that distinguishes himself from all other Males by a fierce and truly Masculine Air which is peculiar to him I translate the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by the French word Air which might be rendred Species in Latin which answers exactly to the Greek the Etymologie being the same The dissections that Aristotle made of several different sorts of Animals Quadrupeds Birds Fishes and Insects had taught him divers things concerning the use of the parts of each of these Kinds We shall not go about to examine here what he delivers of the difference of their parts and uses because that would lead us too far from our Subject We shall only touch here in a few words upon what relates to the structure and use of parts common to all perfect Animals such as Men and all Quadrupeds Aristotle esteem'd the heart to be the Origen and Source of the veins and blood The blood says he goes from the heart into the veins (g) De Part. An. lib. 3. cap. 4. Those that find the Circulation of the Blood in Aristotle will have some difficulty to get over this Passage but it comes not from any part into the heart He says that there come two veins out of the heart one from the right side which is the largest and the other from the left side which is the least which he calls the Aorta where by the by we may take notice that this Philosopher (h) Hist Anim. lib. 3. cap. 5. as Galen says is the first that gave that name to the great Artery which proves that the book i of the Heart wherein this name is found is not Hippocrates's Aristotle thought that these two veins distributed the blood to all parts of the body He says elsewhere that there were in the heart three Cavities which he calls ventricles Of these three ventricles that in the middle of whose scituation he gives no other account is the common principle of the other two altho' it be the least the blood which it contains is also the most temperate and pure The blood of the right ventricle is the hottest and that of the left the coldest This latter ventricle being the biggest of the three These three ventricles says he communicate with the lungs by vessels different from the two great veins which disperse themselves thro the whole substance of the Lungs He made not only the veins of the vessels which contain blood to come out of the heart but he would have the Nerves also to take their Origine from thence for which opinion this was his ground (k) Hist An. lib. 3. cap. 5. The biggest Ventricle of the Heart says he contains small Nerves and it is a true Nerve in its extremities having no Cavity and being stretched after the manner of Nerves in the place where it terminates towards the Articulation of the bones He says also in another place (l) De part Anim. lib. 3 cap. 4. that there are abundance of Nerves in the heart which are of great use because the motions come from thence which are made by contracting and extending By this latter passage he seems to design the Tendons which serve to dilate and contract the heart and if we have observed before that Hippocrates confounded the Nerves with the Tendons and Ligaments Aristotle does not appear to have distinguished them any better nor to have known the use of the true Nerves In another place he affirms (m) Hâ—st Animal lib. 3. cap. 5. that the Nerves are not continuous but scatter'd here and there about the places of the Articulations by which it is visible he meant the Tendons If he had known the use of the Nerves he would not have said (n) De part Animal lib. 2. cap. 10. that none but the parts which had blood could feel or had sensation nor would he have maintained (o) De part Anim. lib. 2. cap. 1. that the flesh is the proper Organ of sensation as for motion if he attributes it to the Nerves or says 't is made immediately by the Nerves 't is easie to see that the Nerves there meant were either the Tendons or Ligaments As for the common principle of motion and sensation Aristotle places it in the Heart which he looks upon also as the principle of the nourishment of all the parts of the body by the means of the blood which it sends to them as the Focus which contains the natural fire upon which depends life as the place where the passions have their birth and where all the sensations terminate In a word as the true seat of the Soul and that not because the Nerves have their Origine from thence as some imagine but because it is the reservatory of the blood and spirits He formally maintains (p) lâ—b de Spiritu that the spirits cannot be contained in the Nerves But if Aristotle attributes such noble uses to the heart the brain was in his opinion but a heap of Water and Earth without blood and without sense The office of this Cold Lump was says he to refresh and moderate the heat of the heart But besides that he gives elsewhere this Office to the Lungs he does not account for the manner how the brain should be capable of discharging it And altho' the brain be plac'd immediately upon the spinal marrow and fix'd to it yet he pretended that the substance of that marrow was-quite different from that of the brain being a sort of blood prepar'd for the nourishment of the bones and consequently hot whereas the other was cold He made otherwise so little of the brain that if he did not absolutely reckon it amongst the excrements he thought it ought not to be ranked amongst the parts of the body which had any continuity or union with the rest that he look'd on 't as a substance of a peculiar nature and different from all the rest of the body As for the rest of the Viscera as the Liver the Spleen and the Kidneys he thought that their first and chief usage was to support the veins which would be pendulous but for them and to strengthen them in their place Besides this first use he assigned them some others The Liver helped to the digestion of the meat in the stomach and the guts by the warmth which it imparted to those parts of which we shall speak more particularly in the Sequel The Liver was not of such universal use and is according to him but accidentally necessary to collect and concoct the Vapours which rise from the Belly hence it is that Animals in whom these vapours take another course have but a very small Spleen as Birds and Fishes whose feathers and scales are form'd and nourish'd out of this moisture And these Animals for the same reason says he have neither kidneys nor bladder (q) De part Animâ—l 〈◊〉 3 â—ap 7. The Kidneys also according to him are onlâ— for conveniency their office is to imbibe part of the
in the Chapter of that Philosopher Several passages may be taken out of the first Book of Diet to confirm what we have advanc'd In a word says he in one place of this Book the Fire has disposâ—d all things in the body in imitation of the Vniverse c. But while we are upon the Philosophy of Hippocrates lest the Alchymists shou'd take it ill at our hands we must by no means omit this passage in the first Book above-mention'd viz. that those that work in Gold beat it wash it and melt it by a gentle Fire because a violent fire is not proper for such a business 'T is pretended that Hippocrates here had an Eye on the mystery of the Philosophers Stone of which we shall have occasion to speak in the second part of this History And this may suffice for his Philosophy Let us now descend from the general principles of bodies to the particular principles of the human body and leaving all Philosophical reflections let us see what observations we can find in Anatomy there for those properly belong to the History of Physick Those that are minded to see more particularly how far Hippocrates carried his Philosophy may consult the Books de Flatibus de natura hominis the first de natura pueri de dieta and some others But the Reader ought to be inform'd that the above-mention'd treatises are suspected to be spurious and not to belong to him His opinion concerning the seat of the Soul is to be found in the following Chapter CHAP. III. Of the Anatomy of Hippocrates 'T Is a difficult matter to give a just extract of the Anatomy of Hippocrates for three things hinder us from knowing so much of this subject as it is necessary we shou'd In the first place we find several contradictions in the writings of Hippocrates or rather in those that are ascrib'd to him Secondly tho we shou'd heap together all that he says of each part 't would be an imperfect account and not very coherent Lastly tho so many faults had not crept into the Text as there have or there were less disagreement in the original MSS. yet his stile is so concise and there are some places in him so obscure as being frequently expressed in terms peculiar to himself that are not to be found elsewhere that 't is extreamly difficult for one to understand him aright tho he is never so great a master of the Greek Language For this reason we should very much regret the loss of one of Galen's Books intituled The Anatomy of Hippocrates if we had not just reason to suspect this Author of partiality when he engages for the interests of this antient Physician sufficient proofs whereof we shall see below that purely belong to Anatomy The helps that a man might expect to find upon this occasion from the modern Commentators is but inconsiderable If any light is to be had from them we ought rather to trust the antient interpreters than those of our Age because it is to be feared that the latter full of their new discoveries imagine they see them every where like those that can discover in Homer the most hidden mysteries of all Arts and Sciences or those quick-sighted Genelemen that can find the Philosophers Stone in all Books whatever let the matter they treat of be what it will That we may not be charg'd with being guilty of this prepossession which we have condemn'd our selves we will faithfully set down all that we cou'd find relating to this argument in the works of Hippocrates and take particular care not to omit the least thing about which the Anatomists of the following ages have had different opinions or pretended to make any discovery that so we may give every man his due and rob none of the praise that really belongs to them I will not pretend to confine my self to a certain order but indifferently set down every thing as it comes to hand and refer the Reader that expects a continu'd description or a greater insight into the nature connexion situation of the parts of the body to a full treatise of Anatomy which he will find in the Chapter of Galen (a) De locis in homine The nature of the Body says Hippocrates is the principle or foundation on which all the reasoning of Physick is built One wou'd be apt to infer from hence that he had a mind to recommend Anatomy as one of the principal means by which we may discover the nature of the body What helps to confirm this conjecture we find that immediately after he teaches what is the situation composition and use of the several parts 'T is undeniable that Hippocrates wou'd have us study the nature of the body but we may discover by some other places that he thought we cou'd arrive to the knowledge of it no way so well as in the practice of Physick for he laughs at those who fancy'd themselves to be great Physicians because they knew something in Anatomy (b) De Prisc medâ—cin Some Physiciansiand Philosophers says he pretend that a man can't understand the art of Physick unless he knows what man is what is his first formation and after what manner his Body is made But for my part I am of opinion that all that has been said or written about nature by these people belongs more to the art of Painting than it does to Physick and am perswaded that a man can't know nature clearly but by the means of Physick as those that are well skill'd in that art will soon perceive Here he seems to address himself to the Philosophers that preceeded him and to these of his own time who as we have observ'd had thrust themselves into this profession and were the first that began to instruct themselves in Anatomy It has been remarked above that the Asclepiadae the Predecessors of Hippocrates had other helps of knowing the humane body besides Anatomy As for Hippocrates 't is probable that he did not neglect this latter way as being related to Philosophy which he had carefully studied There wou'd not be the least pretence to doubt of this if the little Book or fragment attributed to him and intituled little Book or fragment attributed to him and intituled Anatomy was really of his writing but this is not certain since Erotiam who has given us a Catalogue of Hippocrates's Books makes no mention of it Be it as it will we shall see anon how far he advanc'd in this Science either by Anatomy or any other method which we have touch'd upon in the Chapter of Asclepiadae Hippocrates owns in one place that the (c) Lib. de Aliment Veins come from the Liver which is the origine and fountain of them as the Heart is of the Arteries In another place he maintains that the Veins and Arteries proceed equally from the Heart (d) Lib. de Carnibus There are two hollow Veins that come from the Heart one of which is call'd the
Artery and the other the Vena Cava At that time all the Blood Vessels were indifferently call'd Veins and the word Artery properly signify'd the (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 aspera arteria or the Wind-pipe Nay Hippocrates gives the name of Veins to the Ureters and seems to bestow the same appellation upon the Nerves as we shall take notice below besides there are but few places where he formally distinguishes the Arteries from the Veins and where he calls them Arteries which may render the credit of those books or at least of those passages suspicious where this distinction is to be found The Artery adds he immediately after contains more heat than the Vena Cava and is the receptacle of the Spirits There are other Veins in the Body besides these two As for that which is reported to be the largest of all and next to the heart it runs thro the Belly and the Diaphragm and dividing itself into two streams visits either Kidney towards the Loins Above the heart this Vein divides to the right and to the left and ascending to the head distributes itself to either Temple We may continues he joyn the other Veins to this that are also very large but to speak all in a word all the Veins that are dispers'd thro the whole Body come from the Vena Cava and the Artery Here are already two opinions concerning the Origin of the Veins and Arteries There is a third likewise to be found in two several passages in Hippocrates whether in respect of the Origin of the Veins or in respect of your distribution (a) Lib. de Ossium naturâ de Natur. humanâ The largest veins of the Body are says he dispos'd after this manner There are in all four pair the first pair come out behind the head and descending down the back part of the neek on each side of the spine come to the Hips and Thighs pass on thro the Legs to the outside of each Foot For this reason in all pains of the Back and Hips bleeding in the veins of the Hams and external Ancles are of great relief the second pair coming likewise from the Head run behind the Ears down the Neck they are callâ—d the Jugulars and run within the Spine down the Loins where they divide on either side towards the Testicles and Thighs and the inside of the Hams from thence through the inward Ancles to the inside of the foot For this cause in all pains of the Testicles and Loins bleeding in the veins of the Hams and internal Ancles is very serviceable The third pair come out of the Temples and run along the Neck towards the Shoulders and Lungs from thence one turning from the right a little towards the left runs under the Breast to the Spleen and Kidneys the other likewise turning from the left to the right runs under the Breast to the Liver and Kidney And these two branches terminate in the Rectum The fourth part coming out of the fore part of the Head and Eyes run under the Lungs and the Clavicles and from thence thro the upper part of the Arm pass over the bending of the Elbow to the back of the Hands and Fingers and thence they return again thro the palm of the Hand on the inside of the Elbow and under the Arm to the Arm-pits and upon the surface of the side one to the Spleen and the other to the Liver At length both branches running over the Belly terminate in the privities To salve the contradiction between these two last passages it may be urg'd that the Book of the nature of the Bones from whence this latter is drawn is not Hippocrates's but Polybius his Son-in-Law's Neither Galen nor Erotian take notice of this Book among the works of Hippocrates They have not so much as taken notice of the name tho they seem to have explain'd certain words found in it There is a passage of (b) De Generat Anim. lib. 3. cap. 3. Aristotle wherein this Philosopher speaking of the Origin and destribution of the Veins and relating the several sentiments of the Physicians thereupon cites these very words of this Book of the nature of the Bones which we have translated and cites them as Polybius's This proof were sufficient but it removes not all the difficulty for we read the very same words in the Book of Human Nature which Galen maintains strongly to be Hippocrates's pretending to prove it by the Authority of (c) Platon Phaedr Plato who as he says has quoted a passage out of it tho others have ascrib'd this Book to Democritus Nevertheless Galen himself (d) De Hippocrat Platon decreâ— l. 6. c. 3. But Pelops Galen's Master was of another mind maintaining that Hippocrates held as himself also did that the Veins and Arteries as well as Nerves had their Origine from the Brain denies this later opinion touching the origin and destribution of the Veins to be Hippocrates's or even Polybius's but affirms that it must have been foysted surreptitiously into the Text. But this is not probable for we find the same opinion in the Book de locis in Homine There is another difficulty relating to the Book of the flesh or of the principles from whence was taken what we said in the first place that the Veins and Arteries came out of the Heart Aristotle in the afore-cited passage after having remarked that almost all the Physicians consented with Polybius to bring the veins from the Head concludes they were all in an error not knowing that they came from the Heart and not from the Head If Hippocrates be the Author of that Book of the Flesh wherein this opinion of Aristotle is plainly laid down how is it likely this Philosopher should not know it Why should he not as well have read the Writings of Hippocrates as those of Polybius From hence we may infer that this Book is no more Hippocrates's than that of the Nature of the Bones Perhaps Aristotle chose rather in this place to cite Polybius or Synnesis of Cyprus and Diogenes Apolloniates Physicians of small reputation in comparison of Hippocrates than to cite Hippocrates himself whose Name we sind but in (e) Politâ—c li. 7. cap. 4. one place of his Works and there mentioned only en passant perhaps I say he has omitted to quote him out of malice or envy Plato shew'd more honour having made honorable mention of him in several places Perhaps the Book in question was not Hippocrates's for neither do we find the Title of it in the List that Erotian gives of his Works Of the description of the HEART Amongst the Anatomical Books ascrib'd to Hippocrates there is none written with more exactness than that of the Heart which being very short we give you here the entire Translation of it The Heart says the Author of this Book is of a Pyramidal figure its colour is a deep red It is encompassed on all sides with a clos'd Membrane
in which is a small quantity of moisture like Urine so that the Heart is as it were in a sort of Bladder It was form'd after this manner in a Case for its better defence Of the Liquor there is but just as much as is necessary for the refreshment of the Heart and to preserve it from being over-heated It distils from the Heart which draws to it part of the moisture which the Lungs reserve from the Drink For when any one drinks most of it falls into the Stomach the OEsophagus (a) The Gullet being as it were a Tunnel which receives what we swallow whether Liquid or Solid But the (b) The upper-part of the Wind-pipe Pharynx draws a little of the Liquor into its cleft the Epiglottis which is as it were the lid of the Pharynx hindering the greatest part of it from falling into it As a proof of this if we make any Animal whatsoever especially a Hog drink Water tinged with blue or red and cut his throat while he is drinking we shall find this water charged with the Tincture But every one is not fit to make this experiment We are not to make any difficulty of believing that part of the drink slips into the Aspera Arteria But it may be ask'd how comes it then to pass that in drinking too swift the Water getting into the cleft of the Pharynx raises a violent Cough It is because the quantity of the Water being too great opposes directly the return of the Air from the Lungs in expiration Whereas when a little slips in at the clift slipping gently down the sides of the Aspera Artiria it hinders not the Air from Rising But on the contrary facilitates the passage by moistening the (c) Wind-pipe Aspera Arteria The Heart draws the moisture from the Lungs at the time of inspiration and after the Air hath servâ—d the use of the Heart it returns by the way it came But the Heart sucks up a part of the moisture which passes into its Bag letting the rest return with the Air. This Air being return'd as far as the Pallate (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 escapes thro a double passage and it is necessary that it shou'd go out and the moisture also they being of no use to the nourishment of the Body How can Wind and Crude water serve for the nourishment to a man not but that one and t'other have their use for they serve to fortifie the Heart against the Evil it is naturally afflicted with that is excessive heat The Heart is a very strong Muscle not for its Tendons but for the hardness and compactness of the Flesh It has two distinct Ventricles in one inclosure (e) E. v 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 one on one side and t'other on t'other which are not like to one another the one is on the right-side at the mouth of the great Vein and the other on the left and they take up almost the whole Heart The cavity of the first is greater than that of the latter and is more soft but it extends not quite to the point of the Heart the extremity of which is solid it appears as if it were sewed or fixed to the Heart The Left Ventricle is situated directly under the Left Nipple to which it answers in a right Line and where its pulsation or beating may be felt Its sides are thick and it has a cavity like that of a (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Mortar which answers to the Lungs which moderate by their nearness the excessive heat of this Ventricle for the Lungs are naturally cold and receive a further refreshment by the inspiration of the Air. Both these Ventricles are rough and as it were coroded within especially the Left (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The natural fire or heat which is born with us has not its Seat in the Right and it is something wonderous that the Left which receives from the Lungs an Air which is not temper'd or mix'd shou'd be the most rugged it was likewise made thicker than the other for the better preservation of the aforesaid heat The Orifices of these Ventricles are not visible till the Ears of the heart be first open'd or cut off and its head or basis When they are cut off we find two Orifices in either Ventricle but the Vena Cava which comes out of one of them is not seen after it is cut These are the Fountains of Human Nature and from hence flow those Springs that serve the whole body These are the streams that give life to Man and when they dry up he dies At the Exit of these Veins the Vena Cava and great Artery and all round the mouth of these Ventricles there are certain soft and hollow bodies called the Ears of the heart they have not however any perforations like the Ears nor do they serve to hear sounds but they are the Instruments by which Nature draws the Air and shew themselves the Work of an Ingenious Workman who considering the Heart ought to be very (h) The Author says this place is very obscure that he has translated it as well as he cou'd that if he has not succeeded extraordinarily in it that he has for his comfort the company of the rest of the Interpreters in his misfortune solid as being form'd of blood coagulated or thickned at the mouth of the veins and that it ought to have likewise the faculty of drawing has fix'd Bellows to it as Smiths do to their Forges that it might draw the Air by this means In confirmation of this we see the Heart in one part continually agitating it self and the Ears in particular to dilate and subside in their turns I am likewise of opinion (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the small veins draw the Air in the Left Ventricle and the Artery in the Right I say likewise that that which is soft is most proper to draw and to be inflated and that it was necessary that (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which the Author supposes the right Ventricle of the Heart to be meant * But I rather think that the Auricles were still intended as by comparing them with the precedent and subsequent expressions will appear what was fix'd to the Heart shou'd be refreshed since it partakes of the heat but the Engine which draws the Air ought not to be so large lest it shou'd overcome the heat I ought likewise says Hippocrates to describe the hidden Membranes of the Heart (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are an admirable Work some are spread within the ventricles of the Heart like Spiders Webs they close the Orifices of the ventricles of the Heart and send their threads into the substance of the Heart They seem to me to be (m) See the Chapter of the Nerves the Nerves or the Tendons of this Entrail and the Origin or Place from whence they spring (n) Tâ—â— Aorta signifies
(w) De Loc. in Hom. All the Veins communicate and run one into another for some are joyn'd immediately together others communicate by small veins which run from the Trunk of one to another and which serve to nourish the flesh (x) De Natur. hom There are a great number of different veins which come from (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 So read all the MSS. says Foesius Yet Galen reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the Vena Cava the Ventricle or Belly by which the nourishment is conveyed into all the parts of the body The same nourishment passes also from the great veins as well internal as external to the belly and the rest of the body These veins supply one another reciprocally with nourishment those without to those within and those within to those without (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Epidem lib 6. sect 6. The flesh draws from the belly and likewise from without and our senses discover to us that all the body is transpirable from within to without and from without to within Hippocrates speaks in another place of the (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 De Diet. acut See the whole passage at length in the Chapter of Blood letting rest of the blood and spirits in the Vessels which supposes a precedent motion We have both related and render'd as exactly as possible the foregoing passages concerning the motion of the blood spirits and nourishments in the body because they seem to point at the most considerable Anatomical discoveries of our Age. Hippocrates did unquestionably acknowledge a sort of circulation of the blood and humours the aforecited passages are in express words He uses also in another place a term by which the Greeks used to signifie (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de humor in prin the reflux of the Sea to express the return of the humours from the skin to the centre of the body It is necessary here to avoid a fallacy in giving to Hippocrates the honour of a discovery reserved to our Age to make the following Remarks It is apparent that this ancient Physician held this flux and reflux or this circulation to be made thro' the same Vessels which carry'd and brought back indifferently from the Centre to the Circumference and from the Circumference to the Centre again As for what escaped the known Vessels it pass'd according to him (c) De morb lib. 4. thro insensible channels and ways undiscoverable which yet were open as long as the Animal liv'd according to the principles laid down by him and related by us that all consents conspires and agrees together in the body or that all is transpirable from within to without and from without to within If these Principles served his turn in this case the attraction spoken of before and the faculties subservient to Nature brought him off easily for the rest that is that the motions of the blood and humours were usually determined by necessity and attraction (d) De Nat. â—uer The blood says he which by the order of nature descends but once a month to the Womb flows thither every day while the (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Seed or Faetus therein contained draws what is necessary for it according to its strength and has its respiration greater or less at first the respiration of the Faetus being very small little blood comes from the Womb but as by this respiration increases the Faetus draws more blood and it descends in greater quantities into the Womb. Nor does the Faetus only draw but all the parts likewise (f) De Morb. lib. 4. The Ventricle or Stomach says Hipporates elsewhere is a fountain which furnishes all the body when it is full but when it is empty it draws in its turn from the body which exhausted it The Heart the Spleen the Liver and the Head are the fountains which supply the other parts and in their turns draw from them There are in Hippocrates a hundred passages like these some of which we shall take notice of in the sequel The Office of Nature or the Faculties is according to him to regulate the attraction and provide for all the necessities of the Animal Nature as we have observed or its Faculties nourish and make every thing to grow and increase We shall add but a word or two more upon the subject of the motion of the blood in the Veins and Arteries by which we may judge of the Idea Hippocratet has had of it There are says he (g) De loc in Hom. This Book is by universal consent agreed to be genuine two other (h) By this name Hippocrates understands as well the Arteries as Veins veins which beat continually these veins are the only ones in the body that contain no blood for the blood turns from ' em Now that which turns away or returns is a contrary motion to that which comes forward on that side so that the first retiring or withdrawing from these veins and that which comes from above endeavouring to descend they do not agree but push one another by turns and mix and circulate one with another which produces the pulsation or beating of these veins We say nothing at present of the extraordinary motions of the blood and humours we reserve them for the next Chapter I know that some of the greatest (i) Riolan and several others Anatomists and Physicians of the Age Men very learned in the Languages and all sorts of Literature have done and yet do believe that the aforecited passages go abundance further We shall have occasion to examine their Opinion in the Second Part of this History Of the BRAIN (k) Lib. de Gland Galen supposes this Book to be spurious The Brain is reckoned by Hippocrates among the Glands because it appeared to him of the same nature being white fryalble and spungy as they were And he believed that the Brain sucked up the superfluous humours of the body like the other Glands which being all of a spungy nature imbibe says he moisture easily But there is this further of the Brain That the Head being hollow and round draws incessantly like a sort of Cupping-glass the moisture from the rest of the body which rises in the form of a vapour after which it being over-charged it sends it down to the lower parts especially the Glands from whence come Defluxions and Catarrhs Hippocrates in some other places makes the Brain (l) Lib. de Morb. sacro the Seat of Wisdom and Vnderstanding altho' as we have seen before he lodges the (m) Lib. de Corde Soul which is the same thing with the (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vnderstanding in the Left Ventricle of the Heart Hippocrates takes notice elsewhere that the Brain was (o) De loc in hom cloathed with two Membranes the one thick and the other thin We shall have further occasion to speak of the Brain and its Membranes when we
speak of the Senses and their Organs Of the NERVES If Hippocrates's Anatomy of the Brain be very scanty he has yet less of the Nerves To understand rightly the following Remarks we must take notice that the Greek Anatomists that came after Hippocrates distinguished three sorts of parts which were before confounded the Nerves called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are the passages of the Animal Spirits which communicates sense and motion to all the parts of the Body the Tendons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which come from the Muscles and serve to contract or extend the Members and the Ligaments 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which serve peculiarly to strengthen the Articulations of the Bones Hippocrates has given the first of these names indifferently to all the three parts so that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nerve did as well and as often signifie in him a Tendon and a Ligament He seems sometimes to mean by it a Nerve tho' according to Galen Hippocrates uses generally the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in that signification There is a passage in the pre-notions of Cos where he speaks of (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 internal Nerves and slender Nerves by which may be understood the Nerves properly so call'd There is likewise another passage wherein those names seem to be given to the true Nerves (b) Lib. de Oss Nat. The Rise or Origin of these Nerves says Hippocrates is from the back part of the Head continuing along the Spine of the Back to the Ischium whence come the Nerves which go to the Privities to the Thighs the Legs the Feet and the Hands and distribute themselves even to the Arms one part going into the Flesh the other along the Bone (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Perone to the Thumb while it traverses the flesh to the rest of the Fingers It goes also to the Blades of the Shoulders to the Breast and to the Belly through the Bones and through the Ligaments There come also others from the Privities which taking their course by the Anus tend toward the cavity of the Hips proceeding afterwards part upon the upper part of the Thigh and part under the Knees they continue to the Tendon and Bone of the Heel to the Feet and some to the Perone and some others to the Reins Hippocrates seems here to speak of real Nerves yet when he comes in the same Book to assign the use of the Nerves which he designs by the same name he confounds them with the Tendons The Nerves says he serve to bend to contract and extend the Members In this later place the word (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nerve may perhaps signifie a Tendon whereas in the former it signifies a Nerve But if Hippocrates knew the Nerves he seems to have been a stranger to their use for in the same passage he gives there the proper Office to the veins By the whole passage we may see what he thought of the uses of some other parts The Bones says he give the form to the Body and support it The Nerves bind contract and extend the Members The flesh and the skin unite all the parts together The veins which are spread thro' the whole body carry (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Spirit the flood or facility of flowing and the motion By these veins which carry the Spirit c. we are to understand the Arteries by what has been before observ'd of the Office Hippocrates allots them There is yet another passage in the fourth Book of Diet where he speaks of the passage of the spirits through the veins and through the blood and observes that 't is their natural way Convulsions the Palsie sudden Speechlesness and Vertigoes are there taken notice of as effects of the interception of the spirits in the veins and the Apoplexy seems to be intended by the name of (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Interception of the veins See anon the passage at length in the Chapter of Blood-letting As for the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which as we have said generally signify'd a Nerve we must examine the principal passages wherein it is found that we may give the truer judgment of it The following are the most considerable passages We shall first propose one wherein Hippocrates after having laid down some of the Symptoms that accompany a dislocation of the Thigh bone forward adds (g) Lib. de Artic. That in such a dislocation they feel abundance of pain and that there is a suppression of Vrine because the head of that bone presses upon very considerable Nerves so that it causes a Tumour in the Groin Galen upon this passage says (h) In Lib. de Artic. Comment 3. That by these considerable Nerves Hippocrates meant the Nerves which go along with the Vein and Artery thro' the Groin which are call d (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 considerable or of great power because they are near the spinal Marrow and come out at the same place with those that go to the bladder Hence it is that the head of the Thigh-bone being displaced this way the bladder it self suffers and such an inflamation arises that no Vrine can pass It sometimes also happens as Galen says That the Vrine is stoppâ—d with the greatness of the inflamation which reaches to the neck of the bladder and the sphincter Muscle and stops by that means the passage If the suppression of Urine spoken of arises from the compression of the Nerves design'd by Galen we should rather attribute this symptom to a Stupifaction or a sort of Palsie of the bladder than to an inflamation of it an inflamation being not so natural a consequence of the compression of the Nerves as numbness but Hippocrates himself seems to acknowledge that this inflamation is the effect of the pain preceding and this makes me suspect that by these Nerves he meant no more than the Fibrous and Tendinous parts of the Muscles of the bladder or near it We find in the same Book another passage wherein Hippocrates seems to design the Nerves by the name 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 If you would says he cauterize or burn the skin under the Arm-pits you must take care of going too forward or taking too much for fear of hurting some considerable Nerves which are near the Glands of that part Galen wou'd have it that Hippocrates here points at the Nerves that come from the spinal Marrow to the Arms and indeed it seems as if he cou'd mean nothing else Nevertheless what Hippocrates adds presently after perswades me that he designs nothing but the Tendons of the Muscles which draw the Arm downwards You must know says he that when you have lifted up the Arm very high you cannot lay hold on the skin of the Arm-pit at least not so as to extend it the Arm being lifted up the skin which was under the Arm-pit disappears or can't be pinch'd And you must further take care of the Nerves which in this posture
transparent the light and luminous bodies are (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 reflected and by this reflection vision is made Vision is not made by what is not Diaphanous and does not reflect The rest of the white about the eye is a sort of flesh and what we call the sight appears black because it is deep The Tunicles which are about it are black for the same reason We call says he a Membrane or Tunicle that which is like a skin which is no way black of it self but white and transparent As for the moisture which is in the eyes it is something viscid for we have sometimes seen after the breaking of the eye that there came out a thick humour which is liquid while it is warm but solid as Incense when it is cold Those that think that Hippocrates knew as much as we do now may say that he called the Optick Nerves veins 'T is true this name signifies variety of things in this Author for he gave it not only to the Arteries but likewise to the Vessels which contained no blood such as the Ureters because they are round long hollow and white like veins He does indeed sometimes distinguish certain veins by the Epithet of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 veins that hold blood but 't is not in opposition to the Nerves but to certain Vessels which he calls (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib de Ossium Nat. veins that are very slender and contain but little blood He talks also of a Nerve full of blood which according to Erotian shou'd be a vein tho' others understand by it the Panniculus Carnosus A learned Interpreter of Hippocrates pretends that he gave to some veins the Epithet of hollow to distinguish them from veins that were (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 vid. Foesii Oâ—comom Hippâ—c invoce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 solid but I find not this later word in Hippocrates tho the hollow veins there cited might be meant of the veins and arteries in general which are both hollow Vessels The same Interpreter says elsewhere (k) Id. in voce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that Hippocrates in one place comprehends under the name of Veins Nerves Tendons and Ligaments which he appears not to me to prove Rusus Ephesius tells us That the most ancient Greeks call the Arteries Nerves if it be true that Hippocrates called the Optick Nerves veins he ought to have said that the Ancients reciprocally called the Nerves by the names of Arteries and Veins All that we can gather from all this is that the inaccurateness of Hippocrates and other Authors of those Times in distinguishing different Vessels by different names shews that they had but a very superficial knowledge of them Perhaps the word (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vein was a term as general amongst them as (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that of Vessel amongst the Anatomists since which signifies indifferently a Vein Artery or Nerve or even the Vreters or any other parts that serve for the conveyance of Liquors or Spirits If it were so the Ancients run no risque when they call all the Vessels veins without distinction Of the FIBRES Before we quit the Nerves we must examine the Greek word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whose plural makes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by which it is pretended that Hippocrates signify'd equally a Fibre and a Nerve Some says Erotian will have this word to signifie a Nerve others explain it only of the Fibres whereof the Nerves are composed The Greek Authors that have written of Plants have call'd by this name the Nerves or Strings which appear on the back of Leaves and the strings at the end of Roots The Anatomists have given the same name to the small strings which are in the flesh and other parts and the Latins have translated it Fibrae Hippocrates has undeniably used the word in that sense as when he observes that the Spleen is full of strings or fibres He takes notice also of the Fibres in the blood but it is pretended likewise that he signified the Nerves by it To prove it a passage is cited where he says (a) De Ossiâ—m Natur. That the heart has Nerves or Fibres which come from all the Body He uses there the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which we find no where else but Foesius reads 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 This latter word may as well be rendred Fibre as Nerve that which inclines us to the later signification is what he adds as a proof That the Seat of Thought is rather about the Thorax than any other place of the body because this agrees with the opinion of those who bring the Nerves from the Heart as we shall see hereafter But perhaps neither the common reading nor that of Foesius are true And we ought to read with Cornarius 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habenas the Reins changing one letter it alters not the pronunciation This Author translates this passage thus The Heart is situated as in the Streights of a passage that it may hold the Reins for the guidance of the whole Body For this reason Thought has its Seat about the Thorax or Breast rather than any other part The changes of colour also are produced by the opening and shutting of the veins by the Heart when it opens them it looks fresh and lively when it shuts them we become pale and wan Of the MUSCLES There is little more to be found in Hippocrates concerning their Muscles than their name The following passage is the first that takes notice of them (a) Lib. de Arte. The parts whose flesh is turn'd round which is what we call a (b) MuÌ„s Muscle have all a belly or a cavity (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 For all that is not composed of parts of a different nature whether it be covered with a Membrane or whether the flesh covers it all that is hollow and while it is well it is full of spirit but when it is diseased it is fillâ—d with a sort of water or corrupted blood The Arms have flesh of this sort the Thighs and the Legs the same as well as the most meagre and fleshless parts We find in another place the word (d) De Off. Nat. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which can be nothing but an Adjective to 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is understood 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Musculi adductores or adstrictores The Muscles which serve to draw back or gather together He speaks there of the Anus I know not whether there be any other particular wherein the action of the Muscle is touch'd As for the names the succeeding Anatomists distinguish'd the Muscles he has spoken in one place of the Muscle call'd (e) Lib de Artic Psoas Of the Oesophagus of the Stomach or Ventricle and of the Guts (a) Lib. de Anatom The Oesophagus according to Hippocrates is a Tunnel which reaches from the Tongue to the Stomach which is the
was the only Medicine he not thinking it necessary neither to bleed or purge or do any thing more than nurse them after the manner below laid down We have seen likewise the use he made of bleeding and purging in inflamations such as the Pleurisie and Peripneumonie and his cautions in the use of them In the first of these distempers he attempted to abate the pain of the side or to dissipate the peccant matter by applying Fomentations upon the part In the case of the man that was not blooded till the eighth day of his Pleurisie he takes express notice that the Fomentations had not at all abated the pain which supposes him to have begun with them Fomentations were and have been a long time almost an universal Remedy and the use of Oyls Oyntments Cataplasms and other external Medicines was near as common as the sequel will shew Hippocrates did not only apply these Medicines to the part affected in the Pleurisie whose seat is in the side (a) De dlaeta in acutis He caused almost all the body and particularly the Loins and Thighs to be anointed Of those remedies which he gave inwardly in this distemper he appears to have relied most upon those which promoted (b) De locis in hom spitting He proposes also the following remedy (c) Diaeta acutis Take says he Sothernwood Pepper and black Hellebore boyl them in Vinegar and Honey and give it in the beginning of the distemper if the pain be urgent He prescribes in the same case as also in inflamations of the Liver and pains about the Diaphragm Panax boyl'd in the same Liquor and intimates that these Medicines serve to loosen the Belly and so provoke urine so that black Hellebore ordered in the first prescription must not be taken for a true purgative because it would have been against his principles but for a Medicine that only loosens the Belly gently and was about the strength of a Clyster In another place he allows urine (d) See the Chapter of Diet. to his Pleuriticks so it be not a strong Wine and it be well diluted He allows it likewise in a sort of inflamation of the Lungs and in a Lethargy which makes me the less surprized at his ordering Pepper in a Pleurisy and which is an argument that the intention of cooling or the fear of heating were not the strongest considerations upon which Hippocrates acted in the cure of acute distempers although he recommends elsewhere to Pleuriticks a drink made of Water and Vinegar into which he sometimes put a little Honey with an intention to moisten and expectorate Perhaps this Pepper Medicine was one of the empirical Remedies before spoken of the experience whereof he had without the reason In a Peripneumonie or inflamation of the Lungs his practice was much the same as in a Pleurisie We have seen before that he let blood frequently We shall only take notice here that he endeavoured to clear the Lungs by Medicines that attenuated or incided viscid matter and help'd expectoration He particularly for this purpose directs an (e) See the preceeding Chapter Electuary composed of Pine-apples Galbanum and Attick Honey We have seen that he ordered bleeding for those that suddenly lost their Speech or who had any sumptoms of an Apoplexy Palsy or Convulsions and other distempers of the like nature After this he orders vomiting and a purge of a great quantity (f) To the quantity of a dozen and sometimes of sixteen heminae See the Chapter of Purgers of Asses Milk But this latter Remedy seems rather design'd for those that were recovered of these distempers or had overcome the first fit The Fomentations likewise must have been used in the beginning For Convulsions in particular he gave Pepper and black Hellebore in Chicken Broth. He made them sneeze bath foment and anoint continually (g) De locis in homine In another place he orders a fire to be made on both sides the patients bed and gave him Mandiake Root in a small quantity and applied Bags very hot to the Tendons behind without specifying what Tendons he means In a Quinzy he opened the Veins of the Arm and under the Tongue and Breasts He gave Lambitives and Gargles which they were to use hot and used Fumigations as we have taken notice already He advises shaving the Head and to lay a Plaister to it as likewise the Neck which was also to be fomented and covered with Wool lib. 3. h In great peril of suffocation he pierced the Wind-pipe and put a Reed or Pipe into it When the disease began to abate he purged with Elaterium to prevent a relapse He began the cure of an Ileos by Vomiting also tho in this distemper they vomit of themselves too much as we have observed that he did in a Cholera (i) See the Chap. of Vomitives which is likewise a disease whose chief symptom is vomiting Afterwards he let blood from the Veins of the Arm and of the Head and cool'd all the Diaphragm not the Heart excepted and warm'd all those below (k) See the Chapter of outward Remedies by placing the patient in a vessel of warm water and afterward anointing him continually with Oyls or applying Cataplasms as hot as might be endured He used also upon these occasions Suppositors eight inches long made with Honey only and rubb'd at the end with Bulls Gall. This Suppositor having drawn away the nearest excrements he gave a Clyster But if the Suppository had no effect he thrust up the Anus the snowt of a pair of Bellows and having blown up the Belly and Intestines he drew the Bellows and gave the Clyster He gives a caution that this Clyster be made of things which do not heat very much but such as dissolve the excrements and after it is taken he orders the Anus to be stopt with a Sponge and the Patient be put into warm water and keep the Clyster as long as possible He begins his Cronical distempers with the Exsiccating disease describ'd before and taken notice of as a kind of a Hypochondriacal affection For the cure of this evil Hippocrates proposed first walking and exercise and in case of weakness to make use of some carriage and to make short Journeys He adds that they ought to take vomits and purges frequently to use cold Bathing in Summer and to anoint in Autumn and Winter with Oyls to drink Asses Milk or Whey to abstain from meats either sweet or oyly and to use cooling things and such as keep the Belly loose and to take Clysters He mentions (k) Epidem l. 5. sub pâ—inâ— See the Chapter of bleâ—ding the case of a young man something like the distemper we are speaking of thas was cured by repeated Bleeding His Pthysical patients he first purg'd with pretty violent purges such as the Berries of Thymelaea or Spurge After which he gave them Asses Milk or Cows Milk mixt with a third part
have taken notice of it than of a hundred other trifles with which he stuffs his Poem But to this we may answer That Homer not writing of Physick his silence is no argument on either side in this case If it be objected that he has spoken largely of Moly and Nepenthe it may be alledg'd that the Laws of Epick and Sublime Poetry allow it The * Tho there be a Plart still known by the name of â—omer's Moly yet it may be look'd upon as a Poctical Being rais'd only to serve the Poet's turn as an under Machine in the corduct of hâ—â—â—oem no such qualities appearing in reality in the Plant that bears the name Vide Odyff K. Moly being a sort of Counter-charm to Incantations was as natural an Instrument of this sort of Poetry as Enchantments themselves As for the †The same sentence may without temerity be prâ—nouned upon Nepeuthe T is rather a Machine than a Medâ—cine and as such only ought to be consider'd by those that criticize upon this passqge of Homer Thâ—se that sancy it to have been Opium must have very powerful imaginations to sind the Analogy between ' em Homer's was manifestly a Medâ—cine for the mind that was to comfort and raise the Spiriâ—s of Yelemachus who was dejected and desponding upon the account of his Father's absence and his Mother's troubles From one of the Epithets which Homer bestows upon it the Proper name signifying its chief property is formâ—d Vid. Odyâ—ssâ—â— Nepenthe tho' it were only Opium as some conjecture as t is a Drug of wonderful efficacy Homer might very well give it a place without derogating from the dignity of his Poem but when he spoke of the Remedies that Podalirius and Machaon us'd in case of wounds he contented himself with the general name of Lenitive Med'cines without specifying ' em If this Author's Reasoning wou'd hold good we might as lawfully infer that Purging was not us'd in Homer's time because he takes no notice of it which in my opinion is too improbable to be maintain'd A Second objection against the antiquity of Blood-letting may be rais'd upon the authority of Cicero who when he reports the inventions of the first and third Esculapius takes no notice of it Yet this hinders not but that it might be the invention of the second Esculapius of whom Tully says nothing but that he was brother to the second Mercury and slain by thunder What Diodorus and Herodotus report of the Physick of the Egyptians seems to prove that it was not practic'd by them their prescriptions being confin'd within the compass of Diet Clysters Purges and Vomits If Bloud-letting had been known to 'em 't was a remedy too considerable to have been forgotten But it may be answerâ—d that these Authors speak only of the ordinary niethods that were practic'd every day as if we should say the * The Author see us to be very much a stranger to the practice of the English Phâ—sicians who prescribe Bleeding as frâ—quently perhaps as most in the world tho not so indifferâ—ntly in all cases as in Spain c. English use Vomits very much the Germans Sudorifies which is no argument that they do not sometimes let Bloud tho in truth they do it but very seldom especially the latter and 't is probable Egypt being a Country much hotter than Greece that they let Bloud much more rarely Of the time when Bloud-letting was introduc'd we have nothing certain nor of those that first used it Hippocrates who is the antientest Author we have and the first that has mention'd Bleeding convinces us that 't was not a new Remedy in his time nor of late invention For tho he brings no formal arguments to the contrary yet we may naturally infer so much since in his time they open'd all the veins they do now those of the Arms the Feet the Forhead the Nose the Tongue c. They usâ—d likewise Cupping with Scarification and were grown bold enough to open the Arteries both by Instruments and Fire To arrive at all these different ways of letting Bloud does necessarily in my opinion requiro a long experience in that practice it being impossible to advance so far at the first step either in hardiness or ability As for Purgatives Cicero as we have seen ascribes the invention of 'em to the third Esculapius but supposing that as well as what Stephanus Byzantinus reports of Podalirius's letting Bloud to be a Fiction there are yet convincing proofs enough of their antiquity behind Herodotus the oldest Greek Historian and after him Diodorus reports that 't was usual with the Aegyptians to give a Med'cine that both purg'd and vomited This is imaginâ—d to be a fort of * The Author ought either to have nam'd some other Author of these conjectures or to have laid down his own reasons for 'em since neither of the Simples named by him nor any sort of Beer in common use has the qualities of the Egyptian Med'cine There is an herb in frequent use in many parts of England with the skilful old women in the Country that has both that is the Lâ—urcola or Spurge Lâ—wâ—â—l which will according to a vulgar errour among 'em work eiâ—â—er â—pwards or downwards as the Leaves which theâ— use are shipp'd from the Stalk but in truth will do either or both aâ—â—â—rding to the stâ—erâ—th of the dose and the Patients consâ—â—tation Tho' I think we nâ—â—d not be at much pains in guessing at it since almost all the Purging Medâ—â—â—nes most autiently us'd had both faculties viz. of moving to Stool and Vâ—mit such were Hellebore Elaterium Spurge c. This Mâ—d'cine waâ—â—â—llâ—d 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 whence 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to purge and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Purgation Rhadish or an Herb resembling Seleri or a composition like a sort of Beer The Antiquity of Purging may likewise be further supported by the reasons already alledg'd in favour of Bloud-letting that is by the variety of Purgatives already in use in the time of Hippocrates as Hellebore Elaterium Peplium Coloquintida Scammony and divers others It is not probable that all these Medâ—cines were discover'd at a time As for Elaterium there is no doubt but it was known long before having been in use among the Cnidian Physitians who preceeded Hippocrates There is yet less reason to doubt the antiquity of Hellebore if the history of Melampus be not fabulous But waving all these proofs I can't help believing Purgation to be very ancient for a reason founded upon the necessary consequence of an experience which must needs be almost as old as Mankind * If the prinâ—tive mannâ—r of living were such as in the beginning of this Book our Authâ—r and with him mâ—â—â— learned men suppose it to have been the simplicity of Men's diet which consisted chiefly if not altogether of Herbs and Fâ—uit shâ—â—'d rather have expos'd 'em to Diarrhaea's than Costiveness and the Symptoms that generally accompany the former which
are Gripes and Faiâ—nâ—â—â— being more immediate and terrible than those of the latâ—er the obserâ—ation of their own Bodies shou'd rather have discouragâ—d the use of Purgers had they known 'em than promoted an eâ—qutry after ' em 'T is probable thâ—â— the Medical use of Pargers was not known till afâ—â—â— a series of obsâ—â—â—â—tions had introduc'd a regular diet and taught 'em in some mâ—asure to â—â—â—per it to their occasions Then perhaps in obstinate and dangeroâ—s 〈◊〉 they â—â—â—ght venture farther by degrees But when that happen'd is next to â—â—up â—â—ible to determine As for the Stâ—ries of Brutes they may all as 〈…〉 of Melampus as the rest be rejected as Fables Neither Hellebore 〈…〉 other Parging â—â—â—t that we know of being so savoury as to 〈◊〉 Brutes to eat In these latter ages at least they will starve rather than be sâ—rc'd to it For t is impossible they shouâ—d have been long without observing the mischief of being costive and the relief of evacuation either by Stool or Vomit when the Stomach was oppress'd This probably must make 'em inquisitive after means to provoke Evacuations when they were suppress'd or when they found themselves overcharg'd Or perhaps some body having without design eaten some herb that purgâ—d him and finding himself better dispos'd and more healthy after it made his use of this casual experiment and afterwards repeated it upon himself or others that he thought had occasion or after all some body observing that some diseases went off with Diarrhaeas endeavour'd to imitate and assist Nature by such means as chance had taught 'em to loosen the Belly Some such reason as this apparently started the first hint of Bloud-letting For the first men observing that loss of Blood often gave a check to violent distempers or that large Hemorrhages at the Nose reliev'd pains in the Head and that Women were out of order when they wanted those evacuations attempted by Art to open a way for that Bloud which cou'd not make any for itself But tho some evacuations of Bloud be frequently necessary and of benefit in distempers it does not fellow that men shou'd as readily venture to imitate Nature in this case as in that of Purging This latter voiding only excrements by the natural way whereas Bleeding takes away a liquor that appears so necessary to the support of life that we scarce part from it without some horror and that too is let out by an unusual way besides that Purgers were found out by chance and taken into the bodies of the first men as their Food which canâ—t be said for Blood-Letting 'T is certain therefore that Purging is much more naturally indicated than Blood Letting and that more reasoning was requisite to induce Men to open a Vein than to give a Purge and for that reason I believe Purgation to be the eldest Pliny I know tells us that we are oblig'd to the Hippopotamus or Sea-horse who being by over-feeding grown too fat and heavy pricks a certain Vein in his Leg upon the most pointed thorn he can find and when he has drawn Bloud enough stops the wound with Mud whence Men had a precedent for Bloud-letting We may tack this relation to another the same Author gives us in his next Chapter that the Ibis taught Men the use of Clysters by putting his bill full of Sea-Water into his Fundament Not but that Brutes might possibly teach men the use of divers Remedies But 't was in them as well as men an accidental experiment So (b) Vide Chap. 11. Mclampus's Goats having eaten Hellebore more by chance than by what we call Instinct and their Master taking notice of it help'd him to the discovery of a great Medcine * A more plausible story than any of these Virgil tells us of his Goats Aencid xii Dictamnum genetrix Cretea carpit ab Idâ Puberibus caulem Solus Flore comantem Puâ—puâ—eo non illa seres incognita caâ—ris Gramina cum stigo volucres haesere sagittâ—e Whether this story be more admirable for the Sagacity ascrib'd to those Brutes or the power of the Herbs I leave those to dispute who have more leisure but it has a great many Naturalistâ—â—or Vouchers 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 They say that the Goats in Crete when they are struck with an Arrow eat Dittany and the Arrow immediateâ—â—â—â—ops from ' em Aristâ—◠〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Id. Hist anim lib. 9. Elian. Hist Var. l 〈…〉 Dâ—osâ—or l. 3. c. 37. Val. Max. l. 1. c. 8. Plutarch de Solert Aniâ—â—◠〈…〉 Grylâ—o Cic de Divin 3. Issdor c. Notwithstanding 〈…〉 great names the Reader is left to believe as he pleases of the â—ct The same may be said of what some (c) Galen Introduct Authors report that the way of Couching Cataracts was learnt by observing that Goats that were troubled with 'em recoverâ—d their sight by having prickt their Eyes with rushes or thorns as they brush'd thro' the Woods If this be not as very a Fable as those of the Hippopotamus or Ibis 't is at most but a lucky accident of which good use has been made Perhaps likewise even without the aid of chance the first Men might designedly try upon Brutes the effects of Simples unknown before they ventur'd on 'em themselves This way too Brutes might teach the use of 'em but not in the Sense of the Naturalists No body ventures to say that â—â—utes taught men the use of poisons drawn from the Bowels of the Earth of which nevertheless there are but too many CHAP. XXI Epione Wife to ESCULAPIUS Hygiaea Aegle Panacaea and Jaso his Daughter THe Etymology of these names shews 'em to be meer creatures of a wanton (a) Pausan in Achaic Fancy and a continuation only of the Sun 's being the Author of Physick under the name of Apollo Esculapius is also taken for the Air. Hygiaea that is Health is call'd his Daughter because our health depends chiefly upon the Air. Aegle Light or Sunshine signifies that Air illuminated and purified by the Sun is the best Jaso and Panacaea which signify Healing and an universal Remedy insinuate to us that a good air cures all distempers These four Sisters are feign'd to be daughters of the Air to shew that we are beholding to the Air for Health and all the blessings we are to hope from Medâ—cine this Air is suppos'd to be Son of the Sun because to dispose it for the advantage of Health it must be as it were animated by that Star from which it receives all its good qualities To carry on the Allegory Esculapius's Wife is named (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lenifying Hepione as if she shar'd with her Husband the faculty of asswaging Pain This sham Esculapius and his Fantastick Family confirm what we advanc'd before that there never was any Esculapius of Greece As for Podalirius and Machaon who might perhaps be Men really present at the Siege of Troy in quality of Physitians or Surgeons
the great Artery only in all the succeeding Anatomists hâ—â— Hippocrates under that name comprehends the Vena Arteriosa also the Aortae These Membranes are disposed by pairs for to every Orifice Nature has fram'd three which are round above in the form of a Semi-circle Those that know these Membranes wonder how they can shut the Aortae And if any one (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Which words Foesius translates thus Siquis veteris instituti probè gnarus mortui animalis corde exempto hanc quidem demat illam vero reclinet neque aqua in cor penetrare nec Flatus emitti poterit And Cornarius much after the same manner Siquis veteris eximendi cor mortui moris goarus aliam auferat aliam reclinet neque aqua c. Why these Translators render the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 by that of Mos or Institutum which it does not signifie is a mystery to me it ought to be translared Ordo with relation to the Membranes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to Erotian is an Attick Word signisâ—ing 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or Order I explain alsâ— the Word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ancient by the term Natural 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ordo vetus seu naturalis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 says Erotian 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 auferat I read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 firmet which I suppose to be the true reading but that the former crept into its place through the error of the Copists misled by affinity of the sound of those two Words who understands the ancient Order or the natural Order and Disposition of this Membrane takes out one rank or keeps one rank stretch'd and closes the other neither water nor wind can get into the Heart These Membranes are disposed with more Art or more Exactness on the Left-side than the Right The reason of this is because the Soul of Man or the Reasonable Soul which is above the other Soul has its Seat in the Left ventricle of the Heart This Soul has not its nourishment from the Meat which comes from the Belly but from a pure luminous Matter separated from the Blood This Matter which serves for Aliment to the Soul is abundantly furnished from the neighbouring Receptacle of the Blood and casts its Rays round as the Natural nourishment which comes from the Intestines and Belly is distributed into all parts and for fear lest that which is contained in the Artery shou'd hinder the course of the nourishment of the Soul and give a check to its motion the Orifice of this Artery is closed as aforesaid for the great Artery is nourished from the belly and intestines and not by this first or principal nourishment But the great Artery is not nourished by the blood which we see as is manifest by opening the left ventricle of any Animal for we find it quite empty or find nothing in it but serous humour or a little Bile and the aforesaid Membranes but the Artery is never without blood nor the right ventricle This Vessel therefore gave occasion to the making of those Membranes for the passage out of the right ventricle is likewise furnished with Membranes but the blood moves upon that side but feebly This way is open on the side to carry the blood thither for its nourishment but it is shut towards the heart so that way is left for the air to pass insensibly from the lungs to the heart not in great quantities for the heat which in this part is but feeble wou'd be over-power'd by the cold the blood not being naturally warm no more than water which receives its heat from elsewhere tho most believe it 's hot in its own nature This Book of the Heart will give us the greatest Idea of the Anatomy of Hippocrates and his exactness but it is one of those that is not acknowledgâ—d either by Erotian or Galen What the Author says in the beginning of this Book of the passage of one part of the drink into the Lungs being a very ancient Opinion and maintained by Plato who must have it from the Physicians that preceded him of which Hippocrates was most considerable we might infer that the Book in which this Opinion is maintained is his but those who forged this Book might on purpose insert this opinion to warrant its antiquity We shall see hereafter further proofs that it is spurious in the Chapters of Aristotle and Erasistratus This opinion is repeated in the Book of the Nature of the Bones It is indeed amply refuted in the fourth book of Diseases but most Authors agree this later book not to be Hippocrates's We shall find something more of importance in the Chapters of the Fibres We have seen already three different Opinions taken from the Writings of Hippocrates concerning the Origin of the Veins there is yet a fourth and what is more particular This later opinion is to be found in the same book with the third I mean the book of the Nature of the Bones in which the Veins are derived from the Head The passage is this The veins which are spread thro' the body and which give it (p) See the Chapter of the Nerves the spirit the flux and the motion are all branches of one Vein whence it draws its Origin or it terminates I know not but supposing a Circle a beginning is not to be found Something like this is what we read in (q) De locis in hom sub initia another place There is no origin or beginning in the body but the parts are equally both beginning and end for in a Circle there is no beginning There are some other passages parallel to these (r) Lib. de Alâ—men The nourishment comes from the inward parts to the hair nails and outward superficies It goes likewise from the external parts and superficies to the internal All agree consent and conspire together in the body And a little after (s) Ibid. The great Principle reaches to the extremities and the extremities to the great Principle (t) Ibid. The Milk and the Blood come from the superfluity of the nourishment or are the remainder of the nourishment of the body (u) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The same word is to be found in the first book of Diet. We find there likewise these following words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to turn about 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 gyration or turning round 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 terms used by Hippocrates to signifie the Mechanism of our bodies by an allusion to the methods used by Artificers of all sorts in their Shops The Circulations go a great way in relation to the Faetus and to the nourishment after the nourishment is perform'd what remains returns and turns to Milk and becomes nourishment to the Mother and afterwards to the Faetus And again the same way which leads upwards leads also downwards or there is but one way which goes both upwards and downwards
place where the Meat it putrified or is concocted We find both these expressions in Hippocrates He calls the Stomach in the passage we have cited the putrifying Belly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 (b) Lib. de Aliment He uses elsewhere the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is which begins to putrifie speaking of the nourishment or food in the stomach But we find much oftner the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Coction and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 to Concoct This digestion according to him is made by the heat of the Stomach which he calls a part all Nervous which joins to the Liver on the Concave-side We must further take notice that the words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 signifie the same thing in our Author The latter signifies often in Hippocrates the Orifice or mouth of any Vessel or part whatsoever as of the Bladder of Gall the Matrix c. (c) Lib. de Anatom Hippocrates seems not to distinguish more than two Guts one which is straight about the length of a dozen Cubits being afterwards full of folds some says he call it Colon. And he observes in another place (d) De Morb. Epidem This Gut in a Man is like that of a Dog but that in a Man it is bigger This Gut is suspended by or fasten'd to a part which he calls Mesocolon that is the middle of the Colon and that part it self is fasten'd to the Nerves which come from the spine of the back and pass under the belly The second named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 is furnished with abundance of flesh all round and ends in the Anus Elsewhere he says This latter Gut is Porous and adds some particulars concerning the Intestines which shall be remembred when we come to the Reins Of the LIVER Hippocrates says of the Liver that it abounds more with blood than the rest of the Bowels and that there are in it two eminencies which they call Ports He says further That the Liver has five Lobes or is divided into five Parts We have seen before that he has made in another place the Origin of the Veins He observes that several Bronchiae pass from the Heart to the Liver and with these Bronchiae the great vein by which the whole body is nourished He elsewhere calls this vein (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Liver-vein he assigns to the Liver the Office of separating the Bile which it does by the means of its veins which draw whatever is Bilious or proper to make Bile in the Aliment Of the SPLEEN The Spleen beginning from the last of the short Ribs on the Left-side stretches its self out like the print of a Manâ—s foot it receives one vein that divides it self into an infinite number of strings like the threads of a Spiders web which are full of blood and diffused through its whole substance It is fasten'd or hangs to the Omentum which it furnishes with blood by divers small veins Hippocrates says in one place that the Spleen is (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fibrous He says also that it is soft and spungy and by that means draws from the Ventricle which it is near to part of the moisture which comes from the drink the rest being afterwards suckâ—d up by the Bladder of Urine Of the LUNGS The Lungs have according to Hippocrates five Lobes like the Liver they are cavernous rare and pierced with divers holes like Spunges (a) De prise Med. For this reason it draws from the neighbouring parts the moistures they contain Of the Membrane which separates the Belly from the Breast The name which Hippocrates gives to this Membrane which separates the Belly from the Breast is the same by which the Greeks signify'd (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Mind or Vnderstanding The most ancient Physicians called it so out of a perswasion that it was the Seat of the Understanding making it to divide the function attributed as we have seen before to the Heart which is near it Not that this was the generally received opinion it was believed false even in the time of Hippocrates If the book of the Falling Sickness be his the Author of this book expresses himself thus The Part which is called Phrenes is falsly so callâ—d and at random This name is grounded upon an b opinion and not upon any thing real for I sce not how this part contributes to Prudence or Understanding All that it does is that when any one is surprized with any great and sudden joy or grief it beats and causes thereby a sort of uneasiness or pain for it is sine and more strongly upon the stretch than any other part of the body having no belly or cavity to receive what is good or what is bad but being alike encumbred with one or t'other This part says he perceives or has sense but it is not the Seat of Wisdom no more than the Heart wherefore the name of this is as improper as that of the Ears of the Heart which have no hearing In another place Hippocrates says of this Membrane That it has its Origin near the Back-bone behind the Liver and in one that it is nervous and strong He says yet in another place That this Membrane causes madness and folly when the blood stagnates there or moves too slowly Of the Reins the Ureters and Bladder of Urine Our Author speaking of (a) De Off. Nat. the Reins numbers them amongst the Glands or at least he seems to think that they have Glands and those more gross than the rest of the body but it seems more probable that he meant the Glands near them whatever they were than those of this part He had said a little before to the same purpose That the Intestines had the biggest of all which drew the moisture therein contained He believed That the Reins drew likewise the moisture from the nearest Glands and sent it to the Bladder He supposed in another place That this moisture came from the drink and that the Reins by a faculty peculiar to themselves having suck'd a part from the veins near which they are situated it filtred or run through the substance of â—em like water and descended into the bladder by the veins which lead thither while the rest of the drink soak'd immediately thro' the Intestines into the same bladder the Intestines or Intestine being very spungy and porous in the part contiguous to it Of the Organs and manner of Generation We find in Hippocrates the names of the principal parts distinguishing the bâ—xes but he says nothing of their structure He has this only concerning the Vesiculae Seminales That there are on either side the Bladder little bodies like â—oney combs in which the seed is contained He believed that it came from all parts of the body but particularly from the Head descending by the veins behind the Ears down the spinal Marrow and into the Reins As for the manner
but if we observe the constant Custom of Hippocrates to take exact notice of the Seasons in which or after which the Diseases that he would describe appear'd we shall see that whatever distemper he speaks of even the Plague it self he mentions nothing but the ordinary changes of the Air as hot or cold or moist or dry For example That a rainy Spring was preceded by a moist Winter or followed by a scorching Summer that such and such Winds blew c. without saying one single word of the particular and hidden qualities of the Air which are supposed to produce extraordinary distempers 'T is true there are some passages in his Writings on which they pretend to found the occult qualities aforesaid which Galen admitted as well as the Modern Authors before cited We find there first the very word (x) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 lib. de Aliment hidden Cause Galen affirms that when Hippocrates speaks of Epidemical Distempers which he says come from the Air or that which we breathe which is charged with (y) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which Galen renders 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 an unwholsome vapour or a vapour proper to breed Diseases that this unwholsome vapour did not act according to the ordinary qualities but by an occult property absolutely inexplicable Yet I don't see that Hippocrates has explain'd himself concerning the nature of this Vapour nor the influence of the Stars or their manner of acting upon inferior Bodies tho' he supposes their action This vapour seems what he in another passage calls (z) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 inquinamenta lib. de Flat Impurities or Infections of the Air but he says not wherein this infection â—onsists We shall close what relates to the Causes of Distempers with this Remark That in the same place where Hippocrates derives all Epidemical distempers from the Air he endeavours to prove that they do not come from the Aliments like ordinary distempers where we see that according to him the Air is the most general Cause of all Diseases The Humours and Spirits being as we have seen the Causes of Health and Sickness the solid or containing Parts which are the third sort of substance in the composition of Animal Bodies must be the subject of them because they are sound or unsound according to the good or ill disposition which the humours and spirits produce in them and as the impressions made upon them by foreign bodies and those things that are without them are beneficial 〈◊〉 mischievous This consequence may be justly drawn from several passages of Hippocrates such as the two following (a) De Nat. hum When says he any of the humours is separated from the rest and lodges apart the place from whence it came must be out of order and likewise that where it is lodged in too great quantity suffers sickness and pain The second passage is this (b) Ibid. That the Diseases which come from any part of the body that is considerable are the most dangerous for says he if the disease (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 must rest that is to say lâ—dge in the place where it began when a Part that is of great importance suffers the whole body must suffer We find no Train nothing prosecuted far concerning the difference of Distempers in Hippocrates all that we can gather is That the different Causes of which we have spoken and the different Parts of the Body produce as great a variety of Distempers according to this passage (d) Lib. de Aliment the differences of Diseases arise from the following things From the nourishment the heat the blood the flegm the bile and all the humours As likewise from the flesh the fat the veins the arteries the nerves the muscles the membranes the bones the brain the spinal marrow the mouth the tongue the throat the stomach the intestines the diaphragm the belly the liver the spleen the reins the bladder the womb and the skin Some of these distempers Hippocrates held to be the mortal others dangerous the rest easily curable according to the Cause from whence they sprung and the Parts upon which they fell He distinguishes likewise Diseases in several places from the time of their duration into (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 acute or short and (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 chronical or long this likewise is referr'd to the different Causes before-mentioned acute Diseases being caught by the bile and the blood in the flower of Mans age or in Spring time and Summer The Chronical on the contrary are produc'd by the flegm or the melancholy in old Age and in the Winter Of these distempers some are more acute than others the like of the Chronical We shall see in the sequel the duration of one as well as t'other Hippocrates distinguishes distempers likewise by the particular Places where they are prevailed whether ordinary or extraordinary The first that is those that are frequent and familiar to certain Places he call'd (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Endemick Diseases and the latter which ravag'd extraordinarily sometimes in one place sometimes in another with which at certain times numbers were seized at once he call'd Epidemick that is Popular Diseases as the Plague the most terrible of all He made likewise a third oppos'd to the former which he call'd (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 straggling distempers including all the different sorts of distempers which invade at any one season in a word those distempers some of one sort and some of another He distinguish'd those which were born with us or were (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 hereditary from those that were contracted afterwards He made a difference likewise betwixt those of (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a kindly nature and those of a malignant the first of those which are easily cured and frequently the second those which give the Physicians a great deal of trouble and are seldom overcome by all their care Of the remarkable Changes that happen in Diseases particularly of the Crises and Critical days Hippocrates made four Stages in Distempers the (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 beginning of the Disease its augmentation its state or heighth and its declination These last are Diseases that end happily for in others Death supplies the place of the declination In the third Stage therefore the change is most considerable for it determines the fate of the sick Person which is usually or oftenest done by means of a Crisis Hippocrates call'd Crisis that is Judgment any sudden mutation in sickness whether for the better or the worse whether health or death immediately succeed This change according to him is made by Nature at that time Absolving or Condemning a Patient To apprehend his meaning aright we must recollect his Idea of Nature which he represents as the Directress of the whole Animal Oeconomy If therefore Diseases be only a disturbance of this Oeconomy as we may
those of the fourth U. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 UVula relax'd (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Uvula contracted (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Uvula as it were dissolved or corrupted (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Varices veins swoln or very much dilated Varix of the Lungs (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veins obstructed that hinder the motion of the blood (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Veins throwing out blood upon the brain v. in the following Classes (g) This disease is describâ—d by Hippocrates but he gave it no particular name Virgins the Diseases of Virgins (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Ulcers (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Erotian Ulcers of the head with a running humour like honey (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 those which he calls 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is to say that eat and corrode there are several sorts of ' em Ulcers malignant and corroding (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Fistulous Ulcers v. Fistula (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Scrophulous Ulcers v. Kings Evil and Tumours (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Urine stopp'd difficulty of making water Urine coming out drop by drop v. Dysury Strangury W. (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 itâ—s a common name to all distempers of the Womb but it signifies also in particular the suffocation of the Womb. WOmb several distempers of it (aa) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It s being out of its proper place (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The falling down of the Womb. (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Suffocation of the Womb and Mother The swelling of the Womb caus'd by water or wind v. Dropsie Excrescence of flesh growing at the entrance of the outward neck of the Womb v. Pudenda swelling and hardness of the orifice of the Womb. The closing of it causing barrenness or suppression of the Months The folding or twisting of the orifice The orifice too much open Womb putrify'd inflamâ—d full of phlegm ulcerated cancerated c. v. further on the cure of the Diseases of Women (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A Wart Tubercule or little swelling on the Eye-lids (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Wounds (f) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Warts (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worms (h) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worms round and long (i) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Large and smooth (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Worms call'd Ascarides which are about the Anus and sometimes in the Pudenda of Women (l) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vertigo (m) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Vertigo with a mist over the eyes You see what are the Diseases of the first Class which we leave at the present with a design to give the definition or the more exact description of them and to observe some other circumstances relating to their Nature Signs and Causes in the Chapter of Galen CHAP. VII The distempers of the second Class or that have not preserv'd the names which Hippocrates gives them tho' they have been known by the accidents or symptoms that he ascribâ—d to them THis is the description that Hippocrates gives of a disease he calls (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the drying or dry disease These says he that are seiz'd with it can neither be without eating nor can their stomachs bear or digest what they have eaten When they don't eat their Guts rumble and make a noise and they feel a pain in the orifice of their stomach they vomit sometimes one sort of humour sometimes another They throw up Bile Spittle Phlegm and acrid Matter and after they have vomited they think themselves a little better But when they have taken any nourishment they are troubled with belchings their face looks red and they burn like fire They think they have a great occasion to go to Scool and when they come there oftentimes nothing but wind comes from them They have pains in their head and feel prickings all over their body sometimes in one part sometimes in another as if they were prickâ—d with Needles Their Lâ—gs are heavy and feeble they consume away and grow weak by little and little He adds further This distemper is of long continuance and does not leave the Patient till hes old supposing he does not die before that time This description agrees pretty well with a disease which is callâ—d in the following discourse the Disease of the Hypochondra That which Hippocrates calls the Belching Disease that is to say where they belch frequently is a species or branch of the same as well as the black distemper he speaks of a little after As to the disease which he names (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Care a grievous disease Care that according to his report is very dismal you may place it under the melancholy distempers of which Hippocrates himself speaks in another place and which we have put amongst those of the precedent Class In this distemper says he you feel something like a thorn pricking your entrails Those that are taken with it are extreamly restless and unquiet they avoid the light and company they are pleas'd with darkness and are afraid of every thing the Membrane that parts the Abdomen from the Breast swells out When you touch them they fell pain and are very much afraid of being hurt they dream horrid dreams and think they see of a sudden frightful Objects or dead Bodies CHAP. VIII The Diseases of the third Class which are those which Hippocrates gave no name to but which we mây or think we may know by the description he gives of them HIppocrates speaking of the accidents that happen to those that have a large Spleen says That their (a) Prorrhetic lib. 2. gums are corrupted and their breath smells ill He adds That if they have not some Hemorrhage and the mouth does not smell ill they are troubled with Vlcers and Cicatrice's or black spots on their Legs Some pretend 't is the distemper which Pliny speaks of and is at this time very common amongst the Northern People Hippocrates in another place giving an exact relation of several accidents that accompanied a distemper that was become Epidemick and of which he observes more died than lived after it says That the accidents or symptoms were reduc'd to these (b) Epidem lib. 3. sect 3. Erysipelas's or malignant Tetters sore Throat with hoarsness a burning Fever with a delirium corroding Vlcers in the mouth swellings on the Pudenda inflamations of the Eyes Carbuncles disorders in the Bowels great loss of Appetite troubled Vrine and in large quantities sometimes doziness and at another time watchings no entire or perfect ceasing of these disorders so as for the better or to be termâ—d a happy conclusion of them but a change that produced Dropsies and Consumptions After having begun in this manner he adds That in several of these Patients the very small Vlcers degenerated into Tetters or Erysipelas's
which spread themselves in all Parts of the body and came particularly about the head to Men of sixty years of age upon the least neglect of their distemper At the same time says he further That they actually applied remedies of a sudden there arose Inflamations and Tetters which spread themselves all about When these Tetters came to suppuration you might see flesh and Tendons fall off from several and their bones come away from them and that which runs from these Vlcers was not like to purulent Matter but was a particular sort of corruption of several colours and in great aboundance Those also that happenâ—d to have the same about the Head lost their hair from the Part as also from the Chin the bones were seen altogether waked and some of them dropt off These symptoms were sometimes with a Fever sometimes without and commonly they were in greater fear than danger at least those when in the distemper the Matter came to a good digestion and suppuration for they most of them escap'd But those whose Erysipelas or Inflamation did not suppurate almost all of them died in whatever Part the Erysipelas came the same thing happen'd From one a whole Arm wouâ—d fall off that is to say it wou'd iutirely loose all the flesh that cover'd it With another the sides or any part of the body before or behind were exposâ—d to the same danger And it sometimes happenâ—d that the whole Hip Leg or Foot were left altogether naked without any flesh but those whose Abdomen or Privy Parts were touch'd with it sufferâ—d more than all the rest I have drawn at length the description of this distemper that we may compare it with that of some others which we shall speak of in the sequel of this History and which have been lookâ—d upon by the greatest part of Physicians as new and not known in the time of Hippocrates nor a long time after him altho' they are found accompanied with symptoms which have a relation with some of those we have touchâ—d upon You 'll find also other examples of diseases which have been thought new in regard to those that are found describ'd in Hippocrates or which they pretend had their beginning at a certain time 'T is what weâ—ll inquire into as opportunity shall offer it self and 't was chiefly in regard to this that I thought my self oblig'd at least to give an account of the Names of the diseases this ancient Physician had knowledge of that as we have already said we might compare his descriptions with those that follow We may put in this Class the distemper peculiar to the Scythians which Herodotus makes mention of and attributes to the anger of Venus Vrania whose Temple was pillaged by them This is what Hippocrates has writ of it Many says he among the Scythians become Eunuchs do every thing that Women are accustom'd to do and talk or discourse as if they were so from whence they are call'd Effeminate The Inhabitants of the Country that impute the Cause of this distemper to God or the Deity have a great veneration for those that are seizâ—d with it and in a manner worship them for fear the same thing shouâ—d happen to themselves For my part continues Hippocrates I believe truly that these sorts of distempers are Divine as well as others and that there 's no distemper more Divine or Humane one than another but that they are all Divine that every one has its particular nature and that there is never a one where Nature has not its part I 'll tell you then from whence I think this malady comes The Scythians are subject to certain Rheumatisms on the Joints which are very stubborn and continue a long time which happens to them because they are continually on Horseback and their Legs hanging down When this distemper has had its period they become Lame by reason of the contraction of their Thighs and the manner of their management is this At the beginning of this distemper they open the veins behind the Ears and being weakenâ—d and dispirited by the loss of a great quantity of blood they fall asleep and some of them when they awake find themselves well In my opinion they ruine themselves by this manner of management for those that have their veins behind their Ears openâ—d become uncapable of generation and that 's their misfortune When they come to their Wives and find they are not fit for enjoyment they are not immediately much concernâ—d but when they find they continue impotent then they imagine they have offended the God or the Divinity to whom they ascribe the cause of their disgrace After which they take the habit of a Woman and publickly declare they are no longer Men they converse with the Women and appear in all respects as such We must observe that there are none but the richest of the Scythians or those of the greatest quality that are subject to this disease and that the poor are never seiz'd with it without doubt the reason of it is because the first are almost always on Horseback and the latter but seldom If this disease was more divine than others it ought not to attack the wealthiest and the greatest Men only but be equally common to all It shou'd rather happen that the poor People shou'd be more expos'd than the rich especially if the Gods take pleasure that Men shou'd admire and adore them and for that reason bestow their benefits on them For the rich offer Sacrifices and Oblations to 'em serve 'em and erect Statues oftner than the poor because they have wherewithal to do it whereas the other have not and instead of adoration oftentimes curse the Gods that they have not given them Plenty and Riches So that it wouâ—d be more agreeable to reason that the poor and needy shouâ—d be punish'd with this disease for their wickedness rather than the rich This distemper then is truly Divine as I said at first but all others are so too and come naturally at the same time to all People The opinion of Hippocrates concerning the distinction that the Gods ought to make between the Rich and the Poor in relation to Sacrifices might give an occasion to some to accuse him of taking too great a liberty in Matters of Religion but they might as well and with the same reason blame Homer when in several places he introduces Jupiter laying aside all business to go and take part of a Collation that is to say to sup up the smoak of a Sacrifice of the Ethiopians with all the Train of Gods after him It appears also by what Hippocrates says relating to the cause of this distemper that he was not at all superstitious as we have observ'd before and his thoughts on this subject are very well worthy of the Age in which Socrates liv'd with whom he was almost contemporary It seems probable to others that this distemper of the Scythians fell upon the Rich oftner than the Poor by the
other times when he intended to purge more strongly he took the flower of Copper and Hellebore after that he shook the Patient violently by the shoulders the better to loosen the Pus This Remedy which is found in (b) De morbis lib. 2 de internis affectionibus two places of the Works of Hippocrates is attributed by Galen to the Cnidien Physicians which we have spoke of in the precedent Book The Physicians of the succeeding Ages have practis'd it no more whether they had no Patients that wou'd suffer it or whether they thought it of no benefit which is most probable These ancient Physicians invented this Remedy to raise a cough upon what they observed that it was the only means by which the Pus cou'd be naturally evacuated from the Breast and be as it were pump'd out of the Lungs CHAP. XVI Whether Hippocrates made use of Purgations or Superstitious Purifications which we spoke of above WE have seen in the first Book of our History that Melampus and Polyides us'd certain Purgations or Expiations which had regard to Crimes as well as Distempers It seems Hippocrates also approv'd of this practice when he says (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Lib. de decenti habitu That a Physician ought to have knowledge of the Purgatives or Purifications beneficial to life (b) A Modern Translator of Hippocrates Cornarius has understood it this way and in effect we cannot explain this passage or word otherwise for he does not treat here of the Purgations that we spoke of in the foregoing Chapter And the other Interpreters or Commentators on Hippocrates that have taken it in this latter sense are mistaken But we may say That seeing he meets with variations in the Original (c) Some Manuscripts read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the singular which intirely alters the sence and that signifies nothing if you don't refer it to the follewing word which is also very obscure Manuscripts in relation to the word in question and that all this passage there being compris'd in it that which immediately follows is but obscure perhaps Hippocrates meant to speak quite another thing (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 A freedom from Superstition which is one of the qualities he requires in a Physician in the same place where he makes a parallel betwixt a Philosopher and one of this Profession appears contrary to it For how indeed does the necessity which he wou'd impose on a Physician to understand purifications which consisted of some superstitious ceremonies agree with the freedom from every thing that is superstitious It 's true that another translator of Hippocrates's reads this last word otherwise and takes it (e) Calvus translates as if â—e had read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in the contrary sense But the inclining to superstition or a superstitious fear of the Gods is not that which they have accus'd the Philosophers of no more than the Physicians between whom they say Hippocrates endeavours to make a comparison in this passage We have nothing to do besides but to read the Book intitled of the Sacred Distemper to see how Hippocrates openly laughs at all the ridiculous ceremonies they practis'd in his time to cure this distemper and in particular the expiations and purifications they perform'd on this occasion We will not relate any thing he has said above to avoid being tedious we 'll only remark that he puts those that meddled with expiations Magicians Mountebanks and impudent Boasters that promise more than they mean and have nothing to perform Weâ—ll remark I say that he puts all these sorts of fellows in the same rank ending a long discourse which he makes on this subject with these words more worthy of a Christian than a Pagan as he was It is says he the Deity that purifies us and washes us from our greatest sins and from our most enormous crimes It is the Divinity which protects us and it is only in the Temples which are the habitations of the Gods that we ought to seek to purisie ourselves of whatâ—s unclean I know this Book to be suppos'd to belong to some other Author But however it be that Hippocrates used only remedies purely natural and never proposed any superstitious ones is an Argument he was never for them We may see further how he elsewhere (f) Lib. de his quae ad virginem spectaut rallies the women of his time that were troubled with the Mother for offering to Diana rich Garments He does not stick to say that the Priests who advis'd these poor women thus abused them wretchedly CHAP. XVII Of Blood-letting and of the Application of Cupping-Glasses BLood-letting was another method of evacuating or taking away the superfluity of what was in the Vessels and parts which Hippocrates us'd Another aim he had in it was to divert or recall the course of the Blood which was going where it ought not to be A third end of bleeding was to procure a free motion of the Blood and Spirits as we may gather from the following passage (a) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 He says elsewhere in the same sense 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 the Bladder slopt When any one becomes speechless of a sudden Hippocrates says it is caus'd by the shutting of the Veins especially when it happens to a person otherwise in good health without any outward violence In this case the inward vein of the right Arm must be open'd and more or less blood taken away according to the age and constitution of the Patient Those that lose their Speech thus have great flushings in the face their Eyes are stiff their Arms are distended their Teeth gnash they have palpitations of the Arteries they cannot open their Jaws the Extremities are cold (b) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Interceptiones Spirituum in venis and the Spirits are intercepted in the Veins If pain ensues it is by the accession of the black Bile and sharp humours For the Internal parts being vellicated or irritated by these humours suffer very much and the Veins being also irritated and dried distend themselves extraordinarily and are inflam'd and draw all that can flow to them so that the Blood corrupting and the Spirits not being able to pass through the Blood (c) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 their natural passages by their ordinary passages the parts grow cold by reason of this Stagnation of the Spirits Hence comes giddiness loss of speech and convulsions If this disorder reaches to the Heart the Liver or to (d) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 It ought to be observ'd that he makes no mention here of the brain nor of the nerves the great Veins From hence come also Epilepsies and Palsies if the defluxions fall upon the parties nam'd and that they dry up because the Spirits are deny'd a passage thro them In this case after Fomentation a Vein must be open'd while the Spirits and Humours are yet (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 suspended
day and let out abundance of blood as was necessary If he blooded upon the eighth day in the case here mentioned we have still more reason to believe he did it in the preceeding On the other side it is not probable that he should forget to mention it in a case wherein it was his ordinary practice especially when he puts down Remedies of much less importance not omitting so much as a Suppositor Since therefore says Galen there lies some difficulty upon either of these opinions we ought to determin for that which has least This being supposed I am of opinion that it was used to several of these Patients but that the mention of it was omitted in the History of their cases as a thing suppos'd of course And I rather subscribe to this Opinion because Hippocrates himself takes express notice of bleeding on the eighth day which I imagin he peculiarly remark'd because it was a thing against the usual practice supposing the mention of bleeding the preceeding days as being the common methods Most of the modern Commentators upon Hippocrates are of Galen's opinion But to this it may be answer'd that Hippocrates being very exact as Galen himself acknowledges even in the relation of the most Minute Medicines he us'd such as Suppositors 't is hard to think in this case he would omit the most considerable To this we may add that Galen himself maintains elsewhere that Erasistratus of whom we shall speak hereafter never blooded any body only for this reason that in ennumerating the Medicines he made use of in several occasions he makes no mention of bleeding If this Argument will hold against Erasistratus it will against Hippocrates Besides it was altogether of as great importance that we should be inform'd of the Remedies as of the Process of the distempers The symptoms which arise depending as much upon the practice of the Physician himself as upon the nature of the distemper In all probability where Hippocrates omits the mention of bleeding in any case he did not use it nor is this so much against his principles as Galen would insinuate On the contrary he follows him therein precisely as appears by what has been said already If Hippocrates had blooded his Patients plentifully in Fevers in the beginning of their illness as Galen pretends he would not perhaps have had the opportunity of seeing so many Fevers terminate by Crisis that is by natural Evacuation which come of themselves in certain days This Ancient Physician laid so much weight upon the assistance of Nature and the method of Diet which was his favourite Medicine that he thought if they took care to diet the Patients before-mention'd according to rule they might leave the rest to nature These are his true principles from which he never deviates so that his pieces of eâ—idemical diseases seem to have been compos'd only with an intention to leave to posterity an exact model of management in pursuance of these principles To return to the Rules that Hippocrates prescribes for bleeding (r) Galen Commentâ—on Aphor. 6. lib 6. 't is observable in all diseases which have their seat above the Liver he bleeds in the Arm or some of the upper parts of the Body but for those that were below it he open'd the Veins below as of the Foot the Ankle or the Ham. (s) De ratione victûs in â—cuâ—â—s sub â—inâ—m If the Belly was too Laxative and bleeding was thought necessary Hippocrates ordered the Looseness to be stopt before bleeding Almost all these instances hitherto regard scarce any thing but acute distempers We find several concerning chronical diseases A young man complaining of a great pain of his Belly with a great rumbling while he was fasting which ceased after eating This pain and noise continuing his meat did him no good but on the contrary he daily wasted and grew lean Several Medicines as well Purgers as Vomiters were in vain given him At length it was resolv'd to bleed him by intervals first in one Arm and then t'other (t) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 till he was without blood Epidemic lib. 5. sub Principio till he had scarce any blood left which perfectly cur'd him Hippocrates let blood also in the Dropsie and even in a Tympany in both these cases he prescribes bleeding in the Arm (u) De affectionâ—â— In a disease arising from an over-grown Spleen which is attended by diverse other symptoms he proposes bleeding several times repeated at a Vein of the Arm which he calls the Splenatick Vein We shall speak more of this Vein hereafter He proposes in another place (w) De Morbis lib. 2. bleeding under the Tongue in a sort of Jaundice This perhaps was an Empirical Medicine grounded only upon experience for the use of which he could give no good reason and what confirms me in this opinion is that the Book wherein this remedy is mentioned is supposed to have been written by the Cnidian Physicians who as we have said before were Empiricks Or perhaps it might be grounded upon some reason which is lost to us because we have not the same Idea of the disposition of the Veins and their sympathy with the several parts of the body that the Antients had What Hippocrates advances elsewhere that if we burn in any one the Veins or Arteries of the Temples he can never procreate after seems to be founded upon no better reason We have as much reason to ask what particular communication there is between the Veins of the Temples and the Organs of Generation as between the Liver and the Spleen which are the parts affected in the Jaundice and the Veins of the Tongue This difficulty would lye as heavy upon us as the other if Hippocrates himself his not inform us (x) See for this the Chapter of the Anatomy of Hippocrates that the Seed which comes from all parts of the body and particularly from the Head passes or descends by the Veins of the Temples or behind the Ears so that when one burns those Veins one intercepts the passage of the Seed (y) See the list of diseases known to Hippocrates This opening of the Veins behind the Ears was as we have shew'd before a familiar practice among the Scythians by which they curâ—d themselves of a certain sort of a Sciatica There is no doubt but that bleeding as well as purging which are two Medicines whose effects are not easily to be accounted for must in many cases be Empirical remedies It was sufficient for Hippocrates and the rest of the ancient Physicians to know that they were serviceable in certain cases to induce them to the use of them in those cases tho ignorant of the reasons of their operations We see by what has been said concerning bleeding that there were some occasions in which he did not only bleed once in the course of a distemper but that he did it very largely continuing it sometimes even to swooning Sometimes he blooded
into the lungs (c) Gell. llb. 17. cap. 11. Macrob. lib. 17 cap. 15. which made one of the Ancients say that Plato gave posterity occasion to laugh by meddling with that which was not his business But he that said this did not consider that Hippocrates and other Physicians before spoken of were themselves of this opinion and that Plato apparently spoke only after them This Philosopher imagined also another part or sort of soul which desired not only meat and drink and all that was necessary for the body but which was the Principle of all appetites or desire in general This soul was posted between the Diaphragm and the Navel it was quartered in the lowest part and farthest from the head that it might not by its agitations and commotions disturb the reasonable soul which is the best part of us in its meditations and thoughts for the common good These troubles or disturbances of the inferiour soul were excited by Phantasms or Images presented to it by the liver the liver having been polishâ—d and made shining that it might reflect the Images which were communicated to it to produce trouble tranquility or pleasure in the inferiour soul according as the liver is it self troubled by the bitterness of the Bile or sedate and calm thro' the predomination of sweet Juices opposed to the Bile Besides what we have already said of the heart and of the soul lodged there Plato held this further concerning it The heart says he which is at the same time (d) Viâ—â— Pag. the source of the veins and of the bloud which (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 See pag. whirls rapidly in all parts of the body is set (f) See pag as a Centinel or Serjeant that when the Choler is inflamed at the command of the Reason upon the account of some injustice committed either without or within by the desire or passions presently all that is sensibly in the body disposes it self by opening all its pores to hear its menaces and obey its commands The opinion of this Philosopher concerning the manner of respiration is no less peculiar He believed that there was no vacuum in the world but that the Air which escaped out of the Lungs and Mouth in respiration meeting that which surrounds the body without pushes it so that it forces it to enter thro' the pores of the skin and flesh and to insinuate it self into the most remote parts of the body till it fills the place which the other left after which making the same way out again by the Pores it forces that without to enter by the mouth into the lungs in inspiration We see by this that Plato confounded transpiration with respiration pretending that both one and t'other were performed together as it were by two semicircles As for the flesh he thought it compounded of water fire and earth and a certain sort of sharp leaven biting and salt These are some of Plato's thoughts of a humane body in its natural state As for the causes of its destruction which are diseases old age and death he supposed in the first place that the bodies which are about ours disolv'd and melt it continually after which every substance which gets loose or exhales returns to the principle from whence it was drawn he supposes in the second place that the blood which is according to him a fluid matter form'd of the Aliments by a peculiar artifice of nature which cuts and reduces them into small pieces by means of (g) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 fire which rises in our stomach after the air or breath He supposed that this blood whose redness was an evident token of the impression of this fire served to nourish the flesh and generally the whole body and to fill up the vacant spaces of it as it were by a sort of watering or general inundation This being supposed he maintained that while we were young this bloud abounding in all parts not only supply'd what was dissipated or diminished of the flesh which as was said was perpetual but after having fill'd up what was wanting it furnish'd matter of increase to the mass of the body from hence it is that in our youth we grow and become larger but when we are advanced in years more of the substance of our body is spent than the bloud can supply or restore therefore we diminish by degrees Those principles also of which our bodies consists which Plato calls Triangles which in our youth were stronger than those of which the Aliments were compounded reducing them easily to a substance like themselves become disunited and relaxed by having so long endured the shock of other triangles this causes old age which is followed by death especially where the triangles whereof the spinal marrow consists are dissolv'd and disunited so that the bands by which the soul was fasten'd to it are intirely broken and let it loose As for diseases which attack us in all ages and precipitate the usual time of death he suppos'd that our bodies being composed of the four Elements before named the disorders of these Elements were the chief causes of them These disorders consisted in the excess or deficiency of any of these Elements when they did not preserve the proportion of their first mixture or when they changed place leaving their own place for another To explain himself more particularly he adds that the fire exceeding produced continual and burning fevers that if the air over-ballanced it produced quotidian intermitting Fevers If the Water Tertian Fevers and if Earth Quartanes The Earth being the heaviest of all the Elements must have quadruple the time to move it self in that the fire has and the rest of the Elements in proportion Plato did not confine himself to these generals only but proceeded to the particular explication of the changes that befall our bodies in relation to the bloud and humours which are the immediate causes of distempers While the bloud says he maintains its natural state it serves to nourish the body and to preserve health But when the flesh begins to corrupt or to melt and dissolve the humour which comes from it entring into the veins carries this corruption along with it and changing the bloud in several manners turns it from red to yellow and bitter or sower or salt so that that which was pure Bloud becomes part Bile and Phlegm or Serosities What we call Bile says Plato is particularly produced from the dissolution of the old flesh it is an humour that assumes divers forms and is very changeable both as to colour and taste but it is chiefly distinguished into two sorts the yellow Bile which is bitter and the black Bile which is sowre and pricking As for the Phlegm and Serosities or Water Plato seems to confound them or to make but one sort of humour of them The Phlegm according to him is produced from the new flesh and the serosities or waters which are designed by the particular names of sweat
or tears are only the phlegm melted or dissolved In another place he seems to confound the phlegm and serosities with the Bile when he says that what we call sowre phlegm is the same thing with the serosity of the black Bile But in the explication of the effects of these humours he restrains himself to the two principal which are (h) See Pag. the Bile and the Phlegm and he acknowledges that these two juices by their mixture with the blood are the causes of all distempers When the Bile evaporates outwards or discharges it self upon the skin it causes divers sorts of humours attended with inflamations which the Greeks call'd (i) See Pag. Phlegmons but when it is confin'd within it produces all sorts of (k) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 burning diseases The Bile is especially hurtful when it is mixed with the blood it breaks the orders of the Fibres which are according to him small threads scatterd thro' the blood that it might be neither too clear nor too thick to the end that on the one side it should not evaporate and on the other might always move easily in the veins This Bile continuing its havock after having broken the fibres of the blood pierces to the spinal marrow and destroys the links of the soul before spoken of unless the body that is to say all the flesh melting or dissolving breaks its force When this happens the Bile being overcome and obliged to depart the body throws it self thro' the veins upon the lower belly and the stomach from whence it is discharged by stool and vomiting like those that flie out of a Town in an uproar and cause in their passage Diarrhaea's and Dysenteries and other discharges which prove often healthful The sweet or insipid phlegm occasions Tumours and some impurities of the skin and when it mixes with some little bladders of the Air it is then call'd (l) A sort of Dropsie in Hippocrates See Pag. white Phlegm If this Phlegm mixes with the black Bile and penetrates into the receptacles of the brain it causes the Epilepsie or Falling-sickness The sowre or salt Phlegm is the cause of all diseases comprehended under the name of Catarrhs or Rheums and brings disorder and pain upon what part soever it falls We must here take notice of the Idea which Plato had of the Matrix or its properties and some of its diseases (m) See Pag. the Matrix says he is an Animal which longs impatiently to conceive and if it be long disappointed of bearing Fruit is is enraged and runs up and down the whole Body and stopping the passages of their Air it takes away respiration and causes great uneasiness and an Anfinite number of Diseases These were the sentiments of Plato upon the causes of diseases upon all which we shall not trouble our selves to make reflections We shall confine our selves only to what he says concerning the Acidity and saltness of the humours it being of importance to our History to take notice of it because of the several Systems that have been since built upon that foundation Hippocrates had before spoken of the sowre and the salt but he has mention'd them only upon the account of their effect without shewing their Original which Plato seems to have discover'd and therein to have made an improvement upon him We may observe first that the Philosopher speaks of an Acidity and saltness which is nâ—turally in the body in a slate of health Such is the sowrness and sweetness of the flesh which he says consists of Water Fire and Earth and besides that a sowre salt leaven as has been already observed He does not say from whence this leaven comes but by his manner of expressing himself it seems not to be drawn from the common Elements but to be something different from the Water Fire and Earth which have their share apart in the formation of the flesh In the second place Plato held a saltness and sowrness which were praeternatural which are in the humours which cause diseases He seems further to deduce the sowre and salt from the same source with the natural sowre and salt that is from the flesh which corrupting and dissolving according to him infect the blood and turn it into Bile and into Phlegm But this latter sowre and salt are something different from the former tho' they come from the flesh for this is an effect of their corruption the other is the principle of the preservation But Plato not explaining himself any further thereupon neither shall we enlarge He adds a third sort of sowrness which is that of the black Bile which of bitter becomes sowre when the bitterness which is natural to it is alternated and subtilized to a certain degree It may be urged that the Greek word which we have translated (n) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 sowre might as well signifie pointed or sharp as sowre both in this latter passage and in all those before cited The Greeks having only one word to express both meanings but 't is plain from the opposition in which Plato put this word to (o) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 bitter that the former ought to be translated sowre and not pointed which is not so naturally opposed to bitter as sowre is Plato speaks elsewhere of sowrness and holds that it has its Origine from things sharp and pointed which have been subtilized or attenuated by corruption and reckons it the occasion of Fermentations and Ebullitions which arise when the gross and terrestrial humours begin to move and to swell or rise up It is observable that Plato to these words 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which are Adjectives joyns the same Substantive that Hippocrates did which is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which according to the sense of Hippocrates may be translated by the words force power faculty or virtue as well as by the words savour or taste 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sapor Acidus sowre taste as Serranus translates it as for the rest Plato thought as Hippocrates did that diseases had their fixed periods for duration As the time of the life of every Animal is regulated by its lot when it comes into the world this time can néither be hastened nor delayed but by an effect of the passions which come likewise themselves by a sort of necessity So likewise diseases must of necessity have their course and we ought rather to seek to temper them and stop their progress by means of (p) See the mâ—thod of Hippocrates in acute diseases prudent diet and exercise than by medicines especially those which purge which ought never to be used but in cases of extremity otherwise of a small evil you make a great one and of a single one many By this we may see that Plato did not deviate much from the principles of Hippocrates and as he lived at the same time with him or very near it being born in the eighty eighth Olympiad 't is
the Membrane of the Ear be indisposed we cannot hear for the same reason we cannot see when the Tunicle of the Eye is in the same Condition (a) De generat aninial lib. 2. cap. 6. The Nose is divided into two Channels by a Cartilage It has two veins which are joined to the Brain but they come from the Heart these go into the Channel which is the Organ of smelling as it receives the External Air and all that is diffused thro it The Flesh as we have observed already is the Organ of Feeling The Tongue of Tasting being soft and spongy and of a Nature approaching to that of the Flesh (b) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 11. The Eye reaches into the Brain and is situated on either side under a little vein (c) Ib. cap. 9. The humour which is in the Eye which causes vision is what we call the sight (d) De Gen. An. lib. 2. cap. 6. The Eye of all the Organs of sensation has this peculiarity that it is moist and cold or that it contains a humour that is moist and cold which is not there at first or which is not at first in its perfection but is separated or distill'd from the purest part of the moisture of the Brain by the Channel that goes to the Membrane of the Brain 'T is very plain from what has been said that Aristotle allow'd the Nerves no part in the production of sensation Nor indeed could he acknowledge the Nerves or their office retaining the Idea which he had of the Brain The Diaphragme which he calls Diazoma or the Membrane which separates the lower Belly from the Breast has according to Aristotle no other business than to divide these two Cavities that the upper which is the Seat of the Soul may not be infected by the vapours which rise from the lower This is the sum of what we could collect from the writings of this Philosopher concerning Anatomy And we may observe that both he and Plato call'd indifferently by the name of Veins the Veins properly so call'd and the Arteries that they did not give the name of Artery to any thing but the Wind-pipe which they call'd (e) 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rough or unequal in opposition to the Arteries properly so called and by the Antients named 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 laeves Arterlae smooth Arteries Aspera Arteria from whence we may infer that when we find in (f) See the next Vol. lib. 1. cap. of Erasistratus Hippocrates the word Artery in the sense of the Moderns that this word has been foisted in or that the Books in which 't is found are not Genuine The only place that I know of wherein Aristotle seems to give the name of Arteries to the Arteries properly so called is in his Book of the Spirit wherein he says that the Skin is compos'd of a Vein an Artery and a Nerve Of a Vein says he because the Skin yields Blood when 't is prick'd Of a Nerve because it can extend it self Of an Artery because 't is transpirable Aristotle seems here to have designed the real and true Arteries and to allot to them only Spirit according to the opinion of Praxagoras and Erasistratus of whom we shall speak hereafter which opinion perhaps they borrowed of him Perhaps also this Book was none of Aristotle's We must make one observation more concerning the Anatomy of Aristotle which is that he never dissected any thing but Brutes and that in his time they durst not Anatomize a Humane body Which he insinuates himself in these words (g) Hist An. lib. 1. cap. 16. The inward parts of mens bodies are unknown for we have nothing certain thereupon but we must judge of them by the resemblance which we suppose them to have to the parts of other Animals which answer to each of them I am surpriz'd (h) Anthropograph lib. 1. cap. 4. that Riolan should maintain the contrary and more that he should endeavour to prove it from passages of Aristotle which are nothing to the purpose but he is not the only one whose Prejudice and Bigotry for the Antients has caused to make such false steps We shall have occasion to say something more upon this subject in the first Book of the next Volume Aristotle wrote also some Books of Plants of which there are some yet remaining but he treats of them rather as a Philosopher than a Physician He was born in the ninety ninth Olympiad and he dyed the 3d year of the hundred and fourteenth Olympiad aged by this account about sixty three He was the Son of a Physician and of the family of the Asclepiades He belonged also to Physick another way which is not much for his honour (i) Diogenes Laertius Hesychius Milesius in vita Epicuri Epicurus reproaches him with having spent his patrimony while he was young in debauchery and that after he had been some time a Souldier he betook himself to selling (k) We shall consider in the sequel the meaning of the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 used by Diogenes Laertius on this occasion of Antidotes about the Markets till Plato's School being open'd he applied himself to the study of Philosophy under him CHAP. VI. Theophrastus THeophrastus who succeeded Aristotle took upon him the management of his School and after his death did something likewise towards Physick The most considerable of his works which remain to our times are his Books of Plants But as Plants may be consider'd either as a part of Agriculture of Natural History or of Physick Theophrastus as well as Aristotle seems to consider them chiefly as a Naturalist and seems rather to have examined their Growth and Termination and the parts whereof they are composed than their Medicinal properties altho sometimes en passant he touches upon them too But he having describ'd several we shall be obligâ—d to take farther notice of him upon this account with Dioscorides There are yet some small pieces of his remaining concerning the Vertigo Swooning Sweat and the Palsie of which he treats rather as a Philosopher than a Physician that is he is inquisitive after the Causes of these Distempers only without speaking of any Remedies He says that Vertigoâ—s come when some strange spirit or superfluous moisture goes into the Head or as he expresses it about the Head whether this comes from any sort of Food as from Wine or from any other humour or from turning the Head round For adds he the place about the Brain or the Brain an usual manner of expression among the Greeks is naturally moist and when any foreign Spirit gets in it does violence after it is got in and forces the natural moisture into the veins causing it to turn round so that this Spirit has the same effect as if any body turn'd the Head round it being indifferent whether it be done inwardly or outwardly The Palsie arises from a chilness or privation and want of Spirits or
Spirit For says he the Spirit is the cause of heat and motion so that if it becomes motionless the blood or moisture necessarily grow chill And for this reason we find the Feet be numm'd and sometimes the upper parts when they are pressed by a Chair or any other way this compression stopping or interrupting the Spirit that it cannot move as usual causes the Blood to grow cold By what has been said we may see that this Philosopher suspected the Nerves on these occasions no more than Hippocrates did and was no better acquainted with their use than his Master Aristotle We have also a Book of Theophrastus of Stones wherein he treats of several sorts of Stones as well Genuine as others of their nature the manner of their formation and the places where they are found c. And as we may see by the Catalogue of his Writings he gave to some of them the same Titles that Aristotle had done before to his perhaps the singular number was substituted for the plural in the Title of the Book of Aristotle of the Stone of which before CHAP. II. Heraclides of Pontus ALmost at the same time there liv'd another Philosopher who engag'd in Physic This was Heraclides of Pontus who studied partly under Speusippus the Scholar of Plato and partly under Aristotle This Heraclides writ a Book of the cause of Diseases and another entituled 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 What he call'd 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is without respiration was a disease in which sometimes as our Author affirms men lay thirty days without breathing as if they were dead yet the body did not corrupt We have seen before that Empedocles cured a woman of this distemper which is a sort of suffocation of the Matrix Diogenes Laertius reckons fourteen famous men of the name of Heraclides of which two were Physicians and not counting him of whom we are speaking The first who was the eighth of the fourteen was Scholar to Hicesius a Physician of whom we shall speak hereafter the second was a famous Empirick of Tarentum whose History we shall likewise give To all these Heraclides we may add Hippocrates Father and Heraclides Erithreus of whom also hereafter CHAP VIII Diocles. 'T Is time to quit the Philosophers and return a little back to re-assume the Physicians The first of this Profession after Hippocrates and his Family that made any noise in the world was Diocles Carystius whom the Athenians for that reason called the (a) Theodor. Priscians Second Hippocrates (b) Plin. lib. 20. cap. 20. Celf. Praefat. All the Antients agree that he came presently after the Father of Physick whom he succeeded very near both in time and reputation He 's suppos'd to be Author of a Letter yet extant Addressed to Antigonus King of Asia which shews that Diocles lived in his time and not in the time (c) Tiraquell de Nobil cap. 21. and after him Wolfgangus Justus in his Chronologia Medicorum Who also holds that he lived both under Darius the Son of Hystaspes and under Antigonus tho between those two Princes there passed two entire Centuries of Darius Son of Hystaspes as two modern Authors have written But the Chronological Errors which we have detected upon the occasion of the pretended Letters of Hippocrates shew that we are not to rely much upon proofs of this nature this Letter of Diocles being no less to be suspected than the others Those that place Diocles in the time of Darius Son of Hystaspes are manifestly in an errour Others have gone on the other side too low if I be not mistaken But however it be we find in this Letter rules for preservation of health which consist in foreseeing Diseases by certain signs and preventing them by certain Remedies The Body is there divided into four parts the Head the Breast the Belly and the Bladder and there are Medicines there prescrib'd to preserve these parts from their usual Distempers He prescribed Gargarisms to purge the Head and Frictions For the Breast he advises vomiting after Meals and Fasting He ordered the Belly to be kept open not by Medicine but by proper Diet such as Blites Mercury Garlick boyled the Herb Patience Colwort Broth confections with Honey For the distempers of the Bladder he appointed some Diuretick Medicines such as the Roots of Selery and Fennel boyl'd in Wine with the water of the Decoction of Daucus Smyrnium of Elder or Chiches Diocles wrote several Books of Physick which are lost Amongst the rest was one of Diseases their Causes and Cure a fragment of which is cited by (d) De Locis affect lib. 3. c. 7. Galen concerning the Disease called the Melancholick or Flatulent Disease wherein Diocles speaks thus There is a Disease whose seat is about the Stomach which some call Melancholy others Flatus or Wind in which after eating things hard of digestion men spit abundance of very clear Spittle their Belches are sowre with Wind and heat in the Hippocondria with a rumbling motion not at first but sometime after and often violent pain in the Stomach which extend in some even to the back After the Meat is perfectly digested all ceases and returns again after eating The same symptoms sometimes take a man fasting and sometimes after Meals and force him to throw his victuals undigested up again and sometimes bitter hot phlegm or so sowre as to set their Teeth an edge These distempers for the most part come in youth but come when they will they hold a long time We may suppose they that are troubled with it have too much heat in the veins which receive the nourishment from the Stomach and that the Blood which they contain is thereby thickned For it is plain that those veins are obstructed or stopt from this sensible proof that the nourishment is not distributed thro the body but remains crude upon the stomach instead of passing into the Channels which ought to recieve it and going the greatest part of it into the lower Belly it is thrown up the next day by vomit Another proof that the heat is greater than naturally it ought is not only the heat which the parties feel but the immediate relief they find by taking cold things Diocles adds that some hold that in these distempers the orifice of the Stomach which is joined to the Guts is in flamed and that this inflamation causes the obstruction and hinders the aliments from descending in due time into the Guts and that by their stop the inflation of the Stomach the heat and other symptoms before mention'd are occasioned Diocles had a peculiar opinion of Fevers We must judge says he of things which we cannot see by those which we can see we observe that external inflamations abscesses and wounds are attended by Fevers therefore when a Fever takes any body though we cannot externally discover any abscess wound or inflamation we must however believe that there is some such thing within the body His practice