the place to which it floweth than the opening of a Vein And at the same time apply the following Cataplasme to the lower parts of the Belly viz. Bole Armenick and Dragons Blood each an ounce Gum Tragacanth half an ounce Mirtle Berrys and dryed Rose Leaves beaten to Powder each a dram the Juice of Plantaine an ounce make them into the thinness of a Plaister with Vnguetum Comitissae To make the Purges come freely boil a little Senna in White-Wine with a blade or two of Mace Rosemary Flowers or Tops and a little slice of Rhuebarb drink the Liquid part twice a day two spoonfuls at a time and apply to the Navel a Poltis of Featherfew Groundsil and Melilot drinking ever and anon a Glass of old Mallago wherein blew Currans have been boiled with some slices of Licorice Eating such things as are Moistening and opening to dilate the Orifices of the Veins which are much stoped by the long restraint of their wonted Flowings Sometimes the stayings proceed from suddain Griefs or Anger or other Passions of the Mind which must be avoided because they thicken and Vitiate the Blood Taken then Succory Burnet Endive Agrimony Violet-Flowers boil them in Sweet-Wine and let the Woman drink a little Glass of it warm with the Syrup of Maiden-hair dissolved in it and use a warm Fomentation of opening Herbs as Cammomile Mlliot Parsly let her Eat Green Peas Asparagus c. To bring away a false Conception after Delivery viz. If it be large and came not away with the usual Purgings it may be thought to stick to the side of the Womb and in danger of turning into a Mole which will prove yet more troublesome and painful To bring them away First she must use resolving Baths to loosen and moisten the whole Body that the Matrix may be enlarged and the passage dilated Secondly Clisters of cooling and supling Herbs Thirdly Gentle Purges to cause the excrements to avoid as also to renew the Natural Courses Fourthly By Injections which may provoke and stir up the Expulsive Faculties of the Womb and with them move and bring away the False Conception If the Neck or Sides of the Womb be Glutinated or Joyned together the Woman must be Purged and let Blood yet moderately as also Bathe are succesful made with Emolient Herbs Barks or Roots and Fomentations of the like used to the lower parts to soften and moisten the affected Places And thus much may suffice for the Ordering a Woman from her Lying in to her going a broad again And If I have passed over any Accident that does not usually or by the course of Nature c. happen no doubt but a Skillful Midwife or Nurse will find a means to Remedy it or for defect of Skill timely apply themselves to some able Surgeon or Physitian And so from hence I haste to the Child which I have left so long to give Directions for the well Ordering it as to its Health and Thriving c. CHAP. XVI Of Nurses How they ought to be Qualified and Dieted IN the first place if you take not the care of bringing it up your self make choice of a good wholesome cleanly Nurse whose Complexion and Constitution is agreeable to the Childs See that her Milk be of middle Substance neither too Thick or inclining to Curdling or too Thin or Waterish for the first clogs the Lungs and Stomach of the Child being of a bad and hard digestion and the latter Causes Scourings Gripings and yeildeth but little Nourishment As for the quantity of Milk a Nurse should rather have too much than too little that the Infant may draw it the more freely without hard Sucking to gather windyness in the Stomach She must also be of a Merry Temper not Peevish or Fretful given to Anger or any Violent Passions for these tiring the Humours have a great effect on the Child in as much as the Natural Temperature of the Milk is in some measure altered or changed by it And this is known by the Colour if it be blew it denotes the Woman given to Melancholly if Yellowish to Choller if something inclining to Red it is not well digested and denotes a weakness in the Breasts through Cold Hurts or the like defects or an Ill Quality or defect in the Blood Therefore that which is Nourishing and wholesome is very White in a Medium between Thick and Thin and this may be tryed on a Looking-Glass or any other smooth Body for a little being spurted on it if when the Glass is reared a little sloaping it run off presently then it is too Thin if it sticks and is hard to move then it is too Thick or Fat but if it slide away leasurely then it is between both As to the Age of the Nurses Milk I am of opinion it is the best at two Months Lying-in so may continue pretty well till the eighth Month but then it continually declines It is also to be considered that to breed good Milk her Meats and Drinks must be wholesome and Seasonable She must avoid hot Spices Strong-waters Spirits and Sweet Wines at least not take any great quantity of them or little quantities often And by reason the Sex of the Nurses Child is likewise to be considered I hold that the Milk of a Male Child is to be preferred and for this Reason viz. Because it is hotter better Concocted and not so excrementious as of a Girl And further an enquiry ought to be made whether the Nurse you propose went her full time for this is of Moment because if she did not she may happen to be of a Sickly weak Constitution though she may at sundry times appear outwardly to be Healthful Further as to Dyet all Onions Leeks Garlick Mustard Strong Cheese and Bak'd Meats with hot Seasonings ought to be forborn And Veal Mutton Chickens Nourishing Broth and such Meats as breed good Juice chosen Fish is too cold and moist unless she be of a hot Constitution Then let her put into her Pottage Purslain Sorrel Borrage Bugloss Letuce Succory Endive c. And drink Beer Ale or Wine and Water mixed Mead Metheglin but not too much Cyder because it sharpens the Milk and Gripes the Child Her exercise must be moderate and her hours of Sleeping seasonable and take special Care to keep her little charge Clean and Sweet in all parts viz. The Nose Ears Eyes and Mouth as well as the lower parts If she perceives any part of the Child to Warp or incline to Crookedness she must be careful to Swathe it in time whilst it is tender that by degrees it may return to straightness or if it seem difficult to her to Acomplish it let her Advise the Parents or some able Surgion before it be gone too far for this has been a misery to many in growing Crooked that might at first have been prevented wth a little Care and Cost when the Bones and Ligatures were more Flexible CHAP. XVII How to Order the
the Baking continue firm and very close if the Milk of a Boy if not it will be Spungy The Right Side of the Belly will be bigger and more Coppid than the Left The stirring of the Womb is oftener and more lively The Male Child lieth above the Navel by reason of it's heat The Mother will be quick and Nimble and of a healthful Constitution in her condition c. If it be a Girl it lieth low in the Belly as it were at the bottom because of the Coldness and Weight of the matter that forms it The Mother at sundry times has a Pale Heavy and Dusky Complexion her Eyes not bright and sparkling or Lively She is Froward Fretful and often Pained in the Back and Shoulders Her Left Breast bigger than the Right the Milk thin and blewish her Belly often flatting and the Motion lieth on the Left side and is seldom quick till the fourth Month The Veins of her Thighs and Groin are bigger and knottier on the Left side than on the Right To make a further Experiment take an equal quantity of Claret and the first Urin in the Morning put them in a Urinal and let them stand twelve hours and if a gross Cloud appear in the middle it denotes a Girl but if at the bottom a Boy if nothing that she is not with Child CHAP. V To know whether a Woman shall have Two Children at a Birth THe Signs of having two Children at a Birth seldom appear before the third or fourth Month and then the Motions must be carefully observed as also the Swelling of the Belly For if the Motion be strong and forcible on either Side at one Instant it denotes two Children in the Womb. Likewise if the Belly appear more swollen and bigger than in other Child-bearing and the Sides rise higher than the Middle of the Belly so that there seems a kind of a valley or Line of separation from the Navel downwards if the Burthen be born with difficulty and the Belly often fall on the Thighs and Hips there is no great doubt of giving Judgment as to the premises and whether they be Boys or Girls or both I refer you to consider and compare the former observations CHAP. VI. How a Woman during her going with Child ought to be Dieted and what kind of Meats and Drinks are most proper and conducing to her Health and safe Delivery THIS much concerns childing Women to be careful in observing if they would enjoy perfect Health and bear strong and healthful Children and in this I shall observe what things are particularly required and what to be Avoided In the first place let her Dwell in a good and temperate Air neither too hot cold or waterish not subject to Foggs Mists cold North-Winds or to moist South ones For Hippocrates is of the Opinion That bad Airs or Cold or Moist Winds blowing strongly frequently cause Miscarriage especially to those of nice and tender Breeding by afflicting them with Rheums Distillations troublesome Coughs All ill Scents and Noisome Vapours are subject to do the like so that Aristotle forbids Women with Child to come within the smell of the Snuff of a Candle newly put out lest it cause Abortion Miscarriage or untimely Labour Dyet must be so chosen as it may be seasonable and properly nourishing on this occasion breeding good juice and moderately drying the Quantity sufficient for more than her own proper Nourishment at other times Nor must she give her self to Fasting especially to any Considerable degree for if the Child wants it's due Nourishment in the Womb it will either not encrease to the purpose or dwindle away when it is increased and being Born will become Weakly and subject to Diseases Too great a Quantity is however to be avoided for that many times stifles a Child through too much abundance of Nourishment or makes it so unweildy it cannot keep in its Place and therefore is constrained to come forth before it's time or grow Sickly in the Womb. All Meats which are eitheir too Hot too Cold or too Moist must be avoided especially in the beginning of Meals Salt Meats and those heated with Spice are hurtful Aristotle forbids all manner of Baked Meats to Childing Women Her bread must be good Wheat well Kneaded and Baked and the most agreeable Meats are Pullets Chickens Capons Young Pidgeons Pheasants Turtle Doves Partridges Larks Veal Mutton and Broth with a mixture of Hot and Cooling Herbs For Sallads Lettuce Endive Borrage Bugloss Sorrell or in lieu of these to close the Stomach after Dinner and temperate the Heat cooling moderate Fruits as preserved Pears baked Wardens Quinces or Marmalades Damisons Plumbs Apricocks Ripe Grapes Goosberries Currants but of none of these too much least they Create Phlegmes and they cause offensive Coughing c. And tho' I may here prescribe notwithstanding all a Woman with Child has sometimes such a disorderly Appetite by reason of a full and sharp Humour which is contained within the Membranes of the Stomach that many times they desire things against Nature as Couls Chalk Charcole white-wall c. that can be no manner of Nourishment but certainly offensive These tho' unruly Appetite Crave or make them as they say Long for them yet be ruled by Reason Let a Woman consider she is a Rational Creature and ought to be guided by Reason and not run into Extravagancy to hurt her self where that contradicts it When any Impatient Longings happen for things that are hurtful the Mind must by degrees be turned from that to something that is more agreeable and so by degrees they may wean themselves from all Extravagancies As to Drinks good nourishing Wine not too strong nor too much at a time as Canary Malago Sherry Claret also Ale that is not Foul or Mudy Beer not too Stale Rasberry Cherry or Currant Wines new Milk but very little either of Whey Cyder or Gooseberry Wine or any sharp things by reason they cause Gripings and do much harm to Childing Women CHAP. VII Of Sleep Exercise Labour and great Noises as they tend to the Advantage or Prejudice of Women with Child AS for Sleep it must be Moderate and in seasonable times in the Night lying soft and easie shifting sides as often as she wakes Exercise Moderately performed helps the Birth by Loosing the Cotiledons or vessels of the Matrix whereby the Infant acquires it's Nourishment going a moderate Pace or riding softly is well but Jolting in Coaches Waggons or on Horse-back is very much to be avoided by reason they frequently occasion Abortion Too much Labour is hurtfull Yet as Aristotle observes moderate Labour contributes to a safe and easie Delivery because thereby those Excrements are Consumed which Sloath and Idleness would retain or rather Ingender And to keep her Belly soluble which in this Case is required she may take some Broth wherein Pruins are boiled stewed Apples Sugar with a little Butter Buglos Borrage Purslain Lettuce with a little of the
herb Mercury shread into Veal Broth. Great Noises are very hurtful as sound of Trumpets Bells beating of Drums and shooting of Artillery Also Thunder or the violent roaring of Water for upon any Frights or suddain Starts a Woman may easily Loose her Burthen especially the first Month for then the Embrio is not firmly fastened and tyed to the Womb and though in the succeeding Month it grows faster and bigger yet the weight may so press it on the Neck of the Womb that it may come forth untimely CHAP. VIII Of Purges to be Taken And of the Passions of the Mind A Gentle Purge may be convenient given on any occasion that requires it from the Fourth to the Seventh Month but after that it is neither Practicable nor by many held safe All things that violently provoke Urin and consequently will have an Influence in provoking the Courses are forbidden As also Phlebotomy or Blood Letting unless some great Necessity require it as the Woman being so full of Blood that it is feared it may stifle the Child with the over great quantity or in dangerous Diseases as the Plurisie c. For otherways the Blood being taken away when the Child is grown it causes a Leanness and decay of it for want of a due Nourishment it requiring now much more than when it was very little The Passions of the Mind are in this Case to be considered as either Good or Hurtful therefore the Childing Woman must prevail with herself as much as possibly she can to be Pleasant and Merry avoidding Melancholly Musing Thought or Vexing Grieving Freting falling into a suddain Anger Scolding or Exclaming neither ought she to be too violently Transported with Laughing Coughing Sneezing with suddain Joy at any surprizing News or Accident Or on the contrary Fear she must therefore have a setled and quiet Mind not subject to any Passions or Surprize that may be Injurious to what she carries in her Womb. She must not give Ear to Lamentable Tales sad and frightful Stories c. Nor see Fighting Fencing Bear-Baitings Executions or any Cruel and Unnatural Sights Avoid the Company as much as may be of Deformed Persons Antick Pictures c. Least the Imagination prove Strong and make some Impression or Similitude on the Faetus or Embrio And lastly as to these particulars when a Woman perceives herself with Child she must let out her Lacing and lay aside her Busk not only for her own ease which is proper enough but least the Child being straightened in the Womb become Writhed Crooked or Mis-shapen CHAP. IX How to prevent Diseases and other Griefs in a Childing Woman by Oyles Oyntments Fomentations and Internal Medicaments with the several Receipts to make and apply them HAving layed down Rules how a Childing Woman in sundry respects ought to mannage herself I now come to other particulars of as near a concern requisite to be taken notice of and done in the Ninth Month viz. To preserve Health Beauty and give a safe and easie Delivery In the first place then that her Breasts after her Delivery may not be too much puffed up and hang down like Bags hang during her Childing a little piece of Steel between them by a String or Chain fastened about her Neck and wash them with this Decoction or Fomentation pretty warm and often Take Sage Perriwinkle the herb Ground Ivy of each a handful Hemlock as much as you can hold between your fore-finger and Thumb bruise them and boil them in two quarts of water and one of Whitewine till a fourth part be consumed then put thereto a little Rose Vinegar and wash your Breasts This prevents them from Soreness and breaking after Delivery and from many other ill conveniencies That the Belly when the Child Quickens may be kept in order from Swelling or growing too Unweildy a Swathe is requisit made fit for the purpose to support it and to keep the Skin from Furrowing growing Knottey or full of broken Veins wrinkled Anoint it with this Pomander Take the Suet of a Young Kid and Hog's-Lard each three Ounces Goose-Grease and the Grease of a Capon each an Ounce and a Half melt them in an Earthen Vessel strain them when very hot into fair Water and Temper them in it till they become very White then melt them again adding an Ounce of Stags Marrow or Suet wash them in Rose-water and Anoint the Belly warm with it Or take Oyl of Roses an ounce and a half Oyle of St. John's Wort and sweet Almonds each two ounces May-butter and Oyl of Jessamin each half an ounce Sperma Ceti a quarter of an ounce melt these together and take a soft wash'd Leather Skin either Dog or Sheep made fit for the Belly Anoint it with these Oyntment This is usually required to be begun in the Fourth Month. In the Ninth Month The Woman being Healthy it is convenient that she walk gently before Meals for the first twelve or fifteen Days and after that undertake some moderate Business or convenient Exercise and if any Pains or Weakness happen make the following Bath viz. Take Marshmallows with their Roots and Motherwort each two handfuls white Lilly Roots three ounces Cammomile and Mellilot flowers each a handful Linseed Quince-seed and Fenigreek-seed each an Ounce Boil them in runing Water till a fifth part be consumed and let the Party Pattle in it and being well dryed put into a warm Bed her Belly about an hour after being supled with Oyl of Roses Cammomile and sweet Almonds CHAP. X. Of unreasonable Longings Hicup and Vomitings their Cause and Remedy Also Pains in the Stomach Belly Flanks c. Back Hips and Groin Difficulty of making Vrin Palpitation of the Heart and Swoonings Cough Sore Throat Costiveness and Laxativeness Swellings in the Legs and Thighs c. UNreasonable Longings are allayed frequently by eating Olives or Capers boiled Sallads Meats that are Fat and Sweet with Verjuce Orange Pomgranet Citron or any sharp Juice in their Sauces Some commend much Toasted Cheese and dryed Amillium and hot Spices in Meats or Drinks but no great quantity for then they are hurtful as also is much Drinking And for Drinks a Glass of Wormwood-Wine or Hidromel is very good And for this a gentle Purge may be given of Senna or Rhuebard boiled in White-wine about a quarter of a Pint being drunk warm Fasting The Hickup and distastefulness of Meats are very Incident to Women with Child and prove uneasie to the Child especially by weakening the Mother and thereby it being deprived of sufficient Nourishment causing her either to be Delivered Untimely or produce a Weakly Child Take to Prevent or Remedy these the Yolks of Eggs Veal Broth or Chicken Broth wherein Endive Succory and Lettuce have been shred with Beets and Winter-savory Anointing the Stomach and Belly with Oyl of Sweet Almonds and Oyl of Violets If the cause proceed from a sharp bitter Humour a gentle Purge is requisit to carry it downward that may occasion no
be done with Discretion least too much moisture loosen the Ligatures of the Womb and hasten the Delivery before it be convenient And among other Meats I recommend Veal Necks of Mutton Place Flounders Baked Apples Pruens Salads of Lettuce Pursleaine Endive and all strengthening Broths without Spice or Saltness Then Take half an ounce of the Tops of Senne bruize it with three Scruples of Antimony infuse them in half a Pint of Sherry over a gentle Fire and Drink it hot Laxativeness immoderately is as hurtful as the other for it puts the Woman very much in danger of Coming before her Time and if it be not in time stayed it is in likely-hood to turn to the Bloody-Flux and there it often proves fatal To stay this Take Conserve of Red-Roses half an ounce Baum and Mint tops Conserved each a quarter of an ounce Syrup of Sloes an ounce put these into a pint of Red-Wine mingle them well over a gentle Fire and drink it Morning Noon and Night pretty hot And for greater assureance Administer a moderately astringent Clyster viz. Of Plantain Camomile Mellilot Borrage and Burglos Decocted in Whey or Skim-milk adding two ounces of the Oyl of Violets Swelling in the Thighs and Leg are many times incident to Women with Child especially to those that before were wont to have strong Purgations for the Blood being more than is required for Nourishment alters and converts to Waterish or Dropsical Humours But Women of Chollerick Constitutions are seldom subject to this because their great Heat dries up this Moisture and these accidents usually happen the first four Months yet if not removed they many times remain to the Delivery A good wholesome moderate Diet in this case must be used rubbing the parts afflicted often with a warm Wollen-cloth wrap them up hard and warm with Ash Leaves or Vine Leaves applyed next Anointed with Oyl of Roses dissolved Camphire and the Juice of Sage Marjorum and Oyl of Rosemary CHAP. XI To prevent a Womans Coming before her Time Signs of Abortion or Miscarriage With proper Remedies against them COming before the Time is called a Shift or Sliping away and Abortion in many Cases though the Women call it a Mischance The Slip is before the Womb can properly be said to be shut or it may be afterwards till such time the Child receives some manner of Form or Shape Abortion is that which happeneth after Forty days and sometimes to the beginning of the Ninth Month it being a violent Expulsion or Exculsion of the Child Formed and possessed with Life before the time Nature has prefixed This happens sundry ways by Accidents as Agues Frights Flux of the Blood or Belly Vomitings violent Sickness over Stiring or the like Also from excess of Venery Passions of the Mind Choller Sadness excessive Longings or strong Potions or Purges or from the Weakness of the Child wanting Nourishment and sometimes from its being too Big and Unweildy so that the Womb can no longer contain it whose strugling causes the Womb to Relax and Dilate it self and so it forces it's Way Sometimes from Leanness and at other times from too much Fulness or Fatness a Medium being the best for Women in Child-bearing Signs of Abortion viz. When the Milk flows abundantly in the Breasts and comes much out without any Compression yet they remain Soft and Limber if there be a bad Colour on the Nipple as Blew Yellow Duskey c. When Water then Blood and Slimy matter and lastly Blood flows from Natures Secrets To Remedy these there must be a respect had to the Causes in Sickness of timely care must be taken for sutable Remedies all excess of Labour or Excercise must be avoided and wholesome Diet taken with some gentle Purges and if occasion require it especially in those that are Sanguine a moderate Bleeding for too much Blood or too much Nourishment is mainly Prejudicial as well as too little The Mother must be of as Merry a Temper as she can nay seek for occasions to Divert avoiding occasions of Grief Fretting or Pining especially near the time of her Delivery Let her keep her Chamber if not her Bed using Nourishing Meats easie of Digestion and drinking Cordials or strengthening Liquors Take Syrup of Borrage Burdocks and Roses in Red-Wine warm The The Syrup of Citron and Mirabolans in Milk sweetned with Sugar-Candy The distilled Water of Comfery Sage or Clary And Anoint the Belly with Oyl of Dill Lavender and some drops of Oyl of Cloves Binding or Swathing it moderately Oyl of Mirtle and Mastick is very good where the Party is of a Cold or Phlegmatick Complexion or Constitution A Sear-cloth of Oxcycrotium Diaculum sprinkled over with a little Mirrh and Nutmeg finely Powdered is a great Strengthener for the Back and Flanks helps the Womb to retain the Infant and prevents untimely Birth Thus having proceeded all along by such easie Methods as brings a Woman to the true time of her Delivery I shall now Treat of what is requisit in that Nature CHAP. XII How a Woman is to be Ordered when she comes to her Delivery and to know when it is Labour or not THE Time of Delivery hastening no delay must be made for such things as are convenient A Midwife ought to be attenting sometime of waiting is required before she can perform her Office there being many things to be done in order to cause an easie and safe Delivery The Woman must be kept waking for too much Sleep or Drousiness to which they are prone causes Nature to be less Active And this may be done if she be not weak by walking up and down her Chamber and lying down by turns to rest There being a good Fire and all things necessary to prevent her catching Cold and to Fortifie her to undergo the Travel Yet not so much but that she may Sleep moderatly to ease the tirements of Nature and waking take some refreshing Cordials and strengthening Broths The time of Delivery being come which is known by these Signs viz. The Midwife must consider whether the upper part of the Belly seem as it were Empty and the lower very Big and full stretched Enquire of the Childing Woman how she stands affected as to Pains and in what manner they come and go whether Little or Great or Frequent Whether they begin at the Back and proceed to run down the Belly not staying at the Navel but pass to the Groin and end in the bottom of the Belly inwardly or the inner Neck of the Womb and from these she may gather how near a Woman is to her Delivery for they are Signs of her speedy falling in Travel especially upon the dilating the outward and inward Orifice If the Water descends or there be any Flowings then the Midwife must place herself conveniently near the Woman and proceed in her Office in which for Manners sake I shall not give here Directions as knowing there are many Judicious Midwives who need them not my Main Scope
Child in it's Dressings Lying Sleeping Diet c. WHen the Child is opened to be Dressed before a Fire Rub and chafe the Back Belly and Hips gently with your Hand sometimes rubing your hand over with Oyl of Roses or sweet Almonds This loosens the Skin and supples the Flesh stirs the Humours from setling too much in the Joynts or any of the outward parts and makes it grow And above all beware not to Swathe it too hard yet so that it may not Lax or warp in any of it's Members And when it is placed in the Cradle take care it lies not too long on the Back or on one side but shift and turn it the Head being kept a little raised that the Excrements may more easily flow from the Brain through the Emunctories Let the Cradle be placed in a convenient warm Room or Chamber not subject to too great a Light or too much Gloomyness for a great Light is offensive to the Eyes Brain of a Child they being but weak for a considerable time after the Birth and too much dark keeps them so and oppresses it by stiring up the Melancholly Humour Too much Heat is apt to make it catch cold when it comes into the Air. And cold cause flegmatick Humours which glutination occasion stuffings or stopping in the Head and therefore the Medium is to be preferred Set not the Cradle or Bed too near a Window or Fire least the Light of either attract its Eyes and by straining awry to look at it becomes squinting But let it be placed rather right against the Light that it may look directly forward And as for Sleeping untill he be two Years Old there need be no restraint of it but rather when it is Froward or Restless means used to provoke Sleep unless imoderate Sleep as sometimes it happens be occasioned by a defect in Nature as too great a Moisture or Wateryness of the Brain c. Then such Remedies must be used as may Remedy it viz. Boil Cinamon Mace or Nutmeg in the Milk or give it some of the distilled Water of these in a little Wine Suckling the Child must be had a regard to as to the Manner and Quality As to the first of these sometimes spirt some Milk either upon its Lips or into its Mouth and if it 's drawing be strong gently squeez the breast with your finger that the Milk may flow and become more easie so that it may rather seem a Pleasure than Pain but so that it may not swallow too fast for fear of a suffocation or too great an oppression of the Stomach As to the second the quantity cannot easily be set down some Children according to their stronger or weaker Constitutions requiring more than others and therefore the Nurses discretion must proportion it for too much is almost as bad as too little for this breeds gross Humours as the other on the contrary causes a Pining or Wasting And it is held for the first five days Suckling twice a day is sufficient and so as it gathers strength the times may be increased but not too many as many Foolish Nurses do claping the Child to the Breast every time it Cries and seems froward Sweetness and Cleanlyness about Children much contributes to their Health and Growth and this must be observed often especially when it Wakes or is taken up And above all avoid Frighting them for that makes them many times fall into Fits and Epilepsies or falling Sickness and indeed intimidates their Spirits by making so early an impression on them that growing up with them they are apt to suddain Frights Startings and fears at the fancy of Goblings Spectres and such Old Wives Tales as they have been Bug-bear'd with in their Infancy But not to dwell longer upon what every Skillful Nurse cannot but understand I shall proceed to what is more Material viz. To Treat of the Diseases incident to Children and prescribe proper Remedies which a Nurse by these directions may give them for the restoring Health c. CHAP. XVIII Of the Diseases Incident to Children With their Cure HUrts and Bruises often happen to a Child coming out of the Womb especially in hard Labour and when any such appear immediately make a Fomentation of Roses Melilot Cammomile Flowers and St. John's wort in White-wine and bathe the parts with it warm Anointing it afterward with a mixture of the Oyl of these Give it a little Black-Cherry-Water or Canary wherein Saffron has been tempered and let it rest laying a Lenitive Plaister of White-bread and Bole-Armoniack boild in Milk Swelling of the Head has sometimes it's beginning from the Womb for the Mother being with Child and not careful of her Diet Crudities and Raw Humours are thereby gathered and breed a Waterish Blood which the Child feeding on and not able to digest or evacuate during it's being in the Matrix it settles in the Head and causes Swellings and sometimes from other Causes viz. Windyness c. If it proceeds from Water it subjects the Child to Vertigo's and Epilepsies little Sleep much Fretfulness and Crying Wind causes Pains and Drowsiness for these let the Child have pleasant Scents to refresh the Brain as Flowers or Spices but not any strong Perfumes Give not any thing that breeds much moisture or Phlegme or any ways subjects it to Windyness Wash the Head with the decoction of Sage Bettony Agrimony Calamint Anny-seeds Fennel-seeds Flowers of Cammomile Red-Roses boiled in spring Water And lay to the Crown of the Head and Temples a Plaister viz. Bees-wax an ounce Oyl of Cammomile and Roses and Vnguentum Comitissae each half an ounce Sage and Bettony Dryed to powder each two dreams and give it a little Manna disolved in Milk that may gently move the Humours Children have sometimes excrescences of Flesh on the Roofs of their Mouths The Lips cleft commonly called a Hare-Lip And to Remedy these it is properly a Surgeons business and beyond the Sphere of Nurses by reason they require Incision and therefore I forbear to give directions in them and require the Nurse or Parents as soon as the Child is of strength to endure the operation to send for an ingenious Artist to Remedy these defects Diseases in the Eyes Ears and Nose often happen and for the first if there be a Dullness of Sight Redness or Watery Rheums in the Eyes wash them with Plantain and Eyebright Water Morning Evening beat up a Yolk of an Egg with some Oyl of Roses a Rotten Apple some Crumbs of White-bread and a little Bole-Armorick spread it thinn upon a fine Cloath and clap another very thin Cloath upon it to prevent it's going into the Childs Eyes and so bind it over them when it is layed down to rest and renew it every six hours and the effects will answer your Expectation If the Nose be stoped with Slimy or Tough Matter so that there is a great difficulty in Breathing then dip a Lint in Vnguentum Rosatum and thrust up
the Nose and when it is taken out spurt up a little White-wine to make it sneze and keep it very warm If the Eares run or are stoped up drop in a drop or two of the Oyl of bitter Almonds once or twice a day cleansing them with Lint twisted at the end of a small Bod-kin or Wyer diped in Bettony-water If the Eares be Fretted behind or Galled take Nut Oyl half an ounce the like quantity of White Bees-wax and a little of the Juice of Housleek temper them over a gentle Fire till they may be spread like a Plaister and apply it to the Sore part If an Vlcer or Thrush happen in the Childs Mouth disolve a quarter of an ounce of Allom in an ounce of honey made thin with White-wine and Gargle the Mouth with it Then Cool the Mouth with Honey of Roses Syrup of Violets and Plantain Water well mixed together Inflamation or Sweling in the Gums to Remedy it Rub the Nape of the Neck the Jaws and Temples with Oyl of Roses as also the Gums with Honey of Roses and then the Juice of St. John's-wort well Incorporated over a gentle Fire laying a hot Figg flit in sunder to the Swelled place The string under the Tongue sometime comes from the bottom and reaches to the tip This requires only to be cut with a very small Instrument to a convenient proportion that the tongue may neither be straightned nor loll out to hinder the utterance of words and to cure the pain it may occasion rub it with honey The Cough is dangerous to little children by making them Strain cast too much To remedy it take a little Licorice Aniseeds Figs and a blade or two of Mace boil them well in Ale sweeten it with white Sugar-Candy and give the Child a spoonfull or two at a time pretty warm The Navel swelling is another Grief Incident to Children wherefore when it is any ways Inflamed anoint it with Vnguentum Rosatum and Populeon mixed together and give it cooling things so the swelling will abate by swathing gently with a Linnen Cloth and laying on a Poultis of Mallows Cammomile and Hoggs-Lard Griping and Fretting of the Bowels occasioned by too much Moistness or Saltness is not only Painful but Dangerous to Children For this a Clister of cooling Herbs boiled in Milk and seasoned with Sugar is a seasonable relief taking immediately after it a dram of Venice Treacle disolved in a spoonful of Treacle-water Worms are very frequent and troublesome in Children Taints their Breath and makes them Pine away whether in the Belly or Stomach Therefore to remove them with the slimy cold Humour they are bred of Boil some Tops of Rhue in White-Wine sweeten it and give the Child Morning and Night very warm Then Cummin-seed Navel-wort mix with them a little Ox-gall and grated Nutmeg lay them between two thin Cloaths and apply them warm to the Belly and Stomach Teeth in Breeding cause Pain and many times Feavours To make them breed easily beat Corral to Powder mix it in a little dissolved Allom and Honey rub the Gums hard with it and it will make way for the Teeth to come out the easier And if notwithstanding they come not forward kindly an incision may be made in the Gums And to asswage and ease the Pain in breeding Teeth string the small Roots of Smallage like a Neck-lace and tye it about the Childs Neck Convulsions or Fits of the Mother are very dangerous and troublesome For this anoint the Stomach and Temples with Oleum Ireum or with Oyl of Lillies give it agrain of Bezor in a spoonful of Plantain-water and Bathe the Forehead with the distilled Water of sweet Marjorum Ruptures or the falling down of the Tail-gut must be taken speedy care of This happens sometimes to come into the World with them To remedy this the parts swelling Out or falling Down may be bathed with the Decoction of Roses Melilot Flowers of Cammomile Knot-grass in fair-water Then apply this Plaister to the Part or as near as may be viz. Take Powder of Mastick Olibanum and Sarcocol each a dram Syprus-Nuts two drams bees-wax and Oyl of Mastick each half an ounce make them into a Plaister over a gentle fire by well mixing bind and keep up the parts and let the Feeding for sometime be sparing especially give nothing that causes Windyness or Cold afflicting Humours that Lax the Parts and mainly occasion these defects but rather take such things as are Drying and Restringent To retain Urin and not Piss a Bed Take the Powder of a dryed Acorn and that of the Inner Skin of the Gizard of a Capon give a dram at a time in a spoonful of White-wine CHAP. XIX Of the Small Pox in Children It 's Cause Symptoms and Cure THe Small Pox is a Disease very incident to Children and is so generally known that I need not use many words to describe it It proceeds from adust Blood mixt with Flegm and Choller and always beginneth with a Fever soon after which there ariseth small Pustula's upon the Skin throughout all the Body which do not suddenly come forth but by intermission in some more or less according to the quality of the Body infected therewith If these Pustula's appear red with general pain and great heat in the Body it is a sign it proceeds from Blood If they come from Choller they will appear of a Yellowish Red and Clear Colour with a Pricking Pain in all the Body But if they come of Flegm they will appear of a Whitish colour and scaly And if they come of Melancholy they will appear Blackish with a pricking Pain When they appear in a short time and look red in their coming out and white after they are come forth growing speedily to Maturation and that the Child draws its Breath easily and the Fever leaves it there is great hopes of its recovery But when the Pox lies hidden within and appears not outwardly or if after they are come out they strike in again and Vanish away or if they look of a Black Blewish and Green colour and are attended with difficulty of Breathing and a Flux or Lask also when the Pox run together in Blisters like scalding Bladders and then on the sudden do sink down and grow dry with a hard black Scar or Crust as if it had been burnt with a hot Iron all these are very ill signs and denotes Death In the Cure of this distemper the usual way is to let Blood in the Basilica Vein in the right Arm But in Children and those that are very weak I hold it better to let it alone and leave the work to Nature especially in Sucking Children For when we see Nature endeavouring to expel the Malignity we ought not to use any means at-all but leave the whole Operation to Nature which we must only help by keeping the Body in a reasonable heat But if the Pox is slow in coming forth you must help Nature with Cordials
and by sweat to thrust it out from the interriour Principal Parts For which purpose the following Drink is excellent good Take a quart of Posset-ale and a handful of Fennel-seed boil them together till a third part be consumed then strain it and add thereto one dram of Treacle and one scruple of Saffron in Powder mix them together and give two three or four ounces thereof to drink Mornings and Evenings as the case requireth But if the Child be so weak that it cannot expel the Disease in convenient time then Epithemate the heart with the following Epithemation â„ž Aquarum ros Melissae Card. B. 6. Bugloss Morsus Diaboli vini alb of each 4 ounces Aceti Ros two ounces and a half Pul. Ros Rub. Trium Sanal Cinamoni Elect. Diamorg frigid of each half a dram Mithridate one ounce Treacle four drams mix all these together and let them boil a little and so warm Epithemate the heart When you have done this give some expulsive Drink or Electuary as the Cause requires and cause him to sweat upon it When the Pox are come out to prevent Dis-figuring the Face as Pitting besure let them alone till they grow white and come to maturation and then open every Pustula on the top with a Pin and then thrust out the Matter very gently with a soft Linnen Cloth and if you perceive them to fill again open them as you did at first for if you suffer the Matter which is in them to remain overlong it will fret and corrode the Flesh which causes those Pits that remain after the small Pox is gone When you have done this anoint the place with the following Oyntment Take Elder-leaves one handful Marigolds two handfuls French Mallows one handful Barrows Grease six Ounces bruise the Herbs in a Morter and then boil them with the Grease in a Pewter Dish on a Chafing-dish of Coals until the Juice of the Herbs be consumed then strain it and anoint the face therewith The best time to make it is in the middle or latter end of May. You must anoint the place grieved with a Feather and as it drieth in anoint it again and so continue it and it will soon dry them up and keep the place from Pits and Holes Also if you annoint the Pox with the Oyl of Sweet-Almonds newly drawn three or four times a day which you must besure to do as soon as the Pocks are grown white and come to maturation it will Cure them without Pits or Spots and easeth the Pain and burning If after the Pocks are come out they do not grow to Maturation you may help it by this decoction Take Mallows one handful Figs twelve in Number Water a quart cut the Figs small and boil all together until half or more be Consumed and then wet a fine soft Linnen Cloth therein and touch the Place therewith oftentimes and it will soon bring them to Maturation CHAP. XX. Of Barrenness Shewing the Signs of Insufficiency in Men and Women and Remedies against it With other choice Secrets IF it be a Blessing to have Children as certainly it is then Barrenness must needs be a great Curse We will therefore enquire into the different kinds and occasions of it Barrenness is Natural and Accidental Natural Barrenness is that which happens to Women when there appears no visible obstruction either in her or her Husband Which may proceed from a Natural Cause for where both Men and Woman are of one Complexion or Constitution they rarely have any Children For if the Constitution of the Woman be hot and dry as well as of the Man there can be no Conception and if on the contrary the Man should be of a cold and moist Constitution as well as the Woman the effect would be the same And the way to help this is for Young People before they Marry to observe each others Constitutions if they design to have Children For Discordant Natures make the only harmony in the work of Generation There is another Cause of Natural Barrenness also which is occasion'd by letting Young Virgins Blood in the Arm before their Monthly Courses are come down which is usually in the fourteenth and fifteenth Years of their Age and sometimes perhaps before the thirteenth but never before the twelfth For being before those Purgations usually indisposed by fulness of Blood they commonly open a Vein in the Arm which being often repeated diverts the Blood from its proper Channel that it comes not down into the Womb which by that means dries up and the Young Woman is thereby rendred Barren The way to prevent which is to let no Virgin Blood in the Arm till her Courses are well come down but rather in the Foot which will be a means to draw the Courses downwards Another Cause of Barrenness is the Debility of Persons in Copulation if Persons perform not that Act with all the Heat and Ardour that Nature requires they may as well let it alone and expect to have Children without it For Frigidity and Coldness never produces Conception To help this such things are to be taken as do increase the Seed and stir up to Venery and further Conception viz. Eggs Milk Rice boil'd in Milk Sparrows Brains Flesh Bones and all the Stones and Pizzles of Bulls Bucks Rams Boars also Cock-stones Lamb-stones Partridge Quails and Pheasants Eggs. And take this for a Rule That whatever any Creature is addicted unto they stir up the same quality in the Man or Woman that Eats them And therefore Partridges Quails Sparrows c. being extreamly addicted to Venery work the same effect in those Men and Women that Eat them And in what part of the Body the Faculty which you wou'd strengthen lies take the same part of the Body of another Creature in whom that Faculty is strong as a Medicine As to the present purpose The Procreative Faculty lies in the Testicles therefore Cock-stones Lamb-stones c. are proper to stir up Venery This also is a choice Secret That all Creatures that are fruitful being eaten makes them fruitful that Eats them But that it may be known whether the Cause of Barrenness be in Man or Woman I shall briefly shew the signs of Insufficiency in either Signs and Causes of Insufficiency in Man may be the Vitiousness in the Yard by being Crooked distorted or broken whereby the ways and passages through which the Seed should flow come to be stopped Also the Weakness and Tenderness of the Yard whereby it is not strongly enough erected to inject the Seed into the Womb Also if the Stones are hurt so that they cann't perform their Office in producing Seed or if they be oppress'd with any Tumor or Inflamation or drawn up within the Belly not appearing outwardly These are Signs of Insufficiency and Causes of Barrenness Drunkenness and Gluttony and other Excesses do also hinder Men from Fruitfulness and make 'em unfit for Generation Signs and Causes of Insufficiency in Women are many Little Women are generally more apt to conceive than Great and Slender than Gross also those that are Black than those that are Pale and Wan To have the Veins very conspicuous and the Breasts large betokens Fruitfulness And the others are the contrary The Irregularity of the monthly Courses the straitness of the Pudenda or Privities whereby Women become Imperforate the Immoderate moisture of the Womb which destroys the Seed also the Immoderate heat of the Womb are all Signs of Insufficiency and Causes of Barrenness in Women If you would know whether the fault lies in the Man or the Woman Sprinkle the Mans Urine upon one Lettice Leaf and the Womans upon another and that which dries away first is unfruitful Also take five Wheat Corns and seven Beans put them into an Earthen Pot and let the Party make Water therein let this stand seven Days and if in that time they begin to Sprout then the Party is fruitful but if they Sprout not then the Party is Barren whether it be Man or Woman This is a certain Sign FINIS