of the World and than which there can hardly happen a greater defamation to the Female Sex Insomuch as some like Rachel have cry'd out to their Husbands for Children or else their Lives will lye on 't rather than endure the reproach of Barrenness and some Women have preferr'd their maids to their Husbands so that their Child might be reputed theirs to take away the blemish of Barrenness But you shall find but few Women of their minds now a days so then we shall in the first place speak of the causes of this so odious and distateful a Disease and then of their removing for you know 't is an old saying and true take away the cause and the effect will consequently cease Now the chief method of finding out all causes which do or may bring damage to the faculties of the body is no other then the knowledge of the means whereby these faculties perform their Actions in the time of health and soundness of body And whereas to the producing of any natural Conception there is a necessity of distinction of both Sexes and a conjunction and carnal Copulation of the Man and Woman without which no Generation can be effected As for that story of a certain Maids conceiving with Child by standing in a Bath where some Mans seed had been cast the Womb drawing it to it as the Load-stone doth Iron or Jet straw it was either a miracle in Nature or she so gave out to save her bacon and so no ways belongs to our purpose and having before declared the manner in other Sect. Therefore we shall here lay down the manifest causes of Barrenness from either Sex so that neither may be unjustly blamed where they happen for since the Women have in this case a great interest and damage too if the fault be in the Man because they may often help their Husbands defect and in so doing pleasure themselves we shall not therefore omit to treat of the causes thereof which may happen to men and moreover there being a necessity that both Sexes be furnished with fit and proper Instruments for the work of Generation as the man with a Yard c. and a Woman with a Womb c. Then even reason will tell you that if there chance to be any defect or dissaffection in nature in any of the Members of either Sex belonging to this work of Generation the fruitfulness or Conception must necessarily be hindred impaired or quite and clear abolished To begin then first with what belongs to the Mans side one cause of Barrenness laid down by many Authors is the over-much length of the Yard by reason whereof the Seed is too much cooled in the passage before it can be injected home into the Womb. But though this be a somewhat probable and plausable reason yet I am of opinion that it is but weak and will not hold water with those of greater reason for all Souls are not endued with a like proportion of reason for the Seed passing through the pipe of the Yard is kept hot enough the generative Spirits at that time oft flocking to the Yard to assist it in so great a work and the like being performed on the Woman's part I cannot see how it can be any ways possible it should take cold in its journey but on the contrary side it may be rationally imagin'd that the long Yard is most fit and commodious for Conception by sending Seed to the inmost and furthermost parts of the Womb and so most likely to be there retained its due time And now others on the contrary side will have the short Yard the cause of rendring Men unfruitful and these I think have more reason on their side because it cannot so well inject the Seed into the Womb as you heard before But indeed neither can this be a firm reason for unfruitfulness in Man since 't is confirmed by experience that such an one hath begot Children likewise But a greater reason of unfruitfulness in the man may be some vitiousness or defect in his Yard as if it be crooked or if any of its Ligaments be writhed or broken or bruised whereby the passages through which the seed should flow be corrupt stop'd or vitiated or some Disease or imperfection be either in the proper or Neighbor parts thereof Another cause of Barrenness by defect of the Yard is a too much weakness and tenderness thereof it being not strongly enough erected to inject the Seed into the Womb. Then another cause in Men may be some vice in the Stones as if they be oppressed with any Inflammation or swelling or wound or ulcer Also the Man may be Barren from his want of Seed or if it be nought as in the Running of the Reins or Venereal Disease Glutony or Drunkenness c. and then too frequent Carnal Copulation is a cause of Barrenness because it attracteth the Seedy moisture from the Stones before 't is sufficiently prepared and concocted as all other members of the body by institution of nature use to draw their accustomed juice to themselves so now if any one by daily Copulation draws out all the moisture of his Seed then do the Stones draw the moist humors from the upper Veins to themselves and so having but a little blood in them they are forced of necessity to cast it out raw and thus the stones being deprived of the moisture of their veins draw the same from the upper veins and the upper veins from all the parts of the body for their proper nutriment to the great damage of the body robbing the same of the vital Spirits It is therefore no wonder if those that use immoderate Copulation are very weak in their bodies seeing the whole body is thereby depriv'd of its best and purest blood and vital Spirits insomuch as those that have been too much addicted to that pleasure have killed themselves in the Act can it then be a wonder that such Seed is not fit for Generation And having now shewn the causes of Barrenness in Men we shall now discourse of those in Women Now the causes of Barrenness in Women proceed either from the Age or evil temper of the Womb and its vicious conformation and parts depending on it or the indisposition of the whole habit of the body The evil form of the womb renders Women barren according to the great Hippocrates the Prince of all Physitians as if the mouth or neck of the Womb be turned backwards towards the great Gut or a side out of its place contrary from the Privities if it appear too big or if it be fallen down before the Privities to which may be added when 't is so narrow that it cannot admit the Yard to enter and when 't is wholly or in part closed by some inward or outward skin which is very rare if at all or by a swelling collosity or cicatrice c. But then it is not sufficient that the Mans Yard enter the Neck which is the
sometimes by its heat it makes an inflammation in the neck of the bladder which causes its stopping and if it be from a stone in the bladder 't is more in supportable and dangerous to a Woman with Child then one that is not because the Womb by its swelling causeth the stone perpetually to press against the bladder and the pains are violenter if it be greater or of an unequal or sharp shape 'T is of great moment to hinder these violent endeavors to make water and to remedy them if possible in all indispositions because by long continuance of forcing downwards to make water the Womb is loosened and bears down and is sometimes forced to discharge its self of its burthen before its time which we must endeavour to hinder having respect to its different causes as when it comes from the weight of the Womb pressing the bladder as for the most part now she may remedy it if with both her hands when she would make water she lift up the bottom of her belly or wear a large swath or keep her bed If it be sharpness of Urine that makes an inflammation i' th neck o th' bladder appease it by a cooling dyet forbearing strong drinks using emulsions made of the 4 cold seeds or whey with syrup of Violets use not purging because its heat augments the inflammation these are proper to cleanse the Urinary passages without either prejuding Mother or Child taken Morning and Evening If all this prevail not let her blood a little i' th Arm and bath the outward entry of the neck of the bladder with a decoction of Mallows Marsh-mallows Pellitory and Violets with a little Linfeed and inject some of the same into the bladder to which you may add Hony of Violets or luke warm Milk abstaining from all diuretics for fear they provoke Abortion And when all fails she must send for a Physitian or Chyrurgeon to make use of his Catheter And also if it arise from the stone in the neck of the bladder they may thrust it back with it but if small draw it forth for a great one cannot be drawn forth before she be delivered being better to leave her so then endanger her life or the Childs SECT VII Of a Cough and difficult breathing THey whose Infants lye low are more troubled with difficulty of Urine then they whose lye higher who are free from that and the like distemper but are more subject to a Cough and difficult breathing If a Cough be violent to vomiting 't is one of the chiefest things which cause Abortion because 't is an essay whereby the Lungs endeavour to cast forth of the Breast that which offends them by a compression of all its Muscles which pressing all the inclosed air inwards wherewith the Lungs are much stretched thrusts also downwards by the same means the midriff and consequently all the parts of the lower belly but particularly the Womb which continuing long and violent often causeth Abortion Sometimes it proceeds from sharp rheums which distil from the brain upon the Artery and Lungs and sometimes from such blood which flows towards the Breast upon stopping the Terms also from too cold air breathing which stirs up the parts to motion but being begun by these causes 't is often augmented by the compression the Womb makes upon the Midriff which cannot have its liberty in those that bear their Children high because by its great extension it bears up almost all the parts of the lower belly towards the Breast and chiefly the Stomach and Liver forcing them against the Midriff You must remedy this by keeping good dyet somewhat cooling if from sharp humors avoiding all Salt and Spice meats Oranges Lemons Vinegar c. but she may use juice of Liquorice Sugar-candy syrup of Violets or Mulberries which she may mix with a Ptysan made with Jujubs Sebestens French Barley and a little Liquorice and it may not be amiss to divert and draw down these humors by a gentle Clyster If these prevail not and there appears signs of fulness of blood bleed her in the Arm at what time soever of going with Child and though it be not usually practis'd when they are young with Child yet here it must for a continual Cough is much more dangerous then a moderate bleeding If it come of cold keep in a close Room with a napkin doubled about her Neck or a Lamb-Skin and going to bed take 3 or 4 spoonfuls of this syrup of burnt wine following which is very Pectoral and causeth good digestion Take half a pint of French wine 2 drams of Cinnamon bruised half a dozen cloves 4 ounces of white Sugar or Sugar-candy put them together in a Porrenger and boil them upon a Chaffing dish of Coals burn it and then boil it to the consistence of a Syrup You must not from whatever cause it proceeds that she must go loose in her cloaths and because sleep is proper to stay fluxions it may be procured by the Physitian using no strong stupefactives of opium which are dangerous if there be not very great necessity as in the patient mentioned in the Section of the pain of Back Loins Reins and Hips Some Women carry their first Child chiefly so high because the cords which support the Womb are not stretch'd that they think them to be in their Breasts which causes a difficult breathing as soon as they have eaten a little walked or gone up the stairs so that they fear they shall be choaked which comes from the Wombs being enlarged and pressing the Stomach and the Liver which forces the Midriff upward leaving it no room to be moved sometimes their Lungs are so full of blood driven thither from all parts that it hardly leaves passage for the air if so they will breath more easily as soon as a little blood is taken from the Arm but if it comes from a compression made by the womb against the Midriff the best remedy is to wear her clothes loose and eat little and often eating no windy meats as pease and avoiding all grief and fear because they drive the blood to the Heart and Lungs in too great quantity so that she having her Breast already stuffed and hardly breathing will be in danger of being choak'd for the abundance of blood filling the Ventricles of the Heart above measure and at once hinders its motion without which she cannot live SECT VIII Of the swelling and pains of the Thighs and Legs MAny think which is in part true that the Woman having more blood then the Infant needs to nourish it nature by virtue of the expulsive faculty of the upper parts which are always strongest drives the superfluity upon the lower as the Legs c. as most feeble and apt to receive it and so are caused their swelling and pain and sometimes red spots from the swelling of the Veins along the inside which extreamly hinders her going but the doctrine of the circulation of the blood invented by our
day or more there being blood enough in its body for that purpose but because the blood can be no longer enliven'd and renewed by circulation as it hath continual need which being obstructed always causeth the creatures sudden death sooner or later according as it is more or less obstructed I know it may be objected that though the circulation be so hindred and intercepted by the coming forth of the string it need not therefore cause such a sudden death to the Child because the blood may notwithstanding circulate in all the other parts of the body To which I answer that in respect to the Infant 't is either absolutely necessary that the blood for want of respiration should be elaborated or prepared in the thick part of the burthen call'd the placenta and therefore must be a free communication or for want of it that the Infant must immediately breathe at the mouth as well to be refreshed as to drive out the fuliginous or sooty Vapors by expiration which not being possible whilst in the Womb it must unavoidably be choaked and dye in a very short time if it wants both together Wherefore in this case the Woman must without any delay be deliver'd the which if nature doth not speedily perform the Child must be drawn forth by its feet Women that have great waters and along string to the burthen are very subject to this mischief for the waters coming forth in great abundance at the breaking of the skins or membranes do often at that instant draw the string which swims in the midst forth along with them and much the easier if the Infants head be not advanced very forward into the passage for to hinder the coming forth of it in this manner Assoon as 't is perceived you must immediately endeavor to put it back to prevent the cooling of it behind the Childs head least it be bruised as we have already noted whereby the blood may coagulate there keeping it in that place where it was thrust back until the head being fully come forth into the passage may hinder the coming down of it again which may be effected by holding it up with the fingers of one hand on that side it comes down untill the head be advanced as aforesaid or in case the hand be taken away to put a piece of fine soft rag between the side of the head and the Womb to stop up the way it came down by always leaving an end of the rag without the body to draw it forth by at pleasure But sometimes notwithstanding all these cautions and the putting of it back it will for all that come forth every pain and then without any more delays at all the Midwife must bring the Child forth by the Feet which she must make a diligent search and enquiry after although the Infant comes with the head foremost for there is but this only means left remaining to save the Childs life which it would certainly lose by the least delay in such a case Wherefore having placed the Woman conveniently let her gently put back the Head which offers provided it be not engaged too low amongst the bones of the passage and that it may be done without too great violence to the Woman for in that case it will be better to let the Child run the hazard of dying than to destroy the Mother for Tertullian as my learned Mr. Riolanus very well observes upon a like Subject saith That it is a necessary cruelty to kill the Child in such a case rather then to save it from the danger it is in of dying and so certainly cause the Mothers death and then let her slide up her hand being well anointed under the breast and belly to search for the Feet by which she must draw it forth according as hath been formerly discoursed the which being perform'd let her immediately take care of the Infant which is ever in this case very feeble SECT XXVII Wherein the Burthen either first offers it self or comes first quite forth DR Very well and excellently have you given us demonstrations of your skill and knowledge hitherto good Mrs. Eutrapelia now pray will you inform me how you act your part in a Labor wherein the burthen either first offers or else comes first quite forth Mid. That I shall Sir to the best of my Talent and therefore first of all Sir I must note that the coming forth of the Navil-string before the Infant whereof we discoursed in our foregoing Section is oftentimes the cause of its death for the reason there alleadged but the coming forth of the burthen first is yet much more dangerous for that besides that the Children are then commonly Stil-born if they be not assisted in the very instant the Mother likewise is in great peril of her life also because of her great floodings which usually happen when it is loosened from the Womb before its due time by reason that it leaves all the orifices of the Vessels to which it did cleave open whence incessantly flows blood until the Child be born by reason that the Womb as long as any thing continues there doth every moment strongly endeavour to expell it by which means it continually voids and expresseth the blood of the Vessels which are alwaies open as we have already explained when the burthen is so separated as long as the Womb remains extended and cannot be closed until it hath voided all that it did contain and comes by the contraction of its Membranous substance to stop them by pressing them together wherefore if the Midwife ought to be vigilent and diligent to succour an Infant when the Navil-string comes first how much more ought she to be so when burthen comes forth first and wherein the least delay is ever the cause of the Infants sudden death if the Woman be not speedily delivered because the Infant cannot then remain long in the Womb without being choaked or stifled being it stands in need at that time of breathing at the mouth as we explain'd the foregoing discourse the blood being no longer enlivened by the preparation made in the burthen the use and function of which then ceasing from that very instant that it is separated from the Vessels of the Womb to which it was joined for which reason there immediately follows a great fludding which is so dangerous for the Mother that without speedy help she quickly looseth her life by this unlucky accident Now when the Burthen is not wholly come forth but lies in the passage some advise to put it back before the Child be fetch'd but I am not of their opinion for when it comes into the passage before the Infant it is at that time totally divided from the Womb at the bottom whereof it ought to be commonly situated and fastened until the Child be born but because as soon as it is wholly loosened as it always is when it comes first it becomes a body altogether unnatural therefore it is never to be
most part there is but one yet sometimes there are more whereof some cleave very strongly to the Womb others very slightly if women miscarry of them before the 2d Month as I said before they are call'd false Conceptions and when they keep them longer and that this strange body begins to grow bigger then they are called Moles and here you must know that your false Conceptions are more Membranous and sometimes full of corrupted Seed but your Moles are altogether fleshy they cleave to the Womb almost always and are sustained by the blood with which it is always furnished just as plants are by the moisture of the Earth Sometimes there is a Child together with a Mole from which it is sometimes divided and sometimes cleaving to its body which puts it in great danger of being Monstrous or mishaken because of the Compression which this strange body causeth to the little Infant as yet being but very tender Thus having at large given you my Opinion concerning Moles and false Conceptions their causes signs and differences there remains now nothing more concerning this matter to be demonstrated but the manner how they ought to be drawn forth of the Womb. And now seeing that these things contained in the Womb are wholly unnatural their expulsion must be procured as soon as possible may be the which is very difficult to be performed when these strange Bodies cleave so fast to the Womb and especially the Mole therefore to avoid the abundance of accidents and inconveniences as near as may be that these unnatural things will produce they must be endeavoured to be expell'd as soon as may be and for the Mola you must before you come to the Manual Operation try if by any means you can to cause the Woman to expel it of her self to the which purpose you are to administer to her strong and sharp clysters to stir up throws for to open the Womb to give way to it moistning also and loosening the Womb with softening Oyntments Oyls and Grease not omitting bleeding in the foot if there be occasion Now the Mole will certainly be excluded by these means provided it be but of an indifferent bigness or that it cleave but very little or not at all to the Womb but if it shalâ— stick strongly to the bottom of the Womb or that it be very big the Womam wilâ— hardly be rid of it without the help of a Physitian Chyrurgions or Midwifes hand iâ— which case after that you have placed thâ— Woman conveniently as if you were to fetcâ— a dead Child then slide up your hand into the Womb and therewith draw forth the Mole but if it be so big that it cannot be brought forth whole then 't is wholly the man's work who for this purpose use your crotchet or knife but this is very rare because it is of a tender soft substance much more plyable then a Child's but if you find it be only joyned to the Womb and close fasten'd you must separate it gently with your fingers ends your Nails being paired by putting them by little and little between the Mole and the Womb beginning on that side where it doth not stick so fast to the Womb and so pursuing it until it be quite loosened being mighty careful if you find it grow to too fast of rending or bursting the proper substance of the Womb and proceeding as hereafter I shall speak of for the extraction of a Burthen staying behind in the Womb when the string is broken off For these same Moles never have any string fastened to them nor any burthen from whence they should receive their nourishment but they do of themselves immediately draw their nourishment from the Vessels of the Womb to which they are almost allways joined and sticking in some place and as for the substance of their flesh 't is also much more hard then that of the burthen and sometimes Schyrrhous which is the cause why it is difficult to be separated from the Womb. As to a false Conception although it be much less then a Mole yet it often puts a woman in hazard of her Life by reason of great fluddings which very often happens when the Womb would discharge it self of it and endeavours to expel it the which seldom cease till it be come away because it doth continually endeavour to exclude it whereby the blood is excited to flow away and in a manner squeesed out of the open Vessels Now the safest and best way and remedy for a Woman in this case is to fetch away the false Conception as soon as may be because the Womb can very hardly avoid it of its own nature without artificial help for it being very small the Womans impulse in bearing downwards cannot be so effectual when the Womb is but little distended by so small a body as when it contains a considerable bulk in it for then it is the more strongly compressed with the throws Many times 't is very difficult to fetch away these false Conceptions because the Womb doth not open and dilate it self ordinarily beyond the proportion of what it contains and that being but very little so is its opening which is the reason why the Midwife is sometimes so far from introducing her whole hand that she can scarce get in a few Fingers with which she will be obliged to finish the Operation as well as she may or can by proceeding in the following manner when she hath introduced them Having then very well anointed her hand she must slide up the neck of the Womb into the inward Orifice the which she will find sometimes to be but very little dilated and then very gently put in one of her Fingers the which she must presently turn and bend on every side until that she hath made way for a second and afterwards for a 3d or more if it may be done without violence but many times she hath enough to get in but 2 between which she must take hold of the false Conception as Crabs do with their claws when they fasten upon any thing and then she must gently draw it forth as also the clodded blood which she there shall find and then afterwards undoubtledly the fludding will cease if no part of the Conception be left behind but if the inward Orifice cannot be more dilated then to admit of one Finger and that the fludding is so violent as to endanger the Womans life then is matter and manner to be wholly committed to care and artful industry of the skilful Physitian or Chirurgeon Mid. Now Sir having discoursed so learnedly of these things let us in the next place if you please discourse of the Afterbith SECT XXXIV Of the Secundine or Afterburden and the best and safest way to draw it forth DR Come then Mrs. if you please tell me what the Secundine is Mid. The Secundine is that in which the Infant lyeth in the Womb and may be called a second house or covering made by the
Bed-pan and sometimes when they have least expected it At the same time to prevent a Feaver or many other accidents which usually happen she may be let blood in the Arm or Foot according as it shall be convenient and strengthen'd that the cadaverous vapors coming from the putrifaction of the burthen ascend not to the heart and noble parts which must be done by good cordials often used not such as are made of Treacle and Methridate c. for which no reason can be given but their specific or rather imaginary Faculties and are fitter to cause vomiting then comfort the heart But with true Cordials which are such as yield good nourishment and at the same time comfort the stomach without offending it as those drugs do which are only good for those that sell them Wherefore I must order her good broths and gellies and to drink Orengade or Limonade or to put some Syrup of Lemons in her refreshing Liquors or if she be free from a Feaver a little wine and water mixed which is the best and most natural of all Cordials Besides other remedies must be provided according to the accidents that happen by reason of the staying behind of the burthen always remembring to bring it away as soon as possible for as long as it stays in the Womb the woman feels great pains continually almost like them before her Child was born and until the whole be voided the pains will still be repeated although in vain unless the matter be well disposed before but the lesser the piece is of the retained burthen the more difficult 't is many times to be expelled because the impulse the woman can make by helping her throws are not so great when the matter contained in the Womb is small as when 't is of a considerable bigness for then 't is more strongly thrust and compress'd which is the reason why a woman miscarries with greater difficulty then when brought to bed at her full time And here you must know there are divers Midwifes who having broken the Navil-string as before said leave their work imperfect and commit the rest to nature's work but very often the poor woman dyes because of the great mischiefs which usually happen before the suppuration of the burthen so retained The which to avoid when they meet with the like case I would advise them to fetch it away as I have directed or if they find themselves uncapable to do it because the hand must be put up into the Womb which is more properly the work of a Physitian or Chyrurgion expert in those cases then let them immediately send for one that so he may be able before the Womb closeth to introduce his hand for the longer 't is deferr'd the more difficult will the work be Dr. Hitherto very well Mrs. Eutrap have you exprest your knowledge and experience in your Art even from the first generation and formation of the Child in the Womb to the bringing of it safely forth into the world But yet good Mrs. Eutrapelia there are divers Women that will many times be asking you your advice concerning other distempers that usually attend them both before Child-birth as Barreness c. and also after they are delivered of their Child both inward and outward because their modesty prompts them rather to come to you than to the Physitian or Chyrurgion therefore I would have you to let me know how far your skill and knowledge extends as to these matters because that if you should at any time be mistaken in your measures in the cure of any of those diseases I shall freely and candidly assist you with the best of my directions to set all right and streight as they say and in good order Mid. Honoured Sir I am so extreamly oblig'd to you for this kind offer that I know not which way to express my acknowledgment and I shall most readily answer your request and therefore shall first begin with a discourse of Barrenness PART II. SECT I. Of Barrenness and the several kinds thereof MId BArrenness is 1. Natural 2. Vnnatural 3. Accidental Natural is when the instrument of Generation being perfect in both Sexes no unlawful or unskilful means used to cause it yet the Woman remains naturally Barren neither Age or Diseases or natural defect hindring yet she Conceives not The reason of this may be 1. When both Sexes are of a Complexion 2. Want of Love a 3d may be the letting Virgins blood i' th Arm before their Courses come down or other ill administration of internal and external remedies 4. A loss of carnal Copulation when Sexes come to the School of Venus either not at all or so coldly that as good never a whit as nere the better and this is from a cold Distemper and is cured by such things as heat and nourish 2. Unnatural that is diabolical to prevent which Authors have left several ways as to carry the Herb St. Johns wort about them which is call'd a driver away of Devils or a Plaister thereof applied to the Reins with many others 3. Accidental which comes by some casual infirmity upon the body of either Sex at a time the which being taken away the effect ceaseth 't is sometimes from the Man but most commonly from the Woman for Mans instruments of Generation being perfect and he in health I know no accidental cause in him And the chief cause in Women lyes in her Womb as the stopping of the flowers or overflowing the Flux of the Womb its falling down inflamation windiness heat and dryness in all which I shall be brief because if there be difficulty you are to have recourse to the learned Physitian 1. Then the Terms stop 1. Naturally 2. Vnnaturally they stop naturally in some about the 50th year in some before rarely till 55. the unnatural cause is 1. much exercise 2. in fat Women the Veins are narrow and blood turns to fat 3. by long sickness 4. when they have the piles in lieu of their Terms 5. a hot or cold distemper of the Womb 6. care fear grief c. I shall speak here only of the 5th for causes of the last being taken away the effect ceases and the rest the ingenious Midwife will remedy Now seeing these stoppings come usually from default of the Womb the best way to help it is by strengthening the Womb first then you shall prepare your way if there be occasion let blood i' th the foot if she be not full of humors if she be then in the Arm first which I have most commonly known to do alone then if need be give her a draught of White-wine wherein an handful of Centaury or stinking Arach hath been boiled and if there be a pain in the head add an handful of Verven or some Parcely roots Fennel or Lowage c. not forgetting in fulness of humors to purge with half a dram of Extractum Rudii and as much Pil. Mastichinae mixt made into 12 Pills whereof take 3 at
Night going to bed or after her first sleep 2. The Terms overflow 1. when they continue longer then their usual time which is 2 or 3 days in Women that use no exercise 4 or 5 days 2. when they come oftner then once a month the cause is 1. a Rupture of some Vessel 2. immoderate purgation 3. some corroding humor 4. hard Labor in Child-bed or unkind handing the Womb if the Vessels be broken blood gusheth out in heaps and if from some knawing humor they are few but very painful the rest are easily known Let them abstain from exercise then 1. anoint the reins with Oil of Roses Myrtles or Quinces then boil the roots of Tormentil Cinquefoil Yarrow Knot-grass Comfrey dead Nettles Solomon's Seal Purslan Shepherds-purse red Roses acorn Cups bark of Oak Trees some of these in her ordinary drink or the juices of what can be had taken alone and this above all take Comfrey leaves or roots and Clowns alheal of each an handful bruise and boil them well in Ale and drink of it now and then this will do though the Vessels were open 3. Flux of the Womb is a continual droping from that part of the body if it be red like putrified blood it comes from that humor if white and pale 't is from Phlegm if yellow 't is from Choler if pure blood as if a vein were opened either a knawing of the Womb or tearing in delivery is feared The cure differs as the cause if pure blood flow let blood i' th arm then use the Medicine last mentioned of Comfrey roots and Woundworth if flegm be the cause use Cinnamon in all meats and drinks and Methridate and Treacle for Antidotes a little every Morning take a scruple of Pills of Amber going to Bed for divers Nights if from Choler purge with syrup of Violets and Cassia Fistularis of each an ounce after take powder of Ivory and Missleto of the oak of each one scruple mixt with half an ounce of conserve of Roses every Morning for a Week if from putrified blood having first let blood i' th Foot then strengthen the Womb as before always forbearing violent motions and passions and sharp and salt meats and provokers of Urine for dead Nettles there are three sorts white red and yellow the flowers of that colour the white help the white the red the red the yellow the yellow flux 4. The Womb fallen out is cured if it be swell'd by bathing it with a decoction of Mallows Linseed and Fennigreek boil'd in water 2 or 3 times and when 't is got up let her keep her Legs close or else tye them with a swath apply stinking things to the Womb as Assa Foetida oil of Amber her own Hair burnt and let her smell of Civet c. the rest is before and after 5. The Womb is inflamed by many causes a blow stopping of the Terms Abortion Ulceration Immoderate Lechery overmuch walking cold For cure strengthen the Womb first then first clarifie Whey and boil Plantain leaves or roots in it and drink it then inject the juice of Plantain into the Womb with a Syringe if in Winter when you cannot get the juice make a strong decoction of the leaves and roots in water if the body be costive use a Clyster and here note that in all Inflammations blood-letting is the chiefest remedy first i' th Arm then if need i' th Foot if it be near the Neck of the Womb make a pessary of wool and anoint it with unguent album or populeon or mixt 6. The Womb is sometimes troubled with wind which is cured as the fits of the Mother and moistness of the Womb is cured as a flux of flegm 7. Heat and dryness of the Womb is incident to Women of a Cholerick complexion is cured by cool and moistning herbs of which stinking Arach is chief neither are Plantan and Mallows much behind milk is good for such to drink first purging with an ounce of Cassia Fistula new drawn going to bed and follow your business the next day Dr. Thus far good Mrs. Eutrap but now hear me a little concerning this matter All rational men know that the generation of mankind as also of other irrational Animals is the most perfect excellent and exquisite work of God's Vicegerent Nature the which is most excellently and elegantly demonstrated and set forth by Aristotle that great Secretary of Nature in his second Book which he hath written of the Generation of living Creatures for whereas it is impossible by the decree of Nature that any humane Creature should live always or have an immortal Being in this World much less should we imagine that should be granted to Bruits and other Souls of an inferior rank therefore for the continuance and propagation of each sort it hath otherwise ordained that during the continuance of this World there should be likewise maintained a successive generation of both Sexes by the Action of procreation and from hence after him Galen the greatest Luminary of Physick next Hippocrates says that it comes to pass that Creatures are furnished with Instruments of Generation proper for the quality of their Sex and are consequently indued with natural Instincts prompting them to the use thereof Therefore we shall at this time discourse of this wonderful operation of Nature and endeavour as far forth as our Talent will afford us to seek out the causes that may hinder and from thence prescribe means to remove them and so consequently assist and further her in so miraculous a concern and this partly upon our Dame nature's account whose Servants only we are and in the next place for the sakes of those Ladies Gentlewomen and others who are often disconsolate and dejected upon their being accounted barren Now then you must note that as conception hath some alliance with every part of the Body as being undoubtedly concern'd therein so the same Conception may be quite abolished diminished or deprived as it happens in all other actions and motions of the body so that if Conception be quite abolish'd in a Woman in such sort that she can never be able to conceive this affection is then called Barrenness or such a Woman may be called a barren Woman which you please But if she Conceive sometimes though seldome here the Conceptive faculties may be said to be diminished or weakened by some cause or other and to this kind of diminished Conception may be referr'd untimely births called Abortion And lastly a depraved Conception is when in the Womb is contained some unnatural Conception such as Monsters and Mola's c. The causes and remedies of all which it hath and shall be our duty to lay open to the Females Sex according to the best of our skil and knowledge first to the end we may further the propagation of humane kind and secondly that we make if possibly remove the reproaches laid upon Barrenness which hath been in all ages and continues to this day and will do to end
carries them away And now to come home to the purpose let me tell you the first and principal of all the qualities in a good Nurse is that she be the Child 's own Mother as well because of the mutual sympathy of their tempers as that having much more love for it she will be much more careful then an hired Nurse who commonly loves her Nurse Child but with a feined love so that the Mother though she be not the best Nurse should always be prefer'd before another But because there are divers that either will not or cannot suckle their own Children there is then an Obligation to provide another Nurse which should be chosen for the Child 's good as near as may be For even as we see trees of the same kind and growing in the same yet being afterwards transplanted to another Soil do produce fruits of a different taste by reason of the nourishment they draw from thence even so it fares with the health of Children and their manners sometimes depend on the nourishment they receive at the beginning for as the health of the body answers to the humors that all the parts are nourished with which humors always retain the nature of the food whereof they are engendred and as for the manners they commonly follow the temperament which likewise proceeds from the nature of the humors and the humors from the food from whence may be drawn this consequence that as the Nurse is so will the Child be both in body and mind by means of the nourishment it draws from her This may plainly appear in Animals that suck a strange dam for they always purchase something of the nature of the Creature they suck being accordingly either of a mild or fierce nature of a strong or weak body as may be seen in young Lions which will become tame by sucking a domestic Animal as a Cow Ass or Goat and on the other side a Dog will become more furious if it sucks a Wolf Now the necessary conditions requisite in a good Nurse are usually taken from her Age the time and manner of her Labor the Constitution of all the parts of her Body and particularly of her Breasts the nature of her Milk and lastly from her manners As concerning her Age the most convenient is from 25 to 35 years of Age Then as to the time and manner of her Labor it must be at least a month or 6 weeks after that and not above 5 or 6 months she must not have miscarried and she must have layn in of a 2d or third Child that she may know the better how to perform her Office As to the healthful constitution of her body 't is the principal thing on which almost all the rest depend for she ought to come of Parents that never had the stone in the Reins or Bladder or Gout Kings-Evil Falling-sickness or any other hereditary distemper that she have no Scab or Itch and that she be strong neither too tall nor too low not too fat nor too lean and above all she must not be with Child let her be of a Sanguine Complexion which is known by her Vermilion color not altogether so red but inclining to white of a firm fast flesh not subject to the Whites for that 's a sign of a bad habit not red hair'd nor mark'd with red spots but black hair'd or of a Chesnut brown neat in her Cloaths of a sprightly Eye and a smiling countenance sound and white Teeth for if they be rotten her breath may smell having a good voice to please and rejoice the Child and a clear and free pronuntiation that the Child learn not an ill accent from her as usually red hair'd have and sometimes those that are very black hair'd with white Skins for their Milk is hot sharp and stinking and also of an ill Tast Her Breasts ought to be pretty big to receive and concoct a sufficient quantity of milk being sound and free from scars proceeding from former Impostumes being indifferent firm and fleshy that their natural heat may be the stronger she must be broad breasted that her Milk may have the more room to be prepared and digested in and because 't is a sign of a great deal of vital heat As to her Nipples they must be well shap'd as you observ'd not too big nor too hard nor gristly nor sunk in too deep but they must be a little raised and of a moderate bigness and firmness with many little holes that she may be soft milch'd to the end the Child may not take too much pains to draw the milk by sucking them and pressing them with its Mouth All these good qualities being found in a Nurse respecting all the parts of her Body there needs be no fear but her Milk will be good The which may be known first by its quantity the which ought to be sufficient for the Child's nourishment and not too much lest it not being all drawn forth it curdâ—e and inflame the Breast by its too long stay there however it is better to have too much then too little for she may give the overplus to another Child it must not be too waterish nor to thick but of a middle consistence the which may be easily judged if she milking some into her hand and turning it a little on one side it immediately turns off but if it remains fixt 't is a mark 't is too thick and clammy and this if she have but little of it will stick upon the Childs tongue pallate and throat and so cause as it were a white Cancer which is more and more heated by reason of their forceable sucking in vain and they are hereby hindred from sucking These Nurses will after this Milk a drop or two out of their Breasts and cry look ye the Child cares not for sucking There is no greater abuse in any thing then in Nurses for let them make what pretence they will 't is nothing but necessity makes them be such and therefore Mothers ought to have a great care and to make it their business to surprize the Nurse at her own House that if there be any miscarriage they may find it out As to the colour of her Milk the whitest is the best and the less white it is so much the worse it must be of a sweet and pleasant smell which is a sign of a good temper as may be seen in red hair'd Women whose Milk hath a sour bad scent and to be compleat in every quality it must be of a good taste that is sweet and sugar'd without any sharpness or saltness or other strong tast Lastly to come to the principal and best conditions of a Nurse which consists in her good manners I say that she ought to be careful to cleanse the Child as soon as there is occasion she ought to be prudent not Cholerick nor quarrelsome as well because it may make bad impressions on the Child as because it heats her