that are afraid of pain especially if you make use of the famed remedies of this day for Lime mixed with Holland Soap eats deep enough into the flesh and much more gently than the holoserick Corrosive of Paraeus but it has these inconveniences 1. That as the skin and body is more or less firm it corrodes sometimes far deeper than is needfull for I have found by experience that in one it corroded the skin and muscles even to the cavity of the belly and in another it hurt in an incurable manner the process of the peritonaeum and the seminal vessels contained in it 2. This corrosive extends it self also lengthways and breadthways farther than you desire especially if it be to be laid on under the arm-pits in the groins or joints for assoon as it grows warm it begins to spread about and will matter but little your defensive Plaster 3. It needs some hours before it can perfectly finish its operation yet more time is requisite in one body than in another But the humour will not always permit of this leisure especially if it be malignant 4. The Eschar that it causes does not presently fall off so that if you would have the humours to issue forth out of hand you must use the Lancet for all it Be as circumspect as you will you cannot avoid these inconveniences On the contrary the Lancet has these inconveniences That many Patients are afraid of it as if it caused pain but the fear is to be prevented by not speaking of it and indeed the pain is of no great moment In the mean time you have these benefits by the Lancet 1. By it you may make the apertion as long and deep as the malady and your curiosity require 2. You have the matter quickly and the Patient is relieved 3. The matter that remains and which is not yet concocted will be speedilier promoted towards concoction by assisting Nature with fit Medicines as well internal as external 4. And thus it will come to pass that you shall not have a long continued gleeting for if a gleeting once begin you may be sure that the fault is yours If you desire a reason take this Almost all Tumours that shew themselves behind the ears in the neck arm-pits and groins arise from hardened glands and from preternatural and very penetrating humours All these kernels are clad with a proper coat which being hurt by a Lancet or Catheretick Medicines a gleeting necessarily follows for no gland when its coat is opened can preserve either it self or its humours and this gleeting or dripping continues so long as till the hole in the coat be cured P. Barber chirurg â—arâ— 1. cap. 12. or the whole gland be vanished and consumed VII Those are in an errour that though the Abscesses be large rais'd up copped under the skin and situated in places that are least subject to an afflux of humours do always content themselves with one simple section forbearing from many and compound as if every one should not be treated in a peculiar manner and as if great ones should be treated like small ones and mortified or unconcocted ones like those which have raised up the skin and are become copped Let them consult Celsus Paulus and Avicen Severin medic effic p. 93. who have appointed different manners of dissection and shewn which are necessary in such or such cases VIII The ignorance therefore of some is to be noted here who pretend that Nature rejoyces in the proper covering of the parts which if it be taken off the heat will not so well preserve its strength The vanity of this superstitious providence is thus shewn 'T is true that Nature takes care for preserving the parts with a covering but that is when they are sound and entire for she intends to preserve such and not corrupt parts For the rind of a rotten Pomegranate covers and preserves all the rotten pulp and seeds Now shall the rind be kept whole to the end that the faultiness may be encreased and nothing be pared or opened In like manner if we will not touch the skin with our knives for fear of uncovering the evil we nourish and increase it Thus while I have taken care of ulcerous persons in the Hospitals when I have laid open fresh ulcers that had burst of their own accord I have often found the tendons rotting and corrupting under them though the ulcers seem'd not worth speaking of Which ought to perswade us assoon as the skin waxes soft with the malady Severin ibid. to cut it open and apply such remedies as are fit for the purpose IX Aquapendent advises that in cutting an Imposthume we make not the section so large as that afterwards the skin can hardly be agglutinated to the muscles that lie under it from whence a difficult motion of the Muscles may happen But this caution is either to no purpose or it has this sense That the incision should not reach the Muscles also For though it might happen that as they heal the skin and they might grow together yet however the motion of the Muscles might by that means be prejudic'd and not be so certain for the skin always yields and therefore he seems somewhat fearfull in cutting Just as he was also superstitious in curing of a venereal Bubo when he admonishes not to thrust in the knife too deep because if the glands were wounded death would presently follow c. I speak not this that I would have a man butcher'd but neither on the other hand would I be content with pricking him for that does not please me at all It has happened to many when a slight incision has been made of large sinuous abscesses what Hippocrates 1 Epid. 6. writes of one that died languishing of a sinuous Ulcer Idem ibid. If there had been a large incision made into it seasonably he might have been saved X. Nor do I commend their advice that with a cold moderation of mind doe the business by Causticks For in these there are many things that may be condemned The first is an inconvenience that the virtue of the Caustick is not onely extended lengthways of the member according to the desired form but spreads it self also broadways whence it is that it causes cruel pains and a great inflammation which ought carefully to be avoided in the parts not onely in those to which the Caustick is applied but in those next to them Secondly by reason the Eschar is long a falling off and the parts that are laid bare are slowly restor'd they doe not so much good as is expected from them But cutting if it be skillfully performed afflicts both less and a shorter while and presently brings the desired help Idem ibid. p. 94. and by cutting the skin in a line it does no prejudice on either side XI It is to be observed that Tumours which suppurate slowly grow not copped Severinus eff châ—r p. 94. nor rise much outward
Therefore you must not wait for a head before you lance them XII A young man going down Mont Cenis and slipping on a sudden fell upon his back the hilt of his sword lighting under his short ribs and left kidney and bruising his Loins very much In which place a little after there began a great pain with various symptomes but without any sensible fever The part affected was not black and blue nor swelled but very smooth and plain A great quantity of humours from the whole body had flowed to the left muscle called Psoas and being there pent in made an Abscess A certain Physician thinking him Nephritical gave him many things against the Stone But being brought to a Surgeon who not long before had cured one in the same condition he was told by him that there was matter shut up in the part which must have vent given to it otherwise he would be in great danger if the Abscess should break inwards and the pus should be poured forth into the Abdomen The young man committed himself to this Surgeon whose first care was that the matter which was all over the Loins should be drawn to such a place by applying powerfull drawers as where there were few large vessels and the instruments of motion might be least hurt in the operation Which after he thought he had obtained from the Patient's sense of pain upon pressing a fit place he forthwith made a wound on the left side of the fourth Vertebra of the Loins with a red hot knife as deep as the length of ones forefinger from the palm as one might guess by the tent that was afterward put in Then notwithstanding its depth he put his two fingers into the same wound to make it the wider that the matter might flow the more plentifully out of it But a little moderating the evacuation the Surgeon put in it a silver pipe which being besmeared with purging and deterging ointments he used for some months and at length the wound was skinn'd over without any fistula or sinus in it Fab. Hildan cent 1 observ 63. The same person advises in such deep wounds and ulcers as are near some internal cavity as the Chest or lower belly to abstain wholly from injections that are made with a Syringe lest some part of the injection go into the cavity where it might be the cause of grievous symptomes with the danger of the Patient XIII I saw an unmarried Woman forty years old labouring under an Imposthume behind her left ear About the fourteenth day of the Disease when it was grown to the bigness of ones Fist and the Matter was fully ripe but retain'd too long through the toughness of the skin it made its way downwards When I was called I found the Imposthume broke of it self some hours before which run little or nothing but a few days after the Woman died when she had a Fever Fainting and other Symptomes Hence it appears that in Imposthumes of this kind whether they be in the Emunctories or near them we must not stay till they break of themselves which this History confirms ¶ There was a Boy three years old who had an Imposthume about his right shoulder the matter whereof when it was more than enough digested and the lancing of it denied the swelling sunk by little and little Fab. Hild. cent hist 39. 81. and fell by degrees into the lower belly and Genitals where having extinguished the innate heat it produced a Gangrene ¶ I saw almost the like case Anno 1660 in the Village Coussise in the Canton of Bern near Grandison The Reverend Mr. Bourgeois Pastor of the Church a full bodied man who fared well and omitted one Autumn his accustomed bloud-letting whereby he used to abate his Plethory In the Winter following a huge Boyl ariseth in the upper part of his back for which he was not so much as let bloud I and a Surgeon were called and found the Abscess exceeding ripe and pressing it with my fingers found it hollow I bid the Surgeon use his Lancet which he did but the Patient felt it not And he took great pieces of Flesh away It cast out good and plentifull Matter yet without Fever Fainting or any other grievous Symptome his strength was perfect and his stomach good For I found him on his leggs not dreaming in the least of his death which I signified to his Wife who took me for mad I took leave of my Patient intending to return to Newenburg in Switzerland where I then practised Physick But within three hours I was recalled to the assistance of the dying man who a few hours after departed this life XIV A Girl eight years old had a small Swelling sanguine and phlegmatick on the out side of the right under jaw I fearing lest the scar should spoil her face did before the Abscess came to break resolve to try to disperse it according to Guido who saith that sometimes suppurated Imposthumes are cured by discussion After whose example Paraeus cured such another Abscess with crude Mercury mixt with Diapalma I in imitation of him mixed one drachm of the said Mercury with an ounce of Diapalma and applied it to the suppurated Tumour Dionysius Iomeret apud Riverium obs 1. Vid. Hollerium de mat ch rurg lib. 2. cap. 1. which within four days was wholly dispersed The following qualifications are requisite to the dispersing of suppurated Matter 1. That the quantity be but small 2. That it be thin and serous 3. That it be near the skin and surface of the Body 4. That it be in a strong and young Body and soft fleshed 5. That it be Summer time XV. The Site of the Fibres is to be taken special heed of for I observed an ignorant Barber once opened an Imposthumâ— on the forehead cross-ways The Imposthume indeed was successfully cured but the Patient was ever after deprived the benefit of his Eyes except when he pasted up his eye-brows with Plasters It were more advisable to leave such Imposthumes to Nature Rolsâ—â—ceius disserâ— Anaâ— lib. 3. cap. 10. than to commit the Incision of them to unskilfull hands See Galen 4. de administr Anatom c. 1. XVI There lies a Nerve under the Buttocks which if it be cut in Suppuration or when it is laid bare be hurt by cold it leaves the Thigh under it benummed A certain man had an Imposthume in the bending of his Buttock where it ends in the Thigh Hollerius inst châ—r l 2. c. 1. l. 3. c. 1. when the Matter was cleansed the Nerve was made bare which being hurt by the cold left the whole Thigh benummed XVII If there be but little Matter there is no harm if all run out which is fit and ready for running without any violent or long pressing of it a thing usual with many Surgeons from which I could never yet observe any benefit to accrue to the Patient but oft times much hurt Indeed when the Matter resides in
consider with himself whether he be able to persist in it all his life which yet perchance he will not be able to doe be he never so resolved For I know a Nobleman who after he had lived a whole year on Milk alone not onely without offence but with a great deal of pleasure all which time he went to stool once a day or oftner growing costive on a sudden and the temper of his body being changed but the resolution of his mind still continuing Idem p. 75. and his Stomach at length loathing Milk was forced to give over Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. An admirable Electuary for all Gout Pains which I have often used with good success I declare it eases them presently without trouble it cools the fiery heat and so qualifies the Part Jul. Caes Baricellus hort Gen. p. 90. that I have seen some sick of the Gout recover the same day they took this Physick It is made thus Take of white Hermodactyls cleansed from their upper coat Diagridium each 3 drachms Costus Cummin-seed Ginger Cloves each 1 drachm Let them be powdered and with some proper Syrup or with Honey and White-wine boil'd together make an Electuary The dose is from 3 drachms to 4. 2. Take of Germander Groundpine lesser Centaury Aristolochia rotunda Sage Betony each 1 ounce of the best ripe Guaiacum 8 ounces Crato lib. 6. Cons 100. Make a Powder By this one Remedy the Gout may be perfectly cured except a Man will lead Sardanapalus his life The dose is 1 drachm in the morning for several weeks 3. This is reckoned excellent for prevention Rod. à Fonseca Tom. 2. Cons 59. Take of pure Spring-Water 10 pounds the Wood of Mastick-Tree cut very small 3 ounces Let them boil an hour drink of this Water at Dinner and Supper For it strengthens the Stomach helps Digestion and prevents Defluxions This was given me as a secret by a very skilfull Physician 4. In a hot cause I think nothing is better Spigelius de Aâ—thritide p. 84. if I may conclude from my Experience than the Powder of Wild Cichory Leaves dried in the shade and gathered in May. A drachm or 2 scruples may be given in a little Chicken Broth without Salt in the morning 4 hours before dinner and in the evening as he goes to sleep either with a spare Supper or with none at all ☞ The outward Medicines are either indicated before or may be sufficiently compensated by this single one described in the following Discourse which seems of more moment in the Cure of the Gout than all that our great Physicians have relied on whether inward or outward put together The SUM of WILLIAM TEN RHYNE'S M. D. Treatise of the Gout PART I. The Aitiology Ten Rhyn de Arthrit p. 94. ALthough it be besides our Design to meddle with Theory yet I have two Reasons not to omit this of the Gout 1. It 's extraordinary Novelty shall I say or Antiquity New I must call it because lately transmitted to us from the East Indies but it must be really Ancient For it makes up one half of a Japan Doctour as the Needle makes the other and they derived this moiety of their skill from Ingenious China where perhaps its date may be so old that the eldest Chronicle in Europe cannot Synchronize But certain I am it is as Ancient as our Father Hippocrates as the Issue will prove 2. It s extreme Necessity For the reason why the Gout has been hitherto incurable by us Europaeans is the Ignorance of its true Cause as Prosper Martianus in his first Section frankly acknowledges Wherefore to doe the Learned Graecian and the Ingenious Barbarian both right and my Countrymen good I thought it a pity to let the Moxa go without its Reason lest it should lie undiscerned under a multitude of Plasters and Pultesses good for the Gout and for want of good Credentials it should not reflect the honour due to its Authours nor afford the tortured man that ease which it is able to procure To avoid therefore any farther Preamble and not to meddle with Etymologies we thus describe the Gout The Gout is a preternatural little and for the most part invisible and inwardly latent Tumour of the Periosteum arising from a dry and malignant Vapour which by the contractive motion of the Heart is forced with the Bloud through the Arteries to the Limbs and to the Joints thereof especially and violently separates the Periosteum from the Bone into which Interstice this Vapour being once forced doth stick there most tenaciously and distend the said Membrane of a most tender sense and so is the cause of that sharp Pain and sometime hinders the Member it self in its motion I call it an inwardly latent Tumour to distinguish it from other flatulent Tumors for whereas these lie between the flesh and skin or interstices of the Muscles the other lies hid under the thin film that covers the Bones I call it an invisible Tumour not that I am ignorant how in this Disease there are Swellings conspicuous enough but lest I should stumble upon the same Stone at which so many eminent Doctours for several Ages have tript For difference should be made between a Disease and its symptomes between that Swelling that is peculiar to the Gout which though a small one yet is the onely cause of Pain and that Swelling that is subsequent to the Pain of the Part For at the beginning these Pains are without any Swelling though afterwards about the State of the Disease the Part affected often swells The Practice of the Ancients might afford considerable Arguments for this latent Tumour as their cutting and burning Hippocrates lib. 3. de morb speaking of the Cure of the Pleurisie saith If he do not spit and it give some signs of it on the side cut or burn him But the most cogent may be drawn from the Panacea of China and Japan i. e. Burning by Moxa and from Acupuncture in Japan which puts it out of all doubt that most Diseases arise from a noxious Vapour the cause of some invisible Tumour And that a Vapour is the Cause I have Hippocrates his authority for it lib. de Flatibus Who saith That we live of Meat Drink and Air and then he shews how the Air especially is Authour both of Life and Death to all Animals He saith That this Air or Spirit which in our Bodies we call a Vapour is the sole cause of all Diseases He instances in Fevers Griping of the Guts Defluxions Dropsies Apoplexies Epilepsies and concludes that it holds true in all other Diseases but that it would be tedious to particularize them all When he comes to Defluxions under which the Gout has been ever ranked he hath these words The Spirit is involved in the Bloud near the narrow Veins and the thinnest part which I judge is the Vapour that causes the Gout is thrust out by the
Head grow worse Oethaeus apud Schenckium and new Symptomes frequently arise Therefore it is good in all Diseases of the Head to keep the Body open XXV It is very well known that Coriander is given to suppress Vapours arising from the Stomach to the Head Yet some disapprove the use of it because it is its nature to affect the Head nor does it hinder the ascent of Vapours but rather carry them with it self to the Head yea and according to Dioscorides cause Madness But this is if it be immoderately taken which is common to it with Saffron Nutmeg Frankincense c. yet this is no reason that it should be rejected if moderately taken especially prepared For that vaporous and volatile part as Chymists word it that is in the Coriander and which taken immoderately hurts the Head like Poison is fixt and corrected by the Vinegar so that it becomes a proper Remedy to help Concoction Sennertus Pract. l. 1. part 1. c. 2. and clear the Heart and Brain as experience shews XXVI Concerning Quilts and Caps we must take notice that such as are made of very strong scented things do affect the Head and cannot be endured of all people And this is true not onely of Muskified things alone but of all strong smelling things in general though gratefull if they be beyond measure such And they make the Head to ake and cause a turbulent motion in the Spirits for this Maxim holds true here Every extreme Sensible hurts the sense Wherefore I have seen some Wedelius de Med. â—â—t p. 202. especially at the beginning that could not wear these Spicecaps without the Head-ach XXVII Nor yet must the Ingredients be too hot nor too cold and astringent not too hot lest they melt over much dissolve and precipitate the matter into the Vessels which would gladly get out at Nature's High-way thus hath a dangerous Fever come of a Catarrh by unseasonable applying Oil of Amber to the mold of the head We must have a care of Astringents lest the Brain be hurt by powerfull Astriction Idem and the motion of the Humours be stopt XXVIII Caps are most proper in essential Diseases of the Brain They alter and strengthen it that it is not so apt to receive Defluxions and Impurities They discuss both the footy Vapours blended with the Lympha and the abounding serous Humours They intercept especially those that are made of Astringents not so much as the Head is the first Spring and Original of all Catarrhs which nevertheless was the opinion of the Ancients but as at least it is not altogether without fault so the Moderns hold Thus they keep back the shower of a Catarrh Thus they stop the Lympha when it is running into the Pores of the Brain Idem p. 206. and put a stop to all manner of Defluxions Medicines especially made use of by eminent Physicians 1. Tincture of Amber is a Specifick in all Diseases of the Head especially in Weakness of Mind Grulingius l. 1. par â— c. 2. Apoplexy Palsie Epilepsie 2. We have sometime strengthened the Head with this Remedy alone Take of Nutmeg Aniseed Cinnamon Marjoram each 1 ounce let them be bruised grosly put in a Pipe and smoaked like Tobacco morning and evening for it wonderfully strengthens the Brain and purges the Humours C. C. de Heredia p. 130. 3. Levinus Lemnius saith that Lignum Aloes doth wonderfully strengthen the Brain 4. Take of Ly made of Vine-ashes what is sufficient Boyl in it some Marjoram Bayberries Penniroyal Calaminth Basil with the Seed Agarick bruised and tied in a rag 2 drachms Add a third part of Wine to the measure of the Ly Montanus cons 24. Boil all to the consumption of a fourth part press it and strain it and in this Ly with some sweet Soap wash your Head The Head will be wonderfully strengthened by this Washing ¶ Oil of Ladanum rightly prepared dropt into the Ears and sometimes rubbed on the Crown of the Head is a most excellent Remedy Id. cons 40. 5. I reckon this a curious external Remedy for strengthening the Head Take of old Oil-olive Cretian-wine each half a pound of the Wood and Fruit of Balsame each 1 ounce Flowers of Clary Sage and Rosemary each 1 handfull Mix them and let them stand in a Glass 3 days in Horse-dung then distill them For 3 Liquours will come out every one of them of great virtue but the third of most With the first the whole Head being purged before must be rubbed every day With the second and a very small quantity of the third Monardus Ep. l. 17. Epist 1. the Sutures must be anointed and one drop must be dropt into the left Ear once in 3 or 4 days 6. In a cold Intemperature of the Head black Hellebore-root with as much Sugar-candy is an excellent Sternutatory It is Helmont's Medicine and is also good for the Cure of a Catarrh Riverius Prâ—x Med. l. 1. c. 1. 7. In a hot Intemperature of the Head it is good to snuff up cooling Liquours into the Nostrils among which Woman's Milk with Oil of Violets or Water-lily Sennertus prax l. 1. par 1. c. 1. or an Emulsion of Lettuce or Poppy-feeds made with Lettuce-water are commended ¶ Castor is commended inwardly than which among Simples there is scarce another more effectual and powerfull in heating the Brain Also upright Vervain which as they write does discuss above all things and perfectly strengthen the Head especially green yea and dry also with its roots and Mother of Time boiled in Oil. Galen also saith that Sows breeding under a Water-tub are very good if they be boiled in Oil. Idem c. 2. ¶ Also the Medicine called Hippocrates his Treacle is good in Phlegmatick Diseases of the Head it is made thus Take of Wormwood Horehound French Lavender Mastick Rheubarb Groundpine Germander each 3 drachms Hyssop 1 drachm good Agarick powdered the weight of all make them up with clarified Honey The Dose is 2 or 3 drachms in the morning in the decoction of French Lavender or some other Liquour Idem ¶ Wine is very good to strengthen the Brain and rear Eggs with Sugar and Cinnamon if good Wine be drunk upon them as also is Amber-gryse with Sugar taken in broth or a rear Egg. Capitis dolor or the Head-ach The Contents Bloud-letting is not proper for every Head-ach I. One cured by Bleeding in the Foot II. A pertinacious Hemicrania cured by opening a Vein between the Forefinger and the Thumb III. Cured by Atreriotomy IV. By Cupping and Scarifying the Head V. Burning and Cutting the Skin proves sometimes beneficial VI. We must sometimes proceed to Burning VII Whether Issues made in the Head in or near the place grieved be proper VIII Cured by Boring a hole in the Skull IX By Bleeding the Ear. X. With Issues in the Arm. XI With Vesiccatories applied to the Head XII An inveterate Hemicrania
at several intervals 2. Caesalpinus A large Cupping-glass with much flame set on for an hour cures forthwith like an enchantment 3. I have known this Electuary doe much good Crato l. 1. cons 6. Take of Conserve of Roses 6 drachms Spec. Aromat rosat 2 scruples White-frankincense 1 scruple Mix them make an Electuary Take the quantity of a Chesnut when you go to bed ¶ Take of Sea-wormwood tops Chamaemil each 1 Pugil White-frankincense one drachm Boil them in a sufficient quantity of Water Strain it Id. lib. 2. cons 10. To 4 ounces of the Colature add of Syrup of the juice of Chamaemil Feaver-few each half an ounce for 2 doses With this I have eased most violent Pains in the Stomach and Intestines ¶ This is a most present Remedy for the Heart-burn Idem l. 2. p. 314. Take of new Conserve of Roses 2 ounces Spec. Aromat rosat 2 scruples White-pepper 1 scruple Mix them 4. This Liquour appeases the Pain in the Stomach wonderfully if half a drachm of it be given Deodatus panâ—h hyg Take of Mastick 4 ounces the best rectified Spirit of Wine half a pound Galangale 1 ounce Infuse them digest them and distill them by an Alembick 5. Oil of Sweet-almonds taken in some Broth Lael à Fonte cons 35. that hath had Citron-seeds boil'd in it is of great efficacy and so is Emulsion of Citron-seeds 6. The Sapphirine Oil of Chamaemil Hartmannus given to 4 or 5 drops in Mint-water is excellent for the Heart-burn 7. In Heart-burning from acid Phlegm and crude Juices sticking to the Stomach Oil of Aniseeds rubbed on the region of the Stomach is of great efficacy 8. This is highly commended in Pain of the Stomach Take of Nutmeg 2 drachms Spirit of Wine 2 ounces Platerus Honey of Roses till it be sweet boil them a little take 2 or 3 spoonfulls 9. I can reckon up several who have been cured of most bitter Pains in their Stomach Peterius onely by applying a Plaster of Gum Tacamahaca Eust Rhudius art med l. 2 c. 8. 10. Take of Spec. Hierae 2 drachms Diarrhodon Abbaâ—â— half a drachm and with Marmalade of Quinces not aromatized I have made Bolus's and given them to several who commonly the same day were all of them freed from their Symptoms 11. In this Disease I use this I take 3 Eggs and break them Herc. Saxonia and with Oil of Roses and Mastick I make Fritters of them and apply them to the mouth of the stomach It is an excellent Remedy 12. I have often found 1 drachm of Powder of Calamus Aromaticus given in 2 ounces of clarified Juice of Worm-wood hot Solenander very effectual in the Heart-burn 13. About 3 ounces of the Juice of Dill boiled in Water and drunk doth wonderfully relieve the Pain of the stomach Varignana that is with reaching and hick-cough Catalepsis or A waking Senslesness or Stupidity wherein a man retains the form and figure of one awake when nevertheless all the functions of his mind and senses are asleep The Contents Cured by voiding Worms I. Whether Wine may be allowed II. I. A Girl not full eight years old in a Burning-fever was first taken with a deep sleep and then with a Catalepsis her Eyes being quite open She took nothing down for seven days but a little Chicken-broth with Purslane boiled in it she lay pale Bâ—nedictus l. 1. c. 26 â—â—â—â—ur mori speechless and without motion onely she breathed with difficulty The Mother in utter despair of her Daughter gave her a Suppository of Honey with which she voided a knot of forty two Worms without any excrement and presently came to her self Some caliginous Vapours from these Animals in her Belly seized all the Senses of her Brain Fâ—rtis cons 34. câ—n 1. II. Galen 3. simpl allows Malmsey-wine to Cataleptick persons after whose example Amatus permits Cretian Wine is best with some Sage or Rosemary in it Catarrhus or A Catarrh or Defluxion The Contents The Head is often in no fault and therefore not to be tormented with Remedies I. Many Diseases ascribed to it amiss II. Not cured by one way alone III. Concoction must be more attended than Evacuation IV. The Intemperature or the Brain not always to be blamed V. One caused by Cold needs not Medicines VI. Whether Bloud letting in a Cold one be proper VII When it may be stopt VIII When a Purge may be given IX If a salt one falls upon the Breast we must purge X. If we fear a Consumption we must give a strong Purge XI A Vomit is sometimes proper XII When it may be given in a suffocative one XIII The Cure of a suffocative one XIV We must not insist long upon Vacuations and Revulsions XV. A salt one cured with Issues between the Shoulders XVI With a Seton in the Neck XVII When it falls upon the Breast a Vesicatory proper XVIII Becchicks hurtfull in time of Defluxion XIX By the abuse of sweet things it runs the more into the mouth XX. Whether Bath waters and Spaws be good XXI Whether Whey be good XXII Decoctions of Guaiacum not always wholesome XXIII Whether a Fever be the care of it XXIV Decoctions hurtful XXV The use of Bathing XXVI Washing of the Head sometimes good XXVII Fumes when proper XXVIII Plasters to stop it dangerous XXIX Rubbing the Head bad XXX All Anointing hurtfull XXXI Whether a drying Diet be always proper XXXII What posture one should lye and keep ones Head in XXXIII Exercise of the lower parts wholesome XXXIV Venus whether proper XXXV The Cure of a Catarrh falling upon the Breast XXXVI Of a violent one falling upon the external parts XXXVII Medicines I. IT is clear from Galen's Testimony 2. de differ Febr. cap. ult that sometimes a Catarrh is caused by some fault in the bloud when the head is no way out of order Therefore one cannot say absolutely that a Catarrh is the cause of a Fever It is confirmed because the subject bowels or often the whole body may afford fewel to the Catarrh the head continuing altogether unhurt for the Catarrh sometimes arises from fulness of body sometimes from the heat of the subject bowels and sometimes from the weakness of the head as is gathered from Galen ad Glauconem cap. 15. While therefore the subject bowels abound with excrements they conspire in production of the Catarrh Sanctorius mâ—th vit err l. 1. c. 26. either because in a long tract of time they are indisposed or because some errour is committed in the first concoction as when the belly is stufft with excrements in which case the head may be sound They err therefore that apply Remedies as Embrocations Washings c. to the head which is onely hurt by sympathy when the subject bowels should be cured ¶ Oftentimes excrementitious humours that are sent up from the lower parts to the brain cause a Catarrh and acquire a
pulled out Erasistratus thinks they ought not upon a slight occasion be pulled out and he produces this as a testimony for his opinion Among the Low-Dutch in Apollo's Temple a leaden pair of Pliers to draw teeth was hung up to intimate that a tooth should not be pulled out unless it were loose so as it might be pulled out with a leaden pair of Pincers that is without violence Which if in any part of it be rotten or faulty what is faulty may be scraped off and what is sound may be left Hollerius Perioche 5. And indeed it must not lightly be pulled out unless it be corrupt all rotten and loose if there be an Inflammation of the Nerve under it on which danger may depend for when the tooth is pulled out the Nerve is free and not pressed but transpires and admits convenient Remedies In corruption you must consider how much it is for sometime it is superficial and onely near the end then some part of it may be filed off while the root is sound ¶ Valescus de Taranta doth scarce allow of drawing a tooth first because of chewing secondly because when one is pulled out the defluxion goes to another and so one tooth may be pulled out after another till a man have not a tooth in his head But although he may be allowed his way in the Tooth-ach from a defluxion where the matter flows by vessels common to several teeth yet in corrupt teeth and especially when the matter that runs out of the rotten teeth causes a Swelling or Ulcer in the Jaw there is no other way of cure but to draw the tooth for then there is no fear lest the adjoining tooth should be corrupted because such corrosion comes not from a fresh defluxion Sennertus but from one that is past long ago XVII Hollerius allows of Cauteries Sennertus thinks the use of them scarce safe because of the exquisite sense of the Nerves fearing lest other parts should sympathize Yet I could never observe any harm follow the onely fear is lest the parts adjoining as the Lips c. should be burnt With this Precaution a red hot Iron may be put in the hole safely Let the Patient set his foot upon the Chirurgeon's and let him press it that the Chirurgeon may take away his Iron if perchance it should hurt him XVIII We see multitudes in this Climate tormented with the Tooth-ach because of corroded and hollow teeth I fill the hollow of the teeth with Turpentine Petrus Pachequus Obs 65. and then apply an actual Cautery with very good success XIX An Infirmity and loosness of teeth happens to many from a sharp distillation All vulgar Physicians treat this evil onely with styptick things which scarce doe any good The onely Remedy is Fire indicated by Hippocrates l. de aff n. 5. and by Rhases who burn the roots of the teeth with a hot Iron Gariopontus with a Copper Nail What I see no man else doe I have tried in two hundred both curing the Tooth ach and in Fastning loose teeth I will here shew the fashion of the Iron which is fastned to a long handle and is half an inch broad and two inches long but bent so as it may be fitted exactly to the Convexity of the teeth But it must be observed that this Chirurgery may very opportunely be tried when the parts first begin to languish but when the teeth are loosened from their roots Severinus Med. effic pag. â—â— Burning will scarce doe any good XX. Teeth as the rest of the Bones consist of small Fibres but very hard and compact ones running length-ways By the insensible and extreme small Interstices of these small Fibres the most subtile particles of Aliment run from top to bottom being carried by the Arteries to the roots of the teeth If upon any occasion this alimentary Juice be made thinner and its particles be carried with a greater impetuosity than they ought they do not easily stick but pass their bounds and so when what is abated of the thickness of the tooth by continual effluvium is not made up the tooth must of necessity grow more slender and when the Aliment runs out farther according to the duct of the Fibres the tooth grows in length Therefore to prevent this Slenderness of the tooth the best Remedy is to shorten the tooth with a File so when it is made shorter the Aliment which cannot run beyond the tooth being forced into a shorter space encreases the thickness of the tooth So Husbandmen use to lop the Branches of Trees that the Trunk may become thicker and stronger the nutritious juice being contained within it self which was distributed into the Boughs that were cut off It seems as if this too great excursion of Aliment in the teeth might happen not onely because of its thinness and agitation of parts whereof it consists but also through the laxity of Fibres whereof the tooth consists which may happen if while the Aliment flows too sparingly all the Fibres become more slender or the same Aliment may be corrupted either through the fault of the part or of the affluent humours Franc. Bayle Problem 57. XXI If teeth be loosened by a fall or blow they must not be drawn but restored and tied to those that are fast for in time they will be fastened in their holes As I experienced in Antonius de la Rue a Tailor who had his Jaw broke with the Hilt of a Sword and three of his teeth loosened and well-nigh beaten out of their holes when his Jaw was set his teeth were restored to their places and fastened with a double thred and a plaster to the next I fed him with broths and spoon-meats I made him astringent Gargarisms of Cypress-nuts Myrtles and a little Alume boiled in Vinegar and Water and ordered him to wash his mouth frequently and I so ordered the matter that in a short time he could chew as Well with these teeth as with any of the rest Paraeus l. 23. c. â—7 XXII Two died of drawing a tooth through much Bleeding but one of them was decrepit in the other there was a large Vessel at the root of the tooth and a great Breach Cardan de caus sign mâ—rb p. 155. Forest l. 14. obs 4. ¶ As a Tooth-drawer was drawing a tooth from an old Man in the Market-place at Bononia the man died suddenly XXIII Teeth in Children whether they fall out of themselves or by violence so the roots remain grow again of themselves Therefore we must have a care when Children have broken their teeth by a fall or a blow that we pull not out the part that remains but the root it self must be as carefully preserved as may be for all the hope of the tooth's coming again depends upon it as the seed and when it is pulled out by the root Columbus l. 1. c. 10. teeth seldom or never come again XXIV We must have a care that
person to be fumed with Agate and that the Oil of it is good for the same ¶ C. Piso commends it highly The smell of it saith he is a most present remedy as I have experienced in several and in that famous French Virago Maturina who being given over for dead by her Physicians upon her first smelling of this Stone was raised from her Bed and beyond all expectation ran immediately with great chearfulness to the Table and Dice The controversie is decided by distinguishing Epilepsies for this fume is good in that which vapours ascending from the womb do cause for the virtue of strong smells is such that they discuss hysterick Fits if they be held to the nose But stinking smells bring an Epilepsie that comes of any other cause XIX Stupefiers of the Nerves because by dulling their sense they render them less affected with trouble when they are irritated and therefore less convulsed if the gentler sort of them be given in grievous and dangerous Convulsions I have often found them doe much good In which respect I think Treacle c. may be proper both because it infringes the venomous power of the Epilepsie and because it dulls the exquisite sense of the nerves Platerus de funct lâ—s p. 77. and that it is given rather for that reason than because it strengthens the nervous kind XX. If it have its rise from the Womb we must take notice not to give sweet smelling Medicines for they both make the head heavy Sennertus and cause the fit XXI Things that add strength to the nervous kind are appropriate remedies which are made of capital and arthritick simples which since they supply the nervous kind with new strength as it were that it may be the better able to resist what is troublesome to it use not improperly to be added to other Medicines which we use in the Epilepsie However not with the same mind or intention but because they believed the Epilepsie was caused by Phlegm stopping up the Brain not onely these things appropriate to the Nerves are hot but in the cure of the Epilepsie they used for the most part things that migâ—t cut and attenuate thick Phlegm and the hottest remedies Which notwithstanding if the Epilepsie come from the irritation of the nervous kind because they heat the Body more I observe they cure not at all so I know by experience they rather irritate and promote and exasperate the fits And because I either found or had it from credible persons that they doe more good than hurt with their heat except in a cold and moist constitution of body or when they have moreover some other property whereby they resist poison Platerus or this disease I think they should not otherwise lightly be used XXII We affirm with Jacchinus and others that a Decoction of Guaiacum is proper for those that are subject to the Epilepsie because we must especially have respect to the antecedent cause whereby the proximate is fomented and sustained And it often consists in gross impurities gathered in the whole Body or Brain Womb Stomach c. which do indicate Incision Attenuation Solution Purging by Urine Stool Sweat c. and therefore the consumption of themselves For these as they are the subjects and antecedent causes being removed the noxious faculty existing in them is also removed that is the malignant Vapour which being exalted or raised by evaporation does otherwise produce an Epilepsie And a Decoction of Guaiacum is of great service in respect of the present indication as by inciding and attenuating it dissolves this antecedent cause by cleansing it evacuates and by provoking sweat it renders the mass of bloud defoecate not without strengthening of the Bowels through its amicable astrictive faculty connate to it Nor is the decoction of Guaiacum onely usefull in rooting out the Cause but its acid Spirit and Oil also is very good to allay and conquer a fit We must take notice concerning Hydroticks that they are proper generals premised 2. That the decoction it self of Guaiacum according to the different nature of the Subject must be prepared with things appropriate to the morbifick cause taking care especially Gr. Horstius dec 2. prob 9. that in boiling it the Spirits do not exhale XXIII There are some that take Guaiacum for Lignum Heracleum Rulandi induced thereto both by the similitude of the name and because he often uses a decoction of this wood in the same diseases in curing of which he glories that the Oil has done good Quercetan on the contrary thinks it is drawn by distillation off Box wood Others think rather from the Pine Others from the Larch-tree for this reason especially because Oleum ERACLIVM makes by transposition of the very same Letters LARICEVM We saith Clossaeus although we are not ignorant that the Oleum Heracleum Rulandi is made of Hazle wood per descensum and that his Antepileptick Conserve is made of it not onely because Hazle nuts were called by the Ancients Heracleoticae but especially because Valentinus Rulandus writing to Fabricius Hildanus Obs 84. cent 3. plainly calls the Spirit and Oil of Hazle Wood per descensum Heraclinum Although saith he the thing be so yet I constantly affirm that Oil of Guaiacum may very fitly be used in its stead For the acid Liquor of Guaiacum hath the same virtues and faculties and shews the very same effects which he attributes to his Oleum Corylinum Moreover as experience testifies the specifick properties of Liquors perish in descensory distillation which being consumed by the fire a more fixt vitriolick Spirit is elevated together with a stinking Oil and Gum or Resine which as they are in great plenty in all Wood so in their power of acting and virtue Idem â—â—id they differ not much one from another XXIV Let Candidates in Physick observe this that the seed of Poeony is more gratefull than the root wherefore the seed may be put in Childrens victuals on the contrary the root is more convenient for Clysters It is better to use the powder of the root than the faecula for in preparing the faeculae of simples their virtue is washed away with the menstruum that is put to them yea just like Magisteries they are made like an useless Calx or the menstruum gives them some ascititious qualities XXV Candidates in Physick must also be told that if by God's Blessing they would cure an Epilepsie according to their desire they must account among Vegetables the Male Poeony rare to be found among Animals Castor or Swallows among Minerals Vitriol to be recommended to them as Specificks Some indeed will highly commend the use of Cinnabar of Antimony but it should onely be where the Epilepsie is caused by Worms S. Pauii Qu. Bot. cl 2. otherwise in my opinion it is no convenient Medicine for Epileptick persons XXVI While it was my custom to use Oil of Amber in people troubled with Epilepsies Convulsions Imposthumes
is caused by an external cause should not be imputed to the Disease Therefore it has done many good to purge in the beginning and so to have a care through the whole course of the Disease that the body be not costive because we can no way better prevent the Symptoms whereby all such people are commonly in danger Yet I have learned both for the aforesaid reason and by sufficient experience that it is very dangerous for this Disease to be judged by a spontaneous Loosness Vallesius ¶ You must not purge by stool unless there appear to be a great quantity of Juices the discussion whereof you cannot expect by the Skin Idem III. Vomits in Malignant fevers with Spots are generally useless unless perhaps you perceive much humours to be contained in the Stomach for then it is lawfull to cast up by Vomit what is there contained especially if the sick Party be easie to vomit otherwise no Man must be forced to vomit left the motion of the humour that is otherwise vitious be recalled inwards For the mouth of the stomach is of too sharp a sense and too near the Heart and the Head Vallesius for the malignant juices to be gathered thither ¶ In the Year 1659. I had under my cure a Maid 36 years old of a most cholerick complexion In a violent Fever she had abundance of Purple red and blew Spots arose She had not the Small-pox which were then Epidemick At the very moment the Spots broke out an exceeding anxiety came upon her the cause whereof she could not express I suspecting that Bile did vellicate the mouth of the Stomach to the vomiting whereof she was accustomed give her warm water a little while after she had drunk it there followed a plentifull vomiting of a eruginous Bile and the Spots presently vanished and the Small-pox came in their room whereof she did very well IV. Galen 1. ad Glaucon c. 14. condemns Wine in Fevers especially Burning ones with a Delirium When the Spotted fever anno 1659. was Epidemick in our City N. was come to that pass as that there was no hope of his Life But when he understood that he must dye he sent a Messenger to the Bishop to entreat a Glass of Wine of him for he expected the fatal hour which was presently granted him in a larger measure than he expected After a draught of Rhenish Wine he fell in a sweat and a sleep and the Fever was judged to health Barthâ—linus although he relapsed sometimes because of his errour in diet yet without harm ¶ Helmont de Feb. cap. 12. Sect. 7. contends violently with strong reason for Wine so as to allow it in the Plague ¶ Caesar Crivellatus as he confesses cap. 22. de usu vini in acutis recovered of a Spotted fever by using Wine against the Physician 's mind ¶ In the Year 1676. a Malignant fever was Epidemick at Borgo di Sesia of which more died than escaped live worms came out at all their Mouths A Physician who would try what would soonest kill them sprinkled some with Oil others with juice of Citron and Vinegar and yet they were not killed At length when he had sprinkled Wine on them they quickly died Hereby being emboldened he gave his Patients Wine without scruple which afterwards was the most gratefull Alexiterick of that Fever whereby almost all escaped safe V. I never to this day have observed that Nature perfectly judged this Fever by making an expulsion of these Spots to the Skin which is consonant to reason For if the Mine of this Putrefaction be kept in the mass of bloud how can it be that the Fever should be judged by these cutaneous spots This is certain That Nature does not evacuate well when it evacuates a little And these Spots are very small in comparison to the corrupt and poisonous humour Then the matter that causes the Spots is too thin to be the Basis of the putrefaction and certainly utterly insufficient for the extirpation of it But all the hope of safety in this Disease must be placed in letting bloud at the very first and afterwards in purging and sweating and sometimes in purging by Urine Augenius Febris Pleuritica Peripneumonica or A Pleuritical and Peripneumonical Fever It s Description and Cure WHen in the Year 1675. the season continued extreme like Summer till the latter end of October and a cold and moist season followed that there were abundance of Coughs abroad which prepared the way for a Fever and most readily turned into one In the mean time as the Cough helped the Constitution in producing the Fever so also the Fever taking occasion from the Cough did just invade the Pleura and Lungs as it had invaded the Head the Week before these Coughs began Which sudden change of the Symptoms gave nevertheless some men occasion who took not so good notice to take this Fever for an Essential Pleurisie or for an Essential Peripneumony although it remained the same as it had ever been through the whole Constitution And how much soever a pricking pain in the side difficulty of breathing the colour of the Bloud that was taken away c. did intimate that there was an Essential Pleurisie yet this Disease required no other Method of Cure than what suited to the Fever of this Constitution but it was very much abhorrent from that which was proper for a true Pleurisie Besides a Pleurisie when it is the primary Disease for the most part invades at that time of the year which is between Spring and Summer and as it were joins them both This Disease being born under another Constellation must be reckoned onely a Symptome of the Fever that was proper to that Year and the product of an accidental Cough That we may rightly proceed to that Method which Experience told us was owing to the Coughs of that Year we must observe that those Effluvia which were wont to be sent out of the mass of bloud by insensible transpiration were turned inward by the Cold contracting the Pores of the Skin and fell upon the Lungs by irritating of which they after raise a Cough And seeing by this means the hot and recrementitious Exhalations of the Bloud are detained that they cannot pass the Pores of the Skin a Fever is easily kindled in the mass of bloud where that is there is either so great store of Exhalations that the Lungs are not sufficient to cast them off or by some adventitious heat either of Medicines or Regiment that are hotter than they should be the fire is augmented as if Oil were thrown into it and he that was already inclinable enough to a Fever is thrown headlong into one Leaning on this foundation if the Cough had not brought the Fever and those other Symptoms which we told you for the most part joined themselves with it I thought it sufficient to keep my Patient from flesh and all manner of strong Liquours I advised
openers and purgers for example Take of extract of Rheubarb 1 scruple Tartarum vitriolatum half a scruple Mix them Make a Bolus upon which let the Patient drink some distilled Water of Agrimony in which after a while ten drops of rectified Spirit of Tartar may be dropt Fortis XXXII Purgatives must answer in proportion to the foresaid preparers and aperients among which since Rheubarb has the prerogative we must not depart from it yet observing this difference that as the substance purges the hollow more than the gibbous part so the Infusion purges the gibbous part more than the hollow of the Liver because it communicates its subtiler parts to the Infusion Let 2 drachms be infused in Agrimony-water adding a little Spike Senna and Polypody of the Oak and to the expression add some Syrup of Roses solutive Idem XXXIII We must not desist from the use of aperients till all pain be quite gone or well abated and the Hypochondria be lighter since the obstruction of the Liver is a chronical Disease and usually cannot be opened in one week nay scarce in a whole year We must be very industrious to take it away for there is the beginning and foundation of all Diseases and unless it be carefully and totally taken away it causes the corruption of the Bloud Inflammations Fevers Schirrhi divers Fluxes of the Belly Cachexy Dropsie Jaundice c. 2. A due order must be observed in giving of all Medicines Universals must always be given before Particulars and Topicks 3. Medicines must not be given till long after Meat 4. They must be Liquid that they may penetrate 5. Attenuant dissolving and discussing things besides that they must be moderate and must also be hepatick and astringent 6. In Diseases of the Liver we must not use sweet things as Meat but as Sauce after recovery but they must not be offered to any while they are indisposed Hofmannus External Topicks must never be cold but always hot or warm XXXIV One at Padua was ill of a deplorable Ulcer of the Liver he was otherwise a lusty Man and addicted to Sea-affairs The Excellent H. S. a Physician of Venice conâ—rary to the advice of the rest of the Physicians got his Abdomen opened with a Razour upon the Region of the Liver that much of the Pus might run out at the wound After which the wound was cured and the Man survived and three years after he leaped and wrought Capivaccius and found no inconvenience XXXV Some are of opinion that an Imposthume of the Liver must not be opened because according to Fernelius 6. de part Morb. cap. 4. and Forestus lib. 19. obs 10. an Ulcer contracted from an Abscess which is continually washed with aliment must perpetually be very foul nor can it ever heal seeing the substance of the Liver is spermatick and can no more be repaired than other such parts This Disease therefore since it is of it self mortal let the Physician abstain from external incision or burning lest he be thought to have killed the Man whom the violence of the Disease destroyed But on the contrary where it is not possible to evacuate the Pus by Urine or any other way Mercatus Pract. lib. 4. cap. 2. intimates that the opening of it with a red hot Iron may be practised by a skilfull and honest Chirurgeon If saith he the abscess appear outwardly certainly it is bad not to cut it because if incision be omitted the Liver is eroded by the Pus and there is no escaping of Death But if you be minded to cut it without a red-hot Iron there will be danger of an hemorrhage and the Man will immediately be destroyed Notwithstanding Capivaccius l. 3. Pract. c. 23. and Saxonia l. 3. Panthaei c. 29. give instances of the opening of it with success Some tumours come to suppuration and because the Liver is of little sense for onely the gibbous part of it has Nerves therefore crude ones cannot be distinguished from suppurable ones but in process of time For then they that suppurate especially on the gibbous part stand out sharp and indicate Section without endangering of Life as I have experienced in several although the common integuments the Muscles and Peritonaeum were cut But if it be in the hollow part it must be purged by Urine as I observed in a Nun. Which cannot be done in a Tumour of the gibbous part When it is cut a Tent may be put in dipt in the White of an Egg. Then we must use digestives as in the wound of that part Marchetti obs 52. Afterwards a cicatrice must be made with Sarcoticks and then with Epuloticks yet all the purulent matter must first be evacuated by help of Tents and leaden Pipes by which it is purged sooner and with more convenience In this manner I have cured several who at this present live well in health ¶ Hippocrates 7. Aph. 46. teaches us how a purulent Liver may be healed But almost all Men judge them desperate who have a purulent Liver The Cure I believe is not so difficult but it may be attempted with some hopes of recovery But Physicians fearing lest the Pus should be found bloudy and fetid in which case they certainly die are afraid lest the cause of death should be imputed to them I visited one whose Liver I immediately judged was inflamed and purulent Others believed he was troubled with a malignant Fever I thought to have cut him over against the Swelling to let the Pus out which remedy was derided After he was dead I ordered the place to be opened which the wretched Man while he lived pointed to as most tormented and the Coat of the Liver was found parted from the Parenchyma and in that space there were five pounds of white Pus Sanctorius as I foretold ¶ Although Hippocrates 7. Aph. 42. says the case is desperate when Pus comes out like to Lees of Oil yet we must not wholly desist from good hope seeing this seems to proceed rather from the natural condition of the suppurated Liver than from the default of heat onely because when the substance of the Liver is inflamed the heat is not such as to be able to turn the substance of it into white Pus But if you will venture on it make the hole large outwardly Mercatus and narrow inwardly Hernia or A Rupture The Contents It does not come in the Groin onely I. Whether we may rely on Medicines taken inwardly II. Rest and long lying in bed the best remedy III. The fashion of a Splenium under the Truss IV. A Truss must be applied to each Groin V. Cutting must not be tried in all VI. A rupture in the Guts cured by Section VII The way of curing one without Section by means of a Caustick VIII The Physician ought not to consent to Castration IX The new way of curing a Rupture false X. The coalition in old Men cannot be expected XI Whether Section
washed him all over A little after his Face grew fiery red and swelled and he fell into a Fever for which reason seeing he was Plethorick and strong a Vein was opened with a Lancet upon which the swelling and redness forthwith abated Our next care was that the Bowels might suffer no damage by the base and sharp Quality of the Lime therefore Oyl of sweet Almonds with Syrup of Violets of many Infusions was given him and emulsions of Almonds were prescribed him Clysters were given him c. By the efficacy of which Remedies and by the Blessing of Almighty GOD he was safe in two dayes time There remained only a privation of his sight which the other Physicians who were called into Consultation ascribed to the corrugation and dryness of the Membranes caused by the Lime I ascribed it only to the sticking together of his Eylids which were wonderfully swelled The fifth day after his mishap decided the Controversy The Child loved a Foal that was in the Neighbourhood the hinnying whereof when he heard as it passed by he would have it brought to him when he perceived it was near him he rubbed open his Eylids with that violence that to our great joy we quickly perceived he had not lost his Sight The pleasant remembrance of my dearest Son's Recovery induced me to rehearse the whole Story though not altogether so much to the matter in hand V. He that is Suffocated and destroyed by Smoak will be cured by the correction of hot and fatning Things Haly pract l. 6. c. 4. i. e. of very nutritive Things as some interpret I think indeed they prescribe fat Things because of the sharpness of the Smoak A fume also of some cordial Spice with a mixture of cold things therewith is good such as Water-Lily and Poppy because they resist the manifest quality of the Smoak Forestus l. 15. Obs 26. which is hot and dry And some in this Case order Bleeding after two dayes But such and they that are pen'd up in a stinking Air must immediately be carried into the open Air and be refreshed with sweat Scents ¶ A Country Fellow when he had admitted the smoak of a Coal to the Sieling of a Room that was newly Built and Plastered and had laid there one Night was found in the Morning almost Dead without Pulse Motion or Sense all cold with froathing about the Mouth Although I reckoned there was no place for Remedies yet however I would try the Cure And first of all I bled him in both the Arms I applied Cupping-glasses to his Hips and Legs and then dolorifick Ligatures I also ordered Suppositories and when at first the Blood would not run I ordered Clothes wet in warm Water to be applied to the Incision upon which the Blood by little and little began to run And because the Pulse returning a little in the very opening of the Vein indicated that I should suffer the Blood to run freely I took away almost 2 Pounds While these things were in doing I ordered him to be fanned and cold Water to be thrown in his Face Afterwards when his Pulse grew better I ordered him an Issue to be made in his Neck D. Panarolus Pent. 1 Obs 19. by which Remedies he recovered in a short time VI. I think they that are suffocated with the steam of Must are hurt rather in their Brain than Heart for some in the like Cases have after their Cure gone mad and fallen into a Fever And besides I have observed such Steams as they came from the Fat 's have pierced the Root of my Nose like Needles Thus by the steams of Sulphur Birds fall from the Trees If any Man be called to visit such Patients let him order cold Water to be thrown upon them let them be kept long unburied because many have been buried alive Borellus cent 2. Obs 5. ¶ I judge that in Beer upon the account of the Hop yea and of the Mault as also in Must sulphureous narcotick exhalations do evaporate by Fermentation as it usually happens in metallick Mines and medicated Springs that are shut up But how may we immediately relieve such this is our business Immediately therefore the ambient Air must be ventilated on all hands by which means I remember a Woman that was thus Suffocated being treated as one Apoplectick when the Doors and Windows were set open and the Croud of People about her removed came to her self again and now for these ten years has not suffered the like Let the Mouth if shut be forced open and let Treacle dissolved in Aqua Vitae or in some cephalick Spirit be poured in Let Sneezing be provoked with powder of Euphorbium and Pepper Let a Vomit be given of some emetick Syrup or a decoction of Radish and Asarum Let the extreme Parts be rubbed with spirit of Lily convall and let new Spirits be created by Cordials and Cephalicks G. Horstius VII I visited a Patient very near Death Sleepy without Sense or Motion about 30 years old And when as there appeared some hope in letting him Blood because he was a full bodied Man yet because the senior Physician refused it it was omitted but that the innate Heat as he said might be raised again he prescribed a Clyster Ligatures Blisters Cordials c. which when daily administred the Patient died When his Body was opened there was no internal hurt but all his Veins were turgid and swollen to an immense bigness so that some Veins which in others are small were in this Body as thick as ones Thumb Panarolus Pent. 1 Obs 13. Therefore the Suffocation of the native Heat came from the abundance of Blood VIII A Cellar-keeper of Anhalt complained of a straitness of his Throat as if he were choaked By reason of the Life he led there was suspicion of Fumes arising from some bad Matter that stuck in the Coats of his Stomach Pills were prescribed him which while they wrought upwards also Salmuth cent 2. Obs 40. he vomited Worms and afterwards was very well IX Suffocations may happen even to Men from the Swelling of the Gland called Thymus but the swelling of it does often choak hysterick Women unless they be relieved by Bleeding Riolanus X. If there be imminent danger of Suffocation from poysonous Mushromes a Vomit most immediately be given of decoction of Radish and Oxymel Or half a drachm of Salt of Vitriol may be given with three ounces of Oxymel Afterwards let Wormwood and Baulm be infused in Wine and give the Wine Sanctorius says nothing is better than Oyl of Citron Peel When Suffocation had taken Pausanias his Girl lib. 7. Epid. after eating a Mushrome Honey and Water hot and Vomiting and Bathing did her good In the Bathe she vomited up the Mushrome and when the Symptomes ceased she fell into a Sweat A Matron being almost Choaked with bad Mushromes had breathed her last had not I relieved her with Oyl drawn from Citron Peel the
answer 1. The impairing of the Faculties is not so slight in those who are unaccustomed to bleeding and in the infirm 2. The more sparing use of Broths Julaps a mouthful of Bread dipt in Wine c. causes no danger of crudity Rolfinc ibid. c. 6. Avicen speaks of an immoderate draught of water LXXXIII It is discussed by some later Physicians how long we must abstain from Meat after bleeding Galen after having bled a Young man sick of a Synochus without Putrefaction gave him some food two hours after Others have said that we may allow Victuals one hour or two after bleeding though not much But this is a thing for the Physician to guess at according to the quantity of the Blood that is let and the strength of the Patient's Faculties For Galen staid two hours because he let Blood very plentifully whereby his strength and spirits were weakened so that he fainâ—ed away wherefore the Stomach was not to be burthened with Meat at that time But we that bleed far more sparingly and do not so diminish the heat spirits and strength have no reason to tarry so long wherefore one hour will be enough when less than a pound of Blood has been taken half an hour when less than half a pound for the Parts are but little drained and but a few Spirits are exhausted and there is made but a small agitation of the Humours The habit of the Body ought also to come into consideration as it more or less abounds with Blood Rubeus and is more or less dense LXXXIV Some avoid giving their Patient any thing to drink after bleeding but Amatus Lusitanus proves that it is not hurtful but wholsom ordering him to drink presently some cold water For by reason of the Veins being emptied it is presently distributed into the Body and cools it more easily quickly and safely LXXXV Some Physicians forbid sleeping after Venesection because they believe that the Blood retires to the Heart which yet is not always true unless perhaps the bleeding have been immoderate or the Patient be in danger of swooning through fearfulness Besides no reason perswades that such retiring of the Blood is pernicious for the Blood uses in sleep to retire to about the Praecordia to the great recruiting of Nature And how great benefit Sleep when it comes does to those Sick Persons that have had restless Nights every one knows for it recruits the faculties and concocts the morbifick Humours whence we are oft put upon using Remedies to procure it If therefore it come a little after bleeding it will be good both as a Sign because it shews that Nature which was oppressed is now relieved and performs the natural Functions and as a Cause because when Sleep succeeds Nature concocts the remainder of the morbifick Humour Indeed Sleep hurts in the Inflammations of the internal viscera in the beginning of Ague-Fits in Pestilential Diseases but why we may not sleep in other Diseases I see no reason Galen writes that Sleep coming on does indicate the firmness of the Crisis for it happens sometimes that the Patient sleeps a whole day after the Crisis if he were long without Sleep before to the great comfort of Nature yea it happens that the Patient sleeps sometimes even in the very Crisis If Sleep therefore help when it comes after other evacuations why should it not do so also after bleeding Yea if a man may safely be let Blood when he is actually asleep Gal. Meth 9. c. 14. what hurt can Sleep do presently after bleeding Galen esteems it as a good sign when the Patient falls fast asleep after bleeding If any say that Sleep is therefore forbid lest the bandage should come loose that is nothing Primiros de vulg error l. 4. c. 26. for by the diligent care of those who wait on the Patient and right tying of the Fillet that may be prevented LXXXVI I my self have seen a simple Decoction of crisped Mint stop the circular motion of the Blood so that not a drop of it would issue out of the Foot though the Surgeon thrust his Lancet deep enough three or four times into the most apparent branches of the Saphana in the Foot for bringing down the Terms in a certain Woman for whom her Maid had prepared a Decoction of Mint instead of common water to hold her feet in Whereupon she was bid to provide simple water into which her Mistress put her feet to above the ankles S. Paul Quadr Botan p. 396. and then the Vein being cut again by the ankle the blood issued forth LXXXVII In the Diseases of Children and Women with Child the Physician consults well for himself and his Patients if himself be present when they are to be bled for those who are intrusted with that operation being too bold do suffer the blood to issue out too largely and if any unfortunate thing happen Phryg comment in aegr 8. Epid. Hippoc pag. 147. 't is presently ascribed to the Physician though it be very evident to sense that the Artist mistook LXXXVIII When a Nerve or Tendon is pricked by the Unskilfulness of the Blood-letter see the Cure thereof under the title of Convulsion lib. 3. LXXXIX A Nobleman having a troublesome Tetter and fixing Leeches in the Morning upon the Part affected when the Blood bursting forth to almost three Pound could be stanched by nothing could be done Prevotius having washed the little holes the Leeches had made with an astringent white Wine Rhodius Cent. 3. Obs 71. caused to be laid upon them with good success Galen's restringent Ointment of bole Armene and Hares wool XC Not only the simple opening of a Vein is profitable but also the cutting of them quite asunder avails to intercept many kinds of Defluxions The cutting asunder of the Vein of the Forehead is the only Remedy to take away malignant Defluxions upon the Nostrils as some have experimented So that I do not wonder that the ancient Physicians in Inflammations of the Eyes bleereyedness c. ordered the cutting asunder of the Forehead and Temple-veins Aëtius cut asunder the Forehead-veins for a continual watriness of the Eyes and pains of the Megrim Haly Abbas cuts those behind the Ears asunder for curing a Vertigo Yea the Excisions of the Veins of other Parts also are profitable for curing at once old and difficult Ulcers of the Legs and Arms c. Now the administration is thus to be order'd first the Vein must be made to appear as in ordinary Venesection then a crooked Steel or Silver Needle being thrust under it the Vein is raised up and then cut in sunder by a Sickle-like or crooked Launcet thrust in as deep as the Needle the Vein being suffer'd to bleed as in common Phlebotomy but for the most part in a slender and thin Skin the Vessel stands so out that it is not necessary to thrust a Needle in but the Administration may be performed by a Launcet alone that is
are mad-drunk with Wine or who have their head loaded from any cause first chafing the Ears with warm water and then Scarifying their extremities outwardly not very deeply or largely but slightly yet so as may draw Blood from thence to an Ounce or a greater quantity by which Remedy the pain in the Head remits not so much through the evacuation that it makes as through th◠consent of the pained part with the Head seeing the pain either is the offspring of a too thin Blood or has its rise from an hot exhalation This benefit of this Remedy is confirmed says he by all Arabians Cretians Grecians Gn. Rolfinc m. gener p. 400. See Prosp Alpin de Med. Aegyptior l. 3 c. 2. Valles lib. 6. Epidem p. m. 701. who use to heat themselves with Wine even at this day The Scarification of the Ears helps much in the acutest pains of the Teeth yea if it be repeated it may supply the place of venesection Maids in some parts of Germany let their Ears be Scarified to make them more Beautiful namely that their Face may look whiter through the evacuation of the Blood IV. Let not the Scarification in the hinder part of the Head be too deep Avicen tells of one that fell into a Palsie of his Tongue upon applying a Cupping-glass with Scarification namely the Scarification being too deep pricked the branch of a Nerve that goes from the beginning of the spinal Marrow to the Tongue V. Many dare affirm that Cupping-glasses with Scarification supply the place of Venesection whose opinion is erroneous and estranged from truth For Galen speaks not a word of Cupping-glasses for taking away the plenitude of Bodies as many of our Physicians think but he mentions only Venesection and Scarification of the Legs which is gathered from 2. Aphor. Comment 17. The evacuation of all the Humours equally which indeed is the most exquisite is made by Venesection and the next to this is that which is made by Scarification of the Ankles And in his Book of Leeches Cupping-glasses and Scarification he has said That in Plethorick Bodies Cupping-glasses are not only unprofitable but hurtful And in his Book of Curing by Bleeding he has taught That before the application of Cupping-glasses the whole Body ought to be evacuated and that those are to be applied either with Scarification or without it The same Person has said also Lib. 2. Aph. Lib. 4. de Saint tuend and in many other places very plainly that Scarification of the Legs obtains the second place after Bleeding And 13. Method he was writ If the Body be Plethorick Blood is to be let either by opening a Vein Pr. Alpin Med. Aegypt l. 3. c. 3. or Scarifying the Legs VI. 'T is controverted concerning the place in which this Scarification is to be made Amatus uses it in the Arms and Legs The Aegyptians as Alpinus relates make incision in the calf of the Leg with long and deep Scarifications and draw Blood from thence very quickly and largely first bruising and beating the Part that it may lose all sense Galen almost always mentions the Ankles that is the Parts nearest the Ankles but how there can be an incision made in them with profit and safety is hard to understand because of the many and notable Nerves that are seated there besides that they are dry and without Blood I am of opinion that no certainty can be had of that matter especially from Galen who though he often make mention of the Ankles yet he also propounds a Scarification of the Legs and Arms. But I thus conclude both from the authority of Galen and of the foresaid Physicians that this Scarification may be performed as necessity requires both in the Legs and Arms and that both indeed contribute to the evacuation of the whole but that by that in the Legs the plenitude that arises from the suppression of the Terms and Hemorrhoids is evacuated and by that in the Arms Claudin de Ingr. l. 2. c. 6. the plenitude that arises without these causes VII At Padua in my time there was so violent a flux of water from only two incisions of the Ankle that a Woman died outright of it Also when the Blood in which the heat is lodged is evacuated Johan Rhod. Centur. 3. Obs 17. there sometimes succeeds a Gangrene VIII The Aegyptians use to Scarifie the Skin in very many Diseases For in the most violent Pains especially such as proceed from a plenitude or a poisonous quality hurting the sensible Parts in a fluxion that is somewhat fixt after an universal both purging and evacuation they use to Scarifie the pained Parts or those next them deeply and to let a great deal of Blood run out For in all Inflammations that continue long they use deeply to Scarifie the inflamed Part as the pained side in a Pleurisie and the Breast in a Peripneumony and the right Hypochondre when the Liver is inflamed and the left when the Spleen and thus they are wont to do with other inflamed Parts especially in great Erysipelas's or any other inflamed Part where there is fear it should degenerate into a Gangrene or turn to a Scirrhus They are wont most frequently in pains of the Gout that arise from a defluxion of the Blood after universal evacuation to Scarifie the swelled aking Toes for part of the defluxed Blood being evacuated by that Scarification it profits wonderfully In like manner they use Scarification both in Tumours and Ulcers that will not heal up as also for all defedations of the Skin spots and pustules And no less do they deeply scarifie a Part wounded by a Scorpion or bit by some wild Beast and by that means they draw a great deal of Blood from the Part. P. Alpinus Med. Aegypt c. 11. l. 3. IX A lusty man of a good habit having never had any Distemper of Body for Fifty years used Scarification on his Back every Month and let the Blood flow out even till he fainted hereupon at length he fell into Catarrhs which possessing the Neck without any apparent Tumour brought a difficulty of swallowing both Meat and Drink which Disease continued for a Month and after a year returned again and choaked the Patient O. Grembs Arb. ru in t p. 169. Whence it appears that the importune use of Scarifications does great harm and causes cold Diseases X. Galen 1. ad Glaucon c. 7. makes a threefold manner of Scarification a slight deep and mean When the Humours are thick tough compact either in part or in whole the deep is necessary An unwary Surgeon curing an abscess arisen from a thin Humour upon the spine of the Back made so deep a Scarification that cutting the Nerves he cured the man indeed of the Tumour Zacut. prax admit lib. 3. Obs 65. but made him Paralytick ¶ Another made so deep an Incision with a sharp Razor having no Launcet in readiness that there follow'd an Hemorrhage which