and Methodicke Chirurgian knoweth well that other remedies are required in a Chollericke body then in a Flegmatick and so of the other temperatures both simple and compound Vnder the which Indication of the temperature shall bee comprehended that of the Age which receyueth not all remedies alike but demaundeth some for the yong persons and others for the old Moreouer Indication is to bee taken from the custome or manner of liuing of the Patient as whether hee hath beene accustomed to eate and drink much and at all houres for then you ought not to ordaine him such an exquisite dyet as vnto him that is accustomed to eate and drinke but little and at certaine houres and therefore the diet of Panades are not so proper vnto vs as vnto the Italians because our bodies require more lenitiue things which effect it woorketh with them because of Custome which is a second Nature Vnder this accustomed manner of liuing ought to be vnderstood the condition of the life and the exercise of the Patient forasmuch as you ought to vse stronger remedies vnto the robusticke men of labour such as haue their flesh hard then you ought to vse vpon the delicate and such which labour but little and exercise lesse Some there bee that had rather comprehend this Indication vnder that of the temperature For my part I wil not dispute of it but will leaue the resolution thereof wholly to the Doctors The Indication taken from the vertue of the patient is aboue all other things to be respected because that it failing or being very weake all other things ought necessarily to bee best to come vnto it As when we are inforced through necessity to take off a member or to make any great incisions or such like things if the patient haue not vertue sufficient to indure the paine it is necessary to deferre such operations if it possible vntill that Nature be restored and hath recouered her vertues both by good nourishment and rest Another Indication may bee taken from the Ayre which doth encompasse vs vnder the which are comprehended the seasons of the yeere the region the place of our abiding and the constitution of the time For accordiâ—g to the heat coldnesse drinesse and moysture of the aire also according to the continuation of these qualâ—ties the Medicines ought to be prepared And therefore as sayth Guido the wounds in the head are more difficult to heale at Paris then at Auignon and the wounds in the legges are more tedious at Auignon then in Paris by reason that in Paris the ayre is more cold and moyst then at Auignon which is a contrary thing especially to all woundes in the head Contrarywise in Auignon the heate of the incompassing aire doeth melt and subtillize the humors whereby such humours more easily and in greater abundance do fall downe into the legs from whence it commeth that the wounds in the legges are more difficult to cure at Auignon then at Paris But if any one doe alledge experience to the contrary that the woundes in the head do more often become lethall or mortal in hotte Regions then in colde To him I answer that that proceedeth not by reason of the aire inasmuch as it is hot and dry but because of some superfluous humidity or euill vapour communicated with the aire as in those partes of Prouence and Italy which are neere to the Mediterranean sea The Indication of curation may also bee taken from the temperature of the wounded partes for the fleshy parts doe require other remedies then the Bones or the Neruous partes and so others The like ought to bee obserued concerning the sensibility of the saide parts which in like manner altereth the manner of curation for it is not sitting to apply such sharpe and violent medicines to the Nerues and Tendons as to the Ligaments and other insensible parts The dignity and action of the wounded parts hath no lesse priuiledge in the act of curation then the former For if the wound be in the Braine or in any other of the vitall or naturall parts it behooueth that their Medicines diuersified and applied according to their dignity and action because that from the contemplation of these wounds is oftentimes gathered a certain iudgement of the insuing accidents For such woundes which doe penetrate into the ventricle of the Braine the Heart or in the great vessels in the Chest in the Neruous part of Diaphragma in the Liuer in the stomack in the smal guts and in the bladder if the wound bee great they are necessarily mortall Also such which are in the ioynts or neere thereunto and in bodies Cacochymed or of an ill habitude are oftentimes mortall as hath beene sayde heere before In like manner the Indications which are taken from the position and colligance of the affected part ought not to bee forgotten neither the figure thereof as Galan hath sufficiently explained in the 7. of his Method and in the second to Glaucus CHAP. IX How Diseases become compounded MOreouer in taking the aforesaid Indication you ought to consider whether there bee a complication of the disease or not For euen as the simple disease proposeth a simple Indication so the complications of the indispositions against Nature do propose mixâ—d or compounded Indications Now the aforesaide complications are made after three manner of wayes that is to say disease with disease as a Wound with an Apostume or fracture of the bones Disease with cause as an Vlcer with defluxion Disease with symptome as a wound with paine or with a Fluxe of blood Or all things against Nature together as disease cause and symptome Now that you might know how to handle artificially all these complications you must followe the Doctrine of Galen in the 7. of his Method who exhorteth vs to consider the complicated affections as that which is the most vrgent the cause and that wâ—thout the which the disease cannot be taken away And these are things of great importâ—nce in the curation of all diseases herein the Empericke becommeth wauering and vncertaine without counsell or resolution not knowing with which of the affections hee ought first to begin withall for the cure Buâ— the iâ—dicious Physitian to the contrary is directed by those three golden wordâ— from the which depend both the order and method in all such complicated dispositions and affections The symptomes inasmuch as they are symptomes do not giue any Indication at all neyther do they charge or alter the order of the curation For in taking away the disease which is the cause of the symptome they are remooued because they depend thereon as the shadow doth the body although oftentimes we are constrained to leaue the disease in an irregular care to come vnto the accidents of the Disease the which if they are vrgent doe holde the place of the cause and not properly of the symptomes To conclude all the sayde Indications are but to attaine to two endes
agitation that they make the earâ—h to tremble and quake thereat thereby deboâ—lishing Cities and ruinating buildinges and transporting them from one place to another As the Townes of Megara Egina anciently much celebrated in the Countrey of Greece perishing by Earth-quakes can witnes vnto vs. I omit to discouer as but little seruing to our purpose how the wind inclosed in the Entrailes of the Earth maketh a noise of dâ—uers sounds very strange according to the diuers forms of the conduits and passages through the which it yssueth by euen afâ—er the manner of Musicall Instruments the which being large do giue a great and base sound and being narrow do make high and sharpe notes and being crooked or replied makâ— diuers sounds as wee see by experience in the Huntsmans horne and in Trumpets the which also being moystened with water do make a hollow gurguling sound In like manner these noises murmurings and clamors are sundry wayes diuersified according to the places whence they proceede in such sort that sometimes hath bene hard a clamorous crie representing as it seemed the assault of a Citty the cries and lowings of Buls or the neighing of Horses roaring of Lyons sound of Trumpets reports of Artillery many other dreadful things yea sometimes humane voices As it is reported by one who had heard a voice as it were of a woman a beating which made as he imagined such a wofull and greeuous lamentation whereby he became so greatly affrighted that hee had scarsely breath sufficient to make this report But when he had well vnderstoode the cause of this plaintiue voice he was presently deliuered from that fearâ— which otherwise might haue killed him But some perhappes will say that these things haue alwayes bene and no lesse ordinarie in the times past then they are at this present and therfore it is a great folly in mee to alledge them for efficient causes of the death of so many men The which imputation I should freely confesse if I should present them for such but seeing that by them I would oâ—ely paralel and compare the impetuosity of Artillery with that of Thunder and the motions of the earth which beeing so it will appear that it maketh nothing against my first intention as I hope to demonstrate cleerely that I am slandered without a cause if you please to giue care to the deduction following In the which I will plainly and briefely describe the true causes of the late mortality which happened among your Highnesse Soldiers Amongest the things necessary for our liues there is nothing that can more alter our bodyes then the Aire the which continually willing or vnwilling we inspire by those Condâ—ites which Nature hath apointed for that end as the mouth the nose and generally through all the pores of the skin and Arteries therein infixed whether we eaâ—e drinke watch or sleepe or doe any other action whether Naturall Vitall or Animal From thence it commeth that the aire inspirâ—d into the Lungs the Hart and the Braine and vniuersally in all the parts of the body to refresh and in some measure to nourish the same is the cause that a man cannot liue one minute without inspiration according to the which wonderfull benefite the excellent Physitian Hippocrates hath pronounced and that truly that the Aire hath a kinde of Diuinity in it because that in breathing and blowing ouer all parts of the world vniuersally it doth circumuolue all things therein contained nourishing them myraculously strengthning them firmly and maintaining them in an amiable Vnion altogether symbolizing with the stars Planets into the which the diuine prouidence is infused which changeth the aire at his pleasure giueth it power not onely ouer the mutation of times seasons but also of the alteration of naturall bodies And therefore the Philosophers and Physitians haue expresly commanded that wee should haue a principall regarde vnto the situation and motions of the heauenly bodies and constitutions of the aire when the preseruation of health or the curation of diseases are in question but especially the course and mutation of the Aire is of great power as we may easily iudge by the 4. seasons of the yeare For the Aire being hot and dry in Sommer our bodies in like manner doeth thereby become heated and dried and in winter the humidity and coldnesse of the aire doeth likewise fil our bodies with the samequailities in such order neuerthelesse and in so good a disposition of nature that although our temperatures seeme to be changed according to the foure seasons of the yeere wee neuerthelesse receyue no harme thereby if those times do keepe their seasons and qualities fâ—ee from excesse But to the contrarie if the seasons be so peruerted that the Sommer is cold and the Winter hot and the other seaâ—ons in the like distemperature this discord bringeth with it a great perturbation both in our bodyes and in our spirits constrained neuerthelesse to receiue the danger by reason that the causes are extreame and do on euery side encoâ—passe vs so that we are constrained to lodge it in vs by â—hose Organes and Conâ—uits appointed by nature to that end as parâ—ly to expell the superfluous excrements of our nourishment and partly to receiue the saide externall causes which is the ayre or wiâ—â—e producing in vs diuers effects according to those parts of the world from whence they do proceed For it being so that the Southerly winds are â—ot and moyst that of the North cold drie the Easterly winds for the most part are clere and pure and the Westerly cloudy and subiect vnto raiâ—e yet it is a most assured thing that the Ayre which we do inspire continually holdeth in all and through all the quality that is most predominant And therefore we should of necessity consider in all diseases and the inconueniences which happen therein the quality of the windes and the power which they haue ouer our bodies as Hippocrates hath learnedly left vs by writing in the 3. Booke of his Aphorismes Chap. 5. and 17. saying That our bodies do receiue a great alteration through the vissitude of the times and seasons of the yeere As by the South-wind our bodies are subiect to all diseases because that moisture is their primitiue cause it also weakeneth our naturall heate the which in the opposite case is much fortified through a cold and dry wind which also maketh our spirits more quicke and subtill The verity of which sentence the inhabitantes of the territory of Narbonne doe too much experiment to their dammage For being themselues between the lustiest and healthfullest people of all France yet neuerthelesse they themselues are very sickely for the most part their bodies leane their countenances sad and heauy their faces tawny or of an Oliue colour do manifestly shew the same Also among other diseases they are almost all subiect to the white Leprosie and â—he least Vlcers which they haue which wee make no
is most certaine that they will heat the part and acquire to themselues an acrimony which afterwards will eate into the edges and other parts of the wound from whence insueth dolour fluxion inflammation fluxe of blood Apostume and putrifaction which are easily communicated to the noble parts and cause afterwards many pernitious accidents And therfore the Chirurgian need not to feare any thing at all of the closing or conglutinating of the aforesaide wounds because that the flesh being so greatly contused and dilacerated cannot consolidate vntill the contusion be first suppurated and mundified And therefore I aduise him not to vse any Tents or Setons but those that are very small and slender to the end that they may not hinder the issue of the matter contained and that the patient may indure them easily thereby to auoyde the aforesaid accidâ—nts The vse of Tents and Setons is to carry the medicine vnto the bottom of the wounds and to keepe them open especially in their Orifices vntill that the strange and vnnaturall things be expelled but if the wound bee sinuous and deep in such maner that the medicines cannot be conueyed vnto all the offended parts then you may make iniection with the decoction following â„ž Aquae hordei lb iiij agrimon centauris minoris Pimpinellae Absinth Plantag an m ss Rad. Aristoloch rotun Ê’ ss fiat decoctio ad lb j. in colatura expressa dissolue aloes hepaticae Ê’ iij. mellis rosat â„¥ ij bulliant modicum With this there shall be inuection made three or four times together every time that the patient is dressed And if this remedy be not sufficient to clense the matter and to consume the spongy and putrified flesh you may then mixe with the said decoction of Egyptiacum dissolued in such a quantity as necessity shall require as for a pound of the sayd decoction an ounce of the said vnguent more or lesse the which is of most great efficacy to correct the spongeous flesh from the bottome of the said wounds the like also doth the saide Egyptiacum being applyed aboue on the excresence of the spongeous flesh I haue in like manner experimented the powder of Mercury and Alom burned mixed together in equall portions to haue in that case the like vertue vnto sublimate or Arsnick but in working it is nothing so painfull and it maketh also a very great eschar whereat sometimes I haue much wondred Some practitioners doe vse oftentimes to leaue a great quantitie of their iniections in the bottome of such sinewous wounds the which I approoue not For besiâ—es the putrifaction and corruption which thereby it getâ—eth it holdeth the parts extended and doeth humid or moysten them wherâ—by it commeth to passe that Nature cannot do her duty to regenerate the flesh considering that for the curation of all Vlcers that being an Vlcer as saith Hippocrates the scope or intention ought to be to dissicate them and not moisten them Many doe erre also in the too frequent vse of Setons in this That not applying themselues to reason they do vse to renew them alwaies wherby they rub and fret away the tender flesh on the edges of the wounâ— the which rubbing and chafing doth not onely cause paiâ—e but also bringeth with it many euill accidents And therefore I doe very much commend the vse of the hollow tent which are made either of Golde Siluer or Lead such as are described in the wounds of Thorax I meane to be vsed in such places which haue lapasity sufficient and where there shal be great quantity of Sanies Also it is most needfull that there should bee applyed Compresses or Boulsters iust vpon the bottome of the sinus thereby to comprimate those parts which are distant from the Orifice to expell the Sanies To which end it is fitting that the boulster be perforated iust vpon the orifice of the sinuous vlcer and vpon the hollow tents that therein there bee placed a sponge to receiue the Sanies for by this meanes the expulsion euacuation and absumption thereof shall be much better In rolling the Ligature ought to bee first begun on the bottom of the sinus with a mean combustion to the end that the matter bee not retayned within the Cauity thereof The Rollers and Boulsters proper to this operation shall bee first moistned in Oxycrat or soure Wine or in any other astringent liquor to roborate and strengtheÌ„ the part and to hinder the defluxion But great heed ought to be taken that ther be not too great an astriction made vppon the part because that thorough the astriction or straight binding extreame paine may be produced by meanes of the exhalation of the fuliginous excrements which therby are prohibited Also it may cause the member to become Atrophied or withered thorough the too long continuation of the said Rollers CHAP. VII Of the meanes to draw foorth such strange bodyes which shall yet remaine to be extracted AND where there shall remaine any splinters of bones which at the beginning were not extracted by the aforesaid Instruments then you ought to apply this medicine which is of great power to draw them foorth and all other strange bodies â„ž Radicis ireos florent panac Cappar an Ê’ iij. aristolochiae rotundae mannae thuris an Ê’ i. in pollinem redecta concorporentur mell rosar terebinth venetae ana â„¥ ij Another remedy to take away the saide Splinters and corrupted bones â„ž Resina pini siccae â„¥ iij Pumicis combusti extincti in vin albo radic ireos aristolochiae ana Ê’ ss thuris Ê’ j. squamae aeris ss ij in pollinem rediganter diligenter incorporentur cum melle rosato fiat medicamentum Besides these remedies which haue in them from their nature such power to attract foorth strange bodies there are of others which haue the like effect and vâ—rtue by putrifaction Vt omnia stercorâ— Animalium Also Leauen and such like as Galen writeth CHAP. VIII Of the Indications which ought to bee obserued in the saide wounds THE mundification and the extraction of the saide strange bodies being done it followeth then to aide Nature both to regenerate flesh also to cicatrice it as wel by things taken inwardly as by outward Medicines hereunto conuenient and to proceede therein by certaine Indications which are taken first from the essence of the disease and from the cause thereof If it bee present although that from the primitiue cauâ—e according to Galen in the third of his Method â—here ought no Indication to bee taken no more then from the time wherein hee meaneth from the absent cause and from the time past In like manner Indication ought to be taken from the foure vniuersall times of the cureable disease that is to say from the beginning increasing state and declination according to the which times the remedies ought to be diuersied Another Indication is takeÌ„ from the temperature of the Paâ—ient which also changeth the curation For euery rationall
those who haue written that the Cannon shot and Thunder to haue a great similitude together haue had reason so to do Finally this Physitian hath not taken much paines to prooue that Gun-pouder was not venomous and that the bullets are without anie burning at all Neither in like manner to inuent and name the Instruments proper for the extraction of all strange bodies because he hath found them already digested in my booke with manie other things which he hath written as euerie one may know by comparing his book with mine He hath also inriched his Book with many sentences and reasons which he hath collected from an Italian Author named Bartholomaeus Magius Physitian of Bolognia who hath written sufficiently thereof in a Treatise called De Vulnerum sclopetorum curatione although he doth not acknowledg him for his guide But hauing traduced him almost word for word hath made it neuerthelesse his owne and of a Translator would bee called Author Now let vs come to his goodly practise and new method to cure wounds made by Gun-shot First of all hee would haue applyed suppuratiue Medicines the which neuerthelesse he doeth not vnderstand to be hot and moist nor of an emplasticke substance but to the contrary he ordaineth them to be hot and dry because saith hee that this is not of the nature of an Apostume wherein there is required no other cure but only to suppurate them But heere where the woundes are with contusion many and diuers Indications arise from thence for so much as the contusion would be concocted and digested and the wound desiccated To answer to this I would send him to learne the nature and quality of suppuratiues in Galen in the 5. of Simples and to take all in his way vntill hee come to the tenth of his Method which will teach him that in complicated diseases he ought to consider the cause the order and the vigent Moreouer I would willingly aske of him if hee can heale that wound made by gunshot vnlesse thâ— Contusion be first suppurate I think not and herein I refer my selfe to the iudgment of al good practitioners and therefore our Basiâ—icon and Oleum Catellorum and other such suppuratiue medicines are proper to suppurate such woundes as are made by Gun-shot Secondly he would haue Oxycratum put into the wound to stanch the fluxe of blood and if by that means it cannot be stopped to apply thereon a medicine made of the white of an Egge Bole Armoniacke Rose-vinegar and Salt I leaue you to consider whither such like remedies haue power to stay the flux of bloud or no they being put with in the wound Truely they will rather make it flow more because that the vinegar is of a gnawing and subtle qualitie causing paine defluxion inflammation other euill accidents as I haue knowne by experience and I know no Chirurgean that hath beene exercised in his Art will follow such a kinde of practise least he finde himselfe deceiued in the end To this purpose I do remember that I had a Moor in cure who belonged to Mounsieur the Earle of Roissy who was hurt before Bologne by an English man who gaue him a wound with a Lance thorow the backe whereuppon to stay the Fluxe of blood I put into the wound a restrictiue wherein there was Vinegar insted of another but presently after he came to me againe telling me that he thought he had had fire in his arme which caused me to dresse him anew and to change the medicine of his wound and to apply the saide restrictiue vppon it I beleeue that this Physitian knew not so much otherwise I esteeme him so honest a man that I thinke he would not haue put it in his Booke for a good restrictiue Moreouer hee commendeth aboue all other things his Balme made of the oile of wax myrth beaten together with the yolke of an Egge or rather the naturall Balsome which is brought from Peru and saith that they do consume the superfluous humidity of those wounds whereby they preuent the happening of any perillous accident Neuerthelesse he saith that they do vnite consolidate those kinde of wounds as they do which are incised Truly it seemeth very strange to mee to see that any would go about to dresse and cure contused wounds as simple woundes which demand nothing but vnion Ouer and besides these Balmes caÌ„not be proper in wounds made by gunshot because that by reason of their siccitie they doe hinder suppuration without the vvhich they cannot be cured And if they be needfull at all it is onely after that the contusion is suppurated the wound mundified and then I know not wher we should finde so many extractors of quintessences to extract and prepare so many Balmes as shal be needfull to dresse those souldiers which shal be hurt in the assault of a Town or a skirmish in battell Neither vvhere they shall get mony sufficient to counteruaile the charge thereof Let vs come to the rest He ordaineth that these Balmes should be instilled into the vvounds without Tents yet afterwards remembring himselfe he saith that it would be very good to put within them a little short one onely to keepe the Orifice of the wound open How is it possible that these Balmes and Vnguents should bee conueyed into the bottome of the wound without Tents or Setons whose vse is principally to carry medicines vnto the bottome of wounds and to keepe them open to giue issue vnto all strange bodies All good practisers will neuer agree with him in this point nor those which know what it is to handle such wounds Now there is yet another thing worthy to bee well noted and that is this After that he had reproued the Vnguent of Egyptiacum hee neuerthelesse forgetting himselfe commandeth it to be applyed from the beginning vntill the wound bee altogether suppurated and to be thus vsed Take saith he of Egyptiacum dissolued in a decoction on made of the tops of VVormwood and of Hypericon and of the lesser Centaury and Plantan and this to be iniected into the wound Hâ— describeth after that another made of Plantane water and hony of Roses boiled togither vnto the thicknesse of hony and then scumming of it wel therewiâ—hall mixe Egyptiacum in equall parts saith he this vnguent doth suppurate those VVoundes which are made by Gun-shot I leaue the experimented Chirurgicall Readers to iudge whether such remedies be suppuratiue or not As for me I do esteeme them to bee proper to mundifie and clense and not to suppurate He finally writeth that the wound ought not to be dressed but once in foure dayes and where there shall bee fracture of the bones once in eight dayes He saith moreouer in another place that it is conuenient to instill euery day ten or twelue drops of balme into the wound Truely this doctrine serueth rather to confound the yong Chirurgean as not knowing what manner of practise hee should followe for
sentence and the 71. of the 3 Sect. of the 3. Book all diseases are cald Pestilentiall and venomous being excited from common and generall causes of what kinde soeuer they be and such kill many persons so in the like manner we may cal such wounds which are made by gunshot venomous which are more difficult to heale then others not because they do participate of any venonosity but from some generall cause depending either from the Cacochimie of the body putrification of the aire or the corruption of the victuals whereby those Vlcers are brought to be more malignant Cacoëthes and rebellious to al Medicines To affirme that it is only the combustion of the Bullet which causeth the aforesaide danger I cannot conceiue their reasons seeing that the Bullet is for the most part made but of Lead and therefore vnable to indure any great heate without being altogether dissolued the which we neuerthelesse see to passe through a coate Armour and to penetrate the body through and through and yet to remaine whole Moreouer we doe obserue that if a Bullet be shot against a stone or against any solid matter it may in the same instant bee handled of vs in our hands without feeling anie notable heate although the violent striking and colliâ—sion made against the stone should in reason encrease the heaâ—e if any there were And which is more if a Bullet be shot against a bagge full of powder the fire will not endanger it This I dare bee bolde to say and affirme moreouer that if a quantity of powder should take fire being kepte in a Tower or any other place by the meanes of a Bullet shot it was not the heate of the Bullet but rather the violent striking of the Bullet against the stones of the saide Tower which might cause sparkes of fire to fall among the powder euen as the smiting of a steele against a flint stone The like we may iudge of such Thatcht houses which haue bene set on fire by a Musket shot to haue rather proceeded from some wad either of Tow or Paper ram'd in with the powder and so fired with it But that which doth most confirme me in the assurance of my opinion is that if a bal of wax be shot out of a Muskeâ— it feeleth no force of fire at all for then it would melt neuerthelesse it wil pierce an inch boord An argument of sufficient weight to proue that the Bullet cannot be so extreamely heated by the force of the Powder that they should cauterize and burne as many haue esteemed And as for that blacknesse which is ordinarily found to bee about the Orifices of such wounds and other adâ—acent parts I say that this accident doeth not proceede from any qualitie of fire accompanying the Bullet but because of the great contusion which it maketh For it cannot enter into the body otherwise then by an extreme and incredible force because it is of a rounde figure Vpon this point if the wounded persons themselues be demanded I beleeue they will testifie the truth of my saying because they are no sooner strooke with the bullet but they feel in the same instant as if a club or some heauie burthen were fallen vpon the offended part in the which they feele a heauy paine with a benummed stupifaction of the part which dissipateth and sometimes extinguisheth the naturall heate together with the spirits contained therein from whence there followeth oftentimes a Gangrene and mortification of the part yea sometimes of the whole body And as for the Escarre which they affirme there to be and fall away as they say they doe abuse themselues for it is onely some certain portion of the Membranes and contused flesh dilacerated by the Bullet which becommeth corrupted and so separateth it selfe from the sound parts which are greatly contused Although that these Reasons do make it manifest enough that there is no venomous quality in the powder nor action of fire carried with the Bullet neuerthelesse many building their opinions vpon naturall Philosophy doe maintaine the contrary affirming that Cannon shot is like vnto the claps of Thunder which burst foorth of the clouds in the middle Region of the aire and so fall violently on the earth From the which similitude they would infer and conclude that there is both fire and a venomous quality in the Bullet as it proceedeth out of the mouth of the Cannon I know I thanke God that Thunder being ingendered from a grosse and viscuous exhalation by meanes of vapour conioyned with it doth neuer breake foorth of the clouds to penetrate heere below but it draweth and bringeth immediatly with it a certaine fire sometimes more subtle sometimes more grosse according to the diuersitie of the matter whereof the exhalation is composed For Seneca writeth in the second booke of his naturall questions chapter 49. that there are three kinds of Thunders all differing the one from the other according to the quantity and manner of their inflammation The first by reason of the matter thereof it being most thinne and subtle it doth pierce and penetrate suddenly the Obiectes which it toucheth The second kinde by reason of the violence thereof breaketh and dissipateth the same thinges because that the matter thereof is more violent and compact as a Tempest The third sort being composed of a more earthy matter burneth with manifest tokens of the heat therof I also know that the Thunder is of nature Pestilentiall and faetide because of the grosse and slimie matter thereof which being burned leaueth behinde it such a stinking sauour that all animals do so much auoide it that if it do happen to fall into their dens or other places of haunt they wil vtterly abandon and forsake such places so much do they hate the infectious stinke of that poyson The same is noted by Olaus Magâ—us in his Septentrionall History that in certaine places where Thunder hath falne presently after the fall thereof the fields haue beene found afterwards to bee couered and strewed ouer with sulphure neuerthelesse vnprofitable and almost extinguished For all these reasons I must not confesse that the blowes of Gun-shot are accompanied with poyson and fire as the claps of Thunder aâ—e For although they doe agree the one with the other in some similitude it is not therefore in theyr substance and matter but rather in the maner which they haue to batter teâ—re and dissipate the obiects which they meere with that is to say the claps of Thunder through the force of fire of the bolt or stone sometimes engendred therein and the blowes of Gun-shot by the meanes of the aire forced away by impetuosity and so conducting the Bullet causeth the like disaster What if I should be conuicted by stronger arguments so that I were inforced to anouch that Thunder and the Cannon to be of like substance yet I shoulde neuer be forced to say that the shot of Cannons and Muskets do participate of
account of at Poictiers or Paris do ordinarily continue with them a whole yeere together Not for any other cause as they themselues confesse and as al strangers kâ—ow that haue liued in their Country but onely because they are for the most part blasted and breathed vppon with a Southerly VVinde which in their language they call Aâ—tan and maketh the aire to be grosse and cloudy causing in their bodies al the effects which are attributed by Hippocrates to the Southerly windes in his thirde Booke and 5. Aphorisme that is to say when it reigneth it dulleth the hearing â—immeth the sight swelleth and aggrauateth the head weakneth and abateth all the forces of the body Also when Hippocrates compareth the temperatures of the one quality with the other he resolueth vpon this point That the dry seasons are far more healthfull then the humid â—hat haue continued for a long succession of time because excessiue humidity is the true matter of putrifaction as experience telleth vs For wee see that in those places where the Marine or Sea-winds haue blowed long all kinds of flesh though neuer so new fresh will corrupt in lesse then an houre These â—hings being considered that it is most necessary for the conseruation of our bodies in health that the seasons should follow their naturall temperatures without any excesse or contrarietie there is no doubt to be made but that our bodyes will fall into many vnnaturall diseases when the natural qualities of the seasons are peruerted through the euil disposition of the aire and wind that predominateth therein It being so that for these 3. yeares space heere in France the seasons of euerie yeare haue not kept their ordinary qualities In the Sommer we haue had but little heate in the Winter a little or no cold at all Also the other seasons haue bene continually distempered with raine and moysture together with much Southerly windes whose nature wee hauâ— declared before and this throughout all France I know no man so little seene in naturall Philosophy or in Astrologie which will not finde the aire to bee the efficient cause of so many euilles which for these three yeeres space haue happened in the kingdome of France For from whence should proceede those contagious Pestilences which happened indifferently to olde and young to rich and poore in so many places but from the corruption of the aire From whence should proceede so many kinds of Feauers Pleâ—risies Aposthumes Catarres defluctions of smal Pox Meazels So many kinds of venomous Beasts as Frogges Toades Grashoppers Caterpillers Spiders Flies Waspes Snailes Sâ—rpents Vipers Snakes Lizards Scorpions and Aspickes but onely from a purrifaction resulting from the humidity of the aire accompanied with a languishing heate This is it I say that hath engendered in vs and in aâ—l the Countrey of France so many strange and vnknowne accidents Beholde therefore how our naturall heate hath bene weakned how our blood and humors haue bene corrupted through the malignity of the aire which these Southerly winds hath caused thorough the hot and moist quality thereof Thus much I haue obserued that where there hath bene neede of Phlebotomizing there hath beene but little blood drawne from any whether they were yong or olde wounded or not of so good or euill temperature but it hath bene corrupted appeared of white or greenish colours This I haue alwaies obserued in these last warres and in other places where I haue beene called to cure the wounded such as haue beene phlebotomized by the prescription of the Physitian either for the preuention of accidents or the furtheraÌ„ce of the câ—re In all which I say indifferently I haue found the bloode putrified and corrupted This being so it must needs folâ—ow that the fleshy parts of our bodies cannot bee otherwise then euilly disposed and all our bodies Cacochymate seeing that their nourishment which is the blood is putrified and the aire altogether corrupted From whence it followeth that those bodyes which were wounded in the fleshy parts were difficult to cure considering that there was in them a perdition of substance the which hauing neede of the regeneration of the flesh could not be accomplished neiâ—her by Medicines nor aâ—y Art of the Chirurgian such and so great was the Cacochimy or euill constitution of their bodies Euen as in an Hydropticke person there can no flesh be regenerated because the blood is too colde and watery and in the Elephanticke or leaprous Disease the flesh and other parts do abide in putrifaction because of the corrupted bloode whereby they are nourished In like manner in wounds of Cacochymed bodies there can be no regeneration made of any good substance because that to restore a lawdable flesh in the wounded part it is required that the bloode should not offend neither in quantity nor quality and that the offended part be in its naturall temperature All these things wer wanting in the times of these last warres and therefore it is not to be wondred at if the wounds which were then receiued althogh they were but small and of little consequence in the noble or ignoble partes haue brought with them so many tedious accidents and in the end death because that the airâ— which doeth incompasse vs maketh the wounds to bee corrupt and puâ—rified by reason of the inspiration and transpiration thereof especially when it selfe is corrupt and putrified by altering and corrupting the humors Of this point I haue had the experience of many woundes which I haue beene called to dresse that haue rendred aâ—most insupportable stinking fauour as a certaine witnesse of corruption and infection insomuch that the assistants coulde hardly endure to be present at their dressings It neede not bee heere alledged that this was for want of being cleanly kept or often dressing or for not administering vnto them things necessary for this corruption was as common to Princes and great Lords as vnto poore Souldiours whose woundes if by chance one day escaped wherin they were not drest so great was the number of the hurt souldiers you should find in them the morrow after a great quantity of Wormes with a meruailous stinking sauour And moreouer there happened vnto them many Aposthumes in diuers parts of their bodies opposite to their hurtes For if they were shot in the right shoulder they should haue an Apostume on the left knee and if the wound were in the right leg the Apostume would arise in the left arme As it hapned to the late King of Nauar to Mounsieur de Neuers and to Mounsieur de Rendâ—n and almost to all others So it seemeth that Nature being so much oppressed with corrupted Humors could not be sufficiently purged and discharged of them by woundes onely but sent some part of the corruption to some other part either hidden or apparent For if the Apostumes appeared not outwardly they should be found in the inwarde parts as in the Liuer Lungs or Spleene From those putrifactions were stirred vp