him violently I give him a sharp Clyster and make it work with a sharp Suppository there was plentifull Evacuation When his head was shaved all over I applied a Cataplasm of Pigeon's Dung Euphorbium Pyrethrum and Mustard hereupon many and great Blisters arise out of which yellow matter ran The next day I gave him of Species Hierae Diacolocynthidos 2 drachms of Castor half a drachm of Rue one scruple Heer Observat 21. with Antapoplectick Water I applied Cupping with Scarification to his Shoulders when the Blisters in his head ran no more I raised new ones in his Neck and thereabout but onely with Cupping Glasses And with some few more Remedies he recovered his health IX Forestus lib. 10. Observat 74. Condemns shaking of the body in Phlegmatick and Sanguine Apoplexies and because the humours are thereby more stirred he advises to use it with caution Which not being observed in old Bokellus l. c. the Imprudence of the Physician cost the Patient his life Nymannus in Chap. 39. of the Apoplexy mentions a Patient that had his end hastened by such unseasonable shaking The shaking of the Womans body mentioned by Forestus as the Ail appeared without using any thing before it quickly cured her which in others if it had not caused Death it would at least have done hurt and exasperated the Disease But this shaking and causing her to walk seems therefore to have done good because by shaking her body her bloud was stirred which being provoked to more violent motion forced that little which caused the Obstruction already and would have caused more out of the lesser Arteries and drove it farther into the small Veins whereupon some portion of it i. e. the more subtile and the matter of the Animal spirits was able to sweat through the Pores into the Substance of the Brain and she at the first was able to walk again Upon her walking more plenty of Vital Spirits succeeded while Nature used her utmost endeavour being excited by stirring to supply the Medullous Substances and her bloud being not a little heated and made more subtile by walking it could more readily pass the Capillaries and the Pores But if the Paroxysm had had its original from the Serous Moisture poured into the substance of the Brain it had not ceased so soon and there had been other symptomes as Sleepiness Vertigo c. Nay by walking being farther driven into the Medulla Wepferus Exercitat de Apoplexia it would have bred a Palsie In any Apoplexy likewise bred of any other cause it would hardly have done so much good For either if it be caused by the Carotid and Vertebral Arteries being stopt or by the Torcular being stopt by pituitous Bodies or by extravasated bloud in any of these cases more powerfull Remedies are necessary X. I cannot chuse but examine as I have occasion some sort of Remedies commended by some namely whether they avail any thing in the Cure of the Apoplexy or no. And in the first place plucking the Hair especially in the Legs is commended which when the Patient wants sense seems to me plainly ridiculous for it conduces nothing to the removing any one cause of the Apoplexy Bending the Fingers and Twitching the Nose is of the same nature nor do I see what good they can doe And shaking the body unless the head hang downwards that so the humours offending may run out Sylvius de le Boē l. c. will contribute nothing but evident Damage to the Patient So rubbing the extreme Parts with Vinegar and Salt and Ligatures will doe no good in any Apoplexy It is better therefore to abstain from such things as have no use nor doe the Patient any good XI Some question Purging for two reasons 1. Because Purges may not be given so long as there is crudity according to Hippocrates and Galen's Maxims But without doubt Crudity properly so called which might hinder Purging is wanting here yet if there be any suspicion of a thick Humour Attenuatives may be mixt with Purgers for the greatness of the Disease and the Imminence of the present Danger will not allow a Man wholly to intend the Preparation of Humours 2. The way whereby Purgers should get into the Belly hinders Purging when one has not power to swallow without fear of choaking Therefore a strong Medicine in a little Dose may be given as Trochisci Alhandal Diagridium or Scammony with Castor according to Trallianus Rondeletius gives a drachm of Pilulae Cochiae dissolved according to Sennertus Seeing the chief cause of the Apoplexy is Melancholy offending in quality i. e. in excess of Acidity or Acerbity it is evident that the Humour seeing it is preternatural doth indicate its own Evacuation and the rather because of the present danger nor can there be even in a long time an alteration from Acidity to a more benign and spirituous or Balsamick nature And much more yet is Purgation indicated if a Phlegmatick be joyn'd with the Melancholick Cacochymie Nor doth Purgation allow any longer delay after bloud-letting when the Plethory is taken from the whole or from the head than bloud-letting allows after the invasion of the Apoplexy unless extreme faintness require time to recruit Wherefore Purging is to be prescribed quickly without any respect to time for unless while the bloud is made more fluid by Venaesection and the obstructions of the Brain and Lungs are in some measure removed or the Increase of them stopt and while the spirits are yet elevated a Purge be given when the Coagulation of the bloud is sensibly increased Franc. Bayle Tract de Apoplexia c. 11. the Cohesion of the Parts of the bloud and of the humours mixt with it among themselves may be so pertinacious as to bid defiance to all the virtue of Purgatives Nay the distribution of the Purgative especially to the Parts affected may be prohibited if not wholly at least in part while the Passages are straitned by Coagulation of the Bloud XII Nor may every Medicine be given but a violent one such as the nature of the peccant humour the disposition of the bloud and the place it self do indicate To the first Aphor. 9. Sect. 4. hath respect You must purge Melancholick persons violently by Siege for Melancholy will not stir except it be forced from the other humours by a strong Drench But the Coagulated bloud or next door to Coagulation parts not easily with what it contains but stands in need of a strong Ferment to make it boil and endure a separation of parts And seeing the humour to be removed is not in the Stomach and first ways but in the whole Mass of bloud and in the Brain especially it is necessary that the virtue of the Purgative be diffused all the Body over and reach the Head in its full force Idem to which a weak Purgative can never attain XIII It often happens that the Faculties are so oppressed that Purgatives cannot be brought into Act and so
Veins which with Hippocrates is a general name both for them and Arteries when a great quantity of this Moisture is gathered it runs by other passages and when it stops in any part of the Body there a Disease is contracted I therefore conclude with Hippocrates that the Gout arises from filthy diseased steams or from a flatuous Ventosity upon which if any Humour follows it was the Vapour that made way for it And not onely Hippocrates but more modern Physicians have held That the Gout comes from Wind. Guainerius and Matthaeus de Gradibus were of that opinion Also Guido de Cauliaco a stout Voucher of the 4 Humours tells how â—e read in the Pope's Canons that the Gout aroâ—e from Vapours That Royal French Surgeon Paraeus was of the same judgment Several eminent Physicians hold Vapours the cause of the Tooth-ach Bastard-Pleurisie Colick Epilepsie and of Fits in Women so that they are called Vapours in English And I question not but many Diseases differing onely in Name and Place are of the very same nature with the Gout especially all those into which the Gout and they mutually degenerate Furthermore the China Physicians say Our Bodies are governed by 3 things i. e. by the innate Heat the radical Moisture and Spirits which they hold to be the Vehicle of the Heat and the Lungs from which they begin the Circulation of the Bloud to he the Elaboratory of the Spirits Upon the temper or distemper excess or defect conjunction or separation good or bad constitution of these 3 things they reckon life and death do depend And they wholly ascribe the Gout to noxious Spirits or Vapours These Vapours are as different as the several Parts and Humours in the Body that cause them Their material cauâ—es are first Meat and Drink thence come various Humours from each of which a different Vapour ariseth Their efficient causes are chiefly the Stomach which as it is strong or weak hot or cold full or empty breeds a different Vapour and then all parts of the Body where there is any concoction fermentation ebullition or effervescency of Humours may breed different Vapours Administring causes are all the six nonnatural things He that would be better satisfied let him reade Fienus de Flatibus That it is a malignant Vapour the Vehemence and intollerableness of the pain do prove Nor do several Authours deny it especially Galen who assigns good reasons for it Because the Gout never comes to Suppuration Because this Vapour causeth more intense pain than any Humours while they suppurate Because it creates no trouble in any part by which it passes except the Joints Bâ—t which is of greater moment the Cure proves it for whilst in the Gout men are burnt with Moxa sometimes Wind hisseth out of tâ—e Burn. And if it be kept open like an Issue an ichorous filthy malignant matter weeps out of it which stinks most offensively All grant thâ—t the Periâ—steum is a very sensible Membrane Now this Vapour doth not torment it on the out side but it insinuates it self between the Bone and it and so parting the delicate and extreme sensible Membrane from its Bone and distending it causes a raging pain And the Tumour lying so deep no wonder it cannot break prison till way be made by a red hot Iron or by the milder Burning of downy Moxa This Vapour the cause of Diseases extends it self as far as any Periosteum enwraps a Bone And so the Gout may come under as many denominations as it hath Parts to afflict The Learned Languages have Christened onely three the Hand Gout Gout in the Feet and the Sciatica for all which England can afford no more proper name than Gout in general or what it borrows from other Languages As for the antecedent Cause of the Gout I cannot impute it to any particular part But I think whatever Part or Humour therein contained is apt to breed a Vapour from that same part the Vapour may be carried to the Heart by the Veins and so from the Heart communicated to the Limbs and Joints by the Arteries Which is the Reason that several are troubled with Fevers Swoonings Palpitation of the Heart and infinite other diseases when this Vapour is not cast off to the out-parts But with some the Gout is reckoned a good sign of long life This Circulation of the Vapour is a reason also that the Pains remove from the Feet to the Hands and from any one part to another And the Vapour being cast off by the Arteries might be the reason why in Ventosities the Ancients approved of Arteriotomy beyond Phlebotomy and does indicate that the burning with Moxa should be where the Arteries beat most which is not duly observed by the Chinois and Japanois If the Part be so strong as to return the Vapour by the Veins or if any one be so much an Empirick as to repell it to the Heart it proves often Tragical Wherefore I do caution all Practitioners not to use Repellents by any means PART II. The Diagnosticks A Physician can no more direct his Remedies without observing the Symptomes of a Disease than the Master of a Ship can steer his designed Course without observation of the Stars and his Compass and a competent knowledge of the Shelves on a dangerous Coast Therefore we should reckon as much of the knowledge of the Symptomes those especially called Pathognomick which live and die with the Disease as we would of the Cure it self Impediment in Motion and Pain are inseparable signs of the Gout which spring grow up come to a pitch decrease and vanish with it sure tokens of an inward latent Pain that rarely is observable by the eye With which we rank the Swelling of the Veins and the violent beating of the Arteries for Signs and Symptomes always concomitant to the Gout because we find them by experience The Pain of the Gout is a piercing distending throbbing deep continual and bitter Pain each of them a certain sign of the Periosteum's being afflicted It is piercing because a Membrane of a most delicate sense is â—urt Distending because the Blower up of the Gout separates raises and stretches it Throbbing because the Authour of this Disease passes the Arteries and makes the bloud move inordinately while it is forced into the part affected it must be deep because in the Membrane about the Bone Continual because the Vapour pours in continually into the pained part as long as it hath any matter to supply it And then it must be sharp because while it abounds in quantity and malignity the Vapour cruelly and violently molests fills separates and distends a membrane of most exquisite sense nay and sometimes dissolves continuity as the violence of the Pain doth argue The other Symptome is Impediment in Motion of the same nature and degree with the former which happens not through any fault in the Member but onely in the Periosteum And this difficulty of Motion appears and disappears with the Gout And these two
the thick are made more stubborn Neither will it attenuate or absterge the humours for the heat acting upon the humours first consumes that which can easily be transmuted into Vapour and acts but dully upon the thick and tough humour which should first be consumed seeing it causes and encreases the disease Nor is the heat of any use that is procured by a drying diet for all heat when it hath not whereupon to act preys upon the radical moisture Therefore a drying diet is useless both because it deprives the body of nourishment and because it renders the humours more stubborn Tough humours in the body are made fluid the very same way as Artificers Glew which is made liquid not with dry things but moist Galen treating Lib. de atten vict rat about the expectoration of those things that oppress the Lungs saith that what is got out of the Lungs must not onely be incided and made hot but must be moderately moistned lest the spittle be hardned and made tough But the humours that are carried to the head can be attenuated no other way than they in the Lungs Galen indeed saith there that bodies in which cold thick and tough humours abound are relieved by the use of attenuating meats Botallus de octarrbo cap. 10. But this opinion must not be translated from Bodies to Humours which must not be attenuated by actually dry things but by suppings wherein inciders are boiled and those actually liquid XXXIII The choice of a convenient posture for the Head hath respect either to the ascent of matter to the head or to its descent from the head upon the parts below As for the Ascent it is certain that the humours will get to the head with more difficulty in an erect posture than in a leaning one because the humours by their proper gravity run downwards of their own accord which every one may easily experiment in his own hand if he let it hang down As for what concerns the descent of the Catarrh it is undoubted that the humours contained in the head will descend more readily in an erect posture by the help of their innate gravity Therefore if the parts receiving the Catarrh be more grieved than the head that sends it a leaning posture is proper for it But if benefit accrue to the head by unloading it self upon the more ignoble part then put an high pillow under the head And according to Celsus lib. 4. c. 4. if there be difficulty of breathing which often happens in a destillation the Patient must lie with his head high XXXIV Exercise of all the lower part is very necessary Saxâ—nia prâ—â—l praâ—t for for this very reason Weavers are not so much troubled with Catarrhs because they exercise their feet much XXXV Hippocrates 6. Epid. writes indeed that Venus is good for phlegmatick diseases the abundance of Phlegm being dried up where there is strength for it Yet from hence we may not inferr that it is good for people in a Catarrh nor yet from the history of Timocharis who he saith had a destillation in winter especially upon his nose and when he had used Venus it dried up His nose indeed grew dry but it is ill concluded from thence that his disease was cured seeing Hippocrates subjoins that lassitude followed and heat and dulness in the head diseases worse than the Catarrh Saxoniae thinks this opinion of Hippocrates applicable to hot Catarrhs XXXVI Calligenes lib. 7. Epid. in the Twenty fifth year of his age had a Catarrh and violent cough he brought up what he raised with great violence nothing staid below that fell down this lasted four years Hellebore did no good but a moderate Diet and to macerate the body to eat bread to abstain from sharp salt fat things succus Silphii and raw hearbs to walk much Drinking of milk did him no good but drinking pure Sesamum with soft wine Hence it is manifest the Catarrh came not so much from a multitude of humours in the whole body or in the head as from a proper intemperature of the Brain so that the excrements did not so much cause the intemperature as the intemperature caused the excrements for if excrements had been the chief cause of the disease purging would have done good but because the intemperature was the first cause and the intemperate Brain did breed matter for destillation of its proper aliment which it badly assimilated Hellebore did no good but abstinence from meat and to grow lean again with fasting for so Aliment was subtracted from the Brain and in penury of it there was less superfluity to destill and the Brain was dried with fasting and so the moist intemperature of the Brain came to be amended Moreover he was hurt by hot sharp salt and fat things because such things beside their heat have qualities that exasperate the Lungs and provoke coughing for sharp things prick salt exterge and corrode fat cause some tickling He was hurt by succus Silphii which is sharp hot and windy because thereby his head was filled and made hot and for that reason his destillation ran the more Raw herbs hurt him because a gross vapour that fills the head was raised from them Drinking of milk was not proper because it is bad for the head-ach and upon the same score likewise for them that are apt to have their heads filled though without aking wherefore it must be avoided by People subject to Catarrhs Much walking did good for it is a dry cause But understand withall seasonably for otherwise he had better not have walkt at all Friction also had been good and watching so it had not been too much His meat was bread a food truly every way moderate and without all fault unless too much be eaten He was relieved by drinking soft wine and pure crude Sesamum Soft sweet wine is good for a cough and for them that cannot raise by spitting as also is Sesamum because of that smooth Mucilage it hath Which Potion is more accommodate to diseases of the breast than to a Catarrh from intemperature of the Brain Vallesius com in loc cit Certainly it could do the Brain little good yet it did good because it would suffer nothing of the defluxion to stay below XXXVII N. Fifty five years old of a hot and moist complexion after many errours in living especially cares of the mind studies and drinking strong wine born of Parents who were subject to Catarrhs was taken with a destillation from his head upon all the right side of his body with a little immobility of the tongue and of the arm and leg on the same side all which diseases nevertheless gave way to convenient remedies onely some dulness and a sense of weight remaining in his right arm and leg which hindered him from going about his business He complained also of some weakness in his head so that when he looked upwards or downwards on one side or the other and brought his head again
of the disease being removed or the root cut away all the fruits may wither The Medicines requisite to this intention may be reduced to these two heads chiefly 1. That the fewel of the Disease supplied immediately from bad bloud or the nervous juice and more mediately from the bowels and first ways Then 2. That the evil disposition of the brain and of its inhabitants the Spirits which is peculiar to the Epilepsie may be removed As to the first thing indicated in this case Vomits Purges Alteratives Bleeding Issues c. are proper in as much as the impurities are withdrawn from the bowels and humours and their dyscrasies amended And although they cure not the Epilepsie yet they remove impediments they raise nature and excite her to encounter the enemy also they prepare the ways so that Specificks may more certainly exert their Virtues As for Specifick Medicines onely which indeed though not always are reckoned to reach the cause of the Epilepsie it is wonderfull by what power of acting they use to doe good in this disease seeing they are taken without any sensible evacuation or even perturbation in the bowels or humours following thereupon If we may guess since we hold that the procatarctick cause of the Epilepsie consists in a heterogeneous conjunction arising in the Spirits those inhabitants of the brain and inciting them to preternatural explosions it will follow that what things resist or remove such a cause must be of such a nature as that by strengthening the Brain and contracting its pores they exclude that conjunction and so fix the Spirits which are up and down the middle of the brain by dissolving their conjunction that they will not any more be apt and inclined to those irregular explosions Not unlike it may be to Aurum fulminans which if it be ground with Sulphur or be sprinkled with Spirit of Vitriol it loses its fulminant virtue And indeed we may discover such properties either one or both in most Antepilepticks for Poeony Misletoe of the Oak Rue Lily Conval with many others have a manifest astriction in them so that it is very likely their particles taken inwards and so carried in the vehicle of the bloud or nervous juice to the Brain do so contract and shut up its pores which are too lax and open that for the future they do not at all lie open for any passage of the morbifick matter Moreover because these concretes do breathe out as it were an Armoniack or dissipative scent therefore they are said to depurate the animal Spirits and to fix and strengthen them when they are deprived of their heterogeneous conjunction This virtue depurative of the Spirits proceeding from the Sal Ammoniack is apparent in remedies which are fetcht from the animal and mineral families such as are preparations of Man's Skull Bloud Amber and Coral as the other astringent virtue is more powerfull in the parts and preparations of Vegetables Willi◠Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. If you cut the great Toe of the sick party any where and anoint the lips of him that is in the fit with the bloud that drops from it Aetius he will be raised immediately according to Didymus 2. Salt of Corals preserves Children egregiously from Gripes and fits ¶ Pills of Salt of Vitriol are highly commended in the Falling sickness ¶ This is famous for the Epilepsie Take of Cinnabar of Antimony 4 ounces pour on it Spirit of Vitriol first let it stand in digestion 14 days till it become like Gold distill it in a strong fire by a Retort and an elegant Spirit will come out which keep Then take Roots of Angelico Pellitory of Spain Poeony each 1 ounce Flowers of Rosemary Cassidony Lavender Lily Conval each 1 ounce leaves of Marjoram Scordium each 1 handfull Shavings of Elk's Horn Man's Skull Castor each 1 drachm and an half Diamoschu dulcis half an ounce mix them pour to them the best Spirit of Wine till it stand 4 inches above let them be digested in a close vessel in Balneo vaporoso till the Spirit of Wine grow as red as bloud pour it off by inclination draw it off per Balneum till it grow as thick as honey if there be 6 ounces of it add 2 ounces of the Spirit of Vitriol abovesaid Jo. Agricola Digest them in Balneo vaporoso for a month keep it The dose is one or two scruples in a little Lavender or Poeony water ¶ Oil of Wine mixt with tincture of Corals and a few drops of it given to Children presently take away the fit 3. This is a singular and experienced Plaster Take of white Amber Frankincense each 1 drachm and an half Galbanum Opoponax each 1 drachm and an half Misletoe of the Oak 2 drachms Ambergreise 6 grains Musk 3 grains Seed of Male Poeony half a drachm Labdanum 1 drachm and an half a little Oil of Nutmegs Caspar Amthar Bestrew it with powder of Cubebs when you have spread it and apply it to the coronal future 4. I can certainly affirm that I saw an Epileptick person above twenty five years old cured onely by the use of 2 ounces of Weezle's bloud with 1 drachm of Vinegar ¶ Take the Stones of a wild Boar or of a tame one that uses Venus and also the Stones of a Cock dry them in an Oven and powder them let there be 2 ounces of the Boar's stones and 1 ounce of the Cock's then add twice as much Sugar Horat. Augenius Let the Patient take some of this Powder with all his Meat you will find it a most absolute remedy 5. It has been found by frequent observation that children have been preserved from fits by giving them 3 drachms of Syrup of Cichory with Rheubarb as soon as they were born before ever they had sucked Milk J. Caes Baricellus ¶ I gave my own children 2 Scruples of Juice of Rue with a little Gold and by God's blessing they are free from Fits 6. Many of our Country Folks have the bloud of the Epileptick Person himself among their secrets as a singular remedy for an Epilepsie For in the very fit they take away a little bloud from a vein in his Arm and they give it him to sup with a rear Egg. Which experiment has freed not a few from the Fit immediately and has rendred them free from it ever after But after this Liquor they give him Cordials and Bezoardicks to lay him to sweat for so the matter of the Convulsion being stirred and disturbed by his own bloud is discussed and evacuated by sweat ¶ A most noble and sure Antepileptick Powder Take of Man's Skull burnt Man's Bones burnt each half an ounce Powder of the Bones of great green-Lizards 2 drachms Misletoe of the Oak Root and Seed of the Male-Poeony gathered in the decrease of the Moon each 1 drachm prepared Antimony Hoof of an Elk an Ass each half a drachm White Sugar 4 ounces Mix them
the body be costive I judge moistning Clysters of a decoction of Speedwell and Carduus Benedictus may very well be given And I can truely say that I cured a Great Man when he despised all other remedies onely by the use of Clysters but this must be done in them who in the beginning of the Fits have a griping in their Guts Crate XIV I have heard from a famous Physician that he was almost killed with a Quartane and was cured by an Empirick in this manner First of all he used Fomentations to the part affected in the beginning of the Fit that in process of time he might carry off the matter For it must be carefully observed what part of the body is ill at the coming of the Fit and that must be carefully fomented Idem XV. But I think it is better to mix Alteratives with Meat than to give them alone as the trivial Physicians of our times use to doe who unless they give Syrups Apozemes distilled Waters Electuaries and Purging Medicines they think they doe nothing deserving a good Physician And hence it is that weak persons being glutted with the repetition of them loath them and that they are not aright reduced into act in the Stomach which is the cause that they operate unhappily Wherefore it is certain at that time that they doe not onely no good but much harm seeing oftentimes because of them sickly and weak persons loath their food and are thereby weakned But they that follow Hippocrates and acquiesce in his advice 1 Epid. who says You must exercise your self in this that at least if you doe no good you may doe no hurt will reckon it far better not to give a thin diet nor alterative Medicines alone but to mix with things that nourish and breed good chyme such things as may by little and little amend the morbinck intemperature of the parts Brudus de v â—iu Febr. You must understand these things of a Quartane which follows other diseases XVI As for the cure of Quartans There is no man I suppose that is but moderately conversant in this Art who can be ignorant how little all these methods answer expectation which have hitherto been designed to take off this opprebrium from Physicians if we except the Peruvian Bark which yet oftner procures truce for the Disease than conquers it For when it has lain hid a fortnight or three weeks to the great emolument of the Patient who having been ill handled by it gets in the mean time a little breath it comes afresh and is as bad as ever and for the most part let this Medicine be never so often repeared the Disease is not conquered under a long tract of time Nevertheless I will relate what I have experienced about the method of giving it We must have a care above all things that this Bark be not given too soon that is not before the Disease have spent it self a little unless the decay of strength in the Patient requires it to be given sooner For there is not onely fear that it may be rendred ineffectual by its too hasty use but that the Patients life may be endangered if we give a sudden check to the bloud as it is cleansing it self with all its might by fermentation In the next place part of the febrile matter must not be subtracted neither by Purging nor much less by Bleeding to the end the Bark may doe its office more freely for seeing by either of these things the oeconomy of the body is spoiled in some measure the Fits will so much the sooner and more surely return as soon as the virtue of the Powder is spent I think it more to the purpose if we lightly tinge the bloud with the said Medicine by degrees and a long time after the Fits than for us to try to kill the Fit when it is just coming all at once for by this means both more time is given to the Medicine to doe its work in and all the danger is avoided that may arise to the Patient from the sudden and unseasonable check whereby we endeavour to oppress the Fit when it is growing strong and exerting it self with all its might Lastly this Powder must be repeated at such short Intervals of time as that the virtue of the first dose may not be spent before another be given For by this often repetition an 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or good habit will at length be recovered and the Disease quite driven away Being perswaded by these reasons I prefer this method to all others Let 1 ounce of Bark of Peru be mixt with 2 ounces of Conserve of Red Roses Sydenham obs p. 97. and let the Patient take the quantity of a large Nutmeg morning and evening every day that is without a true Fit till he have taken the whole Let it be repeated again three times fourteen days always between XVII The Reverend N. a sanguine Man forty years old after another Fever in Autumn fell into a Quartane of which when about Spring-time he was a little better N. foretold him when he was in a neutral state of health that he would be grievously sick but might recover if he had a care of taking Physick He trusting to this Prognostick refused all help of Physick so long till first an abundance of humours fell from his head and parts thereabout upon his left shoulder which being neglected with a slow defluxion intersected the left Muscles of the Belly where an Inflammation arising Wiâ—rus abundance of filthy Pus bread and he died a little after ¶ When the Disease is removed the Patient must be carefully Purged for it were incredible to tell what a power of Diseases arise for want of Purging after Autumnal Fevers And I wonder this is so little taken either care or notice of by Physicians For whenever I observed a Man in years to be taken with an Ague and that he neglected Purging I could certainly foretell he would afterwards be taken with some dangerous disease though he little dreamed of it Sydâ—nham Obs p. 104. as if he had been perfectly cured Febris Quotidiana Phlegmatica or a Quotidian or Phlegmatick Ague The Contents The Cure must sometimes be amethodical I. Joined with a Catarrh cured in an old Man II. We must have a care how we Purge III. What Diet is proper IV. The efficacy of Garlick V. Whether Wine may be given VI. We must have a care the Body be not loose VII Salt Fish is a proper food VIII I. IN this Ague several intentions come under consideration namely we must endeavour all we can that the Stomach may be discharged of the load of humours the obstructions of the bowels opened weaknesses strengthned and together with these things that the dyscrasie of the bloud may be amended and the Ague-fits stopt Wherefore because of such intentions as these we must go a long way to the Cure Besides Vomits Purges Digestives and Deobstruents me
not to the Breast We do the same also when the Mouth of the Stomach has an Inflammation because it rests upon the Spine along the Neck and Breast to the Belly Wherefore Nurses when Infants and Children are troubled with Vomiting and Turning of the Stomach they think the Gullet and the Mouth of the Stomach are convulse and they set a Cupping-glass to the Belly and they garter up the Skin about the twelfth vertebra of the Back they take it in their Fingers and lift it up or they force it into a Cupping-glass or Jug with Tow kindled as Aetius does Langius Ep. 44. l. 2. which one would think succeeded well and the Vomit stopt because the Gullet and Mouth of the Stomach were restored to their former seat VI. As often as hurtful or sharp Food or Physick or rather Poison is contained in the Stomach and causes the Hickup it ought to be expelled either by Vomit upwards a shorter way or by Purging downwards a longer way which may be understood also of any Humours in the Stomach or small Guts which cause the Hickup I prefer among Vomits Antimonials before all the rest both because they do with success evacuate all Humors promiscuously and because they are most amicable to Humane Nature Silvius de le Boe. reducing all the Humors in Man by some peculiar way to a very laudable State by degrees if so be that too great a quantity of them be not taken at once VII When after Narcoticks have been conveniently used and a Vomit taken and little or nothing is voided upwards or downwards and the Hickup continues if the signs of bad Humours being in the Stomach or in the Guts nigh which cause this Ail you may then safely either the same day but in a less quantity or the next day in little a larger quantity give a Vomit to the end the peccant Humors may either be further corrected or discharged upwards or downwards or both ways For so the cure of the Hickup will be performed safely not unpleasantly and soon enough which is truly rational and dogmatical relying especially on Experience and on sound Reason not on a faint and commentitious one and therefore on a false one Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. There are many who by affrighting People unawares in the Hickup obtain their end others advise to rub the Ear long with the little Finger Jul. Caesar Baricullus And Lysimachus has given out that Sprinkling with cold Water and holding ones Breath stops the Hickup 2. Among the stronger sort of Remedies for the Hickup there is Powder of Dittany if it arise from Cold or Wind with Cretan or Falernian Wine But a Decoction of Dill Alex. Benedictus about 3 Glasses of it drunk at once wonderfully stops the Hickup with pain Rod à Fonseca 3. This Fomentation is very good if Castor Pepper and Mustard boyled in strong Vinegar be applied with a Sponge to the Stomach 4. This is Aselepius his famous Remedy Take of Galangale Saffron Spikenard green Roses Mastiche each 4 scruples Asarum Aloes each 2 scruples Lat. à Fontae Opium 1 scruple with juice of Fleawort make little balls The Dose 1 scruple every Morning See § 1. of the Hickup Sitis or Thirst The Contents The Method of cure is not alwayes the same I. Sweet and Sugered things increase rather than quench Thirst II. The use of Nitre III. Medicines I. THirst is a Passion of the Mouth of the Stomach which is sometimes afflicted by Sympathy sometimes by it self If by it self all agree it must be removed by drinking If by Sympathy with the Lungs not drinking of Water but inspiration of cold Air alone is sufficient to asswage it Nor is it sufficient to know that the primary Affection is in the Lungs and the consent in the Stomach we must consider also whether the Thirst that is caused in the Stomach be proper by consent so as that it be partly caused and partly causing by reason of the Fomenting it by the Lungs for not only Coolers and Moistners should be directed to the Lungs but to the Stomach also Continuance of time and a soft habit declare that an Idiopathy is made Sanctorius l. 2. c. 7. Because that all Sympathy if it continue long and the part affected be soft becomes Idiopathy ¶ The Hermetick Physitians contend that immoderate Thirst comes from thirsty Spirits bred of sulphureous Impurities which will not be sated with simple Cooling and Moistning but with other Spirits analogous to themselves Thus we see in Ague-fits intense Thirst is a little stopt by drinking a great quantity of Water which yet more easily gives way to acid Spirits of Vitriol Riverius l. 9. cap. 4. Sulphur Salt and the like mixt with a far less quantity of Water ¶ If an irregular Thirst arise such as is usually caused by the Dropsie while the Stomach receives Nitrous Salt or a Putrid Vapor or Humor from the Peritonaeum it cannot be stopt by drinking but the plenty of the Salt or Nitrous Humor will be encreased whereby it is also encreased and exasperated but by such things as dull the Sense of the Mouth of the Stomach or qualifie and make gentle the Humors and Vapors so Starch and the Water of it so Mucilages and sometimes fat Things do good to Admiration Mercatus But when the faulty Thirst comes from the heat of the Lungs you may cure it by inspiration of cold Air and often Washing the Mouth with very cold Water ¶ Both watry things which dilute and carry to the Urinary Passages the lixivious Salt of the Bile and Acids which powerfully break and turn its Acrimony and Oyly things which smooth the same Acrimony to wit Milk and Emulsions made of Oyly Seeds â—r Sylvius l. 1 c. 1. cure encreased Thirst above all other things And the Watry things may conveniently be joyned both with the acid and Oyly ones and so they will do the more good ¶ It sometime happens that Thirst is encreased by the Serum where because Water abounds in the Body together with the lixivial Salt Frid Hofmannus m. m. l. 1. c. 19. plentiful drinking is not convenient but an acid Spirit such as Spirit of Salt aperitivus Penoti c. diluted taken by spoonfuls whereby the hurtful Acrimony of the lixivious Salt is powerfully amended ¶ The Cause of it is the Nidorous ferment of the Stomach made over salt and sharp as we see it happens in Feavers Salt Catarrhs the Dropsie c. The Stomach since it has a Coat common with the Gullet and Palate easily communicates it Quality to them and also causes Thirst Want of Moiststure is not sufficient to cause Thirst wherefore Thirst ceases not by drinking unless it carry along with it a Medium Analogous to seize the ferment Wherefore Acids quench a false Thirst just as Water quenches the Fire Idem l. 2. c. 4. Well rectified Spirit of Vitriol
Passages of her Breath were so much stopt with gross Fumes from the bad Mushromes XI I think it is no absurdity to say that Men sometimes have Fits like to Hysterick ones The Cause whereof proceeds from the small Gut in which through the vitious effervescency of concurrent Humors especially of a too austere pancreatick Juice Wind and Vapors of the same Nature arise And when they rise to the Oesophagus Blasius append ad Vessingii Anat. part § 190. they so straiten it that the Patients apprehend themselves in danger of Choaking XII In the greatest fear of Suffocation in Flatulent and hysterick Fits put the Patient's Feet in warm Water H â—ferus l. 21 c. 2. and you will immediately find him breathe better Suffocatio Affectus hysterici Hysterick Fits or Fits of the Mother The Contents Whether Blood may be let in the Fit I. Cuppping-glasses must not be set above the Navil II. Whether a Vomit be convenient III. Whether Purging IV. All hysterick Women are not benefited with stinking Things nor all offended with odoriferous things V. Whether Titillations and Frictions of the Pudenda be lawful VI. Whether the Mouth and Nose should be stopt VII Whether pouring cold Water upon the Abdomen may be Practised according to Hippocrates his Mind VIII This Disease must not alwayes be resisted by Heaters IX With what Caution Narcoticks may be used X. Sinapisms good to prevent the Fit XI The efficacy of Castor XII Perfumes as Musk and Amber whether alwayes hurtful XIII The efficacy of Musk taken inwardly XIV Remedies must be timerously administred to Women with Child XV. A Relapse must be prevented XVI The efficacy of Antimonium diaphoreticum XVII An hysterick Fit often mistaken for one of the Spleen XVIII Camphire is not good for all XIX Laudanum does Wonders XX. Medicines 1. IN a Fit from the retention of the Menses a Vein may be Breathed Not many days ago I had a Woman in Cure who was taken with a Fit eight times a day and another Physician who was there would not admit of Bleeding yet she was Bled against the Physicians Will and she Recovered immediately Wherefore in such a Case we may Bleed with boldness Capivaccius l. 4. c. 10. otherwise many Women might Perish II. Cupping glasses with much Fire must be set to the Thighs without Scarification and then to the Groin on each side for when they are set to these Parts they draw the Womb down because of the Ligaments But they must not be set above the Navil as some through a great Mistake do for either they will draw the Womb up or keep it up A Castro l. 2. c. 1. when it is so Yet they may be applied between the os pubis and the Navil on each side III. Aetius commends a Vomit but it may be a question whether it be convenient For if the morbifick Cause be lodged in the Womb it is scarce credible that it should be drawn to the Stomach through so many windings and turnings and so be evacuated To evacuate the antecedent Cause by reason it does not as yet cause a Fit will do but little good Besides Vomiting in the Fit draws the Humors upwards and disturbs those in the Womb and so may make the Fit the worse Nevertheless it is certain that a Vomit does good as well in the Fit as out of it for as Sneezing does good by the Motion and Agitation so does a Vomit for in the act of Vomiting not only the morbifick Humors which cause the Mischief are evacuated but also by the straining of the Muscles of the abdomen the Womb is forced downwards and the Vapors arising thence are dissipated And seeing the Womb is easily offended with all manner of things the Cause does not alwayes ly in it but sometimes in other Parts also which provoke the Womb by their cacochymie to inordinate Motions as hysterick Women often complain of ails in their Spleen Primirosius de morb Mul. l. 3. c. 11. If therefore the Cause ly any where else than in the Womb it may be excluded by Vomit and so it will be convenient as well upon account of the conjunct as antecedent Cause IV. I have long since by experience found that such Symptomes as these are much exasperated and increased and others also superadded by sharp and violent Medicines Wherefore it is my Advice Mercatus de indic Med. l. 1. c. 6. that you alwayes use gentle Medicines in them although the Fits be Violent by which Method I have seen several restored to Health beyond expectation Heurnius ¶ That the Womb is grievously affected by the Guts has been my Observation for when a Purge has been given to them that are subject to Fits they are usually most grievously afflicted ¶ If Fits arise from corrupt and poysonous Humors there is no better Remedy then often to purge the Body according to the Condition and Nature of the peccant Humor Here we must consider from what Parts such Excrements flow into the Womb and what they are that we may help so great an Evil. A Vomit seems here peculiarly convenient in my Opinion because when all the Excrements of the first ways are purged revulsion is made from the Womb but not so in other Causes Augenius because neither abundance of Blood nor Seed can be amended by Vomiting unless by Accident ¶ Pilulae faetidae majores though they be purging yet half a drachm of them may be advantageously given in the Fit for they evacuate gently and use not to purge Riverius till the Fit is first over so that you need fear no danger from the Working V. Camerarius in horto suo is the Author that Angelica with Zeodary given in Wine is an excellent Remedy against Fits of the Mother Which as Reason denyes to be good for every Hysterick Woman so Experience will prove that it is good for this and the other individual for some Hysterick Women are refreshed with grateful smells as Balsame Cinnamon Amber and Musk on the contrary some are brought into great danger by assa foetida Castor and the most common and famous Remedies for uterine Symptomes Of which Matter I shall produce two contrary but singular Examples A few years since I was called to a Matron who was taken with exceeding violent hysterick Symptomes To whom when I advised that they should besides a Galbanum Plaster which the Women had applied before I came give her also some Hysterick water and should hang about her Neck a piece of Castor tied in a thin Silk that they should burn some Partridge Feathers or toste some Nutmeg Then she replied with a whispering Voice Must I then who cannot bear the smell of an hysterick Plaister bear moreover these stinking Things Certainly I shall be Killed who use to be refreshed with the smell of a Nutmeg but unburnt Wherefore I carefully enquired of her whether or no she was offended with Spanish or Italian Gloves that smelled of
so that a great part of the crassa meninx and the motion of the Brain might very well be seen yet the Patient recovered but after the Ulcer was cured and cicatrized the motion of the Brain might then be observed Nevertheless I would advise no Surgeon to undertake the Cure of so great Corruption at his own peril But if the corruption be little the Bone must be taken out with a Trepan or scraped the Ulcer cleansed and the Body fluxed as in the Pox yet there must be a less quantity of Quick-silver Chalmetaeus Enchir. p. 85. For a Talpa with the corruption of the Bone must be cured as the corruption of the Bone in the Pox. XXV A Nobleman had a Ganglium grew in his right Groin by little and little as big as a Child's head He advised with Physicians and Surgeons who tell him of the danger of Bleeding of a Gangrene and Lameness He chose rather to dye than endure it any longer unfit for Arms or Wedlock The Lump was cut about in an Oval line from the Groin to the Scrotum then at the Membrane a little of the Tumor was cut off and by degrees the Skin which was under the Swelling was separated towards the root the Veins and Arteries as they were laid bare were tied for fear of an Haemorrhage The Lump was pulled out with its Coat glandulous white without any Blood or Flesh within easily separable from its root As the Wound was healing he had a Fever bitterness in his Mouth filthy Matter pain in the other Groin Hollerius but he was cured by a Purge XXVI Fungi very often grow from the Membranes of the Brain yet they grow also in divers other parts of the Body because of the vast conflux of Humors from the whole Body and that through Natures great Providence as Hildanus cent 2. Obs 19. sayes For since nothing is a greater Enemy to the Nerves than the injury of the Air especially if it be cold Nature which is ever intent upon the conservation of the individual covers the nervous and membranous Parts when wounded and laid bare with this sort of Excrescence lest the Nerves should be hurt by the Air while the Wound is in curing And their Cure must be begun by drying and finished by Erosion or Excision Drying Medicines in the beginning are safer than Eroding or Septick ones For these in Wounds of the head hasten death and in Wounds of the Limbs cause Pain Inflammations and other most grievous Symptomes And seeing out of Nature's great beneficence this Excrescencie is produced for the Patient 's good it must not be consumed at the very beginning till the Nerves and membranous Parts be sufficiently covered with Flesh that they can no more be hurt by external injuries When the Pain Inflammation and other Symptomes are abated if the fungous Excrescence fall not it must be depressed by Dryers of which rank are root of round Birthwort Florentine Orrice Angelica leaves of Savine Rosemary c. When these things have been applied for some dayes if the Fungus abate not but grow up in the Flesh it must be cured by eating things as burnt Allum burnt Vitriol Mercury precipitate strewing on the Powder and then applying a Cataplasm Or a Ligature may be made and it may be cut off either with a corrosive Thread or with a Knife Which when done Hofmannus the Powders of the said drying things may be strewed on XXVII One had for some Months a Swelling rising upon the right side of his Forehead with a broad basis as big as a Hazle-Nut of the same colour with the Skin soft and as it were puft up it grew of it self when it was pressed with the Finger it gave way and suddenly rose into the same shape again without Pain yet it was not observed to be moveable this way or the other nor did it increase And because I thought it was one of those Tumors which are more easily extirpated with the Knife than dissolved by Medicines I order the Skin to be cut obliquely with a sharp Penknife As soon as it was done no Blood but a very little limpid Humor like the vittreous one of the Eye ran out It fell upon the Patients right hand and he affirmed it was very hot Praecipitate was immediately put into the Wound and other things put after to hinder Inflammation and when it was opened the next day the Bladder was taken out and the Wound was within a few dayes so dextrously healed that there was not the least sign of a Scar left behind Thus we may easily prevent things in the beginning which if neglected till they grow old will scarce give way at all to any Remedies And no question but this Tumor J. Rhodius Cent. 1. Obs 29. if it had been let alone would have turn'd at length into a Meliceris or Steatoma when the Mucus had grown thick by delay XXVIII If there be a swelling in the Cheek let the Physician have a care that it break not for so that Seat of Beauty might be deformed by a Scar However because oftentimes dissipaters ripen and ripeners dissipate by reason of their likeness in qualities it may so happen that Suppuration may come contrary to the intention of the Physician When therefore it is made let him draw the peccant Matter by proper Medicines to the inside of the Mouth or to the commissure of the Jaws which is by the Chin. Hofmannus For Women will sooner endure their Lips to be cut than to have a Scar in their Cheeks XXIX Dioscorides writes that the swelling of the Paps is abated by applying Hemlock which experience testifies to be true Although Dodoneus disapproves of such a Remedy because of the malignant and poysonous nature of this Herb Riolanus which being applied to the Paps may hurt the Heart XXX Steatomata and several Abscesses are often bred in the Omentum because great store of Fat and Glands is found here So the Mesentery both of it self and because of plenty of Glands is very subject to Inflammation Tumors and Corruption Because these Diseases are difficultly distinguished one from another they require an experienced Physician We may say the same of the Pancreas and Spleen In the mean time I shall communicate this Plaster the efficacy whereof in curing the Tumors of the said Part I have often experienced Take of Gum Carranna Barbette Ammoniac each 1 drachm Mercury killed with Turpentine half an ounce Mix them Make a Plaster XXXI We must proceed gently and gradually in cutting or pulling out axillary Tumors for while we draw and separate the Tumor with Pincers or any other way the Muscles that serve for respiration are contracted also hence an interception of Breathing As soon as ever this is observed we must desist a little from the Operation till they have gathered strength also Cold and very repercutient things must by no means be applied to these Parts Fabr. Hildanus lest
cold and dry it scarce ever primarily and of it self labors under a hot Intemperature Whenever therefore signs of its being hot show themselves by inquenchable Thirst desire of cold Drink blackness and driness of Tongue refreshment by cold Things whether taken or applied offence by hot Things nidorous Belchings loathing bitterness of the Mouth and loss of Appetite the neighboring Liver must be blamed from Sympathy wherewith the Stomach is easily affected for seeing it lies close to the Liver the Liver easily communicates its Qualities to it Sanctoriuâ— X. An Intemperature of the Stomach with an Humor whether it be from a cold or an hot Cause must be corrected by premising a gentle Vomit For so we may more easily discharge the mass of Humors which is continually breeding there then if we should use Purgers Moreover by that means the Humor sticking to the folds of the Stomach is more easily cleansed and the Intemperature if it be not either innate Harâ—mannuâ— or very inveterate is corrected XI Seeing in a cold Stomach full of Phlegm the Indicant continues a long time we must therefore a long time and every day use Medicines for it if Strength will permit And the Strength permits the frequent use of hot Medicines which are not unpleasant as Diatrion pip diacalam Which we may use every day but we cannot use Hiera constantly because of its bitterness Yet we must not be too sparing in the use of Hiera when Matter is sticking in a cold and moist Stomach Especially if Hiera be made with 80 drachms of Aloes and not 120 drachms Therefore the Apothecaries must be ordered to have Species Hierae made 2 wayes For when we would prepare the Body Hiera of 80 drachms is most effectual If 2 scruples or a drachm be taken and made into a Bolus with Sugar or Honey and given frequently Cappivacâ—ius for this is a most wholesom preparing Medicine XII Whether may we give a Purge to a weak and cold Stomach which concocts slowly and ill and is also full of cold and gross Humors For we may strengthen no Part when it is full of ill Juices but it is known that a weak Stomach cannot well bear Purging Yet this must be understood of strong Purgers for such as Purge gently as Rheubaâ—b Hiera Simplex and Myrobalans Zecchius Cons 18. may without harm be born by the Stomach though it be weak XIII As to a cold Intemperature seeing hot Medicines are approved of two things must be observed concerning them 1. That they be not violent Heaters Therefore Ginger is good but it must be preserved in Sugar And Diatriâ—â—n Pipereâ—â—n but with Wine for Honey Sugar and Wine moisten substantially so Pepper is good but with Meat 2. We must observe that Astringents be mixt with Heaters lest the substance of the innate Heat be wasted therefore Avicen mixes a little Mastiche with a decoction of Spike As to Things applied outwardly we must observe a difference between hot and cold things for cold things are prohibited by the innate heat of the Midriff but not hot things Yet if it happen that the Part adjoyning be affected with a hot Disease it is safer to apply hot Things about the Navil and the left side because in the right side the heat of the Liver might forbid it Cappivaccius ¶ Things that heat immoderately dissolve the innate heat of the Stomach and at length cause coolness as is evident in Girls that eat Ginger and such things Rondeletius for therefore they are Pale ¶ Chymical Medicines seeing for the most part they have a sharp and a very hot Quality can be of no use in case of a cold Stomach especially when the Liver and Parts thereabout burn with immoderate Heat therefore Aristot 24 probl sect 13. Crucius de Quaesitâ—â— When he asks Why hot Things are sooner cooled in the Sun than in the Shade He answers that the less Heat is wasted by the greater And Galen 3 de morborum causis sayes that a less Flame fades by little and little if you hold it to a greater Willis XIV Have a care that you give not Wormwood Wine when bad matter lies mixt in the Stomach ¶ But it is good in a cold and moist Intemperature Heurnius XV. He that assists a weak Stomach by Heaters as soon as he sees the Urine grow red must immediately abstain from hot Things Walus It Hofmannus otherwise a Dropsie follows XVI Things that have Vinegar in them must not be used indifferently in every crudity for I find it is only useful when too much Moisture and that thick is joyned with heat at which time it must either be much dilated or mixt with cooling and lenient Things Mercatus XVII That Concoction may do its Office without any fault things that bind the right Oririfice of the Stomach must be taken after Supper that the Stomach may be the stronger contracted and may perform its Action more exactly And Rondeletius sayes that they greatly mistake who give hot Powders after Meals for by their heat and tenuity they immediately carry with them the Aliment half crude to the Veins whence obstructions arise XVIII Medicines are made of Confections and Powders to strengthen the Stomach But it is much better to give them in form of a Powder without much Sugar for Sugar and Honey and other sweet Things make lax the Stomach and breed Wind Rondeletius especially when there is not much Moisture in it XIX Pepper is of a very thin Substance and so for a time it heats the Stomach and its Virtue is immediately spent as all tenuious and hot Things are Galen commends Pepper very much wherefore I could heartily wish the moderns were wiser who when they find Galen gave Pepper with Ptisan in a Fever think that Galen was out and they say it were better to use Cinnamon and so they order Cinnamon But they do not see Galen's mystery that Pepper heats the Stomach and not the Liver And Galen 4 de tuend valetud sayes that Diaspolit Diacalam and the like are very bad for a crude Stomach because they carry crude Humors to the Liver and cause Obstructions for although there be not so great a heat in Cinnamon yet it is more lasting Therefore I often give Sugar of Roses bruised very finely with a little Pepper Montanuâ— that it may more easily exhale XX. Celsus l. 2. c. 24. reckons the drinking of cold Things to be grateful to the Stomach and it appears from other places that drinking cold Water is good for the Stomach So l. 4. c. 18. he gives warm Water to them that are ill at their Stomachs He adds And hot Water for as luke-warm makes lax the Stomach and causes Vomiting so hot Water strengthens the Stomach Therefore Plistonieus in Athenaeus to strengthen the Stomach orders Water to be drunk very warm in Winter especially and in Spring and cold in Summer And Celsus l. 4.
much the rather because in such case there is always some fault in the Blood also 3. If humours differing from Blood be turgent and prohibiters of purgation be wanting as also indications for Bleeding then by no means must we breathe a Vein but only insist upon Purging as that which will afford no small relief and do much more good than harm Claudin Respon 2. XXVIII Though Revulsion be commonly used in the very Paroxysm yet it is also profitable after it that the morbifick reliques may be quite taken away so that a new fit may not come Thus in a suffocation of the Womb proceeding from the retention of Blood as also in other diseases fit help is given by Bleeding as well in the Paroxysm when necessity urgeth and there is danger of extinguishing the natural heat through the abundance of Blood as out of it as whereby the superfluous Blood that is preternaturally retained is evacuated translated from the Womb another way Gr. Horst probl dec 9. q. 3. and the imminent suffocation of the Spirits and heat removed XXIX When critical evacuations appear viz. Exanthemata or Spots Parotides Bubo's c. whether may we Bleed We must first shew what Exanthemata and Abscesses are and from whence they arise Exanthemata are little Prominences in the skin or red pale purple or blackish spots sometimes all over the skin sometimes scattered here and there one while thicker and another thinner sometimes broader sometimes more united and sometimes not raised at all above the surface of the skin That is called an Abscess which from a defluxion of matter transmitted into any part of the Body either inheres in it or raises a tumour as the Parotides under the Ears and Bubo's in the Arm-pits and Groins or Carbuncles and other such like under which name Abscesses and Exanthemata are comprehended For there are also critical evacuations by Stool Vomit Bladder Womb c. but these use to be called Abscesses by emission and the former by deposition from which we will take no indication of either letting or not letting Blood but from the Diseases and Symptoms that follow them The matter of Exanthemata and Bubo's Carbuncles and the like Abscesses is Blood that is unprofitable to the Body either through its quantity or faultiness or on both accounts which Nature by way of Crisis endeavours to thrust out of the Body at some certain time which thing she sometimes performs without any help but sometimes being oppressed she is overcome needing the help of art Therefore Venesection will be unprofitable while Exanthemata and other the said Abscesses are breaking forth or a little after whilst the Fever and other bad accidents if there be any seem to be remedied or evidently to be mitigated for that signifies that the strength of Nature is above the morbifick cause Wherefore the Artist ought in such case to see that he do not imprudently weaken or disturb the endeavours of Nature that are well begun But if the said endeavours be either wholly unprofitable or less effectual then it is a sign that Nature is oppressed by her burthen and overcome by the cause of the disease and unless she be helped she often lies vanquisht in so dangerous a combat Therefore as she was not to be interrupted while she shew'd her self a Conqueror so neither is she to be left destitute of help when she yields the Physician any signification of her weakness and oppression Which is the opinion of Hippocrates and Galen 1. aph 20. What diseases are judged and are judged intirely c. Also 2. aph 12. Those which are left c. If any say It often happens that imperfect crises are prolonged for several days so that it seems nothing is to be moved either on the day the Exanthemata break forth nor also on the day following I Answer That no certain stated and universal rule can be given in these cases but it is the part of a prudent Physician to discern when Nature is to be helped on the first day or on the second or later or when she is to be left without help seeing she wants no help if buckling to the work on the day of the crisis she either remedy or greatly lessen the disease but otherwise if she do not Add that Bleeding may also be profitable when by the eruption of these the maladies are somewhat mitigated So that I do not put off Bleeding though otherwise Blood were let before their eruption if I see the Fever to decline but slowly For even these are sooner cured thus as the other if they do recover both sooner and more safely Let us therefore say with Hippocrates and Galen that Judicatories or Crises which do not terminate the disease are signs of a predominant and perverse humour that stimulates Nature to an overforward excretion Therefore Nature shews that she desires help and that by Bleeding rather than Purging For the reason is at hand and that a very strong one seeing in the cases proposed the cause of the disease is in the Veins not in the Intestins Add hereto that Purging besides that it disturbs all the Body recalls both the impetus and motion of the humours to the principal or internal parts Hence Hippocrates says 4 Acut. Systrophae a sort of Abscess cannot be dissolved by Purging for in these Venesection is to be preferred c. Wherefore Purging is only allowable by art either in the beginning of a Fever or when the humours being concocted are prepared for excretion But Blood if the Nature of the disease require it and the faculties gainsay not may be let at any time Nor is this conceit of ours of evacuating the Body in the Parotides or in Exanthemata that relieve not the Patient new or not confirmed by Galen in his explication of these words of Hippocrates 6. aph 9. Broad Exanthemata itch not very much You will object again that by Venesection that is called inwards which Nature had begun to expell outwards viz. from the circumference to the centre I Answer That that only happens in superfluous effusions of Blood and not in such as are made artificially And by this reason which is brought Venesection is not so strongly disproved in this place as purging which they are not against but sometimes inopportunely propose it But suppose something be pulled back which yet there is not the profit in the mean time that follows upon a convenient evacuation of the burthening Matter is greater than the injury that could happen from a little corrupt matter received into the Vena cava But let us confirm the matter by examples A putrid and notable Synochus or continual Fever invaded a strong young man on the third day he had a Loosness like a Diarrhoca the next day the Fever and Loosness continuing in the same vigour red Exanthemata very thick and somewhat raised above the skin appear all over the skin the following day which was the fifth from the invasion of the
After Vomiting give sweet Milk and white Bread Idem for this doth again demulce the Gullet and Stomach XXV All Vomitories are bad given in substance Idem XXVI Let us not be moved by the authority of grave Physicians who dread the use of Antimony whereas in the mean time they make use of Asarum that is no less strong and violent for whosoever uses Asarum to cause Vomiting may also use Antimony seeing it is both a more grateful Remedy and also turns the Stomach with less danger and far more easily and attracts from the more inward parts especially if the infusion be rather taken than the substance for then its vertue penetrates deeper nor does it give so great molestation to the Stomach and in some yea very often it works also by Stool And if it be rightly and duly prepared any one may use it safelier and with less danger than Asarum whatsoever some clamour to the contrary who fear all things that are safe White Vitriol is stronger than Antimony and Tabaco is stronger than either exagitating mightily and beyond measure Primiros l. 2. de febr c. ult yet I have known many use it with good success both in infusion and substance ¶ Antimony is the most excellent of all Emeticks and weakens least of all Yet its substance ought not to be given but only its infusion which let it not be prepared of the Glass but only of Crocus Metallorum that is very pure for this is the safest of all the preparations of Antimony breaths a kind of Balsamick vertue upon the Viscera after its operation Other Vomitories which those who are and will be called Galenists use ordinarily made of Asarum the flowers of Broom white Hellebore and other such like besides that they are ungrateful and indiscretely compounded they are far worse and stronger than Antimony as I have a thousand times found by Experience Idem l. 3. c. 2. ¶ Amongst Vomitories I here prefer Antimonials before all the rest both because they do most happily evacuate all Humours promiscuously and also because they are most friendly to Humane Nature in a peculiar manner reducing by degrees all the Humours in a man to the most laudable state which vertue whether it be to be met with in other things I make a question that it is in Antimony I know Yet we must take heed of administring them in too great a quantity c. For being rightly prepared and used in a less quantity they hurt no body as I can testifie from a thousand Tryals but in such case they always profit either by amending the noxious Humours in the Body Fr. Sylv. Pract. l. 1. c. 23. or by further preparing them for the Purgation that is to follow after XXVII The infusion of Antimony or of its Glass in distilled Vinegar hath that benefit that the very substance of the Antimony is fretted off by the acrimony of the Vinegar which being fretted off sinks to the bottom Now if such infusion be prepared for several Doses the first that are poured off will work but little but when you come to the bottom if you think to give the like quantity as you did before you should cause the Patient to be either intolerably griped Walaeus p. 59. or even to die XXVIII Spanish wine extracts but little of its vertue but French wine or Rhenish a great deal because they incline to an acrimony Red wine also extracts better than white Spirit of Wine extracts nothing from Antimony XXIX 'T is in vain to prescribe the Dose of the infusion of Crocus metallorum for the stress lies in the quality of the Liquor No recipient receives by the measure of the impressor but by the measure of its own receptivity Idem XXX Antimony prepared or Crocus metallorum are prescribed to four or eight Grains yet we seldom go so high as this last Dose nor do we use it at all but in infusion Idem XXXI Note that Aromata or Spices are not prudently added in an infusion of Antimony for Corrections sake seeing by this means the endeavour both of Nature and of the Medicine is inverted For if that Infusion be given for this reason to evacuate vitious Humours both out of the Stomach and neighbouring Parts it ought also to exert its operation upwards And why would we weaken its vomiting vertue by strengthning the Stomach with Spices while on one side Nature is stimulated to expulsion she is on the other held bound with setters as it were and hindred from doing that which she intends to do and so she is interrupted in her operation and becomes doubtful If we will strengthen the Stomach let us do it after the vitious Humours are discharged out of it by vomit And therefore the poisonous quality of the glass of Antimony is better corrected by Nitre alone In Append. 3d animadv as * Zwelfer admonishes XXXII The glass of Antimony uses to work strongly being for the greatest part or altogether deprived of its Sulphur in the Preparation the Dose of the Powder is from four Grains to six of the infusion in Wine from six Drachms to ten The flowers of Antimony are a fiercely vomiting Medicine because in its preparation the saline and sulphureous Particles ascend having shaken off the watry and earthy and are combined together so that the mineral Body being very much unlocked and the most active Corpuscles the more dull which blunt these being laid aside joined together the Dose is only from two Grains to four Crocus metallorum works kindly enough and is a very usual Emetick it is given in substance from three Grains to five the infusion of it in Wine from half an Ounce to an Ounce and half The Sulphur of Antimony works more kindly and gently than any other Preparation of Antimony the Dose of it is from five Grains to ten Mercurius vitae contains no Mercury in it because being deprived of its congelative Salts it resumes its former species of Quick silver It is made of equal quantities of choice Antimony and Mercury sublimate Willis Pharm rat p. 65. XXXIII Angelus Sala's Emetick Syrup called by others Oxysâ—ccharum vomitivum doth excellently clear the Stomach that is loaded with thick Phlegm Gregorius Horstius tom 2. p. 483. gave a Drachm of it to an Asthmatick Woman whereby she was cured by vomiting up some pounds of thick Phlegm Less judicious Physicians might be afraid of choaking the Patient as if the Passages appointed for respiration would be made straiter in vomiting but sagacious Nature grants space for respiration betwixt the Vomits The same is to be observed in a suffocating Catarrh I use that Syrup frequently and should desire no alteration in it unless that the taste of the Vinegar might be somewhat milder of which some Patients complain Hoëf Hercul Med. p. 118. therefore I often add a little of the Julap of Roses or the Syrup of Cinnamon ¶ Sala gives it from two Drachms
Therefore you must not wait for a head before you lance them XII A young man going down Mont Cenis and slipping on a sudden fell upon his back the hilt of his sword lighting under his short ribs and left kidney and bruising his Loins very much In which place a little after there began a great pain with various symptomes but without any sensible fever The part affected was not black and blue nor swelled but very smooth and plain A great quantity of humours from the whole body had flowed to the left muscle called Psoas and being there pent in made an Abscess A certain Physician thinking him Nephritical gave him many things against the Stone But being brought to a Surgeon who not long before had cured one in the same condition he was told by him that there was matter shut up in the part which must have vent given to it otherwise he would be in great danger if the Abscess should break inwards and the pus should be poured forth into the Abdomen The young man committed himself to this Surgeon whose first care was that the matter which was all over the Loins should be drawn to such a place by applying powerfull drawers as where there were few large vessels and the instruments of motion might be least hurt in the operation Which after he thought he had obtained from the Patient's sense of pain upon pressing a fit place he forthwith made a wound on the left side of the fourth Vertebra of the Loins with a red hot knife as deep as the length of ones forefinger from the palm as one might guess by the tent that was afterward put in Then notwithstanding its depth he put his two fingers into the same wound to make it the wider that the matter might flow the more plentifully out of it But a little moderating the evacuation the Surgeon put in it a silver pipe which being besmeared with purging and deterging ointments he used for some months and at length the wound was skinn'd over without any fistula or sinus in it Fab. Hildan cent 1 observ 63. The same person advises in such deep wounds and ulcers as are near some internal cavity as the Chest or lower belly to abstain wholly from injections that are made with a Syringe lest some part of the injection go into the cavity where it might be the cause of grievous symptomes with the danger of the Patient XIII I saw an unmarried Woman forty years old labouring under an Imposthume behind her left ear About the fourteenth day of the Disease when it was grown to the bigness of ones Fist and the Matter was fully ripe but retain'd too long through the toughness of the skin it made its way downwards When I was called I found the Imposthume broke of it self some hours before which run little or nothing but a few days after the Woman died when she had a Fever Fainting and other Symptomes Hence it appears that in Imposthumes of this kind whether they be in the Emunctories or near them we must not stay till they break of themselves which this History confirms ¶ There was a Boy three years old who had an Imposthume about his right shoulder the matter whereof when it was more than enough digested and the lancing of it denied the swelling sunk by little and little Fab. Hild. cent hist 39. 81. and fell by degrees into the lower belly and Genitals where having extinguished the innate heat it produced a Gangrene ¶ I saw almost the like case Anno 1660 in the Village Coussise in the Canton of Bern near Grandison The Reverend Mr. Bourgeois Pastor of the Church a full bodied man who fared well and omitted one Autumn his accustomed bloud-letting whereby he used to abate his Plethory In the Winter following a huge Boyl ariseth in the upper part of his back for which he was not so much as let bloud I and a Surgeon were called and found the Abscess exceeding ripe and pressing it with my fingers found it hollow I bid the Surgeon use his Lancet which he did but the Patient felt it not And he took great pieces of Flesh away It cast out good and plentifull Matter yet without Fever Fainting or any other grievous Symptome his strength was perfect and his stomach good For I found him on his leggs not dreaming in the least of his death which I signified to his Wife who took me for mad I took leave of my Patient intending to return to Newenburg in Switzerland where I then practised Physick But within three hours I was recalled to the assistance of the dying man who a few hours after departed this life XIV A Girl eight years old had a small Swelling sanguine and phlegmatick on the out side of the right under jaw I fearing lest the scar should spoil her face did before the Abscess came to break resolve to try to disperse it according to Guido who saith that sometimes suppurated Imposthumes are cured by discussion After whose example Paraeus cured such another Abscess with crude Mercury mixt with Diapalma I in imitation of him mixed one drachm of the said Mercury with an ounce of Diapalma and applied it to the suppurated Tumour Dionysius Iomeret apud Riverium obs 1. Vid. Hollerium de mat ch rurg lib. 2. cap. 1. which within four days was wholly dispersed The following qualifications are requisite to the dispersing of suppurated Matter 1. That the quantity be but small 2. That it be thin and serous 3. That it be near the skin and surface of the Body 4. That it be in a strong and young Body and soft fleshed 5. That it be Summer time XV. The Site of the Fibres is to be taken special heed of for I observed an ignorant Barber once opened an Imposthumâ— on the forehead cross-ways The Imposthume indeed was successfully cured but the Patient was ever after deprived the benefit of his Eyes except when he pasted up his eye-brows with Plasters It were more advisable to leave such Imposthumes to Nature Rolsâ—â—ceius disserâ— Anaâ— lib. 3. cap. 10. than to commit the Incision of them to unskilfull hands See Galen 4. de administr Anatom c. 1. XVI There lies a Nerve under the Buttocks which if it be cut in Suppuration or when it is laid bare be hurt by cold it leaves the Thigh under it benummed A certain man had an Imposthume in the bending of his Buttock where it ends in the Thigh Hollerius inst châ—r l 2. c. 1. l. 3. c. 1. when the Matter was cleansed the Nerve was made bare which being hurt by the cold left the whole Thigh benummed XVII If there be but little Matter there is no harm if all run out which is fit and ready for running without any violent or long pressing of it a thing usual with many Surgeons from which I could never yet observe any benefit to accrue to the Patient but oft times much hurt Indeed when the Matter resides in
Physician a Drying and Sweating Diet he endeavoured to dry his Head with Bags Plasters c. he used Apophlegmatisms Sneezing yea and made an Issue behind in his Head all in vain At that time I was following my Studies at Paris he sent me a Description of his Disease to shew it to some famous Physicians I consulted severally with Monsieur Carolus Buvardus Chief Physician to Lewis XIII with Monsieur Curaeus de la Chambre Physician to the High Chancellour and with Monsieur Hurduynus de S. Jaques Physician to the Hospital of Charity They well considering the Constitution of the Patient declared The Disease was Sympathick arising from Fumes ascending from the Hypochondria affecting the Top of the Chimney i. e. the Gullet and that the tempering and exclusion of Melancholick Humours must be lookt after they prescribed him Spaw Waters the use of Chalybeates an Issue in each Leg and stopt up that in his head they order'd Leeches to the Haemorrhoids and other things to conquer the Melancholick Humours The Patient consented who a little after was rid both of his Melancholy and his Quinsey XXIII In this Controversie I think we must take great notice whether the Body abound with Bloud either naturally or because of the manner of living or of some accustomed Evacuation stopt for then I think we should bleed in the Ham or the Ancle and the same day if the Disease be urgent or the next to Breathe the Jecorary or Cephalick Vein and if the Disease abate not we must proceed to Bleed under the Tongue But if there be no such great plenty of Bloud Septalius Animad vers lib. 6. Sect. 113. I think it better not to meddle with the Veins of the lower parts but presently to open a Vein in the Arm and afterwards to bleed in the upper Veins XXIV But Bloud-letting in the Arm must be repeated not onely because it makes better Revulsion and causeth less weakness but because it is often observed that there is new afflux to the Part affected either from some other Part transfusing Matter Idem Ibid. Sect. 114. that it may ease it self of the burthen wherewith it is oppressed or by the Part affected drawing by reason of its pain and heat XXV And seeing some either in the Working of their Physick or that they naturally abhor it are apt to vomit it up again it is better always to give Potions than Pills or Bolus's for if they should happen to Vomit either a Bolus or Pills when they are suddenly and with great Violence forced to the Passage straitned with the Inflammation Idem Ibid. Sect. 115. there is no small danger of Strangling XXVI Bags that are made up with drying Powders to discuss in Inflammations of other parts must never be made use of in the Quinsey because by thickning the outer Skin Idem Ibid. Sect. 116. they rather hinder the Cure Therefore we must rather work with Moistners Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Aetius Tetrab 2. Sect. 4. c. 47. I have used in an Inward Quinsey a Gargarism of Mustard and have often delivered my Patients from danger 2. If the Swelling in the Neck will not soften J. Agric. Chirur. parv p. 802. burn an Owl in an open Pot to Powder a little of which you may blow into the Throat The Swelling will soften to admiration and break This is a Singular Secret 3. Bartoletus l. 5. part 2. c. 16. Duke Ferdinand's Powder is a great Secret in the Quinsey It is made of Mineral Crystal Cream of Tartar and Sugar For every half ounce of Crystal 1 ounce of Cream of Tartar and 2 ounces of Sugar are taken Tho. Bartholinus cent 4. hist 73. Blockwitius anat Samb Sect. 3. c. 12. 4. A Purple Thread wherewith a Viper hath been strangled is highly commended for the Quinsey 5. Let the Water or Decoction of Elder Flowers wherein is mixt a little Elder Honey and a few Leaves with one or two Jews Ears be Gargled This is recommended by experience Claud. Deodatus 6. Spirit of Nitre with Water of the Anodyne Salt Gargled hot is most excellent to allay the Inflammation Hartman prax chim 7. Take of Houseleek a sufficient quantity bruise it and strain it Take of this Juice 1 pint Sal Ammoniack half an ounce leave it in a moist place till the Salt be dissolved Distill it by an Alembick Wash your Tongue often with this Water 8. Galen Aetius Orobasius and all the Ancients commend Dogs-Turd White poudered and dried mixed with Honey and laid to the Throat Platerus 9. The Juice of Tree-Ivy swallowed gently from 3 drachms to half an ounce doth much good by repelling and digesting Eust Rud. Art Med. l. 1. c. 42. 10. This is an Excellent Remedy Take of Swallow's Nest 3 ounces Sapa 1 ounce Pulp of Cassia newly drawn 1 ounce and an half Mix them and apply it outwardly For it digests and asswages 11. This also is admirable which is made of the crum of a Loaf Milk Flowers of Roses and Chamaemil mixt together and applied after Bloud-letting Idem ibid. by virtue of which Medicine they use to spit plentifully and be much relieved Scultetus Armamen Chir. Obs 32. 12. This Gargarism is highly commended in all dangerous Quinseys especially in the beginning if the enflamed Jaws be often washed therewith Take of Saffron powdered 1 scruple and an half of the sharpest Vinegar 1 ounce Plantain Water 3 ounces white Sugar 2 drachms Mix them and make a Gargarism M. Joh. Wittichius Cons Med. 23. 13. Sennertus commends the Decoction of Berberry wood or of the inner Rind of the Hazle 14. Oil of sweet Almonds new drawn given with Sugar and a little of the Powder of a Boar's Tusk is the most present Remedy for the Quinsey and Pleurisie Anorexia or Want of Appetite The Contents It s Cure must be various according to the variety of Causes I. Food must be actually cold II. Fasting must sometime be injoyned III. It s Cure in Women with Child IV. It s Cure when caused by Choler V. When by Phlegm VI. In Consumptive Persons VII When Cured of its own accord VIII Medicines I. WOmen about sick persons desire nothing more than to remove this fault but they reckon that which is onely a sign of Health to be the Cause For this reason oftentimes the Physician is forced to provoke an Appetite It is lost 1. Because the Powers are weakned and the Bloud is not well concocted 2. Because for the former reason the acid Humour cannot be separated because of the thin Humours that are admitted We see this in them through whose Arteries noxious Humours together with the acid Humour are poured into the Stomach which often deceives Physicians while they ascribe the cause to the Intemperature of the Stomach or because it is corrupted and too thin That the loss of Appetite is to be ascribed to the fault of the
Bloud Hence arises an increase of bad Humours and of the Morbifick Cause hence vapours arise to the Head and obstructions in the Bowels which are succeeded by various Symptomes especially by a decay of the innate Heat Now by Anodynes the parts are mollified and the Humour which lay deep in the Joints is drawn outwards whereupon the pains of the Gout which before were most violent abate as the part swells But the greatest caution imaginable and the advice of a skilfull Physician is requisite who must consider the time of the Disease and its Matter for what things are good in the beginning of the pain and defluxion are not good in the state nor are the same things proper in the declension or conclusion of the Gout and so either through unseasonable use of Remedies or variety of Matter frequently that which hath done one Man good does another Man hurt XXVI Most Physicians condemn Narcoticks and Stupefiers because safer means are not wanting whereby the violence of the pain may be asswaged And in their opinion it were better not to stop mens roaring rather than to weaken them with Medicines of that nature A pretty plausible pretence As if the patient and his parts were so weakned thereby Narcoticks indeed taken inwardly if they be not dextrously administred are not void of hurt for given unseasonably they cause a Congelation if I may so say and immobility of the spirits not by cooling but by fixing which is the product of a luxuriant Sulphur in remedies of that nature and upon the immobility of the Animal spirits their influx is stopt and Death with suffocation doth follow But if sharp pain do rage you need fear no such thing from the outward Application of such Remedies since it is certain that one dayes pain weakens and hurts the Nerves more than six days such outward Application But suppose a little deadness should remain there are a thousand Remedies to take that off as Baths Fomentations Plasters Stoves and other things which quickly doe it Besides a Narcotick mixt with its Antidote becomes harmless All Authours almost in violent Pains of the Gout make use of Henbane Some go as high as Opium If the Spleen be very hard we apply Hemlock without any danger nay it is applied to the eyes so near the Brain with great success And I being backt with good success make no scruple to apply both the said plants with Cassia Camphire Saffron Sperma Ceti and Man's Grease De Mayerne de Artâ—â—itide p. 41. which is a most excellent Anodyne in this Disease XXVII Hippocrates bids men before Universals allay the pain by outward Application which our Age so much dreads before general Evacuation but this is no new thing with Hippocrates who knew how dangerous a purge was if given in the extremity of pain as appears from 4. acutor vers 396. He orders the pain in the running Gout and Gout to be mitigated with things actually cold 1. Because they quench the actual heat of the running Gout and asswage the Acrimony and Fluxibility of the Humour in both Diseases and they dull its activity and violence in acting from which all sense of pain arises 2. Coolers by strengthning the innate heat of the part affected do better qualifie it for Coction and Expulsion of the Humour 3. They hinder the generation of a Callus in the Joints which hot things often promote by evaporating the thin part of the Humour and baking the thick I know the Vulgar believe the contrary who are afraid to use actual coolers in the Gout or any pain of the Limbs But they are deceived Prosp Martianus Com. in vâ—rs 37. Sect. 2. lib de Affectibus for although Cold do harden as well as heat yet the hardness caused by Cold does not in our case harden into tophous knots because it still retains its proper moisture although congealed by Cold which at length by application of heat dissolves and recovers its former softness But whatever is hardened by heat it is deprived of its proper moisture the heat consuming and exhaling it so that a hardness is introduced which is not easily removed such as the hardness of those Tophi which the Joints of Gouty persons contract XXVIII When the Fit is over it is usual to apply Diapalma Plaster which indeed is an innocent thing but of small comfort There are many better things extant such as Emplastrum de Hermodactylis de Minio magistrale they call it Emplastrum Sandicis Gum Curanna and Tacamahaca dissolved in Spirit of Wine are of singular efficacy Emplastrum Betonicae c. For they that have undergone an Assault of the Gout have occasion for the use of some remedy that by its drying virtue may strengthen the nervous parts whose tone and native temperament may be preserved by such things Aegineta a learned Physician rubs the Joints of Gouty persons with an Ointment of Oil and Salt It is good when the pains are over but best of all to prevent them There is an Oil made of Winter-Gilliflowers De Mâ—yerne Tract de Arthr. p. 44. which is much bettered by addition of the Flowers of Mullein By the use of it a Physician belonging to the Duke of Bulloin got such strength in his Joints that after he had been 30 years troubled with the Gout and he had lived as many more 10 years before his death he lived above an hundred he walked as stoutly as if he had never had a Fit of it XXIX Such Discutients are requisite as may not onely open the Pores that the Serum may evaporate and the Bloud be made to circulate as in a Phlegmon and Oedema But such whose Saline parts designed to oppose those Saline ones of the Arthritick Matter may either by mixing with them bring them out or by precipitating them keep them from those painfull Effervescencies Wherefore in this Disease when Fomentations or Cataplasms of Chamaemil Mallows Linseed and Faenugreek doe little or no good nay often a great deal of hurt by relaxing the Nervous parts some Dissolutions or stillatitious Liquors of Sal Ammoniack Sea Salt Nitre Vitriol Quick-Lime and the like which in other Swellings or Pains always doe hurt are usually of great benefit Several such Liquors to be applied to the part grieved in a Fit of the Gout and which have been tried by experience Willis cap. de Arthritide are prescribed by Quercetan Hartman Crollius and others XXX He does but expose himself that engages to dissolve the Knots in the Gout for if they are grown hard it is onely labour lost to try any such thing But while the Matter is but in Gelly I should not think it utterly impossible if we could get a Remedy that would reach it and that bore any proportion to it Such is Sal Ammoniack both natural and artificial yea that which is made of Smoak and Urine But volatile Salt of Urine depurated by many Sublimations exceeds in virtue all other remedies The Pores of
ran in abundance he was restless his stomach and strength were gone he was in a Fever and in much pain and that not without fear of a Gangrene Notwithstanding I undertook the Cure in this manner When I had put him in a right course of Diet I gave him a stool for he was costive with a Suppository After Supper I gave him a little Laudanum with Cinnamon Water and Confectio Alkermes The day following I gave him an Infusion of Rhubarb Agarick and Senna with a few drachms of Elect. Diacarth But that Potion scarce wrought at all the next day therefore I gave him a drachm of Pil. Coch. de Hermodactyl with a few grains of Trochischs of Alhandal Diagrydium I applied to his Arm things to asswage the Pain maintain the native heat consume excrementitious Humours and to resist Putrefaction Then I made use of an opening Apozeme for several days and when at set times I had purged him with our lenitive Phlegmagogue and with Hydrogogues he was perfectly restored Hence it appears how dangerous it is to move any thing in bodies that are impure and full of ill Humours Wherefore Galen was in the right that Wounds should be judged dangerous not onely for the Excellence of the Part affected or for their greatness but for the impurity and cacochymy of the Patient for we often see most grievous and deadly Diseases do arise from the least wound nay from a little worm while the Humours flow from the whole body to the part that is hurt Fabricius Hildanus Cent. 4. Obs 71. as to their common sink and so destroy the innate heat of that part and excite various symptomes III. A Person of Quality about five and forty years old had his Arm shrunk He took an Extract of Grana Acanthalidis and Pulp of Coloquintida for fifteen days by means whereof the Humours that were gathered there were dissolved and expelled In the mean time the part was outwardly fomented with this Dâ—coction P. Poterius cent 1. curat 79. Take of Mallows Violets Calamint Chamaemil Melilot each 1 handfull Let them be boiled with a Neats-foot in Water and Wine Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. A certain person when he had anointed his Arm that aked with the Juice of the Root of Devil's-bit was presently eased of his pain ¶ Some who have had violent pain in their Periosteum Pet. Forest l. 29. obs 28. especially at night have reaped much benefit from the Oil of Earth-worms and of a Fox You may first apply Aqua Vitae after that Fox Oil alone and last of all you may anoint with Dogs-grease as hot as you can by the fire 2. I have often experienced this Plaster to doe a great deal of good Take of pure Gumm Caranna 1 ounce and an half of Tacamahac 3 ounces of Ammoniac and Galbanum dissolved in Vinegar Bal. has Timaeus Ep. Med. l. 5. Ep. 13. each half an ounce Bdellium 6 drachms yellow Amber 1 ounce Mastick Frankincense each half an ounce Turpentine and Wax each what is sufficient Spread it on Leather and apply it to the part grieved It must be used for three weeks or a month Bronchocele or the Throat-Rupture The Contents It hath not one onely Cause nor Cure I. One ceasing when the Swelling broke of it self II. By Application of an actual Cautery III. Caution must be used in cutting of it out IV. If Medicines prove ineffectual we must have recourse to Incision or a Seton V. Medicines See Strumae I. CElsus defines Bronchocele to be A Swelling in the neck betwixt the skin and the Aspera Arteria wherein sometimes dull flesh sometimes some Humour-like Water or Honey is contained Platerus makes the cause to be Wind breaking in under the skin and the general Membrane under and adhering to the skin in the forepart of the neck But the cause of that Aërial Collection he makes to be the loosening or separation of the skin with its Membrane which is thicker and redder in that place than elsewhere from the seat of the Aspera Arteria and fore-Muscles of the Neck into which space when made the Air or Wind to avoid a vacuum breaks in and not onely by filling it raises the skin and Membrane into a Tumour but by continuance distending it much encreaseth it whence it is rightly called Bronchocele as if it were a Rupture of the Throat And he makes the cause of the separation of the Membranes to be violent straining either in going to stool or in labour in Women There is truth in both opinions although Sennertus thinks it scarce probable that Wind alone can procure so lasting an evil ¶ I saw an example of the first kind Anno 1660. in my own Maid Petronella Definod a faithfull servant who died of a Consumption and Dropsie in her Breast and Belly In the process of her Disease sâ—e had a huge Throat-Rupture which had disfigured her Neck for ten years I ordered the Swelling to be opened with a Razor there was underneath glandulous flesh swimming in great store of purulent Matter which had flowed thither from the Breast and Lungs ¶ I had an example of the latter kind in a noble Matron who upon her straining in Travel and holding her Breath contracted that Ail on a sudden She went with it two years but at length it dispersed of it self without any Medicines or remainder of it behind ¶ That driers may properly be prescribed for this Disease the example of a Small-coal-man in Geneva doth shew whose Neck was beset with one of these Swellings as big as his head but by his continual stirring in and carrying of Coals and by inspiration of the Dust he obtained a perfect Cure and at this very time his Dewlaps hang at his Neck as upon an Ox. Arnoldus de Villa nova his Powder is very Efficacious and deserves commendation while the Disease is new Take of Sea-Spunge Pila marina Pepper long and black Ginger Cinnamon Sal Gem Pellitory of Spain Galls Sponges Bedegar each 1 drachm pound them all together except the Sea Sponge which must be burnt and its ashes mixt with the rest and sierced let him hold a little of this frequently in his mouth both night and day he may take a little of it often in a day ¶ Amongst topical Medicines this of Aetius discusseth which hath Of Quick-lime Gum-Ammoniac Bdellium Shells burnt in an Oven Verdigreece live Sulphur each alike quantities mix them up with Vinegar and then make them up with Sewet or Turpentine and apply it ¶ Also Vnguentum Valesci is good Take of Euphorbium 1 ounce Sulphur Sandarach each half an ounce Wax and Oil as much as is sufficient Make it into an Vnguent with which anoint the Neck and apply the Plaster above prescribed For saith he in good ones of a years standing we wrought by way of Resolution as we said but now and thereby we had honour and obtained benefit II. One called Blandin had his neck
of a volatile oily Salt may be mixt with common Medicines I have observed that Vnguentum Martiatum mixt with Treacle is excellent for dispersing and that Emplast Diachyl cum Gummi promotes Suppuration Unless the violence of the Pain be urgent I would not precipitately use Scarification of the Buboes much less Blistering and Cupping But when the Buboes are great and burning and the Patients strength firm I could allow Cupping and Scarifying but never Blistering from which I could never yet apprehend what good could be expected or did ever follow For the pain which is then increased together with the great heat and a kind of Erysipelas can doe the Patients no good who are already sufficiently weakned with the violence of the Disease But by gentle Medicines outwardly applied the sharpness of the Humour is qualified when there is any in the Buboes the Cure at least is promoted by degrees if so be that things convenient inwardly be not neglected by which the Discussion as well as Suppuration of the Buboes may not a little be promoted As soon as the Buboes are suppurated the opening of them must be hastened either with a Penknife or some breaking Medicine though I prefer a Pen-knife Franc. Sylvius de le Bâ—ë Appen ad Prax. Tract 2. Sect. 677. after the Bubo was opened I have put in with good success Balsamus Sulphuris Terebinthinatus Anisatus with Vnguent Basilicon and Treacle for by this means I quickly cleansed the Ulcer Moreover by means of this same Balsam it heals up more happily and quickly if you apply but a little Emplast Diapompholig or some such like to hasten the Cicatrice ¶ I use to treat a Pestilential Bubo in the manner following At the very first I clap on a Vesicatory although the Tumour be of no considerable bigness and neglect Cupping-glasses which I therefore reject because they cause pain and a Fever draw out the good Humours as well as the bad and do yet alter the whole bloud more Within 7 or 8 hours I cut the Blister and apply Emplastrum magneticum arsenicale Certainly its virtue is such in this case that I know not a more noble Medicine as will appear to any one that uses it The Description of it is in Hartman I have experienced these good qualities in it that if it be applied to a hard skin it produces not the least Eschar and in the mean time draws out the Malignant Humours so egregiously that a Bubo as big as a Walnut is taken away in four or five days time But this does not always succeed so quickly and this is the reason why a Blister must be first drawn that the Humours may the sooner be evacuated Nay in robust Bodies it will produce no Eschar unless by help of a Vesicatory not onely the Cuticle but some part of the skin also be first corroded But in children and more tender bodies it is able to raise a Scab of it self without any blistering premised This Scab is the true seat of the extracted Poison wherefore it is found pretty thick and the skin onely superficially corroded which is a thing truly worth consideration For this as I think is the reason why this is sooner separated than any other Scabs raised by Art for in 24 or 36 hours it hath fallen off by the help onely of a Spatula without any precedent Scarification It may be taken away without any or but a very little pain if to your Antipestilential Plaster whatever you use you add a little Vnguent Basilic or Treacle Otherwise this Unguent excellently promotes the falling of the Eschar Take of Virgin Honey Ducks grease each 1 ounce Soot 6 drachms Stratsburg Turpentine 1 ounce Yelks of Eggs N o ij Treacle 3 drachms Oil of Scorpions what is sufficient Mix them and make an Vnguent But if when the first Scab is fallen the Tumour be not sufficiently abated you may raise a second and a third with Emplastrum Magneticum Arsenicale and then proceed as you did before You may heal up the Ulcer with Emplastrum de Minio Barbette Tract de Peste p. m. 191. or some other drying and cicatrizing Plaster but do not make too much haste to heal it lest the Poisonous Humour still remaining in the Body should cause a new Disease or Death at last VII If there be a Venereal Bubo in the groin you must not bleed in the Arm For there would be danger lest the morbifick matter should be drawn upwards I have known some who just upon the appearing of the Bubo after letting of bloud and Purging have fallen into a stubborn Pox if not perpetual But if the Bubo give no hope of Suppuration and several days have past and the Pain and Swelling do not encrease then you may safely let bloud below for the matter is drawn downwards and by the approach of hotter bloud to the Bubo sometimes it is easily suppurated But when you have used Suppuraters a long time Epiphanius Ferdinâ—â—â—uâ— histor 17. if the thing succeed not according to your desire then you may freely breathe a Vein in the Arm. VIII In the same since the Humours want violence of motion there is no necessity of Revulsion but it is rather better to draw all the Humour to the place affected as in pestilential ones that all the force of the poison may expire by the Bubo for when it is otherwise more grievous Symptomes and Difeases spring up Which is the reason that I have always perswaded my self they are in a grievous errour who try to dissolve them for although it be a safer way of evacuation yet in this case it is the cause of much mischief seeing in dissolving them that matter onely vanisheth which is contained within the Bubo Whence it comes to pass when nothing of the peccant matter in the whole body and especially in the parts about the Liver and in the Liver it self is diminished as is usual in suppurated Buboes by which the matter of the whole body runs out and is purged away so that then the Body is more purified that the matter left within causeth falling of the hair Pustules Mercatus de indicat Med l. 1. c. 4. Sore heads and grievous Pains For which reason I reckon it most advisable to endeavour suppuration in all these as a present remedy for this worst of Diseases IX Buboes that are caused by thick tough and cold Humours are ripened with difficulty and require a long time to cure For sometimes when Nature is not strong enough to drive such matter to the outer skin it remains between the Peritonaeum and the Muscles hence it continually sends Vapours to the Liver sometimes it causes large Sinus's and divers symptomes for the matter polluted with this Infection returns to the Liver and infects the mass of Bloud and other parts ¶ A certain person had a Bubo in his right groin who deferred opening of it till the malignant matter fell upon the fourth and biggest Nerve of all
freely the vapâ—ur contained in it exhales by so much the more violently doth the humour flow likewise which will encrease the Swelling into whose intimacy if the circumfluous Air which was excluded before by its coats do indeed penetrate presently there follows both a greater putrefaction and a more luxuriant rankness in the part affected which if you do but endeavour to hinder either by Instrument or sharp Medicines you do but twist ropes of Sand. The Daughter of Geropius Becanus carried in her left Temple for above Fifty years a hard and uneven Carcinoma but without an Ulcer or any great harm Nic. Tulpius lib. 1. obser 47. however the pain and itching by little and little encreasing she imprudently applied to the Tumour I know not what Caustick Medicines which corroding the Skin it quickly degenerated into an Ulcerated Carcinoma III. There scarce occurs any one disease this day in Surgery about which greater errours are committed than in the Canker Do you ask the cause The Disease and the Essence thereof is not sufficiently clear to them and in the Cure they too strictly observe that Axiome of Physicians Contraries are Medicines for their Contraries For when they see the Tumour very hard they endeavour by Emollients and Resolvers contrary to Galen's opinion to amend that hardness afterwards when the Tumour is degenerated into an Ulcer they consume the Lips that are hard with Escharoticks and Corroders they correct the filth and stink of the Ulcer with Aegyptiacum Hild. cent 6. obs 81. and such things all which how unreasonable and pernicious they are many examples do shew IV. Carcinoma's or Cankers if they be cured to the bottom can be cured no other way than if they be Ulcerous ones by burning if not Ulcerous by cutting For that there are some which may be cured is evident from Hipp. lib. 7. Epid. about the Man that had a Carcinoma in his Jaws burnt and was cured by him And others that neither can be cured nor ought to be medled with appears from Celsus because they are but provoked and do increase till they kill And the difference lies not in the kind of the Disease but in the Quality of the humour for in the very several sorts of Melancholy some are sharper or milder than others If therefore you perceive by any symptomes that a Man's Melancholy is so sowre as that it is much irritated upon a slender occasion perchance you must not dare to touch it But if by other symptomes you perceive the Melancholick humour that is in a Man doth incline to an earthy or sanguine nature you must try to burn it with Causticks and then if the thing succeed well you must proceed presently to fire especially if the evil be in a part which the disease can easily and speedily eat away such as the Jaws For in such cases Vallesius l. 7. Eâ—id p. 89â— although you be not sufficiently ascertained whether the humour be able to bear this Remedy you must try even with danger to burn it because if the cure should be neglected the disease might eat away the part though coming of no ungentle Humour Therefore you must try even with danger to cure a Disease that would certainly kill V. Purging should rather be used in the beginning according to the redundance of the Humours in the Body if perchance the encrease of the Canker may be hindred by it than that we should accommodate it onely to carry off Melancholick Humours as they commonly doe who think Melancholy to be the cause of it which indeed for a costive body may be better treated can upon this account especially doe no good because it cannot take away the cause of the Canker that is poisonous besides It is granted that other poisons as that which causeth the Pox may be discharged the body by strong Purges often repeated which it is not safe to doe in very weak bodies Platerus Tâ—m 2. p. 704. that are troubled with the Canker nor if it should be done would doe any good VI. Galen 4. aph 47. acknowledges he cured a Cancrous Tumour that came in the breast of a certain Woman by violently and often Purging her of black Choler in the Spring and Autumn H Montuus And by the like method of cure I also freed a certain Noble Countess of a Carcinoma in her Breast VII We have no reason to question the repetition of Bloud-letting again and again for there is a fault in the Bloud upon its being vitiated the Tumour depends And though a Cacochymy should rather be discharged by proper Purgers yet when there was hot exust and melancholick Bloud in the whole it ever pleased Galen 3. de lec affect 7. Fortis consul 86. cent 4. ad Glauc 11. and Hippocrates also to abate us plenty by breathing a Vein which is the more convenient if heat and redness be perceived in the part a token of the Fire 's being onely kindled and not that all is in ashes VIII Cordials especially those that resist poison will doe more good in subduing the strength of this poison than such as are accommodated to other humours And these are the chief of those things that are given inward in this case and should rather be used than vulnerary Potions which nevertheless some that they may try all things in a desperate disease do prescribe in an Ulcerous Canker And they most esteem of one that is made of a Decoction of Winter-green and Ground Ivy in Wine for the Canker in the Breast Platerus and for all others IX If in the part affected the peccant matter be but in a small quantity then there is no inconvenience in strengthening the Part because when the Part is strengthned that little which is left is easily dissolved by Nature This Rule is gathered from Galen 14 Meth. cap. 9. where he saith That in the beginning of a Canker the excrementitious humour if it be but little may be repelled to the principal parts because unless it be suddenly repelled Sanctorius lib. de Râ—m Innent c. 15 the Melancholick humour does presently distend the veins which when distended the Canker is rendred incurable But that it is so appears from Galen 6 aph 38. where he saith the Roots of the Canker are Veins that are distended by melancholick Bloud which unless it be removed the Canker cannot be cured X. Sometime the Pain is most outragious which will not allow one to take any rest or sleep wherefore we are often forced to have recourse to Narcoticks which in this case by reason of the intense heat of the humours doe less harm For once I saw a Woman that laboured of a Canker in her Breast Riverius prâ—ct l. 15. c. 10. whâ— every night for four months took four or five grains of Laudanum without any hurt and to her great comfort XI A Noble Woman had all the right-side of her face Mauritius Cordaeus con 7. in lib. 1. de
painfull corrugations and farther Willis de cephalalgia lest the brain be invaded by the violent motion of the humours to the head and then which happens too frequently sleepy or convulsive diseases be brought on ¶ Some for inveterate Head-aches after once or twice purging fly to Quicksilver wherewith they rub the head and other aking parts These Men Encheir med pr. though sometime they remove the Pain yet they always increase the Cause and cool and moisten the brain more ¶ There are some that commend Empl. de Vigo cum Mercurio because it has been observed Ibid. that it hath put an end to an inveterate Head-ach having evacuated much phlegmatick humours by spitting ¶ Salivation terrifies several that are imployed in inventing dissuasives against it but experience dispels this vain fear Rolfinc meth spec p. 164. One that was sick of a grievous Head-ach and miserably afflicted with it being salivated recovered under our care and there was no sign of the Pox in him ¶ Willis in the place fore-quoted approves of Salivation in the Head-ach arising from the Venereal Disease In other cases he disapproves of it and produces some examples of ill success XXXVI An Oxyrrhodinum may not be applied in every Head-ach Abstain 1. When a Catarrhe is joined with it for the application of cold things increases the distillation and by its driness strains out the humour down to the Breast yet Trallianus allows it when the Head-ach has its original from the violent heat of the head which draws the humours like a Cupping-glass from the whole body this way it does good by taking away the cause 2. When plenty of gross humours or vapours cause the Head-ach in which case Oxyrrhodina doe more harm by obstructing than good by Repulsion 3. If the Head-ach be critical you may reckon it critical if in a Fever it fall upon a critical day if signs of Coction have preceded yet if the Crisis should be by Vomit they may safely be applied otherwise if Bleeding at the Nose were drawing on by driving back you would cause Death 4. They doe harm if bloud or another humour be firmly settled in the head for then Digesters must be made use of as Galen 13 m. m. 6. adviseth 5. In a Head-ach that is malignant or contracted from the Bite or Sting of a venomous Creature the Venom must rather be drawn outwards by Rarefiers XXXVII In the Head-ach caused by heat the juices of Purslane Housleek Kidney-wort and other things of the like nature Hollerius Perioch 2. but these things must be fresh not parched with heat and without juice Vinegar is good in Liquours but it is forbidden to Children and tender Bodies XXXVIII It is known that some Empiricks rashly undertake that they can cure all sorts of Head-aches with their Cephalick waters whereby many have been brought into perpetual tortures in their head I knew a Nobleman then but young who suffering a violent Head-ach from the ebullition of hot bloud through some bodie 's persuasion washed all his head in very strong Aqua vitae but by this unskilfull advice he was almost cast into Madness Oethaeus XXXIX Castor asswages pains in the Head coming from the Womb saith Hippocrates lib. 7. de Epidem and lib. 6. Great pain about the forepart of the Head and what-ever others arise from the Womb. Now indeed that Diseases by Sympathy are removed by curing what is first in fault and that this is the legitimate way of their Cure is very well known But Castor is commended for all Uterine Diseases I say those that are improperly called Uterine such as Fits of the Mother whether they be caused by suppression of bloud or seed or by wind by the joint consent of all Physicians Hippocrates in lib. de morb mulier makes frequent mention of it for the same purpose lib. 2. he prescribes Castor or Fleabane Therefore Castor taken inwardly cures the Head-ach from the Womb but then it cures Diseases of the Womb that are accompanied with the Head-ach i. e. Suppressions of the Menstrua retention of Seed and of the cold juices and wind Nor does it cure all Diseases of the Womb but onely cold ones for it will rather increase Inflammations and the Erysipelas Wherefore since the head-may ake for Inflammations of the Womb it is clear that Castor cures not all Head-aches from the Womb but such onely as come from its cold Diseases Vallesius Epid. p. 865. such as Galen affirms Fits of the Mother to be XL. It may so happen that a Disease of the head or of any one place may increase or grow better with the Disease of another part or place nor yet for all this be affected by Sympathy from that other part for it may chance that matter may flow from the self same fountain to divers parts at once and there may be no pain in the part that sends it nor any thing amiss known or perceived there As Hippocrates observed it happened to Agesius his Daughter 6. Epid. 3.4 who when she had a pain in her hip was oppressed with an Asthma and when her pain was eased she took her breath well Now seeing there is no communication between the Hip and the Breast it was very reasonable to suspect that the humour ran into each part from the same place and was dispersed at the same time The flux might be from the Brain or it might be from the Womb And therefore when two effects happen together a man must diligently observe whether the communication be from the head or from some other place Although Galen in his Comment upon this place says that an Imposthume was broken in her breast and when she had raised the matter her Asthma seased but upon small ground for it is more reasonable to think that in a Woman newly delivered the pain in her Hip came from the Ligaments of the Womb and her Asthma from the Sympathy of her Breast with the Womb and especially when she did not cleanse well which caused both these Ails and both these Accidents ceased when she did clease For the Womb in Lying-in-women is the occasion and root of all their Evils Casper Cald. lilustr Obs Med. 8. l. 2. and there is a great Sympathy between the Genitals and the Breast XLI That it is requisite the outer substance of the Brain and the Cerebellum should be open to the end the most spirituous part of the Bloud may penetrate it and be as it were percolated through it the cold of the Air Water or Snow vehemently affecting the head seems to prove after which not onely a Rheum but a more spare production of Animal Spirits uses to follow But whoever upon taking such a cold do let bloud or think to take away the cause of this evil by purge or vomit they indanger their Patient's life as I have more than once seen it done by men Sylvius de le Boē p. m. 402. that are
Manna or lenitive Electuary with Tartar then we must come to the preparation of the first ways by repetition of the aforesaid things Then the obstructions of the Mesentery and Lacteal Vessels must be cured with attenuating opening and evacuating Medicines But to complete the detersion of the Stomach and Bowels some proper Spaw-waters may be given three days The Cacochymie must by degrees be taken from the bloud by preparation and frequent purging Nor must we fear Feverishness for in this case we must have an eye onely to the Cause and not look much upon the Fever These three sort of purgers being taken we must not believe that the whole Venous kind is cleared of its impurity Fortis l. de Feb. p. 43. wherefore purging must be repeated which may also have an opening virtue VIII In uterine and hypochondriack distempers seeing Sugared or Honeyed things doe not much good Consult 62. cent 2. therefore in the preparation of the Humours clarified juices of herbs must be put in the Decoctions Fortis transcolates the juices through Sand to purifie them IX Whether should motion and exercise be prescribed to those that are sick of the Green-sickness Idleness and Motion are equally hurtfull Idleness because it gives opportunity for heaping up of Crudities whereby the disease increases Motion especially violent because it raises the palpitation of the heart which often endangers Suffocation for the crude humours are put in motion whence Vapours are elevated to the heart Besides green-sick persons are unfit for exercise because their body is dull their strength languid and they are troubled with shortness of breath But as exercise in this disease towards the height is unseasonable so before it get any head and when it is declining it is very profitable for the languid heat is excited in the bowels concoction is better performed distribution of the Aliment is helped obstructions of the bowels are opened Horstius cent prob 9. qu. 5. motion is given to the humours and way is made for Medicines Yet a mean must be observed and general evacuations must be premised X. Whether may the absurd things which the Appetite craves be allowed We may sometimes indulge Women with Child because the bad meats which they long for may serve for Medicines or because if they should be denied the Child might be marked which would be worse But these bad and absurd things doe Virgins harm because the disease is thereby fomented and increased nor can any emolument accrue to the body or ought of the morbifick cause be abated by such things as Lime Chalk Ashes Oatmeal c. The grief arising from the denial of their desire is momentany Sennertus but the damage from such things is lasting XI It is a common opinion that Green-sick Virgins when they are Married recover their health and truly sometimes it happens that pale and discoloured Maids if they Marry become lively and acquire a rosie colour in their face and body On the contrary it is found that others have not onely after Marriage not recovered but grown worse There is need therefore of distinction for if the Illness have its rise from the retained Menses or Seed it is the safest way to Marry for so the reteined Seed is evacuated and the Womb is purged But if there be any evil disposition in any Viscus especially the Liver or the Spleen or in the whole body this is not removed by the use of Venus but rather increased and the bad humours that abound in the whole body are drawn to the Womb and raise obstructions in it whereupon long Fevers and other evils arise Such must be cured before Marriage or if they be incurable Sennertus it is better to remain unmarried Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. The following Electuary of Steel is very good in obstructions of the inwards especially in the Green-sickness Take of Filings of Steel very fine grind them with Vinegar and dry them this should be done seven times Take of this 6 ounces Cinnamon Candied Nutmeg each 3 drachms Rheubarb 2 drachms Spec. Aromat Rosat 6 drachms Crato obs l. siâ—g Ep. 244. Honey and Sugar each 1 pound Mix them make an Electuary but universal Purgation must precede 2. There is nothing better than Quintessence of Catmint to cure the Pale Wan-colour in Maids for it most certainly and successfully promotes the Menses 3. They say Mercatus that in the Green-sickness from obstructions in tne Spleen an ointment of Ostridges grease is very good Some say nothing is more effectual ¶ It is evident from observation that Bezoar-stone is very good especially for Melancholick Women taken in some appropriate water ¶ I have experienced that Scorzonera Root steeped in some proper liquour and drunk in a morning hath cured several ¶ The best thing in the world for this Disease is the water that runs from a Grind-stone whereon Swords are ground if you quench red-hot filings of Steel an hundred times in it for so I have seen large Spleens wasted 4. Riverius In this Disease I have experienced the wonderfull effects of Quercetan's Cachectick Powder by means whereof I have cured innumerable Maids and Women of the Green-sickness 5. The following Pills are kept as a Secret by many Take of Juice of Mercury Varandaeus clarified Honey each 1 ounce Boil them to a sufficient consistency Add of the Seed of Roman Nigella powdered 3 drachms Make a Mass of a drachm whereof make 6 Pills Take two when she goes to bed for three nights one after another Cholera or a Vomiting and Loosness The Contents Sometimes bloud must be let I. Whether if it happen in a woman with child she may be let bloud II. Whether a Vomit may be given III. How things that restrain the violence of the humour must be given IV. We must astringe with caution V. A moist Cholera proceeds from heat of the Stomach VI. When a Sweat is proper VII When Laudanum may be used VIII The cure by Epicerasticks taken and injected IX A most cruel one cured X. In a Man Seventy years old XI Caused by drinking ungratefull Wine XII Cured with Vinegar and Water XIII A bloudy one cured XIV By Narcoticks mixt with Purgatives XV. Manna and all things made of Sugar suspected in a Vomiting and Loosness XVI Medicines I. WHen the Vomiting and Loosness is stopt by the use of Medicines and the strength something restored the Patients seem out of all danger which does not onely deceive the by-standers but even the Physicians sometimes for after one or two days quiet and intermission the Symptoms return stronger and more violent and carry off the Patient who was weakned with the first fit of his disease Which great danger must be obviated not onely by Restoratives and things that asswage the heat of the humours which must be continued when the fit is over but by letting bloud which draws back and very much qualifies the torrid
restlesness toward the latter end of the day was so great that I was forced to use Laudanum two grains of which in Pills swallowed every evening gave him a quiet night upon the return of day Vomiting of mere bile followed yet he could bear it well Then he drank a little strong Capon broth and that he might quench his intolerable thirst with drink a draught or two of his Emulsion was given him Within an hour almost his restlessness returned with difficulty of breathing which threatned Suffocation for none could be more extreme In the mean time the Patient desired a draught of simple water I should easily have granted it him considering he was in the flower of his age and that his disease was cholerick but because the by-standers usually reckon this strange and destructive to the Stomach not accustomed to it that I might satisfie both parties I perswaded him to natural Water but Medicinal namely the Wells at Egra in Bohemia In the mean time that I might stop his longing I commended those of Silesia As soon as they came he presently quenched his thirst and they did him good Sigism Grassius obs 99. miscell curios An. 4 5. When I visited him the next day he told me he had rested well that night he commended the Waters as gratefull both to his palate and Stomach and there were some hopes that he began to recover this hope continued so that after dinner he could sleep a little When eight days were over he signified to me he was perfectly well but that there remained some little effervescence of humours and thirst I sent him word he must continue the use of the Waters After this method but the attempt is bolder the Inhabitants of the Alps in Switzerland are said to drink Ice in cholerick Fevers Diarrhoea's and Dysenteries ¶ Borellus saith cent 2. observat 27. that he cured a Woman onely by drinking fair Water and applying Ceratum Santalinum to the region of the Stomach XIII A Woman was taken with a Vomiting and Loosness in the Month of July about Noon and before night she had twenty stools with grievous pains about her Guts and Stomach so that she was opprest with Vomiting likewise and voided much sharp and cholerick humours Being called in the evening I advise my Patient to drink a glass of Vinegar and Water till other Medicines were got ready the operation of which was so effectual that her Vomiting and Loosness were presently stopt Riverius cent 4. obs 8. and no other remedies were used because she said she was well XIV A certain Bricklayer when he was but newly Married went home every day at noon to his Wise from the Kiln which was about 2 Miles It so fell out about middle of Summer while he was too vigorous in her Embraces Dom. Panarolu◠Pentec 2. obs 11. that he voided great plenty of bloud upwards and downwards for the heat and motion had opened the mouths of the Veins nor would I call this disease by any other name than a bloudy Cholera for besides his losing about twelve pounds of bloud there were other very bad Symptoms namely want of Pulse with loss of strength Hippocratical face cold sweat and he was in a dangerous condition But by giving him four scruples of Bloudstone in Pomegranate-Wine he was presently cured to the great admiration of all men XV. When there is imminent danger from the violence of the pain we must fly to Narcoticks which when given prudently are often attended with good effects Some mix them with Purgatives that both the pain may be asswaged and the peccant matter carried off Forestus commends this of Elidaeus Take of Diaphoen half an ounce Philonium Romanum 2 Scruples Riverius pr. l. 9. c. 11. with either the Water or decoction of Chamaemil make a Potion XVI If there be a necessity of purging downwards that is when it moves imperfectly and is cholerick we must abstain altogether from Manna and Medicines made up with Honey or Sugar for they presently corrupt and turn to choler But Whey will be the best remedy of all or a Potion made with Cassia which lays the heat takes off sharpness and purges gently But if putrefied phlegm or thick Choler cause it nothing will be better than Mel. Rosatum S. ptalius Ammad vers l. 7. Sect. 2. or Solutivum in Whey or in an Infusion of Red Roses Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians Benedictus 1. Among other things Syrup of Mint with Pomegranate-Wine is highly commended if the Pomegranates themselves with their inner pulp be put in the Press 2. I gave one a little Cummin-seed powdered in Beer then of the decoction of Barley 4 ounces with Syrup of Infusion of Roses one ounce a little Honey of Roses strain it and take it then I anointed the whole part with oil of Dill and Chamaemil By which means Forestus without any other Remedy he was cured to a Miracle Fr. Joel 3. I have found no better remedy for this disease than Crocus Martis Paracelsi ¶ This also wonderfully stops a Vomiting and Loosness Take of the Mud in the bottom of Smiths Troughs in which they quench their Iron mix it with a little Vinegar and apply it warm to the Stomach for a Cataplasm Langius 4. Crystal is a most approved and excellent Remedy in a Vomiting and Loosness Half a drachm of it may be given alone or made up with other Medicines Mercatus 5. Outwardly I find Emplast de crusta panis or Bread new-baked and dipt in Pomegranate juice if it be timely applied doth much good in a Vomiting and Loosness from a hot Cause ◠olfinkius 6. In strengthening the Stomach a decoction of Mint has great virtue Coeliaca Affectio or Loosness See Lienteria Book 10. How it may be known and cured WHen too much is voided by Stool considering the quantity that is eaten seeing the usefull part must necessarily also perish we must consider whether the disease should be reckoned a Lientery or a Coeliack Passion or some other disease for if food a little after it is taken be voided and so there is a Lientery because the stay of the food and the necessary retention of it in the Stomach is hindred through some fault in the Stomach which is out of order and presently excludes all it takes it must either be strengthened or freed of its troublesome Irritation by Medicines that temper the humours and if they abound that may carry them off But if the Food do make the necessary stay in the Stomach be rightly and sufficiently fermented in it and do make a pultaceous mass which is voided such downwards and if there be that sort of Coeliack passion which I think may be called an Icterick Loosness by reason of the defect of Secretion of the Chyle and Excrements and that either through absence or sluggishness of the bile that this evil may be cured and the
and that the Moderns have introduced the use of Purges But he is deceived because perchance he onely read the Judgment of Paulus and Aetius concerning hot matter and not cold For Paulus speaking of cold matter proposes Pills made of Euphorbium and Scammony Aetius in the same case commends Hiera Archigenis Whereas he subjoins this custome was received from Practical Physicians he shews that either he never read the Arabians or but carelesly who use Diaphoenicon Elect. Ind. Hierae magnae strong Pills And I must ingenuously confess I have cured several in one day with this Medicine Saxonia Take of Diaphoenicon half an ounce Species Hierae 3 drachms Mix them Make a Bolus XIII If Catharticks cannot be kept for continual Vomiting apply a large Cupping-glass to the Navel or a little below and there let it stick for an hour if it can be done Enchir. med pract or let the Cathartick be taken in the Bath for by this means it will stay XIV Avicenna fen 1. doctr 4. c. 1. says that the Colick sometimes comes by reason the passage of the bile to the Guts is stopt therefore the expulsive faculty of the Intestines is not irritated and by consequence the excrements are retained and by continuance hardened And because the Colon is the greatest and weakest of all the Guts it gathers a great quantity of excrements and after it is stufft and full loaden intense pain is bred which is not removed with purging Medicines because they draw new matter whereupon there is a greater load of matter and therefore greater pain Neither is it removed by Hiera or other drying things because so the excrements are more dried and hardned Nor is it removed by Clysters because the Colon is shut Sanctoriuâ— Meâ—h l. 3. c. 9. But we must then rely wholly upon Oil of Sweet-almonds about half a pound of it may be taken at the mouth XV. Too violent Catharticks must be avoided as Hellebore and Antimony Nor yet is Cassia Enchir med pract though it purge gently proper because it is windy ¶ Manna is windy I do not approve of it in the Colick Do not give Manna Rheubarb or Senna especially in Potions Crato Ep. 141. except the Intestines be first well strengthned ¶ If it be from Phlegm it must first be so purged that Flatulencies which usually accompany it may be digested Among Purgatives Agarick Mechoacan or Elect. Diacarth may be given in a Decoction with Anise Fenil or Daucus-seed We must avoid Rheubarb and Myrobalans also Senna and Cassia the first because they bind the latter Hartman Prax. c. 146. sect 11. because they breed Wind. XVI What Purgatives are convenient for a bilious Colick When the Pain is a little mitigated an Infusion of Rheubarb in Cichory-water may be given with Syrup of Roses and must be frequently repeated till the load of humours be evacuated If such a gentle Purge be not sufficient to root out the Disease we must fly to Mercurius Dulcis which given several times with diagrydiate Purges performs the Cure They that suspect Diagrydium may take Mercurius Dulcis alone made into Pills with some Conserve of Roses Riverius drinking upon it an Infusion of Senna and Rheubarb with Manna and Syrup of Roses XVII Electuarium Diaphoenicon is excellent for the Colick for it purges tough and thick Phlegm but it must be made of ripe Dates which have astriction enough to correct the Scammony for from Galen 1. ad Glauconem Wormwood that is hot and dry is not good in phlegmatick Diseases because of binding For the same reason they must be steeped in Wine rather than Vinegar Rondeletius XVIII If we have a mind to mix Narcoticks with Purgatives by this method of Cure we gain three things we purge Phlegm it self we discuss Wind and we ease Pain than which no more proper or succesfull way of Cure can be thought on in these grievous Pains Fienus Physegr c. 19. XIX Sometimes it happens that Phlegm gathered in the Colon causes a Swelling which being turgid on the out side leads the Physicians into an errour and eludes the Cure for when they find the hardness of the Swelling they presently run to Emollients and insist upon them when the Cure should be directed to the taking away of the cause i. e. the carrying off the Phlegm from the Guts And the thing it self speaks for when part of the Phlegm is voided the Swelling falls and grows less See Fernelius his History of Charles the Fifth his Embassadour G. Hofmannus cons 6. XX. A Vomit if it be convenient must never be omitted in this case by which the Emunctories of the Bowels being emptied they may more freely receive the recrements of the bloud and nervous liquour which would otherwise increase the morbifick matter Moreover the Plexus nervei and all the parts would be so shaken as nothing that can foment the Disease would be suffered to stagnate or gather there Willis ¶ The Reverend N. was subject to the most violent Colick being convulsed in his hands when he had been often purged by things taken at the mouth and by Clysters and nevertheless his Pain returned with a violent Compression of the Abdomen I thence conjectured that store of gross humours was lodged in the Hypochondria which must cause such straitness and his relapse I betook me to a Vomit I gave him of Diasarum Fernelii three drachms with four ounces of Hydromel to make revulsion of the matter by Vomit within less than an hours time he began to vomit not continually but by turns Great store of phlegmatick humours was cast up more than a Bason full at length the sink being cleansed the Vomit ceased nor did his Pain return any more the Patient who before was lean now growing fat Many Monks every where in their Cells labouring of a compressive Colick their Bellies being drawn inwards with violence which at length ends in Convulsions and Epilepsies go down to their grave who if they had taken Vomits might have been kept alive because these gross and tough humours being close fastned can no other way be rooted out more conveniently But Aug. Thonetus Obs 3. l. 6. because Vomits frighten the By-standers and make the Physicians also more timorous they are therefore the seldomer used XXI When we see a Clyster will doe little good we must go to Potions and outward Applications A Potion may be made 1. An easie one of Diacyminum or Electuarium de baccis lauri with strong Wine hot or strong Wine and Honey 2. Of Nutmeg powdered and Cretian Wine hot 3. Of Castor 1 drachm with Wine also 4. A Turpentine Potion 5. Salt and sulphureous Waters 6. Wolf's Dung which hangs on Thorns 7. Larks in White-broth 8. Hart's-horn burnt in a Pot reduced to powder and drunk in a drachm weight 9. Broth of an old Cock with Carthamum Polypodies Turbith Hyssop Seed of Dancus Dill and Ammi Sal Gemm and Spices boiled
in it giving a Clyster now and then of the same Decoction When the matter is concocted and ready I have used Diaphoenicon and Diacatholicon with good success Leon. Jacchinus and sometimes Cock-broth and other Remedies which do not heat much XXII Give Syrups without any Liquour Oxymel simplex or compositum mixing some Scylliticum Syrup of Betony and Mint with it for if you mix any hot Liquours with it Saxonia they will encrease Wind. XXIII Seeing the antecedent Cause is either thick and phlegmatick humours lodging within the Membranes of the Colon or some flatulent matter or an Inflammation of the Colon or a sharp and biting Juice which causes sometimes are complicated if the Disease be of any continuance when frequently together with the thickness of the matter a flatulent acrimony is also joined with Inflammation wherefore according to the Hermeticks the colical disposition is produced from a tartarous Mucilage mixt with styptick and sowre Spirits Therefore it is asserted when all things convenient are premised that Spirit of Salt is very good as well because by its attenuating and resolving faculty it corrects the peccant humours as because by its discutient faculty it digests the flatulent matter Besides it alters the putrefying matter and preserves the humours from Putrefaction Yea by its aperient faculty it disposes the morbifick cause that nature may sooner rid her self of it And in as much as it depresses or fixes hot and sulphureous Exhalations so far it is a very good Anodyne Nor need we fear that by its heat it will too much melt and dissolve the humours which Galen 2. Meth. 8. bids us have a care of or that by its penetrative faculty it should enrage the humours more because it is evident in that being give to hydropick persons â—r Hâ—rstiâ—â— Dec. 6. rob 1. it quenches thirst and does not cause it and it rather consumes and asswages the raging humours than irritates them XXIV Be not inconsiderately of their opinion that Cure every Colick with hot things Look attentively to the Cause of the Disease before you I saw yellow Choler swimming so plentifully on the Colon of a Woman that one might have taken it thence with a Spoon which affluence of Bile in this place seeing Anatomists do frequently observe it is very likely that it sweats through the coats of the Gall-bladder by little and little being nearer to this Gut than others Wherefore they doe very ill who by overmuch study do violently press the Liver because this prone incurvation of the bended body squeezes out the Bile which sometimes as it pricks and vellicates the out Skin so now and then it insinuates it self between the coats of the Colon so miserably racking the Patient thus beset that he had rather dye a thousand deaths Tulpius obs l. 2. c. 37. than fall into such misery XXV The chief signs of a Colick arising from Phlegm and Wind are taken from the excrements and for the ease and cure of it things that purge Phlegm and break Wind all hot things with tenuity of parts are used Yet that we should have more respect to the temperature of the Body and the Age than to these Causes i. e. Phlegm and Wind this fresh example doth shew About two years since that Noble Person Mr. de Mommolin Treasurer to the most Serene Prince de Longeville in the Province of Neufchastel scragged as it seems of a cold and dry temper endowed in his youth with a senile prudence about thirty five years old was frequently taken with the Colick which gave him but little respite so that he was scarce two days free from it He advised with several Physicians whose main care was that the crude cold and moist humour might be altered concocted and excluded Wind dissipated the cold intemperature of the Stomach and Guts might be brought to a hotter and their tone might be restored them This Noble Person diligently observed the Diet and Medicines nor failed in any thing the Pain nevertheless raging and nothing abated At that time he was sent Embassadour by the most Serene Prince to his Subjects with the Noble Akakia for his Companion who is Grandchild to Akakia the famous Physician of Paris well known for his several Commentaries upon some Books of Galen He considering the constitution of the Noble Treasurer's body judged he must go another and contrary course he said the Disease must be overcome not by heating and drying things but by temperate and moistning and that the generation of Phlegm and Wind was the product as well of a hot and dry Intemperature of the Guts as of a Cold If he had a mind to be free of his troublesome and frequent Pain he must bid farewell to the Remedies he had hitherto used and must now ply temperate onely and asswaging things That for this purpose the continual use of Chicken or Veal-broth without Salt was very good that he should either wholly abstain from Wine or drink it with much Water The Noble Treasurer had scarce observed it three days but he was free from all pain and enjoyed his perfect health XXVI An Apothecary forty years old told me he was several years troubled with the Colick and could find no other Remedy but Drinking of Water and as long as he persevered in it he continued well but as often as he fell to the use of Wine again within two days he was taken with the same disease In my judgment the Colick was not raised by simple bile but for the greater part by a Melancholick Humour mixt with a bilious one seeing the said Apothecary had the melancholick temper predominant in him And seeing Melancholy is continually poured out of the Spleen into the Stomach which by its acidity infects the Wine as soon as it is drunk the Wine presently turns sowre upon the Stomach and encreases the cause of the disease But if a bilious humour were the cause of the Disease it might indeed be corrected by drinking water but the use of Wine would not so suddenly bring the disease because Wine does not so quickly produce the Qualities of Bile as of Melancholy in as much as wine easily grows sowre and not bitter And that which makes me the more believe it is Riverius Cent. 4. Obs 49. that when the said Apothecary was taken with a fit of the Colick he cast up sowre stuff by vomit and not bitter XXVII A certain Physician as Paulus l. 3. c. 42. and Avicenna relate Mart. Marrius de morb mesent l. 114. cured bastard Colicks which formerly ended in the falling-sickness and Palsie several times with Diet potentially and actually cold although irrationally Which nevertheless Oethaeus in Observat testifies did happily succeed the plentifull use of raw Plumbs and Grapes ¶ And it is convenient sometimes by the repeated drinking of warm water sometimes when the body is prepared of cold water to keep in the Choler that flies upward Or some water in which new vine
boiling and preparing it after such a manner as seemed most convenient for the health of the Patient giving him of it both morning and evening for a Julep and for his Drink although I had resolved not to put him upon so slender a diet as if he had not been afflicted with so tedious a Disease although he had formerly used a fuller diet than was convenient by which sort of remedy he was perfectly cured of his Disease Who unless indeed he had recovered of his Disease quickly after taking it truly I had added a greater measure of the Bark seeing it is more efficacious than the rind of Rhadish Citron Hellebore Capers and several other things Nor would I have passed to other things but have waited a few days Aloysius Mundella seeing the nature of this Medicine is such that it exercises its strength a long time after it is taken LI. A Bath-keeper of Vienna after he had been wrackt 3 quarters of a year with a most grievous Colick and had used many things amiss and the evil seemed to be exasperated by drinking Spaw-waters yea and his young Wife was but lately dead of the same Disease fearing the same fate sent for me He began to be convulse in his whole Body so that I guessed the matter translated to the nervous kind about to cause a Palsie created us this mischief When his Convulsions were stopt by Medicines I gave him Guaiacum Wine according to Amatus his Precept Cent. curat 32. to cause him to sweat for five days and he was perfectly recovered P. de Sorbait Ephem German an 3. p. 457. Without doubt it was a Colick from phlegmatick humours the Seminaries of wind got into the Guts which being dissolved by that Diaphoretick Wine was spent by sweat Some laxatives were given between whiles LII In a long and pertinacious Colick where the Constitution and Bowels are hotter than ordinary Purging waters or Whey and Syrup of Violets are often given with great benefit For both these Liquors where they agree drunk plentifully cool the excessive heat of the Stomach and Intestines and presently ease and make them lax when contracted by Spasms and painfull corrugations or convulsively extended by wind Moreover whereby especially as I think they doe good by insinuating Saline particles of another nature into the morbifick matter Willis cap. de Colica they tame and subdue the other saline and irritative ones that are in it and often carry them off by Purge ¶ Above all other Remedies whatever Iron-mine Spaw-waters drunk for a month in Summer-time use to give the most relief But when they are drunk great care must be taken that they be discharged again by Stool and Urine lest perhaps if they should make any long stay in the body Idem ibid. by running into the head or feet as they often do they might cause the Vertigo or Gout ¶ In a phlegmatick and flatulent Colick Spaw-waters have no place because they cool the Intestines and double the Pain and because they have no passage by reason of Costiveness they distend the Belly and encrease Pain In a bilious perhaps they may be allowed if the Body be loose and the Stomach such as can safely and easily bear the drinking of them For Galen 6. de loc aff c. 2. writes that reaching and vomiting are urgent in the Colick Sebisius de Acidulis Sect. 2. dissert 2. Sect. 44. and indeed far more violent than in the Stone and that the Patients vomit Phlegmatick and corrupt stuff for the Stomach when the Intestines are affected does sympathize LIII Diureticks usually doe more good than sweats whereby when the bloud is dissolved and its serosities are plentifully precipitated then the fewel of the Disease is cut off and the mass of bloud being emptied receives part of the morbifick matter Idem ibid. so that upon this account its reliques are easily discussed LIV. Bathing must not be allowed them that labour of such a Colick for usually their bowels are too hot and hereby they are more heated and the pain is encreased Then in an Afflux of that matter which first bred the Colick before the nerves be affected the muscles are first filled so that they cannot receive the animal Spirit which is the chief operator of sense and motion or if they do receive it yet they cannot doe their duty because of their feeble and weak constitution which bathing increases and so helps to a worse translation of the matter according to Aphor. 5.16 But if all things have been tried in vain Hoëferus Herc. Med. l. 3. c. 5. and the pain cease not nothing hinders but we may put the Patient in a Bath and industriously cause a Translation of the humour because so the morbifick matter is translated from the more noble to the ignoble parts when there is no place for evacuation that is a violent Disease must be cured by one more gentle for the bastard Palsie that follows in process of time goes away of it self or is forced away by fit Remedies ¶ Baths and Sudorificks are commonly prescribed in the Colick yet as far as I could observe seldom with good success Because these things by exagitating the bloud and nervous humour cause them to throw off more into the matter of the Colick and the matter lodged there already to boil and rage the more Wâ—llis and they very rarely discuss the matter perfectly LV. In the Colick Passion Diaphoreticks and Sudorificks must not be neglected seeing it is observed by Carolus Piso Sect. 4. Concerning Diseases of the lower Belly from serous matter cap. 2. That oftentimes these pains are much eased by spontaneous sweats and are averted by discussing wind And often Bile the cause of the Colick pain is by a spontaneous critical-motion of Nature thrust out to the outer skin in an universal Abscess Eâ—chir Med. pract See Castrensis lib. Quae ex quibus LVI We must have a care lest by using hot things taken inwardly or applied outwardly the humours become adust and raise an inflammation ¶ I have observed in some constitutions and tempers that Epithems of hot things or applied hot rather enrage than abate the pain Wherefore in these cases it seems not amiss to apply fomentations of a solution of Nitre or Sal Ammoniack as in pains of the Gout Willis and sometimes as Septalius reports of pure cold water LVII Some use a girdle wherewith they bind in the Belly strait But I think it is to no purpose and that it rather increases than diminishes the pain Rolsinc cons 3. l. 7 For when the Belly is squeezed the Colon also is straitned and the windy matter makes the more reluctancy whereupon the pain is enraged LVIII The same matter does not always cause the pain which causes the obstruction but sometimes a divers For store of wind with retention of the Excrements both dissolves continuity and causes Pain and Obstruction But when wind is not so plentifull
a scruple tie them in a Rag infuse them two or three hours in very sharp Vinegar and apply them to the tooth Or Take of Henbane-seed Staves-acre Pellitory of Spain each 1 scruple Powder them very fine Take one scruple of this Powder and with the strongest Vinegar make it into a Pill which may be held to the tooth an hours time It wonderfully lays the pain indeed and breeds no Intemperature to speak on though it were more desirable to take away the pain onely by Discutients Fienus Physâ—graâ—hiae c. 14. if it could be done V. In the upper Jaw an Artery creeps along the Antitragus of the Ear where it may be burnt and an astringent Plaster may be applied to this place and to the Temples to intercept the flux of humours to the Veins An Artery creeps nigh the Angle in the lower Jaw Riolanus Enchirid. l. 4. c. 8. and it must be burnt where it beats or Topicks must be applied when the Teeth ake in the lower Jaw VI. To cure and prevent a periodick Tooth-ach Spigelius burnt that part of the Anthelix which immediately touches the upper part of the Tragus with good success and then healed the wound again By this new Chirurgery that branch of the Carotid Artery that reaches from the Anthelix of the Ear to the Teeth is cut athwart so that the afflux of humours being intercepted Scultetus Arm. Châ—r obs 28. the pain returns no more The Authour tried the effect of this Remedy first in himself and then in others VII Those are the Genuine Teeth which first appear before Pubescency and use of Venery in People sometimes with cruel torture A thing which the less-observing Physicians neglect and either pull out some other Teeth or persuading themselves that they are troubled with some fault in their humours choak their Patients with Pills and such sort of Medicines whenas no more present Remedy could be given the pained Parties than a light scarification of the Gums upon the last tooth and sometimes a piercing of the bone This very thing I now find true in my self who in the six and twentieth year of my age while I write these words have my two and thirtieth tooth coming And several Skuls which we meet with in Church yards argue the same Vesâ—lius de 〈…〉 br l. 1. c. 2. in which the latter teeth yet lye hid as in a Cave and in some they are just piercing the most tender bone with their tops VIII There is need of Caution in Reâ—ellents especially if they be applied to the Jaws for though if the matter fly back into the tooth onely repellent Mouth-washes may be used without danger yet if the matter be more plentifull so that it possesses the Jaws also Repellents cannot be applied safely to the Jaws especially seeing they may drive the matter inward to the Throat and so choak the Patient So Valesc de Taranta relates how one that was troubled with the Tooth-ach in his Grinders and with a Swelling in his Jaw had Oil of Roses and Vinegar applied to it Sennertus and fell into a Quinsey and died IX A Senatour of Venice because of the violence of his Tooth-ach would cast himself a-sleep by putting in some Opiate Oil to the tooth Alex Benedictus l. 5. c. 13. but instead of Sleep he committed himself to his brother Death X. Some have made mention of opening the outer Veins of the Palate in Diseases of the Head and Face Jaws Throat Teeth and Mouth J. à Retham in Tascic Med. wrote a History of a Woman who had endured a bitter Tooth-ach and she could find no ease in Repellents and other Medicines she was wonderfully relieved by this Phlebotomy And saith he these Veins are apparent which yet must be opened after being bled in the Cephalick Severiâ—us Mâ—â— Eâ—â—iâ— p. 5â— and when the matter is digested and not crude XI Small Arteries go from the Carotides into the Auricle the greatest of which creeps by the Antitragus and Anthelix and ascending the upper Jaw supplies every tooth with vital bloud with which sharp humours flowing thither are often the cause of a most violent Tooth-ach which I have often seen cured to a Wonder by artificial cutting that branch in the Anthelix Which is well observed also by Baubinus And Riolanus tells Diemerbreck An. l. 5. c. 13. how he saw a Man in Paris who got a great deal of money by curing that way And I saw such an one in Gelderland XII Onely the Cartilage which is extended athwart the Ear being cauterized Laâ—francus is wont to remove the Tooth-ach XIII The Wife of N. of a sanguine complexion and ruddy countenance being troubled with a violent Tooth-ach by the advice of a Physician of Vlm got her self let bloud in the foot August Thonerus obs 5. l. 2. as she sate in hot water suffering the bloud to run till she fainted and she found ease XIV Among all things which preserve the Teeth from Rottenness Oil of Vitriol whitens the most and is commended if it be mixt with Water because it hurts not the pure and sound flesh but takes away onely the putrefied Yet they find fault with it who are ignorant of the true use of it but they that know how to use it give it succesfully in great Diseases though not in all for a drop or two mixt with Sugar or Honey of Roses cleanses the teeth admirably and helps putrid Gums Crato cons 75. with Ulcers in the mouth XV. A piece of meat especially if it be sweet if it be kept in a hollow tooth putrefies and so causes pain or encreases the stink and erosion Wherefore you will find it best both from reason and experience to fill a hollow tooth lest ought get in which may touch that sensible part It may be filled with Mastick chewed till it be soft for if hard things be put in they will cause pain Some fill their teeth with Wax but in my judgment they doe ill because it hath an emollient faculty especially if it be new But if we would use it we must mix Salt or Alume or something else that dries and binds especially if the Tooth water or white Wax rather because it is drier and hath an adstringent quality from its preparation or red Wax which by reason of the Cinnaber prepares the teeth so that they may be either more easily pulled out or broken Rondeletius l. 1. c. 83. yet green Wax is more laudable which dries vehemently because of the Verdigrease Afterwards you must use other driers lest such things as cleanse the teeth do at length fret them with their acrimony If there be Putrefaction add Myrrh if Stink Musk or Cotton wherein Musk is kept except in such as are subject to the Head-ach or Vertigo because they are hurt by Smells XVI Ancient Physicians do not well agree about pulling out a tooth although the most think a faulty and corrupt one should be
be used XX. Hot Cephalicks are not proper for every one XXI Whether a Decoction of Guaiacum be proper XXII Whether Guaiacum be the Lignum Heracleum Rulandi XXIII The Foecula of Paeony ineffectual XXIV For what sort Cinnabar of Antimony is proper XXV A succedaneum to Oil of Amber which should be rejected because of its stink XXVI One by consent with the Stomach exasperated by Medicines and ending upon leaving them off XXVII Cured by voiding Worms downwards XXVIII By the use of Spleneticks XXIX By drinking Vinegar and Water XXX Abstinence from Wine is of great moment for the prevention of it XXXI Whether Apium be hurtfull XXXII Indications for its Cure and Prevention XXXIII Medicines I. PEtrus Salius Diversus l. de affectib partic c. 3. proves clearly that the Epilepsie is caused by Bloud from Hippocrates 4. acut tom 23. He judges the cause to be an Irruption of the bloud into the upper parts and a Repletion of the vessels of the brain made on a sudden which being of a heavy nature and it may be also of a molesting quality causes the Epilepsie while nature rises to the expulsion and discussion of it Hippocrates in the same place calls that Oppression of Bloud 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 in Epidemiis 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Foësius in his Oeconomia translates it the stopping of the Bloud flowing with violence and swelling By which words Hippocrates intimates the interrupted Circulation of the bloud was known to himself as is clear from his Book 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Nourishment passes to the Hair and Nails and to the outmost superficies of the Body from things within and from things without nourishment passes from the outmost superficies to the inner parts And since the innate heat goes in danger of being extinguished by this Repletion of the vessels through the abundance that threatens Suffocation no other Remedy to prevent so great a danger seems to be indicated than plentifull Bloud-letting Salius in the said place does therefore assign the very same Cure to an Epilepsie when it is bred as to an Apoplexy which arises from the same cause that is plentifull Bloud-letting in the inner Vein of the right Arm according to Hippocrates his opinion in the forequoted place ¶ Yet at this day saith Sennertus scarce any one would advise or attempt any such thing in the very Paroxysm seeing at that instant neither Bloud can conveniently be let nor if it could were it in his Judgment either safe or beneficial by reason of the violent contest between Nature which is then highly oppressed and the morbifick cause as the hurt in respiration and other actions by reason the influx of animal spirits is interrupted The Physician therefore might incur the censure of rashness and pay for it with disgrace if the Patient should dye upon letting bloud while he was in a Fit ¶ It is the part of an experienced Doctor saith Paul Barbette in his Praxis to distinguish a-right about letting-bloud in a Fit ¶ I and other Physicians with me have observed that taking away a little bloud in the fit has sometimes done good namely to get motion in the Bloud which is as it were coagulated â—y an austere Acid otherwise Bloud-letting both in the Fit and out of it does in a manner always so much harm that the fits grow more violent every day after Bleeding saith Deckers in his Notes upon the place II. In the year 1675. a Noble Boy of Berne was upon a Fright taken with a cruel Epilepsie his face was red and swollen and when his Fit had held him already three hours by my advice and Dr. Cramer's the Cephalick Vein in his left Arm was opened whence the Bloud sprang with such violence that one might have taken it all away in the twentieth part of an hour The Fit was then presently over and the next day he was well without any Relapse A red hod Iron had been applied to him a little before ¶ Hippocrates 2. Epidem sect 5. bids us open the inner Veins if the Disease be very violent ¶ A Girl about twelve years old was frequently taken with an Epilepsie and when she was taken with a Pleurisie she was several times let bloud and from that time was never troubled with her Epilepsie Riverius cent 4. obs 38. Hence you may gather the efficacy of Bleeding in this Disease ¶ A Boy eight years old was taken with an Epilepsie from Plenitude and when all other Remedies had been tried in vain he was let bloud in the Arm several times once a month and recovered through the great alteration of his Body by this Remedy which nevertheless should scarce be allowed except in a Disease by consent with the venous kind Rhodius cent 1. obs 64. and exceeding hot Bloud III. Ben. Sylvaticus cured a middle aged Nobleman of an Epilepsie Idem obs 65. by opening the haemorrhoid Veins once a month IV. A young Man about twenty five years old was troubled with the Falling-sickness once a month I opened one of his temporal Arteries and when he had been free from it four months and there was hopes he would be well he brought it upon himself again by drinking strong Wine which was his custome ¶ A Man about forty three years old had frequent Fits a Wind running up from his Hand to his Brow upon the same side From whom I guessing it came from some halituons cause took three ounces of Bloud But the bandage being loosed much Bloud ran out after which fortuitous evacuation notwithstanding he was well a long time after so that he seemed cured ¶ Alphonsus N. a very melancholick person who from a child had been troubled with this Disease 9 10 15 20 or 30 days together in nature of a certain light vapour ascending gently from his Arm to the upper parts was very much relieved by Bleeding in the temporal Arteries Severinus V. P. Merenda writes that in a very violent one that comes often in a small interval and will not yield to Remedies he has by applying Blisters to their Neck and Shoulders brought several to the former use of their Reason in a short time and freed them of their Fits who afterwards by orderly cure were restored to perfect health But observe that they as also Issues and Setons should be used onely when the Disease is essential to the Brain and after Purging Jacotius except the Disease be very urgent VI. By a Seton according to the opinion of that most Learned Physician Hollerius I cured a young Man about twenty years old of the Falling-sickness who had frequent Fits of it before the ichorous matter as it may justly be believed which fed the Disease being by this means derived Paraeus l. 9. c. 24. ¶ An Epilepsie succeeded the Cure of a Ring-worm from a hot humour in a Gardiner Rhodius obs 62. cent 1. which by Spigelius his advice was cured by putting Hellebore root into a Seton in his
there are other Putrid Fevers that are not humoral as such as proceed from some inward Ulcer yet they must all properly be called Symptomatick For the cure of them first of all the first ways must be cleansed Secondly Obstructions must be opened Thirdly The febrile heat must be moderately allayed Fourthly The venous kind and Head must be gently purged Fifthly The hot and moist intemperature of the Head must be qualified And lastly Fortis â— de Febribâ—â— the Distillation must by all means possible be diverted from the Wind-Pipe and Gullet Febris Colica vel Torminalis or The Colick or Gripe-Ague It s Description and Cure THere are now and then some Agues observed which may be called Colick or Gripe-agues from the most grievous Gripes of the Belly and racking Distensions of the same coming and going with the Ague fit They are caused by the Pancreatick juice made more sharp and austere by its stagnation and exerting its Acrimony sometimes upon the small sometimes upon the greater Guts likewise With which if viscid phlegm and bile but moderately sharp do concur wind is raised which together with the Guts distends the Abdomen and create a violent Colick pain companion to the Ague The following mixture will be good for these Agues Take of Water of Mint 2 ounces Vitae Matthiol Sylvius de le Boë Prax. Med. l. 1. c. 30. 1 ounce Or Take of Tincture of Cinnamon half an ounce Oil of Cloves 6 drops Syrup of Scurvygrass 1 ounce Take a Spoonfull now and then Febris Colliquans or A Colliquating Fever The Contents Whether Cold Water may be given for prevention in a Malignant one I. When it must be given II. The Diet. III. The Observation of Diet and drinking Cold Water better than Medicines IV. I. BEcause all things are reduced to Colliquation alone therefore we must insist on it not indeed by drinking Cold water which Aetius Paulus and Oribasius gave for a Colliquative fever but rather with binding and thickning remedies that are endued with a substyptick faculty such as Terra Sigillata vera to a scruple and so Bole Armenick Also ten or twelve grains of Emerauld Powder All of them must be given in Plantain-water and Juice of Quinces And upon urgent necessity we must proceed to Opiates by degrees Fortis de Febr. and first of all we must use Syrup of Popy then Laudanum and last of all new Treacle reformed with Pearl ¶ But in a burning Colliquative fever where there are two Pathognomick signs Burning Heat and unquenchable Thirst drinking of Cold water seems to have the chief place Idem and the reason is because it is a Remedy both for the Burning and Colliquating febrile Heat II. Galen reduced all the conditions requisite to the drinking of Cold water to three goodness of Strength signs of Coction and a most violent Burning fever which last condition serves for the Indicant Strength for the Permittent Coction for the Prohibent Nevertheless no manifest signs of Coction appearing we may presently give Cold water after Averrhoes his example who gave Cold water not waiting for Coction For said he the Patient may die dried up before Coction and we may say Colliquated and consumed It may be given therefore but not in such a quantity as to stifle the innate Heat that is not above five or six pounds at most And the day following instead of it distilled Waters of the Juice of cooling herbs may be given Idem III. Hippocrates 4 de rat vict teaches that the Diet should be cooling and moderately astringent and thicker a little than the Disease requires who treating of the Cure of Fevers with a Loosness wasting and consuming the Body taught that cooling and thick Broths should be given them and notwithstanding their delirium he orders them to drink a little more vinous and astringent drink Whence we gather that such a Diet must be given as may relieve the dissolution of the Body though it may seem to add to the Disease and its Symptoms And things that hinder the dissolution of the Body are threefold to wit things that respect the Body and the Humour and them both They belong to the first which afford much nourishment to the Body and are easie of digestion Things that are potentially cold to the second And whatever cooling Victuals partake of an Astringent virtue to the third Therefore in Colliquating fevers that is the best food which nourishes cools and binds moderately So Bread soaked in the Juice of sowre Pomegranate is proper Cold water is a most proper drink and Medicine as it respects both the Body and the Humour IV. Farthermore we must know that a right administration of Diet and drinking of cold Water is the best remedy and Medicines doe little good Wherefore we must be very carefull that the food be of good nourishment and easie digestion with which we must mix things that may cool and bind a little for things that are very binding are therefore improper because they keep the morbifick cause within the body seeing they obstruct all the ways for evacuation And the best food that I know is Barley-Ptisan made in the manner following Boil two well-fleshed Pullets with three handfulls of French-Barley and one of Purslain a little before you remove it from the fire put in one pugil of the Kernels of a sowre Pomegranate Brudus de vict Febr. l. 3. c. 21. let it boil till the Barley burst and when you have put a little Sugar to it let it be given to them whose strength is brought low Febris delira or The Doating Ague It s Nature and Cure AS Continual Fevers so Agues frequently occur which may be called Mad or Doating Agues the delirium appearing seldom indeed during the cold Fit but often when the hot Fit is on a Man Which that they should be attributed the Fever being sharp enough of it self to the Bile Sylvius de le Bâ—ë Prax. Med. l. 1. c. 30. made yet sharper upon its meeting with the pancreatick juice which causes a new Ague-fit other Symptoms commonly concomitant do evince Those things will cure which both powerfully and gently correct and temper the acrimony of the bile such as are especially Oily things Emulsions and Opiates within and without Febris Dysenterica or a Dysenterick Fever It s Description and Cure IN the beginning of Autumn in the year 1669 when the Bloudy-flux raged a certain Fever arose with it which was very like that Fever that usually attends Dysenterick persons which indeed seised not them onely who had had the Dysentery but those that had been wholly free from it For it had the same manifest or apparent Causes which a Dysentery has and the same Symptoms for all the World which accompanied the Fevers of Dysenterick persons So that if you do but except the Stools of people in a Bloudy-flux and the said Symptoms which necessarily depend on them the Fever seemed wholly of the same nature with
I. The Leipyria of the Arabians must be cured one way that of the Greeks another II. Whether cold things may be given to one coming from a Malignant humour III. Whether Broth may be given IV. Cordial Epithems are hurtfull V. The Diet in the Leipyria of the Arabians VI. I. THE Cure of this Fever proposed by Hippocrates l. de affect v. 107. it is proper for this saith he to apply cooling things outwardly both to the Belly and to the Body to prevent Shaking at the first blush seems foolish enough as it orders Coolers that is Medicines actually and potentially cold to be outwardly applyed because they seem highly prejudicial to the hot Internals and cold Externals for being applied outwardly they drive the Heat inwards whereby the Disease increases But this Remedy does not want its reason for whenever a bilious humour burning in the Internals causes a refrigeration of the extreme parts and not the penury of the innate heat cold things applied outwardly can doe no harm yea if they be often applied the cooling virtue being communicated from one part after another to the internal parts they may extinguish the internal heat of the Bile Nor need the retraction of the heat be feared because much Cold applied all at once causes it not what is applied by little and little and endued with no intense Cold such as he supposes must be used in this case while he orders Shaking to be prevented I can confirm the Authority of my Master by experience For I have observed People so affected that the more we endeavour to reduce them to their natural state by hot things the more violently they were cooled Above all others I observed it in N. who being in a burning Fever and very cold in his external parts after they that were by had tried for a whole day to heat him with Flannel and warm Skins applied all over his Body yet in the evening we found him colder than ever The reason is Because if such refrigeration proceed from the penury of the radical moisture and spirits if while we strive to draw the moisture and heat to the superficies by heating things we dissipate and draw it out what wonder if the Body be thereby more cooled And if for this reason hot things doe hurt for the same reason what things soever can dissipate more than hot things must be so much the more suspected for example Prosp Martianus Frictions and Cuppings which are in frequent use for the Cure of these Fevers II. Avicen reckons a Leipyria among Phlegmatick Distempers ascribing the rise of it to vitreous Phlegm while gross Vapours are elevated from it when it putrefies which cannot be carried to the external parts and make them hot Or because there are cold humours in the external parts which cannot be made hot by the heat of the Phlegm putrefying within In the Cure of it he uses Syrupus Acetosus Oxymel both simple and diuretick to cut and prepare the gross and cold humour He purges with Aloes Hiera and Rheubarb and so in short he lays down the Cure of an Epiala By Galen it is reckoned among Burning severs and these malignant and he says they are caused by an Inflammation or Erysipelas of some of the internal parts Hippocrates also reckons them among Burning fevers But every Burning fever has not this Symptome onely such as is malignant and pestilential Galen referred it amiss to a Phlegmon or Erysipelas of the Bowels for I have seen several Malignant fevers wherein the out parts were scarce warm and the inner were burning hot yet there were no signs and symptoms of the Bowels being inflamed Therefore in my judgment there is a twofold cause of this Symptome the first is seeing the Nature of this Fever consists in a malignant poisonous quality and putrefaction and that it is the property of all Poison to lay in wait for the Heart because Nature that she may defend a noble part and assist it sends bloud and spirits from every place to the Heart and noble Parts whence by accident such refrigeration follows The second cause is because this Fever is caused by humours very much putrefied lodged about the Praecordia such as eruginous Bile very much putrefied the meeting of which when Nature cannot bar she endeavours to evacuate them by Vomit and Stool and therefore strives to doe it with all her force and thereupon a concourse of all the Humours inwards follows Hereto I think may be added the peculiar property of the malignant humours to incline rather inwards than outwards Here we must first give a Clyster then bleed and then use Coolers and Cordials as Juice of Lemons Citron Pomegranate Cataplasms of Barley-meal mixt with Juice of Housleek and the like Coolers must be applied to the Hypochondria and often changed Finally the same Cure is owing to this Fever as to a burning malignant those things being added whose property it is to resist Malignity And we must remember from Hippocrates 2. de Morb. l. de Affect that we use onely Broths till the Fever is over for Drink we must give small Mede we must purge onely by Clysters Primirosius l. 2. de Feb. c. 8. not by any other Catharticks before the Fever is gone III. Alteratives are very requisite in this Fever so that Paulus and Aetius have affirmed that drinking of Cold water is proper yet not in the beginning but in the state that is when signs of Coction appear And although Aetius gave Cold water to a certain Woman without tarrying for Coction yet it was an improper Leipyria caused by an Erysipelas in the Stomach whose proper Remedy is drinking of Cold water as Galen 9. Meth. 5. teaches But I in this case more willingly chuse some Alterative which may not by its quantity oppress the innate Heat but has a cooling and moistning virtue such as are distilled Waters of Juice of Sorrel Cichory yea and Water melon which may be given to a pound and a half adding 3 or 4 ounces of Scorzonera-water Fortis l. de Febr. Which Potion may be given 5 or 6 hours after the beginning of the Fever IV. But that Heat may more easily come to the external parts or at least that the Bowels may not be so grievously suffocated and afflicted thereby it will not be amiss 3 hours after the beginning of the Fit to give not indeed Broth altered with Citron-seed as it uses erroneously to be done for nothing then must be offered which has the nature of Aliment but 3 or 4 ounces of Cordial-water of totius Citri Scorzonerae and Saxoniae may by and by be given as was said after some altering Potion and then the Broth 2 or 3 hours after that namely of something altered with Cichory Borage Endive Cinquefoil and Tormentil adding Syrup de acido Citri of Juice of Lemons and a convenient portion of some altering Broth. Idem V. It is an Errour in Physicians who when in Continual fevers
over intervening concerning which Spots Practioners doubt whether they come symptomatically or critically I indeed sometimes have observed that by reason of the quantity and quality of the bloud and corrupt Serum which Nature was not able to correct have appeared unhappily and portended Death it self I have also observed them to break out critically as well as the Small Pox and Measles which were kindly But these forementioned Spots in Malignant fevers are the effects of a very bad Cause as it argues so great a corruption of the bloud in the live Body that the Fermentation causes such a diacrisis or apocrisis in the mass of bloud as that the volatile Salt it self appears Simon Pauli D grâ—s de Feb. M â—â—gâ— Sect. 52 5â— which is naturally apt to pass subject to subject and is by consequent a poison which acts in its whole substance and this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or morbid excretion of Hippocrates XXV Lest any one should accuse us as if we were ignorant of the methodus medendi because when they that are sick of a Malignant fever with a hot and dry Intemperature and that notorious enough to the touch indeed gentle and kindly we presently fly to Sudorificks Diureticks and finally to Salts and I add that I willingly allow him this although it be not universally true that all these things are hot as to our last refuge when the Fever requires cooling things I will here introduce Hofmannus his reason namely why Diseases of hot Intemperature are cured with hot Medicine fetched from his de Medicam Officin lib 2. cap. 128. Because it holds good not onely in the Venereal Disease whose cure he treats of in the forecited place but in Malignant fevers and many other Diseases called Occult and in such as wherein the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Hippocrates which word many understand amiss is said and believed to be In that place after Fallopius he inveighs against them who granting Guaiacum to be bitter and biting and therefore hot and dry yet would have it most temperate and as like our Body as any aliment because they observe that some grow corpulent upon the use of this Wood. By which contradiction some being constrained saith Hofmannus have held that this wood cures the Pox indeed whether it depend on hot humours or cold by propriety of substance or some occult property and other Diseases joined with it by manifest qualities But indeed they are very much deceived For if it be thus when it cures the Pox it self does it lay aside its manifest qualities They will not say so I hope Therefore these Problemes still remain undiscussed Why Hot fights with Hot and Dry with Dry And if it be such in adjunct Diseases why is it not in the root it self But is it hot and moist perfectly and does it nourish more than gelly Broth of a Chicken Then this is sure Guaiacum is hot and dry and how does it drive away a Disease that is hot and dry It is by discussing and wasting the hot and dry humours I add that they appear such or are really hot and dry because of the Salt wherewith the bloud of Persons infected with the Pox does without all controversie most exuberantly abound for certainly this Plague of theirs is contagious which is cooling by accident So Rheubarb cocls by purging such humours but it does it not indifferently and without the Laws of Method without which those who have tried it have been greatly hurt Yet does it noâ—rish For they take the Body of it It nourishes not at all for since aliment is a passive Word that is is a thing which is conquered who can believe that so hot a Medicine can be conquered and turned into the substance of the thing nourished Yet People grow fat upon it You kill me for I said but now it was done by accident the hot humours being discussed and the obstructions of the Bowels being opened which hindred the generation of Bloud But how bad a Logician are you in that you distinguish not what is of it self and what by accident c. But this is the summ of the matter that the Venereal Disease a hot and dry one is cured with a hot and dry Medicine by accident and that indeed by a simple Decoction of Guaiacum Which we must affirm is done likewise in a Malignant and Spotted fever while we use Sudorificks Diureticks and Salts in particular namely that sharp and hot things are good for them by accident why Because while in it no crisis or but an imperfect one intervening the Salt in the mass of bloud being now made fixt in the hands or feet or rather in the Anastomoses of the Veins and Arteries of the said parts far distant from the Heart hinders the free circulation these Salts render it volatile which being either attenuated or made volatile and discharged by the benefit of Circulation by sweat or being more fixt and as it were in fusion by the Urinary passages it does again freely doe its duty which being procured the bloud is truly cleansed and as it were ventilated not onely in the said Fever but in other malignant and contagious Diseases hereupon Health is procured and the Malignity dispatched But when in this acute Disease and in a Malignant fever Nature receives no assistence then at length whatever upon the ceasing of the Fever or fermentation in the mass of bloud is corrupt and remains Idem ibid. breeds divers imposthumes and swellings in divers parts XXVI And as there is extreme danger in purging in Malignant fevers so it is well known that those Medicines which are commended against Fevers and those commended against poisons are diametrically opposite one to another and why Because some Antifebrile Medicines have been found out not by Indications but by Empiricism And since the manner of the corruption of our bloud in Fevers and especially in Malignant and Spotted ones varies and as it were eludes the industry of Physicians hence it usually falls out that both Agues and especially Malignant and Spotted fevers when we come to them we call Antifebrile and Specifick Medicines are so hard to cure that they are cured rather by chance than reason And the Cause besides that I brought from the corruption of the bloud is this for that there is no Fever without fermentation or ebullition Therefore if for example's sake Nutmeg Alume Powder of Tormentill Antefebrilis Crollij prepared of long Oyster shells with Wine Vinegar Pearl Coral Bezoar stone Pretious Stones and the like be given to People in Fevers it sometimes happens that the Fever ceases and Why Because that Ebullition is stopt by them just as we find that the heat of the Stomach is stopt by the alone use of simple Chalk powdered But if you weigh these simples in the Balance of Reason you will find it very likely that they act what they do act by drying and by their earthy parts for they are in an
the fear of a future Fever prevented But yet if the Stool or Urine have no sign of putrefaction a Vein must not be breathed though the Symptoms be urgent But if this Imposthume follow the pestilential fever Phlebotomy will doe hurt Therefore before there is a pestilential fever we may bleed Yet seeing the Plague comes from contagion Heâ—rnius â—â—de jâ—â—ribuâ— because of the poisonous putrefaction already conceived I should think we should abstain from bloud-letting VII Bleeding is very prejudicial to them that are sick of the Plague and it is very dangerous also for them that would be preserved from it The poison often lurks for some days weeks or months in the body out of the Vessels before it shew it self by the use of Medicines that stir the bloud But if by Venaesection you draw it to the heart it behoves you to inquire whether or no the diminution of the bloud spirits and strength through your means be not the cause why the Heart is suffocated and is not able to chase away its enemy Physicians indeed who deserve credit and are well versed in their art do say that cautious bleeding and celebrated at the beginning has ever been the chief of Antipestilential means But they that in these cold Countries imitated them P Barbetâ—e de â—â—ste p. 1â—3 soon left it off yea our Countrey Physicians are now wholly silent as to bleeding VIII The Circulation of the bloud tells us that all poisonous and bad humours which are either thrown off by Nature it self or come from abroad should immediately at the very first moment be drawn out from the Glandules and the Skin it self by means of attractive Medicines lest that in the space of a small time all the bloud be infected and the heart it self be oppressed and suffer violence This may sufficiently shew how dangerous it is to breathe a Vein and Purge the body in a Pestilential and Venereal Bubo yea and in all venemous wounds on the contrary how necessary it is to draw out the peccant matter by the help of sudorifick and attractive Medicines Idem And therefore that the doctrine of the Circulation of the bloud is of great use in the Art of Physick IX Purging in a Pestilential fever is suspected both because of the lowness of strength and because a Loosness and that a colliquating one quickly happens But we must note that it is not always so But when it is whether it be colliquating or because nature attempts to discharge the peccant matter Physicians are not of one opinion For the most indeed think Purgatives may be given but such as leave an astriction behind them Others judge otherwise and aright for since in this case it is either the humours themselves or the solid parts that are colliquated the colliquated matter does not require vacuation by Medicine seeing Nature discharges it of her self nor is it indicated by what is to be colliquated since such evacuation should rather be stopt nor yet as if I thought it should be stopt by Astringents because if it be altogether bad it would doe more harm kept than voided but I should recommend it to Nature while the Physician opposes the causes of colliquation But if the flux be not Colliquative but Nature onely attempts the excretion of the peccant matter by stool then it will either be Symptomatick and the matter crude and bad or critical and the matter concocted If Symptomatical it will either be moderate or too much from whence loss of strength may be feared If moderate it must neither be promoted nor hindred for there is no cure of Symptoms by themselves If too much it must be stopped with such things as respect the peccant matter and the present Disease But in Pestilential fevers wherein the Belly is not loose some would Purge others not Of them that would some presently in the beginning of the Disease others not till the matter is concocted They that doe it in the beginning some doe it in the matter turgid others when it is quiet Again some use gentle Purges others violent They that purge in the beginning when the matter is quiet fear lest it become turgid and seize some principal part They confirm it from Galen 5 method 12. Who writes that they who recovered of the Pestilence which was abroad in his time some of them vomited all of them were loose They add that a crisis must not be tarried for which comes in the state or declension for as Galen 2 Aphor. 13. says Most crises end in a recovery unless the state of the Air be pestilential They produce also the experiments of them who in long Pestilences have recovered Men innumerable by giving strong Purges in the Beginning and Encrease They that think Men ought not to Purge are perswaded thereto because immediately at the very beginning there is a great decay of strength and because Colliquation is joined with it or an internal Inflammation in which a Purge does a great deal of harm Therefore the most famous Physicians Greeks and Arabians do not mention one word of Purging Others add that all the motion of the matter is to the skin and must not be drawn inward In this difficulty we would first of all observe this that there is a manifold difference in these Fevers The first is taken from the form for one Pestilential Fever is simple another mixt The simple one is that which without the Putrefaction of other humours has its rise from some poisonous putrid matter The mixt when other humours also do putrefy The second from the subject for the poisonous quality is either in the spirits whence comes a pestilential Ephemera or in the Humours and it is humoral or in the solid parts and it is Hectick The third is from the matter for the poisonous quality may reside either in choler phlegm melancholy or bloud and they keep the periods of those humours The fourth is from the place of the matter whence some are continual others intermittent The matter of the Continual some is in the Veins other in some determinate part For according to Galen we have Malignant fevers from the Brain being affected And such also as come from the Membranes containing the Brain and from the Lungs and Heart The fifth from the degree of putrefaction and venemous contagion since in most Fevers there is much putrefaction and but little poisonous contagion in some on the contrary In some both are great in some both are little The sixth is from the Symptoms for some are quiet so that they shew not themselves at all others make the Patients very restless especially inwardly Some are colliquating the Belly others abounding in Urine Some are with Spots others without These things granted we say 1. We must not purge in a Pestilential Ephemera and Hectick unless there be a great Cacochymie with fear lest the Infection should spread thither 2. We affirm that all matter is not turâ—id for we see it
almost always remain fixt in the heart or about the heart or some other place 3. This is true where the humours are tainted with the Infection as they commonly are that the passages and matter must of necessity be prepared with that concoction whereof they are capable which we must needs say happens in those wherein the Patients recover because no disease can end without signs of Concoction 4. Seeing the spirits either presently or in a little while sink in this sort of Fevers it is clear that we must use gentle Physick abstaining from all which savours of poison and use such as is well corrected But if there were burning or an Inflammation inwardly with chilness of the extreme parts purging would be dangerous But before it come to that coldness purging is allowed by Hippocrates 2. de vict acut as is seen in the beginning of a Pleurisie and peripneumony Unless the Inflammation were in the natural parts as the Stomach Liver c. in which parts notwithstanding some gentle purging is permitted onely to evacuate the parts near the Inflammation But that the motion of the matter is always towards the skin as some say is false For from the history of the Pestilence in Galen's time we see the matter crept sometimes to the Stomach whence came Vomiting sometimes to the Guts whence came a Loosness yea we have seen it come down to the Groin whence proceed Buboes sometimes it has gone to the Brain and caused putrid Lethargies Coma's Melancholy sometimes it has gone to the Heart and Swooning has followed sometimes sudden Dropsies have been bred Whence it is manifest that it is very good to evacuate the matter lest it tend to some noble parts Hence in Hippocrates his Pestilence 3 Epid. 3. t. 80. we reade how Loosnesses cured several Nor does it hinder because the Infection is poisonous for we know that Dioscorides and the Ancients generally purged in curing poisons And Hippocrates says we must purge the same day in acute Diseases if the matter be turgid and it is turgid when it is ready to pass out and has no firm inclination to any one part But in a pestilential fever for the most part the matter abides in one certain place and is neither ready for excretion nor hastens to pass out So Galen 6. Epidem 2. tract 9. and elsewhere says that it went ill with them that had a Loosness in the beginning but that they who had one in the state recovered But as for crises which according to Galen they say fall out ill in such sort of fevers and therefore should be prevented by vacuation in the beginning it is nothing because they would fall out worse if the crude matter were moved by a Purge especially when good crises would sometimes follow Therefore we may say that we may purge in a pestilential fever because as Galen says we must purge in every great Disease if the strength and other things permit But this Disease is a great one in its own nature violent â—â—â—â—us l. 9. 〈…〉 7. possessing and opposing a principal part that is the heart and malignant X. Concerning Purging we must observe this that the seminary of the Plague to use Crato's words can be cast out by no Purgative unless there be a great commotion made in nature which is done with danger enough for although it may so be that nature irritated by strong Medicines such as are made of Antimony and Mercury may throw the vitious humours out of the body and so cast out that poison which possesses them and the Patients may be cured thereby yet this is done by accident in strong bodies But the purge it self is not primarily opposed to the pestilential poison therefore such purges doe often harm and by putting the Humours in motion do cause dangerous and deadly Vomitings and Loosnesses Wherefore there is more hope in Alexipharmacks especially than in Purges which if they be rightly used there is oftentimes no need of Purges Therefore two things should be well considered First The constitution of the Body should be carefully considered and how the Patient does after he has taken his antidote and what sort of Fever comes upon the Plague For if the body be pure and there be no fear of a putrid Fever Alexipharmacks alone are sufficient and we must doe our utmost endeavour that the pestilential poison may be cast out to the habit of the body as it has often been found that Men have been delivered from the Plague by one large Sweat But if the body be cacochymick and the same danger in a manner may be feared from a putrid Fever as from the Plague after the taking an Alexipharmack it would not be amiss to give a Purge that some part of the matter that would conceive putrefaction and increase the Fever may be subtracted to the end Nature may with more ease conquer the rest Then we must consider whether the Plague that is abroad have its rise more from the fault of the Air or Contagion or whether it do not rather depend upon some inward fault in the humours as it happens after scarcity of provisions If the former there is no need of purging but Alexipharmacks are sufficient unless perhaps the Plague happen upon a very cacochymick body for then sometimes purging is not unprofitable although it be not on the score of the Plague but onely of the putrid Fever that would follow If the latter it is not onely usefull but necessary to purge For if bodies be full of bad and corrupt humours they must be purged lest they be inflamed by other Medicines or the poison grow stronger by the corrupt humours and disseminate it self farther or lest those copious humours being stirred should run to some noble part and cause there a deadly Inflammation and by all means lest a dangerous putrid fever should be kindled Wherefore if Purging be omitted although the strength of the Pestilential poison be broken by Alexipharmacks Sennerâ—â—s this Ail does often degenerate into a Disease no less dangerous ¶ Vomits and Purges do not evacuate so universally as Diaphoreticks and by concentring the malignant matter they often draw it in and fix it to the Bowels Willis XI Though many and strong reasons may be brought why a purging Medicine should not be given in a Pestilential Bubo yet because it is necessary that we attribute much to experiments especially in dangerous diseases and in such wherein Art cannot be exercised therefore in these it is necessary that we trust experiments Wherefore I will begin with other Mens experiments and afterwards produce my own We have many who attest they have used Purges with good success and I am swayed with this sort of common opinion And I know that James Carpensis the Chirurgeon was of so great authority at Bologna Ferrara and Reggio and in my own Countrey that he surpassed all other Italians of his time and he in the universal Plague of Europe from the year
it be certain that one Remedy has given relief in some one pestilential constitution yet it has been found to be useless in another which must be ascribed to the diversity of the pestilential poison Therefore some have likened it well enough sometimes to the Nature of a Viper Hemlock Monkshood and sometimes to the nature of the Asp See Quercetan in Pestis Alexicaco Sennertus says this is very usefull to perform the Cure aright Hence perhaps the specifick Remedy being unknown so many hundreds of Men dye when onely the vulgar Antidotes Treacle Mithridate c. are given that is the specifick nature of the Plague not being known before several have died Therefore we must not insist on one Remedy but they must be varied till a certain and specifick one be made manifest XXIV Juleps are very necessary yet we may not use them every where and always I never prescribed them without adding Sudorificks which the sequel will declare and this is the safest way For if the Patient use a simple cooling Potion when the Sweat runs plentifully both the Sweat often returns inwards and the Poison is communicated to the Heart whence at length Death follows Barbettâ— XXV The Sweat as it runs must be wiped off with a warm linen Cloth and such another linen Cloth must be put to the Breast for I have hitherto observed that Shirts and other Linen is never changed Barbette but with great harm yet its excessive moistness sometimes compells us ¶ Let the Patient when he has taken this Medicine compose himself in bed to promote a Sweat covering himself moderately that is with so many Clothes as he can bear without tumbling After half an hour if neither Sweat Vomiting nor a Stool follow let him take some Broth or Beer or Wine warm and let this be repeated ever and anon till you find some evacuation or other follow and that sufficiently But if after an hour or two none follow nothing hinders to give the Patient a new Medicine nay upon urgent hazard a third For this you must take notice of that unless after taking a Medicine whether sudorifick or vomitory either Sweat or Vomiting or Purging do follow or the Anxiety of the Heart be removed or at least diminished the Patient is in very great danger for it is a sign that there is a Pestilential poison either copious or very volatile or very sharp in the Body wherefore there is little hope But on the contrary if there be Excretion either upwards or downwards or at least plentifull Sweat and the Anxiety of Heart and Loathing abate and the Pulse grows greater and stronger we may hope well of a happy Cure And that it may be hastned both during the Sweat and when it is ended Cordials mixtures consisting chiefly of Acids may be given the Patients by spoonfulls at short Intervals to the end the Acid that is destroyed in them may be restored and that its consistence may be kept or restored to the Bloud without which it is not possible for any man to remain long alive And still as long as any sign of the yet urgent Plague remains in the Patient so long you must persist in Medicines that fix a volatile Salt temper a sharp one and restore the Acid lest the Poison neglected and left to it self recruit its strength and surprize the too secure Patient unawares and take him off Certainly by this way and method I have successfully cured many Patients But when it was neglected I have seen many perish and oftentimes the wilfull and careless although I admonished them in vain and so satisfied my own Conscience XXVI Sudorificks must be taken twice at least every day yea it will doe a great deal of good to use them thrice in 24 hours time There are found some who in the space of 6 hours give a new Sudorifick with great success Nor is there any reason slightly to desist from the practice of these Physicians although the Patient cry he is well for in a short time it will appear Idem the Disease has cheated you both ¶ Who causes not a Sweat four times or oftner in 24 hours in those that are taken with the Plague Roâ—fincâ—â—us truly he will doe but little good XXVII Diaphoreticks and Cordials especially Acids are in this case highly necessary most certain and therefore are the best for they bring consistence to the bloud expell malignity dissolve phlegm in the stomach and guts temper bile the cause of many mischiefs Nevertheless the variety of the Disease and its symptoms require them to be variously changed because otherwise they would not perform what they are able to perform in an acute Disease Barbette XXVIII Seeing the Pestilential poison should not onely be expelled but moreover does upon the account of its volatility and lixivial acrimony indicate its alteration and correction that is its fixation and contemperation we are not without reason solicitous about the matter of the Remedy indicated and which especially fixes the volatile Salt and contempers the sharp And I scarce know any such among Vegetables which are able to doe it nor among Animals so that we are forced to have recourse to Minerals as to our last refuge Among which it may be Tartar is one or rather its distilled Oil but because of its foetidness and several other reasons it cannot conveniently be made use of But among Minerals Salt-petre or Nitre can doe much towards the fixing of Volatile Salts for who knows not that Arsenick Orpiment Antimony and such like things consisting of a volatile Salt are fixt by the benefit of Nitre as well crude as first changed into an acid spirit It may therefore be used with good success in the Plague But the most excellent thing and which is worthy of a farther search is mineral Sulphur and that first fixed by Art whose excellency and efficacy in fixing a volatile Salt few have observed And I commend it to all men and I advise them to learn to prepare the best out of any subject whatever for they will have a most gratefull and excellent Medicine in the Plague and in very many other Diseases not onely fit to fix a volatile Salt Sylâ—ius de lâ— B e. but also to temper the same when it is too sharp XXIX Whether Garlick be convenient in the Pestilence for prevention and cure As for prevention if any one be accustomed to it in health without doubt it ought not to be left off for it were a piece of imprudence to leave off a custome in a pestilential constitution because it is not lawfull then to give an occasion of being sick But if he be one who sometimes uses Garlick and sometimes not and neither finds his Head ake nor himself hotter than ordinary after the use of it it may be allowed him I think as he used it otherwise especially in Winter time Reapers may serve for an instance who eat it with bread in the heat of
them is suspected XXIV Styptick water put into the Nostril not so effectual as Powders XXV How far the virtue of it reaches XXVI A Medicine put into the Nostrils that stops it in a moment XXVII Stopt by immersion of the whole body in cold water XXVIII By constant drinking of Wine XXIX After Swooning XXX By a Fright XXXI By compressing the interstice of the Nostrils XXXII By antispasmodicks XXXIII Stopt by Colcothar XXXIV By pressing it with the Finger XXXV By a Causâ—â—ck XXXVI A Secret to stop Bloud XXXVII Remedies confirmed by Experience XXXVIII The use of chalybeate Waters XXXIX A scorbutick Bleeding stopt with Spirit of Vitriol XL. Comfrey root mixt with some other things loses its glutinous virtue XLI The virtue of Laudanum Opiatum XLII Narcoticks are dangerous XLIII For what sort Ischaimous Medicines are most proper XLIV Whether stopping of the Nose be commendable XLV The way to stop Bloud when it comes from the Arteries XLVI XLVII What way Bloud following the amputation of a Limb may be stopt XLVIII Not always stopt then with a red hot Iron XLIX Prevention by letting of bloud and purging L. Whether the Patient must be kept in bed or up LI. Medicines I. THERE is a twofold Consultation first Whether Bloud ought to be stopt which is the most difficult The second How For all Bleeding ought not to be stopt but some must be stopt and some must be helped some must onely be let alone because some is very wholsome some pernicious Certainly if one bleed after a blow or a fall there is no danger in stopping the bloud Wherefore we may use Astringents and moderate Coolers Unless it happen that a Man is full for then bloud must be let or we must suffer it to run in some measure When the bloud runs onely by reason of abundance you have no reason to stop it for by letting it run the abundance is abated when that is abated the Bleeding stops of it self unless in the mean time some great Vein be broken for then there will be need of an Emplastick and Astringent such as Galen's Medicine which is one of the best When the Bleeding is because of some malignant quality either alone or with abundance then the Physician is at a stand because the case is either way dangerous for if it be not stopt by reason of the impotency of the retentive faculty which the Irritation causes it runs to faintness especially seeing he that is very cacochymick cannot bear any large evacuation and quickly faints If it be stopt because the malignant bloud cannot rest quiet in any place it falls violently upon some inner part which happens to be weakest as it fared with an old Man who after he had bled abundance of thin bloud for he looked very greenish in the face and the bloud was stopt by proper means died of a Pleurisie Therefore what must be done in so doubtfull a case Surely what Hippocrates 6. Epidem sect 3. advises When you have let it alone a little you must incrassate drily and about the part you must use a white and dry thing it may be Galls and Alume in Powder He says you must let it alone a little that is we must not presently stop it but let it run a little Certainly for what cause soever even an external one the Bleeding begins it must be permitted a little before you stop it For Bloud-letting is good not onely for a Plethory but a little for a Cacochymie a Blow and a Fall and we are willing to have the bloud run a little in any green Wound But as in Cacochymies bloud must be let sparingly because they have not wherewithall to support it so also spontaneous Bleeding must be let alone a little If therefore you see one bleed where signs of a Plethora are let him alone till the Bleeding stop of it self though the Man should faint But if a Man bleed who looks pale and green or pale or pale and black have a care you let him not bleed much or till he faint for it is very dangerous for such Men to faint But if you suffer it not to run much how will you hinder it from falling upon some part Surely by Incrassating drily Which I explain thus It happens that People are in danger two ways by abundant Bleeding and by a slow and small Bleeding For I knew a Woman who continually bled drops of bloud for above six months and while she tarried so long a time for help but sound no benefit by all the Physicians did she died We must therefore cure them both in the same method those that bleed much and that bleed little except what the different indications do require And one difference of indications here is that which is common to all other Diseases that quick Diseases must be quickly cured and others more slowly Beside this there is another difference in the manner of Cure For where the bloud comes by little and little I can by no means think it must be let alone to run by little and little but rather that that bloud should be taken from the Arm or Leg as other things do indicate by opening a Vein which would have come away had you let it alone because if you let it bleed slowly and let it alone a long time the Man will be more hurt by his custome of Bleeding than he will receive good by Evacuation of what is redundant And in this first Rule Hippocrates seems to treat of Bleeding fast But what follows But in others you must not incrassate so much but you must use a dry white Medicine such as Galls and Alume may be understood of both Bleedings For in both cases whether I say it bleed slow or fast when it is caused by a corrupt and thin bloud it is good to use things that thicken and make slow the motion of the bloud And because besides these things it is necessary to make application of things that stop we must reckon that Hippocrates in these last words understood local Medicines in the former things to be taken by the mouth Therefore he says you must incrassate drily that is use Medicines and Meats that dry and thicken And there are two sorts of things that doe this one by thickness of parts and astriction as Pap made of Starch and Lentils Syrup of Myrtles c. others make flow the motion of the bloud without thickness and astriction by giving it a certain thickness by accident by cooling or by cooling and drying the first we use for slow Bleeding the latter for sudden For in Bleeding fast it is too long to tarry for relief from eating Starch or Pears But then drinking of cold Water or a Decoction of Cinquefoil which I use very cold may do good Yet the taking of thick and astringent things does by little and little thicken the bloud and so may doe good in slow Bleeding But the use of such things seems hurtfull because it either causes
may be ventured on in them XII We must not purge in a Rupture with an Inflammation XIII Whether Clysters may be given in one XIV One cured onely by means of a Truss XV. By long taking of Saracen's Consound XVI A caution about putting up of the Gut out of the Scrotum by Chirurgery XVII If an Hydrocele must be cured by Incision let it be made in the lower part of the Scrotum XVIII Cured by a Cautery XIX Every Hydrocele admits not of Section XX. A safe way of Cure XXI After opening the Tent must quickly be removed XXII Section is dangerous if there be a Sarcocele with it XXIII The Chirurgical care of a Pneumatocele XXIV When a Sarcocele must be cured by Section XXV Cured by Medicines XXVI The true way of Cure XXVII A false one from the Swelling of the Parastatae XXVIII Where the Ligature preceding excision must be made XXIX The Chirurgical cure of a Varicous one XXX The prevention of a Varicous one XXXI We must have regard to the fomenting cause XXXII Medicines I. THe Groin is the usual place for Ruptures but do not perswade your self that the Peritonaeum cannot be dilated or burst in other places and make a Rupture there It happens above the Navel but very seldom Not onely I but others with me have seen one below the Navel and by the sides of it and far above the Groin which they dealt with as with an Abscess And the Chirurgeon could produce no other reason for his errour but that it was not the usual place for Ruptures Practice shews us many other Ruptures besides simple and compound ones which are not found among Writers For experience has taught me that the Peritonaeum may burst in the hind part toward the back and there make a Rupture we find also that the process of the Peritonaeum may be so burst in the Groin that the Guts may not fall into the Scrotum but thrust themselves between the Skin and the Muscles towards the thigh Besides I have more than once observed a vas deferens corrugated has fallen into the Scrotum and caused a Rupture there which might easily be put up by help of the hand Barbette yea which upon lying on his back would go in of it self from which no danger need be feared II. Medicines acting by a manifest quality are such as by their excellent astringent and drying quality do contract the process of the Peritonaeum and stop the going out of the Guts But the use of them in grown persons is very much suspected for by long using of them the Liver and other of the Inwards are hurt and obstructed and then I see not how the virtue of them because of their astringent faculty can get to the place affected Besides the Belly is made very costive but how dangerous costiveness is for a Rupture is known to all Men. Yet I have often experienced these things following which act by their specifick virtue Hildanus to be excellent Comfrey-root Rupture-wort Earth-worms spotted Lungwort Stag's-pizzle Seed of Thorow-wax III. The noble J. J. à Diespach had been ill for 20 years of a great Rupture of his Guts for curing of which he had used several experienced Men but in vain At length when he did not dream of being cured of it he had a fit of sickness which confined him above six months to his bed After this he found not the least sign of his preceding Rupture nor did he use Trusses any more And that it was a perfect cure this is a sign for when two years afterwards he was troubled with stoppage of Urine and Costiveness Idem and used an emollient Bath and laxative Ointments not the least sign of any Rupture appeared ¶ Contrary to the expectation of many I cured a Man who had had a Rupture in his guts 10 years thus I ordered him to keep his Bed for a month keeping his Legs as close together as he could not spreading them abroad to keep a drying diet unless perhaps he took a few stewed Prunes to loosen him to eat nothing windy crude and hard of digestion except feet of Hogs Kids or Sheep And he used these Medicines Take of Terra Sigillata Comfrey-root true Bole-Armenick each 2 drachms burnt Hartshorn 1 drachm Let him take for 14 or 15 days 1 drachm and an half or 2 drachms every morning in Capon-broth Then take of Dragon's-bloud Mumy Mastich Frankincense Comfrey-root Bole-Armenick Red Snails Hedge-hog powdered 1 ounce Let them all be incorporated with the Turpentine make a Plaster and apply it to the Groin Riverius Yet let universals be used before IV. In fitting the Splenium to the Truss our chief care must be to make it fit that it be not round like a ball as they are usually made by unskilfull Chirurgeons for when they are so extuberant they drive the Groin too much inward that the torn membrane cannot chuse but keep open continually and will never knit So also it comes to pass that the Gut bursts out upon any violent motion and notwithstanding that turgid round Splenium it slips down into the Scrotum Therefore the Splenium must be three-cornered large enough for the Groin affected so gently supported and covered with a plate outwardly convex a little or with some hard renitent matter that the inner Superficies may not be plainly extuberant but so made that it may be firm and as it were a little concave which may neatly receive the Groin and may gently press it Solenander Sâ—â—t 4. c. â—3 when it is every way aptly comprehended V. A Truss must be fitted to each Groin for if it be applied but to one onely Fortis it swells the other and easily causes a Bubonocele VI. They that go about to cure Ruptures by Section let them first see and diligently enquire whether the Intestines fallen into the Scrotum through the processes of the Peritonaeum and straitned by the narrowness of the way have contracted a Gangrene for then though they cut never so well the Man will dye the next day And it will be thought that the Chirurgeon has killed him Of which thing Slegelius observed examples in France Velschius VII Being called to some too late when the Gut was inflamed so that it could not get back again by the narrow hole in the broken Peritonaeum for the Swelling I saved three Patients from present death by dilating the hole with incision thus First I place him as I said before for reposition binding him fast so that he cannot stir in the operation After this I draw a transverse line with Ink over the line of the strangulation of the Gut where the Rupture of the Peritonaeum is Then I draw another line to cut the former perpendicularly just upon the place of Strangulation and in the middle of it then I take up the skin between my two fingers on each side according to the transverse Section and cut it with a Razour along
ascribed to the Physician Hence Rhases his Errour easily appears who thinks we must onely use tapping in the progress of the disease whereas then Inustions are rather convenient which are proposed by Avicenna Albucasis and Celsus Fortis XXX Moreover we must observe that the Belly must not be opened with a red-hot knife for the Peritonaeum is inflamed as I have experienced Panarolus ¶ Nor must it be done with a Caustick for when a great and round Eschar is made the water will come out at the large hole made within with such violence that no dam can check it One was applied against my mind to the Noble Mr. Alexander de Karsy a famous Lawyer in Geneva the day before his death which but that it anticipated he had died at the first gushing out of the water for when he was dead and the penknife thrust into it the water could scarce be stopt by applying the Thumb When we looked on the place to which the caustick stone had been applied it had passed all the integuments to the Peritonaeum with a wide hole and had not this by its thickness hindred which in Hydropicks is observed to grow very thick he had died immediately XXXI Concerning this operation it must be observed that Hydropicks must not be tapt unless an Ezomphalos or a starting of the Navel appear Nature as it were affecting that way for the discharge of the water Otherwise all that are opened when the Navel is not prominent die And this prominence of the Navel may be procured by Art by setting dry Cupping-glasses with much flame to the Navel and also by emollient and drawing fomentations which in three days or thereabout cause a prominence Formius ad Riverium in which Tapping may be administred XXXII Modern Practitioners say something must be evacuated morning and evening but this way of evacuating to me seems pernicious for I saw the water once so let out and the Patient died in two days And I think the onely cause of his death was the taking away of so little water For when the way was once made the water trying to get out rushes upon it with great violence and lying with all its weight on the wound does fâ—rther debilitate the part which is debilitated with section already Thence 1. There arises a great difficulty in retaining the water which being retained by viâ—lence endangers a Gangrene as it happened to him I spoke of 2. What benefit is there from so little evacuation for in the belly of one that is perfectly Hydropick 30 or 40 pints of water are contained and what relief can evacuation of half a pint give But it is my judgment 1. That a great quantity should be taken away about half or at least a third part and till the Belly fall remarkably In the mean time lest the Patient should be weakned by the loss of so much he must be refreshed with oil of Cloves Cinnamon-water c. the next day about two or three pints must be taken away and the third day again but ever less and less for because the parts have so long a time been accustomed to the water therefore I think the last of it should be left a good while but the first should be taken out much at once to the end Nature may presently find manifest relief For then especially there will not be so great difficulty in keeping the water there will not be so great a weight of water upon the wounded and weak part and it will not be necessary to thrust in tents and pipes so hard with pain or to press the wounded part so violently And that there is not so great danger in evacuating the water at once examples of several do shew from whom it has burst either of it self or by accident so that it has almost all run out and yet they have recovered Thus we heard lately here at Lovain how almost all the water burst out of an ascitick Woman at once in a very short time and yet she recovered Fienus XXXIII In Hydropicks the coaâ—s of the Peritonaeum grow very thick yea in success of time they acquire a cartilagineous hardness Barbette which in tapping of the Abdomen is very necessary to be known XXXIV They who refuse Tapping admit of opening the Scrotum but the bowels must be safe and the strength good which being turgid must be opened with a Penknife or a Lancet and afterwards must be kept open with a Seton Sometimes a Gangrene comes but this not always of any great moment Hildanus cent 1. obs 48. for so way being made the water runs out more easily and such cutaneous Gangrenes are not so difficult to cure ¶ A Black-smith in the year 1653. afforded me an instance in whose Scrotum when it had swelled after a Dropsie Pustules arose and the water of the Abdomen ran out that way upon which a Gangrene followed in the Scrotum of which he was cured by the industry of Mr. Sabourin a Chirurgeon of Geneva He survived it three years and when the Dropsie came again through a bad Diet he died XXXV According to Aetius we may sometimes prick the Scrotum with Needles into which water is fallen and experience shews this remedy is very good A Seton is made with a red-hot Iron wherewith the skin of the Scrotum is perforated Therefore we may either use pricking or a Seton according as the Patients admit of the one remedy rather than the other Capivaccius XXXVI Hollerius has a new way of getting out the water in Dropsies he says that one escâ—â—◠〈◊〉 a Dropsie and Death it self by cutting his Nails of his feet and hands to the quick But with how much danger this cure is accompanied appears from Henric. ab Heer obs 12. who affirms that an hydropick person about fifty years old when he had cut his Nails of his feet to the quick was presently taken with a Gangrene and not long after he died XXXVII Scarification of the legs was a famous remedy among the Ancients H. Saxonia out of Alex. Benedict lib. 15. cur Morb. does commend the Scarifition of the Skin on the Abdomen But in the Ankles and Legs he advises to abstain from it for fear of a Gangrene Yet Langius confirms it by his own experience and advises to remember well the remedy of Scarifying the inner Ankle Which experience I also found true about five years ago in a Man who after he had been ill of a double Tertian with a delirium afterwards fell into an Ascites and when no other remedies would doe good he rashly of himself ventured on this scarifying of the Legs For Water came out thence Frid. Hofmanâ—us and he bore it very well He is now about 70 years old and lives well and free from any disease XXXVIII In our time at Padua the water ran so abundantly out of two cuts in the Ankle that the Woman presently died And when bloud
Disease XI Since it is difficult to know when stones arise from Bile no wonder if the cure of them look like an unheard of thing to many Physicians Yet because when stones after death are found in the Gall-bladder the rest of the Bile looks like Lees of Oil and is full of filth and subsiding dregs as I have several times seen voided by Vomit I should think that in such there were fear lest some part of the Bile might turn to stones whilst another turns to such excrements And therefore then Medicines should be used to dissolve these Bilious stones and to hinder any concretion Among things that dissolve Bilious stones I make no scruple to place Roots of Grass and the Herb it self either distilled or which I prefer boiled or bruised and the juice squeezed out of it making it palatable with Sugar since it is known by abundant experience that Cows and Sheep which in Winter feed on Hay and in whose Biliary duct a strong or calculous crust grows when in the Month of May they feed on green grass again are by degrees freed from that Ail A certain Argument that in green and fresh grass there is a virtue to dissolve stones which perishes when Grass is dried into Hay Spirit of Nitre also is good which I therefore commend in this case and especially when it is made sweet and mild with Spirit of Wine which may safely be taken to ten or twelve drops in this or the other drink several times a day Volatile Salts and especially oily ones Sylvius hinder a new concretion XII Although the black Jaundice come especially from some fault in the Spleen yet I think Platerus his opinion Pract. l. 1. tract 3. cup. 2. should not wholly be rejected Who judges that its cause is preternatural Bile corrupted in the mesaraick vessels and there growing black because it is not probable that such Bile can come from the Spleen seeing it has no cavity or Sinus there where it can be gathered nor does there come any vein from the Spleen by which it can be carried to the Cava Sennertus endeavours to reconcile this to the common opinion judging that black choler after it has been gathered in the mesaraick veins when abundance of it comes to the Liver is mingled with the yellow choler and gathered in the Gall Bladder and the colour of the yellow choler is changed thereby which unless it be evacuated by convenient ways is diffused with the bloud all over the body and causes the black Jaundice notwithstanding that there is no branch which reaches from the Spleen to the Cava because by means of the vena portae the humours gathered about the Spleen may reach to the Liver and may be derived to the rest of the body XIII Although there be some agreement between the Scurvey and the black Jaundice as both diseases come from some fault in the Spleen through the weakness of which in each of them the rest of the body is affected But notwithstanding since the manner of hurt as is manifest by divers signs is far different therefore it follows that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or principal thing capable of each disease to wit the Spleen is differently out of order This diversity introduces a diversity of cure inasmuch as in the Scurvey we have not regard simply to abundance of melancholick bloud and obstructions of the Spleen as we have in the Jaundice but we are forced to be most solicitous about a certain specifick corruption the proper matter of the Scurvey Horstius Probl. Dec. 7. Qu. 6. which requires its peculiar and proper remedies XIV Hippocrates 2 de morb n. 1. would have the veins under the Tongue opened in the black Jaundice Petrus Salius thinks this cure has respect to a Symptome not to the Cause which is store of black choler in the large veins But seeing this is a production of the external Jugular which is a branch of the superclavia and of the cava ascendens What should hinder when it is much exhausted that less of the greater bloud may be exhausted but that it may much alleviate this Disease Severinus since it does more nighly and quickly evacuate than the veins of the Armes Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians For the Yellow Jaundice 1. Augenius A drachm of Gum Ammoniack dissolved in 2 or 3 ounces of Oxymel or Hydromel given for four days or more five hours before Meal cures the Jaundice to a Miracle 2. One recovered onely by taking condensated juice of Cichory Bartholinus 3. One was cured of this disease by Conserve of Flowers of Broom and Marigold Borellus 4. Forestus A Decoction of Root of Celandine cures the Jaundice 5. Hayne A Decoction of Strawberry-leaves carries off the Tartar as I have often seen 6. A Decoction or the Powder Pauli or the Essence of Scorzonera-Root is very good in a contumacious Jaundice 7. Quercetanus The White Excrement of Chickens is a most certain Medicine 8. Take some Goose-dung dissolve it in Worm-wood-wine Drink it hot in the morning for three days and Sweat upon it Schmid Ileus or the Twisting of the Guts The Contents The true method of Cure I. Vomits sometimes doe good II. Sometimes very strong Purges are proper III. One caused by a Rupture in the Groin cured by Antimonial Clysters IV. It does not depend upon the stopping of the Guts V. If it come from Phlegm we must not immediately proceed to strong attenuants VI. Quick-silver may safely be given VII Hippocrates his way of cure by a Smith's Bellows VIII Some cured by drinking of Wine IX When Treacle may be given X. The efficacy of laxative and emollient Fomentations XI When a Bath is proper XII If it be in the small Guts what such Clysters should be used XIII Vnseasonable Fomentations and violent forcing back of the Gut often do increase the Disease XIV The Cure of the Colick turning into the Iliack Passion XV. A singular Cure of an Ileus XVI One caused by Incarceration of the Gut must be cured by Section in the Groin XVII Medicines I. IN the Iliack Passion the cause of inversion of the peristaltick motion of the Guts is usually thus Sharp and malignant humours are discharged by the bloud in a fever newly begun into the Stomach and Guts next at hand whereby the Stomach is first forced to invert its motion and with great violence to throw up the troublesome matter contained in it by the Mouth Then the small Guts joined to it being already weakned give way to the strong motion of the Stomach and with these the greater are drawn into consent the Stomach inclining to vomit leading the dance This Disease I call the true Ileus or Twisting of the Guts The method of curing it has hitherto been unknown whatever some may boast of the use of Quicksilver and Bullets which besides that they doe little good they often doe a great
occasions an Inflammation and Gangrene which are often increased or produced by fomentations applied amiss and overhot as also by a preposterous and violent rubbing of the swelled part and by the violent forcing back of the swollen Guts Sylvius XV. A young Man twenty four years old of a melancholick constitution fell into the Colick which after many things had been tried in vain degenerated into the Iliack passion with straitness about the Heart he swallowed a leaden Bullet of 2 drachms weight well covered with 1 drachm of Quicksilver and lest it should hurt his Jaws or raise a Ptyalism it was artificially wrapt up After three hours he broke wind and had ease Mâ—lchior Fribe in Misc cur on 1672. obs 96. and the fourth hour there followed two stools in which he voided above six pounds of matter of party colours yet he recovered without any harm XVI A poor Woman after an ill course of Diet fell into an obstruction of the Belly which lasted three weeks so that she brought up the excrements at her mouth as in an Ileus Divers things were used without any benefit At length she often drank the Juice of Bardorffe Apples that were rotten to about six pounds upon which she grew loose and the Woman narrowly escaped Death XVII If the Iliack passion be joined with a Rupture a supervening mortal sign whereof is the vomiting of the Chyle and Excrements when the Gut Ileon is slipt into the Scrotum after the falling down of which Hippocrates never saw any Man recover the onely way of Cure if there be any is as soon as the violent pain of the left side of the Scrotum reaching vomiting and such things have convinced you of the Gut Ileon being slipt Then without delay the very same day the ligament or vinculum inguinis must be cut in sunder with a Razor that is where the peritonaeum is joined with the Groin by a coat Duretus comm in Holletium or the testicle of the same side may be cut out Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. A Decoction of Dill is admirable good though Men do vomit after drinking of it Bread must be put in warm water and immediately warm pieces of it must be give to eat Aegineta 2. This gives great ease Let 4 ounces of Wine of Crete and 16 ounces of Oil be boiled together to the consumption of the Wine this given for a Clyster mitigates pain causes sleep softens the excrements Benedictus and breaks wind 3. The Bloud of a Bat anointed on the hypochondria by admirable experience is reckoned to stop the pains of the Twisting of the Guts Joël 4. They that are held of this Disease are wonderfully relieved although they vomit their ordure if they eat pieces of hot bread dipt in oil They will be saved though they were in a manner dead Oribasius 5. Spirit of Turpentine given inwardly egregiously dissolves the Tartar and causes the Excrements to descend and pass the natural way Petraeus 6. If the Disease come from thick and viscid Phlegm a Decoction or Infusion or Water of Radish is highly approved and also strong Wine in which inciding and attenuating Herbs have been boiled Rhudius Inappetentia or Want of Appetite The Contents Phlegm which is the Cause of it must be heated by little and little I. It requires rather the correcting some fault in the Liver than in the Stomach II. Whether Spirit of Vitriol recovers an Appetite III. See Diseases of the Stomach BOOK XVIII I. BILE and Phlegm especially hinder the sense of Appetite Concerning Phlegm it must be observed that it as it is cold indicates heating things yet it must not be done all at once and on a sudden lest the humours being suddenly dissolved breed wind and be distributed into the whole Body and cause obstructions wherefore here we must act with caution and first of all we must take care that the Patient eat and drink sparingly and use an attenuating Diet. Salt Meats also may be given the first mess because Salt has an inciding and attenuating virtue and afterwards things that have a detersive faculty may be used such as the decoction of Cabbage boiled but a little But first of all to attenuate let Oxymel be given with a fourth part of Honey of Roses afterwards that Medicine which is called Diatrion Pipereon and that the simple which is onely made of the three sorts of Pepper for although Pepper heat violently yet it is of thin substance and parts which are therefore quickly discussed and therefore doe the Liver no harm Sennertus II. Loss of Appetite and loathing of Flesh especially follows the excessive heat of the Liver for Physicians are under a mistake who when their Patients loath Fesh so that they can scarce bear the smell of it think the Stomach is onely ill Flowers of Cichory must be given either preserved with Sugar or fresh and the obstructions of the mesaraick Vessels must be helped For Flowers of Cichory do not onely help a hot Liver but they excite the faculty of the Stomach and free from obstructions ¶ Roots of Cichory especially the wild have as much virtue in them and more Crato III. There are some who perfectly abhor the use of Spirit of Vitriol as appears from Sylvaticus controv 48. and others who infer several inconveniences from the noxious qualities of common Vitriol not prepared and not separated from its impurities but to no purpose for it is one thing to consider what Galen and Diascorides say where they onely speak of crude Vitriol another to consider prepared Vitriol of which there is great variety so that it alone to several Hermeticks may seem sufficient to furnish an Apothecaries shop The question here is concerning Spirit of Vitriol which is now-a-days frequently used That it conduces much to check great putrefaction both Experience and Crato apud Scholtzium do testifie though greater caution must be observed in dry Bodies than in moist We likewise daily experience that it does much good in a dejected Appetite then especially when the internal parts of the Stomach are as it were lined and obstructed with pituitous and mucilaginous excrements so that the Spirits which cause hunger that is the innate heat of the Stomach is oppressed and rendred unfit to perform its operation As it contains in it self a penetrating inciding and cleansing virtue so it attenuates digests and consumes the mucilaginous matter and crudities Wherefore consequently it excites the hungry Spirits that before were buried as it were which produce the usual effects in extimulating the sense of the orifice and breed hunger Horstius Infantium Regimen or The Regiment of Children The Contents The umbilical Vessels must be tied neither too strait nor too loose I. Whether Children new born should be washed in hot or cold Water II. They must not be swathed too strait III. Whether the Mother's milk be always best IV. Whether new
There are several Medicines 9. χ. Ï„. too violent for young Children Therefore I rather commend Galen's advice 3. Euporist that is to use Smith's-water Idem and Powder of burnt Snails XVIII The same Galen 2. de Simpl. writes that several have written that a Torpedo applied is good for the falling of the Arse-gut But he subjoyns that he had tried that remedy in vain Powder of a Serpent's slough is also very good Idem XIX But if these Medicines will not perfectly cure it the followers of the Arabians commend the making of two cauteries in the end of the Spine that is near the Rump one on each side Which remedy nevertheless I would advise onely to be used in adult ones and when other things will doe no good XX. It is often hindred from going back into its place by the Mucus wherewith it is covered which you must absterge not with brine as some have advised because the sense of the part will not bear it but with Sugâ—red-water especially with Rain-water or with Water of Honey much diluted which you must doe often and wrap up the Anus in clothes wet with water Aphthae or A Thrush XXI Because a Thrush is usually attended with great Inflammation and consequently draws the humours from the body and increases the disease thereby Therefore it will be good to apply Cupping-glasses but to the buttocks or the end of the back by which one may evacuate as much bloud as the age and habit of the body will bear Mercurialis XXII If the Thrush be malignant we must oppose the pravity but we must have regard to the Age and the tenderness of the body We may not therefore in this age use those remedies which an elder might bear And the Medicine may be such Take of Scordium finely powdered 1 drachm Pomegranate Pills finely powdered 2 scruples burnt Alume 1 scruple Honey what is sufficient Mix them Idem XXIII But we must observe whether powders or whatever else be given it is necessary that it be mixt with some thing that is gratefull to the palate for there the Gustatory faculty is placed and we must have great regard to the Taste Wherefore as may be seen in Galen 6. de Med. local the Ancients made up their Medicines for the Thrush either with Sapa or Honey Idem XXIV If the Child be big because it is very material to have the pravity checkt presently lest it grow to spreading Ulcers we must endeavour to take away all malignity immediately with strong Medicines which the juice of Pomegranates and especially of sowre ones does admirably Which Theophrastus says does in a wonderfull manner preserve from putrefaction And though the Pomegranate by Dioscorides be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet we must not say with Ruellius it is hurtfull to the mouth which is very false but that it is ungratefull It appears indeed from experience that it is unpleasant and ungratefull nevertheless it is very good to stop a putrid Thrush Idem XXV But it often so happens that this Medicine does not suffice wherefore we must proceed to stronger In which case in those of elder years we may use either Aqua Aluminis magistralis or Vnguentum Aegyptiacum or flos aeris corrected with Diamoron all which things must not be used but upon great necessity The reason is because according to Galen 6. χ. Ï„. in the palate there are two wide passages one of which goes to the Lungs the other to the Stomach wherefore it is very dangerous if any poisonous Medicine get into these parts Therefore he said that Vitriol must not be used in Medicines for the Mouth because of the imminent danger if any part of such a Medicine should get either into the Stomach or Lungs Besides when we must use some such Medicines it will be best to use them in such a form as cannot go farther than the Palate as when a malignant Thrush is touched with Oil of Vitriol or of Sulphur or with Sublimate water XXVI Whether is Butter good for a Thrush Idem It is good in the beginning but it may be questioned 1. Because fat things make Ulcers foul 2. By its heat it might increase the Inflammation 3. It does not at all agree with other Medicines which must be used in the progress of the Disease I answer 1. The argument holds good in deep Ulcers which must be deterged 2. Fresh Butter is reckoned temperate because of the serous humidity mixt with it 3. Nor does it hinder that other Medicines are of other qualities because in the progress we dry and deterge more XXVII Horstius A Boy about four years old had a very sharp Fluxion upon his Tongue and Jaws so that he had an infinite number of white Ulcers very painfull with a great inflammation he could swallow nothing he had no sleep but roared continually he was lean and almost quite consumed Honey of Roses with Spirit of Vitriol which did others good did him none He had a plentifull Loosness with much porraceous bile A Bliâ—er did him much good but his pain and roaring continued and a serous sharp humour ran out of his mouth continually the pain and inflammation drawing more and more At length I gave 1 grain of Laudanum in broth whereby the pain was eased a gentle sleep procured which afterwards continued moderate and came at due hours Then his fluxion into his mouth ceased and he began to recover Riverius Atrophia or want of Nourishment XXVIII There are four causes of Leanness in Câ—ildren First Ineptitude of Aliment Secondly Want of Heat whose office it is to concoct it Thirdly Obstruction of the passages by which the Aliment passes to its elaboratories or whereby it is carried from them to the parts to be nourished Fourthly Any cause that is able to waste dissipate and melt the fat and flesh To the ineptitude of Aliment the condition of the Milk belongs which is either afforded in far less quantity than it should or is so thin that it is dissipated by the heat or of its own nature it is of little Aliment because it has but little of the butyrous substance and much of the other Or when it is bitter salt c. which Nature is therefore averse to So want of Innate Heat causes an Atrophy a thousand ways because it is able neither to concoct laudable Aliment or if it be it does not distribute it or does not assimilate it when distributed c. Thus Childrens bodies are also emaciated because the ways chanels and pores of the Elaboratories and the Flesh are obstructed corrugated fallen flat compressed or some way or other straitned Of which cause we must have a great care Then the cause which wastes the fat and flesh is either internal or external internal whatever is unable to contain the substance that should nourish as it happens in fluxes of bloud or of any other good substance or it dissipates by sweat
Bladder with a thick one which was almost as thick as a Swan's quill than with a small one The reason is because when the Urinary Duct about the neck of the Bladder yea and the Sphincter it self was swelled by reason of the Scirrhus a coarctation and straitness of the Urinary Duct in the Perinaeum must of necessity follow Therefore it is consentaneous to reason that a little small Catheter could not dilate this narrowness Hildanus which a thicker could easily doe XIII Sometimes we can neither prevail by Medicines nor Catheters so as to be able to get out the Urine which has stopt many days because of some fault in the Urinary Duct the Man continually hasting to his end Why therefore should you think it hard by a dextrous incision to make a small hole where they cut for the Stone Arculanus comm ad Rhazen c. 103. laid down this cure Which thing in the extremity of the Patient and in cases when other remedies will doe no good I would advise you not to reject Severinus nor speak ill of XIV Cardan com 43. aph sect 7. testifies he saw a case succeed very well when a Caruncle in a certain Man was perforated with a Catheter though much bloud and corruption ran out of it And I experienced the same in a Barber who had been two days ill of a stoppage of Urine For while I thrust a Catheter against the renitent Caruncle first a little bloud came and then abundance of Urine Idem and he finds himself well to this very day XV. A Boy eight years old was ill of the Small Pox he complained of a stoppage of Urine We were puzzled what should be the cause We saw the Small pox on the end of the Penis and we thought there might be some within We gave inwardly things to provoke Urine We were then hindred from Bathing and Fomentations by the Small Pox. Winclerus Misc cur ann 74. obs 36. When we could doe nothing I look on the Penis I saw something white in the Orifice I took it for a Small pock full of Pus I take a Needle I find it hard I move it and when moved I get it out it proved a Stone and the Urine came It had been forced thither by expelling Emulsions that are used to be given in the Small pox which are also Dâ—uretick XVI An Infusion of Cantharides is a remedy for a stoppage of Urine the happy success whereof I have several times experienced Let a scruple of Cantharides in powder be infused in three or four ounces of Rhenish-wine or of Spirit of wine for some days T. Bartholinus cent 5. hist 82. Ep. 54. cent 4. then let it be filtred through a brown Paper that nothing of the substance of the Cantharides may be mixt with it Let one Spoonfull of this liquour thus strained be mixt with other seven spoonfulls of Wine or Beer And of this mixture let one Spoonfull be given the first day two the next and so on XVII N. A Nobleman Sixty years old sanguine of an athletick habit when he travelled in the heat of Summer quenched his thirst contracted from the Heat with abundance of drink Four days after he came home he fell into a perfect Ischury which was variously opposed by an old Physician yea a Catheter was put into his Bladder I was called I asked him whether he felt any pain in his Loins or Pubes or if he had been troubled with the Stone in the Kidneys He said No. Hence I gathered the Ischury proceeded from no fault in the Kidneys or Bladder but rather from an obstruction of the Emulgents which a multitude of Humours had caused by reason whereof the Vessels being too full and distended could not contract themselves for expulsion Which appears in the Bladder distended beyond measure by too long keeping the Urine which sometimes very difficultly voids the Urine through want of contraction I insisting on this opinion proposed Phlebotomy to be celebrated with a liberal hand to take away the plenitude of the Vessels And one pound of bloud was taken away Scarce an hour was over when the Patient perceived the Urine run by the Ureters from the Kidneys to the Bladder and he foretold he would make some quickly A little after he called for a Pot and when he had filled that Riverius more were brought so that in an hours time he made several pounds of water Thus he was perfectly cured and would not take a Hydragogue which was prescribed him the next morning XVIII For such as by long holding their water or drunkenness cannot make water though they strive to doe it I have found out an easie way and have practised it several times with great success by putting a Wax Candle such as Shoomakers use through the Vrethra into the cavity of the Bladder if it be first made blunt at the end and anointed with Oil. I use this instead of a Catheter which because it cannot be thrust into Males especially but with much difficulty or pain in imitation of it I have tried this Candle and have observed the success to be excellent Which Artifice is so much more to be valued because this is always in readiness and such a Candle may be used by any one whereas a Catheter cannot be put in but by a skilfull hand Sylvius de le B ë. and then indeed with trouble XIX I think sometime the suppression of Urine may be owing to the bloud for its cause that is when this is so affected and so confused and mixt as to its various parts that the Serum cannot be separated in the Kidneys Which perhaps falls out oftner than the Caruncles of the Kidneys are indisposed especially when no fault is observed in the Kidneys though they be most found fault with And certainly that the bloud may be so affected it self that the serous parts which minister matter to Urine are so intimately mixt with the rest that they cannot easily be parted many things seem to perswade me whether a Man consider the Symptoms then urgent or weigh well the method of cure by volatile Salts For to say something of volatile Salt alone and not without good reason because of the manifold experience I have of its virtues it is certain that it has the faculty of dissolving any viscid humour from which the vitious connexion of the Fluid parts as well as the Solid has usually its rise Now when the viscid humour is dissolved the parts of the bloud may more easily separate when they are not so intimately conjoined one to another But if any one think if the suppression of Urine which is so often mortal must be ascribed to a viscid humour in the bloud which hinders the separation of its parts that then the obstruction of the Caruncles in the Kidneys whatever it is may not inconveniently be derived from the same viscidity hindring the secretion or transcolation of Urine and causing a suppression of it
follows afterwards III. It is an errour not onely of the vulgar but also of some Physicians that the Hemorrhoids always benefit the Melancholick There are many Hypochondriacal Melancholists and of other sorts to whom the opening of the Hemorrhoid Veins is prescribed amongst the chief Remedies as if those Veins evacuated a thicker bloud than other Veins which I think to be very absurd The Authority of the Ancients and Moderns and mine own experience persuade me to this opinion Amongst the most ancient Hippocrates 6. Epid. sect 3. thought that the opening of the Hemorrhoids not by Leeches or otherwise which few have consider'd but by Nature her self is very profitable for preventing and curing very many Diseases bred of thin bloud as the Pleurisie Peripneumony Phagedoena or fretting Ulcer Biles Leprosie and other such like Yet it is not to be denied that the same profit those mad Melancholists that labour under black Choler according to Hippocrates's opinion Aphor. 11. sect 6. The Hemorrhoids supervening says he are profitable to those who are troubled with Melancholy and the Stone He speaks not a word of provoking them but onely approves of them if Nature unlock them of her own accord Now they flow not onely from a melancholick bloud but also from any other for Nature oft makes use of this flux to purge the bloud if there be any thing faulty in it or if its quantity exceed as in the too great abundance of bloud in women with child or such whose Terms are stopt and in the maimed whence bloud flows plentifully by them Hence Actuarius m. m. cap. 20. observes that besides from melancholick bloud these Veins are opened in those who intermit their usual exercises that use too full a Diet whose accustomed evacuations from other parts as the Nose or Womb are stopt or who have used to be let bloud Later Anatomists have observed that the Hemorrhoids are twofold some spring from the Vena cava and others from the Vena portae that those evacuate a more thin and pure bloud and these a thicker But this they do not doe always for a bloud that is pretty pure is sometimes evacuated by these latter and a thicker by the former Wherefore unless Nature shew that she attempts that evacuation these Veins are not to be rashly opened and if a pure and sparkling bloud come forth they are to be stopt presently for the Melancholick are worse by their evacuation When any opens them he cannot promise himself for certain that a melancholick bloud onely shall be emptied and not that which is pure and sparkling But if any have been accustom'd to them and be upon the suppression of them become melancholick mad nephritical or epileptical it will not be unprofitable to open them again that the humour which has its reflux towards the upper parts may be more safely poured forth by the accustomed ways whose passages are stopt up But if Nature do not affect this way we ought not to make a custome of it as Galen teaches 4. Aph. 25. That we should not accustome our selves to that evacuation that is made by the Hemorrhoids and Hollerius does rightly deny the opening of them if they do not swell and have never flowed before But if Nature incline that way in imitation of her we may open them otherwise by no means For though Nature do sometimes profitably evacuate bloud by the Hemorrhoids yet we may not always imitate her as in Fevers she sometimes carries off the Disease by Bleeding at the Nose or by Sweat but who will dare to open the Veins of the Nostrils or to provoke Sweat before signs of concoction or before Nature have shewn her inclination The same we must think of the Hemorrhoids Yet these things are not to be understood of particular Diseases for in them particular Veins may be opened thus we profitably procure Bleeding at the Nose in a Phrensie or Head-ach because these Veins communicate with the part affected Thus in the Nephritical and Splenical the Veins of the anus may be opened Primiros de vulg err l. 4. c. 51. but never in other Diseases that are more universal unless Nature follow this motion IV. As to Purgers there is says * Apud Scholtz cons 174. Crato in Hellebore a certain poisonous driness and moisture to be corrected of which correction I might say many things unless I remembred that of Mesue That it is a degree of wisedom not to come to strong Medicines save when weak have not benefited And although I know that almost all Practitioners do advise to give the strongest Medicines yet I am persuaded by Mesue that a weak Medicine often repeated does the same thing and with less danger as a strong does at once and together and I have learnt this to be true by the experience of many years I say nothing of how many and whom I have cured that have been ill of this Disease though I could do this truly but I can truly affirm that I never us'd Lapis Lazuli or Scammoniates I know that Senna is not onely safe but moreover inoffensive to the Stomach and gratefull to the Heart Let the Practitioner use it as I have done in melancholick Diseases Thus far Crato ¶ White Hellebore is celebrated by all Writers in Physick for melancholick and maniack Diseases But 't is better so to prepare it that it may work by stool than that it should work by vomit The manner of its preparation is this Boil it in Balm-water to the consumption of half and in the strained decoction boil some Prunes then with some Cassia newly drawn pass it through a Sieve and with Cinnamon and Sugar make an Electuary Or let its root be infused in the Pulp of Quinces and then taking away the root give the Quince Or infuse it in Mesue's decoction of Epithymum which give with the compound Syrup of Polypody But before the giving of it the humours are to be prepared for three days by Attenuaters and Inciders and the body is to be moistned with Meats of good juice in plenty by sleep rest and anointing the Body all over and the Belly is to be loosned by Clysters of Oil or of Milk and Butter See Sect. 11. of Mania V. Of Pills we must chuse those which evacuate gently and without trouble and not those which evacuate strongly Yet potions are to be preferr'd as drying less than Pills for Pills evacuate much and strongly Rondelet c. de Melan. and dry the body beyond measure by which drying the Patient is made worse VI. Melancholy in this place signifies not an humour but a Disease caused by the melancholick humour because many think this humour alone to be the cause thereof and direct all their Remedies to this alone But many things shew that it is not always caused by this humour and by vapours therefrom For we often see that those who labour under this symptome have no signs of this humour abounding yea that persons of any
reaches to the marrow or middle with the removing of the outer Lamina of the Skull without hurting the Dura mater lest the Brain be too much cooled and this shall be done by making a Cautery near the coronal Suture with a red hot and sharp Iron penetrating even to the marrow or to betwixt the Laminae rather than by true Terebration I say near the Suture to avoid hurting the Membrane which passes out by the Sutures If this be done and be kept open with a pellet it may benefit very much Sylvaticus cent 1. cons 58. See Examples in Rolfinc meth spec p. 413. Rhodius cent 1. obs 43. The Weakness of the Memory and Mind The Contents The Memory is not always to be restored by heating Medicines I. The Abuse of Confectio Anacardina Aqua magnanimitatis II. Where Issues are to be made III. Their Efficacy IV. Treacle and Mithridate ought to be rejected in Weakness of Mind V. I. I Can hardly consent to Galen's opinion that Forgetfulness depends on a cold Intemperature because I know several that have very cold Brains without impairing of their Memory which yet ought to follow if Galen's Arguments from the similitude of efficient Causes and from the similitude of cold Animals were of any strength I have seen the contrary in some forgetfull persons whose Cure I have undertaken in whom there was no manifest sign of Cold In some I discovered a notable Heat of the Brain whom I helped by the application of cooling Remedies about the coronal Suture I deny not but there is in many a notable dry Intemperature but I doubt whether the Memory be either diminished or abolished by this Intemperature alone Some cases observed by me increase the doubting I have known some lose their Memory quite by a great blow on the Head Galen from Thucydides relates that some who recovered of a Pestilence forgat all things that were by-past And what cold Intemperature is to be accused here I have seen a Woman that forgot all things who by a spontaneous loosness by which she evacuated cholerick Petr. Salv. Div. Annot. in Altimar c. 1. bloudy green mucous and the like stuff recover'd her lost Memory without the application of any particular Medicine to the Brain it self II. The pernicious custome both of Physicians and others is to be condemned who being indued with a weak Memory from their first constitution endeavour by violent Medicines to recover that which they have not lost For you may find young Students not a few who being desirous of a good Memory beg both by Intreaty and Money that Confectio anacardina may be given them Whence not a few either unsettle their Judgment or better not their Memory at all or are tormented with great Pains in their Head For who knows not that if we would change the natural temper of the Brain or any part into a better we must act leisurely and by degrees not with vehement and the most effectual Remedies as those are which are made of Anacardum which finding in the Heads and Bodies of young men nothing that is preternaturally thick cold and moist do waste and weaken the natural temper and substance whence proceed a thousand kinds of harms and the Memory perhaps becomes worse Such things help those indeed whose Memories are hurt Mercatus Pract. l. 1. c. 19. if they were good before by their natural constitution ¶ It is called Confectio Sapientum Yet it is to be given warily especially in those that are well for strengthning their Memory whence some give half a drachm or less of it in hot water that it s too much drying may be remitted But those who have their principal members hot are by no means to use it For even Experience has taught this that some have indeed acquired to themselves an admirable Memory by this confection but have not been very lively and have died in the very flower of their age Sennertus pract l. 1. part 2. c. 5. by having their body too much dried ¶ In both confirming and restoring the Memory Aqua magnanimitatis is of wonderfull virtue which see in Schroder's Pharmac lib. 2. cap. 38. and Hofman in clavi p. 50. 'T will be more powerfull if the Species anacardinae be extracted with it from three to six grains of whose essence being given once or twice a week in Wine or Lavender-water is a singular Remedy But note that this Water dries very much and therefore its use in the cholerick and more dry ought to be rare and with caution so that 't is rather good for the phlegmatick and melancholick ¶ See concerning its efficacy and another preparation of it in Miscell curios ann 3. viz. 1672. p. 605. from Wedelius Hartman prax c. 14. sect 2. where there is most excellent Counsel for an impaired Memory III. Issues help in these cases because when humours abound in the Brain it helps if they be evacuated by little and little and turned aside from the Brain But note that as I commend an Issue in the Armes so I condemn it in the Occiput because that place is the Seat of the Memory Mercurialis l. 1. c. 18. and 't is pernicious to evacuate the whole body by the part affected IV. I am wont to make Issues in the Head with very good success when the Memory is lost and Ratiocination impaired especially in case of a cold and moist Intemperature but the body must be first well purged Epiph. Ferdinandus hist 47. They must be made near or upon the Sutures three or four or more as shall seem necessary V. Some commend Treacle and Mithridate which I had rather omit because of the Opium which makes all the Senses stupid or more languishing though it have been a long time made I say 't is better to let them alone seeing there want not other things and no pain or necessity requires them here nor is there any malignity of humour Platerus Mensium fluor nimius or The too large Flux of the Terms The Contents Bleeding is very good I. We must often purge II. When Vomits have place III. Diureticks are unfit to make derivation IV. Astringents and Incrassaters being used long doe harm V. Opiates are profitable VI. Whether Astringents are to be applied VII The Cure of this Flux joined with an hysterical Suffocation VIII Sylvius's Causes and Cure IX I. PHlebotomy for Revulsion is to be celebrated in the Arme ever and anon stopping the orifice a little while with your finger A good quantity of bloud is to be let Riverius l. 15. c. 3. as much as the strength can bear ¶ I have known many who have been cured by being let bloud largely Holler aph 50. 5. when the flux could be stenched by no other Remedies II. Some Lenitive Medicine is not inconvenient which may bring Serosities plentifully out by stool for besides that it may make a Diversion it will cleanse the first ways and prepare them
Honey and mixt with Syrups VI. Septalius l. 6. Anim. 74. rejects Sudorificks and prefers things that provoke Urine and he thinks Physicians generally commit a great Error that omitting promoters of Urine they use Hidroticks because thick Matter is also carried off by Urine And when the thinner part is evacuated by Sweat the thicker is rendred more hard obstructive and difficult as to Motion and Evacuation But grant all this to be true in Diseases whose cause lies in the Bowels and Hypochondria or in the Veins yet the reason does not hold in the Palsy For seeing the cause of the Disease sticks about the Nerves I see not how it can easily get from thence to the ways of Urine But Evacuation by the ambit of the Body is easie Nor need we fear that by the use of Sudorificks the Matter will grow too hot because it is cold and so requires heating insomuch that some think a Fever should be raised which may heat and melt it Nor that it will grow thick Sennertus seeing Hydroticks have an Attenuative virtue VII Opiates are much commended by Practitioners which because of the Opium are very much suspected by me in the stupidity and imbecillity of the Nerves And they give Treacle Mithridate Aurea Alexandrina Platerus c. VIII There is not one among the vulgar but may easily observe that Diaphoreticks do much good and sometimes much harm Wherefore it is of much moment to explicate the Reasons of so different an Effect Therefore plentiful Sweating is sometimes good for Paralyticks upon a twofold account especially namely because it plentifully exterminates the Impurities of the Blood and Nervous Juice that are apt to exhale And that the Morbifick Matter may flow no more to the Brain and parts affected and that what is flown already may in part be thrown off And secondly because the effluvia of heat flying from the aestuating Blood do very much open the Nervous Ducts stopt before and open a passage for the Spirits while in Evaporation they pass that way Wherefore this Administration is proper for them especially and in a manner for them only whose Blood not being very full of fixt Salt and Sulphur is diluted with a limpid and insipid serum For on the contrary Paralyticks in whose Blood and Humours there are abundance of wild exotick Particles of enormous Salts and Sulphurs that are fixt and unfit for exhalation do find a great deal of harm from violent Sweating Of which Affection we assign these two Causes namely That the Morbifick Particles through agitation being too much exalted become more outragious 2. That when abundance of them is driven into the Head and Nervous Kind they often increase old Obstructions and not seldom produce new ones Willis IX If Pains about the Arms and Shoulders do accompany it we order Sweating in Bed to be raised with heated Bricks or Bottles full of hot Water that the Matter sticking among the Muscles may be digested and resolved yet above all these things Sweat must rather be raised by the ambient heat than by the internal use of a Medicine or Decoction that melts or thins the Humours which is proper only when in the Stove Sweat does run plentifully all the Matter being put into fusion Whereas otherwise if the antecedent Humours be dissolved in the Veins by a Decoction and when they are dissolved be not discharged but tarry in the Body they will increase Pain Which as Reason it self teaches us so I have found true by Experience so that I can never do enough to extirpate this abuse Therefore when the Matter is but little and therefore the Pain but small when we intend not to move or put into fusion the antecedent Humours residing in the whole Body we only give a Decoction of Groundpine so much commended by Matthiolus upon Dioscorides in these cases Whereto if you add a little China it may not be amiss abstaining nevertheless from Misletoe of the Oak and such melting things Fortis as also from Sanders which hinder Sweat X. The Head also should be dried with a Sudorifick Decoction but that is very much suspected by me for I am afraid lest the Humours of the whole Body and of the Head being melted fly into the Head violently and cause an Apoplexy Wherefore I should more willingly use some Decoction not very colliquating but cherishing the innate heat and dissipating the Matter impacted into the Nerves as well as drying the Head the Matter being rather derived to the Center by Urine than to the Circumference by Sweat The Decoction may be made of Mastiche Wood Rosemary Misletoe of the Oak and a little Sassafras in Pigeon Broth giving first Turpentine with Salt of Iva Arthritica and Sal Theriacalis Idem XI Loosning and alterative Clysters are very convenient having a care of over emollient ones whereby the Spine being more relaxed would be further hurt so that not without reason the Vulgar think Clysters in the Colick occasion the Palsy Platenus Which nevertheless rightly prepared both do good and if the Cause lye about the lower part of the Back may serve for Topical Remedies XII But indeed as generous Medicines if they turn not to Alexitericks often prove Poysons So going into the Bathes has made these Paralyticks much worse whom it did not cure so that when more parts and those that were affected before grew more Paralytick the Lame leave their Crutches there for no other reason but because they cannot use them when they are made more impotent The reason hereof is because Bathing by disturbing the Blood and all the Humours does more exalt all the Morbifick and Heretogeneous Particles and forces them being enraged out of the Bowels into the Mass of Blood whence because they do not easily evaporate entring the Brain and Nervous Kind they increase the Palsy and often cause a Convulsion For this reason Bathing sometimes first actuates the Stone in the Kidney and the Gout and brings a Spitting of Blood Asthma or Consumption upon many when there was no disposition to it Wherefore the Bathes should not be tried without the advice of a Physician and if when they are tried they do not agree Willis they must be quickly left XIII Bituminous Sulphureous Bathes cure a Palsy suceedaneous to the Colick And they do good not only by drying the Humours and strengthning the Parts but I rather think that the adust salt nitrous and tartareous impuritie of the Humours and Vapours in Man which spoâ—â— the virtue of the Nerves are quite dissolved by the virtue of the Bathes and being dissolved are by a peculiar and Mineral Analogy which the qualities of the Bathes have with the divers Humours and Juices in Man drawn to the ambit of the Body and so our Bodies are delivered from the Enemy that besets the Nervous Kind not without corroboration The Efflorescence of the Skin in such as use the Bathes often sometimes coming with a troublesome Itch
Disease of the Lungs it shall be cured by Paracentesis or Tapping or by purging off the Pus by Stool and Vomit Which I remember was done a few years ago by an Empirick by a particular Decoction by the help whereof a Patient that was esteemed to be incurable by several Physicians being affected in his Breast and wasting away by degrees was cured very well in a few weeks and still continues well Let none censure that rashly Fr. Sylv. pract l. 1. c. 24. which he knows not the reason of ¶ It is clear by Experience that from a violent straining to Vomit the expulsion of what is contained in the Wind-Pipe is promoted except in Spitting of Blood Idem c. 22. p. 29. wherein Vomiting is always dangerous VI. One taking the Flowers of Antimony of a Mountebank fell into an Apoplexy during which he fell into a great Salivation so that he quickly emptied by his Nose and Mouth a great deal of frothy Phlegm His dead Body being opened the Region of his Breast his Stomach and Head were found full of such like Matter Whence gather That as Antimonium Diaphoreticum being well prepared is an excellent Medicine for the Lungs so being not as yet deprived of its Arsenical Sulphur and Mercury by Calcinations and Solutions P. de Sorbait M. C. an 1672. obs 270. 't is a very great Poison VII We must abstain from Acrimonious Clysters when there is a brisk Expectoration for Expectoration is hindred by the vertue thereof the Matter being drawn downwards and in such case there follow anxiety Merc. l. 1. de ind med c. 3. inquietude and divers other Symptoms VIII According to Hippocrates l. 3. de vict acut v. 63. Medicines that incide and attenuate much such as Oxymel that is very sharp are to be abstained from in Diseases of the Breast when the Patients through weakness cannot Cough up for the Matter by such Medicines is not only made more tough and so the harder to cough up but being deterged from the sides of the Vessels it slides into their Cavities and so causes a greater suffocation the passages for the Air being stopt than when it clave to the sides of the Wind-Pipe P. Martian comm in loc IX Amongst the conveniences of Ptisan Hippocrates in acut t. 29. reckons these That it is fluid and sticks not to the Parts nor tarries in the passage that goes directly to the Breast from whence we may gather that he takes away the use of all Lohochs because they cleave to the Parts and cause Anhelations in the Inflammation of the Lungs Heurnius comm in loc Pleurisie and Asthma For the Ancients used Lohochs only for sore Mouths where it was necessary the Medicine should tarry some while X. The same are not good when a Fever and a Cough or other like Distemper of the Breast come together Thus in Catarrhal Fevers in the Small Pox and Measles and especially the Pleurify and Peripneumony Lohochs have no place Nor are those to be listen'd to who in a Pleurisy especially in the beginning thereof commend Spec. diatragacanth frig and such like which are quite opposite to the indication and motion of Nature So that Heurnius's Advice in Meth. ad prax p. 313. is rather to be follow'd nor does Helmont write amiss in this case That Syrups and Lohochs have not benefited one of a thousand and therefore we ought to persist no longer in this Miry Track XI Some Physicians do ill in prescribing Lambitives at the first Visit such Physicians are like Women for the Matter that is in the whole Body forbids them For a Lohoch is given upon the account of a Cough now by a Cough the Lungs Breast and Pleura are agitated and therefore if the Body be full of Humours they rather hurt by the attraction of new Matter than profit Wherefore they ought not to be prescribed till after Bleeding and Loosening the Belly Capivacc pract l. 2. c. 3. XII There is need of some Moderation and Circumspection in the use of Lambitives lest such sweet things while they stay in the Stomach turn to Choler or being carried to the Liver cause Obstructions there We see that by the too frequent use of Lambitives Crato cons St. apud Scholtz Gabelchover cent 3. cur 85. Montan. cons 126. those who labour under Pectoral Diseases do sometimes fall into a Dropsy for there is but a small part of such Medicines that slides into the Lungs the greatest part going to the Stomach and Liver XIII That Admonition of Hippocrates lib de rat vict is very worthy of notice Sweet Wine in such as it makes thirsty helps Expectoration less than other Wine Therefore though sweet Wine do of it self facilitate Spitting yet in such as are Cholerick or labour under a Cholerick Cacochymie of the Breast as a Cholerick Pleurisy Peripneumony or Destillation namely in such as it makes thirsty it brings forth less Spittle than the Vinous because it heats the Liver increases Choler dries the Lungs and makes the Disease drier Which same thing is to be observed indeed in all other sweet Potions and Lambitives nor must we without distinction press Lambitives upon all who we desire should Cough up easily for in some namely such whose Breast is very hot and their Liver Cholerick the Phlegm will come easilier up by abstaining from all such things and allowing only Water or a Decoction of Barley As for my self Valles com in l. de vict acut p. 107. I give to such only warm Water to concoct the Phlegm and find a very good effect of it XIV That such things as astringe moderately are necessary and not hurtful in Diseases of the Breast especially being mixed with other things appears from the composition of the Syrup of Lykyrrhize wherein Mesue puts Rose-Water Now such things are profitable in as much as by condensating and strengthning the substance of the parts of the Breast they hinder the unprofitable Humours that are sent from other parts to be so readily received and such as they have received whether they would or no by contracting themselves they expel the more strongly Thus Avicen in imitation of Hippocrates 3. de morb prescribes a Wine of Sweet Pomegranates for the Peripneumonick and Pleuritick upon which account he is blamed by some for prescribing an Astringent where there is occasion to dilate for according to Galen 8. χ. θ. even sweet Pomegranates bind in some measure though some think it to be prescribed upon the account of the Loosness that sometimes happens in these Diseases Crucius de Quaesitis cent 4. p. 13. It may be added That moderate Astriction helps the Penetration of the rest XV. How profitable a Decoction of Turnips is in Pectoral Diseases loosening the Matter collected in the Breast I have found by Experience and therefore I earnestly recommend it Take Turnips are pare the Rind off them slice them and pouring Water on them boil them a little throw away
a Nobleman sick of this Fever He complained of a pain in his Side and of other symptoms of which the rest did that were taken with the same Disease I Bled him no more than once I applied a Blistering Plaster to his Neck I gave him Clysters every day sometimes order'd him cooling Ptisans and Emulsions sometimes Milk and Water sometimes small Beer I advis'd him to rise out of his Bed and sit up every day for some hours by which method he was recovered in a few days and after Purging was quite well Syden obs circa morb acut p. 362. See the sixth Book of a Pleuritical Fever VII 'T is a doubt whether the Blood flowing from the Womb either in Childbed or out of it hinder Venesection when a Pleurisy happens Before the solution of the doubt I suppose that Bleeding is used upon a twofold account in all Inflammations first to revel the violence of the flowing Blood secondly for derivation that is that by one and the same track we may both evacuate and revel If a Woman thereâ—ore be taken with a Pleurisy whilst her Womb flows we must consider whether the original of the Fluxion be from the Womb it self or the Humours flow thither from some other place Moreover we must have regard to the manner of the Fluxion for it is either large and sudden or slow A sudden Evacuation made out of the Womb answering in proportion to the Fluxion upon the Membrane that invests the Ribs indicates that the business is to be committed to Nature and nothing to be innovated But we ought to help a slow Fluxion that by two Evacuations the one Natural the other Artificial we may obtain our desires For if we shall hesiâ—ate in a great and precipitant Dissease we run great dangers In this case we shall let Blood in the Ham or Ankle or we may scarify the Thighs or Legs if we know there is but little Blood remaining and the Woman look white have soft Flesh and slender Veins But whether one or other kind of Remedy be to be used the nature of the Matter will teach especially the greatness of the Disease and the Constitution of the Patient c. But if the original of the Fluxion shall not be in the Womb the Case will not be so easie I use to clear it by distinguishing thus The Womb at that time does either make plentiful and sudden Expurgations or such as are lingring and slow If the first we shall not let Blood but be content with the spontaneous Evacuation for seeing the Womb has great Veins and Arteries which communicate with the whole Body and a very great consent with the Breast we may hope that there will be made a good Revulsion hereby in what part soever the original of the Fluxion be But the case is not the same when from custom or from any other Preternatural Cause the Womb evacuates Blood very slowly For seeing we need some speedy Remedy that the violence of the Fluxion may be restrained whereas this is very sluggish and slow so that we ought by no means to commit the task to it we ought therefore in such case to Bleed What Vein therefore you will say shall we open Truly I would open some one of the upper 1. because the lower are too far distant from the original of the Fluxion nor can they remove the Fluxion but in a long time which will not do our business 2. seeing we ought to attend that which is more urgent and seeing the Pleurisy is more yea most urgent therefore we must endeavour with might and main that the Phlegmon may not be increased which may be done by opening a Vein in the Arm which we judge to be convenient for Revulsion And though there follow that inconvenience hereby as that the Terms come to be stopt which they may chance to be yet that inconvenience is but small and may be amended at some more fitting time even with ease But if we desire a derivation when there has preceded a Revulsion made either by Nature or Art or also when the Disease has not required it I declare this one thing that whether the Womb have flown or no or also whether it have been plentifully purged or not the inner Vein of that Arm which is nearest to the part affected is always then to be opened and Blood to be let till there appear change of colour for nothing ought to hinder us from relieving the Pleurisy presently which is a doubtful and dangerous Disease For if we must have respect to that which is more urgent there is no doubt but we ought to be far more concerned about the Pleurisy than about the Purgations of the Womb especially seeing these may be provoked afterwards Hor. Augen tom 1 l. 11. Epist 3. whereas the prejudice that arises from the omission of Bleeding can by no means be redrest VIII A lean and very Cholerick Woman salling into a Pleurisy desired earnestly to be let Blood but though a Vein was opened timely enough yet the Blood was drawn so strongly towards the Breast through the very violent pain thereof that hardly any would spurt out of the opened Vein But she being bid to endeavour to drive the Blood from the Breast again towards the Arm by strong coughing I observed it to spurt forth freely and the Woman was shortly eased of her pain Wherefore let any one in the same case fly to the same succour let him presently raise a Cough and by that means the Blood will be repelled to the Arm. Tulpius l. 2. c. 3. This invention I have seen to succeed happily with several since that time IX A true Pleurisy will not invade the Phlegmatick and such as are troubled with Acid Belchings yet there often happens a Pleurisy in these Countreys Holland from a watry and thin Phlegm but that is not true and exquisite For in these cold and Phlegmatick Bodies there often arise grievous pains of the Sides from Flatus which may be mitigated by fomentations if you bleed you will kill I once saw a very beautiful Woman who being subject to Flatus and having supt liberally fell into a bitter pain of her Side in the night and died presently upon opening a Vein Heurn com in aph 33. 6. X. It is observable that there sometimes arises a difficulty of breathing from an ill ordered Diet Idem in which case Physicians do ill to Bleed ¶ Their confidence seems pernicious to me who so long as the Patient complains of pain give not over bleeding without any regard to the suppuration which has not only made some progress but is often also perfected within the first seven days by which importune Bleedings repeated even ten times or oftner they cruelly weaken their Patients by exhausting their Vital Spirits with the Blood though their strength be altogether necessary for a perfect Expectoration of the Pus Car. Piso de colluv seros p. 3 4. which oft cannot
inflamed do often Vomit XVI A great Disease requires that a great deal of Blood should be evacuated for here it matters not so much what sort of Blood you draw as in what quantity I had a Patient that had a very great pain in both his Sides I took away above four pound of Blood at one time and he recovered with the help of God though he was given over by all as gone Avicen affirms there are twenty five pounds of Blood in the Body and that seventeen may be poured forth in one day without destruction Galen seems to have taken six pounds of Blood at once But that we may comprehend the limit of the quantity Heurn lib. 12. inst med we must observe the strength XVII Those who have a pain in their Side from thick and viscid Humours are not to be let Blood for sometimes thick and viscid Phlegmatick Humours issue into the Cavity of the Breast and into the Lungs themselves which by their multitude distending the investing Membrane cause pain and intercepting the passages of Respiration induce a difficultyof breathing so that to bleed these especially plentifully Dodon obs c. 22. in schol is to hasten their death XVIII The Matter is to be drawn outwards when other Evacuations proceed not well And therefore in this case I will take Aetius's Counsel to scarify the pained part and after Scarification to apply a Cupping-Glass and upon the removal thereof to lay on some Acrimonious Medicin whether it be the Sacrum Ceratum or any like it and the next day to set on a Cupping-Glass again so that the Matter may be brought forth by little and little both by the help of the Cerecloth and the Cupping-Glass The like may be done also in such a case by a Vesicatory If the Disease yield not to these then there is no hope Saxonia ¶ Paulus applies not a Cupping-Glass before the fourteenth day if the Malady continue so long but Trallian sometimes makes use hereof at tne beginning and that not without Scarification especially in such as seem not to have much Blood in their Veins He scarifies the place deep with a Lancet and sets a Cupping-Glass thereupon that that which lies deep may be drawn out Upon doing of this says he 't is wonderful to see that how great soever the pain have been even though the most violent it ceases presently so that it neither needs fomentation nor other Remedy ¶ The use of Cupping-Glasses says * Comm. in cap. 6. l. 4. Celsi Rubeus being opportunely applied especially to the Back may be very profitable in a Pleurisy because many twigs that spring from the branches of the Vena sine pari that tend to the Intercostal spaces belong to the External Muscles of the Back and from thence are extended out of the Thorax But lest Matter should be drawn from other where to those parts 't will be better to apply Cupping-Glasses to the Buttocks also at the same time Of the use of Cupping-Glasses see more in Joubertus in the Chapter of the Pleurisy ¶ A Boy of five years old was taken with a Pleurisy on his left Side with a very Acute Fever After the ordinary Remedies used for five days and four times Bleeding two Cupping-Glasses were applied to the pained Side with deep Scarifications From that which was next to the pained place there flow'd a great deal of Matter for a whole day and both the Pain and Cough ceased The Leaves of Beet were laid upon the Scarified places and the Flux of the Sanies continued for two days and in the end true Pus flow'd out of the Wounds and so the Patient was quite cured I believe the Scarifications reached to the place of the Pleurisy and that the Morbifick Matter flow d out by those places Riv. cent 3. obs 39. XIX Whether has The Chirurgical Operation called Paracentesis or Tappiâ—g place in the Cure of a Pleurisy I answer it has not place in the beginning but after suppuration yet not always For it may so be that part of the Matter may be evacuated by the hole that is made and a greater part retained Rolfinc cons 3 l. 5. and a Fistulous Ulcer be left which will prove mortal at length ¶ A Widow of sixty in a Pleurisy collected a great deal of Pus in her Thorax the load whereof that officious Nature might expel she shewed as with a Finger a place betwixt the Ribs that evidently protuberated which the Surgeon perforating the Patient outlived this seemingly dangerous Operation and cast out daily a stinking and sordid Pus through the Wound that was made Which Incision of a suppurated Side I have indeed oft seen performed sometimes truly with good success but oftener with bad either because it hinders the motion of the Lungs or because it commonly continues so long that the strength either of the whole Body or of the Breast alone cannot bear up under it for the cold and indigested Air does so weaken the Viscera contained in the Breast N. Tulp lib. 3. obs 4. that those seldom escape death who have the Pus drawn out this way ¶ I saw a successful Operation in the year 1660. in a Pleuritical Woman thirty five years old who keeping no pipe in the hole it closed up in a few days having first discharged a great deal of Pus the remainder whereof Nature expelled by Urine The occasion of this Operation was a Tumour jetting outwards and the weight of the Side affected and an absence of Expectoration XX. Jac. Fontanus Pract. l. 2. c. 4. mentions a Malignant Pleurisy which a thin greenish Humour causes whether collected in the Side or flowing down thither as was discovered by the dead Bodies opened wherein was found an Imposthume full of a liquid greenish Liquor for which the only and singular Remedy is Section because there is no hopes of Maturation But seeing he declares not the manner of Section I think it more adviseable to do it with a red hot Knife because that way is not Bloody and 't is more accommodate for Concoction which is so greatly to be desired Add hereto what an Anonymous French Author hath writ in a Book de Cucurb In a Pleurisy says he the Side is sometimes pierced for if the Patient can neither be cured by Fomentation nor Bleeding nor other Remedies and the case be otherwise desperate Incision is made in the Side after the seventh day according to Archigenes and Aâ—tius after the fourteenth according to Paulus a Cupping-Glass is set upon it the Wound is hindred from closing up by putting a Tent in it wet in Oil the next day the Cupping-Glass is applied again on the first day Blood on the second Sanies will flow out with great relief But this is hardly attempted in our times because it is a kind of cruel Remedy though it may seem more Human than to leave the deplorable Patient to certain death XXI If the Physician guess from
Funnel whose straiter end was to reach to the Genital parts At the same moment of time she also received the same smâ—ak in at her Nose and Mouth from another Pot which having penetrated the Woman presently cries out I must needs go to Stool which she had hardly spoken but there was heard such a hâ—zzing as when Gun-Poud r contained in some narrow Case or Squib is set on â—irâ—â— which Wind having thus burst forth forthwith in the vâ—ry moment the Woman was freed from her pain Being thus informed by Experience I have sometimes since then in the like case found the same Remedy profitable and beneficial Sâ—â—ander 〈◊〉 â— cons 1â— sect 29. VI. My dear Wife Johanna Spanhemia being always cruelly griped after her delivery which Gripes no art could allay although all things which use to be propounded were tried at length in the month of May 1675. being happily brought to Bâ—d of a Boy and but just laid down in her Bed being very thirsty after the pains of her Travail she extorâ—ed from her Nurse a draught oâ— very â—old Pâ—â—sâ—n whâ—n her Gripes were just a coming which were wholly repressed by this Remedy without any prejudice I had lately the opportunity to try the same with good success in a Cholerick Woman the Wife of a Clock-maker whose name was Morellus her Purgations flowing very well afterward Whether was the Orgasm of the Blood by this means appeased which was making an hasty exit and distending the Vesselâ— being turgent in them or irrâ—tating them by its acrimony Such a Drink may be very profitable in the Cholerick by tempering the heat of the Blood VII Those do amiss who give Child-bed Women potch'd Eggs betimes in the morning and before Meals for seeing Hippocrates 1. de morb mul. sect 2. vers 156. approves of them when the Purgations flow immoderately it is an evident argument that they have a vertue to stop them so that by their use the Purgations may be stopt when they flow as they should do than which nothing can be imagined more hurtful Martianus VIII Old and racy Wine is not safe for Child-bed Women at the beginning because the Pains of Travail are follow'd by a great Perturbation of the Humours in the Body which might be carried up into the Head by the drinking of Wine 'T is also suspected lest some harm might accrew from it to the parts which belong to the Womb or are adjoining from whence an inward Inflammation might arise Idem IX From the weakness of the Muscles of the Abdomen which contribute much to the expulsion of the Excrements Childbed Women are very subject to be Costive and not only from their continual keeping their Bed as is vulgarly supposed For from the preceding Travail the Muscles of the Abdomen are as yet weak In which case Looseners are given in vain from the too great use whereof the Coats of the Stomach become too slippery whence concoction is injur'd Something oâ— Turpentine or Aloes or Rhubarb are more convenient for these Hoefer Herc. med l. 3. c. 5. which both stimulate the Belly and have a friendly stypticity X. Cautious Women that attend upon Women in Travail will not permit them to sleep presently after they are deliver'd lest whilst they sleep too much Blood should flow out without notice Idem l. 7. c. 5. XI Those Physicians are deceived that following the Opinion of some Women think that Womens After-pains are therefore profitable because the flowing of the Lochia is promoted thereby the contrary whereto often happens seeing sometimes they do not flow though these pains be never so violent Add hereto that many Women have no such pains and yet nevertheless their Lochia flow and that indeed far better than when those pains are urgent Those are likewise deceived that follow Women in an Opinion that these pains do seldom or never follow upon a Womans delivery of her first Child but only upon the second and that they become greater and greater every time a Woman lies in For daily Experience shews the falsity hereof at least in these Countreys where yet many are possest with this opinion which is not only erroneouâ— but also hurtful especially the former because by this means the Cure of these pains is neglected and hindred by many esteeming them to be profitable though the neglect of them have so often been the cause of death to many Childbed Women Sylv. prax l. 3. c 9. sect 2 4. XII Wherefore it is of concern to know the true cause of the said Pains Seeing they follow upon the delivery the most frequent cause thereof is deservedly to be derived from those things which use to happen to Child-bearing Women in he time of their Travail Now there are two things which are the most observable the exclusion of the Foetus and the separating of the Secundines from the Womb and their exit out of it In the exclusion of the Foetus that is in the very delivery 't is sufficiently known that pains are caused but such as grow less afterwards and vanish by little and little But the After-pains we are speaking of are quite of another nature beginning a ter the delivery is over As to the separation of the Secundines from the Womb as also their exit out of it Women are sometimes wont to be pained anew thereby because they are often knit pretty straitly and firmly to the Womb and grow so to it that they can hardly or not at all be separated therefrom without the tearing either of themselves or of the Womb. Now none is ignorant how acute pains are felt in excoriated and torn parts especially as oft as any Liquor and chiefly that which is acrimonious and biting approaches them Whence it is no wonder if after the strait connexion of the Secundines with the Womb and the violent pulling off of the same and so Excoriation of the Womb and the afflux and efflux of the Lochia great pains be caused there But it is to be noted that those pains chiefly afflict Women both that are delicate and of an exquisite sense and have their Secundines also straitly knit to the Womb not to be separated therefrom without violence We must observe moreover if the Cure of these pains be neglected that every time a Woman is brought to Bed they are sorer and sorer which perhaps has given rise to that Erroneous Opinion concerning these Pains which was mention'd above Lastly we must observe that Women with Child do either hasten or are hastened too much to their delivery so that before the Foetus is come to its full maturity and the Secundines prepared for an easie separation from the Womb the Birth is precipitated whence both the Foetus is expelled with difficulty and the Secundines separate from the Womb and pass out of it with the like difficulty Add hereto that in these Countreys many Women with Child do too much indulge themselves in the use of Aliments that
are taken by the Mouth as Heurnius advises Th. Barth cent 5. obs 39. l. 1. Meth. and Actius bids us abstain from them if the Patient be weak ¶ My Wife from an outward violence miscarried of an Embryo of six weeks an Inch long that had all its Members shaped so as that its Genitals and the Roots of the Hairs of the Head might be discerned the Secundine staying behind The mouth of the Womb being shut did not admit the Midwifes Hand Amongst other Remedies I blew up into her Nose the Pouder of the Flowers of the Lilies of the Valley when she was about to sneeze I presently held her Nose and shut her Mouth and her Breath bursting forth violently the Secundines were expelled and so my Wife was deliver'd from imminent danger of her Life II. Those offend who endeavour to bring down the Secundines by rude and strong Frictions with their Hand They only by this means excoriate the Skin and so increase the Pains and Torments whence there follow afterwards Watchings Fevers and other evils Let it suffice to lay the Hand only strongly upon the Belly especially when the Woman feels pains about the Pecten or bottom of the Belly as Rod. à Castro advises and stroak your Hands gently from the sides towards the middle of her Belly as it were with a trembling Friction Idem as Borgesia admonishes c. 14. obst Gal. III. N. Myrepsus causes Vomiting with Soap a raw Egg and warm Water Borgesia obst c. 14. causes Vomiting by putting the Finger down the Throat As for my self I suspect whether Vomiting be good because it hinders the endeavour or straining of the Childbed Woman and pulls the Womb with the Stomach upward Unless we think with Gordonius p. 7. c. 17. that the expulsive Faculties of the lower parts is excited thereby which being stirred up expels hurtful things I add that the Secundines are stirred thereby and are then more easily expelled out of the Womb. Idem IV. 'T is doubtful whether or no we should stay a good while before we cut the Navel-string in two For on the one side there is fear of a violent retention of the Secundines from an unseasonable cutting of the Navel-string and on the other if it be too long deferred the Foetus will be in danger or will become sickly I say If the Woman be nothing benefited by the Remedies taken within twenty four hours space the Navel-string ought to be cut and we must tie that part of it that still is joined to the Secundines to the Womans Thigh very strongly lest it retire to within the Cavity of the Womb. I deny not but an hasty cutting in two of the Navel-string is sometimes necessary namely when the Umbilical Vessels are filled with a clammy Mucus or Phlegm Zacut. Pr. hist l. 3. c. 19. because these indicate the Foetus to be sickly ¶ Rod. à Castro l. 4. c. 7. defers not the cutting of the Navel-string above six hours No necessity compels us to stay so long because the Midwife taking hold of the Navel-string after it is cut may better draw away the Secundines with her Hand than the weight of the Child could do while the string was whole For when the Navel-string is cut in two both the Midwife may more conveniently search for the Secundines and the Foetus it self is kept more safely and defended from External Injuries Barthol ubi supra V. In all extraction lest some errour be committed and we fail of our desire these necessary Cautions are to be noted 1. We must take care not to pull directly lest we bring forth the Womb also but the Secundine is to be drawn this way and that way obliquely and more and more strongly by degrees 2. We must act with a gentle Hand not with violence or on the sudden for fear of Inflammation lest the Soul and the Secundine be drawn out together Let that Child-bed Woman affright us whom Forestus speaks of l. 28. obs 80. who when the too bold Midwife did hastily pull out the Secundine the Woman falling into a swoon died presently 3. See that the month of the Bladder and the Membranes of the Womb be not hurt with your Nails Idem VI. Sometimes Nature uses to help who when the After-birth is left behind expels it either presently whole or afterwards when it is consumed with putrefaction On the third day it was evacuated by a Woman of Larissa on the same hour of the night in which the Child had been born 5. Epid. hist 13. A certain Woman as Riverius relates cent 2. obs 3. after ten weeks expelled by piecemeal the Secundine now parched It is Hippocrates's opinion 1. de morb mul. that the Secundines do for the most part putrefy yet pass out on the sixth or seventh day or also later This Opinion is abetted by Actius tetr 4. s 4. c. 24. Aegineta l. 6. c. 75. If the Secundine cannot be brought forth we ought not to be disturbed for after a few days it will come out putrefied and dissolved into Sanies Zecchius gives the same Counsel consult 68. But sometimes that hope is deceitful and 't is an uncertain Remedy to commit the business to Nature when it comes not out presently after the Foetus Delay is dangerous nor can we promise to our selves that every ones strength will hold out or assure our selves of the certainty of the desired success Mercatus l. 4. c. 4. Rondelotius c. 65. advise it to be done warily and to inâ—ect betwixt whiles such things as deterge L. à Fonte consult 118. alledges daily Experience that the retention of the Secundines does daily produce the most grievous symptoms in Childbed Women so that the greatest part of them die on the fourth day Therefore it is dangerous to expect Suppuration seeing 't is doubtful what Nature will be abâ—e to do and the symptoms are uncertain By what happens when but a piece of the Secundine is left behind we may make a bad prognostick of what will come to pass when none of it is brought forth for Nature does not overcome even a piece without difficulty There is oft no suppuration but death ensues upon the retention Idem ibid. ¶ Great Caution is to be observed in the use of Suppuraters for the Secundine putrefying causes very grievous symptoms Fevers and those Malignant whereupon death ensues and 't is better to promote the Excretion thereof by all the means we can than to expect Suppuration for even therefore is the staying of the Secundine dangerous because it putrefies and suppurates Salius relates that he saw a Secundine expelled putrefied and yet the Woman was no better which was a sign that there was a Putrefaction grown that ceased not when the Secundine was expelled But if there be no grievous symptom and the Woman be weak Primiros de morb mul. l. 4. c. 9. we must expect Suppuration even whether we will or no but we ought never to promote
Chesnuts Apples Rice boyled in Milk Pine nuts c. make the Spirits thick Rondeletius p. 1002. V. A certain Nobleman came to me to request a Remedy for his Impotency He was able to lye with elderly Women but was insufficient to get a Maiden-head because at the very first touch he lost his Seed but it was weak and watry like whey He was of a good habit of Body and Fleshy I said because I could not in so healthy a body see any other cause of his Impotency that I thought he had an Ulcer in the Intestinum rectum and that from thence the Parastatae and the other Vessels necessary for the preparation and ejaculation of Seed being continually blasted with a putrid vapor were not sufficient to breed so much Seed as was sufficient for a long tension of the Member and a florid coition While they wondered that I should mention such a cause I told them I had formerly seen the same case in Italy and that I remembred I had read of the like in Hist Mirah Marcel Donati I immediately ordered a Suppository only of Honey and it came out besmeared with much Pus Then I ordered some brine to be injected by a Syringe which he said after several injections that is when the Ulcer was cleansed made him smart much I judged when the Ulcer was healed H. ab Heer 's Spadac Obs 10. that he would be well But he neglected the Cure and died VI. I have learned from Soldiers that while they were led through Rivers so as that water came up to their genitals Ph. Salmuth that they were thereby made more Effeminate VII They are not to be harkened to who after over much Venus forbid bleeding Of which opinion I was formerly whilest I follow'd my Masters rules to a tittle from which I immediately declined when I begun to act my reason with Judgment and to the great benefit of several who either immediately or the next day after coition have fallen into grievous Feavers and tedious pain in the Kidneys From whom truly I did not take much less blood then if Coition had not preceeded taking my Indication rather from the nature of the Disease and its greatness and from the fulness of the Veins than from a false opinion of superfluous evacuation Because the languidness of strength which follows coition is not caused so much by evacuation of the sanguineous matter although Seed be bred of Blood as from the wasting the strength of the Body by the toil and heat which necessarily attend Coition But admit that not only the vital Spirits but also the animal and natural be spent sooner and in greater plenty by superfluous Venus than by any other laborious exercise of the Body Whether therefore is there so great an evacuation made of the matter that is in the venous kind that if Inflammations arise in the Kidneys which are often caused by too much Coition blood should not be let when the said Inflammations are raised by afflux of hotter Blood into the said parts and the Loins that are heated with too much motion Certainly no yea it ought to be taken away immediately while it is fluid lest being by long staying fixt to the part it cause an abscess Nor must we spare Bleeding if a Feaver take one without pain of the Loins if the greatness of the Disease require it since they that are given to Venus for the most part fair high Botallus to enable themselves Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians Against Salacity 1 Glow-worms which shine in the Night if they be eaten take away Venus wholly ¶ It is a peculiar Remedy if 3 drachms or half an ounce of Coriander be taken with a little water and Sugar 2. Omitting purging this Decoction is very much commended Take of white water Lilly 1 ounce and an half Purslain Lettuce Mint each 1 handful Rue 3 drachms seed of Agnus castus 1 drachm and an half flowers of white water Lilly 1 pugil boyl them in water P. Forestus To one pound of the Colature add of Syrup of Poppy of water Lilly each half an ounce mix them 3. Destilled Oyl of Rue is excellent taken inwardly and applied outwardly Hartmannus in a few drops 4. The use of Salt Nitre in the water of water-Lilly morning and evening is admirably good Hofmannus in too great Salacity 5. This is an excellent Remedy Take Oyl of Roses 1 drachm and an half Chamomil half an ounce juice of Nightshade or Housleek or Purslain half an ounce Argenti spuâ—a and Ceruss each 2 drachms a little Wax and Vinegar Mix them N. Piso make an Unguent 6. The immersion of the virile Member in cold water makes it immediately fall Fel. Platerus Against Impotency 1. Take the Patient's Urine as much as you please boyl it in a pot covered Joh. Agricola and if any one have bewitched him he that did it will be in great anxiety will discover himself and take off the Inchantment 2. If a live Mullet be suffocated in Wine and a Man drink of it J. Caes Baricellus Athenaeus holds he will be unable to use Venery 3. Take of Mel Anacardinum fresh Butter each half an ounce Boyl them together till they grow thick stirring them well The dose is the quantity of a Pease as you go to bed It excites Venus wonderfully 4. If the right great Toe be anointed with Oyl in which Cantharides have been dissolved P. Bayrus it will cause an admirable erection 5. Orchis Root whose Root is cover'd with a red skin but is white within Crollius does powerfully excite Venus especially given in Wine 6. The continual use of Essence of Amber is of admirable efficacy in curing Impotency to Venus Pet. Joh. Faber For there is nothing more effectual for restoring the innate Spirits 7. Extractum Diasatyrionis is most excellent in this case Rod. à Fonseca yea and the Extract of the Roots of Satyrion it self if a Pill of it be given is excellent to excite coition 8. Partridges dung dissolved in its Gall Grulingius and anointed on the Glans does wonderfully encrease Venus 9. The sperm of a Stag killed in Coition is a great arcanum to provoke Venus Hofmannus 10. Take of Oyl or Essence of Saffron 8 or 10 drops a little Aurum fulminans well edulcorated let it be given in Malmsey Wine when the party goes to bed It strengthens Venus to admiration Cunrad Kunrath ¶ Essence or Tincture of Salt impregnated with Sol is an excellent strengthener in Impotency 11. Nettle seed boyled in Butter and given for 3 dayes powerfully helps in Coition Joh. Marquardus 12. This is a most effectual Unguent Take of Oyl of Elder 1 drachm Pyrethrum Euphorbium each 1 drachm Musk 5 grains let the Palms of the Hands Hieron Mercurialis the Soles of the Feet and the Genital be anointed 13. Nothing is found more
effectual than the anointing the Region of the Womb with Oyl of flying Ants which is thus made Riverius Take of flying Ants two ounces infuse them in Oyl 40 dayes in the heat of the Sun 14. This is a Venereal Arcanum of great virtue Take of Civet 2 grains anoint the Glans therewith Guern Rolfinc It is a wonder with what strength it tickles and erects the Mans member and with what pleasure to the Woman that scent is received so that it is accounted by some as a secret 15. Hazle Nuts long steeped in Honey are very good for the distension of the Penis ¶ Also the tongue of a Goose in its whole substance stimulates Venus Rondeletius 16. This is an admirable Unguent for Coition Take Oyl of Frogs Oyl of Caepae caninae Oyl of winged Ants Oleum sesaminum each 1 drachm Pyrethrum Staves-acre Nettle-seed each 1 drachm and an half let them be powdered and boyled in the foresaid Oyls add of Wax what is sufficient Make an Oyntment Wherewith the Stones Reins perinaeum and pecten must be anointed ¶ If you would render a Woman very delectable and so as to love you much in Coition take of Euphorbium Pyrethrum Cubebs and Pepper each a like quantity powder them and incorporate them when you would lye with a Woman anoint the Yard and do the work Salivatio Morbosa or a morbid Salivation The Contents Its Causes and Cure I. When it is spontaneous sometimes not to be stopt II. I. WE at this time can speak far more clearly and distinctly then they of old concerning Salivation since not only the Passages and Vessels that carry the spittle into the Mouth are known to Anatomists not long ago but also the parts in which the same is prepared or separated from the blood to wit the Glands and not indeed the conglobated ones to and from which Lymphatick Vessels are carried but conglomerated ones which are endued with certain ways and ducts thorough which they pour their liquors that are useful for the Body into some determinate cavity As therefore in the natural and healthy state of Man only spittle is carried from the conglomerated maxillary Glands into the mouth so oftentimes in his preternatural and morbid state either a pituitous and viscid Sylvius de le Boe. App. ad prax tract 3. § 306. or a serous and thin humour is carried along with the Spittle Especially in these Countries salivation comes frequently of it self not only to Infants when they are breeding their Teeth but to many Scorbutick and Melancholick Persons who turn great spitters And I have often seen the same happen in a Thrush ¶ The Humours that are most frequently evacuated of their own accord by Salivation are for the most part pituitous as well the thin as the glutinous Sometimes also they are acid and salt for such are easily and intimately mixed with Phlegm and all these have some affinity with Spittle But as it happens to many Melancholick Persons that they void abundance of thin Spittle and therefore they are called Spitters So a great many old Men who are full of Phlegm and that glutinous enough do in like manner void abundance of Spittle but thicker and insipid whereby indeed they suffer some trouble but no great harm But there are not wanting some from whom not only gentle and almost insipid but sharp yea extream sharp humors sometimes more fluid sometimes more tough run out at their mouth which not only corrode and corrupt linnen and woollen Cloathes but any Leather and every Night for a long time and for many years most miserably afflict the Patients till their death and at last are the cause thereof I have seen several such and when to my grief I never see any of them Cured either by my self or others although now and then I have given some ease bâ—t never performed a Cure and most of them do find sharp Vapours arise from the lower parts which most miserably rack the Head about the Temples these cruel rackings are usually attended with the Flux of a most sharp humour out of the Mouth whereby the Gumbs and other Parts about the Mouth are corroded rather then consumed And such Persons are seldom eased by Purges but find more benefit from Anodynes and Narcoticks Idem Meth. Med. l. 2. c. 13. and other things which temper and concentrate sharp humors II. And as all the sorts of Spontaneous Salivation are Symptomatick so I have frequently observed in these Countries Spontaneous Salivations but critical ones and such as happily rid the Patients of chronical Diseases And no wonder for as all chronical Diseases have their rise from a tenacious thick glutinous and viscous Phlegm or at least have it joyned with their primary cause and the rise of this same Humour is mostly owing to Spittle so the evacuation of it with the Spittle seems more easie seeing when it is joyned with the mass of Blood it is again separated from it of its own accord Idem Ibid. that it may be voided with the Spittle Scabies or the Itch. See Book 8. Habitus vitia The Contents The way of its Original is not one and the same I. Whether bleeding be proper II. Purging is necessary and the Indications for Cure III. It must not be killed when the Blood is impure IV. The Blood must first be purified V. If there be obstructions they must be removed VI. A contumacious one gives way to Sudorificks VII Yet they are not proper for all VIII Cured by Cupping-Glasses IX By an Issue in the right Arm. X. Whether a Quick-silver Girdle be dangerous XI A pertinacious one gave way to a Mercurial Purge XII Cured by the use of powder of Vipers XIII The Cure of a volatick Itch. XIV I. AS to what concerns pustulous Eruptions as the Glandulous humour may be depraved several wayes so especially these three and therefore usually falls into a coagulative disposition with the Serum that is newly poured out of the Blood First of all the Blood it self being very impure and also dissolved leaves its corruption and recrements plentifully in the cutaneous Glands which there assuming the nature of a more corruptive ferment do ferment and variously coagulate with other juices that either come thither or pass that way and so produce not only Itches but several sorts of Leprosies Therefore often and constant eating of salt Fish or Flesh and dried in the Smoak or the Sun also incongruous Drinks and Poysons do commonly cause cutaneous eruptions and those often times horrible ones Secondly the humour gathered in the cutaneous Glands sometimes by mere stagnation becomes not only Itchy but oftentimes Corruptive wherefore not only they that have been long kept in Prison but also they that have lived a Sedentary Life and are used to filth and stink live obnoxious to these Diseases inasmuch as the Cutaneous Liquor being not at all eventilated is corrupted by mere stagnation and so obtains the nature of a
in extream Consumptive Persons nor are they alwayes that are troubled with this ail Consumptive Wherefore we must rather say that the immediate cause of this Symptome is the dryness of the Bones or want of the Marrow properly so called which ought to be contained within the Cavity of the Bones and especially in the heads of them for seeing all bones owze out Marrow or some unctuous matter every where either at their great Cavities or Pores and narrow passages we reckon the use of this to be as well that the Bones being irrigated thereby may become less brittle as more over that this Humour owzing out at the Nodes of the Bones may supple all the Joynts and so facilitate their motion as the joynts of Machins are greased with fat wherefore the heads of the Bones being destitute of this Marrow make a noise like Coach Wheels when they are seldom greased But if you will inquire into the Procatarctick cause of this Disease why this unctuous obliniment of the Joynts is deficient This indeed must be imputed either to some fault in the Blood as if it did not duly supply the Bones with aliment partaking of Sulphur as well as Salt which indeed is not very likely because the mass of Blood even in Scorbutick Persons contains particles of both the foresaid kinds and besides they that have this rattling of their Bones do shew a Skin and Muscles full enough of fat Or secondly it rather seems that the unctuous Humour wherewith the Joynts are suppled is wanting through the fault of the Bones themselves because to wit their Pores and Passages are so obstructed by some extraneous matter perhaps dreggy or tartareous carried by the Blood that they do not sufficiently receive the Balsame designed them nor does it ouze out to moisten their Joynts Nor will it be easie because the matter is wholly in the dark to inquire the particular reasons of this Ail nor to proceed in this Aitiology beyond such a conjecture as this Nor are we less at a stand when we come to the cure of this Disease for although the primary Indication that is the moistning of the Bones and Joynts be obvious enough yet in what manner and with what Remedies it may be done it does not so plainly appear For in this Case I have known several Sorts of Medicines and various modes of administration tried altogether to no purpose A certain ingenious Person who had been most grievously troubled with this Disease for many years tried the advice of many and indeed Famous Physicians beside the usual Remedies for the Scurvy together with frequent Bleedings and Purgings whereby he found no relief he moreover tried various and great courses of Physick without any success at all for after he had tried one Physicians method for some Months to no purpose he by and by betook himself to another and so afterwards to several In the mean time a new method was alwayes prescribed by each not tried by the former Fomentations Liniments and Frictions are daily applied to all his Joynts One while he goes to Bath then he drinks the Waters sometimes one sometimes another Which doing no good he takes a Chalybeate course then a Decoction of the more temperate Woods then a Milk diet further he was alwayes taking Electuaries distilled Waters Apozemes and other Remedies made of Antiscorbuticks And when he had in this manner for above 3 years constantly almost lived Medically and miserably he was not a jot the better as to the Cure of his foresaid Ail but in the mean time he was pretty strong and had a good Stomach he Married a Wife and as to the other more common Symptomes of the Scurvy he was better Hence you may see how pertinacious a Disease the rattling of the Bones is and that it scarce gives way to any Remedies which I have experienced in others who have been ill of this Disease and have wholly eluded all the pains of the Physician Idem XIV We have already largely explained both the preservatory and curatory Indications which concern the Cure of the Scurvy It yet remains to speak of the Vital Indication that is to declare in what method and with what Remedies the Patients strength when apt to sink may be supported or when decayed or spent may be restored For these ends Cordials and Opiates must be prescribed to be taken according to the Patients exigences and moreover a restorative course of Diet if at any time it be necessary and ever Antiscorbuticks must be prescribed As to Cordial Medicines which put the Blood stagnating in the Heart in motion kindle its flame half put out and restore animal Spirits oppressed or distracted to their due liberty and irradiation it is obvious that several Medicines properly called Antiscorbuticks do perform these intentions such are namely Aqua raphani composita Snail water and lumbricorum Magistralis Spirit of Harts-horn Soot testaceous powders and many other things which may be taken not only at certain hours and according to the method and order prescribed but as there shall be occasion whenever swooning and fainting happen and with good success Yet besides they that are observed to be very subject to passions of the Heart frequent swoonings loathing vomiting trembling Vertigo and other horrible Symptomes should also have ready other manner of Medicines which are more properly called Cordials whereby all sinking of the Spirits may immediately be relieved To this purpose these things are very proper Elixir vitae Qu. majus the second water in destilling of the said Elixir a spoonful of it may be given sweetned also Aqua Mirabilis Aqua Bezoartica Aqua Gilberti temperata Treacle water Cinnamon water to each of which or compounded one with another Confectio Alkermes Confectio de Hyacintho powder of Pearl or magistery of Coral Syrup of Clove gilly-flowers or of Coral or of Citron rind or of Cinnamon may be added Of these and other such sort of Medicines divers forms may be prescribed for example Take of Treacle water Mirabilis each 3 ounces Balm 4 ounces Syrup of Clove-gilly-flowers 1 ounce and an half Confectio Alkermes 1 drachm Mix them The Dose 3 or 4 spoonfuls Or Take of Aqua mirabilis 6 ounces Snail and Walnut water each 2 ounces powder of Pearl 1 scruple Confectio de Hyacintho 1 drachm Syrup of Clove-gilly-flowers 1 ounce Mix them When Scorbutick Women are troubled with Hysterick Fits and Men with Convulsions Take of Water of Balm Pennyroyal each 3 ounces Compound water of Briony 4 ounces Tincture of Castor half an ounce Tincture of Saffron 1 drachm Syrup of Glove-gilly-flowers 1 drachm and an half of Castor tied in a rag and hung in the Glass 1 drachm The Dose 3 or 4 spoonfuls For them that desire their Cordials rather in a solid form Electuaries or Lozenges may be prescribed Take of Flos tunicae 3 ounces Confectio Alkermes half an ounce powder of Pearl 1 drachm With a sufficient quantity of Syrup of
Hippocrates Spirit of Sulphur and the like ease Thirst in Fevers It quenches Thirst to shut ones Mouth hold ones Tongue and to take the cool Air and Drink ¶ For the same Cure will not serve all sorts Vallesius 6. Epid. 3. For that which is caused by the heat of the Lungs and Breast the inspiration of cold Air is fitter than Drink and that rather very cold than much of it ¶ If Thirst come through the fault of the Reins as it does in a Diabetes I think you cannot use a better Remedy in this Case than one that causes rest or stupifies or at least lessens Sense So for such this is good to take every other Night an ounce and an half of Syrup of Poppy with Barly water or a decoction of Mallows To which purpose it is good also to lick some of the same in the day-time Syrup of Purslain is also good and de mucilaginibus Mercatus and whatever takes off the sharpness of Sense ¶ Although Hippocrates aphor 24. sect 5. seems to forbid Milk to the Thirsty yet it must be understood of them only who are excessive Thirsty through too much Heat and a mass of putrid and cholerick Humors in whom Milk is easily corrupted and not of them who are Thirsty through Heat and Consumption Varandaeus tract de ventriculi Mâ—rbis p. 102. for in the same Aphorism he allows Milk to Hectick Persons though in a Feaver Galen l. 7. Meth. prescribes the use of Milk and the warm Bath to hecticks II. They are in an Error who when they see sick People almost killed with Thirst give them things candied with Sugar and Conserves as of the Sowr part of Citron c. which although perhaps without Sugar they might quench Thirst yet with it they will never quench Thirst Children know that Sugar increases Thirst It is better to take nothing at all Sanctorius Meth. l. 13. c. 2. because if the Tongue were not fouled with these sweet Things it would not for some hours be so Thirsty Therefore I wonder that Physicians though they see it daily do not abstain from it III. Nitre and Sal prunellae have a Virtue to quench Thirst and Heat Hartman in his Praxis mixes 1 ounce of it prepared with a pint of Liquor or Water for a drink for Feaverish Persons I scarce go above 5 scruples for it weakens the Stomach a little and therefore sometimes causes a Loosness Schroderus l. 3. cap. 23. but it may be given from half a drachm to an whole one without harm especially with Sugar whereby its bitterness is mitigated Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Linseed Alex. Benedictus and Quince seed tied up in a rag like a little Ball and steeped in Violet water if it be held in the Mouth wonderfully quenches Thirst 2. These Pills wonderfully quench Thirst Take of seeds of Melon Cucumbers candied Lettucestalk Diacodium in a solid Form and Sugar 2 drachms Sacch candi violat Trag. each 1 drachm With the White of an Egg make Pills Hold one under the Tongue and let it dissolve by little and little in the Mouth and then swallow it ¶ Pieces of Water-Melon held in the Mouth are highly approved to quench thirst in a Pestilential Feaver Some also as a Secret hold water with as much Vinegar as the Patient likes Aeustach Rudius in the Mouth and give them to drink 3. The heat of the Body and of the Praecordia must be quenched with Epithemes whereby I have oftner with success cured thirst than with internal things For by applying juice of Cichory Endive Purslain c. with Vinegar and Spec. diatriωn Santalωn to the region of the Liver Here. Saxonia and often repeating it I have done a great deal of good Sinus or a deep running Imposthume See Fistula Book VI. and Vlcus Book XVIII Somnus preter naturam or Praeternatural Sleep See Lethargus Book X. The Contents Not all that is extended beyond the usual time must be interupted I. Opening of the Jugular Veins is gaod in sleepy Diseases II. The Vertue of Cresses in awakening from sleep III. Drinking of Coffee is not good for all IV. Cured by an Hypnotick V. The method of Curing a Coma. VI. Cured by a Cautery behind in the Head VII Compounded Aqua Vitae must be given with great care VIII I. SOmetimes in great want of rest sleep is so long prolonged and so sound that it may seem a sleepy Disease and deceive the Physician both in length of time and deepness of the sleep as in those that are over tired or have over watched or over wrought themselves So I saw one who after he had lain sick 34 dayes and had not changed his Linnen all the time of his Disease when he had changed it and was laid in a soft and clean Bed slept 36 hours continually He was thought to be carotick Ludovicus l. 1. cap. 2. but he was not so for at length he awaked took meat and the next day was well II. To open the outer jugular by a Skilful Surgeon is good in sleepy Diseases and is proved from many Histories Some prefer 2 or 3 Leeches applied along that Vein to the angle of the lower Jaw Riolanus where it stands up and may be seen III. In deep Sleep it is good to eat Cresses either boyled in Broth or raw in Sallets for there is nothing dries the Brain more than Cresses whence came the Proverb to drowzy Persons go eat Cresses Where I cannot but wonder why Fernelius cap. 2. lib. 2. Pathol. writes that Cresses cause Sleep Rondeletius cap. 19. IV. Drinking of Coffee seeing it is very effectual in keeping off drowziness something must be said here of its effects and the reason of its working From the Eastern People to whom it has been long ago familiar it is become customary among us I think the nature of it consists in this that it presently communicates its adust particles with which it abounds according to both its tast and scent to the Blood and then to the Nervous juice which therefore by their incongruity and mobility or restlessness do both keep open the Pores of the outer part of the Brain and add certain goads and pricks to the Spirits which are deprived of any other chain or torpidness whereby they are the longer excited to perform their offices For to fall asleep these two things are necessarily required of which sometimes the one sometimes the other is the greater sharer in causing it Namely all the Pores and Passages of the out part of the Brain must be very much stuffed and filled from the Liquor which overflows there out of the Blood and therefore must be stopt Then besides to accomplish this effect it is necessary that the animal Spirits being excluded from these passages and moreover oftentimes loaden with nutritious and serous Particles must betake themselves to the middle of the Brain there to lye quiet
In the performance of these tasks necessary to Sleep the order is not alwayes one and the same for sometimes the Animal Spirits do first and of their own accord forsake these spaces the Nervous juice running immediately into the vacant places And sometimes the Nervous juice mixt plentifully with the Serum first invades these passages driving thence the Spirits though against their will and forcing them inwards But the operation of Coffee seems contrary to both these effects for immediately upon drinking of it its adust Particles that are very nimble and restless being carried into the Blood do put its Liquor a little in fusion and force the serous Liquor to the Kidneys and habit of the Body Moreover when they arrive at the Brain they easily open its Pores which by their mobility they keep very open whilest they joyning with the Spirits despoyl them of all their other Particles as well Sleepy as Nutritious and so being light and fleet do put them every where into motion and cause them to be expanded through the whole compass of the Brain when it is free from all gravative oppletion and obstruction Yet in the mean time while the Spirits are in this manner constantly and unweariedly exercised the Nervous juices are deprived of access and assimilation their stores are not sufficiently and after their wonted manner recruited indeed the old Spirits are rendred more nimble and unwearied but the recruits of new ones are diminished Hence it may most easily appear that this drink though in common use and in some cases very useful and medical perhaps in others is hurtful and not so wholesome And that the matter is so not only reason but vulgar observation does commonly shew in as much as excessive Coffee-drinkers oftentimes grow lean and subject to the Palsie and impotency to Venus The first effect is so frequent and every where known that we only therefore forbid them the drinking of Coffee because it inclines to leanness Because when the Blood by continual and too frequent use becomes sharp and retorrid it is therefore less fit for to nourish As to the Diseases of the Brain and Nervous kind I reckon that when I am sometime called to cure them no man prescribes it to be drunk so frequently as I for it is my custome to send them more to the Coffee-Houses than to Apothecaries Shops Truly in most Cephalick Sicknesses that is Head-ache Vertigo Lethargy Catarrhe and the like where there is a moist Brain but a slowness and torpidness of the Animal Spirits with a cold constitution or not very hot and a watry Blood Coffee is often drunk with advantage for drunk every day it clarifies and illustrates both parts of the Soul and dispels all mists of the Functions whatever But on the contrary they that are lean and of a Cholerick Constitution or Melancholick who have a sharp and retorrid Blood a hot Brain and too eagre and restless animal Spirits ought altogether to abstain from that drink because it further perverts the Spirits and Humours and renders them altogether unapt and unable to undergo any Functions For I have observed many who have not had sufficient plenty of Spirits and besides troubled with the Vertigo palpitation of the Heart trembling of the Limbs or numbness have been worse as to those Diseases upon drinking of Coffee and have presently perceived an unusual languidness in their whole Body Willis V. A Maid about 20 years old was about the beginning of Autumn held with a double Tertian for 12 dayes and was cured of it by Remedies Her Fits returned again but some new Symptomes came in the Fit namely much Sleep redness of Face prominence of Eyes a pricking pain in the left side and a great difficulty in swallowing I suspected an hysterick affection was complicated with the Ague fit and I prescribed her hysterick Remedies notwithstanding which the Disease continued After a few dayes the Symptomes returned without the Ague which confirmed my opinion for the pain of her left side went to her right sometimes pricking pains appeared in divers parts of the Abdomen with a pain in the Stomach and loathing and sometimes a Fit of the Mother Before the Fit came she took by my advice 4 little Pills of Laudanum and a little after the Fit came but within 2 hours when the Laudanum began to work all things abated she was well the whole Night whereas the foregoing she had been tormented Riverius Cent. 2. Obs 20. Hence this Paradox may be gathered that a Sleepy Disease may be Cured by the use of Laudanum VI. In a Coma our chief endeavour must be to prevent the efflux of new morbifick matter into the Brain and to discuss and get out what is got thither already Moreover the animal Spirits must be awakened and all torpidness and sleepyness taken from them To this end we must Purge Bleed Cup Blister make application of revulsives and discutients give Cephalick Medicines and such especially as are indued with a volatil Salt and use several other wayes of Administration But if this Disease follow some other Sickness or come upon any Man whose Body is already much wasted his Blood vitiated or much depauperated we must first consider well of Bleeding and Purging before we do either nay for the most part we must abstain from them yet sometimes that the conjunct cause of the Disease or the matter fixt in the Brain may be put in Motion it may be convenient to take away a small quantity of Blood either by setting Leeches to the Fore Head or Temples or by Cupping and Scarifying the Shoulders Willis VII I saw a lusty young Priest taken with a Coma after a relapse into a Fever with a tremor in one side without sense for want of Strength in the Parts When he had taken a very sharp Clyster with 3 drachms of Coloquintida and 2 ounces of Honey of Roses and Salt in it without any effect Praevotius ordered him 7 Blisters which doing little good J. Rhodius Câ—nt 1. Obs 36. they proceeded to make a cautery in his Head behind upon which he amended VIII The strong scented stillatitious Liquor of Lavender rubbed on the Forehead and temples revives those that are taken with a small Catalepsis a Hemiplexia and now and then with the falling Sickness and oftentimes with Swooning But where there is plenty of Humours especially if they be mixt with the Blood the use of this is not safe nor of any composition drawn off Wine in which such Herbs Flowers or Seeds and certain Spices have been macerated which most People give indifferently For by the use of these hot things which fill the Head the Disease is increased and the Patient indangered especially when Bleeding and Purging go not before I thought fit to give this caution because commonly some unlearned Physicians and over bold Apothecaries do immediately give such Compositions and things of the like nature not only to Apoplectick Persons but also to those
that are Sleepy and in a Feaver than which nothing worse can be given Dodoneus pempt 2. l. 4. c. 7. for they do a great deal of harm and often kill the Patient Sterilitas or Barrenness The Contents The Cure of Barrenness in Women is performed especially by Fomentations and Purges I. What must be the Diet of them that are Barren through Salacity II. There ought not to be only one way of Cure III. For whom Stoves and Baths are good IV. Cured by eating of Polypi V. The reduction of the Mouth of the Womb when turned aside VI. Fumes and Steams are not good for the same Women VII The Cure of Barrenness from Fatness VIII Electuaries may be variously made up IX The efficacy of Sudorificks X. And of Bathes XI Conditions concerning Venus XII What the Virtue of Pessaries should be XIII Medicines I. MUch is written by Hippocrates libro de Sterilibus and in his Aphorisms of the causes of Barrenness and of its manifold Cure But Sect. 5. lib. 2. Epidem all the Cures of these causes are in a manner reduced to these 2 heads Fomentations and Purges The Barren saith he must Foment and Purge for 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which he there uses signifie a purging Medicine when it is used alone and nothing is added to it which may signifie some other sort of Medicine But by the name of Fomentation I would have understood whatever is applyed inwardly or outwardly by way of Cataplasm Irrigation Clysters Pessary or Fumigation as by the name of Purging I would have understood both Vomiting and Purging For every cause of Barrenness is either a fault of Composition or of Temperament or an Ulcer of the Womb or a Cacochymie of the whole Body Among the faults of the Composition of the Womb there is the smallness and grossness of the Womb the straitness and hardness of the mouth of the Womb so that it is not dilated sufficiently or a perversion of the Mouth of the Womb or the wideness of it so that it gapes and does not retain or straitness of the Vessels of the Womb so that for this reason the Menstruous evacuations do not come into it or the laxity of it so that they run too much out In fault of temperament there is too much heat which consumes the Seed or cold which does not concoct it or dryness which consumes the Seed and nourishment of the Fatus or moisture which hinders its retention which also Ulcers of the Womb do hinder Cacochymies when they are poured into the Womb corrupt the Seed when they are not poured they do not hinder Conception yet they make a bad juice for the Foetus and therefore either cause Abortion or a Diseased Foetus Vitiated Compositions if they be contracted from the first generation are usually incurable but if they are caused by other Diseases they may be Cured by curing of these Diseases Cacochymies require Purging All intemperatures of the Womb which are joyned with an Humour or with a Cacochymie of the whole Body and especially Ulcers require Purging and then Fomentations Affusions Insessions and Pessaries And all these things must for heat be cold for cold hot for moisture dry for dryness moist and for Ulcers such as the Cure of Ulcers requires Therefore it is evident that the whole Cure of barren Women consists in Fomentations and Purges Vallesius II. If a Woman Conceive not through Salacity which is caused by the acrimony and heat of Seed she must be fed with gross Diet such as thickens the Blood and the Seed It is good to eat Fruits as Pears Rondeletius Apples and Chesnuts which breed gross Humors and Vapors and retard that violence III. Many Women Conceive not because they have moist and foul Wombs so that they neither eagerly receive Seed nor are able to retain it which disposition indeed is contrary to that wherein they want the Menstrua that the Womb may be open for there is a two fold Cause why newly after the evacuation of the Menstrua Conception is easy in moist Women both because the Mouth of the Womb and the Veins and Arteries which end there having been opened remain so and because when the Womb has been newly evacuated it draws any Moisture more greedily This may easily be known by what comes out for mucous matter frequently comes from such Hippocrates lib. 2. Epid. sect 3. says this is cured by a dry course of Diet. Here by Diet must be understood the whole course of ones Life where in the whole Method of Cure is comprehended Because in this affection the Diet which consists in Meat and Drink is not sufficient The Cure must in this as in other Diseases be contrary to the Affection So that hence it is manifest that there is not only one way of curing barren Women as vulgar Physicians have perswaded themselves but that it is various and manifold according to the cause of Barrenness For it is proper only to moisten some and Heat others Vallesius and to cool and moisten others IV. Moist Women use Stoves and they that have a hard or cold Womb Bathes But they must use them a little before their Menses come Rondeletius V. Hippocrates lib. 2. Epid. sect 6. advises to give a Woman that she may conceive Polypi to eat roasted in the Flame very hot and almost half burnt and to beat Aegyptian Nitre and Coriander and Cummin together and to make Balls of them and apply them to the pudendum But this Cure is not proper for all Barren Women but only for such as are Cold and have but little Seed For the Polypus is a most salacious Animal and goes into a Consumption through too much coïtion and such things must needs increase Seed for they consist of such a juice and are apt to be turned into the same And what he here orders to be given is heating and therefore tentiginous Although I should leave out Cummin Vallesius because it wastes Flatulencies as does Rue VI. Among the faults of Composition it is evident from Hippocrates his Doctrine that the chief and most effectual Cause of Barrenness is the turning aside of the Mouth of the Womb the Causes and Cure whereof he shews lib. de sterilibus de Natura muliebr If the Womb turn on one side says he a Cough takes them the Pain ascends and the Womb lies like a Ball is sore when it is touched like an Vlcer And after many such things he orders to purge Women and to wash in warm Water and to use hot Things And a little after If the Womb be turned aside and the Mouth it self be awry c. When a Woman is so you must give her a Purge and wash with warm Water and foment her The whole therefore of the Cure in this Case consists in the reduction of the Womb to its former place which indeed cannot be done except either the Humors be purged by
sweetned with a little Sugar is a good Remedy against Swooning ¶ The Essence of Citron Pet. Joh. Faber Coral Pearl Balm and rectified Oyl of white Amber do the same 3. I use to apply the following Plaster with good success to the region of the Heart and the Wrists Take of the Crum of Wheat bread 1 ounce Cinnamon Cloves Mace each 2 drachms Confectio Alkernes 4 Scruples Guil. Fabricius with Rose water and a little Vinegar make a Paste which spread on a Cloth and apply it 4. Take leaf Gold grind it an whole day very diligently with burnt Hartshorn Then reverberate it in a Potter's Furnace till it acquire a carnation colour As it is a Medicine easily prepared so in vertue it is very efficacious and is better than the most laborious preparations of Gold Finkius 5. Common Salt is a most excellent Remedy if the Lips be rubbed a little with it or if the Patient chew it Hofmannus or the Palms of the Hands or Soles of the Feet be rubbed therewith 6. Balm sprinkled with some odoriferous Wine heated between hot Tiles Sennertus and applied to the Region of the Heart is very good A GUIDE TO The Practical Physician BOOK XVII Of Diseases beginning with the Letter T. Tenesmus or a continual desire of going to stool without voiding any thing considerable The Contents Whether we may purge I. Whether we may Bleed II. The drying of the Vlcers with Powders III. Fasting is hurtful IV. Care must be taken to strengthen the part V. Medicines I. PUrging seems hurtful 1. Because it hinders cleansing and healing of the Ulcer 2. Because it makes the Ulceration worse which is heated and irritated thereby 3. Purgers stimulate Nature whereby the Symptome of vain desire is made worse But on the contrary oftentimes we must purge 1. It often follows a Dysentery because of some sharp corruption or peccant Humours unseasonably left behind but here Purging is requisite 2. A Tenesmus for the most part happens to Phlegmatick Persons because thick and viscid Phlegm is gathered in the Intestinum rectum but this must be removed by Purging But we must take notice that Purging is twofold one Cathartick and another Lenitive of which this latter is often required because it evacuates not from the whole but only the peccant matter in the first wayes Then we must distinguish between the causes of the Tenesmus which are often such that they stand in no need of lenitive evacuation I answer to Argument 1 of the negative part that it holds true of strong Catharticks which we do not allow To the 2. That although the Ulcer be irritated by lenitives yet the Disease is not made worse seeing the cause of that vain straining is removed by them To 3. that Nature is stimulated by Purgatives Horstius quast 6. dec 6. yet not by vain motions but to the end what things are noxious may be voided II. Seeing a Tenesmus is an affection with tension weight and sharp pain wherewith the lower part of the Belly is annoyed all which things depend upon the shaving of the Intestinum rectum we must oppose it first upon account of the matter which falls upon it according to universal precepts among which Bleeding first occurrs which must not be omitted for the medical Intentions in this Disease are to remove plenitude to cool the Liver abate the pain of the Guts to stop or prevent their Inflammation to cure the Ulcer and Laelius à Fonte if there be occasion to take off the Fever and other Symptomes All which Bleeding does III. When the Ulcer is cleansed it must be healed Among Suppositories all that are made of Metallicks are good as Ceruss Tutty Litharge Bolus Armenus Terra Lemnia and Dragons Blood But I had rather have these Powders blown in by a Servant with a Pipe or with a pair of small bellows For since the true Cure of the Ulcer is the drying of it I have observed Idem it is easilier procured by Powders than by moister Medicines IV. We may observe from Hippocrates lib. de Affectionibus that this Disease can ill endure hunger it may be because where there is meat the Guts are less raked Yet this must be rightly understood so as that crudities and mucosities may not be encreased by too much meat Fortis V. If the Patient overcome all the Symptomes of a Dysentery and the Disease be protracted a long time at length all the Guts seem to be affected in their order downwards till the Disease be thrust down into the intestinum rectum and end in a Tenesmus Upon which far otherwise than in the Dysentery when the Stools cause a most violent pain in the Guts that is the Excrements as they come down grate upon the tender Guts at this time the mucous stools are only troublesome to the lower Guts namely the rectum for then the matter is only made in it and voided from it And if so then in my opinion it will be to no purpose to endeavour a cure by abstersive glutinating and astringent Clysters according to the different times of the Ulcer as is supposed or by Fomentation Insession Fumes and Suppositories which respect the same end For it is evident this proceeds not from an Ulcer in the intestinum rectum but rather because the Guts as they recover strength by degrees by the same degrees they thrust down the reliques of the Morbifick matter into the rectum which being incessantly irritated every day scrapes off that mucous matter with which by Nature's providence the Guts are lined Therefore the part affected should be strengthned to the end it may after the manner of the other Guts utterly discharge the reliques of the Illness which now are upon yielding And this can be done only by such things as are apt to give strength to the Body For a Topical Medicine whatever it is applied to the grieved part because it is a thing aliene will weaken more by its troublesome Touch than it can strengthen The Sick therefore must have patience till by a restorative diet and some Cordial Liquor he can gain strength as which returns this Symptome of a Tenesmus will at the same pace go away of it self Sydenham Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. This is my most approved Remedy for a Tenesmus It is a drachm or two of Syrup of Buck-thorn in Cinnamon water The Patient is certainly cured in one day now the Body is purged without trouble and when the serous Humours are voided the Patient is perfectly cured with this Remedy alone Baricellus 2. Some take Ceruss and Litharge well steeped in water and mix them well with the yelk of an Egg and Rosewater in a Mortar Alex. Benedictus and apply it with good success 3. This Fume cures the Tenesmus to a miracle Take of Mastich 1 drachm Frankincense 1 scruple Myrtle Seed 1 drachm and an half red Rose flowers
Wine and other hot Aliments must be avoided For it is found by experience that crudities of the Stomach and destillations arising from the heat of the Liver and the exhalation of bilious Blood are very much exasperated with the use of generous Wine and such things and abate with the contraries Enchir. Med. Pract. ¶ Now most Physicians have only one intention in weakness of the Stomach while they fly to astringent hot and bitter meats to Wormwood Wine heating and astringent Plasters and Unguents Innumerable People at Venice having their Stomachs polluted with divers Humours and ill of Hypochondriack Melancholy wear hot things constantly upon their Stomachs and take strengthning and hot things supposing it to be a cold intemperature Nevertheless their Liver is very hot their Spleen and Mesentery are loaden with Melancholy whence comes wind in their Belly And they think they do good with these hot and astringent Medicines when they encrease their misery But Galen sayes plainly Sanctorius that he has eased Diseases of the Stomach by drinking cold water XXXVI Johannes Riolanus has observed that when the Colon is full of faeces the Stomach labours under difficulty of Concoction Therefore the excrements must often be got out by Clysters XXXVII Among the Diseases of the Stomach the most common is the laxity of it which may come from any intemperature One man when he had been long troubled with this Disease and many had had him in hand but none could find a Remedy for him when he came to me I easily knew by the Medicines he had taken that the Physicians thought he was ill of a cold intemperature And I from the preceding cure and other evident reasons thought quite otherwise that his Stomach was ill of a hot intemperature Wherefore having recourse to such Remedies as his dry Body now almost consumed away seemed to require the first day I ordered him only to eat some Lettuce out of Oyl and Vinegar which when he found beneficial and proper for his Stomach I order him to leave off Bathing Frictions Exercitations especially of the upper parts all unctions and hot meats which he had hitherto used and rather to turn himself to meats that are cold and difficult of concoction wherefore I recommend unto him Mutton rather than Fowl or Fish unless of a hard sort in this sickness of his I tell him that cold and austere Wine is the properest drink for him and that a hot and thick Wine is most improper To which when he gave way and carefully observed his directions using only this sort of diet and cooling Medicines he was as well as ever he was Benivonius within two Months XXXVIII The dilatation or resolution of the Stomach is a Disease very frequent both in healthy and sick People when its tone is so loosened with broths and cold drink and much moisture that a Loosness follows thereupon which is attributed to corruption of the food by a hot intemperature of the Stomach or to the obstruction of the Mesaraick Vessels which is rather a Symptome of too great laxity Fernelius his Disease of Matter which must be cured by strengthners and astringents In some after their death the Stomach has been found so lax that it would hold a Childs head Therefore the observation of Diseases of matter is very necessary for practice which are cured by astringents and driers taken inwardly and applied outwardly Riolanus according to the doctrine of the Methodists who make Lax and Strict to be in Diseases XXXIX A great heat of the Stomach well concocts hard things and difficult of concoction as hung Beef Cabbage and such things The same heat corrupts tender meats as Eggs and small Fishes The cure in these is to change Diet. Hofmannus ¶ I knew two that were ill of heat in the Liver and of bile boyling in the Gall-Bladder which caused inconcoction A cold intemperature of Stomach was blamed in them whose heat languished being wasted by the hot Liver Many hot things had been used in vain to help concoction The first of these Men was the Illustrious Monsieur de Molondins deputy Governour of Newemberg He was much troubled to his dying day which happened in his sixty third year with a heat in his Stomach especially if he eat meats easie of concoction or several things to his Supper The Chyle fomed up during concoction and was almost all brought up in Spittle If he eat only of one meat or of what was difficult of concoction the concoction was performed aright without any disturbance The other was Gedeon des Bergieres who till the fortieth year of his age was troubled with such a spitting of a viscid and tenacious matter the heat of the parts about his Stomach abating afterwards in the process of his age he lives free from any such hurt and now digests very well XL. The coldness of the Stomach is not alwayes positive but often privative from the heat of the Liver and Hypochondria Therefore Galen primo de loc affect 4. has told us that when concoction in the Stomach is bad we must presently consider the parts about it which if they be very hot it is spoyled by them but the heat of the Stomach it self is not abated And although Aciditie be often perceived yet it proceeds not from cold but from excessive heat as the primary and chief cause as Trallianus considers and it is found by dayly experience that Wine in Summer in the heat of the Sun turns sowre ¶ The heat necessary for concoction must be plentiful sweet and moderate boyling not rosting Fortis Otherwise if it be exuberant it either turns the food to a Nidor and causes difficulty of concoction or as a great flame it dissolves and wasts the Stomach and so spoyls concoction Yea in process of time by drying up the fleshy parts of the Stomach without any diminution of the innate heat it weakens it whence comes ill digestion Therefore Galen 3. de nat facult said that beside other causes that concurr to concoction the whole substance of the Stomach is one So 2. de aph 35. he sayes it is well if the parts belonging to the Stomach be fleshy therefore the thinness of the Coats hinders concoction For a lean Stomach alwayes concocts worst Wherefore 3. de Symptomat causis he concludes that natural Organs the moister they are so much they are fitter for nourishing Idem but the harder and the drier the more unfit XLI The diagnostick of the Humour that causes the pain in the Stomach is taken from the time of the invasion increase or abating of the pain Some have the pain most before meat and this signifies the dominion of bile which is exasperated in time of fasting and drawn into the Stomach or grows sharper In others the pain arises immediately after eating because the crude and biting Humours which before were quiet and fixt to the coats of the Stomach are disturbed upon eating or they that
are in the bottom of the Stomach rise up and affect the Mouth of the Stomach In others the Pain encreases while the meat is concocting because sharp and biting Vapors are elevated from the morbifick matter by encrease of the heat in the Stomach at the time of concoction In others 4 or 5 hours after meal because the meat is corrupted after ill concoction and being corrupted it vellicates the Stomach And in some the pain is encreased after sleep and that is caused by a Catarrh the Humour flowing from the Brain in sleep which being gathered in great plenty produces pain when waking And sometime the pain is asswaged after meat Riverius because the acrimony of the Humour is sweetned with the kindliness of the meat XLII If the Blood be not transmitted by the Liver it being distended with plenty of Blood will press upon the Stomach and will cause a most grievous pain in it and especially after meat it will be so complicated that the pain can be eased neither by Remedies taken inwardly nor outwardly As I saw it happen to N. who could not be eased of such a pain after all had been done that could be done otherwise than by the benefit of Nature For when he was grievously afflicted with it immediately after meal behold all on a sudden he vomitted up much Blood which presently eased his pain For which ever after as often as he 〈◊〉 troubled with it he was let Blood and it curâ—â— him The History in Hippocrates Epidem is not unlike this of a Man 〈…〉 who in a violent pain of his Stomach could be eased by no other Remedy but by Bleeding XLIII A certain Matron who had complained two years of a pain at her Stomach and could be cured by no Remedies at last upon taking a Vomit she brought up a piece of Bacon skin Fabr. Hildanus which she had eaten two years before and she was well quickly after XLIV Concerning Hiera which Galen commends in pains of the Stomach arising from cold matter or wind we must observe that it operates slowly and while it acts upon the viscid matter cleaving to the coats of the Stomach Wind being thereby raised it causes the Belly to swell and the pain to encrease therefore it is advisable to mix some other purgative Sennertus which may encrease the strength of the Hiera and quicken its operation XLV In pain of the Stomach where there is need of Purging J. Naevius according to Scholtzius gives a Purge with corrected Opium mixt with it For so he eases pain by causing Sleep And the Medicine carries off with it the bad juices contained in the Stomach which caused the pain and he sayes it was formerly Lud. de Leonibus his secret Frambesarius also in cons. f. 362. in grievous pains where there is need of Purging out the continent cause commends the giving of Narcoticks in Purges Riverius commends this Take of Diaphoen half an ounce Philonium Romanum 2 scruples Hoëfâ—â—â— with Chamomil water make a potion XLVI I opened the Body of a Monk who was said to have died of Colick pains and enquiring into the cause of the Disease I found the bottom of the Stomach not only inflamed but corroded also to the middle of the coat For the cure of such an Inflammation and Erosion of the Stomach Spigelius said that nothing had been better than the often taking of terra sigillata as being a thing which sticking firmly to the eroded coats of the Stomach as firmly as ceratum diachalciteos applied to the inflamed foot would have dried up the erosion I after tried the worth of his saying twice in extreme pains of the Stomach to my admiration when they could neither be laid by taking any Medicines inwardly or applying any outwardly Sculterâ—â— except terra sigillata mixt with Syrup of Comfrey XLVII When once a Person had taken a Purge of an unskilful Physician who to hasten the working had mixt some sharp corroding things with it there arose so great a pain in his Stomach that for three Weeks space he could take nothing in at his Mouth without cruel pain in his exulcerated Stomach and was almost starved with hunger When the Physicians laboured in vain he at length used Tragacanth a thing which his own reason and experience suggested to him mixt with Rosemary flower water by the tenacity of which Tragacanth the Ulcer healed Bartholinus and afterward he lived in health for several years XLVIII Galen shows that a Cupping-glass applied to the Stomach eases pain quickly and to admiration Yet have a care that there be no crude Humour in the Stomach for if there should it would encrease the pain Mâ—rcatus XLIX In puffing up of the Stomach drying and astringent Plasters adding the 4 hot Seeds and Sulphur must be applied For these astringent Plasters hinder the great dilatation of the Stomach and so the Wind is better discharged upwards or downwards They are made of Emplast pro matrice de mastice and contra rupturam We add seeds of Cummin Seseli Parsly Caroway and other strong smelling things as Galangale Cyperus and astringents unless pain hinder For then upon the account of the Pain we must use other discutients that are a little relaxing But if it be without pain the constriction must be encreased for the parts that are once distended or made lax by distension never come to themselves again unless they be kept swathed or some other way straitned For this reason in such Diseases after some evacuation and discussion we order to bind the region of the Stomach by degrees and gently which may be done conveniently with a swathe over the Plaster Rondeletius L. In the cure of a weak Stomach we must observe whether being swollen with wind it can bear Fomentations and such Remedies For if there be any inflammation in its coats being irritated by the application of hot Medicines it puffs up distends and is most grievously pained Which they also do by disturbing corrupt Humors and upon this account Mat. Martinâ— they rather increase the heat than cure LI All the back part of the Stomach lies upon the Spine with which at the first Vertebra of the Loyns it is knit together Whence it happens that whenever the Stomach is violently distended with wind those parts that are joyned to that part of the Stomach which is distended do partake of the pain Wherefore when the hind part is distended with wind then the pain lying most upon the Spine and Loins invades the region of the Kidneys very sharply just as if one were troubled with the stone in the Kidneys Which thing often imposes upon the most skilful in the Art so that they often think â—â—â—us they have the stone who are only ill of wind LII In an Inflammation of the Stomach Bleeding must often be repeated in both Arms as much as the strength will bear Thus though because of swooning and coldness in
when diseased Persons are sent hither without any regard had to the Patient or his Disease their end is hastened I have seen it several times especially in a Matron of seventy who had been several years ill of a painful and contumacious Ulcer with a perishing of the Bone about the juncture of her left Foot wherefore she went to Neuhausen Bathes near Berne and found benefit for her pain asswaged and the Ulcer healed up Yet not long after she grew ill again and her Ulcer broke a new The next year she used them again but then she was taken with a dangerous Fever wherefore I advised her for the future to abstain from the Bathes but to no purpose for she went again to the Bathes at Blumenstein which she had no sooner entred but she was so weak that she scarce could recover it Do you ask the Reason The putrid matter that is in the musculous parts about the Ulcer or in the Bone growes hot with the heat of the Bathe becomes sharp acquires a Malignity and makes the Ulcer more painful Wherefore Humours flow continually from the whole to the part affected and with the rest of the foresaid Humours inclosed in the part do corrupt Besides the matter grows hot in the Vessels which the heat of the Bathe turns into Vapors which go to the Liver Heart and Brain whence proceeds an Infection of all the Spirits Hildanus Cent. 5. Obs 90. and other grievous Symptomes II. Beware that you do not take all that Crollius has told of his Lapis Medicamentosus for oracle For sometimes a Theorist writes many things with a feather of Icarus and extols them to the Sky which when they touch the Sun of experience melt and turn to nothing If you examine the ingredients of this Stone you will find it hot and dry with great acrimony Nor can I see how it should possess those innumerable virtues Crollius ascribes to it and how it can be applied in so many Diseases without damage He writes that it cures all Ulcers in the exterior parts quickly But have a care you do not try it in Ulcers of the Nervous parts that are full of pain and Inflammation especially in delicate bilious and cacochymick Bodies for it immediately causes pain inflammation watching disquiet and other Symptomes I saw this formerly in a young Man who I remember upon the application of it after a violent pain fell into a Swoon Have a care also that you do not apply it in cancers or cancrous Ulcers of any part Idem Obs 91. for you will immediately find the aâ—l grow worse III. Aluminous water also is suspected in cancrous Ulcers M. N. was ill of an Ulcer at the root of his Tongue of a cancrous nature It was exasperated by the application of the said water prescribed by a Physician Wherefore I perswaded him to wash his Mouth with water of Frogs Craw-fish and Plantain with Honey of Roses and to strow powder of Frogs and Craw-fish burnt upon the Ulcer Idem after this the Malignity of the Ulcer abated quickly to the admiration of them all IV. Ulcers seeing they have cacochymie and faults in the Humours for their causes do also require purging therefore Hippocrates seeing and well considering the necessity of it in this case mentions it lib. de Vlcer which he uses not to do in other such cases We have two sorts of purges in Ulcers and other external Ails the one Catholick drawing from the whole Body which we seldome use the other contrary to this which draws neither from the whole Body nor all Humours Each of them must be used with great care always The former indeed is more simple because of more frequent use the latter more compound because it is given for compound diseases This is commonly threefold Purging of Phlegm Choler or Melancholy But we propound another both absolutely necessary and especially for our purpose which is properly the purging of the Blood by its repeated use This is not only omitted but seems not so much as to be known by its name The Blood has 4 Hypostases of different natures that is bile phlegm and melancholy and Blood in all mens judgment is the legitimate Humour the fourth substance of the mass the purest part of the nutrient Humours Now every one of these distinctly taken has its peculiar Ichores that is moist superfluities depending on them When Ichores and Humours may corrupt and putrefy contrary to Nature's law both joyntly and severally of which there is a numerous conjugation Therefore either all the Blood and Ichors and Humours are in fault as in the small Pox and Leprosy and with some of these as in lesser Cacochymies Or all the Blood is polluted absolutely as much as it can be as in the small-Pox and Measles Although we ought to restore and correct all these Modes of putrid Blood with Physick yet this Mode of Corruption especially comes under our consideration which is not in a total and perfect corruption Blood therefore receeds from its nature two ways either the most part of it or but a little But the farther the recess is the greater industry and stronger Medicines are required And the measure of the Putrefaction can be no way better known than by observation of the Blood as it is drawn out of the Veins Or if we cannot do that from the discolouring especially of the Eyes Lips Gums Teeth Hair Nails also from their strength especially compared with their feeding or fasting from the quality of the excrements and other affections appearing in the body When you have searched out these things then you must proceed to make up proper Medicines which may purge the Blood several wayes by abstersing opening obstructions ventilating provoking Sweat and Urine by giving a stool by attenuating and qualifiing their second or third qualities But among all things they are chief which act by peculiar property Among purgers the chief is Hellebore either black or white which Hippocrates therefore used so much because he knew it had a singular faculty to purge the Blood Nor need we be so abhorrent from this Medicine nor be so fearfull because the Diseases wherein they are used are more frightfull and proceed from black Choler wherefore Galen lib. de atra bile writes That in Diseases proceeding from a melancholick Humour you must at the very first stop the growth of it by Melanagogues As for the safe preparation of it see Salius l. de Aff. part cap. 19. and others Also Senna Coloquintida and Turpeth are strong weaker than these are dodder of Time root of Fern Fumitory Hops Agrimony Cichory Ground pine Speedwell Strawberry leaves Maiden-hair Asparagus Parsley which according to Montuus Purges the Blood by Urine Among Compounds Treacle is the chief which by reason of the Viper it has in it has the divine faculty of Purging the blood and humors Trochises and Salts of Vipers and infinite things out of Hermes his Elaboratory To which you may reckon
had tried several Medicines in vain and was in danger of his life He at last was freed from his vomiting by applying only one Cupping-glass to the bottom of his Stomach twice after meat And his weakness was such that besides vomiting he often voided a great quantity of Blood by his Nose Rumlerus Obs 14. which Symptome nevertheless vanished with the rest by that only Remedy III. The Excrements that stick to the Stomach are often a cause why men cannot keep what they take and things that are impacted into its Coats make it often vomit up what it contains in its Cavity Therefore a Vomit caused by Art which may expel what sticks to the Stomach or is impacted into its Coats will cure a Vomit by taking away the cause as a loosness and dysentery are cured by Purging and Clysters Vallesius Yet they ought not to be given rashly but when Remedies which are in their own nature contrary to the Disease seem to give no ease ¶ And it must be provoked by a moderate Emetick not a weak one such as warm Oyl nor by a violent one which draws from parts afar as such as are made of Antimony but with such as have a strong faculty of dissolving the glutinous humor Such as Gilla Theophrasti or Vitriolum album praeparatum Riverius Its Salt is more efficacious which is made of Vitriol calcined to an intense redness ¶ Valleriola is afraid to give a Purge to such as are troubled with a constant bilious or pituitous Vomiting because it is presently brought up again by vomiting and does no good but a great deal of hurt by irritating the Stomach and disturbing the humors and not evacuating them But it is my Custome and I have long experienced it first to carry off the humor that is the cause of the Disease by vomit first and then to strengthen the Stomach both by taking things and by applications that it may afterwards contain the Purge But they are in error who immediately at the beginning stop vomiting with Astringents for they fasten and retain the bad humors which Nature endeavours to cast off Enchir. Med. Pract. and which afterwards will prove the causes of grievous Diseases IV. Clysters are very good in all Vomitings if we give them in a small quantity and no strong Laxatives or Oyls For if a great quantity be given part of the Colon which lies upon the Stomach is full and the bottom of the Stomach is pressed and by that faculty whereby it irritates the expulsive one of the Intestines it provokes to vomits as Experience shews in several And strong ones must not be prescribed because there are but few Excrements Let them be made therefore of emollient Herbs Seeds and Flowers that discuss wind dissolving therein some Mel rosarum Rondelâ—tius violarum cassia or juyce of Mercury V. After long vomiting or when one cannot keep his food let Clysters be given of a decoction of Capon without Salt Sugar or Oyl but with a little Wine for Nutrition A great quantity of these must be given that it may go high but not greater than can be retained for when the Guts are empty they draw such a Clyster and retain it for their nourishment It is the best way to boyl Anniseeds in them to make them dispel Wind for the empty Guts are full of Wind which hinders the Clysters from going in Such Clysters should be given as often as the Patient used to eat For they will do good three ways by nourishing breaking Wind and because when the Stomach takes nothing all motion therein to vomit is quiet Idem and the Stomach contracts it self VI. When a Woman in the Iliac Passion vomited most enormously several Medicines did her no good till Horstius gave her a few drops of Elixir proprietatis Paracelsi VII A Gentleman 35 years old of the Senatory Order being subject to Diseases in his Spleen was taken with a vomiting so unexpectedly that he spewed in the Dishes at the Table When he had taken the Waters called Vicecomitenses in Avernia for a Month he returned to his Country Geneva free of his Disease VIII That cold water is proper in many Diseases coming from Bile the Writings both of the Ancients and Moderns do testifie A certain Noble Lord a Frenchman by Nation at a certain time did upon his departure showre down too liberal a shower of Bacchus born at the Canaries upon the Company The Courtiers his Companions as they went home were taken with vomiting This looked like a Symptome arising from a Surfeit Three days after this Nobleman was troubled in the like nature but far more violently for his Age was greater and his Stomach more sluggish I was called to ease his enraged Stomach I endeavour to effect this with various comfortable Internals and astringent Externals All was to no purpose whatever he drank or eat in the fermentation caused so much wind and trouble till the Vomiting gave him some little ease I tried to allay the inflammation contracted from the flame of the Wine with vitriolated Juleps and Emulsions but in vain At length I conjectured that Vitriolate things did rather exalt the vicious ferment of the Stomach and that Emulsions could not sufficiently correct that excess because they are not so plentifully prescribed by Physicians or cannot be taken by the Patients without Loathing Therefore I proposed a most liberal draught of cold water which could not encrease the ferment but weaken it by diluting it He drank off a Glass that held 12 Ounces The Stomach received its friendly guest most kindly and kept it quietly without the fermentation hitherto usual Sigism Grassius in Misc cur an 4 5. The Noble Person admired his quietness and by continuing to drink cold water did quickly safely and pleasantly check all the violence of the raging Archeus IX Among Poysons which produce enormous and for the most part mortal vomitings we reckon Arsenick Orpiment and corrosive Mercury sublimate all which in respect of their manifest or latent acrimony are most happily tempered and prepared for a more gentle excretion with oyly things as fat Broths any expressed Oyl Butter c. Among which Milk also uses to be coagulated by them and voided again wherefore it is good inasmuch as these coagulating Poysons do more readily joyn themselves to it Sylvius de le Boâ— and in that very thing lose their nocent Power X. If some malignity as in the time of Pestilential Feavers cause a troublesome Vomiting it must be opposed not with Purges or Vomits Ench. Mea. Pract. but only with Cordials taken inwardly and applied outwardly ¶ In that which attends Malignant Fevers 1 Scruple of Salt of Wormwood with half an ounce of fresh Citron juyce is a most excellent Remedy For this besides its detersive faculty saturates the peccant acidities as also do prepared Perl terra sigillata Bole Armenick Frid. Hofmannus with Rob of Corinths or Barberries mixt with
effectual ¶ In whatever cause Bread tosted dipt in Vinegar of Roses and bestrewed with powder of Mint Cloves and Roses is good ¶ This is a certain experiment and reckoned as a secret by some After the takeing of Antimonial Medicines which vomit too much to give a spoonful or two of Spirit of Wine Sennertus and it gives present help 9. Dried Coriander infused in Vinegar does admirably in a hot cause Stokkerus 10. Sower Leven soaked in strong Vinegar and juice of Mint applied and renewed twice or thrice most certainly stops Vomiting by Purging and due Revulsion Varendaeu◠11. A few Coriander Seeds in Vomiting after the taking of a violent Medicine Welkardus have an admirable property to stop it if they be chewed Vomitus Sanguinis Puris or Vomiting of Blood or Corruption The Contents Purging is good I. It must not be stopt in all II. Things that are hot and of subtil parts must be put into the Applications III. Oyly things are hurtful IV. Vinegar must not be given alone V. Caused by swallowing a Leech VI. From the Spleen VII The Cure and Prevention of Vomiting of Pus VIII Medicines I. GEntle and frequent Purging must be celebrated whereby the Blood is purged from those serous and bilious Humours which produce this Disease Which kind of Purges celebrated by a prudent Physician do wonders as I have learned by experience And they must be made of Rheubarb Myrobolans Tamarinds and triphera Persica which Medicines purge and bind and no way disturb the Humours so that you need not fear any vomiting of Blood will be caused thereby Riverius II. There were two Women at Padua who the day before their Menses came Vomited Blood they perceived the Vomit before it came which if the Physician tried to stop Rhodius divers Symptomes would arise and go away with vomiting III. In Oyntments Epithemes and other applications we must take care that they have some heat with their astriction for though the flux be stopt with cold and astringent things yet this is done upon taking the indication from the function of the part that is the Stomach and from the time Cyperus Spike Cassia and Cinnamon are the best among other Astringents For besides that they preserve the nature of the part they help also the penetration of the astringent and cold things which are of gross parts IV. In vomiting of Blood the use of Oyls is suspected because they open the orifices of the Veins rather than close them Therefore Aloysius Mundella denies Oyl of Sweet Almonds to all that vomit Blood Bartholinus V. The use also of Vinegar alone is suspected because it exasperates the parts and raises a Cough whereby it promotes a new fluxion Therefore it must be sweetned with Honey or Sugar VI. A Country-Man was ill of Vomiting of Blood that would give way to no Remedies for several dayes The Physician being desirous to carry off the Blood that was gathered in the Stomach by vomit prescribed him 2 ounces of Oyl of sweet Almonds which made him vomit and he brought up clotted Blood and a Leech also that moved upon the ground Riverius Obs 26. Cent. 4. This was an unknown and rare cause of vomiting of Blood The Patient said afterward that he drank of a rivulet where he had swallowed a Leech with the water VII In the year 1662. I saw in the Town Boudri within the Territory of Newenburgh a Notary fifty years old who vomited at one time a pound of clotted black Blood and as he said he had vomited as much the day before His Stomach was then squeamish with a sense of a load wherefore I gave him a little warm Oxycrate for there was nothing else at hand which brought up no less quantity Because the strength was good I prescribed him a bolus of Conserve of Roses with I drachm of the powder of Rheubarb which brought away a great deal of clotted Blood mixt with the Stools Then I proceeded to strengthners For Preservation I ordered him to Bleed at the Haemorrhoids twice a year for the flux came from his Spleen as the swelling of it returning at times did testifie giving him Chalybeates and openers of Obstructions He followed this wholesome advice for 2 years which being neglected the third year his vomiting returned with greater violence which deprived him of Life I have known many sayes Dodonaeus cap. de Absynthio l. hist stirpium who have brought up Blood by vomiting I remember I saved one or two by my advice after once vomiting and indeed by the frequent use of Worm-wood all manner of wayes VIII The excretion of Pus by Vomit and Stool must not be stopt but gently promoted seeing it is an Humour toto genere preternatural and every way hurtful to Man But the new growth of it must be hindred as much as can be since it is bred of Blood the fewel of our vital flame and the food of all the parts of the Body as well containing as contained Among all things which move or promote excretion of Pus I prefer and commend Antimonial Medicines for I have often observed that they have not only a virtue of correcting the mischief which comes from Pus but also of hindring the breeding of new Pus for rightly prepared and administred it serves no less for the purifying of Man's Body than for purifying of Gold Also Balsamus Sulphuris Anisatus and any other stops the continual generation of Pus out of corrupt Blood if 2 or 3 drops be taken several times a day from which also the cleansing and certain healing of the Ulcer may be expected and perhaps more certainly than from any other Medicine To this end also Antimonium Diaphoreticum will conduce Sylvius de le Boe. and any other altering Medicine made of Antimony and a Balsame artificially made of its flowers Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. To stop vomiting of Blood I gave these with success Take of Mummy 1 drachm juice of Horse-tail 1 ounce water of Plantain Horse-tail each 1 ounce and an half After the Patient had drank this cold his Bleeding and Vomiting stopt ¶ To a Woman who brought up her Menses by vomit I gave this Clyster for diversion Take of Chicken broth wherein a few Prunes Raisins and Aniseeds were boyled Cassia for Clysters 1 ounce oyl Olive of sweet Almonds Chamomil each 1 ounce common salt 1 drachm Sal Gem. half a drachm the yolk of an Egg. Mix them Make a Clyster She recovered beyond expectation with this one Remedy But every Month before her vomiting came Forestus she was bled in the Foot 2. Practitioners use to apply Remedies to the Spleen as I have observed from experience when the Patients have vomited great quantities of black Blood the vomiting has been presently stopt by this Plaster Take of Barley flower A corns root of Comfrey each 1 ounce and an half blood-Dock 2 drachms Plantain water and red
are drunk actually cold Sebis p. 546. they would offend the Stomach by their coldness IV. No Nation seems to drink Mineral waters more freely than the Italian for Fallopius prescribes them to 120 ounces The Germans are more sparing for Andernacus will not have the largest Dose to be above twenty seven ounces Though we cannot appoint a certain measure which may be as a Standard yet we think it profitable to express in some latitude the least middle and greatest Dose For people that are grown up let the least Dose be eight or twelve ounces the middle thirty two the highest sixty four And that a convenient quantity may be prescribed we must consider the circumstances as the Disease the Temperament Strength Age and Sex of the Patient the climate time of year manner of life custom habit of Body parts affected and the like Of which the greatness and vehemence of the Distemper is the Indicant properly so called thâ— strength of the Patient is the Permitteâ— or Prohibenâ— the other circumstances are the siâ—ns of the weakness or vigour of this Idem p. 53. But the most certain ruâ—â— for tâ—â— quantity is the Euphory or well-bearing when the Stomach dispenses well with it But daily experience shews that those that drink the Spaw-waters but in small quantity receive but small benefit by them yea are often prejudic'd whereas those that drink them plentifully are cur'd of great Distempers by them so that Frambesâ—iâ—â— sayes rightly that the more one drinks the â—oâ—e good he receiâ—es if so bâ— they paâ—â— wâ—ll Tâ—erefore let every one consider his Stomach how much Water he can bear and how soon he passes it and let this be his rule Heer Spadacien p. 114. That the best Indication is taken from Hurters and Helpers V. Authors advise to ascend by degrees to the highest Dose that the Stomach may be inured by little and little to the Waters as being actually cold and also that it may be understood how the Patient will be upon the drinking of them for a mans peculiar temper does not presently appear But we here admonish again that respect is not to be had so much to the number of cups as to the Euphory or well-bearing of the Patient and that the measure is to be accommodated to every ones nature Sebis p. 516. VI. When one is once come to the highest Dose some advise to keep to it till the end But because experience teaches that the diseased can seldome hold to the greatest Dose for four or five dayes but that they fall into Vomiting Fainting or difficulty of Breath it is more adviseable to follow the counsel of Herodotus in Oribasius Claudin de Inq. Sect. 1. viz. to descend by degrees till one come again to the first and least quantity VII Ryetius admonishes prudently to drink that quantity which a Man prescribes to himself in as little a time as may be that is to make an end of it in half an hour for otherwise seeing these waters pass quickly it would come to pass that the first should pass before the last be drunk which although Fallopius allow yet 't is generally disliked because by this means the last would be evacuated more slowly to the great prejudice of the drinkers and this is proved by daily experience and as many as have been often at the Spaw Heer p. 119. will subscribe to the truth of it VIII Some prescribe a certain number of dayes others have regard to the colour and consistence of the evacuated water which if for two dayes together it be such as before it was drunk they then think 't is time to abstain We think they are to be drunk so long as the Patients bear them well without confining them to a certain number of dayes and that they are also to be drunk so long as seems necessary for the perfect cure or at least for the bettering or manifest change of the diseased But as for the two first opinions we can subscribe to neither for as for the first it is impossible to prescribe a certain number of dayes because of the diversity of Diseases and Morbifick causes and as to the second it cannot be a certain rule seeing the Waters are used not only in Diseases with matter for Humours contained in the Veins but in Diseases without matter Sebiâ— p. 509 for altering and strengthning IX Some will have them warmed lest they offend the Stomach and Bowels with their coldness but experience teaches that many thousands drink your Acidulae cold without any prejudice Yea they ought not to be heated 1. because thereby they become white frothy turbid and some of them red whence is intimated a loss of their vertue by evocation of their Spirits which also happens to other Liquors as Wine c. 2. being drunk lukewarm they loose the tone of the Stomach and are vomited up Yet lest by their coldness they should offend an empty Stomach being taken out of the Well let them be held a little in ones hand in a closed Veâ—â—el thaâ— by that means they may lose somewhat â—f their coldness and let them be swallowed leisurely that as they descend into the Stomach Idem p. 583. they may be a little warmed by the parts they pass through viz. the Mouth and Gullet X. If the Waters altogether stagnate or abide in the Body as it happens to some what is to be done I answer there are divers receptacles of the Water in such cases If therefore they stay in the Intestines which is known by rumblâ—ng oâ— the Belly by belthing by teâ—sion and weight oâ— the abdomen then on the same day inject a Clyster of the same water with an ounce or two of hiera picra or of hiera Logadii or also of hiera diacolocynthis and so you shall bring the water all away But if this succeed not then try a sharper Clyster and the day following administer some purger of the Phlegm that has hindered the passage of the Waters and do this for two or three dayes together if it be necessary omitting in the mean time the use of the Waters But if the Water be retained in the Veins which is known by the absence of belching and of rumbling and swelling of the Belly let the Body be purged the next day for the absence of pain presses not for a Clyster on that day with Pills of hiera with agarick or with Pii Aloëphanginae being taken to three scruples and an half and afterwards procure sweating If these Pills bring not away the Water Fallopius advises to add a grain or two of Elaterium to one Dose of the said Pills Yea Fallopius was wont for the making of the Mineral Waters pass to give something of Elaterium first Heer p. 140. and after that the Water with very good success XI The English upon drinking the Waters presently smoke a pipe of Tabaco which I do not disallow but it would do better if by
hotter temper have their mass of Blood thicker and less diluted with Serum than it should be and its Compages too strict in such I say a solution of continuity being made and continued for the Issue the Blood it self sticks in the passage and so being extravasated causes a very painful Phlogosis and in the mean while seeing such an Issue pours out but very little ichor it is as unprofitable as troublesom Idem III. The general end of Issues is the evacuation of the matter offending and daily accrewing which evacuation is not to be simply considered but inasmuch as it does withal either derive or intercept or revel the matter By revulsion the matter is vomited out on this wise If it be bred in the Liver or Spleen or Womb and tend upwards we may make an Issue in the Thigh or Leg always observing to make it on the same side and hereby is the matter hindred from defiling the upper Parts Where we must note that if from the same Parts the matter be sent downwards and possess it self of either the right or left Leg those do ill that make Issues in the upper Parts to revel from the lower although they observe the rectitude for so they draw back the malignant matter offending either in quantity or quality to the upper Parts not without hurt Aquapendent p. 1. Oper. Chirurg cap. 95. when the Foot was swelled made an Issue above the Knee which besides that it revels does moreover intercept the matter and stops its course so that it cannot fall down to the Foot And I following his steps have cured many of a Swelling in their Feet especially if it were about the ankle by making an Issue in their Leg below the Knee and such Patients continue very well still But I must observe that in Men I alwayes chose the outside and in Women the inside Glandorph Gazoph c. 15. because of their Womb. IV. Before they be dried up there are to be consider'd the Age the constitution of the Body the matter offending the Part sending and the Part receiving If an Infant be troubled with the Falling Sickness for instance and an Issue be made in the nape of the Neck a regular Diet be withal prescribed the Nurse and fitting Medicines given whereby the fuel of the Disease may be substracted and the Head strengthened so that there be no suspicion of the return of the Malady for a year together the Issue may be safely closed up lest if it be kept any longer open the good juices flow out as well as the bad and the Part be more debilitated In a man of middle Age his present state is to be compared with the by-past which if it be become better and while the Issue has run he have not suffered a relapse it may by little and little be obliterated in the nape of the Neck or in the fore-part of the Head by lessening the Pill by degrees making a new one in the Arm for security which also after a while may be dried up But let old Men wear them to the last those namely whose natural heat is weak and in whom there flows out plenty of matter We must consider also in Women with Child whether the innate Heat be so brisk as altogether to consume the Morbifick matter or whether the offending matter find some other way From all which we may infer that there is no definite time of wearing an Issue and that Death does not always follow closing of them up If any object the Authority of Crato who affirms that Death hath followed upon closing up of Fontanels let him know that Crato speaks of that drying up which depends not upon the defect of matter but the force of the expulsive Faculty which is not so strong as before whence the matter being shut up in the Viscera causes Death it self but it is otherwise if it be dried up either by Art or by Nature 's not breeding that matter any longer which used to be thrown off by the Issue V. One being very long afflicted with a Pain in his Loins at length died Amongst other Remedies a little before his Death a Cautery had been affixed to his Thigh four fingers above his Knee from which upon separating the Eschar there flow'd about half an Ounce of a certain Sanies and afterwards every day an Ounce or more of true and laudable Pus or matter When he was dead his Lungs were found Purulent there was a great abscess in his Loins from which there was found a small chanel reaching even to the Issue in his Thigh through which part of the matter had flow'd out Fr. Chomel apud River Oâ—â—â— Sâ—â— Willis Aâ—â—t cereb c. 12. Here does Nature's cunning appear which formed that duct for Purging out the matter of the abscess which yet she could not go through with being overcome by the plenty of matter Another being past Sixty years old was so grievously troubled with Obstructions of the Viscera that even his Abdomen and Thighs were extended with a Phlegmatick tumour with Thirst loathing of Meat and other Symptoms The best Diet being prescribed him and his Body being prepared and also sometimes purged with Rheubarb Senna c. Strengtheners being added at length with a potential Cautery we made him an Issue in the right Ham from whence serous Humours flow'd so plentifully that he recover'd beyond all hope for Nature discharged the excrementitious Humours to the Issue as to a common Sink Hild. Obs 74. Cent. 4. VI. A Cautery or Issue in the Sinciput or fore-part of the Head is profitable for many Diseases especially in those who have this Part not Membranous but Bony that is the fit place where the tip of the middle finger will end if you lay the root of your Hand to the end of your Nose according to Mesue not betwixt the Eye-brows as commonly as Zecchius consult admonishes 1. If the Surgeon be doubtful it is better to make it a little higher as Aquapendent bids The Cauterisation is not to be made beyond the Pericranium it is enough if it be touched or only just perforated without going further namely by taking away the lamina which Albucasis bids us avoid An actual Cautery is always safer than a potential one 2. Practitioners disallow an Issue in the occiput or hinder part of the Head because it can hardly be kept open or the Pease kept in the true place is the nape of the Neck where the Head is joined to the first Vertebra 3. In the Neck the fittest place according to Aquapendent is betwixt the first and second Vertebrae others chuse the space betwixt the second and third Let it not be made on the Process of the Vertebra nor on either side but just in the middle 4. They are made more commodiously and profitably on the inside of the Arm than the outside the proper place is betwixt the deltoides Muscle and the biceps where the cephalick Vein runs because there
omitted in many grievous Diseases without cause seeing it was so successfully used by Hippocrates Galen Celsus Paulus c. On the contrary I am wont chearfully to fly to this miraculous Remedy although abhorred by our Modern Physicians and I call God to witness I have always found it profitable but I use it chiefly where there is a cold and moist temperature Epiphan Ferdinand Hist 7. But they made Inustions not that Ulcers should be made thereby for a perpetual and continued evacuation such as are now made by our usual Cauteries but either for drying or to call out the matter to the outer Parts or to intercept it Salius in v. 21. lib. 2. de morb and they treated them like Burns and heal'd them up and skinn'd them over as soon as they could on this manner they healed the greatest Diseases At this day the Chinese Japanois c. undertake to cure almost all Diseases by Inustion But for this purpose they use not Iron but Moxa which is made of the downy tops of Mugwort this they lay upon the part where they would make an Inustion and setting it on fire it performs their intention But they chiefly use it in the Gout The Reader may find the vertues of those Burns that are made by it c. at large in Wilhel ten Rhyne's dissertation of the Gout part 3. pag. 69. c. or more briefly in the first Book of this Treatise under the title of Arthritis or the Gout where the said Author's discourse is Epitomiz'd XXXIV Vstion either penetrates to the very pus so that it is both burning and cutting or it is that which is called Inustion that is a burning that wounds the Skin only and makes a crust but does not penetrate By the former burning the pus or matter is drawn out as freely as by cutting but not so by the latter or Inustion but there are Blisters raised by it that by them Nature may let out what used too be gathered inwardly or may also thrust out by little and little what is already collected and so clear the inward part Inustions are also good for drying and strengthning the parts when they are moist and loose and sometimes for stopping the way of fluxions to wit by a cicatrix the parts are hardened and constringed Hence when we would draw out Pus that lies deep we use section If the Pus be not malignant nor the part ready for putrefaction then only cutting but if it be then a red hot knife which may both cut and burn because fire restrains and extirpates putrefaction And then only we should use inustion when the fluxion lies underneath not as yet changed into matter or there are mucors and laxities of the parts as of the ligaments in the Sciatica and other pains of the Joints or unless it may be when we dare not make Section though otherwise the Disease requires it Lib. de in t Affect as Hippocrates commands that in such as are suppurated within their Breast we should make penetrating section that the Pus may flow out namely advising that which the Disease calls for But others are content with inustions between the Ribs as fearing the greatness of the Remedy Valles comment in 5. Epid. p. 462. and its difficulty in a weak Patient XXXV The ustion of the Joynts that was grown out of use has been restored by M. A. Severinus l. de Effic Medicin and I have seen him perform the operation just after the same manner as Alpinus describes it l 3. p. 101. namely by a pyramid made of Flax and Cotton He called it the Arabick ustion because it is familiar not only to the Egyptians but also to the Arabians that live in Tents This Inustion is good chiefly in pains of the Joynts that are caused by a cold and glutinous Humour fixed in them also in Phlegmatick tumours arising up and down the surface of the Body for the stubborn matter will yield to no other Remedy J. Van Horne micro techw p. 2. § 33. ¶ As to burning with crude Flax and fungi or Toad-stools because Hippocrates hath not taught the manner it is worth the while to open it Take crude Flax and twist it close make it up in the form of a pyramid so as that one end of it or its basis may be broad and the other narrow and pointed the largeness that the basis is to be of may be learned by the largeness of the place that is to be burnt by it only note that the burning will extend it self somewhat further than the basis of the Pyramid is broad set the basis upon the part to be burnt and set fire to the other end and keep it on till all the matter be consumed by the fire for the fire creeping along and coming to the Skin makes the ustion and which seems wonderful almost insensibly and without pain When the fire is out Hippocrates laid a boil'd Onion upon it till that which was burnt fell off Our people apply Butter with a Colewort leaf and so keep the Ulcer open as long as is thought convenient Hippocrates sometimes used fungi of which they make touch-wood to strike fire withal with a flint The Egyptians make these pyramids of old Imnen rags filled with Cotton The Armenians burn with rags alone tyed close with a thread All which ways indeed are very good as I have learned by experience And they differ only in this that the more dense the matter is that receives the fire and the closer it is made up the deeper burning it makes P. Martian comm in v. 25. sect 3. lib. de affect Wherefore the matter may be varied with respect to the place affected the age sex and temperament XXXVI The Ancients made ustions in the Abdomen for the sake of the Liver Spleen and Stomach which have grown out of use seeing they are painful and obtain not their scope For they were made 1. to amend the cold and moist intemperies of the subjacent viscera but it is not adviseable to correct inveterate intemperies so hastily seeing a contrary intemperies may be easily induced thereby And then an intemperies diffused through the whole substance of the Liver will not be amended by a small burn with an Iron for hereto are to be preferred such fit Medicins as may be had 2. They were made for the evacuation of vitious Humours but although there be vitious matter in the Viscera yet because the Viscera are not contiguous to the peritonaeum the matter cannot flow out by the Ulcer that is made by the Iron As to imposthumes of the Liver and Spleen in particular Aquapendent writes well To burn the Skin and the Muscles that lie under it and the Peritonaeum with a red hot sharp Iron and to penetrate with it as far as to the Imposthume of the Liver and burn it also seems to me just like killing a Man outright that is almost dead already Sennere pract lib. 3. in
fine commending that saying of our Master's That in desperate cases 't is better to let our Patients dye than to kill them XXXVII 'T is a question where there be a Cautery without pain to which it is rightly answer'd if we speak comparatively That there is For those things that are of greater activity and forthwith corrupt the part cause little or no pain Crystals of Silver afford such a Cautery that are made of Silver with aqua fortis Moreover we see such a thing in the Body not only outwardly in a Gangrene and mortification where we may Mechanically and Elegantly as it were conceive such a like caustick Salt but also in a painless dysentery G. W. Wedel de s m. fac p. 64. when so great an Acrimony comes so suddenly on the membranous parts that it forthwith takes away all sense whence it is then absolutely mortal Cephalicks or Medicines for the Head See Book 3. Of the Diseases of the Head in general The Contents The distinction of Cephalicks I. Which are those that are called Volatil II. Which fixed III. Which of a middle nature IV. Cautions in their administration V. The hurt of Cephalick Waters Spirits c. VI. I. CEphalick Remedies respect either 1. the Membranes and Herves and their irritation tension which is very considerable in the Membranes and twitching and these are profitable in pains of the Head Falling-sickness Tremblings and Convulsive motions whether they be discutients or demulcents with a Balsamick Sulphureous vertue such as are paregoricks Germander Ground-pine Vervain Penny-royal Betony Rosemary-flowers Castor Amber c. or inverting and absorbing acrimony as chiefly Cinnabarines whence it appears how these very Medicines are good both in the Falling-sickness and Head-aches and also in pains of the Joynts in Pleuritick pains and so in the pains of any part of the Body The more correct Opiats belong hither also Or 2. they respect the Humours especially the Lympha or Serum and withal the Spirits and Vapours or thin Steams and indeed if these exceed in quantity then Evacuaters and diverters that are endued with a volatil oleous Sulphur such as are good in Catarrhs and repletion in the Vertigo Night-mare for some sort of Epilepsie in weakness of Memory c. as Peony wild Thyme Majoran c. but if they fail in their due quantity then Restorers Moisteners and diluters as inwardly watry Medicines Liquids Potions Decoctions drinking freely which are necessary ia Madness Melancholy too much watching if the Humours be acrimonious thin and salt then fixers and temperaters Or 3. they respect the Spirits which failing require Restorers volatil oleous Balsamicks in particular Ambergriefe Apoplectick Waters distilled Oyls c. which are profitable for prevention of the Apoplexy strengthen the Memory restore the Planet-struck c. But if the Spirits are unruly and too plentiful if they estuate and are enraged they are temperated by moisteners and restorers of the Serum by acids that restrain ratefaction nitrous Medicines that promote evaporation Opiats that tye as in Madness and Phrensie whence they are also good in want of Sleep Or 4. the vapours or halitus which being excessive preternatural and extraneous inasmuch as the Blood being too halituous or infected with a preternatural Sulphur just as we see in People drunk makes the Spirits turbulent are corrected as well by gentle aromaticks and strengtheners such as are vulgarly called Hinderers of Vapours from rising up to the Head and discussers of them as Coriander digesting powders that help concoction and strengthen the Stomach as also by acids which obtund the Sulphureous and Cholerick Humours as in Drunkenness But when these Vapours or halitus fail then roscid vapours all which yet is more rightly attributed to the Serum imbued with these qualities are restored both by moisteners whence in burning Fevers it is advisable to prescribe Epithems either of Rose-water only or Emulsions that notably moisten and cool and also by such things as breed an halituous Blood by gentle Aromaticks whence both Sennertus and Simon Pauli advise and experience her self also bears witness that want of Sleep in old Men is not so well helped by Opiates alone or by refrigerating Medicines as by sweet evaporating ones and such as are endued with an oleous Sulphur such as are species diambrae diamoschi and Wine it self which we have known some use with good success to the end namely that the Serum may be brought to its proper state and prevail by a resoluble Sulphur Or 5. Cephalicks respect the pores of the Brain it self either by opening of them when they are too much shut and obstructed or by shutting of them when they are too wide and gaping The pores of the Brain are opened by volatil Medicines especially Urinous if at any time they are depressed and closed up through the plenty of Humours or by subsidence compression or other causes and grant not a free passage to the Spirits as especially in the Palsie Apoplexy loss of Speech thick Catarrhs in which Distempers such Medicines as open the pores of the Nerves are of the greatest avail also in immoderate Sleep and the like Diseases Lethargy Sleeping Coma and others as for instance the Spirit of Sal Armoniack with which and the Spirit of the Lilies of the Valley I have cured a number of paralytick Persons sometimes also discussers are to be added And when the Pores are too wide they are closed both by Medicines that increase the Serum in substance and that bestow on the Blood a gentle resoluble Sulphur G. W. Wedâ—l de s m. fac p 80. whence they are good and are indicated both in want of Sleep raging deliriums Phrensie and in other intemperatures II. Cephalicks Volatils are 1. such as are endued with an Oleous Aromatick sweet Sulphur in one word Balsamicks as the Leaves and roots of Angelica the leaves of Rosemary Majoran Sage Rue the wood Sassaphras c. aad their Spirits Oyls and Volatil Oleous Salts And these are withal Paregorick and pacifie the irritated membranes and restore the fainting Spirits yea they correct also the hâ—litus or vapours and widen the pores 2. Vrinous Volatils as the most renouned Spirit of sal Armoniack the Spirit of Urine whence the tincture of the Sun and Moon or Gold and Silver do almost wholly borrow their vertue 3. Acid Volatils as the cephalick striated Spirit of Vitriol Aqua Apoplectica Mulicrum c. although these are more fixed as it were Helmont was almost the first that observed that Cephalicks commend themselves by their volatil Salt So also Conserves Condites and other preparations of Vegetables belong hither Idem III. Fixed Cephalicks are either earthy as Perles Corals Cinnabar or Acid or Nitrons or watry diluters and these are of use to absorb and dilute Acrimonious Humours that irritate the membranes to bind doze and pacifie the enraged Spirits and to procure liberty to the pores inasmuch as they absorb the Acrimony of the Humours IV. Cephalicks
in the Shops a Carminative oyl of Coloquintida that is Purgative this oyl he says may be kept long the Dose of it is one ounce or two accordingly as there is need of its stronger or weaker working being mixed with fat broth It would be a Soveraign Remedy against all soporiferous Diseases Apoplexy Lethargy c. Of the aforesaid Coloquintida boiled with lenitive oyls as oyl of Earth-worms Linseed Lilies Misletoe-berries and Chamomel one may make a compound lenitive Purgative oyl after the manner of the aforesaid Carminative Purgative oyl which being mixed with the broth of a Sheeps-Head is an excellent Remedy against all pains for the oyl does wonderfully contemperate the acrimonious and poysonous quality of the Coloquintida so that being thus prepared it is not hurtful or prejudicial at all to the Guts to whose coats otherwise though it be the most finely powdered and made up into Troches a little is alwayes wont to stick which inconvenience we prevent by this preparation and the mixture of oyls with its essence and propriety and thus it becomes a Remedy less dangerous than diaphoenicon it self or benedicta laxativa It will be useful in divers sorts of Clysters and will exert notable effects with good success especially in asswaging the intolerable Colick pains that arise for the most part from glassie Phlegm that sticks to the Intestines in which Purging lenitives given alone are found altogether ineffectual and invalid The description of the first mentioned oyl is this Take of the dryed Herbs of Rue Calamint Organy Penny-royal of each an handful of the Seeds of wild Carrot Cummin Fennil Bayberries of each an ounce of oyl Olive two pounds red wine one pound boil them till the wine be consumed Into the oyl thus prepared put two ounces of the pulp of Coloquintida digest them by the fire in Balneo Mariae hot for twelve hours then let them boil two hours until the oyl have drawn out all the vertue of the Coloquintida then press it and strain it XXI In Clysters there are only two Purgers Scammony and Coloquintida other things are added for the more commodious evacuation Oyl Walaeus Meth. Med. that the way may be slippery sal gemmae for the fusion of the excrements Carminatives for wind XXII That Clysters may be substituted for Purging Medicines is clear from Galen 2. s loc where in the pain of the Head or a stroak or blow upon it and in a fluxion upon the Eyes he proposes a strong Purgation whether it be by giving a Purgative by the Mouth or by strong Clysters If two or three ounces of aqua Benedicta be added they purge very powerfully They will become Purgatory also if one dissolve in them two drachms of some Pills XXIII Strong Purgatives as Troches of Agarick Scammony Coloquintida when they are boil'd in Clysters must be tied in a rag lest the thicker matter of them stick to the Intestins and cause griping Mercurials and Antimonials seeing they easily settle and send not forth their thicker parts in boiling Fr. Hofman m. m. p. 128. may be boiled without being so tied XXIV We must note in all flatulent Distempers that Clysters are not to be given all at once but first of all about a third part Idem l. 1. cap. 10. and a while after give the remainder for so the Patient will retain it the better XXV To mix oyl or any fat thing with Clysters that are to purge the Guts as is common is contrary to all reason seeing the vertue of irritating Medicines and the faculty of feeling are both of them dulled by nothing more than by oleous Medicines Wherefore we must abstain from these while we endeavour to excite the sense only unless when both causes concur to Costiveness for then it is necessary to use both mixt together namely such as may soften the excrements and also others that may irritate the faculty But when the faculty is dulled by any viscid Humour and the clearness of sense is lost so that the Patient is not at all sensible of the weight or acrimony of the Humours it will be expedient at such time to use those Clysters first that absterge or cleanse Mercat de Indicat Med. l. 1. c. 3. and afterwards those that irritate that when the impediment is removed the faculty may be rouzed from Sleep as it were and arise to motion XXVI We must know that fat Clysters which are called common made of Mallows Marsh-Mallows Beet Prunes Linseed Fenugreek are not profitable for all though they are found useful to the most for procuring the usual stools for by their nidour Womens Wombs are wont to be disturbed their ill smell also affects some mens Heads and in others the Mouth of their Stomach in some likewise it corrupts the Spirits and Humours Mercat de Praes Med. lib. 1. c. 3. Auger Ferrer castigat cap. 24. hence it came to pass that the Ancients were content with Wine mingled with Honey and with Oyl only that the stench and unprofitable burthen of Medicins might be avoided for a thicker substance is not so fit to wash out the faeces as what is more liquid XXVII Those things that powerfully discuss often cause pains through the wrong using of them for if the flatuous Spirit be dense and thick and the matter much or more dense than can be conquered by Carminative Medicins rather more flatus are generated by them and those that were there before are made more thin and therefore it comes to pass that the distended and pained part is more stretched by the new propagation and attenuation of the flatus Wherefore I think it more adviseable to mix with Carminatives Idem Moebius in Institut Fr. Hofman in Meth. Med. ex Galeno 14. m. m. c. 7. those things which have a vertue to mollifie the pained parts that they may be the easilier distended so that I like not the use of those things at the beginning which are called duscussory until the Disease be increased the matter being become thinner and the flatus dissolved XXVIII Tears are dangerous in Clysters as Sagapenum Rondelet c. because of their clamminess by reason whereof they stick and cannot be repelled XXIX White Sugar or brown which detergeth more is added to the Clysters called common Victor Trincavel l. 1. Comp. Med. c. 20. But this unless it be boiled a little in the broth or decoction being turn'd into flatus causeth gripes XXX Whether is Salt to be put in Clysters In Fevers the use of Salt mixt with an absterging decoction is more fitly omitted especially when Solvents are added for without Salt they stay longer and are reduced better into act in the Intestins for Salt is only good in those that cannot endure a Clyster should stay long or where we would stimulate and irritate the expulsive faculty Zacut. Pr. Hist p. 546. if it be dulled XXXI I have sometimes observed that although Fenugreek-seed be indifferently commended
should be granted but as for its quantity that is shewn not only by the Faculty but also by the time of the Disease which indicates it not indeed for it self as begging but for the Faculty and permitting From the Species of the Disease also there is some indication of the quantity of Meat for seeing Meat is given for the Faculties sake Diseases do by so much require the more Victuals to be allowed by how much the stronger in their own nature they require the Faculty to be that they may be overcome And the less the Parts affected can endure Meat the less they permit it to be given Therefore in those Diseases whose matter is within the Thorax we must sometimes be more free in our allowance than when the Natural instruments are filled with Excrements because in those not only the Natural but the Animal Faculties also are defective If therefore you let those who are so affected languish too much through the withdrawing of Victuals it will come to pass that though the matter be concocted yet they will die only by not being able to cough it up For this cause 't is clear that more Victuals should be allowed these but for those that labour under Diseases of the Hypochondres and other Parts less And amongst these the least is to be given to those whose Distemper lies in their Stomach because seeing the Part affected it self is to work the first and greatest change of the Meat and to struggle with it when it is most crude it is clear that it will be the most hurt by Meat These are the Indications from the Disease In the Man himself there are two things which indicate the quantity his Nature and Custom For those who have much natural heat the same need much Food and are soon brought low by a little and therefore in Sickness the less is to be withdrawn from them but from the contrary more Now those are soon brought low by a small allowance in whom the Faculty of altering Meat is strong because seeing that Faculty is natural and cannot cease when there is matter present to act upon when but a little Victuals is allowed it parches the Excrements which must needs be in some quantity in the Publick Work-houses by which by and by the substance of the Body is parched and melted and the Meat it self being so little instead of being concocted is corrupted and vitiated The dissipation of the substance in Children requires also much Meat Likewise great respect is to be had to the Custom nor is that ever to be changed in sickness or in health but by little and little and when a man is unemployed Which the generality of Physicians not considering allow the same Diet to all their Patients External causes are also to be considered as of Time to which the difference of Countreys is like Valles m. m. l. 1. c. 6. Thus the Winter and Spring make Mens bellies the hotter c. II. The variation of the quantity of Meat is necessary both in regard of the alteration of the Disease and also of the different strength of the Faculty For 't is consonant to reason that less should then be allowed when the Disease is greater So in the beginnings of Diseases when the Patients are however the more moderate more Victuals may be allowed but in the state because of the vehemence of the Symptoms 't is clear that nothing should be given Yet 't is doubtful whether we may always in the beginning of any Disease be the more liberal in our allowance I Answer That it is not always true but while the Body is affected with no other morbous apparatus for if the first region be foul or there be crudity a thinner manner of Diet is better till the crudity be overcome and spent by the spareness of Diet and Celsus's counsel holds The beginnings of Diseases do in the first place require hunger and thirst Let Hippocrates be consulted Lib. 1. de vict Acut. t. 32 42. and 45. For both of them suppose that never any lived so moderately and sparingly but that he takes somewhat more than is fitting so that there remains something that is crude or excrementous in respect whereof in the beginning of a Disease we must use spareness of Diet. Mercat de Praesid Medic lib. 1. c. 1. We must also take heed of the beginnings of all Inflammations especially of the principal Parts and of those which have a Fluxion joyned with them wherein we must allow less in the beginning and more when the Mouth begins to fill with Phlegm for you erre very much if in the beginning you allow much Meat as we find when the Humours are turgent which suddenly pass into a Phrensie whence the Disease will perhaps last longer than the strength through the abstinence in the beginning can hold out Idem ibid. III. Whether is it better to offend in too thin or too full a Diet I distinguish with Mercurialis betwixt the Dose of Meat in respect of its virtue and that in respect of its bulk and answer If one offend in a thin Diet in respect of its virtue that is certainly a greater fault than if he offended in a fuller because the Faculties being once cast down through want of sustenance can hardly be recruited But with respect to the bulk 't is far worse to erre in a full Diet than in a spare because more Victuals being thrown in than is fitting makes the Disease as Hippocrates writes for there are more Excrements bred whence there is not only afforded food for Putrefaction but the Native heat is also dulled and the preternatural increased Moreover Nature which ought to be wholly employed in concocting the morbid Humours Greg. Horst Exercit. de Febr. iv qu. 4. is wholly called off from that work to the Meat to the very great prejudice of the Patients ¶ Seeing we cannot always come to so clear an understanding of the Faculty as from thence to prescribe a just form of Diet and Patients use otherwise to offend in this matter it is queried Whether be the greater errour that when too full a Diet is allowed or that when one too spare 1. Aph. 5. But Hippocrates resolves this saying That the errours which are in any manner committed in a thin Diet are worse than if they had been in a little too full For many things may happen in the Patient beyond expectation as sudden watchings and too great evacuations Passions of the Mind whereby the strength of the Patient may be cast down so that he cannot hold out to the state of the Disease with this form of Diet wherefore when the state of the Disease is approaching 't is then necessary to change the Diet and to allow it a little fuller which yet is very inconvenient because through a fuller Diet Nature is called off from her fight against the Morbifick matter to the concoction of the Aliment From all which 't is clear that
Patient is to be dieted more fully then than before But How can the Disease be in its augment or state as to the alteration of the matter and not as to its Essence and Symptoms seeing the coction that is made in the Veins partakes of Putrefaction and is like to that which happens in Inflammations according to Galen 1. De Diff. febr 5. therefore if the Putrefaction be increased the Disease with the Symptoms will be increased also I answer In the internal cause which begins cherishes and increases the Disease two things are to be considered the quality and quantity The first is acrimony heat or an evil quality arising from Putrefaction and Corruption the second is either the same and equal or is greater and lesser Quality alone cannot bring on a determinate Distemper without a certain quantity and the greater this is the greater is its effect because there is no Agent so prevalent that can impress its effect without a certain quantity hence a spark of fire warms not much less burns From this cause although in the augment and state the quality of the cause be strengthened as to the alteration of the matter yet seeing the quantity is diminished it cannot make the Disease greater than it was before through the defect of the quantity You will object 1. The more the Disease recurrs the fuller Diet we must use because the Faculty being made weaker by the Disease and the Remedies seems the more to be recruited I answer 'T is true that the Faculty is weakened in the Progress of the Disease yet if the Diet be prescribed as it ought then in a Disease which terminates in health the Faculty is always superiour to the Disease for that the Disease may not encrease with greatness of Symptoms we permit the Faculties to be a little dissolved because we must not provide only for the Faculty but also for the Disease You will object 2. In the beginning of the Disease there is greater plenty of crude and rebellious Humour therefore a thinner Diet is then convenient that Nature may not be diverted from the concoction of the morbifick matter that is crude and untamed I answer in the augment and state the Faculty is more hindred than in the beginning for the heat and acrimony of the Humour now boiling and rarefied irritates more and therefore Nature being provoked uses greater endeavour than in the beginning and therefore is not to be diverted from that work You will object 3. from Aph. 1.11 In the beginning of a Fit the Patient ought to abstain from Meat and therefore he is to be more sparingly dieted in the beginning of the Disease also if there be the same reason of general and particular times I answer That there is great disparity between them for in the general or universal beginning the Disease and Symptoms are always less but in the particular greater for it is the worst time of all the Period and therefore the more unfit for giving of Meat Obj. 4. In an unknown Disease according to Avicen we must shorten or thin the Diet but the Disease is less known in the beginning Answ The Conclusion is to be understood of a known Disease for when it is not known a due regiment cannot be prescribed but if it be known in the beginning we must feed more freely and afterwards more sparingly Obj. 5. Hippocrates 1. de Vict. Acut. t. 21. where he treats of the Pleurisie and acute Diseases says Neither much nor thick Spoon-meat is to be offered in the beginning And Text. 23. If the Mouth says he wax moist and there appear an evident and perfect concoction the quantity of the Spoon-meat is to be encreased Answ Hippocrates discourses there of a moist Pleurisie in which the matter is purged out by degrees in which case the Diet should be fuller and fuller If you say that every Pleurisie does not terminate in a gradual evacuation seeing it often ends Critically as in Anaxion tertio Epid. 3.79 who was twice cured by a Critical Sweat Answ 1. Anaxion labour'd under a double Disease one from the Humour contained in the Veins and from thence the Fever sprang of which he was cured by the Sweat the other from the Humour setled in the Pleura whose Crisis was by spitting 2. In the Pleurisie and all internal Inflammations a most thin Diet is convenient in the beginning that the Fluxion may be stopped which will give an encrease to the Inflammation for the Parts through Abstinence becoming needy they retain their Humours and suffer them not to flow together to the Part affected But when there begins to be an Expurgation a fuller Diet must be prescribed Ex Zacut. P. M. H. pag. m. 349. Hist 50. that the Patient may cough up easily and his animal Faculty which it needs may be strengthened VIII Whether is it worse to offend in Meat or in Drink Celsus answers l. 1. c. 2. Often if there be any intemperance in the case 't is worse in Drinking than in Eating Reason confirms it 1. Because the immoderateness of Drink is commonly greater seeing drinking does much burthen the Belly 2. Because Drinking is more opposite to the innate heat and by its plenty the heat is sooner extinguisht than by Meat like fire 3. Much Drink is not concoctible and it is hardly superable by Nature yea it is an hindrance why the Aliments are not concocted because it is mixed with them and makes them slippery before concoction Hence it comes to pass that the more men abstain from Drink the more healthful they live and less liable to Diseases but through immoderate moisture a man is greatly subject to Diseases from Putrefaction Zacut. Pr. Hist p. 544. IX Galen Aphor. 17.1 intending to cure corruption of Humours the Faculties being weak has these words If the Faculties of the Sick Person be weak and that disposition which is in the Body be from corruption or defect of Humours we will give to such a little sustenance and often little indeed because the weakness of the Faculties cannot sustain the whole multitude of the Aliment together but often because the Disposition needs many things inasmuch as the defect requires addition and the corruption contemperation By which words he affirms that corruption of Humours requires many Meats and that it may be corrected and cured by them This Doctrine seems to be contrary to Hippocrates Aph. 10.2 The more you nourish foul Bodies the more you hurt them And 7 Aph. 67. If any give Meat to one in a Fever 't is Strength indeed to the healthful but a Disease to the sick Solve the contradiction by saying When the Faculty languishes Dieting may be proposed two ways either with evacuation or without it this latter way it is not granted according to Aph. 10. Sect. 2. But with evacuation frequent eating is prescribed as profitable and necessary for the corruption needs many things that is addition of Meats because instead of the vicious that ought
two to use a thinner Diet and then if debility of the faculties follow to use a thicker yet with this consideration that assoon as the faculties are recruited by this means the Diet be lessened again even till the state Wherein although there be need of an attenuating Diet yet if through preceding evacuations and the vehemence of Symptoms the faculties be more languishing then being driven by necessity we allow a fuller Diet in the state Zacut. Fr. Hist p. 537. XIV Although when Chylification is hurt the other functions that follow that first will become vitious also yet we must not deny the whilst that it sometimes happens that the sick not only receive no prejudice thereby but rather that their lost Health is restored by the vicious Chylification it self But as often as that happens it happens either by chance or by art because from aliments that are not so very laudable and which one would hardly allow to the well there is prepared such a chyle in the Stomach as serves instead of a Medicine to correct and amend the vicious Humours in the Body of the Sick Hence it is that they are sometimes cured by eating some food that is hurtful in it self and yet Medicinal to them and is potently or impotently craved by I know not what instinct now and then Fr. Sylv. Append Tract 3. § 42. c. XV. Seeing the Physician cannot always obtain of his Patient to abstain wholly from hurtful food he must diligently endeavour to be well acquainted with Medicines that may remedy the hurts arising therefrom Thus for example if any Patient's belly used to be extended upon the taking of certain aliments as suppose Milk and the like and the Physician know that such tension depends on flatus raised from the Milk things that discuss wind shall withal be prescribed the Patient and of the number of those let the Physician select such as he has learned by experience serve for discussing flatus raised from Milk From this Foundation sprang the Art of seasoning meat but in tract of time as most other things are wont it degenerated into abuse For the various seasoning of Meats seems to be invented not so much for the sake of correcting aliments that are vicious in some regards as for the sake of divers relishes grateful to the taste and apt to excite Men to gluttony But when aliments are seasoned according to the prescript of the Medical art Idem tract 5. § 222. not a few harms that are otherwise to be expected from them are shunn'd and prevented XVI As many as after the manner of the Ancients commit the greatest part of the cure of their Patients to a Chimerical or I know not what Nature and then excepting the Diet which they order after a sort are only Spectators of the fight which they Romance to be raised between Nature and the Disease and so are judges of the Victory which one while is on the Diseases side and another on Natures such Persons indeed offend in defect But as many as besides Diet which consists in the six non-natural things duly administred do moreover think that Medicines are to be prescribed by understanding Physicians at least in most Diseases which may correct or cast out all that which is apprehended to be besides Nature in the Sick these would have Physicians to be not only Spectators but Actors also And surely that Physician seems not so well to satisfie his own office and the expectation of the Sick who performs only one part of his office which consists in a due ordering of Diet while he neglects the two others that consist in the right direction of Surgery and Pharmacy For I think a case cannot easily happen wherein there is no place for prescribing some Medicines Indeed I deny not that the Sick may be cured nay that they are often truly cured though no Medicines were prescribed them by Physicians but none shall easily perswade me that the same are cured so soon so safely so easily and pleasantly as if convenient Remedies had been administred to them For one may have often observed such Sick Persons as have been helped by Diet only that they have been longer ill have often suffered dangerous relapses or have not escaped from their Maladies but with difficulty and irksomness Idem tract 8. § 199. c. when on the contrary those to whom fit Remedies were administred have been cured both shortly and safely and pleasantly XVII On the contrary vicious Humours are often amended not only by the vertue of Medicines seeing often none are taken but by the help of Diet alone namely such as is apt to procure that emendation not indeed such as is temperate and is owing to healthful Persons but such as departs from temperateness and mediocrity yet so that it be somewhat contrary to the fault of any offending Humour and therefore convenient for correcting and temperating of it whether such Diet be prescribed by the Physician or which happens oftener chosen and used by chance by the Patient himself for in furnishing of it chance oftener has place than reason And indeed I deservedly wonder that from Diet so often changed by chance there should be so great changes not only for the worse but also for the better and yet that the true reasons and causes of such mutations are not observed by Physicians seeing Patients do far more easily suffer themselves to be governed by Diet than by Medicines Which Diet if it be prescribed them and be not morose and disdainful yea often fanciful enough but easie grateful and taken from experience Idem tract 10. § 245. by the help thereof very many benefits redound to sick and recovering Persons XVIII Know that in the time of pain all meat whatsoever is not without fault especially that which easily waxeth sowr or turns into fume for on both accounts it encreaseth the pain For Ptisan or Barly-broth which is received by Hippocrates as the most convenient food for those that are sick of an acute Fever is rejected by him in the vehemency of pain 1. de vict Acut. Except sayes he you ease the pain either by procuring stools or bleeding accordingly as either is requisite and shall give Ptisan to those who are so Distemper'd you shall drive him head-long to Death Concerning other meats in the time of pain he sayes These things seize on him not only if he use ptisan unseasonably but much more if he eat or drink any thing that is more inconvenient than ptisan You will object that Hippocrates has there forbidden ptisan as also other Meats not account of pain but of the Inflammation of the membrane that cloaths the Ribs which he was speaking of and which he called pain It is so indeed and yet that stands good which we have said That in the time of vehement pain all meat whatsoever even the lightest is not without fault yea is very prejudicial For pain is one of those things which do
Fevers for which Wine is not at all ill especially for those which have their seat in the Stomach if so be such Wine be given as disturbs not the Head though in a pretty quantity it sometimes effects a cure according to Primrose l. 3. de vulg err in Med. cap. 18. The same person adds The propriety of a man has great power in the cure of all Diseases and there are some so very much addicted to Wine that even in the extremest Sicknesses they cannot abstain from it Add to these Canonherius of the admirable vertues of Wine who Lib. 1. cap. 3. § 18. writes thus We may use Wine in Fevers and as Aliment and § 25. Wine procures Sweat and by it not a little of the serous matter is carried fourth by Vrine Let the Reader compare with these Costaeus in Tract de Potu in morbis lib. 2. Hippolyt Obicius Hipp. Antonellus in apparatu Animadv upon the same XIV Hippocrates greatly disallows of Water for ordinary Drink and as much commends it as a Medicine namely when drunk in a large quantity Now he says it hurts in ordinary drink because it is thick passes not through the Hypochondres and in cholerick Persons easily turns into choler for being conquer'd by the febrile heat it easily Putrefies otherwise because it is cold and moist it is wholly contrary to the Fever and therefore is good for it In those therefore who are used to drink Water I see no reason why it may not be granted but it will be better if it be corrected with the mixture of other things yea it may be boiled to make it the thinner Some will have it distilled and then to be temper'd with the mixture of cooling and opening Syrups some would have Bread so soaked in it that it may a little imbibe the vertue of the Ferment Primiros de febr p. 146. others would have Cinamon infused in it c. XV. Beer although it be small yet it always has some faculty to heat and make drunk although that vertue be less and weaker in small than in strong whence it is not so good for those that are in acute Fevers and whose Head achs because it inflames and causes thirst if it be drunk plentifully as Febricitant Persons use to drink that are very dry You will object that Beer is only Barley-water nor does it acquire any quality that is adverse to a Fever from the addition of Hops seeing Hops are usually prescribed to depurate the Blood But Experience teacheth that there is a great difference betwixt Barley-water and Beer seeing the Water cools and drink as much as you will it never inflames nor disturbs the Brain nor causes thirst which cannot be said of Beer even though it be small And the difference depends upon this that Beer is not made of simple Barley but of Mault which is Barley steep'd and dried and dry Hops are added which heat sufficiently then it is fermented whence it acquires an hot quality which is not in Barley-water nor Ptisan and therefore it seemeth to me not so good Yet its use is better to be born with than that of Wine because it is less hot and is Diuretick Add that a Spirit is drawn even from small Beer Idem XVI In giving Drink to People in acute Fevers 't is fitting to use a measure lest on the one hand by too much moisture which is improper for Febricitant persons there spring either a greater crudity or a fouler and longer Putrefaction or on the other side by too much driness the accidents be increased and the Body consume Yet this one thing is worth noting that Drink being mixed with Meat is easilier concocted doth sooner refresh and doth less burthen weak Nature whence it comes to pass that on the first day of an acute Fever we may forbid all moisture unless the Patient be so weak that on that account Food is necessary but on the last days when driness and burning are urgent we must give Drink more freely Merc. lib. Praeâ—d 1. c. 2. especially if there shall be manifest concoction XVII Drinking in the Fit of an Ague is very hurtful for hereby just like as when Water is thrown upon a red hot Brick Valaeus m. â— p. 1â—0 there is caused such an ebullition of Humours as that both the Disease and the Symptom thirst are increased ¶ And yet we ought not pertinaciously as some do adhering to the indication from the cause neglect the intemperature for it is better sometimes to let the Disease be prolonged Valles 1. 2â— p. 41. than that a man should be presently burnt up ¶ I have found by Experience that hereby there have often sprung continual and mortal Fevers of intermittent ones and such as have been void of danger Heurn Aph. 62. 7. XVIII In continual burning Fevers the effect is commonly more urgent than the cause the Symptom than the Disease when therefore burning and troublesom thirst are grievous to the Patients in those Diseases it seems reasonable to give them their Drink cold and in that plenty that it may temper the boiling Humours and extinguish the fervour of the Spirits To this Hippocrates has regard whilst in many places he commends cold Drink thus l. de vict ac both in the Causus or burning Fever and Quinsey he gives cold Water In lib. 4. Epid. he says that in acute Fevers 't is profitable to give cold Water In 2. de morb On the second day after the beginning of the Fever you shall give him as much cold Water as he 'l drink again 3. de morb he prescribes cold water even that hath been exposed to the open air But l. de Loc. he says For Drink you shall give warm water and water and Honey and Vinegar with water for if the drink be not received in cold being and remaining warm it will detract from the sick Body or either will eject by Vrine or will dry There namely he is more intent upon the cause of the Disease For drink is given in Fevers upon a double account either that it may be a vehicle for the food and quench thirst which is taken with the food it self and this should be cold or for the alteration or exclusion of the Humours and here warm drink is commended as also if the Body have not been accustomed to cold or if the Stomach be cold XIX Give cooling potions to drink in burning Fevers when you will says Hippocrates 3. de morb v. 69. Note that Hippocr said not when the Patient will but when you the Physician will that is according to the regulated will of the Physician and not the perverse will of the Patient Now these potions are of different operations for some cause pissing others going to stool some both some neither some cool only like as when one pours cold Water into a Vessel of boiling Water or exposes the Vessel it self full of Water to the open air Therefore you shall give
divers Portions which Avicen also approved of but that in Winter it was sufficient to eat once or twice a day Gr. Horstius Exerc. 4. de feb qu. 3. because in that Season it is better concocted and the Excrements are generally fewer XXIV Concerning Sleep we must note 1. That Sleep is always hurtful in the beginning of a Fit because then the faculty is strong and the cause of the fit intire and not evacuated as yet nor lessened wherefore it neither needs retraction of the heat nor union nay if the heat be then withdrawn the faculty is more oppressed through the multitude of the Humour and the heat is made more preternatural and is defiled through the commerce of the Humour and vapours and by this means the Fever is prolonged because its cause is not dissolved yea it remains in the Body too fixed and rooted when it does not exhale to the outer parts But in the declination it is always good for the faculties being dissolved and wearied from the foregoing terms viz. the beginning augment and state they desire rest and firmitude moreover the cause of the Fit is now overcome dissolved and turned into vapours which when they are dispersed to the outer parts and are distant from the principal parts are not so easily retracted If sleep therefore come upon the Patient then it refreshes the faculties seeing now that the load is taken off they are not oppressed yea by the Blood and Spirits retiring to the inner parts the faculties being collected and more brisk end the Fever or stoutly shatter the reliques of the Humours Sleep in the state is doubtful for it sometimes does good sometimes hurt which flows from the various disposition of the Body and diversity of the Fever for if the Body be hot and dry and prepared for resolution then sleep is profitable in the state of the Fit for it moistens refresheth the faculties and makes the fit shorter On the contrary if the Body be hot and moist of a dense habit sleep is unprofitable for then there is neither need of refection nor moistening yea if it come the resolution of the morbifick cause is hindred and the state and declination are prolonged In like manner we must think as to the diversity of the Fever for if the Humour do more offend in quantity than in quality such as are the Phlegmatick the Melancholick or the bastard Tertian then sleep profits not but hurts On the contrary if the Humour offend and urge more in quality than quantity as a bilious Ague that springs from sincere choler so that by its thinness heat and Acrimony it presses and wearies the faculty then sleep is profitable The same is to be said of the last part of the augment which 't is certain represents the nature of the beginning We must Note 2. That this doctrine is to be understood not only of the particular termes of every Fit but of the universal for in the beginning because Nature is oppressed Sleep is not so convenient but 't is more convenient in the augment and far more in the state but most of all in the declension for by its help the Spirits are refreshed and the reliques of the Humour are concocted and wasted This is the cause why the longest Sleep is granted in the declination in the beginning very short and in the middle terms indifferent But if sweat be at hand or break forth in the state Zacut. Pr. Hist p. 545. See more there Sleep helpeth greatly if signs of concoction go before for Sleep hinders all evacuations except sweat which it promotes Diaphoreticks See Alexipharmacks and Sudorificks The Contents How they act I. Such as absorb II. Such as make the Serum fluxile III. Such as hinder its coagulation IV. A Diaphoresis is not to be procured by externals alone V. The same are not convenient in all cases VI. The more temperate are sometimes the more availeable VII They are sometimes hurtful VIII They are to be avoided where the Serum is either too little or too much IX What things hinder their use X. Acids help the vertue of Sulphureous IV. I. DIaphoreticks and Sudorificks differ from one another in degrees the former discuss halituous excrements by insensible transpiration and promote the same transpiration and ventilate the Blood the latter do this also but leave a more manifest effect by a dewy sweat And they operate inasmuch as they fuse the Blood and procure a separation of the Serum from it that it may be expelled through the pores of the Skin in the form of Vapours II. Both 1. by absorbing and resolving that which binds the serum and makes it more fixt as the more fixed alkaline and earthy Medicines for instance Antimonium Diaphoreticum Shells Harts horn burnt the Bezoar stone Bole-Armene Bezoardicum minerale c. these do greatly precipitate the fermentation of the Humours and set insensible transpiration free and at liberty III. And also 2. by making it fluxile whether by rarefying of it and inducing a new fermentation on the Blood Thus 1. lixival and nitrous Salts Salt of Wormwood Carduus Bened. Centaury which both absorb and also make the serum fluxile thus 2. Volatils the Spirit of Harts-horn of vipers of Ivory do very powerfully drive forth sweat or by yielding an halituous vehicle and volatility such as are 1. the aqueous as divers distilled waters and especially some decoctions that enjoy also a certain volatility also 2. those that are easily resoluble because of their watry and Gummy substance as the rob of dwarf-Elder Elder c. but chiefly 3. those that are indued with a volatil Salt intimately mixt with a Sulphur the bitter resinous c. so card bened opium Camphor the Wood Guaiacum and amongst compound Remedies Treacle Mithridate and the rest mentioned in the first class these promote the sluggish motion of the Serum and put nature upon discussing superfluities opening the Pores and vigorating the mass of Blood And these have place chiefly in a Rheumatism or any flux whatsoever of the Blood and Serum for instance in the Inflammations of the Pleura fluxions of the Joynts c. whence they are good in the Pleurisie which has often its Throat cut as it were by some eminent Sudorifick in the beginning in the Gout which is helped most of all by the same sweats in Tumours of the Groins Tonsils Armpits and the like in Fainting Swooning both solitary and hysterical and when the Small Pox or Measles come not out well IV. Likewise 3. by inciding the curdled serum and promoting the fermentation of the Blood also by this very means Those Medicines that perform this are chiefly acids and alkalines also after their manner to wit in a different respect hence vinegar as likewise other acids are deservedly reckoned among sudorificks For it is an observation not to be slightly esteemed that Sulphureous Medicines by the accession of acids do far more readily act and procure sweat more than when left to
as the stone of Perches Crabs-Eyes lapis Judaicus Nephriticus Spongiae the Stones of Fruits and their ashes Hot and dry Bodies are not long nor vehemently to be forced to Purge by Urine by hot Diuretick Deâ—octions seeing frâ—m their use an Inflammation of the Liver a Fever and an extenuation of the whole Body may follow On the contrary the fat the cold such as have a soft and loose Skin and abound with a watry Humour and thin juices are veâ—y fit to be purged by Urine Idem ibid. XVI Those who use Diureticks in such as abound wiâ—h crudities for the most part hurt the Sick because very often crudity does more in prohibiting than indicating I say often not alwayes because whilst the Urine is detained in the upper parts and is altogether suppressed although there be great crudity yet nevertheless we have recourse to the most powerful Diureticks Sanâ—tor Met. l. 15. c. 10. such as Cantharides XVII We must never deal with Diureticks especially such as are vehâ—ment in passions of the Reins or Bladder that depend on much juice before the whole Body be purged and there be made the greatest revulsion by vomit that may be and derivation to the intestins and that is to be done by Medicines that are mild and are void of a malignant quality not so far as that they have nothing of an attractive Because those which purge violently do also provoke Urine and the Terms and even upon this account cause Abortions as justly seemed to Averrces For if while the Body is full of bad juices a Diuretick be given and that be weak or moderate it will certainly cause the excrements to flow together towards the ways affected and to be heaped and crammed up there by which means they will be the less apt to go forth And if a violent one be given so that it is able to break through this stoppage also the same will also have the power to exulcerate whereby it will exulcerate the Stomach and Intestines before it come at the place affected and so will irritate both the upper and lower part of the Belly and also by the pain that it causes will call excrements to the Belly and it will come to pass that what was given as a Diuretick will by accident act the part of a Vomit or Purge but with great mischief to the Patient Valles l. 5. Epid. p. 480. seeing it does not Purge by an attractive faculty but corrupts by an exulceratory XVIII After the tryal of Medicines of all sorts for 29 years I have hardly observed that Diureticks which quickly pass through by Urine do evacuate excrements more than usual And let the Readers know that there are no Medicines which so purge by Urine as there are that purge by stool Because that is said to be Diuretick which moves by Urine I see not why a Diuretick should carry with it such things as ought to be Purged For Mineral Waters are called Diuretick because they themselves pass nay there are rarely found Diureticks which are altogether and wholly evacuated by Urine For if any one drink ten pints of Mineral Waters and there pass out by Urine nine or ten pints such will be esteemed very good Diureticks but we say not so of purging Physick because half a scruple of diagridium will evacuate an Hundred scruples and more of excrements The same we say of other things for the smell of Asperagus passes by Urine but it carries little or nothing with it of other excrements yea the Spanish Fly that provokes Urine the most strongly causes heat by driving forth only a few drops of Urine and not any great quantity of it or other excrements It would be indeed a great happiness if such Diureticks were to be had in the Shops Sanctor Art parv c. 89. partic 84. cap. 94. partic 7. as would evacuate by Urine not only themselves but more other excrements contained in the Veins because they would expeditely overcome all those evils that are contained in the Veins XIX The continued use of Diureticks Joh. Walaeus m. m. p. 71. as if they be taken Morning Noon and Night doth encrease their vertue and efficacy XX. Diureticks ought not to be mixed with meats I do not indeed reject Pottage of Roots Herbs and other aperitives but yet they must not be supt at Dinner but an hour or two before for if they be mixed with other meats it is to be feared they will hurry the undigested chyle along with themselves How great their vertue is Pigraeus lib. 10. cap. 20. speaking of the Spaw-Waters shews viz. that they hurry along with them whatsoever they meet with even Anniseed comfits themselves whole A Citizen of Friburg being taken with a stoppage of Urine and suffering great pains for some dayes and having taken many things in vain at length having first purged took Crab-fish stamped with Winter-Cherries whereby Urine was so provoked Fab. Hildanus Cent. 3. obs 72. that the stones of the Winter-Cherries were expelled with this Urine and that not without the greatest pain and torment XXI We must note concerning the cold Seeds that their Diuretick vertue resides most in their husks for the pulp doth moisten and nourish Heurn Meth. ad prax l. 1. p. m. 110. XXII We must learn from Galen that when our intention is to provoke Urine the Remedies are to be taken with Sugar or Honey Therefore Asclepiades saith Saxon. praelect pract part 2. cap. 23. that a Remedy of Cichory or Endive prescribed on account of the Liver provokes Urine because it is made up with Honey The same we may think of Sugar XXIII I will open the safest way to use Cantharides by infusion Let a scruple of Cantharides being powdered be infused in three or four ounces of Rhenish Wine or Brandy and let it stand in Infusion for some dayes then filtre it through brown Paper that nothing of the substance of the Cantharides be mixed with the Liquor Mix one spoonful of the strained Liquor in seven of Wine or Beer and of this mixture give to drink the first day one Spoonful the second two and so on In a virulent Gonorrhoea suppression of Urine and the Stone Mr. Dr. Jac. Franc. Kotzone found a good success of this prepared Potion Tho. Barth Cent. 5. Obs 82. Chymists write truly that Salt is the chief Diuretick hence Cantharides most powerfully provoke Urine for they are endued with an acrimonious volatil caustick Salt that is meltable in the Urine which being received into the Vessels does therefore so stimulate in the Reins and Bladder Wedel as both to erode and cause a Bloody Urine XXIV Volatil Salts being taken for continuance even together with meat bring Phlegm down to the Kidneys and carry it out with the Urine inasmuch as they not only incide and correct glutinous Phlegm but drive forward part thereof to the wayes of Urine and expel it in the form of sediment which yet fails
Brain X. When an over large quantity of Opiats has been given Platerus bids us take a Lenient but that has no effect to any purpose Wallaeus sayes indeed that 't is best to give a strong Purgative but there is fear it should not work because of the restraint that is put upon the motion of the Humours by the Narcotick Helmonts advice pleases me who does very well conquer the harms and prejudices of Opiats by Lixivials in Duumvirat p. 245. § 31. XI Physicians commit such excesses as in several other sorts of Remedies so especially in those that are called Anodyne which are made of the juice of Poppy Henbane Seed or the root of Mandrake or Styrax or some such like for some to gratifie their Patients exceed due measure in the use of these Medicines and some that are unseasonably and immoderately wayward in wholly abstaining from their use suffer their Patients to be killed with pains Therefore as in every both habit and action of a mans whole life so here also we embrace that counsel of the wise Man who said Ne quid Nimis do nothing too much because if we may do what we wish in using Remedies to cure the Disease we must abstain from Medicines that cause sleep but if through want of sleep and resolution of the faculties the Patient be in danger of dying then indeed you may seasonably use such Medicines being not ignorant that the habit of the Body is somewhat hurt by them Gal. 12. m. m. c. 1. but that that hurt is rather to be chosen than Death XII Let not the dose be too large we should stop pain and not overwhelm Crude Opium causeth convulsions and swoonings it ought therefore to be given corrected either in Laudanum Opiatum or in Treacle they give this latter from half a drachm to one or two drachms Some women every eighth day are troubled with a great Head-ach whence by degrees Treacle becomes familiar to them so that they ascend from half a drachm to six drachms which no wise man ought to imitate Let the Physician be content with half or a whole drachm The lowest and usual dose of Opium is one grain or two a great dose three or four grains too great five or six grains These things require an experienced and prudent Physician In cold Diseases or Bodies we give less of Opiats than in hot Walaeus m. m. p. 153. Hydoprical persons die with giving one grain of Opium XIII Laudanum sometimes produces divers and contrary operations though by accident for while it allays pains and procures sleep the natural heat recurs which was dispersed through the vehemence of pain and want of sleep to the inner parts of the Body whence the Patient does by and by so gather strength that all the faculties are intirely restored as it were and the Expulsive expells what its troublesome inimicous to Nature which will be manifest by the following instance Having once happily cut an intestinal rupture in a Child ten months old and the wound was now ready to be skinned over behold he is suddenly taken with great gripings in his Belly so that he cried night and day Not knowing the cause which his parents concealed I used in the mean time the necessary Remedies and at length when his strength begun to fail I gave him a grain of Laudanum with a little confectio Alkermes in milk That night he rested well enough the following day an Ecchymosis or extravasation of Blood begun to break forth in the sound groin which by little and little seized upon the Hip and spread it self to the Knee and even to the Foot yet from that time the pains and gripings of the Belly were lessened and when three days after Fabr. Hild. Cent. 5. Obs 60. I had given the same potion again they wholly ceased but the Ecchymosis seised also upon the other Thigh Loins and os sacrum from which he was shortly freed XIV We must have a care how we use them in a simple hot intemperies Heurn Meth. l. 3. c. 13. where there is no morbifick matter XV. Idem l. 2. c. 7. Sennert l. 3. pract part 2. s 2. c. 2. And where thick and glutinous juices abound let soporiferous Medicines be least thought of if the Patient be in no danger XVI When too great a quantity of Opium has been administred 't is best to give a strong purgative for so the thickned Humours are attenuated Nor need you fear super-purgation for that is never caused in this case Two Physicians were accused of being the cause of a mans death one by a strong purgative had caused a super-purgation which the other desiring to stop gave a Narcotick Wal. m. m. p. 194. whereupon the Patient died ¶ If any dulness or other harm seem to be brought upon the Brain correct it by washing with a decoction of the leaves of Betony Mallows and Chamomel flowers And if the Patient sleep more profoundly and longer than is expected Sennert ubi supra hold to the Nose a Sponge or rag wet with the sharpest vinegar XVII Assoon as the pain is appeased and the Patient lies still let them be forthwith removed Heurnius l. 2. c. 7. lest a cold intemperies follow an hot one XVIII We shall learn by these tokens when to abstain from Narcoticks 1. When the Patient feeleth not so much heat pricking and pain in the part affected as before 2. When to the judgment of the touch the part appeareth cooler than it was 3. Pareus lib. 6. c. 13. When the fiery red colour begins to grow livid and black by degrees XIX Note that Narcoticks applied outwardly obtain not alwayes the desired effect or do cause danger Therefore Mnesidemus in Dioscor gave Opium to smell to and Rhasis put it into the Ears which yet is suspected seeing it is an adversary to hearing For if 1. they be applied to the Forehead and be not often renewed they grow hot there and heat the Head the more whereupon Sleep is rather driven away than invited 2. The Forehead bone is solid dense and further removed from the Brain than the other Bones whence their vertue reacheth not thither If they be applied to the Coronal suture they exert their vertue indeed but they will be injurious to the Brain most of which lies thereunder XX. It is worth nothing that Hofman l. de Med. offic has observed that Flower-de-luce procures Sleep not by a Narcotick vertue but a vaporous substance such as also Saffron Myrrh c. consist of And they do this in cold and moist bodies not in the hot and dry for when in these the native heat cannot raise up vapours to the head these hot things help it and by breeding vapours procure sleep XXI I remember that Mich. Neucrantzius a very famous Practitioner being against the preposterous use of hypnoticks in old men with good success mingled the Species of Diambra and Diamoscha with Electuaries made of
fâ—r thickening But in oâ—her cases a mediocrity of substance was lookt after either thickening it by boiling or on the contrary making it thiâ—â—er by mixing divers liquors with it for they used both Cows milk and Sheeps and Goats milk as the case required but with this distinction that when they intended to Purge or to wash down the Belly they gave it in the largest quantity for Hippocrates gave sometimes a Gallon for that purpose but in other cases seldom above a quart that it might be detained and concocted in the Stomach When therefore he says in the 5. Aph. 64. that it is bad to give Milk to those who are troubled with the Head ach c. he speaks not of that which is given in a great quantity to Purge withal for that to speak properly is not lac dare to give Milk but rather to Purge with Milk Martâ—an which manner of speaking was usual with Hippocrates II. Nor does Milk given thus bring those inconveniences that are imputed to Milk given otherways and the reason is because it makes no long stay in the Stomach so as to be able to send forth vapours to the Head or cause flatus and because being taken in a large quantity it is not subject to the danger of corruption for on these things the hurts of Milk depend And that this was Hippocrates's meaning may be demonstrated from his Doctrine seeing he uses Asses or Goats milk diluted in all cases wherein it is forbidden by the present Aphorism for he uses it in Ulcers of the Head 2. de Morb. v. 158. and in the Falling Sickness 4. Acut. v. 52. In Fevers he very often prescribes Purging with Asses milk in a Quotidian from Choler and in the Fever called Interficient 2. de Morbis in a burning Fever 2. Acut. v. 10. in Diseases to which an acute Fever is joined for instance in an Erysipelas 2. de Morbis Nor does he deny it to them whose extended Hypochondres rumble when he gives Asses milk both to the Hepatick and Splenetick even such as incline to a Dropsie to Purge them l. de in t affect v. 113. Further he disallows of Milk to those who have had a large evacuation of Blood and yet 4. Acut. he commands those to be Purged with Asses milk who have had a large flux of Blood Seeing therefore Hippocrates uses Milk to Purge withal in all cases wherein it is condemned by the present Aphorism we must affirm that lac dare to give Milk signifies not Milk to Purge withal but that Milk which is given for nourishment or alteration which is confirmed by this because reckoning up the cases wherein it is profitably given he only rehearses those that want nourishment I mean the Consumptive Persons afflicted with long Fevers and the too much extenuated whom we may by no means Purge at least very rarely P. Martianus upon this Aphorism thinks that it is thus to be understood that Milk must be abstained from where all these Symptoms come together but not when any one of them is found alone for if it were not so there would hardly ever be place for Milk Wherefore Milk will be ill in a Fever whereto all that concourse of Accidents shall be joined which may be collected from the last words of the Aphorism But it is conveniently prescribed also in long continuing and slow Fevers if none of the things mentioned be present that is if the Sick be neither thirsty nor have rumblings in his Belly Sinibald Antiph 22 lib. 3. nor cholerick Stools III. Hippocrates gave Asses milk boiled in the Bloody Flux that Purging by its plenty for he gave a great quantity in the beginning of the Flux the Parts might be made more firm whence the Flux might be restrained for in boiling some thinner and moister parts of the Milk evaporate which by moistening might make the Humours more fluxile Which is observed not only in Milk but inviolably also in Whey by Hippocrates For as often as there is need of drying as in all Fluxes in Catarrhs and other such like cases he always uses both Whey and Milk boiled but raw when he would loosen and moisten and where it is expedient to keep the Belly loose Martian comm in v. 72. S. 1. 7. Epid. l. de vict acut v. 10. Which distinction when Modern Physicians neglect in giving Whey that use it indifferently not only boiled but twice or thrice filtrated 't is no wonder they are so often frustrated in the end intended IV. If perchance natural Milk either through an occult property or manifest quality be not pleasing to the nature of the Patient which for the first days ought to be Asse's because it cools more than Goats viz. for the first twenty days but for the following forty Goat's use an artificial in its stead for the first days likewise more cooling than nourishing but for the rest cooling and nourishing Take of cleansed Melon-seeds an Ounce of the four cold seeds of each half a Drachm of the water of Mallows and Gourd of each five Ounces wherewith make an Emulsion Afterwards Take of cleansed Melon seeds an Ounce twenty sweet Almonds forty Pine kernels Fortis consult 87. Cent. 3. of Chicken broth ten Ounces wherewith make an Emulsion V. Let Milk be drunk warm from the Cow with a little Sugar but by no means with a morsel of Bread lest by staying too long in the Stomach it hurt the Head by filling of it Idem cent 3. Cons 29. and let it be used above forty dayes VI. In the mean time that no thicker part of the same Milk be curdled and stick in the Mesentery let the Patient every tenth day take an Ounce of the Cream of Tartar dissolv'd in Broth that those passages may be clear'd Idem ibid. VII Why did Hippocrates who was wont so frequently to use Whey both to Purge and wash down never use it in a burning Fever though it may seem to satisfie all the intentions that occur in the cure of this Disease I answer That Hippocrates does here give Milk because he supposes that in this Fever cholerick ichors that fall upon the Belly do offend in which case there seems no Remedy that can be thought on more convenient than Asses milk for this by its Purging vertue may easily draw down the foresaid Humours now stirr'd up to motion and cool all the estuating Body and mitigate and attemperate all the Juices And because it is expedient that the Belly after it has been loosened by Purging should remain more firm he commands the Milk to be first boiled which is usual with Hippocrates in all kinds of Fluxions Nor does he fear any hurt from the Milk because of the Fever because seeing by reason of its great quantity it descends quickly it cannot contract such a Putrefaction from the febrile heat as to hurt the Patient and where 5. Aph. 64. he forbids to give Milk to People in Fevers he speaks of that
to eat little Ulcers in the Skin for Issues Where note that both the lixivial Salt and acid Spirit obtain their notable acrimony from the fire seeing both are prepared from a saline matter by the force of a sharp fire Now seeing no such or so great fire can be kindled in our Body as is needful for the making of an acid Spirit it is not to be supposed that any acid Spirit is properly prepared in the Body but only principally separated and freed from the temperating Impediments viz. Oil and volatil Spirit A pretty pure acid Spirit has often been observed in the Body even without the use or abuse of any thing that has been manifestly acid Thus diverse-coloured stools are observed in Infants yet commonly of a various green and smelling acid whence doubtless Epileptick Fits have their origine from an acid Spirit fermenting in the small Guts with the choler Thus torturing Pains in any part of the Body that sometimes arise like lightening on a sudden or otherwise rack cruelly yield a certain Argument that there is an acid Spirit separately in the Body that is very moveable and gnaws the sensible Parts So rottenness of the Bones shews that there is a too pure acid Spirit in the Body which is clear from the intolerable Pains that often go before and which can only be deduced from acidity Namely the acrimony arising from a lixivial Salt abides more fixt in the same place and seems to burn the Part affected while an acid Spirit is judged to hit or tear or perforate by repeated gnawings the Part that is seised upon by it This conjecture of mine has been confirmed by spittle that has sometimes been so acid as to set the Teeth on edge like other acids taken into the Mouth The matter of acid Humours is supplied to the Glands from the arterial Blood wherein that there are acid Spirits is evinced both by its coagulation into clods when it is let out of the Vessels and also by the corrosion and consumption of the Bones that is made by the arterial Blood in an Aneorism The acrimony of an acid Spirit is temper'd chiefly by a volatil Spirit that sweetens the same being easily united to it Thus Spirit of Wine being cohobated with Spirit of Salt does so lenifie the same that it is then called sweet by Artists The same is temper'd by all sweet things but these do more difficultly unite with it if it were not for the lixivial Salt that is mixt with the fat For as an acid and volatil Spirit are easily joined throughly with one another and an Oil is easily mixed with a lixivial Salt so on the contrary a volatil Spirit and lixivial Salt do more difficultly combine together Idem Disput Medic. vij § 43. seqq and the most difficultly of all an acid Spirit and Oil. ¶ Though all acrimony seem to produce a sense of heat in sensible Parts yet from the cure there appears to be a different acrimony one indeed joined with heat and another destitute of it And seeing we have not only discover'd two sorts of acrimony that are found in our Body but besides from their conflux because of other things that are joined with them a double effervescence is observed to be produced both an hot and also a cold which are not only manifest to sense and therefore distinct from one another but yielding to different Remedies and so also differing from one another It may deservedly be queried what sort of heat that is which uses to accompany now and then for instance the flux of the Terms whether that which has its rise only from an hot effervescence or also from a cold or whether from each acrimony offending without such an effervescence By neglecting this question and the clearing and determination hereof we should undertake an Empirical rash and often a pernicious cure For seeing the heat may be produced from divers causes it is also to be cured diversly according to the diversity of the cause And if any object that I have taught that both sorts of acrimony may be allay'd and temper'd by the same Medicines both spirituous and oily and watry and that therefore it matters little what acrimony offend seeing the same Medicines are profitable in both cases I answer that both sorts of acrimony are indeed temper'd by the same Medicines but not alike quickly and powerfully seeing oily Medicines do both more easily and quickly and powerfully temper a lixivial Salt as on the contrary spirituous volatils an acid Spirit so that though all things that temper either sort of acrimony are always administred with Profit and especially when there want signs that may demonstrate sufficiently whether of them do primarily and chiefly offend yet as often as it can be known which offends it is better to use chiefly those Remedies that are especially conducible to the tempering of it which as it is sometimes known from concurring signs and symptoms so it is frequently concluded from the different operâ—tion of the Medicine that is given that is à juvantibus vel nocentibus from helpers or hurters according to the golden axiom of Practitioners The heat therefore that is produced for instance from the menstruous Blood in the ways through which it is poured forth has sometimes yea indeed often its rise from an acid Humour that is in the Womb and which comes forth with the Blood whether it make none or an hot effervescence therewith If the acid Humour that is found preternaturally in the substance of the Womb cause no effervescence with the menstruous Blood there will rather be felt a troublesom gnawing than a true heat in the Parts affected But if the same acid juice do cause an hot effervescence with the menstruous Blood then there will be raised an heat and often a redness also even in the extreme Parts and both will be observed when the acid does either notably gnaw only or also burns withal but as often as the offending matter is more gentle or more broken then we cannot so distinctly conclude in what regard the acrimony offends I am therefore of opinion that in the heat that accompanies the flux of the Terms an acid always offends Idem Prax. l. 3. c. 3. § 416. seqq whereto is sometimes joined a more or less cholerick Blood whence the said heat uses to be diversly changed and felt ¶ An acid acrimony is temper'd by several oleous things by Oil it self any sort of Milk Broth of flesh especially such as is fat Emulsions prepared of divers sorts of Seeds especially of sweet Almonds Moreover by sweet things Sugar Honey Raisins and sometimes by spirituous things or others that concentrate an acid such as Corals Perles A lixivial and aromatick acrimony such as is in Pepper Cloves Rocket and the like is temper'd by both the aforesaid oily and sweet things yet 't is safer to abstain wholly or in a great measure from them A Salt acrimony such as is in
the more readily be driven down out of the Body being furthered by the slipperiness hereof Which how profitable it is we then come to understand when after a long loosness wherein this Phlegm has been expelled also we come to want the benefit of excretion Do not those therefore offer violence to Nature Simon Pauli Quadrip Botan class 3. tit Centaur min. that are daily scraping this crust from off the Guts with Pills and Clysters LXIII 'T is strange how apt Wine is to penetrate by reason of its volatil Salts how entirely it often conveys the vertues of vegetables into the menstruum or Liquor Hence I remember that D. Joh. Michael did gravely advise as often as Resinous Bodies were added to any Purging potion that they were better extracted if a little Wine were added On the same account 't is better to use Mechoacan in Infusion than in Pouder I. D. Major tract de calc Sperlingian and Schroder l. 4. pharm § 448. declares that the purging Spirit or Infusion of Scammony prepared with the Spirit of Malaga-Wine purges without any trouble or disturbance LXIV Simple Extracts are often better than compound especially when the compound aim not all at one and the same scope Thus the most simple Laudanum made of Opium alone is in my opinion to be prefer'd far before all the Laudanums that are to be had up and down made with the essence of Spec. diambrae c. for these very things are far better added for the present use according to the intention of the thing and the variation of circumstances There is the like reason in the extraction of a mass for Pills whence amongst other things it chiefly comes to pass that Pills made of such a compound Mass have commonly so deceitful an effect The same holds of most other common compositions in which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to the decent manner of mixture is seldom observed 'T is better to prepare the things which are to be prepared and then to compound them at pleasure or rather according to necessity G. W. Wedel pharm p. 26. lest being overwhelmed as it were with a hodg-podg of Ingredients we become either doubtful or deceived LXV Purging extracts are a more sluggish kind of Medicin The Rosin of Scammony or Jalap may indeed be dissolved with the Spirit of Wine and reduced into an Essence which is a Medicin convenient enough but yet a little too hot But amongst Purgers Extracts are of more common use than Essences Now that Purging Extracts are more sluggish in Operation is clear by experience For though half a Scruple of the Rosin of Jalap be equal in proportion to two Scruples of Jalap in substance yet it Purges no more than one Scruple of Jalap Yea Pills made of the Rosin of Scammony or Jalap alone have either no effect at all or else an unfaithful one that is they either purge not at all or more strongly than they should If any ask how this comes to pass that there should not be a stronger effect seeing Rosins and Extracts are and are called the quintessence as it were or at least the best part The true reason hereof consists in the manner of resolution Scammony Jalap and Rhubarb purge strongly in substance in regard the Sulphur is more dispersed and therefore they are more easily dissolved and consequently stimulate the Guts to Excretion And this very resolution of the Medicin is chiefly performed by the Serum which as it is the vehicle of Aliments so also of Medicins But when the Resinous Sulphureous particles are more united they are more conglobated and more hardly dissolved yet when they are resolved which they are in Bodies abounding with Salt humours chiefly they then more readily display their Salino-Sulphureous Stimulus and communicate it to the Body Hence Purging Rosins are best given with Emulsions And likewise it is adviseable to mix the extract of Scammony or Jalap with a little of the same in substance which we commonly do with good success For it is to be noted that besides the Resinous there lurk also Gummy parts in Jalap which when precipitation is made come severally into sight by the evaporation of the decanted Liquor which is not very Purgative Hence gather what is to be thought of that opinion of Lavaterus who defens Gal. p. 72. says he has been taught by experience that the taking of a simple Infusion of Purgers does more than Extracts themselves because he thought that the purging vertue of Medicins inheres more in the Salt than in the Sulphur or Mercury for the Salt can never be mixed with Spirit of Wine Idem although in time it may draw something of a tincture from it LXVI Many imprudently enough infuse a great deal of Senna and Rhubarb in a small quantity of Liquor whereby all their vertue is so far from being drawn forth that half or a fourth part of it is not He therefore that is desirous to know both the quantity of the Liquor and also of the Purger to be infused in it 1. Let him have regard to the Liquor it self whether it be pure or imbued with the vertue of some other Purging Medicin that may help or hinder the vertue of that which we are to infuse 2. Let him consider whether the Purger be strong and full of a Purgative vertue or more or less destitute of the same from any cause And seeing the Physician cannot know what such the Purger is which the Apothecary will make use of the more prudent Physicians use to prescribe a little the more of the Purger that if it have not its vertue intire that want may be made up with using the greater quantity of it LXVII But another error is often committed here by Apothecaries whilst some infuse the Purger in the prescribed quantity of Liquor others in a greater and either take only a part thereof or evaporate it too much yea sometimes strain the Purger and sometimes not Whence any one may see how uncertain the efficacy of such an Infusion must needs be In the mean time many Apothecaries think they have Licence to do such things whereby yet both the Physicians and Patients are imposed upon Wherefore seeing it is impossible for a Physician to discover the particular custom of any Apothecary which they often conceal I had rather in my Practice prescribe either Electuaries or Pills than Infusions seeing Potions also may be made of Electuaries dissolved in a convenient Liquor And I have observed that I have prescribed Physick to my Patients with far greater certainty and safety than others Sylv. de le Boe meth med lib. II. c. 7. Salivaters The Contents They Operate by opening and widening the pores of the Fauces palate c. I. By fusing melting and inciding the serous humours II. Whether salivation by Mercury be an universal evacuation III. Salivaters evacuate the conjunct cause and relieve the neighbouring parts IV. They are most proper when humours are
cold as if for example any labour under a cold intemperies he must use hot things only and abstain from Bleeding which is a cooling remedy But if the disease be hot and Refrigeration be only as an antecedent cause while we extinguish the Fever by Bleeding we shall do no harm for the procatarctick cause has no indication belonging to it Yet when refrigeration hurteth even the Viscera Valles contr l. 7. c. 6. Bleeding is most of all to be shunn'd ¶ Those things which are alledged against Bleeding are only to be understood of that which is made for evacuations sake and make us take heed that by letting Blood there follow not a crudity of cold humours and intimate that the quantity is to be moderated Add hereto that the Authors of approved medicin have often practis'd Venesection in diseases meerly cold as in a Dropsie from the retention of some usual evacuation Hippocr 4. acut 11. For when the heat is suffocated by Blood that is too cold through its plenty Bleeding is a present remedy Likewise in palpitation a cold disease lib. de rigore c. c. 5. In a Priapism 14. meth c. 7. In a suffocation by cold Water Dioscor l. 6. c. 4. Paul lib. 5. cap. 66. Zacut. princ med hist 8. l. 2. In stubborn diseases proceeding from a cold cause to abstain altogether or more than is meet from Bleeding is not the part of a prudent Physician seeing 't is certain that every part of the Body is nourished by that matter which is in the Veins Which the colder and thicker it is by so much the more grievous and stubborn does it make the distemper that is raised from the like matter L. Botal de s m. cap. 12. Which matter we say is to be diminished partly by Bleeding partly by Purging and an attenuating diet that the Mass of Blood being cleansed and renewed the disease may be cured XLI Others proceed further who in all Fevers let forth the harmless Blood excepting neither the spotted Fever nor the Plague nor Poison Thus freeing themselves of much labour and trouble which otherwise the many sorts of Fevers would create them But because the nature of poison and malignant humours chiefly consists in this that they forthwith set upon the heart and quickly deject the strength of the most robust and seeing Bleeding does both likewise not only diminish the strength but also draw the malignity to the Heart and impells that back again to the oppression of Nature which she had driven forth for her own easement I cannot but pray and admonish all Artists that they will not proceed to Venesection either in the Plague or other malignant Fevers or also in all those accidents whereby men are Poison'd inwardly or outwardly especially if they love and seriously aim at tranquillity of mind and the health of the Patient that desires their help The French Italian Spaniards and Portugueze those fierce contenders for Venesection will reply to me that Nature by Venesection draws Air as it were and is unloaded in some manner that she may so much the more easily cast forth the remaining malignity And this seems true for the Blood draws the Air that its Spirits may the more readily fly away and it may be eased of those faculties that it necessarily wants When these things are finished the Patient changes life for death and very well knows how to draw tears from the Eyes of the by-standers Giving no other reasons they do moreover rely upon their experience but I wish they relied well upon it for I have found such Patients who in the morning were in no danger after Bleeding five or six ounces taken away in the evening by cold and rigid death Hence therefore we may rightly gather what it is they name Experience namely If the Patient by chance escape the honour is given to Venesection but if he die as he does commonly there was malignity in the case Therefore I oppose experience to experience thanking God greatly that he hath exhibited and demonstrated a far certainer and better remedy to all those who rightly consider diseases without envy passion or being inslaved to anothers opinion Others that they might seem more moderate in this matter admit of Venesection in the beginning of the disease before the malignity manifest it self externally and herein I will readily assent to them if it be done 1. In hot Countries 2. In a full Body 3. When the humours ascending to the head cause grievous accidents there In such a case I think Bleeding in the Arm or Foot will do a great deal of good But those who will prescribe Venesection in all Bodies and without difference in these cold and moist Countries such shall certainly find no good success thereof Yea they can hardly give a reason which will be received by art as genuine especially seeing themselves do freely and ingenuously confess that they sometimes meet with such cases wherein they dare not order Bleeding which they cry up so much Barbette Chirurg part 1. cap. XI performing the cure to their desire by Sudoriferous and cooling potions XLII Avicen Fen. 4. l. 1. c. 29. Bleeding often causes a Fever and many times putrefaction Venesection through the ebullition of the Spirits causes diary Fevers and if it be too large by debilitating Nature causes putrefaction the innate heat being weakned it generates an Hectick if it be done in Bodies wanting Blood the lean hot dry A weakly man being in no disease caused himself to be Bled in the midst of Summer being lean and weak he begun to be Feverish thereupon and complaining of an inflammation in his Liver the Physician not considering his weakness nor thinking upon Coolers and Purgers that were then necessary Zacut. prax admir lib. 3. obs 53. Bleeds him more than once Whereupon the Blood wherein heat has its perseverance being evacuated his flesh wasted and he died of a tabid Fever XLIII When there is occasion for repeated Bleeding whether ought the second to be larger than the first Galen l. 4. de sanit tuend seems to make the second larger But l. de venae sectione he bids us add half the quantity the second time Which many understand so as that only half as much is to be let forth as was before but I think he means as much and half as much more Namely if six ounces were taken the first time then nine are to be taken the second Though there is a contrary place lib. de venae sectione c. 17. where Galen took three pound the first time and after an hour one pound But there as I suppose the case was so urgent as to compel him to take more the first time Yet the matter is thus to be weighed namely That where nothing hinders and necessity is not very urgent it is better to begin with a small quantity especially when we have not experienced the strength of the Patient But when we have and find it consenting when necessity
answer 1. The impairing of the Faculties is not so slight in those who are unaccustomed to bleeding and in the infirm 2. The more sparing use of Broths Julaps a mouthful of Bread dipt in Wine c. causes no danger of crudity Rolfinc ibid. c. 6. Avicen speaks of an immoderate draught of water LXXXIII It is discussed by some later Physicians how long we must abstain from Meat after bleeding Galen after having bled a Young man sick of a Synochus without Putrefaction gave him some food two hours after Others have said that we may allow Victuals one hour or two after bleeding though not much But this is a thing for the Physician to guess at according to the quantity of the Blood that is let and the strength of the Patient's Faculties For Galen staid two hours because he let Blood very plentifully whereby his strength and spirits were weakened so that he fainâ—ed away wherefore the Stomach was not to be burthened with Meat at that time But we that bleed far more sparingly and do not so diminish the heat spirits and strength have no reason to tarry so long wherefore one hour will be enough when less than a pound of Blood has been taken half an hour when less than half a pound for the Parts are but little drained and but a few Spirits are exhausted and there is made but a small agitation of the Humours The habit of the Body ought also to come into consideration as it more or less abounds with Blood Rubeus and is more or less dense LXXXIV Some avoid giving their Patient any thing to drink after bleeding but Amatus Lusitanus proves that it is not hurtful but wholsom ordering him to drink presently some cold water For by reason of the Veins being emptied it is presently distributed into the Body and cools it more easily quickly and safely LXXXV Some Physicians forbid sleeping after Venesection because they believe that the Blood retires to the Heart which yet is not always true unless perhaps the bleeding have been immoderate or the Patient be in danger of swooning through fearfulness Besides no reason perswades that such retiring of the Blood is pernicious for the Blood uses in sleep to retire to about the Praecordia to the great recruiting of Nature And how great benefit Sleep when it comes does to those Sick Persons that have had restless Nights every one knows for it recruits the faculties and concocts the morbifick Humours whence we are oft put upon using Remedies to procure it If therefore it come a little after bleeding it will be good both as a Sign because it shews that Nature which was oppressed is now relieved and performs the natural Functions and as a Cause because when Sleep succeeds Nature concocts the remainder of the morbifick Humour Indeed Sleep hurts in the Inflammations of the internal viscera in the beginning of Ague-Fits in Pestilential Diseases but why we may not sleep in other Diseases I see no reason Galen writes that Sleep coming on does indicate the firmness of the Crisis for it happens sometimes that the Patient sleeps a whole day after the Crisis if he were long without Sleep before to the great comfort of Nature yea it happens that the Patient sleeps sometimes even in the very Crisis If Sleep therefore help when it comes after other evacuations why should it not do so also after bleeding Yea if a man may safely be let Blood when he is actually asleep Gal. Meth 9. c. 14. what hurt can Sleep do presently after bleeding Galen esteems it as a good sign when the Patient falls fast asleep after bleeding If any say that Sleep is therefore forbid lest the bandage should come loose that is nothing Primiros de vulg error l. 4. c. 26. for by the diligent care of those who wait on the Patient and right tying of the Fillet that may be prevented LXXXVI I my self have seen a simple Decoction of crisped Mint stop the circular motion of the Blood so that not a drop of it would issue out of the Foot though the Surgeon thrust his Lancet deep enough three or four times into the most apparent branches of the Saphana in the Foot for bringing down the Terms in a certain Woman for whom her Maid had prepared a Decoction of Mint instead of common water to hold her feet in Whereupon she was bid to provide simple water into which her Mistress put her feet to above the ankles S. Paul Quadr Botan p. 396. and then the Vein being cut again by the ankle the blood issued forth LXXXVII In the Diseases of Children and Women with Child the Physician consults well for himself and his Patients if himself be present when they are to be bled for those who are intrusted with that operation being too bold do suffer the blood to issue out too largely and if any unfortunate thing happen Phryg comment in aegr 8. Epid. Hippoc pag. 147. 't is presently ascribed to the Physician though it be very evident to sense that the Artist mistook LXXXVIII When a Nerve or Tendon is pricked by the Unskilfulness of the Blood-letter see the Cure thereof under the title of Convulsion lib. 3. LXXXIX A Nobleman having a troublesome Tetter and fixing Leeches in the Morning upon the Part affected when the Blood bursting forth to almost three Pound could be stanched by nothing could be done Prevotius having washed the little holes the Leeches had made with an astringent white Wine Rhodius Cent. 3. Obs 71. caused to be laid upon them with good success Galen's restringent Ointment of bole Armene and Hares wool XC Not only the simple opening of a Vein is profitable but also the cutting of them quite asunder avails to intercept many kinds of Defluxions The cutting asunder of the Vein of the Forehead is the only Remedy to take away malignant Defluxions upon the Nostrils as some have experimented So that I do not wonder that the ancient Physicians in Inflammations of the Eyes bleereyedness c. ordered the cutting asunder of the Forehead and Temple-veins Aëtius cut asunder the Forehead-veins for a continual watriness of the Eyes and pains of the Megrim Haly Abbas cuts those behind the Ears asunder for curing a Vertigo Yea the Excisions of the Veins of other Parts also are profitable for curing at once old and difficult Ulcers of the Legs and Arms c. Now the administration is thus to be order'd first the Vein must be made to appear as in ordinary Venesection then a crooked Steel or Silver Needle being thrust under it the Vein is raised up and then cut in sunder by a Sickle-like or crooked Launcet thrust in as deep as the Needle the Vein being suffer'd to bleed as in common Phlebotomy but for the most part in a slender and thin Skin the Vessel stands so out that it is not necessary to thrust a Needle in but the Administration may be performed by a Launcet alone that is
very crooked towards the point Sever. Med. Eff p. 67. I use daily to practise this Piece of Surgery both ways XCI If the Orifice in Venesection be too strait it must be widened as in stoppage or constipation that must be removed which stops or constipates But to amend the straitness there is greater skill and pains requisite than if the Vein had not at all been medled with because the Blood is presently diffused betwixt the Skin and the Vein and driving the Skin higher separates it from the Vein Assoon therefore as the Skin about the Orifice rises into a Tumour it must presently be gently pressed by your left Thumb that the violence of the running Blood may be mitigated and the rising Tumour depressed then draw off your Thumb gently so far as till the Orifice appear and you have room enough for the Launcet and the hand you hold it in then put the Launcet gently and warily into the first Orifice which make as wide as it ought to be But in this operation we must take heed that the Skin alone which is usual be not widened without the Vein for then both the pains and pain would be to no purpose Put the Launcet therefore moderately into the capacity of the Vessel it self and enlarge the Wound as much as is sufficient If the efflux of the Blood be hindred from the recourse of the Skin it is gently to be drawn back to the same place in which it was when the Vein was cut that the division of it and of the Vein may hit together and it is to be held there till the Blood have issued out as you desire Leon. Botal de §. 11. ¶ But it happens also that the Skin or rather all that which lies above the Vein sometimes covers the orifice in the Vein when yet the same was not removed out of its place and that happens when the Surgeon thrusts his Launcet over slopingly into a vain that lies deep and lifts not up its point but draws it out again the same way he thrust it in In this case to make the Blood flow if the Vein be cut wide enough the Skin is to be raised up by putting a slender probe or the head of a pin under it or the Vein is to be lightly deprest with the same probe or pin till the Blood shall have flowed out to your liking for by this means the vein being thrust from the Skin or the Skin raised from the Vein the Blood gains a passage Idem §. 12. XCII When a fillet is tyed about any member and the Vein that uses to be found in that part does not appear but something that is round is felt deep under the Skin of which you doubt whether it be a vain or not presently loosen the fillet and if it be a Vein it also growing lax will fall down and be no longer perceived by your finger till you bind the member again but if when the fillet is loosened that which you touched feels as it did before when it was tyed then use not your Launce◠for it is not a Vein but a tendon or the Head of a muscle or something beside a Vein And the Arteries beat where they are whereby both their situation and depth become manifest to even a meanly experienc'd Artist Idem §. 19. XCIII Patients often ask what Vein of the Arm they should have opened because they have heard something of the distribution of the Veins in the Arm one of which they allot to the Head another to the Liver a third they make doubtful profitable to both the cavities Belly and Head Physicians introduced this opinion before Anatomy was so well cultivated as now it is and many adhere to it still But it is certain seeing all the Veins of the Arm spring forth of the same Branch that they evacuate from the same parts And that which is allotted to the Head empties no less from the Liver than that which is called Basilica though the Cephalica because sometimes it receives a little Branch from the Head is believed to profit more in the Diseases thereof yet both do equally help the Diseases of the internal viscera and do equally withdraw Blood out of the Vena cava and 't is to no purpose to pitch upon one more than another for they all draw Blood from the same fountain Of this opinion are Vesalius Anatom l. 3. c. 8. Bauhin in Theatro Fallopius Bartholin Horstius tract de Scorbuto and others Primiros de vulg err l. 4. c. 26. ¶ If the rule of late dogmata be consulted the circular motion of the Blood takes away the choice of Veins there is no prerogative of order amongst them all the Veins enjoy a common fate The Blood always ascends by the trunk of the Vena cava and changes not its course upon the opening of the Veins of Arm or Foot but that which flows out issues from that part of the opened Vein that is below the orifice that is made in it and that Veins's twigs in the extremities of the Hands and Foot do again receive the Arterial Blood Therefore the parts affected are not emptied directly No fruit can directly be expected from the opening of a Vein in the Arm or Foot viz. of the Cephalica in Diseases of the Head though it be joyned by a particular Branch with the external Jugular or of the Basilica in Diseases of the Breast as the Pleurisie though the same be joyned to the Thoracica in the Arm-pits Rolfinc c. 15. l. de febr ¶ 'T is all one which Vein you open so it be plain yet this caution should be used That if the lower parts be ill a lower Vein be opened if the upper an upper The Kidneys they otherwise place for the center of the Body as to its longitude but this is better referr'd to the Heart Walaeui m. m. p. 80. Bleeding on the same side with the part affected is better than on the opposite the cause lies in the Arteries not in the Veins XCIV Hippocrates 5. aph 68. propounds the opening of the fore-head Vein but the Body is to be diligently purged first otherwise it may become hurtful seeing it is a local Remedy A man of thirty years old being troubled with a long Head-ach and Epileptick fits by the advice of a Barbar suffered himself to be let Blood in that Branch of the Vein of the fore-head which in some bends a little to the left side without any preceding preparation of the Body But what came of it His eye in that very moment lost its motion and became fixt unmoveable and shut an Inflammation arose in it the pain in his head increased Hild. Cent. 5. obs 18. and at length losing his speech he was with great difficulty recovered by the Physicians of Basil XCV The Ischiadick Vein which is found in the outer ankle ought not to be cut but with the strictest and fullest knowledge of
that is naturally cold To which may be added that an agitation being made by such Remedy in the Head an hot Catarrh that is fluxile of its own nature will fall more precipitantly upon the subjacent Parts and thereby will cause great mischief Id m. III. Concerning waters that spring of their own accord it is to be noted that the sulphureous bituminous and aluminous as Galen says l. 6. de ta Valet c. 9. are very bad for hot Heads whether the heat be joined with driness or with moisture I say the sulphureous and bituminous because they incend and melt the Humours and the aluminous because they constipate the narrow Pores m. IV. This also is to be noted that such things are very seldom used in the way of Stillicidium which by moistening may cool yea this is to be understood of cold things in general though they do not moisten but dry as cold thermae or Baths that they are never to be used alone lest the innate heat be extinguished but hot are always to be mixed with them at least in a threefold proportion Idem V. Stillicidia are used to all places that are fit to have liquor fall upon them but they are chiefly convenient for the Head and for the Nervous Parts and Joints The Liver Spleen Stomach c. seeing they are soft Parts and therefore other forms of Remedies may easily work upon them are not to be troubled with Stillicidia save in a stubborn and inveterate Distemper Idem VI. As to the Head some distinguish certain Parts in it for in a cold and moist Catarrh Deafness c. they apply Stillicidia to the coronal suture in a Palsie and Convulsion to the hinder Part of the Head where the beginning of the Nerves is but whilst the Fluxion lasts for otherwise they use to water the resolved or contracted Parts themselves In other inveterate Diseases of the Head such as the Head-ach or Megrim they pour the liquor upon the affected or weak part it self Indeed in my opinion these do not do amiss but yet the vertue of the Stillicidium is always more easily and readily received by the coronal suture Idem ¶ In deafness the Stillicidium may be received very well in the region of the ears and temples for if a mans skull be inspected the Lambdoidal suture appears to reach even to the Mastoides process and the sutures of the Temples appear to coincide therewith so that the vertue of the Stillicidia may penetrate and enter into the inmost Parts of the Ears VII It is administred two ways the one without a Bath and separately from it the other with a Bath so as that the Patient ducking himself in a Bath does withal receive the Stillicidium The first way are almost all Artificial Stillicidia administred and some of late think that Bath Stillicidia are best administred the same way but besides that it seems too troublesom Experience witnesseth that it is not so profitable Idem VIII Whilst the Stillicidium is administring the Patient must by no means Sleep which he uses to be prone to when his Head waxes hot and so a multitude of vapours is attracted to the Brain But those do amiss who keep their Patients awake with loud singing seeing the Head is filled therewith Therefore we must endeavour to do it by talking to them and by other ways Idem IX When the Embrochation is over the part is to be dried and wiped with pretty warm Cloaths and is either to be anointed with some oil of the same vertue with the Stillicidium or to be fenced with something else that may preserve the quality imprinted by the Stillicidium The vulgar apply a Linen cloth to the shaved part of the Head and put a Night-cap over that 'T were better to apply a Cerecloth that is fitted to the Nature and Faculties of the Stillicidium thus Montagnana's Capital Cerecloth of Betony c. will be convenient for a cold Head Idem Stomachicks See Book 18. Of the Diseases of the Ventricle in general The Contents They respect either the heat I. Or the ferment of the Stomach II. Remedies strengthening the Ferment III. Correctors of it when it exceeds IV. What such Externals must be V. Such as respect the beat and ferment both are very well joined together VI. What Stomachicks are bad for an hot and dry intemperature VII In altering we must have a care we do not hurt the other viscera VIII It is not to be overcharged with abundance of Medicines IX I. STomachicks respect 1. the heat which is impaired and wants to be strengthened of which sort are divers Restoratives indeed yet they profit on this general account that they are endued with an oily volatil aromatick and sweet Sulphur which they contain and are 1. Aromatick as aromata or spices the root of Burnet Mint c. 2. Balsamick oils as Amber Balsam of Peru c. for this very Medicine is indued with a Balsamick Acrimony whence Riverius commends it in Vomiting want of appetite c. 3. Things indued with a Volatil Salt especially such as is oily as Pepper Mustard Ginger 4. Spirituous things as wine the Spirit of Wine Mint Juniper Citron pill c. 5. Bitter things as Worm-wood Aloes Elixir proprietatis 6. Carminatives 7. Mild Astringents as Cinnamon Mastich Peptick Powders c. 8. Nervine Cephaiicks as Castor Hore-hound for there is a very great consent of the Stomach with the Brain All these things profit in an Anorexie injur'd chylification belching hiccough pain at the Stomach in which case the oyl of Cloves and Carminatives are the most profitable weak concoction inflation sympathick vertigo and other Symptoms of the Stomach that arise from coldness and generally the same things correct an excessive heat as correct a vitious ferment II. Or 2. they respect the ferment which I call the menstruum of the Stomach Now though those Remedies that contribute towards the restoring of this do much agree and fall in with the aforesaid things inasmuch as they also are indued with a saline Acrimony yet this is to be noted by the way That as those things which abound with a sulphureous Principle and are more Balsamick and oily do more respect the weak heat of the Stomach and invigorate it so saline Medicines do more invigorate the ferment for there are some cases wherein the heat is strong enough and yet the ferment hindered and fetter'd so that concoction cannot be happily performed though it be best that these fellow-fellow-causes which stand for one should be both attended together and on this account we must also see that whilst we endeavour to strengthen the heat we do not destroy the ferment which is chiefly done by spirituous things as Brandy III. The sluggish and deficient ferment is whetted and recruited by all such things as are indued either with an acid Salt or especially a volatil 1. All Acrimonious things as common Salt which
for cookery 'T is better to preserve this part diligently and to strengthen its tone than to dissolve it by Vomiting unless Nature affect that way and there be an easiness to vomit and the preparation of the Ancients have been used ¶ Celsus lib. 2. c. 13. says that Vomiting does not always good to the sick Riolan Euchir Anat. lib. 2. c. 2◠but always harm to the well which is true especially in our age wherein men are not much used to vomiting for often vomiting is a cause why Nature uses to send naughty Humours to the Stomach for though they advise to vomit after dinner yet seeing that motion is violent it always draws something Add hereto that the concoctive faculty is rendred weaker and the tone of the villi or fibres of the Stomach becomes more rare and thin Also Nature being accustomed to this evacuation in health when she is hurt by a Disease she is very apt to fall into it whence the retentive faculty is vitiated Rubeus in Celsi cit loc besides that it prejudices the Head Lungs and Liver XV. Those act unskilfully that I say not impiously who after many Medicines have been administred when the Patients are ready to die and their strength spent use Vomits as the last Remedies which suffocate the life that remains and hasten death But you will say Mountebanks do thus and have good success I answer If you took account of the Patients with whom they have had bad success you will find an hundred dead for two robust Persons that were preserved who escaped by the help of Fate and not of this Medicine The more wary Empiricks when they are called to such Patients use to pronounce great danger of life and therefore they warily administer aurum potabile or some other recruiter of strength till Nature resting from all perturbation recover her self a little Riolan Enchir Anat. l. 2. c. 23. and then they take the opportunity of giving a gentle Vomit which brings forth serous Humours or the like indifferently XVI Hippocrates 4. aph 4. bids us Physick the upper venters rather in the Summer and the lower in Winter And 6. aph 6. says that the lean and those that Vomit easily are to be purged upwards avoiding the Winter Reason consents because the Phlegmatick Humour abounding in the Winter being naturally heavy inclines downward therefore it is to be purged downward according to the aph Whither Nature inclines c. He hath writ the contrary 3. de diaeta n. 3. where prescribing a Winter diet We must also sayes he use Vomitings thrice a Month if the Patients be moist but if dry twice after meals of several sorts of meat This he confirms lib. de sal diaeta 'T is profitable to Vomit the Six Winter Months c. to which Celsus subscribes lib. 1. cap. 3. Solve these things by saying that Hippocrates did not utter that opinion in the Aphorism simply but by adding the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather as though he did not deny but that in the Summer also we might purge downwards and in the Winter upwards Or say If universal purgation be meant as that which is made by Hellebore common with Hippocrates it ought in the Summer to be made upwards and in the Winter downwards If a particular it ought to be made by Vomit in the Winter and by Stool in the Summer According to Galen's comment on the foresaid aphorism Therefore because Phlegm is generated in the Belly in Winter he advises us to evacuate it by Vomit and to revel downwards the Choler that swims a top in Summer And yet if you desire to purge the whole Body you shall purge it upwards in the Summer and downwards in the Winter as it is written in the Aphorism for those things which are superfluous are cured by purgation which must be made by those wayes whereto the Humours tend for these are to be drawn through fit places that way they incline but when you would hinder Humours from increasing 't is good to draw them back by contrary places Sinibald Antiph l. 3. XVII We must Vomit the Fat in one manner and the Lean in another for the former because the Humours are sluggish and unapt for motion ought not to be Vomited but when they are fasting and after considerable walking or other exercise for so the Phlegm which is naturally clammy and tough waxing hot is fused and made more apt for exclusion On the contrary the lean as not at all abounding with Humours if they be to be Vomited it ought to be done after Meal when we have eat several sorts of meat according to Hippocrates's precept l. de sal diaeta Idem Antiph 9. l. 3. and 3. de diaeta n. 4. XVIII 'T is hurtful to use Alteratives and Purgatives before Vomiting for by these the Guts are spoiled of their clammy Mucilage so that the Vomit will corrode their substance and cause great griping ¶ Alteratives indeed may be premised Walaeus p. 57. but not of absolute necessity for the Vomitories themselves may fuse the Humours by their proper vertue Idem p. 56. XIX If the condition of the Patient and the Disease require both Bleeding and Vomiting 't is most safe that Bleeding should precede for otherwise while the Vessels are distended with Blood there is danger lest from the violent strainings to Vomit either the Vessels of the Lungs should be broken or the Brain should be hurt Sydenham tract de febr the Blood being poured thither with violence and extravasated and so the Patient die Apoplectick XX. 'T is profitable to mix the Humours contained in the Stomach with sundry sorts of meat both that it may the more closely embrace them on every side and also that Nature may the more easily expel them when they are mixed with the Victuals but the Victuals ought not to be of any kind indifferently but salt bitter acrimonious inciding attenuating and turgent which as Galen 3. de usu part advises have a bilious nature and execute the office of Choler namely absterge and cleanse the Belly for all these besides that they conduce to expulsion prepare the Humours themselves also to the same But the clean contrary ought to be done in those whose Stomachs abound with crudities Mercat de Ind. Med. c. 5. for then it is sufficient to use vomiting potions without eating which is suspected and often very hurtful in crude Stomachs XXI We must not Sleep upon Vomits especially when the Bodies are Cholerick lest the Choler be carried into the Brain in Sleeping Hartman in Crollium yet when the Patient has seem'd to Vomit enough Sleep may be allowed XXII When the Patient has taken a Vomit Walaeus m. m. p. 60. let him drink after it Beer or fat Broth for so he will Vomit the easilier XXIII He that rests and lies in his Bed hardly Vomits half so much as he that stirs up and down Idem XXIV
enquired into as is possible he may cure those Ails with more ease and success For nothing recommends a Physician to a Patient so much as the finding out of a hidden Cause and the Artificial Cure of it which other Physicians could not arrive at Now when Practioners meet with stubborn Diseases and being taught only by Books can find no Examples of them in Physical Authors nor have learned how to discover the causes of them they are at a loss and the Patient cannot be cured till some are called that are well exercised in the search of Arduous things who may by their skill find them and oftentimes they do not only successfully but easily cure Patients who were reckoned incurable which how much it must conduce to get a Physician Reputation any one may imagine Idem XXXIX Empiricks and all the Vulgar use comparison in Diseases and use the like Remedies for Diseases which they think alike This thing hugely pleases the unskilful for because they know few differences of Diseases they think what are not manifestly different must be altogether the same But good Physicians do not so for similitudes are much suspected by them as they do easily impose and occasion doubting And though at first like Diseases might be thought to be cured with like Remedies yet they know that many Diseases which are very like in appearance require contrary Cures because they come from contrary Causes The knowledge therefore of the Cause produces the contrary that is takes away all mistakes and doubtings As if several Men be ill of the Colick one by drinking of cold Water another with Wind another with Bile an Empirick seeing the same Disease would use the same Cure to them all But a Rational Physician who finds the Causes are contrary will give contrary things Therefore he proceeds ill who only considers similitudes but well who finds out the Cause The knowledge of the Cause is so useful that oftentimes the ignorance of the Cause does more mischief than the ignorance of the kind of the Disease and of the place affected For he is less able to undertake the Cure who knows not whether the Colick comes from a hot or a cold Cause than he that knows not whether it is the Stone or the Colick And it is of more moment towards the cure of Fevers to know what kind the Humour is of which comes out than the manner of its Fit c. Therefore to know the way or method wherein every Disease must be cured it is of great moment it concerns a Man to begin with finding out the Cure Now it is hard by Ratiocination to know the ways that is to invent Methods because it is hard to find out what the Disease is what the cause what the part affected and what every Mans Nature and Custom is and all these have their particular Indications or Insinuations what to do which we must consider separately and then compare them one amongst another subtracting the contrary and less from the contrary and greater more or less as every Indication is stronger or weaker From hence all Cure arises Vallesius XL. I make no question but a Physician ought plainly to foretel the Patient of his Death when he desires to know the Event of his Disease For there are both Political and Theological Reasons for which I think it good that the Patient should know the event of his Disease And a Physician has no reason to deceive his Patient especially when he is sincere Sennertus and willing to know the truth XLI Patients must not always be severely denied what Nature earnestly craves For we see that several do not recover of a Quartane and of other Chronical Diseases till their Appetite is gratified A Woman had a Malignant Ulcer about her Throat it put her to much trouble to swallow either Meat or Drink Though she was not with Child she longed for several things as for Herrings Flesh and Fish salted and dried in the Smoak and other Meats hard of concoction which though they were hard she swallowed without any difficulty Her Stomach loathed Emulsions of Almonds Barly-Broth and Flesh-Broth and she would fast sometimes for three days till her vitious Appetite came to her Moreover though what she craved was contrary to her Disease it did her no harm And what she loathed though proper it would make her reach and a little feverish Hildanus XLII Seeing one Disease sometimes follows another as its Remedy whether must we expect it from Nature or procure it by Art Celsus lib. 5. c. 28. sect 4. intimates that by no means it should be procured when he writes that a Fever coming upon a St. Anthonies Fire for one day was a fortuitous Medicin which consumed the Noxious Humour In which thing he seems to follow Hippocrates who discoursing of this changing of Diseases said lib. 1. de morbis that such things came not by the skill or ignorance of the Physician but spontaneously and by fortuitous success Yet because Art imitates Nature therefore what Nature does that also ought to be done by the Physician From Her moving Sweat purging by Stool or Haemorrhoids and doing any such thing while she observes a due Decorum the Physician learned to practise Physick Wherefore in this difficulty we must say a Succession of Diseases must be procured by the Physician that the former Disease may be removed Therefore Hippocrates 6. Aph. 15. says that a Vomit coming upon a long Loosness cures the Disease Where Galen says This is one Example of those things that are well done by Nature which the Physician ought to imitate But if it be so why does Celsus call a Fever which cures a St. Anthonies Fire a fortuitous Medicin and why does Hippocrates write that such things are done with fortuitous success I answer It is because it is so dangerous a thing to raise a Fever For if it happen upon a Cacochymick Body it is in danger of being Malignant if in a pure Body that it may corrupt the Humours or turn to a Hectick Therefore we must proceed with great caution and rather use such a Remedy fortuitous than procured by Art For a Fever supervening on an Apoplexy proved destructive to Numenius his Son Rubeus in Celsum XLIII A Medical Sleep is a Sleep of the Diseases of Mind and Body either spontaneous or procured by Art For Artificial Sleep gains a Physician a great deal of credit G. Palm a Physician formerly of Noremburgh knew that very well who they say used to tell his Patients that he would do them that favour that they should rest better the night after he was called He obtained this with Syrup of red Popy which he prescribed that Night I was taken with the Stratagem and I often do my Patients the same kindness by giving them my Magisterium Anodynum Rolfinccius XLIV It is not once that I have seen Braggadocio's and Vainglorious Physicians mistaken while some of them would
can do much in exciting the Archeus But whether by this very illinition with such a Stone of Ens Veneris c. the Archeus can be so strengthned as to avert all occasional Causes is a great Postulatum and can hardly be granted Wedelius LVIII Whenever the Physician judges some generous Remedy requisite and the Patient or By-standers are against it he ought to shew the great danger present the mischief of deferring or omitting it and then impute all the dammage that will follow to their refusal Thus they that will not yield to perswasions will obey for fear of future evil Now the Physician that neglects this Rule does not only neglect his Patients but himself His Patients because when they flinch for a little pain or trouble he does not threaten them with the danger and so force them in a manner to obedience He neglects himself because when things go ill all the blame devolves on him and he is accused of want of skill as not foreseeing the mischief that would follow or of negligence in not reducing the Patient to his Duty with greater heat and earnestness Sylvius de le Boe. who is excusable for the pain he was to undergo LIX I have often thought with my self that we cannot make too little haste in driving away of Diseases but that we must proceed slowly and that more should be left to Nature than is now the custom to do For he is in a Mistake and that no very learned one who thinks Nature always needs the help of Art For if it were so she had not taken that care of Human kind which the conservation of the Species requires Since there is no proportion between the frequency of Diseases that invade Men and the faculties which Men have to drive them away even in those Ages when Physick flourished most and when most Men practised it What this will do in other Diseases I know not this I know very well from the concurrence of diligent observation that in the Fever wherein the Stupor prevailed after general Evacuations were used Bleeding and Clysters the said Symptom used only to be cured by Time Sydenham LX. Where the nature of the Disease is obscure yet as for the Cure an Indication is left us to be taken from the Juvantia and Laedentia by means whereof trying the way by degrees we may conduct the Patient out of danger provided we make not too much haste than which haste I think nothing more destructive nor that more Patients die of any one thing For I am not ashamed to confess that when I was not satisfied what I ought to do I provided best both for my Patient and my self by doing nothing For while I waited my opportunity to kill the Disease the Fever either went away by degrees of it self or put on such a Type that then I knew well enough with what Weapons to conquer it But which is to be lamented most Patients not fully knowing that it is as much the part of a skilful Physician sometimes to do nothing at all as at another time to give the most effectual Remedy are not capable of the benefit of this honesty and faithfulness but impute it either to negligence or ignorance whereas the dullest Empirick knows well enough how to give Medicin upon Medicin and usually does it more than the Wisest Physician Sylvius de le Boe. LXI I had rather make use of an Empirical Physician that is one who practises according to Experience than a Theorical one who practises according to his Reasonings and Figments For Experience has long since informed all Accurate Observers of things which happen in our Art that Empiricks are more successful in their practice than Theorists and such as are Physicians from Books or their own Speculations Men so much more miserable in their folly because they make others miserable with themselves But the World will be bubled with Cramp Words and great Brags Idem LXII As in the knowledge of all Arts Reason and Experience are very necessary so in Method one cannot be without the other Reason indicates what must be done Experience confirms what Reason has invented and teaches to work exactly according to Art Yet all things are not found either by Experience alone or by Reason alone Gal. 3. m. m. 1. Although Reason alone invent some things and Experience alone produce others yet always as much as possible Experience and Reason must be joined as two Crutches on which Physick leans So that in Theoremes or in Medicins found out by Reason Experience must follow on the Contrary in such things as were found out by Experience Reason must come behind 2. Meth. cap. 6. Let them be so connected and fastened one in another that one may strengthen the other For no Reason can be true which is contradicted by Experience nor on the contrary That is they must both be true and the things that are found out by them But when they thwart one the other of necessity either the Experience must have been inartificial or the opposite Reason must only be apparently true whereon we must not rely nor for it must we depart from our Senses and Experience And therefore there is no Reason without Experience both Experience without Reason is invalid and Reason without it is fallacious and captious Though the Preheminence between them two is doubtful For Experience knows few Diseases and those which come often and frequently But Reason does as well help rare Diseases which it never saw before as common ones because it searches out the Natures Differences and Causes of all by Discourse and Ratiocination or it comprehends things by Scientifick Knowledge or at least by Artificial Conjecture yet by a sure one and that which is next to Science Besides Experience only acquires those things which often happen in the same manner and seeing all the simple and compound Diseases of all parts Similar and Organick cannot be brought together it is impossible that there can be Experience of them all but only of the frequent ones and therefore it of it self does not comprehend or reach either the knowledge or Cure of several Diseases Besides some frequent Diseases come without any concourse of Symptoms and cannot be known but by conjecture and a Tentative Cure and therefore in this way of proceeding only Reason can obtain the knowledge which is sought after And Experience not knowing the power of the trying Remedy joyns and compares it with the following operation and thence it easily guesses and it gets as much knowledge of the Disease by things hurtful and orders the whole Cure But not that Experience which knowing not the virtues of Remedies takes any thing for the Cure without judgment so that if the business succeed not at first he knows not whither he must go but by blind Chance and Fortune runs to another thing But however it is that Reason dictates these and the like things to us yet Experience is very
to her former Liberty XIV But it is to be observed that I never use any Purge wherein there are Hermodactyls when the Patient should be preserved from the Gout For there is no need to fetch the Humours out of those parts into which nothing is fallen except it be an old and knotty Gout which by frequent fits hath a return of its pains and therefore let us be content with things that cleanse the Veins and Head Spigelius de Arthritide p. m. 80. if it be in fault after gentle Purging Heurnius meth med l. 2. c. 2◠XV. In the Gout we must not lightly give Cassia for part of it turns into nourishment and so renders the parts lax and liable to defluxions XVI Diureticks are good in the Scorbutick running Gout for nothing more plentifully expells by Urine the Serous Humours contaminated with a Scorbutick Ferment which stirs up the Archaeus to that Affection especially when these Specificks are Antiscorbutick Frid. Hofm m. m. l. 1. c. 12. which their effect doth clearly shew for after the use of them the Urine which before was clear is made thick XVII Whether Salivation which is an universal Evacuation be proper in the beginning of a Fit of the Gout I Answer I have never made trial of the thing nor have I any reason which might perswade me to use it but many not to use it For Salivation cannot be raised presently but after some days which here would be to no purpose And Salivation proceeds slowly here is need of speedy Evacuation And if one endeavour to promote overmuch you endanger your Patients life Sylvius de le Boë Tract 8. Sect. 171. sequel Yet I do not deny but it would be good sometime for Gouty persons that are clogged with much viscid Phlegm but then it must not be in the fit but when they are free of it and while they are strong so that they neglect not other things but have respect to other peccant Humours XVIII Dr. Willis cap. de Arthritide relates a Case of a Gentleman who upon his being cured of the Stone in the Kidneys was seized with the Gout To cure which he was advised to drink his own Urine In a Month or two his Gout left him but the Stone in his Kidneys returned again and in a short time he died of a total Suppression of Urine When he was opened they found his right Kidney quite wasted and in his left between the Cavity and the Passage a great heap of Gravel and small Stones The Dr. imputes his last misfortune to his drinking his own Water XIX Powders of Bones Stones and Shells as also of sharp Vegetables which are called the Alexiteria of this Disease are good in a fit of the Gout for they conquer the Morbifick Particles and by fermenting with them as it were mortifie and then they cast them out so conquered by Sweat and Urine Willis XX. Sweats after Vomiting and Purging are commended by some in the method of Cure Indeed when the Heat is cooled and most part of the symptomes gone it were very proper to draw off the relicks of the matter in the Habit of the Body by Sweat or insensibly that the Cure may be accomplished the Swelling disperst the part asswaged and made more nimble and fit for motion But here you must take special care for there is great hazard in Sweats given unseasonably lest the Parts grow more inflamed the Salt residing in them be made more fixt and its passage thence more difficult or its concretion into insuperable knots more easie If therefore the Humour causing the Fit be thin enough and moveable Th. de Mayerne Tract de Arthritide MS. so as it may be drawn off at one essay and leave no dregs or tartarous matter behind but that most part of it pass by sweat you may give sudorificks but they must be very gentle of the Decoction of Groundpine or Burdock and you must use such a Regiment as the Remedy may prove of use which otherwise will be very hazardous XXI A Milk Diet challenges not the lowest place among Alteratives namely that the Patient use no other food for three or four Months Let him drink new milk Morning and Evening about Noon and at other times he may eat it boyl'd with White-bread Barly or Oat-meal I have known some receive remarkable benefit from this sort of Diet but others who upon the use of Milk have grown worse and their Gout not at all cured but have contracted great Obstructions of their Bowels and a Cacochymy Willis cap. de Arthritide Therefore this Course should not be entered into without the Advice of a prudent Physician and diligent observation whether it agree or no. XXII Fortis Cors 66. Cent. 4. Preparatives should respect the Humours wholly and not the Joints the preservation whereof must be endeavoured seeing they contain no matter at present otherwise the preparatives would rather carry matter to them XXIII When the Defluxion is violent and the Pains intense nothing is more gratefull and proper to cause sleep which stops all Evacuation except Sweat nor is there any thing comparable to Laudanum 2 3 or four grains of which may be given at the hour of sleep for several nights successively In time of Pest the Humours concoct The. de Mayerne Tract de Arthritide p. 41. and Nature recovers strength and makes head against the Adversary There are other Narcoticks succedaneous to Laudanum but it has the preheminence above all the rest XXIV Alterative Medicines by the Ancients called Gout Antidotes are of excellent use and taken for a long time together with an exact observation of the six nonnatural things often give great Relief Those Medicines are reckoned the chief of this nature which are endued with a Volatile Salt or Balsamick Sulphur inasmuch as these do exalt the fixt Salt and they reduce the Sowre Moreover bitter things such as the leaves of Germander Groundpine Centaury the roots of Gentian Aristolochia c. for these things are approved by experience in this Disease seem to be proper for this reason Willis c. de Arthritide because they help concoction and Chylification and restrain the Salino-fixt feculencies that they be not carried to the Bloud XXV Although there be danger in all sorts of outward Applications in Repellers for fear of a recourse of the Humours to the noble parts of increase of pain when they are return'd inwards and of the concretion of them in the Joints in Diaphoreticks lest when the thinner parts are dispersed the rest of the Humour settle deeper in the part of Anodynes for fear of Relaxation and of Narcoticks for fear of weakning the Parts Yet Anodynes seem most necessary because Pain that most grievous Symptome weakens draws the Humours to the Parts affected causeth want of sleep restlesness a hot intemperature in the Bowels and a Fever in the Bloud it dejects the Appetite spoils Concoction and breeds bad
Ach. The Contents Pain is cured by applying hot and cold things I. A violent one in the Os sacrum cured by applying a Caustick II. An external one eased by purging III. A violent one in the shoulder eased IV. In the Heel by application of a potential Caustick V. Several pains in the external parts are not from a defluxion VI. The cure of an Ach caused by a fall VII By a Defluxion VIII The virtue of Balsam of Peru. IX Medicines I. IN this age of ours men use to cure several aches and ails making no distinction with some cold thing as Egg-water which is cold and binding also in both which qualities it is repugnant to the Ulcer For all things that ease pain should loosen but the white of an Egg is altogether binding wherefore both it and all cooling things seem inconvenient and all hot things seem helpfull beneficent and allayers of Pain Fabius Columna had an angry swelling arose on the upper part of his thigh much resembling a Carbuncle and while I looked after it when several times I had cut off the uneven Callus from the Sinus's and the edges thereof I assuaged the bitterness of the pain which must of necessity attend the cutting by no other means than applying hot bricks in a cloth and using hot things ¶ One who had a cancrous Ulcer in his tongue was so afflicted in the upper tuberous part of it that he could not speak a word and when I had heat a silver spoon in the fire and applied it to the pained place Severinus he was forthwith rid of his pain and moreover could speak freely II. A Dwarf about 40 years old had undergone a most violent pain for 2 months in the lower part of the Os sacrum whereupon he went mad Several things were tried to no purpose I applied one Cupping-glass to the pained place and another a little below upon the Buttock with deep scarifications which run much bloud which being wiped off I applied the Cupping-glasses again upon the scarified places and bloud ran again plentifully The Patient seemed rid of his Pain yet the next day I ordered a great Caustick to be laid to the pained place upon the very scarifications and kept it there twenty four hours so that there was a broad Eschar and to the very bone Sam Formius apud Riverium After the Eschar was taken off it was cicatrized and the Patient eased of so great a trouble III. M. N. was suddenly taken with most sharp vagrant pains that sometimes tormented his Thighs sometimes his Knees Legs and Feet and sometimes his Loins A Physician ordered five Pottingers of Bloud to be taken from him in an hour and his pain no whit abating he gave him a Pill of Laudanum which gave him ease till next day at noon But then his pains returning as sharp as ever I prescribe him a Bolus of Diaprunum Solutivum half an ounce Jalap 1 scruple to be taken even at night which nevertheless he would have spent in most grievous torture it wrought ten times successfully for his pains were much abated and quickly after quite gone He was a melancholick man about fifty and had formerly been troubled with many passions of mind Therefore I reckoned these pains came from a very sharp and thin serous matter which was violently carried hither and thither Riverius and that it ought to be quickly carried off by a purge IV. Fernelius cap. de Arthrit writes that the Gout in the shoulder is very painfull yet that it neither swells so much nor is so red or hot as in the Sciatica As I was upon a journey and did not sufficiently guard my self from the raging cold I experienced these pains The pain was most violent hindring the motion of my arm as it were tying it with a string to my body I used this Cataplasm which did me good Take of common Bole Chalk each 1 ounce and an half Oil of Roses 1 ounce Vinegar of Roses 6 drachms Cream what is sufficient mix them upon Coals add of Saffron 1 drachm apply it hot with hempen Tow twice a day Sometimes I added powder of Comfrey root and Oil of Chamaemil You must observe that as the pain ceases the Arm sometimes withers Therefore convenient fomentations unguents and Plasters must be used wrapping it in a Hare's skin c. V. One had a pain in his Heel so sharp violent and continual with a Fever that he could take no rest neither day nor night His body was purged and vomited for revulsion sake he was bled in the Arm all Anodynes were applied without success the part affected could scarce be perceived to be swelled for the thickness of the Skin At length a potential Cautery was applied to the pained part after some hours the Eschar was separated with a Razor one drop or two of ichorous matter dropped out Fabr. Hildanus The Ulcer was kept open for some days after the fall of the Eschar and powder of Precipitate was strowed upon it VI. Divers Pains and Tumours also which are vulgarly ascribed to Defluxions are produced by the effusion of the Lympha out of its vessels that are distributed through the habit of the body and obstructed and then broken Among which they are not in the last place which possess the upper part of the Arm to the Shoulder and sometimes afflict the Neck also To which also may be referred those that stick in the hips and counterfeit the Sciatica pain and hinder walking Some of these pains will endure the parts affected to be covered with many cloths and kept warm others are exasperated with covering therefore they give way and are cured with more difficulty than the former They arise commonly from external cold that pierces those parts as they are in a sweat and often lie bare in the night and that after Phlegm is coagulated in the Lymphatick Vessels and an Obstruction and then a breach made in them produces according to the diversity of the Lympha divers Aches and such as give place onely to various medicines For a Lympha that is sharp causes more gnawing pains and such as yield onely to aromatick Oils and Unguents But one that is more briny salt breeds pains that will not yield to aromatick Oils and Unguents The obstruction of these Vessels will be prevented by taking care that the Body grow not too hot if this cannot be prevented by having a care lest by keeping the breast open it cool on a sudden and by consequent the Phlegm that is in fusion and diffused every way be strongly concrete and coagulated in several Vessels and therefore in the Lymphatick The same obstruction may be cured if as soon as ever these mentioned causes have obtained and there is any fear that they have done any mischief an attenuative and inciding Sudorifick be taken either all at once or at several times The Lymphatick vessels when broken will heal of themselves after they are freed from obstruction
as we see it falls out in bloud vessels for the proper aliment of every part is indued with a conglutinating faculty because more or less tenacious and viscous Aches arising in the Limbs and especially in the upper part of the Arm that are most troublesome at night after the redundance of the serous humour if there be any is diminished by Hydragogues and Sudorificks also may be taken away by anointing the part affected with the following liniment Take of Vnguentum Martiatum Oil of Worms each half an ounce Oil of Amber 1 scruple Mix them But if the pain be increased either by this liniment or onely with clothing we must use this following Take of Vnguentum Popul Nervinum each 2 drachms Oil of white Lilies 3 drachms Mix them But if the same pains affect the Hip and have so seized the lower part of the Spine especially that the Body can scarce be â—eared upright and moved Balsamus Sulphuris Terebinthinatus is most excellent if the part affected be anointed with a few drops of it with which in one night I have cured several miserable persons Fr. Sylvius VII A Woman lay ill of a violent pain about her Hip caused by a fall anointing with Oils gave her no ease By chance I had some Melilot Plaster ready I ordered it to be spread on a cloth and to be applied about night in the morning she could rise and sit at the Table whereas before she was not in the least able to stir her self I have several times applied the same to people that have got aches by a fall Thonerus Observ and with success VIII When the same woman was troubled with a great pain about her shoulders shooting through her whole right arm caused by a deep scarification the Knife being thrust deeper in than it ought when other things would doe her no good she used this Take of Oil of Earth-worms half an ounce Badger's grease Fox-grease each 2 drachms Mix them Anoint the scarified places And rub the arm with water distilled of Swallows and Castor hot When the same woman was tormented night and day with a violent pain in her right arm beginning at her shoulder and extending it self all over the arm with a swelling and she could not lift it up in a few days the pain and swelling were dissolved by the following means Take of Emplast Diacalcit 1 ounce Melilot half an ounce Mix them Spread then on a cloth A Maid being tormented with a pain in her right arm was cured in one day with a Plaster of Gum Tacamahaca as several others where the cause was not hot M. N. was tormented with an intense pain in her Loins caused by a Defluxion Take the crum of a white loaf steept in Cow's milk then passed through a brass sieve adding Yelks of Eggs and fresh butter and the following Oil Take of Oil of Chamaemil Dill white Lilies each 2 ounces oil of Earth-worms 1 ounce and an half Of which take what is sufficient for once and apply it hot with a cloth She presently sound ease A Widow 70 years of age had a violent pain in her loins Take of Ointment of Marshmallows Anodyn each 2 scruples fat of a Rabbet 1 drachm and an half Oil of Scorpions 2 drachms Mix them The pain presently ceased In Aches of the armes and feet I have often found fresh Cows dung with Oil of Roses doe good A Woman with Child was tormented with a kind of convulsive pain in her thighs Take Oil of Swallows with Castor 1 ounce Treacle water Cephalick water Spirit of Lily Convall each 2 drachms Mix them Chafe it warm She was quickly well A Woman was troubled with a rackinig pain in her right Arm from her Shoulder to her Fingers ends so that she cried out Take Oil of Earth-worms half an ounce Fat of a Man's Skull of a Badger each 2 drachms mix them She was quickly restored A Noble-man was cured of a chronical pain in his right arm by applying Oxycroceum Plaster having used other things to no purpose Two great men who had been long afflicted with a violent pain in their Shoulders were at last cured with this remedy Take Soap dissolve it in Aqua vitae and apply it This cured a Woman of a violent pain in her feet Take of Vnguent Alabastr Anod each half â—n ounce Oil of Worms 2 drachms Camphire 2 grains Idem mix them IX In mitigating and driving away all pains of the nervous parts coming from a cold cause and from Contusions Balsam of Peru seems to have the preheminence because of its amicable and peculiar faculty in strengthening the Nerves and dissolving any inherent matter A woman after a Palsie in her left side was tormented with a very bitter paâ—â— all over her Chine and in the Knee and Toes of her left Leg and had a kind of convulsive motion in them but she was quite rid of her trouble in three or four times anointing A Merchant was troubled with a very grievous Sciatica and when other Ointments were in vain he anointed the place affected with this Balsam hot to his great comfort A Maid had pricked her right hand with a spindle after the Chirurgeon had cured the wound she was much pained and when other Ointments did no good she was cured by anointing with this Balsam When I felt some trouble from a Contusion of my right Hand which lasted above a month Iâ—em it went away at thrice anointing Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Fat and Marrow Pet. Joh. Faber if they be converted chymically into Oil are accounted a present Remedy to ease pains 2. An excellent Oil to allay all pains in children Take Oil of Dill Chamaemil each 6 drachms Rue liquid Styrax each 3 drachms powder of Cummin-seed 1 drachm and an half Let them boil up once Leon. Favellinus Strain it and keep it for use wherewith the pained place may be anointed 3. Sulphur vitrioli Anodynum is an excellent Anodyne Take of Hungarian Vitriol what is sufficient boil it in distilled water for an hour throw in pieces of plated Steel boil it for an hour so an excellent Sulphur will be extracted from the plates brush it off with a brush into hot water it may be repeated to a total extraction Edulcorate this Sulphur with Rose-water and keep it Joh. Pharamunâ— Rheumelius The dose is three or four grains with Syrup of Popies it assuages all pain and causes sleep 4. Take of the second rind of green Elder boughs scraped off with a Knife 1 handfull boil it in sweet Oil with water to the consumption of the water when it is strained add a little Wax to it Observ Riverio communic Make an Ointment It assuages all pain caused by Blisters and is an excellent remedy 5. Lapis Prunellae dissolved in some liquor as in Night-shade water is of great efficacy in assuaging any pains Rolfinck whose true cause is inward or outward
accompanies such haemorrhagies as it often does which being mixt with the bloud helps its motion by opening the Orifices of the Veins it is customary with me besides revulsion and cooling to give a gentle Purge even in the height of the Disease whose operation when it is over I give an Anodyne a little stronger than ordinary and when the Symptome is utterly vanished I give another Purge Spitting of bloud also which in the confines of Spring and Summer seises Men of a hot constitution but not of a very strong one and whose Lungs are not in very good order also young Men above old Men is commonly of the same nature with Bleeding at the Nose seeing this is also a Fever which parts with its name as well as essence at the Crisis in which it ends onely with this difference that in the former Disease the bloud being too much agitated makes its assault upon the little Veins in the Nose and in this upon the Lungs And as in that during the Flux Pain and Heat they continually pierce the Forehead so in this both of them beset the Breast with a kind of debility Moreover this Ail challenges to it self the same method of cure in a manner which Bleeding does but that it will not so well endure Purging upon which especially repeated the Patient is easily cast into a Consumption But Phlebotomy often celebrated a Clyster given every day Diacodium given at the hour of sleep Diet moreover and thickning and cooling Medicines will doe the work Sydenham as you would desire Febris Hectica or A Hectick Fever The Contents The Knowledge of a Hectick fever I. Sometimes Bleeding is proper for Consumptive Fevers II. Whether a Diet of contrary qualities to wit Milk which is easie of digestion and Crayfish Cockles c. which are hard of digestion may be prescribed III. Things prohibiting the use of Milk IV. Milk must not be given presently after going out of the Bath V. Whey may be given VI. The efficacy of Broth made of a small Chicken VII Whether drinking of Cold water may be allowed VIII A measure must be observed in Cooling IX A cold Bath used by the Ancients not safe X. What way it becomes innocent XI Anointing must presently follow XII How many hours after eating Men may Bath XIII The Air must be cooled to the utmost of ones skill XIV The cure of a Hectick coming from a semiputrid substance of some of the inner parts XV. The Cure of one joyned with the French Pox. XVI I. SEeing in the beginning it is easily cured but scarcely known therefore a Physician should be very diligent in searching out the signs of one beginning Sennertus lays this down as an inseparable property if an hour or two after Meal heat be increased and the Pulse grow greater and quicker without cold or shaking which are usual in Putrid fevers The reason of the first Symptome is this The Heat of Hectick persons is fixt in the solid parts wherefore little is excluded by them in form of Vapour Whatever it is upon the accession of moist meat or subtile food that is quickly distributed it is increased by Vapours Hence a small Sweat is strained out and the Stomach is loaded with a certain compression so as food is a trouble to it that is the Heat increasing till there be a perfect distribution of the Aliment But because it may so be that in a Putrid fever when no cold goes before some exacerbation and increase of heat may follow a Meal lest the Physician should mistake in his knowledge of a Hectick let him change the hour of his Meal for three days and if the heat increase alike the opinion of the Physician is confirmed II. Consuming fevers yet without an Ulcer in the Lungs may sometimes be cured before they come to extreme Leanness and if there be no hardness of the Liver or Spleen The Man in Oeniadis 5. Epid. n. 2. seems to have been wasted and consumed by such a kind of Fever as also that Woman from whom Galen took in three days 2 pounds and an half of Bloud And sometimes we have cured some of these Fevers by Bleeding but never by Purging We recovered a Boy about twelve years old of a Hectick fever that had parched him for several months and was beginning to have a Dropsie by repeated Bleeding and Purging with Senna His Bloud was most corrupt that is very black underneath not concrete above very pale and tough which swam upon thrice as much Serum No Man more happily escaped a Consumptive fever by Bleeding than Mr. N. After a Burning fever of twenty days he fell into a Hectick which had a nocturnal and putrid Fever coming with a little Cold joined with it These had so consumed the Man that you might have grasped either of his Legs near the Knee with your hand I took ten ounces of most faeculent and very serous Bloud from him That very day his Putrid fever left him the Hectick continuing which did him less harm Botallus l. de Sangu missione c. 17. After eight days the like quantity of Bloud was taken from him out of the other Arm which was very like the former The Fever declined by degrees and in three days left him III. Milk is prescribed by all Men and deservedly for Food of easie digestion is proper for Hectick persons because the innate heat is weak and such as resists the febrile heat and driness as Milk does But if these qualifications be required in their Diet Why are Crayfish also prescribed which are accounted hard of Digestion We must take notice that a two-fold Diet must be assigned to a Hectick according to the difference of time For in one that is beginning a grosser Diet and longer of Concoction is requisite though it be concocted with difficulty because at that time the native heat is stronger and better able to overcome gross nutriment If the Hectick be far gone and therefore the innate Heat Parent of all Coction be very weak things hard of Concoction must be avoided and those things given which are digested without any trouble and nourish well and quickly Because the Heat being fixt in the solid parts wastes much of the substance of the Body which we must study to repair by thick and glutinous Aliment but such as is also of a good Juice IV. Sometimes the more ignorant sort are deceived who altogether forbid Milk when Hectick persons of the first or second degree are troubled with very small Obstructions of the Hypochondria or with a slight Putrid fever And in the mean time they do not see that if Milk be not given at least in a small quantity they hasten to the third degree whence follows Death We say with Hippocrates 5. Aph. 64. that it is bad to give Milk to them that have Obstructions or are in Putrid fevers But that it is far worse to suffer a Man certainly to perish Sanctorius Med. l. 15. c. 7. for we
must have greater regard to the Urgency than to the Cause V. Hippocrates 3. de vict acut 54. writes That it is not proper for him to bathe who is full either of Meat or Drink lest crude matter be drawn out of the Belly into the Veins and Habit of the Body Why therefore do the Physicians of our Age if a spent Patient have but drunk Asses Milk presently set him in a Bath They will answer To get it into the Habit of the Body But we say it will not be assimilated when it is not concocted Therefore that might better be done 4 hours after And Hippocrates says We must neither eat nor drink presently after Bathing for when a heat is raised Heuâ—ius the attractive virtue of the heat takes away the opportunity of mitigating it ¶ Yet Galen 14. Meth. 15.5 gives Milk to weakly persons after Bathing and Trallianus gives Ptisan VI. Galen also seems to confirm it that Whey has its place in a Hectick fever Rolfinccius when 10. m.m. c. 11. he says that Asses Milk is proper above all other because it is serous Therefore Whey is most proper ¶ Now I understand why Milk is due to Hecticks and the more serous the more beneficial and therefore Galen prefers Asses Milk before any other not because it is colder for upon that score Water would be more convenient but because in Hecticks the solid parts are consumed which Whey as it were their nourishment restores For it is not the simple Vehicle of Aliment as Antiquity deemed but it self does nourish for if it be set over a gentle fire it grows thick a most certain sign of Aliment An Experiment of which matter being made an hundred times I ever observed that the very Whey was not onely thickned but became glutinous and membraneous Hieron Barbarus l. de Sanguine Sero and hence I presently conjectured that the spermatick parts were nourished with Serum c. VII It must not be passed by that 5 or 6 ounces of Broth of a small Chicken when the Fat is taken off may be beneficially given before Meal that the solid parts may be moistned So Plasterers sprinkle the Wall with water before they lay on the Lime that it may stick the faster Instead of this some order Water to be drunk but it is unfit to moisten the solid parts Zecchius VIII Galen lib. de Marcore and 10. Meth. greatly commends Water in the first sort wherein the Humour onely ferments and is not as yet consumed and while the Body although it be hot and dry yet abounds with Bloud and is full of Juice For by the use hereof Galen writes he preserved many from a Marasmus and Consumption And here Alexander's advice should be followed who orders as much Cold water after Meal as the Patient will drink But if a Hectick happen from a Putrid fever Crudity of Humours or Inflammation of the Praecordia drinking of Water ought to be avoided especially if strength be low the Inflammation moderate and Coction do not as yet appear But in a very vehement and urgent Inflammation as an Erisipelaceous one Cold water may be given for the Inflammation will be extinguished although the Disease be protracted a long time But if a putrid one be joined with it Coction must be expected But in a Hectick which follows Burning fevers or in a Marasmus it self we must have a care of Cold water lest in a fleshless and weak Body the innate heat be extinguished over hasty Old Age brought on which they call Age from a Disease in which the innate heat is either none at all or very little therefore it requires not cooling but heating Primirosius l. 1. de Febr. c. ult moistning and restorative things IX In the use of Coolers we must observe this that the more powerfull be not immediately and frequently used for they might extinguish a weak heat and it is better to cool gradually than all on a sudden But Moistners are ever safer than Coolers because they perform their operations slowly Riverius X. Among external Remedies a Bath of Sweet water is the chief for it powerfully cools and moistens and relaxes the external parts that they receive the aliment more readily The use of it cold was most frequent among the Ancients which is now grown obsolete and not very safe for there is fear that the Body might be hurt by the sudden meeting with Cold water Therefore the readiest and most advised way were to set the Patient in the Bath while the water is moderately hot in which he ought to stay till it grow cold of it self Observe it is better to make them moistning by boiling emollient and cooling things in them Idem as Barley bruised Almonds c. XI That the Patient may the better inure himself to the Bath let him first of all try the steam being wrapt in a Sheet and being held by four lusty Men over the Kettle in such a posture as he may easily breathe and the rest of his Body that is wrapt up may be sensible of the steam through the Sheet When this has been repeated several times and the Man after he has rested a-while seems to have recovered his strength let him be put in the water and tarry therein as long as his strength will permit Let the Servants take diligent care that the Patient be tired with no stirring of his Body but let them treat him so tenderly that he may be at no pains while either he rises out of Bed or goes into the Kettle near his Bed or when he goes out of it as he lies him down again Nor do I see any reason especially in this Age why the Patient should be turned out of a warm Bath into a cold Because Cold water ill affects the Nerves not sufficiently fenced with flesh nor should it ever be prescribed to any but fleshy and young people and in the midst of Summer when it is good for this Disease Joubertâ—s l. 2. â—ract c. 1. It were better to anoint the Body with Oil of Roses or of Water-lilies XII Galen 10. Meth. 11. propounds in the progress of a Hectick a warm Bath as he does a warm one and then a cold one when a Man is very weak and his Body thin and emaciated which latter way of Bathing is more eligible as it is safer for the moisture is more easily insinuated in a hot Bath and better kept if cold water be presently poured on Then after gentle wiping and drying with soft cloths we anoint with Oil of Almonds and Violets mixt together anointing the whole Belly with Vng rosac Mes Besides after a warm Bath the distribution of the Aliment will be rendred much more easie and it will be made much more efficacious if it be altered with Leaves of Mallow Violets Fortâ—â— Water-lily c. XIII The Bath as a thing that greatly moistens the whole Body helps also very much the distribution of the
Sydenham Tract de Hydrope for this reason especially because in many Diseases when the matter of them is discharged Nature who watches and provides for our good day and night does wonderfully endeavour of her self to guard and defend the Patient from the pernicious relicks of this disease Wherefore every Ascites how inveterate soever and how much mischief soever it hath done to the Bowels must be treated in no other manner than as if it were just begun What he says of External Remedies you have more at large in other Authours passages out of whom you may reade before Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians Aetius 1. A spoonfull of burnt Cow's-dung taken in a pint of Wine every day is very good Claudinus 2. A Toad split and applied to the Kidneys of one in a Dropsie wonderfully voids the Water by Urine ¶ One Man insensibly wasts the Water of Hydropicks by a secret remedy by applying the Stone of a Water-Snake to the Belly Benedictus 3. The flesh of a dried Hedge-hog does peculiarly help this disease if it be beaten and drunk in old Wine 2 drachms of it must be taken every day 4. A Woman was cured with this decoction onely called Syrupus S. Ambrosii It is made thus Take of Millet excorticated 2 drachms Spring-water 2 pounds Boil them till onely 5 ounces remain Strain it Put as much White-wine to it Give it hot to one in a Dropsie She was well recovered and she sweat plentifully Crato and she took it 8 days 5. I have experienced that the juice of Iris crude not boiled Gordonius cures any Dropsie which is curable by humane help 6. Mullein is a specifick herb for a Tympany 1 scruple whereof with a decoction of Seed and Root of Fenil expells Wind egregiously Grembs Hypercatharsis or over-purging It s prevention and Cure A Hypercatharsis comes when the Purgative being disproportionate in quality or quantity works more violently or longer than it should both as by too much irritating the nervous fibres it drives the animal spirits into excandescencies not easily appeased and as it in a manner melts the bloud and humours so that what is separated from them being discharged into the cavity of the bowels makes the excretory irritations yet greater The therapeutick method respects both the prevention and cure as to the first before Physick there is need of great consideration and care in the operation of it and after it For first of all we must well consider both the constitution of the body to be purged the strength and custome and the nature of the Medicine to be given its dose manner of operation and the ordinary effects then comparing things together we must proportionate the virtue of the agent according to the tolerance of the Patient 2. While the Physick works the parts for concoction the bloud and animal spirits must be kept free from any other perturbation Wherefore at this time neither gross viscous nor much food which molests the Stomach must be given The meeting with the external Cold whereby the pores of the body may be stopt must carefully be avoided finally the mind must be kept quiet and serene void of care and of severer studies 3. When the Physick has done working both the excandescence of the animal spirits and the effervescence of the bloud and humours must be quieted to which ends an Anodyne Medicine or a gentle Hypnotick must be given but if omitting or notwithstanding this care a Hypercatharsis follow Purging the Patient must presently be put in bed and be thus treated First of all let a Plaster of Treacle or a somentation with Flanel dipt in a decoction of Wormwood Mint and Spices hot and wrung out be applied to the region of the Stomach and the whole Epigastrium Then let him presently either take a Bolus of Theriaca Andromachi or a solution of it made in Cinnamon water Then a little Burnt-wine diluted with Mint water must be given frequently by spoonfulls If Griping be troublesome a Clyster may be given of warm Milk with Treacle dissolved therein In the mean time warm Frictions and sometimes Ligatures must be used to the external Limbs whereby the bloud may be called outwards and be kept from too great colliquation and effusion into the cavity of the Bowels Then in the evening if the strength be good and the Pulse strong enough a dose either of Diascordium or liquid Laudanum may be taken in some proper Vehicle Willis Hypochondriaca Affectio or The Hypochondriack Disease See Melancholia BOOK XI The Contents Whether opening of the Haemorrhoid Vessels be proper I. The necessity of preparing the humour II. Preparatives must be different according to the Humour and the part affected III. Sylvius his preparation IV. The order to be observed in preparation V. Sweats and Acids doe harm in the preparation VI. They must be different according to the difference of the Crudity VII When we must use gentle and when strong Aperients VIII We must not insist long on preparatives IX Whether Vinegar may be admitted X. Medicines of Tartar sometimes doe harm XI We must purge one way in an Acid another way in a nidorous crudity XII They must not be purged whose innate heat of the Stomach is weak XIII Sometimes we must purge violently sometimes gently XIV Women bear strong Purges XV. Detergents must be given after strong Purges XVI The virtue of Antimony in conquering a rebellious one XVII All Purgatives are not alike proper XVIII The efficacy of Clysters XIX Sometimes Suppositories are to be preferred before them XX. When Vomits are proper XXI Purging must precede it XXII Whether Spaw-waters be proper XXIII Taking of Chalybeates is beneficial XXIV Better than Bath-Waters XXV We must abstain in the beginning from strong Diureticks XXVI They are good in a splenitick Disease XXVII We must have regard to the inner parts XXVIII Whether Asses Milk be convenient XXIX Cautions in taking it XXX Whether the rumbling of the Hypochondria hinder the use of it XXXI How Whey may conveniently be taken XXXII Spiritus Vitrioli Martis is good XXXIII Elixir Proprietatis is good XXXIV Whether Crocus Martis be usefull XXXV Antimonium Diaphoreticum does good XXXVI The efficacy of Volatile Salts when there is a sense of Strangling XXXVII The use of Capers XXXVIII Wind must not be dissipated with hot things XXXIX How we must help hurt Concoction XL. The Stomach must not be strengthned by Applications XLI The efficacy of Fomentations XLII The usefulness of Baths XLIII Sulphureous ones sometimes doe harm XLIV Anointing the Hypochondria useless and hurtfull XLV With what caution Stoves may be used XLVI The cure of a Loosness coming upon the use 〈◊〉 Aperients XLVII Crocus Martis sometimes causes Belching Xâ—â—â—â—I Emulsions doe little good XLIX How the effervescence of the Humours which is the cause of many Symptoms may be checkt L. The causes and cure of a sense of Suffocation and Strangling LI.
The cure of difficulty of breathing LII Medicines I. SEeing the humours the cause of the Disease lodge in the branches of the Porta if they could be opened in the same manner as the branches of the Cava may be any where the vitious humours might be conveniently evacuated by them together with the bloud But there is no such convenience nor does any branch of the Porta reach to the extreme parts of the body except the haemorrhoidal branch which reaches to the Intestinum rectum Therefore if this be opened it cures this disease most happily because it evacuates the vitious humours gathered in the branches of the Porta But this scarce ever happens successfully unless Nature opens these haemorrhoids of her own accord or thrust out the humours thither and be accustomed to evacuate the vitious humours that way For if this should not be done but the external haemorrhoids should be opened by Art then that which Riolanus takes notice of happens and the bloud that offends in the Porta is not evacuated but the good bloud out of the Cava which offends not And the internal Haemorrhoids if it can conveniently be done may be opened even in those in whom they never ran nor swelled that the vitious humours latent thereabout may be evacuated by them and that Nature may accustome her self to evacuate the vitious bloud this way which oftentimes even of her own accord uses to evacuate the vitious humours gathered in the branches of the Porta to the Patient 's great benefit But though we acknowledge the difference of the Haemorrhoid veins laid down by the most learned Men that is that the Internal arise from the Porta and the External from the Cava And though we admit also that they cannot conveniently be opened for evacuating of the melancholick humour except they be opened spontaneously by Nature yet we think that even by the External haemorrhoids black and other bad humours may be evacuated which are gathered about the Spleen and Liver For since the Ancients were not ignorant of these veins as having them obvious before their Eyes and having often burnt them and in the mean time they affirm that the seculent matter of the Liver black Choler is evacuated by the Haemorrhoids that the Haemorrhoids are the best remedy for melancholy and good for them that are troubled with black Choler that they cure a hardned Spleen hence it easily appears that Experience taught them that black and other bad humours gathered about the Spleen and Liver in the branches of the vena porta are evacuated by them And that it is so every one that pleases may observe daily in his practice For if he inquire into them that find benefit by the Haemorrhoids he will find they are all Hypochondriack If moreover it be inquired whether Haemorrhoids run the Internal or External He will understand that in most the external do run and do also benefit Hypochondriack Patients but that the Internal are seldom opened and therefore that not onely a Plethora but also a Cacochymie and vitious humours are evacuated by them And although sometimes also some thin humours and red bloud seem to be evacuated by them yet it is not pure but serous and salt and an Ichor also runs without any bloud But not onely gross and black humours are gathered in the branches of the Porta but also oftentimes serous and salt ones And although the Internal and External Haemorrhoids have their rise from different Veins yet because they are inserted into the same Intestinum rectum that there is some communication of these Vessels and that their mouths meet one another and that vitious humours are communicated from the Internal to the External Haemorrhoids and discharged by them the thing it self and what daily befalls Patients speaks since we see that even the running of the External Haemorrhoids does much good to those that are ill of Hypochondriack Diseases Sennertus II. Though the melancholick and adust humour which is the most obstinate be infected with no putrefaction nor easily take it and therefore is not so fit for concoction yet it is no less exasperated and made more earthy and gross and therefore rendred no less unfit for exclusion and concoction than a Cancer is by digestive and abstersive remedies Mercatus applied sinistrously and amiss III. Preparation is performed by Attenuants and Aperients yet without any great heating or drying because for the most part there is a certain heat and driness of the meâ—araick vessels and these parts and all near the lower orifice of the Stomach have something like an Inflammation in them In which case they offend who having regard onely to Wind with which Hypochondriacks abound do use hot and dry Medicines whereby the Disease is rather exasperated Nor on the contrary are coolers and moistners without some opening convenient seeing it is always proper to remove the Obstructions which are in those parts Yet where much watry matter is mixt hot things must not be omitted And so as the condition of the humour is various in this Disease and according as this or the other part is most hurt so the cure requires one while hot things another while not so hot or even moderately cooling and moistning all which things nevertheless must be opening and attenuant Sennertus ¶ There are two principal cases of Sick persons whereto magistral remedies must be accommodated according to their strength and quality Namely either the bloud is thick and cold and earthy with an obstructed Spleen which requires hot fermenting Medicines and especially Chalybeates Or the Bloud being plainly adust and hot ferments above measure and the Hypochondria do also aestuate very much and the bloud and vapours boil up in them in which state onely temperate and quieting Medicines are indicated which may stop the immoderate fermentation of the humours where Chalybeates must altogether be avoided Willis IV. The alteration of the peccant humours will be various both according to the variety of the humour and according to the fault of every humour The humour is both pituitous and bilious The pituitous offends especially when its acidity or viscidity is increased The augmented acidity of the pituitous humour will be corrected first of all with a lixivious Salt and with all things endued with a lixivious Salt Such as all Salt extracted out of the Ashes of Plants as also Coral Pearl Crabs eyes filings of Steel c. For while by the means of these things an effervescence is made with the Acid Phlegm the Acid humour is coagulated with them But because an excessive effervescence is urgent in this Disease which causes many Symptoms we must have a great care lest it be irritated rather than checkt and amended by taking things that produce a new effervescence which will be done by using first of all these things by which an Acid Spirit is rather concentred than coagulated such as Chalk next to which are Crabs-eyes Coral and filings of Steel
insensible transpiration by Urine or Stool But these are seldom seen in Children for in them the dissipating heat or consuming drought usually waste the humidity that should nourish The external cause is either the aestuating dissipating heat or the violent cold extinguishing the heat or the use of Salt meats XXIX If the heat appear as it were extinct by a cold disease or humour then indeed Children are usually very hungry although sometimes their stomachs are squeamish that is when Phlegm putrefies or becomes mucilaginous and the more they cram the leaner they grow Moreover they are of a white colour and though their body be extenuated their eyes face and feet swell being forerunners of another mischief You cannot heal this disease by change or increase of diet but by such things as waste and concoct the Phlegm and make the heat more brisk In which case it is good for Children when they are weaâ—â—ed to take a very little Wine with Biscoct-bread or in drink so it be much diluted for it concocts phlegm and crude juices corrects the cold intemperature and excites the heat Aromaticks are also good which if they cannot be given a sucking Child you mix them in all the Nurses victuals for they thin the Milk and make it pass easily XXX There is a Disease very frequent in these Countries in which Children that suck and those that are weaned are consumed with an Atrophy to a Skeleton onely the Belly as if there were a soft Parenchyma lying underneath being swelled and so far like the Rickets but that there is not such a tension of the joints and for the rest it comes without any concourse of Worms or of any other cause but onely through some fault in the lacteal ducts and glands For the method and cure of the common Consumption turning to an Ascites of a Tympany and the like Diseases sometimes used in this case has not been sufficient Nor yet afterwards have the remedies usually prescribed in a more accurate method for Schirrhi and abscesses of the mesentery wâ—ich indeed are rather the products of the inveterate Disease Laxatives Purgatives Aperients and Strengthners and external Anointings Bathings c. been found to satisfie expectation or to hinder those that are so held from being carried off at last by an Hectick with a supervening Epilepsie colliquative Flux Lientery and other Symptoms Within these few years a little Daughter of N. was brought to me than whom in all my practice I have not seen one more Consumptive she had taken an infinite number of Medicines Being much intreated and the case being desperate after I had given the Prognostick I happened I know not how upon Tinctura Martis aperitiva Vitriolata and upon Arcanum duplicatum which it may be might go nearer to the root of the Disease than any usual things for all their known energy Therefore we gave for the first week every day and for the next every other day in the morninâ— 2 drops of the Tincture for every year of her age and at 4 a clock in the afternoon likewise for every year of her age 1 grain of the Arcanum And so in a few days she began to be better in plight and in a short time after Nature recollecting her self of her own accord she was perfectly restored and is at this day brisk and corpulent enough After which Observation being farther confirmed by reason I have after that to this very day cured several in the same manner without the help almost of any other Remedies And this Martial Tincture is made of Vitriol of Mars made with Spirit of Wine and of the Acid of Tartar each 4 ounces boiled sufficiently in 3 pounds of Steel water and insensibly exhaled in stirring to the thickness of Honey which by pouring on 3 pounds of Spirit of Wine is dissolved by digesting little sediment if all things have been done as they ought being left And so the liquour is saturated and after little or no abstraction or exhalation is set by for use and it may be farther tinctured if you please with essence of red Popy Dan Ludovâ—â—i Eâ—â—emâ—r Câ—â—â—m aâ— 3. obs 251. You may have Arcanum duplicatum in Schroder Pharmac l. 3. p. 474. and Hofman in Clavi p. 344. XXXI A Boy two years old was brought to me Anno 1567. the Son of Mr. David Merveilleux Counsellour to the most Serene Prince of Longeville my intimate Friend consumed with a great Atrophy together with a Loosness His Breast was diaphanous if it were held to a Candle He was given over by all especially by a City Pastor who practised Physick I believed he was not desperate because he had a liveliness in his eyes And he was recovered by taking Milk in which red-hot Flints had been quenched adding Sugar of Roses and a little terra sigillata Within a month he throve upon it now he is a lusty Man and follows the Wars XXXII Sometimes Childrens Atrophy comes from Worms which are bred under the Skin in fleshy parts of corrupt nutriment This is an approved cure Take 1 ounce or 2 of Bryony-root boil it in Lye of Oakashes till it grow like pap Anoint the Body of the Child with this either in a stove or in some warm place then the Worms put out their heads at the pores and then presently tâ—e Skin must be shaven with a Razour for so the heads are cut off the Worms and the cause of deficieâ—t nutrition is removed And this operation must be performed once and again namely till it be evident that all the worms are gone Then the Children must be bathed often in Bathes of a decoction of a Sheep's-head and Feet Mallow Marsh-mallow Pellitory and Linseed c. XXXIII And there are not wanting some who affirm that Women witches suck children lean In which matter which I leave for others to discuss it is enough to know that they are emaciated because we find children are bewitched because perhaps they are infected with the Touch Sight and Breath of some infected maleficious Body For their tender bodies are easily made worse by any thing But how comes it to pass that a beautifull and healthy child presently grows worse discoloured and lean You must know that such a sudden change may happen in children either because the child by its innate principles is at the very perfection of health according to the indigence of its Age beyond which it cannot go one degree nor continue in the same then it must needs go into a worse state At which time I think we should use no Remedy but it may be hoped that by a good moderation of life and diet he may be brought to the utmost extent of Age which he is able to live while Nature grows stronger and the body arrives at a more solid state by the same action of Nature For so it happens to us all while we commit no errour in our life otherwise that alteration is a fore-runner of some Disease at hand Or again
washed him all over A little after his Face grew fiery red and swelled and he fell into a Fever for which reason seeing he was Plethorick and strong a Vein was opened with a Lancet upon which the swelling and redness forthwith abated Our next care was that the Bowels might suffer no damage by the base and sharp Quality of the Lime therefore Oyl of sweet Almonds with Syrup of Violets of many Infusions was given him and emulsions of Almonds were prescribed him Clysters were given him c. By the efficacy of which Remedies and by the Blessing of Almighty GOD he was safe in two dayes time There remained only a privation of his sight which the other Physicians who were called into Consultation ascribed to the corrugation and dryness of the Membranes caused by the Lime I ascribed it only to the sticking together of his Eylids which were wonderfully swelled The fifth day after his mishap decided the Controversy The Child loved a Foal that was in the Neighbourhood the hinnying whereof when he heard as it passed by he would have it brought to him when he perceived it was near him he rubbed open his Eylids with that violence that to our great joy we quickly perceived he had not lost his Sight The pleasant remembrance of my dearest Son's Recovery induced me to rehearse the whole Story though not altogether so much to the matter in hand V. He that is Suffocated and destroyed by Smoak will be cured by the correction of hot and fatning Things Haly pract l. 6. c. 4. i. e. of very nutritive Things as some interpret I think indeed they prescribe fat Things because of the sharpness of the Smoak A fume also of some cordial Spice with a mixture of cold things therewith is good such as Water-Lily and Poppy because they resist the manifest quality of the Smoak Forestus l. 15. Obs 26. which is hot and dry And some in this Case order Bleeding after two dayes But such and they that are pen'd up in a stinking Air must immediately be carried into the open Air and be refreshed with sweat Scents ¶ A Country Fellow when he had admitted the smoak of a Coal to the Sieling of a Room that was newly Built and Plastered and had laid there one Night was found in the Morning almost Dead without Pulse Motion or Sense all cold with froathing about the Mouth Although I reckoned there was no place for Remedies yet however I would try the Cure And first of all I bled him in both the Arms I applied Cupping-glasses to his Hips and Legs and then dolorifick Ligatures I also ordered Suppositories and when at first the Blood would not run I ordered Clothes wet in warm Water to be applied to the Incision upon which the Blood by little and little began to run And because the Pulse returning a little in the very opening of the Vein indicated that I should suffer the Blood to run freely I took away almost 2 Pounds While these things were in doing I ordered him to be fanned and cold Water to be thrown in his Face Afterwards when his Pulse grew better I ordered him an Issue to be made in his Neck D. Panarolus Pent. 1 Obs 19. by which Remedies he recovered in a short time VI. I think they that are suffocated with the steam of Must are hurt rather in their Brain than Heart for some in the like Cases have after their Cure gone mad and fallen into a Fever And besides I have observed such Steams as they came from the Fat 's have pierced the Root of my Nose like Needles Thus by the steams of Sulphur Birds fall from the Trees If any Man be called to visit such Patients let him order cold Water to be thrown upon them let them be kept long unburied because many have been buried alive Borellus cent 2. Obs 5. ¶ I judge that in Beer upon the account of the Hop yea and of the Mault as also in Must sulphureous narcotick exhalations do evaporate by Fermentation as it usually happens in metallick Mines and medicated Springs that are shut up But how may we immediately relieve such this is our business Immediately therefore the ambient Air must be ventilated on all hands by which means I remember a Woman that was thus Suffocated being treated as one Apoplectick when the Doors and Windows were set open and the Croud of People about her removed came to her self again and now for these ten years has not suffered the like Let the Mouth if shut be forced open and let Treacle dissolved in Aqua Vitae or in some cephalick Spirit be poured in Let Sneezing be provoked with powder of Euphorbium and Pepper Let a Vomit be given of some emetick Syrup or a decoction of Radish and Asarum Let the extreme Parts be rubbed with spirit of Lily convall and let new Spirits be created by Cordials and Cephalicks G. Horstius VII I visited a Patient very near Death Sleepy without Sense or Motion about 30 years old And when as there appeared some hope in letting him Blood because he was a full bodied Man yet because the senior Physician refused it it was omitted but that the innate Heat as he said might be raised again he prescribed a Clyster Ligatures Blisters Cordials c. which when daily administred the Patient died When his Body was opened there was no internal hurt but all his Veins were turgid and swollen to an immense bigness so that some Veins which in others are small were in this Body as thick as ones Thumb Panarolus Pent. 1 Obs 13. Therefore the Suffocation of the native Heat came from the abundance of Blood VIII A Cellar-keeper of Anhalt complained of a straitness of his Throat as if he were choaked By reason of the Life he led there was suspicion of Fumes arising from some bad Matter that stuck in the Coats of his Stomach Pills were prescribed him which while they wrought upwards also Salmuth cent 2. Obs 40. he vomited Worms and afterwards was very well IX Suffocations may happen even to Men from the Swelling of the Gland called Thymus but the swelling of it does often choak hysterick Women unless they be relieved by Bleeding Riolanus X. If there be imminent danger of Suffocation from poysonous Mushromes a Vomit most immediately be given of decoction of Radish and Oxymel Or half a drachm of Salt of Vitriol may be given with three ounces of Oxymel Afterwards let Wormwood and Baulm be infused in Wine and give the Wine Sanctorius says nothing is better than Oyl of Citron Peel When Suffocation had taken Pausanias his Girl lib. 7. Epid. after eating a Mushrome Honey and Water hot and Vomiting and Bathing did her good In the Bathe she vomited up the Mushrome and when the Symptomes ceased she fell into a Sweat A Matron being almost Choaked with bad Mushromes had breathed her last had not I relieved her with Oyl drawn from Citron Peel the