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ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A11334	Opiologia: or, A treatise concerning the nature, properties, true preparation and safe vse and administration of opium For the comfort and ease of all such persons as are inwardly afflicted with any extreame griefe, or languishing paine, especially such as depriue the body of all naturall rest, and can be cured by no other meanes or medicine whatsoeuer. Dedicated to the illustrious, high and mighty lords, the estates generall of the vnited prouinces in the Netherlands. By Angelus Sala Vincentinus Venitus. And done into English, and something inlarged by Tho. Bretnor. M. M.	Sala, Angelus, 1576-1637.; Bretnor, Thomas, fl. 1607-1618, tr., ed.	1618 (1618)	STC 21594; ESTC S101645	41,817	118

substance of the bodie as all other vegetable and animall Medicines may easily doe in regard of that Symbolization they haue with the foresaid substances so that the stomacke may reduce them into chyle at pleasure which is the cause also that the poysons of euill plants serpents and other venemous creatures are more actiue sodaine and piercing then Arsink it selfe or Realgar minerall I could produce a number of other reasons to demonstrate that Chymicall Medicines of a vehement nature as principally the two before named against which all this controuersie doth particularly arise are more gentle then any violent vomitiue Medicine which our Ancients prescribed yea farre more safe then any vomitorie vnder Hellebore or any aboue named but to auoide long discourse let these suffice at this time Now let vs come to resolue our selues whether those ordinarie Medicines which be naturally gentle and without any offensiue qualitie after chymicall preparation change their naturall mildenesse into that which is euill and so become vehement and dangerous Concerning which point wee haue in this discourse alreadie spoken some thing in defence of purgatiue Medicines as those of more frequent vse then others among diseased persons and therefore wil be contented to determine the whole matter in the generall defence of Diaphoretickes Diureticks Alexiteries c. chymically prepared First therefore it must of necessity be granted of all opponents that euery Medicine ingenerall bereaued of its earthinesse and seculencie and made pure cleane and well digested by fire must of consequence be lesse hurtfull lesse dangerous and lesse offensiue and is also farre more apt to worke ci●òtutò miundè as the Physitions wish then any crude earthie impure or ill prepared Medicine may or can doe by any meanes ' possible the reason is that when such ill-prepared stuffe is once gotten into the stomacke of any diseased person nature alreadie strugling against the disease becommeth thereby more wearied ouer-cloyed and oppressed in concocting and seperating the pu●enesse from the impurenesse of such drugges then it was before and therefore can receiue very little or no comfort at all by such Medicines whereas on the contrary part other medicines made subtill actiue pure and well prepared by art doe begin to disperce and dilate themselues gently into all parts of the bodie as soone as they are receiued thereinto and being neuer so little exagitated or moued by naturall heate assist nature her selfe without any alteration or disturbance at all and like a good friend aide and promone her whereas the other wearieth and tormenteth the body like a Tyrant Moreouer wee may consider that Chymicall Medicines being pure and neate as aforesaid leaue no feculent residence or corruption in the bodie at all as others commonly doe But if it commeth to passe as it is not vnlikely that some should deny these reasons obiecting that Chymicall Medicines being subtill and pure can more easily disturbe nature and moue the body more sodainely then other Medicines do to whom we answere that although among our Chymicall Medicines there bee some of a subtill Nature as our distilled oyles the quintessence of wine and other vegetables and as there be diuers liquors we acknowledge very sharpe and piercing so in like manner be there some diseases wherein such Medicines be very requisite and necessary whereas others of a crosse seculent and clammy substance can yeeld no ease or comfort at all in regard whereof wee ought not to accompt them daungerous or hurtfull but rather very beneficiall and wholesome especially being well applyed and vsed a● all Medicines of what nature soeuer ought to bee But vnder colour of these no man ought to comprehend other Chymicall Medicines or proclaime them to bee of such a piercing nature for comming to purgatiue Medicines extracted being of a sappie thicke and condense forme wee know well that they are not nor cannot bee so subtill or piercing as oyles nor are called subtill in regarde of their penetratiue vertue but rather because they are farre more easily conuerted into Liquors then the substances from whence they are extracted and therefore ought in no ease to be called irritatiues Experience her selfe teacheth vs that the extract of Mechoacan Rheubarbe or Sena being gentle Med●cines duely administred shew themselues farre more milde gentle and effectuall then when they are exhibited after an entire and grosse preparation But what need many words doe we not plainely see that our Chymicall Art bringeth Colocynthis and Scammonie acrimonious and venemous purgatiues ●o bee so gentle and milde in operation that a man may as safely and freely administer them as Rheubarbe hauing onely regard to the qualitie of the disease and the humour they naturally purge as namely that of Scammonie whereof a man may boldly giue to one of a strong constitution twentie graines at a time in sugar rosat or any other conserue And this will worke easily and well without any touch of paine perturbance or inflammation in the bowells as otherwise it would surely do And this is a Maxime that not only Scammonie but euerie other purgatiue Medicine of such venemous and vehemēt nature as Hellebore Tithymalls c. loose their acrimonie and maligne qualitie and by meanes of this Art become gentle and effectuall in the extirpation of all such diseases as they naturally concerne or respect without any inconuenience or danger at all and this is no vaine coniecture of mine owne braine for I can produce a hundred sage and learned Physitions which can will testifie and make this good as well as my selfe And this is all which I purposed to speake at this time in defence of Chymicall Medicines against the suggestions of scandalous tongues not meaning or intendeng hereby to disgrace or vilipend those ordinarie Medicines wherewith the world is and hath beene furnished and serued for so many ages together for both the one and the other may be found good or euill according to the diuersitie of their vsage notwithstanding I haue at all times indeuored my selfe to the vttermost of my power to amplifie and illustrate the Art of Physicke for the comfort of the diseased as euery one ought without any passion or malice in condemning things newly inuented for Paradoxes and Heresies before due examination and triall Ad Authorem EXcuse me worthy Sala if I chance For want of iudgement thy intent to misse In fitting that for England which for France Thou paines hast tane and labour to Iwis For which and others thou deseruest blisse I wish I were thy neighbour or that I With such a one might spend my daies and die But now the world is such we cannot find A man with whom we freely may conuerse Some proud some stately others so vnkind That 't greeues my heart their manners to reherse Or talke of such selfe-louers in my verse When men by nature friendly creatures borne Doate on themselues and others foulely scorne But thou Patauian-like I heare dost ioy To do poore schollers good and to

Cappadocia Galatia Cilicia to transport the same into Persia India and Europe and other parts of the Great Turkes Dominion in Africa and else where the which we should haue hardly beleeued if hee had not related to vs by peece-meale as it were what quantitie might bee made and brought from each seuerall Village about the Confines of Carachora and the Villages of Paphlagonia Cappadocia Armenia the lesse and Gall●grecia hee told vs moreouer that the Persians vsed it more aboundantly then the Turkes Wee desired one day to make an experiment and try how much Opium a man could take at a time without any offence or hurt and wee found that a certaine Ianisarie of our acquaintance did vse to eate thereof euery daie who tooke at one time in our presence the weight of halfe a Dragme and meeting with him the next daie at a Mercers shop wee caused him to weigh vs out a whole dragme which wee gaue him and hee swallowed it vp all at once without any daunger or hurt at all sauing that for a while hee seemed like a drunken man To ●ate Opium in Turkie is no new thing and the reason why it is vsed so amongst them is because they perswade themselues that it maketh them more aduenterous and lesse fearefull of daungers in warre so that when the Turke assembleth or mustereth any great Armie together they make such hauocke of their Opium that they almost disfurnish the whole Countrie They take it in as great snuffe amongst them and accompt it as great an iniurie when one vpbraides another with eating of Opium as another Countriman would do if one should call him a drunkard A Christian-Armenian with whom wee lodged long time vsed many times to eate Opium in our sight and prouing the same our selues we found no other accident sauing that it heated our stomackes troubled something the braine and caused vs to sweat in our sleepe Wee thinke that if men were disposed they might as easily plant and sow Poppie in France Germanie Italie and some other places of Europe as well as in Asia if they would but take the paines to dresse and gather it as they should doe for surely the Climate of Natolia is as colde as that of France It is made in the same manner as Authors doe describe but I am affraide if wee haue anie brought ouer hither it is sophisticated mingled for the Merchants do questionles multiply it before they vent it abroad into the Countries and therefore because we know some marks and tokens how to choose the best it is not amisse to set downe the same The best Opium is that which is very bitter and so hot in tast that it wil almost scorch and inflame the mouth it is in colour something yellowish or like to a Lyons skin and being formed into a lumpe it seemes speckled as a masse of diuers colours for in gathering the sayd Opium the seeds are found clustered vpon the Poppie-heads which being amassed cleaue together like a cake its smell is fulsome and strong and although it be accompted but of a cold temprature yet it many times scaldeth the mouth Opium is formed into cakes in the Country of Natolia which exceed not aboue foure ounces or halfe a pound at the most but the Merchants to make the greater profit by their sophistication double the aforesaid quantitie for the subtill Venetians make the Cakes in their shops to weigh a pound at least and this is the report of Bellon concerning Opium Now considering that in his time a man could hardly get any in Christendome that were good how should we finde any now adaies either in the Apothecaries or Druggests shops which hath these tokens or is so effectuall or pretious in its operation letting passe the seeds or graines as the onely difference in gathering It is called ordinarily Opium Thebaicum in respect of the Prouince of Thebes where the best is made CHAP. II. Of the assurance we haue that Opium may bee vsed and taken crude or mixed in Medicines without any preiudice or indangering the Patients life at all A MAN shall find some Physitions now a daies who adhering too much a conscience to the opinion of olde Leeches capitall enemies to Opium its vse doe not onely beleeue it as an article of their Creed that whatsoeuer any Author hath said in detraction and disgrace of Opium is an vndoubted truth To whom I answere and say that wee ought not to submit our selues to their iudgement altogether nor to beleeue the opinion or saying of any Physition whether antient or moderne otherwise then daily obseruation of the vse of things our Grandame experience confirme in our vnderstanding for truth for seeing that the ancient Physitions as well Grecians as Arabians how great or learned soeuer they were esteemed yet being all but imperfect men and subiect to errour had their owne proper passions and were full of contention and iealousie one against another as wee are now adaies whence it followes that wee ought not to receiue all their workes for gospell without condition as aforesayd for as for example Galen Plinie and others put the world in feare and suspition of Opium and contrariwise Oribasius Diescorides and others commend it and assure and affirme it to bee profitable and necessarie for the cure of many diseases who then in this case can giue vs better knowledge and satisfaction of truth of these things then Experience her selfe Now shee tells vs that a man may safely vse Opium inwardly in mens bodies Oribasius therefore and Diescorides haue spoken truly whereas the errour and abuse of others is manifest which howsoeuer it falls out it hinders vs nothing at all to search into these things seeing that neither cause nor reason can preiudice or hinder the authoritie of daily experience That the vse of Opium deserueth to be applauded of all Physitions wee haue two principall and certaine assurances whereof the former is not onely the certification of Peter Bellon aforesaid but of a hundred honorable personages who haue beene in Asia and affirme that the Turkes eate thereof in great quantitie almost euery day ordinarily without any mischāce or hurt to their bodies at al which may in part be a sufficient demonstration that Opium is not a thing so venemous and daungerous to the life of man as some giue out and proclaime it to be But heere some to small purpose may tell mee that the Turkes may easily digest Opium how colde soeuer in regarde of the hot Clime they liue in whereas the Christians dwelling vnder a colder in Europe can doe no such matter to whom I aunswere that if it were graunted that Opium were of such qualitie as aforesayd yet whether a man could digest it or not cannot bee Physicallie attributed to the temprature of the Climate but rather to the strong constitution or naturall vigour of the people for the Turkes being from their very cradle more grossely brought vp and sed then the Christians are

OPIOLOGIA OR A Treatise concerning the Nature properties true preparation and safe vse and Administration of Opium For the comfort and ease of all such persons as are inwardly afflicted with any extreame griefe or languishing paine especially such as depriue the body of all naturall rest and can be cured by no other meanes or Medicine whatsoeuer Dedicated to the Illustrious High and Mighty Lords the Estates generall of the vnited Prouinces in the Netherlands By ANGELVS SALA VINCENTINVS VENETVS And Done into English and something inlarged by THO. BRETNOR M. M. LONDON Printed by NICHOLAS OKES 1618. To the Learned and my worthily respected friends D. BONHAM and Maister NICHOLAS CARTER Physitions BEE not offended worthie Doctor if I presume to parallel you with a Physition which netther is nor wil be dubbed Doct. for any mans pleasure nor cares a whit for any clothing in Bysse how worthy soe●er For the which I blame him the lesse sithence neither Aesculapius Hippocrates Galen Auicen nor any other of the old stampe euer assumed any such title though better giuen them But tempora mutantur and therefore now adaies for distinction and decorum sake it is very conuenient and necessarie to giue such attributes especially to men indowed with so excellent a qualitie as the true knowledge of Physicke and guift of healing is But how vilely this worthie Science and profession is traduced and abused Witnesse the multitude of Mounte-bankes Quack-saluers Horse-leaches Cunning-women Imposters and Vpstarts who hauing learned my chance the Calcining of Mercurie the preparation of Antimony or the composition of some home-spun medicine and hauing scraped together some triuiall experiments out of some old Manuscripts or from some brazen-fac't Bragadotio will presently forsooth set the Physition at open defiance boasting and protesting that they haue saued the life of twentie whom such and such a Physition had quite forsaken and giuen ouer for dead Nay I haue heard a good fellow I will not say a Pharmacopaean and that no simple one neither bouldly affirme that if hee should not now and then adde or diminish something from the Physitions Bill the fat were in the fire and t were as much as the Patients life were worth aggrauating the matter in such manner that my very eares haue glowed to heare it seeing that by this their scandalous detraction they arrogate to themselues and impose vpon the simple people bringing them into fooles paradise But the Physitions are well enough serued for if they would expulse one packe of these snaffle another and take a little paines with Fernelius to prepare or see prepared their principall Medicines and not to be so idle as to giue too much credit to the Druggist nor let each giddie-headed fellow be partaker of their secrets it were doubtlesse better for the Common wealth more profitable vnto themselues and more pleasing vnto God but of this inough There resteth nothing now my worthy friends but that you would vouchsafe to stand betwixt me and such malicious detractors for if they dare baspheme the tall Cedars what will they not doe vnto the lower shrubs The subiect of this treatise is so well knowne vnto you that howsoeuer some nice and scrupulous persons may make question of the veritie of the passages or of the safetie and excellencie of the medicine you are so well instructed in the composition and vertue thereof that no wise man will oppose you some may imagine that I might haue made better choice of some famous and remarkable Collegians for my patrons but vnto you onely and vnto that worthie Doctor Gwin am I obliged whose multiplicity of learning iudgement and discretion accompanied with affabilitie humanitie and curtesie is more then apparantly knowne to all your acquaintance Let me therefore craue this boone at your hands that you would accept this simple translation as a testimony of my louing remēbrance towards you and that you would defend it from the obtrectations of scandalous tongues and you shall euer make mee Yours THO. BRETNOR To the ingenious and indifferent Reader THE cause moouing mee curteous Reader to trāslate and publish this smal Pamphlet was not onely the scarsitie of the French Copies but the especiall want of such a Treatise in our owne mother-tongue for not onely the rude multitude and men of some iudgement through vaine delusion and superstitious feare but many Physitions themselues through a Galenicall perswasion make no small question and scruple whether Opium may bee taken inwardly or not Nay I haue knowen men of good discretion so farre infatuated by conceipt and heare say as they haue rather chosen to indure intollerable paines then they would take three poore graines of well prepared Laudanum but I cannot greatly blame them for the naked truth is many moderne Physitions know not well what to make of it Forestus Montanus and many others with Galen absolutely conclude that it is stupefying and cold in the fourth degree at least and therefore not fit to be inwardly taken at all but in Syncopes and extreame necessitie Mercatus is indifferent Capiuaccius is forced by common experience to grant with Auicen that for its foure degrees of coldnesse it is furnished with three of heate in operation But Platerus Bauhinus Zwingerus Scaliger Quercitanus and others affirme with Rhasis that Opium is rather hot then cold seeing that in tasting thereof it doth Palatum linguam vrere caput tentare Sudorem prouocare venerem promouere sitim excitare pruritum insignem parere animositatem fi●e potius furorem inducere and being outwardly applied doth contrarie to all cold things blister the skinne discusse and mollifie hard tumors and nodes But whether it bee hot or cold it skils not much seeing it is confessed of all true Physitions that it doth ex forma specifica naturally resist putrefaction and wonderfully and speedily release the bodie from intollerable paines for let the torments or griefe proceed from what cause soeuer either hot or cold inward or outward it worketh the same effects so that this onely Medicine well prepared would doubtlesse saue many thousand mens liues that trauaile or faile sub aequatore vel polo Arctico into the East Indies or Northerne discoueries vnder the hottest or coldest climes in the world seeing it resembles much the oyle of Vitrioll Vinegar Chymicall salts and such like which are giuen with good successe as well in cold as hot diseases but what needs many words seeing the Author himselfe hath sufficiently discouered the benefit hereof I onely wish you to haue great regard to its preparation for as in most Physicall Drugges there remaineth some bad qualitie or other which needeth correction so doth Opium require Vulcans helpe and other specificall meanes to driue away its sulphurous malignitie you may read in Quercetane his answere to Anonimus Cap. 2. and in Sennertus his Institutions Lib. 5. part 3. Sect. 2. Cap. 1. that the ancient fathers of Physicke made their chiefest Medicines with their owne hands and intituled them

ingenerall become not only more able bodied and stronger thereby but also more apt and able to eate and digest diuers things which the tender and nice Christians cannot iudure and that the truth is so Let vs but consider a little the difference of naturall toughnes and strength betweene a Christian Paysant or Carle here amongst vs and a Gentleman or Citizen do not we see I pray you that the Paysant can more easily indure a purgation made of White Hellebore Tithymalls Euphorbium or Colocynthis which are accompted violent and venemous Medicines then these tender sparkes aforesayd can brooke Rheubarbe Mechoacan Sena Aloes or the Damaske rose But why the Turkes deuoure Opium on this fashion ought rather to be imputed vnto an ordinarie custome and common vsage among them then to any other cause whatsoeuer euen as the Indians are accustomed to take Tobacco which is a plant not onely Narcoticke and stupefactiue but of a violent and extreame vomitiue quality also Notwithstanding we see that Christians all Europe ouer by little and little haue brought themselues into such a custome and habit thereunto that they feele no alteration or preiudice at all as they thinke by the vse thereof I make no question but a man might finde a number of people among Christians that if they cannot alreadie could easily accustome themselues to eate Opium as familiarly as they take Tobacco although they could not vse ●t in such quantitie nor so often in regard it is a pure essence and extract which Nature hath seperated from its plant For essentiall things are alwaies farre more effectuall then grosse bee for confirmation whereof we neede not doubt that if a man should separate the rosinous and sulphurous substance of Tobaccao and bring it into such a consistence as Opium is and afterwards giue it vnto such as vsually take Toba●co they could not possibly indure the tenth part so much of this as of the leaues as hath beene alreadie practised and tried There be some Empericks I know which giue crude Opium to their Patiens in as great or greater quantitie at a time then Discorides hath limitted and that without any great daunger or hazard of life at all onely correcting it a little with the powder of Caraway-seed and in case of necessitie I my selfe would not sticke or make any scruple to vse it yea I durst if neede were take two or three graines thereof at a time my selfe for although I neuer did eate thereof hitherto indeed yet haue I often tasted the same and also receiued great quantitie of the sulphurous vapours both into my stomacke and head in time of the preparation thereof without any perceiuance or the least touch of any offence in the world neuerthelesse it is not my counsell that any Physition should vse it crude in this maner seeing we haue Art and meanes to prepare it otherwise The second assurance that wee haue concerning the vse of Opium is in that wee finde and see that the most expert and wisest Physitions of olde found it good and therefore prescribed this Medicine as a principall ingredient and as one of the most important bases in their chiefest compositions Alexiteries Diaphoretickes Anodynes Cordialls which naturally resist the most grieuous and violent diseases that can any waies happen to humaine bodies for which cause they vsually call them Opiate Confections as that of their Tre●cle of Andromachus their Mithridate of Danocrates their Triphera magna Aurea Alexandrina Philomuim romanum Requies Nicholai and others which they haue vsed as principall Medicines for these many hundred yeares and yet doe for they are indeed the most pretious and necessarie compositions their ordinarie Apothecaries haue The causes which moued Ancient Physitions to put Opium vnto the foresayd confections are not few seeing that its properties are to asswage all inward paines strengthē the passages conduits which are open loose disbanded precipitate disperse and consume these venemous vapours which are raised from one part to another incrassat and thicken al subtill corros●ue humors by correcting their malignitie and acrimonie stop and stay all fluxes as well Dysenterick as Menstruall appease and extinguish all extremities in burning Feuers prouoke naturall rest and sleepe to Distressed and Lunaticke persons and finally like a Balme defend the partes from corruption which operations and effects are required in all compositions which are generally ordayned to resist the violence of diuerse diseases in appeasing and repelling whereof some of these properties before named are ordinarily desired as Quercetanus in his Pharmacop●a intreating of the vetues of Opium affirmeth in these wordes saying Pauci en●m sunt morbi qui non simul complacentur vel ardoribus vel inflammationibus vel inquietudinibus commotiomibus la●guoribus oppressionibus vigilijs de●luxionibus vel var●● generis doloribus capitis pectoris ventricul● ventris vel cu●scunque alterius Patris ad quorum omnium Symptomatum ferociam compescendam Opium specificam peculiarem quandam habet proprietatem qua vel vnum exhis Symptomatis seorsim vel plura cum malo coniuncta Simul cum admirabili astantium ipsorum aegrorum admiratione euincit ac subigit vnde saepeumerò in e●usmodi casibus tam mirandos sanationum effectus prodere videmus Theriacam Muhridatium Antidotos Esdrae similes quae Opium exciiunt c. For there bee very few diseases which are not either accompained with heates inflammations inquietude preturbation languishing oppressions watching fluxes c. for mitigating and ●epressing of which Symptomes Opium hath a specificall and a certaine peculiar proprietie c. And this may serue to assure vs that wee may boldly vse Opium inwardly without any preiudice to life yea rather for its better conseruation being administred with iudgement and discretion as all other Medicines whatsoeuer ought to be CHAP. III. Concerning the good and euill affects which Opium may produce in mens bodies THat Opium as aforesaid being wisely administred to the diseased produceth in them many good effects and contrariwise abused exciteth diuers dangerous and mortall accidents is in no sort doubted among discreet Physitions but touching the cause why Opium doth worke these effects in mens bodies is disputable for most Physitions impute it to that extremitie of the fourth degree of coldnesse wherewith it is endowed and for proofe and confirmation hereof they produce an argument drawne from the effects of its operation in this manner Opium say they prouoketh a vigilant or watchfull man to sleepe and incrasseth thin and subtill humours vigilancie then proceeding for the most part from a hot and drie cause with matter or without and the dissolution also of the humours from the like distemprature Opium therefore contrarying and impugning the causes of these effects must needes bee of the qualitie aforesayd and for the further confirmation hereof they alledge Galen Plini● and others who in like manner witnesse that when Opium is vndiscreetly vsed it causeth Lethargicke sleepe priuation of sense stupe● faction of

Critick● beside the purpose will hit mee a blow on the blind side saying how comes it to passe that these braue Spag●riques heale not all the patients that fall into their hands seeing they brag of such singular secrets as these of whom I demaund the cause also why they cure not all theirs hauing such graue institutions solid grounds and principall Medicines vsed ordinarily amongst them This is not to proue that although Chymicall Medicines worke more citò tutó iucundè by reason of their better preparation and exaltation in power then other ordinary Medicines that therefore they can surely ouercome and cure all hereditarie inbred and incurable diseases or such others which God for the exercise of his iustice hath inflicted and confirmed vpon the bodies of men in such sort that no Medicine nor skill in the world can cure For Ni Deus affuerit viresque in fuderit herbis Quid rogo dyctamnus quid pauacaea invent If God helpe not and into herbes infuse A working power in vain we Medicins vse In his booke De morbis resolutis In his first booke of Minerall diseases and in diuers other passages of his workes hee maketh mention of Opium with such great honour and respect as any auncient Physition in commendation thereof euer did afterwards concerning it's vsage hee meaneth not that any man should administer it simple and crude or grosly tempered and mixed with other Medicines before the due preparation for in his first Chapter De Sulphure Embryonato and his first booke de Reb. nat hee aff●●neth that Opium Mandrage and Henbane containe in them some maligne substance in regard whereof no man ought to vse them if he worke warily before he haue reduced them into a quintessentiall f●rme which indeed hath bin the principall occasion that the Spagiricke Physitions putting their hands to the plough haue found the m●anes to prepare Opium into such a pretio●s and profitable Medicine that in all Spagi●icall and ordinary practise whatsoeuer none other can bee comparable either for speedy or wonderfull operation for w●ich onely Medicine all Christian Physitions and people which know it are eternally bound to giue the fountaine of all goodnesse thankes for his gratious guifts inspired into men CHAP. V. Of the inuention or meanes how to prepare Opium well and wherein it generally cons●●steth HAuing hitherto diuersly discoursed of Opium in demonstrating its pretious and necesarie vse in Physicke we 〈◊〉 now goe about to shew th●● effectuall manner of preparation which the Spagirists vse to the end wee may more fre●l● and safely administer the same then the ancient Physitions did who commonly put the same into their Medicines vnprepared which Quercetanus in his Pharm Dog R●st p●● 186. treating of the composition of Tre●kle mightily complayneth of in these words saying De plorandus enim error est nobilis hui●● alexipharmaci compositioni in tam magna trium scilicet vnciarum dosi ad miscere tantum ven●nū quale Opium crudum minus praeparatum esse constat The errour of them is greatly to be lamented c. Which Quercetanus auoucheth not to blame the inuention of auncient Physitions nor the vertue of Treakle which ●ath beene and yet is daily vsed with great ●uccesse but rather to insinuate and shew ●ow much more warily safely they should ●aue delt in the vsage of Opium then they ●aue done heretofore if they had as truely ●nowne the Art Spagiricke as wee doe now ●d●ies how bee it wee ought notwithstanding to take these things in good part which ●hey haue reueiled vnto vs according to their ●xperience although the inuention of the ●rue preparation of Opi●m ought by all ●eanes to be ascribed to Theophrastus Para●elsus as principall and chiefe of the naturall Philosophers and Spagirists who haue gene●ally written of the Chymicall preparation of all things in a manner which are vsed in Physicke where others on the contrary in●reating of the Philosophers-stone haue bu●●ed themselues to besot and foole the world ●nd by that meanes haue rather seduced mens vnderstandings then produced any ●●od fruits or workes of worth Now the best preparation of Opium con●●steth in three principall practises the first 〈◊〉 depriuing or taking from it its Oleagi●ous or sulphurous substance wherein prin●ipally consisteth the euill Narcoticall and ●upefactiue qualitie the second in correcting and mitigating its causticke and ad●●ing acrimonie wherein it is almost parallelled vnto Tithymalls Spurges and other lactiferous corrosiues and the third in accompanying or mixing there with some suc● good additaments and furtherers as shalb● described hereafter CHAP. VI. Conteyning three manners or waies to depri●● Opium from its nar●oticall stupefactiue an● nuisible Sulphur which must be done before its essentiall extract can be drawne IT is formerly said that Op●um is depriued and freed from its malignitie three manner of waies the first as Paracelsus in his second booke D● morbis amentium saith is by taking Opium and mixing therewith certaine Aromaticall things and reducing them into a Ma●● with the rob or iuice of Quinces and afterwards putting them into a Quince whose coare is first taken out and lastly hauing couered or infoulded the same in past bak● it in an ouen like bread and being taken out reduce or beate it into powder and infuse i● in some conuenient liquor whereby the essense or tincture thereof may be extracted to which purpose he taketh the spirit of Vitrioll composed against the Epilepsie as a specificall furtherer in this case The second meanes is to take Opium and to cut it into small slices and to put it into ●a cleane Frying-pan or vpon a Lamine or broad plate of yron and with a gentle fire euaporate away its Sulphur which will exhale or fume away like a grosse and stinking smoake from which smell it is no● amisse to abstaine as much as may bee some in the interim sprinkle it with a little rose Vinegar and stirre it together with a Spatula or slice as it melteth like Aloes and after spread it abroad vpon the sayd Lamine of yron and so let it euapour away as long as any fume will arise and vntill it become so drie that it may be powdred alwaies bewaring that it burne not This manner of preparation is approued for good of Quercetane and many other moderne Physitions and I my selfe also alwaies obserue the same methode when I haue occasion to make any Laudanum for mine owne vse The third way is to dissolue the crude Opium in some conuenient liquor as is sayd and letting it digest and boyle easily still scumming away the froath and vnctuous Cremor swimming aloft which indeed is its sulphurous malignitie and reserue the rest for vse This manner of preparation is highly commended of Crollius in his Basilica Chymica in the Chapter intreating of Laudanum Of these three maners of preparing Opium before it be brought to an extract let euery Physition make his owne choice CHAP. VII How the ●incture quintesse●ce or as some call it the substance

in my Laudanum then you see not onely because I find the foresayd tincture of Gold to bee as sufficient and auaileable as all the rest but for some other rationall considerations which here I spare to speake of 5 And for the Amber-grise put therein I neuer knew any woman troubled with the suffocation of the Mother feele any manifest nuisance alteration or offence thereby ●s some imagine but if any man doubt therof let him but onely touch the Pill intended ●o be giuen vpon such occasion with a little ●yle of Charabes or Amber These are the Laudanums or Opiating ●ompositions which I haue bin contented to describe in this booke which indeed are all ●ery good and excellent in their operations ●lthough they differ something one from another in composition and diuersitie of ingrediences yet the principal base common to them all is meerely Opium The reason why I ●aue not set downe the preparation of this Medicine in so ample and plaine a maner and forme as euery particular Reader might desire to make himselfe Master of the Mysterie is in regard I would not wrong any priuate person who by his great ●abour cost and industrie hath purchased and gotten a more peculiar interrest therein as hauing sufficient vnderstanding knowledge and experience in the whole Art of Physick For although I am willing to make euery man that shall read this Treatise acquainted with the vtilitie and profit which may redound and accrew by the vse of such a Medicine yet is it not my intention for all that to giue occasion to many presumptuous persons which rashly and without any true ground other then their owne priuate gain● making practise in Physicke will take in hand with a thing of so great consideration and importance as Laudanum is And this is the reason also wherefore I doe so freely admonish and counsell euery one that loues his owne life or the preseruation of his health more then the sparing of a sew scald pence not to take this Medicine for any inward vse at any mans hand but onely of such as haue good knowledge therein and will faithfully communicate the same not giuing quid for quo as some vnworthy Mercenaries doe who commonly gape after their owne benefit and commodite rather then the good and safetie of their sick patient Furthermore I am not ignorant though a man may finde many Spagirists vaunting and bragging they haue this and that La●danum and other excellent Anodynes composed without any Opium at all some saying they can make Laudanum with mixtion only of certaine Cordialls others would make the world beleeue they haue a certaine embrionated Sulphur of Vitriall which is a most rare pretious medicine and Somniferous Anodyne but these are nothing but vaine ostentations seeing that without Opium or some other things of equiualen● and semblable faculties it is impossible for ●ny man to prepare any generall true or cer●aine Anodyne how be it I deny not but by permixtion of certaine things differing one ●rom another in tast smel and qualitie a man may compose a handsome counterfeit Lauda●um seeing that I my selfe can prepare such a Medicine of Nutmegs Mace Myrrhe Saf●ron Amber Maske Aqua-vita Quintessence of Sulphur c. without any Opi●● the onely smell whereof will prouoke sleepe and being administred will appease diuers griefes yet for all that it is nothing so generall or auaileable an Anodyne that it may be compared in any sort with that prepared of Opium or if it were a man might doubtlesse make as great scruple to take that as the other for if Opium can indanger the body by its naturall som●iferous qualitie why should not another Aromaticall Cordiall do the same which by art hath acquired the like facultie Moreouer concerning the foresayd sulphurous Anodyne although Paracelsus tells wonders of such a one in the seuenth Chap. of his booke De re● natur wherein he discourseth of diuers minerall Sulphurs it is so ingeniously with Crollius I confesse that I neuer saw any such medicine for hauing try●d conclusions and wrought long time vpor Vitrioll I could neuer perceiue it had any such substance in it which had like operation to that of Opium as I haue plainely manifested in my booke intituled Anatomia Vitriol● divulged fiue yeares since in regard wherof those are much deceiued which by meanes of its precipitation with salt of Tartar by boyling in an yron pot or by meanes of sublimation doe separate a greenish powder from Vitriol calling it Sulphur ●mbryonatum Vitriol● which being put to Vulcans Test a man may quickly find it to be nothing but Copper or being administred altereth the stomack and rather prouoketh vomit then either comfort or disposition to sleepe it is therefore apparant that Paracelsus intēded some other thing in this proiect then he vouchsafed to discouer to vs. Hence you may behold the reasons wherfore we ought not to mis-prise and vilipend certaine things for vncertain but content our selues with the aforesayd Laudanums or such like with thankesgiuing to the Author of all goodnesse not suffering our vnderstandings to bee abused by the vaine florishes or idle fantasies of any other CHAP. IX Concerning the vertues and vse of all opiating Laudanums aswell in generall as particular HAuing alreadie set downe the manner how to prep●●e Opium well and to make excellent compositions thereof called Laudanums it behoueth vs now to declare their vertues and vse for the better direction and aduertise●ent to them which shall haue occasion to vse the same The properties of euery Laudanum which is well prepared and corrected as beforesayd are principally sixe 1 The first is to giue ease or to cease all inward paines proceeding of what cause soeuer and that at all times and to all persons without exception of what complexion temprature age or constit●tion of bodie soeuer onely hauing regard to the Dose and other circumstances which are requisit for the Physition to obser●e 2 To prouoke those to sleepe which are destitute thereof by reason of any corporall disease or alteration of spirit which things it effecteth without dulling or benumming the senses weakning the members constipating the bodie or producing any euill accidents at all in them as other Somniferous things doe which are naturally cold and il prepared 3 To stop all vehement subtill and corroding Cathurrous distillations falling from the braine vpon the lower parts thickening them by little and little strenthening the braine and repressing the grosse vapors which rise from the stomacke vpwards which are ordinarily the causes of such defluxions 4 To stay naturally the Haemorrhagie dyssenterie and menstruall fluxes as also the Dyarrhaea and fluxe of the belly proceeding frō the great distemprature of inward heate or some sharpe and biting humour 5 To consummate and cease all burning Feuers and praeternaturall heate proceeding from any wound or vlcer or frō the fermentation or ripening of any cholerick humor or any causticke or venemous matter 6 To roborate and strengthen the bowels and all

of them in manner as followeth The Obiections 1 First that Laudanum being principally composed of Opium and still re●eyning its Somniferous propertie might consequently suffocate naturall heate and benum and stup●fie all the senses 2 Seeing Laudanum doth incrassate thicken the subtill humors it followed that although it did cease paine for the time yet afterwards it made the cause of the sicknesse malignant fixed and incurable 3 That it hath beene obserued that some sicke people haue died some few houres after the taking of Laudanū inconsideration wherof we should abstaine from its vse altogether The Answere Concerning the first obiection I am of opinion that if such men as goe about to propose any such thing would either giue place to the authority of great Physitions or experience-self both which assuring vs that c●ude Opium taken in small quantity neither suffocateth naturall hea●e nor dulleth the senses as hath beene already sufficiently proued in the beginning of this discourse they would neither blame nor so basely esteeme of it but suppose that a very smal Dose of crude Opium did produce such effects must it therefore doe the same when it is depriued of the superfluity of its narcotical Sulphur his Acrimonie corrected and after mixed with such Bezoardick and Cordiall things as aforesaid No man of iudgement or of any experience in the Mysteries of nature can deny that Opiū the principall ingredience or Basis of Laudanum being thus altered both in forme and substance becōmeth likewise changed in its vertues and operations and therefore can with no reason censure so hardly thereof as when it is crude And notwithstanding that Laudanū doth prouoke the diseased to sleepe yet daily experience teacheth vs that it doth not suffocate naturall heate but rather preserue it when it is about to consume and in danger to be suddainely extinct by reason of its violent motion extreame paines and extraordinary watching whereby it is as rudely handled as a lampe or burning-torch is in a mightie tempest which causeth a greater wasting of oyle and losse of light then it would doe if it were defended from such an accident 2 For the second obiection Laudanum is so farre from aggrauating impairing or making worse the causes of the disease by reason of its incrassating faculty that quite contrary it prepareth some offending humours and maketh them far more apt and easie to be expelled as in the 21. passage before cōcerning Gouts we haue something declared For is it not the consent and verdict of the best Physitions in the world that the preparation of humors before purgation doth chiefly consist in two operations that is in subtilizing and attenuating of those which are Viscouse thick and clammy and incrassating and thickning indifferently those which are too subtill virulent windy vagant in the body Now the greatest part of extreame paines and inward heates proceeding from some dissolued matter that is either salt sharpe or corroding or from such as doth excoriate inflame and alter the member affected whereby malignant vapors arise which passing vnto the adioyning parts doe by consent produce sūdry tormēts many euil accidents as by experience is manifest what better course can a man obserue then by meanes of Laudanum to thicken and digest the sayd humors sequestring consuming the aforesayd vapours in such sort that they can by no means exercise their cruelty as before And in case of superfluity if it be any waies requisite to be purged a man may doe it afterwards farre more warily and safely then in the former estate is not this represented to any mans vnderstanding by sundry outward vlcers which being inflamed and distilling from some subtill and corrosiue humour cause great Pricking Dolour and paines and oftentimes by consent a Feuer to the Patient so that the true remedie in such a case to take away such accidents is some excellent Anodyne which may mitigate and asswage that vnnaturall heate and suddenly ripen and indifferently thicken the offending humor which was so subtill and corrosiue which being done al other Symptomes cease whatsoeuer Laudanum then not onely producing these effects by its naturall propertie but also mundifying resisting putrifaction and healing and comforting the weakened parts as it were Balsame may by good consequence take away or extinguish the cause of many euill Symptomes rather then impaire and make them incureable for although it doth moderately incrassate yet notwithstanding it doth not coagulate the bloud nor fixe the substances which in their owne proper nature are liquid in stone nor soder or glue the parts together as Gypsum doth for which cause onely men should blame it in such maner as before 3 Thirdly we will not deny but that some sick person may chance to die soone after the receipt of Laudanum but that Lauda●um was the cause of their death that in regard therof its vse is vtterly to be abandoned and forsaken is the matter now in question First therefore it is very apparant by our former discourse that Laudanum is not a thing of such a venemous quality as will cause death to the receiuer for albeit the obseruation be true that some haue died soone after the taking thereof yet that ought not to supersede all other reasons attestations experience concerning the good effects and safe vse of Laudanum for as it is an absurd and foolish thing for a man to say ● did see certaine graines of Bezoar-stone Vnicornes-horne Pearles or such like pretious Cordials giuen to a sicke person who died not long after ergo that was the cause of his death and therf●re take heed of vsing any such thing hereafter or I saw one giue a Clister to such a sicke person who died soone after Ergo Clisters are dangerous remedies and ought not to be vsed as many simple people are accustomed to argue Euen so it is as absurd a thing to hold Laudanum in suspition because such a one tooke it after dy●d for although it doe principally and speedily cause all torments to cease and prouoke the diseased to sleepe yet that is no consequence that it can preserue a man from death when by God his secret decree his houre is come for neither that nor no other Medicine in the world can doe sleepe and exemption from paines are necessary things as well for sound as sicke men the one with distinction the other without all exception but that these two doe sometimes serue for the maintenance and strengthening of mans life and other sometimes are vnnecessary and of no vse this proceeds not through any fault in themselues but in nature which doth not receiue them for her owne good and benefit as other times she vseth to doe which thing is liuely represented vnto vs by the vse of meate drinke and all other things called Medicines not naturall which sometimes are good and profitable to the bodie and sometimes quite contrary euen as nature disposeth of them for our good or euill howsoeuer in themselues they