and continuing life wherefore they gave our Saviour Vinegar and Gaul Vinegar to excite the faculties of the stomach for the Gauls quicker passage into the vital spirits to prolong his life that they might the longer torment him under his pains before death But to stay no longer here it follows in the next place to treat about the great Heat and Cold which happens by Intervals as well in most other Fevers as in this and likewise of that inordinate Thirst Of Heat THough Heat and Fever are counted Synonyma's of one and the same name individual companions c. yet I say this Heat is not of the Quiddity or Essence of the Disease neither is it the cause of any Disease but is caused by the stirring up of that vital aiery spirit the directoress of life which spirit it is that makes the assault Archaeus Paracels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. now this spirit being provoked by the Disease allarms all the Faculties Virtues and Powers both Vital and Natural which it doth unite unto it self and so furiously assault his mortal Enemy as many Coals of Fire raked together and blown up make a great heat so doth this heat proceed from this inflamed Spirit EXAMPLE A Thorn or Splinter being got into the Finger or Hand presently a heat pain and pulsation is felt which this spirit or Archaeus stirreth up for the expelling of that extraneous Body now this heat is not a product of the Thorn but casually from this spirit and occasionally only from the Thorn therefore heat is a latter accident and subsequent upon the essence of a Fever Cold. COld is the Diseases Colours or Banner under which it fights but it is not either the Disease nor Cause but a product and effect of the Disease Calorem frigus non esse morbus ut neque borum causas Hipp. putrefaction brings in coldness the Ferment of Putrefaction is sharp and cold as we have an ocular Demonstration in Gangrenes and Mortifications whilst it is but in fieri a Gangrene what a hard task it is to revive it by the hottest and most penetrating Medicines we can get nay and fain to scarrifie deeply too lest it should hinder their operation or if it fouls a bone no less than a Medicine that is hot in the highest degree can effect it and when a Sphacelus or Mortification is confirmed without natures Second comes in speedily to her rescue A Chyrurgion Chyrurg naturae minister and dismember it it would soon run her to the heart and did not putrefaction work by a cold a Body would be hotter after it was dead than it was before but we see the contrary when putrefaction grows stronger the Body grows colder I could evidence by many demonstrations more that the Heat is not of the essence neither the cause nor occasion of a Fever and likewise that Cold is meerly the effect of the Disease but I think this sufficient Thirst This great Thirst in Fevers doth not proceed from Heat and driness as in a true and natural Thirst for this will not be allayed by drinking as that will but this Thirst is deceitful and is produced by some excrementitious matter which adheres to that sensitive faculty and deludes the Organ Nec sitis est extincta prius quam vita bibâ—ndo as if a great dryness had suddenly come unto it as I have observed in a very malignant Fever which the Army in Flanders was infected with being always cold and very thirsty as likewise in the cold Fit of an Ague c. and so this is evident that heat in Fevers is not the cause of that inordinate Thirst besides I have extinguished this Thirst by those things which have been virtually hot Contraria contrariis curantur which if heat had been the cause would rather have exasperated Thus you have the matter manner and Concomitants of this Disease The Schools have observed some Heads from whence they have derived many Species of Fevers which I shall not insist on because they depend upon one and the same way and means of Cure without mention of an Hectick or intermitting Fever which differ only in the place they reside which I shall speak to in their proper places It is my chief design to do good unto my Countrymen who I know would rather have something to ease them and be rid of their Diseases than to hear curious and learned Discourses or quaint Distinctions and in pleasing them I care not whom I displease As I have put the knowledge of the cause into your Heads so I shall put a remedy into your Hands Cure You may clearly see what first is to be done and wherein the Cure doth consist which is in removing the cause or matter offending the neglect whereof hath suffered such an infinite Slaughter which gives me reason to think that either the cause is not known or a fit Remedy not yet found for unless there be a proportion between the Remedy and the Disease It will do but little good Diseases which come suddenly if they are rightly understood they are soon gone Extrema non permanent though they may be extreme sharp whilst they continue I know it is the practice here to look more unto the Effect than the Cause in correcting the Symptoms than the matter whereof they are produced Si ta tollantur quae conveniunt aeger melius se habet facile sert Sublata causa tolletur effectus which is a very pernicious course and contrary unto reason and all principles in Healing And that you may the better understand your error I shall recite your practice When first any one is taken with this or the like Distemper either Child or those of full Growth first you run and fetch Mint Water and a little Syrup to stay the Vomiting Secondly then Cinnamon Water and Syrup of Quinces or Myrtle Berries to stay the scouring Then it may be you give a Carmiâ—tive or Clyster to expel Wind and correct the Griping That done you give some cooling Julep to allay its Heat and to quench in Thirst And when it is cold you give a little Mithridate or Theriack of Andronica oâ— London Treacle and lay a Plaister of it to his Stomach And then lay a Spell against the Fever to the Wrists c. And so you keep doing till you can do no more just as a man who hath lost himself in a Wood he keeps going but whither he knows not You see all those things do but respect the effect here is nothing hath any regard at all unto the Cause And should things answer the intention for which they were given the party either Child or Man would presently die To hinder the evacuating of this morbifick matter is directly against the intention of nature Quo natura verget ad locum conferentem â—eo ducere oportet Hippoc. for the evacuation of this matter is to be looked at as the Crisis of Nature
Consumptions 'T is not enough to remove the effect or matter produced nor the cause producing but the principal producer must be rectified before health be perfectly restored Thus I have directed you in the best course you can take and be sure you will do nothing that will hurt but rather to strengthen and refresh nature Obj. But you will ask me what shall we do to remove the cause Answ That is the principal Verb indeed I know a more proper and safe Medicine to effect it than I can direct you unto in all the Dispensitory 'T is true there are a great many good Medicines though good for little without it be the Laudanum of Paracelsus and some few Chymical Preparations the rest are hardly worth a man's knowledge That Physician that hath not found out better and more specifical means than what are there is like to make but a sad practice But I shall speak it to your comfort God hath given me the knowledge of such a Medicine as will effect it and not only this but it doth also eradicate and extirpate the cause of most Diseases incident unto our frail Bodies as you will hereafter perceive It is a Powder without either smell or taste and the highest dose or quantity is but five or six Grains to the most robustive or strong Body and so downward to half a Grain which a Child of two days old may safely take its operations are various according to the nature and place where the peccant matter resides How you shall take it and what is to be done and observed in the taking of it I shall give directions in the latter end of this Book And as it is an effectual so it is a safe Medicine for I have given it unto three or fourscore several Children in and about the Town of Boston and indeed I know not of any one that died that ever took it except one the spirits of which were quite spent before I gave it that it was not able to retain it in its stomach but immediately brought it up again There is an eminent person in this Country whose knowledge is great in the most curious and best Arcanums or secret Medicines that are used he could tell you it is as safe as good who was an eye-witness unto a wonderful operation it had in a most contagious and malign Disease which was the Small Pox which struck in among the Passengers in Captain Lord's Ship coming from England two years since that not one died that took it two only died and neither of them took it as the Chyrurgion Mr. Whiting can testifie I gave him some of this Powder and bade him give to every one that was infected with that Disease which he did accordingly though he gave it to some that was blind to others after they appeared twenty four hours and very ready to be suffocated and very soon made them all perfectly well which was well known unto all the Passengers in the Ship as well as unto themselves that took it which are dissipated through this Country and I question not but this Paper will find out some of them who can well witness this truth By this you may judge of its efficacy in any other Disease of a malignant nature I shall tell you what I have observed from it in some other Maladies I have cured all sorts of Fevers with this Arcanum universale in all Ages and Sexes for continual burning Fevers whether putrid or not are frequently taken off by it with one Dose in the beginning or at the most by two so that the Patient may be well before the time of the expected Crisis The same Benefit I have often observed when given in the state of the Disease that it hath been presently taken off although then nature is obliged to take a longer time to renew the strength than she would have needed if she had been assisted with this Medicine in the beginning How common a thing it is to make a Month or six weeks work in curing a Fever although peradventure nature it self hath overcome the Disease in twelve or fourteen days but the diseasie matter formed and some symptoms of effects must entertain the Physician a great while longer For if the Fever were putrid then the Stomach and Lungs remain loaden with much pituitous matter to carry off which the common practice is to follow the Patient close with Expectoraters such are their Pectoral Electuaries Decoctions Syrups Lohochs c. the which are so far from answering that end as really to add to the matter they are designed to expel for they not being Agents impowered to alter or rectifie any Ferment as soon as they come into the Stomach either nauseate it with their Load and so are cast up or if they stay submit to the depraved digestion of the Stomach and there make an increase of the diseasie matter whence an extraordinary spitting continues till nature it self by degrees retrieves the natural Ferment and frees her self from the disease matter and the pretended remedy together But if this seem too long a doing that no piece of Art may be wanting there is another way at hand and that is to exhibit purging Medicines to carry it downwards the which is more pernicious than the former for the Purge drawing a great quantity of sordid matter from the Thorax to the Guts and nature not having yet recovered her right Regiment may admit some of this matter by the Meseraick or Milky Veins again into the Blood whence may succeed again a Fever de novo called a Relapse or if the lately tired spirit take not the present Assault then the occasional cause of a Dropsie Hectick Consumption or some other Cronick Diseases All which is easily prevented by taking a Dose or two of this Arcanum which evacuates the present matter by vomit and rectifies the vitiated Ferment of the Stomach and other parts whence the power of making such matter is quite taken away This I have had very large experience of But a few days before the writing of this I was sent for to a lusty young man who had laboured under a Synochus about a week having for during that time been treated by an Apothecary first with cooling Juleps which were continued all the while then strongly sweat by a Sudorifick and the next day blooded but the Disease notwithstanding increasing as being newly changed from a non putrida to a putrid when I came made the Apothecary it seems weary or doubtful of his work for he desired the Man's Wife to send for a Physician or a Second who was a Friend of his 't is like for the Bills sake but the Woman having formerly had some experience of my Medicines sent to me about five or six that Afternoon I presently ordered him four Grains of this Powder which wrought once only by Vomit and discharged the stomach of that Diseasie matter which before felt to him like a great weight the pain in his Head
of the Disease and the great obscurity in the knowledge of Medicine have frustrated many in their expectation All Arts and Sciences except Physick have grown to some pitch but that hath rather gone backward till within some late years famous Helmont to whom the Art it self stands much obliged and some Renowned Physicians of our Native Countrey have begun to cast off that black vail of deceit with which it was cloathed by the Theorems of the Heathens Indeed the gate of healing hath remained shut from the Cradle of the World and the Schooles of the Greeks instead of opening it shut it closer and made it more mysterious than ever was intended by the first Creator The natures causes and places of Diseases were not rightly understood by them whereby they failed in their Remedies they had so much regard unto the effects that they neglected the causes which pernicious and destructive course is practised still by such who are wholly led by their Rules Wherefore the whole intent of this small Tract is to undeceive you that you be not deceived of your lives by such erroneous preservers and that you give not your money for what 's not bread nor buy a Snake instead of an Eele I know it is not Artist-like to build so great a Porch to so small a Fabrick but if it tend to the Owners more conveniency it is to be dispensed withall Indulge me therefore Reader to give thee some cautions it may be for thy Good First touching the Disease Secondly touching the Physician Inasmuch as we were poysoned from the Tree of Knowledge so no other Tree could we fetch an Antidote from but the Tree of Life which was for healing of the Nations So Diseases are only cured by fit and suitable means for thou mayst be kill'd by a bad means as well as restored by a good Wherefore be an earnest Suiter to Heaven that thou mayst have the right means from Earth and a benediction with it which will make it operate the better And as it must be a true and proper means that must cure thy Disease so have a special care the Remedy come not too late How many have been robbed of their lives upon that score Opportunity is the soul and perfection of Physick you may lose that opportunity to day Post est occasio calva that the price of the World cannot procure thee to morrow take time by the fore top lest it be bald behind There are two great Obstacles which commonly make many disadvantages the first is from the perswasion of Friends the second from the flattery of Diseases First when any one is taken sick one Friend adviseth him to such a thing another perswades another and a third another telling him if it does him no good it will do him no hurt But there is no such Medium will stand for if it do not exasperate the Disease yet it doth retard the Cure and so by trying uncertain means you loose the advantage of a sure Remedy Secondly The Deceit and Flattery of the Disease when Diseases assault you very strongly in the * Quanmvis non nunquam morbi in eorum principiis absque periculo tibi videntur vires in mores tamen sensim dejicientur corrampentur ut postea nulla salutis spes super fit at morbus qui primo curabiis fuerat malignitam neglecta incurabili◠〈◊〉 beginning they may have such Intervals and Respites that you apprehend your selves better to day than you was yesterday and that while the Disease doth insensibly undermine your lives and then assaults with greater fury than he did at first Others are very mild and gentle in the beginning yet they may be very malign parvae febres quando qui valde malignae whereby you do not so much mistrust them much less understand their danger And sometimes those that labour under sharp Diseases the Symptoms have been so remiss and dark that it hath been a very difficult thing for an able Physician to presage either life or death and when he hath passed his Judgment within few hours there hath been such a change that he hath been fool'd in his Prognostick In others again Diseases have layen so hid and obscure that they have died before they were perceived to be sick of which we have had many sad Examples of some that have died suddenly who have carried those Diseases undiscovered about them that wanted nothing but the word immediately to run them to the heart Now I have shewed you the Deceit and Flattery of Diseases which have couzened thousands of their lives of whom you will do well to learn to beware and act prudently to prevent by mistrust what you would not have come suddenly and unexpected And as I have told you the deceit of Diseases so I shall tell you the deceit of Physicians I mean such who have built more upon the sandy Foundation of the * As if it were for their sake God created Medicine and Christians should be beholden to them for it Pagans and Heathens then upon a sure and rocky Foundation who have studieâ— more to get money than to cure their Diseases It hath pitied me many a time 〈◊〉 see that Old Saying too often verified viz. Saepe plus mali à Medico quam à Morbo That many times there is more danger from the Physician than from the Disease such a Physician as practiseth by Old Authors And that yoâ— may the better know them and understand some of their juggles I shalâ— recite some of their Practises First when such a Deceiver is called unto a Patient if his Diseasâ— should be grown to a great height which hath made him dangerously â—ill which was the end God ordained Physick and Physicians for to relieve such distressed Natures he stands at a distance fearing to come near like a low spirited fellow lest he receive such a kick from the Disease in his rotten reputation as he may not easily recover but he resolves rather to hazard the loss of a poor Patient then venture the loss of his small credit wherefore he is resolved to look on and see which will get the Victory in the mean while he excuses his juggle telling the Disease is not yet come to an height and by such a time he hopes to find a Crisis and then he may safely take something in the interim adviseth an Ale-brew or Herb-Candle many more such juggles they have to send people to their Graves Just as if your house were on fire And one comes and counsels you to let it alone till it burn to the top of the House and then is the surest quenching it you take his counsel Now 't is possible that the Heavens may pour down such a shower of rain as may extinguish it but whether they do or not doth not this man well advise you think you or as if an Enemy hath entered a Garrison it is not safe to resist him till he come to the heart
presently abated and that night he rested pretty well for he had no sleep worth mention since he was ill the next morning I sent him four Grains more of the Powder which gave him three Vomits and two Stools about six in the Afternoon I went to visit him and found him about his Chamber saying he thought he was as well as ever his Stomach being returned and he very hungry Thus you see a Fever cured in eighteen hours or less which in all probability would have been at the least three or four weeks if recovered at all before nature by such enfeebled helpers or rather hinderers as are the common Medicines could have freed her self from the Disease I could instance many the like cases were it needful This Medicine hath besides its other gifts such a general tendency for the curing of all Fevers that upon the first knowledge of it in practice I called it my Species Febrifuga by which name I published it in my Catalogue of Medicines Printed in the year 1676 although I had then seen this little Book of the Authors I shall here subjoyn a short Discourse of intermitting Fevers or Agues in which Mr. Couch is silent except in the name yet I cannot doubt but he must be well acquainted with the power of this Medicine in curing them Of Agues GReat Diversity hath been and yet is among Authors concerning this Disease some holding one thing and some another concerning its Seat and Causes but I without reciting their differences or contending with any man's opinion either of which is no way profitable shall briefly endeavour to give you my own sentiment It needs no Definition being sufficiently known here neither Division seeing all the sorts thereof proceed from one cause and may be cured by the same Medicines Seat The Place or Seat of Agues is the Pancreas or Sweet-bread for all the parts of Man's Body being considered which only by intervals may transmit the cause of intermitting Fevers to the Heart none is found to which not only the Focus or source of those Fevers but also the causes of all their Symptoms may be ascribed besides the Pancreas or Sweet-bread Cause The Cause is an Obstruction of one or more of the Lateral Ducts or Branches of the Pancreas by reason of Phlegmatick Matter carried thither in too large a quantity and there detained the which being separated from the Blood together with the Pancreatick Juice by the Glandules of the Pancreas and sent to the main Duct or Pipe thereof causeth an Obstruction there and detaineth the juice of the Pancreas contrary to nature which ought continually to flow into the thin Gut called the Duodenum This Juice being thus stagnated quickly grows acrimonious or sharp and acquires a putrefactive Ferment whence at length it makes way through the obstructing Phlegm and is effused into the Duodenum where meeting with the Bile or Gall it stirs up a vicious and preternatural Ferment from whence comes the Ague Fit with all its Symptoms as in the beginning horrour chilness cold shaking c. then presently reachings yawnings and vomiting of bitter or four relish and afterwards burning heat the causes of Heat Cold Thirst c. you have in the foregoing Chapter of Fevers but if any desire further satisfaction concerning the reasons of the differences of Agues and the constant or various access of their Fits with the particular causes of Symptoms they may read it at large in Regnerus de Graaf in his Book intituled de succo Pancreatico published by me in the year 1676 to which I refer the Reader not having room here to be any larger Cure The Cure consists in opening the Obstructions changing the diseasie Ferment and expelling such matter as the Disease hath rendred incapable of being redintegrated and taken into the communion of life All which intentions are truly and radically performed by this Powder for an Ague being removed by the due use of this Medicine returns not again neither leaves any danger of its degeneration into another Disease both of which too frequently happen after the use of some Medicines which take off the Fit only by a kind of soporiferous quieting the present fury of the Archaeus If it be taken before the Ague hath exceeded three Fits one only Dose is usually sufficient to carry it away if fix or seven Fits two Doses or three at the most yea I have cured divers at twice or thrice giving it that have had it six or eight weeks but if it be a year old or more the continuance of its use but a reasonable time with the help of the Balsamick Pill will not fail to cure it I have also known it to cure Agues when it hath had no other sensible operation than Breaking of Wind. A person living in Greenwich who had a Tertian Ague and sometimes a Quotidian all the last Winter was cured this Spring by three Doses of the Powder which never had any sensible operation and two Doses of the Balsamick Pill so that in eight or ten days he was abroad about his Affairs and never had any Fit since although he was before so low brought that he could not sit up any longer than while his Bed was made notwithstanding the constant advice of an eminent Physician of that Town which he had used It is to be taken in a Spoonful of Drink or Posset drink about an hour before the Fit comes for two or three Fits together according as the Ague is in continuance If the Patient be weak or of a tender habit of Body let him take a Dose of the Balsamick Pill the same night after the Powder hath been given when he goes to Bed with a draught of warm Ale or a Glass of good generous Wine which Pill will mightily corroborate and refresh his Spirits and also tends much to the Cure if the Ague have been of a long continuance or be a Quartan or fourth Ague then after the Patient hath taken the Powder three times if the Fit still remain then let him take a full dose of the Balsamick Pill two or three hours before the coming of the next Fit and goe to Bed and dispose himself to sweat before the Fit comes the which if he do it s ten to one but the Fit comes no more but if there should be a failure of sweating timely enough then let him take the powder before one Fit and the Pill before the next till it be gone but not one Ague in twenty will need to be thus treated A general Direction in Fevers TO drink liberally of such Liquor as is most convenient is good I like not Beer of any Liquor in a Fever before the peccant matter wherein the Disease doth subsist be evacuated because it hath a nutriment from the Grain it is made withal which doth add unto the matter of the Disease whereby Thirst is exasperated as is commonly seen I rather advise to drink Wine and Water two parts Water and one Wine sharpened a
little with the Spirit of Vitriol or Sulphur if it be per campanam which is drawn from a Bell Still it is the better which is a singular Medicine to allay and correct the inordinate Thirst and Heat in Fevers Medera Fial French or Sherry Wines you may use Malaga or any Sweet Wine is not so good neither Syrups or any Sugared or Honeyed Meat or Drink And when they begin to recover 〈◊〉 plainest Broths and Gruels are the best till then a little is too much and if you did use Salt and Vinegar instead of Spices and Sugar the sick would like it the better and it would be better for them a few Prunes and Currants if the sick like them may be used But some may say How shall we do that live far up the Country where we have no Wines nor can get neither of those Spirits the best that I can advise you to is Milk boiled and turned with some Vinegar or Verjuice the Curd being taken away whereof he may drink freely but he is to take it alway hot and the hotter the better This course is to be taken after the cause is removed by my powder or something else but I know not what otherwise this or any other is like to do but little good Bleeding Purging Clysters Cordials Juleps c. are but Trifles in curing a Fever they do at best but correct the Symptoms or Effects I will do more good with one dose of my Powder and one of my Pills than they with all those in a Month. If the Fever be continual and come by a Surfeit or otherwise so that the Patient feel a Load or Weight at his Stomach or hath a propensity to vomit the first thing to be done is to give a Vomit whereby the Stomach and first passages may be freed of the grossest of the Diseasie Matter wherein the Fever sits or hath taken up its Inn to which purpose you may give half an ounce of the Infusion of Crocus Metallorum or six Drams or a whole Ounce according to the age and strength of the Patient in a small Draught of warm Posset-drink but if you know any better Antimonial Preparation then give it That being done ℞ Tartar Vitriolat six Grains Volatile Salt of Amber and Harts-horn each seven or eight Grains mix them and give the mixture twice a day in a little thin Broth or Water Gruel This is abstersive and Diuretick and will cleanse the Stomach and Intestines of the remaining Sordes and expel them by Urine For the Feverish Thirst give the dulcified Spirit of Nitre or of Salt in Posset drink and all the Liquids they take from five or six to ten or twelve drops at a time Keep the Patient in a small breathing Sweat either with the Posset-drink before-mentioned by Mr. Couch or with Treacle-water and Powder or rather the Tincture of Virginia Snake-root or which is most excellent if you can get it the Aqua Prophylactica of Sylvius de le Boe of which Take three Ounces Water of Carduus and Borrage each one Ounce Syrrup of Citron Peels an ounce and an half mix them and take it often by a spoonful or two at a time But instead of this if the Fever be malignant give Bezoardicum minerale to eight or ten Grains every third or fourth hour in a spoonful or two of good Canary But because the Aqua Prophylactica mentioned is rarely to be had at any shop I will here describe the making thereof for the sakes of those who are willing to make it ℞ Roots of Angelica Zedoary of each an ounce Butterbur two ounces the leaves of Rue four ounces of Balm Scabious and Marygold Flowers each two ounces unripe Walnuts cut two pounds fresh Citrons cut one pound Let them be all beaten together and pour upon them six quarts of the best distilled Wine-Vinegar let them stand in digestion all night and then distil them by a very easie fire without burning till they be dry and keep the distilled liquor for use It is very profitable in all Fevers especially in those which are malignant and the Plague In the declining of the Fever if sleep be wanting this following mixture will much avail both to cause rest and refresh the Spirits ℞ of Treacle water an ounce the thin Syrup of Corn Poppies an ounce or an ounce and a half Laudanum Londinens or rather that of Paracelsus two grains mix them and let the Patient drink it at the hour of Sleep But give nothing wherein there is Opium or Poppies in the beginning of a Fever because they tie up the Archaeus of the Stomach and first passages thereby hindering him from separating and expelling the occasional cause of the Disease For Agues or intermitting Fevers whether they be Quotidians Tertians or Quartans proceed as followeth ℞ Of Salt of Amber twenty grains Tartarum Vitriolatum six grains Diagridium seven eight nine or ten grains according to the strength of the Patient mix them into a Powder and give it in a little Posset-drink or thin Broth four or five hours before the time of the Fit Repeat it two or three times if need be but if the Ague be not then gone give the following mixture about an hour or an hour and an half before the Fit comes the Patient being in Bed and disposing himself to sweat ℞ of Carduus Water two ounces Treacle Water two drams Salt of Wormwood half a dram Spirit of Salt Armoniac ten grains Syrup of Corn Poppies half on ounce mix This if the Patient sweat well with it frequently removes the Ague This following also hath cured many without any other Medicine ℞ of the Salt of Wormwood and Carduus each fifteen grains Tartar Vitriolat six grains Sugar of Pearls half a dram powder and mix them and give it half an hour or an hour before the Fits access The Juice of Featherfew being drank about half an ounce in a glass of Wormwood Wine is profitable against the Quartan or fourth Ague These Remedies I have used with good success but never found any thing so certain and effectual in Fevers as my Species Febrifuga and Pillula Balsamica A Dropsie There are three sorts of Dropsies viz. Anasarca Ascites and Timpanites the two first are most from Water The last Timpany is more from Wind. Anasarca is when the extreme parts swell but when the Belly then it is Ascites The Cause I do not believe as hath generally been received that it proceeds from a Distemper of the Liver and that to be the principal part affected but I have more reason to think it to proceed from an obstruction or impediment in one of the Kidneys for commonly they that are troubled with Gravel and Stone in the Kidneys are Hydropical and seldom any that have been affected with either Anasarca or Ascites but they have observed a Dolor in their Reins to precede it and so that Water which should be transferred through the Kidneys to be evacuated by the Bladder is forced out
at the Abdomen And it hath lately appeared by dissection that those who have died of those Distempers the fault hath been through the Kidney which is most agreeable to reason And undoubtedly that operation in an Ascites in making a hole to let out the Water doth but only respect the effect not taken away and yet not inconsistent to that Maxim Take away the cause and the effect ceaseth which is to be understood of that which is to come and not of what is past as Helmont well observes and so that operation might happily perfect a Cure in taking the effect for the Cause I have cured a man of an Anasarca whose Thigh hath been near as big as his middle with one Dose of this Powder he was presently made perfectly well that in the operation of this Medicine his Legs Thighs fell and never swelled after you would have admired had you seen what abundance of Water came from him both by Urine and Vomiting and at night I gave him a Pill which I usually do after this Powder to refresh his Spirits and seetle his Body in a right temper This was all the Physick he took from me though he had spent many pounds before in fruitless endeavours And I know not any thing to the contrary but it may do as well in an Ascites or Timpanites if it hath not continued too long First it is necessary to begin the Cure with gentle purging for strong Purges especially in weak and tender Bodies do far more harm than good by resolving and expelling the Blood and good juices with the peccant matter thereby dejecting the strength and depauperating the vital spirit â„ž of the Roots of Orris an ounce and a half Parsley Roots half an ounce Leaves of Agrimony a handful clean Senna an ounce best Rhubarb half an ounce Agarick three drams Cinnamon two drams Cloves one dram cut the Roots with the Rhubarb and Agarick into thin slices bruise the Spices and put them all into a little Bag infuse them twenty four hours in two quarts of the best White or Rhenish Wine then let the Patient drink every morning five or six ounces or as much as will give four or five Stools It is pleasant to take but if you please you may also add Sugar to it For such as had rather take Pills those following are good â„ž Rosin of Scammony and Jallap of each half a dram Tartar Vitriolat Mercurius dulcis of each two scruples Oil of Juniper Berries twenty drops of the purest Venice Turpentine a sufficient quantity to make the powder into a Mass for Pills the which make into thirty small Pills and give three four or five of them according to the Patients Age and Strength every morning After purging The Salt of Broom or Amber of Bean-stalks or of Pidgeons dung are profitable either of them being taken twice a day in warm Broth or which is better the Spirit or Volatile Salt of humane Urine In a Tympany the dulcified Spirit of Nitre is excellent being taken in Broth or Sack three or four times a day from six to twelve drops at a time A Gentleman a Friend of mine living in Greenwich cured a man of the Dropsie with the Pill alone This man had an Ague first which either went off it self or were moved by some common Remedy about seven weeks after which he began to swell and also was sorely afflicted with Gripings and Flux for a great while which had brought him so low that he had not been out of his Bed for three weeks The first Dose of the Pill that was given him took away the Gripes and in a great measure stayed the Flux but then he swelled so much in his Breast that he could not lie down in his Bed but his Breath would be gone the second Dose freed him from that and made him able to rise and dress himself and by a short continuance of it was cured Epilepsie or Falling Sickness I Had a Maid since I came to this Town that was turned over from one to another no one cared to have her by reason she was violently troubled with the Falling Sickness at length I bought her to whom I gave only one dose of this Powder which freed her from her Fits though she had them before almost continually day and night that whosoever had her kept one to watch her for she would be ready to destroy her self I kept her about a quarter of a year and she never had a Fit that I know of I perswaded her to take another Dose two or three days after but she would not she told me she needed not for she was confident she was perfectly cured Since I hear she is married some where in the Country and whether she had them since I know not By the operation of this Medicine I judged by what came from her that the primary cause was not in the Brain but in the Stomach or some place near adjacent thereunto and that the Brain suffered only by consent Purging in this Disease when it is simple seldom or never doth any good as also Blood-letting but both are very injurious as many have found to their great prejudice But when it proceeds from the Stomach as may be known by the Patient perceiving in himself a pain soreness and distention about the mouth or pit of the Stomach and Heart-strings especially when they are fasting before the Fit they have a disposition to vomit with pain and palpitation of the Heart and the Fit ends with vomiting in such I say a Vomit may be available either with the infusion of Crocus Mettallorum or the Salt of Vitriol but they are warily to be administred and not without the direction of a Physician All sour and sharp things are hurtful in this Disease as Oranges Lemons Vinegar c. In the time of the Fit you may use the following Liniment to anoint and chafe the Temples Nostrils Wrists and Coronal Suture or Seam of the Skull upon the top of the Head â„ž Vnguentum Nervinum two ounces melt it gently in a Gally pot then put to it Oyl of Amber and Rosemary of each two drams Spirit of Sal Armoniack one dram stir them well together and use it warm Take of Oil of Tartar per deliquium an ounce Salt of Harts-horn and Amber each a scruple mix them and let the Patient take from ten to twenty drops in Broth or Black-cherry Wine four times a day The dung of a Peacock or Liver of a Raven being gently dried and powdered and given twice a day to two Scruples or a dram at a time are very good but it were better if their Volatile Salts were extracted But the Flowers of Sal Armoniack excel all the rest being given three times a day from ten to fifteen or sixteen grains at a time in Broth or Sherry Wine Tortura Ventris or a great Griping THere was a poor Fisherman that lay down by the New Meeting House in this Town that had undergone
morning she took a Dose of the Powder and at night a Dose of the Pill but sleeping very soundly with the Cloaths off of her got cold which turned to an Ague after she had had two Fits she took a Dose of the Powder an hour before the access of the third and so was cured of her Ague the next day she fell into a Fit of the Cholick and Stone for which she took a Dose of the Pill which gave her ease and by another Dose the night following was quite freed Thus you see divers Diseases and those not trivial ones neither to be cured by the same Medicine This was performed by a Gentleman in that Town that buys those Medicines of me This Disease having its Inn in the thick Guts particularly the Colon from whence it hath its denomination may be eased by Clysters for which purpose the following is good ℞ of the Seeds of Coriander Annise Fennel Carraway each a quarter of an ounce let them be all well bruised in a Mortar then boil them in a pint of Posset-drink gently for a quarter of an hour in a Vessel close covered then strain it and add thereto two ounces of Oil of Cammomile and if you will a little Canary and let it be administred conveniently hot If you put to it six or seven drops of the Oil of Harts-horn it will be then stronger and better The Fume or Smoak of Tobacco is a present remedy for ease being blown up into the Guts by a Pipe put into the Fundament The forementioned Drink with Seeds is also good in this Disease And forasmuch as the Chollick is many times wont to be accompanied with a grievous Symptomatical Vomiting it is necessary that it should speedily be stopped not only in regard of its own molestation but also because it hinders the retention of any Medicine in the Stomach to which end use the following mixture ℞ of Simple Mint Water three ounces Aqua Mirabilis an ounce Tincture of Cinnamon two drams Laudanum Opiatum three grains Syrup of Myrtles and Mint of each half an ounce mix and let it be taken often by a spoonful at a time After the violence of pain is over purge the Body gently with this following ℞ of fine Manna an ounce and a half Cream of Tartar half a dram in powder mix them and lot them be dissolved in a draught of warm Ale or rather Posset-drink and give it in the morning fasting Timpanites or the Windy Dropsie THis Timpany ariseth from a stercorous or dungy Ferment in the Sacculus or blind Gut from Meats that are not perfectly freed from their stomachical sharpness and there being obstructed ferments putrefies from whence this foetid aiery blast proceeds indeed the worst of all sorts which is breathed forth to the Peritoneum and so inflates the whole Abdomen That it is produced of such a stinking Air proceeding from some putrefied matter I am very certain but whether it takes its Rise from the blind Gut as a worthy Author affirms or from the Mesenterium as I rather think is controverted and that this dungy matter might be sucked up by the Mesariack Veins with the Chyle but what I am not sure of I shall not speak unto I never had one under my consideration of this Distemper since I had the knowledge of this powder and therefore I cannot speak any thing by experience in this Disease but undoubtedly since it doth unobstruct the Kidneys and absterge what is vitious in them it must needs be good for this And I perswade my self whosoever shall try it in the beginning of this Disease I question not but with God's blessing they will find a happy success This sort of Dropsie is easily distinguished from others for in this the Belly only swells and is hard not yielding to the pressure of the Fingers but being struck upon sounds after the manner of a Drum The Cure consists in changing the putrefactive Ferment of the Chyle whether it be in the Gut or the Veins of the Mesentery it matters not the which being done the inflated Abdomen soon falls of its own accord for that is but the effect of the Disease the which necessarily ceaseth when its propagator and nourisher is taken away Purging is always pernicious in this Disease I mean with direct Laxatives and therefore not to be used This following is very profitable ℞ of the Seeds of sweet Fennel Annise Carraway and Coriander each an ounce Juniper Berries an ounce and a half let them be all bruised well and put into a Glass with half a dram of Salt of Tartar in powder upon which pour a quart of the best Sherry Wine stop it close and let it stand two or three days then begin to drink of it three times a day viz. in the morning half an hour after dinner and at night at each time a small Glass it will be much better if you add to it a dram of the Volatile Salt of Amber in powder which will dissolve When that is drank out you may put to the Ingredients a pint of Wine more with half a dram of Salt of Amber and it will be good The Oily Volatile Salt of Sylvius is excellent in this Disease as also in the Scurvy Flatus Hypochondriacus and others But the Powder and Balsamick Pill are more certain and quick in the Cure than any other that I know of In the next place I shall speak of Gouts Arthritick or Gouty Disease THey take their names from the places they frequent viz. Hands Feet Knee or Hip or Recurrent Arthriticus Chyragra Podagra Gonagra Siatica and then it is called by the vulgar the Running Gout the Gout differeth from other Diseases for its Idaea or Character consisteth in the vital spirit and is transferred through the Seed which makes it Hereditary where it maketh a fermental sharpness which when it is exorbitant is sent forth into the extreme Parts and there meeting that Callous or †Synovia seedy Glue which is conjoyned between the Ligaments and the Bones it doth affect it with its fermental sharpness and is the cause of that great dolor or pain and inflammation It is not from humours excrements or blood but a morbifick Idaea seminally implanted in the vital spirit and that is the reason it is so hard to cure for there is not any Arcanum extant will reach it Yet I believe there hath been a †Horizontal Gold of Paracelsus Remedy found for it and hope there will be again when it will be more divulged To take off a Toe or Foot doth not cure the Gout for this pain that is exasperated is but the fruit or product of it for it is virtually contained in the Seed implanted by the vital spirit I dare not promise this Arcanum or secret of mine to effect this Cure yet in extremity of pain I may boldly tell you there is not any thing will give you ease sooner and for any thing I know it may
hardly find any cure The Palsie is an accident or product or the effect and this may remain though the cause be removed it is rather Intemperies than Morbus an affrighted Distemper in the Spirits than a Disease and the Cure may be performed by my Balsamical Pills which do refocillate comfort and cherish the spirit as also by Salt of Pearls or Corral or my Aurum vitae either of them taken alone with a little sharp Wine drank after doth excellently From a weakness and decaying of the spirits this may be occasioned My spirit shall be diminished and my days shall be shortened as well as by terrour in them therefore this is one of the Diseases of old age And to go about to cure it in old persons if it hath continued any time is to swim against the stream and write in the Sand. In the Apoplexy the Ointment for the Head and Neck described in the Cure of the Falling Sickness is good as also the following mixture the mouth being first opened by art â„ž Aqua Langii Water of Sage and Lavender of each an ounce Tincture of Castor half a dram Spirit of Sal Armoniack a scruple Oil of Amber nine or ten drops Syrup of Staechas an ounce mix them and give a spoonful very often The Palsie Vertigo Catalepsie c. are all of the essence of an Apoplexy and differ only in degree therefore they are to be cured with the like Medicines In the Palsie Lethargy and Swimming or Giddiness of the Head those following Pills are effectual â„ž of Pill Aloephangina a scruple Rosin of Jallap six grains Salt of Amber as much Oil of Marjoram two drops mix them and make four Pills to be taken in the morning early and repeated once in three or four duys In the Palsie sweat betwixt purgings with spirit of Sal Armoniack given in Sack You may also use the Ointment above mentioned to the Back-bone and paralytical parts In October 1667 a certain Man-servant to one of the Arts-Masters of Bridewel London was suddenly stricken with a Disease in the Evening as he was at Supper he fell from his seat sensless and speechless his eyes were staring open as in a Catalepsie or Congelation but totally deprived both of sence and motion as in an Apoplexy When I first saw him he had remained in this condition about a week during which time means had been used to help him but proved altogether ineffectual so that he was given over for dead Notwithstanding which I observed that he yet retained a good degree of heat as also an indifferent Pulse the which with some other considerations made me to believe he might still recover the which I told his Master and Mistress when they demanded what I thought of his condition who then desired I would take him into my care which I did The first thing I gave him was a Dose of the Powder which wrought very well upwards and downwards towards the end of which he began to speak some odd words and came to be somewhat sensible the next day I repeated the Powder which wrought again as before upon which he came to perfect sensation and also to increase in speech and one side returned again to the exercise of all Functions but the other remained paralytical and insensible from Head to Foot not being able so much as to stir one Finger on that hand but by the use of the Balsamick Pill and repeating the Powder once or twice more by the blessing of the Almighty I restored him and in a months time was again at work using those useless Fingers without which he could have done nothing being a Glover by Trade In the time that I had this person in cure the Wife of another of the Arts-masters in Bridewel having lain in Child-bed about a Fortnight was also one Evening suddenly deprived of her speech and taken somewhat Paralytical on one side she sent to me about eleven or twelve of the clock that night as soon as I came I gave her four grains of the Powder which wrought both upward and downwards but most upward the which being once or twice repeated and the Balsamick Pill for some time taken at nights she was also happily recovered I could give divers other notable instances of Cures of this nature performed by these Medicines having had many fallen under my care but these I think may suffice However I will in this place add another strange Cure which comes fresh in my mind done with the Pill alone by a Physician who buys Medicines of me and lives near Highworth in Wiltshire At a certain time he being abroad about six miles from his dwelling was much solicited by a Friend to go a little out of the way to look upon a poor man that had lain bedrid for three months being grievously pained all over his Body and not able to turn himself but as he was helped he had used Purgations Phlebotomy Fomentations Unctions c. but all to no purpose The Physician having some of the Balsamick Pill about him dissolved a full Dose in a Glass of Ale and gave him and so left him within two or three days the poor man came that six miles on foot to give him thanks and told him that within two hours after he had taken the Pill he was perfectly free from pain and so remained with the due use of all the parts only weak the Physician gave him another Dose home with him which he took and became very well and had been so many months when the Physician told me of it Spasmus or Convulsion A Convulsion is caused by some malignant matter contained in the Guts as is oftentimes seen after the taking of some Hellebore or Stibium or any Medicine that hath a poysonous quality The Sting or biting of any venomous or poisonous creature produceth Convulsion CAVSE That vital Blas or Spirit in the Muscle being assaulted by some poysonous quality contracteth it the better to defend it from that poyson SPASMVS The Cramp is from a sharp aiery Blas that doth meet with a Nerve or Sinew The Worms in Children bringeth Convulsions in them many times That it is caused through fulness or emptiness and the primary place affected to be the Brain I do not consent unto though it hath been received for a truth CVRE If it be caused by some poysonous matter that hath been received or through the biting or stinging of some Snake c. my Aurum vitae is admirable but if it cometh by excrementitious matter contained in the Body as the matter of Worms c. the Arcanum or Powder eradicates it or takes it away by the root They are generated from corrupted Chyle and they differ according to the place where they are made If in the Stomach little small Worms In the Ilion long and slender like earth-worms In the Colon little short thick worms much like the Bots in Horses This Powder doth not only take away Diseases when they are on but