Night going to bed or after her first sleep 2. The Terms overflow 1. when they continue longer then their usual time which is 2 or 3 days in Women that use no exercise 4 or 5 days 2. when they come oftner then once a month the cause is 1. a Rupture of some Vessel 2. immoderate purgation 3. some corroding humor 4. hard Labor in Child-bed or unkind handing the Womb if the Vessels be broken blood gusheth out in heaps and if from some knawing humor they are few but very painful the rest are easily known Let them abstain from exercise then 1. anoint the reins with Oil of Roses Myrtles or Quinces then boil the roots of Tormentil Cinquefoil Yarrow Knot-grass Comfrey dead Nettles Solomon's Seal Purslan Shepherds-purse red Roses acorn Cups bark of Oak Trees some of these in her ordinary drink or the juices of what can be had taken alone and this above all take Comfrey leaves or roots and Clowns alheal of each an handful bruise and boil them well in Ale and drink of it now and then this will do though the Vessels were open 3. Flux of the Womb is a continual droping from that part of the body if it be red like putrified blood it comes from that humor if white and pale 't is from Phlegm if yellow 't is from Choler if pure blood as if a vein were opened either a knawing of the Womb or tearing in delivery is feared The cure differs as the cause if pure blood flow let blood i' th arm then use the Medicine last mentioned of Comfrey roots and Woundworth if flegm be the cause use Cinnamon in all meats and drinks and Methridate and Treacle for Antidotes a little every Morning take a scruple of Pills of Amber going to Bed for divers Nights if from Choler purge with syrup of Violets and Cassia Fistularis of each an ounce after take powder of Ivory and Missleto of the oak of each one scruple mixt with half an ounce of conserve of Roses every Morning for a Week if from putrified blood having first let blood i' th Foot then strengthen the Womb as before always forbearing violent motions and passions and sharp and salt meats and provokers of Urine for dead Nettles there are three sorts white red and yellow the flowers of that colour the white help the white the red the red the yellow the yellow flux 4. The Womb fallen out is cured if it be swell'd by bathing it with a decoction of Mallows Linseed and Fennigreek boil'd in water 2 or 3 times and when 't is got up let her keep her Legs close or else tye them with a swath apply stinking things to the Womb as Assa Foetida oil of Amber her own Hair burnt and let her smell of Civet c. the rest is before and after 5. The Womb is inflamed by many causes a blow stopping of the Terms Abortion Ulceration Immoderate Lechery overmuch walking cold For cure strengthen the Womb first then first clarifie Whey and boil Plantain leaves or roots in it and drink it then inject the juice of Plantain into the Womb with a Syringe if in Winter when you cannot get the juice make a strong decoction of the leaves and roots in water if the body be costive use a Clyster and here note that in all Inflammations blood-letting is the chiefest remedy first i' th Arm then if need i' th Foot if it be near the Neck of the Womb make a pessary of wool and anoint it with unguent album or populeon or mixt 6. The Womb is sometimes troubled with wind which is cured as the fits of the Mother and moistness of the Womb is cured as a flux of flegm 7. Heat and dryness of the Womb is incident to Women of a Cholerick complexion is cured by cool and moistning herbs of which stinking Arach is chief neither are Plantan and Mallows much behind milk is good for such to drink first purging with an ounce of Cassia Fistula new drawn going to bed and follow your business the next day Dr. Thus far good Mrs. Eutrap but now hear me a little concerning this matter All rational men know that the generation of mankind as also of other irrational Animals is the most perfect excellent and exquisite work of God's Vicegerent Nature the which is most excellently and elegantly demonstrated and set forth by Aristotle that great Secretary of Nature in his second Book which he hath written of the Generation of living Creatures for whereas it is impossible by the decree of Nature that any humane Creature should live always or have an immortal Being in this World much less should we imagine that should be granted to Bruits and other Souls of an inferior rank therefore for the continuance and propagation of each sort it hath otherwise ordained that during the continuance of this World there should be likewise maintained a successive generation of both Sexes by the Action of procreation and from hence after him Galen the greatest Luminary of Physick next Hippocrates says that it comes to pass that Creatures are furnished with Instruments of Generation proper for the quality of their Sex and are consequently indued with natural Instincts prompting them to the use thereof Therefore we shall at this time discourse of this wonderful operation of Nature and endeavour as far forth as our Talent will afford us to seek out the causes that may hinder and from thence prescribe means to remove them and so consequently assist and further her in so miraculous a concern and this partly upon our Dame nature's account whose Servants only we are and in the next place for the sakes of those Ladies Gentlewomen and others who are often disconsolate and dejected upon their being accounted barren Now then you must note that as conception hath some alliance with every part of the Body as being undoubtedly concern'd therein so the same Conception may be quite abolished diminished or deprived as it happens in all other actions and motions of the body so that if Conception be quite abolish'd in a Woman in such sort that she can never be able to conceive this affection is then called Barrenness or such a Woman may be called a barren Woman which you please But if she Conceive sometimes though seldome here the Conceptive faculties may be said to be diminished or weakened by some cause or other and to this kind of diminished Conception may be referr'd untimely births called Abortion And lastly a depraved Conception is when in the Womb is contained some unnatural Conception such as Monsters and Mola's c. The causes and remedies of all which it hath and shall be our duty to lay open to the Females Sex according to the best of our skil and knowledge first to the end we may further the propagation of humane kind and secondly that we make if possibly remove the reproaches laid upon Barrenness which hath been in all ages and continues to this day and will do to end
when 't is thick apply it indifferently warm taking away the closures and clods of blood renew this if need be after 5 or 6 hours then make a decoction of Barley Linseed and Chervil or Marsh-Mallows and Violet leaves adding an ounce of honey of Roses to a pint and foment the bearing place Lukewarm 3 or 4 times a day for the first 5 or 6 days some use only milk and others Barley water After 10 or 12 days fortifie the parts with a decoction of Province Roses Plantan leaves and roots and Smith's water The 2d day use loose swaths with a large square bolster over the Belly till the 8th day taking it off i' th mean time often to anoint her Belly if it be sore with Oil of sweet Almonds and St. John's wort mixt then begin to swaith her streighter If she will not be a Nurse apply remedies to the Breasts to drive back the Milk if she will Nurse them keep her warm with soft clothes and if you fear too much blood carrying to them anoint them with Oil of Roses and a little Vinegar beat together and lay on fine Linnen dipt in 't let her not suck the Child the same day she 's deliver'd but stay 6 or 7 days In driving back the Milk some remedies hinder flowing of humors to the Breasts others scatter and in part dissolve the Milk therein Of the first sort are the last ointment or unguentum populeon and unguentum album equally mixt spread upon Linnen and applied Of the 2d is a Pultis made of Linseed Fenugreek Beans and Vetches powder'd boiled with the decoction of Chervil or Sage with Honey and Saffron some apply Honey only others rub the Breasts with Honey and lay on a red Cabbage leaf a little dryed the stalks taken away having great care she take not cold and above all procure ample voiding of the clensings by keeping the belly open by Clysters provoking them then the Milk will soon vanish SECT II. Of Fludding after Child-birth OF that preceding Labor before this blood now flows more abundantly by how much 't is hotter or mov'd by a long and hard Labor and the Woman 's full of blood and besides what 's said note sometimes this blood continuing to flow and remaining i' th bottom o th' Womb becomes clotted which causeth a new Flud and continues by Fits and i' th intervals there comes away some wheyishness of the imprison'd blood which dissolves and makes some ignorant People think the Flux is stop'd tho it continue flowing within wherein it stops only by the clotted blood when which comes away it begins a fresh This is a more dangerous accident then any can happen to one newly lay'd which dispatches her so soon if in great quantity that there 's often scarce time to remedy it so that you are immediately to apply remedies both to stop and turn back from the places whence it flows to which end if it be a false Conception piece of the burthen or clotted blood use all diligence to fetch them away or cause them to be speedily expell'd but if it flows and nothing remain bleed her i' th Arm not so much to empty the fulness as to turn the course lay her body equally flat not raised and keep quiet without turning from side to side nor must the upper part of her Belly be swath'd or bolstered keep her Chamber a little cool and not too warm in Bed All forbid Clysters lest they say humors be cal'd down but the contrary hath been experimentally found that great fluddings have been stopt by pretty strong clensing ones But if for all this the Flud continues then to the last Remedy which is to lay her upon fresh Straw with a single cloth upon it and no Quilt applying cloths wet in Vinegar and water along her Loins and if in the Winter a little warm give every half hour a little strong broth with a few spoonfuls of Gelly and between whiles the yelk of a new laid Egg give her not too much food at a time drinking red Wine with a little water wherein Iron hath been quenched If all this prevail not she will be in danger of her life SECT III. Of the bearing down and falling out of the Womb and Fundament of a Woman newly layd ANd here I shall make 2 sorts of Bearing down and 2 sorts of falling forth which differ but in degree for the first is when the Womb only bears down and comes not forth the 2d when it comes out of the Body The first sort of bearing down is when the full body of the Womb falls into the Neck in such manner as putting up a Finger you may feel the Orifice very near the 2d when the Womb being yet lower one can clearly perceive this Orifice quite without The falling out is twofold too in one the Womb comes quite forth but is not turn'd inside out nor can its inside be seen only its orifice which appears at the end of a great fleshy Mass which makes the body of the Womb and this is cal'd a falling forth of the Womb the other is cal'd a perversion or turning inside out most dangerous for you may perceive all even and without any Orifice and thus it seems to be only a great piece of bloody flesh almost like a Mans Cod which hangs between her Thighs and that which is wonderful in this case is the Womb the infants house goes forth at the Gate which is the inner Orifice A loosening or breaking of the Cords causes the bearing down which comes from hard Labor who have many whites are subject to it and heavy Children Coughing Sneezings a fall going in a Coach or Horseback great lifts burdens lifting the Arms too high and putting them over their head looseness great pains and needings all which shake and thrust the Womb downwards when with Child and the cords being loosened or broken cannot keep it up so that a bearing down doth easily follow the Birth of a Child but the most ordinary cause is violent travel when a Child cometh wrong and cannot be born so or hath too big an head or the inner Orifice not enough opened for the Womb is violently forced down and yet the Child can't advance into the passage because the cords are so rent or loosen'd or when the Secondine sticking close to the bottom is pul'd away on a sudden or too violently and much sooner if putting up the hand as when the String 's broke one pulls the body of the Womb instead of the After-birth but your directions will prevent this She feels a great weight at the bottom of her Belly extream pain i' th Reins and Loins and a bloodish moisture passes through this Mass of Flesh hanging between her Legs A loosening may happen to all Women a falling out but seldom a perfect perversion never but upon or immediately after a delivery because the inner Orifice is then almost as wide as its bottom but not at other times when
Milk let her not be Melancholy but merry and chearful smiling often to divert it She must be sober not given to Wine or other strong Liquors and yet less to the excess of Venus but she may moderately use the first and not wholly abstain from the 2d if her nature require it so it be with her Husband which liberty is freely given then by the great Physitian Jubertus in the 7th chap. of the 5th book of his Popular Errors being founded upon the Experience of alâ— poor Women who bring up their Children very well notwithstanding they lye every Night with their Husbands and from his own alleging that his Wife had Nursed his Children all very well although he lay with her every Night and carressed her as he said like a good and faithful Husband but she must forbear at least an hour or two after to give the Child suck In fine if a Nurse hath all or most of thesâ— Conditions as well respecting her Person aâ— manners and that she maintains this condition by a dyet sit for the Childs temper anâ— not contrary to her own there is then greaâ— reason to believe she is very sit to make a very good Nurse of and to bring up the Soâ— of a Prince in perfect health And now good Mrs. Midwife proceed to shew your skill concerning the diseases of little Children SECT II. Of the Diseases and Symptoms which happen to Children and first of their Diseases in general Mid. SIr withal my heart I shall gladly unfold to you the very depth of my skill and knowledge in this affair and would humbly entreat you that you would be pleased to correct me if I shall at any time offer to utter any thing that may not be according to the rules of art and the practice of learned Physitians for truly Sir we Midwifes must needs acknowledge our selves to have received most of our skill and knowledge from the writings conferences and directions of learned Physitians Now then Sir I have read that Hippocrates divides Childrens diseases according to their ages When he like an Oracle lays down that in new-born Children there are Vlcers in the Mouth Vomitings Coughs Watchings Fears Inflammation of the Navil moistness of the Ears at breeding of their Teeth their Gums itch and they fall into Feavers and Convulsions and a loosness of the belly when they breed their Eye Teeth When they grow older their Tonsils are inflam'd the joints of the Neck are sprained inwardly their breath 's short they have the stone and round Worms Warts standing Yards Strangury Kings-Evil and other swellings then besides these here mentioned by the divine Hippocrates they have other Diseases at other times as that they are generally infected with the Small-Pox and Meazels none or few escaping Tongue tyed Chafing c. concerning which I shall now in particular give you my method of cure beginning first with Feavers Small-Pox and Meazels as the most general SECT III. Of Feavers Meazels and Small-Pox in little Children CHildren are subject to all sorts of Feavers but chiefly that of corrupt Milk which is commonly from Choler 1st therefore give cooling and moistening things to the Nurse as Lettice Endive Succory c. and Emulsions of Barley-water with the four cold seeds Barley cream then purge her gently with Manna Cassia Fistularis Lenitive Electuary c. then give altering remedies to the Infant as Syrup of Violets Lemons Citrons c. dissolv'd in Endive or Cichory or Borage or Bugloss water 4 ounces of water to one of Syrup to which you may add a little white Rose water to make it the more pallatable If the Feaver proceed from breeding Teeth abate the pain of which hereafter and give alterers as abovesaid In the Small-Pox and Meazels you have nothing to do but to observe Natures motions in the driving them forth and to assist her if you see her any ways weak or obstructed by giving the Child a little Claret with Syrup of Clove Gilly-flowers and a little Treacle water but be sure have a care that you encrease not the Feaver Cochenele and Bezoar and Saffron are excellent likewise SECT IV. Of the milky scab Achores Scald-Head and Lice THe milky Scab is at first sucking the Achores after the Achores are not white but the other are and possess the whole body the Achores only Head and Face but are cur'd a like They are commonly thought to be healthful when they run because they prevent Convulsions c. and they often cure of themselves in time but if the matter be very sharp they peirce the Skull Dry these up not rashly so they disfigure not the Face or endanger the Eyes but first try to drive them forth with such things as you were told in the Small Pox let the Nurse forbear sharp salt things prepare her Body with Borrage Succory Endive Bugloss Fumetory Polypody and Dock roots and then purge her with Sena Polypody Epithymum c. If you fear it will turn to a scald Head foment it with a decoction of Mallows Barley Celandine Wormwood Marsh-mallows boild in Boys urine and Barley water and then anoint with Oil of Roses and Lytharge of Gold and if the Scull come to be bare dress it with Honey of Roses and Brandy and after with Powder of round birth-wort and Balsome of Peru Turpentine and Tobacco water If you have occasion to use stronger Medicines for a scald Head take sulphur 2 drams Mustard seed half a dram Stavesacre bryony roots each 1 dram Vinegar 1 ounce Turpentine half an ounce with as much Bears Grease as will make it into an Oyntment or beat water-Cresses with Hogs Grease When the Scab is fallen off pull the hair out by the roots with instruments or Medicines commonly they use a pitch'd cap and pull it violently to bring away the Hair or take Starch or Wheat-flower 2 ounces Rosin half an ounce boil them in water to the consistence of a pultis lay it upon the several Scalds let it stick some days then pluck it off violently For Lice to prevent them let them not eat food of ill juice as Figs c. let her Head be often comb'd and wash'd and purge the Nurse or Child then give things to draw the humor out as you have been taught and then consume the superfluous moisture as with this take Elacampana 2 ounces Briony roots half an ounce Beets herb Mercury Soap-wort each an handful Nitre half an ounce Lupines 2 drams boil them for a Lotion then anoint them with this following take powder of Stavesacre 3 drams Lupines half an ounce Agaric 2 drams quick Sulphur a dram and half Oxe gaul half an ounce with oil of Wormwood as much as will suffice to make it into an Ointment SECT V. Of the watry swelling of the Head WE speake here of the water without the Scul for which take 30 snails with their shels Marjoram Mugwort each an handful with oil of Chamomil make a pultis and snuff up this water often
Country-man the immortal Dr. Harvey the English Hippocrates will teach us better how this comes then that we need have have recourse to this expulsive faculty but because 't is fitter for Physitians and Chyrurgeons that are learned in Anatomy then Midwifes being they may help them without such curious knowledge I shall omit it and if you would be satisfied see what the learned and expert French Chirurgeon Moricean hath written on this Subject 't is put into English by Dr. Chamberlain Now to remedy these let her only use a palliative cure in swathing the parts with a rowler 3 or 4 fingers broad beginning at the bottom and she should most keep her bed if she can and if there be signs of abundance of blood in other parts she may bleed without danger Some Womens Legs swell only from weakness and are so Flegmatick that when you press them with your finger the print remains because they want Natural heat sufficient to concoct all the nourishment sent to them and expel its superfluities which remaining makes them so Hydropical To resolve these swellings make a Lee made with the ashes of Vines or other wood ashes and Melilote Camomil and Lavender boild in it if that do not foment them with this Take Rosemary Bays Time Merjoram Sage and Lavender of each a handful Province Roses half a handful Pomgranat flowers and Alum each an ounce boil them in 3 pints of strong red wine to the wasting of a 3d part and use it But these swellings commonly cease when she brought to Bed because she purgeth the superfluity of her whole habit by her Lochia SECT IX Of the Hemorrhoids THese are swellings and painful Inflammations caused by a flux of humors upon the extremities of the Hemorrhoid veins and Arteries caused by a bundance of blood cast upon these parts because the body is not purged as before and sometimes by endeavors they have to go to stool when costive If they be small and without pain either inward or outward 't is easie to prevent their farther growth by remedies which hinder and turn the flux from those parts but the great ones are cured by first easing the pain so that if she have other signs of fulness in the rest of her body she may safely be once let blood i' th Arm and if great necessity twice if she be costive let her take a Clyster of Violets Mallows Marsh-mallows and hony of Violets with some fresh Butter or Oil of Almonds adding no sharp thing especially in inward Piles after let her keep a moderate and cooling dyet and rest in her Bed if she may till the flux be past in that while anointing them with strokings from the Cow and foment them with the decoction of her Clyster adding some Linseed your Oil of sweet Almonds Oil of Poppies and Oil of water Lillies well beaten together with the yelk of an Egg in a leaden morter are very good to ease pain and if that Inflammation be great anoint a little with Vnguentum refrigerens Galeni or anguentum album populeon equally mixed After all this if the swelling abates not apply Leeches or if soft or any kind of inundation use a Lancet but Leeches are properer for hard Piles because they pain not so much Women are not here eased by Piles as Men are because 't is contrary to nature for this evacuation ought always to be made by the Womb if not with Child but if she be it may in some measure if full of blood supply the natural if they bleed moderately and without pain she may be eased but if they flow too much there 's danger of both Mother and Child being weakned to avoid which make binding fomentations with the decoction of Pomgranate flowers and Vines and Province Roses made in Smiths water and a little Allum or this pultis made of Bole-Armenac Dragons-blood and sealed earth with the white of an Egg and to turn the blood by bleeding i' th Arm and Cupping-Glasses to the Reins c. as you may consult the Physitian SECT X. Of the several Fluxes happening to Women with Child SHE is Subject to three sorts of Fluxes the Flux of the Belly of the Terms and Fludings Of the Belly are three kinds the first Lienteria when the Stomach and Guts not digesting the nourishments received let it pass away raw 2. Diarrhea when they simply discharge the humours and excrements which they contain The 3d and worst is a Dysenteria when with the humors and excrements she voids blood with violent pains caus'd by an ulceration of the Guts Any of these if they continue long put her in great danger of Aborting if the first the Stomach letting the food pass before it be turned into juice whereof blood is made to nourish Mother and Child they must both be weakened if the 2d it will cause the same accident because of voiding the Spirits with the humors but most danger's i' th last because she hath then great pains and Gripes i' th Guts from their Ulcer which excites them continually by constant prickings to discharge themselves of the sharp humors which causes a violent motion of the Womb being plaâ—ed upon the right gut and to the Child and by the compression the Muscles of the belly make on all sides as also those that are made by them of the Midriff which force themselves downwards in the endeavors she makes with pain so often to go to stool the Child is constrained to come before its time and the oft'ner by how much the prickings are greater for according to Hippocrates Aphorism 27 book 7. If a tenasm happen to one with Child it makes her Miscarry Now this tenasm is a great passion of the right Gut which forceth it to make those violent endeavours to discharge it self without being able to avoid any thing but Cholerick humors mixt with blood by which 't is perpetually pricked This Flux happens to her commonly from a weak digestion of the Stomach because of her bad dyet which her strange appetite causes her often to long for by the constant use whereof at last being weakened it suffers the food to pass without digestion or if it stay longer 't is turn'd into a corrupt juice which descending into the Guts iritates them by its sharpness to discharge themselves as soon as they can To proceed safely in the cure of these Fluxes their nature must be consider'd that the cause that maintains them may be remov'd If it be a Lienteria following Vomitings as is usual which have so weakn'd the Stomach and loosn'd its Skins that haveing no longer strength to vomit up the food it suffers it to pass downward without digestion then she must refrain all irregular appetites and eat food of good digestion and little at a time she may drink a little deep Claret wine in which Iron hath been quenched if she have not a strong Feaver for in a small one wine is to be prefer'd because her Feaver is but
symptomatick from the weakness of her Stomach and will vanish as soon as it is fortified which may be promoted if she take before and after meals some of that burnt wine spoke of before for the Cough or a little good Hippocras or right Canary or eat a little Marmalade of quinces before meals and wear a Lamb-skin upon the pit of her Stomach be sure to give no purge for this is only caused by weakness If it be a Diarrhea simply voiding such excrements as are in the Guts and some superfluous humors which nature hath sent to be expelled and it be gentle and continue not long she will feel no damage by it and so 't is good to leave it to nature without interrupting it in the beginning but if it continue above 4 or 5 days 't is a sign there are ill humors cleaven to the inside of the Guts and ought to be expell'd by some light purge after which it will certainly cease But if for all fit purges it changes into a Dysentery she is then in danger of miscarrying which must be prevented if possible therefore having purged the ill humor and hindering that no more be engendred by Chicken or Veal broths c. with cooling herbs pap with the yelk of an Egg well boild let her quench Iron or Steel in her drink which must be small beer or water with a little strong or wine if she be not Feaverish for then half a spoonful of syrup of Quinces or Pomgranates is better and she may eat a little Marmalade of Quince or other strengtheners if she was purg'd before and because there is always great gripes they must be appeas'd by Clysters made of the broth of a Calves or Sheeps head well boild with 2 ounces of oil of Violets or good Milk and the yelk of an Egg after the use of these as long as is judged necessary which she must keep as long as she can you must proceed to clensers made with Mallows and Marsh-mallows with hony of Roses and then binding ones in which must be neither oil nor hony beginning first with gentlest made of rose-Rose-water with Lettice and Plantain water then to stronger of the roots and leaves of Plantain tapsus barbatus horse-tail province Roses rind of Pomgranates in Smiths water adding of sealed earth and Dragons blood of each 2 drams you may also foment the Fundament Of the monthly blood before and if it be from to much blood 't wil do her a kindness SECT XI Of Fluddings THe Courses come at accustomed times without pain distilling by little and little from the Wombs Neck during pregnancy and then wholly ceaseth but these come with pain from the Wombs bottom and almost on a sudden in great abundance and continue without intermission except some clods formed there seem sometimes to lessen the accident by stopping for a small time the place whence they flow but it soon returns with greater violence and after follows death to the Mother and Child if not prevented by delivering the Woman If the Fludding happen when young with Child it 's usually because of some false Conception or Mole of which the Womb endeavours to discharge it self by which it opens some of the Vessels in its bottom whence the blood ceases not to flow till it hath cast out the strange bodies it contain'd the subtiller the blood is the more it flows but when this happens to one truely Conceiv'd at whatever time it proceeds likewise from the opening of the Vessels of the Womb's fund caused by some blow slip c. and chiefly because the secundine separating in part if not wholly from the inside of the Wombs bottom to which it ought to stick to receive the Mothers blood for the Childs nouriture leaves open all the Orifices of the Vessels where it joyned and so follows a great flux of blood which never ceases till she be brought a Bed yet I do not intend it should be done as soon as perceiv'd for some small fluddings have been stop'd by lying quietly in Bed bleeding i' th Arm and the use of Remedies mention'd in the menstruous Flux and it may be but an ordinary monthly Flux and then 't is good leaving the Labor to nature provided she hath strength and accompanied with no other ill accident but when she falls into Convulsions and Faintings 't is absolutely necessary she be deliver'd whether she be at her count or no pains or throws or no for there is no other way to save both their Lives You must not always expect pains and throws to force and forward Labor in these dangerous accidents for though they come at the beginning they usually cease as soon as it comes to Faintings and Convulsions neither must it be put off till the Womb be opened enough for this Flux moistens and the weakness loosens it so that it may then be as easily widen'd as if there had been abundance of strong throws Wherefore let the Midwife introduce her Fingers anointed with Oil or Butter 2 or 3 at a time and all by degrees and at last her whole Hand and if she find the waters not broke break them and then whatever part of the Child presents though the head provided it be not i' th Birth let her search for the Feet and draw it forth by them observing the circumstances in delivery of a Child with the Feet first because there 's better hold so that if the Feet lye not ready seek for them which is easier done at that time then another because the Fluddings make the Womb slippery then fetch the after-burthen which in these cases cleaves but little being careful not to leave so much as a clod i' th Womb lest it continue the Fludding In this case many Women and Children have perished for want of this operation and many escaped death by being timely succor'd Guilemeau a Famous French Chirurgion mentions 6 or 7 Histories to confirm this and Moriceau by his experience avers it and in the case of his own Sister too long here to relate You are always here to give good strengthning broths gellies and a little good Wine and smell to rose Vinegar and to prevent the blood Fludding in great quantity open a vein i' th Arm or bind her Arm with fillets above her Elbow and lay cloaths upon her Reins wet in water and Vinegar but if this proceeds from the parting of the after-burden she must be delivered as soon as may be though she were but 3 or 4 months gone because all must be broughâ— away whether false Conception Mole or Child SECT XII Of the Weight of the Womb c. THis is often caused by the stretching of the large Cords of the Womb and this will cause an hinderance of Copulation and a numness in her Hips sleepiness in her Thighs and difficulty of Urine and going to stool chiefly towards her latter reckonings because it presseth down the Bladder and great Gut being seated between both But she may be easier
let it slip out of the mouth and cannot handsomely hold it so that the infant being frustrated of suck and yet still exercising suckling hurts the cheek and attracts some kind of humors thither which oftentimes become unnatural Tumors and oftentimes the cheeks of the infant seem as if they were moved out of their places Thirdly by the consent of all the Nurse must have a large breast though some think that not so material because there is more milk collected together in great breasts than ought and being there is corrupted to the prejudice of the Nurse Wherefore lest the milk should continue there too long it is best to have a young lusty child to suck it away or else to use it some other way as by the use of young whelps whom I have seen dye with sucking Womens milk surely the reason must be because the milk was of another nature or else because curdled and corrupted or milked out some other way especially when the Nurse perceives her self prejudiced by it But it is ever best that she abound rather than want Milk and then in this case it is best they be big though all Nurses need not have big breasts for there may be as much Milk if not more in a lesser breast than in a great one The next enquiry will be into the manners and behaviour of a Nurse The best Nurse then is she that is mild chaste sober courteous chearful lively neat cleanly and handy because bad conditions as well as good are suck'd in with the milk and so radicated that it is a hard matter to pull out the bad conditions and leave the good behind but that there will be a remainder of the bad conditions perhaps so long as they live wherefore let not the Nurse be of an angry malepert and saucy disposition shameless scolding or quarrelsome not gluttonous but so careful of her Nursery that she neither eat or drink that which may be hurtful to the Infant That she do nothing to anger her self to grieve or sad her self for such passions will presently distribute themselves to the prejudice of the Infant than which there is nothing of more efficacy to destroy the goodness of the Milk Neither is it sufficient that they abstain from the use of their husbands but when they have wanton thoughts and lascivious minds wholly upon Luxury and Venery they cast off all care of the Nurseries and dreaming at night of that which their minds run on in the day and by other filthy pollutions they infect the milk So also by the use of their Husbands the Courses are stirred up by which both the plenty and goodness of milk is derived another way and so the Child robbed of its nutriment or else the Nurse conceiveth with Child and so the Infant becometh diseased and Ricketty by sucking curdy and unwholsome milk and is worse for it during life Therefore let all those things be avoided that either do or are supposed to provoke lust as junkets made with spices also Onions Leeks Garlick and all salt meats are to be avoided Persly and Smallage some say have a peculiar malice to the increase of milk besides that it doth increase lust and is an enemy to the growth of Infants Again that Nurse were best that hath lately been brought to bed of a Boy if to Nurse a Boy the milk of such a Nurse being better tempered For the milk of a Male Child will make a Female Nursery more spritely and a man like Virago and the milk of a girl will make a boy the more effeminate As to the milk let it be a mean betwixt thick and thin which you may perceive by dropping it upon the Thumb-Nails for if it be too thin it will run off the sooner but if thicker it will stay the longer let it be sweet and pleasant both to the smell and taste not offending the palate with rancidness sourness sharpness or saltness or the nostrils with any strange quality Let it be candid to the sight in it self equal in each particles not infested with brown yellow green blue or any other evil colour or as sometimes with various colours and substance as with lines and streaks upon it but let that milk be most praise-worthy that makes as much curd as whey which may be tryed by this Experiment viz. Put some of this milk into a glass and puâ— in some Myrrh or Rennet which being stirred together will curd and then may the contents be separated the tryal is that iâ— there be most whey then is the milk thinneâ— in its substance but if most of curd 't is thicker yet all these may be corrected and amended for that which is too thick may be mended by an extenuating diet and the flegmatick matter may be avoided by a vomit of Oxymel and Exercise before meat the better to consume and attenuate the thickness of it The thinness of Milk is amended by contrary food such as doth incrassate it as Fromenty of Wheat and Rice Hogs-feet Calves-feet Trotters and sweet Wine unless somewhat else be in the way to hinder it Sometimes it happens that the Milk is more tart than it ought to be wherefore then all diligence must be had to feed upon such meats as are of the best juice till that acrimony at least be attempered Sometimes there is little or no milk in the breasts as after some sickness or notable distemper now turned into a bad habit or any other of what kind soever that possesseth those parts or is the cause but that shall not be our business to consider of now Now if these be not the causes let the Nurse use supping meats as Broths Possets c. and eat plentifully and use rubbings to her Breasts and Duggs exercising her hands and her Arms by domestick Employments or instead thereof let her dance the Child by which the aliment may be recalled into those parts Sometimes cupping-glasses to the Breasts with a fomentation of emollient herbs boiled in water and applied warm either with sponges or wollen-clothes after which chafe them with oyl of Lillies The seeds of Fennel and the roots of Parsnips boiled in Barley-water and buttered The broth of Hens or Capons with Cinnamon and Mace Or Poch'd-eggs with the seeds of Annis and Dill and all things else that are hot in the first and second degree are good Earth Worms not dung-hill ones six or seven of them dried and powdered and drank in Barley-water sugared for a fortnight together All these may be of good use in the defect of Milk As to the inconveniency if there be any in too much Milk If the Milk abound too much which sometimes is though seldome blamable Then use the decoction of Myrtleberries and red Roses and with clothes dipped in it lay them on the Breasts Or else clothes imbibed in Vinegar wherein Cummin-seeds bruised have been infused with Myrrh and Camphire By reason of the thickness of the Milk all those excrements that the Child
take Nutmegs Cloves Cubebs each a scruple Calamus Aromaticus Frankincense bark each half a dram Majoram water 3 ounces If in 20 days this doth not the cure then you must consult with the able Surgeon for the opening it SECT VI. Of Frights in the Sleep and Watching YOu must see to cure this presently for 't is the fore-runner of the Falling-sickness give good Milk and not too much to overcharge the Stomach let not the Child sleep presently after food but carry it about and Jog it to the bottom of the Stomach give it 2 or 3 spoonfuls of oil of Sweet Almonds or Honey of Roses If it come from a Feaver Teeth or Worms they are treated of a part As for the Childs watching you must take notice that a new born one sleeps more then it wakes because its brain is very moist and it slept in the Womb. If you cannot make it sleep by singing or rocking c. 't is a Disease and if not cur'd will produce Catarrhs Convulsions Feavers c. If it proceed from bad Milk that must be amended if from a Feaver or pain remove them and give sleeping Medicines to the Nurse if that will not do you may venture a little Lettice or Purcelan water SECT VII Of the Falling-sickness and Convulsion THe first is either by consent from parts below when the Milk corrupts in the Stomach or from its ill quality from the Nurses bad dyet or from Worms or Vapors or from the brain first when humors are bred there that cause it or from Tooth-ach or sudden fright To prevent it give the Child as soon as 't is born oil of Sweet Almonds Sugar-Candy and Anniseeds powdered The Florentines apply a Caustick to the hinder part of the Head the best part of the cure is the Nurses dyet If from corrupt Milk provoke vomit by holding down the Tongue and pour some Oil of sweet Almonds down the Throat The same means may be used in Convulsions only anointing the spine of the back with Oil of Chamomil St. John's wort Worms Goose-grease Foxes Oil c. SECT VIII Of pain in the Ears Moisture Ulcers and Worms THe first is allayed by using warm Milk to them or Oil of Violets or the decoction of Poppies for the moisture take Honey of Roses and Aqua Mellis and drop them into the Ears for Worms they are kil'd by washing the Ears with white Wine wherein Wormwood hath been boiled or drop in Hemp Oil with a little Wine SECT IX Of the Thrush bladders of the Gums and Inflammation of the Tonsils FOr the first wash the Mouth with Plantain water and Syrup of Mulberries with a little Sal Prunella the Bladders are cured by taking the powder of Lentils husked and laid upon them If the Tonsils of Infants chance to be inflam'd give them Honey of Roses Myrtles Pomegranates and Diamoron inwardly and oil of sweet Almonds Camomil and St. John's wort outwardly SECT X. Of the breeding of Teeth HEre the pain is great and many time kills the Child it happens about the 7th Month they breed first the fore Teeth then the Eye-Teeth and last of all the grinders 't is known by the Child 's often putting its Fingers to its Mouth by holding the Nipple faster then before and the Gum is white where the Tooth begins to come If the Teeth are long a breeding it causes Feavers and Convulsions of which many dye Their hard breeding is from thickness and hardness of the Gums therefore soften and loosen them by rubing them with your Fingers dipt in Honey and Butter or with the mucilage of Quinces made with Mallow water If the Gums be inflam'd add the juice of Houseleek and cream and let the Nurse keep a temperate dyet SECT XI Of a Catarrh Cough and difficult breathing THese proceed from much Milk that burthens the Stomach and many vapors from thence filling the Brain and if the brain be full of excrements they are dissolved either by inward heat or outward cold and so distill upon the Nose Jaws or Lungs which causes a Cough or short breathing moreover much food makes crudities in the first passages and Phlegmatick humors are bred by the Liver of crudity and thick humors whence unconcocted blood is sent by the Arterial Veins into the Lungs and pressing the pipes of the Lungs causeth difficult Breathing First let the Nurse keep a good dyet and fill not the Childs Stomach too full with Milk or other dyet and let the Nurse forbear all hot sharp salt sour things and such as fill the Head with Vapors and give her a pectoral decoction such as this take Figs and Jujubes each 10 Sebestens 30 Raisins stoned 10 drams Liquorice 2 drams Maiden hair and Violets each an ounce and half boil them in 3 pints of water till the 3d part be boiled away let her take 6 or 8 ounces of this every morning keep the belly open with Syrup of Roses Cassia or a Clyster or hold down the Tongue to provoke vomiting give syrup of Jujubes Maiden hair if the matter be thick give syrup of Hysop or Hore hound or an emulsion of oil of sweet Almonds and Pine-nuts made with Scabions water or make a Lohoc of diarios Diatragacanth frigid penids and syrup of jujubes If it be hot give Emulsions of the 4 great cold Seeds made with Barley-water and Almonds SECT XII Of the Hiccup and Vomiting THey come from corruption of the food in the Stomach or over fulness of milk or cold Air these hurt the expulsive faculty which stirs it self up to expel what offends it If from fulness of Milk the belly swells and there follows Vomiting if from corruption of Milk it may be the Nurse hath bad Milk the Child cryes and is in pain and the excrements smell of stinking Milk If from corruption put a feather dipt in oil to cause Vomiting then strengthen the Stomach with syrup of Mints Quinces or Betony c. Vomiting is from too much or bad Milk or from a moist Stomach for as dryness retains so moistness loosens If from much Milk they are better after vomiting if from corruption of milk what 's vomited is yellow green c. and stinks worms are known by their signs they that vomit from their birth are the lustiest for the Stomach not being used to meat and taking too much Milk breeds crudities or corrupts the Milk and 't is better to vomit these up but if it last long it causes a washing If from too much Milk give it less if corrupted amend it as before and cleanse the Child with Honey of Roses and then strengthen the Stomach as before and if the humor be sharp and hot give syrup of Pomegranates Currans Coral Apply Emplastrum crusta panis or the stomach cerat to the Stomach SECT XIII Of the pains and puffing of the Belly PAins are often with a Flux from corrupt Milk which breeds wind and sharp humors which gnaws the inward parts so do Worms The Child cryes