new stock of the same Disease biginning to spring forth grew up in a short time to its wonted Maturity Moreover when one of these persons would repeat this Medicine and another after two returns of the Di2ease would try it a third time both of them at length despair'd of Cure after they had underwent so much Misery Whence it appears that the French-pox though Malignant in the highest Nature and causing most Filthy and Virulent Ulcers consuming the Flesh and Bones may much more easily and ceratinly be Cur'd than the running Scab The reason of ti is that the cause of the Pox consists in a Malignant and altogether Heterogeneous Miasin defiling and as ti were Poysoning the Blood and Nervous Liquor for some time though not wholly subverting their Crasis or utterly depraving them for the future Wherefore that Cure is perform'd by Salivation or a Sweating Diet extirpating all that Venom the Genuine Disposition of the Blood and Humours then remaining But in a deep sort of running Scab the Elementary and Originally composong Particles of the Blood are corrupted so that unless the Crasis and due Disposition of these be restor'd all sorts of Evacuations and Purgings of the Malignant and Venemous matter though never so fll and eradicative will effect little or nothing Wherefore it is not without ground that many famous Physitians formerly have judg'd this Disease when coufirm'd and drawing near to a Leaprosie to be hardly or never Cur'd 2. No better event attends this Disease when if succeeds an inveterate Scurvy Haply the intentions of Curing are somewhat more certainly pitcht upon when this effect is suppos'd to be the basis or root of that viz. the Terapeutick intention being thence taken we insist chiefly on Antiscorbutick Remedies but yet the more smart and hotter things of this kind as Scurvy-grass Cresses Horse-raddish Pepperwort and other things irritating the Blood too much in regard they more dissolve its Crasis and drive the Tartarous Concretions more plentifully to the Skin are always found rather prejudicial than advantageous And for this reason the use of hot Baths or Bathing in hot waters which in regard it evacuates the Humours of the whole Body by a most plentiful Sweat and cleanses the Pores of the Skin and mightily purges them amy seem to be very available in this Disease most commonly is so far from doing good that the Eruptions are wont thence to be mightily encreast and exasperated For I have known many persons not very much over-gone with the running Scab who going to our Bath to bathe themselves in the hot waters have return'd thence perfectly Leaprous Wherefore when this affect is a Symptom arising from the Scurvy all Smart and Elastick things being avoided let only the more temperate and such as are endow'd with a Nitrous Vitriolick or Volatile Salt be administred We shall give you some kinds and froms of each of these sorts In the First p ace things chiefly excelling in a Nitrous Sal are Chrystal Mineral the Juices or Decoctions of certain Herbs and some Purging Mineral waters Take Chrystal Mineral or Nitre purified to the highest degree an Ounce Flowers of Sal Armoniack a Dram bruise them together in a Glass Mortar give to a Dram thrice or four times in the space of twenty four hours Take Leaves of the great House-leek two handfuls being bruis'd boil them in two Pounds and a half of fresh Milk till it turn to Whey and Curd being strain'd let the clear Liquour be taken to a Pound twice a Day Take Leaves of Dandelyon six handfuls being bruis'd put them in a Glaz'd Earthen Pot with a cover which put in an Oven after the Bread is draum and let it stand for six or eight hours then the Mass being put in a strainer let the clear Liquour run out the Dose of which is from four Ounces to six thrice or oftner in a Day Cucumbers being endow'd with a Nitrous quality are found by experience to be good against this Disease wherefore let store of them be often eaten as a Sallet Moreover let three or four of them being cut into slices be infus'd and close stopt in three Pounds of fountain water all Night to the clear Liquour pour'd off add of Sal Prunella two or three Drams the Dose is half a Pound thrice or oftener in a Day for the same purpose also Decoctions of the Leaves together with the Fruit made in fountain water are proper Some Mineral Purging waters as especially those of North-hal being resolv'd by Evaporation mainifestly shew the Nitrous Salt wherewith they are imbued And I have sometimes found by expericence that dayly drinking about two quarts of them for many Days Cures a small running Scab 2. But as I have hinted before Mineral waters endow'd with a Vitriolick Salt as those of the Spaw and ours of Tunbridge and Astrope far exceed those Nitrous waters nay and all other Medicines and are of greater efficacy in the Cure of the running Scab To those who have not the conveniency of using these waters I ordinarily give with good success against this Disease common waters impregnated with our Steel and so most exactly resembling those Mineral waters It happens that Tin and Antimony by reason of their Mineral Salts or at leastwise by reason of the Mercurial Particles in them are extol'd by many for curing the running Scab and are wont to be prescrib'd with other Medicines Let Shavings of Tin and Powder of Antimony be infus'd in Beer for ordinary Drink they enter also the Decoctions of Sarza with Woods which are ordered against this affect The use of the Viper and preparations of it sufficiently recommend the excellent Vertue of Volatile Salt for the Cure of the deep sort of running Scab nay of the Leaprosie it self For it being manifest by frequent observations that Remedies prepar'd of Vipers do good in the running Scab and Leaporfie certainly the reason of the help it affords ought to be ascrib'd to the Volatile Salt with a great plenty of which this Animal is endowed For the Particles of this destroy the fixt and acid Salts predominating in the Blood of the Diseas'd and dissolve their Combinations Nevertheless the Salt Spirit and Oyl of Vipers Chymically extracted by reason of their Empyreumatick and mighty Elastick Particles which they draw from the Fire are not proper in this Disease so neither the Spirit or Volatile Salt of Harts-born Soot or Blood and other such like Armoniacks because by exagitating the Blood and Humours above measure they cause their Crasis to be more dissolv'd and their Corruptions to be driven forth more plentifully to the Skin Wherefore the more simple preparations of Vipers as Broaths of their Flesh boil'd in water Drinks impregnated with Infusions or Incoctions of the same and Powders made of the same dryed and beaten are rpescrib'd with more success against this Disease Moreover not only the Flesh of Vipers but of other kinds of Oviaprous Snakes being boil'd and eaten for ordinary Food
Make a Mass and form it into Pills Certain Hydragogue Electuaries are now every wher much in use amongst Practitioners and especially one given us by tye famous Sylvius and another by Zwelfer This that follows likes us well Take Rosin of Jalap two Drams Tartar vitriolated a Dram Extract of Rhubarb two Drams of Esula a Drm and a half Roots of the lesser Galingal a Dram bruise them very well And lastly add Conserve of English Orris Flowers four Ounces and with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Peach Rlowers Make an Electuary the Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram and a half or two Drams I might here give you many other Purging Hydragogues but Catharticks do not always Cure the Ascites nay they often make it worse and if you insist too long upon them render it Incurable Therefore now let us enquire whether Diureticks will do good in this case or not And truly any Man might easily be induc'd to believe that Medicines provoking Urine contribute very much towards the Evacuation of Waters from any part or Cavity of the Body In reality its manifest by frequent experiments that they often Cure the Anasarca and give relief in it before all other Remedies Let us see therefore what they can do for draining the Cavity of the Abdomen As to this its manifest in the first place that there is no immediate passage open from the Ascitical Mass of Waters to the Reins how near soever they lye to them but whatsoever waters are conveyed from that Mass to the Reins must of necessity be first of all drank up again into the Blood and be thence discharg'd into that receptacle of the Urine Now little is it that the small Mouths of the Veins if haply any of them are open can receive And this is that only thing which Diureticks are able to perforem viz. By fusing the Blood and driving its Serosities to the Reins in a plentiful manner to make it draw to it self being so drein'd the Waters floating in the Belly In the mean time there is no less danger lest Diureticks unseasonably given whilst they fuse the Blood too much drive the Serum which is forc'd to part from it into the watery Mass of the Ascites more than into the Reins and so rather to increase than remove that deluge of the Belly And truly I have frequently observ'd that this sometimes happens and 't is for this reason tha the Ancients always mixt Astringents and Corroboratives in their Medicines for the Dropsie not that such as is vulgarly said strengthen the tone of the Liver but preserve the Crasis or Mixture of the Blood from being wholly dissolv'd by too much fusion Therefore in an Ascites which happens chiefly or in part by reason that the Serous humour stuffs and mightily swells the Compages of the Viscera and Vessels and especially the Tunicles Glands and Fibres themselves and the spaces betwixt them even as Cathartieks are proper so are also Diureticks and are often taken with success for as much as by the use of these the Mass of Blood is drein'd the Serum being deriv'd to the Reins in a plentiful manner and readily receives into it self those waters every where stagnating about the Mouths of the Vessels and conveys them to the Urinary Common-shore But on the contrary in a true Ascites where the Textures of the Viscera being free from such stuffings with Serum the filthy Mass of Waters fills the Cavity of the Belly Diureticks are given either to no purpose or with prejudice because they fetch out nothing of the water stagnating in the Belly and very often by fusing the Blood drive the waters more violently thither being apt to distil into it of their own accord In an Ascites all Diureticks of every kind are not equally proper nor ought to be indifferently give for it is to be observ'd that Persons troubl'd with this Disease make little Urine which is also reddish and resembling as it were a Lixivium which is a sign that the Crasis of their Blood is so close bound by reason of the fixt Salt and Sulphur being exalted and combin'd together in it and consequently that its Serum is not duly separted within the Reins which nevertheless is thrown off in the Involutions of the Obstructed Viscera and so is depos'd in the Cavity of the Belly Wherefore in this case we must give only those things to move Urine which so restore and corredct the Constitution of the Blood that the Irregularities of the fixt Salt and Sulphur being taken away the Serous part may be separated within the Reins and sent forth in a more plentiful manner For which end not Acid or Lixivial things but such as are endow'd with a Volatile Salt are proper for I have often observ'd in such Patients that when Spirit of Salt and other Acid distill'd Liquors of Minerals and when the Deliqia or Solutions of Salt of Tartar of Broom and of other things have rather done hurt than good the Juice of Plantain of Brooklimes and of other Herbs abounding with a Volatile Salt also the expressions of Millepedes have given relief For the same reason Sal Nitre throughly purified or Crystal Mineral has often a mighty good effect You may find Forms of Medicines proper for this use in our preceding Tract where we have set down Examples of Diureticks in which both Volatile and Nitrous Salts are the Basis Moreover to this place belongs that notable Experiment with which Johannes Anglus says he often Cur'd an Ascites from a hot Caus which Medicine also the most experienc'd Physician Dr. Theodore Mayern usually prescrib'd in the like Case and was wont to extol It is as follows Take Juice of Plantain and Liverwort and fill an earthen Pot with it to the Brim then stop it very close and put it in a hot Oven as soon as the Bread is drawn and make a gentle Fire round the sides of the Pot to continue the heat of the Oven after it is boild strain the Liquor and being sweeten'd with Sugar let it be drank Mornings and Evenings and it Cures In Imitation of this I have often prescrib'd with success after the following manner Take green Plantain Leaves four handfuls Liverwort and Brooklimes of each two handfuls being bruis'd together pour to them of small Compound Raddish water or of some other Magisterial water half a pound wring it forth hard The Dose is three Ounces thrice a day Diaphoreticks though most efficacious in an Anasarca yet are of little or no use in an Ascites for being unseasonably given they often cause a great prejudice to the Patient without doing him the least good because by heating the Blood they make the waters floating in the Cavity of the Belly to grow fervid and to boil as it were so that the Spirits and Humours are mightily troubled by the Vapours thence rais'd and so a disorder of all the functions follows and the Viscera themselves being sodden as it were are very much
injur ' Moreover when a Sweat is thus unduly rais'd the Blood being forc'd to a fusion and precipitation of Serum discharges more yet into the watery Mass of the Ascites therefore when some prescribe Fomentations and Liniments to be apply'd to the swollen Paunch and order Bathing for the most part it falls out for the worse to the Patients for besides Feverishness a Head-ach Vertigo faintings of the Spirits and other ill Symptoms of the Heart and Brain most frequently caus'd by such means the Belly also swells the more by it because the Blood being agitated and dissolv'd deposes the Serum there in a larger measure Nay and the Mouths of the Vessels are thereby made more loose and open so that they distil forth waters faster they being now dispos'd to part from the Mass of Blood The Remedies which are wont to be Administred with most success when we will not proceed to an Incision are Glisters and Plaisters The former draw the Serum out of the Vessels and Glands of the Intestines and Mesentery without fusing the whole Mass of Blood which strong Catharticks will do which being so emptyed receive into them some of the extravasted Lympha For this end the following Glister usually prescrib'd by us in the like case is mighty proper in regard at the same time it irritates the Fibres of the Intestines and draws the Serum imbib'd by the Blood or before contain'd in it to the Reins Take Vrine of a sound Man that drinks Wine one pound Venice Turpentine dissolv'd with the Yolk of an Egg an Ounce and a half Sal Prunella a Dram and a half Make a Glister repeat it daily Plaisters sometimes do good in an Ascites but let them be such as strengthen the Viscera by some restringent and comforting vertue and help to close the Mouths of the Vessels that they do not dicharge the Serosities in too great a plenty For this end I usually apply Emplastrum Diasaponis to the swollen Belly with good success Or Take Emplastrum de minio and Paracelsi of each what suffices Make a Plaister to be apply'd to the Belly If at any time this Disease be complicated with a Tympany other sorts of Epithems are proper as we shall decalre hereafter The great and most present Remedy for an Ascites is to make an Inision and draw forth the water tho this practice as often Kills the Patient as Cures the Disease wherefore there is need of great caution in what Persons and in what time of the Disease this ought to be attempted In Cachectical Persons and such as have been long ill in whom the Conformation and temperament of the Viscera are generally vitiated it cannot prove of any good effect to let forth the waters by piercing of the Belly for presently upon it the Spirits faint the strength is dissolv'd nay and a fresh inundation of the Morbifick humour soon succeeds it But those who before having a good constitution of the Viscera and being sound enough as to all other parts fall into an Ascites upon some great evident cause as they need not presently at first attenmpt an Incision so they ought not to defer it long if it be judg'd requisite For upon a long delay the Viscera which are immerg'd in the waters and as it were sodden in them become incorrigibly vitiated It s besides my purpose to describe here the Administration of this Incision whether it be perform'd the ordinary way or according to the way of Sylvius with a Perforated Needle As physicians seldom prescribe this operation they looking upon it as dangerous so Quacks and Empiricks never consulting them attempt it very often inconsierately and uprosperously For conclusion I shall here give you a relation of a true and terrible Ascites lately Cur'd without an Incision A young Woman tall and slender an Merchants Wife giving Suck to her Child drank both by day and by night to increase her Mild an immoderate quantity of Ale sometimes plain and sometimes made into Posset-drink after having us'd this ill way of Diet for six Weeks she feel suddenly into a cruel Ascites the beginnings of which she never had minded for her Abdomen being full of waters floatig within it swell'd mightily and its Bulk when she turn'd her self from one side to the other fell without the Ilia and the borders of the rest of her Body in the mean time the Flesh of all her Members was mightily consum'd and she seem'd not less Consumptive than Hydropical The Child being wean'd and better Diet ordered she entred upon Physick and in the first place took gently Hydragogues both Purging by Siege and Urine but without any benefit nay after all Purging she was worse Afterwards being Committed to our care and almost in a desperate condition I proceeded with her after the following method Having wholly forbidden her the use of Ale and all other drinks but what were Physical I prescrib'd these things Take Leaves of Plantain Brooklimes Clivers of each four handfuls being bruis'd together pour to them water of Earth-worms and Radish-water Compound of each three Ounces wring ti forth she took it twice a day viz. at eight of the Clock in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon she continued the use of this Medicine a long time but altered now and then the Composition changing sometimes the Herbs sometimes the Liquor to be poured to them Take of the reddest Tincture of Salt of Tartar an Ounce and a half she took twenty Drops going to Bed and early in the Morning in two spoonfuls of the following Julape drinking after it seven spoonfuls Take of the reddest Tincture of Salt of Tartar an Ounce an da half she took twenty Drops going to Bed and early in the Morning in two spoonfuls of the following Julape drinking after it seven spoonfuls Take water of the Flowers of Elder and of Saxifrage of each six Ounces the waters of Snails Earth-worms and Radish Compound of each two Ounces On her Belly she wore a Plaister made of Empl. de Minio Oxycroceo The following Glyster was given her first every day afterward every other or third day Take Vrine of a sound Man a pound Turpentine dissolv'd with the Yolk of an Egg an Ounce and a half Sugar an Ounce Sal Prunella a Dram Make a Glister By the constant use of these things in six Weeks time the swelling of her Belly came down but her flesh daily falling away a Consumption was fear'd Wherefore to prevent it she went into the Country and drank Asses Milk and by the benefit of this nourishment and of the fresh Air taking continually the above mention'd Medicines she recover'd perfectly within three Weeks or a Month and lives still and is in good health CHAP. IV. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing the Tympany A Tympany may be thus defin'd or at least describ'd viz. that it is a fixt and continued tumour of the Abdomen equal hard stiff yielding a sound upon striking taking its rise from a sort of
Thalami Optici had caused the blindness and by entring or compressing one Corpus Striatum or its Pores had brought the Palsey The Plexus Choroeides appear'd as parboyled somewhat white and almost without Blood it s probable that all the Lympha or the greatest part of it wherewith the Ventricles of the Brain were floated distilled from those Vessels tho in this case if as some think the watery latex sinking lower from the cortex of the Brain at length having wholly pass'd the Brain could fall into those Sinus's a reason may not uneasily be thence taken wherefore the Lethargy seeming first to be cured by and by being more violent return'd again with a Blindness and Palsey joyn'd with it to wit as at first the store of soporiferous matter fell from the Cortex of the Brain into its cavity the animal Function grew a little clear but afterward when a new matter sprung in the Cortex of the Brain and this falling into the Sinus's was gathered together to a fulness thereupon a Relapse of the former Disease happened with the addition of a blindness and Palsey Now tho the Dropsy of the inner part of the Brain or an inundation of its Ventricles by compressing the corpora striata or thalami optici causes a Palsey or blindness or by twitching the Origines of the Nerves Convulsive affects yet it most evidently appear'd by a late observation that the Lethargy does not arise from such a Cause but only from the outward part of the Brain being floated or compress'd A certain Gentleman long sickly after that he had been troubled almost for five Months with a Colick or rather with a most violent scorbutick and running Gout in which not only the Viscera and Fibers were affected with great Gripes but likewise the Membranes and all the Muscles of the whole Body almost with continual Tortures and at length suffer'd in his Members sometimes horrible Convulsions sometimes Apoplectick Invasions as it were or an offuscation of the Sight at last his Strength being spent and the Stores of his Spirits wholly exhausted he dyed For seven dayes before his decease excepting only the last save one being more lively as to his Sense and Understanding he lay almost continually awake a little before this long waking upon a Vesicatory's being applyed to his Neck a vast quantity of water flowed to it and thence-forward flowed forth daily even to his death that I may hence suspect he continued thus without sleep by reason of the watery humour withdrawn from the Brain in too great a plenty The Head of the defunct being open'd the inward Cavities of the Brain or all its Ventricles appear'd fill'd to the top and strouting as it were with a limpid water nay about the top of the Spine the Funis medullaris it self seem'd to be surrounded with and immerg'd as it were in Waters there heapt together Without doubt for this reason such violent pains and cramps infested him in his Loyns and Members and in the whole Habit of the Body and by reason of the deluge in the Ventricles he became obnoxious to frequent offuseations of the Sight and resolutions of the Limbs nevertheless there was no Lethargy here tho the long watching was caus'd by reason of the waters deriv'd in too great a plenty by the Vesicatories from the circumference of the Brain This Person had also gotten a Dropsie in his Breast by reason of the Lungs being much vitiated the Liver being of a vast bigness appear'd every where with white spots and almost without blood so that the depravations of the blood and nervous juyce ought to be ascrib'd in some sort to these faults of the Viscera CHAP. IX Instructions and Prescripts for the cure of the Delirium and Phrensy SO far of Cephalick Diseases by which the Animal Functions by themselves and as they are Corporeal are wont to be letted or perverted without respect to the rational Soul in some of them viz. in the Vertigo and Palsey the Understanding for the most part continues clear and lively and in the rest as an Eye plac'd in an obscure place it beholds either no Species at all or a few only set before it with a gross appearance but is not easily carried into a great Errour or a Fury which kind of Symptoms are generally caused by other affects of the Brain and of the Spirits residing in it of which we shall now treat for if at any time the Imagination be so troubled or perverted that it either conceives amiss or ill compounds or divides the Species and Notions presented by the Sense or Memory thereupon presently the Understanding descryes or frames only deform Conceptions and Thoughts distracted from each other and greatly confus'd which are represented to it by the Brain ill affected as erroneous appearances by a variegated and distorted Glass there being many ways with which the Imagination and consequently the Mind and Will and other Powers of the superiour Soul are wont to be perverted or deprav'd they all are denoted by the common word Desipientia Now this Affect is distinguish'd into a short one which is called a Delirium and a long or continual one which is either joyn'd with a Fever and is called a Frensy or happens without a Fever and to it either a Rage or Sadness or Stupidity is joyned and therefore it is divided into a Mania Melancholy and Fatuity We shall speak of each of these in order and at present of the Delirium and Frensy Tho the Delirium be not a Disease by it self but is only a Symptom proceeding from other affects yet because in the cure of these on which it happens it is usual to obviate it for the most part with appropriate Remedies Therefore it seems to concern us to inquire somewhat strictly into its Nature and Causes That word taken properly is the same as Dementia and denotes such an annoyance of the animal Function as arising in the fits of Fevers Drunkenness and sometimes in the Passions called Hysterical induces men to think speak or do absurd things viz. some of these or all of them together for a short time A Delirium is raised in as much as the Animal Spirits either being too much irritated or put in Confusion are carried hither and thither within the globous frame of the Brain where the Fansie and Memory have their Seats in a disorderly and tumultuous manner for so whilst the various species of the Imagination and Memory being rais'd together are confounded with each other only absur'd and incongruous Phantasms are presented to the Rational Soul and therefore the Acts of the Understanding and Will are wrought only irregularly But reason of the Animal Spirits being irregularly mov'd within the Meditullium of the Brain or the Corpus Callosum incongruous conceptions and confused thoughts are presented to the Rational Soul it hapning in like manner as when the Species of visible things are brought to the common sense after a long turning round of the Body
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-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
to the Head or Feet they cause the Vertigo or Gout as it frequently comes to pass Take our Tincture of Steel an ounce give from fifteen drops to twenty twice a day in seven spoonfuls of the following Julep Take water of the Leaves of Aron of the great bur-dock each half a pound of magistral Water of Earth-worms of Gentian compound and of Paeony compound os each two ounces Sugar half an ounce mix them After the same manner Tincture of Antimony and of Amber nay and many other altering Remedies above prescribed for Cephalick Affects also in the Preservation from the Colick in regard its Procatarxis proceeds from the Brain have justly place here Being sometime since entreated to take care of the Health of a Reverend Old Man who had been very sorely obnoxious to the Colick for many years I used the Method and Remedies which are now described by the careful use of which after a Month or two he was better and within a Year and a half he seemed perfectly cured that afterward he lived wholly free from fits of Pains But the Colick Disposition had not long ceas'd and he omitted the usual course of Physick but about the Throat in the Muscles serving for Deglutition he had a Resolution which frequently troubled him that oftentimes by Aliments and especially Liquids there sticking he incurr'd the Danger of Suffocation Receiving help against this evil by Antiparalitick Remedies for the six or seven Years following he enjoyed an indifferent health and at last as was travelling being then first seized with an Apoplexy he died It is obvious enough in this case that the Recrements of the Nervous Liquor wont to be depos'd about the Nervous Plexus's of the Abdomen first raised the Colick afterward that the same being excluded from that part and betaking themselves to another seat about the Nervous Plexus's Ganglioformes of the Throat brought the Resolution or short Palsey of the Aesophagus and at last by reason of the same matter restagnating in too great a plenty in the Meditullia of the Brain the mortal Speechlessness ensued A certain cunning and subtle Lawyer fifty years of Age having been wont to be troubled for many years with a periodical Head-ach a deadness of his Senses and a mighty heaviness of his Head About the midst of the Summer being mighty ill of the foresaid Affects upon the Application of Topick Remedies on a sudden found ease but a little after he had a first seizure of a violent Colick the Invasion whereof was so fierce that his strength failing on a sudden he fell into frequent Faintings with a cold Seat which Fit nevertheless within twenty four Hours vanisht by degrees without any eruption of Flatus's or Purging But from thence forward being obnoxious to this Disease he had frequent accesses of it all which as I carefully observed were preceded by a Pain of the Head with a Vertigo and a Stupor fo that he was wont to foretell hence that the Pains of the Colick were to follow soon after in a certain Fit which continued for twelve dayes with a mighty fierceness the diseased himself observed and told me that the affect of the Abdomen coming upon him he had found no illness in his Head but that as the colick Passion remitted presently the Vertigo with the Head-ach returned from which reciprocal Metastasis of those Symptoms from the Head to the Belly and on the contrary we may argue that the same morbifick matter abounding in the Ductus's of the Nerves sometimes falling downward brought the Colick Passion sometimes restagnating above caused those Cephalick Affects Not long since a renowned young Man studious and using a sedentary Life began to complain of a great deadness and dulness of his Senses also of a heaviness of his Head and almost a continual Sleepiness Moreover his Stomack was become so slow and dulled that it was wholly destitute of all appetite whilst a cure is ordered against this evil Disposition by Remedies which rouse up the Spirits and shake off the burthen lying on them the Person falls into a most violent Colick to which he had never before been obnoxious by which a violent and as it were piercing Pain possest the middle of the Abdomen the Navel being drawn inwards and notwithstanding the daily use of Remedies of all kinds it continued with a mighty Violence for three Weeks so that during that while he could neither sleep but by taking Narcoticks nor receive any ease from his Pain but by a very hot Fomentation Certainly in this case it is obvious to any man to observe that these Impurities of the nervous Liquor gathered together to a certain fulness were the immediate or conjunct cause of all the illness which matter first subsisting in the Head caused the mighty dulness of the Brain and the oppression of the animal Function and afterward being fallen by the conveyance of the Nerves into the Nervous Plexus's of the Abdomen caused the violent and long continued Colick THE PRACTISE OF PHYSICK CONTAINED In Dr. Willis 's Tract of Fevers CHAP. I. The Anatomy of the Blood its Resolution into five Principles its Comparison with VVine and Milk A Fever is only a fermentation or an immoderate effervescence brought on the Blood and Spirits now that this feverish effervescence may be explicated as it ought these three things are to be considered First what that Liquor is which Ferments whether it be only the Blood or other Humours besides Secondly of what principles and of what proportion of the same that Liquor consists in its mixture Thirdly and lastly with what kind of motion and turgescency of these Parts or Particles of which the Blood is compos'd the Feverish effervescence is raised 1. That the Blood boyles violently and makes an effort in a Fever it is evident enough and we may Conjecture that that Juice with which the Brain and Nervous Parts are irrigated is often also in the sault for since this Liquor is carried by a constant motion and a certain circulation from the Blood into the Genus Nervosum and thence by the Lymphick Vessels into the Blood it s probable if by reason of a Taint contracted by the Blood that Humour is deprav'd in its Crasis or is perverted from its regular motion that thence the shivering and the pain the convulsions delirium frenzy and many other symptoms of the Genus nervosum usual in Fevers arise After the Blood and Nervous juyce there are two other Liquors which are to be considered as being apt to ferment viz. the Chime or Nutritive juyce alwayes coming to the Blood and the Serous Latex perpetually parting from it which tho first and last are Liquors sever'd from the Blood and distinct from it yet whilst mixt with it they ought to be lookt upon as Parts received into it or belonging to its Accomplishment and as long as both these are circulated with the Blood in the Vessels they participate of the Effervescencies of the primogenious Cruor and
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
or thrice a day in a spoonful of the following distill'd Water drinking seven or eight spoonfuls of the same after it Take Cypress Tops six handfuls Clary Leaves four handfuls the outward Coats of twelve Oranges Cinnamon Mace of each an Ounce the Roots of Cyperus and the lesser Galingal of each half an Ounce being slic'd and bruis'd let them be put into eight pounds of Brunswich Beer and distill'd in an ordinary Still Take Tincture of the Balsam of Tolu extracted with the Tincture of Salt of Tartar an Ounce the Dose is twenty Grains with the same Vehicle the Tincture of Wormwood prepar'd with the same Menstruum may also be try'd Take Powder of the Leaves of Wormwood and Myrtle dri'd in the Sun in the Summer time of each two Drams Cinnamon Flowers of red Roses of each a Dram Cubebs Roots of the lesser Galingal of each half a Dram red Coral prepar'd a Dram make of all a subtle Powder then with six Ounces of double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in Cinnamon-water and boil'd up to a consistency make it up in little Cakes weighing half a Dram let one or two of these be eaten often in a day as the person pleases Take Conserve of red Roses vitriolated four Ounces Myrobalans condited six Drams Ginger condited in the Indies half an Ounce Species of Hyacinth two Drams the reddest Crocus Martis one Dram Syrup of Corals what will suffice make of all an Electuary the Dose is a Dram twice a day drinking after it a little draught of the distill'd water In the debility or resolution of the Ventricle by reason of the Nerves being somewhere else abstructed Paralytick Remedies joyn'd with Stomachicks must chiefly be insisted on Take Elixir Proprietatis Tartariz'd an Ounce the Dose is a Scruple twice a day with the water above prescrib'd The Tinctures of Salt of Tartar of Coral of Antimony may be us'd after the same manner In this case also the sweet spirit of Salt tht spirit of Sal Armoniack or its Flowers are of great effect Moreover Vomits Purges and even Diaphoreticks are often successively administred I have known this Distemter sometimes happily Cur'd by Bathing in our hot Baths at Bathe CHAP. III. Instructions concerning Purging with prescripts of Purges AS Nature often Purges it self according to three Degrees so there are three Degrees of Purging by Medicine The first is soft and easie gently expelling any loose matter contain'd in the Ventricle and the Intestines The second reaches not only that but Purges likewise other humours from the Bilous and Pancreatick Passages and from the Mouths of the Vessels The third performs all this and that in a more full manner and going yet farther strongly Purges from the Blood and consequently from the Nervous Juice and other parts an Excrementitious matter which is brought by the Arteries into the Intestines As for what concerns the choice to be us'd in Purging Medicines though we do not approve of those cry'd up Classes of Medicines appropriated to this or that Juice or Humour yet we do not think that all Purges are indifferently to be us'd in all cases but that there is need of a strong Judgment and a wary circumspection in a Physician that according to the strength of his Patients their temperament the state and ability of the Viscera their bearing custome and fancy and so according to the nature of the Disease its time and quality he prescribe a Purge more gentle or strong and that of hot things or temperate gentle or more smart and in a solid substance or a liquid or something of some other certain kind and form as he shall see good A Purge therefore being not convenient at all times nor in every state of Body to proceed as we ought we must take a fit season and use a certain preparation and both these have regard to the first passages and to the Mass of Blood As to the first if at any time the Stomach be loaded with a Mass of viscous Phlegm or troubled with the boiling of Turgid Choler a Purge most commonly either becomes of no effect or does hurt unless those contents are first of all cleans'd forth by a Vomit or unless their oppression and effervescency be corrected by digestives As to what regards the Blood a Purge is often unseasonable sometimes also inconvenient and in neither of these cases Preparatives commonly so call'd but only Alteratives are proper for the business is not to dispose those imaginary humours for evacution but the Blood it self ought to be reduc'd from its troubled and confused state to a calm condition or from its debility and fall'n Crasis to its vigour and ev'n temperament Whilst the Blood Feaverishly boiling is disturb'd in its mixture Purging is always found hurtful and so whilst its Mass being become languid and weak does not arise to its due fermentation that sort of Evacuation is no less forbidden Moreover when the Blood is too bilous or watry or too much inclin'd to Coagulations or Fusions Purges for the most part do not take away those its defaults or depravations but most commonly encrease them Wherefore in those cases altering Remedies are rather Indicated which may destroy the undue Separations and Combinations of the Salts Sulphur and Serum and take away other their enormities Of these Digestives and Alteratives which supply the place of common Preparatives we shall speak particularly hereafter The chiefest Compositions of Purging Medicines being Potions Powders Bolus's Electuaries Morsels or Tablets and Physick-Ales or Wines we shall here set down certain of the more Select Forms of each of them and those of a threefold kind according as the operation of the Medicine ought to be gentle mean or strong to which in the fourth place we shall add Prescripts of easily prepar'd Purges for poor People 1. Gentle Potions Take Rhubarb slic'd three Drams yellow Saunders half a Dram Salt of Tartar a Scruple make a cold Infusion all Night in Cichory water and White-wine of each two Ounces and a half to three Ounces of Cleer straining add Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb half an Ounce Cinnamon water two Drams make a Potion 2. Mean Potions Take of the best Senna three Drams Rhubarb Troches of Agarick of each a Dram and a half yellow Saunders two Scruples Salt of Tartar half a Dram Coriander-seeds a Dram let them have a close Infusion all Night in Spring-water and White-wine made warm of each three Ounces to four Ounces of it strain'd add of the Purging Syrup of Apples an Ounce Aqua Mirabilis two Drams make a Potion Or Take the decoction of Senna Gerionis four Ounces Syrrup of Roses Solutive an Ounce Cream of Tartar half a Dram Cinnamon water two Drams make a Potion Take the best Senna Cassia Fistula Tamarinds of each half an Ounce Coriander-seeds two Drams boil all in ten Ounces of Spring-water till a third part be consum'd strain it and Clarifie it with the White of an Egg add to it the Syrup of Apples
an Ounce make a Potion 3. Strong Potions Take of the decoction of Sena Gerionis with the addition of the strings of black Hellebore and Agarick of each a Dram and a half six Ounces Syrup of Roses Solutive or of the flowers of Peaches an Ounce Aqua Mirabilis two Drams Or Take of the best Sena half an Ounce strings of black Hellebore Turbith of each two Drams yellow Saunders a Dram Coriander-seeds a Dram and a half Salt of Tartar half a Dram let it infuse close all Night in eight Ounces of White-wine made warm to five Ounces of the Cleer straining add of the Electuary of the Juice of Roses three Drams Syrup of Buck-thorn six Drams Cinnamon water two Drams make a Potion Potions of easie preparation for the Poor Take of Flaxweed a handful sweet Fennel-seeds two Drams boil them in a sufficient quantity of Spring-water till it comes to six Ounces add to it of White-wine two Ounces make a Potion After the same manner you may make a Purging Potion of the Flowers of Damask Roses also of Peach Leaves and so of the Roots of Eupatorium Avicennae PILLS First of a gentle Operation Take of Stomach Pills with Gums from a Scruple to half a Dram Tartar vitriolated two Grains Balsam of Peru what will suffice make thereof three or four Pills After the same manner may be made Pills of the mass of Pilul Ruffi of Pilul Mastichin of Pilul de Succino and of our extract Solutive the description of which you may find in our Tract of the Scurvy 2. Mean Pills Take of Stomach Pills with Gumms half a Dram Rosin of Julap from four Grains to ten Tartar vitriolated six Grains Ammoniacum dissolv'd as much as will suffice make four Pills After the same manner may be made Pills of the mass of Pilulae de Succino Tartari Quercitani Also instead of Rosin of Jluap you may put Scammony Sulphurated from six Grains to twelve or Rosin of Scammony from eight Grains to fourteen Or Take Stomach Pills with Gumms a Scruple Rosin of Julap from six Grains to twelve Balsam of Peru as much as will suffice make four Pills 3. Strong Pills Take Pilulae Rudii half a Dram Rosin of Julap from eight Grains to twelve Balsam of Peru what will suffice make four Pills to be taken cum Regimine After the like manner Pills may be made of the mass of Pilulae Cochiae de Sagapeno Take of Pilulae ex duobus from a Scruple to half a Dram Calamelanos a Scruple make four Pills to be taken Cum Regimine 4. Pills easily prepar'd and cheaper Take Powder of the best Jalap two Drams Diagridium a Dram Cloves Ginger of each a Scruple Ammoniacum dissolv'd as much as will suffice make a mass the Dose is half a Dram. Take of Pilulae Cochiae from half a Dram to two Scruples let four Pills be made POWDERS First such as are gentle Take of Rhubarb Powdred half a Dram Salt of Wormwood half a Scruple Cloves two Grains make a Powder give it in a spoonful of small cinnamon-Cinnamon-water or in a little Broath Take of the greater Compound Powder of Sena from half a Dram to a Dram in a little draught of Posset-drink Take Powder of the Leaves of Sena a Scruple Calamelanos seventeen Grains yellow Saunders half a Scruple make a Powder give it in a spoonful of Panada 2. Mean Powders Take Powder of Diasena a Dram Cream of Tartar a Scruple make a Powder give it in a little draught of Broath Take Rosin of Jalap ten Grains Calamelanos a Scruple Cloves six Grains make a Powder and take it after the same manner Take Species of Diaturbith with Rhubarb from half a Dram to a Dram Cream of Tartar from a Scruple to half a Dram. 3. Strong Powders Take Turbith Hermodacts of each three Drams Diagridium a Dram Ginger a Scruple make a Powder the Dose is from half a Dram to a Dram. Take Pulvis Cornachini a Dram after the same manner may be given the Compound Powder of Hermodacts also the Hydrotick Powder of Riverius 4. Cheap Powders and easie to be got Take Powder of the Roots of the best Jalap a Dram Ginger a Scruple give it in a little draught of White-wine so you may give Powder of the Roots of Mechoachan also of the Leaves of Sena in any Liquor BOLUS's and ELECTUARIES First such as work gently Take of the Lenitive Electuary half an Ounce Cream of Tartar half a Dram Syrup of Roses what suffices make a Bolus Take fresh Cassia half an Ounce Powder of Rhubarb half a Dram Cream of Tartar a Scruple Syrup of Roses as much as suffices make a Bolus 2. Mean Take of the Lenitive Electuary half an Ounce Cream of Tartar half a Dram Rosin of Julap six Grains Syrup of Roses what suffices make a Bolus Take of the Electuary Diaphaenicon half an Ounce of the Compound Powder of Hermodacts half a Dram Syrup of Elder what suffices make a Bolus 3. Strong Workers Take of the Electuary of the Juice of Roses half an Ounce Rosin of Julap ten Grains Cream of Tartar half a Dram Syrup of Elder what suffices make a Bolus Electuaries are Compounded of the same things made up in a greater quantity by adding Conserves of Damask Roses or of the Flowers of Peaches the Dose is the quantity of a Chesnut to be taken betimes every Morning or twice or thrice a Week 4. Bolus's and Electuaries easily prepar'd Take Powder of the Roots of Julap an Ounce of Mechoachan half an Ounce of Ginger two Drams of Cloves a Dram Cream of Tartar three Drams Salt of Wormwood a Dram Sugar two Ounces Syrup of Roses Solutive what suffices make an Electuary the Dose is the quantity of a Wallnut Confectio Solutiva Passulae Laxantes the Diapranum of Sylvius in the 30. Page of his Practice of Physick 5. Morsells or Tablets of a mean operation Take Powder of Mechoacan Gummous Turbith of each half an Ounce Scammony sulphurated two Drams Rosin of Jalap a Dram yellow Saunders a Dram Cream of Tartar two Drams Conserve of Violets an Ounce Sugar dissolv'd in Rose-water and boil'd up to a fit consistency a Pound Make Tablets according to Art each weighing a Dram the Dose is one or two The Purging Tablets of Sylvius Page the 28. of his Practice of Physick 6. Physical or Purging Wines and Ales of a mean operation Take Leaves of Sena an Ounce and a half Turbith Mechoacan of each six Drams strings of black Hellebore three Drams Cubebs Galingal Roots choice Cinnamon of each two Drams Put all in a large Glass with four Pounds of Rhenish-wine adding to it Salt of Tartar a Dram and a half let it stand cold and close cover'd for six days add to it Sugar-Candy three Ounces strain it through Hippocrates Sleeve the Dose is three or four Ounces Take Leaves of Sena three Ounces Roots of Polypody of the Oak and of sharp Pointed Dock prepar'd of each two
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-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
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
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
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
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-Strong-waters distill'd the Spirit and Tincture of Saffron Quercitans Elixir of Life
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
Classes and those are Mixtures Linctus's Lohoch's Tinctures Balsams Troches Lozenges Powders Pills Decoctions and distill'd Waters We shall set before you some Examples of each of these to which also may be added some of the forms of the Medicines prescrib'd before for a beginning Cough and not yet arriv'd to a Phthisick 1. Magistral Mixtures and Syrups TAke of our Syrup of Diasulphur three Ounces Water of Earth-worms an Ounce Tincture of Saffron two Drams Mix them take a spoonful going to Bed and early in the Mornign Take Syrup of the Juice of Ivy three Ounces Snail water an Ounce Flowers of Suslphur a Dram Mix them by shaking them together the Dose is a spoonful Evenings and Mornings Take Tincture of Sulphur two Drams Laudanum Tartariz'd a Dram Syrup of the Juice of Ivy two Ounces Cinnamon water two Drams The Dose is a spoonful at Bed time and if the Person does not sleep towards Morning The Syrup of Diasulphur TAke Sulphur prepar'd after our manner half an Ounce the best Canary Wine two pounds Make a close digestion in B. M. or in Sand for twenty eight hours Which being done take double refin'd Sugar two pounds dissolve it and boil it to a consistency for Tablets in a little Water of Elder Flowers then pour to this by little and little the Wine ting'd with the Sulphur whilst warm let it boil a little on the fire scumming it and strain it through Woollen You will have a mest delicate Syrup of a Gold colour and of great efficacy against the Cough and other affects of the Lungs so there be no bayling heat of the Praecordia nor Hectick Feaver the Dose is a spoonful Evenings and Mornings by it self or with other Pectorals Syrup of Garlick TAke Cloves of Garlick Pill'd and out in slices in number ten or twelve Anniseeds bruis'd half an Ounce Elecampane Roots slic'd three Drams Licorice two Drams let them have a close and warm digestion for two or three days in a pound and a half of spirit of Wine put the clear and warm straining into a silver-dish add of double refin'd Sugar a Pound and a half the Dish being put on hot Coals let the liquor be set on fire and whilst it burns stir it sirain it through Woollen and keep it for use Syrup of Turnips TAke Turnips slic'd and double refin'd Sugar of each half a pound put them in a glaz d Pot a lay of Turnips and a lay of Sugar till it be full Let the Pot being cover'd with Paper be put into an Oven to Bake with Bread when it is taken out press forth the Liquor and keep it for use The Dose is a spoonful Mornings and Evenings Syrup of Snails TAke fresh Snails with their shells in number Forty cleanse them with a Linnen Cloath then each of them being run through with a Bodkin let the Apertures of the shells be fill d with Powder of Sugar Candy and being put in a Linnen Bag let them be hung up in a Cellar and let a Glass Vessel be set under them to receive the Syrup which will drop from them The Dose of this is a spoonful twice or thrice a day in a fit Vehicle viz. Aqua lactis or some Pectoral Decoction 2.3 Linctus's and Eclegma's TAke Conserve of red Roses three Ounces Tincture of our Sulphur two Drams Mix them by stirring them in a Glass Mortar the Dose is the quanticy of a Nutmeg at Night and early in the Morning Sometimes to allay a troublesome Cough you may add to this of Olibanum half a Dram or a Dram. Take Conserve of red Roses four Ounces Flowers of Sulphur four Scruples fine Oyl of Turpentine a Dram Species of Fox Lungs three Drans Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy what suffices Make a soft Lohoch to be taken after the same manner viz. Mornings and Evenings also to be suck'd at other times with a stick of Licorice Take Powder of Sugar Candy four Drams Tincture of Sulphur two Drams Mix them by stirring them in a Glass Mortar let it be taken after the same manner Instead of the Tincture of Sulphur you may put other Balsamick Tinctures as of Balsam of Peru of Opobalsamum of the Gum of Ivy Guaiacum Amber with many others which may be mixt either in Conserve of red Roses or with Conserve of the Flowers of Colts-foot or with Sugar Candy 4.5 Tinctures and Balsams of the same nature and composition as we have preserib'd before in a beginning Cough are proper in a Phthisick only the Dose must be a little larger Take of Tar an Ounce Water of quick Lime thrice Cohobated two pounds distil them in Balneo to half Then let the filtrated Liquor be drawn off in Balneo to the consistency of honey to which pour Tincture of Salt of Tartar half a pound Let it digest in a close Glass to extract the Tincture The Dose is from twenty drops to thirty with a proper Vehicle After the like manner a Tincture in gotten out of the black Oyl of Soot Liquid Amber Liquid Storax and many other things Take of our Sulphur prepar'd with the addition of Myrrh Aloes and Olibanum in a subtriple quantity an Ounce Let a Tincture be drawn off with Oyl of Turpentine also with Rectified Spirit of Wine The Dose of this is from fifteen drops to twenty 6.7.8 Troches Tablets and Powders because chiefly directed for the Cough are in a manner of the same Nature and Composition with those before prescrib'd for that affect when new taken only that for drying and consolidating the Lungs Sulphureous and Traumatick ingredients are requir'd in a greater proportion Take Powder of the Leaves of ground Ivy a Dram Flowers of Sulphur two Drams Sugar Penids a Dram and a half Juice of Licorice diluted with Hyssop-water what suffices Make Troches weighing half a Dram. Take Powder of Yarrow bruis'd and dry'd in the hot Sun half a Dram Flowers of Sulphur Olibanum powdred of each a Dram Powder of red Roses dry'd half a Dram Sugar dissolv'd and boil'd to a consistency for Tablets six Drams Oyl of Anniseeds a Scruple Make Tablets weighing half a Dram. Take one thrice or oftner in a day and especially at night and early in the morning 9. Pills TAke Juice of ground Ivy Clarified in the Sun a pound Flowers of Colts-foot dry'd tops of Hyssop Sage Penny-royal of each a handful Anniseeds Carraway-seeds sweet Fennel-seeds bruis'd of each half an Ounce distill them in Balneo Mariae to half then strain it and distill the straining to the consistency of Pills adding Juice of Licorice half a Dram Powder of Elecampane Roots Flowers of Sulphur of each three Drams Flowers of Benzoin a Dram Balsam of Peru half a Dram Tincture of Sulphur three Drams Laudanum Tartariz'd two Drams Make a Mass form it into small Pills and take three or four at night and early in the Morning 10. Decoctions such as we have before prescrib'd for an obstinate Cough may be also properly taken in a
beginning Phthisick In desperate Cases I have sometimes very successfully prescrib'd the following Decoction to be taken twice or thrice a day and also instead of ordinary drink Take Guaiacum four Ounces China Sassafras of each two Ounces all the Saunders of each an Ounce shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each three Drams Let them infuse and boil them in twelve pounds of fountain water to half adding Licorice an Ounce Raisins ston'd four Ounces strain it 11. Distill'd Waters such as before prescrib'd are also proper here to which may be added the Water of Solenander drawn from Hogs Blood with Turpentine also Balsamick Waters distill'd from Turpentine with Pectoral Ingredients Take Leaves of ground Ivy white Horehound Hyssop and Penny-royal of each three handfuls Roots of Elecampane and Florentine Orice of each two Ounces Turpentine dissolv'd with Oyl of Tartar four Ounces Hyssop-water four pounds Malaga-wine two pounds distil them in Sand let all the Liquor be mixt the Oyl being separated The Dose is two or three spoonfuls twice a day with a spoonful of the Syrup of the Juice of Ivy. 12. In the last place We must here prescribe Forms of Vapours and Fumes the use of which sometimes does more good in a Phthisick not past recovery than any other Remedies and this because they go to the Lungs it self and so by an immediate operation Purge it dry it free it from Putrefaction strengthen it and open its Ductus's First Therefore let a moist steam be made after this manner Take Leaves of Hyssop ground Ivy whit Hore-hound of each two handfuls Elecampane Roots two Ounces Calamus Aromaticus half an Ounce Anniseeds Caraway-seeds of each an Ounce being slic'd and bruis d boil them in a sufficient quantity of fountain water Let the Vapour of the hot strain'd Liquor be drawn into the Lungs through the hole of a Paper roul'd up Conically or in the Jhape of a Funnel use it Mornings and Evenings for a quarter of an hour 2. A fumigation or dry Vapour is usually made one while more gentle of meer Balsamicks another while more strong of Sulphureous and sometimes Arsenical substances Take Olibanum white Amber Benzoin of each two Drams Gum Guaiacum Balsam of Tolu of each a Dram and a half Powder of red Roses red Saunders of each a Dram Make a Powder to be strew'd on burning Coals Take Gum of Ivy Frankincense of each two Drams Flowers of Sulphur a Dram and a half Mastick a Dram with a Solution of Gum Tragacanth make Trothes Take white Amber Olibanum of each two Drams Auripigment prepar'd half an Ounce Storax Calamita Laudanum of each a Dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of the Solution of Gum Tragacanth Make Troches for fumigation Empiricks ordinarily prescribe the smoak of Auripigment to be taken in a Pipe lighted like Tobacco and that sometimes with good success Moreover it s a practise with the vulgar to take bits of Cloth Painted with Auripigment such as serves for Hangings in Taverns and shredding them very small to kindle them in a Pipe like Tobacco and so to draw the smoak into the Consumptive Lungs for a Cure Now in the last place it remains for us to speak of the great confirm'd Phthisick which is commonly past Cure and to advise what is to be done when the Lungs being very much vitiated and affected with one or more filthy Ulcers do not convey the Air and Blood according to their due Course but defile or corrupt the Mass of the latter by Ministring to it continually a stook of Putrified matter so that a Hectick Feaver and an Atrophia through want of nourishment seize the Diseas'd with a great decay of all their faculties and daily impairing their strength precipitate them to the Grave The most certain sign generally acknowledged of this Disease growing so desperate is a very troublesome pain with an Inflammation in the Throat for this affect argues a great Putrefaction of the Lungs whence the corrupted Effluvia's exhaling stick against the narrow passage of the Throat and there pierce and vehemently irritate the tender Fibres in that part In this case its in vain to attempt to Mundify the Lungs and to cleanse the Ulcer and dry it for all hot Medicines designed for those ends and proper enough in a beginning Phthisick are not to be endur'd when it s confirm'd because augmenting the Inflammation of the Lungs they increase the Hectick Feaver the Thirst Watchings and other very troublesome Symptoms or stir them up a fresh And indeed in such a state of this Disease when we only propose to our selves to protract Life by helping towards a well-bearing of the Distemper and to an easie death those Remedies are of chiefest use that moderate the fervour of the Blood allay the heat of the Praecordia restore the Spirits and gently cherish them Hence for Food Asses Milk also Water-gruel Barly-Broaths Cream of Barley and for Drink Ptisans Emulsions Milk Water distill'd with Snails and temperate Pectorals are usually of greatest success Let Syrups and Linctus's which lenify the Inflammation of the Throat and Lungs and facilitate expectoration be often or daily given but especially gentle Hypnoticks to procure a moderate rest I shall now give you some of the more Select Forms of each kind Take Barly half an Ounce Candied Eringo Roots six Drams parings of Apples a handful Raisins ston'd two Ounces Licorice three Drams boil them in three Pounds of fountain water or two Make a Ptisan to quench thirst let it be taken three or four times a day and if it agrees let it be used instead of ordinary drink Take twenty Caudae Gammorum Candied Eringo Roots an Ounce a Crust of White-bread Raisins ston'd two Ounces Licorice three Drams boil them in three pounds of running Water to two pounds Strain it take three or four Ounces thrice a day after the same manner you may make a Decoction of Snails Take Snails half boil'd and slic'd three pounds Leaves of ground Ivy six handfuls Nutmegs slic'd in number six Pith of White-bread two pounds Milk from the Cow eight pounds distil it in an ordinary still After the same manner you may distil a Water è Caudis Gammorum The Dose is three or four Ounces thrice a day sweetning it with Saccharum Perlatum or Sugar of Roses Take Ears of green Wheat what suffices distil them in a Rose Still Let the Person drink three or four Ounces thrice a day sweetning it with Saccharum Perlatum Take Syrup of Meconium three Ounces Water of green Wheat six Ounces Mix them let two or three spoonfuls be taken going to Bed every Night or every other Night Take Conserve of the Flowers of Wild or Garden Mallows three Ounces Lohoch de Pino two Ounces Syrup of Jujubes two Ounces Make a Lohoch of which let a Dram and a half or two Drams be often taken I shall now give Instances of some Patients which I have had in Cure in the foregoing Distempers And
to ensue undertakes the purifying of the Blood and the strengthening of the Lungs for which eads Purges Vulnerary Decoctions distill'd Waters and Physick Drinks are proper Take Gereon's Decoction of Sena with Agarick a Dram and a half three Ounces and a half Purging Syrup of Apples an Ounce Aqua Mirabilis two Drams Make a Potion to be taken once a week with governance Let the Form of the vulnerary Decoction be the same which is prescrib'd for the Empyema after the Incision or because there is no Feaver you may give that Decoction of the shops to four or six Ounces thrice a day Take Fir tops six handfuls fresh Leaves of ground Ivy Hyssop Savory Rocket Hedge-mustard Winter Cress of each four handfuls Sun-flower Seeds six Ounces sweet Fennel-seeds two Ounces Roots of Elecampane and Florentine Orris of each three Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of Brunswick or Spruce Beer eight pounds distil it with common Organs Let the Liquor be all mixt and when it s us'd let it be sweeten'd at pleasure with Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy The Dose is three or four Ounces thrice a day Take Roots of Sarzaparilla six Ounces China Roots two Ounces all the Saunders of each six Drams shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each half an Ounce Mastick-wood an Ounce being slic'd and bruis'd let them Infuse according to art and boil in twelve pounds of fountain water till half be consum'd adding of Licorice an Ounce Raisins of the Sun four Ounces let the straining be us'd for ordinary drink The Third and Vital Indication prescribes Cordial and Anodine Remedies and a fit Diet The same Forms of Medicines in a manner that are prescrib'd for an Empyema after Incision are proper here Also the same Diet which is ordered in a beginning Consumption and Asses Milk often does good in this case Concerning the Cure of this Disease I have obferv'd that an Issue made in the side has often a very good effect A Gentleman of a middle Age having been always strong and healthy found himself ill without any manifest cause and in a short time fell into a languishing condition losing his appetite sleeping with difficulty was thirsty and had a heat about his Praecordia He was a long time under the hands of some Physicians for the Scurvy and of others as Hectical and after various methods of Cure had been try'd in vain the Disease at length openly discover'd it self For whilst one Night being more restless than usual he toss'd himself very much in his Bed the Impostume within his Lungs breaking on a sudden he threw up by Coughing a vast quantity of Pus which stunk most horribly so that within four or five hours he had thrown up about two pounds Moreover the Cough continuing for above two Months afterwards he daily voided by Spittle of that Purulent thick and mighty stinking matter till his Flesh being consum'd and his strength wholly spent he was decay'd and fallen away to nothing After the Impostume was thus broken we carefully gave him Medicines to cleanse and heal the place where it gather'd and to mundify the Blood and the Lungs and free them from the imminent Consumption Our Tincture and Syrup of Diasulphur together with Pectoral and Vulnerary Decoctions and Distillations also Linctus's and Balsamick Pills were taken day after day in a constant method With these Glisters also gentle Catharticks and Diureticks were interchangeably given Vaporations first then Suffumigations both Sulphureous and Arsenical were also us'd Mornings and Evenings After these things had been carefully followed a long time without any good we concluded to open his Thorax and were soon directed to a place proper for it for on the left side of his Sternum betwixt the fifth and sixth Vertebrae a tumour appear'd Instead of a Cautery I apply'd thereto a Suppurating Plaister and within three days the top of that Swelling became red and soft out of which being open'd the next day after first issued a thin Ichor and a little after a yellow and well concocted Pus and afterwards it continued daily to run in a more plentiful manner and then the stinking Spittle began to abate and within a Fortnight wholly ceas'd the Morbisick matter finding both an easie and more apt passage through that Orifice which at length was chang'd into an Issue and a Pea or a Pill of Wood being daily put into it there came forth continually for a year and a half a plentiful Ichor and in the mean time the Gentleman having wholly got rid of any corruption in his Brest and recovering his strong and fleshy habit of Body became sound in all respects Lastly That Issue being remoy'd to the Arm he has nothing of that Distemper about his Brest nor minds longer any fence against it Shortly after this Cure I was call'd to a Lady of Quality who having been troubled with a Cough and a heat of the Praecordia for many years on a certain day sensibly perceiv'd somewhat broken in her Lungs whilst she was Coughing and presently voided by Spittle a great quantity of meer and stinking Pus after that that Spittle with the Cough notwithstanding any use of Remedies continuing for a Week seem'd rather increas'd than diminish'd I advised that she would permit an Issue to be cut in her side near the place whence she perceiv'd the Pus to arise which she readily giving way to within three days meer Pus such as she Spit forth by her Cough began to run from the open Orifice and afterwards the Morbifick matter finding a sufficient vent by that passage both the Cough and the Spitting of Pus entirely ceas'd and within six Weeks the Patient grew perfectly well After this I was call'd to a robust man a great Drinker who being also affected with an Impostume of the Lungs did Spit forth a great quantity of mighty stinking Pus He would not permit any Issue to be made in his side yet being very free to take all sorts of Medicines he got free at length of that Disease by a long use of them The Medicines which chiefly did him good were preparations of Sulphur wherefore our Syrup and Tincture were given him often every day To these we gave for Vehicles sometimes a Pectoral Decoction sometimes a Pectoral Hydromel sometimes Lime water with the Infusion of Pectoral and Vulnerary Ingredients Moreover Fumigations especially of Sulphureous and Arsenical things gave great Relief CHAP. VII Instructions and Prescripts for the Cure of the Asthma AN Asthma is a difficult short thick and pursy Breathing with a great Agitation of the Brest and for the most part without a Feaver And it s either meerly Pneumonick proceeding from some stoppage in the Vessels that convey the Air or meerly Convulsive arising from some fault in the Organs of motion or mixt when both parts are joyntly faulty As to its Cure there are two Primary Indications or rather so many distinct methods of proceeding viz. the one Curatory the other
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
himself in danger and having try'd some Medicines without any good effect was advised upon a consultation of Physicians to have his Side open'd Wherefore provision for the whole being made a Chyrurgion apply'd a Cautery betwixt the sixth and seventh Vertebrae and the day following he put a Pipe into the Orifice cut into the Cavity of his Brest upon which presently a thick Liquor whitish like Chyle and as it were Milky issued forth There were only about six Ounces taken from him the first time and the day following as much On the third day somewhat a larger quantity being let forth he was presently seiz'd with a great fainting and afterwards being Feaverish he was ill for a day or two Wherefore till he recovered his due temper and strength it was thought fit to stop the egress of that matter and afterwards a small evacuation only of the same being daily made the Cavity of his Brest was in a manner wholly emptied though he still carries the Pipe in the Orifice with a Tap which being drawn forth once in twenty four hours a little gleeting of humour still issues out In the mean time being well dispos'd as to his Stomack Countenance and Strength he Walks and Rides abroad and performs other exercises which he had been formerly us'd to with vigour enough He us'd not much Physick nor did he need it After the Incision we prescrib'd him temperate Cordials viz. Powder of Pearl Julapes and sometimes Hypnoticks and afterwards a vulnerary Decoction to be taken twice every day By this Method and Form of Medicines continued for some time the Person seem'd to recover his due temper strength and habit of Body nay and to be sound in his Breast yet he still carried the Silver Pipe in the Orifice of his Side out of which an Ichor continually issued And when after some Months this being taken forth that Issue was clos'd up there was a gathering again of the same humour within the hollow of the Breast as was perceivable by the sound and floating of it But afterwards as upon the return of the Disease the same Remedy presented it self and consequently the opening of the Side was ordered Nature as it fell out performing the Office of a Chyrurgion it happened of its own accord and gave way for the matter which was ready to break forth and now he is fain to keep that Orifice constantly open as a sink to prevent that gathering of nastiness in his Brest As to the Cure of the Dropsie of the Brest the Primary Indications as usually in Curing most other Diseases are three viz. Curatory Preservatory and Vital The First endeavours that the Waters gathered in the Cavity of the Breast be some way or other evacuated The Second prevents the gathering of new matter The Third takes care to restore strength and speedily to remove the Symptoms that injure it To satisfy the First Indication there are only two ways or manners of evacuation by which that filthy Mass of Waters may be clear'd forth viz. either that the Vessels of the Breast and Ductus's of the humours being emptied drink up again that Lympha when Rarifyed and then convy it forth either by the way of the Blood or of the Breath or Secondly that the water be all let forth in its proper Species by an Incision of the Side The former way though seldom yet sometimes to my knowledge succeeds For the Texture of the Lungs being spongy within and outwardly very Porous whilst upon every Diastole it is dip'd in the waters lying under it it sometimes imbibes them being converted into vapour and so either returns them to the Blood or exhales them with the Air continually breath'd forth at the Mough that this effect may more readily happen for Curing this Disease Physical Aids are here us'd Therefore for that intent the passates of the Blood Air and humours ought to be emptied as much as may be and to be kept open and free For this end let gentle Purges Diureticks and Diaphoreticks be methodically given by turns also Thoracical and Expectorating Remedies must be us'd Let the Diet be thin and heating and let such a method be ordered in all things which may promote the exhalation of the Blood and cause all the superfluous humours to evaporate I shall set down some Forms of Medicines proper for these purposes Take Roots of Chervil Butchers-broom Polypody of the Oak of each an Ounce Leaves of Agrimony Maiden-hair Oak of Hierusalem ground Ivy of each a handful Carthamus-seeds an Ounce Roots of Florentine Orris half an Ounce Boil them in four pounds of fountain water till a third part be consum'd then add to the straining Sena Leaves an Ounce and a half Agarick two Drams Mechoacan Turbith of each half an Ounce yellow Saunders a Dram and a half Roots of the lesser Galingal a Dram Boil them close cover'd for two hours then strain it add of the best Honey two Ounces and Clarify it with the white of an Egg Make a Purging Hydromel the Dose is from six Ounces to eight in the Morning twice or thrice a Week Or Take Calamelanos a Scruple Rosin of Jalap half a Scruple Balsam of Peru what suffices Make four Pills let them be taken in the Morning repeating the Dose within five or six days Take Tincture of Sulphur three Drams give from seven drops to ten going to Bed and early in the Morning in a spoonful of the following Mixture drinking after it three spoonfuls Take the waters of Snails Earth-worms and Compound Radish water of each four Ounces water of the Juice of Elder-berries fermented a pound Syrup of the Juice of ground Ivy two Ounces Mix them make a Julape Or Take Tincture of Gum Ammoniacum or of Galbanum Give to twenty drops at Night and early in the Morning with the same Mixture Or Take Millepedes prepar'd two Drams Flowers of Sulphur two Scruples Flowers of Benzoin a Scruple Powder of wild Carrot and Burdock-seeds of each half a Dram Venice Turpentine what suffices Make a Mass form it into little Pills take four at Night and early in the Morning drinking after it a little draught of the same Julape At nine a Clock in the Morning and five in the Afternon drink a draught of the water of Quick-lime Compound to four Ounces by it self or with some other appropriate Medicine For ordinary drink take the following Bochete Take Roots of Sarsaparilla six Ounces China two Ounces the Woods of white and yellow Saunders of each six Drams shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each three Drams Roots of Calamus Aromaticus half an Ounce Raisins ston'd half a pound Licorice three Drams Let it infuse according to Art and boil it in twelve pounds of fountain water to six pounds strain it I was call'd to a young Scholar at Oxford who had been ill for three Weeks of a pain of his Thorax and of a great difficulty of Breathing that constantly followed him in the Evening which also upon a
Choice Rhubarb two Drams Agarick Trochiscated half a Dram Cinnamon half a Scruple Ginger half a Scruple Make an Infusion in Whitewine and Succory water of each three Ounces being close cover'd and kept warm for three hours In the straining dissolve Syrup of Rhubarb an Ounce water of Earth-worms two Drams Take Rhubarb powdred from half a Dram to a Dram Salt of Wormwood a Scruple Make a Powder Take Pilulae Ruffi a Scruple Extractum Rudii half a Scruple Make four Pills let them be taken in the Morning with governance repeating them within four or five days In the Third place follow Deopilatives and these are Diureticks or Diaphoreticks of which also some are accounted Specificks for their Similitude of substance these sorts of Medicines both promote the separation of the Choler from the Blood and being separated force its way through the straitest passages and Pores in the Liver Moreover at the same time by fusing the Blood they cause its Serosities and Bilous Excrements to be sent forth in some measure by Sweat and Urine Take Elixir Proprietatis an Ounce give twenty drops in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon with a fit Vehicle After the same manner the Tincture of Antimony or of Salt of Tartar are often given with success also Mixtura Simplex in a greater Dose For Vehicles also for the same Intention of Curing Apozemes distill'd waters and Julapes are proper Take Roots of the greater Celandine stinging Nettles Madder of each an Ounce tops of Sea Wormwood white Horehound dry'd Agrimony Germander of each a handful Worm-seeds two Drams shavings of Ivory and Hartshorn of each two Drams yellow Saunders a Dram and a half Coriander-seeds two Drams boil them in three pounds of fountain water to two pounds add of Whitewine four Ounces and strain it add Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb two Ounces Water of Earth-worms an Ounce and a half Make an Apozeme the Dose is from four Ounces to six twice a day Take Leaves of white Horehound dry'd of the lesser Centory of each a handful Roots of Gentian and Turmerick of each three Drams Cinnamon a Dram Saffron half a Dram being slic'd let them be put into a Glass with White or Rhenish Wine two pounds Make a close Infusion the Dose is three Ounces To this place belongs the famous Anti-Icterick of Gesner Take Roots of the greater Nettle a pound Saffron a Scruple Bruise them well and extract a Tincture with Whitewine the Dose is three Ounces in the Morning for four or five days Like to the former is that of Fr. Joel Take Roots of the greater Celandine slic'd two handfuls Juniper Berries a handful being bruis'd pour to them of Rhenish Wine a pound and extract the Juice The Dose is four Ounces twice a day The Juice of white Horehound is mightily commended by Dioscorides for the Cure of the Jaundise and its Syrup by Forestus Instead of the Elixir and other Chymical Liquors which are ordered to be taken in a very small quantity to avoid nauseousness You may give more successfully Electuaries Powders and Pills to others of a strong Constitution Take Conserve of Sea Wormwood the outward yellow Coats of Oranges and Limons of each two Ounces Species Diacurcumae an Ounce and a half Powder of Ivory yellow Saunders the Lignum Aloes of each half a Dram Troches of Capers a Dram Troches of Rhubarb half a Dram Salt of Wormwood two Drams with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Cichory with Rhubarb make an Electuary the Dose is the quantity of a Chesnut twice a day drinking after it of the following Julape three Ounces Take Waters of the greater Celandine Fumitory Wormwood simple and of Elder Flowers of each five Ounces Magisterial water of Snails Water of Earth-worms Compound of each two Ounces Sugar half an Ounce Mix them make a Julape Or Take Roots of the greater Nettle Angelica Gentian of each four Ounces the greater Celandine entire six handfuls Wormwood Tansie both Southernwoods of each four handfuls the outward Coats of twelve Oranges and of four Limons Earth-worms prepar'd Snails of each a pound Cloves bruis'd two Ounces being slic'd and bruis'd pour to them of Whitewine eight pounds distil it with common Organs Let the whole Liquor be mixt Or Take Filings of Steel a pound fresh Strawberries six pounds put them in a glazed Pot and stir them together and let them stand for a day then add of the Roots of English Rhubarb slic'd a pound the Rinds of four Oranges being slic'd pour to them of Whitewine six pounds and distil them according to art Let the whole Liquor be mixt The Dose of this and the former is three Ounces twice a day after the Electuary or other Medicine Take Powder of the Roots of Turmerick and Rhubarb of each a Dram and a half Rinds of Caper Roots Asarum Roots of each half a Dram Extract of Gentian and Centory of each a Dram and a half Salt of Wormwood four Scruples Seeds of Water-cresses half a Dram of Rocket half a Scruple Elixir Proprietatis a Dram Gum Ammoniacum dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of Water of Earth-worms Make a Mass Form it into little Pills the Dose is half a Dram Evenings and Mornings drinking after it of the distill'd Water three Ounces Sylvius highly commends for the Cure of the Jaundise a Decoction of Hemp-seeds in Milk and a Solution of Soap The Second Indication having regard to the altering or due tempering of the Blood that it engender Choler only in a moderate quantity and duly separate it requires those kinds of Medicines which depress the Sulphur and fixt Salt when too much exalted For these ends I know not by what chance or guidance Medicines endow'd with a Volatile Salt as Earth-worms Snails Millepedes nay Lice the Dungs of Fourfooted Beasts and of Fowl being introduc'd into Practise for Curing the Jaundise are usually given not only by Empyricks but likewise prescrib'd by Physicians of the best account These sometimes by themselves but oftner joyn'd with Evacuatives and Deopilatives enter the chief compositions of Anti-ictericks Fonseca prescribes Goslings Dung gathered in the Spring time and dry'd and also the white Dung of Chickens the Powder of both which is given from half a Dram to a Dram in a fit Vehicle Take Powder of Earth-worms prepar'd Goose dung of each three Drams Ivory yellow Saunders powdred of each half a Dram Saffron a Scruple Make a Powder divide it into six parts for so many Morning Doses with some Liquor fit for the purpose To the Anti-icterick Apozem and Tincture above prescrib'd Earth-worms also Goose-dung and Sheeps-dung are usefully added Take of fresh and live Millepedes in number from fifty to a hundred Saffron half a Scruple Nutmegs a Scruple being bruis'd together pour to them of Celandine water four Ounces water of Earth-worms two Ounces wring it forth hard and drink it After this manner let it be taken first once afterwards twice a day for a Week It s a vulgar and
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
succinated or of Soot from twenty to twenty five Drops Or Tincture of Salt of Tartar from half a Dram to a Dram. So much of Hydragogue Medicines to be taken inwardly which cause waters to be evacuated either by drawing them inwardly towards the Intestines or by driving them out to the Reins or to the Pores of the Skin Moreover there are certain outward Administrations us'd by which waters gather'd together within the habit of the Body are put in motion and so dispos'd either generally to pass off by Sweat or Urine or particularly are presently let forth a Vent being made in some peculiar places In the first rank we place Frictions Liniments Fomentations Baths both dry and moist And particular things to evacuate waters are Vesicatories Escharoticks and prickings by a Needle I shall speak of each of these or at least of the chief of them as far as they regard this Disease Frictions prove often of good effect in a Leucophlegmatia and an Anasarca For as the habit of the Body is not only so charg'd with a Glut of filthy waters there heapt together that nothing can breath through them but even the outward parts grow cold upon the Blood 's being hindred of an access to them frequent and strong Frictions give a motion to the stagnating waters and in some measure dissipate them from thence and by opening the passages call again the Blood into those parts whence it was banisht wherefore it is good not only to rubb the swollen Member but even the whole Body once or twice a Day with a course Cloath or with a little brush now commonly made for that purpose In rubbing or after it Liniments and Fomentations are somtimes proper They are prepar'd either of Salts and other Minerals dissolv'd or of hot and discussing Vegetables boil'd with Lees of Wine in water and being apply'd hot open the Pores give a farther motion to the accumulated Waters and discuss them and enlarge the compass of the Blood 's circuit the watery Mass being in some measure dissipated The Liniments consist of Sulphur and Salts of divers kinds or of Quick-lime and other Minerals which being powdred and mixt with the Mucilaginous extracts of Smart Herbs are made into an Ointment To which for their better consistency let a fit quantity of Oyl of Scorpions be added Nay this Oyl apply'd by it self so it be right gives often great relief I knew a Boy swollen very much with an Universal Anasarca who was Cur'd by this only Remedy For his Mother I know not how advis'd anointed his whole Body Mornings and Evenings with Oyl of Scorpions chafing well the parts with her warm hand Upon which within three Days he began to make a vast quantity of water and having continued to make water so for some Days the swelling vanishing by degrees he grew well Baths are scarce proper for any Dropsie but an Anasarca nor for this but in the first Disposition to it or as it goes off For since by the heat of Baths encompassing the whole Body the Blood being made very hot and instigated puts the waters every where in motion which were stagnating before and drinking them into it self conveys them sundry ways there is danger lest as it frequently happens receiving them from the habit of the Body into its Mass it presently deposes them in the Praecordia or the Brain for there is nothing more usual than that the affects of those parts viz. an Asthma or Apoplexy happen to Hydropical persons after bathing But when the conjunct cause of the Disease viz. the swelling is moderate or not very great a Bath of water impregnated with Salts and Sulphur or also a hot-house promoting a gentle Sweat are often us'd with good effect Instead of a hot-house it 's better that the Patients be plac't in some convenient Cells in a Salt-house near the Furnaces in which the Mineral water is boil'd into Salt which often proves of mighty benefit to them Vesicatories let forth the waters betwixt the Flesh and the Skin in a plentiful manner and somtimes too profusely these are to be apply'd to Hydropical persons with very great caution for such an Epispastick apply'd to swollen places makes a vent too wide upon the opening of which the water first breaking forth often draws after it from the whole Neighbourhood a great Glut of it whence presently follows a great Consternation of the Spirits Moreover somtimes the place so drain'd on a sudden being depriv'd of Heat and Spirits in a short time becomes mortifyed Wherefore this Medicine is seldom apply'd to the Leggs or Feet of hydropical persons where the neat is weak and the swelling very great but somtimes to the Thighs and Arms with security when need requires Escharoticks are apply'd somwhat more safely to the swollen Places than Vesicatories because the Flux of waters out of this Vent is not so violent and in such Abundance presently at first But beginning moderately it grows after by little and little to a great Current which nature after being accustom'd to it by degrees bears better Moreover there is less danger of a Gangrene after an Escharotick than after a Vesicatory because in that Application the part whose Union is dissolv'd is fortify'd by the Eschar against the loss of heat I knew an illiterate Empyrick who often by an Echarotick successfully evacuated the Members of Hydropical peasons though never so much swollen after the following manner viz. First he fomented their Leggs Morning and Evening with a Decoction of Dwarfe-elder Wormwood Camomill and other hot Herbs the Lees of Wine or Ale being added to them and betwixt the times of fomenting he apply'd a Cataplasm made of the Faeces of that Decoction with Bran After these things had been us'd three Days he covered both Leggs and Feet with a Plaister of Burgundy-Pitch leaving only a small hole on each Calf to the bigness of a small Nut in which places he put an Escharotick of the Ashes of Ashen Bark to the naked Skin which being remov'd after twelve hours a small Eschar was left out of whose Pores the Matter first Sweated gently then daily distill'd forth somwhat more freely and at length the Eschar falling off it flow'd forth in a plentifull Stream as from an open Source till it was drawn from the whose Legg both above and beneath There remains yet another way of drawing forth waters from betwixt the Flesh and the Skin not inferior to the former though less in use viz. by the pricking of a Needle Which also much be done very cautiously and by little and little lest a head-strong and excessive Flux of waters be rais'd by it Take an ordinary Needle such as Taylors use and prick the Skin over with it in the place most swell'd but let it not enter so far as to draw Blood and so make six or seven little holes at a time about an inch distant the one from the other The water will Issue by drops forth of each little hole
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
let the Patient keep himself quiet with his Head in an upright posture then let the Joynts of his Arms and Thighs many of them together but not all of them be bound with strait Ligatures which must now and then be loosn'd and remov'd to other parts for upon their being bound all at once and so continued a long time I have known that terrible Swoundings have happen'd by reason of the Bloods being detain'd in the outward parts and kept too much from the Heart Though otherwise this Remedy being prudently administred gives often relief For since by this means the Blood which passes into the Members by the Arteries is hindred from its quick return by the Veins its violent taking to the head is stay'd Moreover by the painful Ligatures of the Joynts the Muscular Fibres of the Carotide Arteries from whose Branches the Blood issues at the Nostrils are freed from the Convulsion which they often fall into 2. To withdraw the course of the Blood from the Nostrils sometimes it 's proper to open a Vein in the Arm or Foot for the more Blood is carried by the Arteries to the place where a Vein is open'd the less will flow to the Nostrils Yet this Administration does not always prove so successful but its contrary effect sometimes happens as we have observ'd before where we treat of Spitting Blood The reason whereof is that the Vessels being suddenly and not sufficinetly emptryed draw into them again the disagreeing Homours before ejected and stagnating within the Pores by which the Blood is presently stirr'd up again to a greater Turgescency for Eruption 3. Cold things apply'd to the Forehead and Temples also to the Nape of the Neck where the Vertebral Arteries ascend constringe the Vessels and somewhat repress or repel the Flux of Blood But it is ill done of some who advise topical coolers to be apply'd to the Jugular Veins for this retarding the course of the Blood in its return causes it to flow more plentifully out at the Nostrils Moreover as to the usual way of applying a Linnen-cloath or a Spunge dipt in Vinegar to the Share and Genitals it gives relief only as a Ligature of the Members viz. in as much as it hinders the return of the Blood of the Veins A sudden and unexpected Sprinkling of cold water on the Face by striking a Terrour often stops an Eruption of Blood 4. Cupping-glasses applyed to the Hypochondres Flanks inward parts of the Thighs and to the Soles of the Feet have been accounted both by Ancient and Modern Physicians a famous Remedy for withdrawing an Eruption of Blood from the Nostrils 5. Frictions of the extream parts are commended in this affect by some Practitioners which nevertheless we judge not so very good nay scarce safe For though they cause a greater confluence of Blood to the Hands and Feet yet they so accelerate its return that it endangers a more violent Sally of it to the Nostrils 6. Zacutus Lusitanus among Revulsory Remedies proposes an actual Cautery to be apply'd to the Soles of both Feet and Crato the bending of the little Finger of the same side which last you may do well to try in regard it is done easily Though I do not advise so of the other Remedy unless the Cure by it were more certain which might recompence the Pain and Lameness that will ensue 7. A Swounding by what means soever caus'd stops presently for the most part an Eruption of Blood be it never so refractory Wherefore when persons seiz'd with an Eruption of Blood and grown weak by it are pull'd out of Bed or if Blood be taken from them though in a small quantity by opening a Vein they apprehending a danger in it or if their Members are long bound or they are suddenly put in a fright with some feigned Rumour and upon any other occasion fall into a Swound or a Fainting Fit the Eruption of Blood from the Nostrills presently ceases The reason whereof it evident enough because as soon as the Motion of the Heart fails both the Blood and Spirits presently rush thither so that all outward Effusion is incontinently stopt and that which before was immoderate does not begin afresh 8. In the last place we must take a view of those Remedies for repressing an Eruption of Blood from the Nostrils which are said to work after an Occult manner and by Sympathy and Antipathy Of which kind chiefly are the Sympathetical Powder made of Roman Vitriol Calcin'd to whiteness by the Sun in the Summer Also a piece of the Wood of a Maiden or young Ash cut about the moment that the Sun enters Taurus The efficacy of which Remedy is attested by many credible witnesses to have been prov'd in stopping Eruptions of Blood in wounded Souldiers during the late Civil Wars So a dry'd Toad sewed up in a Silk Bag and worn on the Pit of the Stomack is said to stop any Flux of Blood and to prevent its return There are many other famous Medicines for stopping Blood whose operation is wont to be referr'd to Occult causes and to some secret Vertue As Neck-laces of the Blood-stone worn about the Neck also Vsnea or the moss of a Mans Skull carried in the hand Epithems of the Leaves of Netles stampe and apply'd to the Soles of the Feet and the Palms of the Hands which Empirical Administrations being to be try'd without trouble or charge we have no reason to reject them especially since in a dangerous case we ought to leave nothing unattempted and in regard that those applications may do good sometimes in this respect that they fortify the imagination of the Patient Whilst these outward Administrations are us'd for repelling or withdrawing the Flux of Blood from the Nostrils let Topicks also be put into the Nostrils to close the Gaping Mouths of the Vessels for which use Injections of Liquid things Pledgets Powders to be blown in and Fumes are wont to be prescrib'd which failing of effect we must come at last to Escharoticks 9. Amongst Liquids a Solution of Vitriol made in fountain water is accounted not only the chief but as good as all the rest Some boast of this as of a great secret and an infallible stopper of Blood Indeed the same apply'd to a fresh Wound for as much as by corrugating the extremities of the cut Vessels it closes them it keeps back the Flux of Blood and powerfully stops it But in regard in an Eruption of Blood from the Nostrils where the Blood is convey'd to the gaping Mouths of the Arteries and ought to be receiv'd by the Veins this application closes these as well or rather than those it does here little or no good at all as I have often known it try'd This Medicine is prepar'd of green Vitriol viz. the Hungarian or of that of our own Country also of the Factitious Vitriol of Mars dissolv'd in a sufficient quantity of fountain water I know some commend a Solution of Roman Vitriol which they
irritated a Watery Humour fill'd with Fiery Particles and therefore rejected both from the Blood and from the Nervous Juice is voided in a great abundance That Lympha because it cannot pass through the Scarf-skin separates it from the Skin and raises it into a Blister Hence it will be easy to understand after what manner Vesicatories perform their operation viz. Cantharides and so all other things of the same vertue being outwardly apply'd and coming to be made warm by the Effluviz's of the part they lie on and so stirr'd up to exert their force emit from them a great plenty of Smart and Fiery Particles as it were which penetrating the Scarf-skin without breaking it strongly fix themselves in the Skin Where sirst they act on the Spirits and then by their means on the Humours and Solid parts Those Particles very much irritate the Spirits and make them cause painful Convulsions of the Fibres and they fuse the Humours and make them separtate into parts so that the Watery part being mightily fill'd with those Smart and as it were Venemous Particles is thrown off on every side by the rest of the Latex And the extremities of the Vessels and Fibres being either in the mean time Eaten away by Burning or open'd and emulg'd as it were by Twitching that Ichor is voided in a plentiful measure from their little Mouths carrying with it the offensive Particles Which Ichor afterwards separates the Impervious Scarf-skin from the Skin and raises it into a little Blister And after this is broken and remov'd is plentifully voided for some time from the Ulcerated Skin But this is not only so done because the Serous Latex inbibing the Smart Particles of the Medicine and conveying them forth does not always carry them back all the same way that they came in but sometimes being imbued with those Particles it regurgitates into the Mass of Blood and afterwards being circulated with it and voided with its offensive Load by other Emunctories it offends in its passage or as it goes forth certain weak or tender Ductus's Hence many after the use of great or many Vesicatores having their Urinary passages thereby affected with an Acrimony or Erosion get a Strangurie which in some is most sharpe and intolerable Again in others troubled with the Stone that application sometimes causes Bloody Urine Hence also it may be suspected that tender Lungs or such as are inclin'd to a Consumption may be much endangered by the outward application of this Medicine Which nevertheless I have not hitherto known happen to any but rather on the contrary I can testifie by frequent trials that it rather proves to their advantage than to their prejucice For the smart Particles of the Catharides upon long application being sometimes plentifully imbib'd by the Blood infect its whole Serum which Latex nevertheless so aculeated as long as it is mixt with the Balsamick Blood offends no part but being separated from it by the Reins it sometimes hurts them and often not only twitches the Neck of the Bladder with its Acrimony but sometimes Corroding it fetches thence a Mucus and little Schims and even Blood it self But in the Mass of Blood those same sharpe Salino Volatile Particles often do great good because they destroy the fixt and acid Salts in it and likewise open the too close Texture of the Blood and so cause its Serous and other Morbifick Particles before fast bound in it to be separated from it and to be readily sent forth by Urine and Sweat hence in Fevers Vesicatories long apply'd cause a large Evacuation by Urine and a free Sweat Moreover the same open the Obstructed passages and stir up the Portions of the Blood and Serum stagnating in any place or extravased and restore them to Circulation Wherefore they are wont to do good not only in Distempers of the Serum but also of the Blood nay in the Pleurisie Peripneumonia and in any other Fevers whatsoever Hitherto having shewn after what manner Vesicatories work first on the Spirits and then on the Humours and Solid parts I must next set down their effects both good and evil also the manner of using them That they work first on the Spirits it is plain from hence that they exert no power on the Dead And it s an ill Omen in very weak persons when Vesicatories do not work because it 's a sign that the Animal Spirits are mightily dejected or lessen'd in their store Therefore to explain well the Energy or Vertue of this Medicine we must consider what Humours it evacuates or alters immediately or mediately And then in what Diseases and in Bodies how dispos'd it does good or hurt As to the first the Humours immediately let forth by a Vesicatory partly issue from the Pores and Glands of the Skin and partly from the Mouths of the little Arteries and partly from the extremities of the Nervous Fibres haply some little of the Juice fresh receiv'd may be cast back again from the little Mouths of the Veins though much of it cannot The Humours mediately voided by a Vesicatory are those which the foresaid parts being emptied receive from elswhere and convey forth 1. The Scarf-skin being remov'd by a Vesicatory from the Skin a Serous Humour is drawn from the Glands and Pores and this not only from the place Blistered but those Pores being pervious to others a Portion of Serum coming from other Pores sometimes succeeds in the Cells of the first drain'd and thence also distill forth wherefore in an Anasarca the little Ulcers rais'd by a Vesicatory empty waters on every side in great plenty and derive them from all the Neighbouring parts nay sometimes from those that are very remote 2. The Mouths of the Arteries do not only Spew forth the Portion of Serum brought to them according to common course but the Serous Latex being imbued with the irritative force of the Medicince in the whole Mass of Blood is thereby separated from the Blood in a more plentiful manner and carried forth by the said Mouths of the Arteries and with it other Excrements and sometime the Morbid matter it self in a large measure Hence in Malignant Fevers nay and in some Putrid Fevers of a difficult Crisis when the Refuse and Corruptions of the Blood unapt for separation threaten the Praecordia or Brain-vesicatories deriving it forth continually and by degrees often give great relief To which may be added that the same also as we have hinted before alter and restore the Blood degenerated or deprav'd as to its Salts and likewise by opening or rarifying its Texture dispose it to a Eucrasy Wherefore this kind of Remedy often agrees excellently well not only in a Feverish State of the Blood but likewise when it is otherwise vitiated or Cacochinical 3. Reason and Experience convince us that Vesicatories draw from the extremeties of the Nerves and Nervous Fibres the Latex contain'd within their Ductus's and free it from Stagnation and that they exagitate the
parts most expos'd to the Sun and Air because their Skin being of a subtle Texture transmits the Humour rarified by the heat of the Sun so far till it be stopt by a thick Scarf-skin near the places where it should break forth This affect as to the State of Health does not foreshow or threaten any ill These Spots differ little or nothing from those they call Lenticular Spots There are other large Spots about the breadth of the Palm of the Hand which defile the Skin in many places but especially about the Brest and Back with Stains sometimes of a dun colour sometimes wan or blackish These being wont to rise and go away at certain times and as I have observ'd in many in certain parts are commonly call'd Liver-marks though not properly for these Stains happen on this account that the Filthy Dreggs and Refuse of the Blood when not sufficiently receiv'd by the Vessels of separation are carried to the Skin together with the Serum with which they are diluted and there being thrown off by the Blood and left by the Serous Latex which evaporates they stick fast to the outward Pores and little Orifices as a Mossy down does to the narrow passages of a River Those Spots appear chiefly in the Summer and most upon the Back and Brest viz. at that time and in those places that Men are most apt to Sweat in that is to say that Serous Latex which has carried those Filthy Dreggs from the Mass of Blood to the narrow Pores of the Skin leaves them there as being unmeet to pass forth by Evaporation This affect has no evil joyned with it nor is it the Symptom of any present Disease nor does it portend any shortly to ensue and in regard for the most part coming in places out of sight it causes no deformity or trouble there seems little or no need of its Cure But because an opinion is spread amongst the vulgar that the Liver is much in danger by reason of those Spots and that it necessarily requires help therefore to fatisfy some importunately desiring Physick besides outward Consmeticks we are wont to prescribe inward Hepatick Remedies the use of which though not very necessary yet because thereby the Blood is purified and the Obstructions of the Bowels are open'd they are not altogether in vain The inward Medicines useful for this purpose are set down before amongst Hepatick Remedies The very same outward Remedies or Topicks are proper in this as in all other kinds of Spots of which we shall give you some choice Forms Having treated elsewhere professedly concerning Spots of the Plague and Scurvy I need not repeat them here especially because the Method for these is quite dissering from that of the other For in one kind of Spots in a manner only outward Medicines are wont to be administred without any that regard the Heart or the Viscera of the Belly and in the other only inward things are given without applying any thing to the Skin Therefore as to the Summer Spots Lentiginous Spots and the vulgarly call'd Liver Spots the Art of Beautifying properly takes care of them and for removing these Blemishes from the Skin only Cosmetick Remedies are prescrib'd without any Method of Cure there is an infinite store of these amongst curious Ladys and others that are nice in keeping the Skin fair but all of them having regard only to two intentions of Curing may be reduc't to these two heads viz. either by opening the Pores of the Skin and Scarf-skin and sometimes by excoriating this they endeavour to draw the Humour outward and wholly to evaporate it or on the contrary they are administred and that with no less success to strike back the Impure Matter which makes the Spots and to drive it inward I shall here set down some ordinary Forms of Topicks of both kinds which have been rationally invented and often us'd suceessfully enough since I may not without offence to great Persons unvail the more secret Mysteries of the Cosmetick Art and prostitute them to the vulgar First therefore to cleanse the Skin and to draw the Matter of the Spots outward Take of a small Lixivium of Salt of Tartar four Ounces Oyl of bitter Almonds made by expression what suffices let it be mixt in such a proportion that the whole Liquour presently turn white and so let it stand Let the parts affected be anointed and gently rubb'd Mornings and Evenings with this mixture Take fresh Roots of Aron Briony and Solomons-seale of each an Ounce Powder of Fenugreek Seeds a Dram Camphire half a Dram being bruis'd together pour to them Oyl of Tartar per Deliquium three Ounces express it let it bapply'd with a Ragg dipt in it twice a Day Take Sulphur-vive powdred an Ounce black Soap two Ounces bind it in a Ragg let it hang in a Pound of Vinegar for nine Days then apply it to use washing and rubbing the places affected with it twice a Day Secondly for the other intention viz. for discussing the Spots from the Skin and repelling the matter and driving it inwards Lac Virginis was a famous Medicine amongst the Ancients and is still commended and us'd by many The preparation of this is well known viz. a Solution of Litharge made in distill'd Vinegar by the affusion of Oyl of Tartar per Deliquium is precipitated into a Liquour as white as Milk With which let the Face and Hands be washt and gently rubb'd twice a Day A Medicine like this or the same at leastwise of the same Vertue is prepar'd of a Solution of Minium or Ceruse made in the same Menstruum and preclpitated with water of Allom or Sal Gemm Or Take Camphire slic'd two Drams bruise it in a Glass-mortar pouring on it by little and little the Juice of one Limon then add to it of White-wine a Pound strain it and let the Camphire remaining behind be tyed in a Ragg and hung in a Glass Take Verdigrease four Ounces pour to it of White-wine two Pounds being put into a Gourd-glass let it be distill'd in Sand let the Phlegm first coming off be kept for use wherewith let the Face be anointed twice a Day For this purpose also the Dew or Phlegm of Vitriol distill'd by it self does excellently well some are content with the water of Bean-flowers or the simple distill'd water of Fumitory or with the water which Bleeds from the Sprout of a Vine cut in the Sprin But the more curious Women and Pretenders to the mosi exquisite knowledge in the Cosmetick Art are scarce satisfied with any Remedies for the Skin but Mercurial Wherefore the following water is highly recommended and sold by Empiricks at a great rate for all Blemishes of the Face Take Mercury sublimate an Ounce being reduc't to a Powder let it be put in a Tin-vessel with three Pounds of fountain water let it stand for twentyfour hours stirring it now and then with a Woodden Spatula till the whole Liquor grows black which nevertheless being
Disease For the corrupted Taints of the Blood after that upon long continuance they are become wholly Heterogeneous and unsubdueable gather to themselves at length the Saline Particles with which growing together in that Tartarous Concretion and driven to the Skin they produce Eruptions of the running Scab Concerning the Crue of the running Scab there are two primary Indications viz. the Preservatory which regards the cause of the Disease and the Curatory which has regard to the Symptom viz. the breaking forth of Pushes The Vital has seldom place in this case unless grown altogether desperate where there is a deficiency of Sleep and Strength The Method of Cure ought always to begin with the Preservatory Indication which removes the causes of the Disease by inward Remedies for otherwise outward things are scarce ever administred to any purpose as in the Itch but the roots of the Disease being cut off within the Blood the Cutaneous Pushes soon dye away Though for removing them we must proceed one way when the running Scab begins of it self and somewhat a differing way when it comes after an inveterate Scurvy or the French-pox ill or not Cur'd We shall consider each of these cases severally and distinctly by themselves When therefore this Disease is simple and primary and fresh coming let the evident and external cuases be remov'd let the ill Diet and the Unwholesomeness of the Air be corrected therefore let persons who have been long and too much us'd to feed on Salt Meats Pork or Fish betake themselves to a Diet of good Juice and easy of Concoction Moreover if they live by the Sea side or in Marshy places let them remove to a more dry and clear Air and withal let them be as careful of their Drink avoiding thick and dreggy Beer and thin and acid Wines which are too much fill'd with Tartar Finally let them take care that their Drink or Food be not prepar'd of Mineral waters apt to petrify 2. In respect of the Conjunct and Procatarctick cause viz. a Saturation of the Blod with Saline Particles of a differing Disposition and Nature there are two chief intents of Curing to wit that the Blood and Humours be forthwith cleans'd of their impurities and that the Acido-saline Discrasies of the Blood and Nervous Liquour be altered for the better to keep them from engendring a Tartarous matter For which ends both evacuating Remedies of divers kinds and altertives are wont to be prescrib'd Nevertheless because not all but in a manner only great Remedies are here proper therefore those that are chiefly in use and found to do most good are Catharticks Bleeding Whey Mineral waters coming from Iron Juicy expressions of Herbs Decoctions of Woods Chalybeat Medicines and Salivation We shall set down certain Forms of each of these and the manners of ussing them In the Frist place therefore a general Purge and Bleeding as in the Cure of the Itch being premitted let the following Cathartick Infusion or Tincture be prescrib'd whose Dose is from six Ounces to eight to be repeated whithin six or seven Days Take Roots of sharp pointed Dock dryed of Polypody of the Oak of each half an Ounce Sena ten Drams Epithymum six Drams Rhubaru Mechoacan of each half an Ounce yellow Saunders two Drams Celtick Spike half a Dram Salt of Tartar a Dram and a half put them in a Glass with three Pounds of White-wine and a Pound of Elder-flower water let them stand close covered in a cold place for three Days then use it pouring forth daily a sufficient quantity of the clear Liquour Secondly to sweeten the Blood and cleanse ti from its Salts drink every Morning to two or three Pounds of Whey by it self or with Fumitory preparations of Cichory and with sharp pointed Dock infus'd in it and let this Drink be continued for twenty or thirty Days if it agrees with the Stomack and withal in the Evening and early in the Morning let a Dose or the following Electuary be taken Take Conserve of the Roots of sharp pointed Dock six Ounces Crabbs Eyes Coral prepard of each two Drams Ivory a Dram Powder of Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders of each a Dram and a half Sal Prunella two Drams Vitriol of Mars a Dram and a half Syrup of the Juice of Wood-sorrel what suffices make an Electurary the Dose if two Drams Thirdly for the same reason as Whey also Mineral waters coming from Iron are prescrib'd against this Disease and often do great good For when all other Medicines have prov'd of no effect I have sometimes Cur'd a great and almost Leaprous running Scab with this alone Moreover to add to their efficacy we may fitly joyn the use of Sal Prunella or of Vitriol of Mars or of the Electuary before written Fourthly in some persons having much Serun and a Watery Constitution where drinking of Whey or Mineral waters is not proper it is good for them to take constantly a Decoction of Woods at Physical hours and likewise for their ordinary Drink Take Raspings of Willow-wood half a Pound Roots of Sarsaparilla eight Ounces white Saunders Wood of the Mastick-tree of each two Ounces Shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each six Drams Shavings of Tin crude Antimony of each four Ounces both tyed in a Rag Licorice an Ounce let them infuse according to Art and boil in sixteen Pounds of fountain water of half keep the straining for use Fisthly Chalybeat Medicines because generally accounted of among the more excellent Remedies are seldom omitted in this Disease though they as seldom prove successful For a gret many preparatious of Iron in which the Sulphurous Particles predo minate for as much as they ferment the Blood and put it upon Excretory Effervescencies encrease rather than diminish the Eruptions of the running Scab Nevertheless Vitriolick Salts Syrups Tinctures and Infusions in regard they fix the Blood and somewhat restrain the Exorbitant excesses of the Salts answer aptly enough to the intention of Curing now propos'd but being too weak cnnot master so Herculean a Disease Wherefore Sixthly these and a great many other Remedies doing no good many reommend Salivation as the stoutest Champion and only fit to contend with so potent an Enemy Yet the event does not always answer this mighty expectation for I must own to have try'd this Remedy my self in four persons afflicted with a greivous running Scab not yielding to other Medicines but without any benefit some of these were put in a very high Salivation by a Mercury Unction others by Pills of the Solar Praecipitate which Salivation they lay under for about twenty Days after which time all the Scaly breakings forth and clusters of Pushes vanisht Nevertheless for perfecting the Cure a Diet Drinkd ordered of the Decoction of Sarza with frequent Sweating under a Cradle and deu Puring betwixt while was continued for a Month Yet this course being ended when no footsteps of the running Scab seem'd to be left behind within the second Month a
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
yet known to me either from my own experience or that of others I shall try haply some time what our artificial Mineral waters viz. impregnated both with Iron and Antimony being taken for many Days in a great quantity will be able to effect towards the Cure of the Falling-sickness CHAP. II. Instructions and Prescripts for Curing the other kinds of Convulsions and in the first place of the Convulsive motions of Children IT happens that Infants and Children are so generally and frequently troubled with Convulsive affects that this may be accounted as the chief and almost only kind of Convulsions for those kinds of Symptoms in Adult persons are denoted by other Names and are wont to be refer'd to the Epilepsy Hysterick Hypochondriack or Colick passions or also to the Scurvy but in Children as it were by way of excellency they are call'd Convulsive motions Concerning these we may observe that Children are found to be very subject to Convulsions chiefly at two times viz. within the first Month after they are Born and about the time of the eruption of Teeth Though Fits of this Disease happen also often at other times and for certain other causes For in those in whom the Seeds of a Convulsive Disposition are rooted these Seeds sometimes display themselves and come to a Morbid Matureness either presently after the persons are Born as is said before or lying hid for a while sometimes precede in them the Eruption of Teeth sometimes follow it at a great distance of time after and at length in an uncertain course break forth in act for other evident causes viz. either inward or outward such as are an unhealthy or pregnant Nurse Milk coagulating in the Ventricle or degenerating into an acid or bitter Corruption a Feverish Distemper of the Head and Ulcers of other parts breakings forth suddenly disappearing changes of the Air Conjunctions or Opposite Aspects of the Sun and Moon and the like These Convulsions in Children are wont to infest three Regions of the Body viz. the parts of the Head and Face the Members and outward Limbs and the Praecordia and Viscera And we observe that sometimes these sometimes the others sometimes two of them or all the Regions together are troubled with the Morbifick cause according as the same is fixt either about the Origines or extremities of the Nerves And when the first of these happens according as the superiour middle or lower spinal part of the Medulla Oblongata to wit one of them alone or more of them together are set upon by the Morbifick cause In Children obnoxious to Convulsions hereditarily the Convulsive Fits are excellently provided against if presently after a Child is Born an Issue be made in the Nucha and Blood be drawn from the Jugular Veins by Leeches for by the former the Corruptions of the Nervous Juice are convey'd away and by the latter the impure Efflorescencies of the Blood are withdrawn from the Head A person whose Children dyed all of Convuisions within three Months time at length to prevent the like fatal Accident in a Child fresh Born sought for Remedies Being call'd after some Days after the Birth I advis'd that in the first place an Issue should be made in the Nucha and then the next Day after that a Leech being apply'd to the Jugular of both sides Blood should be drawn to the quantity of two Ounces moreover that near each of the Conjunctions and Opposite Aspects of the Sun and Moon about five Grains of the following Powder should be given in a spoonful of Julape for three Days Mornings and Evenings Take Mans Scull prepar'd Roots of Male Peony of each a Dram Pearl powdred half a Dram double refin'd Sugar a Dram mix them make a subtile Powder Take black Cherry water three Ounces Langius's Antiepileptical water an Ounce Syrup of the Flowers of Male Peony six Drams mix them I ordered also that the Nurse at the same Physical hours should take a draught of Whey in which Seeds and Roots of the Male Peony and Leaves of the Lilly of the valley were boil'd The Infant continued well for about four Months but then began to be troubled with Convulsive affects At which time the same Remedies were given in a greater Dose both to the Infant and to the Nurse Vesicatories were also applyed behind his Ears and Blood was drawn by Leeches from both Jugular Veins and within two or three Days the Child grew well afterward when within four or five Months the Convulsions return'd at times still by the use of the same Remedies he was Cur'd After a year and a half the Convulsive affects wholly ceast but about the lower part of the Back-bone a Tumour without Pain grew up whence some Crookedness of the Vertebrae and a weakness of the Leggs and at length a Palsy were caus'd It seems in this case that the Convulsive matter which was wont to assail the Origines of the Nerves at length entering the Spinal Marrow and being thrown down into its lower part wholly stopt the Mouths of the Arteries belonging to it to wit because to the explosive Particles other narcotick and grosser Particles had joyn'd themselves The Therapeutick Method against Convulsive affects in Children IN Infants and Children we must take care either to prevent imminent Convulsions or being already begun to Cure them For if former Children Born of the same Parent have been found obnoxious to Convulsions that evil ought to be prevented in the rest of the Children Born afterward by a seasonable use of Remedies For this end it is usual to pour into the Mouth of an Infant newly Born assoon as it begins to Breath some Anticonvulsive Medicine Hence some are wont to give it some drops of most pure Honey others a spoonful of Canary sweetn'd with Sugar and others Oyl of sweet Almonds fresh drawn By some persons a drop of Oyl of Amber or half a spoonful of Epileptical water is put into its Mouth Besides these first things given Children which truly seem to be of some moment certain other remedies and ways of Administration ought to be us'd viz. let a spoonful of a Liquour appropriated to this affect be drank twice a Day For Example Take water of black Cherries and of Rue of each an Ounce and a half the Antiepileptick water of Langius an Ounce Syrup of Corral six Drams Pearl prepar'd fifteen Grains mix them in a Glass On the third or fourth Day after it is Born let an Issue be made in the Nucha then if it has a Florid Countenance let a little Blood to an Ounce and a half or two Ounces be drawn from the Jugular Veins by Leeches care being taken lest he Bleed too much when he Sleeps Let the Temples and Neck be gently rub'd with such a Liniment Take Oyl of Nutmeggs by expression two Drams Oleum Capivii three Drams Oyl of Amber a Scruple let a Periapt of the Roots and Seeds of the greater Peony with a little addition of Elks-hoof
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
Wherefore in Dropsies and Haemorrhagies Remedies endued with the Saline Particles of Iron are of notable use and efficacy for many Diseases proceed from this Cause That the little Mouths of the Arteries being too open and the Interstices of the Vessels being become too lax the Serum or bloody Latex breaks forth which kind of Affects are oftentimes cured by the Vitriolick Particles of Steel they constringing and corroborating the Blood-Vessels and the Nervous Fibres After this manner the Filing of Steel inwardly taken seems at the same time to put Spurs to and check the Blood but in regard that this Medicine is much more powerful in instigating than restraining therefore it ought to be given only to those whose Blood is very thick and cold as to Rusticks and very Robust persons It is not proper in a very hot and spirituous Blood and in hot Bowels Moreover in persons of a delicate and tender Constitution there is danger lest small Portions of Steel when they are not able to be dissolved are thrown on the Membranes of the Viscera and sticking pertinaciously to them cause Ulcers and mortal Gripes which I have really known to have sometimes happen'd 2. After the Filing of Iron the next way of preparing it is by Calcining it with Sulphur and reducing it to a Powder in which Preparation of it some of the Sulphureous Particles exhale In the mean time the Saline Particles seem to be encreased new ones accruing to them from the burning Sulphur so that the active Particles of both kinds viz. the Sulphureous and Saline come near to an Aequilibrium and since by this means this Medicine the Texture of the Metal being loosened may be brought to a very fine Powder it becomes of a much more excellent use than the Filing of Iron In many cases where Steel ought not to be given in substance as in a Cachexia the longing Disease and the like it is proper to use this Medicine 3. In the third place follows the Preparation of Steel with Vinegar sprinkling the Filings of Steel with Vinegar and drying it till it may be reduced into an impalpable Powder In this Preparation the greatest part of the Sulphureous Particles evaporate and the Saline are much encreased by reason of others accruing to them from the Vinegar This Powder does little in opening the Obstructions of the Viscera or in restoring the Ferment of the Blood nevertheless in a hot Constitution in Haemorrhagies and in the Hypochondriacal affect it is wont to be given with greater success than the foregoing Preparations 4. The rust of Iron follows in which there being but few Sulphury Particles it does not so powerfully Ferment the Blood or open the obstructions of the Viscera as Steel prepar'd with Sulphur nevertheless in Hot dyscrasies of the parts or humours it Egregiously performs the Intents required from a Chalybeate Medicine In this Classis our preparation of Steel is justly plac't in which all the Particles of the Metal being freed from the Bond of Mixture are contained together Which also the Concrete being first reduc't to a Powder are immediatly dissolv'd in any Latex or Menstruum This Powder inwardly taken excels in the same vertue as Steel Calcin'd with Sulphur But to the Menstruum or Liquor in which it is dissolv'd it Communicates chiefly and in a manner only the Saline or Vitriolick Particles the Sulphureous flying away and the Earthly Particles subsiding in the bottom I use to give common Water impregnated with this dissolution instead of Natural Spaw Waters in a great quantity And often with excellent Success Moreover I make Medicinal Wine Beer Cider Whey and other Liquours by dissolving this Powder in them and order them to be taken for various Physical intents So far of preparations of Iron in which the Elementary Particles of each kind though in a various proportion are comprehended There remain others in which the Particles in a manner only of one kind viz. the Saline or Earthy are left the rest for the greatest part being driven away of which kind chiefly are Vitriol of Mars Salt of Steel and Crocus Martis 5. Salt of Steel prepar'd as you may find here in Dr. Willis has a Sweetish Tast with somewhat of a Rough Stiptickness and so much partakes of a Vitriolick nature that it seems not much to differ from Green Copperas Taken inwardly as a Medicine it somewhat ferments the Humours and powerfully constringes the Nervous Fibres In Cold and Phlegmatick Cachexia's because no Particles of Sulphur are exerted this Medicine is not proper It is often given with success either by it self or mixt with other Medicines as a Spur in Hot Dyscrasies of the Viscera with a predominancy of adust Sulphur also in Flitting Scorbutical and Irregular Boylings of the Blood and Nervous Juice Notwithstanding in tender Constitutions there is danger lest through its acrimony and too great constriction the Tone of the Stomach and the Fibres be injur'd 6. In the last place comes the astringent Crocus Martis prepar'd by long Calcination in the Fire This Medicine is of egregious use in some cases and yields to none of the Chalybeats viz. in every Extravasating and too great Eruption of the Blood and Serum as in inward and outward Haemorrhagies in a Diarrhaea a Diabetes in a Vehement Catarrh also in an Ascites or a beginning Dropsie I have known nothing more excellent than this Medicine I have heard it lately mightily commended by a Famous and Expert Physician of our Country of which Medicine nevertheless in regard it is wholly destitute both of Saline and Sulphureous Particles and in a manner only consists of such as are Earthy and Fiery it is much in dispute with what Faculty it operates and produces so laudable an effect in humane body For it might seem that nothing should remain in this more than the Caput Mortuum or Terra Damnata of Vitriol and of other Minerals distill'd by a most intense Fire To give my opinion concerning these things it seems in the first place that a certain activity whereby it exerts it self and displays its virtues either by opening obstructions or by Astringing the Vessels and Nervous Fibres of the Viscera accrues to this preparation from the Fiery Particles being included in the most fixt Earth and from their breaking forth within the Body But the chief way of giving help consists in this that the Earthy Particles being wholly depriv'd of the Saline to which they were most closely bound most earnestly seek to be reunited to the same or the like Wherefore that Crocus Martis being Immerg'd in our Bodies suddenly catches to it self any sorts of Salts that come in its way and closely binds them to it and so whilst it drinks up like a Sponge a great many Saline Particles it takes away many Enormities chiefly arising from the Flowings of the Salts This way it is that Harts-horn burnt Spodium and Diaphoretick Antimony exert their vertues if at any time they give help CHAP. X. Of the
our Syrup of Diasulphur Lohoch de allio Pills of Elecampane Roots Milk of Sulphur Flowers of Benzoin made up with Tar or liquid Amber with many other things which it would be tedious here particularly to enumerate And now having given you the ways of curing the chief kinds of Convulsions it seems time to put an end to this Tract but since there remains another kind of Disease viz. the Scurvy which contains Passions of a mixt nature viz. partly Convulsive and partly arising immediately from the Dyscrasies of the Blood and Viscera I think it expedient to give you briefly the way of Curing that for both these Affects viz. the Scorbutick and Convulsive being placed together will mutually illustrate each other The Practice of PHYSICK Contained in Dr. WILLIS's TRACT OF THE SCURVY CHAP. I. THE Nature of the Scurvy being so diffused and extended to so various and such a multiplicity of Symptoms that it cannot be comprehended in one only Definition or scarce in one particular Description I think it fit in the first place to heap together all the Phaenomena of this Disease or to set forth in full all the chief accidents of it and then to accommodate some Hypothesis for duely Solving those appearances As to the former to consider the signs of the Scurvy from Head to Foot we shall begin with those in the highest part To this place belong violent and habitual Head-aches and those either happening at random or periodical sometimes a deadness and drowsiness of the Spirits sometimes obstinate Watchings frequent Giddinesses 's and Scotomia's Convulsions a Palsey much Spitting soreness of the Gums a looseness of the Teeth a stinking Breath 2. Meanwhile about the Region of the Breast Pains in various parts of the Membranes and especially in the Sternum which often being acute and pricking miserably torture the Diseased for many Days and Nights a frequent Asthma a difficult and uneven Breathing a Constriction and straitness of the Breast a husky Cough a disorderly Pulse a trembling of the Heart frequent Faintings of the Spirits a frequent Swooning and a continual being in danger of it 3. In the Region of the Belly this Disease establishing as it were its principal Seat produces Iliads of Evils For there are often a nauseousness a Vomiting a Rumbling a Cardialgia Inflations and Murmurings of the Hypochondres a frequent Colick and most troublesome Pains shooting every way an almost continual Diarrhaea sometimes a Dysentery or Tenesmus an Atrophia and sometimes an Ascites The Urine is commonly very ruddy and lixivial with a Scum swimming on it or sticking to the sides of the Glass tho' now and then at certain times the same being pale and Watry is voided in a great plenty 4. Besides these inward Affects in the outward Members nay in the whole Habit of the Body wandering Pains and often very violent and chiefly infesting by night are felt a spontaneous Lassitude a Consumption of the Flesh an Ach in the Loins and a weakness and enervation of the other Limbs Spots of various colours in the Skin Tumours Tubercles and often malignant Ulcers break forth about the Muscles a Stupor Formication and ascent as it were of a cold Wind also Contractions and Twitchings of the Tendons Moreover to Scorbutical Persons disorders of the Blood unconstant Boilings of it restless distemperatures Feavers without any constant Course and great Haemorrhagies generally happen Besides these common and very usual Symptoms of the Scurvy whereof sometimes more sometimes fewer and those one while of this kind and fashion another while of that infest the Diseased sometimes also unusual and prodigious Accidents ensue upon this Disease As to the evident Causes of the Scurvy though an ill Dyet a sedentary Life a disorder of the Spleen and Crudities heap't together in the first Passages are very much accus'd yet the unwholsomness of the Air and the Crasis of the Blood vitiated by former Distempers are wont to be much rather in the fault wherefore the Scurvy in Maritime and Marshy places is often endemious It frequently seizes suh as are long at Sea and use in the mean while Salt Meats and such as are dryed in the Smoak and also corrupted Water It every where succeeds long continued Feavers and other Chronical Diseases ill Cured also over great Haemorrhagies and other immoderate Excretions nay and the suppression of usual Evacuations as of the Menses and Haemorrhoids Moreover this Disease without any great procatarxis is often wont to be raised by Contagion and sometimes is hereditary The material cause of this Disease or the Scorbutick taint diffused through the whole Body is founded either in the Blood or in the nervous Juice or in both of them together That the Scorbutick Taint is fix't in the Blood it s disorderly Boilings the Eruptions of Spots and Pushes the ruddy and as it were lixiviated Urine plainly testifie which is also shewn by the diversified production of this Disease which for the most part succeeds the depravation of the mass of Blood That the Taint sticks also in the Nervous Liquor is shewn by the most troublesome Pains raised both inwardly in the Membranes and outwardly in the Genus Nervosum by the weaknesses or resolutions of the Members the Giddiness the Convulsions and frequent Failings of the Animal Spirits Since therefore both general Humors are in fault let us see which is first or chief in fault whence it drew its Taint and after what manner it is communicated to the other Humour and likewise to any other Parts that are wont to be affected As to the Blood in whose Mass the Scurvy seems chiefly to spread its Roots we have shewn elsewhere that in its Crasis it consists of the like kind of Particles and is temper'd almost after the like manner as Wines Moreover we have intimated that as Wine even so the Blood for two causes chiefly is ill disposed viz. either because some extraneous thing that will not duely mix with them is got into this or the other or because the Crasis or temper of the Liquor is perverted in as much as one Element or haply two to which the Dominion is due being supprest others which ought to be kept under are exalted Concerning the former we observe in Wine that when the Foeces first sever'd and thrown to the bottom being stirr'd again are rais'd or if any Heterogeneous thing as Sewet or an exotick Sulphur be cast into the Vessel a mighty working is thence caus'd which unless it be appeas'd in a short time the Crasis of the Wine is in danger of being subverted In like manner there are many immiscible things which coming into the Blood disturk its Motion and Circulation and hinder the course of its Oeconomy from being duely performed The Nutritive Liquor being filled with filthy Dreggs Ferments the Blood in a disorderly manner Nay and its Liquor being become degenerate causes Fits of intermittent Fevers The Vapoury Serous Bilous and Melancholy Recrements of the Blood retain'd within it
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-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
bruised of each a Dram and a half Roots of Bastard-Dittany and of Male-Peony of each a Dram and a half Salt of Tamerisk two Drams with a sufficient quantity of the Gelly of Harts-horn or of the cast skins of Snakes Make a Mass Tablets TAke Species Diatrion Santalon and Diamargariti Frigidi of each a Dram and a half Pearl powdered red Coral prepar'd Ivory powdered of each a Dram Sugar dissolved in Scordium-water and boiled to a Consistency for Tablets six Ounces Make Tablets according to Art But if with those kinds of temperate Antiscorbuticks the use of Steel be indicated to the Electuary or to the Confection or also to the Mass of Pills let two Drams of Mynsicht's Magistery of Mars or of Extract of Steel of our preparation be added In some cases about two Drams and a half or three Drams of Crocus Martis may be added to such a Composition though it is often better to make the Liquors which are drank after solid Medicines Chalybeate than the foresaid Compositions It remains for us now to prescribe forms of Liquors Decoctions IN a Scurvy raised after a long Fever these kinds of Decoctions which purifie the Blood and plentifully move Urine are given with good effect Take Roots of Chervil Scorzonera Sorrel Stone-Parsley of each an Ounce Leaves of Agrimony and Harts-tongue of each a Handful burnt Harts-horn two Drams Parings of three Apples Corinths two Ounces Liquorice three Drams Let them boil in four Pounds of Fountain Water till a third part be consumed add Sal Prunella two or three Drams The Dose is four Ounces twice or thrice a day Take Eringo Roots preserv'd six Drams of Grass two Drams Leaves of Clivers two handfuls Agrimony and Liverwort of each a handful Raisins two Ounces white Saunders a Dram Liquorice two Drams let them boil in four Pounds of Fountain Water till a third part be consumed The Dose is six Drams after a solid Medicine To Rusticks and poor People lest after a Fever they fall into the Scurvy I use to prescribe That twice a day they take the following Draught viz. That they boil a handful and a half of the Roots and Leaves of Dandelion in a Pound and a half of Posset-Drink till a third part be consumed Strain it for two Doses Or take Roots of Dandelion half a handful Seeds of Citrons and of Carduus of each a Dram let them boil in Posset-drink made with Apples or a Pound and a half of Cyder till a third part be consum'd Infusions The Apozems even now prescrib'd will become more excellent against the Scurvy if being prepar'd without Licorice they are strain'd into a Flaggon into which are put Leaves of Brook-limes and of Water-cresses or Cuckow-flowers of each a handful then make a warm and close Infusion for six hours the Liquour being strain'd again let it be kept in stopt Vessels The Dose is six Ounces twice or thrice a day Also let Whey with the Roots of Dandelion and the Leaves of Fumitory boil'd in it be strain'd into a Vessel wherein are Leaves of Brook-limes and of small Celandine of each a handful make an Infusion c. Chalibeat Infusions are wont to be frequently in use viz. the Salt Magristery or Extract of Steel are infus'd in some Decoction or distil'd Water Moreover as natural spaw-Spaw-waters so also Artificial ones of our preparation of Steel dissolv'd in fountain-Fountain-water and impregnated with the Infusion of Antiscorbuticks are drank with great benefit Juices and Expressions TAke Leaves of Brook-limes and Water-cresses of each four handfuls of Wood-sorrel two handfuls being bruis'd let the Juice be prest forth being stopt in a Glass it will soon become clear by subsiding The Dose is from an Ounce and a half to two Ounces with a fit Vehicle Take Leaves of Brook-limes four handfuls stalks of English-rhubarb two handfuls being bruis'd let the Juice be prest forth Take Leaves of Brook-limes Garden-cress Cuckow-flower the lesser Celandine Wood-sorrel of each two handfuls being bruis'd let the Juice be prest forth add Juice of Oranges a fourth part let it be kept in a Glass Syrups AS often as a Syrup is requir'd to be added to any other Composition we use either Syrup of the Juice of Wood-sorrel or of Fumitory or of Coral compound Or also a Magistral Syrup may be prepar'd of the Juice of Brook-limes after the same manner as is prescrib'd above concerning the Juice of Scurvy-grass Distil'd Waters TEmperate Distil'd Waters are prepar'd by changing either the Ingredients or the Menstruum or both of them together As to the former we proceed after this mnner Take Leaves of Brook-limes Garden-cress Fumitory Harts-tongue Liver-wort Bawm tops of Tamarisk and of Cypress of each three handfuls all the Saunders bruis'd of each half an Ounce Roots of sharp pointed Dock of Polipody of the Oak of each two Ounces the outward Coats of four Oranges Snails cleans'd two Pounds being slic't and bruis'd pour to them Whey made with Cider six Pounds let them be distil'd in a common Still 2. When the Menstruum is weak let the Ingredients be moderately hot Take Leaves of Scurvy-grass Brook-limes Cuckow-flower Garden-cress of each three handfuls Rinds of four Oranges Snails a Pound being slic't small pour to them common Whey or fresh Milk six Pounds distill them after the vulgar manner 3. In a Scorbutick Atrophia and Consumptive Disposition where nothing hot that may stir the Blood and Humours and Spirits ought to be admitted let both the Ingredients and Menstruum be temperate and lenifiers of the Blood Take Leaves of Brook-limes Cuckow-flower Harts-tongue Maiden-hair Liver-wort Speedwel Agrimony of each two handfuls Snails cleans'd a Pound and a half or the Pulp of a Capon or of a Sheeps-heart slic't all being half boil'd and slic't pour to them of fresh Milk or Water of Fumitory six Pounds let them be distil'd the common way Physick-wines and Beers Though the use of Wines may not seem proper in a Scurvy rais'd by reason of a hot or Sulphureo-saline Dyscrasie of the Blood nevertheless if at any time the Stomach either being weak or a long accustomance require the drinking of Wine at leastwise being diluted with Water a Eiquour of that kind being both temperate and in some measure Physical may be prepar'd For especially small Wines diluted with Water and impregnated with the Infusion of Bawm Borrage or of Burnet or other things ought to be allow'd Moreover let Wines be prepar'd of the Juice of English Corinths Cherries and other horary Fruits which when they are brought to a ripeness by Fermentation are very grateful to the Stomach and purifie the Blood Again Cider the familiar and genuine Wine as it were of our Country so it be clean mellow and pleasant without any sharpness does very much good in the Scurvy Moreover in this Liquour drawn from the Lees and put in small Vessels Ingredients of various kinds may be infus'd Of which kind are tops of the Pine-tree or of Fir
every sixth hour with a Scorbutick Water or with the Decoction of the Roots and Seeds of the great Burr Dock as it is above describ'd or also with Posset-Drink having the Roots and Seeds of the great Bur Dock and the Leaves of sweet Marjoram and Saxifrage Boyl'd in it and the leaves of Scurvy-grass infus'd In the Scorbutick Colick also in the affects of the Stomack even now describ'd the use of Purging Spaw Waters such as we have at Epsom and Barnet often proves of an excellent effect Of the Diarrhaea or Loosness and Dysenterical Affects AN inveterate Loosness such as frequently happens to Scorbutical Persons ought by no means to be stopt with astringent Medicines nor is it easily cured by altering Medicines or by Antiscorbuticks Spaw-waters impregnated with Iron or Vitriol are the best Remedy for this Affect Next these are Artificial Spaws or Chalybeate Medicines which are wont to give a mighty relief Crocus Martis duely prepared is justly preferr'd before all others I have often used the following Method with good Success In the first place Let a Purge be ordered of the Powder or Infusion of Rhubarb with the addition of Aromatick Astringents and now and then let it be repeated viz. within the space of three or four days on the other days let a Dose of the following Electuary to the quantity of a Nutmeg be taken in the Morning and at four of the Clock Take Conserve of Common Wormwood made with an equal part of Sugar six Ounces in a hot Constitution instead of this let Conserve of Red Roses be taken Species Diarrhodon Abbatis two Drams white and red Saunders powdered of each a dram the best Crocus Martis half an Ounce with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Steel make an Electuary In Dysenterical Affects and the Tenesmus you must proceed after the like method especially let Spaw-waters be drank if it may be Moreover let Glysters prepar'd of vulnerary Decoctions be frequently used I lately Cured a certain person troubled with a long continued and dangerous Bloody Flux who had daily voided many Ounces of Blood by Siege for a long time with this Remedy Take of the best Rhubarb powdered an Ounce red Saunders powdered two Drams Cinamon a Dram Crocus Martis three Drams Lucatellus Balsom what suffices make a Mass for Pills He took four Pills sometimes every day sometimes every other day for a Fortnight and was perfectly cured To this person also I prescrib'd a Physick Beer of the Infusion of the Roots of sharp pointed Dock and the Leaves of Brooklimes to be constantly taken Of Giddines and Swooning and other Affects usually joyned with it in the Scorbutick Affect A Giddiness often happens upon an inveterate Scurvy to which also a frequent Swooning and almost a continual danger of it and likewise a numness in the Members and a sense of Formication running sometimes in one place and sometimes in another are wont to be joyned which kind of Affects proceed from the failings of the Animal Spirits in their Origine it self and sometimes from the failings of the same with the Nerves both belonging to the Heart and to the Members that serve for motion and in regard thy depend on the Brain and the Genus Nervosum their being very much over-charged with a Scorbutick Salt they are not easily cured Cephalick Remedies such as are proper in a Giddiness and Paralytick Affects raised by themselves ought to be given with Antiscorbuticks mixt with them therefore in the first place a Provision being made for the whole by fit Catharticks and such as are proper in the Scurvy you may proceed after this manner with appropriated Remedies against the foresaid Affects About the beginning of the Cure let Blood be drawn from the Vessels of the Fundament by Leeches and unless somewhat indicates the contrary let it be frequently repeated afterward Take Powder of the Root of Male-Peony half an Ounce red Coral prepar'd two Drams mans Scull Elks-hoof of each a Dram Take double refined Sugar dissolved in Peony-water Compound or in the Water of Horse-raddish and boyled to a Consistency for Tablets eight Ounces Oyl of Amber excellently rectified half a Dram Make Tablets according to Art Take to a Dram and a half or two Drams Morning and Evening drinking after it a Draught of the following distill'd Water Take Leaves of Scurvy-grass Brooklimes Water-cresses Lillies of the Valley Sage Rosemary Betony of each three handfulls green Wallnuts a Pound the Rinds of six Oranges and four Lemons fresh Roots of Male-Peony a Pound and a half being sliced and bruised pour to them of the Phlegm of Vitriol a Pound Whey made with Cyder five Pounds let them the distill'd after the common way let the whole Liquour be mixt together The Dose is from three Ounces to four Of Haemorrhagies Haemorrhagies often threaten a mighty danger in the Scorbutick butick Affect the Diseased being thereby thrown headlong as it were into the Jaws of Death whil'st the Blood breaks froth almost to a Swooning sometimes from the Nostrils sometimes by the Menses or Haemorrhoids Moreover being sometimes cast up from the Lungs or Stomach it gives us a Suspicion of an Ulcer or at leastwise of a great weakness lying hid in the part affected Wherefore excretions of Blood if they are either immoderate or happen in an improper place ought to be stopt for the present and prevented for the future For stopping Blood when it breaks forth immoderately the method is vulgarly enough known and there remains nothing more or peculiar to be done when happening in this Affect by reason of the Scurvy than on other Occasions But yet to prevent Haemorrhagies let Remedies be administred which take away the Acrimony of the Blood and constringe the over-lax and gaping Mouths of the Vessels both intents are excellently perform'd by Chalybeate Medicines the use of Vitriolick Spaw-waters is very proper for this purpose Moreover Infusions Extracts Salts and the like Preparations of Steel which contain chiefly the saline or vitriolick part of the Iron are always very profitable against Haemorrhagies We have shewn before by what means Iron and its preparations produce these effects and divers others in Human Bodies Take Conserves of Red Roses and of the Wild Rose of each three Ounces Species Diarrhodon Abbatis and Diatrion Santalon of each a Dram and a half Salt of Steel a Dram Crocus Martis excellently prepar'd two Drams Red Coral prepar'd a Dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of Syrupe of Steel make an Electuary let the quantity of a Nutmeg be taken thrice a day drinking after it a draught of an Appropriated Liquor To poor people I use to prescribe thus Take tops of Cypress and of stinging Nettles of each four Ounces Brooklimes two Ounces let them be bruised in a Mortar with ten Ounces of double refined Sugar then add Scales of Iron very finely powdered an Ounce Powder of white and red Saunders of each two Drams with a sufficient quantity of the Syrup of
Against the Marasmus caus'd through the fault of the Blood degenerated from its Crasis Asses or Cows Milk diluted with Barley Water or a proper distill'd Water often give help Snail Broaths or Milk Drinks with Snals boyl'd in them moreover Waters distill'd of Milk or Whey with Snails and temperate Antiscorbutick Herbs are greatly conducing in this case For this end also Decoctions of vulnerary Herbs and Antiscorbutick Herbs infus'd in them are taken with good success Mean while let frictions be daily us'd to the outward parts with Cloaths moistned and made Warm with Vnguenticum Resumptivum or fresh oyl of Almonds When an Atrophia arises through the fault of the Blood being affected and consequently perverting the nutritive Juice it has for the most part a Feaver of irregular returns joyned with it with Night-sweats viz. in as much as the Mass of Blood is forc't to irregular and inconstant Effervescencies from that degenerated Juice and the matter so offending is cast forth by Night-sweats in this case a thin Dyet being ordered let Decoctions and Distill'd Waters that fuse and purifie the Blood be frequently taken with Antiscorbuticks mixt with them Take shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each two Drams and a half candied Eringo Roots six Drams Roots of Chervil and Dandelion of each half an Ounce Leaves of Harts tongue and Liverwort of each a handful one Apple slic't Raisins a handful Let them boil in four Pounds of Fountain-water till a third part be consumed let the straining be poured on Leaves of Brooklimes bruised two handfuls Sal Prunella a Dram and half or fixt Nitre a Dram make a close and warm Infusion for three Hours Let four or six Ounces be taken thrice a Day Take Leaves of Brooklimes four Pounds Roots and Leaves of Sorrel and Dandelion of each two Handfuls Snails cleansed a Pound and a half the Rinds of two Oranges being sliced and bruised pour to them of new Milk or of Whey made with Cider or fresh Juice of Apples six pounds let them be Distill'd after the vulgar way Let three Ounces be taken twice or thrice a day Of the Rheumatism WE conclude that this Affect proceeds from the congress and mutual effervescency of Salts that are of a different origine and Nature viz. of the fixt Salt coming from the Blood and of the acid Salt coming from the nervous Liquor The Subjects of both Salts are superfluous Dregs depos'd from the foresaid Humours forc'd into certain Turgescencies and discharg'd sometimes on these Parts sometimes on those Wherefore that the Disease may be Cur'd both let the Turgescencies of the Humours be appeas'd and their superfluous Dregs be purg'd forth and let the Salts degenerating both ways be reduc'd to a State of volatility For the two first intents a gentle Purge and Bleeding are chiefly requir'd and now and then as the strength will bear they ought to be repeated and also let Diureticks and Diaphoreticks be now and then given which any way convey forth the Saline Serosities And that these Evacuations proceeding calmly and with a well-bearing and Nature assisting may succeed the better let Opiats frequently be us'd For the other Intent in which the chief stress of the Cure consists Alteratives and especially such as are endow'd with a volatile Salt greatly conduce Wherefore in this case its a vulgar but no contemptible Medicine to give twice or thrice a day to four or six ounces of the Infusion of a Stone-horse Dung made in a small Wine or Ale or in an appropriate Distill'd Water and a Medicine somewhat more grateful and no less efficacious may be prepar'd if a Water be distill'd from that Dung with Antiscorbutick Ingredients infused in White-wine or Cider which may be given to three or four Ounces twice a day I have often prescribed Spirit of Harts-horn and of Blood in this case with a mighty benefit to the Diseased Of the Dropsie WHereas we conclude the Dropsie which is wont to happen upon the Scurvy to be twofold viz. habitual and occasional Concerning the Cure of the first for the most part all labour is lost for no Remedies are able to restore the Liver and the Lungs and sometimes other Viscera wholly vitiated and the Crasis of the Blood utterly subverted In such a case if any thing seems fit to be done the Scope of Physick is very narrow for there is no room left for Catharticks nor Diaphoreticks nor for a strong Evacuation of any other kind We must insist chiefly and in a manner only on Diureticks and Cordials For these ends let Elixirs Tinctures Electuaries Powders Infusions Decoctions distill'd Waters c. which consist partly of Antihydropicks partly of Antiscorbuticks be given the forms of which I have nevertheless thought good to omit as signifying little or nothing The Scorbutick Dropsie raised on a sudden from an evident cause or on some accident often admits of Cure for the more easie performance of which the tumults of Nature ought in the first place to be appeased and its disorders composed Wherefore if Watchings continue very offensive let sleep be procured by the use of Opiats and now and then as often as it seems very necessary let it be procured again As soon as strength will give leave for Purging let the following Powder be taken and let it be now and then repeated at due intervals of time mean while let the Belly be kept soluble by the frequent use of Clysters Take Mercurius Dulcis a Scruple Rosin of Julape from five Grains to ten Cloves half a Scruples mix them let it be given in a Spoonful of Panada at other times let Diureticks and sometimes Diaphoreticks be carefully taken Take Tincture of Salt of Tartar impregnated with the Infusion of Millepedes as much as you think good let it be given from a Scruple to two Scruples twice a day with an appropriated Liquor Take Spirit of Sal Armoniack what you think good the Dose is from half a Scruple to fifteen drops after the same manner Take Millepedes prepar'd three Drams Salt of Tartar two Drams Nutmegs a Dram mix them make a Powder The Dose is half a Dram twice a day with an appropriated Liquour Or Take Bees dryed and powdered two Drams Seeds of Bishops-weed powdered a Dram Oyle of Juniper a Scruple Turpentine what suffices make a Mass of Pills The Dose is from a Scruple to half a Dram twice a day drinking after it an appropriated Liquor Take Leaves of both Scurvy-grasses Watercresses Dittander Arsmart of each three handfuls Roots of Aron Briony Florentine Orrice of each four Ounces the middle Bark of Elder two Handfuls Winters-bark two Ounces the outward Coats of four Oranges and of three Lemons fresh Juniper-berries four Ounces being slic't and bruised pour to them of Rhenish-wine three Pounds Wine of the Juice of Elder-berries two Pounds Distill them the vulgar way let all the Water be mix't The Dose is from three Ounces to four twice a day after a Dose of some one of the Medicines
and a half Confection of Alkermes a Dram mix them The Dose is three or four Spoonfuls Or Take Aqua Mirabilis six Ounces Water of Snails and of Wallnuts of each two Ounces Pearl powdred a Scruple Confection of Hyacinth a Dram Syrup of Clove-gilliflowers an Ounce mix them When Scorbutick Women are wont to be troubled with Hysterick Fits and Men with Convulsions Take Water of Bawm and Pennyroyal of each three Ounces compound Briony-water four Ounces Tincture of Castoremn half an Ounce Tincture of Saffron a Dram Syrup of Clove-gilliflowers a Dram and a half Castoreum tyed in a Nodulus and hung in the Glass a Dram. The Dose is three or four Spoonfuls For those who desire rather to have Cordial Medicines in a solid form let Electuaries or Tablets be prescrib'd Take Conserve of Clove-gilliflowers three Ounces Confection of Alkermes half an Ounce Pearl powdred a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Coral make an Electuary Take Species Diamargariti Frigidi and Diarrhodon Abbatis of each a Dram and a half Pearl powdred a Dram double refin'd Sugar dissolv'd in Treacle-water and boil'd to a consistency for Tablets four Ounces Oyl of Cinnamon six drops make Tablets according to Art As to Opiats and Anodine Medicines in some certain affects of Scorbutick persons I had rather be without any kind of Medicine besides than the use of them For not only against obstinate Pains and Watchings but in Asthmatick Fits in Vomitings a Diarrhaea and also in a Vertigo and Convulsive Passions as often as nature being irritated above measure falls into extream irregularities I have found no Remedy more excellent than to procure sleep by giving a safe Narcotick Mean while there is need of a very great caution that they be not taken if at any time something in the Constitution of the Diseas'd or in the nature or time of the Disease forbids the giving of such a Medicine Besides the Hypnoticks usual in Apothecaries Shops viz. Laudanum Opiatum Nepenthe the Philonia Diacodium and Syrup of red Poppies two other preparations of Opium are known to me which I use to give in the form of a Tincture or of a liquid Extract from ten drops to twelve with some other appropriate Liquour The Diet or Form of Living to be observ'd in Scorbutical persons is of no small importance in the Method of Cure for that being neglected or ill ordered the other Prescripts of Physick do little or nothing towards Health The Rule of Diet being extended to various things is chiefly concerning the Air and Situation of the Habitation Meat and Drink and the motion or rest of the Body As to the first what kind of habitations and places of Residence in respect of the Heavens and the Earth cause the Scurvy and consequently ought to be shun'd it is sufficiently manifested by what we have said before Those that endeavour to prevent or cure this Disease ought to take care to choose an Air moderately hot and dry and which also is subtle and pure and sufficiently expos'd to the Winds Such Food only is proper which has a good Juice and is easie of Concoction let such as is gross viscous and dryed in the Smoak mouldy and rank also such as is unfermented or greatly compounded all manner of Pulse Milk-meats and unripe Fruits be shun'd I so much disapprove things preserv'd or very much season'd with Sugar that I judge the invention of it and its immoderate use to have very much contributed to the vast increase of the Scurvy in this late Age For that Concret consists of a very sharp and corrosive Salt though mitigated with a Sulphur as it plainly appears from its Chymical Analysis For Sugar distil'd by it self yields a Liquour scarce inferior to Aqua Stygia And if you distil it in a Vefica with a great deal of fountain-Fountain-water pour'd to it though the fixt Salt will not so ascend nevertheless a Liquour will come from it like the Hottest Aqua Vitae burning and very pungent when therefore Sugar mixt almost with any sorts of Food is taken by us in so great a plenty how probable is it that the Blood and Humours are rendred salt and sharp and consequently Scorbutical by its daily use A certain famous Author has laid the cause of the English Consumption on the immoderate use of Sugar amongst our Countrymen I know not whether the cause of the spreading Scurvy may not also be rather hence deriv'd Let the Drink be midling Ale mild and clear and also let it be altered with Antiscorbutick Ingredients without an ungrateful favour Let it not be thick and sweet nor also too old and turning sharp Let this be taken in a moderate quantity and in a manner only at the set hours of Dinner and Supper The custom which has prevail'd with many viz. that assoon as they are out of their Beds they presently indulge themselves to drink a large Mornings Draught as they call it seems very pernicious For by this means the Blood Vessels are too much fill'd a store of new Chyle being almost continually sent into them and Crudities and Filthy Morbifick Dregs are engendred in the Blood and the office of Sanguification is greatly debilitated Truly it is better for most Men unless it be those whose Ventricle as long as it is empty is wont to be plainfully contracted and corrugated to keep themselves fasting till Dinner time Nor is that vulgar custom less contrary to Health to swill themselves with much Drink presently after Meat Wines and Ciders so they are mellow pure and not adulterated being taken in a moderate quantity do not offend But the same being counterfeit musty austere or turning sharp there is nothing more hurtful or injurious to our Health Exercises and Labour are so notably conducing both to the cure and prevention of the Scurvy that many by this sole Remedy either preserve or recover an entire Health For the Blood and Nervous Liquour of persons that lead an idle and sedentary Life like Stagnating Waters contract a clamminess and mouldiness But upon the assiduous and much motion of the Body the Humours and Spirits become clear and get a vigour the Excrementitious and Heterogeneous Particles evaporate the stuffings of the Bowels are purg'd and their Tone is corroborated CHAP. VI. Some Stories and rare Cases of Persons troubled with the Scurvy A Woman of Renown tall and graceful about the twenty fifth year of her Age had contracted a Scorbutick Taint by reason of various errours committed in Diet. The signs of which were a Spontaneous Lassitude a difficult Breathing Pains and Spots in the Legs and her Gums likewise swoll'n and full of Blood in the Spring time after an Abortion falling into a Tertian Ague she soon became in a languishing and weak condition from which Disease nevertheless first being Methodically proceeded with in Physick she had soon recovered but that indulging her self to eat Flesh and other improper things she soon had a Relaps and then being a weary
to set forth here cases of the Head-ach whose Fits being erring and uncertain proceed from the Blood or Serum rushing into the places affected in regard that these are very frequent and vulgarly known I shall now set before you certain choice Observations of this Disease being either periodical or seeming to arise from some one of the Viscera per Consensum As to the Former the periodâ—â—â— invasions of the Head-ach are produced either from the nutritive Humour or from the nervous Juice I shall now give you example of both A venerable Matron in the forty fifth year of her age being of a thin habit of Body and a bilous temperament after having liv'd for a long time obnoxious to Head-achs wont to be occasionally rais'd about the beginning of Autumn she began to be troubled with a periodical Head-ach This affect seizing her about four a clock in the Afternoon was wont to hold her almost till midnight till the diseased being tired with watchings and tortures was forced to fall asleep then after a pretty prosound sleep upon her awaking in the morning she was well The Diseased having undergone daily Fits of this Disease for three weeks after this manner delay'd the use of Physick which she very much abhorr'd but at length her appetite being dejected and her strength worn away she was forc'd to desire a method of Cure and after a gentle Purge and blooding she took twice a day for a week or a fortnight the quantity of a Chestnut of the following Electuary and grew perfectly well Take Conserve of the Flowers of Cichory and Fumitory of each three ounces compound powder of Aron Roots two drams and a half Ivory a dram and a half yellow Saunders Lignum aloes of each half a dram Salt of Wormwood a dram and a half Vitriol of Mars a dram Syrup of the five Roots what suffices make an Electuary The cause of this periodical Head-ach doubtless was that the assimilation of the Chyme or nutritive Humour into Blood was hindred For when its store received into the mass of Blood could not be overcome it was wont after a little stay to fall at odds and ferment with its particles Therefore presently the Blood falling into a turgescency that it might shake off that incongruous mixture depos'd its recrements as on other Parts so chiefly and with a greater sence of offence on the Fibres of the Meninges being before weak or injur'd in their conformation so that the pain lasted till the heterogeneous particles boyling by their mutual congress either were subdued or did exhale A handsome tall and slender Woman long and sorely obnoxious to cephalick affects was wont to be infested sometimes for many days nay weeks with a violent Head-ach which seiz'd her daily at her awake early in the morning and afflicted her for three or four hours In the mean space she was also affected with a heaviness of the whole Head a deadness of the Senses and a stupidity of Mind which affects vanishing together with the pain before Noon like Clouds disperst left all things calm and serene Till the next morning they possest again the Brain like a sogg and dark mist For curing these distempers I prescribed parging Pills a spare Bleeding Vesicatories also and the use of Spirit of Harts-horn or of Soot with Cephalick Juleps or Waters In this Gentlewoman the pains of the Head rather followed sleep than was cur'd by it because in this morning Head-ach the morbifick matter resided in the nervous Juice whose greatest curdity and aggravation about the Head happen presently after sleep but the other evening fit of this disease in regard it depended on the plenitude and turgescency of the nutritive liquor within the mass of Blood therefore hapned so many hours after dinner and was not mittigated but after sleep which appeases the disorders of the Blood Tho the Experience and Complaints of sick Persons manifestly shew that Fits of the Head-ach sometimes arise by consent from the other Parts viz. the Womb Spleen Stomach c. Nevertheless it as clearly appears from the accounts of them and the Phoenomena being duely considered that this is done by another means than by Vapours rais'd from the Viscera affected to the Head And first as to the pains of the Head seeming to be rais'd from a Womb nothing occurs more frequently than for violent Head-achs to ensue upon the suppression of the menses or lochia moreover tho the menses observe their due course yet some Women are wont to be afflicted with a violent pain of the Head just as they are coming others as soon as they are past But yet tho at the same time that the Head is affected the Womb is also yet it does not follow that the Injury is convey'd immediately from this to that but it is the Blood it self which fixes the morbifick matter on the Head viz. it sometimes perversly conveys it being engendred within its own bosom and design'd for the Womb into the Meninges of the Brain and sometimes withdrawing it from the Parts of the Womb it delivers it to the Head with a greater mischief This Aetiology agrees also with the Head-ach vulgarly imputed to the Stomach Spleen and other Parts A beautiful young Woman of a thin habit of Body and a hot Blood having been obnoxious to an hereditary Head-ach was wont to undergo frequent Fits of it and those coming at random to wit some happening on a light occasion and others arising of their own accord that is without any evident cause On the day before the spontaneous access of the Disease being very hungry in the Evening she greedily eat a plentiful Supper with a hunger-starv'd not to say Canine appetite most certainly fore-knowing by this sign that a pain of the Head would seize her next morning which sign never fail'd of Event for as soon as she awak'd being afflicted with a most cruel torture throughout the Sinciput she was affected likewise with a vomiting of a humour sometimes acid and as it were vitriolick sometimes bilous and extremely bitter it hence seeming to appear that that Head-ach had its rise from the fault of the Stomach To undertake to give the reason of this in the first place it is known that a vomiting ensues upon the Head's being injur'd viz. after a stroak Wound or a fall from an high place nevertheless a pain of the Head seldom or never follows a vomiting Cardialgia or the Stomachs being otherwise troubled unless an effervescency of the Blood happens Wherefore in the foresaid case of the Person diseas'd since it plainly appear'd that the Meninges of the Brain were predispos'd for Head-aches and that its Fits had raised an agitation of the Blood hence it will be obvious to conceive when the heterogeneous Particles by reason of the fault of Chylification were heap'd together in the mass of Blood to a fulness presently upon its beginning to flow in order to the expulsion of that which was offensive they being severed
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
of the Brain they raise a thousand and often horrible Fantasms with which Sleep is kept off or directing farther their Tendency into the Genus Nervosum they raise there great disorders which continually drive away and break off Sleep tho seeming never so much to be stealing on or to be at hand As for the former of these I have often observed some troubled with watching who dreaded to begin Sleep tho it came on according to desire for as soon as being about to sleep they closed their Eyes presently starting up again they cryed out that a confused multitude of Fantasms made them mad so that they found themselves necessitated to abstain from Sleep Secondly when the Spirits being become exhorbitant are called from the circumference of the Brain towards the inward parts in order to Sleep sometimes they convert their Sallies into the Genus Nervosum and then either rushing in a tumultuous manner into the Nerves that go to the Precordia or Viscera they cause disorders in the respective Parts hence to such as are so affected as often as closing their Eyes they invite Sleep either Tremblings Leapings and Constrictions of the Heart with Failings of the Spirits and a letted Respiration happen or inflations and Swellings of the Viscera a Sense of Suffocation and other Symptoms vulgarly accounted for hysterical or secondly the Spirits being called from their Watchings and converted to the Genus Nervosum sometimes transfer their Sallies into the spinal Marrow and thence into the Nerves that pass into all the outward Members wherefore to some when being a Bed they betake themselves to sleep presently in the Arms and Leggs Leapings and Contractions of the Tendons and so great a Restlessness and Tossings of their Members ensue that the diseased are no more able to sleep than if they were in a Place of the greatest Torture Sometime since I was advised with for a Lady of Quality who in the day time was wont to be afflicted with a Cardialgia and a Vomiting and in the Night was hindred from Sleep by reason of those spasmodick affects which came upon her as now and then she was upon the point of rest nor indeed was she able to sleep all Night unless she took first a pretty good dose of Laudanum Wherefore of this Medicine which at first was allowed her only twice a Week she took afterward daily for about three Months receiving no injury thereby either in the Brain or about any other function and when in the mean while by the use of other Remedies the discrasies of the Blood and Nervous Juice being corrected the animal Spirits became more benign and mild she afterward leaving off wholly the Opium was able to sleep indifferently well As to the cure of the VVatching-evil which we even now describ'd because it cannot be long endured therefore those things are chiefly to be given which give a present relief for this end those things are proper which sooth the Spirits and gently appease their Disorders as the vulgarly called Anodines viz. distilled waters Decoctons Syrups and Conserves of Flowers of Nymphea Cowslips Mallows Violets Knapweed the Leaves of Lettice Purslan the Willow also Emalsions or juicy Expressions And if the restles Spirits will not be mitigated by fair means we must force them to be quiet by imposing Fetters as it were and using Severity their stores ought to be diminish'd and withall the spaces in which they may freely and without tumult expand themselves ought to be dilated and cleared from the stuffings of other humours viz. of Blood and Serum for which ends opening a Vein sometimes is proper Vesicatories in a manner always have place moreover let Diacodium and Laudanum in case they agree well be frequently taken and mean while that the Opats give truce from the violence of the Disease let the cause of it be eradicated by the use of other Remedies as much as may be Wherefore day after day at Physical hours let things be given that take away the sharpness of the Blood and Nervous Juice and restore them to sweetness In which rank we account Testaceous Powders Apozemes and altering distilled Waters of temperate Antiscorbuticks gentle preparations of Steel spirit of Harts-horn of Soot and above all things tincture of Antimony There remains another kind of Watching-evil whose cause consists for some part if not mostly in the almost continual opening or too great gaping of the Pores or Passages in the cortical part of the Brain for besides that the animal Spirits being sharp and somewhat exhorbitant refuse to lye down of their own accord and to yeild to rest and that they are not kept down or subjugated by the Nervous Liquor entring the Pores of the Brain but being free and exempt from all imposed Burthen they are expanded also within the outward spaces of the Brain which are every where open for them for which cause those that have the watching evil perceive no drowsiness or heaviness of the Sinciput no appulse or desire of Sleep I have known some affected after this manner who when they had past many Nights one after the other wholly without Sleep yet being still chearful and brisk having a good Stomack and ready at business seemed not as yet to have wanted Sleep The cause of this doubtless is a burnt and melancholy Blood which supplies the outward part of the Brain with a Nervous Juice not mild and benign but too much scorcht and filled with adust Particles which consequently is neither apt to flay long within the Pores of the Brain nor kindly to receive and contain the Animal Spirits Moreover the Spirits themselves ingendred from it become too elastick and restless in their Nature so that they are neither easily appeased nor inclin'd for Sleep of their own accord Nevertheless being of a fixt Nature they do not readily fly away nor are soon tired so as to flag but last a long time and continue vigorous without any great refreshment Concerning this sleepless Disposition of the animal Spirits since it is the same as in Persons troubled with melancholy we shall have a fit place of speaking somewhat more largely of it in the sequele We may observe that Coffee also on the same account keeps Persons from Sleep for that Drink insinuates its adust Particles with which we find it to abound both by the tast and smell first into the Blood and then into the Nervous Juice which thereupon by their Agility and Restlessness both keep the Pores of the Brain still open and add spurs and a certain rage to the Spirits all other Combination and Stupefaction being deposed by which they are stirred up to a longer execution of their Functions Again as to what regards the prophylactick cure of this Watching-evil or the removal of the morbifick cause we shall give it you in the Sequel where we shall treat of Melancholy mean while for the immediate removal of that Symptome as often as it sorely presses we observe that Opiats will not do
for being given in a good large quantity they seldom cause Sleep and render the affected more faint and weak It often succeeds better if going to bed they take some gentle and pleasant drink as especially our Ale being clear and mild or also posset drink with Cowslip Flowers boyled in it or an emulsion of the Seeds of Melons and Almonds in a great quantity viz. to two or three pounds I was advis'd with some time since for an old hypochondriacal man who besides other symptoms usual in that case had liv'd for many years obnoxious to a frequent loud and very troublesome belching He was wont every day to fall a belching twice or thrice for about two hours together and with so great a noise that he was heard to a great distance But sometimes for a week or two and sometimes for a month that belching was chang'd into a watching for the former affect becoming much more remiss the worthy man past often whole nights without sleep and when sometimes he had been constantly waking for three or more days not yet seeming to want sleep he complain'd of no drowsiness dulness or failing of the Spirits Narcoticks having seldome or never given him relief he took sometimes in the evening Posset-drink made with Ale or Canary at the beginning of the night he drank sometimes Ale sometimes Distill'd Waters by the use of which a little sleep often followed then afterward the Watching-evil vanishing by degrees the belching return'd Whence it may appear that the cause of both was the same viz. adust and irritating Particles sent from the mass of Blood sometimes into the Coats of the Stomach sometimes into the cortical part of the Brain 2. Besides these distinct affects or exorbitancies of sleep and waking there remain other conjunct or complicated irregularities of them in which the acts of both functions are perverted together which we may observe in the affect vulgarly call'd the VVatching Coma concerning which we shall now speak in short Those that are troubled with the VVatching Coma tho they are always inclin'd to sleep yet they can scarce sleep at all but seem like Tantalus to stand always up to the Lips in the River Lethe for sipping of which whenever they sink themselves deeper the yielding Waters always subside lower They feel a very great heaviness of the Head with a drowsiness of the senses and all the faculties so that they are troubled to move themselves any way in their Bed or to be disturb'd by the speech of standers by that speak to them still expecting to fall presently into a quiet sleep to which nevertheless when they wholly yield up themselves and endeavour straitly to embrace it various phantasms presenting themselves to their mind keep them still waking nor permit them at all to enjoy that Sleep which seems always to be ready for them To this often is added a Delirium so that whilst the Diseased lye with their Eyes clos'd they talk always absurdly and at random and throw their Arms and Legs this way and that in a disorderly manner and being awak'd look gastly It 's a usual thing for such as are in Fevers to continue all night overwhelm'd with a sleepiness as it were but so that in the mean while they are scarce silent for a quarter of an hour but mutter various things with themselves nay sometimes cry out howl and leap out of Bed If the reason of this be enquir'd into it seems that we ought to say that the Pores and Passages in the Brain which are the avenues of the Spirits are very much possest by a gross and soporiferous matter sent from the mass of the Blood so that the Spirits being very much letted from their wonted expansion and mutual commerce a great and invincible Sleep seems presently to be at hand but in as much as certain sharp and very active Particles stick to those Spirits as so many stings they are incessantly incited to motion and therefore some of them forcibly pass the wayes however stopt and beset with fence and meet against each other directly or obliquely according as they can find a way and such their motion tho it be not able to procure a compleat exercise of the animal function yet it easily hinders its rest and cessation so that those that are troubled with this Disease keep betwixt Sleep and wake The VVatching-coma is seldom a Disease of it self but for the most part is a symptom and happens upon other affects as a Fever the Frensy Lethargy and the like wherefore it does not require a peculiar method of Cure but it seems only to be needful that to the Remedies primarily indicated other Cephalicks be joyn'd which may disperse these meteors as it were like Clouds and Lightning or if both of them cannot be exterminated together let the Medicine joyn it self to the aid of one affect by which that being becom superior let it presently overcome the other so in a sleepy Watching it is proper to procure either a perfect Sleep or a perfect Watching and in this case I have often given Narcoticks with good success CHAP. V. Instructions and Prescripts for curing the Incubus or Night-mare SO far of the irregularities or morbid Exorbitancies of Sleep and Watching which being proper to and as it were peculiarly attending the Brain affect the Cerebellum but rarely and only secondarily but there remains an affect vulgarly call'd the Incubus or Nightmare which being peculiar to this Region and in some sort analogous to the soporiferous Diseases in as much as its Fits arise in a manner from hence that by reason of the Animal Spirits being bound or supprest in the Cerebellum an Eclipse or interruption of them tho short is caus'd in the exercise of the vital Function That the nature of this Disease may be the better known in the first place let us consider its Phoenomena A Fit of the Incubus most commonly and in a manner only seizing us whilst we are asleep is wont to be rais'd for the most part after the Stomach 's being loaded with food of ill digestion and a lying on the back in bed those that are troubled with it seem to perceive themselves chiefly offended with it in the Breast and about the Praecordia for respiration being supprest or very much hindred they think themselves opprest with a certain weight lying heavily on the Thorax which weight cheats their imaginations sometimes with one Apparition sometimes with another and when they think to shake it off or put it from them by the motion of their Body or Limbs they are not able to stir either their Body or any Limb any way but after a long struggling in the Praecordia and sometimes almost to the loss of Life at length they awake and being fully come to themselves from their sleep the imaginary weight vanishes on a sudden and the moving force of the Body is restored there remaining nevertheless for the most part a trembling of the Heart and
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
to be within the same inward portion of the Brain viz. The Corpus Callosum as that of the Vertigo to wit in as much as in both affects the Imagination common Sense tho in a far differing degree are affected viz. in the former the irradiation of the Spirits is wont to be obscur'd in some places and to be inetrrupted with little Clouds as it were scattered here and there but in the latter the same is forthwith wholly darkned and undergoes a total Eclips The Apoplexy according to the import of the Word denotes a striking and by reason of the stupendous Nature of the affect as tho it contain'd somewhat Divine it is called a sideration for those that are seized with it as tho they were Planet-struck or smitten by an invisible Deity fall on the Ground on a sudden and being deprived of Sense and Motion and the whole animal function unless that they breath ceasing they lye dead as it were for some time and sometimes dye out-right and if they revive again they are oftentimes affected with a general Palsie or an Hemiplegia Tho it may seem a Paradox it is not disagreeing with Reason to say that the Apoplexy is two-fold and that one of them belongs to the Cerebellum and that the other has its seat in the midst of the Brain the former happens by reason of the animal Spirits design'd for the vital function being supprest in their very source viz. within the Cerebellum the motion of the Heart being often thereby letted or supprest as we have intimated before that this happens in some sort in the Incubus and doubtless to this cause ought to be attributed what I have observed in some that after a great heaviness in the Occiput a Swooning with a sudden privation of all the animal function ensues in which the diseased lye without Motion or Sense with a Pulse and Respiration greatly diminish'd and scarce perceivable and being all over cold for many Hours nay often a Day or two more resembling Persons dead than living We have sometimes known Persons so affected who have grown cold and stiff their Pulse and Respiration seeming wholly to be ceased and who have been really taken for dead and put in their Coffins yet after two or three dayes to have come to life again To enquire into the causes of the other and the wayes of its coming to pass we must first distinguish concerning the various Invasion of this Disease to wit how sometimes being raised from a sudden solemn and invincible cause without any previous Disposition or Procatarxis it is for the most part mortal against this no Procatarctick or preservatory Method can be ordered and the method of curing it which is ordinarily entred upon for the most part becomes ineffications or secondly an Apoplectick Fit having an antecedent Cause or a previous Procatarxis is brought into act through various Occasions or evident Causes As to the seisure of the former kind viz. being sudden and unawares its conjunct and immediate cause is either a great Solution of Continuity hapning some where within or near the middle of the Brain through which its Pores and Passages being obstructed or comprest all emanation of the Spirits is supprest or it is a great and sudden putting to flight or extinction of the Spirits residing in the Brain The things which are wont to cause a great solution of Continuity within the Brain are Blood extravasated an Abscess suppurated and broken and an inundation of a serous humour and tho this latter seldom or never happens of it self yet sometimes by reason of strong evident causes such a glut of serous filth rushes into the Brain that presently filling and stuffing all its medullary Pores it renders the Person speechless which I have known to have hapned to some upon sleeping presently after having drank too largely of small Wine and Spaw Waters I have observed the like affect upon a total and long continued suppression of Urine And in malignant Fevers the serous recrements by a critical Metastasis being conveyed to the Brain have often caused a loss of Speech with Death Of the evident Causes by which an extemporary Apoplexy is wont to be procured the other kind consists in a sudden profligation or extinction of the Spirits which strong Narcoticks and an immoderate drinking of hot-hot-Waters often effect Thus much concerning the Causes of the accidental and extemporary Apoplexy which bring a fit of it on all Persons indifferently tho not predispos'd and wherefore there can be no Prophylaxis ordered and it is seldom that a Cure succeeds But we observe besides that this Disease sometimes is habitual viz. That there remains in certain men a constant Disposition by reason of which first slight Bickerings trouble them afterward by short intervals greater accesses come upon them of which for the most part they dye at last As to the conjunct cause of this Disease it consists in the sudden filling of the Pores of the Corpus Callosum and the destroying of the Spirits by the approach of a malignant matter It s procatarctick Causes are the like as in most other affects of the Brain viz. both the Blood is in fault that either engendring of it self or taking from elsewhere extraneous Particles and such as are very adverse to the texture or constitution of the animal Spirits and as it were extinctory of them it sends them to the Brain and moreover the fault of the Brain is that being weak in its Crasis and too lax and loosned in its Pores and Passages it always admits so easily and without resistance the morbifick matter obtruded from the Blood The Subject of this Disease being the Brain or the Cerebellum or both together the Brain is shewn to be most obnoxious to it by previous and frequent Scotomias and vertiginous Affects the Cerebellum is argued to be ill-disposed by a frequent Incubus an intermitting Pulse a Swooning and frequent Fainting The Prognostick of this Disease is never declar'd but fatal and dubious for an Apoplexy is never without danger either present or to come but the worst is in which besides all the spontaneous Functions being abolish'd the Pulse also and Respiration either fail or are carried on with much adoe and then for the most part it happens with a foaming at Mouth and a Swooning to which at length a sweat which most commonly is colliquative supervening foreshews that Death will happen very suddenly Those who being seized with the Apoplexy are deprived of Pulse and Respiration and a little after growing cold seem to be dead ought not presently to be taken forth of Bed or to be left without Physical Administrations moreover tho no hope of Life appears let them not be buried till after three or four dayes for such either of their own accord or by the use of Remedies sometimes revive which happens not by reason of the vital heat being raised up again in the Heart for it was not wholly destroyed here but for that the
straitned than in the Corpus Striatum What before we said in the Apoplexy we affirm now in the Palsey that the morbid Particles are not only opilative but sometimes narcotick and extinguish the Spirits thus the steams of Antimony Mercury and Auripigment cause weaknesses tremblings and often resolutions of the Members to some using amongst furnaces of Metals In like manner we may imagine that in certain scorbutical and very cacochymical Persons heterogeneous Particles and seemingly of a vitriolick nature enter the Ductus's of the Nerves and subvert certain files of the Spirits or suppress their motion hence stupors or resolutions suddenly arise in the Members or Muscles sometimes in these and sometimes in those they often removing from place to place and sometimes a fixt Palsey is settled And in every Palsey caused by obstruction the morbifick matter is not a gross and viscous phlegm as Galen and many Physicians affirm for such does not pervade the Brain much less the Ductus's of the Nerves but seems to consist of subtle and very active particles tho injurious to the animal oeconomy for the Palsey happens to men as a blight or rust does to Plants for some Winds endued with Vapours more than cold viz. of a vitious or vitriolick Spirit when they blow upon young tender Plants presently cause them to wither viz. in as much as the tender stamina interwoven every where like Nerves in the Leaves and Branches are so throughly constring'd by the blast of the malignant Air that they no longer admit the Juice sent from the Trunk and Root through defect of which they wither after the like manner extraneous and as it were vitriolick Particles admitted within the Organs of Sense and Motion in as much as at the same time they stop the Pores and deject the animal Spirits or restrain them from Motion bring as it were a blast on the respective Parts As to the evident causes of an habitual Palsey viz. through what occasions those that are disposed to this Disease contract it sooner or being already seized with it are more severely troubled with it I say all such things make for this which add to the vitiating of the Blood also which fill the Brain and its nervous Appendix or raise suffusions of a morbifick matter in it those things likewise wich affect the Spirits with a Stupefaction or diminish their Stores in the number of these first occur disorders in the six non natural things an ill form of Dyer a drinking of strong Wines or hot Waters too much or unseasonable Sleep Idleness and a sedentary Life immoderate Venery too great losses of Blood a moist and marshy Air houses fresh plaistred metallick Fumes and Vapours frequent use of Narcoticks or Tobacco an excess of Cold Heat or Moisture vehement and long continued Passions of Sadness and Fear with many other things which I shall not here stand to relate There is another kind of this Disease depending on the scarcity and fewness of the Spirits in which tho motion fails wholly in no Part or Member yet it is performed but weakly only or depravedly by any to wit the affected tho not become without Motion yet they are not able to move their Members or to sustain any Burthen with strength moreover in any moving effort they are troubled with a trembling of the Limbs which is only the effect of Weakness or a broken strength in the moving Faculty Persons become subject to this affect by reason of an extream or valetudinary old age also through immoderate losses of Blood or Seed and likewise by reason of being very scorbutical or cacochymical and many recovering with difficulty and slowly from a chronick distemper are troubled with a languishing of the Limbs and a great resolution of the Members from their due Vigour and Strength so that tho their Stomack holds good and their Pulse and Urine be well disposed yet being enervated as it were and without Strength they scarce dare to set upon any local motion and if they begin it they cannot hold it long nay some without any considerable sickness keep their Beds for a long time as Persons ready to dye whilst they lye undisturbed they discourse with their Friends and are chearful but they neither will nor dare be raised up or walk about nay they abhor all motion as some dreadful thing Doubtless in these tho the animal spirits in some sort actuate and irradiate the whole Genus Nervosum yet their Stores are so slender and loosly set together that when many Spirits ought to be gathered together somewhere in it for motion there is great danger lest presently in the Neighbourhood their Continuity be broken off and consequently the tension in the Nervous Parts ber esolv'd Wherefore in regard the Spirits residing in the Brain are conscious of the Weakness of the others plac'd in the Members they refuse to impose local motion on their Companions as being a task too difficult for them for which cause the affected are scarce led by any perswasion to try whether they are able to go or not but those who being troubled with a scarcity of Spirits will force them as much as they may to local Motions are able at their first rising in the Morning to walk move their Arms this way and that or to lift up a weight with strength but before Noon the store of the Spirits which influenc'd the Muscles being almost spent they are scarce able to move Hand or Foot I have now a prudent and honest Woman in cure who for many years has been obnoxious to this kind of bastard Palsey not only in the Limbs but likewise in her Tongue This Person for some time speaks freely and readily enough but after long hasty or laborous speaking presently she becomes as mute as a fish and cannot bring forth a word nay and does not recover the use of her Voice till after an hour or two In a certain species of the Palsey the sensitive faculty is hurt by it self motion being still entire this is obvious enough concerning the Organs whose Nerves are only relating to Sense as of the Sight Hearing Tast and Smell and the Reason is plain enough But that in the uttermost habit of the Body or the Members sometimes the touch perishes the locomotive Power being without hurt as it is every where seen in Persons affected with the Leprosie Elephantiasis and in some troubled with the Mania who are wont to go naked and to lye on the Ground and who are become so insensible in the Skin and the Flesh of the Muscles that they do not feel the cuts of a Pen-knife or Needles any where thrust into them This I say is very difficult to be explained But concerning this it must be said that the same Nerves haply convey forward and backward the instincts of Motions and the Impressions of sensible things but that the same Fibres which are locomotive are not alway or chiefly sensible We have shewn elsewhere that the muscular and
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
following Powders or Tablets have their turns in the course of Phyfick Take powder of Vipers Flesh prepar'd at Montpellier an ounce Hearts and Livers of the same half an ounce Species Diambroe two ounces make a Powder let a dram be taken twice a day with three ounces of the distilled Water or with Viper Wine with a decoction of the Leaves of Sage of the Roots and Seeds of the great Bur-dock and Eringo roots condited made in a sufficient quantity of Fountain-Water to a half to the quantity of six or eight ounces warm in the morning expecting a sweat Take Solar Mineral Bezoar half an ounce Cloves powdred two drams mix them make a powder to be divided into twelve parts let one part be taken twice a day after the same manner with the use of these kinds of Remedies let gentle Catharticks be pretty ften interlac'd Take powder of choice Roots of Zedoary and the lesser Galingal of each a dram and a half Species Diambror a dram powder of the Seeds of Mustard Rochet Scurvy-grass Water-cresses of each half a dram make a subtle powder of all add pure Oyle of Amber half a dram with six ounces of white Sugar dissolved in compound Peony Water and boyled to a Consistency for Tablets make Tablets according to Art each weighing half a dram let three or four be eaten twice a day drinking after it a dose of some one of the Liquors even now mentioned Take powder of the roots of Virginia Serpentary two drams of the lesser Galingal a dram of the Gummous extract from the residency of the distillation of Quercitans Elixir of Life a dram Flowers of Sal Armoniack or of pure volatile salt of Soot or of Harts-horn a dram Balsam of Peru a scruple Balsamum Capivi what suffises make a Mass let it be made into little Pills rowling them in species Diambrae the dose is half a dram evening and morning or Take Rosin or Gum of Guaiacum three drams species Diambrae a dram Chymical Oyle of Guaiacum excellently rectified a dram and a half liquid Amber what suffices make a mass let it be formed into Pills to be taken after the same manner But if a Palsey hapning in a bilous Temperament or in young Persons admits only mild Medicines being wont to be exaspirated by any that are hot and elastick the following forms will be of use for removing its Procatarxis Take Conserve of the Flowers of Betony Fumitory Primrose Flowers of each two ounces species Diambrae a dram Ivory Crabs Eyes Crabs Claws of each four scruples Powder of Peony Flowers two drams Lignum Aloes yellow Saunders of each a dram Salt of Wormwood a dram and a half with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Peony Flowers make an Electuary the dose is two drams a day drinking after it either of the simple Water of the Leaves of Aron or of the following compound Water three ounces or of a Decoction of Sage with the Leaves of Tea infused in it four or six Ounces Take Rots of Aron male Peony Angelica Masterwort of each half a pound Leaves of Sage Rosemary Marjoram Booklimes Water-cresses of each four handfuls the Flowers of Primroses Cowslips Marygolds of each three handfuls the yellow coats of six Oranges and four Limons all being slic'd and bruised pour to them of new Milk six pounds Malaga-wine two pounds distill them with common Organs let the whole Liquour be mixt Instead of the Electuary sometimes for fourteen or fifteen dayes let the use of the Syrup of Steel be interlaced wherefore let a spoonful be taken in three ounces of the distilled Water it may be made after this manner Take double refined Sugar dissolved in black Cherry Water and boyled to a Consistency for Tablets eight ounces adding of our Steel powdred three drams let them be stirred together on the Fire and then pour to them by degrees Rosemary Water warmed twelve ounces let them seeth gently for a quarter of an hour taking off the froth and pour it out warm through a hair Strainer Chalybeat Tablets also may be made after this manner viz. To the Sugar sufficiently boyled with the Steel add Oyle of Amber or Chymical Oyle of Rosemary half a dram and presently pour it forth that it may run abroad into a Consistency for Tablets the dose is two drams twice a day drinking after it of the distilled Water or of the following Apozome six ounces Take China Roots an ounce shavings of Ivory and Harts-horn of each half an ounce white and yellow Saunders Mastick-wood of each half an ounce let there be a warm and close infusion for a Night in six pounds of Fountain-water in the Morning add Roots of Chervil Avens Butchers-broom stone-Parsley of each an ounce and a half dryed Leaves of Ground-Ivy Sage Germander Betony of each a handful Coriander Seeds three drams let them boyle to a half then add of White-wine half a pound and strain it into a Bottle on two handfuls of Leaves of Water-cresses bruised make a warm and close infusion for two hours strain it again and keep it in a stopt Vessel In a scorbutick Palsey Juices and Expressions of Herbs often give an excellent relief Take fresh Leaves of Brooklimes Water-cresses Plantain of each four handfuls being bruised together pour to them of the distilled Water even now described eight ounces express it strongly keeping it in a Glass and let three or four ounces be given twice or thrice a day At the earliest and latest physical Hours viz. in the Evening and early in the Morning let the following Pills be taken Take Millepedes prepared three drams and a half Pearl a dram and a half Roots of bastard Dittany a dram Venice Turpentine what suffises make a mass form it into small Pills the dose is half a dram drinking after it a little draught of the distilled water For ordinary drink let either a Bochet be prescribed of Sarsa China yellow Saunders c. or small Ale with the dryed Leaves of Ground-Ivy boyled in it and of Sage with the wood Sassafras infused While these things are done for removing the Procatarxis of the Disease no less a curatory endeavour is required for its conjunct Cause viz. that any places obstructed being again opened may admit and give a free passage to the animal Spirits freed from stupefaction There are two chief kinds of Remedies which conduce much for these ends viz. the one particular and special to be applied to the Places affected to wit that by Fomentations Liniments Plaisters and other outward Applications the stupified Spirits may be raised up again and their Ductus's be opened the other universal to wit that the Blood and Spirits and the other humours and the active particles abounding in the whole Body being very much agitated and put in a more rapid Motion making as it were a swift current may force from before them and remove damms or Obstacles any where sticking by which the Spirits are obstructed The Administrations to be used to the outward
frequent access of it often begets a disposition to a Carus Apoplexy or Palsey This affect as often as it seems safe does not require a Cure for the Fit soon and easily passes off but because some whose Brain is weak and lax and whose animal Spirits being too dissipable are apt to a flight and confusion being troubled on any light occasion are wont presently to act or speak delirously therefore there is need of Physick for these tho not of Hellebore but of Cephalick Remedies for corroborating the Brain and fortifying it against the incursions of the morbifick Matter also for strengthning the animal Spirits and rendring them more fixt and stronger to resist We have given the Forms and wayes of Administration of these Medicines before they being profitable for removing the Procatarxis of any other Cephalick Disease A Delirium hapning upon continual and malignant Fevers requires a peculiar way of cure for it particularly indicates that the morbifick matter dangerously convey'd toward the Head ought to be revuls'd thence some way or other for which end let Vesicatories be applied to the Neck Plaisters or Cataplasms or the Flesh or warm Viscera of Animals to the Feet Inwardly let Temperate Cephalicks be given as Powders of Coral and Pearl the Waters of Black Cherries of the flowers of Cowslips and Poppies and other things refreshing and soothing the Spirits These things being thus premitted concerning the first and lightest manner of Raving let us ascend to a higher degree of it viz. the Frenzy which is far greater and more durable than the former affect In a Delirium the perturbation rais'd in the Spirits residing in the Brain seems like an undulation of Waters in a River upon throwing in a stone but in a Phrensy their commotion seems as the troublous motion of the Sea-waves raging upon a tempest The Phrensy is defin'd That it is a continual raving or a depravation of the chief faculties of the Brain arising from an inflammation of the Meninges with a continual Fever With this Disease another allied to it is rank'd viz. the Paraphrenesis and its cause is said to be not the Inflammation of the Membranes that cover the Brain but of the Diaphragm moreover in both affects the Fever as tho it were only symptomatical is said as also in the Pleurisie tho falsely to arise from the same Conjunct Cause viz. a Phlegmon of some Part but that the Phrensy rather succeeds the Fever both Hippocrates heretofore and now every Vulgar Person observes and that it is produc'd because the boyling Blood conveys its adust recrements to the Head viz. forasmuch as the Urine of a Feverish Person being changed from being troubled and thick to be thin and watery indicates an imminent Phrensy of which affect therefore the cause is gathered to be the removal of the febrile matter into the Brain But as to the Conjunct Causes of the Phrensy and Paraphrenitis it will be easie to shew that the former does not alwayes proceed from the inflammation of the Meninges and the latter never from that of the Septum in Anatomical Diffections I have commonly seen the Meninges nay sometimes also the outward circumference of the Brain beset with a Phlegmonous tumour but the diseas'd being not affected with a Phrensy but on the contrary with a drowsiness dyed of a Carus or other sleepy diseases And indeed Reason plainly dictates the thing to be thus for inflam'd Meninges and much more swollen greatly compress the Brain and stop the passages of the Spirits which causes a Lethargy whereas in a Phrensy the Spirits are dilated above measure the Pores of the Brain being all open'd tho it may happen by a long continuance of that Disease that the Blood being heaped together too much within the Veslels of the Meninges and there stagnating at length begets a Phlegmon in them but then we suspect for that cause by reason it frequently falls out so that the Phrensy passes into a Carus or Lethargy of which such as have the Phrensy often dye Nor do we less reject the inflammation of the Diaphragm which Galen with others have assign'd for the cause of the Paraphrenitis Anatomical observations plainly make out the contrary some time since opening the Body of a Girl dying of a sudden Leipothymia we found in the fleshy part of the Diaphragm a great Abscess with a bagg full of a gore and little bladders of Water yet she was never wont to be troubled with a delirium or phrensy And heretofore when we dissected the Body of a Renowned Person of the University who dyed of a bastard and long continued Pleurisie it manifestly appear'd that a great Abscess in the Pleura and intercostal Muscles being suppurated and broken inwardly had pour'd a mighty quantity of Pus into the cavity of the Thorax which corroding the subjacent Diaphragm had made a mighty hole in it and yet this Person in all his sickness had neither the Phrensy nor was delirous wherefore I judge that this affect is scarce ever produced by such a Cause but that opinion seems to have risen thence that oftentimes in a true Phrensy together with a continual Raving the motion of the Diaphragm is wont to be hindred or perverted as may be gathered from the uneven and difficult Respiration viz. sometimes being painful and suspended as it were sometimes thick and swiftly repeated with an Inspiration sometimes doubled which kind of symptoms and withall the alienation of the mind are said to proceed from the Septum being inflamed and therefore convuls'd wherefore the Ancients called the Diaphragm Phrenas tho they need not have done it if they had considered that all the action of the Diaphragm depends on the efflux of the animal Spirits from the Cerebellum and therefore if when the Phrenetick matter invades the Brain some part of it withall rushes into the Cerebellum besides the raving the motion also of the Septum tho in it self being without fault will be altered Therefore the formal nature of the Phrensy seems to consist in this that the animal Spirits being very much irritated chiefly in the whole brain are driven into disorderly very confused and withall impetuous Motions so that the acts of every animal Function are depraved and variously perverted the Ideas of things are confounded c. Moreover the Spirits not only in the Brain but likewise in the Cerebellum and every where in the Genus Nervosum being struck as it were with a rage fall in a tumult wherefore such as have the Phrensy do not only speak ravingly but breath unevenly cry out beat their Fists throw their Hands and Feet and exert all their Members with a mighty strength and force that really the whole Soul seems furiously to fret and rage in the whole Body or rather being set on fire as it were to be all in a flame and indeed the Phrensy cannot be more aptly defin'd than that it is a Phlogosis or inflammation of the whole sensitive Soul or of the animal
affect is wont commonly to be described after this manner to wit that whereas they ought to be transparent subtle and light in Melancholy they become obscure opake and darkish so that they represent the Images of things covered as it were with a Shadow or obscurity But I conceive the state of the animal Spirits in raving is most aptly explicated according to the Analogy they bear with certain chymical Spirits as it will appear from what follows 1. Liquours chymically distilled are of divers kinds according as the active Elements are combin'd in them after various manners the most excellent of these by the consent of all is said to be in which the Spirit united to the Salâ—â—olatizes it and is again acuated and recieves somewhat of a firmness from it of this nature are conceived to be the great Elixir and the Liquour Alkahest and in truth in some sort are the Spirits of Blood of Harts-horn of Soot and the like they being very subtle volatile and penetrating and yet not inflamable or apt to be soon dissipated And indeed the animal Spirits enjoying a sound and meet disposition seem in some sort to be as the spirituous Liquour filled with a volatile Salt which is distilled from the Blood unless it be that to this a mighty Acrimony and Empyeuma are caus'd by the Fire of which the Liquour which is in the Brain and Nerves is wholly free 2. Other Chymical Liquours are too sulphureous and burning as Spirit of Wine and of Turpentine which consisting of Spirit and Sulphur combin'd together are easily inflamed and readily separate from others and take this way and that as they find a Passage of which kind of nature the animal Spirits in some sort participate in the Phrensy 3. Some Liquours or Spirits are produc'd by Chymistry in which the fixt salt being raised to a flowing has the Dominion of which kind are those which are distilled from Vinegar ponderous Woods and certain Minerals by a gentle Fire whose particles are very movable and restless but of a shorter activity so that the effluvia do not flow far from them and if they are distilled in Baleno nothing but an insipid Phlegm is raised into the Alembick And indeed we conjecture that the animal Spirits have such a kind of acetous Nature with the dominion of the fluid Salt in melancholy Affects as we shall by and by shew more at large 4. Some Liquours spagyrically drawn are sometimes extreamly sharp in which the wild Particles of a fluid Salt and of an arsenical Sulphur combin'd together are exalted as are the Stygian Waters distilled from Nitre Vitriol Antimony Arsenick Verdigrease and the like all which are of a wild very penetrative and invincible Nature so that their diffuse themselves to a great wideness and these kinds of Liquours aptly enough resemble the Disposition of the animal Spirits acquir'd in a Mania as we shall declare beneath But at present that we may deliver the formal nature and Causes of Melancholy we may opine that the Liquour distilled from the Blood into the Brain which filling and irrigating all the Pores and Passages of the Brain and its nervous appendix is both the Vehicle and Vinculum of the animal Spirits has degenerated from its mild benign and subtle Nature into an acetous and corrosive Disposition such as that of the Liquours drawn from Vinegar Box and Vitriol and that the animal Spirits which dispersing their Rayes from the Meditullium of the Brain both into its globous Substance and into the Systema Nervosum produce all the Functions of Sense and Motion both inward and outward are disposed in like manner as the Effluvia passing from those acetous Chymical Liquours Concerning which we may observe these three things viz. First that they are in perpetual Motion secondly that they do not flow far thirdly that they are not only carryed by open Passages but make new prosities in neighbouring Bodies and insinuate themselves into them From the Analogy of these Conditions concerning the animal Spirits it happens that melancholy Persons are always thoughtful that they comprehend only a few things that they form their Notions concerning them amiss you may find this fuller explained in Dr. Willis at large So much of the primary melancholy Affect viz. a Delirium raised through the faults of the Spirits residing in the Brain whose beginnings tho cheifly and often in a manner only proceed from the acetous Disposition of the Spirits yet afterward the conformation of the Brain it self is frequently taken in as a part of the cause viz. In as much as the Recrements of the melancholy Blood continually sent into it renders its substance more gross and opake and the primary Tracts or Paths of the animal Spirits being almost defac'd new oblique and devious Tracts are made so that tho there be a supply of the better sort of Spirits they cannot easily irradiate the Brain or presently recover their former Passages Melancholy is not only an affect of the Brain and Spirits residing in it but likewise of the Praecordia and of the Blood there kindled and thence sent forth into the whole Body and as it produces in the former a Delirium so here a Fear and Sadness but after what manner let us now see In Sadness in the first place the flamy or vital part of the Soul is straitned as to its circuit and is restrained within a less space and then consequently the animalor lucid part of the Soul contracts its Sphere and has less vigour but in Fear both are suddenly represt and made to stagger as it were and to contain themselves within very small spaces in both affects the Blood does not circulate and burn lively and with a full flame but being apt to be heapt together and to stagnate about the Precordia it causes there an oppression or fainting and in the mean while the Head and Members being destitute of its plentiful efflux languish Now that those Passions become habitual in melancholy Persons the cause is partly in the Blood and partly in the animal Action of the Heart for the Blood by reason of saline Particles exalted becomes less inflamable whence it is neither sufficiently kindled in the Lungs nor does it burn within the Ductus's of the Heart and Vessels with a flame sufficiently clear and plentiful but such as is apt to be represt and almost blown out by any puff of Wind hence in regard the vital Flame is so slender and languishing that it staggers and trembles at all Motion it is no wonder if a melancholy Person the Soul as it were subfiding and being half overwhelmed is always sad and tlmorous By reason of this saline discrasie of the Blood melancholy Persons are seldom troubled with a Fever but being seised with it they are more dangerously ill by reason of the irregular burning of the Blood Nor does it happen less through the fault of the Heart that melancholy Persons by reason of the course of the Blood being retarded or
or of Tea Or Take Roots of Chervil Polypody of the Oak of each an ounce and a half leaves of Hearts-tongue Spleenwort Ceterach Germander of each a handful Tamarisk half a handful bark of the same half an ounce Raisins ston'd two ounces one Apple sliced being sliced and bruis'd let them boyl in four pounds of Fountain-water to a consumption of the third part towards the end add leaves of Water-cresses a handful strain it and clarifie it let six ounces be taken twice or thrice a day let it be sweetned with Syrup of Fumitory Iron-Spaw-waters are wont to contribute egregiously to the Cure of Melancholy Persons viz. in as much as being plentifully drank they wash away the salino-sulphureous tincture of the Blood and destroy its evil ferments Moreover they cleanse the filth of the Viscera open obstructions and which is of mighty benefit by their astriction they both strengthen the weak or over-lax Viscera and close the mouths of the Vessels gaping into the Brain that a passage may not lye open into it for the extraneous matter together with the nervous Juyce and in this respect to wit by corroborating the Viscera and closing the passages into the Brain Vitriolick Preparations of Iron are wont to be given with good effect in Melancholy and also in the Vertigo Take our Steel prepared three ounces infuse it in two pounds of the water above prescribed let three or four ounces be taken twice a day by it self or with some other solid Medicine Take filings of Steel an ounce put them in a Glass with two ounces of the Juice of Oranges let it stand for a day shaking it now and then then pour to it water of Apples and White-wine of each a pound or of small and mild Cider two pounds let three ounces be taken twice a day after the same manner Take Vitriol of Mars Cream of Tartar Crabs Eyes of each a dram mix them make a powder divide it into nine parts le tone part be taken every Morning in a draught of an appropiate distill'd Water or a Decoction or appropriate Julep Take Syrup of Steel four ounces let a spoonful be taken twice a day in a fit vehicle Take extract of Steel from our Steel prepared with an appropriate Decoction three ounces powder of Ivory yellow Saunders Lignum Aloes of each half a dram Salt of Tartar two Scruples Ammoniacum dissolved in Water of Earth-worms what suffizes make a mass let it be made into little Pills let three or four be taken every Evening drinking after it three ounces of Water of Apples or of Cowslip-flowers Whey if it agrees with the Stomack being drank plentifully for many dayes is often used with good effect for the like reason as Spaw-waters viz. by washing away the salt and sulphureous Particles of the atrobilarious Blood Whey with Epithymum infused or boyled in it is egregiously commended by some Let Broaths be prepared of the Decoction of a Chicken with the Roots of Polypody Chervil Fennel Butchers-broom and the Leaves of Ceterach Hartstongue Scolopendrium c. let a draught be taken in the Morning and at five of the Clock in the Afternoon in which dissolve Vitriol of Mars from six grains to ten Salt of Wormwood Cream of Tartar of each a scruple Juices and Expressions of Herbs sometimes contribute egregiously to the taking away of the Dyscrasy of the Blood Take Leaves of Borrage Water-cresses of each six handfuls two Apples mash'd the pulpe of two Oranges double refined Sugar an ounce all being bruised together pour to them of excellent Cyder a pound and a half make a strong expression let it be kept in a Glass the dose is four ounces twice or thrice a day In the Summer a Bath of sweet Water inasmuch as it cleanses the filth sticking in the Skin and promotes insensible transpiration does great good to some Because Melancholy persons Sleep with difficulty and after long or frequent watchings are worse therefore let Anodynes and sometimes gentle Hypnoticks be prescrib'd to be taken late at night when there is need For this purpose a decoction of Cowslip-flowers or of the leaves of Lettices or the distill'd water of the red Poppey or Syrup of the same Moreover Emulsions of the seeds of the white Poppey Syrupus de Meconio and other things that are mild and soothing the Spirits are proper There being an infinite number of Melancholick persons as well as of Fools I shall illustrate our hypothesis only with two examples in one of which the Disease began from the sensitive part of the Soul or from the Animal Spirits and in the other from its Vital part to wit from the Blood Some time since a renowned man about forty years of age of a florid countenance chearful and quick at all business being afflicted in mind and very much dejected by reason of some misfortunes became thenceforward very sad and melancholy with a dead and fallen aspect When first I went to see him he complain'd of much trouble and distraction of his thoughts which were so great that his Fancy being occupied day and night without intermission he liv'd wholly without sleep and nevertheless this Person minded not at all the concerns of the Publick nor of his own Family nor was he greatly sollicitous concerning the welfare of his Soul or the health of his Body but rather was continually perplext about petty things and almost of no moment he was so fearful of all things that he fancied some harm or Death would presently happen to him upon any little accident In fine he always liv'd so sad as tho he endeavour'd to exceed Heraclitus in mourning Moreover he was troubled with so great a straitness and constriction of his Heart that it seem'd to him as tho the whole Praecordia were most closely strain'd together as a first contracted and he thought that he always carried a vast and very oppressive burthen there which forc'd him always to go forward and stooping towards the Earth Whilst he was discoursing with his friends that constriction and oppression of the Praecordia was wont somewhat to remit but then upon any unusual object striking him with a terrour it returned with more violence Nor was he only troubled with a certain constriction in the Precordia but in the whole Body besides and a certain weight as it were seemed to lye on the Region of his Loyns also on his Shoulders and Arms. As to the Cure of this Person after various Medicines us'd without any great success at length I perswaded him because it was Summer to drink our artificial spaw-Spaw-waters for six weeks Therefore in the first place in four pounds of fountain-Fountain-water I infus'd for a night of our Steel prepar'd half a dram and afterward as much in eight pounds of Water The Diseased every morning drank the clear Liquor and within four or five hours discharged the greater part of it by Urine He took moreover going to Bed and early in the morning a dose of an
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
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
Remedies all these things are to be done methodically we shall deliver The cure of the Pain of the Colick is begun most commonly and proper enough by a Clyster let this in the first place be only lenifying and emollient by which as by an inward Fomentation the corrugations of the Fibres may be mitigated and the raging of the Spirits be appeased for this end warm Milk with Sugar or Molossus or Syrup of Violets also emollient Decoctions of Mallows Marsh-mallows Herb Mercury and the Flowers of Melilot Elder with Oyle of Almonds or of Olives also a Decoction of a Sheeps-head or Calves Feet are proper sometimes a Clyster of meer Oyle of Olives or of Linseeds are wont to give help before all others But in case mild Clysters do not easily come away or not loosen the Belly let such be used as irritate more and press and draw out by force as it were the Humours from the little Mouths of the Arteries for this end let carminative or better Decoctions be prepared in which let the Electuary Diaphaenicon Diacatholicon or e baccis Lauri or Species Hierae be dissolved Also to those Liquors it is usual to add three or four ounces of the infusion of Crocus Metallorum or to a pound of an emollient Decoction add of Venice Turpentine dissolved with the yolk of an Egg an ounce or an ounce and a half or take Vrine of a sound man a pound Venice Turpentine dissolved an ounce and a half Molossus an ounce mix them make a Clyster I have known this often to have given a great relief the reason of which seems to be that the balsamick Particles of the Turpentine comfort the intestines and like wise being received by the Venous Blood and circulated with it through the whole Body they move Urine so that a copious making of water often follows such a Clyster and it always carries a smell of Violets haply also the Particles of the Turpentine diftus'd every where move the morbifick or stagnating matter or incline that which is acetous or otherwise degenerate to a better Crasis Whilst the Intestines are so washt with Clysters and fomented as it were inwardly let outward Epithems also be applyed to the Abdomen Take leaves of both Mallows herb Mercury Wallwort of each four handfuls flowers of Elder Camomill Melilot of each two handfuls a Calves-head cloven Let them boyl in a sufficient quantity of Fountain-water Let the straining be used for a fomentation with linnen Cloaths dipt into it as warm as may be suffered and wrung forth and applied by turns repeating it as often as the pains press violently In the Intervals of the fomentation let a Cataplasm or Liniment be used To the magma of the Herbs bruised add Outmeal what suffices make a Cataplasm and let it be sewn in rows in two bags of a square figure for covering the Abdomen Let one of these be warmed at a time in a Platter on hot Coals with Oyl of Earth-worms or of Froggs let it be put on warm changing it assoon as it begins to grow cold Or Take Oyl of Earth-worms or of Froggs what suffices let the Part paining be anointed after the fomentation and let cap Paper moistened be applied and worn The Cawl of a Lamb or the Lungs or other warm Viscera of Brutes laid on the Belly and often changed sometimes wonderfully appease pains I have observed in some constitutions and temperaments that Epithems of hot thins or applied hot have rather encreast pains than mittigated them Wherefore in these cases it seems necessary to order fomentations of the Solutions of Nitre or Sal Armoniack or of other Chymical Liquors as in pains of the Gout sometimes as Septalius relates of meet cold Water But if the Gripes of the Belly do not remit by the use of these things we must use hypnoticks viz. which being given in a set dose often give great truce Mean while for refreshing the strength and failing Spirits and to order yet a greater Apparatus against the Disease Take liquid Laudanum tartarized from sixteen drops to twenty give it going to rest in a spoonful of the water of Camomil-flowers drinking after it of the same six spoonfuls let it be repeated every other or third night if the pains are very pressing In a hot constitution Take water of Camomil-flowers three ounces Syrup of Meconium half an ounce Aqua Mirabilis two drams make a draught to be taken going to rest Mean while that these things are done for appeasing pains and either for discussing or at leastwise loosning this matter sticking in the morbid fears let evacuating Remedies have their turns to wit both for wholly extirpating the Minera of the Colick and for cutting off the supplies or fuel of it that it grow no further For these ends a Vomit where it agrees and a gentle Purge and also in a hot temperament where a Fever presses or is feared Blooding ought to be used Take Sulphur of Antimony from five Grains to seven or eight conserve of Borage a dram give it in the Morning with Governance In this case according to the Judgment of a Physician present either an infusion of Crocus Metallorum or of Mercurius Vitae the Emetick Tartar of Mynsicht an expression of the Leaves of asarum and in tender Constitutions Salt of Vitriol and Wine and Oximel of Squills may be given Let Purges lest they nauseate the Stomack which is distempered be given only in a very small Dose and in a meet Form Take Rosin of Jalap and of Scammony of each five grains Cream of Tartar a Scruple Cinnamon powdred four Grains make a Powder or let it be made into Pills or a Bolus with conserve of the Flowers of Borrage or of Damask Roses Take Scammony sulphured half a Scruple Cream of Tartar fifteen Grains Diaphoretick Antimony a Scruple make a Powder let it be given after the same manner If a Fever does not press give a dose of Stomak Pills with Gums or of Amber either by themselves or with Rosin of Jalap Take Pilulae Rudii from twenty Grains to half a dram Laudanum one Grain make four Pills let them be taken going to rest these first bring sleep and purge in the morning Or. Take Calomelanos a Scruple Rosin of Jalap six Grains Scammony four Grains Ammoniacum what suffises make four Pills let them be taken going to rest In a long continued Colick when all other Remedies have done little or no good I have often known this Medicine given once or twice to have raised a Salivation to the great relief of the Diseased for if at any time the morbifick Matter plentifully gathered together in the Nervous Plexus's and other places about the Abdomen and there firmly sticking is not able to be moved by other Medicines the Mercurial Particles displaying themselves every way easily dissolve it and divide it into minute parts and drive them variously this way and that and at length wholly dissipate them Wherefore in a long continued and obstinate
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-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
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
various Coagulations and Corruptions in which not only the Spirit and the Sulphur as in a Putrid Fever make an exorbitant Effort and force the Blood to boyl immoderately but withal the mixture of the Blood is forthwith dissolved and its Liquor runs into parts and so that horrible Symptoms with a manifest danger of Life are caused in this kind of Affect Under this Rank we comprehend Malignant and Pestilential Fevers the Plague the Small Pox and Measles concerning which it remains for us to treat at present By the unanimous Consent of all the Force and Power of these Diseases are plac'd in a venemous Matter because upon a Pestilential Affect even as upon drinking Poyson we find that the Strength is suddenly cast down and that Life is soon destroyed and therefore for explicating the nature of the Pestilence it will not be amiss first to enquire concerning Poyson in general and after what manner it affects our Bodies and then to shew what sort of Venom is disperst in the Plague and contagious Diseases which being premitted we shall speak in particular of the Affects even now mentioned We may justly give the name of Poyson to whatsoever sticking in our Body violently and after a secret manner injures the Temper and Actions of any part or of the whole destroys the Spirits or perverts their Motions dissolves the mixture of the Liquors causes Coagulations and Corruptions subverts the Ferments and Functions of the Viscera and so on a sudden and privily endanger Life There is a vast store of these in Nature which are often engendred within our Bodies and abundantly supply'd outwardly from the Earth Air and Water and from the distinct Families of Minerals Vegetables and Animals As there is a great variety of Poysons so there is no less a diversity of them as to the Subjects and the ways of their hurting for tho a great many poysonous things are said to be contrary to us as to the whole Substance so that they set upon any thing and like a Funeral Flame with a caustick Force reduce it as it were into Ashes yet some of these being endowed with a peculiar Force of offending rather hurt one Part or Substance than another The Subjects on which the Taint of the Venom fixes it self first of all and most immediately are two-fold to wit the Animal Spirits or the spirituous and subtle Liquor passiing in the Brain and ' Genus Nervosum and the Blood flowing in the Heart and Vessels When a disproportionate Object presents it self to one of them alone or to both together so that thereupon the Crasis of the Liquors or of the containing Parts is subverted whereby Functions necessary for performing the Offices of Life and Sense are letted and this is done after a secret manner and as it were on a sudden these kinds of Effects we ascribe to Poyson The nervous Bodies with the animal Spirit are not set upon wholly after the same manner by all sorts of Poysons for sometimes they are assail'd with a Stupor sometimes with Cramps and convulsive motions and those of divers Kinds and Conditions The Bite of the Tarantula causes a Dancing the force transmitted from a Tortoise by a Spear or the Cords of a Net stupifies the hand of the Fisher the Roots of Wild Parsnips or the Seeds of Dranel eaten make Men tun mad Opium Mandrake Henbane and the like cause a deep and sometimes a mortal Sleep These and a great many other things without any mighty Perturbation of the Blood or Injury brought on the Heart fast'n chiefly their Venom on the Animal Faculty or Spirit There are also some Poysons which chiefly insinuate their Malignity into the mass of Blood wherefore after using some Medicines a yellow or black Jaundice sometimes a Leprosie leprous Affects or Swellings of the whole Body are produc'd Vapours rising from subterraneous Vaults also from Charcoals newly kindled often suffocating the Vital Spirits congeal the Blood withall and stop its Motion so that the Flame of Life cannot be continued in the Heart Every Man may see how great a Corruption is communicated to the Mass of Blood from the pestilential Miasm by the Spots and Pushes which are the infamous Marks as it were of the blasted Blood If the Injury first inflicted on either viz. the ceconomy of the Heart or Brain be light for the most part it is brought to an end without any great Offence of either wherefore Convulsive Motions a Stupor Lethargy Melancholy Paralytick Affects often begin with a landable Pulse and without an immoderate Effervescence of the Blood and afterward if the Affect does not wax strong they come to an end and cease by little and little There are other Poysons which often deprave the Blood and corrupt its Mixture by dissolving it the animal Functions in the mean time continuing whole and sound but if the Ferment of the Poyson be stronger and lays deeper Roots presently the Venom is disperst from the one into the Province of the other for when the nervous Parts are fill'd with a virulent Juice a Portion of the Venom brought back with the nervous Latex by the lymphatick Vessels into the Veins is readily conveyed into the Mass of Blood and defiles it with the Corruption prevailing in it also from the Blood greatly infected with Venom the Juice wherewith the Nerves are irrigated in a short time becomes tained Hence Persons that are mad are feverish and such as are seiz'd with a pestilential Fever very often are assailed with a Delirium or Frenzy Concerning these things we must consider what kind of Alteration or Impression of Injury it is which is inflicted by Poyson on the Animal Spirits with the Brain and nervous Appendix also what on the Blood with the Heart and the Vessels annex'd to it As to the first we observe that that subtle Liquor or the Animal Spirits with which the nervous Bodies are influenced and by the Expansion of which Sense and Motion perform reciprocal Actions are easily perverted from their Continuity and even Expansion for the Nerves being of a sost Texture and the Spirits wherewith they are fill'd being of a very subtle Substance they are not able to endure any sorts of Objects that are strong or vehement wherefore when any violent or disproportionate Thing assails them by Surprise they are often forc'd from their Expansion and Excursion to a Flight and a Retreat and often into Irregularities of motions wherefore sudden Passions of the Mind distract them and stir them to Twitching and Convulsions when the nutritive Juice wherewith they are supply'd is sent to them too sharp acid or austere they undergo sometimes Resolutions sometimes Shrinkings and if some Object more contrary such as we affirm Poyson to be presents it self whose Particles are of such a fierce Nature or of such a Configuration that they violently ferment with the nervous Liquor they strongly drive the subtle or spirituous Part of it this way and that or wholly drive it away and either
be given for I have diligently observ'd that an over-hasty eating of Flesh or of a rich Food has oftentimes brought these Fevers For Women in Child-bed ought to be managed not only as Persons sorely woulded but as having gotten a feverish Indisposition from a troubled Crasis and Distemperature of the Blood for in them the Blood being for a long time too much exalted and inspired with an impure Miasm presently upon the Access of any sulphureous Fuel takes a light Flame The second Care after Diet must be that the Pores be not clos'd or the Lochia stopt upon the unwary Admission of an outward Cold for upon the lightest occasion the way of the Transpiration being chang'd the Blood before fermenting falls into Disorders also the Womb being touch'd with the breath of the Air contracts it self and closes the Mouths of the Vessels that the Lochia do not flow wherefore in any wise Women ought to be kept in Bed five days after Child-bearing I know its the vulgar way to take Women out of Bed the third day but I have known many to have fall'n into Fevers thereby and in truth if we will have Child-bearing Women secure from danger the safest way will be to keep them in Bed longer There remains a third Scope concerning Preservation that in Women in Child-bed by giving somewhat gently to stir the Blood we continue a flowing of the Lochia for this end Midwives are wont if at any time after a difficult Child-birth that Evil be fear'd to give Sperma coeti Powder of Irish Slate or Saffron steep'd with White-wine moreover to prepare Broths that they may fuse the Blood more of Water mixed with White or Rhenish Wine in which or also in Whey they boyl Mary gold-flowers Penny Royal or Mugwort There are a great many other kinds of Administrations in use for Women in Child-bed which I willingly pass by as being valgarly known The Cure of the Fever following Child-birth far differs from the Method used in Putrids for in that it is not to be expected that the Blood being struck with a Febrile Burning should burn on by degrees and then should subdue the adust Recrements heap'd together by degrees in its Bosom and should separate the same by a Crisis but rather as is best done in a malignant assoon as the Blood boyls immoderately it is good to exagitate it and to send forth its haeterogeneous and impure Mixtures by Remedies gently promoting Sweat wherefore it is usual among the Vulgar and that not amiss to give presently Sudorificks to Women in Child-bed that are feverish by this means the Blood being eventilated its Effervescence is appeased also by reason of its Agitation the Lochia apt to be restrained are stimulated to a flowing It is much disputed among Authors whence the Beginnings of these kinds of Fevers ought to be computed to wit Whether from the Birth it self or from the first Sense of the Feverishness but it little matters whether it be concluded this way or that for since this Fever does not justly observe the wonted Stages of Putrids nor is to have a Crisis nor at all admits the use of a Cathartick Remedy there is no cause for us to be any ways sollicitous concerning its Period or Mensuration as to days but it will be only useful for us to distinguish concerning its curative Indications of what things are to be done in the Beginning Encrease and End of this Disease what also we ought to attempt while the Strength holds somewhat good and what in the same being depressed and greatly dejected When therefore any Woman brought to Bed is first affected with this Fever whose Invasion is distinguished from the Lacteal because it begins for the most part with a cold Shivering presently we must endeavour that the Fewel be plentifully withdrawn from the burning Blood and as I have advised above let the Flesh of Animals or Broths made of the same be wholly forbidden for these fix the Blood and constipate it too much and hinder its purging which is very necessary both by the Lochia and by cutaneous Transpiration and rather tho the Fever be pressing let Decoctions Powders and Confections be given of moderately hot things of this kind as I said before are the Decoctions or distilled Waters of the Flowers of Marygolds of the Leaves of Penny-royal of Mugwort of the Roots of Scorzonera also bezoartick Powders Spirit of Harts-horn the fixed Salts of Herbs c. If the Lochia are stopt we must try all ways to move them to flow again for promoting these Frictions conduce and Ligatures about the Thighs and Legs also in the Soles of the Feet sometimes cupping Glasses or Vesicatories about the Thighs or Hips also in the Soles of the Feet sometimes also Blooding in the Ancle is good mean while let a Fomentation of an hysterick Decoction be applyed about the Share or let a Weathers Caul taken forth warm be laid on the lower Part of the Belly it has been found by Experience that Pessaries and uterine Injections have sometime done good if the Belly be costive let it be gently loos'ned by the Violet Suppository or an emollient Clyster We must beware of a too strong Irritation because it is known that in Child-bed the Strength is suddenly cast down with a Swooning by a copious Purging even as in a Malignant Fever If at any time with a Suppression of the Lochia there be a mighty Perturbation of the Blood with a Vomiting a Thirst and Watchings I have often known Laudanum mix'd with Saffron given with good Success Instead of a cooling Julep this kind of Mixture may be proper viz. Take Water of Penny-royal and of Bawm of each three ounces Histerick-water two ounces Syrup of Mugwort an ounce and a half Tincture of Saffron two drams Castoreum tyed in a Rag and hung in the Glass a Scruple Mix them Let three or four Spoonfuls of this be taken divers times in a day 2. If notwithstanding the use of these kinds of Remedies the Fever still grows worse and is increased by degrees with a worse Apparatus of Symptoms so that besides the Disorders of the Blood the Brain and nervous Parts begin to be affected Medicines tho a great many of them of every kind are tryed oftentimes can do nothing nay in this ease the Indications are in a manner coincident with those that are to be made use of in the Plague it self for the Lochia being a good while supprest they cannot easily or searce at all be brought again in a great Confusion of the Blood and Humours therefore it is good quickly to raise a Sweat to wit That the Corruptions made in the Blood and nervous Juice and restagnating from the Womb may in some sort be sent forth by Sweat and insensible Transpiration wherefore here Bezoartck Powders and Confections Spirit of Harts-horn or of Soot Tinctures of Coral or of Pearl conduce I have sometimes seen that by the help of these kinds of Medicines in a desperate
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
time dispose them so separated rather to pass forth by Sweat than by Urine or Seige As to the third thing requir'd to wit the opening of the Pores this is done in a manner wholly by outward Administrations Now because the same Saline preparations which are given to procure Sweat are often given to move Urine and sometimes also for Cordials we must shew by what preparation and other requisites Sweating is to be promoted alone without the other intents And we observe that Sudorificks inwardly taken seldom or never work of their own accord as Emeticks Catharticks or Diureticks but always need some Governance to actuate the Medicine and to determine it to that Energy Wherefore a Diaphoretick being given the Patient must presently be so ordered that the Pores of his Body may be open'd and the beat of his Heart very much heighten'd For these ends either let him be kept in a Bed Bath or Hot-house or let him exercise his Body with some quick or laborious motion and that these things may succeed the better in promoting Sweat when it is in our power let us make choice of a fit time and subject for it viz. when the Blood enjoying a laudable or not very evil Crasis both sufficiently abounds with a Serous humour and has not its Particles in too great a confusion or perturbation but is in a disposition readily to be loosen'd and to separate it self and run into parts For in a Bilous temperament in a thin and dry constitution and in the mindst of a burning Fever when all things are in a trouble and undigested Diaphoreticks commonly prove of no effect or do hurt Moreover when Diaphoreticks are judg'd proper we must not give all sorts of them indifferently but peculiar Medicines must be chosen according to the various disposition of the Blood and the different predominancies of the Element in it sometimes of this sometimes of that and according to the states of the Salts The Kinds and Prescripts of Diaphoretick Medicines SUdorifick Medicines being manifold and of divers kinds and being wont in a various respect to be rang'd in order and reduc'd to Classes In the first place I have thought fit here to distinguish them and set them down both as to their form and manner of Composition and as to the matter out of which they are made Their most usual forms are 1. a Powder 2. Chymical Liquors 3. A Potion 4. A Bolus 5. A Diet. The matter of each of these are either the integral parts of the whole mixt Body or certain Elementary parts of some mixt resolv'd by Chymistry and those are either simple viz. either Spirituous or Saline The latter of which also are either volatile or fixt Acid or nitrous Or lastly the Sudorifick Particles so divided and separated by Chymistry are Elementary parts compounded betwixt themselves viz. Spirituo-Saline and Salino-Sulphureous As we run through each of these Species in order we shall adapt to each matter the more Select forms of Prescripts Diaphoreticks which have the integral parts of a mixt for their foundation in which also a smart or volatile Salt is predominant in this respect often conduce to provoke Sweat that their Particles being admitted into the Blood and being immiscible with it and not to be subdued exagitate its Mass greatly divide it and draw it asunder as it were into most Minute parts so that at length the texture of the Blood being very much loosen'd and set a boiling the superfluous Serosites Recrements and taints of the Blood are cast forth together with the Particles of the Medicine which are expell'd by reason of their Heterogeneity Those that are of this rank are usually given in the form of a Powder Bolus Potion and Diet according to the following forms of Prescripts Take Roots of Contrayerva Serpentaria Virginiana Butter-burr of each a Dram Cochinele Saffron of each half a Dram Make a Powder the Dose is half a Dram with a fit Vehicle Take Powder of Vipers a Dram give it in some convenient Liquor Take Powder of Toads prepar'd from half a Dram to a Dram. When Diaphoreticks ought to predominate in Sal Alchali alone or mixt with the former Take Oriental Bezoar from a Scruple to half a Dram give it in a spoonful of distill'd water or some other Vehicle Take Powder of Crabs Claws Compound from a Scruple to half a Dram give it after the same manner The Bezoartick Powder is made after this manner Take Powder of the Roots of Contrayerva of Crabs Claws simple of each two Ounces Pearl both sorts of Coral white Amber Crabs Eyes Hartshorn Crystal prepar'd of each an Ounce Occidental Bezoar Lemnian Earth of each half an Ounce Ceruse of Antimony two Ounces Cochenele half an Ounce Ambergreece a Dram and a half Musk half a Dram Make a subtle Powder and let it be form'd into little round Balls with the Gelly of the Skins of Vipers the Dose it from a Scruple to a Dram. Take of this Bezoartick Powder a Scruple Powder of Toads prepar'd six Grains Make a Powder give it in a spoonful of Treacle water 2. Bolus's which have for their Basis the integral parts of some mixt made in the form of an Electuary Extract or Conserve Take of Mithridate from half a Dram to a Dram of the Bezoartick Powder from a Scruple to half a Dram Syrup of the Juice of Citrons what will suffice make a Bolus Instead of Mithridate you may put Treacle or Diascordium or Confectio Liberantis de Hyacintho So likewise Bezoar powdred or the Roots of Contrayerva and the Powders of the like things may supply the place of the Bezoartick Powder Take of the Extract of Treacle from half a Dram to a Dram of the Bezoartick Powder a Scruple Make a Bolus Take of the Extract of Carduus half a Dram Bezoartick Powder a Scruple Salt of Wormwood fifteen Grains with a sufficient quantity of the Syrup of the Juice of Citrons Make a Bolus 3. Potious which have for their Basis common decoctions of Vegetables or Infusions and Tinctures Take Roots of Butter-burr an Ounce Seeds of the same two Drams Eringo Roots Condited six Drams Carduus Seeds two Drams boil all in a pound of fountain water till half be consum'd In the cleer straining dissolve of Mithridate half a Dram or two Scruples Let it be taken warm in Bed After the like manner the Leaves of Carduus the Flowers of Marigolds or Cammomile may be boild in a sufficient quantity of Posset-drink of which six or eight Ounces may be given warm either alone or with some Powder Electuary or other Diaphoretick added to it 4. Diaphoretick Infusions and Tinctures of divers kinds may be prepar'd by extracting the vertues of simple Vegetables and Confections with Wine Vinegar or distill'd water which afterwards being strain'd and clarified by setling are often given with success To this place ought to be referr'd the Bezoartick waters Wines and Vinegars prepar'd by Infusion the forms of which are every where
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
Heterogeneous Particles mixt with the Latex and deriving them from the Brain convey them forth whence they are found of excellent use in Convulsive affects From these things we may gather for the Cure of what Diseases this kind of Remedy is chiefly conducing for in order to an Evacuation from the Pores and Glands of the Skin as often as a Serous sharpe or otherwise offensive Humour is gathered together in or near them and being excluded from Circulating with the Blood obstinately sticks there certainly there is no readier or easier way of clearing the same forth than by applying a Vesicatory on or beneath the place affected wherefore it is not only indicated in an Anasarca and all Cutaneous foulnesses and breaking forth but a Vesicatory is likewise requir'd in Pains either of the Gout or Scurvy any where sixt in the outward habit of the Body or in some Member Secondly Vesicatories are always us'd in Malignant Fevers in respect of the Blood both to Purge it by degrees from all Heterogeneous and Morbifick matter and to alter it from its two Acid or Salt or otherwise vitiated Disposition into a due Temperament Nay they are of most excellent use in all Putrid Fevers threatning ill and of a difficult Determination Therefore also in the Scurvy Leucophlegmatia the Longing Disease of Maids and in any other Cacochimia that kind of Remedy does often great good Again Vesicatories are generally apply'd with good success not only for correcting the Blood it self but likewise as often as being deprav'd it pours its Corruptions on the other parts and so gives a beginning to Diseases and cause Fits of them in the Head Thorax Belly or Members Wherefore in Head-aches Vertigo's and Sleepy affects this is a known and vulgar Remedy and so in a Catharrh and any Defluxion either into the Eyes Nose Palate or Lungs every ordinary Man Prescribs Cantharides for a Revulsory without advising with a Physitian I must own that my self having been often seiz'd with a violent Cough accompanied with much and thick Spittle to which I am Originally inclin'd have not found more good from any Medicine than from Vesicatories therefore I am wont when that Distemper presses first to apply Blistering-plaisters on the Vertebrae of the Neck then those little Ulcers being heal'd I apply them behind the Ears and afterwards if need requires on the Shoulder-blades for so the Serous Filth breaking forth in abundance from the dissolv'd Texture of the Blood is deriv'd from the Lungs nay and the mixture of the Blood sooner recovers its Crasis its irregular Salts being by this means destroyed 3. In respect of the Humour to be evacuated or deriv'd from the Genus Nervosum and the Brain it self Epispasticks as they are of most common use in Sleepy Convulsive and Pain-causing affects so they often prove mighty beneficial Was ever any one seiz'd with a Lethargy Apoplexy or Falling-sickness but presently his Freinds or Attendants though never so ignorant flead his Skin with Cantharides In strange Convulsive Motions usually ascrib'd to no less than Witchcraft I have apply'd Vesicatories with great success to many parts of the Body together and by renewing them now and then in fresh places I have continued them above a Month Again fixt and cruelly tormenting Pains in the Membranous parts are seldom Cur'd without this AdminiAstration For sometimes Humours and Morbifick Particles which being throughly radicated yield not at all to Catharticks or Medicines working by Sweat or Urine seem to be utterly rooted out by Vesicatories laying hands as it were on the Disease Yet this Remedy though very general does not work so readily and successfully in some Diseases and Constitutions wherefore we must not use it inconsiderately or indifferently to all persons for those that have the Stone and are subject to frequent and great Fits of the Strangury scarce ever undergoe its application without prejudice Wherefore in persons so affected we must not use Vesicatories but in Malignant Fevers or in Acute Diseases of the Head to prevent a greater Mischeif As to the various Temperaments and Constitutions of Men in respect of which Vesicatories agree or dissagree more or less Concerning these things this threefold notable difference presents it self fiirst some in a manner always bear the use of this Medicine well and the little Sores made in the Skin by it distill forth the Excrementitious Humidities plentifully enough without any Disury or great Inflammation of the place Blistered and then heal of their own accord Which effect happens only in a Blood of a good Temperament where the Salt and Sulphur being in a moderate quantity and in a due state there is a good plenty of Serum whos 's Latex receding readily and in a copious manner from the rest of the Blood takes with it the smart Particles of the Medicine imbib'd and partly distills them forth by the place Blistered and partly conveys them out by the Urinary passages without offending them On this account also those good effects before mention'd are puoduc't in the Mass of Blood But Secondly this Medicine does neither agree nor work well with others for it makes the place on which it is apply'd mighty red or rather excoriats it with a violent Pain and a great Inflamation And yet the little Sores there made though they torment the Patient a good while cast forth but a very little Ichor or scarce any at all Moreover in those to whom Blistering always proves so torturing a cruel Stangury for the most part succeeds it This troublesome and withal unprofitable use of Vesicatories happens very frequently to Men of a hot and cholerick Temperament whose Blood contains Salt and Sulphur in a great plenty and but a little Serum which is wholly tainted with the others Wherefore when its Latex which ought to carry off the smart Particles of the Medicine does not part readily nor in a plentiful manner from the rest of the Blood to wà sh them away presently those Particles still sticking in the Skin Taint and Poyson as it were the Blood in its passage and being thereby hindred in its Circulation they cause it to gather together and stagnate within the extremities of the Vessels whereby they are inflam'd Moreover the Serous Latex at length separated by the Reins being but in a small quantity and sharpe of it self and made more sharpe by the Particles of the Medicine irritate the Neck of the Bladder and often corrode it with its Acrimony There remains a Third though more rare case of persons Blistered in whom the little Sores rais'd in the Skin presently pour forth the Serous Humour in such abundance that there is streight way need of repelling Medicines and such as close the Mouths of the Vessels otherwise upon the too great Efflux of waters a Dissolution of the strength and a failing of the Spirits are endanger'd to ensue I have known this to have happen'd so constantly in some that they were forc't for the time to come to abstain from
the use of Cantharides how great soever the need were of them The reason of which seems to be that the Blood being endowed with an Over-salt and sharpe Serum had its Texture too easy to be dissolv'd Besides this great Efflux of Serum rais'd upon the first application of a Vesicatory it hapning sometimes late in Malignant Fevers and in others of an ill or no Cirsis and continuing for some time wholly drains the Morbifick matter and often frees the Patient from the very Jaws of Death In such a case after that the little Sores have voided little or an indifferent quantity of Ichor the first Days at length nature attempting a Crisis this way a vast quantity of Serous-filth flows from the same and so continues to flow forth for many Days nay sometimes Weeks till the Patient lookt upon before as given over recovers his perfect Health As it is not easy to heal the little Sores so flowing in abundance so it is not safe to do it before the whole Seminal Root of the Disease be spent Not long since a famous Dr. of Physick of London recovering with much adoe of a Malignant Fever had in many parts of his Body places Blistered daily distilling forth a plenty of Ichor after some time they being troublesome and tedious to him he apply'd strong Repercussives to them all and so presently stopt all Issue of Matter Those Sources had been scarce stopt two Days but falling into a Relapse of his Disease on a sudden he was seiz'd with a Languor of the Spirits and frequent Fainting Fits with a cold Sweat and a low and weak Pulse and not being able to be reliev'd by any Remedies however cordial they were he died within three Days The cause of which seems to be that the Malignant matter suddenly struck back into the Nervs of the Heart whose action being thereby hindred the Vital Function soon fail'd CHAP. IV. Of Issues VEsicatories differ from Issues in this that these are ordered for longer continuance Moreover the former for the most part being requisite in Acute Diseases and others whose Morbid matter requires a speedy removal regard chiefly the taking away of the Conjunct cause of the Disease and therefore are made of a good breadth but superficial withal that such running Sores being large may evacuate much Matter and then be easily Cur'd But on the contrary Issurs being chielfy indicated for Preservation are design'd for removing or overcoming the Procatarctick cause of the Distemper Wherefore they consist of a narrower but deeper Orifice made through the whole thickness of the Skin so that letting forth the Morbifick matter still in less quantity they derive it farther and continue longer to empty it forth Concerning Issurs there are these three chief heads of enquirie viz. First what Humours chiefly those Emissaries evacuate and whence they derive them Secondly in what Diseases and Constitutions they agree better or worse And Thirdly in what places after what Form and with what Instruments they ought to be made 1. As to the former Issues in like manner as Vesicatories Purge forth all Humours within the Skin though lying in a less compass or such as are convey'd through it both from the Sangui-ferous and Nervous Vessels nor do they only like Vesicatories irritate and draw from the outward Superficies of the Skin but perforating the whole Skin convey forth whatsoever flows from the sides of the Orifice through the broken Vessels and whatever comes from elsewhere under the hole Wherefore not only the Humours gather'd together within the Pores and Glands of the Skin or convey'd thither by the Arteries and Nerves flow to Issues but moreover the Serous Excrements under the Skin which are wont to be convey'd or to pass from place to place through the Interstices of the Muscles and Membranes tend to them from all parts and there find their way forth Again an Issue made in a fit place anticipates Mothisick Humours which are wont to be convey'd to parts that are weak and long afflicted and so frees sometimes this part sometimes that from their Incursion Hence the Gouty or Nephritick or Colick nay sometimes the Paralitick or Scorbutick matter is intercepted by Issues in its passages from its Sources to the Weakned places or Receptacles and so the usual Fits of the Disease being evaded is convey'd forth And this Emissary even as Trenches cut for draining Fenny moistures empties forth by defrees Humours sticking in any part or region of the Body and there doing hurt and so it prevents or cures a Morbid Disposition 2. From these various ways of giving relief with which Issues are wont to do good in general its easily gathered for what affects chiefly they are required for though there be in a manner no Disease in which this Remedy either does hurt or proves useless yet it seems more necessary in some cases than in others it 's prescrib'd even by the vulgar for almost every Distemper of the Head both outward and inward Every ordinary person advises an Issue above all things for the Convulsions of Infants and Children for the Inflammation of their Eyes their Swellings of the Kings-evil and so for Head-aches Sleepy Vertigious or Convulsive affects of Adult or Aged persons Nor is this Remedy less extol'd against Diseases of the Brest is there any one subject to a Cough Bloody or Consumptive-spitting or to an Orthopnaea who has not an Issue made him In like manner also Issues are commended for affects of the Belly there is scarce any Hypochondriacal person or Hysterical Woman and no Gouty or Cahecttical person but have their Skin pierc't in more places than a Lamprey It would be a tedious thing to recount here particulary all the Distempers for which Issues are good 3. Nevertheless this Remedy however good and useful of it self does not agree with all persons nor therefore must it be indifferently prescrib'd to all For there are two sorts of Men who thongh they happen to be sick may be excus'd from Issues because this Emissary evacuates too much in some and in others little or less thanit ought and in the mean time is mighty painful and intolerable An Issue sometimes does not agree well because it evacuates or spends too much the Humour or Spirits For I have observ'd in some that an Issue made in any part of the Body voids forth an Ichor in quantity immoderate and in quantity vitious for out of it at frequent times if not continually a Watery thin and faetid Latex often making the Pea and coverings black flows in a great abundance so that from its too great Efflux the Strength and Fiesh are consum'd An Issue sometimes vioding forth no very great quantity of Ichor spends the Spirits and Strength more than it ought which is known by the effect and sometimes not till afterward to wit because some upon keeping one or more Issues open grow weak and lean and upon their being stopt become presently more Vigorous and of a full habit Moreover
give often great relief The running Scab or scaly breakings forth of Pushes and growing in figures like clusterings is so frequent and familiar a Symptom of an inveterate French-pox that the first thing we do is to ask persons affected with the former Distemper whether they do not conveive that there amy be something of the Malignity of the other bying hid withim them and if it be found to be so presently all Specificks against the former and Antiscorbuticks being laid aside we forthwith betake our selves to Decoctions of Woods and those doing little or no good to Mercurial Medicines And truly by this Method I have soon and easily Cur'd many persons accounted to have a running Scab and Leaprosie who had been long under Cure and miserably tormented with Remedies appropriated to these Diseases And we refer this kind of running Scab to the Pathology of the French-pox whereof it is an Appendix The Second Indication which is Curatoyr having regard to the Disease it sefl and its primary Symptom viz. the scaly breakings forth and the clusters of Pushes prescribes Topical Remedies to be apply'd to the Skin outwardly for removing these effects For which purpose Baths and Liniments are peculiarly proper though they seldom or never Cure of themselves unless the Procatarctick ause viz. the Tartarous Disposition of the Blood be first clear'd There is a mighty store of these Topicks to be found as well among Physical Authours as among Empiricks and Quacks Though among them all Baths or Liniments made of Tar far exceed all the rest of the Remedies of both kinds So that in truth we should make use of these alone were it not for their ill smell wherefore I shall give you certain Forms of Compositions with Tar and without it Therefore for Baths it 's a common thing to use water kept some time in Vessels in which Tar has ben before and so impregnated by Infusion Or Take two Pounds of Tar and incorporate it into a prety thick Mass with white and sifted Ashes which boil in a sufficient quantity of fountain water adding Leaves of ground Ivy Fumitory white Horehound Roots of sharp pointed Dock and of Elecampane of each four handfuls Make a Bath to be us'd with governance or let such a Decoction be prepar'd without Tar for persons troubled with the running Scab and loathing the smell of Tar. Sulphurous Baths both Natural and Artificial are found by frequent experience not to agree nay and the former commonly to do hurt Moreover all Bathing whatsoever ought to be us'd with great caution for in regard this Administration exagitates and heats the Blood it endangers to dissolve its Crasis more as is said before and to disperse its corrupted Taints in a more plentiful manner to the Skin 2. Liniments whose use is more safe and proper are of three kinds or degrees viz. gentle mean and strong I shall give you an example or two of each of these 1. First therefore in a small running Scab where the breakings forth and clusters of Pushes are few and very small fasting Spittle is recommended Also the Liquour distilling from green Wood in the Fire So likewise a meer rubbing with the Root of sharp pointed Dock bruis'd and macerated in Vinegar Or Take Oyl of Tartar per Deliquium Oyl of Nuts or of bitter Almonds by expression of each equal parts make a Liniment to be apply'd to the places affected twice a Day 2. Liniments of the Second kind have Tar for an Ingredient which is esteem'd as good as all the rest Take Vnguentum Rosatum six Ounces Tar two Ounces being melted together let them let mixt Or Take a good fat piece of Weathers Mutton stick it with bits of the Roots of sharp pointed Sock spit it and roast it And baste it with Tar letting it drop leasurely on it keep the Dripping as a most excellent Ointment for the running Scab 3. The strongest Ointments against this affect are Mercurial which consist either of running Mercury or Praecipitate let the Forms and Cmposition of the foriner be the same as is prescrib'd before against the Itch. As to the other Take white Praecipitate three Drams Vnguentum Rosatum three Ounces Mix them to anoint the parts chiefly affected The use of these in this Disease ought to be very much suspected For if haply a Salivation be rais'd a mighty glut of Matter sticking in the pores of the Skin will be put in motion which if the whole rushing too much together towards the Ductus Salivales gathers in a body about the parts of the Throat it will endanger Suffocation Some years since a Virgin of a noble Family whose Temperament was hot as having originally a sharp and salt Blood after having liv'd a very long time almost from her Cradle somewhat toucht with a running Scab about the time of her coming to ripeness of years began to be troubled with it in a more grievous manner For clusters of scaly Pushes did not only every where overrun her Arms and Thighs and other parts of the Body out of sight but likewise made her Hands and Face so loathsome that she was asham'd to go abroad and converse with others of her quality An infinite number of the lesser sort of Remedies were given her without any success By the use of hot Baths she seem'd to grow better at first but in the end she became worse after them The waters of Astrope wells which have perfectly Cur'd some persons of a running Scab did her little or no good wherefore seeing all ordinary Methods would not do I propos'd that she should try Salivation as being a more powerful Remedy than all the rest and as it 's said the last The Patient and her Parents readily consenting to this advice presently her Body being duly prepar'd by Purging and Bleeding I gave her after our wonted manner Pills of the Solar Praeciptitae for two Days and after the Intermission of one the Medicine being repeated the third time she began to Salivate very well and freely it continuing upon her for a Month without any ill Symptom Nevertheless to keep it in its due Tenour I took care that a Mercurial Ointment was now and then apply'd to the Joynts of the Limbs sometimes to these and sometimes to others Before this course was ended all the breakngs forth were vanisht Notwithstanding which to perfect the Cure and withao to extirpate the Mercury she spent another Month in Purging Sweating under a Cradle and in a Diet Drink of a Decoction of Sarsa China c. at which time seeming to be perfectly Cur'd she continued so for about forty Days But from thence forwards though she observ'd an exact Form of Diet the same Disease began to spring forth afresh and encreasing by degrees rise at length to an overgrown state as before I being in some confusion at this event perswaded her to hope an alteration for the better after the flowing of her Menses which having not yet happen'd was expected in a short