draw the saide after burthen and so consequently the womb or else part therof which commonly brings the woman into extream paines and fainting yea and oftentimes to death Which hapned to my great griefe vnto a Gentlewoman that died as soone as shee was deliuered who putting her selfe into her nurses hands who tooke vpon her to be a Midwife and was so ventrous as to plucke and draw forth the said Membrane and part of the after-burthen which came to light by means of her Chamber-maid who had kept it and shewed it vs after her decease we being very inquisitiue to know the cause of her death But when this happens it must not be puld away but rather gently be thrust in againe or else you may put in your hand betweene that and the neck of the wombe to find the childs feete and so draw him forth as we haue shewed before I haue set downe this story more at large by reason of the great sorrow I tooke for this Gentlewomans death whom I had deliuered twice before with mine own hands comming not soone enough to helpe her the third time The meanes to deliuer a woman when her child is dead in her wombe CHAP. XIII WHen it is certainly knowne that the child is dead the woman must bee placed in the same manner as it hath beene shew'n where wee spake of the taking forth of the child when there is a fluxe of bloud If he put forth an arme shoulder backe belly or other part of his body first hee must be turned with all diligence and drawne forth by the feete as we will more particularly declare in euery seuerall deliuery according to the sundry fashions wherein he may come either aliue or dead If he come dead with his head forwards and that there is no hope at all of the womans deliuery without helpe and that her strength begins manifestly to decay the surest way is to apply the hand And then the Chirurgion shall thrust gently his left hand beeing wide opened betweene the childs head and the necke of the wombe and with his right hand he must put between the said head and flat of the hand an Iron Crochet such a one as you see heere figured vnto you The figure or portaict of the Crochet wherewith the dead childe may bee drawn forth of his mothers belly when hee comes with his head forward the which is so lock'd within the os pubis that it cannot be displaced or pusht vpward to turne and draw foorth the child by the feete without much hurting the Mother and often endaungering her life It will likewise serue to take forth a head that remaines alone in the wombe It must be ten or twelue inches long strong and thicke and large enough to take holde Which must bee fastned to the side of the childs head as about his eare or bone of the Temples or in some other place if it may bee done conueniently as within the hollow of the eye or the hinder bone of his head the Chirurgion keeping his left hand in the same place where he put it first and therewith he shall wagge and stirre gently the childs head and at that very instant with his right hand wherin he holds the crochet so fastned in any part of the head must he draw and bring out the child bidding the woman striue and force her selfe as though she would be deliuered alone And it is to be noted that the Chirurgion must take his time to draw him forth when the woman falls into throws for while the throws continue the child slides forth the easier Oftentimes it chaunceth that the Crochet cannot be put high enough at the first to draw foorth the head all at once so that after it is come forward and drawne out in part they are faine to take away the Crochet from the place where it was first fastned and put it in againe to take new hold higher in another place which the Chirurgion may doe very fitly as it hath beene shewed already Likewise if the Crochet be not well and surely fastned at first but that it slip and lose the first hold then it will bee needfull to fasten and put it in a surer place Hauing drawne forth the head and the Crochet beeing taken out the Chirurgion shall slide in his fingers very cunningly vnder the childs armepits that he may draw forth the shoulders and the rest of his body for by this meanes hee shall bee easier drawne out then by the head which must be done very leasurely without any violence giuing the woman leaue to gather her strength and expecting till her throws come vpon her While the Chirurgion is about this worke they must giue the poore Woman a little wine or else let her sucke a tost sop't in wine or Hippocras perswading and incouraging her that she shall quickly be deliuered This manner of drawing the dead child out of the mothers womb is safer and speedier then that which is vsed by turning and putting backe the childs head to finde his feete and so pull him out thereby For whensoeuer the childs heade is much entred within the os Pubis it is impossible to thrust him vpward and turne him without much indaungering the Mother and causing great contusion in the wombe from whence proceeds diuers accidents and sometime death as I haue seene it often happen I know some will alledge that they haue taken foorth children aliue which were thought to haue beene dead in the Mothers wombe with the saide Crochet and that they haue presently died onely with the hurt they receiued by the Crochet and certainely this is a cruell kind of practize Whereto I answere that we must diligently looke and consider whether the child be aliue or dead before wee put in the Crochet and if there be any appearance of life wee must deferre the taking of him foorth therewith as long as we may But being dead I see no reason but wee should take the child forth with the said Crochet for the causes heeretofore mentioned But if the child be aliue it is a great question whether he ought to be puld forth by the Crochet presupposing that the Mother hauing lost her strength is ready to dye except this meanes bee vsed it beeing more expedient to loose the Mother then the child who would both dye if that were deferred any longer and whether to saue the Mother who is more deare then the saide child this practize may be ventured But as I thinke there are none that goe about this businesse but with some touch of Conscience which being a point of Diuinity I leaue to be decided by them that are more conuersant therein then my selfe The meanes to draw forth a child that is swollen and puft vp in his mothers womb together with the manner of drawing the head when it stayes behind CHAP. XIIII IF the dead child continue long in the mothers wombe he
the heart and matrice are delighted with pleasant odors let those that are troubled with this disease vse good smels sweet but neither strong nor piercing CHAP. XIIII Of the Cough ONe of the most grieuous and almost insupportable accidents that can happen to a woman with childe is the Cough the which being violent oftentimes causeth head-ach pain of the sides flanks and belly vomiting watching the woman not being able to sleepe or take any rest for the great concussion and agitation which is made through the whole body which oftentimes puts the woman in danger to be deliuered before her ordinary time For the most part it proceedeth of some sharpe and biting vapours which arise from the nether parts or else by the distillation of some thinne humor that comes from the braine and falleth trickling vpon the Trachea Arteria or wind pipe the lungs which prouokes them to cough yet bringing vp little or nothing the distilation may also be of some thicker humor which falleth downe vpon the said parts Therefore wee must haue respect to the antecedent cause by hindering such vapors and humors from breeding then staying those which may flow or fal downe if there be any cause or matter ioined with it already fallen and impacted in the lungs brest then must it be brought vp by spetting For the helping hereof they must auoide all salt and spiced meates as also those that are sharp and biting especially if it be caused by some vapours or destillation of a thinne or serous humour Concerning generall medicines if it bee accompanied with a feuer or some great heat it will not be amisse to draw a little bloud then the better to turne the course of the distillation which causeth the cough to apply cupping glasses vpon the shoulders with some light scarification And if the cough should bee of so long continuance I would counsell you to lay a cautery in the hollownesse of the nape of the neck which I haue practised with good successe but it must not be done before you haue tried the medicines following and when the cough is great and violent The rubbing of the armes shoulders and backe must not bee omitted as also when the haire is shauen away to apply Emplasterum de Betonica vpon the head to stay the Rhume If the cough be dry proceeding from some thin and sharpe humor or vapour it must bee thickned contrariwise if the humour be tough and thicke it must be cut and attenuated by concocting both and therefore in this case the vse of Medicines that do dull the sence therof are very profitable to mittigate violent Coughs of which kind are these that follow If the humor bee thin and sharpe this Iulep taken twice or thrice is very fitte â„ž Syrup rosarum sicar de iuiubis an Ê’ vi syrupi de nenuph. â„¥ s. aquae cardui vngulae cabalinae an â„¥ ij s. fiat Iulap reiteretur ter quater-ue vt artis est If the humor be slimy thicke and tough she may vse this Iulep Iulep â„ž Syrupi capill veneris de liquirit an Ê’ vi oximelit simplic â„¥ s. aquae betonicae vngul cabal an â„¥ ij s. fiat Iulap reiteretur vt supra Let them often hold in their mouth suger candy especially that which gathers about the pot side wherein sirop of Violets or the like hath beene put Let them vse Trochiscks iuice of Licorise and sometime chawe a peece of Lichorise in their mouth The Lozenges of Diatragacanthum frigidum Diairis simplex and suger of Roses are very good The vse of Lohocs is very distastfull but in steed thereof let them vse Syrup of Iuiubes of dryed Roses and a little diacodium mingled together I haue seene this medicine doe much good especially when the cough is great and that they feele some excoriation and roughnes in the throat â„ž olei amigd dul sine igne recent extract â„¥ i. s. saccari canda subtilit pulueris â„¥ s. mucag. seminis psilij cydoniorum cum aqua rosar leuiter extract an Ê’ ij misce omnia diligenter Let them take of this medicine in a spoone swallowing it down verie gently that so some of it may the better slide downe the sides of the windpipe It will be very fit to rub their breast all ouer with fresh butter or oyle of sweet Almonds and if they finde any heat let them vse oyle of Violets washed with Barley water well boyled And because there is nothing that stayeth destillations better then sleepe and that those who haue the cough sleepe little it will be very good to make the patient sleepe without giuing any violent sleeping medicine this Iulep may bee giuen very safely Drink to stay the Rheume â„ž Syrupi de Iuiubis violati diacodij sine specieb an â„¥ s. cum decocto portulacae lactucae boraginis betonicae trium flor cordial fiat potus capiat hora somni This remedy procureth sleepe and so by consequence stayeth the Rheume If you haue any good Laudanum you may giue safely three or four grains thereof which I haue seene practised with prosperous successe CHAP. XV. of Costiuenes wherwith women with child are troubled AMongst many other accidents wherewith women with child are troubled there are two the one contrary to the other whereunto they be much subiect that is either they are bound and cannot go to the stoole but with much inconuenience and very seldome or else they are alwaies loose and subiect to the fluxe Both may put the woman in danger of miscarrying For when she is bound with much strayning and that violently to vnburthen nature the ligaments may bee loosened or some veine opened and cause fluxe of bloud which may make her fall into trauaile and therefore it is fit to prouide for it The retention of the excrements and costiuenes of the belly may happen either because they haue vsed to be so naturally or by alteration and change of yeares for as Hippocrates saith they who haue their belly moist in their youth in their age will haue it hard and drie and so contrariwise This accident happens to others because the guts are not prouoked stirred vp by the clister of nature which is the gall that they may expell and thrust foorth their excrements There might bee alledged many more reasons which at this time I will leaue to speake of and onely frame my selfe to that which most commonly is the cause of it in women with child which is referred to two points either because the guts are pressed by the vneuennes of the wombe which is too full and beeing placed vpon them and chiefly vpon the great gut crushes and thrusts them one against another in such sort that they haue no meanes to inlarge and dilate themselues thereby to uoid the excrements contained within them The other is because the guts and the excrements within them are commonly very hard and
suppression whereof doth cause paines gripings suffocation an ague and many other accidents Now when the woman shall be thus accommodated she must be kept from sleeping though shee bee very desirous thereof and let her in the meane time be entertained with some discourse and let her nurse looke to her brests applying such things thereunto as shall be set downe in the third booke in their proper place After the woman hath beene kept three or foure houres from sleeping you may giue her some broth made with a knuckle of Veale or a Chicken or in stead thereof a couple of yelkes of egges and so let her take her rest and if she haue any desire to sleep shee may which must bee some three or foure houres after her deliuery the dores and windowes of her chamber being close shut not making any noise And so let this suffice for the naturall trauaile or deliuery wherein there hath beene no difficulty the woman beeing neither much troubled nor hauing had any greate paines but those that are ordinary and such as God hath which is that In sorrow a woman should bring forth Of a painfull and difficult deliuery with the causes thereof CHAP. VIII WOmen are brough a bed very hardly and with much paine vppon diuers reasons which is an occasion that many repaire vnto Phisitians and Chirurgions to haue their helpe since there be few Midwiues found skilful that can giue them much aide or succour in these cases A Chirurgion beeing called thither ought diligently to inquire what may be the cause and consider carefully thereof now the cause may be referred to foure things either to the mother or to the child or to things that are annexed vnto the child or else to outward things and so accordingly must they frame the remedy In the number of outward things I comprehend those persons that are about the woman in trauail who if they be displeasing vnto her are to be intreted gently to withdraw and absent themselues Whether it be by reason that the woman hath any feare apprehension or any mislike and loathing vnwillling to haue them so neare her when shee is in her trauaile and anguish or else being ashamed to see her selfe in that case 2 Pliny writeth that the ancients held an opinion that the deliuery might bee hindred and prooue difficult if there were any in the womans chamber which held her fingers lockt or shut one within another and produceth for an example Alcmena who could not be deliuered of Hercules but with much difficulty 3 Likewise the outward aire being too cold may hinder the deliuery because it cooleth the woman shutting vp her body and especially those parts which ought to be inlarged and dilated As also the aire being too hot spendeth the spirits and makes the woman lose her strength remaining weake and feeble and as it were fainting without any power or courage And therefore the aire must be temperate yet rather hot then cold 4 Pleasing smels as of Muske Ciuet Amber Grise or the like if she haue such about her the vapour whereof may strike vp into her nose doe hinder the deliuery because they draw the wombe vpward If the cause of difficult deliuery be in the mother her selfe it comes either by reason of her person or her age or her naturall disposition or of some other accident she hath had or may haue or by being deliuered before or after her time 1 Her person or body may be the cause thereof as if shee be too fat and full for in such women I haue seene great store of fat come down into their naturall parts which stopped the passage And in others I haue seene the caule come downe which did so presse and crush together both the inward and outward necke of the wombe that it could very hardly open it selfe yea and being dilated and inlarged did euen close presse it together againe In some I haue seene and felt part of the bladder present it selfe at the entrance of the wombe A woman that is too leane and bare as also one that is too little may likewise bee deliuered with much difficulty And when this happeneth it cannot be remedied as one would desire 2 Now concerning their age both they that are too yoong as being too straight and also they that are old hauing also their naturall parts too much shrunke together and dryed and the bones too closely ioyned together the cartilages very hard which cannot so well yeeld and bee dilated as in youth I say both of these bee deliuered with very much difficulty 3 Their naturall disposition likewise may bee a cause that they are deliuered with much paine 1 As if they be weake of constitution nice tender timerous and afraid of paine which makes them that they will not force themselues nor make their paines and throws effectuall and when the child is euen ready to come forth they shrinke in themselues with the very feare they haue to feel such paine 2 Hippocrates saith that women which haue an Ague when they are with child and become very leane without a manifest cause doe bring foorth their children with great difficulty paine and danger And if they doe miscarry or abort then they are in danger of their liues The same Author saith that those women which giue but little nourishment to their children are sooner deliuered and contrariwise they that feede too much are longer ere they be brought a bed 3 They that haue beene troubled with any sicknesses as the bloudy fluxe or other fluxe of the belly Convulsions fluxe of bloud or that haue any tumor vlcer or scarre which hath happened by being heeretofore badly deliuered or any other accident that hath made the necke of the wombe hard close and straight which is a meanes that it cannot be dilated and inlarged or else which haue the entrance or passage stopt with some flesh or membrane that is naturall vnto them that is to say which they haue had from their birth All these I say are deliuered with great paine and difficulty yea and oftentimes doe lose their liues thereby Now some will thinke it very strange and almost incredible to find a woman that should bee with child and yet a maide there being euen from her birth a membrane that stoppeth the passage and hindreth the man from entring Where as it is necessary for conception that a woman should haue the entire fruition or company of the man and that he should not onely enter within the outward passage of the womb but euen to the inner necke therof to carry thether the seed and there to mingle it with the womans But stories in this kinde make vs beleeue the contrary seeing there is no such necessity that the mans seede should be carried and cast so deepe For in some Women the wombe is so greedy and lickerish that it doth euen come down to meet
Hemorrhoides Another to be maâ—â— Take of the aforesaid wood-lice thirty Cheruil a little handfull boyle them in milke or oyle of Violets then beate them together and make thereof a kind of plaster at the last vse this fomentation Boyle White mullen Scrophularia and Cheruil together Take a pint of this decoction halfe a pint of red wine Common salt and white frankinsence of each halfe an ounce boyle them altogether againe till there bee but two third parts or there abouts left and so vse this decoction to the Hemorrhoides fomenting them with little soft spunges Whilest these medicines are vsed the belly must be kept loose either with Cassia or Manna or else with Clysters if the pipe will enter in easily that so the excrements may come foorth the more readily and may not burthen or molest the part with their hardnesse and waight It will be very conuenient also to let her take of the powder of white mullen in a little milke or else in Lozenges made with suger because of the conceit some haue that this herbe so taken takes away the Hemorrhoides Some prepare Pils of Bdellium Galbanum and the powder of white Mullen and hereof giue the weight of a french Crowne If the Hemorrhoides heale not for all these meanes I would giue counsell to open them with a Lancette thinking it better to lance and open them so to let out the bloud then to apply leeches vnto them because they sucke and bring downe as much bloud to the part as they empty and draw foorth And because these Hemorrhoides haue oftentimes a great hardnesse with them this plaster or Pultesse may be fitly applied A Pultesse â„ž Rad. Bismal Lilior an â„¥ i s. fol. Porri cum Bulb an m. i. flor Chamaemel Melilot an m. s. Coquantur omnia in lacte pistent passaturae adde Bdellij cum axungia Anser gallinae liquefacti an â„¥ i. fiat Cataplasma Another Take Bdellium melted dissolue it with goose grease ducks grease and oyle of Peach Cernels Oftentimes the Hemorrhoides by reason of their hardnesse cleaue and so come to vlcers and chaps Of the after-purgings which come downe too aboundantly in Women newlie deliuered CHAP. VII IT happens to Women newly deliuered that their after purgins somtimes come downe too immoderately other times that they are suddenly staide These two accidents are very troublesome and breede many inconueniences Hippocrates writes that both these bring many symptoms with them whiche Galen also witnesseth saying If the purgings flow in too great aboundance and aboue custome it brings women into diuers diseases as Cold Distemper Dropsy and Convulsions and if the same be stayed and do not flow at all then some inconuenience happens to the Matrice as inflammation Erysipelas scyrrhus and at last Cankers So that we may easily see how fit and necessary it is that these purgings or courses should come away moderately and in an indifferent quantity This the Chirurgion should know by obseruing the time and the quantity which is limited for them set downe in diuers places by the ancient writers And first for the continuance of time that these purgings should flow Hippocrates doth proportion the time in which a woman in child-bed should be purged according to the time wherein the child is shaped or formed which is 30. daies for a man-child and 42. at most for a woman child This time may bee also measured according to that ordinary time of purging that is omitted in the nine moneths she goes with child as the bloud should bee purged in euery one of these nine moneths as in euery one of them the space of three or foure daies which put together amount to twenty seuen or thirty sixe dayes so in recompense heerof when a woman is deliuered she must bee purged 27. or 36. daies It is written in Leuiticus that when a woman hath brought foorth a man child shee shall continue in the bloud of her purifying three and thirty dayes but if she beare a maid child then shee shall continue in the bloud of her purifying 66. dayes As for the quantity and proportion of these purgings Hippocrates is of opinion that the purgings which a woman should haue euery moneth should bee a pint and a halfe or thereabouts And in his booke de natura Pueri hee would haue a woman in childbed at the beginning should purge about thirteene or fourteen ounces or a pint and so the whole space of thirty daies for a man child and forty two daies for a maiden-childe euery day diminishing the quantity till it wholly leaue her As for the quality of these purgings if the bloud be red as in a beast new killed and doe presently congeale and thicken then it is a signe that shee is in good health and will continue so all the time of her lying in But when these purgings come in little quantity and of an ill colour and do not congeale suddenly it is a signe that the woman is not well nor will not finde her selfe so all her month as the foresaid Author well obserueth But it is not to bee expected that all women should haue their purgings in like quantity for wee must respect the habitude of the body the course of life the temperament other particular things which in diuers women are diuers Therefore Galen saith that these purgings continue long in women that haue thinne and subtill bloud Hippocrates saith that women that are of full bodies are purged more exactly and againe hee writes that women that are more in yeares commonly haue more of this euacuation then they that are younger There may be two causes assigned of this abundant euacuation the one outward as some fall blow or painefull trauaile which a woman may suffer either in bringing foorth her childe or the after-birth It may also arise from pasions of the mind or from the vnseasonable vse of bath's or from some other ill gouernement in her child-bed The inward causes may bee two either the strength and vigor of the mother which expelleth and putteth foorth so much bloud as is troublesome and burdensome vnto her and in this kind there is no great danger because she that is so strong to expell in this sort will be also able to retaine so much as will be conuenient and necessarie for her Or else contrariwise this may proceed from the weaknesse and faintnesse of the woman who is not able to retaine and keep that bloud which nature hath prouided for her and this hapneth chiefly when the orifices of the veines continue open after the deliuerie not being able as Hippocrates saith to shut and gather themselues together The other cause is referred to the bloud which offends either in quantitie or qualitie or both In respect of the quantitie those women haue store of these after-purgings which are full of bloud because the Liuer breeds more bloud then is necessarie which afterward is voided
nose which I haue oftentimes seene come to passe Concerning the Prognosticke as soone as you perceiue that the little one is troubled you must seeke to help him for the deferring of it may breed danger The Ancients haue written that there are some which haue come foorth through the groyn and nether belly which is witnessed by Paulas Aegineta and Auicen The Wormes that come foorth by stoole mingled with bloud shew that they haue gnawne the veines of the guts from whence that bloud floweth If they are brought vp by vomiting it shewes that they prouoke and trouble the stomacke Some haue obserued that a child which hath the Wormes is in danger of death if he bee taken with a shortnesse of breath and becomes moist and cold For the Cure if the child be young it will bee very conuenient that the Nurse keepe a good dyet let her absteine from all white meates raw fruits Pease beanes Fish and all other meates that are of hard concoction and easie to bee corrupted Rhasis forbids vs to giue young children any medicines by the mouth and appointeth onely some outward medicines as an Emplaster made of cummin seede and an Oxe gall laid vpon the Nauell In imitation of whom I vse to appoint this emplaster An emplaster for the wormes â„ž Pil. sine quib Ê’ s. Pul. Absynth Ê’ i. Myrrhae Aloes an ℈ ij farin Lupinor Ê’ i s. fellis Bubuli q. s fiâ—t Emplastrum admoucatur supra vmbilicum You may also giue the child if hee bee somwhat big a little of the scrapings of Harts horne in his milke or other spoonemeate Those that are rich doe commonly giue their children some Bezoards stone and Vnicornes horne But when the child is grown somwhat older besides the former medicines let him take a little drinke made with decoction of Purcelaine and the shauings of Harts horne with a little iuice of Citrons If hee can let him take a little expression of Rubarbe infused in the foresaid decoction or else an ounce of sirup of Cichory For it killeth and driueth foorth the wormes downeward But it will be good to giue him first a Clister of milke red suger and hony to draw downe the worms by this sweetnes to the nether parts There is no medicine that will doe more good if the child can take it then to take little pils made of Aloes gilded in an egge and so sup them vp If he refuse these medicines aforesaid then you may giue him some of the powder for the wormes in a rosted Apple or with Prunes or Raisins The safest way is rather to driue them foorth then to kill them for oftentimes they breed others when they stay in the body Of breeding of teeth CHAP. XXIII HIppocrates writeth that amongst all the diseases which children are subiect vnto there is none that troubleth them more then the comming foorth and paine of their teeth For the breeding of teeth bringeth diuers dangerous accidents with it as Agues Watchings Convulsions scouring yea and oftentimes death From whence commeth the prouerbe C'est vn bel enfant iusque aux dents It is a goodly child if his teeth prooue milde And therfore not without cause did Galen say in his Commentary that the paine of a childs teeth comming foorth was more grieuous and hard to be endured then the paine of a needle thrust in any part of the flesh which continues no longer then the needle stayes there but in the comming foorth of the teeth it is not so because then the gums do pricke and shout continually which for the most part are much inflamed and this pricking and shooting still increaseth till the teeth be quite come foorth Now yee may know whether the childe breeds teeth by the heate of his mouth which makes him driuell and slauer and his gums will be swollen he holds his finger still in his mouth by reason of the itching of his gummes which increasing more and more puts him to extreame paine and makes the bloud ready to startle out of his eies Hippocrates in his booke de Dentitione giues this iudgement of it They that doe scoure when they breed teeth are not so subiect to Convulsions as they that are bound If they be taken with a sharpe ague they are the lesse troubled with Convulsions Those that are in good health when their teeth come forth if they be very drowsy and sleepy there is danger least they fall into a Convulsion They that breed teeth in Winter are lesse troubled then those in Sommer and if they bee a little helped they will endure it the easier All that are troubled with Convulsions at the comming foorth of their teeth do not die but many escape Their teeth come foorth hardest that haue a little cough with all and if they bee troubled with pricking and shooting of the gums they become very leane Considering all the former accidents and also the danger wherin the child is there must be speedy helpe which shall bee done eyther by ordinary medicines or else by Chirurgery The Cure First therefore the Nurse must often rub the childs gums with her finger alone thereby to open the pores of them make them soft that the moisture may breath out the better and sometimes let her annoint her finger eyther with Hony fresh butter the braines of a Hare or such like either rosted or raw or else with oyle of Lillies or Hens grease Some hold it for a great secret to rubbe the childs gums with the milke of a bitch eyther of it selfe or mingled with the braines of a pig Auicen prescribes that they should hold a slice of fat meat betweene their gums and chaw it often And it is to bee noted that all the foresaid medicines ought to be applied more then luke warme The Ancients make mention of some medicines which by a hidden property haue vertue to ease this paine and help to bring foorth the teeth Some take the tooth of a Male Viper and set it in gold or siluer to rubbe the childs gummes with it Aecius bids that we should hang about the childs necke a Iasper stone that is very greene and let it touch the stomacke Auicen saith that the roote of smallage hung about a childs necke doth asswage and ease the paine which happens in the comming foorth of the teeth Neither will it be amisse before the paine grow to be great and vehement to rub the legs thighs shoulders back and nape of the childs neck drawing still downeward thereby to alter and turn the course of humors which fal downe vpon the gums and passages of the throat in great quantity which may stifle him But if none of all these medicines doe any good as oftentimes it happens then the safest and speediest way is to make an incision al along the top of the gumme iust vpon the teeth Which the Chirurgion shall know is fit to be done when he sees the gumme grows white and perceiues
when I am accused there be no bodie to speake for me If therefore it be thought preiudiciall either to the literarie common-wealth of Physicke that I haue exported and made common a commoditie which the learned would haue had priuate to themselues or if I haue been oftensiue to Women in prostituting and divulging that which they would not haue come to open light and which beside cannot be exprest in such modest termes as are fit for the virginitie of pen paper and the white sheetes of their Child-bed I must as well as I can defend my selfe from these imputations and shew my care to keep both learning and modestie illibate and inuiolable First then I haue done no more in this then the Author hath in his French Copie which is common to be had and read in that vulgar tongue In defence of which and this the shadow therof I must say that it is not writ so much for the learned who notwithstanding if they haue not the french may make vse of this as for the Chirurgions Midwiues who are called to this kinde of employment As for women whom I am most afraid to offend they must be content to haue their infirmities detected if they will haue helpe for them which I wish might not come to any eare or eye but to those which they themselues would haue acquainted therewith and as well for their sakes as mine owne satisfaction I haue endeuoured to be as priuate and retired in expressing al the passages in this kind as possibly I could And with this I hope all good Gentlewomen will rest satisfied to whom I wish all happinesse of increase and all increase of happinesse that they may haue a good houre for this businesse and for all other Contentments many good daies and yeares A Summarie or Briefe of all the Chapters contained in this worke That which is handled in the first Booke THe gouernment and ordering of a woman the nine Monethes she goes with Child and the meanes to help her whatsoeuer sicknesse doth happen in that space Fol. 1 1 The signes whereby to know that a woman is with Child 2 CHAP. 2 The signes to know whether she will haue a Boy or a Wench 8 3 The signes to know that a woman hath two Children 12 4 Of false Conception 13 5 Of the order of Diet which a great bellied woman ought to keep 18 6 How a Woman must gouerne her selfe all the time of her being with Child 27 7 Of diuers Accidents which trouble and molest Women while they are with Child 32 8 Of Womens longing called Pica 34 9 Of Distastfulnesse and of the Hicket 41 10 Of the Vomiting which comes vpon a women with child 43 11 Of the paines of the Stomacke Flancks and Belly which happens to a Woman with Child 47 12 Of the paine of the Backe Hips and Groine and of the difficultie of making Water which chanceth to Women with child 49 13 Of the palpitation and beating of the Hart As also of the Swounings which happen to women with Child 52 14 Of the Cough 54 15 Of Costiuenesse or hardnesse of the Bellie 51 16 Of the Fluxe of the Bellie or Laske 61 17 Of the swelling of their Legs and Thigh 's 65 18 Of Abortment or the meanes to help them that beare not their Children to the full time 69 That which is handled in the second Booke The meanes to helpe a Woman with Child either in her naturall Trauaile or that which shall be contrarie to Nature 1 OF Midwiues Fol. 79 2 What manner of woman a Midwife ought to be 84 3 What must be obserued when a woman is ready to fall in trauaile 86 4 Of the duitie and office of a Midwife concerning the first time she must obserue in the trauaile 91 5 Of the second time she must obserue 93 6 Of the third time she must obserue 97 7 Of the care and attendance that must be had to a woman that is newly deliuer'd 101 8 Of painfull and difficult deliuerie and the causes thereof 104 9 The meanes to help Women that are deliuer'd with difficultie and great paine 113 10 Of diuers kinds of deliueries which are performed by the Chirurgions help And first what a Chirurgion ought to consider before he go about this worke 123 11 The meanes of helping a woman that is troubled with a Fluxe of blood and Convulsions in the time of her trauaile 125 12 The way to help a woman in trauaile when the After-birth comes for-most 133 13 The meanes to help a woman when her Child is dead in her wombe 136 14 The way to draw foorth a Child that is puft vp swolne 104 15 The meanes to help a woman when her Child comes with the head forward hauing his Necke and Head turned awrie 144 16 The meanes to help a woman when the Child commeth with an Arme and the Head formost 147 17 The meanes to help a woman when the Child comes with both his Armes and the Head formost 149 18 The meanes to help a woman when the Child comes with one or both the Feet formost 152 19 The meanes to help the deliuerie when the Child commeth with both his Hands and both his Feete together formost 160 20 The meanes to help the Woman when the Child commeth double putting formost either his Sides or his Backe and Shoulders or his Buttockes 163 21 The manner of helping the deliuerie when the Child commeth with his Breast and Bellie formost 166 22 The meanes to help the deliuerie when there is two Twins and the one comes with his Head and the other with his Feete formost 169 23 The meanes to help the woman that hath two Twins when they both come with their Feet formost 173 24 Of the After-birth which is retained and staies after the deliuerie and the meanes to bring it away 176 25 The way to take foorth a Child by the Caesarian section 185 What is contained in the third Booke The Gouernment and ordering of a Woman newly deliuered and of the diseases that happen vnto her in her Moneth 1 OF her Diet. 189 2 What must bee done to her Breasts Belly and neather parts 194 3 Of the Accidents that follow the Deliuerie And first of the Gripings or After-throwes 206 4 Of the falling downe of the Fundament and Matrice 210 5 Of the hurts and excoriations which happen in the neather parts after the deliuerie 211 6 Of the Hemorroides 215 7 Of the immoderate flowing or comming downe of the ordinarie euacuations or purgings 220 8 Of the suppression or stopping of the said purgings 227 9 Of the false Conception staying behind after the deliuerie 232 10 Of the precipitation or falling downe of the Matrice 235 11 Of the sticking and growing together of the necke of the Matrice 245 FINIS THE GOVERNMENT and ordering of a Woman the nine moneths that she goes with childe And also the meanes to helpe her what sicknesse soeuer doth happen in that
close her stomacke after meate with Peares or Quinces bak't or preserued as likewise with Cheries or Damsons She must shun all diureticall things which prouoketh either vrine or the naturall courses and such as are windie as Pease and Beanes Notwithstanding women with child haue oftentimes such disordinate appetite by reason of some salt or sharp humor which is contained within the membranes of the stomacke that they desire to eate Coles Chalke Ashes Waxe Salt-fish raw yea and vnwatred and to drinke Veriuice and Vineger yea very dregs so that it is impossible to hinder them from eating and tasting them But yet they must refraine and ouer-maister themselues therein as much as they can since that such foode may much hurt and hinder both their owne and their childs health Neuerthelesse if they cannot forbeare suffer them a little and let them haue their longings for feare least it should proue worse with them For I haue seene many women which being hindered and forbidden frō vsing such trash haue presently fallen into trauell and in others their children haue carried the marks of some of the things they so earnestly desired and longed after Beside although that such meates for the most part are very bad and contrary yet for the desire they haue to eate them they are digested commonly without hurting the partie at all Meate and drinke saith Hippocrates is better and fitter though it be some-what worse then that which is better and not so agreeable and pleasing For her Drinke she may vse Claret wine mature and not too strong which she must allay very well For this Wine hath power to comfort and strengthen the stomacke and all the other parts seruing for nourishment and generation and if she cannot away with Wine let her drinke Hydromell or Barley-water well boyled Her sleepe must be in the night the better to digest the meate she hath taken for watchings doe ingender crudities and diseases which cause vntimely births in stead of faire and goodly children and chiefely she must auoid sleeping after dinner But in the morning she may take her ease as she shall thinke best yet not turning as some great Ladies do the day into night and the night into day She may vse moderate exercise but violent motion loosneth the Cotiledons or vessels of the Matrice whereby the child receiues his nourishment They must be forbid riding in Waggins or Coaches especially in the three first months for as vpon a small occasion we see the fruits and flowers of trees do fall as by some little wind that shakes the tree or the like so many times through a light cause women great with child in stirring or moouing themselues yea or but setting their foot awry may be deliuer'd before their time It was not without good cause that the Romanes forbad their Wiues to ride in Coaches the which also ought to be obserued in these dayes especially by those who are subiect to take hurt and therefore let them walke gently taking an especiall heed and care to themselues the first three moneths She must shun all great noyse and sounds as of Thunder Artillery and great Bells Galen in his booke de Theriaca sayth that many women with child haue died with the very fright they receiued by a clap of thunder and when she is afraid of hurting her selfe or falling into trauaile let her be carried in a Chaire or Litter between two strong men and chiefely two howres before meales for as a woman may easily loose her burthen the first moneth because her child though he be but little is not yet firmely fastned and tyed to the wombe so likewise being great or big through his weight he may fall downe and come forth wherefore all violent exercise and too much labour is hurtfull and dangerous for her as also to fret chide or laugh immoderately The fourth fifth and sixth moneth she may vse more libertie the seuenth and eight she must keepe herselfe still and quiet but when she is in her ninth moneth then may she vse more stirring and exercise And therefore is it that Aristotle in his Politicks appointeth that women with child should not be sedentary nor liue too nicely but that since God hath blessed them to beare children they should dayly visit the Temples of the Gods for their exercise The which Plato expressely commandeth in his Common-wealth and by a kind of deuotion and religious pietie But Aristotle in that place speaketh like a Physition as he sheweth in his booke de Generatione In the Countrey saith he where women accustome themselues to labour they are brought abed more easily and with lesse paine In briefe where women exercise themselues they are sooner deliuered for their exercise consumes the excrements which idle and slothfull women gather and heape together In the first foure moneths she must likewise abandon Venus for feare of shaking the child and bringing downe her courses which must also be obserued in the sixth and eight moneth but in the seuenth and ninth she may boldly vse it especially toward the end of the ninth moneth which some are of opinion will help and hasten the deliuery Aristotle is of this opinion though herein he contradicts the authority of Hippocrates The woman with child saith he ought not to haue the company of her husband But Aristotle and Hippocrates may easily be reconciled the Philosopher meaneth that they should not embrace their wiues all the time of their being with child but onely toward the time of their lying in thereby to shake the child and make him come the more readily forth for comming into the world after this acte he is commonly enwrapped and compassed with slime which helpeth his comming forth It is also requisite that her belly be loose not retaining her excrements and that she haue if it be possible euery day the benefit of Nature which if it be not done naturally it must be helpt taking euery morning some broth of Damaske-Prunes Also Apples stued with Suger and a little Butter is very fit and good She may vse Broth wherein Borage Buglosse Purslane Lettuse Patience and a little of the herbe Mercury hath beene boyled She may likewise take Suppositaries so they be not too sharpe Clisters made of a Calues-head or of a Sheepes-head boyled with Annis-seed and Fennil-seed wherein some course Suger and oyle of Violets is dissolued are very conueniēt vsing them neuerthelesse with discretion leauing out all manner of ingredients which might cause a fluxe of the belly for feare of Abortment or being deliuered before their time as Hippocrates saith Notwithstanding the same Hippocrates is of opinion that women with child in cases of necessitie may be purged from the fourth to the seuenth moneth but before and after those times he admits it not nay he forbids it directly which for all that the Phisitions of our time obserue not in cases of
ounce melt all these together in a double vessel and let the skin lie and soke in it three or foure daies mouing stirring them together daily then take it foorth and spred it in the aire and let it lie there two or three daies till it haue sok't in all the oile become drie then cut it to the forme bignesse of the belly and so apply it The daintie and curious may vse the former liniments and skin they that haue not the meanes to do either let them Take of fresh Butter well wash't in common water and then in Rose-water three ounces oile of sweet Almonds one ounce Spermaceti halfe an ounce and with these melted together rub their belly These Ointments must be kept in a gally pot and couered with Rose water to keepe them from being mustie When the Woman is come to the ninth Moneth hauing been in good health all the time of her going with child she must continue the vse of the aforesaid Ointments and must begin to vse more exercise then she did before walking gently before meales the first twelue or fifteene daies and then afterward it will be good to vse stronger exercise It will be very profitable for her especially after the ten or twelue first daies of the ninth moneth be past to sit in the decoction following after the maner of a halfe Bath some quarter or halfe an hower in the morning and then being well dried and laid to bed let her be annointed behind all along the lower part of her backe and before from the Nauill downward and chiefly vpon Os Pubis and the groine with the ointment following Take of Mallowes Althaea with their roots Motherwort of each two handfull white Lilly roots three ounces Chamomill and Melilot flowers of each a good handfull Lin-seed Quince-seed and Foenigreeke of each an ounce Boyle them all in sufficient quantitie of running water for the Bath Take of Hensfat three ounces Duckes fat an ounce and a halfe fresh Butter two ounces Linseed oile an ounce and a halfe Melt them all together then wash them verie well in Parietarie and Mugwort water adding thereto two ounces of the Muccilage of Althaea Roots In which space let her take this drinke euery morning fasting Take of Oile of sweet Almonds newly drawen without fire an ounce white Wine halfe an ounce Parietarie water one ounce mingle them together Some haue found good by taking the yelke of an Egge and drinking a draught of Hypocras after it Others take a little Wine and water wherein Lin-seed hath been stieped Let this or the like order and gouernment be obserued for a Woman that is of a good habit of body and who in her going with Child hath not been subiect to any sicknesse or accident of moment bearing her Children well without much paine But because there be many which are troubled with diuers accidents which happen in their Child-bearing I thought good heere to treat thereof briefly before I speake of their Deliuerie Of many infirmities which trouble Women while they are great with Child CHAP. VII IT becomes a Woman well at all times and chiefly in her Child-bearing and after her Deliuerie to haue a care as much as she can possiblie of the preseruation of her Beautie since there is nothing that sooner decaies and spoileth it then the often bearing of Children But as Health is more precious and recommendable then Beautie and seeing that a woman with Child may be troubled and oppressed with many accidents and infirmities during the nine Moneths she beares her child it will be therefore verie necessary and profitable to seeke out the meanes to free and deliuer them thereof For in loosing the Mother the life of the Child is also hazarded Aristotle in his booke De generatione Animalium is of opinion That bruit beastes going with young are not subiect to any diseases and contrariwise that Women are verie often sicke Hippocrates saith That they be pale and wan to shew that they are subiect to many infirmities In times past when men and women were sold like slaues if there were any found that were with child she was not warranted for whole and sound by him that fold her as Vitruuius writes in his second book because they were troubled and subiect to so many diseases In the first three or foure Moneths such infirmities chiefly happen for many causes First because they liue as Aristotle saith for the most part in idlenesse and eate ill meates which are turned into excrements and breed many obstructions the fountaine and beginning of all diseases the second is the great suppression and stopping of bloud whereof they were wont to be purged euery Moneth before their being with Child which runs to the Matrice to be voided find that accustomed passage which it had woont to haue but being not able to get forth and much lesse to be spent and digested by the Child which is as yet but little it returnes backe into the vaines chiefly those which are neere the stomacke and through the long continuance is there corrupted and changed to be of a bad qualitie whereof proceeds this depraued and disordinate appetite which the Latins call Pica or Malacia Loathing of meat Hicket Vomiting Paines of the stomacke Flanckes and Belly Ache of the backe Hips and Groine difficultie of making water Panting and beating of the heart with Sounning the Cough binding and Fluxe of the belly swelling of the Thighs and Feet and sometimes Abortment not being able to beare their Children the full time together with many other accidents whereof we will speake hereafter beginning with the Pica which troubleth them oftnest and longest Of the disordinate longing called Pica CHAP. VIII WEe commonly say the appetite is depraued when beyond measure we couet to eate and drinke too much in respect of what hunger naturally requireth Or when we desire or long after meats which are vnusuall and offend in qualitie and are not drest and prepared as they ought Of this depraued Appetite there be diuers sorts The first is called Boulimos of the Greeks and of the Latins Fames vaccina appetētia immodica When they eate more then is requisite not being able to satisfie themselues And if hunger vrge them farther and grow greater then it is called of the Latins Appetitus caninus or Fames insatiabilis and the partie eates till he be full euen to the throat that he is constrained to vomit his stomacke being so ouercharged But then presently he is driuen to eat againe and then to vomit from whence the Prouerbe is taken He is returned like a Dog to his vomit The like hapneth for drinking as for eating which the Latins call Sitis immodica which is so great that the tongue cleaues to the roofe of the mouth not being able to eate or speake except the mouth be first moistned and the
followeth â„ž Ol. Mastich Cydonior an â„¥ j. ol Nardin â„¥ s Coral rub Caryophyl Menth. Calam. aromat nucis Mosch an â„¥ s. Cerae q. s. ad formam Cerati â„ž Cortic. Citri â„¥ j. fol. Meliss Absynth ana M. ij Coquantur in aq com pistentur passentur addendo olei Nard Mastih an â„¥ j. fiat Cataplasma They may vse Galens Cerote for the stomacke or that of Aecius made with Quinces Saffron and a little oile of Spicknard Concerning generall purgations which may euacuate downeward part of this superfluitie they must not be administred when a woman is yoong with childe but with very great care and good aduice not vsing any strong purgers But if there bee need and that the disease ceaseth not by light medicines then may be giuen a little infusion of Rubarbe and a gentle decoction of Sene taking the aduice of the learned Physitian And therefore we must onely haue a regard to their vomiting which at these times doth commonly molest and trouble them taking heed of staying it except it be immoderate as Auicen saith or too violent For otherwaies it helpeth to cure this disease euacuating part of those ill humours whereby it is nourished and increased And if wee perceiue she hath a desire to vomit and that the expulsiue facultie be not strong enough to helpe it let her take a little Hydromell warme and if the matter in the stomacke be tough and clammie adde thereto a little vineger the better to attenuate and cut it I haue beene the longer in this Chapter because it is an accident that doth much annoy women with childe thereby the better to instruct the yoong Chirurgion when there is no Physitian neere at hand Of Distastfulnesse and Hicket CHAP. IX MOst women as soone as they are with childe be so distasted and doe so loath and abhorre meat that they cannot endure either to eat see or smell it yea and some are sicke euen with the very hearing of it named which makes them goe often times two or three daies without any desire to eat This disease hapneth vpon the same reason we gaue before of the depraued appetite because the stomacke is filled and stuffed with diuers excrements that oloy a great bellied woman which by little and little are there gathered together by the flowing backe of the courses that be stopped which cannot bee put forth much lesse consumed by the little one and so come into the stomacke and fill it But when these corrupted and ill humours abide longer in the stomacke there happens another accident commonly called the Hicket or Yeaxing which is a violent and conuulsiue motion of the stomacke which seemeth to discharge it selfe of those bad humours which are contained in the capacity and membranes thereof and offend either in quantitie or qualitie or both together From hence comes it that the stomacke willing to put them forth casts vp with all the meat and food the woman hath taken to the preiudice of her selfe which cannot keepe any thing for her owne sustenance and of the Child who cannot find sufficient bloud to nourish him which at length makes them both weake and causeth the Mother either to be deliuered before her time or else to breed a faint and feeble Child and oftentimes one that will be sickly all his life time For the remedying of this queasinesse we must haue recourse to those medicines written in the Chapter of depraued Appetite Both for the dyet and remedies And touching the Hicket when it comes through emptinesse or want of eating then the woman must nourish her selfe taking often good meat and in small quantitie as yelkes of egs cullis veale broth hennes and chicken and let her belly be annointed with oyle of sweet Almonds and Violets If the cause proceed of any sharp or biting humour it must be drawen and purged downward gently as we haue said already or else by vomit without much straining Cow milke and the milke of an Asse are verie much commended as also the vse of syrups of Violets and Nenuphar are verie profitable The Hicket may also come of some inflamation that is in the Spleene Liuer or other bowels neere the stomacke and so is impart to it this hapning it will be verie necessarie to let her bloud and that she vse meats which moderately coole as also medicines of the same nature both inwardly and outwardly consulting thereof with the Physitions Of the Vomiting which happens to Women with Child CHAP. X. THere be some women who as soone as they be with child yea the verie first daies are subiect to Vomit casting vp store of water and slime by the mouth and this vomiting continueth euen till they are quicke with child and with some it remaineth all the time of their going which I saw happen vnto a great Lady of this kingdome who from the second day after she had conceiued vomited and affirmed constantly that she was with child When this Vomiting hapneth it must not be staied sodainly if so be it continue gently and without violence for being stopped there is such store of humors heaped and gathered together in their stomacks that they are ready to be stifled or stuft vp which being by little and little cast vp without violence they are much eased for by this euacuation of noysome excrements the first region of the belly feels it selfe free discharged and vnburthen'd of many long and grieuous paines The cause of this accident proceeds commonly of the abundance of humours gathered together in the stomacke or else of some sharpe and biting humour that doth stir and prouoke it and chiefly the vpper orifice thereof aswell by reason of the ill meats they eate and that in great quantitie as also because they fill themselues too much with good meat which doth putrifie and corrupt the naturall heat being weake and requires rather to be cast forth then kept in the bodie But it hapneth oftentimes that this Vomiting is so violent that euen the meat and sustenance which the Mother taketh to nourish her selfe and the child is cast vp and then it must be remedied Likewise if this accident come from some weaknesse of the stomack or by the default of the retentiue facultie which is not able to retaine and kepe the meat although it were of good iuice and in finall quantitie or by some maligne vapour which ariseth from the wombe by reason of the feed and naturall courses retained they maybe help'd by these meanes following First if the great quantitie of meates whether good or bad which the woman hath taken be the cause then let her abstaine from eating them obseruing the aboue mentioned Dyet vsing good meats and in little quantitie thereby to roule it forth If the ouermuch quantitie or ill qualitie of sharpe and biting excrements be the cause then must they be gently taken away and purged Notwithstanding we must refraine from giuing them any
the parts of his bodie are not strong and able enough to draw vnto them sufficient nourishment This difficultie of deliuerie happens also when the child is either sicke or dead and is not able to help it selfe as likewise when he is too big in all his bodie and chiefly in the head or if he be a Monster hauing two heads two bodies foure armes or legs or if they be Twins th' one hindring the others comming foorth which will be euident by the bignesse of the Mother or if he be ill placed to come foorth putting formost an arme or a leg or both the shoulder buttockes side or belly comming formost 4 Now concerning that which is annexed to the child the deliuerie proues difficult if the membranes that containes the water wheron the child doth floate and swim be firme solide and hard that it cannot but verie hardly be broken or that the said membrane be so thin that it breakes too soone and before the child be well turned and ready to follow the said water which serues to carrie him and make him come foorth the easier For the child that remaines drie commeth into the world with much paine Likewise if the after-burthen offer it selfe first and that it stop the passage or if there be a Mole or false Conception As also if the woman haue not been lately at stoole or made water the which is cause that the great gut being full may close the necke of the wombe as likewise the bladder being full may presse it downe because it is placed betweene them both Whence it is commonly said in the prouerb Que l'enfant est situé enter le boire le manger which is That the child is seated between the meat and the drinke And therefore all the aforesaid accidents must be remedied accordingly The meanes to help Women that are deliuered with difficultie CHAP. IX THat a Woman which is deliuered with difficultie and much paine may be help'd the Chirurgian ought to know what is the cause thereof and from whence this difficultie doth proceed that he may the better cure it If it be because the Mother is to grosse or fat and chiefly in her naturall parts as also if there be any store of fat offer it selfe as I haue seen it oftentimes happen in great striuing and throwes yea and that in such sort that it did euen stop the passage of the child Then the Chirurgion as gently as he can possibly must thrust backe and put aside with one hand the said fat not tearing or hurting it least it be spoiled and corrupted afterwards holding it still downe on the one side till the child be come foorth of the wombe keeping it alwaies from falling downe into the passage and among the bones when the child is readdy to come foorth But when part of the bladder is sunke downe and relaxed and is manifestly perceiued in the entrance of the wombe then must he do the like as he did to the fat holding it aside vpward with the flat of two or three of his fingers vntill the childs head be past the Os Pubis If he find then as it may so come to passe that the said bladder be full of vrine the woman in trauaile not hauing made water a good while before then must he cause her to make water by putting a fit instrument gently into the bladder For it is seen in some that the fibres which doe contract the bladder and make it driue out the vrine are so weakned and also the whole bodie thereof that the vrine cannot come foorth Some women haue been deceiued by taking the said bladder thus full with vrine for the waters which come before the child causing the said bladder to be broken the which is worthy of great consideration Also the said necke of the bladder may be stop't by reason of some Carnositie Inflammation or stone which I haue seen an honest woman there being a stone fallen down into the necke in her bladder that stopt her vrine which being put aside by the probe she made water Neuerthelesse when the child was ready to come foorth the stone returning in to the said necke of the bladder againe did so fret and hurt it through the long stay that the childs head made in the passage that it grew to an Impostume and suppuration which made a little hole through the which she hath long time made her water not being able to hold or retaine it which is a storie worthy to be mark'd But as the vrine may be sometimes stop't so likewise the excrements of the great gut may be retained which hapning it will be more then necessarie for the cure thereof to giue the woman a Clyster that may both vnload her of her excrements and likewise help and make her deliuerie the more easie I my selfe was present at the trauaile of a poore sicke woman that had not been at stoole in ten daies before whose great gut was so fild and stuft with excrements as hard as a stone that it was impossible for her to receiue a Clyster and we were constrain'd before she could be deliuered to get out all the said excrements otherwise it had been impossible to haue taken foorth the child To help and succour one that is lean and barren or else of little stature as also such as are either too old or too young they must haue recourse long before hand vnto medicines that shall mollifie moisten and relaxe not onely the membranes which ought to be dilated and stretch'd that they may be made more souple and gentle But likewise you must annoint the Cartilages and Ligaments that ioine the Os pubis Sacrum Os Coccygis and Ilium which must be done with oyntments already set downe and euen in the verie houre of the deliuerie annoynt all the said parts therewith Some mislike not about the end of the ninth moneth to bathe the woman either with a generall or particular bath as we haue heretofore appointed as likewise to giue her euery morning eight or ten daies before her lying in this Drinke A Drinke to make easie the deliuerie Take Oile of sweet Almonds drawen without fire an ounce water of Parietary two ounces mingle thâ—m together and let her drinke it The which I haue oftentimes tried in many women and among the rest in Madame Capp who before had been many times deliuered with much paine and sorrow of her children dead But since I counsell'd her to vse this medicine she hath been deliuered thankes be to God verie fortunately of many children liuing The same remedies do likewise serue for them that haue any Callositie or hardnesse in the passage of Nature The weake and dainty women must be fed with yelkes of egges cullis a tost with wine and sugar or Hyppocras and that a little at a time and often you may also giue them a little confection of Alhermes dissolued either
the Art he can put back with his left hand the childs hands and with his right hand draw the feete gently taking heede that the childs face and belly may bee downeward and so draw out the child as hath beene shewed before Likewise if the Chirurgion find that the child be dead he must draw him forth by the feete without troubling himselfe to bring the head of the child to the passage For euery dead child because he is not able to giue any helpe to the birth but that all the labour is to come from the Mother is oftentimes the cause of her death And therfore the surest way is to turne him so that he may be drawn but by the feete or else with the Crochet As for my selfe I am of this opinion that it is better whether the child be dead or aliue if he come with his feete and hands formost that the Chirurgion bring him foorth by the feete then to turne him and bring his head formost and so expect a naturall birth for in this striuing the Mother hauing been much wearied and the chid much weakned the deliuerie though it be naturall will proue verie long and difficult in regard that neither the Mother nor the child can haue much strength left them Whereas if you draw him foorth by the feet neither the Mother nor the child being much weakned the birth will be more easie and fortunate As I haue alwaies had experience The meanes how to helpe a Woman when her child comes double putting formost either the Sides or the Backe and Shoulders or else the Buttockes CHAP. XX. BEside the former deliuerie which is when the child comes double putting his hands and feet formost there likewise happen diuers other births that are no lesse difficult and dangerous For when he comes side-long with his Sides Backe or Shoulders next the passage his feet must needs be on the one side of the Matrice and his head on the other lying quite crosse so that the child beating on both sides with his head and feet against the wombe doth extend and stretch it to no purpose wherby the Mother growes weake and faint which neither she nor the child can long indure without danger of death because his striuing helps not at all for his comming foorth The like may happen when the child puts out his thighs and buttocks formost which kind of birth is verie painefull and difficult because the child fils all the Matrice Which the Chirurgion perceiuing he shall consider whether it be better to turne the child and bring formost his head or else his feet if he can easily bring the childs head vnto the passage he shall proceed in this sort First he shall put in his right hand being annointed as before to turne the child and hauing found the shoulder with the palme of his said hand he shall lift the child vpward that his feet or knees may be toward the bottome of the Matrice whil'st the head fals and slides downward and shall hold it fast at the orifice of the wombe with his left hand being put in at the same instant and by this meanes shall bring the Armes close to the thighs and sides of the child that the Woman may be naturally deliuered But if the Chirurgion finde any difficulty to lift the body vpward for the bringing of the head downward then shall he slide his right hand vnder the childs armepit and so draw him gently yet not making the arme come foorth to place the head right against the passage But if the Chirurgion find any hindrance in bringing the head downeward and that hee thinkes he can more easily guide and bring the feete to the orifice of the wombe then the best and surest way is to draw him foorth in that sort by the feete and certainly when the child comes with his buttocks formost his head being vpward then may you sooner meete with his feete and bring them easier to the orifice of the Matrice to bee drawne foorth as wee haue shewed before But when hee puts his shoulder or backe formost then may you the more easily lift him vp to make his head slip downeward or else take him by the Armepit and so bring gently his head to the necke of the wombe to deliuer him naturally The manner of helping the deliuery wherein the child comes with his belly and breast formost CHAP. XXI THe most troublesome and painfull situation of a childe in his mothers wombe is when he comes with his belly formost putting out his nauell his legges and armes being turned backwards For when hee is placed in this manner and striues to come foorth hee thrusts against the sides of the Wombe with his hands and feet and so boweth backward and bends the backe bone that hee brings himselfe as it were into a circle whereby hee endur's and suffers much paine and likewise is weakned exceeding much vnlesse hee be speedily helpt and besides by his compression and striuing hee causeth the Mother to endure much paine and anguish without any profite at all both which doth require to be speedily redressed which maybe performed in this sort First the Chirurgiō shal place the woman in good order as hath beene said and then shall he slide vp his right hand beeing first annointed to obserue and feele what part of the childs body is neerest which hee shall perceiue both by his feeling and by wagging and stirring the child vp and downe If the breast be next he shall take with the said hand the child by he shoulders and top of the Arme bringing him thereby gently downeward afterward lifting vp his hand that the childs head may fall right towards the passage putting in presently his left hand to receiue and set straight the childs head which may be turned on the one side and that being done the deliuery shall bee afterwards performed Naturally But if the head cannot be easily brought downward or that the belly and top of the thigh be neerer vnto the passage then the Chirurgion shall put his right hand along the childs thigh to find one of his feete which being found hee shall cast about it a riband with a sliding knot and then shall he seeke for the other and bring them both gently to the passage and so draw him forth by the feete taking hold of him with a warm napkin between both his hands obseruing alwaies that his face and belly be downewards for feare least when the shoulders are come forth the chinne catch vpon the os pubis as we haue shewne more at large in the chapter of deliuering the childe with the feete formost to which place I referre you shunning often repetition The meanes to help the birth when there be twins the one comming with his feete the other with his head formost CHAP. XXII IT cannot well bee perceiued alwaies whether a woman beares two children though she be in trauaile for I my selfe was present not long
and wind the thred on both sides as vseth to be done in the cure of the hare lip then at both ends of the clift I gaue a stitch somewhat close such as is commonly made in simple wounds and vpon it I laid a little clout dipt in a balm which I haue heere described and vppon that a plaster of Diacalcitheos A balme for fresh wounds â„ž Gum. Elemi â„¥ ij Terebinth venet â„¥ ij s. sang Dracon Myrrh Aloesan Ê’ i. liquefiant omnia simul fiat balsamum Coletur calidè per linteum seruetur vsui This is an excellent balm for fresh wounds This clift or breach was well healed within fifteene dayes in which time I gaue her two Clisters beside that which she tooke first to prepare her body But afterwards this woman prouing with child againe and beeing in trauaile there happened a fresh breach neare to the old scarre but not so long as the other by reason of the helpe and care of the Midwife whom I had instructed to annoint and rub the Perinaeum with this liniment An oyntmâ—â—â— â„ž Axung gallin Cunicul an â„¥ s. Axung por rec â„¥ i. Ol. Amigdal dul Ê’ vi liquefiant simul fiat litus abluatur diu in aq Parietariaâ— Of the Hemorrhoides CHAP. VI. WHen the Orifices of the veynes neare the fundament doe swell and rise eyther more lesse according to the quantity of the humors which doe fill them the Greekes call this disease the Hemorrhoides Of these there are two sorts the one inward and hidden with in the fundament the other outward and apparant The cause heere of is store of humors which commonly are grosse and melancholicke sometimes flegmaticke or Cholericke which filling the saide veines afterward flow downe to the ends of them which humors not finding way to issue out doe extend the veines in such sort that sometimes they become as big as Pigeons nay sometimes Pullets egges Many woman as soone as they be deliuered are troubled with them by reason of the great paine which they haue suffered There may bee two reasons giuen heere of the one the great striuing and straining to bring the child into the world which maketh the bloud come into the said veines and dilateth them the other retention of their naturall courses which being stayed the bloud and humors which should haue come foroth chaunge their course and being deriued into the veins of the fundament procure the Hemorrhoides The Hemorrhoides doe differ according to the nature of the humor of which they are bred for if they proceed of a flegmaticke and watrish bloud because of their colour and the likenesse that they haue to a bladder full of water they are called Vesicales or vuales and these are white soft and not painefull if they breede of a grosse thicke flegme then they are called Verrucales and ficales and these are hard and painfull especially if there be any hot humor mixed with the matter of them which may be known by their rednes If they proceed of bloud and choller together with some part of Melancholy being vneuen and rough like a mulbery then they be called Morales these are very sensible and painefull and in colour neere to a deepe darke red Women are subiect to all these kinds of Hemorrhoides but especially after they be deliuered But my purpose is not to write so generally of all these kinds but onely of those which are swolne big and painfull which chiefely happen to women in child-bed and bleed very little or not at all The cure consists in three things that is in dyet in diuerting of the humor which flowes to the part in euacuating that humor which is contained in it which beeing done the paine will bee easily appeased For the dyet it shall be such as we haue already prescribed for women in child-bed the humor shal be diuerted by letting of bloud first in the arme then in the foote in the veine Saphena and lastly by applying of Cupping glasses to the side of the thighs and that for two purposes the one to bring downe the purgings which beeing stayd may bee thought to be some cause of the Hemorrhoides the other to diminish the quantity of bloud in the crurall veine which beeing emptied will draw to it some part of that bloud which flows to and it may be some of that which is contained in the Hemorrhoide veynes As for the third point which is to euacuate that bloud which is now setled in the hemorrhoide veynes that may bee done by medicines which haue power to resolue and digest and also to asswage paine of which kind is this following which I haue vsed with good successe and Vigo before me A Decoctiâ—â— wherewiâ—â— fomâ—tâ—arâ— suftumigâ—â— â„ž Fol. Mal. Bismal Violar Parietar Tapsi Barbat cum rad an M.ij. Sem. Cydon Ê’ vi hord mund m. is furfur M.iij sem lin foenugraec integ an â„¥ iij. Pomor dulc aliquantulum confractor num xij lâ—guae passerinae virg pastor an m. j. fiat omnium decoctio in aqu sufficiente addendo flor Chamaemel Melilot Aneth an M.i.s. Bulliant vsque ad consumptionem tertiae partis After that she hath receiued the fume of this decoction or otherwise bathed the fundament herewith a pretty while let this liniment bee applied A Liniment â„ž Butyr recent Ê’ x. Ol. de vitellis onor â„¥ s. Pinqued Anat. Ê’ iij. Succi Plantag Taps barbat an Ê’ ij misce agitando omnia spacio xij horarum in mortario plumbeo The chiefe Medicine which is commonly applied is this Another â„ž Vng. popul â„¥ i. vitellum vnius oui Ol. Sem. Lini â„¥ s. vng refriger Gal. Ê’ v i. misce omnia simul fiat litus If the paine bee great you may adde heereto a scruple of Opium I haue made often proofe of this medicine to take all the white of a few Leekes and cut them small and then boyle them with milke till they come to the forme of a pultesse and then lay it hot to the Hemorrhoides Iohn de Vigo alloweth of the authority of Rhasis who counselleth to take a white Vnion and to fill it with butter then to bake it in an ouen or in the embers and so beate it and apply it like a plaster which I haue diuers times made triall of This plaster also is much commended A Pultesse â„ž Rad. Lilior albor â„¥ i s. rad Ireos nost â„¥ s. scrophular taps Barbat flor Chamaemel Melilot Hyperic an p. i. Dactyl num vi Limac. rubror num x. fiat decoctio pistentur passentur passaturae adde farin Sem. Lini â„¥ s. Butyr recent â„¥ i. Myrrh Thuris an Ê’ i. Croci ℈ s. vitellos ouor num ij fiat cataplasma I haue had good experience also of this Medicine Take twelue red snailes without their shels of millepedes or Wood-lice 20. or 30. infuse parboyle them a little in Linceed oyle and make a liniment hereof and with it annoint the
then the woman dyes presently but if it be voided by the mouth or nose then she may escape The causes of this suppression are of two kinds either inward or outward The outward causes are sadnes griefe suddain apprehension of some ill newes feare frighting and such like passions of the mind Likewise cold which the woman hath taken which shutteth vp the veines of the Matrice a bad dyet and amongst other things drinking of colde and raw water which hath beene noted by Hippocrates to be very hurtfull vnto women with child Now concerning the inward causes the same Author writes that the vlcers which happen by reasen of a long and troublesome deliuery doe cause an inflammation and swelling which makes the side of the wombe come together and shuts vp the orifices of the veines thereof from whence proceedes suppression of the after-Purgins Likewise the ouer great quantity of thicke and grosse bloud may bee the cause as also the weakenesse of the Matrice the which because it hath beene sore wearied and troubled in the deliuery and thereby lost all strength is not able to disburden and free it selfe of the bloud whereof it is full Hippocrates also in the same place giues another cause which is when the mouth of the said womb is shrunke or turned awry or else because the sides of it are sunke downe shut together and inflammed For the Cure heereof shee must obserue an order of dyet which shall be moistning and opening Her meate and drinke must be such as we haue formerly prescribed for one newly deliuered Shee shall take operitiue Broths thereby to open the orifices of the veines which are much stopt and according to the cause so the remedies must be fitted as if it come by any sudden apprehension griefe or anger then must she be plasant and make her selfe as merry as she can If it proceed of any inflammation or heate that hath thickned the bloud then must she vse medicines that shal moderately cool moisten as Apozemes made with the leaues and rootes of Succory Burnet Endiue Agrimony Maydenhaire Couchgrasse or Gramen Hoppes rootes of Persely and Asparagus Violet flowers with the sirups of Maydenhaire and de quinq radicibus If it be needfull to attenuate and cut or to euacuate any grosse and clammy humors which shut vp the orifices of the veines it will not be amisse to vse this fomentation so that there be no great inflammation of the part A. somentatiō ℞ Malu Bismal Parietar Matricar an m. i. Abrotan Origan Aneth Calamint Artemis an m. s. Flor. sambuc Chamaemel Melilot an P. i. sem Linifoenugraec an ʒ ij fiant sacculi duo Coquantur in aq Communi addendo sub finem vini albi parum pro fotu Of the foresaide ingredients you may likewise prepare fumes halfe baths and also iniections for the Matrice If the said after-purgings are suppressed because the inner orifice of the matrice is closed or turned aside then will it be very necessary for the Chirurgion after he hath considered that there is neither paine nor distemperature to set it right againe by putting vp pessaryes which shal prouoke and bring downe the after purgings as this following A Pessary ℞ Cerae nouae ℥ iiij Mell. ℥ i. styrac liq ℥ s. Ol. muschell ʒ ij liquefiant omnia simul addendo Myrrh Aloes an ʒ is farin Lupinor ʒ vi auferendo ab igne impone telam ex Canabe de qua cooperiatur pessarium ad vsum You shall first frame a pessary and then it shall be couered with the said cloth or else dipped and couered with the said medicine You may also make little round bags of a fingers length in the forme of a pessary which you shall fill or stuffe with the herbe Mercury first brused or beaten and this may serue for a pessary this herb is very much commended If it be needful to haue the pessary stronger you may put thereto a little Mugword Sauine and Balme It will be very profitable to bind the thighs hard and to rub the legges and thighs especially on the inside all along the crurall veyne you may also apply great Cupping glasses in the saide places Let her legges and thighs be washed with that decoction which was set downe before for the fomentation The same decoction also may serue for Clysters dissoluing therein Hiera or Benedict Laxatiua and mel mercuriale But we must preferre before all these medicines that which is the most soueraigne which is letting of bloud in the foote out of the Saphena or in the Poplitica which is in the bending of the gartring place For by this meanes we shall manifestly meet with the cause of the sicknesse And heerein wee shall follow the example of Hippocrates who caused the woman seruant of Stymargus to be let bloud be cause her sicknesse or purgings were stayed after she was deliuered and by this meanes she was well discharged of them although before she had bene in great and generall Convulsions The same Author saith that a woman that hath these purgings staide must haue present helpe for feare least there happen some great inflammation to the part so that except she be presently let bloud she is in danger of death Her belly also must be kept loose by Clisters and if she can vomit easily she must be helped that way also Galen saith that hee hath brought downe these purgings in women that was pale leane and weak by letting her bloud in good quantity I haue not heere set downe any medicines to bee taken by the mouth because I haue written many of this kind in the Chapters going before wherein I haue treated of the meanes how to make the child or after-birth come foorth when they bee staide which medicines haue power also to prouoke the courses or after purgings Of the false Conception stayed and abiding in the woman after her deliuery CHAP. IX IT may happen to some women that after they haue been well deliuered of their children there may stay with them one or more false conception Some of these false conceptions sticke fast to the wombe some are vnfastned and loose If they be small they come foorth together with the purgings but if they be big they oftentimes stay and abide within And in this case the Chirurgion must be carefull for if they bee bigge and cleaue to the wombe they may bring much inconuenience to the woman by their long staying behind So then it will be necessary for him to know whether there be any of this kind and of what nature it is which he shal learne of the Mother by demanding of her how she found her selfe all the time shee went with child First then let him enquire of her whether she were very big at that time and if she had any hardnesse in any part of her belly whether shee hath beene vsed to any such accident with her other children for there are women which
and too greedily It is verie hard to set downe the quantitie of milke that a child should take But therein the nurse must haue a respect to the age complexion temper and to the desire which the child hath to sucke increasing it as the child groweth or according as he is thirstie either through some sicknesse or when his teeth come foorth for at those times he is more drie then otherwise Now to know how often the child should sucke in a day Paulus Aegineta appoints that it should be twise a day or thrise at the most which he meaneth for the first foure or fiue daies that he may be acquainted therewith by little and little and also because there is then no great need I haue seen children that haue not sucked in two or three daies after they were borne for they know not then whether they are yet in their Mothers belly or no where they suck'd not at all although that Hippocrates saith that the child receiues some nourishment by the mouth while he is in his Mothers belly It can neither be told nor limitted how often he ought to sucke in a day because it is fit he should haue the teat as often as he crieth yet let it be but a little at a time because the stomacke at first is but weake And if he wrangles but a little it will be best to still him either with rocking or singing And though he be not quieted or stilled a little crying can doe him no great harme but rather may serue for some good vse For it makes him runne at Nose shed teares and spit it purgeth his braine yea and stirreth vp his naturall heat and also dilates the passages of the breast But if he cry too violently and eagerly it may do him much harm and cause him to be bursten or breake some vessell in his breast or else bring the head-ach How the child must be made cleane after he is awake and vnswathed CHAP. VII AFter the Child hath well suck'd and slept the Nurse must shift him and make him cleane For which purpose the Nurse or some other must sit neere the fire laying out her legges at length hauing a soft pillow in her lap the dores and windowes being close shut and hauing something about her that may keep the wind from the child And when she is thus accommodated she shall vnswath and shift him drie If he be verie foule she may wash him with a little water and wine luke warme with a spunge or linnen cloth The time of shifting him is commonly about seuen a clocke in the morning then againe at noone and at seuen a clocke at night and it would not be amisse to change him againe about midnight which is not commonly done But because there is no certaine howre either of the childs sucking or sleeping therefore diuers after he hath slept a good while do euery time shift him least he should foule and bepisse himselfe And surely there be many children that had need to be shifted as soone as they haue foul'd themselues which I would counsaile you to doe and not to let them lie in their filth When you change his bed you shall rub all his bodie ouer with an indifferent fine linnen cloth and then his head must be rub'd and made cleane and when he is foure or fiue moneth old his head may be cleans'd with a fine brush and when he is growen bigger let it be comb'd What cloths and coats the child must haue and at what time CHAP. VIII AS soone as the childe is somewhat growne and that hee cannot well keepe his hands swathed in and hid any longer which is commonly about the twentieth or thirtieth day according as he is in strength then must hee haue little sleeues that hauing his armes and hands at liberty hee may vse and stirre them and then the Nurse shall begin to carry him abroad so that it be faire weather to sport and exercise him not carrying him out into the raine or into the hot sunne nor when there is any rough wind And therfore he must be kept in the shade auoiding all ill ayres as of sinkes and the like And if he should chance to bee frighted with any thing the Nurse shal endeuor to take away the apprehension thereof and harten him without making him afraid I haue seen some children that with a fright haue fallen into the Epilepsye or falling sicknes the Physitions not being able to giue any other reason thereof but onely the feare he had taken If by chance he doth cry and weepe then shall you endeuour by all meanes to still him and not let him cry obseruing diligently what it is he cries for and what may be the cause thereof that as Galen saith he may haue that he desireth or else be ridde of that which offends and troubleth him But the same Author saith that children generally are stilled and quieted by three meanes by giuing them the breast by rocking and by singing to them They may be also stilled by giuing them something to holde in their hand or by making them looke vpon somwhat that pleaseth them as also by carrying them abroad About the eighth or ninth month or at farthest when the child is a yeare old he must haue coates and not be kept swathed any longer And if it bee Sommer he must be coated sooner because of the heate which makes the body oftentimes to be full of wheales and pimples And some may haue coats sooner according as their strength will suffer it of which an especiall care must be had And chiefly the Nurse must let him haue a hat that may be easie and large enough which may couer all the forepart of the head without beeing curious as they say commonly to make him haue a goodly high forhead At what age the child may take other sustenance beside Milke CHAP. IX THe childe must bee nourished with milk only till his foreteeth be come forth both aboue and beneath as Galen writeth for beeing nothing else yet but as it were milke it is very fit and probable that hee should bee nourished with no other foode Besides the teeth are chiefly ordained by nature onely to chaw and therefore when he hath none he ought not to be fed with any solide meat But as soone as they are come forth it sheweth that Nature hath giuen him those instruments to make vse of them and therefore hee may then take more solide meate if you thinke he can digest it For to giue him any other nourishment then milke or dish-meate before hee haue teeth it might breede great store of crude humors and winds which oftentimes as Auicen saith doe cause the child to haue bunches or contusions about his backe bone and ribs Neuerthelesse though his teeth bee come yet must you not giue him meat that is too solide or in too great quantitie but at the beginning you may giue him sops of bread or Panado
that the teeth are euen ready to cut the flesh The Nurses themselues shew vs that this practise is very necessary and fit for oftentimes they do scratch and tear the gumme with their nailes which turneth to the childs great profit and ease and keepes him from lying languishing so long in paine And I can assure the young Chirurgion that I haue practiz'd it and caused it to bee practized with very good successe aboue twenty times Now when you perceiue that the teeth begin to come foorth whether it be by the foresaid Medicines by the lancing of the gums Auicen would haue the Nurse to hold a peece of an Ireos roote in her hand and let the childe champe vpon it or insteede thereof she may vse a sticke of Licorise bruised at the one end or else a peece of an Althaea root For this remedy doth asswage the paine because it maketh the moisture which is about the childs gums breast and roote of the tongue to come away and cause the rest of the teeth to come forward And therefore they doe vse commonly for this purpose to hang about the childs necke either a wolfes tooth or a branch of red Corall set in siluer for the child to hold in his hand and to rub his gums with it Of the Convulsions which happen to little Children CHAP. XXIIII IT is not my intent in this place to handle particularly all the kinds and differences of Convulsions but onely I will content my selfe to speak of that which commonly troubleth little children and is called by Hippocrates Morbus Puerilis the childs disease and by Auicen Mater Puerorum the mother of little children Hippocrates calleth this disease Sacer and therefore it is easie to be coniectured that it is an Epilepticall Convulsion The cause proceedeth as Auicen saith either because that the milke wherewith the chid is nourished is easily corrupted though hee sucke but little or by reason of the great quantity that the child taketh which because of his weake and dainty stomacke cannot be well concocted and digested or through the il quality of the milk which the child sucks daily or through the weaknes of the sinews which do receiue easily the moisture that is bred in the childs body whereof Nature doth vnburthen her selfe vpon them which happeneth chiefly as Hippocrates saith to children that are fat and haue full bodies and are bound in their bellies This Convulsion oftentimes chanceth through the childs breeding of teeth and especially of his dog teeth by meanes of the paine inflammation feuers and watchings which do commonly follow vpon it The cold aire also may be a cause and likewise the Wormes which the child may haue or some ill vapor that striketh vp and offends the braine which may arise out of the stomacke by reason of some putrifaction or else from that which is bred by meanes of the wormes As for the Prognosticke hereof Hippocrates saith that the Children which haue cleane heads are subiect to Convulsions And contrariwise that those which haue scabs on their head and breake forth are commonly in good health For by them they are purged clensed of all the ill humors that they had gathered in their mothers wombe Galen saith that the danger is easily perceiued by the childs shortnes of breath Auicen Paulus Aegineta doe assure vs that the continuance of this disease long doth oftentimes kill the child Areteus saith that one violent fit only is enough to kill him they that are younger are in greater danger of death then the elder as Caelius Aurelius writeth because they cannot so easily beare out the fits as the elder Therefore we must take great heede in the cure of it not thinking that this disease may bee helped by the childs growing older The Cure must be varied according to the cause of the disease As if it proceed of repletion and fulnesse of humors then must the Nurse eat lesse and not giue the child sucke so often in both which she must obserue a meane and therfore the Nurse shall rather vse meates that are somwhat drying then such as are too moist And not without good reason doth Auicen allow the vse of Wine well tempeted rather then Water alone If the little one haue neede to be purged it will bee fitter to giue the Nurse a purgation then the child which must neither be very strong nor with any Diagridium but gentle and easie such as Cassia Manna and the like If the child be subiect to vomit especially if he be very big the vomiting may do him much good When he comes to be 2. or 3. yeres old you may apply cupping glasses vpon his neck and shoulders which is much commended by Auicen thereby to draw the moisture of the braine to the lower parts And concerning particular medicines they must not be too hot as some appoint for the affections of the Nerues because those heate too much and as Rhasis saith they doe onely resolue the thinner part But we must rather vse in the beginning such as mollifye and soften and do moderately resolue comforting withall Among many other medicines Dioscorides saith that Oleum Irinum cureth the convulsion which troubleth little children and it is likewise commended by the ancient Practicioners This Oile is described by Mesue Auicen approueth Oleum Irinum Keyrinum and Liliorum He saith moreouer that he hath made triall of this medicine Auicens medicine â„ž Maioran m. ij macerentur in olei Amygdalar dulc vel Zezamin â„¥ vj. vini generosi totidem in Balneo Mariae vel bulliant lento igne ad consumption vini coletur seruetur vsui You may also vse verie safely this Balme A Balme for the Convulsion â„ž Axung Anser Gallin Anat. Cunicul an â„¥ j. Medul cruris vitul â„¥ j. ss Medul Cerui Ê’ vj. fol. Salu. Maioran Ebuli an m. j. flor Chamaemel Melilot Hyperic an p. ij flor Rosismar p. j. Mastich Myrrh Irid. florent an Ê’ ij Olei Lilior Lumbric an â„¥ ij macerentur omnia in balneo Mariae spatio trium dierum Deinde lento igne fiat decoctio coletur seruetur vsui The ancient Practicioners do verie much commend the Balme made of a Goose stuffed with the foresaid ingredients and rosted and then vse the dripping of it in steed of a Balme which I haue seen practised Galen doth attribute much to the hanging of a little chaplet made of the male Piony roote about the childs necke Oribasius much commendeth the Smaradge or Emerauld that lookes greenish which is found either in the stomacke or neast of a Swallow But the safest medicine of all is to lay a Cauterie to the hinder part of the childs head in the nape of the necke betweene the first and second Vertebra or ioint which I haue done to some And at Florence it is practiz'd to all children as soone as they are borne yea they do it euen with an
fundament shut vp After she was born she was deliuered vnto the Nurse to be carried into the country where she continued seuen or eight daies without voiding any thing by stowle which made her belly swel extreamely Wherupon she was brought vnto this Citty and Mons Rabigois a Master Barber Chirurgion and sworn at Paris a very diligent and painfull man was sent for to see what might be the cause of this swelling and he inquiring whether the child went to stoole or no it was answered him by the nurse she had neuer purged her selfe as yet that way since she was born then by by he searched the fundament and found it to be closed and stopped vp and therefore he did counsell the childs father to let him make an incision of the membrane that stopped vp the passage whereunto the Father and Mother would not consent till the morrow But while the matter was debated and argued vpon the child dyed And she was opened by the saide Master Rabigois who found all her guts filled with the humor called Meconium and other filthie matter Of the scabbe which comes on the childs head and face CHAP. XXXIIII OFtentimes there commeth vppon the childs head and face a hard crusty scab which couereth all the head quite ouer and therefore it is called the Cappe and sometimes the face also so that you can see nothing but the childs eyes as though hee had a maske on The Latines call this scabbe Lactumen or Lactitium as being an excrement of the Milke And because it is of a yellow colour like vnto waxe it is also called Cerium The cause heereof is two fold for eyther it is engendred of the reliques of the womens courses or purgings or else of the Nurses milke which being of an ill quality doth easily corrupt in the childs stomacke and cannot bee turned into good iuice and much lesse bee corrected by the Liuer it being sent thither to bee turned into bloud which makes it that being carried vnto the head and face it cannot be assimilated in those parts Least this scab might corrode and eat into the skinne and afterwards the very bone of the head and face and at length Gangrene the eies it will be very good to remedy it For which purpose the Nurse must keepe a good dyet as we haue formerly shewne Concerning Topicall or outward medicines you must haue an especiall care that you vse none that do repell and driue backe but rather such as gently draw You may bath the crusts especially those of the face with gentle Fomentations made of Mallowes Althaea Violet leaues Chamomile and Melilot flowers and Linseed boyled in milke and with this decoction you may foment the crusts and afterwards annoint them with Oile of sweet Almonds Fresh Butter well beaten with Parietary water and Oile of Violets washed with Barley water I am wont to vse an Ointment of Lard melted and then well beaten and washed with Parietary water and so annoint the crusts with it If there be any vlcer and that the scabs are fallen off you may lay vpon it a Cabbidge or a Beete leafe a little heated on a Gridyron The Ointment made of white Waxe and oile of sweet Almonds is very good when there is any rawnesse or excoriation Of the Meazels and the small Pockes what they are and how they doe differ CHAP. XXXV IT remaineth now that we speake of the Measells and the small Pockes and because there bee few children but haue them eyther first or last I haue thought good heere to say a word or two of them briefly The Measels and the Pocks are little risings or pustules which appeare most commonly in great number vpon the outside of the skinne and at the first they are so like one another that you can hardly discerne whether of them it is But yet the Measels come more suddenly and the face and skinne of the whole body lookes redder and the rednesse continues longer without rising there beeing ioined with it most commonly a greater itching and pricking But the small pockes comes not foorth so suddenly neither is the skinne so red nor doth the colour stay so long the pustules or pimples rise higher neither itching nor pricking so much and at length grow white The cause of both of them are the reliques of the impurer part of the bloud wherewith the child was nourished in his Mothers wombe which now is separated and thrust to the skin through the help and strength of nature because the childs bloud boileth in the veines of euery part of the bodie as Auicen saith No otherwise then new wine doth in a vessell which boyleth casting vp his froath or scum and separating it from it selfe And as Auenzoar saith though the child be nourished with the best part of the menstruall bloud yet there remaines some little portion behind which is of an ill qualitie and after the child is borne and is growne strong he gathering together his forces and naturall heat thrusts it foorth by the pores of the skin nature being willing to acquite and rid her selfe of this superfluitie Besides there is a certaine disposition of time caused through the malignitie of the aire which raiseth and stirreth vp the reliques of the said menstruall bloud in the childs bodie wherewith he hath been nourished vnto which the corrupt aire that we breath and which we cannot auoide doth adde an impression of a second bad qualitie wherewith nature being ouer-charg'd and offended she thrusts them out to the skin which receiueth the filth and vncleannesse of the bodie Now the fuller the bodie is of this menstruall bloud the deeper impression doth the outward aire make in it which is the reason that some haue them in greater quantitie and are fuller of them then others And so according to the malignitie of the humour it is also more or lesse dangerous to some then to others The marks and signes whereby you may know that the child will haue the Pockes are these Headach together with an Ague rednesse of the eyes which water verie often itching of the nose a drie Cough gaping wearinesse of the bodie paine of the Hart desire to vomit the vrine red a pricking and shiuering through all the bodie and sometimes convulsions and rauings When it is the Measels the face growes red and ariseth all at once but when it is the Pocks neither the face nor the rest of the bodie looke so red but you may perceiue some little risings here and there in the face backe breast and thigh 's which afterwards increase and grow bigger And when the Pocks begin to shew themselues then there happens heauinesse of the head the face swelleth the eyes are setled all the bodie becomes as it were puff'd vp the voice growes hoarse with difficultie of fetching breath and sorenesse of the throat For it is the propertie of this vile disease to take hold of the Lungs and yet
backes and raines called in Languedocke Masquelon and of the Latins Morbus pilaris CHAP. XXXV IT had been more agreeable and conuenient to haue set downe this disease in the Chapter of the Vnquietnesse and Crying of little children But as this booke was euen almost printed Mr Toignet a Barber Chirurgion of Paris put me in mind of this disease that happens vnto little Children which is verie common in Languedocke and is called in their language Masquelon Hauing enquired of diuers Physicions about this disease and amongst the rest of Mons Riollan Doctour of Physicke in Paris and the Kings Professor in Chirurgerie a verie learned and painfull gentleman he told me that Montanus had written of it and that he called it Pilaris affectio As soone as little Children are taken with this disease they crie and take on extreamely and yet one can not perceiue any cause why they should do so which brings them oftentimes euen to their graue for that this disease drawes along with it Epylepticall convulsions because the Sinewes which come foorth of the backe-bone and are scattred on each side are ouer burthened and fill'd with some fuliginous vapour of which Haires are bred and they by their great length and continuitie are carried directlie to the braine whither when they are come they cause this disease The women of the Countrie of Languedocke because it is a common disease with them make no great reckoning of it and doe helpe it in this manner With the palme of their hand they do rub the bottome of the childs backe and raines downe to the crupper bone so long till they feele through the pores of the skin the tops of verie stiffe and pricking Haires to come foorth like vnto hoggs bristles which as soone as they see that they are come foorth they pull them away by and by with their nayles or else with such little pincers as women vse to pull the haire from off their eye-browes The same Montanus counselleth the woman to rub her hand first with some new Milke which being done and the Haires pull'd away the child presently recouers his health and leaueth his ordinarie cries and laments There may also happen vnto little Children diuers other diseases besides these that I haue spoken of But because they bee common as others are and such as may happen to one of any age as Wounds Vlcers Impostumes Fractures Luxations and sorenesse of the Head we haue willinglie omitted them for breuitie sake And also for that you may haue recourse to those that haue written thereof more particularly in their Chirurgerie The end The Chirurgions must beware of iudging rashlie A story Another Directions for the Chirurgion Signes of coÌ„ception taken from the man Experiment Signes taken from the woman The wombe shuts it selfe Some women when they be with child haue their courses Hippocrates Signes taken from vrines Experiment of Fernelius Hippocrates Hydromell is made of hony and water boiled together Auicen Truest signes gathered from the Child Signes gathered by the Midwife A pleasant answere The difference of sexe is hard to foretell Aristotle Obseruation Hipp. Aph. Signes of a boy â—â—gnes gaâ—hered out â—f Auicen Signes of a wench Hippocrates lib. de stipilitate An experiment Another experiment of Liuia The meanes how to begeâ— a sonne or a daughter To know whether a woman will bring two children What a false conception is Mola is either true or false Mola bred together with the child Hippocrates Cause of the flesh Mole Windie Mole Watry Mole Humorall Common signes Signes of false conception Signes from the motion The child moueth of it selfe and not the Mole True signes Signes of the windy Signes of the watry and humorall Difference betweene the Watry and Humorall Good Aire fit for a woman with child The Cough naught for women with child Bad smells to be auoided Her Dyet Too much meate stifleth Salt meates bad Fit meates Hearbs Diureticall and windy meates are naught Accidents that may happen Lib. 2. Aph. 38. Cibus potus deterior suauior tamen melioribus quidem sed insuauioribus est anteponendus Her Drinke Her Sleepe Exercise Causes of Abortment Great noyses hurtfull Violent exercise hurtfull Sentence of Aristotle Opinion of Plato Women that labour are easily deliuered Venus forbidden Aristotles opinion Her belly must be soluble Clisters Lib. 5. Aph. 34. Mulieri grauidae si aluus prosusior sit abortionis periculum imminet Lib. 5. Aph. 21. A Woman with Child may be purged Opening medicines must be auoided Lib. 5. Aph. 60. Considerations concerning Bloud-letting Passions of the mind An obseruation For great bellied women She must take need of lacing her selfe too hard To preserue the breasts A Fomentation What must be done the 3. and 4. Moneth Another Liniment Another The maner to prepare it Another easie to be prouided Obseruation Gouernment of the ninth Moneth The Bath The Ointment A Drinke A Woman must haue a care of her Beautie Health must be preferred Aristotle Hippocrates Vitruuius Why women with Child are sicke Diuers diseases of women Boulimos Canina appetentia Sitis immodica From whence it is called Pica Storie of Fernelius Diuers causes of Pica Wherefore they desire diuers things The beginning of the Pica The breeding of the haire causeth the Pica Their diet in Pica Meats fit for those that haue the Pica Auicen Aetius Oribasius Aegineta Much drinking is naught in the Pica Lozenges Another A Cataplasm Discretion in purging Auicens precept The Cause The Hicket Discommoditie of the Hicket Cure Straining bad for women with child Women with child Vomit often Vomiting must not be stopt on the suddaine Cause Accidents of Vomiting A good precept Emplaster An approued medicine Causes of wind Wind inclosed in the wombe Dyet Admonishment The diuers situation of the child Hipp. Cause of these paines The Cure A good obseruation Cause of the trembling of the Heart The wisedom of Nature in all her works How a woman with child must be let bloud The hart must be garded The wombe desireth good smels Inconueniences of the cough Cause Cure Dyet Generall medicines Cautery Frictions Another A medicine to take away the roughnes of the throat Sleeping stoppeth fluxes Contrary accidents in women with child Cause of Costiuenesse Other causes of Costiuenes Cure Brothes to loosen the belly Fluxe of the belly dangerous Prouerbe Women with child are subiect to loosenesse of the belly The Cure A wotrhy storie How to proceed therein Her Diet. A Drinke Cause of the swelling of the face Who are not subiect to the swelling Aduertisement concerning the cure Binding necessarie Lye of Vine ashes verie good A tried remedie An obseruation A tried remedie Causes of Abortment Causes from the child Causes from the mother Leannes causeth Abortment Fulnesse is cause of Abortment They which haue their naturall courses do often miscarry Things annexed to the mother which doe cause abortment Signes of abortment Hippoc. lib. 5. Aphoris 37.38 Loosenes of the belly causeth abortment
this practiâ—â— The Caesarian Section reproued Cold hurts the spermaticall parts Dyet The nurses must not bee alwayes harkned to She must see sparingly Her meats A drinke Capon water for Ladyes Another drinke Noise is hurtâ—full Sleepe The vse of Coleworts Sadnes to bee auoided Women tâ— are Virgins after child bearing An ointmâ—â—â— to keepe 〈◊〉 milke from curdling Fomentations for the parts First Bath 〈◊〉 Summer The manâ—â—â— of making How long she must stay in the Bath To make the skin smooth The manner of vsing the perfume Means to hâ—â—den the breâ—â—â— A Pultesse for the Belly and Breasts The vertue 〈◊〉 Myrrhe Tranchees The first cause The second The third Sentence of Hippocrates Fomentation A Drinke A powder Gripings The Cure of the Fundament fallen Foment Sâ—c morb Mulier Lib. 1. Why women are subiect to the Hemorrâ—â—des The differences of Hemorrhodes Vesicales or vuales Verrucales Morales Dyet An experiment of the Authors Rhasis medicine An approued remedy A fome 〈…〉 The belâ—â— must be 〈◊〉 â—e Morb. muli Comment in lib. j. Aphorism How long tâ— purgings should flow Hip. de Natuâ—pueri Leuit. chap. 12 Lib. de morbis Malier Signes to know whether a woman in child-bed be in health or no. Comment in 6. Epidemior De mor. Mulier Inward causes Hippocrat morbis Mulâ— The Cure Dyet Diuers remedies An experiment seen by the Authour Galen Lib. Exper. An Iniect 〈…〉 Porrhetic Sect. 2. What Lâ—câ—â—â— are A sentence of Hippocrat The stopping of the After-purging cause death Outward causes Lib. de Aâ—râ—lâ—cis Aquâ— Lib. 1. de morâ— Mulier Inward causes Hippoc. loco citato Dyet The meanes to set the wombe right Ligatures and frictions Opening a veine in the foote is the most soueraign remedy De Morbis mulier lib. 1. Epidem 6. Difference oâ— false conception A story Signes The prognosticke Hip. lib. de sterilibus Cure De Morbis mul. lib. 2. Hippocrat lib. 2. de morb mulier de natura mulieb et 2. Epidem Hippocrat Epidem 2 Plato How the matrice moueth Gal. in lib. 3. de Articul com How the matrice chaungeth place The first falling of the matrice Hipp. Lib. de natura Pueri Hipp. Lib. de natura Muliebri The second kind Hipp. Lib. de Sterilibus de morb Mulier The third kind Gal. lib. 14. de vsâ— partium Outward causes Inward causes Hippocrat Epidem 2. Hippocrat Epidem 6. Hipp. de Natura Mulier 2. Hippocrat de Eiectione Foeâ—us Gal. de facult Natur. lib. 3. A Comparison Both old and young may be cured hereof The Cure The way to put it vp A good obseruation The second meanes to help vp the matrice When astringent medicines are to be shun'd Hipp. de natura Muliebri Hipp. de morb Mulier lib. 2. Vomiting is necessarie Cupping glasses She must hauâ— sundry smels The third meanes to strengthen the mother Ill smels to be put into the Pessaries Hipp. Lib. de natura Muliebri The cause Gal. lib. de 〈…〉 sectione vter 〈…〉 Cure The practise Must take heed of leting it grow together againe A story Metrop Salisb. Epise 36. Scolion ad Tertul lib. 9. de Anim Aug. lib. 3. de ciuit Dei cap. 31 Metaph. 10. Martij Lipom. com 7. The difficulty of finding a good nurse 1. Her Lignage 2. Her Person Her Stature A red hair'd Nurse discommended Her Countenance A Nurses perfections Hipp. lib. 2. Epidemiar 3. Her Manners 4. Her Mind Gal. de Sanitat tuenda The qualitie of good Milke Quantitie of Milke The colour of good Milke The smell The tast A proofe of the goodnesse of Milke in quantitie A trial of the quantity The choice of a Nurse by her child Auicen What meat a nurse must refrain from What meates she shall vse Her Bread Her broth Her drinke A kinde of drinke which they vse in France which they call Bouchet Aristotle Her exercise Her sleepe How to fashion the childs head The childs eares must be cleansed The eyes clensed The nose must be clensed For the clensing of the mouth Care to bee had of the fundament For the armeâ— and legs A Precept of Galen de sanitat tuend Gal. de arte medica Inconuenience of hard swathing the hips Gal. decaus morber How to order the Cradle How to lay the child The place where the Cradle shall be set The manner how to giue the child sucke What quantitie of milke the child may sucke Hippocrat lib. de princip Gal. de Sanit tuenda Gal. lib. 1. de sanitate tuenda The childs foode That is in France where they haue not Ale or beere Hippocr lib. 3. aphoris 24. Lib. 3. aph 25. The Cause The cure of Phisocephalos Outward medicines Hydrocephalos Auicen The roofe of the mouth cleft The hare lip A hystoric Extraordinarie number of fingers A storie Of the diseases of the eies Of the nose Of the eares Aphthae or the vlcers of the mouth A Gargarism for the vlcers of the mouth An experimeÌ„t of the Author The Cure A Gargarism A medicine for the necke and iawes How to cut the string of the tongue Another way The causes of the cough The cough is dangerous for children Medicines against the Cough Means to stay the cough The cause of the swelling of the nauell The Cure The Cure 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Cure Rhasis opinioÌ„ Hippoc. lib. 3. Aphoris 25. The ill accidents which breeding of the teeth brings to children Aelius sem 4. cap. 9. An experimeÌ„t Auicen Aecius Auicen An experience of the Author Hip. de Aero loc Aquis Morbus puerilis Mater pueroruÌ„ An Aphorism of Hippocrates Diuers causes of a Convulsion The Prognosticke Hippo. de morbe Sacro Good sentences of the Ancients The Cure Vomiting good for the child Cupping glasses Dioscorides Balsamum Anserinâ—m A soueraigne medicine Hippoc. lib. 3. Aphorismor Whereby a child may be hindred from sleeping Signes that the child is amisse The Cure Diuers means to make a child sleep Gal. in Hip. lib. 3. Aphoris 24. The signes to know whether a childe be frighted in his sleepe Aristot de histâ—r anim lib. 4. cap. 10. The Cure The diet that the Nurse the child must keepe They must not sleepe presently after meate Medicines for the child The diuers kinds of ruptures The causes of ruptures The Cure Rest necessary for the child The dyes which the child must keepe His drinke How the child must be laid The cause why children can hardlie pisse Children must be often held out to pisse Hippocr lib. 3. Aphoris 26. The Cure A Diet for the Nurse An experience of the Author The childe must bee put in minde to make water Medicines of the Ancient Phisicions Fomentations for the Perinquin The cause of excoriation or galling The Cure Common medicines Diuers imperfections of the PraeputiuÌ„ Phimosis Paraphimosis An obseruation of Aristotle lib. 4. cap. 4. de generatione Animalium What happens when the Praeputium is closed The order of cutting the Praeputium The Paraphimosis of little children The Authors opinion The method of doing it An other way Cornelius Celsus appointeth this kind of Cure Aeginetas opinion A good obseruation The Cure Difference in figure Matter The Cure The order to do it Aristot lib. 4. cap. 4. de gene raâ— Animal The manner of doing it A pessary of Lead The fundament that is shut vp must be speedily remedied The Cure How the euen Cure must be performed A story Lactumen Lactitium Cerium The Cause The Cure Few children escape the small pocks What the measels and the pocks are Difference Cause A good comparison Signes Good signes Bad signes The signes of the Measels Hippocrates How the Pocks must be help'd The Cure The Place His Diet. Broths His Drinke A lenifying and soupling Drinke His sleepe Bloud letting To preserue the eies Auicen To preserue the Nose Eares Mouth and Throat The Lungs An approued medicine Diuers accidents To preserue children from the Measels small Pocks The Nurses and the childs dyet Their sleepe Purging Letting bloud Signes The Cure Her diet The vse of the Decoction Aqua Theriacalis The vse Morbus Pilaris