use of castor is worthily commended Ê’i of it being taken in white wine Or you may make pills of it with mithridate and take them going to bed â„ž Of white brionie root dried and cut after the manner of carrots â„¥ i. Put it into a draught of wine placing it by the fire and when it is warme drinke it of Quercitane draweth a faecula out of the root the substance of which is to be taken in white wine or peonie water â„ž Of myrrhe castor Assafaetida ana ℈ i. saffron rue seed ana gr iiii make 8 pills take every night 2. at your entrance into bed Galen by his owne example commends unto us Agaricke pulveriz'd of which he gave frequently ℈ i. in white wine â„ž anaÊ’s ligni aloes citron pills dried ana ℈ i. sugar â„¥ iii. with feverfew water make lozenges â„ž Of tryphera magna Nic. Ê’i mugwort water â„¥ iiii Take this every other day for the space of 12 dayes Hang about her necke little tabulets of Vngula Alces â„ž Of bdellium ammoniacum and â„¥ ii Agnus castus Centorie Cassia-wood feverfew marjerom ana Ê’is turpentine q. s. make two plasters applie one before and the other behind Lay to the navill at bed-time a head of garlicke brused fastening it with a sweathing bande Make a girdle of galbanum for the wast and also a plaster for the belly placeing in one part of it both civet and muske which must be layd upon the navill â„ž anaÊ’ii mithridate q. s. make a pessarie It purgeth the matrice of winde and flegme foment the naturall parts with sallade oyle in which hath beene boyled rue feverfew and chammomill â„ž Of rose leaves m.i. cloves ℈ ii twilt them up in a little cloth and boyle them in malmsie the eight part of an houre and then applie them close to the mouth of the wombe as hote as may bee indured Let her be covered well that the smell passeth not to the nose A drieing diet must bee observed the moderate use of Venus is commended Let her bread bee Anice seed bisket and her flesh meate rather rosted then boyled CHAP. VII Of the descending or falling downe of the Mother THE falling down of the wombe is a relaxation of the ligatures wherby the matrice is carried backward and in some hangs out in the bignesse of an egge Of this there bee two kindes distinguisht of Fernelius by Descensus and Prolapsus by a descending and a precipitation The descending of the wombe is when it sinketh downe to the entrance of the privities and appeares to the eye either not at al or very little The precipitation is when the wombe like a purse is turned the inside outward and hangs bewixt the thighes in the bignesse of a cupping-glasse Cause The cause is externall or internall The externall cause is difficult child birth violent pulling away of the secondine rashnesse and inexperience in drawing away of the child violent coughing neezing falls blowes carrying of heavie burdens The internall cause in generall is overmuch humiditie flowing unto those parts hindring the operations of the wombe whereby the ligaments by which the wombe is supported are relaxt The cause in particular is refer'd to bee in the retention of the seed or in the suppressions of the courses Signes The Arsgut and the bladder oftentimes are so crushed that the passage of both the excrements is hindered If the urine doth flow forth it is white and thick the proecordia are molested the loynes be grieved the privities payned the womb sinkes down to the entrance of the private parts or else comes cleane out Prognosticks This griefe possessing an old woman is cured with great difficultie because it weakens the faculties of the wombe and therefore though it bee reduced into his propper place yet uppon every occurrance it is subject to the like danger it was in before So is it with the younger sort if the disease be inveterate If it bee caused by putrifaction in the nerves it is incurable Cure The wombe naturally being placed betweene the streight gut and the bladder and now fallen down ought not to be put up againe untill the facultie both of the guts and bladder bee stirred up Nature being unloded of her burden let the woman be placed on her backe in such sort that her legs may be higher then her head let her feet be drawne up to her hinder parts with her knees spread abroad Then mollifie the swelling with oyle of Lillies and sweet Almonds or with the decoction of mâ—llows beetes faengreck and lineseed When the inflation is dissiputed let the midwife annoint her hand with oyle of Mastick and reduce the wombe into its place The matrice being put up the situation of the patient must bee changed Let her legs bee out at length and layd together Set cuppingglasses to the brests and navill Boyle Mugwort Feverfew red Roses and Comferie in red Wine and foment the places therewith Make a suffumigation for the matrice of Castor assa faetida Frankincence and Mastick â„ž anaÊ’iii Masticke Styrax Franck inâ—ence ana â„¥ i. boleÊ’i with oyle of myrtles and wax make two plasters apply one before and the other behinde â„ž Of red roses Pomgranate pills Accorne cups Myrtle berries ana â„¥ ii Medler leaues Sage Rue Origan Comferie wormewood ana mis. boyle all these in water and make an insessioÌ„ Move sweet odours to the nose And at the comming out of the Bath give her of sirrup of Feverfew â„¥ i. with Ê’i of anaÊ’iii Galbani â„¥ s. StyracisÊ’ ii make a plaster for the navill Make pessaries of Assafaetida Saffron Comfery masticke adding there to a little Castor The practice of Paraeus in this cause was to make them only of corke in figure like a little egge covering them over with wax and masticke dissolved together fastning to it a thred and so to put it up into the wombe The present danger being new taken away and the matrice seared in its naturall abode the remote cause must bee remooved If the body bee plethoricke open a veyne Prepare with sirrup of betonie calamint hysope and feverfew Purge with pil de hier a cum agarico pil de colocynthide If the stomacke bee opprest by crudities unburden it by vomiting Sudorifficall decoctioÌ„s of Lignum sanctum and sassifras taken twenty daies together dries up the superfluous moister and consequently suppresseth the cause of the disease Let the aire bee hote and drie and your diet hote and attenuating Abstaine from dancing leaping neezing and from all motion both of body and minde Eate sparingly drinke not much sleepe moderately CHAP. VIII Of the Inflammation of the wombe THE Phlegmon or inflammation of the matrice is a tumour possessing the whole wombe or part of it accompanied with unnaturall heate by obstructions and gathering together of corrupt blood Cause The cause of this affect is suppression of the months repletion of the whole body immoderate use of Venus often handling of the
combates are neglected the urine is crude watrish and much in quantity the excrements of the guts usually are retained If of heat the signes are contrary to those even now recited If the retention be naturall and come of conception this may be known by drinking of Hydromell that is water and honey after supper going to bed and by the effect which it worketh for after the taking of it if shee feeles a beating paine about the navell and lower parts of the belly it is asigne she hath conceived and that the suppression is naturall If not that is it vitious and ought medicinally to be taken away Prognosticks With the evill quality of the wombe the whole body stands charged but especially the Heart the Liver and the Braine and betwixt the wombe and these three principall parts there is a singular consent First the wombe communicates to the heart by the mediation of those Arteries which come from Aorta hence the termes being supprest will ensue faintings swoonings intermission of pulse cessation of breath Secondly it communicates to the Liver by the veines derived from the hollow veine hence will follow obstructions cachexies jaundise dropsies hardnesse of the spleene Thirdly it communicates unto the braine by the nerves and membranes of the backe hence will arise Epilepsies Apoplexies Frensies melancholy passions paine in the after parts of the head fearfulnesse inability of speaking Well therefore may I conclude with Hyppocrates if the moneths be supprest many dangerons diseases will follow Cure In the cure of this and of all the other following effects I will observe this order The cure shall bee taken from Chirurgicall Pharmaceuticall and Diaeteticall meanes This suppression is a plethoricke affect and must be taken away by evacuation and therefore first we will beginne with Phlebotomie In the middest of the menstruall period open the Liver veine and for the reversion of the humour two dayes before the wonted evacution open the Saphena on both feet If the repletion be not great apply cupping glasses to the legges and thighs And although there be no hope to remove the suppression as in some the Cotyledones are so closed up that nothing but copulation will open them yet it will be convenient as much as may be to ease nature of her burden by opening the Hemerhoid veines with a Leech After Phlebotomie let the humours bee prepared and made fluxile with syrrupe of Staechas Calamint Betonie Hysop Mugwort Horehound Fumeterre Maiden-haire Bathe with m.j. make a decoction take thereof â„¥ iij. syrrupe of Maiden-haire Mugwort Succory ana â„¥ s. Misce After she comes out of the Bath let her drinke it off Purge with Pil. de Agarico Elephang Coch. Foetid Galen in this cause commends pil de Hiera cum Colocyutide for as they bee proper to purge the humour offending so also they doe open the passages of the wombe and strengthen the faculty by their Aromaticall quality If the stomacke be overcharged let her take a vomit yet such a one as may worke both wayes lest working onely upward it should too much turne backe the humour â„ž Trochisks of Agrick Ê’ij infuse them iâ— â„¥ iij. of Oximel in which dissolve of the Electuary Diasarum ℈ is Benâ—dic Laâ—â—t â„¥ s Take this after the manner of a purge After the humour hath beene purged proceed to more proper and forceable remedies â„ž trochiscks of myrrhe Ê’is persly-seed castor rindes of cassia ana ℈ i. of the extract of mugwort ℈ is muske gr.x. with the juce of smallage make 12 pils tak 2 every morning or after supper going to bed â„ž of cinnamoÌ„ â„¥ s. roots of smirnium valerian aristolochia ana Ê’ii roots of Asrum Ê’i castor saffron ana ℈ ii specdiambrae Ê’ii trochisks of myrrhe ℈ iiii tartari vitriolati ℈ ii make all into a powder with mugwort water and suger qs make lozenges take Ê’i of them every morning or mingle Ê’i of the powder with Ê’i of sugar and take it in white wine â„ž of prepared steele specierum hierae ana Ê’ii borace species of myrrhe ana ℈ i. with the juce of savine make 38. take three every other day immediatly before dinner â„ž of castor ℈ i. wilde carret seed Ê’s with syrrupe of mugwort make 4 pils take them in the morning fasting and so for three dayes together before the wonted time of the purgations â„ž of Agaricke aristolochia juce of horehound ana Ê’v rhubarb spicknard anice-seed galbanum assafaetida smallage roots gentiane of the three peppers laccae ana Ê’vi with honie make an electuarie take of it Ê’iii for a dosis In flegmaticall bodies nothing better can bee given then the decoction of the wood guaiacum with a little Dictam taken in the morning fasting and so for 12 dayes together without provokeing of sweate Administer to the lower parts by suffumigations pessaries unctions injections insessions Make suffumigations of cinnamon nutmeg cloves bayberries mugwort galbanum melanthium Amber c. Make pessaryes of figgs and the leaves of mercury brused and rowled up with lint If you desire a stronger make one of myrrhe bdelium opopanax Ammoniacum galbanum sagapenum mithridate agarick coloquintida c. Make injections of the decoction of origane mugwort mercurie betonie and figgs powring the same into the wombe by a metrenchyta â„ž oyle of sweet and bitter almonds lillies capers chammomill ana â„¥ s. ladani oyle of myrrhe ana Ê’ii with wax make an unguent with which let the places bee anointed Make insessions of faengreeke chammomill melilote dill marjerom pennyroyall feverfew juniper berries and calamynt But if the suppression comes by a defect of matter then ought not the cources to be provoked untill the spirits bee animated and the blood againe encreased Or if by proper affects of the wombe as dropsies inflammations and the like then must a particular cure bee used the which I will not insist upon here but of them as they lie in order If the retention comes from repletion or fulnesse let the aire bee hote and drie use moderate exercise before meales Let your sleep bee shorter then ordinary and your meat and drinke attenuating Seeth with your meat garden savorie time origan and ciche peason If of emptinesse or defect of matter let the ayre bee moyst and moderately hote Shun excercise and watchings let your meate bee nourishing and of a light digestion as reare eggs lambe chickens almond milke and the like CHAP. III. Of the overflowing of the cources THE Scholearium saith by comparing of contraries truth is made manifest Having therefore spoken of the suppression of the terms order requires now that I should insist upon the overflowing of them an effect no lesse dangerous then the former And this immoderate flux of the months is defined to be a sanguineous excrement proceeding from the wombe exceeding both in quantity and time First it is said to be sanguineous the matter of the flux being only blood wherein it differs from 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉
Vox medici HErbarum vires Astrorum juncta potestas Ars medici moderans et Deus ista beans Virginibus pueris uxoribus atque maritis Queisque recepturis causa salutis erunt THE strength of herbs and planets influence Physicians skill through Gods benevolence To young and old to husband and to wife Are the appointed meanes for healthfull life THE SICK WOMANS Priuate Looking-glasse Wherein methodicaly are handled all uterine affects or diseases arising from the Wombe Enabling Women to informe the physitian about the cause of their griefe By John Sadler Dr in Physick in the Citie of Norwich London Printed for Ph Stephens Ch Meredith at the gilded Lyon in Pauls Churchyard Io Droeshout sculp i636 THE SICKE VVOMANS PRIVATE LOOKING-GLASSE WHEREIN Methodically are handled all uterine affects or diseases arising from the wombe enabling Women to informe the Physician about the cause of their griefe BY IOHN SADLER Doctor in Physicke at Norwich Orandum est ut sit mens sana in corpore sano Iuvenal LONDON Printed by Anne Griffin for Philemon Stephens and Christopher Meridith at the Golden Lion in S. Pauls Church-yard 1636. TO ALL VERTVOVS AND Modest-minded Women I.S. Doctor in Physicke wisheth health BECAVSE I had my being from a woman I thought none had more right to the grape than she which planted the vine Considering therefore the manifold distempers of body which yee Women are subject unto through your ignorance modestie I could not but doe my best to informe and advise you in the conservation of your own health And when I had spent some meditations and consulted with Galen and Hippocrates for my proceeding amongst all diseases incident to the body I found none more frequent none more perilous then those which arise from the ill affected wombe for through the evill quality thereof the heart the liver and the braine are affected from whence the actions vitall natural animal are hurt and the virtues concoctive sanguifficative distributive attractive expulsive retentive with the rest are all weakened So that from the wombe comes convulsions epilepsies apoplexies palseyes hecticke fevers dropsies malignant ulcers and to bee short there is no disease so ill but may procede from the evill quality of it How necessary therefore the knowledge of uterine diseases is judge yee And how many of you labour of them all through your own ignorance and modestie woefull experience makes it manifest For when a woman is afflicted with any disease of the wombe first through her ignorance shee knowing not the cause thereof being not instructed in the state of her own body And secondly through her modestie being loâ—h to divulge and publish the same unto the Physitian to implore his aide shee conceals her griefe and so encreaseth her sorrow For the aide and benefit of a woman in this cause have I composed this treatise Wherein as in a glasse she may see her selfe in private and view the nature cause signes prognosticks and cure of all uterine diseases But yet no further then thereby to bee instructed to conferre with the Physitian for the cure of her griefe least by the misapplying of the remedy you augment your disease I confesse if you looke unto the matter it is old if unto the method new part of it being selected out of the Greeks part out of the Latines and part out of the experience of my owne practice wherein I have followed the industrie of the Bee who gathers hony out of divers floures to weave into her owne combe Many things more might have been added in it which for modestie sake my pen hath omitted I have also stooped to your capacities in avoiding hard words and Rhetoricall phrases desiring rather to informe your judgements with the truth though a plaine manner then to confound your understandings with a more Rhetoricall discourse But fearing to bee over-tedius craving acceptance for these first fruits of my braine untill God indues mee with a better harvest I rest The wellwisher of your health IOHN SADLER Ad proceres Artis Aesculapij PRAENOBILEM medicinae Artem ignobili proferre vulgo opus hand dignum hodie non immerito existimetur Vos igitur qui hujus art is illustrissime est is professores me fortean subinsullie esse animi censeatis qui artem hanc inclyâ—am gregalibus verbis dedecoravi quod ne putetis causam in lemeam coram vobis veniâ vestrâ sic agam Sciatis vellem quòd ego opusculo hoc meo promulgando faemininum solummodò sexum institâ—ere decrevi vestra proin lenitudo benevolentia spero conamen istud meum licèt squalidum absque inusto stigmate in lucem prodire patientur Hocque confido magis quippe quod Hippocrates qui mihi exemplar est honoratissimus de hoc subjecto nonnulla vulgo exarata dedit Et de materia si quaeratur hanc ingenuè fateor me ex authoribus tum antiquis tum modernis excerpsisse totam circa quam si errorem quendam inscius aut incautus expromere videar suppliciter peto eundem mihi denudatum fieri ipsum elimare conabor serio At si codicillus iste meus incultus iudicio vestro uti spero inculpatus vixerit clemenâ—ia vestra me vinculo observantiae vobis devinctum habebit imperpetuum Et quod ad Momum attinet cui calumniandi maledicendi prurigo semper inhaeret flocci pendo quamvis fungus iste sannis scommatibus hunc meum exerceat laborem quem scire vellem suam de me sententiam inanem prorsus levemque ducere Tumescat ideo invidiâ donec disrumpatur odio mihi curae est honos non offendere ignorantes informare Hic scopus Hic saltus Hic pes â—igendus Ornato Imprimatur Tho. Weeks R. P. Episcopo Lond. Cap. domest Iohn Smethwicke Ornato atque erudito juveni Domino Iohanni Sadlero Medicinae Doctori Alexander Reidus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 atque e sociorum inclyti Collegii Londinensis medici numero S. P. D. CLarumtuuÌ„ morborum uteriâ—orum speculum non oscitanter perlegi quod ad corum dignotionem curationem elaborasti quod que publici iuris facturum te mihi significasti Si de eo quaeras quid sentiam brevem apertamque animimei sententiam accipe Dignum existimo quod lucem aspiciat ad quod 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 omnes manibus versent Non est meo indicio quod sciolorum cerulas miniatulas pertimescas Phrasis in eo tersa atque elegaâ—s in eo certant brevitas perspicuitas ut de te Horatianum istud vere pronunciari non possit Brevis esse laboro Obscurus fio Methodus clara est atque rei traditioni conveniens Medicamenta quae proferuntur selecta sunt tuta Ita ut possit liber ipse secure maligni livoris dentem contemnere Quamobrem oro autor sibisim eum publicandi ut pulchris ingenii tui felicis primitiis gloria tibi accedat atque ad
〈◊〉 〈◊〉 commonly called the false cources or whites of which I will speake hereafter Secondly it is said to proceed from the wombe for there are two wayes by which the blood flowesforth The one is by the internall veynes in in the body of the wombe and this is properly called the monthly flux The other is by those veynes which are terminated in the necke of the matrice and this is called of Aetius the Hemorrhodes of the wombe Lastly it is said to exceed both in quantity and time In quantity sayth Hippocrates when they flow above 18 ounces In time saith Aristotle when they flow above three dayes But wee take this for a certaine character of their inordinate flowing when the faculties of the body thereby are weakened In bodyes abounding with grosse humours this immoderate flux sometimes unburdens nature of her load and ought not to bee stayed without the councell of a Physitian Cause The cause of this affect is internall or externall The internall cause is threefold in the matter instrument or faculty The matter which is the blood may be vitious two wayes First in quantity it being so great that the veynes are not able to contayne it Secondly in quality it being adust sharp watrish or unconcocted The instrument viz the veynes are faulty by the dilatation of the orifice which may bee caused two wayes first by the heate of the constitution climate or season heating the blood whereby the passages are dilated and the faculty weakned that it cannot retaine the blood Secondly by fals blowes violent motion breaking of a veyne c. The externall cause may be calidity of the aire lifting carrying of heavy burdens unnaturall child birth falls c. Signes In this inordinate flux the appetite is decayed the concoctions depraved and all the actions weakened the feet are swelled the colour of the face is changed and a generall feeblenes possesseth the whole body If the flux comes by the breaking of a veine the body is something cold the blood flowes forth on heapes and that suddenly with great payne If it comes through heate the orifice of the veynes being dilated then is there little or no payne yet the blood flowes faster then it doth in an Erosion and not so fast as it doth in a Rupture If by Erosion or sharpnesse of blood shee feeles a great heate scalding the passage It differs from the other two in that it flowes not so suddenly nor so copiously as they doe If by weaknesse of the wombe shee abhorreth the use of Venus Lastly if it proceeds from an evill quality in the blood droppe some of it on a cloth and when it is drie you may judge of the quality by the colour If it bee cholericke it will bee yellow If melancholie blacke If flegmaticall watrish and whitish Prognosticks If with the flux be joyned a convulsion it is dangerous because it intimates the more noble parts are vitiated and a convulsion caused by emptinesse is deadly If it continues long it will bee cured with great difficulty for it was one of the miracles which our Saviour Christ wrought to cure this disease when it had continued 12 yeares To conclude if the flux bee inordinate many diseases will ensue and without remedy the blood together with the native heare being consumed either chacheriall hydropicall or paralyticall diseases will follow Cure The cure consisteth in three particulars First in repelling and carrying back of the blood Secondly in correcting and taking away the fluxibility of the matter Thirdly in corroborating the veynes and faculty For the first To cause a regression of the blood open a veyne in the arme and draw out so much blood as the strength of the patient will permit and that not together but at severall times for hereby the spirits are the lesse weakened and the retraction so much the greater Apply cupping-glasses to the brests and also to the liver that the reversion may be in the fountaine To correct the fluxibility of the matter catharticall meanes moderated with astrictories must be used If it be caused by erosion or sharpnesse of blood consider whether the Erosion bee by salt flegme or adust choller If by salt flegme Prepare with sirupe of violets wormewood roses citron-pills succorie c. then take this purgation following ℞ myrobolan chebul ℥ s. trochiscks of agaricke ʒi with plantaine water make a decoction adde thereunto sir. rosat lax ℥ iii. make a potion If by adust choller prepare the body with sirrupe of roses myrtles sorrell purcelaine commixt with water of plantaine knot-grasse and endive Then purge with this potion ℞ rindes of myrobolanes rhubarbe ana ʒi cinnamon gr xv infuse them one night in endive water Adde to the straining pulpe of tamarind cassia ana ℥ s. sirupe of roses ℥ i. make a potion If the blood bee watrish and uncencoct as it is in hydropicall bodies and flowes forth by reason of the tenuitie and thinnesse the use of of hydragoga will bee profitable Purge with agarick elaterium and coloquintida Sweating is proper in this cause for by it the matter offending is taken away and the motion of the blood is carried to the outward parts To procure sweate she may take cardvus water with mithridate or the decoction of guajacum fassafras and sarsa-parilla the gumme of guajacum also doth greatly provoke sweate Pills of Sarsa-parilla taken every night going to bed are worthily commended If the blood flowes forth from the opening or breaking of a veyne without any evill quality in its selfe then ought onely corroboratives to bee applied which is the last thing to bee done in the cure of this inordinate flux ℞ Of bole-armonie ℈ i London treacle ʒi old conserve of roses ℥ s. with sirupe of myrtles make an electuarie Or if the flux hath continued long ℞ Of masticke ʒii olibani troch de carabe ana ʒi balaustiorum ℈ i. make a powder with sirupe of quinces make it into pills take one alwayes before meales ℞ Lapidis haematitis triti ana ℈ ii aliʒi troch de carabe de scoria ferri corall frankincence ana ℈ i. fine bole ℈ i. beate these to a fine powder and with sugar and plantaine water q.s. make lozenges Asses dung is well approoved of whether taken inwardly with sirupe of quinces or applied outwardly with steeled water Galen by conveighing the juce of it through a metrenchita into the wombe 4. dayes together cured this immoderate flux which no wayes else could bee restrained Going to bed let her take ℈ is Philonii Romani in a wafer make suffumigations for the matrice of masticke franckincence burnt froggs not forgetting the hoofe of a mule ℞ Of the juce of knotgrasse comferie quinces ana ℥ i. campher ʒi dippe silke cotton therein and apply it to the places ℞ Oyle of mastick myrtles quinces ana ℥ s. fine bole troch de carabe sanguinis draconis ana ʒi wax and viniger
q.s. make an unguent apply it both before and behinde â„ž Of plantaine shepheards purse red rose leaves ana M. iii. of goates and asses dung dried ana â„¥ is acatiae hypocistidos ana â„¥ is dried mint â„¥ i. bean meale â„¥ iii. boyle all these in plantaine water and make of it two plasters applie one before and the other behinde If the blood flowes from those veynes which are terminated in the necke of the matrice then it is not called the overflowing of the termes but the hemorrhods of the wombe yet the same cure will serve them both only the instrumentall cure will a little differ for in the esterine hemorrhods the ends of the veynes hang over like little teates or pushes which must be taken away by incision and then the veynes closed up with Aloes fine bole burnt alum troch de terra sigil myrrh masticke with the juce of comfery and knotgrasse laid plasterwise thereto The aire must be cold and drie all motion of the body is forbidden Let her meat bee Pheasant Partridge mountaine birds Cunnies Calfes feet c. and let her beere bee mixt with the juce of quinces and pomgranuts CHAP. IIII. Of the Weeping of the wombe THE Weeping of the wombe is an unnaturall flux of blood comming from the wombe by dropps or after the manner of teares causing violent pains in the same keeping neither period nor time By some it is referred unto the immoderate evacuation of the cources yet they are distinguisht in the quantity and manner of their flowing In that they flow copiously and freely In this continually yet by little and little and that with great paine and difficulty Wherefore it is likened unto the strangurie Cause The cause is in the facultie instrument or matter In the facultie by being enfeebled that it cannot expell the blood and the blood resting there makes the parts of the wombe grow hard and stretcheth the vessells from whence proceeds the paine in the wombe In the instrument by the narrownesse of the passages Lastly it may be in the matter of the blood which may offend in too great a quantity or in an evill quality it being grosse and thicke that it cannot flow forth as it ought to doe but by drops Signes The signes will best appeare by the relation of the patient Prognosticks Hereupon will ensue paines in the head stomacke and backe with inflammations suffocations and excoriations of the matrice Cure If the strength of the patient will permit first open a veine in the arme rubbe the upper parts and let her armes bee corded that the force of the blood may bee carried backward Then apply such things as may laxate and mollifie the stretching of the wombe and asswage the sharpnesse of the blood as cataplasmes made of bran lineseed faengrecke melilote mallows mercurie and atriplex If the blood bee viscuous and grosse adde thereto mugwort calamint dictam and betonie And let her take of Venice treakle the quantity of a nutmeg with sirrup of mugwort every morning Anoint the places with oyle of lillies roses lineseed sweete almonds and calfes marrow Make injections of the decoction of mallows mercurie lineseed groundfuell mugwort faengrecke with oyle of sweet almonds Sometimes it is caused by a winde and then phlebotonie is to bee omitted and in the stead thereof â„ž Sirupe of feverfew â„¥ i. honie of roses sirupe of staechas ana â„¥ s. water of calamint mugwort betonie hysope ana â„¥ i. make a julep If the paine continues take this purgation â„ž hieraeÊ’i diachatholicon â„¥ s. Sirupe of roses laxative â„¥ i. with the decoction of mugwort and the 4. cordiall flowers make a potion If it comes through weaknesse of the facultie let that bee corroborated If through grossenesse or sharpnesse of the blood let the quality of it bee altered as I have shewne in the foregoing chapter Lastly if the excrements of the gutte be retained provoke them by a clyster of the decoction of chammomill betony feverfew mallowes lineseed juniper berries cummin-seed aniceseed meliloâ—e adding thereto of diacatholicon â„¥ s. picraeÊ’ii hony oyle ana â„¥ i. Salâ—iter â„¥ is The patient must abstaine from salt sharp and windy meats CHAP. V. Of the false cources or whites FRom the wombe proceeds not only the menstruous blood but accidentally many other excrements which by the Ancients are comprehended under the title of 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 which is a distillation of variety of corrupt humours through the wombe flowing from the whole body or part of the same keeping neither cource nor colour but varying in both Cause The cause is either promiscuously in the whole bodie by a cachochymia or weaknesse of the same or in some of the parts as in the liver which by the inabilitie of the sanguifficative faculty causeth a generation of corrupt blood and then the matter is ruddish sometimes in the gall being sluggish in its office not drawing away those cholericke superfluities which are ingendred in the liver and the matter is yellowish Sometimes in the Spleene not defecating and clensing the blood of the dregges and excrementitious parts and then the matter flowing forth is blackish It may also come from catarrhes in the head or from any other putrified or corrupted member But if the matter of the flux bee white the cause is either in the stomacke or reynes In the stomacke by a flegmaticall and crude matter there contracted and vitiated through griefe melancholie and other distempers for otherwise if the matter were onely Pituita crude flegme and no wayes corrupt or vitiated being taken unto the liver it might bee converted into blood for flegme in the ventricle is called nourishment halfe digested But being corrupt though sent unto the liver yet it cannot bee turned into nutriment for the second concoction cannot correct that which the first hath corrupted and therefore the liver sends it to the wombe which can neither disgest it nor repell it and so it is voided out still keeping the colour which it had in the ventricle The cause also may be in the reynes being over heat whereby the spermaticall matter by reason of its thinnesse flowes forth The externall cause may bee moystnesse of the aire eating of corrupt meats anger griefe slothfulnesse immoderate sleeping costivenesse of body Signes The signes are extenuation of the body shortnesse and stinking of breath loathing of meate paine in the 〈◊〉 swelling of the eyes and feet melancholie humidity flowes from the wombe of divers colours as reddish blacke greene yellow white It differs from the flowing and overflowing of the cources in that it keepes no certaine periods and is of many colours all which doe degenerate from blood Prognosticks If the flux be flegmaticall it will continue long and be difficult to cure yet if vomiting or the flux Diarrhaea hapeneth diverting the humour it cures the disease If it bee cholericke it is not so permanent yet more perilous for it will cause
it comes by cold then are the signes contrary to those even now recited If through an evill quality in the wombe Make a suffumigation of red storax myrrhe cassia wood nutmeg cinnamon and let her receive the sume of it into the wombe covering her very close and if the odour so received passeth through the body up into the mouth and nostrills of herselfe shee is fruitfull but if shee feeles not the fume in her mouth and nose it argues barrennesse one of these wayes that the spirit of the seed is either through cold extinguisht or through heat dissipated If any woman bee suspected to bee unfruitfull cast naturall brimstone such as is digged out of the mine into her urine and if wormes breed therein of herselfe she is not barren Prognosticks Barrennesse maketh women looke young because they are free from those paynes and sorrowes which other women are accustomed to bring forth withall Yet they have not that full perfection of health which fruitfull women doe injoy because they are not rightly purged of the menstruous blood and superfluous seed the retayning of which two are the principall cause of most uterine diseases Cure First the cause shall be removed and then the wombe strengthened and the spirits of the seed enlived If the wombe bee over-hot take sirrup of succhorie with rhubarbe sirrup of violets endive roses cassia purselaine â„ž Ofendive water lillies borage flowers ana m. anaÊ’iii with water make a decoction adde to the strayning of the sirrup laxative of violets â„¥ i. sirrup of cassia â„¥ s. mannaÊ’iii make a potion â„ž Of the sirrup of mugwort â„¥ i. sirrup of maiden haire â„¥ ii water of succhorie borage feuell ana â„¥ iii. pulâ— elect triâ—sand Ê’i anaÊ’iii rhubarbe ℈ i. make a bolus Apply to the reynes and privities fomentations of the juce of lettice violets roses mallowes vine leaves and nightshade Anoint the secret parts with the cooling unguent of Galen If the power of the seed bee extinguisht by cold Take every morning two spoonfulls of cinnamon water with ℈ i. of mithridate â„ž Sirrup of calamint mugwort betoâ—y ana â„¥ i. water of penny royall feverfew hysope sage ana â„¥ ii make a julep â„ž Oyle of anice seed ℈ is anaÊ’i sugar â„¥ iiii themÊ’is twice a day two houres before meales Eastâ—n cupping-glasses to the hipps and bellie â„ž of stiraâ—â— calamint ana â„¥ i. masticke cloves cinnamon nutâ—â—g lig aloes frankincenâ—â— ana â„¥ s. muske gr 10. ambergrise ℈ s. with rose-water make a confection divide it into foure equall parts Of one part make a pomum odoratum to smell on if shee bee not hystericall Of the second make a masse of pills and let her take three every night Of the third make a pessarie dippe it in oyle of spikenard and put it up Of the fourth make a suffumigation for the wombe If the faculties of the wombe be weakened and the life of the seed suffocated by over much humidity flowing to those parts â„ž Of betonie marierom mugwort penny royall bawme ana m.i. anaÊ’ii anaÊ’i with sugar and water s. q. make a sirrup take of â„¥ iii. every other morning Purge with these pills following â„ž Of digridion gr.ii. specierum dacastorei ℈ i. pil faetid ℈ ii with sirrup of mugwort make vi anaÊ’i cinnamonÊ’is anaÊ’s sugar â„¥ vi with water of feverfew make lozenges to bee taken of every morning Take of the decoction of sarsaparilla and virga aurea not forgetting sage which Agrippa wondering at the operation of hath honour'd it with the name of a holy hearbe And it is recorded that after so many of the Egiptians were dead the surviving women that they might multiply the faster were commanded to drinke the juce of sage Anoynt the genitalls with oyle of aniceseed and anaÊ’i anaÊ’s turpentine q s. â—â—â—ke trochisâ—ks to smother the â—â—ombe â„ž Of the roots of Vaâ—â—rian ellecampane ana lb. i. â—â—ulangale â„¥ ii origan lavenâ—â—r marjerom betonie mugâ—ort bay-leaves calamint ana 〈◊〉 iii. with water make an â—â—osession in which she shall 〈◊〉 after shee hath had her â—â—ources If barrennesse proceeds â—â—om drynesse consuming â—â—e matter of the seed Take very day of Almond milke â—â—d Goates milke extracted â—ith hony Eate often of â—â—e roots Satyrion condited â—â—nd of the electuary diasatyâ—on Take three weathers â—â—ds boyle them untill the flesh comes from the bones then take of melilote violets chammomill mercury orchiâ— with their roots ana m.i. faengrecke liâ—esâ—ed valeâ—an roots ana li. i Let all these bee decocted in the foresaid broth then let the woman fit in the decoction up to the navill â„ž Of Decres suet â„¥ â— anaÊ’ii oyle of sweet almoÌ„ds â„¥ ii with silke cotton make a pessarie Make injections only of fresh butter and oyle of sweet almonds If barrennesse bee caused by any proper affect of the wombe the cure is set down in the foregoing chapters Sometimes the woman proves barren when there is no impediment of either side except onely in the manner of the act as when in the emission of the seed the man is quicke and the woman too slow whereby there is not a concurse of both seeds at the same instant as the rules of conception require Wherefore to take away this inconvenience Muller praeparari ac disponi debet molli complexu lascivis verbis osculu lasciviora miscenda If this doth not suffice before the act of coition foment the private parts with the decoction of betony-sage hysope and calamint Annoint the mouth and necke of the wombe with Muske and Civet The cause of barrennesse being removed the wombe shall be corroborated as followes â„ž Of bay berries masticke Nutmegge Frankincense Cypresse nuts Ladani Galbani ana Ê’i Styracis liquid ℈ ii Cloves ℈ s. Amber grise gr ij Muske gr vi with Oyle of Spiknard make a pessary â„ž of red Roses Lapidis hematitis white Frankincense ana â„¥ s. anaÊ’ii anaÊ’i Spicknard ℈ s. with oyle of Wormewood make a playster for the lower part of the belly Let her eate often of Eringo roots condited Make an injection onely of the juce of the roots of Satyrion The aptest time for conception is instantly after the monthes be ceast because then the wombe is thirsty and dry apt to draw the seed and also to retaine it by the roughnesse of the inward superficies And besides in some the mouth of the wombe is turned unto the backe or side and is not place right untill the last day of the courses Excesse in all things is to be avoyded lay aside all passions of the minde Shun study and care as adverse to conception for if a woman doth conceive the wise parents being otherwise addicted of ten beget but foolish children because the animall faculties of the parents viz. The understanding and the rest from whence the childe hath his reason are as it were confused through the multiplicity of cares and cogitations Examples hereof we have in learned men who
from the urine from the infant and from experiment Signes collected from the woman are these The first day after conception shee feeles a light quivering or chillinesse running through the whole body a tickling in the wombe and a little paine in the lower parts of the bellie Ten or twelve dayes after the head is affected with giddinesse the eyes with a dimnesse of sight then followes red pimples in the face with a blue circle about the eyes the brests swell and grow hard with some paine and pricking in them the belly suddainly sinketh and riseth againe by degrees with a hardnesse about the navill The nipples of the brests wax red the heart beats inordinately the naturall appetite is dejected yet shee hath a longing desire after strange meates The necke of the wombe is retracted that it can hardly bee felt with the finger being put up and this is an infallible signe She is suddainly merrie and as soone melancholie her monthly courses are stayed without any evident cause the excrements of the guts are unaccustomedly retained by the wombe pressing the great gut and her desire to Venus is abated The surest signe is taken from the infant which begins to move in the wombe the third or fourth month and that not in the manner of a mole from one side to another rushing like a stone but mildely as may bee perceived by applying the hand hot on the bellie Signes taken from the urine The best clerks doe affirme that the urine of a woman with child is white and hath little motes like those in the Sunne beames ascending and descending in it and a clowd swimming aloft of an opall colour the sediment being devided by shaking of the urine appeares like carded wooll In the middle of her time the urine turneth yellow next red and lastly blacke with a red cloud Signes taken from experiment At night going to bed let her drinke water and hony afterward if shee feeles a beating paine in her bellie and about her navill shee hath conceived Or let her take the juce of Cardâ—us and if she vomiteth it up it is a signe of conception Cast a cleane needle into the womans urine put in a brasen bason let it stand all night and in the morning if it bee coloured with red spotts shee hath conceived but if it bee blacke or rustie shee hath not Signes taken from the Sex to shew whether it bee male or female Being with childe of a male the right brest swells first the right eye is more lively then the left her face well coloured because such as the blood is such is the colour and the male is conceived of purer blood and of more perfect seede then the female Red motes in the urine setling downe to the sediment foretell that a male is conceived but if they be white a female Put the womans urine which is with childe into a glassen bottle let it stand close stopt three dayes then straine it through a fine cloth and you shall finde little living creatures if they be red it is a male if white a female To conclude the most certaine signe to give credit unto is the motion of the infant for the male moves in the third moneth and the female in the fourth CHAP. XV. Of untimely birth WHen the fruite of the womb comes forth before the seventh moneth that is before it comes to maturity it is said to bee abortive And in effect the child proves abortive I meane not to live if it bee borne in the eight moneth And why children borne in the seventh and ninth moneth may live and not in the eight moneth may seeme strange yet it is true The cause hereof by some is ascribed unto the Planet under which the childe is borne for every moneth from the conception to the birth is governed by his proper planet and in the eight moneth Saturne doth predominate which is cold and dry and coldnesse being an enemy unto liâ—e destroys the nature of the childe Hypocrates gives a better reason The infant being every way perfect and compleate in the seventh moneth desires more aire and nutriment than it had before which because hee cannot obtaine hee labours for a passage to goe out and if his spirits bee weake and faynt and have not strength sufficient to break the membrances and come forth it is decreed by nature that he should continue in the womb untill the 9th month that in that time his wearied spirits might be againe strengthned and refreshed but if he returnes to strive againe in the eight moneth and bee borne hee cannot live because the day of his birth is eyther past or to come for in the eight moneth sayth Avicen hee is weake and infirme and therefore bâ—ing then cast into cold ayre his spirits cannot but sinke Cause Vntimely birth may bee caused by cold for as it maketh the fruit of the tree to wither and fall downe before it be ripe so doth it nip the fruit of the wombe before it comes to full perfection and make it to be abortive Sometimes by humidity weakening the faculty that the fruit cannot be retain'd untill the due time by drinesse or emptinesse defrauding the childe of his nourishment by one of the three alvine fluxes by phlebotomy and other evacuations by inflammations of the wombe and by other sharpe diseases Sometimes it is caused by joy laughter anger and especially by feare for in all but in that especially the heate forsakes the wombe and runnes to the heart to helpe there and so the cold strikes into matrice whereby the ligaments are relaxt and abortion follows Wherefore Plato in his time commanded that the woemen should shunne all temptations of great joy and pleasure and likewise avoyd all occasions of feare and griefe Abortion also may bee caused by the corruption of the ayre by filthy odours and especially by the smell of the snuffe of a Candle also by falls blowes violent exercise leaping dancing c. Signes Signes of future abortion are extenuation of the brests with a flux of watrish milke payne in the womb heavinesse in the head unaccustomed wearinesse in the hippes and thighes flowing of the courses Signes foretelling the fruit to bee dead in the wombe are hollownesse of the eyes griefe in the head aguish horrours palenesse of the face and lippes gnawing of the stomacke no motion of the infant coldnesse and loosenesse of the mouth of the wombe the thicknesse of the belly which was above is fallen downe waterish and bloody excrements comes from the matrice A regiment or rule for breeding women THe prevention of untimely birth consists in the taking away of the forementioned causes which must bee effected both before and after conception Before conception if the body bee ever hot cold dry or moyst correct it with the contraries if cacochimiall purge it if plethoricall open the liver veine if too grosse extenuate