appealed to you for aid
once only - your response was prompt and brilliant. You have all the
qualifications we desire. You are still young, physically you are
sound, you speak all languages, and you are unmarried."
"I am what?" Peter Ruff asked, with a start.
"A bachelor," Monsieur de Founcelles answered. "We who have made
crime and its detection a life-long study, have reduced many matters
concerning it to almost mathematical exactitude. Of one thing we
have become absolutely convinced - it is that the great majority of
cases in which the police triumph are due to the treachery of women.
The criminal who steers clear of the other sex escapes a greater
danger than the detectives who dog his heels. It is for that reason
that we choose only unmarried men for our executive council."
Peter Ruff made a gesture of despair. "And I am to be married in a
month!" he exclaimed.
There was a murmur of dismay. If those other seven men had not once
intervened, it was because=20the conduct of the affair had been voted
into the hands of Monsieur de Founcelles, and there was little which
he had left unsaid. Nevertheless, they had formed a little circle
around the two men. Every word passing between them had been
listened to eagerly. Gestures and murmured exclamations had been
frequent enough. There arose now a chorus of voices which their
leader had some difficulty in silencing.
"It must be arranged!"
"But it is impossible - this!"

"Monsieur Ruff amuses himself with us!"
"Gentlemen," Peter Ruff said, "I can assure you that I do nothing of
the sort. The affair was arranged some months ago, and the young
lady is even now in Paris, purchasing her trousseau."
Monsieur de Founcelles, with a wave of the hand, commanded silence.
There was probably a way out. In any case, one must be found.
"Monsieur Ruff," he said, "putting aside, for one moment, your sense
of honor, which of course forbids you even to consider the possibility
of breaking your word - supposing that the young lady herself should
withdraw - "
"You don't know Miss Brown!" Peter Ruff interrupted. "It is a
pleasure to which I hope to attain," Monsieur de Founcelles declared,
smoothly. "Let us consider once more my proposition. I take it for
granted that, apart from this threatened complication, you find it
agreeable?"
"I am deeply honored by it," Peter Ruff declared.
"Well, that being so," Monsieur de Founcelles said, more cheerfully,
"we must see whether we cannot help you. Tell me, who is this
fortunate young lady - this Miss Brown?"
"She is a young person of good birth and some means," Peter Ruff
declared. "She is, in a small way, an actress; she has also been my
secretary from the first." Monsieur de Founcelles nodded his head
thoughtfully.
"Ah!" he said." She knows your secrets, then, I presume?"
"She does," Peter Ruff assented. "She knows a great deal!"
"A young person to be conciliated by all means," Monsieur de
Founcelles declared. "Well, we must see. When, Monsieur Ruff, may
I have the opportunity of making the acquaintance of this young lady?"
"To-morrow morning, or rather this morning, if you will," Peter Ruff
answered. "We are taking breakfast together at the caf=82 de Paris.
It will give me great pleasure if you will join us."
"On the contrary," Monsieur de Founcelles declared, "I must beg of
you slightly to alter your plans. I will ask you and Mademoiselle
to do me the honor of breakfasting at the Ritz with the Marquis de
Sogrange and myself, at the same hour. We shall find there more
opportunity for a short discussion."

"I am entirely at your service," Peter Ruff answered. There were
signs now of a breaking-up of the little party.
"We must all regret, dear Monsieur Ruff," Monsieur de Founcelles
said, as he made his adieux, "this temporary obstruction to the
consummation of our hopes. Let us pray that Mademoiselle will not
be unreasonable."
"You are very kind," Peter Ruff murmured.
Peter Ruff drove through the gray dawn to his hotel, in the splendid
automobile of Monsieur de Founcelles, whose homeward route lay in
that direction. It was four o'clock when he accepted his key from
a sleepy-looking clerk, and turned towards the staircase. The hotel
was wrapped in semi-gloom. Sweepers and cleaners were at work. The
palms had been turned out into the courtyard. Dust sheets lay over
the furniture. One person only, save himself and the untidy-looking
servants, was astir. From a distant corner which commanded the
entrance, he saw Violet stealing away to the corridor which led to
her part of the hotel. She had sat there all through the night to
see him come in - to be assured of his safety! Peter Ruff stared
after her disappearing figure as one might have watched a ghost.
The luncheon-party was a great success. Peter Ruff was human
enough to be proud of his companion - proud of her smartness, which
was indubitable even here, surrounded as they were by Frenchwomen
of the best class; proud of her accent, of the admiration which she
obviously excited in the two Frenchmen. His earlier enjoyment of
the meal was a little clouded from the fact that he felt himself
utterly outshone in the matter of general appearance. No tailor had
ever suggested to him a coat so daring and yet so perfect as that
which adorned the person of the Marquis de Sogrange. The deep violet
of his tie was a shade unknown in Bond Street - inimitable - a true
education in color. They had the bearing, too, these Frenchmen! He
watched Monsieur de Founcelles bending over Violet, and he was
suddenly conscious of a wholly new sensation. He did not recognize
- could not even classify it. He only knew that it was not
altogether pleasant, and that it set the warm blood tingling through
his veins.
It was not until they were sitting out in the winter garden, taking
their coffee and liqueurs, that the object of their meeting was
referred to. Then Monsieur de Founcelles drew Violet a little away
from the others, and the Marquis, with a meaning smile, took Peter
Ruff's arm and led him on one side. Monsieur de Founcelles wasted
no words at all.
"Mademoiselle," he said, "Monsieur Ruff has doubtless told you that
last night I made him the offer of a great position among us."

She looked at him with twinkling eyes.
"Go on, please," she said.
"I offered him a position of great dignity - of great responsibility,"
Monsieur de Founcelles continued. "I cannot explain to you its exact
nature, but it is in connection with the most wonderful organization
of its sort which the world has ever known."
"The 'Double-Four,'" she murmured.
"Attached to the post is a princely salary and but one condition,"
Monsieur de Founcelles said, watching the girl's face. "The condition
is that Mr. Ruff remains a bachelor."
Violet nodded.
"Peter 's told me all this," she remarked. "He wants me to give
him up."
Monsieur de Founcelles drew a little closer to his companion. There
was a peculiar smile upon his lips.
"My dear young lady," he said softly, "forgive me if I point out to
you that with your appearance and gifts a marriage with our excellent
friend is surely not the summit of your ambitions! Here in Paris, I
promise you, here - we can do much better than that for you. You
have not, perhaps, a dot? Good! That is our affair. Give up our
friend here, and we deposit in any bank you like to name the sum of
two hundred and fifty thousand francs."
"Two hundred and fifty thousand francs!" Violet repeated, slowly.
Monsieur de Founcelles nodded.
"It is enough?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"It is not enough," she answered.
Monsieur de Founcelles raised his eyebrows.
"We do not bargain," he said coldly, "and money is not the chief
thing in the world. It is for you, then, to name a sum."
"Monsieur de Founcelles," she said, "can you tell me the amount of
the national debt of France?"
"Somewhere about nine hundred million francs, I believe," he answered.

She nodded.
"That is exactly my price," she declared.
"For giving up Peter Ruff?" he gasped.
She looked at her employer thoughtfully.
"He doesn't look worth it, does he?" she said, with a queer little
smile. "I happen to care for him, though - that's all."
Monsieur de Founcelles shrugged his shoulders. He knew men and
women, and for the present he accepted defeat. He sighed heavily.
"I congratulate our friend, and I envy him," he said. "If ever you
should change your mind, Mademoiselle - "
"It is our privilege, isn't it?" she remarked, with a brilliant
smile. "If I do, I shall certainly let you know."
On the way home, Peter Ruff was genial - Miss Brown silent. He had
escaped from a difficult position, and his sense of gratitude toward
his companion was strong. He showed her many little attentions on
the voyage which sometimes escaped him. From Dover, they had a
carriage to themselves.
"Peter," Miss Brown said, after he had made her comfortable, "when
is it to be?"
"When is what to be?" he asked, puzzled.
"Our marriage," she answered, looking at him for a moment in most
bewildering fashion and then suddenly dropping her eyes.
Peter Ruff returned her gaze in blank amazement.
"What do you mean, Violet?" he exclaimed.
"Just what I say," she answered, composedly. "When are we going to
be married?"
Peter Ruff frowned.
"What nonsense!" he said. "We are not going to be married. You
know that quite well."
"Oh, no, I don't!" she declared, smiling at him in a heavenly fashion.
"At your request I have told Monsieur de Founcelles that we were
engaged. Incidentally, I have refused two hundred and fifty thousand

francs and, I believe, an admirer, for your sake. I declared that I
was going to marry you, and I must keep my word."
Peter Ruff began to feel giddy.
"Look here, Violet," he said, " you know very well that we arranged
all that between ourselves."
"Arranged all that?" she repeated, with a little laugh. "Perhaps
we did. You asked me to marry you, and you posed as my fiancee.
You kept it up just as long as you - it suits me to keep it up a
little longer."
"Do you mean to say - do you seriously mean that you expect me to
marry you?" he asked, aghast.
"I do," she admitted. "I have meant you to for some time, Peter!"
She was very alluring, and Peter Ruff hesitated. She held out her
hands and leaned towards him. Her muff fell to the floor. She had
raised her veil, and a faint perfume of violets stole into the
carriage. Her lips were a little parted, her eyes were saying
unutterable things.
"You don't want me to sue you, do you, Peter?" she murmured.
Peter Ruff sighed - and yielded.
Westward Ho!
by Charles Kingsley
CHAPTER XXI
3. Westward Ho!
HOW THEY TOOK THE COMMUNION UNDER THE TREE AT
HIGUEROTE
"Follow thee? Follow thee? Wha wad na follow thee? Lang hast
thou looed and trusted us fairly."
Amyas would have certainly taken the yellow fever, but for one
reason, which he himself gave to Cary. He had no time to be sick
while his men were sick; a valid and sufficient reason (as many a
noble soul in the Crimea has known too well), as long as the

excitement of work is present, but too apt to fail the hero, and to
let him sink into the pit which he has so often over-leapt, the
moment that his work is done.
He called a council of war, or rather a sanitary commission, the
next morning; for he was fairly at his wits' end. The men were
panic-stricken, ready to mutiny: Amyas told them that he could not
see any possible good which could accrue to them by killing him,
or--(for there were two sides to every question)--being killed by
him; and then went below to consult. The doctor talked mere
science, or nonscience, about humors, complexions, and animal
spirits. Jack Brimblecombe, mere pulpit, about its being the
visitation of God. Cary, mere despair, though he jested over it
with a smile. Yeo, mere stoic fatalism, though he quoted Scripture
to back the same. Drew, the master, had nothing to say. His
"business was to sail the ship, and not to cure calentures."
Whereon Amyas clutched his locks, according to custom; and at last
broke forth--"Doctor! a fig for your humors and complexions! Can
you cure a man's humors, or change his complexion? Can an
Ethiopian change his skin, or a leopard his spots? Don't shove off
your ignorance on God, sir. I ask you what's the reason of this
sickness, and you don't know. Jack Brimblecombe, don't talk to me
about God's visitation; this looks much more like the devil's
visitation, to my mind. We are doing God's work, Sir John, and He
is not likely to hinder us. So down with the devil, say I. Cary,
laughing killed the cat, but it won't cure a Christian. Yeo, when
an angel tells me that it's God's will that we should all die like
dogs in a ditch, I'll call this God's will; but not before. Drew,
you say your business is to sail the ship; then sail her out of
this infernal poison-trap this very morning, if you can, which you
can't. The mischief's in the air, and nowhere else. I felt it run
through me coming down last night, and smelt it like any sewer: and
if it was not in the air, why was my boat's crew taken first, tell
me that?"
There was no answer.
"Then I'll tell you why they were taken first: because the mist,
when we came through it, only rose five or six feet above the
stream, and we were in it, while you on board were above it. And
those that were taken on board this morning, every one of them,
slept on the main-deck, and every one of them, too, was in fear of
the fever, whereby I judge two things,--Keep as high as you can,
and fear nothing but God, and we're all safe yet."
"But the fog was up to our round-tops at sunrise this morning,"
said Cary.
"I know it: but we who were on the half-deck were not in it so long

as those below, and that may have made the difference, let alone
our having free air. Beside, I suspect the heat in the evening
draws the poison out more, and that when it gets cold toward
morning, the venom of it goes off somehow."
How it went off Amyas could not tell (right in his facts as he
was), for nobody on earth knew I suppose, at that day; and it was
not till nearly two centuries of fatal experience that the settlers
in America discovered the simple laws of these epidemics which now
every child knows, or ought to know. But common sense was on his
side; and Yeo rose and spoke--
"As I have said before, many a time, the Lord has sent us a very
young Daniel for judge. I remember now to have heard the Spaniards
say, how these calentures lay always in the low ground, and never
came more than a few hundred feet above the sea."
"Let us go up those few hundred feet, then."
Every man looked at Amyas, and then at his neighbor.
"Gentlemen, 'Look the devil straight in the face, if you would hit
him in the right place.' We cannot get the ship to sea as she is;
and if we could, we cannot go home empty-handed; and we surely
cannot stay here to die of fever.--We must leave the ship and go
inland."
"Inland?" answered every voice but Yeo's.
"Up those hundred feet which Yeo talks of. Up to the mountains;
stockade a camp, and get our sick and provisions thither."
"And what next?"
"And when we are recruited, march over the mountains, and surprise
St. Jago de Leon."
Cary swore a great oath. "Amyas! you are a daring fellow!"
"Not a bit. It's the plain path of prudence."
"So it is, sir," said old Yeo, "and I follow you in it."
"And so do I," squeaked Jack Brimblecombe.
"Nay, then, Jack, thou shalt not outrun me. So I say yes too,"
quoth Cary.
"Mr. Drew?"

"At your service, sir, to live or die. I know naught about
stockading; but Sir Francis would have given the same counsel, I
verily believe, if he had been in your place."
"Then tell the men that we start in an hour's time. Win over the
Pelicans, Yeo and Drew; and the rest must follow, like sheep over a
hedge."
The Pelicans, and the liberated galley-slaves, joined the project
at once; but the rest gave Amyas a stormy hour. The great question
was, where were the hills? In that dense mangrove thicket they
could not see fifty yards before them.
"The hills are not three miles to the south-west of you at this
moment," said Amyas. "I marked every shoulder of them as we ran
in."
"I suppose you meant to take us there?"
The question set a light to a train--and angry suspicions were
blazing up one after another, but Amyas silenced them with a
countermine.
"Fools! if I had not wit enow to look ahead a little farther than
you do, where would you be? Are you mad as well as reckless, to
rise against your own captain because he has two strings to his
bow? Go my way, I say, or, as I live, I'll blow up the ship and
every soul on board, and save you the pain of rotting here by
inches."
The men knew that Amyas never said what he did not intend to do;
not that Amyas intended to do this, because he knew that the threat
would be enough. So they, agreed to go; and were reassured by
seeing that the old Pelican's men turned to the work heartily and
cheerfully.
There is no use keeping the reader for five or six weary hours,
under a broiling (or rather stewing) sun, stumbling over mangrove
roots, hewing his way through thorny thickets, dragging sick men
and provisions up mountain steeps, amid disappointment, fatigue,
murmurs, curses, snakes, mosquitoes, false alarms of Spaniards, and
every misery, save cold, which flesh is heir to. Suffice it that
by sunset that evening they had gained a level spot, a full
thousand feet above the sea, backed by an inaccessible cliff which
formed the upper shoulder of a mighty mountain, defended below by
steep wooded slopes, and needing but the felling of a few trees to
make it impregnable.
Amyas settled the sick under the arched roots of an enormous
cottonwood tree, and made a second journey to the ship, to bring up

hammocks and blankets for them; while Yeo's wisdom and courage were
of inestimable value. He, as pioneer, had found the little brook
up which they forced their way; he had encouraged them to climb the
cliffs over which it fell, arguing rightly that on its course they
were sure to find some ground fit for encampment within the reach
of water; he had supported Amyas, when again and again the weary
crew entreated to be dragged no farther, and had gone back again a
dozen times to cheer them upward; while Cary, who brought up the
rear, bullied and cheered on the stragglers who sat down and
refused to move, drove back at the sword's point more than one who
was beating a retreat, carried their burdens for them, sang them
songs on the halt; in all things approving himself the gallant and
hopeful soul which he had always been: till Amyas, beside himself
with joy at finding that the two men on whom he had counted most
were utterly worthy of his trust, went so far as to whisper to them
both, in confidence, that very night--
"Cortez burnt his ships when he landed. Why should not we?"
Yeo leapt upright; and then sat down again, and whispered--
"Do you say that, captain? 'Tis from above, then, that's certain;
for it's been hanging on my mind too all day."
"There's no hurry," quoth Amyas; "we must clear her out first, you
know," while Cary sat silent and musing. Amyas had evidently more
schemes in his head than he chose to tell.
The men were too tired that evening to do much, but ere the sun
rose next morning Amyas had them hard at work fortifying their
position. It was, as I said, strong enough by nature; for though
it was commanded by high cliffs on three sides, yet there was no
chance of an enemy coming over the enormous mountain-range behind
them, and still less chance that, if he came, he would discover
them through the dense mass of trees which crowned the cliff, and
clothed the hills for a thousand feet above. The attack, if it
took place, would come from below; and against that Amyas guarded
by felling the smaller trees, and laying them with their boughs
outward over the crest of the slope, thus forming an abatis (as
every one who has shot in thick cover knows to his cost) warranted
to bring up in two steps, horse, dog, or man. The trunks were sawn
into logs, laid lengthwise, and steadied by stakes and mould; and
three or four hours' hard work finished a stockade which would defy
anything but artillery. The work done, Amyas scrambled up into the
boughs of the enormous ceiba-tree, and there sat inspecting his own
handiwork, looking out far and wide over the forest-covered plains
and the blue sea beyond, and thinking, in his simple
straightforward way, of what was to be done next.
To stay there long was impossible; to avenge himself upon La Guayra

was impossible; to go until he had found out whether Frank was
alive or dead seemed at first equally impossible. But were
Brimblecombe, Cary, and those eighty men to be sacrificed a second
time to his private interest? Amyas wept with rage, and then wept
again with earnest, honest prayer, before he could make up his
mind. But he made it up. There were a hundred chances to one that
Frank was dead; and if not, he was equally past their help; for he
was--Amyas knew that too well--by this time in the hands of the
Inquisition. Who could lift him from that pit? Not Amyas, at
least! And crying aloud in his agony, "God help him! for I
cannot!" Amyas made up his mind to move. But whither? Many an
hour he thought and thought alone, there in his airy nest; and at
last he went down, calm and cheerful, and drew Cary and Yeo aside.
They could not, he said, refit the ship without dying of fever
during the process; an assertion which neither of his hearers was
bold enough to deny. Even if they refitted her, they would be
pretty certain to have to fight the Spaniards again; for it was
impossible to doubt the Indian's story, that they had been
forewarned of the Rose's coming, or to doubt, either, that Eustace
had been the traitor.
"Let us try St. Jago, then; sack it, come down on La Guayra in the
rear, take a ship there, and so get home."
"Nay, Will. If they have strengthened themselves against us at La
Guayra, where they had little to lose, surely they have done so at
St. Jago, where they have much. I hear the town is large, though
new; and besides, how can we get over these mountains without a
guide?"
"Or with one?" said Cary, with a sigh, looking up at the vast walls
of wood and rock which rose range on range for miles. "But it is
strange to find you, at least, throwing cold water on a daring
plot."
"What if I had a still more daring one? Did you ever hear of the
golden city of Manoa?"
Yeo laughed a grim but joyful laugh. "I have, sir; and so have the
old hands from the Pelican and the Jesus of Lubec, I doubt not."
"So much the better;" and Amyas began to tell Cary all which he had
learned from the Spaniard, while Yeo capped every word thereof with
rumors and traditions of his own gathering. Cary sat half aghast
as the huge phantasmagoria unfolded itself before his dazzled eyes;
and at last--
"So that was why you wanted to burn the ship! Well, after all,
nobody needs me at home, and one less at table won't be missed. So
you want to play Cortez, eh?"

"We shall never need to play Cortez (who was not such a bad fellow
after all, Will), because we shall have no such cannibal fiends'
tyranny to rid the earth of, as he had. And I trust we shall fear
God enough not to play Pizarro."
So the conversation dropped for the time, but none of them forgot
it.
In that mountain-nook the party spent some ten days and more.
Several of the sick men died, some from the fever superadded to
their wounds; some, probably, from having been bled by the surgeon;
the others mended steadily, by the help of certain herbs which Yeo
administered, much to the disgust of the doctor, who, of course,
wanted to bleed the poor fellows all round, and was all but
mutinous when Amyas stayed his hand. In the meanwhile, by dint of
daily trips to the ship, provisions were plentiful enough,--beside
the raccoons, monkeys, and other small animals, which Yeo and the
veterans of Hawkins's crew knew how to catch, and the fruit and
vegetables; above all, the delicious mountain cabbage of the Areca
palm, and the fresh milk of the cow-tree, which they brought in
daily, paying well thereby for the hospitality they received.
All day long a careful watch was kept among the branches of the
mighty ceiba-tree. And what a tree that was! The hugest English
oak would have seemed a stunted bush beside it. Borne up on roots,
or rather walls, of twisted board, some twelve feet high, between
which the whole crew, their ammunitions, and provisions, were
housed roomily, rose the enormous trunk full forty feet in girth,
towering like some tall lighthouse, smooth for a hundred feet, then
crowned with boughs, each of which was a stately tree, whose
topmost twigs were full two hundred and fifty feet from the ground.
And yet it was easy for the sailors to ascend; so many natural
ropes had kind Nature lowered for their use, in the smooth lianes
which hung to the very earth, often without a knot or leaf. Once
in the tree, you were within a new world, suspended between heaven
and earth, and as Cary said, no wonder if, like Jack when he
climbed the magic bean-stalk, you had found a castle, a giant, and
a few acres of well-stocked park, packed away somewhere amid that
labyrinth of timber. Flower-gardens at least were there in plenty;
for every limb was covered with pendent cactuses, gorgeous
orchises, and wild pines; and while one-half the tree was clothed
in rich foliage, the other half, utterly leafless, bore on every
twig brilliant yellow flowers, around which humming-birds whirred
all day long. Parrots peeped in and out of every cranny, while,
within the airy woodland, brilliant lizards basked like living gems
upon the bark, gaudy finches flitted and chirruped, butterflies of
every size and color hovered over the topmost twigs, innumerable
insects hummed from morn till eve; and when the sun went down,
tree-toads came out to snore and croak till dawn. There was more

life round that one tree than in a whole square mile of English
soil.
And Amyas, as he lounged among the branches, felt at moments as if
he would be content to stay there forever, and feed his eyes and
ears with all its wonders--and then started sighing from his dream,
as he recollected that a few days must bring the foe upon them, and
force him to decide upon some scheme at which the bravest heart
might falter without shame. So there he sat (for he often took the
scout's place himself), looking out over the fantastic tropic
forest at his feet, and the flat mangrove-swamps below, and the
white sheet of foam-flecked blue; and yet no sail appeared; and the
men, as their fear of fever subsided, began to ask when they would
go down and refit the ship, and Amyas put them off as best he
could, till one noon he saw slipping along the shore from the
westward, a large ship under easy sail, and recognized in her, or
thought he did so, the ship which they had passed upon their way.
If it was she, she must have run past them to La Guayra in the
night, and have now returned, perhaps, to search for them along the
coast.
She crept along slowly. He was in hopes that she might pass the
river's mouth: but no. She lay-to close to the shore; and, after a
while, Amyas saw two boats pull in from her, and vanish behind the
mangroves.
Sliding down a liane, he told what he had seen. The men, tired of
inactivity, received the news with a shout of joy, and set to work
to make all ready for their guests. Four brass swivels, which they
had brought up, were mounted, fixed in logs, so as to command the
path; the musketeers and archers clustered round them with their
tackle ready, and half-a-dozen good marksmen volunteered into the
cotton-tree with their arquebuses, as a post whence "a man might
have very pretty shooting." Prayers followed as a matter of
course, and dinner as a matter of course also; but two weary hours
passed before there was any sign of the Spaniards.
Presently a wreath of white smoke curled up from the swamp, and
then the report of a caliver. Then, amid the growls of the
English, the Spanish flag ran up above the trees, and floated--
horrible to behold--at the mast-head of the Rose. They were
signalling the ship for more hands; and, in effect, a third boat
soon pushed off and vanished into the forest.
Another hour, during which the men had thoroughly lost their
temper, but not their hearts, by waiting; and talked so loud, and
strode up and down so wildly, that Amyas had to warn them that
there was no need to betray themselves; that the Spaniards might
not find them after all; that they might pass the stockade close

without seeing it; that, unless they hit off the track at once,
they would probably return to their ship for the present; and
exacted a promise from them that they would be perfectly silent
till he gave the word to fire.
Which wise commands had scarcely passed his lips, when, in the path
below, glanced the headpiece of a Spanish soldier, and then another
and another.
"Fools!" whispered Amyas to Cary; "they are coming up in single
file, rushing on their own death. Lie close, men!"
The path was so narrow that two could seldom come up abreast, and
so steep that the enemy had much ado to struggle and stumble
upwards. The men seemed half unwilling to proceed, and hung back
more than once; but Amyas could hear an authoritative voice behind,
and presently there emerged to the front, sword in hand, a figure
at which Amyas and Cary both started.
"Is it he?"
"Surely I know those legs among a thousand, though they are in
armor."
"It is my turn for him, now, Cary, remember! Silence, silence,
men!"
The Spaniards seemed to feel that they were leading a forlorn hope.
Don Guzman (for there was little doubt that it was he) had much ado
to get them on at all.
"The fellows have heard how gently we handled the Guayra squadron,"
whispers Cary, "and have no wish to become fellow-martyrs with the
captain of the Madre Dolorosa."
At last the Spaniards get up the steep slope to within forty yards
of the stockade, and pause, suspecting a trap, and puzzled by the
complete silence. Amyas leaps on the top of it, a white flag in
his hand; but his heart beats so fiercely at the sight of that
hated figure, that he can hardly get out the words--
"Don Guzman, the quarrel is between you and me, not between your
men and mine. I would have sent in a challenge to you at La
Guayra, but you were away; I challenge you now to single combat."
"Lutheran dog, I have a halter for you, but no sword! As you
served us at Smerwick, we will serve you now. Pirate and ravisher,
you and yours shall share Oxenham's fate, as you have copied his
crimes, and learn what it is to set foot unbidden on the dominions
of the king of Spain."

"The devil take you and the king of Spain together!" shouts Amyas,
laughing loudly. "This ground belongs to him no more than it does
to me, but to the Queen Elizabeth, in whose name I have taken as
lawful possession of it as you ever did of Caracas. Fire, men! and
God defend the right!"
Both parties obeyed the order; Amyas dropped down behind the
stockade in time to let a caliver bullet whistle over his head; and
the Spaniards recoiled as the narrow face of the stockade burst
into one blaze of musketry and swivels, raking their long array
from front to rear.
The front ranks fell over each other in heaps; the rear ones turned
and ran; overtaken, nevertheless, by the English bullets and
arrows, which tumbled them headlong down the steep path.
"Out, men, and charge them. See! the Don is running like the
rest!" And scrambling over the abattis, Amyas and about thirty
followed them fast; for he had hope of learning from some prisoner
his brother's fate.
Amyas was unjust in his last words. Don Guzman, as if by miracle,
had been only slightly wounded; and seeing his men run, had rushed
back and tried to rally them, but was borne away by the fugitives.
However, the Spaniards were out of sight among the thick bushes
before the English could overtake them; and Amyas, afraid lest they
should rally and surround his small party, withdrew sorely against
his will, and found in the pathway fourteen Spaniards, but all
dead. For one of the wounded, with more courage than wisdom, had
fired on the English as he lay; and Amyas's men, whose blood was
maddened both by their desperate situation, and the frightful
stories of the rescued galley-slaves, had killed them all before
their captain could stop them.
"Are you mad?" cries Amyas, as he strikes up one fellow's sword.
"Will you kill an Indian?"
And he drags out of the bushes an Indian lad of sixteen, who,
slightly wounded, is crawling away like a copper snake along the
ground.
"The black vermin has sent an arrow through my leg; and poisoned
too, most like."
"God grant not: but an Indian is worth his weight in gold to us
now," said Amyas, tucking his prize under his arm like a bundle.
The lad, as soon as he saw there was no escape, resigned himself to
his fate with true Indian stoicism, was brought in, and treated

kindly enough, but refused to eat. For which, after much
questioning, he gave as a reason, that he would make them kill him
at once; for fat him they should not; and gradually gave them to
understand that the English always (so at least the Spaniards said)
fatted and ate their prisoners like the Caribs; and till he saw
them go out and bury the bodies of the Spaniards, nothing would
persuade him that the corpses were not to be cooked for supper.
However, kind words, kind looks, and the present of that
inestimable treasure--a knife, brought him to reason; and he told
Amyas that he belonged to a Spaniard who had an "encomienda" of
Indians some fifteen miles to the south-west; that he had fled from
his master, and lived by hunting for some months past; and having
seen the ship where she lay moored, and boarded her in hope of
plunder, had been surprised therein by the Spaniards, and forced by
threats to go with them as a guide in their search for the English.
But now came a part of his story which filled the soul of Amyas
with delight. He was an Indian of the Llanos, or great savannahs
which lay to the southward beyond the mountains, and had actually
been upon the Orinoco. He had been stolen as a boy by some
Spaniards, who had gone down (as was the fashion of the Jesuits
even as late as 1790) for the pious purpose of converting the
savages by the simple process of catching, baptizing, and making
servants of those whom they could carry off, and murdering those
who resisted their gentle method of salvation. Did he know the way
back again? Who could ask such a question of an Indian? And the
lad's black eyes flashed fire, as Amyas offered him liberty and
iron enough for a dozen Indians, if he would lead them through the
passes of the mountains, and southward to the mighty river, where
lay their golden hopes. Hernando de Serpa, Amyas knew, had tried
the same course, which was supposed to be about one hundred and
twenty leagues, and failed, being overthrown utterly by the Wikiri
Indians; but Amyas knew enough of the Spaniards' brutal method of
treating those Indians, to be pretty sure that they had brought
that catastrophe upon themselves, and that he might avoid it well
enough by that common justice and mercy toward the savages which he
had learned from his incomparable tutor, Francis Drake.
Now was the time to speak; and, assembling his men around him,
Amyas opened his whole heart, simply and manfully. This was their
only hope of safety. Some of them had murmured that they should
perish like John Oxenham's crew. This plan was rather the only way
to avoid perishing like them. Don Guzman would certainly return to
seek them; and not only he, but land-forces from St. Jago. Even if
the stockade was not forced, they would be soon starved out; why
not move at once, ere the Spaniards could return, and begin a
blockade? As for taking St. Jago, it was impossible. The treasure
would all be safely hidden, and the town well prepared to meet
them. If they wanted gold and glory, they must seek it elsewhere.
Neither was there any use in marching along the coast, and trying

the ports: ships could outstrip them, and the country was already
warned. There was but this one chance; and on it Amyas, the first
and last time in his life, waxed eloquent, and set forth the glory
of the enterprise, the service to the queen, the salvation of
heathens, and the certainty that, if successful, they should win
honor and wealth and everlasting fame, beyond that of Cortez or
Pizarro, till the men, sulky at first, warmed every moment; and one
old Pelican broke out with--
"Yes, sir! we didn't go round the world with you for naught; and
watched your works and ways, which was always those of a gentleman,
as you are--who spoke a word for a poor fellow when he was in a
scrape, and saw all you ought to see, and naught that you ought
not. And we'll follow you, sir, all alone to ourselves; and let
those that know you worse follow after when they're come to their
right mind."
Man after man capped this brave speech; the minority, who, if they
liked little to go, liked still less to be left behind, gave in
their consent perforce; and, to make a long story short, Amyas
conquered, and the plan was accepted.
"This," said Amyas, "is indeed the proudest day of my life! I have
lost one brother, but I have gained fourscore. God do so to me and
more also, if I do not deal with you according to the trust which
you have put in me this day!"
We, I suppose, are to believe that we have a right to laugh at
Amyas's scheme as frantic and chimerical. It is easy to amuse
ourselves with the premises, after the conclusion has been found
for us. We know, now, that he was mistaken: but we have not
discovered his mistake for ourselves, and have no right to plume
ourselves on other men's discoveries. Had we lived in Amyas's
days, we should have belonged either to the many wise men who
believed as he did, or to the many foolish men, who not only
sneered at the story of Manoa, but at a hundred other stories,
which we now know to be true. Columbus was laughed at: but he
found a new world, nevertheless. Cortez was laughed at: but he
found Mexico. Pizarro: but he found Peru. I ask any fair reader
of those two charming books, Mr. Prescott's Conquest of Mexico and
his Conquest of Peru, whether the true wonders in them described do
not outdo all the false wonders of Manoa.
But what reason was there to think them false? One quarter,
perhaps, of America had been explored, and yet in that quarter two
empires had been already found, in a state of mechanical, military,
and agricultural civilization superior, in many things, to any
nation of Europe. Was it not most rational to suppose that in the
remaining three-quarters similar empires existed? If a second
Mexico had been discovered in the mountains of Parima, and a second

Peru in those of Brazil, what right would any man have had to
wonder? As for the gold legends, nothing was told of Manoa which
had not been seen in Peru and Mexico by the bodily eyes of men then
living. Why should not the rocks of Guiana have been as full of
the precious metals (we do not know yet that they are not) as the
rocks of Peru and Mexico were known to be? Even the details of the
story, its standing on a lake, for instance, bore a probability
with them. Mexico actually stood in the centre of a lake--why
should not Manoa? The Peruvian worship centred round a sacred
lake--why not that of Manoa? Pizarro and Cortez, again, were led
on to their desperate enterprises by the sight of small quantities
of gold among savages, who told them of a civilized gold-country
near at hand; and they found that those savages spoke truth. Why
was the unanimous report of the Carib tribes of the Orinoco to be
disbelieved, when they told a similar tale? Sir Richard
Schomburgk's admirable preface to Raleigh's Guiana proves, surely,
that the Indians themselves were deceived, as well as deceivers.
It was known, again, that vast quantities of the Peruvian treasure
had been concealed by the priests, and that members of the Inca
family had fled across the Andes, and held out against the
Spaniards. Barely fifty years had elapsed since then;--what more
probable than that this remnant of the Peruvian dynasty and
treasure still existed? Even the story of the Amazons, though it
may serve Hume as a point for his ungenerous and untruthful attempt
to make Raleigh out either fool or villain, has come from
Spaniards, who had with their own eyes seen the Indian women
fighting by their husbands' sides, and from Indians, who asserted
the existence of an Amazonian tribe. What right had Amyas, or any
man, to disbelieve the story? The existence of the Amazons in
ancient Asia, and of their intercourse with Alexander the Great,
was then an accredited part of history, which it would have been
gratuitous impertinence to deny. And what if some stories
connected these warlike women with the Emperor of Manoa, and the
capital itself? This generation ought surely to be the last to
laugh at such a story, at least as long as the Amazonian guards of
the King of Dahomey continue to outvie the men in that relentless
ferocity, with which they have subdued every neighboring tribe,
save the Christians of Abbeokuta. In this case, as in a hundred
more, fact not only outdoes, but justifies imagination; and Amyas
spoke common sense when he said to his men that day--
"Let fools laugh and stay at home. Wise men dare and win. Saul
went to look for his father's asses, and found a kingdom; and
Columbus, my men, was called a madman for only going to seek China,
and never knew, they say, until his dying day, that he had found a
whole new world instead of it. Find Manoa? God only, who made all
things, knows what we may find beside!"
So underneath that giant ceiba-tree, those valiant men, reduced by
battle and sickness to some eighty, swore a great oath, and kept

that oath like men. To search for the golden city for two full
years to come, whatever might befall; to stand to each other for
weal or woe; to obey their officers to the death; to murmur
privately against no man, but bring all complaints to a council of
war; to use no profane oaths, but serve God daily with prayer; to
take by violence from no man, save from their natural enemies the
Spaniards; to be civil and merciful to all savages, and chaste and
courteous to all women; to bring all booty and all food into the
common stock, and observe to the utmost their faith with the
adventurers who had fitted out the ship; and finally, to march at
sunrise the next morning toward the south, trusting in God to be
their guide.
"It is a great oath, and a hard one," said Brimblecombe; "but God
will give us strength to keep it." And they knelt all together and
received the Holy Communion, and then rose to pack provisions and
ammunition, and lay down again to sleep and to dream that they were
sailing home up Torridge stream--as Cavendish, returning from round
the world, did actually sail home up Thames but five years
afterwards--"with mariners and soldiers clothed in silk, with sails
of damask, and topsails of cloth of gold, and the richest prize
which ever was brought at one time unto English shores."
. . . . . . .
The Cross stands upright in the southern sky. It is the middle of
the night. Cary and Yeo glide silently up the hill and into the
camp, and whisper to Amyas that they have done the deed. The
sleepers are awakened, and the train sets forth.
Upward and southward ever: but whither, who can tell? They hardly
think of the whither; but go like sleep-walkers, shaken out of one
land of dreams, only to find themselves in another and stranger
one. All around is fantastic and unearthly; now each man starts as
he sees the figures of his fellows, clothed from head to foot in
golden filigree; looks up, and sees the yellow moonlight through
the fronds of the huge tree-ferns overhead, as through a cloud of
glittering lace. Now they are hewing their way through a thicket
of enormous flags; now through bamboos forty feet high; now they
are stumbling over boulders, waist-deep in cushions of club-moss;
now they are struggling through shrubberies of heaths and
rhododendrons, and woolly incense-trees, where every leaf, as they
brush past, dashes some fresh scent into their faces, and
"The winds, with musky wing,
About the cedarn alleys fling
Nard and cassia's balmy smells."

Now they open upon some craggy brow, from whence they can see far
below an ocean of soft cloud, whose silver billows, girdled by the
mountain sides, hide the lowland from their sight.
And from beneath the cloud strange voices rise; the screams of
thousand night-birds, and wild howls, which they used at first to
fancy were the cries of ravenous beasts, till they found them to
proceed from nothing fiercer than an ape. But what is that deeper
note, like a series of muffled explosions,--arquebuses fired within
some subterranean cavern,--the heavy pulse of which rolls up
through the depths of the unseen forest? They hear it now for the
first time, but they will hear it many a time again; and the Indian
lad is hushed, and cowers close to them, and then takes heart, as
he looks upon their swords and arquebuses; for that is the roar of
the jaguar, "seeking his meat from God."
But what is that glare away to the northward? The yellow moon is
ringed with gay rainbows; but that light is far too red to be the
reflection of any beams of hers. Now through the cloud rises a
column of black and lurid smoke; the fog clears away right and left
around it, and shows beneath, a mighty fire.
The men look at each other with questioning eyes, each half
suspecting, and yet not daring to confess their own suspicions; and
Amyas whispers to Yeo--
"You took care to flood the powder?"
"Ay, ay, sir, and to unload the ordnance too. No use in making a
noise to tell the Spaniards our whereabouts."
Yes; that glare rises from the good ship Rose. Amyas, like Cortez
of old, has burnt his ship, and retreat is now impossible. Forward
into the unknown abyss of the New World, and God be with them as
they go!
The Indian knows a cunning path: it winds along the highest ridges
of the mountains; but the travelling is far more open and easy.
They have passed the head of a valley which leads down to St. Jago.
Beneath that long shining river of mist, which ends at the foot of
the great Silla, lies (so says the Indian lad) the rich capital of
Venezuela; and beyond, the gold-mines of Los Teques and Baruta,
which first attracted the founder Diego de Losada; and many a
longing eye is turned towards it as they pass the saddle at the
valley head; but the attempt is hopeless, they turn again to the
left, and so down towards the rancho, taking care (so the prudent
Amyas had commanded) to break down, after crossing, the frail rope
bridge which spans each torrent and ravine.

They are at the rancho long before daybreak, and have secured
there, not only fourteen mules, but eight or nine Indians stolen
from off the Llanos, like their guide, who are glad enough to
escape from their tyrants by taking service with them. And now
southward and away, with lightened shoulders and hearts; for they
are all but safe from pursuit. The broken bridges prevent the news
of their raid reaching St. Jago until nightfall; and in the
meanwhile, Don Guzman returns to the river mouth the next day to
find the ship a blackened wreck, and the camp empty; follows their
trail over the hills till he is stopped by a broken bridge;
surmounts that difficulty, and meets a second; his men are worn out
with heat, and a little afraid of stumbling on the heretic
desperadoes, and he returns by land to St. Jago; and when he
arrives there, has news from home which gives him other things to
think of than following those mad Englishmen, who have vanished
into the wilderness. "What need, after all, to follow them?" asked
the Spaniards of each other. "Blinded by the devil, whom they
serve, they rush on in search of certain death, as many a larger
company has before them, and they will find it, and will trouble La
Guayra no more forever." "Lutheran dogs and enemies of God," said
Don Guzman to his soldiers, "they will leave their bones to whiten
on the Llanos, as may every heretic who sets foot on Spanish soil!"
Will they do so, Don Guzman? Or wilt thou and Amyas meet again
upon a mightier battlefield, to learn a lesson which neither of you
yet has learned?
CHAPTER 5
4. Dracula, Bram Stoker
LETTER FROM MISS MINA MURRAY TO MISS LUCY
WESTENRA
9 May.
My dearest Lucy,
Forgive my long delay in writing, but I have been simply overwhelmed
with work. The life of an assistant schoolmistress is sometimes trying.
I am longing to be with you, and by the sea, where we can talk
together freely and build our castles in the air. I have been working
very hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies,
and I have been practicing shorthand very assiduously.
When we are married I shall be able to be useful to Jonathan,
and if I can stenograph well enough I can take down what he wants

to say in this way and write it out for him on the typewriter,
at which also I am practicing very hard.
He and I sometimes write letters in shorthand, and he is keeping
a stenographic journal of his travels abroad. When I am with you
I shall keep a diary in the same way. I don't mean one of those
two-pages-to-the-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries,
but a sort of journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined.
I do not suppose there will be much of interest to other people, but it
is not intended for them. I may show it to Jonathan some day if there
is in it anything worth sharing, but it is really an exercise book.
I shall try to do what I see lady journalists do, interviewing and writing
descriptions and trying to remember conversations. I am told that,
with a little practice, one can remember all that goes on or that one
hears said during a day.
However, we shall see. I will tell you of my little plans when we meet.
I have just had a few hurried lines from Jonathan from Transylvania.
He is well, and will be returning in about a week. I am longing
to hear all his news. It must be nice to see strange countries.
I wonder if we, I mean Jonathan and I, shall ever see them together.
There is the ten o'clock bell ringing. Goodbye.
Your loving
Mina
Tell me all the news when you write. You have not told me
anything for a long time. I hear rumours, and especially
of a tall, handsome, curly-haired man.???
LETTER, LUCY WESTENRA TO MINA MURRAY
17, Chatham Street
Wednesday
My dearest Mina,
I must say you tax me very unfairly with being a bad correspondent.
I wrote you twice since we parted, and your last letter
was only your second. Besides, I have nothing to tell you.
There is really nothing to interest you.

Town is very pleasant just now, and we go a great deal
to picture-galleries and for walks and rides in the park.
As to the tall, curly-haired man, I suppose it was the one
who was with me at the last Pop. Someone has evidently
been telling tales.
That was Mr. Holmwood. He often comes to see us, and he and Mamma
get
on very well together, they have so many things to talk about in common.
We met some time ago a man that would just do for you, if you
were not already engaged to Jonathan. He is an excellant parti,
being handsome, well off, and of good birth. He is a doctor
and really clever. Just fancy! He is only nine-and twenty,
and he has an immense lunatic asylum all under his own care.
Mr. Holmwood introduced him to me, and he called here to see us,
and often comes now. I think he is one of the most resolute men I
ever saw, and yet the most calm. He seems absolutely imperturbable.
I can fancy what a wonderful power he must have over his patients.
He has a curious habit of looking one straight in the face,
as if trying to read one's thoughts. He tries this on very much
with me, but I flatter myself he has got a tough nut to crack.
I know that from my glass.
Do you ever try to read your own face? I do, and I can tell
you it is not a bad study, and gives you more trouble than you
can well fancy if you have never tried it.
He say that I afford him a curious psychological study,
and I humbly think I do. I do not, as you know, take sufficient
interest in dress to be able to describe the new fashions.
Dress is a bore. That is slang again, but never mind.
Arthur says that every day.
There, it is all out, Mina, we have told all our secrets to each other
since we were children. We have slept together and eaten together,
and laughed and cried together, and now, though I have spoken,
I would like to speak more. Oh, Mina, couldn't you guess? I love him.
I am blushing as I write, for although I think he loves me,
he has not told me so in words. But, oh, Mina, I love him.
I love him! There, that does me good.
I wish I were with you, dear, sitting by the fire undressing,
as we used to sit, and I would try to tell you what I feel.
I do not know how I am writing this even to you.
I am afraid to stop, or I should tear up the letter,
and I don't want to stop, for I do so want to tell you all.
Let me hear from you at once, and tell me all that you think
about it. Mina, pray for my happiness.

Lucy
P.S.--I need not tell you this is a secret. Goodnight again. L.
LETTER, LUCY WESTENRA TO MINA MURRAY
24 May
My dearest Mina,
Thanks, and thanks, and thanks again for your sweet letter.
It was so nice to be able to tell you and to have your sympathy.
My dear, it never rains but it pours. How true the old proverbs are.
Here am I, who shall be twenty in September, and yet I never had
a proposal till today, not a real proposal, and today I had three.
Just fancy! Three proposals in one day! Isn't it awful!
I feel sorry, really and truly sorry, for two of the poor fellows.
Oh, Mina, I am so happy that I don't know what to do with myself.
And three proposals! But, for goodness' sake, don't tell any of
the girls, or they would be getting all sorts of extravagant ideas,
and imagining themselves injured and slighted if in their very first
day at home they did not get six at least. Some girls are so vain!
You and I, Mina dear, who are engaged and are going to settle
down soon soberly into old married women, can despise vanity.
Well, I must tell you about the three, but you must keep it
a secret, dear, from every one except, of course, Jonathan.
You will tell him, because I would, if I were in your place,
certainly tell Arthur. A woman ought to tell her husband everything.
Don't you think so, dear? And I must be fair. Men like women,
certainly their wives, to be quite as fair as they are. And women,
I am afraid, are not always quite as fair as they should be.
Well, my dear, number One came just before lunch.
I told you of him, Dr. John Seward, the lunatic
asylum man, with the strong jaw and the good forehead.
He was very cool outwardly, but was nervous all the same.
He had evidently been schooling himself as to all sorts of
little things, and remembered them, but he almost managed to sit
down on his silk hat, which men don't generally do when they
are cool, and then when he wanted to appear at ease he kept
playing with a lancet in a way that made me nearly scream.
He spoke to me, Mina, very straightfordwardly. He told me
how dear I was to him, though he had known me so little,

and what his life would be with me to help and cheer him.
He was going to tell me how unhappy he would be if I
did not care for him, but when he saw me cry he said
he was a brute and would not add to my present trouble.
Then he broke off and asked if I could love him in time,
and when I shook my head his hands trembled, and then with some
hesitation he asked me if I cared already for any one else.
He put it very nicely, saying that he did not want to wring
my confidence from me, but only to know, because if a woman's
heart was free a man might have hope. And then, Mina, I felt
a sort of duty to tell him that there was some one.
I only told him that much, and then he stood up, and he looked
very strong and very grave as he took both my hands in his
and said he hoped I would be happy, and that If I ever wanted
a friend I must count him one of my best.
Oh, Mina dear, I can't help crying, and you must excuse this letter being
all blotted. Being proposed to is all very nice and all that sort of thing,
but it isn't at all a happy thing when you have to see a poor fellow,
whom you know loves you honestly, going away and looking all broken
hearted,
and to know that, no matter what he may say at the moment, you are
passing
out of his life. My dear, I must stop here at present, I feel so miserable,
though I am so happy.
Evening.
Arthur has just gone, and I feel in better spirits than when I left off,
so I can go on telling you about the day.
Well, my dear, number Two came after lunch. He is such a nice
fellow,and
American from Texas, and he looks so young and so fresh that it seems
almost
impossible that he has been to so many places and has such adventures.
I sympathize with poor Desdemona when she had such a stream poured
in her ear, even by a black man. I suppose that we women are such
cowards that we think a man will save us from fears, and we marry him.
I know now what I would do if I were a man and wanted to make a girl
love me. No, I don't, for there was Mr. Morris telling us his stories,
and Arthur never told any, and yet. . .
My dear, I am somewhat previous. Mr. Quincy P. Morris found
me alone. It seems that a man always does find a girl alone.
No, he doesn't, for Arthur tried twice to make a chance,
and I helping him all I could, I am not ashamed to say it now.
I must tell you beforehand that Mr. Morris doesn't always
speak slang, that is to say, he never does so to strangers

or before them, for he is really well educated and has
exquisite manners, but he found out that it amused me
to hear him talk American slang,and whenever I was present,
and there was no one to be shocked, he said such funny things.
I am afraid, my dear, he has to invent it all, for it fits exactly
into whatever else he has to say. But this is a way slang has.
I do not know myself if I shall ever speak slang.
I do not know if Arthur likes it, as I have never heard him
use any as yet.
Well, Mr. Morris sat down beside me and looked as happy and jolly
as he could, but I could see all the same that he was very nervous.
He took my hand in his, and said ever so sweetly. . .
"Miss Lucy, I know I ain't good enough to regulate the fixin's of your
little shoes, but I guess if you wait till you find a man that is you
will go join them seven young women with the lamps when you quit.
Won't you just hitch up alongside of me and let us go down the long
road together, driving in double harness?"
Well, he did look so hood humoured and so jolly that it didn't
seem half so hard to refuse him as it did poor Dr. Seward.
So I said, as lightly as I could, that I did not know anything
of hitching, and that I wasn't broken to harness at all yet.
Then he said that he had spoken in a light manner, and he hoped
that if he had made a mistake in doing so on so grave,
so momentous, and occasion for him, I would forgive him.
He really did look serious when he was saying it, and I couldn't help
feeling a sort of exultation that he was number Two in one day.
And then, my dear, before I could say a word he began pouring
out a perfect torrent of love-making, laying his very heart
and soul at my feet. He looked so earnest over it that I
shall never again think that a man must be playful always,
and never earnest, because he is merry at times.
I suppose he saw something in my face which checked him,
for he suddenly stopped,and said with a sort of manly fervour
that I could have loved him for if I had been free. . .
"Lucy, you are an honest hearted girl, I know. I should not be here
speaking to you as I am now if I did not believe you clean grit,
right through to the very depths of your soul. Tell me, like one
good fellow to another, is there any one else that you care for?
And if there is I'll never trouble you a hair's breadth again,
but will be, if you will let me, a very faithful friend."
My dear Mina, why are men so noble when we women are so little
worthy
of them? Here was I almost making fun of this great hearted, true
gentleman.
I burst into tears, I am afraid, my dear, you will think this a very sloppy

letter in more ways than one, and I really felt very badly.
Why can't they let a girl marry three men, or as many as want her,
and save all this trouble? But this is heresy, and I must not say it.
I am glad to say that, though I was crying, I was able to look into
Mr. Morris' brave eyes, and I told him out straight. . .
"Yes, there is some one I love, though he has not told me
yet that he even loves me." I was right to speak to him
so frankly, for quite a light came into his face, and he put
out both his hands and took mine, I think I put them into his,
and said in a hearty way. . .
"That's my brave girl. It's better worth being late for
a chance of winning you than being in time for any other
girl in the world. Don't cry, my dear. If it's for me,
I'm a hard nut to crack, and I take it standing up.
If that other fellow doesn't know his happiness, well,
he'd better look for it soon, or he'll have to deal with me.
Little girl, your honesty and pluck have made me a friend,
and that's rarer than a lover, it's more selfish anyhow.
My dear, I'm going to have a pretty lonely walk between
this and Kingdom Come. Won't you give me one kiss?
It'll be something to keep off the darkness now and then.
You can, you know, if you like, for that other good fellow,
or you could not love him, hasn't spoken yet."
That quite won me, Mina, for it was brave and sweet of him, and noble
too,
to a rival, wasn't it? And he so sad, so I leant over and kissed him.
He stood up with my two hands in his, and as he looked
down into my face, I am afraid I was blushing very much,
he said, "Little girl, I hold your hand, and you've kissed me,
and if these things don't make us friends nothing ever will.
Thank you for your sweet honesty to me, and goodbye."
He wrung my hand, and taking up his hat, went straight out of the room
without looking back, without a tear or a quiver or a pause, and I am
crying like a baby.
Oh, why must a man like that be made unhappy when there are lots
of girls about who would worship the very ground he trod on?
I know I would if I were free, only I don't want to be free
My dear, this quite upset me, and I feel I cannot write
of happiness just at once, after telling you of it,and I don't
wish to tell of the number Three until it can be all happy.
Ever your loving. . .
Lucy

P.S.--Oh, about number Three, I needn't tell you of number Three, need
I?
Besides, it was all so confused. It seemed only a moment from his
coming
into the room till both his arms were round me, and he was kissing me.
I am very, very happy, and I don't know what I have done to deserve it.
I must only try in the future to show that I am not ungrateful to God
for all His goodness to me in sending to me such a lover, such a husband,
and such a friend.
Goodbye.
DR. SEWARD'S DIARY (Kept in phonograph)
25 May.--Ebb tide in appetite today. Cannot eat, cannot rest, so
diary instead. since my rebuff of yesterday I have a sort of empty feeling.
Nothing in the world seems of sufficient importance to be worth the
doing.
As I knew that the only cure for this sort of thing was work, I went
amongst
the patients. I picked out one who has afforded me a study of much
interest.
He is so quaint that I am determined to understand him as well as I can.
Today I seemed to get nearer than ever before to the heart of his mystery.
I questioned him more fully than I had ever done, with a view
to making myself master of the facts of his hallucination.
In my manner of doing it there was, I now see, something of cruelty.
I seemed to wish to keep him to the point of his madness, a thing
which I avoid with the patients as I would the mouth of hell.
(Mem., Under what circumstances would I not avoid the pit
of hell?) Omnia Romae venalia sunt. Hell has its price!
If there be anything behind this instinct it will be valuable
to trace it afterwards accurately, so I had better commence
to do so, therefore. . .
R. M, Renfield, age 59. Sanguine temperament, great physical strength,
morbidly excitable, periods of gloom, ending in some fixed idea which I
cannot make out. I presume that the sanguine temperament itself
and the disturbing influence end in a mentally-accomplished finish,
a possibly dangerous man, probably dangerous if unselfish. In selfish
men caution is as secure an armour for their foes as for themselves.
What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point
the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal. When duty,
a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount,
and only accident of a series of accidents can balance it.

LETTER, QUINCEY P. MORRIS TO HON. ARTHUR HOLMOOD
25 May.
My dear Art,
We've told yarns by the campfire in the prairies, and dressed
one another's wounds after trying a landing at the Marquesas,
and drunk healths on the shore of Titicaca. There are more yarns
to be told,and other wounds to be healed, and another health
to be drunk. Won't you let this be at my campfire tomorrow night?
I have no hesitation in asking you, as I know a certain lady
is engaged to a certain dinner party, and that you are free.
There will only be one other, our old pal at the Korea, Jack Seward.
He's coming, too, and we both want to mingle our weeps over the wine
cup,
and to drink a health with all our hearts to the happiest man
in all the wide world, who has won the noblest heart that God has
made and best worth winning. We promise you a hearty welcome,
and a loving greeting, and a health as true as your own right hand.
We shall both swear to leave you at home if you drink too deep
to a certain pair of eyes. Come!
Yours, as ever and always,
Quincey P. Morris
TELEGRAM FROM ARTHUR HOLMWOOD TO QUINCEY P.
MORRIS
26 May
Count me in every time. I bear messages which will make
both your ears tingle.
Art
5. Ben Jonson: “Comedy of Humors”

Jonson's plays
Jonson, like Shakespeare, came from modest
beginnings--his father was a bricklayer--but he
was a man of great learning, widely read in both
the Greek and Latin classical authors. Often
contentious, even irascible, he was nonetheless
generous in his estimation of Shakespeare's
work.
Jonson must have known Shakespeare well. His
first major success on the stage, Every Man in
His Humour, was first acted in 1598; when the
play was published in 1616 (the year of
Shakespeare's death), the title- page included a
list of "The principal Comoedians," and heading
the list is "Will Shakespeare." (There is a
tradition that Shakespeare acted the part of an
old man, the elder Knowell.)
His great plays are his satirical comedies, especially Volpone (1606), Epicoene
(1609), The Alchemist (1610), and Bartholomew Fair (1614); he wrote some fine
poetry; and he was among the first to treat English writers seriously enough to write
criticism of them.
Jonson's love of the classics led him to break with established conventions in the
drama of his time. Sidney would have approved of the way that he carefully adhered
to the "unities" in his plays, and of the way that he was more conscious of the
classical distinction between comedy and tragedy* than others in the period.
One of Jonson's major innovations was the "comedy of humours." A humour (as in
Renaissance psychology) was a quality of mind or mood which dominated a particular
character. The effect is of exaggeration, a caricature. Characters like Malvolio in
Twelfth Night, or Pistol in Henry V are "humorous" in this sense.
Read his play at: http://www.luminarium.org/editions/outofhumor.htm
[Notes]
Playing by the rules
Jonson's tragedies, Sejanus and Cataline, have never been considered effective,
mainly because he seems to have been too careful about the classical background:
they follow meticulously the historical facts they are dramatizing, but the characters
never come to life as they do in his comic masterpieces, and the language takes the
best models, but succeeds only in being dry. (Return)
6. Hamlet, A Humoral Diagnosis

Hamlet: A Humoral Diagnosis
By Sarah Holland, December 1996
The essay that follows was researched and written by Sarah Holland as part of the
course on Shakespeare by Individual Studies, 1996; it is reprinted here with her
permission. While copyright is retained by Sarah Holland and the University of
Victoria, this material may freely be used for educational purposes, so long as the
author and source are cited.
Please remember that plagiarism is not research.
Dr. Laurentius M.D.: "How are you doing today, Hamlet?"
Hamlet: "...I have of late, but wherefore I know not, lost all my mirth,
forgone all custom of exercises; and indeed, it goes so heavily with my
disposition that this goodly frame, the earth, seems to me a most sterile
promontory; this most excellent canopy, the air, look you, this brave
o'erhanging firmament, this majestical roof fretted golden fire: why it
appeareth nothing to me but a foul and pestilent congregation of
vapors. ...Man delights me not; nor woman neither, [sigh]" (1.3.303)
Dr. Laurentius: "Tsk tsk. My boy, it's obvious. You've got a bad case
of melancholy."
As identified by a modernized Dr. Laurentius, Hamlet is a case study in humoral
imbalance. Shakespeare and his contemporaries thought about the physiological
processes of the body and their relation to the mind and soul within the framework of
the four humors. Hamlet's "antic disposition" and emotionally consuming
deliberations are less perplexing when he is seen as an example of a melancholic
individual. One could question whether his humoral disproportions were excessive to
the point of provoking true insanity, but this is not the object of this paper. After
briefly outlining the Elizabethan humoral physiology-psychology, I will apply the
treatise of the sixteenth century Laurentius to the character of Hamlet.
The dominant theory of medicine and much of its practice in the Elizabethan Age was
derived from the ancient Greeks. Galen of Pergamon, a surgeon of gladiators, spent
most of his second century A.D. career in Rome. His writings incorporated the works
of Hippocrates and two leading Alexandrian physicians, Erasistrates and Herophilus.
His works comprehensively rationalized and systematized ancient Greek medicinal
knowledge and exercised authority for over fourteen centuries (Hoeniger 71). By
Shakespeare's time, errors had been pointed out in Galen's work and there was
growing skepticism towards his theory and method. Galen's basic assumptions
persisted widely, however, and Shakespeare makes frequent use of traditional Galenic
notions and utilizes his audience's familiarity with them.

Galen believed that all material things were composed of earth, fire, water and air.
Each element was characterized by two primary and opposite qualities: warmth versus
coolness, moisture versus dryness. Being material, human beings were made up of
particular individualized combinations of the humors, which were analogues of the
four elements. Like Aristotle, Galen assumed that everything in the body was
purposeful as a part of a complex living building (Clendening 41). The four humors
phlegm, choler, yellow bile and black bile worked in tandem with each other. Health,
both mental and physical, was determined by blended or properly proportioned
humors, sickness and disease by improper proportions. The influence of the humors
extended beyond the physiological realm and different humors were linked directly to
certain psychological or emotional characteristics.
It was a common Renaissance scholarly belief that the works of ancient Greece were
superior to anything produced since. Thus, the Galenic conception of humoral
physiology and psychology was extremely influential in Shakespeare's day. Andreas
Laurentius (1558-1609), one of the most prominent physicians of the period and
Professor of Medicine at Montpellier summarized:
...there are four humours in our bodies, Blood, Phlegme, Choler and
Melancholie; and that all these are to be found at all times in every age,
and at all seasons to be mixed and mingled together within the veins,
though not alike for everyone: for even as it is not possible to finde the
partie in whom the foure elements are equally mixed...there is alwaies
someone which doth over rule the rest and of it is the partie's
complexion named: if blood doe abound, we call such a complexion,
sanguine; if phlegme, phlegmatic; if choler, cholerike; and if
melancholie, melancholike (Laurentius 84).
Like the four elements, humors were characterized by two qualities. Blood (like air)
had the qualities of heat and moisture, phlegm (like) water had coldness and moisture,
yellow bile (like fire) had heat and dryness. The earth was considered the heaviest of
elements and melancholy, with its coldness and dryness, was seen as the heaviest of
the humors.
While the doctrine of the four humors may seem improbable today, it did rest on an
empirical basis. Blood and phlegm, for example, look different, smell different and
taste different. Medical diagnosis was aimed at determining the status of the humoral
mixture in the body. A physician might examine the humor in the blood by tasting. If
the blood contained an excess of choler it was thin and bitter, phlegm was tasteless
and liquid, blood itself medium red and sweet, and melancholy murky and sour
(Hoeniger 104). Once a physician diagnosed a patients humoral condition, he sought
either to remove or counterbalance the humor whose excess caused the trouble by
bloodletting, purging or administering an enema or to strengthen deficient humors
with diet or drugs.
The physiological aspects of the four humors were inextricably linked with the
psychological. Different humors were linked directly to certain passions. While
Laurentius deals little with the passions of the mind and their effects on human
functioning, Robert Burton discussed it in his Anatomy. He describes how the
passions of the mind influence the body humours, thereby producing changes in the
body and mind:

For as the Body works upon the mind, by his bad humorurs, troubling
the spirits and sending gross fumes into the Brain; and so per
consequens disturbing the Soul, and all the faculties of it.... [so] the
mind effectually works upon the Body, producing by his passions and
perturbations, miraculous alterations (Edgar 208)
One's particular humoral disposition dictated one's temperament, constitution or
complexion as the Elizabethans called it.
Melancholy had a specialized and essential role in the function of the body. It served
to feed the spleen and protect the blood from becoming too thin. (Hoeniger 106).
Laurentius describes in his Discourse of the Preservation of Sight: of Melancholike
Diseases: of Rhuemes and of Old Age, the symptoms of a man with a dangerous
excess of melancholy:
The melancholike man... is out of heart... fearfull and trembling... he is
afraid of everything... a terror unto himselfe... he would runne away
and cannot goe, he goeth always fighting, troubled with... an
unseperable sadnesse which turneth into dispayre... disquieted in both
body and spirit... subject ot watchfullness, which doth consume him...
dreadful dreams... he is become as a savadge creature haunting the
shadowed places, suspicious, solitarie, enemie to the sunne, and one
whom nothing can please, but only discontentment, which forgeth unto
inselfe a thouand false and vain imaginations (Laurentius 82).
According to Laurentius' symptomatology, Hamlet is suffering from severe humoral
imbalance. Evidence from Shakespeare's text directly and convincingly correlates to
the portrait of Laurentius' melancholike. Hamlet is "out of heart"; all the other
characters in the play notice how "th'exterior nor the inward man Resembles what it
was"(2.2.7) and they are puzzled by his words and actions. When he visits Ophelia he
is "fearfull and trembling", "Pale as his shirt, his knees knocking each other "(2.1.81).
It seems to Ophelia, that he is "afraid of everything", she describes he had "a look so
piteous in purport, As if he had been loosed out of hell To speak of horrors"(2.1.82).
Hamlet's conflict is within himself; berating his indecision he calls himself an "ass", a
"coward", indeed, he is "a terror within himself...he would runne away and cannot
goe." Hamlet is "troubled with ...an unseperable sadnesse which turneth into dispayre"
to the point of considering suicide:
O that this too too sullied flesh would melt
Thaw, and resolve itself into a dew,
Or that the Everlasting had not fixed
His canon 'gainst self-slaughter (1.2.129).
Hamlet is "disquieted in both body and spirit" telling his mother "I have that within
which passes show; These but the trappings and the suits of woe. (2.1.86) Hamlet is
not sleeping well, he is "subject of watchfullness, which doth consume him,
describing to Horatio "Sir in my heart there was a kind of fighting That would not let
me sleep"(5.2.4). He complains of "dreadful dreams" to Rosencrantz, complaining
magnificently: "O God, I could be bounded in a nutshell and count myself a king of
infinite space, were it not that I have bad dreams."(2.2.258). Hamlet is "suspicious",
grilling Rosencratnz and Guildenstern: "Were you not sent for? Is it your own

inclining? Is it free visitation?" (3.1.280) Hamlet is "one whom nothing can please,
but only discontentment", damning all the world, he exclaims:
...O God, God,
How weary, stale, flat, and unprofitable
Seem to me all the uses of this world?
Fie on't, ah fie, 'tis an unweeded garden
That grows to seed. Things rank and gross in nature
Possess it merely (1.2.132)
Horatio observes how this distress "forgeth unto itselfe a thousand false and vain
imaginations", noting "He waxes desperate with imagination"(1.4.87) and that Hamlet
speaks in "wild and whirling words"(1.5.131).
Using Laurentius' description as a checklist provides ample evidence for a
melancholic diagnosis. Hamlet's behavior was indicative of his melancholic
imbalance; his depression, anguish and reticence in avenging his father are distinct
symptoms of his humoral disorder. At the risk of sounding trite or even facetious, I
wonder how different the play would have been if someone had simply relieved the
poor boy of his bad blood.
Works Cited
1. Clendening, Logan. Source Book of Medical History. New York: Dover
Publications, Inc. 1942.
2. Edgar, Irving I. Shakespeare, Medicine and Psychiatry. New York:
Philosophical Library, Inc. 1970.
3. Hoeniger, David F. Medicine and Shakespeare in the English Renaissance.
London: Associated University Presses, Inc. 1992.
4. Laurentius, Andreas. A Discourse of the Preservation of Sight: of
Melancholike Diseases: of Rheumes and of Old Age (1599). London: Oxford
University Press. 1938.
7. Humors in Shakespere
Herbal Medicine in Shakespeare's England
from Dr. John Hall's Case Studies
Who was John Hall: A most renowned 16th century physicianherbalist,
born approximately 1575 and died in 1635. He moved to
Stratford upon Avon, forever to be renowned as the home of William
Shakespeare and the internationally renowned Globe theater. Around
1600, he established himself as a doctor in Stratford and as we all

know, in those days, doctor really meant professional, clinical
herbalist. John Hall was intimately bound up with his community
(Stratford at that time had a population of only 2000) as a physician,
citizen and a son-in-law of Shakespeare. At the age of 32, he married
the eldest of Shakespeare’s two daughters, Susanna who was then aged
24. Since Hall was only 11 years the junior of his celebrated father in
law, married his most favored daughter and lived immediately next
door as neighbors, with all the positive allusions to doctors and herbs
throughout Shakespeare’s plays, it is reasonable to assume that the two
had a close friendship.
Shakespeare’s "Pericles" was written in his last great creative phase
around 1607 and around the time that Hall became a part of the
Shakespeare family. In it he has a doctor character, Lord Cerimon who
at one point states his creed of life as follows:
I hold it ever
Virtue and cunning were endowments greater
Than nobleness and riches. Careless heirs
May the two latter darken and expend,
But immortality attends the former,
Making a man a god. ‘Tis know I ever
Have studied physic, through which secret art,
By turning o’er authorities, I have
Together with my practice, made familiar
To me and to my aid the blest infusions
That dwells in vegetives, in metals, stones;
and I can speak of the disturbances
That Nature works, and of her cures;
which doth give me
A more content in course of true delight
Than to be thirsty after tottering honour ......
John Hall’s father, William Hall was a man of some means, owning
land in various areas. He was a Protestant by religion and a physician
by profession. He had a large library of books on "physicks" and
alchemy. It is surmised that he was trained by an Italian astrologer and
physician who believed the origin of life was connected with the stars.
In any case, his son, John who because a staunch Christian Puritan, had
much discord with his father. This is adjudged by the fact the in his
will, the father bestowed the books on "physicks’ to John, but his
books on astrology, astronomy and alchemy to his friend, Mathew
Morris. The will specifically states that if John showed any interest in
these subjects, Mr. Morris was to instruct John accordingly. As it
turned out, Mathew Morris accompanied John to Stratford when they
both moved to Stratford.
Medical practice during the Renaissance period was bound up with
superstition, herb-doctoring and pure unabashed quackery. Considering
the body of knowledge in his day, Hall evidences a high degree of

therapeutic skill and care in his work. The names of specific diseases
were not so well recognized at that time and so Hall reports cases in a
complexity of signs and symptoms characteristic of the highest level of
traditional herbalism. His therapeutic remedies consisted of various
and elaborate prescriptions utilizing over one hundred separate
botanicals. Hall’s therapeutic armamentarium was typical of normal
medieval and Renaissance medical practice that used leeches,
bloodletting, elaborate herbs, minerals, purges, laxatives and a
physiology based upon the Hippocratic humoral concept.
Despite this, Hall manifested a considerable degree of independent
thought and judgment that elevated his standards above the medical
practice of the day. He may have been a follower of Dr. Jacques Pons
(1538-1612) of Lyons, who wrote a dissertation dedicated to Henry IV
on the current abuse of blood-letting.
In his cases, Hall shows a high degree of compassion and sensitivity to
emotional and psychological factors. His cures reflect the complicated
pharmacy of the day, a materia medica that would rival or certainly be
comparable to a Traditional Chinese Medical pharmacy today. We find
him prescribing offensive animal matter (bat dung which is particularly
high in vitamin A), webs of spiders, powder of nut shells, excreta,
dried windpipes of cocks, etc.
Scurvy, a common disease of the day because of the prevalent diet of
salt meat, salt fish, few vegetables and limited seasonal fruits was
described by Hall as "general lassitude, filthy yellow jaundice, pains in
the loins, weakness of legs, frequent changes of urine, tumors of the
gums, swelling of the fingers, sweating and wandering pains." He
treated his scorbutic patients with a mixture of plant and vegetable
juices made from water cress, brooklime, scurvy grass, all herbs rich in
ascorbic acid. Sometimes he made these into a beer, flavored with
sugar, cinnamon or juniper berries or an infusion. Hall’s treatment of
scurvy was well in advance of his time and a hundred years before
James Lind’s use of lime juice for scurvy had caused a similar cure to
Hall’s.
Hall visited patients as far as forty miles from Stratford. Considering
that horseback riding was the only means of transportation at the time,
this evidenced quite a high level of commitment and care. On one
occasion, Hall missed the Stratford council meeting and was duly fined
because of choosing to answer the need of one of his patients.
Hall directed his son-in-law, Thomas Nash, to burn his manuscripts of
dispose of them as he pleased. Apparently Nash and Susanna did not
wish to burn them. A Dr. Cooke reports in the preface to the first
edition of the "Select Observations" that in 1644 he was able to obtain
two notebooks from Hall’s widow.

The notes were abbreviated in Latin, Cooke them to London to be
evaluated by "an able doctor". The opinion was that the abbreviations
would cause the translator considerable difficulty. Cooke assumed the
task of translating Hall’s notes from the condensed Latin. He did this
with the help of Hall’s apothecary, Richard Court, and in 1657 one of
the notebooks appeared as "The Select Observations on English
Bodies." Cooke’s judgment was vindicated by Dr. John Bird who
stated unequivocally that the cases "were equal to the best published."
The range of conditions reported in the Casebook were incredibly wide
and some of extreme gravity and complexity. These included abortion,
asthma, dropsy, sterility, cancer, dysmenorrhea, melancholy,
empyema, worms, and jaundice to name only a few.
The reprint of the 2nd edition of Hall’s "Select Observations" was
purchased by at Hall’s Croft (home) in Stratford a few years ago. It
was published with introduction and historical commentaries by
Harriet Joseph, in 1964 on the occasion of the 400th anniversary of
William Shakespeare’s birth. Harriet Joseph was Associate Professor
of English Literature at Pace University, Westchester, New York.
The Since that time the manuscript passed through the hands of several
collectors and now suitably kept in the British museum.
OBSERVATION XV
Mr. Hunt of Stock-green, aged about 46. Labouring of a grievous Scab
and Itch, was thus helpt: prescription Fumitory, Borage, Bugloss,
Scabious, Wormwood, of each a like quantity, as much as you please;
draw out the juices, of which take boiling it in whey to the
consumption of the whey, always scumming of it; after it is boiled
suffer it to settle. Drink every day a good draught of it cold, with sugar.
This is Syrup of Scabious by Johannes Anglici, and a secret by which
he cured many of the Scab and which I have cured also.
Commentary: I have chosen this, one of the simplest of the 178 cases
presented, first because I would like to learn more about John Hall and
share a remarkable Western herbalist document, unique in my
experience to the herbal literature and extremely valuable for those
who can find the persistence and patience to overcome the quaint
spellings, olde English and other charming antiquarian peculiarities,
second because of its brevity; third, because it describes herbs and a
treatment modality that are both highly informative and accessible to
contemporary herbalists. Last but not least is my search for remedies to
give to my beloved 8 month old Labrador who seems to have some
kind of allergic dermatitis which may just respond to this 16th century
herbal remedy. This is obviously a very important 16th century
formula from which contemporary herbalists can derive a good deal of
knowledge and benefit not only to their human patients but also for
pets with skin allergies which is an extremely common problem.

Following is a description of each of the herbs used in the formula:
Fumitory Fumaria officinalis
N.O. Fumariaceae
Saturn owns this herb and presents it to the world as a cure for his own
disease, and strengthener of the parts of the body he rules. If, by my
astrological Judgment of diseases, from the decumbiture, you find
Saturn author of the disease or if by direction from a nativity you fear a
Saturnine disease approaching, you may be this herb prevent it in the
one, and cure it in the other, and therefore it is fit you keep a syrup of it
always by you. The juice or syrup made thereof, or the decoction made
in whey by itself, with some other purging or opening herbs and roots
to cause it to work the better (itself being but weak) is very effectual
for the liver and spleen, opening the obstructions thereof, and
clarifying the blood from saltish, choleric, and adult humours, which
cause leprosy, scabs, tetters, and itches, and such like breakings-out of
the skin; and, after the purgings, strengthens all the inward parts. It is
also good against the yellow jaundice, eradicating it by urine, which it
procures in abundance. The powder of the dried herb, given for some
time together, cures melancholy, but the seed is strongest in operation
for all the former diseases. The distilled water of the herb is also of
good effect in the former diseases, and conduces much against the
plague and pestilence, being taken with good treacle. The distilled
water also, with a litter water and honey of roses, helps all the sores of
the mouth or throat, being gargled often therewith. The juice dropped
into the eyes, clears the sight, and takes away redness and other defects
in them, although it procures some pain for the present, and causes
tears. Dioscorides says, it hinders any sreth springing of hears on the
eye-lids (after they are pulled away) if the eye-lids be anointed with the
juice hereof with gum arabic dissolved therein. The juice of Fumitory
and docks mingled with vinegar, and the places gently washed or wet
therewith, cures all sorts of scabs, pimples, blotches, wheals, and
pushes which rise on the face of hands, or any other parts of the body.
Commentary: This is a primary ancient herb for blood purification
through liver detoxification. The name derives from the Latin "Fumu"
which means smoke, and refers to the fact that this common European
weed is irritating to the eyes when it is burned. It is a member of the
poppy family which is particularly rich in alkaloids the major one in
this family being fumarine. The irritant principle is fumaric acid.
Recent studies have shown that fumitory has remarkable effects on the
bile ducts. It seems that a water infusion of the plant given
intravenously increased bile flow where bile secretion was low prior to
the injection. Conversely, if the gall bladder was hyperactive, bile flow
was reduced. With no effect on a normal gallbladder. Thus it has a
unique regulating effect on the bile system. French authors have coined
this as an ‘amphicholeretic agent’. Contemporary clinical trials have

confirmed the biliary activity of fumitory in the treatment of acute
conditions such as biliary colic as well as chronic dyskinesia (pain that
occurs with movement). It is especially effective of course for pain in
the liver and chest. especially over the right epigastrium. It is specific
for migraine and other related headaches caused by liver and
gastrointestinal malfunction. Fumitory can be used to increase one’s
tolerance of rich foods, to treat headaches, nausea and vomiting.
Its use in this formula points out the strategy of treating allergic
dermatitis and other chronic skin disorders with an effective liver and
bile regulating approach.
Borage Borago officinalis
N.O. boraginaceae
It is an herb of Jupiter, and under Leo. The leaves are accounted
cordial, good to comfort the heart, and remove faintness and
melancholy, and for that purpose the tops are frequently put into wine
and cool tankards; by which light cold infusion, its virtues are
completely obtained. A conserve of the flowers, with the flowers of
bugloss, is good in white wine to bring down the menses. some make a
syrup of the flowers, which is very good for coughs, short breaths, or
to sweeten herb-teas for feeble, weak, and consumptive persons.
distilled water of borage or Bugloss flowers, for their virtues are
similar, are good for inflammations of the eyes; and, inwardly, may be
given in fevers with safety.
Commentary Jupiter is hot and moist and Leo assigns it to diseases of
the heart. The astrological assignment, however is not because it is
because of the expansive quality that is associated to these signs and
not their customary atmospheric properties. From its indications as a
demulcent cooling agent for fevers and lung inflammations, it certainly
could not be considered to be hot and moist.
Borage is specific as a cordial which according to Parkinson is used "to
expel pensiveness and malanchollie." It has diuretic, demulcent and
emollient properties. According to Grieve, it seems to contain
potassium and calcium, combined with mineral acids. The fresh juice
supplying 30 percent potassium and the mucilage a good amount of
niter and sodium. It is from the presence of these saline qualities along
with calcium that its benefit on the heart derives. Because of the
presence of nitrate of potash, it will emit sparks with a slight explosive
sound when burnt.
The saline constituents promotes kidney activity and helps it to filter
and carry off toxins. The high amount of potassium, calcium and other
salts is what makes this herb uniquely of benefit to the heart.

Bugloss (Garden bugloss) (Buglossum hortense) (Viper’s bugloss)
Echium vulgare
N.O. Boraginaceae
It grows under the dominion of Jupiter in Leo; like Borage, is
accounted cordial, and serviceable to raise the spirits, and are therefore
good in hypochondriac, hysterical, and all disorders arising from
lowness of spirits. The flowers are ranked among the cordial flowers.
The leaves and roots are to Very good purpose used in putrid and
pestilential fevers, to defend the heart, and help to resist and expel the
poison, or the venom of other creatures; the seed is of the like effects:
and the seed and leaves are good to increase milk in women’s breasts;
the leaves, flowers, and seed, all, or any of them, are good to expel
pensiveness and melancholy; it helps to clarify the blood, and mitigate
heat in fevers. The juice made into a syrup, prevails much to all the
purposes aforesaid, and is put with other cooling, opening, and
cleansing herbs, to open obstructions, and help the yellow-jaundice;
and, mixed with fumitory, to cool, cleanse, and temper the blood
thereby; it helps the itch, ringworm’s, and tetters, or to either spreading
scabs and sores. The flowers candied or made into a conserve, are
helpful in the former cases, but are chiefly used as a cordial, and are
good for those that are weak in long sickness, and to comfort the heart
and spirits of those that are in consumption, or troubled with often
swoonings, or passions of the heart: the distilled water is no less
effectual to all the purposes aforesaid, and helps the redness and
inflammations of the eyes, being washed therewith; the dried herb is
never used, but the green; yet with ashes thereof, boiled in mead, or
honied water, is available against the inflammations, and ulcers in the
mouth or throat to gargle it therewith: the roots of Bugloss are
effectual, being made into a licking electuary for the cough, and to
condensate thick phlegm, and the rheumatic distillations upon the
lungs.
Commentary Jupiter is by nature hot and moist. It is described in
Grieve’s as diuretic, demulcent and pectoral. It has very similar to
properties as borage. Both herbs seem to have beneficial effect on the
emotions, heart and for sadness, melancholy and sadness. It is also
highly regarded as an anti-poison herb which is what makes it
particularly useful in this formula.
Scabious, Devil’s Bit
N.O. Compositae
Scabious of which Culpepper describes three varieties known at the
time as Scabiosa Arvensis (Field scabious), S. succisa (Devil’s bit
Scabious), Scabiosa columbaria (Lesser Field Scabious)

Only the properties of the last variety are described and one can only
assume that all three are similar. He says it is different from the
previous two in that it is smaller. He says there are actually many
varieties of Scabious and that at least at that time it grew in dry fields
and meadows around London, everywhere (imagine that!).
He says it is ruled by Mercury. Very effective for coughs, shortness of
breath and all other diseases of the breast and lungs, ripening and
digesting cold phlegm, and other tough humours, voiding them forth
by coughing and spitting: it also ripens all sorts of inward ulcers and
imposthumes, pleurisy also, if the decoction of the herb dry or green be
made in wine, and drank for some time together. Four ounces of the
clarified juice of Scabious taken in the morning fasting, with a dram of
Mithridate or Benice treacle, frees the heart from any infection of
pestilence, if after the taking of it, the party sweat two hours in bed,
and this medicine be again and again repeated, if need require. The
green herb bruised and applied to any carbuncle or plague-sore, is
found by certain experience to dissolve and break it in three hours
space. The same decoction also drank, helps the pains and stitches in
the side. The decoction of the roots taken for forty days together, or a
dram of the powder of them taken at a time in whey, does (as
Matthiolus says), wonderfully help those that are troubled with running
or spreading scabs, tetters, ringworms, yea, although the proceed from
the venereal disease, which, he says, he tried by experience. The juice
of decoction drank, helps, also scabs and breakings out of the itch, and
the like. The juice also made up into an ointment and used, is effectual
for the same purpose. The same also heals all inward wounds by the
drying, cleaning, and healing quality therein: and a syrup made of the
juice and sugar, is very effectual to all the purposes aforesaid, and so is
the distilled water of the herb and flowers made in due season,
especially to used when the green herb is not in force to be taken. The
decoction of the herb and roots outwardly applied, does wonderfully
help all forts of hard or cold swellings in any part of the body, is
effectual for shrunk sinews and veins, and heals green wounds, old
sores and samphire, cleanses the skin of the face, or other parts of the
body, not only from freckles and pimples, but also from morphew and
leprosy; sores, itch, and the like, used warm. The herb bruised and
applied, does in a short time loosen and draw forth any splinter, broken
bone, arrow-head, or other such thing, lying the flesh.
Commentary: Mercury is by nature cold and dry in the first and second
degrees. According to Grieve, the name Devil’s bit comes from the
appearance of the root which when fully grown, nearly to the thickness
of a middle finger, ends so abruptly that it appears to have been
mysteriously bitten off.
Gerard says:
"The greater part of the root seemeth to be bitten away; old fantastick
charmers report that the divel did bite it for envie, because it is an

herbe that hath so many good vertues and it is so beneficial to
mankinde.’
Obviously from the above, scabious is expectorant, alterative,
vulnerary and astringent. It is particularly effective for all skin
problems as well as the lungs. It is an herb with closely synergistic
properties to borage but with stronger purifying and detoxifying
effects.
Wormwood (Artemisia vulgaris is common mugwort) while Artemisia
absynthium is common wormwood)
It is a martial herb, under the dominion of Mars. This is generally
believed to be the absynthium ponticum of the ancients, the best
Wormwood being supposed to grow in Pontus, a country of the Lesser
Asia. the tops of the plat are to be used fresh gathered; a very slight
infusion of them is excellent for all disorders of the stomach, and will
prevent sickness after meals, and create an appetite; but, it is made too
strong, it will revolt and disgust the taste. The tops with the flowers on
them, dried and powdered are good against agues, and have the same
virtues with wormseed in killing worms: in fact, they are much better
than the wormseed that is commonly sold in the shops, which is
generally too much decayed. The juice of the large leaves of
Wormwood, which grow from the root, before the stalk appears, is the
best against the dropsy and jaundice, for it opens obstructions, and
works powerfully by urine. It is good in all agues, for which it is given
in decoction, or infusion, in water, ale, wine, or in the juice only; but
its infusion in wine or ale (if disease will allow of malt liquors) is an
easy, and as good a preparation as any. Its simple distilled water is
good for little. There is little more in its salt obtained by incineration,
than in any other lixivial salt. Its decoction, wine, extract, and both
oils, are good, and its compound water not bad. Its juice is more water
and detergent the herb more astringent, only the dried herb should be
infused in wine or ale. The infusion, drank evening and morning for
some time, helps hysterics, obstructions of the spleen, and weakness of
the stomach. Its oil, taken on sugar, and somewhat drank after, kills
worms, resists poison, and is good for the liver and jaundice. The use
of the herb checks the head and eyes, like the leaves; hence the root
should be accounted among the best stomachics. Oil of the seed, given
from half a scruple to half a dram, in some liquor, or a spoonful of
juice in some wine, taken before the fit comes on, and the person is put
to bed, cures quotidians and quartans. In a looseness from eating too
much fruit (after the use of rhubarb) wormwood wine is excellent. A
woman raised spread, and maintained her reputation for the cure of a
megrim, by only using a fomentation of the part, of green roots of wild
cucumber sliced, and wormwood, of each alike, boiled in two parts
water and strained, has been successfully applied to a spreading
gangrene. Green wormwood, worn in the shoes, has ben found useful
in cold distempers of the stomach. Its ashes, infused three hours in
white wine, strained, and drank often, cures and anasarca. Whenever

you have any great expectation from the use of Wormwood, always
order the common sort, for the roman comes far short of it in virtue.
That hot rheum which runs down from the eyes, and excoriates the
skin of the cheeks, is cured by juice of wormwood beaten up with the
white of an egg, and applied. A too habitual and free internal use of the
herb dims the sight for some hours. Poultices of wormwood boiled in
grease, barm, or wine, may be applied with good success to white
swellings. Being boiled in lard, and laid o swellings of the tonsils and
quinsy, is serviceable. a poultice of the soft leaves, beaten up with
whites of eggs, is good in a strain; or if it is boiled in ale, and laid on;
or a poultice of wheat-bran boiled in vinegar; or a tincture of dried
roses in vinegar, used with wet clothes to the part. Its internal use is
good in such diseases as come from a gross blood, or obstructions in
the capillaries, or in viscidity’s, or phlegm, which line the insides of
the stomach, bowels or vessels, or in too great a sharpness of the blood,
by its opening obstructions, cleansing, bracing, and promoting
perspiration and urine. It is admirable against surfeits. It not only cures
pain of the stomach, weakness, indigestion, want of appetite, vomiting
and loathing, but hard swellings of the belly. This, with rosemary,
saffron, and turmeric root infused in rhenish wine, is a cure for the
jaundice, and brings down the menses; or a decoction of it, broom tops,
greater celandine, white horehound, lesser centaury, flowers of
hypericon, barberry bark, turmeric, and madder roots, strained, and
hog-lice wine added, is not ill in a jaundice. wormwood and vinegar
are an antidote to the mischief of mushrooms and henbane, and to the
biting of a shrew, and of the seafish called Draco marinus, or quaviver;
mixed with honey, it takes away the blackness after falls, bruises, etc.
All other wormwoods, the nearer the approach and taste to pleasant or
palatable, they are so much the worse, for they are weaker, their use
requires so much longer time, larger doses, and yet less success
follows. The herb and pellitory of the wall boiled in water till soft, then
strained, and a fomentation of the liquor used, and the herbs laid on
after in a poultice, ease all outward pains; or the herb boiled in oil till
almost the oil is wasted, strained, and anointed, cures the pain of the
back, placed among woolen cloths, it prevents and destroys moths.
Commentary
Its assignment to Mars describes it as archetypically hot and dry to the
3rd and 4th degrees. The description of Wormwood (actually
mugwort) reminds us of the power of the simplest of herbs. To
paraphrase, "the better it tastes, the weaker and more ineffective it is".
Chinese medicine describes mugwort as bitter, acrid, warm, entering
the Spleen, Liver and Kidney. It is used to warm the womb and stop
bleeding, for prolonged menstrual bleeding and uterine bleeding
caused by cold and deficiency.

It quiets the fetus, lower abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding as in
threatened miscarriage and also for threatened infertility caused by a
cold womb.
It disperses cold and relieves pain: for cold abdominal pain and
menstrual pain.
The Chinese stated uses very much conform to Culpeppers description
and uses. However, the primary Chinese use is concerned with
menorrhagia and threatened miscarriage. The description of it entering
the channels of the spleen, liver and Kidney encompass a much wider
area all of which is expressed in Culpepper’s description above.
The fact that it is used for scab, itch and what we might call allergic
dermatitis, suggests that it’s ability to speed up the formation and
elimination of bile which is its liver activity together, increase urine
output all this along with its blood circulating properties makes it
particularly useful for treating chronic, acute skin disorders. This is a
use not directly suggested by its Chinese description in Bensky.
Still more, it gets rid of worms and other parasites and is regarded by
Culpepper as being one of the best herbs to take for this, better than
wormseed.
Wormwood reminds us that there must always be a time of atonement
(‘at one ment’) or reuniting with our true inner nature and that it is the
bitter taste that engenders the physiological response of detachment
from outer worldliness that is one of the primary causes of disease.
8. MacKay
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions (Vol. 3)
by Charles Mackay
BOOK III.
THE MAGNETISERS.
Some deemed them wondrous wise, and some believed them mad.
Beattie's Minstrel.
The wonderful influence of imagination in the cure of diseases is
well known. A motion of the hand, or a glance of the eye, will throw a
weak and credulous patient into a fit; and a pill made of bread, if
taken with sufficient faith, will operate a cure better than all the

drugs in the pharmacopoeia. The Prince of Orange, at the siege of
Breda, in 1625, cured all his soldiers who were dying of the scurvy,
by a philanthropic piece of quackery, which he played upon them with
the knowledge of the physicians, when all other means had failed. [See
Van der Mye's account of the siege of Breda. The garrison, being
afflicted with scurvy, the Prince of Orange sent the physicians two or
three small phials, containing a decoction of camomile, wormwood, and
camphor, telling them to pretend that it was a medicine of the
greatest value and extremest rarity, which had been procured with very
much danger and difficulty from the East; and so strong, that two or
three drops would impart a healing virtue to a gallon of water. The
soldiers had faith in their commander; they took the medicine with
cheerful faces, and grew well rapidly. They afterwards thronged about
the Prince in groups of twenty and thirty at a time, praising his
skill, and loading him with protestations of gratitude.] Many hundreds
of instances, of a similar kind, might be related, especially from the
history of witchcraft. The mummeries, strange gesticulations, and
barbarous jargon of witches and sorcerers, which frightened credulous
and nervous women, brought on all those symptoms of hysteria and other
similar diseases, so well understood now, but which were then supposed
to be the work of the devil, not only by the victims and the public in
general, but by the operators themselves.
In the age when alchymy began to fall into some disrepute, and
learning to lift up its voice against it, a new delusion, based upon
this power of imagination, suddenly arose, and found apostles among
all the alchymists. Numbers of them, forsaking their old pursuits,
made themselves magnetisers. It appeared first in the shape of
mineral, and afterwards of animal, magnetism, under which latter name
it survives to this day, and numbers its dupes by thousands.
The mineral magnetisers claim the first notice, as the worthy
predecessors of the quacks of the present day. The honour claimed for
Paracelsus of being the first of the Rosicrucians has been disputed;
but his claim to be considered the first of the magnetisers can
scarcely be challenged. It has been already mentioned of him, in the
part of this work which treats of alchymy, that, like nearly all the
distinguished adepts, he was a physician; and pretended, not only to
make gold and confer immortality, but to cure all diseases. He was the
first who, with the latter view, attributed occult and miraculous
powers to the magnet. Animated apparently by a sincere conviction that
the magnet was the philosopher's stone, which, if it could not
transmute metals, could soothe all human suffering and arrest the
progress of decay, he travelled for many years in Persia and Arabia,
in search of the mountain of adamant, so famed in oriental fables.
When he practised as a physician at Basle, he called one of his
nostrums by the name of azoth -- a stone or crystal, which, he said,
contained magnetic properties, and cured epilepsy, hysteria, and
spasmodic affections. He soon found imitators. His fame spread far and
near; and thus were sown the first seeds of that error which has since

taken root and flourished so widely. In spite of the denial of modern
practitioners, this must be considered the origin of magnetism; for we
find that, beginning with Paracelsus, there was a regular succession
of mineral magnetisers until Mesmer appeared, and gave a new feature
to the delusion.
Paracelsus boasted of being able to transplant diseases from the
human frame into the earth, by means of the magnet. He said there were
six ways by which this might be effected. One of them will be quite
sufficient, as a specimen. "If a person suffer from disease, either
local or general, let the following remedy be tried. Take a magnet,
impregnated with mummy [Mummies were of several kinds, and were all of
great use in magnetic medicines. Paracelsus enumerates six kinds of
mummies; the first four only differing in the composition used by
different people for preserving their dead, are the Egyptian, Arabian,
Pisasphaltos, and Lybian. The fifth mummy of peculiar power was made
from criminals that had been hanged; "for from such there is a gentle
siccation, that expungeth the watery humour, without destroying the
oil and spirituall, which is cherished by the heavenly luminaries, and
strengthened continually by the affluence and impulses of the
celestial spirits; whence it may be properly called by the name of
constellated or celestial mummie." The sixth kind of mummy was made of
corpuscles, or spiritual effluences, radiated from the living body;
though we cannot get very clear ideas on this head, or respecting the
manner in which they were caught. -- "Medicina Diatastica; or,
Sympathetical Mummie, abstracted from the Works of Paracelsus, and
translated out of the Latin, by Fernando Parkhurst, Gent." London,
1653. pp. 2.7. Quoted by the "Foreign Quarterly Review," vol. xii. p.
415.] and mixed with rich earth. In this earth sow some seeds that
have a congruity or homogeneity with the disease: then let this earth,
well sifted and mixed with mummy, be laid in an earthen vessel; and
let the seeds committed to it be watered daily with a lotion in which
the diseased limb or body has been washed. Thus will the disease be
transplanted from the human body to the seeds which are in the earth.
Having done this, transplant the seeds from the earthen vessel to the
ground, and wait till they begin to sprout into herbs: as they
increase, the disease will diminish; and when they have arrived at
their full growth, it will disappear altogether."
Kircher the Jesuit, whose quarrel with the alchymists was the
means of exposing many of their impostures, was a firm believer in the
efficacy of the magnet. Having been applied to by a patient afflicted
with hernia, he directed the man to swallow a small magnet reduced to
powder, while he applied, at the same time, to the external swelling a
poultice, made of filings of iron. He expected that by this means the
magnet, when it got to the corresponding place inside, would draw in
the iron, and with it the tumour; which would thus, he said, be safely
and expeditiously reduced.
As this new doctrine of magnetism spread, it was found that wounds

inflicted with any metallic substance could be cured by the magnet. In
process of time the delusion so increased, that it was deemed
sufficient to magnetise a sword, to cure any hurt which that sword
might have inflicted! This was the origin of the celebrated
"weapon-salve," which excited so much attention about the middle of
the seventeenth century. The following was the recipe given by
Paracelsus for the cure of any wounds inflicted by a sharp weapon,
except such as had penetrated the heart, the brain, or the arteries.
"Take of moss growing on the head of a thief who has been hanged and
left in the air; of real mummy; of human blood, still warm -- of each,
one ounce; of human suet, two ounces; of linseed oil, turpentine, and
Armenian bole -- of each, two drachms. Mix all well in a mortar, and
keep the salve in an oblong, narrow urn." With this salve the weapon,
after being dipped in the blood from the wound, was to be carefully
anointed, and then laid by in a cool place. In the mean time, the
wound was to be duly washed with fair clean water, covered with a
clean, soft, linen rag, and opened once a day to cleanse off purulent
or other matter. Of the success of this treatment, says the writer of
the able article on Animal Magnetism, in the twelfth volume of the
"Foreign Quarterly Review," there cannot be the least doubt; "for
surgeons at this moment follow exactly the same method, except
anointing the weapon!
The weapon salve continued to be much spoken of on the Continent,
and many eager claimants appeared for the honour of the invention. Dr.
Fludd, or A Fluctibus, the Rosicrucian, who has been already mentioned
in a previous part of this volume, was very zealous in introducing it
into England. He tried it with great success in several cases; and no
wonder; for, while he kept up the spirits of his patients by boasting
of the great efficacy of the salve, he never neglected those common,
but much more important remedies, of washing, bandaging, &c. which the
experience of all ages had declared sufficient for the purpose. Fludd,
moreover, declared, that the magnet was a remedy for all diseases, if
properly applied; but that man having, like the earth, a north and a
south pole, magnetism could only take place when his body was in a
boreal position! In the midst of his popularity, an attack was made
upon him and his favourite remedy, the salve; which, however, did
little or nothing to diminish the belief in its efficacy. One "Parson
Foster" wrote a pamphlet, entitled "Hyplocrisma Spongus; or, a Spunge
to wipe away the Weapon-Salve ;" in which he declared, that it was as
bad as witchcraft to use or recommend such an unguent; that it was
invented by the devil, who, at the last day, would seize upon every
person who had given it the slightest encouragement. "In fact," said
Parson Foster, "the devil himself gave it to Paracelsus; Paracelsus to
the Emperor; the Emperor to the courtier; the courtier to Baptista
Porta; and Baptista Porta to Dr. Fludd, a doctor of physic, yet living
and practising in the famous city of London, who now stands tooth and
nail for it." Dr. Fludd, thus assailed, took up the pen in defence of
his unguent, in a reply called "The Squeezing of Parson Foster's
Spunge; wherein the Spunge-Bearer's immodest Carriage and Behaviour

towards his Brethren is detected; the bitter Flames of his slanderous
Reports are, by the sharp Vinegar of Truth, corrected and quite
extinguished; and, lastly, the virtuous Validity of his Spunge in
wiping away the Weapon-Salve, is crushed out and clean abolished."
Shortly after this dispute a more distinguished believer in the
weapon-salve made his appearance, in the person of Sir Kenelm Digby,
the son of Sir Everard Digby, who was executed for his participation
in the Gunpowder Plot. This gentleman, who, in other respects, was an
accomplished scholar and an able man, was imbued with all the
extravagant notions of the alchymists. He believed in the
philosopher's stone, and wished to engage Descartes to devote his
energies to the discovery of the elixir of life, or some other means
by which the existence of man might be prolonged to an indefinite
period. He gave his wife, the beautiful Venetia Anastasia Stanley, a
dish of capons, fed upon vipers, according to the plan supposed to
have been laid down by Arnold of Villeneuve, in the hope that she
might thereby preserve her loveliness for a century. If such a man
once took up the idea of the weapon-salve, it was to be expected that
he would make the most of it. In his hands, however, it was changed
from an unguent into a powder, and was called the powder of sympathy.
He pretended that he had acquired the knowledge of it from a Carmelite
friar, who had learned it in Persia or Armenia, from an oriental
philosopher of great renown. King James, the Prince of Wales, the Duke
of Buckingham, and many other noble personages, believed in its
efficacy. The following remarkable instance of his mode of cure was
read by Sir Kenelm to a society of learned men at Montpellier. Mr.
James Howell, the well-known author of the "Dendrologia," and of
various letters, coming by chance as two of his best friends were
fighting a duel, rushed between them, and endeavoured to part them. He
seized the sword of one of the combatants by the hilt, while, at the
same time, he grasped the other by the blade. Being transported with
fury one against the other, they struggled to rid themselves of the
hindrance caused by their friend; and in so doing, the one whose sword
was held by the blade by Mr. Howell, drew it away roughly, and nearly
cut his hand off, severing the nerves and muscles, and penetrating to
the bone. The other, almost at the same instant, disengaged his sword,
and aimed a blow at the head of his antagonist, which Mr. Howell
observing, raised his wounded hand with the rapidity of thought, to
prevent the blow. The sword fell on the back of his already wounded
hand, and cut it severely. "It seemed," said Sir Kenelm Digby, "as if
some unlucky star raged over them, that they should have both shed the
blood of that dear friend, for whose life they would have given their
own, if they had been in their proper mind at the time." Seeing Mr.
Howell's face all besmeared with blood from his wounded hand, they
both threw down their swords and embraced him, and bound up his hand
with a garter, to close the veins, which were cut, and bled profusely.
They then conveyed him home, and sent for a surgeon. King James, who
was much attached to Mr. Howell, afterwards sent his own surgeon to
attend him. We must continue the narrative in the words of Sir Kenelm

Digby:- "It was my chance," says he, "to be lodged hard by him: and,
four or five days after, as I was making myself ready, he came to my
house, and prayed me to view his wounds; 'for I understand,' said he,
'that you have extraordinary remedies on such occasions; and my
surgeons apprehend some fear, that it may grow to a gangrene, and so
the hand must be cut off.' In effect, his countenance discovered that
he was in much pain, which, he said, was insupportable, in regard of
the extreme inflammation. I told him I would willingly serve him; but
if, haply, he knew the manner how I could cure him, without touching
or seeing him, it might be that he would not expose himself to my
manner of curing; because he would think it, peradventure, either
ineffectual or superstitious. He replied, 'The many wonderful things
which people have related unto me of your way of medicinement, makes
me nothing doubt at all of its efficacy; and all that I have to say
unto you is comprehended in the Spanish proverb, Hagase el milagro y
hagalo Mahoma -- Let the miracle be done, though Mahomet do it.'
"I asked him then for anything that had the blood upon it: so he
presently sent for his garter, wherewith his hand was first bound;
and, as I called for a basin of water, as if I would wash my hands, I
took a handful of powder of vitriol, which I had in my study, and
presently dissolved it. As soon as the bloody garter was brought me, I
put it in the basin, observing, in the interim, what Mr. Howell did,
who stood talking with a gentleman in a corner of my chamber, not
regarding at all what I was doing. He started suddenly, as if he had
found some strange alteration in himself. I asked him what he ailed?
'I know not what ails me; but I find that I feel no more pain.
Methinks that a pleasing kind of freshness, as it were a wet cold
napkin, did spread over my hand, which hath taken away the
inflammation that tormented me before.' I replied, 'Since, then, you
feel already so much good of my medicament, I advise you to cast away
all your plasters; only keep the wound clean, and in a moderate
temper, betwixt heat and cold.' This was presently reported to the
Duke of Buckingham, and a little after, to the King, who were both
very curious to know the circumstances of the business; which was,
that after dinner, I took the garter out of the water, and put it to
dry before a great fire. It was scarce dry before Mr. Howell's servant
came running, and saying that his master felt as much burning as ever
he had done, if not more; for the heat was such as if his hand were
betwixt coals of fire. I answered, that although that had happened at
present, yet he should find ease in a short time; for I knew the
reason of this new accident, and would provide accordingly; for his
master should be free from that inflammation, it might be, before
he could possibly return to him: but, in case he found no ease, I
wished him to come presently back again; if not, he might forbear
coming. Thereupon he went; and, at the instant, I did put the garter
again into the water; thereupon he found his master without any pain
at all. To be brief, there was no sense of pain afterwards; but within
five or six days, the wounds were cicatrised and entirely healed."

Such is the marvellous story of Sir Kenelm Digby. Other
practitioners of that age were not behind him in absurdity. It was not
always necessary to use either the powder of sympathy, or the
weapon-salve, to effect a cure. It was sufficient to magnetise the
sword with the hand (the first faint dawn of the animal theory), to
relieve any pain the same weapon had caused. They pretended, that if
they stroked the sword upwards with their fingers, the wounded person
would feel immediate relief; but if they stroked it downwards, he
would feel intolerable pain.[Reginald Scott, quoted by Sir Walter
Scott, in the notes to the "Lay of the Last Minstrel," c. iii. v.
xxiii.]
Another very strange notion of the power and capabilities of
magnetism was entertained at the same time. It was believed that a
sympathetic alphabet could be made on the flesh, by means of which
persons could correspond with each other, and communicate all their
ideas with the rapidity of volition, although thousands of miles
apart. From the arms of two persons a piece of flesh was cut, and
mutually transplanted, while still warm and bleeding. The piece so
severed grew to the new arm on which it was placed; but still retained
so close a sympathy with its native limb, that its old possessor was
always sensible of any injury done to it. Upon these transplanted
pieces were tattooed the letters of the alphabet; so that, when a
communication was to be made, either of the persons, though the wide
Atlantic rolled between them, had only to prick his arm with a
magnetic needle, and straightway his friend received intimation that
the telegraph was at work. Whatever letter he pricked on his own arm
pained the same letter on the arm of his correspondent. ["Foreign
Quarterly Review," vol. xii. p. 417.] Who knows but this system, if it
had received proper encouragement, might not have rendered the
Post-Office unnecessary, and even obviated much of the necessity for
railroads? Let modern magnetisers try and bring it to perfection. It
is not more preposterous than many of their present notions; and, if
carried into effect, with the improvement of some stenographical
expedient for diminishing the number of punctures, would be much more
useful than their plan of causing persons to read with their great
toes, [Wirth's "Theorie des Somnambulismes," p. 79.] or seeing, with
their eyes shut, into other people's bodies, and counting the number
of arteries therein. ["Report of the Academic Royale de Medicine," --
case of Mademoiselle Celine Sauvage, p. 186.]
Contemporary with Sir Kenelm Digby, was the no less famous Mr.
Valentine Greatraks who, without mentioning magnetism, or laying claim
to any theory, practised upon himself and others a deception much more
akin to the animal magnetism of the present day, than the mineral
magnetism it was then so much the fashion to study. He was the son of
an Irish gentleman, of good education and property, in the county of
Cork. He fell, at an early age, into a sort of melancholy derangement.
After some time, he had an impulse, or strange persuasion in his mind,
which continued to present itself, whether he were sleeping or waking,

that God had given him the power of curing the king's evil. He
mentioned this persuasion to his wife, who very candidly told him that
he was a fool! He was not quite sure of this, notwithstanding the
high authority from which it came, and determined to make trial of the
power that was in him. A few days afterwards, he went to one William
Maher, of Saltersbridge, in the parish of Lismore, who was grievously
afflicted with the king's evil in his eyes, cheek, and throat. Upon
this man, who was of abundant faith, he laid his hands, stroked him,
and prayed fervently. He had the satisfaction to see him heal
considerably in the course of a few days; and, finally, with the aid
of other remedies, to be quite cured. This success encouraged him in
the belief that he had a divine mission. Day after day he had further
impulses from on high, that he was called upon to cure the ague also.
In the course of time he extended his powers to the curing of
epilepsy, ulcers, aches, and lameness. All the county of Cork was in a
commotion to see this extraordinary physician, who certainly operated
some very great benefit in cases where the disease was heightened by
hypochondria and depression of spirits. According to his own account,
[Greatraks' Account of himself, in a letter to the Honourable Robert
Boyle.] such great multitudes resorted to him from divers places, that
he had no time to follow his own business, or enjoy the company of his
family and friends. He was obliged to set aside three days in the
week, from six in the morning till six at night, during which time
only he laid hands upon all that came. Still the crowds which thronged
around him were so great, that the neighbouring towns were not able to
accommodate them. He thereupon left his house in the country, and went
to Youghal, where the resort of sick people, not only from all parts
of Ireland, but from England, continued so great, that the magistrates
were afraid they would infect the place by their diseases. Several of
these poor credulous people no sooner saw him than they fell into
fits, and he restored them by waving his hand in their faces, and
praying over them. Nay, he affirmed, that the touch of his glove had
driven pains away, and, on one occasion, cast out from a woman several
devils, or evil spirits, who tormented her day and night. "Every one
of these devils," says Greatraks, "was like to choke her, when it came
up into her throat." It is evident, from this, that the woman's
complaint was nothing but hysteria.
The clergy of the diocese of Lismore, who seem to have had much
clearer notions of Greatraks' pretensions than their parishioners, set
their faces against the new prophet and worker of miracles. He was
cited to appear in the Dean's Court, and prohibited from laying on his
hands for the future: but he cared nothing for the church. He imagined
that he derived his powers direct from Heaven, and continued to throw
people into fits, and bring them to their senses again, as usual,
almost exactly after the fashion of modern magnetisers. His reputation
became, at last, so great, that Lord Conway sent to him from London,
begging-that he would come over immediately, to cure a grievous
head-ache which his lady had suffered for several years, and which the
principal physicians of England had been unable to relieve.

Greatraks accepted the invitation, and tried his manipulations and
prayers upon Lady Conway. He failed, however, in affording any relief.
The poor lady's head-ache was excited by causes too serious to allow
her any help, even from faith and a lively imagination. He lived for
some months in Lord Conway's house, at Ragley, in Warwickshire,
operating cures similar to those he had performed in Ireland. He
afterwards removed to London, and took a house in Lincoln's Inn
Fields, which soon became the daily resort of all the nervous and
credulous women of the metropolis. A very amusing account of Greatraks
at this time (1665), is given in the second volume of the
"Miscellanies of St. Evremond," under the title of the Irish prophet.
It is the most graphic sketch ever made of this early magnetiser.
Whether his pretensions were more or less absurd than those of some of
his successors, who have lately made their appearance among us, would
be hard to say.
"When M. de Comminges," says St. Evremond, "was ambassador from
his most Christian Majesty to the King of Great Britain, there came to
London an Irish prophet, who passed himself off as a great worker of
miracles. Some persons of quality having begged M. de Comminges to
invite him to his house, that they might be witnesses of some of his
miracles, the ambassador promised to satisfy them, as much from his
own curiosity as from courtesy to his friends; and gave notice to
Greatraks that he would be glad to see him.
"A rumour of the prophet's coming soon spread all over the town,
and the hotel of M. de Comminges was crowded by sick persons, who came
full of confidence in their speedy cure. The Irishman made them wait a
considerable time for him, but came at last, in the midst of their
impatience, with a grave and simple countenance, that showed no signs
of his being a cheat. Monsieur de Comminges prepared to question him
strictly, hoping to discourse with him on the matters that he had read
of in Van Helmont and Bodinus; but he was not able to do so, much to
his regret, for the crowd became so great, and cripples and others
pressed around so impatiently to be the first cured, that the servants
were obliged to use threats, and even force, before they could
establish order among them, or place them in proper ranks.
"The prophet affirmed that all diseases were caused by evil
spirits. Every infirmity was with him a case of diabolical possession.
The first that was presented to him was a man suffering from gout and
rheumatism, and so severely that the physicians had been unable to
cure him. 'Ah,' said the miracle-worker, 'I have seen a good deal of
this sort of spirits when I was in Ireland. They are watery spirits,
who bring on cold shivering, and excite an overflow of aqueous humours
in our poor bodies.' Then addressing the man, he said, 'Evil spirit,
who hast quitted thy dwelling in the waters to come and afflict this
miserable body, I command thee to quit thy new abode, and to return to
thine ancient habitation!' This said, the sick man was ordered to

withdraw, and another was brought forward in his place. This new comer
said he was tormented by the melancholy vapours. In fact, he looked
like a hypochondriac; one of those persons diseased in imagination,
and who but too often become so in reality. 'Aerial spirit,' said
the Irishman, 'return, I command thee, into the air! -- exercise thy
natural vocation of raising tempests, and do not excite any more wind
in this sad unlucky body!' This man was immediately turned away to
make room for a third patient, who, in the Irishman's opinion, was
only tormented by a little bit of a sprite, who could not withstand
his command for an instant. He Pretended that he recognized this
sprite by some marks which were invisible to the company, to whom he
turned with a smile, and said, 'This sort of spirit does not often do
much harm, and is always very diverting.' To hear him talk, one would
have imagined that he knew all about spirits -- their names, their
rank, their numbers, their employment, and all the functions they were
destined to; and he boasted of being much better acquainted with the
intrigues of demons than he was with the affairs of men. You can
hardly imagine what a reputation he gained in a short time. Catholics
and Protestants visited him from every part, all believing that power
from Heaven was in his hands."
After relating a rather equivocal adventure of a husband and wife,
who implored Greatraks to cast out the devil of dissension which had
crept in between them, St. Evremond thus sums up the effect he
produced on the popular mind: -- "So great was the confidence in him,
that the blind fancied they saw the light which they did not see --
the deaf imagined that they heard -- the lame that they walked
straight, and the paralytic that they had recovered the use of their
limbs. An idea of health made the sick forget for a while their
maladies; and imagination, which was not less active in those merely
drawn by curiosity than in the sick, gave a false view to the one
class, from the desire of seeing, as it operated a false cure on the
other from the strong desire of being healed. Such was the power of
the Irishman over the mind, and such was the influence of the mind
upon the body. Nothing was spoken of in London but his prodigies; and
these prodigies were supported by such great authorities, that the
bewildered multitude believed them almost without examination, while
more enlightened people did not dare to reject them from their own
knowledge. The public opinion, timid and enslaved, respected this
imperious and, apparently, well-authenticated error. Those who saw
through the delusion kept their opinion to themselves, knowing how
useless it was to declare their disbelief to a people filled with
prejudice and admiration."
About the same time that Valentine Greatraks was thus magnetising
the people of London, an Italian enthusiast, named Francisco Bagnone,
was performing the same tricks in Italy, and with as great success. He
had only to touch weak women with his hands, or sometimes (for the
sake of working more effectively upon their fanaticism)with a relic,
to make them fall into fits and manifest all the symptoms of

magnetism.
Besides these, several learned men, in different parts of Europe,
directed their attention to the study of the magnet, believing it
might he rendered efficacious in many diseases. Van Helmont, in
particular, published a work on the effects of magnetism on the human
frame; and Balthazar Gracian, a Spaniard, rendered himself famous for
the boldness of his views on the subject. "The magnet," said the
latter, "attracts iron; iron is found everywhere; everything,
therefore, is under the influence of magnetism. It is only a
modification of the general principle, which establishes harmony or
foments divisions among men. It is the same agent which gives rise to
sympathy, antipathy, and the passions." ["Introduction to the Study of
Animal Magnetism," by Baron Dupotet de Sennevoy, p. 315.]
Baptista Porta, who, in the whimsical genealogy of the
weapon-salve, given by Parson Foster in his attack upon Dr. a
Fluctibus, is mentioned as one of its fathers, had also great faith in
the efficacy of the magnet, and operated upon the imagination of his
patients in a manner which was then considered so extraordinary that
he was accused of being a magician, and prohibited from practising by
the Court of Rome. Among others who distinguished themselves by their
faith in magnetism, Sebastian Wirdig and William Maxwell claim
especial notice. Wirdig was professor of medicine at the University of
Rostock in Mecklenburgh, and wrote a treatise called "The New Medicine
of the Spirits," which he presented to the Royal Society of London. An
edition of this work was printed in 1673, in which the author
maintained that a magnetic influence took place, not only between the
celestial and terrestrial bodies, but between all living things. The
whole world, he said, was under the influence of magnetism: life was
preserved by magnetism; death was the consequence of magnetism!
Maxwell, the other enthusiast, was an admiring disciple of
Paracelsus, and boasted that he had irradiated the obscurity in which
too many of the wonder-working recipes of that great philosopher were
enveloped. His works were printed at Frankfort, in 1679. It would
seem, from the following passage, that he was aware of the great
influence of imagination, as well in the production as in the cure of
diseases. "If you wish to work prodigies," says he, "abstract from the
materiality of beings -- increase the sum of spirituality in bodies --
rouse the spirit from its slumbers. Unless you do one or other of
these things -- unless you can bind the idea, you can never perform
anything good or great." Here, in fact, lies the whole secret of
magnetism, and all delusions of a similar kind: increase the
spirituality -- rouse the spirit from its slumbers, or in other words,
work upon the imagination -- induce belief and blind confidence, and
you may do anything. This passage, which is quoted with approbation by
M. Dupotet in a recent work ["Introduction to the Study of Animal
Magnetism," p. 318.] as strongly corroborative of the theory now
advanced by the animal-magnetists, is just the reverse. If they

elieve they can work all their wonders by the means so dimly shadowed
forth by Maxwell, what becomes of the universal fluid pervading all
nature, and which they pretend to pour into weak and diseased bodies
from the tips of their fingers?
Early in the eighteenth century, the attention of Europe was
directed to a very remarkable instance of fanaticism, which has been
claimed by the animal magnetists, as a proof of their science. The
convulsionaries of St. Medard, as they were called, assembled in great
numbers round the tomb of their favourite saint, the Jansenist priest
Paris, and taught one another how to fall into convulsions. They
believed that St. Paris would cure all their infirmities; and the
number of hysterical women and weak-minded persons of all descriptions
that flocked to the tomb from far and near was so great, as daily to
block up all the avenues leading to the spot. Working themselves up to
a pitch of excitement, they went off one after the other into fits,
while some of them, still in apparent possession of all their
faculties, voluntarily exposed themselves to sufferings, which on
ordinary occasions would have been sufficient to deprive them of life.
The scenes that occurred were a scandal to civilization and to
religion -- a strange mixture of obscenity, absurdity, and
superstition. While some were praying on bended knees at the shrine of
St. Paris, others were shrieking and making the most hideous noises.
The women especially exerted themselves. On one side of the chapel
there might be seen a score of them, all in convulsions, while at
another as many more, excited to a sort of frenzy, yielded themselves
up to gross indecencies. Some of them took an insane delight in being
beaten and trampled upon. One in particular, according to Montegre,
whose account we quote [Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales -- Article
"Convulsionnaires," par Montegre.] was so enraptured with this ill
usage, that nothing but the hardest blows would satisfy her. While a
fellow of herculean strength was beating her with all his might with a
heavy bar of iron, she kept continually urging him to renewed
exertion. The harder he struck the better she liked it, exclaiming all
the while, "Well done, brother; well done; oh, how pleasant it is!
what good you are doing me! courage, my brother, courage; strike
harder; strike harder still!" Another of these fanatics had, if
possible, a still greater love for a beating. Carre de Montgeron, who
relates the circumstance, was unable to satisfy her with sixty blows
of a large sledge hammer. He afterwards used the same weapon, with the
same degree of strength, for the sake of experiment, and succeeded in
battering a hole in a stone wall at the twenty-fifth stroke. Another
woman, named Sonnet, laid herself down on a red-hot brazier without
flinching, and acquired for herself the nickname of the salamander;
while others, desirous of a more illustrious martyrdom, attempted to
crucify themselves. M. Deleuze, in his critical history of Animal
Magnetism, attempts to prove that this fanatical frenzy was produced
by magnetism, and that these mad enthusiasts magnetised each other
without being aware of it. As well might he insist that the fanaticism
which tempts the Hindoo bigot to keep his arms stretched in a

horizontal position till the sinews wither, or his fingers closed upon
his palms till the nails grow out of the backs of his hands, is also
an effect of magnetism!
For a period of sixty or seventy years, magnetism was almost
wholly confined to Germany. Men of sense and learning devoted their
attention to the properties of the loadstone; and one Father Hell, a
jesuit, and professor of astronomy at the University of Vienna,
rendered himself famous by his magnetic cures. About the year 1771 or
1772, he invented steel plates of a peculiar form, which he applied to
the naked body, as a cure for several diseases. In the year 1774, he
communicated his system to Anthony Mesmer. The latter improved upon
the ideas of Father Hell, constructed a new theory of his own, and
became the founder of ANIMAL MAGNETISM.
It has been the fashion among the enemies of the new delusion to
decry Mesmer as an unprincipled adventurer, while his disciples have
extolled him to the skies as a regenerator of the human race. In
nearly the same words, as the Rosicrucians applied to their founders,
he has been called the discoverer of the secret which brings man into
more intimate connexion with his Creator; the deliverer of the soul
from the debasing trammels of the flesh; the man who enables us to set
time at defiance, and conquer the obstructions of space. A careful
sifting of his pretensions -- and examination of the evidence brought
forward to sustain them, will soon show which opinion is the more
correct. That the writer of these pages considers him in the light of
a man, who deluding himself, was the means of deluding others, may be
inferred from his finding a place in these volumes, and figuring among
the Flamels, the Agrippas, the Borris, the Boehmens, and the
Cagliostros.
He was born in May 1734, at Mersburg, in Swabia, and studied
medicine at the University of Vienna. He took his degrees in 1766, and
chose the influence of the planets on the human body as the subject of
his inaugural dissertation. Having treated the matter quite in the
style of the old astrological physicians, he was exposed to some
ridicule both then and afterwards. Even at this early period some
faint ideas of his great theory were germinating in his mind. He
maintained in his dissertation, "that the sun, moon, and fixed stars
mutually affect each other in their orbits; that they cause and direct
in our earth a flux and reflux not only in the sea, but in the
atmosphere, and affect in a similar manner all organized bodies
through the medium of a subtile and mobile fluid, which pervades the
universe and associates all things together in mutual intercourse and
harmony." This influence, he said, was particularly exercised on the
nervous system, and produced two states which he called intension and
remission, which seemed to him to account for the different periodical
revolutions observable in several maladies. When in after-life he met
with Father Hell, he was confirmed by that person's observations in
the truth of many of his own ideas. Having caused Hell to make him

some magnetic plates, he determined to try experiments with them
himself for his further satisfaction.
He tried accordingly, and was astonished at his success. The faith
of their wearers operated wonders with the metallic plates. Mesmer
made due reports to Father Hell of all he had done, and the latter
published them as the results of his own happy invention, and speaking
of Mesmer as a physician whom he had employed to work under him.
Mesmer took offence at being thus treated, considering himself a far
greater personage than Father Hell. He claimed the invention as his
own, accused Hell of a breach of confidence, and stigmatized him as a
mean person, anxious to turn the discoveries of others to his own
account. Hell replied, and a very pretty quarrel was the result, which
afforded small talk for months to the literati of Vienna. Hell
ultimately gained the victory. Mesmer, nothing daunted, continued to
promulgate his views, till he stumbled at last upon the animal theory.
One of his patients was a young lady named Oesterline, who
suffered under a convulsive malady. Her attacks were periodical, and
attended by a rush of blood to the head, followed by delirium and
syncope. These symptoms he soon succeeded in reducing under his system
of planetary influence, and imagined he could foretell the periods of
accession and remission. Having thus accounted satisfactorily to
himself for the origin of the disease, the idea struck him that he
could operate a certain cure, if he could ascertain beyond doubt what
he had long believed, that there existed between the bodies which
compose our globe, an action equally reciprocal and similar to that of
the heavenly bodies, by means of which he could imitate artificially
the periodical revolutions of the flux and reflux beforementioned. He
soon convinced himself that this action did exist. When trying the
metallic plates of Father Hell, he thought their efficacy depended on
their form; but he found afterwards that he could produce the same
effects without using them at all, merely by passing his hands
downwards towards the feet of the patient -- even when at a
considerable distance.
This completed the theory of Mesmer. He wrote an account of his
discovery to all the learned societies of Europe, soliciting their
investigation. The Academy of Sciences at Berlin was the only one that
answered him, and their answer was anything but favourable to his
system or flattering to himself. Still he was not discouraged. He
maintained to all who would listen to him that the magnetic matter, or
fluid, pervaded all the universe -- that every human body contained
it, and could communicate the superabundance of it to another by an
exertion of the will. Writing to a friend from Vienna, he said, "I
have observed that the magnetic is almost the same thing as the
electric fluid, and that it may be propagated in the same manner, by
means of intermediate bodies. Steel is not the only substance adapted
to this purpose. I have rendered paper, bread, wool, silk, stones,
leather, glass, wood, men, and dogs -- in short, everything I touched,

magnetic to such a degree that these substances produced the same
effects as the loadstone on diseased persons. I have charged jars with
magnetic matter in the same way as is done with electricity."
Mesmer did not long find his residence at Vienna as agreeable as
he wished. His pretensions were looked upon with contempt or
indifference, and the case of Mademoiselle Oesterline brought him less
fame than notoriety. He determined to change his sphere of action, and
travelled into Swabia and Switzerland. In the latter country he met
with the celebrated Father Gassner, who, like Valentine Greatraks,
amused himself by casting out devils, and healing the sick by merely
laying hands upon them. At his approach puling girls fell into
convulsions, and the hypochondriac fancied themselves cured. His house
was daily besieged by the lame, the blind, and the hysteric. Mesmer at
once acknowledged the efficacy of his cures, and declared that they
were the obvious result of his own newly-discovered power of
magnetism. A few of the Father's patients were forthwith subjected to
the manipulations of Mesmer, and the same symptoms were induced. He
then tried his hand upon some paupers in the hospitals of Berne and
Zurich, and succeeded, according to his own account, but no other
person's, in curing an opththalmia and a gutta serena. With memorials
of these achievements he returned to Vienna, in the hope of silencing
his enemies, or at least forcing them to respect his newly-acquired
reputation, and to examine his system more attentively.
His second appearance in that capital was not more auspicious than
the first. He undertook to cure a Mademoiselle Paradis, who was quite
blind, and subject to convulsions. He magnetised her several times,
and then declared that she was cured; at least, if she was not, it was
her fault, and not his. An eminent oculist of that day, named Birth,
went to visit her, and declared that she was as blind as ever; while
her family said she was as much subject to convulsions as before.
Mesmer persisted that she was cured. Like the French philosopher, he
would not allow facts to interfere with his theory. [An enthusiastic
philosopher, of whose name we are not informed, had constructed a very
satisfactory theory on some subject or other, and was not a little
proud of it. "But the facts, my dear fellow," said his friend, "the
facts do not agree with your theory." -- "Don't they," replied the
philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, "then, taut pis pour les faits;"
-- so much the worse for the facts.] He declared that there was a
conspiracy against him; and that Mademoiselle Paradis, at the
instigation of her family, feigned blindness in order to injure his
reputation!
The consequences of this pretended cure taught Mesmer that Vienna
was not the sphere for him. Paris, the idle, the debauched, the
pleasure-hunting, the novelty-loving, was the scene for a philosopher
like him, and thither he repaired accordingly. He arrived at Paris in
1778, and began modestly, by making himself and his theory known to
the principal physicians. At first, his encouragement was but slight;

he found people more inclined to laugh at than to patronise him. But
he was a man who had great confidence in himself, and of a
perseverance which no difficulties could overcome. He hired a
sumptuous apartment, which he opened to all comers who chose to make
trial of the new power of nature. M. D'Eslon, a physician of great
reputation, became a convert; and from that time, Animal Magnetism,
or, as some called it, Mesmerism, became the fashion in Paris. The
women were quite enthusiastic about it, and their admiring tattle
wafted its fame through every grade of society. Mesmer was the rage;
and high and low, rich and poor, credulous and unbelieving, all
hastened to convince themselves of the power of this mighty magician,
who made such magnificent promises. Mesmer, who knew as well as any
man living the influence of the imagination, determined that, on that
score, nothing should be wanting to heighten the effect of the
magnetic charm. In all Paris, there was not a house so charmingly
furnished as Monsieur Mesmer's. Richly-stained glass shed a dim
religious light on his spacious saloons, which were almost covered
with mirrors. Orange blossoms scented all the air of his corridors;
incense of the most expensive kinds burned in antique vases on his
chimney-pieces; aeolian harps sighed melodious music from distant
chambers; while sometimes a sweet female voice, from above or below,
stole softly upon the mysterious silence that was kept in the house,
and insisted upon from all visitors. "Was ever anything so
delightful?" cried all the Mrs. Wittitterley's of Paris, as they
thronged to his house in search of pleasant excitement; "so
wonderful!" said the pseudo-philosophers, who would believe anything
if it were the fashion; "so amusing!" said the worn-out debauchees,
who had drained the cup of sensuality to its dregs, and who longed to
see lovely women in convulsions, with the hope that they might gain
some new emotions from the sight.
The following was the mode of operation: -- In the centre of the
saloon was placed an oval vessel, about four feet in its longest
diameter, and one foot deep. In this were laid a number of
wine-bottles, filled with magnetised water, well corked-up, and
disposed in radii, with their necks outwards. Water was then poured
into the vessel so as just to cover the bottles, and filings of iron
were thrown in occasionally to heighten the magnetic effect. The
vessel was then covered with an iron cover, pierced through with many
holes, and was called the baquet. From each hole issued a long
moveable rod of iron, which the patients were to apply to such parts
of their bodies as were afflicted. Around this baquet the patients
were directed to sit, holding each other by the hand, and pressing
their knees together as closely as possible to facilitate the passage
of the magnetic fluid from one to the other.
Then came in the assistant magnetisers, generally strong, handsome
young men, to pour into the patient from their finger-tips fresh
streams of the wondrous fluid. They embraced the patients between the
knees, rubbed them gently down the spine and the course of the nerves,

using gentle pressure upon the breasts of the ladies, and staring them
out of countenance to magnetise them by the eye! All this time the
most rigorous silence was maintained, with the exception of a few wild
notes on the harmonica or the piano-forte, or the melodious voice of a
hidden opera-singer swelling softly at long intervals. Gradually the
cheeks of the ladies began to glow, their imaginations to become
inflamed; and off they went, one after the other, in convulsive fits.
Some of them sobbed and tore their hair, others laughed till the tears
ran from their eyes, while others shrieked and screamed and yelled
till they became insensible altogether.
This was the crisis of the delirium. In the midst of it, the chief
actor made his appearance, waving his wand, like Prospero, to work new
wonders. Dressed in a long robe of lilac-coloured silk, richly
embroidered with gold flowers, bearing in his hand a white magnetic
rod; and, with a look of dignity which would have sat well on an
eastern caliph, he marched with solemn strides into the room. He awed
the still sensible by his eye, and the violence of their symptoms
diminished. He stroked the insensible with his hands upon the eyebrows
and down the spine; traced figures upon their breast and abdomen with
his long white wand, and they were restored to consciousness. They
became calm, acknowledged his power, and said they felt streams of
cold or burning vapour passing through their frames, according as he
waved his wand or his fingers before them.
"It is impossible," says M. Dupotet, "to conceive the sensation
which Mesmer's experiments created in Paris. No theological
controversy, in the earlier ages of the Catholic Church, was ever
conducted with greater bitterness." His adversaries denied the
discovery; some calling him a quack, others a fool, and others, again,
like the Abbe Fiard, a man who had sold himself to the devil! His
friends were as extravagant in their praise, as his foes were in their
censure. Paris was inundated with pamphlets upon the subject, as many
defending as attacking the doctrine. At court, the Queen expressed
herself in favour of it, and nothing else was to be heard of in
society.
By the advice of M. D'Eslon, Mesmer challenged an examination of
his doctrine by the Faculty of Medicine. He proposed to select
twenty-four patients, twelve of whom he would treat magnetically,
leaving the other twelve to be treated by the faculty according to the
old and approved methods. He also stipulated, that to prevent
disputes, the government should nominate certain persons who were not
physicians, to be present at the experiments; and that the object of
the inquiry should be, not how these effects were produced, but
whether they were really efficacious in the cure of any disease. The
faculty objected to limit the inquiry in this manner, and the
proposition fell to the ground.
Mesmer now wrote to Marie Antoinette, with the view of securing

her influence in obtaining for him the protection of government. He
wished to have a chateau and its lands given to him, with a handsome
yearly income, that he might be enabled to continue his experiments at
leisure, untroubled by the persecution of his enemies. He hinted the
duty of governments to support men of science, and expressed his fear,
that if he met no more encouragement, he should be compelled to carry
his great discovery to some other land more willing to appreciate him.
"In the eyes of your Majesty," said he, "four or five hundred thousand
francs, applied to a good purpose, are of no account. The welfare and
happiness of your people are everything. My discovery ought to be
received and rewarded with a munificence worthy of the monarch to whom
I shall attach myself." The government at last offered him a pension
of twenty thousand francs, and the cross of the order of St. Michael,
if he had made any discovery in medicine, and would communicate it to
physicians nominated by the King. The latter part of the proposition
was not agreeable to Mesmer. He feared the unfavourable report of the
King's physicians; and, breaking off the negotiation, spoke of his
disregard of money, and his wish to have his discovery at once
recognised by the government. He then retired to Spa, in a fit of
disgust, upon pretence of drinking the waters for the benefit of his
health.
After he had left Paris, the Faculty of Medicine called upon M.
D'Eslon, for the third and last time, to renounce the doctrine of
animal magnetism, or be expelled from their body. M. D'Eslon, so far
from doing this, declared that he had discovered new secrets, and
solicited further examination. A royal commission of the Faculty of
Medicine was, in consequence, appointed on the l2th of March 1784,
seconded by another commission of the Academie des Sciences, to
investigate the phenomena and report upon them. The first commission
was composed of the principal physicians of Paris; while, among the
eminent men comprised in the latter, were Benjamin Franklin,
Lavoisier, and Bailly, the historian of astronomy. Mesmer was formally
invited to appear before this body, but absented himself from day to
day, upon one pretence or another. M. D'Eslon was more honest, because
he thoroughly believed in the phenomena, which it is to be questioned
if Mesmer ever did, and regularly attended the sittings and performed
experiments.
Bailly has thus described the scenes of which he was a witness in
the course of this investigation. "The sick persons, arranged in great
numbers and in several rows around the baquet, receive the magnetism
by all these means: by the iron rods which convey it to them from the
baquet -- by the cords wound round their bodies -- by the connection
of the thumb, which conveys to them the magnetism of their neighbours
-- and by the sounds of a pianoforte, or of an agreeable voice,
diffusing the magnetism in the air. The patients were also directly
magnetised by means of the finger and wand of the magnetiser moved
slowly before their faces, above or behind their heads, and on the
diseased parts, always observing the direction of the holes. The

magnetiser acts by fixing his eyes on them. But above all, they are
magnetised by the application of his hands and the pressure of his
fingers on the hypochondres and on the regions of the abdomen; an
application often continued for a long time-sometimes for several
hours.
"Meanwhile the patients in their different conditions present a
very varied picture. Some are calm, tranquil, and experience no
effect. Others cough, spit, feel slight pains, local or general heat,
and have sweatings. Others again are agitated and tormented with
convulsions. These convulsions are remarkable in regard to the number
affected with them, to their duration and force. As soon as one begins
to be convulsed, several others are affected. The commissioners have
observed some of these convulsions last more than three hours. They
are accompanied with expectorations of a muddy viscous water, brought
away by violent efforts. Sometimes streaks of blood have been observed
in this fluid. These convulsions are characterized by the precipitous,
involuntary motion of all the limbs, and of the whole body: by the
construction of the throat -- by the leaping motions of the
hypochondria and the epigastrium -- by the dimness and wandering of
the eyes -- by piercing shrieks, tears, sobbing, and immoderate
laughter. They are preceded or followed by a state of languor or
reverie, a kind of depression, and sometimes drowsiness. The smallest
sudden noise occasions a shuddering; and it was remarked, that the
change of measure in the airs played on the piano-forte had a great
influence on the patients. A quicker motion, a livelier melody,
agitated them more, and renewed the vivacity of their convulsions.
"Nothing is more astonishing than the spectacle of these
convulsions. One who has not seen them can form no idea of them. The
spectator is as much astonished at the profound repose of one portion
of the patients as at the agitation of the rest - at the various
accidents which are repeated, and at the sympathies which are
exhibited. Some of the patients may be seen devoting their attention
exclusively to one another, rushing towards each other with open arms,
smiling, soothing, and manifesting every symptom of attachment and
affection. All are under the power of the magnetiser; it matters not
in what state of drowsiness they may be, the sound of his voice -- a
look, a motion of his hand -- brings them out of it. Among the
patients in convulsions there are always observed a great many women,
and very few men." [Rapport des Commissaires, redige par M. Bailly. --
Paris, 1784.]
These experiments lasted for about five months. They had hardly
commenced, before Mesmer, alarmed at the loss both of fame and profit,
determined to return to Paris. Some patients of rank and fortune,
enthusiastic believers in his doctrine, had followed him to Spa. One
of them named Bergasse, proposed to open a subscription for him, of
one hundred shares, at one hundred louis each, on condition that he
would disclose his secret to the subscribers, who were to be permitted

to make whatever use they pleased of it. Mesmer readily embraced the
proposal; and such was the infatuation, that the subscription was not
only filled in a few days, but exceeded by no less a sum than one
hundred and forty thousand francs.
With this fortune he returned to Paris, and recommenced his
experiments, while the royal commission continued theirs. His admiring
pupils, who had paid him so handsomely for his instructions, spread
the delusion over the country, and established in all the principal
towns of France, "Societies of Harmony," for trying experiments and
curing all diseases by means of magnetism. Some of these societies
were a scandal to morality, being joined by profligate men of depraved
appetites, who took a disgusting delight in witnessing young girls in
convulsions. Many of the pretended magnetisers were notorious
libertines, who took that opportunity of gratifying their passions. An
illegal increase of the number of French citizens was anything but a
rare consequence in Strasburg, Nantes, Bourdeaux, Lyons, and other
towns, where these societies were established.
At last the Commissioners published their report, which was drawn
up by the illustrious and unfortunate Bailly. For clearness of
reasoning and strict impartiality it has never been surpassed. After
detailing the various experiments made, and their results, they came
to the conclusion that the only proof advanced in support of Animal
Magnetism was the effects it produced on the human body -- that those
effects could be produced without passes or other magnetic
manipulations - that all these manipulations, and passes, and
ceremonies never produce any effect at all if employed without the
patient's knowledge; and that therefore imagination did, and animal
magnetism did not, account for the phenomena.
This report was the ruin of Mesmer's reputation in France. He
quitted Paris shortly after, with the three hundred and forty thousand
francs which had been subscribed by his admirers, and retired to his
own country, where he died in 1815, at the advanced age of eighty-one.
But the seeds he had sown fructified of themselves, nourished and
brought to maturity by the kindly warmth of popular credulity.
Imitators sprang up in France, Germany, and England, more extravagant
than their master, and claiming powers for the new science which its
founder had never dreamt of. Among others, Cagliostro made good use of
the delusion in extending his claims to be considered a master of the
occult sciences. But he made no discoveries worthy to be compared to
those of the Marquis de Puysegur and the Chevalier Barbarin, honest
men, who began by deceiving themselves before they deceived others.
The Marquis de Puysegur, the owner of a considerable estate at
Busancy, was one of those who had entered into the subscription for
Mesmer. After that individual had quitted France, he retired to
Busancy with his brother to try Animal Magnetism upon his tenants, and
cure the country people of all manner of diseases. He was a man of

great simplicity and much benevolence, and not only magnetised but fed
the sick that flocked around him. In all the neighbourhood, and indeed
within a circumference of twenty miles, he was looked upon as endowed
with a power almost Divine. His great discovery, as he called it, was
made by chance. One day he had magnetised his gardener; and observing
him to fall into a deep sleep, it occurred to him that he would
address a question to him, as he would have done to a natural
somnambulist. He did so, and the man replied with much clearness and
precision. M. de Puysegur was agreeably surprised: he continued his
experiments, and found that, in this state of magnetic somnambulism,
the soul of the sleeper was enlarged, and brought into more intimate
communion with all nature, and more especially with him, M. de
Puysegur. He found that all further manipulations were unnecessary;
that, without speaking or making any sign, he could convey his will to
the patient; that he could, in fact, converse with him, soul to soul,
without the employment of any physical operation whatever!
Simultaneously with this marvellous discovery he made another,
which reflects equal credit upon his understanding. Like Valentine
Greatraks, he found it hard work to magnetise all that came - that he
had not even time to take the repose and relaxation which were
necessary for his health. In this emergency he hit upon a clever
expedient. He had heard Mesmer say that he could magnetise bits of
wood -- why should he not be able to magnetise a whole tree? It was no
sooner thought than done. There was a large elm on the village green
at Busancy, under which the peasant girls used to dance on festive
occasions, and the old men to sit, drinking their vin du pays on the
fine summer evenings. M. de Puysegur proceeded to this tree and
magnetised it, by first touching it with his hands and then retiring a
few steps from it; all the while directing streams of the magnetic
fluid from the branches toward the trunk, and from the trunk toward
the root. This done, he caused circular seats to be erected round it,
and cords suspended from it in all directions. When the patients had
seated themselves, they twisted the cords round the diseased parts of
their bodies, and held one another firmly by their thumbs to form a
direct channel of communication for the passage of the fluid.
M. de Puysegur had now two hobbies - the man with the enlarged
soul, and the magnetic elm. The infatuation of himself and his
patients cannot be better expressed than in his own words. Writing to
his brother, on the 17th of May 1784, he says, "If you do not come, my
dear friend, you will not see my extraordinary man, for his health is
now almost quite restored. I continue to make use of the happy power
for which I am indebted to M. Mesmer. Every day I bless his name; for
I am very useful, and produce many salutary effects on all the sick
poor in the neighbourhood. They flock around my tree; there were more
than one hundred and thirty of them this morning. It is the best
baquet possible; not a leaf of it but communicates health! all feel,
more or less, the good effects of it. You will be delighted to see the
charming picture of humanity which this presents. I have only one

egret - it is, that I cannot touch all who come. But my magnetised
man -- my intelligence - sets me at ease. He teaches me what conduct I
should adopt. According to him, it is not at all necessary that I
should touch every one; a look, a gesture, even a wish, is sufficient.
And it is one of the most ignorant peasants of the country that
teaches me this! When he is in a crisis, I know of nothing more
profound, more prudent, more clearsighted (clairvoyant) than he is."
In another letter, describing his first experiment with the
magnetic tree, he says, "Yester evening I brought my first patient to
it. As soon as I had put the cord round him he gazed at the tree; and,
with an air of astonishment which I cannot describe, exclaimed, 'What
is it that I see there?' His head then sunk down, and he fell into a
perfect fit of somnambulism. At the end of an hour, I took him home to
his house again, when I restored him to his senses. Several men and
women came to tell him what he had been doing. He maintained it was
not true; that, weak as he was, and scarcely able to walk, it would
have been scarcely possible for him to have gone down stairs and
walked to the tree. To-day I have repeated the experiment on him, and
with the same success. I own to you that my head turns round with
pleasure to think of the good I do. Madame de Puysegur, the friends
she has with her, my servants, and, in fact, all who are near me, feel
an amazement, mingled with admiration, which cannot be described; but
they do not experience the half of my sensations. Without my tree,
which gives me rest, and which will give me still more, I should be in
a state of agitation, inconsistent, I believe, with my health. I exist
too much, if I may be allowed to use the expression."
In another letter, he descants still more poetically upon his
gardener with the enlarged soul. He says, "It is from this simple man,
this tall and stout rustic, twenty-three years of age, enfeebled by
disease, or rather by sorrow, and therefore the more predisposed to be
affected by any great natural agent, -- it is from this man, I repeat,
that I derive instruction and knowledge. When in the magnetic state,
he is no longer a peasant who can hardly utter a single sentence; he
is a being, to describe whom I cannot find a name. I need not speak; I
have only to think before him, when he instantly understands and
answers me. Should anybody come into the room, he sees him, if I
desire it (but not else), and addresses him, and says what I wish him
to say; not indeed exactly as I dictate to him, but as truth requires.
When he wants to add more than I deem it prudent strangers should
hear, I stop the flow of his ideas, and of his conversation in the
middle of a word, and give it quite a different turn!"
Among other persons attracted to Busancy by the report of these
extraordinary occurrences was M. Cloquet, the Receiver of Finance. His
appetite for the marvellous being somewhat insatiable, he readily
believed all that was told him by M. de Puysegur. He also has left a
record of what he saw, and what he credited, which throws a still
clearer light upon the progress of the delusion. ["Introduction to the

Study of Animal Magnetism," by Baron Dupotet, p. 73.] He says that the
patients he saw in the magnetic state had an appearance of deep sleep,
during which all the physical faculties were suspended, to the
advantage of the intellectual faculties. The eyes of the patients were
closed; the sense of hearing was abolished, and they awoke only at the
voice of their magnetiser. "If any one touched a patient during a
crisis, or even the chair on which he was seated," says M. Cloquet,
"it would cause him much pain and suffering, and throw him into
convulsions. During the crisis, they possess an extraordinary and
supernatural power, by which, on touching a patient presented to them,
they can feel what part of his body is diseased, even by merely
passing their hand over the clothes." Another singularity was, that
these sleepers who could thus discover diseases -- see into the
interior of other men's stomachs, and point out remedies, remembered
absolutely nothing after the magnetiser thought proper to disenchant
them. The time that elapsed between their entering the crisis and
their coming out of it was obliterated. Not only had the magnetiser
the power of making himself heard by the somnambulists, but he could
make them follow him by merely pointing his finger at them from a
distance, though they had their eyes the whole time completely closed.
Such was Animal Magnetism under the auspices of the Marquis de
Puysegur. While he was hibiting these fooleries around his elm-tree, a
magnetiser of another class appeared in Lyons, in the person of the
Chevalier de Barbarin. This person thought the effort of the will,
without any of the paraphernalia of wands or baquets, was sufficient
to throw patients into the magnetic sleep. He tried it and succeeded.
By sitting at the bedside of his patients, and praying that they might
be magnetised, they went off into a state very similar to that of the
persons who fell under the notice of M. de Puysegur. In the course of
time, a very considerable number of magnetisers, acknowledging
Barbarin for their model, and called after him Barbarinists, appeared
in different parts, and were believed to have effected some remarkable
cures. In Sweden and Germany, this sect of fanatics increased rapidly,
and were called spiritualists, to distinguish them from the followers
of M. de Puysegur, who were called experimentalists. They maintained
that all the effects of Animal Magnetism, which Mesmer believed to be
producible by a magnetic fluid dispersed through nature, were produced
by the mere effort of one human soul acting upon another; that when a
connexion had once been established between a magnetiser and his
patient, the former could communicate his influence to the latter from
any distance, even hundreds of miles, by the will! One of them thus
described the blessed state of a magnetic patient: -- "In such a man
animal instinct ascends to the highest degree admissible in this
world. The clairvoyant is then a pure animal, without any admixture of
matter. His observations are those of a spirit. He is similar to God.
His eye penetrates all the secrets of nature. When his attention is
fixed on any of the objects of this world -- on his disease, his
death, his well-beloved, his friends, his relations, his enemies, --
in spirit he sees them acting; he penetrates into the causes and the

consequences of their actions; he becomes a physician, a prophet, a
divine!" [See "Foreign Review, Continental Miscellany," vol. v. 113.]
Let us now see what progress these mysteries made in England. In
the year 1788, Dr. Mainauduc, who had been a pupil, first of Mesmer,
and afterwards of D'Eslon, arrived in Bristol, and gave public
lectures upon magnetism. His success was quite extraordinary. People
of rank and fortune hastened from London to Bristol to be magnetised,
or to place themselves under his tuition. Dr. George Winter, in his
History of Animal Magnetism, gives the following list of them: --
"They amounted to one hundred and twenty-seven, among whom there were
one duke, one duchess, one marchioness, two countesses, one earl, one
baron, three baronesses, one bishop, five right honourable gentlemen
and ladies, two baronets, seven members of parliament, one clergyman,
two physicians, seven surgeons, besides ninety-two gentlemen and
ladies of respectability." He afterwards established himself in
London, where he performed with equal success.
He began by publishing proposals to the ladies for the formation
of a Hygeian Society. In this paper he vaunted highly the curative
effects of Animal Magnetism, and took great credit to himself for
being the first person to introduce it into England, and thus
concluded:-- "As this method of cure is not confined to sex, or
college education, and the fair sex being in general the most
sympathising part of the creation, and most immediately concerned in
the health and care of its offspring, I think myself bound in
gratitude to you, ladies, for the partiality you have shown me in
midwifery, to contribute, as far as lies in my power, to render you
additionally useful and valuable to the community. With this view, I
propose forming my Hygeian Society, to be incorporated with that of
Paris. As soon as twenty ladies have given in their names, the day
shall be appointed for the first meeting at my house, when they are to
pay fifteen guineas, which will include the whole expense."
Hannah More, in a letter addressed to Horace Walpole, in September
1788, speaks of the "demoniacal mummeries" of Dr. Mainauduc, and says
he was in a fair way of gaining a hundred thousand pounds by them, as
Mesmer had done by his exhibitions in Paris.
So much curiosity was excited by the subject that, about the same
time, a man, named Holloway, gave a course of lectures on Animal
Magnetism in London, at the rate of five guineas for each pupil, and
realised a considerable fortune. Loutherbourg, the painter, and his
wife followed the same profitable trade; and such was the infatuation
of the people to be witnesses of their strange manipulations, that, at
times, upwards of three thousand persons crowded around their house at
Hammersmith, unable to gain admission. The tickets sold at prices
varying from one to three guineas. Loutherbourg performed his cures by
the touch, after the manner of Valentine Greatraks, and finally
pretended to a Divine mission. An account of his miracles, as they

were called, was published in 1789, entitled "A List of New Cures
performed by Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg of Hammersmith Terrace,
without Medicine; by a Lover of the Lamb of God. Dedicated to his
Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury."
This "Lover of the Lamb of God" was a half-crazy old woman, named
Mary Pratt, who conceived for Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg a
veneration which almost prompted her to worship them. She chose for
the motto of her pamphlet a verse in the thirteenth chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish!
for I will work a work in your days which ye shall not believe though
a man declare it unto you." Attempting to give a religious character
to the cures of the painter, she thought a woman was the proper person
to make them known, since the apostle had declared that a man should
not be able to conquer the incredulity of the people. She stated that,
from Christmas 1788 to July 1789, De Loutherbourg and his wife had
cured two thousand people, "having been made proper recipients to
receive Divine manuductions; which heavenly and Divine influx, coming
from the radix God, his Divine Majesty had most graciously bestowed
upon them to diffuse healing to all, be they deaf, dumb, blind, lame,
or halt."
In her dedication to the Archbishop of Canterbury, she implored
him to compose a new form of prayer to be used in all churches and
chapels, that nothing might impede this inestimable gift from having
its due course. She further entreated all the magistrates and men of
authority in the land to wait on Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg, to
consult with them on the immediate erection of a large hospital, with
a pool of Bethesda attached to it. All the magnetisers were
scandalised at the preposterous jabber of this old woman, and De
Loutherbourg appears to have left London to avoid her; continuing,
however, in conjunction with his wife, the fantastic tricks which had
turned the brain of this poor fanatic, and deluded many others who
pretended to more sense than she had.
From this period until 1798, magnetism excited little or no
attention in England. An attempt to revive the doctrine was made in
that year, but it was in the shape of mineral rather than of animal
magnetism. One Benjamin Douglas Perkins, an American, practising as a
surgeon in Leicestersquare, invented and took out a patent for the
celebrated "Metallic Tractors." He pretended that these tractors,
which were two small pieces of metal strongly magnetised, something
resembling the steel plates which were first brought into notice by
Father Hell, would cure gout, rheumatism, palsy, and in fact, almost
every disease the human frame was subject to, if applied externally to
the afflicted part, and moved about gently, touching the surface only.
The most wonderful stories soon obtained general circulation, and the
press groaned with pamphlets, all vaunting the curative effects of the
tractors, which were sold at five guineas the pair. Perkins gained
money rapidly. Gouty subjects forgot their pains in the presence of

this new remedy; the rheumatism fled at its approach; and toothache,
which is often cured by the mere sight of a dentist, vanished before
Perkins and his marvellous steel plates. The benevolent Quakers, of
whose body he was a member, warmly patronised the invention. Desirous
that the poor, who could not afford to pay Mr. Perkins five guineas,
or even five shillings, for his tractors, should also share in the
benefits of that sublime discovery, they subscribed a large sum, and
built an hospital, called the "Perkinean Institution," in which all
comers might be magnetised free of cost. In the course of a few months
they were in very general use, and their lucky inventor in possession
of five thousand pounds.
Dr. Haygarth, an eminent physician at Bath, recollecting the
influence of imagination in the cure of disease, hit upon an expedient
to try the real value of the tractors. Perkins's cures were too well
established to be doubted; and Dr. Haygarth, without gainsaying them,
quietly, but in the face of numerous witnesses, exposed the delusion
under which people laboured with respect to the curative medium. He
suggested to Dr. Falconer that they should make wooden tractors, paint
them to resemble the steel ones, and see if the very same effects
would not be produced. Five patients were chosen from the hospital in
Bath, upon whom to operate. Four of them suffered severely from
chronic rheumatism in the ankle, knee, wrist, and hip; and the fifth
had been afflicted for several months with the gout. On the day
appointed for the experiments, Dr. Haygarth and his friends assembled
at the hospital, and with much solemnity brought forth the fictitious
tractors. Four out of the five patients said their pains were
immediately relieved; and three of them said they were not only
relieved, but very much benefited. One felt his knee warmer, and said
he could walk across the room. He tried and succeeded, although on the
previous day he had not been able to stir. The gouty man felt his
pains diminish rapidly, and was quite easy for nine hours, until he
went to bed, when the twitching began again. On the following day the
real tractors were applied to all the patients, when they described
their symptoms in nearly the same terms.
To make still more sure, the experiment was tried in the Bristol
Infirmary, a few weeks afterwards, on a man who had a rheumatic
affection in the shoulder, so severe as to incapacitate him from
lifting his hand from his knee. The fictitious tractors were brought
and applied to the afflicted part, one of the physicians, to add
solemnity to the scene, drawing a stop-watch from his pocket to
calculate the time exactly, while another, with a pen in his hand, sat
down to write the change of symptoms from minute to minute as they
occurred. In less than four minutes the man felt so much relieved,
that he lifted his hand several inches without any pain in the
shoulder!
An account of these matters was published by Dr. Haygarth, in a
small volume entitled, "Of the Imagination, as a Cause and Cure of

Disorders, exemplified by fictitious Tractors." The exposure was a
coup de grace to the system of Mr. Perkins. His friends and patrons,
still unwilling to confess that they had been deceived, tried the
tractors upon sheep, cows, and horses, alleging that the animals
received benefit from the metallic plates, but none at all from the
wooden ones. But they found nobody to believe them; the Perkinean
Institution fell into neglect; and Perkins made his exit from England,
carrying with him about ten thousand pounds, to soothe his declining
years in the good city of Pennsylvania.
Thus was magnetism laughed out of England for a time. In France,
the revolution left men no leisure for such puerilities. The "Societes
de l'Harmonie," of Strasburg, and other great towns, lingered for a
while, till sterner matters occupying men's attention, they were one
after the other abandoned, both by pupils and professors. The system
thus driven from the first two nations of Europe, took refuge among
the dreamy philosophers of Germany. There the wonders of the magnetic
sleep grew more and more wonderful every day; the patients acquired
the gift of prophecy - their vision extended over all the surface of
the globe -- they could hear and see with their toes and fingers, and
read unknown languages, and understand them too, by merely having the
book placed on their bellies. Ignorant clodpoles, when once entranced
by the grand Mesmeric fluid, could spout philosophy diviner than Plato
ever wrote, descant upon the mysteries of the mind with more eloquence
and truth than the profoundest metaphysicians the world ever saw, and
solve knotty points of divinity with as much ease as waking men could
undo their shoe-buckles!
During the first twelve years of the present century, little was
heard of Animal Magnetism in any country of Europe. Even the Germans
forgot their airy fancies; recalled to the knowledge of this every-day
world by the roar of Napoleon's cannon and the fall or the
establishment of kingdoms. During this period, a cloud of obscurity
hung over the science, which was not dispersed until M. Deleuze
published, in 1813, his "Histoire Critique du Magnetisme Animal." This
work gave a new impulse to the half-forgotten delusion; newspapers,
pamphlets, and books again waged war upon each other on the question
of its truth or falsehood; and many eminent men in the profession of
medicine recommenced inquiry, with an earnest design to discover the
truth.
The assertions made in the celebrated treatise of Deleuze are thus
summed up: [See the very calm, clear, and dispassionate article upon
the subject in the fifth volume (1830) of "The Foreign Review," page
96, et seq.] -- "There is a fluid continually escaping from the human
body," and "forming an atmosphere around us," which, as "it has no
determined current," produces no sensible effects on surrounding
individuals. It is, however, "capable of being directed by the will;"
and, when so directed, "is sent forth in currents," with a force
corresponding to the energy we possess. Its motion is "similar to that

of the rays from burning bodies;" "it possesses different qualities in
different individuals." It is capable of a high degree of
concentration, "and exists also in trees." The will of the magnetiser,
"guided by a motion of the hand, several times repeated in the same
direction," can fill a tree with this fluid. Most persons, when this
fluid is poured into them, from the body and by the will of the
magnetiser, "feel a sensation of heat or cold" when he passes his hand
before them, without even touching them. Some persons, when
sufficiently charged with this fluid, fall into a state of
somnambulism, or magnetic ecstasy; and, when in this state, "they see
the fluid encircling the magnetiser like a halo of light, and issuing
in luminous streams from his mouth and nostrils, his head, and hands;
possessing a very agreeable smell, and communicating a particular
taste to food and water."
One would think that these absurdities were quite enough to be
insisted upon by any physician who wished to be considered sane, but
they only form a small portion of the wondrous things related by M.
Deleuze. He further said, "When magnetism produces somnambulism, the
person who is in this state acquires a prodigious extension of all his
faculties. Several of his external organs, especially those of sight
and hearing, become inactive; but the sensations which depend upon
them take place internally. Seeing and hearing are carried on by the
magnetic fluid, which transmits the impressions immediately, and
without the intervention of any nerves or organs directly to the
brain. Thus the somnambulist, though his eyes and ears are closed, not
only sees and hears, but sees and hears much better than he does when
awake. In all things he feels the will of the magnetiser, although
that will be not expressed. He sees into the interior of his own body,
and the most secret organization of the bodies of all those who may be
put en rapport, or in magnetic connexion, with him. Most commonly, he
only sees those parts which are diseased and disordered, and
intuitively prescribes a remedy for them. He has prophetic visions and
sensations, which are generally true, but sometimes erroneous. He
expresses himself with astonishing eloquence and facility. He is not
free from vanity. He becomes a more perfect being of his own accord
for a certain time, if guided wisely by the magnetiser, but wanders if
he is ill-directed."
According to M. Deleuze, any person could become a magnetiser and
produce these effects, by conforming to the following conditions, and
acting upon the following rules:--
Forget for a while all your knowledge of physics and metaphysics.
Remove from your mind all objections that may occur.
Imagine that it is in your power to take the malady in hand, and
throw it on one side.

Never reason for six weeks after you have commenced the study.
Have an active desire to do good; a firm belief in the power of
magnetism, and an entire confidence in employing it. In short, repel
all doubts; desire success, and act with simplicity and attention.
That is to say, "be very credulous; be very persevering; reject
all past experience, and do not listen to reason," and you are a
magnetiser after M. Deleuze's own heart.
Having brought yourself into this edifying state of fanaticism,
"remove from the patient all persons who might be troublesome to you:
keep with you only the necessary witnesses -- a single person, if need
be; desire them not to occupy themselves in any way with the processes
you employ and the effects which result from them, but to join with
you in the desire of doing good to your patient. Arrange yourself so
as neither to be too hot nor too cold, and in such a manner that
nothing may obstruct the freedom of your motions; and take precautions
to prevent interruption during the sitting. Make your patient then sit
as commodiously as possible, and place yourself opposite to him, on a
seat a little more elevated, in such a manner that his knees may be
betwixt yours, and your feet at the side of his. First, request him to
resign himself; to think of nothing; not to perplex.
same degree of strength, for the sake of experiment, and succeeded in
battering a hole in a stone wall at the twenty-fifth stroke. Another
woman, named Sonnet, laid herself down on a red-hot brazier without
flinching, and acquired for herself the nickname of the salamander;
while others, desirous of a more illustrious martyrdom, attempted to
crucify themselves. M. Deleuze, in his critical history of Animal
Magnetism, attempts to prove that this fanatical frenzy was produced
by magnetism, and that these mad enthusiasts magnetised each other
without being aware of it. As well might he insist that the fanaticism
which tempts the Hindoo bigot to keep his arms stretched in a
horizontal position till the sinews wither, or his fingers closed upon
his palms till the nails grow out of the backs of his hands, is also
an effect of magnetism!
For a period of sixty or seventy years, magnetism was almost
wholly confined to Germany. Men of sense and learning devoted their
attention to the properties of the loadstone; and one Father Hell, a
jesuit, and professor of astronomy at the University of Vienna,
rendered himself famous by his magnetic cures. About the year 1771 or
1772, he invented steel plates of a peculiar form, which he applied to
the naked body, as a cure for several diseases. In the year 1774, he
communicated his system to Anthony Mesmer. The latter improved upon
the ideas of Father Hell, constructed a new theory of his own, and
became the founder of ANIMAL MAGNETISM.
It has been the fashion among the enemies of the new delusion to

decry Mesmer as an unprincipled adventurer, while his disciples have
extolled him to the skies as a regenerator of the human race. In
nearly the same words, as the Rosicrucians applied to their founders,
he has been called the discoverer of the secret which brings man into
more intimate connexion with his Creator; the deliverer of the soul
from the debasing trammels of the flesh; the man who enables us to set
time at defiance, and conquer the obstructions of space. A careful
sifting of his pretensions -- and examination of the evidence brought
forward to sustain them, will soon show which opinion is the more
correct. That the writer of these pages considers him in the light of
a man, who deluding himself, was the means of deluding others, may be
inferred from his finding a place in these volumes, and figuring among
the Flamels, the Agrippas, the Borris, the Boehmens, and the
Cagliostros.
He was born in May 1734, at Mersburg, in Swabia, and studied
medicine at the University of Vienna. He took his degrees in 1766, and
chose the influence of the planets on the human body as the subject of
his inaugural dissertation. Having treated the matter quite in the
style of the old astrological physicians, he was exposed to some
ridicule both then and afterwards. Even at this early period some
faint ideas of his great theory were germinating in his mind. He
maintained in his dissertation, "that the sun, moon, and fixed stars
mutually affect each other in their orbits; that they cause and direct
in our earth a flux and reflux not only in the sea, but in the
atmosphere, and affect in a similar manner all organized bodies
through the medium of a subtile and mobile fluid, which pervades the
universe and associates all things together in mutual intercourse and
harmony." This influence, he said, was particularly exercised on the
nervous system, and produced two states which he called intension and
remission, which seemed to him to account for the different periodical
revolutions observable in several maladies. When in after-life he met
with Father Hell, he was confirmed by that person's observations in
the truth of many of his own ideas. Having caused Hell to make him
some magnetic plates, he determined to try experiments with them
himself for his further satisfaction.
He tried accordingly, and was astonished at his success. The faith
of their wearers operated wonders with the metallic plates. Mesmer
made due reports to Father Hell of all he had done, and the latter
published them as the results of his own happy invention, and speaking
of Mesmer as a physician whom he had employed to work under him.
Mesmer took offence at being thus treated, considering himself a far
greater personage than Father Hell. He claimed the invention as his
own, accused Hell of a breach of confidence, and stigmatized him as a
mean person, anxious to turn the discoveries of others to his own
account. Hell replied, and a very pretty quarrel was the result, which
afforded small talk for months to the literati of Vienna. Hell
ultimately gained the victory. Mesmer, nothing daunted, continued to
promulgate his views, till he stumbled at last upon the animal theory.

One of his patients was a young lady named Oesterline, who
suffered under a convulsive malady. Her attacks were periodical, and
attended by a rush of blood to the head, followed by delirium and
syncope. These symptoms he soon succeeded in reducing under his system
of planetary influence, and imagined he could foretell the periods of
accession and remission. Having thus accounted satisfactorily to
himself for the origin of the disease, the idea struck him that he
could operate a certain cure, if he could ascertain beyond doubt what
he had long believed, that there existed between the bodies which
compose our globe, an action equally reciprocal and similar to that of
the heavenly bodies, by means of which he could imitate artificially
the periodical revolutions of the flux and reflux beforementioned. He
soon convinced himself that this action did exist. When trying the
metallic plates of Father Hell, he thought their efficacy depended on
their form; but he found afterwards that he could produce the same
effects without using them at all, merely by passing his hands
downwards towards the feet of the patient -- even when at a
considerable distance.
This completed the theory of Mesmer. He wrote an account of his
discovery to all the learned societies of Europe, soliciting their
investigation. The Academy of Sciences at Berlin was the only one that
answered him, and their answer was anything but favourable to his
system or flattering to himself. Still he was not discouraged. He
maintained to all who would listen to him that the magnetic matter, or
fluid, pervaded all the universe -- that every human body contained
it, and could communicate the superabundance of it to another by an
exertion of the will. Writing to a friend from Vienna, he said, "I
have observed that the magnetic is almost the same thing as the
electric fluid, and that it may be propagated in the same manner, by
means of intermediate bodies. Steel is not the only substance adapted
to this purpose. I have rendered paper, bread, wool, silk, stones,
leather, glass, wood, men, and dogs -- in short, everything I touched,
magnetic to such a degree that these substances produced the same
effects as the loadstone on diseased persons. I have charged jars with
magnetic matter in the same way as is done with electricity."
Mesmer did not long find his residence at Vienna as agreeable as
he wished. His pretensions were looked upon with contempt or
indifference, and the case of Mademoiselle Oesterline brought him less
fame than notoriety. He determined to change his sphere of action, and
travelled into Swabia and Switzerland. In the latter country he met
with the celebrated Father Gassner, who, like Valentine Greatraks,
amused himself by casting out devils, and healing the sick by merely
laying hands upon them. At his approach puling girls fell into
convulsions, and the hypochondriac fancied themselves cured. His house
was daily besieged by the lame, the blind, and the hysteric. Mesmer at
once acknowledged the efficacy of his cures, and declared that they
were the obvious result of his own newly-discovered power of

magnetism. A few of the Father's patients were forthwith subjected to
the manipulations of Mesmer, and the same symptoms were induced. He
then tried his hand upon some paupers in the hospitals of Berne and
Zurich, and succeeded, according to his own account, but no other
person's, in curing an opththalmia and a gutta serena. With memorials
of these achievements he returned to Vienna, in the hope of silencing
his enemies, or at least forcing them to respect his newly-acquired
reputation, and to examine his system more attentively.
His second appearance in that capital was not more auspicious than
the first. He undertook to cure a Mademoiselle Paradis, who was quite
blind, and subject to convulsions. He magnetised her several times,
and then declared that she was cured; at least, if she was not, it was
her fault, and not his. An eminent oculist of that day, named Birth,
went to visit her, and declared that she was as blind as ever; while
her family said she was as much subject to convulsions as before.
Mesmer persisted that she was cured. Like the French philosopher, he
would not allow facts to interfere with his theory. [An enthusiastic
philosopher, of whose name we are not informed, had constructed a very
satisfactory theory on some subject or other, and was not a little
proud of it. "But the facts, my dear fellow," said his friend, "the
facts do not agree with your theory." -- "Don't they," replied the
philosopher, shrugging his shoulders, "then, taut pis pour les faits;"
-- so much the worse for the facts.] He declared that there was a
conspiracy against him; and that Mademoiselle Paradis, at the
instigation of her family, feigned blindness in order to injure his
reputation!
The consequences of this pretended cure taught Mesmer that Vienna
was not the sphere for him. Paris, the idle, the debauched, the
pleasure-hunting, the novelty-loving, was the scene for a philosopher
like him, and thither he repaired accordingly. He arrived at Paris in
1778, and began modestly, by making himself and his theory known to
the principal physicians. At first, his encouragement was but slight;
he found people more inclined to laugh at than to patronise him. But
he was a man who had great confidence in himself, and of a
perseverance which no difficulties could overcome. He hired a
sumptuous apartment, which he opened to all comers who chose to make
trial of the new power of nature. M. D'Eslon, a physician of great
reputation, became a convert; and from that time, Animal Magnetism,
or, as some called it, Mesmerism, became the fashion in Paris. The
women were quite enthusiastic about it, and their admiring tattle
wafted its fame through every grade of society. Mesmer was the rage;
and high and low, rich and poor, credulous and unbelieving, all
hastened to convince themselves of the power of this mighty magician,
who made such magnificent promises. Mesmer, who knew as well as any
man living the influence of the imagination, determined that, on that
score, nothing should be wanting to heighten the effect of the
magnetic charm. In all Paris, there was not a house so charmingly
furnished as Monsieur Mesmer's. Richly-stained glass shed a dim

eligious light on his spacious saloons, which were almost covered
with mirrors. Orange blossoms scented all the air of his corridors;
incense of the most expensive kinds burned in antique vases on his
chimney-pieces; aeolian harps sighed melodious music from distant
chambers; while sometimes a sweet female voice, from above or below,
stole softly upon the mysterious silence that was kept in the house,
and insisted upon from all visitors. "Was ever anything so
delightful?" cried all the Mrs. Wittitterley's of Paris, as they
thronged to his house in search of pleasant excitement; "so
wonderful!" said the pseudo-philosophers, who would believe anything
if it were the fashion; "so amusing!" said the worn-out debauchees,
who had drained the cup of sensuality to its dregs, and who longed to
see lovely women in convulsions, with the hope that they might gain
some new emotions from the sight.
The following was the mode of operation: -- In the centre of the
saloon was placed an oval vessel, about four feet in its longest
diameter, and one foot deep. In this were laid a number of
wine-bottles, filled with magnetised water, well corked-up, and
disposed in radii, with their necks outwards. Water was then poured
into the vessel so as just to cover the bottles, and filings of iron
were thrown in occasionally to heighten the magnetic effect. The
vessel was then covered with an iron cover, pierced through with many
holes, and was called the baquet. From each hole issued a long
moveable rod of iron, which the patients were to apply to such parts
of their bodies as were afflicted. Around this baquet the patients
were directed to sit, holding each other by the hand, and pressing
their knees together as closely as possible to facilitate the passage
of the magnetic fluid from one to the other.
Then came in the assistant magnetisers, generally strong, handsome
young men, to pour into the patient from their finger-tips fresh
streams of the wondrous fluid. They embraced the patients between the
knees, rubbed them gently down the spine and the course of the nerves,
using gentle pressure upon the breasts of the ladies, and staring them
out of countenance to magnetise them by the eye! All this time the
most rigorous silence was maintained, with the exception of a few wild
notes on the harmonica or the piano-forte, or the melodious voice of a
hidden opera-singer swelling softly at long intervals. Gradually the
cheeks of the ladies began to glow, their imaginations to become
inflamed; and off they went, one after the other, in convulsive fits.
Some of them sobbed and tore their hair, others laughed till the tears
ran from their eyes, while others shrieked and screamed and yelled
till they became insensible altogether.
This was the crisis of the delirium. In the midst of it, the chief
actor made his appearance, waving his wand, like Prospero, to work new
wonders. Dressed in a long robe of lilac-coloured silk, richly
embroidered with gold flowers, bearing in his hand a white magnetic
rod; and, with a look of dignity which would have sat well on an

eastern caliph, he marched with solemn strides into the room. He awed
the still sensible by his eye, and the violence of their symptoms
diminished. He stroked the insensible with his hands upon the eyebrows
and down the spine; traced figures upon their breast and abdomen with
his long white wand, and they were restored to consciousness. They
became calm, acknowledged his power, and said they felt streams of
cold or burning vapour passing through their frames, according as he
waved his wand or his fingers before them.
"It is impossible," says M. Dupotet, "to conceive the sensation
which Mesmer's experiments created in Paris. No theological
controversy, in the earlier ages of the Catholic Church, was ever
conducted with greater bitterness." His adversaries denied the
discovery; some calling him a quack, others a fool, and others, again,
like the Abbe Fiard, a man who had sold himself to the devil! His
friends were as extravagant in their praise, as his foes were in their
censure. Paris was inundated with pamphlets upon the subject, as many
defending as attacking the doctrine. At court, the Queen expressed
herself in favour of it, and nothing else was to be heard of in
society.
By the advice of M. D'Eslon, Mesmer challenged an examination of
his doctrine by the Faculty of Medicine. He proposed to select
twenty-four patients, twelve of whom he would treat magnetically,
leaving the other twelve to be treated by the faculty according to the
old and approved methods. He also stipulated, that to prevent
disputes, the government should nominate certain persons who were not
physicians, to be present at the experiments; and that the object of
the inquiry should be, not how these effects were produced, but
whether they were really efficacious in the cure of any disease. The
faculty objected to limit the inquiry in this manner, and the
proposition fell to the ground.
Mesmer now wrote to Marie Antoinette, with the view of securing
her influence in obtaining for him the protection of government. He
wished to have a chateau and its lands given to him, with a handsome
yearly income, that he might be enabled to continue his experiments at
leisure, untroubled by the persecution of his enemies. He hinted the
duty of governments to support men of science, and expressed his fear,
that if he met no more encouragement, he should be compelled to carry
his great discovery to some other land more willing to appreciate him.
"In the eyes of your Majesty," said he, "four or five hundred thousand
francs, applied to a good purpose, are of no account. The welfare and
happiness of your people are everything. My discovery ought to be
received and rewarded with a munificence worthy of the monarch to whom
I shall attach myself." The government at last offered him a pension
of twenty thousand francs, and the cross of the order of St. Michael,
if he had made any discovery in medicine, and would communicate it to
physicians nominated by the King. The latter part of the proposition
was not agreeable to Mesmer. He feared the unfavourable report of the

King's physicians; and, breaking off the negotiation, spoke of his
disregard of money, and his wish to have his discovery at once
recognised by the government. He then retired to Spa, in a fit of
disgust, upon pretence of drinking the waters for the benefit of his
health.
After he had left Paris, the Faculty of Medicine called upon M.
D'Eslon, for the third and last time, to renounce the doctrine of
animal magnetism, or be expelled from their body. M. D'Eslon, so far
from doing this, declared that he had discovered new secrets, and
solicited further examination. A royal commission of the Faculty of
Medicine was, in consequence, appointed on the l2th of March 1784,
seconded by another commission of the Academie des Sciences, to
investigate the phenomena and report upon them. The first commission
was composed of the principal physicians of Paris; while, among the
eminent men comprised in the latter, were Benjamin Franklin,
Lavoisier, and Bailly, the historian of astronomy. Mesmer was formally
invited to appear before this body, but absented himself from day to
day, upon one pretence or another. M. D'Eslon was more honest, because
he thoroughly believed in the phenomena, which it is to be questioned
if Mesmer ever did, and regularly attended the sittings and performed
experiments.
Bailly has thus described the scenes of which he was a witness in
the course of this investigation. "The sick persons, arranged in great
numbers and in several rows around the baquet, receive the magnetism
by all these means: by the iron rods which convey it to them from the
baquet -- by the cords wound round their bodies -- by the connection
of the thumb, which conveys to them the magnetism of their neighbours
-- and by the sounds of a pianoforte, or of an agreeable voice,
diffusing the magnetism in the air. The patients were also directly
magnetised by means of the finger and wand of the magnetiser moved
slowly before their faces, above or behind their heads, and on the
diseased parts, always observing the direction of the holes. The
magnetiser acts by fixing his eyes on them. But above all, they are
magnetised by the application of his hands and the pressure of his
fingers on the hypochondres and on the regions of the abdomen; an
application often continued for a long time-sometimes for several
hours.
"Meanwhile the patients in their different conditions present a
very varied picture. Some are calm, tranquil, and experience no
effect. Others cough, spit, feel slight pains, local or general heat,
and have sweatings. Others again are agitated and tormented with
convulsions. These convulsions are remarkable in regard to the number
affected with them, to their duration and force. As soon as one begins
to be convulsed, several others are affected. The commissioners have
observed some of these convulsions last more than three hours. They
are accompanied with expectorations of a muddy viscous water, brought
away by violent efforts. Sometimes streaks of blood have been observed

in this fluid. These convulsions are characterized by the precipitous,
involuntary motion of all the limbs, and of the whole body: by the
construction of the throat -- by the leaping motions of the
hypochondria and the epigastrium -- by the dimness and wandering of
the eyes -- by piercing shrieks, tears, sobbing, and immoderate
laughter. They are preceded or followed by a state of languor or
reverie, a kind of depression, and sometimes drowsiness. The smallest
sudden noise occasions a shuddering; and it was remarked, that the
change of measure in the airs played on the piano-forte had a great
influence on the patients. A quicker motion, a livelier melody,
agitated them more, and renewed the vivacity of their convulsions.
"Nothing is more astonishing than the spectacle of these
convulsions. One who has not seen them can form no idea of them. The
spectator is as much astonished at the profound repose of one portion
of the patients as at the agitation of the rest - at the various
accidents which are repeated, and at the sympathies which are
exhibited. Some of the patients may be seen devoting their attention
exclusively to one another, rushing towards each other with open arms,
smiling, soothing, and manifesting every symptom of attachment and
affection. All are under the power of the magnetiser; it matters not
in what state of drowsiness they may be, the sound of his voice -- a
look, a motion of his hand -- brings them out of it. Among the
patients in convulsions there are always observed a great many women,
and very few men." [Rapport des Commissaires, redige par M. Bailly. --
Paris, 1784.]
These experiments lasted for about five months. They had hardly
commenced, before Mesmer, alarmed at the loss both of fame and profit,
determined to return to Paris. Some patients of rank and fortune,
enthusiastic believers in his doctrine, had followed him to Spa. One
of them named Bergasse, proposed to open a subscription for him, of
one hundred shares, at one hundred louis each, on condition that he
would disclose his secret to the subscribers, who were to be permitted
to make whatever use they pleased of it. Mesmer readily embraced the
proposal; and such was the infatuation, that the subscription was not
only filled in a few days, but exceeded by no less a sum than one
hundred and forty thousand francs.
With this fortune he returned to Paris, and recommenced his
experiments, while the royal commission continued theirs. His admiring
pupils, who had paid him so handsomely for his instructions, spread
the delusion over the country, and established in all the principal
towns of France, "Societies of Harmony," for trying experiments and
curing all diseases by means of magnetism. Some of these societies
were a scandal to morality, being joined by profligate men of depraved
appetites, who took a disgusting delight in witnessing young girls in
convulsions. Many of the pretended magnetisers were notorious
libertines, who took that opportunity of gratifying their passions. An
illegal increase of the number of French citizens was anything but a

are consequence in Strasburg, Nantes, Bourdeaux, Lyons, and other
towns, where these societies were established.
At last the Commissioners published their report, which was drawn
up by the illustrious and unfortunate Bailly. For clearness of
reasoning and strict impartiality it has never been surpassed. After
detailing the various experiments made, and their results, they came
to the conclusion that the only proof advanced in support of Animal
Magnetism was the effects it produced on the human body -- that those
effects could be produced without passes or other magnetic
manipulations - that all these manipulations, and passes, and
ceremonies never produce any effect at all if employed without the
patient's knowledge; and that therefore imagination did, and animal
magnetism did not, account for the phenomena.
This report was the ruin of Mesmer's reputation in France. He
quitted Paris shortly after, with the three hundred and forty thousand
francs which had been subscribed by his admirers, and retired to his
own country, where he died in 1815, at the advanced age of eighty-one.
But the seeds he had sown fructified of themselves, nourished and
brought to maturity by the kindly warmth of popular credulity.
Imitators sprang up in France, Germany, and England, more extravagant
than their master, and claiming powers for the new science which its
founder had never dreamt of. Among others, Cagliostro made good use of
the delusion in extending his claims to be considered a master of the
occult sciences. But he made no discoveries worthy to be compared to
those of the Marquis de Puysegur and the Chevalier Barbarin, honest
men, who began by deceiving themselves before they deceived others.
The Marquis de Puysegur, the owner of a considerable estate at
Busancy, was one of those who had entered into the subscription for
Mesmer. After that individual had quitted France, he retired to
Busancy with his brother to try Animal Magnetism upon his tenants, and
cure the country people of all manner of diseases. He was a man of
great simplicity and much benevolence, and not only magnetised but fed
the sick that flocked around him. In all the neighbourhood, and indeed
within a circumference of twenty miles, he was looked upon as endowed
with a power almost Divine. His great discovery, as he called it, was
made by chance. One day he had magnetised his gardener; and observing
him to fall into a deep sleep, it occurred to him that he would
address a question to him, as he would have done to a natural
somnambulist. He did so, and the man replied with much clearness and
precision. M. de Puysegur was agreeably surprised: he continued his
experiments, and found that, in this state of magnetic somnambulism,
the soul of the sleeper was enlarged, and brought into more intimate
communion with all nature, and more especially with him, M. de
Puysegur. He found that all further manipulations were unnecessary;
that, without speaking or making any sign, he could convey his will to
the patient; that he could, in fact, converse with him, soul to soul,
without the employment of any physical operation whatever!

Simultaneously with this marvellous discovery he made another,
which reflects equal credit upon his understanding. Like Valentine
Greatraks, he found it hard work to magnetise all that came - that he
had not even time to take the repose and relaxation which were
necessary for his health. In this emergency he hit upon a clever
expedient. He had heard Mesmer say that he could magnetise bits of
wood -- why should he not be able to magnetise a whole tree? It was no
sooner thought than done. There was a large elm on the village green
at Busancy, under which the peasant girls used to dance on festive
occasions, and the old men to sit, drinking their vin du pays on the
fine summer evenings. M. de Puysegur proceeded to this tree and
magnetised it, by first touching it with his hands and then retiring a
few steps from it; all the while directing streams of the magnetic
fluid from the branches toward the trunk, and from the trunk toward
the root. This done, he caused circular seats to be erected round it,
and cords suspended from it in all directions. When the patients had
seated themselves, they twisted the cords round the diseased parts of
their bodies, and held one another firmly by their thumbs to form a
direct channel of communication for the passage of the fluid.
M. de Puysegur had now two hobbies - the man with the enlarged
soul, and the magnetic elm. The infatuation of himself and his
patients cannot be better expressed than in his own words. Writing to
his brother, on the 17th of May 1784, he says, "If you do not come, my
dear friend, you will not see my extraordinary man, for his health is
now almost quite restored. I continue to make use of the happy power
for which I am indebted to M. Mesmer. Every day I bless his name; for
I am very useful, and produce many salutary effects on all the sick
poor in the neighbourhood. They flock around my tree; there were more
than one hundred and thirty of them this morning. It is the best
baquet possible; not a leaf of it but communicates health! all feel,
more or less, the good effects of it. You will be delighted to see the
charming picture of humanity which this presents. I have only one
regret - it is, that I cannot touch all who come. But my magnetised
man -- my intelligence - sets me at ease. He teaches me what conduct I
should adopt. According to him, it is not at all necessary that I
should touch every one; a look, a gesture, even a wish, is sufficient.
And it is one of the most ignorant peasants of the country that
teaches me this! When he is in a crisis, I know of nothing more
profound, more prudent, more clearsighted (clairvoyant) than he is."
In another letter, describing his first experiment with the
magnetic tree, he says, "Yester evening I brought my first patient to
it. As soon as I had put the cord round him he gazed at the tree; and,
with an air of astonishment which I cannot describe, exclaimed, 'What
is it that I see there?' His head then sunk down, and he fell into a
perfect fit of somnambulism. At the end of an hour, I took him home to
his house again, when I restored him to his senses. Several men and
women came to tell him what he had been doing. He maintained it was

not true; that, weak as he was, and scarcely able to walk, it would
have been scarcely possible for him to have gone down stairs and
walked to the tree. To-day I have repeated the experiment on him, and
with the same success. I own to you that my head turns round with
pleasure to think of the good I do. Madame de Puysegur, the friends
she has with her, my servants, and, in fact, all who are near me, feel
an amazement, mingled with admiration, which cannot be described; but
they do not experience the half of my sensations. Without my tree,
which gives me rest, and which will give me still more, I should be in
a state of agitation, inconsistent, I believe, with my health. I exist
too much, if I may be allowed to use the expression."
In another letter, he descants still more poetically upon his
gardener with the enlarged soul. He says, "It is from this simple man,
this tall and stout rustic, twenty-three years of age, enfeebled by
disease, or rather by sorrow, and therefore the more predisposed to be
affected by any great natural agent, -- it is from this man, I repeat,
that I derive instruction and knowledge. When in the magnetic state,
he is no longer a peasant who can hardly utter a single sentence; he
is a being, to describe whom I cannot find a name. I need not speak; I
have only to think before him, when he instantly understands and
answers me. Should anybody come into the room, he sees him, if I
desire it (but not else), and addresses him, and says what I wish him
to say; not indeed exactly as I dictate to him, but as truth requires.
When he wants to add more than I deem it prudent strangers should
hear, I stop the flow of his ideas, and of his conversation in the
middle of a word, and give it quite a different turn!"
Among other persons attracted to Busancy by the report of these
extraordinary occurrences was M. Cloquet, the Receiver of Finance. His
appetite for the marvellous being somewhat insatiable, he readily
believed all that was told him by M. de Puysegur. He also has left a
record of what he saw, and what he credited, which throws a still
clearer light upon the progress of the delusion. ["Introduction to the
Study of Animal Magnetism," by Baron Dupotet, p. 73.] He says that the
patients he saw in the magnetic state had an appearance of deep sleep,
during which all the physical faculties were suspended, to the
advantage of the intellectual faculties. The eyes of the patients were
closed; the sense of hearing was abolished, and they awoke only at the
voice of their magnetiser. "If any one touched a patient during a
crisis, or even the chair on which he was seated," says M. Cloquet,
"it would cause him much pain and suffering, and throw him into
convulsions. During the crisis, they possess an extraordinary and
supernatural power, by which, on touching a patient presented to them,
they can feel what part of his body is diseased, even by merely
passing their hand over the clothes." Another singularity was, that
these sleepers who could thus discover diseases -- see into the
interior of other men's stomachs, and point out remedies, remembered
absolutely nothing after the magnetiser thought proper to disenchant
them. The time that elapsed between their entering the crisis and

their coming out of it was obliterated. Not only had the magnetiser
the power of making himself heard by the somnambulists, but he could
make them follow him by merely pointing his finger at them from a
distance, though they had their eyes the whole time completely closed.
Such was Animal Magnetism under the auspices of the Marquis de
Puysegur. While he was hibiting these fooleries around his elm-tree, a
magnetiser of another class appeared in Lyons, in the person of the
Chevalier de Barbarin. This person thought the effort of the will,
without any of the paraphernalia of wands or baquets, was sufficient
to throw patients into the magnetic sleep. He tried it and succeeded.
By sitting at the bedside of his patients, and praying that they might
be magnetised, they went off into a state very similar to that of the
persons who fell under the notice of M. de Puysegur. In the course of
time, a very considerable number of magnetisers, acknowledging
Barbarin for their model, and called after him Barbarinists, appeared
in different parts, and were believed to have effected some remarkable
cures. In Sweden and Germany, this sect of fanatics increased rapidly,
and were called spiritualists, to distinguish them from the followers
of M. de Puysegur, who were called experimentalists. They maintained
that all the effects of Animal Magnetism, which Mesmer believed to be
producible by a magnetic fluid dispersed through nature, were produced
by the mere effort of one human soul acting upon another; that when a
connexion had once been established between a magnetiser and his
patient, the former could communicate his influence to the latter from
any distance, even hundreds of miles, by the will! One of them thus
described the blessed state of a magnetic patient: -- "In such a man
animal instinct ascends to the highest degree admissible in this
world. The clairvoyant is then a pure animal, without any admixture of
matter. His observations are those of a spirit. He is similar to God.
His eye penetrates all the secrets of nature. When his attention is
fixed on any of the objects of this world -- on his disease, his
death, his well-beloved, his friends, his relations, his enemies, --
in spirit he sees them acting; he penetrates into the causes and the
consequences of their actions; he becomes a physician, a prophet, a
divine!" [See "Foreign Review, Continental Miscellany," vol. v. 113.]
Let us now see what progress these mysteries made in England. In
the year 1788, Dr. Mainauduc, who had been a pupil, first of Mesmer,
and afterwards of D'Eslon, arrived in Bristol, and gave public
lectures upon magnetism. His success was quite extraordinary. People
of rank and fortune hastened from London to Bristol to be magnetised,
or to place themselves under his tuition. Dr. George Winter, in his
History of Animal Magnetism, gives the following list of them: --
"They amounted to one hundred and twenty-seven, among whom there were
one duke, one duchess, one marchioness, two countesses, one earl, one
baron, three baronesses, one bishop, five right honourable gentlemen
and ladies, two baronets, seven members of parliament, one clergyman,
two physicians, seven surgeons, besides ninety-two gentlemen and
ladies of respectability." He afterwards established himself in

London, where he performed with equal success.
He began by publishing proposals to the ladies for the formation
of a Hygeian Society. In this paper he vaunted highly the curative
effects of Animal Magnetism, and took great credit to himself for
being the first person to introduce it into England, and thus
concluded:-- "As this method of cure is not confined to sex, or
college education, and the fair sex being in general the most
sympathising part of the creation, and most immediately concerned in
the health and care of its offspring, I think myself bound in
gratitude to you, ladies, for the partiality you have shown me in
midwifery, to contribute, as far as lies in my power, to render you
additionally useful and valuable to the community. With this view, I
propose forming my Hygeian Society, to be incorporated with that of
Paris. As soon as twenty ladies have given in their names, the day
shall be appointed for the first meeting at my house, when they are to
pay fifteen guineas, which will include the whole expense."
Hannah More, in a letter addressed to Horace Walpole, in September
1788, speaks of the "demoniacal mummeries" of Dr. Mainauduc, and says
he was in a fair way of gaining a hundred thousand pounds by them, as
Mesmer had done by his exhibitions in Paris.
So much curiosity was excited by the subject that, about the same
time, a man, named Holloway, gave a course of lectures on Animal
Magnetism in London, at the rate of five guineas for each pupil, and
realised a considerable fortune. Loutherbourg, the painter, and his
wife followed the same profitable trade; and such was the infatuation
of the people to be witnesses of their strange manipulations, that, at
times, upwards of three thousand persons crowded around their house at
Hammersmith, unable to gain admission. The tickets sold at prices
varying from one to three guineas. Loutherbourg performed his cures by
the touch, after the manner of Valentine Greatraks, and finally
pretended to a Divine mission. An account of his miracles, as they
were called, was published in 1789, entitled "A List of New Cures
performed by Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg of Hammersmith Terrace,
without Medicine; by a Lover of the Lamb of God. Dedicated to his
Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury."
This "Lover of the Lamb of God" was a half-crazy old woman, named
Mary Pratt, who conceived for Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg a
veneration which almost prompted her to worship them. She chose for
the motto of her pamphlet a verse in the thirteenth chapter of the
Acts of the Apostles: "Behold, ye despisers, and wonder and perish!
for I will work a work in your days which ye shall not believe though
a man declare it unto you." Attempting to give a religious character
to the cures of the painter, she thought a woman was the proper person
to make them known, since the apostle had declared that a man should
not be able to conquer the incredulity of the people. She stated that,
from Christmas 1788 to July 1789, De Loutherbourg and his wife had

cured two thousand people, "having been made proper recipients to
receive Divine manuductions; which heavenly and Divine influx, coming
from the radix God, his Divine Majesty had most graciously bestowed
upon them to diffuse healing to all, be they deaf, dumb, blind, lame,
or halt."
In her dedication to the Archbishop of Canterbury, she implored
him to compose a new form of prayer to be used in all churches and
chapels, that nothing might impede this inestimable gift from having
its due course. She further entreated all the magistrates and men of
authority in the land to wait on Mr. and Mrs. de Loutherbourg, to
consult with them on the immediate erection of a large hospital, with
a pool of Bethesda attached to it. All the magnetisers were
scandalised at the preposterous jabber of this old woman, and De
Loutherbourg appears to have left London to avoid her; continuing,
however, in conjunction with his wife, the fantastic tricks which had
turned the brain of this poor fanatic, and deluded many others who
pretended to more sense than she had.
From this period until 1798, magnetism excited little or no
attention in England. An attempt to revive the doctrine was made in
that year, but it was in the shape of mineral rather than of animal
magnetism. One Benjamin Douglas Perkins, an American, practising as a
surgeon in Leicestersquare, invented and took out a patent for the
celebrated "Metallic Tractors." He pretended that these tractors,
which were two small pieces of metal strongly magnetised, something
resembling the steel plates which were first brought into notice by
Father Hell, would cure gout, rheumatism, palsy, and in fact, almost
every disease the human frame was subject to, if applied externally to
the afflicted part, and moved about gently, touching the surface only.
The most wonderful stories soon obtained general circulation, and the
press groaned with pamphlets, all vaunting the curative effects of the
tractors, which were sold at five guineas the pair. Perkins gained
money rapidly. Gouty subjects forgot their pains in the presence of
this new remedy; the rheumatism fled at its approach; and toothache,
which is often cured by the mere sight of a dentist, vanished before
Perkins and his marvellous steel plates. The benevolent Quakers, of
whose body he was a member, warmly patronised the invention. Desirous
that the poor, who could not afford to pay Mr. Perkins five guineas,
or even five shillings, for his tractors, should also share in the
benefits of that sublime discovery, they subscribed a large sum, and
built an hospital, called the "Perkinean Institution," in which all
comers might be magnetised free of cost. In the course of a few months
they were in very general use, and their lucky inventor in possession
of five thousand pounds.
Dr. Haygarth, an eminent physician at Bath, recollecting the
influence of imagination in the cure of disease, hit upon an expedient
to try the real value of the tractors. Perkins's cures were too well
established to be doubted; and Dr. Haygarth, without gainsaying them,

quietly, but in the face of numerous witnesses, exposed the delusion
under which people laboured with respect to the curative medium. He
suggested to Dr. Falconer that they should make wooden tractors, paint
them to resemble the steel ones, and see if the very same effects
would not be produced. Five patients were chosen from the hospital in
Bath, upon whom to operate. Four of them suffered severely from
chronic rheumatism in the ankle, knee, wrist, and hip; and the fifth
had been afflicted for several months with the gout. On the day
appointed for the experiments, Dr. Haygarth and his friends assembled
at the hospital, and with much solemnity brought forth the fictitious
tractors. Four out of the five patients said their pains were
immediately relieved; and three of them said they were not only
relieved, but very much benefited. One felt his knee warmer, and said
he could walk across the room. He tried and succeeded, although on the
previous day he had not been able to stir. The gouty man felt his
pains diminish rapidly, and was quite easy for nine hours, until he
went to bed, when the twitching began again. On the following day the
real tractors were applied to all the patients, when they described
their symptoms in nearly the same terms.
To make still more sure, the experiment was tried in the Bristol
Infirmary, a few weeks afterwards, on a man who had a rheumatic
affection in the shoulder, so severe as to incapacitate him from
lifting his hand from his knee. The fictitious tractors were brought
and applied to the afflicted part, one of the physicians, to add
solemnity to the scene, drawing a stop-watch from his pocket to
calculate the time exactly, while another, with a pen in his hand, sat
down to write the change of symptoms from minute to minute as they
occurred. In less than four minutes the man felt so much relieved,
that he lifted his hand several inches without any pain in the
shoulder!
An account of these matters was published by Dr. Haygarth, in a
small volume entitled, "Of the Imagination, as a Cause and Cure of
Disorders, exemplified by fictitious Tractors." The exposure was a
coup de grace to the system of Mr. Perkins. His friends and patrons,
still unwilling to confess that they had been deceived, tried the
tractors upon sheep, cows, and horses, alleging that the animals
received benefit from the metallic plates, but none at all from the
wooden ones. But they found nobody to believe them; the Perkinean
Institution fell into neglect; and Perkins made his exit from England,
carrying with him about ten thousand pounds, to soothe his declining
years in the good city of Pennsylvania.
Thus was magnetism laughed out of England for a time. In France,
the revolution left men no leisure for such puerilities. The "Societes
de l'Harmonie," of Strasburg, and other great towns, lingered for a
while, till sterner matters occupying men's attention, they were one
after the other abandoned, both by pupils and professors. The system
thus driven from the first two nations of Europe, took refuge among

the dreamy philosophers of Germany. There the wonders of the magnetic
sleep grew more and more wonderful every day; the patients acquired
the gift of prophecy - their vision extended over all the surface of
the globe -- they could hear and see with their toes and fingers, and
read unknown languages, and understand them too, by merely having the
book placed on their bellies. Ignorant clodpoles, when once entranced
by the grand Mesmeric fluid, could spout philosophy diviner than Plato
ever wrote, descant upon the mysteries of the mind with more eloquence
and truth than the profoundest metaphysicians the world ever saw, and
solve knotty points of divinity with as much ease as waking men could
undo their shoe-buckles!
During the first twelve years of the present century, little was
heard of Animal Magnetism in any country of Europe. Even the Germans
forgot their airy fancies; recalled to the knowledge of this every-day
world by the roar of Napoleon's cannon and the fall or the
establishment of kingdoms. During this period, a cloud of obscurity
hung over the science, which was not dispersed until M. Deleuze
published, in 1813, his "Histoire Critique du Magnetisme Animal." This
work gave a new impulse to the half-forgotten delusion; newspapers,
pamphlets, and books again waged war upon each other on the question
of its truth or falsehood; and many eminent men in the profession of
medicine recommenced inquiry, with an earnest design to discover the
truth.
The assertions made in the celebrated treatise of Deleuze are thus
summed up: [See the very calm, clear, and dispassionate article upon
the subject in the fifth volume (1830) of "The Foreign Review," page
96, et seq.] -- "There is a fluid continually escaping from the human
body," and "forming an atmosphere around us," which, as "it has no
determined current," produces no sensible effects on surrounding
individuals. It is, however, "capable of being directed by the will;"
and, when so directed, "is sent forth in currents," with a force
corresponding to the energy we possess. Its motion is "similar to that
of the rays from burning bodies;" "it possesses different qualities in
different individuals." It is capable of a high degree of
concentration, "and exists also in trees." The will of the magnetiser,
"guided by a motion of the hand, several times repeated in the same
direction," can fill a tree with this fluid. Most persons, when this
fluid is poured into them, from the body and by the will of the
magnetiser, "feel a sensation of heat or cold" when he passes his hand
before them, without even touching them. Some persons, when
sufficiently charged with this fluid, fall into a state of
somnambulism, or magnetic ecstasy; and, when in this state, "they see
the fluid encircling the magnetiser like a halo of light, and issuing
in luminous streams from his mouth and nostrils, his head, and hands;
possessing a very agreeable smell, and communicating a particular
taste to food and water."
One would think that these absurdities were quite enough to be

insisted upon by any physician who wished to be considered sane, but
they only form a small portion of the wondrous things related by M.
Deleuze. He further said, "When magnetism produces somnambulism, the
person who is in this state acquires a prodigious extension of all his
faculties. Several of his external organs, especially those of sight
and hearing, become inactive; but the sensations which depend upon
them take place internally. Seeing and hearing are carried on by the
magnetic fluid, which transmits the impressions immediately, and
without the intervention of any nerves or organs directly to the
brain. Thus the somnambulist, though his eyes and ears are closed, not
only sees and hears, but sees and hears much better than he does when
awake. In all things he feels the will of the magnetiser, although
that will be not expressed. He sees into the interior of his own body,
and the most secret organization of the bodies of all those who may be
put en rapport, or in magnetic connexion, with him. Most commonly, he
only sees those parts which are diseased and disordered, and
intuitively prescribes a remedy for them. He has prophetic visions and
sensations, which are generally true, but sometimes erroneous. He
expresses himself with astonishing eloquence and facility. He is not
free from vanity. He becomes a more perfect being of his own accord
for a certain time, if guided wisely by the magnetiser, but wanders if
he is ill-directed."
According to M. Deleuze, any person could become a magnetiser and
produce these effects, by conforming to the following conditions, and
acting upon the following rules:--
Forget for a while all your knowledge of physics and metaphysics.
Remove from your mind all objections that may occur.
Imagine that it is in your power to take the malady in hand, and
throw it on one side.
Never reason for six weeks after you have commenced the study.
Have an active desire to do good; a firm belief in the power of
magnetism, and an entire confidence in employing it. In short, repel
all doubts; desire success, and act with simplicity and attention.
That is to say, "be very credulous; be very persevering; reject
all past experience, and do not listen to reason," and you are a
magnetiser after M. Deleuze's own heart.
Having brought yourself into this edifying state of fanaticism,
"remove from the patient all persons who might be troublesome to you:
keep with you only the necessary witnesses -- a single person, if need
be; desire them not to occupy themselves in any way with the processes
you employ and the effects which result from them, but to join with
you in the desire of doing good to your patient. Arrange yourself so

as neither to be too hot nor too cold, and in such a manner that
nothing may obstruct the freedom of your motions; and take precautions
to prevent interruption during the sitting. Make your patient then sit
as commodiously as possible, and place yourself opposite to him, on a
seat a little more elevated, in such a manner that his knees may be
betwixt yours, and your feet at the side of his. First, request him to
resign himself; to think of nothing; not to perplex himself by
examining the effects which may be produced; to banish all fear; to
surrender himself to hope, and not to be disturbed or discouraged if
the action of magnetism should cause in him momentary pains. After
having collected yourself, take his thumbs between your fingers in
such a way that the internal part of your thumbs may be in contact
with the internal part of his, and then fix your eyes upon him! You
must remain from two to five minutes in this situation, or until you
feel an equal heat between your thumbs and his. This done, you will
withdraw your hands, removing them to the right and left; and at the
same time turning them till their internal surface be outwards, and
you will raise them to the height of the head. You will now place them
upon the two shoulders, and let them remain there about a minute;
afterwards drawing them gently along the arms to the extremities of
the fingers, touching very slightly as you go. You will renew this
pass five or six times, always turning your hands, and removing them a
little from the body before you lift them. You will then place them
above the head; and, after holding them there for an instant, lower
them, passing them before the face, at the distance of one or two
inches, down to the pit of the stomach. There you will stop them two
minutes also, putting your thumbs upon the pit of the stomach and the
rest of your fingers below the ribs. You will then descend slowly
along the body to the knees, or rather, if you can do so without
deranging yourself, to the extremity of the feet. You will repeat the
same processes several times during the remainder of the sitting. You
will also occasionally approach your patient, so as to place your
hands behind his shoulders, in order to descend slowly along the spine
of the back and the thighs, down to the knees or the feet. After the
first passes, you may dispense with putting your hands upon the head,
and may make the subsequent passes upon the arms, beginning at the
shoulders, and upon the body, beginning at the stomach."
Such was the process of magnetising recommended by Deleuze. That
delicate, fanciful, and nervous women, when subjected to it, should
have worked themselves into convulsions will be readily believed by
the sturdiest opponent of Animal Magnetism. To sit in a constrained
posture -- be stared out of countenance by a fellow who enclosed her
knees between his, while he made passes upon different parts of her
body, was quite enough to throw any weak woman into a fit, especially
if she were predisposed to hysteria, and believed in the efficacy of
the treatment. It is just as evident that those of stronger minds and
healthier bodies should be sent to sleep by the process. That these
effects have been produced by these means there are thousands of
instances to show. But are they testimony in favour of Animal

Magnetism? - do they prove the existence of the magnetic fluid? Every
unprejudiced person must answer in the negative. It needs neither
magnetism, nor ghost from the grave, to tell us that silence,
monotony, and long recumbency in one position must produce sleep, or
that excitement, imitation, and a strong imagination, acting upon a
weak body, will bring on convulsions. It will be seen hereafter that
magnetism produces no effects but these two; that the gift of prophecy
- supernatural eloquence - the transfer of the senses, and the power
of seeing through opaque substances, are pure fictions, that cannot be
substantiated by anything like proof.
M. Deleuze's book produced quite a sensation in France; the study
was resumed with redoubled vigour. In the following year, a journal
was established devoted exclusively to the science, under the title of
"Annales du Magnetisme Animal;" and shortly afterwards appeared the
"Bibliotheque du Magnetisme Animal," and many others. About the same
time, the Abbe Faria, "the man of wonders," began to magnetise; and
the belief being that he had more of the Mesmeric fluid about him, and
a stronger will, than most men, he was very successful in his
treatment. His experiments afford a convincing proof that imagination
can operate all, and the supposed fluid none, of the resuits so
confidently claimed as evidence of the new science. He placed his
patients in an arm-chair; told them to shut their eyes; and then, in a
loud commanding voice, pronounced the single word, "Sleep!" He used no
manipulations whatever -- had no baquet, or conductor of the fluid;
but he nevertheless succeeded in causing sleep in hundreds of
patients. He boasted of having in his time produced five thousand
somnambulists by this method. It was often necessary to repeat the
command three or four times; and if the patient still remained awake,
the Abbe got out of the difficulty by dismissing him from the chair,
and declaring that he was incapable of being acted on. And here it
should be remarked that the magnetisers do not lay claim to a
universal efficacy for their fluid; the strong and the healthy cannot
be magnetised; the incredulous cannot be magnetised; those who reason
upon it cannot be magnetised; those who firmly believe in it can be
magnetised; the weak in body can be magnetised, and the weak in mind
can be magnetised. And lest, from some cause or other, individuals of
the latter classes should resist the magnetic charm, the apostles of
the science declare that there are times when even they cannot be
acted upon; the presence of one scorner or unbeliever may weaken the
potency of the fluid and destroy its efficacy. In M. Deleuze's
instructions to a magnetiser, he expressly says, "Never magnetise
before inquisitive persons!" ["Histoire Critique du Magnetisme
Animal," p. 60.] Yet the followers of this delusion claim for it the
rank of a science!
The numerous writings that appeared between the years 1813 and
1825 show how much attention was excited in France. With every
succeeding year some new discovery was put forth, until at last the
magnetisers seemed to be very generally agreed that there were six

separate and distinct degrees of magnetisation. They have been classed
as follow:-
In the first stage, the skin of the patient becomes slightly
reddened; and there is a feeling of heat, comfort, and lightness all
over the body; but there is no visible action on the senses.
In the second stage, the eye is gradually abstracted from the
dominion of the will (or, in other words, the patient becomes sleepy).
The drooping eyelids cannot be raised; the senses of hearing,
smelling, feeling, and tasting are more than usually excited. In
addition, a variety of nervous sensations are felt, such as spasms of
the muscles and prickings of the skin, and involuntary twitchings in
various parts of the body.
In the third stage, which is that of magnetic sleep, all the
senses are closed to external impressions; and sometimes fainting, and
cataleptic or apoplectic attacks may occur.
In the fourth stage, the patient is asleep to all the world; but
he is awake within his own body, and consciousness returns. While in
this state, all his senses are transferred to the skin. He is in the
perfect crisis, or magnetic somnambulism; a being of soul and mind --
seeing without eyes -- hearing without ears, and deadened in body to
all sense of feeling.
In the fifth stage, which is that of lucid vision, the patient can
see his own internal organisation, or that of others placed in
magnetic communication with him. He becomes, at the same time,
possessed of the instinct of remedies. The magnetic fluid, in this
stage, unites him by powerful attraction to others, and establishes
between them an impenetration of thought and feeling so intense as to
blend their different natures into one.
In the sixth stage, which is at the same time the rarest and the
most perfect of all, the lucid vision is not obstructed by opaque
matter, or subject to any barriers interposed by time or space. The
magnetic fluid, which is universally spread in nature, unites the
individual with all nature, and gives him cognizance of coming events
by its universal lucidity.
So much was said and written between the years 1820 and 1825, and
so many converts were made, that the magnetisers became clamorous for
a new investigation. M. de Foissac, a young physician, wrote to the
Academie Royale du Medicine a letter, calling for inquiry, in which he
complained of the unfairness of the report of Messrs. Bailly and
Franklin in 1784, and stating that, since that time, the science had
wholly changed by the important discovery of magnetic somnambulism. He
informed the Academy that he had under his care a young woman, whose
powers of divination when in the somnambulic state were of the most

extraordinary character. He invited the members of that body to go
into any hospital, and choose persons afflicted with any diseases,
acute or chronic, simple or complex, and his somnambulist, on being
put en rapport, or in magnetic connexion, with them, would infallibly
point out their ailings and name the remedies. She, and other
somnambulists, he said, could, by merely laying the hand successively
on the head, the chest, and the abdomen of a stranger, immediately
discover his maladies, with, the pains and different alterations
thereby occasioned. They could indicate, besides, whether the cure
were possible, and, if so, whether it were easy or difficult, near or
remote, and what means should be employed to attain this result by the
surest and readiest way. In this examination they never departed from
the sound principles of medicine. "In fact," added M. de Foissac, "I
go further, and assert that their inspirations are allied to the
genius which animated Hippocrates!"
In the mean time experiments were carried on in various hospitals
of Paris. The epileptic patients at the Salpetriere were magnetised by
permission of M. Esquirol. At the Bicetre also the same resuits were
obtained. M. de Foissac busied himself with the invalids at the
Hospice de la Charite, and M. Dupotet was equally successful in
producing sleep or convulsions at Val de Grace. Many members of the
Chamber of Deputies became converts, and M. Chardel, the Comte de
Gestas, M. de Laseases, and others, opened their saloons to those who
were desirous of being instructed in animal magnetism. [Dupotet's
Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism, page 23.] Other
physicians united with M. de Foissac in calling for an inquiry; and
ultimately the Academy nominated a preliminary committee of five of
its members, namely, Messrs Adelon, Burdin, Marc, Pariset, and Husson,
to investigate the alleged facts, and to report whether the Academy,
without any compromise of its dignity, could appoint a new commission.
Before this committee, M. de Foissac produced his famous
somnambulist; but she failed in exhibiting any one of the phenomena
her physician had so confidently predicted: she was easily thrown into
the state of sleep, by long habit and the monotony of the passes and
manipulations of her magnetiser; but she could not tell the diseases
of persons put en rapport with her. The committee of five framed
excuses for this failure, by saying, that probably the magnetic fluid
was obstructed, because they were "inexperienced, distrustful, and
perhaps impatient." After this, what can be said for the judgment or
the impartiality of such a committee? They gave at last their opinion,
that it would be advisable to appoint a new commission. On the l3th of
December 1825, they presented themselves to the Academie to deliver
their report. A debate ensued, which occupied three days, and in which
all the most distinguished members took part. It was finally decided
by a majority of ten, that the commission should be appointed, and the
following physicians were chosen its members:-- They were eleven in
number, viz. Bourdois de la Motte, the President; Fouquier, Gueneau de
Mussy, Guersent, Husson, Itard, Marc, J. J. Leroux, Thillay, Double,

and Majendie.
These gentlemen began their labours by publishing an address to
all magnetisers, inviting them to come forward and exhibit in their
presence the wonders of animal magnetism. M. Dupotet says that very
few answered this amicable appeal, because they were afraid of being
ridiculed when the report should be published. Four magnetisers,
however, answered their appeal readily, and for five years were busily
engaged in bringing proofs of the new science before the commission.
These were M. de Foissac, M. Dupotet, M. Chapelain, and M. de Geslin.
It would be but an unprofitable, and by no means a pleasant task to
follow the commissioners in their erratic career, as they were led
hither and thither by the four lights of magnetism above mentioned;
the four "Wills-o'-the-Wisp" which dazzled the benighted and
bewildered doctors on that wide and shadowy region of metaphysical
inquiry -- the influence of mind over matter. It will be better to
state at once the conclusion they came to after so long and laborious
an investigation, and then examine whether they were warranted in it
by the evidence brought before them.
The report, which is exceedingly voluminous, is classed under
thirty different heads, and its general tenor is favourable to
magnetism. The reporters expressly state their belief in the existence
of the magnetic fluid, and sum up the result of their inquiries in the
four assertions which follow:--
1. Magnetism has no effect upon persons in a sound state of
health, nor upon some diseased persons.
2. In others its effects are slight.
3. These effects are sometimes produced by weariness or ennui, by
monotony, and by the imagination.
4. We have seen these effects developed independently of the last
causes, most probably as the effects of magnetism alone.
It will be seen that the first and second of these sentences
presuppose the existence of that magnetic power, which it is the
object of the inquiry to discover. The reporters begin, by saying,
that magnetism exists, when after detailing their proofs, they should
have ended by affirming it. For the sake of lucidity, a favourite
expression of their own, let us put the propositions into a new form
and new words, without altering the sense.
1. Certain effects, such as convulsions, somnambulism, &c. are
producible in the human frame, by the will of others, by the will of
the patient himself, or by both combined, or by some unknown means, we
wish to discover, perhaps by magnetism.

2. These effects are not producible upon all bodies. They cannot
be produced upon persons in a sound state of health, nor upon some
diseased persons; while in other eases, the effects are very slight.
3. These effects were produced in many cases that fell under our
notice, in which the persons operated on were in a weak state of
health, by weariness or ennui, by monotony, and by the power of
imagination.
4. But in many other eases these effects were produced, and were
clearly not the result of weariness or ennui, of monotony, or of the
power of the imagination. They were, therefore, produced by the
magnetic processes we employed: -- ergo -- Animal Magnetism exists.
Every one, whether a believer or disbeliever in the doctrine, must
see that the whole gist of the argument will be destroyed, if it be
proved that the effects which the reporters claimed as resulting from
a power independent of weariness, monotony, and the imagination, did,
in fact, result from them, and from nothing else. The following are
among the proofs brought forward to support the existence of the
magnetic fluid, as producing those phenomena:--
"A child, twenty-eight months old, was magnetised by M. Foissac,
at the house of M. Bourdois. The child, as well as its father, was
subject to attacks of epilepsy. Almost immediately after M. Foissac
had begun his manipulations and passes, the child rubbed its eyes,
bent its head to one side, supported it on one of the cushions of the
sofa where it was sitting, yawned, moved itself about, scratched its
head and its ears, appeared to strive against the approach of sleep,
and then rose, if we may be allowed the expression, grumbling. Being
taken away to satisfy a necessity of nature, it was again placed on
the sofa, and magnetised for a few moments. But as there appeared no
decided symptoms of somnolency this time, we terminated the
experiment."
And this in all seriousness and sobriety was called a proof of the
existence of the magnetic fluid! That these effects were not produced
by the imagination may be granted; but that they were not produced by
weariness and monotony is not so clear. A child is seated upon a sofa,
a solemn looking gentleman, surrounded by several others equally
grave, begins to play various strange antics before it, moving his
hands mysteriously, pointing at his head, all the while preserving a
most provoking silence. And what does the child? It rubs its eyes,
appears restless, yawns, scratches its head, grumbles, and makes an
excuse to get away. Magnetism, forsooth! 'Twas a decided case of
botheration!
The next proof (so called), though not so amusing, is equally
decisive of the mystification of the Commissioners. A deaf and dumb
lad, eighteen years of age, and subject to attacks of epilepsy, was

magnetised fifteen times by M. Foissac. The phenomena exhibited during
the treatment were a heaviness of the eyelids, a general numbness, a
desire to sleep, and sometimes vertigo:-- the epileptic attacks were
entirely suspended, and did not return till eight months afterwards.
Upon this case and the first mentioned, the Committee reasoned thus:--
"These cases appear to us altogether worthy of remark. The two
individuals who formed the subject of the experiment, were ignorant of
what was done to them. The one, indeed, was not in a state capable of
knowing it; and the other never had the slightest idea of magnetism.
Both, however, were insensible of its influence; and most certainly it
is impossible in either case to attribute this sensibility to the
imagination." The first case has been already disposed of. With regard
to the second, it is very possible to attribute all the results to
imagination. It cannot be contended, that because the lad was deaf and
dumb he had no understanding, that he could not see the strange
manipulations of the magnetiser, and that he was unaware that his cure
was the object of the experiments that were thus made upon him. Had he
no fancy merely because he was dumb? and could he, for the same
reason, avoid feeling a heaviness in his eyelids, a numbness, and a
sleepiness, when he was forced to sit for two or three hours while M.
Foissac pointed his fingers at him? As for the amelioration in his
health, no argument can be adduced to prove that he was devoid of
faith in the remedy; and that, having faith, he should not feel the
benefit of it as well as thousands of others who have been cured by
means wholly as imaginary.
The third case is brought forward with a still greater show of
authority. Having magnetised the child and the dumb youth with results
so extraordinary, M. Foissac next tried his hand upon a Commissioner.
M. Itard was subjected to a course of manipulations; the consequences
were a flow of saliva, a metallic savour in the mouth, and a severe
headach. These symptoms, say the reporters, cannot be accounted for by
the influence of imagination. M. Itard, it should be remarked, was a
confirmed valetudinarian; and a believer, before the investigation
commenced, in the truth of magnetism. He was a man, therefore, whose
testimony cannot be received with implicit credence upon this subject.
He may have repeated, and so may his brother Commissioners, that the
results above stated were not produced by the power of the
imagination. The patients of Perkins, of Valentine Greatraks, of Sir
Kenelm Digby, of Father Gassner, were all equally positive: but what
availed their assertions? Experience soon made it manifest, that no
other power than that of imagination worked the wonders in their case.
M. Itard's is not half so extraordinary; the only wonder is, that it
should ever have been insisted upon.
The Commissioners having, as they thought, established beyond
doubt the existence of the magnetic fluid, (and these are all their
proofs,) next proceeded to investigate the more marvellous phenomena
of the science; such as the transfer of the senses; the capability of
seeing into one's own or other people's insides, and of divining

emedies; and the power of prophecy. A few examples will suffice.
M. Petit was magnetised by M. Dupotet, who asserted that the
somnambulist would be able to choose, with his eyes shut, a mesmerised
coin out of twelve others. The experiment was tried, and the
somnambulist chose the wrong one. [Report of the Commissioners, p.
153.]
Baptiste Chamet was also magnetised by M. Dupotet, and fell into
the somnambulic state after eight minutes. As he appeared to be
suffering great pain, he was asked what ailed him, when he pointed to
his breast, and said he felt pain there. Being asked what part of his
body that was, he said his liver. [Ibid, p. 137.]
Mademoiselle Martineau was magnetised by M. Dupotet, and it was
expected that her case would prove not only the transfer of the
senses, but the power of divining remedies. Her eyes having been
bandaged, she was asked if she could not see all the persons present?
She replied, no; but she could hear them talking. No one was speaking
at the time. She said she would awake after five or ten minutes sleep.
She did not awake for sixteen or seventeen minutes. She announced that
on a certain day she would be able to tell exactly the nature of her
complaint, and prescribe the proper remedies. On the appointed day she
was asked the question, and could not answer. [Report of the
Commissioners, p. 139.]
Mademoiselle Couturier, a patient of M. de Geslin, was thrown into
the state of somnambulism, and M. de Geslin said she would execute his
mental orders. One of the Committee then wrote on a slip of paper the
words "Go and sit down on the stool in front of the piano." He handed
the paper to M. de Geslin, who having conceived the words mentally,
turned to his patient, and told her to do as he required of her. She
rose up, went to the clock, and said it was twenty minutes past nine.
She was tried nine times more, and made as many mistakes. [Idem, p.
139.]
Pierre Cazot was an epileptic patient, and was said to have the
power of prophecy. Being magnetised on the 22nd of April, he said that
in nine weeks he should have a fit, in three weeks afterwards go mad,
abuse his wife, murder some one, and finally recover in the month of
August. After which he should never have an attack again. [Idem, p.
180] In two days after uttering this prophecy, he was run over by a
cabriolet and killed. [Foreign Quarterly Review, vol. xii. p. 439] A
post mortem examination was made of his body, when it was ascertained
beyond doubt, that even had he not met with this accident, he could
never have recovered. [At the extremity of the plexus choroides was
found a substance, yellow within, and white without, containing small
hydatids. -- Report oltre Commissioners, p. 186.]
The inquest which had been the means of eliciting these, along

with many other facts, having sat for upwards of five years, the
magnetisers became anxious that the report should be received by the
solemn conclave of the Academie. At length a day (the 20th of June
1831) was fixed for the reading. All the doctors of Paris thronged
around the hall to learn the result; the street in front of the
building was crowded with medical students; the passages were
obstructed by philosophers. "So great was the sensation," says M.
Dupotet, "that it might have been supposed the fate of the nation
depended on the result." M. Husson, the reporter, appeared at the bar
and read the report, the substance of which we have just extracted. He
was heard at first with great attention, but as he proceeded signs of
impatience and dissent were manifested on all sides. The unreasonable
inferences of the Commissioners -- their false conclusions - their too
positive assertions, were received with repeated marks of
disapprobation. Some of the academicians started from their seats, and
apostrophising the Commissioners, accused them of partiality or
stolidity. The Commissioners replied; until, at last, the uproar
became so violent that an adjournment of the sitting was moved and
carried. On the following day the report was concluded. A stormy
discussion immediately ensued, which certainly reflected no credit
upon the opponents of Animal Magnetism. Both sides lost temper - the
anti-magnetists declaring that the whole was a fraud and a delusion;
the pro-magnetists reminding the Academy that it was too often the
fate of truth to be scorned and disregarded for a while, but that
eventually her cause would triumph. "We do not care for your
disbelief," cried one, "for in this very hall your predecessors denied
the circulation of the blood!" - "Yes," cried another, "and they
denied the falling of meteoric stones!" while a third exclaimed
"Grande est veritas et praevalebit!" Some degree of order being at
last restored, the question whether the report should be received and
published was decided in the negative. It was afterwards agreed that a
limited number of copies should be lithographed, for the private use
of such members as wished to make further examination.
As might have been expected, magnetism did not suffer from a
discussion which its opponents had conducted with so much
intemperance. The followers of magnetism were as loud as ever in
vaunting its efficacy as a cure, and its value, not only to the
science of medicine, but to philosophy in general. By force of
repeated outcries against the decision of the Academie, and assertions
that new facts were discovered day after day, its friends, six years
afterwards, prevailed upon that learned and influential body to
institute another inquiry. The Academie, in thus consenting to renew
the investigation after it had twice solemnly decided (once in
conjunction with, and once in opposition to a committee of its own
appointment) that Animal Magnetism was a fraud or a chimera, gave the
most striking proof of its own impartiality and sincere desire to
arrive at the truth.
The new Commission was composed of M. Roux, the President; and

Messieurs Bouillard, Cloquet, Emery, Pelletier, Caventon, Oudet,
Cornac, and Dubois d'Amiens. The chief magnetiser upon the occasion
was M. Berna, who had written to the Academie on the 12th of February
1837, offering to bring forward the most convincing proofs of the
truth of the new "science." The Commissioners met for the first time
on the 27th of February, and delivered their report, which was drawn
up by M. Dubois d'Amiens, on the 22nd of August following. After a
careful examination of all the evidence, they decided, as Messieurs
Bailly and Franklin had done in 1784, that the touchings, imagination,
and the force of imitation would account satisfactorily for all the
phenomena; that the supposed Mesmeric fluid would not; that M. Berna,
the magnetiser, laboured under a delusion; and that the facts brought under
their notice were anything but conclusive in favour of the doctrine of Animal
Magnetism, and could have no relation either with physiology or with
therapeutics.
The following abridgment of the report will show that the
Commissioners did not thus decide without abundant reason. On the 3rd
of March they met at the house of M. Roux, the President, when M.
Berna introduced his patient, a young girl of seventeen, of a
constitution apparently nervous and delicate, but with an air
sufficiently cool and self-sufficient. M. Berna offered eight proofs
of Animal Magnetism, which he would elicit in her case, and which he
classed as follow:--
1. He would throw her into the state of somnambulism.
2. He would render her quite insensible to bodily pain.
3. He would restore her to sensibility by his mere will, without
any visible or audible manifestation of it.
4. His mental order should deprive her of motion.
5. He would cause her, by a mental order, to cease answering in
the midst of a conversation, and by a second mental order would make
her begin again.
6. He would repeat the same experiment, separated from his patient
by a door.
7. He would awake her.
8. He would throw her again into the somnambulic state, and by his
will successively cause her to lose and recover the sensibility of any
part of her body.
Before any attempt at magnetisation was made by M. Berna, the
Commissioners determined to ascertain how far, in her ordinary state,
she was sensible to pricking. Needles of a moderate size were stuck

into her hands and neck, to the depth of half a line, and she was
asked by Messieurs Roux and Caventon whether she felt any pain. She
replied that she felt nothing; neither did her countenance express any
pain. The Commissioners, somewhat surprised at this, repeated their
question, and inquired whether she was absolutely insensible. Being
thus pressed, she acknowledged that she felt a little pain.
These preliminaries having been completed, M. Berna made her sit
close by him. He looked steadfastly at her, but made no movements or
passes whatever. After the lapse of about two minutes she fell back
asleep, and M. Berna told the Commissioners that she was now in the
state of magnetic somnambulism. He then arose, and again looking
steadfastly at her from a short distance, declared, after another
minute, that she was struck with general insensibility.
To ascertain this, the girl's eyes having been previously
bandaged, Messieurs Bouillard, Emery, and Dubois pricked her one after
the other with needles. By word she complained of no pain; and her
features, where the bandage allowed them to be seen, appeared calm and
unmoved. But M. Dubois having stuck his needle rather deep under her
chin, she immediately made with much vivacity a movement of
deglutition.
This experiment having failed, M. Berna tried another, saying that
he would, by the sole and tacit intervention of his will, paralyze any
part of the girl's body the Commissioners might mention. To avoid the
possibility of collusion, M. Dubois drew up the following
conditions:-- " That M. Berna should maintain the most perfect
silence, and should receive from the hands of the Commissioners
papers, on which should be written the parts to be deprived of motion
and sensibility, and that M. Berna should let them know when he had
done it by closing one of his eyes, that they might verify it. The
parts to be deprived of sensibility were the chin, the right thumb,
the region of the left deltoid, and that of the right patella." M.
Berna would not accept these conditions, giving for his reason that
the parts pointed out by the Commissioners were too limited; that,
besides, all this was out of his programme, and he did not understand
why such precautions should be taken against him.
M. Berna had written in his programme that he would deprive the
whole body of sensibility, and then a part only. He would afterwards
deprive the two arms of motion -- then the two legs -- then a leg and
an arm - then the neck, and lastly the tongue. All the evidence he
wished the Commissioners to have was after a very unsatisfactory
fashion. He would tell the somnambulist to raise her arm, and if she
did not raise it, the limb was to be considered paralyzed. Besides
this, the Commissioners were to make haste with their observations. If
the first trials did not succeed, they were to be repeated till
paralysis was produced. "These," as the Commissioners very justly
remarked, "were not such conditions as men of science, who were to

give an account of their commission, could exactly comply with." After
some time spent in a friendly discussion of the point, M. Berna said
he could do no more at that meeting. Then placing himself opposite the
girl, he twice exclaimed, "Wake!" She awakened accordingly, and the
sitting terminated.
At the second meeting, M. Berna was requested to paralyze the
right arm only of the girl by the tacit intervention of his will, as
he had confidently assured the Commissioners he could. M. Berna, after
a few moments, made a sign with his eye that he had done so, when M.
Bouillard proceeded to verify the fact. Being requested to move her
left arm, she did so. Being then requested to move her right leg, she
said the whole of her right side was paralyzed -- she could neither
move arm nor leg. On this experiment the Commissioners remark: "M.
Berna's programme stated that he had the power of paralyzing either a
single limb or two limbs at once, we chose a single limb, and there
resulted, in spite of his will, a paralysis of two limbs." Some other
experiments, equally unsatisfactory, were tried with the same girl. M.
Berna was soon convinced that she had not studied her part well, or
was not clever enough to reflect any honour upon the science, and he
therefore dismissed her. Her place was filled by a woman, aged about
thirty, also of very delicate health; and the following conclusive
experiments were tried upon her:-
The patient was thrown into the somnambulic state, and her eyes
covered with a bandage. At the invitation of the magnetiser, M. Dubois
d'Amiens wrote several words upon a card, that the somnambule might
read them through her bandages, or through her occiput. M. Dubois
wrote the word Pantagruel, in perfectly distinct roman characters;
then placing himself behind the somnambule, he presented the card
close to her occiput. The magnetiser was seated in front of the woman
and of M. Dubois, and could not see the writing upon the card. Being
asked by her magnetiser what was behind her head, she answered, after
some hesitation, that she saw something white -- something resembling
a card -- a visiting-card. It should be remembered that M. Berna had
requested M. Dubois aloud to take a card and write upon it, and that
the patient must have heard it, as it was said in her presence. She
was next asked if she could distinguish what there was on this card.
She replied "Yes; there was writing on it." -- "Is it small or large,
this writing?" inquired the magnetiser. "Pretty large," replied she.
"What is written on it?" continued the magnetiser. "Wait a little-I
cannot see very plain. Ah! there is first an M. Yes, it is a word
beginning with an M." [The woman thought it was a visiting-card, and
guessed that doubtless it would begin with the words Monsieur or
Madame.] M. Cornac, unknown to the magnetiser, who alone put the
questions, passed a perfectly blank card to M. Dubois, who substituted
it quietly for the one on which he had written the word Pantagruel.
The somnambule still persisted that she saw a word beginning with an
M. At last, after some efforts, she added doubtingly that she thought
she could see two lines of writing. She was still thinking of the

visiting-card, with a name in one line and the address on the other.
Many other experiments of the same kind, and with a similar
result, were tried with blank cards; and it was then determined to try
her with playing-cards. M. Berna had a pack of them on his table, and
addressing M. Dubois aloud, he asked him to take one of them and place
it at the occiput of the somnambule. M. Dubois asked him aloud whether
he should take a court card. "As you please," replied the magnetiser.
As M. Dubois went towards the table, the idea struck him that he would
not take either a court or a common card, but a perfectly blank card
of the same size. Neither M. Berna nor the somnambule was aware of the
substitution. He then placed himself behind her as before, and held
the card to her occiput so that M. Berna could not see it. M. Berna
then began to magnetise her with all his force, that he might
sublimate her into the stage of extreme lucidity, and effectually
transfer the power of vision to her occiput. She was interrogated as
to what she could see. She hesitated; appeared to struggle with
herself, and at last said she saw a card. "But what do you see on the
card?" After a little hesitation, she said she could see black and
red (thinking of the court card).
The Commissioners allowed M. Berna to continue the examination in
his own way. After some fruitless efforts to get a more satisfactory
answer from the somnambule, he invited M. Dubois to pass his card
before her head, close against the bandage covering her eyes. This
having been done, the somnambule said she could see better. M. Berna
then began to put some leading questions, and she replied that she
could see a figure. Hereupon, there were renewed solicitations from M.
Berna. The somnambule, on her part, appeared to be making great
efforts to glean some information from her magnetiser, and at last
said that she could distinguish the Knave. But this was not all; it
remained for her to say which of the four knaves. In answer to further
inquiries, she said there was black by the side of it. Not being
contradicted at all, she imagined that she was in the right track; and
made, after much pressing, her final guess, that it was the Knave of
Clubs.
M. Berna, thinking the experiment finished, took the card from the
hands of M. Dubois, and in presence of all the Commissioners saw that
it was entirely blank. Blank was his own dismay.
As a last experiment, she was tried with a silver medal. It was
with very great difficulty that any answers could be elicited from
her. M. Cornac held the object firmly closed in his hand close before
the bandage over her eyes. She first said she saw something round; she
then said it was flesh-coloured -- then yellow -- then the colour of
gold. It was as thick as an onion: and, in answer to incessant
questions, she said it was yellow on one side, white on the other, and
had black above it. She was thinking, apparently, of a gold watch,
with its white dial and black figures for the hours. Solicited, for

the last time, to explain herself clearly -- to say, at least, the use
of the object and its name, she appeared to be anxious to collect all
her energies, and then uttered only the word "hour." Then, at last, as
if suddenly illumined, she cried out that "it was to tell the hour."
Thus ended the sitting. Some difficulties afterwards arose between
the Commissioners and M. Berna, who wished that a copy of the proces
verbal should be given him. The Commissioners would not agree; and M.
Berna, in his turn, refused to make any fresh experiments. It was
impossible that any investigation could have been conducted more
satisfactorily than this. The report of the Commissioners was quite
conclusive; and Animal Magnetism since that day lost much of its
repute in France. M. Dupotet, with a perseverance and ingenuity worthy
a better cause, has found a satisfactory excuse for the failure of M.
Berna. Having taken care in his work not to publish the particulars,
he merely mentions, in three lines, that M. Berna failed before a
committee of the Royal Academy of Medicine in an endeavour to produce
some of the higher magnetic phenomena. "There are a variety of
incidental circumstances," says that shining light of magnetism,
"which it is difficult even to enumerate. An over-anxiety to produce
the effects, or any incidental suggestions that may disturb the
attention of the magnetiser, will often be sufficient to mar the
successful issue of the experiment." ["Introduction to the Study of
Animal Magnetism," by Baron Dupotet de Sennevoy, London, 1838, p.
159.] Such are the miserable shifts to which error reduces its
votaries!
While Dupotet thus conveniently forbears to dwell upon the
unfavourable decision of the committee of 1837, let us hear how he
dilates upon the favourable report of the previous committee of 1835,
and how he praises the judgment and the impartiality of its members.
"The Academie Royale de Medicine," says he, "put upon record clear and
authenticated evidence in favour of Animal Magnetism. The Comissioners
detailed circumstantially the facts which they witnessed, and the
methods they adopted to detect every possible source of deception.
Many of the Commissioners, when they entered on the investigation,
were not only unfavourable to magnetism, but avowedly unbelievers; so
that their evidence in any court of justice would be esteemed the most
unexceptionable that could possibly be desired. They were inquiring
too, not into any speculative or occult theory, upon which there might
be a chance of their being led away by sophistical representations,
but they were inquiring into the existence of facts only -- plain
demonstrable facts, which were in their own nature palpable to every
observer." ["Introduction to the Study of Animal Magnetism," p. 27.]
M. Dupotet might not unreasonably be asked whether the very same
arguments ought not to be applied to the unfavourable report drawn up
by the able M. Dubois d'Amiens and his coadjutors in the last inquiry.
If the question were asked, we should, in all probability, meet some
such a reply as this: -- "True, they might; but then you must consider
the variety of incidental circumstances, too numerous to mention! M.

Berna may have been over anxious; in fact, the experiments must have
been spoiled by an incidental suggestion!"
A man with a faith so lively as M. Dupotet was just the person to
undertake the difficult mission of converting the English to a belief
in magnetism. Accordingly we find that, very shortly after the last
decision of the Academie, M. Dupotet turned his back upon his native
soil and arrived in England, loaded with the magnetic fluid, and ready
to re-enact all the fooleries of his great predecessors, Mesmer and
Puysegur. Since the days of Perkinism and metallic tractors, until
1833, magnetism had made no progress, and excited no attention in
England. Mr. Colquhoun, an advocate at the Scottish bar, published in
that year the, till then, inedited report of the French commission of
1831, together with a history of the science, under the title of "Isis
Revelata; or, an Inquiry into the Origin, Progress, and present State
of Animal Magnetism." Mr. Colquhoun was a devout believer, and his
work was full of enthusiasm. It succeeded in awakening some interest
upon a subject certainly very curious, but it made few or no converts.
An interesting article, exposing the delusion, appeared in the same
year in the "Foreign Quarterly Review;" and one or two medical works
noticed the subject afterwards, to scout it and turn it
into ridicule. The arrival of M. Dupotet, in 1837, worked quite a
revolution, and raised Animal Magnetism to a height of favour, as
great as it had ever attained even in France.
He began by addressing letters of invitation to the principal
philosophers and men of science, physicians, editors of newspapers,
and others, to witness the experiments, which were at first carried on
at his own residence, in Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square. Many of
them accepted the invitation; and, though not convinced, were
surprised and confounded at the singular influence which he exercised
over the imagination of his patients. Still, at first, his success was
not flattering. To quote his own words, in the dedication of his work
to Earl Stanhope, "he spent several months in fruitless attempts to
induce the wise men of the country to study the phenomena of
magnetism. His incessant appeals for an examination of these novel
facts remained unanswered, and the press began to declare against
him." With a saddened heart, he was about to renounce the design he
had formed of spreading magnetism in England, and carry to some more
credulous people the important doctrines of which he had made himself
the apostle. Earl Stanhope, however, encouraged him to remain; telling
him to hope for a favourable change in public opinion, and the
eventual triumph of that truth of which he was the defender. M.
Dupotet remained. He was not so cruel as to refuse the English people
a sight of his wonders. Although they might be ungrateful, his
kindness and patience should be long enduring.
In the course of time his perseverance met its reward. Ladies in
search of emotions -- the hysteric, the idle, the puling, and the
ultra-sentimental crowded to his saloons, as ladies similarly

predisposed had crowded to Mesmer's sixty years before. Peers, members
of the House of Commons, philosophers, men of letters, and physicians
came in great numbers -- some to believe, some to doubt, and a few to
scoff. M. Dupotet continued his experiments, and at last made several
important converts. Most important of all for a second Mesmer, he
found a second D'Eslon.
Dr. Elliotson, the most conspicuous among the converts of Dupotet,
was, like D'Eslon, a physician in extensive practice -- a thoroughly
honest man, but with a little too much enthusiasm. The parallel holds
good between them in every particular; for, as D'Eslon had done before
him, Dr. Elliotson soon threw his master into the shade, and attracted
all the notice of the public upon himself. He was at that time
professor of the principles and practice of medicine at the University
College, London, and physician to the hospital. In conjunction with M.
Dupotet, he commenced a course of experiments upon some of the
patients in that institution. The reports which were published from
time to time, partook so largely of the marvellous, and were
corroborated by the evidence of men whose learning, judgment, and
integrity it was impossible to call in question, that the public
opinion was staggered. Men were ashamed to believe, and yet afraid to
doubt; and the subject at last became so engrossing that a committee
of some of the most distinguished members of the medical profession
undertook to investigate the phenomena, and report upon them.
In the mean time, Dr. Elliotson and M. Dupotet continued the
public exhibition at the hospital; while the credulous gaped with
wonder, and only some few daring spirits had temerity enough to hint
about quackery and delusion on the part of the doctors, and imposture
on the part of the patients. The phenomena induced in two young women,
sisters, named Elizabeth and Jane Okey, were so extraordinary that
they became at last the chief, if not the only proofs of the science
in London. We have not been able to meet with any reports of these
experiments from the pen of an unbeliever, and are therefore compelled
to rely solely upon the reports published under the authority of the
magnetisers themselves, and given to the world in "The Lancet" and
other medical journals.
Elizabeth Okey was an intelligent girl, aged about seventeen, and
was admitted into the University College hospital, suffering under
attacks of epilepsy. She was magnetised repeatedly by M. Dupotet in
the autumn of 1837, and afterwards by Dr. Elliotson at the hospital,
during the spring and summer of 1838. By the usual process, she was
very easily thrown into a state of deep unconscious sleep, from which
she was aroused into somnambulism and delirium. In her waking state
she was a modest well-behaved girl, and spoke but little. In the
somnambulic state, she appeared quite another being; evinced
considerable powers of mimicry; sang comic songs; was obedient to
every motion of her magnetiser; and was believed to have the power of
prophesying the return of her illness -- the means of cure, and even

the death or recovery of other patients in the ward.
Mesmer had often pretended in his day that he could impart the
magnetic power to pieces of metal or wood, strings of silk or cord,
&c. The reader will remember his famous battery, and the no less
famous tree of M. de Puysegur. During the experiments upon Okey, it
was soon discovered that all the phenomena could be produced in her,
if she touched any object that had been previously mesmerised by the
will or the touch of her magnetiser. At a sitting, on the 5th of July
1838, it was mentioned that Okey, some short time previously, and
while in the state of magnetic lucidity, had prophesied that, if
mesmerised tea were placed in each of her hands, no power in nature
would be able to awake her until after the lapse of a quarter of an
hour. The experiment was tried accordingly. Tea which had been touched
by the magnetiser was placed in each hand, and she immediately fell
asleep. After ten minutes, the customary means to awaken her were
tried, but without effect. She was quite insensible to all external
impressions. In a quarter of an hour, they were tried with redoubled
energy, but still in vain. She was left alone for six minutes longer;
but she still slept, and it was found quite impossible to wake her. At
last some one present remarked that this wonderful sleep would, in all
probability, last till the tea was removed from her bands. The
suggestion was acted upon, the tea was taken away, and she awoke in a
few seconds. ["Lancet," vol. ii. 1837-8, p. 585.]
On the 12th of July, just a week afterwards, numerous experiments
as to the capability of different substances for conveying the
magnetic influence were tried upon her. A slip of crumpled paper,
magnetised by being held in the hand, produced no effect. A penknife
magnetised her immediately. A piece of oilskin had no influence. A
watch placed on her palm sent her to sleep immediately, if the metal
part were first placed in contact with her; the glass did not affect
her so quickly. As she was leaving the room, a sleeve-cuff made of
brown-holland, which had been accidentally magnetised by a spectator,
stopped her in mid career, and sent her fast to sleep. It was also
found that, on placing the point of her finger on a sovereign which
had been magnetised, she was immediately stupified. A pile of
sovereigns produced sleep; but if they were so placed that she could
touch the surface of each coin, the sleep became intense and
protracted.
Still more extraordinary circumstances were related of this
patient. In her state of magnetic sleep, she said that a tall black
man, or negro, attended her, and prompted the answers she was to give
to the various perplexing questions that were put to her. It was also
asserted that she could use the back of her hand as an organ of
vision. The first time this remarkable phenomenon was said to have
been exhibited was a few days prior to the 5th of July. On the latter
day, being in what was called a state of loquacious somnambulism, she
was asked by Dr. Elliotson's assistant whether she had an eye in her

hand. She replied that "it was a light there, and not an eye." "Have
you got a light anywhere else?" -- "No, none anywhere else." -- "Can
you see with the inside as well as the out?" -- "Yes; but very little
with the inside."
On the 9th of July bread with butter was given to her, and while
eating it she drank some magnetised water, and falling into a stupor
dropped her food from her hand and frowned. The eyes, partially
closed, had the abstracted aspect that always accompanies
stupefaction. The right-hand was open, the palm upwards; the left,
with its back presented anteriorly, was relaxed and curved. The bread
being lost, she moved her left-hand about convulsively until right
over the bread, when a clear view being obtained, the hand turned
suddenly round and clutched it eagerly. Her hand was afterwards
wrapped in a handkerchief; but then she could not see with it, and
laid it on her lap with an expression of despair.
These are a few only of the wonderful feats of Elizabeth Okey.
Jane was not quite so clever; but she nevertheless managed to bewilder
the learned men almost as much as her sister. A magnetised sovereign
having been placed on the floor, Jane, then in the state of delirium,
was directed to stoop and pick it up. She stooped, and having raised
it about three inches, was fixed in a sound sleep in that constrained
position. Dr. Elliotson pointed his finger at her, to discharge some
more of the mesmeric fluid into her, when her hand immediately relaxed
its grasp of the coin, and she re-awoke into the state of delirium,
exclaiming, "God bless my soul!"
It is now time to mention the famous gold-chain experiment which
was performed at the hospital upon Elizabeth Okey, in the presence of
Count Flahault, Dr. Lardner, Mr. Knatchbull the professor of Arabic in
the University of Oxford, and many other gentlemen. The object of the
experiment was to demonstrate that, when Okey held one end of a gold
chain, and Dr. Elliotson, or any other magnetiser, the other, the
magnetic fluid would travel through the chain, and, after the lapse of
a minute, stupify the patient. A long gold chain having been twice
placed around her neck, Dr. Elliotson at once threw her into a state
of stupor. It was then found that, if the intermediate part of the
chain were twisted around a piece of wood, or a roll of paper, the
passage of the fluid would be checked, and stupor would not so
speedily ensue. If the chain were removed, she might be easily thrown
into the state of delirium; when she would sing at the request of her
magnetiser; and, if the chain were then unrolled, her voice would be
arrested in the most gradual manner; its loudness first diminishing --
the tune then becoming confused, and finally lost altogether. The
operations of her intellect could be checked, while the organs of
sound would still continue to exert themselves. For instance, while
her thoughts were occupied on the poetry and air of Lord Byron's song,
"The Maid of Athens," the chain was unrolled; and when she had reached
the line, "My life, I love you!" the stupor had increased; a cold

statue-like aspect crept over the face -- the voice sank -- the limbs
became rigid -- the memory was gone -- the faculty of forecasting the
thoughts had departed, and but one portion of capacity remained --
that of repeating again and again, perhaps twenty times, the line and
music which had last issued from her lips, without pause, and in the
proper time, until the magnetiser stopped her voice altogether, by
further unrolling the chain and stupifying her. On another trial, she
was stopped in the comic song, "Sir Frog he would a wooing go," when
she came to the line,
"Whether his mother would let him or no;"
while her left hand outstretched, with the chain in it, was moving up
and down, and the right toe was tapping the time on the floor; and
with these words and actions she persevered for fifty repetitions,
until the winding of the chain re-opened her faculties, when she
finished the song. ["Lancet," vol. ii. 1837-8, p.617.]
The report from which we have extracted the above passage further
informed the public and the medical profession, and expected them to
believe, that, when this species of stupefaction was produced while
she was employed in any action, the action was repeated as long as the
mesmeric influence lasted. For instance, it was asserted that she was
once deprived of the motion of every part of her body, except the
right forefinger, with which she was rubbing her chin; and that, when
thrown into the trance, she continued rubbing her chin for several
minutes, until she was unmagnetised, when she ceased. A similar result
was obtained when she was smoothing down her hair; and at another time
when she was imitating the laughter of the spectators, excited beyond
control by her clever mimicry. At another time she was suddenly thrown
into the state of delirious stupor while pronouncing the word "you,"
of which she kept prolonging the sound for several minutes, with a
sort of vibrating noise, until she was awakened. At another time,
when a magnetised sovereign was given to her, wrapped up in paper, she
caught it in her hand, and turned it round flatwise between her
fingers, saying that it was wrapped up "very neatly indeed." The
mesmeric influence caught her in the remark, which she kept repeating
over and over again, all the while twirling the sovereign round and
round until the influence in the coin had evaporated.
We are also told of a remarkable instance of the force of the
magnetic power. While Elizabeth Okey was one day employed in writing,
a sovereign which had been imbued with the fluid was placed upon her
boot. In half a minute her leg was paralyzed -- rooted to the floor --
perfectly immovable at the joints, and visited, apparently, with pain
so intense that the girl writhed in agony. "The muscles of the leg
were found," says the report, "as rigid and stiff as if they had been
carved in wood. When the sovereign was removed, the pain left her in a
quarter of a minute. On a subsequent day, a mesmerised sovereign was
placed in her left hand as it hung at her side, with the palm turned

slightly outwards. The hand and arm were immediately paralyzed --
fixed with marble-like firmness." No general stupor having occurred,
she was requested to move her arm; but she could not lift it a
hair's-breadth from her side. On another occasion, when in a state of
delirium, in which she had remained three hours, she was asked to
describe her feelings when she handled any magnetised object and went
off into the stupor. She had never before, although several times
asked, given any information upon the subject. She now replied that,
at the moment of losing her senses through any manipulations, she
experienced a sensation of opening in the crown of her head; that she
never knew when it closed again; but that her eyes seemed to become
exceedingly large; -- three times as big as before. On recovering from
this state, she remembered nothing that had taken place in the
interval, whether that interval were hours or days; her only sensation
was that of awakening, and of something being lifted from her eyes.
The regular publication of these marvellous experiments,
authenticated as they were by many eminent names, naturally excited
the public attention in an extreme degree. Animal Magnetism became the
topic of discussion in every circle -- politics and literature were
for a time thrown into the shade, so strange were the facts, or so
wonderful was the delusion. The public journals contented themselves
in many instances with a mere relation of the results, without giving
any opinion as to the cause. One of them which gave a series of
reports upon the subject, thus described the girl, and avowed its
readiness to believe all that was related of her. [Morning Post, March
2, 1838.] "Her appearance as she sits, as pale and almost as still as
a corpse, is strangely awful. She whistles to oblige Dr. Elliotson: an
incredulous bystander presses his fingers upon her lips; she does not
appear conscious of the nature of the interruption; but when asked to
continue, replies in childish surprise, 'it can't.' This state of
magnetic semi-existence will continue we know not how long. She has
continued in it for twelve days at a time, and when awakened to real
life forgets all that has occurred in the magnetic one. Can this be
deception? We have conversed with the poor child her ordinary state as
she sat by the fire in her ward, suffering from the headach, which
persecutes her almost continually when not under the soothing fluence
of the magnetic operation, and we confess we never beheld anybody less
likely to prove an impostor. We have seen Professor Faraday exerting
his acute and sagacious powers for an hour together, in the endeavour
to detect some physical discrepancy in her performance, or elicit some
blush of mental confusion by his naive and startling remarks. But
there was nothing which could be detected, and the professor candidly
confessed that the matter was beyond his philosophy to unravel."
Notwithstanding this sincere, and on the point of integrity,
unimpeachable evidence in her favour; notwithstanding that she
appeared to have no motives for carrying on so extraordinary and
long-continued a deception, the girl was an impostor, and all these
wise, learned, and contemplative men her dupes. It was some time,

however, before this fact was clearly established, and the delusion
dissipated by the clear light of truth. In the mean time various other
experiments on the efficacy of the supposed magnetic power were tried
in various parts of England; but the country did not furnish another
epileptic girl so clever as Elizabeth Okey. An exhibition of the kind
was performed on a girl named Sarah Overton, at the workhouse of the
parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields. The magnetiser on this occasion
was Mr. Bainbridge, the parish surgeon. It is but justice to him to
state, that he conducted the experiments with the utmost fairness, and
did not pretend to produce any of the wondrous and incredible
phenomena of other practitioners. This girl, whose age was about
twenty, had long been subject to epileptic fits, and appeared
remarkably simple and modest in her manners and appearance. She was
brought into the room and placed in a chair. About twenty gentlemen
were present. Mr. Bainbridge stationed himself behind, and pointed his
fingers at her brain, while his assistant in front made the magnetic
passes before her eyes, and over her body. It cannot be said that her
imagination was not at work; for she had been previously magnetised,
and was brought in with her eyes open, and in complete possession of
all her faculties. No means had been taken to prevent interruption
during the sitting; new visiters continually arrived, and the noise of
the opening and shutting of the door repeatedly called from Mr.
Bainbridge a request that all should be kept silent. The girl herself
constantly raised her head to see who was coming in; but still, in
direct contradiction to M. Dupotet, and, indeed, all the magnetisers,
who have repeated over and over again, that interruption destroys the
magnetic power, she fell into a deep sleep at the end of about twelve
minutes. In this state, which is that called "Mesmeric Coma," she was
quite insensible. Though pulled violently by the hair, and pricked on
the arm with a pin, she showed no signs of consciousness or feeling.
In a short time afterwards, she was awakened into the somnambulic or
delirious state, when she began to converse freely with the persons
around her, but more especially with her magnetiser. She would sing if
required, and even dance in obedience to his command, and pretended to
see him although her eyes were closely blindfolded with a
handkerchief. She seemed to have a constant tendency to fall back into
the state of coma, and had to be aroused with violence every two or
three minutes to prevent a relapse. A motion of the hand before her
face was sufficient to throw her, in the middle of a song, into this
insensible state; but it was observed particularly that she fell at
regular intervals, whether any magnetic passes were made at her or
not. It was hinted aloud to a person present that be should merely
bend his body before her, and she would become insensible, and fall to
the ground. The pass was made, and she fell accordingly into the arms
of a medical gentleman, who stood behind ready to receive her. The
girl having been again aroused into the state of delirium, another
person, still audibly, was requested to do the same. He did not; but
the girl fell as before. The experiments were sufficient to convince
the author that one human being could indubitably exercise a very
wonderful influence over another; but that imagination only, and not

the mesmeric fluid, was the great agent by which these phenomena could
be produced in persons of strong faith and weak bodies.
Some gentlemen present were desirous of trying whether any of the
higher mesmeric states, such as that of lucidity and clairvoyance
could be produced. Mr. Bainbridge was willing to allow the experiment
to be made, but previously expressed his own doubts upon the subject.
A watch was then put into her bosom, the dial plate and glass against
her skin, to ascertain whether she could see without the intervention
of the organs of sight. She was asked what hour it was; and was
promised a shilling if she would tell by the watch which had been
placed in her bosom. She held out her hand for the shilling, and
received it with great delight. She was then asked if she could see
the watch? She said "no -- not a watch; she could see something --
something that was very pretty indeed." "Come, come, Sally," said Mr.
Bainbridge, "you must not be so stupid; rouse up, girl, and tell us
what o'clock it is, and I'll give you another shilling!" The girl at
this time seemed to be relapsing into a deep sleep; but on being
shaken, aroused herself with a convulsive start. In reply to further
questions, she said, "she could see a clock, a very pretty clock,
indeed!" She was again asked, five or six times, what the hour was:
she at last replied that "it was ten minutes to two." The watch being
then taken out of her bosom, it was found to be on the stroke of two.
Every one present, including the magnetiser, confessed that there was
nothing wonderful in the conjecture she had hazarded. She knew
perfectly well what hour it was before she was brought into the ward,
as there was a large clock in the workhouse, and a bell which rang at
dinner time; she calculated mentally the interval that had since
elapsed, and guessed accordingly. The same watch was afterwards
advanced four or five hours, and put into her bosom without a word
being said in her hearing. On being again asked what o'clock it was by
that watch, and promised another shilling if she would tell, she still
replied that it was near two -- the actual time. Thus, as Mr.
Bainbridge had predicted, the experiment came to nothing. The whole
case of this girl offered a striking instance of the power of
imagination, but no proof whatever of the supposed existence of the
magnetic fluid.
The Medical Committee of the University College Hospital took
alarm at a very early period at the injury which might be done to that
Institution, by the exhibitions of Okey and her magnetisers. A meeting
was held in June 1838, at which Dr. Elliotson was not present, to take
into consideration the reports of the experiments that had been
published in the Medical Journals. Resolutions were then passed to the
effect, that Dr. Elliotson should be requested to refrain from further
public exhibitions of mesmerism; and, at the same time, stating the
wish of the Committee not to interfere with its private employment as
a remedial agent, if he thought it would be efficacious upon any of
the patients of the Institution. Dr. Elliotson replied, that no
consideration should prevent him from pursuing the investigation of

Animal Magnetism; but that he had no desire to make a public
exhibition of it. He had only given lectures and demonstrations when
numbers of scientific gentlemen were present; he still continued to
receive numerous letters from learned and eminent men, entreating
permission to witness the phenomena; but if the Committee willed it,
he should admit no person without their sanction. He shortly
afterwards sent a list of the names of individuals who were anxious to
witness the experiments. The Committee returned it to him unread, with
the reply that they could not sanction any exhibition that was so
entirely foreign to the objects of the Hospital. In answer to this,
Dr. Elliotson reiterated his full belief in the doctrines of Animal
Magnetism, and his conviction that his experiments would ultimately
throw a light upon the operations of nature, which would equal, if not
exceed, that elicited by the greatest discoveries of by-gone ages. The
correspondence dropped here; and the experiments continued as usual.
The scene, however, was drawing to a close. On the 25th of August,
a notice was published in the Lancet, to the effect, that some
experiments had been performed on the girls Elizabeth and Jane Okey,
at the house of Mr. Wakley, a report of which was only withheld in the
hope that the Committee of Members of the Medical Profession, then
sitting to investigate the phenomena of mesmerism, would publish their
report of what they had witnessed. It was further stated, that whether
that Committee did or did not publish their report, the result of the
experiments at Mr. Wakley's house should certainly be made known in
the next number of that journal. Accordingly, on the 1st of September
appeared a statement, which overthrew, in the most complete manner,
the delusion of mesmerism. Nothing could have been better conducted
than these experiments; nothing could be more decisive of the fact,
that all the phenomena were purely the results of the excited
imaginations of the girls, aided in no slight degree by their wilful
deception.
The first experiments were performed on the 16th of August, in the
presence of Mr. Wakley, M. Dupotet, Dr. Elliotson, Dr. Richardson, Mr.
Herring, Mr. Clarke, and Mr. G. Mills the writer of the published
reports of the experiments at the University College Hospital. Dr.
Elliotson had said, that nickel was capable of retaining and
transmitting the magnetic fluid in an extraordinary degree; but that
lead possessed no such virtues. The effects of the nickel, he was
confident, would be quite astounding; but that lead might always be
applied with impunity. A piece of nickel was produced by the Doctor,
about three quarters of an ounce in weight, together with a piece of
lead of the same shape and smoothness, but somewhat larger. Elizabeth
Okey was seated in a chair; and, by a few passes and manipulations,
was thrown into the state of "ecstatic delirium." A piece of thick
pasteboard was then placed in front of her face, and held in that
situation by two of the spectators, so that she could not see what was
passing either below or in front of her. Mr. Wakley having received
both the nickel and the lead, seated himself opposite the girl, and

applied the lead to each hand alternately, but in such a manner as to
lead her to believe that both metals had been used. No effect was
produced. The nickel magnetised by Dr. Elliotson was, after a pause,
applied in a similar manner. No results followed. After another pause,
the lead was several times applied, and then again the nickel. After
the last application of the nickel, the face of the patient became
violently flushed, the eyes were convulsed into a startling squint,
she fell back in the chair, her breathing was hurried, her limbs
rigid, and her back bent in the form of a bow. She remained in this
state for a quarter of an hour.
This experiment was not considered a satisfactory proof of the
magnetic powers of the nickel; and Dr. Elliotson suggested that, in
the second experiment, that metal should alone be tried. Mr. Wakley
was again the operator; but, before commencing, he stated privately to
Mr. Clarke, that instead of using nickel only, he would not employ the
nickel at all. Mr. Clarke, unseen by any person present, took the
piece of nickel; put it into his waistcoat pocket; and walked to the
window, where he remained during the whole of the experiment. Mr.
Wakley again sat down, employing both hands, but placing his fingers
in such a manner, that it was impossible for any person to see what
substance he held. Presently, on applying his left hand, the girl's
vision being still obstructed by the pasteboard, Mr. Herring, who was
standing near, said in a whisper, and with much sincerity, "Take care,
don't apply the nickel too strongly." Immediately the face of the girl
became violently red, her eyes were fixed in an intense squint, she
fell back convulsively in her chair, and all the previous symptoms
were produced more powerfully than before. Dr. Elliotson observed that
the effects were most extraordinary; that no other metal than nickel
could produce them, and that they presented a beautiful series of
phenomena. This paroxysm lasted half an hour. Mr. Wakley retired with
Dr. Elliotson and the other gentlemen into an adjoining room, and
convinced them that he had used no nickel at all, but a piece of lead
and a farthing.
This experiment was twice repeated with the same results. A third
trial was made with the nickel, but no effect was produced.
On the succeeding day the experiments were repeated upon both the
sisters, chiefly with mesmerised water and sovereigns. The
investigation occupied about five hours, and the following were the
results:--
1. Six wine glasses, filled with water unmesmerised, were placed
on a table, and Jane Okey being called in, was requested to drink from
each of them successively. She did so, and no effect was produced.
2. The same six glasses stood on the table, the water in the
fourth having been subjected for a long time to the supposed magnetic
influence. She was requested in like manner to drink of these. She did

so, and again no effect was produced, although, according to the
doctrine of the magnetisers, she ought to have been immediately fixed
on drinking of the fourth.
3. In this experiment the position of the glasses was changed.
There was no result.
4. Was a repetition of the foregoing. No result.
5. The water in all the glasses was subjected to the supposed
magnetic influence from the fingers of Dr. Elliotson, until, in his
opinion, it was strongly magnetised. Still no result.
6. The glasses were filled up with fresh water unmesmerised. No
result.
7. The water was strongly magnetised in each glass, and the girl
emptied them all. No result.
It would be needless to go through the whole series of
experiments. The results may be briefly stated. Sovereigns
unmesmerised threw the girls into convulsions, or fixed them.
Mesmerised sovereigns sometimes did and sometimes did not produce
these symptoms. Elizabeth Okey became repeatedly fixed when drinking
unmagnetised water; while that which had been subjected to the powers
of a supposed magnetic battery, produced no results. Altogether
twenty-nine experiments were tried, which convinced every one present,
except Dr. Elliotson, that Animal Magnetism was a delusion, that the
girls were of very exciteable imaginations, and arrant impostors.
Their motives for carrying on so extraordinary a deception have
often been asked. The question is easily answered. Poor girls, unknown
and unnoticed, or, if noticed, perhaps despised, they found themselves
all at once the observed of all observers, by the really remarkable
symptoms of their disease, which it required no aid from magnetism to
produce. Flattered by the oft-repeated experiments and constant
attentions of doctors and learned men, who had begun by deluding
themselves, they imagined themselves persons of vast importance, and
encouraged by degrees the whims of their physicians, as the means of
prolonging the consideration they so unexpectedly enjoyed. Constant
practice made them at last all but perfect in the parts they were
performing; and they failed at last, not from a want of ingenuity, or
of a most wonderful power over their own minds, and by their minds
upon their bodies, but from the physical impossibility of seeing
through a thick pasteboard, or into the closed hands of Mr. Wakley.
The exposure that was made was complete and decisive. From that day
forth, magnetism in England has hid its diminished head, and affronted
no longer the common sense of the age. M. Dupotet is no more heard of,
the girls Okey afford no more either wonder or amusement by their
clever acting, and reason has resumed her sway in the public mind.

A few more circumstances remain to be stated. Elizabeth Okey left
the hospital; but was re-admitted some weeks afterwards, labouring
under ischuria, a fresh complaint, unconnected with her former malady.
As experiments in magnetism were still tried upon her privately,
notwithstanding the recent exposure and the all but universal derision
of the public, the House Committee of the hospital, early in December,
met to consider the expediency of expelling the girl. Dr. Elliotson,
on that occasion, expressed his opinion that it was necessary to
retain her in the hospital, as she was too ill to be discharged. It
was then elicited from the nurse, who was examined by the Committee,
that Okey, when in the state of "magnetic delirium," was in the habit
of prophesying the death or recovery of the patients in the ward;
that, with the consent of Dr. Elliotson, she had been led in the
twilight into the men's ward, and had prophesied in a similar manner;
her predictions being taken down in writing, and given in a sealed
paper to the apothecary, to be opened after a certain time, that it
might be seen whether they were verified. Dr. Elliotson did not deny
the fact. The nurse also stated more particularly the manner in which
the prophecies were delivered. She said that, on approaching the bed
of a certain patient, Okey gave a convulsive shudder, exclaiming that
"Great Jacky was sitting on the bedclothes!" On being asked to explain
herself, she said that Great Jacky was the angel of death. At the
bedside of another patient she shuddered slightly, and said "Little
Jacky was there!" Dr. Elliotson did not altogether discredit the
predictions; but imagined they might ultimately be verified by the
death or recovery of the patient. Upon the minds of the patients
themselves, enfeebled as they were by disease and suffering, the worst
effects were produced. One man's death was accelerated by the
despondency it occasioned, and the recovery of others was seriously
impeded.
When these facts became known, the Council of the College
requested the Medical Committee to discharge Okey and prevent any
further exhibitions of Animal Magnetism in the wards. The latter part
of this request having been communicated to Dr. Elliotson, he
immediately sent in his resignation. A successor was afterwards
appointed in the person of Dr. Copland. At his inaugural lecture the
students of the college manifested a riotous disposition, called
repeatedly for their old instructor, and refused to allow the lecture
to proceed; but it appears the disturbance was caused by their respect
and affection for Dr. Elliotson individually, and not from any
participation in his ideas about magnetism.
Extravagant as the vagaries of the English professors of magnetism
may appear, they are actual common sense in comparison with the
aberrations of the Germans. The latter have revived all the exploded
doctrines of the Rosicrucians; and in an age which is called
enlightened, have disinterred from the rubbish of antiquity, the
wildest superstitions of their predecessors, and built upon them

theories more wild and startling than anything before attempted or
witnessed among mankind. Paracelsus and Bohmen, Borri and Meyer, with
their strange heterogeneous mixture of alchymy and religion, but paved
the way for the stranger, and even more extravagant mixture of
magnetism and religion, as now practised in Germany. Magnetism, it is
believed, is the key of all knowledge, and opens the door to those
forbidden regions where all the wonders of God's works are made clear
to the mind of man. The magnetic patient is possessed of all gifts --
can converse with myriads of spirits, and even with God himself -- be
transported with greater rapidity than the lightning's flash to the
moon or the stars, and see their inhabitants, and hold converse with
them on the wonders and beauties of their separate spheres, and the
power and goodness of the God who made them. Time and space are to
them as if annihilated -- nothing is hidden from them -- past,
present, or future. They divine the laws by which the universe is
upheld, and snatch the secrets of the Creator from the darkness in
which, to all other men, it is enveloped. For the last twenty or
thirty years these daring and blasphemous notions have flourished in
rank luxuriance; and men of station in society, learning, and apparent
good sense in all the usual affairs of life, have publicly given in
their adhesion, and encouraged the doctrine by their example, or
spread it abroad by their precepts. That the above summary of their
tenets may not he deemed an exaggeration we enter into particulars,
and refer the incredulous that human folly in the present age could
ever be pushed so far, to chapter and verse for every allegation.
In a work published in Germany in 1817, by J. A. L. Richter,
entitled "Considerations on Animal Magnetism," the author states that
in magnetism is to be found the solution of the enigmas of human
existence, and particularly the enigmas of Christianity, on the mystic
and obscure parts of which it throws a light which permits us to gaze
clearly on the secrets of the mystery. Wolfart's "Annals of Animal
Magnetism" abound with similar passages; and Kluge's celebrated work
is written in the same spirit. "Such is the wonderful sympathy," says
the latter, "between the magnetiser and the somnambulist that he has
known the latter to vomit and be purged in consequence of medicine
which the former had taken. Whenever he put pepper on his tongue, or
drank wine, the patient could taste these things distinctly on her
palate." But Kerner's history of the case of Madame Hauffe, the famous
magnetic woman, "Seer" or "Prophetess of Prevorst," Will give a more
complete and melancholy proof of the sad wanderings of these German
"men of science," than any random selections we might make from their
voluminous works. This work was published in two volumes, and the
authenticity of its details supported by Gorres, Eschenmeyer, and
other men of character and reputation in Germany: it is said to have
had an immense sale. She resided in the house of Kerner, at Weinsberg;
and being weak and sickly, was very easily thrown into a state of
somnambulism. "She belonged," says Kerner, "to a world of spirits; she
was half spirit herself; she belonged to the region beyond death, in
which she already half existed. * * * Her body clothed her spirit like

a thin veil. * * * She was small and slightly made, had an Oriental
expression of countenance, and the piercing eyes of a prophet, the
gleams of which were increased in their power and beauty by her long
dark eyebrows and eyelashes. She was a flower of light, living upon
sunbeams. * * * Her spirit often seemed to be separated from her
frame. The spirits of all things, of which mankind in general have no
perception, were perceptible to and operated upon her, more
particularly the spirits of metals, herbs, men, and animals. All
imponderable matters, even the rays of light, had an effect upon her
when she was magnetised." The smell of flint was very agreeable to
her. Salt laid on her hand caused a flow of saliva: rock crystal laid
on the pit of her stomach produced rigidity of the whole body. Red
grapes produced certain effects, if placed in her hands; white grapes
produced different effects. The bone of an elk would throw her into an
epileptic fit. The tooth of a mammoth produced a feeling of
sluggishness. A spider's web rolled into a ball produced a prickly
feeling in the hands, and a restlessness in the whole body. Glow-worms
threw her into the magnetic sleep. Music somnambulised her. When she
wanted to be cheerful, she requested Kerner to magnetise the water she
drank, by playing the Jew's-harp. She used to say in her sleep,
"Magnetise the water by seven vibrations of the harp." If she drank
water magnetised in this manner, she was constrained involuntarily to
pour forth her soul in song. The eyes of many men threw her into the
state of somnambulism. She said that in those eyes there was a
spiritual spark, which was the mirror of the soul. If a magnetised rod
were laid on her right eye, every object on which she gazed appeared
magnified.
It was by this means that she was enabled to see the inhabitants of
the moon. She said, that on the left side of the moon, the inhabitants
were great builders, and much happier than those on the right side. "I
often see," said she to her magnetiser, "many spirits with whom I do
not come into contact. Others come to me, and I speak to them; and
they often spend months in my company. I hear and see other things at
the same time; but I cannot turn my eyes from the spirits; they are in
magnetic rapport with me. They look like clouds, thin, but not
transparent; though, at first, they seem so. Still, I never saw one
which cast a shadow. Their form is similar to that which they
possessed when alive; but colourless, or grey. They wear clothing; and
it appears as if made of clouds, also colourless and misty grey. The
brighter and better spirits wear long garments, which hang in graceful
folds, with belts around their waists. The expression of their
features is sad and solemn. Their eyes are bright, like fire; but none
of them that I ever saw had hair upon their heads. They make noises
when they wish to excite the attention of those who have not the gift
of seeing them. These noises consist of sounds in the air, sometimes
sudden and sharp, and causing a shock. Sometimes the sounds are
plaintive and musical; at other times they resemble the rustling of
silk, the falling of sand, or the rolling of a ball. The better
spirits are brighter than the bad ones, and their voice is not so

strong. Many, particularly the dark, sad spirits, when I uttered words
of religious consolation, sucked them in, as it were; and I saw them
become brighter and quite glorious in consequence: but I became
weaker. Most of the spirits who come to me are of the lowest regions
of the spiritual world, which are situated just above our atmosphere.
They were, in their life, grovelling and low-minded people, or such as
did not die in the faith of Jesus; or else such as, in expiring,
clung to some earthly thought or affection, which now presses upon
them, and prevents them from soaring up to heaven. I once asked a
spirit whether children grew after death? 'Yes,' replied the spirit,'
the soul gradually expands, until it becomes as large as it would have
been on earth. I cannot effect the salvation of these spirits; I am
only their mediator. I pray ardently with them, and so lead them by
degrees to the great Saviour of the world. It costs an infinity of
trouble before such a soul turns again to the Lord.'"
It would, however, serve no good purpose to extend to greater
length the reveries of this mad woman, or to set down one after the
other the names of the magnetisers who encouraged her in her delusions
-- being themselves deluded. To wade through these volumes of German
mysticism is a task both painful and disgusting -- and happily not
necessary. Enough has been stated to show how gross is the
superstition even of the learned; and that errors, like comets, run in
one eternal cycle -- at their apogee in one age, at their perigee in
the next, but returning in one phase or another for men to wonder at.
In England the delusion of magnetism may for the present be
considered as fairly exploded. Taking its history from the
commencement, and tracing it to our own day, it can hardly be said,
delusion though it was, that it has been wholly without its uses. To
quote the words of Bailly, in 1784, "Magnetism has not been altogether
unavailing to the philosophy which condemns it: it is an additional
fact to record among the errors of the human mind, and a great
experiment on the strength of the imagination." Over that vast inquiry
of the influence of mind over matter, -- an inquiry which the embodied
intellect of mankind will never be able to fathom completely, -- it
will, at least, have thrown a feeble and imperfect light. It will have
afforded an additional proof of the strength of the unconquerable
will, and the weakness of matter as compared with it; another
illustration of the words of the inspired Psalmist, that "we are
fearfully and wonderfully made." If it serve no other purpose than
this, its history will prove useful. Truth ere now has been elicited
by means of error; and Animal Magnetism, like other errors, may yet
contribute its quota towards the instruction and improvement of
mankind.
THE END.
9. Astrology Visual

Figure 1: The Humours, with their Elemental Planetary Correspondences.

Unit Three: Chapter Five: Usage and Application of
Humors
Burns, Kristie Karima. “The Physical Characteristics of Temperament.”
Burns, Kristie Karima. “Temperament and Depression.”
Mondoux, Channon. “Cooking for the Humors.”
Link to at: http://home.earthlink.net/~mkcooks/HumouralTheory.htm
“Humeral Properties of Foods and Herbs” by Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
Final Paper for this Unit
Each student is asked to provide a short typology of himself or herself or another
person.
Introduction
In this unit we have explored what temperament is and how it is manifested in the
body, mind and spirit. We have even seen how it is used in literature. But how can we
take this knowledge and apply it to our lives or use it to heal? Some of the previous
readings have hinted at how we can do this. Some have even given instructions. In
this section of the unit I want to take these instructions one step farther into the realm
of application. Notice in the following readings how the properties of the four humors
have been applied to life situations.
The Physical Characteristics of Temperament: Part 1 of 3
By Karima Burns, MH, ND
01/03/2001
In the Qur'an, Allah describes man as being created from water (32:8), which is
cold and wet; earth (3:59), which is cold and dry; clay (7:12), which is cold and
wet; and a sounding clay (55:14), which is hot and wet as it is transformed, or
hot and dry as it is beaten by the wind.
Muslim physicians such as Avicenna, Ibn Qayyim Al-Jawziyya and Al-Suyuti as
well as many other traditional, classical, and modern experts agree that a person
is born with a predominance of one element over the others (determining their
temperament). They refer to these different elements as sanguine (hot and wet),
choleric (hot and dry), melancholic (cold and dry), and phlegmatic (cold and wet).
These Muslim physicians, along with many other traditional healers in the area of
Unani Tibb, Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine as well as Classical Western
Herbalism, teach that healing is merely a matter of balancing these elements (or
humors) in a person through physical, emotional and spiritual channels.
This article will discuss each of the temperaments, their manifestation in the
body, and the best manner for a person with that predominate temperament
(either naturally or temporarily) to achieve general good health and/or healing.
Each humor has a corresponding personality profile; these will be outlined in Part
Two of this series.

Samuel Hahnemann, the father of homeopathy, recognized the importance of
knowing a person's temperament in determining how they would be affected by
disease and how they would react to different medicines. In his essay,
"Suppression in the Four Hippocratic Temperaments," he observed that each type
reacted differently to the medical suppression of rashes. Sanguine people suffer
piles, hemorrhoids, colic, and renal gravel after the suppression of an itch
whereas phlegmatic people suffer from dropsy and delayed menses after such
suppression. Melancholic people become mentally imbalanced or sterile.
Hahnemann stated, "Each innate constitutional temperament has its own unique
reactions to stimuli. For this reason, the same pathogen will affect the four
temperaments and their 12 mixtures in a different manner. For example, the
phlegmatic and melancholic temperaments are usually aggravated by cold, while
the choleric and sanguine temperament are usually ameliorated by cold."
The sanguine element, as a physiological trait, stimulates the veins and arteries
and provides the motivational energy of the body. Signs of excess sanguine
humor are usually displayed in a person's circulatory system - their veins are
bigger (or at least appear so) and fuller than ordinary; their skin is red or reddens
easily; they may have pricking pains in their sides and about their temples; they
may sometimes experience shortness of breath or headache; and may have
thick, colored urine. Practitioners have observed over time that many "sanguines"
possess all or some of the following qualities: ruddy, smooth, firm, moist and
warm skin; dark brown or fair hair; hairy body; medium stature; muscular body
build; a good appetite; quick and good digestion; light yellow urine; firm brown
feces; happy dreams and a general happy nature.
Sanguine types are often light-footed and rhythmical much like their counterpart,
the circulatory system. They usually have expressive faces and "sparkling eyes,"
and may often have curly or wavy, rather than straight, hair. The sanguine will be
most extreme or imbalanced during the spring or summer, or when exposed to
wind or heat (while going out in the heat to shop or from leaving the car window
open while driving, etc.), and after eating sour, greasy, and spicy foods.
Physiologically, the choleric element is closely associated with the nervous
system, acting to increase the rate at which it functions. It has a warming effect
on the body, stimulates the intellect, and increases physical and mental activity
and courage. Its receptacle is the gall bladder. Signs of excess choleric humor
are: leanness of body; hollow eyes; anger without a cause; a testy disposition;
yellowness of the skin; bitterness in the throat; pricking pains in the head; a
swifter and stronger pulse than typical; troublesome sleeps; and dreams of fire,
lightning, anger and/or fighting. Practitioners have also observed that choleric
persons also possess many of the following qualities: yellow, rough, warm and
dry skin; dark brown or red hair; very hairy bodies; short stature; a lean body
build; a strong appetite; overactive digestion; thick orange urine; and dry and
yellow feces.
The choleric type may experience problems with anxiety, agitation, frenzy,
nervous exhaustion, and insomnia. They may also have palpitations,
hypoglycemia, rashes, palsy, or strokes. Cholerics tend to incline toward mindaltering
substances (anything from coffee to chocolate or alcohol and both
prescription and illicit drugs), and they typically have problems with disturbed
sleep; bed-wetting as children; heart disturbances; disturbances of speech or
sensation; and blood pressure and circulation problems.
In The Traditional Healer's Handbook, the melancholic element is described as

"consisting of a cool and thick earthly aspect which is prone to coagulation and a
more fluid, vaporous substance." In normal quantities, it stimulates memory and
creates a homely, practical, pragmatic, and studious nature. However, its coldest
part is adherent and, if not eliminated properly, it can settle on or in tissues and
form tumors. The spleen, its receptacle, removes the melancholic element from
the blood and body fluids. Signs of excess melancholy element are: fearfulness
without a cause; a fearful and foolish imagination; rough and swarthy skin;
leanness; want of sleep; frightful dreams; sourness in the throat; weak pulse;
solitariness; thin clear urine; and frequent sighing. Melancholic types may often
display the following characteristics: brown, rough, dry, cold skin; dark brown or
black hair; balding hair; medium or slim body build; large appetite; slow
digestion; thick, pale urine; dry and black feces; nightmares; and worry or grief.
Melancholics tend to drag their feet and act as if their bodies were a burden to
them. They often experience major physical pain from even the most minor
injuries.
The phlegmatic element, as a physiological trait, functions to expel excess and
unnecessary substances from the body. Phlegm plays a necessary role in the
body during bouts with the cold and flu; however, copious amounts of it are
expelled by the body through the nose in an attempt to clear out toxins and
bacteria. The phlegmatic humor has a beneficial cooling and moistening effect on
the heart, and strengthens the function of the lower brain and the emotions.
Phlegm maintains proper fat metabolism and the balance of body fluids,
electrolytes, and hormones through the circulation of lymph and moisture
through the body in the same manner that sanguine, or blood, provides nutrition
through the circulation system. Its receptacle is the lungs. Signs of excess
phlegm in the system can be exhibited by sleepiness; dullness; slowness;
heaviness; cowardliness; forgetfulness; frequent spitting; runny nose; little
appetite for meat; bad digestion; and white and cold skin. Many practitioners
have observed that phlegmatic types often possess many of the following
qualities: pale, smooth, soft, cold and moist skin; dark blond or blond hair;
hairless bodies; shortness of stature; flabby and fat body build; poor appetites;
slow or weak digestion; thin and pale urine; pale and loose feces; dreams of
water; and apathy.
They often complain of soreness and pain in the lumbar region; loose teeth;
deafness and/or tinnitus; thinning and loss of head hair; weakness and pain in
the ankles, knees and hips; weakness in hearing and vision; impotence;
infertility; miscarriage; and genetic impairments. They may also exhibit growth
and development disorders including fertility, conception, and pregnancy
problems. Phlegmatic types may suffer from disorders of the central nervous
system (MS, muscular dystrophy, or cerebral palsy); diseases of the spinal
column, bones, teeth and joints; and disorders in their fluid metabolism.
It is easy to distinguish the various temperaments by watching them eat. At the
dinner table, sanguines typically "eat everything in sight;" in a restaurant, they
enjoy talking so much that they almost never look at a menu until the waiter
arrives. Any sort of stimulants such as sugar, coffee, drugs (even prescription)
and, in some cases, wheat and meat products are dangerous for the sanguine
type. They (particularly those with excess sanguine) should eat greens daily in
the form of Swiss chard, parsley, mint, coriander, chives, argula (jarjir), rigla,
dark greens, and dark green lettuce, and avoid rich or sugary foods.
Sanguine types tend towards yeast infections, fatigue and high nervous system
stress because they are typically "abusers" of stimulants, especially sugar and
bread. They find that sugar offers a temporary relief during their low cycles, and

that bread offers comfort during their high-energy cycles (it slows and cools them
down) so they use these substances constantly in a subconscious effort to
balance themselves. When a sanguine person learns to eat more balancing foods
in general and to not abuse foods, they will become more balanced themselves
and will usually struggle less with yeast infections and other illnesses.
When a sanguine person is acting dreamy or "not there," check their sugar
consumption or blood sugar levels.
Cholerics seldom vary their menu from one day to another. While eating, they
bolt their food down in big chunks, often talking while chewing. Beneficial foods
for the choleric type are those that moisturize and cool such as liquids, juicy fruits
and vegetables, warm soups, denser root vegetables, sea vegetables, legumes,
and fish protein. Raw and cooked foods can be used to balance the choleric's
hyper or hypo activity. Warm, cooked foods are stimulating when the choleric is
slowed down and tired; cool, raw foods are beneficial when they are overexcited.
Cholerics should not eat ice cream, spicy condiments, yogurt, and icy drinks.
Adult cholerics should avoid excess curry, sugar, alcohol, caffeine, tea, chili, and
salt. Choleric children should avoid colas, sugar, and processed foods.
At the dinner table, melancholics are very picky eaters. It takes them forever to
decide what to order at the restaurant but, once it arrives, they savor every bite.
The most effective therapies for melancholic excess or ailments involve purging
through the use of cleansing fasts or herbs such as senna pods (always use with
cinnamon or cumin and limit to, at most, one cup per month). Warming foods,
herbs and activities are good for this type.
Phlegmatic types are the most deliberate eaters of all and, invariably, the last
ones to finish. This often results in their gaining weight easily because they stay
too long at the table, or their being thin because they pick at their food and,
because they chew it so well, they may not consume much. They can maintain
balance by keeping away from phlegm-inducing foods such as milk, wheat and
sweets, eating more heating foods, and engaging in more heating activities. They
benefit from the herbs anise, cinnamon, valerian root, fenugreek, cardamom,
garlic, and ginger.
A simple method of balancing temperaments is proper food combining according
to its hot or cold attributes. During the time of Prophet Muhammad (SAW), it was
common to combine foods according to their properties as evidenced in the
following Hadith:
Aisha, Ummul Mu'minin, narrated, "The Apostle of Allah (SAW)
used to eat melon with fresh dates, and he used to say, 'The heat
of the one is broken by the coolness of the other, and the coolness
of the one by the heat of the other'."
The simple observation of excess heat or cold in a person can allow a fairly
accurate determination of how to achieve, to a large degree, their healing and
health maintenance. In general, you can observe excess heat (the sanguine or
choleric element) in a person by noticing the presence of a high fever; feelings of
being hot; easy fatigue; excessive thirst; bitter or burning sensations in the
mouth; lack of tolerance for hot foods; enjoyment of cold foods and things; and
suffering more during the summer or from inflammatory conditions.
The person with excess heat or a natural sanguine or choleric temperament
should eat cooler foods such as beef; fish; cow's or goat's milk, butter, cheese,
and buttermilk; lettuce; celery; sprouts; zucchini; tomato; turnip; cabbage; okra;

occoli; white and sweet potatoes; carrots; cucumbers; apples; melons; pears;
figs; apricots; oranges; brown rice; barley; lentils; sunflower oil; green tea;
coffee; dill; thyme; rose; vinegar; sour things; and water. They are advised to
limit their nuts and seeds, and to engage in "cooling" activities such as praying,
meditating, yoga, tai chi, resting, sitting, and reading.
You can observe excess cold (the phlegmatic or melancholic element) in a person
if they complain of weak digestion, lack of thirst, catarrhal conditions, suffering
most in the winter, and being upset by cold things. They should eat warming
foods such as lamb, liver, chicken, goose, duck, eggs, cream cheese, cream,
ghee, beets, radishes, onion, mustard greens, leeks, eggplants, red peppers,
chick peas, green peppers, turnip, parsley, peaches, plums, limes, lemons,
bananas, raisins, dates, figs, olives, dried fruits, sesame seeds, almonds,
walnuts, pine nuts, wheat, thin-grain rice, basmati rice, sesame oil, black tea,
basil, cinnamon, cloves, coriander, garlic, ginger, mint, honey, anise seed, and
curry powder. People with excess cold often respond better to sweets and modern
medicines than do the other temperaments, who often react badly to them.
Phlegmatics or melancholics should also involve themselves in heating activities
such as running, walking, intense exercising and other activities, and intense
conversations.
Part Two of this series will deal with the psychological characteristics of
temperament; Part Three will focus on using theories of temperament to
discipline children, relate better to others, and improve both spiritually and
mentally.
By Karima Burns, MH, ND
Temperamental Depression
19/03/2001
For the past three weeks, in the 'Health and Science' section, we have been
exploring the importance of temperament in Islamic medicine and in everyday life
(see archives).
Knowing a person's physiological temperament not only helps to determine the
cause of illness, but it also helps in discerning the best treatment. Treating
depression is one of the areas in which temperament typing proves invaluable.
What constitutes depression varies by temperament type - two people can be
exhibiting the same behavior; for one, it may be depression while the other may
simply be "in character." Understanding this allows a determination as to the best
ways to approach treatment.
There are two popular methods for quickly typing a person's temperament -
observing how they eat and how they react to outside stimuli. Pre-determining
simply indicates which temperament is strongest in the person.
At the restaurant, sanguines eat everything in sight. They enjoy talking so much
that they almost never look at a menu until the waitress arrives. Cholerics are
stereotyped eaters; they seldom vary their menu from one day to another. They
bolt their food down in big chunks, often talking while chewing. Melancholics are
very picky eaters; it takes them forever to make up their minds about what to
order, but once it arrives they savor every bite. Phlegmatics are the most
deliberate eaters of all and are, invariably, the last ones to finish eating. The
sanguine may also be a slow eater, but this is because they are busy playing or

eing distracted - not because they were concentrating on their food.
In reaction to outside stimuli (a spouse, child, movie, basketball game or party),
the sanguine temperament is marked by quick but shallow, superficial
excitability; the choleric by quick but strong and lasting; the melancholic
temperament by slow but deep; and the phlegmatic by slow but shallow
excitability.
Phlegmatics are the ideal type to discuss first as they are often misinterpreted as
"lethargically depressed." In reality, however, they are naturally prone to sitting,
staring, and living a very moderate and low-key lifestyle. Their needs are fulfilled
in this simple and quiet life; in fact, most phlegmatics are completely happy until
someone comes along and complains that they are "depressed too much" or that
they "lack ambition" or that "something is wrong because they sit around too
much." Then, they may end up sitting around considering that they just might be
depressed. They will soon have themselves convinced that they are, and may
even come up with some very valid reasons as to why. Oftentimes, they will be
labeled (by themselves as well as by others) as depressed for no other reason
except that they fall into this type. However, the reality of the situation with the
phlegmatic is that they are naturally unenthusiastic and immobile by nature.
If this quality is understood and accepted by them and those around them, all can
live happily with their slow and steady attitude about life. Eeyore, from the
cartoon "Winnie the Pooh," is a good example of this type of person. Thankfully,
his friends in the Hundred Acre Woods are wise enough not to get him treated for
depression.
Sanguine types, on the other hand, are the last people you would expect to get
depressed. They are the people who display the most joy and enthusiasm for life.
Sanguines are also the people who often start new projects while stumbling over
old ones so that they can manage to fit in all the wonderful things they want to
do. However, life is not all smiles for sanguines as they are prone to seasonal
depressions (SAD in particular) and mood swings (during PMS, hypoglycemic
attacks, etc.). Their life perceptions and moods come in cycles like the seasons;
their internal seasons rotating as they are influenced by the external seasons so
they may find themselves suddenly depressed because of the weather, a lack of
sun or fresh air, or simply the change of seasons.
Sanguine types are also very influenced by foods, which often effect their internal
cycles. Many times, they become depressed after eating foods that they are
allergic to or after consuming too much caffeine, processed foods, or sugar.
Sanguines tend to blame themselves for their depression; acutely aware that
they are no longer being their "lovable and cheerful" self, they often "hide" until
they are "done" being depressed. Because people usually enjoy them for their
vibrancy, they are not usually enthusiastic about sharing any feelings of
depression and they may have a hard time asking for help. You may not hear
from a sanguine friend for a few days or even weeks at a time, and then she may
suddenly appear again as if no time has passed. However, in most cases a
sanguine's depression is seasonal or passing, or can be cured by regulating their
diet. In many cases, recognizing their condition as natural and normal for their
type and just "waiting for the storm to pass" is the best "cure." Tigger, in "Winnie
the Pooh," is a perfect example of the sanguine type.
Melancholic types tend to get depressed more easily than any of the others.
Although the phlegmatic may constantly LOOK depressed, the melancholic suffers
from an almost constant self-induced depression caused by their over-evaluation
and reflection on life. They usually do not let one thing go unnoticed and

everything cumulates to depress their spirits about life.
However, treating a melancholic for depression is often destructive, as they are
melancholy by nature and even gain some joy and satisfaction from dwelling on
their life miseries. You will usually find that melancholics are even more
depressed when nothing is wrong in their life as they enjoy solving problems and
overcoming challenges.
The most depressed melancholic is one who is having a day where nothing went
wrong at work, home or anywhere else in their life - leaving them with a feeling
of dread about what could possibly come next. The best way for a melancholic to
deal with depression is for them to learn to laugh at themselves. They will always
be a little "depressed" so they should avoid using the label "depressed," instead,
they should describe their feelings differently so they don't take themselves so
seriously. They can state instead that they feel "a little melancholy" today," which
is more appropriate and completely normal - there is no reason to "cure" a
person of a little melancholy. In fact, the worst thing a melancholic can do is
indulge in their depression by giving it a name and then "treating it." Usually, the
process of naming their feelings depression and then feeding it through treatment
just creates a sense of satisfaction and justification for their feelings. A typical
melancholic would be happy to be on medication their entire life. Winnie the Pooh
is a good example of a melancholic person. He is easily influenced by the
suggestion that something might be wrong, and he is constantly saying, "oh,
bother."
Choleric types rarely get depressed; when they do, it is usually because of a loss
or some other external factor, and it is typically dramatic - they may wail, "I am
so depressed" for a period of time and then go on to something more interesting.
Depression for the choleric consists of immobility, lethargy or moping, but
includes movement and drama. The problem with this is that they may actually
enjoy and benefit from the drama to some extent, but those around them may
easily become infected by their mood of despair.
The typical choleric can act dramatically and hysterically depressed, create a
feeling of depression in those around them, and then move on to other things
while the people they have "infected" remain depressed. The best way to deal
with a depressed choleric is to quarantine them from other people, and engage
them in physical work or exercise. Hiking in the hills, running, swimming, and Tai
Chi are all good for this type. Instead of using up all that dramatic energy in a
state of depression, they need to use it in sports and it will gradually dissipate
without harming anyone around them. Rabbit, from "Winnie the Pooh," is a good
example of this type of person. When he is depressed or upset, he wails out loud
- infecting the entire clan with his mood and oftentimes scaring Pooh and his
friends away from his house or garden.
Above all, remember that giving a name to depression is often the cause of the
problem. Some temperament types are naturally more low-key; some people
function in cycles and will experience some form of depression at least once a
year while others are naturally more melancholic than others, and yet others tend
to be dramatic about their depression and enjoy the attention their drama
brings.
In short, depression is probably more natural than unnatural; rather than being a
stigmatic problem, it should be viewed as more of a normal occurrence.
Depression CAN be crippling, causing people to lie in bed, skip work or school,
end relationships and even contemplate suicide. It should be taken seriously;

however, helping people to get in touch with their inner natures can help THEM to
take it less seriously and, perhaps, lead them to being healed.
Cookery and the Application of Humoural Theory
http://home.earthlink.net/~mkcooks/HumouralTheory.htm
Properties of Foods and Herbs
By Kristie Karima Burns, MH, ND
Food or Hot & Dry Hot & Wet Neutral Cold & Cold &
Dry Wet
Herb Choleric Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic
Acacia Acacia
Aloe Vera Aloe Vera
Anise Anise
Apple Apple
Apricot Apricot
Apricot Seed Apricot Seed
Asparagus Asparagus
Balm of
Balm of
Gilead
Gilead
Banana Banana
Basil Basil
Barberry Barberry
Barley Barley
Beef Beef
Beet Beet
Black Pepper Black Pepper
Black Sesame Black Sesame
Borage Borage
Brown Sugar Brown Sugar
Butter Butter
Camphor Camphor
Caraway Caraway
Food or Hot & Dry Hot & Wet Neutral Cold & Cold &
Dry Wet
Herb Choleric Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic
Cardamom Cardamom
Carrot Carrot
Catnip Catnip
Celandine Celandine
Celery Celery
Chamomile Chamomile
Cherry Cherry
Chestnut Chestnut
Chickory Chickory
Chicken Chicken
Chicken Egg Chicken Egg
Egg White Egg White
Egg Yolk Egg Yolk
Chicory Chicory

Chives Chives
Cinnamon Cinnamon
Clam Clam
Clove Clove
Coconut Coconut
Coffee Coffee
Comfrey Comfrey
Coriander Coriander
Corn Corn
Crab Crab
Cucumber Cucumber
Cumin Cumin
Date Date
Dill Dill
Duck Duck
Food or Hot & Dry Hot & Wet Neutral Cold & Cold &
Dry Wet
Herb Choleric Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic
Eggplant Eggplant
Fennel Fennel
Fenugreek Fenugreek
Fig Fig
Frankincense Frankinsense
Garlic Garlic
Gentian Gentian
Ginger Ginger
Ginseng Ginseng
Goldenseal Goldenseal
Grapefruit Grapefruit
Grapes Grapes
Guava Guava
Green Pepper Green Pepper
Henna Henna
Honey Honey
Hops Hops
Horehound Horehound
Hyssop Hyssop
Jasmine Jasmine
Juniper Juniper
Kelp Kelp
Kidneys (beef) Beef Kidney
Kidneys-sheep Kidney-Sheep
Lavender Lavender
Leek Leeks
Lemon Lemon
Lettuce Lettuce
Licorice Licorice
Linseed (Flax) Flax (Linseed)
Liver (Beef) Liver (beef)
Liver
(chicken)
Liver (Chick)
Liver (sheep) Liver (sheep)
Lobelia Lobelia
Food or Hot & Dry Hot & Wet Neutral Cold & Cold &
Dry Wet
Herb Choleric Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic
Malt Malt

Mandarins Mandarins
Mango Mango
Marjorum Marjorum
Marshmallow Marshmallow
Milk (cow) Milk (cow)
Milk (sheep) Milk (sheep)
Mugwort Mugwort
Mung Bean Mung Bean
Muskmelon Musklmelon
Mustard Mustard
Mutton Mutton
Myrrh Myrrh
Myrtle Myrtle
Nigella Sativa Nigella Sativa
Nutmeg Nutmeg
Olive Olive
Oysters Oysters
Food or Hot & Dry Hot & Wet Neutral Cold &
Dry
Cold &
Wet
Herb Choleric Sanguine Melancholic Phlegmatic
Papaya Papaya
Peach Peach
Peanut Peanut
Pear Pear
Peppermint Peppermint
Persimmon Persimmon
Pinneapple Pinneapple
Pistachio Pistachio
Plantain Plantain
Plum Plum
Pomegranate Pomegranate
Poppy Seed Poppy Seed
Potato Potato
Pumpkin Pumpkin
Purslane Purslane
Rasidh Radish
Rasberry Rasberry
Red Clover Red Clover
Red Pepper Red Pepper
Rhubarb Rhubarb
Rose Rose
Rosemary Rosemary
Saffron Saffron
Salt Salt
Sandalwood Sandalwood
Sarsparilla Sarsparilla
Seaweed Seaweed
Senna Senna
Sesame Oil Sesame Oil
Shallots Shallots
Shrimp Shrimp
Soybean Soybean
Squaw Vine Squaw Vine
Spearmint Spearmint
Spinach Spinach
Squash Squash
Star Anise Star Anise

Star Fruit Star Fruit
Strawberry Strawberry
String Beans String Beans
Sumac Sumac
Sugar Cane Sugar Cane
Sunflowerseed Sunflowerseed
Sweet Potato Sweet Potato
Tangerine Tangerine
Tobacco Tobacco
Tofu Tofu
Tomato Tomato
Turmeric Turmeric
Valerian Valerian
Vinegar Vinegar
Walnuts Walnuts
Watermelon Watermelon
Wheat Wheat
Wheat Bran Wheat Bran
White Sugar White Sugar
Wild Rue Wild Rue
Yams Yams

Every Man in His Humor
By Ben Johnson
http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/p/pd-modeng/pd-modengidx?type=header&id=JonsoEvery
The full text of this play is below…
Act 1
Scene 1.1
D
Now trust me, here is a goodly day toward. Musco, call up my son Lorenzo: bid him
rise: tell him, I have some businesse to imploy him in.
B
I will, sir, presently.
D
But heare you, sirrah; If he be at study, disturbe him not.
B
Very good, sir.
Exit Musco.
D
How happy would I estimate my selfe,
Could I (by any meane) retyre my son,
From one vayne course of study he affects?
He is a scholler (if a man may trust
The lib'rall voyce of double-toung'd report)
Of deare account, in all our Academies.
Yet this position must not breede in me

A fast opinion, that he cannot erre.
My selfe was once a student, and indeede
Fed with the selfe-same humor he is now,
Dreaming on nought but idle Poetrie:
But since, Experience hath awakt my spirit's,
Enter Stephano.
D
And reason taught them, how to comprehend
The soueraigne vse of study. What, cousin Stephano?
What newes with you, that you are here so earely?
I
Nothing: but eene come to see how you do, vncle.
D
That is kindly done, you are welcome, cousin.
I
Aye, I know that sir, I would not have come else: how doeth my cousin, vncle?
D
O well, well, goe in and see; I doubt he is scarce stirring yet.
I
Vncle, afore I goe in, can you tell me, if he have ever booke of the sciences of
hawking and hunting? I would fayne borrow it.
D
Why I hope you will not a hawking now, will you?

I
No wusse; but I will practise against next yeare: I have bought me a hawke, and bels
and all; I lacke nothing but a booke to keepe it by.
D
O most ridiculous.
I
Nay looke you now, you are angrie vncle, why you know, if a man have not skill in
hawking and hunting now adaies, I will not give a rush for him; he is for no
gentlemans company, and (by Gods will) I scorne it aye, so I do, to be a consort for
euerie hum-drum; hang them scroiles, there is nothing in them in the world, what do
you talke of it? a gentleman must shew himselfe like a gentleman, vncle I pray you be
not angrie, I know what I have to do I trow, I am no nouice.
D
Go to, you are a prodigal, and selfe-wild foole,
Nay never looke at me, it is I that speake,
Take it as you will, I will not flatter you.
What? have you not meanes inow to wast
That which your friends have left you, but you must
Go cast away your money on a Buzzard,
And know not how to keepe it when you have done?
O it is braue, this will make you a gentleman,
Well Cosen well, I see you are e'ene past hope
Of all reclaime; aye so, now you are told of it,
you looke another way.
I
What would you have me do trow?
D
What would I have you do? mary
Learne to be wise, and practise how to thriue,
That I would have you do, and not to spend
Your crownes on euerie one that humors you:
I would not have you to intrude your selfe

In euerie gentlemans societie,
Till their affections or your owne desert,
Do worthily inuite you to the place.
For he that is so respectlesse in his course,
Oft sels his reputation vile and cheape.
Let not your cariage, and behauiour taste
Of affectation, lest while you pretend
To make a blaze of gentrie to the world
A little puffe of scorne extinguish it,
And you be left like an vnsauorie snuffe,
Whose propertie is onely to offend.
Cosen, lay by such superficiall formes,
And entertaine a perfect reall substance,
Stand not so much on your gentility,
Enter a seruingman.
D
But moderate your expences (now at first)
As you may keepe the same proportion still.
Beare a low saile: soft who is this comes here?
V
Gentlemen, God saue you.
I
Welcome good friend, we do not stand much upon our gentilitie; yet I can assure you
mine vncle is a man of a thousand pounde land a yeare; he hath but one son in the
world; I am his next heire, as simple as I stand here, if my cosen die: I have a faire
liuing of mine owne too beside.
V
In good time sir.
I
In good time sir? you do not flout, do you?

V
Not I sir.
I
If you should, here be them can perceiue it, and that quickly too: Go to, and they can
give it againe soundly, if need be.
V
Why sir let this satisfie you. Good faith I had no such intent.
I
By God, if I thought you had sir, I would talke with you.
V
So you may sir, and at your pleasure.
I
And so I would sir, if you were out of mine vncles ground, I can tell you.
D
Why how now cosen, will this nere be left?
I
Horson base fellow, by Gods lid, if it were not for shame, I would.

D
What would you do? you peremptorie Asse,
If you will not be quiet, get you hence.
You see, the gentleman contaynes himselfe
In modest limits, giving no reply
To your vnseason'd rude comparatiues;
Yet you will demeane your selfe, without respect
Eyther of duty, or humanity.
Goe get you in: fore God I am asham'd
Exit Steph.
D
Thou hast a kinsmans interest in me.
V
I pray you, sir, is this Pazzi house?
D
Yes mary is it, sir.
V
I should enquire for a gentleman here, one Signior Lorenzo di pazzi; do you know any
such, sir, I pray you?
D
Yes, sir: or else I should forget my selfe,
V
I crye you mercy, sir, I was requested by a gentleman of Florence (hauing some
occasion to ride this way) to deliuer you this letter.
D

To me, sir? What do you meane? I pray you remember your curt'sy.
E
To his deare and most elected friend, Signior Lorenzo di Pazzi.
D
What might the gentlemans name be, sir, that sent it: Nay, pray you be couer'd.
V
Signior Prospero.
D
Signior Prospero? A young gentleman of the family of Strozzi, is he not?
V
Aye, sir, the same: Signior Thorello, the rich Florentine merchant married his sister.
Enter Musco.
D
You say very true. Musco.
B
Sir.
D
Make this Gentleman drinke, here. I pray you goe in, sir, if it please you.

Exeunt.
D
Now (without doubt) this letter is to my son.
Well: all is one: I will be so bold as reade it,
Be it but for the styles sake, and the phrase;
Both which (I do presume) are excellent,
And greatly varied from the vulgar forme,
If Prospero's inuention gaue them life.
How now? what stuff is here?
E
Sirrah Lorenzo, I muse we cannot see thee at Florence: S'blood, I doubt, Apollo hath
got thee to be his Ingle, that thou commest not abroad, to visit thine old friends: well,
take heede of him; he may do some what for his houshold seruants, or so; But for his
Retayners, I am sure, I have knowne some of them, that have followed him, three,
foure, fiue yeere together, scorning the world with their bare heeles, and at length
bene glad for a shift, (though no cleane shift) to lye a whole winter, in halfe a sheete,
cursing Charles wayne, and the rest of the starres intolerably. But (quis contra diuos?)
well; Sirrah, sweete villayne, come and see me; but spend one minute in my company,
and it is inough: I think I have a world of good Iests for thee: o sirrah, I can shew thee
two of the most perfect, rare, and absolute true Gulls, that euer thou saw'st, if thou
wilt come. S'blood, inuent some famous memorable lye, or other, to flap thy father in
the mouth withall: thou hast bene father of a thousand, in thy dayes, thou could'st be
no Poet else: any sciruy roguish excuse will serue; say thou com'st but to fetch wooll
for thine Inke-horne. And then too, thy Father will say thy wits are a wooll-gathering.
But it is no matter; the worse, the better. Anything is good inough for the old man.
Sirrah, how if thy Father should see this now? what would he think of me? Well,
(howeuer I write to thee) I reuerence him in my soule, for the generall good all
Florence deliuers of him. Lorenzo, I coniure thee (by what, let me see) by the depth of
our love, by all the strange sights we have seene in our dayes, (aye or nights eyther) to
come to me to Florence this day. Go to, you shall come, and let your Muses goe
spinne for once. If thou wilt not, s'hart, what is your gods name? Apollo? Aye;
Apollo. If this melancholy rogue (Lorenzo here) do not come, graunt, that he do turne
Foole presently, and never hereafter, be able to make a good Iest, or a blanke verse,
but liue in more penurie of wit and Inuention, then eyther the Hall-Beadle, or Poet
Nuntius.
D
Well, it is the strangest letter that euer I read.
Is this the man, my son (so oft) hath prays'd
To be the happiest, and most pretious wit
That euer was familiar with Art?
Now (by our Ladies blessed son) I sweare,
I rather think him most infortunate,

In the possession of such holy giftes,
Being the master of so loose a spirit.
Why what vnhallowed ruffian would have writ,
With so prophane a pen, vnto his friend?
The modest paper eene lookes pale for griefe
To feele her virgin-cheeke defilde and staind
With such a blacke and criminall inscription.
Well, I had thought my son could not have straied,
So farre from iudgement, as to mart himselfe
Thus cheapely, (in the open trade of scorne)
To geering follie, and fantastique humour.
But now I see opinion is a foole,
And hath abusde my sences. Musco.
Enter Musco.
B
Sir.
D
What is the fellow gone that brought this letter?
B
Yes sir, a prettie while since.
D
And where is Lorenzo?
B
In his chamber sir.
D
He spake not with the fellow, did he?

B
No sir, he saw him not.
D
Then Musco take this letter, and deliuer it vnto Lorenzo: but sirrah, (on your life) take
you no knowledge I have open'd it.
B
O Lord sir, that were a iest in deed.
Exit Mus.
D
I am resolu'd I will not crosse his iourney,
Nor will I practise any violent meane,
To stay the hot and lustie course of youth.
For youth restraind straight growes impatient,
And (in condition) like an eager dogge,
Who (never so little from his game withheld)
Turnes head and leapes up at his masters throat.
Therefore I will studie (by some milder drift)
To call my son vnto a happier shrift.
Exit.
Scene 1.2
B
Yes sir, (on my word) he opend it, and read the contents.
F
It scarse contents me that he did so. But Musco didst thou obserue his countenance in
the reading of it, whether he were angrie or pleasde?

B
Why sir I saw him not reade it.
F
No? how knowest thou then that he opend it?
B
Marry sir because he charg'd me (on my life) to tell no body that he opend it, which
(vnlesse he had done) he wold never feare to have it reueald.
F
That is true: well Musco hie thee in againe,
Least thy protracted absence do lend light,
Enter Stephan.
F
To darke suspition: Musco be assurde
I will not forget this thy respectiue love.
I
O Musco, didst thou not see a fellow here in a what-sha-callum doublet; he brought
mine vncle a letter euen now?
B
Yes sir, what of him?
I
Where is he, canst thou tell?

B
Why he is gone.
I
Gone? which way? when went he? how long since?
B
It is almost halfe an houre ago since he rid hence.
I
Horson Scanderbag rogue, o that I had a horse; by Gods lidde I would fetch him
backe againe, with heaue and ho.
B
Why you may have my masters bay gelding, and you will.
I
But I have no boots, that is the spite of it.
B
Then it is no boot to follow him. Let him go and hang sir.
I
Aye by my troth; Musco, I pray thee help to trusse me a little; nothing angers me, but
I have waited such a while for him all vnlac'd and vntrust yonder, and now to see he is
gone the other way.

B
Nay I pray you stand still sir.
I
I will, I will: o how it vexes me.
B
Tut, never vexe your selfe with the thought of such a base fellow as he.
I
Nay to see, he stood upon poynts with me too.
B
Like inough so; that was, because he saw you had so fewe at your hose.
I
What? Hast thou done? Godamercy, good Musco.
B
I marle, sir, you weare such ill-fauourd course stockings, hauing so good a legge as
you have.
I
Fo, the stockings be good inough for this time of the yeere; but I will have a payre of
silke, ere it be long: I think, my legge would shewe well in a silke hose.

B
Aye afore God would it rarely well.
I
In sadnesse I think it would: I have a reasonable good legge.
B
You have an excellent good legge, sir: I pray you pardon me, I have a little haste in,
sir.
I
A thousand thankes, good Musco.
Exit.
I
What, I hope he laughs not at me; if he do --
F
Here is a style indeed, for a mans fences to leape ouer, ere they come at it: why, it is
able to breake the shinnes of any old mans patience in the world. My father reade this
with patience? Then will I be made an Eunuch, and learne to sing Ballads. I do not
deny, but my father may have as much patience as any other man; for he vses to take
phisicke, and oft taking phisicke, makes a man a very patient creature. But, Signior
Prospero, had your swaggering Epistle here, arriued in my fathers hands, at such an
houre of his patience, (I meane, when he had tane phisicke) it is to be doubted,
whether I should have read sweete villayne here. But, what? My wise cousin; Nay
then, I will furnish our feast with one Gull more toward a messe; he writes to me of
two, and here is one, that is three, in fayth. O for a fourth: now, Fortune, or never
Fortune.

I
O, now I see who he laught at: he laught at some body in that letter. By this good
light, if he had laught at me, I would have told mine vncle.
F
Cousin Stephano: good morrow, good cousin, how fare you?
I
The better for your asking, I will assure you, I have beene all about to seeke you;
since I came I saw mine vncle; and in faith how have you done this great while? Good
Lord, by my troth I am glad you are well cousin.
F
And I am as glad of your comming, I protest to you, for I am sent for by a priuate
gentleman, my most speciall deare friend, to come to him to Florence this morning,
and you shall go with me cousin, if it please you, not els, I will enioyne you no further
then stands with your owne consent, and the condition of a friend.
I
Why cousin you shall command me if it were twise so farre as Florence to do you
good; what do you think I will not go with you? I protest.
F
Nay, nay, you shall not protest.
I
By God, but I will sir, by your leaue I will protest more to my friend then I will
speake of at this time.

F
You speake very well sir.
I
Nay not so neither, but I speake to serue my turne.
F
Your turne? why cousin, a gentleman of so faire sort as you are, of so true cariage, so
speciall good parts: of so deare and choice estimation; one whose lowest condition
beares the stampe of a great spirit; nay more, a man so grac'd, guilded, or rather (to
vse a more fit Metaphor) tinfoyld by nature, (not that you have a leaden constitution,
couze, although perhaps a little inclining to that temper, and so the more apt to melt
with pittie, when you fall into the fire of rage) but for your lustre onely, which reflects
as bright to the world as an old Ale-wiues pewter againe a good time; and will you
now (with nice modestie) hide such reall ornaments as these, and shadow their glorie
as a Millaners wife doth her wrought stomacher, with a smoakie lawne or a blacke
cipresse? Come, come, for a shame do not wrong the qualitie of your desert in so
poore a kind: but let the Idea of what you are, be portraied in your aspect, that men
may reade in your lookes; Here within this place is to be seene, the most admirable
rare and accomplisht worke of nature; Cousin what think you of this?
I
Marry I do think of it, and I will be more melancholie, and gentlemanlike then I have
beene, I do ensure you.
F
Why this is well: now if I can but hold up this humor in him, as it is begun, Catso for
Florence, match him if she can; Come cousin.
I
I will follow you.

F
Follow me? you must go before.
I
Must I? nay then I pray you shew me good cousin.
Exeunt.
Scene 1.3
J
I think this be the house: what howgh?
G
Who is there? o Signior Matheo. God give you good morrow sir.
J
What? Cob? how doest thou good Cob? doest thou inhabite here Cob?
G
Aye sir, I and my lineage have kept a poore house in our daies.
J
Thy lineage monsieur Cob? what lineage, what lineage?
G

Why sir, an ancient lineage, and a princely: mine ancetrie came from a kings loynes,
no worse man; and yet no man neither, but Herring the king of fish, one of the
monarches of the world I assure you. I do fetch my pedegree and name from the first
redde herring that was eaten in Adam, and Eves kitchin: his Cob was my great, great,
mighty great grandfather.
J
Why mightie? why mightie?
G
O it is a mightie while agoe sir, and it was a mightie great Cob.
J
How knowest thou that?
G
How know I? why his ghost comes to me euery night.
J
O vnsauorie iest: the ghost of a herring Cob.
G
Aye, why not the ghost of a herring Cob, as well as the ghost of Rashero Baccono,
they were both broild on the coales: you are a scholler, vpsolue me that now.
J
O rude ignorance. Cob canst thou shew of me, of a gentleman, one Signior Bobadilla,
where his lodging is?

G
O my guest sir, you meane?
J
Thy guest, alas? ha, ha.
G
Why do you laugh sir? do you not meane signior Bobadilla?
J
Cob I pray thee aduise thy selfe well: do not wrong the gentleman, and thy selfe too. I
dare be sworne he scornes thy house he. He lodge in such a base obscure place as thy
house? Tut, I know his disposition so well, he would not lie in thy bed if thou would'st
give it him.
G
I will not give it him. Masse I thought (somewhat was in it) we could not get him to
bed all night. Well sir, though he lie not on my bed, he lies on my bench, if it please
you to go up sir, you shall find him with two cushions vnder his head, and his cloake
wrapt about him, as though he had neither won nor lost, and yet I warrant he never
cast better in his life then he hath done to night.
J
Why was he drunke?
G
Drunk sir? you heare not me say so; perhaps he swallow'd a tauerne token, or some
such deuise sir; I have nothing to do withal: I deale with water and not with wine.

Give me my tankard there, ho. God be with you sir, it is sixe a clocke: I should have
caried two turnes by this, what ho? my stopple come.
J
Lie in a waterbearers house, a gentleman of his note? well I will tell him my mind.
Exit.
G
What Tib, shew this gentleman up to Signior Bobadilla: o if my house were the
Brazen head now, faith it would eene crie more fooles yet: you should have some
now, would take him to be a gentleman at the least; alas God helpe the simple, his
father is an honest man, a good fishmonger, and so forth: and now doth he creep and
wriggle into acquaintance with all the braue gallants about the towne, such as my
guest is, (o my guest is a fine man) and they flout him inuinciblie. He vseth euery day
to a Marchants house (where I serue water) one M. Thorellos; and here is the iest, he
is in love with my masters sister, and cals her mistres: and there he sits a whole
afternoone sometimes, reading of these same abhominable, vile, (a poxe on them, I
cannot abide them) rascally verses, Poetrie, poetrie, and speaking of Enterludes, it will
make a man burst to heare him: and the wenches, they do so geere and tihe at him;
well, should they do as much to me, I would forsweare them all, by the life of
Pharoah, there is an oath: how many waterbearers shall you heare sweare such an
oath? o I have a guest (he teacheth me) he doth sweare the best of any man christned:
By Pho ebus, By the life of Pharaoh, By the body of me, As I am gentleman, and a
soldier: such daintie oathes; and withall he doth take this same filthie roaguish
Tabacco the finest, and cleanliest; it wold do a man good to see the fume come forth
at his nostrils: well, he owes me fortie shillings (my wife lent him out of her purse; by
sixpence a time) besides his lodging; I would I had it: I shall have it he saith next
Action. Helter skelter, hang sorrow, care will kill a cat, vptailes all, and a poxe on the
hangman.
Exit.
Bobadilla discouers himselfe: on a bench; to him Tib.
C
Hostesse, hostesse.
O
What say you sir?

C
A cup of your small beere sweet hostesse.
O
Sir, there is a gentleman below would speake with you.
C
A gentleman, (Gods #so) I am not within.
O
My husband told him you were sir.
C
What ha plague? what meant he?
J
Signior Bobadilla.
Matheo within.
C
Who is there? (take away the bason good hostesse) come up sir.
O
He would desire you to come up sir; you come into a cleanly house here.

J
God saue you sir, God saue you.
Enter Matheo
C
Signior Matheo, is it you sir? please you sit downe.
J
I thanke you good Signior, you may see, I am somewhat audacious.
C
Not so Signior, I was requested to supper yesternight by a sort of gallants where you
were wisht for, and drunke to I assure you.
J
Vouchsafe me by whom good Signior.
C
Marrie by Signior Prospero, and others, why hostesse, a stoole here for this
gentleman.
J
No haste sir, it is very well.
C

Bodie of me, it was so late ere we parted last night, I can scarse open mine eyes yet; I
was but new risen as you came: how passes the day abroad sir? you can tell.
J
Faith some halfe houre to seuen: now trust me you have an exceeding fine lodging
here, very neat, and priuate.
C
Aye sir, sit downe I pray you: Signior Matheo (in any case) possesse no gentlemen of
your acquaintance with notice of my lodging.
J
Who I sir? no.
C
Not that I neede to care who know it, but in regard I would not be so popular and
generall, as some be.
J
True Signior, I conceiue you.
C
For do you see sir, by the hart of my selfe (except it be to some peculiar and choice
spirits, to whom I am extraordinarily ingag'd, as yourselfe, or so) I would not extend
thus farre.
J
O Lord sir I resolue so.

C
What new booke have you there? what? Go by Hieronimo.
J
Aye, did you euer see it acted? is it not well pend?
C
Well pend: I would faine see all the Poets of our time pen such another play as that
was; they will prate and swagger, and keepe a stirre of arte and deuises, when (by
Gods #so) they are the most shallow pittifull fellowes that liue upon the face of the
earth againe.
J
Indeede, here are a number of fine speeches in this booke: O eyes, no eyes but
fountaines fraught with teares; there is a conceit: Fountaines fraught with teares. O
life, no life, but liuely forme of death: is it not excellent? O world, no world, but
masse of publique wrongs; O Gods me: confusde and fild with murther and misdeeds.
Is it not simply the best that euer you heard? Ha, how do you like it?
C
It is good.
J
To thee the purest obiect of my sence,
The most refined essence heauen couers,
Send I these lines, whereon I do commence
The happie state of true deseruing lovers.
If they proue rough, vnpolish't, harsh and rude,
Haste made that waste; thus mildly I conclude.
C

Nay proceed, proceed, where is this? where is this?
J
This sir, a toy of mine owne in my nonage: but when will you come and see my
studie? good faith I can shew you some verie good thinges I have done of late: that
boote becomes your legge passing well sir, me thinks.
C
So, so, it is a fashion gentlemen vse.
J
Masse sir, and now you speake of the fashion, Signior Prosperos elder brother and I
are fallen out exceedingly: this other day I hapned to enter into some discourse of a
hanger, which I assure you, both for fashion and workmanship was most beautifull
and gentlemanlike; yet he condemned it for the most pide and ridiculous that euer he
saw.
C
Signior Guiliano, was it not? the elder brother?
J
Aye sir, he.
C
Hang him Rooke he? why he has no more iudgement then a malt horse. By S. George,
I hold him the most peremptorie absurd clowne (one of them) in Christendome: I
protest to you (as I am a gentleman and a soldier) I never talk't with the like of him:
he has not so much as a good word in his bellie, all iron, iron, a good commoditie for
a smith to make hobnailes on.
J

Aye, and he thinkes to carrie it away with his manhood still where he comes: he brags
he will give me the bastinado, as I heare.
C
How, the bastinado? how came he by that word trow?
J
Nay indeed he said cudgill me; I tearmd it so for the more grace.
C
That may be, for I was sure it was none of his word: but when, when said he so?
J
Faith yesterday they say, a young gallant a friend of mine told me so.
C
By the life of Pharaoh, if it were my case now, I should send him a challenge
presently: the bastinado: come hither, you shall challenge him; I will shew you a
tricke or two, you shall kill him at pleasure, the first stockado if you will, by this ayre.
J
Indeed you have absolute knowledge in the mistery, I have heard sir.
C
Of whom? of whom I pray?
J

Faith I have heard it spoken of diuers, that you have verie rare skill sir.
C
By heauen, no, not I, no skill in the earth: some small science, know my time,
distance, or so, I have profest it more for noblemen and gentlemens vse, then mine
owne practise I assure you. Hostesse, lend us another bedstaffe here quickly: looke
you sir, exalt not your point aboue this state at any hand, and let your poyneard
maintaine your defence thus: give it the gentleman. So sir, come on, o twine your
bodie more about, that you may come to a more sweet comely gentlemanlike guard;
so indifferent. Hollow your bodie more sir, thus: now stand fast on your left leg, note
your distance, keep your due proportion of time: o you disorder your point most
vilely.
J
How is the bearing of it now sir?
C
O out of measure ill, a well experienced man would passe upon you at pleasure.
J
How meane you passe upon me?
C
Why thus sir? make a thrust at me; come in upon my time; controll your point, and
make a full carriere at the bodie: the best practis'd gentlemen of the time terme it the
passado, a most desperate thrust, beleeue it.
J
Well, come sir,

C
Why you do not manage your weapons with that facilitie and grace that you should
do, I have no spirit to play with you, your dearth of iudgement makes you seeme
tedious.
J
But one veny sir.
C
Fie veney, most grosse denomination, as euer I heard: o the stockado while you liue
Signior, note that. Come put on your cloake, and we will go to some priuate place
where you are acquainted, some tauerne or so, and we will send for one of these
fencers, where he shall breath you at my direction, and then I will teach you that
tricke, you shall kill him with it at the first if you please: why I will learne you by the
true iudgement of the eye, hand and foot, to controll any mans point in the world;
Should your aduersary confront you with a pistoll, it were nothing, you should (by the
same rule) controll the bullet, most certaine by Pho ebus: vnles it were haile-shot:
what mony have you about you sir?
J
Faith I have not past two shilling, or so.
C
It is somewhat with the least, but come, when we have done, we will call up Signior
Prospero; perhaps we shall meet with Coridon his brother there.
Exeunt.
Scene 1.4
Enter Thorello, Guiliano, Piso.
A

Piso, come hither: there lies a note within upon my deske; here take my key: it is no
matter neither, where is the boy?
L
Within sir, in the warehouse.
A
Let him tell ouer that Spanish gold, and weigh it, and do you see the deliuerie of those
wares to Signior Bentiuole: I will be there my selfe at the receipt of the money anon.
L
Verie good sir.
Exit Piso.
A
Brother, did you see that same fellow there?
K
Aye, what of him?
A
He is e'ene the honestest faithfull seruant, that is this day in Florence; (I speake a
proud word now) and one that I durst trust my life into his hands, I have so strong
opinion of his love, if need were.
K
God send me never such need: but you said you had somewhat to tell me, what is it?

A
Faith brother, I am loath to vtter it,
As fearing to abuse your patience,
But that I know your iudgement more direct,
Able to sway the nearest of affection.
K
Come, come, what needs this circumstance?
A
I will not say what honor I ascribe
Vnto your friendship, nor in what deare state
I hold your love; let my continued zeale,
The constant and religious regard,
That I have euer caried to your name,
My cariage with your sister, all contest,
How much I stand affected to your house.
K
You are too tedious, come to the matter, come to the matter.
A
Then (without further ceremony) thus.
My brother Prospero (I know not how)
Of late is much declin'd from what he was,
And greatly alterd in his disposition.
When he came first to lodge here in my house.
Never trust me, if I was not proud of him:
Me thought he bare himselfe with such obseruance,
So true election and so faire a forme:
And (what was chiefe) it shewd not borrowed in him,
But all he did became him as his owne,
And seemd as perfect, proper, and innate,
Vnto the mind, as collor to the blood,
But now, his course is so irregular,
So loose affected, and depriu'd of grace.
And he himselfe withall so farre falne off
From his first place, that scarse no note remaines,
To tell mens iudgements where he lately stood;
He is growne a stranger to all due respect,
Forgetfull of his friends, and not content
To stale himselfe in all societies,

He makes my house as common as a Mart,
A Theater, a publike receptacle
For giddie humor, and diseased riot,
And there, (as in a Tauerne, or a stewes,)
He, and his wilde associates, spend their houres,
In repetition of lasciuious iests,
Sweare, leape, and dance, and reuell night by night,
Controll my seruants: and indeed what not?
K
Faith I know not what I should say to him: so God saue me, I am eene at my wits end,
I have tolde him inough, one would think, if that would serue: well, he knowes what
to trust to for me: let him spend, and spend, and domineere till his hart ake: if he get a
peny more of me, I will give him this eare.
A
Nay good Brother have patience.
K
S'blood, he mads me, I could eate my very flesh for anger: I marle you will not tell
him of it, how he disquiets your house,
A
O there are diuers reasons to disswade me,
But would your selfe vouchsafe to trauaile in it,
(Though but with plaine, and easie circumstance,)
It would, both come much better to his sence,
And fauor lesse of griefe and discontent.
You are his elder brother, and that title
Confirmes and warrants your authoritie:
Which (seconded by your aspect) will breed
A kinde of duty in him, and regard.
Whereas, if I should intimate the least,
It would but adde contempt, to his neglect,
Heape worse on ill, reare a huge pile of hate,
That in the building, would come tottring downe,
And in her ruines, bury all our love.
Nay more then this brother; (if I should speake)
He would be ready in the heate of passion,
To fill the eares of his familiars,

With oft reporting to them, what disgrace
And grosse disparagement, I had propos'd him.
And then would they straight back him, in opinion,
Make some loose comment upon euery word,
And out of their distracted phantasies;
Contriue some slander, that should dwell with me.
And what would that be think you? mary this,
They would give out, (because my wife is fayre,
My selfe but lately married, and my sister
Here soiourning a virgin in my house)
That I were iealous: nay, as sure as death,
Thus they would say: and how that I had wrongd
My brother purposely, thereby to finde
An apt pretext to banish them my house.
K
Masse perhaps so.
A
Brother they would beleeue it: so should I.
(Like one of these penurious quack-slaluers,)
But trie experiments upon my selfe,
Open the gates vnto mine owne disgrace,
Lend bare-ribd enuie, oportunitie.
To stab my reputation, and good name.
Enter Boba. and Matheo.
J
I will speake to him.
C
Speake to him? away, by the life of Pharoah you shall not, you shall not do him that
grace: the time of daye to you Gentleman: is Signior Prospero stirring?
K
How then? what should he do?

C
Signior Thorello, is he within sir?
A
He came not to his lodging to night sir, I assure you.
K
Why do you here? you.
C
This gentleman hath satisfied me, I will talke to no Scauenger.
K
How Scauenger? stay sir stay.
Exeunt.
A
Nay Brother Giuliano.
K
S'blood stand you away, if you love me.
A
You shall not follow him now I pray you,
Good faith you shall not.

K
Ha? Scauenger? well goe to, I say little, but, by this good day (God forgiue me I
should sweare) if I put it up so, say I am the rankest -- that euer pist. S'blood if I
swallowe this, I will neere drawe my sworde in the sight of man againe while I liue; I
will sit in a Barne with Madge-owlet first, Scauenger? 'Hart and I will goe neere to fill
that huge timbrell slop of yours with somewhat if I have good lucke, your Garagantua
breech cannot carry it away so.
A
O do not fret your selfe thus, never think of it.
K
These are my brothers consorts these, these are his Cumrades, his walking mates, he
is a gallant, a Caueliero too, right hangman cut, God let me not liue, if I could not
finde in my hart to swinge the whole nest of them, one after another, and begin with
him first, I am grieu'd it should be said he is my brother, and take these courses, well
he shall heare of it, and that tightly too, if I liue in faith.
A
But brother, let your apprehension (then)
Runne in an easie current, not transported
With heady rashnes, or deuouring choller,
And rather carry a perswading spirit,
Whose powers will pearce more gently; and allure,
The imperfect thoughts you labour to reclaime,
To a more sodaine and resolu'd assent.
K
Aye, aye, let me alone for that I warrant you.
Bell rings.
A
How now? o the bell rings to breakefast. Brother Guiliano, I pray you go in and beare
my wife company: I will but give order to my seruants for the dispatche of some
busines and come to you presently.

Exit Guil.
Enter Cob.
A
What Cob? our maides will have you by the back (in faith) For comming so late this
morning.
G
Perhaps so sir, take heede some body have not them by the belly for walking so late in
the euening.
Exit.
A
Now (in good faith) my minde is somewhat easd,
Though not reposd in that securitie,
As I could wish; well, I must be content,
How ever I set a face of it to the world,
Would I had lost this finger at a vente,
So Prospero had never lodg'd in my house,
Why it cannot be, where there is such resort
Of wanton gallants, and young reuellers,
That any woman should be honest long.
Is it like, that factious beauty will preserue
The soueraigne state of chastitie vnscard,
When such strong motiues muster, and make head
Against her single peace? no, no: beware
When mutuall pleasure swayes the appetite,
And spirits of one kinde and qualitie,
Do meete to parlee in the pride of blood.
Well (to be plaine) if I but thought the time
Had answer'd their affections: all the world
Should not perswade me, but I were a cuckold:
Mary I hope they have not got that start.
For opportunity hath balkt them yet,
And shall do still, while I have eyes and eares
To attend the imposition of my hart,
My presence shall be as an Iron Barre,
Twixt the conspiring motions of desire,
Yea euery looke or glance mine eye obiects,
Shall checke occasion, as one doth his slaue,
When he forgets the limits of prescription.
Enter Biancha, with Hesperida.

M
Sister Hesperida, I pray you fetch downe the Rose water aboue in the closet: Sweete
hart will you come in to breakfast.
Exit Hesperida.
A
If she have ouer-heard me now?
M
I pray thee (good Musse) we stay for you.
A
By Christ I would not for a thousand crownes.
M
What ayle you sweete hart, are you not well, speake good Musse.
A
Troth my head akes extreamely on a suddaine.
M
O Iesu!
A
How now? what?
M

Good Lord how it burnes? Musse keepe you warme, good truth it is this new disease,
there is a number are troubled withall: for Gods sake sweete heart, come in out of the
ayre.
A
How simple, and how subtill are her answeres?
A new disease, and many troubled with it.
Why true, she heard me all the world to nothing.
M
I pray thee good sweet heart come in: the ayre will do you harme in troth.
A
I will come to you presently, it will away I hope.
M
Pray God it do.
Exit.
A
A new disease? I know not, new or old,
But it may well be call'd poore mortals Plague;
For like a pestilence it doth infect
The houses of the braine: first it begins
Solely to worke upon the fantasie,
Filling her seat with such pestiferous aire,
As soone corrupts the iudgement, and from thence,
Sends like contagion to the memorie,
Still each of other catching the infection,
Which as a searching vapor spreads it selfe
Confusedly through euery sensiue part,
Till not a thought or motion in the mind
Be free from the blacke poison of suspect.
Ah, but what error is it to know this,
And want the free election of the soule
In such extreames? well, I will once more striue,
(Euen in despight of hell) my selfe to be,

And shake this feauer off that thus shakes me.
Exit.
Act 2
Scene 2.1
Enter Musco disguised like a soldier.
B
S'blood, I cannot chuse but laugh to see my selfe translated thus, from a poore
creature to a creator; for now must I create an intolerable sort of lies, or else my
profession looses his grace, and yet the lie to a man of my coat, is as ominous as the
Fico. o sir, it holds for good policie to have that outwardly in vilest estimation, that
inwardly is most deare to us: So much for my borrowed shape. Well, the troth is, my
maister intends to follow his son drie-foot to Florence, this morning: now I knowing
of this conspiracie, and the rather to insinuate with my young master, (for so must we
that are blew waiters, or men of seruice do, or else perhaps we may weare motley at
the yeares end, and who weares motley you know:) I have got me afore in this
disguise, determining here to lie in ambuscado, and intercept him in the midway: if I
can but get his cloake, his purse, his hat, nay any thing so I can stay his iourney, Rex
Regum, I am made for euer in faith: well, now must I practise to get the true garbe of
one of these Launce-knights: my arme here, and my: Gods #so, young master and his
cousin.
Enter Lo.iu. and Step.
F
So sir, and how then?
I
Gods foot, I have lost my purse, I think.
F
How? lost your purse? where? when had you it?
I

I cannot tell, stay.
B
S'lid I am afeard they will know me, would I could get by them.
F
What? have you it?
I
No, I think I was bewitcht, I.
F
Nay do not weep, a poxe on it, hang it let it go.
I
O it is here; nay if it had beene lost, I had not car'd but for a iet ring Marina sent me.
F
A iet ring? o the poesie, the poesie?
I
Fine in faith: Though fancie sleepe, my love is deep: meaning that though I did not
fancie her, yet she loved me dearely.
F
Most excellent.

I
And then I sent her another, and my poesie was; The deeper the sweeter, I will be
iudg'd by Saint Peter.
F
How, by S. Peter: I do not conceiue that.
I
Marrie, S. Peter to make up the meeter.
F
Well, you are beholding to that Saint, he help't you at your need; thanke him, thanke
him.
B
I will venture, come what will: Gentlemen, please you chaunge a few crownes for a
verie excellent good blade here; I am a poore gentleman, a soldier, one that (in the
better state of my fortunes) scornd so meane a refuge, but now it is the humour of
necessitie to have it so: you seeme to be gentlemen well affected to martiall men, els I
should rather die with silence, then liue with shame: how ever, vouchsafe to
remember it is my want speakes, not my selfe: this condition agrees not with my
spirit.
F
Where hast thou seru'd?
B
May it please you Signior, in all the prouinces of Bohemia, Hungaria, Dalmatia,
Poland, where not? I have beene a poore seruitor by sea and land, any time this xiiij.

yeares, and follow'd the fortunes of the best Commaunders in Christendome. I was
twise shot at the taking of Aleppo, once at the reliefe of Vienna; I have beene at
America in the galleyes thrise, where I was most dangerously shot in the head,
through both the thighes, and yet being thus maim'd I am voide of maintenance,
nothing left me but my scarres, the noted markes of my resolution.
I
How will you sell this Rapier friend?
B
Faith Signior, I referre it to your owne iudgement; you are a gentleman, give me what
you please.
I
True, I am a gentleman, I know that; but what though, I pray you say, what would you
aske?
B
I assure you the blade may become the side of the best prince in Europe.
F
Aye, with a veluet scabberd.
I
Nay if it be mine it shall have a veluet scabberd, that is flat, I would not weare it as it
is if you would give me an angell.
B
At your pleasure Signior, nay it is a most pure Toledo.

I
I had rather it were a Spaniard: but tell me, what shall I give you for it? if it had a
siluer hilt --
F
Come, come, you shall not buy it; holde there is a shilling friend, take thy Rapier.
I
Why but I will buy it now, because you say so: what shall I go without a rapier?
F
You may buy one in the citie.
I
Tut, I will buy this, so I will; tell me your lowest price.
F
You shall not I say.
I
By Gods lid, but I will, though I give more then it is worth.
F
Come away, you are a foole.

I
Friend, I will have it for that word: follow me.
B
At your seruice Signior.
Exeunt.
Scene 2.2
Enter Lorenzo senior.
D
My labouring spirit being late opprest
With my sons follie, can embrace no rest,
Till it hath plotted by aduise and skill,
How to reduce him from affected will
To reasons manage; which while I intend,
My troubled soule beginnes to apprehend
A farther secret, and to meditate
Upon the difference of mans estate:
Where is deciphered to true iudgements eye
A deep, conceald, and precious misterie.
Yet can I not but worthily admire
At natures art: who (when she did inspire
This heat of life) plac'd Reason (as a king)
Here in the head, to have the marshalling
Of our affections: and with soueraigntie
To sway the state of our weake emperie.
But as in diuers commonwealthes we see,
The forme of gouernment to disagree:
Euen so in man who searcheth soone shall find
As much or more varietie of mind.
Some mens affections like a sullen wife,
Is with her husband reason still at strife.
Others (like proud Arch-traitors that rebell
Against their soueraigne) practise to expell
Their liege Lord Reason, and not shame to tread
Upon his holy and annointed head.
But as that land or nation best doth thriue,
Which to smooth-fronted peace is most procliue,
So doth that mind, whose faire affections rang'd
By reasons rules, stand constant and vnchang'd,

Els, if the power of reason be not such,
Why do we attribute to him so much?
Or why are we obsequious to his law,
If he want spirit our affects to awe?
O no, I argue weakly, he is strong,
Enter Musco.
D
Albeit my son have done him too much wrong.
B
My master: nay faith have at you: I am flesh: now I have sped so well: Gentleman, I
beseech you respect the estate of a poor soldier; I am asham'd of this base course of
life (God is my comfort) but extremitie prouokes me to it, what remedie?
D
I have not for you now.
B
By the faith I beare vnto God, gentleman, it is no ordinarie custome, but onely to
preserue manhood. I protest to you, a man I have bin, a man I may be, by your sweet
bountie.
D
I pray thee good friend be satisfied.
B
Good Signior: by Iesu you may do the part of a kind gentleman, in lending a poore
soldier the price of two cans of beere, a matter of small value, the King of heauen
shall pay you, and I shall rest thankfull: sweet Signior.
D

Nay if you be so importunate --
B
O Lord sir, need will have his course: I was not made to this vile vse; well, the edge
of the enemie could not have abated me so much: it is hard when a man hath serued in
his Princes cause and be thus. Signior, let me deriue a small peece of siluer from you,
it shall not be given in the course of time, by this good ground, I was faine to pawne
my rapier last night for a poore supper, I am a Pagan els: sweet Signior.
D
Beleeue me I am rapte with admiration,
To think a man of thy exterior presence,
Should (in the constitution of the mind)
Be so degenerate, infirme, and base.
Art thou a man? and sham'st thou not to beg?
To practise such a seruile kinde of life?
Why were thy education never so meane,
Hauing thy limbes: a thousand fairer courses
Offer themselues to thy election.
Nay there the warres might still supply thy wants,
Or seruice of some vertuous Gentleman,
Or honest labour; nay what can I name,
But would become thee better then to beg?
But men of your condition feede on sloth,
As doth the Scarabe on the dung she breeds in,
Not caring how the temper of your spirits
Is eaten with the rust of idlenesse.
Now afore God, what ever he be, that should
Releeue a person of thy qualitie,
While you insist in this loose desperate course,
I would esteeme the sinne not thine but his.
B
Faith signior, I would gladly finde some other course if so.
D
Aye, you would gladly finde it, but you will not seeke it.

B
Alasse sir, where should a man seeke? in the warres, there is no assent by desart in
these dayes, but: and for seruice would it were as soone purchast as wisht for (Gods
my comfort) I know what I would say.
D
What is thy name.
B
Please you: Portensio.
D
Portensio?
Say that a man should entertaine thee now,
Would thou be honest, humble, iust and true.
B
Signior: by the place and honor of a souldier.
D
Nay, nay, I like not these affected othes;
Speake plainly man: what thinkst thou of my words?
B
Nothing signior, but wish my fortunes were as happy as my seruice should be honest.
D
Well follow me, I will prooue thee, if thy deedes Will cary a proportion to thy words.

Exit Lor.
B
Yes sir straight, I will but garter my hose; o that my bellie were hoopt now, for I am
readie to burst with laughing. S'lid, was there euer seene a foxe in yeares to betray
himselfe thus? now shall I be possest of all his determinations, and consequently and
my young master well he is resolu'd to proue my honestie: faith and I am resolued to
proue his patience: o I shall abuse him intollerablie: this small peece of seruice will
bring him cleane out of love with the soldier for euer. It is no matter, let the world
think me a bad counterfeit, if I cannot give him the slip at an instant: why this is better
then to have staid his iourney by halfe, well I will follow him: o how I long to be
imployed.
Exit.
Scene 2.3
Enter Prospero, Bobadilla, and Matheo.
J
Yes faith sir, we were at your lodging to seeke you too.
E
O I came not there to night.
C
Your brother deliuered us as much.
E
Who Guiliano?
C
Guiliano? Signior Prospero, I know not in what kinde you value me, but let me tell
you this: as sure as God I do hold it so much out of mine honor and reputation, if I

should but cast the least regard upon such a dunghill of flesh; I protest to you (as I
have a soule to be saued) I never saw any gentlemanlike part in him: if there were no
more men liuing upon the face of the earth, I should not fancie him by Pho ebus.
J
Troth nor, he is of a rusticall cut, I know not how: he doth not carrie himselfe like a
gentleman.
E
O signior Matheo, that is a grace peculiar but to a few; quos æquus amauit Iupiter.
J
I vnderstand you sir.
Enter Lorenzo iunior, and Step.
E
No question you do sir: Lorenzo; now on my soule welcome; how doest thou sweet
raskall? my Genius? S'blood I shall love Apollo, and the mad Thespian girles the
better while I liue for this; my deare villaine, now see there is some spirit in thee:
Sirrah these be they two I writ to thee of, nay what a drowsie humor is this now? why
doest thou not speake?
F
O you are a fine gallant, you sent me a rare letter.
E
Why was it not rare?
F

Yes I will be sworne I was never guiltie of reading the like, match it in all Plinies
familiar Epistles, and I will have my iudgement burnd in the eare for a rogue, make
much of thy vaine, for it is inimitable. But I marle what Camell it was, that had the
cariage of it? for doubtlesse he was no ordinarie beast that brought it.
E
Why?
F
Why sayest thou? why doest thou think that any reasonable creature, especially in the
morning, (the sober time of the day too) would have taine my father for me?
E
S'blood you iest I hope?
F
Indeed the best vse we can turne it to, is to make a iest of it now: but I will assure you,
my father had the prouing of your copy, some howre before I saw it.
E
What a dull slaue was this? But sirrah what sayd he to it in faith?
F
Nay I know not what he said. But I have a shrewd gesse what he thought.
E
What? what?

F
Mary that thou art a damn'd dissolute villaine, And I some graine or two better, in
keeping thee company.
E
Tut that thought is like the Moone in the last quarter, it will change shortly: but sirrah,
I pray thee be acquainted with my two Zanies here, thou wilt take exceeding pleasure
in them if thou hearst them once, but what strange peece of silence is this? the signe
of the dumbe man?
F
O sir a kinsman of mine, one that may make our Musique the fuller if he please, he
hath his humor sir.
E
O what is it? what is it?
F
Nay: I will neyther do thy iudgement, nor his folly that wrong, as to prepare thy
apprehension: I will leaue him to the mercy of the time, if you can take him: so.
E
Well signior Bobadilla: signior Matheo: I pray you know this Gentleman here, he is a
friend of mine, and one that will well deserue your affection, I know not your name
signior, but I shall be glad of any good occasion, to be more familiar with you.
I

My name is signior Stephano, sir, I am this Gentlemans cousin, sir his father is mine
vnckle; sir, I am somewhat melancholie, but you shall commaund me sir, in
whatsoeuer is incident to a Gentleman.
C
Signior, I must tell you this, I am no generall man, embrace it as a most high fauour,
for (by the host of Egypt) but that I conceiue you, to be a Gentleman of some parts, I
love few words: you have wit: imagine.
I
Aye truely sir, I am mightily given to melancholy.
J
O Lord sir, it is your only best humor sir, your true melancholy, breedes your perfect
fine wit sir: I am melancholie my selfe diuers times sir, and then do I no more but take
your pen and paper presently, and write you your halfe score or your dozen of sonnets
at a sitting.
F
Masse then he vtters them by the grosse.
I
Truely sir and I love such things out of measure.
F
In faith, as well as in measure.
J
Why I pray you signior, make vse of my studie, it is at your seruice.

I
I thanke you sir, I shall be bolde I warrant you, have you a close stoole there?
J
Faith sir, I have some papers there, toyes of mine owne doing at idle houres, that you
will say there is some sparkes of wit in them, when you shall see them.
E
Would they were kindled once, and a good fire made, I might see selfe love burnd for
her heresie.
I
Cousin, is it well? am I melancholie inough?
F
O I, excellent.
E
Signior Bobadilla? why muse you so?
F
He is melancholy too.
C
Faith sir, I was thinking of a most honorable piece of seruice was perform'd to
morrow; being S Marks day: shall be some ten years.

F
In what place was that seruice, I pray you sir?
C
Why at the beleaguing of Ghibelletto, where, in lesse then two houres, seuen hundred
resolute gentlemen, as any were in Europe, lost their liues upon the breach: I will tell
you gentlemen, it was the first, but the best leaguer that euer I beheld with these eyes,
except the taking in of Tortosa last yeer by the Genowayes, but that (of all other) was
the most fatall and dangerous exploit, that euer I was rang'd in, since I first bore armes
before the face of the enemy, as I am a gentleman and a souldier.
I
So, I had as liefe as an angell I could sweare as well as that gentleman.
F
Then you were a seruitor at both it seemes.
C
O Lord sir: by Phaeton I was the first man that entred the breach, and had I not
effected it with resolution, I had bene slaine if I had had a million of liues.
F
Indeed sir?
I
Nay if you heard him discourse you would say so: how like you him?

C
I assure you (upon my saluation) it is true, and your selfe shall confesse.
E
You must bring him to the racke first.
C
Obserue me iudicially sweet signior: they had planted me a demy culuering, iust in
the mouth of the breach; now sir (as we were to ascend) their master gunner (a man of
no meane skill and courage, you must think) confronts me with his Linstock ready to
give fire; I spying his intendement, discharg'd my Petrinell in his bosome, and with
this instrument my poore Rapier, ran violently upon the Moores that guarded the
ordinance, and put them pell-mell to the sword.
E
To the sword? to the Rapier signior.
F
O it was a good figure obseru'd sir: but did you all this signior without hurting your
blade.
C
Without any impeach on the earth: you shall perceiue sir, it is the most fortunate
weapon, that euer rid on a poore gentlemans thigh: shall I tell you sir, you talke of
Moroglay, Excaliber, Durindana, or so: tut, I lend no credit to that is reported of them,
I know the vertue of mine owne, and therfore I dare the boldlier maintaine it.
I
I marle whether it be a toledo or no?

C
A most perfect toledo, I assure you signior.
I
I have a countriman of his here.
J
Pray you let us see sir: yes faith it is.
C
This a Toledo? pissa
I
Why do you pish signior?
C
A Fleming by Pho ebus, I will buy them for a guilder a peece and I will have a
thousand of them.
F
How say you cousin, I told you thus much.
E
Where bought you it signior?

I
Of a scuruy rogue Souldier, a pox of God on him, he swore it was a Toledo.
C
A prouant Rapier, no better.
J
Masse I think it be indeed.
F
Tut now it is too late to looke on it, put it up, put it up.
I
Well I will not put it up, but by Gods foote, and ere I meete him --
E
O it is past remedie now sir, you must have patience.
I
Horson conny-catching Raskall; o I could eate the very hilts for anger.
F
A signe you have a good Ostrich stomack Cousin.

I
A stomack? would I had him here, you should see and I had a stomacke.
E
It is better as it is: come gentlemen shall we goe?
Enter Musco.
F
A miracle cousin, looke here, looke here.
I
O, Gods lid, by your leaue, do you know me sir.
B
Aye sir, I know you by sight.
I
You sold me a Rapier, did you not?
B
Yes marry did I sir.
I
You said it was a Toledo ha?

B
True I did so.
I
But it is none.
B
No sir, I confesse it, it is none.
I
Gentlemen beare witnesse, he has confest it. By Gods lid, if you had not confest it --
F
O cousin, forbeare, forbeare.
I
Nay I have done cousin.
E
Why you have done like a Gentleman, he has confest it, what would you more?
F
Sirrah how doost thou like him.

E
O it is a pretious good foole, make much on him: I can compare him to nothing more
happely, then a Barbers virginals; for euery one may play upon him.
B
Gentleman, shall I intreat a word with you?
F
With all my heart sir, you have not another Toledo to sell, have ye?
B
You are pleasant, your name is signior Lorenzo as I take it.
F
You are in the right: S'bloud he meanes to catechize me I think.
B
No sir, I leaue that to the Curate, I am none of that coate.
F
And yet of as bare a coate; well, say sir.
B
Faith signior, I am but seruant to God Mars extraordinarie, and indeed (this brasse
varnish being washt off, and three or foure other tricks sublated) I appeare yours in
reuersion, after the decease of your good father, Musco.

F
Musco, s'bloud what winde hath blowne thee hither in this shape.
B
Your Easterly winde sir, the same that blew your father hither.
F
My father?
B
Nay never start, it is true, he is come to towne of purpose to seeke you.
F
Sirrah Prospero: what shall we do sirrah, my father is come to the city.
E
Thy father: where is he?
B
At a Gentlemans house yonder by Saint Anthonies, where he but stayes my returne;
and then --
E
Who is this? Musco?

B
The same sir.
E
Why how comst thou trans-muted thus?
B
Faith a deuise, a deuise, nay for the love of God, stand not here Gentlemen, house
your selues and I will tell you all.
F
But art thou sure he will stay thy returne?
B
Do I liue sir? what a question is that?
E
Well we will prorogue his expectation a little: Musco thou shalt go with us: Come on
Gentlemen: nay I pray thee (good raskall) droope not, s'hart if our wits be so gowty,
that one old plodding braine can out-strip us all, Lord I beseech thee, may they lie and
starue in some miserable spittle, where they may never see the face of any true spirit
againe, but be perpetually haunted with some church-yard Hobgoblin in seculo
seculorum.
B
Amen, Amen.
Exeunt.

Act 3
Scene 3.1
Enter Thorello, and Piso.
L
He will expect you sir within this halfe houre.
A
Why what is a clocke?
L
New striken ten.
A
Hath he the money ready, can you tell?
L
Yes sir, Baptista brought it yesternight.
A
O that is well: fetch me my cloake.
Exit Piso
A
Stay, let me see; an hower to goe and come,
Aye that will be the least: and then it will be
An houre, before I can dispatch with him;
Or very neare: well, I will say two houres;
Two houres? ha? things never drempt of yet

May be contriu'd, aye and effected too,
In two houres absence: well I will not go.
Two houres; no fleering opportunity
I will not give your trecherie that scope.
Who will not iudge him worthy to be robd,
That sets his doores wide open to a theefe,
And shewes the felon, where his treasure lyes?
Againe, what earthy spirit but will attempt
To taste the fruite of beauties golden tree,
When leaden sleepe seales up the dragons eyes?
O beauty is a Proiect of some power,
Chiefely when oportunitie attends her:
She will infuse true motion in a stone,
Put glowing fire in an Icie soule,
Stuffe peasants bosoms with proud Cæsars spleene,
Powre rich deuice into an empty braine:
Bring youth to follies gate: there traine him in,
And after all, extenuate his sinne.
Well, I will not go, I am resolu'd for that.
Goe cary it againe, yet stay: yet do too,
I will deferre it till some other time.
Enter Piso.
L
Sir, signior Platano will meet you there with the bond.
A
That is true: by Iesu I had cleane forgot it. I must goe, what is a clocke?
L
Past ten sir.
A
'Hart, then will Prospero presently be here too,
With one or other of his loose consorts.
I am a Iew, if I know what to say,
What course to take, or which way to resolue.
My braine (me thinkes) is like an hower-glasse,
And my imaginations like the sands,
Runne dribling foorth to fill the mouth of time,

Still chaung'd with turning in the ventricle.
What were I best to do? it shall be so.
Nay I dare build upon his secrecie? Piso.
L
Sir.
A
Yet now I have bethought me too, I will not. Is Cob within?
L
I think he be sir.
A
But he will prate too, there is no talke of him.
No, there were no course upon the earth to this,
If I durst trust him; tut I were secure,
But there is the question now, if he should prooue,
Rimarum plenus, then, s'blood I were Rookt.
The state that he hath stood in till this present,
Doth promise no such change: what should I feare then?
Well, come what will, I will tempt my fortune once.
Piso, thou mayest deceiue me, but I think thou lovest me Piso.
L
Sir, if a seruants zeale and humble duetie may be term'd love, you are possest of it.
A
I have a matter to impart to thee, but thou must be secret, Piso.
L
Sir for that --

A
Nay heare me man; think I esteeme thee well,
To let thee in thus to my priuate thoughts;
Piso, it is a thing, sits neerer to my crest,
Then thou art ware of: if thou shouldst reueale it --
L
Reueale it sir?
A
Nay, I do not think thou wouldst, but if thou shouldst:
L
Sir, then I were a villaine: Disclaime in me for euer if I do.
A
He will not sweare: he has some meaning sure,
Else (being vrg'd so much) how should he choose,
But lend an oath to all this protestation?
He is no puritane, that I am certaine of.
What should I think of it? vrge him againe,
And in some other forme: I will do so.
Well Piso, thou hast sworne not to disclose; aye you did sweare?
L
Not yet sir, but I will, so please you.
A
Nay I dare take thy word.
But if thou wilt sweare; do as you think good,
I am resolu'd without such circumstance.
L

By my soules safetie sir I here protest,
My tongue shall never take knowledge of a word
Deliuer'd me in compasse of your trust.
A
Enough, enough, these ceremonies need not,
I know thy faith to be as firme as brasse.
Piso come hither: nay we must be close
In managing these actions: So it is,
(Now he has sworne I dare the safelier speake;)
I have of late by diuers obseruations --
But, whether his oath be lawfull yea, or no, ha?
I will aske counsel ere I do proceed:
Piso, it will be now too long to stay,
We will spie some fitter time soone, or to morrow.
L
At your pleasure sir.
A
I pray you search the bookes gainst I returne
For the receipts twixt me and Platano
L
I will sir.
A
And heare you: if my brother Prospero
Chance to bring hither any gentlemen
Ere I come backe: let one straight bring me word.
L
Very well sir.
A
Forget it not, nor be not you out of the way.

L
I will not sir.
A
Or whether he come or no, if any other,
Stranger or els? faile not to send me word.
L
Yes sir.
A
Have care I pray you and remember it.
L
I warrant you sir.
A
But Piso, this is not the secret I told thee of.
L
No sir, I suppose so.
A
Nay beleeue me it is not.
L
I do beleeue you sir.

A
By heauen it is not, that is enough.
Marrie, I would not thou shouldst vtter it
To any creature liuing, yet I care not.
Well, I must hence: Piso conceiue thus much,
No ordinarie person could have drawne
So deepe a secret from me; I meane not this,
But that I have to tell thee: this is nothing, this.
Piso, remember, silence, buried here:
No greater hell then to be slaue to feare.
Exit Tho.
L
Piso, remember, silence, buried here:
Whence should this slow of passion (trow) take head? ha?
Faith I will dreame no longer of this running humor.
For feare I sinke, the violence of the streame
Alreadie hath transported me so farre,
That I can feele no ground at all: but soft,
Enter Cob.
L
O it is our waterbearer: somewhat has crost him now.
G
Fasting dayes: what tell you me of your fasting dayes? would they were all on a light
fire for me: they say the world shall be consum'd with fire and brimstone in the latter
day: but I would we had these ember weekes, and these villanous fridaies burnt in the
meane time, and then --
L
Why how now Cob, what moues thee to this choller? ha?
G
Coller sir? swounds I scorne your coller, I sir am no colliers horse sir, never ride me
with your coller, if you do, I will shew you a iades tricke.

L
O you will slip your head out of the coller: why Cob you mistake me.
G
Nay I have my rewme, and I be angrie as well as another, sir.
L
Thy rewme; thy humor man, thou mistakest.
G
Humor? macke, I think it be so indeed: what is this humor? it is some rare thing I
warrant.
L
Marrie I will tell thee what it is (as it is generally receiued in these daies) it is a
monster bred in a man by selfe love, and affectation, and fed by folly.
G
How? must it be fed?
L
O aye, humor is nothing if it be not fed, why, didst thou never heare of that? it is a
common phrase, Feed my humor.
G

I will none of it: humor, auaunt, I know you not, be gon. Let who will make hungry
meales for you, it shall not be I: Feed you quoth he s'blood I have much adoe to feed
my self, especially on these leane rasscall daies too, if it had beene any other day but a
fasting day: a plague on them all for me: by this light one might have done God good
seruice and have drown'd them all in the floud two or three hundred thousand yeares
ago, o I do stomacke them hugely: I have a mawe now, if it were for sir Beuisses
horse.
L
Nay, but I pray thee Cob, what makes thee so out of love with fasting daies?
G
Marrie that, that will make any man out of love with them, I think: their bad
conditions if you will needs know: First, they are of a Flemmish breed I am sure of it,
for they rauen up more butter then all the daies of the weeke beside: next, they stinke
of fish miserably: Thirdly, they will keep a man deuoutly hungry all day, and at night
send him supperlesse to bed.
L
Indeed these are faults Cob.
G
Nay if this were all, it were something, but they are the onely knowne enemies to my
generation. A fasting day no sooner comes, but my lineage goes to racke, poore
Cobbes they smoake for it, they melt in passion, and your maides too know this, and
yet would have me turne Hannibal, and eat my owne fish and blood: my princely
couze, feare nothing; I have
'
Pul's out a red Herring.
G

not the heart to deuoure you, if I might be made as rich as Golias: o that I had roome
for my teares, I could weep salt water enough now to preserue the liues of ten
thousand of my kin: but I may curse none but these filthy Almanacks, for if it were
not for them, these daies of persecution would never be knowne. I will be hang'd if
some Fishmongers son do not make on them, and puts in more fasting daies then he
should do, because he would vtter his fathers dried stockfish.
L
S'oule peace, thou wilt be beaten
Enter Matheo, Prospero, Lo.iunior, Bobadilla, Stephano, Musco.
L
like a stockfish else: here is Signior Matheo. Now must I looke out for a messenger to
my Master.
Exeunt Cob and Piso.
Scene 3.2
E
Beshrew me, but it was an absolute good iest, and exceedingly well caried.
F
Aye and our ignorance maintained it as well, did it not?
E
Yes faith, but was it possible thou should'st not know him?
F
Fore God not I, and I might have beene ioind patten with one of the nine worthies for
knowing him. S'blood man, he had so writhen himselfe into the habit of one of your
poore Disparuiew's here, your decaied, ruinous, worme-eaten gentlemen of the round:

such as have vowed to sit on the skirts of the city, let your Prouost and his half dozen
of halberders do what they can; and have translated begging out of the olde hackney
pace, to a fine easy amble, and made it runne as smooth of the toung, as a shoue-groat
shilling, into the likenes of one of these leane Pirgo's, had he moulded himselfe so
perfectly, obseruing euerie tricke of their action, as varying the accent: swearing with
an Emphasis. Indeed all with so speciall and exquisite a grace, that (hadst thou seene
him) thou wouldst have sworne he might have beene the Tamberlaine, or the
Agamemnon on the rout.
E
Why Musco: who would have thought thou hadst beene such a gallant?
F
I cannot tell, but (vnles a man had iuggled begging all his life time, and beene a
weauer of phrases from his infancie, for the appartelling of it) I think the world cannot
produce his Riuall.
E
Where got'st thou this coat I marl'e.
B
Faith sir, I had it of one of the deuils neere kinsmen, a Broker.
E
That cannot be, if the prouerbe hold, a craftie knaue needs no broker.
B
True sir, but I need a broker, Ergo no crafty knaue.
E

Well put off, well put off.
F
Tut, he has more of these shifts.
B
And yet where I have one, the broker has ten sir.
Enter Piso.
L
Francisco: Martino: never a one to be found now, what a spite is this?
E
How now Piso? is my brother within?
L
No sir, my master went forth e'ene now: but Signior Giuliano is within. Cob, what
Cob: is he gone too?
E
Whither went thy master? Piso canst thou tell?
L
I know not, to Doctor Clements, I think sir. Cob.
Exit Piso.
F

Doctor Clement, what is he? I have heard much speech of him.
E
Why, doest thou not know him? he is the Gonfalionere of the state here, an excellent
rare ciuilian, and a great scholler, but the onely mad merry olde fellow in Europe: I
shewed him you the other day.
F
O I remember him now; Good faith, and he hath a very strange presence me thinkes, it
shewes as if he stoode out of the ranke from other men. I have heard many of his iests
in Padua: they say he will commit a man for taking the wall of his horse.
E
Aye or wearing his cloake of one shoulder, or any thing indeede, if it come in the way
of his humor.
L
Gasper, Martino, Cob: S'hart, where should they be trow?
Enter Piso.
C
Signior Thorello's man, I pray thee vouchsafe us the lighting of this match.
L
A pox on your match, no time but now to vouchsafe?
Francisco, Cob. Exit.
C

Body of me: here is the remainder of seuen pound, since yesterday was sevennight. It
is your right Trinidado: did you never take any, signior?
I
No truly sir? but I will learne to take it now, since you commend it so.
C
Signior beleeue me, (upon my relation) for what I tell you, the world shall not
improue. I have been in the Indies (where this herbe growes) where neither my selfe,
nor a dozen Gentlemen more (of my knowledge) have receiued the taste of any other
nutriment, in the world, for the space of one and twentie weekes, but Tabacco onely.
Therefore it cannot be but it is most diuine. Further, take it in the nature, in the true
kinde so, it makes an Antidote, that (had you taken the most deadly poysonous simple
in all Florence, it should expell it, and clarifie you, with as much ease, as I speak. And
for your greene wound, your Balsamum, and your -- are all meere gulleries, and trash
to it, especially your Trinidado: your Newcotian is good too: I could say what I know
of the vertue of it, for the exposing of rewmes, raw humors, crudities, obstructions,
with a thousand of this kind; but I professe my selfe no quacke-saluer: only thus
much: by Hercules I do holde it, and will affirme it (before any Prince in Europe) to
be the most soueraigne, and pretious herbe, that euer the earth tendred to the vse of
man.
F
O this speech would have done rare in a pothecaries mouth.
L
Aye; close by Saint Anthonies: Doctor Clements.
Enter Piso and Cob.
G
O, O.
C

Where is the match I gaue thee?
L
S'blood would his match, and he, and pipe, and all were at Sancto Domingo.
Exit.
G
By gods deynes: I marle what pleasure or felicitie they have in taking this rogish
Tabacco: it is good for nothing but to choake a man, and fill him full of smoake, and
imbers: there were foure died out of one house last weeke with taking of it, and two
more the bell went for yester-night, one of them (they say) will never scape it, he
voyded a bushell of foote yester-day, vpward and downeward. By the stockes; if there
were no wiser men then I, I would have it present death, man or woman, that should
but deale with a Tabacco pipe; why, it will stifle them all in the end as many as vse it;
it is little better then rats bane.
Enter Piso.
X
O good signior; hold, hold.
C
You base cullion, you.
L
Sir, here is your match; come, thou must needes be talking too.
G
Nay he will not meddle with his match I warrant you: well it shall be a deere beating,
if I liue.

C
Do you prate?
F
Nay good signior, will you regard the humor of a foole? away knaue.
E
Piso get him away.
Exit Piso, and Cob.
G
A horson filthy slaue, a turd, an excrement. Body of Cesar, but that I scorne to let
forth so meane a spirit, I would have stab'd him to the earth.
E
Mary God forbid sir.
C
By this faire heauen I would have done it.
I
O he sweares admirably: (by this faire heauen:) Body of Cesar: I shall never do it,
sure (upon my saluation) no I have not the right grace.
J
Signior will you any? By this ayre the most diuine Tabacco as euer I drunke.

F
I thanke you sir.
I
O this Gentleman doth it rarely too, but nothing like the other. By this ayre, as I am a
Gentleman: by Pho ebus.
Exit Bob. and Mat.
B
Master glaunce, glaunce: Signior Prospero.
I
As I have a soule to be saued, I do protest;
E
That you are a foole.
F
Cousin will you any Tabacco?
I
Aye sir: upon my saluation.
F
How now cousin?

I
I protest, as I am a Gentleman, but no souldier indeede.
E
No signior, as I remember you seru'd on a great horse, last generall muster.
I
Aye sir that is true: cousin may I sweare as I am a souldier, by that?
F
O yes, that you may.
I
Then as I am a Gentleman, and a souldier, it is diuine Tabacco.
E
But soft, where is signior Matheo? gone?
B
No sir, they went in here.
E
O let us follow them: signior Matheo is gone to salute his mistresse, sirrah now thou
shalt heare some of his verses, for he never comes hither without some shreds of
poetrie: Come signior Stephano, Musco.

I
Musco? where? is this Musco?
F
Aye, but peace cousin, no words of it at any hand.
I
Not I by this faire heauen, as I have a soule to be saued, by Pho ebus.
E
O rare! your cousins discourse is simply suted, all in oathes.
F
Aye, he lacks nothing but a little light stuffe, to draw them out withall, and he were
rarely fitted to the time.
Exeunt.
Scene 3.3
Enter Thorello with cob.
A
Ha, how many are there, sayeth thou?
G
Marry sir, your brother, Signior Prospero.

A
Tut, beside him: what strangers are there man?
G
Strangers? let me see, one, two; masse I know not well there is so many.
A
How? so many?
G
Aye, there is some fiue or sixe of them at the most.
A
A swarme, a swarme, Spight of the Deuill, how they sting my heart! How long hast
thou beene comming hither Cob?
G
But a little while sir.
A
Didst thou come running?
G
No sir.

A
Tut, then I am familiar with thy haste.
Bane to my fortunes: what meant I to marrie?
I that before was rankt in such content,
My mind attir'd in smoothe silken peace,
Being free master of mine owne free thoughts,
And now become a slaue? what never sigh,
Be of good cheare man: for thou art a cuckold,
It is done, it is done: nay when such flowing store,
Plentie it selfe fals in my wiues lappe,
The Cornu-copia will be mine I know. But Cob,
What entertainment had they? I am sure
My sister and my wife would bid them welcome, ha?
G
Like ynough: yet I heard not a word of welcome.
A
No, their lips were seal'd with kisses, and the voice
Drown'd in a flood of ioy at their arriuall,
Had lost her motion, state and facultie.
Cob, which of them was it that first kist my wife?
(My sister I should say) my wife, alas,
I feare not her: ha? who was it sayst thou?
G
By my troth sir, will you have the truth of it?
A
O aye good Cob: I pray thee.
G
God is my iudge, I saw no body to be kist, vnlesse they would have kist the post, in
the middle of the warehouse; for there I left them all, at their Tabacco with a poxe.

A
How? were they not gone in then ere thou cam'st?
G
O no sir.
A
Spite of the Deuill, what do I stay here then? Cob, follow me.
Exit. Tho.
G
Nay, soft and faire, I have egges on the spit; I cannot go yet sir: now am I for some
diuers reasons hammering, hammering revenge: o for three or four gallons of vineger,
to sharpen my wits: Revenge, vineger revenge, russet revenge; nay, if he had not lyne
in my house, it would never have greeu'd me; but being my guest, one that I will be
sworne, my wife has lent him her smocke off her backe, while his owne shirt has
beene at washing: pawnd her neckerchers for cleane bands for him: sold almost all my
platters to buy him Tabacco; and yet to see an ingratitude wretch: strike his host; well
I hope to raise up an host of furies for it: here comes M. Doctor.
Enter Doctor Clement, Lorenzo sen. Peto.
H
What is Signior Thorello gone?
P
Aye sir.
H

Hart of me, what made him leaue us so abruptly How now sirrah; what make you
here? what wold you have, ha?
G
If it please your worship, I am a poore neighbour of your worships.
H
A neighbour of mine, knaue?
G
Aye sir, at the signe of the water-tankerd, hard by the greene lattice: I have paide scot
and lotto there anytime this eighteene yeares.
H
What at the green lattice?
G
No sir: to the parish: mary I have seldome scapt scot free at the lattice.
H
So: but what busines hath my neighbour?
G
If it like your worship, I am come to craue the peace of your worship.
H

Of me, knaue? peace of me, knaue? did I ever hurt thee? did I euer threaten thee? or
wrong thee? ha?
G
No god is my comfort, I meane your worships warrant, for one that hath wrong'd me
sir: his armes are at too much libertie, I would faine have them bound to a treatie of
peace, and I could by any meanes compasse it.
D
Why, doest thou goe in danger of thy life for him?
G
No sir; but I goe in danger of my death euery houre by his meanes; if I die within a
twelue-moneth and a day, I may sweare, by the lawes of the land, that he kil'd me.
H
How? how knaue? sweare he kil'd thee? what pretext? what colour hast thou for that?
G
Mary sir: both blacke and blew, colour ynough, I warrant you I have it here to shew
your worship.
H
What is he, that gaue you this sirrah?
G
A Gentleman in the citie sir.

H
A Gentleman? what call you him?
G
Signior Bobadilla.
H
Good: But wherefore did he beate you sirrah? how began the quarrel twixt you? ha:
speake truly knaue, I aduise you.
G
Marry sir, because I spake against their vagrant Tabacco, as I came by them: for
nothing else.
H
Ha, you speake against Tabacco? Peto, his name.
P
What is your name sirrah?
G
Oliuer Cob, sir set Oliuer Cob, sir.
H
Tell Oliuer Cob he shall goe to the iayle.

P
Oliver Cob, master Doctor sayes you shall go to the iayle.
G
O I beseech your worship for gods love, deare master Doctor.
H
Nay gods pretious: and such drunken knaues as you are come to dispute of Tabacco
once; I have done: away with him.
G
O good master Doctor, sweete Gentleman.
D
Sweete Oliver, would I could do thee any good; master Doctor let me intreat sir.
H
What? a tankard-bearer, a thread-bare rascall, a begger, a slaue that never drunke out
of better the pispot mettle in his life, and he to depraue, and abuse the vertue of an
herbe, so generally receyu'd in the courts of princes, the chambers of nobles, the
bowers of sweete Ladies, the cabbins of souldiers: Peto away with him, by gods
passion, I say, goe too.
G
Deare master Doctor.
D

Alasse poore Oliuer.
H
Peto: Aye: and make him a warrant, he shall not goe, I but feare the knaue.
G
O diuine Doctor, thankes noble Doctor, most dainty Doctor, delicious Doctor.
Exeunt Peto with Cob.
H
Signior Lorenzo: Gods pitty man, Be merry, be merry, leaue these dumpes.
D
Troth would I could sir: but enforced mirth
(In my weake iudgement) has no happy birth.
The minde, being once a prisoner vnto cares,
The more it dreames on ioy, the worse it fares.
A smyling looke is to a heauie soule,
As a guilt bias, to a leaden bowle,
Which (in it selfe) appeares most vile, being spent
To no true vse; but onely for ostent.
H
Nay but good signior: heare me a word, heare me a word, your cares are nothing; they
are like my cap, soone put on, and as soone put off. What? your son is old inough, to
gouerne himselfe; let him runne his course, it is the onely way to make him a stay'd
man: if he were an vnthrift, a ruffian, a drunkard or a licentious liuer, then you had
reason: you had reason to take care: but being none of these, Gods passion, if I had
twise so many cares, as you have, I would drowne them all in a cup of sacke: come,
come, I muse your parcell of a souldier returnes not all this while.
Exeunt.
Scene 3.4
Enter Guiliano, with Biancha.

K
Well sister, I tell you true; and you will finde it so in the ende.
M
Alasse brother, what would you have me to do? I cannot helpe it; you see, my brother
Prospero he brings them in here, they are his friends.
K
His friends? his friends? s'blood they do nothing but haunt him up and downe like a
sorte of vnlucky Spirites, and tempt him to all maner of villany, that can be thought
of; well, by this light, a little thing would make me play the deuill weith some of
them; if it were not more for your husbands sake, then any thing else, I would make
the house too hot for them; they should say and sweare, Hell were broken loose, ere
they went: But by gods bread, it is no bodies fault but yours: for if you had done as
you might have done, they should have beene damn'd ere they should have come in,
ever a one of them.
M
God is my life; did you euer heare the like? what a strange man is this? could I keepe
out all them think you? I should put my selfe against halfe a dozen men? should I?
Good faith you would mad the patient'st body in the world, to heare you talke so,
without any sense or reason.
Enter Matheo with Hesperida, Bobadilla, Stephano, Lorenzo iu. Prosper, Musco.
N
Seruant (in troth) you are too prodigall of your wits treasure; thus to powre it foorth
upon so meane a subiect, as my worth?
J
You say well, you say well.

K
Hoyday, here is stuffe.
F
O now stand close: pray God she can get him to reade it.
E
Tut, feare not: I warrant thee, he will do it of himselfe with much impudencie.
N
Seruant, what is that same I pray you?
J
Mary an Elegie, an Elegie, an odde toy.
K
Aye to mocke an Ape with all, O Iesu.
M
Sister, I pray you let us heare it.
J
Mistresse I will reade it if you please.

N
I pray you do seruant.
K
O here is no foppery. Sblood it freates me to the galle to think of it.
Exit.
E
O aye, it is his condition, peace: we are farely ridde of him.
J
Fayth I did it in an humor: I know not how it is, but please you come neare signior:
this gentleman hath iudgement, he knowes how to censure of a. -- I pray you sir, you
can iudge.
I
Not I sir: as I have a soule to be saued, as I am a gentleman.
F
Nay it is well; so long as he doth not forsweare himselfe.
C
Signior you abuse the excellencie of your mistresse, and her fayre sister, Fye while
you liue auoyd this prolixity.
J

I shall sir: well, Incipere dulce.
F
How, Incipere dulce? a sweete thing to be a Foole indeede.
E
What, do you take Incipere in that sence?
F
You do not you? Sblood this was your villanie to gull him with a motto.
E
O the Benchers phrase: Pauca verba, pauca verba.
J
Rare creature let me speake without offence,
Would God my rude woords had the influence:
To rule thy thoughts, as thy fayre lookes do mine,
Then shouldst thou be his prisoner, who is thine.
F
S'hart, this is in Hero and Leander?
O aye: peace, we shall have more of this.
Be not vnkinde and fayre mishapen stuffe,
Is of behauiour boysterous and rough:
How like you that signior, sbloud he shakes his head like a
bottle, to feele if there be any brayne in it.
J
But obserue the Catastrophe now,
And I in dutie will exceede all other.
As you in bewtie do excell loves mother.

F
Well I will have him fret of the brokers, for he vtters no thing but stolne remnants.
E
Nay good Critique forbeare.
F
A pox on him, hang him filching rogue, steale from the deade? it is worse then
sacriledge.
E
Sister what have you here? verses? I pray you let us see.
M
Do you let them go so lightly sister.
N
Yes fayth when they come lightly.
M
Aye but if your seruant should heare you, he would take it heauely.
N
No matter he is able to beare.

M
So are Asses.
N
so is he.
E
Signior Matheo, who made these verses? they are excellent good.
J
O God sir, it is your pleasure to say so sir.
Fayth I made them extempore this morning.
E
How extempore?
J
I would I might be damnd else: aske signior Bobadilla. He sawe me write them, at the:
(poxe on it) the Miter yonder.
B
Well, if the Pope knew he curst the Miter it were enough to have him
excommunicated all the Tauerns in the towne.
I
Cosen how do you like this gentlemans verses.

F
O admirable, the best that euer I heard.
I
By this fayre heauens, they are admirable, The best that euer I heard.
Enter Guiliano.
K
I am vext I can hold never a bone of me still, Sblood I think they meane to build a
Tabernacle here, well?
E
Sister you have a simple seruant here, that crownes your bewtie with such Encomions
and Deuises, you may see what it is to be the mistresse of a wit, that can make your
perfections so transparent, that euery bleare eye may looke thorough them, and see
him drowned ouer head and eares, in the deepe well of desire. Sister Biancha I
meruaile you get you not a seruant that can rime and do trickes too.
K
O monster? impudence it selfe; trickes?
M
Trickes, brother? what trickes?
N
Nay, speake I pray you, what trickes?

M
Aye, never spare any body here: but say, what trickes?
N
Passion of my heart? do trickes?
E
Sblood here is a tricke vied, and reuied: why you monkies you? what a catterwaling
do you keepe? has he not given you rymes, and verses, and trickes.
K
O see the Diuell?
E
Nay, you lampe of virginitie, that take it in snuffe so: come and cherish this tame
poetical fury in your seruant, you will be begd else shortly for a concealement: go to,
rewarde his muse, you cannot give him lesse then a shilling in conscience, for the
booke he had it out of cost him a teston at the least, how now gallants, Lorenzo,
signior Bobadilla? what all sons of scilence? no spirite.
K
Come you might practise your Ruffian trickes somewhere else, and not here I wisse:
this is no Tauerne, nor no place for such exploites.
E
Shart how now.

K
Nay boy, never looke askaunce at me for the matter; I will tell you of it by Gods
bread? Aye, if you and your companions mend your selues when I have done.
E
My companions.
K
Aye your companions sir, so I say? sblood I am not affrayed of you nor them neyther,
you must have your Poets, and your caueleeres, and your fooles follow you up and
downe the citie, and here they must come to domineere and swagger? sirrah, you
Ballad singer, and Slops your fellow there, get you out; get you out: or (by the will of
God) I will cut off your eares, goe to
E
Sblood stay, let us see what he dare do: cut off his eares you are an asse, touch any
man here, and by the Lord I will run my rapier to the hilts in thee.
K
Yea, that would I fayne see, boy.
They all draw, enter Piso and some more of the house to part them, the women make
a great crie.
M
O Iesu Piso, Matheo murder.
N
Helpe, helpe, Piso.

F
Gentlemen, Prospero, forbeare I pray you.
C
Well sirrah, you Hollofernus: by my hand I will pinck thy flesh full of holes with my
rapier for this. I will by this good heauen: nay let him come, let him come, gentlemen
by the body of S. George I will not kill him.
They offer to fight againe and are parted. Enter Thorello.
L
Hold, hold forbeare:
K
You whorson bragging coystrylle.
A
Why, how now? what is the matter? what stirre is here,
Whence springs this quarrell, Pizo where is he?
Put up your weapons, and put off this rage.
My wife and sister they are cause of this,
What Pizo? where is this knaue.
L
Here sir.
E
Come, let us goe: this is one of my brothers auncient humors this?
I

I am glad no body was hurt by this auncient humor.
Exit Prospero, Lorenzo iu. Musco, Stephano, Bobadillo, Matheo,
A
Why how now brother, who enforst this braule.
K
A sorte of lewd rakehelles, that care neither for God nor the Diuell, And they must
come here to read Ballads and Rogery, and Trash, I will marre the knot of them ere I
sleepe perhaps: especially signior Pithagorus, he that is all manner of shapes: and
Songs and sonnets, his fellow there.
N
Brother indeede you are too violent,
Too sudden in your courses, and you know
My brother Prosperus temper will not beare
Any reproofe, chiefely in such a presence,
Where euery slight disgrace he should receiue,
Would wound him in opinion and respect.
K
Respect? what talke you of respect mongst such
As had neyther sparke of manhood nor good manners,
By God I am ashamed to heare you: respect?
Exit.
N
Yes there was one a ciuill gentleman,
And very worthely demeand himselfe.
A
O that was some love of yours, sister.
N
A love of mine? in fayth would he were
No others love but mine.

M
Indeede he seemd to be a gentleman of an exceeding fayre disposition, and of very
excellent good partes.
Exit Hesperida, Biancha.
A
Her love, by Iesu: my wifes minion,
Fayre disposition? excellent good partes?
S'hart, these phrases are intollerable,
Good partes? how should she know his partes? well: well,
It is too playne, too cleare: Pizo, come hether.
What are they gone?
L
Aye sir they went in.
A
Are any of the gallants within?
L
No sir they are all gone.
A
Art thou sure of it?
L
Aye sir I can assure you.
A

Pizo what gentleman was that they prays'd so?
L
One they call him signior Lorenzo, a fayre young gentleman sir.
A
Aye, I thought so: my minde gaue me as much:
Sblood I will be hangd if they have not hid him in the house,
Some where, I will goe search, Piso go with me,
Be true to me and thou shalt finde me bountifull.
Exeunt.
Scene 3.5
Enter Cob, to him Tib.
G
What Tib, Tib, I say.
O
How now, what cuckold is that knockes so hard?
O husband is it you, what is the newes?
G
Nay you have stonnd me in fayth? you have given me a knocke on the forehead, will
sticke by me: cuckold? S woundes cuckolde?
O
Away you foole did I know it was you that knockt.
Come, come, you may call me as bad when you list.
G
May I? swoundes Tib you are a whore:

O
S'hart you lie in your throte.
G
How the lye? and in my throte too? do you long to be stabd, ha?
O
Why you are no souldier?
G
Masse that is true, when was Bobadilla here? that Rogue, that Slaue, that fencing
Burgullian? I will tickle him in faith.
O
Why what is the matter?
G
O he hath basted me rarely, sumptiously: but I have it here will sause him, o the
doctor, the honestest old Troian in all Italy, I do honour the very flea of his dog: a
plague on him he put me once in a villanous filthy feare: marry it vanisht away like
the smoake of Tobacco: but I was smookt soundly first, I thanke the Diuell, and his
good Angell my guest: well wife: or Tib (which you will) get you in, and locke the
doore I charge you, let no body into you: not Bobadilla himselfe; nor the diuell in his
likenesse; you are a woman; you have flesh and blood enough in you; therefore be not
tempted; keepe the doore shut upon all cummers.
O
I warrant you there shall no body enter here without my consent.

G
Nor with your consent sweete Tib and so I leaue you.
O
It is more then you know, whether you leaue me so.
G
How?
O
Why sweete.
G
Tut sweete, or soure, thou art a flower,
Keepe close thy doore, I aske no more
Exeunt.
Scene 3.6
Enter Lorenzo iu. Prospero, Stephano, Musco.
F
Well Musco performe this businesse happily,
And thou makest a conquest of my love foreuer,
E
In fayth now let thy spirites put on their best habit,
But at any hand remember thy message to my brother.
For there is no other meanes to start him?
B

I warrant you sir, feare nothing I have a nimble soule that hath wakt all my
imaginatiue forces by this time, and put them in true motion: what you have possest
me withall? I will discharge it amply sir. Make no question.
Exit Musco.
E
That is well sayd Musco: sayth sirrah how dost thou aproue my wit in this deuise?
F
Troth well, howsoeuer? but excellent if it take
E
Take man: why it cannot chuse but take, if the circumstances miscarry not, but tell me
zealously: dost thou affect my sister Hesperida as thou pretendest?
F
Prospero by Iesu.
E
Come do not protest I beleeue thee: In fayth she is a virgine of good ornament, and
much modestie, vnlesse I conceiud very worthely of her, thou shouldest not have her.
F
Nay I think it a question whether I shall have her for all that.
E
Sblood thou shall have her, by this light thou shalt?

F
Nay do not sweare.
E
By S. Marke thou shalt have her: I will go fetch her presently, poynt but where to
meete, and by this hand I will bring her?
F
Hold, hold, what all pollicie dead? no preuention of mischiefes stirring.
E
Why, by what shalt I sweare by? thou shalt have her by my soule.
F
I pray the have patience I am satisfied: Prospero omit no offered occasion, that may
make my desires compleate I beseech thee.
E
I warrant thee.
Exeunt.
Act 4
Scene 4.1
Enter Lorenzo senior, Peto, meeting Musco.
P

Was your man a souldier sir.
D
Aye a knaue I tooke him up begging upon the way, This morning as I was cumming
to the citie, O? here he is; come on, you make fayre speede: Why? whereon Gods
name have you beene so long?
B
Mary (Gods my comfort) where I thought I should have had little comfort of your
worships seruice:
D
How so?
B
O God sir? your cumming to the citie, and your entertaynement of men, and your
sending me to watch; indeede, all the circumstances are as open to your son as to your
selfe.
D
How should that be? vnlesse that villaine Musco Have told him of the letter, and
discouered All that I strictly chargd him to conceale? it is so.
B
In fayth you have hit it: it is so indeede.
D
But how should he know thee to be my man.

B
Nay sir, I cannot tell; vnlesse it were by the blacke arte? is not your son a scholler sir?
D
Yes; but I hope his soule is not allied
To such a diuelish practise: if it were,
I had iust cause to weepe my part in him.
And curse the time of his creation.
But where didst thou finde them Portensio?
B
Nay sir, rather you should aske where they found me? for I will be sworne I was
going along in the streete, thinking nothing, when (of a suddayne) one calles, Signior
Lorenzos man: another, he cries souldier: and thus halfe a dosen of them, till they had
got me within doores, where I no sooner came, but out flies their rapiers and all bent
agaynst my brest, they swore some two or three hundreth oathes, and all to tell me I
was but a dead man, if I did not confesse where you were, and how I was imployed,
and about what, which when they could not get out of me: (as Gods my iudge, they
should have kild me first) they lockt me up into a roome in the toppe of a house,
where by great miracle (hauing a light hart) I slidde downe by a bottome of
packthread into the streete, and so scapt: but master, thus much I can assure you, for I
heard it while I was lockt up: there were a great many merchants and rich citizens
wiues with them at a banquet, and your son Signior Lorenzo, has pyneted one of them
to meete anone at one Cobs house, a waterbearers? that dwelles by the wall: now there
you shall be sure to take him: for fayle he will not.
D
Nor will I fayle to breake this match, I doubt not;
Well: go thou along with maister doctors man,
And stay there for me? at one Cobs house sayst thou.
Exit.
B
Aye sir, there you shall have him: when can you tell? much wench, or much son:
sblood when he has stayd there three or foure houres, trauelling with the expectation
of somewhat; and at the length be deliuered of nothing: o the sport that I should then
take to look on him if I durst but now I meane to appeare no more afore him in this
shape: I have another tricke to act yet? o that I were so happy, as to light upon an
ounce now of this doctors clarke: God saue you sir.

P
I thanke you good sir.
B
I have made you stay somewhat long sir.
P
Not a whit sir, I pray you what sir do you meane: you have beene lately in the warres
sir it seemes.
B
Aye Marry have I sir.
P
Troth sir, I would be glad to bestow a pottle of wine of you if it please you to accept
it.
B
O Lord sir.
P
But to heare the manner of you seruises, and your deuises in the warres, they say they
be very strange, and not like those a man reades in the Romane histories.
B

O God no sir, why at any time when it please you, I shall be ready to descourse to you
what I know: and more too somewhat.
P
No better time then now sir, we will goe to the Meeremaide there we shall have a
cuppe of neate wine, I pray you sir let me request you.
B
I will follow you sir, he is mine owne in fayth.
Exeunt.
Enter Babadillo, Lorenzo iu. Matheo, Stephano.
J
Signior did you euer see the like cloune of him, where we were to day: signior
Prosperos brother? I think the whole earth cannot shew his like by Iesu.
F
We were now speaking of him, signior Bobadillo telles me he is fallen foule of you
two.
J
O aye sir, he threatned me with the bastinado.
C
Aye but I think I taught you a trick this morning for that. You shall kill him without
all question: if you be so minded.
J
Indeede it is a most excellent tricke.

C
O you do not give spirit enough to your motion, you are too dull, too tardie: o it must
be done like lightning, hay?
J
O rare.
C
Tut it is nothing if it be not done in a --
F
Signior did you never play with any of our maisters here.
J
O good sir.
C
Nay for a more instance of their preposterous humor, there came three or foure of
them to me, at a gentlemans house, where it was my chance to be resident at that time,
to intreate my presence at their scholes, and withall so much importund me, that (I
protest to you as I am a gentleman) I was ashamd of their rude demeanor out of all
measure: well, I tolde them that to come to a publique schoole they should pardon me,
it was opposite to my humor but if so they would attend me at my lodging, I protested
to do them what right or fauour I could as I was a gentleman &c.
F
So sir, then you tried their skill

C
Alasse soone tried: you shall heare sir, within two or three dayes after, they came, and
by Iesu good signior beleeue me, I grac't them exceedingly, shewd them some two or
three trickes of preuention, hath got them since admirable credit, they cannot denie
this; and yet now they hate me, and why? because I am excellent, and for no other
reason on the earth.
F
This is strange and vile as euer I heard.
C
I will tell you sir upon my first comming to the citie, they assaulted me some three,
foure, fiue, six, of them together as I have walkt alone, in diuers places of the citie; as
upon the exchange, at my lodgings and at my ordinarie: where I have driuen them
afore me the whole length of a streete, in the open view of all our gallants, pittying to
hurt them beleeue me; yet all this lenety will not depresse their spleane: they will be
doing with the Pismier, raysing a hill, a man may spurne abroade with his foote at
pleasure: by my soule I could have slayne them all, but I delight not in murder: I am
loth to beare any other but a bastinado for them, and yet I hould it good pollicie not to
goe disarmd, for though I be skilfull, I may be suppressd with multitudes.
F
Aye by Iesu may you sir and (in my conceite) our whole nation should sustayne the
losse by it, if it were so.
C
Alasse no: what is a peculier man, to a nation? not seene.
F
Aye but your skill sir.

C
Indeede that might be some losse, but who respects it? I will tell you Signior (in
priuate) I am a gentleman, and liue here obscure, and to my selfe: but were I known to
the Duke (obserue me) I would vndertake (upon my heade and life) for the publique
benefit of the state, not onely to spare the intire liues of his subiects in generall, but to
saue the one halfe: nay three partes of his yeerely charges, in houlding warres
generally agaynst all his enemies? and how will I do it think you?
F
Nay I know not, nor can I conceiue.
C
Marry thus, I would select 19 more to my selfe, throughout the land, gentlemen they
should be of good spirit; strong and able constitution, I would chuse them by the
instinct, a trick that I have: and I would teach these 19. the special tricks, as your
Punto, your Reuerso, your Stoccato, your Imbroccato, your Passado, your Montaunto,
till they could all play very neare or altogether as well as my selfe, this done; say the
enemie were forty thousand strong: we twenty wold come into the field the tenth of
March, or there abouts; and would challendge twenty of the enemie? they could not in
their honor refuse the combat: well, we would kil them: challenge twentie more, kill
them; twentie more, kill them; twentie more, kill them too; and thus would we kill
euery man, his twentie a day, that is twentie score; twentie score, that is two hundreth;
two hundreth a day, fiue dayes a thousand: fortie thousand; fortie times fiue, fiue
times fortie, two hundreth dayes killes them all by computation, and this will I venture
my life to performe: prouided there be no treason practised upon us.
F
Why are you so sure of your hand at all times?
C
Tut, never mistrust upon my soule.
F

Masse I would not stand in signior Giuliano state, then; If you meete him, for the
wealth of Florence.
C
Why signior, by Iesu if he were here now: I would not draw my weapon on him, let
this gentleman do his mind but I will bastinado him (by heauen) if euer I meete him.
J
Fayth and I will have a fling at him.
Enter Guiliano and goes out agayne.
F
Looke yonder he goes I think.
K
Sblood what lucke have I, I cannot meete with these bragging rascalls,
C
It is not he: is it?
F
Yes fayth it is he?
J
I will be hangd then if that were he.
F

Before God it was he: you make me sweare.
I
Upon my saluation it was he.
C
Well had I thought it had beene he: he could not have gone so, but I cannot be induc'd
to beleeue it was he yet.
Enter Guiliano.
K
O gallant have I found you? draw to your tooles, draw, or by Gods will I will thresh
you.
C
Signior heare me?
K
Draw your weapons then:
C
Signior, I never thought it till now: body of S. George, I have a warrant of the peace
serued on me euen now, as I came along by a waterbearer, this gentleman saw it,
signior Matheo.
K
The peace? Sblood, you will not draw?

Matheo runnes away.
F
Hold signior hold, vnder
He beates him and disarmes him.
F
thy fauour forbeare.
K
Prate agayne as you like this you whoreson cowardly rascall, you will controule the
poynt you? your consort he is gone? had he stayd he had shard with you in fayth.
Exit Giulliano.
C
Well gentlemen beare witnesse I was bound to the peace, by Iesu.
F
Why if though you were sir, the lawe alowes you to defend your selfe; that is but a
poore excuse.
C
I cannot tell; I never sustayned the like disgrace (by heauen) sure I was strooke with a
Plannet then, for I had no power to touch my weapon.
Exit.
F
Aye like inough I have heard of many that have beene beaten vnder a plannet; goe get
you to the Surgions, sblood and these be your tricks your passados, and your

Mountauntos I will none of them: o God that this age should bring foorth such
creatures? come cosen.
I
Masse I will have this cloke.
F
Gods will: it is Giullianos.
I
Nay but it is mine now, another might have tane it up as well as I, I will weare it so I
will.
F
How if he see it, he will challenge it assure your selfe.
I
Aye but he shall not have it: I will say I bought it.
F
Aduise you cosen, take heede he give not you as much.
Exeunt.
Enter Thorello, Prospero, Biancha, Hesperida.
A
Now trust me Prospero you were much to blame,
To incense your brother and disturbe the peace,
Of my poore house, for there be sentinelles,
That euery minute watch to give alarames,
Of ciuill warre, without adiection,

Of your assistance and occasion.
E
No harme done brother I warrant you: since there is no harme done, anger costs a man
nothing: and a tall man is never his owne man til he be angry, to keep his valure in
obscuritie: is to keepe himselfe as it were in a cloke-bag: what is a musition vnlesse
he play? what is a tall man vnlesse he fight? for indeede all this my brother stands
upon absolutely, and that made me fall in with him so resolutely.
M
Aye but what harme might have come of it?
E
Might? so might the good warme cloathes your husband weares be poysond for any
thing he knowes, or the wholesome wine he drunke euen now at the table.
A
Now God forbid: O me? now I remember,
My wife drunke to me last; and changd the cuppe,
And bad me ware this cursed sute to day,
See, if God suffer murder vndiscouered?
I feele me ill; give me some Mithredate,
Some Mithredate and oyle; good sister fetch me,
O, I am sicke at hart: I burne, I burne;
If you will saue my life goe fetch it me.
E
O strange humor my very breath hath poysond him.
N
Good brother be content, what do you meane,
The strength of these extreame conceites will kill you?
M
Beshrew your hart blood, brother Prospero,

For putting such a toy into his head.
E
Is a fit similie, a toy? will he be poysond with a similie? Brother Thorello, what a
strange and vaine imagination is this? For shame be wiser, of my soule there is no
such matter.
A
Am I not sicke? how am I then not poysond?
Am I not poysond? how am I then so sicke?
M
If you be sicke, your owne thoughts make you sicke.
E
His iealoucie is the poyson he hath taken.
Enter Musco like the doctors man.
B
Signior Thorello my master doctor Clement salutes you, and desires to speake with
you, with all speede possible.
A
No time but now? well, I will waite upon his worship, Pizo, Cob, I will seeke them
out, and set them sentinelles till I returne. Pizo, Cob, Pizo.
Exit.
E
Musco, this is rare, but how gotst thou this apparrel of the doctors man.
B
Marry sir. My youth would needes bestow the wine of me to heare some martiall
discourse; where I so marshald him, that I made him monstrous drunke, and because

too much heate was the cause of his distemper, I stript him starke naked as he lay
along a sleepe, and borrowed his sewt to deliuer this counterfeit message in, leauing a
rustie armoure, and an olde browne bill to watch him; till my returne: which shall be
when I have paund his apparrell, and spent the monie perhappes.
E
Well thou art a madde knaue Musco, his absence will be a good subiect for more
mirth: I pray the returne to thy young maister Lorenzo, and will him to meete me and
Hesperida at the Friery presently: for here tell him the house is so sturde with
iealousie, that there is no roome for love to stand vpright in: but I will vse such
meanes she shall come thether, and that I think will meete best with his desires: Hye
thee good Musco.
B
I goe sir.
Exit.
Enter Thorello to him Pizo.
A
Ho Pizo, Cob, where are these villaines troe?
O, art thou there? Pizo harke thee here:
Marke what I say to thee, I must goe foorth;
Be carefull of thy promise, keepe good watch,
Note euery gallant and obserue him well,
That enters in my absence to thy mistrisse;
If she would shew him roomes, the ieast is stale,
Follow them Pizo or els hang on him,
And let him not go after, marke their lookes?
Note if she offer but to see his band,
Or any other amorous toy about him,
But prayse his legge, or foote, or is she say,
The day is hotte, and bid him feele her hand,
How hot it is, o that is a monstrous thing:
Note me all this, sweete Pizo; marke their sighes,
And if they do but wisper breake them off,
I will beare thee out in it: wilt thou do this?
Wilt thou be true sweete Pizo?
L
Most true sir.

A
Thankes gentle Pizo: where is Cob? now: Cob?
Exit Thorello.
M
He is euer calling for Cob, I wonder how he imployes Cob so.
E
Indeede sister to aske how he imployes Cob, is a necessary question for you that are
his wife, and a thing not very easie for you to be satisfied in: but this I will assure you
Cobs wife is an excellent baud indeede: and oftentimes your husband hauntes her
house, marry to what end I cannot altogether accuse him, imagine you what you think
conuenient: but I have knowne fayre hides have foule hartes eare now, I can tell you.
M
Never sayd you truer then that brother? Pizo fetch your cloke, and goe with me, I will
after him presently: I would to Christ I could take him there in fayth.
Exeunt Pizo and Biancha.
E
So let them goe: this may make sport anone, now my fayre sister Hesperida: ah that
you knew how happy a thing it were to be fayre and bewtifull?
N
That toucheth not me brother.
E
That is true: that is euen the fault of it, for indeede bewtie stands a woman in no stead,
vnles it procure her touching: but sister whether it touch you or no, it touches your

ewties, and I am sure they will abide the touch, if they do not a plague of all ceruse
say I, and it touches me to inpart, though not in thee. Well, there is a deare and
respected friend of mine sister, stands very strongly affected towardes you, and hath
vowed to inflame whole bonefires of zeale in his hart, in honor of your perfections, I
have already engaged my promise to bring you where you shall heare him conferme
much more then I am able to lay downe for him: Signior Lorenzo is the man: what say
you sister shall I intreate so much fauour of you for my friend, is to direct and attend
you to his meeting? upon my soule he loves you extreamely, approue it sweete
Hesperida will you?
N
Fayth I had very little confidence in mine owne constancie if I durst not meete a man:
but brother Prospero this motion of yours fauours of an olde knight aduenturers
seruant, me thinkes.
E
What is that sister.
N
Marry of the squire.
E
No matter Hesperida if it did, I would be such an one for my friend, but say, will you
goe?
N
Brother I will, and blesse my happy starres.
Enter Clement and Thorello.
H
Why what villanie is this? my man gone on a false message, and runne away when he
has done, why what trick is there in it trow? 1.2.3.4. and 5.

A
How: is my wife gone foorth, where is she sister?
N
She is gone abrode with Pizo.
A
Abrode with Pizo? o that villaine dors me,
he hath discouered all vnto my wife,
Beast that I was to trust him: whither went she?
N
I know not sir.
E
I will tell you brother whither I suspect she is gone.
A
Whither for Gods sake?
E
To Cobs house I beleeue: but keepe my counsayle.
A
I will, I will, to Cobs house? doth she haunt Cobs,
She is gone a purpose now to cuckold me,
With that lewd rascall, who to winne her fauour,
Hath told her all.
Exit.

H
But did you mistresse see my man bring him a message.
E
That we did maister doctor.
H
And whither went the knaue?
E
To the Tauerne I think sir.
H
What did Thorello give him any thing to spend for the message he brought him? if he
did I should commend my mans wit exceedingly if he would make himselfe drunke,
with the ioy of it, farewell Lady, keepe good rule you two: I beseech you now: by
Gods marry my man makes me laugh.
Exit.
E
What a madde Doctor is this? come sister let us away.
Exeunt.
Enter Matheo and Bobadillo.
J
I wonder signior what they will say of my going away: ha?

C
Why, what should they say? but as of a discreet gentleman. Quick, wary, respectfull
of natures, Fayre liniamentes, and that is all.
J
Why so, but what can they say of your beating?
C
A rude part, a touch with soft wood, a kinde of grosse batterie vsed, layd on strongly:
borne most paciently, and that is all.
J
Aye but would any man have offered it in Venice?
C
Tut I assure you no: you shall have there your Nobilis, your Gentelezza, come in
brauely upon your reuerse, stand you close, stand you ferme, stand you fayre, saue
your retricato with his left legge, come to the assaulto with the right, thrust with braue
steele, defie your base wood. But wherefore do I awake this remembrance? I was
bewitcht by Iesu: but I will be reuengd.
J
Do you heare is it not best to get a warrant and have him arested, and brought before
doctor Clement.
C
It were not amisse would we had it.

Enter Musco.
J
Why here comes his man, let us speake to him.
C
Agreed, do you speake.
J
God saue you sir.
B
With all my hart sir?
J
Sir there is one Giulliano hath abusd this gentleman and me, and we determine to
make our amendes by law, now if you would do us the fauour to procure us a warrant
for his arest of your maister, you shall be well considered I assure, in fayth sir.
B
Sir you know my seruice is my liuing, such fauours as these gotten of my maister is
his onely preferment, and therefore you must consider me, as I may make benefit of
my place.
J
How is that?
B

Fayth sir, the thing is extraordinarie, and the gentleman may be of great accompt: yet
be what he will, if you will lay me downe fiue crownes in my hand, you shall have it,
otherwise not.
J
How shall we do signior? you have no monie.
C
Not a crosse by Iesu.
J
Nor I before God but two pence: left of my two shillings in the morning for wine and
cakes, let us give him some pawne.
C
Pawne? we have none to the value of his demaunde.
J
O Lord man, I will pawne this iewell in my eare, and you may pawne your silke
stockins, and pull up your bootes, they will neare be mist.
C
Well if there be no remedie: I will step aside and put them of.
J
Do you heare sir, we have no store of monie at this time, but you shall have good
pawnes, looke you sir, this Iewell, and this gentlemans silke stockins, because we
would have it dispatcht ere we went to our chambers.

B
I am content sir, I will get you the warrant presently what is his name say you
(Giulliano.)
J
Aye, aye, Giulliano.
B
What manner of man is he?
J
A tall bigge man sir, he goes in a cloake most commonly of silke russet: layd about
with russet lace.
B
It is very good sir.
J
Here sir, here is my Iewell?
C
And here are stockins.
B
Well gentlemen I will procure this warrant presently, and appoynt you a varlet of the
citie to serue it, if you will be upon the Realto anone, the varlet shall meete you there.

J
Very good sir I wish no better.
Exeunt Bobadilla and Matheo.
B
This is rare, now will I goe pawne this cloake of the doctors mans at the brokers for a
varlets sute, and be the varlet my selfe, and get eyther more pawnes, or more money
of Giulliano for my arrest.
Exit.
Act 5
Scene 5.1
Enter Lorenzo senior.
D
O here it is, I am glad I have found it now, Ho? who is within here?
Enter Tib.
O
I am within sir, what is your pleasure?
D
To know who is within besides your selfe.
O
Why sir, you are no constable I hope?

D
O feare you the constable? then I doubt not,
You have some guests within deserue that feare,
I will fetch him straight.
O
In Gods name sir.
D
Go to tell me is not the young Lorenzo here?
O
Young Lorenzo, I saw none such sir, of mine honestie.
D
Go to, your honestie flies too lightly from you:
There is no way but fetch the constable.
O
The constable, the man is mad I think.
Claps to the doore.
Enter Pizo, and Biancha.
L
Ho, who keepes house here?
D
O, this is the female copes-mate of my son.
Now shall I meete him straight.
M

Knocke Pizo pray thee.
L
Ho good wife.
O
Why what is the matter with you.
Enter Tib.
M
Why woman, grieues it you to ope your doore?
Belike you get something to keepe it shut.
O
What meane these questions pray ye?
M
So strange you make it? is not Thorello my tryed husband here.
D
Her husband?
O
I hope he needes not to be tryed here.
M
No dame: he doth it not for neede but pleasure.

O
Neyther for neede nor pleasure is he here.
D
This is but a deuise to balke me with al; Soft, who is this?
Enter Thorello.
M
O sir, have I fore-stald your honest market?
Found your close walkes? you stand amazd now, do you?
In fayth (I am glad) I have smokt you yet at last;
What is your iewell trow? In: come let us see her;
Fetch foorth your huswife, dame; if she be fayrer
In any honest iudgement then my selfe,
I will be content with it: but she is chaunge,
She feedes you fat; she soothes your appetite,
If you are well: your wife an honest woman,
Is meate twise sod to you sir; A you trecher.
D
She cannot counterfeit this palpably.
A
Out on thee more then strumpets impudencie, Stealst thou thus to thy hauntes? and
have I taken, Thy baud, and thee, and thy companion? This hoary headed letcher, this
olde goate Close at your villanie, and wouldst thou scuse it, With this stale harlots
iest, accusing me? O ould incontinent, dost thou not shame, When all thy powers
inchastitie is spent, To have a minde so hot? and to entise And feede the intisements
of a lustfull woman?
M
Out I defie thee I, desembling wretch:
A

Defie me strumpet? aske thy paunder here,
Can he denie it? or that wicked elder.
D
Why heare you signior?
A
Tut, tut, never speake, Thy guiltie conscience will discouer thee:
D
What lunacie is this that haunts this man?
Enter Giulliano.
K
O sister did you see my cloake?
M
Not I, I see none.
K
Gods life I have lost it then, saw you Hesperida?
A
Hesperida? is she not at home
K
No she is gone abroade, and no body can tell me of it at home.

Exit.
A
O heauen,? abroade? what light? a harlot too?
Why? why? harke you, hath she? hath she not a brother?
A brothers house to keepe? to looke vnto?
But she must fling abroade, my wife hath spoyld her,
She takes right after her, she does, she does,
Well you goody baud and --
Enter Cob.
A
That make your husband such a hoddy dody;
And you young apple squire, and olde cuckold maker,
I will have you euery one before the Doctor,
Nay you shall answere it I chardge you goe.
D
Marry with all my hart, I will goe willingly: how have I wrongd my selfe in comming
here.
M
Go with thee? I will go with thee to thy shame, I warrant thee.
G
Why what is the matter? what is here to do?
A
What Cob art thou here? o I am abusd,
And in thy house, was never man so wrongd.
G
Slid in my house? who wrongd you in my house?

A
Marry young lust in olde, and olde in young here,
Thy wife is their baud, here have I taken them.
G
Do you here? did I not charge you
Cob beates his wife.
G
keepe your dores shut here, and do you let them lie open for all commers, do you
scratch.
D
Friend have patience if she have done wrong in this let her answere it afore the
Magistrate.
G
Aye, come, you shall goe afore the Doctor.
O
Nay, I will go, I will see if you may be aloud to beate your poore wife thus at euery
cukoldly knaues pleasure, the Diuell and the Pox take you all for me: why do you not
goe now.
A
A bitter queane, come we will have you tamd.
Exeunt
Enter Musco alone.
B

Well of all my disguises yet now am I most like my selfe, beeing in this varlets suit, a
man of my present profession never counterfeites till he lay holde upon a debtor, and
sayes he rests him, for then he bringes him to all manner of vnrest; A kinde of little
kings we are, bearing the diminitiue of a mace made like a young Hartechocke that
alwayes carries Pepper and salte in it selfe, well I know not what danger I vnder go by
this exploite, pray God I come well of.
Enter Bobadilla and Matheo.
J
See I think yonder is the varlet.
C
Let us go in quest of him.
J
God saue you friend, are not you here by the appoyntment of doctor Clemants man.
B
Yes if please you sir, she told me two gentlemen had wild him to procure an arest
upon one signior Giulliano by a warrant from his maister, which I have about me.
J
It is honestly done of you both, and see where he coms you must arest, upon him for
Gods sake before he beware.
Enter Stephano.
C
Beare backe Matheo?
B

Signior Giulliano I arest you sir in the Dukes name.
I
Signior Giulliano? am I signior Giulliano? I am one signior Stephano I tell you, and
you do not well by Gods slid to arest me, I tell you truely; I am not in your maisters
bookes, I would you should well know aye: and a plague of God on you for making
me afrayd thus.
B
Why, how are you deceiued gentlemen?
C
He weares such a cloake, and that deceiued us, But see here he coms, officer, this is
he.
Enter Giulliano.
K
Why how now signior gull: are you a turnd flincher of late, come deliuer my cloake.
I
Your cloake sir? I bought it euen now in the market.
B
Signoir Giulliano I must arest you sir.
K
Arrest me sir, at whose suite?

B
At these two gentlemens.
K
I obey thee varlet; but for these villianes --
B
Keepe the peace I charge you sir, in the Dukes name Sir.
K
What is the matter varlet?
B
You must goe before maister doctor Clement sir, to answere what these gentlemen
will obiect agaynst you, harke you sir, I will vse you kindely.
J
We will be euen with you sir, come signior Bobadilla, we will goe before and prepare
the doctor: varlet looke to him:
Exeunt Bobadilla and Matheo.
C
The varlet is a tall man by Iesu.
K
Away you rascalles, Signior I shall have my cloake.

I
Your cloake: I say once agayne I bought it, and I will keepe it.
K
You will keepe it?
I
Aye, that I will.
K
Varlet stay, here is thy fee arrest him.
B
Signior Stephano I arrest you.
I
Arrest me? there take your cloake: I will none of it.
K
Nay that shall not serue your turne, varlet, bring him away, I will goe with thee now
to the doctors, and carry him along.
I
Why is not here your cloake? what would you have?

K
I care not for that.
B
I pray you sir.
K
Never talke of it; I will have him answere it.
B
Well sir then I will leaue you, I will take this gentlemans woorde for his appearance,
as I have done yours.
K
Tut I will have no woordes taken; bring him along to answere it.
B
Good sir I pitie the gentlemans case, here is your monie agayne.
K
Gods bread, tell not me of my monie, bring him away I say.
B
I warrant you, he will goe with you of himselfe.

K
Yet more adoe?
B
I have made a fayre mashe of it.
I
Must I goe?
Exeunt.
Enter doctor Clement, Thorello, Lorenzo se. Biancha, Pizo, Tib, a seruant or two of
the Doctors.
H
Nay but stay, stay give me leaue; my chayre sirrah? you signior Lorenzo say you went
thether to meete your son.
D
Aye sir.
H
But who directed you thether?
D
That did my man sir?
H

Where is he?
D
Nay I know not now, I left him with your clarke, And appoynted him to stay here for
me.
H
About what time was this?
D
Marry betweene one and two as I take it.
H
So, what time came my man with the message to you Signior Thorello?
A
After two sir.
H
Very good, but Lady how that you were at Cobs: ha?
M
If please you sir, I will tell you: my brother Prospero tolde me that Cobs house was a
suspected place.
H

So it appeares me thinkes; but on,
M
And that my husband vsed thether dayly;
H
No matter, so he vse himselfe well.
M
True sir, but you know what growes by such haunts oftentimes.
H
Aye, ranke fruites of a iealous brayne Lady: but did you finde your husband there in
that case, as you suspected.
A
I found her there sir.
H
Did you so? that alters the case; who gaue you knoweledge of your wiues beeing
there?
A
Marry that did my brother Prospero.
H

How Prospero, first tell her, then tell you after? where is Prospero.
A
Gone with my sister sir, I know not whither.
H
Why this is a meare tricke, a deuise; you are gulled in this most grosly: alasse poore
wench wert thou beaten for this, how now sirrah what is the matter?
Enter one of the Do. men.
V
Sir there is a gentleman in the court without desires to speake with your worship.
H
A gentleman? what is he?
V
A Souldier, sir, he sayeth.
H
A Souldier? fetch me my armour, my sworde, quickly a souldier speake with me, why
when knaues, -- come on, come on, hold my cap there, so; give me my gorget, my
sword stand by I will end your matters anone; let the souldier enter, now sir what have
you to say to me?
Enter Bobadillo and Matheo.
C
By your worships fauour.

H
Nay keepe out sir, I know not your pretence, you send me word sir you are a souldier,
why sir you shall be answered here, here be them have beene amongst souldiers. Sir
your pleasure.
C
Fayth sir so it is: this gentleman and my selfe have beene most violently wronged by
one signior Giulliano: a gallant of the citie here and for my owne part I protest, beeing
a man in no sort given to this filthy humor of quarreling, he hath asaulted me in the
way of my peace: dispoyld me of mine honor, disarmd me of my weapons, and beaten
me in the open streetes: when I not so much as once offered to resist him.
H
O Gods precious is this the souldier? here take my armour quickly, it will make him
swoone I feare: he is not fit to looke on it, that will put up a blow.
Enter Seruant,
J
If it please your worship he was bound to the peace.
H
Why, if he were sir, his hands were not bound, were they?
V
There is one of the varlets of the citie, has brought two gentlemen here upon arest sir.
H
Bid him come in, set by the picture: now

Enter Mus. with Giu. and Stephano.
H
sir, what? signior Giulliano? is it you that are arested at signior freshwaters suit here.
K
In fayth maister Doctor, and here is another brought at my suite.
H
What are you sir.
I
A gentleman sir? o vncle?
H
Vncle? who, Lorenzo?
D
Aye Sir.
I
Gods my witnesse my vncle, I am wrongd here monstrously, he chargeth me with
stealing of his cloake, and would I might never stir, if I did not finde it in the street by
chance.
K
O did you finde it now? you saide you bought it ere while?

I
And you sayd I stole it, nay now my vnckle is here I care not.
H
Well let this breath a while; you that have cause to complaine there, stand foorth; had
you a warrant for this arrest.
C
Aye if it plese your worship.
H
Nay do not speake in passion so, where had you it?
C
Of your clarke sir.
H
That is well if my clarke can make warrants, and my hand not at them; where is the
warrant? varlet have you it?
B
No sir your worshippes man bid me do it; for these gentlemen and he would be my
discharge.
H

Why signior Giulliano, are you such a nouice to be arrested and never see the
warrant?
K
Why sir, he did not arrest me.
H
No? how then?
K
Marry sir, he came to me and sayd he must arrest me, and he would vse me kindely,
and so foorth.
H
O Gods pittie, was it so sir, he must arrest you: give me my long sworde there: helpe
me off; so, come on sir varlet, I must cut off your legges sirrah; nay stand up I will
vse you kindly; I must cut off your legges I say.
B
O good sir I beseech you, nay good maister doctor, O good sir.
H
I must do it; there is no remedie; I must cut off your legges sirrah. I must cut off your
eares, you rascall I must do it; I must cut off your nose, I must cut off your head.
B
O for God sake good Maister Doctor.

H
Well rise how doest thou now? doest thou feele thy selfe well? hast thou no harme?
B
No I thanke God sir and your good worshippe.
H
Why so I sayd I must cut off thy legges, and I must cut off thy armes, and I must cut
off thy head: but I did not do it: so you sayd you must arrest this gentleman, but you
did not arrest him you knaue, you slaue, you rogue, do you say you must arrest sirrah:
away with him to the iayle, I will teach you a tricke for your must.
B
Good M. Doctor I beseech you be good to me.
H
Marry a God: away with him I say.
B
Nay sblood before I goe to prison, I will put on my olde brasen face, and disclaime in
my vocation: I will discouer that is flat, if I be committed, it shall be for the
committing of more villainies then this, hang me, if I loose the least graine of my
fame.
H
Why? when knaue? by Gods marry, I will clappe thee by the heeles too.

B
Hold, hold I pray you.
H
What is the matter? stay there.
B
Fayth sir afore I goe to this house of bondage, I have a case to vnfolde to your
worshippe: which (that it may appeare more playne vnto your worshippes view) I do
thus first of all vncase, and appeare in mine owne proper nature, seruant to this
gentleman: and knowne by the name of Musco.
D
Ha? Musco.
I
O vncle, Musco has beene with my cosen and I all this day.
H
Did not I tell you there was some deuise.
B
Nay good M. Doctor since I have layd my selfe thus open to your worship: now stand
strong for me, till the progresse of my tale be ended, and then if my wit do not deserue
your countenance: Slight throw it on a dogge, and let me goe hang my selfe.
H

Body of me a merry knaue, give me a boule of Sack, signior Lorenzo, I bespeak your
patience in perticuler, marry your eares in generall, here knaue, Doctor Clement
drinkes to thee.
B
I pledge M. Doctor if it were a sea to the bottome.
H
Fill his boule for that, fil his boule: so, now speak freely.
B
Indeede this is it will make a man speake freely. But to the poynt, know then that I
Musco (beeing somewhat more trusted of thy maister then reason required, and
knowing his intent to Florence) did assume the habit of a poore souldier in wants, and
minding by some meanes to intercept his iorney in the mid way, twixt the grandg and
the city I encountred him, where begging of him in the most accomplisht and true
garbe (as they tearme it) contrarie to all expectation, he reclaimd me from that bad
course of life; entertayned me into his seruice, imployed me in his busines possest me
with his secrets, which I no sooner had receiued, but (seeking my young maister, and
finding him at this gentlemans house) I reuealed all, most amply: this done, by the
deuise of signior Prospero, and him together, I returnd (as the Rauen did to the Arke)
to mine olde maister againe, told him he should finde his son in what maner he
knows, at one Cobs house, where indeede he never ment to come, now my maister he
to maintayne the iest, went thether, and left me with your worships clarke: who being
of a most fine supple disposition (as most of your clarkes are) proffers me the wine,
which I had the grace to accept very easily, and to the tauerne we went: there after
much ceremonie, I made him drunke in kindenesse, stript him to his shurt, and leauing
him in that coole vayne, departed, frolicke, courtier like, hauing obtayned a suit:
which suit fitting me exceedingly well, I put on, and vsurping your mans phrase and
action, caried a message to Signior Thorello in your name: which message was
meerely deuised but to procure his absence, while signior Prospero might make a
conueiance of Hesperida to my maister.
H
Stay, fill me the boule agayne, here; twere pittie of his life would not cherish such a
spirite: I drinke to thee, fill him wine, why now do you perceiue the tricke of it.

A
Aye, I, perceiue well we were all abusd.
D
Well what remedie?
H
Where is Lorenzo, and Prospero canst thou tell?
B
Aye sir, they are at supper at the Meeremaid, where I left your man.
H
Sirrah goe warne them hether presently before me: and if the hower of your fellowes
resurrection be come bring him too. But forwarde, forwarde, when thou hadst beene at
Thorrellos.
Exit seruant.
B
Marry sir (comming along the streete) these two gentlemen meet me, and very
strongly supposing me to be your worships scribe, entreated me to procure them a
warrant, for the arrest of signior Giulliano. I promist them upon some paire of silke
stockins or a iewell, or so, to do it, and to get a varlet of the citie to serue it, which
varlet I appoynted should meete them upon the Realto at such an houre, they no
sooner gone, but I in a meere hope of more gaine by signior Giulliano, went to one of
Satans old Ingles a broker, and there paund your mans liuerie, for a varlets suite,
which here with my selfe, I offer vnto your worships consideration.
H

Well give me thy hand: Prob. superi ingenium magnum quis noscis Homerum Ilias
aeternum si latuisset opus? I admire thee I honor thee, and if thy maister, or any man
here be angry with thee, I shall suspect his wit while I know him for it, do you heare
Signior Thorello, Signior Lorenzo, and the rest of my good friends, I pray you let me
have peace when they come, I have sent for the two gallants and Hesperida, Gods
marry I must have you friendes, how now? what noyse is there?
Enter seruant, then Peto.
V
Sir it is Peto is come home.
H
Peto bring him hether, bring him hether, what how now signior drunckard, in armes
against me, ha? your reason your reason for this.
P
I beseech your worship to pardon me.
H
Well, sirrah tell him I do pardon him.
P
Truly sir I did happen into bad companie by chance and they cast me in a sleepe and
stript me of all my cloathes.
H
Tut this is not to the purpose touching your armour, what might your armour signifie.
P

Marry sir it hung in the roome where they stript me, and I borrowed it of one of the
drawers, now in the euening to come home in, because I was loth to come through the
street in my shurt.
Enter Lorenzo iunior, Prospero, Hesperida.
H
Well disarme him, but it is no matter let him stand by, who be these? o young
gallants; welcome, welcome, and you Lady, nay never scatter such amazed lookes
amongst us, Qui nil potest sperare desperet nihil.
E
Faith M. Doctor that is euen I, my hopes are smal, and my dispaire shall be as little.
Brother, sister, brother what cloudy, cloudy? and will no sunshine on these lookes
appeare, well since there is such a tempest towarde, I will be the porpois, I will
daunce: wench be of good cheare, thou hast a cloake for the rayne yet, where is he?
S'hart how now, the picture of the prodigal, go to I will have the calfe drest for you at
my charges.
D
Well son Lorenzo, this dayes worke of yours hath much deceiued my hopes troubled
my peace, and stretcht my patience further then became the spirite of dutie.
H
Nay Gods pitie signior Lorenzo you shall vrge it no more come since you are here, I
will have the disposing of all, but first signior Giulliano at my request take your
cloake agayne.
K
Well sir I am content.
H

Stay now let me see, o signior Snow-liuer I had almost forgotten him, and your
Genius there, what doth he suffer for a good conscience too? doth he beare his crosse
with patience.
B
Nay they have scarse one cros between them both to beare.
H
Why doest thou know him, what is he? what is he?
B
Marry search his pocket sir, and they will shew you he is an Author sir.
H
Dic mihi musa virum: are you an Author sir, give me leaue a little, come on sir, I will
make verses with you now in honor of the Gods, and the Goddesses for what you dare
extempore; and now I beginne. Mount thee my Phlegon muse, and testifie, How
Saturne sitting in an Ebon cloud, Disrobd his podex, white as iuorie, And through the
welkin thundred all aloud, there is for you sir.
E
O he writes not in that height of stile.
H
No: we will come a steppe or two lower then.
From Catadupa and the bankes of Nile,
Where onely breedes your monstrous Crocodile:
Now are we purposd for to fetch our stile.
E
O too farre fetcht for him still maister Doctor:
H

Aye, say you so, let us intreat a sight of his vaine then?
E
Signior, maister Doctor desires to see a sight of your vaine, nay you must not denie
him.
H
What; all this verse, body of me he carries a whole realme; a common wealth of paper
in hose, let us see some of his subiects. Vnto the boundlesse ocean of thy bewtie,
Runnes this poore riuer, chargd with streames of zeale, Returning thee the tribute of
my dutie: Which here my youth, my plaints, my love reueale. Good? is this your owne
inuention?
J
No sir; I translated that out of a booke, called Delia.
H
O but I wold see some of your owne, some of your owne.
J
Sir; here is the beginning of a sonnet I made to my mistresse.
H
That that: who? to Maddona Hesperida is she your mistresse.
E
It pleaseth him to call her so, sir.

H
In Sommer time when Phæbus golden rayes. you translated this too? did you not?
E
No this is inuention; he found it in a ballad.
J
Fayth sir, I had most of the conceite of it out of a ballad indeede.
H
Conceite, fetch me a couple of torches, sirrah, I may see the conceite: quickly? it is
very darke?
K
Call you this poetry?
F
Poetry? nay then call blasphemie, religion;
Call Diuels, Angels; and Sinne, pietie:
Let all things be preposterously transchangd.
D
Why how now son? what? are you startled now?
Hath the brize prickt you? ha? go to; you see,
How abiectly your Poetry is ranckt, in generall opinion.
F
Opinion, O God let grosse opinion sinck and be damnd
As deepe as Barathrum,
If it may stand with your most wisht content,
I can refell opinion and approue,

The state of poesie, such as it is,
Blessed, æternall, and most true deuine:
Indeede if you will looke on Poesie,
As she appeares in many, poore and lame,
Patcht up in remnants and olde worne ragges,
Halfe starud for want of her peculiar foode:
Sacred inuention, then I must conferme,
Both your conceite and censure of her merrite,
But view her in her glorious ornaments,
Attired in the maiestie of arte,
Set high in spirite with the precious taste,
Of sweete philosophie, and which is most,
Crownd with the rich traditions of a soule,
That hates to have her dignitie prophand,
With any relish of an earthly thought:
O then how proud a presence doth she beare.
Then is she like her selfe fit to be seene,
Of none but graue and consecrated eyes:
Nor is it any blemish to her fame,
That such leane, ignorant, and blasted wits,
Such brainlesse guls, should vtter their stolne wares
With such aplauses in our vulgar eares:
Or that their slubberd lines have currant passe,
From the fat iudgements of the multitude,
But that this barren and infected age,
Should set no difference twixt these empty spirits,
And a true Poet: then which reuerend name,
Nothing can more adorne humanitie.
Enter with torches.
H
Aye Lorenzo, but election is now gouernd altogether by the influence of humor,
which insteed of those holy flames that should direct and light the soule to eternitie,
hurles foorth nothing but smooke and congested vapours, that stifle her up, and
bereaue her of all sight and motion. But she must have store of Ellebore, given her to
purge these grosse obstructions: o that is well sayd, give me thy torch, come lay this
stuffe together. So, give fire? there, see, see, how our Poets glory shines brighter, and
brighter, still, still it increaseth, o now it is at the highest, and now it declines as fast:
you may see gallants, Sic transit gloria mundi. Well now my two Signior out sides,
stand foorth, and lend me your large eares, to a sentence, to a sentence: first you
signior shall this night to the cage, and so shall you sir, from thence to morrow
morning, you signior shall be carried to the market crosse, and be there bound: and so
shall you sir, in a large motlie coate, with a roode at your girdle; and you in an olde
suite of sackcloth, and the ashes of your papers (saue the ashes sirrah) shall mourne
all day, and at night both together sing some ballad of repentance very pitteously,
which you shall make to the tune of Who list to leade and a souldiers life. Sirrah bil
man, imbrace you this torch, and light the gentlemen to their lodgings, and because

we tender their safetie, you shall watch them to night, you are prouided for the
purpose, away and looke to your charge with an open eye sirrah.
C
Well I am armd in soule agaynst the worst of fortune.
J
Fayth so should I be, if I had slept on it.
P
I am armd too, but I am not like to sleepe on it.
B
O how this pleaseth me.
Exeunt.
H
Now Signior Thorello, Giulliano, Prospero, Biancha.
I
And not me sir.
H
Yes and you sir: I had lost a sheepe if he had not bleated, I must have you all friends:
but first a worde with you young gallant, and you Lady.
K

Well brother Prospero by this good light that shines here I am loth to kindle fresh
coles, but if you had come in my walke within these two houres I had given you that
you should not have clawne off agayne in hast, by Iesus I had done it, I am the arrenst
rogue that euer breathd else, but now beshrew my hart if I beare you any malice in the
earth.
E
Fayth I did it but to hould up a iest: and helpe my sister to a husband, but brother
Thorello, and sister, you have a spice of the yealous yet both of you, (in your hose I
meane,) come do not dwell upon your anger so much, let us all be smoth fore headed
once agayne.
A
He playes upon my fore head, brother Giulliano, I pray you tell me one thing I shall
aske you: is my foreheade any thing rougher then it was wont to be.
K
Rougher? your forehead is smoth enough man.
A
Why should he then say? be smoth foreheaded, Vnlesse he iested at the smothnesse of
it? And that may be; for horne is very smoth; So are my browes? by Iesu, smoth as
horne?
M
Brother had he no haunt thether in good fayth?
E
No upon my soule.

M
Nay then sweet hart: nay I pray the be not angry, good faith I will never suspect thee
any more, nay kisse me sweet musse.
A
Tell me Biancha, do not you play the woman with me.
M
What is that sweete hart.
A
Dissemble?
M
Dissemble?
A
Nay do not turne away: but say in fayth was it not a match appoynted twixt this old
gentleman and you?
M
A match.
A
Nay if it were not, I do not care: do not weepe I pray
thee sweete Biancha, nay so now? by Iesus I am not iealous, but
resolued I have the faythfulst wife in Italie.

For this I finde where iealousie is fed,
Hornes in the minde, are worse then on the head.
See what a droue of hornes flie in the ayre,
Wingd with my cleansed, and my credulous breath:
Watch them suspicious eyes, watch where they fall,
See see, on heades that think they have none at all.
O what a plentuous world of this will come,
When ayre raynes hornes, all men be sure of some.
H
Why that is well, come then: what say you are all agreed? doth none stand out.
E
None but this gentleman: to whom in my owne person I owe all dutie and affection:
but most seriously intreate pardon, for whatsoeuer hath past in these occurrants, that
might be contrarie to his most desired content.
D
Fayth sir it is a vertue that persues,
Any saue rude and vncomposed spirites,
To make a fayre construction and indeede
Not to stand off, when such respectiue meanes,
Inuite a generall content in all.
H
Well then I coniure you all here to put of all discontentment, first you Signior Lorenzo
your cares; you, and you, your iealosie: you your anger, and you your wit sir: and for
a peace offering, here is one willing to be sacrifised upon this aulter: say do you
approue my motion?
E
We do I will mouth for all.
H

Why then I wish them all ioy, and now to make our euening happinesse more full: this
night you shall be all my guestes: where we will inioy the very spirite of mirth, and
carouse to the health of this Heroick spirite, whom to honor the more I do inuest in
my owne robes, desiring you two Giulliano, and Prospero, to be his supporters, the
trayne to follow, my selfe will leade, vsherd by my page here with this honorable
verse.Clauditeiamriuospueri,satpratabiberunt.