little with the Spirit of Vitriol or Sulphur if it be per campanam which is drawn from a Bell Still it is the better which is a singular Medicine to allay and correct the inordinate Thirst and Heat in Fevers Medera Fial French or Sherry Wines you may use Malaga or any Sweet Wine is not so good neither Syrups or any Sugared or Honeyed Meat or Drink And when they begin to recover 〈◊〉 plainest Broths and Gruels are the best till then a little is too much and if you did use Salt and Vinegar instead of Spices and Sugar the sick would like it the better and it would be better for them a few Prunes and Currants if the sick like them may be used But some may say How shall we do that live far up the Country where we have no Wines nor can get neither of those Spirits the best that I can advise you to is Milk boiled and turned with some Vinegar or Verjuice the Curd being taken away whereof he may drink freely but he is to take it alway hot and the hotter the better This course is to be taken after the cause is removed by my powder or something else but I know not what otherwise this or any other is like to do but little good Bleeding Purging Clysters Cordials Juleps c. are but Trifles in curing a Fever they do at best but correct the Symptoms or Effects I will do more good with one dose of my Powder and one of my Pills than they with all those in a Month. If the Fever be continual and come by a Surfeit or otherwise so that the Patient feel a Load or Weight at his Stomach or hath a propensity to vomit the first thing to be done is to give a Vomit whereby the Stomach and first passages may be freed of the grossest of the Diseasie Matter wherein the Fever sits or hath taken up its Inn to which purpose you may give half an ounce of the Infusion of Crocus Metallorum or six Drams or a whole Ounce according to the age and strength of the Patient in a small Draught of warm Posset-drink but if you know any better Antimonial Preparation then give it That being done ℞ Tartar Vitriolat six Grains Volatile Salt of Amber and Harts-horn each seven or eight Grains mix them and give the mixture twice a day in a little thin Broth or Water Gruel This is abstersive and Diuretick and will cleanse the Stomach and Intestines of the remaining Sordes and expel them by Urine For the Feverish Thirst give the dulcified Spirit of Nitre or of Salt in Posset drink and all the Liquids they take from five or six to ten or twelve drops at a time Keep the Patient in a small breathing Sweat either with the Posset-drink before-mentioned by Mr. Couch or with treacle-Treacle-water and Powder or rather the Tincture of Virginia Snake-root or which is most excellent if you can get it the Aqua Prophylactica of Sylvius de le Boe of which Take three Ounces Water of Carduus and Borrage each one Ounce Syrrup of Citron Peels an ounce and an half mix them and take it often by a spoonful or two at a time But instead of this if the Fever be malignant give Bezoardicum minerale to eight or ten Grains every third or fourth hour in a spoonful or two of good Canary But because the Aqua Prophylactica mentioned is rarely to be had at any shop I will here describe the making thereof for the sakes of those who are willing to make it ℞ Roots of Angelica Zedoary of each an ounce Butterbur two ounces the leaves of Rue four ounces of Balm Scabious and Marygold Flowers each two ounces unripe Walnuts cut two pounds fresh Citrons cut one pound Let them be all beaten together and pour upon them six quarts of the best distilled Wine-Vinegar let them stand in digestion all night and then distil them by a very easie fire without burning till they be dry and keep the distilled liquor for use It is very profitable in all Fevers especially in those which are malignant and the Plague In the declining of the Fever if sleep be wanting this following mixture will much avail both to cause rest and refresh the Spirits ℞ of Treacle water an ounce the thin Syrup of Corn Poppies an ounce or an ounce and a half Laudanum Londinens or rather that of Paracelsus two grains mix them and let the Patient drink it at the hour of Sleep But give nothing wherein there is Opium or Poppies in the beginning of a Fever because they tie up the Archaeus of the Stomach and first passages thereby hindering him from separating and expelling the occasional cause of the Disease For Agues or intermitting Fevers whether they be Quotidians Tertians or Quartans proceed as followeth ℞ Of Salt of Amber twenty grains Tartarum Vitriolatum six grains Diagridium seven eight nine or ten grains according to the strength of the Patient mix them into a Powder and give it in a little Posset-drink or thin Broth four or five hours before the time of the Fit Repeat it two or three times if need be but if the Ague be not then gone give the following mixture about an hour or an hour and an half before the Fit comes the Patient being in Bed and disposing himself to sweat ℞ of Carduus Water two ounces Treacle Water two drams Salt of Wormwood half a dram Spirit of Salt Armoniac ten grains Syrup of Corn Poppies half on ounce mix This if the Patient sweat well with it frequently removes the Ague This following also hath cured many without any other Medicine ℞ of the Salt of Wormwood and Carduus each fifteen grains Tartar Vitriolat six grains Sugar of Pearls half a dram powder and mix them and give it half an hour or an hour before the Fits access The Juice of Featherfew being drank about half an ounce in a glass of Wormwood Wine is profitable against the Quartan or fourth Ague These Remedies I have used with good success but never found any thing so certain and effectual in Fevers as my Species Febrifuga and Pillula Balsamica A Dropsie There are three sorts of Dropsies viz. Anasarca Ascites and Timpanites the two first are most from Water The last Timpany is more from Wind. Anasarca is when the extreme parts swell but when the Belly then it is Ascites The Cause I do not believe as hath generally been received that it proceeds from a Distemper of the Liver and that to be the principal part affected but I have more reason to think it to proceed from an obstruction or impediment in one of the Kidneys for commonly they that are troubled with Gravel and Stone in the Kidneys are Hydropical and seldom any that have been affected with either Anasarca or Ascites but they have observed a Dolor in their Reins to precede it and so that Water which should be transferred through the Kidneys to be evacuated by the Bladder is forced out
one may judge it to be an Arcanum Catholicum or an universal Remedy which I know this Powder I tell you of hath perfectly effected as I have well experienced And in this last I commonly give my Balsamical Pills the next night to consolidate the Excoriations which the morbifick matter hath caused In all Fluxes of the Belly whether bloody or not you may do as followeth First give half a dram or two scruples or a dram of the Powder of Toasted Rhubarb mixed with a little Conserve of Red Roses and made into a Bolus Then â„ž of the Conserve of Red Roses Mint of each an ounce Orange Pill candied six drams Red Coral in fine Powder a dram Diascordium two drams Syrup of Myrtles sufficient to make a soft Electuary let the Patient take it often about a dram at once Or this â„ž of Mint Water and Cinnamon Water each an Ounce Plantane Water two ounces Syrup of Comfrey an ounce and an half Laudanum two grains mix them and let the sick take it by a spoonful every half hour In the Flux with the Griping of Guts as also in others this following is very good â„ž of the best Cinnamon Water three ounce of Diascordium three drams let them be well mixed and give it by two spoonfuls at a time pretty often Either this or the former will both stay the Vomiting and bridle the Flux The following Clyster is also good to alleviate the sharpness of the matter and ease the excoriated Guts â„ž of new Milk half a pint or better in which quench a piece of red hot steel once or twice to which add half an ounce of Venice Turpentine dissolved in the yolk of an Egg Honey of Roses an ounce common Balsam of Sulphur ten or twelve drops mix and make a Clyster The Pill alone will cure any Flux or Loosness whatsoever presently yea the Bloody Flux in two three or four days according to its magnitude but in that case it is good to continue the use of it a day or two after the Flux is stayed lest the Acrimonious Ferment not being quite destroyed should reassume its force and cause the Disease to return Therefore in such Countries where this Malady is in a manner Epidemical as Ireland and perhaps some other places did they but know the worth of this Pill they would undoubtedly prize it at a high rate and rescue many a miserable person from the devouring jaws of death Calculus Renum or Stone or Gravel in the Reins or Kidneys THe Stone or Gravel in the Reins or Kidneys as it is the sharpest of Diseases so it hath been the longest in curing though the present Fit or Pain is soon remedied I never knew any Man or Woman that was past forty five or forty six years of age that was ever perfectly cured but once or twice a year after they have been troubled with it more or less though I knew a Gentlewoman that was free from any Fit nigh two years and then assaulted her again as violently as at first Cause Those Paroxysms or Fits that come by Intervals which are so dolorous do not proceed from the Gravel or Stone generated but from the Kidney generating which may be affected either primarily from a debility or vitiousness of its own Ferment or casually from an excess in quantity or being too sharp or salt in quality and in regard it is so sensible a part must needs stir up an inflammation which maketh those cruel Tortures And should all the Gravel and Stone come away the pain would not be the less until the Kidney it self be reduced to its right temper For we see how vain and useless all those things have proved that have been given to absterge and force away the Gravel and Stone nay they have much more exasperated the pain and made it more And besides that the Gravel and Stone are not the cause of those Tortures I find by this Powder which hath perfectly freed them from all their pain in two or three hours and no Gravel or Stone hath come from them neither that day nor the next Again how many have I seen in perfect health that have voided a great quantity of Gravel at a time without the least pain it would be in one as well as in another By any Weakness Consumption Inflammation or any Distemper of the Kidney Gravel may be caused so that Gravel is the product not the producer or primitive cause of this pain In this Disease the Belly is to be kept loose which may be well performed by this following â„ž of the Pulp of Cassia newly drawn four ounces Tartar Vitriolated two drams powder it and mix to the mixture add ten or twelve drops of oil of Juniper Take of it once in three or four days at night going to Bed at each time six drams or an ounce which will give two or three Stools the next day Then give the following Powder Take of Tartar Vitriolated a dram and a half Crabs-eyes Salt of Bean-stalks of Broom of Restharra and Pidgeons dung each two scruples mix and make a Powder The Dose is a scruple or more twice a day in Parsley or Saxifrage Water When the pain is very great and the Urine stopped the following potion may be given to the comfort of the sick Take of fine Venice Turpentine washed a scruple dissolve it in the yolk of a new laid Egg by beating them well together then put them to a quarter of a pint or half a pint of new Milk and let the patient drink it off at once Wild Carrot Seed being boiled in Ale and the Ale drank two or three times a day is good both to hinder the increase of the Stone by resisting the putrefactive stonyfying odour or Ferment and also to diminish it being grown but its use must be continued a Month together at the least The German Academ Curios in their first Volumn published in the Year 1670 observat 107. highly commend the Decoction of Paul's Bettony for expelling the Stone being drank in a large quantity and continued for some time an example of which is there set down at large of a certain Woman who was freed from a Stone in the left Kidney by the use of the said Decoction after it had been her miserable Companion for sixteen years The Pill being taken in a full Dose and dissolved in a Glass of well warmed White or Rhenish Wine or where that cannot be had Ale and so drank gives present ease in the most grievous pains occasioned by Stone or Gravel in the Kidneys when all other Remedies fail and I remember once a Gentlewoman that I gave it to either at the first or second Dose voided three Stones of an untoward Figure with much pain and remained free from that tormenting dolor with which she was wont to be often exercised for the space of three years But for the Stone in the Bladder I do not know that either the Powder or Pill will do any thing as to
morning she took a Dose of the Powder and at night a Dose of the Pill but sleeping very soundly with the Cloaths off of her got cold which turned to an Ague after she had had two Fits she took a Dose of the Powder an hour before the access of the third and so was cured of her Ague the next day she fell into a Fit of the Cholick and Stone for which she took a Dose of the Pill which gave her ease and by another Dose the night following was quite freed Thus you see divers Diseases and those not trivial ones neither to be cured by the same Medicine This was performed by a Gentleman in that Town that buys those Medicines of me This Disease having its Inn in the thick Guts particularly the Colon from whence it hath its denomination may be eased by Clysters for which purpose the following is good ℞ of the Seeds of Coriander Annise Fennel Carraway each a quarter of an ounce let them be all well bruised in a Mortar then boil them in a pint of Posset-drink gently for a quarter of an hour in a Vessel close covered then strain it and add thereto two ounces of Oil of Cammomile and if you will a little Canary and let it be administred conveniently hot If you put to it six or seven drops of the Oil of Harts-horn it will be then stronger and better The Fume or Smoak of Tobacco is a present remedy for ease being blown up into the Guts by a Pipe put into the Fundament The forementioned Drink with Seeds is also good in this Disease And forasmuch as the Chollick is many times wont to be accompanied with a grievous Symptomatical Vomiting it is necessary that it should speedily be stopped not only in regard of its own molestation but also because it hinders the retention of any Medicine in the Stomach to which end use the following mixture ℞ of Simple Mint Water three ounces Aqua Mirabilis an ounce Tincture of Cinnamon two drams Laudanum Opiatum three grains Syrup of Myrtles and Mint of each half an ounce mix and let it be taken often by a spoonful at a time After the violence of pain is over purge the Body gently with this following ℞ of fine Manna an ounce and a half Cream of Tartar half a dram in powder mix them and lot them be dissolved in a draught of warm Ale or rather Posset-drink and give it in the morning fasting Timpanites or the Windy Dropsie THis Timpany ariseth from a stercorous or dungy Ferment in the Sacculus or blind Gut from Meats that are not perfectly freed from their stomachical sharpness and there being obstructed ferments putrefies from whence this foetid aiery blast proceeds indeed the worst of all sorts which is breathed forth to the Peritoneum and so inflates the whole Abdomen That it is produced of such a stinking Air proceeding from some putrefied matter I am very certain but whether it takes its Rise from the blind Gut as a worthy Author affirms or from the Mesenterium as I rather think is controverted and that this dungy matter might be sucked up by the Mesariack Veins with the Chyle but what I am not sure of I shall not speak unto I never had one under my consideration of this Distemper since I had the knowledge of this powder and therefore I cannot speak any thing by experience in this Disease but undoubtedly since it doth unobstruct the Kidneys and absterge what is vitious in them it must needs be good for this And I perswade my self whosoever shall try it in the beginning of this Disease I question not but with God's blessing they will find a happy success This sort of Dropsie is easily distinguished from others for in this the Belly only swells and is hard not yielding to the pressure of the Fingers but being struck upon sounds after the manner of a Drum The Cure consists in changing the putrefactive Ferment of the Chyle whether it be in the Gut or the Veins of the Mesentery it matters not the which being done the inflated Abdomen soon falls of its own accord for that is but the effect of the Disease the which necessarily ceaseth when its propagator and nourisher is taken away Purging is always pernicious in this Disease I mean with direct Laxatives and therefore not to be used This following is very profitable ℞ of the Seeds of sweet Fennel Annise Carraway and Coriander each an ounce Juniper Berries an ounce and a half let them be all bruised well and put into a Glass with half a dram of Salt of Tartar in powder upon which pour a quart of the best Sherry Wine stop it close and let it stand two or three days then begin to drink of it three times a day viz. in the morning half an hour after dinner and at night at each time a small Glass it will be much better if you add to it a dram of the Volatile Salt of Amber in powder which will dissolve When that is drank out you may put to the Ingredients a pint of Wine more with half a dram of Salt of Amber and it will be good The Oily Volatile Salt of Sylvius is excellent in this Disease as also in the Scurvy Flatus Hypochondriacus and others But the Powder and Balsamick Pill are more certain and quick in the Cure than any other that I know of In the next place I shall speak of Gouts Arthritick or Gouty Disease THey take their names from the places they frequent viz. Hands Feet Knee or Hip or Recurrent Arthriticus Chyragra Podagra Gonagra Siatica and then it is called by the vulgar the Running Gout the Gout differeth from other Diseases for its Idaea or Character consisteth in the vital spirit and is transferred through the Seed which makes it Hereditary where it maketh a fermental sharpness which when it is exorbitant is sent forth into the extreme Parts and there meeting that Callous or †Synovia seedy Glue which is conjoyned between the Ligaments and the Bones it doth affect it with its fermental sharpness and is the cause of that great dolor or pain and inflammation It is not from humours excrements or blood but a morbifick Idaea seminally implanted in the vital spirit and that is the reason it is so hard to cure for there is not any Arcanum extant will reach it Yet I believe there hath been a †Horizontal Gold of Paracelsus Remedy found for it and hope there will be again when it will be more divulged To take off a Toe or Foot doth not cure the Gout for this pain that is exasperated is but the fruit or product of it for it is virtually contained in the Seed implanted by the vital spirit I dare not promise this Arcanum or secret of mine to effect this Cure yet in extremity of pain I may boldly tell you there is not any thing will give you ease sooner and for any thing I know it may
hardly find any cure The Palsie is an accident or product or the effect and this may remain though the cause be removed it is rather Intemperies than Morbus an affrighted Distemper in the Spirits than a Disease and the Cure may be performed by my Balsamical Pills which do refocillate comfort and cherish the spirit as also by Salt of Pearls or Corral or my Aurum vitae either of them taken alone with a little sharp Wine drank after doth excellently From a weakness and decaying of the spirits this may be occasioned My spirit shall be diminished and my days shall be shortened as well as by terrour in them therefore this is one of the Diseases of old age And to go about to cure it in old persons if it hath continued any time is to swim against the stream and write in the Sand. In the Apoplexy the Ointment for the Head and Neck described in the Cure of the Falling Sickness is good as also the following mixture the mouth being first opened by art â„ž Aqua Langii Water of Sage and Lavender of each an ounce Tincture of Castor half a dram Spirit of Sal Armoniack a scruple Oil of Amber nine or ten drops Syrup of Staechas an ounce mix them and give a spoonful very often The Palsie Vertigo Catalepsie c. are all of the essence of an Apoplexy and differ only in degree therefore they are to be cured with the like Medicines In the Palsie Lethargy and Swimming or Giddiness of the Head those following Pills are effectual â„ž of Pill Aloephangina a scruple Rosin of Jallap six grains Salt of Amber as much Oil of Marjoram two drops mix them and make four Pills to be taken in the morning early and repeated once in three or four duys In the Palsie sweat betwixt purgings with spirit of Sal Armoniack given in Sack You may also use the Ointment above mentioned to the Back-bone and paralytical parts In October 1667 a certain Man-servant to one of the Arts-Masters of Bridewel London was suddenly stricken with a Disease in the Evening as he was at Supper he fell from his seat sensless and speechless his eyes were staring open as in a Catalepsie or Congelation but totally deprived both of sence and motion as in an Apoplexy When I first saw him he had remained in this condition about a week during which time means had been used to help him but proved altogether ineffectual so that he was given over for dead Notwithstanding which I observed that he yet retained a good degree of heat as also an indifferent Pulse the which with some other considerations made me to believe he might still recover the which I told his Master and Mistress when they demanded what I thought of his condition who then desired I would take him into my care which I did The first thing I gave him was a Dose of the Powder which wrought very well upwards and downwards towards the end of which he began to speak some odd words and came to be somewhat sensible the next day I repeated the Powder which wrought again as before upon which he came to perfect sensation and also to increase in speech and one side returned again to the exercise of all Functions but the other remained paralytical and insensible from Head to Foot not being able so much as to stir one Finger on that hand but by the use of the Balsamick Pill and repeating the Powder once or twice more by the blessing of the Almighty I restored him and in a months time was again at work using those useless Fingers without which he could have done nothing being a Glover by Trade In the time that I had this person in cure the Wife of another of the Arts-masters in Bridewel having lain in Child-bed about a Fortnight was also one Evening suddenly deprived of her speech and taken somewhat Paralytical on one side she sent to me about eleven or twelve of the clock that night as soon as I came I gave her four grains of the Powder which wrought both upward and downwards but most upward the which being once or twice repeated and the Balsamick Pill for some time taken at nights she was also happily recovered I could give divers other notable instances of Cures of this nature performed by these Medicines having had many fallen under my care but these I think may suffice However I will in this place add another strange Cure which comes fresh in my mind done with the Pill alone by a Physician who buys Medicines of me and lives near Highworth in Wiltshire At a certain time he being abroad about six miles from his dwelling was much solicited by a Friend to go a little out of the way to look upon a poor man that had lain bedrid for three months being grievously pained all over his Body and not able to turn himself but as he was helped he had used Purgations Phlebotomy Fomentations Unctions c. but all to no purpose The Physician having some of the Balsamick Pill about him dissolved a full Dose in a Glass of Ale and gave him and so left him within two or three days the poor man came that six miles on foot to give him thanks and told him that within two hours after he had taken the Pill he was perfectly free from pain and so remained with the due use of all the parts only weak the Physician gave him another Dose home with him which he took and became very well and had been so many months when the Physician told me of it Spasmus or Convulsion A Convulsion is caused by some malignant matter contained in the Guts as is oftentimes seen after the taking of some Hellebore or Stibium or any Medicine that hath a poysonous quality The Sting or biting of any venomous or poisonous creature produceth Convulsion CAVSE That vital Blas or Spirit in the Muscle being assaulted by some poysonous quality contracteth it the better to defend it from that poyson SPASMVS The Cramp is from a sharp aiery Blas that doth meet with a Nerve or Sinew The Worms in Children bringeth Convulsions in them many times That it is caused through fulness or emptiness and the primary place affected to be the Brain I do not consent unto though it hath been received for a truth CVRE If it be caused by some poysonous matter that hath been received or through the biting or stinging of some Snake c. my Aurum vitae is admirable but if it cometh by excrementitious matter contained in the Body as the matter of Worms c. the Arcanum or Powder eradicates it or takes it away by the root They are generated from corrupted Chyle and they differ according to the place where they are made If in the Stomach little small Worms In the Ilion long and slender like earth-worms In the Colon little short thick worms much like the Bots in Horses This Powder doth not only take away Diseases when they are on but
and continuing life wherefore they gave our Saviour Vinegar and Gaul Vinegar to excite the faculties of the stomach for the Gauls quicker passage into the vital spirits to prolong his life that they might the longer torment him under his pains before death But to stay no longer here it follows in the next place to treat about the great Heat and Cold which happens by Intervals as well in most other Fevers as in this and likewise of that inordinate Thirst Of Heat THough Heat and Fever are counted Synonyma's of one and the same name individual companions c. yet I say this Heat is not of the Quiddity or Essence of the Disease neither is it the cause of any Disease but is caused by the stirring up of that vital aiery spirit the directoress of life which spirit it is that makes the assault Archaeus Paracels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. now this spirit being provoked by the Disease allarms all the Faculties Virtues and Powers both Vital and Natural which it doth unite unto it self and so furiously assault his mortal Enemy as many Coals of Fire raked together and blown up make a great heat so doth this heat proceed from this inflamed Spirit EXAMPLE A Thorn or Splinter being got into the Finger or Hand presently a heat pain and pulsation is felt which this spirit or Archaeus stirreth up for the expelling of that extraneous Body now this heat is not a product of the Thorn but casually from this spirit and occasionally only from the Thorn therefore heat is a latter accident and subsequent upon the essence of a Fever Cold. COld is the Diseases Colours or Banner under which it fights but it is not either the Disease nor Cause but a product and effect of the Disease Calorem frigus non esse morbus ut neque borum causas Hipp. putrefaction brings in coldness the Ferment of Putrefaction is sharp and cold as we have an ocular Demonstration in Gangrenes and Mortifications whilst it is but in fieri a Gangrene what a hard task it is to revive it by the hottest and most penetrating Medicines we can get nay and fain to scarrifie deeply too lest it should hinder their operation or if it fouls a bone no less than a Medicine that is hot in the highest degree can effect it and when a Sphacelus or Mortification is confirmed without natures Second comes in speedily to her rescue A Chyrurgion Chyrurg naturae minister and dismember it it would soon run her to the heart and did not putrefaction work by a cold a Body would be hotter after it was dead than it was before but we see the contrary when putrefaction grows stronger the Body grows colder I could evidence by many demonstrations more that the Heat is not of the essence neither the cause nor occasion of a Fever and likewise that Cold is meerly the effect of the Disease but I think this sufficient Thirst This great Thirst in Fevers doth not proceed from Heat and driness as in a true and natural Thirst for this will not be allayed by drinking as that will but this Thirst is deceitful and is produced by some excrementitious matter which adheres to that sensitive faculty and deludes the Organ Nec sitis est extincta prius quam vita bibâ—ndo as if a great dryness had suddenly come unto it as I have observed in a very malignant Fever which the Army in Flanders was infected with being always cold and very thirsty as likewise in the cold Fit of an Ague c. and so this is evident that heat in Fevers is not the cause of that inordinate Thirst besides I have extinguished this Thirst by those things which have been virtually hot Contraria contrariis curantur which if heat had been the cause would rather have exasperated Thus you have the matter manner and Concomitants of this Disease The Schools have observed some Heads from whence they have derived many Species of Fevers which I shall not insist on because they depend upon one and the same way and means of Cure without mention of an Hectick or intermitting Fever which differ only in the place they reside which I shall speak to in their proper places It is my chief design to do good unto my Countrymen who I know would rather have something to ease them and be rid of their Diseases than to hear curious and learned Discourses or quaint Distinctions and in pleasing them I care not whom I displease As I have put the knowledge of the cause into your Heads so I shall put a remedy into your Hands Cure You may clearly see what first is to be done and wherein the Cure doth consist which is in removing the cause or matter offending the neglect whereof hath suffered such an infinite Slaughter which gives me reason to think that either the cause is not known or a fit Remedy not yet found for unless there be a proportion between the Remedy and the Disease It will do but little good Diseases which come suddenly if they are rightly understood they are soon gone Extrema non permanent though they may be extreme sharp whilst they continue I know it is the practice here to look more unto the Effect than the Cause in correcting the Symptoms than the matter whereof they are produced Si ta tollantur quae conveniunt aeger melius se habet facile sert Sublata causa tolletur effectus which is a very pernicious course and contrary unto reason and all principles in Healing And that you may the better understand your error I shall recite your practice When first any one is taken with this or the like Distemper either Child or those of full Growth first you run and fetch Mint Water and a little Syrup to stay the Vomiting Secondly then Cinnamon Water and Syrup of Quinces or Myrtle Berries to stay the scouring Then it may be you give a Carmiâ—tive or Clyster to expel Wind and correct the Griping That done you give some cooling Julep to allay its Heat and to quench in Thirst And when it is cold you give a little Mithridate or Theriack of Andronica oâ— London Treacle and lay a Plaister of it to his Stomach And then lay a Spell against the Fever to the Wrists c. And so you keep doing till you can do no more just as a man who hath lost himself in a Wood he keeps going but whither he knows not You see all those things do but respect the effect here is nothing hath any regard at all unto the Cause And should things answer the intention for which they were given the party either Child or Man would presently die To hinder the evacuating of this morbifick matter is directly against the intention of nature Quo natura verget ad locum conferentem â—eo ducere oportet Hippoc. for the evacuation of this matter is to be looked at as the Crisis of Nature
and whosoever shall recover all this matter is to be brought out and whoever goes about to stop it in the beginning works against nature What a vain thing therefore is it to think to take away the Gripings before the matter be gone that causes it and to corroborate the stomach or to refresh its Spirits so long as the Enemy beareth sway To give the Child Mithridate or lay a plaister of it to the stomach which is worse becomes another Disease or any thing else that is nauseous whilst Nature the Disease are struggling and to give cooling things to correct the hear is to weaken nature and strengthen the Disease Obj. But you will tell me many have recovered by the use of those means Answ And many more had been had they never been used with submission to providence but quoad homines after the manner of men I admire that any should recover that ever was affected with this Disease for they are ever giving and all to hurt it seeing the best Friends become the worst Enemies which makes good that old Saying When God cuts off man's thread of life His dearest Friends do bring the knife But many things are wrought by accident as we have known many have been recovered from a Fever by drinking cold water Obj. From whence some have asserted that this Heat is of the Essence of the Disease Answ But this Cure is not wrought by the Water as it is cold and moist for Sack or strong Beer would have performed it and a great deal better but it is from the great quantity of it which doth so replete the stomach that some of the peccant matter which doth adhere unto the Fibres thereof the Water hath loosened and so it s brought away with it I suppose whosoever hath been cured by Water it hath been when the Disease hath been on him some considerable time and not in the beginning I have prescribed Water several times in the end of a Fever to this intent and I ever found it very successful but I suppose the parties that have taken it upon their own sensual inclination it was hap-hazard with them for to take Water in the beginning of a Fever either kills them or strikes them into an Ague or some other long Sickness To drink it in a contagious pestilential Fever or any Fever that tends much to putrefaction hastens death I do not speak this as not approving of the use of Water but I declare the contrary for I have found as strange events by drinking Water as ever I saw by any Physick I have known a man cured very soon of an Atrophia or Consumption only by the drinking of pure Rock Watar and in many other cases have I used it but great consideration is to be had in the giving of it But to return by applying a nauseous or foetid Medicine to the Stomach whilst the morbifick matter resides there nature thinking she is assaulted by another Distemper unites all her strength and force and desperately attempts both her Enemies with this resolution to extirpate them or sink her self whereby she may by exasperating of her new Enemy cast forth the old and then this amongst the ignorant is cryed up for a laudable Medicine when as such things are done by chance for where one hath recovered by this means twenty have died Thus you see what a blind course hath been taken for the curing this or any other Disease The meer pity that I bear to poor Infants hath extorted this from me to whom I have often been sent for to see them die when their spirits have been so far spent that I have not dared to give them any thing to take off the Disease to the great grief of my spirit for without the Disease be taken away to small purpose do we use Cordial Means to refresh their Spirits DIRECTIONS I shall now direct you to a better way viz. 1. When you are assured this Disease is on them which is known first by a scouring away of a slimy matter then a discolouring of the Excremenrs as yellow green c. and a griping in the Belly being very hot and cold by Intervals press not any manner of Meat upon them Impura corporae quo plus nutrieris eo majus laeseris as you tender their lives this very thing hath destroyed thousands For to give Meat whilst the Disease is on them when the stomach is not fit to receive it nor hath strength to digest it without it be speedily vomited up again it becomes a Recruit or supply to the Disease 2. Neither administer nor apply any thing external or internal that is any way nauseous or ungrateful to the stomach for nature hates and abhors such things for though it be laid upon the stomach yet the taste of it is in the stomach as though it were contained there especially in young and tender Skins for to have a thing that is nauseous to the stomach and ungrateful to the smell constantly to lie on would be troublesome to one that is in health much more to him that is sick Give not the Child any Milk and if it suck wean it for Milk is the first matter and foundation this Disease is raised on and it bears still an affinity with it and is presently converted into its poisonous nature and likewise let it forbear Water and Beer either cold or warm keep the sick party either Child or otherwise in a breathing sweat which is done by drinking warm Posset-drink the Milk being turn'd with White Wine or Sack or Beer sharpened with Vinegar let the party drink of it as warm as he can take it this is far better than any Cordial or Julip whatsoever in a putrid Disease between whiles the Child may drink a good draught of Sack raw and without Sugar is best and if it tends to coldness either in Face Nose Hands or Feet you may safely give it a liberal draught of Brandy with a little white Sugar though the Child be not two months old and likewise make a Toast of old stale Bread or a piece of Rose-Cake and soak it in warm Brandy wherein a little white Sugar hath been dissolved and put it to the Child's Stomach and let it lie on for twenty four hours and if the coldness is not removed you may reiterate it I have a specifick Water for that end which doth much revive and cherrish nature What though it exasperateth and maketh more hot That is well recompensed for it mightily strengthens and refresheth nature Observe that a hot and feverish temper is the most laudable and best temper the Child can be in whilst the Disease remains When the morbifick matter is gone you may give a little salt of Pearls Corral Amber or Wormwood which are very good in a Cordial Electuary to kill that putrefactive Ferment in the place where the Disease lay that may lie behind lurking which is the cause of most Relapses and long and tedious Sicknesses and
presently abated and that night he rested pretty well for he had no sleep worth mention since he was ill the next morning I sent him four Grains more of the Powder which gave him three Vomits and two Stools about six in the Afternoon I went to visit him and found him about his Chamber saying he thought he was as well as ever his Stomach being returned and he very hungry Thus you see a Fever cured in eighteen hours or less which in all probability would have been at the least three or four weeks if recovered at all before nature by such enfeebled helpers or rather hinderers as are the common Medicines could have freed her self from the Disease I could instance many the like cases were it needful This Medicine hath besides its other gifts such a general tendency for the curing of all Fevers that upon the first knowledge of it in practice I called it my Species Febrifuga by which name I published it in my Catalogue of Medicines Printed in the year 1676 although I had then seen this little Book of the Authors I shall here subjoyn a short Discourse of intermitting Fevers or Agues in which Mr. Couch is silent except in the name yet I cannot doubt but he must be well acquainted with the power of this Medicine in curing them Of Agues GReat Diversity hath been and yet is among Authors concerning this Disease some holding one thing and some another concerning its Seat and Causes but I without reciting their differences or contending with any man's opinion either of which is no way profitable shall briefly endeavour to give you my own sentiment It needs no Definition being sufficiently known here neither Division seeing all the sorts thereof proceed from one cause and may be cured by the same Medicines Seat The Place or Seat of Agues is the Pancreas or Sweet-bread for all the parts of Man's Body being considered which only by intervals may transmit the cause of intermitting Fevers to the Heart none is found to which not only the Focus or source of those Fevers but also the causes of all their Symptoms may be ascribed besides the Pancreas or Sweet-bread Cause The Cause is an Obstruction of one or more of the Lateral Ducts or Branches of the Pancreas by reason of Phlegmatick Matter carried thither in too large a quantity and there detained the which being separated from the Blood together with the Pancreatick Juice by the Glandules of the Pancreas and sent to the main Duct or Pipe thereof causeth an Obstruction there and detaineth the juice of the Pancreas contrary to nature which ought continually to flow into the thin Gut called the Duodenum This Juice being thus stagnated quickly grows acrimonious or sharp and acquires a putrefactive Ferment whence at length it makes way through the obstructing Phlegm and is effused into the Duodenum where meeting with the Bile or Gall it stirs up a vicious and preternatural Ferment from whence comes the Ague Fit with all its Symptoms as in the beginning horrour chilness cold shaking c. then presently reachings yawnings and vomiting of bitter or four relish and afterwards burning heat the causes of Heat Cold Thirst c. you have in the foregoing Chapter of Fevers but if any desire further satisfaction concerning the reasons of the differences of Agues and the constant or various access of their Fits with the particular causes of Symptoms they may read it at large in Regnerus de Graaf in his Book intituled de succo Pancreatico published by me in the year 1676 to which I refer the Reader not having room here to be any larger Cure The Cure consists in opening the Obstructions changing the diseasie Ferment and expelling such matter as the Disease hath rendred incapable of being redintegrated and taken into the communion of life All which intentions are truly and radically performed by this Powder for an Ague being removed by the due use of this Medicine returns not again neither leaves any danger of its degeneration into another Disease both of which too frequently happen after the use of some Medicines which take off the Fit only by a kind of soporiferous quieting the present fury of the Archaeus If it be taken before the Ague hath exceeded three Fits one only Dose is usually sufficient to carry it away if fix or seven Fits two Doses or three at the most yea I have cured divers at twice or thrice giving it that have had it six or eight weeks but if it be a year old or more the continuance of its use but a reasonable time with the help of the Balsamick Pill will not fail to cure it I have also known it to cure Agues when it hath had no other sensible operation than Breaking of Wind. A person living in Greenwich who had a Tertian Ague and sometimes a Quotidian all the last Winter was cured this Spring by three Doses of the Powder which never had any sensible operation and two Doses of the Balsamick Pill so that in eight or ten days he was abroad about his Affairs and never had any Fit since although he was before so low brought that he could not sit up any longer than while his Bed was made notwithstanding the constant advice of an eminent Physician of that Town which he had used It is to be taken in a Spoonful of Drink or Posset drink about an hour before the Fit comes for two or three Fits together according as the Ague is in continuance If the Patient be weak or of a tender habit of Body let him take a Dose of the Balsamick Pill the same night after the Powder hath been given when he goes to Bed with a draught of warm Ale or a Glass of good generous Wine which Pill will mightily corroborate and refresh his Spirits and also tends much to the Cure if the Ague have been of a long continuance or be a Quartan or fourth Ague then after the Patient hath taken the Powder three times if the Fit still remain then let him take a full dose of the Balsamick Pill two or three hours before the coming of the next Fit and goe to Bed and dispose himself to sweat before the Fit comes the which if he do it s ten to one but the Fit comes no more but if there should be a failure of sweating timely enough then let him take the powder before one Fit and the Pill before the next till it be gone but not one Ague in twenty will need to be thus treated A general Direction in Fevers TO drink liberally of such Liquor as is most convenient is good I like not Beer of any Liquor in a Fever before the peccant matter wherein the Disease doth subsist be evacuated because it hath a nutriment from the Grain it is made withal which doth add unto the matter of the Disease whereby Thirst is exasperated as is commonly seen I rather advise to drink Wine and Water two parts Water and one Wine sharpened a