A BRIEF TREATISE Of the NATURE CAUSES SIGNES PRESERVATION FROM AND CURE OF THE Pestilence Collected by W. KEMP Mr. of Arts. LONDON Printed for and are to be sold by D. Kemp at his Shop at the Salutation near Hatton-Garden in Holborn MDCLXV TO THE Kings Most Excellent Majesty CHARLES THE SECOND By the Grace of God King of England Scotland France and Ireland Defender of the Faith c. Most Dread and Gracious Soveraign THE Glorious Sun who communicates his beams and light not onely to the Stars and Heavens where he doth reside but also to the Ayre and Water and the remotest part of the Earth where the lowest shrubs are cherished with his Influence is a fit Emblem of your Majesty whose pious care was expressed not onely for the Nobles and Courtiers that have the honour to be near your Person but also for the Commons and inferiour people that have the happiness to be in your mind in appointing and accepting the directions of the Learned Colledge of London for the cure of and preservation from the Pestilence In a great fire begun in the City when the Sheriffs and other Officers are principally called to the quenching of it and though they discharge their places with singular discretion and fidelity yet many private persons of an active and publick spirit are admitted to yeeld their best assistance In an Invasion of a foreign Enemy or Insurrection of a Domestick Rebel others may take Armes besides the Life-Guard and Trayn'd-Bands The Plague is a Fire that is not easily quenched an Enemy which the Vndaunted Valour of the Invincible English Nation is neither able nor willing to encounter with For their sakes these Directions are published and presented at your Majesties Feet and may be useful not onely for the cure of those at Land but also for the preservation of them at Sea in both which places your Majesty hath many thousands in whose breasts the true English good natured and loyal qualities of Love and Fear Valour and Obedience do most religiously meet and who would willingly part with not onely their Lives but even their own â—ssence to add to the greatness of their Soveraign of which number is he who daily prays that your Majesty may obtain all your Desires from Heaven and be obeyed in all your Commands on Earth that being safely guarded from all dangers and diseases you may live to see your Magnificent Intentions take effect not onely for the good of England but of all Christendome Africa and the Indies and bless the Age we live in with the Miracles of your Wisdom and Government Your Majesties most Loyal Subject and humble Servant W. KEMP OF The Pestilence OF all Diseases whereunto the Body of Man is subject the Plague is one of the most venemous and most infectious peculiarly opposite to the heart consuming the Vital Spirits destroying the natural heat and corrupting the humours usually attended with a Fever and accompanied with variety of most grievous and pernicious symptomes and most commonly ending in Death Of the Causes of the Pestilence The Cause of the Pestilence is either Supernatural Or Natural 1. Supernatural When without the concurrence of Natural Causes it is immediately and extraordinarily sent from God as a just punishment for the sins of Mankind and this not onely Jewes and Christians but even Heathens Priests Poets Philosophers and Physicians have acknowledged in their Writings Who can choose but with admiration adore his Almighty Power who if he will build creates a World if he rewards it is with Paradise if he will protect his People there is a Pillar of Fire by Night and a Cloud by Day to attend them the Wilderness shall feast them with Quails and Manna the Rocks remove their station and give them drink the Sea opens to yield them passage the Sun and Moon stay their Courses to enlarge and end their Victories But if he will punish he sends a Deluge and drowns the World Fire and Brimstone descend from Heaven the Elements are the Marshals of his Camps all Creatures are his Host the Angels march in the Head of his Troops whereof he hath thousand thousands that stand before him and ten thousand times ten thousand that minister unto him one whereof slew the First born of every House in Egypt in one Evening threescore and ten thousand of the Israelites in three dayes and one hundred fourscore and five thousand of the Assyrians in one Night If he send the Pestilence as when the Israelites murmured or David numbred the People there is no natural Balm of Gilead of sufficient vertue to preserve from it or recover of it If Solomon had been then alive and made an Antidote of all his Gold that came from Ophyr or extracted the quintessence of all those Herbs whereof he knew the several operations it would have availed no more for the preserving the Israelites than the fortification of Sennacheribs Camp defended the Assyrians Can any thing help Nature against the God of Nature Can man think to protect himself with Medicines fetcht from Vegetables Minerals or Animals would they not rather prove his Enemies and sooner do him hurt than afford him help Was not one of the greatest Pope Adrian kill'd with a flie One of the wittiest Anacreon choak'd with a raisin stone One of the proudest Herod devoured with lice But blessed be his glorious Name his Clemency hath not left us destitute but revealed to us supernatural Remedies Faith and Repentance Prayer and Patience which though not prescribed by Galen or Hyppocrates nor found out by Paracelsus nor sold by Chymists or Apothecaries are revealed by God himself approved by the Prophets and Apostles and may be had for asking and never fail'd those that us'd them Many Learned Physicians have written of the Theory and Practise of Physick and experienced Doctors have publisht the Observations which they have met with in the cure of Diseases searcht into the Secrets of Nature discovered the Vertues of Herbs treated of the Preparations of Minerals enquir'd into the Operations of Animals Merchants have brought Druggs from the Indies Rarities have been sought in the Wilderness Pearls have been div'd for in the bottom of the Sea the bowels of the Earth have been digged out the Universe hath been rifled the whole Creation ransackt and yet not one Medicine found out to preserve the Doctor or make one Patient Immortal The Imperial Crown cannot cure the Head-ach nor the Golden Garter keep away the Gowt The best disciplin'd and Victorious Armies the most Invincible Navies the best fenced Cities are not able to protect from Ordinary much less from Supernatural Maladies But these Coelestial and Supernatural Medicines are of a far more Noble and Certain Operation and if any may be called 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Hands of God these are they Faith brings to your help Manus Christi better than all Confections it applies the Lignum Vitae of the Cross of more effectual Vertue than Xylobalsamum or
Lignum Aloes It makes a Soveraign Balsom of the most precious Blood of the Son of God that Incomparable and Unparalelled Physician who died himself to save his Patients life Saint Paul calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 The Shield of Faith which will defend you from the Arrow that flyeth by day which word signifieth also a Door and will keep out the Terror by Night and the Pestilence that walketh in Darkness and the Destruction that wasteth at Noon What shall I say more for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and of Baruck and of Sampson and of Iepthah of David also and Samuel and of the Prophets who through Faith subdued Kingdoms wrought Righteousness obtained Promises stopped the Mouths of Lions quenched the Violence of Fire escaped the Edge of the Sword out of Weakness were made Strong waxed Valiant in Fight turn'd to Flight the Armies of the Aliens and raised the Dead to Life again Repentance purifieth the Soul of all corruption purgeth out the old Leaven and cleanseth the filth of Sin the smiting of the heart driveth away and the breaking of it will not let it hold Infection Poverty of Spirit makes it more couragious Sighs clear and cool the Ayre Tears are the best Aquae Vitae and a better Antidote than Aqua Theriacalis You have heard of the Patience of Iob why it was a plaister of Patience which cur'd him of all his sores Moses Rod when thrown down became a Serpent but patiently took up was but a Rod and have you not deserv'd to be corrected and to suffer much more than is laid upon you What is the shivering of a cold fit to the gnashing of Teeth What is a burning Fever to the Flames of Hell Fire To be shut up for a Moneth in your own Habitation or a Pest-House and there to be vexed with the Impertinencies of Nurses the Directions of Doctors and Operation of Chirurgeons for a few dayes in comparison of being imprisoned and tormented with the Devil and his Angels in the Lake of Fire and Brimstone for evermore Is not the loss of Gods Favour more than the lack of Trade or separation of Friends Is not the Worm of Conscience more painful than a Carbuncle Is not the Death of the Soul infinitely more grievous than the death of the Body Why doth the living man complain that suffereth for his sin Any thing on this side Hell is mercy Are you not kindly dealt with when in Justice you ought to lose your head and in Mercy you are censur'd onely to cut your hair The wise King Solomon was a great Favourite and might have obtained any request in the Court of Heaven yet when he petition'd concerning the Pestilence that might be sent by God among his People never intreats that Medicines might have their desired effect to preserve the healthy and restore the sick but passeth by the helps of Nature and speaks as if there were none to be had being consumed by Famine destroyed by Blasting corrupted by Mildew eaten by Locusts devoured by Catterpillars and spoiled by Enemies and puts all their hope and expectation of relief in the Supernatural Remedy of Prayer 1 Kings 8. 37. If there be Pestilence whatsoever plague whatsoever sickness there be what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all thy People Israel which shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this House then hear thou in Heaven and forgive and do to every man according to his wayes c. Prayers whether they be Gods heavenly and sudden Inspirations or our holy and premeditated desires are as so many Angels of intercourse descending and ascending between God and us and it is one of the greatest favours Mortality is capable of at all times and in all places and on all occasions to have free access to the Throne of Grace and make our wants known and be relieved for God being Universa Goodness and willing to communicate and diffuse the same unto his creatures how can we fail in having our petitions granted when we concur with him in desiring that help and pity wherewith his very Nature doth most delight Man was but a heap of dust till the breath of life was breath'd into him and then he became a living soul and Prayer will keep him a living soul from returning unto dust again Is wrath begun Prayer will make an Atonement Phineas prayed and the Plague was stayed It as it were dis-armes the Almighty and in some sort may be said to bind his hands It made him when angry to entreat Moses to let him alone It holds the drawn sword of the destroying Angel It is an Incense that being offer'd up with fervent zeal perfumes the air above all Arabian Odors or the Spice of India Hearty prayer availeth much and is the most effectual Cordial the best Preservative the most excellent Restorative the most soveraign Antedote the most powerful Amulet 'T is best to be used fasting in the morning and last at Night three times a day with Daniel seven times a day with David alwayes as Saint Paul directs As health is the salt of all earthly blessings without which they would be uncomfortable so Prayer seasoneth and exalteth the vertue of all Medicines nay 't is the Universal Medicine it cures all diseases and makes all work for the best and like the Philosophers Stone turns every thing nay the iron rods into gold and the dreadful marks and purples into Gods Tokens Secondly The Plague may be caused extraordinarily by the Devil That evil Spirit that by his temptations enticeth men to wickedness is most ready upon all occasions to reward them with punishment He that can poyson the minds of men by suggesting unto them most destructive and pestilent notions much more can poyson their bodies with pernicious diseases The Devil though fallen is an Angel and though he hath lost his happiness yet retains his power neither did his knowledge of Natural Causes and their Effects depart from him with his innocence He that being permitted to vex Iobs body with biles and sores that could drive Winds and Tempests together to beat down his house that could bring down Fire from Heaven to destroy his Cattel can alter the disposition and healthy Constitution of the Air whereof he is Prince and Ruler When Egypt was plagued God sent evil Angels among them and those Spirits that did corrupt the Water by turning it into Blood and poyson the Rivers with Froggs and the Cattel with Murrain may also corrupt the Air and Water and raise on mens bodies botches and boils and destroy them with the Pestilence Hitherto may be referred that Pestilence which in some Countries followeth upon the death and burial of certain Witches which though it may seem fabulous yet being related out of Hercules Saxonia by that most candid Author the Learned Sennertus whose honoured Name must never be mentioned by me without a particular respect and
grateful acknowledgement of his Learned Labours in the Art of Physick I shall mention it in Saxonia's own words I had saith he a very strong argument to confirm this thing but because it did seem to exceed all credulity I did not dare to publish it Namely that in Poland and Germany the Plague is sometimes caused by certain Witches when they are first dead and buried and doth not cease till the corps be found and taken up then it hath in the mouth of it some pieces of its own grave-cloths or of some near adjacent carcass which it holds fast in the teeth as if it were about to devour and eat them then they cut off the head of it and set it on a pole and bury the corps again Th because it seem'd to pass my understanding I did not dare to write but afterwards being confirm'd by manifold testimonies especially of the most learned Doctor John Ursinus I did not doubt to publish The said Vrsinus having seen it with his own eyes relates it thus In the year of our Lord 1572. when a certain woman of Rzesna in Poland was buried near the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross the Plague began to rage and spread extreamly whereupon the buriers with good reason suspecting that there was a Witch there lately buried dig up her carcass and find in her mouth some pieces of devoured grave-cloths they cut off her head as the fashion is in such cases set it on a pole and bury the corps again and the Plague ceased For confirmation whereof the said Saxonia brings the testimony of several famous men And though the reason of it is not easily found out yet it may not be unpleasant for those that have more leasure to make further enquiry Perhaps these wretched persons being of the same malicious mind with him that wisht the destruction of the World at his dissolution and said 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 might indent with the Devil to do some extraordinary mischief when they themselves could do no more and he to draw others into the like cursed contract might get leave to perform his bargain Martin Weinrichius hath written a large Narrative of the Tragedies and Troubles that a certain Taylor of Silesia stirred up after his death and Histories relate strange stories done by Witches in those places that are under the power of the Prince of Darkness and without the light of the Gospel I have heard of the Plague that hath followed upon great Butcheries and Slaughters of men that have been denied quarter though their Corpses have been all buried If the body after death neither by it self nor by good or evil spirits hath no operation how comes it to pass that being taken out of the grave many weeks after it hath been buried it will bleed fresh blood at the presence of its Murderer I have heard of many strange stories of Tempests that have attended on the death and burial of Conjurers and Magitians and it is probable there was somewhat more than ordinary in that Wind on the third of September when that detestable Tyrant and Traytor Cromwell died However the Devil can go no further than his Chain nor exceed his Commission in afflicting Iob nay he could not enter into the Gadarens Swine without leave The Indians talk much of the mischief their Powowes can do but yet have no power to hurt the English and the wise Wife of Keith at the intreaty of Earl Bothwell could not hurt King Iames the Brittish Solomon The Light of Religion destroys the Power of Darkness and the Infernal Spirits are subdued and overcome by the heavenly Vertues of Faith and Repentance Prayer and Patience these call in Angels to our guard which will take charge over us that there be no Inchantment against Iacob nor Divination against Israel Secondly The Natural Causes of the Pestilence are likewise two-fold 1. Such as generate and breed it 2. Such as propagate and spread it One cause of breeding the Pestilence is the Corruption of the Air which is occasioned sometimes by the Influence of the Stars by the Aspects Conjunctions and Oppositions of the Planets by the Ecclipses of the Sun and Moon by the Consequences of Comets by immoderate heat and excessive moisture whereby Vapours and Exhalations being drawn up and remaining unconsumed do rot and putrifie and so corrupt and infect the Air with a venenate malignant and pestilential quality And though some may think it strange that those pure and coelestial Bodies as the Sun Moon and Stars should produce any pernicious or hurtful Effects to Mankind or Creatures here below yet when it shall be considered that Individuals have no perpetuity in themselves but in their Species and therefore there is a necessity of Corruption as well as Generation it will not be difficult to answer That the Stars intending no evil hurt or mischief produce it onely by accident of themselves they preserve but by accident destroy Moreover The Effects that proceed from the Coelestial Bodies are not so much to be judged by the Nature of the superior heavens as by the disposition of the inferiour creatures The same heat of the Sun doth harden clay and soften wax thesame rain that washeth stones makes miry places the more dirty Do you not see in the four Seasons of the Year Spring Summer Autumn and Winter which are accompanied with Warmth Drought Cold and Moisture which are in themselves good though many individual creatures receive damage thereby The warmth of the Spring is exceeding comfortable and tending to the good of the Universe and yet that heat meeting with a body full of vicious humors that had been stored there in the fore-going Winter stirs up Fevers Plurisies and other diseases whereof many die The Summer Season attended with its parching heat serves for ripening of the fruits of the earth and yet in some persons it causes Calentures and mortal maladies The rains of Autumn the Cold and Frosts of Winter though good in themselves and seasonable to the Earth yet in some bodies occasion Gowts Palsies Dropsies and Consumptions And though these Stars being as it were pestilently bent against us and have neither pity sense nor power to change their influence or alter their motion yet our most gracious God who is the Lord of the Host of Heaven that made the Sun and Moon stand still for Ioshua and the Sun to go back ten degrees for Hezekiah that God which Iob speaks of which removeth the Mountains and shaketh the Earth out of her place He that sealeth up the Stars and treadeth on the waves of the Sea Iob 5. Can disperse any hurtful Exhalations that are gathered in the Air and suppress any noxious vapours that arise from the Earth He that can bind the sweet influence of the Pleiades can also hinder the malignant Aspects of the Planets and he that can loose the bands of Orion can as well dissolve the Conjunction of Mars and Saturn whom it is no more
the Ears with noise and deafness it infecteth the Breath with stinking the Voice with hoarseness the Throat with soreness the Mouth with drought and the Tongue with thirst the Stomach with worms and want of appetite with hickhop nauseousness retching and vomiting the Bowels with looseness and the bloody Flix the Sides with stitches the Back with pains the Lungs with flegme the Skin with fainty and stinking Sweats Spots Blains Botches Sores and Carbuncles the Pulse with weakness the Heart with sounding and faintness It makes feeble like the Palsie it causeth sleepiness like the Lethargy watchfulness and madness like a Phrensie and sudden death like the Apoplexy And these symptomes happen not alike to all but differ and vary according to the several constitutions of the parties that are sick And as in the times of great Infection all Diseases turn to the Plague so the Plague discovers the symptomes of all those Diseases whereof it had its beginning and original And though this grievous Sickness most commonly comes in state attended with a Fever and strengthened with other maladies yet it is not alwayes so for sometimes it comes stealing into the heart whereby many have died suddenly without the sense of fore-going pain or preceding distemper Iacob de Partibus tells us of some that in the Plague time bronght him their Urine to look upon and he could perceive neither any symptome or grievous Fever that they had and yet they died either before or as soon as they went from him Alex. Benedictus tells of some that whilst they have been employed about their business in the House their trading in the Market their devotions in the Church have died suddenly and sundry other Physitians relate the like and perhaps the same hath or might have been observed here at London Besides these Signs that the Plague hath in common with other Diseases it hath some more proper to it self and doth incredibly destroy the Vital Spirit and weaken Nature so that in a very short time without any manifest reason or fore-going cause the party is as weak and faint as if he had endured much pain without ease as if he had watched long without sleep as if he had bled extreamly without stopping it or purged or vomited exceedingly without staying it It is the most venemous and infectious of all Diseases it seiseth upon many and the most of them it kills What the event of the Sickness is like to be one may from hence conjecture and prognosticate First If the sick party in the very first beginning of the Disease and as soon as ever he felt himself ill did take some proper and effectual medicine and did not vomit or cast it up again and if by chance he did cast it up if presently after he did take some more of the same or some other which did abide in his stomach and was digested and did make him sweat and if he grew lightsomer after Sweat if the Swellings Botches or Carbuncles quickly arise to a place not dangerous neither to the Heart Neck Throat nor about the Ears and thereupon the symptomes do abate if the swellings be great or more than one and quickly break and run and come to maturation If the party hath an honest careful Nurse and but one Physitian for two Physitians a wicked Nurse and the Plague are able to make an end of any one sick Patient there is great probability and hope of his recovery Secondly But if the party hath neglected to take any approved Cordial or Medicine in the beginning of the Disease before he slept if the swellings be but small and arise slowly and near about the heart if there be more Carbuncles than one if the swellings retire back and quickly strike in again if the party continue light-headed talke idle or hath Convulsions or a deep sleep or be sick after sleep or hath no sleep at all if he hath a great thirst and the Tongue be black and scorcht if the Eyes look ghastly the Voice be hoarse the Nostrils drawn together if he say that all things stink if he purge or vomit or bleed at the Nose and is not better for it if he be outwardly cold and inwardly burn if he doth often faint or swoune for the most part death follows Thirdly There is no Disease more treacherous and deceitful for sometimes when one may think the worst is past death is at hand and when death seems to be at hand the party sometimes recovers beyond hope or expectation Fourthly Children are most in danger Women with Child next and young Maids that are marriageable more than Elder or aged persons Lastly Those that die of the Plague have commonly to be seen upon them Spots or Marks or Botches Blains or Carbuncles and though these sometimes vanish or disappear yet the flesh will be quickly softer in one place than another and the whole body by reason of the corruption of the humours will grow limber and become more soft than ordinary and worse coloured than other Corpses the Ears also and the Nails and Nose will wax blew as if they had been beaten or bruis'd Of the Preservation from the Pestilence Death is not a greater enemy to Nature than the Pestilence is a friend to Death and though it be so grievous a Disease against which there is yet known no general nor infallible Medicine yet sometimes either by the strength of Nature or help of Physick it hath been heal'd and cured We see there have been some Houses set on fire and yet have been preserved there have been Possessions that have been enter'd by Adversaries and yet have been recover'd and restor'd again to the right and lawful Owners there have been Enemies who have invaded Countries and enter'd Towns and yet have been fortunately driven out by the Valour of the Inhabitants but yet the Housholder could more easily have prevented the Fire than extinguish it the Farmer with lesse trouble kept his Possession than have regain'd it and the Citizens with lesse losse and hazard have defended their Towns and Countries than have clear'd them of their Enemies The Plague is a Fire that consumeth all before it and may quickly bring the body to dust and ashes it is an Adversary that riotously makes a forcible Entry and may assault wound and evilly entreat you so that it may be despaired of your life against whom yon cannot get your damages nor reparation it is an enemy that seldome gives Quarter but destroys spoils and lays all waste before it and far more wisdom it is to prevent the Malady than to abide the trouble cost and hazard of the Cure The way and means of Preservation under Gods assistance as in all things so especially now we ought to seek by Prayer and Devotion consist in two things 1. In avoiding all the Causes of the Plague 2. In strengthening our Bodies against them One Cause of the Sickness is the Corruption and Infection of the Air for when the Plague begins to raign
for use Or else Take Tormentil and Celendine of each four ounces Scabius and Rew of each two handfuls Boil them in two quarts of White-wine Vinegar in an earthen glased vessel for a quarter of an hour and let it cool and bottle it up Note that the most compounded are the best Now take any of these Vinegars or else if you can get no other plain White-wine Vinegar twelve spoonfuls more or less but as much as you can well drink down and mixe with it two drams of London Treacle or Venice Treacle or Mithridate or Diascordium or Confection of Iacynth stir it about and drink it up and go to Bed and sweat Two drams of any of these is a sufficient ordinary dose or quantity for an ordinary person to take at once they that are stronger than ordinary may take more those that are weaker may take lesse If you cast or vomit it up take presently within a quarter of an hour another dose or quantity and if you cast or vomit up that also take another and less quantity for it may well be that your stomach being loaden with corrupt humors being a little assisted with the Medicine may rise up and strive to exclude them and that with fortunate success and hopes of future and more speedy recovery Remember that the saving of your life consists in sweating out the poyson of the Disease and therefore you must endeavour to sweat as long as possibly you can endure it whether it be three six or twelve hours the longer the better and avoid sleeping and let the sweat be wiped off with hot cloths All the time you sweat and afterwards you may sustain Nature and keep up your spirits by eating some preserv'd or candied Citron peel or candied Angelica stalks or preserv'd Raspices or Syrup of Citron or Clove-Gilly-flowers now and then drinking a spoonful or more of Vinegar or taking some posset-drink made with Vinegar you may afterwards eat some Harts-horn Gelly or drink some Almond Milk made with distill'd waters or Barley-water putting into it a few drops of Oyl of Vitriol to make it sharp Remember also that you drink not any liquor whatsoever unless you first make water though never so little and then you may drink without danger During the time of Sweating the Sick should be comforted with sweet perfumes and odors that refresh the spirits and some Rose-water and Vinegar is convenient to be cast on a hot shovel or else sprinkled on a Napkin and laid neer his Nose Also whilest the Sick doth sweat it would be good to apply to the Navel a hot Loaf with a hole made in it and two drams of Treacle put therein that the bread may draw the venome Some apply to the heart the pith of a Manchet dipt in Vinegar and some apply onely a cloth dipt in Vinegar Some bruise radishes and lay them to the feet When you have done Sweating if you can be perswaded you are to forbear the changing of your Linnen but if you must needs change it as you tender and regard your life put on no fresh linnen though never so well dried and aired by the fire but put on some linnen that hath been worn by your self or some body else for if you put on fresh linnen whether it be by reason of the sope that hath some malignity in it or for some other cause it hath been often observed that the Sick have relaps'd into great anxiety and bad symptomes the forerunners of Death have quickly return'd upon them Some do highly commends this Take of Bezar-stone and Emerald powdered of each seven grains Iacynth powdered three grains It is best to put them in a spoonful of Vinegar and swallow it down and drink some more Vinegar after it Sennertus commends this Take Bezar-stone twelve grains the bone of a Staggs heart one scruple Emerald and Iacynth of each seven grains powder them very small and take them with Vinegar But because true Bezar-stone is hard to be gotten and there be those in the World that have done as great matters as counterfeit them that you cannot know the true from the false and because the fragments of those precious stones which be commonly sold are but the spare and crust of them I would be loath to venture my life on their operation neither do I perswade others to relie upon them The root of Virginia Snakeweed and Contrayerva are most excellent and you may take the weight of half a dram of each of them in powder or a dram of any one of them in powder in a spoonful of Vinegar drinking a draught of Vinegar after it For young children that can take nothing let them be wrapped in a cloth that hath been used before and dipped in Vinegar and put the child in the cloth so wet and let him sweat Elder persons may sweat the same way also being wrapped in a sheet dipt in Vinegar In the Works of several Physitians there is often mention of taking Vinegar as it were by the By in a small inconsiderable quantity not for its own sake but with other Medicines as if it were onely a thing to help them down the better and make them pallatable they will tell you that Vinegar is good with Cucumbers and gives a pleasing relish to a Sallet whereas in truth neither one nor the other are good but onely with Vinegar It is a thing which is not onely wholesome in it self but also makes other things wholsome and takes away their hurtfulnesse When you speak of this singular liquor away with cold commendations which argue rather a willingness to dispraise than a readiness to commend If it did whet ones wit as much as sharpen ones stomach there could nothing dull or flat be spoken of it It is Food and Physick Meat and Medicine Drink and Julep Cordial and Antidote Did you formerly taste it but as a common Sawce do you now eat it as a common Remedy When you are well 't is a Preservative from Sicknesse when you are sick 't is a Restorative to Health 'T is like Apparel which you put on not onely for comeliness to hide shame but also for warmth to keep out cold 'T is like the Swords which Gallants wear not onely for Ornament when they walk but also for defence to fright a Thief when they travail and slay an Enemy when they fight 'T is Relish for Sawce 't is Sawce for Meat 't is Medicine for Diseases 't is cordial for the heart not onely a Cordial for the Spirits but an Antidote against Poyson not onely an Antidote against Poyson but against the Plague the chief of poysons so Vinegar is the chief of Antidotes as the Sword is the King of Weapons If you look upon the Plague as caused by the Corruption of the Air you may take notice that the Air which deadeneth and sowreth other liquors doth not hurt Vinegar but rather exalt its vertue 'T is something to preserve it self but that 's not all its vertue