is not only highly probable and easie to imagine but certainly the Effect and Product of daily Experience that these pernicious cold Particles are soon driven away and put to flight by the calorific or hot Particles of which there are enow floating or rather jumping about in Bagnios Cold Particles have likewise other hurtful Effects upon the Body besides secluding the Pores which is by entring the Body and mixing themselves with the Blood and hereby causing Coughs Catarrhs Defluxions Hoarsness Quinzies Pleurisies Fevers Rheumatisms Pains Head-aches Toothaches Deafnesses c. All which direful Maladies are prevented if the Party soon after taking Cold enter a Bagnio the Heat expelling those Particles which are the Causes of the mentioned Evils Another Use of Bagnios may be to recruit the Body after a tedious and wearisom Journey for if a Person coming off such a Journey do immediately make use of the Bagnio it presently refresheth him prevents Stiffness of the Limbs and renders him as fit for Business the next day as if he had never travelled To what hath been said I may add That Sweating is useful in Surfeits gotten by Fruits Meats Wines and other Strong Liquors by causing the Blood to throw off and separate that which being mixed with it gave it the Surfeit For which reason it is very proper and benficial for such as drink hard to make frequent use of Bagnios Bagnios are likewise many times helpful to such as have Old Pains and Aches and also newly contracted Rheumatisms Farther we have to add concerning the Benefit of Bagnios That the Friction or Rubbing used in them is of extraordinary use to Humane Bodies as wel as the Sweating For hereby the Circulation of the Blood in the smal Capillary Vessels is exceedingly promoted and the narrow Ducts and Passages in the extreme and superficial and cutaneous Parts of the Body wherein the Blood and other Liquors are often coagulated or those Vessels stopp'd by other Accidents are hereby opened the tender Nervous Fibres are also hereby rubb'd up and stimulated to perform their Exercise So that many and considerable are the Advantages of so little and unthought-of a thing as Friction And this is not only my bare Opinion but the Opinion of several Learned Authors Galen in several places of his Works highly commends Friction particularly in Lib. de Artic. cap. 81. he saith Frictiones reddunt Fibrarum substantiam pleniorem Carnium vero validiorem Frictions render the substance of the Fibres fuller the Flesh more firm Also Lib. de Offic. cap. 25. he saith Frictio moderata nutrit Moderate Friction nourisheth We have not only the Authority of Galen for the abetment of our Assertion but likewise several Modern Authors do testifie the same The Lord Verulam in his History of Life and Death looks upon Touch and Friction as a great Medic Branch and effectual Cure of many Diseases and Infirmities That Motion and Warmth which make up Friction draw forth new Juyce and Vigour into the Parts and that they also contribute much to the Prolongation of Life c. See his History of Life and Death Hist 6. Sect. 3. in Canon xiii Mr. Boyle in his Vsefulness of Experimental Philosophy Part 2. c. 15. compares the Bodies of Animals to Engines whose distant Parts may be altered much for the better or worse by Impressions upon some other Part by Motions confessedly Mechanical He also tels us how much the wel-dressing and Currying of a Horse contributes to his Thriving that he shal look better by such wel-ordering than twice the quantity of Corn without such care taken of him That the Brasilian Emperics tho otherwise very unskilful do strange things in the preserving of Health and removing Diseases by such means curing Cronic Diseases by Friction Acute ones by Unction You may see more among Dr. Beal's Communications concerning the Cure of Excrescences and Wens by the Touch of a Dead Man's Hand and Friction and of some that would cause Vomiting or Purging by different Stroking and give ease in the Gout as also the Benefit an old Gentleman received having his Feet lickt by a Spaniel Of which see at large in Philosophic Transactions N. 12. p. 206 208. for the Year 1666. 'T is likewise credibly reported and I am apt to believe it That Mr. Hobbs who lived to a great Age was a great Admirer of Frictions and oftentimes imploy'd his Man to rub him down with a course Cloth if not constantly It 's also more than probable That many great Cures which have been done by some Private Persons who have been Famous for Stroaking or Rubbing the Parts and have been thought to have had an Extraordinary or Divine Gift or Happiness that way have oftentimes been no other than the natural Effects and Consequents of Friction The Famous Van Helmont tels us That he himself could by the Milk of an Ass tel whether she had been that day diligently Curried or no. Now so considerable an Alteration in Milk should methinks strongly argue that a great one is in the Blood or other Juyce of which the Blood is elaborated and consequently in divers of the principal Parts of the Body which must have preceded it Now there being so sensible an Alteration made in the Body of a Brute by meer Currying how much more Benefit and Advantage must needs accrue and redound to the Body of Man by accurate Friction Thus we have endeavoured to demonstrate the great Use and Benefit of Bagnios Now that this ample and spacious Structure of the Duke's Bagnio doth not fal short of but rather exceed most of the Bagnios in Europe is the Assertion of al Travellers that have yet seen it That which next occurs to our Consideration is the Use and Benefit of Baths and particularly of this New Artificial Bath Not undeservedly have Natural Baths been applauded by the most Eminent and Learned Physicians of many successive Generations neither hath the general Esteem of the Vulgar for them for so many past Ages been meerly the Fruits of Fansie without Ground or Reason since the multitude of Cures that have yearly been effected by the Use of them hath been a sufficient Manifesto of their great Virtue and Usefulness Never was the Use of Baths so much in vogue in Europe as now The most Renowned and those that indeed excel al other Natural Baths in Europe are those of Hungary Dr. Brown's Travels at Glas-Hitten an Hungarian Mile from Schemnitz There are five very convenient Baths with handsom Descents into them and covered over with large high Roofs These Baths are exceedingly frequented by reason of the extraordinary Cures that are done by them Also at Eisenbach which is four English Miles from Glas-Hitten are two very commodious Hot Baths which are very much frequented Not only in Hungary but likewise in Germany Natural Baths are highly esteemed and much used Particularly those of the famous City of Aken are much celebrated in many Parts of Europe They were
found out in the Year of our Lord 53. by one Granus a Noble Roman who adorned them after the manner of the Roman Baths and built a Noble Habitation near them part of which is stil to be seen retaining the Name of Turris Grani. Hence likewise these Thermae are stil called Aquae Graniae Within the Wals of this City are three Baths viz. the Emperour's Bath the Little Bath and the Bath of St. Quirinus The Emperour's Bath was very large but is now divided by Partitions into several Bathing-rooms This is that Bath in which Charles the Great formerly took so much delight that he spent the latter end of his Days here and would frequently swim in it and invited abundance of his Friends to this Bath so that a hundred at once did frequently enter it There are likewise other Baths about this City as the Bath of St. Cornelius the Rose-Bath so called from Mr. Rose a Citizen that built it also the Compus Badt or Poor Mans Bath These are esteemed to be Sulphureo-Nitrous their Smell is offensive and Water not transparent About a Furlong from the South Bath of Aken is a Village called Borset where there are Twenty eight Baths eath of them holding Fifty Tun of Water and all of them frequented In Austria at Baden are Fourteen very sumptuous and delightful Baths al of them wel beautified and much resorted to The Turks also make great use of Baths as wel as Bagnios and do most of any Nation beautifie their Baths and always build large Cupolas over them We may likewise mention the Hot Waters at Bourbon in France the use of which in Bathing as wel as Drinking have given such satisfaction to the World of their singular and admirable Qualities that Persons from al Parts of Europe do throng and flock thither for the sake of Bathing in them Thus we see how Forrein Parts prove exemplary to us in the frequent use of Bathing 'T wil not be amiss now to mention something concerning the Natural Baths in our own Native Country Those that are most known and frequented are those of Bathe in Somersetshire which were 't is said found out by one Bladud King of the Britans about 900 Years before Christ This Bladud was sirnamed a Magician and was counted by the Common People to be a Conjurer tho al that he did to deserve that Character was nothing but the Effects of his Learning and Ingenuity Guidot of Bath The Baths of Bathe are in number chiefly three the King 's the Cross and the Hot Bath the Queens being but an Appendent to the King 's as the Lepers to the Hot Bath The King's Bath is about 58 Foot long and 40 Foot broad The Queens 25 Foot long and 24 Foot broad The Cross Bath 24 Foot long 19 Foot over Northwards and 12 Foot over on the South The Hot Bath 30 Foot long 13 Foot broad If we reckon by Gage we find that the Kings Bath contains about 314 Tun of Water the Queens 81 Tun 3 Hogsheads the Cross 53 Tun the Hot 54 Tun. These Baths are much frequented in the Summer yet not so much as they would certainly be if due Observation was made and notice taken of the many Cures are done by them and the admirable Virtues of them But for what farther might be mentioned of these Baths I refer the Reader to Dr. Jorden of Natural Baths and Guidot's Discourse of Bathe and the Hot Waters there Another admirable Bath in England is the Sulphur-Bath at Knaisbrough in Yorkshire the extraordinary Virtues of which as the Causes of its Heat are accurately discussed by that Ingenious Physician Dr. William Simpson lately deceas'd in his Discourse of this Bath adjoyning to his Zymologia Physica or a Philosophic Discourse of Fermentation It might now be expected we should say something of the Causes of Heat in the Hot Baths and of the particular Minerals wherewith they are commonly impregnated but the Largeness of that Theme will not agree with the Brevity which we have resolved to limit our selves unto and therefore I shall not enter upon it Nor shal we launch out to relate the Virtues of particular Natural Baths but only betake our selves to declare the Use of this New Artificial Bath by giving an Account of the several Diseases that it may safely and successfully be prescribed for Only let us premise thus much to take off whatsoever prejudice the Reader may possibly have entertained against an Artificial Bath That there can be no Reason in the World alledged why Baths may not by Art be prepared with the same Mineral Ingredients that the Natural ones are impregnated with which shal equal if not exceed any of them al. The Reason may be this That there are no Metals in the World but by Art may be so prepared as that the prepared Particles of those very Metals may be mixed with Water and so the particular Virtues of those Particles communicated to the Water Secondly There are no Saline Aluminous or Esurine Particles in the Body of the Earth which impregnating Water render it able to prey upon and dissolve the Metals or Mineral Sulphurs there but what may be obtained or prepared by Art or something analogous to them Thirdly There are no Natural Baths in the World but have some Arsenical Antimonial or else some other unwholesom offensive Particles mixed with the more wholesom and powerful Principles of it which render those Waters less helpful and effectual in routing those Maladies for which they are prescribed But this Artificial Bath consists of Principles most refined and depurate and so consequently most innocent and effectual For whatever is poysonous and pernicious to the Nerves is abstracted and separated from them but whatever is purely Sulphureous Balsamic and agreeable to the Nerves is added to them Besides our Bath is much more convenient than the Baths at Bathe it being within-doors and covered so that Persons need not fear the bad Effects of being exposed to the open Air. This likewise renders our Bath useful in Winter as well as in Summer Another Convenience of it is that it is at London whither the numerous Diseased Persons that either have not Money or Strength to travel down into Somersetshire may here be accommodated with smal Charge or trouble and that altogether to as much purpose We shal now mention the particular Distempers in which this Bath gives immediate Reliefe And that which first occurs and hardly admits of any Relief from any other Means than Bathing is the Palsie This it doth by opening the Pores of the Body absolving the Nerves from their Obstruents dinting the Acrimony and Sharpness of the Serum dissolving coagulated Blood and giving Current to that fluid Balsam of Life and at length reducing the Nervous and Membranous Parts to their due Order and Tone For the same Reason this Bath is likewise very effectual in Convulsions Cramps Epilepsies Pains Numbness and Lameness in the Joynts and al other Affects of the Nervosum
in these Waters dissolves the coagulated Matter in the Reins and makes free passage both for it self and for the exit of the restagnating Water which before floated in the Abdomen and Legs and so caused that Swelling in them In the Dropsie likewise there is a vitiated Ferment in the Stomach and an adust Sordes impacted in the Tunicles thereof whence a Feverish and pressing Thirst constantly attends Dropsical Persons Now this Water doth cleanse the Stomach it looseneth and dissolveth the Sordes of Digestion and so carrieth it off Perhaps it may seem something contradictory and unreasonable that Dropsies are to be helped by Waters because the Blood in this Disease is too much diluted already But if we consider how these Waters remove the Cause of this Malady the strangeness wil be taken away Besides when Dropsical Persons desire these Waters we can by adding to them some Preparations of the Mineral Principles of them make them much stronger and so consequently a smaller quantity of them may be more potent than a much greater and so this Objection quite removed 4. The Yellow Jaundice is curable by these Waters For hereby Obstructions in the Bilary Ducts are opened the regular and genuine Motion of the Choler promoted and the Blood cleansed from that Yellow Liquor which before was mixed with it and hurried about thorow the Veins and Arteries by the Circulation whence the ultmate Fibres and cutaneous Parts are at last discoloured by it 5. These Waters may be drank with admirable Success in Hypochondriac Melancholy and Affects of the Spleen The Causes and Nature of this Distemper I have related in a little Tract which I published several Years ago called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or A Philosophic Discourse concerning Man which the Reader may peruse at his leisure 6. In al manner of Uterine Affects or Diseases of the Womb these Waters may be recommended I shal not dispute whether Hysteric Passions or Fits of the Mother proceed from the Womb as Sennertus Riverius and other famous Authors tel us or from the Explosion of the Animal Spirits in the Nerves as the Renowned Willis wil have it or else from the more than ordinary Effervescence or Ebullition of the thinner and more flatulent Blood in the Heart and Lungs as Dr. Highmore asserts whence he saith the Heart and the Pneumatic Vessels are apprest and straitned difficulty of Breathing caused and a kind of Rising in the Throat But whatever the primary and original Cause of it is we find by experience that by these Waters it may be removed They are likewise proper in al those Distempers peculiar to Women as Obstructions of the Courses immoderate Fluxes Whites Suffocations of the Womb the raging and unbridled Furor Vlterinus Inflammations of the Womb Barrenness c. 7. Nothing more proper and beneficial in great Surfeits than to dilute the Blood and separate from it those impure Mixtures wherewith 't was surfeited by drinking of these wholesom Medicinal Waters 8. In the beginning of a Hectic See the Cause of a Consumption in a Discourse of that Distemper which I lately published and a tendency to a Consumption nothing can be safer than these Waters Where a Consumption is feared and the Body inclinable to it these Waters if drank in a sufficient quantity every day for some Weeks wil in al probability prevent it 9. In a Cachexy or il Habit of Body proceeding from undue and depraved Concoctions these Waters are certainly effectual For by being often drank they assist Concoction by taking away what was injurious to it and whet the Appetite by correcting the vitiated Acid in the Stomach purifie the Blood by separating from it what is heterogenious and leaving some of its wholesom Particles with it and so in a short time the whole Body is reduced to a regular Crasis and Eutaxy We might here add several other Maladies for which these Waters are of great use and efficacy as Preternatural Vomitings Pains at the Stomach Heats of the Liver and Bowels Thirst and Bitter Tastes in the Mouth Obstructions of the Mesentery and other Bowels Sarpness of Vrine and Difficulty of making Water Vlcers of the Reins Bladder and Yard Tumours of the Hemorrhoids or the Piles Colics both Bilose and Nephritic Dysenteries or Bloody-flux Worms Headach Meagrim Giddiness Bleedings at Nose Palpitations of the Heart the Itch Bastard-Leprosie Scabs or other Breakings-out or Eruptions in the Skin In fine we may safely say of these Waters Petr. Givrius Arcanum Acâ—dulaâ—um c. 10. as a very late Author writeth in praise of the Spaw-waters in Germany Non arbitror omnes Medicos tam Antiquos quam Modernos ullum unquam remedium adinvenisse adeo proficium adeoque amicum humanae naturae quod uno eodemque tempore purgat deterget temper at corrobor at omnia viscera tot tamque diversis morbis auxiliatur I do not think saith he that the Ancient or Modern Physicians have ever yet found out a Remedy so beneficial so agreeable to Humane Nature which at one and the same time purgeth detergeth temperates and corroborates al the Bowels and is helpful in so many and so differing Distempers To apply this I would not be understood that I think no Physicians can by their Endeavours make Waters Artificially which may be as good as these but my Opinion is as I have already asserted That no Form of Medicines do in any respect equal that of Mineral Water Much more might be said in Commendation of these Waters but I have already exceeded my limited Bounds These Waters may be drank from One Quart to Two and Three in a Morning The Person that drinks them is to use moderate Exercise as Walking Playing at Bowls Ninepins c. after them About two Hours after he may drink a Glass of Wine which wil help their Passage He must not eat til two or three Hours after he hath drank them nor use any violent Motion He must use a moderate Diet during the whole time of his drinking them not overcharging the Stomach with too much or too great Variety of Food His constant Drink is to be clear fresh and not too strong neither new nor too stale He may now and then rest a day or two and then drink again It 's convenient to purge gently after he hath drank them a fortnight or three weeks Such as please may have them made stronger by adding some of the Essence of these Waters to them and so may drink them in lesser Quantities What I have farther to add concerning these Waters I shal reserve til a Treatise of Observations that may be made upon the Bath and Spaw which we hope to finish by next Summer shal be published FINIS ERRATA Page 98. line 1. read Scorvey p. 99. l. 1. r. cariate p. 102. l. 14. r. Endemic p. 111. l. 4. r. opprest l. 17. r. Vterinus