as may be to be Masters of the Evacuation and to hinder it from causing a Loosness for that is more dangerous than Salivation because of the continual forcing downward in going to stool by which the Womb receives great commotion and is extreamly agitated I know very well that many will not easily be perswaded but that either it is impossible to cure a Woman of the Pox whilst she is with Child or that she and her Child cannot undergo the Remedies without inevitable danger of death however the experience I have had of it my self makes me to be of another opinion which I am vvilling to communicate for an example in the like case In the Year 1660 when I practised Midwifery in the Hostel de Dieu at Paris a young Wench not above twenty years old came thither to lie-in of her second Child that had had the Pox before ever she conceived the first time and after miscarried of a dead Child rotten with the Pox therefore being big this second time and perceiving the accidents of ber disease to augment more and more she concluded there was no hopes this great Belly would succeed any better than the first because she had all over her Body especially upon both her Breasts very many malignant Ulcers which encreased day by day and fearing it might turn to a Cancer before her Reckoning was compleat being but three months gone she resolved to submit to a thorough-Cure then and to hazard her life in that condition to save her Child's having no other hopes to effect it nor being able her self to resist the growing disease She acquainted three or four Chirurgeons both vvith her disease and design not at all concealing her great-belly who for that cause would not undertake her although she was fully resolved upon it and promised to pay them vvell telling her that their Conscience would not suffer them to do it in the condition she was in and that it would be better she would patiently submit to it aswell as she could till she was brought to bed and then they vvould very vvillingly undertake her But when she found none would undertake her unless she concealed her great-belly vvhich was not hard to be done being but three months gone and believing there was no better an expedient She met with another to whom she mentioned nothing of her great Belly that put her into the ordinary course as if there had been no Conception and besides the common Remedies used in this disease he gave her a Salivation by five or six reiterated Frictions of the Oyntment vvhich followed her very plentifully five vvhole vveeks so that she vvas vvell and perfectly cured without leaving the least ill accident behind of her disease When she was almost recovered and that all had succeeded wel she told her Chirurgeon she was four months a half gone with Child for she was three months when she came to him where she lodged six weeks intire without having it in the least perceived which at first he could hardly believe but perceiving her Belly rather grown bigger than lesser during the Evacuation the Physick had made he was immediately assured of the truth of it She informed him that the reason why she had concealed her great-Belly was the refusal four Chirurgions to whom she had confest it made to take her in hand From the time she was cured she suffered not the least inconvenience during all the remainder of her time except a little want because all the money she had was given the Chirurgeon for her Cure which made her come to the Hostel de Dieu to lie-in where I delivered her of a Child at the full time as big fat and healthy as if the Mother never had had the least touch of that disease in her whole body and which was very remarkable the Burthen which is a part very susceptable of the least impression of a Woman 's corrupt humours was as neat fair and ruddy as could be imagined This example which is very true may convince us that a big-bellied Woman may be taken in hand for the Pox and more safely if the Precautions noted above be carefully observed For it is without contradiction that if this Woman had not been cured she had this second time been brought to bed of a rotten Child as before Relating once this History to a Chirurgion a Friend of mine he told me that himself twice in two different persons had the same success who were very well cured and their Children likewise well born at the full time without having the least impression of the venom in any part of their Body Varandaeus confirms to us this truth in the second Chapter of his second Book of Womens Diseases where he precisely tells us that he had seen big-bellied Women who had had this disease eradicated by anointings with Mercury and Salivation prescribed by Empericks which may convince us that this Cure will easily have a better success when governed and managed by a knowing and methodical person In a word 't is easie to be perswaded that they can endure it although with Child because many very often have continual Feavers for twelve or fifteen dayes and other acute distempers for which they have been necessited to be nine or * Such frequent bleeding Women with Child in so short a space is not approved in England ten times blooded and yet notwithstanding have oft-times gone through with their Children to their full account and been delivered of them as well as if they never had had any ill accident CHAP. XXIV Of Abortion and its Causes WHen a Woman casts forth in the beginning what she had retained by conception in the Womb 't is called an Effluxion or a sliding away of the Seeds because they have not yet acquired any solid substance if they miscarry of a false-conception which is ordinarily from the later end of the first to the end of the second month it is called an Expulsion but when the Infant is already formed and begins to live if it comes before the time ordained and prescribed by Nature it is an abortion which may happen from the second to the beginning of the seventh month for afterwards it is accounted a Birth because the Infant being strong enough and having all its perfections may then live which is impossible if he comes before These things thus understood we then say that an Abortion is an issuing forth of the Child yet imperfect out of the Womb contrary to Nature before the term limited which is the cause that for the most part it is dead or if sometimes alive it dies in a short time after We may in general assert that every acute Disease easily makes a Woman miscarry because they destroy her fruit which being dead never stayes long in the Womb and also puts the Woman in great hazard of her life as saith Hippocrates in the 30th Aphorism of his 5th Book Mulierem gravidam morbo quopiam acuto corripi
and in what manner whether it is the ordinary Courses or a real Flooding If it be the ordinary Courses the blood comes away periodically at the accustomed times and flows by degrees from the neck near the inward Orifice of the Womb and not from its Fund as may be discovered if trying with a finger one finds the inward Orifice exactly closed which could not be if the blood proceeded from the bottom as also if it proceeds without pain all which circumstances do not meet in a flooding but others very different as will appear in the following Chapter It must likewise be considered whether these Courses flow onely because of the superfluity or because of the acrimony of the Blood or the weakness of the Vessels which contain it that so fit Remedies may be applyed If they proceed from the sole abundance being more than the Fruit can consume for its nourishment it is so far from hurting either Mother or Child that being moderate it is very profitable to them because if the Womb were not discharged of this superfluous blood the Fruit which is as yet but little would be drowned by it or as it were suffocated And if it should chance that they were unduely stopt or retained bleeding will supply the defect of the natural evacuation which ought to have been but if there be no sign of abundance or plenitude and that before she was with Child she had her Courses in a small quantity which still continue to flow after she hath conceived it is a sign that the flux proceeds from the heat and acrimony of the blood or the weakness of the Vessels appointed to receive it It is of this sort of Women that Hippocrates pretends to speak in the 6th Aphorism before mentioned whose Children cannot be healthful when their Courses flow whilst they are breeding because there remains not blood enough behind for her and the nourishment of her Infant which puts her in great danger of miscarrying for as the proverb saith Hunger drives the Wolf out of the Wood so likewise want of nourishment forceth the little prisoner out of his hiding-place before his time To hinder this Flux from effecting so evil and sinister an accident the Woman must keep her self very quiet in bed abstaining from all things that may heat her Blood shunning Choler above all the passions of the mind using a strengthening and a cooling diet feeding on meat that breeds good Blood and thickens it as are good broths made with Poultry necks of Mutton knuckles of Veal in which may be boiled cooling Pot-herbs newlayd Eggs Gelly's Rice-milk Barly-broths which are proper for her let her Drink be Water in which Iorn is quenched with a little Syrup of Quince she must refrain from Copulation because by heating the Blood it excites it to flow more If notwithstanding all this the Flux continues some commend large cupping-glasses under the Breasts to make a revulsion and to turn the Blood according to Hippocrates Aphorism 50 of the 5th Book Mulieri si velis menstrua sistere cucurbitulam quam maximam ad Mammas appone but it will do no great matter however to satisfie the Patient and to shew that nothing is omitted that may make for her cure they may be applied I should rather choose to make this Revulsion by bleeding in the Arme if her strength permitted And because in this condition the Child is very weak through this great evacuation it must be fortified by applying to the Mothers Belly about the region of the Womb Compresses steeped in strong Wine in which is boyled a Pomegranat with its peel Provence-Roses and a little Cinamon but the best way to strengthen it is to correct the Mothers Blood and hinders its evacuation CHAP. XX. Of Floodings THere is a great difference between the menstruous Blood of which we have discoursed in the preceeding chapter which happens sometimes to Women with Child and this Flooding which we have now in hand for as I have said the Courses come periodically at the times accustomed without pain destilling by little and little from the neck of the Womb during pregnancy after which it totally ceaseth but much the contrary this loss of Blood comes from the bottom of the Womb with pain and almost of a sudden and in great abundance and continues flooding daily without intermission except that some clods formed there which seem somtimes to lessen the accident by stopping for a little time the place whence it flows but soon after it returns with greater violence after which follows death both to Mother and Child if not timely prevented by delivering the Woman as shall be hereafter declared If this Flooding happens when young with Child it is usually because of some Fals-conception or Mole of which the Womb endeavours to discharge it self by which it opens some of the Vessels in the bottom of it from whence the Blood ceaseth not to flow until in hath cast forth the strange bodies it contained in its capacity and the hotter and subtiller the Blood is then the more abundantly it flows But when this Flouding happens to a Woman truly conceived at whatsoever time it be it proceeds likewise from the opening of the Vessels of the fund of the Womb caused by some blow slip or other hurt and chiefly because the Secundine in such cases and sometimes in others separating in part if not totally from the inside of the bottom of the Womb to which it ought to adhere that it might receive the Mothers Blood appointed for the Infants nouriture by which separation it leaves open all the orifices of the vessels where it was joyned and so follows a great flux of Blood which never ceaseth if so caused till the Woman be brought to bed for the Secundine being once loosened although but part of it never joyns again to the Womb to close those Vessels which can never shut till the Womb hath voided all that it contained for then compressing and closing its self and as it were entering within it self as it happens presently after delivery the orrifices of the vessels are closed and stopt up by this contraction whereby also this flooding ceaseth which alwayes continues as long as the Womb is distended by the Child or any thing else it contains for the reason aforesaid much like to a Spunge whose pores or holes being very large when swelled disappear and close with their own substance when squeezed and compressed so likewise by this contraction of the Matrix which during pregnancy became as it were spongeous in the place whence the Secundine was separated the orifices of the vessels are closed assoon as it is cleansed from whatsoever it contained in its capacity Although I have said that a Woman in this condition for the reasons alledged must necessarily be delivered that the Flooding may be stopt I do not intend it should be done assoon as perceived because some small Floodings have sometimes been suppressed by keeping quietly in bed bleeding in the Arme
and the use of the Remedies specified in the precedent Chapter it may likewise be but an ordinary and menstruous Flux If then the Blood flows but in small quantity and continues a little while 't is good leaving the labour to the work of nature provided the Woman hath sufficient strength and that it be accompanied with no other evil accident but when it flows in so great abundance that she falls into Convulsions and Faintings then the operation must not be defer'd and 't is absolutely necessary she should be delivered whether she be at her reckoning or no whether she have pains or throws or not because there is no other way to save her life and the Childs then presently to do it Extreman fundet cum sanguine vocem she casts forth with her Blood her last breath Hippocrates knew very well the danger of it when he said in his 56th Aphorism of the 5th Book In fluxu muliebri si convulsio animi defectus advenerit malum If Convulsions and Faintings follow Floodings it is a bad sign There must not alwayes in these unfortunate accidents be expected pains and throws to force and bear down to forward labour for though they come at the beginning they usually cease assoon as the Flooding comes to Syncope's and Convulsions neither must it be defer'd till the Womb be enough opened forasmuch as this effusion of Blood very much moistens it and the weakness relaxeth it so that it may be then as easily dilated as if there had been abundance of strong throws Wherefore having placed the Woman in the situation we shall direct when we treat of deliveries let the Chirurgeon having his hands anointed with Oyle or fresh Butter introduce his Fingers joyned together by degrees into the Matrix and spread them open the one from the other when they are in the entry for to dilate it sufficiently by little and little without any violence if possible which being done and his hand quite within if he finds the Waters not broke let him break them and then whatsoever part of the Child presents though the Head provided it be not just in the Birth let him search for the Feet and draw it forth by them observing every curcumstance that shall be shewen in the 14th Chapter of the second Book where is described the way how to deliver a Woman the Child coming with the Feet first because there is better hold and more easie to deliver by them than by the Head or any other part of the body Wherefore if the Feet lie not ready the Chirurgeon must seek for them which at that time is easier done than at another because the great Flooding makes the Womb loose and slippery by its humidity so that it will not be difficult for him to turn the Child and bring it by the Feet as we have even now said after which he must fetch the after-burthen which in these cases cleaves but little being careful not to leave so much as a clod in the Womb lest it still continue the Flooding which being done it will soon after stop with all the accidents if too much time was not spent before the operation Many Women and Children have perished for want of this operation in this ill accident and many others have escaped death which else most certanly had followed by being timely succored Guillimen in Chap. 13 of his 2d Book of happy Deliveries makes mention of six or seven Histories to confirm this verity in some of which we may find the Women and their Children bloody victims of it for not having been in the like case delivered which others by a seasonable delivery escaped and the better to confirm it by my own experience I will recite you one amongst the rest very remarkable of the remembrance of which I am so sensible that the Ink I write with at present to publish it to the World for their propfit seems to me to be Blood because in this sad and fatal occasion I saw part of my self expire About three years since one of my Sisters not yet one and twenty years of age being about eight months and a half gone with her fifth Child and then very well in health was so unfortunate as to hurt her self though at first small in appearance by falling on her Knees her Belly a little touching the ground by the fall after which she passed a day or two without perceiving any great alteration which made her neglect to repose her self being very necessary for her but the third day or thereabouts after her hurt about eleven in the morning she was suddenly surprised with strong and frequent pains in the Belly which were immediatly followed with Floodings this made her presently send for her Midwife who no better understanding her Office told her she must have papatience till the Womb had dilated it self by the pains before she could be delivered assuring her further that she had no reason to be afraid and that she should be quickly freed from the danger because her Child came right she made her thus hope in vain three or four hours until the Flooding still continuing violently the pains began to cease and the poor Woman fell into frequent faintings and then the Midwife desired a Chiurgeon to advise with in this case they immediately sent to my house for me but unfortunately missing of me they sent for him whom they judged the ablest of all the Chirurgeons that practised Midwifery in Paris and immediatly conducted him to my Sisters where he arrived about four in the afternoon and having seen her * It were to be wish'd rather than hoped for that Practitioners in this and other the like dangerous cases whereof they have no certain knowledge would consult and not destroy one or more by undertaking what they cannot well perform or discourage Patients from sending for other help and advice putting Life in ballance with their Reputation contented himself with only saying she was a dead woman and that nothing was to be done to her but to give her all the Sacraments and that absolutely she could not be delivered which likewise the Midwife joyntly concluded who believed that the opinion of a Man so authentickly esteemed of all must be infallible Assoon as he had delivered this Prognostick he immediately returned home and would by no means stay any longer but left this young Woman in that deplorable condition without any succour whose life he had certainly saved with her Childs if he at that time had delivered her which was very easie to be done as will plainly appear by the sequel of the History After the advice of a person of so great reputation together with that of the Midwife since Monsieur N. * The great mischiefs which happen by the Prognosticks of such who have the luck though they want the merit to be esteemed could do nothing there was no other remedy for so great a danger but to hope in God alone who was Almighty
above the lest near the Privities drawing likewise with that very gently resting the while the Fore-finger of the same hand extended and stretched forth along the String towards the entry of the Vagina as may be seen in the annexed Figure alwaies observing for the more facility to draw it from the side where the Burthen cleaves least for in so doing the rest will separate the better just as we see a Card which is glewed to any thing is better separated from the place where it begins to part then where it is close joyned Chap IX lib. 2. pag 190 Assoon as the Woman is delivered of both Child and Burthen it must then be considered whether there be all and care had that not the least part of it remain behind not so much as the Skirts or any Clods of Blood which ought all to be brought away with the first for otherwise being retained they cause great Pains all which being done things fit for Mother and Child in this condition must be provided which we will mention in their place When a Woman hath two Children she must be delivered in the same manner as if she had but one observing only for the reasons given in the precedent Chapter not to fetch the Burthen till all the Children are born and then it may be done without danger shaking and drawing it alwaies gently sometimes by one String sometimes the other and sometimes by both together and so by turns till all is come proceeding in it according to the directions already given When the Infant comes right and naturally the Woman is brought to Bed and delivered with little help observing what hath been taught in the two last Chapters of which the meanest Midwives are capable and oft times for want of them a simple Nurs-keeper may supply the place but when it is a wrong Labour there is a greater mystery belongs to it for then the skill and prudence of a Chirurgeon is for the most part requisite Which we intend now in the remaining part of this Book to treat of CHAP X. Of laborious and difficult Labours and those against Nature their Causes and Differences together with the means to remedy them FOr the easier and better explaining these things we say that there are three sorts of bad Labours to wit the Painful or Laborious the Difficult and that which is altogether contrary to Nature The Laborious is a bad Labour in which the Mother and Child though it comes right suffer very much and are harassed more than ordinary The Difficult is not much unlike the first but besides is accompanied with some accident which retards it and causeth the difficulty but the wrong Labour or that against Nature is caused by the bad scituation of the Child and can never be helped but by manual Operation or the Chirurgeons hand In the laborious and difficult Labours Nature alwaies doth the Work being a little assisted but in that contrary to Nature all its endeavors are vain and useless and there is then no help but in an expert Chirurgeon without whom she must certainly perish The Difficulties of Labour proceed either from Mother Child or both From the Mother by reason of the indisposition of her Body or it may be from some particular part only and chiefly the Womb or also from some strong passion of the Mind with which she was before possest In respect of her Body either because she may be too Young having the Passages too strait or too old of her first Child because her parts are too dry and hard and cannot be so easily dilated as happens also to them which are too lean they who are either small short or mishapen as crooked Women have not a Breast strong enough to help their Pains and to bear them down nor those that are weak whether naturally or by accident and crooked persons have sometimes the Bones of the Passage not well conformed the tender and too apprehensive of Pain have more trouble than others because it hinders them from doing their endeavour and they likewise who have small Pains and slow or have none at all Great Cholicks hinder Labour also by preventing the true Paius all great and acute diseases make it very troublesome and of a bad consequence according to Hippocrates's opinion in the 30th Aphorism of the Fifth Book Mulierem gravidam morbo quopiam acuto corripi lethale As when she is taken with a violent Feaver a great Flooding frequent Convulsions Dysentery or any other great distemper Excrements retained cause much difficulty as a Stone in the Bladder or when it is full of Urine without being able to void it or when the great Gut is repleted with hard Ordure or the Woman troubled with great and painful Piles and their ill scituation sometimes retard it extremely As touching the difficulty proceeding from the Womb only it must either be from its bad Scituation or Conformation having its Neck too strait hard or callous whether naturally or by any accident as having had there a Tumor Apostume or Ulcer or Superfluous flesh whether on the Neck or inward Orifice or because of any Cicatrice caused by a preceding bad Travail Besides these those things which are or may be contained in the Womb with the Child do also cause difficult Travail as when the Membranes are so strong that they cannot be broken which sometimes hinders them from advancing into the Passage or so tender that the Waters break too soon for then the Womb remains dry When there is a Mole or the After-burthen comes first which alwaies causeth flooding and certainly the death of the Infant if the Woman be not presently delivered of them by Nature or Art yea and when the Navel-string comes first the Child is suffocated if not speedily after born strong Passions of the Mind do likewise contribute much to it as Fear Sorrow and others the like The Woman that miscarries hath more pain than a Woman at her full time as also than one that is hurt although she be very near her time As to the hinderances caused by the Infant they are when either its Head or whole Body are too large when the Belly is Hydropical when it is monstrous having two Heads or being joyned to another Child Mole or any other strange thing when it is dead or so weak that it contributes nothing to its Birth when it comes wrong or when there are two or more besides all these different difficulties of Labour there is yet one caused by the Midwife's ignorance who for want of understanding her business instead of helping hinders Nature in its work Let us now treat of the means by which all these may be prevented and the Woman succoured in her bad and difficult Labour as may easily be done if we perfectly know the causes of all these difficulties as when it happens by the Mothers being too young and too strait she must be gently treated and the passages anointed with Oyl Grease and fresh Butter
cleave to it notwithstanding that it is then a little wrinkled and uneven because its Membranes which were very much enlarged contract themselves immediatly after the Child and its Waters which kept them extended are excluded * Be careful of those that are not but they that are expert in this Art can easily judge of it If you find the Burthen wholly loosened from the Womb it will not be difficult to draw it forth when you have got it in your Hand but if it cleaves finding the side where it sticks least begin there to separate it gently by putting some of your Fingers between it and the Womb continuing by little and little to do so till it be quite loose and afterwards to draw it forth very carefully observing the whilst if it cannot be otherwise rather to leave some part of it behind than to scrape or scratch the least part of the Womb for fear of a flooding inflammation or Gangrene which cause death being also careful not to draw it forth till it be wholly or the most part of it separated for fear of drawing forth the Womb with it and preserving it as whole as these reflections will permit because of shewing it to the company that they know the Operation is well done When the Chirurgeon finds not the Womb open enough for to direct his hand immediatly into it let him * Danger in delays presently anoint all the Womans Privities with Hogs-grease that they may be dilated with more ease afterwards let him by little and little put up his Hand but without much violence the Woman may likewise contribute to this dilatation as also to the exclusion of the Burthen if she bears strongly down holding her Breath and exciting her self to vomit or sneeze and do those other things directed in the above mentioned Chapter but if notwithstanding all this she cannot void the Afterbirth and if the Womb cannot be dilated enough to fetch it or that it cleaves so fast as it cannot be separated then to avoid a greater mischief we must leave it to Nature assisting her with remedies which suppurates wherefore Injections into the Womb are proper made of Mallows Marsh-mallows Pellitory and Linseed in which is mixed a good quantity of Oyl of Lillies or fresh Butter This injection softens and tempers and by moistning and mollifying makes the Orifice to be the easier dilated and helps by Suppuration the loosenings of the Burthen And to hasten the expulsion of it give her a strong Clyster that so by the motions to go to Stool it may cause it to be voided as it hath arrived to many that have rendered it in the Bed-pan and sometimes when they have least expected it One may at the same time to prevent a Fever and many other accidents which usually happen bleed her in the Arm or Foot according as it may be necessary and convenient and strengthen her that the Foetus and cadaverous Vapours coming from the putrifaction of the Burthen ascend not to the Noble parts which may be done by good Cordials often used not such as are made of Theriacle Mithridate or the like for which no reason can be given but their specifick or rather imaginary Faculties and are fitter to cause Vomiting than comfort the Heart but true Cordials are such as yeeld good nourishment and at the same time comfort the Stomach without nauseating it as those Drugs do which are only good for them that sell them Wherefore let her have good Broaths and Gellies she may drink Limonade or Orengade or have in her Ptisan Syrup of Limons or Pomgranats or from time to time if she be weak and free from a Fever a little Wine and Water mixed which we say is the best in some cases but not alwaies and most natural of all Cordials besides other Remedies may be provided according to the accidents which happen by reason of the staying behind of the Burthen always endeavouring to bring it away assoon as possible for as long as it stays in the Womb the Woman feels continually great Pains almost like to them before her Child was born although there remained but a small piece of it 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 Burthen retained the more difficult it is sometimes to be expelled because the impulses which the Woman can make by helping her Throwes are not so great when the matter contained in the Womb is small as when it is of a considerable bigness for then it is more strongly thrust and compressed which is the reason why a Woman miscarries with greater difficulty than when brought to Bed at her full time There are many Midwives who having broken the Navel-string as * This may happen to a good Midwife but the fault is when they do not discover it that seasonable help may be applied abovesaid leave their work imperfect and commit the rest to Natures work but very often the poor Woman dies because of the great mischiefs which happen usually before the suppuration of the Burthen so retained To avoid which assoon as they meet with the like case they must endeavour to fetch it according as we have directed or if they find themselves not capable to do it because the Hand must be put up into the Womb which is more properly the work of a Chirurgeon expert in those cases let them presently send for one that so he may be yet able before the Womb closeth to introduce his hand for the longer it is deferred the more difficult will be the work There are other Midwives bold enough to undertake this Operation but for want of industry or necessary knowledg they cannot effect it and leave the Woman oftentimes in a worse condition than if they had never medled with it as happened about a year or little more since to a poor Woman in the Fauxbourgh Sâ— Marcel whom I helped three days after she was delivered being half gone by a Midwife of the same Fauxbourgh at the desire of Mr. Bessier a Chirurgeon and my good Friend who conducted and accompanied me to her where I found her in continual pain all over her Belly which held her like throws of another Travail voiding black humours extremely stinking and offensive with which she had also a great pain in her Head and a Fever which in a short time would without doubt have augmented if I had not presently fetched what remained wherefore having enquired of the persons present in her Chamber how she was delivered and when they told me not yet three whole days but that the Midwife not being able to fetch all did only bring away some small pieces of the Burthen told them * An excuse of some of our Midwives that they need not be troubled at what remained perswading them alwaies that it would come away of it self and that nothing more was to be
Womb taking heed not to pinch the Womb and that the Instrument be alwaies conducted by the Finger first introduced which will judg and distinguish by the touch between this Conception and the substance of the Womb in doing which there being no other way he will certainly accomplish his business I thought of causing such an Instrument to be made upon an occasion where it would have stood me in good stead if I had had it with which I have since proceeding according to the directions I have just now given lately drawn forth a false Conception of the bigness of a Walnut which without doubt had else that day been the death of one named Madam le Roy dwelling near the great Stairs at the place Maubert by reason of the horrible loss of Blood which it occasioned and which ceased assoon as I had drawn forth this Conception which I could never have done any other way because the inner Orifice of the Womb was not open nor could be dilated more than for one Finger alone after the manner I have declared besides the pressing danger of the accident the delay of the Operation had indubitably been the death of this Woman who thanks be to God is since well recovered CHAP. XXXIII Of the Caesarean Section WHen a big-bellyed Woman is effectively in Labour 't is very rare but that an expert Chirurgeon can deliver the Child dead or alive whole or in pieces in a word that he may do the work completely if he behaves himself as the case requires and according to the directions given in each particular Chapter foregoing treating of the several unnatural Labours without being necessitated in a very inhuman cruel and barbarous manner to have recourse to the Caesarean Operation during the Mothers life as some Authors have too inconsideratly ordered and somtimes practised themselves In truth there would seem some pretext of a lawful excuse to make Martyrs of these poor Women if it were to bring a second Caesar from them whom they say was born in that manner or some great and new Prophet In the times of the ancient Pagans they did use to sacrifice innocent Victims for the publick good but never for a private I know very well that they palliate it with a pretence of baptizing the Infant which else would be deprived of it because the Mothers death is for the most part cause of the Childs but I do not know that there ever was any Law Christian or Civil which doth ordain the martyring and killing the Mother for to save the Child 'T is rather to satisfie the avarice of some people who care not much whether their Wives die provided they have a Child to survive them not so much for the sake of Children but to inherit by them afterwards for which cause they do easily consent to this cruel Operation which is a damnable policy If they say to render the fact less horrible in appearance that it must never be undertaken but when the Woman is reduced to the utmost extremity to that I answer that a Woman often recovers beyond hope or probability And if they object that she may likewise escape after this Operation I do utterly deny it by the testimony of the most expert Chirurgeons that have practised it who alwaies had bad success all the Women ever dying in a short time after I do highly commend Guillemeau who to disabuse the world for such a wicked and pernicious practise confesseth speaking of this fatal Operation and ownes by way of repentance that he did himself twice in the presence of Ambrose Parê put it into practise and saw it thrice done more by three several very expert Chirurgeons who omitted never a circumstance to make it succeed well and notwithstanding all the Women died As for Parê he will not acknowledg that he saw those two Operations of Guillemean because he will not have Posterity know that he was able to consent to so great a cruelty but contents himself with advising only that it should never be undertaken till the Woman is dead because there is no possibility she should escape it not only because of the irregular wound which is convenient to make for this purpose in the Belly but chiefly for that in the Womb and for the excessive Flux of Blood which will immediatly follow However contrary to the opinion of two such famous Chirurgeons there are some rash persons who do obstinately maintain though with but as little reason as Rausset that it is not impossible for a Woman to escape because they have seen some that have had the Bones of their dead Children come forth by an abscess of the Belly after that the Flesh of them had passed the natural way in Supâ—uration which Bones by little and little had pierced the Womb and the Belly also and after that they were so drawn forth yet the Women recovered As also others did not dye whose Wombs after Precipitation and perfect putrefaction and Gangrene was totally cut away Indeed we must acknowledg what experience hath many times taught us as it hath these things which I believe have happened and may again as well as those though rarely but it doth not follow that this Caesarean Operation must needs succeed as well because here is made at one stroak a very great wound in the Belly and Womb which is ever the death of the poor Woman immediatly or soon after But when Nature it self begins to separate and pierce these parts by means of these Bones to cast them forth by some new way which it makes not being able to do it by the common and natural for want of the help in due time of skilful persons it doth it by degrees and not all at once and according to the measure it drives these preternatural Bodies forth of the Womb so it reunites and rejoins it at the same time proportionably and without the least Flux of Blood which happens quite otherwise in the artificial Operation and if it be true that some Women have ever escaped it we must believe it a Miracle and the express hand of God who can when He pleaseth raise the dead as he did Lazarus and change the course of Nature when 't is his good pleasure rather than an effect of humane prudence There are many good Women who for having only heard some Gossips speak of it are very confident that they know such and such yet living whose sides had been so opened to fetch the Child so out of their Belly Nay more there are some that affirm they know those that have had this Operation practised on them three or four times successively and yet alive and the better to confirm so notable a lye which they had only heard recited by others and after having three or four times told it believe it themselves for truth as much as if they had seen it with their own eyes will tell so many circumstances and particulars that they easily perswade those that do not understand
that he must only pierce the Peritoneum with the point of his Instrument to make an orifice for one or two of the Fingers of his left Hand into which he must immediatly thrust them for to cut it lifting it up with them and conducting the instrument for fear of pricking the Guts in proportion to the first incision of the * Skins Coverings which having done the Womb will soon appear in which he must make an incision in the same manner as he did in the Peritoneum being careful not to thrust his instrument at once too far in thinking to find the Womb a finger or two thick as all Authors affirm contrary to truth in which he would be deceived as those are that never well considered it for it is very certain that at the time of Labour whilst it contains the Child and Waters in it it is not above a single line thick or the thickness of half a Crown although they have all sang to us that by divine Providence and a Miracle the more 't is extended with the Child the thicker it grows which is absolutely false it being only true that it is at that time a little thicker at the place where the Burthen cleaves where its substance is then as it were spongious but every where else it is very thin and becomes the more so by how much it is more extended until being emptied by the Birth of the Child it begins to grow thicker in contracting and gathering to it self all its substance which was before very much extended It being just like the Bladder which being full is very thin and being empty appears to us of half a Fingers thickness which filling again waxeth thinner in proportion to the Urine that flows to it having then so opened the Womb he must likewise make an incision in the Infants Membranes taking care not to wound it with the instrument and then he will soon see it and must immediatly take it out with the Burthen which he must nimbly separate from the bottom of the Womb and finding it to be yet living let him praise God for having so blessed and prospered his Operation But the Children so delivered in these cases are usually so weak if not quite dead as it often happens that 't is hard to know whether 't is alive or dead Yet one may be confident the Child is living if by touching the Navelstring the Umbilical Arteries are perceived to move as also the Heart by laying the Hand on the Breast and if it prove so means must be used to fetch it to it self spouting some Wine in the Nose and Mouth warming it until it begins to stir of it self Midwives usually lay the Burthen very hot on the Belly of such weak Children if that helps 't is rather because of the temperate heat of it than for any other cause for 't is impossible the Infant should receive any spirits from it after it is once separated from the Womb and yet less when the Woman is dead As to the heat of it it can no wise hurt but the weight of this mass layed on the Belly may rather choak it by the compression it makes than do it any good besides when the Burthen is grown cold they put it in a Skellet of hot Wine from whence they think the Spirits renew which being conveyed through the String into the Childs Belly gives it new force but as I have said already that is very useless and the best and speediest remedy is immediatly to separate it and open the Childs Mouth cleaning and unstopping also the Nose if there be any filth to help it so to breath freely keeping it all the while near the Fire until it hath a little recovered its weakness spouting some Wine into the Nose and Mouth of it that he may a little tast and scent it which can not hurt it in this juncture if one observes some moderation in the thing Having now at large treated in this Second Book as well of natural as unnatural Labours and given sufficient instructions to a Chirurgeon to enable him to help Women in the first and to remedy all the different accidents of the latter to which he may be dayly called there rests nothing now to finish it but to represent the Instruments proper to this Art And then we will pass to the Third Book where we must handle many things which they must necessarily know that intend to practise Deliveries Explication of the Instruments A A Crochet or Hook to draw forth a dead Child B Another Crochet for the same purpose according as the case requires either bigger or less both of them must be strong enough and very smooth and equal that the Womb may not be hurt in the Operation and above ten large Inches long or thereabouts and their Handles must be of a moderate bigness for the firmer holding of them C A crooked Knife equal in length to the Crochets fit for the separating a monstrous Child or piercing of the Belly of an hydropical Infant or opening the Head to empty the Brains or to divide it in pieces when because of its bigness or monstrousness it remaines behind in the Womb separated from the Infants Body D. Another small crooked Knife for the same purpose but not so convenient because it cannot be guided but with one Hand E. A sharp Incision-knife fit for the Caesarean Section soon after the Mothers death F A Cranes bill fitted for the drawing forth of the Womb any strange Body or false Conception when the whole Hand cannot be introduced G Another Instrument for the same purpose H A Speculum Matricis with three branches to open the Womb for to discover Ulcers or other Maladies sometimes there deeply scituated I Another of two Branches for the same purpose K Another yet more commodious L A Catheter to let out the Urine when the Woman cannot make Water M A Syringè for injections into the Womb. End of the Second Book The Third Book Treating of Women in Child bed and of the Diseases and Symptomes befalling them at that time Of Children new born and their ordinary Distempers together with necessary directions for to choose a Nurse GOing with Child is an rough Sea on which a big-bellyed Woman and her Infant floats the space of nine Months And Labour which is the only Port is so full of dangerous Rocks that very often both the one and the other after they are arrived and disembarked have yet need of much help to defend them against divers inconveniences that usually follow the Pains and Travail they have undergone in it We have directed in the First Book treating of the Diseases which are incident to Women with Child how to prevent their suffering shipwrack in this Sea during so long a Voyage In the Second we have taught how they may enter this Port and disimbarque there with safety by Delivery It remains then to compleat our work that we expound in this Third and last how the
Mother and Child must afterwards be ordered and declare how at this time to prevent and remedy divers Indispositions which often happen to them both Let us first consider those that arrive to a Woman new layd and then we shall pass to those that regard a new-born Infant CHAP. I. What is fit to be done to a Woman new-laid and naturally delivered IMmediatly after the Woman is delivered and the Burthen come away care must be taken that the loosening of it be not followed with a Flooding which if it be not a soft Closure to the Womb must immediatly be applied five or six double to prevent the cold Air by entring in from sudden stopping the Vessels by which the Woman should cleanse by degrees whereby there would certainly happen many ill accidents as great Pains and Gripes of the Belly Inflammation of the Womb and divers others which we shall mention hereafter particularly and which may easily be the cause of her death When the Womb is so closed if the Woman was not delivered upon her ordinary Bed let her be presently carried into it by some strong body or more if there be need rather than to let her walk thither which Bed must be first ready warmed and prepared as is requisite because of the cleansings but if she were delivered on it which is best and safest to prevent the danger and trouble of carrying her to it then all the soul linnen and other things put there for the receiving the Blood Waters and other Filth which comes away in Labour must be presently removed and she must be placed conveniently in it for her ease and rest which she much wants to recover her of the Pains and Labour she endured during her Travail that is with her Head and Body a little raised for to breath the freer and cleanse the better especially of that Blood which then comes away that so it may not clod which being retained causes very great Pains All this will happen if they have not liberty to come freely by this convenient scituation in which she must put down her Legs and Thighs close together having a small Pillow for her greater ease if she desire it under her Hams upon which they may rest a little being so put to Bed let her lye neither of one side nor the other but just on the middle of her back that so the Womb may repossess its natural and proper place It is an ordinary custom to give the Women assoon as they are delivered two Ounces of Oyl of sweet Almonds drawn without fire and as much Syrup of Maiden-hair mixed together which is as well for to sweeten and temper the inside of the Throat which was heated and hoarse by her continual Cries and holding her Breath to bear down her Throws during her Labour as also to the end that her Stomach and Intestines being lined with it should not be so much afflicted with dolorous Gripes But this Potion goes so much against the Stomachs of some Women that being forced to take it with an aversion and disgust it may do them rather more hurt than any wise comfort them Wherefore let none have it but those that desire it and have no aversion to it I approve rather in this case of a good Broth to be given her assoon as she is a little setled after the great commotion of Labour because it will be both more pleasing and profitable than such a Potion And having thus accommodated her and provided for her Belly Breasts and lower parts after the manner we shall direct in the next Chapter leave her to rest and sleep if she can making no noise the Bed-curtains being close drawn and the Doors and Windows of her Chamber shut that so seeing no light she may the sooner fall asleep If she had endured a hard Labour she must be then ordered as the case requires and as shall be hereafter declared but what we have here directed is only for a natural Labour and where no extraordinary difficulty happens CHAP. II. Of convenient Remedies for the lower parts of the Belly and Breasts of Women newly delivered SInce the lower parts of a Woman are greatly distended by the birth of an Infant it is good to endeavour therefore the prevention of an inflammation there wherefore assoon as the Bed is cleansed from the foul linnen and other impurities of the Labour and that the Woman is therein placed according to the direction of the preceding Chapter let there be outwardly applied all over the bottom of her Belly and Privities the following Anodine Cataplasm made of two Ounces of Oyl of sweet Almonds with two or three new-laid Eggs Yolks and Whites stirring them together in an earthen Pipkin over hot Embers till it comes to the consistence of a Pultiss which being spread upon a Cloth must be applied to those parts indifferently warm having first taken away the Closures which were put to her presently after her Delivery and likewise such clods of Blood as were there left This is a very temperate remedy and fit to appease the Pains which Women ordinarily suffer in those parts because of the violence then endured by the Infants Birth it must lie on five or six Hours and then be renewed a second time if there be occasion afterwards make a Decoction of Barley Linseed and Chervil or with Marsh-mallows and Violet leaves adding to a Pint of it an ounce of Honey of Roses with which being luke warm foment three or four times a day for the first five or six days of Child-bed the bearing-place cleansing it very well from the Blood Clods and other Excrements which are there emptied This Stupe is likewise very good to temper and appease the Pains of those parts Some persons only use to this purpose luke-warm Milk and many Women only Barley-water Great care must be taken at the beginning that no stopping things be given to hinder the cleansings but when ten or twelve days are past and that she hath cleansed very sufficiently Remedies may then be used to fortifie the parts to which purpose a Decoction is very proper made of Provence-Roses Leaves and Roots of Plantane and Smiths water that Iron is quenched in and when she hath sufficiently and fully done Cleansing which is usually after the 18th or 20th day there may be made for those that desire it a very strong astringent Lotion to fortifie and settle those parts which have been much relaxed as well by the great extension they received as by the humours with which they have been so long time soaked This Remedy may be composed with an Ounce and an half of Pomegranate Peel an Ounce of Cypress Nuts half an Ounce of Acorns an Ounce of Terra Sigillata a Handful of Provence-Roses and two drachms of Roch-Allum all which being infused a whole night in five half Pints of strong red Wine or that it may not be too sharp a quantity of Smiths water mixed with that Wine afterwards boil it well to
curdled or clotted Blood that they have no ill Scent that they be without Acrimony and that they flow in a moderate quantity We say that they must not be fresh but the four first days because they will not be else the true Lochia but a pure flux of Blood which will be very dangerous and that they must lose by degrees this reddish colour to become pale this sign teacheth us that the Vessels which have been opened are by degrees closed again that they be of an equal consistence without curdled or clodded Blood by this means we are assured that there is no mixture of any strange matter and that they are governed and regulated by Nature they must have no Foetor or ill scent and be without Acrimony in this case we know that there is no danger of corruption or inflammation in the Womb they must flow in a moderate quantity that so the superfluous humours may be evacvated for if the Lochia flow in so great an abundance as to cause Fainting or Convulsions the Woman will be in danger of death as Hippocrates in the six and fiftieth Aphorism of his Fifth Book assures us Si Muliebri profluvio convulsio animi defectus superveniunt malo est If saies he Faintings and Convulsions follow the Lochia it is dangerous and he adds in the following Aphorism Menstruis abundantibus Morbi eveniunt subsistentibus accidunt ab utero Morbi If the Courses or Lochia flow too much Diseases follow and if they stop Diseases happen from the Womb. Diseases proceeding from too great abundance of the Lochia are as we have said in the first Aphorism Convulsions and Syncopes or Faintings and if they do not kill the Woman they weaken her very much she grows lean she remains a long time pale her Legs and Thighs swell and afterwards she becomes Hydropick As to the distempers which follow the suppression of the Lochia we will mention them in the next Chapter CHAP. X. Of the suppression of the Lochia and the Accidents which follow thereupon THere is so great a flux of Humours from all parts to the Womb when a Woman is with Child and during the commotion in her Labour that in case there be not afterwards sufficient evacuation of them the Woman is in great danger of very ill Accidents and sometimes of death it self because these humours corrupting by their stay there will certainly cause a great inflammation and this is the reason why the suppression of the Lochia is one of the worst and most dangerous Symptoms which can befall a Woman after Delivery especially if they happen to be totally and suddenly stopt the first three or four days which is the time when they should come down plentifully for then follows an acute Fever great pains in the Head pains in the Breast Reins and Loins suffocation of the Mother and an Inflammation which is suddenly communicated all over the lower Belly which becomes very much swelled and blown up there happens also a great difficulty of Breathing Choakings Palpitations of the Heart Syncopes and Faintness Convulsions and often Death if the suppression continue or if the Woman escapes it she is in danger of an Abscess in the Womb yea and afterwards a Cancer or there may happen great Imposthumes in the lower Belly which is usual because of the nearness of the place as also Gouts Sciaticas and Lameness or Inflammation or Abscess in the Breast if the Humours be carried towards those parts The Câ—uses of the stoppage of the Lochia proceed either from a great Loofness because a great Evacuation that way turns the Lochia and makes them stop or any strong Passions of the Mind as great Fear or Grief or any Anger or Soundings for these things do cause the humours to retire suddenly inwards and by this quick motion they often cause Suffocations Great Cold stops the Lochia because it closes the Vessels and Pores of the Womb the use of astringent Remedies produces the same effect as also cold Drink because by condensing and thickning the humours they hinder their easie flowing strong and frequent agitations of the Body by rarifying and dispersing them throughout every part doth likewise not permit them to be evacuated by the Womb. To bring the Lochia well down let the Woman avoid all perturbations of spirit which may stop them let her lye in Bed with her Head and Breast a little raised keeping her self very quiet that so the Humours may be the easier carried downwards by their natural tendency let her observe a a good Diet somewhat hot and moist let her rather use boiled Meats than roast and if she be any thing feaverish let her use Broaths only with a little Jelly let her avoid all binding things let her Ptysan be made with Aperitives such as are the Roots of Succory Dogs-grass and Asparagus with a little Aniseed and Hops and every other time let her take a little Syrup of Maiden-hair in a glass of this Ptysan and above all let her carefully shun cold Drink Clysters may likewise be given her to draw the Humours downwards and her lower parts may be fomented with an emollient and aperitive Decoction made with Mallows Marshmallows Pellitory of the wall Camomil Melilot the roots of Asparagus and Linseed with which Decoction the Womb may likewise be injected and with the Herbs being well boiled and strained through a very course Cloth let a Cataplasme be made with the addition of Oyl of Lillies or Hogs-grease and applyed very hot to the lower Belly together with these let her Thighs and Legs be strongly rub'd downwards bathing them very hot with the same Emollient Decoction there may be likewise applyed large Cupping-glasses to the uppermost part of the inside of her Thighs It would not be much amiss to use an Aromatick Perfume if it were not that it caused a heaviness of the Head as Hippocrates notes in the 28th Aphorism of the Fifth Book where he saith Sufficus Aromatum muliebria educit saepius verò ad alia utilis esset nisi Caepitis induceret gravitatem Now whilst all these things are put in practice bleeding in the Foot or Arm must not be forgot according as the accidents caused by this suppression of the Lochia require neither must we blindly follow the opinion of many Women who believe that bleeding in the Arm in this case is very pernicious This Imagination is so firmly rooted in the heads of almost all of them that if in case a Child-bed Woman happens to dye after bleeding in the Arm they sail not absolutely to condemn that as the cause But this their opinion is not according to knowledg for sometimes Bleeding in the Arm is better than in the Foot and at other times that in the Foot is more certain than bleeding in the Arm As for example suppose a Woman be very full of Humours throughout the whole habit of her Body and her Lochia be supprest by reason of which there happens an Inflammation
in her Womb and besides a great Fever and difficulty of Breathing as it ordinarily arrives in these Cases 'T is most certain that if she were immediatly blooded in the Foot being very Plethorick as we have supposed there would be so great abundance of Humours drawn down into the Womb that the Inflammation would be thereby much augmented and consequently all the Accidents of the Distemper but 't would be much better in this case rather to alter the Habit first by bleeding in the Arm and afterwards the most pressing Accident being partly diminished it will be very much to the purpose to bleed in the Foot for by this means Nature which was almost overcome under the burthen of these redundant humours being eased of some part of them doth the more easily command and govern the rest but on the other side if there be a stoppage without the appearance of a great plenitude in the Body and without any notable accident Bleeding in the Foot if it be desired may be then presently put in practice However I think it most convenient that it should * Not ncessary except for reasons abovementioned alwaies be preceded with bleeding in one of the Arms. CHAP. XI Of the Inflammation which happens to the Womb after Delivery VEry often the stopping of the Lochia of which we have lately discoursed and especially at the beginning of Child-bed doth cause an inflammation to the Womb which is a very dangerous Disease and the death of most of the Women to whom it happens It is also very often caused from some hurt or bruise of the Womb by any Blow or Fall and especially for having been too rudely handled in a bad and violent Labour or by the falling out of the Womb after Labour or else because of some false Conception or other strange Body remaining behind in it which corrupts there and likewise because it might have been too much compressed in the beginning of the Labour by the great Swathes and Napkins wherewith the Midwives and Nurs-keepers usually swathe the Belly of a new-laid Woman to keep it as they say in its place which happens also very often when the Blood being stirred and over-heated by the agitation of a rude Travail is carried thither in too great abundance and there stays without evacuation An Inflammation of the Womb may be known by being much more swelled after Labour than is requisite and when the Woman feels very great heaviness in the bottom of her Belly and that it is swelled and blown up almost as big as before Delivery if she have a difficulty in making Water and going to Stool or that she perceives her pain augment when she is voiding her Excrements because the Womb presses the right Gut upon which it is placed and to which by its proximity it communicates the Inflammation as well as to the Bladder she hath then also besides a great Fever with a very great difficulty of Breathing a Hiccough Vomiting Convulsions and in the end Death if the Disease be not soon cured A Woman that hath received a bruise or any violent compression of the Womb is in great danger that after the Inflammation if she do no die of it an Abscess will be there made or that there will remain some Scirrhous Tumour and it may be an incurable Cancer which will make her lead a miserable and languishing life the rest of her daies Wherefore assoon as an Inflammation is perceived the Cure of it must be endeavoured by tempering the heat of the humours and turning and emptying the superfluities of them assoon as may be first extracting or procuring the expulsion of such strange things as may remain in the Womb after Labour according to the directions given in its proper place and above all treating her at this time with very great tenderness using not the least violence for fear the evil may be thereby augmented The Humours may be tempered by a cooling Diet using food that nourishes little wherefore let her be contented with only Broath for her nourishment made of Veal or Pullet but not too strong of the Flesh together with cooling Herbs such as Lettice Purslane Succory Borrage Sorrel and the like let her abstain from Wine and drink Ptysan made of the roots of Succory and Dogs-grass Barley and Liquorish let her keep her self very quiet in her bed let her not be swathed too strait and let her body be kept open with simple Anodine Clysters because if there be any Acrimony in the humours they will cause Throwes which extreamly pains the inflamed Womb and amongst all the passions of her mind let her especially avoid Anger The redundancy of Humours may be evacuated and diverted by Bleeding which at first must be in the Arm and not in the Foot for the reasons given in the foregoing Chapter reiterating it without loss of much time for the accident is very pressing until that the greatest part of the plenitude be a little evacuated and the Inflammation something diminished and then bleeding in the Foot will not be amiss if the case require it It may be convenient to anoint the Belly with Vnguentum refrigerans Galeni or Oyl of Roses or Oyl of sweet Almonds mixt with a little Vinegar Injections may likewise be given into the Womb provided they be not Restringent lest making a greater stoppage of the Lochia which alwaies flow a little in this case the distemper be not augmented for which reason let temperate Medicines be only used without any manner of astriction as Barley water with Oyle of Violets or luke-warm Milk Sometimes an Inflammation of the Womb converts into an Aposthume which yeilds a great quantity of matter there is then much danger of corruption in that part as well by reason of its Heat and Moisture which are the principals of it ' as because no proper Remedies can be applied or easily kept to it since therefore nothing else can be done we must be contented with an universal Regimen and Detersive Injections to cleanse off the matter that so the corruption be not augmented by its long stay there which may be effected by a Decoction of Barley and Agrimony mixt with Oyle of Roses and Syrup of Wormwood and heightned with some Spirit of Wine if there be a great putrifaction But if the Imposthume turnes to an ulcerous Cancer then notwithstanding the use of any Remedies whatsoever this mischeivous disease will endure 'till death wherefore we must be contented with Palliative Medicines a good Diet and in this follow the precept of Hippocrates in the 38th Aphorisme of his Eighth Book Quibus occulti Cancri fiunt non curare melius curati enim citius intereunt non curati vero longius vitam trahunt It is better saies he not to take an occult and hidden Cancer in hand for it hastens the death of the Patient and they which let it alone live longest Now he means by an occult Cancer that which breeds within the Body and especially that