fundament shut vp After she was born she was deliuered vnto the Nurse to be carried into the country where she continued seuen or eight daies without voiding any thing by stowle which made her belly swel extreamely Wherupon she was brought vnto this Citty and Mons Rabigois a Master Barber Chirurgion and sworn at Paris a very diligent and painfull man was sent for to see what might be the cause of this swelling and he inquiring whether the child went to stoole or no it was answered him by the nurse she had neuer purged her selfe as yet that way since she was born then by by he searched the fundament and found it to be closed and stopped vp and therefore he did counsell the childs father to let him make an incision of the membrane that stopped vp the passage whereunto the Father and Mother would not consent till the morrow But while the matter was debated and argued vpon the child dyed And she was opened by the saide Master Rabigois who found all her guts filled with the humor called Meconium and other filthie matter Of the scabbe which comes on the childs head and face CHAP. XXXIIII OFtentimes there commeth vppon the childs head and face a hard crusty scab which couereth all the head quite ouer and therefore it is called the Cappe and sometimes the face also so that you can see nothing but the childs eyes as though hee had a maske on The Latines call this scabbe Lactumen or Lactitium as being an excrement of the Milke And because it is of a yellow colour like vnto waxe it is also called Cerium The cause heereof is two fold for eyther it is engendred of the reliques of the womens courses or purgings or else of the Nurses milke which being of an ill quality doth easily corrupt in the childs stomacke and cannot bee turned into good iuice and much lesse bee corrected by the Liuer it being sent thither to bee turned into bloud which makes it that being carried vnto the head and face it cannot be assimilated in those parts Least this scab might corrode and eat into the skinne and afterwards the very bone of the head and face and at length Gangrene the eies it will be very good to remedy it For which purpose the Nurse must keepe a good dyet as we haue formerly shewne Concerning Topicall or outward medicines you must haue an especiall care that you vse none that do repell and driue backe but rather such as gently draw You may bath the crusts especially those of the face with gentle Fomentations made of Mallowes Althaea Violet leaues Chamomile and Melilot flowers and Linseed boyled in milke and with this decoction you may foment the crusts and afterwards annoint them with Oile of sweet Almonds Fresh Butter well beaten with Parietary water and Oile of Violets washed with Barley water I am wont to vse an Ointment of Lard melted and then well beaten and washed with Parietary water and so annoint the crusts with it If there be any vlcer and that the scabs are fallen off you may lay vpon it a Cabbidge or a Beete leafe a little heated on a Gridyron The Ointment made of white Waxe and oile of sweet Almonds is very good when there is any rawnesse or excoriation Of the Meazels and the small Pockes what they are and how they doe differ CHAP. XXXV IT remaineth now that we speake of the Measells and the small Pockes and because there bee few children but haue them eyther first or last I haue thought good heere to say a word or two of them briefly The Measels and the Pocks are little risings or pustules which appeare most commonly in great number vpon the outside of the skinne and at the first they are so like one another that you can hardly discerne whether of them it is But yet the Measels come more suddenly and the face and skinne of the whole body lookes redder and the rednesse continues longer without rising there beeing ioined with it most commonly a greater itching and pricking But the small pockes comes not foorth so suddenly neither is the skinne so red nor doth the colour stay so long the pustules or pimples rise higher neither itching nor pricking so much and at length grow white The cause of both of them are the reliques of the impurer part of the bloud wherewith the child was nourished in his Mothers wombe which now is separated and thrust to the skin through the help and strength of nature because the childs bloud boileth in the veines of euery part of the bodie as Auicen saith No otherwise then new wine doth in a vessell which boyleth casting vp his froath or scum and separating it from it selfe And as Auenzoar saith though the child be nourished with the best part of the menstruall bloud yet there remaines some little portion behind which is of an ill qualitie and after the child is borne and is growne strong he gathering together his forces and naturall heat thrusts it foorth by the pores of the skin nature being willing to acquite and rid her selfe of this superfluitie Besides there is a certaine disposition of time caused through the malignitie of the aire which raiseth and stirreth vp the reliques of the said menstruall bloud in the childs bodie wherewith he hath been nourished vnto which the corrupt aire that we breath and which we cannot auoide doth adde an impression of a second bad qualitie wherewith nature being ouer-charg'd and offended she thrusts them out to the skin which receiueth the filth and vncleannesse of the bodie Now the fuller the bodie is of this menstruall bloud the deeper impression doth the outward aire make in it which is the reason that some haue them in greater quantitie and are fuller of them then others And so according to the malignitie of the humour it is also more or lesse dangerous to some then to others The marks and signes whereby you may know that the child will haue the Pockes are these Headach together with an Ague rednesse of the eyes which water verie often itching of the nose a drie Cough gaping wearinesse of the bodie paine of the Hart desire to vomit the vrine red a pricking and shiuering through all the bodie and sometimes convulsions and rauings When it is the Measels the face growes red and ariseth all at once but when it is the Pocks neither the face nor the rest of the bodie looke so red but you may perceiue some little risings here and there in the face backe breast and thigh 's which afterwards increase and grow bigger And when the Pocks begin to shew themselues then there happens heauinesse of the head the face swelleth the eyes are setled all the bodie becomes as it were puff'd vp the voice growes hoarse with difficultie of fetching breath and sorenesse of the throat For it is the propertie of this vile disease to take hold of the Lungs and yet
THE HAPPY DELIVERIE OF WOMEN Wherein is set downe the Gouernment of Women In the time Of their breeding Childe Of their Trauaile both Naturall and contrary to Nature And Of their lying in Together with the diseases which happen to Women in those times and the meanes to helpe them To which is added a Treatise of the diseases of Infant and young Children with the Cure of them Written in French by IAMES GVILLIMEAV the French Kings Chirurgion LONDON Printed by A. HATFIELD 1612. Ad Authorem TErgeminam meritò laudem sibi vendicet Author Cui Matris curae est cui Puerique salus Faemâ— Laudabit te iure Puerpera grates Vir quoque pro saluâ coniuge Letus aget Inque tuum primos Infans formabit honorem Risus cum tumidi carceris exit onus Infans Vir Mulier pro vitâ vota rependant Chara tibi coniux pignora chara ferao THE AVTHORS Epistle Introductory to the Reader ALthough that man be the most perfect absolute of all other cretures neuerthelesse so weake is he by Nature so subiect to infinite infirmities that Diuine Hippocrates hath urged him to be euen sicknes it selfe from his very birth He is not fit saith he to bee imployed in any businesse while be sucketh because hâ—e wholly depends vpon the helpe of another afterward when he comes to more yeares hee grows stubborne and vnruly and wants a Mâ—ster to giue him instruction Againe when he is growne to the prime of his age hee becomes audacious and proud At last in his declining time he falls into misery hauing nothing left him but the remembrance of his labours ill bestowed Pliny noteth and experience shews it to be true that the ill sent only of a Candle new put foorth is enough to destroy a child in the mothers wombe so that shee may be forced to fall in trauaile and be deliuered before her time vnlesse her strength be the greater to resist the offence And although the child stay the full time that nature hath prefixed him yet commonly he is not able to get foorth or come safely into the Worlde yea though the birth be naturall without the helpe not onely of the Mother and himselfe but also of the Mid-wife and other women about her ready to receiue and cherish him And which is worst of all if he be placed awry or else be weake and faint or else if the midwife be at the farthest of her skill then if they will saue the child and so consequently the mother from death they must call a Chirurgion to deliuer her and bring the child into the world which that I may touch it by the way without taxing any is commonly done too late eyther through the wilfulnesse of the kinsfolks or obstinacy of the Midwiues But grant that the childe comes into the world of it selfe without the helpe either of Chirurgion or Midwife yet as it is commonly said he drawes his death after him the which may be plainely perceiued by the cryes and laments which he maketh as soone as he seeth the light as if hce craued for helpe and succour For if he should continue in that case that hee comes from his mothers wombe clogged with his bed or after-birth without doubt this bedde being putrified would infect the child and at length kill it Besides oftentimes if there were not helpe to make a free passage in the fundament yard or other naturall places that are sometimes closed vp there could neither sustenance be receiued nor excrements expelled which would cause the child to be stifled and choked vp Many times also the head and other parts of the bodie as the bones and legges happen to be ill shapen yea broken and out of ioint which would neuer come of themselues into their proper and naturall place There then is it necessary that the Chirurgion vse his helpfull and skilfull hand So that euery man may plainly see the necessity and Antiquity of this worke since that the first practise in Chirurgery that euer was done in the world was the Omphalotomia or cutting of the Nauell which Adam and Eue practised on their first child These therefore are the Motiues that haue induced me to publish this discourse and therin to treat of such diseases as happen to women with child And heerein I haue endeuoured to helpe them both in their naturall and extraordinary trauaile and to ease them in all such accidents as may happen vnto them in their childbed being the rather incited thereunto by reading the complaints of Women related by Soranus O malè occupatum virorum genus occidimur nos non morimur ab illis qui inter vos peritissimi existimantur perperam curatae Vos de qualibet leuissimâ vestratum affectionum libros ex libris facientes bibliothecas Voluminibus oneratis de nostris intereà diris et difficillimis cruciatibus nullâ vel exiguâ mentione facta O men how ill doe you bestow your time and paines Alas wee women die not but are tormented euen to death For those that are accounted the most expert and skilfull among you take not that care of vs which they should you fill whole Libraries with large volumes writings of euerie light and triuiall disease of your owne making little or no mention at all of our cruell and insupportable torments I had purposed aboue fifteene yeares since to haue written somwhat concerning this subiect in my books of Chirurgery but hauing more maturely considered thereof I thought it fitter to write a Treatise of it by it selfe which it deserueth both for the difficultie of the subiect and for the variety of the matter which I was desirous to obserue therein And indeede this worke excelleth all other which are practised vppon the body of man whether ye respect the Antiquity Necessiâ—y or dexterity thereof For the Antiquitie without doubt the first worke in Chirurgery that euer was in the worlde was the cutting of the Nauell which as is saide before Adam practised vppon his first borne Concerning the necessity some perhaps may obiect that the bringing a bed of women is not so necessary a worke as these following To stay the fluxe of bloud whether it bee in veine or Arterie to vse the Trepan to open the Empyema or suppuration in the breast to cut one that hath the Dropsie or to let bloud skilfullie For the fluxe of bloud it may bee further saide that vnlesse it bee stopped by leesing the bloud the life also is endangered But we must consider that the bloud oftentimes staying of it selfe and experience euidently shews that nature which is wise and prouident doth commonly restraine and stop it I haue beene present in many skirmishes yet farre enough out of gunshot where I haue dressed many that were wounded who haue had the great vessels in many parts of their bodies cut and bruised hauing lost much bloud vppon the hurt and yet it hath stopped and stayed of it selfe Some wil say that he who hath
his scull clâ—ft by a wound is in danger of death if the bloud that is shed vpon the Membrane be not taken foorth by the meanes of the Trepan For this bloud would be wholly putrified and withall corrupt the braine the chiefe instrument of life and whose vse is more then necessary Notwithstanding wee see that in many the filth and maâ—ter comes foorth by the Nose Eares and mouth without being trepanned yea that it passeth euen through their bones Wee may say the like of such which haue the Dropsie or Empyema the breast of the one is full of Corruption the others belly full of water they both choake and stifle vnlesse the Chirurgion make incision in the one making a Paracentosis in the other opening the Pleura Yet neuerthelesse we see that he which hath an Empyema or suppuration doth oftentimes expell the matter and filth by the mouth or vrine the waies beeing manifest by which nature doth vnburthen her selfe and he that hath the Dropsie auoideth the water eyther by vrine or stoole yea and by sweat or by some little vent which Nature makes in some part of the body as in the Nauell or legges which we obserue by daily experience in many men and therefore wee may perceiue that these practises are not alwaies so necessary and requisite For letting bloud you will say that hee hazards his life and that sodainely who beeing oppressed and troubled with a great paine of his head or side is not speedily let bloud because the bloud that boyleth in his veines striueth onely to come foorth I will answere that Nature very often sends it foorth by the Nose Mouth Eies and Eares by stoole also and other parts disburthening her selfe to the sicke Mans ease and profit But It is not so in the deliuery of women for if the entrance of the wombe be closed as it is seene in diuers whether it be naturally by reason of a strong and thicke membrane which shutteth vp the passage or other wise because some scarre happening there hath hardned and shrunke vp the sides of the necke of the said wombe it would be impossible that nature should euer be able to separate and breake through thâ—se impediments for as for the one it is hard for a penne or quill to passe there and for the other you cannot put in a small probe through the little hole which is in the middest of the membrane And yet I haue had the experience thereof in two women which were neuer the lesse with child as I will shew more at large heereafter So that either the Chirurgions helpe must bee vsed or else both the Mother and the child would die miserablie Some may obiect vnto mee that the Mother might open the passage her selfe by tearing the parts so bound by the scarre breaking through the said membrane But what will you answere me for her which hath her child turned awry and lies double in her wombe and falleth into a Convulsion or fluxe of bloud or both together The Mother not being able eyther to turne it or pull it foorth especially if the head of it bee intangled and fastned betweene the bones of os Pubis so that it is impossible to turne it safe and sound except the Chirurgion vse his industry and skill Now for the dexteritie there is no comparison betweene this and other practises for there be no workes to be done in Chirurgery where it is not necessary to haue the benefit either of daylight or candle light and the part which is to be handled and dressed must be apparent and laid open to the eye Whereas contrariwise in this worke as well by reason of the company present as also least the woman should be afraid the very entrance whereby hee should put in his hand they are constrained to hide and then his hand being there he must search for the child howsoeuer it be placed not being able to see it And if there be found two three or foure Children yea sometime fiue as Albertus Magnus reporteth hee saw in Germanie a Woman that brought foorth to the number of threescore and fiue children beeing deliuered euerie yeare of fiue then I say I leaue you to iudge what skill and dexteritie the Chirurgion ought to vse in seeking them one after another if they come amisse On the other side as often as a woman is well deliuered by the helpe and hand of the Chirurgion there life is giuen to two to wit to the Mother and the childe And therfore as this worthy man saith In partu inuocatur dei auxilium quaeritur enim parturientis nascentis salus When a woman is in trauaile they call vppon God for helpe because they desire to saue both the Mother and the child Now in all other practises though they attaine to their wished end yet can there bee but one onely saued at once Whereby it may be iudged that this practise is both for the Antiquitie Necessitie and dexterity thereof the most laudable and commendable of all others To make the which more easie and the better to instruct the young Chirurgion I haue gathered together all that I could possibly out of that which I haue obserued this forty yeares and aboue wherein I haue practised it and seene it practised in the greatest families both within and without this Kingdom where thanks be to God good vse hath beene made of me And withall I haue not refused nor disdained to go vnto the meanest mooued partly by Charity and partly to make my selfe more and more experienced therein Hauing then conferred together what eyther the Graecians and Latines both ancient and Moderne haue written with that I haue beene able to obserue and hauing reduced it all into one I haue put it into French in fauour of those who are not so well learned and haue not the knowledge of the Greeke or Latine tongues Some will say to diminish that little honor which I might get by this my labour that the Ancients haue written the greatest part heereof But they shall learne from the mouth of this great Oracle That there is no lesse witte and vnderstanding required to bee able to iudge of Sciences formerly written then to bee the first Authors of them I know Moreouer that in the Doctrine and much more in the phrase some will find many things to be reprehended But I intreat the Reader that he would receiue it in as good part as I offer it him and likewise exhort others that are more experienced then I am to doe better Let them shew me my faults friendly and I will not refuse willingly to retract them after the example of that diuine Hipocrates who freely confessed his saying openly that he had gotten more dishonor then either glory or credit by practising of Phisicke The Translators Preface THus far hath the Authour pleaded for him selfe whom while I Translate least the fault be translated vpon me I will speake somewhat for my selfe before I be accused least
before the fourth moneth the veines of her thighes and groine are bigger and more knottie on the left side then on the right An honest Gentlewoman assured me that she had made triall of this receipt which is to take an equall quantitie of Claret wine and of vrine made in the morning put them together into a glasse and let them stand a whole day if there appeare in the bottome a grosse cloud thicke like to Beane-broth it is a signe the woman is with child of a boy if it appeare in the middest it is signe of a wench if there be nothing found in the bottome but the ordinary residence of vrine it shewes she is not with child at all An experiment likewise may be made out of the practise of Liuia the Mother of the Emperour Tiberius who being with child and desirous to know with what she went tooke an egge from vnder a Henne that sate and kept it warme so long in her hands till at last a Cock-Chicken was hatched out of it whereby she knew that she should haue a sonne which proued to be Tyberius the Emperour as Suetonius reporteth Heere will it not be beside our purpose to set downe what Hippocrates writes in his booke de superfaetatione of the meanes how to get a man or woman-child He that wil saith he beget a sonne must know his wife as soone as her courses are stayed and then try the vtmost of his strength but if he desire to get a daughter then must he companie with his wife a good while after her courses or at that time when she hath them and beside he must tye his right stone as hard as he can endure it and when he would haue a sonne he must tye the left But Aristotle seemes wrongfully to blame his worthie man when he sayth that the generation of Males or Females depends of the strength of the seed and not of the stones the vse whereof he saith is not for generation But experience teacheth vs the contrary for the countreymen when they would haue a Bull beget a Cow-Calfe or a Bull-Calfe they tye the right stone for the one and the left for the other The signes whereby to know that a woman goeth with two children CHAP. III. THe signes that a woman hath conceiued two children doe seldome appeare before the third or fourth moneth which then is knowne both by the mouing of the children and also by the greatnes and swelling of the womans belly As for the motion if it be felt strong and forceable both on the right and the left side at the same instant then it is apparent that there be two children Likewise for the greatnes of her belly if it appeare more swollen and bigger then in her other child-bearing if the sides be higher then the middle of her belly and from the nauell downeward there appeare as it were a line or separation betweene both sides creasted if the woman beare her burthen with difficultie and her belly fall vpon her thighes and hips then may you safely say that she goeth with two children Of false Conception CHAP. IIII. WOmen are oftentimes deceiued in reckoning themselues with child for they thinke themselues with child when it is nothing but the stopping of their naturall sicknesse which keepeth not due course Some haue a false conception which is as it were the beginning of Mola Others haue the Mola it selfe which we commonly call the Moone-calfe False conception is a lump of flesh gathered together commonly like to the gizard of a fowle which is bigger or lesser according to the continuance of it which nature commonly expelleth in the second third or fourth month But the Mola is farre bigger and continues a yeare or two yea ten or twelue and sometime as long as the woman liues Of this Mola there be two kinds the one may be called a true the other a false one The true Mola is fleshy being nothing else but an vnprofitable masse without shape or forme hard and firme bred within the Matrice and cleauing to the sides thereof The false Mola is of three sorts the one windy being a collection of grosse winds the second watrish or a heaping together of waters the third humorall or a meeting of many humors All three contained within the capacitie of the womb which doth make them differ from the swelling hardnes or Scyrehus of the said wombe or from any flesh water or humor which may chance to cleaue to or touch the outward part thereof These are often bred together with the child but then they cause death either for that the child is deceiued of his nourishment which is carried to the Mola or because he wanting roome cannot grow and come to perfection Hippocrates saith that there be some liuing and some dead Moles The dead are like to the false burthens so called because women carry them not long as being but lightly tyed and fastned to the sides of the Matrice Sometime they are deuided into diuers seuerall pieces so that Nicholas Nicolus saith he saw a woman which cast forth nine of them in one day the least whereof waighed foure pound The quicke and liuing Moles are they which wholy cleaue to the wombe and continue with the woman euen to her death The cause of the fleshy Mole according to the ancient writers cannot wholly proceede from the woman but the man must adde somewhat thereunto Galen holdeth that it is bred when the mans seed is weake barren imperfect or in little quantitie and for the most part choked through the abundance of the menstruous bloud which is grosse and thicke vnfit for the framing of a child so that in stead thereof is bread a lumpe of flesh that by little and little increaseth being wrapped in his owne membrane which nature effecteth as desirous to bring forth any thing rather then to be idle The windie Mole is ingendred through want of heate in the Matrice and other parts adioyning as the Liuer and Spleene whereby much wind is bred and shut vp in the emptinesse of the wombe It may also come from without as in women newly deliuered and in such which hauing had their naturall courses in great abundance doe venture too soone into the cold aire The watry Mole proceeds from the abundance of watrie showres which is sent from the Liuer or the Spleene or other parts thereabouts or else through the weakenes of the Matrice which cannot assimilate the bloud that is brought to nourish it part whereof is turned into water and being not voided stayeth in the wombe The humorall Mole is bred by reason of too much moisture as of serious or whayish humors of the whites or watrish euacuations which come downe through the vessels of the Matrice and are stayed in the concauitie thereof False conception hath some common signes with the true as suppression of the naturall courses depraued appetite distastfulnesse vomiting swelling
tongue wetted This accident is verie hard yea euen vnsupportable to endure the sicke party taking no other delight but in drinking and that often and in great draughts Men are more subiect to this drougth then women Contrariwise Women and chiefly those with child such as haue not their Courses or Wenches that are subiect to the Greene sicknesse are more troubled with this depraued or immoderate appetite called Malacia or Pica hauing this name giuen it either because Pyes are troubled with this disease or else for that their feathers be of diuers colours blacke and white according to the varietie of things which Women long after This sicknesse hapneth when they desire to eate or drinke things that are wholie contrarie to Nature as eating of raw or burnt flesh yea euen to long after Mans flesh Ashes Coles old Shoes Chalke Waxe Nutshels Morter and Lime as Fernelius witnesseth of a man who being a long time desirous to eat vnslak't lime at last deuoured thereof the bignesse of ones fist which helpt him without doing him any harme either in the stomacke or guts Notwithstanding not long since the daughter of M. Forges died with eating the plastering of wals Sometimes custome which is a second Nature makes vs couet to eat such contrarie things as we desire and the rather because we haue commonly eaten thereof in our youth There is found the contrarie hereof in some who abhor and loath good meates which is imputed to the Idiosyncrasie or particular constitution of the person Others haue obserued that there are such malignant humours sometimes bred in vs that they are turned into poison and make both these depraued appetites As it is seen by poisons taken inwardly and applied outwardly which make the like effect The biting of the serpent Dipsas doth testifie the same which breedeth an intollerable and vnquenchable thirst in him that hath been wounded by it Now therefore leauing all these kinds of vitiated and depraued Appetites we will onely speake of that wherewith great-bellied Women are troubled which is called Pica Some impute the cause of this sicknesse to certaine Crudities and ill humours which are contained in the whole habite of the bodie and imparted to the mouth or orifice of the stomacke But the soundest opinion is that the sides and tunicles of the stomacke and orifice thereof are infected and stuffed with diuers excrements and ill humours and according to the qualitie they haue the Woman with child longeth after the like As if Melancholie abound not burn't or adust she longeth after sharpe things as Vineger Citrons and Orenges if the Melancholie be adust shee desireth Coles Ashes and Plastering if the humour be salt she coueteth salt meates and so of the rest And surely it often happens that they long for the like things as are in their stomackes This maligne and bad humour is ingendred as we haue said through the retention of the naturall Courses in women with Child which flow backe into the stomacke In some it beginneth the first weeks yea the verie first day in others the thirtieth or fortieth day and continues euen till the fourth moneth and then ceaseth which commeth so to passe because the Child is growen bigger and hauing need of more Nourishment draw's to him a greater quantitie of bloud the which he consumes and so by consequent it returnes backe no more into the stomacke Besides also this humour hath been much spent and voided by the often vomitings which Women haue during the first moneths And also because the Childs haire is bred and grown great which some hold to be partly a cause of this sicknesse Plinie writes That women with Child feel themselues worse when their Childs haire begins to come and chiefly about the new of the Moone Now that we may preserue them from this infirmitie or at least diminish it as much as may bee she must chiefely vse meats that breed good iuice and that in little quantitie increasing it neuerthelesse as her bignesse augmenteth and the childe groweth which at length waxing stronger and greater will consume part of this great quantitie of bloud and the rest may bee put into the membranes which wrap and infold the childe and to the masse of bloud which is called the after-burthen which is as it were the liuer of the Matrice Now concerning their meat and drinke Considering that they that are sicke of this disease and so infinitely distasted that often times they doe euen loath and abhorre good meats therefore wee must set an edge as it were on their appetite varying their meats in as many fashions as may be possible thereby to make them the more pleasing and desireable Oliues and Capers as likewise sallades a little parboiled are very good for them All meats that are either too fat or too sweet bee naught because they stirre vp a desire of vomiting For their sauces they may vse Veriuice Orringes Citrons Pomegranats and good Rose viniger all very moderately taken Auicen commendeth tosted cheese and Amylum dried which Aetius and Oribasius doe allow and especially to those that desire to eat earth and plastering of walles or the like Paulus Aegineta allowes them the vse of mustard pepper and cloues to make sauce thereof for the stirring vp of their appetite and to helpe to digest the crudities contained within the stomacke after meales she may eat bak't quinces and rosted filberds For her drinke she must vse good clarret wine well allaied but if shee long for white you may giue her leaue to drinke some so that it haue a little astriction True it is that the ouer great quantitie of drinke is hurtfull for her by reason of the great washing which it might make in her stomacke shee may take euery morning a draught of Wormewood-wine or a little strong Hydromel with a tost of bread The vse of these Lozenges is much commended â„ž Amyl puriss sic Ê’ j Caryoph Nucis mosch ana ℈ s Spec diarhod abbat ℈ j. Sacchar in aq Rosar Absynth dissolut â„¥ ij fiant tabellae ponder is Ê’ j. Capiat vnam singulis auroris superbibat tantillum vini The Ancients as Paulus and Oribasius exceedingly commend the decoction of Polypody and Annis-seed with suger of Roses They may vse gentle fomentations to their stomackes made of Wormewood Balaustia Cumin Cytisus and Fennill-seed wherewith likewise may be made Cataplasmes for the same vse For these medicines will comfort and strengthen the concoctiue facultie of the stomacke the better to digest the meat the retentiue to retaine and keepe that it hath receiued the expulsiue to thrust that foorth which troubleth the stomacke and the appetite to couet and long for meat This ointment is also very fit and profitable Liniment â„ž Ol. Nardin Cydâ—nior ana â„¥ s Pul. Caryoph Maslich an ℈ j. Croci gr iij. Cerae parum fiat litus pro stomacho praemisso fotu As also this that
purgations with Diagredium or Coloquint and also from such as do much soften and moisten as Cassia Electuar Lenitiuum and the like because through their moisture they relaxe the stomacke and so consequently all the meanes which haue correspondence and traficke with the Matrice for the similitude of their neruous substance Their purges therefore must be of Rubart infusion and also in substance of the compound syrup of Cichory with Rubarbe which besides that they euacuate doe likewise coroborate and strengthen as also of the Syrup of Damaske Roses Maâ—na and other which with drawing away the water doe dry withall But aboue all pills are very fit for them because they dry both for their forme and also for the drying ingredients whereof they are compounded as those of Rubarb and Sene made with a little conserue of roses adding thereto if there be any suspition of some maligne or bad quality a little of the confection of Hyacinthvs This rule must be obserued in the purging of women with child and hereof must be had the counsel of the learned Phisitian If some maligne vapour be the cause they must vse cordials as a little confection of Hyacinthe the electuary of Gemmis these cordiall Lozenges or the like Cordiall Lorenges â„ž Corali vtriusque Ê’ s. lapid bezoard rasura vnic an ℈ s. pulu electuar diarrh abbat ℈ i. confect de Hiacintho Ê’ s. saccar cum aqua card bened dissol â„¥ ij fiant tabellae ponder Ê’ i. capiat singulis dicbus vnam mane alteram à prandio longe à pastu While they shall vse the aforesaid remedies it will be very necessarie to comfort the stomacke as also if the vomiting proceed through some weakenesse the stomacke not being able to retaine and hold the meate the fore mentioned Lozenges are very good as also Lozenges of Diarrhodon if they should prooue distasteful let them vse Codigniack or some Citron pill condited They may likewise take some digestiue powder after meales Let there be prouided some such fomentation for their stomacke as this Fomentation â„ž Mentae Ab sinthij rosar rub an m. s balaust Ê’ ij gariophilor santalor an Ê’ s. carnis cidoniorum â„¥ i. corticis citri Ê’ i. fiat decoct in vino austero profotu Then let them haue this ointment Liniment â„ž Olei mastich cidonior an â„¥ s. olei de absinthio Ê’ ij pulueris coralli rub gariophil an ℈ i. croci parum fiat litus admoueatur praemisso fotu This Emplaster is very fit which must be applied after the ointment and remain there a good space â„ž crustae panis assati â„¥ iiij macerent in vino rubro succo cidonior pul rosar rub absinthij an Ê’ i. ligni aloes gariophilor an Ê’ s. pul coralli rubri ℈ iiij olei de absinthio â„¥ i. fiat cataplasma If all these forenamed medicines helpe not the patient Master Mercator doth set downe a remedy very easie to be practised and of incredible vertue as he saith which cannot bring hauing often tried it any danger nor cause the woman to be deliuered out of her time which is to let her blood in the Saluatella of the right hand CHAP. X. Of the paine of the sto acke stancks and belly which happens to a woman with child THere is great store of grosse winds bred not onely in the stomacke and guts but also about the Liuer Spleene Mesenterium and Nauell by meanes of a weake and feeble heat which is not able wholly to consume and scatter them from whence proceedeth a great distention of the belly and other parts neere and chiefly about the Nauell which in some oftentimes stands out and is as big as a goose egge The which winds being thus inclosed and not hauing free passage cause such intollerable paine that euen the breathing is thereby hindred and the pulse almost lost which at length might cause the woman to be deliuered Sometime also the wind is shut vp within the womb for I haue knowen some women that haue voided them with such a sound noise as though it had bene by the fondament and this must be remedied after this sort First shee must shunne all manner of moist and windy meats liue after the order before prescribed If it bee needfull to purge her let it be done as is already set down Then let there be applied some dry fomentations to the place affected as this Quilt â„ž flor camo anethi an m. ij rosar rub p. ij se minis annisi foenicul an Ê’ ij baccar lauri Ê’ i. fiat omnium puluis grossus de quibus fi aut sacculi duo irrorati cum vino rub tepide admoueantur parti affectae The same quilts may be boyled in wine and fomitations made of the said wine with soft spunges But you must obserue that the too long vse of moist fomentations oyles and fats is forbidden women with child for feare least by too much moisture and oylinesse the ligaments and vessels of the matrice bee made too loose and soft which at length may cause the woman to abort Apply vnto her belly and to me parts pained in forme of a Pultesse this that followeth Pultesse â„ž Vitell. ouorum n. iiij puluis anisi foeniculi dulcis an Ê’ s. pul absinthii Ê’ s. cum oleo anethino camomil q. s fiat fricatum Let them chaw Fennil or Anniseed or a little Cinamon and take a tost dipt in Hippocras Some haue tolde mee that the distilled water of Citron Pills drunke is very singular good And it will not be amisse sometimes to take a spoonfull or two of this water A Claret water â„ž Aquae vitae â„¥ s. cinamo Ê’ i. macerent spatio xiiij hor. deinde affunde aque rosar â„¥ iii. saccari candi â„¥ s. fiat aqua clareta capiat coclear vnum If ye perceiue that shee is much troubled with paine you may giue her a Clister as this A Glister â„ž Folior maluae matrica an m. i. flor camom meliloti et summitat aneti an M. ss seminis anisi foenic. an Ê’ iii. bulliant in iure capit veruec vel vituli de quo accipe quart iij. in quibus dissolue Ol. Aneth Chamamel an â„¥ ij Sachar eub. â„¥ j. s Butyr recent â„¥ j. Vitell. duor ouor fiat Clyster Neuerthelesse I am of opinion if it may be done possibly that they should abstaine from Clysters because I haue seene women sometimes through as small a Clyster as this fall into great torments yea and euen into throwes nature being thereto prepared and ready which turned to the Chirurgions disgrace Wherefore let her vse these Lozenges following Lozenges â„ž sem Anis foenic. dulc an Ê’ s nucis Mosch ℈ j. spec Diacumin Diarrhod Abbat ana ℈ s sacchar in aq Cinamon dissolut â„¥ ij fiant tabulae capiat vnam singulis auroris She may vse Sugar of Roses which to euery ounce hath two or three drops of the oile
in wine or Hippocras Cinamon water also that is well made and not too strong is very fit and good And if the feare of the paine doth hinder the deliuery then the woman must be incouraged telling her that shee shall bee quickly freed from this sicknesse and that it is common vnto all women to haue such paines cherishing her with good hopes assuring her that her trauaile will bee very easie and promising her that she shall haue either a sonne or a daughter according as you know she desires as we haue said before flattering and soothing her as much as you can without chiding or giuing her any crosse speeches at all The most grieuous and troublesome accident which a Woman can haue that is in trauaile is when there happens vnto her any fluxe of bloud or Convulsions for either of them kill both the Mother and the child instantly especially if the fluxe of bloud continue long because through the great losse of bloud which is the liues treasure the spirits and heate are dissolued And concerning Convulsions they are very dangerous because the braine beeing hurt it cannot affoord such store of spirits as are needfull for the respiration of the Mother and the child who breath 's onely by meanes of the spirits that are imparted vnto him by the Arteryes of his mother which causeth him to bee choked and stifled Besides the great convulsion makes the Midrife and the muscles of the vpper belly moue so violently that the child is much shaken and puts both him and his mother in danger to be stifled and die Eyther of these accidents happening or else both together the mother and the child must bee succoured without any delay which shall bee done to speake in a word by deliuering her And this ought to be done either by the helpe of a Chirurgian or else of a very skilfull Midwife Hippocrates well obserued it when he saith If in a difficult trauaile there happen a great fluxe of bloud without any paine before the trauaile then is there danger lest the child come forth dead or that he will not liue and therefore she must bee sodainely deliuered the which wee haue oftentimes seene to our great griefe happen vnto diuers women that haue died through the obstinasy of their friends and kinsfolks yea and some also through their Phisitians and Chirurgians feare who delayed the time thinking and hoping that the fluxe would stay telling them that the child came naturally being well placed with his head forward and that the mother should bee deliuered euen of her selfe I know there be many both Phisitians and Chirurgians that will appoint diuers inward and outward medicines yea to make reuulsion and altar the course of bloud will cause a vaine to bee opened in the arme once or twice rather then consent to this practize But yet of all their medicines I could neuer see any that did good but that in the end they were constrained to vse the hand the which I counsell to be done speedily and chieflie if the mother be at her full time and ready to lye downe which may be both knowne of the woman and also perceiued by the throwes shee hath or which went before as also by the dilatation of of the inner orifice of the wombe which will be open and likewise feeling with the finger that the waters are gathered and ready to come and issue forth And when the water shall bee broken and come away then so much the rather must the child be taken out though the woman haue not gone aboue foure fiue sixe seuen or eight moneths And ye must note that if the said water be not broken and that the fluxe of bloud bee very great then you shall let forth the water by dilating and stretching gently the inner orifice of the womb thereby to draw forth the child as we will shew heereafter But because many women are subiect to a fluxe of bloud in their fourth fifth sixth seuenth or eighth moneth of child-bearing being not as yet ready to bee deliuered therefore the Chirurgion must obserue from what place this bloud is sent the which may be from the entrance or Vagina of the wombe and not from within the body thereof where the child is contained and inclosed which may bee easily perceiued if the woman haue no throwes or if the inner orifice of her wombe be not open but close shut then there is no likelihood of any deliuery towards for bloud may issue and come from the said outward necke or Vagina both in maide and woman with child If it bee so then it will not be needful to meddle with such women or to force them at all but onely you must proceed to medicines that shall stay the said fluxe of bloud As wee will shew in the chapter of the after purgings that flow immoderately in women newly deliuered It may also happen because the woman is plethoricall and full of bloud In this case we must follow the opinion of Hippocrates who saith that if a woman that is in trauaile cannot be deliuered and that her paines continue many daies if shee bee young lusty and full of bloud you may let her bleed in the foot if her strength will beare it But if she be troubled with any vlcer tumor excrescence of flesh Hemorrhoides inflammation chapps or the like which may chance in the necke of the wombe then shall she be handled as we will shew in their proper places All the which indispositions may make the deliuery difficult and cause that the parts cannot be dilated according as it is sit and necessary for the childs comming forth For remedying the deliuery that is too soone or too late we must haue regard vnto the cause and according thereto it must bee cured and chiefly that which shall concerne the mother whereof we will treat when we come to speake of the Abortment it being my purpose in this place to speake onely of those things which are fit and ought to bee done in the time and at the houre of the deliuerie Now for the comforting of a woman and easing of her trauaile when the difficulty doth proceede from the child as when he is weake tender sickly or dead as likewise if he be too big or a monster hauing two heads or if he be ill turned and that he offer himselfe amisse then the Chirurgion in this case shall helpe and set to his hand in this manner First if it be through the weakenesse or tendernesse of the child being sicke the Chirurgion must not delay one minute of time to hasten the deliuery and he must incourage the woman to doe the like If the head come first then shall hee proceed therein gently as in the naturall deliuery applying beneath and chiefly about the fundament and os Pubis which are the two vtmost parts of the naturall passage some ointments with the fingers ends
hauing his nayles pared very close For this annointing wil prouoke and stirre vp the Matrice to thrust out the child The oyntment is this Ointment ℞ Axung Anser Gallin saepius in aq Arthem lot an ℥ is Axung porcirecent ℥ i. Butiri recent ℥ ij Mucilag sem Lini Cydonior in aq Sabinae vel Artemis extract an ʒ vi Ol. de Castor ℥ i. Galliae moschat ʒ i. Ladani ʒ is Libethi ʒ s. misce omnia simul pro litu He for his part must incourage the mother giuing her a little Confectio Alkermes and likewise let her take this Clyster ℞ Bismal cum Radic Matricar Mercur. an m. i. aristoloch nostrat Dictamni Arthemis an m. s. Flo. Lauandul p. s. sem Lini foenugraec an ℥ s. fol. senae mundat ʒ vi fiat omnium decoctio de qua cape quart iij. in quibus dissolue Diophoenic Hierae simplic an ʒ iij. Ol. Rutac Cheyrin an ℥ ij fiat Clyster Shee may also take this drinke which I haue knowne to doe good to many A Drinke ℞ Corr. Cass fistul contus ℥ s. Cicer. rub m. s. Dictum Aristoloch rotund an ʒ j. fol. senae mundat Hermodactyl an ʒ ij fl Lauandulae ʒ s. fi Decoctio in aqua Arthemis Petroselini ad ℥ iij. in quibus dissolue Cinamomi ʒ i. Croci gr vi fiat Potio this potion is to bee giuen in extremitie Amatus Lusitanus doth much commend this medicine ℞ Cinamoni Troch è Myrrha an ʒ s. Croci ℈ s. excipiatur cum vino generoso Roddeletius doth praise this ℞ Sem. Lauandul ʒ ij Sem. Endiu Plantag an ℈ ij Piperis ℈ i. fiat puluis Aq. Caprifol Endiuiae an ℥ ij fiat Potus Another L'obolius approueth this drinke and saith that it will euen expell and bring forth the dead child Lobel ℞ Confect Alkerm sem Lauandul Endiu Plantag an ℈ ij Troch de Myrrha Borac. an ℈ s. Castor ℈ i. Aq. Arthemis Buglos vini albi an ℥ ij fiat potus Another ℞ Borac. ʒ i.s. Cinamoni ℈ ij Crocig r. iij. fiat puluis cum aq Arthemis ℥ vi fiat potus Of diuers deliueries wherein the operation of the hand is vsed And first what the Chirurgion ought to consider before hee sets to his hand CHAP. X. WHen the Chirurgion shall bee called to deliuer a woman that is in trauaile and cannot bee deliuered naturally before he venter to doe any thing he must consider two things the first is to know whether the mother haue strength enough to endure the violence of Manuall operation and hauing found that she is able he must then search whether the child be dead or aliue for sometimes the child is taken dead and sometimes aliue out of the mothers wombe Now as concerning the Mother First the Chirurgion must behold her face heare her speake obserue her doings countenance behauiour then presently must he feele her pulse which if he find to be equall strong not intermitting and that she bee not much changed from her wonted disposition and likewise if the poore woman her friends and kinsfolkes doe intreate him to helpe her assuring him that she will courageously endure all that he shall doe vnto her then following the aduise of her kinsfolkes and friends he must go about it foretelling them neuerthelesse that this kind of practise is very dangerous and that the mother venters her life seeing that the child is either dead or else likely to die if he be not already But if the Chirurgion find that her face and speach is decayed and weakned her countenance changed her pulse small frequent sometime intermitting and formicant and that shee hath often swounings Convulsions and cold sweats then hee must forbeare for feare least hee be blamed and thereby discredit those meanes which should haue profited and may also doe good vnto others Now you may know by these signes whether the child be aliue or dead If the child stirre it is a signe he is aliue which the Mother may coniecture and also the Chirurgion by laying his hand vpon her belly And for the better assurance heereof hee must slide vp his hand into the Womans Matrice and search for the childs Nauell If in holding it betweene his fingers he feele a beating of the Arteries as also if by laying his hand vpon the childs temples or else handling the wrist or sole of his foot he find that the Arteries doe beate and likewise if in putting his finger into the childs mouth he perceiue that he either sucke or wag his tongue it is a signe that he is aliue Contrariwise if the foresaid things doe not concurre and that the mother feele a heauinesse and that in turning of her selfe whether it bee on the right side or the left the child doth fall like a boule if her belly be cold and that there comes an ill sent from her if her breath smell strong and her countenance look wanne and of the colour of lead and that the childs Nauell or after birth offer it selfe formost besides if the chirurgion putting his hand vp findes the child to be cold without pulse neither sucking nor mouing his tongue then I say it may be iudged that the child is dead But as the child may offer himselfe being dead in diuers positions or fashion So likewise must we vse diuers considerations and meanes to draw him forth as wee will more particularly shew heereafter The meanes to helpe a woman in trauaile hauing withall a fluxe of bloud or Convulsions CHAP. XI WE haue shew'd you before that a woman being in trauaile and hauing either a fluxe of bloud or Convulsions she must be speedily helped because the deferring or delay thereof will endanger her life Wherefore you must proceed heerein after this manner And since that in euery deliuery the situation is a matter of great consequence to make it the more facile and easy therefore you must begin in this sort First the woman must be laid ouerthwart a bed both for the better conueniencie of the Chirurgion or Midwife that shall deliuer her and also that she may be held and stayed behind the faster by some strong bodie so that she neither slip forward nor backward in the operation or drawing forth of the child Likewise there must be one on each side of her to hold her knees and thighs firme and to keep them asunder one from another her knees must be bow'd and her heeles drawen vpward as we haue said before in the Naturall deliuerie her head must be laid vpon a boulster lying crosse the bed her backe being a little raised and her hips lifted somewhat higher with pillowes laid vnder them and her hinder parts must lie within halfe a foot of the beds side She must haue a linnen cloth three or foure times double laid vpon her stomacke and belly that may reach downe ouer her knees euen to the middest of the leg So that
neither wind nor cold may offend her nor any of the assistants see what the Chirurgion toucheth or doth and likewise that the woman be not afraid of him when he shall be about his businesse And therefore Hippocrates for this reason would haue the womans eyes shut or couer'd When the woman is thus placed the Chirurgion must put vp his hand being first annointed into the first entrance of the naturall parts that he may take foorth all the clots of bloud which he shall find there Then he must consider whether the inner necke be wide enough for him to thrust in his hand and to turne the childe if it be needfull Now if the inner necke be not sufficiently dilated then shall he as gently as possibly he can and without any violence hauing first annionted all the parts thereof with fresh Butter or some ointment stretch it by little and little till he get in his hand if the water be not broken he need not be afraid to let it out then presently if the child come with his head formost he shall turne him gently to find his feet which he may do more easily then if the waters had been let foorth before because that much moisture doth make the child slide and turne better then when he is drie And when he hath found one of his feet he must draw it gently without violence and tie about it a piece of riband with a sliding knot that he may put the foot in againe leauing the riband hanging out to make the more roome for his hand to goe in and search for the other foot which may be done by sliding his hand al along the childes thigh And hauing found them both he shall draw them out gently in a direct line giuing the woman a little breathing and bidding her to straine her selfe when she feeles any throwes or paines then the Chirurgion hauing in a readinesse a fine linnen cloth warme he must wrap it about the childes thighs for feare least he slip out of his hand if he tooke him naked and so pluck gently vntill his buttockes appeare and the body with the head doth follow obseruing neuerthelesse that his belly and breast be turned downeward as we will shew hereafter more particularly Experience will make it manifest vnto vs by the stories following how necessarie it is to deliuer a woman with child when a fluxe of bloud or conuulsions do continue and that she cannot be saued by ordinarie medicines The yeare 1599. Madam Simon yet aliue daughter to Mr. Pareus Counsellour and chiefe Chirurgion to the King being ready to lie downe was surprised with a great flux of bloud hauing about her Mad. la Charomie for her Midwife and likewise Mr. Hautin the Kings Phisition in ordinarie and Mr. Rigault Doctors of Phisicke in Paris and because of great swounings that tooke her euery quarter of an houre through the losse of bloud she had Master Marchant my son in law and my selfe were sent for But I finding her almost without pulse hauing her voice weake and her lips pale I told her mother and her husband that she was in great danger of her life and that there was but one way to saue her which was to deliuer her speedily the which I had seene practized by the late Mr. Pareus her Father who had caused me to do the like vnto a Gentlewoman of Mad. de Seneterre Then her mother and her husband earnestly intreated vs to helpe her and that they would put her into our hands to dispose of her And so sodainely following the aduise of the Phisitions she was very happily deliuered of a liuely child The yeare 1600. I was commanded to goe and visit a great Lady that was taken with a great and violent flux of bloud through a fright she had of a great thunder clap being come vnto her I found that her flux was much mitigated but she being constrained to goe twelue or fifteene leagues from Paris and fearing least that the said flux should continue she was brought thither by my sonne in law Mr. Marchant by water where she was no soner arriued but her flux of bloud tooke her againe which made him dislike it and iudge that it would proue ill contrarie to the opinion of Master de la Riuiere the Kings chiefe Phisition who was there at the same time Whereupon I was presently sent for in post together with Master Renard the Kings Phisition We being come thither found things in better estate and the said Master de la Riuiere tooke leaue to goe towards the King But on a sodaine the said flux began a fresh which made them send for Mr. Marescot and Mr Martin the kings Physitions who notwithstanding were not come before her deliuerie which the kinsfolks friends of the said Ladie and likewise Mr Renard Mr Marchant and my selfe were of opinion to hasten because of the great losse of bloud she had and the often swounning that tooke her but as soone as she was deliuered the flux of bloud ceased The yeare 1603 Madame Danzé or Chece being in trauaile was taken with the like flux of bloud which held her from morning till eight or nine of the clocke at night hauing with her the Queenes Midwife Mad. Boursiere Master le Fieure Riolan Le Moine regent Doctors in the facultie of Physicke at Paris and Mr de Sainct Germain master Apothecarie were called to looke vnto her and because she lost much bloud they called Mr Honoré the kings Chirurgion who being vnwilling to attempt any thing without my aduise I was likewise sent for And as soone as I was come my opinion with the rest of the companie was to deliuer her which was done by the said Honoré the child liuing Of late memorie Mad. Coulon being assisted in her trauaile by Mad. la Charonne a verie skilfull Midwife hauing a great flux of bloud after that Mr Martin Hautin Cornuty Pietre the kings Physitions and Doctors of Paris had giuen her many things for the staying of the said flux in the end for feare least by loosing her bloud she might also loose her life falling into a syncope with their aduise she was deliuered by the said Honoré and presently her flux was staied But as these women and children aforesaid haue been saued by being deliuered in time So likewise these following lost their liues because they were not succoured as Art and experience did require their kinsfolks and friends being vnwilling to haue any go about it in due time whereof these two histories may beare witnesse Mad. Vion being readie to be deliuer'd fell into a great flux of bloud and though some were of opinion to deliuer her without further delay yet this being deferred vpon the counsell of others who hop'd to stay the flux with ordinarie medicines they suffered her to loose her bloud by little and little and at last to loose her life The same chance hapned to Madame
Gasselin who not hauing help in time dyed euen as it was foretold it would come to passe hauing lost all her bloud before she would giue her consent to be deliuer'd which will be a good occasion to admonish a young Chirurgion neuer to defer this worke when he is called and sees a great euacuation of bloud It is now fiue and twentie yeares since I saw this practized by the late Mr Pareus and Mr Hubert of whom we are bound to acknowledge and willingly confesse that we haue learned both this and many other experiments Mad. de Mommor being about fiue and twentie yeares of age and neere her time of deliuerie one day found her selfe ill about foure or fiue a clocke in the morning neuerthelesse she rose and went to Church which was neere her house her paine by fits began againe and she fell into a continuall flux of bloud At three daies end she was deliuered with great ease without any help of the Midwife and presently after followed the after burthen Neuerthelesse she died the same day at night and was kept a prettie while by her friends who could not perswade themselues that she was dead At last being opened by Mr Pineau the kings sworne Chirurgion at Paris in the presence of Mr Faber and Mr Baillou regent Doctors of the facultie of Physicke at Paris her wombe was found broken and rent right in that place where the veine and arterie hypogastricke ascend toward the mid'st thereof which likewise were dissolued and gaue way to all that issue of bloud As for the convulsions which commonly happen through the childs great striuing when hee desires to come forth and not being turned aright doth so extend the womb that the said convulsions follow thereupon here it is to be feared least all within wil be torne and broken and therefore it is conuenient to deliuer the woman with all possible speed which hath beene practized both by my selfe and of late by Master Binet a sworn Chirurgion of Paris a man of great experience who being sent for by Doctor Bouuart to deliuer Opportune Guerreau the wife of Siluester the Printer which had beene in labour from eight a clock in the morning till nine at night and finding her pulse very weake and small as also the woman depriued of all sence and motion at the first he was somwhat fearefull But being intreated by her Husband and fearing least shee might either die suddenly or else fall into convulsions he putting his hand into her wombe found the childs head the water not being broke which he let out and presently deliuered her with much ease and shee is yet liuing Therefore wee need not expect till the said convulsions grow stronger for fear least the wombe be broken and torne through the great striuing of the child when hee is not able to come foorth as wee may plainely see by the stories following The yeare 1607. the said Master Binet was sent for together with de le Moine and Alton Master Barber Chirurgion at Paris to cut vp the dead body of Ione du Boys and hauing opened her nether belly found the child vpon the guts who had brused broken the wombe and passed quite through it there being store of bloud shed in the capacity of the said belly Master Pineau Guerin and Launay sworne Chirurgians of Paris can beare me witnesse that in opening a poore woman that died in the Hospitall of the Citty we found her child swimming among the guts in her belly the bottome of her Matrice being rent and torne The meanes to helpe a woman when her after-burthen comes for most CHAP. XII IF the after-burthen offer it selfe formost the most sure and ready way to helpe the Woman is to deliuer her speedily because most commonly there follows a continuall fluxe of bloud For that the orifices of the veines are opened which are spread in the sides of the wombe and there meet with the vessels of the afterburthen and when the Matrice doth strain and force it selfe to put forth the child then doth it thrust out both the bloud that is contained therin and that which is drawne thither either by any heat or paine Besides when the child is inclosed in the wombe and the orifice thereof stopt with the after-birth then hee cannot breath any longer by his Mothers Arteryes and so for want of helpe he will be quickly choked and euen swallowed vp in the bloud which is contained in the wombe and which issueth from the veynes that are open therein But before you attempt any thing these two points must be obserued First whether the after-burthen bee come foorth but a little or else very much if it bee but little when the mother is well placed it must be thrust and put backe againe with as much care as may possibly be And if the head of the child come first let it bee placed right in the passage thereby to helpe the naturall deliuery but if you find any difficulty or if you perceiue that the childs head cannot easily bee brought forward or that the child or his mother or both together bee weake foreseeing that the trauaile will bee long then without doubt the best and surest way is to search for the feete as we haue said and to plucke him forth gently by them The other point to bee obserued is that if the said after-birth be much come foorth and that it cannot bee put backe againe as well by reason of the bignes of it as also of the fluxe of bloud that commonly companies it and likewise if the child follow it close staying onely to come into the world then must the after-burthen be puld away quite and when it is come forth it must be laide aside without cutting of the string that cleaues vnto it For by the guiding of the said string you may easily find the child who whether hee bee aliue or dead must be drawn out by the legs with as much dexterity as may be And this must be done onely in great necessity that the child may bee quickly drawne forth as it may be easily iudged by the sentence of Hippocrates who saith that the after-burthen should come forth after the child for if it come first the child cannot liue because he takes his life from it as a plant doth from the earth Sometime it chaunceth that a part of the after-birth as also the membrane which containes the waters doe offer it selfe like a skin and comes forth sometimes the length of halfe a foote which happens to such women as haue the skin wherein the waters are contained swelling out to the bignes of ones fist and more which breaking foorth of themselues leaue the skinnne hanging forth and yet the child not following it which happening it must not be violently puld away because the afterburthen oftentimes is not wholly loosened from the sides of the wombe So that in drawing that you shall likewise
following First he shall giue these Pilles â„ž Myrrh Ê’ i. Rad. Aristol rotund Dictam an ℈ ij Castor assae foetid Croci an ℈ i. Gentian Ê’ s. cum succo sabinae Mercurial fiat Massa addendo Confect Al Kâ—rmes ℈ iiij capiat pro dosi Ê’ s. vel ℈ ij You may mingle with the saide Dose halfe a Dragme of Pilulae Cochiae to prouoke and stirre vp the expulsiue faculty of the belly so consequentlie that also of the wombe You must likewise prouoke her to sneese which may bee done according as Aëcius appointeth with Castoreum and Pepper made into powder you may also vse which is stronger â„ž Hellebor alb Ê’ s. piper albi nigri an ℈ i. Casto ℈ ij Cinamon Ê’ i. fiat omnium puluis subtilanijciantur aliquot grana in nares But ye must note that when her sneesing is readie to come shee must stop her nose and mouth with her hand that the breath in sneesing may not goe foorth all at once and that it may thrust the more violently downeward There must bee vsed also this fomentation and iniection to the Matrice An Iniection and fomentation for the wombe â„ž Quatuor Emoll Matricar an m. iiij flor Chamaemel Melilot an p.i. Sem. Lini foenugraec an â„¥ s. Bulliant iniure vituli vel Capi Colaturae adde Ol. Amygdal dul cheirini tertiam partem fiat iniectio Ex magnate fiat fotus cum spongia This fomentation and iniection hath power to heate and comfort the Matrice and also to make it more moist and fit to loosen the after-burthen At the same time you shall giue her this Clister A Clyster â„ž Rad. Lilior albor Bryon recent an â„¥ ij Maluae Bismal totius Caulium Matricar Mercur. an m. sem Lini foenugr an â„¥ s. flor Chamaem Melilot an m.i. fol. Senae Mund. â„¥ s. fiat decoct de qua cape quartar iij. in quibus dissolui Diaphoenic Hierae an Ê’ iij. Mell. Mercur. Ol. Lilior Aneth an â„¥ ij fiat Clyster You must also cause the Woman to smell vnto bad and stinking odors as old shoes and Partridge feathers burnt Assa faetida Rue Some after the child is borne haue the veynes of the Matrice so swolne that the after-birth cannot come foorth by reason of the bignes thereof and the narrownesse of the passage then it will bee good to let them bloud in the foote which is a medicine very often tried by Massaria a great practitioner and a professor at Padua as he writes in his booke of womens diseases If the after-burthen come not away withall the foresaid medicines then will it be necessary to suppurate and putrifye it which I haue seen somtimes come to passe But in the suppurating of it you must haue a care of two things the first is to strengthen the Woman and to preserue her from malignant vapors that may ascend and take hold of the principall parts as the Heart Braine and chiefly the stomacke vsing other medicines beside those that haue beene formerly set downe And therfore she must be comforted with these medicines â„ž Cons. Borag Buglos Rosar an â„¥ i. Cons. Anthos â„¥ s. Confect Alkerm de Hyacinth an Ê’ is spec laetificant Galen Ê’ s. cum syrup Conser Citri q. s. fiat opiata Let her take Lozenges of Diamargarit frigidum and likewise of Piachodon Abbatis She must also haue all kind of pleasant and sweet sauours to smell to which may recreate the spirits The second thing that the Chirurgion shall obserue is that in helping it to come to suppuration hee haue a care that there bee not bred too much corruption and therefore it will be fit to vse mundifying and cleansing iniections adding therby also medicines that will comfort the womb as those that are of a good smell A comforting and cleansing Iniection â„ž Maluae Parietar senecion Matricar Apij an m. i. Radic Lilior Bryon Cucumer agrest an â„¥ i. flor Chamaemel Melilot Hyperic Centaur Vtriusque an P. i. Aristol nostr Agrimon Veronic Herbae Robert Mercurial an m. i. s. sem foenugraec Cydon an â„¥ s. fiat decoctio ad lb ' i. s. in quibus dissolue Myrrh Aloes Ireos florent an â„¥ s. mellis Mercurial â„¥ iij. addendo Aq Rosar vini albi an â„¥ ij fiat Iniectio Hippocrates to this purpose writes a memorable story of a Carriers wife who had a peece of her after-birth left behind in the wombe that caused her to haue the Strangury which continued there euen till she was deliuered of an other child For at the end of foure months she conceiued again and bore her fruit to the full time which History hath imboldened me to relate this that follows Mary Beaurin yet liuing Wife vnto William Prat a Glasier dwelling in Saint Andrews street sent for me it is some sixe and twenty yeare since to shew me a tumor that came foorth of her Womb which was as bigge as ones fist and more and was like vnto a bladder as firme and hard as strong parchment full of cleare water wherein one might perceiue a pretty hardnesse the said tumor or bladder would slip vp easily when shee lay vpon her backe and lifted her thighs a little vpward crushing it a little with her hand as they commonly doe when they put backe a rupture which shee did in my presence and I demaunding of her how long this accident had troubled her she told mee it had beene so aboue two yeares and begun at the birth of her second child and yet notwithstanding shee said she had had a little young daughter about sixe Moneths since to which she then gaue sucke and that all the time that she went with child shee said this bladder fell not downe at all as it was wont before her last beeing with child I counselled her to call Mon. Paraeus the Kings chiefe Chirurgion and other Chirurgions to giue their iudgement what this bladder might be And perceiuing when they had handled it that it was without pain they were all of opinion after it was drawne foorth as farre as it could possibly to haue it tyed at the top and then to pierce it the which I did leauing the thred wherewith I tyed it somwhat long that thereby I might draw it foorth when I thought fit The incision being made there followed great store offaire and cleere water and presently we perceiued a little foeuus or Pantye child of a fingers bignesse somwhat firme and hard without any bad smell fastned by the Náuell which was as firme and big as a pretty string About sixe daies after with shaking the saide thred which had beene likewise gently stirred euery day from one side to the other he rest came foorth hauing applied in the meane time many mollifying iniections to the wombe for the loosning of it from the parts whereto it was fastned Iohn Schenekius in his obseruations among diuers other stories tells a very strange one of a Woman named Ludouica who
that onely which they call simple but also that which hath a contusion ioyned with it For in that great striuing and passing of the child many membranes are not onely bruised and hurt but also broken and torne as it hapneth in young women and in others that are farre in yeares and neuer had any child before Nay sometimes in these the passage of the Matrice and that of Anus are brought into one yea and some suffer great excoriations and hurts in those parts which beeing neglected in some haue come to putrifaction and Gangrenes And heere I must admonish women in childbed not to regard the words of their nurses or keepers which continually preach to them to make much of themselues saying that they had need to fil their bellies which haue been so much emptyed telling them how much bloud they haue lost and do daily loose and that at last they will grow so weake that they will not be able to helpe themselues But these are friuolous reasons for the greatest part of the bloud which a woman voideth then and all her month is but superfluous bloud and is good for nothing which hath beene kept in the body a long time euen the nine moneths that she hath gone with child it beeing now necessary for her health to haue it voided out of her Matrice that so her belly which is swolne and puft vp with the aboundance of bloud like a sponge that is full of water may be quitted discharged and returne to the naturall proportion and bignesse And therefore for their healths sake they must not feede so plentifully the first daies as the vulgar thinke that by this abstinence may hinder the Ague which may happen vnto them and likewise keepe downe the aboundance of bloud which would flow to their breasts and be conuerted into milke and by reason of the store there of grow clotty and curdle and in the end apostumate Wherefore the fiue first daies let her vse Broths panades new egges and gelly not glutting her selfe as commonly they doe either with flesh or Almonds In the morning let her take a supping or broth and so likewise at dinner with a couple of new laid egges and some panade and again at supper let her haue the like closing her stomacke with a little gelly but yet if she mean to nurse her child herselfe shee must feede more plentifully Let her drinke barley water wherein a little Cinamon and a few coriander seeds haue been boyled The great Ladies of Italy doe vse a water made of Capons which is this Take two Capons ready pul'd and dressed boyle them in an earthen pot with a sufficient quantity of faire water till they bee halfe sodden then take them foorth and cut them into small peeces to be vsed as followeth Take of Buglosse Borage and Balme of each two good handfuls whereof you must make a lay in a glasse Limbicke and vpon that another of the saide Capons flesh and so vppon that a lay of leafe gold with a dramme of the powder of pearle then poure in some of the broth on the top which you shall do vntill all be bestowed in the same manner This being done you must distill it in a double vessel or Balneo Mariae and draw a quart of water or thereabouts which must be reitterated so often till you thinke that you haue enough to serue the woman in child bed for tenne or twelue daies But this Curiosity is for Princesses and great Ladies The saide water must bee drawne sixe weeks or two moneths before it bee vsed and set in the sunne in sommer and ouer an ouen in winter to take away the rawnesse that remaines in it If the woman haue not an ague in my opinion she may drinke a little white or claret wine with twice as much boyled water But there bee some women that cannot endrue wine and therefore let them drink water and hony boiled together or else boiled water if they desire to drink in the day time between their meals or else in the night giue them a little syrop of Maiden haire with boiled water or any other syrop so it be not astringent because of their purgings When her paines the feare of the ague and the burning of her breasts bee past then may she feed more liberally and then she may eat at dinner a little meat with her broth as Capon Pullet Pigeon or a bit of Veale and at supper beside her broth a slise of Veale Mutton Chicken or any other good meate The eight day beeing past about which time commonly the wombe is well purged and cleansed it will not bee amisse to nourish her better giuing her more solide meat and in greater quantity that she may grow strong againe the sooner All the which time she must keepe her selfe very quiet not much mouing or stirring herselfe nor so much as once looking into the Aire Let her speake as little as may be and haue no noise made about her nor suffer her to be much visited but by her friends and kinsfolks excluding all such tatling Gossips as may tell her any thing to trouble her or make her sad Let her sleepe rather in the night then in the day time yet if she haue not rested in the night by reason of some paines then let her sleepe when soeuer it comes vpon her And because most women in that case are Costiue and cannot void their excrements therefore it will bee very fit to giue her some such gentle Glister A Clyster â„ž Fol. Malu Parietar Bismal totius an m. i. flor Chamemel Melilot an p. i. sem Anis foenicul an Ê’ ij Coquant in decoct Capitis veruec de quo accipe quart iij. in quibus dissol sacchar rub Mel. Mercurial an â„¥ ij Butyr recent â„¥ iij. fiat Clister You may also adde thereto sometimes an ounce of Diacatholicon If she dislike Clisters let her take a little broth or decoction of Sene. I am of opinion that the Athenian women while they were in Child-bed did take the broth of Cabbage or Coleworts rather to be loose bellied then to driue away witchcraft as Athenaeus would haue it For heretofore the Cabbage was Catoes Phisick and all his houshold And therefore when the Romanes banisht the Phisitions Cato saide that the Cabbage alone was Phisicke enough to cure all their diseases and besides hee made a little Commentary vpon that subiect Let her banish all griefe and heauinesse hauing regard only of her health and to be merry praising God for her deliuery What must be done to the Womans Breasts Belly and nether parts that is newly deliuered CHAP. II. NOW I haue set downe the manner of dyet a Woman in Child bedde should obserue it will not be amisse to shew what is fit to bee done vnto her before she sit vp or rise endeauouring heerein to bring all the parts of her body which haue beene strayned and as it were quite changed
as followeth Take a great tub or hogshed and fill it full of riuer water made somewhat hot adding thereto as much white Wine as you think fit wherein you shall stiepe the space of a day and a night of Fennill Marierom Mugwort Motherwort Penny-royall Agrimonie Chamamill and Meliot flowers of Rose leaues of each two handfuls put them into a strong linnen bag that is large enough quenching oftentimes in the said liquor a barre of Iron red hot Then ouer-night you shall take out three or foure kettels full of the said water and set them ouer the fire to seeth and then poure it into the tub againe and couer it close that it may keep in the heat all night and warme the tub then in the morning you must put in more hot water vntill you haue made the bath temperate which must be neither too hot nor too cold In the morning when the bath is thus prepared the woman shall go into it sitting vpon the bag of herbes aforesaid and stay there an howre or two without forcing her selfe and a little before her comming foorth let her take this Electuarie An Electuary â„ž Cons Bugloss Rosar an â„¥ ss cortic Citri condit Ê’ ij fiat Condium capiat vt dictum est Some women cannot away with this Electuarie but content themselues with a little Citron pill canded She may also sweat a little in her bed and then cause her selfe to bee gently rub'd with linnen cloths to take away any spots or staines that haue hapned vpon her skin in the time of her child-bed Her sweat being past and she somewhat cool'd her selfe in her bed then she must not eat any meat but such as is easie of digestion and that breeds good bloud Now this first Bath doth but only serue to prepare her for a Second which shall be made as followeth Take riuer water and quench in it hote Iron as you did in the former baths wherin you shall boile two great Bags which shall containe these Ingredients Second Bath for Summer â„ž Farin Orob Fabar. Lupinor an lb. ij Farin glandium lb. ss Rosar rub flor Chamaemil Melilot an pug iiij Alumin glacial Roch. crud an â„¥ iij. cortic Querc Nucum Cupress an â„¥ ij Balaust â„¥ j. Caryophyl Nucis Mosch an Ê’ vj. Granor. Tinctor â„¥ ij s. conquassantur omnia simul fiant sacculi cum panno lineo bulliant in aqua Balnei primi vt dictum est sit Balneum secundum This second Bath must be made as the first without being either too hot or too cold Wherein she shall stay an howre or two sitting vpon the bags and before her going foorth let her take the former Electuarie or a piece of Citron pill condited This Bath will serue for twice it being onely new heated againe In Winter time you shall make these Bath's Bath for wâ—â—ter â„ž Maioran Artemis Menth. Rorismar Heder terrest an M. iij. farin Hord. fabar Auenac Orobi Lupinor an lb. ij flor Rorismar Chamaemel Melilot Lauandul an M.i.s. Rosar rub m. ij Caryophil Nucis Mosch Cinamon Benzoin styrac calam an â„¥ i. Alumni lb. s. granor tinctor Balaust an â„¥ iij. omnia conquassentur fiant sacculi duo Coquantur in aqua Chalybeata in qua sape extinctum sit ferrum candens fiat Balneum vt praecedens In winter the woman in Child-bed shal vse this in stead of the former hauing washed her selfe in the first bath that was prescribed for summer and taking it her comming forth the electuary formerly set downe And besides while she is in the bath whether it bee in summer or winter it will be very fit and conuenient to rub all her body ouer with little bagges filled with Almonds beaten very small thereby to make her skinne smooth and slicke After she hath beene thus bathed she shall vse below such Fomentations as may close and strengthen those parts and bring them to their former state A fomentatioÌ„ for the lower parts â„ž Fol. Plantag Tapsi Barbat CeÌ„tinod Caudae equin an M.i. Fol. Cupres m.i.s. Rosar â—ub flor Chamaem Melilot an P.i. Balaust Sumach Nuc. Cupressi Gallar an â„¥ i. Maioran Thym. Puleg Origan an m.s. Alumin Ê’ vi fiat decoctio in aequis partibus vini austeri aquae Calibeatae profotu partium inferior When she hath done with the fomentation she must receiue beneath this perfume A perfume â„ž Benzoini styrac calam ligni Aloes an â„¥ s. Cortic citri Nuc. Cupressi Balaust an Ê’ iij. Nucis mosach Caryophil an Ê’ ij Carab Mastich an Ê’ i s. Rosa rub P.i. fiat omnium puluis excipiatur cum muccagine gummi tragacanthi fiant trochisci The Woman must sit in a hollow chaire that hath a hole in the bottom and vnderneath it a chasing dish of coles whereupon there shall bee put one or two of the said Trochiscks and so shee must receiue the fume thereof And because not onely the said parts doe continue limber and wrinkled but likewise the belly and breasts doe also remaine almost as big as they were before she was deliuered It will therfore not bee amisse to take some order that this exceeding greatnesse of her belly and breasts may bee diminished and they hardned withall endeuouring by all meanes to bring them againe to their naturall constitution And since that this swelling and puffing vp proceeds commonly from some humors or wind that is got in and gathered together in those parts hauing beene too much relaxed therefore it will bee very necessary before you apply any outward thing thereto that shee bee purged keeping a good diet and auoiding all meates that shall breed any ill humors or windines Which being done you may apply this that followeth â„ž Farin fabar Hord. lupinor an â„¥ ij farin Oryz. Glandium an â„¥ ij s. Coquantur perfectè in aequis partibus Aq. Mirtillor Caudae equin Centinod Plantag Rosar addendo Pul. Nuc. Cupres Balaust Mirtil. an â„¥ i. Pul. flor Camaemel melilot sem foenicul an â„¥ s. Sang. dracon Alumin an Ê’ ij Ol. Mirtillor vng Rosat Mes. an â„¥ iij. Mellis â„¥ i s. fiat Cataplasma ad formam pultis satis liquidae post coctionem poteris addere Albumina ouor Ventri applicentur mammis This Cataplasme must lye on xxiiij howers and then bee renewed In steed of a second Cataplasme you may vse this water A water for the brests c. â„ž Prunor. syluest Mespilor Cor. nor Nuc. Cupress Balaust Glandium cum suis cupulis si desint fructus sume cortices arborum an lb. s. flor Rosar syluest rubrar an â„¥ iiij Albumin duor ouor Aluminis Crud â„¥ ij Caryophil Nucis mosch an â„¥ s. BeÌ„zoini styrac Calamit an â„¥ i. Calam. Arom Frid. flor an Ê’ vi Macerentur omnia in lb. xij aquae fabrorum post infusionem 4. dierum ponantur omnia in Alembicum plumbeum fiat distillatio seruetur ad vsum In this water you shal dip and soak
linnen cloths or sponges and apply them warme either vpon the belly breasts or any other part which you would haue confirmed knit and drawne together And to make it the more astringent you must steepe therein for euery quart of liquor of Masticke sanguis Draconis and Bole Armoniacke poudered of each halfe an ounce setting it in the sunne in summer and ouer an ouen in the winter But it is not enough onely especially in great Ladies to make the foresaid parts firme and hard and keepe them from hanging and flagging down But it is also very fitting and likewise much required by them to haue their skin made faire smooth and delicate for which purpose this water is singular good A water to beautifie and adorne the skin c. â„ž Aq. Florum Bismal Maluae an lb. ij Aq. Rosar alb lb. iiij Limones duos remota cute exteriore minutim incisos Prunor. syluest immatur lib. i. pistentur Carnem vnius Caponis iuuenis abiectis ossibus intestinis minutim incisam Lact. Caprin lb. s Amygdal dulc mund â„¥ ij farinae Orob Lupinor an â„¥ s. Limaces rubros no. vj. Infunde omnia simul per duos dies deinde destillentur in Balneo Mariae With this water the foresaid parts must bee washed hauing first cleansed them with common water wherein there hath been some crums of breade steeped all night Another approued water Another wâ—ter â„ž Aq. Lilior alb Nympb an lb. iij. Lactis Caprin lb. s. Casei recenter facti sine sale lb. i. Limones exteriori cute remotâ incisos numero iiij Albumina ouor numero viii Boracis Ê’ iij. Caphurae Ê’ j. Talci subtiliter pul â„¥ i. Cerus â„¥ s. Columbor iuuen num ij Ol. Tartari â„¥ i s. misceantur omnia destillentur in Balneo Mariae Myrrhae as Master Le Bon writes who tells it for a great secret doth lessen and straighten the naturall parts when they haue beene ouer stretched without hurting the Matrice as also taketh away the wrinkles which happen either in the breasts or belly and doth confirme and knit those parts offending neither the pectorall nor naturall parts Sometimes there comes little spots and freckles in the said parts but oftener in the face for the taking away whereof this is an excellent medicine An ointmenâ— for spots â„ž Tartar vini albi calocinat â„¥ s Mastich Ê’ i s. Caphurae Ê’ i. incorporentur omnia simul cum oui albumine tange maculam tege panno lineo in eodem imbuto Of the accidents which happen to women newly deliuered And first of their after-throwes CHAP. III. WE haue hitherto treated of the ordering of a Woman in Child-bed as also of the time when she shall bee ready to walke abroade and bee churched But because there doe befall them many accidents in the time of their lying in I thought good to write thereof briefe-lie and to shew the meanes whereby they may be helped and cured And since that the chiefest symptome that happens vnto them and which comes soonest is the after-throws therefore I am determined to speake of them first As soone as a Woman is deliuered of her childe and after-birth for the most part she is taken with paines of her belly which oftentimes are so great and violent that she thinkes her very belly would bee rent and cut asunder in diuers places from whence the french word that signifieth these pains and torments was deriued The cause of these gripings or paines may bee threefold First either because the Matrice those parts thereabouts haue bene sore troubled through the deliuery by striuing to bee vnburthened and freed of the child or else because the bloud that runs and gathers it selfe to the Wombe being retained growes thicke and slimy that it cannot easily flow and so makes a distention of the Matrice it being not able to come away but in great clots and hard matter like vnto a false Conception and likewise when it is altogether retained and stopt it causes a great extension of the wombe Againe it is oftentimes so cleere thin and sharpe that it flowes aboue measure and through the acrimonie and biting thereof doth gripe and torment as it passeth along The third cause may proceed from the outward aire which is enter'd and got into the wombe at the comming foorth of the child and the after-birth Hippocrates hath obserued that women in this euacuation are troubled with gripings paines of their first childmore then of any after the reason is because their veines are not accustomed to disburthen themselues in this fort Experience neuerthelesse teacheth vs the contrarie for a woman commonly of her first child hath verie few of these paines and gripings and the more children she hath the more she is troubled with them The reason whereof seemes to bee this because the bloud which in youth is sweet and milde in processe of time gets a bitter salt and adust qualitie which passing through the veines procureth this paine For we find by experience that the flesh of beasts or fowle when they are old grow's vnpleasant as being hard and harsh to the tast But what euer the cause of these paines be we must seeke to asswage them and to free the woman from them aswell as we can If then these paines be small and that the after-purgings come moderately we may leaue the worke wholy to nature onely giuing the woman in child-bed the drinke we prescribed before of Oile of sweet Almonds or of Walnuts which of late hath been found by experience to be better then the Oile of Almonds so that the Nuts be sound and white not rancide and the oyle drawne without fire This Oyle is much commended for the gripings which comes by the acrimonie and sharpnesse of the bloud and in this case also some easie fomentations of warme Milke or fit vpon the belly and lower parts Fomentations also with Mallowes March Mallowes Parietarie Mugwort Camomile Melilot and Linseed boiled in Milke are verie profitable When these paines and pangs proceed of thicke slimy bloud which cannot easily flow or of windy matter which being shut vp cannot be discussed if the paine continue beside those aforesaid you may vse these remedies following A Drinke easie to be taken â„ž Rad. Petrosel â„¥ ss radic consolid Maior â„¥ iij. sem Anis Paenicul an Ê’ ss Bull. omnia simul in decocto vituli vel caponis q. s in quo dissolue croci gr iij. capiat mane tepide Or else she may vse this powder of which good proofe hath been made â„ž Nucleor Dactyl Amygdal nucleor Persicar an Ê’ ss Cinamom elect Ê’ i. sem Anis Ê’ ss nuc Mosch ℈ ij spec Diamarg calid ℈ j. fiat omniuÌ„ puluis capiat Ê’ j. cum vino vel cum aq Cardui Benedict vel brodio pulli vituli si sit suspicio febris Another â„ž Rad. Symph maior Amygdal dulc Nucleor Persicor an Ê’ j. Mandibul Lucij pissis
Hemorrhoides Another to be maâ—â— Take of the aforesaid wood-lice thirty Cheruil a little handfull boyle them in milke or oyle of Violets then beate them together and make thereof a kind of plaster at the last vse this fomentation Boyle White mullen Scrophularia and Cheruil together Take a pint of this decoction halfe a pint of red wine Common salt and white frankinsence of each halfe an ounce boyle them altogether againe till there bee but two third parts or there abouts left and so vse this decoction to the Hemorrhoides fomenting them with little soft spunges Whilest these medicines are vsed the belly must be kept loose either with Cassia or Manna or else with Clysters if the pipe will enter in easily that so the excrements may come foorth the more readily and may not burthen or molest the part with their hardnesse and waight It will be very conuenient also to let her take of the powder of white mullen in a little milke or else in Lozenges made with suger because of the conceit some haue that this herbe so taken takes away the Hemorrhoides Some prepare Pils of Bdellium Galbanum and the powder of white Mullen and hereof giue the weight of a french Crowne If the Hemorrhoides heale not for all these meanes I would giue counsell to open them with a Lancette thinking it better to lance and open them so to let out the bloud then to apply leeches vnto them because they sucke and bring downe as much bloud to the part as they empty and draw foorth And because these Hemorrhoides haue oftentimes a great hardnesse with them this plaster or Pultesse may be fitly applied A Pultesse â„ž Rad. Bismal Lilior an â„¥ i s. fol. Porri cum Bulb an m. i. flor Chamaemel Melilot an m. s. Coquantur omnia in lacte pistent passaturae adde Bdellij cum axungia Anser gallinae liquefacti an â„¥ i. fiat Cataplasma Another Take Bdellium melted dissolue it with goose grease ducks grease and oyle of Peach Cernels Oftentimes the Hemorrhoides by reason of their hardnesse cleaue and so come to vlcers and chaps Of the after-purgings which come downe too aboundantly in Women newlie deliuered CHAP. VII IT happens to Women newly deliuered that their after purgins somtimes come downe too immoderately other times that they are suddenly staide These two accidents are very troublesome and breede many inconueniences Hippocrates writes that both these bring many symptoms with them whiche Galen also witnesseth saying If the purgings flow in too great aboundance and aboue custome it brings women into diuers diseases as Cold Distemper Dropsy and Convulsions and if the same be stayed and do not flow at all then some inconuenience happens to the Matrice as inflammation Erysipelas scyrrhus and at last Cankers So that we may easily see how fit and necessary it is that these purgings or courses should come away moderately and in an indifferent quantity This the Chirurgion should know by obseruing the time and the quantity which is limited for them set downe in diuers places by the ancient writers And first for the continuance of time that these purgings should flow Hippocrates doth proportion the time in which a woman in child-bed should be purged according to the time wherein the child is shaped or formed which is 30. daies for a man-child and 42. at most for a woman child This time may bee also measured according to that ordinary time of purging that is omitted in the nine moneths she goes with child as the bloud should bee purged in euery one of these nine moneths as in euery one of them the space of three or foure daies which put together amount to twenty seuen or thirty sixe dayes so in recompense heerof when a woman is deliuered she must bee purged 27. or 36. daies It is written in Leuiticus that when a woman hath brought foorth a man child shee shall continue in the bloud of her purifying three and thirty dayes but if she beare a maid child then shee shall continue in the bloud of her purifying 66. dayes As for the quantity and proportion of these purgings Hippocrates is of opinion that the purgings which a woman should haue euery moneth should bee a pint and a halfe or thereabouts And in his booke de natura Pueri hee would haue a woman in childbed at the beginning should purge about thirteene or fourteen ounces or a pint and so the whole space of thirty daies for a man child and forty two daies for a maiden-childe euery day diminishing the quantity till it wholly leaue her As for the quality of these purgings if the bloud be red as in a beast new killed and doe presently congeale and thicken then it is a signe that shee is in good health and will continue so all the time of her lying in But when these purgings come in little quantity and of an ill colour and do not congeale suddenly it is a signe that the woman is not well nor will not finde her selfe so all her month as the foresaid Author well obserueth But it is not to bee expected that all women should haue their purgings in like quantity for wee must respect the habitude of the body the course of life the temperament other particular things which in diuers women are diuers Therefore Galen saith that these purgings continue long in women that haue thinne and subtill bloud Hippocrates saith that women that are of full bodies are purged more exactly and againe hee writes that women that are more in yeares commonly haue more of this euacuation then they that are younger There may be two causes assigned of this abundant euacuation the one outward as some fall blow or painefull trauaile which a woman may suffer either in bringing foorth her childe or the after-birth It may also arise from pasions of the mind or from the vnseasonable vse of bath's or from some other ill gouernement in her child-bed The inward causes may bee two either the strength and vigor of the mother which expelleth and putteth foorth so much bloud as is troublesome and burdensome vnto her and in this kind there is no great danger because she that is so strong to expell in this sort will be also able to retaine so much as will be conuenient and necessarie for her Or else contrariwise this may proceed from the weaknesse and faintnesse of the woman who is not able to retaine and keep that bloud which nature hath prouided for her and this hapneth chiefly when the orifices of the veines continue open after the deliuerie not being able as Hippocrates saith to shut and gather themselues together The other cause is referred to the bloud which offends either in quantitie or qualitie or both In respect of the quantitie those women haue store of these after-purgings which are full of bloud because the Liuer breeds more bloud then is necessarie which afterward is voided
then the woman dyes presently but if it be voided by the mouth or nose then she may escape The causes of this suppression are of two kinds either inward or outward The outward causes are sadnes griefe suddain apprehension of some ill newes feare frighting and such like passions of the mind Likewise cold which the woman hath taken which shutteth vp the veines of the Matrice a bad dyet and amongst other things drinking of colde and raw water which hath beene noted by Hippocrates to be very hurtfull vnto women with child Now concerning the inward causes the same Author writes that the vlcers which happen by reasen of a long and troublesome deliuery doe cause an inflammation and swelling which makes the side of the wombe come together and shuts vp the orifices of the veines thereof from whence proceedes suppression of the after-Purgins Likewise the ouer great quantity of thicke and grosse bloud may bee the cause as also the weakenesse of the Matrice the which because it hath beene sore wearied and troubled in the deliuery and thereby lost all strength is not able to disburden and free it selfe of the bloud whereof it is full Hippocrates also in the same place giues another cause which is when the mouth of the said womb is shrunke or turned awry or else because the sides of it are sunke downe shut together and inflammed For the Cure heereof shee must obserue an order of dyet which shall be moistning and opening Her meate and drinke must be such as we haue formerly prescribed for one newly deliuered Shee shall take operitiue Broths thereby to open the orifices of the veines which are much stopt and according to the cause so the remedies must be fitted as if it come by any sudden apprehension griefe or anger then must she be plasant and make her selfe as merry as she can If it proceed of any inflammation or heate that hath thickned the bloud then must she vse medicines that shal moderately cool moisten as Apozemes made with the leaues and rootes of Succory Burnet Endiue Agrimony Maydenhaire Couchgrasse or Gramen Hoppes rootes of Persely and Asparagus Violet flowers with the sirups of Maydenhaire and de quinq radicibus If it be needfull to attenuate and cut or to euacuate any grosse and clammy humors which shut vp the orifices of the veines it will not be amisse to vse this fomentation so that there be no great inflammation of the part A. somentatiō ℞ Malu Bismal Parietar Matricar an m. i. Abrotan Origan Aneth Calamint Artemis an m. s. Flor. sambuc Chamaemel Melilot an P. i. sem Linifoenugraec an ʒ ij fiant sacculi duo Coquantur in aq Communi addendo sub finem vini albi parum pro fotu Of the foresaide ingredients you may likewise prepare fumes halfe baths and also iniections for the Matrice If the said after-purgings are suppressed because the inner orifice of the matrice is closed or turned aside then will it be very necessary for the Chirurgion after he hath considered that there is neither paine nor distemperature to set it right againe by putting vp pessaryes which shal prouoke and bring downe the after purgings as this following A Pessary ℞ Cerae nouae ℥ iiij Mell. ℥ i. styrac liq ℥ s. Ol. muschell ʒ ij liquefiant omnia simul addendo Myrrh Aloes an ʒ is farin Lupinor ʒ vi auferendo ab igne impone telam ex Canabe de qua cooperiatur pessarium ad vsum You shall first frame a pessary and then it shall be couered with the said cloth or else dipped and couered with the said medicine You may also make little round bags of a fingers length in the forme of a pessary which you shall fill or stuffe with the herbe Mercury first brused or beaten and this may serue for a pessary this herb is very much commended If it be needful to haue the pessary stronger you may put thereto a little Mugword Sauine and Balme It will be very profitable to bind the thighs hard and to rub the legges and thighs especially on the inside all along the crurall veyne you may also apply great Cupping glasses in the saide places Let her legges and thighs be washed with that decoction which was set downe before for the fomentation The same decoction also may serue for Clysters dissoluing therein Hiera or Benedict Laxatiua and mel mercuriale But we must preferre before all these medicines that which is the most soueraigne which is letting of bloud in the foote out of the Saphena or in the Poplitica which is in the bending of the gartring place For by this meanes we shall manifestly meet with the cause of the sicknesse And heerein wee shall follow the example of Hippocrates who caused the woman seruant of Stymargus to be let bloud be cause her sicknesse or purgings were stayed after she was deliuered and by this meanes she was well discharged of them although before she had bene in great and generall Convulsions The same Author saith that a woman that hath these purgings staide must haue present helpe for feare least there happen some great inflammation to the part so that except she be presently let bloud she is in danger of death Her belly also must be kept loose by Clisters and if she can vomit easily she must be helped that way also Galen saith that hee hath brought downe these purgings in women that was pale leane and weak by letting her bloud in good quantity I haue not heere set downe any medicines to bee taken by the mouth because I haue written many of this kind in the Chapters going before wherein I haue treated of the meanes how to make the child or after-birth come foorth when they bee staide which medicines haue power also to prouoke the courses or after purgings Of the false Conception stayed and abiding in the woman after her deliuery CHAP. IX IT may happen to some women that after they haue been well deliuered of their children there may stay with them one or more false conception Some of these false conceptions sticke fast to the wombe some are vnfastned and loose If they be small they come foorth together with the purgings but if they be big they oftentimes stay and abide within And in this case the Chirurgion must be carefull for if they bee bigge and cleaue to the wombe they may bring much inconuenience to the woman by their long staying behind So then it will be necessary for him to know whether there be any of this kind and of what nature it is which he shal learne of the Mother by demanding of her how she found her selfe all the time shee went with child First then let him enquire of her whether she were very big at that time and if she had any hardnesse in any part of her belly whether shee hath beene vsed to any such accident with her other children for there are women which
let the waxe with which it is couered be compounded in this manner ℞ Cerae lib. ij Baccar Laur. Absynth Rosar rub an ʒ j. ss Nuc. Cupress Balaust an ʒ j. sang Dracon Mastich Myrrh an ℈ iiij liquefiant simul addendo vnguent Comitiss ℥ j. With this waxe thus prepared you may couer the pessaries made of Corke in the same fashion as is alreadie described Let the perfumes be made of the Ingredients aforesaid putting thereto a little Ladanum and Assa foetida because the Matrice flyeth from any thing that is of a bad sauour and let the woman receiue this fume beneath sitting in a chaire with a hole in it For moist suffumigations they shall be made thus The suffumigation ℞ Tapsi Barbat Centinod Absinth Matricar Consol vtriusque fol. Cupress an m. ij Baccar Laur. Nucum Cupress Balaustior an ℥ ß. semis Cortic quercus Pini Thuris an ʒ vj. Rosar rub p. ij fiat omnium decoctio in aequis partibus vini austeri aq fabrorum pro suffitu Hippocrates counsaileth to put heerein some things of an ill sauour as Assa foetida You may also iniect this decoction but then let it not be made altogether so astringent or else let this serue for an Iniection An Iniection ℞ Fol. Myrt Lentisc summitat rubi Bistort Pentaphil Plantag an m. j. Rosar rub Hyperic an p. j. cort Fraxin ℥ j. Rasur lign guaiac ℥ ß. semis fiat omnium decoctio in colaturâ ad lb. ij dissolue sirupi de Rosis siccis de Absynthi an ℥ ij fiat iniectio Hippocrates commendeth a fomentation made With a mans vrine and afterwards one made with the leaues of the Masticke tree Of an affect where the sides of the necke of the wombe are vnited and ioined together CHAP. XI THere is another troublesome accident which chanceth to some Women after their deliuery which is the vniting and sticking together of the necke of the wombe and this happens through hard trauaile which hath torne and excoriated the sides thereof or else by reason of some inflammation or vlcer which hath there hapned through some sharp and biting humor which hath corroded and exulcerated the said part which beeing neglected and ill cured the sides not being healed and scarred it happens that they are ioined and grow together and so be come one body Galen hath made mention of this accident and wee haue sometimes seene the experience of it As for the cure heereof the woman must be purged and let bloud then bathed for diuers daies together and the bath must bee made of emollient things likewise there must be many remollient fomentations vsed to her lower parts and after them diuers liniments such as we haue prescribed in diuers places when the parts are sufficiently softned then must you place the woman in the same manner as is described when shee is to bee deliuered then when you perceiue the smalnes and straightnesse of the passage you shall apply a Dilatory instrument made in the forme of a speculum Matricis and by little and little you shall dilate stretch the parts so ioyned together which will part and seuer one from another without any effusion of bloud And this haue I practised with good successe of late daies vpon a tenant of Madame Sacon as I haue declared before and this I did when she was ready to lye downe and yet no ill accident happened vpon it But if so be the callosity should be so hard as by continuance of time it may be that the said parts should grow together again and could not be softned then will it bee necessary first to make an incision that so it may bee dilated more easily And this hath Mons. Pineau and my selfe practised vpon a Gentlewoman as I haue more at large set down in my book of the nursing and gouernment of children in the Chapter of those that haue their naturall parts shut vp and without passage The rest of the cure must bee performed in that manner which I haue set downe in the place last cited and heerein must a speciall care be had that the parts ioyne not nor knit together again to preuent the which the woman shall weare a pessary continually vntill such time as the skarrebe perfectly growne and confirmed And to this purpose let the speculum Matricis be often vsed to inlarge the part For it is certaine that all such Membranes as haue beene ioyned and grown together when they are diuided and seuered doe hardly come to that length and bignesse that they were of at the first And this I haue often obserued and amongst other places in the mouth wherof Mons Pigray and Mons Pincau the Kings Chirurgions in ordinary sworn at Paris will bear me witnesse that I together with them cured an honest man who had one side of his checke grown fast to his iaw which made him that hee could not open his mouth nor speake plaine I cut and separated the membrane a good way which did knit and tye these parts together but while I went about to cicatrise both sides which I had deuided had I not had the greater care to haue hindered it the parts had grown together againe that I was constrained to make a new separation three diuers times FINIS THE NVRSING OF CHILDREN WHEREJN JS SET downe the ordering and gouermnent of them from their birth Together WITH THE MEANES TO helpe and free them from all such diseases as may happen vnto them WRITTEN IN FRENCH BY IAMES GVILLIMEAV the French Kings Chirurgion in Ordinary LONDON Printed by A. HATFIELD 1612. THE PREFACE TO Ladies wherein they are exhorted to nurse their Children themselues AVLVS Gellius in my opinion did not amisse in putting no difference betweene a woman that refuses to nurse her owne childe and one that kills her child as soone as shee hath conceiued that shee may not bee troubled with bearing it nine moneths in her wombe For why may not a woman with as good reason deny to nourish her child with her bloud in her wombe as to deny it her milke being borne since the milk is nothing else but bloud whitened beeing now brought to perfection and maturity But some will say that the child may bee deliuered to some other Woman to nurse it and that the Mother may haue an eye and care ouer it But Gentle Ladies here I desire you to consider with me the great inconueniences that may hence arise which though they bee infinite yet I will reduce them to foure heads 1. First there is danger least the child be changed and an other put in his place 2. Then that naturall affection which should be betwixt the mother and the child by this meanes is diminished 3. Thirdly it may be feared that some bad conditions or inclinations may be deriued from the Nurse into the child 4. And lastly the Nurse may communicate some imperfection of her body into the child 1. As for
take away such things as shall offend him playing with him kissing him dancing him gently in her armes and singing withall and she must likewise open him often to lay and keep him drie and cleane Of the conditions which are required in good Milke THe choise of good Milke is that it be of a middle substance that is to say such as shal be neither too watrish nor too thicke For that which is too watrish and thin may cause the child to haue a scowring and besides it yeeldeth no good nutriment And the Milke which is too thicke is easily crudled and not so soone digested and so causeth obstructions from whence the matter of the stone is bred As for the quantitie of Milke a Nurse should rather haue too much then too little because when there is but little it will be hard for the child to draw it when as if there be plentie it will come the easier and euen thrust out it selfe Moreouer if the child should sucke the breast drie then that which shall come in the roome of it cannot be well concocted so soone Besides if the child should chance to haue an Ague then would he sucke and consume a great deale Againe the Nurse besides a sufficient quantitie for the nourisâ—ing of the child must haue some to milâ— to 〈◊〉 eyes if he should chance to haue any iâ—â—feâ— toâ— there as either heat pimples or itchâ— that so it may be cooled As for the colour it must be white according to the common saying As white as Milke for the Milke which is blewish makes shew of Melancholy as the yellow doth of Choller and the reddish that it is not well concocted and signifies either that there is a weaknesse in the breasts or else an ill qualitie of the bloud whereof it is made which hath not been concocted and corrected by the naturall heat of the paps Besides good Milke ought not to haue any strong smell but rather a sweet sent which smelleth neither hote nor sower nor yet adust for such smels shew that the bloud of which it is made is ouerheated or putride And concerning the Tast that Milke which hath a sweet sauour is much commended as contrarywise that which is either sharp sower or bitter is to be refused and therefore not chosen for good Now the triall there of may be made in this sort as to know whether it be of a good substance let the nurse milke some few drops of it vpon a looking glasse or other sleeke thing and if in holding it gently aside it flows and runs presently and keepe not together a little then it is a signe that the milke is watrish and too thinne If it stand still and will not runne at all then it shews that the milke is too thicke and fat But if it runne leasurely not staying eyther too long or flowing too soone vpon the said smooth body it sheweth that the milke is of a middle substance and ought to bee reckoned and chosen for the best The quantity of the milke may be knowne thus if there remaine some in the breast after the childe hath done sucking and againe if in opening the child you find him bepissed But you must haue an eye that your nurse be none of these Cooseners for there be some that giue the child water to drinke in secret and others which wet the childs bed But such Nurses deserue to be whipt and their knauery may be easily descried both by the eye and the sent and likewise discerned by the tast Now the obseruation which is taken from the Nurses child for the choice of a fit Nurse is concerning his age For if her child be aboue seuen or eight months old then her milke will bee too stale afterwards and besides it would be a doubt whether shee would haue milke enough to nurse him that should be put vnto her Againe if the childe be but fifteene daies or a moneth olde that shews that her milke is too new and that it is not as yet well purified because the mother is not wholly purged and clensed So Auicen commands that a child should not be put to sucke a Woman till at least two moneths after her deliuery and at the farthest not after eight And because the sexe of the Nurses child must likewise bee obserued Aegineta wisheth that it should be rather a man child then a maid child because the milke is hotter better concocted and not so excrementitious And he addeth farther that it is fit whether it be a boy or a wench that the mother haue born her burthen the full time For those that are commonly deliuered before their time for the most part are not sound but sickly though there be many healthfull women which goe with their children but seuen Moneths How a Nurse ought to order her selfe concerning her Dyet and manner of life CHAP. II. IT is not enough that a Nurse be indowed with the conditions and qualities aforesaid but it is very fit also that shee maintaine and preserue them wherefore wee will set downe briefely how and in what manner she ought to gouerne her selfe First of all therefore let her shun and auoide all bad ayre and all kind of ill and stinking smels for such sents as are too strong are naught and hurtfull for her because they infect and ouer-heat the spirits and bloud whereof the milke is made Shee must likewise auoide all meats that are eyther too much salted or spiced or of a strong tast as Onions Leekes Garlicke Mustard and all kind of Baked Meates and old cheese Let her eate Veale Mutton Chicken Kid Partridge and such like meates which are of good iuice and of easy digestion and she must vse them in moderate sort without glutting her selfe All sorts of fish are hurtfull for her except it bee in small quantity shee may eate Iacke Sole and Quauluer and if she eat no fish let her vse new laid egges Her meate must be rather boyled then rosted but yet there must be had a respect to the habitude and complexion of the child For if hee bee very moist and flegmaticke then the Nurse shall rather vse rostmeat and so of other complexions Her bread shall be of good wheate well made light and baked as it ought to be Let her put into her pottages Lettuce Sorrell Purcelaine Borage Buglosse and Succory Shee shall refraine from all kind of raw fruits For her drinke let her take Ale or Beere and where that cannot be had Barley water or water sodden or else a small kind of Hydromel or meade which hath but a little Cinamon in it But I would rather counsaile them to drinke Wine and Water together Aristotle forbids wine both to the nurse and the child except it be as they say well christned She must vse moderate exercise and chiefly before meales For moderate exercise doth strengthen the naturall heate and consumeth all superfluities
we see oftener then we would that the small Pocks do fall euen vpon the bones and corrupt them The signes to iudge of the euent of them are these If the Ague be but little and diminisheth as the Pocks come foorth if they be but few in number and those scattered here and there if they come foorth easily without much paine and that the child is not much disquieted if they grow white and ripen quickly these are signes of recouerie But if the Ague continue and increase at the comming foorth of them if they thrust foorth in great quantitie one vpon another and if they run as it were all into one scab not ripening speedily if the child be verie hoarse and not able to speake or fall into a bloudie flixe these are ill signes The first sheweth that it hath seized vpon the Lungs and the second that it fretteth the guts Againe the small Pocks is verie dangerous when it comes foorth with paine and griefe though they be white When they be small greene blewish or blacke and that they sinke downe and grow drie on the suddaine not comming to maturation and suppuration if the child pisse bloud and then by and by after his vrine turnes to be blacke it is signe of death Concerning the Measels if they be but reasonable red and haue no ill accidents ioined with them but go away suddainly they are not to be feared But when they are high colour'd or if they be blewish or greenish accompanied with vomiting paine of the heart weaknesse the bloudie Flixe and the like they are verie dangerous Of the cure of the Measels and small Pockes CHAP. XXXVI IN all diseases that happen vnto little Children and especiallie in the cure of this present sicknesse the Chirurgion must not be too hasty nor do any thing rashly For there be many oftentimes deceiued which think that the child will not haue the Pocks or Measels because at the first they haue but a little Ague or Head-ach or some other light signe of it seeing that this disease lyeth long in the bodie before it makes any shew And therefore not without good cause haue the ancient writers obserued that sometimes it is better to do nothing than to begin amisse oftentimes altering thereby natures course Neuerthelesse you cannot do amisse in giuing the child some little preseruatiues as Vnicornes horne Bezoard stone and Cordiall waters causing him to be kept quiet without taking the aire especially if it be cold weather But as soone as the Chirurgion perceiueth that the child is taken with an Ague and that he hath the signes heretofore mentioned he must proceed in this manner to the cure of them First he must haue a care in what place the child is laid seeing that this disease doth partly proceed of a maligne and contagious aire which after that it hath beene drawne and carried by the Lungs to the hart and other parts of the body it leaues there an impression of his bad quality in that part of the menstruall bloud wherewith the child was nourished in the mothers womb wherefore let the child be kept in good aire that is neither too hot nor too cold For being too hot it may cause the childe to haue faintings and swounings and being too cold as the Pockes or Measels are comming foorth it may keepe them backe and driue them in againe and so hinder nature from expelling and putting foorth the impurities that are in the body And therefore he must be kept warme in his bedde and reasonably well couered Such as are more nice and curious doe hang the bed round with red couerlets If it be winter it will be good to haue a fire in the Chamber to rectifie the Ayre which perhaps is of the coldest and also to correct some ill quality which it may haue as Rhasis and Auicen write If it bee in heate of Summer it will not bee needfull to make so much fire nor to keep the child couered so warme Concerning his meate and drinke if the childe sucke then must the Nurse keepe a good diet as wee haue heeretofore prescribed and as if she her selfe had an Ague If the child be weaned he must absteine from eating all manner of flesh no not so much as of a little Chicken till the pocks be whollie come foorth But as Auicen saith he may vse Broths made with Capons or Chickens wherein you must put good store of Sorrel Cichory Buglosse Borage and Lettuce Hee may also vse the strained broth of Pease Lentils and Barley waters made with Figs Dates Raysings of the sunne also Gelly Prunes and rosted apples well sugred For his drinke let him vse a Ptisane made of Barley and Licorise adding thereunto some Raysings of the sunne Figs and Dates but in small quantity If that drinke please him not then let him vse this drinke following An excellent Drinke Take of French Barley a handfull shauings of Iuory and Harts horne tied in a little linnen cloth of each two drammes Boyle them in a quart of water and when it is almost sodden put to it halfe an ounce of Licorise halfe a Citron peal'd and cut in slices then straine it and let him drinke of it at his Meales and when hee is thirsty When the Pockes are quite come foorth and begin to looke white and that the Ague grows lesse lesse then he may eate a little stronger meate and drinke a little water and Wine his meate and drinke must not be actually cold And because the pockes do come in the mouth tongue and throat as also all along the wind-pipe you may put to his drinke a little suger or sirup of Violets Iuiubes or Cherries and chiefly to that he drinketh betweene meales This drinke lenifieth suppleth the roughnesse and excoriations it is good for the Lungs and the hoarsenesse wherewith they are troubled and also it cleanseth gently For his sleepe that must be moderate if at the first hee bee very drowsie and heauie he must bee wakened forfeare least his head be filled with vapors But it is also fit if he cannot take his rest to giue him somwhat to make him sleepe For sleepe doth well concoct the humors and maketh the Pockes come foorth the better And for this purpose you may giue him some fine Barley waters and put into his Broths some Lettuce and the cold seeds and at night you may giue him a little spoonfull of sirup of Iuiubes Nenuphar and Violets mingled together absteining from all Narcoticall or stupifying medicines If he be bound and cannot go to the stoole you may giue him inwardly a little Oile of sweete Almonds newly drawne or a little Hony as Auicen appointeth which Auenzoar allows not of because he had taken some of it as he saith when hee had the Pockes where with he thought he should haue died It will not be amisse to giue him a spoonfull of Cassia and if his belly be
not loose you may giue him this gentle Clister A Clyster â„ž Sacchar rub â„¥ s. Ol. Violat â„¥ j. Mell. Mercur. Ê’ iij. cum Decoct Vituli vel pulli â„¥ v. fiat enima cum quo intestina abluantur Concerning bloud-letting if the child bee somwhat bigge as of three or foure yeare old or if he be of a very sanguine complexion and that the Ague bee accompanied with vnquietnesse tossing to and fro rauing difficulty of breathing and inflammation of the eyes I would aduise you to draw a little bloud from him which I haue seene practized in the first daies of the sicknesse by the best Phisicions of this Citty Rhasis and Auicen commaund that at the beginning we doe open the veine of the Nose and they say moreouer that many haue very happily beene freed of this disease by bleeding at the Nose because the matter that breedeth the pockes hath beene diminished thereby and also it hindreth the violent ebullition of the bloud that it ascends not in so great quantity vp into the head and face or keepes it from taking hold on any part as the lungs or guts So that nature being disburdened of part of this humour expelleth and thrusteth out the rest more easily The same Authors for the bringing of them foorth the sooner and with the lesse paine doe appoint that the child should take this drinke A Drinke â„ž Caricar ping â„¥ j. Lentium excort â„¥ s. Gâ—m Lacca Ê’ ij Tragacanth sem foenicul an Ê’ ij ss fiat decoct in aqua font ad lib. ij percoletur Colatura dulcoretur saccharo vel syrupo Capill Vener de hac in potu exhibeatur vt aetas consenties manè ieiuno stomacho serò cubitum ituro If the child be so little that hee cannot take this drinke then the Nurse must be carefull to drinke a good draught of it her selfe morning and euening Whilest that this diet is obserued and the foresaid medicines vsed you may giue the child some of this cordiall Iulep A Cordiall Iulep â„ž Aqu. Cordiall an â„¥ ij sirup de Limonibus â„¥ j. misce vtatur sape Besides he may take foure or fiue daies together the quantity of foure or fiue graines of Bezoards stone and as much Vnicornes horne But because for the most part this maligne humor seazeth vpon the eies nose eares throate and lungs it will bee very good to defend and fortifie them that they may be as little offended as may bee For the eies they take commonly a little saffron mingled with Plantane and Rosewater and therewith they rub the eyelids round about Auicen appointeth the lids to bee washed with the iuice of a Pomegranate If there be a great inflammation and rednesse then this Collyrium shall be applied to the eye A water for the Eies â„ž Aq. Rosar Plantag Eufâ—as an â„¥ ij Album oui â„¥ s. Troch Albor. Rhas sine Opio ℈ j Corcigrana vi Agitentur diu omnia simul deinde colentur per filtrum de quo oculi saepius tangantur illinantur The Collyrium must be applied alwaies warme It will be also verie good to put a little Vnguentum Tutiae into the corners and lids of the Eyes That nothing may happen vnto the Nose you must vse this medicine An Errhinon â„ž Aq. Rosar Betonicae an â„¥ j. Aceti â„¥ ss succi Granator Ê’ vj. in quibus macerentur Santal Citrin subtiliter pul Ê’ ij Croci gr vj. fiat Errhinum You must cause the child to smell often to this water and sometimes put a little of it into his nostrils The like medicine may be vsed to his Eares with a little cotton Let him vse this Gargarisme to preserue his Mouth Tongue and Throat â„ž Hord. integ m. j. fol. Plantag oxalid Arnogloss Agrimon Verbenae an m. ss fiat decoct ad â„¥ vj. in quibus dissolue syrup Granator è Rosis siccis an â„¥ ss Croci ℈ j. fiat Gargaris The Lungs must be preserued with medicines that do lenifie and souple the Trachea arteria which may be done with Syrup of Iuiubes Nenuphar and Violets Also let him hold in his mouth Suger Candie Lozenges of Diatragacanthum frigidum and Trochisa bechici Three or foure daies after the Pocks are come foorth you must rub the face with Oile of sweet Almonds drawne without fire to make them ripen the sooner or else with this Liniment Take old Lard and cut it into pieces and melt it when it is melted straine it through a cloth then wash and beat it well with water and annoint the face with it When the Pocks are come to maturation and are ripe enough which you may know by their whitenesse as also when they feel them begin to itch which happens commonly toward the eighth or ninth day that they may be the sooner dried and leaue no marks or pits behind them the face must be annointed with this medicine which I haue vsed and found to haue done much good Take two drams of Chalke and two ounces of thin Creame mingle them well together and herewith shall you rub all the face ouer with a feather or else a linnen cloth tyed at the end of a sticke for the space of two or three daies This medicine doth kill and drie vp the Pustules which will fall away of themselues without pulling them off and the skin vnderneath will be smooth and euen without any dent or hollownesse Some do onely vse the foresaid Ointment made with Lard and continue it till the Pocks be wholy dried of themselues Auicen vseth this medicine Auicens medicine â„ž Farin Hord. Fabar. Lentium excorticat an Ê’ j. Thuris Myrrh Lytargir an Ê’ ss lactis Nutricis q. s fiat linimentum satis liquidum quo illinantur pustulae And if there be any excoriation you shall vse this Ointment Another Ointment â„ž Litharg Auri Cerus an Ê’ ss Myrrh ℈ ss Ol. Mastich â„¥ j. ss agitentur omnia simul in mortario fiat Linimentum And for the beautifying and making the skin smooth vse the Oile drawne out of Pompion or Citrull seeds and of Pistaces Oile of Egges maketh the skin looke yellow Fresh Butter-milke is excellent good but you must warme it that the little pieces of butter which stay behind may be melted and with this liquor must you wash or rub the face The meanes to preserue little Children from the Measels and the Pockes CHAP. XXXVII THe small Pockes and the Measels do much annoy and bring many inconueniences vnto children For dailie experience sheweth vs that many die thereof and those which escape do oftentimes beare the marks and badges of this vile disease I haue seene diuers children that haue been lame and maymed both of their armes and legges through the verie malignitie of the humour that fell downe vpon their tender ioints and bones Others haue lost their eyes or at the least there hath remayned some pearle or spot vpon them Others haue had their eyes staring red or watring Some haue