OF THE Sympathetick Powder A DISCOURSE IN A Solemn Assembly AT MONTPELLIER Made in French BY Sir KENELM DIGBY Knight 1657. LONDON Printed for Iohn VVilliams 1669. A DISCOURSE OF The Cure of WOUNDS BY THE POWDER of SYMPATHY My Lords I Believe you will remain all in one mind with me that to penetrate and know a Subject 't is necessary in thâ— first place to shew whether the thing be such as it is sâ—ppâ—sed or imagined to be For would not one unprofitably lose both his time and labour to busie himself in the re-seaâ—ch of the causes of that which peradventure is but a Chimâ—ra with-any foundation of truth I remember to have read a place in Plutâ—rch where he proposeth this Question Why those Horses who while they are Colts have been pursued by the Wolf and saved themselvâ— by force of runing are more fleet than other Hâ—râ—es Wherto he answers That it may be the scaring and affâ—â—ghtment which the Wolf gives the young beast makes hâ—m try his utmost strength to delâ—ver himself from the danger that follows him at the heels therfore the said fright as it were unknits his joyâ—ts and stretches his sinews and makes the ligaments and other parts of his body the more supple to run insomuch that he resents it all his life afterwards and becomes a good Courser Or perhaps says he those Colts which are naturally swift save themselvs by flying away wheras others who are not so are overtaken by the Wolf and so become his prey and so it is not because they have escaped the Wolf that they are the more fleet but it is their naturaâ— swiftness that saves them He affords also other reasons and at last concludes That it may be the thing is not true I find it not so fit my Lords to reply hereto at a Table Dâ—scourse where the chief design of conversation is to pass away the time gently and pleasantly without medling with the severity of high fetcht reasons to wind up the spirits and make them more attentive But in so renowned an Assembly as this where there are such Judicious Persons and so profoundly learned and who upon this rancounter expect from me that I pay them in solid reasons I should be very sorry that having done my uttermost to make it clear How the Powder which they commonly call the Powder of Sympathy doth naturally and without any Magick cure wounds without touching them yea without seeing of the Patient I say I should be very sorry that it should be doubted Whether such a cure may effectually be perform'd or no. In matter of fact the determination of the existence and truth of a thing depends on the report which our Senses make us This business is of that nature Wherin they who have seen the effects and had experience therof and have been careful to examine all necessary circumstances and satisfied themselves afterwards that there is no imposture in the thing nothing doubt but that it is real and true And they who have not seen such experiences ought to refer themselvs to Narrations and Authority of such as have I could produce divers wherof I was an ocular witness nay Quorum pâ—rs mâ—gna fui But as a certain and eminent example in the affirmative is convincing to determine the possibility and truth of a matter in doubt I shall content my self because I would not trespass too much upon your patience at this time to instance in one only But it shall be one of the clearest the most perspicuous and the most averred that can be not only for the remarkable circumstances therof but also for the hands which were above the Vulgar through which the whole business passed For the cure of a very sore hurt was perfected by this Powder of Sympathy upon a Person illustrious as well for his many perfectionâ— as for his several employments All the circumstances were examined and sounded to the bottom by one of the greatest and most knowing Kâ—ngs of of his time viz. King Iames of England who had a particular talent and marvailous sagacity to discusse natural things and penetrate them to the very marrow As also by his Son the late King Charles and the Duke of Buckingham their prime Minister And in fine all was registred among the Observations of the great Chancelor Bacon to add by way of Appendix to his Natural History And I believe when you shall have understood this History you will not accuse me of Vanity if I attribute to my self the Introducing this way of Cure into this Quarter of the World Mr. Iames Howel well known in France for his publick Works and particularly for his Dendrologia translated into French by Monsier Baudâ—uin coming by by chance as two of his best friends were fighting in Dâ—el did his endeavour to part them and putting himself between them seiz'd with his left â—and upon the Hilt of one of the Combâ—â—ants while with his right he laid hold of the Blade of the other They being transported with fury one against the other strugled to rid themselvs of the hindrance their Friend made that they should not kill one another and one of them roughly drawing the Blade of his Sword cut to the very bone the nervs and musâ—les of Mr. Howeâ—'s â—and and then the other diâ—ingaging his Hâ—lt gave a cross blow on his Adversaries head which glanced towards his Friend who heaving up his hand to save the blow was wounded on the back of his hand as he had been before within It seems some stâ—ange Conâ—â—ellation reign'd then against him that he shoâ—ld loâ—â— so much blood by parting two such dear Friends who had they been themselvs would have hâ—zâ—rded both their lives to have preserved His Bâ—t this unvoluntary effusion of blood by them prevented that which they should have drawn one from the other For they seeing Mr. Howel's face besmear'd with blood by heaving up his wounded hand both ran to embrace him and having seaâ—ch'd his hurts they bound up his Hand with one of his Garters to close the Veins which were cut and bled abundantly They brought him home and sent for a Chyrurgeon But this being heard at Court the King sent one of his own Chyrurgeons for his Majesty much â—ffected the said M â— Howel It was my chance to be lodged hard by him and four or five dayes after as I was making my self ready he came to my House and pray'd me to view his wounds for I understand said he that you have extraordinary remedies upon such occasions and my Chyrurgeons apprehend some fear that it may grow to a Gangrene and so the hand must be cut off In effect his countenance discover'd that he was in much pain which he said was insupportable in regard of the extream inflammation I told him that I would willingly serve him but if haply he knew the manner how I would cure him without touching or seeing him it may be he would not expose himself to my manner of curing
the earth which is moistned either by rain or the dew of the night his beams raise a Mist which by little and little ascends to the tops of the hills and this Mist doth rarifie according as the Sun hath more force to draw it upwards till at last we lose the sight thereof and it becomes part of the Air which in regard of its tenuity is invisible to us These Atomes then are like Cavaliers mounted on winged Coursers who ride on still till the Sun setting â—akes from them their Pegasus and leaves them unmounted and then they precipitate themselvs in crowds to the Earth whence they sprung The greatest part of them and the most heavy fall upon the first reâ—â—eating of the Sun and that we call the Serain which though it be so thin that we cannot see it yet we feel it as so many small hammers striking upon our heads and Bodies principally the elder sort of us For young persons in regard of the boyling of their blood and the heat of their complexion thrust out of them abundance of Spirits which being stronger than those that fall from the Serain repulse them and hinder them to operate on the Bodies whence these Spirits came forth as they do upon those that being grown cold by age are not guarded by so strong an emanation of their Spirits The Wind which blows and is tossed to and fro is no other than a great River of the like Aâ—omes drawn out of some solid Bodies which are upon the earth and so banded here and there according as they find cause for that effect I remember to have once sensibly seen how the Wind â—s ingendred I passed over Mount Cenis to go for Italy towards the begining of Summer and I was advanced to half the Hill as the Sun rose clear and luminous bâ—t before I could see his body because the Mountains interposed I observed his rays which gilded the top of the Mâ—untain Viso which is the Pyramid of a Rock a good deal hâ—gher than Mount Cenis and all the neighbouring Mountains Manâ— are of opinion that it is the highest Mountain in the World after the Pic of Tenariff in the Gran-de-Canary and this Mount Viso is always cover'd with Snow I observed then that about that place which was illuminated by the Solar rays there was a Fog which at first was of no greater extent than an ordinary Boul but by degrees it grew so great that at last not only the top of that Mountain but all the neighbouring Hills were canopied all over with a Câ—oud I was now come to the top of Mount Cenis and finding my self in the straight line which pâ—sses from the Sun to Mount Viso I stay'd a while to behold it while my Servants were coming up the Hill behind for having more men to carry my chair than they had I was there sooner It was not long e're I might perceive the said Fog descend gently to the place where I was and I began to feel a freshness that came over my face when I turn'd it that way When all my Troop was come about me we went descending the other side of Mount Cenis towards Sâ—zâ— and the lower we went we sensibly found that the Wind began to blow hard behind our backs for our way obliged us to go towards the side where the Sun was We met with Passengers that were going up as we down who told us that the Wind was very impetuous below and did much incommodate them by blowing in their faces and eyes but the higher they came it was lâ—sser and lesser And for our selves when we were come to the place where they said the Wind blew so hard we found a 〈◊〉 of Storm and it encreased still the lower we went till the Sun being well advanced drew no more by that line but caused a Wind in some other place The people of that Country assured me that it was there always so if some extraordinary and violent accident did not intervene and divert the ordinary course viz. at a certain hour of the day the Wind raises it self to such a romb or point and when the Sun is come to another point another wind rises and so from hand to hand it changes the point till the Sun set which always brings with it a calm if the weâ—ther be faâ—r and that always comes from the Mount Viso opposite to the Sun They told us also that the daily wind is commonly stronger towards the bottom of the Mountain than towards the top wherof the reason is evident For the natural movement of every body natural encreases always in swiftness according as it moves forward to its center and that by the unequal numbers as Galileo hath ingeniously demonstrated I did it also in another Treatise that is to say if at the first moment it advances an ell in the second it advances three in the third five in the fourth seven and so it continues to augment in the same manner which proceeds from the density and figure of the descending body acting upon the cessiblility of the medium And these small Bodies which cause a wind from Mount Viso are thick and terrestrial for the Snow being composed of watry and earthy parts united by the cold when the heat of the Solar beams disunites and separates them the viscous parts flie with them while the terrestrial being too heavy to fly upward fall presently downward This makes me remember a very remarkable thing which befell me when I was with my Fleet in the Port of Scanderon or Alexandretta towards the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea there they use to dis-imbark when they go to Aleppo or Babylon I had done already what I had intended to do in those Seas and happily compassed my design so it imported me much to return to England as soon as possibly I could and the rather because my Ships were batter'd by a great Fight I had had a little before against a formidable power wherin although I had obtain'd the better yet in so furious a dispute my Fleet was in some disorder and my Ships full of wounded Men. To advise therefore of the most expedient Course to come to some Harbour where I might repair my Ships and be in surety I assembled all my Captains Pilots and Mariners the most experienced of my Fleet and having propounded to them my design they were all of an unanimous opinion that the surest course was towards the South and to cast upon Syria Iudea Egypt and Africa and render our selves at the streight of Giâ—raltar sailing so near the main Land we should have every night some small briezes of wind wherby we should in a short time make our Voyage And besides we should not be in any great danger to meet either with Spanish or French Fleets For England was at that time in open War with both those Kings and we had advice that they had great Fleets abroad to vindicate some things we had done in prejudice of
her lodging she was brought to-bed before her time of a Child who had his head sever'd from his body both the parts yet shedding fresh blood besides that which was abundantly shed in the womb as if the heads-man had done an execution also upon the tender young body within the Mothers wombe These three Examples manifestly enough prove the strength of the Imagination and many others as true I could produce which would engage me too far if I should undertake to clear the causes and unwrap the difficulties that would be found greater in them than in any of those wherwith I have entertain'd you Because those spirits had the power to cause essential changes and fearful effects upon bodies that were already brought to their perfect shapes and it may be well believ'd that in some of them there was a transmutation of one species to another and the introduction of a new Form into the subject-Matter totally differing from that which had been introduced at first at least if that which most Naturalists tell us at the animation of the Embryo in the womb be true But this digression hath been already too long To return then to the great channel and thrid of our Discourse The examples and experiments which I have already insisted on in confirmation of the reasons I have aledg'd clearly demonstrate that Bodies which draw the atomes dispersed in the air attract themselvs such as are of their own nature with a greater force and energy than other heterogeneous and strange atoms as Wine doth the vinal spirits The oyl of Tartar perfum'd in the making with Roses drew the volatil spirits of the Rose The flesh of Deer or Venison buried in crust attracts the spirits of those Beasts and so all the other wherof I have spoken The History of the Tarantula in the kingdom of Naples is very famous you know how the venome of this Animal ascending from the part that was bitten towards the head and heart of the Parâ—ies excites in their Imagination an impetuous desire to hear some melodious airs and most commonly they are delighted with differing airs Therfore when they hear an air that pleases them they begin to dance incessantly and therby fall a sweating in such abundance that a great part of the venome evaporates Besides the sound of the musick raises a movement and causes an agitation among the aereal and vaporous Spirits in the brain and about the heart and diffused up and down through the whole body proportionably to the nature and cadence of such Musick as when Timotheus transported Alexander the great with such a vehemency to what Passions he pleas'd and as when one Lute struck makes the consonant strings of the other to tremble by the motions and tremblings which it causes in the air though they be not touch'd otherwise at all We find too oftentimes that Sounds which are no other thing than Motions of the air cause the like movement in the Water as the harsh sound caus'd by rubbing hard with ones finger the brim of a 〈◊〉 full of water excites a noise a turning and boundings as if it danced according to the cadence of the Sound The harmonious Sounds also of Bells in those Countries where they use to be rung to particular tunes makes the like impressions upon the superficies of the Rivers that are nigh the Steeple as in the Air especially in the night time when there is no other movement to stop or choak the other supervenient one For the air being contiguous or rather continuous with the water and the water being susceptible of movement ther 's the like motion caused in the fluid parts of the water as began in the air And the same contract which is betwixt the agitated air and the water by this means moved to happens also to be betwixt the agitated air and the vap'rous Spirits in those bodies that have been bitten by the Tarantula which Spirits by consequence are moved by the agitated air that is to say by the Sound and that the more efficaciously the more this agitation or Sound is proportion'd to the nature and temperature of the party hurt And this intern agitation of the Spirits and vapours helps them to discharge the vaporous venom of the Tarantula which is mixt among all their humours as standing puddle Waters and corrupted airs putrified by long repose and the mixture of other noisome substanceâ— are refin'd and purifi'd by motion Now winter approâ—ching which destroys these Animals the persons are freed from this malady but at the return of that season when they use to be bitten the mischief returns and they must dance again as they did the year before The reason is that the heat of Summer revives these Beasts so that their venom becomes as malignant and furious as before and that being heated and evaporating it self and dispersing in the air the leven of the same poyson which remains in the bodies of them who have been hurt that draws it to it self wherby such a fermentation is wrought as infects the other humours and thence a kind of steam issuing and mounting to the brain uses to produce such strange effects It is also well known that where there are great dogs or Mastifs as in England if any be bitten perchance by them they commonly use to be kil'd though they be not mad for fear least the leven of the canine choler which remains within the body of the party bitten might draw to it the malignant spirits of the same dog should he afterwards chance to be mad which might come to distemper the spirits of the person And this is not only practised in England where there are such dangerous dogs but also in France according to the report of Father Cheron Provincial of the â—armelites in this Gountrey In his examen de la Theologie mystique newly imprinted and which I have lately read I will say nothing of artificial Noses made of the flesh of other men to remedy the deformity of those who by an extreme excess of cold have lost their own which new Noses putrifie as soon as those persons out of whose substance they were taken come to die as if that small parcel of flesh engrafted on the face lived by the spirits it drew from it's first root and source For though this be constantly avouch'd by considerable Authors yet I desire you to think that I offer you nothing which is not verified by solid tradition such that it were a weakness to doubt of it But it is high time that I come now to my Seventh and last Principle it is the last turn of the engine and will I hope batter down quite the gate which hindred us an entrance to the knowledge of this so marvailous a mystery and imprint such a lawful mark upon the doctrine proposed that 't will pass for current This principle is that The source of those spirits or little bodies whâ—ch attract them to it self draws likewise after them that which accompanies
and whatever sticks and is united to them This coâ—clusion needs not much proof being evident enough of it self If there be nails pins or ribands tied to the end of a long chord or chain and withal a lump either of wax gum or glue and I take this chord or chain by one end and draw it to me till the other end come to my hand it cannot be otherwise but at the same time the nails the pins the ribands the lump and in fine all that hangs at it must come to my hand I go therfore to relate to you only some experiments that have been made in consequence of this Principle which will most strongly confirm the others produced before The great fertility and riches of England consists chiefly in pasturage for Cattle wherof we have the fairest in the world principally of Oxen and Kine Ther 's not the meanest Cottager but hath a Cow to furnish his Family with milk 't is the principal sustenance of the poorer sort of people as 't is also in Switzerland which makes them very careful of the good keeping and health of their Cows Now if it happen that the Milk boil over and so comes to fall into the fire the good woman or maid presently gives over whatever she is adoing and runs to take the Vessel off the fire and at the same time she takes a handful of Salt which uses to be commonly in the corner of the Chimney to keep it dry and throws it upon the cinders where the milk was shed Ask her wherfore she doth so and she will tell you 't is to prevent a mischief to the Cows Udder which gave this milk for without this remedy it would grow hard and ulcerated and she would come to piss blood and so be in danger to die Not that 't would rise to this extremity the first time but she would grow ill-disposed and if this should happen often the Cow would soon miscarry It might seem that there were some superstition or folly in this but the infallibility of the effect warrants from the last and for the first many indeed believe that the malady of the Cow is supernatural or an effect of Sorcery and consequently that the remedy which I have alledg'd is superstitious but 't is easie to disabuse any man of this perswasion by declaring how the business goes according to the foundations I have laid The milk falling upon the burning coals is converted to vapour which disperses and filtreth it self through the circumambient air where it encounters the Light and Solar rays which tranâ—port it further augmenting and extending still farther the Sphere of its activity This vapour of the milk is not alone or simple but compos'd of fiery atoms which accompany the smoke and vapour of the milk mingling and uniting themselvs therwith Now the sphere of the said vapour extending it self to the place where the Cow is her Udder which is the source whence the milk proceeded attracts to it the said vapour and sucks it in together with the fiery atoms that accompanied it The Udder is part glandulous and very tender and consequently very subject to inflammations this fire then heats inflames and swells it and in fine makes it hard and ulcerated The inflamed and ulcerated Udder is near the Bladder which comes likewise to be inflamed making the anastomoses and communication 'twixt the veins and arteries to open and cast forth blood and to regorge into the bladder whence the Urine empty's it self But whence comes it you will ask that the Salt remedies all this 'T is because that is of a nature clean contrary to the fire the one being hot and volatil the other cold and fixed insomuch that where they use to encounter the Salt as it were knocks down the fire by precipitating and destroying its action as may be observ'd in a very ordinary accident The chimneys which are full of Soot use to take fire very easily and the usual remedy for this is to discharge a Musket in the funnel of the Chimney which loosneth and brings down with it the fired Soot and then the disorder ceases but if there be no Musket or Pistol or other Instrument to fetch down the Soot they use to cast a great quantity of Salt on the fire below and that chokes and hinders the atoms of fire that otherwise would incessantly mount up and joyn with them above which by this means wanting nouriture consume themselvs and come to nothing The same thing befalls the atoms which are ready to accompany the vapour of the milk the salt precipitates and kills them on the very place and if any chance to scape and save themselvs by the great strugglings they make and go along with the said vapour they are nevertheless accompanied with the atoms and spirit of the Salt sticking to them which like good wrestlers never leave their hold till they have got the better of their Adversary And you may please to observe by the by that that there is not a more excellent balme for a burn than the spirit of salt in a moderate quantity 'T is then apparent that there cannot be employ'd any means more efficacious to hinder the ill effects of the fire upon the Udder of the Cow than to cast upon her milk that has boil'd over upon the Cinders a sufficient quantity of Salt This effect of securing the Cows Udder upon the burning of her milk makes me call to mind what divers have told me they have seen both 〈◊〉 France and England viz. when the Physicians examine the milk of a Nurse for the Child of a Person of Quality they use to make proofs several ways before they come to judg definitively of the goodness thereof as by the taste by the smell by the colour and consistence of it and sometimes they cause it to be boil'd till it come to an evaporation and they see it's residence with other accidents and circumstances which may be learnt and discern'd by this means But those of whose milk this last experiment hath been made have felt themselvs so tormented in their Paps while their milk was a boiling that having once endured this pain they would never consent that their milk should be carried away out of their sight and presence though they willingly submited to any other proof than that by fire Now to confirm this experiment of the attraction which the Cows Udder makes of the fire and vapour of the burnt milk I am going to recount to you another of the same nature wherof I my self have seen the truth more than once and wherof any one may easily make trial Take the excrement oâ— a Dog and throw it into the fire more than once at first you shall find him heated and moved but in a short time you shall see him as if he were burnt all over panting and stretching out his tongue as if he had run a long course Now this alteration befalls him because his entrails drawing to them the
vapour of the burn'd excrement and with that vapour the atoms of fire which accompanied it grow so chang'd and inflam'd that the Dog having always a Fever upon him and not being able to take any nourishment his flancks cling together and he dies 'T were dangerous to divulge this experience among such persons as are subject to make use of any thing for doing of miscief for the same effect would be wrought upon Mens Bodies if one should try the conclusion upon their excrements There hap'ned a remarkable thing to this purpose to a neighbor of mine in England the last time I was there He had a very pretty Child whom because he would have always in his eye he kept the Nurse in his House I saw him often for he was a stirring man and of good address and I had occasion to use such a man One day I found him very sad and his Wife a weeping wherof demanding the reason they told me that that their little Child was very ill that he had a burning Fever which inflamed him all over as appear'd the redness of his face that he strove to go to Stool but could do little and that little he did was cover'd with blood and that he refused also to suck And that which troubled them most was that they could not conjecture how this indisposition come for his Nurse was very well her milk was as good as could be wished and in all other things there was as much care had of him as could be I told them that the last time I was with them I observ'd one particularity wherof I thought fit to give them notice but somthing or other still diverted me 't was this that the Child making a sign that he was desirous to be set on his feet let fall his excrements on the ground and his Nurse presently took the Fire-shovel and cover'd them with embers and then threw all into the fire The mother began to make her excuses that they were not more careful to correct this ill habit of the child telling me that as he advanc'd in years he should be corrected for it I replied that 't was not for this consideration that I spake of it but searching after the reason of her childs distemper and consequently to find some remedy And thereupon I related to them the like accident which had hap'ned two or three three years before to a child of one of the most illustrious Magistrates of the Parliament of Paris who was bred up in the House of a Doctor of Physick of great reputation in the same Town I told them also what I have now related to you touching the excrements of Dogs And I made reflections to them upon a thing they had often heard and which is often practised in our Country viz. that In the Villages which are always dirty in the winter if there happens to be a Farmer any thing more neat than others and that keeps the approaches to his House cleaner than his neighbours do the Boys use to come thither in the night time or when it begins to be dark to discharge their bellies there because in such Villages there is not much commodity of easments besides that in such clean places the knaves are out of danger to sink into the dirt which otherwise might rise up higher than their shooes The good houswives in the morning when they open their doors and find such an ill-favour'd smell use to be transported with choller But they who are acquainted with this trick go presently and make red hot a Spit or Fire-shovel and thrust it so into the excrements and when 't is quencht they heat it again and again to the same purpose Mean while the Boy that had plaid the sloven feels a kind of pain and collick in his bowels with an inflammation in his fundament and a continual desire to go to Stool and he is hardly quit of it till he suffer a kind of Feaver all that day which makes him return thither no more And these women to be freed from such affronts pass among the Ignorant for Sorceresses and to have made a compact with the Divel since they torment people in that fashion without seeing or touching them This Gentleman did not disallow those things I have already told you but was confirm'd farther when I wish'd him to look farther into the fundament of his child for without doubt he should find it red and inflamed and perhaps full of pimples and excoriated Not long after this poor chilâ— grew ill and with much pain and pitiful cries voided some small matter which in lieu of casting into the fire or covering it with embers I caused to be put into a bason of cold water and set in a cool place This was continued to be done every time the child gave occasion and he began to amend the very same hour and within four or five daies became perfectly well recover'd But least I trespass too much upon your patience I 'le hold you no longer but with one experiment more very familiar in our Countrey and then I will summ up all that hath been said to make you see the force and import of this whole Dâ—scourse We have in England as I touch'd before excellent Pasturage for the feeding and fatting of Caâ—tle so abundant thâ—â— it falls out often the Oxen come to acquire such excess of â—at that it extends it self in a great quantity to their legs and feet and even hoofs which many times causes impostumes in the of their feet that comes to swel and get a core full of putrified matter so that the Beast is not able to go The Owners observing that though the Beef be never the worse for the Shambles yet they are damnified therby because not being able to bring them to London where the grand market is for fat Beefs through all England as Paris is for Auuergne Normandy and other provinces of France they are constrain'd to kill them up on the place where their flesh is not worth half the price they might have got in London the Owners I say have recourse to this remedy viz. Observing where the Oxe Cow or Heifer fix upon the Ground the sick foot at first rising up in the morning that very turf with the print of the foot on it they cut up and hang upon a tree or hedg lying open to the North wind And that wind blowing upon the turf the Beast comes to be cured within three or four daies very perfectly but if one should pâ—t that turf towards the South or South west wind the foot would grow worse These circumstances wil not seem superstitioâ—s to you when you shall have consider'd how that by the repose of the night the corrupt matter or core uses to gather in a great quantity under the foot of the Beast which being set on the ground in the morning presses forth the impostume the matter wherof sticks to the place Now this turf of Earth being exposed in some