“Who not accustomed to such noises can sleep amongst them? He that will intend to take his rest must go to bed animo securo, quieto et libero, with a [3385]secure and composed mind, in a quiet place: omnia noctes erunt placida composta quiete: and if that will not serve, or may not be obtained, to seek then such means as are requisite. To lie in clean linen and sweet; before he goes to bed, or in bed, to hear [3386]sweet music, which Ficinus commends, lib. 1. cap. 24, or as Jobertus, med. pract. lib. 3. cap. 10. [3387]to read some pleasant author till he be asleep, to have a basin of water still dropping by his bedside, or to lie near that pleasant murmur, lene sonantis aquae. Some floodgates, arches, falls of water, like London Bridge, or some continuate noise which may benumb the senses, lenis motus, silentium et tenebra, tum et ipsa voluntas somnos faciunt; as a gentle noise to some procures sleep, so, which Bernardinus Tilesius, lib. de somno, well observes, silence, in a dark room, and the will itself, is most available to others. Piso commends frications, Andrew Borde a good draught of strong drink before one goes to bed; I say, a nutmeg and ale, or a good draught of Muscadine, with a toast and nutmeg, or a posset of the same, which many use in a morning, but methinks, for such as have dry brains, are much more proper at night; some prescribe a [3388] sup of vinegar as they go to bed, a spoonful, saith Aetius Tetrabib. lib. 2. ser. 2. cap. 10. lib. 6. cap. 10. Aegineta, lib. 3. cap. 14. Piso, a little after meat, [3389]because it rarefies melancholy, and procures an appetite to sleep. Donat. ab Altomar. cap. 7. and Mercurialis approve of it, if the malady proceed from the [3390]spleen. Salust. Salvian. lib. 2. cap. 1. de remed. Hercules de Saxonia in Pan. Aelinus, Montaltus de morb. capitis, cap. 28. de Melan. are altogether against it. Lod. Mercatus, de inter. Morb. cau. lib. 1. cap. 17. in some cases doth allow it. [3391]Rhasis seems to deliberate of it, though Simeon commend it (in sauce peradventure) he makes a question of it: as for baths, fomentations, oils, potions, simples or compounds, inwardly taken to this purpose, [3392] I shall speak of them elsewhere. If, in the midst of the night, when they lie awake, which is usual to toss and tumble, and not sleep, [3393] Ranzovius would have them, if it be in warm weather, to rise and walk three or four turns (till they be cold) about the chamber, and then go to bed again. Against fearful and troublesome dreams, Incubus and such inconveniences, wherewith melancholy men are molested, the best remedy is to eat a light supper, and of such meats as are easy of digestion, no hare, venison, beef, &c., not to lie on his back, not to meditate or think in the daytime of any terrible objects, or especially talk of them before he goes to bed. For, as he said in Lucian after such conference, Hecates somniare mihi videor, I can think of nothing but hobgoblins: and as Tully notes, [3394] for the most part our speeches in the daytime cause our fantasy to work upon the like in our sleep, which Ennius writes of Homer: Et canis in somnis leporis vestigia latrat: as a dog dreams of a hare, so do men on such subjects they thought on last. [3395]Somnia quae mentes ludunt volitantibus umbris, Nec delubra deum, nec ab aethere numina mittunt, Sed sibi quisque facit, &c.”
A cook of roughly the same moment, setting down the same dish.
Sweeten a pint of milk with four table-spoonfuls of treacle, boil this for ten minutes; strain it through a rag; drink it while hot, and go to bed well covered with blankets; and your cold will be all the less and you the better for it.
Sources: The passage is from Robert Burton, The Anatomy of Melancholy, free to read in full at Project Gutenberg. The recipe is from Francatelli, A Plain Cookery Book for the Working Classes of 1852, also free in full. Both are in the public domain in the United States. The binding above is ours — forest cloth, tankard stamp.