tot homines peste interire quòd plerique tardiùs Alexipharmaca usurpant multosque posse servari si ea citius antequam venenum humores corrumpere incipit assumerent Aliquoties enim observavi in pestilentibus constitutionibus quosdam cum se infectos sensissent statim sumptis Alexipharmacis ad sudorem se composuisse postea nihil mali amplius passos esse imò postridie ad consueta negotia rediisse Contrà si curatio protrahitur horae 8 aut 9 jam elapsae sint antequam Medicamentum aliquod propinetur centesimus vix evadit I am of Opinion saith he that the reason why so many die of the Plague is because they differ the time too long before they take any Preservatives and that many might scape if they had but had recourse to the same before the Venom of the disease had begun to corrupt the Humors For I have several times observed that in a Pestilential season some that have found themselves infected presently betaking themselves to Sudorificall Preservatives and sweating thereupon have immediatly freed themselves utterly from the same and the next day after have gone about their business again Whereas on the Contrary where the Endeavors for Cure have been deferred and put off for a matter of eight or nine hours without the taking of any Preservative there is scarsely one of an Hundred that hath scaped Now the Ordinary Dose of this Sudorifical Preservative is A Dram and a half of the Philosophers Egge The Quantity of the Sudorifical Preservative that is to be taken one Scruple of Confection of Hyacinth six Graines of Oriental Bezoar or ten Graines of Bezoar of Peru and five drops of Oyl of Sulphur Mix these together and take it in a Spoonful of Warm Vineger as hath before been shewed and drink upon it three other spoonfulls of Veneger Warmed And in defect of the Philosophers Egge they may take two Drams and a half of Old Treacle and half a Dram of Confection of Hyacinth and in stead of Bezoar Stone where the people are poor they may take some Grains of the Shavings of Vnicorns Horn. Extracts and Salts which are made out of Scordium Rue Carduus Benedictus and Angelica are used by many in this case taken to the quantity of about a Dram. The spirit of Antimony also so prepared as that it may neither cause Vomitings nor Going to Stoole but may provoke Sweating onely is here very much commended in which as in the former Extracts we may have much the greater Confidence if it be given with a little Warme Vineger and a Dram of Old Treacle at the least lest that part of the Medicine which is principally Antidotal as Vipers Flesh is here should be wanting And for this cause I chiefly prefer the aforesaid Preservatives Which also may be administred in a greater quantity where the strength of the Venom requires the same and therefore in this case they may take two Drams of the Philosophers Egge or three Drams of Old Treacle with the other prescribed Ingredients in like manner as Galen himself also and other ancient Authors were wont to prescribe half an Ounce of Treacle and in case that were not sufficient to expel the Poyson then they appointed the same to be repeated prescribing either the same or a less quantity according to the Constitution of the Patient And I know besides that at Gaunt in the year 1647. this Preservative was administred by Mr. Cortreau a Jesuite to another of the same Fraternity who had a Tumor risen under his Left Arme-Pit and two Plague-Sores broke out in other places whom within the space of twenty hours he caused to take an Ounce and a half of Treacle namely the first time he gave him Two Drams and eight hours after half an Ounce and after the space of other eight hours six Drams more drinking after each several Dose a lusty draught or two of Water of Carduus Benedictus and the like with such Syrups as are proper in this case in the mean time not neglecting the reparation of the Parties strength by convenient and proper Meats About the same time during the raging of the Pestilence there a Surgeon belonging to the Pest-house gave to one that was sick of the Plague and that with very good success too half an Ounce of Treacle with Quantity of the said Preservative seems much more proper to be administred at the first where the disease appears Evidently upon the Party then two Drams onely for this quantity may suffice in the beginning of the disease Although I shall not advise any to take so great a quantity nor yet an ordinary one when the Party Affected is very drowzy and given to sleep in which case some other Sudorifical Medicines may be administred And I have also heard from Persons of very good credit that both in this and other diseases too they have caused their Patients to sweat in a very abundant quantity and with very happy success by administring to them half a Dram of the Powder of a Viper which is thus prepared You must take a Viper and put it in whole and alive with its head teeth tailè and bowels too into an Earthen Pot covered at the top in which cover there must be some holes made for Evaporation and thus you are to set it upon live Coals so that it may only be dried not scortched and this being so prepared may as occasion shal require be made into a Powder and be administred as other things are to be and as I have more largely related in my French Treatise with Vineger Warmed And it would not be amiss if one should adde to this a Scruple of Sudorifical Antimony as half a Dram thereof or else some few Graines of Bezoar And where these things are not to be had they may take five Ounces of Wine-Vineger warmed with a Dram of Nutmeg and a Scruple of Saffron and put them into a Bladder half full of warme Water and so apply it to the Lower part of the Belly continuing this Application so long till such time as some other Preservative Medicine that may be able if need be to cause the Party to Sweat in so great a quantity as in necessary may be procured And for as much as where the Patient is to Sweat in so great abundance as in this disease is very requisite his Shirt and his Linnen about him must necessarily be very Wet and therefore Authors conceave and reasonably enough that these being as certain Recaptacles of the Venom ought to be changed that so the Patient may be freed from the filthy Stench wherein he lyes wrapped up yet I advise all people that they should not be too rash in changing the sick Parties Linnen The Patients Shirts and his other Linnen about him is not to be changed unadvisedly but should rather wipe off the Sweat from them with Towels which are not fresh and newly taken out of the Chest but being
continued in wringing and corroding the guts Fol. 8. What Purges are to be given in all Ages Fol. 9. What Clysters are to be administred Fol. 11. That Clysters are here to be administred Cold even to little Children though it be in the Winter ibid. That Vineger is to be put in sometimes into Clysters Fol. 13 That Breathing of a Vein is very seldome admitted here Fol. 15. That in an Inveterate Flux too frequent Purges are not to be administred nor so great a quantity of Whey as in those that are but newly begun Fol. 17. What Meats and Drinks are to be used both in an Inveterate Flux in one that is but newly begun Fol. 18 19. Astringent Medicaments are seldome used here and Topical Applications are of little Efficacy Fol. 20. Opiates are here dangerous ibid. All Violent Fluxes are to be stopped in the same manner as that is in the Disease called Cholera Fol. 21. THE SECOND DISCOURSE WHat the Disease called Cholera is and what the cause of it is Fol. 23. That Laudanum Theophrasti is the onely Remedy here Fol. 25. The description of this Laudanum and in what quantity it is to be administred Fol. 27. What Regiment of Health is to be observed in this Disease Fol. 29. What Drink and Meat the Patient is to take ibid. THE THIRD DISCOURSE Wherein is treated of the singular and Incredible Vertues of Cold Water in the Cure of several Diseases Strainings Bruises Pains and Wounds without Suppuration NOthing is more useful both for Preventing and Curing the Gout then Cold Water Fol. 32. That this Disease is caused by the Acrimony or Saltness of the Humours and so consequently from Heat ibid. The Parts Affected here swell by reason of a Cold Humour because that the Natural Heat is weakened by the Malignant Heat as it happens in the Erysipelas Fol. 33. That the Opening of a Vein upon the Part Affected or near to it is of very good use Fol. 36. That Revulsion or Derivation of the Blood another way is of very little use here Fol. 37. That Old Men also may with very good success make use of Cold Water Fol. 38. What Applications are to be made use of for the asswaging of the Pains of the Gout Fol. 41. That the Sciatica or Hip-gout is also caused by a Hot Humour and at the beginning of it may be perfectly cured by the taking of Cold VVater for the space of Three or Four days together Fol. 42. That the Paines of the Shoulder and Hip when they are not joyned with other Goutish Paines are not at all or very seldome obnoxious to a Relapse as neither are the Paines of the Running Gout Fol. 43. That seeing no Veines appeare either on the Hip or Shoulder we must apply Cupping-glasses and Horse-leeches and must open the Anckle-Veine Fol. 44. That Purgative and Sudorifical Medicaments are here of use and when to be applied Fol. 45. In what case a Cup of Cold VVater is of use in the Paines of the Stomack caused by Crudity and also in the curing of a Hoarseness that is but new begun Fol. 47. That Cold VVater is good against the Stone in the Kidneys Fol. 49. That the putting of the Feet and Hands being benummed with Cold into Cold Water recovers them Fol. 52. That Cold Water cures that kind of Cramp called Tetanus according to Hippocrates Fol. 53. That Cold VVater is said to have cured those that have been taken with the Palsey by being applied for the space of two or three hours together and that the Party Affected hath been thereby restored the same day to his sense and Motion Fol. 54. That a Suddain Fright by repelling the Bloud and Spirits inwards hath driven away a Quartane Ague Fol. 55. That by the Violent breaking forth of the Bloud and Spirits to the Thighes and Legs caused by a Vehement Anger Motion hath been re-restored to those that could not move before Ibid. That by reason of both these Passions namely Fear and Anger the Son of King Crasus that was born dumb suddenly spoke and ever after continued a Speaking Man Fol. 56. That a Windy Exhalation being close kept in becomes Rarefied and so causes Lightning and Earth-Quakes As likewise Gunpowder being set on fire least two bodies should be in one and the same place requires a larger place Fol. 56. 59. That Hippocrates teacheth and that with good reason that the Gout in the Feet is cured by a Large Effusion of Cold Water upon them Fol. 62. That the Immersion of the Head into Cold Water is good against an Inveterate Pain thereof and Defluxions from thence and how Fol. 64. 65. That by the Application of Cold Water for a good while together upon the Part Affected and up above the Temples the Toooh-Ach hath many times been cured Fol. 69. An Inflammation of the Eyes taken betimes may be cured in the same manner Fol. 70. That the Pains of the Shoulder Back and Loyns though never so Raging and of Long Continuance have by my Advise been cured in the same manner Ibid. That the Hot and Dry Distemperature of the Reines which is the Efficient Cause of the Stone may in all probability be reduced to its former state by Cold Water for I confess I have not yet made Trial of it if it be applied to them once a day for the space of half an hour for four or five days together And I would have those that are much troubled with it to do this if not so many days yet at least two daies together twice or thrice a moneth for the space of a whole year together or thereabout Ibid. Children also that through Extremity of Pain could not stand upon their feet by the said Bathing of their Legs as far as to the Knees in Cold Water have found thereby very much good Fol. 71. The Wind-Collick is cured by long Immersion of the Legs and Hands in Cold Water Ibid. That Cold Water in a very strange manner cures both the Cold and the Hot Distemperature of one and the same Part by repelling and driving backward the Blood and Spirits toward the Center of the Body which having its Heat there increased in its return overcometh the Cold Distemperature of the part and in a Hot one it suffereth them not to return to the same Fol. 72. That the Application of this Cold Water onely but continued a good while together is a most secure way of curing of Green VVounds without comming to Suppuration at all and also when there is some Purulent Matter in the Wounds they have also been cured by the same means as I have seen and made the Experiment Yet my advise is that people should not delay the business It cures VVounds also upon the Face without leaving any Disfiguring Skar behinde and also healeth Bruises in other Parts either the Legs or Thighs and that in Old People too without any pain or danger Fol. 73. That Cold VVater cures VVounds where a Nerve is pricked
these Pills and of the weight aforesaid least they should be suddenly snatch'd away by the violence of this disease before any can be new made or be sent for to the Neighboring Cities I have also in like manner allways perswaded my friends that when ever they take any journey seeing these Pills are not every where to be had they would be sure to carry with them one or two of them The same care did I also take above twenty years ago for my Sons when I sent them abroad to the University instructing them withal in my way of proceeding in the cure as well of this disease as of the Griping Diarrhoea before spoken of and also in the manner of Preservation from and Cure in the Plague wherein notwithstanding I advised them to consult the Physicians of the place that so the Cure might be the more certain and speedy As concerning Diet Concerning Regiment of Health I have spoken very largely in my French Treatise where I have said that for their Ordinary Drink the sick parties must take Water and Verdjuyce of each a like quantity Drink mixt together that is to say the quantity of a Cup and a half of either with the Yolk of an Egg boyled in it with a small quantity of Sugar And if the Party be not very thirsty he may then take a draught of Red Wine or where that cannot be had of old White Wine with which if need be you may mix Water with a little Cinnamon boyled in it You may also allow your Patient a draught of small Ale so it be cleare He may also have made him several kindes of Broths of the aforesaid Verdjuyce Meat or Wine with Water Sugar and the Yolks of Eggs mixed with it Restorative Gellies also and a Toast of White Bread in Wine mixed with Water and with a little Sugar put upon it are here of very good use And whatsoever he takes either of Meats or Drinks he must take them Cold. And least by drinking too much his Evacuations should be the more violent upon him he may sometimes allay his thirst in some measure by taking two or three spoonfulls of Wine and Water mixed together in equal quantities with a little Sugar and juyce of Citron added to it to make it rellish the better He may also take a slice or two of Citron the Pill taken off rouled about in Sugar Rob de Ribes c. Conserves of Red Currans and of Berberies and the like which are both Cooling and Astringent and also pleasant to the tast are here of good use also THE THIRD DISCOURSE Wherein the most Excellent and Incredible Effects of COLD WATER as well taken Inwardly as applied Outwardly are declared and its wonderful Vertue in curing of Wounds is set forth IN my French Treatise I have prescribed Cold Water for my Patients to take But do you not think me a very Inhumane person Or do you allow me to be a Physician for doing so Certainly there is not any greater Preservative from the Gout if it be taken twice a year at the least Nothing is more useful both for Preventing and Curing the Gout then Cold Water that is in the beginning of the Spring and Fall and continued for some days together or else if it be taken some days immediately before such certain times as it is usually wont to seise upon the party in like maner as nothing is of more efficacy when it hath seised on him for the asswaging the violent Torments of it then Cold Water is as I have there by many reasons proved at large and especially if to this taking of Cold Water we joyn the Breathing of a Vein Neither will any man deny this that shall come to it with a cleare Eye and without any Prejudicate opinion if he but weigh diligently those Pregnant Reasons if not Demonstrations whereby I have there made it appear that the tormenting pains of the said disease of the Gout are caused either by Acrimony or Saltness and so consequently by Heat Neither need any man be hindred from assenting to this opinion because perhaps he hath known many times old men and those too that have been withall Hydropical to have been taken with this disease For there is even in them a sufficient stock of Salt Serous Humors to cause this disease Neither let it seem strange to any one that the Parts affected by a Cold Humor do swell for he ought to take notice that when by reason of this Malignant Humor the Natural Heat is weakned The parts affected here like as in the Erysipelas swell by reason of a Cold Humor because that the Natural Heat is weakned too much by the Malignancy of that Humor this both may and must be and especially if he do but consider that for the greater clearing of this business that part of the Body that is taken with an Erysipelas immediately also begins to have a swelling about it Which seeing it is not imaginable that it should be caused by the mutual conflux of both Humors we therefore ought to think that it must proceed from the Malignant Heat of Choler that hath so far weakned the Natural Heat Which Bilious Humor as it is likened to the Element of Fire so when it is kindled to a very great heigth it also burns the part Affected like Fire and so raises Blisters on it But suppose that the excellent vertues of Cold Water in the Cure of this Disease were never before discovered to the world or that other its excellencies in other the like Cases have heitherto been neither written nor heard of Suppose this I say Must the Vast Abyss of Physical knowledge and the large stock of the ways of Cures have before this been necessarily exhausted and drawn dry Is it impossible to say or write any thing that may be deduced out of the very Principles of Nature which may be of good use in the Curing of the diseases men are subject unto and particularly of the intollerable Paines of the Gout and the like Certainly there are diverse that having by experience found the excellent vertue of Cold Water for the asswaging of those Horrid Torments of the Gout which are a second Hell will be ready with a very gratefull remembrance Publickly to extoll the same And those that to the use hereof have added the opening of a Vein either upon the part affected or somewhere neare it will cry it up to the same height And to the end that what concerns the Publike Good may Publickly be known I shall deale Ingeniously with those that are Ingenious I say that I have known many who have testified that among the so many and various Medicines that are in use for the cure of this disease they have not known nor applied any that hath so certainly asswaged if not utterly cured as it sometimes hath done the intollerable pains of this disease as Cold Water especially when it is joyned with Letting of
Blood For it is certain enough as I have proved in my French Treatise that the Pains in the Gout are caused not by any Cold defluxion of Humors from the Head but by a Hot Humor which is either an Acrimonious or a Salt one proceeding from the Liver and gathered together in some neighboring part till such time as that Nature drives it forth by the Greater Veins into the Capillary as into certain smal Channels by nature designed for the conveighing of humors whence it is conveighed to the Joynts together with the Aliment provided for the nourishment of the parts of the Body and commonly first of all it seises upon the Great Toe and as the cause of the disease increaseth it afterwards seiseth upon other joynts also For this cause therefore my Counsel hath been that a Vein should be opened both in the Great Toe and also in other parts that are nearest to it that so the next Antecedent cause which lies in those Veins and fomenteth the Concomitant Cause lying neare unto it may be taken away which being removed the pain is either asswaged or altogether ceaseth For I cannot beleeve that the Concomitant cause lieth in the very joynt where the Bones are not wrap'd about with any Periostium which is of most exquisite sense for so all Motion must needs be painfull but instead of that are invironed with a Gristle and joyned together with Ligaments that are void of al sense so that the pain must therefore necessarily be attributed to the neighboring parts which are most sensible In the producing whereof seeing that this Antecedent Cause is also to be supposed to cooperate I am clearly of opinion that without any Letting of Blood either by way of Revulsion or Derivation we ought to fall immediately to the opening of a Vein upon the part it self unless the body being very Plethorical or the Patient young or the part lying convenient for Revulsion which had formerly been infested with the same distemper do require the same For in other Cases you must be careful how you let Blood both because my opinion is that people ought to be let Blood once or twice a year by way of Prevention and especially in the aforesaid Great Toe or what other part of the Body hath usually been most afflicted with this disease as also because that when it hath seised upon several joynts at once the violence of it seems to require the opening of a Vein where neither the Age of the Person nor any other impediment is against the same And seeing it is confessed and assented to by all Physicians that Contraries are cured by Contraries why may I not lift up my voice and make use of my Pen in the just Praises of this our Cold Water Especially seeing I am able to produce Experience on my side who is the best Mistress in all Sciences whatsoever and that back'd with Reason two I shall not here speak of Young men or of those of Perfect Age but I shall onely here have to do with Old men who by reason of the Saltness of Humors wherewith they commonly abound are very much subject to this terrible Disease many of whom when they either already felt or were in feare of these Tormenting pains have by my Counsel had recourse immediately to this drinking of Cold Water which drinking constantly for many days weekes yea and moneths together it hath succeeded so well with them as that many of them who have been very far stricken in years have found very great ease hereby and that too without any offence to the Stomack or hinderance of Digestion and have continued thus now for some years space together only drinking a draught of it off every morning which course they also resolve to continue while they live And some that had used to drink Wine constantly did the same drinking Water at their Meals but moderately And although that in an Inveterate Gout or where the Party is very old or where there are other either Manifest or Occult Causes hindering it I have said that the use of it would do very little or no good at all yet in very many of this kinde of patients where I have judged the use of it to be convenient I do here testifie to the world that I have had very good success And as for all other Medicines whether they be those they call Anodyna that is Mitigatives of paine or those they call Discussives that is such as dispel the cause of the disease in the Gout as I have made little mention of them in my French Treatise so in this where I commend so much the use of Cold Water and Letting of Blood do I make as little because as the aforesaid Mitigative Medicines by too much relaxing of the parts Affected do open an easie passage for the return of the sharp Humor back again upon them so the Discussive by over-drying the parts dispose them toward the Knotted Gout Yet those that either cannot or will not patiently endure the tormenting pains of the Gout and yet abhor to drink Cold Water or to be let blood upon the part Affected they may make use of the common Poultess made of White Bread which they must make of crums of the same or rather of the pouder of the Root of Althaea boyled in new Milk to a Consistence and pounded together with Oyl of Lilies or fresh Butter mixed with a small quantity of Saffron There are some that choose rather to make use of an Oyntment made of raw Yolks of Eggs and Rose-Water heated together over the fire and there are others that say they have found very much ease in putting their feet or hands into a Bath made of Castile Sope made as hot as they can endure it and when it begins to be cold they must take them out There are som also that in this case make use of the Lees of Red Wine An also Oyntment made of Spanish Wine and Oyl of Olives of each a like quantity and boyled till halfe of it be boyled away and so applied hot to the part Affected hath been said to have done good to some which having bin either Casually or seasonably applied nay sometimes if not of it self yet Accidentally have asswaged somwhat the pain Neither is this taking of Cold Water as I have prescribed it useful onely in asswaging and curing the pains of the Gout in the Feet Hands and Shoulders but also the Sciatica or Hip-Gout which is both the most violent and the hardest to be removed of all the rest And who ever shall but grant us that the cause of this Gout proceeds from the self same Acrimony or Saltness of Humors if not from a greater it need not seem so strange a matter to him if while it is yet but newly begun by the taking of Gold Water according to my Prescription either Well-Water or Fountain-water taking it an hour or two before supper because this disease uses commonly to rage most of all
have been troubled with the Stone in the Kidneys that in diverse after the voyding of the First Stone never any grew there again And indeed lam of opinion that in this case it would do the patient very much good if he took either Cold or Luke-warme Water neither do I doubt but that either of these are very good yea and Hot Water too as I have said in my French Treatise where notwithstanding I have chiefly commended the use of the Cold. And indeed it may be taken without fear of any Crudity which the aforenamed Authors seem to suppose may be caused by drinking Cold Water There are some also who thankfully acknowledging the great benefit they have receaved by this my Counsel do still every meal when they rise adventure to drink a draught of the said Cold Water that without any danger of causing Crudities in the Stomack or of spoiling Digestion nay which is more if at any time they chance either to eat or drink too much they are wont of their own heads though perhaps they are herein too adventurous for this practice cannot possibly be allowed in all Cases to have immediate recourse to this drinking of Cold Water that so they may both presently expel all Crudities Cold Water is good against the Crudity of the Stomack and also prevent Drunkenness And as concerning Crudity I conceave that Cornelius Celsus was also of this opinion when he gives his advise that such as are troubled with raw and belching Stomacks should drink Water Neither will this seem unreasonable to any that shall but consider that this cure which either cannot in any measure at all or not fully be effected by the use of Wine Meats and other Hot things which seems here to be commended upon very good grounds should yet be cured by Accident when as the Stomack being either distended by Wind caused by the weakness of the Heat or else being too much relaxed by the use of moyst and unctuous things begetting Crudities within it is contracted by means of the Cold Water and its Orifices are so closed that the mouth of the Stomack being shut up it hinders the ascending of the Vapours by which meanes it is certain that the Heat must be united and consequently the Crudity hindred and a stronger Appetite excited And hence I conceive it was that Hippocrates called the Water A Devourer Neither is this our Cold Water useful onely taken inwardly in inward diseases but applied Outwardly also it cures the Outward Pains of the Body And indeed it ought not to seem unreasonable to any Putting benumed Hands and Feet into Cold Water recover them if I shall here boldly affirm that when by reason of the violence of Cold in a hard Winter the Feet have been so benummed and frozen as that the Toes through stifness stood out like so many sticks by putting the Feet some certain times into Cold Water and continuing this about the space of half an hour they have again returned to their former state and condition And that this is grounded upon Reason too it may be hence collected because that the Blood being by this other Cold repelled and driven back towards the Bowels and by continuing there some space of time growing thereby more united and knit together acquires the greater strength by which means in its return possessing its self of the extream parts of the Feet it overcometh their Cold Distemper and revives as it were their almost-extinct Native Heat And the effect will so much the more certainly follow if while his Feet are in the Water the party drink a large draught of Wine warmed and spiced with Nutmeg or Cinnamon that so the Blood may with the greater force and vigour make its passage to the Feet whose Recovery is discerned by the Redness of the Blood appearing by little and little as it gets down as on the contrary it is a sign that those parts are mortified which partake not of that tincture of Redness Now this being done the Feet and Thighs must be wiped dry with a linnen cloath and so anointed with ordinary Sope which is done well enough without any fire which for a time he must not come near Cold Water cures that kind of Cramp called Tetanus And thus Hippocrates tells us in his Lib 5. Aphor. 24. that that kind of Cramp also which is called Tetanus may be cured Cold Water is said to have cured those that have been taken with the Palsey And I have heard and that from a person too whom I could not but beleeve that one taken with the Palsey both in the Thigh Arm and Shoulder by the continual application of Cold Water for the space of two or three hours together was perfectly cured the very same day Which experiment notwithstanding I have not as yet made trial of because there are very many that much suspect the same although both in reason and because of the happy success that may be hence expected it seems in some kinds of Resolutions of the parts to be allowable enough seeing that it is most certain that many that have been taken with a Palsey by a suddain Fright have been cured thereof Whence we are to conceave that by this so violent driving back of the Blood inwards the spirits were so chafed and heated as that they were able to make their way through the Back-bone and the obstructed Nervous parts of the side Affected and so by dissolving the Viscous Humors that had obstructed the said parts and quite dispelling the same had restored to the parts his Natural Voluntary Motion And that by the same means many have been cured also of a Quartane Ague A suddain Fright hath driven away a Quartane Ague we have so many late Examples in Story as that wee need not trouble our selves further to prove the same So we likewise read that some who have had their limbs so contracted by reason of Convulsions Some taken with Convulsion have been cured in like manner as that for some years together they have not been able either to go or stand upon their feet being provoked to suddain and most vehement Anger have risen up in an Instant and have followed their flying enemy and so by this means by the forcible breaking forth of the Blood and Spirits toward the Thighs and Legs and other Affected Parts the Humor that was there gathered together being attenuated and discussed they have both recovered and ever after retained their Natural Motion Thus the Son of Croesus as Herodotus tells the story being smitten with a suddain Fear and presently falling into a most violent passion of Anger when he saw a certain Persian that knew not his Father running furiously upon him with an intent to kill him cryed out with a loud voyce 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Villain kill not Croesus And thus that which hindered his speech being removed he for ever after continued a Speaking Man to his dying day Whence we may
something touching what Meat is in this case to be eaten and what to be forborne In Contagious times therefore people must abstaine from Hogs-Flesh Beefe Of Meat and all other kinds of flesh that are Hard of Digestion as also from all Inwards and Extream Parts of Beasts as Feet Ears And so likewise from all Slimy Fishes all kinde of Pulse Herbs and from all White Meats or things made of Milke Except onely Butter And so on the contrary they are to make choice of all such Meats as are light of Digestion and withal they must abstain from Fish when they eat Flesh which also they are to eat rather Rosted then Boyled and if they will have them boyled in any Liquor or make Broth of the same they may put into it a little Wine Vineger Juyce of Citron Nutmeg Cloves or the like or some Sweet Herbs prepared according to the quality of their Meat which will not onely be very pleasant to their Palate but also do them otherwise very much good Hitherto is to be referred also a certain Sause which I would have them always to have at their table and it is made of Wine-Vineger Nutmeg and Sugar boyled in Broath or in defect of this they may take Wine with Butter in it which yet must be so prepared as that the tast of the Vineger and of the Nutmeg may be above all the rest And in this Sause I would have them to roule all over and lay a soaking all meat whatsoever that they eat or else they may take at the end of their Meale a spoonful or two of it and sup it up Those that are Asthmaticall or Short-breathed or are otherwise Tyssicall and troubled with a Cough must put the lesser quantity of Vineger and the greater of Sugar into this Composition as likewise in using the Contrapestilentiall Vineger they must either decoct or infuse in it some Figs Currance Liquorish or other the like Pectorall Ingredients and if their Cough be very strong upon them instead of Vineger they may then use some other Preservatives in like manner as those that are Hydropicall should every morning drink a good draught of Wormewood-Wine or Rue-Wine rather then a spoonful of Contrapestilentiall Vineger Concerning their Ordinary Drink my Opinion is that they may take the same that they have been accustomed unto Of their Ordinary Drink whether it be Wine or Beer or Ale into which nevertheless I would have them somtimes squeeze in some few drops of Juyce of Citron or of Oyl of Brimstone and the Ale they drink must be cleare and not strong as their Wine also must not be of the richer sort but must be either Rhenish Wine or Ordinary French Wine wherein they may do well to put sometimes a little boyled Water with a small quantity of Citron Pill or Cinnamon And if it so fall out that any one hath either been in company with those that have been infected In the lest suspicion of being infected they must immediatly fly to their Preservatives or that have been with such as have been with such as have been necessitated to attend upon such as have had the disease upon them which can hardly be without a strong suspicion if not a certainty of being infected by this Contagion and especially when he hath not before hand armed himself against it by Preservatives notwithstanding that the Party finde no sign of it at all about himself yet my advise is that he presently betake himself to Sudorifical Medicines and take two Drams of Old Treacle mixed with a spoonful of Wine-Vineger and drinke upon it two or three spoonfulls of the said Vineger warmed Now to the end that people may know where the signs of the Plague do evidently appear whether the Cure of it may be undertaken with any hopes of recovery of the Patient I shall here breifly set down such things as seem chiefly to relate to the Predictions in this case And first of all I conceave Predictions that very good success may be expected if so be the aforemention Preservative be taken at the very beginning of the Disease and that the Party keep it so that he may thereby Sweat lustily in case that any Plague-Sores and Swellings appear before he feels any Feaverish Heat And although this Treacherous Enemy flatter us thus and thus yet that we are by no means to trust him Sad Experience hath too often taught us And if the Party be taken with a Continuall Vomiting and be extreamly Sleepy and have a very Stinking Breath or the Tongue be Black at the beginning of the Disease it is a sign that the danger is very great and so likewise if the Patient have an Intermitting Pulse or Swooning Fits or a Looseness or where there happens a Bleeding at the Nose or an unseasonable Eruption of the Courses and especially if the Party have a Hoarsness or if his Vrine and Excrements and what he throws up by Vomit be black or he be taken with the Hickop or a Trembling in his Limbs or if he spit Blood or pisse Blood are evident signs of Death And if as I have formerly said it is very Necessary that where any one hath but the least suspicion of being infected he should presently have recourse to Sudorifical Preservatives there is no question but such as finde any real sign that they are already Infected ought to fly unto the same as to a Sanctuary and that too at the very Instant that they discover the same seeing the Disease may be over-mastred much easier then the people imagine if it be taken in time lest when these aforesaid Fatall Prognosticks appear there be no hope of Recovery left And this Preservative the Patient is to take with Vineger as hath before been shewed and in his Bed being well covered with Cloathes and with a good fire by him if it may conveniently be had And he is to sweat as long as possibly he can and if the Sweat come not from him in very great Abundance which in this case is very Necessary he must then have a Bladder half filled with Warme Water applied to his Belly in which if there be decocted some leaves of Carduus Benedictus Rue or Angelica Roots or Zedoary there may much the better success be expected And if so be the Party sweat not enough nor grow the better upon it he must presently as soon as he hath something recovered his strength a little fall again to his Sweating the second time yea and sometimes also there is very good reason that he sweat the third time too Which Reiteration of Sweating notwithstanding is very often not at all Necessary in case that the Sudorifical Preservative being taken in the beginning of the disease hath wrought abundantly enough Concerning the Efficacy of which Timely Sweating in the beginning of this Disease Sennertus also hath given us a large Testimony in his Lib. 4. De febribus Cap 6. where he hath these words Existimo
first sprinkled over with some sweet Water have afterwards been very well aired by the fire till such time as that all the smell of the Sope or what other Acquisititious smell soever be quite driven out And I have been confirmed in my Opinion of the dangerousness of applying Fresh Linnen to People in this case both by the common voyce of the People and also by those that have belonged to Pest-houses and such as have otherwise attended upon Persons that have been sick of the Plague the greatest part of whom will not suffer the sick Party to change his Linnen not in this disease onely but in the Small Pox also but will have him either keep on the same or if he do shift he must put on either what himself formerly wore in the time of his health or what have bin worne by some of his Healthfull Freinds and those must be verie well aired too first by the fire It hath also been observed that by Shifting of Linnen I mean of that next the Skin the Courses in Women which in this case are dangerous and the Hemorrhoids in persons that have been otherwise in good health have broken forth Which putting on of Fresh Linnen before the Seventh Day of the Disease how extream Dangerous it is and indeed how Insufferable unless the Party impatient of the Stinking smell about himself will needs shift his Shirt and put on one that had been worn before is most earnestly and seriously pressed by Isbrandus Diemerbrouc in his Observations where he tells us of some that having heedlesly put on Fresh Linnen in this disease within a few hours after they have been taken with a Feavourish Heat a Heaviness of Heart and other the like Symptomes which have grown so strongly upon them as that they haue been brought even to deaths doore none of which things have happened where the Parties have put on such Linnen as had been worne before in which the Smell of the Sope hath been dissipated by the heat of the Body which is much more to be feared then that Stink which comes from Foule Linnen as by most certain Experience hath very often been confirmed To which we ought to give greater credit especially in such matters as concern this so Occult The Stink of Sope is dangerous not onely for those that are Infected but for those that are in health too in the time of the Plague and Dark Disease then to Reason seeing that we know that those that are free from infection and do live in houses that are so too yet by having their Linnen washed with Sope are much more apt to take the Infection of this Pestilentiall Aire then otherwise they would have been if they had not suffered the other to come near them which is so certainly known to be true as that I need not stand here to prove it And to the end that there may be the more sure means used for the Prevention of this most Tyrannical and Raging Disease there ought to be very great care taken for the repairing of the strength of the Patient which is to be endeavored presently after his Sweating and at other set times What Meats are allowed in the Plague by giving him such meats as either his weakness or the Feavorishness of his Temper will require and his Nauseous Stomack will admit Which seeing it is not to be overloaded with Flesh must be cherished up with Broaths Juyces Expressed and Restorative Gellies made thereof to which you may adde some Juyce of Citron or some Verdjuyce And to the end that his Weak Stomack may not cast the same up again he may do well to take a slice of Pome-Citron with the Pill taken off and rouled first in a little Sugar A Broath also made with Verdjuyce Water and one or two Yolks of Eggs and Crums of White Bread is in this case very good into which you may if you please put a little Sugar which notwithstanding is not in this disease very Wholesome as is neither Honey And hence it is that in Lozenges and Conserves that are here of use we put a greater quantity of Powders upon them then is usual and a much less of Sugar except in such cases where the Tast and Strength either of it or the Honey is over-power'd by the Antidotal Medicines and the multitude of Ingredients as it is in Treacle and the iike Compositions It will be also very useful sometimes when the Feavorish Heat is not too great to put into these Broaths four or five spoonfulls of Rhenish Wine And sometimes also the Party may take a julip made of the distilled water of Carduus Benedictus Scabious Sorrel and Borage mixed with the Syrup of the Juyce of Citron and putting into it also a few drops of the juice of Citron and of Oyl of Sulphur or in stead of these he may take some Apozemes made of the like Ingredients And sometimes also he may take Conserve of Hyacinth and other Cordials as likewise the Powder of Pearle Bezoar Stone and of the Shaving of Vnicorn Horn. The Parties Drink must be small Drink clear Ale into which he may now and then put in some few drops of Juyce of Citron or Oyl of Vitrioll or else a smal quantity of the best Verdjuyce and sometimes too when the Feaver and Delirium do not perswade the contrary he may put into his Ale a little Rhenish Wine or some other Smaller Wine If the Party be bound and go not freely to Stoole he may take an Ordinary Suppository or a Clyster of Broath made of Weathers Flesh or the Decoction of Emollient Herbes putting in two raw Yolks of Eggs and of ordinary Salt and Mithridate or Dioscordium of each a Dram. By the taking of which if the Expulsive Faculty be not quickned you may then adde to the same some Ounces of the Syrup of Roses Solut. and of the Oyl of Sweet Almonds for I do not conceave it safe to make use of any more Violent Purgers in this case Neither ought we any whit to fear the Patient in case he should be bound for a day or two together for I have both read and heard of some Persons in this case that have not gone to Stoole in seven days together which yet have done very wel for all that And that this very thing happened to one that was a Tenant of mine in the year 1647 I have been very certainly assured both by the Man himself who is now perfectly recovered and well and by his Wife also I shall not here at all commend Letting of Blood Purgings Bleeding Purging and Vomiting are not here allowed of and Vomitings which in my French Treatise also I have passed by as Suspected and Dangerous Courses For the Agitation of the Spirits and Communication of the Corrupted with the Purer Humors and the Large Diffusion of the same seeing it cannot be without very great loss both of the Parties strength and also of time too which in
that this Epidemial Contagious Aire may possibly be spread abroad and so not to be trusted even before the Beginning of Autumn especially in Hot Summers and that too by the space of some Weeks sooner then is usuall in case the Heat of the Sun hath been very vehement in the Dog-days or perhaps some good while before the same For we conceave it a thing not to be doubted of but that this Malignant Quality of the Aire is in these Excessive Heats of the Seasons much more Feirce and Raging and so much more Dangerous and Infectious then it is in other more Temperate years when the Heat hath neither been so Vehement nor yet of so Long Continuance So that it will in this case concern those that are careful of their health to make timely provisions for themselves by getting out of these parts before Summer is ended or else if their Important and Urgent businesse there cannot admit of this flight of theirs their Bodies must then as a Castle is by its Works and Trenches be fortified by other Convenient Preservatives And therefore first of all I would have them correct the Malignity of the Aire by strowing Sweet Herbs about the roomes of their houses and by sprinkling of Vineger about the house and making Aromatical Fumigations They must also take care of their Stomack by drinking every morning a good draught of Wine or Strong Ale and in case they are to go abroad they must eat a Breakefast first drink after it a lusty draught of the like good Wine or Strong Ale or at least they must sup up three or four spoonfulls of Aqua Vitae or rather may drink a draught of Wormewood-Wine if it may be had before they go abroad into the open Aire But neither must they neglect the care of their Smell but must fortifie their Nose against the Contagiousnesse of this Pestilential Aire by smelling to strong-sented things as they must likewise their Mouth by chewing such things as I have prescribed in my former Discourse of the Plague And these things which I have here prescribed are chiefly to be observed by such are unacquainted with this Malignant Aire and yet are necessitated to go to these places and perhaps to make some stay there Yet seeing it is still somewhat doubtful whether the Infecttive Quality of this Contagious Aire may be sufficiently corrected by the aforesaid Remedies they shall if they be wise do well to hasten their departure thence that by this more certain remedy they may avoid all disposition toward those so Long and Dangerous Diseases least being before they are aware thereof seized upon by the same they increase the number of that vast multitude of persons that have perished thereby For thus some very Honorable and Eminent persons and thus also some Counsellors of the Provincial Councel of Flanders having in the Vacation Time been held there by their business for some long time and being not at all Armed against the Malignity of that Contagious Aire when as the disease raged in those parts in an extraordinary manner they have been infected with it and so returning to their homes have there either layen miserably languishing for a long time or else have in a little while died of the same To these I can adde diverse both Colonels Captains Counts and Marquesses who having had occasion of being in the said Parts or in any other that have been recovered from the Sea by casting up of Banks against it or else in some other Fenny Places where they have been necessitated either to meet with their Enemy or perhaps to keep Garrisons there having been assaulted by these Contagious Aires have either upon the place or perhaps being removed some whither else yeilded up both the Victory and their lives too to the same All which things seeing I am very certainly assured of as having bin a a most diligent observer of the same ever since I practised Physick in Flanders which is now about two and fifty years I could not but give a light touch of the same least if they should be buried in Oblivion and no Notice taken of them the world might yet be to seek for the same both to our own great detriment and that also of Posterity and I have the rather discovered these things to the World that so every wise man might the better make provision for his own safety and in himself make that happy experiment which is in every ones Mouth Foelix quem faciunt aliena pericula cautum Hee 's happy who doth arme Himself by others harme As concerning the Curing of the aforesaid Feavers as they are Epidemial and also of the Symptomes of the same seeing I my self have written abundantly in my French Treatise and other approved Authors also have treated largely of the said Feavers though proceeding from other causes of the different ways of curing whereof there is notwithstanding little regard or notice to be taken I shall not here say any thing but shall onely in this my Second Discourse add to the former such other things as I found to be very rarely made use of and yet were such as I conceived were of most excellent use in this case And yet I know very well that those that are of the more Curious sort in our Profession have presently a strong prejudice against whatsoever they finde to be dissonant to the common way of Practise and which are commended to be the better and more usefull things and I know besides that there are some of them whose fingers itch agen to be scribling that so they may shew to the world that they have lighted upon some thing which they can contradict Which occasion of quarrelling I confesse they may very easily pick out of what I have delivered in my former Discourse touching the Gout concerning which there are found so many different Opinions and Arguments as that those that are unacquainted with and have not experience of my New Way of Proceeding herein may think themselves sufficiently furnished with the same so as to be able to hold Argument against my Reasons though they have been confirmed by daily Experience although they will never be able to overthrow them As for instance among other things it may be objected against me that I maintain that the Sciatica or Hip-Gout is always caused by a Hot and Sharp or Salt Humor and that the same although it were never so Violent and raged never so much and was such as otherwise would have been very long in curing hath yet been miraculously and perfectly cured by drinking a cup of Cold Well or Fountain-Water in the manner and the â—imes before prescribed provided this course be taken in the beginning of the Disease Besides as this our Cold Water is used to cure most strangely and certainly both in this case and otherwise being taken as well Inwardly as applied Outwardly yet will not these men willingly admit of the same much less will they believe that the applying
Sharpness of Humors begin to putrifie and are inclined toward being gangrened And so likewise when in the Plague at the very beginning of the Disease the Patient takes not a Sudorifical Preservative and when need so requires doth not repeat the same or perhaps when by reason of some Impediment intervening it cannot be administred or if it be administred yet it may be overmastred by the Venom of the Disease which may be so strong and powerful as that by its excessive Malignity it can take away a man in a quarter of an houres space So that I would have all men take notice that I never intended to maintain that this Terrible and Dangerous Enemy was not so fearful a thing as it is commonly thought to be but I rather maintain the contrary and say that it is really such All that I intended to insinuate was onely this that if it were taken at the very beginning of it it was much easier to be overmastered and cured then most people imagine supposing there be nothing to hinder the putting in practise of our Medicines as I have found by most diligent observation and by the faithful relation of many that by Gods blessing have been most happily preserved by takeing such Preservatives and other things as I have prescribed especially at the beginning of the Disease wherein though absent I took all the care that could be that they might be rightly and duly administred As my purpose was likewise to publish to the world by what Preservatives and Cordials and by observing of what Regiment of Health very many who in several places where the Pestilence raged extreamly attended upon and were continually in the house with those that were infected though they themselves had never before been sick of the same nor had been ever before accustomed to this so subtly-infecting an Aire yet by Gods mercy were miraculously and to the admiration of all people preserved and kept from any the lest infection And among these and other the like things I could not but give notice here of how great use and indeed how Necessary in this case Wine Vineger is as the drinking of Whey is in the Griping Flux of the Belly and the Drinking and Outward Application of Cold VVater also is in the Gout and many other Pains in the Body The great force of which Three Liquors and the Marvelous Vertues that God hath endowed them with for the Good and Preservation of Mankind when I had by most Exact and Diligent inquiry into and a long making use of the same with good successe been most certainly assured of I at length resolved to write of the same and publish them to the world in Print in some certain small Treatise concerning the Disease called Cholera and concerning Epidemial Diseases and their Symptomes and touching the Biting of a Mad Dog Which I the more willingly did because I conceaved that the use of these Three Liquors may not onely be intrusted to such as are not at all skilled in Our Profession but rather ought indeed to be commended unto them if there be any regard to be had to Humane Infirmity or Necessity if not to Mutual Charity seeing that it so falls out for the most part that either a Physician cannot be had so timely as is requisite in these Diseases or perhaps if the Disease raigne hot in the place will not come when he is called and also because that in the curing of those Diseases for which the use of these Liquors are designed and in the administring of the same all people may have though not an exact yet a Confused knowledge at lest and such as is in some sort sufficient for the business in hand so that their administring of the same to speake cleerly cannot but do very much good and especially when the Urgency of the Necessity requires the same and cannot admit of any Delay wherein there would be for the most part most Evident and most Present Danger as Ovid to this purpose well alludes where he saies Opprime dum nova sunt subiti mala semina Morbi Et tuus incipiens ire resistit equus Nam mora dat vires In English thus Acute Diseases first assault restraine Whilst setting out horses obey the Rein. Delay addes Strength And as the same Poet elsewhere speakes no less pertinently in these Verses Principiis obsta serò medicina paratur Cum mala per longas invaluere moras Which may be rendred thus Resist at first the Cure's apply'd too late When delay'd sickness brings approaching Fate Which Verses if any where they have place chiefly here in the business of the Plague and in such other Contagious Diseases where the Venom of the same is so extreamly fierce as that it in an Instant diffuseth it self through the body and so likewise in the Griping Flux of the Belly in which cases there is no wearing out and Digesture of the Venom by length of time to be expected In like manner as I my self being taken with this disease in the Seventy Sixth yeer of my Age at which time also I was busie in putting this present Treatise to the Press perceaving toward the Evening some Bloody Corrosion of the Guts fallen upon me I did not at all defence the business but resolved presently to fall to taking of Physick though it were then late at night to purge out the Acrimonious Humor and I drank as much Whey as possibly I could and that with so good successe as that I quite freed my self from it in the space of four and twenty hours And the same successe have I had in the same disease two other severall times by using the self same course And I would have people also take notice that it was not in vaine that in my French Treatise I gave my Judgement that in the Jaundise at the very beginning of the Disease the Patient was to have Purging Medicines administred unto him which are to be repeated also for four or five daies together if need so require that the Conjunct Cause it self also which being let alone growes hard and in time too sometimes petrifies may be driven out of its Bladder into the Guts And to the end that men may the easier believe how Necessary this Festination is in these diseases I shall here for the greater benefit of the Publike adde that I my self about some fifteen daies before the aforesaid Dysentery seized upon me was evidently taken with the Jaundise before the appearing whereof I had a Griping Paine in my Belly whereupon immediately followed the Whitenesse of its Excrements together with a very Thick Vrine which also had a Yellow Froth floating on the Top of it all which together with the diffusion of Choler all over the body as appeared by the Yellownesse of my Skin clearly shewed that it was the Jaundise Yet notwithstanding by Gods blessing though I was of so great an Age I perfectly recovered from this so Dangerous a Disease within five days