the Body attains that strength and firmness between the fourteenth and twentieth year that then the Seed begins to be generated and acquires every day so much the greater perfection by how much the Body grows stronger and needs less growth Now the reason why Seed is not generated at younger years and in Childhood is vulgarly imputed to the growth of the Body upon which the superfluous part of the Blood of which the Seed is hereafter to be made is then consumed But this Reason is far fetch'd and only a sign of the Cause why Seed is not generated First therefore we are to enquire why at younger years the Body most increases in bulk and grows so fast that by the knowledge of this we may come to know why the Seed is not generated at that Age. LXIII The growth of the Body proceeds from hence because all the Parts abound with a moist sulphurous oily Iuice and for that reason are very flexible and apt to extend so that the Animal Spirits flowing into them the Blood pour'd into the Arteries for Nourishment sake do not so sharply ferment and therefore cannot make a sufficient separation of the salt Particles from the sulphury Partly because their force is debilitated by the copious Moisture and oiliness of the sulphury parts partly because the Brain it self being as yet very much over moist does not at that time breed such sharp Humours as to make a smart Effervescency which afterwards come to be generated in greater quantity when all the parts come to be drier For this Reason also the Spermatic Vessels where the chief strength of Semnification lies are not then so very much dryed but by reason of the copious more moist and oily Particles of the Nourishment continually poured in upon them they are extended and grow in length and thickness and that so much the more swiftly by how much more moist and oily Nourishment feeds them as it happens in Infancy and Childhood But their strength and solidity is then more increased when they become dryer and grow less I speak of moderate and convenient driness not of a total consumption of moisture Now the reason why they become more dry is because the overmuch oily Moisture is by degrees consum'd by the increasing heat and by that means the overmuch moisture and lankness of the Spermatic Parts is abated and they become stronger in regard a greater quantity of the salt Particles separated from the Blood is mingled with them and is more firmly united and assimilated to them LXIV The same cause that promotes and cherishes the growth of the Body hinders the Generation of Seed in Children Hence it is that the Blood is more moist and oily and the Animal Spirits themselves less sharp and fewer in quantity flow to the Stones so that there is only enough for the growth of the Parts but not for the Generation of Seed But afterwards through the increase of heat that oily superfluous substance being somewhat wasted then the Brain being dryer begets sharper Animal Spirits which being mix'd with the Arterious Blood carried through the Nerves to the Stones more easily separate from it the salter Particles more fit for the Generation of Seed with which being condens'd and mix'd into a thin Liquor by the proper quality of the Stones proceeding from their peculiar structure and temper they are concocted into Seed which becomes so much the more perfect by how much the copious Moisture is predominant therein which in perfect Seed ought to be but moderate LXV And hence it is also apparent wherefore in old Age very little or watery or no Seed at all is made in the Stones Because that by reason of their abated heat over much moisture again prevails at that Age through the whole Body tho' not so oily as in Childhood but crude and more watery whence the Brain becomes moister and begets fewer or less eager Spirits and the Blood becomes colder and moister Moreover the Parts themselves concocting the Seed become more languid and over moist and consequently unapt as well in respect of the Matter as their own proper debility to make Seed I except some sort of old men vigorous in their old Age who at fourscore and fourscore and ten have begot Children as Platerus relates concerning his own Father LXVI As to the latter Question why Eunuchs and gelded Animals become more languid and less vigorous the Reason is because that through the cutting out of the Stones there follows an extraordinary change of the whole Temper of the Body in regard that lustful seminal Breathing ceases which is diffus'd over all the Parts of the Body which is apparent from the peculiar Smell and Rankness of Tast in the Flesh of Beasts ungelt and by means of which the Blood and other Humours are more warmly heated and the Spirits rendered more smart and vigorous This remarkable Alteration of Temperament is apparent in Eunuchs from hence that the Hair grown before Castration never falls off and the Hair not grown before either upon the Lips or other parts never comes Quite contrary to what befalls those that are not geit LXVII The same is manifestly observed in Deer who shed their large Beams every Year and then new ones come the next Year in their places but being gelt presently after they have shed their Horns their Antlers never grow again but they become very fat Now this change of Temper caused by the defect of lustful and masculine seminal inward Breathings thorough the whole Body tends toward Cold whence it happens that the Blood becomes more oily and less fervent and the animal Spirits are generated less sharp and vigorous and less dispers'd and that part of the Blood which otherwise ought to be consum'd in Seed and seminal Spirits remains solely in the Body fills the Vessels and more plentifully nourishes every part and that plenty and oyliness of the Blood moistens and plumps up the Body to a more extraordinary Corpulency For the fermenting Quality of the animal Spirits in such an abounding Quantity of sanguineous Juice tho' less fervent being now more languid and remiss becomes less able to separate the sulphury and oily Particles of the Blood from the salt ones which for that reason remaining mix'd together in greater quantity and joyn'd together for the nourishment of the Parts moisten them less and render them fatter but more languid and not so strong For that Interposition hinders the more dry and salter Particles of the Blood from being firmly united to the spermatic Vessels LXVIII To this we may add that in those that are gelt by reason of that extraordinary Redundancy of oylie Blood the Brain it self is overmuch moistened whence the Spirits become less sharp subtil and vigorous and consequently less sharp and fit for animal Actions Which make Eunuchs more dull less couragious languid and effeminate and slower in all the Exercises both of Body and Mind LXIX From the same Redundancy
is thrown off into the Bowels raw and unconcocted as when it was first swallowed down But they being again restored to the Stomach the Concoction returns and the Appetite is restored Hence says Hippocrates 6. Aph. 1. In long Fluxes of the Belly if sowre Belches happen it is a good Sign XLVII Now how it comes to pass that the fermentaceous Particles obtain that embased Acrimony has bin already said by an apt Heat melting those salt Particles to a degree of being Liquid and ready to flow I say Apt. For as Bread becomes well leavened in a luke warm Place by the Ferment mixed with it in a cold Place in great difficulty but in a hot Oven can never be fermented So this Acidity which will not be excited but by a moderate Heat of the Stomach will not be stirr'd by too small a Heat and is scattered and dispelled by too great a Heat and thereby those Juices that should make the Ferment will be quite consum'd Hence Flegmatic People that are troubled with a cold Distemper of the Stomach have neither good Appetites nor good Concoctions and Choleric Persons who are infested with an over-hot Temper of the Stomach have none at all However it does not follow from this that the greater the Heat of the Stomach is the quicker must be the Appetite and the stronger and better the Concoction For the contrary appears in burning Feavers and an Inflammation of the Stomach As also in a Lyon whether he be accounted the hottest of all Creatures yet can he not digest Iron Gold Brass or the like which however are easily digested in the Stomach of an Estriche as being endued with a sharper Ferment tho' not with so fervent a Heat As Langius relates that he saw at the Duke of Ferrara's Court an Estriche both swallow and digest those Metals l. 1. Epist. 12. XLVIII Therefore it is not the Heat but the Ferment which in some is more sharp and acid in others more moderate which is the next Cause of the Appetite and Digestion of the Stomach But moderate Heat is the Cause which disposes the Matter which begets that Ferment that elevates and excites to Action XLIX But whereas this Power and Vertue in the Stomach of making this Ferment and of Chylifying by its Assistance cannot be excited into Action but by an apt and moderate Heat some there are who question what or rather where this Heat lies that produces this Action Whether it be the Heat of the Membranes of the Ventricle or the Parts that ly round it or of any Humor or any Spirits Certainly there is no difference of this Heat in the diversity of Subjects in relation to self for all Heat is excited by the Motion and Agitation of the least Particles and subtil Matter for because the Heat is fiercer in red hot Iron slacker in the Flame of Straw this does not argue the difference of the Heat it self but of the Quantity proceeding from the diversity of the Subject to which it is inherent But the Diversity of Operations proceeds from the diversity of the things themselves upon which and by virtue of which the Heat acts For the same Heat melts Wax hardens Clay wasts the Meat upon the Spit bakes it in the Oven and boyls in the Pot putrifys in a Dunghil and hatches Eggs in a Stove without the assistance of a Hen. In like manner to promote the Act of Chylification it is required that the moderate Heat which is no more than one and the same should be proportionably adapted in the Stomach that is both in its Membranes its Humours and Spirits and that it should be cherished and foster'd in like manner by the Heat of the Parts that lie round about it for so being truly and aptly proportion'd it is impossible but the Ventricle must act properly and naturally toward the Chylification of proper Matter by dissolving and extracting a Chylus out of it L. The Preparation of Nourishment for Chylification proceeds gradually after a certain kind of Method For first the Spittle is mixed with the Meat which is chewed and masticated in the Mouth not only softning them but infusing into them a fermentative Quality of which Quality see l. 3. c. 6. 24. then comes Drink Ale Wine or any other Liquor which for the most part contains in it self acid Particles and fermentaceous Spirits This Nourishment the Stomach strictly embraces and squeezes it self round about it by the help of its Fibres and mingles with it the Specific fermentaceous Juices as well those bred in the interior Tunicle as those that are affused upon the Spittle Then by an apt and proper Heat there is a Mixture and Liquation or Melting of the whole Substance of the Nourishment together For that the fermentaceous Particles sliding into the Pores of the Nourishment withal get into their very Particles themselves stir about melt and dissolve the more pure from the thick and render 'em more fluid to the end they may be able to endure another form of Mixture and be united among themselves into the form of a milky Cream Which being done by the squeezing of the Ventricle they fall down to the Intestins together with the thicker Mass with which they are intermixt in them to be separated by the mixture of Choler and the pancreatick or Juice after another manner of Fermentation and so to be thrust down to the milky Vessels LI. The certain Time for the finishing of Chylification cannot be determined For here is great Variety observed proceeding from the variety of the Temperament of the Stomach Age Sex Position and Disposition of the Parts adjoyning and the Nature of the Nourishment themselves LII But why some Meats are digested sooner some later the Reason is to be given from the variety of the Meats themselves in Substance Hardness Solidness Thickness Thinness Heat Cold c. For which reason some are dissolved with more case and sooner some with more Difficulty and later in the Stomach But then again why the same Meats are in others sooner in others later concocted and wherefore some Stomachs will easily concoct raw Fish hard Flesh half boyl'd or tho' it be raw but the Stomachs of others will with great Difficulty the tenderest and best prepared Dyet this proceeds from the various Constitution of the Stomach the Ferment and the proportion of Heat LIII What I speak of Meats the same is to be understood of Drinks Which for the same Reasons and because of the same Varieties are digested in others well in others ill in others sooner in others later and render the Digestions of the Stomach in others better in others worse For Example if Wine or any other Liquor be drank plentifully that is either quickly digested by reason of the great Plenty Thinness and Spirituosity of acid Particles and so flows down to the Intestines or else by reason of the extraordinary Quantity being very heavy and troublesome to the Stomach is thrust forth raw
squeezing it together make that same Globe And thus by the Acrimony of the same Vapour ascending higher the Diaphragma the Muscles of the Throat and Jaws and other parts are contracted by the copious influx of Animal Spirits whence proceeds that Suffocation Nor does the hard binding of a broad Swathe or a long Napkin about the belly avail in such a case to hinder the ascent of that same Substance or Globe which women take to be their womb any otherwise than only because that by means of that hard binding the copious ascent of that sharp malignant Vapour arising from the womb or stones is hinder'd which Vapour being then detain'd below that Ligature is dissipated by the heat of the surrounding parts XXX Here by the way we are to take notice that Francis de le Boe Sylvius with whom Regner de Graef agrees in this Particular does not acknowledg the forementioned cause of the Hysteric Passion but has imagined another quite different that is to say that the Fault of the Pancreatic Iuice is the only cause of the Hysteric Symptomes aforesaid and so most couragiously rejects the Opinions in this case of all the antient and most of the modern Physicians and excuses the Womb and spermatick Parts from being the Occasion of those Symptoms But altho' some Symptoms having as it were some Similitude with some hysteric Effects may sometimes be occasioned by the defects of the Pancreatic Juice which I am unwilling altogether to deny yet by diligent Observation they may be sufficiently distinguished one from the other and I my self have observ'd 'em no less in Men than in Women nevertheless always to accuse the unfortunate Pancreas of this Miscarriage seems a little too hard when the Dissections of Women as well by my self as others many times instructed us that the Sweet-bread had no share many times in those hysteric Affections as being altogether sound and perfect but that the Fault lay in the Stones that were very much swell'd sometimes one and sometimes both half as bigg as a Hens Egg sometimes ill coloured and full of a virulent Liquor and when as also it has been observed that in such a uterine Suffocation that all the Symptomes have ceased upon Copulation or the evacuation of Seed upon the Midwife's digitizing the part affected and that by the use of moderate Coition the return of the Fit has been prevented whereas the same Remedies us'd could no way avail to remove any Distemper of the pancreatic Juice either easily suddainly well or pleasantly XXXI Neither can any thing be concluded from Scents in behalf of the said Opinion touching the Motion of the Womb. For the Womb is not endued with Understanding and consequently is no way affected with this or that good or bad Smell For it has no Nose nor any other Organ of Smelling and therefore makes no Distinction between sweet or stinking Smells neither covets or loves or flies or hates either the one or the other neither is sensible of any Smells as Smells neither is affected by them as they are Smells but by their hot attenuating sharp discussing Quality XXXII Now that stinking Smells held to the Nostrils abate the Hysteric Fit it is not because the Womb avoiding the Stench of stinking Smells descends but because the Sense of smelling being offended by the ill Smells the Brain contracts it self and so not only sends fewer Spirits to the contracting Fibres of the Guts and Nerves of the Mesentery the Diaphragma and the Muscles of the Iaws but also stops the Entrance of the Vapors ascending from the Testicles and Womb into those Parts and expells those that were entered before Which stinking Smells by virtue of their singular discussing Faculty dissipate as well in the Brain as in the Jaws and so the Woman not only recovers herself but upon the Relaxation of the Muscles of the Jaws is freed from her Fit XXXIII On the other side sweet Smells increase the Fit not because the Womb ascends to meet 'em but because while their Fragrancie delights the Sense to the end the woman may the longer enjoy that Pleasure the Brain dilates it self and so not only permits a greater Quantity of Spirits to flow to the Fibres aforesaid and increase the Fit but also admits more plentifully a greater Quantity of noxious Vapours ascending from the Womb through the Pores every way dilated whence the Effects of the Hysterical Passion Anxietie Raving Drowsiness and sometimes Epileptic Convulsions c. But sweet things being rubb'd about the inside of the Privity because they attenuate the thick and malignant Humours they dilate the Pores and powerfully discuss Trincavel Eustachius Rudius Hercules Saxonia and Mercurialis give quite different Reasons for this thing which Daniel Sennertus rejects and refutes Who nevertheless not being well able to get out of this Labyrinth and finding that the Womb is not sensible of Smells nor is affected by 'em as they are Smells flys to a certain hidden Quality affecting the Womb imperceptible to our Senses which he believes to adhere in such a manner to the Odours as not to be separated from ' em But there is no such need in this case of flying to any such occult Quality when the whole thing is plainly to be made out by manifest Qualities and Reasons XXXIV That the Womb in women with Child extends it self every way or slips out in falling down makes nothing to prove its spontaneous Motion For in Women with Child the womb does not simply ascend but grows and swells upward and round about through all its parts For as the Birth grows so its Domicil inlarges it self and the bigger the Child grows the bigger thicker and more fleshy becomes the womb so that near the time of Delivery it comes to be as thick as a Mans Thumb or the breadth of two Fingers Which is not caused by the sole Influence of the Blood and Humours into the Porosities of the womb but by a real firm and fleshy Increment But there is a great Difference between the inlarging of the womb and its spontaneous Motion For the one requires a long time the other is done in a Moment and should and ought to cease In the one the Substance of the womb is enlarged and thicken'd in the other it ought to be extended and attenuated XXXV In the falling down of the Womb the Motion is not Spontaneous for the Ligaments of it being loosened and the Substance of it being affected with a cold and moist Distemper it falls with its own weight as all heavy things and paralytic Members having lost their own spontaneous Motion slip downwards In the same manner as a Man who falls from a high Steeple does not move himself downward of his own accord but is mov'd by his own weight against his will From all which it is apparent that the womb moves neither upward nor downward nor tumbles about the lower Belly with a vagous Motion but sometimes by accident
Mare had been open'd the first or second day there would have been no Seed found in her womb But if she had been dissected after the last Coition by which she conceiv'd without doubt there would have been found Seed in her womb And so would Harvey have found had he light upon Does that had conceiv'd For tho' in such a vast Herd of Deer several perhaps might have conceiv'd it does not follow that he dissected those that were impregnated altho' he might have accidentally fallen upon the one as well as the other 2. While those Creatures after a long chace are wearied frightned and at length kill'd 't is not to be wonder'd at that tho' they should have conceiv'd two or three days before if the Seed scarce yet melted should fall out of the womb the Orifice being open'd in that vast conturbation of Spirits both before and after they are taken For daily Experience tells us that many Women upon terrible Frights have not only cast forth the Seed conceived but even the Birth it self already form'd 3. If Bitches Conies and other Creatures urine and dung while they are killing for fear of death nay if the fear of punishment only work the same effects upon some no wonder that the Females of those Creatures a few days or hours after Coition should shed their conceiv'd Seed out of their wombs while they are killing and so that no Seed should be found in their wombs 4. The Seed included in the womb to the end that something may be produc'd out of it undergoes a great alteration in the womb nor does it altogether retain that form of substance which it had when it was first injected and so perhaps Harvey did not believe it to be Seed either being already melted or else imagining it was not there because so little XXIII From what has been said it appears that Harvey's Experiments cannot prove those things which he labours to maintain by them And therefore it is not for any to suffer himself easily to be perswaded that the Seed is of no use in Conception but that it flows out again from the womb either before or after Conception And therefore I think there is more credit to be given to Galen in this particular who being inform'd as well by his own as the Experiments of others found the thing to be otherwise Moreover I do not believe we ought to deny our credit to rational Women themselves who by speaking satisfie us that in Women that conceive the Seed does not flow forth out of the womb of which dumb and irrational Creatures are not able to give any account Lastly I cannot think there is any credit to be given to the Speculations taken from the sole inspection into brute Beasts there being little of certainty in 'em as being explain'd and wrested rather according to the preconceived Opinion of the Inspecter than according to Truth More than all this Harvey himself writes that about the eighteenth or at most the twentieth day of November he has seen sometimes in the right and sometimes in the left Horn of a Does womb a transparent colliquated matter and crystalline contain'd within its own proper Tunicle and in the middle bloody Fibres and a jumping point Which Matter since it was not rain'd down from Heaven I would sain know what else it could be but the Seed of the Female inclos'd in the Egg together with the jumping point and increas'd by the mass of the dissolv'd Masculine Seed encompassed with the Chorion and Amnion Now that he did not find the same Matter in many others no question the Reason was because he seldom lighted upon those Creatures that had conceiv'd XXIV And therefore there is no doubt to be made but that the Seed after Conception neither flows again out of the womb neither is it according to Aristotle rarified into Spirit and dissipated or that it vanishes any other way but that it is detain'd within the womb and thus with that together with that other Seed contain'd in the Womans Egg the Birth is first of all both cherish'd and nourish'd XXV In the mean time I would not have any man think that I propound things absurd while I affirm that the Birth is delineated and form'd out of the Seed and in the beginning by the same Seed is also nourished and so one and the same Seed serves for two several uses For in the Seed there are two distinct parts some spirituous out of which the Birth is delineated and form'd others thicker and less spirituous from whence is taken the next Matter requisite for the first nourishment of the form'd parts their increase and greater perfection yet the Birth can neither be form'd out of those nor â—…ish'd by them For the same thing does not form and nourish but divers parts of the same thing The same thing happens in the Seed of Man and all Creatures producing living Conceptions as in the Seed of a Plant wherein Theophrastes acknowledges two parts one spirituous upon which the prolific or procreating power depends the other thicker that nourishes the spirituous part by vertue of which the Seed of the Plant springs forth and casts out some leaves tho' not set in the Earth as containing in it self the Nourishment first requir'd But now let us return to the Bubble from whence the first Nourishment of the Embryo led us astray XXVI That the first and sole foundation of the Birth is wrought in this Bubble out of the Crystalline humour contain'd therein and surrounded with a peculiar invisible Pellicle Hippocrates has observ'd by that time the Seed has been six days old for he writes that he has seen the Internal Pellicle or little Skin that is the Bubble whose innermost Liquor was transparent out of the middle of which somewhat thin shot it self forth which he thought to be the Navel XXVII As to the time of Formation there is some dispute about it among Physicians Hippocrates tells us that the Seed being receiv'd into the womb ought to have some appearances upon the seventh day and that if the Abortion thrown out within that time be put into water and diligently view'd all the first foundations of all the parts may be manifestly discern'd therein Others affirm this Formation of the parts not to be accomplish'd so soon as seven days but after a longer time Strato the Peripatetic and Diocles Caristius by the report of Macrobius in his Comment upon Scipio's Dream asserted that the human figure was form'd within five weeks or about the thirty fifth day to the Bigness of a Bee yet not so but that all the Members and all the designed Lineaments of the whole Body appeared in that Epitome Aristotle averrs that the little body of the Birth settles as it were in a little Membrane upon the fortieth day which being broken the Birth it self appears about the bigness of a large Emmet with all the Members distinct and all other things Genitals and
of the Sight did not proceed from any Fault of the Sight or of the Medinum or the Object II. This Malady by the Physicians is called Vertigo or Giddiness And is a Deception of the Sight which makes that visible Objects seem to turn round arising from a kind of Whirl-pit Motion of the Animal Spirits in the Brain III. The remote Cause is the External Motion refrigerating the Brain and streightning the Passages of it appointed for the evacuating of Excrements so that Flegm abounding in the Body and copiously collected in the Ventricles of the Brain constitutes the containing Cause IV. By those flegmatic Humors the Ventricles are first distended thence the heavy Pain This Flegm augmenting stops up the Passages of the Brain through which the Spirits ought to pass partly by repletion partly by compression so that the Spirits missing their direct Passage and lighting upon the obstructed Passage gets thorough in a circular Motion as Water falling with violence if it meet a Dam in its way recoils three or four times in Circles before it run by V. These whirling Spirits thus circularly carried to the Seat of the Mind intermixing with the Images of visible things which are carried to the same Mind are offered to the common Sensory with the same circular Motion and so occasion that Fallacy of Sight by which all visible Objects seem to be whirled about in the same manner as the Images of visible things VI. But this same whirling of the Spirits does not last partly because the narrowness of the Passages of the Brain is sometimes more sometimes less partly because the Spirits are sometimes thicker and sometimes thinner and pass through sometimes with more sometimes less violence which is the reason the Vertigo comes by Fits For in the Motion of the Body the Spirits are moved with more violence and in greater abundance which if they cannot pass freely and directly through the ordinary Passages of the Brain but light here and there upon the obstructed Passages causes the Fit whether they be thin or thick For the Repulse of the Obstruction puts them into a Circumgyration and the plenty and violent rushing of the thin Spirits makes them they cannot pass but the thick are stoped by reason of their thickness and therefore Drunkards and young People that abound with thin Spirits are as much liable to Giddiness as old Men whose Spirits are thicker But the Giddiness of old Men is more frequent and lasts longer because of their more abounding Flegm longer and more frequently streightens the Passages of the Choroid-Fold Therefore the Vertigo seldom happens when the Body is in Motion and is generally abated and cured by rest VII But because there are not enough of those whirling Spirits that make their way through the Passages of the Brain besides that their â—…ircumrotation hinders them from entring in sufficient quantity into the Nerves This was the reason that this Patient for want of Animal Spirits in the Muscles often fell to the Ground without being able to rise before the Vertigos ceasing the Animal Spirits flowed more copiously again into the Muscles VIII Then the Fit returns again upon the Sight of Wheels turning round Precipices c. because the Images of those things being carried to the inner Parts with that same whirling and unequal Motion affects the Animal Spirits with the same circular and unequal Motion Upon the Sight of Precipices the Vertigo returns in regard the Sight of them striking a Terror into the Beholder the Affright streightens the Passages and by that means puts a sudden stop upon the Spirits which being forced forward by those that come behind because they have not a free Passage are agitated by the Repulse of the Obstruction and forced into a circular Motion IX This Malady is hard to be cured and many times turns to an Epilepsie or Apoplexie or some other grievous Distemper of the Brain and therefore the Cure of it is not to be delay'd X. The Cure consists in removing the primary antecedent and continuing Cause and Corroboration of the Brain XI First Therefore let her be purged with these Pills â„ž Mass of Pill Cochiae ℈ j. Extract of Catholicon ℈ s. Diagridion gr ij Syrup of Stoechas a little For vij Pills XII Though not much good can be expected from Blood-letting yet least the Blood should fly up to the Head in too great a quantity it may be taken from the Arm or if it happen in the time of her monthly Customs out of a Vein of the Foot Let the Vein be opened the Patient lying in Bed and let her not see her own Blood XIII Then let her drink three or four times a day a Draught of this Apozem â„ž Root of Acorus â„¥ j. Elecampane Fennel an â„¥ s. Herbs Betony Marjoram Rosemary Calaminth â—…hyme an M. j. Sage Leaves of Lawrel Flowers of Stoechas an Ms. Seeds of Anise Fennel Caroways an Ê’j s. Cleansed Raisins â„¥ ij Water q. s. Boil them according to Art adding toward the end White-wine lb s. Make an Apozem of about lbj. s. Sometimes instead of the Apozem she may take a small quantity of this Apozem â„ž Specier Diambrae Ê’j Sweet Diamosch ℈ j. Candied Root of Acorus Conserve of Flowers of Sage Anthos Baum an â„¥ s. Syrup of Stoechas q. s. XIV In the mean time let her use this Masticatory â„ž Root of Pellitory Elecampane an Ê’j Herbs Marjoram Hyssop an Ê’s Black Pepper ℈ s. Mastich Ê’v Reduce these into a Powder and then make them into Trochischs with a little Turpentine and Wax XV. Let her Temples Nostrils and Top of her Head be anointed twice a day with this Oyl â„ž Oyl of Nutmegs distilled Ê’j Oyls of Rosemary Amber Marjoram an ℈ s. She may also wear the following Quilt upon her Head for some Months â„ž Leaves of Rosemary Melilot Sage Flowers of Melilot an one little handful Nutmeg ℈ ij Cloves ℈ j. Benjamin ℈ s. Beat them grossly for a Quilt XVI Let her have a warm Room and good Air. Let her feed sparing and let her Food be easie of Digestion not flatulent and seasoned with hot Cephalics and carminative Seeds Her Drink must be small wherein if a little Bag of Marjoram Rosemary and a little Cinnamon be hung 't will be so much the better Moderate Sleep and Exercise is best when the Giddiness is off but let her Rest in the time of the Fit Keep her Body soluble and take care that all Evacuations be regular and natural HISTORY XI Of the Night-Mare A Woman of fifty years of age in good plight fleshy strong and plethoric sometimes troubled with the Head-ach and Catarrhs falling upon her Breast in the Winter the last Winter molested with no Catarrhs but very sore in the Day-time but in the Night-time when she was composing her self to Sleep sometimes she believed the Devil lay upon her and held her down sometimes that she was choaked by some great Dog or Thief lying upon her Breast so that she
off by one half but still obstructing the other constitute the containing Cause IV. Thus the Motion of the Left-side was taken away because that half of the Pith being obstructed the Animal Spirits could not enter into that half of the Pith nor the Nerves proceeding from it which causes a Cessation of the Actions of the Instruments of voluntary Motion or the Muscles on that side But the Sense is not quite lost but remains very dull because that several Spirits pass through the contracted Pores of the Pith sufficient for Motion yet not anew to impart Sense to the feeling Parts V. This Malady is hard to be cured by reason of the detension of a viscous and tenacious Humor in a cold Part but Youth and Strength of Body promise hopes of Recovery VI. The Method of Cure requires the Attenuation and Dissipation of the Obstructing Humor 2. To prevent the Afflux of any more 3. To take away the antecedent Cause 4. To cortoborate the Parts affected VII For Evacuation of the Flegmatic Humor give these Pills â„ž Mass of Pill Cochiae Ê’s Extract of Catholicon ℈ s. with a little Syrup of Stoechas make up vij Pills Instead of them may be given Powder of Diaturbith or DiacarthamumÊ’j or a Draught of an Insusion of Leaves of Senna Root of Jalap Agaric These Purges are to be repeated by Intervals VIII Blood-letting is not proper in this Case IX To corroborate the nervous Part of the Body and prevent the Generation of flegmatick Humors let him take this Apozem â„ž Root of Acorns Fennel an Ê’vj Florence Orice Ê’iij Betony Ground-pine Marjoram Rosemary Calamint Thime an M. j. Flowers of Stoechas M. s. Seeds of Fennel Caroways Bishops-weed an Ê’j s. Water and Wine equal parts boil them to a Pint and a half and to the Straining add Syrup of Stoechas â„¥ iij. For an Apozem Of which let the Patient take four ounces three or four times a day with a small Quantity of this Conditement â„ž Specier Diambr Diamosch Dulcis an ℈ iiij Conserve of Flowers of Sage Anthos Root of Acorns candied an Ê’v Syrup of Stoechas q. s. X. The Use of Paralitic and Apoplectic Waters will be very proper in this Case of which there are several to be found among the Prescriptions of Physicians XI If the Disease will not submit to these Remedies let him take every Morning five ounces of the following Decoction and sweat in his Bed according to his Strength â„ž Lig. Guaiacum â„¥ iiij Sassafras Sarsaperil an â„¥ ij Water lbvij Macerate these twenty four hours then boil them adding toward the end Roots of Acorns Valerian Butter-bur Fennel an Ê’vj Galangale Licorice sliâ—…'d an Ê’ij Herbs Betony Miij Ground-Ivy M. ij Thyme Marjoram Rosemary Flowers of Stoechas an M. j. Sage Ms. Iuniper-berries â„¥ j. Boil them to lb. iij. XII For Corroboration of the Head prepare this Quilt â„ž Flowers of Rosemary Marjoram Thyme Flowers of Lavender Melilot an one small Handful Cloves Nutmegs an ℈ ij For a Quilt XIII While these things are doing let the Spine of the Back be well chafed with hot Cloaths especially in the Neck about the Head and then fomented with a Fomentation of hot Cephalics boiled in Wine or else anoint the Neck with this Liniment warm â„ž Oyl of Foxes Spike Rue Goose and Cats-grease an Ê’vj Oyl of Turpentine â„¥ s. Oil of Peter Rosemary Amber an ℈ ij Powder of Castoreum ℈ iiij After Unction and Friction lay on this Plaister â„ž Pul Castoreum Ê’ij Benjamin Ê’j Galbanum Opoponax dissolved in Spirit of Wine Emplaster of Betony Lawrel-Berries and Melilot an Ê’vj Mix them according to Art XIV This Disease requires a hot dry and pure Air. Meats of good juice and easie Digestion calefying and attenuating For Drink Hydromel or Wine imbib'd with Rosemary Marjoram Betony Cardamum c. Now and then a Draught of Hypocrass or a Spoonful of Juniper-wine or Anthoswine or Aquae Vite of Matthiolus will not be improper avoid long Sleeps and Repletion and let Natures Evacuations be regular and due HISTORY XIII Of Trembling A Man fifty years of Age struck with a great and sudden Terror immediately fell down fixing his Eyes upon the Standers by but not able to speak Soon after recovering his Spirits he talked well enough but rose up with a Trembling over his whole Body From that time when he moved his Limbs the Trembling still remained which as his Body drew cold was more violent as he grew warm abated I. TRembling is a Deprivation of the Voluntary Motion of the Limbs by which they are agitated with a contrary Motion in a continued Vicissitude II. The antecedent Cause is a Flegmatic Humor contained in the Brain which being stirred by the great sudden and disorderly Commotion of the Spirits proceeding from the Terror and cast off to the Pith of the Spine constitutes the containing Cause III. For the Humor in that place contracting the Pores of the Pith prevents the free Influx of the Animal Spirits through the Marrow into the Nerves and Muscles So that not being sufficient to perfect the voluntary Motion it happens that the Limbs are moved forward by a voluntary Motion but are depressed by their own Weight so that both together cause a trembling Motion IV. This Trembling is more vehement in the Body when cold less violent when the Body is warm Because the Pores are more contracted by the Cold and more dilated by the Heat Which causes a freer or less open Passage to the Animal Spirits and consequently a more or less vehement Trembling V This Trembling is not a little dangerous for it may turn to a Palsey or may be accompanied with an Apoplexy a Carus or a Lethargy VI. The Cure is the same as of the Palsey HISTORY XIV Of a Convulsion A Maid about thirty years of Age received a Wound in her Right-arm which laid a Nerve bare but unhurt However she lay in a cold Place and by reason of her Poverty not well guarded against the Cold and besides an unskilful Chyrurgeon having stopped the Blood put a Tent into the Wound dipped in Egyptiaeum and the Apostles Oyntment which caused a most painful and vehement Convulsion in her Arm which soon after was accompanied with a Convulsion of the Thigh on the same side and of her Arm and Thigh on the other side which lasted sometimes half a quarter sometimes an Hour sometimes half an hour intermitting and returning She was in such Pain that many times it made her talk idly I. THE Nerves and Muscles of this Patient were affected as appeared by the Motion not spontaneous and that still more encrease and her Head was grieved as appeared by the Delirium II. This Simptom is called a Convulsion which is a continued and unvoluntary Contraction of the Nerves and Muscles toward their beginning III. The remote Cause was the Wound received which laid the Wound bare The next Cause was the sharp and biting Oyntment provoking the Nerve and the cold