no passage as witnesseth Galen in diuers places Now if any will deny the truth of this point in the first place I answer that as I grant that sometimes there my be notwithstanding that which hath bene said some euacuation during that time and that some part of the same matter might be conueyed into the bladder yet this cometh to passe but very seldome and in a few And againe this would make more against them for all that is by the learned at the most granted in this case is that the vrine may sometimes declare a retention and stopping of the menstruous fluxe whereof if any part during their being with child is voyded foorth as sometimes some women haue some to spare the vrine can no more declare any stoppage of this fluxe and by consequent nothing concerning the conception vnlesse thou wouldest imagine that there be certaine ideas or shapes and pictures of young children conueyed at that time into the vrines of women with child And yet if this were true who told these vrine-mongers that the wombe daunced attendance on the bladder to voyde their seuerall excretions at one and the same time But put yet the case that some part of this menstruous fluxe now and then issuing out at the common conduit with the vrine might shew vs something yet could it not follow but that a number of other signes were also necessarie as hereafter shall appeare Their chiefe ring-leader Actuarius himselfe confesseth that the vrine alone is not able to leade vs vnto this truth Moreouer Aristotle acknowledgeth that the vrines of women with child do differ according to the time that is past since the conception so that there is not one certaine vrine whereon to repose our iudgement And according to the opinion of diuerse others the vrines of women with child alter almost euery day One of these vrines therefore shall neuer giue notice of the conception although it might be sometimes discerned by the vrine And is not this absurditie to presume to know that by one signe which many ioyned together can hardly declare vnto vs Diuerse contents are set downe by some authors following Auicenna which are said to be found in such vrines which neuerthelesse haue bene often obserued as well in the vrines of citizens as countrey people of the malekinde who I am sure were neuer so much as suspected to be with child A certain practicall Professor of the vniuersity of Pisa in Italie saith Scribonius a graue ancient Physitian was wont to say that such as trusted most to this prediction were most of all deceiued and yet he neuer yet in his life time had obserued any such vrines in women with child as Auicenna describeth and that moreouer he had often obserued such contents in mens vrines Adde yet this argument to the former that the conception as also the further growth of the child in the wombe is properly a naturall action and no disease at all for this cause their vrines ought to differ little or nothing from other healthfull womans waters especially in the first moneths as I haue my selfe often obserued Againe what if a woman with child be surprised with some acute disease as commeth often to passe will this then thinke you make no alteration in the vrine And if there were any certainty in this signe alone what needed our Physitians trouble themselues with so many and oftentimes all will not serue the turne Let it therefore remaine firme and â—â—able that no certainty can be collected by the sole obseruation of this signe and that to maintaine the same is nothing else but meere imposture and cozâ—â—age But that this is not mine owne priuate opinion onely I will now make it appeare heare therefore some of our learned Physitians deliuer their owne minds that out of the mouth of many witnesses this truth may be confirmed Let Rondeletius first speake It would seeme saith he iustifiable as well by reason as by experience that the vrine may giue vt certaine and assured notice of a womans being with child And D. Gabride said he knew it as assuredly as if he had seene a child in the vrine But of another opinion are all the ancient Physitians who haue left vs no signes of the same in the vrine as also reason it selfe teacheth vs no lesse For since the birth or conception is without the veines and the vrine chiefly giueth vs notice of such diseases as are contained within the veines it can giue vs no certaine assurance of this matter vnlesse we ioyne therewith all other signes as the retention of her monethly disease swelling of her bellie she notwithstanding enioying her perfect health c. Heare now the opinion of some of our Italian Physitians and first of all let the learned Mercuriall vtter his mind Be it knowne notwithstanding that I am not altogether of the Arabian Physitians mind who haue deuised certaine contents which are not to be found in vrines to wit certaine grounds like vnto carded wooll little motes c. No more am I of that opinion that a Physitian may assuredly know by the vrine whether a woman be with child or no by reason that of all the signes which Hippocrates hath in diuers places set downe there is not one that we can certainly trust to The same opinion is by his countrey man Sauonarola yet seconded But here we must be very circumspect in regard that all these signes of conception may sometimes be without the same as in the stoppage of her monethly course ioyned with a false conception in which case many famous Physitians haue bene deceiued and their too forwardnesse hath turned to their great disgrace and infamie as it befell two learned and skilfull Physitians in the Vniuersitie of Pauie Marsilius de sancta Sophia and Petrus de Tussignano both in my time Let yong Physitians therefore be carefull that with the vrine they ioyne all the other signes belonging to conception amongst which one is chiefe which belongeth to the midwife to find out c. And Leo Roganus a learned Romane Physitian is of no other opinion The vrines of women with child saith he differ nothing but by accident from other womens to wit that then in such women as well the action of the stomacke as the appetite and concoction vse ordinarily to be troubled And yet such is the blockâ—shnesse and stupiditie of some Physitians that they are perswaded women with child make vrines differing from other womens It is true that in women with child that bloud which was wont to be voyded monethly is now stayed and kept in wherefore because the same in the first moneths especially not being wholly spent on the nourishment of the child as being then but small it commeth to passe that the action of the stomacke as likewise the appetite together with the concoction are not a litle troubled And therefore being often by reason of their longing desires carried away
with a desire of such things as engender little good nourishment they engender great store of crudities which may plainly be seene by their vrines the which are also common to all such as abound in crudities To the former we will adde yet a late writer of the same nation because he speaketh so plainly and to the purpose The booke was first written in the Italian tongue and since translated into French out of the which I haue translated this parcell Truth it is that we must not altogether relie vpon the vrine to know whether a woman be with child or no. For the vrine can giue thee no further assurance of the same then by the retention of her accustomed monethly course and by the which we do commonly collect some presumption of conception Now it may easily come to passe that a woman may be surprised with many infirmities which may hide and darken the principall signe of conception if any there were in the vrine such as be headach any cold especially being accompanied with a cough cruditie or indigestion of the stomacke great paine in the kidneyes c. And which is yet more the eating of raw fruite sallets milke porke pease sperage cabbage artichocks mushromes and many other such kind of food not being ordinarie or vsuall to the partie are sufficient to alter and change not the colour onely but the contents of the vrine also Moreouer the vrine doth most properly and assuredly declare vnto vs the infirmities of the parts from whence it commeth and through the which at length it passeth For the which cause it is more then manifest that there is no assured knowledge to be had by the vrine concerning the conception no more then by the retention of her monethly course sinâ—e that without conception the foresaid retention and stopping is found as well in maides as in married women The last and most certaine signe of conception is when as the child beginneth to stirre and moue Mercatus a learned Spaniard after he hath set downe a number of other signes at length addeth these words As concerning the vrine howbeit in this case it doth affoord vs but a very vncertaine iudgement yet may we sometimes draw some certainty out of the same But how I pray thee By obseruing her seuerall vrines at diuerse times beginning with the first moneth of supposed conception and so obseruing the seuerall alterations vntill the time of her deliuery approach Then withall setteth he downe all the seuerall trials which the famous Hippocrates hath left vnto vs all which were needlesse and superfluous if the vrine of it selfe were sufficient for this purpose Now let vs adde yet one storie of the deceitfulnesse of this signe in conception recorded by a learned Germane Physitian Franciscus Emericus Doctor in Physicke and of the chaire in the Vniuersitie of Vienna in his discourse entituled whether the obseruation of the pulse or of the vrine doth affoord vnto the Physitian more certaine and assured foreknowledge of the life or death of the patient and printed anno 1557. relatetâ— that in the yeare 1555. in the Citie of Vienna a certaine friend of mine saith he called Georgius Rithamerus a man of singular learning being very desirous of issue came to one of the Physitians of the Colledge of best note bringing with him his wiues vrine to know whether she were with child as he deemed or no. The Physitian vpon the bare sight of the vrine onely did peremptorily affirme that she was for certaine with child and that of a boy After the which time Rithamerus began quite to distaste me and that onely by reason that vpon the sight of her vrine together with diuers other signes and circumstances thereto belonging I had deliuered my opinion that she was not at all with child And besides he prouided with all expedition both midwife nurse and all other things belonging to that businesse It was afterwards constantly and confidently euery where noysed abroad that she was with child The women her attendants by reason of some accidents wherewith she was now and then troubled appointed her diuerse baths by meanes whereof being surprised with the falling sicknesse she was in a very short time freed from all the miseries of this mortall life Of whose death being aduertised I did very earnestly intreate the aforesaid Rithamerus that both in regard of that ancient bond of loue and amitie betwixt him and me as likewise to finde out the whole truth of this matter he would be pleased to giue way to the opening of the dead corps The which at length being ouercome as well by my earnest suing vnto him as for the great and earnest desire he had to be resolued of the truth of the matter he did willingly yeeld vnto In making the incision we began first with the muscles of the neather bellie discouering such parts as before were hid afterwards ripping vp the peritonaeum we proceeded to the place where the wombe was situate and although we did perceiue it to be but very small and to containe nothing within it yet to the end we might the more clearly see the truth with our eyes we ript it vp also and found it cleane and empty of any thing within it Now in her life time she was of a whitish bleake colour and of a cachecticall disposition and had neuer in all her life time borne any child from whence I did by very probable coniccture collect that she was troubled with some other infirmitie For the which cause we proceed still in our incision towards the stomacke whereas betwixt the peritonaeum and the guts we found good store of water which did according to the motion of the body fall sometimes to the right and sometimes to the left side and from hence arose this erronius opinion of the supposed motion of a liue child This being after this manner finished I spake after this manner My good friend George you see now after what manner your wife proueth with child And he seeing the case so plaine did ingenuously acknowledge that he had wrongfully and vndeseruedly bene offended with me and withall did freely acknowledge his errour Witnesses with me at this incision were Doctor lacobus Walch companion with me in my Italian studies as also Andreas Perlachius a great Mathematician being also the onely man who had so stedfastly maintained that she was with child Now with two instances of mine owne experience I will finish this point A Gentlewoman dwelling neere Northampton some yeares ago sent me her vrine which in euery respect as well in colour as contents resembled the vrine of an healthfull yong man Hauing found out by some circumstances that it was a womans I began to suspect that which afterwards proued true that she was with child The messenger demanding whether she was not entred into a Dropsie I replied I rather enclined to the opinion that she was with child the which proued to be true The
seruant confessed another Physitian had before put her in needlesse feare of a Dropsie The Gentlewoman afterwards conceiued a better opinion of my skill in this point then I confesse it deserued The same Haruest within seuen miles of this towne of Northampton a Lady great with child being now within two moneths at most of her deliuerie sent me first her vrine and then desired mine owne personall presence for some infirmitie whereof she then complained The vrine sent resembled as the former the vrine of a lustie young man in the Aprill of his age I obserued it very narrowly and yet could I discerne none of those Arabian contents neither cardedwooll flaxe nor huswiues cloth Being afterwards with her I found no alteration in her vrine saue that it was paler coloured which was made in the night and higher coloured which was made in the day time contrarie to that which we commonly obserue and yet neither of them exceeding the colour of a cholericke mans vrine The Gentlewoman had bene for a long time euen before her being with child much troubled with a hote and feauer-like distemper This point then being cleared we proceed now to the sexe where we shall find no lesse vncertaintie then in the former CHAP. V. That the sexe cannot be discerned by the Vrine NO lesse absurd an opinion then the former is it to hold that the sexe may absolutely by the vrine be discerned As for the sexe in the wombe the same reasons which were brought against the discerning of the conception by the vrine will here take hold also As for the discerning of the sexe in those of riper yeares the reason would seeme to be more fauourable The chiefe and principall reason alledged for this is because men are commonly of an hoter constitution then women which is the cause that their vrines are dyed of an higher colour and moreouer that the contents in womens vrines in regard of their idle and sedentarie life do often exceed mens in quantitie But this must not simply be considered but as we commonly say caeteris paribus that is a man of a good and laudable constitution of body vsing diet answerable both in quantitie and qualitie and auoiding idlenesse a woman likewise of a colder complexion as often they are vsing moderate diet a sedentary and lazie life auoyding hote diet If I say one should bring thee two such vrines demanding to know which were the mans and which the womans then without great difficultie mightest thou giue out a right verdict But if one shold bring vnto thee two vrines the one of a man the other of a woman the one not differing from the other and the womans perhaps higher in colour and thinner in substance which may by diuerse meanes come to passe thou shouldest giue wrong sentence then being thus gulled thou mightest be made a gazing stocke to thy neighbours by reason of thy peremptorie opinion Now that some women are of an hoter constitution of bodie then some men I thinke who so denieth deserueth rather to haue his pate purged then to be dealt with with by any reason I my selfe haue also knowne many a man make paler vrines with greater quantitie of contents then women which may easily come to passe by reason of great quassing daintie fare and abundance of ease and idlenesse the engendrers of all manner of crudities Haue we not now adayes more then a good many whose God is their guts Fruges consumere nati on whose vrines thou mightest long looke before thou couldst discerne any thing materiall or to the purpose As for out women what if their Liuer and Kidneyes be hote as I haue not seldome obserued may not this bring forth an high water and will not obstructions easily depriue it of contents But especially if these women be well acquainted with a pipe of Tobacco a cup of good sherry Sacke Malago or Canary or yet a cup of good â—appy Ale well brewed with sugar nutmegge and ginger may it not now and then not onely colour the vrines but make their faces flourish with some orientall carbuncles and rubies Besides the former reasons will not fasting watching perturbations of the mind diet in quantitie and qualitie with diuerse other things moe alter the vrine as well in man as in woman It were perhaps an easier matter to obserue this difference in some hoter climat then our owne to wit in France Spaine or Italy where women drinke more water then with vs especially in Italie where the women are caged vp like linnets to sing and are not so busie with the fruite of the grape nor with the strong barley water as our British women If I should instance also in our virgins more manlike then many men how were any able to contradict it But if I should send to the cunningest pisse-prophet in this kingdome the vrine of some Hermaphrodite or man-woman what would or could they say and to which of the sexes would they ascribe the vrine Now that some such are to be found cannot be denied It hath bene holden for a truth in all ages and of late yeares a learned Physitian hath written a booke concerning that subiect where he bringeth in a number of histories of ancient and later times I haue bene also credibly informed of some such who haue liued here in these parts of the countrey But if the woman shall be surprised with any hote and acute disease as the vrine is seldome sent to the Physitian but in sicknesse will not these confound thy iudgement Now if the sexe cannot be discerned by the vrine in persons of yeares what absurditie is it to demand the knowledge hereof in a woman with child where the conception it selfe cannot be thereby discerned as also where there are so many rubs in the way It is also worth the obseruation that whereas that learned Mercatus discourseth of all the signes whereby one may know whether a woman be with child of a male or female where he omitteth not so much as the blowing of the wind yet speaketh he not so much as one word concerning the vrine no more do many other authors of best note Iean Marinello among many moe setteth downe many signes to discerne the sexe in the wombe yet speaketh he not so much as one word of the vrine Other authors for breuitie I will passe by I cannot but wonder what should moue our vrine-mongers to be so peremptory in this their opinion of discerning the sexe by the vrines as though there were some specificall difference alwayes to be obserued in these vrines are not the humours alike and the parts as well femilare as organicall alike in both these sexes But I will acquaint thee with one historie concerning the prediction of a Parson-physitian who would certifie a Gentlewoman with child of what sexe it was A Gentlewoman dwelling within a few miles of Northampton left with child of her late deceassed husband was very desirous to be
may make it to stinke 4. The qualitie either of diet or drugs as hath bene said of the good smell of vrines may likewise procure vnto it an euill smell Looke at large what Sauonarola saith of this point if thou be disposed to see further But what certaintie doth the smell of the vrine affoord vs whosoeuer shall thinke to helpe his vncertaine coniectures by the same should leape out of the frying pan as the prouerbe saith into the fire In the first place it is to be obserued that as well in sicknesse as in health vrines may offer no pleasing smell to the nose and yet the party may be free from any danger at al. But because healthfull folkes seldome send their vrines to the Physitian we will let them passe and come to the sicke I will let Scribonius speake for me Concerning the sicks vrine saith he most do teach vs that stinking vrines signifie putrefaction of humours in so much that by the difference of the smels they take vpon them to iudge of the seuerall humours so putrified O wise woodcockes I willingly yeeld to them that stinke or strong smell doth argue putrefaction in such vrines but of which parts shall this putrefaction be whether of the bladder onely or of the Liuer also of the chest or other members Nay so farre off is the stinking smell from giuing vs any particular notice of the disease that it cannot so much as affoord vs any certaine generall knowledge of the same For many sweet smelling simples saith Montanus may cause a most stinking vrine Cholericke and hote complexioned men void often very strong smelling vrines howsoeuer free frō any disease as I haue often obserued in my selfe And by what meanes I pray thee shouldst thou from the stinking smell of the vrine know putrefaction or how can this putrefaction procure this stinking smell If this were so then would it necessarily follow that whosoeuer were seised with a feauer proceeding from putrefaction of humours should voyd stinking vrines the which is most false The truth of this assumption may from hence appeare that for the most part among an hundred sicke of such feauers scarce shalt thou find one of their vrines so to smell nor yet their bloud at the opening of a veine And for this cause well said Sauonarola in his treatise of Vrines that there are other signes also to be obserued in the annoying of putrified members if we purpose well and orderly to examine trie and finde out any skill concerning vrines And indeed a thousand causes there are which may alter and change their smell By the smell then onely there can neuer be any certaintie collected to informe our iudgements concerning any disease But I am afraid the Reader will take it ill that I so long detaine him among so vnpleasing smels and my selfe begin to waxe wearie of so vnworthie a thing and as I neuer tooke any pleasure in the same so here I leaue it to them that like it better But if I should yet enter vpon the tast I feare I should be worse taxed I can tell no man their tast by mine owne experience Salt they haue alwayes bene counted as the teares likewise If any be incredulous I will not hinder him If our vrinemongers had no better beere allowed them they would not so much adore the pissepot as some of them do But yet if any purpose to practise this point I wish him to go to the Arabians who haue written so curiously concerning this point and it may be in regard of their aromaticall drugs their vrines may be of better taste then those of our Europaeans who feed on grosser food As for the other two qualities the sound and touch we will send them all in one ship to Arabia with their fellowes and now we come to the colours CAAP. III. Of the colours of Vrines how deceitfull they proue and first of the colour commonly called palew or light saffron IF euer vrine proued a strumpet it is of all other parts of the vrine most apparently to be seene in the colour For as sometimes some of the most infamous stewes strumpets infected it may be with the poxe do most curiously decke and adorne by curious painting sumptuous apparell and such other enticing trickes their lothsome and filthie carkasses to the end they may more easily deceiue such as will be caught in their snares doth it not often fare euen so with the colour of the vrine For oftentimes when they make the fairest shew doth not euen death knocke at the doore My purpose is not here to make any phylosophicall discourse concerning the causes of colours in generall and then to apply the same to vrines in particular and so to insist vpon each seuerall colour for this might proue too tedious and perhaps not so pertinent to the purpose we haue in hand And yet notwithstanding I will say something of each of the chiefe and principall colours by the which it may more easily be conceiued that the like deceit may be seene in the others like vnto them Now my purpose is to begin with that colour which is the best of all others being as it were the rule and square whereby we do discerne and iudge of the failings and defects of all the rest This colour is called in Latin Subrufus subaureus or subcroceus and in English palew or light saffron This colour our Physitians do generally account the best of all others and that it best betokeneth exact concoction Neither yet must this first and best colour arguing good concoction be simply and in it selfe so considered but restrained to flourishing age For in old men women and children whose vrines especially childrens do commonly decline towards white and pale it doth betoken that their bodies are too hote either by reason of diet exercise or some other meanes But if one should bring vnto thee such an vrine how couldst thou tell whether it were an old or a yong mans a womans or a childs the messenger not acquainting thee with the particular circumstances It may be thou wilt say the contents will make the case cleare I answer that many causes may depriue them of contents in part or altogether as hereafter shall appeare in the contents and how the substance may alter hath bene said alreadie The common opinion is the higher the colour is the greater heat is argued which opinion to be most false erronious shall hereafter in other colours appeare Besides may not a little extraordinarie watching fasting rheubarb saffron madder roots or such like colour the vrine without any excesse of heat And will the seuerall seasons of the yeare produce no alteration in the vrine that I say nothing of an infinite number of other causes which may in like manner alter them But one signification of such a coloured vrine I cannot here passe by which I remember I once read in an English vrine booke to wit that a maide
red yet saith Galen all are coloured with a greater or smaller portion of bloud therewith mingled Neuerthelesse that this same colour of vrine is procured by the mixture more or lesse not of bloud alone but also of an high coloured choller ioyntly or seuerally according to the greater or smaller quantitie thereof is not by a small number of learned Physitians maintained as also that this same colour of vrine is often and vsually seene in hote and acute diseases is not vnknowne to the very vulgar and vnlearned sort of people Now a many causes may bring foorth this effect this colour of vrine higher or lower appearing in a many hote and acute diseases which would puzzle a good Physitian by the bare sight of such an vrine to know what disease it were But yet is not this rule so infallibly true that it admitteth of no exception as is the opinion of many And therefore most erroneous and dangerous is the practise of such as vpon the bare sight of an high coloured vrine presently without any further deliberation or enquiry of circumstances both prescribe Phlebotomie and administer all maner of cooling medicines to the great ineuitable danger and preiudice of the patient from the which errour also the learned Arabian Auicenna is not free as our learned late writers haue well obserued And as I deny not but that this may often prooue true so on the other side it is most certaine that the vrine may be of such a colour and yet either proceed from a cold cause or else from some imbecillitie and weakenesse as cometh somtimes to passe in Dropsies c. But lest this should seeme stuffe of mine owne braine and hatched at home heare from the mouth of a worthie Author something concerning the same purpose It is not seldome obserued that the vrine by reason of a commixtion of bloud with it doth appeare of a red colour but by reason that it is either thicke or clotted it is no great difficultie to discerne the same But that so thinne a bloud should bemingled with it that not the substance of the vrine but the colour onely should be altered is but seldome seene Such a case befell a young man of 28. yeares of age or neare by This young man voided an vrine of an high red colour and thinne substance for many dayes together being very like to the vrines made in hote acute feauers The aforesaid patient had vsed the aduice of diuers ancient learned Physitians who had appointed him such meanes as are vsed for the cooling of hote Liuers At length he repaired to my selfe at that time but a young Physitian Looking on his vrine and withall seeing it of so high a red colour as also perceiuing him who was there present free from any feauer I asked him whether heretofore he had complained of any which he denyed adding moreouer that for some moneths by-past he had felt a chilnesse and coldnesse together with a great extenuation or leannesse and shortnesse of breath ioyned with a generall decay of strength as also that hitherto he had found no benefit by such meanes as he had vsed All which hauing attentiuely heard I thought good to keepe by me the said vrine vntill the next day and then to view the residence thereof the which was of a colour like vnto bloud as being indeed nothing else but bloud the vrine aboue it being but very little dyed with a pale yellow colour shewing no signe or token at all of any feauer For the which cause I did then collect that there was no exorbitant heate in his Liuer but a great weakenesse in the kidneyes by reason whereof the ends of the small veines being opened and loosened let some part of the bloud passe away And therefore I tooke a new course for curing of the same by vsing such meanes as were fit for the corroborating and strengthening of the kidneyes and veines not omitting fit and conuenient diet and among other things goats milke And so at length the vrine came to its owne naturall colour againe his bodie also enioying the benefit of nourishment as it was wont in former times and thus in a short time recouered his vigour strength and former perfect health againe Such an excretion of bloud which cometh thus to passe by reason of the loosenesse and widenesse of the mouthes of the small veines or yet of the thinnesse of bloud is commonly called Diapedesis that is as much as a streining through It cometh also to passe that some bloud is voyded by vrine many other wayes sometimes some great stone fretting the passages betwixt the kidneyes and the bladder called Vreteres bloud doth also accompanie the vrine but withall it is blacke and clotted The stone continuing for some certaine space in the bladder prooueth likewise sometimes the cause of this inconuenience and that especially after riding or some other violent motion of the bodie In women also some part of their menstruous fluxe is sometimes intermingled with it Sometimes againe the bloud issuing out of the gummes being suddenly stopt doth search for it selfe a passage through the bladder The kidneyes being wounded first doth bloud issue out by the vrines and afterwards matter mingled with it as it befell that woman which was stabbed in the loynes with a dagger first voyding blouddie vrines then afterwards mingled with matter vntill such time as both the wound and the kidneyes were cured And that this was a wound in the kidneyes did plainly appeare by some portion of the same taken out of the wound The exulceration of the kidneyes is also accompanied with bloudie vrine after the which vnlesse remedie be in due and conuenient time procured matter doth follow It is likewise sometimes seene that decrepit old men do voyd vrines mingled with bloud which are of a blackish colour accompanied with some red the which doth declare that the vigour and power of the kidneyes is almost quite abolished But I wish thee yet to lend thine eare a little to the same Author yet againe in a storie or two more which will adde not a little light to this matter The vrine doth appeare of a reddish colour not onely when the Liuer is surprised with a Gangrene or the bodie with any hote or acute disease such as are Tertian agues burning feauers inflammation of the internall parts but often also in the debilitie weakenesse and coldnesse of the Liuer or stomach proceeding from long and lingring diseases The like tincture it receiueth now and then in the extreame pinching Collicke passion when as some tough and clammie humours possessing the guts do hinder the passage of the faecall excrements A Gentleman of account saith he voyded vrine of a very high red colour howbeit free from any feauer being at the same time much tormented with the Collicke accompanied with a retention of the faecall excrements After the iniection of an anodine or mitigating glister the paine was much eased and withall
and commeth by certaine turnes and set times and with such a one was troubled a certaine Nun mentioned by Musa who euery moneth vpon the suppression of her monethly disease did pisse bloud in abundance Archembault the Counseller by turnes did sometimes cast vp by the mouth and sometimes did voyd it downewards by stoole and againe at other times by the yard Some at the passing away of the Spring do pisse bloud and this I find written by Archigenes that some do by certaine turnes voyd great store of bloud by the yard being first collected in and about the kidneyes and that they find themselues much eased thereby I am very familiarly acquainted with one Donatus Arrigonius a merchant of our towne who in his iourney to the faire of Bohan which is held three or foure times a yeare in his iourney obserued that he was surprised with the Iaundise Afterwards as he was vpon his iourney homewards to Mantua and fast asleepe in his Inne being accompanied with another friend who lay in the same bed with him vpon the sudden there issued out at his yard of its owne accord great store of blackish bloud in so much that his companion being all wet with the bloud wakened him being almost halfe dead and with much ado at length brought him home to Mantua againe but withall quite freed from his Iaundise A certaine yong man after the eating of great store of garlicke pissed afterwards great abundance of bloud and after a little while signes of an impostume in the kidneyes might be obserued to wit some matter issuing forth from the same from whence I did collect that the sharpnesse of the humour had caused an excoriation in these parts by meanes of the opening of some veine I did see at Mothon a man who with a fall off a ladder filled halfe a chamber pot with the bloud he pissed who immediatly after the taking of a little Lemnian earth did recouer the bloud came without any vrine and that perhaps because the contusion was not farre distant from his yard About some nine or ten yeares ago an Inne-keeper of Northampton a fat and corpulent man hauing now and then voyded some small quantitie of bloud with his vrine did notwithstanding but little regard the same vntill such time as he fell into a totall suppression of vrine the paine whereof made him cast forth such pitifull cries and complaints that his sorrowfull neighbours did much commiserate his distressed estate His wife no lesse perplexed then amazed at this so sudden and vnexpected accident at his desire sent to intreat my ayde and counsell in this his so great extremitie Some halfe an houre or lesse after the administration of a diureticke drinke inwardly and a Cataplasme outwardly applyed to his share he filled almost a chamber pot with bloud some small quantitie of vrine being mingled with the same whereupon followed immediatly case and alleuiation of all his former annoyance The same night about an houre after he sent me a little wooden dish almost halfe full of gobbets of congealed and clotted bloud resembling the substance of the Liuerie selfe The next morning againe he sent me an vrinall almost full of bloud voyded at the same place no vrine to the iudgement of the eye at the first to be discerned mingled with the same I caused him bleed oftner then once besides other fit and conuenient remedies as well in diet as otherwise and yet this fluxe continued lesse or more for some few dayes after In the space of one weeke he lost in all aboue a gallon of bloud For preuention I wished him besides gooddiet hard to be obserued by people of that profession with corroboratiue and other medicines fit for that purpose with speciall regard to the Liuer not to neglect Phlehotomie at least euery Spring and Faâ—l which he duely put in practise for the first yeare and for anything I could euer heare was litle or nothing troubled after that time with this infirmitie After this he liued at least three yeares and then dyed suddenly of the cause whereof here to discourse were besides my present purpose Diuerse others haue now and then by me bene obserued troubled with the like euacuation without any great hurt or hinderance to their health whom to auoide prolixitie and tediousnesse I here willingly passe by onely one I will touch but in two words A little child aboue fiue yeares of age vsed at diuerse times to pisse pure bloud not keeping any certaine times or turnes This the Gentlewoman her selfe the childs grandmother dwelling not farre from the towne of Northampton told me who did likewise affirme that she had not discerned any hurt he had sustained by the same yet notwithstanding for feare of some future inconuenience and after ensuing danger was desirous to vse some meanes for preuention which being by some occasions then deferred the child afterwards departed out of these quarters into another countrey where what since befell him I cannot tell But now let vs proceed to some other colours of vrines for here I thinke hath bene found as small certaintie as in the former CHAP. V. Of blacke vrines and that they are not alwayes so dangerous as they are deemed as also of blew ash-coloured or leaden and greene coloured vrines together with their seuerall significations and vncertainties THe highest and intensest of all other colours is the blacke the which when it presenteth it selfe to the view of the eye in any vrine it striketh no small feare and terror in the minds of most men yea and sometimes of those of no ordinarie vnderstanding That this feare was not altogether without some ground may be seene by some passages of our old father Hippocrates who doth peremptorily affirme that as well in men as in women blacke vrines are alwayes dangerous And of the like opinion and iudgement was once his trustie interpreter Galen confidently auouching that he neuer knew any one recouer whose vrine was altogether blacke howbeit the danger was the lesser if the residence onely were blacke lesse againe if the middle part or swimme and least of all if the cloud onely were of this colour Howbeit the same Galen in another place affirmeth That if there be a retention of a womans monethly fluxe of melancholicke bloud there is no cause of feare if in such a case the vrine appeare blacke to the eye And againe in the storie of that woman who being surprised with sicknesse the second day after she was brought to bed the third day she voyded thinne blackish vrines Galen speaketh of no further inconuenience to ensue vppon the same but maketh onely mention of a certaine commotion and agitation of the humours of the body ioyned with a a certaine conflict and yet of all sorts of blacke vrines this thin blacke is counted the best Blacke vrines may be voyded both in health and also in sicknesse especially by way
young Gentleman in the countrey to mine owne knowledge voyded such an vrine for a quarter of a yeare together and by appearance had so continued long before my sight of the same and yet notwithstanding all the euacuations were vsed it continued so more or lesse vntill his dying day His disease was a Dropsie and with the same was ioyned the yellow Iaundise which did outwardly shew it selfe to the view of the eye His Liuer hote and the whole constitution of his bodie participating of the same distemper But in the yeare 1613. a woman of Northampton of good account being with child voyded an vrine with the like residence and that for as long a time at least and yet did their diseases farre differ For besides her being with a liue child for vntill that time was not my counsell craued she was for a many weekes together neuer free from a Tertian Quotidian or both agues conioyned the which were accompanied with a continuall cough proceeding from a thinne salt rheume with spitting of bloud reaching and casting as also a great laske all which accidents or the most of them did not forsake her till neare the time of her deliuerie Phlebotomie for diuerse considerations I durst not then attempt Other euacuations both vpwards and downewards came in greater abundance then was wished It was now deepely imprinted not in her owne onely but in the conceits of her neighbours and others also of good vnderstanding that in regard of her spitting of bloud she was now farre spent in an irrecouerable consumption Vpon the relation of others I inclined to the same opinion But at my first sight of her together with the sight of the bloud she spat vp I changed my opinion And so God adding his blessing to the meanes she vsed by my directions she brought foorth at the time appointed a liue manchild which neuerthelesse liued not aboue the space of a moneth The mother two or three dayes after her deliuerie was surprised with the Measels and afterwards recouered her health againe the which at this present day she yet enioyeth Here was no Dropsie at all nor yet could I euer perceiue any signe of a hote Liuer and the matter of the Iaundise was voyded both by stoole and vrine It may then plainly appeare how farre the diseases may sometimes differ the residence being still alike in two seuerall bodies sexes c. As concerning bloudy residence as was before said of bloudy vrine it may come either of abundance of bloud in a plethoricall body or else by weaknesse of the retentiue power and of the Liuer the which rightly to discerne wee must be acquainted with diuers other circumstances which the vrine can neuer make knowen It hath beene likewise already related that sometimes great quantitie of bloud it selfe hath beene voyded without any danger and sometimes againe after the voyding of a very small quantitie thereof death hath not long deferred his approaches In the yeere 1614. about the beginning of Ianuary my counsell was demanded for a Gentleman dwelling neare Northampton about fiftie yeares of age or vpwards In his vrine at my first comming at him was to be seene great store of yellowish contents cleauing to the bottome of the vrinall wherewith were intermingled some red streakes of bloud And howbeit I often earnestly intreated him to admit of Phlebotomie as the onely remedy to preuent a greater inconuenience yet could I not preuaile vntill such time as bloud now issuing out in great abundance both vpwards and downewards his strength now decaying and hairy irrecouerable occasion ouer past with a too late repentance he would willingly haue paied a good fine for the renewing of the lease of his life but all too late As concerning white blacke leaden or ash-coloured as also greene and blew contents the vncertaintie of these may be in some sort collected from that we haue already said of such vrines and many other matters I willingly passe by and hasten to the rest to wit diuers other sorts of residences or strange contents called by some difforme contents Purulent or mattery residence doth much resemble a white residence or ground which is so much commended for the best of all others and therefore requireth some iudgement to discerne the one from the other and yet is there a crude and vnconcocted residence not vnlike this purulent matter to bee seene as well in whole as in sicke bodies This purulent or mattery residence againe proceedeth either from the kidneyes or the bladder as is most commonly receiued But heare what the learned Hollerius saith concerning the same Neither yet doth this mattery stuffe alwaies proceed from the kidneys or bladder For it proceedeth almost from euery part of the vpper region of the body by the great and admirable industry of nature and by meanes of the body euery where made passable for such a purpose doth disburden it selfe sometimes into the guts and sometimes againe into the bladder A certaine woman voyded not without great paine and torment such purulent and mattery vrines who foure moneths after dyed and the dead corps being opened two stones were found in her heart with many little impostumes the kidneyes together with the other vrinary passages being free from any other hurt Galen saith Roâ—deletius did see an impostume of the Lungs purged by vrine by meanes of the emulgent or sucking arteries The gibbons or backe part of the Liuer the kidneyes bladder and yard make vse of the same passage Now which of these places are affected the griefe and tumor of the part giueth vs notice and not the vrine onely Now red Vetches or Fitches in the residence called therefore Hypostasis orobea or eruarea are recorded by our Authors to signifie either great inflammation of the Liuer or colliquation of the whole body or of the kidneyes onely And so branny contents signifie sometimes consumption of the whole body or of the bladder onely with concoction no Ague and great heat wasting the substance of the Liuer and burning the bloud if it be red So do fine branny contents signifie a collequation or wasting of the solid parts sharpe sicknesse and for the most part mortall and some adde yet that it is sometimes seene in the vrines of women with child And if this residence be red they attribute it to extreame adustion of the bloud Scales called Lamine Squame differ not much in signification To Haires or small filaments in the vrine are attributed also diuers significations as namely a consumption of the whole body a Feuer then being ioyned therewith or else of the kidneyes onely and then is no Feuer to be seene They are according to Galen engendered of a tough Phlegme proceeding from the vse of grosse diet Sometimes also they are said to signifie exulceration of the reines or bladder and sometimes also fluxe of seed from seuerall causes And finally womens white fluxe from the matrixe or wombe
Cotta against this and diuers ignorant erronious practisers d Hieron epist â—32 partis tertia referente Langio * Iohn 18. 23. Martiaâ— Terent. Terent. Psal 141. 5. Ioseph antiquit Iudaic. l. 1. cap. 4. Zonaras annal lib. 1. High account of physicke amongst the Graecians Amongst the Persians Hippocr in epist Vide Sabell ennead 9. lib. 2. Zonar annal tomo 3. aliosque neoter Entertainment amongst the Arabians Amongst the Romans The law of Augustus Caesar against ignorant and vnskilfull practisers of physicke * Vide supra inter neoter Chronic. Carion aedit 1608. in 8. Mars enemie to Minerua Lotharius first Emperour of the house of Saxony restored learning and learned men in the west De his vide orationem doctoris Beniamin Lobschuts impressam cum obseruat medic Diomedis Cornarij medicina Doctoris First originall of Doctors and other degrees in the Vniuersities Vtilitie and necessitie of this profession * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Aelian lib. 9. cap. 23. Polib lib. hist 2. 3. indeque Lang. epist medicin lib. 2. epist 48. Hippoc. lib. 2. de lege The armes or enseignes of Aesculapius A crooked staffe A dragons head in his right hand and a dog hard by him A pine apple in his left hand The winged picture of health with a pullet in her hand How carefull the Physitian ought to be in prescribing diet according to the nature of the disease and diseased Aesculapius bearded Liberty allowed ignorant Physitians cause of great mischiefe Prouerb 31. Terent. in Andr. Hippocr lib. de medico Women altogether vnfit to practise physick A tragicall storie Alexand. Bened. de curand morb lib. 15. cap. 25. 1. King 18. 26 27. 28. Soles occidere redire possunt nobis cum semel occidit breuis lux Nox est perpetua vna dormienda Catull. A good remedy ignorantly or out of season exhibited may yet proue dangerous to the diseased The laudable custome of the Germane natioÌ„ in prouiding fit and learned Physitians and allowing them good maintenance They often visit the Apothecaries shops and take a sâ—â—uey of his drugs The great commoditie of this so laudable a custome The idle inspection of vrine as it is at this day practised openeth a gap to euery cozener impostor Iohann le bon de therap puerp It is impossible to iudge of the disease what concerneth the same by the inspection of the vrine onely Langius tomâ— 1. epist 11. In symposio de republica The great care of the ancient Physitians in searching out the signes of diseases Lib. 4. salub The sweat a more generall signe then the vrine De Alexandrinorum medicorum desidia Gal. lib. 2. de natura humana lib. 6. epid passim alibi * Victu Quintiliane colorem Thus do most of our practising Parsons and Vicars become suddenly Physitians * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Damascenuâ— in Aphorism Rhaz. in aphor Si quid turbida Roma eleuaret c. Pers sat 1. Epist 83. And in England also Diuision of the signes Signes of concoction Vrine no Pathognomonick signe of concoction and yet to be obserued Praenot lib. ex edit Pres vel prognost 2. ex edit Heur lib. de natura hominis circa finem Diabete Iohann Michael Sauonar lib. de vrin cap. 1. Historie Dâ—omedes Cornariuâ— lib. consil medicinal de histor admirand raâ—â—â— Of such base stuffe we are not vnfurnished here at home Another Idem ibidem â—â—rnel Pathol. 〈◊〉 3. cap. 8. Sauonarolo loco supracitato Mercatus tom 2. lib. 3. pag. 25. edit Paliâ— 1608. Tom. 2. pag. 492. Duncan Liddel art med lib. cap. 8. Historie Deceitfulnesse of the vrine in an Impostume and paine of the head Another In an vlcer of the Lungs * Of the Hippocraticall face see our arraignment of vrines lib. 3. cap. 3. Leo Rogan lib. 3. de prouid ex vrin cap. vlt. Paulus Aegineta lib. 2. cap. 27. Dangerous errors Galen lib. 2. de cris cap. 3. 6. Timoth. Brichius Cantabrig lib. de mâ—d the. 1. aph pag. 94. Iâ—hannes Caius Britannus de Ephemera Britannica pag. 136. The vrines in maligne and pestilent feauers very deceitfull Historie Iohannes Anglicus vulgo Gatesden in opere practico communiter Rosa Anglica nuncupato What the vrines do here declare vnto vs. a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est vitiligo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 siue pruritus aut prurigo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 id est impetigo 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nomina sunt affectionuÌ„ in quibus omnibus male afficitur cutis à vinoso aliquo succo qui nescit assimulari c. Holler schol ad cap. 64. lib. 1. de morb intern b In quouis horum affectuum lepra scilicet morbo Gallico membra nutrimentalia praecipue iecur à quo omnes corporis partessuum recipiunt alimentum sere habitualiter laborant Mercat oper praedict tom 2. pag. 126. Felix Plater oper pract tract 3. cap. 4. Arguments euincing that by the sole inspection of the vrine it cannot be discerned whether a woman be with child or no. In aphor 51. 54. lib. 6 3. de natur facult cap. 3. 6. de locis affect cap. 5. 15. de vsu part Arist 4. de gener anim cap. 6. Guâ—l Adolph Scribon lib. de vrin inspect Rondel lib. de vrin cap. 40. de vrina praegnantium Mercur. lib de vrin cap. 7. Sauonarola libr. de vrin cap. 2. rubr 10. de vrin praegnantium Leo Roganuâ— lib. 2. de caus vrin cap. 15. de vrin vâ—ero gerentium Iean Marinello de Formie lib. 3. chap. 5. de maladie des femmes 2. Mercat tomo 3. lib. 3. pag. 669. Historie Diomedes Cornarius in lib. consil medicin inter historias admirandas historia tertia prima de peâ—uerso vrin in â—icio Historie of a woman with child in the first moneths Another of one in the latter moneths Absurditie of this opinion proued Some women of an hoter constitution then men Gaspar Bauhinus de Hermaphroditis Historie Of a peremptory Parson determining of the sexe in the wombe Historie Of a womans vrine higher in colour and contents then a mans Actuarius the first inuenter of these regions c. Iodochus Willichius de probat vrin part 4. c. 1. Hieron Reus schol ad cap. praedict prope finem Aphor. 34. lib. 4. Diuision of the vrine Of the substance of vrines Diuerse significations of thin vrines Iohannes Vasseus Meldens lib. de vrin iudicijs pag. 30. c. Hippocr 3. Epid. Sauonar lib. de vrin cap. 3. Of thicke vrines Idem Vasseus ibidem Significations of thicke vrines Diuision of thicke vrines Of thicke troubled vrines Their seuerall significations DiuisioÌ„ of thick troubled vrines Henricus Ranzonius lib. de conserannda valetud cap. 19. Aph. 10. lib. 4. In lib. 1. Prorrh comment 1. Leo Roganus de prouid ex vrin lib. 3. cap. 2. Hieron Reusn in cap. 6. part 1. Iodochi Willich de probat vrin Loco nuper citato Loco iam citato Consutation of an erroneous opinion of