Honey and mixt with Syrups VI. Septalius l. 6. Anim. 74. rejects Sudorificks and prefers things that provoke Urine and he thinks Physicians generally commit a great Error that omitting promoters of Urine they use Hidroticks because thick Matter is also carried off by Urine And when the thinner part is evacuated by Sweat the thicker is rendred more hard obstructive and difficult as to Motion and Evacuation But grant all this to be true in Diseases whose cause lies in the Bowels and Hypochondria or in the Veins yet the reason does not hold in the Palsy For seeing the cause of the Disease sticks about the Nerves I see not how it can easily get from thence to the ways of Urine But Evacuation by the ambit of the Body is easie Nor need we fear that by the use of Sudorificks the Matter will grow too hot because it is cold and so requires heating insomuch that some think a Fever should be raised which may heat and melt it Nor that it will grow thick Sennertus seeing Hydroticks have an Attenuative virtue VII Opiates are much commended by Practitioners which because of the Opium are very much suspected by me in the stupidity and imbecillity of the Nerves And they give Treacle Mithridate Aurea Alexandrina Platerus c. VIII There is not one among the vulgar but may easily observe that Diaphoreticks do much good and sometimes much harm Wherefore it is of much moment to explicate the Reasons of so different an Effect Therefore plentiful Sweating is sometimes good for Paralyticks upon a twofold account especially namely because it plentifully exterminates the Impurities of the Blood and Nervous Juice that are apt to exhale And that the Morbifick Matter may flow no more to the Brain and parts affected and that what is flown already may in part be thrown off And secondly because the effluvia of heat flying from the aestuating Blood do very much open the Nervous Ducts stopt before and open a passage for the Spirits while in Evaporation they pass that way Wherefore this Administration is proper for them especially and in a manner for them only whose Blood not being very full of fixt Salt and Sulphur is diluted with a limpid and insipid serum For on the contrary Paralyticks in whose Blood and Humours there are abundance of wild exotick Particles of enormous Salts and Sulphurs that are fixt and unfit for exhalation do find a great deal of harm from violent Sweating Of which Affection we assign these two Causes namely That the Morbifick Particles through agitation being too much exalted become more outragious 2. That when abundance of them is driven into the Head and Nervous Kind they often increase old Obstructions and not seldom produce new ones Willis IX If Pains about the Arms and Shoulders do accompany it we order Sweating in Bed to be raised with heated Bricks or Bottles full of hot Water that the Matter sticking among the Muscles may be digested and resolved yet above all these things Sweat must rather be raised by the ambient heat than by the internal use of a Medicine or Decoction that melts or thins the Humours which is proper only when in the Stove Sweat does run plentifully all the Matter being put into fusion Whereas otherwise if the antecedent Humours be dissolved in the Veins by a Decoction and when they are dissolved be not discharged but tarry in the Body they will increase Pain Which as Reason it self teaches us so I have found true by Experience so that I can never do enough to extirpate this abuse Therefore when the Matter is but little and therefore the Pain but small when we intend not to move or put into fusion the antecedent Humours residing in the whole Body we only give a Decoction of Groundpine so much commended by Matthiolus upon Dioscorides in these cases Whereto if you add a little China it may not be amiss abstaining nevertheless from Misletoe of the Oak and such melting things Fortis as also from Sanders which hinder Sweat X. The Head also should be dried with a Sudorifick Decoction but that is very much suspected by me for I am afraid lest the Humours of the whole Body and of the Head being melted fly into the Head violently and cause an Apoplexy Wherefore I should more willingly use some Decoction not very colliquating but cherishing the innate heat and dissipating the Matter impacted into the Nerves as well as drying the Head the Matter being rather derived to the Center by Urine than to the Circumference by Sweat The Decoction may be made of Mastiche Wood Rosemary Misletoe of the Oak and a little Sassafras in Pigeon Broth giving first Turpentine with Salt of Iva Arthritica and Sal Theriacalis Idem XI Loosning and alterative Clysters are very convenient having a care of over emollient ones whereby the Spine being more relaxed would be further hurt so that not without reason the Vulgar think Clysters in the Colick occasion the Palsy Platenus Which nevertheless rightly prepared both do good and if the Cause lye about the lower part of the Back may serve for Topical Remedies XII But indeed as generous Medicines if they turn not to Alexitericks often prove Poysons So going into the Bathes has made these Paralyticks much worse whom it did not cure so that when more parts and those that were affected before grew more Paralytick the Lame leave their Crutches there for no other reason but because they cannot use them when they are made more impotent The reason hereof is because Bathing by disturbing the Blood and all the Humours does more exalt all the Morbifick and Heretogeneous Particles and forces them being enraged out of the Bowels into the Mass of Blood whence because they do not easily evaporate entring the Brain and Nervous Kind they increase the Palsy and often cause a Convulsion For this reason Bathing sometimes first actuates the Stone in the Kidney and the Gout and brings a Spitting of Blood Asthma or Consumption upon many when there was no disposition to it Wherefore the Bathes should not be tried without the advice of a Physician and if when they are tried they do not agree Willis they must be quickly left XIII Bituminous Sulphureous Bathes cure a Palsy suceedaneous to the Colick And they do good not only by drying the Humours and strengthning the Parts but I rather think that the adust salt nitrous and tartareous impuritie of the Humours and Vapours in Man which spoâ—â— the virtue of the Nerves are quite dissolved by the virtue of the Bathes and being dissolved are by a peculiar and Mineral Analogy which the qualities of the Bathes have with the divers Humours and Juices in Man drawn to the ambit of the Body and so our Bodies are delivered from the Enemy that besets the Nervous Kind not without corroboration The Efflorescence of the Skin in such as use the Bathes often sometimes coming with a troublesome Itch
make the disease the longer And here I would have it taken notice of that although I said Bloudletting and Purging must necessarily go before this appeasing Method sometimes nevertheless the case so requiring it omitting both these we must begin the course with Paregoricks for example when for some former sickness large evacuations have been made not long before the coming of the Colick for frequently by reason of the weakness of the bowels especially if there be an accessiou of a higher degree of heat from Wine or any other Spirituous Liquor drunk immediately they that are lately recovered of another Disease fall into this in this case I say I think it not onely unnecessary but hurtfull also by giving more purges to raise new tumults and again to disturb all anew To say nothing how in this disease the Patient for the most part before he sends for a Physician washes his Guts sufficiently by the repeated use of Clysters so that partly for this reason partly for the long continuance of the disease Idem Narcoticks in a manner onely seem proper to be used XXXV And because this pain is more naturally apt to relapse than any other all opportunity of its return must be taken away by giving an Anodyne twice a day for several days together But if when the Narcotick is left off the pain now and then return as sometimes it does nothing yet could be invented by me that so certainly conduced to cure the Patient as riding on Horseback or in a Coach the Anodyne in the mean time being given morning and evening For by such exercise the matter causing the disease is drawn into the Habit of the Body the bloud being divided into its minute parts by stirring is as it were purified anew and at length the Intestines themselves by stirring up of the innate heat are not a little strengthened and cherished Nor am I ashamed to confess that I have more than once perfectly cured this disease by such exercise when I have not been able to doe it any other way But neither must this be tried till after sufficient evacuation nor must it be left off till several days afterwards And to speak the very truth I have observed this kind of Exercise doe much good not in this case onely but in all Chronical diseases if a man constantly persisted in it For if we reckon with our selves how the lower Belly wherein the Organs of Secretion are placed is especially shaken by this exercise and that they are shaken with some thousand Trottings in one day we may easily think that by the help of the said exercise they can discharge any recrementitious juice that is settled there and which is yet of more moment that by such strong excitation of the innate Heat they are strengthened so as to perform the office of depurating the blood aright Idem which Nature has committed to them XXXVI It is manifest from Observation that when this Disease being unskilfully handled hath tired one out for a long time so that the bowels languish the Patient is worn to skin and bone and ready to dye of faintness In this case I say the more liberal use of Aqua Epidemica or Mirabilis or any such like which in his health he liked best at this time helped him beyond expectation For by help of this the few adust reliques of the innate heat and Spirits were excited and the preternatural ferment sticking to the bowels and now and then administring fewel to new Paroxysms Idem was extinguished by the more spirituous Liquors XXXVII Moreover as in the cure of the Disease so also when it is cured a thin Diet must yet for some time be continued For seeing this disease affects a Relapse above all others and that it chuses to its self the chief Instruments of Concoction I mean the Bowels now weakned by it the very least errour of this kind will presently bring considerable damage Wherefore as well in this as in all other affections of the Bowels Meats hard of Concoction must be avoided more than a Toad and what light meats are allowed must be taken onely in such a quantity as may keep Life and Soul together Idem XXXVIII When Anodynes doe no good and the pain is exceeding violent we must come to Narcoticks which are very commodiously used in a biting and a sharp humour not because they cool as is commonly believed but because they have the faculty to mitigate the acrimony of the humour to thicken it and to keep in its biting and motion But in cold thick and tough humours Opiates are not so proper seeing they make the morbifick cause worse and more difficult to cure And though they that have the Colick from cold humours do at first perceive some benefit by them yet afterwards the pains become greater the humour it self being made thicker and more unfit for motion Sennertus and so it sticks more closely to the Coats of the Intestines XXXIX Yet you must take this caution about the use of Narcoticks that when there is occasion for them they be used while there is yet strength for if they be used when strength is wasted and the Patient is near death they will not onely doe no good but also hasten the Patient's end and take away Life and Sense together Then let such things be given in a Clyster in some convenient decoction and when the Clyster is given Idem let the Patient lie on his pained side XL. But if the violence of the pain rise so high that leaving other intentions we must have an eye upon it it will be proper to use Narcoticks which by stupefying may correct the evil both taken inwards and outwardly applied Yet with due Provision always as to their quantity manner of using time and the subject to which they must be administred What are given into the Body are mixt with Purges Potions Clysters But it is convenient they have all of them these requisites 1. That by hastening to some principal Part they weaken not its faculty 2. That they be well corrected 3. That they strengthen the Spirits and be mixt with strengthers of all the vital Faculties hepatick and stomachick For there must be no other end in these things than refreshing the strength to wit that while the Pain ceases the Patients may recollect their strength be a match for the Disease and be able to subsist the time of cure Therefore it is better to give them twice or thrice in a small quantity than in so large a dose as may afterwards doe harm But when the pain is laid Martini de Morbis mesent and watching hushed they must presently be removed lest they serve to promote the morbifick cause XLI We must have a special care in the mean time that Opiates be not given unless the body be first purged by proper evacuations and they must be taken some hours before Meal upon an empty Stomach in extreme pain
excited to motion by sharp Clysters in which you must leave out the oily things which are usually added lest their Virtue be made dull If one go not to stool because the Liver breeds no Choler have a care of Rheubarb If from abundance of Wind the effect of a weak Stomach Hiera should rather be given than Cassia If from want of sustenance more plenty of it must be allowed for Weight and Pinching are causes that move the Expulsive Faculty ¶ Sennertus in Epitome Instit blames the Weakness of the Muscles of the Belly which also concur to the exclusion of the Excrements Therefore Childbed Women go to stool with difficulty not onely because of their long lying in Bed but because their Muscles are weakned by their labour Laxatives and meats of the like nature are here used to no purpose some Turpentine rolled in Tiphany is more convenient or Aloes or Rheubarb wherein there is some small Astriction beside the stimulating Virtue or a motion is to be procured by sharp Clysters A certain Melancholick person had a very costive Body so that sometime he went not to stool once in six or seven days He was cured by taking about two hours before Supper some stewed Prunes with their liquor Riverius centur 3. observat 5. to which he added a small glass of Wine mixt with a great deal of water half whereof he took before his Prunes and the other half after so he went well to stool and this wrought better than Prunes alone are used to doe A Matron about fifty complained that the strongest Purge would scarce work with her I suspecting the heat and driness of her inwards for she was Black Hairy and Masculine by giving her six drachms of Lenitive Electuary and half a pint of Whey to be drunk upon it half an hour before Meal obtain'd that which stronger means were not able to effect For within a few hours she was very laxative So I perform'd that by gentle means which the former Physician could not doe by stronger In Costiveness accompanied with Wind and tormenting Gripes seeing then Acidity is joyned with the Viscidity of the Humours that turn to Wind we must chiefly make use of some oily volatile Salt mixt with Opiates and all other Aromaticks which are likewise good to break the Wind But if mere Driness of the Excrements create this trouble in going to stool the Excrements must be moistened and softened before they be voided and this may be done over some Steam or by application of a Flannel or Sponge impregnated with the emollient Decoction for so the excrements will be softened and more easily voided Besides the Belly must be anointed with some emollient Unguent that the Excrements may pass with more ease A few days ago I was called by a person of Quality I found a Child four years old very unhealthy who went to stool but about once in three weeks and in the mean time the Excrements were baked into Lumps which you might distinctly touch through the Muscles of the Belly and feel how big they were nor were they voided without great pain and sometimes loss of Bloud and Sweat all over the Body After the use of an emollient Ointment within eight days he went to stool several times with much Ease Sylvius de le Boë â—ppen Tract 5. sect 141 142 143. I have frequently observed a Clyster of Milk with a litle Honey of Roses hath done much good in such a case for the Acidity the usual companion of Wind was tempered by reason of the Milk and the Excrements were in some measure also loosened and softened II. It is not good to use looseners as Apples Prunes or other fruit frequently and to cause plentifull evacuation for they relax the Stomach which when done there can be no right concoction Crato consilio tertio apud Scholtzium Seeing we are inform'd that the Stomach concocts food aright when it is corrugated and contracted into it self and that it embraces and contains the whole Mass till it be concocted III. Prunes loosen especially if they be eaten not immediately but some time before Dinner and alone for we must remember these common directions for all Laxatives out of Galen 2. de Aliment fac The reason is because they pass into the substance of the Body for that they are not pure Medicines but have something of Nourishment Therefore they that give Manna and such things four or five hours distance from Meals Augenius are ever disappointed of their End IV. In great obstrustions of the Belly we have observed the Opening of it to be very difficult in several Patients We must not pass in silence what we have several times met with in our Practice that when the Belly seem'd to be sufficiently emptied by purging Potions and liquid Excrements were voided nevertheless a great deal of other dry Excrements stayed behind in the Gutts and created a new Obstruction and repeated Pains I was called to one sick of the Colick when I had given him a purging Potion and he had purged much liquid Excrements and yet neither the load in his Belly nor his pains did cease I therefore ordered a Clyster which brought away great store of dry and hard Excrements From whence I conjecture the Potion brought away some liquid Excrements but that it was not able to discharge the Load of hardened Excrements But it is usefull in such an Affection of the Intestines to loosen the Body with a Clyster or two and after to give a purging Potion which if either it work too slow or Purge but a little Oethius apud Schenckium you may last of all give a Clyster to remove the Obstruction with more expedition In curing a costive Body it is better to admit of several Clysters seasonably repeated than to take any one lenient Potion whatever One good Purge administred with judgment in the Colick pain does that at once which Clysters cannot well reach especially in Colick pain from Obstruction of the Excrements above the Valve Rolfinc V. Sometime Colick Pains and many Symptomes arise from the hardned Excrements I knew a Patient who was much troubled with a kind of hard swelling in his left side under the Spleen for two years His Physicians continually ordered him Ointments and Fomentations without any benefit at length more Symptomes coming upon him he died We opened his Body and found the exceeding hard Excrement was the cause of that old Swelling And then we found the cause why the poor wretch sometime voided by stool certain green and exceeding hard round lumps for the Excrement by reason of its weight tending downwards some portion of it turn'd globular which was daily brought away by Clysters and afterwards by reason of the parching Heat of the great Artery which was near the place new Excrement was again joyned to that Mass and so hardened From the foreknowledge of this case I cured several such with two ounces of Oil of sweet Almonds
acid Humour appears from this If the Ail be alleviated by taking Acids Melancholick persons who have a good stomach after the use of Acids seldom recover We amend the loss of Appetite that depends upon some fault in the acid Humour with Acids and we see that Acids are good almost for all Diseases but those of the Breast Spirit of Vitriol is qualified by a mixture of Sulphur Vineger is good and Oranges and Lemons but people often take too much and then they fall into gnawing of the Stomach and much spitting a little Sugar qualifies them The season for giving them is in the state of Declination before Dinner not before Supper lest when their Appetite is raised they eat over-much and so be not able to bear the Assault of the Disease which is always more violent toward night nor to digest your Food the Seeds of Citrons and Oranges may both be eaten because of their Cordial Virtue The loss of Appetite which arises from decay of strength is seldom cured unless that Decay come of a cold Cause then hot and Aromatick things are proper In old Men that through weakness have lost their Appetite Valaeus m. m. p. 145. hot things are not so good inwardly as outwardly For taken inwardly in dry Bodies they create greater dryness Outwardly Oil of Mace is good and a Tost of Bread dipt in Malmsey Wine II. Rondeletius Pract. lib. 2. cap. 14. In all Loss of Appetite let the Food be given actually cold and if possible let it be set before the Patient when he is not aware of it Let such use bread well baked or a good while dried in the Air or dry Cakes well fermented and not too close III. When any one complains he never comes to his Meat with an Appetite it is advisable to make him fast till he have a stomach Vallesius 6. Epid. s 4. for starving breeds Appetite So when a Man cannot get sleep if he be forced to wake and nod standing before he be suffered to ly down he usually falls into a long and profound sleep IV. Want of Appetite in Women not with Child is cured better by Purging than Letting of Bloud for it arises of bad humours abounding in the Stomach and the whole Body In Women with Child bloud-letting is the better Cure Riverius for it is caused by retention of bloud while they are first breeding V. Because Choler dejects the Appetite by its heat to cleanse the stomach a Decoction of Tamarinds soure Prunes and Sebesten with syrup of Roses and Rheubarb should be given The morrow following this Medicine two hours before Meal let them drink a draught of cold water Rondeletius l. c. unless weakness of the stomach or something else do hinder Let them use soure Sauces and they may take a Tast of Salt things VI. But if Phlegm be the Cause after Evacuation it is best to give Acids but with detersive and salt things for what sweet things are detersive they satiate and are flatulent wherefore they are not good in this case unless a great deal of Vineger be added Idem so as they may scarce be perceived to be sweet VII For raising the Appetite Sylv. de le Boe Prax. Med. Append Tract 3. Sect. 210. which is often dejected in Consumptive Persons I think there is no better Remedy known as yet than Elixir Proprietatis if 4 or 5 drops of it be taken in Wine or some other convenient Liquor about half an hour before Meal VIII Sometimes I have known the Appetite recover of its own accord But that falls out for the most part either because of an exact Diet which sometime is rightly observed even by chance or of some notable Evacuations or Alterations that are spontaneous For when the noxious humours are conquered and amended or evacuated Idem Prax Med. Appen Tract 10. Sect. 739. the usefull and necessary ones by degrees recover their lost strength and then exert it Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians Petr. Fotest l. 18. Obs 8. 1. I steeped for a night some Leaves of Roman Wormwood and a Root or two of Dandelion a little bruised in Rhenish-Wine In the morning I strained out the Wine and gave it my Patient and which is wonderfull he voided a dead Worm and a living one and his stomach increased to a wonder 2. Peaches eaten before Meals get a stomach if it be lost through a hot cause Syrup of Peaches may be thus made Take of the Juice of Peaches scarce ripe 4 Pounds boil half away let the dregs settle then add of Pomegranate juice 6 ounces Sugar and a little red Sanders as much as sufficeth make a Syrup Idem Obs 9. The Dose 2 ounces morning and evening two hours before Meal If you want Peaches you may use Juice of foure Apples Fred. Hofman Meth. Med. p. 319. 3. In the loss of Appetite through weakness of stomach in the declination of a Disease Amber from 1 grain to 5 mixt with Faecula Ari is a specifick Also Ivory calcined without fire is very good 4. The best thing and which raises an Appetite above all others is Antidotus Thespesiana thus described by Galen Take of Smallage-seed 1 ounce and an half Myrrh Anniseed Opium each 6 drachms white Pepper 5 drachms Parsly Spikenard long Pepper each half an ounce Eusta Rud. Art Med. l. 2. c. 12. Castor Flowers of Juncus Odoratus Saffron each 3 drachms Cinnamon 2 drachms Cassia lignea half an ounce Mix them with boiled Honey make an Electuary Take about the quantity of an Hazle nut when you go to bed with 4 ounces of Water River prax Med. l. 9. c. 1. 5. Balsam of Peru is an excellent Remedy for this if some drops of it be given in Hippocras-Wine or some other an hour or two before Meal Diseases of the Anus The Contents The Way of putting it up when fallen I. We must abstain from too much Astringents II. We must spare the Sphincter in Curing the Fistula III. The Cure of the Condylomata by pricking IV. The Cure of the crested Haemorrhoids by Excision V. Medicines I. I Will propose a Way of Cure which at first sight will look ridiculous but what is of great use in the falling out of the Arse-gut Slap the Buttocks of your Patient with your flat hand five or six times or oftner that the Muscles Ani Levatores may immediately draw up the Intestinum rectum into its place Barbette Chirurgiae cap. 9. But before you thus beat your Patient it is requisite you anoint the Intestinum rectum with oil of Roses and Myrtle II. In curing the falling out of the Arse-gut you must abstain from too much Astringents lest by making the Body Costive and therefore causing greater straining Platerus you rather promote than hinder the falling of it out III. Riolanus Anthropogr lib. 2. reprehends almost all modern Surgeons in curing Fistula's which are very often bred in Ano
First wash the part well then lay on the following Liniment Take of Honey of Roses half an ounce oil of Vitriol 1 drachm mix them make an Ointment Herc. Saxonia l. 2. p. c. 25. 7. If the Ulcers be Malignant I use either Water of Tartar or Vitriol wherewith all malignant Ulcers are conquered River prax Med. l. 6. c. 5. 8. If there be no Inflammation the onely and best Remedy is Spirit of Vitriol or Sulphur which in those that are grown may be used alone Dip a little Cotton bound to the end of a stick in it and give the Sore a light touch for so a simple Thrush is cured in a moment Sennert l. 2. p. 1. c. 18. 9. In Childrens Thrush this is an approved Remedy especially when it is malignant and Epidemick They hold a living Frog to the Child's Mouth that it may draw out the Malignity which when it is weary and dead they hold another and so on but this is a filthy Medicine Apoplexia or the Apoplexy The Contents Whether Bloud must be let I. The Jugular Veins may be opened II. When Fomentations must be used before Bloud-letting III. Bloud-letting not good for all IV. A Sanguine Apoplexy cured by bleeding in both Arms at once V. Where Cupping-Glasses should be applied VI. The Efficacy of Cupping applied to the fore-part of the Head VII Cured by Blisters VIII Shaking the Body and stirring them up to walk when proper IX Plucking the Hair bending the Fingers rubbing the extreme Parts c. whether of any use X. Whether a Man should be Purged XI Violent Purging is convenient XII Whether a Vomit may be given XIII The Vomit must be strong XIV Clysters must be very sharp XV. Suppositories should be given frequently XVI Apophlegmatisms of Hiera to be rejected XVII Vinegar should not be mixt with them XVIII Whether Sneezing be proper XIX Whether Fumes be proper XX. The Efficacy of Stillatitious Oils and Volatile Salts XXI The great Antidotes are not allways proper XXII Whether for the Cure a Fever should be raised and when it succeeds the Apoplexy whether it should be extinguished XXIII An Apoplexy negligently cured of a small one became Mortal XXIV What Posture is best XXV They that are past Hopes are not to be quite given over XXVI Medicines I. I Judge a Man may nay must according to Prudence and Art let bloud in every Apoplexy according to the Constitution of the Patient and quantity of bloud in the Vessels and that plentifully For so the Patient will endure the longer Sylv. de le Boë Pran l. 2 c. 21. and the Apoplexy will be easilier cured as experience testifies without which I know not whether upon consultation one would not be afraid to let bloud in ancient people When therefore the Physician dare not let bloud experienced persons advise well that Scarification should be used or at least Cupping with Scarification in stead of bloud-letting And because so great a Man as Sylvius relies here altogether on Experience but remains dissatisfied in his Theory as who pleases to consult the place cited may see I think it very pertinent to consider how exactly the excellent Wepfer hath laid down the Theory For to discover so abstruse and latent Causes he produces Anatomical Histories or Observations wherein the Phaenomena in Bodies of several who died of this Disease are declared In three that died Apoplectick the extravasated bloud was either gathered here and there into great Clods or had discoloured the substance of the Brain all over in another a Floud of Serum had overflowed the Brain within and without From these marks of this most occult disease thus discovered the Authour concludes the places principally affected are not the large Ventricles but the medullous substance of the Cerebrum and the Cerebellum which is every way porous and furnished with narrow passages as well that Vital Spirits may flow thither from the bloud as that the Animal may flow thence And indeed he concludes that the Cause of every Apoplexy wholly consists in these Two i. e. in one alone or both together namely either because the Afflux of bloud through the Arteries to the Brain is denied or the Efflux of Animal Spirits from the Cerebrum and Cerebellum through the Nerves and Spinal Marrow is stopt or for both these causes As to the First he proposes how the bloud may be stopt three ways i. e. First Either by reason of the Obstruction of the inner Carotid and Vertebral Arteries which happens in the bigger Vessels and especially about the Ascent of the Cranium from bloud concrete into grumous Lumps or in the lesser Vessels which cross the Brain from their being stopt with viscous Matter Or Secondly The influx of bloud is kept from the Brain by reason of the Compression of those Vessels which sometimes happens when the Paristhmia or Glands of the Neck are so swelled with Serous humours that by pressing the Arteries that pass under them they stop the passage of the bloud to the Head Or Thirdly The Afflux of Bloud may be hindred when a Vessel being opened within the Cranium the bloud is plentifully poured out which should otherwise go to the benefit of the Brain As to the other Cause of the Apoplexy i. e. the hindring the spirits in the efflux he reckons it is caused two ways either by obstruction of the Origination of all the Nerves caused by serous Matter or by sudden Compression of the same which either too great gathering of bloud in the Meninges or in some certain parts of the Brain or in its Ventricles or some phlegmonous Disposition do produce Seeing the Apoplexy according to the opinion of the Moderns consonant to the doctrine of Hippocrates arises from the stoppage of the Circulation of the bloud or as he speaks from the standing of the bloud and not as Galen would have it from the oppletion of the Ventricles of the Brain All hope of safety consists in a speedy revulsion and retraction of the Matter from the Head nor can there be found a Remedy which can so speedily avert derive nay and evacuate the humours from the Brain as Letting of bloud therefore we prefer it before all other means in curing the Apoplexy and we think it proper for all Individuals whether they be plethorick or no. The thing it self speaks for several Apoplectick persons have been restored and perfectly cured onely by letting of bloud When the bloud is taken from the Arm that also in the Jugular Veins is drawn downwards and then comes some portion of the Matter that is in the Sinus's which although often it be phlegmatick yet it is found not without bloud but may be removed and drawn back with it And for that cause unless some weighty reason hinder we order large bloud-letting in Apoplectick persons which may reach the humours above and remove them and sometimes we repeat it twice or thrice in each Arm that the Veins being emptied on each side
of the Matter which in the running Gout is thinner and sharper which diversity of Matter indeed may be one cause why the pain in the running Gout is accompanied with greater heat than in the Gout it self And therefore the running Gout is reckoned among acute Diseases but the Gout among the Chronical l. 1. de morbis where there is no mention made of the Running Gout it being an acute not a chronical Disease And then the running of the Pain from one Joint to another distinguishes them For although the Gout pains pass from one Joint to another they doe it gradually and not so suddenly as in the Running Gout in which when the pain is at the height it presently ceases and takes another joint Hippocrates saith that Choler and Phlegm when they are moved and settle upon the joints are causes of the running Gout Where observe that these Humours come not from any particular part of the Body but from the whole And in this lies the difference the morbifick matter of the Gout comes not from the whole but is cast off by some Principal Part to the Joints And this is the chief reason why the Gout is a far more grievous Disease than the running Gout and harder to Cure and why the running Gout is sometime perfectly cured and never comes again which the Gout generally does Hipp. l. de nat hum For whatever Diseases pass from a stronger part to a weaker are difficultly cured Since therefore the Gout is of this nature no wonder if its Cure be difficult and the rather because it is not easie to find what is the original of it the Brain or Liver or what other noble Part which being unknown it is utterly impossible to cure the Gout seeing the Part which sends the Humour should first be cured Therefore to the breeding of the Gout there concurs 1. The fault of some Principal Part which breeds gathers and disposes of the morbifick matter 2. The disposition of the joints to receive the Flux i. e. a certain weakness which when there is none there is no Gout but Diseases much of the same nature and returning at certain times as the Colick Epilepsie Asthma Vertigo Head-ach especially the Stone in the Kidneys Another difference of these two diseases in respect of their material cause is that onely Choler and Phlegm concur to the breeding of the running Gout but Hippocrates saith of the Gout And indeed this is a disease of the Bloud in the small veins corrupted by Phlegm and Choler Whence we may gather that Bile and Choler are carried from some part principally affected by the Veins to the Joints where if they find the Bloud in the little Veins disposed to corruption they corrupt it and cause pain If not they use not to cause pain because the Vessels do contain them and unless there be distension or the Humours be extravasated there can be no solution of Continuity which is the proximate cause of pain Hippocrates treating of the Cure of them both saith And the same things are good for this which are good for the running Gout And the reason of their Convenience is because all of them have respect to the material Cause i. e. Choler and Phlegm which fall upon the Joints But treating of the Gout he subjoyns But if the Pain abide in the fingers burn the Veins a little above the Knuckles and you must burn them with raw fiax He propounds not this Remedy in the running Gout both because the remainder of its pains are not of any continuance P. Martianus comm in cit loc p. 170. and because it lies not so deep as the Gout as also because the continuance of the Pain argues great weakness of the Joint which cannot be better helped than by burning and it may alter the bad disposition of the part whereby the bloud therein contained is disposed to corruption in which the Essence of the Gout seems to consist Sennertus Epist 1. cent 1. II. We must rather take care of the Part that sends the Humour lest it breed more than think of outward Applications All the stress of Precaution lies in this in hindring the breeding of Serum and the Ebullition of Humours Crato in Epist 52. hath these words I think the whole of Precaution consists in a right course of Diet and Abstinence also in washing the Head and Sweating III. That efficacious Remedies are required to cure the Gout these following examples of persons cured do shew A Turk at Constantinople as an ocular and credible witness Mr. Arlaud a Watchmaker of Geneva told me who had a confirmed Gout received according to the Custome of that People five and twenty blows with a Cane upon the Soles of his Feet as a Punishment for some Fault he was deprived of the use of his Feet for some days but he lived afterwards free from the Gout Alteration of Diet is of great efficacy in this case Mr. Franchet of Pontarlier in Burgundy a Man well known to most and to me formerly who was banished his Countrey by an inrode of the Swedes An. 1636. into Burgundy having lost all was forced to get his living by carrying a Panier at his back to Markets and Fairs and by this course of life he lived afterwards free from the Gout IV. The Patient was an Inn-keeper the Physician was a certain Noble Knight who bargained with his Host to Cure him of the Gout for 300 Florens and having received a Bill under his hand he undertook the Cure The Patient was commanded to set his Feet upon a Block of Wood. The Knight had his Servants who were stout Fellows by to hold him down as he sate The Knight himself with a Hammer and six Nails nailed his Feet to the Block he left his Patient crying out most miserably and took Horse In the mean time he made Inquiry whether the Gout came again and after three years when he understood it was not come he returned to the Inn and joking with his Landlord Asked him If he was Cured of the Gout then he produced the Bill under his Hand and demanded his Fee Doringius Cent. 2. Epist 46. His Landlord though cruelly handled agreed to it The Knight indeed tarried so long with him till he and his Servants had spent the 300 Florens V. Lewis Noel a Surgeon of Geneva Sworn Searcher of the Dead who died almost Ninety years old Anno 1678. had been long afflicted with the Gout When he was laid up of a Fit a Woman that was a Natural called le Maistre steals into the House and catching him by his Feet she hit one against the other violently and would not leave off till some came to his assistance and turn'd his Tormentor out of doors From that time he lived free from the Gout Twenty years and upwards and made use of no Remedy VI. Bloud-letting for prevention sake must never be omitted in Plethorick Bodies nor in those that fare well and drink high Spring and
at this time also it breeds a Paroxysm and that for the causes above-mentioned with which mischief if it do not presently punish the Patient yet it does not at all free him from his Disease how constantly soever and at due Intervals he take this or that Cathartick Nay I have known some subject to this Disease who paid their devotions to Health by a Purge not onely Spring and Fall but once a Month yea and sometimes every week yet not one of them escaped the Gout which afterwards for the most part handled them more cruelly than if they had abstained from all Physick For though the said Purging may carry off some part of the Continent Cause yet since it conduces not one jot to strengthen concoction from which it is so far that it weakens it destroying nature by a fresh wound it is onely opposed to one Cause and has not virtue sufficient for the Cure of the Disease Besides we must note that through the same defect of spirits whereby coctions are vitiated in people subject to the Gout the consistence of their Animal spirits is rendred less firm and lively whereupon it is presently scattered and disturbed by any cause which does a little more violently shake and disturb either mind or body and therefore is very fleeting and dissipable as it often happens to them that are either hypochondriack or hysterick From which propensity of spirits to disorder it is that the Gout commonly follows any the least evacuation For when the tone of the body is destroyed which the firmness of spirits while they remain in their vigour preserves well compact and lively the peccant matter as having broken all bounds is at its liberty and upon this wound 's being inflicted on the body Idem p. 35. a Paroxysm presently arises XXXVI But this method as pernicious and hurtfull as it is has got some Empiricks no small credit who all of them craftily conceal the Purging Medicine which they make use of For it must be observed that the Patient while he is in his Purging course has little or no pain and if the Course can be carried on for some days and no fresh Paroxysm supervene the Patient will be quickly well of that wherewith he is at present held But then he must pay severely for it afterwards by reason of the disorder into which the said disturbance of the Humours hath precipitated nature XXXVII Then evacuation of the peccant matter by sweats though it doe less hurt than the foresaid evacuations yet it is clear that it does harm For though it do not retract the matter of the Disease into the bowels but on the contrary force it into the habit of the body yet however it does harm upon these accounts First indeed because out of the Fit it forcibly thrusts out the Humours that are yet crude and not so ripe as that they ought by right to be separated into the limbs and so solicite a Fit before the time and even against Nature's mind Then because in the Fit provoking of sweat doth force too violently the morbifick matter upon the part affected and besides causes intolerable pain and if the quantity of peccant matter be larger than that the part affected can admit it it presently throws it on other Joints whereupon there is a commotion and a great ebullition or exestuation of Bloud and other Humours But if the body abound with a serous floud that is apt to breed the Gout there is fear of falling into an Apoplexy Wherefore in this Disease like as in all other in which sweats are raised by Art to cast out the morbifick matter and do not flow by the duct of Nature it is exceeding dangerous to raise them so violently or beyond that degree of Coction to which Humours to be evacuated of themselves are arrived And that most famous Aphorism of Hippocrates Concocted not crude things must be Purged has place as well in provoking Sweats as in giving a Purge Which is clearly evident from the Sweat that concludes the Fit of an Ague which if it be moderate and answering exactly to the quantity of febrile matter concocted by the preceding Fit does remarkably relieve the Patient But if Sweat be promoted beyond Nature's measure by keeping the Patient continually in bed then a continual Fever arises and a fresh fire is kindled whereas what was burning before ought to have been put out By the same reason also in the Gout that gentle dew which for the most part arises in the morning of its own accord after every lesser Paroxysm several of which make one great one mitigates both the pain and restlesness wherewith the Patient contended all night but on the contrary if this gentle dew that is fleeting of its own nature be provoked longer and more violently than the proportion of peccant matter already concocted by the last paroxysm will bear Idem p 4â— the Disease is thereby enraged Therefore in this as well as in all other Diseases which I have had the hap ever yet to see the Plague onely excepted it is not so much the Physician 's as Nature's Province to raise Sweats because it is no way possible for us to know how great a share of this same matter is already prepared to undergoe separation nor by consequence what measure we ought to observe in provoking Sweat XXXVIII Whatever things therefore help Nature in performing her Offices aright where by strengthening the Stomach that it may concoct food aright or the Bloud that it may duely assimilate the Chyle carried into it or by corroborating the solid parts that they may better convert the Juices designed for their nutrition and augmentation into their proper substance Finally whatever things preserve the divers organs of Excretion and Emunctories of the body in that state as they may be able to void the Recrements of each part in their due time and order these and all such things are good to fulfill this intention and are properly called Digestives whether they be Medicines or Diet or Exercise or any of the sex res non naturales Such Medicines are all in general as heat moderately and are either bitter or gently pierce the tongue as being things that are gratefull to the Stomach cure the Bloud and cherish and comfort otâ—er parts such are for example Angelico and Elecampane Roots Leaves of Wormwood lesser Centaury Germander Groundpine c. Also common Antisâ—orbuticks may be added as Horse-rhadish root leaves of garden Scurvigrass Water-Cresses c. But since these sharp and pungent herbs how gratefull soever to the Stomach and conducing to it in helping Digestion do notwithstanding enrage the matter that hath been a long time bred and encrease it they must be used very sparingly in comparison of those that by their gentle heat and bitterness strengthen the Stomach and render the mass of bloud more brisk and lively Several sorts of these curiously mixt do better concoct the Humours than any simple taken out of
any sign of Return to her old Age. What will you guess now you European Dissector Whoever desires to be informed in this knowledge of the Places he must get some China or Japan Schemes or if he dare not rely on them let him observe that Rule of Hippocrates Wheresoever you feel Pain Burn it Burn the Part affected where the Artery beats violently or not far from it Do not lightly burn the Nerves or the Nervous parts if you can avoid it rather chuse the Bloud-vessels those genuine Habitacles of noxious Vapours Which notwithstanding cannot always be observed because the Vapour that is the efficient cause of the Gout commonly resides and is as it were imprisoned in the Nervous Places Burning cannot be administred to the Spinal Marrow without Danger Besides the Japanois either never at all or very seldom and then with great circumspection burn the inner side of the Feet or the upper part of the Arms where the Nerves Tendons and Ligaments are covered with but little flesh but the outer Parts of the Feet and Arms in the Interstices of the Muscles because there the Bloud-vessels the Place and Course of Vapours do lie But he that pertinaciously doubts whether it make so much matter where a Man be burnt I will allow him the foresaid place in the Hypogastrium a Fingers length below the Navel right downwards upon the Linea alba with the artificial way of Burning as I hinted before whereby a Man shall presently be effeminated and made inept for generation Wherefore through a preposterous election of places in burning Patients receive more hurt than good For the Japanois burn neither in the Hypogastrium nor Epigastrium but on each side a little above and below the Navel Burning a little above the Navel restores the lost Appetite so burning the Os sacrum on each side strengthens the genital Parts diminishes and sometimes stops the involuntary flux of Seed The dimple of the Chin or the middle furrow of the nether Jaw burnt cures the Tooth-ach J. Scult Armam Obs 28. So in Scultetus you have Spigelius his Invention which advises in the Tooth-ach to cut the Branch of the Soporal Artery that runs behind the Ears to the Teeth with a Penknife red hot Various examples also of desired success have taught me the same thing Besides the Japanois do much commend burning in Dropsies called the Tympany and Ascitis as also in their endemious Cod-rupture which is commonly the Swelling of one of their Testicles very familiar among them in which they burn the Scrotum and the great Toe of both Feet above the Joint which is a very sensible place while it is burnt but in the whole body there is none more sensible than that between the great Toe and the Toe next it And this production of the Vessels on which this sympathy of Parts depends must needs be wonderfull to our Countrymen which is indeed unknown to the Europeans but ratified by manifold experience to the Chinois and Japanois Certainly the admirable derivations and divarications of the Bloud-vessels are not yet fully discovered by the Europeans as may be demonstrated from their Schemes In the violent pain of the Colick such as rages horribly all Asia over and often kills the Patient with unspeakable Torments or frequently leaveth a Palsie in the hands and feet behind it the Portuguese use this Remedy they stand barefoot on a hot Iron instead whereof I should use Artemisial Down with less pain and perhaps with more benefit till the burnt part hiss and they feel pain upon which they presently find ease otherwise they are counted incurable But Doth this argue that Wind is the efficient Cause of this Disease or doth it confirm the Cure of it should be by Fire He that against the credit of his Senses doubts whether there be Wind may be convinced by this Experiment in Bengala where they know in this cruel Disease so to rub and press the Belly till Wind does sensibly whistle out at the Navel which if it do not succeed they set a great Pot they call it Cojang full of Water which by the force and violence of the Wind moves and dances And by the way in this same Disease our Soldiers in Ceilon use to take some Wood-ashes out of the Chimney and mix them with Water and drink them whereby they find present ease Therefore the Chinois of whom the latter borrowed this Art and whatever else they have in Physick and the Japanois who practise this Pyrotechnick Surgery more than the former will have the place for burning most accurately observed both which Nations although in a manner wholly ignorant of Anatomy yet they know the motion of the Bloud on which they ground their whole Art of Physick and the structure of the Bloud-vessels more exactly than any Nation in Europe Hence they have formed certain Rules upon burning of places according to the Complexion and disposition of the Humours and the nature of the subjâ—cent and neighbouring parts as may be seen in their Schemes The burner marks the place with Ink or some other colour lest upon motion of the Body and consequently of the Skin he mistake Or he keeps his Patient's Body steady in the same posture till he have done And for a Conclusion let this preparation and inward use of Mugwort serve the Japanois take its green leaves not dry when they have taken out the stalks and fibres of the Leaves and cast them away they put the remainder in hot water they stir it about and wash it to separate the filth and take off the bitterness they pour away the water and strain it all from the Leaves these Leaves they pound in a Mortar when it is enough they put to it half as much boiled Rice so with a little Sugar they reduce it to a Paste and make Cakes of it which their Women eat instead of Sweet-meats for fits suppression of the Menses and Womens Diseases for which Diseases that Mugwort is a Specifick Authours unanimously teach and the practice of Japan doth confirm To this it may not be amiss to subjoyn Sir William Temple's experiment of Moxa on himself in a Fit of the Gout at the Hague Temple 's Misâ—â—llaniâ—â— p. 20â— I set the Moxa saith he just upon the place where the first violence of my pain began which was the Joint of the great Toe and where the greatest anger and soreness still continued notwithstanding the Swelling of my Foot so that I had never yet in five days been able to stir it but as it was lifted Upon the first burning I found the skin shrink all round the Place and whether the greater pain of the fire had taken away the sense of a smaller or no I could not tell but I thought it less than it was I burnt it the second time and upon it observed the skin about it to shrink and the Swelling to stat yet more than at first I began to move my Toe which I had
transpire as also after rubbings and anointings Comfrey Roots boiled in Spring-water is successfully applied to the Parts in form of a Cataplasm Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Rod. à Fonseca Cons 56. Swines bloud distilled is a singular thing to make one fat Take of Swines bloud 2 pounds distill it in a Glass in Balneo Give 2 ounces of this Water with a little Sugar every morning for 15 days 2. A Water distilled off Swines bloud Hartman prax Chym. de Atrophia and cooling and moistning Plants does a wonderfull deal of good It is made thus Take of Swines bloud 2 pounds rub it between your hands that all the Fibres may be taken away add of the Leaves of Betony Coltsfoot Red-Roses Mallows each 1 handfull Lettice 2 handfulls Melon-seeds excorticated 1 ounce Coltsfoot Water 2 pounds Distill them in Balneo by an Alembick Put to every pound of Water 3 ounces of Manus Christi perlatae Let him drink often of this Water 3. Joh. Stokerus pr. l. 1. c. 60. In an Atrophy of the Limbs Nettle Juice is excellent to anoint the Limbs withall that are extenuated 4. The Virtue of this Liquour is admirable Weikardus Tract Pract. l. 4. p. â—â— 582. Take of Mentha Saracenica Rosemary small Sage Flowers of Cheiri Lavender Lily Convall Roman Chamaemil Spike of each equal parts Bruise them steep them for a Month in Spirit of Wine strain them out very hard keep it and bathe the Limbs with it Aurium affectus or Diseases of the Ears See Surditas The Contents Whether a Vomit or a Purge be convenient in pain of the Ears I. Whether Repellents should be applied II. Whether gentle Medicines must always be used III. Whether Faventinus his Onion be always proper IV. Violent Pain gives way to Purgatives when it will not to outward applications V. Whether Vinegar and Oxyrrhodina may be used VI. Whether Narcoticks may be poured into the Ears VII The Cure of an-Imposthume when broken VIII Things got into the Ear are to be got out and not to be left to Nature IX How a Leech was got out of the Ear. X. General Rules for Cure XI Whether moist things may be used XII How any Liquor may be drawn from the bottom of the Ear. XIII Spirituous Waters are to be-preferred before Oils XIV Medicines I. WHether should we Vomit or Purge in pain of the Ears A Vomit seems better according to Hippocrates Aphor. 4.18 Those pains above the Midriff which stand in need of Evacuation require a Vomit And according to that Precept lib. de loc in hom n. 55. Diseases are to be discharged by the part next to them and to be drawn out by that part that hath a passage nearest each of them In lib. de affect he expresly commends Vomit If pain arise in the Ears it is good to wash in much hot water and to apply a Fomentation to the Ears and if by these means the attenuated Phlegm depart from the Head and the pain cease these things are sufficient But if not a Vomitory Potion is the best Medicine Where you must observe that the seat of Phlegm the cause of the Pain is above and so according to Hippocrates said Rules must be discharged that way But in his Book de locis in Homine n. 20. He commends Purging and condemns Vomiting If by this means the Pain asswage not let cooling things actually cold be poured in and let a Potion be given that purges downwards and not upwards because a Vomit will doe no good But here you must note that the Application of cooling things in this case argues that some Hot Humour is in fault the original seat whereof is below and that Hippocrates consonant to himself purges therefore downwards And do but you consider the Cause you have their directions before you II. Whether should we apply Repellents We must listen here to the determination of Arculanus 9. ad Almansorem Before Repercussion be made let these things be observed The Matter must not have been critically discharged Not be venemous Not furious Not much Not immediately discharged from the Brain Not very tough and thick Not gathered by little and little Not run to the out-part of the Ear Because all these things forbid the use of Repellents besides to repell to the Brain is very suspicious III. Whether must we always use gentle Medicines The excellence of a most exquisitely sensible part and its proximity to a principal part seem to intimate so much Wherefore Galen 7. method doth not cure sensible Parts at once with violent Medicines but by mild ones by degrees Yet he in the violent pains of such parts uses strong Medicines lib. 3. 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as Chalcitis Nitre juice of Onions Goats Urine c. that is when cold and gross humours cause the Pain which are attenuated and heated by the help of such Medicines and the Vapours raised by them are dissipated But he abstains from such things when the pain is the product of inflammation IV. Many Practitioners use Ben. Victorius Faventinus his Plaster of Onions to asswage the Pain of the Ears of whatever cause they come indifferently to the great damage sometime of the Patient especially when the Pain is but beginning and depends on a hot Humour But when the Pain is owing to a cold cause or the Inflammation tends to Suppuration the remedy must be applied with good success Take an Onion rosted in hot Embeâ—s Zecchius consult 62. of fresh Butter 2 drachms Oil of Chamaemil Roses each 1 drachm Saffron 1 scruple apply it warm V. N. was afflicted with an unspeakable Pain in his right Ear he got no sleep and was scarce himself the Humour indeed at first ran but after the Surgeon applied a Plaster and Clothes to his Ear the running stopt but not the Pain A Physician was called and advised Opium upon which he slept two hours and when he waked his Pain returned At length by my Advice he took some Pills of Extractum Rudii Extractum Rhei morning and evening four days one after another he bore the working well when I had removed the Plasters and Clothes the Matter began to run plentifully Then I gave him a gentle Purge of Powder of Jalap 1 scruple sharpened with 5 grains of its Resin and so the Patient recovered in three weeks Another was troubled with a grievous pain in his Ears his Head aked so he could not sleep all night scarce knowing what he did I advised him to lay aside all externals the former was my precedent and presently to take these Pills Take of Extract of Hellebor made with spirit of Wine 1 scruple Pill Ruffi half a drachm Resin of Jalap 6 grains mix them make Pills for 2 doses The first Dose gave him four stools with some alleviation of his Pain The next day he took the second Dose It gave him six stools After Noon his Ear began to run and when it had
of the Ear must be preserved XIII You may draw any Liquor or Matter from the bottom of the Ear if you dip a Sponge in Betony Water and strain it out well again and then put it in the passage of the Ear and let the Patient lye on his sick side Fabric Hildan for so the Sponge will soak up whatever is liquid but the Sponge must be often changed and washed XIV A Melancholick Person of about Fifty years of Age was troubled for some weeks with a grievous tingling in his Ears and was cured in a few days with a few drops of Spir. cephal Anhalt put into them with a little Cotton Thonerus lib. 2. Obs ult I have found the effect of it in strengthning the Brain and discussing a Vaporous and flatulent Matter far beyond distilled Oils which by their exceeding heat doe more hurt Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Pound some Galls bind them in a Rag Bayrus l. 4. c. 1. boil them in Wine and pour in some of the Wine hot it gives present ease 2. I cured one who had a sore Ear 8 years J. Wallaeus Med. pr. l. 2. c. 8. so that all that time some purulent Matter ran out of the Ear onely with Vnguentum Aegyptiacum 3. One that had an Imposthume in his Ear Forest obs 7. l. 8. put into it Oil of bitter Almonds mixt with Mucilage of Linseed whereupon Matter ran out in great quantity and so he recovered 4. J. Riolan partic m. m. p. m. 135. Marcellus his Experiment is not to be despised Mix saith he two ounces of Cows Milk with one ounce of Honey pour some of it in presently stop the Ear with Wool and although the Ulcer were Cancrous it will wonderfully heal 5. Grato cons l. 6. Cons 44. An excellent old Medicine for the Tingling of the Ears Take of white Hellebore Castor each 2 drachms Costus 1 drachm and a half Rue 2 scruples bitter Almonds 1 ounce Euphorbium half a drachm boil them all for an hour on a gentle fire strain it and drop it warm into the Ears 6. Nitre dissolved in strong Vinegar P. J. Fabr. l. 3. c. 34. and often dropped into the Ears quickly cures any noise in them 7. Sennertus The steam of Vinegar with the Gall of an Ox and the Gall of a Goat with juice of Onion are found good by Experience for a Noise in the Ears 8. Worms will fall out by this means Arnoldus Villanovan l. 1. c. 35. Mix Henbane-seeds with a little Wax cast it on burning Coals and let the Patient by a Funnel receive the Fume into his Ear Hold a Bason of Water underneath and you will certainly see the Worms fall into the Water Bayrus l. 4. c. 5. 9. Juice of Shepherds Rod and Pellitory of the Wall with a little Black Hellebore presently kills the Worms 10. Arculanus in lib. 9. Rhasis saith thus This is a tried Remedy to draw out any thing that is got into the Ears let a live Lizâ—rd or one but newly dead be applied with his head to the Ear and bound there for three hours you will find the thing whatever it be sticking to the Lizard's head when you remove it and this is good to draw out any thing else 11. Riverius A little Ball of Dogs Hair put into the Ear is good to draw a Flea out of the Ear for the Flea will presently creep into the Hair out of Sympathy which it hath with Dogs A GUIDE TO The Practical Physician BOOK II. Of Diseases beginning with the Letter B. Balbuties or Stuttering The Contents Stutterers must have their excessive moisture purged cautiously I. All do not faulter because of the excessive moisture of their Brain II. A Medicine I. SOME Stutterers have their Tongue weakned through the moist intemperature of the whole body or of the Brain And they that have a moist Tongue are for the most part loose the same Membrane being a coat both to the Stomach and to the Tongue Heurnius câ—mm in aphor 32. Sect. 6. For this reason when the Tongue trips it portends a Diarrhoea as if Hippocrates had said Such bodies should be purged with caution lest they be cast into a Loosness II. The disaffection of Lispers consists in Conformation and not at all in Intemperature for in the middle region of the Palate i. e. in the fourth bone of the upper Jaw in all persons that I have hitherto seen who could not pronounce the Letter R there are two holes which are nothing so open and obvious as in them that do not Lisp Therefore those two passages are the immediate Cause and the Disease will be in Conformation ¶ In like manner we observe the holes near the Teeth yet by all such so brought into the World with themselves to be greater through which the Phlegm trickling and moistning the tip of the Tongue causeth faultering whereupon Men become Stammerers and half Tongued Nor therefore must we say that Men are Stammerers by reason of a Phlegmatick Head or a moist Intemperature of Brain For there is no Intemperature so dry but so much Phlegm may be gathered Sanctorius Meth. lib. 3. cap. 9. as falling on that part may moisten the Tongue and make Men Stammer A Medicine especially made use of by an eminent Physician Let the Mouth be often washed with Spirit of Black Cherries Pet. Joh. Faber univ sapientiae l. 3. c. 14. for it greatly strengthens the Muscle of the Tongue and the innate fixt Spirits of those Parts allotted to Speech Brachiorum affectus or Diseases of the Arms. The Contents Pain of the Arm cured with an easie Medicine I. It s Swelling cured which came upon letting an impure Body bloud II. The Cure of it shrunk III. Medicines I. A Goldsmith who was Scorbutick was troubled with a violent cutting Pain in his right Arm so that he could neither eat nor sleep I prescribed divers things to no purpose at last the following Bag took the Pain quite away Take of Grommel not excorticated 3 handfulls of common Salt one handfull Got. Christ Winclerus Misc curios an 96. obs 94. of Chamaemil Flowers and Wormwood each 1 handfull of Bran 2 handfulls heat them upon a Tile put them in a Bag and apply them hot II. A Man above Fifty years old who was cacochymick and subject to great obstructions in his Bowels had without either Purging his Body or advising with a Physician and when he had no occasion to bleed got himself let bloud in the Cephalick of the right Arm the next day he had some small pain about the place of incision which gradually encreasing and growing more violent a great afflux of serous Humours did follow When I was called I found his whole Arm incredibly swelled from his shoulder to his fingers ends there was an Inflammation with Pustules as in a pustulous Ring-worm out of which a serous and sharp Humour
the bladder such a position of this part as I once indeed observed in one that was designed to be cut then there is no less need of circumspection as one may see in the example here instanced upon whom the Lithotomist had certainly done his office little to his own credit had he not being frighted with this perverse situation of the bladder in prudence desisted for this Stone was implicated in so perplexed an errour within the contorted bladder that as Anatomy informed me Aesculapius himself could not have got it out without manifest danger of life Nic. Tulpiâ—s lib. 3. observ 5 6. ¶ One man's bladder contained two encompassed so close by its corrugated coats that it was scarce capable of an ounce of liquour besides them X. Although Stones that stick and are fixt can hardly be pulled away and the greater number of these that are troubled with such do dye yet the Cure is not impossible seeing it is observed daily that several such have recovered amongst which I saw one from whom a two ounce Stone was taken Augenius Epist 2. l. 4. inclosed in a bag which rarely happens XI Many Errours are wont to be committed by vulgar Lithotomists in taking out the Stone the First is When they allow the Patient the days next preceding and in the whole course of his Cure to live as he list neither premitting Diet nor Preparation whence many Inconveniences and Death do follow for all things run from a plethorick and cacochymick Body to the place affected Therefore let Diet Preparation and Purging go before c. 2. They think they have done the business when before cutting they have purged their Patient with Antimony Mercurius vitae c. But these violent things debilitate the Strength and native Heat whence the Patient often dies after the operation 3. Some for a few days before the operation give a full draught of a decoction of Rest-harrow-roots or Millet-seed morning and evening to bring the Stone to the neck of the bladder but many mischiefs flow from thence for much humours are carried from the whole to the urinary passages Fabritius Hild. c. 23. de Lithot whence follow after cutting dangerous Symptoms Inflammation Gangreen Convulsion and Death Wherefore onely gentle purgative Potions must be given because if Lenitives do purge also by Urine how much more will strong Purgers which have also a diuretick virtue do it XII Lithotomists when they have got out the Stone often commit many Errours which want rectifying Some think the Wound should be drawn together with one Suture or two that it may the sooner heal but they doe ill 1. Because a Tent cannot be put in as it should nor the bloud gathered in the bladder whence come many Symptoms be got out 2. It is known that after the Stone is got out there often remains Gravel Phlegm clotted Bloud and Matter which not taken out doe much hurt 3. Suppose there be no such things yet it is certain that the bladder afflicted so long does crave time to purge out the gross and viscid Phlegm that it daily breeds but this must needs be done by the open Wound for seeing the urinary passage is long and turning therefore it cannot be voided that way especially when the expulsive faculty is weak II. Many Lithotomists immediately after the operation clap the Patient in a Semicupe in which they boil indeed appropriate herbs and keep him there half an hour for the easing of his pain and heating his body which was cooled by cutting But so there is imminent danger of an haemorrhage the Vessels being opened which is attended with fainting and weakness and is one cause of Death after operation Thus they offend against Aphorism 5. 23. Then after bathing much Vapours ascend another cause of fainting It is the property of the Bath also to draw whence a great quantity of humours is drawn down in a manner violently from the parts above from the Loins especially which were stirred by the operation and other Symptoms follow all the ways and passages being loosned by using the Bath so that all the excrementitious humours flow to that Wound and hinder the healing of it III. Some Lithotomists reject the use of Tents and doe all their endeavour to heal it quickly The Physician indeed should cure quickly but safely also now there is no safety unless the Wound be kept open by the help of Tents for some days after cutting and the bladder be cleared of gravel and phlegm which would grow together again by reason of the heat and inflammation left in the bladder whereupon the latter Evil is worse than the first for a Gangreen doth easily follow IV. The Errour of a renowned Chirurgeon must be remarked who writes that 't is sufficient when the Stone is taken out if the Wound be closed with clean Lint for the Vrine is enough to heal the Wound by its detersion and consolidation wherein it excells if so be he adds that no symptoms supervene And he says well for how will you obviate the Symptoms Pain Swelling Inflammations c. which usually follow wounds joined with confusion But if you would prevent them and Death that would otherwise certainly follow keep the Wound open with Tents which would otherwise so close with the swelling that neither Urine nor the viscid humours bloud nor matter that remained after cutting can run out Besides Urine cannot serve the turn of a Medicine when it has got an acrimony and corrosive faculty from pain and a preternatural febrile heat They that have tried it know that Urine retained is the chief cause of the Symptoms which usually follow cutting for the Stone therefore a prudent Chirurgeon will provide it an easie passage by the help of Pipes and Tents V. Nor is their errour less who make it their business by frequent traumatick Potions to cleanse the Bladder of Impurities Phlegm Gravel c. expecting hence a perfect Cure of the Wound But who can believe that there can pass to the Bladder or bring any benefit when Diureticks though endued with subtile parts cannot according to Galen Art Med. c. 96. penetrate thither VI. There are some who presently after the operation give a little Powder in a Glass of Wine as a singular help and not in the beginning onely but in the whole course of the Cure hoping from thence for an abatement of Pain a Repulse of the afflux of humours stopping of bloud and suppuration But Wine that is hot and sharp by nature will not stop a flux of bloud for which work cold and dry Medicines are requisite and it will not asswage Pain nor promote Suppuration as being hot it rather being fit by its acrimony to enrage than appease a Wound which office is onely granted to hot and moist things Hildanus and those void of all acrimony XIII Authours propose three places by which the Stone may be taken out 1. The orifice of the Bladder as is usual in Women by
freely the vapâ—ur contained in it exhales by so much the more violently doth the humour flow likewise which will encrease the Swelling into whose intimacy if the circumfluous Air which was excluded before by its coats do indeed penetrate presently there follows both a greater putrefaction and a more luxuriant rankness in the part affected which if you do but endeavour to hinder either by Instrument or sharp Medicines you do but twist ropes of Sand. The Daughter of Geropius Becanus carried in her left Temple for above Fifty years a hard and uneven Carcinoma but without an Ulcer or any great harm Nic. Tulpius lib. 1. obser 47. however the pain and itching by little and little encreasing she imprudently applied to the Tumour I know not what Caustick Medicines which corroding the Skin it quickly degenerated into an Ulcerated Carcinoma III. There scarce occurs any one disease this day in Surgery about which greater errours are committed than in the Canker Do you ask the cause The Disease and the Essence thereof is not sufficiently clear to them and in the Cure they too strictly observe that Axiome of Physicians Contraries are Medicines for their Contraries For when they see the Tumour very hard they endeavour by Emollients and Resolvers contrary to Galen's opinion to amend that hardness afterwards when the Tumour is degenerated into an Ulcer they consume the Lips that are hard with Escharoticks and Corroders they correct the filth and stink of the Ulcer with Aegyptiacum Hild. cent 6. obs 81. and such things all which how unreasonable and pernicious they are many examples do shew IV. Carcinoma's or Cankers if they be cured to the bottom can be cured no other way than if they be Ulcerous ones by burning if not Ulcerous by cutting For that there are some which may be cured is evident from Hipp. lib. 7. Epid. about the Man that had a Carcinoma in his Jaws burnt and was cured by him And others that neither can be cured nor ought to be medled with appears from Celsus because they are but provoked and do increase till they kill And the difference lies not in the kind of the Disease but in the Quality of the humour for in the very several sorts of Melancholy some are sharper or milder than others If therefore you perceive by any symptomes that a Man's Melancholy is so sowre as that it is much irritated upon a slender occasion perchance you must not dare to touch it But if by other symptomes you perceive the Melancholick humour that is in a Man doth incline to an earthy or sanguine nature you must try to burn it with Causticks and then if the thing succeed well you must proceed presently to fire especially if the evil be in a part which the disease can easily and speedily eat away such as the Jaws For in such cases Vallesius l. 7. Eâ—id p. 89â— although you be not sufficiently ascertained whether the humour be able to bear this Remedy you must try even with danger to burn it because if the cure should be neglected the disease might eat away the part though coming of no ungentle Humour Therefore you must try even with danger to cure a Disease that would certainly kill V. Purging should rather be used in the beginning according to the redundance of the Humours in the Body if perchance the encrease of the Canker may be hindred by it than that we should accommodate it onely to carry off Melancholick Humours as they commonly doe who think Melancholy to be the cause of it which indeed for a costive body may be better treated can upon this account especially doe no good because it cannot take away the cause of the Canker that is poisonous besides It is granted that other poisons as that which causeth the Pox may be discharged the body by strong Purges often repeated which it is not safe to doe in very weak bodies Platerus Tâ—m 2. p. 704. that are troubled with the Canker nor if it should be done would doe any good VI. Galen 4. aph 47. acknowledges he cured a Cancrous Tumour that came in the breast of a certain Woman by violently and often Purging her of black Choler in the Spring and Autumn H Montuus And by the like method of cure I also freed a certain Noble Countess of a Carcinoma in her Breast VII We have no reason to question the repetition of Bloud-letting again and again for there is a fault in the Bloud upon its being vitiated the Tumour depends And though a Cacochymy should rather be discharged by proper Purgers yet when there was hot exust and melancholick Bloud in the whole it ever pleased Galen 3. de lec affect 7. Fortis consul 86. cent 4. ad Glauc 11. and Hippocrates also to abate us plenty by breathing a Vein which is the more convenient if heat and redness be perceived in the part a token of the Fire 's being onely kindled and not that all is in ashes VIII Cordials especially those that resist poison will doe more good in subduing the strength of this poison than such as are accommodated to other humours And these are the chief of those things that are given inward in this case and should rather be used than vulnerary Potions which nevertheless some that they may try all things in a desperate disease do prescribe in an Ulcerous Canker And they most esteem of one that is made of a Decoction of Winter-green and Ground Ivy in Wine for the Canker in the Breast Platerus and for all others IX If in the part affected the peccant matter be but in a small quantity then there is no inconvenience in strengthening the Part because when the Part is strengthned that little which is left is easily dissolved by Nature This Rule is gathered from Galen 14 Meth. cap. 9. where he saith That in the beginning of a Canker the excrementitious humour if it be but little may be repelled to the principal parts because unless it be suddenly repelled Sanctorius lib. de Râ—m Innent c. 15 the Melancholick humour does presently distend the veins which when distended the Canker is rendred incurable But that it is so appears from Galen 6 aph 38. where he saith the Roots of the Canker are Veins that are distended by melancholick Bloud which unless it be removed the Canker cannot be cured X. Sometime the Pain is most outragious which will not allow one to take any rest or sleep wherefore we are often forced to have recourse to Narcoticks which in this case by reason of the intense heat of the humours doe less harm For once I saw a Woman that laboured of a Canker in her Breast Riverius prâ—ct l. 15. c. 10. whâ— every night for four months took four or five grains of Laudanum without any hurt and to her great comfort XI A Noble Woman had all the right-side of her face Mauritius Cordaeus con 7. in lib. 1. de
morb mulier Hipp. for a long time beset with an Ulcerous Canker She after she had made use of several means prescribed by the Physicians of Italy France Germany and Spain was at length eased by this common Barber-Surgeon's remedy she cut young Chickens into thin and broad pieces which she applied to the part affected changing them often every day Some use the Flesh of young Pigeons XII Septicks unless they be tamed by frequent washing in the juice of Purselain Lemons Nightshade or Housleek may not be applied to any Ulcer and then they must be mixt in a small quantity with some gentle Unguent and used onely to a part that is far from a principal one for I have observed them especially Arsenick and sublimate in a greater quantity and not tamed applied to Ulcers near the heart as to a Cancer in the Breast that they once carried off a Woman in 6 days About three hours after the Powder was strewed on her Breast she just as if she had swallowed it was taken with a Shivering then with a Vomiting and frequent Faintings with a languid Pulse which symptomes encreasing by degrees Fernelâ—us m. 〈◊〉 6. c. 18. her extreme parts growing cold and her Face and whole Body swelling beyond measure she was miserably murthered ¶ Have a care you do not use Fredo's Medicines for the Canker for they consist of Arsenick but that Arsenick is a destructive Medicine in cancrous affections is certain ¶ Therefore Penotus must not be harkened to who lib. de vera prepar usu med Chym. extolls his Medicine made of Arsenick to the Skies But he good Man was seduced by others and never made trial of it himself as neither did Philippus Mullerus of his which he describes in Mysteriis Miraculis Chymicis The original of the Cheat and Errour is from hence Because Theodorick and Lanfranc whom Guido follows distinguished a Canker into a Canker an Imposthume and a Canker an Ulcer The Canker an Imposthume is the disease so called by Hippocrates Galen Avicenna and others rational Physicians and Surgeons But the Canker an Vlcer so Guido calls it is when by reason of Vlcers or Wounds irritated by sharp Medicines bad melancholick humours become adust and troubled and are drawn from the whole and parts adjoyning to that place where they putrefy grow hot and acquire an acrimony and poisonous quality whence there is an encrease of the evil disposition and it becomes a Canker So Guido But such Ulcers though malignant and oftentimes stubborn are not yet Cankers nor ought to be confounded with a Canker whose Contumacy far surpasses the Malice of all Ulcers Moreover in the Canker an Ulcer or rather in bad and malignant Ulcers Faâ—ritius Hi daâ—us cent 6 observat 82. I have known the Powder or Arcanum of the Physician of Norimberg as also my Escharotick Unguent to agree well with several but in a true Canker neither of them can be used XIII A plate of Lead smeared with Quicksilver is no contemptible Medicine for Cankers that are not Ulcerous for Galen testifies that Lead is a very usefull Remedy for malignant and inveterate Ulcers And that such Leaden Plates smeared with Quick-silver are a kind of Alexipharmack whereby the evil disposition of Malignant Ulcers is subdued and spent when they elude the virtues of other remedies Guido is witness When this sort of Remedy was prescribed the Lady M. for a Canker as big as a Walnut in her left breast it 's true it did not cure her yet it hindred the encrease of her illness But growing weary of it when she had committed her self to a certain Physician who boldly promised her a speedy cure she proved by the loss of her life how dangerous the cure is which is undertaken after the manner of other Ulcers for when her Physician had thrown this Remedy out of doors and applied remollient heating and drawing things the Swelling increased to such a bigness that her breast Paraeus lib. 6. c. 30. through mere distension burst in the middle whereupon an haemorrhagy arising that could not be stopt the poor Lady expired in the Armes of her Physician XIV An occult Canker had invaded a Matron's right breast after two years time it rose to a manifest Tumour The Physician that was consulted ordered a Plate of Lead to be applied and every other day to smear it lightly with Quick-silver according to the example of Galen Guido Paraeus c. But through the carelessness of those that lookt after her the Plates did more harm than good In the mean time the Canker encreased and came to Suppuration therefore the use of the Plate was laid aside The Swelling broke of it self and her torments ceased a little but by and by they returned more violent and pungitive the Canker encreasing in all its dimensions It deserves admiration that the Mercury which was formerly imbibed from the Plate should drop so visibly and in a pretty quantity out of the Carcinoma which shaded the adjacent parts with its shining nay Bartholinus cent 1. hist 7. and sweat at the shoulders through the whole skin I ordered a Plate of Gold which Mercury uses to follow to be applied and a tent of Gold for the Ulcer XV. The Canker is taken away both by Medicines and the Knife The Knife is better than Medicines for eroding and sharp things cause pain and this a greater flux of Humours Yet the latter way of cure is sometimes proper for erosion must be made in the Interstices of the Fingers and in the Groin because the tendons and membranes in these parts would make cutting very painfull Among the caustick Medicines there is the Holosericum Fernelii and Vinegar some use that is better the Ly of Sope boil'd up to a consistency Arsenick which pleases some displeases me Lest an Inflammation should be raised in the Neighbourhood apply a defensative round about Thus indeed a Canker may be taken away by Medicines but it is better to cut it out with a Knife This cutting is either speedy or slow I saw a Canker so quickly cut from the Breast that in the time of the operation I was scarce able to speak three words But when a Canker is come to a great bigness then this speedy cutting is not proper for much good flesh is taken away and a great hole is made out of which the spirits can more freely pass and thereby the Patient is more weakened In this case to recruit strength Cataplasms steeped in Wine are applied In less Cankers we may make the Section all at once except in those of the Lips But it must be all taken away therefore first let the Operatour take the part affected and these adjacent in his fingers and try well whether all that is amiss may be taken away A Canker once cut out doth often come again 1. When all was not cut out through timorousness either in the Operatour or in the Patient 2. Because the Arteries that emit this
his upper parts or have his Head inflamed or if his Head ake or he be phrenitick or if he have a great Ulcer which cannot safely be irritated I avoid Physick as much as I can knowing for certain that it affects the Head Sleep shews this which presently seizes them that have taken a Purge If I can I content my self with sharp Clysters and a low Diet. Vallesius 2. Epid. 6. p. 225. VIII In an Intemperature of the Head with Melancholy always some Moistner must be mixt with Purgatives Nor may a Purge be prescribed till the body be first moistned IX The Ancients said that Sneezers and Apophlegmatisms were indicated by excrementitious humours gathered in the Ventricles and substance of the Brain This latter Age thinks not that these parts do empty the humours gathered there by the Nose and Palate nor that what is evacuated is excrements of nutrition gathered in the Meanders of the Nostrils and Membranes of the Palate and Jaws but in some mens opinion they are bilous phlegmatick melancholick and serous humours derived thither partly by the Arteries from the whole body and partly from the Salival ducts Rolfinccius meth med specialis p. 605. For this reason they are indicated by the cacochymick impurity of the bloud diluted with much Serum that its flowing into the Brain it s farther mixture with the circulated bloud and its approach to the more noble parts may be prevented X. If you make use of Sneezers to unload the Brain in its Intemperature with Phlegm you must abstain from violent ones as Powder of white Hellebore Root of Lily Conval and the like because of the great agitation they cause in the Brain convenient onely for such as are in a Lethargy or Apoplexy it is sufficient if you onely put a Fibre of the Root into the Nostril and then pull it out again XI Some think that the use of Ptarmicks does rather encrease than hinder a defluxion of humours from the head to the breast and that this should not be used but in case of extreme necessity and universals premised But in my opinion they are grievously out seeing in great and sudden suffocating defluxions they are very properly and succesfully used Quercetan Phrâ—m degm resâ—â—t c. 18. For Nature hath ordained these Chanels for the emptying of the Brain whom Art imitating doth so promote that in an open and free passage through this same way the course of the serous humours is expedited and turned back Avicenna uses a certain vaporous Sternutatory made of very strong Vinegar in which he dissolves a little Castor the steam whereof causes violent sneezing XII As much Extract of Tobacco made with Aqua vitae as a Pease laid on the Tongue brings off a great deal of Phlegm Riverius Exceed not this quantity for if it get into the Stomach it will cause grievous vomiting XIII As often as the Head is indisposed by outward Cold of the Air Water or Snow or the Nose doth run or they be troubled with a defect of animal Spirits so often I have observed my Patients succesfully and quickly cured if as quickly as may be that be driven out of the Head again which was got into it or any other part of the body and was hurtfull to them And this either by one Sweat or which I prefer by several but they must be spirituous and volatile because they must be such as not onely alter and correct the cause of the Cold and of other evils attending it but amend whatever amiss is introduced into the body contained or containing For this purpose I commend the following Receipt Take of Water of Fumitory Fenil each 2 ounces simple Treacle or any other Aromatick water 1 ounce Spirit of Sal Ammoniack 20 drops Oil of Cloves 3 drops Bezoarticum minerale half a drachm Laudanum Opiatum 2 grains Syrup of red Poppies 1 ounce mix them Let the Patient take two spoonfuls of this Medicine and when he is moderately covered expect a Sweat which he will facilitate and obtain his desire if every half hour he take as much of it till the Sweat burst out for then he must use it more seldom and sparingly he must use now and then some plain broth with a little Wine in it to repair his strength and make him the more able to sweat the longer for nothing does them so much good as a gentle Sweat sometime As often as the natural and competent Secretion of the animal Spirits is hindred by an inward or aguish chilness or by any other that without an Ague fit doth now and then seize a man so often by the like Sudorifick rightly used the Sweat arising sometimes sooner sometimes later the desired Secretion of the animal Spirits so necessary to humane felicity is sooner or later restored for by help of this or the like spirituous Sylâ—ius â—â—ax med l 2. cap. 1. sâ—ct 21. ad 36. volatile and aromatick Medicine the hurtfull and cold Vapour is discussed and dissipated in Sweat or insensible Transpiration which caused that dulness in the sense and liftlesness in motion And whoever in such an internal or external Cold do think to cure by Bleeding Vomiting or Purging they cast their Patients into greater hazards even of Life it self as I have observed more than once c. XIV The natural temperament of the Brain seeing it is very moderate we should therefore use both inward and outward Medicines for the Head with great caution lest while we change its native temper we bring some great mischief on this most noble part Wherefore their boldness is not to be approved of who attribute so much to those Waters called Aqua vitae being made of violent hot things that they affirm all Diseases of the Head may be both prevented and cured by the use of these same Waters not considering that most Diseases of the Head do come rather from hot causes than cold especially in those persons that are either in their youth or manhood Besides in our Germany the way of most mens living is such that there is scarce one in a hundred who gathers not a particular Plethora in his Head Whence it happens if the use of Aqua vitae be prescribed to one of these men that it seeing it is altogether vaporous immediately gets into the Head and disturbs it being full of various humours and disposes it either to the Epilepsie Apoplexie or to dangerous Catarrhs But that this opinion does not want experiment you may understand from this that those Apoplectick persons to whom these Aquae vitae are given Oethaeus apud Schenckium do almost all of them dye or grow worse as I have often observed and do find it observed by others XV. Some prescribe an Issue in the Coronal Suture to be made with a Cautery and do commend it for drawing out and evacuating the humours from the Brain and its Cover Although this is very familiar in some mens practice yet I have
parts where the root of the Disease is strong are emptied Pr. Martianus Conim in cum locum and a revulsion of the humours is made which falling downwards might create Diseases in the lower parts XIII In a suffocative Catarrh Vomits may serve for most Medicines because when they are seasonably given both the antecedent and the continent cause is removed from the Pipes of the Lungs Yet it must be observed that if the fault lye in the whole mass of bloud and bad humours mixt with the bloud be carried with the Arteries forcibly to the Lungs and be so raised by some exotick ferment that there is great danger of Suffocation Frid. Hofmannus m. m. l. 1. c. 9. as it often happens in the Scurvy and Hypocondriack Diseases then Vomits doe no good but Bloud letting XIV They that are often troubled with Defluxions sometimes fall into a suffocating Catarrh which is no less dangerous than an Apoplexy Now according to the advice of Physicians bloud must presently be let Frictions upon the Shoulders Neck and Arms and strong Ligatures must be made A Vesicatory of Leaven Cantharides and Vinegar must be laid on the coronal Commissure Crato Loch de scylla cum Oxymelite Ammoniaco must be given if the matter be thick or if it be thin we must proceed to Pilul de Cynogloss yet we must not exceed one Scruple in a dose I mention these things because in sudden Diseases the minds of Physicians are often in such consternation that they cannot think of Remedies ¶ A Physician often happens upon suffocating Catarrhs concerning which my advice is that when there is fulness and the matter begins to fix in any noble part Bloud be immediately let besides to dilate the Breast and get Breath let a Cupping-glass be set upon the Vertebrae of the Thorax and for the same purpose and to divert let Cupping-glasses be also set to the fleshy parts of the Scapulae For so many escape whereas several miscarry when men go to work with other Remedies Claudinus that disturb the matter XV. This is incident to all Diseases which come of a Catarrh that the more we endeavour to evacuate and repell the more we irritate the humours And what is the reason The humours go not whither we please but whither the way is open an unavoidable argument that the laxity of the passages is the proximate Disease But why then do we use such things That when the humours are diminished Hofmannus in Instit the Disease may be shortned XVI I had a Patient forty years old cholerick and lean who had been four years troubled with a sharp and salt Catarrh falling from his Head upon his Lungs I made him at the beginning of the Cure two Issues between his Shoulders two inches on each side the Spina dorsi and I ordered him to apply a Cupping-glass upon them once a week which Remedy did so much good in respect of the Serosities Jo. Marsâ— ad Riâ—erium obs 6. which were drawn out in great quantity every time that I must needs ascribe the whole Cure in a manner to it XVII I put a stop to a Catarrh falling violently upon the Palate and Throat and threatning very bad Symptoms when it would yield to no Remedies by a Seton in the Neck and so conquered and bridled its malice When it has been worn some months and after the Patient is recovered an Issue either in the left Arm or right Thigh Claudinus cons 15. may not be amiss XVIII To hinder a Catarrh from falling upon the Breast it is sometimes necessary to blister the Head to the end that the Catarrh may be dissolved and get out at the Skin and not fall upon the Lungs which nothing but very hot things will doe such as put the whole body in a heat Therefore it is dangerous in Fevers to apply hot things to the Head Instead whereof I would have the Head shaved very close and Powders because hotter things cannot be approved of of Sandaracha Mastick and Roses which do not heat violently but dry and comfort the Head Montanus cons 145. so that the matter does not fall down XIX It is known that in the descent of a Catarrh which for the most part causes a violent Cough things which irritate much doe hurt in the beginning And I would have this carefully taken notice of for I have observed it never to give irritating things and such as help to raise Spittle near night or in the evening about bed-time for if it be done then Sleep is hindred by the commotion of the matter and there is often danger of Choaking while the matter moved by violent straining to cough is precipitated downwards on a sudden Wherefore that both Sleep may be promoted the matter of the Catarrh concocted and thickned in time of rest and the strength of the Head better confirmed it will be good while one sleeps to â—old Sugar of Roses or something else in the mouth that may thicken the humours and to abstain from all things that provoke coughing But if after sleeping time is over there be occasion for things that help to raise easily let moderate ones be used Oethaeus apud Schenclium lest the disturbed matter create more apparent trouble and the falling of the Catarrh be increased XX. Sometimes Receipts to stop Defluxions must not be made of very sweet things because of the Patient's palate or rather because over sweet things cause a Defluxion As once I made some of Acacia and other tart and not very sweet things for Cardinal Turaine whereby he found great benefit For those holes that are behind the Vvula by which Phlegm is purged are lax and Phlegm continually runs through them Therefore that part is to be straitned But let Spike and things ingratefull be omitted Rondeletius p. m. 9 4. and Cinnamon also being of thin parts because it raises Defluxions Sylvaticus coâ—s 93. cent 1. XXI In a hot Catarrh cold Spaw-waters are good for twelve or fifteen days ten or twelve pounds a day for while they pass by Urine they open obstructions and cool the Liver and Head which will then grow dry ¶ When the Head is dried and the Lungs themselves in some measure their exsiccation and strengthning must be perfected with sulphureous Waters taken inwardly for twelve days with something that is laxative for a better Remedy cannot be found in the whole Art which yet are no way convenient except the Head be first dried because they affect the Head fill it and melt the humours and so encrease Distillations whereas nevertheless when the Head is dried they doe it no harm Fortis cent 2. cons 13. but dry it more XXII Some Physicians propose Whey of Goats-milk for subduing a hot Distillation but I reckon it hurtfull because though it cools yet it moistens and which is of greater concern it so fills the Head it self Saxonia Prael pract that men obnoxious to
Distillations by the use of Whey fall into the Gout ¶ I prefer the Spaws before Whey of Goats-milk for Whey as it is a moistner Sylvaticus cons 93. cent 1. cannot chuse but increase Defluxions XXIII There can nothing more hurtfull be used in Diâ—â—illations than such things as simply attenuate the humours Which I would have the Moderns take notice of who in cold Distillations so willingly fly to Decoctions of Guaiacum and other attenuaters Martianus Câ—m in v. 14 sâ—ct 6. l. 2. Epid. not considering that by the use of these things Distillations increase daily which should be cured by Concocters and moderate Thickners as Hippocrates teacheth XXIV In a phlegmatick Catarrh it is a piece of rashness to hope for a Remedy by raising a Fever another way of cure not being first tried by evacuating inciding concocting and aperient Medicines especially if you know the man to be one who is not lightly in a Fever Vallerius meâ—h med l. 2. c. 13. yet sometimes we must come to a Fever XXV It is an errour of the Moderns to use Decoctions in water for Fluxions seeing it is evident that whatever is taken in form of Drink Martianus cont l. 1. sect 3. de mâ—râ—mul though it have a drying faculty yet it always increases moisture in the body especially if it be taken with food XXVI Avicenna approves of bathing in sweet water both for a hot and cold Catarrh If it be cold he disapproves it before maturation In a hot one he approves of it because the matter gives way but not in a cold one because the matter is thick and viscid If a Catarrh be imminent he forbids it because it moves the matter And while the Patient uses it he ought to sweat for so the faulty matter is evacuated Capivaâ—cius and drawn to the out side of the body ¶ When the Body is full and the Distillation yet crude I think Bathing not convenient because it melts the humours Fortis otherwise it draws from the Head and moderately digests XXVII I have observed in those Cities where Distillations from the Head are familiar such as Rome is that Women Martianus in vers 14. sect 6. l. 2. Epidem onely by Washing their heads are presently eased of their Head-ach which has its original from a Catarrh For by it the Pores of the Head are opened through which the Vapours that are retained by the Closeness of the Skin and that increase the Distillation may exhale and the acrimony of the humours is mitigated which is the cause that Fluxion remains and causes Pain ¶ I do not approve of Washing with a Decoction of cold and drying Herbs because for the most part people offend in wiping it But if either custome or necessity require it a Ly with some Leaves of Red-roses and Myrtle may be used Crato apud Scoltzium cons 21. so the Head be washed afterwards in cold water and a hot Cloth fumigated with Powder of Roses and Storax be applied XXVIII Some disapprove of Fumes building upon that of Hippocrates aphor 28.5 But if when the Body is purged and the Veins of the whole habit abound not with bad hot Juices they be made use of it is certain they sometimes help a cold Brain such as are made of Nigella seed Frankincense Sugar hot Vinegar Powder of Storax with Sugar and a little white Amber You may refer hither Smoak of Tobacco which draws much phlegmatick humours into the mouth Heurnius l. 1. meth ad prax mentions it Tobacco saith he taken in smoak is endued with a wonderfull virtue for it brings away great plenty of Phlegm out at the mouth and nostrils The dry leaves are cast upon hot coals and the smoak is taken in at the mouth wide open by a narrow funnel for it goes through the whole brain and it may be got into the ears or womb the same way I can affirm that this herb is peculiarly adapted to the brain that it easily affects the way thither and doth cleanse it from all filth But the frequent smoaking it does violence to nature especially in young and cholerick Bodies as it does good to cold and over moist Brains that overflow with Water and Phlegm Let this be the principal Caution that it be used for necessity but not for wantonness there must be sparingness and measure first let the whole Body be purged and then the Head with Sternutatories Crato in Scholtzius condemns much Fuming which he saith must be avoided by People subject to Catarrhs and such as have a Weak head And he condemns the custome of the Italians who heat some Tow in the fume of Frankincense or Amber or some such thing and apply it to the coronal Suture affirming that they doe hurt by stopping the matter of the Catarrh where it is in great quantity and especially if the Head be hot But lest the Head should be oppressed let the Cloths be fumed without the Chamber XXIX Plasters applied to the head stop the Defluxion for a time afterwards the whole matter falls down on a sudden whence comes sudden suffocation It stops for two or three days because it suspends the Catarrh Montanus but in the mean time this increases and by its sudden descent in two hours time kills a man XXX In a stubborn destillation of the head I allow of Fomentations by the frequent applying of bags filled with Millet Bran Salt and Marjoram but with rubbing with warm cloths that the heat may reach deep and concoct the humours for no man can be ignorant that frictions must not be used in destillations of the head Zecchius Cons 20. XXXI Anointings proposed by Trallianus are to be omitted as useless in a cold Catarrh and suspicious in a hot one Galen 3. Meth. 13. applied Rubificants of Pigeons dung and Stavesacre with good success in a hot Catarrh to draw back and divert the violence of the defluxion but not to take away the cause therefore Trallianus found fault with him without a reason Yet I think we had better not meddle with these two Medicines since it is not granted us to imitate him in all things onely indeed they are safer in a cold one yet suspected when there is a sympathy with the parts below Aetius also is of the same opinion and subscribes to Galen himself who 6 de san cu. determines the contrary Fortis cons 14. cent 2. Wherefore it is safer in the beginning to apply our selves to revulsive diverting and intercipient Medicines XXXII A drying Diet seems convenient by the law of contraries because abounding moisture makes the Catarrh But what is the material cause of Catarrhs A multitude of phlegmatick thick tenacious and cold humours now consider well whether Plenty do not require evacuation thickness attenuation toughness detersion or inciding cold heating what vacuation a drying diet makes will not take away a great quantity because onely thin and serous humours are evaporated by it
restlesness toward the latter end of the day was so great that I was forced to use Laudanum two grains of which in Pills swallowed every evening gave him a quiet night upon the return of day Vomiting of mere bile followed yet he could bear it well Then he drank a little strong Capon broth and that he might quench his intolerable thirst with drink a draught or two of his Emulsion was given him Within an hour almost his restlessness returned with difficulty of breathing which threatned Suffocation for none could be more extreme In the mean time the Patient desired a draught of simple water I should easily have granted it him considering he was in the flower of his age and that his disease was cholerick but because the by-standers usually reckon this strange and destructive to the Stomach not accustomed to it that I might satisfie both parties I perswaded him to natural Water but Medicinal namely the Wells at Egra in Bohemia In the mean time that I might stop his longing I commended those of Silesia As soon as they came he presently quenched his thirst and they did him good Sigism Grassius obs 99. miscell curios An. 4 5. When I visited him the next day he told me he had rested well that night he commended the Waters as gratefull both to his palate and Stomach and there were some hopes that he began to recover this hope continued so that after dinner he could sleep a little When eight days were over he signified to me he was perfectly well but that there remained some little effervescence of humours and thirst I sent him word he must continue the use of the Waters After this method but the attempt is bolder the Inhabitants of the Alps in Switzerland are said to drink Ice in cholerick Fevers Diarrhoea's and Dysenteries ¶ Borellus saith cent 2. observat 27. that he cured a Woman onely by drinking fair Water and applying Ceratum Santalinum to the region of the Stomach XIII A Woman was taken with a Vomiting and Loosness in the Month of July about Noon and before night she had twenty stools with grievous pains about her Guts and Stomach so that she was opprest with Vomiting likewise and voided much sharp and cholerick humours Being called in the evening I advise my Patient to drink a glass of Vinegar and Water till other Medicines were got ready the operation of which was so effectual that her Vomiting and Loosness were presently stopt Riverius cent 4. obs 8. and no other remedies were used because she said she was well XIV A certain Bricklayer when he was but newly Married went home every day at noon to his Wise from the Kiln which was about 2 Miles It so fell out about middle of Summer while he was too vigorous in her Embraces Dom. Panarolu◠Pentec 2. obs 11. that he voided great plenty of bloud upwards and downwards for the heat and motion had opened the mouths of the Veins nor would I call this disease by any other name than a bloudy Cholera for besides his losing about twelve pounds of bloud there were other very bad Symptoms namely want of Pulse with loss of strength Hippocratical face cold sweat and he was in a dangerous condition But by giving him four scruples of Bloudstone in Pomegranate-Wine he was presently cured to the great admiration of all men XV. When there is imminent danger from the violence of the pain we must fly to Narcoticks which when given prudently are often attended with good effects Some mix them with Purgatives that both the pain may be asswaged and the peccant matter carried off Forestus commends this of Elidaeus Take of Diaphoen half an ounce Philonium Romanum 2 Scruples Riverius pr. l. 9. c. 11. with either the Water or decoction of Chamaemil make a Potion XVI If there be a necessity of purging downwards that is when it moves imperfectly and is cholerick we must abstain altogether from Manna and Medicines made up with Honey or Sugar for they presently corrupt and turn to choler But Whey will be the best remedy of all or a Potion made with Cassia which lays the heat takes off sharpness and purges gently But if putrefied phlegm or thick Choler cause it nothing will be better than Mel. Rosatum S. ptalius Ammad vers l. 7. Sect. 2. or Solutivum in Whey or in an Infusion of Red Roses Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians Benedictus 1. Among other things Syrup of Mint with Pomegranate-Wine is highly commended if the Pomegranates themselves with their inner pulp be put in the Press 2. I gave one a little Cummin-seed powdered in Beer then of the decoction of Barley 4 ounces with Syrup of Infusion of Roses one ounce a little Honey of Roses strain it and take it then I anointed the whole part with oil of Dill and Chamaemil By which means Forestus without any other Remedy he was cured to a Miracle Fr. Joel 3. I have found no better remedy for this disease than Crocus Martis Paracelsi ¶ This also wonderfully stops a Vomiting and Loosness Take of the Mud in the bottom of Smiths Troughs in which they quench their Iron mix it with a little Vinegar and apply it warm to the Stomach for a Cataplasm Langius 4. Crystal is a most approved and excellent Remedy in a Vomiting and Loosness Half a drachm of it may be given alone or made up with other Medicines Mercatus 5. Outwardly I find Emplast de crusta panis or Bread new-baked and dipt in Pomegranate juice if it be timely applied doth much good in a Vomiting and Loosness from a hot Cause ◠olfinkius 6. In strengthening the Stomach a decoction of Mint has great virtue Coeliaca Affectio or Loosness See Lienteria Book 10. How it may be known and cured WHen too much is voided by Stool considering the quantity that is eaten seeing the usefull part must necessarily also perish we must consider whether the disease should be reckoned a Lientery or a Coeliack Passion or some other disease for if food a little after it is taken be voided and so there is a Lientery because the stay of the food and the necessary retention of it in the Stomach is hindred through some fault in the Stomach which is out of order and presently excludes all it takes it must either be strengthened or freed of its troublesome Irritation by Medicines that temper the humours and if they abound that may carry them off But if the Food do make the necessary stay in the Stomach be rightly and sufficiently fermented in it and do make a pultaceous mass which is voided such downwards and if there be that sort of Coeliack passion which I think may be called an Icterick Loosness by reason of the defect of Secretion of the Chyle and Excrements and that either through absence or sluggishness of the bile that this evil may be cured and the
and the Excrements are hardened it is another thing that causes the Pain for it is often observed that a man has not gone to stool for several days and that the Excrements have been retained without the Colick but upon the arising of wind afterwards the Colick hath risen If therefore the Colick be caused by some hard Excrements hindring the passage of the rest of them and of the wind emollients must be used Sennertus and afterwards sharp things to irritate the faculty LIX When a man had recovered of a Catarrh he fell sick of a very troublesome Colick which encreased towards night before it came upon him just as he had done eating he vomited up some pounds of clear water without mixture of any thick Chyle The cause of the Colick seemed to me to be the thickness of the Chyle which for want of liquid Serum when it could not pass the Intestines freely raised the Gripes I knew a Minister tormented with the Colick Bartholinus cent 5. obs 58. who by vomiting great store of water was cured Wherefore Hydragogues must frequently be used in the Colick by help whereof I have often cured Patients by purging LX. A Girl about two years old was tormented with periodical pains about her groin so that neither lying sitting standing nor carried in Armes she could find any ease from her pains This pain returned at set times she was well from ten at night till twelve the next day the third fit being ended and no manifest crisis appearing she lived free from it afterwards There was no sign of worms therefore I do not question but it was a flatulent Colick residing rather in the muscles of the Belly than in the Colon for she was loose enough I cured her by anointing her Belly with distilled Oil of Wormwood and Cumminseed Idem â—ist 59. and giving her some Treacle in Hartshorn water LXI Mr. Puri of Newenburgh in Switzerland four score years old but a lusty man of his age being taken with a violent pain in his left side called a neighbouring Chirurgeon who taking him to be sick of a Pleurisie let him bloud whereupon his pain grew worse His Son a worthy Pastor in the City brought his Urine and asked my advice I enquired of him whether his Father had drunk any new wine lately it was in November which in that year 1659. had got no ripeness He told me yes and added that his pain was below his Ribs and not fixt in one place I foretold him that letting-bloud would prove fatal to him and indeed he died in three days past all remedy LXII No Disease almost requires a more speedy aid from Physick than the Colick and Gripes that happen in the Scurvey Against these evils Clysters of divers sorts Fomentations c. are used The use of Opiates is found here very necessary Certainly Riverius his Rule That purging Pills should have Laudanum in them is very proper here for when sleep is caused and the Patient a little purged the Paroxysm is frequently at an end And testaceous powders by which the sowre salts are either imbibed or fixed conduce very much to the driving away of the morbifick cause For example Take of Powder of Crabs eyes Egg shells each I drachm and an half Pearl 1 drachm Make a powder for 4 doses Willis to be given in a decoction of the root and seed of Burdock every sixth hour LXIII In a long Colick when all other remedies did little or no good I have often known this medicine given once or twice to raise a Salivation and give the Patient ease For if at any time the morbifick matter be plentifully gathered and deeply rooted in the nervous folds cannot be removed by other Medicines the Mercurial Particles spreading themselves every way easily dissolve and divide it into minute parts dispell them this way and that and at length wholly dissipate them Wherefore in a long and pertinacious Colick Idem they may sometimes be given with success to raise a Salivation LXIV A horn Cupping instrument is highly esteemed among the Indians dwelling under the torrid Zone who as they were curing a young man sick of the Colick first gave him a Clyster with their mouth and presently applied horn Cupping instruments to his Belly And sucking the Air out at the little hole they stopt it presently with their finger both to make the instrument to stick fast to the skin and to get the wind out of the Bowels which by these means the Barbarians did most successfully from the young man N. Tulpius l. 3. cap. 49. LXV Galen says that the wind Colick is cured as by charm and Crato approves it if a large cupping-glass with much flame be applied to the Belly near the Navel Observe near not upon the Navel lest swooning follow by reason of the commerce between the umbilical vessels and the heart For a man certainly dies if the skin be flayn off the Navel although he may live if he be flayn all over besides a punishment very common among the Egyptians LXVI This mixture is one of the highest specificks which I have often used successfully Take of Spirit of Wine 1 drachm Spirit of Nitre between half a scruple and half a drachm Spring water 3 ounces Let him take it and being well covered let him compose himself to sweat and keep himself quiet For it is the best way to lie still how difficult soever it be Hartman pâ—ax chym This is good especially when the wind is enclosed between the membranes Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. In the Colick especially if it pain a man about his stomach they say the broth of the juice of sweet Almonds is good with some grains of long Pepper in Hippocras Wine I have seen the pain laid with a caustick Plaster that would almost make an Eschar Gallel Balluâ—ius and draw outwards being applied near the Navel 2. They say it is a most effectual remedy which is made of white Pigeons dung boiled in water till half be boiled away adding a little Dill seed to 2 ounces of the liquor strained and so drunk ¶ One man commends 2 ounces of Nitre with an equal quantity of water and oil given by Clyster for it wonderfully draws out thick matter and dry compact Excrements ¶ The Osprey that digests all it devours has one wonderfull Intestine It is evident that the extreme part of it tied to one causes the Colick Alex. Benedictus ¶ The Guts of a Wolf dried and given in drink are a good Remedy Blolkwitzius 3. I know a man who with the Spirit of Elder-Berries as with shewing a Gorgon's Head presently discusses the Colick pain very familiar to him It is of great virtue in this Disease 4. Mercury water given inwardly takes away the Colick radically and it is thus made The Mercury is first reduced to a Water into half of this water put crude Mercury purified which is also
the humours being retained the Inflammation should be encreased Not Diureticks which seems a Paradox for Galen 5 meth 3. and 13. meth 11. teaches that when the Intestines are out of order the humours must be carried off by urine and for aphor ult 4. Sect. I take my reason for it from Galen 7. meth 11. who laying down the general method of curing Fluxes teaches That the humours must never be carried from parts of less moment to those of greater moment Of the former sort are the Guts which being large can bear the quantity and quality of humours without any great trouble Of the latter are the Liver Veins Kidneys Bladder all which having narrow passages besides the filth and acrimony are apt either to breed the Stone or Ulcers sharpness of Urine or Strangury And especially because the Guts themselves are a fit place for the purgation of the humours beyond the gibbous part of the Liver Neither may these humours be drawn to the habit of the body since they cannot pass thither but by the Liver and common Veins parts of moment Nor may the opinion of several be followed who for revulsion apply Cupping-glasses to the parts where the Flux begins although they be noble as if the Flux begin at the Liver to the Liver if at the Spleen to the Spleen for so not onely the matter gathered there is retained there but also new matter is drawn from the neighbouring places What must be done therefore Three things must be done First of all the matter must be brought away by Clysters or astringent Purgers Secondly if it be thin and hot it must be thickned and cooled Thirdly Saxonia the Diseases must be cured whereby it was bred XIV The cure of a wasting Flux which is when nature cannot retain the humours for some weakness from the alteration of temperament consists in the restitution of the temperament so a draught of cold water has cured several that have been sick of heat for whom walking in cool places and cooling diet is good without the use of Astringents On the contrary they that labour under a cold intemperature are benefited by strong wine and food high seasoned by heating frictions and anointings Mercatus for whom also the use of astringents is hurtfull XV. Whether in wasting Fluxes as some famous men have thought good it be convenient to give purging Medicines indeed but such as are apt to bind after evacuation the ratio medendi and a right method may inform us For seeing by such Fluxes it is not the superfluities that are brought away either from the humours or the solid parts but it is either the humours themselves or the solid parts that are wasted no man should by any means offer to purge but onely ply the causes of Colliquation For neither is Evacuation endeavoured by the Purge proper for the colliquated matter since Nature brings that away of it self nor is it indicated by what is to be colliquated since the onely indication to be taken in this Disease is that which hinders colliquation Which Colliquation a Purge may not onely not hinder but increase P. Salius l. de febr pestilent c. 24. And how dangerous this is let them tell you who boldly attempting it have brought the sick into a dangerous condition XVI Nor yet in these Fluxes is the use of astringent medicines approved because if that matter which is squeezed out by colliquation be altogether bad and retained within the body of the sick it may doe more hurt when retained than when voided for beside that by its pravity it would continually increase the Fever so also by its retention it would get a worse quality whereupon it would increase the Disease or it might with ease take its way to the heart or other principal parts Wherefore the Evacuation of matter already bred must be wholly lest to Nature Idem ibid. and the Physician must doe his utmost upon the causes of Colliquation XVII Among the several differences of Fluxes of the belly a virulent or poisonous Flux may be reckoned for one which if it be treated the common way all that are sick of it dye before you are aware It differs from others not in Specie or form but onely in cause or manner because the cause is poisonous and the disease malignant Therefore a diarrhoea lienteria dysenteria and hepatick Flux may be poisonous in genere and in specie For Galen 4. aphor 21. making mention of a Flux that was abroad in his days in time of the Plague says that the excrements were yellow and red and at last black In the cure the Flux it self must be observed distinct from the poison 2. The poison it self In respect of this onely two remedies are necessary Drawers to the Skin and Alteratives Nothing is better than the former 1. Because there is a due revulsion from within to without 2. Because the poison is drawn to an ignoble part that is the skin It may be objected if in curing of Fluxes there be indications taken from the matter from the causes and affections without the poison if there be Indications taken from the poison also upon which must we fall first Here we must consider the way and manner of the Flux for if it be swift in motion which the constitution will shew and if besides it be malignant we must streight oppose the poison if it be chronical and less malignant so as to give some truce we must first satisfie the common scopes Drawers either draw specifically or by their heat All the first are poisonous which must be so corrected that they may be fit to draw not to corrupt the Body Vesicatories draw by heat which hold the first place and they are convenient also in a colliquative sharp and hot Flux But the cause of the colliquation and heat must be enquired into for in poison beside the occult quality there is a heating colliquating and putrefactive quality so that if the poison be not immediately got out all things are given to no purpose Therefore in a hot and colliquative Flux so it be with malignity we may use Vesicatories Sinapisms Baths of hot water Frictions Anointings Cupping-glasses Alteratives also act by an occult or manifest quality The occult some by heat some by cold where the fluent matter the causes and the disease must be considered if all of them conspire in heat as you may observe for the most part in malignant Fluxes you must use cold Alexitericks as Unicorns horn Hartshorn Pearl Bole Armenick juice of Citron c. Observe in malignant Fluxes there must be a great quantity of Medicines Saxonia and often repeated XVIII An inveterate Diarrhoea which often happens to Scorbutick persons must by no means be stopt with astringents neither is it easily cured with alteratives nor with any Antiscorbuticks Spaw-waters impregnated with Iron or Vitriol are the best remedy for this disease Next to these are medicinal or artificial Chalybeates which doe much
person to be fumed with Agate and that the Oil of it is good for the same ¶ C. Piso commends it highly The smell of it saith he is a most present remedy as I have experienced in several and in that famous French Virago Maturina who being given over for dead by her Physicians upon her first smelling of this Stone was raised from her Bed and beyond all expectation ran immediately with great chearfulness to the Table and Dice The controversie is decided by distinguishing Epilepsies for this fume is good in that which vapours ascending from the womb do cause for the virtue of strong smells is such that they discuss hysterick Fits if they be held to the nose But stinking smells bring an Epilepsie that comes of any other cause XIX Stupefiers of the Nerves because by dulling their sense they render them less affected with trouble when they are irritated and therefore less convulsed if the gentler sort of them be given in grievous and dangerous Convulsions I have often found them doe much good In which respect I think Treacle c. may be proper both because it infringes the venomous power of the Epilepsie and because it dulls the exquisite sense of the nerves Platerus de funct lâ—s p. 77. and that it is given rather for that reason than because it strengthens the nervous kind XX. If it have its rise from the Womb we must take notice not to give sweet smelling Medicines for they both make the head heavy Sennertus and cause the fit XXI Things that add strength to the nervous kind are appropriate remedies which are made of capital and arthritick simples which since they supply the nervous kind with new strength as it were that it may be the better able to resist what is troublesome to it use not improperly to be added to other Medicines which we use in the Epilepsie However not with the same mind or intention but because they believed the Epilepsie was caused by Phlegm stopping up the Brain not onely these things appropriate to the Nerves are hot but in the cure of the Epilepsie they used for the most part things that migâ—t cut and attenuate thick Phlegm and the hottest remedies Which notwithstanding if the Epilepsie come from the irritation of the nervous kind because they heat the Body more I observe they cure not at all so I know by experience they rather irritate and promote and exasperate the fits And because I either found or had it from credible persons that they doe more good than hurt with their heat except in a cold and moist constitution of body or when they have moreover some other property whereby they resist poison Platerus or this disease I think they should not otherwise lightly be used XXII We affirm with Jacchinus and others that a Decoction of Guaiacum is proper for those that are subject to the Epilepsie because we must especially have respect to the antecedent cause whereby the proximate is fomented and sustained And it often consists in gross impurities gathered in the whole Body or Brain Womb Stomach c. which do indicate Incision Attenuation Solution Purging by Urine Stool Sweat c. and therefore the consumption of themselves For these as they are the subjects and antecedent causes being removed the noxious faculty existing in them is also removed that is the malignant Vapour which being exalted or raised by evaporation does otherwise produce an Epilepsie And a Decoction of Guaiacum is of great service in respect of the present indication as by inciding and attenuating it dissolves this antecedent cause by cleansing it evacuates and by provoking sweat it renders the mass of bloud defoecate not without strengthening of the Bowels through its amicable astrictive faculty connate to it Nor is the decoction of Guaiacum onely usefull in rooting out the Cause but its acid Spirit and Oil also is very good to allay and conquer a fit We must take notice concerning Hydroticks that they are proper generals premised 2. That the decoction it self of Guaiacum according to the different nature of the Subject must be prepared with things appropriate to the morbifick cause taking care especially Gr. Horstius dec 2. prob 9. that in boiling it the Spirits do not exhale XXIII There are some that take Guaiacum for Lignum Heracleum Rulandi induced thereto both by the similitude of the name and because he often uses a decoction of this wood in the same diseases in curing of which he glories that the Oil has done good Quercetan on the contrary thinks it is drawn by distillation off Box wood Others think rather from the Pine Others from the Larch-tree for this reason especially because Oleum ERACLIVM makes by transposition of the very same Letters LARICEVM We saith Clossaeus although we are not ignorant that the Oleum Heracleum Rulandi is made of Hazle wood per descensum and that his Antepileptick Conserve is made of it not onely because Hazle nuts were called by the Ancients Heracleoticae but especially because Valentinus Rulandus writing to Fabricius Hildanus Obs 84. cent 3. plainly calls the Spirit and Oil of Hazle Wood per descensum Heraclinum Although saith he the thing be so yet I constantly affirm that Oil of Guaiacum may very fitly be used in its stead For the acid Liquor of Guaiacum hath the same virtues and faculties and shews the very same effects which he attributes to his Oleum Corylinum Moreover as experience testifies the specifick properties of Liquors perish in descensory distillation which being consumed by the fire a more fixt vitriolick Spirit is elevated together with a stinking Oil and Gum or Resine which as they are in great plenty in all Wood so in their power of acting and virtue Idem â—â—id they differ not much one from another XXIV Let Candidates in Physick observe this that the seed of Poeony is more gratefull than the root wherefore the seed may be put in Childrens victuals on the contrary the root is more convenient for Clysters It is better to use the powder of the root than the faecula for in preparing the faeculae of simples their virtue is washed away with the menstruum that is put to them yea just like Magisteries they are made like an useless Calx or the menstruum gives them some ascititious qualities XXV Candidates in Physick must also be told that if by God's Blessing they would cure an Epilepsie according to their desire they must account among Vegetables the Male Poeony rare to be found among Animals Castor or Swallows among Minerals Vitriol to be recommended to them as Specificks Some indeed will highly commend the use of Cinnabar of Antimony but it should onely be where the Epilepsie is caused by Worms S. Pauii Qu. Bot. cl 2. otherwise in my opinion it is no convenient Medicine for Epileptick persons XXVI While it was my custom to use Oil of Amber in people troubled with Epilepsies Convulsions Imposthumes
continuance of the Fever that as long as Medicines are given so long the Fever will continue for Nature is wearied which gathering strength again concocts the cause of the disease and expells it when concocted ¶ If a right fermentation of the bloud have gone before the despumation of the morbifick matter will be wholly made within the usual time But if cooling Medicines or Clysters have been given too late the Fever will run out a great deal longer especially in elderly Men that have been ill looked after To whom I being sometimes called after they had been sick of a Fever forty days and above have tried every thing that I might bring a despumation on the bloud but the bloud has been so weakned partly by Age partly by Clysters and cooling Medicines that I could never attain my end either by Cordials or any other strengthning things but either the strength of the Fever remained firm or though the Fever seemed to be gone the Patient's strength was very low and well nigh dead And being deprived of success in other Medicines I was glad to turn my counsel another way with no common success namely by applying the lively and brisk heat of young persons to the Sick Nor is there any reason that any one should wonder why the Patient should be so much strengthened by this method though unusual and debilitated Nature-helped so that she may discharge her self of the relicks of the matter to be separated and discharged since one may easily imagine that good store of brisk effluvia is transfused from a sound and lively body into the exhausted body of the Sick Nor could I ever find that the repeated application of warm clothes was in any measureable to doe that which the method now prescribed did perform where the heat applied is more connatural to Man's body and also gentle moist equal and lasting And this way of transmitting Spirits and Vapours it may be Balsamick ones into the Sick Man's Body from the very time when I made use of it although at first it seemed strange has been made use of by others with great success Sydenhâ—m XXIX In the cure of very acute and pernicious Fevers we must take diligent notice of this that they are seldom caused without some inward and peculiar disaffection of some of the Inwards and often with an Inflammation Wherefore the cure of the Hypochondria Head Breast Womb Kidneys and Bladder Riverius must never be omitted that by some means or other we may find out which of these parts is remarkably ill and may help it as much as may be ¶ As soon as I find a great burning in people in a Fever if signs of an inward inflammation which I diligently inquire do not appear yet I think of some such disaffection and I direct the course of my cure thither c. Scarce ever any one of those Fevers appears that burn violently so as to have the tongue burnt or wherein the Belly voids adust stuff but some of the inner Bowels especially suffers an inflammation Eryfipelas or at least some over-heating And they are perceived by some remarkable hardness swelling pain or heat in that region where the inward part is seated Vallesius XXX But if by reason of much loss of bloud which the Patient has sustained in the method of his cure or through often Vomiting or going to Stool or because for the present the Fever is quite off or because of his weakness or of the age of the Fever already declining there now remains no more danger of raising an Ebullition for the future then setting aside all fear instead of a Paregorick draught I give a pretty large dose of Diascordium either without any thing else or mixt with some Cordial-water It is certainly an excellent Medicine Sydenham if it be given in such a quantity as may make up a Medicine rather than an empty title XXXI To the constitution of a Continual Fever we require that its Cause be either in the Vessels that carry the Bloud and so in the Bloud it self and the multifarious parts of it or such other part of the Body as has continual commerce with the Bloud and so with the Heart it self but so as that it cannot be hindred or interrupted unless wholly nor be restored again at certain times which usually happens in Agues by internal causes We add that the Bloud may be so affected sometimes by external sometimes by internal causes that it may produce a continual Fever Among the external causes of this Epidemick Fever I observed the Air was then very hot and it penetrating as well the skin on all hands and therefore the Bloud it self as being drawn into the Lungs and there joined to the Bloud did not kindly temper it again as it was in a ferment according to Nature but by communicating to it its fiery and saline volatile parts it dissolved melted and rarefied it too much and so it greatly vitiated the vital Effervescency in the heart with its additional heat and produced a continual Fever Among internal causes I blamed Bile bred of the same fiery and saline-volatile parts of the Air but made more sharp volatile and abundant by the sharp ones and therefore causing a vitious effervescency as well in the small Guts as the Heart it self and indeed joined with notable heat and therefore without doubt a Fever The various and in many respects vitious humours which must of necessity be produced by the whole mass of Bloud being by little and little corrupted could not so well be called the cause of the Continual Fever that was then so rise as of the various Symptoms which did many ways vex divers Patients The Cure therefore of the Continual Fever as such ought to consist 1. In avoiding or correcting the bad Air. 2. In tempering the sharp Bile fixing the volatile and diminishing the abundance of it 3. In moderating stopping and reducing to its natural temper the vitious effervescency that is indeed joined with a notable and troublesome heat 4. In gently coagulating the Bloud too much dissolved condensating the too much rarefied and cooling it when over-hot or reducing it to a laudable integrity Fr. Sylvius when it is otherwise vitiated ¶ But though in the cure of our Fever we made no mention of Bloud-letting because we could very well want it and several have been happily cured without it yet it is not to be contemned since especially it is usefull to temper the heat of the Bloud and to prevent Suffocation in Plethorick persons Therefore it may be usefull for Plethorick persons for young people for those that are used to it for those that are sensible of much heat for those that desire it and for those who Idem in their imagination conceive great benefit from it XXXII Hippocrates in a Legitimate Burning-fever allows as much Water and Honey boiled there must be store of Water as the Patient shall desire and he carries the Patient with
subservient to change may conveniently be separated And hither tends the ebullition that was now caused which seizing the bloud sometimes when it is very degenerate the Fever arising from thence uses to be untoward and full of malignant and horrible symptoms However this comes to pass that the bloud being spoiled of a great part of its spirits and much burnt by the foregoing Summer performs its ebullition but by slow motions and requires a very long period for its despumation Now that it may appear how difficultly these Fevers admit a Cure it must be considered in this place that the difference of continual Fevers in this season and of Agues consists especially in this that continual Fevers constantly carry on the effervescency in one and the same tenour when once it is begun and Agues perform the same at several turns and divers times In the mean time fermentation is performed in both by Nature's duct in the space of 336 hours or thereabouts for the mass of bloud in a humane body is not usually purged sooner or later than so if you leave the business to Nature just as Cider Wine and Beer have each of them their peculiar period wherein they are depurated And although in Agues the bloud sometimes as it happens in a Quartan endeavour its despumation in the space of six months and at length perfect it yet if you calculate aright there is not more time spent in performing it than what naturally uses to be spent in continual Fevers for 14 times 24 hours or 14 natural days make 336 hours namely allowing 5 hours and an half to every fit of a Quartan you will have in a Quartan the value of 14 days that is of 336 hours Now if any one should say a Quartan for example for the like account is to be understood of other Agues sometimes runs out beyond the space of six months before it finishes its period I answer that the same thing is usually seen in continual Fevers which are often protracted beyond 14 days And in either case if you have a care that the effervescency especially towards the end of Fevers go on well and in good order and be kept up brisk despumation will be finished within the space of time aforesaid that is in 14 days or 336 hours But if at that time that is towards the declination of the Fever you unseasonably hinder the effervescence either by Medicines that cool the fermentation or by use of Clysters and give a check to it no wonder if they last long because the order of Nature is disturbed for by this means the tone of the bloud is in a manner relaxed wherefore it cannot betake it self to despumation with the Disease yea and sometimes in weak and spent bodies the same happens spontaneously unless you assist Nature languishing in them by the help of Cordials that it may be sufficient for the despumation of the bloud Idem VI. These things granted no wonder if men build no other method of Cure upon them than what is thought fit to be used in continual Fevers to perform the work of despumation as it ought to be done since doubtless they are distinguished by no discrimination from continual Fevers if you consider the order wherein nature uses to expell the matter of them that is by an Effervescency comprehended within a certain period Although as to what concerns their kind and property of Nature I do not deny but they differ very much both from continual Fevers and among themselves Therefore we must take an Indication either from cautiously and solicitously observing the method wherein Nature uses to rid her self of this Disease that we may quicken fermentation when arisen and so recover our Patients Or by searching into the specifick cause we must doe our endeavour to meet with the Disease by effectual and specifick Remedies Indications must be taken from one of these two I have at one time or other gone both ways to work and I can modestly say it not without very great care and intention of mind but yet I am not arrived to that happiness as to be able to remove autumnal Agues by any certain practice or method of cure before they have finished these stated fermentations how troublesome soever this may seem to people in Agues who are so long against their will compelled to wait for their health But indeed if a man can be found who knows not onely suddenly to stop the career of these Agues but wholly to break it off either by using some certain method or some Specifick or other I hold him obliged in Conscience to discover the thing But as I think it a thing difficult enough so I doubt not but it is likewise dangerous A clear Instance whereof we may have from that they call the Jesuits powder for although by the use of that Powder we may stop fermentation for the present yet the matter still remaining which should be dissipated by fermentation in a short space of time gathers strength again and proclaims a new War against Nature I have known a Quartan continue for some years while it was ever and anon disturbed by the repeated use of this Powder Yea this Powder given immediately before the fit has taken several away out of this life though I will not deny but such Medicines given prudently and cautiously towards the latter end of these Agues has sometimes done good especially Idem p. 80. if they be given in a season wherein these Diseases are not very epidemical ¶ Nevertheless although from what we have now observed we can scarce have any hope of recovering health soon yet room is left for a Learned and Sagacious Physician to procure a due depuration of the bloud to the end it may be finished within the bounds set by Nature and also to prevent those Symptoms which usually come upon this Disease Therefore I will in a few words and as the nature of the thing will bear briefly treat of this matter comprehending both kinds under the same Head because the same Cure is proper for both that is Idem p. 82. for a Tertian and a Quartan VII If therefore the Patient that is taken with either of these Agues be either an Infant or in the Flower of his age it is altogether convenient as far as I am hitherto informed to attempt nothing by the help of any Medicines or by the change of Air or Diet for to this day I never yet observed any ill ensue upon it if so be I left the matter to Nature wholly A thing that I have often observed not without admiration especially in Infants for when the bloud has finished its depuration these Agues vanish of their own accord But on the contrary if you either use a stricter course of life or now and then use purging Medicines for they use to be given on pretence that obstructions may be opened and humours residing in the first ways may be carried off or which is the main
stop and check the vitious Effervescency by contempering the effervescent sharp things Anodynes and Narcoticks that abound with Sulphur and Oil are good as also are spirituous and watry things They indeed while they mitigate both the Sharps the alkaline and the acid These while they dilute and weaken them both which I have demonstrated to be true by many experiments more than once Hence it is that Spirit of Wine it self and divers waters made with Spirit of Wine as Juniper-Water Treacle-Water c. are often given to sick persons before they are taken with the Ague with good success But it must be observed that here is need of circumspection since it is not alike convenient to give any Spirit of Wine to all sorts of People nor can it well be given to any but to them who are infected with troublesome and grievous Cold. As distilled Vinegar or other acids use properly to be given to them who are troubled with grievous heat And both of them mixt together Sylvius de le Boë to whom both Cold and Heat use to be troublesome XXI Curative Intentions for Agues seem as I think to be these 1. The restitution of the Bloud to its natural temper 2. The preventing the depravation of the nutritious juice 3. The stopping of the febrile fermentation that a fit do not arise As to the first Vomits Bleeding and Purging are of great use especialiy if they be celebrated in the beginning of the Disease The second Intention is accomplished by an exact course of Diet. The third by remedies which stop the fermentation of the bloud And although this Remedy be accounted among Physicians Empirical immethodical and incertain yet I have often found that Agues have been cured in this manner when Physick would doe no good Willis de Febr. cap. 4. if so be they were used after Physick and Bleeding XXII Whether at the very time of a cold fit in an Ague or at any other time when the Body is all over cold the Bloud be also very cold I am not able to determine for I never durst prescribe bleeding at that time and so could never touch the Bloud as it came out which they might tell who make no scruple to let bloud at that time If this should be done and the bloud should then be observed to be cold I think no prudent Physician would easily proceed to Bloud-letting seeing by it both the heat of the Bloud is diministied and therefore the Cold increased in it than which nothing is more hurtfull more ready and able to take away Life Sylvius de le Bâ—ë for Life consists in Heat as Death does in Cold. XXIII If in any Ague whatever when any concoction though not perfect appears in the Urine you give a Purge on the Ague-day so as it may have done working before the fit comes that is four or five hours before you think the fit will come you will find the Ague will never return any more after that fit but will be quite removed as by Inchantment I have often tried it and in most persons the event always answered Petrus Monarius in Consiliis Scholizii In Tertians I doe this after the third or fourth fit in Quotidians I tarry longer and in Quartans longest of all scarce before the thirtieth day XXIV All Physicians take the signs of Crudity and Coction from the Urine but certainly it is a very fallacious conjecture that is taken from thence for the cause of Agues is not in the greater Veins in which as also in the Reins and Bladder Urines get their Concoction but in the first Region of the Body for bad Urines in Agues signifie that much excrements creep out of the first Region of the Body into the greater Veins in the fit which corrupt the Bloud whence a change of the Ague into a Continual fever may be feared upon the removal of the Humour out of the first Region of the Body into the greater Veins But they do not at all shew how crude or concocted the humour is which is lodged in the Mesentery Gall Bladder Liver and Spleen Now oftentimes at the second or third fit the Urine seems very much tinged when a bilious corruption creeps out of the first Seats into the Veins upon which many contend that bleeding in that case is very necessary as if the fired Bloud required to be quenched with this Remedy when notwithstanding it rather points out the purging of bile by stool and the opening of Obstructions For neither when Bloud is taken away is the fource of the Disease purged nor is the heat of the raging bile therein quenched But on the contrary unless there be a Plethora which it is best to cure by emptying the larger vessels there will be an attraction of the cholerick excrementitious humour into them out of the first Region upon which there is a change of an Ague into a Continual Fever Therefore croceous and red or crude or otherwise bad Urines in Agues shew that there is so much excrementitious humour in the first ways that a great share of it is poured into the Veins and the rest of the Body Enchir. Med. pract which unless it be evacuated by repeated Purging there is fear that an Ague may become a Continual fever or last a long time XXV It is a received opinion among some of the Arabians that bleeding in Agues should either be wholly omitted or celebrated in the process of the Disease But we know from innumerable instances that this opinion is not so proper for curing Agues for we have experienced by many years practice that all they who let Bloud before the third fit in Tertians were soon freed from their Ague-fits but that they who used the Remedy after this time found benefit more slowly by it Nor is there reason wanting for if there be a Plethora which is seldom wanting in the Bodies of our Country-Men all things are made worse by delay and neglect of Evacuation Jac. Oc. â—â—aeus apud Schenckium But because in Agues all the vitious matter resides without the greater Veins as some will have it truly I doubt whether it agree with all things which evidently appear in Agues XXVI It is to be observed that we may flie to Antimonial and Mercurial Medicines in all Agues of long continuance for as the matter lies in several places so especially in the Mesentery whence unless it be fetched by one of the said Medicines you will scarce ever rightly expell it Hartman except in a long time XXVII It were incredible to tell how great a power of Diseases follows for want of purging after autumnal Agues Therefore when the Disease is cured the Patient must be carefully purged For whenever I found an elderly person had had a Tertian or a Quartan and neglected Purging I could certainly foretell that some dangerous Disease Would afterwards sieze them of which notwithstanding they did not at all dream Sydenham as if
through relaxation of the Stomach we must use Wormwood Salt-fish also is very effectual to this purpose Sometimes also it comes to pass that a crude humour sticking long to the Coats of the Stomach causes Loathing Whatever things therefore have a faculty of voiding this and making the Stomach rough are properly said to raise an Appetite by reason that for the most part Loathing of Food arises from the said cause Among hot things Garlick and Onions are such for Garlick has an excretive faculty it bites and dries the Stomach according to Dioscorides And whereas it is said that Garlick is windy and causes Loathing it is frivolous for we find by daily experience that it is no slight remedy for wind and that it procures a Stomach and Galen 4. de rat Vict. is of the same mind Whoever therefore have a loathsomeness to their Victuals by reason of crude humours long sticking to the Stomach they may with good effect use Garlick steeped in the juice of sowre Grapes or of Sorrel And there is likewise a cleansing faculty in Onions according to Dioscorides and they bite the Stomach for which reason they raise an Appetite Whoever therefore through want of exercise or a weak expulsive faculty have a drowsie sense in the mouth of their Stomach and upon that occasion loath their victuals they may beneficially use raw Onions cut into thin slices with Water Salt and Pepper Mustard also bruised with Vinegar and Bread renders the sense of the Stomach more acute Parsley boiled with Meat raises an appetite without any action that is taken from the manifest qualities Idem It is also admirably good beaten with Vinegar and Bread XI One of the Arabians writes thus Among those things that are good for them who have lost their appetite through weakness as in people upon recovery from sickness or by reason of a moist viscous matter this is one to eat Olives and some Salt-fish But as Olives are hurtfull to them whose Bellies abound with a moist viscous humour so is Salt-fish for people upon recovery who loath Meat because of their weakness for according to the opinion of that Physician their Appetite is lost for want of bloud as saith he it happens to those that are upon recovery or to those that are evacuated with a great evacuation I think the use of Salt-fish would rather be an Inconvenience than a benefit to either when they loath food Idem But neither do pickled-Olives make them any better XII To keep off the Anguish Aretaeus gave washt-Bread sprinkled with cold juice of unripe Grapes before the Fit ¶ But Trallianus his experiment seems to me something rash who an hour before the Fit gave Pumpions made very cold to be eaten then presently gave them store of cold Water to drink and so frequently prevented the Fit while some fell into a sweat Fortis and others voided great store of choler by stool XIII I derive the Head-ach which is sometime very violent during the Febrile heat especially from a salt lixivious acrimony hence I have observed that it gives way chiefly to Emulsions which are often commended by use Sylvius de le Boë and which I know are very proper to temper any but especially a Salt Acrimony Yet here not onely Anodynes but Narcoticks also are convenient XIV One had a Hemitritaeus Ague with a most violent Head-ach and that a continual one he was four times let bloud in the Arms to no purpose But it was taken away in an hour's time by letting bloud in the right-ancle in the end of the sixth day Here young Practitioners may see how good the revulsion from the head is Riverius cent 3. obs 40. by opening the Saphaena's XV. The Heart-burn is two-fold one which is caused by the ichor of the bloud gathered in the Veins when it used otherwise to be evacuated by the Haemorrhoids of which Galen 1. Prorrhet Sect. 3. Aph. 38. Another which is caused by an humour and especially a cholerick one which he 1 ad Glauc 14. writes is sometimes poisonous Which division holding good I say that although upon the account of the Fever a Vein should be breathed nevertheless we must first abate the Heart-burn for where it is and it is caused by bile there is neither an indicant nor a permittent for it is not caused by bloud and strength is low Moreover there would be an attraction of the sharp humours that are in the Stomach to the Veins whence would come a greater mischief But if the Heart-burn come from an ichor in the bloud although upon that score there be an Indicant yet there wants a permittent for in every Heart-burn the strength is weak seeing there is pain to which a dolorifick quality which is very troublesome is joined so that hence a cardiack Syncope often arises But because the ichor of the bloud which used to be purged by the haemorrhoids is retained therefore in a Fever with this Symptome from such a cause it will not be inconvenient to open the Haemorrhoid Veins for Bloud taken away by them weakens not so much But when the Heart-burn ceases and the Fever still continues and requires breathing of a Vein if any one ask Whether we may let bloud I say that if the Heart-burn its cause being extirpated be at an end without doubt upon the account of the Fever if the strength will allow it a Vein may be opened But if the Heart-burn cease and the Physician be not certain whether it may not revive again he ought to go warily to work and rather abstain from it because he doubts the cause lies there still Hence it appears that a Physician 's dexterity is requisite in this case for although it be made use of while the strength is good yet the Patients for the greater part are afterwards destroyed or scarce come to themselves again the Heart-burn coming again at last as I have often observed Claudinus Respâ—â—s 9. But I always abstain from bloud-letting and the cure succeeds well XVI When grievous Pains exercise the sick when restlesness from the agitation of the humours is observed in them prudent Physicians use to have recourse to Opiates and Narcoticks as to their Sheet-Anchor which is done inasmuch as all Narcoticks and Anodynes abound in Sulphur whose property it is to qualify every sharp as well acid as lixivious a thing which may be made good by infinite Medical instances Hence it is at least in my judgment that Narcoticks and Opiates Treacle Mithridate Diascordium c. given in the beginning of Agues that arise from a vitious effervescency diminish check and sometimes stop the violence of the Ague Sylvius de le Boë which even the common people know XVII We have shewn that Vapours and Wind may be produced by humours in the small Guts upon the meeting of the Pancreatick juice choler and phlegm but more plentifully and noxiously in the beginning of Ague-fits and when they are
taken away in less quantity if Putrefaction prevail in a larger And so especially if it arise from a morbid apparatus and putrid humours gathered within the Veins and that chiefly if there seem to be or to be imminent an Inflammation of some of the Inwards which often happens But Bloud must be let betimes For if the Disease have made any progress and the Malignity be diffused into the whole mass of Bloud it does not onely doe no good but also greatly weakens Nature so that most Authours think Bloud must not be let when the fourth day is past Yea and seeing at different times they are of a different nature arising from a different degree of Malignity we must observe diligently what emolument Patients receive from Bleeding For some sort of Continents wherein the Putrefaction is more intense and the Malignity more remiss do abate much by Bleeding But others whose Nature consists in Malignity onely in a manner are made more pernicious by breathing a Vein Concerning the time and intervalls for repeating Bloudletting observe that if the Disease proceed slowly Bleeding must not be accelerated for the strength is spent before its time and will not be able to hold out the whole Disease Therefore as the Disease moves so Bleeding must be celebrated sooner or later Riverius V. It is determined by the wise Judgment of Doctors that when Purple-spots appear in the beginning of the Disease and at those days when Bleeding uses to be celebrated if a sufficient quantity of Bloud have not been taken away before even at that time Bloud may be taken away in a moderate quantity without any imminent danger Seeing that Eruption which is in the beginning of the Disease is not Critical but Symptomatick arising from the exceeding Ebullition of the Bloud and the ferment of malignant and putrefying humours And therefore Nature's motion which at that time is not cannot be hindred For if when the Body is plethorick and sends out a thick and red Urine you do not let bloud on the score of Spots appearing Nature will scarce be able to conquer so great a quantity of Humours and there will be danger lest they fall upon some inner part and breed in it a pernicious Inflammation yet at that time Bloud must be taken away with greater caution and in less quantity not that the Veins may be very much emptied whereupon a retraction of the Humours from without inwards might succeed but onely that their too great fullness might be removed which being taken away the Veins do not attract new Bloud but they fall flat and grow a little strait that they may be the better able to contain and rule the Bloud that is left in them and so the motion and expulsion of Nature to the superficies of the Body is helped For Nature being eased of part of her burthen wherewith she was opprest expells the rest more easily Which is well known to us in our practice whilst often on the same day we open a Vein in acute Fevers yea sometimes within a few hours after Bleeding we observe plentifull Sweats and those critical and wholesome to break out Yea and although Nature were strong enough to rule all the redundant Bloud seeing in Plethorick Bodies the Bloud is usually thick and by such efflorescencies onely the thinnest portion of the Bloud exhales the thicker Bloud remaining would onely putrefie more and more and would render the Disease far more dangerous Yet I think it most advisable a little after Bleeding to apply several Cupping-glasses to help the motion of the Bloud outwards In short if this happen in the beginning of the Disease and before the fourth day at which time there can be no critical Eruption if no relief follow upon it but all Symptoms rather grow worse bleeding should in no wise be hindred If after the fourth day a great quantity of Spots break out the Patient be better and Symptoms abate instead of Bleeding several Cupping-glasses with Scarification may be applied that Motion may be promoted outwards And what has been said of Bleeding understand it of bleeding in the Arm which immediately abates the Quantity Sometimes notwithstanding opening the lower Veins is very beneficial if the strength be not able to bear farther bloud-letting It is beneficial especially to Women even beyond the time of their natural Purgation It is good also where a translation of the humours to the Brain is feared Opening of the haemorrhoids also with Leeches does good which is done with little loss of strength revulsion in the mean time being made from the inner bowels Idem it is good especially for Melancholick persons VI. This generous Remedy ought to be administred immediately in the very beginning of this Disease that is while strength is good and before the corruption and poison is got into the Bloud Yea I prefer this one thing that there is no Fever in which relief is deferred with greater damage nor perhaps is there any one Fever which more deceives ignorant Physicians For when Bleeding is deferred the Bloud being already corrupt I have observed that the cure is rendred almost impossible by reason of the great weakness which appears all on a sudden before the height of the Disease Parthermore if any Disease can deceive a Physician this is the principal because this Fever at the beginning appears so mild both in heat and in all its accidents that ignorant men slight it But then afterwards signs of Death appear all on a sudden for which reason it is necessary that the Artist be experienced Augenius carefull and Learned VII I think Bleeding in the lower Veins is far more beneficial than in the upper especially if the Menstrua be stopt or the usual bleeding of the Haemorrhoids suppressed for in these latter cases it has no difficulty But if they be wanting I have observed in these Fevers it is far safer to breathe a Vein in the Leg or Foot For if it be the best way to draw the Poison from the Heart no safer way can be thought on than to draw to the lower and weaker parts But some may say the abundance is not evacuated with that celerity out of the lower Veins as out of the higher I answer 1. I cannot easily admit that because if I be not mistaken the Veins of the Legs and Arms are equally distant fom the Vena Cava 2. Suppose there be a difference it is exceeding small but the utility for the foresaid Causes Rolfinccius is far greater VIII Aquapendent says he will propose a Paradox that evacuation by the Haemorrhoids conduces more to the cure of Malignant fevers than Bleeding in the Arm. He subjoins a reason for the greater branches of the Vena Cava wherein the peccant matter lies may so be emptied And I add that while they draw from the sedal Arteries it is very likely the Heart is wonderfully relieved thereby Idem IX opening of a Vein may be omitted when the strength
is low and there is no fulness of bloud or but a very little and when it consists of the thinner part of the bloud Then because the whole Body cannot be evacuated by opening a Vein for these contraindicating Causes I should admit the use of moist Cupping-glasses by which we might advantageously evacuate that virulent Cacochymie Augeniâ—â— which is mixt with the thinner bloud X. In the Year 1648. an Epidemick Malignant Spotted fever raged with great destruction in which I often observed that the frequent application of dry Cupping-glasses and of Vesicatories to the middle of the Limbs and behind the Ears did much good even in desperate persons and such as had a Lethargy or a Phrenzy But if the heat or motion of the bloud were over high Petrus Borelius Cent. 1. Obs 60. then you were to abstain from cupping and scarifying for they were mortal but the use of Cordials was very advantageous XI It is the way of the Italians to apply Cupping-glasses to the lower parts for revocation of the poisonous matter from the Heart to the most disstant places To the Shoulders and Back by no means lest it be drawn towards the Heart from other places But they are properly applied to all these places beginning at the lower parts for the foresaid reason Which application since it does not sufficiently draw the poisonous humours and vapours from the heart and neighbouring parts therefore it is of necessity made to the shoulders and back Hear Mercatus his Opinion of them It is most advisable to scarifie where you set the Cupping-glasses to the Back over against the Heart Which Invention Practice has often shewn to be of such moment that I have seen anxiety inequality of the Pulse and other most cruel Accidents presently cease thereupon Wherefore till you find the accidents of the Poison in some sort to abate you must not leave off Cupping XII I had a Porter under Cure of a Burning Malignant fever When he was in great anxiety I ordered Leeches to be applied to his Anus but either through the negligence of the Attendant or the ignorance of the Patient they were set to his Paps which falling off full of bloud gave occasion to copious bloud-letting When I came P. Salius Diversus I found the man recovered of his Disease and I ascribed his succeeding health to this Remedy XIII When one has been sufficiently bled in the Arm opening a Vein in the Forehead is proper he may bleed 6 ounces Leeches may also be set behind the Ears which indeed are an usefull Remedy but not so effectual as the former because the thinnest part of the bloud onely is drawn by the Leeches when by a Vein of the Forehead sometimes in a Phrenzy more impure and corrupt bloud is drawn Riverius than from the Arm. XIV Vesicatories are condemned by some 1. Because they encrease heat and burning 2. Because by intervention of Pain they cause Watching 3. Because they often hinder the critical motion of Nature to the Nose I answer to the First That they cause heat onely in the external parts whereby the internal heat is abated To the Second That Watching and Pain come of themselves To the Third That they do not divert Nature from any wholsome purpose because she endeavours no critical motion But indeed they are necessary 1. That the heat which is almost stifled may be refreshed 2. That the poisonous matter that is about the heart may be attracted 3. That the raging matter rapt to the heart and brain Rolfinc Cons 9. l. 4. when it has a great urgency and causes a Delirium and makes the Pulse low may be retracted to parts far distant Vesicatories doe all these things as a present Remedy ¶ Being taught by experience I judged it a proper Remedy in this case because I observed the internal heat was very great when the out parts were cold and most grievous symptoms of the principal parts were imminent by reason of the malignant Evaporations of the boiling bloud By this means Revulsion is made to the out parts in which respect the Physician imitates Nature Horstius l. 1. obs 30. which uses to transfer Spots Buboes and Carbuncles to the out parts in Pestilential fevers ¶ Vesicatories applied to several Parts do powerfully draw and make revulsion of the bad and poisonous Ichores They are commonly applied to the hind part of the neck for there they draw out the poisonous matter and derive it from the head and serve to cure comatous affections which frequently happen in these Fevers Yet where a great Malignity has siezed the whole Body and very cruel Symptoms are urgent one is not sufficient but several must be applied In an exceeding severity of a Disease I use to apply them to five places namely to the Neck each Arm on the inside between the Elbow and Shoulder and to each Thigh on the inside Riverius between the Groin and Knee with good success XV. What Issues Sores and Vesicatories are able to doe in preventing and curing Malignant Diseases yea the Plague it self has been already in some measure known since Galen's time and is worthy of a more exact enquiry In our clime where the humours are for the most part gross phlegmatick and dull sometimes we observe present relief from Vesicatories especially if they be applied before the seventh day of the Disease to the inside of the Arms and Thighs where the large Veins run Yet there is a time when they are applied whole months to no purpose yea sometimes in a whole year no sensible relief is found from them The reason may be drawn from the difference of the Infection When these Malignant particles stick not very fast and do not embrace the tenacious moisture of the Body they are more easily discharged by a Vesicatory and the fugacious poison departs as the Serum breaks out But when they reside in viscid matter or are closely joined to any smooth matter they commonly elude the force of a Blister But how shall we know in what particles the malignity resides To consider the constitution is not sufficient for I have sometimes observed that Vesicatories were very beneficial to phlegmatick persons and that they have done no good at all to extreme cholerick Men. They must be applied in season especially when it appears by examples that they have done good to others who have been sick in the same manner Olaus Borrichius Act. Danic 1676. p. 77. near the same time But if they fail your expectation you must persist in Alexipharmacks which must nevertheless be made use of ¶ Since it is the ill custome of several Physicians when Malignant fevers do rage much if there be Head-ach and Delirium to rely much upon the application of a Veficatory that I might be certain of the success I enquired of several Chirurgeons from whose report I understood that most Patients died to whom they were laid And indeed I knew several who were
over intervening concerning which Spots Practioners doubt whether they come symptomatically or critically I indeed sometimes have observed that by reason of the quantity and quality of the bloud and corrupt Serum which Nature was not able to correct have appeared unhappily and portended Death it self I have also observed them to break out critically as well as the Small Pox and Measles which were kindly But these forementioned Spots in Malignant fevers are the effects of a very bad Cause as it argues so great a corruption of the bloud in the live Body that the Fermentation causes such a diacrisis or apocrisis in the mass of bloud as that the volatile Salt it self appears Simon Pauli D grâ—s de Feb. M â—â—gâ— Sect. 52 5â— which is naturally apt to pass subject to subject and is by consequent a poison which acts in its whole substance and this is the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or morbid excretion of Hippocrates XXV Lest any one should accuse us as if we were ignorant of the methodus medendi because when they that are sick of a Malignant fever with a hot and dry Intemperature and that notorious enough to the touch indeed gentle and kindly we presently fly to Sudorificks Diureticks and finally to Salts and I add that I willingly allow him this although it be not universally true that all these things are hot as to our last refuge when the Fever requires cooling things I will here introduce Hofmannus his reason namely why Diseases of hot Intemperature are cured with hot Medicine fetched from his de Medicam Officin lib 2. cap. 128. Because it holds good not onely in the Venereal Disease whose cure he treats of in the forecited place but in Malignant fevers and many other Diseases called Occult and in such as wherein the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of Hippocrates which word many understand amiss is said and believed to be In that place after Fallopius he inveighs against them who granting Guaiacum to be bitter and biting and therefore hot and dry yet would have it most temperate and as like our Body as any aliment because they observe that some grow corpulent upon the use of this Wood. By which contradiction some being constrained saith Hofmannus have held that this wood cures the Pox indeed whether it depend on hot humours or cold by propriety of substance or some occult property and other Diseases joined with it by manifest qualities But indeed they are very much deceived For if it be thus when it cures the Pox it self does it lay aside its manifest qualities They will not say so I hope Therefore these Problemes still remain undiscussed Why Hot fights with Hot and Dry with Dry And if it be such in adjunct Diseases why is it not in the root it self But is it hot and moist perfectly and does it nourish more than gelly Broth of a Chicken Then this is sure Guaiacum is hot and dry and how does it drive away a Disease that is hot and dry It is by discussing and wasting the hot and dry humours I add that they appear such or are really hot and dry because of the Salt wherewith the bloud of Persons infected with the Pox does without all controversie most exuberantly abound for certainly this Plague of theirs is contagious which is cooling by accident So Rheubarb cocls by purging such humours but it does it not indifferently and without the Laws of Method without which those who have tried it have been greatly hurt Yet does it noâ—rish For they take the Body of it It nourishes not at all for since aliment is a passive Word that is is a thing which is conquered who can believe that so hot a Medicine can be conquered and turned into the substance of the thing nourished Yet People grow fat upon it You kill me for I said but now it was done by accident the hot humours being discussed and the obstructions of the Bowels being opened which hindred the generation of Bloud But how bad a Logician are you in that you distinguish not what is of it self and what by accident c. But this is the summ of the matter that the Venereal Disease a hot and dry one is cured with a hot and dry Medicine by accident and that indeed by a simple Decoction of Guaiacum Which we must affirm is done likewise in a Malignant and Spotted fever while we use Sudorificks Diureticks and Salts in particular namely that sharp and hot things are good for them by accident why Because while in it no crisis or but an imperfect one intervening the Salt in the mass of bloud being now made fixt in the hands or feet or rather in the Anastomoses of the Veins and Arteries of the said parts far distant from the Heart hinders the free circulation these Salts render it volatile which being either attenuated or made volatile and discharged by the benefit of Circulation by sweat or being more fixt and as it were in fusion by the Urinary passages it does again freely doe its duty which being procured the bloud is truly cleansed and as it were ventilated not onely in the said Fever but in other malignant and contagious Diseases hereupon Health is procured and the Malignity dispatched But when in this acute Disease and in a Malignant fever Nature receives no assistence then at length whatever upon the ceasing of the Fever or fermentation in the mass of bloud is corrupt and remains Idem ibid. breeds divers imposthumes and swellings in divers parts XXVI And as there is extreme danger in purging in Malignant fevers so it is well known that those Medicines which are commended against Fevers and those commended against poisons are diametrically opposite one to another and why Because some Antifebrile Medicines have been found out not by Indications but by Empiricism And since the manner of the corruption of our bloud in Fevers and especially in Malignant and Spotted ones varies and as it were eludes the industry of Physicians hence it usually falls out that both Agues and especially Malignant and Spotted fevers when we come to them we call Antifebrile and Specifick Medicines are so hard to cure that they are cured rather by chance than reason And the Cause besides that I brought from the corruption of the bloud is this for that there is no Fever without fermentation or ebullition Therefore if for example's sake Nutmeg Alume Powder of Tormentill Antefebrilis Crollij prepared of long Oyster shells with Wine Vinegar Pearl Coral Bezoar stone Pretious Stones and the like be given to People in Fevers it sometimes happens that the Fever ceases and Why Because that Ebullition is stopt by them just as we find that the heat of the Stomach is stopt by the alone use of simple Chalk powdered But if you weigh these simples in the Balance of Reason you will find it very likely that they act what they do act by drying and by their earthy parts for they are in an
errour who think that these and the like things are given onely to give a sweat or to strengthen the heart in which errour many live whom Platerus confutes Quaest Therapeut 91. since therefore the ebullition caused by the febrile ferment is observed to be far more treacherous and occult in Malignant Fevers than in a Tertian hence also the recounted simples are given with far greater success in an Ague to fix its ferment and stop the ebullition than in Malignant fevers for these proceed more occultly yet more speedily to their state Hence therefore the febrile ferment is hurried more quickly in them than in a Tertian which gives us some truce from the Bowels into the Veins or if the contagion be communicated to us from any where else from the capillary and cutaneous Veins and Arteries into the greater And by consequent because the beginning in Malignant fevers is quickly past over you will doe little or no good by the recounted antifebrile Medicines which have onely a drying faculty for things of gross parts act so slowly that they are not able to resist these Fevers Besides these and the like Medicines that are applied are onely Cordials by accident although Sennertus assign them a Cordial and Alexipharmack Virtue But in my judgment these and the like things act or perform nothing else but onely stop the ebullition of the Bloud that is raised if they are able Which ceasing the circulation of the bloud performs its office aright in the Heart and in this Case the Heart stands in need of no other Cordials being sufficient of it self to breed Spirits But if the case be otherwise and if Malignity be joined with it a cardiack Syncope usually supervenes But we must speak of the other sort of Antifebrile Medicines which are contrary to the former exceeding earthy and dry ones and are more in use among the vulgar than Dogmatical Physicians which are these all the sorts of Pepper Ginger adust Wine Worm-wood Wine and the like with which Agues are more successfully cured empirically than Continual fevers and Why Because accidentally by the use of these Medicines Vomit is caused the sink or filth of the Stomach being stirred in the Fit and so the febrile ferment is discharged together with it or by reason of more robust Constitutions the same ferment is carried by these hot and Diuretick Medicines to the Urinary passages or is removed before it can infect the whole mass of bloud which on the contrary in Continual fevers where no truce intervenes is most easily corrupted But if the febrile ferment be carried to the Urinary passages and a troubled ill coloured and stinking Urine be made it portends usually an abatement of the Ague Since therefore the case stands thus who hence forward where there is no room for Vomits would not rather chuse certain Diureticks and Sudorificks in Malignant fevers than run the hazard of a thousand uncertain things termed Antifebriles of a dubious or no event at all Wherefore the never enough to be commended skill of the most famous Rulandus merits more and more confirmation because that in these and especially in Salts he seems to place all the remedy he has against Malignant fevers So lapis or Sal Prunellae besides that it stops the fermentation is a great Diuretick Balsamus Sulphuris which also stops fermentation is a great Sudorifick and both of them are most celebrated remedies against the Plague and Malignant fevers Here also I have a mind to lay down in what manner Spots break out in our Skin either by the motion of Nature alone or of Nature helped by Alexipharmacks and Sudorificks how our Skin comes to be beset with them and again clear of them Nature either provoked or helped by Alexipharmacks endeavours to expell the bloud that is hurtfull to her and more or less corrupted in its whole substance which while she is in doing it is very probable to me that the very same thing happens to the mass of Bloud especially at the Anastomoses of the Veins and Arteries of the hands and feet which befalls a frozen River when the frost is broke For as then the Ice is melted with the kindly and gentle heat of the Sun so Nature being about to conquer the Disease by the benefit of the animal fire or innate heat cooling especially after the state of the Disease and burning no more so preternaturally as before melts the bloud thickned and made tough by the febrile heat in the Veins and as it were congealing because of abundance of Salt in the extremities of the hands and feet and as a torrent or river carries fragments of Ice rapidly down the stream so the bloud in the Veins throws off small portions of the preternaturally fixed Salt which are the Spots or make them Wherefore no wonder if Nature upon the use of Alexipharmacks or Sudorificks made of the mineral vegetable and especially of the Animal kind abounding more or less with volatile Salts do sooner or later gradually or at once according to the different temper of the Subjects throw off Spots to the Skin varying in colour magnitude and number which indeed Rulandus observed were fixt to the extremities of the Capillary Veins But they are nothing else but the Salt of the Serum and mass of bloud made volatile which sweating through the Pores of the Skin is the proximate and onely Cause of all Spots in Malignant fevers be they small and lenticular or great and as broad as ones hand while to wit it buds out in the Skin and is then fixt in it till upon amendment it gradually vanish by insensible transpiration or even while the Disease or Fever lasts is resolved into Atomes so small that they cannot be seen which we call the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or infectious particles and are the proximate cause of the Contagion Idem XXVII When Epidemick Malignant fevers are abroad or when they are not abroad if the bloud that is let when it is cold be like to good bloud in colour and be as it were very rutilant coming very near the colour of that Indian Throatwort called the Cardinal flower yea in a manner exceeding it and having very little Serum in it I have often observed it portend Death to several persons when the by-standers and unskilfull were glad of this rosie and scarlet colour and congratulated the sick for it But I have been long agoe instructed as ever distrusting such a suspicious goodness of the bloud to give my Patients in such cases Alteratives with Alexipharmacks and especially this decoction of shavings of Hartshorn of my own description Take of shaving of Hartshorn half an ounce Root of Fenil Contrayerva Scorzonera Carline-Thistle each 2 drachms seeds of Columbine Fenil each 1 drachm stoned Jujubes 2 ounces boil them in a sufficient quantity of a decoction of Barley Towards the end add of Conserve of red Roses 2 ounces Idem Borage Bugloss each 1 ounce XXVIII Antimonium diaphoreticum is of
marvellous efficacy given from half a drachm to a whole one in Malignant fevers Small Pox Measles yea and the Plague it self But whence comes its diaphoretick virtue considering its astrictive faculty Simon Pauli Quadrip Botan p. m. 225. affirms it is used to stop the ebullition of the bloud not to raise a sweat for as it is far better to spit on a spark that it may not burn and consume a whole House with the flame which it would rise to so it is most advisable by cold and dry things such as Antimonium diaphoreticum is and also Root of Tormentil Bistort which are astrictive and Diaphoretick Bole Armenick Terra Sigillata burnt Hartshorn Calx Antimonii c. to stop the burning of the bloud or the fermentation following it which if it exceed measure so as the circulation of the bloud being altogether disturbed the bloud be unspeakably corrupt it can neither return again to its natural habit and the contagion which follows that corruption that takes so many off is called the Plague whose fomes seminary or contagion you will never cast out of the Body except by Alexitericks or Sudorificks But this reason does not yet satisfie for if it held good the cure would not be safe while the cause of this burning or ebullition would not by this means be taken away and Opiates were better able to doe this work Nay Whence proceeds the usual eruption of Sweat after the use of the enumerated Medicines which are cold and dry Diaphoreticks Wherefore I judge that Antimonium Diaphoreticum as also the other Medicines are not indeed among the number of those Sudorificks that have the faculty of attenuating and dissolving gross humours but that they are such as imitating Nature do by their fixing and precipitating virtue which depends on a peculiar texture of the parts fix and precipitate the morbifick ferments or the volatile Sulphureous Salts Frid. Hofmannus Clavis Schroderiana p. 303. and also strengthen the Tone which being done the tumultuating faculty of the Archaeus is quieted and throws off what is troublesome by Sweat or Urine from the Lympha or mass of bloud XXIX We must take notice that Oxyrrhodina are not so convenient in Malignant as in Simple Putrid fevers because the dispersing of poisonous vapours must be procured by all means and not hindred therefore gentle repellents must be made use of or if the violence of the Symptoms be urgent we may proceed to strong ones Riverius so they be not kept long on XXX In Malignant fevers we must have a care of Epithemes for they may by no means be used in poisonous Diseases Mercatus and therefore we must avoid them as a pernicious Poison ¶ In Malignant fevers we must utterly avoid cold Epithemes which are proper for the Heart but they must rather be applied warm for otherwise there is fear lest when the Malignity is translated and struck back from the Circumference to the Center more harm than good result from it Therefore cordial Baggs are besprinkled with no liquours Wedellus but what are spirituous for fear of repulsion XXXI If the extreme parts happen to be cold there is great suspicion of Malignity and Languidness of faculty for that Coldness testifies there are both these Causes to wit a Malignant Putrescence of the Humours in the Bowels or Ulcers or great Inflammations or violent pains in the Intestines all these things force the heat to run inwards and to desert the out parts In this case there should be the greatest care imaginable to recall the heat and by all means to keep these parts in an equal temper with the other parts For although this coldness of the Feet be no cause of the Disease but a Symptome yet it is removed by revocation of the Heat that is of the Bloud and Spirits And nothing is more beneficial than to call them back because of the harm of their running to the internals which increases the inflammation and other affections of the Inwards and the heat it self by its being pent in is the cause of its own extinction Therefore we may not apply cold things to the Feet lest the burning heat be repelled inwards for in colliquating Fevers applications are best made to the Body between the Armholes and the Groin it is well if you can keep them from being cold Vallesius XXXII When in Continual yea in Malignant severs where a Delirium is imminent or the Patient cannot sleep we apply Plasters to the Soles of the Feet which are held to be applied for revulsion sake truly here is a notorious fallacy of the Cause committed For they are all hot things which abound with their volatile Salts and are of very thin parts Pigeons cut open alive pickled Herrings split Horseradish Leven with Salt Mustard c. Hence while in the said extreme parts of the Body both the venous and arterious Bloud being burnt up with the febrile heat is made heavy and dull cannot freely circulate these very things applied to the Soles of the Feet do attenuate melt and put in fusion that fixt Bloud and Serum by means of those subtile and volatile Salts wherewith they abound and so by accident while the free circulation of the bloud is procured in the Feet and it cannot restagnate into the Head Simon Pauli natural sleep creeps on XXXIII The use of Wine in this Fever sometimes is very beneficial for it is a great cordial and very opposite to Malignity Yet it often does harm by increasing the feverish heat Wherefore the constitution of the Patient and Nature of the Disease must be well considered If the Fever be small the poisonous quality intense and the Patient Phlegmatick mixt with water it may be given safely and successfully In a violent Fever and a cholerick Body Wine is destructive I have by infinite experiences observed these things especially in the purple Fever which was at Mompelier anno 1623. distinguishable from the true Plague onely by the Bubo For to those Patients whose Pulse was not very frequent but like the Pulse of a healthy man their Tongue moist and no thirst I gave Wine with good success and the relief thence emerging indicated the continuation of it both because the Fever was not heightned by the use of it and there was no thirst nor driness of Tongue raised In what Patients the contraries were I forbad them Wine altogether Yet we must observe never to give Wine in the first days lest the crude matter be too much moved but onely about the State when the signs of Malignity begin more fully to exert themselves Riverius XXXIV In the year 1623. after the Siege of Mompelier a very Malignant fever raged for several months of which half that were sick died and they peculiarly who had the Parotides or swellings of the Kernels behind the Ears which came usually about the ninth or tenth day of the sickness did all die And when I had seen several such but could
shews that all salt things are proper for this Fever Nor must they therefore be rejected because they breed thirst Brudus XXXVIII Besides in a pestilential Fever we must take diligent care of the Stomach that the Patient may be able to retain what he takes otherwise we can neither help the strength nor oppose the disease Wherefore my reason tells me that Salt-fish would be of use if it be such as is easily concocted for it is certain that it dries the stomach exceedingly causes an appetite and immoderate thirst settles a subverted and nauseating stomach As I was writing these things it was told me that an old Chirurgeon in England used successfully to feed people sick of the Plague with Salt-fish which the English call Herrings the French Anchoyes which if he cannot have instead of them he uses a less sort of Fish which take the Salt and Smoke better But you must warn your Patient to abstain from drink till an hour after eating of them but afterwards give him as much cold water as he can drink at one draught The use of such Fish is most effectual against the thin corrupt humidity in the stomach And how much such Salt-fish strengthens the stomach represses loathing and causes an appetite their very smell declares whereby no small appetite is procured to the stomach He therefore that is content with these reasons let him use them broiled being steeped in Vinegar or in Juice of Sorrel Idem XXXIX It is a difficult thing to prescribe a Diet for these Fevers For a thin one is not convenient 1. Because it is given that Nature may be at leisure to fight with the morbifick matter But in pestilential Fevers it is our onely care to prevent a War between Nature and the pestilential Humour because usually in such contest Nature is overcome 2. A Diet that is thin and easie of concoction is sooner overcome by the violence of the pestilential Contagion than by Nature Wherefore although it were very usefull and necessary for the breeding of Spirits which in such Diseases Nature most loves yet in this Disease we may not use it And gross Meats must not be given because they cannot be overcome of the natural heat as being languid also because they do not afford matter for spirits and they add to the cause of the Disease although they be necessary for a greater resistence against corruption For which reason I advise to mix such things as afford most plenty of spirits with such as resist the pestilential Contagion Such as it is evident they are that are dry by Nature and immerge themselves deep into the body with a quick penetration communicating a drying faculty to the whole with a little astriction Wherefore Salt and all salt things especially such as are of a thin substance as also all sowre things are admirably good They indeed increase the Fever but it is better to stop putrefaction and repair the substance than not to heighten the Fever Nor is it contrary to reason to increase thirst for it is desirable because 1. It shews that the action of the sensory faculty in the mouth of the stomach is perfect 2. The Patient will be delighted with cold water and he may drink plentifully of it which is an excellent Remedy Mercatus XL. But it is not adviseable to use Salt-flesh which the Northern part of Spain uses because it is hard of concoction Yet it were better to use the Juice of it when it is well rosted The Juice of Flesh breeds abundance of Spirits and strengthens the Stomach Therefore it must be our great care that we doe not offer the same meat so often till the Patient loath it Wherefore the Physician should think with himself of divers meats that he may use every one of them when it is proper All sweet and unctuous things whatever is hot and moist should carefully be avoided Lentils with much Vinegar Salt Saffron and Parsly boiled are convenient Brudus XLI Celsus lib. 3. c. 7. orders the giving of hot and strong Wine in the Cure of a pestilential Fever Which we must think was observed by him or by Physicians before him in the peculiar and particular nature of some Pestilence For even in our age many were sick of the Plague and recovered who had a great desire to Wine and acknowledged they did receive great benefit from Wine and they said they never found greater relief in the very height of the Disease than when they drank Wine which their Physicians also confirmed whereas otherwise although it restore strength and spirits yet it is manifest it is very hurtfull by reason of its heat Therefore Galen in giving Bâ—le Armenick which is cold and dry distinguishes carefully whether there be a Fever or no and whether it be small or great And whereas several Physicians write that Wine must not be given because it carries the Poison to the heart and opens a passage thither this reason does not hold because otherwise it were not convenient in Poisons when yet Dioscorides not onely permits it but commands it even to be taken liberally against the biting of Serpents and all wounds which hurt by cooling But what can the nature of the Pestilential fever be wherein Celsus commends Wine Certainly it must be such wherein there is much poison and very little putrefaction and that in cold matter For sometimes in pestilential Fevers the putrefaction is so remiss Rubeus in cit loc that it is almost none at all and yet the pernicious or evil quality is very intense XLII If the Patient be troubled for several days with a costive body with anxiety of heart Can a man expect relief from a Purge Costiveness is not the cause of the Anxiety but the poison it self Therefore proceed to give â—weats strengthen the Heart and be not greatly solicitous for the Costiveness But if you have a mind to loosen let a Suppository be used for the use of a Clyster is not so safe This hath done many harm at this time and others little good while in the mean time it â—o way resists the malignity But if you will neglect this admonition which is confirmed by experience and reason and have a mind to give a Clyster abstain I pray from Scammoniates especially in Women and Virgins Barbette that have their Menstrua XLIII The appetite of meat decayed may be restored by Acids any way taken and especially with sweet Spirit of Salt and Elixir proprietatis either mixt with the ordinary drink or used with cordial mixtures Where note that since the Pestilential poison for the most part uses to exert its deleterious quality in a few days it is not worth the while for a Physician to be solicitous for restoring the Appetite immediately in the beginning because when poison is conquered by Acids the Appetite returns of its own accord but if it comes slowly Syl ius de le Bâ—ë it may be repeated by often using
the things aforesaid XLIV Let them for whom it is expedient to fly prudently beware that they be not forced to make their journey through a Pestilential Air because it has so fared with many that while they contrived to prevent danger by their flight through a Pestilential Air as soon as they came to their desired Countrey they immediately died or because while they make their journey with more haste than usual they are tired and weakned and the humours are immoderately moved and troubled whereby they are the readier for the susception of a noxious quality There happens also from their travel a necessity of breathing oftner and larger by reason whereof the poisonous Air such as it comes is more plentifully received Besides every sudden change is grievous to nature and the humours in several plethorick and cacochymick persons are heated beyond measure in their journey and when they are hot they put on a noxious quality But he that withdraws himself from the infected Air must go before the Calamity overrun all his Countrey into some part differently situated from that where the Plague begun Joubertus but a gentle pace for fear of the foresaid disturbance XLV I remember that the Chirurgeons in France in the time of the Plague put on a singular Habit not made of Cloth or Wool wherein the seeds of the Poison might easily stick but of Line compressed and smooth which they put off at their return from their care of the infected sick The Italians use the same artifice and I am told that in the late Pestilence at Rome which destroyed the City Anno 1656. the Physicians were clad in a singular habit They carried a Staff without a knot in their left hand as a mark of their conversing with infected persons They had a Mask covered with Wax all over their Face and their Head too that their Hair might not take the Infection They had Glasses before their Eyes and their Nose was inclosed in a long Shout full of Alexipharmacks and good scents In this necessary and safe rather than decent Habit Physicians visit the Infected and Chirurgeons safely handle Buboes and feel the Body when it is full of Spots and if they found the spots bunch out and the Hick up come upon them they foretold certain death which was a certain sign of death in the Plague in our City Anno 1619 Th. Bartholinus â—ent â— obs â— as a Chirurgeon who was hired to cure the sick affirmed to me ¶ To these things you may add one thing more wonderfull if those that visited the Infected did constantly carry in their hands burning-Torches or live Coâ—ls they were safe from the Contagion as Marsilius Ficinus affirms Epâ—d antidâ—â— cap. 24. XLVI Let the place in which the Patient lies have a hole open above that the Pestilential Vapours may fly out especially while he sweats This hole may be opened and shut by turns for when proper Fumes are made with Camphorate Rose-water and other things the place may be shut Montanus and then opened again Sydenham's way of curing a Pestilential Fever XLVII As for the cure of these Fevers the first place indeed is owing to curatory Indications which in general must be this way directed that either following Nature's Guidance exactly in exterminating the disease we may lend it a helping hand or not at all relying on that method which Nature is accustomed to use in subduing this intestine Enemy that we may go upon a different one If any one reply That the business may be done by Pestifugous Alexitericks Yet it is doubtfull whether the good they doe should be ascribed to their manifest quality by which in causing Sweats they also open a way for the morbifick matter or to some occult disposition which Nature has bestowed on them to extinguish the pestilential Infection Wherefore first of all let us consider the former Intention which has this tendency that Nature may be helped in her own way and usage to exterminate the morbifick matter We must observe in the true Plague that Nature if she be neither forced nor do err does her business by some Abscess breaking out in the Emunctories whereby a passage is made for the matter But in that they call a pestilential Fever this is done by the whole superficies of the body by means of Sweat and Transpiration Whence we may gather that according to the different way and course that Nature foreshews you a different method of cure ought also to be taken Namely if one endeavour to discharge the matter of the true Plague by means of Sweat he goes a way contrary to Nature which endeavours it by Imposthumes And on the contrary he that tries to discharge the matter of a Pestilential fever any other way than by Sweat he takes a course not at all agreeable to the dust and inclination of Nature But in the true Plague it does not as yet appear with what proper and certain sort of remedy the ejection of the morbifick matter that is the breaking out of Imposthumes may be promoted except one should think that a strengthening Diet and Cordials might conduce to it Which yet I should much doubt whether they might not cast the Patient who is too hot already into a far greater heat I have by experience found it certainly true that Sweats in this case are to no purpose although I cannot deny that after great Sweats of three or four hours continuance and then broke off the Swelling does appear which I do not think proceeds from the Sweat because while it lasts no sign of Breaking out appears indeed when the Sweat is ended it may by accident appear that is when Sweat has taken away some part of the burthen which loaded Nature more than it should and when the body is put in a violent heat by taking of things to cause a Sweat But how fallacious and treacherous the extermination of this peccant matter by Imposthumes forced out in Sweats is I call to witness the tragick ends of such as have been thus treated of whom scarce the third Man escapes the danger of the cure and the Disease But on the contrary many who have had their Swellings break out in a laudable manner have recovered their health in a short time But that the Crisis of this Disease by tumours is very hazardous is manifest from hence that sometimes a Bubo which at first broke out laudably and with the abatement of the Symptoms does afterwards all on a sudden disappear and instead thereof Purple Spots most certain tokens of Death do succeed The cause of whose striking in seems of right to be attributed to those great Sweats that are designed to promote the Eruption because they by drawing and dissipating do disperse another way by the habit of the body that good part of the matter which should fill and keep up the bulk of the Swelling However it is this at least is most certainly sure that out of God Almighty's great
remained open Therefore the palliative cure of fistula's must not be rejected III. A fistula in the Perinaeum if it come from an internal cause is never perfectly cured it is indeed sometimes skinned over but it quickly returns upon the least internal cause yea and sometimes if it be stopt up for a while grievous Symptoms do follow Once when I had scarce cicatrized a fistula in a Man of Threescore which followed a caruncle and retention of Urine and the Patient after the cure was continually tormented again with difficulty of Urine and other Symptoms I was forced to open the fistula again upon which he not onely recovered but lived to above Threescore and seventeen Hence Patients may learn not to be so solicitous for the cure of such fistula's for they are a proper passage for the excretion of much excrements which by the benefit of Nature are cast off thither from the Liver Kidneys Bladder and the Spermatick Vessels For I have observed that they who have had such fistula's are usually free from other worse Diseases I reckon Ulcers in the Perinaeum when they come to the Urinary passage almost incurable because of abundance of Excrements wherewith old men abound and the weakness of the excretive faculty arising from Venus or from some other cause so great that it cannot discharge the Urine full of excrementitious humours by the anfractuous passage of the penis Hiâ—â—anus cent 5. 1 s 75. We need not despair of a cure in Children and young Men. IV. Some must not be cured according to Hippocrates 6. Epid. 3. 39. lib. de Humor 3. that is such as discharge the body of superfluous humours and preserve from other Diseases Such are in the lower parts old ones and remote from the principal parts They must not be closed yea rather they should be opened if they chance to heal up I have known people who have had a fistula in ano without any mischief for 25 years yea it has done them good Besides some fistula's in their own nature refuse a cure according to Albucasis lib. 2. cap. 28. such as reach to the great Veins Arteries or Nerves the Peritonaeum Guts Bladder Vertebra's of the Back and Ribs such as are in any joint of the hand or foot For they do not admit convenient Medicines ¶ I have often seen fistula's near the Eyes and the Anus cured Faâ— ab Aquapendente and pernicious Symptoms and death have followed thereupon I have also seen fistula's cured outwardly and a Sinus left within especially about the podex out of which sharp Ichores coming by transumption to the neck of the bladder use to raise such Symptoms as are ordinary in the Stone of the Bladder Sanctorius V. In one who 27 years since broke his Leg the wound could not be so healed but that an Ichor would always be ouzing out of it the Sore at last ending in a fistula A few years after he was sent to Madrid the care of his body being neglected because of his business yet he found after a few Months that the troublesome Serum stopt and ran not again for 3 years When he returned to Copenhagen the fistula opened by little and little and after the old manner ran a Serous matter daily for several years He is sent again into Spain upon some affairs the wound closed up again and did not run any thing for six years while he abode at Madrid Then returning to his Country he found the hole opened again in a few Months time which is not yet healed up Porriâ—hius in Actis Denicis the moist Air in the North opening what the dry Spanish Air had shut VI. One had two deep fistula's under the Arm-pit all that I had tried being in vain I cured him thus I burnt both the fistula's to the very bottom they reached to the very ribs with a red-hot Iron without a Case several times till the Callus was wholly and equally taken off the Sinus of the fistula's To deterge the Eschar I used Tents first of all long and thick anointed with Butter afterwards with a digestive When laudable Pus appeared I put in others anointed with Vnguentum ex betonica which I made every day shorter and shorter These things being removed I applied a Bolster of Linen under the Arm-pit compressing it with a strait Ligature Marchetti obs 38. I perfectly cured the Patient in 20 days time VII We must never proceed to burning of the Os Sternum because it does not scale off as others do which when they are not altogether corrupted but onely in part if they be burnt onely what is perished falls off the laudable part remaining Which does not so fall out in the Os Sternum because it being tough does not so easily scale off but rather when the burning reaches to the internal part of it the whole corrupt part must of necessity abscede not indeed in 30 or 40 days time as other bones do but sometimes in three years wherefore I advise you never to burn the Os Sternum For I have observed it to abscede in many not under 2 or 3 years So that the cure is easier and safer by Abrosion Idem â—â—s 39. VIII One had a Swelling with a fistula above the left side of his Collar-bone whose orifice was so narrow that it would scarce admit a pin's point About six months before he had been ill of a Fever which ended in an Abscess in that place The Ulcer after it had remained open for four weeks closed up a swelling and hardness remaining behind When he told me this I prescribed things to evacuate bilious humours wherewith he abounded for the matter was yellow which the fistula voided Then I dilated this very narrow fistula not with any cutting instruments whereby not onely the pectoral Muscle which had been sufficiently hurt by former incisions might be more hurt but also there was fear that if this were not used dextrously the Jugulars being dissected or but a little hurt might bleed the Man to death but with a tent of dried Gentian-root tied to a thread The next day I took it out swelled with a bilious ichor and black at the end and searching the quality of the Sinus and cause of the colour with a Probe I found some part of the clavicle rough and moveable Then I put in a root thicker than the former anointing the adjoining parts to hinder imminent inflammation The third day I put in a bigger piece of Gentian-root and so consequently till the hole seemed wide enough The sixth day I filled the fistula with round pieces of prepared Sponge tied to a Thread The seventh day I took them out and the fistula was wide enough for taking out of the Bone which I took out The eighth day the bloud stopping I strewed this powder on the sound bone uncovered Take of Root of Florentine Orice Aristolochia rotunda Peucedanum each 1 scruple and an half Euphorbium half a scruple Myrrhe 1
the greatest part of these humours will go to the urinary passages Idem VI. There are some that maintain all manner of Womens Whites may be cured by diuretick Medicines but they are in a manifest errour The causes must be distinguished and according to the various nature of them different methods of cure must be insisted on This Disease comes sometimes from the fault of the whole body and sometimes of the womb When the whole body is full of an ill habit or cacochymie or the Liver is obstructed or the Spleen or Stomach is weak or the Head supplies excrements then the womb may be thus troubled We must consider what humours abound hot or cold and how they are affected For it shews they are hot when this excrement is sharp and scalding so as it eats whatever part it touches and sometimes causes itching and Ulcers or chaps with a sense of heat besides when it is stinking and yellow It will doe well to consider here the temperament natural and acquisititious the preceding causes the habit of the body and season of the year Contrary signs will indicate contrary humours When therefore the flux in the womb comes from these causes when hot and bilious humours abound I most suspect this method of cure by Diureticks For who can think that a hot Disease can be removed by very hot and drying Medicines for suppose that evacuation made by Diureticks may doe some good certainly greater damage will ensue from increase of the quality Indeed it is my custome to reduce such bodies to a good state Universals premised with a Ptisan well prepared adding the greater cold Seeds And I do profess I have often cured with Asses and Goats milk uterine fluxes that have been given over by other Physicians in thin bodies with sharp humours This is my peculiar method The first four days I give a quart of Milk that the whole Body may be well purged and 10 two quarts for fifteen days but boiled and the days following to forty one in which time I generally found they were cured I give Milk chalybeate A most certain and rare Remedy But if the humours be cold and there be obstructions in the Bowels if there be a cold intemperature of the whole or of the principal parts who will deny Diureticks given according to art Does any one doubt but they have a deobstruent heating cutting and cleansing faculty Augenius VII Hippocrates 2. de morb Mul. vers 116. among divers sorts of Uterine fluxes propounds the yellow flux in which what is voided is like a rotten Egg when the white and yelk are mixt together from a mixture of which a yellow colour arises which indicates vitelline Bile Hippocrates cures this Flux thus First he purges upwards with Hellebore and then downwards that the whole body may be rid of the Cacochymie Secondly he orders a moistning and temperate Diet which may cool and qualifie the hot and sharp humours Then he gives astringent Medicines which may stop the flux and he changes the Diet into a contrary course If the Disease do not give way to these things he returns to the former Diet which he orders to be continued so long till the acrimony of the humours abate which the heating of he Ulcers the abating of the Inflammation and what is voided will shew for then he finishes the Cure by Exsiccants and Astringents Let the Moderns consider this method of cure who go the contrary way to work for they order a drying Diet first and give a decoction of the same faculty to drink And after they have by this their way of Cure brought the sharp fretting humours to the height of acrimony they betake them to a contrary method and turn their whole intention to cooling and moistning For they do not observe that by giving Medicines in the beginning which are actually moist and potentially dry they commit a double errour because they increase the humours by actual humidity which should rather be diminished by evacuations and by the drying and hot quality the hot and sharp quality of the same humours is intended and the hot intemperature of the Bowels if there be any is increased and by this means they give assistence to the Disease and its Cause And when as afterwards they betake themselves to coolers and moistners they commit other two faults for by coolers they clog the body full of sharp humours and by moistners they dissolve the humours which had formerly been dried by the preceding exsiccation Martianus câ—m in cit loc whereby they make the Patient every day worse VIII Astringents must-never be used till the antecedent matter be well evacuated and derived otherwise those humours retained run to the more noble parts and cause grievous symptoms As Galen writes it befell Boëthius his Wife whose Belly swelled with the preposterous use of Astringents the serous humours being retained which used before to be evacuated This also must be observed that while we use Astringents the antecedent matter may be diverted another way and the breeding of it hindred Riverius IX They do not advise ill who in the Whites order Issues in the Hips and in the inside of the Legs for so they affirm the Whites are amended while the serous matter is averted to the crural Veins They are good especially if the Disease be inveterate From Galen 5. Aph. 56. it is evident that among the causes which hinder monthly purgation this is not the least when the humours incline some other way than to the womb like as he said that some excretions whether natural or made by Art as Ulcers do make revulsion of and derive the bloud from the womb and transfer it to other parts The same judgment may be given of vitious humours falling upon the womb Do not we also know from Hippocrates that making much water in the night signifies that one goes but little to stool Quâ—ius de Quaesitis X. I have observed in Women that were never before troubled with the Whites they have followed the taking of a Purge when Nature by taking one has been excited to other excretions and that many Women when they have been bathing have contracted this Disease not by Contagion but because by the constant use of the Bath as Nature discharges the excrements by Sweat so also the same by this excretion expells especially what is too thick to be carried off by Sweat Platerus XI The Arteries of the Nose and partly also the Veins discharge their excrementitious humidities into the spongy parts about the Nose and Jaws for these Vessels are divaricated in the flesh of the Nostrils and Jaws like Spiders-webs and sweat out a kind of dew just as water sweats through earthen ware before it is glazed But how comes it to pass that many void little or nothing at the Nose I answer that very few are found who are of so happy a temper as to be void of excrements This Driness of the Nose and
hot Irons Aquapendent's way Not quickly because a longer time is required to draw out the Arteries with Pliers and tie them with thread and if the swathes be removed sometimes such a Flux of bloud follows that unless the rest of the vessels be touched with an actual Cautery it cannot be stopt than to burn the wound presently with actual Cauteries Not to say that the Operation is farther protracted if after resection Hildanus and the Ancients way any putrefaction remain to be consumed with the said Cauteries Wherefore being persuaded with these Reasons and having had good experience of it I reckon the cutting off of a mortified part according to Padua and Aquapendent's way which is approved by P. Salmuth cent 1. obs 80. does not onely not come behind the old way of cutting Scultetus but should rather be preferred before the old XX. One was to have his Leg cut off and the Chirurgeon was ready to doe his work I dissuaded it because the Body had not been prepared before I would not be present at the operation lest I should have seemed to have consented Therefore I absent my self and they cut off the Limb and as they think doe the business well Some Students came to me who were there and tell me the operation succeeded well I bid them mark the third or fourth day The third day in the morning the bands through the violent force of the bloud Salmuth Cent. 1. Obs 80. were broken and the vessels opened And before the Chirurgeon could stop the bleeding the Patient poured out his Life with his Bloud XXI Some before the operation give the Patient some Narcotick that he may be less sensible of the pain But we according to Guido's Opinion Hildanus de Gang. c. 19. will abstain because of the dangers that attend Narcoticks ¶ Some before the Amputation of a Limb always give Philonium Persicum for fear of an haemorrhagy and with success indeed because it is a Narcotick But it is known that Philonium does good onely for one day Therefore it should be taken every day which would be very detrimental Salmuth ibid. But it is best according to Hippocrates his advice to breathe a vein the third or fourth day XXII Here I would advise young Chirurgeons that while the Patient sleeps a servant should watch with him continually lest the Patient through false Imaginations which sometimes come into his head should move his Stump and the Bloud should burst out again Which happened to one whose Arm I had cut off at the Elbow He on the third day in my absence would reach out his Arm which he thought was not cut off to take something a vein opened Hildanus and a violent Haemorrhage followed which killed him within a few days XXIII After amputation is made if the Haemorrhagy be great which yet if a strong ligature be made rarely happens so that sometimes onely a few spoonfulls come or not above three or four ounces at most some use an actual Cautery to burn the vessels and to make a crust on the Flesh But it is to be feared that when the crust falls off a new Flux of bloud may come and before the Chirurgeon can be called to stop it the Patient may depart Besides Paraeus lib. 12. cap. 35. affirms that great Pain and Convulsions are raised in this manner Wherefore cap. 31 and 33. he advises to take hold of the vessels with Pliers to run a needle through them and tie them fast with a thread But Gourmelinus Syntagm Artis Chirurg p. 125. for very good reason disapproves of this way As we also do with Hildanus reject the method described by Paraeus c. 32. When he draws the flaps of the Skin together by running a needle and thread in 4 places and drawing them together and thus endeavours to cover the bone that it may not be in jured by the external Air. For what need is there to torment the Patient with such injuries which will doe no good The cure is far more happily performed if we make use of the fuz-ball called Crepitus Lupi That is in the space betwixt the two bones we must apply pieces of it full of Powders that stop bloud wet in Whites of Eggs Yea we may make of it scouped out a kind of dish and fill it with a stegnotick Powder whereinto we may put the end of the Stump Which dressing may be kept on by a defensative and glutinant Plaster over all which a Beef's bladder may be applied till the fear of Haemorrhagy be over and at length a cruciate swathing may be made J. Van. Horne ¶ In the mean time the heat of the bloud must be stopt by Laudanum Opiatum Hoëferus ¶ One was condemned to die and when the Hangman before he cut him into quarters had cut off both his hands in the street where the House stood in which he had done the villany lest he should die of the large bleeding he was by this means preserved from sudden Death The Hangman's Wife took a live Cock and opened it from the vent to the Breast-bone and immediately thrust the stump into it and then folding the Wings tied it fast with a cord and thus the violence of the Bloud was stopt Platerus Obs l. 3. p. 772. so that it bled not for above an hour and till he was executed the Malefactor was no weaker for his dismembring ¶ When a Horse had bit a Man's Finger off and the bloud after several ways had been tried could not be stopt I ordered him to thrust the wound into a Chicken cut open near the vent and to hold it there till it was cold Idem ibid. and the bleeding immediately stopt XXIV Some Chirurgeons use to leave the bandage on the upper part of the amputation till the second dressing that the mouths of the vessels may be stopt but they doe very ill for it causes grievous and continual pain Hence come Inflammations Fevers want of sleep c. For Pain draws the bloud and humours violently to the part For this reason the first dressing if it can any way be done must be removed within two or three days at farthest Hildanus de Gangrena For the Swathes and Bladders when they grow hard cause pain XXV Some at the beginning do so wrap up the stump in linen and fianel that thereby to the Patient 's great damage it grows hot and so draws the bloud and humours thither Idem XXVI In abscission of the middle or ring Finger if the corruption or Caries go so far that abscission must necessarily be made at the third articulation or the Os postbâ—achiale no small difficulty has hitherto arisen and that because of the Septum Digitorum that is that fleshy part which lies between the third and last joint of the Finger towards the second joint as you may see in Fig. 2. c. 25. l. 1. Vesalii from the letter R. to D. for the cutting of
obstructions or increases preceding ones whence much damage may follow and it hinders Purging if it so happen that there be occasion for it afterwards Therefore as much as may be I avoid the use of such things Nor do I allow them to wounded persons nor to such as are troubled with Bleeding except such as bleed for no other cause but the thinness of bloud especially them whose bloud is corrupt In these unless there be manifest obstruction of the Bowels we must use thickning Diet and Medicines And the greatest share of such a Diet is to drink very little because driness thickens the bloud If there be a thinness of bloud without any manifest obstruction we may use thickning Meats and astringent and thickning both Meats and Medicines But if there be any obstruction it is better to use a dry Diet without thickning and cooling and dry Medicines And if any Bowel also labour of a cold intemperature we must abstain from all these things using onely a dry Diet as rosted flesh good and tender and little drink and if the caâ—e require it we must give Potions contrary to the aforesaid that is hot and thin ones that they may open But we must place all our hopes in other Remedies that is in Revulsions Frictions Ligatures Cupping-glasses and then in local Medicines I use to make a Powder of Gall Alume Flowers of Pomegranate wild and planted Comfrey and Mastick which I order to be blown into the Nostrils violently for it presently comes to pass Vallesius comm in eum locum by its mixture that the Bloud congeals and violently stops the Veins for the Bloud it self is fibrous and stopping II. S. a Clergy-man sanguine and lusty having been subject to bleed at his Nose from his youth fearing some mischief thereby when he was grown up for prevention he stopt it by hanging a certain Amulet about his Neck whereupon he was taken with an Apoplexy and twelve hours after he was dead Hildanus cent 3. obs 11. abundance of Bloud ran out at his Nose and Mouth III. It being presupposed that immoderate Bleeding comes either through some fault in the Moveable or Bloud or in the containing and conveighing Vessels we say that all Ischaimous Medicines respect the Bloud it self inwardly indeed inasmuch as they check Rarefaction and Ebullition either Precipitants earthy things of all sorts of Coral Bloud-stone Spodium c. Or tempering things that are watery and cooling as Water of Shepherd's purse Plantain Purslain Water-lily Frog-spawn Phlegm of Alume c. Or coagulating and congealing Acids as Tincture of Roses Violets and acid Spirits Thus I have cured some scorbutick persons who were frequently taken with Bleeding at the Nose onely with Spirit of Vitriol joined with the Tincture of Violets For Acids obtund and invert the volatile and too moveable particles and do as it were fix concentre and hinder them from overflowing And things that incrassate and astringe the ichorescent Bloud inasmuch as it is too serous sharp and fluid wherefore we may partly hope for Remedy from strengthning and tonick things and partly from strong astringents and concentring things So in a manner all red Roots stop Bloud Tormentil Bistort Alkanna Heurnius his Powder is excellent for Spitting of bloud Take of Seed of white Henbane white Popy each 1 drachm Bloud-stone red Coral each half a drachm Campâ—ire half a Scruple Give half a drachm morning and evening sometimes he adds Terra Lemnia and with Conserve of Roses he makes an Electuary And fixing things the common Remedies of all Fluxions Wedelius de sâ—m sâ—ct p. 531. Laudanum opiatum c. IV. Both Revellents and things that cause a motion the contrary way are good outwardly So Venaesection is conveniently made in a contrary part So a dry Cupping-glass is set to the Nape of the Neck an Arcanum among the Moderns Ligatures are made in the extreme parts c. and cooling Repellents either actually such or potentially as Oxycrate S. Pauli Quadr. Botan p. 508. says that Starch and Bole-armenick mixt with the white of an Egg spread upon some combed flax of such a length that it may reach beyond the Coronal Suture to the root of the Nose if it be applied to the Vertex along the Sagittal Suture does upon his frequent experience stop Bleeding at the Nose A sudden Fright as it suddenly recalls the bloud from the circumference to the centre and a Leipothymie supervening stops bloud Sudden application of very cold Water Vinegar or Ice to the Nape of the Neck does the same And Astringents and Compriments as Bloud-stone and other things as well by actual cold as potential constriction from their Martial and earthy particles held in the Hand or under the Arm-pits I have known the Root of Cockle held a little while under the Tongue stop onely a slight Bleeding but not a violent one A piece of Money thrown into cold Water first and then tied hard to the Forehead to compress the Vessels and cool is good Idem V. Ischaimous Medicines that respect the passages and pores of the Vessels which being any way opened it is absolutely necessary that the bloud left to it self must run out Inwardly indeed they are the same which we have spoken of already Consolidants Astringents and Agglutinants Outwardly they are Compriments for though the compression of the opening it self may seem onely to give momentany relief which ceasing the Bleeding returns yet by this means the Lips being constantly prest Nature may attend healing wherefore it is a Remedy proper enough Thus the Wound of a bled Vein is stopt a whole day onely by the compression of a Spleniolus so the Bleeding of other Wounds is stopt onely with Binding if a Chirurgical hand can come at them An Example hereof Virulam has Histor Nat. cent 1. n. 66. in the Prince of Orange the orifice of whose Wound was stopt with Mens Thumbs for two days other things being in vain So some Haemorrhagies of the Arteries cannot be fully cured but onely by Compression And things that stop bloud upon which account the Fuz-ball is famous wherefore Van Horn Microtechn writes that if it be tough and soft and cut into slices and the slices be squeezed in a Press they are able sufficiently to stop any Haemorrhage especially if some stegnotick Powder be strewed on them One in Grulingius cent 1. cur 42. was cured by the Powder of Egshels wherein Chickens had been hatched And Astringents that are watry austere and sharp So pieces of a fungus growing on Birch stopt an external Haemorrhage to a Miracle according to Crollius and things that coagulate and reduce the Bloud as it were to a Crust for it is glutinous and another glutinous thing meeting with it as it comes out glues up the Vessels See an Example in Platerus Obs l. 3. p. 725. of a Malefactour who had his Hands cut off and the stumps immediately clapt into a Cock newly opened alive upon which the bloud wholly stopt
them in the manner of a Schirrhus yet without a Schirrhus it so much distends them that a great swelling oftentimes arises about the Region of the Liver and shews it self by the same signs that a Schirrhus has but that it is less renitent and bred in a shorter time For oftentimes it appears so big that it fills the whole Hypochondrium so that you can neither feel the ends of the ribs nor get your fingers under them nor can you feel any figure or circumscription of the Liver It is known that this Disease comes from abundance of vaporous and gross wind because the Patients perceive not onely a sense of gravity but of distension Not much unlike as the Spleen is sometime distended by a flatuous Spirit as Trallianus testifies they call it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Windiness and Inflation And when vulgar Physicians know not that the swellings of both these viscera come from wind how blindly do they go about the Cure when they know not the cause of this Disease Then thousands of Juleps are prescribed the cure is protracted a long time and at last when they have done more harm than good they with great constancy affirm that it is an incurable Schirrhus of the Liver or the Spleen But this Ignorance does shamefully disgrace its authors for when this cloudy vapour impacted in the part is in process of time discussed by the innate heat with fomentations fasting an extenuating and heating Diet administred by old Women and Empericks the swelling of the Hypochondrium vanishes all pain is pacified and these pains with their false opinion are rejected I exhort therefore all ingenuous lovers of truth and such as have regard to their Good-Name and Credit diligently to learn the difference between the Symptoms of Wind and others Indeed it is very difficult but very commendable and a thing that gains the Learned much credit For many Patients as if they were breathing their last through excessive pain and trouble do miserably cry out for no other cause than that they come from a windy Spirit Which if it be corrupt if it arise from a putrid and poisonous matter and run up and down the Limbs with intolerable pain then it requires a man well skilled in the works of Art who can know both the molesting Wind and the matter whence it arises and can distinguish this from other Diseases Moreover the distension of the Hypochondrium from wind alone is of no long continuance without the efflux of Phlegm for continual Pain draws it the extension of the passages admits it and the coldness of it yea and of both of them weakens the Liver whereupon crude humours are bred Wherefore I would advise the Physician to take care of both but of that especially which is most urgent Yet we must have a care how we use hot things especially in such as are plethorick or have got a hot Liver either by nature or a hot course of Diet. A large Cupping-glass applied twice or thrice with much flame is good yet not before the phlegm be perfectly evacuated otherwise there were danger lest it should fix the phlegm there and prove the cause of a true Schirrhus Almost the same remedies are good for the flatulent obstruction of the Spleen which are good for the Liver but it requires stronger purges if the humours be gross But if there be no great store of flatulencies and they be thin without hot matter and if the habit of the body be spare then gentle things must be used both inwardly and outwardly Flenus Physograph cap. 9. 19. and oftentimes the applying of a Cupping-glass will be sufficient XVI My Tincture made of Mars and Saccharum Saturni in Plantain-water is good against an Inflammation of the Liver For Saturn is contrary to all Inflammations But we must have a care that we use it not too often Petraeus Nosol Harmon l. 2. p. 211. Externally the same may be used with Water of Plantain Roses Strawberry or Night-shade ¶ If you would know whether there be an Inflammation in it or in any other part apply hot Topicks If the part can bear them there is no inflammation Riverius But if it cannot bear them certainly know there is an Inflammation and that an Abscess will follow XVII The Wife of N. being ill of a Schirrhus in her Liver used so many emollient things that at length an Inflammation â—nd then a great Abscess arose after which an Ulcer and Death followed From whence it is clear that Emollients must not be used to Scirrhous Tumours as Galen 5. simp cap. 1. advises And not onely Scirrhous Tumours of the Internal parts Fab. Hildanus c. 4. de Gangraen but of the external also are exasperated by them and turn to Cancers XVIII If the Scirrhus be contumacious Emplastrum è Cicuta Hildani does the business I used it with good success in a Lawyer of Marpurg Although it cause pain Hartmannus yet it must be kept on and renewed every third day XIX The Liver being a noble part must be treated with great caution for you must not think that you need not care with what remedies you alter it so as you may reduce it to its natural Symmetry but you must see when it rages with heat that you do not apply to it chilly things whereby the small veins of the Liver may be stopt for thence a great calamity of Putrefaction may arise and a foundation may be laid for the greatest Fevers Let them therefore be openers of obstructions such as breathe a gentle heat for this is a part of so great authority that Life cannot subsist without it Heurnius ¶ I indeed avoid the excessive use of cold things to the Liver Because it is a part which when it is hot easily falls into the contrary fault Yet to them that have a natural strength in that part and their Liver burns with a hot intemperature an Oxyrrhodinum actually cold may be applied as it is used to the Forehead and also a Cataplasm made of it and Barley-flower or of bruised herbs cold virtually as well as actually And truely I have found this very seasonable in Burning Fevers Vallesius with an Inflammation of it XX. When the Liver is hot we must consider whether the Intemperature be simple or come of bile If from bile we must cool with gentle aperients and bind a little as with Conserve of Maiden-hair Heurnius with Cichoraceous things Bugloss and the greater cold Seeds XXI Then for tempering the heat of the Liver and Bloud two great remedies must be used the one internal the other external The Internal is Asses Milk and Sugar methodically given for forty days and more And the External is a Bath of sweet Water for the whole body made of a decoction of leaves of Mallow Fortis cons 47. cent 4. Violets Willow Water-lily c. XXII After the Meat is passed out of the Stomach and
ascribed to the Physician Hence Rhases his Errour easily appears who thinks we must onely use tapping in the progress of the disease whereas then Inustions are rather convenient which are proposed by Avicenna Albucasis and Celsus Fortis XXX Moreover we must observe that the Belly must not be opened with a red-hot knife for the Peritonaeum is inflamed as I have experienced Panarolus ¶ Nor must it be done with a Caustick for when a great and round Eschar is made the water will come out at the large hole made within with such violence that no dam can check it One was applied against my mind to the Noble Mr. Alexander de Karsy a famous Lawyer in Geneva the day before his death which but that it anticipated he had died at the first gushing out of the water for when he was dead and the penknife thrust into it the water could scarce be stopt by applying the Thumb When we looked on the place to which the caustick stone had been applied it had passed all the integuments to the Peritonaeum with a wide hole and had not this by its thickness hindred which in Hydropicks is observed to grow very thick he had died immediately XXXI Concerning this operation it must be observed that Hydropicks must not be tapt unless an Ezomphalos or a starting of the Navel appear Nature as it were affecting that way for the discharge of the water Otherwise all that are opened when the Navel is not prominent die And this prominence of the Navel may be procured by Art by setting dry Cupping-glasses with much flame to the Navel and also by emollient and drawing fomentations which in three days or thereabout cause a prominence Formius ad Riverium in which Tapping may be administred XXXII Modern Practitioners say something must be evacuated morning and evening but this way of evacuating to me seems pernicious for I saw the water once so let out and the Patient died in two days And I think the onely cause of his death was the taking away of so little water For when the way was once made the water trying to get out rushes upon it with great violence and lying with all its weight on the wound does fâ—rther debilitate the part which is debilitated with section already Thence 1. There arises a great difficulty in retaining the water which being retained by viâ—lence endangers a Gangrene as it happened to him I spoke of 2. What benefit is there from so little evacuation for in the belly of one that is perfectly Hydropick 30 or 40 pints of water are contained and what relief can evacuation of half a pint give But it is my judgment 1. That a great quantity should be taken away about half or at least a third part and till the Belly fall remarkably In the mean time lest the Patient should be weakned by the loss of so much he must be refreshed with oil of Cloves Cinnamon-water c. the next day about two or three pints must be taken away and the third day again but ever less and less for because the parts have so long a time been accustomed to the water therefore I think the last of it should be left a good while but the first should be taken out much at once to the end Nature may presently find manifest relief For then especially there will not be so great difficulty in keeping the water there will not be so great a weight of water upon the wounded and weak part and it will not be necessary to thrust in tents and pipes so hard with pain or to press the wounded part so violently And that there is not so great danger in evacuating the water at once examples of several do shew from whom it has burst either of it self or by accident so that it has almost all run out and yet they have recovered Thus we heard lately here at Lovain how almost all the water burst out of an ascitick Woman at once in a very short time and yet she recovered Fienus XXXIII In Hydropicks the coaâ—s of the Peritonaeum grow very thick yea in success of time they acquire a cartilagineous hardness Barbette which in tapping of the Abdomen is very necessary to be known XXXIV They who refuse Tapping admit of opening the Scrotum but the bowels must be safe and the strength good which being turgid must be opened with a Penknife or a Lancet and afterwards must be kept open with a Seton Sometimes a Gangrene comes but this not always of any great moment Hildanus cent 1. obs 48. for so way being made the water runs out more easily and such cutaneous Gangrenes are not so difficult to cure ¶ A Black-smith in the year 1653. afforded me an instance in whose Scrotum when it had swelled after a Dropsie Pustules arose and the water of the Abdomen ran out that way upon which a Gangrene followed in the Scrotum of which he was cured by the industry of Mr. Sabourin a Chirurgeon of Geneva He survived it three years and when the Dropsie came again through a bad Diet he died XXXV According to Aetius we may sometimes prick the Scrotum with Needles into which water is fallen and experience shews this remedy is very good A Seton is made with a red-hot Iron wherewith the skin of the Scrotum is perforated Therefore we may either use pricking or a Seton according as the Patients admit of the one remedy rather than the other Capivaccius XXXVI Hollerius has a new way of getting out the water in Dropsies he says that one escâ—â—◠〈◊〉 a Dropsie and Death it self by cutting his Nails of his feet and hands to the quick But with how much danger this cure is accompanied appears from Henric. ab Heer obs 12. who affirms that an hydropick person about fifty years old when he had cut his Nails of his feet to the quick was presently taken with a Gangrene and not long after he died XXXVII Scarification of the legs was a famous remedy among the Ancients H. Saxonia out of Alex. Benedict lib. 15. cur Morb. does commend the Scarifition of the Skin on the Abdomen But in the Ankles and Legs he advises to abstain from it for fear of a Gangrene Yet Langius confirms it by his own experience and advises to remember well the remedy of Scarifying the inner Ankle Which experience I also found true about five years ago in a Man who after he had been ill of a double Tertian with a delirium afterwards fell into an Ascites and when no other remedies would doe good he rashly of himself ventured on this scarifying of the Legs For Water came out thence Frid. Hofmanâ—us and he bore it very well He is now about 70 years old and lives well and free from any disease XXXVIII In our time at Padua the water ran so abundantly out of two cuts in the Ankle that the Woman presently died And when bloud
easily powdered The Slime of Snails also is good Platerus XLIX Michael Sterpinus a famous Chymist cured the Dropsie which was much swelled by making a hole in the skin of one Foot and applying a Seton for all the water ran and dropt out at it as by an Alembick Erasius got first of all three long Incisions made in the sole of the Foot that the water might run out which being done the Swelling of the Belly fell and then he used his hydragogue Wines Others make long Scarifications although these ways do not want danger I have found nothing safer than to apply Escharoticks to the calves of the Legs and while the water runs out to provide for a weak Liver Rousnerus obs 83. For so I have cured several of a Dropsie L. I have observed it is in vain to give Medicines for a Dropsie which arises from an Ague while the Ague lasts For you will find the Ague by this means firmer rooted in and the Dropsie not removed We must tarry therefore till the Ague be gone and then we must make haste to undertake the business Sydenham Hydrops Tympanitis or A Tympany The Contents Sometimes it must be cured with cooling things I. Purgatives doe more harm than good II. We must use things to discuss Wind modestly III. The nature of Topicks which doe little good IV. It arises from Wind pent up in the Stomach and Guts V. The Cure by Tapping VI. I. A Gross Wind is the cause of this Dropsie to the generation of which two things are required First Gross Matter and indeed usually black Choler For since they that have black Choler under the bottom of their Stomach abound with wind and sometimes belch much yea oftentimes the greatest share of their Food is turned into wind if the wind be detained it distends the Belly and may make this sort of Dropsie Nor must the cause of it be sought in the Liver onely but oftentimes in the first ways according to Aphor 4.11 Secondly an Efficient which is reckoned a weak heat but it is not simply such but onely in respect to the matter which it is not able to conquer and discuss Yea oftentimes it is preternatural and great enough and acts suddenly and violently upon all the matter and disturbs it this I reckon is what is usually done in a Tympany For if the heat were truly weak it would not act on the matter nor would wind be bred And so an Ascites and a Tympany differ in respect of their matter and the efficient For the matter in a Tympany is more melancholick and the heat is rosting and burning Wherefore also sometimes we must have recourse to cooling Medicines And Mercatus writes If all these Remedies that is hot things doe no good we must use Hippocrates his Advice and Prudence who when he had for several days used hot things in these Pains and found no benefit thereby Sennertus he passed to cold things with great benefit II. Purges are so far from doing any good in a Tympany that they rather exasperate it But Purgatives Hartmannus especially Mercurial ones do often remove that which is joined with an Ascites ¶ Almost the whole intention of Cure is directed against wind by evacuating the matter whence the wind arises Wherefore Purges are usually prescribed on purpose against the humour most suspected with great confidence though usually with very little or with bad success For this Disease as it appears from my observation uses almost always to be exasperated by Purgers especially strong ones and seldom or never relieved The reason whereof is sufficiently evident because when the nervous Fibres are irritated by a sharp Medicine the animal spirits re-iterate their irregular excursions and still increase more and more rather than abate Wherefore although frequent and large watry and windy stools be procured thereby yet the Belly swells more But though Medicine be so little able to doe good in this Disease yet it must not as if it did nothing or onely harm be wholly neglected but we should leave no Stone unturned some way or other to help the Patient that at length a Cure or at least an Alleviation may be obtained Therefore though strong Purges always doe harm and gentle ones are scarce ever able to carry off the conjunct Cause yet these latter because they a little abate the matter of the Disease and make way for other Medicines to exert their energies more freely ought to have their place in medical practice that is once in 6 or 8 days and at other times Clysters the use whereof is much more excellent may be given frequently Willis III. When the humours are evacuated and the strength refreshed we must endeavour what we can to discuss wind which the following Decoction will wonderfully perform Take of Album Graecum whole Barley each 1 ounce and an half boil them on a gentle fire in 3 or 4 pounds of French-wine till the Barley burst Then boil the Colature defaecated by residence to half then clarifie and aromatize it with a sufficient quantity of Cinnamon and sweeten it with Sugar The Dose five drachms thrice aday on an empty Stomach and he will break wind wonderfully and the Belly will fall by degrees But we must use these things moderately otherwise they will hurt most grievously A certain Woman miserably afflicted with a Tympany committed her self to a Physician for cure He being intent upon the discussing of wind onely gave her some very hot Electuary without giving her any other Medicine before She a little after found the rumbling of the wind greater and her gripes more troublesome she breathed with more difficulty and the old swelling of her Belly remaining a new one grew which elevating it self from the Cartilago Ensiformis where the first terminated did wonderfully distend the whole Breast and the tumours were parted with a pit between She died the third day after I was called I reckon the cause of the new tumour was the heating and extenuating virtue of the Medicine Fienus IV. Great things are expected from Topicks because they are applied to the Disease more immediately and by contact and because they dissolve or discuss tumours in other parts very well Yet not all Dissolvents nor indeed such as doe most good in other tumours are proper here For hot things which are held for Discutients whether they be used in Fomentation Liniment Cataplasm or Plaster doe often more harm than good in a Tympany for they open and dilate the ducts of the Fibres so that they lye more open to the incursions of spirits and they also rarifie the impacted particles so that when they possess a larger space the inflation and swelling are increased Willis ¶ While Medicines are taken inwardly Topicks also and external applications must be carefully applied not hot and discutient ones but things endued with particles of a volatile Salt and nitrous ones which namely destroy the combinations of other
inciding and attenuating melancholick humours and therefore in opening obstructions But seeing it often happens that in a Hypochondriack affection there are found black choler humours salt and bitter and that are very sowre and such as contain in them the seminaries of fire as it were certainly Tartarum vitriolatum and such sharp Medicines cannot be proper for such humours seeing they do not take off their Acrimony but such things should rather be used as temper the bad qualities of such humours and contrary qualities must needs be opposed to their contraries Sennertus XII In Purging If there be an Acid crudity and any pituitous or viscid humour be mixt with it pretty strong things and such also as purge Phlegm as Agarick Turbith Species Diaturbith Episcopi and the like may be used But on this condition that the Patients fast not above two or three hours after they have taken the Physick lest the virtue of the strong Medicine reach to parts beyond the Liver and Spleen but it must evacuate onely what is about the Stomach Liver and Spleen But if there has been a nidorous crudity we must use gentle things as Manna Syrup of Roses or Violets solutive Rheubarb leaves of Senna and lest the heat of the bowels should any way be increased by taking of Physick it is good after taking the Purge a little before Meat to take a good draught of Whey or Posset drink which both purges and cleanses and tempers the heat in the Bowels Sennertus XIII If crude cold humours be bred in the Stomach onely through defect of the innate heat as it happens to Scholars and such as are too much given to study then their Belching and Wind are neither sowre nor nidorous we must abstain from frequent Purgings because the innate heat is farther debilitated by them But the innate heat must be increased and cherished and a good Diet must be ordered But if the Disease have its rise from cold causes and be accompanied with a cold humour and an Acid cruditity we must Purge frequently for the crude humours are not easily evacuated at one time So if some adust humours be bred of a great heat in the Bowels and if they be fed by that we must wholly abstain from violent things which increase that intemperature But if the humour be thick and the hot intemperature of the Bowels less strong Medicines may more safely be used Idem XIV When the humour to be purged comes from a large stock of Bloud abundance of Heat and from the hot intemperature of some part no Man need doubt but the Patients will be disturbed beyond measure and thereby the melancholick juice will intolerably be increased In which case gentle Purgatives are preferred before all others and indeed taken in such a quantity as may plentifully discharge the humours without too much agitation and may be sufficient to cut off the cause of the Disease But if a gross and terrene humour alone cause an effervescence the nature of the humour requires stronger Purges which are apt neither to waste the strength nor disturb the body too much Therefore they must be given in a less dose and be often repeated Finally when the Body is consuming and the strength is in a great measure spent by the severity of the Symptoms and when an enormous adustion and driness is contracted in the humours then we may well use gentle Purgatives yet more plentifully than in the first case but on this condition that the least occasion may not be given to the agitation of the humours Martiâ—â— XV. In this case Women bear the strongest Medicines because their Inwards and their Stomach are presently so vitiated that they plentifully abound with gross viscid Excrements mixt with a Melancholick humour Idem XVI After taking of strong Purges lest the parts of the Medicines cleaving to the coats of the Stomach should cause erosion or a long flux of the belly before meal let a decoction of Barley be given made with Water not with flesh broth adding some Sugar or broth of Pease or of black Vetches And for the strengthning and detersion of the mouth of the Stomach let some Ptisan be given to them especially who are inclined to Vomit Idem and let sleep be indulged a little XVII Antimony helps all Diseases in general which black choler has caused and them especially which have an inflammation in their Hypochondria Indeed I saw at Prague a Parish Priest who became Melancholick and doated He had ten grains of Stibium given him which a little after carried off abundance of black choler by stool wherewith were mixt as it were pieces of flesh which looked like Varices cut into pieces for these excrements looked rather like bloud than any other humour This did him so much good that the next day he seemed to have recovered his understanding And because he was of a strong body and good courage no wonder if he easily bore so great a quantity of Physick Matthiolâ—â— But the Stibium must be well prepared XVIII The humours that are not to be amended by Alteration and are exuberant must be carried off by convenient ways and especially by stool as a way more proper and easie to Nature seldom by Vomit unless the peccant humours cannot be carried downwards or do affect a way upwards Divers things evacuate the pituitous humour downwards among which Coloquintida is chief Trochises made of it called Alhandal c. Among Chymical things all Mercurials are commended divers precipitates white yellow red c. and sublimatum dulce For I would advise all to abstain from the Corrosive seeing it can onely be given in a very small quantity And besides it always in a manner uses to cause Vomiting and violently disturbs the body Divers Antimonials are here also excellent good though most of them also do Vomit Rheubarb Scammony Aloes Tamarinds c. purge Bile Where the saline part of the bile principally offends Root of Jalap Mechoacan Gummi Gotte c. may be used Among Chymical things Antimonials are convenient Antimonials evacuate bile most conveniently by Vomit which because they use to carry off Phlegm as well and also discharge both humours downwards and moreover because they may be safer given than Mercurials I prefer them before all others if they be made of Glass of Antimony its Regulus Crocus metallorum Mercurius vitae which is an Antimonial Medicine flowers of Antimony and the like Sylvius de le Boë XIX It will be advisable to give Clysters every other day that the Vapours tending upwards may be drawn back and part of the peccant humour may be carried off for if they go far into the Guts they draw the greatest part of the filth from the mesaraick Veins I knew a certain Nobleman who by frequent Clysters was so relieved of this inveterate Disease that he seemed to be perfectly cured when many other Remedies had been used in vain Riverius XX.
Disease XI Since it is difficult to know when stones arise from Bile no wonder if the cure of them look like an unheard of thing to many Physicians Yet because when stones after death are found in the Gall-bladder the rest of the Bile looks like Lees of Oil and is full of filth and subsiding dregs as I have several times seen voided by Vomit I should think that in such there were fear lest some part of the Bile might turn to stones whilst another turns to such excrements And therefore then Medicines should be used to dissolve these Bilious stones and to hinder any concretion Among things that dissolve Bilious stones I make no scruple to place Roots of Grass and the Herb it self either distilled or which I prefer boiled or bruised and the juice squeezed out of it making it palatable with Sugar since it is known by abundant experience that Cows and Sheep which in Winter feed on Hay and in whose Biliary duct a strong or calculous crust grows when in the Month of May they feed on green grass again are by degrees freed from that Ail A certain Argument that in green and fresh grass there is a virtue to dissolve stones which perishes when Grass is dried into Hay Spirit of Nitre also is good which I therefore commend in this case and especially when it is made sweet and mild with Spirit of Wine which may safely be taken to ten or twelve drops in this or the other drink several times a day Volatile Salts and especially oily ones Sylvius hinder a new concretion XII Although the black Jaundice come especially from some fault in the Spleen yet I think Platerus his opinion Pract. l. 1. tract 3. cup. 2. should not wholly be rejected Who judges that its cause is preternatural Bile corrupted in the mesaraick vessels and there growing black because it is not probable that such Bile can come from the Spleen seeing it has no cavity or Sinus there where it can be gathered nor does there come any vein from the Spleen by which it can be carried to the Cava Sennertus endeavours to reconcile this to the common opinion judging that black choler after it has been gathered in the mesaraick veins when abundance of it comes to the Liver is mingled with the yellow choler and gathered in the Gall Bladder and the colour of the yellow choler is changed thereby which unless it be evacuated by convenient ways is diffused with the bloud all over the body and causes the black Jaundice notwithstanding that there is no branch which reaches from the Spleen to the Cava because by means of the vena portae the humours gathered about the Spleen may reach to the Liver and may be derived to the rest of the body XIII Although there be some agreement between the Scurvey and the black Jaundice as both diseases come from some fault in the Spleen through the weakness of which in each of them the rest of the body is affected But notwithstanding since the manner of hurt as is manifest by divers signs is far different therefore it follows that the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or principal thing capable of each disease to wit the Spleen is differently out of order This diversity introduces a diversity of cure inasmuch as in the Scurvey we have not regard simply to abundance of melancholick bloud and obstructions of the Spleen as we have in the Jaundice but we are forced to be most solicitous about a certain specifick corruption the proper matter of the Scurvey Horstius Probl. Dec. 7. Qu. 6. which requires its peculiar and proper remedies XIV Hippocrates 2 de morb n. 1. would have the veins under the Tongue opened in the black Jaundice Petrus Salius thinks this cure has respect to a Symptome not to the Cause which is store of black choler in the large veins But seeing this is a production of the external Jugular which is a branch of the superclavia and of the cava ascendens What should hinder when it is much exhausted that less of the greater bloud may be exhausted but that it may much alleviate this Disease Severinus since it does more nighly and quickly evacuate than the veins of the Armes Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians For the Yellow Jaundice 1. Augenius A drachm of Gum Ammoniack dissolved in 2 or 3 ounces of Oxymel or Hydromel given for four days or more five hours before Meal cures the Jaundice to a Miracle 2. One recovered onely by taking condensated juice of Cichory Bartholinus 3. One was cured of this disease by Conserve of Flowers of Broom and Marigold Borellus 4. Forestus A Decoction of Root of Celandine cures the Jaundice 5. Hayne A Decoction of Strawberry-leaves carries off the Tartar as I have often seen 6. A Decoction or the Powder Pauli or the Essence of Scorzonera-Root is very good in a contumacious Jaundice 7. Quercetanus The White Excrement of Chickens is a most certain Medicine 8. Take some Goose-dung dissolve it in Worm-wood-wine Drink it hot in the morning for three days and Sweat upon it Schmid Ileus or the Twisting of the Guts The Contents The true method of Cure I. Vomits sometimes doe good II. Sometimes very strong Purges are proper III. One caused by a Rupture in the Groin cured by Antimonial Clysters IV. It does not depend upon the stopping of the Guts V. If it come from Phlegm we must not immediately proceed to strong attenuants VI. Quick-silver may safely be given VII Hippocrates his way of cure by a Smith's Bellows VIII Some cured by drinking of Wine IX When Treacle may be given X. The efficacy of laxative and emollient Fomentations XI When a Bath is proper XII If it be in the small Guts what such Clysters should be used XIII Vnseasonable Fomentations and violent forcing back of the Gut often do increase the Disease XIV The Cure of the Colick turning into the Iliack Passion XV. A singular Cure of an Ileus XVI One caused by Incarceration of the Gut must be cured by Section in the Groin XVII Medicines I. IN the Iliack Passion the cause of inversion of the peristaltick motion of the Guts is usually thus Sharp and malignant humours are discharged by the bloud in a fever newly begun into the Stomach and Guts next at hand whereby the Stomach is first forced to invert its motion and with great violence to throw up the troublesome matter contained in it by the Mouth Then the small Guts joined to it being already weakned give way to the strong motion of the Stomach and with these the greater are drawn into consent the Stomach inclining to vomit leading the dance This Disease I call the true Ileus or Twisting of the Guts The method of curing it has hitherto been unknown whatever some may boast of the use of Quicksilver and Bullets which besides that they doe little good they often doe a great
There are several Medicines 9. χ. Ï„. too violent for young Children Therefore I rather commend Galen's advice 3. Euporist that is to use Smith's-water Idem and Powder of burnt Snails XVIII The same Galen 2. de Simpl. writes that several have written that a Torpedo applied is good for the falling of the Arse-gut But he subjoyns that he had tried that remedy in vain Powder of a Serpent's slough is also very good Idem XIX But if these Medicines will not perfectly cure it the followers of the Arabians commend the making of two cauteries in the end of the Spine that is near the Rump one on each side Which remedy nevertheless I would advise onely to be used in adult ones and when other things will doe no good XX. It is often hindred from going back into its place by the Mucus wherewith it is covered which you must absterge not with brine as some have advised because the sense of the part will not bear it but with Sugâ—red-water especially with Rain-water or with Water of Honey much diluted which you must doe often and wrap up the Anus in clothes wet with water Aphthae or A Thrush XXI Because a Thrush is usually attended with great Inflammation and consequently draws the humours from the body and increases the disease thereby Therefore it will be good to apply Cupping-glasses but to the buttocks or the end of the back by which one may evacuate as much bloud as the age and habit of the body will bear Mercurialis XXII If the Thrush be malignant we must oppose the pravity but we must have regard to the Age and the tenderness of the body We may not therefore in this age use those remedies which an elder might bear And the Medicine may be such Take of Scordium finely powdered 1 drachm Pomegranate Pills finely powdered 2 scruples burnt Alume 1 scruple Honey what is sufficient Mix them Idem XXIII But we must observe whether powders or whatever else be given it is necessary that it be mixt with some thing that is gratefull to the palate for there the Gustatory faculty is placed and we must have great regard to the Taste Wherefore as may be seen in Galen 6. de Med. local the Ancients made up their Medicines for the Thrush either with Sapa or Honey Idem XXIV If the Child be big because it is very material to have the pravity checkt presently lest it grow to spreading Ulcers we must endeavour to take away all malignity immediately with strong Medicines which the juice of Pomegranates and especially of sowre ones does admirably Which Theophrastus says does in a wonderfull manner preserve from putrefaction And though the Pomegranate by Dioscorides be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 yet we must not say with Ruellius it is hurtfull to the mouth which is very false but that it is ungratefull It appears indeed from experience that it is unpleasant and ungratefull nevertheless it is very good to stop a putrid Thrush Idem XXV But it often so happens that this Medicine does not suffice wherefore we must proceed to stronger In which case in those of elder years we may use either Aqua Aluminis magistralis or Vnguentum Aegyptiacum or flos aeris corrected with Diamoron all which things must not be used but upon great necessity The reason is because according to Galen 6. χ. Ï„. in the palate there are two wide passages one of which goes to the Lungs the other to the Stomach wherefore it is very dangerous if any poisonous Medicine get into these parts Therefore he said that Vitriol must not be used in Medicines for the Mouth because of the imminent danger if any part of such a Medicine should get either into the Stomach or Lungs Besides when we must use some such Medicines it will be best to use them in such a form as cannot go farther than the Palate as when a malignant Thrush is touched with Oil of Vitriol or of Sulphur or with Sublimate water XXVI Whether is Butter good for a Thrush Idem It is good in the beginning but it may be questioned 1. Because fat things make Ulcers foul 2. By its heat it might increase the Inflammation 3. It does not at all agree with other Medicines which must be used in the progress of the Disease I answer 1. The argument holds good in deep Ulcers which must be deterged 2. Fresh Butter is reckoned temperate because of the serous humidity mixt with it 3. Nor does it hinder that other Medicines are of other qualities because in the progress we dry and deterge more XXVII Horstius A Boy about four years old had a very sharp Fluxion upon his Tongue and Jaws so that he had an infinite number of white Ulcers very painfull with a great inflammation he could swallow nothing he had no sleep but roared continually he was lean and almost quite consumed Honey of Roses with Spirit of Vitriol which did others good did him none He had a plentifull Loosness with much porraceous bile A Bliâ—er did him much good but his pain and roaring continued and a serous sharp humour ran out of his mouth continually the pain and inflammation drawing more and more At length I gave 1 grain of Laudanum in broth whereby the pain was eased a gentle sleep procured which afterwards continued moderate and came at due hours Then his fluxion into his mouth ceased and he began to recover Riverius Atrophia or want of Nourishment XXVIII There are four causes of Leanness in Câ—ildren First Ineptitude of Aliment Secondly Want of Heat whose office it is to concoct it Thirdly Obstruction of the passages by which the Aliment passes to its elaboratories or whereby it is carried from them to the parts to be nourished Fourthly Any cause that is able to waste dissipate and melt the fat and flesh To the ineptitude of Aliment the condition of the Milk belongs which is either afforded in far less quantity than it should or is so thin that it is dissipated by the heat or of its own nature it is of little Aliment because it has but little of the butyrous substance and much of the other Or when it is bitter salt c. which Nature is therefore averse to So want of Innate Heat causes an Atrophy a thousand ways because it is able neither to concoct laudable Aliment or if it be it does not distribute it or does not assimilate it when distributed c. Thus Childrens bodies are also emaciated because the ways chanels and pores of the Elaboratories and the Flesh are obstructed corrugated fallen flat compressed or some way or other straitned Of which cause we must have a great care Then the cause which wastes the fat and flesh is either internal or external internal whatever is unable to contain the substance that should nourish as it happens in fluxes of bloud or of any other good substance or it dissipates by sweat
press the child behind the Ear with his finger for it will presently cry out for Pain This Evil wants not danger the best course to get it away is to anoint often the external region of the Ears especially behind with Hare's fat and the Gums frequently with Oil of sweet Almonds L. It often happens that all Medicines doe no good because of the hardness of the Gums or the weakness of the Child Therefore in such a case before mortal signs supervene I would advise the Chirurgeon to open the Gums with a Pen-knife where the Teeth swell to make way for the Tooth and to ease the Gum which Remedy I have tried with good success in several of my own children This is better than as the Nurses doe to scratch and tear the Child's Gums with the Nails The Duke of Nevers had a Boy who lately died at eight months of age when I with the Physicians who were there did narrowly enquire into the cause of the Patient's death we could find no other but the excessive hardness of the Gums which was not meet for that Age for so the Teeth could not make their way Of which opinion this was an Argument that when we had opened the Gum with a Penknife all the Teeth appeared ready to cut Parae ◠onely they wanted a little of this help Diarrhoea or A Loosness LI. I had a Boy about three years old under cure for a long and desperate Flux of the Belly sometimes dysenterick sometimes lienterick for which I used many things both internal and external but in vain At length when there was little hope and the Mother was brought to bed again I persuaded her to put her new born Daughter to another Nurse and to give her Son of three years of Age suck again She followed my advice and the business succeeded so well that by degrees the Loosness stopt and he recovered his strength so that now he lives lusty and well Hildanu◠LII Sometimes childrens bellies are loose from the corruption of Milk which degenerates into a porraceous or green colour In which sort of Flux though it may be questioned whether it may be stopt because it looks of such a colour as is reckoned altogether preternatural yet we must not think so in children since the Greenness proceeds from the rosting heat which portends always destruction but from the quality of the Milk and mixture with a bilious Serum Wherefore the Loosness must not be stopt but the Stomach must be strengthned Mercatus and alteration must be made ¶ Because sometimes sowre green excrements use to come from children with or without curdling we must consider why such things appear in children and smell so sowre when they are otherwise well Since it is certain that the Greenness in them comes not from adustion as in hot Diseases of the Liver and Veins I am bold to affirm that the greenness comes from cold but not from cold matter onely but from heat and cold that is from a bilious and a pituitous matter For oftentimes such excrements appear in children which have a hot Liver and breed much Bile and a cold raw Stomach which causes that sowreness in the excrements For it is certain that neither the greenness nor sowreness can come from Bile alone and therefore Bile comes from the heat of the Liver nor do they come onely from Phlegm and crude Milk but from both these together with Bile going altogether into the belly and by the natural heat of the belly the corruption of the white Milk and yellow Choler being matter unfit for Chyle a corruption is made which degenerates into an excrement of a green colour ¶ Sylvius derives these green stools from an acid sharp Bile turning green which change of colours is no strange thing to Diers And he says the green colour is owing to an acid partly by reason of the sowre smell which always attends it and partly from the change of the Bile into a green colour by some Acid. And he places that Acid in the Pancreatick Juice contracted partly from the bad Diet of the Mother and partly of the Nurse He places the Cure in the correction and tempering of the Acid. Quassatio vertebrarum Dorsi or A Wrenching of the Back LIII Galen 3. de Artic. text 2. reckons up four Luxations of the vertebrae of the Back among these he reckons 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 that is a wrenching when the joining of them is loosned they remaining in their places They that are troubled with this complain of a Pain in their Back and their Stomach their Appetite is gone some People Vomit their Head akes a febrile Heat takes them yea oftentimes a violent Fever equal in Symptoms to a malignant one The cause is imputed to the Mother's carrying some great burthen or inordinate motion of her Spine This is their way of cure in Germany They set a piece of Wax-candle lighted to the childrens Navel and set a Pot upon it like a Cupping-glass and they let it stick there till it fall off of it self Sennertus Epilepsia or The Falling-sickness LIV. Most children have abundance of bilious meconium when they are born which I use carefully to purge otherwise the following nutriment is corrupted and Milk is coagulated whence come Gripes and because of malignant Vapours arising an Epilepsie follows If this connate excrement be rightly purged either by the Strength of Nature or by Medicines children are preserved but if not they are either troubled or killed with an Epilepsie I use Syr. Ros mosch or Elect. de Manna Rager Misc cur p. 996. ¶ I have seen children taken with an Epilepsie together with Gripings and green stools This was helped not by Antepileptick Powders nor by fearing the hind part of the head but by cleansing the first ways with Mel. rosar solut and Syrup of Cichory with a few drops of Spirit of Vitriol LV. For childrens Epilepsie the Italians burn the head behind and make an Issue there for evacuation of the humour Celsus l. 3. c. 23. approves of it and Rondeletius because it may doe good in an Idiopathick one but not at all in a Sympathick one Others as Sennertus disapprove of it because of the Pain it would put the tender bodies of Infants to which therefore can neither well bear Purging nor Bleeding But the case is not the same for Catharticks exert their violence upon the Bowels and by their malignity may easily hurt the substance of Infants which is easily dissolved But Causticks are onely once applied to the external parts and evacuate the noxious humours slowly without great pain Primitosius ¶ As well for the cure as prevention of this Disease Physicians have found a present Remedy Burning of the Head behind which as it is very safe so also it evacuates the troublesome Phlegm and makes revulsion interception and derivation of it with manifest benefit For the said inustion though J. B. Sylvaticus contr 87. dissuade
about the Heart oftentimes the Stomach sympathizes and casts all up that is in it by Vomit Nay I have known in some young Children that this Disease has fallen now and then on other parts and has raised Convulsive motions in the Face Eyes and Limbs and sometimes has proved mortal The Disease is difficult and usually very long in cure The principal indications will be to purge the serous and sharp humours drowning the Lungs out of the bloud and bowels that their tendency to the Brain and sometimes to the Breast may be prevented And to strengthen the Parts that they may not easily admit the superfluities of the estuating Serum To these ends Vomits and gentle Purges are almost always good and sometimes must be repeated Blisters are often usefull yea if the Disease be stubborn an Issue may be made in the Neck or Arm or about the Armpits Drink and liquid Aliment must then be taken in less quantity than usual and instead thereof a Diet-drink of Sarsa China Sanders shavings of Hartshorn and diuretick and antispasmodick ingredients may be used In this case some remedies are cried up as Specificks such as Cup-moss given in Powder or boiled in Milk and so given frequently every day A decoction or Syrup of Castor and Saffron Decoctions of Root of Poeony Misletoe of the Oak and Hyssop have done good to many Water of Black Cherries Saxifrage and Water of Snails distilled with Whey Willis and proper ingredients are often given with success CIII Whether in Childrens Cough may the Breast be anointed The Negative seems probable 1. Because all Anointing stops the Pores of the Skin 2. And the virtue of the Ointment reaches not to the inner parts 3. By rubbing of the Ointment on hot the fluxion to the part affected is greater But I hold the Affirmative because such Liniments have an emollient digesting and dissipating faculty Therefore I answer to the first That Anointing actually cold stops the Pores of the Skin but not that which is actually and potentially hot 2. It is sufficient to help Nature and to promote the discharge of the peccant matter outwardly by occult transpiration 3. It is granted that some attraction is made but it is to the exteriour and sound part Horstius CIV In Childrens Coughs which our Country people call the Hooping Cough Bloud-letting gives great relief Sydenham and far exceeds all pectoral Medicines Varae Tibiae or Crooked Legs CV Oftentimes Children about two years old when they begin to go are crook-legged for which their carefull Mothers take the advice of Chirurgeons and they try to set their Legs and Thighs streight with divers Engines but to no purpose because naturally and of their own accord when they are three or four years old Formius obs 30. the Legs and Muscles grow strong and the Parts return to their natural state Ventris Dolor Tumor Pain or Swelling in the Belly CVI. What remains of the Navel-string after cutting mortifies and in four or five days time falls off of it self And hence unless you put a linen rag three or four times double about the part which contracts great Cold pains in the Belly arise which are ascribed to other causes It is a sign this is the cause for they abate and cease by applying heating things CVII Children are often troubled with inflammation of the Belly from crude Milk which is neither well Purged by Vomit nor Stool It is indeed Crudity proceeding from abundance of Food which exceeds the strength of the Stomach which unless it be quickly prevented degenerates either into tedious fevers or into a loosness reaching and vomiting watching and restlesness There attends this Disease a gentle Fever or celerity of Pulse shortness of Breath a leaden or pale colour of the Face and swelling of the Eyes and Face In which case we must be more solicitous for discharging the abundance than for strengthning the Stomach or alteration I indeed endeavour to diminish the matter by Clysters Suppositories and parsimony of Milk or of other Food If the Disease go not off presently we must not stand dodging but give a gentle purging potion After which I order such things to be applied to the Belly as have a virtue to attenuate incide and make lax what is in the Belly that it may the more easily go off Mercatus CVIII In children yea and in grown people there is often a hardness and inflation of the Belly the cause whereof is the hardness of the Mesaraick Glands and so there is onely passage for the thinner Chyle to the great lacteal Vein upon which the flesh of the Muscles grows limber the Body is rendred heavy and tiresome yea and at length a Fever and Consumption arises I use to remove the Disease by this Liniment without any trouble Take of Vnguent Altb. compos 1 ounce Arthanit Martiat each 2 drachms Oil of white Lilies Chamaemil each 2 drachms Mix them It is good to chew these Trochiscs all the time of the Disease Take of Steel prepared Crabs-eyes prepared each 1 scruple Tartarum vitriolatum half a drachm Lapis Prunellae 16 grains Spec. Aromat Rosat 1 scruple white Sugar 2 ounces Mix them Make Trochiscs Purging in this case must be celebrated onely with Cassia Cream of Tartar and laxative Syrups for the Glands will not bear stronger Purgatives Barbette Vermes or Worms CIX According to Galen's judgment 4. Meth. the principal scope in curing of Worms is to get them out of the Body But because they cannot easily be got out while they are alive therefore it is necessary first to kill them or so to stony them that they cannot resist the Medicines And the things that kill or stony them are all bitter sharp inciding astringent things and sharp and oily ones Mercurialis CX Because these Animals must be cheated and are delighted with sweet things the onely way is always to mix delectable things with such as kill them and therefore they doe very ill who give bitter or sowre things alone for the Worms will not suck plain Poison But if the Poison be mixt with sweet things ludificantur lumbrici as Lucretius says of children and therefore they draw the Poison with Honey and sweet things Wherefore Medicines that are given for the Worms must always be mixt with Sugar Milk Honey or Honey and Water For my children at home I order an Oxymel to be made of the Decoction of Honey the sharpest Vinegar and Wormwood For such an Oxymel admirably preserves children from the Worms Idem CXI In those Medicines that are given by way of Clyster always sweet things must either be given alone or must prevail above the rest The reason is because these Animals being drawn by the sweetness come down to the lower parts On the contrary in Medicines that are taken by the mouth the sharp or bitter things must prevail over the sweet The reason is because if there were more sweet than bitter these Animals might
been dismissed by their Physicians For after pus is made and the Pain and Fever are greatly abated many are thought to have come to an end of their Disease and to security who have pus gathered inwardly in some Imposthume Some of whom by the benefit of a strong Nature are cured by breaking of the Imposthume and voiding the pus Others die consumptive when the pus putrefies malignantly and with it the internal parts or of a constant Fever which putrid Vapours carried from the part to the Heart do cause Or the Imposthume breaks but too late and when the strength is too low to bear a discharge of the pus Therefore it behoves us much to know the signs of an internal Inflammation turning to pus And many do not know them because they are not able to discern internal Inflammations and laying aside all care of latent Ails they consider nothing almost but what they can comprehend by their Senses without any ratiocination how to know the parts affected and to be able to distinguish them from other dolorous Diseases or the great from little ones For whether they will cause an Abscess or Suppuration I know from three things the Place Magnitude and Manner of the Inflammations themselves For Inflammations of hot parts unless prevented by discussion do suppurate more than those of colder parts and therefore as it is said in the Prognosticks Swellings in the Belly do imposthumate less than those in the Hypochondria and they least of all that are below the Navel Moreover small Inflammations most of them are dispersed especially if they be in hot places Great ones in hot places indeed do suppurate in cold ones they remain crude and invincible As to the manner they that are round and eminent circumscribed in a proper place and gathered into one signifie there will be Suppuration But they that are extended and broad and dispersed do not often suppurate If they be small or of thin matter they disperse If great or of thick matter they have a Crisis by bleeding or by some evacuation Vallesius if the event of them be good XII Unguents are not so proper for Inflammations unless to promote Suppuration wherefore Unguents are forbid in an Erysipelas though there be some by name Rondeletius who prescribe Unguents in this Disease It is certain also that Ointments improvidently applied to external Inflammations have often caused a Gangrene And therefore in Quinsies they are not generally so proper as you may find them in Books Welelius See Abscessus BOOK I. Ischiadius Dolor or The Sciatica The Contents Bleeding is proper I. Vomiting is better than Purging II. Sharp Clysters are good III. The Benefit of Issues and Causticks IV. Where they must be applied in a bastard Sciatica V. A pertinacious one cured with a red hot Iron VI. The benefit of Vesicatories VII Of Cupping-glasses VIII The cure of the Sciatica coming from fluid matter according to Hippocrates his mind IX The Cure of the Sciatica coming from fâ—â—t matter according to his mind X. The Cure of one proceeding from a hot cause XI Sometimes it arises from Bile XII A Sciatica from Driness XIII A compendious Cure of one arising from Cold. XIV Medicines I. THough Bloud do not abound if the Disease be inveterate Bloud must be taken out of the Vena poplitis or malleoli of the side affected without all contradiction because by Bleeding in this Vein a great derivation is obtained but because it is very difficult to open the Vena poplitis instead thereof a certain Vein was found by the Chirurgeons of Rome within these few days which a little above the Heel runs towards the Ankle to the outside It is truly a branch of the Vena poplitis if it be opened and eight or nine ounces of Bloud taken thence in the very same hour which is wonderfull the Pain of the Sciatica be it never so inveterate ceases Bleeding also with Leeches in the haemorrhoid Veins is admirable good for the Sciatica for there is a great consent between the Veins of these two places Zecchius cons 43. ¶ Mr. Puri of Newemburg a Man of Sixty sanguine and as he himself said one that took a course to breed much bloud had been confined to his bed six weeks by the violence of the Sciatica in his left Hip. All the time he kept his bed he thought there was no need of a Physician and therefore he sent not for me At length being tired by the diuturnity and violence of the pain he called me I presently order the most turgid Vein of the opposite Foot and they were all very turgid to be opened the Bloud ran full stream black and thick to about a pound with so much relief that the next day he left his Bed and the third day after bleeding his Chamber I can give a fresher instance of the efficacy of bleeding in the Sciatica while this is printing in the Month of April anno 1681. I am called to a lusty Man about 28 years old of a sanguine and bilious complexion well set and a stout Souldier He had been confined 15 days to his Bed by a painfull Sciatica in his left Hip About 18 days before he had by the advice of a Chirurgeon for revulsion as he said opened a Vein in the Arm but to no purpose I reckoning the Disease came from abundance of bloud settling there having first loosned his belly order a good quantity of bloud to be taken out of the opposite foot and likewise out of the foot on the same side with so good success that the next day he went about his business Anointing with Vnguentum dialthaeae Nitre and Oil of Elder which used to doe others good exasperated his pain II. Many prefer Vomits before Purges because they evacuate the humours by a way remote from the part affected Rondeletius prefers Asarum Riverius ¶ Sciatica Pains will not bear purging for thereby the humours fall more on those places ¶ But Sennertus thinks this must be understood of insufficient purging Grato III. Sharp Clysters may be given even to bring bloud for so I have seen them doe some good in the Sciatica Crato IV. Issues are made in three places in the Leg in the inside outside and hind part of the Calf Here Spigelius used to make an Issue in the Sciatica with good success Clandorpiti Zecchius because the Vena Poplitis runs that way ¶ I must greatly commend a Cautery below the Knee on the outside of the same side that is affected for derivation sake V. In the Joint of the Thigh about the cavity of the Os Ischii the Gout is bred which they call the Sciatica If the Humour run into the Acetable and force the head of the thigh-bone out this Disease in sight proves difficult of cure and will at length cause halting if the Humour fall upon the origination of that great Nerve which creeps along the back part of the
be frequently stirred which is not necessary when the matter is not fixt And he orders burning upon the Joint which has no place in the case preceding except when the Pain fixes pertinaciously in some one place Nor does he reckon it always necessary upon the joint but where the pain fixes and it flies sometimes in one place sometimes in another And he burns with raw Flax and Fungi Idem Ibid. Concerning which see Book XIX Tit. de Cauteriis XI Mr. N. was tormented with a cruel and almost incurable pain of the Sciatica in his right Hip. Divers and very violent Purges were given him Blisters were drawn Opiates given a Vein opened in the Foot but all in vain supposing the pain arose from a cold cause and thick phlegmatick humours But observing that his Stools were very cholerick and that there was a pulsatil pain and inflammation in the Abdomen I altered my method of cure betook my self to coolers and advised drinking of the Waters hereupon the cure went on with great success so that in two days the inflammation was gone though the pain was not quite abated And when I observed the pain was vagrant that it sometimes caused a straitness about the Mesentery and sometimes fell from the Hip into the Leg I supposed the Disease came from abundance of thick and hot bloud which trying to get out and not being able to doe it creates so great trouble therefore I advised and the rather because I understood that he had formerly been subject to the Piles the applying of Leeches My advice was followed five Leeches were set to the haemorrhoid veins which when they were full of bloud being besprinkled with Salt and Ashes they discharged about six ounces of bloud The bloud looked red and very thick Aug. Thonetus void of all Serum After this the great pain invincible by other things vanished XII The Sciatica is sometimes bred of Bile and hot Humours which indeed may be known when the Pain is very sharp and pricking and the fits are sharper every other day the party is lean of a cholerick constitution young the Countrey and season hot the pain is exasperated by hot things and bilious diseases have preceded Then Medicines must be directed for Bile and a hot intemperature Therefore then there will be convenient Phlebotomy Purges for Choler sometimes gentle sometimes strong adding Diagrydiates that the morbifick matter may be carried off cooling Juleps emollient and cooling Clysters Milk Bathing c. Always taking care to avoid aperients Incrassaters should rather be chosen Riverius such as are proposed in a hot and thin Catarrh Narcoticks Laudanum given both at the Mouth and in Clysters XIII Hippocrates lib. de affect mentions a Sciatica from the driness of the Joint By Driness do not understand a dry intemperature of the solid parts constituent of the Joint it self but a consumption of its glutinous humidity whereby it is naturally nourished and made supple for better motion If it happen that this humidity be dried up by any cause then the motion is hindred with pain Hippocrates l. 3. aph 16. tells us that such Diseases come in dry constitutions He that will cure these Diseases every external and preceding cause being removed let him endeavour the restitution of the natural humidity let him prescribe a Diet actually and potentially cooling a Bath of Water with Sheep's Head and Feet Mallow Marshmallow c. boiled in it P. Salius Diversus walking gently and emollient Ointments Let all sorts of evacuation be avoided XIV A Porter in violent cold weather stood with his Legs in Water for several hours upon which a violent pain reaching from his Hip down his Thigh and Leg took him so that he could not go After a Clyster had been given him he was bled in the Arm on the same side the next day he took a strong Purge for three days following he took every morning of Spiritus Theriacalis 8 drops in Carduus Benedictus Water Riverius which Sweat him violently and his pain was taken away Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Aegineta The Herb Sciatica Cresses perfectly cures this Disease 2. One was afflicted with an intolerable Sciatica he applied Nettles boiled in Beer for a Cataplasm Fornanus and he was rid of his pain to a miracle 3. I have not found a better Medicine than a Plaster of Pitch and Brimstone ¶ Rub the place with Juice of Onion then strow on it Powder of Pepper and Nitre and tie on a Sponge Forestuâ— wet in a Decoction of Cumin and Calamint in Wine 4. This is experienced Whip the place with a Nettle till it be red and wash it with Spirit of Wine Hoëâ—erus 5. St. John's-wort drunk for forty days cures the Sciatica admirably and if two drachms of its seed be drunk it Purges the Belly and cures the Pain Marquardus 6. Root of Reed bruised and applied to the pained place is admirable good as also Ashes of Reed Mercurialis 7. Cowes Dung made hot and applied does much good Vatignana Ischuria or Stoppage of Vrine The Contents In a legitimate one which is best to use a Catheter Section or an Escharotick I. One arising from an Inflammation of the Perinaeum does not admit of a Catheter II. Giving of Clysters sometimes cures it III. The Catheter must be dextrously put in IV. It is hurtfull where the Bladder is inflamed V. When it is inflamed we must use coolers and repellents sparingly VI. The cure of one coming from a Tumour of the Bladder caused by a Catarrh VII Cured by pricking the Bladder VIII A Narcotick proved mortal IX Whether the putting in of a Silver Wire with Cotton Wool be to be approved of X. Diureticks are hurtfull XI Sometimes a large Catheter goes in more easily than a less XII Cured by making Incision in the neck of the Bladder XIII The cure of one coming from a Caruncle in the Urethra XIV From a Stone sticking in the end of the Penis XV. In a desperate one the Cure of Cantharides is safe XVI Cured by large Bloud-letting XVII The use of a Wax Candle to get out Vrine XVIII Sometimes it is stopt through some fault in the bloud the Organs being unhurt XIX The removing of a little Stone which stops the mouth of the Bladder XX. How a Stone got into the Orifice of the Vreter may be removed XXI The virtue of Volatile Salts in a bastard Ischury XXII Medicines I. IF a stoppage of Urine can be removed by no safe Remedy but see it be proper that is that the stoppage be not made above the Bladder there arises a Question Whether a Catheter must be forcibly put in or the place must be cut as for the Stone or an Escharotick Medicine must be applied and then a hole made For always in deplorable cases any way though not safe if there be any hopes in it may better be tried than the
community of Vessels it cannot be said that there is a rectitude or continuity of fibres Yet I cannot but admire how so many excellent Physicians from Hippocrates to this very age could think they understood in what manner revulsion was made from the Spleen by bleeding in the left Arm since the rectitude that is required cannot at all be found here the Liver hindring that in which the capillary branches of the vena porta and the vena cava are wonderfully implicated and are connected by their small ends or do mediately communicate Whoever considers this accurately will easily discern according to Galen's hypothesis who will have the bloud carried from the Liver by the Veins into all the parts of the body that revulsion is not better made by bleeding in the left Arm than in the right For according to this hypothesis revulsion cannot be made of the bloud from the Spleen unless as it is drawn from the Liver But bloud is easilier drawn from the Liver by Venaesection in the right Arm than in the left for Galen and his followers prescribe it From these things it manifestly follows that these great Men either ineptly rejected the Circulation of the bloud or ineptly prescribed bleeding in the left Arm for making revulsion from the Spleen If a Circulation of the bloud be admitted it is easie to demonstrate that bleeding in the left Arm is the most commodious for evacuating of the Spleen when it is distended with two much bloud or for revulsion from it when the bloud runs over-much to it For when this is opened it is the same thing as if the Artery were cut whence the opened vein receives its bloud for the bloud is the same and comes from the same fountain And who knows not that the fibres of the Arteries are continued from the Splenick Artery by the Aorta to the Artery of the left Arm. The rectitude therefore or continuity of fibres is observed in the said Venaesection admitting the Hypothesis that the bloud is distributed by the Arteries to all the parts of the body And therefore bleeding in the left Arm is proper Bayle Probl. Med. 8. either to evacuate the Spleen or to make revulsion of the Bloud when it runs too abundantly to the Spleen II. Leeches applied to the end of the Intestinum rectum are reckoned to empty the Spleen of its feculent bloud the cause of obstructions with great success and it is believed there is no way more commodious for it But Spleniticks have no reason to weigh Anchor upon a credulous Gale of this perplexed hope Nothing can be communicated from the Spleen to the Seat by any Veins Experience refutes it Rolfinccius III. He does not much amiss who sometimes opens the black Veins upon the Spleen because it has been known that a long and contumacious Disease has been often cured thereby But if ought disswade you from bleeding in these Veins you may set Leeches or Cupping-glasses with scarification to them Hollerius IV. Some of the most learned Physicians make an Issue or a Seton in the Region of the Spleen and Vesicatories also for the Diseases thereof especially Aetius and Aretaeus yet I should not easily perswade the use of them for fear of an Inflammation of the part which is oftentimes pained and may endanger the Patient Silvaticus ¶ But he speaks there of an obstruction of the Spleen And if there be a Scirrhus and that a contumacious one Capivaccius l. 3. c. 26. says it is a most effectual remedy ¶ Saxonia Pract. Praelect l. 2. c. 28. convinced by his own experience maintains that it is very good to burn in four or five places over the Spleen ¶ And Hippopocrates l. de in t aff t. 35. is not against this remedy who burns ten places and those very large upon a swelled Spleen with Fungi dipt in hot Oil. ¶ Fortis cons 43. cent 3. with Aetius and Paulus commends Sinapisms as reviving the heat of the Part. But he adds I know not for what reason Aretaeus perswades himself that he can mollifie the hardness by fire I should with Hippocrates and Aetius admit of burning but all will be vain if there be a Cachexy and if black choler abound for in such the Ulcers might easily turn cancrous V. Hippocrates lib. de affect n. 21. approves of Vomiting in diseases of the Spleen and there he has respect to the antecedent cause contained in the Stomach for the Splenitick abound with much crudities which the Spleen draws upon which it swells When therefore the Stomach is emptied by Vomiting Matter is subtracted from the Spleen a future occasion of obstructions The Spleen it self will be eased by Vomiting because the Gastrick Arteries discharge their filth into the Coeliack And though the black humour be not very sequacious because of its gravity yet it may be drawn from the Mesaraicks and parts where it sticks pertinaciously by the agitation and violence of the Vomiting and may afterwards be voided downwards VI. Hippocrates l. 4. acut v. 396. excludes the Splenitick from Purging By the Splenitick in that place are meant they that have a hard Spleen and the Ancients and Galen himself 6 Aph. 43. took it in the same sense Hippocrates prohibits them purging because the matter which has been long setled in the part will not give way to a Purge and what is contained in the rest of the Body being disturbed by the Medicine runs to the part affected and increases the Swelling And certainly to confess ingenuously when I have been forced by the common custome to give Purges even violent ones in inveterate swellings of the Spleen I know not one that was helped thereby So that is no wonder if those ancient Physicians whose cures Galen Aetius Celsus and others have celebrated used in this case onely Diureticks and such things as extenuate and mollifie the Spleen and make no mention of purging as you may see in Galen 9. de comp med Aetius P. Martianus comm in loc Celsus and others VII Why a Clyster rather purges the Spleen than the Liver this seems the reason Because it passes not beyond the Colon but operates onely on it and its vessels as the Mesentery and Haemorrhoidal Branch which tends to the Spleen and by which the humours are evacuated out of the Spleen Walaeus VIII We must know that the Spleen will bear strong Medicines as Hippocrates Fortis lib. 2. Morbis first of all observed IX Whether in Diseases of the Spleen must we evacuate by Urine Many make a question of it upon Galen's authority 13. m. m. cap. 17. where he says the Spleen must be purged by Stool and not by Urine It is clear from an Anatomical reason for there comes a remarkable branch of the vena porta to the Spleen by which the matter must be transmitted to the Liver and thence to the Cava and out of that to the Emulgents And if some be cured by plentifull Urine
is peccant in the Pox may be evacuated indeed by Coloquintida alone but this may be done far more successfully and easily if Mercurial Medicines be joined with it or if they be used alone for Mercurial Medicines use to work far more kindly and powerfully than all common Medicines Therefore Medicines of Mercury made both by sublimation and precipitation are deservedly commended both in purging of viscid Phlegm and especially in curing the Pox. There are two Sublimates one they call corrosivum the other dulce Letting the former alone because of its great acrimony and great danger of future mischief leaving that to rash People I must recommend to every Man Mercurius sublimatus dulcis which is made of the foresaid Corrosive mixt with crude Mercury and so sublimed together after which it arises gentle and sweet and not corrosive any more Idem XXIX Beside the said Mercurius sublimatus as well corrosivus as dulcis many sorts of Mercurii praecipitati are commended which as they differ in colour so they do in virtue and manner of operation whilst some work by stool others by vomit or salivation Therefore we must sometimes use one sometimes another as there shall be occasion All of them may be used most commodiously in form of Pills lest Salivation should be raised before it be required And whereas here we commend Precipitate for Phlegm infected with the Poison of the Pox when we would purge it by stool you must know that the most fixt is the properest for this end For the more fixt Mercurius praecipitatus is the less it vomits or salivates and on the contrary And among all the Precipitates the Corallinus is most commended which has its name from the elegance of its colour and is made by abstraction of the acid spirit several times repeated Such a Mercury therefore variously prepared and made choice of according to the occasion i. e. the different constitution of the Patient and the various humours found in him we must use for eradicating of the Pox. Idem XXX And we must continue so long in taking of Mercurial Medicines till all the primary Symptoms of the Pox be taken away by means thereof But we must have especial care that we give them not in too great a quantity it is best to take them in a small quantity and often lest by stirring the humours too violently they doe more harm than good For Mercurial Medicines have a strange effect beyond all others because others usually doe their business quickly But Mercurials are slow in beginning their operations and long in continuing them and cannot always either easily or safely be stopt Idem XXXI But the great danger Patients are in from Mercurial Medicines is Salivation which they easily cause both in purging and vomiting whereby the Patients are in great danger of suffocation when the Glands about the Throat are swelled with viscid Phlegm Prudence therefore is necessary in administration of Mercurial Medicines which consists especially in a gentle use of them and an accurate observation of the disturbance which they cause in the Body before they strongly purge the humours Mercurial Medicines I say use above all others to make some singular alteration both about the Region of the Loins and about the Gums Cheeks and Throat and to give certain signs of their following operations When therefore the Physician hears his Patients complain after taking Mercurial Medicines of any trouble about the foresaid parts he must then carefully observe whether any evacuation be begun and whether reaching or any other irritation do promise a speedy evacuation Which uses therefore to proceed more slowly because the Mercury is taken up in conquering a pituitous and viscid humour which must be dissolved before it be expelled As long therefore as the agitation of the humours proceeds or increases so long must we abstain from giving any more Mercurial Medicines nor must we give any thing more than a little Broth or some convenient Decoction by means whereof the viscid humour may more easily be dissolved and so the operation of the Mercurial Medicine may be holpen A proper Decoction for this end may be made of Hidroticks and Diureticks whether it be taken weak and onely to alter the humour or stronger to cause Sweat or that be preferred which also evacuates by stool to the end the humours that are disturbed and inclined to evacuation by the Mercury may be carried more downwards and less upwards Idem XXXII Mercurius dulcis is almost a Divine Remedy in regard of its speedy curing and relieving the Sick which when it is well prepared may be given once in two or three days with 8 drachms of Lenitive Electuary for thirty or if need be for forty days together about twelve grains of it purge a strong Man well and without any Pain or Salivation Yet lest any thing malignant might stick to the Guts letting alone other Medicines they must be cleansed every week with Mel rosarum solutivum and a Decoction of Tamarinds in Cichory water with Citron Seeds For so I remember several setting aside the Decoction of the Wood except the second designed for drinking constantly have without long and tedious Sweating perfectly recovered and after that have had very healthy Children In Riverius cent 1. obs 95. a Boy of two years of age when the Decoction of the Wood would doe no good was cured by giving him 8 grains of Mercurius dulcis dextrously of a Pox which he had got from the Nurse Another that was born of an infected Woman by taking two or three grains of Mercurius dulcis with Sugar and Milk Rhodius cent 3. obs 84. the fifteenth day after he was born for a Month as Formius says in Riverius obs 26. XXXIII N. about 21 years old a common Whore was at length pustulous all over her Body and most horribly afflicted with Rhagades and Condylomata which were exulcerated about her obscene parts While therefore I was thinking of a desperate Cure for a desperate Disease Mercurius vitae offered it self with which for Purgings sake she began the twelfth day of November 1625. in this manner Take of Mercurius vitae 8 grains with mucilage of Tragacanth make a Pill after taking of which she had many stools much matter still remaining but without any trouble for which reason the same Dose was given her Novemb. 13. and it onely wrought four times The Dose was increased on the 14th to half a scruple it was made into two Pills and it purged her six times She having in this manner been pretty well purged took a Sudorifick Decoction every day twice with twelve grains of Sulphur auratum diaphoreticum for four days In the last days a caustick Mercurial water was applied Nov. 19. The Purge was repeated with eleven grains of Mercurius vitae which wrought moderately Nov. 20. The sudorifick Decoction with an addition of Sulphur auratum diaphoreticum was repeated Nov. 22. She took twelve grains of Mercurius vitae to
hurt the Loins are the Liver by the Vena Porta and the Mesentery the Head when it discharges it self upon the Spinal Marrow according to Hippocrates lib. de Glandulis this humour descends by the cavity of the Spinal Marrow to the Loins and it cannot easily get any farther because of its division into myriads of filaments The common causes of Pain must be taken notice of which are frequently found in the pains of the Loins as internal rheumatisms of the Humours by the veins or an intercutal humour falling from the head between the Muscles and the fleshy pannicle Oftentimes the branches of the Vena Cava and the Aorta carry part of the aestuating and exuperant bloud out of the greater Chanels into the Loins and affect them either in the musculous or membranous parts or in the Spinal Marrow wherefore the Palsie comes after the Colick and the Gout turns to the Colick and in like manner the Colick turns to the Sciatica Besides external abscesses of the Kidneys and the affections of the Gut Colon when distended or exulcerated are communicated to the Loins Swellings Imposthumes and Ulcers may be formed without and within the Loins Moreover the Loins are distorted by a Fluxion or Tubercle From a Spasm they suffer a divulsion of their fibres External causes oftentimes cause pain as falling on the Back striking with some hard heavy body If in the beginning of Diseases there be a pain in the Loins with heaviness and a Fever it is certain that abundance of hot bloud is contained in the great vessels which being extremely inflamed except it be prevented in time may be carried into the Brain or Lungs and that may be done by liberal bloud-letting especially in the foot to hinder its course Besides we ought to suspect pains of the Loins which continue in Fevers though bloud be often taken away because the humours lie deep in the region of the Belly which may commit some violence unless they be timely purged out In pains of the Loins Hippocrates bled in the foot He confirms this in Coacis Pains in the Loins are bad come from bloud And the haemorrhagies that come from Pain in the Loins are large and plentifull He insinuates aph 20. 4. that Purging is necessary to empty the load in the belly And though they that complain of their Loins have their bellies loose as Hippocrates writes that does not take away the necessity of purging The running of the Haemorrhoids as it is good for the Kidneys so also for pains in the Loins and must therefore be provoked The pervicacious pain of the Loins without heat and an inflammatory disposition unless it can be discussed by fomentations after purging and bleeding often repeated must be carried off by bloudy cupping and blisters or by opening the Skin with a Caustick on each side of the Spine or with a Bath of fair water with herbs boiled in it or an insession in Bath-waters and Pumping upon the place affected For Pains of the Loins are more violent and contumacious if serous matter be contained within the Muscles to the very vertebrae and they are worse and more difficult to cure if it reach to the Spinal Marrow But oftentimes the Symptoms which are thought to arise from parts in the Loins do not proceed from parts constituent of the Loins but from parts adjoining which lying on the Loins cause pain and transfer their humours to other parts slowly or quickly by the veins and arteries such as the Vena Cava and the Aorta the Haemorrhoidal veins and the Mesaraick veins Riolanus according to Galen II. The Wife of N. was often ill of a serous distention of her Loins arising from a thin distillation falling violently from the Head along the Back towards the region of the Spleen where when it had abode two or three days it at length found its way by discharging it self in abundance of Urine that was thin and crude Which distension of the Loins passed by by Physicians hitherto I remember I have seen in others in whom I have seen this painfull distension quickly removed either by a drachm of Root of Jalap or by fifteen grains of Diagridium and Creme of Tartar The capillary mouths of the vena sine pari being undoubtedly opened which as it purges Pus out of the Breast and according to aph 54.7 phlegm out of the hollow place which is found between the Diaphragm and the Stomach so also it expells those serous humours from the Loins by the Bladder Tulpius III. There came a Woman to me who made black water and complained of a Pain in her Loins And when she began to make black water her pain ceased And afterwards she fell into a Nocturnal Fever with shivering She was of a Melancholick complexion Rhases And I cured her with things that provoke Urine and she recovered IV. There is a sort of Rheumatism See BOOK VI. Tit. de Febre Rheumatismi comite though it is commonly held not to be of this kind which may most aptly be called a Rheumatick Lumbago i. e. a cruel fixt pain about the Region of the Loins reaching sometimes down to the Os sacrum very like a fit of the Stone in the Kidneys but that the Patient does not vomit For besides a most cruel and intolerable pain about the Kidneys sometimes the Ureters all along their passage to the very Bladder are troubled with the same but a little less Formerly this thing imposed on me as if it depended on some Gravel or gritty matter sticking about those parts when truly it owed its original to the matter of the Rheumatism that was peccant and inflamed which onely troubled those parts of the Body not touching the rest at all This cruel pain unless it be got away as the former sort does last as long and torment as much so that the wretched Patient cannot lie down but either leaps out of his bed or sits upright in it wrigling his body all manner of ways Since both sorts of this disease seem to arise from an Inflammation which both the said Phaenomena do argue and especially the colour of the bloud that is taken away c. they must both have the same Cure Sydenham See the place before quoted Lumbrici or Worms The Contents Anthelminthicks act either by killing the Worms I. Or by Suffocating them II. Or by dissolving and destroying them III. Or by Purging IV. Whether Water in which Mercury is shaken carry them off III. Cinnabarines kill Worms III. Whether Sweet things kill Worms V. Whether Earthworms and those voided out of the Body kill Worms VI. Medicines made up of several things are good VII They must be mixt with Sweet things VIII They must be given upon an empty Stomach IX Mercurial Medicines want a quickner which cannot safely be given to Children X. They must be sometimes changed XI Where external things must be applied XII Anthelminthicks are not Vniversal Medicines XIII They must be killed and excluded
Garlick and Onions I take care of the symptoms and especially their gnawing for sometimes by gnawing the mouth of the stomach they cause Death in this case we must act with gentler things and abstain from bitter sharp and other such troublesome things instead of which a Pint of Milk or more with Sugar may be given for being enticed they leave off gnawing and turn to the Milk as being sweet and amicable to them Fortis XXI The acid Spirit of Vitriol Sulphur and the like are commonly used to kill Worms which I do acknowledge have the faculty to incide Phlegm and kill the Worms if a few drops be mixt with the ordinary drink and the taking of them be continued for some time But they are not good for all alike because they augment the Acid in the Body and the Appetite which is oftentimes too great in Children Wherefore unless they be very thirsty also I had rather use volatile Salts Sylvius de le Boë and bitterish Plants See BOOK IX Tit. Of Childrens Diseases Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. The most effectual Remedy for Children and others is to put a piece of salt Flesh the Fat being scraped off into the anus in form of a Suppository and to let it be in as long as it can be endured then to give a Clyster of Brine or a Decoction of Centaury and we must often repeat this Remedy Aetius 2. Spirit of Turpentine is a good Medicine for the Worms ¶ Nothing is better for killing of Worms than Wine and Spirit of Wine Bartholinus 3. The seed and distilled water of Purslane is an excellent Medicine to kill Worms Baricellus 4. St. John's-wort is a Specifick for Worms in the Stomach applied in manner of a Cataplasm Quercetanus and given in Broth. 5. Coral-wort is a most excellent Remedy against all Worms The Dose 1 drachm ¶ The seed also of Santonicum Tansie Primerose-root Scordium and Goats Rue are good ¶ Fern is commended especially for killing of broad Worms from which a water is distilled or half a drachm of the powder is given to Infants 1 drachm to those that are a little elder and to those that are of ripe years 3 drachms in water of Goats Rue which kills the Worm without any trouble Above all compound Medicines Diaturbith cum Rhabarbaro is commended in Trochiscs Among temperate things Sebesten is the most tried Medicine a Decoction of which may be given to Children every day Sennertus 5. I have often observed this to be very effectual in killing and expelling of Worms Take of Coloquintida 1 drachm Oil extracted out of Coloquintida seeds half an ounce Treacle half an ounce Myrrhe Aloes Dittany Gentian Tormentill Wormwood each 1 ounce Make them into powder and with a Bull 's Gall and Rose-vinegar make an Unguent to be laid all over the Belly and Navel Vid. Vidiu◠Luxatio or Putting out of joint The Contents Reposition must not be attempted before the Inflammation be laid I. Nor if a Ligament be broke II. Strengthning Applications must not cool and dry III. The Cure of a luxated joint when it falls out after restitution IV. If an Inflammation supervene when Reposition must be made V. The Reduction of the Spine luxated inwards VI. The Reposition of the luxated Thigh must not always be attempted VII The Restitution of the Shoulder slipt into the Armpit VIII The Luxation of the Os Coccygis restored IX Contusions of the Nerves which we call Strains must not be treated like Luxations X. Medicines I. IT is not without reason that Celsus l. 8. c. 11. advises that whatever in Dislocations is displaced must be replaced before Inflammation But if a Chirurgeon was not called at the beginning so that the part is swelled and inflamed a thin Diet must be prescribed and the Body must be purged of bad Humours A Vein also if it be necessary must be opened and Repellents must be applied to the part affected till the Severity of the Inflammation is a little abated then the Operation must be tried but care must be taken that all things be done gently they that doe otherwise oftentimes occasion great symptoms and sometimes death it self A Girl leaping often to the ground had wrenched her feet a little and when a Pain and Inflammation arose an Empirick was called who so extended and wrenched her feet to and again that the pain and inflammation increasing Abscesses followed and round the Joints of the feet in divers places sinuous Ulcers out of which a ferous Humour ran The Pain in her Joints was so great and pungent that she could scarce stir her feet and was not able to walk Hildanus II. Before the Chirurgeon undertake the Reposition of any luxated part it is necessary that he first try well whether a Ligament be broken For if he understand this because the part cannot move it is more adviseable to hold his hand than rashly to undertake the Cure Walaeus to the Ignominy of the Art III. Swathes that besides Astriction they may also keep off an Inflammation must be wet in a Mixture of austere Wine and Oil of Roses because when they are dry they do not stick well Others besmear them moderately with Ceratum Hippocratis humidum which Galen l. 6. de Comp. Med. per Gen. c. 4. describes And here Medicines must be avoided which are made of astringent Powders and whites of Eggs because they either cool and dry the joint too much so that the bending of it is hindred or they stop the passing out of the influxed humours The Ceratum is made of one part Wax and two parts Oil as for example white Wax one ounce Oil of Roses two ounces Scultetus IV. A Joint slips out again for three Reasons 1. When it is not well replaced and the Ligaments are not well dried 2. When there is any Tumour after an Inflammation 3. When some Humour runs to the Joint which makes lax the Ligaments The first Cause requires great Driers The second Emollients and Discutients The third requires the worst after provision for the whole Burning than which nothing is better for it will waste 1. the moisture by the Crust which makes a hollow Ulcer and being covered with a Cicatrice contracts the relaxed part for by Burning we heat dry and digest the Humours But note 1. We must burn the place on which the Bone falls as if the Shoulder slip below the Ala under the Armpit If the head of the Thigh be luxated forwards it must be burnt before in several places 2. Nervous parts Ligaments Veins Arteries and Glands to which Fire is an Enemy must not be burnt 3. We must not burn with Irons which make a little Eschar 4. The Joint must be kept quiet for several days Idem V. The time of extension is laid down by Hippocrates de Articul § 64. to be immediately after luxation while the part is still
advise every practiser of Physick to abstain therefrom 3. When the bloud is too fluid and serous and the vessels also too strait for otherwise if the ways were open enough the bloud would flow forth more abundantly and therefore also in less time the flux of the Terms continuing too long shall be cured by using Medicines that both restore a due consistence to the bloud and also open the passages slowly and gently Those things by degrees increase the consistence of the bloud which lessen the superfluous moisture in it and which do more incrassate it Hydragogues Sudorificks and Diureticks do lessen its superfluous moisture and the same is prevented by using more solid aliment diluted but with a little drink and moderate exercise of body Things a little sowr being taken oft and in a little quantity do incrassate the bloud better than any thing else As to things that gently and leisurely open the passages of the Womb Externals are more convenient than Internals for these latter would be apt to increase the fluidity of the bloud Externals shall be both Inciders and Emollients which shall be used in the form of a fomentation and bath I said that Inciders may be joined with Emollients because most Inciders are also Aromaticks and therefore strengthners of the Womb which Emollients do in some sort weaken Therefore lest while we cure one disease we cause another 't is good to use Medicines that may prevent new mischiefs I added that the foresaid things may be conveniently used in the form of a fomentation or bath and that Emollients may be joined with Inciders because so they will go directly to the Womb the other parts being untoucht at least unhurt and open its vessels leisurely and gently 4. When the vessels of the womb are too open and do not contract themselves again soon enough and so are the cause of a too long continued menstrual flux then are such things to be used as leisurely and gently strengthen and astringe the womb and its vessels especially Externals 5. When the affections of the mind are a great cause then is the mind to be reduced to tranquillity If the bloud be become too acrimonious and fluid through vehement anger it will be temper'd especially by sowr things used oft a little at a time Lastly The womb being much weakened and loosened by some great affection of mind it shall be strengthened by Astringents both such as are somewhat sowr and also Aromatick especially mixt together 6. VVhen the great heat of the Air joined with moisture is the cause of a too long flux then it is cured by changing the Air. 7. VVhen much or over-great motion of the body have preceded Rest is to be prescribed and observed in which case kindly sleep is to be procured both by Emulsions and also Opiates not taking too much at once but often Lastly If the bloud be made too sharp and fluid by Aromatical Sauces or Medicines let it be gently corrected temper'd and thickned especially by sowr and tart things but such as are more mild taking them now and then in a small quantity for these will not onely take away that too great fluidity of the bloud but also gently strengthen and constringe the womb that is too open and gaping To these I would have Aromaticks joined but those that are less Acrimonious as Nutmeg and the like that sowr things may be better temper'd Sylvius de le Boë prax l. 3. c. 3. and the bloud not curdled too much or the womb straitned above measure Mensium suppressio or Suppression of the Terms See Menses moventia BOOK XIX The Contents Whether Bloud must always be let in the Foot I. Some lean Women may be bled II. Whether Bleeding be proper for every Suppression III. When Opening of the Haemorrhoids may be tried IV. Opening of the veins in the Neck of the Womb by Leeches V. Vomits are not good for every one VI. When they stop for the straitness of the Vessels how they may be moved VII Aperient Medicines hurtfull when they are stopt by compression VIII They must not be provoked where there is want of bloud IX Emmenagogues must follow Vniversals X. They must be given in a large Dose XI When they are given in a Bath they operate most successfully XII Some generous Remedies in a pertinacious obstruction XIII For whom Pessaries and Vterine Clysters are proper XIV The excellency of Suffumigations XV. Issues are good XVI We must not make haste in the Cure XVII The cure of their stoppage accompanied with Spitting of Bloud XVIII Sylvius his cure of it from Obstruction XIII The lower parts must be kept hot XIX The Physician must follow Nature's Guidance XX. A provident care must be taken of them in whom they are stopt by reason of their Age. XXI The cure of a Suppression by reason the bloud is translated to the Haemorrhoids XXII How Specificks must be made use of XXIII I. IF the Suppression arise from too great a quantity of Bloud the quantity must be abated by bleeding liberally in the Arm For if the lower veins were first opened the bloud would be drawn more towards the Womb where it would cause a greater obstruction and distension of the vessels with danger of their breaking or of an Inflammation of the Womb. Riverius ¶ A certain Woman a foreigner of a Sanguine Complexion had divers Ails arising chiefly from the suppression of her Menses for which when the Physicians there present had used divers remedies and they appeared contumacious the Advice of the Physicians of Mountpelier was desired And in the relation the ordinary Physicians took especial notice of this which they wondred at and craved a reason for it namely That when a vein was opened in her foot her Terms stopt but when she was let bloud in the Arm they ran more freely Which events seemed contrary to Reason and to the common Tenets of Physicians which hold that the Terms are provoked by opening the Lower veins but that they are stopt by opening the upper To this Query it was answered That these Events were agreeable both to Reason and to Galen's Doctrine For seeing this Woman was Plethorick and that the suppression of her Terms arose from excess of bloud so distending the vessels that they could not well contract themselves when the bloud was drawn to those places by opening of the lower veins the obstruction was increased But when retraction of the Bloud was made by the upper veins from the vessels of the womb and their plenitude and distension was abated then they could with ease contract themselves for natural and ordinary expulsion which is made by the Womb. And this reason is backt by Galen's opinion 10. Method 2. That Obstruction i◠caused not onely by the thickness of Humours but by their abundance Therefore the Physicians there present were advised to abate the Plethora by bleeding plentifully in the Arm and that afterwards they should draw the
Bowels but onely from the obstruction of the veins that come to the Womb Frid. Hofmannus according to Minsicthus his advice Vomits must be avoided VII The Terms being near in some Viragoes and restagnating because of the narrowness of the Vessels do create a great deal of trouble to the ferment both of the first and second digestion so that thence there arises loss of colour in the face and other symptoms representing the green-sickness in Maids especially if over and above there be an Astral Influx that hinders the Terms the said Symptoms do not onely grow worse but the Cure also proves very difficult In the mean time at the beginning violent Expellers which onely disturb the morbifick matter and doe no good must be avoided but they must be moderately moving and also they must help the fermentation of the first and second Concoction Of which rank are Extract of the lesser Centaury Juniper Mugwort Species Dialaur Minsicthi Extract Splen Bov. Elixir proprietatis Paracelsi Vterinum Crollii if instead of Spirit of Wine Spirit of Baum and Sage be used adding toward the latter end a sufficient quantity of Salt of Mugwort for these things moderately provoke the Terms strengthen the concoction of the Bowels resist putrefaction and are good against Worms Frid. Hofmannus if there be any VIII Galen 5. Aphor. 46. says that if the Mouth of the Womb be compressed by a swelling the Terms must not be provoked The reason is because the swelling would increase and the Disease would be inraged by giving things to provoke the Terms Thus they are in errour who when the Vessels of the Womb are compressed either by a swelling or too much Fatness they do open the Saphoena and they do not see that the swellings increase Therefore the Basilick vein must be opened Sanctorius IX If the Terms flow not for want of bloud as after long Fevers great Evacuations and in any notable extenuation of the body they must not be provoked before the body be recruited with convenient restorative food before a sufficient quantity of bloud is bred and before the Disease the cause of extenuation be conquered which when done the Terms usually come of themselves But if it do not so fall out to the end Nature may be recalled to her duty bloud may be taken from the lower Veins according to the measure of the strength But we must take notice that every extenuation does not denote want of bloud but onely that which succeeds consuming Causes Riverius X. We must never use Remedies to provoke the Terms unless universal Evacuations were premised lest the humours being moved in great plenty to the Womb should increase the obstruction or being much attenuated should fall on other parts and produce much mischief So Schenckius reports that a Physician of Venice gave a Woman for the suppression of her Terms a Decoction before he had evacuated the Phlegm which was the cause of her Obstruction upon taking of which she fell into a Palsie Fortis XI But they must be given in a great quantity because much of their virtue is abated by the way from the Stomach to the Womb. Riverius XII If they be given at the going in or out of a Bath they exert their virtue the more powerfully because the Medicine gets into an open and warm body and yet much more effectually if they were given before bleeding in the foot Idem Some generous Remedies in a pertinacious Obstruction XIII Seeing the suppression of the Terms is caused for the most part by the obstruction and stuffing of the Vessels that go to the Womb and through the Womb we shall pursue this sort most And whereas we have shewn that this said obstruction is produced either by a viscid and glutinous Phlegm or by such a bloud it easily appears that inciding and detersion are indicated and required by the tenacity of the humour for its cure and the provoking of the Menstrua And both Acids and Aromaticks and things abounding with a lixivial Salt as well fixt as volatile and therefore fixt and volatile Salts themselves But because Acids serve to produce a glutinosity especially when they incline to Austerity therefore in curing of this Disease Aromaticks are deservedly preferred which Experience also it self testifies to be better than Acids Whether things be bitter or not but of various tasts they must be called Aromaticks And whoever is conversant in the Chymical mutations of things Natural he will find both far more powerfull things and more easie to be used than these things that are commonly used As Volatile Salts made of infinite things of all Bones Horns Hoofs Hair Bloud Urine Flesh and all parts of Animals whatever that is all Volatile Salts are good though I should prefer Oleous ones before the rest because they doe their work more kindly and successfully Whence also it is manifest that fixt Salts are less to be valued because since they are purer they operate the more violently And the said Volatile Salts may be conveniently used at any time and especially when all the bloud is glutinous at Dinner and Supper in a draught of Wine Beer Broth or any other liquour the Patient shall chuse But when the whole mass of bloud is not glutinous and pituitous though the said Volatile Salts may be used at meal-times yet they may be used to greater advantage at another time and especially when the Phlegm first dissolved by the motion of the body heat of the Air c. and carried to the Womb is by and by coagulated there again by the subsequent Cold for then it is good to take Volatile Salts upon an empty Stomach and also to dispose the body it self to a Sweat for so the virtue of the Medicines will the easilier penetrate to the farther end of the vessels and passages And above the rest I recommend Spirit of Sal Ammoniack to all when a stoppage of the Menstrua happens suddenly and lately upon heating and cooling of the body by benefit of which alone I have very well cured several in a short time by giving 3 4 5 or six drops as it is stronger or weaker in a spoonfull of Wine twice or thrice a day And not onely a Volatile Salt it self but all things also abounding with it whether Sudorificks or Diureticks are very proper It will be usefull also in a suppression that comes gradually to add such things to the Deobstruents that are used towards the latter end For Example make the following Apozeme Take of Root of Parsly Lovage each half an ounce shavings of Guajacum three drachms Saffafras half an ounce Juniper Berries two ounces Bay-berries half an ounce Scordium Penni-royal each half an handfull tops of lesser Centaury half an handfull Millet-seed two ounces Boil them in fair Water to 25 ounces of the Colature add of Syrup of Mugwort Carduus Benedictus each one ounce and an half Tincture of Cinnamon and Castor each half an ounce Oil
let alone there till the Ear and parts adjoyning swell then the Tent must be moved a little that the water which is gathered may run out When this is drawn out the Swelling of the Ear will fall T. Bartholinus and the Ophthalmia will be laid XI Hippocrates Aphorism 17. 6. commends Purging And Galen in comment And this is one Example of those things which are evacuated spontaneously and beneficially which the Physician must imitate Reason and Experience agree with it because Inflammations and Pains of the eyes are caused by very sharp and salt humours which must be carried off from the eyes by Purging and it has usually good success On the contrary one would think Purging should be rejected because Bloud not Cacochymie offends the redness and inflammation are witnesses Therefore Hippocrates 2. Epid. Sect. 2. tract 18. says Bloudletting cures a Quinsie and Bleer-eyedness Besides Purges disturb and put the Humours in Motion and drive them into the weak parts which are inflamed or in pain For a Solution we must know that an Ophthalmia or a pain in the eyes comes either from a Defluxion or a Gathering When Humours come from the Head or the Parts underneath and from the whole Body both the Head and the whole Body must be Purged Therefore Hippocrates lib. de Visu says Purging of the Head and the lower Belly is good for an annual and epidemical Bleereyedness For such an one indicates that there is matter continually sent from a Cacochymie either in the whole or in the Head whence arise the ends of Purging But when there is onely a Plethora Bloud must be let according to Hippocrates his advice in the same place For some such pains letting of bloud is good if the body abound with Bloud But where the Disease comes from a Gathering Purges doe plainly harm and not good for the eyes are weakned by them and through weakness their proper aliment degenerates into a bad juice And we may very well say that such Diseases of the eyes as are effects onely of an Intemperature and plenitude of the Head are irritated by Purges and the greater share of the fluent Humour runs to the eyes For the Brain sometimes uses the eyes as its proper Emunctories to purge it self which if they be disaffected do readily receive the Excrement But when the mischief arises from the Bowels below and from the impurity of the Belly it is safe to give a Purge Moreover you may not be much out if you say Hippocrates in his Aphorisms spoke of gentle Medicines and a spontaneous loosness But in other places of â—trong Elaterick Medicines which with their acrimony and heat hurt the eyes XII Indications for applying of Local Medicines are taken chiefly from the place affected For the laxity of the part the sensibility aptitude to suffer sympathy and vicinity especially of the pupil and humours of the eyes all these things will not permit us to apply any thing that is violently repercutient or resolvent For things that are too bitter and astringent though they be highly repercutient yet they irritate and exasperate these parts of the eye and cause greater pain And such things as are over-hot and sharp do resolve indeed powerfully but they increase the Inflammation and exterminate the part from the proper temperature of the eyes Mâ—ntanus Therefore things moderate in each faculty must be applied both in repelling and discussing ¶ Repellents must be such as by their excessive Coldness and Astriction may not condense the Coats of the eyes and shut the pores nor such as may exasperate the eyes by their driness nor such as may increase pain upon either score Therefore let Lenients be mixt with cold and astringent things as Milk Saffron Sarcocolla The same things must not be over-tough lest they grow hard and clammy and stick too close to the eyes And therefore though the White of an Egg beaten up with Roâ—e-water or the like be a most proper remedy to repell yet we must see that we mix nothing with it to make it hard and stick to the eyes Let Medicines also which are put in the eyes be carefully cleansed from their filth and very finely powdered and sifted that no asperity may be in them nor biting Therefore if their biting depend upon heat let them be often infused in water of Roses Endive Barly or Womans Milk If up â—n coldness let them be infused in a decoction of Raisins Sennertus Fenugreek or Melilot with sweet Wine Gutta Serena Visus Imminutio or a Blindness without any visible cause Diminution of Sight XIII If this Disease come of Humours gathered in the fore-part of the Brain which compress the Nerve it may the more easily be cured â—o Hildanus cent 5. obs 19. reports how a certain Man lost his â—ight by a Vomit who was cured by taking another For the Humours were driven to the Optick Nerves by the first and were removed by the second The easiness of the Cure shewed the matter was not fixt in the substance of the Nerve but onely lay on the outside of it XIV A malignant Vapour from the Womb cast a Woman with Child into such bitter Contractions of the Nerves that she was delivered and knew it not Besides she lost her Sight though there was no fault to be seen in the outer Coat of the eye which could never be cured without effectual remedies of all which Vesicatories applied to the inside of her Thighs did her most good by means whereof the bloud that tended upwards was drawn down so effectually Tulpius that she escaped Blindness XV. A young Woman fell into a Gutta Serena She resolved to fast her self to death and would take nothing but what her Husband forced her to take She persisted in this condition for a year and was made very lean her innate heat for want of food feeding upon her natural moisture and on that moisture also which caused the Gutta Serena So the Patient recovered her Sight and recovered by a restorative Diet. Formius XVI We reade how some Blind Men have recovered their sight and that suddenly by a wound transverse the Forehead some by a loosness coming suddenly The cause was nothing but a compression of the Optick Nerves by the Vessels near them that is by the Veins and Arteries being swelled with Bloud which were emptied by the Wound Wherefore sometimes and with very good success in the Blindness which they call Gutta Serena I open the middle vein in the Forehead Spigelius and let it bleed as long as it will XVII I am of Platerus his opinion who thinks that hurts of the Sight which are commonly ascribed to some fault in the Spirits may rather be ascribed to the ill Site of the Crystalline Humour or some faults in the other humours which often happen in young Men in whom there is no fault or want of Spirits to be seen and such faults may be amended by help of Spectacles
Septalius lib. 6. animad 117. forbids Diureticks in the Palpitation of the Heart if thick Blood offend because they exhaust the Serum of the Blood and make it thicker But when it arises from a warry and serous Humour there is nothing that can more easily conquer the violence of this Disease VII Although we must presently relieve the Heart as a principal part by such things as have a singular virtue to encrease its strength and to discuss the malignity of the Vapours such as are most sweet sented and Aromatick things which by their Balsamick virtue defend the innate heat of the Heart and by their heat discuss and waste the Vaporous Matter Yet if the Womb be the cause of the Palpitation we must abstain from them the Diseased Constitution of the Womb forbidding it For such things presently cause Fits and then the Palpitation is greater For when the Brain is refreshed with sweet sents by the sympathy which is between it and the Womb if this be morbid the latent Vapours are raised which fly to the principal parts especially to the Heart Therefore we should rather fly to those things which have the faculty of discussing that vapid Substance such as some fetid and strong smelling things which by their inimicous quality excite the expulsive faculty to cast out what is noxious Besides they have a virtue to attenuate and violently to dissipate as appears in Castor Galbanum Asa faetida and the like Sennertus VIII If the Palpitation come from Wind Electuaries and other Compositions must have no Syrupus de Pomis in them Rondeletius for Apples keep their windiness to the third concoction as Avicenna writes IX A certain Valetudinary Prince when he had been a long time most grievously troubled with Palpitations of the Heart could find relief by no Medicines A young Physician coming in tells how he found in some Writings of the former Age that a certain kind of Worm sometime breeds in the Heart which by taking a Clove of Garlick Evening and Morning may be killed which Remedy was neglected and accounted despicable But at length when the Disease had killed the Prince his Body was opened a white Worm with a very sharp horny snout was found sticking to the Heart which the Physicians took and put alive into a Circle drawn on the Table with juice of Garlick J. Hebenstrein l. de Peste it crept about and about and was wonderfully tormented but would not touch the Circle At length being overcome with the sent of the Garlick it died within the Circle X. A Noble Matron of Newemburgh 35 years old had been troubled with the Hypochondriack Disease for ten years She was taken with so violent a Palpitation that one would have thought her Heart would have broke her Ribs and leaped out of her Breast When I was called I presently ordered an Emollient Glyster to be given her because she never went to Stool but upon meer necessity This was succeeded by a Carminative one Afterwards an Epitheme was applied of Treacle Confectio hyacynthina and Alkermes without Amber or Musk. Then the following Potion was given her Take of Water of Balm Carduus Benedictus each 1 Ounce Orange-flower-Water half an Ounce Cinnamon Water 2 Drachms Syrupus corticis Citri made according to Zwelfer's Correction and of Betony Flowers each half an Ounce Oyl of Citron rind 2 Drops prepared Pearl 5 Grains Saffron 1 Grain In two hours time it left her and never returned again XI This must be reckoned in the Palpitation which comes from heat and abundance of Blood we must neither use hot things lest the effervescence be increased nor cold ones lest when the efflux of Vapours is stopt the Palpitation grow more violent For it is sufficient to use temperate Mercatus strengthning and odoriferous things XII Issues are very good in the Palpitation of the Heart as I have happily experienced Which since they may be made in divers parts of the Body if the matter falling from the Head cause the Palpitation as Hippocrates says it is best to make Issues in the upper parts and in this case I use to advise an Issue in the right Arm. Mercurialis But if it be essentially in the Heart or come by consent with the lower parts it is much better to make an Issue a little above or below the Knee XIII In this sort of Disease we must insist long on Medicines Ferdinandus Hist 12. for after six months or a whole year the Disease uses to return as I have known several Wherefore we must always be doubtful of it and not be overjoyed because it ceases for a month or two XIV Joh. Praevotius in a years time cured Baron K. of a Palpitation of the Heart Rhodius Cent. 2. Obs 40. and of all the Arteries in manner of an Aneurism from retorrid Bile with drinking of Whey and bathing in fresh Water Fernelius mentions this Pulsation Path. lib. 5. cap. 12. XV. Since the Causes are various the Cure must also variously be insisted on For what some hold that these Remedies which are vulgarly called Cordials do refresh the Heart and are thought to help it as it is laboring this is repugnant to Reason and to ordinary Experience Since therefore we have declared how the Palpitation of the Heart proceeds from some fault in the Blood or in the Arteries that are joyned to the Heart and have shewn the divers ways of affecting both of these an apt method of Cure must be accommodated to every sort of that Disease 1. Therefore if the Disease proceed from some fault in the Blood the primary Therapeutick intention must be to exalt the Blood that is too watry and unfit for Accension and Fermentation to a better crasis and to exalt and increase its active Principles that are depressed or diminished For which purpose Spirituous Medicines also Saline of all sorts Sulphureous and especially Chalybeates are proper Here also we may prescribe such things as are used in a Leucophlegmatia Pica and a cold Scurvy 2. The Palpitation of the Heart which is more frequent and much more violent comes from the Cardiack Arteries and then their fault is either an Obstruction or a Spasmodick Affection The first Disease is usually continual and often incurable especially if it comes from Consumptive Lungs or from a Tubercle at the Roots of the Arteries or some bony Excrescence whereby they are half stopt up or compressed Which causes if at any time they be there and can perfectly be known it would be in vain to endeavour to remove them But rather this only must be done we must give the Patient some ease by an Hypnotick to prolong a miserable Life a little further Nor is it also improbable that the Arteries are in a great measure filled by Polypous Concretions that are used to breed there and sometimes within the Ventricles of the Heart and therefore the free and total exilition of the Blood is hindred As the
shews the truth of this Which Efflorescence indeed you can scarce explain otherwise than by the solution of the Salts latent in the Body Neither yet will I deny that the great heat of the Bathes does now and then contribute something for Revulsion of the Matter outward for I remember one that was dangerously ill of a fit of an Asthma having put his Feet into Strong Beer very hot upon a translation of the Humour of Asthmatick became Arthritick on a sudden Thiermair Cons 3. l. 2. XIV According to Avicenna Medicines that evacuate insensibly ought to be strong and fat Strong that is violently hot and very thin of substance and the reason is because the Nerves and Spinal Marrow lie deep They must be fat that by their means the strong Medicines may stick the longer and that their virtue may not waste and that they may prevent the breeding of a Scirrhus Bâ—sides the greatest Dose of Medicines is approved for the Morbifick Matter is cold thick viscid impacted and therefore of so great activity that it will not yield to Medicines unless they act violently that is unless they be given in the highest Dose so that sometimes even by reason of the height of the Dose a Fever may be raised for according to Avicenna Paralyticks are holpen by a Fever Wherefore Rhases gave one 2 drachms oâ— Confectio Anacardina Capivaccius which is hot in the third dâ—gree In our days we only give a few grains XV. That some Paralyticks are cured by Salivation with Mâ—rcury is proved both by my own and other Mens Experience Yet this sort oâ— Remedy I think must be used only in an habitual Palsy that has its Procatartick Cause in the Blood and Brain moveable enough and the Conjunct Cause in the Nervous Appendix not very fixt But when this Disease is caused by some External and great hart or follows a Carus Apoplexy or Convulsions Salivation is almost always tried in vain and sometimes not without great hurt Whoever thereâ—ore have a weak or an over lax Brain are subject to a Vertigo Stupidity and Convulsive Motions let them not lightly use Mercurial Medicines Yet sometimes Salivation in an habitual Palsy and one that is not very fixt doth much good as by taking away the impurities of the Blood it cuts off all Matter from the Disease Also as some Mercurial Particles when having passed the Brain they come into the Nervous Ducts do divide the Morbifick Matter impacted in them and severing the parts thereof one from another they variously disperse them some one way some another Whereas it is the fault of other Medicines oftentimes that they can only make an effort upon the Mass that stops the ways of the Spirits and therefore if they do not separate it into parts they drive it faster into the obstructed places Willis XVI In the Palsy I have used inunction with Quick-Silver whereby I cured a confirmed Paralytick one Julius a Shoemaker who is yet alive After an Apoplexy and an old Pox he fell into a Palsy of his Right Side I used the Oyntment of Mercury in this manner Take of Quick-Silver 5 ounces Hogs Lard 1 pound Hens Grease Ducks Grease each 2 ounces Sagapenum Opopanax Castor Assa faetida each 1 drachm Mustard Pepper Pellitory of Spain Euphorbium â—ach 1 ounce and an half Iva Arthritica half an ounce Oyl of Turpentine 3 ounces Mix them Make a Liniment I anointed the hurt part especially with this Medicine and others also and Salivation succeeding the Patient grew well Saxonia XVII Whether is it proper to raise a Fever in the Palsy I answer in short In Cacochymick Bodies we may not use such hot Medicines as to raise a Fever on purpose The reason is because such Medicines corrupt bad Humours and will breed a Putrid Fever which will be worse than the Palsy But if the Body have been already exactly purged hot Medicines if they do cause a Fever raise an Ephemera This is not dangerous and yet it both heats the Nerves and digests the Matter Idem XVIII If the Palsy have its original from External Humidity and either a Nerve or Muscle be disaffected it is not so difficult to cure so it be not neglected but cured in time before it have contracted an ill habit for then it is difficultly and sometimes cannot at all be removed or conquered that is when the laxity has proceeded so â—ar that it cannot perfectly be restored And it is no new thing for the Membranes now and then to be so moistned and softned that they cannot afterwards be reduced to their pristine firmness and natural tention but then they are either too much or not stiff enough either of which is a fault I do not see any reason why this may not happen in the Body yea that it must happen this Disease being often incurable does argue Sylvius XIX Infusions made in Wine especially do good for though Wine especially if it be strong be not at all convenient yet joining the virtues of other things to it self and carrying them as a Vehicle to the Nervous Kind it will make an useful Medicine taken in its place Piaterâ—e XX. I cannot much approve of Confectio Anacardina as it is now prepared by the Apothecaries because of the Myrobalanes which being much astringent cannot be mixt with very hot things for they cause the Medicines to tarry long in the Body and do harm This is the reason why this Confection causes a Fever It is better therefore instead of Myrobalanes to put in some Medicine of subtil parts as Cinnamon and the like Rondeletius XXI I do a little suspect Sinapisms Blisters and Cauteries because they digest more violently than is convenient for a Disease of six years standing in which time the Morbifick-Matter must necessarily be impacted Silvaticus cent 1. cons 82. Unless there câ—me a new Fluxion for in this case they will do much good for Evacuation of the Matter XXII We must proceed to a singular and excellent Remedy The Body must be exasperated and its Sensifick Faculty if I may so say awakened especially when the Body is well purged and other things done And it is to apply Stinging Nettles or to whip all the Body with Nettles which is not our invention but is laid down by Celsus l. 3. c. 27. And I attest I have used this sort of Remedy in several Epiph. Ferdinandus Hist 46. and always with great felicity for I was scarce ever deceived when the Body was well purged XXIII Although Galen and other Physicians write That Remedies must not be applied to the hurt Parts but where the Nerves arise yet I think this must be understood thus That Remedies should be applied especially where the Origination of the Nerves is But the same Men do not deny but that it does some good to apply Medicines to the hurt Limbs And especially when peccant Humours have dispersed themselves far and near and are
method I also cure Wounds of the Breast that only penetrate the Muscles thereof though an Hands breadth long ¶ Penetrating Wounds made in the upper part of the Breast so that the Matter that is collected within cannot so conveniently be discharged forth degenerate into an Empyema according to the general Opinion On which account I have made Incision in some betwixt the fifth and sixth Rib and thereby have evacuated the Matter and cured several See Instances in Scultetus obs 43. 59. ¶ I have observed that as oft as the Matter is quickly discharged namely in a days time at furthest the Patients presently recover the Matter flowing no longer out by the Wound and which is strange the Fever moreover ceasing which is continual while the Matter stays in the Cavity of the Breast Yea this is thought to be a Pathognomonick Sign That when the Patients are free from a Fever there is no Matter in the Breast and does indicate that the Wound is to be presently closed up Whereas on the contrary when the Matter issues out by little and little all such die because by its delay the Internal Parts are Ulcerated Pus is increased and the Ulcers and Fever grow daily worse and worse Which therefore must be marked by those that are employed in these Cures namely that if the Pus be not evacuated in a short space of time they see to drain it forth as quickly as they can by Medicines for which purpose I give either Barley-Water or Water and Honey which deterge it by little and little and make it fit for Evacuation not without the help of Nature expelling it which Remedy the more strong need not who in a few days discharge all the Purulent Matter and are cured unless this Evacuation be prolonged and then they dye See Pareus Scult obs 43. lib. 9. c. 31. Nic. Massa tom 2. Epist 11. III. Felix Wirths a Surgeon utterly rejects Tents in Wounds of the Breast and determines That Pus it self Blood or other Matter collected in the Breast may be fitly evacuated by Sweat Urine Stool or other ways But though I deny not that Patients are in great danger when unskilful Surgeons tie not the Tents with a Threed to hinder them from slipping into the Cavity of the Breast yet I see no reason why the use of them is utterly to be rejected seeing otherwise Nature Hoâ—st ap Hildan cent 3. obs 36. which expects assistance from Art cannot discharge the Superfluities IV. Cosmus Slotanus a very good Surgeon wholly abstained from Injections that are made by a Syringe which he bids us observe in all Wounds and Ulcers either in the Breast or lower Belly for some part of the Injection might easily glide into the vacuity of the Breast or Belly and grievous Symptoms with great danger to the Patient might be raised thereby Fabr. Hild. cent 1. obs 63. Yet Sculicius used them with very good success as appears from his 51 and 56 Observations V. One being wounded in his Breast when I had poured into the Wound a very deterging Injection of Wormwood Centaury and Aloes there rose up such a bitterness into his Mouth with a Nausea that he could no longer endure it Then I called to mind what once I had observed in one who had a Fistula upon his Breast Therefore when I consider'd that such bitter things are apt to be received into the Lungs and to rise from thence up into the Wind-Pipe Throat and Mouth I declared that I would never more administer such bitter things to my Patients for there proceeds far greater trouble than fruit and benefit therefrom A. Pareus l. 9. c. 30. VI. One was wounded in his Back the Sword penetrating as far as to the left Pap and though a great deal of Blood issued out of the Wound yet on the third day he breathed difficultly and had a very great pain near his Midriff Therefore his Breast was opened betwixt the third and fourth Rib that the Matter contain'd in his Breast might be evacuated When the Perforation was made there flow'd out of the Wound but three or four drops of Blood Which I would have to be therefore noted because some say that a great flux of Blood is caused through cutting the Intercostal Vessels Yet I will not deny that sometimes especially in the Cholerick there follows such a flux of Blood into the Cavity when a Vein or Artery is cut which yet may be easily avoided by such a Knife as Celsus and Paulus call a Spatha Suppose an Intercostal Vein or Artery be hurt what matters it for little or no Blood can be retained because of the Perforation that is made there and if it should be retained Scoltet obs 43. the next day it will flow out again when the Wound is drest VII When no Blood issues forth in Wounds of the Breast that it may not flow into the Cavity put into the Mouth under the Tongue one grain of Mosch and the Blood will presently issue forth of the Wound which is reputed a Secret says Sennertus lib. 2. pract From whence collect that Mosch is to be avoided in any Hemorrhage where we would stanch the Blood Hoefer Het Medic. lib. 2. c. 3. VIII Seeing the dignity of the Heart is very great as being a principal part 't is manifest that Wounds in the Breast are more dangerous than others whence a doubt arises whether the same be to be treated like others and like them be to be closed up as soon as may be Some are pleased with the affirmative because of the nobleness of the part in regard whereof we must have singular care that the fountain of heat be not hurt by being exposed to External Injuries and therefore they endeavour to close up such Wounds with all the Art that may be But seeing Wounds of the Breast pour out daily such a deal of Matter as we hardly observe to issue from the Wounds of any other part because Nature both for preservation of the Part and because of the Pain sends daily very much Blood thither which being tainted with malignity and filth or not altered through the weakness of the Part is quickly corrupted I say on this account I am of opinion that such Wounds ought to be kept long open that there may lie open an exit for the corrupted Blood and Matter for the Blood being retained preternaturally or any corrupt Humour will become the cause of greater mischief Whence Pareus lib. 2. cap. 31. adds for a decision of this Case that the former Opinion is true when no Preternatural Humour is contained any longer in the Breast but the later when the Cavity of the Breast is filled with Matter and Clods of Blood Horst Dec. 5. probl 5. IX The opening of a Vomica or Imposthume is not to be deferred Chalmet Enchir. p. 147. lest there arise a Fistulous Ulcer or rottenness in the Bones which I have oft seen happen to many Pedum
with the infusion of Roses and Goats Milk Alike profitable is it to take in the morning a spoonful of Corinths with the Pouder of Rhubarb and Sugar so that for a pound of Corinths there be half an ounce of Rhubarb and four ounces of Sugar Sugar of Roses with a little Rhubarb is likewise good or the same Sugar with Bole-Armene and the Juice of Agarick or a Bolus of the Pouder of Roses with the Juice of Carthanus Seed or of Agarick or Rhubarb extracted with Milk Water But if the Matter that flows be acrimonious by licking often a little of the Pulp of Cassia fistula or of the same made into a Conserve you may gently loosen the Belly and avert the Fluxion thither you may lenifie the Breast and Wind-Pipe and help Expectoration especially if you dissolve it in Barley-Water to which you may add the Pouder of either Lykyrrhize or Roses or if you will of Rhubarb because the only way to cure a Phthisis is to recall the Matter to some other place for when it is restrained by any of the foregoing things it is more inconvenient and dangerous Mercatus VII Nothing is plainer in the Doctrine of Hippocrates than that those who labour under a Tabes are not to be purged by Stool For in lib. 2. de morb sect 2. v. 320. treating of the Cure of a Tabes from a Disease of the Lungs he does not only expressly forbid purging by Stool saying Give no Medicin that purges downwards but prescribing white Hellebore he orders it to be given so temper'd as not to move the Belly downwards Seeing therefore Hippocrates for the Cure of a Tabes uses only Vomits for Evacuation and is so fearful of purging by Stool it is not reasonable that Aphor. 8. sect 4. should determine the clean contrary And therefore we must affirm that by the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 he does not understand Persons labouring under a Tabes but such as by their Natural Constitution are disposed thereto for in these Vomits are suspected for fear lest some Vessel should be broken in the Breast which in this sort of Constitution is strait and weak But Purgation by Stool is hurtful to the Tabid because it uses to bring on a Loosness that is deadly to them Wherefore Purging by Vomit will be less inconvenient for these by the vehemence whereof though the Lungs be agitated and strained yet because they are accustomed to such Commotions by reason of their Cough which does violently exagitate almost all Tabid Persons thereâ—ore Vomiting is not very apt to do mischief and it may be of great relief to the Patient not only in that it brings forth the antecedent Matter but also because it does not a little help the Excretion of the Conjunct Cause which is made by Coughing Nor need the breaking of a Vessel be feared in these through the violence of the Vomit Prosper Martian comm in aph 8. sect 4. because the Veins being exceedingly emptied in these Persons from their Extenuation are not so apt to break as in those who are not as yet faln into a Tabes VIII Galen 5. simpl cap. 13. greatly condemns Diureticks because he says they hinder the Expectoration of Matter for the Matter is thickned by them which can only be expelled by Coughing The reason is because the Matter that is in the Breast is by Diureticks deprived of the ichorous part Sanctor de rem invent cap. 5. which serves to make the Matter thin IX Before you enter upon the Cure of the Ulcer alone 't is necessary also to have regard to the Humours that have flowed into the Breast or Lungs Wherefore we must consider whether the Fluxion from whence the Malady begins remain still or be already supprest or ended For if it continue still whether from the Body or from the Head or from any other place we spend the time to no purpose in the Cure unless we first restrain the Fluxion or find it to be derived to some other place Wherefore it will be necessary either to avert it by Medicins or to end it with gentle Evacuations or to restrain it in the part that sends it For we restrain it by reducing the Head to its Native Temperament or by ending and dissipating the Humour there as Galen 5. meth hath reported of the Plaster of Thapsia which we must use neither rashly nor in all cases but only when the Head is cold and Phlegmatick for then it both excites the sluggish heat and corrects the cold Intemperature and therefore stops the Phlegmatick Fluxion because it discusses or concocts But it the Fluxion be hot or acrimonious or biting we must perform the Cure by warm Baths or by cold and astringent Pouders c. But the Matter that is already generated and which is daily bred by the intemperature of the Head can be averted by no Remedy more safely than by making an Issue in one or both Arms whereby by saithful Experience I know that not a few Phthisical Persons have been cured Mercatus X. I am of opinion that your Waters called Acidulae are not good for those whose Lungs are Ulcer'd though they may seem agreeable at first sight by their cooling vertue whereby they are opposite to a Fever by their drying whereby they cure Catarrhs by their abstersory whereby they cleanse the Ulcer 1. because of their acrimony which is hurtful to the Corroded Lungs 2. by reason of the acidity joined which is astringent whence they hinder Expectoration 3. by Evacuating they hurt the Tabid that are already exhausted 4. by drying and cooling they consume the Native heat 5. by their coldness they hurt the Stomach that is already weak with which the Heart sympathizes A Bath is not good because 1. by its actual hear it increases the Hectick Fever that is joined with the Tabes 2. the Members are further dried 3. they exhaust the Body still more by a Diaphoresis and provoking of Sweat 4. nor are they profitable on the account of the Ulcer because their vertue reaches not to the Lungs 5. nor do they extinguish the Fever seeing they heat and dry 6. nor do they cure the wasting for they evacuate dry and heat 7. nor do they cure the defluxion which is oftner raised thereby Sebis de Acid. p 443. ¶ Yet Fortis cons 34 cent 2. has recourse thereto as the only Remedy XI Let Physicians note that in case of an Ulcer the Lungs are to be cleansed from the Blood that is extravasated as Galen advises 5. meth Nor must we in these cases always proceed with astringent and closing Medicins otherwise the Blood being retained will be the cause of greater mischief and hence suppuration and death will inevitably succeed Let them note the same thing if upon the descent of Blood from the Head to the Lungs there succeed either a dry Cough or such as is not sufficient to purge the Lungs from the Blood P. Salius comm in c.
16. l. 1. de morb because if the Lungs be not perfectly cleansed the same mischiefs will follow XII The Decoction of Guaiacum Wood has a notable vertue to cure the Ulcers of Phthisical Persons and is commended by several very learned Physicians The Decoction of the Root of China is also profitable For though these Decoctions seem to dry the Body yet the profit that accrews from healing up the Ulcer in the Lungs is far greater For seeing the leanness of the Body has its rise from an Ulcer of the Lungs such Dâ—coctions by taking away the cause of the extenuation of the Body by consuming the vicious Humours and curing the Ulcer make the Extenuated Bodies to be well nourish'd again and grow fat as Experience has often taught Sennertus ¶ I know that there want not very great difficulties in the administring of them for to give an hot and dry Medicin to a Tabid and Feverish Body is contrary to all Medical indication Nevertheless because if the Ulcer be not dried neither the Fever nor the Tabes can end hence it comes to pass that the more Learned Physicians have admitted of the use of Driers I declare that about seventeen years ago I cured a Phthisical Person that had gotten the Pox by a Decoction of Guaiacum who is yet alive still If any be afraid of it let him take the Root of China which I used with good success in a Phthisical Woman after a suppurated Peripneumony who is still alive Saxon. prael pract p. 146. See an Example in Riverius cent 1. obs 99. I have learned by Experience that a Decoction of Lignum sanctum is good in this case says Silvat cent 2. cons 36. XIII Among those things which are very much commended is the Sugar or Conserve of Roses which yet some deny to the Phthisical because the Ulcer of the Lungs needs cleansing and bringing forth of the Matter which two things are the chief causes why most Ulcers of the Lungs are incurable Now this Sugar is too weak to cleanse and absterge the Ulcer sufficiently Besides that when it is new it loosens the Belly the Flux whereof is dangerous and when old by drying and astringing it compresses the ways and makes them straiter whence the eduction of the Matter is hindred and the Sanies driven inward yea seeing it is cold it seems inconvenient according to Aphor. 5. 24. But in truth it is to be allowed to the Phthisical for that is profitable for them says the Reconciler diff 194. which cleanses absterges glutinates corrects the intemperies that is introduced and is withal in some sort nutritive all which this Sugar or Conserve does whence we conclude that it ought to be much esteemed as not only the Testimony of Classical Authors but daily Experience also witnesses Yet that is to be â—â—t d wâ—icâ— Mesue admonishes and after him the Reconciler That Sugar of Roses is not to be granted before stronger absterging and mundifying Medicins have preceded and the Ulcer be purged from its Pus at which time there is need of a slight absterging but a greatly glutinating vertue which thing is very well performed by the Sugar of Roses that is betwixt new and old used daily in such form as it can best be taken in Hence it appears what is to be answer'd to the first and second Reasons that forbid it And when Hippocrates says that cold things are hurtful to the Breast he speaks of an excessive coldness Horst dec 4. probl 9. such as is in Ice and Snow ¶ Some Conditions are to be observed in the use of Conserve of Roses 1. That Abstergers and Mundifiers be premised and therefore at the beginning let that which is new be given which has more Juice in it and therefore a greater absterging vertue 2. That it be given in a large quantity and that daily yea let it be taken with Bread and Meat and Drink 3. That if by its use Expectoration be hindred and Respiration become difficult Sennert Expectoraters be given betwixt whiles ¶ Red Roses use to be much commended for consolâ—dating the cleansed Ulcer as also the Conserve that is made of them though hitherto I have seen no good and great effect thereof because when it is taken in a great quantity as the Commenders thereof would have it the Stomach and Guts are filled with much Phlegm whence the appetite is not only dejected but chylification also hurt Moreover there often arises a troublesome coldness in the upper region of the Abdomen and so of the Stomach from which the Patients cannot be freed again in some Months space which I have observed to come to pass more than once Therefore I would prefer a Decoction of red Roses made with a strong Expression Sylv. tract 4. append sect 187 188. and that sweetned with a little Sugar XIV Most have commended the breathing in an hot and dry air for drying up the Vlcers of the Lungs For this reason the Ancients also advised Phthisical Persons to sail into Egypt Galen bade them go to Tabiae Nor must we think that such Air only of Natures making is to be procured but we read in Galen 4. loc aff 8. that an Air for this purpose may be also prepared by Art and Odours Whom Veslingius imitating undertook to cure a certain grown Person ill of a long Phthisis by Suffumigations chiefly such indeed as were moist at the beginning of the Herbs of Agrimony Betony Foal-foot Lungwort Speedwel and the Roots of Burnet and Cinquefoil boil'd in Pottage and afterwards by such as were dry as Benzoin Ladanum Stirax and Mastich received in at the gaping mouth testifying at large that he hath known Phthisical Persons that were very desperate recovered chiefly by a Suffumigation of Ambergriefe Silvaticus cent 1. cons 51. hath commendâ—d the same Bennettus Theatr. tabidor exerc 30. has drawn Instruments fit for Effumation and Vaporation Lud. de Leonibus cured a Phthisical Person who was so lean one might tell all his Bones G. H. Velâ—chius obs 28. by a Suffumigation of Amber See more before concerning the Diseases of the Breast and Lungs in general XV. When leanness hinders the use of Medicins that would dry up the Ulcer I give Asses Milk but with the Oyl of Guaiacum This way six years ago I cured a Phthisical German Nobleman Or you may give a Broth made thus Take of Guaiacum or China if Guaiacum three ounces if China one Infuse them in three quarts of Water Then take of Barley unhusked half an handful Amylum Gum Tragacanth of each two drachmâ— of the Seeds of Sorrel and Plantane of each one drachm of the Seeds of Melon blanched half an ounce of the Kernels of Pine-Apples and Pistach-Nuts of each an ounce and an half the Flesh of Wood Snails two ounces Put as much of them as can be put in the Belly of a little Pullet Let them boil all together till the perfect consumption of the Flesh
are of too thick and glutinous a substance from which alike Blood being produced knits the Secundines straiter to the Womb whence seeing the Blood grows more and more glutinous 't is no wonder that the Secundines should stick closer to the Womb every Labour than other Therefore the primary cause of the pains after delivery is the too strait connexion of the Secundines to the Womb and thence the tearing of them from the Womb and so the Excoriation of the Womb But a second cause and which joins it self to the former is the Blood of the Lochia flowing through the torn and excoriated parts of the Womb and biting and gnawing of them And though all Blood whilst it moistens the excoriated and torn parts of the Womb causes pain in them yet the same pain is not a little increased when the Blood is more acrimonious than usual from any cause either through an acrimonious serum mixt with it becoming so by the Bloods stagnating every where and therefore also in the Vessels and Sinous Caverns of the Womb. Other causes may also contribute as cold taken in the time of Labour which stops the Lochia in part or wholly whence the same Blood being made more acrimonious by its stay causes a pain in the Womb whether there succeed an Inflammation or only the Serum flow forth and that little and sharp biting and gnawing violently the inner parts of the Womb. Cruel pains are likewise caused by Flatus distending both the Womb it self and also the thick Guts that border upon it Moreover as a Fever is oft raised from violent pains in the Womb indisposed through hard Labour or by an Inflammation thereof so every Fever produces pains in the Womb that is when it is first indisposed the which we see to happen in any other part The Physician may guess at the true causes of After-pains besides other things from the manner of the pain for if they be rending and return and afflict more grievously by Intervals he shall judge them to arise from acidity and saltness abounding in the Blood and carried to the Womb If they be beating and burning he shâ— l suppose that the Blood stays and stagnates in the Womb and that it inclines to an Inflammation or is already inflamed If they be distending and the lower part of the Abdomen shall be observed to be stretched he shall guess that the pains are produced from Wind. So when the Lochia have been before the pains 't is probable that these spring from the suppression of those at least partly When they flow too plentifully he shall guess that the Vessels or large Orifices of the Womb are torn especially if the Secundines were separated therefrom with difficulty If the Belly be bound and there be rumblings in it suspect Flatus When it is loose and especially when the Patient has many Stools with griping t is probable the Pains have their rise from Acrimonious Humours that are carried not only to the Guts but also to the Womb as also if the privity be withal eroded and excoriated Wherefore as oft as the After-pains have their rise from the tearing and excoriation of the Womb through the violent expulsion of the Secundines so often are such Medicins to be used as lenify and consolidate the Excoriation for which purpose all that are called Vulneraries are deservedly commanded amongst which when there is withal an over large flux of the Lochia those that are somewhat astringent are to be chosen to which both Anodynes and Narcoticks will be profitably joined by the help whereof the vertue of the foregoing is not a little increased and the pain allayed If the Blood of the Lochia be more serous and sharp let it be tempered with Anodynes which are to be used chiefly in the form of Emulsions adding sometimes Opium or Laudanum Opiate after which if the strength can bear it give a gentle Hydragogue and after that a Sudorifick made of such things as astringe gently as Avens Tormentil c. When the same Blood is rendred more acrimonious by its stay then because the acrimony which is then produc'd is acid things that temper the said acrimony are to be used but so as that they increase not the afflux of Blood whence amongst aromata or Spices those are to be chosen which are least acrimonious but are most kindly and withal gently binding If the Lochia be supprest from taking cold and the foresaid pains proceed from hence those Medicins are to be used which cure the suppression of the Lochia If notwithstanding that the Lochia flow yet these pains be produced then Sudorâ—ficks will be profitable such as are not very Aromatick nor much astringent lest the Flux be either increased too much or stopt adding Opiats that ease the pain and increase the vertue of the Sudorificks If an Inflammation of the Womb be begun from a suppression of the Lochia it is to be cured by both inward and outward Remedies Idem Puerperia or Womens Childbed Purgations The Contents The Secundines or After-birth are expelled by Sneezing I. Strong Frictions of the Abdomen do hâ—rt II. Whether it be safe to Vomit III. When to cut â—â—e Navel-String IV. They are to bs drawn forth warily V. Whether a Suppuration of them be to be promoted and expected VI. 'T is better to extract them by the Hand than to expel them by Medicins VII They have been expelled by the application of Astringents to the Belly VIII What is to be done when they are retained and the Lochia flow immoderately IX Though a piece of the Placenta stay behind there is not always danger of Life X. A piece excluded by the help of a decoction XI A Secundine brought out by a decoction of Chervil XII Sleep is to be kept off when the Lochia flow immoderately XIII When they are retained what Vein is to be opened XIV When they are supprest they are to be moved diversly according to the diversity of the Causes XV. When the Flux is too great how it is to be stayed XVI A suppression of them cured by bleeding in the Arm. XVII The same quantity of the Evacuation is not to be expected in all XVIII If they flow plentifully in the Birth it is not to be endeavoured that they should be kept flowing long XIX How to recall them when they are supprest by taking cold in Travail XX. 1. AMongst External Remedies expelling the Secundines Hippocrates gives the chief place to Sternutatories l. 2. Epid. sect 2 and aph 5. 49. Galen gives the reason aph 5. 35. that by their vehement shaking and toffing they partly excite Nature and partly shake off such things as closely adhere to the parts of the Body Namely when the Brain is violently moved all the Viscera are shaken as well as it and the Muscles of the Belly are contracted which contribute notably both to the expulsion of the Foetus and also of the Secundines Yet here is need of caution let Medicins precede that
in extream Consumptive Persons nor are they alwayes that are troubled with this ail Consumptive Wherefore we must rather say that the immediate cause of this Symptome is the dryness of the Bones or want of the Marrow properly so called which ought to be contained within the Cavity of the Bones and especially in the heads of them for seeing all bones owze out Marrow or some unctuous matter every where either at their great Cavities or Pores and narrow passages we reckon the use of this to be as well that the Bones being irrigated thereby may become less brittle as more over that this Humour owzing out at the Nodes of the Bones may supple all the Joynts and so facilitate their motion as the joynts of Machins are greased with fat wherefore the heads of the Bones being destitute of this Marrow make a noise like Coach Wheels when they are seldom greased But if you will inquire into the Procatarctick cause of this Disease why this unctuous obliniment of the Joynts is deficient This indeed must be imputed either to some fault in the Blood as if it did not duly supply the Bones with aliment partaking of Sulphur as well as Salt which indeed is not very likely because the mass of Blood even in Scorbutick Persons contains particles of both the foresaid kinds and besides they that have this rattling of their Bones do shew a Skin and Muscles full enough of fat Or secondly it rather seems that the unctuous Humour wherewith the Joynts are suppled is wanting through the fault of the Bones themselves because to wit their Pores and Passages are so obstructed by some extraneous matter perhaps dreggy or tartareous carried by the Blood that they do not sufficiently receive the Balsame designed them nor does it ouze out to moisten their Joynts Nor will it be easie because the matter is wholly in the dark to inquire the particular reasons of this Ail nor to proceed in this Aitiology beyond such a conjecture as this Nor are we less at a stand when we come to the cure of this Disease for although the primary Indication that is the moistning of the Bones and Joynts be obvious enough yet in what manner and with what Remedies it may be done it does not so plainly appear For in this Case I have known several Sorts of Medicines and various modes of administration tried altogether to no purpose A certain ingenious Person who had been most grievously troubled with this Disease for many years tried the advice of many and indeed Famous Physicians beside the usual Remedies for the Scurvy together with frequent Bleedings and Purgings whereby he found no relief he moreover tried various and great courses of Physick without any success at all for after he had tried one Physicians method for some Months to no purpose he by and by betook himself to another and so afterwards to several In the mean time a new method was alwayes prescribed by each not tried by the former Fomentations Liniments and Frictions are daily applied to all his Joynts One while he goes to Bath then he drinks the Waters sometimes one sometimes another Which doing no good he takes a Chalybeate course then a Decoction of the more temperate Woods then a Milk diet further he was alwayes taking Electuaries distilled Waters Apozemes and other Remedies made of Antiscorbuticks And when he had in this manner for above 3 years constantly almost lived Medically and miserably he was not a jot the better as to the Cure of his foresaid Ail but in the mean time he was pretty strong and had a good Stomach he Married a Wife and as to the other more common Symptomes of the Scurvy he was better Hence you may see how pertinacious a Disease the rattling of the Bones is and that it scarce gives way to any Remedies which I have experienced in others who have been ill of this Disease and have wholly eluded all the pains of the Physician Idem XIV We have already largely explained both the preservatory and curatory Indications which concern the Cure of the Scurvy It yet remains to speak of the Vital Indication that is to declare in what method and with what Remedies the Patients strength when apt to sink may be supported or when decayed or spent may be restored For these ends Cordials and Opiates must be prescribed to be taken according to the Patients exigences and moreover a restorative course of Diet if at any time it be necessary and ever Antiscorbuticks must be prescribed As to Cordial Medicines which put the Blood stagnating in the Heart in motion kindle its flame half put out and restore animal Spirits oppressed or distracted to their due liberty and irradiation it is obvious that several Medicines properly called Antiscorbuticks do perform these intentions such are namely Aqua raphani composita Snail water and lumbricorum Magistralis Spirit of Harts-horn Soot testaceous powders and many other things which may be taken not only at certain hours and according to the method and order prescribed but as there shall be occasion whenever swooning and fainting happen and with good success Yet besides they that are observed to be very subject to passions of the Heart frequent swoonings loathing vomiting trembling Vertigo and other horrible Symptomes should also have ready other manner of Medicines which are more properly called Cordials whereby all sinking of the Spirits may immediately be relieved To this purpose these things are very proper Elixir vitae Qu. majus the second water in destilling of the said Elixir a spoonful of it may be given sweetned also Aqua Mirabilis Aqua Bezoartica Aqua Gilberti temperata Treacle water Cinnamon water to each of which or compounded one with another Confectio Alkermes Confectio de Hyacintho powder of Pearl or magistery of Coral Syrup of Clove gilly-flowers or of Coral or of Citron rind or of Cinnamon may be added Of these and other such sort of Medicines divers forms may be prescribed for example Take of Treacle water Mirabilis each 3 ounces Balm 4 ounces Syrup of Clove-gilly-flowers 1 ounce and an half Confectio Alkermes 1 drachm Mix them The Dose 3 or 4 spoonfuls Or Take of Aqua mirabilis 6 ounces Snail and Walnut water each 2 ounces powder of Pearl 1 scruple Confectio de Hyacintho 1 drachm Syrup of Clove-gilly-flowers 1 ounce Mix them When Scorbutick Women are troubled with Hysterick Fits and Men with Convulsions Take of Water of Balm Pennyroyal each 3 ounces Compound water of Briony 4 ounces Tincture of Castor half an ounce Tincture of Saffron 1 drachm Syrup of Glove-gilly-flowers 1 drachm and an half of Castor tied in a rag and hung in the Glass 1 drachm The Dose 3 or 4 spoonfuls For them that desire their Cordials rather in a solid form Electuaries or Lozenges may be prescribed Take of Flos tunicae 3 ounces Confectio Alkermes half an ounce powder of Pearl 1 drachm With a sufficient quantity of Syrup of
such a Body is either Plethorick or Cacochymick or otherwise full of ill Humours I accommodate my Medicines to evacuate them especially if they be the cause of it and when there is a great mass or pravity of Humours Platerus and the Kings-Evil is bad and breaks out in many places then I give stronger Purges ¶ As to evacuation unless there be other occasion for it it ought not as commonly it is to be so much insisted on for one Swelling as if the Body were full of the Scroffles especially since otherwise there is small hope of Cure Idem III. I find divers opinions concerning Vomiting Aetius whom Avicenna follows commends Vomitiâ—g but others wholly condemn it I find some who go a middle way and say it is not good before Purging but after But I am of opinion that none should Vomit in the Kings-Evil and I am of this opinion for this reason Because though the antecedent matter may in some measure be diminished by Vomitting yet the impacted matter is so far from being thereby removed that it is rather the more exasperated Besides it is certain that the Head is extreamly filled with Vomiting For look but on those that Vomit and you may see the jugular Veins strut and the whole Head swell and grow hot so that without all question the Head is filled with Vomiting Which made Hippocrates lib. de loc in hom greatly to condemn vomiting in Diseases of the Ears and Eyes and for the same reason why it is not proper for Diseases of the Ears Mercurialis it may not be proper for Diseases near the Ears IV. To stop the matter which is in Flux Frictions Cuppings Vesicatories applied to the Head are proper and as soon as I observe Swellings arise in the Necks of Children I find no more present Remedy than to exulcerate the Skin of the Head for this is the most proper diversion and evacuation But we must have a care not to draw Blisters in Childrens Heads with Cantharides for as I have often observed in this age they often cause great torture and pissing of Blood But it is better to do it with Mustard Nettles Hony-suckle Idem yet with great moderation and prudence V. But whether in stopping the matter which is in flux may we use astringent and repelling Medicines Galen ad Glauconem speaking to him tells him that he gave astringent Medicines for the Kings Evil and as Akakius interprets it repellent From which place any one may gather that the use of them is proper but never except in the beginning Besides in Rhases lib. de Apostem it is found that Plantain is very good in the Cure of the Kings-Evil But now Plantain is a Medicine that binds and repells Wherefore the use of such Medicines seems convenient in curing the Kings-Evil But there are reasons on the contrary side because whether we have regard to the matter or the places suffering we are very far from any reason for ever using them for the matter is cold thick and impact and therefore can by no means be repelled and in respect of the place they are not convenient because if we find the matter subtil and hot since it is the place of the Glands and next to the Brain it self the matter must never be repelled from these places lest it be forced from a more ignoble part into the Brain Therefore Galen 3. 3. K. T. sayes we must never use repelling Medicines in the Parotides And he in 14. m. m. sayes in express terms that no other cure should be used in the Kings-Evil than such as is good for a Scirrhus and hardened Tumours in which he advises to act only by emollients and dissolvers and all Physicians have followed this way yea Aetius sayes that the Kings-Evil beginning in Children must be softned dissolved and discussed so that no scope is left for them who think that the use of Astringent Medicines may be convenient in the beginning of the Kings-Evil But they that understand Galen speaking in his own Language may easily remove this Scruple because all Interpreters have been mistaken in this place For the word which he uses 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 they have very ill translated to astringe for it rather signifies to restrain or diminish or make smooth so that Galen's opinion in that place is that he gave Medicines which restrain and keep down the Scroffles and this may easily be gathered to be true because in the same Bâ—â—â— cap. 4. he uses â—he very same word and the iâ— erpreter has translated it very right in that place It mâ—â—â— not therefore be thought that clear-sighted Galen â—â—â—â—ld be mistaken in so plain a case as to use astringents in the Kings-Evil But what shall we say to Rhases I say that Plantain may be used either green or dry In the green the abstersive faculty is almost wholly drowned in the moisture but in the dry it is great Which when Galen 6. Simplic med cap. de Arnoglossa would teach us he says that the Leaves and Roots of Plantain dried are good to open obstructions in the Liver and Kidneys Therefore when Rhases commends Plantain he means the dry because it cleanses dissolves and discusses Idem ¶ Yet Rondeletius pract l. 2. c. 4. affirms that he has cured several of the Kings-Evil beginning by laying Cypress nuts upon the part according to Dioscorides his precept ¶ Wharton also Adenogr c. 40. sayes that the external cure of the Kings-Evil which is managed by repellents and discutients is not without hazard because the matter may very easily recur to the inner parts and breed there more dangerous Swellings of the same sort or may encrease these that were bred there before VI. Sometimes Sweating is proper if abundance of Scroffles dispersed up and down the Body do show there are excrementitious ill Humours especially in Phlegmatick and moist Bodies But in hot and Cholerick Bodies sweating is not so proper for it only more inflames the Body and Humours In which case Surgeons rashly think to cure by this one Remedy as they think they can all external Diseases and so they often emaciate Mens Bodies to no purpose Platerus VII As we find that Narcoticks outwardly applied have a great dissolving faculty so also if applied in the Kings-Evil they will do much As leaves of Mandrake Henbane Poppy bruised or roasted a little under Coals or boiled or used any other way by themselves Also Mandrake root or powder added thereto c. The rubbing also of the Scroffles till they grow red does also conduce something to the discussion of them And if it be used before the application of Topicks it better disposes them to receive their virtue Idem VIII By a potential Cautery which making an eschar in the Skin without pain opens the Scroffles I have often got them out Or I have laid them bare that they might be better suppurated by applying Medicines But it is dangerous to
thus He orders the deaf Persons to go into the Bath in the Morning that the Veins which are behind the Ears may swell with the heat of the Bath afterwards he cuts them thus turgid and takes away as much Blood as he thinks fit Oethâ—â—us apud Schanckium to the great benefit of such as are troubled with thickness of Hearing III. If any one be deaf who has a hot and dry Head I would not purge his Head It is sufficient to take away the matter below and hinder it from ascending for so the Head may easily be cured and so I would do nothing to the Head neither give sneezing nor gargarisms much less pump it Montanus Cons 152. nor any thing else IV. In a very stubborn Disease we must proceed to Fluxing with Quick-silver that if possible the matter that causes the Disease may be purged by the Mouth for Deafness caused by the Pox is so cured and perhaps where that is not the cause Fonscâ—s it may also be thus cured ¶ Reason tells us as much for Quicksilver softens and discusses hard Tumours and most powerfully dissolves Humours that are concrete and settled in the Parts and so perhaps may dissolve Phlegm concrete in the Ear when it will not give way to other Remedies Yet this Remedy must not be tried but in a desperate case for its event is very hazardous and dubious because the Brain is much damaged by anointing with Quick-silver so that either deafness or thickness of hearing takes some who are cured by fluxing although as is said before Deafness caused by the Pox is sometime cured by fluxing Riveriuâ— And fluxing well managed after sufficient purging seldome leaves any hurt in the Brain V. The cure ought not to be the same in Child-Bed Women such as are upon recovery from Sickness and others by reason of the diversity of causes affords divers Indications for cure For in Women in Travel the animal faculty does its utmost to deliver the Child therefore there is a great Influx of animal Spirits about the spinal Marrow to be distributed into the Nerves of the Muscles of the lower Belly This intense violence of motion is the cause why the origination of the Nerves especially about the hind part of the Head is affected to wit where the spinal Marrow descends Now the Nerve of the fifth Conjugation which is allotted to hearing has its original there and by a very short duct is inserted into the inner Ear. Whence it is plain that in such straining it may suffer also and that thick and viscid Humours may after Travel be gathered about its insertion because of the faintness of the innate heat and the Womans weakness by reason of her violent commotion and seeing upon other accounts the animal faculties are weak in lying in and pregnant Women And such as are upon recovery have their concoctive and alterative faculty weakned wherefore there is a produce of many Vapors from the weak heat which when they get into the Organ of hearing cause a depraved sense In lying in-Women therefore it must be our care that they cleanse well we must have regard to the whole by preparation and evacuation of the Humours not neglecting outward applications that the matter gathered about the Organ of hearing may be cut discussed and spent In convalescents it is sufficient that the innate heat be fortified But if the Disease go not away of it self Horstius prob 4. dec 3. gentle dissolvents should be used VI. The cure of Deafness and Noise should be attempted rather by dry than moist things because by actual humidity the Tympane is made lax the implanted Air is thickned and the cause of the Disease increased Wherefore suffumigations of Saffron Myrrhe Styrax Benzoin and Frankincense are approved by Hercules Saxonia Panthei lib. 1. cap. 20. And Joh. Zwelfer has regard to the Tympane Aqua Acouistica Mindereri sayes he if it must be made use of I think neither it nor any thing else should in any quantity be poured into the Ear seeing the Membrane expanded upon the annulus and the little Bones underneath called the Tympane is very thin so that very easily it may totally be destroyed and eroded by pouring in of sharp Liquors and so the hearing be quite destroyed Therefore I think it more advisable sayes Schneider lib. de Cathar special p. 99. that a piece of a wheaten Loaf new drawn out of the Oven be sprinkled with this water and applied and bound hot to the Ear that so the heat of the bread and the spirituous water acting together the gross Humours which obstruct the auditory Nerves and Passages may be incided attenuated and evacuated by insensible transpiration or being driven back to the palate by spittle Wherefore in such cases it would not be amiss to take this water into ones Mouth for the greater attenuation and attraction of the gross Humours from the auditory passages got within the Tympane which can never get out at the Tympane without hurting and eating it through VII Joel l. 2. pract S. 2. commends for Deafness all things requisite premised a Sudorifick draught of Theriaca Andromachi and Rue water Osw Grembs l. 2. c. 1. § 11. in imitation of him commends a Sudorifick cure of a Decoction of the Woods to consume the moisture of the Brain This I have proved by experience that if deaf Persons have a thick and cold Humour impacted in the auditory Nerve or in the Tympane all things requisite being premised Bathing is good to sit in water up to the Navil not too hot but only that the parts may be warm and the Blood rendred more fluid A little after 2 or 3 drops of Apoplectick Water must be dropt into the Ear on the side affected and so you will see your Patient cured out of hand For the Sick say Hofmannus that after the use of this they feel as if something had fallen out of their Ear. VIII Oyl of bitter Almonds is commended indeed in Deafness and a Noise in ones Ears But because of the windings in the Ear we must be cautious in the use of it For when it is got to the Membrane of the Tympanum because it cannot easily be wiped out S. Pauli Quadrip Botan p. 19. it makes the Membrane lax and so does not only not cure but encrease Deafness ¶ It is my opinion that no unctuous things should be dropt into the Ears lest the membrane of the Tympane growing thick should make dull the hearing whose excellence consists in dryness All Membranes whether they be softned with oyl or be often wetted are puffed up and grow white If it be thought good to use any Oyls Th. de Mayerne confilio pro surdo M. S. the exhalation of them is sufficient without pouring in of the substance by which evaporation the implanted Air when inspissated will be sufficiently attenuated with the adventitious IX Sulphureous and bituminous Bathes as well by way of Bath
so that a great part of the crassa meninx and the motion of the Brain might very well be seen yet the Patient recovered but after the Ulcer was cured and cicatrized the motion of the Brain might then be observed Nevertheless I would advise no Surgeon to undertake the Cure of so great Corruption at his own peril But if the corruption be little the Bone must be taken out with a Trepan or scraped the Ulcer cleansed and the Body fluxed as in the Pox yet there must be a less quantity of Quick-silver Chalmetaeus Enchir. p. 85. For a Talpa with the corruption of the Bone must be cured as the corruption of the Bone in the Pox. XXV A Nobleman had a Ganglium grew in his right Groin by little and little as big as a Child's head He advised with Physicians and Surgeons who tell him of the danger of Bleeding of a Gangrene and Lameness He chose rather to dye than endure it any longer unfit for Arms or Wedlock The Lump was cut about in an Oval line from the Groin to the Scrotum then at the Membrane a little of the Tumor was cut off and by degrees the Skin which was under the Swelling was separated towards the root the Veins and Arteries as they were laid bare were tied for fear of an Haemorrhage The Lump was pulled out with its Coat glandulous white without any Blood or Flesh within easily separable from its root As the Wound was healing he had a Fever bitterness in his Mouth filthy Matter pain in the other Groin Hollerius but he was cured by a Purge XXVI Fungi very often grow from the Membranes of the Brain yet they grow also in divers other parts of the Body because of the vast conflux of Humors from the whole Body and that through Natures great Providence as Hildanus cent 2. Obs 19. sayes For since nothing is a greater Enemy to the Nerves than the injury of the Air especially if it be cold Nature which is ever intent upon the conservation of the individual covers the nervous and membranous Parts when wounded and laid bare with this sort of Excrescence lest the Nerves should be hurt by the Air while the Wound is in curing And their Cure must be begun by drying and finished by Erosion or Excision Drying Medicines in the beginning are safer than Eroding or Septick ones For these in Wounds of the head hasten death and in Wounds of the Limbs cause Pain Inflammations and other most grievous Symptomes And seeing out of Nature's great beneficence this Excrescencie is produced for the Patient 's good it must not be consumed at the very beginning till the Nerves and membranous Parts be sufficiently covered with Flesh that they can no more be hurt by external injuries When the Pain Inflammation and other Symptomes are abated if the fungous Excrescence fall not it must be depressed by Dryers of which rank are root of round Birthwort Florentine Orrice Angelica leaves of Savine Rosemary c. When these things have been applied for some dayes if the Fungus abate not but grow up in the Flesh it must be cured by eating things as burnt Allum burnt Vitriol Mercury precipitate strewing on the Powder and then applying a Cataplasm Or a Ligature may be made and it may be cut off either with a corrosive Thread or with a Knife Which when done Hofmannus the Powders of the said drying things may be strewed on XXVII One had for some Months a Swelling rising upon the right side of his Forehead with a broad basis as big as a Hazle-Nut of the same colour with the Skin soft and as it were puft up it grew of it self when it was pressed with the Finger it gave way and suddenly rose into the same shape again without Pain yet it was not observed to be moveable this way or the other nor did it increase And because I thought it was one of those Tumors which are more easily extirpated with the Knife than dissolved by Medicines I order the Skin to be cut obliquely with a sharp Penknife As soon as it was done no Blood but a very little limpid Humor like the vittreous one of the Eye ran out It fell upon the Patients right hand and he affirmed it was very hot Praecipitate was immediately put into the Wound and other things put after to hinder Inflammation and when it was opened the next day the Bladder was taken out and the Wound was within a few dayes so dextrously healed that there was not the least sign of a Scar left behind Thus we may easily prevent things in the beginning which if neglected till they grow old will scarce give way at all to any Remedies And no question but this Tumor J. Rhodius Cent. 1. Obs 29. if it had been let alone would have turn'd at length into a Meliceris or Steatoma when the Mucus had grown thick by delay XXVIII If there be a swelling in the Cheek let the Physician have a care that it break not for so that Seat of Beauty might be deformed by a Scar However because oftentimes dissipaters ripen and ripeners dissipate by reason of their likeness in qualities it may so happen that Suppuration may come contrary to the intention of the Physician When therefore it is made let him draw the peccant Matter by proper Medicines to the inside of the Mouth or to the commissure of the Jaws which is by the Chin. Hofmannus For Women will sooner endure their Lips to be cut than to have a Scar in their Cheeks XXIX Dioscorides writes that the swelling of the Paps is abated by applying Hemlock which experience testifies to be true Although Dodoneus disapproves of such a Remedy because of the malignant and poysonous nature of this Herb Riolanus which being applied to the Paps may hurt the Heart XXX Steatomata and several Abscesses are often bred in the Omentum because great store of Fat and Glands is found here So the Mesentery both of it self and because of plenty of Glands is very subject to Inflammation Tumors and Corruption Because these Diseases are difficultly distinguished one from another they require an experienced Physician We may say the same of the Pancreas and Spleen In the mean time I shall communicate this Plaster the efficacy whereof in curing the Tumors of the said Part I have often experienced Take of Gum Carranna Barbette Ammoniac each 1 drachm Mercury killed with Turpentine half an ounce Mix them Make a Plaster XXXI We must proceed gently and gradually in cutting or pulling out axillary Tumors for while we draw and separate the Tumor with Pincers or any other way the Muscles that serve for respiration are contracted also hence an interception of Breathing As soon as ever this is observed we must desist a little from the Operation till they have gathered strength also Cold and very repercutient things must by no means be applied to these Parts Fabr. Hildanus lest
Hands Face and all the superficies of the Body according to the nature of the Disease And then Salivation is promoted by them which though it may be stopt in some for a few hours by virtue of so strong an incrassating Medicine yet strength being presently encreased by this new Aid Nature rowzes her self and finishes what she begun with success Nay I have observed that Salivation which usually abates about the 11th day and sometimes sooner to the Patient 's great hazard has upon giving Paregoricks more than once been renewed afresh and has not ceased before the fourteenth day and sometimes after it I usually give either about 14 drops of Liquid Laudanum or 6 drachms or 1 ounce of Syrupus de Meconio in Cowslip water or some such destilled water Which if they be given to grown Persons after the Small Pox are all come out every Night till the end of the Disease I have found by experience that not only no inconvenience but great benefit will accrew to them from thence But it is expedient as I think to give the Paregorick a little sooner than otherwise is usual for you may easily observe that in the worst Small Pox the Paroxysm of heat as I may call it does usually torment the Patient with restlessness and other Symptomes Idem p. 303. which if the Paregorick be taken about 6 or 7 a Clock in the Evening may be in some measure prevented XXV Moreover since in the Confluent Small Pox a Loosness does as certainly follow Children as Salivation does the adult Nature alwayes appointing one or the other of these evacuations to carry off the Morbifick matter as on the one hand I never give a check to Salivation so on the other I do it not to a Loosness since both are equally absurd The ill bestowed pains of several imprudent Gossips has murthered many Thousands of Infants while they falsely reckon with themselves that a Loosness is as dangerous in this sort of Small Pox as in the other that is distinct Not knowing that in the distinct a Loosness does hurt where evacuation is made by the Pustules but that here it is Nature's work seeking a pass for the Disease Letting alone therefore the Loosness 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 according to Hippocrates his rule 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and we must work with Nature I proceed as I begun and advise them to lay the Children sometimes in the Cradle sometimes to take them up and Idem p. 204. if they be weaned I order them the same Diet as I did grown Persons before XXVI If in the distinct kind by reason of an over hot regiment and continual Sweat the Face do not swell Pustules in the mean time appearing very thick but be flaccid and the interstices of the Pustules be pale in this case because I would do my utmost for a more temperate regiment and to check the fury of the Blood I immediately order some Paregorick to be given Which indeed unless the Brain be over heated by gently causing Sleep and thereby checking the Head-strong rage of the Blood Idem p. 206. it seasonably determines the Blood together with heat to the Face as the nature of the Disease requires XXVII But if the mischief coming from this cause proceed so far as that Sweat which hitherto ran plentifully does cease of it self if the Patient fall into a Phrenzy make little water and often because death is at hand I think the Patient can be relieved by no othar means then by taking away a great quantity of Blood from his Arm and exposing his Body to the open Air. And indeed what I have now proposed seems not so rash and unreasonable if we consider how some have got out of death's Iron hands by Bleeding plentifully at the Nose This moreover is to be considered that in this extream Agony they are not in danger of death because the Pustules go in for they are out and very red when the Patient is at his last gasp but because the Face does not swell Now to promote this swelling of the Face whatever it is that conduces to temper the Blood and I suppose none will deny that Bleeding and moderate refrigeration has this virtue it must of necessity do good as well as the use of Paregoricks Idem p. 208. and for the very same reasons XXVIII I would not have this understood as if in every Phrensy coming in the Small Pox since no one Symptome is more frequent than this I would advise Bleeding immediately but in that only which therefore comes because the Face does not swell that is in the Distinct kind and where Pustles appear plentifully enough Or when by reason of a very hot regiment and use of Cordials the Blood is so fierce and above all measure exalted that it will not give time till it may be reduced to a due temper by paregorick Medicines and others conducing to the same When the case stands thus the Physician governing himself rather by conscience than by incertain fame ought either to take away Blood as is said before or order his Patient to be refreshed with the open Air To effect which it seems sufficient to me that the Patient rise a little while from his Bed by which means I have saved several from death Besides these things which I have seen with my own Eyes there are innumerable instances of Men who by these means have been delivered from the jaws of Death For some Phreneticks having escaped their Nurses guard and men so affected use wonderful shifts have got out of their Bed and been exposed to the cold of the Air in the Night Others either by stealth or by snatching or by entreaty have got cold water of their Nurse and drunk it and so by a happy mistake have obtained their health which was despaired of Here I shall produce one story which I had from his own Mouth whose the transaction was Which is this This young man in the flower of his Age went to Bristol was taken there with the Small Pox and a little after them with a Phrensy The Nurse having occasion to go into the City left the sick Man to other folks care till she came again presently But while she tarried a little longer the sick man as the by-standers thought in the mean time dies The by-standers considering both the time of the year and the habit of his Body which was gross and corpulent that the Body might not stink they lift it out of Bed and lay it naked on the Table throwing a Sheet over it The Nurse at length coming back and hearing the sad news enters the Room to behold the sad Spectacle she presently threw off the Sheet and looked on his Face and she thought she discerned some obscure signs of Life Idem p. 209. therefore she presently laid him in Bed again And the man recovered in a few dayes XXIX If in the confluent Small Pox the Spittle be so baked and
the future safe from the bites of those Creatures I answer It is not confirmed by experience that if any man have taken the foresaid powder he is free from the bites of the said Creatures since it has been often tried that they who haâ—â— used this prophylactick have nevertheless when they have been bitten in a Nervous place and very deep by Vipers or Serpents provoked to anger and chafed violent Convulsions and other dire Symptomes immediately arising ended their dayes in Groans and Sighs Besides if this assertion were universally true it would follow that when a Viper bites a Viper and one man another there would be no danger in biting one another since all the bitten Viper consists of the matter of the Viperine powder and so would be above the activity of the Symbolical Poyson But it has been tried that a Viper bitten by a Viper has died and also that a Man bitten by another enraged Man has been in danger of his Life Therefore in Italy when Men are bitten by Vipers they are cured not only by taking the powder or flesh of Vipers but by speedy Ligatures Scarifications Cauterizations attrahents and by expellers and Alexipharmacks given inwardly And whereas some can handle all sorts of Serpents as they list without danger though they never took any powder of Serpents I think this comes 1. From some peculiar gift or property granted by Nature to this or the other Man and sometimes to some whole families 2. From some mens singular boldness joyned with a great dexterity in handling them Besides provident Nature has implanted a certain dread and fear in Serpents of Men that pursue them boldly for all those who employ themselves in that business do confess that the Serpents are so affraid of them before they see them and slide away so fast that they can scarce overtake them or lay hands on them It happens quite contrary if timorous men meet Serpents being moved with hatred they set upon them and do them what mischief they can Which very fear may much exaggerate the Poyson received from the biting of these Animals and disperse it all over the Body and by consequence cause sudden death which Poyson of its own Nature is not so very mortal just as it happens in the Plague where the timorous are in far greater danger than they who are of a fearless mind I will easily also grant that they who have taken the viperine powder may take heart and strengthen their confidence from thence so that thenceforth they may not from such hurts be in so great danger of their lives for they will slight the hurt and therefore will be but slightly yet caeteris paribus thereby affected Zâ—vefferus XXVIII Pliny sayes that Scorpions in Italy are sometimes harmless nevertheless at Padua I have observed their strings to swell much and be very painful Petrus à Castro observed the venome to return in himself and a hen a year after For when the Sun was passing the Sign Scorpio a black and very Venemous Scorpion stung him in his Fore finger of his right Hand he presently felt a pain and chilness in his Arm and a heaviness in his Finger The Scorpion was taken and bruised and applied to the wound and other Alexipharmacks but all to little purpose He thrust his Finger into a Hen's breach and his pain ceased in an hour and an half the Hen swelled and was half dead yet upon swallowing a little Treacle she recovered but halted Upon the return of the very same moment of time the next year the Hen was convulse and fell down trembling and lifeless till she was restored by taking a little Treacle That Excellent Person felt the pain in his Finger return at the same time with a Phlegmonous tumour who after sharp and yellow pus had been evacuated and Antidotes given he was perfectly well after it Rhodius Câ—nt 3. Chs 90. H. Furenius and I have observed at Padua that Tobacco is a Remedy for them XXIX It is observable that Acids correct most vegetable Poysons as Monks-hood Deadly Night-shade which besides other Symptomes close the Throat so that Men cannot swallow Hellebore c. which is a manifest token that their misâ—hief must be ascribed to a volatil Salt and to a Sulphur that is immature indigested and inviscated with much mucilage wherefore when they are either communicated to the Blood or are still floating on the Stomach they are apt to obstruct the Pâ—res of the Nerves and vellicate them to destroy the frame of the Blood and to cause death XXX Vomits are good for all who have eaten Poyson except such as have eaten Mushromes and are in danger of strangling for they must be carried downwards as may be proved from their Antidote the wild Pear and other Astringent things Therefore they must be carried down with Clysters and purging Medicines and the Mouth of the Stomach must be closed with Astringents Rondeâ—etâ—us p. 917. as with Quinces wild Pears c. ¶ Their Alexipharmack according to Sanctorius is Oyl of Citrons XXXI Hemlock according to Dioscorides Mâ—t. med l. 4. c. 79. is a Poyson that kills because of its coldness Which saying seems to have given Physicians the occasion to determine that its temperament was cold without any further search But on the contrary many Histories of such as have eaten of it either by chance or through mistake do show that it acts on our Bodies rather by hot sharp fierce or otherwise efficacious particles than by obtuse and torpid ones Histories of several in Smetius his Miscel p. 599. who eat of the Roots of Hemlock boyled instead of Parsâ—eps prove that it is hot and does hurt by its hot particles for they were all mad Then it has a nauseous loathsome scent with it like wild Parsnep Galen 5. de s m. fac c. 18. calls it even aliene and adverse to Man while it is yet whole then it pricks the Tongue with a certain Acrimony and it is manifest that its sharp taste is hot Some of it was given to a Dog he vomitted and was very convulfe when his Body was opened his Stomach was found contracted and corrugated the mucas being wiped off the inner superficies appeared redder than it ought and there were red and livid Spots in the bottom of the Stomach It created a certain anxiety in the Dog by gnawing and convulsing the Nervous parts of his Stomach Convulsions are an effect of no dull and cold cause the red superficies of the folds â—how it to be hot and almost cauftick Therefore caution must be used in reading and imitating those who give Alexipharmacks promiscuously before the use of evacuaters or when the Hemlock is not discharged out of the Stomach Many advise generous Wine but according to Galen and Pliny drunk with Wine it sooner kills because its Acrimony is encreased by the Wine and more easily carried to the Vitals Therefore let Vomits be given presently to discharge it and it is not
cold and dry it scarce ever primarily and of it self labors under a hot Intemperature Whenever therefore signs of its being hot show themselves by inquenchable Thirst desire of cold Drink blackness and driness of Tongue refreshment by cold Things whether taken or applied offence by hot Things nidorous Belchings loathing bitterness of the Mouth and loss of Appetite the neighboring Liver must be blamed from Sympathy wherewith the Stomach is easily affected for seeing it lies close to the Liver the Liver easily communicates its Qualities to it Sanctoriuâ— X. An Intemperature of the Stomach with an Humor whether it be from a cold or an hot Cause must be corrected by premising a gentle Vomit For so we may more easily discharge the mass of Humors which is continually breeding there then if we should use Purgers Moreover by that means the Humor sticking to the folds of the Stomach is more easily cleansed and the Intemperature if it be not either innate Harâ—mannuâ— or very inveterate is corrected XI Seeing in a cold Stomach full of Phlegm the Indicant continues a long time we must therefore a long time and every day use Medicines for it if Strength will permit And the Strength permits the frequent use of hot Medicines which are not unpleasant as Diatrion pip diacalam Which we may use every day but we cannot use Hiera constantly because of its bitterness Yet we must not be too sparing in the use of Hiera when Matter is sticking in a cold and moist Stomach Especially if Hiera be made with 80 drachms of Aloes and not 120 drachms Therefore the Apothecaries must be ordered to have Species Hierae made 2 wayes For when we would prepare the Body Hiera of 80 drachms is most effectual If 2 scruples or a drachm be taken and made into a Bolus with Sugar or Honey and given frequently Cappivacâ—ius for this is a most wholesom preparing Medicine XII Whether may we give a Purge to a weak and cold Stomach which concocts slowly and ill and is also full of cold and gross Humors For we may strengthen no Part when it is full of ill Juices but it is known that a weak Stomach cannot well bear Purging Yet this must be understood of strong Purgers for such as Purge gently as Rheubaâ—b Hiera Simplex and Myrobalans Zecchius Cons 18. may without harm be born by the Stomach though it be weak XIII As to a cold Intemperature seeing hot Medicines are approved of two things must be observed concerning them 1. That they be not violent Heaters Therefore Ginger is good but it must be preserved in Sugar And Diatriâ—â—n Pipereâ—â—n but with Wine for Honey Sugar and Wine moisten substantially so Pepper is good but with Meat 2. We must observe that Astringents be mixt with Heaters lest the substance of the innate Heat be wasted therefore Avicen mixes a little Mastiche with a decoction of Spike As to Things applied outwardly we must observe a difference between hot and cold things for cold things are prohibited by the innate heat of the Midriff but not hot things Yet if it happen that the Part adjoyning be affected with a hot Disease it is safer to apply hot Things about the Navil and the left side because in the right side the heat of the Liver might forbid it Cappivaccius ¶ Things that heat immoderately dissolve the innate heat of the Stomach and at length cause coolness as is evident in Girls that eat Ginger and such things Rondeletius for therefore they are Pale ¶ Chymical Medicines seeing for the most part they have a sharp and a very hot Quality can be of no use in case of a cold Stomach especially when the Liver and Parts thereabout burn with immoderate Heat therefore Aristot 24 probl sect 13. Crucius de Quaesitâ—â— When he asks Why hot Things are sooner cooled in the Sun than in the Shade He answers that the less Heat is wasted by the greater And Galen 3 de morborum causis sayes that a less Flame fades by little and little if you hold it to a greater Willis XIV Have a care that you give not Wormwood Wine when bad matter lies mixt in the Stomach ¶ But it is good in a cold and moist Intemperature Heurnius XV. He that assists a weak Stomach by Heaters as soon as he sees the Urine grow red must immediately abstain from hot Things Walus It Hofmannus otherwise a Dropsie follows XVI Things that have Vinegar in them must not be used indifferently in every crudity for I find it is only useful when too much Moisture and that thick is joyned with heat at which time it must either be much dilated or mixt with cooling and lenient Things Mercatus XVII That Concoction may do its Office without any fault things that bind the right Oririfice of the Stomach must be taken after Supper that the Stomach may be the stronger contracted and may perform its Action more exactly And Rondeletius sayes that they greatly mistake who give hot Powders after Meals for by their heat and tenuity they immediately carry with them the Aliment half crude to the Veins whence obstructions arise XVIII Medicines are made of Confections and Powders to strengthen the Stomach But it is much better to give them in form of a Powder without much Sugar for Sugar and Honey and other sweet Things make lax the Stomach and breed Wind Rondeletius especially when there is not much Moisture in it XIX Pepper is of a very thin Substance and so for a time it heats the Stomach and its Virtue is immediately spent as all tenuious and hot Things are Galen commends Pepper very much wherefore I could heartily wish the moderns were wiser who when they find Galen gave Pepper with Ptisan in a Fever think that Galen was out and they say it were better to use Cinnamon and so they order Cinnamon But they do not see Galen's mystery that Pepper heats the Stomach and not the Liver And Galen 4 de tuend valetud sayes that Diaspolit Diacalam and the like are very bad for a crude Stomach because they carry crude Humors to the Liver and cause Obstructions for although there be not so great a heat in Cinnamon yet it is more lasting Therefore I often give Sugar of Roses bruised very finely with a little Pepper Montanuâ— that it may more easily exhale XX. Celsus l. 2. c. 24. reckons the drinking of cold Things to be grateful to the Stomach and it appears from other places that drinking cold Water is good for the Stomach So l. 4. c. 18. he gives warm Water to them that are ill at their Stomachs He adds And hot Water for as luke-warm makes lax the Stomach and causes Vomiting so hot Water strengthens the Stomach Therefore Plistonieus in Athenaeus to strengthen the Stomach orders Water to be drunk very warm in Winter especially and in Spring and cold in Summer And Celsus l. 4.
Wine and other hot Aliments must be avoided For it is found by experience that crudities of the Stomach and destillations arising from the heat of the Liver and the exhalation of bilious Blood are very much exasperated with the use of generous Wine and such things and abate with the contraries Enchir. Med. Pract. ¶ Now most Physicians have only one intention in weakness of the Stomach while they fly to astringent hot and bitter meats to Wormwood Wine heating and astringent Plasters and Unguents Innumerable People at Venice having their Stomachs polluted with divers Humours and ill of Hypochondriack Melancholy wear hot things constantly upon their Stomachs and take strengthning and hot things supposing it to be a cold intemperature Nevertheless their Liver is very hot their Spleen and Mesentery are loaden with Melancholy whence comes wind in their Belly And they think they do good with these hot and astringent Medicines when they encrease their misery But Galen sayes plainly Sanctorius that he has eased Diseases of the Stomach by drinking cold water XXXVI Johannes Riolanus has observed that when the Colon is full of faeces the Stomach labours under difficulty of Concoction Therefore the excrements must often be got out by Clysters XXXVII Among the Diseases of the Stomach the most common is the laxity of it which may come from any intemperature One man when he had been long troubled with this Disease and many had had him in hand but none could find a Remedy for him when he came to me I easily knew by the Medicines he had taken that the Physicians thought he was ill of a cold intemperature And I from the preceding cure and other evident reasons thought quite otherwise that his Stomach was ill of a hot intemperature Wherefore having recourse to such Remedies as his dry Body now almost consumed away seemed to require the first day I ordered him only to eat some Lettuce out of Oyl and Vinegar which when he found beneficial and proper for his Stomach I order him to leave off Bathing Frictions Exercitations especially of the upper parts all unctions and hot meats which he had hitherto used and rather to turn himself to meats that are cold and difficult of concoction wherefore I recommend unto him Mutton rather than Fowl or Fish unless of a hard sort in this sickness of his I tell him that cold and austere Wine is the properest drink for him and that a hot and thick Wine is most improper To which when he gave way and carefully observed his directions using only this sort of diet and cooling Medicines he was as well as ever he was Benivonius within two Months XXXVIII The dilatation or resolution of the Stomach is a Disease very frequent both in healthy and sick People when its tone is so loosened with broths and cold drink and much moisture that a Loosness follows thereupon which is attributed to corruption of the food by a hot intemperature of the Stomach or to the obstruction of the Mesaraick Vessels which is rather a Symptome of too great laxity Fernelius his Disease of Matter which must be cured by strengthners and astringents In some after their death the Stomach has been found so lax that it would hold a Childs head Therefore the observation of Diseases of matter is very necessary for practice which are cured by astringents and driers taken inwardly and applied outwardly Riolanus according to the doctrine of the Methodists who make Lax and Strict to be in Diseases XXXIX A great heat of the Stomach well concocts hard things and difficult of concoction as hung Beef Cabbage and such things The same heat corrupts tender meats as Eggs and small Fishes The cure in these is to change Diet. Hofmannus ¶ I knew two that were ill of heat in the Liver and of bile boyling in the Gall-Bladder which caused inconcoction A cold intemperature of Stomach was blamed in them whose heat languished being wasted by the hot Liver Many hot things had been used in vain to help concoction The first of these Men was the Illustrious Monsieur de Molondins deputy Governour of Newemberg He was much troubled to his dying day which happened in his sixty third year with a heat in his Stomach especially if he eat meats easie of concoction or several things to his Supper The Chyle fomed up during concoction and was almost all brought up in Spittle If he eat only of one meat or of what was difficult of concoction the concoction was performed aright without any disturbance The other was Gedeon des Bergieres who till the fortieth year of his age was troubled with such a spitting of a viscid and tenacious matter the heat of the parts about his Stomach abating afterwards in the process of his age he lives free from any such hurt and now digests very well XL. The coldness of the Stomach is not alwayes positive but often privative from the heat of the Liver and Hypochondria Therefore Galen primo de loc affect 4. has told us that when concoction in the Stomach is bad we must presently consider the parts about it which if they be very hot it is spoyled by them but the heat of the Stomach it self is not abated And although Aciditie be often perceived yet it proceeds not from cold but from excessive heat as the primary and chief cause as Trallianus considers and it is found by dayly experience that Wine in Summer in the heat of the Sun turns sowre ¶ The heat necessary for concoction must be plentiful sweet and moderate boyling not rosting Fortis Otherwise if it be exuberant it either turns the food to a Nidor and causes difficulty of concoction or as a great flame it dissolves and wasts the Stomach and so spoyls concoction Yea in process of time by drying up the fleshy parts of the Stomach without any diminution of the innate heat it weakens it whence comes ill digestion Therefore Galen 3. de nat facult said that beside other causes that concurr to concoction the whole substance of the Stomach is one So 2. de aph 35. he sayes it is well if the parts belonging to the Stomach be fleshy therefore the thinness of the Coats hinders concoction For a lean Stomach alwayes concocts worst Wherefore 3. de Symptomat causis he concludes that natural Organs the moister they are so much they are fitter for nourishing Idem but the harder and the drier the more unfit XLI The diagnostick of the Humour that causes the pain in the Stomach is taken from the time of the invasion increase or abating of the pain Some have the pain most before meat and this signifies the dominion of bile which is exasperated in time of fasting and drawn into the Stomach or grows sharper In others the pain arises immediately after eating because the crude and biting Humours which before were quiet and fixt to the coats of the Stomach are disturbed upon eating or they that
small Ale with leaves of Misletoe of an Appletree boyled in it instead of Hops And in a 4 Gallon Runlet let a bag with half a pound of Peacock's dung and 3 drachms of Cloves bruised be hung in it Willis II. Letting of Blood seems not proper because the Disease may arise from vaporous and spirituous exhalations which cloud Pallas her tower and these cannot be evacuated by Bleeding For Bleeding is rather proper in abundance of Blood either in respect of the whole in a Plethora or of some part in derivation and revulsion And the proximate cause of the Vertigo considered there is rather need of such things as break wind and prevent the breeding of it For the decision we must consider that in the cure of a Vertigo we must some times have respect to the antecedent cause which by a certain continuity upholds the conjunct Wherefore among other Remedies bleeding is prescribed by Aetius whether in the beginning or progress of the Disease if nothing hinder it especially where a bloody and hot matter gives original to those fuming exhalations that cause the Vertigo Galen l. de cur t. per v. s 10. approves the same A further limitation also may be here observed which Heurnâ—us sets If saith he accustomed excretion grow slow and the Disease encrease as in suppression of Sweat and Blood Blood may be let in the Arm. But you must not do this when the Disease comes from cold but where there is a Plethora the Disease bad and the Age strong a Vein may be opened sayes Aetius We had last year an instance of good success in a Vertigo cured by Bleeding that had long afflicted a principal Citizen who was of a hot constitution but a weak head who having been ill of a grievous Vertigo for several dayes by reason of vaporous and fuming Blood after he had taken a gentle Clyster and had in vain tried several proper Cephalicks was at last by once bleeding immediately eased of that Symptome that continually afflicted him Yea Paulus commends bleeding the Arteries about the Ears when hot exhalations are conveyed by the Arteries in great store to the Brain Instead of which Remedy they have now found a better which is a Cautery Horstius either actual or potential about the coronal Suture III. Although some disswade Bleeding in the time of the Fit lest strength which is then low should be further weakned yet if the Vertigo be long and violent and the constitution of the Patient such that he must of necessity be bled lest an Apoplexy seize him and if there be imminent danger of an Apoplexy there is no reason why Bleeding may not be allowed of Senâ—ertus if there be Indicants that require it IV. Bleeâ—ing in the humerary Vein is proper in Plethorick Persons not only if the source of the Disease lye in the Blood but also if there be either too much or spirituous Blood in the Head which occasions the Vertigo For seeing the Blood both of the Arteries and the Veins is confounded in the Sinuses of the Brain if a Vein be but opened spirituous Blood will come out in which if the mischief lye the main end of cure consists in bleeding And for this reason they advise Bleeding in the Jugulars Yea many teach that if Spirituous Blood cause the Vertigo it cannot be cured except the Arteries behind the Ears be opened and this sort of Remedy has proved well upon experience when all others have been tried in vain Yet we must not do this till we have tried all other wayes and are certain of the cause and know by the continual beating of the Arteries that it comes from spirituous Blood A Vein also may be opened in the Forehead if it come from this cause and in the Foot if Vapors ascend from thence And if the Menses be suppressed the Saphaena especially if the cause that sends the Vapours upwards lye about the Veins of the Womb. Upon which account the Haemorrhoids also may very well be provoked if the cause of the Disease lye in the Mesaraicks Platerus V. If neither Bleeding in the greater Veins nor in the wrist nor in the Haemorrhoids nor Cupping will do you good especially if you have tried them often and if you have used Purges stronger and weaker you must then without doubt have recourse to sweating with Guaiacum China c. especially if there be any suspicion of the Pox. But if these neither will do any good then necessity puts us on two sorts of Remedies the first whereof intercepts the passages by which any thing is transmitted either from the whole Body or from any part of it to the Brain And this comprehends the cutting of the Arteries behind the Ears celebrated among the Antients which they valued so much Which Remedy besides that it is suspected for Barrenness if we may believe Hippocrates and to cut an Artery any where is not without danger Besides also if they may safely either be cut or burnt we cannot therefore think that all the wayes whereby the Head receives are stopt presently since often the mischief gets into the Head by the internal Vessels which can neither be burnt nor cut Wherefore it were a madness to try a doubtful and suspected Remedy which is more dangerous than the pre-existent Ail But where the Ilness is extreme I should rather venture to burn the Veins of the Forehead and Temples by a Skilful hand If you dare not venture on this you may betake your self to the second sort of Remedies which is if the Veins be very turgid in the Head to empty the fulness of the Head by Bleedding under the Tongue Mercatus ¶ But if any one intend to abate the fullness of the Head omitting doubtful Remedies it is better to open the Jugulars which is a present Remedy and without danger VI. Arteriotomy is propounded by Galen and other Graecians Arabians and Latins made either behind the Ears as Galen advises or in the temporal Artery that is most tumid and beats most Now an Artery is cut either in the same manner as a Vein only for evacuation of the hot Blood as Paraeus advises whose counsel I have followed in this operation in other cases with success Or it is cut deep and quite through transverse so that the ends of the Arteries may contract themselves and close up whereupon no great effusion of Blood follows This operation more certainly intercepts evaporation by coalescence not by obstruction of the Arteries Although it be a question whether this transverse section stops the flux of the matter since a hot evaporation is made by the Arteries internal and external right and left Wherefore perhaps the interception would be greater if strong Astringents were frequently applied to the carotid and temporal Arteries Sylvaticus But the transverse section is now usual at Milan VII There are not wanting some who advise to burn the Head in several places with an hot Iron which indeed
is less suspicious especially where the case is desperate Instead of which our Art has found a Remedy of no less moment and much safer namely an Issue behind in the Head or a Seton there Which Remedy though it be very effectual in this evil yet it should only be used by them whom the Vertigo casts down and makes fall in the Fit For seeing it is certain that the Ail is communicated to the hinder Ventricles of the Brain it may be feared that the Patient might fall into an Apoplexy Epilepsy or at least a Palsie But when all the Ilness consists only in a Vertiginous circumvolution or dimness of fight a sign indeed of hurt in the fore parts of the Brain I think it far better to make an Issue in the Arm or a Seton thereabout But if it so happen that the Liver Womb or Haemorrhoids are stopt or any other evacuation by Ulcer or Fistula which often happens be suppressed also when any swelling in the Lower Parts falls without doubt I think it necessary either to recall the former fluxion or instead of it to open an Issue in the Leg by which Nature may transmit what she used to expel other wayes Mercuâ—â—us VIII Beside other Remedies I have observed Issues made in the Legs have done much good And though they be properly convenient where the Vertigo comes from the Spleen Liver or Womb yet I have likewise observed that Issues in one or both Legs have done a great deal of good Mercuâ—â—alis when it comes from the Stomach IX That Vertiginous Persons should be purged especially upwards is proved from 4. aph 17. and lib. de affect n. 2. But if pain and the Vertigo sometimes the one sometimes the other come upon the Head indeed these things used do good that is the Remedies prescribed among which Purging of the Head is reckoned He confirms this lib. de veratri usu This opinion may be proved from 18. sect 4. aphor and from Reason because if the Vertigo arise from bile floating upon the Stomach without doubt it must be excluded But Hippocrates 1. Prorâ—het num 9. excludes the Vertiginous from Purging They that Vomit black matter loath their meat are delirious pained about their pubes who have a fierce or closed Eye purging Physick must not be given to them for it is pernicious nor to such as are swollen or vertiginous Damocles 5. Epid. 80. having the Vertigo was not purged nevertheless If the Vertigo arise from a weakness in the Head it will be made worse by purging If from a mass of Humours in the Brain they will be more disturbed whence the Vertigo will encrease Besides in an acute Fever a Vertigo often comes from the concourse of Blood critical or symptomatical but this is cured by Haemorrhagy not by purging This may be reconciled considering that Hippocrates 4. aph 17. speaks of a Vertigo a stranger coming from bile floating on the Stomach which cannot be discharged but by Vomiting as the Stomach is next to it and it has a tendency that way And that he speaks of a Vertigo coming from that cause the Diseases joyned there do shew And an inbred Vertigo proceeding from a Malignant Cacochymy in the Brain without doubt requires purging not by emeticks because vomiting fills the Head but downwards for the foul Humours being carried off whereby the animal Spirits are disturbed the Vertigo also will cease because when the matter is discharged no more caliginous Spirit will be bred But a Vertigo that has neither a Plethory nor a Cacochymy for its cause but a fixt and bad disposition in the Brain will not give way to purging but only to Alteration The place quoted out of Prorrhet must be understood of this though Galen in his commentaries thinks it is only prohibited by weakness What if we say that Hippocrates in that place judges the Vertiginous should not be purged because of a concurrence of Symptomes attending For he sayes Neither the Vertiginous nor swollen nor that cannot walk nor loathing their food nor discoloured For it is clear that such are very ill and cannot bear Purging Lastly a Vertigo that is the effect of a weakned Brain Sinibaldus Antiph pag. 174. and of exhausted Spirits such as befalls new married People requires only Restoratives not further evacuation X. Strong Purges must wholly be avoided Crucius de Quaesitis for they heat too much and cause vertiginous motions in such as are not subject to them XI Vomits often do good for besides Authors testimonies it appears from common experience And moreover because the vertiginous do often vomit hereupon many have grounded an opinion that the cause of this Disease does almost ever lye in the Stomach Now the reason why Emeticks do good in this Disease is because by this sort of Physick there is both a great revulsion made of the Humours in the Brain and the disturbed Spirits are soon composed When the Membranes and Fibres of the Stomach and Parts thereabout are vellicated divers Humours that is the Nervous Serous Lymphatick Pancreatick and Bilious are drawn to those Parts and so carried off so that the Brain is free from the afflux of them Willis and easily discharges many that were settled there already XII After universal evacuations we may proceed to particular ones of the Head by Sternutatories Errhina Masticatories and Apophlegmatisms Errhina indeed are suspected by some for they fear lest by that motion the Humours and Spirits in the Brain be more disturbed and so a Vertigo be caused Sennertus but if convenient evacuations of the Head have preceeded we need fear no such thing XIII In a Vertigo if fumes be observed to ascend by the outer Vessels Repellents have place but if they ascend by the inner they are so far from doing good that they do hurt seeing they do not repress fumes Frid. Hofmannus but retain them there when ascended The case is the same in the Head-ach XIV If the Vertigo arise from turning the Body round to the right or to the left the turning the contrary way cures it soonest In which lying on ones back is good Platerus But if it come from an internal cause or from Drunkenness this causes it Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. This is a most effectual Remedy in a Vertigo by Sympathy if Southernwood powdered be drunk in Wine warm Donatus ab Altomari or with Oxymel that is not sharp as Marcellus sayes 2. Oyl of Box as in the epilepsy so in the Vertigo is reckoned an excellent Medicine inwardly and outwardly anoynting the Arteries of the Temples behind the Ears and at the Wrists and the Soles of the Feet Inwardly thus Take of Conserve of Rosemary flowers 4 ounces Oyl of Box Nutmeg Mint each half a drachm with Syrup of Citron rind make an Electuary The Dose half a drachm yea if 8 or 9 drops of Oyl of Box be given with three ounces of
be deep because of the Humour in the Bone For the drying up of this Humour and falling of the Bone nothing is better than an actual Cautery Next to this Euphorbium has the second place which because it is sharp and hot in the fourth degree dries up the Humours in the Bone and besides seems proper for it by an occult quality But Dioscorides and Avicenna advise that if any do use Euphorbium he guard the flesh near the Bone with Liniments because of its extreme sharpness lest by touching the flesh it raise an Inflammation Therefore it was a good while ere I durst use it for fear of Inflammation or pain yet by degrees experience taught me that though it bite the Tongue and Nose extreamly yet in Ulcers though it be strewed on plentifully it causes no Inflammation or pain Therefore I use it with good success for carious bones bare of flesh even when the Lips of the Ulcer are diminished Hildanus strowing some on them every or every other day even in Children XXVIII If Sarcoticks weaker than they should be be made use of great store of Sanies is gathered in the Ulcer and soft and flaccid flesh is bred And if over strong and drying things be used the Ulcer grows dry the Lips are red and the flesh is consumed bloody matter also comes and pain is found in the place But if the part grow red and dry as it ought naturally and no corruption run out of the Ulcer and a good colour appear in the flesh Sennertus it is a sign of a good Sarcotick Medicine XXIX If the Ulcer be with a dry Intemperature Moisteners are required Here warm water is good if the Ulcer or rather the parts near the Ulcer be bathed with it for although Hippocrates lib. de Vlceribus shows that all the Ulcers must not be wet except it be with Wine yet Galen writes that no moistening thing is good for Ulcers But he means that Moistners are not good for Ulcers Idem as such XXX One had been a long time ill of foul malignant Ulcers in his Feet He applied several things he drank many sweating Decoctions and Specificks but all in vain At last he was anointed with Quick-silver as People are for the Pox and he was fluxt and cured successfully But why does Mercury cause Salivation By its great tenuity of parts it powerfully dissolves melts and softens therefore either applied or taken whatever familiar and connate Humour it has by degrees melted it carries it all by the Glands and Salival Vessels into the Jaws and Mouth and it comes up neither by Coughing nor Vomiting Thiermaiâ— but by continual spitting XXXI A reverend Divine of a good age having laboured some Months under an Ulcer on the inside of his right Leg along the shin Bone with much pain sent for me The part affected was distempered with great heat and the Ulcer discharging a Sanies endeavours had been used to digest it with Turpentine and the yolk of an Egg and such like unsuccessfully I fomented the Ulcer and Parts about with Claret Wine and dressed it with 2 parts of Vnguent diapompholyg and 1 part of Vnguent basilicon majus with Praecipitate Upon the Lips of it I applied Pledgits spread with unguent diapomphol and an Emplaster of some of the same diapomphol over all with Compress wrung out of the Wine and rowled it up lightly placing his Leg in Bed as before The next day I brought a Decoction of leaves of Plantain tops of Bramble Horse-tail flowers of red Roses and Pomegranate flowers to which I added some Wine and while it was heating I took off the dressings and found the heat somewhat allayed and the Ulcer well disposed to digestion I stuped the Ulcer dressing the parts about with unguent Tutiae mag Vig. and rowled it up as before By this method the hot intemperies removed and the Ulcer digested after which by the help of unguentum desiccativum and the Alom-stone I cicatrized it firm to the satisfaction of the Patient and his Relations leaving him again to the care of his Physicians Sir Alex. F. and Sir Fr. Pr. by whose order I made him a Fontanel Wisâ—man's Chirurg Treat p. 172. and some while after put him on a laced Stocking XXXII A Maid of about 35 years of age of a Scorbutick habit of Body had an Issue made in her left Arm which was continued running many years but at length whether through negligence or from some other reason she suffered it to dry up The Winter following she grew very much out of order by reason of a great complication of ill Symptomes of which the most important was an intolerable pain in that Arm and place where her Issue had formerly been After various courses of Physick and external applications she was in some measure relieved and was pretty free all the following Summer but in the Winter viz. 1672. her pain returned with such violence as to afflict not only the place of the Issue with such pains that she likened it to the cutting off of the Arm but it stretched it self in a while after to the whole Arm Shoulder yea the very side it self so that many attempts being made the Chirurgeons in the Country opened two Issues on each side of the seat of the old one Many other things were done till at last she came into my hands Dr. Walter Needham was her Physician and upon examination found her afflicted with a Rheumatism for which he instituted a convenient course and judged withall that the pain of the part was from the usual way Nature had taken to the old Issue whither the sharp Humours making their passage and finding no vent did disperse themselves through all the branches of the Axillary Artery on that side viz. to the Scapulary and Thoracick branches c. the Pain being every where found according to the place of their distribution To the cure of this besides what was inwardly administred it was thought requisite to eat down deep by a caustick into the place where the old Issue had been and thereby to divide the Fibres of the Membrane of the Biceps which lay just under it and seemed to be the place of the principal pain When this was done we divided the Eschar and cut it out then filled the opening with Praecipitate and applied a Pledgit of Vnguent basilic With Oyl of Lilies upon it and dressed it up We dressed it every other day till the remaining Eschar and Slough separated then we incarned and cicatrized the Ulcer even From the time of the opening this her Pain ceased and she was well of that but laboured under a Rheumatismus in great measure it swelling her Thigh Legs Hips and lower Belly but by frequent Phlebotomy Idem p. 178. Purging and other Prescriptions she was by my said Friend happily cured XXXIII A Maid Servant living in a Noble Family had cut the inside of her right Leg by a fall upon a hot
had tried several Medicines in vain and was in danger of his life He at last was freed from his vomiting by applying only one Cupping-glass to the bottom of his Stomach twice after meat And his weakness was such that besides vomiting he often voided a great quantity of Blood by his Nose Rumlerus Obs 14. which Symptome nevertheless vanished with the rest by that only Remedy III. The Excrements that stick to the Stomach are often a cause why men cannot keep what they take and things that are impacted into its Coats make it often vomit up what it contains in its Cavity Therefore a Vomit caused by Art which may expel what sticks to the Stomach or is impacted into its Coats will cure a Vomit by taking away the cause as a loosness and dysentery are cured by Purging and Clysters Vallesius Yet they ought not to be given rashly but when Remedies which are in their own nature contrary to the Disease seem to give no ease ¶ And it must be provoked by a moderate Emetick not a weak one such as warm Oyl nor by a violent one which draws from parts afar as such as are made of Antimony but with such as have a strong faculty of dissolving the glutinous humor Such as Gilla Theophrasti or Vitriolum album praeparatum Riverius Its Salt is more efficacious which is made of Vitriol calcined to an intense redness ¶ Valleriola is afraid to give a Purge to such as are troubled with a constant bilious or pituitous Vomiting because it is presently brought up again by vomiting and does no good but a great deal of hurt by irritating the Stomach and disturbing the humors and not evacuating them But it is my Custome and I have long experienced it first to carry off the humor that is the cause of the Disease by vomit first and then to strengthen the Stomach both by taking things and by applications that it may afterwards contain the Purge But they are in error who immediately at the beginning stop vomiting with Astringents for they fasten and retain the bad humors which Nature endeavours to cast off Enchir. Med. Pract. and which afterwards will prove the causes of grievous Diseases IV. Clysters are very good in all Vomitings if we give them in a small quantity and no strong Laxatives or Oyls For if a great quantity be given part of the Colon which lies upon the Stomach is full and the bottom of the Stomach is pressed and by that faculty whereby it irritates the expulsive one of the Intestines it provokes to vomits as Experience shews in several And strong ones must not be prescribed because there are but few Excrements Let them be made therefore of emollient Herbs Seeds and Flowers that discuss wind dissolving therein some Mel rosarum Rondelâ—tius violarum cassia or juyce of Mercury V. After long vomiting or when one cannot keep his food let Clysters be given of a decoction of Capon without Salt Sugar or Oyl but with a little Wine for Nutrition A great quantity of these must be given that it may go high but not greater than can be retained for when the Guts are empty they draw such a Clyster and retain it for their nourishment It is the best way to boyl Anniseeds in them to make them dispel Wind for the empty Guts are full of Wind which hinders the Clysters from going in Such Clysters should be given as often as the Patient used to eat For they will do good three ways by nourishing breaking Wind and because when the Stomach takes nothing all motion therein to vomit is quiet Idem and the Stomach contracts it self VI. When a Woman in the Iliac Passion vomited most enormously several Medicines did her no good till Horstius gave her a few drops of Elixir proprietatis Paracelsi VII A Gentleman 35 years old of the Senatory Order being subject to Diseases in his Spleen was taken with a vomiting so unexpectedly that he spewed in the Dishes at the Table When he had taken the Waters called Vicecomitenses in Avernia for a Month he returned to his Country Geneva free of his Disease VIII That cold water is proper in many Diseases coming from Bile the Writings both of the Ancients and Moderns do testifie A certain Noble Lord a Frenchman by Nation at a certain time did upon his departure showre down too liberal a shower of Bacchus born at the Canaries upon the Company The Courtiers his Companions as they went home were taken with vomiting This looked like a Symptome arising from a Surfeit Three days after this Nobleman was troubled in the like nature but far more violently for his Age was greater and his Stomach more sluggish I was called to ease his enraged Stomach I endeavour to effect this with various comfortable Internals and astringent Externals All was to no purpose whatever he drank or eat in the fermentation caused so much wind and trouble till the Vomiting gave him some little ease I tried to allay the inflammation contracted from the flame of the Wine with vitriolated Juleps and Emulsions but in vain At length I conjectured that Vitriolate things did rather exalt the vicious ferment of the Stomach and that Emulsions could not sufficiently correct that excess because they are not so plentifully prescribed by Physicians or cannot be taken by the Patients without Loathing Therefore I proposed a most liberal draught of cold water which could not encrease the ferment but weaken it by diluting it He drank off a Glass that held 12 Ounces The Stomach received its friendly guest most kindly and kept it quietly without the fermentation hitherto usual Sigism Grassius in Misc cur an 4 5. The Noble Person admired his quietness and by continuing to drink cold water did quickly safely and pleasantly check all the violence of the raging Archeus IX Among Poysons which produce enormous and for the most part mortal vomitings we reckon Arsenick Orpiment and corrosive Mercury sublimate all which in respect of their manifest or latent acrimony are most happily tempered and prepared for a more gentle excretion with oyly things as fat Broths any expressed Oyl Butter c. Among which Milk also uses to be coagulated by them and voided again wherefore it is good inasmuch as these coagulating Poysons do more readily joyn themselves to it Sylvius de le Boâ— and in that very thing lose their nocent Power X. If some malignity as in the time of Pestilential Feavers cause a troublesome Vomiting it must be opposed not with Purges or Vomits Ench. Mea. Pract. but only with Cordials taken inwardly and applied outwardly ¶ In that which attends Malignant Fevers 1 Scruple of Salt of Wormwood with half an ounce of fresh Citron juyce is a most excellent Remedy For this besides its detersive faculty saturates the peccant acidities as also do prepared Perl terra sigillata Bole Armenick Frid. Hofmannus with Rob of Corinths or Barberries mixt with
Sorrel Water XI They that have writ of the Scurvy almost all of them order Antiscorbutick Medicines to be given in Milk or Whey And Eugalenus writes that Vomiting in Scorbutick persons is better stopt with Milk than with Astringents when yet Milk is easily corrupted and breeds Obstructions but it is good because by its fat substance it greatly tempers the acrimony of the humors For with how great acrimony the humors in Scorbutick persons are endued the eating Ulcers in the Gums and Legs do sufficiently argue I have seen Handkerchiefs of a thick cloth not only corroded by the Scorbutick Blood that came out at the Nose but the Washer's hands also exulcerated that made them clean Nor need the corruption of the Milk or the procuration of Obstructions be feared from it for boyling and seasoning with Salt or Sugar will prevent these Mischiefs Besides the Antiscorbuticks which use to be boyled in it will sufficiently prevent such things And I do not think the foresaid the only reason why Vomiting is better stopt by Milk than by Astringents but also because by its abstersive faculty it cleanses those sharp humors and carries them off by stool whereas Astringents on the contrary detain them in the Body and fix them more firmly to the Coats and Fibres of the Stomach whence afterwards arises a perpetual vellication and an irritation to Vomit And Whey is therefore given because it not only tempers and cleanses the humors Michael Doâ—ingius but also because of its nitrosity and therefore its volatil Salt siezing the fixt Salt which abounds in Scorbutick persons it dissolves it and makes it more volatil ¶ In a Scorbutick Vomiting hot and sharp things are hurtful and more exasperate the mischief On the contrary things that asswage pain and qualifie the acrimony and scorbutick Salt Petraeus Barbette are proper especially Goats Milk with juice of Water-Cresses or Scurvygrass XII The bending in of the Cartilago Xiphoides otherwise the falling in of the Breast hurts the Stomach and causes vomiting and difficulty of breathing by hurting the Diaphragm Therefore this Cartilage must quickly be raised and set right again in its place Some say it may be raised by applying a dry Cupping-glass to the mouth of the Stomach XIII Vomitory Medicines taken unseasonably or in too great a quantity Sylvius de le Boe. and producing outragious Vomiting can only be cheekt and conquered by Opiates ¶ After the taking of a Vomit motions to vomit are several times repeated till the matter of the poysonous tincture be absterged from the fibrous crust of the Stomach and at length be all cast up to the end that the Nervous fibres of the inner Coat may imbibe the Poyson of it no more But it does not always so fall out that the vomiting is therefore at an end but though the Physick be wholly cast up and none of its Contagion remaining yet oftentimes the stomachick Spirits being too much provoked will scarce lay aside their fury so that they are irritated by any other juice whatever which the Nervous fibres imbibe and are cast into emetick Spasms and often repeat them Wherefore that the vomiting may then cease nothing potable whether alimentous or Cordial must be taken into the Stomach but a hot fomentation being applied outwardly the Patient must go to sleep Moreover sometimes other humors expressed out of the vessels and especially bile poured out of the Choledochal passage into the Stomach do not only add strength to the Vomit but when its operation is over continue further to provoke the Stomach and urge it to excretory Contractions For this reason when bile abounds seeing upon a small occasion it is called into the Stomach very often a cruel vomiting with horrible Symptomes is caused by a gentle Vomit Willis Pharm Rat. Sect. 1. Cap. 2. for quieting of which it is convenient sometimes to give a lenient Clyster to the end the turgescent bile may be sollicited downwards ¶ In a Hypercatharsis caused by a Vomit the Patient being laid in bed must be carefully treated with Medicines both internal and external and first of all that the guests of the Stomach may be quiet either a Warm Fomentation of a Decoction of Pontick Wormwood Mint and Spices in Wine or else a Tost of Bread dipt in warm Claret Wine must be applied Let a Clyster of Milk with Treacle dissolved in it be given Let warm frictions of the Limbs and strong Ligatures above the Knee which keep Spasms from those parts be used Let the Stomach in the mean time unless there be fainting be kept empty But as soon as it can keep any Aliment or Medicine let some Cordial Water or burnt Wine warm be taken In a great Perturbation if the Pulse admit a little Treacle or Diascordium sometimes also a Solution of Laudanum Idem Cap. â— or tinctura Opiatica will be proper XIV Mr. Girardus Seventy years old a Senator of Newenburgh was troubled at times with vomiting of a very sharp and black humor a cruel piercing pain of his Stomach preceeded he put his Finger in his Throat and brought up such matter He desired Medicines of me for his Stomach but I told him his Spleen must be cured of which he said he was never ill because he hated to take much I prescribed him some lenitive Electuary Catholicon or the like that the gathering of humors and the fluxion of them to the Spleen might be prevented He followed my advice for a Month and he was so long free from his Vomiting and Pains At length as it is their Custome there he went to a Priest that practises Physick in the Territory of Friburgh suspected of Magick He prescribed him I know not what after which he was worse for he took his Bed who before could go about his Business and died in a few days having been first troubled with a violent pain in his Stomach His Friends desired he might be opened I told them before that there would be nothing found in his Stomach but that they would find the cause of his Disease in his Spleen And his Stomach indeed proved faultless for there was nothing found there but a few Cherry-stones which he eat the day before but the upper part about a third of his Spleen was quite wasted as if it had been bitten off We could not search any further because of the unskilfulness of the Dissector who was liker a Butcher than an Anatomist This Disease came very nigh the Black Disease of Hippocrates which he mentions Lib. 2. de Morb. 1. 161. XV. A Merchant stopt a tedious Vomiting from a laxity of his Stomach by taking for 40 days together sasting 4 or 5 hours before Dinner 2 or 3 ounces of Biscoct Bread without Drink for it soaks up the moisture and strengthens the Stomach Pliny l. 22. c. 25. gave light to this Remedy against a Destillation Rhodius which the Noble Peireskius stopt with a mouthful of dry Bread and some
Mace and a crust of bread or in distilled water or Tincture of Pontick Wormwood Take of powder of Ivory Crabs-Eyes red Coral each 2 drachms Coral calcined 1 drachm red Sanders Cinnamon each half a drachm Make a powder The Dose half a drachm in the same manner Take of the Tincture of Salt of Tartar 1 ounce The Dose 1 scruple to half a drachm twice a day in some appropriate distilled water Idem XXVI In Vomiting from a sharp and hot matter Medicines endued with a sowre and vitriolick Salt are more convenient That famous one of Riverius is proper in this place Take of Salt of Wormwood 1 scruple give it in a spoonful of juice of Lemons Take of Coral prepared two drachms Salt of Wormwood one drachm and an half juice of Lemons four ounces Let them stand in a capacious Glass Add of strong Cinnamon water 2 ounces The Dose a spoonful or two twice a day first shaking the Glass Take of powder of Ivory Coral each 2 drachms Vitriol of Mars 1 drachm Sugar Candy 1 drachm Mix them Divide it into 6 or 8 parts let 1 be taken twice a day in some convenient Vehicle In this case mineral purging waters which have much Nitre in them Idem and Iron Waters use to do abundance of good XXVII If when the Stomach perverts most it takes into a bitter and bilious putrilage as it often does it be therefore incliâ—ed to frequent vomitings Medicines both Acid and Bitter are proper Take of Elixir proprietatis 1 ounce take 1 scruple twice a day in some convenient Vehicle Take of Rheubarb in powder xxv grains Salt of Wormwood 1 scruple Cinnamon water half an ounce juice of Lemons 1 ounce Mix them Take this either by it self or in some convenient Liquor Take of powder of Crabs-Eyes half an ounce Tartar Chalybâ—â—te 2 drachms Sugar Candy 1 drachm Make a powder Idem The Dose half a drachm with some convenient Liquor twice a day XXVIII The cause of a frequent and habitual Vomiting is oftentimes not so much any matter irritating the Stomach as a weakness of its Nervous fibres and it s too great propensity to irritation inasmuch namely as they being very tender and infirm can neither concoct what is taken nor bear the burthen or load of it but are presently irritated by any thing that lies upon them and therefore put the carnous Fibres into emetick Spasms that they may throw off what is troublesome In this Affection there are 2 cases to wit Either a weakness of the Stomach implanted in the very Fibres is contracted from some inordinate courses as Surfeiting dayly and immoderate drinking frequent drinking of Wine or hot Waters and other Errors in Diet inasmuch as these Fibres being distended beyond measure or too much heated or as it were rosted cannot admit or contain animal Spirits in a quantity sufficient Or Secondly these Fibres although of themselves they be well enough yet because of Nerves somewhere obstructed they are deprived of a due afflux of Spirits and thereupon being languid and flaccid they cannot bear what is taken but being oppressed they force it back by Vomit Thus I have known several who without any impurity of Stomach or languor contracted from disorder have been taken as it were with a Palsy in that part and lost their appetite and have been subject to frequent Vomiting In the first case such Remedies are indicated as may by their Stypticity make the too much distended and thin Fibres to corrugate and contract into a narrower room and such as may by their pleasantness draw spirits more plentifully thither and refresh what are languid Take of Conserve of red Roses vitriolate 4 ounces preserved Myrobalanes 6 drachms Ginger preserved in India half an ounce Species de Hyacintho 2 drachms the reddest Crocus Martis 1 drachm Syrup of Corals what is sufficient Make an Electuary The Dose 1 drachm twice a day drinking a draught of distilled water upon it In a weakness of the Stomach or resolution caused by some Nerves being somewhere obstructed Antiparalytick Remedies joyned with Stomachicks will be of great use Take of Elixir proprietatis Paracelsi 1 drachm The Dose 1 scruple twice a day in the following water Take of Cypress tops 6 handfuls leaves of Clary 4 handfuls the outer rind of 12 Oranges Cinnamon Mace each 1 ounce roots of Cyperus lesser Galangale each half an ounce When they are cut and bruised pour to them of Brunswick Mum 8 pounds distill them in common Vessels Tincture of Coral Tartar or Antimony may be used in the same manner In this case Spiritus Salis dulcis also Spirit of Sal Ammoniac or its flowers Willis ibid. give great help Moreover Vomits and Purges and Sweats are often given with benefit I have known this Disease several times happily cured by Bathing in the Bath at Bathe XXIX In Vomiting and the Disease Cholera Laudâ—num may be given with Syrup or Tincture of Roses or with sapa of Quinces and let a Cupping-Glass be immediately applied to the region of the Stomach Mâ—yerne traâ—t de Laudanâ— M. S. and make a Cataplasm of Leaven powder of Mint and Orange Peal with some juice of Mint Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Let this Plaster be applied for it does wonders Take of Mastich Cinnamon Lignum Aloes Zâ—doary Galangale Cloves Anniseeds Marathrum each 3 drachms Mix them Make a powder Mix the powder with Oyl of Mastich and Balm And then with leaves of Wormwood and Mint and baked Bread boyled in Wine make a Plaster â—ordonâ—â— and apply it warm 2. This following applied is found to stop Vomiting presently Take of sower leven 2 drachms dried Mint powdered Mastich powdered each 2 drachms and an half powder of Cloves 1 drachm a little Vinegar Mix them and spread them on a Cloth and apply it warm Grulingius it does excellently well 3. Water cooled in Snow stops a pertinacious bilious Vomiting above all things De Heredia As I have found by experience 4. This is a most excellent Remedy for all Vomiting Take of Cloves grossly beaten half a drachm Roses 1 Pugil red Wine half a Pound Boyl half away Joel The Dose 2 Spoonfuls after meat 5. If enormous Vomiting follow the taking of Antimonial Medicines take 4 drops of Oyl of Cinnamon in Cinnamon-water Kunrad and the Vomiting will presently stop 6. This is admirable good Take Yolks of Eggs fry them in a Frying pan with Oyl of Mastich adding powder of Mastich and Coral till they become a soft cake Rhudius Apply them hot to the Mouth of the Stomach 7. I have learned by experience that Water and Vinegar of Roses with the Yolk of an Egg and a little Salt without any Butter Rosenbergius presently stops Vomiting 8. A crust of Bread dipt in Malmsey Wine or Mint water and sprinkled with powder of Mint Mace Cloves Cinnamon or Spec. Aromat rosat and applied to the Stomach is
may be kept open by them for the pus and a way for Medicines to the inside of the wound and that the orifice of the wound may not close and heal up before the inner and lowest part of it which things if they be neglected and pus and excrements be kept in the wound they may be the cause of great pains and dangers To the reasons that deny them you may reply 1. That oftentimes wounds according to the various posture of the Patient when he was wounded are anfractuous and oblique so that though the sides and lips of the wounds be not then grown together yet they so touch and press one upon another that there is no passage for the pus And for the same reason Medicines cannot reach to the bottom And fluid Medicines are not alwayes proper seeing they are easily washed off by the Sanies and the thick and viscid being laid on the tents stick longer and faster to the wounded parts and better exert their virtue To the 2 and 3. If the tents be not over thick nor press and distend the part there will be no trouble or pain or fear of fluxion Again if all things should be omitted that create pain by the same rule sutures and swathes and bandages should be omitted To the 4. when they are fouled with pus take them out and put in new To the 5 The use of them may be gathered from what Galen delivers concerning the cure of wounds And as for them who hold that the upper orifice of the wound is never closed before the lower part be healed They may be opposed by experience Hildanus cent 3. obs 7. recites two examples of wounds whose orifices were quickly healed Sennertus the wound within being not yet healed whereupon pus gathered within and grievous evils arose from thence ¶ In all wounds especially those made by incision the skin is easily and quickly contracted at the beginning 1. Because it is Membranous 2. Because Nature endeavours by the tegument of an ignoble part to defend the more noble Parts underneath from the injury of the Air. But flesh cannot so quickly heal up for in the very wounds made by incision there is a sort of contusion but bruised flesh must of necessity putrefie and turn to pus which cannot be done but in time Therefore the skin of wounds especially of such as are made by incision is contracted at the very first and the Humours which run out of the wounded part Hiâ—danus are retained grow hot and sharp and hence comes an efflux of Humours causing grievous Symptomes ¶ In cureing wounds made by a prick we must make great account of Tents and we must observe what Hildanus sayes that they must not be so thick as to fill the whole wound but it is sufficient that they fill about 3 parts of it towards the superficies the 4th remaining empty that the Lips be not extended The depth also of the wound must be searched and care must be taken that the end of the tent do not touch or bear upon the bottom especially if a Nerve or any Nervous part be laid bare Therefore they must be made of the finest lint in form of a Pyramid that they may only fill about the 4th part near the bottom lest the breeding of flesh be hindred For this cause when the wound is digested the tents must be shortned a little every day Tents are also made like a reed hollow through either so made with Plasters or with an Iron plate tinned over that the running out of pus may not be hindred Haeserus Here. Med. l. 5. c. 6. even when the wound is not unbound ¶ And very narrow wounds because they do not receive a large Tent and being small because it is flexible it cannot reach to the bottom therefore they take a piece of Gold or Silver wire of a length according to the depth of the wound and wrap it in lint anointed with some Anodyne digestive oyntment and put it into the wound Hildanus VIII Although Tents be of use yet they are not alwayes necessary yea sometimes hurtful A Villain had given a young Woman six wounds by pricking rather than cutting in which this was peculiarly observed that she could not bear Tents when they were put in according to custome Which it was necessary to take out at Night unless you would have wholly kept her from sleep whereinto she fell as soon as they were taken out and linnen clothes dipt in Spirit of Wine were only applied outwardly by benefit whereof before the twelfth day her wounds were both happily filled up with Flesh and firmly covered with skin Hence I took occasion to admire the folly and madness of some Men who that they may not be thought to do nothing fill green wounds with great store of Tents and so they do not heal them yea Tulpius l. 4. Obs 22. the mutual contact being thus hindred they hinder the necessary coalition IX I have seen no ordinary Surgeons who have set themselves a certain time and number of dayes to finish digestion when which time has been over they have gone to mundifiers and abstersives though the wound were not sufficiently digested and suppurated to the great inconvenience of their Patients For digestion is not equally perfected in all subjects but in some sooner in others later If therefore such things be made use of before their time they will irritate the wound with their acrimony they will raise a new afflux of Humours and so will disturb nature that of a simple wound it will become a cacoethick Ulcer Therefore I happily proceed with digestives and asswagers of pain for the most part to the end of the cure Hildanus By this means not omitting Universals I am secure from all Symptomes X. Celsus when a wound is inflicted uses no repellents or repressers to hinder Inflammation which Surgeons now adayes commonly use about the place that is hurt but he cures it only by taking away Blood averting the fluxion and also by purging Which at this day is done with good success by the most learned Surgeons Repellents being utterly repulsed lest the Heat of the hurt part Rubeus in Celsum p. 200. which is Nature's who is the Curer of Diseases chief instrument should be weakned XI I have seen wounded Men after plentiful Bleeding cured in a few dayes without fear of Convulsion I saw a certain Surgeon in the Camp curing a young Man who was wounded in his Shoulder to whose wound his Friends had immediately applied Linnen Clothes to stop the Blood and he removed the Clothes immediately while he was feeling for I know not what with his Finger in the wound in the mean time disappointing his Friends who complained of the large effusion of Blood he let the Blood run as much as the Patient could bear without fainting well knowing that thereby he rendred him safe from Convulsion and about 8 dayes afterwards I saw him walking
the modus of the substance from the various texture of the Parts in the Blood which as was said are nothing else but the products of the Disease or matter whose departures from a natural estate are easily reparable but we admit also occult qualities which are made of ferments that our Soul uses for the performing of its actions which are such accidents as are immediately in the subject whose they are and on which they immediately depend and with which they are transmuted Thus for instance it is impossible that Acid or Bitter or Salt or other qualities contained in the mass of Blood should be changed and not their subjects changed withal on which they depend as on ferments and in which they are as accidents Hence Hippocrates lib. de prisc med uses not so much the word 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 alteration as 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 mixture and coction by means whereof what is distemper'd is to be restored Whence also it will much concern a Physician to know in the first place from what principles or ferments such qualities are immediately raised and then how one is to be changed into another as for example how from an acid a sweet may be made or of a sweet an acid from a bitter and acid a sowr from an insipid a Salt from a malignant a benign c. For he that knows this shall easily correct the preternatural ferments of these qualities that arise by departing from others in an undue quantity quality and motion or when by their fermentative vertues they either invade those of a contrary Nature that are join'd with them or snatch along with them those that they meet with like themselves or they themselves where they are either overcome by more powerful or draw weaker to themselves do put on divers Natures In a state of health many things are incorporated with us and subdued which if they be not they degenerate into filth they violate the vital principle by changing the ferments of the parts whence the Archeus is disturbed diversly and the vital oeconomy prejudic'd As therefore the said Qualities are not to be defined by the first qualities only as bare accidents of diseases and morbifick causes but are furnished rather with Hippocrates's 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 or powers so neither do altering Medicines themselves simply partake of an elementary nature but there lie hid in them other noble and occult qualities by which in their whole substance and appropriation they are contrary to this or that disease whence we should not have regard only to hot or cold c. but also to Acid Salt Bitter and other occult and foreign powers resulting from the ferments whereby man is affected and if it may be we should search out Specifick simple Remedies for all diseases Wherefore seeing Hippocrates teaches that distempers happen to a man a 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 from the powers and by them understands the efficacies and vertues of the juices let us see how we can invent Remedies that are fitly opposite to them and are furnished also with their powers or Specifick ferments If therefore there be a malignant fever and the Blood do thence too much effervesce through the febrile and poisonous ferment such altering Remedies surely are to be used as not only fix and precipitate the febrile ferment but also withal resist its malignity and are Alexipharmack Hitherto of the formal cause of Alteration its Efficient cause is next to be inquired and we determin it to be the fermental heat of the Viscera that by the help of altering Medicines which also have their ferments subdues the morbifick matter transmutes it and in due manner afterwards expels it for if the vertue of this fermental heat and its Balsamick saltness by chance be altered or suppressed or otherwise become weak being changed increased or restored by the said Alteratives it can easily afterwards subdue and conquer the vitious matter that is make it so fluid that it may afterwards be thrown off without difficulty Therefore we must inquire how alterative Medicines as to their internal vertues and their very Nature and substance are with respect both to the ferments of the Viscera and also to the morbifick causes and Archeus Now we must know that Alteratives perform their Offices by qualities either manifest or occult The manifest operate by means of a certain Precipitation taken largely only as it denotes dissolution and such a disposition as is not procured without a previous destruction of the morbifick ferments the natural ones being restored by the ferments of the Medicines a taming of the Humours produced by fierce ferments a division of the continuous and heterogeneous a segregation of the contiguous and on the contrary a congregation of the homogeneous lastly without a strengthning of the whole Nature For the furious ferments of the Humours being destroyed and extinct and the fierceness of those things produced thereby being mitigated the activity and vertue of the Natural ferments that before was languid being assisted by the ferments of the altering Medicins do emerge again as it were by promoting the subduing of the morbifick matter so that the fierceness of the turgescency being in a due manner plainly depos'd by precipitation the matter can easily afterwards be cast off either sensibly by stool or Urine or sweat or insensibly whence Nature recovers her strength again which before was discomposed and oppressed for the Humours themselves as such are not always the causes of diseases but some malignant ferment in them and naughty disposition of the Humours which even in a very little quantity has great vertue and if this ferment be extinguished and this quality removed the diseases cease Sernert de c. d. c. 25. For we think that all progress almost of diseases is owing to some vitious rise of ferments for these either springing in the viscera appointed for chylification and sanguification or being carried to the whole mass of Blood and other parts under the cover and shew of aliments what tragedies do they raise what Stirs but now the extinguishing of these presently in the bud gives a joyful hope of health Apoplexies Epilepsies want of appetite crudities c. proceed from the corrupt ferments of the digestions and when the mass of Blood is sometimes too much exalted boils in the Vessels and Fevers of divers kinds and natures are kindled thence this sometimes proceeds from febrile ferments but sometimes the febrile ferments themselves are the products of a spontaneous effervescence of the Blood The reason why an acetous and sowr disposition is often induced on the Blood such as is in the Scorbutical Hydropical Cachectical and those that labour of other Chronical diseases is the acid and Saline nature of the ferments and in the destroying of these consists the whole reason of the cure whilst these last the diseases continue and because of these Purgings and Bleeding only are to no purpose for the Patients are
remain so little of Excrements that it may be drawn aside by the Bath it is better to let alone the Diarrhâ—a that is ready to cease of it self than to vitiate the whole Body for a thing that is not at all necessary But neither does he grant a Bath to those who are too Costive and adding and was not loosened before he shews the Cause namely some are costive after a great loosness as men are generally after Purging Physick in which case bathing is not prejudicial but if the Belly be bound and no evacuation went before it then contains a great deal of Excrement and Filth and we said before that we must not bathe when the Belly is full of Meat how much less when it is full of Excrements and in such case therefore one must not bathe unless his Belly be first loosned namely if upon any account we be compelled to bring such to the Bath we must first draw down the Excrements with a Clyster as we are wont to do for letting of Blood Nor must those bathe whose Faculties languish namely this Remedy is a pretty strong evacuator and therefore it requires strength to bear it Now that the evacuation is great that is caused by a Bath is shewn in the next Paragraph Yet we will not on this account keep the Hectick from Baths but according to their strength we will bathe them more or less gentlier or stronglier and some indeed not at all Neither those who are troubled with a Nausea or belch somewhat that is bilious these namely are the signs of a great Cacochymie which we have shewed to be a sufficient hindrance of bathing Nor those who Bleed at the Nose unless they bleed less than they should do for if they bleed less it is good to bathe whether the whole Body receive benefit from the flux of Blood more than by any other Remedy as in those that labour under a Plethory of the whole Body or the Head only be profited as in those who have only a Plethory thereof The cause whereof doubtless is that a Bath promotes the flowing of the Blood liquating of it and loosening the mouths of the Veins But it is clear that this is meant of a Bath of hot or tepid water for immersion into cold water stops fluxes of Blood which Women have learned by daily Experience who therefore when their Terms flow shun cold water We know also that by pouring on of cold water or by dipping any Parts of the Body into it bleeding at the Nose uses to be stopt and so from whencesoever the Blood issue the using of cold water profiteth unless it flow out of some internal Part and especially if out of the Lungs for then the Blood fleeing back toward the Heart it may chance to abound more about the Lungs But an hot Bath increases all evacuations of Blood and therefore it is to be avoided unless when an evacuation is seasonable Idem and the Blood proceeds not accordingly as is requisite VII There is no reason why a Physician should slight that evacuation that is caused by a Bath as small and not worth mentioning for from one long-continued lotion in the water of a Bath that was made with violent pourings on of the water I have seen more filth and tough and thick Phlegm such as might not be seen only but also drawn in length by the fingers or a piece of a stick drawn out this way than is used to be by the most plentiful Blood-letting not unlike to that which is wont to appear in the bason upon bleeding in the Foot Idem VIII Whether must we not forbear bathing till the Disease be wholly cured I answer by distinction If the Patient perceive the Bath to agree with his Strength and Nature and that the Disease lessens daily let him continue the use thereof till it wholly cease If he be little or nothing benefited let him take his leave of the Bath because his Distemper is greater than can be overcome by it But note that although the benefit be not manifest if so be the Patient be not weakened he must not presently desist because as Experience testifies many that have perceived no benefit all the time they bathed have some Weeks or Months after their return home been either wholly cured or at least much helped because Nature the strength being recruited by a good and orderly diet is wont to obliterate all the footsteps of the Disease says Aretaeus IX Those err who make the term of staying in the Bath to be till the Fingers and Toes become wrinkled for all have not the same habit of Body in some it is rare and lax in others hard and dense the Humors that are dispersed through the Flesh are few and thin in some in others many and thick and perhaps such would sooner faint away than their Fingers and Toes wrinkle Others expect sweat upon the Forehead but the same causes will make it to break forth more easily or more difficulty in several Persons They who define a certain space of time are deceived for respect is not to be had so much to the hours as circumstances and the endurance of the strength is the just bound for old Women the cold and moist the robust those that have a dense and compact habit of Body the fat those that are accustomed to bathing do endure it longer especially in the Spring and Autumn than Young men boyes old men the hot dry rare weak lean or People unaccustomed to Baths For the former are less dissolved and are not so subject to fainting as the latter To which add that some Baths are more generous and effectual than others and such require a less stay in them and that some Diseases are more rebellious and fixed than others and such require a longer bathing From all which it is clear that no certain number of hours can be prescribed for bathing in so great variety of circumstances X. I have observed that washing or abiding in sweet and hot water is not without danger A man of Seventy years old lusty for his Age coming out of the Countrey towards Evening and finding himself somewhat weary commanded a Bath of common water to be presently got ready Wherein having hardly stayed an hour and perceiving a fainting Fit a coming he betook himself to bed in which being presently taken with an Apoplexy he died that very Night Another having heated himself in such a Bath a Swooning and a great and long Disease followed with a very great weakness Hence it appears how full of danger washing in water is whether it be Simple or Medicinal by Nature or Art unless the Body be first prepared for by bathing especially in common water the Body is made slippery the Pores and all the ways are widened the Viscera are heated the Blood boils in the Vena cava and hence the Humours are diffused this way and that way c. Fabr. Hild. Cent. 6. Obs 96. XI
Helmont reckons the frequent use of Thermae or hot Bathes amongst the impediments of life It is certain indeed that by their use the antecedent cause as fluxions or Humours turgid with wild or preternatural Salts is removed whence they have profited some gouty persons whose members were swelled by the preceding distemper and they have found ease for a time but what becomes in the mean time of the minera or fountain of the Disease this being left untoucht especially in Diseases that consist of their ferments how should it not be made more fierce and tyrannize more over the Body Not to mention that being sometimes administred to the hypochondriacal by operating more vehemently on the ferments of the viscera they destroy them without our observing it and change the whole mass of Blood and the nervous juice by their violent action and exalt the heat of the Bowels which is the cause that occasion is given for new ebullitions afterwards and a source of new fluxions springs up the members become slippery and relaxed the Body being softned by them and lurking fluxions especially in less prepared Bodies being dissolved thereby from a little fire there has arisen a great flame the malady growing worse Whence Omichius in Epist 7. l. 5. Timaei speaks very much against their use saying That he had so ill success from the use of Thermae or hot Baths in the Gout that contracting an Hectick heat thereby he was almost become tabid yea and that his fits were more frequent and cruel than they used to be ever before I have known none proceeds he that was freed from fits of the Gout by the use of them but that every one found the fits rather stronger and frequenter as soon as they enter'd into such Baths Hence some attribute to some Thermae a certain arsenical poison that is an enemy to the vital powers F. O. Grembs l. 3. c. of the shortness of Man's Life § 77. p. 472. Perhaps through the arsenical poison of the Sulphur whose halitus affect some mens nostrils Although besides this deleterial quality they want not others also which are like those occult ones that are drawn from the class of Minerals seeing it is clear by experience that they have in process of time produced in the indisposed besides erosions of the viscera cachexies atrophies in some swoonings and other admirable Symptomes So that some are of opinion that the same thing happens to some Thermae especially taken inwardly which Disp contr Paracels p. 3. p. 211. Th. Erastus T. Zwingerus in his preface that he prefixed before Santis Ardoyni's book of poysons and Oporinus in his Epistle concerning Paracelsus's Medicines and their deleterial vertues have left written viz. That many who for a time have found help from these Remedies have died in a short while after The examples are odious but I leave these things to be further examined by others See Moser of the abuse of Thermae and Acidulae Fred. Hofm Meth. Med. lib. 2. c. 6. and the history of the Life and Death of Bacon Lord Verulam XII Dry Baths in an heated air seeing they too much inflame the Body and drive Humours violently toward its surface are not so approved of as moist Yet if such Bath be made of the steam or smoak that arises from the decoction of a moist Bath we may a little heat our Body thereby and so dispose it for its entrance into the moist bath that this latter may operate the better XIII Note that Baths are not so convenient when Epidemical distempers rage especially the plague for by opening the pores they make the entrance for the contagion the easier Wedel de c. m. ext p. 98. XIV Baths are not good when the Serum is much encreased or moved whether in a state that is partly according to Nature or in a preternatural whether as to the whole Body or to some certain parts hence they are wont not to succeed so well in the cacochymical and plethorick whence they do hurt in the cachexie Dropsie as also in the cough coryza catarrhs upon the breast yea there have been some who being troubled with a coryza or defluxion of rheum into the Nose or Ears have upon their entrance into a Bath lost their smell or hearing Nor are they good in Inflammations of the parts In Catarrh deliram p. 360. as in an erysipelas Nor is Helmont's opinion to the contrary to be regarded who says that such Baths are often good in destillations because they are not profitable even to the Gouty themselves for we have observed that the parts being thereby swelled Wedel de c. m. ext p. 101. have occasioned the greater afflux of Humours XV. It is clear by experience that hot and Sulphureous Baths do very much exalt the Saline and other morbid particles in Mans Body that dwell within the viscera or are contained in the Humours and bring them suddenly to the highest pitch namely by exagirating of them they make them more unruly and drive them forward out of the first ways into the Blood and from thence into the Brain and genus nerveâ—um and moreover join together those that were severed and quiet before and excite them into a certain effervescency Wherefore those that are subject to either an hereditary Gout or Stone and as yet have had no fits of those distempers do often perceive that by the use of Baths the fruits of both these Diseases are presently ripen'd in them Willis de morb Convuls cap. 9. XVI Sulphureous Thermae or hot Baths contain four things 1. Water 2. An oiliness 3. An acid Spirit 4. A little lixivial Salt For Chymists know that all Sulphur does chiefly consist of an oil and an acid Spirit and it is manifest 1. from its ready burning whereby it is clear that oil abounds in it for only fat and oily things are the fuel of fire 2. From its long continued burning which depends upon an acid Spirit 3 From the oil that may be drawn from it per campanam which testifieth its acid Spirit Seeing therefore Sulphur consists of an acid Spirit and oil it is manifest that Sulphureous Baths abound with the same Now these are generated of a Water endued with a very acrimonious lixivial Salt concurring with the minera of Sulphur by which Salt and the acid Spirit of Sulphur there is raised an effervescence and with the effervescence an heat and so the Water also and the Oil do join after a sort into one These Baths have a notable penetrating vertue wherefore they reach to the inmost parts of the Body that are affected Now that which penetrates so is the acid Spirit that is intimately mixt with the lixivial Salt and temper'd with the oil by the vertue of which oil it tempers also the acrimonious Humour that sticks to the Membranes and twitches them and gives occasion for convulsions c. I say it both tempers it by its oily substance and also corrects the same by
both by too much resolution and by too much coagulation Hence we must note that acids being joyned with Bezoardicks do by their penetrating vertue strengthen the Bezoardick and Sudorifick vertue as for instance the mistura-simplex where neither the theriacal Spirit nor the Spirit of Tartar do so much move sweat much less the Spirit of Vitriol yet these being joyned together promote it notably Hither may be referred what was said of the first class of rarefiers And these are good also in palpitation of the Heart Fainting away Malignant Fevers c. And such Medicines as perform these things eminently namely that defend and preserve the consistence of the Spirits and Blood that it may neither decline to a state of fusion resolution and ichorefcence nor of coagulation I say such as these are properly and are called Bezoardicks All diaphoreticks also do the same thing and especially Alexipharmacks Nor hinders it that these and especially the temperate are not carried immediately to the Heart it is enough that they vibrate their operations presently out of the Stomach into the Blood whose crasis is hereby changed and whose energie and affection results to the Heart yea such Cordials do often respect and take away at least the antecedent cause G. W. Wedel de s m. fac p. 93. however their operation obtains their end in the Heart II. Where there is great debility of the faculties we must not presently flee to comforting Cordials nor indeed to them alone but the causes are to be removed whether there be a Plethora suffocating the Spirits or a Cacochymie defiling them whence often either Bleeding or Purging will do the business The vulgar are here mistaken Idem p. 96 III. Let all Volatils consist within the bounds of Mediocrity both in Diet and Pharmacy and that both in the Sulphureous and Urinous So those that in their youth drink too much Wine or Brandy do in their following age hereby lose the strength of their Stomach inasmuch as their decreasing heat does hence require some stronger heater so also Medicines with Camphor Idem and distilled oyls do often hurt IV. Hence we must never so rarefie as not to mind at the same time the consistence of the Blood that it may be brought to a natural state Nor must we so use Resolvers as not to observe the tone and due rarefaction of the Blood Whence those offend who for instance in Malignant Fevers exhaust their Patients only with volatils and perpetual sweats when they ought to discuss indeed and preserve the rarefaction but to temper it when it is too much So those who use Resolvents more unwarily easily make the compages of the Blood too lax so that the Spirits perish as it were and dissipate which must be noted in particular of Cinnabarines for they do most of all resolve the Blood But do nothing too much and in all cases having premised universals tonicks are to be interposed and moderate astringents V. Comforting Cordials are to be rightly distinguished whence where Serum for instance is wanting scarce any thing will do so much good as actually moist and watery things without omitting acid or nitrous Medicines and on the contrary let us not give one thing for another nor confound the same VI. We must not rely too much on moschated Medicines which do greatly rarefie the Blood for while they too much exalt and heighten the Mercurial particles instead of comforting they easily hurt Nature and commonly they do more good outwardly than inwardly or at least unless when seasonably given Idem they have their use but then they must be used rightly Carminatives or discussers of wind The Contents The way how to know to discuss wind or to hinder its generation depends on the knowledg of its production I. X. The preservatory and curatory Indications II. Many while they endeavour to dissipate flatus produce them III. VIII Opiats discuss them IV. Carminatives are either halituous and rarefying V. Or absorbing and tempering VI. Or they help the heat and ferment of the Stomach VII The hot and thinnest are not always to be used VIII They are not good in driness of the Intestines and where the excrements are hard IX They are to be varied according to the variety of causes X. I. Wheresoever flatus are those things contribute to their excretion that take away the impediments through which they inhere the more firmly in the parts viz. the clamminess and glutinousness of the Phlegm from which they are produced and such as are Aromatick and abound with an Aromatick oil Now I think that flatus are truly discuss'd inasmuch as their very tenacious matter is incided and broken whence the pituitous matter that was distracted and distended into flatus subsides and falls into a little globule of Phlegm For it seems to be done in the same manner as when Boys are wont to raise bubles through a straw-Pipe from soap dissolv'd in water The bile being joined to the glutinous Phlegm by rarefying of it distracts it into flatus which by further rarefaction at length are broken of their own accord and so by and by the Phlegm that was before distracted and rarefied consides and returns to its former Nature and consistence the action of the Bile ceasing then through want of matter to act so upon unless it can insinuate it self into some other piece of Phlegm Sylv. de le Boe Meth. Med. lib. 2. c. 21. which it may distract into flatus and rarefie in like manner II. The production and mischief of flatus is to be corrected 1. by gently cutting the more glutinous flegm 2. by discussing and dissipating or otherwise suffocating these flatus 3. by correcting the acrimony of the bile that is the Efficient cause of the flatus And the Phlegm after it is loosed by the bile and turned into flatus must be gently incrassated again but not be made very glutinous The Phlegm may be incided by volatil Salts and all Aromaticks and most Acids but these are chiefly good where there is fear to encrease and heighten both effervescencies both in the heart and in the small Gut in which case 't is adviseable to abstain from volatil Salts as also from Aromaticks both lest the store of flatus be increased and also lest the bile be made either more acrimonious or more volatil Among those Acids the chief place is to be given to the Spirit of Nitre as well pure as sweet seeing it not only cuts glutinous Phlegm but also discusses and breaks the flatus yea and also tempers the acrimony of the bile and fixes it when it is too volatil This Spirit of Nitre may fitly be taken in ones usual drink or any other Medicinal one and that indeed in an indifferent quantity whereby neither a nausea may be caused nor its operation be either too strong or too weak III. As to the discussion of the Flatus themselves already raised and in being I know nothing comparable to
fine commending that saying of our Master's That in desperate cases 't is better to let our Patients dye than to kill them XXXVII 'T is a question where there be a Cautery without pain to which it is rightly answer'd if we speak comparatively That there is For those things that are of greater activity and forthwith corrupt the part cause little or no pain Crystals of Silver afford such a Cautery that are made of Silver with aqua fortis Moreover we see such a thing in the Body not only outwardly in a Gangrene and mortification where we may Mechanically and Elegantly as it were conceive such a like caustick Salt but also in a painless dysentery G. W. Wedel de s m. fac p. 64. when so great an Acrimony comes so suddenly on the membranous parts that it forthwith takes away all sense whence it is then absolutely mortal Cephalicks or Medicines for the Head See Book 3. Of the Diseases of the Head in general The Contents The distinction of Cephalicks I. Which are those that are called Volatil II. Which fixed III. Which of a middle nature IV. Cautions in their administration V. The hurt of Cephalick Waters Spirits c. VI. I. CEphalick Remedies respect either 1. the Membranes and Herves and their irritation tension which is very considerable in the Membranes and twitching and these are profitable in pains of the Head Falling-sickness Tremblings and Convulsive motions whether they be discutients or demulcents with a Balsamick Sulphureous vertue such as are paregoricks Germander Ground-pine Vervain Penny-royal Betony Rosemary-flowers Castor Amber c. or inverting and absorbing acrimony as chiefly Cinnabarines whence it appears how these very Medicines are good both in the Falling-sickness and Head-aches and also in pains of the Joynts in Pleuritick pains and so in the pains of any part of the Body The more correct Opiats belong hither also Or 2. they respect the Humours especially the Lympha or Serum and withal the Spirits and Vapours or thin Steams and indeed if these exceed in quantity then Evacuaters and diverters that are endued with a volatil oleous Sulphur such as are good in Catarrhs and repletion in the Vertigo Night-mare for some sort of Epilepsie in weakness of Memory c. as Peony wild Thyme Majoran c. but if they fail in their due quantity then Restorers Moisteners and diluters as inwardly watry Medicines Liquids Potions Decoctions drinking freely which are necessary ia Madness Melancholy too much watching if the Humours be acrimonious thin and salt then fixers and temperaters Or 3. they respect the Spirits which failing require Restorers volatil oleous Balsamicks in particular Ambergriefe Apoplectick Waters distilled Oyls c. which are profitable for prevention of the Apoplexy strengthen the Memory restore the Planet-struck c. But if the Spirits are unruly and too plentiful if they estuate and are enraged they are temperated by moisteners and restorers of the Serum by acids that restrain ratefaction nitrous Medicines that promote evaporation Opiats that tye as in Madness and Phrensie whence they are also good in want of Sleep Or 4. the vapours or halitus which being excessive preternatural and extraneous inasmuch as the Blood being too halituous or infected with a preternatural Sulphur just as we see in People drunk makes the Spirits turbulent are corrected as well by gentle aromaticks and strengtheners such as are vulgarly called Hinderers of Vapours from rising up to the Head and discussers of them as Coriander digesting powders that help concoction and strengthen the Stomach as also by acids which obtund the Sulphureous and Cholerick Humours as in Drunkenness But when these Vapours or halitus fail then roscid vapours all which yet is more rightly attributed to the Serum imbued with these qualities are restored both by moisteners whence in burning Fevers it is advisable to prescribe Epithems either of Rose-water only or Emulsions that notably moisten and cool and also by such things as breed an halituous Blood by gentle Aromaticks whence both Sennertus and Simon Pauli advise and experience her self also bears witness that want of Sleep in old Men is not so well helped by Opiates alone or by refrigerating Medicines as by sweet evaporating ones and such as are endued with an oleous Sulphur such as are species diambrae diamoschi and Wine it self which we have known some use with good success to the end namely that the Serum may be brought to its proper state and prevail by a resoluble Sulphur Or 5. Cephalicks respect the pores of the Brain it self either by opening of them when they are too much shut and obstructed or by shutting of them when they are too wide and gaping The pores of the Brain are opened by volatil Medicines especially Urinous if at any time they are depressed and closed up through the plenty of Humours or by subsidence compression or other causes and grant not a free passage to the Spirits as especially in the Palsie Apoplexy loss of Speech thick Catarrhs in which Distempers such Medicines as open the pores of the Nerves are of the greatest avail also in immoderate Sleep and the like Diseases Lethargy Sleeping Coma and others as for instance the Spirit of Sal Armoniack with which and the Spirit of the Lilies of the Valley I have cured a number of paralytick Persons sometimes also discussers are to be added And when the Pores are too wide they are closed both by Medicines that increase the Serum in substance and that bestow on the Blood a gentle resoluble Sulphur G. W. Wedâ—l de s m. fac p 80. whence they are good and are indicated both in want of Sleep raging deliriums Phrensie and in other intemperatures II. Cephalicks Volatils are 1. such as are endued with an Oleous Aromatick sweet Sulphur in one word Balsamicks as the Leaves and roots of Angelica the leaves of Rosemary Majoran Sage Rue the wood Sassaphras c. aad their Spirits Oyls and Volatil Oleous Salts And these are withal Paregorick and pacifie the irritated membranes and restore the fainting Spirits yea they correct also the hâ—litus or vapours and widen the pores 2. Vrinous Volatils as the most renouned Spirit of sal Armoniack the Spirit of Urine whence the tincture of the Sun and Moon or Gold and Silver do almost wholly borrow their vertue 3. Acid Volatils as the cephalick striated Spirit of Vitriol Aqua Apoplectica Mulicrum c. although these are more fixed as it were Helmont was almost the first that observed that Cephalicks commend themselves by their volatil Salt So also Conserves Condites and other preparations of Vegetables belong hither Idem III. Fixed Cephalicks are either earthy as Perles Corals Cinnabar or Acid or Nitrons or watry diluters and these are of use to absorb and dilute Acrimonious Humours that irritate the membranes to bind doze and pacifie the enraged Spirits and to procure liberty to the pores inasmuch as they absorb the Acrimony of the Humours IV. Cephalicks
Patient is to be dieted more fully then than before But How can the Disease be in its augment or state as to the alteration of the matter and not as to its Essence and Symptoms seeing the coction that is made in the Veins partakes of Putrefaction and is like to that which happens in Inflammations according to Galen 1. De Diff. febr 5. therefore if the Putrefaction be increased the Disease with the Symptoms will be increased also I answer In the internal cause which begins cherishes and increases the Disease two things are to be considered the quality and quantity The first is acrimony heat or an evil quality arising from Putrefaction and Corruption the second is either the same and equal or is greater and lesser Quality alone cannot bring on a determinate Distemper without a certain quantity and the greater this is the greater is its effect because there is no Agent so prevalent that can impress its effect without a certain quantity hence a spark of fire warms not much less burns From this cause although in the augment and state the quality of the cause be strengthened as to the alteration of the matter yet seeing the quantity is diminished it cannot make the Disease greater than it was before through the defect of the quantity You will object 1. The more the Disease recurrs the fuller Diet we must use because the Faculty being made weaker by the Disease and the Remedies seems the more to be recruited I answer 'T is true that the Faculty is weakened in the Progress of the Disease yet if the Diet be prescribed as it ought then in a Disease which terminates in health the Faculty is always superiour to the Disease for that the Disease may not encrease with greatness of Symptoms we permit the Faculties to be a little dissolved because we must not provide only for the Faculty but also for the Disease You will object 2. In the beginning of the Disease there is greater plenty of crude and rebellious Humour therefore a thinner Diet is then convenient that Nature may not be diverted from the concoction of the morbifick matter that is crude and untamed I answer in the augment and state the Faculty is more hindred than in the beginning for the heat and acrimony of the Humour now boiling and rarefied irritates more and therefore Nature being provoked uses greater endeavour than in the beginning and therefore is not to be diverted from that work You will object 3. from Aph. 1.11 In the beginning of a Fit the Patient ought to abstain from Meat and therefore he is to be more sparingly dieted in the beginning of the Disease also if there be the same reason of general and particular times I answer That there is great disparity between them for in the general or universal beginning the Disease and Symptoms are always less but in the particular greater for it is the worst time of all the Period and therefore the more unfit for giving of Meat Obj. 4. In an unknown Disease according to Avicen we must shorten or thin the Diet but the Disease is less known in the beginning Answ The Conclusion is to be understood of a known Disease for when it is not known a due regiment cannot be prescribed but if it be known in the beginning we must feed more freely and afterwards more sparingly Obj. 5. Hippocrates 1. de Vict. Acut. t. 21. where he treats of the Pleurisie and acute Diseases says Neither much nor thick Spoon-meat is to be offered in the beginning And Text. 23. If the Mouth says he wax moist and there appear an evident and perfect concoction the quantity of the Spoon-meat is to be encreased Answ Hippocrates discourses there of a moist Pleurisie in which the matter is purged out by degrees in which case the Diet should be fuller and fuller If you say that every Pleurisie does not terminate in a gradual evacuation seeing it often ends Critically as in Anaxion tertio Epid. 3.79 who was twice cured by a Critical Sweat Answ 1. Anaxion labour'd under a double Disease one from the Humour contained in the Veins and from thence the Fever sprang of which he was cured by the Sweat the other from the Humour setled in the Pleura whose Crisis was by spitting 2. In the Pleurisie and all internal Inflammations a most thin Diet is convenient in the beginning that the Fluxion may be stopped which will give an encrease to the Inflammation for the Parts through Abstinence becoming needy they retain their Humours and suffer them not to flow together to the Part affected But when there begins to be an Expurgation a fuller Diet must be prescribed Ex Zacut. P. M. H. pag. m. 349. Hist 50. that the Patient may cough up easily and his animal Faculty which it needs may be strengthened VIII Whether is it worse to offend in Meat or in Drink Celsus answers l. 1. c. 2. Often if there be any intemperance in the case 't is worse in Drinking than in Eating Reason confirms it 1. Because the immoderateness of Drink is commonly greater seeing drinking does much burthen the Belly 2. Because Drinking is more opposite to the innate heat and by its plenty the heat is sooner extinguisht than by Meat like fire 3. Much Drink is not concoctible and it is hardly superable by Nature yea it is an hindrance why the Aliments are not concocted because it is mixed with them and makes them slippery before concoction Hence it comes to pass that the more men abstain from Drink the more healthful they live and less liable to Diseases but through immoderate moisture a man is greatly subject to Diseases from Putrefaction Zacut. Pr. Hist p. 544. IX Galen Aphor. 17.1 intending to cure corruption of Humours the Faculties being weak has these words If the Faculties of the Sick Person be weak and that disposition which is in the Body be from corruption or defect of Humours we will give to such a little sustenance and often little indeed because the weakness of the Faculties cannot sustain the whole multitude of the Aliment together but often because the Disposition needs many things inasmuch as the defect requires addition and the corruption contemperation By which words he affirms that corruption of Humours requires many Meats and that it may be corrected and cured by them This Doctrine seems to be contrary to Hippocrates Aph. 10.2 The more you nourish foul Bodies the more you hurt them And 7 Aph. 67. If any give Meat to one in a Fever 't is Strength indeed to the healthful but a Disease to the sick Solve the contradiction by saying When the Faculty languishes Dieting may be proposed two ways either with evacuation or without it this latter way it is not granted according to Aph. 10. Sect. 2. But with evacuation frequent eating is prescribed as profitable and necessary for the corruption needs many things that is addition of Meats because instead of the vicious that ought
as the stone of Perches Crabs-Eyes lapis Judaicus Nephriticus Spongiae the Stones of Fruits and their ashes Hot and dry Bodies are not long nor vehemently to be forced to Purge by Urine by hot Diuretick Deâ—octions seeing frâ—m their use an Inflammation of the Liver a Fever and an extenuation of the whole Body may follow On the contrary the fat the cold such as have a soft and loose Skin and abound with a watry Humour and thin juices are veâ—y fit to be purged by Urine Idem ibid. XVI Those who use Diureticks in such as abound wiâ—h crudities for the most part hurt the Sick because very often crudity does more in prohibiting than indicating I say often not alwayes because whilst the Urine is detained in the upper parts and is altogether suppressed although there be great crudity yet nevertheless we have recourse to the most powerful Diureticks Sanâ—tor Met. l. 15. c. 10. such as Cantharides XVII We must never deal with Diureticks especially such as are vehâ—ment in passions of the Reins or Bladder that depend on much juice before the whole Body be purged and there be made the greatest revulsion by vomit that may be and derivation to the intestins and that is to be done by Medicines that are mild and are void of a malignant quality not so far as that they have nothing of an attractive Because those which purge violently do also provoke Urine and the Terms and even upon this account cause Abortions as justly seemed to Averrces For if while the Body is full of bad juices a Diuretick be given and that be weak or moderate it will certainly cause the excrements to flow together towards the ways affected and to be heaped and crammed up there by which means they will be the less apt to go forth And if a violent one be given so that it is able to break through this stoppage also the same will also have the power to exulcerate whereby it will exulcerate the Stomach and Intestines before it come at the place affected and so will irritate both the upper and lower part of the Belly and also by the pain that it causes will call excrements to the Belly and it will come to pass that what was given as a Diuretick will by accident act the part of a Vomit or Purge but with great mischief to the Patient Valles l. 5. Epid. p. 480. seeing it does not Purge by an attractive faculty but corrupts by an exulceratory XVIII After the tryal of Medicines of all sorts for 29 years I have hardly observed that Diureticks which quickly pass through by Urine do evacuate excrements more than usual And let the Readers know that there are no Medicines which so purge by Urine as there are that purge by stool Because that is said to be Diuretick which moves by Urine I see not why a Diuretick should carry with it such things as ought to be Purged For Mineral Waters are called Diuretick because they themselves pass nay there are rarely found Diureticks which are altogether and wholly evacuated by Urine For if any one drink ten pints of Mineral Waters and there pass out by Urine nine or ten pints such will be esteemed very good Diureticks but we say not so of purging Physick because half a scruple of diagridium will evacuate an Hundred scruples and more of excrements The same we say of other things for the smell of Asperagus passes by Urine but it carries little or nothing with it of other excrements yea the Spanish Fly that provokes Urine the most strongly causes heat by driving forth only a few drops of Urine and not any great quantity of it or other excrements It would be indeed a great happiness if such Diureticks were to be had in the Shops Sanctor Art parv c. 89. partic 84. cap. 94. partic 7. as would evacuate by Urine not only themselves but more other excrements contained in the Veins because they would expeditely overcome all those evils that are contained in the Veins XIX The continued use of Diureticks Joh. Walaeus m. m. p. 71. as if they be taken Morning Noon and Night doth encrease their vertue and efficacy XX. Diureticks ought not to be mixed with meats I do not indeed reject Pottage of Roots Herbs and other aperitives but yet they must not be supt at Dinner but an hour or two before for if they be mixed with other meats it is to be feared they will hurry the undigested chyle along with themselves How great their vertue is Pigraeus lib. 10. cap. 20. speaking of the Spaw-Waters shews viz. that they hurry along with them whatsoever they meet with even Anniseed comfits themselves whole A Citizen of Friburg being taken with a stoppage of Urine and suffering great pains for some dayes and having taken many things in vain at length having first purged took Crab-fish stamped with Winter-Cherries whereby Urine was so provoked Fab. Hildanus Cent. 3. obs 72. that the stones of the Winter-Cherries were expelled with this Urine and that not without the greatest pain and torment XXI We must note concerning the cold Seeds that their Diuretick vertue resides most in their husks for the pulp doth moisten and nourish Heurn Meth. ad prax l. 1. p. m. 110. XXII We must learn from Galen that when our intention is to provoke Urine the Remedies are to be taken with Sugar or Honey Therefore Asclepiades saith Saxon. praelect pract part 2. cap. 23. that a Remedy of Cichory or Endive prescribed on account of the Liver provokes Urine because it is made up with Honey The same we may think of Sugar XXIII I will open the safest way to use Cantharides by infusion Let a scruple of Cantharides being powdered be infused in three or four ounces of Rhenish Wine or Brandy and let it stand in Infusion for some dayes then filtre it through brown Paper that nothing of the substance of the Cantharides be mixed with the Liquor Mix one spoonful of the strained Liquor in seven of Wine or Beer and of this mixture give to drink the first day one Spoonful the second two and so on In a virulent Gonorrhoea suppression of Urine and the Stone Mr. Dr. Jac. Franc. Kotzone found a good success of this prepared Potion Tho. Barth Cent. 5. Obs 82. Chymists write truly that Salt is the chief Diuretick hence Cantharides most powerfully provoke Urine for they are endued with an acrimonious volatil caustick Salt that is meltable in the Urine which being received into the Vessels does therefore so stimulate in the Reins and Bladder Wedel as both to erode and cause a Bloody Urine XXIV Volatil Salts being taken for continuance even together with meat bring Phlegm down to the Kidneys and carry it out with the Urine inasmuch as they not only incide and correct glutinous Phlegm but drive forward part thereof to the wayes of Urine and expel it in the form of sediment which yet fails
in the Urine by little and little and in that very respect yields an undoubted sign that the greatest part of the Phlegm is corrected and overcome Which I would have to be taken notice of here for the sake of the Juniors because there are some Seniors who being less versed in the preparation of the more powerful volatil Salts and therefore also less accustomed to observe their virtues do make slight of them not without some suspicion of envy Franc. Sylvius de le Boë pract lib. 1. cap. 34. Thus many find fault with those things they do not understand nor will be at the pains to learn XXV Let Tartar with its off-spring carry the Bell amongst Diureticks and let it be of the choicer sort and as if it had been crystallized of it self what hinders why it should not be given washed only as we have long and securely used to do even with the shining red without any depuration invented by some Mens too great officiousness which manifestly carries away the most subtil part as the remaining water that serves for the solution of many things teaches but not wholly the arenosities or if any fear some feculency which yet is very full of volatil Salt let him depurate it only once and that warily as it commonly comes under the name of Acidum Tartari without the vain affectations or separate repositions of the white D. Ludovici pharm 386. cream or crystals that are indeed indifferent XXVI The Roots of crude Asarum though they cause Vomit with great anxiety yet being boiled in water and not in Wine they are changed into a deoppilative Diuretick and a Remedy for slow Fevers which shews that there is an aroma hid therein To this as to the only Remedy did D. Oheimius fly in long continued Fevers that depended on inveterate obstructions of the Hypochondres Frid. Hofin m. m. l. 1. cap. 12. XXVII Now amongst Diureticks I observe that two sorts are recommended by Authors some more gentle that bring no force upon the Body and others more violent which finding no noxious Humours in the Body to act or put forth their vertue upon or that may also blunt them do bring harm to the Body yea expel pure Blood and sometimes the Soul with it together with the Urine and therefore these are dangerous and suspected by me and I think we should neither use them rashly nor often Amongst these are first the Scorpion the ashes whereof being burnt are given in Wine even according to the Ancients to provoke Urine Secondly Hog-lice whose juice they give pressed out with Wine Thirdly Cantharides whose use is frequent enough in a virulent Gonorrhoea See their preparation § 23. Fourthly May worms that are black Sylv. de le Boë m. m. l. 2. c. 1â—â— very stinking and powerfully provoke Urine in the Feet-gout XXVIII But we must note that these latter Diureticks are not so proper for bringing out by Urine Humours abiding in the Blood or otherwhere as for expelling the Urine already separated so that the gentle Diureticks are more universal and to be used in all cases these latter more particular and more proper in some certain Distempers These latter inasmuch as they sometimes drive forth pure Blood instead of Humours from the Blood or offend otherwise are deservedly reputed dangerous Medicines and therefore not to be used but with great continual and prudent caution yet they may be sometimes but prudently used where the more gentle have been given in vain and where a great malady urgeth always attending to the effect which as long as 't is good their use may be persisted in Idem but assoon as the least hurt is observed we must cease from their further use Emmenagogues or provokers of the Terms See Mensium suppressio Book XII The Contents They either respect the wayes I. Or the coagulated Blood it self II. Or they promote its rarefaction III. Or they stimulate and do both IV. Or they restore the Blood it self V. They are not to be given to Women with Child VI. They are not to be given to all indifferently VII The order to be observed in the use of Remedies VIII I. MEdicines provoking the Terms respect either the wayes which namely ought to be free in all the microcosmick Common-wealth such as are both all Aperients except the acid and nitrous which namely are contrary to the other intention unless the same be so directed that under the dominion of others they may assist the action of the same Baths also do greatly help here which both by their gentle heat and their notable vertue to moisten do very well open the passages Likewise suffumigations that loosen the Pores and draw away mucus belong hither as for example Timaeus in his Counsels commends the suffumigation of Coloquintida received into the Womb by a Funnel which Remedy takes place after Bathing And therefore by experience your Emmenagoga denote nothing else but specifick uterine Aperients II. Or they respect the Blood it self the state whereof as the Terms do in a special manner shew so do they altogether follow the condition thereof Now those are notable Emmenagogues which promote the motion of the Blood which in specie they do two manner of wayes either first they take away the impediments that fix as it were and coagulate the Blood which are two acid Humours and Phlegmatick or coagulated Serum amongst these are Martial Medicines for instance Crocus aperitivus Sulphuratus with Salts Quercetan's Cachectick powder his Stomachick powder yea some give the infusion of the crude filings of Steel or Gold with the same intention that they may absorb and repress the constringing acidity but those Steel-Remedies are best that have withal a faculty to moisten as the tincture of Steel pomated or cydoniated which are excellent the tartareous tincture of Steel and the like that at the same time both the driness may be respected and the deficient fermentation of the Blood promoted and others that liquate fuse resolve and attenuate the coagulating Serum or Phlegm such as are bitter things and others of thin parts III. Or Secondly they promote its rarefaction and stimulate that upon the excitation and exaltation of its Sulphureous and volatil Saline particles it may become the more active and losing its sluggish lentor or clamminess may take up more room in quality and motion to which belong all Balsamicks volatil and mean as well Sulphureous for instance Saffron Myrrh Bay-berries Savin likewise the distilled oyls of Savin Cinnamon Balm Saffron c. as Saline fixed and volatil Salts the tincture of Tartar Borax salt of Mugwort of Salt and Vitriol c. the Spirit of Sal Armoniack Harts-horn the volatil Salt of Amber Hence is this practick rule appropriated to both intentions Those things that provoke urine do for the most part also provoke the Terms IV. Or they both stimulate and rarefie and hither belong even Purgers themselves inasmuch as they do not only attenuate and bring out the
the Conserve of Rosemary Flowers Balm and the like to drive away troublesome watchings from them Now the reason of this is the same with what Hosman gave of flower-de-luce namely because Mosch and Ambre are fumous or vaporous ¶ Opium appeases watchings and procures sweet sleep if so be the watchings proceed not from over great driness in which case they do no good given alone but they do very well with moisteners so that by this means the Brain is both demulced and made drousie especially in old men and otherwise where the watchings arise from over great driness defect Acrimony or other indisposition of the Lympha Whence washings of the Head and Feet c. belong hither as also other vehicles of Opiats and promoters of their vertue Wedel de s m. fac p. 205. ¶ We may safely use the somniferous sponge of Heurnius 2 met c. 7. seeing those that are made to sleep by it presently awake upon its being taken off or if they continue to sleep too long they may be easily awaked with another sponge steept in the decoction of wild thyme boiled in Vinegar together with Majoran Smallage and sweet Fennel Seed applied to the Nostrils Sim. Pauli quadrip Botan cl 2. tit Iris. XXII As cold soporificks hurt in Diseases of the Breast by thickning the Humours and making them unfit for expectoration so Flower-de-luce does excellent well in these Diseases XXIII Seeing 't is easie to offend in using too great a quantity of Opium it will be the part of a prudent Physician to behave himself warily in the giving of Opium and Opiats and rather to give them at several times a little at a time than to give much at one and the same time with danger to the Patients Sylv. de le Boë Prax. l. 2. c. 22. §. 113. especially seeing the same yea better effect may be obtained from the same Opiat given at several times than all at once XXIV Although the Narcotick stupefying vertue of Opium differ widely from the pacative vertue of the Anodyne prepared of Vitriol which induces only a natural sleep and no stupefaction which I would have well noted of all that desire at any time to practise Physick with commendation yet I will explain the nature of each The Narcotick vertue of Opium seems indeed to be extended to the Animal Spirits but the pacative vertue of Vitriol to the effervescent bile which I think Helmont then calls the fury of the Archeus Let all therefore seek that Anodyne of Vitriol and esteem it for a great secret when they find it for it performs wonderful things in curing divers most difficult Distempers Idem §. 31. XXV As to the Heads and Seeds of white Poppy of which Diacodium as also decoctions Emulsions and other Hypnotick preparations are made it is very plain that these are far less endued with a Narcotick Sulphur than the concrete juice of Opium and what thereof is in these is far more pure and harmless wherefore we do oftner and more securely give Remedies made up of these For it is not good to ascend to Laudanum unless when through the vehemence of Symptoms Diacodiats will not do Moreover seeing these contain less of virulence in them they need not much preparation but may be used in Medicine being only boil'd or infus'd or sqeezed But Opium is very rarely prescribed simply and by it self Willis phar Rat. p. m. 317. but is wont to be divers ways corrected and compounded that it may become an Anodyne safe enough XXVI When other things have been used in vain to procure sleep then comes Opium The vulgar are afraid of it as present poison whereas being rightly prepared and given in a convenient dose it is an innocent and wholsom Medicine The Ancients indeed have writ that it is a poison but that is only when it is taken in too great a quantity but thus there is nothing so wholsom which by abuse may not become hurtful Now there are divers sorts of poisons some are such in their whole substance which kill however or in what dose soever they are taken others only in quantity otherwise they may profit as Purgers and such things are given in that quantity as to overcome Nature thus milk curdled in the Stomach or juice of Lettuce are said to be poisons But among those things which are called Somniferous Opium is the most innocent 1. Because our Opium is generally the Meconium of Dioscorides which is made of the juice of the leaves and heads of Poppy but Opium is a tear Now Meconium is far less effectual than Opium whence it must be given in a larger dose than Opium to hurt 2. We must note from Galen 5. simpl 18. that of Narcoticks some moisten as Hemlock Mandrake and these are hurtful others dry and these are taken inwardly without harm And 1. de Symptom caus he writes Those things which cool and moisten cause not sleep but a Coma stupefaction and Carus but those which dry as Opium are less hurtful Therefore according to the opinion of Dioscorides and Galen we need not to be so afraid of Opium taken moderately Primiros de vulg error 4. c. 44. XXVII The Ancients who thought that Opium hurt by its excessive coldness used altogether hot Medicines to correct it such as Pepper Pyrethrum or bastard Pellitory Saffron Castor Euphorbium and the like but they were induced to correct Opium in that manner by a false Hypothesis and they made no good preparation of their Medicines To speak only of Philonium Romanum heretofore a sufficiently frequent Medicine experience hath taught that through the admixture of so many hot Medicines it can hardly be swallow'd but it will burn the Throat and cause an heat therein and being mixt in Clysters but even to half a drachm it has in some caused a great heat in the lower Belly and streight Gut To day it is very usual to make an extract of Opium with Spirit of Wine impregnated with spec diambr. aromat ros or the like or let such Spirit of Wine be added to the extract of Opium as also distilled Oyls and Cordial waters as we may see in the various preparations of Laudanum * See Schrod pharm l. 4. cl 2. c. 394. Some find fault with this preparation of Opium because it does equally deposit into the Spirit of Wine the stinking and poysonous Sulphur which remains in Opium even after its having past the fire yea being more attenuated by the Spirit it sooner exerts its Malignity and insinuates more intimately into the Parts Whereto they add this also that there is a certain Narcotick vertue in Wine These therefore find out another way to prepare and correct Opium They cut Opium into small pieces and dry it so long in dishes set over hot ashes or other gentle heat as till the stinking Sulphur exhale and the Opium breath out a sweet and grateful smell and may be powdered betwixt ones Fingers which
happens commonly in six or seven days time and then they draw a tincture from it with distilled Vinegar And they chuse Acids as Vinegar juice of Citron or Lemons on this account because as Acids dull the Acrimony of the Humours so also the vertue of Narcoticks and fix and suppress the stupefying Spirits whence in soporiferous Diseases or soporiferous poisons the use of Vinegar is profitable and Vinegar and Acids are the Remedy of drunkenness it self I will speak here what I think First as to that drying and slight roasting as it were of the Opium if which yet we ought to be sure of first there be some heterogeneous parts in Opium some whereof are more hurtful than others I will not indeed be against the toasting of it if it be done so as that the Narcotick Sulphur whose vertue is desired be not dissipated and an ineffectual Body be left behind The correction that is made by Acids is suspected for although I should grant this that acids infringe the vertue of Narcoticks and are good in soporous Diseases yet that is not desired here but the soporiferous vertue which if no harm lie hid under it is to be left altogether entire and therefore not to be infringed by Vinegar Therefore as yet I see no reason for rejecting that preparation which is made with Spirit of Wine impregnated with aromata because the Malignity of the Narcoticks is sufficiently corrected thereby Nor let the Narcotick vertue of the Spirit of Wine offend any one for the Spirit is all separated and we use it to separate the Sulphur or Narcotick part of the Opium from the faeces and impurities and when it is separated the vertue of the Aromatick Species wherewith the Spirit of Wine is imbued remains joyned with the Opium Sennert Pract. l. 1. p. 2. c. 1. and corrects the malignity that is therein and strengthens the Heart and other Viscera ¶ Horstius tom 2. p. 561. makes his Laudanum Opiatum of Opium extracted with distilled Vinegar adding the extract of Saffron and Magistery of Perles with the oyl of Vitriol which he gives under the title of Laudanum Opiatum cum Magisteriis to eight grains for the highest dose From the time sayes he that I begun to practise I have alwayes used to fly to Opium rightly corrected as to the only refuge in the greatest and most dangerous Diseases in continual Fevers with a total want of sleep with restlesness and when the strength was almost spent obs 22. l. 1. de febr in the most vi lent Colick pains in a stubborn Bleeding at the Nose obs l. 1. de febr in the overflowing of the Terms Dysentery pains of the Joints Tooch-ach Hysterical convulsions an hidden Cancer Phrensie Melancholy Madness great wounds and great Chirurgical Operations yea also outwardly in stanching the Blood of wounded Arteries See obs 3. l. 10. Barthol Ep. 46. cent 3. XXVIII The famous Remedy of Opium bears away the bell from all in driving away watchings and in stopping too great evacuations both of Natural and unprofitable Humours No errour can be omitted therein if the just dose and fit time be observed but if people doat perhaps the latest weakness will be imputed to it sometimes some things that deserve it not are reputed for the causes of a mans death though they rather fall in with the time of death than are themselves the causers of it Thus in continual and malignant Fevers we have observed that the death of the Patient has been ascribed to the malignity of this generous and heroick Medicine although given in a just dose yet at a wrong time Rolfink lib. de febr c. 106. namely in the agony so that he whom Fate slew was thought to be kill'd by this Remedy XXIX Though as Galen shews 5. simpl 18. there be divers kinds of Narcoticks some whereof act by a manifest quality as Hemlock Mandrake others by an occult or by their whole substance as somniferous Night-shade which are rarely used by Physicians yet Opium is the principal Narcotick as being least hurtful if corrected I use it more securely being thus prepared seeing according to the opinion of some Physicians the crude hath an exulcerating vertue it is first to be dried and to be freed from its excrementitious moisture under which its exulcerating vertue lies hid Where yet we must note the fire is to be administred warily lest it contract an Empyreuma or be quite calcined and so the anodyne Sulphur which it has hid in in its Bowels be lost afterwards let it be extracted with distilled Vinegar which draws forth the Salt and Sulphur of the Opium for the Spirit of Wine only extracts the Sulphur and leaves the Salt untoucht whereas its vital strength is in the Salt Frid. Hofm m. m. p. 439. and by means of the vinegar the tyranny of its malignity is fitly tamed withal XXX Seeing it would be tedious to reckon up all the species of lesser hurts that Narcoticks ever use to do we will only rehearse here those mischiefs which by their improper unseasonable use happen sometimes in the Head or in the Breast or in the lowest Belly As to the first it is commonly enough known that the principal functions of the Soul viz. memory discourse and sharpness of wit are often notably hurt by Narcoticks the frequent use of them weakens the memory in many I knew a man that lost that faculty quite by taking too large a dose of Laudanum in a Fever I know that some have by this Medicine contracted a dulness or stupidity of wit and others madness And the reason why Opium is devoured by the Turks in great quantity without any harm or however without any danger of life is because its particles though at first inimicous and poisonous to the Spirits yet by frequent use become at length more agreeable and familiar as we observe concerning the smoak of Tabaco taken in a pipe for whereas at the first it uses to causes giddiness and often Vomiting or Purging yea cold sweat with trembling and often faintings yet after a while we take it without disturbance yea with great delight And the reason why a larger dose of Opium adds courage and notable boldness to them so that they can enter upon a fight without fear I say the reason seems to be Willis Pharmac Rat. sect 7. c. 2. because this Medicine by somewhat stupefying the Spirits makes them amazed so that they can undauntedly endure the approaches offensible things howsoever terrible XXXI That Opiats are sometimes inimicous to the praecordia and Breast is clear enough from hence that they depress and diminish the pulse and respiration and sometimes cause them to faulter and by degrees to cease utterly Wherefore in Fevers where the Blood being â—o ably depraved promises either no crisis or not a good one and withal affords only few and weak Spirits to the Animal government Narcoticks are almost always hurtful and poisons as it were For though in
of the Juice of Lemon or Vinegar into it and then taking it presently off the fire for there will forthwith be a separation of the Whey from the cheesie part which by straining and clarifying with the white of an Egg becomes very clear and may be taken in a large quantity without offence to the Stomach so that it is often drunk by some like Mineral waters with great benefit River cent 1. Obs 98. XIV When the Stomach is inflamed Whey is good but not that which is depurated with acids for sharp things exasperate Inflammations according to Galen xi Meth. 19. Put into it the juice of sweet-scented Apples Fortis cons 86. cent 2. XV. I suspect too much Whey seeing all unprofitable moistures in the Veins either grow sowr or salt Idem cons 3. cent 1. XVI Hercules Saxonia gives this admonition concerning Whey that if it be to be given daily in the hotter Diseases Temperaments c. it is to be made loosening or diuretick or to be given in a moderate quantity For says he as I have found by Experience they that take much of it and retain it grow worse perhaps because it is vaporous as Milk also is Lenients or Looseners See Alvus adstricta or Costiveness BOOK I. The Contents They are to be used in the beginning of every Disease I. When to be taken II. Some work by accident III. Some per se or of themselves IV. Whether they be always convenient V. I. They may be given with meat VI. They may be mixed with Purgers VII If Lenients suffice not to carry down the Excrements of the first Region Purgers are to be given VIII Sometimes we must use Emollients sometimes Cleansers IX Things sprinkled with Night-dew loosen effectually X. How to loosen the Belly by a Decoction of Prunes XI I. SOme think now adays that we must use Lenient Medicines in the beginning of every Disease 1. Because mens Bodies are far more filled and impure than in Hippocrates's time 2. Then unless the first ways be clear the Humours that are to be brought forth from a far will be forbid an exit and give great disturbance 3. That by consequence they are communicated to the Vessels about the Liver infect the Blood contained therein and so may beget new Diseases or increase those that are in being already We must always begin at that without which we cannot safely execute something else 4. There is no profitable substance in the mucous and cholerick Humours in the Guts nor in the foul moisture that besets the Glands of the Mesentery and Caul These are already separated from the profitable juice and neither desire nor admit of concoction 5. Hippocrates contradicts not when 1. Aph. 22. he bids us medicate things concocted and not crude for there he speaks only of the Humours that are in the second and third Region Others grant that the use of Lenients is sometimes necessary but not always nor in every Patient nor in every form 1. There is present an indication to purge and to pull up the roots of the Disease by stronger Medicines Our sluggishness is the cause that we cure not great Diseases because we will never have done with Lenitives That Physicians may avoid calumny they commonly prescribe no Remedy that is generous 2. When the Body is crude 't is safer to move nothing especially when the Faculties are weak 3. There is sometimes greater need of Bleeding 4. Some when they hear of Physick presently nauseate especially such things as use to be given in a larger quantity as Lenitives This distinction is to be used By reason of divers circumstances Lenients are necessarily premised in the first place but sometimes they may be omitted or postponed Rolfink m m. spec p. 450. if the great causes rehearsed be present II. Lenients for curation when a Chronical Disease invades must be taken before Preparatives to cleanse the first ways in the Mornings For preservation to keep the Belly soluble they must be given at the same time Let us inquire whether it may be done before Meat or in a short while after Galen 2. de Aiim Facult c. 31. seems to affirm that Meat is not to be taken presently after a Medicine for speaking of Prunes loosening the Belly he says thus It is clear that after we have eaten them it is profitable for loosening the Belly to drink sweet wine and to interpose some time and not presently after to Dine and we must remember that this is common to all things that loosen the Belly Some are afraid of lessening the loosening vertue if one either eat presently after a Medicine or it be taken as one Dines or Sups for they think there is danger that either the vertue of the Medicine will be dulled or that it will be utterly corrupted from the mixture with the Meat especially if meats be thrown in without any choice and be contrary to the Medicine as hard and astringent As in the composition of a purging Medicine there are some things added to increase its operation as Ginger Sal gemmae so it is not to be doubted but amongst aliments there are some to be found which do dull Purgers and weaken their operation 2. The same Persons are afraid of corruption or at least of a diminution of concoction Meats are corrupted because Medicines are enemies to Nature and spur her forward to Excretion They are concocted imperfectly whil'st by the motion of Fermentation they disturb the action of Chylification which is performed quietly closely and leisurely Moreover the Chyle is communicated crude to the lacteal Vessels and the fault of the first concoction is communicated to the second 3. Others will have Lenitives to be taken extraordinarily either a little before or just with the Meat Things perswading this are 1. The nauseating nature of the Patient which cannot take Medicines alone 2. The nature of the Medicines which being not strong do slowly execute their office besides they cannot resist the heat of the Stomach unless Meat taken either with them or a while after them hinder it 3. They may also be turned into Aliment by an hungry Stomach Experience teacheth that Lenitives as pills of Aloes taken half an hour before Dinner or Supper in the midst of them yea or in the end of either do their office very well in a just dose being continued for two or three times the action it self may be confirmed by reasons Idem and strongly defended from the force of their arguments that think otherwise III. If inquiry be made concerning the manner of their action and operation we say that it differs not from that of Purgers For Lenients irritate both by accident and per se or properly and of themselves Those things do it by accident that dissolve the consistence of the faeces hinder their compaction and make them fluxile when they are more easily expelled such as are 1. things watry moist and which may be drunk whence we observe
pain heat and fuga vacui or the avoiding vacuity To pain indeed as it depends upon its causes an hot intemperies and a solution of continuity springing thence this debilitates the part and makes it unable to repell the Humours from it whence the tyed part swells But there is a far other reason of this swelling Ligatures upon the Arms stop the motion of the Blood that is flowing out at the Nose not because they attract upon the score of pain or heat but because they retard the Blood that is received from the Arteries and is a returning to the heart by the Veins from passing so speedily to the right ventricle On this foundation the vertue of Ligatures rests whilst they are made upon a sound part they hinder the Blood from flowing back by the Veins to the affected part in any plenty Rolfinc Meth. Med. p. 442. so the affected part is freed from the influx Narcoticks See Hypnoticks before Nephriticks Cysticks or Medicines for the Stone See Book 3. Calculus Renum or the Stone in the Kidneys and Book 15. Renum affectus or Diseases of the Kidneys The Contents They respect either the resolution of the Coagulum it self I. Or the Saline Acrimony and irritation of the genus membranosum II. Or the opening of the ways III. Nephriticks and Cysticks are the same IV. Nephriticks are not to be confounded V. Resolvers hurt when a Saline Acrimony offends VI. The Reins rejoice in moisture but not excessive VII Where Topicks are to be applied VIII Refrigerating ointments scarce cool because of the oyl IX Hot dissolvers of the Stone many times do hurt X. I. IT being presupposed 1. that the Material cause of the Stone is a dry concretion that in a Natural state is voided with the Urine or a Tartareous Salt consisting of an earthy and Saline matter although a viscous Humour may also concur 2. That the Blood of calculous persons add of Gouty and Hypochondriacal abounds with such Saline and Tartareous Coagulables we say that Nephritick Medicines are both such as resolve and such as mitigate and such as drive forward and so they respect 1. the resolution of the coagulum it self or the sliminess or muddiness of the Blood tending now out of the Vessels separated in the Kidneys and Bladder but not expelled whether it offend by its plenty or Nature her self fail in her expulsion and the earthy parts by the access of the saline fixed volatile turn into a coagulum such as are 1. Abstergers both watry and diluting that afford a more plentiful Serum for the draining out of those excrements and are good against gravel when there is a plentiful sediment in the Urine and the stone is a breeding 2. Sulphureous Resolvers that more intimately hinder coagulation and hinder the matter from stopping there whether they be more temperate oily obtunding and taking away Acrimony of Sperma ceti and other Aperients that are good in any obstructions stoppage of Urine stone c. or more active fusing the Blood as it were and precipitating and liquating the Serum into the Kidneys such as are chiefly Remedies of Turpentine which give the Urine a Violet smell which is a notable testimony that their vertue reaches hither the oyl of Amber c. 3. Saline Resolvers whether Acid inciding and deterging as Acidum Tartari acid mineral Spirits especially Spirit of Salt or soaty and earthy alkali's obsorbing Lyes which are of avail either through their Salt which they keep retir'd or from their notable vertue of absorbing saline Humours as Crabs-eyes the Salts of plants the tincture of Tartar c. whence belong hither most of the more generous Aperient Diureticks and Lithontripticks From hence it appears why Acid and Lixivious Medicines also are good in the stone namely both of them resolve correct glutinosity and destroy a preternatural coagulum likewise other things that take away grumescence or clodding and resolve coagulation which also are good when clods of Blood stop about the Bladder II. Or 2. they respect the saline acrimony and irritation of the genus Membranosum and are temperating moistening cooling absorbing whether the parenchyma and Membranous and Nervous passages be hurt by an acrimonious caustick Salt as it is common upon taking Cantharides to have all the harm accrew to the Kidneys and Bladder alone or from the weight and sharp corners of the coagulated Stone Such are 1. those things that are common as it were to both temperate and demulcing aqueous Remedies not Saline Sweet and Mucilaginous as Gum Tragacanth Gum Arabick the pulp of Cherries and Cassia Raisins Sebestens Conserve of the flowers of Mallows commended by Amatus Fernelius's Syrup of Marsh-Mallows c. 2. Things also that are partly oily and watry as sweet Milk Emulsions of the cold Seeds Which as they ease the Symptoms that are caused by Cantharides so they do in a special manner demulce and ease the ways that are torn by over stretching as it were and by accident they cure nocturnal pollution help the Strangury that springs from a serous acrimony 3. Precipitants whether they be withal Styptick as in pissing of Blood and other laxities or Nervine as Cinnabarines the more temperate specifick powders so also steel Remedies belong hither hence Heurnius upon Hippocrates's aphor 6. 6. where when he had said that the pains and Diseases of the Reins and Bladder-in general are hard to cure he commends experimentally in an Ulcer of the Kidneys the juice of steel that is steel Wine made of the filings of steel macerated in sweet and strong Wine 4. Acids correct a bilious Acrimony if it be present as red Liver-wort whence according to Hippocrates lib. de locis Acids both cause the Strangury and help it And these as we have already intimated are good for Bloody Urine diabetes nocturnal pollution heat of Urine yea in the stone it self and we must also have great regard to the pains which are as it were the tyrants of indication 5. Hither belong even Opiats also which being mixed with resolvers are very useful in the Stone not indeed as if they resolved primarily or as if they cleared the wayes but because they give rest to Nature III. Or 3. They respect the stopping and clearing of the ways not so much by driving forward as loosning that way and leave may be given to the departure of the unwelcom Guest such as are internal and external emollients and paregoricks lubricaters and moisteners especially oily things chiefly Oil of sweet Almonds likewise Chamomel the Decoction whereof resolves withal whence the Flowers thereof in Pottage give present ease in the Cardialgia or Pain at the Stomach the Colick Stone also fat Broths for they give by so much the presenter Ease by how much they resolve the more withal thus the Oil of sweet Almonds with the juice of Lemons is a Secret with some Hither belongs that place of Walaeus m. m. p. 4. In Pains of the Stone says he whether you
inflammation It is reckoned among poysons by Avicen 64. tr 1. cap. 48. But that is to be understood of that which is not corrected or is not given seasonably and in a moderate dose Wherefore I have always thought it more adviseable to mix with it things that may increase its vertue that have a similitude with the part affected and may correct its hurtful quality in the number of which are Treacle Idem ibid. Mithridate Diarrhodon Abbatis Aromaticum rosatum c. XL. The Body should be well purged before the use of Steel especially in the Spring time which is the fittest season to give it in seeing the faculties are then strongest and the Organs best disposed or else take it in the Autumn if the cure cannot be deferred till spring not in Summer for though through the heat the Medicine may then be sooner distributed yet the faculties languish and by the requisite exercise a Fever may be kindled In Winter the Humours are concrete the pipes straitned Idem p. 484. and there is no place for exercise because of the coldness of the ambient air XLI It is commonly enough known that the Salt of Nitre cools the Blood and powerfully provokes Urine but the reason of both effects appears not so plainly because Nitre is so far from containing in it self cooling particles that on the contrary nothing is more igniparous or productive of fire as we see in Gun-powder and if it be distill'd there seems to pass forth into the receiver rather a flame than a vapour or smoak moreover the liquor that is distilled burns and corrodes all the Bodies it touches like actual fire Nor is it less wonderful how this whose nature is so very fiery should so dilute the Blood and fuse it into aquosities for provoking Urine That I may propose my conjectures about these matters I say that Nitre does contribute to these effects in a twofold respect viz. both as it is a Salt something of kin with both a fixed and volatil and as it is 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 a fiery thing As to the first I have observed that Nitre as also fixed and volatil Salts being put into Milk does either hinder or take away its coagulation in like manner hot Blood being poured upon it no less than upon them is preserved from coagulation and discoloration Wherefore inasmuch as the particles of the Nitre taken inwardly do preserve or restore an intire mixture to the Blood they will therefore prevent or remove the fusions and coagulations of the same from which heat and stoppage of Urine do very often arise But besides Nitre as it is fiery being taken inwardly cools the hot Blood and provokes Urine inasmuch as it kindles the flame of the Blood more that was before turbid and mixed with smoak and makes it more clear and pure and therefore more mild and seeing thus the Blood while it it is made to burn clearer by the Nitre is more loosened in its consistence the serous particles extricate themselves more easily and depart more plentifully from the thicker Willis XLII The use of Oxymel and Hydromel was in far greater repute among the Ancients than now among us The Arabians who first brought in the use of Sugar are the cause that divers kinds of them have been turned into Syrups of which there is a great number but that which is urged for establishing the use of these viz. that they may be kept longer and are more grateful to the palate wants to be proved But it is without all doubt that all the kinds of Hydromel and especially of oxymel but chiefly that which is called Melicratum when Water Honey and sometimes Vinegar are mixt together are far more profitable convenient yea fitter for all curative intentions than Syrups are seeing Sugar is a certain sweet Salt indued with not a little heat to which a certain obstructing glutinating quality is joined whence it may be esteemed not so fitting for preparation alteration mitigation of Humours and excretion of them for which purpose syrups are composed Add hereto that in cholerick naturally lean Bodies like other sweet things they easily turn to choler whence there happens more harm than benefit to such You will object the sweetness of Honey we will admit that but this is far more defecate and pure and endued with a Nature that is more aereal celestial and approaching toward a quintessence than Sugar which though it be superficially sweet yet inwardly it abounds with an Acrimony and no little blackness as those know well and find that have made any progress in the inward and vital Anatomy of things Which was noted and diligently observed by Galen and after by Oribasius medic collig l. 5. c. 24. who while he extols the faculties of oxymel that are acid and vitriolate prefers it before Hydromel which for its sweetness is not so agreeable for hot temperaments and more fervid natures because it is easily turned into choler Seeing says he the faculty of Melicratum has all other things that are good for acute Diseases yet in one only it is contrary to them that being over-heated it is turned into choler the mixing of Vinegar with it hindring this change of it Querc pharm dogm c. 76. makes it an excellent Medicine and so much Vinegar is to be put in the Melicratum as may be sufficient to correct its aptness to turn to choler XLIII Galen l. 6. de Med. Simpl. Chap. of Plantain says that its leaves and roots being dryed avail to open Obstructions of the Liver and Kidneys for Plantain being dried abstergeth and discusseth as the green represseth Sanctor met vit error l. 13. c. 3. Hence let the errour of those be noted that in the Winter use dryed Herbs instead of green which differ very much in nature and qualities XLIV Young Physicians are to be admonished that in correcting glutinous Phlegm they be careful not to use much Sugar or very sugared Medicines Fr. Sylvius Pract. l. 1. c. 34. seeing the Phlegm is not so much corrected and dissolved thereby as made every day more glutinous XLV It is well known that Wormwood cleanses the Blood brings forth Choler and provokes Urine and evacuates almost all the Recrements of the Body insensibly But that the too great use of it is hurtful appears by this example A certain man in the Spring and Autumn used daily to devour several whole leaves without any nausea for many days At length in the Spring eating too much he fell into a cholerick loosness without trouble which stayed of it self In the Autumn following betaking himself again to it as to a Panacea and eating it as plentifully as before he fell into a difficulty of Urine with great heat in making of it and he made a muddy J. Udalr Râ—mler Obs 41. thick and stinking Urine and that often Being bid to refrain he grew well in a few days XLVI Common Wormwood is astringent bitter acrimonious heating
that which otherwhiles she does of her own accord And if she can profitably evacuate without help she may evacuate more profitably when assisted by the help of Art for nothing can hinder Purging before Concoction that does not also and far more oppose symptomatical evacuation But when besides want of Concoction or turgescence there are present all other conditions that may disswade from Purging then abstaining wholly from it if I may not let Blood I will however provide for the faculty and use only Clysters and Suppositories But if though there be neither Concoction nor turgescence yet other conditions do not wholly deterr me I will venture to Purge for urgency and that by so much the more confidently by how much the conditions that invite shall be the more numerous for this is indicated if the evacuation may profit and not hurt which it is the part of an Artist to find out Now by what conditions one may know whether this or that Person are to be Purged at this time I shall endeavour from Reason and Experience to shew A special condition that permits Purgation is if the Hypochondres be quite free of a Phlegmon for if any one shall endeavour to remedy an inflamed Part by Purging he shall take nothing of that away which is inflamed but shall increase the Phlegmon cause a colliquation and so procure Death Moreover a moderate Fever permits it but if a Purge be given in a very high burning Fever the hot flesh attracts it and so nothing is evacuated but the Fever and Cacochymie is increased But a principal thing that hinders is the heat of the Head and spiritual Parts because these Parts when they are hot are apt to draw all things to themselves and to absorb what the Medicine stirs Driness of the Belly or costiveness also hinder because this indicates that the Humours incline some other way and 't is to be feared that when they are moved and not evacuated but snatcht some other way they prove a cause of greater mischief 'T is also of very great moment to consider the nature of a man for some are easie to Purge and that without any Symptoms or Mischief Purge them when you will Some are so hard that though they be Purged in the fittest Season they are seised upon by horrible Symptoms and are manifestly worse afterwards When these conditions that hinder are two or more of them present we must rather put it to the hazard than Purge But if the Patient be one of those that are easie to Purge and be sick of a Putrid Fever with some suspicion of Malignity if he have been let Blood sufficiently and the Humours be not turgent indeed and wandring up and down nor yet altogether quiet but fused as it were and tending towards the Belly which is shewn by a rumbling in the Hypochondres or loose Stools two or three in a day for this is no small invitation to Purge if the Hypochondres themselves be loose and not hot to any considerable degree nor the flesh burn through the whole habit of the Body if there be felt no great heat in the Head or Breast when one lays his hand thereon but the Fever that is is dispersed equally all over the Body or incline to the lower Parts in these cases though there be no concoction as yet I will give a Purging Medicine because that which is present does not very much hinder and that which is feared is urgent and the indication of urgency is the first of all But if there seem to be any Inflammation or Phlegmon lying hid in the Belly though I fear a Cacochymie I will not give a Purge I will rather venture even though the faculty be doubtful to let more Blood than I had thought for I will do the like if the Breast or Head or all the flesh burn vehemently unless there be great despair of the faculty for if there be I will moisten the Head with Vinegar of Roses the Breast or even all the Body over with Water and Oyl and will give cold things to drink So if he I am a speaking of be very costive I will refrain Purging though I fear the nature of the Humours till I have first a little softened the Belly with mollifying Clysters for acrimonious ones are not good for this purpose because they have the hurt of Purgers in them and rather dry the Belly and the use of light Meats as stew'd Prunes c. But it is manifest that if two or more of the aforesaid things hinder we must take a course with them before we Purge and that together if we can as if both the Head burn and the Belly be dry the Belly must be softened and the Head cooled by irrigation at the same time But if the Disease do not at all yield to these Remedies but the concourse of Symptoms continue and there be no urgent cause we must not Purge for if we do the Patient will on the same day be taken with light-headedness and convulsion and it may be die to the great infamy of the Physician We must therefore do any thing rather There are many things in this Art Valles m. m. l. 4. c. 2. wherein for urgencies sake it is an art to depart from Art c. II. Many keep a great pother about expounding Aphor. 22. 1. and 29. 2. Things concocted are to be purged forth and not crude c. But in my opinion the matter is not so abstruse for I think that Hippocrates understood nothing else by things concocted but such things as may be separated from the mass of Blood And in the other aphorism by the words If any thing be to be moved move it in the beginning of the Diseases I think he means that we should purge presently after the beginning of the Disease before the vitious Humours by means of the perpetual motion of the Heart be confused and mixt with the whole mass of Blood For if we please to consider this matter further we see that Humours may then be separated 1. when they are overcome by Nature 2. when some vitious matter sticking somewhere in the Body is not as yet consounded with the Blood Walaeus Meth. Med. p. 35. as I have said 3. when by due helps we assist Nature that is endeavouring to attenuate and conquer the Humours III. A concoction of the Humours is not always to be tarried for nor is their preparation always to be premised before we will purge the Body for when the matter is moveable prepared for excretion ebullient or turgent what need is there of digestives and one Purge does generally less offend the Stomach than so often repeated digestive potions that dissolve and taint the Stomach so that crudities being thereupon increased there is a greater afflux to the joints he is speaking of the Gout Add hereto that while we are busied with digestives the pains increases Sennert l. de Arthrit See Zacut. Pr. hist l. 4. c.
Nature can bear for all bear not the same Remedy alike for some Bodies contemn the vertue even of the most powerfull Medicines others are wrought upon by the weakest therefore the cure is always to be begun with the weaker Heâ—rn moth l. 2. c. 2. both that Nature may be accustomed to Medicines and the sense of the Patient may be found out ¶ If the Physician be unacquainted with the Nature of the Patient namely whether he be easie or hard to Purge Spigelius bids us mind the Patient's Feet and to gather his easiness to be purged from the length of them and his hardness from their shortness which indeed is something seeing they are weaker but the whole truth consists not herein Others bid us consider the breath of the Patient which if it be gentle and delicate unless the Patient be Melancholick intimates Purgation to be easie Walaeuâ— m. m. p. 47. It is best to ask the Patient whether he use to go every day once or twice to stool if he say yes he is easie to purge if no difficult XXXIX Many wonder why I prescribe purging for three or four dayes together seeing most hitherto have been content with one day I answer that three or four gentle purgings are to be preferred before one strong one for on the first day they will purge the first region that is the Stomach and Guts on the second they will evacuate the Liver and open its obstruction and stuffing on the third they will cleanse the Veins which are indeed the Store-house of that colluvies that causes Diseases and Death This manner of curing does insensibly destroy inveterate evils without hurting the Parts yea they are rather strengthned by this slow depletion which evils the more vehement Medicines with all their violence and perturbation cannot remove H. ab Heâ—r Spadaâ—r cap. 10. and which the Ancients left as incurable XL. When Purging does not follow upon Medicines that are not very weak there is reason to fear lest the excrements being moved and not evacuated should be carried into some noble part Valles l. 5. Epiâ— and there cause some worse Distemper ¶ Purges given in too small a Dose do more harm than good and they do nothing else but attenuate the Humours and these being attenuated when through the defect of the just Dose of the Medicine they cannot be expelled Walaeus m. m. p. 34. rush all the Body over and disturb it XLI Those err greatly who always begin their Cures with Purging Those Expurgators think upon nothing but driving vicious things out of the Body as if the matter were to be done by the hand and nothing could hinder they are not content with that Minorative Purgation that is never to be parted with which they always undertake in the very beginning of the Cure at all times of the Disease but they would every day abuse a Purging Medicine if the Patient would obey every day without any respect to Concoction or other Preparation These forsooth think all that the Ancients have Philosophiz'd concerning Concoction to be mere trifles They only look at those things which pass out of the Belly and the worse those are they think the Patient is the better treated whereas in the mean time they colliquate the Bodies of many Valles m. m. l. 4. c. 2. These truly are not to be suffered XLII Of those who are not Purged by a Medicine some are not much hurt in whom namely nothing more is done but either the Medicine is too much conquered by the Concoctive Faculty and so being distributed with the Aliments turns to nourishment or being not enough deduced into act it passed out downwards Others are hurt very much as having the Excrements drawn to some inward part that is affected Valles 5. Epid. or moved and roiled all the Body over ¶ Those who labour under Diseases of some Parts depending on some vicious matter are then most helped by Purging when a Cacochymie of the whole Body feeds the Diseases that are in the Part But when the Humours are already fixt in the Part and the rest of the Body pure we must rather trust to particular Remedies and a good Diet and the benefit of time for the Bodies of such as being sound indure Purgings ill and that which is impacted in the Part yields not whereby it comes to pass that many of them are hurt with Purges Idem ibid. p. 519. because the Faculty is weakened and the Disease remits not XLIII Symmachus's Son being suffocated by choler in his Sleep and seised with a Fever and not keeping a Purging Potion when given him Hipp. 5. Epid. was neither Purged in six days nor before he died ¶ This Person seems to me to be therefore not Purgeable because there was a redundance of Choler and it was carried upwards and I think this was the very cause of his Death that Choler seis'd in abundance on his Head and Heart and there was no place for Remedy But how can it be that redundance should hinder purging for it seems apt rather to cause too great evacuations and doubtless it was that which hindred the retention of the Potion When this Person was suffocated in his Sleep by the multitude of Choler which shewed that much of it was carried towards his Head and that it abounded in the upper Parts that are about the Breast and Head and kept not the Potion that he drank nor was purged it is reasonable to think that the redundance of the Choler in the upper part of the Stomach hindred the Medicine from being kept and when retention and traction was taken away that Purgation was also taken away What therefore was to be done by the Physician in this case Valles com in c. l. p. 505. Certainly he was not to rely on one strong Medicine but evacuation was to be made by degrees by often repeated Vomiting XLIV I know that in Sickness Hippocrates was often wont to purge the Humours by the region which was farthest off from the part affected Thus lib. 2. de morb in the Disease called Siccatory that was like an Hypochondriacal Distemper he first begins evacuation downwards and then finishes it upwards the contrary whereto 't is clear he observed in Distempers of the Head for in that case he first vomits and then purges downwards the reason of which difference depends hereon That evacuation is to be begun at that part that is next to the part affected so that in Diseases that infest the parts below the Midriff we must begin with purging downward but with Vomiting if the Disease possess the upper parts Martian com v. 246. sect 3. l. 2. de morb But this is to be understood when the Disease needs both evacuations XLV The vulgar way of purging per Epicrasin or by gradual purgation does not please me when they give a Purge on every fourth fifth or seventh day or once a week for this way the Medicine will only
heating Vertue but also because they are very prone to breed an acid crudity which their acid sweats and other things shew Now bitter things do best of all correct an acid crudity and therefore also resist putrefaction Yet in the mean time it is not to be given rashly to those that labour under a dry intemperature without vitious Humours and have an hot Liver especially the resinous part extracted by the Spirit of Wine for this has a fiery heat as it were it attenuates and dries very much and makes the Blood hotter and does not only not strengthen the bowels appointed for Sanguification Frid. Hofman clav Schrod p. 634. but hurts them by fusing the Blood as it were and by being opposite to their Natural Constitution and opens the Orifices of the Veins IX Turbith and Agarick require Ginger to correct them if thick Phlegm be to be evacuated but they refuse it if thin Phlegm or the excrements of other humours that flow upon the Joints be to be attracted and averted from the Joints X. The Seed of Carthamus does not so much purge as stir up flatus Walaeus m. m. p. 45. XI Cassia does not as most have thought therefore loosen the belly because it is soft and slippery but because it has a peculiar purgative faculty whereby it withdraws both Choler and Melancholy and thick Phlegm not only out of the Guts but also in great plenty out of the whole lower Belly Enchir. med pract p. 233. it is therefore good for the Melancholick to use it often XII Let Meat be taken presently after Cassia lest it pass into nourishment a Sanches Berberies take away its heat b Fontanonus Aniseeds its windiness c Heurnius It is offensive to the Stomach and Guts when they are amiss d Idem It hinders any judgment to be made of the faeces e Dodonaeus It causes a nausea f Idem It hurts the hypochondriacal because it is naught for the Stomach and guts It loosens the acetabula in Women with Child It causes a prefocation of the Womb as does also Manna g Dom. Sala It debilitates the ligaments in the Gouty In vapid Distempers its correction with Citron seeds is not to be relied upon unless the Spec. Diarrhodon Abbatis be added h Provotius It sometimes brings on a Cataphora as do also the compositions it is received into through the fumes wherewith it fills the head i Rondelet XIII Those are not to be imitated that give it in Distempers of the Kidneys and when they are foul or when the Bladder is inflamed for though it be gentle yet it is a diuretick Medicin calling forth the humours that it draws Zacut Pharmac C. 2. to the Kidneys and Bladder XIV Let it not be given to those that have an ulcer in their Reins or Bladder Yet it is good for those who are troubled with the Stone for being used for a continuance it withdraws the focus of the Gravel It is not lightly to be given in the Gout Heurnius m. m. l. 2. c. 22. Merc. l. de Ind. Med. c. 1. l. 6. Saxon. Prael Pract. p. 2. c. 8. for part of it passes into nourishment and so makes the parts loose and liable to fluxions ¶ It is very nought for those that have used too much Venery and thereby abound with crude humours because it is flatuous and griping ¶ Cassia through laxity hurts an inflamed Stomach for when the passages are loosen'd the humours flow thither more easily and in the beginning Repellents are to be used ¶ Horstius L. 4. Obs 34. observed heat of Urine to be caused by it XV. I would have those that betake themselves to the Practice of Physick to observe that the Physicians that undertake to practise Physick all over France yea and the Dutch Netherlands get abundance of Money by those Remedies that draw forth diverse humours by one Channel which they use to the benefit of their Patients for the most part and therefore their whole art almost consists therein Wherefore I advise everyone to endeavour earnestly to have in readiness choice Medicins that are notably endued with this faculty Heurnius m. m. l. 2. c. 25. XVI Coloquintida purges strongly especially the Brain but its Operation is violent and it is very offensive for its great bitterness Both these faults are corrected by infusing it in Urine for by that means it both loses its bitterness becoming almost insipid and also its violence is so much broken that it may be safely given to a Drachm and so it becomes an excellent remedy for all Diseases of the Head arising from a cold cause River l. 1. c. 15. XVII Elder Dwarf-elder and Flower-de-luce are to be excluded out of the List of Purgers for though they do not purge much Walaeus yet that which they do evacuate they do it with very great violence XVIII Always when Hellebore is given in a small quantity we must add to it Diagridium or some other strong Medicin that may drive it forth of the Body Rondelet c. de Paralysi otherwise it will stay too long therein and cause great disturbance and prejudice XIX Black Hellebore is innocent It is good for Quartan Agues and for all stubborn Melancholick and Phlegmatick Diseases A learned Physician gave half an Ounce of it for a Quartan and cured his Patient thereby having first given one and two Drachms in vain and without purging Heurn comm in lib. 2. de vict acut t. 11. It is given in Hydromel or Mead or in a Decoction of Polypody with the Seeds of Anise and Cummin and Lykyrrhize XX. Fernelius describes an Ointment that being daubed on the Belly purges violently but you can hardly make Tryal of it Enchir. Med. Pract. p. 240. See Hild. l. de dysent c. 8. or the like without Censure and loss of Reputation For the Purgative Virtue insinuating it self into the Muscles and Membranes often causes a deadly flux of the Belly XXI Whether are Purgers to be given in Substance or in the Extract Seeing there is but one part of purging Medicins that purges and every Particle thereof has not that Virtue in it it is very advisable by Chymistry to separate the profitable part from the unprofitable the pure from the impure and to extract the purgative part by some convenient Liquor for that part that remains unextracted will not purge at all though you give three or four Ounces of it excepting only Coloquintida A Decoction works less than an Infusion an Extract more for in an Extract there is nothing but the resinous purging part but in an Infusion there is still a good deal of the Liquor This you may experiment by pouring cold Water into an Infusion for the resinous Substance will be precipitated Walaeus m. m. p. 49. and a Liquor of no efficacy will swim over it ¶ Note that in Extracts there is need of a
the more readily be driven down out of the Body being furthered by the slipperiness hereof Which how profitable it is we then come to understand when after a long loosness wherein this Phlegm has been expelled also we come to want the benefit of excretion Do not those therefore offer violence to Nature Simon Pauli Quadrip Botan class 3. tit Centaur min. that are daily scraping this crust from off the Guts with Pills and Clysters LXIII 'T is strange how apt Wine is to penetrate by reason of its volatil Salts how entirely it often conveys the vertues of vegetables into the menstruum or Liquor Hence I remember that D. Joh. Michael did gravely advise as often as Resinous Bodies were added to any Purging potion that they were better extracted if a little Wine were added On the same account 't is better to use Mechoacan in Infusion than in Pouder I. D. Major tract de calc Sperlingian and Schroder l. 4. pharm § 448. declares that the purging Spirit or Infusion of Scammony prepared with the Spirit of Malaga-Wine purges without any trouble or disturbance LXIV Simple Extracts are often better than compound especially when the compound aim not all at one and the same scope Thus the most simple Laudanum made of Opium alone is in my opinion to be prefer'd far before all the Laudanums that are to be had up and down made with the essence of Spec. diambrae c. for these very things are far better added for the present use according to the intention of the thing and the variation of circumstances There is the like reason in the extraction of a mass for Pills whence amongst other things it chiefly comes to pass that Pills made of such a compound Mass have commonly so deceitful an effect The same holds of most other common compositions in which the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 as to the decent manner of mixture is seldom observed 'T is better to prepare the things which are to be prepared and then to compound them at pleasure or rather according to necessity G. W. Wedel pharm p. 26. lest being overwhelmed as it were with a hodg-podg of Ingredients we become either doubtful or deceived LXV Purging extracts are a more sluggish kind of Medicin The Rosin of Scammony or Jalap may indeed be dissolved with the Spirit of Wine and reduced into an Essence which is a Medicin convenient enough but yet a little too hot But amongst Purgers Extracts are of more common use than Essences Now that Purging Extracts are more sluggish in Operation is clear by experience For though half a Scruple of the Rosin of Jalap be equal in proportion to two Scruples of Jalap in substance yet it Purges no more than one Scruple of Jalap Yea Pills made of the Rosin of Scammony or Jalap alone have either no effect at all or else an unfaithful one that is they either purge not at all or more strongly than they should If any ask how this comes to pass that there should not be a stronger effect seeing Rosins and Extracts are and are called the quintessence as it were or at least the best part The true reason hereof consists in the manner of resolution Scammony Jalap and Rhubarb purge strongly in substance in regard the Sulphur is more dispersed and therefore they are more easily dissolved and consequently stimulate the Guts to Excretion And this very resolution of the Medicin is chiefly performed by the Serum which as it is the vehicle of Aliments so also of Medicins But when the Resinous Sulphureous particles are more united they are more conglobated and more hardly dissolved yet when they are resolved which they are in Bodies abounding with Salt humours chiefly they then more readily display their Salino-Sulphureous Stimulus and communicate it to the Body Hence Purging Rosins are best given with Emulsions And likewise it is adviseable to mix the extract of Scammony or Jalap with a little of the same in substance which we commonly do with good success For it is to be noted that besides the Resinous there lurk also Gummy parts in Jalap which when precipitation is made come severally into sight by the evaporation of the decanted Liquor which is not very Purgative Hence gather what is to be thought of that opinion of Lavaterus who defens Gal. p. 72. says he has been taught by experience that the taking of a simple Infusion of Purgers does more than Extracts themselves because he thought that the purging vertue of Medicins inheres more in the Salt than in the Sulphur or Mercury for the Salt can never be mixed with Spirit of Wine Idem although in time it may draw something of a tincture from it LXVI Many imprudently enough infuse a great deal of Senna and Rhubarb in a small quantity of Liquor whereby all their vertue is so far from being drawn forth that half or a fourth part of it is not He therefore that is desirous to know both the quantity of the Liquor and also of the Purger to be infused in it 1. Let him have regard to the Liquor it self whether it be pure or imbued with the vertue of some other Purging Medicin that may help or hinder the vertue of that which we are to infuse 2. Let him consider whether the Purger be strong and full of a Purgative vertue or more or less destitute of the same from any cause And seeing the Physician cannot know what such the Purger is which the Apothecary will make use of the more prudent Physicians use to prescribe a little the more of the Purger that if it have not its vertue intire that want may be made up with using the greater quantity of it LXVII But another error is often committed here by Apothecaries whilst some infuse the Purger in the prescribed quantity of Liquor others in a greater and either take only a part thereof or evaporate it too much yea sometimes strain the Purger and sometimes not Whence any one may see how uncertain the efficacy of such an Infusion must needs be In the mean time many Apothecaries think they have Licence to do such things whereby yet both the Physicians and Patients are imposed upon Wherefore seeing it is impossible for a Physician to discover the particular custom of any Apothecary which they often conceal I had rather in my Practice prescribe either Electuaries or Pills than Infusions seeing Potions also may be made of Electuaries dissolved in a convenient Liquor And I have observed that I have prescribed Physick to my Patients with far greater certainty and safety than others Sylv. de le Boe meth med lib. II. c. 7. Salivaters The Contents They Operate by opening and widening the pores of the Fauces palate c. I. By fusing melting and inciding the serous humours II. Whether salivation by Mercury be an universal evacuation III. Salivaters evacuate the conjunct cause and relieve the neighbouring parts IV. They are most proper when humours are
violence But being taken with an Apoplexy a few hours after she died Her Body being opened there were hardly to be seen four ounces of Blood remaining So that it is hardly consonant to reason that from so small a quantity of Blood so strong and frequent impressions should be made upon the inner Nervous coats of the Heart and Arteries as to put these Vessels upon driving the Blood about so rapidly And therefore it is very likely that the Heart and Vessels themselves impelled the Blood the Blood it self not concurring thereto We may likewise infer that from the vehemence of some passions of the mind joy anger c. the Channels of the Blood do of themselves promote its motion because the lucid and sense-causing Spirits being moved more than usual do rush more vehemently out of the Brain into the Nervous Channels those perhaps especially that send branches into the Heart and the Vessels that spring from that Bowel whereby it comes to pass that the constrictions of the heart become more frequent and vehement Gautier medic Nivortensis in Merc. am an 1681. In such a case as this it were rashness and imprudence to fly to Venesection and to order it as often as we would do in inflammatory diseases XIII Because the Blood that is poured out at the Nose appears florid and saturated with a splendid redness it is commonly believed to be more pure and sincere than the rest The reason given is because it is poured forth by very slender Vessels which 't is said admit not the thicker Blood But the whole Mass of Blood together with all the humours it consists of is percolated at least in the Liver as all agree which the Physicians that defend the old Hypothesis ought to have noted who likewise teach that the thicker Blood is evacuated by the Hemorrhoids and issues out of the Capillary Vessels If they say that those small Vessels are widened by the turgent and more vehemently fermenting Blood why say they not the same of the Vessels of the Nostrils Besides that Blood which flows out of the Hemorrhoids is sometimes no less bright and red than that which runs out of the Nose Therefore neither the saturate redness of the Blood nor the smalness of the Vessels out of which it issues evince that that Blood is purer than the rest We shall easily find a reason of its deep redness if we observe what happens to the Blood as to its colour as it flows out in this or that manner out of these or those Vessels The Blood that flows out of an Artery being cut is caeteris paribus more bright and red than that which flows out of a Vein Likewise the Blood from whencesoever it flow that destils out by drops is redder than that which issues forth in a full stream by a large Orifice Blood let forth into a broad Bason looks very red If the same be received out of the same Vein into a narrow and deep Vessel it inclines more to black Lastly If the Blood that is let out of its Vessels be received in a cold place it becomes more ruddy if in an hot one more black Thus the Blood that flows out of the internal Hemorrhoids if it be retained in the streight Gut looks more black but more red if it issue forth presently unless some special cause hinder From these things it is evidently gathered that the Blood when it is suddenly cooled becomes more red when it cools by degrees or leisurely it is more black Now it cools the sooner when it issues out but in a small quantity because a little is less able to resist the ambient air than much is It is sooner cooled when it is received in a large or wide Vessel than when in a narrow and deep From these the rest appear Therefore the reason why the Blood that flows out of the Nose looks more red is not because it is purer but because it is suddenly cooled What the quickness or slowness of cooling can do towards variety of colours we may observe in Steel when it is temper'd for if a bar of Steel that is red hot be moved very swiftly through the cold Air it puts on a reddish colour if not so swiftly a colour that inclines to yellow if yet less swiftly it looks blue if very slowly it receives the natural colour of Steel For like as Bodies that are very hot are cooled quicker or slower are the insensible particles of which they consist disposed on this or that manner and they diversly modifie the light which they reflect in which modification does their colour consist Not only the quickness of cooling makes the Blood of a more saturate colour but also the motion of the particles of the Air which by licking as it were the surface of the Blood and depressing the particles that jet out make it more smooth dense and slick and so makes its redness more bright through the greater reflexion of the light Thus Red wood looks redder when it is smoothed and polished by some convenient instrument From the same cause the Blood that was blackish in the top of the Vessel if it be exposed to the Air acquires a more saturate and splendid colour namely because it s dispersed and eminent particles are depressed and compressed into a dense skin which reflects more light than the same Blood when its particles were loose and less cohering because then a great deal of the light did penetrate into the interstices of the parts Fr. Bayle probl med 2. and was not reflected at all and the rest falling upon soft parts was reflected but weakly XIV From the precedent problem it is easily understood that a sudden mutation from heat to cold and the appulse of the Air are the cause of the redness where the Blood that is poured forth shineth Hence it follows that as often as the Blood is red it has undergone the greater and more sudden change which happens two ways either because the Blood is hotter or because the ambient Air is colder Wherefore in an equal temper of the ambient Air other things being also alike a notable redness of the Blood is a sign of its notable heat therefore a florid redness of the Blood is not a certain token of malignity Yet if horrible Symptoms accompany a Fever such as none but a notable putrefaction can produce and yet a putrefaction of the Blood cannot be deduced from its colour those grievous Symptoms are to be referred to some malignity Idem XV. To prove that the Elements of the Blood are the four vulgar humours to wit Blood so called in specie Choler Melancholy and Phlegm some take an argument from the variety of colours in the different parts of the Blood when it is cold in a Poringer for they affirm that that which is florid in the uppermost part is choler which because it is fiery gets a top through its lightness that which is next under this is Blood
which being hot and moist hath an analogy with the Air below this is Melancholy which being of an Earthy nature descends to the lowest place by its weight Phlegm which resembles the nature of water they say is mixed with Melancholy as Water is easily mixed with Earth Besides they say that the said humours do yet more betray themselves by their colour especially Blood and Melancholy The manifest token of the former is a splendid redness and of the latter a blackish colour Indeed those who think thus do notably accommodate these phaenomena to their Hypotheses But from what has been said it is evident that the uppermost part of the Blood is red because it is very quickly cooled and is more immediately affected by the pulse of the Air and that the lowest is blackish because it is cooled by degrees and the Air acts only remotely upon it Wherefore it depends on the pleasure of the Surgeon whether all the Blood that is poured forth of any Vein shall look intensely red or no for so it will look if it be received in a wide Bason but blackish if in a narrow and deep Vessel or if it be set to coagulate in a warm place Thus Blood may be accounted almost all of it Melancholy or all of it Blood in specie so called as it cools on this or that manner Therefore it is a weak argument that is taken from the colour of the different parts of the Blood cooled in a Vessel Idem See below §. 21. to prove that its elements are the four vulgar humours XVI Nor may we always from the colour being changed infer that the substance is changed or corrupted for we see many Bodies change colour without any sensible detriment to their chief faculties seeing they put forth the same actions as before and with the same strength But in Heterogeneous Liquors there can hardly be induced a colour much different from what they use to have but they must undergo a great change especially if they be of the kind of those that are very easily alter'd through the mutual action of the parts that constitute them whether those parts be determin'd to act upon their fellows by external agents or be stirred up to divorce by the mixture of extraneous Bodies by which ways both Blood and Milk are very easily changed suffering on this side divers Secretions and on that Concretions of their constituent parts Hither does that retire that is thin and more fluid and there does that coagulate which is more thick All which things can hardly happen but there must be some change in colour and hardly can Blood undergo such a change but these things preceded Wherefore one would think that the colour of the Blood might shew whether and how great its putrefaction is Moreover a livid or black colour both in the Blood and in the Flesh signifies that there is a putrefaction a growing or already grown therein as we may observe in a Gangrene and Mortification And though Pus or Matter be the offspring of the Blood or Flesh putrefying in a certain manner yet they are not changed into Pus till they have past into a sublivid Sanies Putrefaction consists in the dissolution of the parts from one another so as that they fall asunder or be very ready so to do Putrefaction I mean properly so called which is in the Bodies of Animals Such dissolution of the parts is necessarily accompanied with blackness the parts being dissipated that reflect the light more strongly and plentifully or being however become softer Therefore when the Blood looks black not only in the bottom of the Vessel for the reasons given in the preceding Paragraphs but also in the very surface where through its proper constitution from the sudden cooling and appulse of the Air it ought to be red 't is a certain sign that there is some putrefaction in it If the Blood be not only black but also do not coagulate it signifies that the putrefaction is diffused through the whole Mass the Fibres being corrupted by which the Blood should curdle If the Blood look red in its surface in one place and in another incline to livid if here it look palish and there yellowish c. it is a sign there is a great disposition to putrefaction For that variety of colours cannot happen unless many and Foreign and diverse things be mixed with the Mass of Blood which whilst they act upon one another corrupt the Mass of Blood There are innumerable things to be inquired concerning the colour and consistence of the Blood the knowledge whereof is greatly necessary for the knowing of diseases and Morbifick causes Idem probl 6. XVII When in Venesection the Blood that runs forth is received into Water that part that gives redness to the whole Mass is separated from the rest and mixt with the Water and the remainder or a great part of it for the most part grows together into whitish Fibres Some think that what is Phlegmatick in the Blood or Phlegm it self passes into such Fibres It cannot be denied but Phlegm is always mixed with the Blood seeing even in the healthful something of Phlegm does continually destil from the Brain upon the Fauces and from thence into the Stomach But I can hardly be brought to believe that the Filaments that grow together in the Water are mere Phlegm but I should rather think that it is that part of the Blood which was ready to pass into the substance of the solid parts for both of these are white And it is an argument hereof that such as have more and more firm Flesh and a more robust Body in the same is the Fibrous part of the Blood the more plentiful And in the lean whose Blood is more acrimonious or corrupted there are fewer of those Fibres Therefore from those whitish Fibres it cannot be inferred that the Blood is Phlegmatick but that it has a greater or lesser consistence accordingly as these Fibres abound more or less Besides from the colour of the Fibres it may be inferred whether the Blood incline to a Cholerick Phlegmatick or Melancholick constitution Thus heretofore Hippocrates knew by the rags of a menstruous Woman having first wiped away the red part of the Blood whether the Blood were bilious Idem probl 7. c. XVIII I do not think that snivel which sometimes swims a top of the Red Blood is always excrementitious Phlegm but rather the crude part of the Blood elaborated from the chyle but not as yet concocted enough nor brought to that perfection it ought to have but wants to be perfected by the repeated circulation of the Blood Aristotle himself calls that Muccago or Snivel the crude and unconcocted part of the Blood Harvey lib. de generat animal p. 319. says that that part is found in the more hot and robust Animals as Horses Oxen and Men also of a vivid constitution and swims a top like Hartshorn gelly or the white of an
dissuades the same on the same account yea even in a Sanguineous Fever he would have us to Bleed moderately in the beginning but plentifully after maturation or concoction He is refuted by Fernelius l. 2. meth c. 13. 1. Because the greatness of the disease which sprang from the exuberance of the Blood alone requires Bleeding presently at the beginning 2. Add hereto that the strength is intire in the beginning which an indication of the disease being given persuades to Bleed presently in the beginning 3. Because it is manifest also by experience seeing a Febris synocha is cured presently in the beginning by a large Bleeding 4. Yea seeing concoction is rather owing to a Cucochymy it will follow that the indication for Breeding does tarry for no concoction of the contained Matter that is to be taken away by Venesection Wherefore after a perfect concoction of the humours there will rather be place for Purging than Bleeding which Fernelius demonstrates at large To Avicen's reasons it is thus Answer'd To the First By denying that Bleeding does extenuate the humours because there remains the same proportion of them in the Veins before and after Bleeding To the Second By denying that Venesection stirs up the humours seeing it uses not so much to exagitate as to stop the orgasm of the humours For a conclusion let it be noted that as we judge Fernelius's assertion to be very consentaneous to truth so we determine that Avicen's opinion is not to be taken absolutely but secundum quid as he distinguishes betwixt a disease in fieri and in facto with respect to particular diseases And he denies that when the disease is in facto or already formed Bleeding is convenient in the beginning because the matter that causes the Gout is no longer in the Veins And the reason why concocted matter permits Bleeding is because Nature being now more at liberty and no longer busied in correcting any particular malady has her faculties strong and willingly admits of Bleeding for the prevention of a new Fluxion Thus Venesection is forbidden in the beginning of a Burning-Fever in regard the Fever indicates something else And thus he commends moderate Bleeding in the beginning of a Sanguineous Fever Perhaps that the faculty that languishes through the oppression may be leisurely comforted and so afterwards may better sustain a plentiful Bleeding Horst instit med disput 18. qu. 8. See Zacur pran hist or l. 4. c. 15. Claudin Respons 2. when there shall be a maturation of the Fever that is when there shall be a freer ventilation of the Febrile heat XXXII A redundance of Blood is chiefly taken away by Bleeding But it is questioned whether its abundance may not be taken away also by other means Walaeus says That we may waste it by fasting For seeing our Natural heat is never idle but always requires something to act upon thence it comes to pass that in defect of aliment it sets upon the Blood it self and wastes it Wherefore fasting may be safely used to consume a Plethora And Erasistratus seems to have been of that opinion if we may believe Galen But we say 1. That a Plethora is lessened indeed by Fasting but by degrees not of a sudden as many acute diseases require 2. By fasting we use a certain violence to Nature for fasting is fruitful of divers Symptoms and diseases and is able to kill in the space of a few days Whilst in it the vigour of a well disposed digestive ferment having no object to act upon doth waste and consume the proper aliment of the Stomach whereby not only in a sound body the good and profitable humours are wasted the body dried and consumed but also in a Cacochymical and impure Body the corrupt humours are moved and agitated withal and Nature swerving sends part of them for want of good aliment to the Stomach which is not a little disturbed thereby and by consent therewith the Brain and Heart are afflicted Frider. Hofm m. m. lib. 1. cap. 13. so that one Symptom comes to be heaped upon another XXXIII In judging of diseases much is attributed to the pulse which being weak and small for the most part death is threatned but if on the contrary big and full there is hopes of recovery Yet I have seen one that was corpulent and a great drinker whose pulse while he lay languishing in bed was so little and small that being hardly to be perceived by the Physician one would have been apt to think death at hand unless his rubicund Face his Eyes Teeth and full Veins had gainsaid Wherefore inquiring more diligently into the cause of so great a malady I believed it to be caused by too great saturity and abundance of Blood and that no fitter remedy could be used than a speedy Bleeding But his relations and friends were against it for fear such a remedy might make the Man die the sooner But at my instance and assurance that he would certainly recover if it should be done at length they consented Wherefore presently calling a Surgeon he was let Blood and forthwith both his pulse and strength returned so that his recovery was quicker than his death Beneven abditae 69. which seemed to be at the door was believed to have ensued XXXIV Whether is Blood to be let sometimes when the Spirits languish I think the difficulty is to be determin'd by a distinction For the humours either abound or are moderate The latter case does by no means admit or Bleeding But when the humours abound though they may neither distend the Vessels nor burst them nor overwhelm the natural heat yet because they oppress the feeble strength so much of them may be diminished by Bleeding as that Nature may easily govern the remainder so that no humour may putrefie or be corrupted Mâ—rcat l. â— de praesid c. 2. But though Authors determine thus yet it is safeâ— to extract that which exceeds unless the disease be very violent by abstinence and a spare diet ¶ We must presently abstain from Bleeding because the faculties seem in some sort weak For the faculties may do so two manner of ways one while they suffer nothing as yet in their proper essence another when their essence suffers which it does by oppression or dissolution c. The faculties are said to be strong or weak absolutely or secundum quid Horat. Augen l. 4. de curat per s m. cap. 2. lib. 3. cap. 14. accordingly as both the carnous and spirituous substance wherein they inhere is duly constituted or something is deficient These things being premised we may conclude that weakness of the faculties or strength hinders not Venesection as they are weak secundum quid as is proved in a constitution that is very lean yet with no small abundance of Blood wherein the strength languisheth in respect of the carnous substance An instance whereof we have in Galen of a Woman that was cured 6. Epid. 3.29 So likewise the
oppressed faculties when they suffer nothing in their own Nature are very much helped by Bleeding On which account Hippocr 4. de vict acut and Galen ibid. think that if an healthful person lose his speech all of a sudden from the intercepting and shutting up of the Veins Greg. Horst qu. 6. he ought to be let Blood forthwith XXXV Whether is Bleeding profitable in a Flux of the Belly Hippocrates says 4. Acut. n. 116. If you would Bleed any one with profit his Belly must first be strengthened In which place Galen says You shall not take away Blood in a flux of the Belly For if the flux continue after the Bleeding it dejects the strength And this opinion he confirms Art Curat ad Glauc 14. If a Fever happen with a Looseness there is no need of other evacuation but that is sufficient of it self though it be not in respect to the Plethora And whosoever shall venture either to Bleed or Purge such as if they needed greater evacuation precipitate their Patients into more grievous mischiefs But who will deny that the Guts are of the same nature with the Stomach to which they are continued And if this as Galen teacheth 7. m. m. be subject to all sorts of intemperies what incongruity is it that the Guts should be subject to the same Every part of the Body is afflicted sometimes with an hot sometimes a cold moist or dry Intemperies or one compounded manifoldly of these and shall the Guts remain untouched and unviolated by them If so it follows that the Symptoms of every disease attend upon their disease But amongst the Symptoms of all diseases the commonest is the fault of the function or faculty Now there is a manifold function of the Intestins as of other parts to wit of attracting retaining concocting expelling all which are necessarily hurt by what intemperies soever the Guts are afflicted with and that more or less according to the distemper they are affected with sometimes one function more and another less and therefore if it happen that the retentive faculty is injured by an hot intemperature which happens oftener than by a cold what hinders why we should not remedy this affection by Bleeding as we would do the same from a like cause in any other part of the Body Do the Guts want Vessels by which they should be subjected to a defluxion of humours Do they not also suffer inflammations and Gangrenes from an afflux of humours Are they not sometimes full of hot and vellicating Ulcers Are they not afflicted with bitter pains when they are exercised with a Dysentery As to Galen's argument it ought not to be put in the controversie that by the continuance of the Flux the strength wasts and that by so much the more if Blood were let forth superfluously or Purging were used but is the decay of strength owing only to Bleeding or Purging in case of a Loosness Is not the same thing caused by a Fever Or does not any notable pain the same You will say not so easily seeing the strength is not so quickly exhausted by these wherein there is observed no notable evacuation as by a flux of the Belly But what can you say in fluxes of Blood out of the Nose Womb Hemorrhoids Lungs Stomach c. In the cure whereof Blood is advised to be let by skilful and vulgar Physicians You will reply that only revulsive Bleeding is granted in those cases and only a little quantity is taken to the end namely that a passage being made in an opposite part for the Blood that is in motion it may cease to flow thither whither it was a going For the very same reason I also say that Blood is to be let out of the Arm in a flux of the Belly raised from an hot intemperature which has always an efflux of humour attending it that an exit being provided for it in another part and part of it drawn forth the remainder may cease to run and burthen the part which it had begun to possess And so the humour being partly lessened and partly called back to another part the intemperies that was the cause of the flux must in all likelihood become less And this being lessened it is necessary that that should also decline with it which was affected by the same cause viz. the superfluous dejection of the Belly Let us confirm our assertion by Examples A bilious Bloody dysentery with excoriation with a Fever and a very great provocation to Stool had so for a whole month almost afflicted Polemarchus Brixiacus that there was little hope of his life yet he was so relieved by taking six ounces of Blood out of the left Arm that it proved a present remedy seeing on that very day all the harms begun to decline evidently and he was in a short while restored to perfect health 2. In the same kind of disease with a swelling of the Spleen ten ounces of Blood being taken did wonderfully help and recover the Wife of N. 3. Griping and a Fever grievously tormented Mr. N. for three days on the fourth being Bled to ten ounces the distempers so slackned that the next day they went off quite 4. N. was grievously and dangerously ill of a Fever and a dysentery with excoriation by which being almost killed when another Physician had Purged him several times with Rhubarb on the twentieth day I let him Blood to ten ounces with manifest relief two days after I Purged him with Senna and Syrup of Roses solutive which Medicin took away the remainder of the malady 5. Mr. N's Cook was first taken with a very sore Fever and the next day with a notable Dysentery I presently order'd him to be Bled in the right Arm to about fifteen ounces after which he was more at ease and the day following both distempers went off 6. Bleeding proved also a wonderful help to Mr. N. who was brought to extream leanness by a long and strong Fever with a flux of his Belly that was sometimes Lienterical sometimes Dysenterical sometimes of another sort and sometimes mixt He had been frequently Purged with Rhubarb had taken Diureticks had used Astringent fomentations Anointings c. I proposed Bleeding His Physician wondring at the novelty of the remedy presently alledged his Flux loathing of meat weakness extream leanness a tabid Fever and the little hopes there was of a recovery Yet upon my advice a Vein was opened in his right Arm and about nine ounces of very putrid Blood taken away After six days because he was notably bettered by the first Bleeding we opened a Vein in the other Arm and after ten days more Bled him a third time Thus after a few days he was quite cured 7. A Fever and a Loosness as well by their continuance as vehemence had left N's Servant nothing but Skin and Bone in the Siege of Rochel I recovered him by letting him Blood three times eight ounces at a time and Purging him with Senna and Syrup of
cold as if for example any labour under a cold intemperies he must use hot things only and abstain from Bleeding which is a cooling remedy But if the disease be hot and Refrigeration be only as an antecedent cause while we extinguish the Fever by Bleeding we shall do no harm for the procatarctick cause has no indication belonging to it Yet when refrigeration hurteth even the Viscera Valles contr l. 7. c. 6. Bleeding is most of all to be shunn'd ¶ Those things which are alledged against Bleeding are only to be understood of that which is made for evacuations sake and make us take heed that by letting Blood there follow not a crudity of cold humours and intimate that the quantity is to be moderated Add hereto that the Authors of approved medicin have often practis'd Venesection in diseases meerly cold as in a Dropsie from the retention of some usual evacuation Hippocr 4. acut 11. For when the heat is suffocated by Blood that is too cold through its plenty Bleeding is a present remedy Likewise in palpitation a cold disease lib. de rigore c. c. 5. In a Priapism 14. meth c. 7. In a suffocation by cold Water Dioscor l. 6. c. 4. Paul lib. 5. cap. 66. Zacut. princ med hist 8. l. 2. In stubborn diseases proceeding from a cold cause to abstain altogether or more than is meet from Bleeding is not the part of a prudent Physician seeing 't is certain that every part of the Body is nourished by that matter which is in the Veins Which the colder and thicker it is by so much the more grievous and stubborn does it make the distemper that is raised from the like matter L. Botal de s m. cap. 12. Which matter we say is to be diminished partly by Bleeding partly by Purging and an attenuating diet that the Mass of Blood being cleansed and renewed the disease may be cured XLI Others proceed further who in all Fevers let forth the harmless Blood excepting neither the spotted Fever nor the Plague nor Poison Thus freeing themselves of much labour and trouble which otherwise the many sorts of Fevers would create them But because the nature of poison and malignant humours chiefly consists in this that they forthwith set upon the heart and quickly deject the strength of the most robust and seeing Bleeding does both likewise not only diminish the strength but also draw the malignity to the Heart and impells that back again to the oppression of Nature which she had driven forth for her own easement I cannot but pray and admonish all Artists that they will not proceed to Venesection either in the Plague or other malignant Fevers or also in all those accidents whereby men are Poison'd inwardly or outwardly especially if they love and seriously aim at tranquillity of mind and the health of the Patient that desires their help The French Italian Spaniards and Portugueze those fierce contenders for Venesection will reply to me that Nature by Venesection draws Air as it were and is unloaded in some manner that she may so much the more easily cast forth the remaining malignity And this seems true for the Blood draws the Air that its Spirits may the more readily fly away and it may be eased of those faculties that it necessarily wants When these things are finished the Patient changes life for death and very well knows how to draw tears from the Eyes of the by-standers Giving no other reasons they do moreover rely upon their experience but I wish they relied well upon it for I have found such Patients who in the morning were in no danger after Bleeding five or six ounces taken away in the evening by cold and rigid death Hence therefore we may rightly gather what it is they name Experience namely If the Patient by chance escape the honour is given to Venesection but if he die as he does commonly there was malignity in the case Therefore I oppose experience to experience thanking God greatly that he hath exhibited and demonstrated a far certainer and better remedy to all those who rightly consider diseases without envy passion or being inslaved to anothers opinion Others that they might seem more moderate in this matter admit of Venesection in the beginning of the disease before the malignity manifest it self externally and herein I will readily assent to them if it be done 1. In hot Countries 2. In a full Body 3. When the humours ascending to the head cause grievous accidents there In such a case I think Bleeding in the Arm or Foot will do a great deal of good But those who will prescribe Venesection in all Bodies and without difference in these cold and moist Countries such shall certainly find no good success thereof Yea they can hardly give a reason which will be received by art as genuine especially seeing themselves do freely and ingenuously confess that they sometimes meet with such cases wherein they dare not order Bleeding which they cry up so much Barbette Chirurg part 1. cap. XI performing the cure to their desire by Sudoriferous and cooling potions XLII Avicen Fen. 4. l. 1. c. 29. Bleeding often causes a Fever and many times putrefaction Venesection through the ebullition of the Spirits causes diary Fevers and if it be too large by debilitating Nature causes putrefaction the innate heat being weakned it generates an Hectick if it be done in Bodies wanting Blood the lean hot dry A weakly man being in no disease caused himself to be Bled in the midst of Summer being lean and weak he begun to be Feverish thereupon and complaining of an inflammation in his Liver the Physician not considering his weakness nor thinking upon Coolers and Purgers that were then necessary Zacut. prax admir lib. 3. obs 53. Bleeds him more than once Whereupon the Blood wherein heat has its perseverance being evacuated his flesh wasted and he died of a tabid Fever XLIII When there is occasion for repeated Bleeding whether ought the second to be larger than the first Galen l. 4. de sanit tuend seems to make the second larger But l. de venae sectione he bids us add half the quantity the second time Which many understand so as that only half as much is to be let forth as was before but I think he means as much and half as much more Namely if six ounces were taken the first time then nine are to be taken the second Though there is a contrary place lib. de venae sectione c. 17. where Galen took three pound the first time and after an hour one pound But there as I suppose the case was so urgent as to compel him to take more the first time Yet the matter is thus to be weighed namely That where nothing hinders and necessity is not very urgent it is better to begin with a small quantity especially when we have not experienced the strength of the Patient But when we have and find it consenting when necessity
Plethora far otherwise than some think who fear lest the store of the Blood should be wasted by Venesection seeing on the contrary by this means its quantity becomes larger though its crasis be worse For thus the Blood being spoiled of its balsamick salt Wilis posth oper sect 3. c. 1. and of its salt that preserves it from putrefaction is instead thereof saturated with a fatning and more pyretick Sulphur L. An error of no small moment is committed within moderate bounds whilst in some cases Blood is let with too sparing and in others with too liberal an hand In a burning Fever Pleurisie Inflammation of the Lungs Apoplexy and other great diseases arising from a turgescence or phlegmonous incursion of Blood to Bleed too sparingly does always more hurt than good For besides that it takes not away the antecedent cause of the disease viz. the Plethora it does moreover cause the conjunct cause viz. the inflammation or irruption of the Blood to be increased For it is a constant observation that by letting Blood too sparingly its whole mass does forthwith effervesce more notably and has new rushings into the part affected The reason whereof is that in a great Plethora many portions of both the Blood and Serum being thrust into recesses and straits are compelled to reside there which after the Vessels are a little emptied regurgitate impetuously into the mass of Blood and do very much exagitate it and drive it very violently hither and thither Wherefore even in this regard 't is necessary the Vessels should be very much emptied namely that besides the freeing of the Blood from the straits there may be space granted to the humour returning from banishment which otherwise being not so congruous to the Blood causes a tumult and raises it into effervescences and eruptions Hence we may note that almost all men presently grow hotter after Bleeding who yet if there were a sufficient evacuation of the Blood are more temperate afterwards Willis LI. Galen de cur rat per s m. c. 13. determins that Old Age does not forbid Venesection You shall open a Vein in men of Seventy says he if the disease require it if there be the aforesaid Pulses For there are some even of this Age that have much Blood and are brisk as there are others dry and of little Blood and that are apt to wither and shrivel upon opening a Vein in any part Wherefore you shall not only have regard to the number of years which some do but also to the habit of the Body For there are some that cannot indure Bleeding at Sixty whereas there are others that can bear it at Seventy however you shall take less from these though they seem to have the same affection as a young flourishing Body Thus far Galen If therefore a brisk Old Man be afflicted with a Pleurisie Peripneumony a burning Fever or the like diseases there is no doubt but he may and ought to be let Blood seeing without that remedy such diseases can hardly ever be cured And if they are not able to indure the remedies they must necessarily perish and so all diseases should be mortal in Old Men. I have seen a Man of Seventy three years of Age let Blood four times in three days and there were at least thirty ounces of Blood taken from him Primiros error popul l 4. c. 23. Rhases also let a decrepit Man Blood that was afflicted with a grievous Pleurisie ¶ That eâ—egant passage of Celsus de aetat is to be produced here The Ancients thought infancy and Old Age could not bear this kind of remedy but it matters not what the Age is but what the strength is Therefore if a young Man be weak 't is bad to let him Blood for the strength that remained decays and is snatched away hereby But a lusty Boâ— and a hearty brisk Old Man do safely admit of Bleeding But an unskilful Physician may be very much deceived in these things because commonly those Ages have but little strength ¶ I knew a Woman that had so accustomed her self to Bleeding that she was glad to be let Blood yearly in the Spring or else she could not be well Trincavel l. 2. c. 10. Pract. And she kept this custom to the Eightieth year of her Age bearing it very well but such are very rarely to be found LII Nor is this kind of remedy to be feared in tender Age if the disease be great for I have Bled a Boy of Ten years old very ill of a Pleurisie in the Salvatella of the same side who by the next day at even was freed from his distemper and perfectly recovered The like remedy I have used in other Children in the Quinsey induced thereunto both by reason and experience having sometimes seen Children of four or five Years of Age Bleed a pound of Blood through a wound by a stone knife or some other instrument and particularly one that Bled a great deal through an Artery cut in the Temporal Muscle whom yet I cured as I have done several others without any detriment to the waxing faculty yea I know some of them alive still that are strong fat and fleshy So that in diseases where there is danger of life Marchett observat 36. and an indication for Bleeding present we should not be afraid of this remedy ¶ But the boldness of a young Surgeon of Paris exceeds all belief When I practis'd Physick at Newenburgh in Switzerland but upon occasion was out of the City a fat little Boy of a very good constitution seven weeks old but whom any one would have thought to be a year old was taken with a cruel Pleurisie The signs whereof were a violent Cough an acute Fever and when he was laid down in his Cradle or born in ones Arms if he were touched never so lightly on his right side after having coughed a little he would cry very vehemently with difficulty of breathing I say a rash but successful Surgeon applies two Leeches to the Bending of the right Arm and therewith took away about two ounces of Blood which remedy was of that efficacy that the Child was quite cured the same day of his very dangerous distemper But though Bleeding have proved well once or twice through the strength of the Patients yet it ought not to be drawn into Example Colder Climates do not admit it at all nor does it always succeed well in the hotter as saith Victor Trincavella de cur affect l. 2. c. 20. who relates how at Venice and Padua some Physicians opened a Vein in tender Infants but that always a bad success attended Wherefore prudence is greatly necessary here if in any case LIII Idiosyncrasie or the singular property of each ones nature make some to endure any Bleeding well and others neither such as is large nor indifferent yea some are afraid and discouraged by the very mentioning of it especially such as otherwise are apt to swoon Galen 1. aph 23. makes
discussion of this Controversie we with Avicen name those Purgers that purge electively whose vertue is dispersed beyond the Liver through the whole Body But we do not reject the use of those which they call Lenitives and Clysters made of them and of a Decoction of Medicines that open Obstructions and incide viscous Humours I say we do not reject the use of these before bleeding and purging for washing away the filth of the Stomach and Intestins lest the vertue of the Purger be destroyed thereby and lest for avoiding vacuum they enter the Veins emptied by Phlebotomy that the obstructed passages of the Veins of the Mesenterie may be also opened by these Yet the right administration of all these things depends on the conjectural Judgment of the Prudent Physician Joh. Langius Ep. 17. l. 1. ¶ What we have said of Bleeding before Purging has place chiefly when the Disease to be cured is urgent and there is danger in delay But when there is nothing urgent and the Physician has time enough to do by degrees all that is requisite 't is no great matter where he begins the cure whether with Bleeding or Purging and evacuating the offending Humours though I am of opinion unless peculiar reasons dissuade that 't is always safer to begin the cure with Bleeding as often as there is occasion for letting it forth also I say unless peculiar reasons dissuade Thus when the Air is wet and moist as 't is safer and more convenient then to Purge than Bleed so Purging shall be used in the first place And on the contrary when the weather is fair Bleeding is performed with better success on which account the more Prudent Physicians wish and observe fair weather for venesection So as often as much Phlegm and Choler abound in the Body and there is therefore greater need of Purging than Bleeding 't is better then to premise Purging and that indeed more than once before a Vein be opened Sylv. de le Boe Prax. l. 3. c. 4. because it is not supposed that the Blood abounds then so much as other Humours LXX If there be a fault in the Humours as is usual from a mixture of a Plenitude and a Cacochymie it requires very mature advice as being a very difficult case The first thing to be consider'd is the difference of the Humours that are collected in the Veins for when either Plethora prevails Blood shall be let largely till it be reduced to mediocrity this one Remedy easily lightens and recreates the burthened strength or vital faculty without prejudice nor is there then any occasion for Bleeding But when the Veins are filled with an impure Blood suppose the fault be from a mixture of a Plenitude and Cacochymie it requires both kinds of evacuation Lastly if the Blood that fills the Veins be too hot and mixt with much Choler Blood is presently to be let but more sparingly than in a simple Plethora only so far as to prevent the dangers of Plenitude And that which remains requires to be driven forth not by venesection but Purging which shall be done more safely after taking away some Blood both because the Body is cooled by Bleeding and also because the fear of encreasing the disturbance or obstruction is now taken away See before § 4 5. of a Phlegmatick and Melancholick Plenitude If as we may see in Quotidian Agues and other Phlegmatick Diseases necessity often cause us to let Blood it is to be done sparingly and dividedly as the strength and continuance of the Disease permit Lastly every Plenitude defiled with the mixture of Phlegm Choler or Melancholy or some other Humour does first indeed require Bleeding but in such a quantity as the nature of the Cacochymie shall permit and then the Belly is to be loosened that the noxious Humour that remains may more fitly be purged off But if there seem to be a great Cacochymie we must attentively examine whether a Fever be kindled by it or not for if there be we must begin with Bleeding without delay and put off Purging till there be occasion for it viz. when there has been Concoction unless the Humours be turgent If not we may bleed indeed if there be a Plenitude though but small but we must Purge the more largely and quickly Lastly the less Blood is to be let by how much the Cacochymie prevails because in that constitution of the Body and Disease the vital faculty uses not to be so firm on which account unless the Veins be full above measure and great danger be impendent or the case happen to be as we have said a slight Purging shall supply the place of bleeding and that often repeated especially if the Patient be afraid of being bled But if it happen that a Plenitude and Cacochymie be equal we must not as some think begin indifferently with either purging or bleeding but in such case it will be fit to consider whether this Plenitude of the Vessels cause Obstruction which requires that venesection should precede upon a double account both because we must take away such obstructions before Purging which in the case put shall be more conveniently done by Bleeding and also because this obstruction hinders Purging Medicines for whil'st the obstruction and plenitude remain the vertue of the Medicine cannot penetrate especially seeing a purging Medicine does both by its heat and attractive faculty exagitate the Humours and disturb the Body which when it is Plethorick falls into greater danger whereby it comes to pass that Bleeding ought by all means to precede Galen affirming the same l. 2◠ad Glanc c. ult who bids us begin with that without which we cannot safely perform the other Nor is this enough as yet but we must also consider whether a Fever arise from such Plenitude and Cacochymie for this gives us a more certain hint that we should bleed first unless some of those things which Galen reckons up gainsay for when the Plenitude is diminished whatsoever putrid or otherwise tainted Humours remain we may the more easily afterwards draw them forth by a convenient Region But in others while the faults of both are equal and there is no Fever present it will not be improper to begin with either so long as one is not more the cause of the Disease than the other Mercat de Praesid lib. 1. c. 7. for in such case we must begin the cure at the greater cause of the Disease LXXI The sooner we bleed the better and therefore there is the chief and greatest occasion for it in the beginning wherefore those erre greatly who always begin their cures with Purging and take great care to use it before bleeding from any light suspicion of crudities Indeed 't is most certain that the abundance of crude Humours in the Belly is an impediment for bleeding because they are snatched from thence by the newly emptied Veins and being snatched either by lighting into narrow passages they cause obstructions of the viscera or being
are mad-drunk with Wine or who have their head loaded from any cause first chafing the Ears with warm water and then Scarifying their extremities outwardly not very deeply or largely but slightly yet so as may draw Blood from thence to an Ounce or a greater quantity by which Remedy the pain in the Head remits not so much through the evacuation that it makes as through th◠consent of the pained part with the Head seeing the pain either is the offspring of a too thin Blood or has its rise from an hot exhalation This benefit of this Remedy is confirmed says he by all Arabians Cretians Grecians Gn. Rolfinc m. gener p. 400. See Prosp Alpin de Med. Aegyptior l. 3 c. 2. Valles lib. 6. Epidem p. m. 701. who use to heat themselves with Wine even at this day The Scarification of the Ears helps much in the acutest pains of the Teeth yea if it be repeated it may supply the place of venesection Maids in some parts of Germany let their Ears be Scarified to make them more Beautiful namely that their Face may look whiter through the evacuation of the Blood IV. Let not the Scarification in the hinder part of the Head be too deep Avicen tells of one that fell into a Palsie of his Tongue upon applying a Cupping-glass with Scarification namely the Scarification being too deep pricked the branch of a Nerve that goes from the beginning of the spinal Marrow to the Tongue V. Many dare affirm that Cupping-glasses with Scarification supply the place of Venesection whose opinion is erroneous and estranged from truth For Galen speaks not a word of Cupping-glasses for taking away the plenitude of Bodies as many of our Physicians think but he mentions only Venesection and Scarification of the Legs which is gathered from 2. Aphor. Comment 17. The evacuation of all the Humours equally which indeed is the most exquisite is made by Venesection and the next to this is that which is made by Scarification of the Ankles And in his Book of Leeches Cupping-glasses and Scarification he has said That in Plethorick Bodies Cupping-glasses are not only unprofitable but hurtful And in his Book of Curing by Bleeding he has taught That before the application of Cupping-glasses the whole Body ought to be evacuated and that those are to be applied either with Scarification or without it The same Person has said also Lib. 2. Aph. Lib. 4. de Saint tuend and in many other places very plainly that Scarification of the Legs obtains the second place after Bleeding And 13. Method he was writ If the Body be Plethorick Blood is to be let either by opening a Vein Pr. Alpin Med. Aegypt l. 3. c. 3. or Scarifying the Legs VI. 'T is controverted concerning the place in which this Scarification is to be made Amatus uses it in the Arms and Legs The Aegyptians as Alpinus relates make incision in the calf of the Leg with long and deep Scarifications and draw Blood from thence very quickly and largely first bruising and beating the Part that it may lose all sense Galen almost always mentions the Ankles that is the Parts nearest the Ankles but how there can be an incision made in them with profit and safety is hard to understand because of the many and notable Nerves that are seated there besides that they are dry and without Blood I am of opinion that no certainty can be had of that matter especially from Galen who though he often make mention of the Ankles yet he also propounds a Scarification of the Legs and Arms. But I thus conclude both from the authority of Galen and of the foresaid Physicians that this Scarification may be performed as necessity requires both in the Legs and Arms and that both indeed contribute to the evacuation of the whole but that by that in the Legs the plenitude that arises from the suppression of the Terms and Hemorrhoids is evacuated and by that in the Arms Claudin de Ingr. l. 2. c. 6. the plenitude that arises without these causes VII At Padua in my time there was so violent a flux of water from only two incisions of the Ankle that a Woman died outright of it Also when the Blood in which the heat is lodged is evacuated Johan Rhod. Centur. 3. Obs 17. there sometimes succeeds a Gangrene VIII The Aegyptians use to Scarifie the Skin in very many Diseases For in the most violent Pains especially such as proceed from a plenitude or a poisonous quality hurting the sensible Parts in a fluxion that is somewhat fixt after an universal both purging and evacuation they use to Scarifie the pained Parts or those next them deeply and to let a great deal of Blood run out For in all Inflammations that continue long they use deeply to Scarifie the inflamed Part as the pained side in a Pleurisie and the Breast in a Peripneumony and the right Hypochondre when the Liver is inflamed and the left when the Spleen and thus they are wont to do with other inflamed Parts especially in great Erysipelas's or any other inflamed Part where there is fear it should degenerate into a Gangrene or turn to a Scirrhus They are wont most frequently in pains of the Gout that arise from a defluxion of the Blood after universal evacuation to Scarifie the swelled aking Toes for part of the defluxed Blood being evacuated by that Scarification it profits wonderfully In like manner they use Scarification both in Tumours and Ulcers that will not heal up as also for all defedations of the Skin spots and pustules And no less do they deeply scarifie a Part wounded by a Scorpion or bit by some wild Beast and by that means they draw a great deal of Blood from the Part. P. Alpinus Med. Aegypt c. 11. l. 3. IX A lusty man of a good habit having never had any Distemper of Body for Fifty years used Scarification on his Back every Month and let the Blood flow out even till he fainted hereupon at length he fell into Catarrhs which possessing the Neck without any apparent Tumour brought a difficulty of swallowing both Meat and Drink which Disease continued for a Month and after a year returned again and choaked the Patient O. Grembs Arb. ru in t p. 169. Whence it appears that the importune use of Scarifications does great harm and causes cold Diseases X. Galen 1. ad Glaucon c. 7. makes a threefold manner of Scarification a slight deep and mean When the Humours are thick tough compact either in part or in whole the deep is necessary An unwary Surgeon curing an abscess arisen from a thin Humour upon the spine of the Back made so deep a Scarification that cutting the Nerves he cured the man indeed of the Tumour Zacut. prax admit lib. 3. Obs 65. but made him Paralytick ¶ Another made so deep an Incision with a sharp Razor having no Launcet in readiness that there follow'd an Hemorrhage which
Pores of the Skin when they are smeared upon it yet fomentations may remedy this which are to be used before the anointing as also such things as may help the penetration of the Oils XX. Ointments cool less to wit comparatively or they are oftener prescribed with an intention to heat than to cool and therefore by consequence we must not equally and in every regard rely upon refrigerating ones Wedel de Med. comp ext p. 184. as for instance on the refrigerating Ointment of Galen Mesue's Ointment of Roses because of their oiliness XXI The same do not astringe much from that general induction that all oily and fat things relax whence they are improperly called Astringents Hence also except Vnguentum Comitissae which being anointed on the Loins is commended for nocturnal pollution or on the Pubes for too great a flux of the Terms there are few astringent Ointments to be had in the Shops And those which are administred with that intention do profit more by their strengthning Aromatick vertue in the Dysenterie fear of miscarriage vomit or cholera Idem than by any thing else XXII Where we would avoid laxity they are not convenient Hence what we have said already of Stomachicks holds also of the Joints namely in the Gouty that unguentous things hinder transpiration cause a greater afflux and are apt to fix the Humours in the parts affected so that 't is more adviseable to let them alone Yea even in Diseases of the Lungs though they loosen the matter that sticks in the Pipes yet they are apt to cause a greater afflux therein whence in that case Resolvents are better as unguentum rubrum potabile Whence when any of the viscera are too much bound up they may be used but not when the viscera are too lax for they do but increase their laxity Idem XXIII The same are not good in a Cancer because by Emollients that acido-saline acrimony is more provoked and spread whence Tumours that are not cancrous become such by the use hereof They are bad for the Hemorrhoids See Book 8. for Inflammations See Book 9. whence they are not to be used indifferently for the Quinsie 〈…〉 as is prescribed in Books of Practice for loose vlcers as of the Lips for instance because they are apt to promote foulness Yet note that this is chiefly to be understood 1. of purely fat oily things especially the vulgar Ointments 2. When they are let alone and not changed for otherwise 't is very well known that unguentum de liihargyro is much commended for Burns and other things In a word whatsoever Distempers are hurt by fat things are hurt also by Ointments Idem XXIV Note that what Parts soever are more hurt by cold things as the Stomach Liver Spleen the same generally do require hot Epithems and on the contrary In particular there are some who always bid us apply to the Head things only that are somewhat warm but Experience testifieth the contrary whereby 't is frequently observed that cold things are continually applied to the Head Idem XXV Whatsoever Diseases or Parts affected are hurt increased or exasperated by actual moisture Epithems are not so proper for them whence they are not good in Burns for in that case Demulcents in the form of a Liniment are more advisedly prescribed than pure water Nor in an Erysipelas and other Inflammations for though some apply therein linen rags wet in cold water and wrung by way of fomentation yet that is not so safe for fear of repulsion especially if the Erysipelas be in the Face But in Practice it is to be observed as a Rule In every true Erysipelas dry Topicks the Pulveres Erysipelatodes of Ludovicus Mynsichtus c. are better than moist ones Hence also 't is better to let them alone in exanthemata Small Pox Measles Petechiae c. Whence also in that case we use not so commonly to apply moist things to the wrists or bags and Epithems to the Heart no nor to the Forehead lightly for allaying for instance the symptomatical pain of the Head On the same account they are not good in Catarrhs Coryza c. for as Baths are bad for these so also are Epithems as being particular lotions in that they move the Serum the more Hence they are less profitable in the beginning but after and with others as if all these external things were respectively to be called in rather to the acid or if we will grant more the society of internal Remedies than to bear rule wherein indeed men offend in both excess Idem XXVI Emollients are not good for melancholick Tumours which Tumours are endued with a saline acrimony like Mercury sublimate whence is that golden admonition of Galen 5. de simpl m. fac cap. 9. That a Cancer and cancrous Tumours are exasperated by emollient Medicines For by this means the Pores are the more dilated whereby both an afflux of Humours is procured and the corrosive acrimony is spread further seeing it can neither be dissipated nor concocted nor brought to digestion and so mollifying is the encreaser and parent of Putrefaction V. Wedel de s m. fac p. 32. See Wierus Obs p. 95. XXVII We use not to lay Powders on the Breast as we do on the Belly yet after anointing with convenient Oils For Powders sprinkled upon a part are more effectual than when reduced into the form of a Liniment or Cerecloth because they are prepared of odoriferous things and the vertue of such things exhales by boiling unless they be boiled in a double or close Vessel Now Powders may be made more or less hot with respect to the intemperies and the thickness of the parts of the Hypochondres for those who are fat have those parts very thick wherefore the Medicine must be both the stronger and the thinner that the vertue of the Medicine may reach to the part affected but those who are of a spare Body need Powders that are less hot but more astringent because they hinder the dissipation of the Native heat Rondelet Oper. p. 973. Vesicatories The Contents What Humours they draw forth and whence I. For what Diseases they are chiefly profitable II. They are not proper in all Diseases and Constitutions III. Blisters raised in malignant Fevers are not to be dried up IV. Cantharides are to be used without their wings and legs V. Let them not be prescribed by weight but number VI. They are injurious to the Bladder VII The cure of a Gangrene following upon a Blister VIII How the Pain left by a Vesicatory may be eased IX Their heat reaches not to the inner Parts X. Whether Vinegar infringe their vertue XI A Vesicatory by Cupping-glasses XII The great profitableness of Vesicatories XIII The efficacy of Vesicatories applyed to all the fore-part of the Head being shaved in sleepy Diseases the Catalepsie c. XIV I. THe Humours that are evacuated immediately by a Vesicatory issue partly
to mistake in the weight For this reason I commonly prescribe Vesicatories thus Take of sowr Leaven half an Ounce of Cantharides finely powder'd to the number of Six mix them in a Mortar adding a little Betony water to make it up into a Cataplasm VII One having a swelling in his Knee from a tough and cold matter a Barber applies to it a Cataplasm of Leaven and Cantharides and blisters all the Knee Hereupon amongst other Symptoms followed so great an heat of Urine that he could not make a drop without torment and crying out now his Urine came forth by drops and bloody The Cataplasm being taken off the heat of Urine and other Symptoms remitted a little In inveterate Diseases as the Sciatica it may be thus prepared Take of sowr Leaven three Ounces of the Powder of Euphorbium a Scruple of long Pepper and Pyrethrum or bastard Pellitory of each two Scruples of Cantharides to the number of Sixty mix them and make a Cataplasm with aqua vitae as much as suffices If Cantharides be applied on this manner they are void of all danger even though they be laid on Parts that are nearer to the Bladder Fabr. Hild. obs 98. cent 6. VIII A young Man of two and twenty being inclinable to melancholy is taken with a malignant Fever Four Vesicatories are laid on his Hips and Thighs Joh. Rhod. cent 3. obs 88. which by attracting poisonous Humours caused a deadly Gangrene in his Thighs within two days ¶ The blistering Plaster of the Shops was prescribed to a Girl two years and an half old ill of a malignant Fever to increase the vertue whereof the Apothecary sprinkled a good quantity of the Powder of Cantharides upon it by which the Skin was burnt up and the next day all the Part was gangren'd For the cure whereof having first us'd Scarifications the Part was fomented with aqua vitae and then a Liniment was applied of ungu Aegyptiacum dissolved in aqua vitae Within three dayes the Eschar was separated and the Ulcer that remained was cured by the following Ointment Take of the fat of a Bullocks Kidney one Ounce of Litharge prepared and red Lead of each a Scruple River cent â— obs 86. of the Oil of Roses as much as suffices to make an Ointment IX One complained to me of a Pain raised by a Vesicatory but I could ease him with no Anodyne Dr. N. asswaged the Pain with only Water and Oil. I eased a poor Woman tortured with the fire of a Vesicatory thus Take of the inner and green bark of a branch of Elder scrap'd off with a knife an handful boil it in sweet Oil with a little water to the consumption of the water strain it P. Pa. heqâ—â—â— ad River obs com 12. and add to the liquor a little wax and it is an excellent Ointment X. Though Vesicatories and Sinapisms heat the external Part to which they are applied yet that heat penetrates not to the internal Parts which those have not understood who have thought that Vesicatories are not to be used in malignant Fevers with raving Galen himself 2. de diff feb tit ult says That the next Parts to which Sinapisms are applied are heated indeed but not the remote Sanctor lib. de rem inv c. 16. contrary to those who say that Vesicatories heat the inner viscera XI Whether is it good to add Vinegar to Vesicatories as is commonly done It makes for the negative that Vinegar fixes the saline acrimonious Parts and infringes the acrimony as we use Mustard for sawce that has first been steept in Vinegar which without so doing would be too biting Onions Garlick Rhadish Aron are made mild by Vinegar From whence Martian Com. in Hippoc. p. 282. concludes not without reason in the negative Add that Vinegar does repell and cool which is contrary to the indication especially when there is malignity withal The matter may be easily decided if we have regard both to the moderate quantity of Vinegar and the form in which it is administred for thus by its acrimony it increases the vertue of the Vesicatory and the body of the Cantharides being dispersed through the Leaven it cannot so infringe their vertue but that it yields to the force of its corrective so that in this form a little Vinegar though it partly mitigate the force of the Medicine yet it does no harm But those Vesicatories are the best of all when the Cantharides are made up into a Paste with Wax and Turpentine and used Plasterwise Wedel de s m. fac p. 99. or we may use Horstius's blistering Plaster XII I raise Blisters with Cupping-glasses only which invention of mine I here communicate I take a Cupping glass with a wide mouth and firing it with tow as the manner is I set it on where I have a mind when it has stuck on for a quarter of an hour I take it off and set on a new one with as much flame as I can a little after in the younger and more fleshy more slowly in old men or such as have a thick Skin there arise Blisters hardly so big as little pins heads all which within an hour leaping into one there arises a Blister as large as the mouth of the Cupping-glass Then if the Cupping-glass have not an hole stopt with wax which being perforated with a Needle the wind issues out and the Glass falls off of its own accord I use to hit it with a knife and break it otherwise if you endeavour to pull it off with your hand it tears the Blister and causes great pain A great quantity of water being always drained out this way I tye upon it a Colewort-leaf or the lean flesh of an Oxe's muscle so long till by its stinking it shew that it ought to be taken off Blisters are raised this way most certainly within the space of an hour and that without any prejudice whereas all other Vesicatories do often fail us after many hours waiting H. ab Heer 's Obs 21. and either prolong the Disease or make it stubborn or even unconquerable XIII He that shall administer Vesicatories rightly shall generally obtain the victory over the most â—ifficult Diseases especially over those that are fed by a flux of Humours and chiefly if the Humours be serous and acrimonious the Greeks call them Ichors because these flow the most conveniently through the opened pores of the Skin Wherefore if there be a rebellious and stubborn Disease either in the Eyes or Nose or adjoyning Parts amongst all other Remedies which provident Physicians have been wont to make use of I have scarce found any better than this So if there be bad eruptions of some eroding Humour in the pubes Stones Cod or Yard which it would be dangerous to permit to settle there an efflux may conveniently be given to that Humour by applying Vesicatories upon the Hips as being more vile Parts and more able to endure any thing Moreover
praecordia for a weak appetite often vomiting loathing of meat puffing up of the Stomach and praecordia Jaundise and Cachexie Agues Megrim Vertigo Falling-Sickness and all Diseases of the Head that are contracted by a Sympathy with the praecordia Fernel m. m. l. 3. c. 3. and which the impurity spread from the praecordia into the rest of the Body hath produced II. Though Vomits be of notable efficacy yet they ought not to be taken by all without distinction For in some the tone of the Stomach is too loose and weak and their constitution so tender that they make the Spirits presently to quail and dissolve the strength Some Mens viscera also are too pertinaciously sensible and though they be hard to Vomit yet when they have once begun they do not easily give over Willis Pharm rat p. m. 57. but by a frequent straining to Vomit their strength is very much dejected and they oft fall into a swoon III. I think that opinion to be untrue and to lean on very trifling foundations which determins that some Vomitories act upon choler others upon phlegm and others upon Melancholy and drain forth this or that Humour separated from the rest and alone as it were And the reason why a viscous and as it were phlegmatick matter is sometimes chiefly expelled is because the filth of the Stomach alone almost is thrown up the receptacles of the choler being not shaken by the straining But when the châ—ler Vessels are milked out the excretion becomes cholerick for the greatest part The vomiting of a black Humour for the most part depends on the tincture of the Medicine for it is that which colours the matter which is cast forth with a vitriolick blackness Willis ibid. p. 55. ¶ Sylvius de le Boë m. m. l. 2. c. 10. is of a contrary opinion appealing to experience I observe says he that some Vomitories do chiefly expell phlegm others choler and others any Humours indifferently which though it have been observed by few yet ought it to have been observed Thus 1. Peach flowers do expell bilious and serous Humours even by vomit 2. Asarum also evacuates choler upwards 3. Turbith casts glutinous phlegm up by Vomit 4. The seed of Carthamus brings up both phlegm and water 5. Elaterium purges water and choler both upward and downward 6. The Root Bark green tops and flowers of both Dwarf-elder and Elder bring up water by Vomit 7. Gummi Gotte water and choler Add to these the root of Jalap which expells water by vomit as well as by stool IV. As to the choice of Emeticks the chief reason of their difference is that the milder be given in some Diseases such as may disturb nothing beyond the Stomach and may gently bring forth those things only that float in its cavity or stick to its coats but in other Diseases the stronger are more convenient that the convulsion being imparted also to other viscera whatsoever excrementitious thing stagnates therein or is collected any where may be moved out of its lurking place Now this evacuation as it is more violent than that by stool so if the strength bear it well it uses in some Diseases to profit more at once than ten Purges for by this means the weighty phlegm that sticks clâ—se to the folds of the Stomach which all Purgers would slide by is swept out with a Broom as it were Moreover the neighbouring parts the Pancreas Mesentery Spleen and Liver it self are strongly shaken so that the obstructions bred therein as also whatsoever stagnations of the Blood and Humours are easily removed by this kind of Remedy the preternatural ferments bred any where in the Body and the more recondite Seeds of Diseases are seldom extirpated without Vomitories but the use of Emeticks is found chiefly profitable in the Diseases of the Brain and genus nervosum For by this sort of Remedy not only is the filth of the Stomach and Bowels which defiles the chyle and Blood cleansed away in great plenty but also the glandules of the viscera which are the Emunctories of the Blood and nervous juice are milked the choler-vessels and other receptacles of the excrements are plentifully evacuated so that the same being emptied do the more readily receive the Serum and other filthinesses and superfluities of both Humours that otherwise would be apt to overflow into the Head Besides all this seeing there are innumerable little mouths of Arteries gaping under the downy crust into the Stomach these being notably twitched by the Emetick do pour fourth all sorts of vitious and malignant Humours in the Blood to be evacuated by Vomit and for this reason chiefly is it that Herculean or stubborn Diseases are well cured by Emeticks and hardly at all without them for these Medicines being of an active and untameable Nature do not only by twitching the Arteries squeeze the superfluous Humours out of the mass of Blood but also by entring into the Veins innumerable whereof gape into the Stomach Willis pharmac rat p. 55. do fuse the Blood and do precipitate and cause to be separated its serosities and other recrements V. Custom and facility seem to me to be of the greatest moment in raising a Vomit for if these be wanting 't is of far greater difficulty to be purged by vomit than by stool though not of less profit yea of far greater though purging by stool be safer Hence it comes to pass that prudent Physicians and such as take most care to cure safely are commonly content with purging by stool but Mountebanks who slighting the dangers of the sick would for Honour and Glories sake do some great thing by hap hazard undertake the most violent vomitings as for my self though I would never design to purge by stool and vomit much at once because that is an accident of a very bad Disease namely the cholera morbus yet I do not dislike that temperate purgations of both kinds namely both vomiting and dejection should ensue upon the taking of a Medicine nay I hope well therefrom Valles m. m. l. 2. c. 5. both thick and thin Humours being evacuated and purged as well upwards as downwards VI. Yea sometimes Vomitories may be joined with Sudorificks for there is no harm in their being taken and operating together seeing the motions by vomit and sweat are not contrary to one another but only diverse For the pipe or chanel of the Guts together with the Stomach and Gullet are unskilfully and unfitly esteemed the centre of mans Body and the pores of the Skin its circumference For if any part might be said to be its centre there is the greatest reason the Heart should be so esteemed from which the Blood is carried into all the parts as likewise the several parts for its circumference seeing the Blood is carried back from them to the Heart and that according to the circular motion of the Blood Now if the Heart be determin'd to be the centre of mans Body
for cookery 'T is better to preserve this part diligently and to strengthen its tone than to dissolve it by Vomiting unless Nature affect that way and there be an easiness to vomit and the preparation of the Ancients have been used ¶ Celsus lib. 2. c. 13. says that Vomiting does not always good to the sick Riolan Euchir Anat. lib. 2. c. 2◠but always harm to the well which is true especially in our age wherein men are not much used to vomiting for often vomiting is a cause why Nature uses to send naughty Humours to the Stomach for though they advise to vomit after dinner yet seeing that motion is violent it always draws something Add hereto that the concoctive faculty is rendred weaker and the tone of the villi or fibres of the Stomach becomes more rare and thin Also Nature being accustomed to this evacuation in health when she is hurt by a Disease she is very apt to fall into it whence the retentive faculty is vitiated Rubeus in Celsi cit loc besides that it prejudices the Head Lungs and Liver XV. Those act unskilfully that I say not impiously who after many Medicines have been administred when the Patients are ready to die and their strength spent use Vomits as the last Remedies which suffocate the life that remains and hasten death But you will say Mountebanks do thus and have good success I answer If you took account of the Patients with whom they have had bad success you will find an hundred dead for two robust Persons that were preserved who escaped by the help of Fate and not of this Medicine The more wary Empiricks when they are called to such Patients use to pronounce great danger of life and therefore they warily administer aurum potabile or some other recruiter of strength till Nature resting from all perturbation recover her self a little Riolan Enchir Anat. l. 2. c. 23. and then they take the opportunity of giving a gentle Vomit which brings forth serous Humours or the like indifferently XVI Hippocrates 4. aph 4. bids us Physick the upper venters rather in the Summer and the lower in Winter And 6. aph 6. says that the lean and those that Vomit easily are to be purged upwards avoiding the Winter Reason consents because the Phlegmatick Humour abounding in the Winter being naturally heavy inclines downward therefore it is to be purged downward according to the aph Whither Nature inclines c. He hath writ the contrary 3. de diaeta n. 3. where prescribing a Winter diet We must also sayes he use Vomitings thrice a Month if the Patients be moist but if dry twice after meals of several sorts of meat This he confirms lib. de sal diaeta 'T is profitable to Vomit the Six Winter Months c. to which Celsus subscribes lib. 1. cap. 3. Solve these things by saying that Hippocrates did not utter that opinion in the Aphorism simply but by adding the particle 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 rather as though he did not deny but that in the Summer also we might purge downwards and in the Winter upwards Or say If universal purgation be meant as that which is made by Hellebore common with Hippocrates it ought in the Summer to be made upwards and in the Winter downwards If a particular it ought to be made by Vomit in the Winter and by Stool in the Summer According to Galen's comment on the foresaid aphorism Therefore because Phlegm is generated in the Belly in Winter he advises us to evacuate it by Vomit and to revel downwards the Choler that swims a top in Summer And yet if you desire to purge the whole Body you shall purge it upwards in the Summer and downwards in the Winter as it is written in the Aphorism for those things which are superfluous are cured by purgation which must be made by those wayes whereto the Humours tend for these are to be drawn through fit places that way they incline but when you would hinder Humours from increasing 't is good to draw them back by contrary places Sinibald Antiph l. 3. XVII We must Vomit the Fat in one manner and the Lean in another for the former because the Humours are sluggish and unapt for motion ought not to be Vomited but when they are fasting and after considerable walking or other exercise for so the Phlegm which is naturally clammy and tough waxing hot is fused and made more apt for exclusion On the contrary the lean as not at all abounding with Humours if they be to be Vomited it ought to be done after Meal when we have eat several sorts of meat according to Hippocrates's precept l. de sal diaeta Idem Antiph 9. l. 3. and 3. de diaeta n. 4. XVIII 'T is hurtful to use Alteratives and Purgatives before Vomiting for by these the Guts are spoiled of their clammy Mucilage so that the Vomit will corrode their substance and cause great griping ¶ Alteratives indeed may be premised Walaeus p. 57. but not of absolute necessity for the Vomitories themselves may fuse the Humours by their proper vertue Idem p. 56. XIX If the condition of the Patient and the Disease require both Bleeding and Vomiting 't is most safe that Bleeding should precede for otherwise while the Vessels are distended with Blood there is danger lest from the violent strainings to Vomit either the Vessels of the Lungs should be broken or the Brain should be hurt Sydenham tract de febr the Blood being poured thither with violence and extravasated and so the Patient die Apoplectick XX. 'T is profitable to mix the Humours contained in the Stomach with sundry sorts of meat both that it may the more closely embrace them on every side and also that Nature may the more easily expel them when they are mixed with the Victuals but the Victuals ought not to be of any kind indifferently but salt bitter acrimonious inciding attenuating and turgent which as Galen 3. de usu part advises have a bilious nature and execute the office of Choler namely absterge and cleanse the Belly for all these besides that they conduce to expulsion prepare the Humours themselves also to the same But the clean contrary ought to be done in those whose Stomachs abound with crudities Mercat de Ind. Med. c. 5. for then it is sufficient to use vomiting potions without eating which is suspected and often very hurtful in crude Stomachs XXI We must not Sleep upon Vomits especially when the Bodies are Cholerick lest the Choler be carried into the Brain in Sleeping Hartman in Crollium yet when the Patient has seem'd to Vomit enough Sleep may be allowed XXII When the Patient has taken a Vomit Walaeus m. m. p. 60. let him drink after it Beer or fat Broth for so he will Vomit the easilier XXIII He that rests and lies in his Bed hardly Vomits half so much as he that stirs up and down Idem XXIV
they may be used to the Air before they go abroad If the place cannot be changed yet some alteration in the Air at least must be procured which must be open tempered and corrected with fragrant and Alexipharmack Scents and Fumes lest the enclosed Malignity and Infection of the Sick might prove injurious to the Patient and to them that are by We must take great care in every Disease that we be not too superstitious in shutting the Windows and so infect and kill those Patients who otherwise might have been saved T. Barthol XI Let neither the Physician nor the Apothecary declare what their Medicins are either to the Patient or to them that are by but let them only signifie that they intend to give a Purge a Vomit or a Clyster and conceal what these are made of Both because otherwise they may be improperly taken without the advice of a Physician and because when things are known they are contemned either for that they are ordinary and common things or for that some Fool in the Profession has condemned them or for that they are cheap So Galen reports of a certain Rich Man who slighted good Medicins because they were sold cheap Botallus XII According to the Vulgar Proverb A desperate Disease must have a desperate Cure So likewise to unskilful and Rustick Persons who despise all Method and hate a multitude of Medicins such Medicins must be given as remove the cause of the Disease or the greatest part of it as much as may be Otherwise unless all succeed according to their desire they run to Quacks and Wizards and give far more heed to their Saws than to the best Advice any Physician can give them Gabelchov XIII Hippocrates bids us observe all the Patients Errors whether about Meat and Drink or about Medicins or External things For if through their own faults they grow worse the blame is laid on the Physician if it happen when any thing has been done towards a Cure and especially if he have given any ingrateful Potions or a Purge For these things are usually lookt on as things of great efficacy And if after the taking the said things any ill happen the taking is blamed though the fault truly lies in the Patient And in our days this is frequent Now many Physicians to avoid this reproach more valuing their own Reputation than their Patients good give some insignificant Medicin or prescribe that which is not worth speaking of for if they Bleed they exceed not three or four ounces if they give a Purge they exceed not Manna Syrup of Roses or such things and they give generally too small a Dose By which method indeed these Physicians have a care of their own selves and often endanger their Patients Lives Neither Hippocrates nor Christian Religion puts any Man on this But they both tell us that when generous Medicins are given the Errors of the Sick should carefully be observed Martianus XIV Frequent changing of Medicins argues either ignorance or diffidence in the Physician This may be understood in a two-fold sense either as to Method or as to Medicins The first argues precipitance and that the Physician is out of the way because he knows not which the way is But that of the Comedian suits not with the Physician Quid si sic tentem si hac non succedit alia tentanda est via What if I go so to work if this way succeed not I must go try another Nor are we always tied up to the self same things for so the Physician may prescribe much and the Patient take little But the changing of Medicins to one and the same end is both lawful and argues a Man abounds both in things and words For as it is a reproach to a Physician always to give the same thing as if he knew nothing further and had spent his whole stock though mean enough whereupon the Patients run to Empiricks so every hour to change a Mans mind and his Medicins is equally a disgrace for he that is every where is no where XV. We must always endeavour in the composition of Medicins to avoid a nauseous Treacle-Mixture of divers Simples which is not necessary It is useless uncertain dangerous and chargeable Nature who is content with a little delights in Simples and a Disease will sooner be cured by one proper simple Herb than by these prodigious Compositions GOD says Helmont in Pharm ac Dispens mod sect 5. out of the Providence of his Eternal Goodness and Wisdom has abundantly provided for future necessities HE made and endowed Simples to answer all Occasions And by how many more the Compounds in a Medicin are so less certain will the Compounder find the effect of them to be Therefore Zwelferus in appendice ad Animadv advises well To be content with simplicity in the matter of Medicin and to forbear a needless trouble in amassing so many divers things together But to practise with one simple for what GOD has appointed it or but with a few as poor Country People do to whom the Chief Physician out of his meer Mercy has revealed most wholesom Medicins with which they do great things in great Diseases and sometimes to the shame of Physicians Hence it was that the most Learned Physicians of old Hippocrates Galen and others seldom used the more operose Compositions but by only one Simple or by two or three joined together they did wonders XVI We must not use Medicins but upon urgent necessity So Hippocrates l. de vict Acut. will not give so much as a Suppository unless the Body be very Costive For Medical Helps do but create a trouble to Nature when there is not a necessity for them XVII In curing of Diseases and in preservation of Health we must not be always using Remedies but sometimes rest a while that is do nothing but order a good Diet. Thus we must do in the Crisis and after a perfect one and in the state of the Disease Aph. 8. 20. Sect. 1. Physicians says Livy sometimes do more good by doing nothing than by moving and acting Dietericus XVIII Whether a Physician can promote Coction of Humours and so prevent a Crisis or the stated solution of the Disease is a Question In this place it is not my Intention to reject a Crisis and to deny all manner of endeavour to Nature in Diseases as a Crisis is merely the genuine work of Nature or as Vallesius 6. Epid. 5. expresses it An extinction of the Disease at once with perturbation and evacuation But I intend only to reprimand some Practitioners who to the great dammage of the Sick with a filthy loss of time do as unhappily as frivolously connive by their delays and their sugared Medicins feeding the Disease so that it increases Whereas when Diseases are beginning if any thing be to be done we must do it And so it lies upon the Physician to cure Diseases before a Crisis and
enquired into as is possible he may cure those Ails with more ease and success For nothing recommends a Physician to a Patient so much as the finding out of a hidden Cause and the Artificial Cure of it which other Physicians could not arrive at Now when Practioners meet with stubborn Diseases and being taught only by Books can find no Examples of them in Physical Authors nor have learned how to discover the causes of them they are at a loss and the Patient cannot be cured till some are called that are well exercised in the search of Arduous things who may by their skill find them and oftentimes they do not only successfully but easily cure Patients who were reckoned incurable which how much it must conduce to get a Physician Reputation any one may imagine Idem XXXIX Empiricks and all the Vulgar use comparison in Diseases and use the like Remedies for Diseases which they think alike This thing hugely pleases the unskilful for because they know few differences of Diseases they think what are not manifestly different must be altogether the same But good Physicians do not so for similitudes are much suspected by them as they do easily impose and occasion doubting And though at first like Diseases might be thought to be cured with like Remedies yet they know that many Diseases which are very like in appearance require contrary Cures because they come from contrary Causes The knowledge therefore of the Cause produces the contrary that is takes away all mistakes and doubtings As if several Men be ill of the Colick one by drinking of cold Water another with Wind another with Bile an Empirick seeing the same Disease would use the same Cure to them all But a Rational Physician who finds the Causes are contrary will give contrary things Therefore he proceeds ill who only considers similitudes but well who finds out the Cause The knowledge of the Cause is so useful that oftentimes the ignorance of the Cause does more mischief than the ignorance of the kind of the Disease and of the place affected For he is less able to undertake the Cure who knows not whether the Colick comes from a hot or a cold Cause than he that knows not whether it is the Stone or the Colick And it is of more moment towards the cure of Fevers to know what kind the Humour is of which comes out than the manner of its Fit c. Therefore to know the way or method wherein every Disease must be cured it is of great moment it concerns a Man to begin with finding out the Cure Now it is hard by Ratiocination to know the ways that is to invent Methods because it is hard to find out what the Disease is what the cause what the part affected and what every Mans Nature and Custom is and all these have their particular Indications or Insinuations what to do which we must consider separately and then compare them one amongst another subtracting the contrary and less from the contrary and greater more or less as every Indication is stronger or weaker From hence all Cure arises Vallesius XL. I make no question but a Physician ought plainly to foretel the Patient of his Death when he desires to know the Event of his Disease For there are both Political and Theological Reasons for which I think it good that the Patient should know the event of his Disease And a Physician has no reason to deceive his Patient especially when he is sincere Sennertus and willing to know the truth XLI Patients must not always be severely denied what Nature earnestly craves For we see that several do not recover of a Quartane and of other Chronical Diseases till their Appetite is gratified A Woman had a Malignant Ulcer about her Throat it put her to much trouble to swallow either Meat or Drink Though she was not with Child she longed for several things as for Herrings Flesh and Fish salted and dried in the Smoak and other Meats hard of concoction which though they were hard she swallowed without any difficulty Her Stomach loathed Emulsions of Almonds Barly-Broth and Flesh-Broth and she would fast sometimes for three days till her vitious Appetite came to her Moreover though what she craved was contrary to her Disease it did her no harm And what she loathed though proper it would make her reach and a little feverish Hildanus XLII Seeing one Disease sometimes follows another as its Remedy whether must we expect it from Nature or procure it by Art Celsus lib. 5. c. 28. sect 4. intimates that by no means it should be procured when he writes that a Fever coming upon a St. Anthonies Fire for one day was a fortuitous Medicin which consumed the Noxious Humour In which thing he seems to follow Hippocrates who discoursing of this changing of Diseases said lib. 1. de morbis that such things came not by the skill or ignorance of the Physician but spontaneously and by fortuitous success Yet because Art imitates Nature therefore what Nature does that also ought to be done by the Physician From Her moving Sweat purging by Stool or Haemorrhoids and doing any such thing while she observes a due Decorum the Physician learned to practise Physick Wherefore in this difficulty we must say a Succession of Diseases must be procured by the Physician that the former Disease may be removed Therefore Hippocrates 6. Aph. 15. says that a Vomit coming upon a long Loosness cures the Disease Where Galen says This is one Example of those things that are well done by Nature which the Physician ought to imitate But if it be so why does Celsus call a Fever which cures a St. Anthonies Fire a fortuitous Medicin and why does Hippocrates write that such things are done with fortuitous success I answer It is because it is so dangerous a thing to raise a Fever For if it happen upon a Cacochymick Body it is in danger of being Malignant if in a pure Body that it may corrupt the Humours or turn to a Hectick Therefore we must proceed with great caution and rather use such a Remedy fortuitous than procured by Art For a Fever supervening on an Apoplexy proved destructive to Numenius his Son Rubeus in Celsum XLIII A Medical Sleep is a Sleep of the Diseases of Mind and Body either spontaneous or procured by Art For Artificial Sleep gains a Physician a great deal of credit G. Palm a Physician formerly of Noremburgh knew that very well who they say used to tell his Patients that he would do them that favour that they should rest better the night after he was called He obtained this with Syrup of red Popy which he prescribed that Night I was taken with the Stratagem and I often do my Patients the same kindness by giving them my Magisterium Anodynum Rolfinccius XLIV It is not once that I have seen Braggadocio's and Vainglorious Physicians mistaken while some of them would
can do much in exciting the Archeus But whether by this very illinition with such a Stone of Ens Veneris c. the Archeus can be so strengthned as to avert all occasional Causes is a great Postulatum and can hardly be granted Wedelius LVIII Whenever the Physician judges some generous Remedy requisite and the Patient or By-standers are against it he ought to shew the great danger present the mischief of deferring or omitting it and then impute all the dammage that will follow to their refusal Thus they that will not yield to perswasions will obey for fear of future evil Now the Physician that neglects this Rule does not only neglect his Patients but himself His Patients because when they flinch for a little pain or trouble he does not threaten them with the danger and so force them in a manner to obedience He neglects himself because when things go ill all the blame devolves on him and he is accused of want of skill as not foreseeing the mischief that would follow or of negligence in not reducing the Patient to his Duty with greater heat and earnestness Sylvius de le Boe. who is excusable for the pain he was to undergo LIX I have often thought with my self that we cannot make too little haste in driving away of Diseases but that we must proceed slowly and that more should be left to Nature than is now the custom to do For he is in a Mistake and that no very learned one who thinks Nature always needs the help of Art For if it were so she had not taken that care of Human kind which the conservation of the Species requires Since there is no proportion between the frequency of Diseases that invade Men and the faculties which Men have to drive them away even in those Ages when Physick flourished most and when most Men practised it What this will do in other Diseases I know not this I know very well from the concurrence of diligent observation that in the Fever wherein the Stupor prevailed after general Evacuations were used Bleeding and Clysters the said Symptom used only to be cured by Time Sydenham LX. Where the nature of the Disease is obscure yet as for the Cure an Indication is left us to be taken from the Juvantia and Laedentia by means whereof trying the way by degrees we may conduct the Patient out of danger provided we make not too much haste than which haste I think nothing more destructive nor that more Patients die of any one thing For I am not ashamed to confess that when I was not satisfied what I ought to do I provided best both for my Patient and my self by doing nothing For while I waited my opportunity to kill the Disease the Fever either went away by degrees of it self or put on such a Type that then I knew well enough with what Weapons to conquer it But which is to be lamented most Patients not fully knowing that it is as much the part of a skilful Physician sometimes to do nothing at all as at another time to give the most effectual Remedy are not capable of the benefit of this honesty and faithfulness but impute it either to negligence or ignorance whereas the dullest Empirick knows well enough how to give Medicin upon Medicin and usually does it more than the Wisest Physician Sylvius de le Boe. LXI I had rather make use of an Empirical Physician that is one who practises according to Experience than a Theorical one who practises according to his Reasonings and Figments For Experience has long since informed all Accurate Observers of things which happen in our Art that Empiricks are more successful in their practice than Theorists and such as are Physicians from Books or their own Speculations Men so much more miserable in their folly because they make others miserable with themselves But the World will be bubled with Cramp Words and great Brags Idem LXII As in the knowledge of all Arts Reason and Experience are very necessary so in Method one cannot be without the other Reason indicates what must be done Experience confirms what Reason has invented and teaches to work exactly according to Art Yet all things are not found either by Experience alone or by Reason alone Gal. 3. m. m. 1. Although Reason alone invent some things and Experience alone produce others yet always as much as possible Experience and Reason must be joined as two Crutches on which Physick leans So that in Theoremes or in Medicins found out by Reason Experience must follow on the Contrary in such things as were found out by Experience Reason must come behind 2. Meth. cap. 6. Let them be so connected and fastened one in another that one may strengthen the other For no Reason can be true which is contradicted by Experience nor on the contrary That is they must both be true and the things that are found out by them But when they thwart one the other of necessity either the Experience must have been inartificial or the opposite Reason must only be apparently true whereon we must not rely nor for it must we depart from our Senses and Experience And therefore there is no Reason without Experience both Experience without Reason is invalid and Reason without it is fallacious and captious Though the Preheminence between them two is doubtful For Experience knows few Diseases and those which come often and frequently But Reason does as well help rare Diseases which it never saw before as common ones because it searches out the Natures Differences and Causes of all by Discourse and Ratiocination or it comprehends things by Scientifick Knowledge or at least by Artificial Conjecture yet by a sure one and that which is next to Science Besides Experience only acquires those things which often happen in the same manner and seeing all the simple and compound Diseases of all parts Similar and Organick cannot be brought together it is impossible that there can be Experience of them all but only of the frequent ones and therefore it of it self does not comprehend or reach either the knowledge or Cure of several Diseases Besides some frequent Diseases come without any concourse of Symptoms and cannot be known but by conjecture and a Tentative Cure and therefore in this way of proceeding only Reason can obtain the knowledge which is sought after And Experience not knowing the power of the trying Remedy joyns and compares it with the following operation and thence it easily guesses and it gets as much knowledge of the Disease by things hurtful and orders the whole Cure But not that Experience which knowing not the virtues of Remedies takes any thing for the Cure without judgment so that if the business succeed not at first he knows not whither he must go but by blind Chance and Fortune runs to another thing But however it is that Reason dictates these and the like things to us yet Experience is very
Diaphoenicon frigidum applied hot to the whole Belly is most excellent in any Dysentery the same also may be applied in the beginning 7. Take pure root of Tormentil grosly bruised 6 ounces Pour to it in a glass Body of Tormentil water 16 ounces Let it simmer on a gentle Fire then let it cool and pour off and separate the Decoction carefully from the Root add of fine Sugar half a pound Set it in Sand and with a gentle Fire reduce it to the consistency of a Syrup Then add of the Tincture Oil or Liquour first precipitated with distilled Vinegar and then with Spirit of Vitriol of Corals Mich. Crugnerus mix it well and keep it It is a most excellent Remedy in the Bloudy-flux 8. Oil of Walnuts cures a Flux miraculously if it be taken inwardly and the Belly be anointed therewith ¶ This is reckoned a Secret in stopping Fluxes of the Belly If you take of the Juice of unripe Grapes 10 spoonfuls boil it a little after it is clarified drink a third part of it for it presently stops the Flux and strengthens the Bowels Claud. Deodatus 9. They say Cudweed boiled in Wine is an effectual Remedy Dioscorides 10. Boil a Crab with Wine and Pepper take off the Shells and dry them the Powder of the simple Shell taken twice every day cures any Flux specifically It may also be mixt with other things It is an experienced thing ¶ Distilled water of Celandine drunk Tob. Dorncrellius powerfully stops any Flux as I have heard one say upon his certain experience 11. There is no more present Remedy than Vva quercina in Powder Christoph Engelius for any Bloudy-flux I have cured some of desperate Dysenteries onely with it 12. The Cawl of a Wether fried in Oil of Roses and applied Franc. Osw Grembs is an excellent Remedy to stop the fury of it 13. A linen cloth dipt in the bloud of a Hare not killed by a weapon but in hunting by the bite of a Dog and dried and kept for use if it be made Lint of and given in Wine it cures the Dysentery Yea the Soldiers in Germany when they have killed a Hare in the aforesaid manner dry her in the smoke and give her in drink and so cure the Bloudy-flux infallibly Van Helmont 14. The Liver of a Wolf prepared that is when it has been steeped 3 days in very strong Vinegar and then dried in an Oven upon a Tile is highly commended 15. The Pisle of a Cat is a most certain Remedy in this Disease Frid. Hofmannus the Shavings of it may be mixt in some Electuary 16. It is admirable that Colcothar the Caput mortuum of Vitriol should possess a quality to cure a Bloudy-flux that is if they that are afflicted with the Bloudy-flux do go to stool upon it Christ Langius it cures them This is confirmed by many observations of D. Michael 17. Half a drachm of Crystal finely powdered and prepared taken in some convenient Water is a singular Remedy for a Dysentery Joh. Langius especially for one arising from porraceous and yellow choler 18. I have observed it by experience and beyond all doubt that 2 drachms of Filipendula root given either in Wine or the Yelk of an Egg is good The leaves and roots of which Herb I have often found to doe both the same thing ¶ I have found this Potion doe a great deal of good Take of Syrup of Popy 1 ounce of dried Roses half an ounce Diamargariton frigidum half a drachm burnt Ivory half a scruple Water of Plantain Horse-tail each 2 ounces ¶ This is excellent good to ease pain Take of Acacia Hypocistis the inside of a Quince Sumach Galls each 1 drachm red Coral burnt and washt with Rose-water 1 drachm and an half Opium 1 drachm Cinnamon Cyperus each 1 drachm Syrup of Roses what is sufficient Make a solid Electuary of which make Pills Lud. Mercatus whereof you may give a scruple or half a drachm 19. An Egg boiled in Vinegar and eaten Oribasius stops all Fluxes of the Belly 20. The Feet of a Partridge rosted and one drachm of the Powder given in Coriander water when there is a Fever and when there is none Joh. Praevotius in black Wine cures even a raging Dysentery 21. The dung of a Dog that eats bones dried and powdered and put in a little chalybeate Milk is good for a Dysentery given for 3 days morning and evening I can safely swear I have cured above an hundred of the Dysentery with it in one year as Christopher Landrinus can testifie Joh. David Rulandus 22. The Fruit of the Linden-tree yields an effectual Remedy for any Flux of the Belly Valesc de Taranta as Camerarius testifies 23. The lesser Plantain given with an equal quantity of Daucus is a singular Remedy Gul. Varignana 24. This is very much commended If the Patient for 3 or 4 days morning and evening sit over a red hot Plate of metal upon which 1 ounce of the best Turpentine or Pine Refin must be thrown ¶ This is an admirable one especially in Childrens fluxes if every day morning and evening the Child's anus be fumed with the Powder of young Asses dung carefully dried in an oven and strewed upon red hot Coals Benedict Victor ¶ The following Fomentation also is highly commended Take of Balm 1 pound Mullein 1 handfull put them in a long bag which afterwards boiled in a like quantity of styptick red Wine and strong Vinegar to a third must be applied warm to the Seat 25. Many reckon Cresses seed given alone or mixt with other things a singular Remedy in the Bloudy-flux Arn. Weikardus 26. This is a singular Remedy for any Flux of Bloud Take Frog-spawn and dip a linen cloth at least thrice in it dry it in the shade and doe so thrice Which cloth so prepared and dried you may use Apply a piece twice as large as the place where-out the Bloud flows Keep this as a Secret ¶ This is a singular Remedy for the Bloudy-flux Break a new Egg into a new earthen Pot then take a like quantity of Honey Vinegar and Oil mix them all together and bake them Eat them and you will find a good effect Marc. Ant. Zimara Dysuria or Sharpness of Vrine The Contents It must be cured variously according to the diversity of the cause I. A Vomit is proper II. The benefit of Clysters III. Cassia sometimes suspected IV. Diureticks sometimes hurtfull V. It arises sometimes from the defect of the humour that moistens the urinary passage VI. Sometimes from the site of the Bladder altered VII Sometime from the glandulous Body too much dried VIII Medicines I. A Man threescore years of age was sick of a violent Sharpness of Urine some placed the cause in his Bladder others in his Kidneys But when he was dead of an Apoplexy there was no fault observed in
his Reins or Bladder onely the Liver was somewhat hard So that it plainly appeared the fault came from the too great Sharpness of the Humours that run to the Bladder for his Urine was tinged and clear enough One at last died of this Disease there was a Stone found in his Bladder that weighed 2 ounces and an half with a great Putrefaction of his Kidneys he was exceeding venereal J. Hessus apud Schenkium ¶ In curing old men who are sick of Sharpness of Urine or Strangury we must see that the fuliginous and serous excrements perspire We must see also whether any Catarrh fall from the Brain by the Spine upon the Bladder for it must be diverted I saw one who when he had been sick of a Dysury after he had voided a whitish humour by Urine Hollerius aph 31.3 was rid of his Dysury He was in his declining age how much more then may a Dysury be caused in old Men by this humour ¶ One is sick of a Dysury Bauhinus a purulent matter runs the whole day from him undoubtedly it must come from his Parastatae ¶ Sometimes a white and milky matter is voided in such plenty that when it is setled it takes up half the room in the Chamber-pot The Cause is both the weakness of the Stomach that makes ill Chyle and a weakness in the Kidneys to which when some lacteal Veins come that receive immediately the watry Chyle then when the Kidneys are weak the thin Chyle not well cleared of the salt tartarous dregs being carried thither it passes together with the Urine into the Bladder it is a Disease familiar to Women and cold complexions H fmannus Pulv. Stomach Quercetani is good with the inner Coat of a Hen's Gizzard in Hippocras-wine and outwardly to anoint with Vnguentum Stomach II. Both Learned men have written and Experience it self hath often taught me that a Vomit is a most excellent Remedy in the heat of Urine For a Vomit draws powerfully and evacuates the cholerick humours from the Liver and mesaraick Veins Fabr. Hildanus And we must begin with gentle ones III. Clysters of pure Milk or mixt with Mucilages use to be so efficacious that I have known some Patients who after long Pains have found case onely by this Remedy and a Bath Riverius IV. It is necessary that the Body be evacuated at certain intervals This may be done by lenient and gently purging Medicines for by strong ones the humours are inflamed and the heat of Urine encreased Cassia in this case is preferred by most Authours but I have observed that after the use of Cassia Hildanus the pains have been increased in several Patients V. Young Physicians must be admonished that in Sharpness of Urine they make not a negligent inspection into the Causes of this Disease For there are many deceived who think it arises from the Stone in the Bladder wherefore they give their miserable Patients Medicines accommodated to break the Stone which is turned to their Urine for the heat of Urine is increased by those Medicines that are endued with a hot faculty whereupon an Ulcer in the Kidneys or the Bladder must needs be bred and therefore they must be continually upon the rack who fall into the wicked hands of such Hang-men As in my time it happened to one who neglecting necessary means at first and afterwards taking all the Medicines of Empiricks fell into a mortal Diabetes Paschalius VI. A certain oleaginous matter that drops down insensibly moistens the Vrethra in a Man and the passage of the Womb in a Woman In defect of this the Urine being sharp hurts the Vrethra and cannot pass freely out Several have been cured by moistning Diet a Bath Riolaâ—us and Oil of Sweet-almonds injected by a Syringe into the Vrethra VII The site of the Bladder is sometimes changed when that portion of the Peritonaeum wherein it is enclosed is loosned and a little turned down which causes a difficulty in pissing Idem except the Belly be lift up by the Hand VIII One made water with difficulty those Glands being dried up which are called Parastatae variciformes nor did he discharge his Bladder without a great weight of Urine So I ordered those Parts and the whole Body to be restored by Unctions and the passage of the Urine being open Al. Benedictus he was cured Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Nothing is better in Heat of Urine than Steam of Milk wherein Mullein has been boiled ¶ An admirable Syrup for Heat of Urine Take of Seed of Marsh-mallow Mallow Quince Fleawort each 1 ounce put them in a hot Decoction of the Root of Marsh-mallow Seeds of white Popy winter Cherries what is sufficient When the Mucilage is made strain it Deâ—datus and with Sugar make it into a Syrup 2. The following Electuary wonderfully corrects the hot Intemperature of the Brain and Sharpness of Urine Take of Conserve of Flowers of Water-lily Violets Roses Flowers of Cichory each one drachm white and red Saunders each 1 scruple Seeds of Sorrel and Purslain each 2 scruples Trochiscs of Camphire 1 drachm and a half Mix them with Syrup of Popy Make an Electuary The Dose is 2 drachms morning and evening 3. Johannes Baptista Theodosius commends the following Medicine out of Galen and Avicen as one that never failed him Take of Mallow-leaves 1 handfull and an half fresh Butter 2 drachms Honey half a pound Joh. Fontanus Let them boil in 5 pounds of Water to a third Of which you may drink a little 4. One applied this Cataplasm to his twist and he presently made water freely Take of Pellitory of the Wall 2 handfulls Chervil 1 handfull and an half cut them and boil them soft add of Butter 2 drachms Oil of Scorpions 1 drachm and an half Mix them and apply them hot It did so much good Foreâ—tus there was no need of any other Remedies 5. I will not conceal this Powder wherein I put great confidence Take of Winter Cherries No. xij Seeds of Cucumber white Popy each half an ounce white Sugar what is sufficient Make a Powder of which take half an ounce always before meal 6. Take of Salt Nitre prepared Sugar-candy each half a drachm give it in Parsley-water Joh. Praevetius it is experienced 7. Wittichius An Emulsion of Chesnuts and a little white Popy seeds made with Liquorish water is good for Heat of urine A GUIDE TO The Practical Physician BOOK V. Of Diseases beginning with the Letter E. Ebrietas or Drunkenness The Contents Whether it be discussed by drinking Wine afresh I. Discussed by applying a Medicine to the Stones II. When a Bath is proper for the cure of a Surfeit III. Medicines I. ACcording to the rule of Schola Salernitana Si nocturna tibi nocet potatio vini Hoc mane rebibas erit tibi medicina i. e. If you be bitten by a
exagitates and thins the mass of Bloud and stirs it to excretion of any thing superfluous and also it irritates the mouths of the Arteries opening towards the Guts so that the humour being rejected by the Bloud may find a passage by these outlets Hereby first of all the Water fluctuating among the Bloud is plentifully washed away then the emptied vessels soak up the intercutal Water and they discharge it partly by stool immediately and partly by urine or sweat In the mean time there is no fear lest as in a Tympany because the fibres in the Stomach and Guts are too much irritated by the Purge these Bowels should be incited to tetaneous extumescencies For while the Bowels are firm and well constituted the particles of the Medicine doe them no prejudice but being thence delivered into the mass of Bloud they do not onely draw Water out of it but by exaigitating its mass they raise the active particles before overwhelmed and dispose them towards a fermentative faculty Willis II. But sometimes it requires Letting of bloud when it arises from abundance of cold Bloud Indeed upon the account of its Coldness it does not stand in need of Heating but because the abatement of its quantity eases Nature so as she may the more easily conquer the Disease It is not contrary but very consentaneous to reason to use Bleeding here And we must evacuate after Bleeding which Bleeding must be tried before any thing else if strength will permit for if it be low though there be abundance of Bloud yet we must not let bloud till strength be repaired Trallianus l. 9. c. 1. ¶ It may very well be administred if stopping either of the Menses or Haemorrhoids have caused it or if there be a bilious Cachexy Yet Bloud must be taken much more sparingly than in other Diseases because of the want of Heat Enchirid. Med. Pract. III. We must carefully observe this that in an Anasarca as also in a Dropsie what days evacuaters whether purgative or diuretick are not given always on those days opening Alteratives and Strengthners of the innate heat of the Bowels especially that the altering and concocting faculty may be strengthned must be given Knoblochius for if these things be neglected evacuaters will doe little good IV. For curing an Anasarca Lixivial Diureticks as has ever been evident from my observation do far excell all other Diureticks For now it is a trite and vulgar Remedy after Purging to take 6 or 8 ounces of a Lixivium made of Ashes of Wormwood or Broom with White-wine and to continue the use of it for several days This Medicine as I have observed in several provokes Urine plentifully so that the Patients to a Miracle recover in a short time But why Medicines endued with a fixt and lixivial Salt do force Urine more than those endued with an acid Alkali or a volatile the reason I think is this viz. in persons affected with this Disease upon the failing of the fermentation and sanguifick virtue of the Bloud watry and crude humours gathered both in its mass and within the habit of the Body after they have tarried a while there immoveable then they as it is the nature of all watry Juices when they stagnate a little grow sowre wherefore the Lixivial particles of the Medicine being poured into the Bloud do immediately ferment with the acid particles of the Water and moreover while they exagitate and ferment them they raise a notable excretive fermentation in the whole mass of Bloud so that farther when all the particles are put in motion not onely the watry and recrementitious separated from the rest are discharged by the Kidneys but also the innate and active particles of the Bloud it self do extricate themselves from the grosser with which they are entangled and at length recovering do begin to resume their fermentative virtue Willis and to sanguifie V. Diaphoreticks often doe much good and are usually more agreeable with this Disease confirmed than in other kinds of Dropsies And although at the first they be not able to cause Sweat because the habit of the Body swims with a floud of thick humours however while they exagitate the Bloud they rouze up its inbred active particles that were asleep and half drowned before dispose them to a fermentation and moreover put all the recrementitious and especially the watry particles into motion so that these running immediately out of their receptacles go off with ease and speed But Hydroticks must be given in a little larger doze for their quantity is very small and their active particles are drowned in the Water before they can be diffused in the Bloud and can begin to exert their virtues upon the Bloud Wherefore Spirits whether Armoniack or of Wine Tinctures also and Elixirs yea and Powders are seldom used for this Disease because in a little dose they doe little good and if they be given in a large dose they by their efferation often hurt the Bowels But some such things must rather be made use of which taken in a larger dose and hot may pass into the Bloud not weakned such especially are Decoctions of Wood and Seeds whose particles being pretty congruous to the Bloud and invincible by it do pass through its whole mass and exert their elastick virtue by putting all the humours in motion Idem VI. Among external Administrations whereby the Water gathered within the habit of the Body is stirred Oil of Scorpions so it be genuine applied by it self or added to Liniments made of Sulphur and divers kinds of Salts and of Quick-lime and other Minerals which being powdered and mixt with the mucilaginous extracts of sharp Herbs may be reduced to the form of an Unguent does oftentimes much good I knew a Boy who was much swelled with an universal Anasarca and was cured by this onely Medicine for his Mother I know not by whose Advice did anoint all his Body morning and evening with Oil of Scorpions rubbing all the parts with her hot Hand very hard Upon doing of which within three days he began to make a great deal of Water and when he had continued for some days so to make Water the Swelling fell by degrees Idem and he recovered VII Baths are scarce proper for any Dropsie but an Anasarca and not for this neither unless in the inclination to it or decrease of it Because when the Bloud is heated and incited by the ambient heat of the Bath and moves the Waters stagnating every where and drinking them up into it self transports them by divers ways there is danger lest as it often happens it receiving them out of the habit of the Body into its mass should presently discharge them into the Brain or Praecordia for nothing is more usual than for Diseases of those parts to wit an Asthma or Apoplexy to seize Hydropicks after bathing Notwithstanding when the conjunct cause of the Disease that is the intumescence is either
moderate or not great a Bath of Water impregnated with Salts and Sulphur or also a Stove whereby gentle Sweat may be provoked is often used With success Idem VIII Stoves by heating thinning and colliquating the subcutaneous humours by opening the passages and drawing out Sweat doe good Notwithstanding we must abstain from them if immoderate evacuation of Bloud have given occasion to this Disease for they heat and stir the Bloud Encâ—â—rid Med. Pract. and draw out of the Veins IX In an Anasarca Issues in the Legs are commended but in the beginning of the Disease otherwise if the Disease be old Fluxions and Gangrenes are easily caused You may reckon the same of Blisters and Incisions one of which will be enough for one Leg Epiphaniuâ— Ferdinandus which must be kept lifted up a little for by little and little the Water runs out without any danger ¶ Vesicatories let out the intercutal water plentifully and sometimes too much because such an Epispastick applied to swelled places makes too wide an out-let which being opened the Water that comes first out often draws a floud out of the parts adjoining upon which a great sinking of the Spirits follows Moreover the place suddenly so opened because it is deprived of the Heat and Spirits quickly gangrenes Wherefore this Medicine is seldom applied to the Legs or Feet of hydropick persons when the Heat is weak and the Swelling big but sometimes it is safely applied to the Thighs and Arms. Escharoticks are used with a little more safety than Vesicatories to the swelled places because at this emissary the flux of the water is not so heady and copious at the first but it begins moderately and proceeds by degrees to a great Current which Nature after she has been gradually used to it bears the better Moreover there is less fear of a Gangrene from an Escharotick than from a Vesicatory because in that application the part whose continuity is dissolved is guarded against the dissolution of the Heat by an Eschar Willis X. There remains yet another not inferiour to though less usual than the other way of getting out intercutal Water by Acupuncture which also must be very cautiously and gradually celebrated lest a hasty and excessive flux of Water be raised Take an ordinary Needle such as Tailers use and prick the Skin with it in the most oedematous place so as the Bloud may not come and make at one time 6 or 7 little holes about an inch one from another the Water will burst out drop by drop out of every such little hole and so will drop out continually till the Swelling round the prickt places do vanish Then the next time about 12 hours after let 18 or 24 other such punctures be made in some other part either of the same or the other Leg and so let such emissaries of the intercutal Water be made in this or that one Limb or two or more together once or twice a-day for by this means the hydropick matter may be discharged more plentifully and safely than by any other outward administration A new product whereof in the mean time if it be prevented by internal Pharmacy the Disease will easily be cured Moreover in a deplorable Dropsie Life is the best prolonged by that administration inasmuch that is as the Water being continually discharged by these external emissaries the internal vital inundation is longer kept off Idem XI Chalybeates doe often in this Disease as well as in the Green-sickness a great deal of good so that often the whole or chief scope of Cure depends on this sort of Medicine Yet we must take notice that all such Medicines are not a-like proper in these cases for those that are most used that is Sal Chalybis or Vitriolam Martis and other things prepared with acids and wholly despoiled of their Sulphur doe no good because they do not promote the ferment of the Bloud but rather on the contrary when it is too fierce and elastick they fix it Yet Chalybeates of this Nature may be used for an Anasarca and any oedematous Cachexy in the habit of the Body in which the sulphureous particles are left and are prevalent as especially filings and scalings of Steel reduced to Powder also Steel melted with Sulphur and powdered These Powders being taken are presently dissolved by the acid Salts within our Body whereby the sulphureous metallick particles being set loose and carried into the Bloud do ferment its whole mass and raise the homogeneal particles therein which before were asleep and joining with them do invigorate the Bloud and renew its fermentative or sanguifick virtue before depressed Wherefore we may observe that upon using these Chalybeates but a little time the green colour of the Face is turned into a florid countenance Willis Hydrops Ascites or A Dropsie in the Belly The Contents It may come without any fault in the Liver I. It is often caused by heating things and must be cured with cooling ones II III. Letting of Bloud may be proper IV. Vomits when proper V. The Serum diffused without the Veins must be got out with strong Purging VI. Strengthners must be mixt with strong Purgatives VII It must be conquered by Mercurial Medicines VIII The Succedaneum to Elaterium IX Things applied to the Navel are dangerous X. Diureticks must be given at a time convenient XI Taking of Lixivia not good for all XII If Vrine be stopt Cantharides must be given XIII In a perfect Dropsie Diureticks are useless XIV How they ought to be chosen XV. If it be caused through some fault in the Kidneys they are useless XVI When Diureticks are given Clysters must frequently be administred XVII They carry off the matter contained in the Abdomen XVIII When the Waters are proper XIX Hydroticks must not always be prescribed XX. What Diaphoreticks are able to doe XXI Sweat must not be raised by Decoctions XXII It cannot be cured by Hydroticks alone XXIII Narcoticks mortal to Hydropicks XXIV XXV Whether Tapping may be tried XXVI The manner of operation XXVII XXVIII On what condition it may be administred XXIX Opening must not be made with a Cautery XXX It must not be done unless the Navel swell XXXI In what quantity the Water must be let out XXXII In Hydropicks the Coats of the Peritonaeum grow very thick XXXIII A Gangrene which follows the opening of the Scrotum need not much be feared XXXIV The Tapping of the Scrotum XXXV Section made by cutting of the Nails hurtfull XXXVI Scarifying of the Legs safe XXXVII Of the Ankles dangerous XXXVIII Whether Issues may be made in the Legs XXXIX Whether Scarifications be safe XL. Blisters XLI The use of medicated Wines XLII Clysters must have no Oil in them XLIII The eating of Herrings is good XLIV An Example of a happy Cure XLV The Efficacy of Clysters and Plasters XLVI In applying of Topicks we must have a care of the region of the Liver XLVII The Preparation