in the Tenth or Eleventh Month For the Matrix and Muscles of the upper Belly being extended beyond measure do inlarge the Fibers which cannot be Easily drawn together again having lost their Natural Strength and force To help this defect the cause being rightly understood such Medicines must be used as are proper to Mollifie and Strengthen the parts especially the Membranes that they may further dilate and stretch themselves by being made more supple and Gentle Anointing the Cartilages that Joyn the Os Pubis Sacrum Coceygis and Ilium at the time of Delivery And let the Woman take of Pellitory-Water two ounces Oyl of Sweet-Almonds one ounce well mingled together and pretty warm and after this some strengthening Cordials And this likewise much avails where there is any Calosity or hardness in the passage of Nature There are also other Accidents which must be provided against as the Flux of Blood and Convulsions in time of Labour These are very dangerous to the Mother and Child and often destroy both especially the former if of long continuance Because the Blood being the treasure of the Life the Spirits and Heart are carried away with it And again the Convulsions hurt the Brain that it cannot Communicate so much Spirit as is needful in this imergency for the Respiration of the Mother and the Child who Breathes only by the means of the Spirits that are Imparted by the Arteries of the Mother for want of which it is many times suffocated And these happen single or both together Make what haste you can to Deliver the Woman after having fortified her with strengthening Cordials which cannot however be conveniently done but by a Skilful Midwife of Courage and able Body or Chirurgion For if it be not soon done the Child will be brought forth Dead or if Alive hardly it lives long after But it must in this Case be considered whether the Woman be at her full Time and a necessity of Delivery requires it for some have Fluxes of Blood at four or five Months and then it is not practicable but rather to divert it by breaking a Vein or using such Medicines that may turn the course of it But at the full time though some are of Opinion to let Blood in such Cases is requisit yet what I propose always proves much more effectual the Woman being happily Delivered of either the one Birth or the other there yet remains a great deal more to be Considered in order to restore her to an Uprising Dyet in this Case must be prepared that may be suitable to the Weakness of the Womans Constitution For soon after Labour the Stomach cannot suffer or at least well Digest strong Meats and many that unadvisedly Eat such fall into Feavours and from them to the Grave Broths Panada's Jellys Poached Eggs and Gruels are the most proper for the first four or five days Then Barly-broth and so to stronger things by degrees as Gellys Chickens or small Birds And take a Drink between whiles viz. French Barly Corianderseeds and Cinamon boiled in spring Water straind and Sweetned with Sugar And for a Strengthening Liquor or Cordials Take a Capon parboile it then cut it in pieces and take of Baum Borrage and Bugloss each a Handful Put them with the Flesh of the Fowl into a Glass-Alimbec sprinkle them over with a dram of the Powder of Pearl and break in small pieces two or three Leaves of Gold then pour in some of the Water the Capon was sodden in Distil these in a double Glass or Balneo Mariae till there Issues a quart of distilled Water and let the Woman take an ounce of it twice or thrice a day This strengthens the Heart and Brain prevents fainting cold Sweats and much fortifies Nature If she be not Aguish or Feaverish she may Drink a little white-White-wine or Clarret wherein Borrage and Limon-Peel have been infused mixing with them some Syrup of Maiden-hair or other Astringent Syrups At eight days end the Womb being well Purged and Cleansed she may take stronger Meats But must be kept quiet from great Noises and close from too free an Air avoiding all Sadness and Grief that may afflict or depress the Spirits CHAP. XV. How her Belly c. must be Ordered after Delivery And what Physick and Cordials are proper from her Lying down to her Vprising Which many other things needful to be known and Practiced CAre also must be taken of her Breasts and Belly for the first anoint them with Oyl of Cammomile and Mirtle and Roses well mixed together Swathe or bind them up gently and beside a strengthening Sear-cloath layed to the Back apply to the Navel a Plaister of Galbanum two or three fingers broad And to keep the Milk from Curdling anoint the Stomach and Breasts with Oyl of Roses and Populeum A Bath upon this account is very convenient to strengthen the Delivered Woman which you may make by boiling Mother-wort Penny-Royal Agrimony Rose Leaves Cammomile Mallows and flowers of Mellilot in three parts Water and one of white-White-wine in which she may Bath herself all over or the Liquor warm applyed with Linnen Cloaths to her Body and before she may take conserve of Roses Bugloss and Candyed Citron Peel finly bruised and mixed in a Glass of Wine Griping Pains are many times troublesome to Women after Delivery To Remedy this let her take an ounce of the Oyl of Walnuts and half an ounce of Sweet Almonds drawn without fire in warm Ale or Wine And foment the Stomach Belly and lower parts with the Decoction of Cammomile Marsh-mallows Melilot Pelitory Linseed and Mugwort boiled in Milk and apply the Herbs warm Poultis-wise If the Matrix fall down Bath and Foment the Parts with the Decoction of Red-Roses Cammomile and Lavender boiled in Milk put it up gently followed by a Pessary dipt in Red Wine wherein Plantain white Muller and red Roses have been concocted If Hurts or Excoriations happen in the lower parts by Child bearing take Oyl of St. John's-wort and Oyl of Roses beat them up with the White of an Egg and apply a Linnen-cloath diped in this mixture to the afflicted part and lay a strengthening Plaister of Mirrh Mastick and white Bees-wax to the lower Region of the Belly If the after Purgings come not away kindly or in over abundance they must be helped or Restrained and by these a Womans Health or Sickness is guessed at during the time of her Lying-in For if they be of the Natural Colour and soon congeal it is in a sign she is in good Health and will continue so to her Uprising But being little in quantity I 'll coloured and do not congeal suddainly then Nature is out of order and proper Remedies must be given to prevent or remove Sickness If the Purgings be excessive then moderate letting Blood is held necessary and taking such astringents as may in some degrees restrain them for there is no means that makes better revulsions and draws the Blood sooner from
being rather to direct the order of a Woman in Child-bed for her own safety and that of her Child CHAP. XIII Of Natural and Difficult Births And how the Child ought to be Ordered when drawn forth With Receipts for many Cordials and Directions for other things useful on this Imergency IF there be a Natural Birth That is the Child coming with it's Head forward the Arms on the Side and the Throws encreasing there is little Difficulty or Danger Yet she must have great Courage herself and Encourage the Woman giving her Wine wherein Saffron has been infused or such things as Comfort the Heart as occasion requires yet in little Quantity Nothing must be done in Delivery hastily or rashly but Nature must have its course in a good measure it being the greatest helper in these Cases And because the Child doth come Naturally into the World with the Face downward when it is taken forth it must be turned on its Back to prevent Suffocation or drawing the Air too heavily And if the Navel-string as often happens be twisted about its Neck let her take it off gently If it be feeble or faint that it scarce can Breathe spurt a little Canary into the Mouth of it which by its striving will open the Pipes She may do the like into the Nose or Ears but very gently and but a very small quantity When it begins to Cry draw the Navel-string gently that the After-Birth may follow in its due time the Woman Coughing or Straining a little and holding Salt in her Hand fast grasped recollect her Breath and blowing hard the Midwife or her Assistant stroaking her Belly down gently And the Child being separated to prevent Fits give it a little Spoonful of Black-Cherry-Water with two or three drops of the Blood that proceeds from the Navel-string when cut which must be done about two handful from the Belly especially of a Boy making a Knot before the Incision Then dip Linnen cloaths in a warm Bath of Rose-Leaves Penny royal or any Comfortable Herbs or Flowers wrap it up warm and keep it near a Fire but not in a place where a free Air cannot come to it because the Lungs at first are weak and cannot draw strongly Cover the Head however with a thin Linnen Cloath and let it not come too near a great Light suddainly for fear of hurting and weakening the Sight Then Swathe it gently and give it some little Food or let it Suck some Woman whose Milk is of the same Sex but not the Mother because her's is not as yet proper for it for many Reasons which I willingly omit The Woman being thus safely Delivered her Legs must be layed gently straight and a fine Linnen Cloath or Rapper diped in warm Water and applyed all cold Airs excluded And after some Refreshment she may Slumber a little to recover Natures strength Then take Candle Panada Water-Gruel or what is most agreeable to stretch out the Bowells fill in some measure the Vacancy and prevent Windyness which is very offensive to Women new Delivered And if she find herself Faint and Uneasie let her take the following Cordial Drink Take the Syrup of Maid-hair one ounce Pellitory Water Cardus Water each half an ounce mingled in a quarter of a Pint of warm white-White-Wine And Anoint the parts with Oyl of Almonds drawn without Fire As for the Child when it has well Breathed and taken some refreshing Nourishment give it three scruples of Mithridate or Venice Treacle in a Spoonful of White-Wine or any proper Cordial Water If the Woman be weak in her Parts and Pains continue in her Back Flanks or Groin take a Sheepskin that is newly pulled off clap the Fleshy side about her and wrap her up warm in it and and it will wonderfully strengthen her if it be repeated every two days Or for want of this lay a Hares Skin or Rabits Skin taken off warm on her Belly But in my Opinion the former is a great deal better And to Lenify the distended parts Take Oyle of Hyperion and St. John's-wort each an ounce an ounce of the Oyl of Roses and two whites of Eggs finely beaten together and apply it as a Lineament and Pessary Then let her gently raise up her Thighs that her Knees may lie up to ease her Back When the Skin is taken off chafe her with Oyl of Roses Almonds and St. John's-wort Swathe her with soft Linnen three or four times doubled and beware she takes not Cold suppling het Breasts if given to Chaping Hardness or subject to Knots Tumours or the like with Oyl of Olives and Sweet Almonds And above all things keep the Chamber close and warm that she take not cold in any part for the parts distended by the force of Travel will easily contract Cold Airs And when she is desirous of Sleep before she goes to it let her take a refreshment of some strengthening Broths made of Veal Chickens or if she be more desirous of it a couple of Poached Eggs. Difficult Deliveries require something more than what I have mentioned and the Midwife must be yet more Careful herein because not only her Reputation but the Life of her Patient is mainly concerned in it There are many Births that require great Skill and Labour to bring them forth because they come Preposterously or contrary to the Natural one as lying side-ways in the Womb coming Stradling with the Feet forward or the Arms spread over the Head the Buttocks forward or the like and these must by the Midwifes Skill be reduced to their proper form if it may be and so drawn forth before the Woman be too far spent the Vital Spirits wasted or Nature enfeebled And if a Midwifes strength or Skill prevail not a Skillful Chirurgion must be sent for before it is too Late Some Midwives fancying in doing this their Reputations would suffer have kept their Patients in Pain and Hope till at last finding themselves Constrained to send when the Case was desperate they have been obliged to part with Woman or Child or both to the Grave CHAP. XIV What ought to be done if a Woman come before or after her Time and to bring away dead Children Also to stay the Flux and Remedy divers other Accidents happening to those newly Delivered TRavel may likewise prove Painful or Difficult when the Woman is Delivered Before or After her Time The First of these is when it comes in Six Seven or Eight Months which happens when the Womb is too Weak or Moist which softens the Neck of it and makes it dilate and Emit the Child before the due course of Natures Expired As also the Vessels to the Orifice whereof the After-Burthen is fastened begin to Relax by which means the Infant cannot be supported or remain in it's Natural Situation This Pain and Troublesome times happens when the Child grows so bigg that it stretches or Extends the Womb in every part by a great encrease or over-staying the time some times
the Nose and when it is taken out spurt up a little White-wine to make it sneze and keep it very warm If the Eares run or are stoped up drop in a drop or two of the Oyl of bitter Almonds once or twice a day cleansing them with Lint twisted at the end of a small Bod-kin or Wyer diped in Bettony-water If the Eares be Fretted behind or Galled take Nut Oyl half an ounce the like quantity of White Bees-wax and a little of the Juice of Housleek temper them over a gentle Fire till they may be spread like a Plaister and apply it to the Sore part If an Vlcer or Thrush happen in the Childs Mouth disolve a quarter of an ounce of Allom in an ounce of honey made thin with White-wine and Gargle the Mouth with it Then Cool the Mouth with Honey of Roses Syrup of Violets and Plantain Water well mixed together Inflamation or Sweling in the Gums to Remedy it Rub the Nape of the Neck the Jaws and Temples with Oyl of Roses as also the Gums with Honey of Roses and then the Juice of St. John's-wort well Incorporated over a gentle Fire laying a hot Figg flit in sunder to the Swelled place The string under the Tongue sometime comes from the bottom and reaches to the tip This requires only to be cut with a very small Instrument to a convenient proportion that the tongue may neither be straightned nor loll out to hinder the utterance of words and to cure the pain it may occasion rub it with honey The Cough is dangerous to little children by making them Strain cast too much To remedy it take a little Licorice Aniseeds Figs and a blade or two of Mace boil them well in Ale sweeten it with white Sugar-Candy and give the Child a spoonfull or two at a time pretty warm The Navel swelling is another Grief Incident to Children wherefore when it is any ways Inflamed anoint it with Vnguentum Rosatum and Populeon mixed together and give it cooling things so the swelling will abate by swathing gently with a Linnen Cloth and laying on a Poultis of Mallows Cammomile and Hoggs-Lard Griping and Fretting of the Bowels occasioned by too much Moistness or Saltness is not only Painful but Dangerous to Children For this a Clister of cooling Herbs boiled in Milk and seasoned with Sugar is a seasonable relief taking immediately after it a dram of Venice Treacle disolved in a spoonful of treacle-Treacle-water Worms are very frequent and troublesome in Children Taints their Breath and makes them Pine away whether in the Belly or Stomach Therefore to remove them with the slimy cold Humour they are bred of Boil some Tops of Rhue in white-White-Wine sweeten it and give the Child Morning and Night very warm Then Cummin-seed Navel-wort mix with them a little Ox-gall and grated Nutmeg lay them between two thin Cloaths and apply them warm to the Belly and Stomach Teeth in Breeding cause Pain and many times Feavours To make them breed easily beat Corral to Powder mix it in a little dissolved Allom and Honey rub the Gums hard with it and it will make way for the Teeth to come out the easier And if notwithstanding they come not forward kindly an incision may be made in the Gums And to asswage and ease the Pain in breeding Teeth string the small Roots of Smallage like a Neck-lace and tye it about the Childs Neck Convulsions or Fits of the Mother are very dangerous and troublesome For this anoint the Stomach and Temples with Oleum Ireum or with Oyl of Lillies give it agrain of Bezor in a spoonful of Plantain-water and Bathe the Forehead with the distilled Water of sweet Marjorum Ruptures or the falling down of the Tail-gut must be taken speedy care of This happens sometimes to come into the World with them To remedy this the parts swelling Out or falling Down may be bathed with the Decoction of Roses Melilot Flowers of Cammomile Knot-grass in fair-water Then apply this Plaister to the Part or as near as may be viz. Take Powder of Mastick Olibanum and Sarcocol each a dram Syprus-Nuts two drams bees-wax and Oyl of Mastick each half an ounce make them into a Plaister over a gentle fire by well mixing bind and keep up the parts and let the Feeding for sometime be sparing especially give nothing that causes Windyness or Cold afflicting Humours that Lax the Parts and mainly occasion these defects but rather take such things as are Drying and Restringent To retain Urin and not Piss a Bed Take the Powder of a dryed Acorn and that of the Inner Skin of the Gizard of a Capon give a dram at a time in a spoonful of White-wine CHAP. XIX Of the Small Pox in Children It 's Cause Symptoms and Cure THe Small Pox is a Disease very incident to Children and is so generally known that I need not use many words to describe it It proceeds from adust Blood mixt with Flegm and Choller and always beginneth with a Fever soon after which there ariseth small Pustula's upon the Skin throughout all the Body which do not suddenly come forth but by intermission in some more or less according to the quality of the Body infected therewith If these Pustula's appear red with general pain and great heat in the Body it is a sign it proceeds from Blood If they come from Choller they will appear of a Yellowish Red and Clear Colour with a Pricking Pain in all the Body But if they come of Flegm they will appear of a Whitish colour and scaly And if they come of Melancholy they will appear Blackish with a pricking Pain When they appear in a short time and look red in their coming out and white after they are come forth growing speedily to Maturation and that the Child draws its Breath easily and the Fever leaves it there is great hopes of its recovery But when the Pox lies hidden within and appears not outwardly or if after they are come out they strike in again and Vanish away or if they look of a Black Blewish and Green colour and are attended with difficulty of Breathing and a Flux or Lask also when the Pox run together in Blisters like scalding Bladders and then on the sudden do sink down and grow dry with a hard black Scar or Crust as if it had been burnt with a hot Iron all these are very ill signs and denotes Death In the Cure of this distemper the usual way is to let Blood in the Basilica Vein in the right Arm But in Children and those that are very weak I hold it better to let it alone and leave the work to Nature especially in Sucking Children For when we see Nature endeavouring to expel the Malignity we ought not to use any means at-all but leave the whole Operation to Nature which we must only help by keeping the Body in a reasonable heat But if the Pox is slow in coming forth you must help Nature with Cordials
great Straining and an hour after take Syrup of Violets an Ounce in a quarter of a Pint of warm new Milk Vomiting is another defect but must not however be too suddainly stopt because if it be not violent it doth some good by avoiding the abundance of humour amassed together in the Stomach which is indeed the cause of it or else some sharp and biting humour that does stir and provoke it But it happeneth oftentimes that this Vomiting is so violent that even the Sustenance that should Nourish the Mother and Child cannot remain a convenient time for digestion but is cast up and therefore to Remedy this Let the Person so afflicted see that she use wholesome Diets eat Moderately and by degrees not much nor over-hastily Take a gentle Purge but in it neither Diagridium nor Colloquintida but rather Rhue or Rhuebarb infused in White-wine over a gentle fire The compound Syrup of Cichory with Syrup of Rhuebarb which not only Evacuates but Strengthens or the Syrup of Damask Roses with Manna dissolved in it These are so harmless that the Niceness of the Dose need not be disputed Pains in the Stomach Flank or Belly often happens to Childing Women and therefore let them know these are in this case much occasioned by Windiness the parts being Lax or sometimes the Wind is shut up in the Womb. To take away this cause therefore the party must shun all manner of Moist and Windy Meats Take a grentle purge if it be requisite and then apply this Fomentation viz. Flowers of Cammomile and Featherfew each two handfuls Red-Roses half a handful Anniseeds and Fennelseeds each two Drams Lawrel-bark and Bay-berrys each a dram Bruise these grosly and Boil them in three Pints of Clarret till a fourth part be Consumed dip into the Liquor a Linnen Cloth and Foment the parts grieved as hot as may be and lay on the sollid matter Poultis-wise and let the Party chew Fennel Anniseeds and eat first in a Morning a Toast soaked in Hypocras or Drink a little Dram of the distilled Water of Citron or Limmon-Peels infused in good Spirits Pains of the Back Hips and Groine and difficulty of making Urin are likewise incident to Childing Women and this happens many times according to the carrying the Child in the Belly viz. High or low more backward forward or sidelings and indeed the carrying very low is the occasion of most of these Pains especially in the Hips and Groine they proceeding more from the heavyness of the Children than from any humour for the Womb then being great and thick on which side soever it resteth it draws and strains the Ligatures on the other Parts To prevent which the Party must not be extraordinary stirring especially not Jolted nor attempting to Jump Eat but little at a time though the oftener and of such Meats as are light and easie of Digestion for the Stomach being overpressed by fulness presses the Matrix by stretching the Belly In this Case Swathes Anointed with Oyl of Marsh-mallows and Cammomile are proper to shrink and keep up the Belly Anointing her Back with Vnguentum Comitissae or take Mastick and Mirtle-Berrys half an ounce each Powder of Red Corral a dram sealed Earth two drams beat them unto fine Powder then add three ounces of melted Bees-Wax and Oyl of Roses with Deers-Suet as much as will make them up into a Plaister and lay it to the Reins of the Back so that it may a little encline upon the Flaâ—ks and Bathe the Thighs and lower part of the Belly with the Decoction of Marsh-Mallows Water-Cresses Pellitory of the Wall Pimpernel and bruised Linseed each a little handful boild in a gallon of Water to the Consumption of a third part Palpitations of the Heart and Swoonings are to be considered in the next Place The first of these being extraordinary many times proceeds from Vapours arising from the Womb and other parts nearer inclosed in the Arteries and through them conveyed to the Heart whose offensiveness disorders the pure Spirits and causes those Unnatural Palpitations the Heart Labouring by motion to expel those Vapours that make it Sicken and occasion many Evils if not timely prevented or removed And this is to be perceived by laying your hand on the Womans Breast for if it rise strongly and the Ribs as it were are lifted up with it keeping time to the Palpitation then it proceeds from Vapours To remove them take a gentle Purge and Bleed moderately take such Powders or Cordials as fortifie the Heart fasting in a Morning as Aqua Mirabilis Dr. Stephens's Water Powder of Bezars-stone and the Powder of the Bone of a Stags Heart mixed together half a dram at a time and these will not only dissipate the Vapours but prevent Swoonings Faintings cold Sweats The Heart must likewise be outwardly Fortified by laying a soft quilted Stomacher to the Stomach and Region of the Heart and lay a cooling Cataplasme as Mallows Grounsil Cammomile and Orpin beaten together with Oyl of Roses and the white of an Egg. Then for a Fomentation let her use the Water of Bugloss Burrage Baum Orange-flower Roses Cardus Benedictus and Scordium infusing in them Saunder Coriander or Angellica seeds or any Cordial Flowers The Cough is a very troublesome thing to Women with Child and very dangerous if it be violent causing Pains in the Head Flanks Sides and Belly Vomitings Unrest and many other Miseries with frequent Miscarriages and Abortions And to keep from this Grievance all Salt Meats Spiced Meats and all sharp and biting things especially if the Cough be caused by Vapours or distillation of a thinn or serous Humour To Remedy this boil a quart of Ale that has well worked and setled till a third part be consumed then fill it up again with White-wine and put into it four or five slices of Licorice as many Blew-Figgs a few Cammomile Flowers Anniseed and Coriander seeds each a quarter of an ounce let them seeth about a quarter of an hour strain and press out the Liquid part and Drink a quarter of a pint three times a day very hot And to make it more Pallatable it may be sweetned with white-Sugar Candy If the Throat be Sore or Swelled with it take Oyl of sweet Almonds an ounce White-Sugar in Powder half an ounce Rose Water half an ounce mingle these over a gentle Fire with a quarter of an ounce of Allum disolved in the Rose-water Sleeping well without any Medicines to enforce it mainly contributes to the staying the Defluxion of Rheums that occasion the Cough And after you have taken the former going to Bed take of the Syrup of Jubebs and Violets each a quarter of an ounce mixed with two drams of Diascordium Costiveness is another accident afflicting Childing Women causing them to strain themselves and put themselves thereby in danger of Miscarriage To prevent or Remedy this a good Diet must be had eating Meats that moisten and keep the Bowels slippery and open But this must
the place to which it floweth than the opening of a Vein And at the same time apply the following Cataplasme to the lower parts of the Belly viz. Bole Armenick and Dragons Blood each an ounce Gum Tragacanth half an ounce Mirtle Berrys and dryed Rose Leaves beaten to Powder each a dram the Juice of Plantaine an ounce make them into the thinness of a Plaister with Vnguetum Comitissae To make the Purges come freely boil a little Senna in White-Wine with a blade or two of Mace Rosemary Flowers or Tops and a little slice of Rhuebarb drink the Liquid part twice a day two spoonfuls at a time and apply to the Navel a Poltis of Featherfew Groundsil and Melilot drinking ever and anon a Glass of old Mallago wherein blew Currans have been boiled with some slices of Licorice Eating such things as are Moistening and opening to dilate the Orifices of the Veins which are much stoped by the long restraint of their wonted Flowings Sometimes the stayings proceed from suddain Griefs or Anger or other Passions of the Mind which must be avoided because they thicken and Vitiate the Blood Taken then Succory Burnet Endive Agrimony Violet-Flowers boil them in Sweet-Wine and let the Woman drink a little Glass of it warm with the Syrup of Maiden-hair dissolved in it and use a warm Fomentation of opening Herbs as Cammomile Mlliot Parsly let her Eat Green Peas Asparagus c. To bring away a false Conception after Delivery viz. If it be large and came not away with the usual Purgings it may be thought to stick to the side of the Womb and in danger of turning into a Mole which will prove yet more troublesome and painful To bring them away First she must use resolving Baths to loosen and moisten the whole Body that the Matrix may be enlarged and the passage dilated Secondly Clisters of cooling and supling Herbs Thirdly Gentle Purges to cause the excrements to avoid as also to renew the Natural Courses Fourthly By Injections which may provoke and stir up the Expulsive Faculties of the Womb and with them move and bring away the False Conception If the Neck or Sides of the Womb be Glutinated or Joyned together the Woman must be Purged and let Blood yet moderately as also Bathe are succesful made with Emolient Herbs Barks or Roots and Fomentations of the like used to the lower parts to soften and moisten the affected Places And thus much may suffice for the Ordering a Woman from her Lying in to her going a broad again And If I have passed over any Accident that does not usually or by the course of Nature c. happen no doubt but a Skillful Midwife or Nurse will find a means to Remedy it or for defect of Skill timely apply themselves to some able Surgeon or Physitian And so from hence I haste to the Child which I have left so long to give Directions for the well Ordering it as to its Health and Thriving c. CHAP. XVI Of Nurses How they ought to be Qualified and Dieted IN the first place if you take not the care of bringing it up your self make choice of a good wholesome cleanly Nurse whose Complexion and Constitution is agreeable to the Childs See that her Milk be of middle Substance neither too Thick or inclining to Curdling or too Thin or Waterish for the first clogs the Lungs and Stomach of the Child being of a bad and hard digestion and the latter Causes Scourings Gripings and yeildeth but little Nourishment As for the quantity of Milk a Nurse should rather have too much than too little that the Infant may draw it the more freely without hard Sucking to gather windyness in the Stomach She must also be of a Merry Temper not Peevish or Fretful given to Anger or any Violent Passions for these tiring the Humours have a great effect on the Child in as much as the Natural Temperature of the Milk is in some measure altered or changed by it And this is known by the Colour if it be blew it denotes the Woman given to Melancholly if Yellowish to Choller if something inclining to Red it is not well digested and denotes a weakness in the Breasts through Cold Hurts or the like defects or an Ill Quality or defect in the Blood Therefore that which is Nourishing and wholesome is very White in a Medium between Thick and Thin and this may be tryed on a Looking-Glass or any other smooth Body for a little being spurted on it if when the Glass is reared a little sloaping it run off presently then it is too Thin if it sticks and is hard to move then it is too Thick or Fat but if it slide away leasurely then it is between both As to the Age of the Nurses Milk I am of opinion it is the best at two Months Lying-in so may continue pretty well till the eighth Month but then it continually declines It is also to be considered that to breed good Milk her Meats and Drinks must be wholesome and Seasonable She must avoid hot Spices strong-Strong-waters Spirits and Sweet Wines at least not take any great quantity of them or little quantities often And by reason the Sex of the Nurses Child is likewise to be considered I hold that the Milk of a Male Child is to be preferred and for this Reason viz. Because it is hotter better Concocted and not so excrementious as of a Girl And further an enquiry ought to be made whether the Nurse you propose went her full time for this is of Moment because if she did not she may happen to be of a Sickly weak Constitution though she may at sundry times appear outwardly to be Healthful Further as to Dyet all Onions Leeks Garlick Mustard Strong Cheese and Bak'd Meats with hot Seasonings ought to be forborn And Veal Mutton Chickens Nourishing Broth and such Meats as breed good Juice chosen Fish is too cold and moist unless she be of a hot Constitution Then let her put into her Pottage Purslain Sorrel Borrage Bugloss Letuce Succory Endive c. And drink Beer Ale or Wine and Water mixed Mead Metheglin but not too much Cyder because it sharpens the Milk and Gripes the Child Her exercise must be moderate and her hours of Sleeping seasonable and take special Care to keep her little charge Clean and Sweet in all parts viz. The Nose Ears Eyes and Mouth as well as the lower parts If she perceives any part of the Child to Warp or incline to Crookedness she must be careful to Swathe it in time whilst it is tender that by degrees it may return to straightness or if it seem difficult to her to Acomplish it let her Advise the Parents or some able Surgion before it be gone too far for this has been a misery to many in growing Crooked that might at first have been prevented wth a little Care and Cost when the Bones and Ligatures were more Flexible CHAP. XVII How to Order the
Child in it's Dressings Lying Sleeping Diet c. WHen the Child is opened to be Dressed before a Fire Rub and chafe the Back Belly and Hips gently with your Hand sometimes rubing your hand over with Oyl of Roses or sweet Almonds This loosens the Skin and supples the Flesh stirs the Humours from setling too much in the Joynts or any of the outward parts and makes it grow And above all beware not to Swathe it too hard yet so that it may not Lax or warp in any of it's Members And when it is placed in the Cradle take care it lies not too long on the Back or on one side but shift and turn it the Head being kept a little raised that the Excrements may more easily flow from the Brain through the Emunctories Let the Cradle be placed in a convenient warm Room or Chamber not subject to too great a Light or too much Gloomyness for a great Light is offensive to the Eyes Brain of a Child they being but weak for a considerable time after the Birth and too much dark keeps them so and oppresses it by stiring up the Melancholly Humour Too much Heat is apt to make it catch cold when it comes into the Air. And cold cause flegmatick Humours which glutination occasion stuffings or stopping in the Head and therefore the Medium is to be preferred Set not the Cradle or Bed too near a Window or Fire least the Light of either attract its Eyes and by straining awry to look at it becomes squinting But let it be placed rather right against the Light that it may look directly forward And as for Sleeping untill he be two Years Old there need be no restraint of it but rather when it is Froward or Restless means used to provoke Sleep unless imoderate Sleep as sometimes it happens be occasioned by a defect in Nature as too great a Moisture or Wateryness of the Brain c. Then such Remedies must be used as may Remedy it viz. Boil Cinamon Mace or Nutmeg in the Milk or give it some of the distilled Water of these in a little Wine Suckling the Child must be had a regard to as to the Manner and Quality As to the first of these sometimes spirt some Milk either upon its Lips or into its Mouth and if it 's drawing be strong gently squeez the breast with your finger that the Milk may flow and become more easie so that it may rather seem a Pleasure than Pain but so that it may not swallow too fast for fear of a suffocation or too great an oppression of the Stomach As to the second the quantity cannot easily be set down some Children according to their stronger or weaker Constitutions requiring more than others and therefore the Nurses discretion must proportion it for too much is almost as bad as too little for this breeds gross Humours as the other on the contrary causes a Pining or Wasting And it is held for the first five days Suckling twice a day is sufficient and so as it gathers strength the times may be increased but not too many as many Foolish Nurses do claping the Child to the Breast every time it Cries and seems froward Sweetness and Cleanlyness about Children much contributes to their Health and Growth and this must be observed often especially when it Wakes or is taken up And above all avoid Frighting them for that makes them many times fall into Fits and Epilepsies or falling Sickness and indeed intimidates their Spirits by making so early an impression on them that growing up with them they are apt to suddain Frights Startings and fears at the fancy of Goblings Spectres and such Old Wives Tales as they have been Bug-bear'd with in their Infancy But not to dwell longer upon what every Skillful Nurse cannot but understand I shall proceed to what is more Material viz. To Treat of the Diseases incident to Children and prescribe proper Remedies which a Nurse by these directions may give them for the restoring Health c. CHAP. XVIII Of the Diseases Incident to Children With their Cure HUrts and Bruises often happen to a Child coming out of the Womb especially in hard Labour and when any such appear immediately make a Fomentation of Roses Melilot Cammomile Flowers and St. John's wort in White-wine and bathe the parts with it warm Anointing it afterward with a mixture of the Oyl of these Give it a little Black-Cherry-Water or Canary wherein Saffron has been tempered and let it rest laying a Lenitive Plaister of White-bread and Bole-Armoniack boild in Milk Swelling of the Head has sometimes it's beginning from the Womb for the Mother being with Child and not careful of her Diet Crudities and Raw Humours are thereby gathered and breed a Waterish Blood which the Child feeding on and not able to digest or evacuate during it's being in the Matrix it settles in the Head and causes Swellings and sometimes from other Causes viz. Windyness c. If it proceeds from Water it subjects the Child to Vertigo's and Epilepsies little Sleep much Fretfulness and Crying Wind causes Pains and Drowsiness for these let the Child have pleasant Scents to refresh the Brain as Flowers or Spices but not any strong Perfumes Give not any thing that breeds much moisture or Phlegme or any ways subjects it to Windyness Wash the Head with the decoction of Sage Bettony Agrimony Calamint Anny-seeds Fennel-seeds Flowers of Cammomile Red-Roses boiled in spring Water And lay to the Crown of the Head and Temples a Plaister viz. Bees-wax an ounce Oyl of Cammomile and Roses and Vnguentum Comitissae each half an ounce Sage and Bettony Dryed to powder each two dreams and give it a little Manna disolved in Milk that may gently move the Humours Children have sometimes excrescences of Flesh on the Roofs of their Mouths The Lips cleft commonly called a Hare-Lip And to Remedy these it is properly a Surgeons business and beyond the Sphere of Nurses by reason they require Incision and therefore I forbear to give directions in them and require the Nurse or Parents as soon as the Child is of strength to endure the operation to send for an ingenious Artist to Remedy these defects Diseases in the Eyes Ears and Nose often happen and for the first if there be a Dullness of Sight Redness or Watery Rheums in the Eyes wash them with Plantain and Eyebright Water Morning Evening beat up a Yolk of an Egg with some Oyl of Roses a Rotten Apple some Crumbs of White-bread and a little Bole-Armorick spread it thinn upon a fine Cloath and clap another very thin Cloath upon it to prevent it's going into the Childs Eyes and so bind it over them when it is layed down to rest and renew it every six hours and the effects will answer your Expectation If the Nose be stoped with Slimy or Tough Matter so that there is a great difficulty in Breathing then dip a Lint in Vnguentum Rosatum and thrust up