Part 3

and consequently the great men, whom I have just mention’d, owed their reputation more to their extraordinary genius, than to industry and application; and prevented the ill effects of their severer studies, by allowing themselves intervals of leisure, by taking proper exercise, and by the dissipation both of business and amusement. Nor did they lead the life of abstracted students, a species of men little known to the ancients, and who took their rise first at the declension of literature, were renew’d at its revival, and may be properly compar’d to the Indian fakirs; for both bid farewell to the human race, and both of their own accord, and generally without any emolument to society, emaciate and inflict austerities upon themselves; the former by the sun, by cold, by nails, by chains, by whips; the latter by books, manuscripts, coins, monuments, and almost all by inaction, and the want of bodily exercise. This is another, and a most prolific source of the disorders which afflict men addicted to study; for the human machine was form’d and intended for action by the supreme artificer: therefore health is inseparable from action, which will be easily conceiv’d by whoever examines the human body with attention.

It consists of containing and moving vessels, contained and moved fluids: if the fibres or vessels have a proper tone, if the fluids have a proper consistence, if the motions, by which they should be continually agitated, are neither too violent, nor deficient, we enjoy a good state of health. But it should be taken into consideration, that motion is here the chief agent, for, that alone being chang’d, the whole state of the solids and fluids is chang’d likewise: if it be increased, the solids grow harder, and the fluids are compress’d; if it be diminished, the fibre becomes relaxed, the density of the blood is lessened, for the whole body is form’d of a chyle, which is softer and lighter than any part of the body, either solid or fluid, whose small particles a continual motion unites and strongly compresses; and if this motion should fail, the parts must prove deficient in their due firmness.

But the heart is the source of all the motions in the animal machine, the principle which puts the whole mass of fluids in motion, but is not alone sufficient for that purpose; wherefore nature has given it many helps, which never discontinue or remit, but the circulation becomes slower, and diseases arise from the motion of the fluids being retarded. The chief of these helps is the muscular motion, whose extraordinary force in quickening the circulation, the most ignorant surgeon every day displays to the eyes of all spectators, by an easy experiment, when upon opening a vein he bids the patient move some cylindrical instrument round about in his hand, in order to accelerate the emission of the blood: nay, every man may easily perceive in himself, how much the quickness of the pulse is increased by the motion of the body; and these are the effects of motion, it sharpens the appetite, it strengthens the fibres, keeps up a due temperature of the fluids, promotes all the excretions, fortifies the mind, and gives a pleasing sensation to the whole nervous system; whereas by too great sloth, the muscular strength is first destroy’d for want of practice; and from a neglect of exercise there springs an impotence of motion: the circulation which is carried on only by the strength of the heart and the vessels, and destitute of external helps, first languishes in the most minute vessels, and then in every part of the body; the heat decreases, the humours stagnate, and contract a vitious disposition; for some of them lose part of their density, others part of their tenuity, and they all become glutinous, and of consequence unfit for secretions; therefore what should be secreted is retain’d, the body is loaded with a mass of adventitious humours, it is destroy’d by their acrimony, the vigour of life is benumb’d, the strength declines, the blood is dissolved to water; hence arises a dropsy, a disorder in a manner epidemical to men of learning, by which the brain is often affected. An instance of this I lately saw, with concern, in an eminent man, whose case I discover’d too late, and who not by literary pursuits, but other exercises of the mind, and total inaction of body, had broke a constitution which once was robust.

Those parts suffer the most, which having but weak solids, they want external helps more than any others; hence those organs are most affected by inaction, which, being contained in the abdomen, perform the first digestion of the aliments: the strength of the stomach is diminish’d, the nature of the gastric fluid is chang’d, the aliments make a longer stay in it, and, not being sufficiently subdu’d by the animal force, they go through their spontaneous changes which they would have undergone out of the body. Most vegetables retain their tartness, which, by vellicating the nerves, occasions pains and convulsions; acid eructations arise, the cardia suffers pain, the throat is parched, and the teeth blunted. On the contrary, both flesh and eggs rot, and fat aliments grow rank: hence proceed putrid eructations, immoderate thirst, and continual fluxes; digestion is always difficult, troublesome, and malignant; the aliments cease to afford nourishment, nor do they any longer repair, but irritate and weaken.

The exhaling vessels no longer pour forth a dewy, mild, and saponaceous lymph, but they throw out a thick glue, which affects the sick with a constant pain and sense of a heavy weight, and of cold at the stomach, and creates the utmost loathing. The consequence is the same when the intestines, being of the same structure with the stomach, suffer the same injuries: the action of respiration first begins to fail, whose alternate compressions, whilst it is accelerated by the muscular motion, compress and strain all the viscera of the abdomen; their irritability is lost, the body is generally costive; there is here likewise accumulated, a troublesome phlegm, the prolific mother of diseases. Thus it once happen’d to the celebrated JUSTUS LIPSIUS, professor of history at Leyden, who being long ill, and under the care of his illustrious colleague and friend HEURNIUS, found no relief till he had voided a substance resembling the intestines both in figure and colour; it was a tough and viscid phlegm, gradually collected in the whole tube of the intestines, through a sedentary life wasted by study; and this phlegm, turning to putrefaction, made a jakes of the whole body. The fomes of the disease being thus purg’d off, he was restor’d to health.

The collected excrements compress with their bulk the neighbouring parts, irritate the intestines by their corruption, and by absorbing the putrid matter infect the whole mass of blood. From all these causes put together arise those excruciating pains in the bowels which often torment the studious, and are with difficulty cur’d, as they are perpetually renew’d by errors in diet. Hence that troublesome flatulency, so hurtful to sedentary men, which torments the learned a thousand different ways, and often passes for other disorders.

The intestines are not only affected, but the functions of the neighbouring parts are disturb’d, as well from the violence of the compression as from their own diseases; the pancreatic juice grows vapid and stale, the functions of the spleen are vitiated, the repositories of the bile are much disturb’d; by its stagnation it loads the liver, forms obstructions in it, thickens and grows hard itself, and flows slowly to the intestines; whence their disorders, especially those of the jejunum, and vices of the chyle, increase; being scarce able to pass through the narrow neck of the cystic duct, it often concretes into a stone, and occasions those severe colics with which the celebrated IGNATIUS, founder of the Jesuits, was formerly afflicted, and with which the learned are often tormented. If at length by stagnating it putrifies, it then erodes, ulcerates, inflames, and assumes the appearance of all the innumerable disorders of the liver, and produces inconceivable anxieties. These are likewise caus’d, though with less danger, by that cruel disease call’d the hypochondriac; the first species of which, mention’d above, and call’d the nervous, is occasion’d by excessive labour of the mind; the other, I mean the abdominal species, arises from a disturb’d circulation in the abdomen. With both these disorders the learned are afflicted, and therefore seldom or never live free from this evil; and, whilst one of these adds force to another, they are seldom entirely cur’d of them.

Considering they occur so frequently, it is hardly necessary to give examples; but if I were to cite examples, the first that would occur to my mind would be that of the illustrious SWAMMERDAM, that sagacious inquirer into nature, who was so full of atrabilary humours, that he scarce vouchsafed to answer those who spoke to him, but look’d upon them with an unalter’d countenance; and, when he took his seat as professor, sat with a face of astonishment, and made no answer to the objections of his opponents. Finally, having, before his death, wasted away with a phrantic melancholy, he burn’d all the manuscripts he had by him in a fit of madness: being reduced in appearance to a skeleton and the mere figure of a man, he died at length of a consumption.

It has indeed been observ’d, that this species of melancholy in some measure promotes learning, by increasing the penetration; for, whilst melancholy men are intent upon one idea only, the mind contemplates this object alone, and considers it on every side; nor is it distracted by other pursuits. But who ever proceeded to this pitch of madness, as to desire to purchase an increase of discernment at such a price? Of what advantage is science without health? He knows too much, who is render’d unhappy by his knowledge.

It cannot indeed be denied, that there are men whom nature has endow’d with a Milonian stomach, and intestines of iron, who can bear with impunity the labour of the mind, bodily inaction, and excesses of gluttony. But are they therefore more happy? By no means; for then the vessels are overwhelm’d by the load of humours, the cellular membrane swells with fat, the viscera are press’d on every side, the whole habit grows turgid, they become heavy and indolent, the slightest motion puts them quite out of breath, and they sweat all over; at last they die before their time, either of apoplexy, a suffocating catarrh, or other diseases occasion’d by plethora: and it has been justly observ’d, that too strong a stomach has often prov’d fatal to the learned.

There is no part of the body which is not at last affected by inaction; for the blood being vitiated, all the parts, which it washes, catch the infection sooner or later; the lungs are overwhelm’d with a mucous substance, this gives rise to a cough, a shortness of breath, an asthma, an imposthume. This the illustrious TRIGLANDUS unhappily experienc’d, who, having contracted a bad habit of body by a studious and sedentary life, from which BOERHAAVE himself dissuaded him, wasted away with an imposthume and died, after having suffer’d the most excruciating torments. By the mucous matter being harden’d the lungs of SWAMMERDAM were turn’d into a quarry, and he spit up small stones a long time before his death.

That the stone, and other severer disorders of the bladder, are the fruits of too assiduous an application to learning, is prov’d by the sad experience of HEURNIUS, CASAUBON, BEVEROVICIUS, SYDENHAM, and many others, amongst whom may be reckon’d the illustrious exile of Geneva, to whom Britain now boasts of having afforded an asylum.

Whilst all the excretions are disturb’d, the chief of them all, namely cuticular perspiration, is not free from disease. As perspiration is greatly promoted by muscular motion, which both prepares humours for secretion, and gives strength to the exhaling vessels; so is it greatly interrupted by the want of that motion; the humour that ought to be excreted is retain’d, and pollutes the whole mass of the fluids, and gives rise to rheumatic or catarrhous disorders and a troublesome phlegm. Of this HORACE complained long since, and with this complaint almost all men of learning are afflicted; for they can scarce read or write for any time, but they are immediately troubled with a slight running of the nose, or seiz’d with a cough.

From the same source are derived those irregular fevers, which often occur without any visible cause, whilst the unperspirable humours, which have been generated by the defect of the stomach, and the want of motion, are unable to pass the cutaneous vessels.

Perpetual rest is alone able to torture those nerves, which have been weakened by the labours of the mind; and it often quite destroys them, even in those who equally give themselves up to indolence both mental and corporeal. For the nervous system is the last work of the human machine, and if any function fails, the nerves are immediately affected; so that often from their defect, whenever it appears, there results a well-grounded suspicion of a disease in the stomach, or in some other part. They are therefore vitiated in the learned for two reasons; for, being plac’d between the mind and body, they are punish’d though innocent, let which of the two be in fault; nor do they however go unrevenged; for the injuries they suffer on one part they carry over to t’other, and thus, by a vicious circle, the mind hurts the body, and the body impairs the mind, and they with one accord injure and weaken the nerves.

The seminal fluid, which has been thought by some great men not to be very different from the nervous liquor, is likewise depriv’d of its force; and upon this principle, and from an accurate consideration of what each part in a father contributes to the formation of a son, it perhaps is not badly accounted for, why strong and illustrious sons are seldom the offspring of illustrious men: for the punctum saliens is contaminated at the first moment of life, whence it receives an injury which is not afterwards to be repair’d by any art; and whilst the mind of the father was entirely given up to meditation, and his corporeal functions totally neglected, the vivifying liquor was perhaps defrauded of that part of elaboration which it should have had from the brain, so as to give a proper tone to the brain of the embryo.

From that general laxity of the fibres, which is demonstrated to the senses themselves by the softness of the muscles, by the force of the artery, and by that laxity of the gums which throws out sound teeth without any pain; from that general laxity, I say, arises that weakness which oppresses so many learned men, and which I lately lamented to see, whilst, as a friend and physician, I sat by our beloved ALPHONSUS, to whom the wishes of the public had promis’d the age of NESTOR; and all the hopes I had of his recovering his health were immediately banish’d, by a weakness greater than any I remember ever to have seen, and which the Herculean labours of his mind had brought upon a thin body. How great and irrepairable a loss was then sustain’d by religion, virtue, the church, the city, his unfortunate family, and the youth of this academy! What a man, what a colleague, what a friend have we lost, illustrious professors! one who, as EUPHRATES of old, was remarkable for the greatest sanctity of manners, for the utmost care in the discharge of all the duties incumbent upon him, which were many in number; one whose complaisance was equal, who was entirely free from austerity, whose presence excited reverence, and not dread, for he was severe upon vices, not upon men; whose learning was extensive, whose discourse was copious, various, and, above all, pleasing, and yet not without a Platonic sublimity; one, in short, who was capable of persuading and working upon such as were most averse to his documents: having liv’d in the utmost veneration, he left behind him the highest regret for his loss. But to return to our subject from this sad digression.

Thus have I treated of the two first causes of the diseases of the learned; others remain still to be spoken of; and the first that occurs, whilst I am upon the subject of inaction, is the very posture of constant sitting, with the body stooping, and the legs bent; for this both hurts the lower extremities, and, by obstructing the viscera of the abdomen, soon occasions all sorts of disorders arising from indigestion: and those learned doctors prudently consult their health, who indulge their meditations, not indeed standing, for that posture is not without its inconveniences, but walking. And this is one of the bad effects of sitting, that it greatly obstructs the passage of the blood in the abdominal veins, which makes it stagnate at the anus, where it meets with less resistance, and causes those shocking piles that torment so many literati, and, though praised by some, certainly do much more harm than good.

Nocturnal lucubrations, which are hurtful upon many accounts, must have their place amongst the causes of disorders; for whilst a great part of the night is spent in study, sufficient time is not allow’d for sleep; nor does a gentle slumber succeed meditation; a circumstance which I have already lamented: for the oscillations of the fibres of the brain still continue, and that full ease of the internal senses is wanting which alone is capable of repairing our lost strength. They likewise pitch upon an unreasonable time for sleep; for nature has assigned the first approach of night as the proper time for beginning to repose; the night invites to sleep as well as the unwholesome air, and to this end its darkness and silence contribute: besides, the nocturnal air is cold and moist, and, when the sun retires, most animals feel their strength diminish’d, and night forces some of them to sleep even against their inclinations, as it does many plants.

The night air is so unfavourable to study, that the celebrated VAN SWIETEN knew a gouty man, in whom the slightest application of mind, and even the reading of a letter, after sun-set, occasion’d a fit of the gout. Nor should we forget that study forces the blood into the brain, and that nothing can be more dangerous than to study in bed; for both sleep, and the posture of the body in sleep, increases the quantity of blood in the skull.

Therefore nocturnal studies produce all those disorders which the want of rest gives rise to; the organs of sense are principally affected; their strength is exhausted, the fibres are either worn or agitated by violent motions; hence arise an incoherent series of thoughts, a luxuriant imagination, deliriums, dreadful head-achs, and, finally, a total privation of sleep, scarce to be cur’d by remedies, and which often occasions fatal disorders.

The injuries of watching are increased by the ill effects of candles, which infect the air by their gross vapour, so pernicious to the lungs, the eyes, and the nerves. It is, therefore, the highest advantage imaginable to go to bed betimes, and rise early in the morning. Aurora musis amica: Aurora favours the muses.

The close air, which they always use, is hurtful; but I shall speak of the air hereafter. Nor should their dirtiness be forgotten, as some learned men, entirely neglecting the care of their bodies, and not at all sollicitous about cleanliness, disgust others, and bring upon themselves those disorders which proceed from obstructed perspiration: for how can that skin perspire, whose pores are stopped up with dirt. Most of them are extremely faulty with respect to their teeth, which, being filled with putrid filth, and exhaling a most nauseous stench, first infect all the adjacent parts, and the very saliva of the sick person; soon after cause violent pains, and at last, falling before the time, leave the stomach destitute of the powerful aid of mastication.

Akin to dirtiness is the pernicious custom of some, who, deaf to the calls of nature, defer going to stool, and suppress their urine a long time, to avoid interrupting their studies; not reflecting that many dreadful disorders spring from this source.

For by too long a delay the secreted humours become too putrid, are attenuated, irritate the intestines or the bladder, vitiate the mucous matter, and sometimes occasion grievous disorders of the particular organ; the putrid matter being absorb’d by the vessels with which all the cavities of the body abound, pollutes the blood; and, which is still worse, the nerves become disused to obey the stimulus; nay, they sometimes, by too much tension, begin to grow paralytic; so that the expulsive force, for the voiding of excrements or urine, almost entirely ceases, and should every day be renew’d by art. Whilst the illustrious TYCHO BRAHE, riding in the same chariot with the emperor, suppress’d his urine, he pay’d for his ill-tim’d modesty by death; and I even now have under my care a man of learning, who by a long suppression of his urine became unable to contain it; nor can he void it when he thinks proper, but it runs from him night and day by drops.

Retirement from all human society is likewise hurtful to them; for man, whom nature made for man, she intended also should be benefited by society.

But nothing renders study and application more pernicious than the sadness that accompanies them: study is capable of clouding the temper of the happiest man with melancholy: if real and external causes of grief are added to this, the mind, overwhelm’d with so many strokes, at last sinks under them, and in its own ruin involves that of the body. Anxious cares are likewise hurtful; so that I can hardly conceive how great men, whom the difficulty of their undertakings kept in unremitting meditation, and whom the uncertainty of events fill’d with continual anxiety, could go through with such great undertakings. Nature endow’d CÆSAR, MAHOMET, CROMWELL, PAOLI, and some few more, with faculties which she refused other mortals, and which, notwithstanding, would scarce have enabled them to perform such great exploits without the assistance of sobriety and incessant action.

We should not, however, imagine, that the learned alone destroy their health by mental labour; it is of no consequence what the object is that engages the mind, if it applies a considerable time and with earnestness, it wastes both its own strength and that of the body. Kings, senators, ministers, ambassadors, and all those concern’d in the administration of public affairs, are subject to the same unhappy fate which the learned deplore, if they labour with equal assiduity in transacting public affairs, as the learned in perusing books. But it is their happiness, that, in the various business and dissipation of their places, they are oblig’d often to quit their closets, and even against their wills are, by a salutary necessity, compell’d to take frequent exercise: the chief use of this is, that it admirably prepares the blood for the generation of fresh animal spirits, and in the same time it brings a greater quantity of blood to the secerning organs, and so restores what thought had exhausted, and frames new instruments for the thinking mind. But nothing can force the studious from their books, and they are quite enervated by inaction: to palliate which you will perhaps bring some examples of men who have liv’d to a great age, though they used but little or no action. There are but few men; but you will, I doubt not, bring many women. Take notice, however, that, though they had not much muscular motion, they had many other helps, by which nature promotes the circulation of the blood, viz. an agreeable stirring of the passions, which excites, and does not destroy; a constant chearfulness and eternal loquacity, and other assistances of a similar nature: they likewise use but little food. The case is quite different with the learned: they do not live with the same sobriety; and therefore it is no wonder that they enjoy their health worse than any other class of men.