Anti-Chamber to the Womb for if in the act of Copulation he knock at the door which is the inward orifice and it be not opened all is to no purpose and this may likewise be hindred from opening by some callosity proceeding from abundance of ill humors which usually flow from the Matrix or from some swelling which may happen to it or also by some part which may so press it that it cannot open to receive the Seed as the cawl doth in fat Women according to Hippocrates who says they cannot conceive till they grow lean But the most frequent reason why this orifice opens not in this Act to receive the seed is the insensibility of some Women who take no pleasure in the Venereal Act but when they have an appetite the Womb being covetuous of the Seed opens it self to receive it The same Hippocrates seems to have noted all the signs and causes of Barrenness from the evil temper of the Womb when he saith in his 62 th Aphorism book 5. that all such Women whose Womb is cold and close cannot conceive nor they who have it too moist because the Seed is extinguished in it and likewise such who have it too dry and hot because for want of aliment the seed corrupts but such as are of a moderate temper are fruitful Of all which in my opinion the most common is the cortinual moisture of the Womb fed by an abundance of the whites with which many are much inconvenienced the humors of the whole dody being accustomed to stear their course this way which can very hardly be turned away when inveterate and the Womb being imbued with these vicious moistures becomes inwardly so unctious and slippery that the seed though glutinous cannot cleave to it nor be retained within it and that 's the cause it slips away immediately or shortly after 't is received Barrenness may also proceed from the whole habit as when a Woman is too old or too young for the Seed of the young is not prolific neither have they menstruous blood both which are requisite to fruitfulness and that of the aged is in small quantity and too cold who likewise want menstruous blood then an universal distemper though of convenient years renders them Barren as when they are Hectick Dropsical Sickly c. and especially so much the more as the whole parts are fallen from their temper and natural constitution There are however many Women which seem Barren for a long time by reason of some of the aforementioned reasons yea till 35 or 40 years old and sometimes longer who yet at last conceive being cured of the distempers which hindered them and having changed their temperament by their Age. Now some of these Barrennesses may be cured by removing their causes and procuring the dispositions needful to fertility yea of those proceeding from an universal intemperament by reducing their body by a convenient regiment to a good order according to their respective dispositions Wherefore if one have the Neck of the Womb narrow and not from some of the causes abovesaid she ought to be joyned to a Man whose Yard is proportionable and if that will not do which happens very seldom she must relax it and open it with softning oils and ointments If it be compressed by any humor it must be resolved and suppurated according to its nature and situation having always a care to prevent the corruption of these parts which are very subject to it being hot and moist because the Womb serves as a sink by which all the bad humors of the body are purged so that you must take great care that these swellings turn not to a Cancer When the Neck is not clear by reason of any scar after a rent caused by some violence or hard labor or after an Ulcer which caused the two sides to be agglutinated whether inwardly or outwardly it must be seperated which being the Chirurgeon's work I here omit it If the inward orifice of the Womb be displac'd it may be in some sort remedied by making the Woman observe a convenient posture in the act of Generation and if the whites or other impurities of the Womb cause Barrenness they must be helped by evacuations purgations and a regular dyet concerning which the learned Physitian is to be consulted Mid. Thus far Sir having heard your account of the signs and causes of Fertility and Sterility I having heard learned men discourse of Superfetation I would humbly intreat you Sir that you would please to let me hear your opinion about that matter Dr. That you shall willingly good Mrs. Eutrapelia and therefore I shall begin first to tell you what it is SECT II. Of Superfaetation Dr. SVperfaetation according to the discription of Hippocrates is a repeated conception that is when a Woman being already with Child conceives again the 2 d time now there is a great dispute about this for we see daily Bitches Sows and Rabits have divers young but with one Copulation which may make us judge the same of a Woman some will have this to be by Superfetation but there are signs by which we may know the difference whether both Children were begot at once or one after the other That which makes many believe there can be no such thing as superfetation is because as soon as a Woman hath conceived her Womb closeth firmly so that the Man's seed absolutely necessary to conception finding no place nor entry cannot be received nor contained in it so as to cause this 2d conception To this may be added That a bearing Woman dischargeth her seed which is as necessary as a Mans by a Vessel which terminates on the side of the outward part of the inward Orifice which seed by this means is shed into the Neck of the Womb and not into the bottom as it ought for this purpose However it may be said in answer to these objections which are very strong that though the Womb be clos'd c. yet this general rule may have some exception so that it may be sometimes opened to let pass some slimy excrements which by their stay offend it or chiefly when a Woman is animated with an earnest desire of Copulation in the heat of which action she sometimes dischargeth by the passage that terminates in the bottom of the Womb which being opened by the impetuous endeavor of the seed more then ordinarily over-heated and this Orifice being at the same time a little opened if the Man's seed be darted into it at the same moment 't is thought a Woman may then conceive again This may be confirmed by a story of a Servant related by Pliny who having the same day copulated with two several Persons brought forth two Children the one resembling her Master the other his Proctor and also by a story of another Woman who had two Children one like her Husband and the other like her Galant but this different resemblance doth not always prove superfetation because sometimes different
closed there is no possibility of its turning inside out how to remedy it I have told you If she be young and disease new easily expect a cure for a loosening or falling out but if she old and of a long standing 't is so much the more incurable Here do two things 1. reduce the Womb to its place 2. strengthen it and keep it there for the first if it be quite out or turned first make her render Urine and give a Clyster if necessary to empty the Guts then lay her on her back her Hips raised a little higher than her Head foment all with a little wine and water luke-warm and with a soft rag put it up wagging it little and little from side to side and if this be too painful anoint it with Oil of sweet Almonds wiping off the Oil as much as may be after As to the keeping it in its place and strengthening it after let her keep in Bed on her back her Hips a little raised Legs something crossed Thighs joined but the best is to put a pessary up the neck of the Womb the Figures of which you may see some of the Figure of an Egg of the length and bigness of the Womb's neck but these are Subject to fall out and so are not so convenient as those made of a piece of Cork they are to be of a thick circular figure like a small wreath and peirc'd i' th middle with a pretty big hole they must be cover'd with white wax and pretty large pull them out with a Finger to clear them they may be made some round others somewhat square or trianguler the corners must be blunted or rounded While the Lochia flow use nothing else to strengthen and above all swath not her belly but only for a stay for many Midwifes by a strong compression force it more down use a Bed-pan and ly along if possible when she goes to stool keeping her hand all the while on the bottom of her Belly but haveing cleansed well then use astringent injections and respect must be had to the whole habit of body to dry up the humors by a course of Physick and she must keep her Bed for 5 or 6 weeks Sometimes by the great throws she endures in Labor the fundament falls out now if the Child be very forward i' th passage 't will be enough to hinder it if possible before it happens perswading her not to help her throws so much but if it be down she must stay till the Child be born for it will be difficult before without bruising the Gut then reduce it as the Womb giving no Clysters for straining will cause it SECT IV. Of the bruises and rents of the outward parts of the Womb caused by Labors THese happen from the bigness of the Child's head which makes her cry in her first-Labor that the Midwife scratches those parts when 't is the head makes a separation of the parts and bruises and somtimes rents them of which they are not insensible after Labors These must not be neglected least they turn to malignant Ulcers then as soon as she 's lay'd if there be only simple bruises apply the Pultis before directed to those parts to ease pain very warm for 5 or 6 hours then lay some few rags dipt in Oil of St. John's wort on each side and renewing them twice or thrice a day foment with Barley water and Honey of Roses and when she makes water defend them with fine rags If the bruises be great and inflam'd and an Impostume follows it must be open'd and cur'd by the Chyrurgeon as also when by an unlucky accident the Privity and Fundament is rent in one which when cur'd she will be oblig'd if she happen to be with Child to prevent the like to anoint the parts with soft'ning Oils and Ointments and forbear helping her throws too strongly at once but usually when these parts have been once rent 't is very difficult to prevent the like because the scar streightens the parts Lastly if by neglecting such a rent the Lips be cicatriz'd and the cure be desired 't is the Chyrurgeons business SECT V. Of the After-pains IF these come from wind i' th Bowels it runs from side to side and sometimes towards the Womb to prevent this some give of Oil of sweet Almonds and syrup of Maiden-hair each 2 ounces immediately after Child-birth and to those that loath Oil I prefer warm broth or caudle and give a Clyster and repeat it as need is if it cease not thus 't is maintained by some other cause If from some strange body i' th Womb see to cast it out If her clensings be suddenly stop'd give Clysters to draw down use hot foments to the bearing place bleed i' th Foot and if full i' th Arm first Rest alone will fortifie and unite the stretching or breaking o' th Womb's cords but never forget in all pains to mind the Lochia SECT VI. Of the Lochia whence they come if good or bad their stopping and what ensues THere flows waterish humors from the Womb as soon as the Child is born besides those before when the Skins break which are often bloody because mostly blood's mixt with them but immediately after the burden is loosen'd there flows pure blood but after the 1st day there comes waterish humors when the Vessels close then they become thickish by heat more or less as they come in greater or lesser quantity and the length of time they stay there and then they resemble troubled milk which makes People believe 't is Breast milk Now I believe the cause of their change of colour consistance and diminution of â—heir quantity to be no other then that in â—he suppuration of a great wound as soon â—s 't is made it bleeds fresh and much but â—fter it yeilds only bloodish humors then a white matter so you must imagine there is a kind of wound made by loosening the burden from the Womb and what comes from it is the Lochia so that they are not what hath stay'd in and about the Womb during all the time of Child-bearing for that 's the Secundine neither is their any certain rule for their quantity and continuance being according to the Season Country Age Temper more or less hot or moist the habit more or less full and Vessels remaining long or short time open but 't is finish'd commonly in 15 or 20 days but after a mischance the less the fetus is and the less time she is gone with Child the less are the Lochia If they be fresh but the 3 or 4 first days they are good else 't is a pure bloody flux which will be very dangerous if of no ill scent without sharpness so we know the Womb 's without inflammation or corruption and if they flow in so great quantity as to cause Faintings or Convulsions she 's in danger of death or very much weaken'd grows lean and pale Legs and Thighs swell and becomes Dropsical The
should send forth are intercepted as by Stool by Urine c. The passages for transpiration are stuffed up so that the progress of the aliment being stop'd of necessity the Milk must be vomited up after which will follow much flegmatick matter a sure argument of crudities Sometimes there will arise botches about the Body much matter and snot and quittor will come out of the Nose and cornerâ— of the Eyes and Eyelids and the appetitâ— will be lost Contrarily from the thinner and sharpeâ— sort of Milk the Belly is looser than iâ— ought being troubled with pinches anâ— gripes in the belly of the infant Also very angry pustules and whelks will arise about the body like the small Pox and the body groweth weak by little and little the Infant not caring for food for the strength of the appetite will be more remiss by reason of the sharpness of that which the Infant desires so that it is not much sensible of that aliment which it hath and that aliment of which it is sensible is naught and vicious Now as from the over-bundance of Milk the Infant oftentimes when it sucks is overwhelmed being so puffed up and the belly distended as if it would break until by much pissing or breaking wind it is slacker So where there is too much scarcity of milk there the Infant being altogether destitute of its nourishment will pine away and all the parts of the body being starved in those years when it most wants nourishment by reason of vehemency of the innate heat and that habit of body that the least blast will puff down which requires much and constant aliment By all which Women ought to be the more provident lest all these mischiefs happen especially not to make choice of such a Nurse whose poverty must needs starve her self and her Nursery and if they should so happen to amend them as hath been said before e're they grow incurable and require the help of another Artist that may cure it Or if the fault in the milk cannot be cured and amended in the Nurse which she hath contracted Then you have no more to do but presently to look for another Nurse that hath none of these inconveniencies that so the Infant may have suck enough which is all it requires for want of which you may hear sad crying and weeping And this may be discovered by their dreams as by the often motion of the lips in the cradle as if they were sucking when they are a sleep Neither is it strange that the Infant should be sensible of and Participate of whatsoever food as meat drink and Physick that the Nurse taketh which maketh Physitians purge the Nurse to cure the Child if a woman take any purging Physick she purgeth her Child also So Galen reports that of Goats feeding in Asia where Scammony grow did communicate a purging faculty to their milk And so the milk of Asses generally accounted best in Consumptions is counted better if the Asse be fed with such herbs as Maiden-hair c. And again when young Goats suck Sheeps-milk the rough hair shall lose its coursness and become like a fleece of wooll and so contrarily when Lambs are brought up by Goats their wooll groweth the more hairy If then the qualities of the milk pass into those that suck them as without doubt they do it is easie to gather that other impurities follow thither also neither is it improbable Surely then we ought to take no less care of the Nurse than of the Child as in her diet exercise physick c. since whatsoever conduceth to the benefit of the Nurse tends to the good and welfare of the Infant I have been the larger upon this Sir of Nurses and Milk because tender Infants can neither make choice of their Nurses themselves nor discover or plead for their wants Their own Mothers surely if they are able both by duty and nature being the most fit to Nurse their own Children which the greatest Ladies may do with the greatest conveniences by reason of their plenty of all things besides their attendance of servants who can bring their Nurseries to them at all hours be it by night or day and take it from them again not to disturb their rest which also they may tend at their own pleasures The longest time that a Child need be suckled is till it have teeth to chew with I shall leave only one caution for Nurses and and so wind up and 't is this Let Nurses ever milk out some Milk e're they suckle the Child and after it is suckled that they rock it not too much presently after lest violent rocking disturb the meat in the stomach or the other parts draw away the Milk in the stomach as yet unconcocted Dr. Thus far have you done very well good Mrs. Eutrapelia as in all other things so as to what concerns the Choice and office of Nurses and now if you please you shall hear a few of my observations about the same matter which it may be may not be unwelcome to you Then you must know that I have taken notice of 2 sorts of Nurses which I have observ'd in the World The one sort is such as are of an ill humor or blood the which settle in their Milk being the place at that time where they discharge themselves Now you must note that these sort of Women are in a better condition when they are Nurses then when they are not for when they are not Nurses they are subject to pains in their Arms sometimes and sometimes in their Shoulders and sometimes in their Legs or Thighs or elce they are subject to waterish Eyes or swelling in their Eyes or Nose Now the Infants which suck these Nurses if they be fat 't is not good but soft fat and they are dull and sottish and coming to breed Teeth they are very sickly and commonly dye by reason of the reum pushing out of too many Teeth at once and if they escape this they are more troubled with bad juices in their Infancy then their Parents in their old age and if the reum be salt the Milk is of a blackish and blewish colour but if it be of Choler 't is yet the more dangerous and venemous to the Children There is another sort of Nurses and they are such as who after they have layen in about some 3 or 4 or 5 or 6 months are taken with their purgations a thing which never happens to good Nurses and when this does happen they are more dangerous then the former and the Child must presently be taken away for they are more apt to conceive then to Nurse and if they do continue Nurses they do but ruine the Children for there dyes a third part of the Children for want of taking care in this particular which yet seem fat and in good case for this is the cause of great colic and windiness in Infants which kils them in a moment for the least Feaver that takes them
Bed-pan and sometimes when they have least expected it At the same time to prevent a Feaver or many other accidents which usually happen she may be let blood in the Arm or Foot according as it shall be convenient and strengthen'd that the cadaverous vapors coming from the putrifaction of the burthen ascend not to the heart and noble parts which must be done by good cordials often used not such as are made of Treacle and Methridate c. for which no reason can be given but their specific or rather imaginary Faculties and are fitter to cause vomiting then comfort the heart But with true Cordials which are such as yield good nourishment and at the same time comfort the stomach without offending it as those drugs do which are only good for those that sell them Wherefore I must order her good broths and gellies and to drink Orengade or Limonade or to put some Syrup of Lemons in her refreshing Liquors or if she be free from a Feaver a little wine and water mixed which is the best and most natural of all Cordials Besides other remedies must be provided according to the accidents that happen by reason of the staying behind of the burthen always remembring to bring it away as soon as possible for as long as it stays in the Womb the woman feels great pains continually almost like them before her Child was born and until the whole be voided the pains will still be repeated although in vain unless the matter be well disposed before but the lesser the piece is of the retained burthen the more difficult 't is many times to be expelled because the impulse the woman can make by helping her throws are not so great when the matter contained in the Womb is small as when 't is of a considerable bigness for then 't is more strongly thrust and compress'd which is the reason why a woman miscarries with greater difficulty then when brought to bed at her full time And here you must know there are divers Midwifes who having broken the Navil-string as before said leave their work imperfect and commit the rest to nature's work but very often the poor woman dyes because of the great mischiefs which usually happen before the suppuration of the burthen so retained The which to avoid when they meet with the like case I would advise them to fetch it away as I have directed or if they find themselves uncapable to do it because the hand must be put up into the Womb which is more properly the work of a Physitian or Chyrurgion expert in those cases then let them immediately send for one that so he may be able before the Womb closeth to introduce his hand for the longer 't is deferr'd the more difficult will the work be Dr. Hitherto very well Mrs. Eutrap have you exprest your knowledge and experience in your Art even from the first generation and formation of the Child in the Womb to the bringing of it safely forth into the world But yet good Mrs. Eutrapelia there are divers Women that will many times be asking you your advice concerning other distempers that usually attend them both before Child-birth as Barreness c. and also after they are delivered of their Child both inward and outward because their modesty prompts them rather to come to you than to the Physitian or Chyrurgion therefore I would have you to let me know how far your skill and knowledge extends as to these matters because that if you should at any time be mistaken in your measures in the cure of any of those diseases I shall freely and candidly assist you with the best of my directions to set all right and streight as they say and in good order Mid. Honoured Sir I am so extreamly oblig'd to you for this kind offer that I know not which way to express my acknowledgment and I shall most readily answer your request and therefore shall first begin with a discourse of Barrenness PART II. SECT I. Of Barrenness and the several kinds thereof MId BArrenness is 1. Natural 2. Vnnatural 3. Accidental Natural is when the instrument of Generation being perfect in both Sexes no unlawful or unskilful means used to cause it yet the Woman remains naturally Barren neither Age or Diseases or natural defect hindring yet she Conceives not The reason of this may be 1. When both Sexes are of a Complexion 2. Want of Love a 3d may be the letting Virgins blood i' th Arm before their Courses come down or other ill administration of internal and external remedies 4. A loss of carnal Copulation when Sexes come to the School of Venus either not at all or so coldly that as good never a whit as nere the better and this is from a cold Distemper and is cured by such things as heat and nourish 2. Unnatural that is diabolical to prevent which Authors have left several ways as to carry the Herb St. Johns wort about them which is call'd a driver away of Devils or a Plaister thereof applied to the Reins with many others 3. Accidental which comes by some casual infirmity upon the body of either Sex at a time the which being taken away the effect ceaseth 't is sometimes from the Man but most commonly from the Woman for Mans instruments of Generation being perfect and he in health I know no accidental cause in him And the chief cause in Women lyes in her Womb as the stopping of the flowers or overflowing the Flux of the Womb its falling down inflamation windiness heat and dryness in all which I shall be brief because if there be difficulty you are to have recourse to the learned Physitian 1. Then the Terms stop 1. Naturally 2. Vnnaturally they stop naturally in some about the 50th year in some before rarely till 55. the unnatural cause is 1. much exercise 2. in fat Women the Veins are narrow and blood turns to fat 3. by long sickness 4. when they have the piles in lieu of their Terms 5. a hot or cold distemper of the Womb 6. care fear grief c. I shall speak here only of the 5th for causes of the last being taken away the effect ceases and the rest the ingenious Midwife will remedy Now seeing these stoppings come usually from default of the Womb the best way to help it is by strengthening the Womb first then you shall prepare your way if there be occasion let blood i' th the foot if she be not full of humors if she be then in the Arm first which I have most commonly known to do alone then if need be give her a draught of White-wine wherein an handful of Centaury or stinking Arach hath been boiled and if there be a pain in the head add an handful of Verven or some Parcely roots Fennel or Lowage c. not forgetting in fulness of humors to purge with half a dram of Extractum Rudii and as much Pil. Mastichinae mixt made into 12 Pills whereof take 3 at
Night going to bed or after her first sleep 2. The Terms overflow 1. when they continue longer then their usual time which is 2 or 3 days in Women that use no exercise 4 or 5 days 2. when they come oftner then once a month the cause is 1. a Rupture of some Vessel 2. immoderate purgation 3. some corroding humor 4. hard Labor in Child-bed or unkind handing the Womb if the Vessels be broken blood gusheth out in heaps and if from some knawing humor they are few but very painful the rest are easily known Let them abstain from exercise then 1. anoint the reins with Oil of Roses Myrtles or Quinces then boil the roots of Tormentil Cinquefoil Yarrow Knot-grass Comfrey dead Nettles Solomon's Seal Purslan Shepherds-purse red Roses acorn Cups bark of Oak Trees some of these in her ordinary drink or the juices of what can be had taken alone and this above all take Comfrey leaves or roots and Clowns alheal of each an handful bruise and boil them well in Ale and drink of it now and then this will do though the Vessels were open 3. Flux of the Womb is a continual droping from that part of the body if it be red like putrified blood it comes from that humor if white and pale 't is from Phlegm if yellow 't is from Choler if pure blood as if a vein were opened either a knawing of the Womb or tearing in delivery is feared The cure differs as the cause if pure blood flow let blood i' th arm then use the Medicine last mentioned of Comfrey roots and Woundworth if flegm be the cause use Cinnamon in all meats and drinks and Methridate and Treacle for Antidotes a little every Morning take a scruple of Pills of Amber going to Bed for divers Nights if from Choler purge with syrup of Violets and Cassia Fistularis of each an ounce after take powder of Ivory and Missleto of the oak of each one scruple mixt with half an ounce of conserve of Roses every Morning for a Week if from putrified blood having first let blood i' th Foot then strengthen the Womb as before always forbearing violent motions and passions and sharp and salt meats and provokers of Urine for dead Nettles there are three sorts white red and yellow the flowers of that colour the white help the white the red the red the yellow the yellow flux 4. The Womb fallen out is cured if it be swell'd by bathing it with a decoction of Mallows Linseed and Fennigreek boil'd in water 2 or 3 times and when 't is got up let her keep her Legs close or else tye them with a swath apply stinking things to the Womb as Assa Foetida oil of Amber her own Hair burnt and let her smell of Civet c. the rest is before and after 5. The Womb is inflamed by many causes a blow stopping of the Terms Abortion Ulceration Immoderate Lechery overmuch walking cold For cure strengthen the Womb first then first clarifie Whey and boil Plantain leaves or roots in it and drink it then inject the juice of Plantain into the Womb with a Syringe if in Winter when you cannot get the juice make a strong decoction of the leaves and roots in water if the body be costive use a Clyster and here note that in all Inflammations blood-letting is the chiefest remedy first i' th Arm then if need i' th Foot if it be near the Neck of the Womb make a pessary of wool and anoint it with unguent album or populeon or mixt 6. The Womb is sometimes troubled with wind which is cured as the fits of the Mother and moistness of the Womb is cured as a flux of flegm 7. Heat and dryness of the Womb is incident to Women of a Cholerick complexion is cured by cool and moistning herbs of which stinking Arach is chief neither are Plantan and Mallows much behind milk is good for such to drink first purging with an ounce of Cassia Fistula new drawn going to bed and follow your business the next day Dr. Thus far good Mrs. Eutrap but now hear me a little concerning this matter All rational men know that the generation of mankind as also of other irrational Animals is the most perfect excellent and exquisite work of God's Vicegerent Nature the which is most excellently and elegantly demonstrated and set forth by Aristotle that great Secretary of Nature in his second Book which he hath written of the Generation of living Creatures for whereas it is impossible by the decree of Nature that any humane Creature should live always or have an immortal Being in this World much less should we imagine that should be granted to Bruits and other Souls of an inferior rank therefore for the continuance and propagation of each sort it hath otherwise ordained that during the continuance of this World there should be likewise maintained a successive generation of both Sexes by the Action of procreation and from hence after him Galen the greatest Luminary of Physick next Hippocrates says that it comes to pass that Creatures are furnished with Instruments of Generation proper for the quality of their Sex and are consequently indued with natural Instincts prompting them to the use thereof Therefore we shall at this time discourse of this wonderful operation of Nature and endeavour as far forth as our Talent will afford us to seek out the causes that may hinder and from thence prescribe means to remove them and so consequently assist and further her in so miraculous a concern and this partly upon our Dame nature's account whose Servants only we are and in the next place for the sakes of those Ladies Gentlewomen and others who are often disconsolate and dejected upon their being accounted barren Now then you must note that as conception hath some alliance with every part of the Body as being undoubtedly concern'd therein so the same Conception may be quite abolished diminished or deprived as it happens in all other actions and motions of the body so that if Conception be quite abolish'd in a Woman in such sort that she can never be able to conceive this affection is then called Barrenness or such a Woman may be called a barren Woman which you please But if she Conceive sometimes though seldome here the Conceptive faculties may be said to be diminished or weakened by some cause or other and to this kind of diminished Conception may be referr'd untimely births called Abortion And lastly a depraved Conception is when in the Womb is contained some unnatural Conception such as Monsters and Mola's c. The causes and remedies of all which it hath and shall be our duty to lay open to the Females Sex according to the best of our skil and knowledge first to the end we may further the propagation of humane kind and secondly that we make if possibly remove the reproaches laid upon Barrenness which hath been in all ages and continues to this day and will do to end
cur'd of this bearing down after she 's layd than before for then the Cords will be easier strengthen'd and she may then use pessaries which she cannot so well with Child The help for this from any cause is to keep her Bed or swaith her and if she have difficulty in urining help her self by lifting up her belly with both hands but if humors cause this let her keep a drying dyet as Rost-meat c. and refrain Copulation streight lacing and above all when in Labor take care that neither by throws nor birth of the Child nor violent drawing the burthen that she get not a falling out of the Womb instead of a bearing down or weight which is soon done if the method taught in the birth of a Child when its Head thrusts the Neck of the Womb forth before it be not well observed SECT XIII Of the Dropsie of the Womb c. THese waters are either bred in the Womb or brought thither from some other parts as in the Dropsie of the belly it passes by traâ—sudation through the porous substance of the Skins of the Womb and these have deceived the Midwifes as well as patients who having along time hoped and been made to hope for a Child at length find nothing but waters whereof some have voided a pailful of which are many relations by Physitians and Chirurgeons These are bred i' th Womb when 't is too cold or weakned by a violent Labor before or from suppression of filthy humors When these are sent to the Womb from other parts they are never wrapt in a particular skin but retain'd only by its exact closure and flow away as soon as it begins to open but when bred in the Womb which is for the most part after Copulation if the seed be too cold waterish or corrupt they are then sometimes contained within the Skin which hinder the patients from a speedy discharge of them She going with it almost as long as with a Child and this is it perswades them they are with Child But 't is easie to avoid being deceiv'd if you take notice of the Signs of a true Conception for in a Dropsie her brests are fallen have no Milk nor finds her self quicken at the usual time but a bubling of moved waters a greater weight in her Belly and more equal the Womb Hips Thighs and Legs swell and worse Colour in her Face and as it may come alone so it may accompany a true Conception the waters being contained in the Womb without the Childs Skin Some have voided 3 or 4 quarts above 2 months before they were brought to Bed and then they are contained in the Womb without the Skins or else the Child would be forc'd to be born presently after they are voided The best Remedy is to wait patiently the time of delivery observing a dry dyet but if 't is only contained in the Womb use diuretics and endeavour to procure her Courses and to destroy by purges the cause of the Generation of such superfluities of which the Womb is so full sometimes that it dischargeth some on the outward parts and chiefly the nearest as the Lips of the Privities which are so swell'd that they are quite blown up and in some are so big that they can't close their Thighs and hinders walking now because this may be inconvenient to her during Labor it will be requisite to remedy it before which must be done by a Lancet all along the Lips then applying compresses dipt in astringent wine Leeches though less painful are not so proper because their small Orifices close again as soon as remov'd but the other may be made as big or little as one will and kept open by ointment as long as is fit SECT XIV Of Abortion and its causes WHen a Woman Sir i' th beginning casts forth what she had retain'd by Conception 't is an Effiuxion of the Seed if a false Conception 't is an Expulsion but when the infant's form'd and begins to live if it come before time ordain'd by Nature 't is an Abortion and we say in general that every sharp Disease easily causes it in particular all the accidents before mentioned as also a great noise as Cannon of Thunder claps watching fasting stinks c. if she Miscarries without any of these accidents Hippocrates says any Woman indifferently corpulent miscarrying the 2d or 3d month without manifest cause 't is because the inward closers of the Womb's Vessels are full of viscous filth whereby they cant retain the weight of the fetus which is loosned from it to this are Phlegmatic Women Subject and who have the whites much which make the Womb slippery and loose Likewise the passions of the mind cause great hurt chiefly Choler but above all sudden fear There are other causes which may be said to proceed from the Infant as when its monstrous or hath an unnatural Situation If we find one or more of the said accidents and she hath a great heaviness in her belly falling like a ball on that side she turns and there comes stinking humors from her 't is a sign she will miscarry of a dead Child Now she is in more danger of her Life when she miscarries then at full time and in danger of miscarrying always if she miscarry at first because of the violent motion caused by frequent Copulation but they may preserve their fruit when their love is a little moderated We have taught before to prevent each accident Who are subject to Abortion must rest or keep in Bed refrein Copulation 〈◊〉 soon as she thinks she 's with Child avoiding diuretics and openers and be loose drest wear low-heel'd Shoos with broad Soals Her rest must be 5 or 6 or 9 or 15 days during which time may be applied to her belly compresses steep'd in Aromatic and Astringent Wine Some Midwifes giving Crimson silk minc'd small in the yelk of an Egg or Scarlet grains and Treddles of several Eggs put into a yelk is superstitious as if entring the Stomach it were able to fortifie the Womb and Child and keep it there PART III. Of Diseases and Symptoms happening to Women after Child-birth SECT I. Of Remedies for the Brests and lower parts of the Belly of Women newly delivered and how to draw back the Milk Mid. AS soon Sir as the Woman is deliver'd and burthen come away I see that a fludding follow not its loosening if not apply presently a soft closure 5 or 6 double to the Womb that done carry her to Bed removing all foul Linnen a little raising her Head and Body putting down her Legs and Thighs with a small pillow if she will under her hands lying on her back Then the best thing under the Sun to give her is a good broth and so leave her to sleep waking apply this pultis over the bottom of her Belly and Privities take 2 ounces of Oil of Sweet Almonds 2 or 3 new laid Eggs stir them together in a pipkin over hot Embers
diseases ensue upon their stopping are almost innumerable so that to bring them down let her avoid all troubles of Spirit lye quiet with her Head and Breast a little rais'd if Feaverish use only broths with a little gelly above all shun cold drink give Clysters and foment her lower parts rub her Thighs and Legs downwards and bath them too and apply large Cupping-Glasses to the uppermost part of the inside of her Thighs bleed i' th Arm first if very full of humors for i' th Foot would draw too much to the Womb. SECT VII Of the Inflammation c. of the Womb. THis is very dangerous and the death of most caused from the Lochia stopt or bruise by two hard swathes falling out o' th Womb c. an Impostume or Cancer follows a bruise if not death wherefore temper the heat and humors first extracting or causing the expulsion of strange things remaining i' th Womb using not the least violence with Veal or Pullet broth with Lettice Purselan Succory Sorrel abstain from Wine keep quiet in Bed with anodine Clysters and bleed i' th Arm not i' th Foot reiterate it because 't is very pressing till the greatest part of fulness be a little evacuated an inflammation diminished then i' th Foot if need injecting in the Womb Barley water with Oil of Violets or milk An Apostume Schyrrhus or Cancer is the Physitians or Chyrurgions work SECT VIII Of the Inflammation and Apostemation of the Breasts THe Breasts being made of a spungy substance easily receive in too great abundance the humors flowing to them from all parts by blood being over-heat by throws and pains in travel and so are soon inflam'd being then painfully stretch'd to which helps the suppression of the Lochia and a fulness of the whole Body or it may happen from having been too streight lac'd some blow or bruise by lying upon them or for not giveing the Child milk Now convenient remedies are speedily to be applied lest dangerous symptoms follow wherefore the certainst means to hinder the Flux of so great quantity of blood to the Breasts is to procure a large evacuation of the Lochia the habit of the body is to be emptied by bleeding i' th the Arm after i' th Foot chasing into the breasts Oil of Roses and Vinegar beat together laying upon them unguentum refrigerens Galeni or unguentum album and a 3d part of populeon mixt or a pultis of the setlings in a Cutler's Grinstone-trough Oil of Roses and a little Vinegar mixt together If the pain continue great take the crums of white bread and milk with Oil of Roses and the yelks of raw Eggs upon all these may compresses be laid dipt in Vinegar and water or plantain water When you have emptied the greatest part of the humors and the height of the Inflammation is past then draw the milk or else unless it be turn'd to matter pure Honey laid to them resolves milk or a Cabbage leaf anointed therewith being first a little wither'd and the hard stalks and veins taken away lace not too streight nor apply course clothes A whole red Cabbage boil'd in River water to a pap and well bruised in a wooden or Marble Mortar and pulp'd through a Sieve adding Oil of Comomil is a very good pultis Let her dyet be cool not very nourishing keep her body open lying on her Back in Bed all the while stir her Arms as little as may be and after the 14th or 15th day of her delivery being sufficiently cleansed and inflammation abated and no longer Feaverish purge her once or twice and if for all these the swelling goes not down but she feels great beating and pain a hardness more in one place then another of a livid color and soft i' th middle 't is certain 't will apostemate then apply ripening Medicines as a pultis of Mallows Marsh-Mallows with their roots Lilly roots and Linseed bruis'd boil'd to pap and pulp'd through a sieve then add a good quantity of Hogs Grease or Basilicon laying a little cloth thick spread with Basilicon upon the place where 't is likely soonest to break and the pultis all over it renewing it 12 hours after continuing till it be full ripe then if it open not of it self it must be open'd by a Lancet or Incision knife which being the Chirurgeon's work he is to do it SECT IX Of the curdling of the Milk in the Breasts BEcause her Body was much mov'd dureing Labor in the beginning of Child-bed her Milk is not well purified and is mixt with many other humors which if 01 they are then sent to the Breasts in too great quantity cause an Inflammation but when the Child hath suck'd 15 or 20 or more days then only the Milk without other mixture contain'd there which sometimes curdles and the Brests become hard and rugged without any redness and the separation of all the kernels fill'd with curdled Milk may easily be perceived she finds a great pain and cannot milk them with a shivering chiefly about the middle of her Back like Ice which is usually follow'd by a Feaver of 24 hours long and sometimes less if it do not turn into an Inflammation of the Breasts which it will undoubtedly do if it be not emâ—ied scater'd and dissolv'd This clodding comes mostly because the Breasts are not fully drawn either for that she hath too much Milk or the Child is too weak to such all or because she doth not desire to be a Nurse for the Milk staying in the Breasts looseth its sweetness and by sowring curdles This may also happen from taking cold or not covering her Breasts The readiest and surest remedy from what cause soever is speedily to draw the Breasts till they be empty'd and if the Child cannot because she is hard milched let a Woman till it comes freely and then the Child will and that she may not after breed more Milk then the Child can draw let her dyet breed but little nourishment and keep her body always open But when she neither can nor will be Nurse then her Breasts must not be drawn for drawing more humors the Disease will return if not again emptied Wherefore 't is necessary to prevent comeing of any more Milk and to scatter that which is there by empting the fulness of the body by bleeding i' th Arm and Foot and strong Clysters and purging if needfull and to resolve the curdled Milk apply a pultis of pure Honey or of powder of Linseed Fenugreek Beans and Vetches boild in a decoction of Sage Smallage Fennel Milk adding Oil of Camomil anointing with the Oil first SECT X. Of Choping c. and loss of the Nipples WOmen are subject the first time to have their Niples chop'd which is unsufferable and the more if hard milch'd as the first time when the Milk hath not yet made way through the small holes of the Niples which are not yet thorowly open'd and then the Child takes more pains to suck
let it slip out of the mouth and cannot handsomely hold it so that the infant being frustrated of suck and yet still exercising suckling hurts the cheek and attracts some kind of humors thither which oftentimes become unnatural Tumors and oftentimes the cheeks of the infant seem as if they were moved out of their places Thirdly by the consent of all the Nurse must have a large breast though some think that not so material because there is more milk collected together in great breasts than ought and being there is corrupted to the prejudice of the Nurse Wherefore lest the milk should continue there too long it is best to have a young lusty child to suck it away or else to use it some other way as by the use of young whelps whom I have seen dye with sucking Womens milk surely the reason must be because the milk was of another nature or else because curdled and corrupted or milked out some other way especially when the Nurse perceives her self prejudiced by it But it is ever best that she abound rather than want Milk and then in this case it is best they be big though all Nurses need not have big breasts for there may be as much Milk if not more in a lesser breast than in a great one The next enquiry will be into the manners and behaviour of a Nurse The best Nurse then is she that is mild chaste sober courteous chearful lively neat cleanly and handy because bad conditions as well as good are suck'd in with the milk and so radicated that it is a hard matter to pull out the bad conditions and leave the good behind but that there will be a remainder of the bad conditions perhaps so long as they live wherefore let not the Nurse be of an angry malepert and saucy disposition shameless scolding or quarrelsome not gluttonous but so careful of her Nursery that she neither eat or drink that which may be hurtful to the Infant That she do nothing to anger her self to grieve or sad her self for such passions will presently distribute themselves to the prejudice of the Infant than which there is nothing of more efficacy to destroy the goodness of the Milk Neither is it sufficient that they abstain from the use of their husbands but when they have wanton thoughts and lascivious minds wholly upon Luxury and Venery they cast off all care of the Nurseries and dreaming at night of that which their minds run on in the day and by other filthy pollutions they infect the milk So also by the use of their Husbands the Courses are stirred up by which both the plenty and goodness of milk is derived another way and so the Child robbed of its nutriment or else the Nurse conceiveth with Child and so the Infant becometh diseased and Ricketty by sucking curdy and unwholsome milk and is worse for it during life Therefore let all those things be avoided that either do or are supposed to provoke lust as junkets made with spices also Onions Leeks Garlick and all salt meats are to be avoided Persly and Smallage some say have a peculiar malice to the increase of milk besides that it doth increase lust and is an enemy to the growth of Infants Again that Nurse were best that hath lately been brought to bed of a Boy if to Nurse a Boy the milk of such a Nurse being better tempered For the milk of a Male Child will make a Female Nursery more spritely and a man like Virago and the milk of a girl will make a boy the more effeminate As to the milk let it be a mean betwixt thick and thin which you may perceive by dropping it upon the Thumb-Nails for if it be too thin it will run off the sooner but if thicker it will stay the longer let it be sweet and pleasant both to the smell and taste not offending the palate with rancidness sourness sharpness or saltness or the nostrils with any strange quality Let it be candid to the sight in it self equal in each particles not infested with brown yellow green blue or any other evil colour or as sometimes with various colours and substance as with lines and streaks upon it but let that milk be most praise-worthy that makes as much curd as whey which may be tryed by this Experiment viz. Put some of this milk into a glass and puâ— in some Myrrh or Rennet which being stirred together will curd and then may the contents be separated the tryal is that iâ— there be most whey then is the milk thinneâ— in its substance but if most of curd 't is thicker yet all these may be corrected and amended for that which is too thick may be mended by an extenuating diet and the flegmatick matter may be avoided by a vomit of Oxymel and Exercise before meat the better to consume and attenuate the thickness of it The thinness of Milk is amended by contrary food such as doth incrassate it as Fromenty of Wheat and Rice Hogs-feet Calves-feet Trotters and sweet Wine unless somewhat else be in the way to hinder it Sometimes it happens that the Milk is more tart than it ought to be wherefore then all diligence must be had to feed upon such meats as are of the best juice till that acrimony at least be attempered Sometimes there is little or no milk in the breasts as after some sickness or notable distemper now turned into a bad habit or any other of what kind soever that possesseth those parts or is the cause but that shall not be our business to consider of now Now if these be not the causes let the Nurse use supping meats as Broths Possets c. and eat plentifully and use rubbings to her Breasts and Duggs exercising her hands and her Arms by domestick Employments or instead thereof let her dance the Child by which the aliment may be recalled into those parts Sometimes cupping-glasses to the Breasts with a fomentation of emollient herbs boiled in water and applied warm either with sponges or wollen-clothes after which chafe them with oyl of Lillies The seeds of Fennel and the roots of Parsnips boiled in Barley-water and buttered The broth of Hens or Capons with Cinnamon and Mace Or Poch'd-eggs with the seeds of Annis and Dill and all things else that are hot in the first and second degree are good Earth Worms not dung-hill ones six or seven of them dried and powdered and drank in Barley-water sugared for a fortnight together All these may be of good use in the defect of Milk As to the inconveniency if there be any in too much Milk If the Milk abound too much which sometimes is though seldome blamable Then use the decoction of Myrtleberries and red Roses and with clothes dipped in it lay them on the Breasts Or else clothes imbibed in Vinegar wherein Cummin-seeds bruised have been infused with Myrrh and Camphire By reason of the thickness of the Milk all those excrements that the Child
carries them away And now to come home to the purpose let me tell you the first and principal of all the qualities in a good Nurse is that she be the Child 's own Mother as well because of the mutual sympathy of their tempers as that having much more love for it she will be much more careful then an hired Nurse who commonly loves her Nurse Child but with a feined love so that the Mother though she be not the best Nurse should always be prefer'd before another But because there are divers that either will not or cannot suckle their own Children there is then an Obligation to provide another Nurse which should be chosen for the Child 's good as near as may be For even as we see trees of the same kind and growing in the same yet being afterwards transplanted to another Soil do produce fruits of a different taste by reason of the nourishment they draw from thence even so it fares with the health of Children and their manners sometimes depend on the nourishment they receive at the beginning for as the health of the body answers to the humors that all the parts are nourished with which humors always retain the nature of the food whereof they are engendred and as for the manners they commonly follow the temperament which likewise proceeds from the nature of the humors and the humors from the food from whence may be drawn this consequence that as the Nurse is so will the Child be both in body and mind by means of the nourishment it draws from her This may plainly appear in Animals that suck a strange dam for they always purchase something of the nature of the Creature they suck being accordingly either of a mild or fierce nature of a strong or weak body as may be seen in young Lions which will become tame by sucking a domestic Animal as a Cow Ass or Goat and on the other side a Dog will become more furious if it sucks a Wolf Now the necessary conditions requisite in a good Nurse are usually taken from her Age the time and manner of her Labor the Constitution of all the parts of her Body and particularly of her Breasts the nature of her Milk and lastly from her manners As concerning her Age the most convenient is from 25 to 35 years of Age Then as to the time and manner of her Labor it must be at least a month or 6 weeks after that and not above 5 or 6 months she must not have miscarried and she must have layn in of a 2d or third Child that she may know the better how to perform her Office As to the healthful constitution of her body 't is the principal thing on which almost all the rest depend for she ought to come of Parents that never had the stone in the Reins or Bladder or Gout Kings-Evil Falling-sickness or any other hereditary distemper that she have no Scab or Itch and that she be strong neither too tall nor too low not too fat nor too lean and above all she must not be with Child let her be of a Sanguine Complexion which is known by her Vermilion color not altogether so red but inclining to white of a firm fast flesh not subject to the Whites for that 's a sign of a bad habit not red hair'd nor mark'd with red spots but black hair'd or of a Chesnut brown neat in her Cloaths of a sprightly Eye and a smiling countenance sound and white Teeth for if they be rotten her breath may smell having a good voice to please and rejoice the Child and a clear and free pronuntiation that the Child learn not an ill accent from her as usually red hair'd have and sometimes those that are very black hair'd with white Skins for their Milk is hot sharp and stinking and also of an ill Tast Her Breasts ought to be pretty big to receive and concoct a sufficient quantity of milk being sound and free from scars proceeding from former Impostumes being indifferent firm and fleshy that their natural heat may be the stronger she must be broad breasted that her Milk may have the more room to be prepared and digested in and because 't is a sign of a great deal of vital heat As to her Nipples they must be well shap'd as you observ'd not too big nor too hard nor gristly nor sunk in too deep but they must be a little raised and of a moderate bigness and firmness with many little holes that she may be soft milch'd to the end the Child may not take too much pains to draw the milk by sucking them and pressing them with its Mouth All these good qualities being found in a Nurse respecting all the parts of her Body there needs be no fear but her Milk will be good The which may be known first by its quantity the which ought to be sufficient for the Child's nourishment and not too much lest it not being all drawn forth it curdâ—e and inflame the Breast by its too long stay there however it is better to have too much then too little for she may give the overplus to another Child it must not be too waterish nor to thick but of a middle consistence the which may be easily judged if she milking some into her hand and turning it a little on one side it immediately turns off but if it remains fixt 't is a mark 't is too thick and clammy and this if she have but little of it will stick upon the Childs tongue pallate and throat and so cause as it were a white Cancer which is more and more heated by reason of their forceable sucking in vain and they are hereby hindred from sucking These Nurses will after this Milk a drop or two out of their Breasts and cry look ye the Child cares not for sucking There is no greater abuse in any thing then in Nurses for let them make what pretence they will 't is nothing but necessity makes them be such and therefore Mothers ought to have a great care and to make it their business to surprize the Nurse at her own House that if there be any miscarriage they may find it out As to the colour of her Milk the whitest is the best and the less white it is so much the worse it must be of a sweet and pleasant smell which is a sign of a good temper as may be seen in red hair'd Women whose Milk hath a sour bad scent and to be compleat in every quality it must be of a good taste that is sweet and sugar'd without any sharpness or saltness or other strong tast Lastly to come to the principal and best conditions of a Nurse which consists in her good manners I say that she ought to be careful to cleanse the Child as soon as there is occasion she ought to be prudent not Cholerick nor quarrelsome as well because it may make bad impressions on the Child as because it heats her