〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly called the false cources or whites of which I will speake hereafter Secondly it is said to proceed from the wombe for there are two wayes by which the blood flowesforth The one is by the internall veynes in in the body of the wombe and this is properly called the monthly flux The other is by those veynes which are terminated in the necke of the matrice and this is called of Aetius the Hemorrhodes of the wombe Lastly it is said to exceed both in quantity and time In quantity sayth Hippocrates when they flow above 18 ounces In time saith Aristotle when they flow above three dayes But wee take this for a certaine character of their inordinate flowing when the faculties of the body thereby are weakened In bodyes abounding with grosse humours this immoderate flux sometimes unburdens nature of her load and ought not to bee stayed without the councell of a Physitian Cause The cause of this affect is internall or externall The internall cause is threefold in the matter instrument or faculty The matter which is the blood may be vitious two wayes First in quantity it being so great that the veynes are not able to contayne it Secondly in quality it being adust sharp watrish or unconcocted The instrument viz the veynes are faulty by the dilatation of the orifice which may bee caused two wayes first by the heate of the constitution climate or season heating the blood whereby the passages are dilated and the faculty weakned that it cannot retaine the blood Secondly by fals blowes violent motion breaking of a veyne c. The externall cause may be calidity of the aire lifting carrying of heavy burdens unnaturall child birth falls c. Signes In this inordinate flux the appetite is decayed the concoctions depraved and all the actions weakened the feet are swelled the colour of the face is changed and a generall feeblenes possesseth the whole body If the flux comes by the breaking of a veine the body is something cold the blood flowes forth on heapes and that suddenly with great payne If it comes through heate the orifice of the veynes being dilated then is there little or no payne yet the blood flowes faster then it doth in an Erosion and not so fast as it doth in a Rupture If by Erosion or sharpnesse of blood shee feeles a great heate scalding the passage It differs from the other two in that it flowes not so suddenly nor so copiously as they doe If by weaknesse of the wombe shee abhorreth the use of Venus Lastly if it proceeds from an evill quality in the blood droppe some of it on a cloth and when it is drie you may judge of the quality by the colour If it bee cholericke it will bee yellow If melancholie blacke If flegmaticall watrish and whitish Prognosticks If with the flux be joyned a convulsion it is dangerous because it intimates the more noble parts are vitiated and a convulsion caused by emptinesse is deadly If it continues long it will bee cured with great difficulty for it was one of the miracles which our Saviour Christ wrought to cure this disease when it had continued 12 yeares To conclude if the flux bee inordinate many diseases will ensue and without remedy the blood together with the native heare being consumed either chacheriall hydropicall or paralyticall diseases will follow Cure The cure consisteth in three particulars First in repelling and carrying back of the blood Secondly in correcting and taking away the fluxibility of the matter Thirdly in corroborating the veynes and faculty For the first To cause a regression of the blood open a veyne in the arme and draw out so much blood as the strength of the patient will permit and that not together but at severall times for hereby the spirits are the lesse weakened and the retraction so much the greater Apply cupping-glasses to the brests and also to the liver that the reversion may be in the fountaine To correct the fluxibility of the matter catharticall meanes moderated with astrictories must be used If it be caused by erosion or sharpnesse of blood consider whether the Erosion bee by salt flegme or adust choller If by salt flegme Prepare with sirupe of violets wormewood roses citron-pills succorie c. then take this purgation following ℞ myrobolan chebul ℥ s. trochiscks of agaricke ʒi with plantaine water make a decoction adde thereunto sir. rosat lax ℥ iii. make a potion If by adust choller prepare the body with sirrupe of roses myrtles sorrell purcelaine commixt with water of plantaine knot-grasse and endive Then purge with this potion ℞ rindes of myrobolanes rhubarbe ana ʒi cinnamon gr xv infuse them one night in endive water Adde to the straining pulpe of tamarind cassia ana ℥ s. sirupe of roses ℥ i. make a potion If the blood bee watrish and uncencoct as it is in hydropicall bodies and flowes forth by reason of the tenuitie and thinnesse the use of of hydragoga will bee profitable Purge with agarick elaterium and coloquintida Sweating is proper in this cause for by it the matter offending is taken away and the motion of the blood is carried to the outward parts To procure sweate she may take cardvus water with mithridate or the decoction of guajacum fassafras and sarsa-parilla the gumme of guajacum also doth greatly provoke sweate Pills of Sarsa-parilla taken every night going to bed are worthily commended If the blood flowes forth from the opening or breaking of a veyne without any evill quality in its selfe then ought onely corroboratives to bee applied which is the last thing to bee done in the cure of this inordinate flux ℞ Of bole-armonie ℈ i London treacle ʒi old conserve of roses ℥ s. with sirupe of myrtles make an electuarie Or if the flux hath continued long ℞ Of masticke ʒii olibani troch de carabe ana ʒi balaustiorum ℈ i. make a powder with sirupe of quinces make it into pills take one alwayes before meales ℞ Lapidis haematitis triti ana ℈ ii aliʒi troch de carabe de scoria ferri corall frankincence ana ℈ i. fine bole ℈ i. beate these to a fine powder and with sugar and plantaine water q.s. make lozenges Asses dung is well approoved of whether taken inwardly with sirupe of quinces or applied outwardly with steeled water Galen by conveighing the juce of it through a metrenchita into the wombe 4. dayes together cured this immoderate flux which no wayes else could bee restrained Going to bed let her take ℈ is Philonii Romani in a wafer make suffumigations for the matrice of masticke franckincence burnt froggs not forgetting the hoofe of a mule ℞ Of the juce of knotgrasse comferie quinces ana ℥ i. campher ʒi dippe silke cotton therein and apply it to the places ℞ Oyle of mastick myrtles quinces ana ℥ s. fine bole troch de carabe sanguinis draconis ana ʒi wax and viniger
q.s. make an unguent apply it both before and behinde â„ž Of plantaine shepheards purse red rose leaves ana M. iii. of goates and asses dung dried ana â„¥ is acatiae hypocistidos ana â„¥ is dried mint â„¥ i. bean meale â„¥ iii. boyle all these in plantaine water and make of it two plasters applie one before and the other behinde If the blood flowes from those veynes which are terminated in the necke of the matrice then it is not called the overflowing of the termes but the hemorrhods of the wombe yet the same cure will serve them both only the instrumentall cure will a little differ for in the esterine hemorrhods the ends of the veynes hang over like little teates or pushes which must be taken away by incision and then the veynes closed up with Aloes fine bole burnt alum troch de terra sigil myrrh masticke with the juce of comfery and knotgrasse laid plasterwise thereto The aire must be cold and drie all motion of the body is forbidden Let her meat bee Pheasant Partridge mountaine birds Cunnies Calfes feet c. and let her beere bee mixt with the juce of quinces and pomgranuts CHAP. IIII. Of the Weeping of the wombe THE Weeping of the wombe is an unnaturall flux of blood comming from the wombe by dropps or after the manner of teares causing violent pains in the same keeping neither period nor time By some it is referred unto the immoderate evacuation of the cources yet they are distinguisht in the quantity and manner of their flowing In that they flow copiously and freely In this continually yet by little and little and that with great paine and difficulty Wherefore it is likened unto the strangurie Cause The cause is in the facultie instrument or matter In the facultie by being enfeebled that it cannot expell the blood and the blood resting there makes the parts of the wombe grow hard and stretcheth the vessells from whence proceeds the paine in the wombe In the instrument by the narrownesse of the passages Lastly it may be in the matter of the blood which may offend in too great a quantity or in an evill quality it being grosse and thicke that it cannot flow forth as it ought to doe but by drops Signes The signes will best appeare by the relation of the patient Prognosticks Hereupon will ensue paines in the head stomacke and backe with inflammations suffocations and excoriations of the matrice Cure If the strength of the patient will permit first open a veine in the arme rubbe the upper parts and let her armes bee corded that the force of the blood may bee carried backward Then apply such things as may laxate and mollifie the stretching of the wombe and asswage the sharpnesse of the blood as cataplasmes made of bran lineseed faengrecke melilote mallows mercurie and atriplex If the blood bee viscuous and grosse adde thereto mugwort calamint dictam and betonie And let her take of Venice treakle the quantity of a nutmeg with sirrup of mugwort every morning Anoint the places with oyle of lillies roses lineseed sweete almonds and calfes marrow Make injections of the decoction of mallows mercurie lineseed groundfuell mugwort faengrecke with oyle of sweet almonds Sometimes it is caused by a winde and then phlebotonie is to bee omitted and in the stead thereof â„ž Sirupe of feverfew â„¥ i. honie of roses sirupe of staechas ana â„¥ s. water of calamint mugwort betonie hysope ana â„¥ i. make a julep If the paine continues take this purgation â„ž hieraeÊ’i diachatholicon â„¥ s. Sirupe of roses laxative â„¥ i. with the decoction of mugwort and the 4. cordiall flowers make a potion If it comes through weaknesse of the facultie let that bee corroborated If through grossenesse or sharpnesse of the blood let the quality of it bee altered as I have shewne in the foregoing chapter Lastly if the excrements of the gutte be retained provoke them by a clyster of the decoction of chammomill betony feverfew mallowes lineseed juniper berries cummin-seed aniceseed meliloâ—e adding thereto of diacatholicon â„¥ s. picraeÊ’ii hony oyle ana â„¥ i. Salâ—iter â„¥ is The patient must abstaine from salt sharp and windy meats CHAP. V. Of the false cources or whites FRom the wombe proceeds not only the menstruous blood but accidentally many other excrements which by the Ancients are comprehended under the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a distillation of variety of corrupt humours through the wombe flowing from the whole body or part of the same keeping neither cource nor colour but varying in both Cause The cause is either promiscuously in the whole bodie by a cachochymia or weaknesse of the same or in some of the parts as in the liver which by the inabilitie of the sanguifficative faculty causeth a generation of corrupt blood and then the matter is ruddish sometimes in the gall being sluggish in its office not drawing away those cholericke superfluities which are ingendred in the liver and the matter is yellowish Sometimes in the Spleene not defecating and clensing the blood of the dregges and excrementitious parts and then the matter flowing forth is blackish It may also come from catarrhes in the head or from any other putrified or corrupted member But if the matter of the flux bee white the cause is either in the stomacke or reynes In the stomacke by a flegmaticall and crude matter there contracted and vitiated through griefe melancholie and other distempers for otherwise if the matter were onely Pituita crude flegme and no wayes corrupt or vitiated being taken unto the liver it might bee converted into blood for flegme in the ventricle is called nourishment halfe digested But being corrupt though sent unto the liver yet it cannot bee turned into nutriment for the second concoction cannot correct that which the first hath corrupted and therefore the liver sends it to the wombe which can neither disgest it nor repell it and so it is voided out still keeping the colour which it had in the ventricle The cause also may be in the reynes being over heat whereby the spermaticall matter by reason of its thinnesse flowes forth The externall cause may bee moystnesse of the aire eating of corrupt meats anger griefe slothfulnesse immoderate sleeping costivenesse of body Signes The signes are extenuation of the body shortnesse and stinking of breath loathing of meate paine in the 〈◊〉 swelling of the eyes and feet melancholie humidity flowes from the wombe of divers colours as reddish blacke greene yellow white It differs from the flowing and overflowing of the cources in that it keepes no certaine periods and is of many colours all which doe degenerate from blood Prognosticks If the flux be flegmaticall it will continue long and be difficult to cure yet if vomiting or the flux Diarrhaea hapeneth diverting the humour it cures the disease If it bee cholericke it is not so permanent yet more perilous for it will cause
the left side as well as in the right In the bottome of the cavity there are little holes called the Cotyledones which are the ends of certaine veines and arteries serving in breeding women to conveigh sustenance to the childe which is received by the Vmbilicall veine And in others to carry the cources into matrice Now touching the menstruals They are defined to bee a monethly flux of excrementitious and â—â—profitable bloud In which we are to note that the matter slowing forth is excrementitious which is to be understood of the superplus or redundancie of it for it is a excrement in quantity in quality being pure and incorrupt like unto the bloud in the veines And that the menstruous bloud is pure and simply of it selfe all one in quality with that in the veines is proved two wayes First from the the finall cause of this bloud which is the propagation and conservation of mankinde that man might bee conceived and being begotten hee might bee comforted and preserved both in the wombe and out of the wombe And all will grant it for a truth that the childe while it is in the matrice is nourished with this bloud and it is as true that being out of the womb it is still nourished with the same for the milke is nothing but the menstruous bloud made white in the breasts and I am sure womans milke is not thought to bee venomous but of a nutritive quality answerable to the tender nature of an infant Secondly it is proved to be pure from the generation of it it being the superfluity of the last aliment of the fleshie parts It may be objected if the bloud bee not of a hurtfull quality how can it cause such venomous effects as if the same fall upon trees and herbs it maketh the one barren and mortifies the other And Averroes writes that if a man accompany with a menstruous woman if she conceive she shall bring forth a Lepar I answer this malignity is contracted in the wombe for the woman wanting native heat to digest this superfluity sends it to the matrice where seating it selfe untill the mouth of the wombe be dilated it becomes corrupt and venomous which may easily be considering the heat and moistnesse of the place This bloud therefore being out of his vessels offends in quality In this sense let us understand Pliny Fernelius Florus and the rest of that torrent But if frigidity bee the cause why women cannot digest all their last nourishment and consequently that they have these purgations It remaines to give a reason why they are of so cold a constitution more than men which is this The naturall end of mans and womans being is to propagate and this iniunction was imposed upon them by God at their first creation and againe after the deluge now in the act of conception there must be an Agent and a Patient for if they be both every way of one constitution they cannot propagate man therefore is hot and dry woman cold and moist he is the Agent she the Patient or weaker vessell that she should be subject unto the office of the Man It is necessary likewise that woman should be of a cold constitution because in her is required a redundancy of matter for the infant depending on her for otherwise if there were not a superplus of nourishment for the child more than is convenient for the mother then would the infant detract and weaken the principall parts of the mother and like unto the Viper the generation of the infant would be the destruction of the parent These monethly purgations continue from the 15. yeare to the 46. or 50. Yet often there happens a suppression which is either naturall or morbifficall They are naturally supprest in breeding women and such as give sucke The morbificall suppression fals now into our method to bee spoken off CHAP. II. Of the retention of the months THe suppression of the Termes is an interception of that accustomary evacuation of bloud which every moneth should come from the matrice proceeding from the instrument or matter vitiated The part affected is the wombe and that of it selfe or by consent Cause The cause of this suppression is either externall or internall The externall cause may bee heat or drinesse of the aire immoderate watching great labour vehement motion and the like whereby the matter is so consumed and the body so exhaust that there is not a superplus remaining to be expelled as is recorded of the Amozonites who being active and alwayes in motion had their fluxions very little or not at all Or it may bee caused by cold which is most frequent making the bloud viscuous and grosse condensing and binding up the passages that it cannot flow forth The internall cause is either instrumentall or materiall in the wombe or in the bloud In the wombe it may bee divers wayes by Apostoms Tumors Ulcers by the narrownesse of the veines and passages or by the Omentum or kell in fat bodies pressing the necke of the matrice but then they must have Hernia Zirbalis for in mankinde the kell reacheth not so low By overmuch cold or heat the one vitiating the action and the other consuming the matter By an evill composition of the uterine parts by the necke of the wombe being turned aside and sometimes though rarely by a membrane or excrescence of flâ—sh growing about the mouth or necke of the wombe The bloud may bee in fault two wayes in quantity or in quality In quantitity when it is so consumed that there is not a superplus left as in Viragoes and virill women who through their heat and strength of nature digest and consume all their last nourishment as Hippocrates writes of Phaetusa who being exiled by her husband Pythea her termes were supprest her voyce changed and had a beard with a countenance like a man But these I judge rather to be Anthropophagae women-eaters than women-breeders because they consume one of the principles of generation which gives a being to the world viz. the menstruous bloud The bloud likewise may be consumed and consequently the termes stayed by bleeding of the nose by a flux of the Emroides by a Dysenteria commonly called the bloudy flux by many other evacuations and continuall and chronicall diseases Secondly the matter may bee vitious in quality as suppose it bee sanguineons flegmaticall bilious or melancholious every one of these if they offend in grosnesse will cause an obstruction in the veynes Signes Signes manifesting the disease are paines in the head necke backe and loynes wearinesse of the whole body but especially of the hips and legges by reason of a confinity which the matrix hath with these parts trembling of the heart Particular signes are these if the suppression proceeds of cold she is heavie sluggish of a pale colour and hath a slow pulse Venus
use of castor is worthily commended Ê’i of it being taken in white wine Or you may make pills of it with mithridate and take them going to bed â„ž Of white brionie root dried and cut after the manner of carrots â„¥ i. Put it into a draught of wine placing it by the fire and when it is warme drinke it of Quercitane draweth a faecula out of the root the substance of which is to be taken in white wine or peonie water â„ž Of myrrhe castor Assafaetida ana ℈ i. saffron rue seed ana gr iiii make 8 pills take every night 2. at your entrance into bed Galen by his owne example commends unto us Agaricke pulveriz'd of which he gave frequently ℈ i. in white wine â„ž anaÊ’s ligni aloes citron pills dried ana ℈ i. sugar â„¥ iii. with feverfew water make lozenges â„ž Of tryphera magna Nic. Ê’i mugwort water â„¥ iiii Take this every other day for the space of 12 dayes Hang about her necke little tabulets of Vngula Alces â„ž Of bdellium ammoniacum and â„¥ ii Agnus castus Centorie Cassia-wood feverfew marjerom ana Ê’is turpentine q. s. make two plasters applie one before and the other behind Lay to the navill at bed-time a head of garlicke brused fastening it with a sweathing bande Make a girdle of galbanum for the wast and also a plaster for the belly placeing in one part of it both civet and muske which must be layd upon the navill â„ž anaÊ’ii mithridate q. s. make a pessarie It purgeth the matrice of winde and flegme foment the naturall parts with sallade oyle in which hath beene boyled rue feverfew and chammomill â„ž Of rose leaves m.i. cloves ℈ ii twilt them up in a little cloth and boyle them in malmsie the eight part of an houre and then applie them close to the mouth of the wombe as hote as may bee indured Let her be covered well that the smell passeth not to the nose A drieing diet must bee observed the moderate use of Venus is commended Let her bread bee Anice seed bisket and her flesh meate rather rosted then boyled CHAP. VII Of the descending or falling downe of the Mother THE falling down of the wombe is a relaxation of the ligatures wherby the matrice is carried backward and in some hangs out in the bignesse of an egge Of this there bee two kindes distinguisht of Fernelius by Descensus and Prolapsus by a descending and a precipitation The descending of the wombe is when it sinketh downe to the entrance of the privities and appeares to the eye either not at al or very little The precipitation is when the wombe like a purse is turned the inside outward and hangs bewixt the thighes in the bignesse of a cupping-glasse Cause The cause is externall or internall The externall cause is difficult child birth violent pulling away of the secondine rashnesse and inexperience in drawing away of the child violent coughing neezing falls blowes carrying of heavie burdens The internall cause in generall is overmuch humiditie flowing unto those parts hindring the operations of the wombe whereby the ligaments by which the wombe is supported are relaxt The cause in particular is refer'd to bee in the retention of the seed or in the suppressions of the courses Signes The Arsgut and the bladder oftentimes are so crushed that the passage of both the excrements is hindered If the urine doth flow forth it is white and thick the proecordia are molested the loynes be grieved the privities payned the womb sinkes down to the entrance of the private parts or else comes cleane out Prognosticks This griefe possessing an old woman is cured with great difficultie because it weakens the faculties of the wombe and therefore though it bee reduced into his propper place yet uppon every occurrance it is subject to the like danger it was in before So is it with the younger sort if the disease be inveterate If it bee caused by putrifaction in the nerves it is incurable Cure The wombe naturally being placed betweene the streight gut and the bladder and now fallen down ought not to be put up againe untill the facultie both of the guts and bladder bee stirred up Nature being unloded of her burden let the woman be placed on her backe in such sort that her legs may be higher then her head let her feet be drawne up to her hinder parts with her knees spread abroad Then mollifie the swelling with oyle of Lillies and sweet Almonds or with the decoction of mâ—llows beetes faengreck and lineseed When the inflation is dissiputed let the midwife annoint her hand with oyle of Mastick and reduce the wombe into its place The matrice being put up the situation of the patient must bee changed Let her legs bee out at length and layd together Set cuppingglasses to the brests and navill Boyle Mugwort Feverfew red Roses and Comferie in red Wine and foment the places therewith Make a suffumigation for the matrice of Castor assa faetida Frankincence and Mastick â„ž anaÊ’iii Masticke Styrax Franck inâ—ence ana â„¥ i. boleÊ’i with oyle of myrtles and wax make two plasters apply one before and the other behinde â„ž Of red roses Pomgranate pills Accorne cups Myrtle berries ana â„¥ ii Medler leaues Sage Rue Origan Comferie wormewood ana mis. boyle all these in water and make an insessioÌ„ Move sweet odours to the nose And at the comming out of the Bath give her of sirrup of Feverfew â„¥ i. with Ê’i of anaÊ’iii Galbani â„¥ s. StyracisÊ’ ii make a plaster for the navill Make pessaries of Assafaetida Saffron Comfery masticke adding there to a little Castor The practice of Paraeus in this cause was to make them only of corke in figure like a little egge covering them over with wax and masticke dissolved together fastning to it a thred and so to put it up into the wombe The present danger being new taken away and the matrice seared in its naturall abode the remote cause must bee remooved If the body bee plethoricke open a veyne Prepare with sirrup of betonie calamint hysope and feverfew Purge with pil de hier a cum agarico pil de colocynthide If the stomacke bee opprest by crudities unburden it by vomiting Sudorifficall decoctioÌ„s of Lignum sanctum and sassifras taken twenty daies together dries up the superfluous moister and consequently suppresseth the cause of the disease Let the aire bee hote and drie and your diet hote and attenuating Abstaine from dancing leaping neezing and from all motion both of body and minde Eate sparingly drinke not much sleepe moderately CHAP. VIII Of the Inflammation of the wombe THE Phlegmon or inflammation of the matrice is a tumour possessing the whole wombe or part of it accompanied with unnaturall heate by obstructions and gathering together of corrupt blood Cause The cause of this affect is suppression of the months repletion of the whole body immoderate use of Venus often handling of the
cleare yet it is not a necessary consequence that shee is destitute of life for the motion of the lungs by which the respiration is made may bee taken away that shee cannot breath yet the internall transpiration of the heate may remâ—ine which is not manifested by the motion of the brâ—st or lungs but lies occult in the heart and inward arteries Examples hereof wee may have in the flie and swallow which in the cold of winter to the ocular aspect seeme dead inanimate and breath not at all yet they live by the transpiration of that heat which is reserved in the heart and inward arteries therefore when the summer approcheth the internall heat being revocated to the outward parts they are then againe revived out of their sleepie extasie Those women therefore that seeme to die suddainly and upon no evident cause let them not bee committed unto the earth untill the end of three dayes lest the living be buried for the dead Cause The part affected is the wombe of which there is a twofold motion naturall and Symptomaticall The naturall motion is when the wombe attracteth the humane seed or excludeth the infant or secundine The Symptomaticall motion of which we are here to speak is a convulsive drawing upward of the wombe The cause usually is in the retention of the seed or in the suppression of the monthes causing a repletion of corrupt humours in the wombe from whence proceeds a flatulent refrigeration causing a convulsion of the ligaments of the wombe And as it may come from humidity or repletion being a convulsion it may bee caused by emptinesse or drinesse and lastly by Abortion or difficult childe-birth Signes At the approaching of the suffocation there is a palenesse of the face weaknesse of the legges shortnesse of breath frigidity of the whole body with a working up into the throat and then shee falls down as one voyd both of sence and motion The mouth of the wombe is closed up and being touched with the finger feels hard The paroxisme of the fit once past shee openeth her eyes and feeling her stomacke opprest shee offers to vomit And least that any should bee deceived in taking one disease for another I will shew how it may bee distinguisht from those diseases which have the neerest affinity with its selfe It differs from the Apoplexie being it comes without shreeking out also in the hystericall passion the sence of feeling is not altogether so destroyed and lost as it is in the Apoplecticall disease It differs from the Epilepsie in that the eyes are not wrested neither doe any spumy froth come from the mouth and that convulsive motion which sometime is joyned to the suffocation is not so universall as it is in the epilepsie onely this or that member is convulst and that without any vehement agitation In the Sincope both respiration and pulse is taken away the countinance waxeth pale she swounds away suddainly but in the histericall passion commonly there is both respiration and pulse though it cannot well bee perceived her face looks red and shee hath a forewarning of her fit Yet it is not denied but that a Sincope may be joyned with this suffocation Lastly it is distinguisht from the Lethargie by the pulse which in the one is great in the other little Prognosticks If disease hath its being from the corruption of the seed it foretells more danger then if it proceeded froÌ„ the suppression of the cources because the seed is concocted and of a purer quality than the menstruous blood and the more pure being corrupted becomes the more foule and filthie as appeares in egges the purrest nourishment which vitiated yeeld the noysomest savour If it be accompained with a Sincope it shewes nature is but weake and that the spirits are almost exhaust But if neezing followes it shewes that the heat which was almost extinct doth now begin to returne and that nature will subdue the disease Cure In the cure of this affect two things must bee observed first that during the time of the pararoxisme nature be provoked to expel those malignant vapours which binds up the sences that shee may be recalled out of that sleepie extasie Secondly that in the intermission of the fit propper medicines bee applied to take away the cause To stirre up nature fasten cupping-glasses to the hipps and navell Apply ligatures to the thighs Rubbe the extreame parts with salt vineger musturd Cause lowd clamours and thundrings in her eares Apply to the nose Assa faetida castor and saga penum steeped in vineger Provoke her to neeze by blowing up into her nose the powder of castor white pepper pellitory of Spaine and white Hellebore Hold under her nose Partridge feathers haire and old shoes burnt and all other stinking things for evill odours are an enemie to nature hence the Animall spirits doe so contest and strive against them that the naturall heate is thereby restored The braine is so opprest sometimes that wee are compeld to burne the outward skin of the head with hot oyle or with a hot iron Sharp clysters and suppositories are available â„ž m.i. anice seed â„¥ s. anaÊ’ii boyle these in lib. ii of water to the halfe adde to the straining oyle of castor â„¥ ii picraeÊ’ii make a clyster Or â„ž of hony boyled â„¥ ii euphorbii ℈ s. Coloqnintida gr iiii white hellebore gr ii saltÊ’i make a suppositorie Hippocrates writeth of a hystericall woman which could not bee freed from the paroxisme but by powring cold water on her yet this cure is particular and ought to be administred in the middest of summer when the Sun is in the Tropicke of Cancer If it bee caused by the retention and corruption of the seed at the instant of the paroxisme let the Midwife tak oyle of lillies marjerom and bayes dissolving in the same of Civet and Muske ana gr ii Let her dippe her finger therein and put it up into the neck of the wombe tickling and rubbing the same The fit being over proceed to the curing of the cause If it ariseth from the suppression of the months looke the cure page 25 If from the retention of the seed a good husband will administer cure But those which cannot honestly purchase that cure must use such things as will drie up and diminish the seed as Diacyminum diacalaminthes c. Amongst Botanicks the seed of Agnus Castus is well esteemed of whether taken inwardly applied outwardly or received as a suffumigation It was held in great honour amongst the Athenians for by it they did remaine as pure Vestales and preserved their chastity only by strowing it in the bâ—d whereon they lay hence the name Agnus Castus is taken from the effect Make an issue on the inside of each legge a handfull bredth below the knee â„ž Trochisks of agaricke ℈ ii wilde carrotseed ligni aloes ana ℈ s. turpentineÊ’iii with conserve of Anthos make a bolus The
and so put it up The aire must be temperate Grosse viscuous and salt meats are forbidden as Porke Bulls-beefe Fish old cheese c. CHAP. 10. Of the dropsie of the wombe THE uterine dropsie is an unnaturall swelling ellevated by the gathering together of winde or flegme in the cavity membranes or substance of the wombe by reason of the debility of the native heat not digesting the aliment received and so it turnes into an excrement Cause The causes are over much cold and moystnesse of the Milt and Liver immoderate drinking eating of crude meats all which causing a repletion doe suffocate the native heate It may bee caused likewise by the overoflowing of the courses or by any other immoderate evacuation To these may bee added abortion ulcers phlegmons and schirrosities of the wombe Signes The signes of this affect are these The lower parts of the belly with the genitals are puffed up and payned the feete swell the natuâ—all colour of the face decaies the appetite is depraved and the heavinesse of the whole body concurres If she turnes her selfe in the bed from one side to the other a noyse like the flowing of water is heard Water sometimes comes from the matrice If the swelling bee caused by winde the belly being hit with the hand sounds like a drum the guts rumble and the winde breakes thorough the necke of the wombe with a murmuring noyse This affect may be distinguisht from a true conception many waies as will appeare by comparing this chapter with the 14. It is distinguisht from the generall dropsie in that the lower parts of the belly are most sweld Againe in this the sâ—nguificative faculty doth not apppeare so hurt nor the urine so pale nor the countenance so soone changed neyther are the superiour parts so extenuated as in the general dropsie Prognostickes This affect foretels the totall ruine of the naturall functions by that singular consent the wombe hath with the liver and therefore that a cachexia or a generall dropsie will follow Cure In the cure of this disease imitate the practice of Hypocrates First mittigate the payne with fomentations of Melilote Mercury Mallows Line seed Chammomile Althea Then let the humour be prepared with syrrupe of Staechas Hysope Calamint Mugwort de bisant With the distilled waters or decoctions of Dodder Marjorum Sage Origan Sperage Penny-royall Betony Purge with sene Agaricke Rhubarb Elaterium â„ž Specierum hierae Rhubarb trochisckes of Agaricke ana ℈ i. with the juce of Ireos make pills Or â„ž pill de Rhubarbaro â„¥ s. pill de mezereo ℈ i. with Mugwort water make pills In diseases which have their being from moystnesse purge with pills and in those affects which are caused by emptinesse or drynesse purge with potions Fasten cupping glasse to the belly with a great flame and also to the navill especially if the swelling be flatulent Make an issue on the inside of each leg a handfull bredth below the knee â„ž anaÊ’ij Sugar lb. i. with Betony water mâ—ke Lozenges take of them two houres before meales Apply to the bottome of the belly as hot as may bee indured a little bagge of Chammomill Cummin and Melilot boyled in Oyle of rue Anoynt the belly and secret parts with Vnguentum Agrippae and Vnguentum 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mingling therewith Oyle of Ireos Cover the lower parts of the belly with the playster of bay berries or with a cataplasme made of Cummin ChaÌ„momill Briony rootes adding thereto Cows and Goats dung Our Moderns ascribe a great vertue to Tobacco water distilled and poured into the wombe by a metrenchyta â„ž of Baume Sothern wood Organ Wormewood Calamint Bayleaues Marjorom ana m i. Iuniper berries â„¥ iiij with water make a decoction of this may be made fomentations injections and insessions Make pessaries of Sâ—yrax Alloes with the roots of Dictam Aristolochia and Gentiane Instead of this you may use the pessary prescribed pag. 77. Let her take of Electuarinus aromaticum diasatâ—rion and Eringo roots condited every morning The are must be hot and dry moderate exercise is allowed Much sleepe is forbidden She may oate the flesh of Patridges Larks Chickens mountaine birds Hares Conies c. Let her drinke be thin Wine CHAP. 11. Of Barrennesse IN times past before woemen came to the marriage bed they were first searched by the midwife and those onely which she alowed of as fruitfull were admitted I hope therefore it will be thought a needles labour to shew how yee may prove your selves and turne the stonny ground into a fruitfull soyle Barennesse is a deprivation of life and powre which ought to bee in the seed to procreate and propagate for which end both man and woman were made Cause It is caused by overmuch heat or cold that drying up the seed and making it corrupt this extinguishing the life of the seed making it watrish and unfit for generation It may be caused also by the not flowing or overflowing of the cources by swellings ulcers and inflammations of the wombe by an excrescence of flesh growing about the mouth of the matrice by the mouth of the wombe being turned unto to the backe or side by the grossenesse and fatnesse of the body whereby the mouth of the matrice is closed up by being prest with the Omentum or caule and the matter of the seed is converted into fatnesse Or if shee bee of a leane and exhaust body to the world shee proves barren because though shee doth conceive yet the fruit of the wombe will wither before it comes to perfection for want of nourishment Aetius and Sylvius ascribe one maine cause of barrennesse to compeld copulation as when parents enforce their daughters to have busbands contrary to their liking therein marrying their bodies but not their hearts and where there is a want of love there for the most part is no conception as appeares in women which are deflowred against their will Another maine cause of barrennesse is attributed to the want of a convenient moderating quality which the woman ought to have with the man as if hee bee hot shee must be cold If hee bee drie she must bee moist But if they bee both drie or both moyst of constitution they cannot propagate and yet simply considered of themselves they are not barren for he or she which before was as the barren fig-tree being now joyned with an apt constitution becomes as the fruitfull Vine And that man and women being every way of a like constitution cannot procreate I will bring nature it selfe for a testimonie who hath made man of a hotter constitution then woman that the quality of the one may moderate the quality of the other Signes If barrennesse proceeds from the overmuch heat shee is of a drie body subject to anger she hath blacke haire quicke purfe her purgations flow but little and that with paine shee loves to play in the courts of Venus But if
it comes by cold then are the signes contrary to those even now recited If through an evill quality in the wombe Make a suffumigation of red storax myrrhe cassia wood nutmeg cinnamon and let her receive the sume of it into the wombe covering her very close and if the odour so received passeth through the body up into the mouth and nostrills of herselfe shee is fruitfull but if shee feeles not the fume in her mouth and nose it argues barrennesse one of these wayes that the spirit of the seed is either through cold extinguisht or through heat dissipated If any woman bee suspected to bee unfruitfull cast naturall brimstone such as is digged out of the mine into her urine and if wormes breed therein of herselfe she is not barren Prognosticks Barrennesse maketh women looke young because they are free from those paynes and sorrowes which other women are accustomed to bring forth withall Yet they have not that full perfection of health which fruitfull women doe injoy because they are not rightly purged of the menstruous blood and superfluous seed the retayning of which two are the principall cause of most uterine diseases Cure First the cause shall be removed and then the wombe strengthened and the spirits of the seed enlived If the wombe bee over-hot take sirrup of succhorie with rhubarbe sirrup of violets endive roses cassia purselaine â„ž Ofendive water lillies borage flowers ana m. anaÊ’iii with water make a decoction adde to the strayning of the sirrup laxative of violets â„¥ i. sirrup of cassia â„¥ s. mannaÊ’iii make a potion â„ž Of the sirrup of mugwort â„¥ i. sirrup of maiden haire â„¥ ii water of succhorie borage feuell ana â„¥ iii. pulâ— elect triâ—sand Ê’i anaÊ’iii rhubarbe ℈ i. make a bolus Apply to the reynes and privities fomentations of the juce of lettice violets roses mallowes vine leaves and nightshade Anoint the secret parts with the cooling unguent of Galen If the power of the seed bee extinguisht by cold Take every morning two spoonfulls of cinnamon water with ℈ i. of mithridate â„ž Sirrup of calamint mugwort betoâ—y ana â„¥ i. water of penny royall feverfew hysope sage ana â„¥ ii make a julep â„ž Oyle of anice seed ℈ is anaÊ’i sugar â„¥ iiii themÊ’is twice a day two houres before meales Eastâ—n cupping-glasses to the hipps and bellie â„ž of stiraâ—â— calamint ana â„¥ i. masticke cloves cinnamon nutâ—â—g lig aloes frankincenâ—â— ana â„¥ s. muske gr 10. ambergrise ℈ s. with rose-water make a confection divide it into foure equall parts Of one part make a pomum odoratum to smell on if shee bee not hystericall Of the second make a masse of pills and let her take three every night Of the third make a pessarie dippe it in oyle of spikenard and put it up Of the fourth make a suffumigation for the wombe If the faculties of the wombe be weakened and the life of the seed suffocated by over much humidity flowing to those parts â„ž Of betonie marierom mugwort penny royall bawme ana m.i. anaÊ’ii anaÊ’i with sugar and water s. q. make a sirrup take of â„¥ iii. every other morning Purge with these pills following â„ž Of digridion gr.ii. specierum dacastorei ℈ i. pil faetid ℈ ii with sirrup of mugwort make vi anaÊ’i cinnamonÊ’is anaÊ’s sugar â„¥ vi with water of feverfew make lozenges to bee taken of every morning Take of the decoction of sarsaparilla and virga aurea not forgetting sage which Agrippa wondering at the operation of hath honour'd it with the name of a holy hearbe And it is recorded that after so many of the Egiptians were dead the surviving women that they might multiply the faster were commanded to drinke the juce of sage Anoynt the genitalls with oyle of aniceseed and anaÊ’i anaÊ’s turpentine q s. â—â—â—ke trochisâ—ks to smother the â—â—ombe â„ž Of the roots of Vaâ—â—rian ellecampane ana lb. i. â—â—ulangale â„¥ ii origan lavenâ—â—r marjerom betonie mugâ—ort bay-leaves calamint ana 〈◊〉 iii. with water make an â—â—osession in which she shall 〈◊〉 after shee hath had her â—â—ources If barrennesse proceeds â—â—om drynesse consuming â—â—e matter of the seed Take very day of Almond milke â—â—d Goates milke extracted â—ith hony Eate often of â—â—e roots Satyrion condited â—â—nd of the electuary diasatyâ—on Take three weathers â—â—ds boyle them untill the flesh comes from the bones then take of melilote violets chammomill mercury orchiâ— with their roots ana m.i. faengrecke liâ—esâ—ed valeâ—an roots ana li. i Let all these bee decocted in the foresaid broth then let the woman fit in the decoction up to the navill â„ž Of Decres suet â„¥ â— anaÊ’ii oyle of sweet almoÌ„ds â„¥ ii with silke cotton make a pessarie Make injections only of fresh butter and oyle of sweet almonds If barrennesse bee caused by any proper affect of the wombe the cure is set down in the foregoing chapters Sometimes the woman proves barren when there is no impediment of either side except onely in the manner of the act as when in the emission of the seed the man is quicke and the woman too slow whereby there is not a concurse of both seeds at the same instant as the rules of conception require Wherefore to take away this inconvenience Muller praeparari ac disponi debet molli complexu lascivis verbis osculu lasciviora miscenda If this doth not suffice before the act of coition foment the private parts with the decoction of betony-sage hysope and calamint Annoint the mouth and necke of the wombe with Muske and Civet The cause of barrennesse being removed the wombe shall be corroborated as followes â„ž Of bay berries masticke Nutmegge Frankincense Cypresse nuts Ladani Galbani ana Ê’i Styracis liquid ℈ ii Cloves ℈ s. Amber grise gr ij Muske gr vi with Oyle of Spiknard make a pessary â„ž of red Roses Lapidis hematitis white Frankincense ana â„¥ s. anaÊ’ii anaÊ’i Spicknard ℈ s. with oyle of Wormewood make a playster for the lower part of the belly Let her eate often of Eringo roots condited Make an injection onely of the juce of the roots of Satyrion The aptest time for conception is instantly after the monthes be ceast because then the wombe is thirsty and dry apt to draw the seed and also to retaine it by the roughnesse of the inward superficies And besides in some the mouth of the wombe is turned unto the backe or side and is not place right untill the last day of the courses Excesse in all things is to be avoyded lay aside all passions of the minde Shun study and care as adverse to conception for if a woman doth conceive the wise parents being otherwise addicted of ten beget but foolish children because the animall faculties of the parents viz. The understanding and the rest from whence the childe hath his reason are as it were confused through the multiplicity of cares and cogitations Examples hereof we have in learned men who
after great study and care instantly accompanying with their wives often beget doting children A hot and moyst aire is most convenient as appeares by the women in Aegypt which usually bring forth three or foure children at one time CHAP. 12. Of the Mola or halfeconception THis disease is called of the Greekes 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and the cause of this denomination is taken from the loade or heavy weight of it it being a moles or great lump of hard flesh burdening the woman It is defined to bee an inarticulate peece of flesh without forme begotten in the matrice as it were a true conception In which definition wee are to note two things First in that a mole is sayd to be inarticulate and without forme it differs from monsters which are both formata and articulata Secondly it is sayd to bee as it were a true conception which puts a difference between a true conception and a mole which difference holds good three waies First in the Genus in that a mole cannot be fayd to bee animall Secondly in the Species because it hath no humane figure and beares not the character of a man Thirdly in the Individuum for it hath no affinity with the parent eyther in the whole body or any particle of the same Cause About the cause of this affect amongst learned authours I finde variety of judgements Some are of opinion that if the womans seed goes into the wombe and not the mans thereof is the mole produced Others there be that affirme it is ingendred of the menstruous blood but if these two were granted then mayds by having their courses or thorough nocturnall polutions might be subject unto the same which never any yet were The true cause of this fleshy mole proceeds both from the man and from the woman from corrupt or barren seed in the man and from the menstruous blood in the woman both mixed together in the cavity of the wombe where nature finding her selfe weake yet desiring to maintaine the perpetuity of her species labours to bring forth a vitious conception rather than none and so instead of a living creature generates a lumpe of flesh Signes The signes of a mole are these The months are supprest the appetite is depraved the brests swell and the belly is puffed up and waxeth hard Thus farre the signes of a breeding woman and of one that beareth a mole are all one I will now shew you how they differ The first signe of difference is taken from the motion of a mole it may bee felt to move in the wombe before the third moneth which the infant cannot yet that motion is not to be understood of any intelligent power in the mole but of the faculty of the wombe and of the seminall spirits defused through the substance of the mole for it lives not a life animall but vegitative in the manner of a plant Secondly in a mole the belly is suddenly puft up but in a true conception the belly is first retracted and then riseth againe by degrees Thirdly the belly being prest with the hand the mole gives way and the hand being taken a way it returnes to the place againe But a child in the wombe though prest with the hand moves not presently and being removed returnes slowly or not at all Lastly the childe continues in the wombe not above eleven moneths but a mole continues sometimes foure or five yeeres more or lesse according as it is fastned in the matrice I have knowne when a mole hath fallen away in the fourth or fifth moneth If it remaines untill the eleventh moneth the leggs waxe feeble and the whole body consumes onely the swelling of the belly still increaseth which makes some thinke they are hydropicall though there be little reason for it for in the Dropsie the legges swell and grow bigge but in a mole they consume and wither Prognostickes If at the delivery of a mole the Flux of blood bee great it shewes the more danger because the parts of nutrition having beene vitiated by the flowing back of the superfluous humors whereby the naturall heate is consumed and then parting with so much blood the woeman thereby is so weakened in all her faculties that she can hardly subsist Cure Wee are taught in the schoole of Hippocrates that phlegbotomy causeth abortion by taking away that nourishment which should sustaine the life of the child Wherefore that this vitious conception may bee deprived of that vegetative sappe by which it lives open the liver veyne and then the saphena on both feet Fasten Cupping-glasses to the loynes and sides of the belly which done let the uterine parts be first mollified and then expulsive faculty provoked to expell the burden To laxate the ligatures of the mole â„ž m.iij. Chammomile Melilot Pellitory of the wall Violet leaves Mercury roots of Fenell Parsly ana m. ij Lineseed Faengrecke ana lb. i. boyle them in water and let her sit therein up to the navill At the going out of the bath annoynt the privities and reines with this unguent following â„ž oyle of Chammomile Lillieâ— and sweet Almonds ana â„¥ i. fresh butter Labdani Ammoniaci ana â„¥ s. with the Oyle of Lineseed make an unguent Or instead of this may be used â—nguentum Agrippa or Dialtheae â„ž of Mercury roots of Althea ana m. s. fol. Branchae Vrsinae m. s. Lineseed Barley meale ana â„¥ vi boyle all these with water and honey and make a playster Make pessaries of the gumme Galbanum bdellium Ammoniacum Figgs Hogges suer and Honey After the ligaments of the mole are loosed let the expulsive faculty be stirred up to expell the mole for effecting of which all medicaments may bee used which are proper to bring downe the courses â„ž troch de myrrha â„¥ i. castor aristolochia Gentiâ—â— dictam ana â„¥ s. likeÊ’i in â„¥ iiij of Mugwort water â„ž of Hypericon Calamint Penny-royall Betony Hysope Sage Horebound Valerian Madder Sabine with water make a decoction take â„¥ iij. of it with â„¥ is of Sirrupe of Feverfew â„ž of Mugwort Myrrh Gentiane pil coch ana ℈ iiij anaÊ’s assa foetida Cinnamon Iuniper berries Borage ana Ê’i with the iuce of Sabine make pills to be taken of every morning Make insessions of Hysope Bay leaves Assrum Calamint Bayberries Chammomile Mugwort Sabine â„ž of Sagapenum Marjerom Gentiane Sabine Cloves Nutmegge Bay-berries ana ℈ ij GalbanumÊ’i hierae picrae blacke Hellebore ana ℈ i. with Turpentine make a pessary But if these things prove not availeable then must the mole bee drawne away with an instrument put up into wombe called a Pes griphius which may be done with no great danger if it bee performed by a skilfull Chirurgeon After the delivery of the mole by reason that the woman hath parted with much blood already let the flux of blood bee stayed as fast as may bee Fasten Cupping-glasses to the shoulder and ligatures to the armes If these help not open the