Ounces Turbith Mechoacan of each an Ounce and a half Epithymum yellow Saunders of each an Ounce Coriander-seeds an Ounce and a half let them be slic'd and bruis'd and put in a Bag according to Art for four Gallons of Ale the Dose is from twelve Ounces to a Pound either every Morning or twice or thrice a Week CHAP. IV. A Cure for Over-purging or of Medicines that stay too much Purging or a Looseness Also the Cure of the London-Flux with Instructions in each Case TO prevent over-purging upon giving any Purging Medicine we must proceed thus Before we give a Purge we must first consider well the Constitution Strength and Custome of the Body to be Purg'd as also the Nature Dose manner of Working and ordinary effects of the Medicine to be given and then by comparing the one with the other we must proportionate the vertue of the Agent according to the bearing of the Patient Secondly whilst the Medicine is working let the Viscera where digestion is perform'd the Blood and the Animal Spirits be kept free from any other perturbation Wherefore during that time let not the Patient eat gross or viscous food or too great a plenty of any food which may offend the Stomach let him carefully avoid the admittance of any outward cold by which the Pores of the Body are shut up also let the mind be kept calm and undisturb'd free from all Cares and toilsome Studies Thirdly The Operation of the Medicine being ended we must appease the angry rage of the Animal Spirits and allay the effervescence of the Blood and Humours for which ends let an Anodine Medicine or a gentle Hypnotick be given according to the following forms Take Water of Cowslip Flowers two Ounces Cinnamon-water hordeated Syrup of Maeconium of each half an Ounce Pearls half a Scruple make a draught to be taken going to rest Or Take Conserve of red Roses vitriolated two Scruples Diascordium half a Dram Pearls half a Scruple Diacodium what suffices make a Bolus to be taken going to sleep In case this Provision be either omitted or does not hinder a Purging Medicine from working to excess let the Patient presently be put into a warm Bed and be ordered as follows First Let either a Plaister of Mithridate be apply'd to his Stomach and to the whole upper Region of the Belly or let those parts be fomented with warm Linnen Cloaths dip'd in a decoction of Wormwood Mints and Spïces in red Wine and so wiung forth presently upon it let him take inwardly either a Bolus of Venice Treacle or a Solution of it in Cinnamon-water Moreover let him drink every now and then a spoonful or two of Burnt-wine diluted with a little Mint-water if he be troubled with Gripes give him a Glister of warm Milk with Treacle dissolv'd in it and warm frictions must be us'd to the remote parts and sometimes Ligatures to draw the Blood outwards and so keep it from too great a Colliquation and from discharging it self into the Cavities of the Viscera then in the Evening if there be strength and a pretty good Pulse let him take a Dose either of Diacodium or of Liquid Laudanum with some fit Vehicle As to other kinds of excessive Purging which are wont to happen without the Administration of a Purging Medicine for the most part they are meerly Symptomatical depending on other Diseases and their method of Cure is wholly the same as of those Diseases whose off-spring they are Nevertheless sometimes a Looseness or Flux seems to be a Disease of it self and because this kind of Distemper Raging almost yearly in the City of London is commonly accounted Endemious or a Disease peculiarly attending Inhabitants I shall here set down its method of Cure I have often and long observ'd that there are two and that very different kinds of that Flux usually call'd the Griping of the Guts which happens here almost yearly about Autumn In one of them the Stools are watry and in a manner cleer with a sudden failing of the strength in the other they are bloody but tolerable withal In the Year 1670. about the Autumnal Equinox a World of People here were seized with a most dangerous Flux though without Blood and joyn'd with a cruel Vomiting which presently caus'd great faintings and a total decay of strength For the Cure of this Disease no Evacuation did good nay Bleeding Vomiting and Purging always did hurt only Cordials and those of the hottest nature to wit such as abounded with Spirit and Sulphur or a Volatile Salt prov'd commonly of good effect insomuch that Brandy burnt a little with Sugar was a Popular and as it were Epidemick Remedy and in that sort of Flux was seldome given without success though in the other sort of Flux which carry'd Blood with it having been us'd without due regard it has often been found to be hurtful The method of Cure which I then took successfully enough with many and am wont still to take in the like case is after the following manner Take Venice Treacle from a Dram to a Dram and a half let the Patient take it in Bed and drink after it seven or eight spoonfuls of the following Julap and let him repeat this Dose every third fourth or fifth hour Take Mint-water Cinnamon-water hordeated of each three Ounces strong Cinnamon-water Plague-water Treacle-water of each two Ounces Powder of Pearls a Dram Sacchari Crystalin half an Ounce mingle them and make a Julap At the same time take a piece of Bread spread some Treacle on it and dip it in Sack or Red-wine warm'd and let it be apply'd to the Stomach as hot as it may be suffered and change it every now and then In the Evening if the Pulse and Breathing seem strong enough to bear it let the Patient take of Liquid Laudanum Cydoniated twenty Grains in a draught of Plague-water Take Diascordium a Dram Liquid Laudanum half a Scruple Compound Powder of Crabs Claws a Scruple Cinnamon-water what suffices make a Bolus to be taken going to sleep To those to whom Treacle or Mithridate prove nauseous or disagreeing give a Dose of the following Powder or Spirit of Treacle every third hour with the Julap Take Compound Powder of Crabs Claws Roots of Contrayerva or Serpentaria Virgin of each a Dram Cinnamon Roots of Tormentil of each half a Dram Saffron Cochinele of each a Scruple make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples Take Spiritus Theriacalis Armoniacus three Drams the Dose is a Scruple with the Julap every fourth hour or give that and the Doses of the Powder interchangeably one one time and the other the other After the same manner the Spirits of Harts-horne or of Soot may be given let the persons Drink be Ale or Beer with a Crust of Bread Mace add Cinnamon boil'd in it and sweeten'd or let it be Burnt-wine diluted with Mint-water let his Food be Chicken-broth Gruel or Panada with the shavings of Ivory Hartshorn
the like cause And in truth many difficult Diseases which are falsly imputed to the ill constitution of the Viscera arise from hence viz. that the Blood being distemper'd and obnoxious to coagulations when it cannot continue its full course of circulation deposes the Serum in many places this being too apt of it self to recede from it The Diureticks to be given in these cases are such as do not fuse the Blood but make void its coagulations of this kind are those things that are endow'd with a fixt Volatile and likewise Alkalisate Salt and they must be such as restore and strengthen the Ferment of the Reins which is done by certain Sulphureous and Spirituous things For these ends are given Sulphureous and mixt Diureticks Lixivial Salts of Herbs Powders of shells Salt and Spirit of Vrine c. Millepedes Horse-Raddish Parsly-seed Nutmegs Turpentine and preparations made of it Spirit of Wine The vertues of all which are not to fuse the Blood and to precipitate serosities from its Mass these things are chiefly done by Acids and in those cases do commonly hinder any Purging by Urine but to dissolve the coagulations of the Blood so that its Body recovering a perfect mixture and being more readily circulated through the Vessels drinks up the Serum every where extravasated or depos'd and finally delivers it to the Reins to send it forth Now we shall shew after what manner according to both these as it were opposite ends of Curing Diureticks of all kinds operate and in what forms they are chiefly prescrib'd The Kinds and Prescripts of Diuretick Medicines FIrst then as to Saline Diureticks we say that any Salts whatsoever of a differing nature being put together lay hold of each other and are presently join'd in one and that whilst they are so combin'd other Particles freed from the mixture separate from each other or fly away This is plainly seen when a fluid or Acid Salt is put to a fixt or Alkalisate Salt and so when a fluid or fixt Salt is put to a Volatile or a sharp Salt and indeed on this only disposition of Salts depends the whole business of Solutions and precipitations of what kind soever Wherefore since the Blood and humours of our Body very much abound with Salt which Salt is also wont to be variously chang'd from one state to another and so to cause a Morbid disposition and likewise since Saline Diureticks are of divers kinds to wit consisting of fixt fluid nitrous volatile or Alkalisate Salts it will always require a great discretion and judgment in a Physician to see that the Saline Particles in the Medicine differ from those in our Body We shall shew after what manner this ought to be done by running through each Species of Diuretick Salts Amongst Diureticks containing an Acid Salt Spirit of Salt or of Nitre also Juice of Limmons of Sorrel Whitewine Rhenish and Cyder are of chiefest note amongst the vulgar and pretty often perform that intent for these things without the help of others fuse the Blood and precipitate it into serosities as when an Acid is dropt into boiling Milk but this does not happen equally to all persons nor to every one alike In a sound constitution or not very far from it the Salt of the Blood is partly fixt partly nitrous and partly volatile also in some Scorbutical and Hydropical persons it becomes for the most part fixt In every of these cases Diureticks containing an Acid Salt are given with success but in Catarrhous affects and in some Hydropical and Scorbutical distempers when the Salino-fixt Particles of the Blood are exalted to a state of flowing and the volatile are deprest as it often happens Medicines of an Acid nature commonly rather do hurt than good insomuch as they more pervert the Blood already degenerated from its Crasis and Medicines containing a fixt or volatile Salt are more proper to be us'd by such persons Prescripts of Diureticks that have an Acid Salt for their Basis TAke choice white Tartar powder'd Crystal Mineral of each a Dram and a half Powder of Crabs Eyes a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples in a fit Vehicle repeating it every sixth or eighth hour Take Tartar vitriolated or nitrated two Drams Powder of Egg-shells a Dram and a half Seeds of Parsly or of wild Carrots half a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram after the same manner Take of the best Spirit of Salt two Drams Hartshorn burnt and powdred what will suffice to imbibe it Make a Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram. Take Juice of Limmons two Ounces Radish water Compound an Ounce and a half Syrup of the five Roots three Drams Make a Potion Take Juice of Sorrel two Ounces Whitewine six Ounces Mingle them for a Potion Take Radish water Compound two Ounces Water of Pellitory of the Wall four Ounces Spirit of Salt a Scruple twenty five drops Salt of Tartar fifteen Grains Syrup of Violets half an Ounce Make a Potion That Medicines containing a fixt or Lixivial Salt move Urine it plainly enough appears from the Vulgar and Empyrical Practice of Physick which commonly gives them for Curing Hydropical persons For it s a usual thing in an Anasarca and sometimes in an Ascites when the Viscera or Fleshy parts are very much swollen by a loading of Waters To give a Lixivium made of the Ashes of Wormwood or of Broom or of Bean-stalks with Whitewine whence it frequently happens that a very plentiful evacuation by Urine follows and that the Disease is taken away Nevertheless I have observ'd that this Medicine has not prov'd Diuretick to some persons and rather to have encreast the Hydropical disposition than to have cur'd it The reason of which if we enquire into we shall find by what is said before that Lixivial Salts neither fuse Milk nor Blood or precipitate them and therefore that they are not Diuretick in their own nature though that effect sometimes follows because that a fixt Salt taken in a good plenty destroys the Energy of the Acid and coagulative Salt predominating in the Blood so that the said Blood which before being too apt to fusion and unable to contain its Serum did cast it off from it self in divers places now by the intercession of the fixt Salt recovers its due Crasis and therefore drinking up again its extravasated Serum and constantly carrying it to the Reins causes a large Evacuation by Urine Prescripts of Diureticks which have a fixt Salt for their Basis TAke Salt of Tartar or of Wormwood two Drams Coral calcin'd to a whiteness a Dram and a half Nutmegs half a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples Take Tincture of Salt of Tartar from a Dram to a Dram and a half Radish water Compound an Ounce and a half Mingle them give it in a draught of Posset drink which has had the Roots and Seeds of the great Bur-dock
boild in it Take the Deliquium of Salt of Tartar which whilst the Tincture is extracted floats under and is impregnated with the Sulphur of the Wine from two Scruples to a Dram and a half Whitewine from four Ounces to six Syrup of the five Roots half an Ounce Mingle them and make a draught to be repeated twice or thrice a day Take Ashes made of the Prunings of the white Vine half a pound Nutmegs two Drams pour to them of White or Rhenish wine two pounds and a half let it stand a day in a moderate heat and close cover'd then keep the straining for use The Dose is four Ounces twice or thrice a day Let Flints be made red hot in the Fire and be quencht in White wine or stale March Beer Give of the Liquor from six Ounces to eight twice a day Take Water of quick Lime from four Ounces to six Tincture of Salt of Tartar from a Dram to a Dram and a half Make a draught to be taken twice or thrice a day For the same reason as fixt Salts sometimes also volatile Salts are given with good success to move Urine in a sourish distemper of the Blood to wit forasmuch as its Particles when admitted into the Blood destroy the predominancy of the fluid Salt in it so that the Blood recovering its due mixture and being freed from coagulations and fluxions drinks up again what Serum is extravasated and conveys what is superfluous to the Reins to be sent forth by the Ureters But we may note withal that Medicines prepar'd of a volatile Salt having particles somewhat fierce in operation and instigating when they correct the Crasis of the Blood dispose what there is superfluous of Serum to be discharg'd sometimes by Sweat as much as by Urine In this order of Diureticks not only the bare volatile Salt drawn forth of Animals and Minerals ought to be numbred but likewise the integral parts of Animals and Vegetables such as are the Powders and Extracts of Insects and Vegetables of a smart nature Prescripts of Medicines that have a volatile Salt for their Basis TAke Salt of Amber Pure Sal Nitre of each two Drams make a Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram in a fit Vehicle Take Flowers of Sal Armoniack Crystal Mineral of each two Drams Make a Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram in a good spoonful of Radish water compound Salt of Vrine may be given after the same manner Take Powder of Bees a Scruple Lovage-seed a Scruple Make a Powder give it in a spoonful of distill'd water Take Spirit of Vrine from a Scruple to half a Dram Radish water compound from an Ounce to an Ounce and a half Juniper water three Ounces mingle them make a draught Spirit of Tartar may be given after the same manner in a double quantity Take Millepedes prepar'd two Drams Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Dram Nutmegs powder'd half a Dram Venice Turpentine what suffices Make Pills let four be taken twice a day Take Powder of Burdock-seeds two Drams Wild Carrot-seed a Dram Salt of Amber a Dram Oyl of Nutmegs half a Scruple Balsamum Capivii what suffices Make a Mass form it into little Pills of which let four be taken in the Evening and as many the next Morning Take Roots of Chervil Stone Parsly Fennel Eringo Cammock or Rest-harrow of each an Ounce Leaves of Saxifrage Clivers or Goose-grass of each a handful Seeds of Gromwel Hartwort of each half a handful Juniper Berrys six Drams boil all in four pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd then add Rhenish Wine a pound fine Honey two Ounces Make an Apozem the Dose is six Ounces twice a day Take fresh Millepedes two pounds Leaves of Clivers Chervil Saxifrage and Golden Rod of each two handfulls Roots of Horse Radish six Ounces Nutmegs an Ounce Juniper Berrys Wild Carrot-seeds of each two Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of White-wine Posset-drink eight pounds distil it in a common Still Let the whole Liquor be mixt the Dose is four Ounces twice or thrice a day Take fresh Millepedes wash'd from forty to sixty Nutmegs half a Scruple being bruis'd together put to them distill'd Water of Saxifrage three Ounces wring it forth hard and drink it Take Leaves of Chervil Macedonian Stone Parsly of each three handfulls being bruis'd together pour to them of Whitewine a pound and a half wring it forth hard and keep it in a Glass the Dose is three Ounces twice a day Prepare a Tincture of Millepides Bees Grashoppers or of Cantharides dry'd with the Tincture of Salt of Tartar give it from fifteen to twenty or thirty drops in a fit vehicle Nitre is a sort of Salt but differing from any other Salt or from the nature of Saline Particles being neither Acid fixt or volatile but holds the mean state as it were betwixt those three And in truth Nitre is the thing by which all Plants have their vegetation all Animals live and breath and every Sublunary Flame or Fire is kindled and maintained But as to our present purpose it 's well enough known that Sal Nitre cools the Blood and powerfully provokes Urine though it seems somewhat strange how this which is of so fiery a nature should so quallify the Blood and run it into Aquosities to move Urine I conceive that Nitre works those effects in a two-fold respect to wit as it is a Salt ally'd both to a fixt Salt and a volatile and as it carries a living Root of Fire in it As to the first we observe that Nitre ev'n as fixt and volatile Salts being put into Milk hinders or takes away its coagulation so likewise Blood whilst warm being pour'd to this is preserv'd from coagulation and from being discolour'd no less than if put to those Wherefore since Particles of Nitre inwardly taken preserve the mixture of the Blood entire or restore it it follows that they prevent or take away the fusions or coagulations of the same from which heats and a suppression of Urine very often arise So again Nitre in regard it carries in it a living Root of Fire when inwardly taken cools the inflamed Blood and moves Urine because according to what is hinted before it adds a vigour to the flame of the Blood which before was troubled and full of fumes and so renders it more clear and pure and consequently more mild since therefore the Blood burning clearer by the access of Nitre becomes of a more loose consistency the serous Particles easily get clear of the more gross and pass away in a more plentiful manner Prescripts of Diureticks that have Sal Nitre for their Basis TAke Nitre prepar'd two Drams Barley water with Grass Roots and Candied Eringo Roots boil'd in it two pounds Syrup of Violets two Ounces Mix them the Dose is four Ounces twice a day Take Sal Prunella two Drams Sugar-Candy a Dram make a Powder to be divided into six
parts Let one be taken in a convenient Liquor thrice a day Take Sal Prunella two Drams Salt of Amber a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram thrice a day Take Sal Prunella Crabs Eyes Salt of Wormwood of each two Drams Mix them the Dose is half a Dram thrice a day It s also well known that Powders of Shells and of certain Stones containing an Alchalisate or Petrifying Salt sometimes promote an evacuation by Urine For Powders of Egg-shells of the Claws and Eyes of Crabs have been to some a present Remedy in great suppressions of Urine and if we enquire into their manner and way of working we shall soon find that these Medicines do not fuse the Blood nor sensibly precipitate it wherefore it must be said that these things in a fourish Dicrasie of the Blood and Humours sometimes prove Diuretick inasmuch as closing with the Acid Salts they bind them and keep them under so that the Blood being free from fluxions and coagulations drinks up again the extravasated Serum and conveys it to the Reins Prescripts of Diureticks that have an Alchalisate Salt for their Basis TAke Powder of Egg-shells from half a Dram to a Dram Give it in a draught of Whitewine or of Posset drink or of a Diuretick decoction twice a day Take Powder of Crabs Claws or of Crabs Eyes two Drams Salt of Amber Sal Nitre of each a Dram Nutmegs half a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples in a fit Vehicle Or let the said Powder be mixt with as much Venice Turpentine as will suffice and make it into small Pills The Dose is three or four Evening and Morning Not only Saline but likewise some Sulphureous and Spirituous substances justly take place amongst Diureticks these often producing the like effect Many substances of the Larix Tree as chiefly Turpentine and things prepar'd from them the Oyls drawn by distillation from Juniper Nutmegs Wax and other Pinguous substances taken inwardly move in many persons a large Evacuation by Urine and this carrying a smell like Violets I have known that in some Hydropical and Scorbutical Persons Brandy and Strong waters nay and strong Wine freely drank have caus'd a Purging by Urine The reason of all which is that when the Blood being weak or turning sour or what for want of fermentation or through the predominancy of an Acid and Coagulative Salt in it has not so sprightly and continued a Circulation that it can contain the superfluous Serum within it self till it delivers it to the Reins The afovesaid Remedies forasmuch as they preserve the mixture of the Blood entire or restore it when faultering conduce to the promoting of that evacuation by Urine Take Ivy Berrys Juniper Berrys Laurel Berrys fresh gather'd of each half a pound wild Carrot-seeds four Ounces Nutmegs two Ounces all of them being bruis'd together put to them in a Glass Retort of Venice Turpentine one pound Rectified spirit of Wine four pounds distill all in a sand Furnace with a moderate heat till it grows dry carefully avoiding an Epyreuma and you will have a spirit and a yellow Oyl both of them egregiously Diuretick The Dose of the Spirit is from a Dram to two or three Drams of the Oyl from half a Scruple to a Scruple in a fit Vehicle To the remaining faeces in the Retort pour Tincture of Salt of Tartar one pound let them digest for many days close luted in the sand Furnace that a red Tincture may be drawn from it The Dose of which is from a Scruple to two Scruples or a Dram in a fit Vehicle Take Millepedes prepar'd three Drams Nutmegs one Dram being bruis'd pour to them the purest Spirit of Turpentine and Tincture of Salt of Tartar of each six Ounces distill it with a gentle Bath heat and you will have a Spirit Oyl and deliquium of Salt of Tartar each of them notably endow'd with a Diuretick force CHAP. VI. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing too much Purging by Vrine and particularly the Diabetes or Pissing Evil. IN a Diabetes as in most other affects there are three Primary Therapeutick Indications viz. Curatory Preservatory and Vital The first of these regarding the Disease and attempting to stay the too great Effusion of Urine cannot be accomplish'd without the second which aiming at the cause of the Disease endeavours to preserve and restore the mixture and due Crasis of the Blood Wherefore as to the Cure of this Disease the chief intentions of healing must be to keep the Blood from fusion and in case that happens to take it away First the fusion of the Blood is prevented so its gross and aqueous parts reciprocally contain each other and do not readily and abruptly sever themselves which thing is effected by Incrassatives commonly so called whose viscous and glutinous Corpuscles being admitted into the Mass of Blood strongly adhere to its Active Particles and so part them from each other and hinder them from mutually combining betwixt themselves or with Saline Particles coming from elsewhere as might otherwise happen through fluxions In this respect Rice Amylum Mucilaginous Vegetables also Gumms and some Rosins are wont to give relief in this Disease Secondly To restore the Blood after fusion those sorts of Remedies are indicated which dissolve the concretions of Salts so that all the Elementary Particles in it coming again to be at liberty recover their former places and so restore the Crasis of the Blood to its first vigour Now it s well known that this effect is produc'd in coagulated Milk by the addition of a fixt volatile or a nitrous Salt to it also by the infusion of Spirit of Hartshorn of Sal Armoniack and the like The reason of which doubtless is that whilst the Salino-fixt volatile or nitrous Particles being in a sufficient quantity put into the Milk meet with the Acid or Precipitatory Particles and are combin'd with them the other Saline Particles which before were bound being now freed and diffus'd through the Mass of the Liquor loosen the Sulphureous and Earthy Parts combin'd betwixt themselves and disperse them every way so that all the Particles being again equally mixt mutually contain themselves and are contain'd yet because Saline Medicaments are accounted by many to be always Diuretick We do not give them lightly or without consideration for the Cure of a Diabetes though in this Disease I have prescrib'd the Tincture of Antimony with good success And a water of the Solution of quick Lime with the Raspings of Sassafras Aniseeds Raisins and Liquorish according to the vulgar Receipt is highly commended by some The Vital Indication is made good in this Distemper by a thickning and gently cooling Diet and by temperate Cordials and chiefly by apposite and seasonable Hypnoticks A Nobleman in the vigour of his Age became very prone to an excess of Pissing and when for many Months he had been us'd at times to undergo this great Flux of Urine
to be found amongst Authors Moreover Tinctures of Vegetables which are of very great effect in a small Dose are made after this manner Take Roots of Contrayerva a pound being bruis'd and put into a Matrass pour to them Spirit of Wine three Pounds Let them digest to draw forth a Tincture then strain it and draw it off in Balneo to the consistency of Honey Keep the Spirit first drawn off apart from the rest pour it again to what stays behind and draw the Tincture again The Dose of which is from half a Dram to a Dram in a fit Vehicle 5. Diets whose foundations are decoctions of Woods design'd for the Cure of the French Pox and other Cronick Affects deeply rooted in the Blood and humours For indeed a very intense and frequent Sweating viz. continued for a long time day by day is requir'd for the Cure of some Diseases to wit that not only the Impurities and Corruptions of the Viscera and humours may be purg'd forth but ev'n the Morbifick Taints deeply Imprinted in them may be wholly abolish'd or as it were eradicated To effect this it will not be enough to give a Sudorifick Powder or Bolus now and then at times but an entire Diet must be ordered for this purpose Wherefore let all the drink the Person takes be a Diaphoretick Decoction after a Dose of which taken each Morning let a copious Sweat be promoted by adding to it the heat of a Bath or of a Hot-house and after that by this means the Pores of the Skin are open'd and Nature is inclin'd to Seeat let the Recrements of the Blood and Nervous Juice for that whole day evaporate by perspiration which must be still maintained by the use of the said Drink By this method not only the French Pox is most safely and for the most part most certainly Cur'd but also some other most difficult Diseases are sometimes easily overcome Take the Raspings of Guaiacum four Ounces Sarsaparilla six Ounces Chinna two Ounces all the Saunders of each an Ounce Shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each half an Ounnce Antimony powdred and tied in a rag six Ounces Let them Infuse and Boil according to Art in sixteen pounds of founntain water till half be consum'd and strain it to the remaining Magma add the like quantity of water let them infuse and boil till a third part be consum'd adding to it Raisins a pound Licorice an Ounce Let the straining be kept for a common drink In case of a Bilous Temperament and a sharp and hot Blood leave out the Guaiacum and augment the quanntities of the China and Sarsa Diaphoreticks which consist of the Integral parts of the whole mixt and are easie to be gotten for poor people may be prescrib'd according to the following forms In Malignant Fevers Take Conserve of Wood Sorrel a Dram Mithridate two Scruples and a half mix them Let it be taken drinking after it a draught of Posset-drink that has the Leaves of Carduus Scordium or of Camomil Flowers or Marigolds boil'd in it Take Powder of the Roots of Virginia Serpentary from half a Dram to a Dram Give it with a fit Vehicle or give Powder of the Root of Butter-burr a Dram after the same manner In ordinary cases give the Decoction of Gromwel of the Roots of Butter-burr or Virginia Serpentary or of the Roots and Seeds of the great Burr-dock In the French Pox a Decoction of Soap-wort or of the Raspings of Box and the like may supply the place of the Decoction of Woods which are of greater price 2. Sweating Medicines prepar'd from the Elementary parts of a mixt have for their Basis either a Spirit or a Salt sometimes simple sometimes combin'd with another Salt or with Sulphur Let Spirituous things be prescrib'd according to the following forms 1. Let the Spirit of Treacle Camphorated be given from half a Dram to a Dram or a Dram and a half in a fit Vehicle After the same manner many other Spirits distill'd from the Juices of Vegetables maturated by fermentation and appropriated to certain Distempers may be given to provoke Sweat when it is Indicated Of which kind are the Spirits of Black-cherries of the Berries of Elder Ivy and Juniper with many others the Spirits of Hartshorn Soot Blood and the like ought rather to be numbred in the rank of Salts 2. Diaphoreticks whose Basis are Spirits with other Elementary Particles combin'd may be prescrib'd after this manner Take of the simple mixture a Dram give it in a convenient Vehicle To this place also may be referr'd those things that consist of a Spirit fixt Salt or a Sulphur combin'd Of which kind are the Tincture of Salt of Tartar and Antimony The Dose of which are from a Scruple to two Scruples in some other Liquor Moreover distill'd waters in which the Spirituous Particles are diluted with watry ones are often given to provoke Sweat with good success Take Roots of Butter-burr and Valerian of each two Ounces of Zedoary Contrayerva Virginia Serpentary of each an Ounce and a half Flowers of Butter-burr four handfuls Saffron two Drams being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them four pounds of Sherry Sack distil it according to Art Let the whole Liquor be mixt the Dose is from two Ounces and a half to three Ounces Or take Roots of Angelica and Master-wort of each four Ounces of Zedoary Ele-Campane Swallow-wort low-wort Gentian the lesser Galingal of each an Ounce Tops of Carduus Rue Angelica of each three handfuls the middle Bark of the Ash six Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd add Mithridate Venice Treacle of each two Ounces Mix them and pour to them of Canary six pounds distill'd Vinegar two pounds distil it according to Art The Dose is three Ounces The Doses of the aforesaid Waters may be actuated by the addition of Chymical Liquors or Salts These sorts of Medicines endow'd with a Vinous Spirit are proper chiefly and in a manner only for old people and such as are of a cold temperament and are subject to the Plasy and Dropsy But in a hot constitution and when there is a fervent heat of the Bowels and a Feverish boiling of the Blood by scorching those and enflaming this too much they usually rather do hurt than good Diaphoreticks whose Basis is Saline as they are of a various nature viz. according as the Salt is volatile fixt Acid or Nitrous so they are of a different use and operation and hence in certain cases these and in others those and those are most propper to be given as we have before observ'd in Diureticks 1. Fixt and volatile Salt is most propper for those whose Blood very much abounds with a serous humour Moreover when at any time the Juice which Irrigates the Viscera and the Genus Nervosum begins to turn sharp as it usually happens in Hydropical and Cacochymical persons and in such as are subject to Convulsive Distempers those Medicines are most effectually give to cause a Sweat because that whilst they
meet the Acido-Saline Particles of the humours and are combin'd with them they loosen the Texture of the Blood and at the same strongly agitate its Mass by reason of their Heterogenous mixture Hence for a ready separation and driving forth of the Serosities through the Pores of the Skin those things are prescrib'd in the form of a Powder Bolus and Liquor Take Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Scruple Cristal Mineral fifteen Grains Bezoartick Powder a Scruple mix them Let it be given in a spoonful of Sudorifick water Take Salt of Tartar a Scruple Ceruse of Antimony twenty five Grains Make a Powder let it be given after the same manner Take Powder of Bezoartick Mineral from a Scruple to half a Dram Gascoins Powder a Scruple Make a Powder let it he given in like manner Take Ceruse of Antimony from a Scruple to half a Dram Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Scruple Make a Powder 2. Those things may be given in the form of a Bolus by mixing the aforesaid Doses with Treacle Mithridate or Diascordium or with the extract of Carduus Gentian or the like Take Bezoartick Mineral a Scruple Flowers of Sal Armonicak six Grains Mithridate half a Dram Make a Bolus Take Salt of Hartshorn eight Grains Bezoartick Powder fifteen Grains Extractum Theriacale a Scruple Make a Bolus or three Pills If a Liquid Form be more proper Take Spirit of Hartshorn or of Soot or of Sal Armoniack from fifteen Grains to twently Sudorifick water from an Ounce to three Ounces Make a draught let it be taken with governance Take Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Scruple Salt of Tartar fifteen Grains Sudorifick water three Ounces Mix them make a draught 3. Diaphoreticks which have a Nitrous Salt for their Basis are wont to give relief generally in the same cases as those above made of a fixt and a volatile Salt because they destroy the predominancy of the Acid Salt and dispose the mixture of the Blood after such a manner that as it boils its Serum and Recrements are readily separated and discharged from it Take Cristal Mineral three Drams Salt of Hartshorn or of Soot or of Vipers a Dram Mix them the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram in a fit Vehicle Take Sal Prunella two Drams Bezoartick Mineral or Ceruse of Antimony a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is from two Scruples to a Dram. 4. Diaphoreticks whose ground is an Acid Salt have a peculiar efficacy against the predominancy of a fixt Salt and Sulphur viz. if at any time the Mass of Blood by reason of Salino-fixt Particles combin'd with Sulphureous or Terrene Particles in it comes to be too much lock'd up and close bound that it does not easily let go its Serosities to be expell'd by Sweat as it sometimes happens in continual Fevers and in Scorbutick affects the Acid Salt after the Medicine is given meeting the fixt Salt in the Body and laying fast hold on it makes void its undue combinations and so opens the boiling Blood and disposes it for a Sweat Take Spirit of Tartar from half a Dram to a Dram Sudorifick water three Ounces Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Scruple Mix them Take of the simple mixture from half a Dram to two Scruples Give it in a spoonful of Treacle water or Bezoartick water Take Bezoartick Vinegar from half an Ounce to an Ounce Carduus water two Ounces Plague water six Drams Mix them make a draught Take Spirit of Guaiacum a Dram Sudorifick water three Ounces Mix them make a draught Some things meerly or for the greatest part Sulphureous are commonly plac'd in the rank of Diaphoreticks As for instance some Natural and other Artificial Balsams also Chymical Oyls as chiefly of Guaiacum Box Camphire Hartshorn and Soot So likewise the Resinous Extracts of Ponderous Woods with many others which though by themselves they do little for raising Sweat yet being join'd with the other Saline Medicines I do not think them altogether unprofitable because in a cold and Over-phlegmatick Constitution Sulphureo-Saline Medicines Rarify the Blood which is then become too watry and dispose it to a free evaporation no less than such as are Spirituous Take of Opobalsamum from Six Drops to twelve Water of Baum or of Ground Ivy three Ounces Sudorifick water half an Ounce Let it be taken every Morning to provoke Sweat for many days together It is proper for Phthisical Persons and such as have Vlcers in the Reins And so but in a greater Dose may be given the Balsam of Peru also the Tincture of the Balsam of Tolu and likewise compounded Balsams gotten by distillation Take Rosin of Guaiacum powdred two Drams Chymical Oyl of the same a Scruple Bezoartick Mineral Gumm Guaiacum of each a Dram and a half Balsam of Peru what suffices Make a Mass for Pills the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples drinking after it a Dose of the Sudorifick water or of the Decoction of Woods CHAP. VIII Instructions and Prescripts for Curing an Excessive or Depraved Sweating FRequent and immoderate Sweating is sometimes the Symptom of some other Disease then affecting the Person for in the Phthisick and Scurvy this is a common thing The reason of it is that the Blood tainted with some filthy infection or become of an ill habit is not able duly to concoct and assimilate the nutritive Juice still passing into its Mass and therefore always degenerating and coming now and then to be full charg'd by the addition of other Excrements it separates them and expells them by Sweat The Cure of this Sweating depends wholly on the Cure of the Diseass whose Symptom it is In the mean time those copious Night-sweats happening in those Diseases plainly shew that the Persons Diet ought to be altogether of light food viz. Milk Grnel Cream of Barly and the like whose gentle and mild Particles the Blood can bear and not of Flesh or strong substances Sometimes an excessive Sweating is the effect of some foregoing Disease which is brought to an end and this is so common a thing after long Agues that scarce any recover of them but this Indisposition still sticks upon them more or less I knew a young man who as he grew well of a Quartan Ague which had held him ten Months and began to lose its fits daily melted into such profuse Sweats that he was fain to change his Shift and Sheets thrice a Night being as wet as though they had been dipt in water This Evacuation continuing so for many Weeks his Flesh so fell away and his strength was so exhausted that he look'd like a Skeleton This Person when he had us'd many Medicines a long time without much benefit at length by drinking Asses Milk Mornings and Evenings and his other Diet being ordered of Cows Milk he grew very well in a short time The chief cause of frequent and copious Sweats seems to consist in the ill habit and weakness of the Blood in that it
the Tincture of Salt of Tartar of Steel and other things that chiefly abound with Spirit and havd a plenty of Sulphur of which sometimes these sometimes those may be taken as every patient lists When by reason of the Bloods being not kindled and consequently of its too greatcorwding and stagnation as it were within the Praecordia a languishing and failing of the Spirits with a great oppression of the Heart happens then Aqua Mirabilis the waters of Cinnamon Cloves Wormwood Compound also of the Rines of Oranges distill'd with Wine are proper to which sometimes a Dose of some Spirit Elixir or Tincture may be added But here great caution is needful that a person do no indulge himself too much to these kind of Cordials for many by often sipping of them get an ill habit continuing their daily use and encreasing the Dose which at length proves fatal to them for the Liver chiefly and other entrails are so dry'd and scorch'd thereby that the stock of Blood being diminish'd and its Crasis perverted an unhealthy Cacochymia follows or an abbreviation of Life In the second Rank of Cordials we put those Medicines which somewhat appease the too great boiling of the Blood and put a little stop to and allay its immoderate deflagration of this kind are distill'd Waters Acids and Nitrous things Take the waters of Wood-sorrel of whole Citrons of Straw-berrys of each four Ounces Syrup of the Juice of Citrons an Ounce Pearl Powdred a Dram Make a Julape the Dose is two Ounces three or four times a day Take the waters of Pippins or Garden Apples of Rasberrys of each four Ounces Syrup of Violets an Ounce Spirit of Vitriol twelve Drops Make a Julape Take fountain water a Pound and a half Juice of Limmons two Ounces Sugar an Ounce and a half Make a drink of which let three Ounces be taken at pleasure Take Grass Roots three Ounces Candied Eringos six Ounces two Apples slic'd or Corinths two Ounces Shavings of Ivory and of Harts-horn of each two Drams Leaves of Wood-sorrel a handful boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds to the clear straining add of Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Syrup of Violets an Ounce and a half Make an Apozem the Dose is three or four Ounces thrice a day Take Conserve of red Roses vitriolated four Ounces fountain water two pounds dissolve it close cover'd and warm then strain it the Dose is three Ounces at pleasure Take Conserve of Barberrys Rob of Rasberrys of each an Ounce and a half Pearl prepar'd half a Dram Confection of Hyacinth a Dram Syrup of the Juice of Citrons what suffices Make a Confection the Dose is half a Dram thrice a day The third rank of Cordials furnishes those sorts of Medicines which being destinated against the exorbitancies of the boiling Blood loosen and open its close texture for the separation and discharge of its drossy superfluities These being chiefly and in a manner only of a saline nature are also of divers kinds according to the manifold state of the saline Particles of which they consist but for the most part their Basis is either a Volatile Alchalisate Acid Fixt or Nitrous Salt we shall set down certain forms of each of these In the First place Cordials endow'd with a volatile Salt are wont to be given with good effect according to the following prescripts both in Feavers in respect of the Blood and also in swoonings and sudden faintings in respect of the Animal Spirits Take Spirit of Hartshorn from fifteen Grains to twenty Treacle water two Drams give it with a spoon drinking after it a draught of some appropriated Liquor After the same manner may be given the Spirits of Blood of Mans Scull of Soot of Sal Armoniack Compound Take Salt of Vipers a Dram Sal Prunella two Drams Powder of Crabs Claws Compound a Dram and a half Mix them make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to two Scruples in a spoonful of Cordial Julape drinking after it a little draught of the same Take Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Scruple Bezoartick Mineral a Scruple Make a Powder give it in a spoonful of some proper Liquor Secondly Those are chiefly call'd by the name of Cordials by the Vulgar whose Basis is an Alchalisate or Petrifying Salt as particularly Oriental Bezoar Pearl Coral and other Powders of Shells and Stones Take Gascoins Powder or Powder of Crabs Claws Compound from a Scruple to half a Dram give it in a spoonful of Cordial Julape drinking after it two Ounces of the same Take Oriental Bezoar from six Grains to twenty give it after the same manner Take Powders of Crabs Claws and Crabs Eyes of each a Dram Pearl both sorts of Coral prepar'd of each four Scruples both sorts of Bezoar half a Dram the best Bole-Armoniack Aurum Diaphoreticum of each two Scruples Bezoartick Mineral a Dram Mix them make a Cordial Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to two Scruples or a Dram with a fit Vehicle In Persons seiz'd with a Plurisie the following things are accounted the most proper Cordials for as much as by destroying the predominancy of the acid Salt they take away or prevent the Coagulations and Extravasatings of the Blood Take the Powder of a Wild Bores Tusk from half a Dram to a Dram Cristal Mineral a Scruple Powder of red Poppy Flowers half a Scruple Make a Powder to be taken in any Liquor After the same manner may be given the Powders of Crabs Eyes and of the Jaw-bone of the Pike-fish To this place belong also preparations of Nitre which are often given with good effect in Fevers according to the following Forms Take Cristal Mineral a Scruple Volatile Salt of Hartshorn from three Grains to six mix them Make a Powder give it in a spoonful of Cordial Julape Take Cristal Mineral Antimony Diaphoretick of each a Scruple Bezoartick Powder half a Scruple Make a Powder give it after the same manner Medicines whose Basis is a fluid or acid Salt are prescrib'd in Fevers after the following Forms to loosen the Texture of the Blood Take Spirit of Vitriol from four Drops to six Carduus water three Ounces Treacle water two Drams Syrup of the Juice of Citrons three Drams Pearl half a Scruple Make a draught to be taken twice or thrice a day Spirit of Salt or of Nitre may be taken after the same manner For the same the drink Cherbet called also the Divine drink of Palmarius are proper Take Powder of Hartshorn Calcin'd or of Antimony Diaphoretick three Drams Spirit of Vitriol or of Salt a Dram bray them together in a Glass Mortar and let them dry The Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram in a spoonful of Cordial Julape Fixt or lixivial Salts of Herbs often enter the Compositions of Alexipharmicks Moreover Medicines which have these for their Basis as they are accounted very famous Febrifuges so they ought to be numbred amongst Cordials for instance we
propose that known Medicine Take Salt of Wormwood a Scruple Carduus water three Ounces Spirit of Vitriol or Oyl of Sulphur a Scruple Syrup of Violets three Drams Make a draught to be taken three or four hours before the Fit Take the waters of whole Citrons and of Wood Sorrel of each half a pound Salt of Tartar a Dram and a half Juice of Limmons two Drams Sugar half an Ounce mix them make a Julape the use of it is in Anomalous Fevers which though always burning have daily returns of sharp fits The Dose is three Ounces twice a day The last rank of Cordials and truly in some respect the chiefest is of Alexipharmicks because these are more vital than the rest But Alexipharmicks being either for preservation or for Curing In the first place we shall set down Select Medicines to be given to persons whilst yet in a state of health against the Infection of the Plague or any Malignity whatsoever omitting in the mean time what is usually ordered concerning the alteration and rectifying of the Ambient Air And then in the second place we shall give you Select Forms of Prescripts to be used after the Contagion is taken 1. Antidotes for Preservation TAke Conserve of the Leaves of Rue four Ounces Mithridate and Confectio liberantis of each an Ounce Confection of Hyacinth two Drams Salt of Wormwood two Drams and a half Pulvis pannonici rubri half an Ounce Bezoartick Vinegar what suffices Make an Electuary the Dose is the quantity of a Chesnut thrice a day Take Powder of the Roots of Virginia Serpentary Contrayerva Zedoary Species liberantis of each two Drams Camphire two Scruples Sugar dissolv'd in Bezoartick Vinegar and boil'd to a consistency for Tablets six Ounces Make Tablets according to art each weighing half a Dram let one or two be eaten often in a day Take Roots of Virginia Serpentary three Ounces boil them in three pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd to the straining add of the best Honey two Ounces Venice Treacle an Ounce dissolve it warm and close cover'd and strain it The Dose is two or three spoonfuls three or four times a day Take Flowers of Sulphur four Ounces melt them in a Crucible then put into it by spoonfuls one after another Salt of Wormwood four Ounces stirring them together 'till the whole Mass grows red then add the Powders of Aloes Myrrh Olibanum of each a Dram Saffron half a Dram stir them again for a quarter of an hour till they are incorporated the Mass being cool'd and put on a glass plate let it stand till it dissolves into an Oyl like a most beautiful Ruby The Dose is from ten drops to twenty in an Ounce and a half or two Ounces of the Bezoartick water twice a day Or pour to the said Powder some spirit of Wine rectified on the Roots of Contrayerva and Virginia Serpentary till it cover them three fingers over draw forth a Tincture The Dose is from twenty drops to thirty in a fit Vehicle Or Take of the same Powder half an Ounce pour to it of the best Canary two pounds let it dissolve close cover'd and warm The Dose is a spoonful twice or thrice a day After the Contagion is receiv'd and the Crasis of the Blood is vitiated and begins to corrupt the same Medicines are still proper to be taken but in a greater Dose and oftner Moreover the Vinegars and fixt Salts of Herbs are very often added with good success to Alexipharmicks because by them the Coagulations of the Blood are resolv'd and then all Heterogeneous Particles evaporating and the other being brought into a due mixture its liquor at length recovers its former state and keeps it There being innumerable Medicines in the Books of Physicians for this end I shall here only set down a few Antidotes for Curing TAke of the Bezoartick water two Ounces and a half Bezoartick Vinegar half an Ounce Venice Treacle a Dram mix them by shaking them in a Glass Make a draught let the person take it and sweat upon it Take Gascoins Powder Roots of Contrayerva and Virginia Serpentary of each from a Scruple to twenty five Grains Make a Powder give it in a spoonful of Treacle water drink after it a little draught of the same or of a Cordial Julape Take Powder of Teads prepar'd Powder of Crabs Claws Compound of each half a Dram Make a Powder give it after the same manner Take Bezoartick Mineral half a Dram Venice Treacle a Dram Camphire six Grains Bezoartick Vinegar what suffices Make a Bolus to be taken after the same manner Take the waters of Wood Sorrel and Dragon-wort of each four Ounces Water of Scordium Compound two Ounces Treacle water and Bezoartick water of each an Ounce Powder of Pearl a Dram Syrup of Clove-Gillyflowers or of the Juice of Citrons two Ounces spirit of Vitriol twelve drops Make a Julape the Dose is three Ounces often in a day sometimes by it self sometimes with other Medicines CHAP. X. Of the Passions of the Heart and their Remedies AFter Cordial Medicines vulgarly though improperly so call'd it now follows for us to treat of the Passion of the Heart in which the Heart is really ill affected and therefore requires true Cordial Medicines Under that name two affects somewhat differing betwixt themselves are commonly denoted to wit The trembling of the Heart and its panting In both affects the motion or beat of the Heart seems to be disorderly and in a manner Convulsive but the irregularity of the first consists in the frequency of its Vibrations and of the other in their vehemency As to the Cure of the panting of the Heart since its Causes are various and manifold its Cure also must be various for what some affirm that those sorts of Remedies vulgarly call'd Cordials which are reputed to revive the Heart and to relieve it when ill affected are proper in any of all these Cases it is contrary both to reason and common experience We say then that the palpitation or panting of the Heart proceeds either from the fault of the Blood or of the Arteries belonging to the Heart If it happens through the fault of the Blood the chief intent of Curing must be to raise the Blood to a better Crasis it being then become too watery and unmeet for accension and fermenting and to exalt or encrease its active principles which are then depress'd or diminish'd for which end spirituous Medicines also saline Medicines of all kinds Sulphureous and especially Chalybeates conduce And to this place may be referr'd those things which are wont to be prescribed in the Pica or longing Disease in the Leucophlegmatia and in the cold Scurvy Take Conserve of Sea Wormwood the outward yellow Coats of Oranges and Limmons of each two Ounces Powder of Winters Barke two Drams Species of Diacurcuma a Dram Steel prepar'd with Sulphur three Drams Salt of Wormwood a Dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of
Heterogeneous Particles may be subdued and soon evaporate the Operation of a Narcotick intervening puts a stop to these endeavours of the Praecordia and consequently retards the Purification of the Blood and sometimes disappoints it As to other Excrementitious humours usually heap'd together in the Ventricle or the Intestines these also must be purg'd forth by Vomit or Seige before an Opiat be given For otherwise being there fixt they will stick more pertinaciously For the Fibres of those parts being stupified by the Medicine are not irritated as before nor do they readily set upon excretory Convulsions for expelling those drossy superfluities or perform it with any vigour Wherefore according to the ancient Precept If any thing be to be Evacuated let it be done before a Narcotick be given The Kinds and Prescripts of Opiats THe safest Narcotick and which is generally approv'd of by long experience is the Poppy and preparations of it Wherefore as often as we endeavour effectually and safely to provoke sleep the whole stress of the Medicine is Plac'd in Opium or Diacodium As to the Heads of white Poppies with the Seeds out of which Diacodium also Decoctions Emulsions and other Hypnotick Confections are made it plainly appears that these have much less of a Narcotick Sulphur in them than the concreted Juice of Opium and what they have of it is much more pure and innocent Wherefore we give oftner and with more safety Medicines made of these nor ought we to use Laudanum but when through the violence of Symptoms Diacodiats will not serve Again since these have in them less of virulency they do not want much preparation but either a simple Decoction or Infusion or Expression being made of them they may be apply'd to Physical use Now Opium is seldom prescrib'd simply and by it self but is wont to be corrected and compounded after a various and diversifyed manner of preparation that it may become a safe Anodine The wild Poppy has a certain Hypnotick vertue but much more mild and gentle than that other wherefore in certain cases it agrees excellently well and we may be more secure as to its use Of this a Syrup and a distill'd water is always ready prepar'd in Apothecaries Shops which in many continual Feavers are often given with good success and they are judg'd to have a certain specifical virtue in Curing the Pelurisy because they take away pains and by putting some stay to the Pulse abate the Feaverish boiling of the Blood Moreover a Tincture is made of its Flowers Infus'd in Brandy which is a famous Medicine amongst Empiricks and good Women and is averr'd to be good against Surfeits The reason of which effect seems to be that the Spirit of Wine frees the Contents of the Stomack from putrefaction and the Narcotick force of the Flowers prevents the Invasion of the Feaver I shall now set down certain Select Forms of Narcoticks which I shall also digest into certain Classes according as the Opiats have for their Basis either the Syrup or distill'd water of the wild Poppy or Diacodium or Laudanum Extractum or Liquidum or Pilul de Styrace or de Cynoglosso or lastly Philonium Take the water of wild Poppies and Cowslip water of each six Ounces Syrup of red Poppies two Ounces Sal Prunella half a Dram mix them Make a Julape the Dose is three or four Ounces thrice a day in the Pleurisie Pains watching without a Feaver or any manifest Cause Take of Poppy water from four Ounces to six Let it be taken now and then by it self twice or thrice a day for the same intent Take Diacodium from half an Ounce to an Ounce Cowslip water three Ounces Treacle water three Ounces Make a Potion Take Carduus water three Ounces Diacodium half an Ounce Spirit of Hartshorn from half a Scruple to a Scruple Make a draught for procuring sleep and sweat Take Diascordium half a Dram Gascoins Powder a Scruple Diacodium two Drams mix them Let it be taken in a spoon Take Diacodium three Ounces Snail water an Ounce mix them It s proper in the Cough and Phthisick The Dose is a spoonful going to Rest and if need be take it again after Midnight Take London Laudanum a Grain Powder of Claws Compound from half a Scruple to a Scruple with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Clove-Gillyflowers Make three Pills to be taken going to Rest Take Laudanum a Grain Stomack Pills with Gumms half a Dram Make four Pills to be taken going to rest in the Colick Take Laudanum from a Grain to a Grain and a half Diascordium a Scruple Make a Bolus instead of Diascordium you may put the Confection of Alkermes or of Hyacinth Take Laudanum a Grain dissolve it in a spoonful of Treacle water add of Cowslip water two Ounces Make a draught Take of our Liquid Laudanum tartariz'd twenty Drops give it in a spoonful of Aqua Mirabilis or of Cinnamon water or of any other fit Vehicle It s proper in Colick Nephritick or Gouty pains Take Species of Hiera half a Dram of the foresaid Laudanum twenty drops Make four Pills let them be taken going to rest for Purging and easing pains of the Colick at the same time Take Liquid Laudanum Cydoniated from fifteen Drops to twenty Give it in a spoonful of small Cinnamon water for the Flux Take Conserve of red Roses an Ounce Venice Treacle Confection of Hyacinth of each two Drams Pulvis Pannonici Rubri a Dram Laudanum Cydoniated two Drams Syrup of Coral what suffices Make an Electuary the Dose is a Dram every fourth or fifth hour in a violent Bloody Flux with Gripes Take Pilul de Styrace from five Grains to six Lac Sulphuris half a Scruple Oyl of Anniseeds a Drop Balsam of Peru what suffices Make three Pills to be taken in the Cough Asthma c. Take Pilul de Cynoglosso from six Grains to eight Make two Pills to be taken going to rest for the same intents Take Philonium Romanum from one Scruple to two Conserve of Clove-Gillyflowers half a Dram mix them Make a Bolus to be taken going to rest It s proper for the Colick in a cold temperament I shall now say something concerning the Effects of the great Anti-Hypnotick Coffee Coffee though in some cases it be very profitable and Physical in others it is hurtful and unwholesome for we see that great Coffee-drinkers become lean and are very often subject to be Paralytick and grow impotent for generation Yet as to Affects of the Brain and the Genus Nervosum I very often prescribe this Drink for them For indeed in very many Cephalick Diseases and Infirmities viz. in Head-aches Giddiness the Lethargy Catarrhs and the like where with a full habit of Body and a cold temperament or one that is not hot and a watery Blood there is a moist Brain with a sluggishness and dullness of the Animal Spirits Coffee has often a very good effect for being daily drank it wonderfully clears and
First of one troubled with a simple Cough which begins of it self and is free from the suspicion of a Phthisick Some years since I took care of the Health of a Student who from his Childhood had been subject to a Cough and was wont often to undergo severe fits of it and of long continuance he seem'd to be of a pretty strong Constitution only that his lungs being originally weak suffer'd much whenever his blood began to run into serosities in summer as long as a free perspiration lasted he was sound enough but spring and fall when the blood changing its temper either of its own accord or upon some slight occasion offer'd falls into serous fluxions he fell lightly into a Cough accompanied with abundance of thick spittle yet this affect very often vanisht by degrees within six or seven days without any great adoe with Medicines assoon as the mass of blood was purg'd by the lungs But if to the said slight occasion of this Disease other greater Causes were added as chiefly the stoppage of the Pores and errours in Diet sometimes a most violent and obstinate Cough came upon him not soon nor easily yielding to Remedies and threatning nothing less than a Phthisick Then growing ill indeed for the first days he had light shiverings in his whole Body and perceiv'd a Catarrh in his Larynx Afterwards he was troubled with a frequent Coughing accompanied with a thin spittle together with a giddiness deadness of the senses and a dropping at the Nose In this state his best Remedy and often try'd with good success was to drink Sack somewhat freely and as little of any other Liquor as might be for by this means the Acidity and flowing of his Blood being supprest and a more free perspiration rais'd he sound himself very much eas'd and sometimes in a very short space grew well Moreover going to Bed and first in the Morning he us'd to take seven or eight drops of Tincture of Sulphur in a spoonful of Syrup of Violets or of the Juice of ground Ivy Or Take Conserve of red Roses four Ounces Spirit of Turpentine two Drams Mix them the Dose is the quantity of a Chesnut Evenings and Mornings But if these Remedies together with the Canary Antidote and a thin Diet do not do the Disease not being Cur'd by such means runs then to a great length and following him sharply for some Weeks and sometimes Months brings the Diseas'd to a mighty leanness and even to the brink of the Grave For the Cough growing daily worse and very troublesome hinders sleep mightily and interrupts it his strength languishes his appetite is dejected heat and drought press hard upon him In the mean time the Spittle is daily increas'd and cast forth in a vast quantity so that afterwards not only the Serum and dreggy Excrements of the Blood but even the nutritive Juice and the wastings of the solid parts being continually pour'd on the Lungs turn into corruption which is Cough'd forth in abundance but respiration grows difficult the Limbs very weak and the Flesh consumes very much When our Patient was lately ill in this manner we prescrib'd the following Method and Remedies by the continued use of which he at length recovered In the first place a thin Diet being ordered him and Ale or Beer wholly forbidden he took of the following Apozeme about four Ounces twice a day warm and a little of it at other times cold to quench his thirst Take China Roots two Ounces Sarzaparilla three Ounces white and yellow Saunders of each an Ounce shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each three Drams Infuse them according to Art and let them boil in eight pounds of fountain water to half adding Raisins of the Sun three Ounces Licorice three Drams Strain it and let it be us'd for ordinary drink Take Tincture of Sulphur three Drams Let him take from seven drops to ten going to rest and early in the Morning in a spoonful of Syrup of Violets or of Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy. When by a long use of this Medicine he began to loath it the following Eclegma was ordered in its stead Take Conserve of red Roses four Ounces Spirit of Turpentine two Ounces Mix them by bruising them together the Dose is about a Dram at the same hours Afterwards instead of this the following Powder was sometimes taken Take Powder of the Leaves of ground Ivy prepar'd in the Summer Sun three Ounces Sugar Candy half an Ounce Mix them the Dose is half a spoonful twice a day with three Ounces of the following distill'd water Take Leaves of ground Ivy six handfuls Hyssop white Hore-hound of each four handfuls the Lungs of a Lamb half boil'd and slic'd small pour to them of Posset-drink made with small Ale eight pounds distil it in common Organs Let the whole Liquor be mingled and when it is us'd sweeten it at pleasure with Sugar Candy or Syrup of Violets To appease the almost continual toyl of Coughing he swallowed now and then the following Troches or a little extract of Licorice Take Species Diatragacanthi frigidi three Drams Powder of the Seeds of Annise Caraway and sweet Fennel of each half a Dram Flowers of Sulphur two Scruples Flowers of Benzoin a Scruple extract of Licorice diluted with Hyssop water what suffices Make a Paste and form it into Troches Or Take Species Diaireos è Pulmone Vulpis of each two Drams Flowers of Sulphur Roots of Elecampane of each half a Dram Oyl of Anniseeds half a Scruple Sugar dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of Pennyroyal water and boil'd to a consistency for Tablets six Ounces Make Tablets according to art weighing half a Dram let him take one as often as he pleases swallowing it by little and little In the midst of this Course though he had a weak Pulse and was of a cold temperament he was let Blood in the Arm Besides these Remedies a great benefit accrued to him from the fresh Air which he took daily either on Horseback or in a Chariot For by this he first began to recover his Appetite Digestion and Sleep which afterwards were followed by degrees with an abatement of the other Symptoms so that at length he perfectly recover'd He has us'd a method like to this and with the like success as often as till this time he has been troubled with a tedious and stubborn Cough and now though he be wholly free from that distemper yet he is forc'd carefully to avoid all occasions by which the Pores are stop'd or by which a Fusion or Precipitation of the Blood into Serosities is rais'd such are chiefly his going by Water on the Thames and his drinking Acid Liquors as Cider French or Rhenish Wines The foregoing Relation gives you a Type and way of Curing a Cough caus'd through the fault of the Blood and not reaching the limits of a Phthisick Now follows another which Illustrates the nature of the same affect when it proceeds chiefly from the
and likewise moderate Hypnoticks especially Diacodiats are taken with good success For these by putting a stay to the motion of the Heart allay the fervour of the Blood 2. To close the Aperture of the Vessel Astringent Remedies and Agglutinatives are most proper The chief of these are usually given in the Form of a Linctus so that some of its Particles in swallowing falling on the Aspera Arteria may more immediately communicate their vertue to the part affected But the way of this Operation seems to be of no great moment because the Efficacy of the Medicines reaches chiefly and in a manner only by the way of the Blood to the Root of the Disease Wherefore not only Lohoch's but likewise Decoctions Powders and Pills of Traumatick and Balsamick Ingredients are successfully prescrib'd The Second Indication which is for preservation having regard to the Cure of the dissolution of Unity without leaving any blemish in the Lungs ought to provide against two sorts of evils viz. That the Spitting Blood to which the Persons affected will be always subject does not return at times and that the Consumption which threatens all those that Spit Blood does not follow it For which ends in order to the prevention of this Disease we must take an assiduous care of or use a constant method of Cure to the Blood and Lungs 1. As to the Blood its Mass ought always to be kept in a due quantity a just temper and a gentle and continued motion Hence lest it abound too much or being affected with an evil temperament grows turgid or deposes impure dregs in the Brest we must sometimes use Bleeding and a gentle Purge an exact Form of Diet is always necessary Moreover drinking of Asses Milk or of Mineral Waters contribute sometimes egregiously to the purifying and sweetning of the Blood Again Decoctions Distill'd Waters Juices of Herbs which take away the Dyscrasies of the Blood and derive the Serum and other Impurities from the Lungs and carry them forth by Sweat or Urine must be diligently taken Issues also mightily conduce for this end 2. Nor must less care be taken of the Lungs themselves that their whole frame and especially the place affected be preserv'd in a due Conformation and right Tone Hence all violent motion by which Unity is farther dissolv'd or its restauration hindred is carefully to be avoided Let the Person live in a clear and brisk Air though it must not be too sharp and piercing Let him abstain from gross Food long Sleeps large Suppers and other errours in Diet which cause a Repletion or Obstruction in the Praecordia Besides this let Remedies be us'd which are said to Cure the Lungs by a peculiar or certain Specifick Vertue Having given you the method of Curing Blood Spitting I shall now set down some Select Forms of Medicines answering to each of the Therapeutick Indications and to the various intentions of Curing that belong to them And we justly give the precedency to those which encountring the most urgent Symptome presently stop the flowing forth of Blood cast out of the Lungs by a Cough or otherwise In the First rank of these Medicines we place those which hinder the Blood from flowing to the part affected and have a certain Astringency together with an Agglutinative Vertue by which the Aperture of the Vessel is clos'd and after a Glyster and Blooding unless the weakness of the Pulse and a deficiency of heat forbid it they are presently given in the form of a Julape Decoction Emulsion Juicy Expression Powder Pills and Lohochs I shall give you some of the choicest and most efficacious prescripts of each of these as also of Hypnoticks which nevertheless must not be us'd at random and indifferently but every of them methodically and seasonably according to the various Constitution of the Patient and Nature of the Disease as a prudent Physician shall direct 1. Julapes and distill'd Waters TAke the Waters of Purslain and red Poppies of each six Ounces Dragons Blood finely Powdred half a Dram Syrup of red Poppies two Ounces Spirit of Vitriol of Mars half a Scruple Mix them the Dose is three Ounces repeating it within five or six hours Take Plantain water a pound the Gums Tragacanth and Arabick Powdred of each half a Dram mingle them and dissolve them then add Syrup of dry'd Roses an Ounce and a half Make a Julape the Dose is three or four Ounces every third or fourth hour Take the Waters of Oak-buds red Roses and Nymphaea of each four Ounces Blood-stone very finely Powdred Bole Armeniack Powdred of each half a Dram Syrup of Nymphaea two Ounces Mingle them the Dose is three or four Ounces three or four times a day Take of the Dew or insipid Phlegm of Vitriol a pound Syrup of Myrtles two Ounces Mix them the Dose is two or three Ounces often in the day or in the night Take Cypress tops eight handfuls Willow Leaves or Flowers six handfuls Roots of the greater Comphrey and Nymphaea of each half a pound Balaustia two handfuls all being slic'd small together pour to them of fresh Milk eight pounds distil them in Common Organs The Dose is three or four Ounces thrice or oftner in a day Take of this distill'd water and of Plantain water of each half a pound the Gums Tragacanth and Arabick of each two Drams Dissolve them the Dose is three Ounces every third hour The following Mixture is prescrib'd by Frederick Deckers to be taken a Spoonful at a time and seems to be a good Medicine Take Plantain water two Ounces Cinnamon two Drams Confection of Hyacinth a Dram and a half distill'd Vinegar half an Ounce red Coral prepar'd half a Dram Balaustia Dragons Blood of each half a Scruple Laudanum Opiatum three Grains Syrup of Myrtles an Ounce Mingle them Take the Waters of Plantain red Roses and Purslain of each four Ounces Blood-stone and Dragons Blood reduc'd into a fine Powder of each half a Dram Sugar Candy six Drams Make a Julape A Solution of common Vitriol or of Vitriol of Mars made in fountain water and apply'd to a Wound with a rag excellently stops all Fluxes of Blood but it is not proper to be given inwardly 2. Decoctions Tinctures and Emulsions TAke Leaves of Blood-wort Perwincle Mous-ear Plantain Wood-sorrel both sorts of Daisies of each a handful Flowers of red Roses half a handful Barley half an Ounce Raisins two Ounces boil them in three pounds of Water in which red hot Iron has been quench'd till it comes to two pounds add to the straining Syrup of St. Johns wort two Ounces or of Mous-ear Make an Apozeme the Dose is four or six Ounces thrice a day Take Leaves of St. Johns wort Roots and Leaves of Tormentil great Burnet Meadow-sweet of each a handful Seeds of Purslane Plantain and Sorrel of each a Dram Conserve of red Roses half a pound fountain water four pounds Let them boil close in B. M. for twelve hours to the straining add
and Baum of each four Ounces Powder of a Boars Tusk a Dram Syrup of Violets ten Drams Make a Julape and take it after the same manner Take Grass Roots three Ounces shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each three Drams Raisins ston'd an Ounce and a half Licorice two Drams boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds to the straining add Syrup of Violets an Ounce Sal Prunella a Dram Make an Apozeme take to three or four Ounces thrice a day For the same Intention viz. that the emptied Vessels may withdraw the matter maintaining the Disease or may drink up again the Morbifick matter it self a Purge also is prescrib'd by some In the Practise of the Ancients it was a thing in constant use after bleeding to Order Preparatives and Purgers against this Disease as well as against most others And Chymists of late with a greater confidence give Vomits and cry them up before all other Remedies in a Peripneumonia Nay further neglecting bleeding or forbidding it they lay the chief stress of their Cure in Antimonial Emeticks though I know not whether any thing can be imagin'd more pernicious than that their rash proceeding In rustick and robust Bodies sometimes this Medicine is given without harm but in tender Constitutions it may be reckon'd little Inferiour to poyson And as to purging though it be not proper in the very beginning but in a manner always does harm yet the Morbifick matter ceasing to flow to the part and the effervescence of the Blood being appeas'd you may empty the Body gently with a Purging Medicine Take Gereons Decoction of Sena four Ounces Syrup of Roses Solulutive and Ounce Mix them make a Potion Take the best Sena three Drams whole Cassia Tamarinds of each half an Ounce Coriander-seeds two Drams Boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water to six Ounces to the straining add Syrup of Violets an Ounce Clarifie it with the White of an Egg and give it Let not Purges be given always nor ever in this Disease without consideration but Glysters must be given frequently nay for the most part every day but let them be only Lenitive and Emollient so that they gently loosen the Belly without much stirring the Blood and Humours For this end Milk or Whey with brown Sugar or Syrup of Violets often do well Or Take the Leaves of both Mallows Melilot and Mercury of each a handful Linseed and sweet Fennel-seeds of each half an Ounce sweet Prunes in number six Boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water to a pound to which add Syrup of Violets an Ounce Sugar ten Drams Sal Prunella a Dram Make a Glyster 3. Medicines for the Third Intention viz. For dissolving the clamminess of the Blood are usually given in the Form of a Powder Spirit Draught or Bolus according to the Forms following 1. Powders TAke Crabs Eyes powdred two Drams Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Sugar of Pearl a Dram Make a Powder divide it into six parts take one every sixth hour with some proper Julape or Apozeme Take Powder of a Boars Tusk or of the Jaw-bone of a Pike Crabs Eyes of each a Dram and a half Flowers of Sal Armoniack Powder of red Poppy Flowers of each half a Dram Mix them for four Doses 2. Chymical Spirits and Liquors TAke Spirit of Sal Armoniack distill'd with Olibanum three Drams The Dose is from twelve to fifteen or twenty Drops thrice a Day Take Spirit of Vrine or of Soot three Drams give it after the same manner Take Spirit of sweet Nitre viz. often Cohobated with Spirit of Wine three Drams The Dose is from six drops to ten after the same manner Take Spirit of Tartar half an Ounce The Dose is from fifteen drops to twenty or twenty five with a fit Vehicle Take of the simple Mixture an Ounce The Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram after the same manner 3. Draughts TAke Carduus water a pound fresh Horse-dung three Ounces dissolve it warm and filter it The Dose is three or four Ounces twice or thrice a day adding Syrup of Violets or of red Poppies half an Ounce Take Leaves of Dandelion two handfuls being bruis'd pour to them Water of Ladies Thistle half a pound Treacle water half an Ounce Wring it forth hard to which add Powder of Crabs Eyes a Dram take four or six spoonfuls thrice a day The Fourth Intention of Curing having regard to the most urgent Symptoms suggests to us various preparations of Medicines 1. In respect of the Feaver the Julapes and Apozems before set down are proper Moreover you must frequently use Sal Prunella 2. For the Cough and difficulty of Breathing Linctus's Lohochs and Decoctions or Pectoral Julapes are given with success Take Syrup of Jujubes of Maiden-hair of each an Ounce and a half Syrup of Violets an Ounce Flowers of Nitre a Scruple Make a Linctus to be taken now and then with a stick of Licorice Take Syrup of Dialthea an Ounce Diacodium Syrup of red Poppies of each half an Ounce Crabs Eyes finely powdred two Scruples Make a Linctus to be taken as the other Take Syrup of Hyssop of Licorice of each an Ounce and a half Powder of red Poppy Flowers a Scruple Crabs Eyes a Dram Lohoch de Pino six Drams Mix them make a Lohoch of which take the quantity of a Nutmeg four times or oftner in a day Take Roots of Grass Chervil Marsh-mallows of each an Ounce Figgs in number four Jujubes Sebestens of each in number six Raisins of the Sun an Ounce Licorice three Drams Barley half an Ounce boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds Strain it the Dose is three or four Ounces Take Raisins ston'd an Ounce and a half Filberts slic'd in number four Licorice slic'd three Drams Hyssop-water a pound and a half Make a close and warm Infusion according to art for six hours to the straining add Syrup of Althea an Ounce and a half Make a Julape the Dose is three or four spoonfuls often in a day swallowing it down by little and little 3. Against want of Sleep Take of red Poppy water three Ounces Syrup of the same six Drams Plague water two Drams Make a draught to be taken going to Bed It the Pulse be strong and the strength holds Take Cowslip water three Ounces Syrup of Meconium half an Ounce Mix it and drink it going to Bed 4. If the pain be pressing about the part affected Take of the Oyntment of Marsh-mallows two Ounces Oyl of sweet Almonds an Ounce and a half Mix them for a Liniment to be apply'd with thin Lawn Paper Take Oyntment of Marsh-mallows and the Pectoral Oyntment of each an Ounce and a half Oyl of Linseed fresh drawn a Dram to which add of the Emplaister of Mucilages what suffices Make a Plaister for the Region of the Brest to be apply'd on the part affected Fifthly For the last Intention of Curing
or Alkalisate Salt destroy the Combinations entred into by the Acid sixt and otherwise Morbifick Salts with other more gross Particles In which respect the Eyes and Claws of Crabs the Tusk of a Boar the Stone of Carps the Jaw-bone of a Pike the Bone in the Heart of a Stag the Pisle of a Deer Sal Prunella Salt of Coral the Volatile Salt of Urine or of Hartshorn Powder of Goats Blood Infusion of Horsedung Spirit of Hartshorn of Sal Armoniack Spirit of Tartar Mixtura Simplex Bezoartick Mineral Antimony Diaphoretick Flowers of Sal Armoniack are very famous Remedies in the Pleurisie The Third and Vital Indication which takes care that the strength and Vital heat be preserv'd in their due Tone and State during the Course of the Disease prescribes principally a fit Diet and likewise Cordial Remedies and Anodines and things which seasonably afford Relief to other Symptoms if haply they present First in a true Pleurisie you must order a most thin Diet viz. consisting of meer Oat and Barley-meats and for ordinary drink Ptisan or Posset-drink is more proper than Beer alone though in a mignty thirst this also may be allow'd in a moderate quantity Moreover to quench thirst Julapes Apozemes and Emulsions may be taken at set times to all which let Sal Prunella be added Secondly let only temperate Cordials be given which may gently refresh the Animal Spirits and not add to the Accension of the Blood which burns before too fiercely For these intents the Waters of Ladies Thistle Carduus Benedictus Bawm Borage Cowslips and Black-Cherries are usually given with good success to which the Powders of Pearl and Coral may be added Thirdly Anodines must be used both inwardly to procure sleep if at any time it be very much wanted as also outwardly to ease the pain of the side The most usual things of the former kind are the distill'd water Syrup and Powder of the red Poppy which are accounted Specificks in the Pleurisie as well as in the Peripneumonia Moreover when a very acute pain and watchings press very much we may give also Diacodiats Against Pains Oyntments Fomentations Cataplasms and sometimes the warm Inwards of Animals newly kill'd are proper to be applyed I shall now give you Select Forms of Medicines adapted to each of these Indications First Therefore about the beginning of the Disease to take away the Inflammation Julapes Apozemes Powders Glysters and gentle Purges are wont to be prescrib'd Take Water of Ladies Thistle eight Ounces Water of red Poppies four Ounces Syrup of the same an Ounce Sal Prunella a Dram Make a Julape the Dose is two or three Ounces every third hour Take Grass Roots four Ounces Barley half an Ounce parings of Apples a handful Raisins of the Sun an Ounce Licorice two Ounces boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds To the cleer straining add Syrup of Violets an Ounce and a half Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Make an Apozeme the Dose is two or three Ounces often in a day Take Sal Prunella two Drams Flowers of Nitre a Dram Powder of the Flowers of red Poppies two Scruples Sugar Candy four Scruples Make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram three or four times a day Take of the Decoction of Mallows Roots and all together with sweet Prunes a pound Syrup of Violets three Ounces Sal Prunella a Dram Make a Glyster Take of whole Cassia bruis'd two Ounces Tamarinds an Ounce white Rose Flowers a handful Coriander-seeds two Drams boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water to a pound To the straining add Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb two Drams Clarify it with the White of an Egg the Dose is five or six Ounces in the Morning for two or three days one after the other Secondly To dissolve the clamminess or coagulating Viscousness of the Blood the following things are of use viz. in the Form of a Drink Powder and Spirit Take fresh Horsedung four Ounces Carduus water a pound and a half make a close and warm Infusion for two hours then filter the Liquor to which add Syrup of the Juice of Dandelion or of Cichory two Ounces Spirit of Sal Armoniack a Dram give five or six spoonfuls three or four times a day For this end Water of Horsedung does admirably well Take Horsedung four pounds Leaves of Carduus Benedictus Ladies Thistle Scabious Pimpernel of each three handfuls being slic'd and mixt together pour to them of fresh Milk six pounds distil them with common Organs The Dose is two or three Ounces either alone or with other distill'd Waters in the Form of a Julape For the same use the Tinctures or Solutions of other Dungs are given by some Physicians and are highly magnifyed by them Helmont deservedly commends in the Pleurisie the Dung of an Ox Panarolus Pidgeons Dung others the White of Hens Dung Epiphanius Ferdinandus usually gave with good success in the Pleurisy the Decoction of Tobacco macerated in new Wine Valeriola used the Decoction of the Flowers of red Poppies as a try'd and familiar Remedy Sylvius prescribes the following mixture to be taken one spoonful after another by little Intervals of time Take the waters of Stone-Parsly and Hyssop of each two Ounces Fennel-water an Ounce simple Treacle water half an Ounce Laudanum Opiatum four Grains Sal Armoniack half a Dram Syrup of red Poppies an Ounce Mix them To this composition Frederick Deckers adds Powder of Crabs Eyes and Bezoartick Mineral of each a Scruple Medicines very efficacious for this use are wont to be given in the Form of a Powder for Example Take Powder of Crabs Eyes two Drams Sal Prunella a Dram and a half red Poppy Flowers half a Dram Mix them make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram three or four times in a day with a fit Vehicle Instead of Crabs Eyes you may use the Powder of the Jaw-bone of a Pike or of a Boars Tusk or of a Stags or Bulls Pisle and if these do not succeed you may try what follows Take Antimony Diaphoretick or its Ceruse or Bezoartick Mineral two Drams Volatile Salt of Hartshorn half a Dram Powder of red Poppy Flowers two Scruples Make a Powder the Dose is a Scruple or half a Dram thrice or oftner in a day It is for the same Intention of Curing that Riverius gives Powder of Chimney Soot from half a Dram to a Dram and that others give the Powder of Pigeons or Hens Dung Nay farther according to this Analogy by which the Dungs of Animals stor'd with a Volatile Salt give relief in this Disease its probable that the Dung of a Dog may prove no less successful in Curing the Pleurisie than in the Squinancy and so much the more likely because these Diseases often interchange their Types and the one assumes the likeness of the other Chymical Liquors endow'd with a Volatile Salt sometimes also work great effects in the Pleurifie Take Spirit of Blood two Drams Red
ends the following Method and Forms of Medicines may be us'd Take Aloe Rosata a Dram and a half Flowers of Sulphur a Dram Salt of Amber half a Dram Tar what suffices Make Pills in number twenty four take four in the Evening every Night or every other or third Night Or Take Gum Ammoniacum and Bdellium dissolv'd in Vinegar of Squills of each half an Ounce Flowers of Sulphur three Drams Powder of the Leaves of Hedg-mustard and of Savory of each half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Diasidphur or of Oxymel of Squills Make a Mass form it into little Pills and take three every Evening Or Take Millepedes prepar'd two Drams Flowers of Benzoin half a Dram Salt of Amber two Scruples Extract of Elecampane half a Dram Castoreum half a Dram Saffron a Scruple Venice Turpentine what suffices Make a Mass and form it into small Pills take four every Evening and Morning unless when you Purge If Pills are not grateful or the foresaid Medicines will not do then let the following be try'd to free the Lungs from obstruction Take Spirit of Gum Ammoniacum distill'd with Sal Armoniack three Drams Syrup of the Juice of Ivy three Ounces Magisterial water of Snails and of Earth-worms of each an Ounce Tincture of Saffron two Drams Mix them take a spoonful going to Bed and early in the Morning Or Take Tincture of Gum Ammoniacum three Drams The Dose is from fifteen Drops to twenty in a spoonful of Oxymel or Syrup of ground Ivy. Or Take Tincture of Sulphur three Drams The Dose is from seven Drops to twelve or twenty at the same hours with a fit Vehicle After the like manner also other Spirits endow'd with a Volatile Salt and mixt with Pectoral Syrups and Cephalick waters may be usefully prescrib'd Morning and Evening Instead of a Mixture or Asthmatical Julape of distill'd waters of the shops the following Magisterial may be prepar'd to be us'd frequently and upon several occasions Take Roots of Elecampane Florentine Orris Angelica Masterwort of each four Ounces of Briony a pound Leaves of white Horehound Hyssop Savory Penny-royal ground Ivy of each four handfuls fresh Juniper and Ivy Berries of each a pound Lawrel Berries half a pound Seeds of sweet Fennel Caraway Annise Lovage Dill of each an Ounce Cubebs two Ounces long Pepper Cloves Mace of each an Ounce all of them being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of Brunswick Beer eight pounds distill them with common Organs Let the whole Liquor be mixt and when it s used let it be sweeten'd at pleasure with Sugar or the Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy or with Oxymel Moreover instead of Oxymel or of any common Pectoral Syrup let the following Forms of Medicines be prescrib'd which are more appropriated to an Asthma And in the First place the Syrup of Elecampane invented by Horatius Augenius and afterwards recommended by Platerus Sennertus Riverius and other famous Practitioners shall be set down here and ought to be frequently made use of Take Roots of Elecampane and of Polypody of the Oak prepar'd of each two Ounces Currans two Ounces Sebestens in number fifteen Coltsfoot Lungwort Calaminth Savory of each a handful one large Tobacco Leaf Licorice two Drams Seeds of Nettles and of Cotton-plant of each a Dram and a half boil them in Wine and Honey diluted to a pound and a half and with the like quantity of Sugar make a Syrup Let it be taken either by it self in the Form of a Linctus or a spoonful at a time Mornings and Evenings or put a spoonful of it to a Dose of the distill'd water or Apozeme Take Roots of Florentine Orris and of Elecampane of each half an Ounce Garlick pill'd four Drams Cloves two Drams white Benzoin a Dram and a half Saffron a Scruple being slic'd and bruis'd let them digest warm in a pound of rectified spirit of Wine for twenty eight hours To the straining add of the finest Sugar a pound put it in a silver Bason on hot Coles then the liquor being fired keep stirring it as long as it will burn and then the flame going out it will become a Syrup let it be given after the same manner as the former Moreover in this place we may aptly insert the Decoctions of an old Cock so much commended by famous Physicians both ancient and modern for the Cure of the Asthma These Broaths are of two kinds viz. with or without Purgers and we find various and differing sorts of both amongst Practical Authors though I shall only give you a form or two Without Purgers this is a common Form Take Roots of Elecampane and of Florentine Orris of each half an Ounce Leaves of Hyssop and of Horehound dry'd of each six Drams Carthamus-seeds an Ounce Anniseeds and Dillseeds of each two Drams Licorice slic'd and Raisins cleans'd of each three Drams let them be prepar'd and sewed up in the Belly of an old Cock which must be boil'd in fifteen pounds of fountain water till the flesh falls from the Bones strain it and let it settle The Dose of the clear Liquor is six Ounces with an Ounce of Oxymel simple or if you would have it purge in each draught dissolve fresh Cassia and Manna of each half an Ounce Let it be taken for many days together sometimes for a whole Month. Riverius prescribes a good Form of this sort of Purging Broath Take Roots of Elecampane and of Florentine Orris of each a Dram and a half Leaves of Hyssop and Coltsfoot of each a handful Licorice slic'd Raisins clean'd of each two Drams Figs in number four Senna cleans'd three Drams Roots of Polypody of the Oak Carthamus-seeds of each half an Ounce Anniseeds a Dram and a half Boil them with a third or fourth part of an old Cock according to art and make a Broath for one Dose to be taken in a Morning let it be continued for twelve or fifteen days I shall now give you a Relation of a Person who was subject to fits of this Disease which were meerly Convulsive and of another who was subject to fits of the same which were partly Convulsive and partly Pneumonick A Noble Man of a tall Stature and full and strong grown having bruis'd is left Side by a fall found himself injur'd upon it and afterwards fell into an Asthmatick Distemper so that now and then though at no set times First a pain would seize him about that place and presently after a great straitness of Breath followed with a vehement and long continued straining of all the parts of Respiration so that during the Fit the Patient seem'd to be in the very Agony of Death I was first call'd to him after he had lain ill of such an Asthmatick Fit for two days and was look'd upon as almost past Cure Nevertheless finding his Lungs to be without hurt our Prognostick bid us still hope well and presently other Physicians being joyn'd with me in Consultation it was
Though there are various kinds of the Spurges and all of them work violently by Vomit or Siege by reason of their mighty Irritation of the Viscera and consequently evacuate Serous humours in a plentiful manner yet because of the excessive strength of most of them The lesser or wild Spurge is now in a manner only in use And it s most approved preparations are the Powder of the Rinds of its Roots and its Extract We also add its Tincture which is not Inferiour to the rest Take the lesser Spurge with the Roots cleans'd four handfuls Lignum Aloes Cloves of each a Dram being bruis'd boil them in four pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd ' let the straining Clarifie by settling in an oblong Glass then let the clear Liquor Evaporate by a Bath-heat to the consistency of an Extract The Dose is a Scruple Take of this Extract half an Ounce pour to it in a Matras six Ounces of the Tincture of Salt of Tartar digest them in a Sand Bath till the Tincture be Extracted The Dose is from twenty to thirty Drops with a fit Vehicle Take Powder of the Roots of the lesser Spurge from seven Grains to ten Cinnamon half a Scruple Salt of Tartar eight Grains bruise them together in a Glass Mortar give it by it self or with the Addition of some fit Conserve or Syrup Make a Bolus or Pills 3. Praecipitatum Mercurii cum Sole or Hercules Bovii For as much as by its Acrimony it mightily irritates the Fibres of the Stomack and fuses the Blood by reason of its Mercurial and Saline Particles it raises a violent Vomiting and so forces a discharge of the Serous humours which are violently drawn into the Cavities of the Viscera Pilulae Lunares in like manner by reason of the Vitriolick Particles of the Silver being sharpen'd with other Saline Menstruums produce the like effect viz. by much corrugating the Fibres of the Viscera they strongly force the Serous humours into their Ductus's and causes them to be evacuated A Solution of Silver being made in Aqua Stygia and well purified is redud'd by a gentle evaporation into clear Crystals which by themselves or with the addition of Sal Nitre to repress the force of the Lunar Vitriol are made into Pills with the Crum of Bread The Dose is sometimes a single Pill sometimes two or three according as they work and as the strength will bear these sorts of Medicines are sometimes given with success in a strong Constitution and where the Viscera are sound and of a good habit but scarce ever have a good effect in tender and Cachectical Bodies and are seldom taken by such persons without doing them hurt Hydragogue Medicines which work meerly or chiefly by Seige are either mild as Elder Dwarfe Elder Sea Bindweed and the Juice of English Orris which are rarely given by themselves but want to be quicken'd by such as are smarter and for return they qualify the vehemency of the other or they are strong as Hedg-Hyssop Jalap and Elaterium The Seeds of Elder and Dwarfe Elder being dry'd and powdred and taken to a Dram gently evacuate Serous humours by Seige a Water and Spirit are distill'd from the Juice of both their Berries fermented and Robs and Syrups are made of it which with many other preparations of those Vegetables are highly extoll'd for all Hydropical Distemper Sea Bindweed and Hedg-Hyssop are now rarely us'd by themselves but often enter the Compositions of other Hydragogues and chiefly in Apozemes The Juice of English Orris is a good Medicine and the more to be esteem'd because easie to be had for poor people It s given from six Drams to an Ounce and a half or two Ounces either by it self in a fit Vehicle or with other proper ingredients Jalap is a well known and vulgar Medicine against all sorts of Dropsies Every ordinary Man that has that Disease presently takes a Pennyworth of the Powder of Jalap with a little Ginger in Whitewine and this Medicine taken a pretty many times seldom fails of success Elaterium is justly accounted a most powerful Hydragogue in regard that most powerfully irritating the Fibres of the Viscera and at the same time fusing the Blood and humours by a sort of corrosive vertue as it were it forces whatsoever Serosities the Tunicles of the Viscera Membranes and Vessels also those that the Glands and Fleth contain within them to discharge themselves into the Cavities of the Stomack and Intestines Which Medicine working well sometimes the swelling of the Belly fall This indeed is the chief Instrument of the Empyricks Arsenal against an Ascites though using it in all cases they oftner give if to the prejudice of the Patient than to his advantage The Dose is from three Grains to ten or fifteen It s taken either by it self only with the Addition of Aromatical Correctives or it s given with other Hydragogues in the Form of a Powder Pills or of an Electuary Its Tincture and Essence are Extracted with Spirit of Wine or with Tiacture of Salt of Tartar These are the chief simple Hydragogues of which being duly prepar'd with the Addition of other things divers sorts of Compounds are made some common in Shops others Magisterially prescrib'd and are every where in use and a great many more may be ordered ex tempore on occasion We shall here set down some few Select Forms of them and especially such as are taken in the Form of a Potion Powder Electuary and pills Take Roots of Dwarfe Elder and English Orris of each an Ounced and a half Leaves of Sea Bindweed and Hedge Hyssop of each a handful Roots of Asarabacca and wild Cucumbers of each two Ounces Roots of the lesser Galingal six Drams choice Jalap half an Ounce Elaterium three Drams Cubebs two Drams being slie'd and bruis d pour to them of small Spirit of Wine Tartariz'd three pounds let them digest close luted in a sand Furnace for two days strain off the clear which being purified by settling give from two spoonfuls to three with a fit Vehicle Take Elaterium Sea Bindweed Ginger of each a Scruple Galingal Cloves Cinnamon of each half a Scruple Salt of Tartar fifteen Grains Make a Powder for two Doses Take Powder of the Roots of the best Jalap a Dram Giner a Scruple Cream of Tartar fifteen Granins Make a Powder give it in a draught of Whitewine Take Rhubarb powdred a Scruple Elaterium five Grains Tartar vitriolated half a Scruple Spike three Grains with Syrup of Buckthorn Make four Pills Take Pilulae Aloephanginae half a Dram Elaterium half a Scruple Oyl of Cloves three drops Make four Pills Let the Hydropick Pills of Bontius be given from half a Scruple to half a Dram They are made after this manner Take of the best Aloes two Drams and a half Gummi Gutta prepar'd a Dram and a half Diagredium corrected a Dram Gum. Ammoniacum dissolv'd a Dram and a half Tartar vitriolated half a Dram
Prunella or Sal Armoniack from a Dram to a Dram and a half Make a Glister Take of the Vrine of a sound Man a pound Sal Prunella a Dram Venice Turpentine dissov'd with the Yolk of an Egg an Ounce and a half Make a Glister 2. Dinreticks If any other Remedies premise help in this Disease Take live Millepedes cleans'd three Ounces one Nutmeg slic'd being bruis'd together pour to them of the following Diuretick water a pound express it strongly The Dose is from three Ounces to four twice a day Take of the green Berries of Juniper and Elder of each six pounds Firr tops four pounds green Wallnuts two pounds Winters Bark four Ounces the outward Rinds of six Oranges and four Limons the Seeds of Ameos Rocket and Water-cresses of each an Ounce and a half Dill-seeds two Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of Whey made with Whitewine eight pounds distil it with common Organs Let all the Liquor be mixt Take Crystal Mineral half an Ounce Volatile Salt of Amber two Drams Powder of wild Carrot-seeds a Dram Venice Turpentine what suffices Take small Pills take three at Night and in the Morning drinking after it of the foresaid water three Ounces Take sweet Spirit of Salt half an Ounce give from eight drops to twelve twice a day with a Draught of the same water adding Syrup of Violets a spoonfull Take Spirit of Salt of Tartar an Ounce give from a Scruple to half a Dram twice a day after the same manner So also Spirit of Nitre and Tincture of Salt of Tartar may be given Take Leaves of Plantain Chervil and Clivers of each four handfuls being bruis'd together pour to them of the former distill'd water a pound express it strongly The Dose is three Ounces twice or thrice a day with some other Medicine Take Grass Roots three Ounces Roots of Butchers-broom two Ounces Chervil and Candied Eringo's of each an Ounce shavings of Hartshorn and Ivory of each two Drams burnt Hartshorn two Drams and a half Burdock-seeds three Drams boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds In the warm straining put Leaves of Clivers and Watercresses bruis'd of each a handful adding of Rhenish Wine six Ounces let there be a close and warm Infusion for two hours then strain it again and add of the Magisterial water of Earth-worms two Ounces Syrup of the five Roots an Ounce and a half make an Apozeme the Dose is four Ounces twice a day with some other Medicine Whilst these things are taken inwardly let Topicks also and outward applications be carefully Administred not such as are hot and discussing but such as are endow'd with Particles of a Volatile and Nitrous Salt which destroy the combinations of the other Salts and make void the efforts of the Spirits for which ends we propose the following things If Fomentations ought to be us'd at all let them not be apply'd too hot and let them not be prepar'd of the vulgarly call'd Carminatives but chiefly of Salts and Minerals Cabrotius quoted by Helmont says he Cur'd a Person eighty years of Age whose Belly he somented twice a day with a Lixivium in which he boil'd Salt Allum and Sulphur and after apply'd Cow-dung for a Cataplasm I use to prescribe as follows Take Flowers of Sal Armoniack an Ounce Crystal Mineral two Ounces small Spirit of Wine containing much Phlegm in it two pounds Mix them and dissolve them in a Glass Let a Woolen Cloath dipp'd in this warm be apply'd on the whole Abdomen and be chang'd now and then dipping it afresh Let it be done twice a day for half an hours space afterwards let there be apply'd either a Cataplasm of Cow-dung with the Powder of Dogs-turd or the Plaister following Take Emplastrum Diasaponis that is of Minium with Venice Soap what suffices Let it be thin spread on thin Leather and apply'd to the whole Belly renewing it within ten or twelve days The Second Indication requires chiefly altering Medicines viz. such as put a stop to the Fermentations of the humours in the Viscera of the Belly and to the wild Efforts and irregular excursions of the Spirits and which likewise procure the even mixtures and due motions of the Chyle and Nervous Juice For which ends Chalybeats are principally us'd and truly not only for this Disease but for many others belonging to the Viscera of the Belly it 's usual to have recourse to Steel Medicines though in the mean time many Empyricks confidently prescribing them do not consider after what manner such Medicines work or what alterations for the better may be expected from them And indeed it very often falls out that nature her self is destroyed and not the Disease when Chalybeats of which there is a great variety and of diversified Operations are given without any distinction or choice or without respect to the Temperament Constitution and state of the Disease in Patients We have treated elsewhere ex professo concerning Medicines prepar'd of Iron and Steel and of their vertues and manners of working so that it 's needless to repeat the same here As to this Disease if any of them are proper for it certainly they are not all For those in which the Sulphur still remains and being free predominates over the other principles after that the texture of the mixt Body is open'd must be wholly excluded from this number for by their powerful fermentation they greatly ferment the Juices of the Viscera and put the Blood and Spirits in such a Commotion that the whole Region of the Belly is puft up in a greater Bulk as though some Spirit rush'd violently into it Nor are those more proper here from which the Sulphureous Particles are wholly driven away with the Saline as in Crocus Martis prepar'd by a very strong and long Calcination for as this Medicine is good to stay all fluxions so it sixes more any Impactions of Spirits and humours and renders them more obstinate But there remains a Martial Remedy of a middle kind in which the Sulphur being wholly or for the greatest part expell'd the Vitriolick Salt remains and has for the greatest part the Predominancy as it has in a Solution of the Filings of Iron or in its Infusion either simple or in Mineral waters in Salt or Vitriol of Mars in our preparation of Steel with many others preparations and compositions of which have been often found by experience to have done great good in some cases for these destroy the Exotick and restore the Genuine Ferments of the Viscera open their Obstructions fix the Blood and keep its Texture from much dissolution Wherefore Chalybeate Medicines as also some other Alteratives have haply some effect against the Procatarctick and more remote Causes of a Tympany but do little or no good at all against its Conjunct Cause Take of our Steel ground very fine two Drams of the Distill'd water above written two Pounds Syrup of the five Roots two Ounces mix them in a Glass
and so will continually Distill forth till all the swelling be gone from the place prickt Then the next time after somtimes twelve somtimes eighteen somtimes twenty four hours prick again in some other part either of the same Leg or of the other and so continue to make such Vents for the waters once or twice a Day in this Member or that one alone or two or at the same time in many For after this manner the Hydropical Corruption may be drayn'd more freely and safely than by any other exteriour operation whatsoever and if in the mean time its flesh supply be provided against by inward Physick Physick the Disease will be the more easily Cur'd Moreover in a desperate Dropsie that Administration serves very well to prolong Life because the waters being continually emptied forth by those outward Vents the inward and vital Inundation is the longer delay'd A Man of late seventy years of Age plung'd in a Dropsie over his whole Body has continued in Life and kept his head above the waters for these many Months beyond the expectation of all Men by the means of this only Remedy So far of the kinds and forms of Remedies prompted to us by the first that is the Curative Indication As for the Preservative Indication which takes care to restore the Crasis and fermenting or Sanguifying Vertue of the Blood it suggests to us those Medicines with being endowed with hot and elastick Particles raise up the active or deprest Principles of the Mass of Blood or repair them being wasted for which ends the vulgarly call'd Altering Remedies are wont to be prescrib'd in the Form of an Electuary Powder Pills Distill'd waters Julapes Apozemes and Dyets to which also Spirits Tinctures Elixirs are somtimes added for the greater Efficacy I shall give you an example or two of each of these 1. Take Conserves of Sea-Wormood Scurvy-grass and the yellow Coats of Oranges of each two Ounces Winters-Bark two Drams Species Diacurcumae a Dram and a half Steel prepared with Sulphur three Drams Salt of Wormwood two Drams Syrup of Citron Pills what suffices make an Electuary The Dose is two Drams in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon drinking after it a Draught of Julape or of the Distill'd water to three or four Ounces Chalybeats very often do great good in this Disease as in the Green-sickness Insomuch that the whole or at the least the chief scope of Curing Falls frequently on this Remedy But we must note that these kinds of Medicines do not all equally agree in these cases For those that are chiefly in use viz. Salt of Steel or Vitriol of Mars and others prepar'd with Acids and wholly depriv'd of Sulphur do no good at all because they do not promote the Fermentation of the Blood but on the contrary rather fix it when too Exorbitant or Elastick But for an Anasarca and any other oedematous Cachexia in the habit of the Body let those Chalybeats be given in which the Sulphury Particles are left and are Praedominant as especially in the Filings of Iron and in its Scales reduc't into a fine Powder and in-Steel melted with Sulphur and Powdred these Powders being taken are presently dissolv'd by the Acid Salts within our Body upon which the Sulphureous Metallick Particles being set free and convey'd into the Blood ferment its whole Mass raise up the Symbolous Particles there before lying dormant and being joyn'd with them give a vigour to the Blood and renew its fermenting or sanguifying power before deprest Wherefore we find after a little use of these Chalybeats the pallid colour in the Green-sickness goes off and turns to a Florid Aspect 2. Take compound Powder of Aron Roots and Winters-bark of each three Drams Roots of the lesser Galingal Cubebs of each a Dram and a half Steel prepar'd with Sulphur half an Ounce Sugar of Rosemary Flowers six Drams make a Powder divide it into twenty parts the Dose is one part every Morning and at five in the Afternoon with a Draught of the Sudorifick Decoction prescrib'd before 3. Take of the Gummous extract remaining after the Distillation of the Elixir Vitae of Quercetan half an Ounce powder of Earth-worms prepar'd two Drams Roots of the lesser Galingal Winters-bark of each a Dram and a half Salt of Wormwood two Drams Iron Rust two Drams and a half Balsam of Peru a Dram Tincture of Salt of Tartar two Drams Balsamum Capivii what suffices make a Mass form it into little Pills the Dose is half a Dram at Night and early in the Morning Drinking after it of the Julape or distill'd water following three Ounces 4. Take Elder Flower water and the Fermented Juice of its Berryes of each a Pound Magisteriall water of Earth-worms Raddish water compound Aqua Mirabilis of each two Ounces Syrup of the Juice of Elderberryes two Ounces mix them make a Julape 5. Take Leaves of Garden Scurvygrass Rochet Pepperwort of each six handfulls Roots of Calamus Armaticus the lesser Galingal Zedoary Florentine Orris Elder Aron of each six Ounces Wintersbarke Jamaica Pepper of each three Ounces Juniper Berryes four Ounces Cloves Ginger Nutmeggs of each an Ounce Being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of old Rhenish-wine eight Pounds distill it in common Organs let the whole Liquor be mixt 6. 7. An Antihydropick Decoction is Prescrib'd before amongst Diaphoreticks A Dyet-drink to be taken instead of Beer may be made according to the Form following Take Raspings of Guaiacum and Sassafras of each four Ounces Roots of Florentine Orris Calamus Aromaticus the lesser Galingal Elecampane of each an Ounce and a half Juniper and Lawrell berryes of each two Ounces Seeds of Anise Caraway sweet Fennell Coriander Dill of each an Ounce long Pepper Cubebs of each an Ounce and a half Cloves Nutmeggs Ginger of each half an Ounce Jamainca Pepper two Ounces dry'd Leaves of Salvia Acuta Wood-sage Calamint Agrimony of each a handful Licorice four Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd Let them boyl in four Gallons of fountain water to half when the straining is cold let it be put up in Glass-bottles for use I have known many persons almost given over in an Anasarce who by the constant use of this Drink have perfectly recover'd Of many examples of persons Cur'd of Dropsies I shall now give you one A certain Robust Man of a middle Age after having gotten an Epidemical Quartan Ague and being ill manag'd at first had lain under it above a year and in the mean time had us'd an ill Dyet fell into an Anasarca which afterward upon his indulging himself to Drink very freely for quenching his Thirst which was exceeding great grew in a short time to a vast height so that all his Members from the Head to the Foot and his Belly likewise being swollen he was not able to turn himself from on t side to the other in his Bed without the assistance of Servants As I first visited him and despairing of Cure I plainly
are wont to use not only by injecting it but by applying it Sympathetically to a Bloody Linnen-cloath I have also known a Water prepar'd of an Infusion of white Vitriol with Bole and Camphire us'd successfully to Wounds and often to other Eruptions of Blood But in regard a water injected into the Nostril does not stick enough to the Mouths of the Vessels but is washt away by the Bloods breaking forth before it can exert its Vertue therefore it is better either that a Stiptick Powder be blown into it or that a Pledget dipt in the water of Vitriol be thrust into the Nostril to the upper part of it either by it self or strew'd to the Nostril to the upper part of it either by it self or strew'd with an Astringent Powder Many Stiptick Powders and of divers kinds are wont to be prescrib'd for this purpose I commonly use either Crocus Martis Calcin'd to the highest reduess or the Powder of Vitriol Camphorated or a Vitriolick Soot scrap't from the bottom of an old Brass Kettle the Powder of which I have often try'd with success in this case In obstinate Haemorrhagies and not yielding to other Remedies let a Pledget having on its top a Caustick Colcother be thrust up into the Nostrils as far as it will go that the little Mouths of the Vessels being burnt and covered with an Eschar all Eruption of Blood may be presently stopt There are many other Errhines famous amongst Practitioners for stopping Blood as Hogs-dung thrust up into the Nostrils which is thought meerly by the Nastiness of its Odour to repel the Blood ready to burst forth Also the Fume of the Blood dropping on a red-hot Iron and return'd up into the Nostrils the Powder of which also when burnt is blown up into them Vsnea or the growing Moss on a Mans Scull which has not been inter'd is highly commended by some for this effect So much of outward Remedies for stopping Bleeding whose Vertue ought likewise to be promoted by inward things seasonably given and cooperating Therefore a thin Dyet being prescrib'd and the Patient ordered to keep himself in an erect posture or not much leaning back whilst the foresaid Administrations are orderly apply'd let Medicines appropriated to the same end be prescrib'd also to be inwardly taken Remedies of this kind have two chief scopes viz. First to cause the Blood being kept within its Vessels to be quietly Circulated its Effervescence whether happning through its Accension or Fermentation being supprest Secondly to retard by fit Remora's the violent Motion of the Heart driving round the Blood too rapidly 1. The first intention requires those kinds of Medicines which suppress the too great Accension of the Blood and appease its undue Fermentation for which uses I am wont to prescribe the following Take the waters of Plantain red Poppies Purslain and of the Spawn of Froggs of each four Ounce Syrup of Water-lillies two Ounces Sal Prunella a Dram mix them make a Julape the Dose is three Ounces thrice or four times a Day Take Barley-water two Pounds red Rose-leaves a handful Spirit of Vitriol as much as will give it a grateful Acidity or about half a Dram make a warm Infusion for extracting the Tincture add Syrup of the Juice of St. John 's Wort two Ounces the Dose is three or four Ounces to take at pleasure often in the Day time or by Night Take Leaves of stinging Nettles and of Plantain of each three handfuls being bruis'd pour to them of Plantain water four Ounces express it strongly and take it 2. For the Second intention viz. to retard the over-violent beat of the Heart Hypnoticks and Opiats are proper Take red Poppy-water three Ounces Syrup of Diacodium half an Ounce Mix them make a Draught to be taken going to Bed Or Take Conserve of red Roses an Ounce and a half Powder of the Seeds of Henbane and of white Poppies of each two Drams Syrup of Poppies what suffices Maek an Opiate The Dose is the quantity of a Nutmeg every six or eight hours Or Take Laudanum Cydoniated a Dram the Dose is fifteen Drops twice a Day in a proper Vehicle So much of an immoderate Eruption of Blood and its Cure whilst it happens without a Fever but when it happens in a Fever and must be stay'd because of too much loss of Blood it is either Critical growing to be immoderate by reason of some Accident to which the Method and Medicines even now prescrib'd may be accommodated though with some caution and a due respect to the State of the Fever Or it is meerly Symptomatical which hapning in a Malignant or Spotted-fever the Small-pox Meazles or Plague it scarcely either can or ought to be repell'd or stopt by the foresaid Remedies For letting Blood is not proper repelling Topicks also cooling Julapes or Decoctions or Narcoticks have no place The chief intention of Curing will be to change the Eruption of Blood into a Sweat for upon raising a gentle Sweat the Flux of Blood if it be not extreamly dangerous ceases of its own accord Take water of Meadow-sweet and Tormentil of each four Ounces Of the cold Cordial of Saxonius two Ounces Treacle-water an Ounce and a half Bezoartick Vinegar three Drams Syrup of Coral an Counce and a half Confection of Hyacinth two Drams make a Julape the Dose is six spoonfuls every third hour Take Powder of Toads prepar'd half a Dram Camphire two Grains let it be taken with the foresaid Julape every sixth hour Or Take Pulvis Pannonici Rubri from half a Dram to two Scruples give it after the same manner Take Confection of Hyacinth three Drams Pulvis Pannonici Rubri a Dram Syrup of Coral what suffices make a Confection the Dose is the quantity of a Nutmeg every other hour Take Roots of Bistort and Tormentil of each an Ounce Leaves of Meadow-sweet Burnet Wood-sorrel of each a handful burnt Harts-horn two Drams Shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each two Drams boyl them in three Pounds of Fountain water to two Pounds add towards the end Conserve of red Roses three Ounces sirain it the Dose is three Ounces often in a Day So far of the first Indication which is Curatory together with the scopes of Curing and the forms of Medicines destinated for an Eruption of Blood from the Nostrils hapning either with or without a Fever The second Indication which is Vital prescribes only a thin Dyet temperate Cordials and a fit ordering of the Patient The provision for the two For former is so small and easy that it seems not necessary to set down a form and rules particularly for them Concerning the latter the chief question is whether we ought to keep those that are seiz'd with an Eruption of Blood either in Bed or out of it It 's an unquestion'd thing that those that are weak and subject to fall often into Swounding Fits ought not to be stir'd from Bed unless haply it be to try a Cure as we have
sound enough she liv'd also daily us'd to hard labour about the fourteenth year of her Age she began to be seiz'd with Fits of the Epilepsy whereof she underwent many they chiefly following her according to the greater changes of the Moon Being entreated to endeavour her recovery I gave her a Vomit of the Solar Praecipitate and advis'd her to repeat the same three Days before every new and full Moon and likewise that every time for four Days after the Vomit taken she should take twice a Day a Dram of Powder of the Roots of Male Peony with a draught of black Cherry water By these Remedies the Fits intermitted so long that the Disease seem'd to be Cur'd When afterward they return'd again she was again recovered by the use of the same Medicines And then her Menses hapning to flow and keeping their due course she continued for the time to come free from that Disease The Therapeutick Method IN the Cure of the Epilepsy I judge we must begin by Purging and if the Diseas'd easily bears Vomiting let him take a Vomit in the first place and let it be repeated for many Months four Days before the full Moon To Infants and Children let Wine of Squills mixt with fresh Oyl of sweet Almonds be given or also Salt of Vitriol from half a Scruple to a Scruple To Adult persons and such as are of a robust Constitution let the folowing Forms of Medicines be prescrib'd Vomits TAke Crocus Metallorum or Mercurius Vitae from four Grains to six Mercurius Dulcis from sixteen Grains to a Scruple let them be ground together on a Marble mix it with the Pap of a boil'd Apple or with a Dram of Conserve of Borrage make a Bolus Or give from half an Ounce to an Ounce and a half of the Infusion of Crocus Metallorum or Mercurius Vitae made in Sack Or take Mynsicht's Emetick Tartar from four Grains to six Those that are of a more tender Constitution may take Salt of Vitriol from a Scruple to half a Dram and after half an hour let them drink upon it many pints of Ale-Posset-drink then a Quill or the Finger being put into the Throat let Vomiting be provok't and let it be sometimes repeated The Day after the Vomit unless somewhat indicates the contrary let Blood be taken from the Arm or from the Haemorrhoid Veins by Leeches Then the next Day after let a Purging Medicine be taken and let this afterwards constantly be repeated four Days before the new Moon Purges TAke Rosin of Jalap half a Scruple Mercurius Dulcis a Scruple Castoreum three Grains Conserve of Peony-flowers a Dram make a Bolus Take the greater Pilulae Faetidae two Scruples Rosin of Jalap five Grains Ammoniacum dissolv'd in Aqua Hysterica what suffices make five Pills Take Threads of black Hellebore macerated in Vinegar dried and powdred half a Dram Ginger half a Scruple Salt of Wormwood twelve Grains Oyl of Amber two Drops make a Powder give it in the Pap of a boil'd Apple Take Compound Powder of Hermodacts a Dram Mans Scull prepar'd six Grains make a Powder give it in a draught of the Decoction of Hyssop or Sage In the Days in which he does not Purge especially about the times of the Moons changes let Specifick Remedies be given Morning and Evening which are said to Cure this Disease by a certain Secret and innate Vertue There is an immense number of these and they are prescrib'd according to various Forms of Compositions Specificks THE most simple Medicines and which experience has prov'd to be very efficacious are the Roots of the Male Peony and its Seed Take Roots of the Male Peony dryed and powdred from a Dram to two or three Drams let it be given twice a Day in the following Tincture Take Leaves of Mistletow of the Oak two Drams Peony Roots slic't half an Ounce Castoreum a Dram let them be put in a close Vessel with Betony water or simple Peony water and White-wine of each a Pound Salt of Mistletow of the Oak or of common Mistletow two Drams let them digest in a close Vessel by a Sand heat for two Days let him take three Ounces with a Dose of the Powder before prescrib'd Let poor people take the said Powder in a Decoction of Hyssop or Castoreum made in fountain water or White-wine At the same time let the Root of Peony cut in slices and run through with a Thread be hung about the Neck Let the Roots also fryed in a Frying-pan or boil'd till they are tender be daily taken with his Food Take Roots and Seeds of the Male Peony of each two Drams Mistletow of the Oak Elks-hoof of each a Dram being slic't and bruis'd let them be sown up in very fine Linnen make a Bag to be worn on the Pit of the Stomack Amongst Specificks this Powder is greatly commended by some Authors Take Castoreum Opoponax Sanguis Draconis Antimony Peony Seeds of each a like quantity Make a Powder let it be taken from half a Dram to a Dram every Morning with Wine or an appropriated Decoction or with black Cherry water Take Mans Scull prepar'd an Ounce Mistletow of the Oak factitious Cinnaber Elks-hoof of each half an Ounce mix them the Dose is from half a Scruple to a Scruple If the Form of a Powder be ungrateful to any Person or if it 's long continued use makes it loathsome Electuaries Pills Troches Spirits and Elixirs each of them consisting of Specifick Medicines are wont to be prescrib'd Electuaries TAke Conserve of Male Peony-flowers of Lillies of the valley of each three Ounces Seeds and Roots of the Male Peony powdred of each two Drams Coral prepar'd a Dram Pearl powdred Mans Scull prepar'd of each two Scruples Salt of Mistletow of the Oak a Dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Coral make an Electuary let him take Morning and Evening the quantity of a Nutmeg Take Roots of Male Peony powdred an Ounce Seeds of the same half an Ounce Mistletow of the Oak Elks-hoof Mans Scull prepar'd of each two Drams Roots of Angelica Contrayerva Virginia Serpentary of each a Dram white Amber Coral calcin'd of each a Dram Salt of common Mistletow two Drams Sugar-candy dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of the Antiepileptick water of Langius eight Ounces make a Confection let him take twice a Day the quantity of a Nutmeg Pills LET those Powders Salt of Amber and of Harts-horn being added to them be made into a Mass for Pills with a sufficient quantity of Balsamum Capivii whereof let three or four Pills be taken in the Morning and Evening drinking after it a draught of an appropriated Liquour Or let an Elixir of this kind be prepar'd whereof let eight or ten drops be taken twice a Day in a spoonful of an appropriated Julape drinking after it a little of the same Elixirs TAke Hungarian Vitriol six Pounds let it be distill'd in a Glass Retort by a Sand heat for twentyfour
of Cichory with Rhubarb or of Roses with Agarick ought to be given And I have often seen a Convulsive affect in Children Cur'd by these Remedies when seasonably administred moreover Clysters in this case are of frequent use But withal let not outward Medicaments be omitted viz. Fomentations Liniments and Plaisters to be applyed to the Belly Take Cammomil Leaves small slic't two handfuls let them be put into two bags made of fine Linnen or Silk which being dipt into warm Milk and wrung forth must be applyed successively to the Belly Take Tops or Flowers of Mallows slic't boil them in fresh Butter or Hogs Lard and let them be applyed to the Belly in the form of an Ointment or Cataplasm CHAP. III. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing Convulsive Diseases in Adult Persons hapning by reason of the Origine of the Nerves being chiefly affected THough Convulsive affects which happen to Adult Persons being denoted by other Names are also vulgarly accounted to have another Origine and are wont to be refer'd to those they call Hysterical Hypochondriacal or Colick passions or to the Scurvy nevertheless if the thing be a little more attentively considered it will easily appear that certain Convulsive Symptoms frequently happen both to Men and Women which properly and duly claim the name of a Convulsion Now these may be variously distinguisht according to the Manifold seat of the Morbifick cause but especially into these three kinds viz. into certain Convulsions caus'd by reason of the Origine of the Nerves being chiefly affected and into others which are caus'd by reason of the extremities of the Nerves being stopt with a Morbifick Matter and lastly into others whose Morbifick Matter descending from the Head gets possession of the whole or the greatest part of the Ductus's of some peculiar Nerves or of them altogether We shall treat of each of these kinds of Convulsions one after the other Therefore first of all as to Convulsions hapning by reason of the Origine of the Nerves being affected we must note first that the Morbifick Matter besetting the Origines of the Nerves sometimes passes chiefly into the foremost Pairs of Nerves viz. which attend the Muscles of the Eyes and Face and thence Contractions and tremblings sometimes of the Nose Cheeks or Lips sometimes of the Eyes or Mouth ensue Secondly sometimes the Par Vagum and Intercostal chiefly imbibe the Heterogeneous Particles and then Inflations or Contractions of the Abdomen and Hypochondres and also a Palpitation and Trembling of the Heart a difficult and interrupted Breathing an intermitting Pulse and other Symptoms of the middle or lower Region of the Belly chiefly molest us Thirdly but sometimes the Morbifick Cause lying behind chiefly affects the Spinal Marrow and therefore the outward Members and Limbs are rendred obnoxious to Twitchings and Contractions Moreover as we may conjecture from various Types of the Con\vulsive affect it seems that the Convulsive Matter going to these or those Nerves or to many of them together either lodges it self in a manner only about their Origines so that upon frequent Explosions of the Spirits there an almost continual and very troublesome Vertigo arises and so Tremblings and a short Fainting and danger of Swounding are perceiv'd about the Praecordia and often Twitchings and gentle Contractions in the Bowels or Muscles Or Secondly the explosive Particles convey'd to the Origine of the Nerves enter deeper into their Processes and often falling down into the Plexus's of the Nerves belonging to the Praecordia or Viscera of the Belly or also to the outward Members make there other seats as it were of Convulsive affects so that as often as the Spirits are forc't to Explosions about the Origine of the Nerves presently Fits as it were Hysterick Asthmatick or otherwise Convulsive arise in the Belly Thorax or outward Members I shall now give you some instances of Persons in whom the Morbifick Matter besetting the Origine of the Nerves and not yet fall'n deeper into their Processes caus'd frequent Vertigo's and only gentle Convulsions of the Viscera and Praecordia 1. A Lady of great Quality about Thirty years of Age of a tender Constitution and of a thin habit of Body was wont to be sorely afflicted every Winter with a Catarrh distilling on her Trachaea and Lungs with a Cough Hoarsness and great Spiting but the last year through a diligent care and caution us'd she escaped that evil But after the Winter solstice upon taking cold she was seis'd with a violent Head-ach a ringing in the Ears a Vertigo with a mighty Distillation of Rheum at the Eyes and Nose whence it easily appear'd that the filthy Mass of Serum which was wont before to distil on the Brest was then wholly depos'd within the Head and Brain The effect whereof moreover was that as often as she began to sleep she was very much troubled with a sort of Hysterick Fits to which she had never before been obnoxious For if at any time beginning to sleep she clos'd her Eyes presently it caus'd a rising of a heavy thing in her Belly a Suffocation in her Throat and Tremblings and Twitchings about the Praecordia Which affects nevertheless when she was perfectly awak't presently ceas't so that the Diseas'd was forc't to abstain in a manner wholly from sleep for many days and nights together Being call'd to this Lady after she was become very weak upon many days Sickness I was forc't to use only gentle Medicines Therefore I ordered four Ounces of Blood to be taken from her Foot and a Clyster of Milk with Sugar to be daily given her after which she was wont to have three or four Stools Moreover every eighth hour I gave her a Dose of Spirit of Harts-horn in a Spoonful of the following Julape Take Water of Penny-royal Wallnuts black Cherries of each three Ounces Hysterick Water two Ounces Syrup of Clovegilly-flowers an Ounce and a half Castoreum tyed in a Nodulus and hung in the Glass half a Dram Pearl powdred a Scruple mix them I applyed with good effect Vesicatories behind the Ears and Cataplasms of Leaves of Rue and Aron with Bryony Roots Sea Salt and black Soap to the Soles of the Feet Sometimes in the Evening I gave half an Ounce of Diacodium in a little Draught of the Julape before ordered which was followed by a moderate sleep without being attended according to wont with Convulsions Which kind of effect I have often experienced in such a case after Opiats given For quenching Thirst I gave a Ptisan with Diuretick Ingredients boil'd in it By the use of these things she was very much reliev'd within a short time But that which fell out much for her good was that an Abscess in the left Ear breaking of its own accord first discharg'd a yellow Gore and afterward for many days a vast quantity of thin Ichor After which Evacuation the Convulsions of the Bowels and Praecordia wholly ceasing the Disease was perfectly determin'd I have known many
in the Groin or on the Thighs or Calves of the Legs viz. sometimes in this part sometimes in that to wit that the little Sores made here and there flowing continually may plentifully discharge the Serum filled with Heterogeneous and Morbid Particles Moreover Remedies gently conveying the Serum to the Reins and Urinary passages are often given with good effect for this purpost let Diuretick Apozems ans Julapes be ordered according to the following Forms Take Roots of Scorzonera Chervil Grass Eringo's preserv'd of each six Drams one Apple slic't Leaves of Burnet Meadow sweet of each a handful Raisins an Ounce and a half burnt Harts-horn two Drams being slic't and bruis'd let them boil on a clear Fire in four Pounds of Fountain-water till a third part be consum'd to two Pounds of the clear Straining add Syrup of the Juice of Citrons or of Violets two Ounces Sal Prunella a Dram and a half make an Apozeme the Dose is from four Ounces to six thrice a day Or let that Straining be pour'd on fifteen sineet Almonds blanch and on the four cold Seeds of each a Dram being lruis'd make an Emulsion according to Art Take water of Dragon-wort and of black Cherries of each four Ounces of Scordium compound two Ounces Treacle-water an Ounce and a half Syrup of Clove-gillylowers two Ounces Spirit of Vitriol twelve drops wake a Julape Let Sal Prunella be giben often in a day in small Beer or Whey from half a Dram or two Scruples Moreover in this Fever Medicines gently promoting Sweat especially such as restore the Animal Spirits and free them from any Heterogeneous Combination are of excellent use Wherefore either let Powder of Pearl or Spirit of Harts-horn or of Blood be given in a small Dose twice a day viz. Morning and Evening Let Glysters be injected alniost daily and if it seems convenient let a gently loosning Medicine be repeated twice in a week Let none but a thin Diet be ordered viz. such as is wont to be in other Fevers Flesh or its Broath being wholly forbidden let the Sick eat only Oat or Barley-broath let his Drink be small Beer or Whey But if notwithstanding any Physical provision the Morbifick Matter gets possession of the Brain or Lungs or both of them together so that a failing and disorder of the Animal faculty or also a violent Cough come upon the Diseas'd we must consider what is to be done in either state of the Disease rais'd after this manner to an ill condition for then the Curative Indications ought to respect a stupor or madness or the Cough and at length if the Disease being upon declining these Symptoms remit let appropriated Remedies be given against the Atrophia it being as the last fortress of this Disease 1. Therefore if the Morbifick Matter as it frequently is wont being brought to the Head causes there a Stupor or Sleepy affects Remedies ought to be carefully administred which draw it to another place and derive it some way or other from the Head and likewise such as raise up the Animal Spirits and make void the impure Combination Wherefore in this case let the use of Epispasticks be very much encreast outwardly let Spirit of Harts-horn be given every sixth hour in somewhat a large Dose let Blood be drawn again from the Jugular Veins the Salvatella or also from the Veins of the Fundament by Leeches If the affect does not remit the Hair being shav'd off let Emollient Fomentations be often applyed to the Head Moreover let Cupping-glasses Plaisters and Cataplasms be applyed to the Soles of the Feet and other ways of administration such as are vulgarly indicated for Curing a Stupor ought to be us'd In like manner if to the evil or defect of Crisis in this Fever a Frensy or Mania Supervene let Remedies appropriated to those affects be administred 2. But if together with or without this Detriment brought on the Head the Lungs also are injur'd by the Disease so that the Diseas'd not yet freed of their Fever seem to have fall'n into a Consumption or Ptizick with a troublesome Cough much and thick Spittle and that often discoloured Medicines commonly indicated in such affects are proper wherefore Pectoral Decoctions Lohoch's Syrups Waters of Milk and Snails distill'd and other Remedies of this kind ought diliently to be us'd The Forms of which are to be found in their above written cases Hitherto we have describ'd a continual Fever for the most part Convulsive and taking its rise both through the default of the Nervous Juice and of the Blood I shall now set before you an example of a Disease resembling an intermitting Fever and chiefly radicated in the Nervous Juice A fine Woman of a very tender Constitution and a weak temper of the Brain and Genus Nervosum and consequently very subject to Convulsive affects after she had conceiv'd about the fourth Month of her Child-bearing upon taking cold was most sorely afflicted with Asthmatick Fits and likewise with frequent Faintings of the Spirits But by the use of remedies endowed with a Volatile Salt she grew well of these Distempers within a fortnight nevertheless after six weeks were past an unusual and very wonderful affect seis'd this Lady On a certain morning awaking after her sleep which had been somewhat troubled that night she felt in her whole body a light shivering as tho' the fit of a Tertian Ague were coming upon her Frequent Gapings and Retchings follow it with a frequent straining to Vomit Then her Urine which just before was of an Orange colour with a laudable sediment became pale and watery and was very frequently voided viz. every munute of an hour Moreover about the Loins and Hypochondres and in other places pains with light Convulsions passing from one place to another were rais'd Which kind of Symptoms being manifestly Convulsive with the frequent making of Limpid Water continued from the morning almost to the evening In which space of time a vast quantity of Urine viz. thrice more than the Liquor drank was made In the mean while the Heat became not more intense nor did Thirst seem pressing nor was the pulse rais'd In the eveing the foresaid affects ceast and the Urine came again to be of an Orange colour and in a small quantity and she enjoyed a moderate sleep during the whole night and then the next morning the Fit returned near the same hour accompanied whol'y with the like Symptoms and daily acted over the very same Tragedy Going to see this Lady after the had lain ill after this manner for twelve days I judged that this disease being chiefly rooted in the Genus Nervosum depended on the effervescency and flowing of the Humour that lies in the Nervous parts to this Breeding person I Prescribed Bleeding and to take twice a day a Powder made of Coral Pearl Ivory and other Cordial things in an appropriated Liquor morning and evening she took twelve drops of the Tincture of Antimony the effect whereof I
the Nostrils so the like being pour'd into the Mouth often give help wherefore we often give with good success to Hysterical persons the Tincture of Castoreum Solutions of Assa Foetida and of Galbanum also the Spirits of Harts-horn and of Soot with appropriated Waters Take Spirit of Harts-horn from twelve drops to fifteen or twenty let them be taken in a little Draught of the following Julape Take Water of Penny-royal and Mugwort of each four Ounces Water of Bryony compound two Ounces Castoreum tyed in a Nodulus and hung in the Glass half a Dram double refined Sugar an Ounce Mix them Take Tincture of Castoreum from a Scruple to half a Dram let it be taken in a little Draught of Small-beer Take Assa Foetida or Galbanum two Drams let them be dissolved in Spirit of Wine till a red Tincture be extracted the Dose is a Scruple in two or three Spoonfuls of Water of Featherfew Riverius greatly extols that of Solenander Take Musk Dragons-blood of each a Scruple let more or less be taken in three or four Ounces of Water of Navews Johannes Anglicus commends the Seeds of Parsnips or of Columbines in Wine or an appropriated Water as most certain Remedies If the Fit continuing a long time renders the Person senseless or without any Pulse let smart Clysters as of the Roots of Briony with Carminatives boil'd with them in Water be injected let Frictions be us'd to the Legs and Feet and if we must proceed to stronger things let Cupping-glasses be applied to the Belly or Groin nay and let sneezing be often provok'd it is good for some to give them in the midst of the Fit a Draught of cold Water either simple or in which Camphire has burnt The preservatory Indication comprehends these three chief intents viz. First To take away or to drive to some place else the impurities of the Blood which are apt to be discharg'd on the Brain and Genus Nervosum Secondly To fortifie the Brain and so strengthen the Spirits in it that they either admit not at all the Heterogeneous Combination or readily shake it off Thirdly to amend whatsoever is amiss in the Womb and contributes to the Convulsive Disposition 1. The first Intention is perform'd by Purging and Bleeding and other common ways of Cleansing and Purging the Blood and Humours If there be room for a Vomit I Judge we must always begin with that especially in Cacochymical persons or such as are troubled with the longing disease in whom a mighty load of Viscous Phlegm sticking in the Folds and Coats of the Stomach hinders the vertues of other Medicines Within a few days after the Vomit unless somewhat indicates the contrary let Blood be drawn in Women of a hot temperament presently from the Arm and afterward if need be from the Foot or from the Veins of the Fundament by Leeches but in Bodies troubled with obstructions and less hot let Blood be drawn more sparingly and rarely and only in places seated below the Womb. After these evacuations provided always that they are indicated being duly perform'd let a Purge be given once within six or seven days according to the forms following Take Pil. Foetidae Majores a Dram and a half Rosin of Jalap twelve Grains Tartar Vitriolated Castoreum of each a Scruple Ammoniacum dissolved in Hysterick Water what suffices make twelve Pills for three Doses Or Take Rosin of Jalap eighteen Grains Calomelanos a Dram Castoreum a Scruple make a Powder divide it into three parts for three Doses give it in the Pap of a boil'd Aple or in Conserve of Borage To persons of a Hot temperament a dose of our Extract or Loosning Syrup may be properly given For the revulsion of the Morbisick matter from the Head an Issue in the Leg or Thigh and somtimes Vesicatories Ligatures and Painful Frictions are wont to be us'd Nor must we only have regard here to the cleansing of the Blood and to the Revulsion of its superfluous Dreggs from the Head but likewise to the alteration of its Liquor and the reducing of it to its due Crasis Wherefore in certain Hysterical persons Chalybeats prove beneficial in others Mineral Waters or Whey in some the use of Hot Baths are wont to do mighty good 2. The second intention viz. the rectifying of the Brain and of the Animal Spirits is perform'd by Cephalick and Particularly by Anticonvulsive Medicines and let them be carefully given almost every day when there is no Purging or Bleeding There being various kinds and ways of Administration of such Medicines I shall here give you some of the more choice forms of them Take Faecula of Briony Assa Foetida Castoreum of each a Dram Salt of Coral Amber and of Jupiter of each half a Dram Galbanum dissolv'd in Hysterick Water what suffices made a Mass the Dose is from half a Scruple to a Scruple Morning and Evening Drinking after it a Dose of an appropriated Liquor Or Take seeds of Wild Parsnips and of Nettles of each two Drams Vitriol of Mars a Dram extract of Gentian and Feverfew of each a Dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of a Syrup of Mugwort make a Mass let it be taken to half a Dram after the same manner If the form of a Powder be more grateful Take roots of Virginia Serpentary and Contrayerva of each a Dram and a half Coral prepar'd Pearl White Amber of each a Dram mix them make a Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram Morning and Evening with an appropriated Liquour Let Opiates be made after this manner Take Conserves of the Flowers of Lillies of the Valley Male Peony and Betony of each two Ounces Peony Seeds Red Coral prepar'd of each two Drams Powder of Bastard Dittany a Dram and a half Salt of Wormwood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Citron Pills make an Electuary The Dose is Morning and Evening the quantity of a Nutmeg After the same manner to the Poor let Conserves of the Leaves of the Tree of Life or of the Leaves of Rue be given twice aday The Liquours appropriated to Hysterical affects and to be Drank after the foresaid Medicines are either Distilled Waters which may be taken by themselves or with others in the Form of a Julape or they are Decoctions or Tinctures and Infusions Take Water of Mugwort and Pennyroyal of each half a Pound Hysterick Water four Ounces Tincture of Castoreum half an Ounce Syrup of Coral an Ounce and a half mix them the Dose is from an Ounce to an Ounce and a half with any of the Medicines above prescribed Take Leaves of Penny-royal Feverfew both Southernwoods Calamint Nep both Horehounds of each a Handful Briony Roots four Ounces Parsnip-Seeds two Ounces being Slic't and Bruis'd pour to them of White-wine or Sider six pounds distil them according to Art Take roots of Male Peony Angelica Valerian of each half an Ounce Leaves of Mugwort Ground Pine Calamint Peny-royal Misteltoe
or tender Constitution may take Wine of Squills or Gilla Theophrasti which being given in a small Dose let them drink a great quantity of Whey after it and then the Ventricle being filled to a nauseousness let a gentle Vomit be raised by putting the Finger or a Feather into the Throat and let it be sometimes repeated as the person sees good By this manner of Vomiting the meer Contents of the Stomach are cleans'd from its folds and purg'd forth neither are painful or Convulsive Twitchings caused in other adjacent Viscera or Membranes with a Swooning as it usually happens after Stybiate Medicines To those whose Stomach by reason of an ill Digestion soon gathers together a heap of Phlegm or of other degenerate matter I have ordered that they procure once a Month such a Vomit as being safe and wholsom Where Vomiting has no place you must begin with Purging at least some days being allowed betwixt whiles let this evacuation succeed the other What has been formerly inculcated by Authors concerning the preparation of the Humours I judge either to be superfluous or wholly erroneous the Circulation of the Blood being not then understood but instead of that intention let Medicines restoring the Ferments of the Viscera and altering the Crasis of the Blood be substituted Mean while for clearing away the Filth of the first passages and the Excrementitious superfluities of the Blood and Nervous Liquour first let a mild and gentle Purge be ordered and afterward according as the Patient bears it let it be repeated either once within a week or oftner or seldomer and let the strength of the Medicine be proportion'd according to the success of the first Dose For this end Pills Potions Apozemes Electuaries Powders and many other forms of Medicines are wont to be prescrib'd If the Constitution of the Diseas'd be hot and the Scurvy seems to be founded in the Adust viz. the Sulphureo-saline Dyscrasie of the Blood let all Medicines of Aloes and Diagridium be avoided and let only the more temperate be given of Sena Rhubarb and other things that do not exagitate the Blood Take Leaves of Sena an Ounce Rhubarb six Drams Epithimum three Drams Roots of Polipody of the Oak and of English Rhubarb dryed of each half an Ounce yellow Saunders two Drams Celtick-spike half a Dram Salt of wormwoed two Drams being slic't and bruis'd let them digest in a Matrace by a Sand heat with White-wine and Fumitory-water of each a Pound or with our Magistral Antiscorbutick-water two Pounds for two days let the clear Straining evaporate by a gentle Bath heat to the consistency of Hony then add Powder of the Leaves of Sena and Rhubarb of each a Dram and a half Species Diatrion Santalon a Dram Cream of Tartar a Dram and a half make a Mass for Pills the Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram. Or let such an Infusion be prepar'd which let evaporate by a gentle heat to the consistency of a Syrup adding towards the end Manna pass'd through a Searce and double refin'd Sugar of each two Ounces make a Syrup the Dose is from a Spoonful to two with a fit Vehicle Or let four or six Ounces of such like Tincture be given for a Dose adding Cream of Tartar half a Dram and if there be need of Sweetning Syrup of Apples three Drams Or to the Tincture prescrib'd let six Ounces of cleans'd Corinths be put and let there be a warm Digestion till the Corinths swell which being taken forth let the Liquour evaporate to the consistency of a Syrup adding Sugar and Manna past through a Searce of each a Dram and a half then the Corinths being put in again let the Medicine be kept in a Glaz'd Vessel well stopt the Dose is from a Spoonful to two Or to the Tincture prescrib'd evaporated to a half add fresh Cassia Pulp of Tamarinds extracted with Antiscorbutick-water of each three Ounces Conserve of Violets and of Damask Roses of each two Ounces the greater Compound Powder of Sena a Dram Rhubarb powdred half an Ounce Cream of Tartar Species Diatrion Santalon of each two Drams let them be bruis'd together in a Stone-mortar till they are brought to the form of an Electuary The Dose is the quantity of a Wallnut more or less according to the operation For those whose quaint Stomach will not receive any Medicines but in a small quantity and nicely prescrib'd Take Rosin of Scammony from four Grains to eight Cream of Tartar half a Scruple Celtick-spike six Grains mix them make a Powder let it be given in a Spoonful of Panada or let it be made into Pills To those that are troubled with the Scurvy and are of a cold Constitution and the Disease seems to be founded in a Nitro-sulphureous Disposition of the Blood resembling ropy Wine let smart Catharticks and such as are endow'd with hot Particles be given Take Pil. Stomac cum Gum. two Drams Rosm of Jalap twenty Grains Tartar vitriolated sixteen Grains Oyl of Juniper half a Scruple with a sufficient quantity of Ammoniacum dissolv'd in Water of Earth-worms make sixteen Pills let four be taken at a time once a week Take Bontius's Pills of Tartar a Dram and a half Rosin of Jalap twelve Grains Salt of Tartar half a Scruple with a sufficient quantity of Syrupus Angustanus make twelve Pills Take Extract of Pil Ruffi a Dram Extract of black Hellebore a Scruple Salt of Tartar half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Ammoniacum dissolv'd make nine Pills let three be taken at a Dose Take Leaves of Sena an Ounce Rhubarb six Drams Mechoacan Gummous Turbith of each half an Ounce Threads of black Hellebore three Drams Salt of Tartar two Ounces yellow Saunders a Dram and a half Winters-bark two Drams being slic't and bruis'd let them digest in two Pounds of White-wine for two days strain it off clear without pressing it let it be taken either by it self from five Ounces to six or let it be made into an Extract or Syrup or Electuary as the Tincture above prescrib'd adding Pulvis Arthriticus or Diasena what suffices c. Or Let a Tincture of this kind be prepar'd which may be given to robust Men to the quantity of a Spoonful or of a Spoonful and a half Take Salt of Tartar an Ounce small Spirit of Wine a Pound and a half let them digest till it turns yellow To this being pour'd of the Faeces by inclination infuse Leaves of black Hellebore macerated in Vinegar an Ounce yellow Saunders a Dram the yellow Coats of Oranges a Dram and a half make a warm and close Digestion for three days Let the clear Straining be distil'd in Balneo to a half let the remaining Liquour be kept for use Take Roots of sharp pointed Dock Polipody of the Oak stinging Nettles Chervil of each six Drams Leaves of Agrimony Speedwel of each a handful white and yellow Saunders of each a Dram and a half bastard Saffron an Ounce Tartar of
Sugar of each three Ounces Troches of Capers and of Rhubarb of each two Drams Salt of Wormwood and of Scurvy-grass of each a Dram Ivory Powdered Coral Calcined of each a Dram with a sufficient quantity of syrup of the Juice of Scurvy-grass Make an Electuary I use to prescribe the Conserves of the outward Coats of Limons and Oranges also of the purple Flowers of the Ash-tree of the Leaves and Flowers of Lady-smocks of the Roots of sharp pointed Docks and of English Rhubarb to be prepared with an equal quantity of Sugar which being mixt between themselves or with other Conserves and Species enter these kinds of Electuaries Take Conserves of the Yellow-coats of Oranges and Limons of Flowers of the Ash of each two Ounces Powder of the Roots of Contrayerva a Dram and a half of the lesser Galingal half a Dram Roots of Aron two Drams Species of Aromaticum Rosatum a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Syrupe of the Confiture of Nutmegs make an Electuary The Dose of these kinds of Medicines is the quantity of a Nutmeg drinking after it an appropriated Liquor To Rusticks and poor People by whom Medicines easily prepar'd and cheaper are desir'd I prescribe after this manner Take Leaves of Scurvy-grass and Brooklimes of each four Ounces double refin'd Sugar eight Ounces let them be bruis'd together in a Mortar adding Powder of Winters Bark half an Ounce Tartar Calcin'd with Nitre three Drams with a sufficient quantity of Spanish Wine let them be made into an Electuary The Dose is the quantity of a Nutmeg twice a day drinking after it an appropriated Liquor Take Leaves of Scurvy-grass a pound Raisins ston'd double refin'd Sugar of each half a pound Faecula of the Roots of Horse-raddish two Ounces let them be bruis'd together in a Mortar and made into the Form of an Electuary The Dose is the quantity of a Wall-nut twice or thrice a day Confections TAke Powder of Aron Roots compound an Ounce Winters-bark Powdred half an Ounce Species Diatrion Santalon Troches of Capers of each two Drams Salt of Wormwood and of Scurvy-grass of each a Dram and a half the Yellow Coats of Oranges preserv'd three Ounces let them be bruised together in a Mortar then add of double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of Water of Earth-worms three Ounces make a Confection according to Art Take Roots of Eringo and Scorzonera preserv'd of each two Drams Wallnuts preserv'd and Mirobalanes Condited of each in number two the Electuary of Sassaphras six Drams Powder of Cubebs and Cardamoms of each two Drams Powder of the Roots of Zedoaria and Angelica of each a Dram and a half Salt of Woormwood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of the Confiture of Wallnuts make a Confection Take Powder of China Roots of the Wood Sassaphras of each half an Ounce Yellow and White Saunders of each two Drams Seeds of Rocket Cubebs Garden-cresses Grains of Paradise of each a Dram and a half Species of Dialacca Cinnamon Orrice the lesser Galingal of each a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams Conserve of the Yellow Coats of Oranges and Sugar of Rosemary Flowers dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of Water of Snails of each three Ounces make a Confection according to art the Dose is the quantity of a Nutmeg twice a day drinking after it an appropriated Liquor In some cases of the Scurvy where the use of Steel is indicated either let three Drams of Steel prepar'd with Sulphur or two Drams of Vitriol of Mars be added to each of the prescripts either to the Confection or to the Electuary and after the taking of the Medicines once or twice a day let the body be exercis'd according as the strength will bear Powders TAke Powder of Aron Compound an Ounce and a half Winters Bark half an Ounce Cubebs Grains of Paradise Cardamoms of each two Drams Salt of Wormwood three Drams Tablets of Oranges three Ounces make a Powder the Dose is a Dram in an appropriated Liquor To the foresaid Powder add Kernels of the Indian Chocholate Nut half a Pound let them be brought into a Mass or Paste in a warm Mortar The Dose is two Drams after the manner that the confection of Chocolate is taken viz. in Fountain Water with the leaves of Rosemary or of Betony or the Root of Scorzonera or also the shaving of Ivory or of Harts-horn boyl'd in it Pills FOr those to whom a Medicine in a less Dose and in a form of Pills is more pleasing Take Roots of Virginia Serpentary of Contrayerva of each two Drams Winters Bark Cubebs Rocket Seeds of each three Drams Salt of Wormwood and of Scurvy-Grass of each a Dram and a half Extract or Rob of Juniper half an Ounce with a sufficient quantity of Syrupe of the Confiture of Nutmegs make a Mass The Dose is four Pills twice a day drinking after it an appropriated Liquor Tablets FOr nice persons let Tablets or Tragaea's be prescrib'd after this manner Take Powder of Winters Bark of Crabs eyes of each a Dram and a half Pearl powdred half a Dram double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of water of Earth-worms and Boyl'd to a Consistency for Tablets Six Ounces Spirit of Scurvy-grass two Drams make Tablets according to Art each weighing half a Dram. Let about half a Dram be taken twice a day drinking after it an appropriated Liquor Tablets of Oranges which are to be sold by the Oxford Apothecaries TAke Rinds of Oranges Limons Citrons preserv'd of each an Ounce preserv'd Eringoes half an Ounce Pine-Nut Kernels Fistick Nuts of each twenty Sweet Almonds blancht in number ten Annise Seed Powdred half an Ounce Ginger Candied two Ounces Species of Aromaticum Rosatum Nutmegs of each a Dram and a half Roots of Galingal a Dram Cloves in number ten Ambergreice four Grains Musk Civet of each two Grains double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in Rose-water and Boyl'd to a Consistency for Tablets a Pound and a half make Tablets according to Art So much of Medicines which are wont to be given to Scorbutical Persons in a solid form or in a gross substance and that their vertue may be convey'd the better into the Mass of Blood and with more benefit Liquids are prescrib'd for the most part to be drank after them Though there be a great variety of these and a diversifyed way of their composition yet the chief and most usual are such as we have hinted before and of each of which we shall now give you forms Decoctions THough Decoctions are a very familiar kind of Liquid Medicines yet they are seldom us'd in the Scurvy because the Simples which chiefly do good in this Disease lose their vertues which they have from the volatile Salt by Boyling Nevertheless because remedies are easily and soon prepar'd after this manner they ought sometimes to be admitted nay and experience has shewn that some of them are efficacious For
is either in fieri or in its disposition or in facto or in its habit both require a peculiar way of Cure Of the former there are two chief cases in both of which the Therapeutick method regarding only the Procatarctick causes is ordered after the like manner to wit whether any Person be in danger of being seiz'd with the Palsey or recovering from it be in hazard of a relapse we must insist in a manner on the same Medicines Therefore the Intentious of Curing must be first that the functions of Chylification and Sanguification being duly perform'd a laudable matter for the generation of Animal Spirits be sent to the Brain in a sufficient plenty and then secondly that the Brain being still firm and of a due conformation admits into it and duly exalts into Animal Spirits all apt particles excluding such as are heterogeneous for these ends we have thought good to propose the following method which ought to be varied according to the various constitutions of the Diseased Spring and Fall let solemn courses of Physick be entred upon nay and the whole year besides let some Remedies be constantly used Bleeding is not generally proper for all Persons and if we forbid this it is not for the same reason with the Ancients supposing the Palsey to be a cold Disease but because the Animal Spirits are both engendred from the Blood and become elastick within the moving Fibres by reason of a sanguineous combination therefore if the store of this be lessened too much they will fail and flag Which truly I have observed in many and that for the most part in the Arm from which the Blood was drawn languishings and tremblings have begun Nevertheless a spare and moderate Bleeding sometimes agrees with some that are endued with a Blood that is hot and sharp and apt to too great effervescencies tho they are disposed to the Palsey About the Equinoxes purging ought to be ordered and to be repeated by due Intervals three or four times but in the first place let a Vomit if nothing indicates the contrary be given of Salt of Vitriol Sulphur of Antimony or an Infusion of crocus metallorum or Mercurius vitae afterward let Pillulae de succino or Aloephanginae be taken by themselves or with Rosm of Jalap every seventh or eighth day At other times let Cephalick Remedies such as we have prescribed for the sleepy affects viz Electuaries Powders Spirits and volatile Salts Tinctures Elixirs with distill'd Waters or Apozemes viz. sometimes these sometimes those or others be frequently used Let Issues be burnt in the Arm or Leg nay in gross and cachectical Persons together in both or near the Shoulder-blades Let a Physick-drink of Sage Betony Stoechas the wood Sassafras Winters bark c. be drank the whole year Wine and Venus ought either to be forbidden or to be allowed only sparingly But if the Palsey after a previous disposition in the whole or in one side or in certain members throughly seises and notwithstanding the first encounter of Physick comes on again for its cure a long and complicated method which is alwayes requisite often times does not suffice for not only the Disease or its conjunct or procatarctick Cause severally but all together must be assaulted for which ends blooding for the most part being forbidden only a gentle purge and that but now and then is proper Again and indeed chiefly against the Procatarxis of the Disease Cephaliâ—â— and Antiscorbutick Medicines are wont to do good but not all of these kinds agree with all Persons but as we have observed in the Scurvey according to the various Constitutions of the Diseas'd the Remedies also must be of a differing kind and vertue for with bilous paralyticks in whose sharp and hot blood there is much Salt and Sulphur and very little Serum hot Medicines and such as are endowed with very active Particles do not agree nay often prove offensive to them which nevertheless prove greatly beneficial to phlegmatick persons whose blood is colder and contains a great deal of Serum and a few active Elements Wherefore according to this two-fold state of the Diseased it seems fit for us to propose here a double method of Cure and two Classes of Medicines whereof this will do well to be given to cold paralyticks and the other to such as are hot In the former case for the removal of the procatarctick Cause after a Vomit and a Purge duely ordered I advise to be prescribed according to the following forms Take Conserve of the leaves of Garden Scurvy-grass and of Rochet made with an equal part of Sugar of each three ounces Ginger condited in the Indies an ounce the yellow coats of Oranges and Limons preserv'd of each six drams powder of the Claws and Eyes of Crabs of each four Scruples species diambroe two drams winters-bark a dram and a half roots of Zedoary the lesser Galingal Cubebs the seeds of Garden-cresses rochet of each a dram Spirit of Scurvy-grass and of Lavender of each two drams Syrup of the conditure of Ginger what suffices make an Electuary Let the quantity of a Walnut be taken at eight a clock in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon drinking after it a pound of the following decoction or six ounces of the Tincture of Coffee with the Leaves of Sage boyled in it or three ounces of Viper-wine Take Raspings of Guaiacum six ounces Sarzaparilla Sassafras of each four ounces red and yellow Saunders shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each half an ounce infuse them according to art and boyle them in sixteen pounds of fountain-Water to a half adding Crude Antimony powdred and tyed in a Nodulus four ounces roots of Calamus Aromaticus the lesser Galingal of each half an ounce Florentine Orris an ounce Cardamum six drams Coriander seeds half an ounce six Dates make a Decoction and let it be used for ordinary drink Going to Bed and early in the Morning let a dose be taken either of the Spirit of Soot or of Harts-horn of Sal Armoniack succinated of Blood c. with three ounces of the following distilled Water Take of the Leaves or Roots of Aron a pound Leaves of Garden Scurvy-grass the greater Rochet Rosemary Sage Savory Time four handfuls Flowers of Lavender three handfuls the outward rinds of ten Oranges and six Limons Winters bark three Ounces Roots of the lesser Galingal Calamus Aromaticus Florentine Orris of each two ounces Cubebs Cloves Nutmegs of each an ounce all being slic'd and bridsed pour to them of White-wine and Brunswick Beer of each four pounds let them be distilled with common Organs and let the whole Liquour be mixt Sometimes instead of the Electuary for fifteen or twenty dayes let a dose of the Tincture of Sulphur terebinthinated or the Tincture of Antimony or of Amber sometimes also let the Elixir Proprietatis or of Peony be taken in a spoonful of the distilled Water drinking after it three ounces of the same Sometimes also let the
Colick they may sometimes be given with success in order to agentle Salivation Baths and Sudorificks are generally wont to be prescribed in Pains of the Colick tho as far as it has appear'd to our Observation seldom with good success for these by exagitating the Blood and nervous Humour make them depose more yet of Matter into the Minera of the Colick nay and make the Matter there deposed serment more and be more unruly and very seldom perfectly discuss it Diureticks are wont to be given much more advantageously by which in regard the Blood it fus'd and its Serosities are copiously precipitated thereby the Fuel of the Disease is cut off and the mass of Blood being emptied receives into it a part of the morbifick Matter so that the remainder of it is easily discust For this end Take Spirit of Tartar excellently rectified half an ounce let half a dram be given twice or thrice a day in a Spoonful of two of the following Julep drinking after it of the fame four or five Spoonfuls Take Water of the Leaves of the great Bur-dock or of Aron or Arsinart a pound Water of the flowers of Elder and Cammomil of each four ounces compound water of Gentian and compound Raddish water of each two ounces Sugar six drams mix them After the same manner as Spirit of Tartar you may give in a meet dose sometimes Tincture of Salt of Tartar sometimes Mixtura Simplex or Spirit of Sal Armoniack succinated Take Millepedes prepar'd two drams flowers of Sal Armoniack tartariz'd a dram Oyl of Nutmeggs half a scruple Turpentine what suffises make a mass let it be form'd into Pills let three or four be taken once or twice a day drinking after it a dose of the Julep or five or six spoonfuls of the following distilled Water Take fresh Millepedes cleansed a pound and a half the yellow Coats of six Oranges and of four Limons Nutmeggs in number six being slic'd small add to them Crum of stale white Bread a pound all being bruised together and well mix'd pour to them of fresh Milk four pounds Sack two pounds distill them according to Art let the whole Liquour be mixt and sweetned with Sugar or Syrup of Violets at pleasure In a long continued and obstinate Colick where there are a hot Temperament and Viscera purging Spaw-waters or Whey with Syrup of Viclets is often wont to be drank with great relief for both Liquours where they agree being drank in a plentiful manner cool the Stomack and hot Intestines and presently ease and relax them being contracted with Cramps and painful Corrugations or being convulsively extended with Flatus's Moreover whence I conceive they chiefly give help insinuating saline Particles of another Nature into the morbifick Minera they conquer and subdue the Saline and Irritative Particles residing in it and often carry them forth by purging In this Disease since all things do not agree with all Persons nay nor the same alwayes or a long while with the same Person there is need of the careful observation and daily advice of a prudent Physician that by coindications taken from things that do good good or hurt the method of Cure may be rightly ordered and now and then chang'd The Vital Indication ought to be joyn'd to the Curatory and be now and then interchangeably us'd with it for since the Diseased being almost continually affected with tortures watchings vomiting and abstinence often fall into faintings and are sometimes in danger of Life let Remedies which support the strength refresh the Spirits and procure certain times of truce against the Fits of the Disease viz. Cordials and Hypnoticks have their turns Take water of the Flowers of Camomil and Elder of each four ounces of Cinnamon hordeated of the whole Citron of each two ounces Pearl powdred a dram Sugar four drams make a Julep let five of six spoonfuls be taken now and then Take powder of Pearl Crabs-eyes of each a dram divide it into four parts let one part be given twice or thrice a day with the Julep or with the Decoction of the roots of Contrayerva Take Conserve of Clove-gilliflowers an ounce Confection of Hiacinth Alkermes of each two drams Pearl powdred a dram and a half Syrup of the Juyce of Citrons what suffices make a Confection let the quantity of a Nutmeg be given twice or thrice a day with a Julep In Constitutions that are not hot Spirit of Harts-horn of Soot of Sal Armoniack succinated also Tincture of Antimony or of Coral often do excellently well Opiats in the Cholick are of necessary Use without which the Diseased can neither live nor the Physicians be at any rest or quiet Take water of Cowslip-flowers three ounces Syrup of Meconium half a dram Aqua mirabilis two drams mix them make a draught to be taken going to rest If the pain being very intense will not yield to such a Remedy you must give Preparations and Compositions of Opium Paracelsus's or the London Laudanum Pillul de Styrace or Cynoglosso are proper a Solution of Odium tartariz'd to sixteen or twenty drops is wont to be of chief use with me Which Medicine I have truely given to some Persons long and miserably troubled with this Disease sometimes for a long time one while every night another while every other night with good success 3. The Preservatory Indication having place only in the Intervals of the Fits endeavours the removal of the present Procatarxis of the Disease and the hindring of a future so that the Invasions of Pains may return seldom or never afterwards In order to these things the Blood and nervous Liquour ought to be purified and kept in a due Crasis that they do not engender a morbifick Matter and the Brain and nervous Plexus's of the Abdomen to be strengthned that they do not receive it too readily For these ends a way of dyer being ordered Spring and Fall let solemn Courses of Physick such as we have prescribed for the Prophylaxis of the Gout be entred upon Let Vomiting if it agrees never be omitted in this Case as by which the Emunctories of the Viscera being emptied they may more plentifully receive the Recrements of the Blood and nervous Liquour which would otherwise encrease the morbifick Matter And likewise that the nervous Plexus's and all the parts may be so shaken that nothing which would turn to a Minera of the Disease may be permitted to stagnate or be heap'd together there Let purging for three or four times by due Intervals also in a hot Constitution let blooding be used Moreover let altering Remedies and chiefly Chalybeats when the Person rests from purging be daily taken at physical Hours But above all other Medicines whatsoever Spaw-waters coming from Iron drank in the Summer time for a Month are wont to give most relief but when they are drank diligent care must be taken that they pass off well and quick by Urine or Seige least happily if they stay long in the Body by taking
he fell at length into a confirm'd Diabetes as it seem'd and almost past hope of recovery For besides that in the space of twenty four hours he voided near a Gallon and a half of clear water and wonderfully sweet as though Honey were mixt in it He was moreover affected with a cruel Thirst and a Fever seemingly a Hectick with a mighty Languor of the Spirits a fall of strength and a Consumption of the whole Body I then prescrib'd him the following Remedies by the use of which he seem'd in a short time to recover Take Cypress Tops eight handfuls Whites of Eggs beaten two pounds Cinnamon half an Ounce being cut small pour to them of new Milk eight pounds distill it in an ordinary Still taking care of an Empyreuma Let him take six Ounces thrice a day Take Gum Arabick and Gum Tragacanth of each six Drams Penids an Ounce Make a Powder let him take about a Dram or a Dram and a half twice a day with three or four Ounces of the distill'd water Take Rhuba-b powdred fifteen Grains Cinnamon six Grains Make a Powder let him take it in the Morning and renow the Dose within six or seven days Take Cowslip water three Ounces Cinnamon water hordeated two Drams Syrup of Meconium half an Ounce Make a draught to be taken every Evening His Diet was only Milk which he took pretty often in a day sometimes crude or diluted with the distill'd water or with Barly water sowetimes boil'd with White-bread or with Barly Growing daily better by the use of these things within a Month he seem'd to be almost Cur'd As he began to grow a little well his Urine which was Insipid did not much exceed the quantity of Liquids he took and afterwards turning a little Salt it became less in quantity than what he drank and so by degrees recovering the wonted tone of his Spirits and a good strength he took to his former Diet. Nevertheless the disposition to this Disease did not so throughly cease but afterwards being apt frequently to Relapses upon disorders in Living and haply upon changes according to the seasons of the year he first made Water in a greater measure than ordinary which by degrees grew clear and sweetish a Thirst and Fever with a Languor of the Spirits accompanying it But by the use of the same Medicines he us'd in a short time to recover again Not long since after a large interval of health a little before he fell into a Flux of Urine he found great irregularities and failings in the Genus Nervosum viz. He was seiz'd with a dull numbness of his Brain and a Vertigo and was taken with sudden Cramps in his Limbs and felt little Leapings of the Tendons and various runnings about him as though it were of a wind creeping here and there And when by the use of fit Remedies the aforesaid Symptoms seem'd to be Cur'd the Diabetes after its wounted manner burst forth afresh viz. the matter flowing forth in abundance from the Fibres and solid parts into the Blood and thence to the Reins and the Urinary Passages In this Juncture the same Remedies were prescrib'd again by the use of which when within a few days he began to grow bettr he was ordered to take thrice a day Water of quick Lime to five or six Ounces Having continued this Remedy four days he made water in a moderate quantity well ting'd and somewhat salt and as to other things he seem'd well as he was before By the same method and chiefly with the Water of quick Lime I Cur'd another of a Diabetes who was look'd upon as past recovery The Kinds and Prescripts of Medicines that stop Vrine flowing in excess A Stringent Medicines properly so call'd to wit such as are austere acerb and stiptick do little or nothing in stopping a Diuresis for the vertue of those things has no effect on the Mass of Blood nor does it reach to the Reins and Bladder But the Remedies that chiefly do good in the Diabetes are of two kinds as we have hinted before viz. First those that hinder the combinations of the Salts and consequently the fusion of the Blood such as the Incrassatives before mentioned Secondly Those that dissolve the Concretions of the Salts and consequently restore the mixture of the Blood of which kind are Saline Remedies of a contrary nature which are apt to cleave to the Acid Salt and so withdraw it from the combinations it has entred into within the Blood as chiefly Medicines endow'd with a fixt volatile or alchalisate Salt Besides these two Primary kinds of Medicines that restrain Urine there rests a Secondary kind to wit Hypnoticks which putting some stop to the Animal Aeconomy cause the vital function to be perform'd with more calmness and consequently with less fusion of the Blood or precipitation of the serous and nutricious humours It remains now to set down some Select Forms of each kind of these Medicines I. The first Scope of Curing to wit by which we endeavour by thickning the Blood to prevent its fusion or to take it away is effected by the Medicines following Take Gumm Arabick and Tragacanth powder'd of each an Ounce Sugar Penids half an Ounce Make a Powder divide it into sixteen parts Take one part thrice a day dissolving it in the distill'd water or in the docoction of the Roots of Comphry in fountain water or Milk Take of the Resumptive Electuary three Ounces Species Diatragacanthi frigidi an Ounce Red Coral prepar'd two Drams Confection of Hyacinth a Dram and a half Gelly of the cast Skins of Vipers what will suffice Make an Electuary of which let the Patient take twice a day the quantity of a Wallnut Take white Amber Mastick Olibanum powdred of each an Ounce Pulvis Haly two Ounces Balsam of Tolu half an Ounce Make a Subtle Powder the Dose is half a Dram twice or thrice a day Take Roots of great Comphry and Water Lillies of each three Ounces Dates slic'd two Ounces Seeds of Maliows Cotton-plant Plantain Fleawort of each half an Ounce Boil them in four pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd to the straining add Syrup of Water Lillies two Ounces The Dose is four Ounces thrice a day Take of the decoction of Barly with Water Lilly-roots a pound and a half Sweet Almonds prepar'd an Ounce and a half Seeds of white Poppies Purslain Lettice of each half an Ounce Make an Emulsion according to art the Dose is four Ounces thrice a day Take Cypress Tops six handfuls Clary Leaves four handfuls Flowers of blind Nettles Comphry Water Lillies of each four handfuls Roots of Water Lillies and Comphry of each half a pound Mace an Ounce all being small slic'd together pour to them of new Milk eight pounds distil them in an ordinary Still The Dose is four Ounces thrice a day with the Powder of Electuary above written II. In the second place though Saline Medicines of every kind and condition are accounted Diuretick
unless the Patients resolve to take courage so as to attempt to go abroad to set forth their strength to their utmost and accustome nature daily to inure it self to hardship all medicines prove useless Wherefore a plentiful and cheerful way of living are no less necessary than Physick that thereby the stock of Animal Spirits may be daily renew'd and increas'd and so confirm'd in strength by greater practices now and then insisted on for which ends strong Wines with good Dishes of meat are very proper Moreover all Studies and Cares with which the Soul is deprest being laid aside let the time be past in idleness and recreatious or in moderare exercises As by such a kind of living duly ordered the Animal Spirits are greatly refresh'd so it repairs the decay and depauperations of the Blood For the same ends also the following Medicines may be given with good effect Take Spirit of Amber Armonicacated what suffices fifteen or twenty drops be taken in the Evening and the next Morning in aspoonful of the following distill a water drinking after it nine spoonfuls of the same Take Leaves of Sage Rosemary Time Savory Marjoram Costmary of each four handfuls Roots of Angelica and Master-wort of each six Ounces of Zedoary the lesser Galingal Calamus Aromaticus Florence Orris of each an Ounce and a half Cubebs anOunce and a half Nutmegs Cloves Cinnamon of each an Ounce the outward Coats of twelve Oranges and of six Limmons being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of Whitewine and Canary of each four pounds Distil it in common Organs let the whole liquor be mixt and sweetn'd with Sugar perlated In the distilling hang in the head of the Alembick a Nodulus with a Scruple of Amber-greece in it and half a Scruple of Musk. Take Tincture of Antimony or of the Balsam of Tolu an Ounce let fifteen or twenty drops be taken in the Morning at Nine a Clock and at Five in the Afternoon in a spoonful of the water before prescrib'd drinking after it three Ounces of the same or rather in the Morning drink after it a Dish of Tea or Cofee or Chocholate prepar'd of a Decoction of Sage A little before Dinner drink a Glass of Sherry Sack When these things have been used some time and you think good to intermit them take the following things in their place Instead of the Spirit take a Dose of the following Electuary in the Evening and early in the Morning with the distill'd water or Viper Wine Take of wet preserv'd Citron Pills an Ounce and a half Mirobalans Condited an Ounce Nutmegs Ginger Candied of each half an Ounce Confection of Hyacinth Alchermes of each three Drams Pearl prepar'd red Coral prepar'd of each a Dram and a half with the Syrup of the Juice of Kermes make an Electuary Let the ordinary drink be a Physick Ale made after the following manner viz. into a vessel of four Gallons put the following bag Take an Old Cock half boil'd and mash'd Leaves of Sage and Harts-Tongue dry'd of each two handfuls six Dates slic'd Raspings of Sassafras two Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd mix them put them in a little bag and hang it in a Vessel after it had done working The second intention which undertakes to correct the Dyscrasies or depraved dispositions of the Blood and Spirits is perform'd by the same Remedies as in the Hypochondriacal distemper and Melancholy Wherefore the prescripts which I formerly gave for the Cure of those affects may serve here As to the third intention which for keeping the Pores in a due State ordains a meet way of Government as to cloathing the Air the Fire c. there is little left for a Physician to do for commonly every Patient will be his own Councellour as to these things There is only one kind of advice which they are apt to receive and is wont to do them good viz. that they change their habitation by which often the Mind is also chang'd for those that are never so much addicted to keep themselves pen'd up in a Chamber or in Bed when they travel into foreign Countries where they breath a warmer and more serene Air It 's almost incredible in how short a time they recover So much concerning this depraved Perspiration which has not been touch'd by others There remains yet a third kind of this immoderate Sweating which is not as the first the Symptom or effect of another present or past Disease but it self first beginning is either a Disease of it self or the parent of some Morbid affect To the first sort chiefly belongs the Pestilential Sweat which was heretofore call'd Sudor Anglicus But I shall not now go about to prescribe Medicines for a Disease which I hope will never return CHAP. IX Instructions concerning Cordial Medicines and Alexipharmicks or Preservatives against Venome with Prescripts of them IF the thing be duly considered the notion of Cordial Medicines was not well introduc'd but is a meer vulgar errour for since it is not the Heart which is the Subject of Life but chiefly and in a manner only the Blood and in regard the Soul it self on whose existence and act in the Body Life depends is founded partly in the Blood and partly in the united stock of Animal Spirits it plainly sollows that Medicines which preserve Life entire or restore it when in danger do rather and more immediately regard these parts of the Soul to wit the Blood and Animal Spirits than the Heart which is a meer Muscle serving for the Circulation of the Blood and as often as it slackens in performing this duty or gives it off This does not happen through its own fault but through that of the Blood and Animal Spirits by which it is actuated Therefore to know the ways and manners of working of those Medicines which are call'd Cordials we must consider these two things viz. First how many and particularly what ways the Blood being ill dispos'd and often endangered either as to its accension or mixture requires Physical helps which may preserve or correct it Secondly after what manner by reason of a defect or delinquency in the Animal Oeconomy the Heart is hindred or perverted from its due motion so that Medicines are Indicated which encrease the stores of the Spirits and better compose them To be well instructed concerning these things read Dr. Willis at large The Kinds and Prescripts of Cordials A Ccording to what is said before we distinguish Cordial Medicines commonly so call'd into two kinds some of them chiefly and more immediately affect the Blood others the Animal Spirits In the first rank of those that are design'd for regulating the accension of the Blood we place those which by encreasing or exalting its Sulphureous Particles cause its over-cold and slow moving Liquor to boil more to be more freely kindled and to burn with more life of which kind are good Wines Compound Strong-waters distill'd the Spirit and Tincture of Saffron Quercitans Elixir of Life
Spirit of Vitriol of Mars half a Scruple take it after the same manner Take Barley water with madder Roots boil'd in it a pound and a half Put into it when grown pretty cold of red Rose Leaves a handful Add Spirit of Vitriol a Scruple let there be a close and warm infusion for three hours Make a Tincture to the straining add Syrup of the Juice of St. Johns wort an Ounce and a half Take three or four Ounces thrice or four times in a day Take of the Decoction of the Roots of fresh Nettles a pound and a half Seeds of white Poppies and of Henbane of each two Drams Melon seeds pill'd six Drams Make an Emulsion according to Art sweetned with Sugar Penids The Dose is three Ounces three or four times a day 3. Juices of Herbs and Juicy Expressions TAke Juice of Plantain Leaves half a pound Let two or three Drams be taken thrice a day with three Ounces of the distill'd Water above written and sweeten it at pleasure Take Leaves of fresh Nettles Plantain the lesser Daisy of each three handfuls being bruis'd together pour to them of Purslain water six Drams Wring it forth hard take it as the former 4. Powders and Pills TAke Powder of Blood-stone of Dragons Blood ground on a Marble with Rose-water and of Pearl of each a Dram Bole Armeniack Terra Lemnia of each half a Dram Troches of Winter Cherries two Drams Make a Powder divide it into twelve parts let one part be taken thrice a day with the distill'd water above written Take of the Seeds of Henbane and white Poppies of each ten Drams Terra Sigillata red Coral of each five Drams Sugar of Roses three Ounces Make a Powder the Dose is a Dram Morning and Evening This Composition brought into a soft Consistency with some proper Syrup is call'd Helidaeus's Electuary so Famous heretofore in Germany The foresaid Powders may also be made into convenient Pills and Tablets by adding the Solution of Tragacanth or some fit Syrup The spungy Excrescency usually growing to the fruit of the Dog-Rose Tree made into Powders and given twice a day to the quantity of half a Dram is a very good remedy in spitting Blood Take Yarrow bruis'd and dry'd in the Summer Sun what you think good Make it into a fine Powder and keep it in a Glass for Vse The Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram twice a day in a fit Vehicle The Powder of Julius Caesar Scaliger or rather of Serapion is mightily commended The Dose is four Drams twice or thrice a day 5. Lohoch's and Electuaries TAke Conserve of red Roses and of the Dog-Rose of each two Ounces Powder of the Seeds of the white Poppy and of Henbane of each two Drams Species Diatragacanthi frigidi a Dram and a half Blood-stone Sanguis Draconis prepar'd of each half a Dram Syrup of red Poppies what suffices Make an Electuary let the quantity of a Chesnut be taken Evenings and Mornings and at other times suck it with a stick of Licorice Take Conserve of the Flowers of great Comphrey and of Water-Lillies of each an Ounce and a half Troches of Winter Cherries and Diatragacanthum frigidum of each a Dram and a half Syrup of Jujubes what suffices Make a soft Lohoch of which take often with a stick of Licorice Take of the White of an Egg well beaten two Drams Lucatellus's Balsam half an Ounce Troches of Winter Cherries two Drams Syrup of red Poppies what suffices Make a soft Lohoch take the quantity of a Chesnut Morning and Evening The Second Indication being for preservation suggests to us those Remedies which keeping the Blood in a just temper and the Lungs in a due Conformation provide against a relapse of Spitting Blood and an ensuing Consumption such as regard the Blood are either gentle Evacuatives by Seige Urine and Sweat or meer Alteratives Every one of these are wont to be prescrib'd either in the Form of a Drink Powder Electuary or Pills We shall set down some Select Forms of some of the chief of them 1. As to Evacuatives a gentle Purge may sometiems be ordered after this manner Take of the best Sena three Drams Cassia bruis'd with the Fistula an Ounce Tamarinds three Drams Coriander-seeds a Dram and a half Boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water to fix Ounces to the straining add Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb an Ounce Clarify it with the White of an Egg. Or Take Gereons Decoction of Senna four Ounces Purging Syrup of Apples an Ounce Mix them and make a Potion For preserving the Blood in a good temper and that its dreggy Excrements deriv'd from the Lungs may be continually discharg'd by Sweat and Urine the following Alteratives or some of them must be constantly taken which being also of a healing Nature relieve Lungs that are infirm or dissolv'd in their Unity For ordinary Drink let it be pure Water especially in a hot Constitution or water a little ting'd with Claret Wine Those with whom this Drink does not agree may use with as good success a Bochet of China and Sarsa with the shavings of Ivory Hartshorn and white Saunders in it or sinall Beer or Ale with the Leaves of Harts Tongue Oak of Hierusalem and the like infus'd in it Let Pectoral Decoctions or Hydromels with temperate Traumatick Herbs be taken twice or thrice a day to six or seven Ounces Take Roots of fresh Nettles and Chervil of each an Ounce Leaves of Harts Tongue Speedwel Mous-ear Ground Ivy St. John's-wort of each a handful Boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds adding Raisms stone'd an Ounce and a half Licorice two Drams to the straining add Syrupus Byzantinus two Ounces Clarifie it with the White of an Egg Make an Apozem to be taken to four or six Ounces twice or thrice a day for a Month. In a cold or Phlegmatick Constitution the Licorice and Raisins being omitted with the Syrup add towards the end two Ounces of the best Clarified Honey strain it and keep it for use The Dose is the same as the former Let these things sometimes be taken betwixt whiles with a distill'd water appropriated to the same end which also may be more frequently taken by some Persons to whom Apozems are nauseous and loathsome Take Cypress Tops Leaves of ground Ivy of each six handfuls Snails half boil'd a pound and a half All the Saunders bruis'd of each an Ounce Being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of new Milk eight pounds distil it with common Organs The Dose is three or four Ounces with a spoonful of Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy twice a day 2. In respect of the Lungs viz. that the Union of its parts and the due Conformation of the whole may be preserv'd without any obstruction or opening of its Vessels temperate Balsamicks are of chiefest use For this end Lucatellus Balsam is perscrib'd even by the vulgar to be taken constantly and for a
Poppy water three Ounces Syrup of the same an Ounce Mix them give a spoonful of it every other while Take Spirit of Sal Armoniack distill'd with Olibanum three Drams the Dose is from twelve drops to fifteen or twenty three or four times a day in a fit Vehicle After the same manner you may give Spirit of Vrine of Soot or of Hartshorn Take Spirit of Tartar three Drams The Dose is a Scruple in a fit Vehicle Take Mixtura Simplex three Drams The Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram. 3. As to the Third Indication besides a thin Diet Cordial Remedies and Anodines are prescrib'd Forms of the former kind may be supply'd by the Julapes and Apozemes prescrib'd for the first Indication and by the Spirits and Powders for the Second Inward Anodines to be given in Watchings and in a very Intense pain are prescrib'd according to the Forms following Take red Poppy water two Ounces Syrup of the same six Drams Spirit of Hartshorn twelve drops Make a draught to be taken going to Bed If we must go higher Take Carduus water two Ounces Diacodium from three Drams to half an Ounce or six Drams Spirit of Sal Armoniack with Frankincense half a Scruple Make a draught Sometimes though rarely its necessary to rise to Laudanum's which being seasonably given have a mighty good effect inasmuch as they procure Sleep and move Sweat and Vrine Take water of Cowslip Flowers two Ounces Laudanum Tartariz'd from sixteen drops to twenty Spirit of Blood half a Scruple Syrup of Violets two Drams Mingle them make a draught Outward Anodines are usually prescrib'd in the Form of an Oyntment Fomentation and Cataplasm Take Oyntment of Marsh-Mallows two Ounces Oyl of sweet Almonds an Ounce Album Graecum two Drams Mix them by braying them together Take of the Emplaister of Mucilages two Ounces and a half Malax it with Oyl of Linseed and let it be apply'd upon Lawn Paper Take the tops of Both Malbows Leaves of Mercury and Beets of each three handfuls Boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water let the straining be us'd for a Fomentation Take the remaining faeces of the Herbs after the Liquor is wrung forth and being bruis'd add to it of Oat-meal six Drams Linseed Fenugreek-seeds of each two Ounces Oyntment of Marsh-Mallows two Ounces Make a Cataplasm I need not go far for Stories and Instances of persons troubled with the Pleurisie for I have a notable Example of this Disease now under Cure viz. a very fine young Woman subject most frequently and as it were habitually to that affect is committed to our care This Virgin who is very fair of a Sanguine Complexion but of a weakly Constitution has been wont for many years past upon every slight occasion viz. upon taking Cold or by errours in any of the six nonnatural things nay sometimes upon the meer change of the Season or of the Air to fall into a Feaver presently accompanied with pains of the Pleura a Cough and a difficulty of Breathing and for the most part horrible Convulsions following them She has been taken so very ill formerly of this Distemper that she has been often forc'd to keep her Chamber six Months or more every year but of late though she be not freed from this affliction yet she is seldomer tormented with it The last year she was pretty well all the Summer and well near all the Autumn about the beginning of Winter she fell sick of that Disease and now towards the end of it is fallen ill again The Pleuritick pain constantly possesses the right side where the Blood sticking and being extravasated in its passage about the Intercostal Muscles the Irritated Fibres commence a most tormenting pain together with a Convulsive motion of Coughing which they reiterate almost perpetually In the mean time the Lungs being found enough and open in their passages readily convey the Blood as clammy as it is without any lett or stay which often is the cause of a Peripneumonia No Remedies are wont to do good to this person without Bleeding which is always so particularly necessary that every time she is ill we are forc'd even whether we will or no to repeat it two or three times nay sometimes oftner The Blood emitted has constantly a Viscous and whitish Film on its surface This Disease was always a simple Pleurisie without any Peripneumonia and for its Cure she constantly us'd the following method with success Take Spirit of Sal Armoniack with Gum Ammoniacum three Drams give from fifteen drops to twenty thrice a day with the following Julape Take Carduus water Black-Cherry water of each six Ounces Hysterick water a Dram Sugar six Drams Betwixt whiles she took a Dose of Powder with three Ounces of an Apozeme Take the Powders of Crabs Eyes of a Bores Tusk of Sal Prunella of each a Dram Make a Powder divide it into six parts Take Grass Roots three Ounces Candied Eringo's an Ounce shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each two Drams parings of Apples a handful Raisins of the Sun an Ounce Boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds add to the straining Syrup of Violets an Ounce Sal Prunella a Dram Mix them make an Apozeme Glisters of Milk with Syrup of Violets were administred sometimes every day and sometimes every other day if at any time Opïats though never so gentle were given her to allay pain commonly afterwards an aking and heaviness of the Head and Convulsive Affects most sorely tormented her CHAP. V. Instructions and Prescripts for the Cure of an Empyema BY the word Empyema according to its usual acceptation is denoted a Collection of Pus or corrupted matter within the Cavity of the Thorax by which the Organs of Respiration are opprest That Pus commonly flowing thither either from a Pleurisie or a Peripneumonia and sometimes haply from a Squinancy suppurated and broken As to the Cure of an Empyema we must in the First place consider whether the signs of this Disease as to the reality of its present Being be certain or doubtful if certain there will not be much need of Physick but only the Body being prepar'd you may presently proceed to open the side Therefore if after a Pleurisie or Peripneumonia not rightly Cur'd or after an inward effusion of Blood occasion'd by a stroak fall or wound there be perceiv'd a floating of Pus or of corrupted or bloody matter within the Cavity of the Thorax and this with little or no Spitting we need no longer think of Maturating or Expectorating Medicines but the Belly being loosen'd and the Blood and humours duly qualified by Julapes Apozemes and Anodines either order a bare Incision or in tender and timorous persons First let a Cautery be apply'd betwixt the sixth and seventh Vertebrae and after the Eschar being rais'd let the Incision Knife be entred obliquely towards the hinder and upper parts and that leisurely and by little and little till it penetrate
Dropsie I say that in an Anasarca the Morbifick matter which is a Lympha resieds partly in the Mass of Blood and partly in the habit of the Body within the Pores and empty Spaces lying betwixt the Vessells Wherefore a strong Cathartick being given it presently Exagitates the Mass of Blood fuses it and moves it to an Excretion of any supersluous or heterogeneous thing And at the same time irritates the Mouths of the Arteries which lye open towards the Cavityes of the Intestines that the water cast out of the Blood may find a way forth rather by these Emissaries Hence in the fust place the waters floating within the Mass of Blood are clear'd forth in a plentifull manner and then the Vessells being drain'd soon drink up the waters betwixt the Flesh and the Skin and presently send them forth partly by seigh and partly by Urine or Sweat There is no fear in the mean time lest as in an Ascites the Morbifick matter being Exagitated and put in Fusion by the Medicine be driven from the Blood into the places affected whence it cannot easily get out again or lest as in a Tympany the Viscera by reason of the Fibres of the Ventricle and Intestines being too much irritated are mov'd into Convulsive Extensions for whilst the Viscera are sound and in a good state the Particles of the Medicament do them no hurt but being carryed thence into the Blood do not only fetch waters from it but by Exagitating its Mass raise up its Active Particles before opprest and dispose them for recovering their power of Fermentation Secondly I have also set down before the Hydragogues operating by Urine both simple and compound and have given you Forms of Medicines prepar'd of both and the ways of giveing them Wherefore I shall not repeat them here But because all Medicines of this kind do not good alike in all affects we must here observe that Lixivials as I have often found by experience far exceed the rest of Diureticks in Curing the Anasarca And now it 's a much us'd and common Remedy for any one who has his Members swell'd to Purge first and then to take twice or thrice a Day six or eight Ounces of a Lixivium made of White-wine with the Ashes of Wormwood or of Broom and to continue its use for some Days This Medicine as I have observ'd in many powerfully provok's Urine nay sometimes in such Abundance that the Patients within the space of twenty four hours making above a Gallon and a half of water have presently recover'd almost to a miracle The reason why Medicines containing a fixt and lixivial Sal expell Urine more in an Anasarca than such as are endow'd with an Acid or Alchalisate or Volatile Salt is that in this Disease the watery Homours which upon failing of the Fermentation of the Blood and of its sanguifying Vertue are gathered together as well within its Mass as in the habit of the Body upon stagnating there some time are turn'd somewhat sharp Wherefore the Lixivial Particles of the Medicine entering the Blood presently grow in a heat with the Acids of the waters which as they exagitate and ferment they cause a mighty Fermentation in the whole Mass of the Blood and a following excretion Take of the Ashes of Broom or of Wormwood or of the Prunings of Vines calcin'd to a whiteness and sifted four Ounces put them in a Glass-bottle with two Pounds of White-wine let there be a close and warm Digestion for three or four hours then strain it the Dose is from six Ounces to eight twice a Day Take white Tartar calcin'd with Nitre and after melted in a crucible till it look blew three Ounces small Spirit of Wine a pound and half water of Snails and Earth-worms of each four Ounces let them digest close luted in a sand-furnace for two Days the Dose of the clear Liquor is two or three Ounces with four Ounces of the Decoction of the Roots of Butchers Broom and Burdocks made in Ale For Ordinary Drink TAke white Ashes of Broom cleans'd two Pounds put them in a Bag with Raspings of Sassafras three Ounces Roots of the lesser Galingal an Ounce Juniper berryer and wild Carrot Seeds of each an Ounce and a half make a Bag for four Gallons of Ase after seven or eight Days begin to draw it Diaphoreticks often do excellently well in a Leucophlegmatia which begins or concludes an Anasarca and they usually agree better in this Disease when confirm'd than in other kinds of the Dropsie And though at the beginning they are not able to move Sweat because the habit of the Body is invested with a deal of waters however by exagitating the Blood they are a means that the active Particles implanted in it which were dull'd before and almost overwhelm'd are rais'd up again and dispos'd to a Fermentation and that all the dreggy Excrements especially such as are Aqueous are put in Motion so that presently breaking forth of their Receptacles in a plentiful manner they readily pass off by Seige or Urin and often in some measure by transpiration But after that the waters being well clear'd by Purging the Morbifick matter is so far diminisht that the bulk of the Body and the swelling of the Members begin to abate the remainder of the Humour is excellently consum'd by moderate Sweats and by a constant perspiration We have given you before a List and Forms of Hydroticks but as to our present purpose for the Cure of an Anasarca those things are most proper which are given in somwhat a large Dose for as to such as are prescrib'd in a small quantity their active Particles being immerg'd in the waters are overwhelm'd before they can be diffus'd in the Blood so as to exert their force wherefore Spirits whether Armoniack or Vinous also Tinctures and Elixirs nay and Powders seldom come in use against this Disease because in a small Dose they do little and if it be made very large they often offend the bowels by their excess in operation therefore let those things rather be made choice of which being taken in a full Draught and warm may be able to pass the whole Blood uncorrupted as chiefly the Decoctions of Woods and Roots whose Particles agreeing well enough with the Blood but being not to be mastered by it pass through its whole Mass and exert an Elastick force putting all the Humours in a Commotion Take Raspings of Guaiacum six Ounces Sassafras two Ounces all the Saunders of each six Drams shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each three Drams let them infuse according to Art and boyl in eight Pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd addïng Roots of Calamus Aromaticus the lesser Galingal Burdocks and Butter-burr of each an Ounce Leaves of Woodsage and Germander dryed of each two handfulls let the straining be kept for use the Dose is from eight Ounces to ten twice a Day warm to each Dose may be added Spirit of Sal Armoniack
be hung about the Neck Moreover let Anticonvulsive Medicines be daily given the Nurse Let her take Morning and Evening a draught of Whey in which the Roots and Seeds of Male Peony and the Seeds of sweet Fennel are boil'd Take Conserve of the Flowers of Betony Male Peony and Rosemary of each two Ounes Powder of the Roots and Flowers of the Male Peony of each two Drams red Coral prepar'd white Amber of each a Dram Roots of Angelica Zedoary prepar'd of each half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Peony make an Electuary Let ber take the quantity of a Nutmegg Morning and Evening Take Powder of the Roots of Male Peony two Drams Seeds of the same a Dram make a Powder double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in the water of Lime-tree Flowers and boil'd to a consistency for Tablets three Ounces Oyl of Amber a Scruple Let Tablets be made according to Art each Weighing half a Dram let her eat one every sixth hour and let her keep an exact Form of Diet. In case any Infant be actually affected with Convulsions because an Issue works but little and slowly it is proper to apply a Vesicatory to the Nucha and behind each Ear and unless a cold Temperament forbids it let Blood be drawn from the Jugular Veins by Leeches Let Liniments be applyed about the Temples Nostrils and Neck and Plaisters to the Soles of the Feet Let Clysters be daily injected which plentifully empty the Belly Moreover Let Specifick Remedies be taken inwardly often in a Day to wit every sixth or eighth hour Take Oleum Capivii and Oyl of Castoreum of each two Drams Oyl of Amber half a Dram make a Liniment Take of the Emplaster Oxycroceum two parts Galbanum dissolv'd one part Oyl of Amber a Scruple make a Plaister for the Soles of the Feet Let the Powder of Gutteta according to the description of Riverius be given twice or four times a day Take Mans Scull prepar'd Peony-seeds Elks-hoof Pearl prepar'd of each half a Dram Amber-greice six Grains make a Powder the Dose is six Grains in a Spoonful of the Liquour beneath written three or four times a day Or Take Mans Scull prepar'd Pearl of each half a Dram Salt of Amber a Scruple Sugar of Pearl a Dram the Dose is half a Scruple Or Take Spirit of Harts-horn three Drops let it be given every sixth or eight hour in a Spoonful of the Julape beneath prescrib'd To poor peoples Children let Powder of the Root of wild Valerian be given from half a Scruple to a Scruple let it be given twice a day in a Spoonful of Milk or of an Appropriated Liquour Vntzerus greatly commends the Gall of a Sucking Whelp viz. that all the Juice of the Gall-bladder be taken forth and given to the Child with a little Water of Lime-tree-flowers A Learned Physitian lately told me that he had known many Cur'd with this Remedy Moreover Empiricks after the Gall is drank are went also to give to greater Children to eat the Liver roasted Julapes distill'd Waters and other Appropriated Liquours may be prepar'd according to the Forma following Take black Cherry-water three Ounces Antiepileptical-water of Langius an Ounce Sugar of Pearl two Drams mix them Take fresh Roots of Male Peony cut into slices six Ounces Hungarian Vitriol eight Ounces Mans Scull two Ounces Antiepileptical Water of Langius half a Pound mix them and let them distill in a Glass Retort by a Sand heat The Dose is from a Spoonful to two Spoonfuls Take fresh Roots of Male Peony slic'd four Ounces being bruis'd in a Marble Mortar pour to them of Spanish Wine a Pound express it strongly add Manus Christi perlated half an Ounce let it be kept in a Glass close stopt the Dose is a Spoonful or two twice a day When Convulsions happen by reason of a difficult breeding of Teeth this Symptome is look't upon as secondary and not dangerous and therefore in the Method of Cure it is not always the first or chief thing which requires help but sometimes we are rather sollicitous of appeasing the pain and removing the feverish Distemper wherefore both the Patient and Nurse ought to use a thin and cooling Diet when the Teeth are upon eruption let the passage be made open for them either by a rubbing or Section of the Gums And also let Anodines be applyed to those parts when swollen and full of pain Clysters and Bleeding often have place here We must procure sleep and allay the fervour of the Blood Mean while let Anticonvulsive Remedies be us'd but of the more moderate kind and such as little trouble the Blood and Humours Vesicatories in regard they evacuate the Serum which is too apt to be discharg'd on the Head often give relief When Children are troubled with Convulsions and that neither presently upon their Birth nor by reason of an Eruption of Teeth but through other occasions and accidents the cause of such an affect for the most part lyes either in the head or somewhere about the Viscera of Concoction When there is a suspicion of the former as it is wont to appear by signs which shew that a Mass of Serous Filth is gathered together within the head the above-cited Remedies ought to be given in a little larger Dose moreover in those who bear Purging well sometimes a Vomit and a gentle Purge may be order'd them Wine and Oxymel of Squills also Mercurius Dulcis Rhubarb and Rosin of Jalap are of excellent use As often as the cause of the Convulsive Affect appears to be in the Bowels either Worms or sharp Humours causing Gripes in the Belly are found to be in the fault Against Worms a Purge of Rhubarb or of Mercurius Dulcis with the addition of Rosin of Jalap is ordered Formerly to a Child miserably troubled with Convulsions so that he seem'd even a Dying I gave a Dose of Mercurius Dulcis with Rosin of Jalap With his Stools whereof he had four he voided twelve Worms and presently grew well Take Roots of Virginia Serpentary powdred a Dram Coral caloin'd to a whiteness half a Dram make a Powder the Dose is from half a Scruple to a Scruple twice a day for three days one after the other drinking after it a Decoction of Grass Roots Take Species of Hiera a Dram and a half Venice-treacle two Drams make a Plaister for the Belly or let a Plaister of Galbanum be applyed to the Navel If the Convulsive motions are thought to proceed from the Irritation of the Ventricle and the Intestines caus'd by sharp Humours a gentle Purge either by Vomit or Seige or of both the one after the other ought to be ordered For this purpose let gentle Emeticks of Wine of Squills or of Salt of Vitriol be taken to wit if at any time the Diseas'd be of their own accord seis'd with a straining to Vomit but if the Evacuation seems rather fit to be attempted downwards an Infusion of Rhubarb or its Powder Syrup
to half add of White-wine a Pound let it be strain'd into a Matrass to which put Leaves of choice Sena an Ounce Rhubarb six Drams Gummous Turbith half an Ounce Epithimum yellow Saunders of each two Drams Salt of Worm-wood and of Scurvy-grass of each a Dram the outward yellow Coats of Oranges two Drams let them digest close luted in a Sand heat for twelve hours let the straining be kept for use Let it be sweetned if need be with a sufficient quantity of Syrupus Augustanus or with Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb the Dose is six Ounces once or twice in a week Each day in which Purging is omitted let Remedies be given for strengthning the Brain and for garding the Animal Spirits from incurring Heterogeneous Combinations or from entring upon Explosions Of which nevertheless let a certain choice be made according to the Temperament Habit of Body and Constitution of the Diseas'd For to such as have a thin habit of Body and a hot Blood Medicines must be given which are not hot and which do not stir the Blood too much On the contrary to phlegmatick and gross Bodies whose Urine is thin and watery and whose Blood circulates but dully let hot Remedies be ordered and such as are apt notably to ferment the Humours In the former case you may prescribe after this manner Take Conserve of the Flowers of Betony Tamarisk and Male Peony of each two Ounces Species Diamargariti Frigidi a Dram and a half Powder of the Roots of Peony and of the Seeds of the same of each a Dram red Coral prepar'd two Drams Vitriol of Mars two Scruples Salt of Worm-wood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Juice of Oranges make an Electuary Let it be taked twice or thrice a day drinking after it a little draught of the Julape beneath prescrib'd Take of red Coral ground with the Juice of Oranges on a Marble or in a Glass-mortar and dryed half an Ounce Powder of Mistletow of the Oak and of the Roots of Male Peony of each two Drams Sugar of Pearl three Drams make a Powder the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram twice or thrice a day Take Species Diamargariti Frigidi two Drams Salt of Worm-wood three Drams Aron Roots powdred a Dram mix them make a Powder let it be divided into twenty parts and let a Dose be taken in the Morning and at four of the Clock Take Powder of the Roots of Butter Bur an Ounce the Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram twice a day Take Leaves of the Bur-dock and of Aron of each six handfuls being slic't and mixt together let them be distil'd The Dose is from two Drams to three twice or thrice a day after a Dose of the Electuary or Powder Take of this distill'd Water two Pounds of our Steel prepar'd two Drams mix them in a Glass let them be taken after the same manner Take Water of Wallnuts simple and of black Cherries of each half a Pound of Snails four Ounces Syrup of Flowers of the Male Peony two Ounces the Dose is from an Ounce and a half to two Ounces after the same manner Take Shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each three Drams Roots of Chervil Bur-dock Valerian of each half an Ounce Leaves of Betony Ground-pine Scolopendrium tops of Tamarisk of each a handful Barks of Tamarisk and of Bitter-sweet of each half an Ounce let them boil in four Pounds of Fountain-water to the consumption of a third part add of White-wine eight Ounces strain it into a Flaggon to which put Leaves of Brook-limes and of Cuckow-flower of each a handful make a warm and close Infusion for four hours let the straining be kept in Glasses close stopt The Dose is six Ounces twice a day after a Dose of a solid Medicine Sometimes in such an Apozeme let two Drams of our Steel be infus'd and taken after the same manner In the Summer time the use of Mineral Waters is proper for want of them let our Artificial Waters be given in their stead But if for the reasons above cited hot Medicines are indicated we may proceed after the following method Take Conserve of Rosemary-flowers and of the yellow Coats of Oranges and Limons of each two Ounces Wallnuts and Mirobalans condited of each in number two Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders Roots of Serpentaria Contrayerva Angelica and Aron of each a Dram Vitriol of Mars or prepar'd Steel four Scruples Salt of Worm-wood and of Scurvy-grass of each a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Preserve of Wallnuts make an Electuary Let the quantity of a Nutmeg be taken twice a day drinking after it a Dose of an appropriated Liquour Take Roots of Male Peony Angelica red Coral prepar'd of each two Drams Sugar dissolv'd in water of Snails boil'd to a consistency for Tablets six Ounces Oyl of Amber highly rectified half a Dram make Tablets according to Art each weighing about half a Dram let one or two be taken twice or thrice a day drinking after it a Dose of an appropriated Liquour Take Roots of Virginia Serpentary Contrayerva Valerian of each two Drams red Coral prepar'd Pearls of each a Dram Winters-bark Roots of bastard Ditany of each a Dram Vitriol of Mars Salt of Worm-wood of each a Dram and a half Extract of Centory two Drams Ammoniacum dissolv'd in Hysterick-water what suffices make a Mass for Pills Let four Pills be taken in the Morning and at four in the Afternoon Take Spirit of Harts-horn or of Soot or of Mans Blood or of Sal Armoniack what suffices take from ten to twelve Drops Morning and Evening in a Spoonful of the Julape drinking after it a little draught of the same Take Leaves of Betony Vervain Sage Cuckow-flowers Aron Bur-dock of each two handfuls green Wallnuts in number twenty the Coats of six Oranges and four Limons Cardamoms Cubebs of each an OUnce being slic't and bruis'd pour to them Whey made with Cider or White-wine six Pounds let it distil according to Art The Dose is two or three OUnces twice a day after a Dose of a solid Medicine To two Pounds of this add of our Steel two Drams Take Water of Earth-worms and of Snails of each six Ounces of Wallnuts simple four Ounces Raddish-water compound two Ounces double refin'd Sugar two Ounces make a Julape The Dose is four or six Spoonfuls twice a day after a Dose of a solid Medicine Take Millepedes cleans'd a Pound Cloves slic't half an Ounce pour on them of White-wine two Pounds let them distil in a Gourd-glass the Dose is from an Ounce to an Ounce and a half twice a day We may prescribe for poor People Remedies more easie to be had after this manner Take Conserve of the Leaves of Rue made with an equal part of Sugar six Ounces Let the quantity of a Nutmeg be taken twice a day drinking after it a Decoction of the Seeds and Roots of Bur-dock made in Whey prepar'd of White-wine Or let a
White-wine half an Ounce let them boil in two Pounds and a half of Fountain-water till a half be wasted add of Rhenish-Wine a Pound and strain it presently into which put of the best Sena half an Ounce Rhubarb six Drams Leaves of black Hellebore half an Ounce the yellow Coats of Oranges two Drams make a close and warm Infusion for twelve hours let the Straining be kept in a stopt Glass the Dose is from five Drams to six It were easie to set down here many other forms of Catharticks but there is no great variety requir'd in these But of the foregoing let these or the others be given as they best agree and now and then let them be repeated within five or six days as occasion requires An over frequent and violent Purging casts down the powers of the Body greatly impairs the strength of the Viscera and in the mean time does not take away the Disease After a Purge or two if Bleeding be indicated let Blood be drawn from the Arm or from the Vessels of the Fundament by Leeches It matters not much which Vein be open'd nor is the opening of the Salvatella Vein of as much moment as it is said As to the large Discourses made by Authors concerning the opening of the Liver or Cephalick Veins rather than any others in the Scurvy since the Circulation of the Blood has been known it comes to nothing Phlebotomy is indicated by a plenty and vitiousness of the Blood which it is better to let forth at several times in a small quantity than at once in a great For when the Liquour of the Blood is become very impure it is corrected by no kind of Remedy more certainly than by a frequent and spare letting of it forth for the old corrupted Blood as often as it is drawn forth is succeeded by a better and clearer fresh Blood mean while there is need of caution that it be not drawn away at once in too great a quantity for its store being much drain'd together Sanguification fails so that a Dropsy or Cachexia ensues Besides Purging and if need be opening a Vein many Remedies of another kind no less necessary are requir'd in the Scurvy And that they may be prescrib'd in order we must forthwith consider whether only Preservatory Indications have place here and whether certain Curatory Indications viz. such as have regard to some severely pressing Symptoms ought not to be interchangeably pursued with them And if you are to imploy the whole work of the Cure against the cause of the Discase you may proceed after the following method We shall shew you hereafter what sort of Cure is to be apply'd to Symptoms if haply occasion requires it Therefore if nothing hinders but you are to imploy the chiefest stress of Physick in rooting out the cause of the Disease principally and by it self for this purpose let Digestives likewise and Specificks or Antiscorbuticks as we hinted before be us'd at all times unless on the days of Purging To which sometimes if it be needful let Diaphoreticks or Diureticks be added Manifold forms and prescripts of Medicines and of various kinds for performing these intents are every where to be found amongst Authors I shall here set down some of the more choice of them which I here thought good to distribute into two ranks according to the twofold nature of the Scorbutick Cause viz. the Sulphureo-saline and Salino-sulphureous Dyscrasies of the Blood And first I shall deliver such as are proper in this latter kind of affect viz. where there is need of Medicines endow'd with a certain instigating vertue and such as are very much fill'd with a Volatile Salt Let Digestive Medicines that restore the Ferment of the Stomach and help the Functions of that and of other of the Viscera which serve for Chylification and Anti-Scorbuticks or Specificks which take away the Dyscrasy of the Blood either be joined in the same Composition or at leastwise let them be taken the same day one after the other Among digestive Remedies are justly counted the Cream Crystals Salt and Tincture of Tartar Tartar Vitriolated and Chalybeated Elixir Proprietatis the simple mixture The use of each of these given twice a day oftentimes does good Moreover you may easily make Magistral Tinctures and Elixirs of various kinds both digestive and appropriated to the Scurvy with the two following Menstruums Take rectified Spirit of Vitriol Six Ounces Spirit of Wine Alcholized sixteen Ounces mix them and Distill them in a Glass retort with three Cohobations keep it for use in a Glass well stopt Elixir Proprietatis is more easily and better prepar'd with this Compound Menstruum than the vulgar way Take Winters-bark Lignum Aloes Roots of the lesser Galingal of each two Drams Cinnamon Cloves Cubebs of each a Dram Seeds of Bishops-weed and Watercresses of each half a Dram being bruised pour to them of the foresaid Menstruum enough to cover them three Fingers over let them digest in a Matrace in a Sand Furnace for six days let the straining be kept in a Glass close stopt The Dose is twenty Drops more or less in a Spoonfull of Canary or of an appropriated Liquor Let it be given twice a day Take white Amber Gum of Ivy Caranna Tacamahaca of each a Dram Saffron half a Dram Cloves Nutmegs of each two Scruples being bruised pour to them the aforesaid Menstruum and let a Tincture be extracted according to Art The Dose is twenty Drops as above Take blew Salt of Tartar four Ounces let it digest in a Matrace with a Pound of Spirit of Wine Alcholized till a Tincture be extracted Let this be another Menstruum with which you may prepare Elixirs out of Gums Spices c. after the same manner as with the former Menstruum While these kinds of Medicines are given in a small Dose in the Evening and early in the Morning at Physical hours viz. at eight a Clock in the Forenoon and at four in the Afternoon let the Antiscorbutick Medicines of the other kind be taken which for the most part we are wont to prescribe in a twofold form viz. in a solid form and a liquid to be taken all under one so that the solid Medicine being taken first the liquid is drank after it there are various kinds and ways of Composition of both viz. in a solid form Electuaries Confections Powders Pills and Tablets in a liquid form are Decoctions Infusions Expressions Distill'd Waters Physick Wines and Ales. We shall give you some of the more select Medicines of each of these kinds Electuaries TAke Conserve of Scurvy-grass Roman Wormwood Fumitory of each two Ounces Powder of Winters-bark Roots of Angelica and Aron of each two Drams Species Diatrion Santalon a Dram and a half Powder of Crabs-eyes a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of the Juice of Citrons make an Electuary Take Conserve of the Leaves of Scurvy-grass and Brooklimes made with an equal quantity of
through their own fault in as much as being spent or affected with a stupefactive force they are congeal'd as it were or because their Paths or tracts are obstructed in the outward part of the Brain and are possess'd by a strange guest so that they have not a space granted them fit for their expanson The chief Symptoms of this Disease are Sleep and Forgetfulness a cessation of every other knowing or spontaneous function an uneven and slow respiration a Fever and often the affect growing worse Cramps leapings of the Tendons and lastly universal and mortal Convulsions The prognostick of the Lethargy is included in very narrow bounds for the Fit of the Disease being for the most part acute is soon terminated in Death or a Recovery and most commonly is wont to give more cause of fear than hope If it happens upon a Fever that is malignant or of a difficult determinations or if upon other cephalick or convulsive Diseases as the Head-ach Frensy Mania Epilepsy or also if on a long continued or severe Cholick or Gout the Physician can prognostick nothing but ill nor is it less to be fear'd if it happens in a cacochymical Body or in one long subject to sickness and in old age In like manner it is an ill Omen if the Diseas'd being presently overwhelm'd with a great deadness and becoming almost Apoplectical cannot be awak'd if he breaths unevenly and flowly or with great snoarings Moreover if the Disease growing worse and worse the sick Person be affected with Tremblings Cramps leapings of the Tendons and lastly with convulsive motions he is to be look'd upon as in a desperate condition But if the affect without any great Procatarxis be rais'd by an evident Cause alone as from over-eating drunkenness the use of Narcoticks or from a stroak or wound of the Head that are not very dangerous we may expect a less fatal event Moreover if the affect arising on such an occasion happens to a Body which was sound and robust before if at the first invasion it does not wholly take away the Sense and Memory and after a little time the symptoms begin to remit we may not despair of such a sick Person In any Lethargy if the cause of the Disease seems somewhat to be shaken and mov'd so as plentiful and laudable evacuations by Sweat Urine or Seige happen by the help of Medicines or by the instinct of Nature and give ease if upon the application of Vesicatories a great glut of filthy Waters flows forth if inflamed swellings or great pushes arise behind the Ears or in the Neck if a great sneezing with a dropping at the Eyes or Nose shall happen we may thence conceive some hope of recovery And sometimes an Empyema hapning upon a Lethargy puts an end to it viz. inasmuch as the morbifick matter which was fix'd in the Head and first caus'd the Lethargy being afterward drank up again by the Blood and depos'd in the Breast produces the Empyema In the description of the Epidemical sleepy Fever which reign'd An. 1661. we have observed that this hapned to many Concerning the Cure of this Disease since it allows no truce we must not be long deliberating After the injection of a smart clyster presently let a Vein be open'd for the Vessels being emptied of Blood more readily drink up again the Serum or other humours depos'd in the Brain Moreover I advise in this case the Jugular Vein to be open'd rather than a Vein of the Arm because by this means the Blood very much heap'd together and haply stagnating within the Sinus's of the Head will be more easily reduc'd to an even circulation After Bleeding other Remedies of every kind are presently to be applied to use let large Visicatories be applied to the Neck and Legs the Faces and Temples are to be anointed with Oyl of Amber or Cephalick Balsams let Cataplasms of Rue Pepperwort or Crowfoot well pounded together with black Soap and Sea-Salt be applyed all over the Feet let smart frictions be us'd to the Limbs let Salt of Vrine or Spirit of Sal Armoniack be frequently held to the Nostrils In the mean while let Cephalick Remedies be now and then taken Take Water of Peony Flowers Black Cherries Rue Walnuts simple of each three ounces compound Peony Water two ounces Castoreum tyed in a Nodulus and hung in the Glass two drams Sugar three drams mix them make a Julep let four or five spoonfuls be taken every third or fourth hour moreover to each dose of this add from twelve to fifteen drops of Spirit of Harts-horn Amber or Sal Armoniack or a paper of the following Powder Take Powder of Male Peony Roots Mans Scull Roots of Virginia Serpentary Contrayerva of each a dram Bezoar Pearl of each half a dram Coral prepar'd a dram make a Powder divide it into twelve parts Moreover it is here to be considered whether a purging by Vomit or Seige ought not to be ordered just at the beginning I know that this is variously controverted amongst Authors and I have known it us'd in practice with a various success which being considered and compared betwixt themselves I shall briefly declare what is my opinion If a Lethargy has arose from a fresh over-eating or being drunk or if from taking improper and narcotick things presently let a vomit be raised Wherefore let Salt of Vitriol be given with Wine and oximel of Squils or in robust Persons an infusion of Crocus Methallorum or Mercurius Vitae with Black-Cherry Water and afterward unless it works of its own accord let a Vomit be provoked by thrusting a Quill into the Throat But if the invasion of the Disease happens upon a Feaver or other Cephalick affects or if it be raised primairly or per se by reason of a Procatarxis first laid in the Blood or in the Brain Vomits and Purges given presently at the beginning whilst the matter is flowing are wont oftner to do more hurt than good to wit inasmuch as whilst the humours are in motion those Medicines more exagitate them and since they are not yet able to subdue them and lead them forth they drive them into the part affected On the second day if the dead sleepiness be not yet remitted let bleeding in case the Pulse indicates it be repeated or in its stead let Blood be taken away in the Shoulder-blades by Cupping-glasses after Scarification Then a little afterward let an Emetick Medicine if nothing prohibits it or a Cathartick be given Take Sulphur of Antimony five grains Scammony sulphurated eight grains Cream of Tartar six grains mix them make a Powder let it be given in a spoonful of the Julep prescribed Or Take Scammony sulphurated twelve grains Cream of Tartar fifteen grains Castoreum three grains make a Powder give it after the same manner Mean while let the same or the like altering or deriving Remedies be still continued On the third day and afterward those things which at the beginning of the Disease were
things being thus premitted concerning the Vertigo in general it seems likewise proper for us to delineate a therapeutick method more particularly and to give an orderly process of it And first it shall be shewn what is to be done in the Fit for curing it and then what out of the Fit for preservation 1. As to the former tho an invasion of the Vertigo how violent soever it may seem for the most part is free from danger and often passes off easily of its own accord yet because those that are affected with it fearing themselves a dying desire Physical Aid in such a case if the Pulse indicates it a Clyster being premitted let bleeding be ordered then a Vesicatory being applied to the Neck let strong-smelling things as Castoreum Spirit or volatile Salt of Harts-horn Vrine or Sal Armoniack be presently held to the Nostrils moreover let those Spirits be given twice or thrice a day with a convenient dose of a Cephalick Julep going to bed let a bolus of Mithridate with powder of Castoreum be taken the day following if the affect be not yet gone let a gentle Purge be given or if the Diseas'd be inclined or easie to vomit let an Emetick be taken than which there is scarce any Remedy more excellent Take Pillulae de Succino twenty five grains Rosm of Jalap six grains Tartar vitriolat seven grains Balsam of Peru what suffices make four Pills to be taken going to bed or early in the morning or Take Sulphur of Antimony five grains Cream of Tartar half a scruple Castoreum two grains make a powder to be taken with governance expecting a vomiting That Vomits often do good in the Vertigo besides the testimony of Authors it sufficiently appears also by common observation and since vertiginous Persons vomit often of their own accord hence an opinion has grown amongst many that the cause of this Disease lies hid in a manner alwayes in the Stomach but we have shewn elsewhere that this is otherwise and that the vomiting frequently happens by reason of the Spirits being troubled in the Brain Now the reason why Emeticks do good in this Disease is that by this kind of Medicine both a very great Revulsion is made of Humours from the Brain and that the Spirits there being in a tumult are presently restrain'd When the Membranes and Fibres of the Ventricle and the Viscera placed near it are twitcht various Humours viz. the nervous serous lymphick pancreatick and bilous are drawn into those Parts and so dreined that the Brain continues free from their Incursions nay and easily throws off a great many then sticking in it Then as to the animal Spirits we have shewn elsewhere that there is alwayes a very great communication and intimate accord betwixt those that reside in the Stomach and those of the Brain so that a grateful or ingrateful affect of the Stomach from things taken causes erections or dejections of the Spirits residing in the Brain Opiats whilst remaining in the Stomach bring a sleepiness so in the Vertigo and other Cephalick Diseases it will not conduce a little to the redressing and regulating of the Spirits in the Brain when all in confusion and mightily agitated if their consociates or relations be put in a consternation within the Ventricle by an irritating Medicine for whilst for the aid of these a great many are call'd from the Brain the others remaining remit of their disorders and resume their ancient Offices doubtless it is chiefly for this reason that Emeticks often give great Relief in affects of the Mania insomuch that certain Empiricks use in a manner those alone 2. But returning from this small digression let us consider what is to be done for curing an inveterate and almost continual Vertigo out of the Fit therefore in the first place a method being ordered concerning blooding and purging to be us'd and repeated at fit intervals of time according to the Constitution and strength of the Patient I also use to advise that a Vomit if nothing indicates the contrary be taken once a Month for which end to weak Persons after the Stomack 's being fill'd with light food let Wine and Oximel of Squills be given to two or three ounces and afterwards let posset-drink with Carduus leaves boyl'd in it be drank in a great quantity and let it presently be thrown up again with a spontaneous or forced vomiting To others let an Emetick be given of Salt of Vitriol or of the Infusion of crocus Metallorum Concerning Issues Vesicatories the opening of the hemorrhades also of a Plaister or Cap to be worn on the Head and of topicks to be apply'd to the soles of the Feet or to the Wrists for revulsion or derivation let a Physician deliberate Take Conserve of the Flowers of male Peony six ounces powder of its Roots an ounce Peony seeds powdered two drams Amber Coral Pearl powdered of each two drams and a half Salt of Coral a dram Syrup of coral what suffices make an Electuary The Dose is a dram and a half or two drams in the evening and early in the morning drinking after it three ounces of the following distilled Water Take fresh leaves of Mistletow six handfuls roots of male Peony Angelica of each a pound and half the white dung of Peacocks two pounds Cardamum bruised two ounces Castoreum three Drams all being slic'd small and mixt together pour to them of White wine or of Whey prepar'd of it eight pounds distill it with common Organs let the whole Liquor be mix'd Take powder of the root of male Peony half an ounce red Coral prepar'd Species Diambroe of each a dram and half powder of male Peony flowers fresh bruised and dried in the Sun a dram make a powder to which add of double resin'd Sugar dissolved in Peony water and boyled to a consistency for Tablets ten ounces make Tablets according to Art weighing half a dram let one or two be taken often in a day Because all things do not agree with all Persons but a Physician ought to assay divers Medicaments and insisting on a various Method at one time to try these Medicines another those therefore I shall here set down certain forms of another kind Take our Syrup of Steel six ounces let a spoonful be taken in the Morning and at five of the Clock with three ounces either of the distilled Water even now described or of some other Cephalick Water or take from fifteen to twenty drops of our Syrup of Steel with a draught of the same distilled Water twice a day I have known these things to have given great Relief to many Sometimes let doses of the Spirits of Soot Harts-horn or Sal Armoniack impregnated with Amber Coral or Mans Scull or let tincture of Amber Antimony or Coral be daily given after the same manner Take Powder of the Roots of male Peony an ounce and a half Peony Seeds Coral prepared white Amber of each three Drams Pearl prepared Powder of male Peony
let a gentle purge sometimes and letting blood in a small quantity if the strength will bear it frequently be used for the same pursose and likewise for deriving Faeculencies from the Brain Issues are proper in the Arm or in the Leg or together in both in gross Bodies and such as have a moist Brain it is good sometimes to cut two by the Shoulder blades Moreover it is on this account that some mightily extoll trepanning to wit whereby the Brain may transpire and evaporate the more freely let the diet belight and attenuating the Habitation in a free and dry Air the Sleep moderate After that these things have been used for some time and in a solemn manner if there be found no change it will be in vain to waste any more physical Oyle and Labour but if after the use of those things signs of benefit or some hope appear sometimes it seems proper to add altering Remedies to be taken daily at Physical hours for a long time Forms of these may be taken from our curatory part of Physick before delivered for removing the Procatarxes of most Cephalick Diseases Moreover I have thought good to add here besides some Magistral Receipts which particularly regard this case Take Spirit of Armoniack succinated six drams give from fifteen drops to twenty in the Evening and early in the Morning in three spoonfuls of the following distilled water drinking after it seven spoonfuls of the same Take fresh leaves of mistletoe growing on Apple-trees six handfuls Sage Rosemary Savory Wild-time Calamint Penny-royal Marjoyam the greater Rochet of each four handfuls roots of Angelica Master-wort of each six ounces Zedoary the lesser Galingal Calamus Aromaticus Winters bark of each two ounces Cloves Nutinegs Mace Cinnamon Ginger of each an ounce Cubebs Cardamums Grains of Paradise of each six drams all being slic'd small and bruised pour to them of the best Canary wine twelve pounds let them digest cold and in a close Vessel for three dayes then distill them according to Art let the whole Liquor be mixt and sweeten it with Sugar as you use it the Dose is two or three ounces After the use of Spirit of Armoniack for fifteen or twenty dayes let other Medicines have their turns for about the same space of time such as are the Spirits of Soot Harts-horn mans skull the tincture of Coral Antimony Castoreum Amber Quercitan's Elixir of Life Elixir Proprietatis Spirit of Lavender c. Or Take Conserve of the flowers of Lillies of the Valley six ounces roots of Aromatick-reed preserv'd six drams Ginger condited in the Indies Nutmegs condited of each half an ounce Species Diambrae two drams Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders roots of choice Zedoary Cubebs Jamaica Pepper of each a dram and half Coral prepar'd two drams Syrup of the Preserve of Ginger what suffices make an Electuary the Dose is two drams morning and evening drinking after it three ounces of the distill'd Water Let those whose Brains abound with too much moisture drink every morning a draught of Coffee with the leaves of Sage first boyled in it to those whose animal Spirits are effaete and depauperated the drink of Chocolate such as before describ'd seems profitable For ordinary drink prepare small Ale or Beer and in a Vessel of three or four Gallons let the following Bag be put after it has wrought Take leaves of Salvia acuta dried four handfuls Cubebs an ounce Cloves Nutmegs being slic'd and bruis'd mix them according to art Outward Applications have place here or which kind are a Cucupha or Cap Plaisters and Liniments and sometimes let these sometimes those or the others be us'd Take Flowers of Lillies of the Valley Rofemary and Staechas of each a handful Celtick spike two drams Roots of Cyperus the lesser Galingal Florentine orris of each three drams Labdanum Benzoin Balsam of Tolu Amber of each two drams Nutmegs Colves Mace Cinnamon of each a dram and a half make of all a jubtle powder and sew it into a cap interlacing it with Cotton Take of the Plaister call'd Flos Vnguentorum two ounces Tachamahacha Ceranna Balsam of Tolu of each three drams powder of Amber and Myrrhe of each two drams Cloves Nutmegs Mace of each a dram being melted together let them be made into a mass of which let a Plaister be made to be spread on Leather and to be apply'd to the Head shav'd Take Oyle of Palm half an ounce oleum Capivii three drams Balsam of Peru a dram oyl of Nutmegs by expression two drams oyl of Amber half a dram make a liniment for the Head I could add here many other Medicines and wayes of Administrations but let these suffice in a Case almost desperate where most commonly no Remedies do good and the Cure is never perfected CHAP. XIII Instructions and Prescripts for curing the Gout AMong the Diseases of the Head and Genus nervosum we justly rank also certain Affects which are wont chiefly to infest the Feet and Belly to wit the Gout and Colick For we may conclude from the primary symptom viz. Pain that the Seats of both are in the nervous parts I shall speak in the first place of the for mer. The Gout most commonly is wont to arise about the Internodia of the Bones of the Feet tho often it happens in the Joynts of the Hip Knee Elbow Shoulder Wrist Ancle and of other Parts The Fits of this Affect which in a manner is always intermittent either seize at random or periodically which ending sometimes sooner sometimes later good lucid Intervals ensue presently upon the first invasion Pains for the most part arise without any swelling tho afterward about the height of the Disease the Part affected often swells the Pains about the beinning scarce yield to any Remedies but are wont to be very much exasperated by Catharticks and not presently to be driven away or asswag'd by Topicks the Fits most commonly seize on a sudden and without a precious affect tho sometimes it has a fore-running effervescence in the Blood or a little Fever The Disposition to this Disease sometimes is Hereditary sometimes acquir'd through an ill Diet the Occasions or Causes which being wont to actuate the Disposition raise the Arthritick Pains are some violent alterations or Passions inflicted on the Humours and Spirits Hence Surfeiting immoderate drinking especially of acid and thin Wines Transpiration letted Anger immoderate Venery Sadness also the Revolutions and great changes of the Year and Air every where bring Fits of this Disease those that are obnoxious to this are also in danger of being sometimes troubled with the Stone or Gravel in the Kidneys and on the contrary moreover the Gout increasing gathers together every where about its chief Seats to wit the Joynts a calculous matter and there raises a tophous mass The Parts affected upon the twitching of whose Fibres the Pains are raised for the most part are the Periostia or the Membranes covering the heads of the Bones also the Tendons and
beginnings of the Disease the reason of the difference seems chiefly to lye in this viz. that in some gouty Persons who are yet firm in the Constitution and Tone of the Humours and the containing Vessels and whose Joynts are not yet weakned as often as the Blood and Nervous Liquour are troubled by a medicine their Superfluities and Recrements are not presently precipitated into the Minera of the Disease but yielding to the Medicine irritating and stirring them they are drawn from the Mouths of the Arteries into the Cavities of the Intestines and mean while the emptied Vessels withdraw or drink up again a part of the morbifick matter but on the contrary in tender and weakned constitutions upon the gentlest commotion of a Medicine the Recrements of both humours fall into the Place troubled with the Gout To those therefore with whom purging agrees it ought to be ordered with a strong and exagitating Medicine for this purpose are vulgarly famous the Electuary Caryocostinum Syrup of Buckthorn compound Powder of Hermodacts Pilul ex duobus Pil. Rhasis which if we may believe the Authour will make such as are not able to goe presently to walk about Take of the best Aloes half an ounce red Roses two Scruples Hermodacts pill'd a dram and a half Diagridium a dram Honey of Roses what suffises make Pills Rodericus a Fonseca wonderfully extolls the roots of black Hellebore and amongst other things an Apple with the Fibres of it stuck in it to half a dram rosted under the Embers and eaten Take Calomelanos a Scruple Rosm of Jalap three grains or of Scammony three grains Oyle of Cloves a drop Balsam of Peru what suffises make three or four Pills for one dose In purging what Solenander prescribes happily may be of some moment viz. by putting a Plaister or some other defensive Medicine on the place to hinder the falling of the humour to it Vomiting with those with whom it uses to be safe and easie does well also in this Disease for which end the Emetick Tartar of Mynsicht Sulphur of Antimony its Flowers Mercurius Vitae Vinum Emeticum Gutta Gamba may be given Moreover in a Fit of the Gout Powder of Stones Bones and Shells and also of smart Vegetables do good which being said to be the Antidotes of this Disease subdue all Particles and fermenting with them mortifie them as it were and at length being subjugated send them forth by Urine or sweat Take compound Powder of Crabs Claws two drams Ivory Roots of bastard Dittany Roots of male Peony of each a dram Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders of each half a dram make a Powder let it be taken from half a dram to a dram either by it self in a Spoonful of red Poppey water drinking after it six Spoonfuls of the same or let it be made into a Bolus or Pills with Venice Treacle or Venice Turpentine what suffises the dose is a dram twice a day drinking after it of the distilled water beneath prescribed two or three ounces Or Take of the same Powder six drams conserve of Clove-gilliflowers and Betony Flowers of each an ounce and a half Diascordium two drams Syrup of Maeconium what suffises make an Electuary the dose is a dram to two drams Evening and Morning Mean while that these things are done for withdrawing elsewhere the morbifick Matter which would flow into the places affected or for sending it forth let altering and qualifying Medicines likewise have their turns which may appease the Turgescencies of the Blood and Nervous Juice and stop the fluxions of the Recrements falling from them for this end a thin diet and a drinking of Water if it be proper being ordered let Emulsions Juleps Apozemes of mild things and Anodines be prescribed As to what concerns the other Scopes of curing viz. the discussion of the Minera sticking in the Parts and the mitigating the excandescencies of the Fibres and Spirits we must insist first on this latter without the performance of which we cannot answer the other intent for this end therefore it is expedient to use both outward things viz. Topicks of various kinds and inward things viz. Hypnoticks There being a vast number of Topicks they either being only Anodines have regard to the Pain it self or levelling at this together with the Tumour they are either Repercussives or Resolvents and Discussers there are various Forms and Wayes of Administrations of every kind of these but those of cheifest use are wont to be Fomentations Cataplasms and Plaisters we shall set down some of the most noted of these and first Anodyne Applications which moderate the Fibres and appease the Spirits by a certain soothing for this use a Cataplasm of Milk and Crum of Bread or of those things with the poúndings of the Leaves and Roots of Mallows and Althea and the like are every where in common Practice with the Vulgar Others commend a Cataplasm of fresh Cow-dung applyed warm Take Water of Night-shade or of the Spawn of Frogs of each six ounces Saccharum Saturni a dram mix them let linnen Cloaths dipt in this be applyed warm Take of red Lead three ounces distilled Vinegar two pounds digest them for many dayes let either this Liquour by it self or a Water drawn from it by distillation be used for a Fomentation Also a distilled water made of the Tincture of Verdigrease distilled in Vinegar often appeases Pains I was told by a Gentleman often troubled with a severe Gout that he in the cruel Tortures of that Disease had always present ease from a Fomentation with a Water distilled from the contents of a Bullocks paunch newly killed Against extream Tortures of the Gout outward Narcoticks sometimes ought to be used Take Leaves of Henbane and Hemlock of each three Handfuls let them be put into boyling Water and as soon as they grow tender let them be taken forth to which being bruised add Powder of the Flowers of Cammomil about two drams the yolk of one Egg make a Cataplasm Or Take Tincture of Saffron made in Spirit of Wine four ounces Camphire and Opium of each a dram let there be a close and warm digestion till they are dissolved let the part that pains be anointed with this Liquour there are innumerable Medicines of this kind every where to be found in Books of Physick and are every where wont to be prescribed by every vulgar Person which likewise may suffice for fulfilling the other intent to wit the repercussion of the Humours if at any time it seems to be indicated As to what regards resolvent and discussing Topicks such are not required which only open the Pores that the Serum may evaporate and the Blood may be restored to Circulation as in a Phlegmon or Aedema but whose saline Particles being destinated for strongly assaulting the saline Particles of the Arthritick Minera may either draw them forth by laying hold of them or by precipitating them keep them from their Pain causing Effervescencies wherefore in this Disease when Fomentations or
Cataplasms of Chammomil Mallows Marshmallows Linseed and Faenugreek seeds do little or no good nay often much offend the nervous parts by relaxing them the Dissolutions or Stillatitious Liquours of Sal Armoniack Sea-salt Nitre Vitriol quick Lime and the like which in other Humours and Pains are always offensive are wont to prove very beneficial Of these kinds of Liquours to be applyed to the part pained in Fits of the Gout several are prescribed by Quercitan Crollius Hartman and other Chymists which since other famous Physicians upon frequent tryals have approved off we conclude them to have given relief for the foresaid reason I need not repeat here the forms of these as I could suggest many other Preparations of the same sort I shall here only add one or two Take Salt of Tartar and Armoniack powdred of each two ounces dissolve them in four pounds of Rain-water or Fountain-water let it be used luke-warm with Linnen-Cloaths dipt in them Take spirit of Vitriol not rectified a pound Sea-salt calcin'd and powdred a pound mix them and distill them in a Glass Retort with a sand heat there will come forth a pure spirit of Salt to wit which being driven from its seat by the distilled Liquor of the Vitriol and leaving to it its possession will easily dscend to the Caput mortuum pour Spirit of Wine two pounds make a close and warm digestion adding of Camphire two drams let it be applyed warm to the part grieved with Linnen Cloaths Take filings of Iron Flowers of Sal Armoniack of each six ounces mix them by boyling them together let it be distilled in a Glass Retort till the Flowers are sublimed to the caput mortuum bruis'd pour spirit of Wine digest and keep it for use I have heard that some for appeasing Pains of the Gout put the foot affected in a bag fill'd with Sea-salt calcin'd and powdred from which they still expect a certain and quick relief In the declination of the Fit to strengthen the part and to discuss the remainder of the morbifick matter Plaisters are usefully applyed which nevertheless do not all agree indifferently with all Persons but with these more hot with othérs less hot tho with most those are wont to be most efficacious in which are red Lead Litharge Mercury and other mineral or saline things we use chiefly a Plaister of red Lead Cerusse and Soap boyled with Oyle or take the red Lead Plaister two parts Paracelsus's Playster one part mix them and spread them on Leather Inward Remedies to be used against Pains of the Gout are in a manner only Narcoticks which ought to be given in a cruel and long continued Pain Of these we most commend Preparations of Opium with Salt of Tartar or its Tincture Moreover for this use Paracelsus's or the London Laudanum Pilul de Styrace de Cynoglosso Syrup of Meconium Venice Treacle and Diascordium are wont to prove beneficial The second indication called preservatory has respect to the removal of the Procatarctick Causes of the Gout so that the Fits of the Gout may molest with invasions more seldom and less or not at all For this end evacuating altering and corroborating Remedies together with an exact sorm of Dyet are prescribed to be used out of the Fits 1. Therefore Gouty persons ought to Purge solemnly Spring and Fall and it will be convenient then to give a Vomit if nothing indicates the contrary and afterward to repeat it sometimes by intervals Those who have a strong Stomach and Praecordia may take Mineral Emeticks prepar'd of Antimony and Mercury Those who are of a more tender constitution after having eaten slippery food may take Wine of Squills or Salt of Vitriol with Whey Afterward the Stomach being filled with warm Water or plain Posset-drink or with the leaves of Carduus boyled in it let a Vomiting be raised twice or thrice or oftner For Purging to be used also frequently at fit intervals of time the forms of Purges above prescribed may be proper enough Or Take threads of black Hellebore cleansed an ounce lignum aloes Cloves of each two drams being bruised pour to them of Spirit of Wine not rectified two pounds let there by a close and warm digestion for many days the dose is two or three spoonfuls in the morning twice or thrice a week and let Vomiting and Purging always be begun before the Equinoxes lest haply the fit hapning first may prevent the course of Physick Blooding or opening of the hemorrhoid Vessels are sometimes proper Spring and Fall to Persons of a hot temperament and a sharp Blood Cauteries made in the Arms and near the Shoulder-blades are useful in a manner to all that are obnoxious to this Disease Moreover altering Remedies call'd by the Ancients the Antidotes of the Gout are of excellent use and being taken sor a long time together with an exact governance as to the six nonnatural things often give great relief In this rank Medicines endow'd with a Volatile Salt or a Balsamick Sulphur to wit inasmuch as these exalt the fixt Salt and those reduce the acetous are accounted the chief again bitter and astringent things as the Herbs Germander Groundpine Centory Roots of Gentian and Birthwort c. since they are approv'd of by experience in this Disease seem to be profitable for this reason that they help the offices of Concoction and Chylification and keep the saline faeculencies from being carried into the Blood Let us set down certain forms of each of these Take Powder of Groundpine six dram Crabs-eyes two drams Venice Turpentine what suffices make small Pills let three or four be taken in the evening and morning for thirty or firty days drinking after it of the following distill'd Water two or three ounces Take leaves of Cypress Firr Misteltoe growing on Apple-trees of each six handfuls Roots of Avens the great Burr-dock of each a pound the outward rinds of ten Oranges and six Limons Nutmegs Mace of each an ounce being all slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of fresh Milk seven pounds Malaga Sack a pound let them be distilled according to art let the whole liquor be mixt Or let a plain Water be prepared of the leaves of the great Burr-dock cohobating it twice or thrice on fresh leaves Take Powder of the Seeds of the great Burr-dock six drams Crabs-eyes two drams Nutmegs half a dram Balsamum Capivii what suffices make a mass and let it be made into little Pills let four be taken in the evening and morning for many dayes Take Tincture of Antimony an ounce the Dose is twenty drops to twenty five in the evening and early in the morning with three ounces of the water even now describ'd To poor People I use to prescribe after this manner Take powder of the leaves of Sage half a pound Crabs-eyes Saccharum Crystallinum of each two ounces mix them let it be kept in a glass let a spoonful be taken twice a day with a draught of the decoction of the leaves of
viz. such as are prepared of Tartar Sulphur the fixt Salts of Herbs of burnt Harts-horn also of the Claws or Eyes of Crabs For Example Take Cream of Tartar three drams Salt of Wormwood a dram and half the Dose is half a dram in an aperient Decoction twice a day out of the Fit Or Take Cream of Tartar two drams Powder of Crabs-eyes a dram Nitre purified half a dram mix them let it be giv'n after the same manner Or Take burnt Harts-horn two drams Spirit of Vitriol as much as the Powder will receive by imbibing the dose is a Scruple It is of excellent use when those that are in the Fever are troubled with Worms These kinds of Remedies promote the Secretion of the febrile Matter and restore the almost lost Ferments of the Blood and Viscera The second Intent to wit the due Management of the Diseas'd in the Fits comprehends many things first a neat Form of Dyet ought to be ordered that a large heaping together of the degenerate Juyce for a Matter for the Fit may be hindred wherefore let the Diseased feed only on a thin Food let them wholly abstain from Flesh or Broth made of it from Eggs generous Wine and all rich Fare being content only with Barley or Oat Broths Panada Whey and small Ale in regard a more plentiful Dyet is not concocted or assimilated but it oppresses the Stomach and being mixt with the Blood it troubles its Liquour and forces it to boyl vehemently as the Fit comes on and during the while it lasts unless it be for quenching Thirst let no Food be taken but for qualifying the Heat and Drought cooling Juleps and Decoctions and especially small Ale and Whey ought to be allowed Secondly a little before the feverish Access is expected let a gentle Medicine be given which either may keep off the Fit by preventing it or may render it easie by procuring an easie Sweat For this Use the febrifuge Potion of the Learned Riverius does well made of Carduus Water with Oyl of Sulphur and Salt of Wormwood Or take Cream of Tartar Salt of Wormwood Nettle Seeds of each a Scruple let it be given in a Decoction of the Roots of Sorrel When the Fever begins to decline and the Fits are a little more remiss Febrifuge Epithemes outwardly apply'd often stop the febrile Accesses tho in the mean while as long as the Fits return let the Diseased be so managed that every Access the feverish Matter heap'd together in the Blood may be wholly blown off wherefore when a Sweat happens with difficulty let it be a little raised with temperate Medicines also let the Diseas'd be kept in Bed with a gentle Sweat for many hours nor let them be permitted to rise too soon for I have often observ'd that the Diseased have still grown worse because being impatient of lying in Bed they put on their Cloaths before the watery Effluvia were exhal'd enough Thirdly as to the Symptoms and particular Accidents with which the Diseased are wont to be troubled in this Fever a great many of them are sufficiently provided against with the Remedies and Method of Cure hitherto deliver'd against the Thirst Burning the Roughness of the Mouth and Tongue Vomitings the Loosness a Swooning or danger of Fainting the Prescripts commonly used in other Fevers may aptly enough be transferr'd hither But the Things which in this Disease seem to require a peculiar Method of Healing are chiefly the Affects of the Head and Brain with the Genus Nervosum by which unless seasonably obviated the Diseased are soon brought into a great danger of Life Concerning these kinds of Evils of the Head the Indications are of two kinds If it appears by a Drowsiness a Sleepiness a Vertigo or a Head-ach that the nervous Juyce is too dull and as it were vapid and therefore that it does not vigorously enough actuate the Brain and nervous Bodies besides the Remedies above deliver'd and especially the Vesicatories Medicines full of a volatile Salt excellently conduce in this Case wherefore Spirit of Harts-horn of Blood also the Salts of the same are of excellent Use but if the nervous Liquor be too sharp or the Effluvia sent from the boyling Blood drive the Animal Spirits into Distractions those kinds of Remedies of volatile Salt are given with benefit in somewhat a less quantity Moreover a frequent Letting Blood and Medicines allaying its fervour do good as Emulsions Whey pure Water plentifully drank let Opiates be used in this Fever with great Caution for the Frenzy appeas'd by them is oftentimes chang'd into a Lethargy or a deep Stupor FINIS THE TABLE A. AChes in the Head see Headach Ach in the Belly see Belly Aches or Pains in the Limbs hapning by Night their cure p. 361. Ague see Fever Alexipharmicks see Cordials Anasarca its Description p. 167. Whence it proceeds ibid. The least dangerous of Dropsies ibid. The two chief Scopes of curing it ibid. Hydragogue Medicines of good use in curing it p. 168. How Catharticks work in this Disease ibid. Lixivial Medicines the best Diureticks in this Disease p. 169. Some Praescripts of them ib. Diaphoreticks of use when the swelling begins to abate p. 170. A Praescript of them ib. p. 171. Outward Administrations to be used in this Disease ib. p. 172 173. Medicines for Preservation against this Disease p. 174 175. An Instance of a Person falling into this Disease and recover'd of it p. 176. Antidotes see Cordials Apoplexy where seated p. 420. What the Word Apoplexy imports p. 421. Two kinds of it ib. The various Invasions of the Apoplexy and the causes of them ib. p. 422. The Subject of this Disease ib. Its Prognosticks ib. p. 423. The Therapeutick Method for removing the Fit ib. p. 424. The prophylactick or preservatory method with Praescripts of Medicines p. 425 426. Instances of Persons seis'd with the Apoplexy ib. p. 427. Ascites its Description and whence it proceeds p. 150. what to be considered in order to its Cure ib. Catharticks often do well in it p. 151. An Enumeration of hydragogue Emeticks and Purgers and Prescripts of them ib. p. 152 153 154 155. Diureticks when proper in an Ascites ib. p. 156. What Diureticks proper ib. Diaphoreticks of little or no use in an Ascites p. 157. The best Remedies when we will not proceed to an Incision are Clysters and Plaisters ib. An Incision in whom to be admitted p. 158. An Instance of a Woman cur'd of an Ascites ib. p. 159. Asthma or difficulty of Breathing its description p. 126. Two primary Indications in the method of Cure ib. What to be done in the Fit ib. p. 127 128. What to be done out of the Fit for Preservation ib. p. 129 130 131. Two Instances of Persons troubled with the Asthma and the Methods used with them ib. p. 232. Asthma Convulsive see Cough Asthmatick Fits hapning in the Scurvey their Cure p. 353 354. Atrophia Scorbutick its Cure p. 363 364. B. BElly-ach in the
chief of them together with the Remedies The Emetick matter subsisting in the Ventricle is either brought into it from elsewhere or what for want of digestion or because it is vitiated is engendred there in either respect the present offensive load is first of all to be carried off and then care must be taken to prevent any farther supply of it To cleanse the filthy Mass of viscous matter forth of the Stomach prescribe a gentle Vomit of Carduus Posset-drink or of Oxymel or Wine of Squills or of a Decoction of the Flowers of Chamomil or of the Roots of Eupatorium or give a Solution of the Salt of Vitriol or such like then let the remainder be gently carried off by Glisters or by a Purge of Pilulae Mastichin or Pil. Stomach cum Gummis Tinctura Sacra or an Infusion of Rhubarb Moreover when an impure or rank Blood conveying ever and anon new Stores of offensive matter to the Stomach either by the Arteries or by the Gall-Vessels which often overflow causes a disposition to Vomit Bleeding frequently affords relief and therefore Women with Child troubled with Vomiting are often Cur'd by this means those things also do good which so temper the Blood that they keep it free from breeding adust Excrements Hence Whey Mineral Waters Juices of Herbs Sal Prunella and such like for as much as they fuse the Blood and convey its dreggy Particles some other way often remove Vomiting dispositions These sorts of Remedies may also be us'd in case a frequent and daily Vomiting proceeds as some think it may from the meetings and contest of the Bilous and Pancreatick humours and from their regurgitation into the Ventricle The more frequent Vomiting and harder to be Cur'd is that which proceeds from a disagreeing matter and consequently Emetick engendred within the Ventricle to wit by reason of the vitiated ferment of the Stomach whatsoever is taken into it degenerates into an irritating Mass of Corruption wherefore in this case after that the filth of the Stomach is cleans'd forth by gentle Evacuatives Remedies commonly call'd Digestives are generally us'd which according as the fermenting Juice of the Stomach being for the most part of a Saline Nature and sometimes of a Sulphurous is in a various state of fixtness flowing or adustion are variously prescrib'd and sometimes these sometimes the others do most good In Belching and Acid Vomiting these following Medicines may be try'd and you may fix upon your method of Cure according to what you find agrees best Take Powder of Aron Compound an Ounce and a half Salt of Wormwood two Drams Sugar of Roses three Drams make a Powder give a Dram of it in the Morning and at five a Clock in the Afternoon in a little draught of Beer boil'd with Mace and a Crust of Bread or give it in the distill'd Water or Tincture of Roman Wormwood Take the Powders of Ivory Crabs Eyes and red Coral of each two Drams Calcind Coral one Dram red Saunders Cinnamon of each half a Dram make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram after the same manner Take the Powders of Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders Winters Bark of each two Drams of white Chalk six Drams Sugar-Candy half an Ounce with the Solution of Tragacanth in Mint Water as much as suffices make a Past and let it be form'd into Troches weighing half a Dram let the Patient take three or four of these thrice or oftner in a day Take Tincture of Salt of Tartar an Ounce the Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram twice a day in some proper distill'd Water In hot and sharp or tartish Vomiting Medicines endow'd with a sharp or tartish and vitriolate Salt are more proper The famous Medicine of Riverius in this case does well Take Salt of Wormwood a Scruple give it in a spoonful of Juice of Limmons Take prepar'd Coral two Drams Salt of Wormwood a Dram and a half Juice of Limmons four Ounces let all stand in a large Glass add to it of strong Cinnamon-water two Ounces give a spoonful or two twice a day first shaking the Glass Take Powders of Ivory and Coral of each two Drams Vitriol of Steel a Dram Sugar-Candy a Dram mix them then divide the whole into six or eight parts of which take one part twice a day in some convenient Vehicle In this case Purging Mineral Waters which have much Nitre in them also Waters that come from an Iron Mineral and likewise our Artificial Chalybeate Waters prove of notable effect When at any time the Stomach perverts the most part of what comes into it into a bilous and bitterish Mass of filthy corruption as it often uses to do and for that reason is prone to frequent Vomitings then both acid and bitter things are proper Take Elixir Proprietatis an Ounce the Dose is a Scruple twice a day in some fit Vehicle Take Rhubarb Powdred twenty five Grains Salt of Wormwood a Scruple Cinnamon-water half an Ounce Juice of Limmons an Ounce let it be taken alone or with some other Liquor Take Powder of Aron Compound an Ounce and a half white Christals of Tartar three Drams Vitriol of Steel a Dram Sugar half an Ounce make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram or two Scruples every Morning drinking after it a draught of the Tincture of Roman Wormwood or some Coffee Take Powder of Crabs Eyes half an Ounce Chalybeat Tartar two Drams Sugar-Candy a Dram make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram with a fit Vehicle twice a day Oftentimes the cause of a frequent and habitual Vomiting is not so much the matter irritating the Ventricle as the extream debility of its Nervous Fibres which are neither able to Concoct what is taken into the Stomach nor to endure the weight or burthen of it but are presently irritated by any thing lying upon them and stir up the Carnous Fibres to Excretory Convulsions There are two principal causes of this sort of Affect viz. either the debility of the Stomach arising from the Fibres themselves is gotten by disorder in eating and drinking so that those Fibres for as much as they are beyond measure extended or over-heated and as it were scorch'd are not capable of admitting or containing a sufficient plenty of Animal Spirits Or Secondly These Fibres though they may be well enough dispos'd of themselves yet for that the Nerves are in some other place obstructed they are destitute of a due Afflux of Spirits whence becoming languid and flaxid they cannot bear what is taken in but presently finding themselves over-charged throw all forth by Vomiting In the former Affect those Remedies are indicated which by their Styptick force cause the too much distended and tenuated Fibres to corrugate and contract themselves into a shorter space also such as by their most grateful refreshment enliven their languishing Spirits and allure others more plenteously to them Take Mynsicht 's Elixir of Vitriol an Ounce give from ten Grains to fifteen twice
and every of them in certain cases inasmuch as they fuse the Blood and cause a copious separation of its Serosities are in some sort Diuretick Nevertheless for the reason above-mention'd to wit for that meeting with the Acid Salt when it is predominant in the Blood they prevent and take away its fusion and dissolution I do not doubt but sometimes they may be given with good success to stop Fluxes of Urine And I have heard for certain that one was Cur'd of a Diabetes by an Infusion of quick Lime Now in regard the Saline Medicaments which we suppose to take away the predominancy of the Acid Salt and to fetter it as it were contain either a fixt volatile or Alchalisate Salt I shall give you some Forms of Diureticks which have each of these for their foundation 1. First then when a fixt Salt by it self or join'd with Sulphur is requir'd for a Basis Take Tincture of Salt of Tartar or its Deliquium what suffices Give it thrice a day in a draught of the decoction or distilld water before describ'd Take Tincture of Antimony let it be taken after the same manner thrice a day I have found by frequent experience the use of this to be very profitable in this Disease Take Tincture of Salt of Coral a Scruple let it be taken after the same manner Take of the Infusion of quick Lime a pound The Dose is three or four Ounces thrice a day giving before a Dose of the Electuary or Powder above prescrib'd Take Conserves of the Flowers of blind Nettles and of the great Comphry of each four Ounces of the reddest Crocus of steel half an Ounce Coral calcin'd to a whiteness two Drams Syrup of Comphry what suffices Make an Electuary the Dose is two Drams thrice a day Take Lapis Specularis calcin'd an Ounce The Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram twice or thrice a day Country People with this Medicine successfully Cure their Cattle that piss bloody water Take Coral calcin'd to a whiteness and powdred three Drams Powder of Gumm Arabick and Tragacanth of each a Dram Make Powder divide it into ten parts let one part be taken thrice a day with a fit Vehicle to wit with the decoction or the distill'd water Take the reddest Crocus Martis six Drams Gumm Lac powdred half an Ounce red Saunders a Dram Make a Powder divide it into twenty parts whereof let one be taken thrice a day Take Hartshorn burnt and powdred half an Ounce boil it in four pounds of the water of a Smiths forge till half be consum'd adding towards the end a Crust of Bread Roots of great Comphry and water Lillies dry'd of each an Ounce and a half Sacchari Perlati two Ounces let him take four Ounces thrice a day 2. Medicines containing an Alchalisate Salt such as Coral Pearl Cuttle-bone Hartshorn Ivory Powders of Shells and the like as they are commonly us'd against Rheumatick affects so likewise for a Diabetes And inasmuch as they imbibe the Acid Salt abounding in the Blood and so free the Mass of Blood from fusion we may justly expect a benefit from them Take red Coral ground to a great subtlety Cuttle-bone of each half an Ounce Hartshorn Philosophically calcin'd three Drams Pearl Ivory Crabs Eyes of each a Dram Mix them make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram thrice a day with a fit Vehicle Take of the said Powder three Ounces Species Diatragacanth frigid two Ounces Sugar Candy two Ounces Make a Powder and with a sufficient quantity of the Solution of Gumm Arabick make a Paste and let it be form'd into Troches weighing half a Dram let three or four be taken thrice or oftner in a day Take of the said Powder two Ounces of the Resumptive Electuary four Ounces Conserve of the Flowers of water Lillies three Ounces Syrup of the same what suffices Make an Electuary let him take the quantity of a Chesnut thrice a day drinking after it a draught of the Apozeme or of the distill'd water above prescrib'd 3. For the same reason as Medicines endued with a fixt and Alchalisate Salt seem proper in Curing the Diabetes for the same reason do such as have a volatile Salt For these as well as those lay hold on and draw of the Acid Salt by which the Blood is fus'd and dissolv'd into Serosities so that its Liquor recovers its due Crasis Take the Solar Tincture prepar'd as I readily do it with Sal Armoniack an Ounce The Dose is twenty Drops thrice a day The Spirits of Blood Soot and Hartshorn may also be try'd in this Disease Take Salt of Amber a Dram the reddest Crocus Martis two Drams Mix them divide it into twelve parts the Dose is one part thrice a day III. As to the third kind of Remedies in the Diabetes to wit Hypnoticks which by putting a stay to the Animal Spirits retard the course of the Blood and so hinder in some measure its effervescency and fusion I use to prescribe to some persons Diascordium to be taken every Evening and when that does not do I give sometimes every Night and sometimes every other Night Liquid Laudanum Cydoniated or Tartariz'd and that with good success Take the decoction of Barly with the dry'd Roots of Comphry six Ounces white Poppy-seeds two Drams sweet Almonds prepar'd in number six Make an Emulsion according to art let it be taken every Night going to sleep Take of the Magistral distill'd water above prescrib'd four Ounces Solution of Tragacanth two Drams Diascordium from half an Ounce to six Drams Give it going to sleep Take Conserve of the flowers of water Lillies two Drams Laudanum Tartariz'd or Cydoniated a Scruple Tincture of Saffron six Grains Make a Bolus to be taken going to sleep CHAP. VII Instructions concerning Sweating and Diaphoreticks or Medicines causing Sweat with Prescripts of them FOr a ready and plentiful eruption of Sweat these three things are requir'd First that the Blood boiling more than its wont circulates with a more rapid motion Secondly That its Latex abounds with many watry Particles and those loose that is apt to be separated from the rest of the Liquor and to be resolv'd into Vapours for if there be a deficiency of Serum or if it be not easily separable from the Blood through its too great compactness or incrassation by reason of Faeculencies strongly mixt in it scarce any sweat at all will follow though the intense heat of a burning Fever presses for it and most powerful Diaphoreticks are given at the same time Thirdly The Pores of the whole Body must be set wide open for a free passage of the Sweat Therefore Sweating Medicines to be taken inwardly must be such as make the Blood boil more than ordinarily and consequently cause it to evaporate Also such as somewhat loosen and fuse its often too compact and incrassated Mass that its Serosities may more readily depart from it and be separated and they must be such as at the same
the Blood If haply those Organs being not so much seiz'd with Convulsions they can Cough out freely nevertheless they are still fore'd to Cough with violence and so long till theia strength fails them Though this Cough seldom kills or proves very dangerous yet it is very difficult to be Cur'd and oftner ceases of it self as the year changes then it is conquered by Medicines The reason is that we must not only in this as in an ordinary Cough alter the Blood and derive its drossy Excrements from the Lungs to the habit of the Body to be sent forth by transpiration but we must likewise take care to correct the Nervous Juice which in this case is vitiated with a Heterogeneous and Elastick matter which causes the Convulsive motions As to the Cure of this Disease the method of Curing us'd in other Coughs seldom proves successful in this whererore only Empirical Remedies are commonly Administred Amongst many Remedies of this kind the two following are usually preferr'd before all others whatsoever and are chiefly in use viz. to give inwardly Cup-moss and various preparations and compositions of it and if there be need of and further Cure the Child is to be put into some sudden fright And if these things work not the desir'd effect Ptisans Syrups Julapes or Decoctions and other Pectorals are laid aside and commonly all other Medicines are thrown by expecting till the Disease either ends of it self in process of time or be Cur'd by the succeeding change of the year Cup-moss so commonly us'd amongst us against Coughs of Children has an Astringent vertue as we find by its tast and contains Particles of a smart nature which denote a plenty of Volatile Spirits whence we guess its use to be to fix the Blood and to moderate the Fluxions of the Serum and likewise by Volatilising the Nervous Juice to take away its Convulsive disposition It s usually given in the form of a Powder Decoction and Syrup according to the following Forms Take Cup-moss Powdred a Dram Sugar-Candy a Scruple Mix them divide it into three or four parts take a Dose Evenings and Mornings with a fit Vehicle Take of the said Moss two Drams Lae Sulphuris two Scruples Powder of Anniseeds a Scruple Divide it into six parts give them after the same manner Take of the said Moss Dram boil it in a quantity of Milk sufficient for one Dose let the straining be taken Evening and Morning For those with whom Milk does not agree or to whom it does no good let a decoction of it be prepar'd in fountain water or Hyssop water or any other Pectoral water and let it be given to two or three Ounces twice a day sweetning it with Sugar or some proper Syrup Take of this Moss an Ounce boil it in two Pounds of some Pectoral Water till half be consum'd To the straining add of Sugar-Candy a Pound and let it evaporate in a gentle Bath heat to the consistency of a Syrup The other remedy commonly in use for the Cough of Children is to put them into some sudden fright as by setting them in a Binn when a Mill goes c. which sometimes Cures the Disense on a sudden the reason of which doubtless consists in this that the Animal Spirits being put to flights and driven into new distractions quit their former disorders and likewise that the Convulsive matter is either dissipated by that perturbation or driven into other Nerves where it proves less offensive The Empirical Cure of this Disease being thus set forth together with the Remedies vulgarly us'd and their Aetiologies at least probably explicated I shall now set down a certain rational method of Curing and haply more efficacious against these sorts of Coughs of Children Therefore in such a case I usually prescribe according to the Forms following and sometimes successively enough And First since we must begin with a Purge Take Syrup of Peach Flowers a spoonful Hysterick water a Scruple Mix them let it be taken Cum Regimine Or Take Calamelanos six Grains Scammony sulphurated Rosin of Jalup of each three Grains Make a Powder give it in a little pulp of preserv'd Cherries to a Boy of six Years Old and let the Dose be encreas'd or lessen'd according to the Age Let the Purge be repeated in six or seven days If the Patient as it often happens be prone to Vomit take Oxymel of Squills six Drams Salt of Vitriol four Grains Mix them give it to a Child six Years Old and according to this proportion let a Dose be accommodated to others I have known this kind of Vomit given every Morning for four or five days successively to have done well Blistering Plaisters are much us'd and let them be apply'd sometimes to the Nape of the Neck sometimes behind the Ears sometimes to the Insides of the Arms near the Armpits and as soon as the Sores in those places begin to heal let others be rais'd elsewhere Instead of Beer let the following Decoction be his ordinary drink Take China Roots and Ounce and a half all the Saunders of each half an Ounce shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each three Drams Let them infuse according to Art and boil them in six Pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd adding of Raisins ston'd an Ounce and a half Licorice three Drams Take Spirit of Gum Guaiacum with Sal Armoniack a Dram Syrup of Cup-moss three Ounces Hysterick water an Ounce The Dose is a little spoonful at Night and Early in the Morning Or Take Tincture of Sulphur two Drams The Dose is three drops at Night and early in the Morning in a spoonful of Syrup of Cup-moss To some persons of a hot Constitution and turning of a deep red or rather black colour with Coughing I have sometimes successfully ordered a Vein to be opened or that two or three Ounces of Blood should be drawn from them by Leeches Take live Millepedes cleans'd two Ounces Powder of Anniseeds a Dram Nutmegs haif a Dram double refin'd Sugar an Ounce Being bruis'd together pour to them of Hyssop water six Ounces Magistral Snail water two Ounces Stir them together a little with a Pestle and express it storngly the Dose is two or three spoonfuls twice a day Thus far of the Cough and its Cure whilst it is only an entrance to a Consumption now we must treat of this affect having pass'd the frontiers of this dangerous Disease and set down a method of Cure and forms of Medicines proper for Curing an Inveterate Cough viz. when either neglected or not easily yielding to Medicines it begins to degenerate into a Phthisick that is to say when it is come to that pass that the Blood being loosn'd in its Texture does not only pour the superfluous Serum but even the Nutritive and haply the Nervous Juice the Lympha and other its dreggy Excrements on the Lungs and deposes them within its Ductus's and withal that the depravation of the Lungs is by so much
Preservatory The First teaches what is to be done in the Fit to free the Patient from present danger the other what out of the Fit to take away the Cause of the Disease 1. In the Fit there are two chief Intentions of Curing viz. First That care being taken as well of the Air as of the Lungs a more free Breathing be procur'd at least as much as may suffice to support Life And Secondly That the Organs of Respiration be reclaim'd and made to cease from the Convulsions they are fallen into and which are wont to be continued with obstinacy As to the former in the First place let the Patient be set in an upright Posture of Body in a pretty open place somewhat Airy and free from Smoak and the Breath of By-standers then endeavour that the Lungs being freed of all inward stuffing and oppression as well as outward compression may be able to draw and return the Breath deeper For these ends lest the weight of the inferiour Viscera press down and straiten the Praecordia let the Belly be loosen'd by a Glister and let the Garments and all other things covering or binding the Thorax be slacken'd Moreover since in this case the Lungs are usually opprest either from the Blood growing too turgid within the Pneumonick Vessels or from the Serum distilling forth of the Arteries and Glands into the Ductus's of the Trachea the Sallies and Impetuosities of both humours ought to be restrain'd and appeas'd Hence if the strength will bear it and the Pulse be strong enough Bleeding is often proper Again let those things be carefully given which discharge the Serum and the superfluities of the inflamed Blood by Urine and Sweat For which end Julapes Apozems and Pectorals commonly so call'd are of excellent use Moreover Powders of shells preparations of Millepedes Volatile Spirits and Salts are taken with good effect In the mean time let there be likewise given things that open the Ductus's of the Trachea and make them slippery and provoke expectoration and such also if need be as stop the Catarrh distilling on them for which ends Linctus's Lohoch's Pectoral Decoctions and Suffumigations are proper As to the other intent of Curing in Fits of the Asthma viz. That the Organs of Respiration being reclaim'd from the Convulsions they are fallen into return calmly to their ordinary Functions unless this follows of its own accord after that the turbulent boiling of the Blood and Serum within the Lungs is appeas'd We must use Anti-Convulsive and Anodine Remedies for Medicines wont to be given in Hysterick passions are also proper in a Convulsive Asthma The Spirit of Hartshorn of Soot and especially Spirit of Sal Armoniack distill'd with Gum Ammoniacum also the Tincture of Gum Ammoniacum of Sulphur Castoreum Assa-foetida the Syrup of Ammoniacum of Sulphur Oxymel of Squills and the like which being of an ungrateful tast or smell dissipate the Spirits as it were and withdraw them from tumultuary Efforts prove sometimes of notable use But if the raging Spirits cannot be appeas'd by this means we must come to Narcoticks that some of them being destroyed the rest may return into order For Opiats sometimes are mighty beneficial unless a stopping of the Lungs and a great oppression of the Praecordia forbid their use In horrible sits of this Disease when other Medicines have availed nothing I have often given Diacodium nay Laudanum Tartariz'd with good success Nevertheless these may not be taken without great caution for Respiration which is difficult and clogg'd before being hindred more and that very much by them they often put the Patient in danger of Life Moreover to reclaim the Pnenmonick Spirits from their Convulsions its good sometimes to put the Spirits to torture in some other part for when some of them are any where tormented all the rest for the most part being in a concern at it quit their disorderly motions Wherefore Vesicatories Cupping-glasses Ligatures and Painful Frictions give relief Nay for this reason Vomits taken in the midst of the fit do good I shall now set down certain Select Forms of Remedies appropriated to each of those ends First therefore to restrain the Fluxions of the Blood and Serum and to discharge their superfluities deriv'd from the Lungs by Sweat and Urine let the following things be prescrib'd Take Leaves of ground Ivy eight Ounces Rue Penny-royal and Dragons of each two Ounces Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Srrupus Byzantinus Syrup of red Poppies of each an Ounce Mix them make a Julape let three or four Ounces be taken thrice or oftner in a day Take Grass Roots three Ounces Roots of Butchers-Broom two Ounces Candied Elecampane an Ounce and a half Barley half an Ounce Raisins of the Sun an Ounce Boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds to the straining add of Sal Prunella a Dram and a half sweeten it if it be needful with a sufficient quantity of Syrupus Byzantinus or of Syrup of Violets Take Tincture of Sulphur three Drams The Dose is from six drops to ten at Night and early in the Morning in a spoonful of the Syrup of the Juice of Ivy or of Violets Take Feculae of Aron and Briony of each a Dram and a half Flowers of Sulphur a Dram Flowers of Benzoin half a Dram Sugar Candy half an Ounce Licorice two Drams Make a Powder to be taken to half a Dram or two Scruples twice a day with the foregoing Julape or Apozeme Or Take of the foresaid Powder two Ounces Honey or Oxymel what suffices Make a Linctus take at Night and early in the Morning about half a spoonful at other times take it with a stick of Licorice Take Syrup of Hore-hound and of Garlick of each an Ounce and a half Tincture of Saffron and of Castoreum of each two Drams Mix them take about a small spoonful in the fits Take Spirit of Sal Armoniack with Gum Ammoniacum three Drams the Waters of Snails and of Earth-worms of each three Ounces Syrup of Horehound two Ounces Mix them take a spoonful once in four or five hours Take Powder of Hedg-mustard or of ground Ivy gathered in the Summer Sun an Ounce Oxymel simple what suffices Make a Linctus So much concerning the Medicines and method requisite in a fit of the Asthma The other Indication which is for preservation undertaking to remove the Morbifick cause and the whole Morbid Root has two parts or distinct Intents of Curing which for the most part are both set upon together one of these endeavours to amend the Conformation of the Lungs if it be any way prejudiced or faulty and the other to take away the Irregularities of the parts for motion and of the Spirits appointed for them Both these Intents will very well be answered if Pectoral Remedies commonly so call'd are joyn'd with Anti-Convulsives and are us'd interchangeably with other Medicines which have regard to the preparation of the whole Body and to Emergent Symptoms for which
prescrib'd as follows Take Spirit of Gum Ammoniacum distill'd with Sal Armoniack three Drams Let him take from fifteen drops to twenty in a spoonful of the following Julape drinking after it five spoonfuls let it be repeated every sixth hour Take the waters of Elder Flowers Cammomil and Penny-royal of each four Ounces Snail water two Ounces Sugar an Ounce mix them Between whiles he took a Dose of the following Powder with the same Julape or Pectoral Decoction Take Powder of Crabs Eyes two Drams Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Salt of Amber half a Dram max them Divide it into eight parts for as many Doses Large Vesicatories were apply'd in the inside of his Arms near his Armpits Glisters were daily administred and frequent Frictions By the use of these things he received a sudden and unexpected ease and within a few days got wholly free of that Fit and afterwards as often as he perceiv'd a little touch of the said Distemper coming he presently took a large Dose of that Spirit with the same Julape thrice or four times a day By which Remedy being frequently taken sometimes for preservation and sometimes for Cure he has now past above two years without any great and terrible fit of his Asthma which before was habitual though he has now and then undergone some light touches of it but easily blown off An Honourable old Gentleman upon taking cold as 't is judged found himself ill for he complain'd of a pain in the middle of his Brest by his Sternum which at Night as soon as he was warm in his Bed growing worse disturb'd his sleep and was very troublesome to him for the most part of the Night Nevertheless without any straintness of Breath or evident sign of an Asthma To take away this pain he was both Purg'd and Blooded Pectorals and Antiscorbuticks were daily given him Oyntments and Fomentations were apply'd to the place pain'd yet without any great good or ease For the change that happen'd after was rather for the worse for the pain being a little abated he was seiz'd with a laborious and troubled Respiration so that after his first sleep or as he began to slumber he was taken with a fit of the Asthma and being out of Breath and opprest about the Praecordia was forc'd to sit upright in his Bed Moreover this painful Breathing and Convulsive agitation of the parts for Respiration did not only return every Night but daily grew more violent and continued longer upon him Insomuch that one Night awaking from his first sleep he was seiz'd with a most violent fit of the Asthma which lasted for many hours and brought him as near death as a Man might be and live No Physician being present a Barber then let him Blood which gave him some relief in the Morning upon a consultation of Physicians he was ordered for that day a thin Diet and a loosning Glister At Night and the Morning following he took twelve drops of Spirit of Gum Ammoniacum distill'd with Sal Armoniack in a Vehicle proper in that case and continued its use afterwards for many days Vesicatories were apply'd to the insides of his Arms near his Arm-pits Moreover Julapes and Pectoral Decoctions Lohoch's Glisters nay and sometimes gentle Purges had their truns Bleeding also was repeated after two days Whereas before he was wont to drink for his Mornings draught about a pint of Beer with Wormwood and Scruvygrass Instead of this he took about eight of the Clock fifteen drops of Elixir Proprietatis tartariz'd in a draught of Coffee prepar'd with a Decoction of Sage By these Remedies the Asthmatick Fits presently abated of their wonted fierceness insomuch that the beginning and end of every Night were quiet enough though about the middle of it some uneasiness about the Praecordia kept him waking and made him sit upright in his Bed for an hour or two at length growing weary of Physick he took only now and then some of the Medicines above mentioned But in the mean time though his Asthmatick Fits troubled him little or not at all by Night as before yet by reason of his Lungs being very much stuffed and a Serous humour falling into his Feet he could not walk fast or go up any steep Ascent without a great difficulty of Breathing and danger of being choak'd and at present an Asthma or Phthisick is not so much fear'd as a Dropsie CHAP. VIII Instructions and Prescripts for Curing the Dropsie of the Breast IF at any time the affect of the Dropsie or Anasarca being general has taken possession every where or in most places of the Flesh and Cavities of the Viscera It s no wonder if that filthy Mass of Waters gets possession also of the Breast but besides this it sometimes happens that the Region of the Thorax is either originally or alone overwhelm'd with waters the other parts in the mean time being every where sound enough or injur'd only Secondarily That Serous humour causing the Dropsie of the Breast arises there either in the Form of a Vapour which exhaling from the Praecordia and Sides of the Thorax is readily condens'd into Water or Secondly the Serum is there depos'd in its proper Form as it distils into that Cavity from the Mouths of the Vessels viz. of the Arteries there open'd Or Thirdly the Lymphaeducts or sometimes though rarely the Chyle Vessels somewhere opening themselves or being broken may produce that affect A young Man of a healthy and strong constitution who had long us'd himself to violent exercises both by riding and other ways perceiv'd at length a fulness or as it were a certain windy rising in his Thorax insomuch that the left side of his Lungs seem'd to swell and his Heart to be thrust forth of its place towards the right side for in that part it was perceiv'd to beat most After he had continued in this condition some time he perciv'd on a certain day a Rupture as it were of some Vessel within the Cavity of his Thorax and after it for half an hours space he could not only perceive in that Region a dropping of humour as it were from the top to the bottom of his Brest but it could also be head by the standers by Notwithstanding this finding himself otherwise well dispos'd he slighted Physick but afterward upon motion stooping or any stirring of his Body he perceiv'd in his left side a floating of waters inwardly gathered together Nay and the motion and sound of it was most manifestly perceiv'd of others both by handling and by the ear Hence as it was plain that this Person had a Dropsie of the Breast so it seemed most probable that this Disease took its rise from this that the Lymphaeducts appertaining to the left side of the Lungs being first obstructed near their Insertions into the Ductus Chyliferus had swollen up to a vast bigness and afterwards being broken distill'd forth their humour into the Cavity of the Thorax This Gentleman not perceiving
Empirical Remedy with our Country men to take Nine Lice alive in the Morning for five or six days by which Remedy I have heard that many have been Cur'd when other things did no good which certainly can give relief no other way but by restoring the Volatile Salt which was depress'd in the Blood On the account of the same way of Curing the Flowers of Sal Armoniack the Volatile Salts of Amber Hartshorn and Soot and likewise their Spirits are often given with great success in this Disease Take Powder of Earth-worms prepar'd two Drams Species Diacurcumae a Dram Flowers of Sal Armoniack half a Dram Salt of Amber a Scruple Extract of Gentian a Dram Saffron a Scruple Gum Ammoniacum dissolv'd in water of Earth-worms what suffices Make a Mass Form it into small Pills the Dose is three or four Morning and Evening drinking after it of the Julape before written three Ounces Take Spirit of Hartshorn ting'd with Saffron three Drams The Dose is from fifteen drops to twenty with the distill'd water above mention'd In this rank of Medicines with which the Blood distemper'd with the Jaundise is intended to be corrected Chalybeats also justly claim a place for these give a considerable relief in the Jaundise as well as in other Cachectical Distempers not so much by opening the obstructions of the Viscera as by depressing the exaltations of the Sulphur and fixt Salt and by volatilizing the Blood Therefore to the Decoction Tincture or Infusion above written the Filings of Iron or its Powder prepar'd its Mineral Texture being some way loosen'd or its Vitriolick Salt extracted may be properly added for hence it is that our Mineral waters sometimes cure even to a Miracle such as are quite given over in the Jaundise Though these waters when drank in a very large quantity passing through all the Vessels open also all the Ductus's of the Liver be they never so much shut up Therefore also to the Electuaries Pills and Powders before exprest preparations of Steel sometimes of one sort and sometimes of another may likewise be added in a fit proportion Moreover you may give to the quantity of a spoonful of its Syrup twice a day in three Ounces of the Anti-icterick Apozeme or distill'd water also the Tincture of Steel to twelve or fifteen drops may be given after the same manner with good effect Lastly in this rank of altering Medicines we ought to place those which are said to Cure this Disease not as inwardly taken but outwardly apply'd either by the touch or being put into the Urine of persons troubled with the Jaundise As to the First it s a common Remedy with the vulgar to take a Tench and apply it to the right Hypochondre or to the Ventricle as some will have it or according to others to the Soles of the Feet of the Person that has the Jaundise whence they expect the Disease to vanish in a short time though many promise a certain Cure by this means yet it did not succeed with me having sometimes try'd it The other Cure of the Jaundise at a distance is said to be done by I know not what Sympathy or secret manner of working Take the fresh Vrine of the Patient made at one time ashes of the Ash-tree searced what suffices Mix them and make it into a Paste and form it into three Balls of an equal bigness and put them in a close place near the Fire or a Stove when these Balls grow dry and hard the Jaundise vanishes After this manner I have known this Disease successfully Cur'd when it was grown inveterate and would not yield to other Remedies this is a familiar practice with the vulgar The reason of this Operation is that when the Lixivial Salt in the ashes is mixt in the Urine it presently sets free the Volatile Salt which before was kept under in it or entangled with other Particles and at the same time that this is done in the Icterical Urine it happens by Sympathy that the Volatile Salt also in the Blood of the Patient gets free from the Dominion of the fixt Salt and Sulphur and consequently the Icterical Dyscrasy of the Blood vanishes And thus Phil. Grulingius and Felix Platerus tell us that Making Water on warm Horsedung has Cur'd many Persons troubled with the Jaundise viz. inasmuch as the fixt Salt of the Urine and consequently of the Blood of the Patient is altered by the Volatile Salt of the fresh Horsedung and is reduc'd to its due temperature The Third and Vital Indication orders a fit Dyet and likewise prescribes Cordials and Anodines both which are often wanted As to what concerns the First the Diet in this Disease is wont to be more Physical than in any other whatsoever For Vegetables and their parts vulgarly call'd Hepatick Remedies are boil'd in the Broaths of persons troubled with the Jaundise their Broaths also are usually made of Worms and Snails being accounted the Antidotes of the Jaundise instead of other Flesh Moreover their Ale and other ordinary Drinks are Impregnated with an Infusion of Physical things Take Roots of the greater Nettle and of Strawberries of each an Ounce and a half Candied Eringo Roots an Ounce shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each two Drams Earth-worms cleans'd in number twenty a Crust of White-bread Mace two Drams boil all in two pounds of fountain water to a pound Strain it through Hippocrates Sleeve add to it Species of Diatrion Santalon half a Dram Make a Broath of which take from four Ounces to six twice a Day For ordinary drink fill a little Vessel of four Gallons with Ale into which after it has wrought put the following bag Take Tops of Sea Wormwood and white Horehound dry'd of each two handfuls Roots of sharp pointed Dock dry'd six Ounces Bark of the Ash-tree and of the Barbery-tree of each three Ounces the outward Rinds of eight Oranges and of four Limons being slic'd and bruis'd let them be prepar'd according to art Many Persons in the Jaundise being troubled with a great weakness and frequent faintings stand in need also of Cordial Remedies Take small Aqua Mirabilis eight Ounces Earth-worms four Ounces Syrup of Orange Pills two Ounces Mix them the Dose is two or three Ounces Moreover there are some who in this Disease are found subject now and then to very troublesome pains chiefly tormenting them by Night and who are often molested with want of sleep wherefore Anodines also must here come in use Take Aqua Mirabilis water of Earth-worms of each an Ounce Diacodium six Ounces Tincture of Saffron half an Ounce Mix them the Dose is a spoonful or two late at Night when there is want of sleep Take Laudanum tartariz'd two Drams Aqua Mirabilis two Ounces Syrup of Clove Gilly-flowers an Ounce Mix them the Dose is a spoonful after the same manner CHAP. II. Instructions and Prescripts for other Distempers of the Liver THe Liver often uses to be faulty especially in one of
these two things viz. either intercepting the Nutritive Juice appointed for other parts it applies it to its proper use as it s generally seen in Children troubled with the Rickets and in many others leading a sloathful and idle Life Or Secondly it too easily receives into its most inward Recesses the filthiness of the depraved Blood and all dreggy Excrements coming in its way and retaining them does not only grow large but is obstructed in its Ductus's whence oftentimes proceeds a Jaundise or Dropsie and tumours and preternatural Concretions of divers kinds Therefore we must take care of these two things viz. lest the Liver by taking to it self too much of the Nutritive Juice grow to too great a Bulk and lest by retaining the filthy dregs of the Blood it be troubled with obstructions and preternatural tumours Both these faults are much more easily prevented than Cur'd For the former is effected only by taking care that the Blood being well constituted in its Crasis and enjoying a free Circulation both distributes the Nutritive Juice to the parts and especially the outmost and driving all its Excrements to all their respective Emunctories deposes them there And indeed the Hepatick Medicines vulgarly so call'd though they regard the other Viscera as well as the Liver do first and more immediately exert their vertue by purifying the Blood rather than by correcting the Liver or other entrals for entring the Blood and being immiscible with it they so throughly exagitate it that they make it discharge all its superfluities by their proper Emissaries and if any Medicines are found by some specifick virtue to have respect to one part more than to another it s because their Particles being more ally'd and consequently associated to the Recrements to be separated within that entral are carried thither together with them For this reason Rhubarb Turmerick the greater Celandine and many other things ally'd to the Gall readily pass to its Ductus's and are wont to do good in the Jaundise We have before set forth the Energies and ways of operating of these Medicines As to other Hepaticks commonly so call'd we shall briefly set down certain Forms First of those which are said to prevent or remove the Non-natural accretion of the Liver and then of those which do the like in respect of its obstructions and preternatural tumours 1. Against the too great accretion or disproportionate nourishment of the Liver First a spare and thin Dyet short Sleep and frequent and moderate Exercises are proper Wherefore if at any time Infants and Children are found obnoxious to this affect as likewise to the Rickets we order that they suck thin and serous Milk that they are daily toss'd in their Nurses Arms and carried from one place to another with a swift motion or that they are put in a Chariot or in a Chair and swiftly driven to and fro and that they learn to use their feet as soon as may be and go about Take the Waters of Snails and Earth-worms of each three Ounces Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb two Ounces Spirit of Sal Armoniack with Gum Ammoniacum a Scruple Mix them take a spoonful at Night and early in the Morning Take Roots of Male Fern Chervil Candied Eringo's of each an Ounce Leaves of Agrimony Harts Tongue Male Speedwel of each a handful shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each two Drams white and yellow Saunders of each a Dram Raisms ston'd an Ounce and a half Barly three Drams Boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds to the straining add the waters of Snails and Earth-worms of each an Ounce and a half Syrup of Cichory two Ounces Make an Apozeme take to two or three Ounces in a day Take Powder of white and yellow Saunders Crabs Eyes Lignum Aloes of each half a Dram Salt of Wormwood a Scruple Make a Powder the Dose is from half a Scruple to a Scruple twice a day Take Emplastrum Diasaponis Ceratum Santalinum of each what suffices Make a Plaister to be apply'd to the right Hypochondre Take Vnguentum Splanchnicum two Ounces Oyl of Wormwood an Ounce Mix them make a Liniment for the Region of the Liver The Remedies for most other Diseases of the Liver are either Simple or Compound Amongst those of the former kind are usually reckon'd all Cichories Sorrels sharp-pointed Docks and in a manner all Vegetables which have a sort of bitterness joyned with somewhat of a smartness in which the Deopilative vertue is said to consist as Wormwood Germander Ground-Pine Fumitory Tansie Agrimony Liver-wort Lignum Aloes all the Saunders Tamarisk-bark Ash-bark and the Roots of Capers with many others which make up the greatest part of Botanicks The fixt Salts of Herbs and the Acid Spirits of Minerals claim a chief place amongst these because they mightily agitate the Mass of Blood dissolve its Concretions clear its stoppages and make it every where permeable in all its parts It s also manifest both by reason and experience that preparations of Steel are often proper in Distempers of the Liver as especially in the Jaundise and the Dropsy In the Antidotaries of the Ancients we find a great many Physical Compositions which seem to be wholly design'd for the Liver as the Electuary ê scoria ferri Rhasis c. But passing over these I shall now give you some Forms and Examples of Medicines which are accounted Deopilatives according to the practice of our times Therefore for an Opening Decoction TAke Roots of Fern Chervil the greater Nettle Dandelion of each an Ounce Leaves of Agrimony Harts Tongue Speedwel Oak of Hierusalem Liver-wort of each a handful white and yellow Saunders of each three Drams shavings of Ivory half an Ounce Red Cicehs an Ounce Coriander Seeds three Drams Raisins two Ounces Boil them in four pounds of fountain water to two pounds adding about the end Whitewine four Ounces strain it through Hippocrates sleeve to which put Species Diarrhodon Abbatis a Dram our prepar'd Steel two Drams To the straining add Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb two Ounces waters of Snails and Earth-worms of each an Ounce The Dose is six Ounces twice a day after a Dose of the following Electuary Take Conserve of the yellow Coats of Oranges and Limons of each two Ounces of Wormwood and Fumitory of each an Ounce Simple Powder of Aron Roots Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders and Caper Roots of each a Dram and a half Crabs Eyes a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams Syrup of Fumitory what suffices Make an Electuary the Dose is the quantity of a Wallnut twice a day drinking after it a draught of the Apozeme before written or of the following distill'd water Take Leaves of Wormwood Centory Tansie both Southernwoods Branches of Tamerisk of each four handfuls green Wallnuts four pounds green Ashen-keys two pounds the outward Kinds of ten Oranges and of four Limons Snails Earth-worms prepar'd of each a pound being all slic'd pour to them of Whitewine eight pounds distil it
and let it Clarifie by setling the Dose is three or four Ounces in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon Take Powder of Aron Roots and of Crabbs Eyes of each three Drams Chrystal Mineral two Drams Vitriol of Mars a Dram and a half Sugar of Rosemary Flowers two Drams Mix them the Dose is half a Dram twice a Day with a fit Vehicle Hartman highly extolls the Liquor of the Flowers of the Herb Mullein as a Specifick Remedy in this Disease Put those Flowers fresh gather'd into an Alembick and press them in hard then the Vessell being carefully stopt that nothing can breath forth let it stand in an Oven whilst bread is bak't and afterwards the Flowers being taken forth press forth the Liquor very hard and let it be Distill'd in Balneo The Dose is a Scruple in Decoction of the Seeds and Roots of Fennel Certainly if this Medicine can do any thing it ought to be given in a greater Dose Johannes Anglicus Commends the Electuary Rosata Novella with Diatrion Santalon and Ants Eggs which Medicine truly being probable enough seems to promise something In Imitation of these I shall here propose the following Take Conserve of the Flowers of Cichory and Indian Cress of each three Ounces Powder of Aron Roots Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders of each a Dram Crabbs Eyes a Dram and a half Salt of Wormwood an Ounce Ants Eggs an Ounce Liguor of male Mullein half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Citron Pills make an Electuary the Dose is two Drams twice a Day Drinking after it of the former Distill'd water or of the following Julape three Ounces Take water of the Leaves of Aron of the Juice of Elderberryes water of Juniper and of Elder Flowers of each six Ounces Magisteriall waters of Snails and of Earth-worms of each two Ounces Syrup of the Juice of Elderberryes two Ounces mix them make a Julape The third Indication being vital Prescribes Remedies chiefly against Faintings of the Spirits and difficulty of Breathing and against Watching and Thirst I shall briefly set down certain Forms of both kinds 1. Cordials TAke water of Navews of Marigold and Cammomill Flowers of each three Ounces Dr. Stevens's water two Ounces Tincture of Saffron two Drams Sugar an Ounce Pearl a Dram make a Julape the Dose is four or five Spoonfuls thrice or oftener in a Day in Faintings Take Conserve of Marigold Flowers two Ounces Confection of Alkermes and of Hyacinth of each two Drams Pearl Powdred an Ounces of the Juice of Citrons what suffices make a Confection take the quantity of a Nutmeg Evening and Morning drinking after it a Draught of the Julape 2. Hypnoticks TAke Aqua Hysterica six Drams Syrup de Meconio half an Ounce mix them take it late at Night Or Take small Cinnamon water an Ounce Diacodium three Ounces Tincture of Saffron two Drams mix them take to the quantity of a Spoonfull late at Night if Sleep be wanting Or Take Syrup of Cowslip Flowers three Spoonfulls Compound Peony water one Spoonfull Laudanum Tartarizd a Dram take a Spoonfull late at Night if you cannot Sleep Quenchers of Thirst must be frequently given in this most Thirsty Disease but it must be in a very small quantity that we may allay that most troublesom Symptom without much Drink which is always pernicious For which end Take Conserve of Wood-Sorrel passed through a Sieve three Ounces Pulp of Tamarinds two Ounces Sal Prunella a Dram Syrup of the Juice of Wood-Sorrel what suffices make a soft Lohoch of which let him lick often CHAP. V. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing the Anasarca AN Anasarca is describ'd after this manner that it is a white and soft Tumour of the whole outward part of the Body or of some parts of it yielding to the Touch and leaving a Pit uppon Compression proceeding from an Aqueous Homour extravasated and heapt together both within the Interstices of the Muscles and within the Pores of the Flesh and Skin and even of the Glands and Membranes That watery Humour proceeds wholly or for the greatest part from the Blood for being continually produc't within the Mass of Blood through the defect and fault of Sanguification it is pour'd forth of the Mouths of the Arteries in a greater quantity than that it can be receiv'd and carried back by the Veins and Limphaeducts and be sent forth by the Reins and Pores of the Skin and other Emissaries of the Serous Latex And Anasarca whilst it is simple is the least dangerous amongst all the species of Dropsies And a particular Anasarca occupying only the Inferior Members so the Belly do not swell withal is much safer than an Universal one In order to a right proceeding towards a Cure two chief scopes of Curing here present themselves viz. First we must take Care that the water betwixt the Skin and the Flesh be some way Evacuated and Consum'd and Secondly that a new supply be not continually engendred and heapt together For which end we must use what means we may both that the Viscera of Concoction being cleans'd from Excrements and free from Obstructions prepare always a good Chyle and supply the Mass of Blood with it in a due quantity and likewise that the Blood its Principles being restor'd to their fermenting Power may duly ferment and convert into its own Nature the Juice of the Chyle continually sent into it The Vital Indication seems not necessary in this Disease as in many others because Faintings of the Spirits or Watchings for which Cardiacks and Hypnoticks are required seldom happen here And there is little need of restoring Diets because Fasting and Abstinence do more good and most commonly are the greatest part of the Cure the reason is that the Vessels being drain'd by Fasting drink up the waters Stagnating betwixt the Skin and the Flesh or elsewhere and send them forth partly by the Reins the Pores of the Skin and other Emissaries and partly employ them most Advantageously for nourishing the Body they being yet full of a Nutritive Juice First to perform the first Indication which is for the Evacuation of the Morbifick matter all Hydragogue Medicines both Simple and Compound and likewise the Forms of Medicines set down before in the Chapter of the Ascites ought to be apply'd to use Moreover not only Catharticks and Diureticks but likewise Diaphoreticks have often place in the Cure of the Anasarca though for the most part they are forbidden in other kinds of the Dropsie In a simple Anasarca you may Purge Strongly and it often does much good I have given you before Forms of Hydragogue Catharticks of both kinds viz. of such as exert their force both upwards and downwards and both of a gentle and strong Operation from whence you may take them and apply them to the present Method of Curing If you ask how Catharticks work in this Disease and wherefore they carry forth waters better and more efficaciously than in other kinds of the
hours then let the same Retort luted with a large receiver be put in a Reverberatory Furnace that the Acid Spirits may be forc't so long by a strong Fire till they go forth Let the whole Liquour distill'd be drawn off in a less Glass Retort by a Sand heat and in a Matrass let there be pour'd to it Roots of Male Peony cut in slices and dry'd four Ounces Seeds of the same an Ounce Mans Scull prepar'd Elks-hoof red Coral of each half an Ounce Mistletow of the Oak two Drams let it digest with a gentle heat for many Days till the Tincture be extracted let the Liquour being decanted be drawn off in a Glass retort till only a third part of it remains let that which is distill'd be kept apart by it self To the remainder pour a like quantity of Spirit of Wine highly rectified and impregnated with the Infusion of the same Ingredients and let them digest for six Days in Horse-dung Make an Elixir whose Dose is from half a Scruple to a Scruple Let the distill'd Liquour be given from half a spoonful to a whole one for the same intentions Or let an Oyl be prepar'd of Salt of Venus according to the prescript of Henricus ab Heer 's and let it be given as before Empirical Remedies AMongst Specifick Remedies which in case those before do no good may also be try'd we may account the Liver of Froggs the Bladder of a Boar dryed with the Urine the Powder of Briony Roots the Powders of a Cuckow or of Crows the Rennet and Lungs of a Hare the Liver of a Wolf Stones taken out of Swallows the Liver of a Kite Crows Eggs daily to be taken amongst your Food and Medicines with many other things a famous Catalogue of which you may find in Henricus a Bra a Physician of Zutphen and out of which prescripts for the poor may be taken as being easy to be had and of a small price Whilst these kinds of Medicines are inwardly taken according to the foresaid Method some Administrations outwardly apply'd contribute help and are justly taken in as a part of the Cure Wherefore always in this Disease let Issues to wit one or two be made in fit places also let Vesicatories be often apply'd Periapts hung about the Neck or worn on the Pit of the Stomack are judg'd to be of use Let fresh Peony Roots cut into bits and run through with a Thread be made into Bracelets to be worn all round the Neck Assoon as they are withered let new ones be put in their place and let those be made into Powder to be taken inwardly Take Roots and Seeds of Peony of each two Drams Elks-hoof Mans Scull prepar'd of each a Dram Mistletow of the Oak half a Dram being grosly powdred let them be sewen in red Silk and make a Bag to be hung about the Neck An Amulet of a young Shoat of Elder found growing on a Willow is greatly commended Plaisters IT is proper for some to have their Hair shav'd off and to have a Plaister applyed to the Sinciput Take Roots and Seeds of Peony Castoreum Mistletow of the Oak Mans Scull very finely powdred of each a Dram Betony Plaister two Ounces Caranna Tacamahacca of each two Drams Balsamum Capivii what suffices make a Mass spread it on Leather make a Plaister for the Sutures of the Head Let the Temples and Nostrils often be anointed with Oyl of Amber by it self or mixt with Oleum Capivii Let Sneezing Powders and Apophlegmatisms be constantly us'd Mornings Take white Hellebore a Dram Castoreum Euphorbum of each half a Dram sweet Marjoram Leaves of-Rue of each two Drams make a Powder Let a Decoction of Hyssop or Sage with the Confection of Mustard-seed dissolv'd in it be gargal'd in the Mouth and Throat Let Glysters sometimes be given according as need requires In regard Solid Medicines ought sometimes to be diluted with Liquids or these to be drank after those let distill'd waters Julapes Decoctions or Tinctures that are endowed with some Specifick Vertue against this Disease be in a readiness for this purpose Take Hungarian Vitriol four Pounds fresh Mans Scull powdred four Ounces Peony Roots slic't six Ounces being bruis'd together in a Mortar pour to them of Sack or small White-wine or Wine of the Juice of black Cherries fermented in a Vessel two Pounds let them be distill'd in a Glass Retort by a Sand heat Take Raspings of Box Hungarian Vitriol of each two Pounds Leaves of Mistletow three handfuls Leaves of Rue two handfuls being bruis'd together pour to them of Sack four Pounds let them be distill'd in a Gourd-glass by a Sand heat Take common Vitriol six Pounds Roots of Male Peony six Ounces Mistletow of the Oak an Ounce green Walnuts eight Ounces being slic't and bruis'd let them distill in a Glazed Pot with a Glass Alembick set over it by a Sand heat Take of this Liquour a Pound water of black Cherries and of Lime-tree Flowers of each half a Pound double refin'd Sugar four Ounces mix them make a Julape The Dose is two or three Ounces twice or thrice a Day Oxymel of Squils also Hydromel with Hyssop boil'd in it are very much commended by the Ancients Or let this kind of Apozeme be prepar'd whereof you may give from four Ounces to six or eight twice a Day Take Roots of Male Peony Angelica Master-wort Valerian of each six Drams Leaves of Betony Sage Lillies of the valley Penny-royal of each a handful Seeds of Rue Gith of each three Drams of Peony half an Ounce Raisins three Ounces Licorice half an Ounce being slic't and bruis'd let them boil in six Pounds of Fountain water to a consumption of the third part Towards the end add Wine of black Cherries half a Pound or ten Ounces strain it and let it be kept in Vessels close stopt the Dose is from six Ounces to eight twice a Day after the Remedies above prescrib'd Or let the foresaid Ingredients the Licorice and Raisins excepted be boil'd in six Pounds of Hydromel to a consumption of the third part the Dose is from four Ounces to six But if the foresaid Method consisting in the use of Catharticks and Specificks being tryed for some time proves wholly without effect we must come to Remedies of another kind and especially to those which are call'd great In this rank we place Diaphoreticks Salivation hot Baths and Mineral waters Alphonsus Ferrius says he has Cur'd a great many Epileptical persons by a simple Decoction of Guaiacum being prescrib'd twice a Day from six Ounces to eight and a second Decoction of it being taken instead of ordinary Drink as is usual in the French-pox If to such a Decoction the Roots of Peony and other Specificks be added haply it will be more efficacious It seems probable that a Salivation powerfully rais'd by Mercury and afterwards followed by a Sweating Diet Drink will infallibly Cure this Disease What hot Baths or Mineral waters will do is not
to be taken on occasion when the Spirits faultered He also Drank Oat-bear Alter'd with temperate and Diuretick Herbs By the use of these things he past at least seven years without any great alteration for the worse At length Old Age pressing opon him and the Disease together the Convulsive fits growing more violent seis'd him not as before when his sleep was over but as soon as he was warm in his Bed so that he was forc't wholly to forbear going to Bed and he put off his Cloaths but seldom unless it were to change Linnen Hence transpiration being hindred the Serous and other Filthy Dregs which were wont to evaporate were fixt on the Lungs which first brought a thick Breathing afterward an Asthmatick affect and lastly a Mortla Consumption If the reasons of the foresaid affects be enquired into it will appear that all these Evils proceeded from the ill Constitution of the Brain and Genus Nervosum and more immediatly from the Dyscrasy and Default of the Juice that lies in these parts The reason is plain why this Disease first increasing by degrees was soon rais'd to a far worse state by the use of hot Baths for it is manifest by experience that hot and sulphureous Baths very much exalt the Saline and other Morbid Particles that abound within the Viscera or Humours of Human Body and soon carry them to the highest pitch viz. by exagitaing them they render them more wildly exorbitant and froce them from the first passages into the Blood and thence into the Brain and Genus Nervosum nay and joyn them together being first sever'd and lying idle and stir them up to a certain Fermentation Wherefore such as being hereditarily obnoxious to the Gout or or Stone have not yet felt any Fits of those affects after the use of hot Baths very often find that both those diseases are presently brought to a maturity in them You may find the reasons of the other Symptoms in Dr. Willis at large So much for universal Convulsions which for the most part being joyn'd to the Paralytick affect are raised at once in many places separately there remain others which we call continual viz. because being conveyed on a sudden from these parts to others they mutually succeed each other and force the Members sometimes these sometimes others and often the whole Body to be mov'd involuntarily and to be bent and agitated divers ways I shall give you an instance or two of this affect A Beautiful Virgin tall and thin grown begotten of a Father obnoxious to very great distempers of the Genus Nervosum about the twentieth year of her Age was afflicted for many days with a very violent and Periodical Head ach at length the Winter Solstice being near at hand the pain of her head remitted but in its stead a mighty Catarrh succeeded with thin and much Spittle and with an Ulcerous affect of the Nostrils Mouth and Throat having undergone the tediousness of this for some time at length by the advice of some old Women she drew into her Mouth the smoke of Amber through a Tube and was presently Cur'd viz. the Catarrh was suddenly stopt but presently upon it she complain'd of a mighty giddiness with a Pain of the Head and a Ringing in the Ears on the third day the Tendons of the Neck were Convuls't that her head was bent sometimes forward sometimes backward sometimes sideways and sometimes it stood stiff and immovable in a short time after this such a Convulsive affect seiz'd the ontward parts of the whole Body and the Limbs the Arms and Hands were so wonderfully twisted that no Jugler of Mountibank was able to imitate their Flections and Convolutions Her Legs qand Feet were forc't awry this way and that and were made to beat aginst each other and to cross each other alternatively after this manner she was perpetually affected with Convulsive Motions either sitting in a Chair or lying in Bed unless when she was overwhelm'd with sleep and when she contained her members a little by much forcing her self presently she was seized with a difficult and short Breating and with a danger of being Choakt yet in the mean time the Eyes Jaws Mouth and inferiour Viscera continued free from any Convulsion Nor was she troubled with a Vomiting Rumbling nor Inflation of the Hypochondres Moreover her mind held always sound and she duly performed the functions of Memory Understanding and Imagination she neither spake nor did any thing shewing want of Reason or Indiscreetly but amongst all these stupendious evils always using Pious and Vertuous expressions she gave an admirable specimen of Christian Patience and Piety her appetite was soon dejected so that she was averse from all food unless very much press'd to it but thirst continually prest upon her she was so very weak she could neither stand nor go Her Urine was of an Orange Colour very much Impreguated with a Saltness on the Surface of which a thin Tartareous Film grew Being call'd to this Lady the sixth day after her being ill I proceeded in order to her Cure as follows In the first place having made a gentie preparation of the Body I gave her a Loosning Potion of an Infusion of Sena and Rhubarb with the addition of Yellow Saunders and Salt of Wormwood whereby she had twelve stools which gave her great ease the day following I drew eight Ounces of blood from her left Arm every evening I gave her an Opiate of the Water and Syrup of Cowslip flowers with the Powder of Pearl Moreover once within six hours I ordered her a Dose of Spirit of Harts Horn to be taken with a little draught of the following Jalape Take Water of black Cherries Wall-Nuts and Peony Flowers of each three Ounces the Antiepileptical Water of Langius two Ounces Syrupe of Male Peony Flowers two Ounces Pearl powdred a Scruple mix them make a Julape Because she could not bear much Purging Glysters of Milk and Sugar were frequently us'd Besides Anticonvulsive Liniments apply'd to the Neck and Spine we ordered Frictions of the Members affected with Woollen Cloths moistned in an appropriated Oyl and warm'd By the use of these things within six days the diseased seem'd to be very much relieved for the Convulsive Motions in a manner wholly ceast she could keep her Members in their due Site and without Motion only she was forc't sometimes by a slight Contraction to bow her head gently this way and that Moreover she was able to arise from her Chair and Walk a little but as she Walk't she did not go upright but inclining to one side 's Parting from her at that time I left her in a manifest state of Recovery she seeming to be much better But somewhat more then a week after a boistrous North Wind arising in the night time and blowing strongly on the diseas'd as she lay in her Bed the window being not well shut presently upon taking Cold she fell into such a relapse that she became not
Belly with violence By and by respiration being stopt she became senceless with a Cadaverous aspect After that she had lain thus dead as it were for three or four minutes of an hour she was wont to start up on a sudden that she could scarce be kept down or held by persons present Then followed violent contractions and distortions in all the parts of the Mouth and Face and in all the Members of the Body These Symptoms were judg'd really Hysterical because the noble Lady had so lately Aborted But considering all these things I was at length of this opinion That the cause of both Fits viz. the Paining and Convulsive depended wholly on the evil affects of the Brain and Genus Nervosum without any fault in the Womb to wit that the sharp humour heapt together within the Brain descended thence by the passages of the Nerves into parts very remote and lying in the Membranes and Fibres and fermenting with the humour coming to it from the Mass of Blood irritated them very much and caus'd violent pains then afterwards when the heterogeneous and explosive Particles admitted into the Brain with that Humour and entring the Ductus's of the Nerves joyn'd with the Spirits thereupon the Convulsive disposition now and then breaking forth into violent Fits was caus'd as it will by and by appear more at large Directing my curative intents according to this Aetiology I ordered the sick Lady at the time she was extreamly ill that Blood should be drawn from the Saphaena Vein That a gentle Purge should be given her within two days and that it should be repeated once or twice a Week Also on other days I gave her Morning and Evening Spirit of Harts-horn and at other hours twice or thrice in a day Powder of Pearl and Crabs-eyes with a Dose of the following Julape Take Water of Snails Magisterial Water of Earth-Worms of each three Ounces Water of Saxifrage and of Black-Cherries of each four Ounces Hysterick Water an Ounce Syrup of Coral an Ounce and a half Tincture of Castoreum a Dram mix them She us'd frequently a Bath of fresh Herbs when necessity required it she took Opiats always with good success Vesicatories were applied to the inward part of each Thigh and to her Neck Moreover Fomentations Liniments Glysters Cupping-glasses Sneezing-powders and many other ways of Administration were prescrib'd according to the exigency of Symptoms After this method of Curing used about fourteen days the noble Lady being very much relieved was wholly without the Convulsive Fits nay and the pains of the Bowels and Members and other Symptoms being very much mitigated gave us a very fair hope of a speedy Recovery but after this partly by reason of an ill Dyet to which the Diseased upon never so little an amendment always indulg'd herself but especially by reason of a sudden passion of terriour or sadness which a severe accident happening within her own House had rais'd falling into a Relapse the Disease was presently brought to a much worse condition for both the Convulsions and Pains troubled her in a more violent manner nay and the Stomach being stirr'd up in a manner with a continual Vomiting neither admitted Food nor Medicines she took Asses Milk for some days with some Benefit yet in regard it turn'd to Choler in her Stomack and gave her some offence it was soon left off At length in despite of all Remedies prescrib'd with all diligence by the advice of many Physitians the noble Patient languish't daily more and more and by degrees drew near to Death Two days before her Decease the pains of her Belly and Loyns remitted very much and becoming more chearful than her wont she had some hope of her Recovery but in the mean while she complain'd of a pain and a mighty oppression of her Head and falling into a profound Sleep about the beginning of the Night upon her awaking she fell into a very horrible Convulsive Fit which presently past into a mortal Apoplexy for becoming insensible and speechless she departed this Life within twelve hours The Body of this person being open'd after her Decease the Womb was found wholly without fault tho' many of the Viscera were preternaturally dispos'd in the Mesentery about the midst of it where it is fixt to the Back and contains great Plexus's of the Nerves a lax substance and blown up as it were with many Bladders was seen it equalling a hands breadth in extent opening this place I found no Humour in it but only that the Membranes were separated from each other and that nothing was included in the spaces betwixt them but a Wind which Separations doubtless were caused by the Convulsions and Explosions of the Spirits sent from the Head into those Plexus's and as to those pains in the Belly and the ascent of the great heavy thing as it were and the Inflation of the Abdomen in the Convulsive Affects it is not to be doubted but the Seat of the morbifick Cause lay hid in that part of the Mesentery As to the method of Curing to be us'd in the Passions vulgarly call'd Hysterical since the greatest part of the Symptoms of this Disease are Convulsive it is thence plain that anticonvulsive Remedies such as above written are chiefly indicated Nevertheless since these Affects very often happen to the Female Sex in which the Menses and other accidents of the Womb are most commonly taken in as a part of the Morbifick Cause therefore Medicines having regard to various dispositions of the Womb ought to be added to the former and be sundry ways complicated with them The Therapeutick Indications are either Curatory to be us'd in the Fit or Preservatory which being prosecuted out of the Fit remove the cause of the Disease and prevent its Accesses As to the former if the Fit be but small let it pass off of its own accord without any farther perturbation of the Spirits but if it so forely presses that it is needful to give aid to Nature as being greatly opprest let this one thing be endeavoured That the Spirits being made free from the Embraces of their Heterogeneous Combination remit of their Disorders and Explosions For this end it is very usual in the first place to apply to the Nostrils stinking and strong-smelling things the effluvia's of which repress and reduce to order the Spirits which are grown too wild and apt to make exorbitant efforts nay and discuss their Heterogeneous Combination and often wholly exterminate it Assa Foetida Castoreum Galbanum tyed in a fine Linnen Cloth and held to the Nostrils are proper also the Feathers of Partridges or old Shoes burnt or Sulphur kindled moreover the Spirit and Oyl of Soot or of Harts-horn often give help tho' I have known that these kinds of Suffurnigations have prov'd very offensive to some Women and have encreas'd the Fit it 's probable that sometimes they irritate the Spirits too much and force them into greater disorders As stinking things held to
Flowers of Tamarisk also shavings of Harts-horn or of Ivory which sweeten the Liquour and preserve it from turning four viz. in as much as the Particles of the fluid Salt which abound in the Cider and are apt to make it sharp are taken up in dissolving the foresaid Ingredients Temperate Physick Drinks may be prescrib'd after this manner viz. let a small Ale be prepar'd to fill a Vessel of five or six Gallons into which instead of Hops let tops of the Pine-tree of Firr or Tamarisk or the Raspings of either of their Woods be put them after it has wrought let the Roots of sharp pointed Dock dryed be put into the Vessel than which certainly there is no Remedy more excellent in the Scurvy To these sometimes let the Leaves of Brook-limes Water-cresses Winter-cresses c. be added Also Pomecitrons or Oranges cut in slices Leaves of Harts-tongue put into a little Vessel of midling Ale after it has wrought gives it a grateful savour and odour CHAP. IV. Of the Curatory Indication of the Scurvy whereby we obviate the Disease it self and the Symptoms that are most pressing HItherto we have shewn concerning the Cure of the Scurvy what regards the Preservatory Indication to wit the removal of the Morbifick Cause viz. both the intentions of Curing and the Remedies indicated Which kind of method being seasonably begun and duly prosecuted often does the whole work viz. in as much as the Cause of the Disease or the Root of it being cut off the affects depending of it dye of their own accord Nevertheless we must not go on with this course of Physick always directly but turning aside several ways For sometimes severe Accidents and Symptoms happen which require a peculiar and as it were extraordinary Physical help to which we must Immediately attend and often interrupting the general Cure Concerning these we must observe that as affects which happen upon the Scurvy require Appropriated Remedies according to the Nature of each of them and to the disposition of the Patient yet Antiscorbuticks ought always to be mixt with them I will not be needful to order a Method of Cure against all diseases and affects with which the Scurvy is wont to be attended for so the whole Practice of Pyhsick would be here transcrib'd but we shall have regard only to the Symptoms that are chiefly pressing by which either the life of the Patient is endanger'd or the principal Cure Obstructed after what manner and by what Medicines such are Cur'd I shall now shew Of Curing a difficult Breathing and Asthmatick Fits A Difficult Breathing with a straitness of the Brest and Asthmatick Fits ought presently to be removed by appropriated Remedies to be prescrib'd besides the general Method for other wise the diseased is soon brought in danger of life Since these sorts of evils arise in Scorbutical persons for the most part either through the fault of the Blood stagnating in the Heart or by reason of the Nerves of the Lungs being hindred in their Function therefore they are Gur'd either by Cordial or Anticonvulsive Medicines Spirit of Harts-horn of Soot of Blood of Mans Scull also the Tincture of Castoreum of Antimony or of Sulphur Flowers of Sal Armoniack Flowers of Benzoin also Elixir Proprietatis are often of excellent use in these Cases which kind of Medicines may be frequently given with a Dose of some Antiscorbutick Liquors appropriated also against the foresaid afects For the appeasing of a sudden difficulty of Breathing which is meerly Convulsive if at any time it very sorely presses I have found no more present remedy then our Tincture of Laudanum with Opium given to ten or twelve drops in a convenient Liquour For Sleep Stealing on the Spirits remit of their disorders and in the mean while being refresh't they resume afterwards their accustom'd offices after a due manner Take Roots of the great Bur Dock of Butter-Burr and Chervil of each an Ounce Leaves of Maiden-hair and Germander of each a handful Seeds of the Great Bur Dock of Bastard Saffron of each three Drams Raisins two Ounces being slic't and bruis'd let them Boyl in three pounds of Fountain water till the third part be Consum'd add of White-wine four Ounces strain it into a Flagon into which put leaves of Scurvy-grass slic't a handful Roots of Elecampane preserv'd and small slic't half an Ounce make a close and warm Infusion for three hours the Dose is six Ounces twice or thrice a day Of Affects of the Stomach which are wont to happen in the Scurvy SCorbutical persons are wont sometimes to be troubled with a great Oppletion and Pain of the Stomach also with a Nauseousness and Belching and sometimes also with a frequent and violent Vomiting which kind of distempers sometimes arise from the Chyle there degenerated into a Mass of Corruption but oftner from the Morbifick Matter brought thither either by the conveyance of the Blood or also of the nervous Juice and either depos'd within the Cavity of the Stomach or fixt in the Plexus's of the Nerves and in the Membranes In these kinds of Cases if a Viscous Stinking or otherwise Offensive Matter be cast up by Vomit and there be a suspicion that the cause lyes within the Cavity of the Stomach its proper to give a gentle Vomit of Wine of Squills or of Salt of Vitriol Or let the offending Humours be Purg'd off by Stool either by Extract of Rhubarb or by its infusion with the addition of Salt or Cream of Tartar But if the Matter sticks deeply within the Membranes or the Plexus's of the Nerves Diaphoreticks or things that moderate the effervescencies of the Salts do better Let Elixir Proprietatis or Flowers of Sal Armoniack or Spirit of Soot be frequently taken with Raddish Water Compound water of Earthworms or some other Antiscorbutick Liquour Mean while once or twice a day let Fomentations of Wormwood Centory Flowers of Cammomil Roots of Gentian and other things Boyl'd in White-wine be applyed to the Region of the Stomach with Wollen Cloths dip't into it warm and wrung forth The use of Glysters is proper and Opiats often give great help Of the Belly Ach and the Scorbutick Collick SCarce any affect requires a more speedy Physical help than the Colick and gripes in the Belly which frequently happen in the Scurvy Against these evils Glysters of various kinds Fomentations Liniments and Cataplasms are administred The use of Opiates is found to be very necessary here Certainly in this Case that Praescript of Riverius chiefly has place viz. that Purging Pills be given with Landanum mixt with them for a plentiful Evacuation by seige and Sleep being caus'd the Fit often is taken away Moreover Powders of Shells by which the sharp Salts are Imbib'd or fixt conduce very much to the removal of the Morbifick cause for example Take Crabs Eyes and Egge Shells of each a Dram and a half Pearl a Dram make a Powder divide it into twelve Doses whereof let one be taken
Pains and bitter Tortures chiefly infesting her by night one while in the Shins another while in the Arms In regard she was with Child she had been forc't to leave off a course of Physick often begun in order to its Cure After he last Child-birth her Lochia flowing plentifully she continued for many days faint and weak with a difficult Respiration and being out of Breath upon any motion A Month after being deliver'd being taken out of Bed and attempting to walk she fell into a most severe difficulty of Breathing with a Trembling of the Heart and a frequent Fainting of the Spirits Being presently put to Bed she continued almost for a whole day still Trembling and continually Panting Moreover the lower Limbs as though Death were at hand being quite chill'd waxed not warm by any Frictions or Applications of warm'd Cloaths At length after near four and twenty hours upon the frequent giving of strong Cordials she was better about the Praecordia though there followed near the right Groin in the top of the Thigh a very acute Pain reaching even to the Leg and within a few hours a pretty hard swelling resisting the touch possest all that space Being call'd at this time the Diseas'd still fetching her Breath short and with difficulty presently having order'd a Clyster to be forthwith injected I gave her twelve drops of Spirit of Hearts-horn in a spoonful of the following Julape Take Water of Snails six ounces Hysterick Water four ounces Water of Wall-nuts simple and of Pennyroyal of each three ounces Sugar one ounce Castoreum tyed in a Rag and hung in the Glass a Dram. These Medicines were repeated every sixth Hour I ordered a large vesicatory to be applyed to the inward part of the Thigh then in the Evening in regard during this whole Fit she had continued without Sleep I gave her of Laudanum a grain Pearls powdred six grains confection of Alkermes without Musk half a dram she slept quietly and there next Morning she was much relieved the pain and swelling of the Thigh somewhat abated also while she lay quiet in her Bed she was well about the Precordia but sitting upright or turning on one side presently she seem'd almost ready to dye through straitness of Breath she continued the use of the Spirit of Harts-horn and of the Julep to be repeated every sixth hour for many days Moreover because she was press'd with Thirst and made water always in a small quantity ruddy and filled with contents she took twice a day a Dose of the following Julep to six Drams Take roots of Grass Chervil preserv'd Eringos of each six drams shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each two Drams burnt Harts-horn a dram and a half Raisins two ounces one Apple slic'd Licorish two drams and a half being slic'd and bruised let them boyle in three pounds of Fountain Water till a third part be consumed then four ounces of White-wine being added to it let it be strained into a Flagon to which put Leaves of Scurvy-grass and Brooklimes of each a Handful Salt of Wormwood two drams make a close and warm infusion for three Hours let the straining be kept in Vessels close stopt Sometimes every day sometimes every other day a Clister was administred By the use of these things she seemed to grow better daily so that within a weeks space arising from her Bed she was able to sit up two or three Hours by the fire in her Chair but if she kept from her Bed or walkt a little more than was fitting she was presently wont to fall into a straitness of Breathing or a fit of the Asthma so that on a certain day having stayed out of Bed too long she underwent a violent fit of the Disease and was affected with a difficult Breathing a trembling of the whole Body and frequent Swoonings Being called again by reason of this Relaps of the sick Lady I gave her Spirit of Harts-horn to twenty drops with the Julep above prescribed and in the Evening a dose of our Laudanum and as thereby she found her self better about the Precordia Pains and Swellings succeeded in the right Thigh and Legg such as before had paned in the left I ordered also vesicatories to be applyed to that Thigh and besides the Remedies hitherto mentioned she took twice a day of our Wine of the Juice of Scurvy-grass four ounces with two ounces of the Magistral Antiscorbutick Water Moreover I ordered her to be purged with our Solutive Syrup above prescribed which doing well I ordered it to be repeated within three or four dayes By these Remedies she grew well within a Month. A Noble man about the thirty third year of his Age seeming to be of a sanguine Temperament tall and slender of a very acute Wit and quick understanidng tho he had used himself for a long time to immoderate and excessive Studies together with a disorderly way of Diet yet being still sprightly and full of vigour he seem'd to enjoy a sound Mind in a sound Body a little more than two years since when he had greatly tired himself by dancing a whole Night with Friends and in the Morning being put in a cold Bed in a Room that was too moist and having slept a little he began to be sick for upon his awake he fell into a mighty troublous Passion about the Precordia with terrible Swoonings as though he were ready to dye After a draught of Wine and some cordial Remedies taken he was a little better but he often relaps'd so that all that day both himself and his Friends dreaded either a swoon without returning to himself or an imminent Apoplexy Moreover after that this Fit of the Disease was past yet still he lived obnoxious to daily passions of the Heart and upon any great Error committed in Diet he was wont to be afflicted again with a violent fit Notwithstanding the use of Remedies the Disease growing worse within a few Months did not only infest the Precordia but in the whole habit of the Body Expansions sometimes of heat sometimes of cold moreover in the Limbs a numbness or formication or light Convulsions and sudden contractions were raised but of late besides the Symtoms hitherto mentioned which still greatly molest the Noble Person he is moreover sorely afflicted with a frequent Vertigo and with Distractions and Failings of the Spirits residing in the Fore-brain insomuch that he is forc'd to abstain from the Studies and Politick Employs to which he has been always addicted and even from any strong intention of the Mind for otherwise he feels both in the Head and in the genus nerevosum these troublous Passions that he may fear either an invasion of the Apoplexy or horrible Convulsive Affects a great fit of this Disease pressing upon him the Ventricle also for the most part is disturbed Moreover he has often found ease after a Vomit either hapning of its own accord or raised by the help of an Emetick Medicine Hence some
In this case tho declaring a sad Prognostick however I did not forbear to use Physical means abstaining from Phlebotomy by reason of his strength being much spent and his Blood depauperated I presently ordered a large Vesicatory to be applied to his Neck and a smart Clyster to be given him of a decoction of Briony Roots with Carminative Flowers and Seeds adding likewise two drams of the species of Hiera His Temples and Nostrils were anointed with Balsams Cataplasms of Rue and Briony Roots were applied all over his Feet Moreover every other or third hour I gave him a dose of Spirit of Harts-horn with a Cephalick Julep and many other administrations usual in this case were carefully put in practice To which nevertheless the Disease not at all yielding the day following I prescrib'd him a Purge of Scammony prepar'd to be taken in a spoonful of Broth After which when he had frequently and freely Purg'd he began to open his Eyes to speak and to know standers by and a little after coming to himself he fully awaked This Disease as I ghess was therefore cur'd more easily and sooner than was hop'd because that cloud sent haply into the Brain by a Medicine could the better be drawn thence by the help of another Medicine A renowned man fifty years of age of a gross Body and formerly abnoxious to a Vertigo and asthmatick affects had lived very sound for two years having used Physick Spring and Fall and having a large Issue near both Shoulder-blades At the beginning of Summer he living in the Country and his Issues being neglected for many weeks the filth which was wont to be purg'd forth ran much less from them yet he was still in good health till about the Solstice when as he was sitting one morning in a Porch and talk'd cheerfully with his friends arising on a sudden he complained that he was ill going in a doors and setting himself down in a Chair he vomited very much then presently leaning to one side he fell into a profound sleep and lay so overwhelmed with it that he could scarce be raised from it all that day Coming in the Evening I ordered Blooding a Clyster Vesicatories and many other Remedies proper in such a case carefully to be administred The next day after his Brain began to grow a little clear so that he looked about and spake distinctly a few words Seeming to know his Friends he could tell no ones name but by reason of this matter sinking deep in the Brain a Palsey of the whole right side seized him Moreover a mighty sleepiness yet persisting on that day Blood was taken from the other Arm Other Remedies also being continued as before on the third day becoming less drowsie he began to know many and to call some by their names to perceive his illness and to be sollicitous for Remedies But whilst the Brain grew better the injury communicated to the Cerebellum and Genus Nervosum discovered it self for on the fourth day his breathing became uneven and difficult and his Pulse weaker Moreover he was often affected with a shivering and a Convulsive concussion of the whole Body On the fifth day the Cramps and Convulsions becoming more violent oftner infested him then the Pulse growing weaker by degrees on the sixth day tho more free from sleepiness he dyed In this and other the like cases it 's probable that the morbifick matter invades the Brain and Cerebellum together but whilst it sticks in the Cortex of this contrary to what happens in the Brain it causes no very sensible injury because here the parts offended are neither the seats of sleep nor memory but afterward haply about the fourth or fifth day the matter sinking further to the Medulla of the Cerebellum whilst as to other things the Diseased was better the Vital function by reason of the Spirits appointed for it being opprest in their very source began to fail and afterward declining on a sudden unexpectedly cut off all hope of recovery which before was great CHAP. IV. Instructions and Prescripts for curing the Watching Evil and the Watching Coma. AS Light and Darkness so Sleep and Watching being set together excellently illustrate each others natures Concerning a continual waking or the Watching-Evil we must in the first place here distinguish that either it is a symptom which happens upon some other Disease as a Fever Frensy Mania or Colick Gout and the like and then its consideration and cure belong to that affect whose offspring it is or else immoderate Watchings arising alone with out any other known cause seems to be a Disease as it were of it self as I have known it in some Persons and some of these Watchers tho destitute of Sleep seem scarce to want it For the Spirits appear not thereby either torpid or wearied or exhausted but others bearing ill watching soon become thereupon languid and lose their Stomacks and are forc'd to have recourse to Opiats which sometimes they use daily and in a large dose without hurt We have intimated before that the cause of natural waking which has Sleep interlaced with it consists in these two things viz. in one of them or both together To wit first that the animal Spirits being sufficiently refresht and freed from the fetters of the Nervous Liquor vigorously exert themselves and are expanded every way and especially from the middle part of the Brain to its circumference then secondly tho they enjoy a clear space every where and especially in the outmost part of the Brain being then free from the incursions of the Nervous Juice yet lest this expansion of the Spirits which is being awake be any where protracted longer than is fitting to their too great loss both the Spirits being now and then weary flagg and as it were repose themselves of their own accord and withall the Nervous Liquor coming to overspread the Cortex of the Brain stuffs and closes their Passages Hence it follows that preternatural and immoderate watching depends also on one or both of those two for either the Spirits being two exhorbitant and struck as it were with a rage do not retreat of their own accord and withall the Nervous Liquor does not so fill and stop the Pores of the outward part of the Brain that the Spirits may be forc'd thence inward to a repose Types of both these every where present themselves to be observed And first we may observe that the Animal Spirits becoming sometimes exhorbitant and so elastick or otherwise irregular cannot only be appeased and repose themselves but are scarce able to be contained within the proper Sphere of their emanation Wherefore being expanded in a continual watching they so fill the Brain and keep it extended that the nervous Juice tho heapt together in a great plenty at the entrance cannot be admitted and if the Spirits are recall'd inward from the Cortex of the Brain for that to enter presently being there restained or making a tumult within the midst
morning and evening drinking after it of the following water two or three ounces Take roots of male Peony Angelica Master-wort of each half a pound roots of Zedoary the lesser Galingal of each an ounce leaves of Mistletoe of Apple-trees Rue Sage Betony of each four handfuls the outward coats of ten Oranges and eight Lemmons Cardamums Cloves Nutmegs of each half an ounce all being slic'd and bruised pour to them of White-wine in which two pounds of Peacocks dung hath been infused for a day ten pounds let there be a close infusion for three dayes then distill it according to art let the whole Liquor be mixt Take species Diambroe two drams powder of the roots of male Peony choice Zedoary of each a dram and a half Pearl a dram Oyle of pure Amber half a dram double refined Sugar dissolved in Peony Water and boyled to a Consistency for Tablets six ounces make Tablets according to art weighing half a dram let the Patient eat one or two often in a day at pleasure Within fifteen or twenty dayes the Remedies that they may be less loathsome and more advantageous ought to be changed therefore instead of the Electuary give for a fortnight or three weeks sometimes Spirit of Sal Armoniack saccinated or coralliated or impregnated with Mans Scull or Castoreum sometimes the Elixir of Peony or the tincture of Amber or Coral or Quercitans Elixir of Life mixtura simplex Also instead of the compound Waters let them take either the Water of black Cherries or of Walnuts or of Rosemary or of Lavender simple sometimes a draught of Posset-drink with the Flowers of male Peony or of Lillies of the Vallies boyled in it or a draught of Tea or Coffee in the Morning those Ingredients being first boyled in the Water of which it is prepared or let a Confection of Chocolate be made after this manner Take powder of the Roots of male Peony mans Scull prepared of each half an ounce Species Diambrae two drams make a Powder to every paper of which add Cocao-nut-Kernels a pound Sugar what suffices make a Confection let half an ounce or six drams of this be taken every Morning in a draught of a decoction of Sage of Peony Flowers or the like Take Powder of the Roots of male Peony mans Scull prepared of each an ounce and a half Roots of choice Zedoary bastard Dittany Angelica Contrayerva of each two drams make a subtle Powder of all of them add the yellow Coats of Oranges and Limons preserv'd of each two ounces let them be bruised together to a Powder let about half a dram or a dram be taken an Hour before and after meals For ordinary Drink let a Vessel of four Gallons be filled with midling Ale in which boyle the Leaves of white sweet-smelling Hore-hound dryed six handfuls Anacardiums Cardamums of each an ounce and a half being slic'd and bruised make a Bag. But especially let an exact form of Dyet be observ'd Let a temperate dry and well ventilated Air be chosen let food only of an easie concoction and light be eaten let the Supper be spare or none at all let sleeping at noon drinkings and other ill accustomances about nonnatural things be shunned I might here instance several stories of Apoplectical persons viz. of some who tho seiz'd once or twice are still living and of others kill'd by the first or second or afterward at the third Invasion The Right Reverend Father in Christ Gilbert Lord Arch-bishop of Canterbury lives still who escap'd above six years since from a severe Apoplectick fit God to whom ever be praise giving success to Physical endeavours and from that time tho he has now and then undergone light touches of the Disease yet he has never been so prostrated by it as to become speechless or insensible But it 's to no purpose to dwell long in setting forth this and other examples in regard they contain nothing very rare whence the Aetiology of the Disease may be illustrated I have dissected some dead Bodies but they were in a manner only of such Persons as were seiz'd Apoplectical after the Head being greatly hurt as by a stroke or a fall in all which the Blood extravasated or an Abscess was the cause of Death As to the opening of Persons dead of an habitual Apoplexy we are most commonly hindred by Friends who expecting their revival both delay the Interrment and wholly forbid Anatomy But I shall give you here one notable Anatomical Observation made about five years since at Oxford An ancient Divine an honest and pious man of a gross Body and having a short and full grown Neck being long ill-dispos'd in his health and leading a sedentary life had contracted a very Scorbutick Cacochymia being affected with a difficult and pursy breathing and with an unwonted heaviness and drowsiness of his Head he was scarce able to perform any thing of labour or exercise but to go and come daily from his Chamber to the Chappel and Refectory On a certain morning entring the Chappel a little before Prayers as he set himself on his knees being struck on a sudden and presently becoming speechless and insensible he fell on the ground but being forthwith rais'd up and his Cloaths taken off he was put into a warm Bed My self and other Physicians being call'd and coming as quick as might be we found him not only without Sence Pulse and Respiration but cold and absolutely stift throughout his whole Body Nor could he be brought to life or to a heat by any Remedies or ways of administration tho applied with all diligence for some time Whence we imagin'd that from his first being struck the beat of the Heart was wholly stopp'd and its flame being extinct that presently all motion of the Blood was suppressed The next day after we opened the Body it appearing to be quite dead and stiff nothing doubting but very clear footstepts of an affect so suddenly mortal left within the Brain would shew themselves to the eye but neither there or in any other part was there remaining so much as any shadow of the Disease tho very violent the vessels irrigating the Meninges were indifferently fill'd with blood but without any inflammation or extravasation the Brain Cerebellum and medulla oblongata with all their processes and prominences appear'd every where firm and well-coloured throughout both within and without neither was there Serum nor extravasated Blood heapt together any where within their Pores and Passages nor also within the greater Ventricles nay and the plexus choroeides plac'd both within the Cavity of the Brain and behind the Cerebellum seemed free from all fault so that the morbifick matter being as fine and subtle as the Spirits which it affected remained wholly inconspicuous and we could only argue its presence there from the effect Nevertheless lest it should lye hid elsewhere without the Head after having accurately inspected all the Contents of the Brain we came to the Thorax where the Lungs
must have regard both to the Fever and to the fury The feverish burning or immoderate effervescence of the Blood which for the most part is the antecedent cause of the other affect ought in the first place to be restrained and appeased and withall the Animal Spirits ought to be pacified and freed from any violent excandescence If a Frensy happens about the beginning or middle of a Fever in a manner the same remedies and method of Curing conduce for both ends But if that affect happens upon this whilst it is in its greatest force or height the ways of curing often are contrary to each other and there is need of great caution lest while we give help to one disease we increase the other in this case the vital indication concerning the preservation of the strength has the first place and let not Blooding or Purging be used rashly and in a large measure In the former case when the Fever and Frensy are almost of the same standing let Phlebotomy which is seldom or never to be omitted presently be used and if the strength bears it let it be sometimes repeated for nothing depresses and diminishes the immoderate flame of the Blood as much as this Remedy and nothing more removes or withdraws its burning flame from the Animal oeconomy Wherefore if the case requires it let a Vein be opened sometimes in the Arm or Hand sometimes in the Leg or Foot sometimes in the Neck or Forehead sometimes haply it may be expedient to open the Artery of the Temples and sometimes also to draw Blood from other places by Leeches or Cupping-glasses for this is the chiefest relief And according to Galen this being the first and greatest of all Remedies is wont to satisfie a great many indications in the Frensy Moreover to prevent the violent recourse of the febrile matter from the Viscera to the Head Clysters will be of chief use with which if need be let the Belly always be kept soluble Vemits and Purges unless only such as are lenitive have seldome place here Let Cataplasms of Rue Cammomil Vervain Briony Roots Red Poppy-flowers with Soap be applied all over the Feet or in their place let Pidgeons slit in two be applied whilst they are warm Mean while Juleps Apozemes Powders Confections by which both the boylings of the Blood and the excandescence of the Spirits are appeased ought to be prescribed according to occasion Take the waters of Apples Black Cherries Cowslips of each four ounces of whole Citrons two ounces Pearl powdred a dram Syrup of the juice of Citrons an ounce mix them make a Julep let three ounces be taken three or four times a day Take Roots of Grass Leaves of Wood-Sorrel Burnet of each a handful Barley half an ounce Apples slic'd Corinths or Strawberries or Rasberries a handful let them boyl in four pounds of Fountain-water to the consumption of a third part to the clear straining add Syrup of Violets an ounce Sal Prunella a dram and a half Take fresh and tender leaves of Borage four handfuls Wood-Sorrel two handfuls two Apples pounded to a mash Sal Prunella two drams the pulp of one Orange double refin'd Sugar an ounce being bruis'd together pour to them of Fountain-water two or three pounds make a strong expression keep it in a glass to be clarified by setling Let six or seven ounces be taken at pleasure often in a day For quenching thirst drink at pleasure the divine drink of Palmarius viz. Fountain Water with Sugar and the Juice of a Limon or Water or Whey with the leaves of Meadow-sweet or Burnet infus'd or boyl'd in them emulsions of a decoction of the roots and flowers of Nymphaea with the seeds of Melons or fountain or distill'd Water with the pulp of boyled Apples dissolved in them Hypnoticks are often necessary in this Disease but such as are strong are not proper presently at the beginning nor may they be frequently used because sleep caused by opiats brings the matter more to the Brain and fixes it there more deeply Take Water of Cowslip flowers four ounces Syrup of Maeconium half an ounce Pearl a scruple make a draught to be taken late at night Take white Poppy-seeds two drams Sugar-candy a dram and a half being bruis'd together pour to them of white Poppy-water six ounces wring it forth and take it after the same manner Let Narcoticks consisting of meer cold things be given with caution because they do not agree with some whose Stomachs have their fibres very tender and sensible I have often observ'd that these kinds of Hypnoticks have caus'd a great oppression in the Ventricle and that then presently its inflation and a little afterward distractions and disorderings of the Spirits in the Brain nay in the whole Body followed So that not only a frustration of sleep but a mighty restlesness was caus'd Let a dose of liuqid Laudanum prepared with Salt of Tartar or the Juice of Quinces be given in a convenient liquor Epithemes also which provoke Sleep are often applied to the Temples Forehead and Sinciput with success of which kind are Oxyrrhodinum an Embrocation of Water or Milk liniments of the Oyl of Nutmegs by expression and unguentum populneum to which sometimes let five or six grains of Opium be added or a cake of Roses or of Poppy-flowers with Vinegar and Nutmeg c. Again on this account rather than for removing the inflammation of the meninx the warm lungs of a Lamb or Weather also Pidgeons or Chickens cut in two often give an excellent relief For this use the great Burr-dock bruised and mixt with Womans Milk and applied to the Sinciput shaved is greatly commended Also Penotus's Epitheme of twelve grains of Musk half a scruple of Camphire and twenty ounces of Rose-water impregnated with the Tincture of Red Saunders is commended by some Moreover not only to the Head but likewise to the Heart Liver and other parts Epithemes are wont to be applied Let a Sacculus of fine Linnen with lays of cordial Species and Cotton stuck in it and irrigated with the distilled Water or Vinegar of Roses be applied to the Praecordia also let Linnen Cloaths dipt in Vinegar of Roses be laid on the Testles Let the Feet be bathed with a decoction of the leaves of Willow Lettice and the heads of the white Poppy But let these kinds of cooling and mitigating topicks be us'd only about the beginning of the Disease in its greatest height let Resolvents and Emollients as the flowers of Cammomil Melilot Elder c. also the leaves of Mallows Arach Marjoram Hyssop and the like be added In the declination of the Disease let Resolvents only and those sparingly be used In the mean while a very great regard ought to be had of the Strength for this being too much broken all hope of Cure is lost Now the strength is wont to be soon consumed by reason of great watchings perpetual agitations of the body and mind a thin dyet and Blooding
appropriate Electuary such as above-described with a Cephalick Julep Within two months he was m uch better and afterward came to himself by degrees Whilst I was writing these things a young man of Quality lately returned from travelling beyond the Seas and being become sickly committed himself to our care This Person being formerly of a sanguine and chearful temperament of a gay behaviour also of an acute wit and a clear disposition as he travelled through Foreign Countries and being in a certain Summer in Spain he felt in himself a great alteration from the intense heats of that place For first he became obnoxious to frequent effervescencies of the Blood with sudden flushings of heat in the palms of his Hands and the soles of his Feet and to prickings often wont to arise in his whole Body and presently to go away again Afterward finding himself worse as to his Appetite and Sleep and likewise growing dull and somewhat sad he began to affect less and sometimes to shun any business or delights nay and conversation with his friends At length this indisposition daily growing worse without any manifest cause or real trouble of mind he became Melancholick so that always being thoughtful fearful and sad he took delight in nothing For Studies Exercises Travelling Conversation with learned men and all other things which before he delighted in were then wont to be a trouble or terrour to him Being affected after this manner for two years he was so much changed from himself as tho he were another man In order to a Cure he consulted the most skilful Physicians of Spain France Holland and of late in England and tryed various methods of Curing tho scarce with any benefit To wit that melancholy Discrasy of the Blood first contracted by the distemper of the Air continuing still caused Spirits of an acetous nature as it were to be supplied to the Animal oeconomy In the first place I thought good to commend to this Person the following Remedies Take Gerion's decoction of Senna with Tamarinds half an ounce four ounces Purging Syrup of Apples an ounce Aqua mirabilis two drams mix them let him take it with governance repeating it within nine days afer Purging let Bood be drawn with Leeches to three ounces Take of our Syrup of Steel six ounces let a Spoonfull be taken in the morning and atfive of the Clock in three ounces of the following Liquor walking upon it for an hour or two Take leaves of Baum Borrage Buglosse Burnet Meadow-sweet Harts-tongue Water-cresses of each four handfuls roots of Borrage half a pound Clove-gilliflowers Marygold flowers of each three handfuls the outward rinds of eight Oranges and four Lemmons Mace half an ounce being sliced and bruis'd pour to them of Whey made with Cyder eight pounds distill it with common Organs Take Conserve of Clove-gilliflowers the flowers of Betony and Borrage of each one ounce and half Pearl powdred two drams red Coral prepared a dram and a half Species of the Confection of Hyacinth two drams Syrup of Coral and red Poppyes of each what suffizes make an opiat let the quantity of a Chesnut be taken every Evening drinking after it two or three ounces of the water of Cowslip flowers After sixteen or twenty dayes the method of alteratives being changed instead of these let him take the following Take powder of Ivory Pearl red Coral prepared of each two drams Roots of male Peony a dram and a half Lignum Aloes half a dram Orange Tablets four ounces a solution of Tragacanth made in Baum-water what suffises make Tablets weighing half a dram let four be eaten in the Morning and at five of the Clock drinking after it a draught of Tea Take of the same Powder without Tablets half an ounce Flowers of Sal Armoniack Salt of Coral of each a dram with Chios Turpentine six drams make amass let half a dram be taken Morning and Evening drinking after it three ounces of the distilled Water Let him feed only on Food of a good Juice and of an easie Concoction let him drink small Ale with the Leaves of Harts-tongue infused in it he may sip a little now and then of Wine with Water in it or of Cyder Let him lead his Life continually occupied sometimes in easie Employs sometimes in moderate Exercises or Recreations of various kinds So far of universal Melancholy in which the diseased are in a manner indifferently affected by any Object so that in every place by any Accidents and Circumstances they are continually perplext with a multitude of Thoughts with a Raving Fear and Sadness A Melancholy is said to be Special when the diseased have regard to some particular thing or to some certain kind of things of which they in a manner alwayes think and by reason of all the Powers of the Soul being continually spent in this one thing they live always pensive and sad Moreover they have absurd and incongruous Notions not only concerning that Object but also concerning many other Accidents and Subjects In this affect the corporeal soul being altered from its proper Species assumes a certain new one and being not conformable to the rational Soul or to the Body or to it self it undergoes a certain Metamorphosis There are two kinds of occasions from which a particular Melancholy chiefly and most frequently arises viz. first if at any time some severe pressure of an Evil present or at hand whether it be true or imaginary lyes upon the Soul or secondly if the privation of a good before obtained or the despair of that which is desired happen In these opposite Cases the corporeal Soul either being allur'd outwardly omits all domestick care of it self or of the Body or of the rational Soul or being inwardly compress'd it leaves or perverts the offices both of the Reason and of the Vital and Animal Function It were a thing of an immense Labour to enumerate the various Cases and wayes of affecting in both kinds among the mighty store of them those which being of greatest moment seem chiefly to require a physical help are a furious Love Jealousie Superstition despair of eternal Salvation the imaginary Metamorphosis of the Body or of its Parts or the fantastical Goods or Evils of Fortune we shall speak briefly of each of these It is a vulgar and most common observation that if any one once being taken with the Aspect and Conversation of a Woman begins inwardly to be love-sick for her and to desire her earnestly and for his most devoted affection gets nothing but denials and Contempt unless he be upheld by a very strong Reason or being seized by other affections be turned another way as it were there is great danger lest he fall into a Love-melancholy with which Passion if he happen to be affected presently he seems transformed from himself into a living Statue as it were he thinks or speaks of nothing but his Mistris he seeks to put himself upon any of the greatest dangers of Life and Fortune
and Thirst abated by degrees the Urine was less ruddy with somewhat of an Hypostasis afterward for three days the Fever leisurely declin'd yet he had every Night a certain Fit tho more remiss than before On the eleventh Day he sweated more freely and came to a perfect Crisis During the whole time of the sickness he used a very spare Diet as desiring no Food but small Ale and Whey made with it he took now and then cooling Drinks and Juleps of a Decoction of Barley and distill'd Waters every day if he had not a Motion to Stool of his own Accord an emollient Clyster was injected he used no Medicine beside viz. either Cathartick or Cardiack but the Fever being over he was twice purg'd and afterward soon grew well A young Student about twenty five Years of Age of a pale Countenance and a melancholy Temperament without a manifest Cause in August 1656. began to be sick first he complain'd of a feverish Distemper with a Thirst a spontaneous Lassitude and a want of Appetite On the second day he was troubled also with a Pain in the right side and a Distension of both Hypocondres also with an almost continual Vomiting Watchings and a violent Head-ach On the third day a Physician being called presently twelve Ounces of Blood were taken away in the Evening he grew hotter and delirious afterward a Sweat tho small hapning he was better the next Morning On the fourth day he presently threw up again whatsoever was given him and was troubled with an almost continual striving to vomit the giving of a Vomitory being propos'd by the Physician both the sick Person and his Friends refused to admit of it being taught by Experience of the Danger of it before a Clyster being given him he had six Stools and seem'd to be somewhat relieved and the Night following he slept a little On the fifth day again there was a frequent Vomiting with a continual Thirst he burned inwardly but the sense of that immoderate Heat was not perceivable outwardly to the Touch because the Recrements of the boyling Blood which ought to have breath'd forth through the skin seemed to stagnate within and so float the Viscera therefore in the Evening for provoking a Sweat this Bolus was given Conserve of Roses vitriolated a dram Gascoins Powder a Scruple Laudanum dissolv'd in Bawm Water a Grain That Night he slept indifferently and a copious Sweat ensuing the Symptoms seem'd to be mitigated nevertheless on the sixth day all things grew bad again a Heat throughout the whole Body a Thirst and a burning of the Praecordia prest violently On the seventh and eighth days the Pulse was uneven and disorderly for the most part he spoke delirous and if he was stirr'd in his Bed he fell frequently into a fainting Fit On the ninth Day the same Symptoms continued moreover he was troubled with a Contraction of the Tendons in the Wrists and with Convulsive Motions of other Parts so that we despaired in a manner of his well-doing That Morning because Nature seemed to yield her self overcome it concerned us to do what Art could afford wherefore intending a copious Sweat as the last Refuge I gave him at one taking a Dram of Spirit of Hart-born in a little Draught of a Cordial Julep from thenceforward for four Hours being very restless and raving he could scarce be kept in Bed but afterward Sleep stealing upon him he sweated very much and his Case was soon brought to be out of danger the following Night in order to continue the Sweat I ordered a Dose of the Powder of Contrayerva to be given him every six Hours The Fever and the Affects of the Genus Nervosum ceas'd in a short time and the sick Person recovered A Woman about thirty Years of Age of a robust Body and a melancholy Temperament as we might guess from her very austere way of Behaviour in the third Month after Child-birth as she gave her Infant suck in the Night the Cloaths falling from her took Cold and shortly upon it fell into a cold Shivering a Heat greater than usual followed it which afterward a gentle Sweat arising soon remitted On the second and third days she was very thirsty and had no Appetite tho without any immoderate Burning that she scarce yet believed her self in a Fever every Night she lay quiet but wholly without Sleep the Urine was intensly ruddly and somewhat thick and opake through the multitude of contents which nevertheless being not disturbed by the cold continued still after the same manner without an flypostasis or subfiding of the parts on the fourth day the heat was kindled throughout the whole wherefore a Physician being then first called about twelve ounces of Blood were taken from the Arm after the letting Blood and the Belly being copiously emptyed the same day by a Clyster given in the Evening she fell into a Sweat by which Nevertheless being not relieved she past the Night without Sleep as before tho an Anodyne Medicine were given her on the fifth day after a Clyster injected she had three stools and found ease the Urine still continued the same ruddy and troubled when it was prescribed her to have Blood taken from the Vein running under the Knee the Diseased earnestly refused it thinking herself upon a Recovery the Night following after that she had lain without Sleep and restless for a long time at length she fell into a sore fit such as is vulgarly said to be Hysterical and in the first place she was affected with a certain Numness or a Sense of pricking which seised the extream parts of the Body especially the Feet Leggs and Thighs and withall with a Flatus violently distending the Intestines Ventricle and Hypochondres she selt in the lower part of her Belly a certain great and heavy things as it were to rise up gently which when it was risen to the Heart and thence to the Brain presently the Diseased failed in her Understanding and for all the Night afterward lay delirous and talkt light-headed on the sixth day after the Belly 's being loosned by a Clyster she came to her self again was very sound in her Mind and seemed to be indifferently well but in the Evening as she was moved in her bed she began to feel an invasion of such a kind of fit as before to wit in her whole Body she had a sense of Pricking as tho she were stung with Nettles and withall in her Belly she felt a Ball as it were which creeping upwards distended the intestines and Ventricle so that store of Flatus'd and Belchings were thence caused for relief she desired cold Water might be given her to drink moreover Remedies usual in Hysterick Affects as Castoreum a smell of Assafetida Fumes of Feathers burnt Ligatures and Frictions of the Legs and Thighs and the like things were used by which she seemed for the present free from the said affect and was wholly cleared from it for four hours but as she lay
Rising from her Bed at ten a Clock in the Morning she was well and carryed her self so well in her countenance walking and discourse that no man would have suspected that any thing ail'd her At eleven a Clock she began to complain of a Plenitude and as it were Inflation in the Brain and a Deadness of the Spirits with a light Scotomia by and by she felt in the left Hypocondre a mighty beating and Springing as it were of a live Animal I plainly felt this Motion by applying my hand to her side then a Retching and great Crying followed whereupon she was presently led to Bed and given to be held by a maid servant sitting on the Bolster This person clapping her Arms about the middle of the diseas'd held her very hard in her Lap during the Fit Moreover servants were at hand and relations standing about her who sometimes held her Hands and Arms sometimes prest down her Belly and Hypocondres which rise to a mighty Bulk still forcing upwards The chief Symptoms of the disease which being rais'd by turns divided in a manner the whole Fit were these two viz. Sometimes violent Convulsions of the Viscera infested her so that the Abdomen rising to a mighty Bulk withstood the hands of standers by prest against it that it could not be kept down and withal the Praecordia being drawn upward the Motion of the Heart and Blood was in a manner stop't For which space of time the Virgin hanging down her head with a weaken'd and no Pulse as it were lay Speechless and almost insensible After two or three minutes of an hour these Fits ceast And then the Sick raising her self look't round her chearfully and for some time converted the Impetus of the disease into Discourses and Songs both which she uttered most Pleasantly and Elegantly above her Natural disposition she past such Sayings and Scoffs on all persons about her that there is nothing in any Comedy to be met with more facetious then she would Sing most Sweet and Pleasant Tunes of Harmony such as neither any person else could Sing or herself at another time After the she had thus past about six or seven Minutes of an hour in Jesting and Singing she fell again into the Convulsions of the Viscera and Hypochondres and the loss of Speech as before And these remitting in a short time and the Impetus of the Spirits flying back from the inferiour Nerves to the Brain she gave her self again to the pleasantryes of Talking and Singing When at any time she discourst with the standers by if any thing that was Sharp or Ignominious were replyed by them she fell into more Violent and Lasting Convulsions of the Bowels After this manner she uses to be troubled with an alternate affect of the Viscera and Brain for about the space of an hour Then the Fit drawing toward an end the Convulsions of the Bowels becoming more gentle return'd three or four times with very little intermission Afterward these wholly ceasing the Impetus of the disease passes into the outward Members whence presently it wholly vanishes For the Arms and Legs undergo contractions and twitchings for a minute of an hour and presently after the diseased rising up comes off from her Bed and is free from all Convulsion till a new Fit returns nay and having an indifferent good strength walks up and down the house and during the interval of the affect cheerfully performs the usual Offices of Life still excepting that her Stomach being weak loaths food during the day time in the evening after the second Fit of the disease she eats a little supper About the beginning of this sickness of the Convulsions of the Bowels were much more violent and she lay Senseless with them and during their intervals she would talk absurdly Sing Songs out of tune and fall out a Laughing or Crying without any ground of reason But at length the Animal Spirits being forc't into lasting explosions perform'd them so regularly sometimes this way sometimes that as it was most proper that they seem'd to be done in some sort by the moderation and command of the will After I had been again to see this Lady having lain under these periodical Fits for many weeks I ordered that three hours before the second Fit ten Ounces of Blood should be drawn from the Vein of her foot whereupon the Fit expected in the Evening wholly left her nor did it ever return afterward But the other Fit obsrving its ancient course return'd daily till upon Bleeding a little before its coming the Patient was free of it that day which nevertheless returning the next day after followed her for many months according to the same form In the mean while because the winter cold was very fevere she delai'd for some time the use of Remedies But as the Spring came on the noble Lady being brought to Oxford was cur'd by the following Method In the first place I gave her this Purge and took care for it to be repeated every sixth or seventh day Take Sulphur of Antimony six Grains Mercurius Dulcis a Scruple Rosin of Jalap four Grains Ginger six Grains Let them be bruis'd together on a Marble then adding Conserve of Violets a Dram make a Bolus It was wont to make her Womit twice or thrice and to give her three or four Stools Her Menses constantly flowed from her at set time in a plentiful manner Wherefore her Blood seeming to be in great plenty and hot in the middle time betwixt the monthly periods I ordered Bleeding twice or thrice Moreover on all those days that she did not Purge she took four Pills of the following Mass Drinking after it a little Draught of the Julap beneath prescribed Take Roots of Male Peony half an Ounce of Virginia Serpentary Contrayerva and Bastard Dittany of each two Drams Mans Scult prepar'd a Dram and a half Elks Hoof a Dram red Coral prepar'd Pearl Powdred of each a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams Salt of Coral a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrupe of Male Peony flowers make a Mass Take the Waters of Male Peony Flowers Black Cherries and Wallnuts of each four Ounces the Antiepileptical Water of Langius two Ounces Syrup of Peony Flowers an Ounce and a half Castoreum tyed in a knot and hung in hte Glass a Dram mix them make a Julap When she began to loath the Pills omitting them she took twice a day viz. early in the morning and late at night about a Scruple of the following Powder in a spoonful of the Julap Drinking after it four or five spoonfuls of the same Take Bezoar Stone of both kinds White Amber Pearl prepar'd Red Coral of each a Scruple Mans Scull two Scruples Roots of Virginia Serpentary Seeds of Rue of each half a Dram mix them make a Powder let her take a Scruple Morning and Evening with a Dose of the Julap above prescribed Afterward when this also began to nauseate her she us'd Pills or
also Elixir Proprietatis sometimes also Spirit of Harts-horn for many days afterward at long run upon taking that Powder daily for some space she began to find help Inthe mean while that this Method of Cure was followed her Hair being Shav'd off her Head was cover'd only with a thin Dress she wore the Hysterick Plaister with a mixture of Galbanum on the Abdomen She drank for her ordinary drink a Boâ—het of Sarsa and China with the Roots of Male Peony and other appropriated things infus'd and boil'd in Fountain Water Within a Month the Fits remitted a little Afterward becoming more mild by degrees and lesser at length they ceas'd in a manner altogether unless that near the time of her Menses she was wont to be troubled with an assault or two of that disease Moreover she was troubled almost with a constant Giddiness and a loathing of Meat in the midst of Summer the drank Astrope Waters for six weeks and grew perfectly well As to the way of Cure to be us'd in general for such Marvellous Convulsions it is not an easie thing to assign Remedies equal to so Hereulean a Disease or a certain method of its Cure confirm'd by frequent experiments For besides that cases like those seldom occur we may likewise observe that the same Medicine which did good to this sick person at one time gave not the least relief to another person or the same when given at another time the reason of which seems to be that the cause of the Disease seems to consist in the Discrasy of the Nervous Juice Which liquor is not always perverted after one and the same manner But from the manifold combination of the Salts and Sulphurs gets a Morbid disosition of a various kind and condition and often changes it Wherefore in those difficult affects we must not prescribe vulgar Medicines taken from Apothecaries Shops but Magisterial ones as occasion requires according to the appearances of the Marvellous Symptoms A Gentle Vomit a Purge and Bleeding ought in the first place to be us'd and sometimes to be repeated as it shall seem convenient And as to Specifick Medicines and such are appropriated in those cases since the chief Indication will be to amend the Crasis of the Nervous Juice we may try a great many things and sift their vertues from the effect Therefore we may try what things endued with a Volatile or Armoniack Salt will do For this purpose let the Spirits and Salts of Harts-horn Blood Soot the Flowers and Spirits of Sal Armoniack be taken These giving no relief we must come to Chalybeats let the Tinctures and Solutions of Coral and Antimony be given which sort of Medicines must be given in such a Dose and form and for so many times that some alteration may be made by them in the Blood and Nervous Juice Again if these have not success we must proceed to Alexipharmicks which are good against Poyson and a Malignity gotten into the Humours viz. of these we must order Decoctions Destillations Powders Conserves and other Preparations of Vegetables and we must variously compound them the one with the other and administer them several ways It seems likely that those sorts of Medicines which being inwardly taken are wont to do good to such as are bit by a Viper or by a Mad Dog and likewise against Wolfs-bane and Napellus may also be of use in the above mentioned Convulsions We may here after the example of Gregor Horstius in his Tracts of the Malign Convulsive disease prescribe also Magisterial Remedies in form of a Purging Electuary also of a Powder and Convulsive Antidote for these Marvellous Convulsions and variously Compound the same of Simples partly Alexipharmical and partly Antiepileptical CHAP. VIII Of the Affects which are vulgarly call'd Hysterical IF at any time an unusual sort of Sickness or of a very Secret Origine occurs in the Body of a Woman so that its Cause lies hid and the Therapeutick Indication be wholly uncertain presently we accuse the evil influence of the Womb which for the most part is guiltless and in any unusual Symptom we cry out that there is somewhat Hysterical in it and consequently the Physical intentions and the uses of Remedies are directed for this end which often is only a starting hole for Ignorance The passions which are wont to be rank't in this number are found to be various andmanifold which seldom agree in divers Women or happen wholly after the same manner the most common of them and which are vulgarly said to Constitute the formalstate of an Hysterick affect are these viz. A Motion in the lower part of the Belly and an Ascent as it were of some round thing there then a Belching or Straining to Vomit a distention of the Hypochondres and a Rumbling with a Belching forth of Wind an uneven and for the most part a letted Respiration a Suffocation in the Throat a Giddiness an Inversion or Rotation of the Eyes often Laughing or Weeping a Talking Idly sometimes a Speechlesness and Immobility with an obscure or no Pulse and a Cadaverous aspect sometimes Convulsive Motions rais'd in the Face and Limbs and sometimes in the whole Body But universal Convulsions seldom happen and not unless the disease be raised to its worst state for the Tragedy of the Fit is acted through for the most part without any contraction of the Members only in the Belly Breast and Head viz. one of them or successively in all Women of all Ages and Conditions are obnoxious to these affects to wit Rich and Poor Virgins Wives and Widows I have observed those Symptoms in Girls before the time of Puberty and in old Women after their Menses ceast to Flow nay and men are sometimes troubled with such kind of Passions instances of which are not wanting The cause of these Symptoms must not be imputed to the Ascent of the Womb and to vapours rais'd from the same nor to the Impetuous rushing of the Blood into the Lungs as the Learned Highmore has Judg'd But we say that the affect call'd Hysterical chiefly and primarily is Convulsive and depends principally on the Brain and Genus Nervosum being affected and is produc't wholly by the exposions of the Animal Spirits as other Convulsive Motions And whatever disorder or irregularities happen else about the Motion of the Blood they are only secondary and depending on the Convulsions of the Viscera The way of the difference whereby the kinds of this disease both differ from each other and from the other Convulsive affects is taken from the various Origine and chiefly from the extension of the Morbisick Cause for the Origine of this as of many other Convulsive affects sometimes resides in the Head the Womb being wholly without fault Though sometimes this affect happens through the fault of the Womb and sometimes through that of other parts As to the extension of the Disease from whatever Origine it proceeds for the most part it chiefly affects the Interiour