it else it will cast you into great faintness The Juyce of the Roots of blew Lillies hath the like vertue but is likewise to be used with great discretion Otherwise take Earth-worms and having wash'd them clean in Wine reduce them to powder and take of it for some mornings the weight of half a drachm in warm Broath or Wine mixing a little Rhubarb with it The Swelling of your Leggs may be removed by heating some Tiles and sprinkling them with Wine and clapping them about your Leggs to make them sweat For a swelled Groin take warm Milk wherein Calamus Aromaticus hath been boiled and sweeten it well with Sugar and apply it CHAP. VII Of all sorts of Fluxes as also the Tenasmus or vain endeavour of going to stool and the Hemorrhoid or Riles and Marisca's or sore Fundaments IN Wars and Camps Bloody and other Fluxes are very frequent caused by an irregular and ill dyet and these Distempers especially the Bloody Flux carry away abundance of Men. Where it is to be noted that the Bloody Flux is infectious and very catching Common Fluxes and Loosenesses may easily be cured Amongst other Remedies take burnt Harts-horn and take it often in Broath or pulverise Medlar-kernels and take of the powder in Broath likewise Also an Electuary made of Quinces and Sloes will cure them The same does Nutmeg and the Roots of Tormentil Snakeweed or the Roots of Cinquefoil baked in Eggs and eaten Likewise the Seed of Dock broad Plantain item Terra Sigillata or Bolus Armenus and Wheaten-bread coming hot out of the oven and dipt in red Wine and eaten Again Mastick pulverised and put into Almon-milk red Wine or Broath the weight of a drachm is good for such a Looseness especially as comes from indigestion adding a little Nutmeg or Galingal to it Oaken-leaves also or the Rinds of Pear-trees with a little Mace boiled in Wine and drunk cureth common Fluxes Again Bursa Pastoris Shepherds-Purse boiled in steel-Steel-water with a little Coriander and drunk is also very good and so are Crafishes boiled in Vinegar and the scales beaten to powder taking a drachm of it mornings and evenings either in red Wine or in Broath wherein red-hot Steel hath been several times quenched Hawes also boiled and made into a thick Electuary and strained is beneficial if taken in the morning fasting and an hour or so before supper the quantity of a Walnut Besides take new Milk with its Cream on it quench therein divers times red-hot Pebble-stones so that the Milk may grow hot of it then mix with it two or three well-beaten Yolks of Eggs two ounces of Sugar melting in it an ounce and an halt of the Suet of a Deer or Stagg and about half an ounce of Album-graecum using it for a Clyster which cleanseth and healeth the Guts and allays the sharpness of the Blood and other corrosive humors that annoy the Bowels But take heed of not stopping too suddenly the Bloody Flux or any other Laske for if you do the annoyance will remain in the Body and cause Impostumes Difficulty of breathing and other dangerous Distempers Wherefore consult with thy strength and if that be considerable make not too much hast yet keep a bridle upon it so as to be able to stop it when there is need Mean time if it be without a Fever or heat you may do much with new Milk drinking it also mornings and evenings warm some red-hot Stones having been quenched therein and some Sugar mixed with it to prevent curdling in your Stomach This Medicine was known to the famous Grecian Physitians Aetius Alexander Trallianus and Galenus himself l. 10. de Simpl. Med. facult If you add a little Album-graecum to it 't will be the better I have my self done much good with thus prepared Milk but then there must be no Fever which if there be you 'l easily perceive it by a great thirst quick pulse hot hands and little sleep c. For Bloody Fluxes are not wont to be accompanied with shaking Fevers but only with hot fits which spend more of the Patients strength in an hour than shaking Agues in several days which is to be well heeded Eggs boiled hard in Vineger and given to the Patient that is troubled either with the Bloody or any other Flux it will be stopped The Roots of Tormentil or of Snake-weed pulverised and this powder drunk in a convenient vehicle the weight of a drachm is one of the most approved remedies against these Fluxes Tormentil-roots being very powerful not only to stop them but also to take away their carching malignity The Moss that grows on wild Rose-shrubs reduced to powder and taken in Wine wherein have been boiled the husks of Acorns is an approved remedy in this case Scrape red Lead or Rudle such as Carpenters mark their lines with put it into Wine or Broath wherein hath been boil'd the broader kind of Plantain and Tormentil-roots or take it in an Egg. Hares-blood dried and taken inwardly is also a tried Medicine in this Distemper Item open a new-laid Egg take out the white and fill it up with Nutmeg or the pulverised root of Tormentil or of Snake-weed and give it the Patient to eat or put into it some pulverised Blood-stone and it will do good I have used with good success the Seed of the broader Plantain grosly beaten and rosted in an Egg against the Flux and I know it also to have been beneficially used against the Bloody Flux Take of Mummy a little Mastic Bol Armeniac Sanguis Draconis mix them together and make a powder of them and take of it in a convenient liquor the weight of a drachm once or twice a day Take Rye-biscuit and boil it in water with Coriander and the roots of Tormentil or of Cranes-bill quench some Steel in it once or twice and give of it to the Patient to drink Make a Decoction of Shepherds-purse and Meadow-sweet in water and wine and now and then drink of it Burn live Crasishes in an earthen Pipkin well-closed until they be so burnt as to be reduced to powder of which give to the Patient mornings and evenings a thimble-full or two in a convenient liquor A dried Liver of a sucking Lamb or of any other such Animal is very good in this case provided such a Liver before 't is dried be boiled in Vineger Let the Patient take a drachm of it twice a day Also the Blood of a Lamb or of a Hind both dried will have here a good effect Take a Pigeon Wood-cock or Partridge and having drawn any of them fill them with Mastic and a little Nutmeg and so rost them on a spit and whilst they are rosting baste them with red wine and so let them rost till they grow so hard as will make them pulverable then reduce them or any of them to powder and take a spoonful of it at a time in warm broath The highest Experiment in this case is Crocus Martis taken in the Juyce of
march and often cannot put off their cloaths for many nights together yet let them use such sudorifique means for though they cannot sweat outright yet they may fall into a dampish moisture which if it strike not in again may prove as good as a sweat Yet in this case he must turn his shirt Quod non facit sudor praestat id tenuis udor But here is to be noted that 't is not enough once only to give a sudorifique Medicine to an infected Body considering that the venom like a raging Sea is tossed to and fro every way And though it should seem to thee as if by thy approved Antidote thou hadst overcome the Disease the Symptoms of it excepted yet thou art not to trust in this case for I my self have been sometimes deceived and hard put to it to make good what by confidence I had omitted Wherefore you must not trust to the once taking a sudorifique potion or powder because such malign and lurking Diseases that keep no stitch do indeed fly the first time from thy Medicament and hide themselves under it but they are wont suddenly to re-appear Wherefore you must repeat the Antidotes that were first administred to you for the time of 16 18 20 or 24 hours according to circumstances and so long and often till you judge your sick Brothers or Friends Heart secured from the infectious Venom When the sweating is over thou must then refresh thy Patient first by drying him well and next by giving him a little Vinegar to taste in a spoon The Rich may afford some slices of Citron of which Theopompus Chius writeth that the Tyrant Clearchus Heracleota who lived in Pontus having poisoned many People the vertue of Citron was at length found out of which a slice being eaten proved an effectual Antidote against it The same vertue may be found in a slice of a common Apple and the Syrupus de Pomis is one of the Cordials of our shops But the thirst that uses to follow upon sweating will not be quenched with so small a matter wherefore take three parts of water one part of Vinegar and if the Patient be not too hot one part of Wine mixing some Sugar therewith and of this let him drink a good draught and it will cool and refresh him Besides take some of the guts of Hens and some slices of Radish sprinkle them with Vinegar and Salt and bind them to the soles of his feet this will draw away the heat But let not the Radish lye too long upon them because it will give a stink that may increase the head-ach wherewith the People that have the Plague are commonly troubled enough without provoking it Moreover you will do well to tye about his wrists some Rue beaten with Vinegar Anoint his Loyns and Back-bone with the Unguent of Roses or with fresh Butter but if there appear any Spots forbear to anoint him lest they should be driven in You will do well to have Epithemata of good things about you as of Rose-water and Elder-vinegar to lay over the Heart with which mix some Camphir But if you find any thing of Specks c. broke out you must use no wet thing Anoint his Heart with Oyl of Scorpions take the Oyl of Sea-blossoms and of those Earth-worms that appear after rain of each six ounces of St Johns-wort Oyl two ounces of fresh Elder-blossoms and Rue each a handful and an half of the Acetum of Marigold-flowers and Roses each about three ounces of live Spiders forty five Boil all these together till the Vinegar be so qualified that when 't is thrown into the fire it cause no cracking there Then strain it and in this strained Oyl put a matter of five and twenty Spiders more of the biggest sort and add to it of Camphir dissolved in the Spirit of Roses half a drachm let it stand in Balneo Mariae or upon hot embers for twelve hours and then put to it of Treacle and Mithridate of each half an ounce and let them work together With this Oyl anoint the eight Pulses viz. both Temples behind both Ears both Hands and both Knees as also the Heart And this is an excellent Succedaneum to Scorpion-oyl much used by the Germans Besides you must refresh and strengthen the Patient with convenient Meat and Drink I mean with good Flesh or Barley-broath with a little Vinegar in it to make it savoury to him who will have appetite too little else till he have shaken off this venomous Distemper which when he hath done his stomach will be so keen that you will find work enough to keep him from surfetting Be also careful to keep thy Patients Body open if he be obstructed use a Clister or take Butter or Hogs-grease mixing a little Salt with it or if it be to be gotten a little Mice-trickles and put it into his bowels Physick at the mouth for this purpose is not always safe When the Patient is discharged of the venom a little liquor of stew'd Prunes with some Senna-leaves in it will do well for opening the body Some fresh Butter eaten in the morning or melted in warm Broath and taken down is wont also to keep the body soluble The Drink of these Patients may be Water with some Bread soaked in it or take of such Water wherein Bread hath been soaked one quart and a little Vinegar with two or three spoonfuls of Kitchin-sugar mingling it well together If you have no Sugar use such Water with Vinegar alone This affords good Drink in malignant Feavers Among the Romans it was drunk by the Souldiers under the name of Posca You may also take a handful of well cleaned plantain-Plantain-roots and boil them up in three quarts of Water and then decant the Water which though it be somewhat bitter yet 't is very good in Fevers and a good Drink in hot Distempers If you have Oyl of Vitriol let a few drops of it fall into clear Water mingling it well and you will have a factitious Sawer-brun or Acidulae But use no Metalline Vessel for this purpose With this kind of Water many People have been served in all sorts of Fevers the Oyl of Vitriol in such Distempers if rightly used being very beneficial But if a Man should have with it any Pulmonick Disease in that case he must forbear acid things and use Liquorice and content himself with Ptisane Nor is it at all good to use acids in Pestilential Pleurisies And since on this occasion we mention this case and we having above given warning not easily to blood in Pestilential Diseases yet may Venae-section be sometimes upon good consideration used in that Pleurisie provided it be done in the very beginning and the Patient be strong and full of blood Yet this is not to lessen the blood but only to give it vent but before bleeding the Patient is to sweat by taking some of the above specified Antidotes If the Patient have violent Head-ach lay on his head
take in the morning the quantity of a hasel-nut of Mithridate fasting an hour after it and if the pains of thy Belly prevail make a Decoction of Wormwood in Wine and drink of it as hot as thou canst this will allay the pains and give thee some stools Mean time abstain from raw Fruit and Beer Milk Herbs and such like If thou art swollen take half a drachm of Rubarb and about the same quantity or a little less of Mechocan reduce it to powder and take it in Wormwood-wine or warm broath in the morning fasting and eat nothing within an hour or two after Be careful to take down some Treacle in the morning fasting but you are first to be purged Otherwise make a Decoction of the Roots of Elecampane and Pimpernel or Swallow-wort in Wine and drink a warm draught of it mornings it will provoke Urine If thou canst bear amongst it Wormwood Carduus benedictus or Centory add them in the Decoction and it is a good potion for the Liver An Herb call'd by the Latins Eupatoriam Avicennae in English I think Common Hemp-Agrimony hath a great operation in swelled People drinking of the Decoction thereof made in Wine Besides use in this case Parsley and smallage-Smallage-roots in thy meat Boil Horse-radish and drink of the Decoction warm in the morning Thy ordinary drink is to be a water in which hath been boiled a good quantity of Cummin Annis or Fennel You may also now and then drink a little Wine swelled People having no great heat in them From these obstructions of the Liver and Mesaraic Veins comes difficulty of Breathing and a dry Cough which occasions the Inflation of the Belly and helps to entertain the crudities and indigestions Mean time there useth to follow upon this the Yellow Jaundise For this take the Roots of Cyclamen or Sow-bread reduce them to powder and take the weight of half a ducat in Meath or Wine mixt with a little Honey sweating upon it and you shall find your sheets discoloured of a yellowish colour In the same manner make use of the Seed of Aquileja or Columbine I have reduced these three to powder and mixt them together and given of it the weight of a ducat to sweat which hath proved very successful Orange-peels used in like manner do also much good in this case The bitter Centory boiled in Meath and a good draught drank of it warm in the morning is also very good Likewise a Decoction of the white Horehound and Cichory-roots is also used to good purpose in this case These things expel also Worms if any do lodge within thee for which may also be used the Souldiers Pills of Aloe called Marocostinae In this case Vineger of Squills is also an excellent remedy taking of it in the morning early a spoonful two or three and exercising after it It will open the Breast and make you expectorate phlegm and slime in abundance If you be troubled with Wind and Gripings of the Guts be careful to have your Body soluble Boil Calamus cut small in broath drink of it hot putting a little Angelica or Masterwort Do this mornings and evenings and beware of drinking cold and abstain from all Milk keeping your self very warm especially about the Feet which you will do well to bath with a Decoction made of Asarabacca Camomile wild Trefoil wild Marierom wild Thyme putting a little Salt into it For your drink boil Cummin Annis or Fennel in water and now and then a glass of wine may do well These Gripings may also be cured with drinking very bitter Wormwood-wine as hot as you can endure it This is also opening If you boil Elecampane and Orange-peels with the Wormwood it will have the greater effect And if you add to it Allium Sylvestre Crow-Garlick you have an excellent Medicine for this purpose This I have used my self and found present relief from it when in a very hard Winter upon a Journey I was taken with these Gripings 'T is indeed a very unpleasant potion exceeding bitter especially being to be drunk hot but the good effects will make amends for that If the pains should not cease after all this mix with it the quantity of a hasel-nut of Treacle or Mithridate and so drink it off together If you can get Malvasy mix a little Oyl of Olives with it and drink of it warm Oyl of sweet Almonds would be better one half of that and the other of Malvasy though these things perhaps will not so easily be had in a Camp Fresh Butter may serve instead of Oyl Else make a Decoction of Juniper-berries or Laurel-berries and Elecampane in strong Wine and drink a good draught of it mornings and evenings Or reduce the Herb Carduus benedictus to powder and drink its weight of a ducat in warm Malvasy or other strong Wine it will remove the Gripings especially if you mix with it a little Zedoary pulverised For your Meat take Larks if they chance to be in season draw them and fill their bellies with Garlick and so rost and eat them Make a Decoction of Burnet or of Master-wort and Laurel-berries in Beer strain it and melt a little Butter in it adding a little Pepper and so drink of it hot For an outward Application take the Oyl of Rue and Wormwood dip Cotton into it and put it warm to thy Navil Or beat Onions and fry them in Dill or Camomile-Oyl wrap it up in a linnen Cloth and apply it to thy Belly where the pain is most violent refreshing it often The Oyl of Laurel-berries mixing a little Juniper-berry-oyl or Nutmeg-oyl with it may be used with great benefit anointing the Navil therewith and afterwards put to the Navil a warm dry bag filled with Bran and Camomile-blossoms Or fry Cow-dung in the Oyl of Dill or of Camomile or of white Lillies and apply it thus to thy Navil keeping thy self and especially thy Leggs very warm If you perceive any Hydropical Distemper in you make a Decoction of Wormwood and Juniper-berries in Wine drink every morning a warm draught of it fasting You may also to very good purpose boil with it Swallow-wort Burnet or Succory roots adding also to it some Annis or Fennel-seed But it will be requisite first of all to purge with Mechoacan and Rhubarb and now and then to repeat this purgation Abstain from Milk Beer Fruit and all raw and obstructing food If you knew how to use Elder you would have an excellent Purge to free your Body from the Hydropical water because the Juyce of the Roots of Elder purgeth Hydropical Persons exceedingly But 't is not so safe to use it unless you do it with great caution because a very little of it taken inwardly purgeth both by stool and vomit like Antimony Half a nutshel full may suffice The like effect you 'l find in Elder-buds boiled and then dressed with Oyl and Vineger like a Salad eating a very little of it But I advise you not to use too much of
the broader kind of Plantain or in a Pulse of red Beans or Rice-broath the dose is half a dram But when the pain is very great you may then add to it some opiat Medicine as of the Trochisques de Garabe or one onely grain of Laudanum Opiatum And give the Patient now and then a little new-made Treacle or mix with it a few grains of the Confection of Archigenes for of such Medicaments a Field-Apotheque is not wont to be destitute For the Patients ordinary drink boil water and in it Coriander dried Sloes dried slices of Quinces burnt Hartshorn Mastic Nutmeg or any one of these putting to it some of the roots of Snake-weed Tormentil or such like adstringent roots Of this water the Patient may drink according as his necessity shall require The red Juyce of Quinces boiled up without Sugar is also much to be commended in this case for strengthening the bowels two or three spoonfuls of it being taken at a time and that twice a day In many places a drink is made of Sloes Pilosella or Mouse-ear and Juniper-berries infusing them all in common water and letting them ferment together This yields a pleasant acid drink allaying the violence of the Flux and quenching thirst withall The Rich may make Granat or Quince-wine But I have here undertaken to deliver such things as are parable and cheap for the poor common Souldier I am sorry that in the Field there is no conveniency of administring Clysters For though I prescribe none without great necessity yet Clysters being of great benefit in Diseases of the bowels they being to them like Plaisters I cannot but recommend in this Distemper Clysters of Milk wherein Pebble-stones have been several times quenched mixing a little of the melted suet of a Stag or Hind without any oyl or other fat I remember I had once a Patient of quality that had about an hundred stools within twenty four hours who by the use of such Clysters once or twice applied was fully restored The cause whereof is that the Milk washes the bowels and clears them of the sharp humors that annoy them moreover it is healing and repairing by reason of the Pebbles quenched therein The Sugar is abstersive and helps to clean the injured places The Far sticks to the parts annoyed to defend them from being further hurt by the subsequent humors which running down over it can find no stay there and consequently cause no more hurt to those parts Yet must you not put in any greasie Fat or any Oyl of Olives because they hinder healing and all Oyl except that of Linseed Poppies Hemp and Almonds is very sharp and you will find that if any drop of Oyl of Olives should chance to fall into your eye no Juyce of Orenges or Limons is so strong as to exceed the acrimony of that Oyl But of this Oyl more will be said in the next Chapter to which I therefore refer you If you would have your Clyster yet milder and more sanative you may beat a yolk or two of new-laid Eggs and mix them with it though I have contented my self with the Ingredients before mention'd and found great benefit thereby Else you may in this case use for a Clyster the Cremor hordei mixt with yolks of Eggs beaten in it which is also very good to wash out the bowels Here is no conveniency of making much use of Apothecary-shops else many things might be prescribed to lay upon the belly and the navil as also divers fermentations and stomachical unguents You may therefore content your self with those plain and easily parable means already deliver'd and be thankful to God for them But then you are also to think upon means to obviate Symptoms of this Distemper and particularly Drought which is wont very much to torment people in this Disease 'T is true Acid things do quench thirst but they cannot be used boldly and therefore you must use them with great discretion and wariness And as for sweet things they usually increase thirst and do easily corrupt and turn into gall Wherefore give to the Patient preserved Currans or if fresh ones be in season mix a quantity of them with Honey or Sugar and give him of it to eat upon white-Bread and Butter Or plump dried Black-cherries or dried Damascene-prunes in half Wine and half Water and let him hold and squeeze them in his mouth Or if you can mingle some Almond-milk with Chalybeat-water and let him drink thereof and this is both meat and drink Or let him drink water wherein Coriander and roots of Tormentil have been boiled Or boil in water dried slices of Quinces roots of Bistorta or Snake-weed and burnt Harts-horn put into it a tosted crust of Rye-bread rubb'd with Nutmeg but let it not lye in it above a quarter of an hour lest the water should thicken and become viscous Marmelat also of Quinces Black-cherries and Sloes is proper in this case giving the Patient a slice of it to hold upon his tongue and so to swallow it down Further you must learn how to remedy a Tenasmus which is more irksome to the Patient and occasions more trouble to the Physitian than the Bloody-flux it self since it night and day painfully provokes the poor Patient to go to stool and yet to no purpose For this I have used many remedies but found almost nothing more beneficial than Fomentations of this nature following Take Potentilla wild Tansie Silver-weed Knot-grass Mullein and Oak-leaves of each as much as you please put them into two linnen bags and let them boil in Smiths-water wherein much Iron hath been quenched Squeeze out these bags between two boards and let them be held alternately to the anus as hot as can be endured Black Pitch such as is found on Larch and Fir-trees put upon a heated fire-shovel and the fundament held over it is also a good remedy and so is Turpentine used after the same manner Again take a black well-burnt Brick out of the hearth heat it thoroughly and wet it with sharp Vinegar and wrap it about with a linnen cloth and let the Patient sit on it as hot as he can endure it This was the Experiment and Remedy of old Aetius but he reduced the Brick to powder and by boiling it in Vinegar reduced it to a pulse and so put it into a linnen rag and applied it to the fundament You may chuse which you please of the two Milk-Clysters such as above prescribed would also be good but that 't is not safe with Clyster-pipes to vex the anus which is already sore enough Yet you may give a Suppository of Deers-suet mixt with some Oyl of Mullein And the grey Diapompholox or the white Camphire-unguent or the like mixt with it would not be improper in this case If there be a Falling down of the fundament then let it often take in the fumes of the above-mention'd Herbs adding to them the beaten stalks of Sloe-shrubs and those of red Roses as
thy mouth with it as also spirting a little of it into thy horses mouth Besides mingling it with water it will afford thee a good cooling drink If it be very cold put some of that horse-hair that is wont to be curried out of their mains and tails into thy boots I never received on such occasions more warmth from any thing especially keeping my self dry A Hares-skin is also good for this purpose making socks of it but if it grow wet 't is naught Gather of the Wheel-grease that runs out at the nave of the Wheels and would else be lost which hath taken in some of the substance of the Iron that is about the Axel-tree witness its blackness This is a good Ointment for Horses When thou comest into the field and art to lye abroad look out for some rising ground that the Rain which may possibly fall may run away from thee And avoid as much as is possible Vallies Marishes Ditches Meadows and the like low and moist places Besides observe the Air and put up thy Tent towards the East which quarter though it be cool yet 't is wholsom But lest it should be too cool order it so that thou mayst enjoy that wind which comes from between the East and South as being one of the wholsomest of all Airs and temperate the South-air qualifying the sharpness of the Eastern Beware of the Western Wind especially that which blows from between the South and West The Air of Mid-night is wholesome enough and dry but sharp and piercing Believe it a Souldier is much concern'd in the Air nor hath Hippocrates without cause written a whole Book De Aere Aquis Locis to teach how the Air Water and Places are to be discerned and chosen Moreover look about thee for good cleer Water such as grows warm and cool again sooner than other waters and observe this mark for my sake I know water that will not boyl Pease Vetches Stock-fish Flounders c. In some Springs Iron is turn'd into Brass and great care is to be had in the choice of water for drinking But if thou canst not have spring-Spring-water but art necessitated to use Pit or Ditch-water have a care not to drink it without straining least thou shouldst swallow Frog or Snake-spawn For I have known and had in my cure a Countrey-man who voided though not at once but at different times two hundred fifty and five Frogs and of them many in my own house in the presence of divers Ecclesiastical and Secular Persons and some of the biggest of them being dryed are still to be seen in the Repository of Mantua as also in that of Mr. Philip Hainhofer at Auspurg And there is a Cook in the Hospital of Wessenburg or Landsberg who as appeared by the event had drunk the Spawn of Serpents out of which were bred divers Serpents in his body some of which he voided by virtue of the Medicine he took amongst which there was one of the length of a Bavarian Ell. The Man hath been since in good health and continues in his service to this day Wherefore it will behoove you to spread your handkerchief over the Ditch-water and so drink through it or if you take any of it up unstrain'd quench first a red-hot Stone or Iron in it whereby the noxious quality will be destroyed Or if you lye still and can get any Oyl of Vitriol let some drops of that fall into it and you need not then fear any corruption or poyson in such water Otherwise if time will permit let it boil up and cool again and put a crust of bread into it and you may drink of it safely Those Waters that run out of stony hills and from under rocks are the best to which may be reckon'd those Springs that flow from high places and purge themselves in clear sand and pebles If thou meet with Beer or Wine take heed of excess and forbear drinking New beer that hath not yet done working or is not some days old because new beer causeth the Strangury And in case this should trouble thee take a handful of Hay-blossoms boyl them in water and Urine over it drawing into thy body the warm steam thereof and anointing thy Navel several times with warm suet If thou art hot and canst not forbear drinking make water first then wash thy mouth and cool the arteries on both thy temples and those of both thy wrists and then drinking will hurt thee less If you chance to drink whilst you are hot which is so dangerous a thing that some have dyed within 24 hours after it others have fallen into consumptive Coughs others been troubled with Pains in their sides and with Impostumes c. then take of the leaves of Bellis or Daisy which grows in all meadows and pasture-grounds and is green both winter and summer and wash them clean and dress them like a Salad with Oyl Vinegar and a little Salt and forthwith eat thereof and it helps immediately as I know by much Experience But this must be used presently the sooner the better I can say with truth that in all my Practice of Physick for above 20 years I have not met with any Experiment of so quick an Operation from any herb as from this But here I must note that I have always used the Red Daisy and have not tryed the other sorts though I am apt to believe the others may have the like effect You must not eat the Flowers but only the Leaves This Experiment should be put up on all posts every where for the good of Courriers Mowers and other labouring Men that are wont to drink plentifully when they are hot and thereby spoil themselves in great numbers But to proceed as thou art to beware of excess of drinking at all times so thou art especially to forbear when thou art to stand Sentinel lest thou shouldst fall a sleep whereby thou mayst lose thy life at least thy place and thy preferment for ever Neither be fond of Gaming at dice tables c. whence are occasioned quarrels mistrusts deceit swearing and what not Avoid also the company of base women lest thou shouldst be constrained to undergo the Mercurial Salivation and with it a very lean Diet of thin broth water-gruel barley-broth prunes roasted apples and such like without any flesh-meat at all CHAP. III. Concerning the Physicians and Chirurgions in an Army EVery Army ought to be well provided with one or more able Physicians such as are not only expert in the cure of inward Diseases but also understanding in outward Cases as Wounds Burnings Luxations Dislocations Erysipelas's or St. Antony's Fires c. These Physicians ought to be no Youngsters that are lately come from Schools and Universities knowing only in Controversies and Disputations but such as are expert in the Cure of Diseases especially such as are most frequent in Armies They are also to be Men of good nature great honesty and condescension willing to take pains with
Vine-leaves or fresh Cabbage-leaves and if you have no Alablaster-salve take two parts of Vinegar and one part of Oyl of Olives the Sea-blossoms Oyl and Elder-Vinegar were better dip long rags of linnen therein and having well squeez'd them again lay them luke-warm over the face and temples Even Vinegar alone is good Of such Applications you may make many of Acetum of Roses Elder-blossoms and the like with a little Camphir The expressed Milk of Peaches is also very effectual in this case If at the going off of this Distemper a hot defluxion should fall into the Eyes take Camphir and infuse it in water and often moisten the Eyes therewith and if it should be cold and windy weather you will do well to keep your self out of the open Air and not to let this water dry up in your Eyes in the cold wind In case of having lost thy hearing take of thy own Urine and with it wash thy Ears within but withall dry them very well because that moisture is very noxious to the Ears And it often happens that after the Hungarian Sickness People grow deaf or hard of hearing Others put the water of Carduus-benedictus distilled with Wine into the Ears or the Oyl of bitter Almonds If thy Throat swell or the Palate of thy Mouth be fallen down gargarize thy Throat with warm Milk wherein Figgs have been boil'd or sweetned with Sugar The Flowers of Phyllirea or Mock-privet which grows in the hedges boiled and used for a gargarism heals also a sore Throat The same doth the middle rind of Oxyacantha or Haw-thorn if boiled with a little Allom dissolved in the Decoction If you have the juyce of Mulberries mix a little honey of Roses with it and often take a little thereof The roots of Sloes boiled in red Wine and the Mouth often washed therewith is also very good If thou hast the Squinancy boil Scabious in Meath and drink thereof warm when strain'd Beat Turnips and fry them in Butter or Oyl and clap them in a cloth round about thy Neck If thou cast up blood take Mouse-ear Ground-ivy Cumfrey boil them in half Wine and half Water or in Meath and drink often of it But if the Plague reign not open first a Vein For a violent Cough boil white Turnips well cleansed in common water throw away this first water pour on other water and in it let the Turnips boil till they grow soft Strain this water sweeten it with Sugar or infuse in it Liquorice cut small and drink of it mornings and evenings warm Or make a Decoction of St Johns bread and drink it abstaining from all sour and salt things The bleeding at the Nose is also incident to persons infected which is no good sign though in sound persons it often frees from the Head-ach and cools the Liver If this bleeding be too violent clap Ice-cold water about the Patients Neck or let him put his Pudenda in cold Vinegar CHAP. V. Of the Inflammation of the Tongue its rise and concomitants together with the Remedies VVHen the Tongue is inflamed the whole Oesophagus or Weasand is inflamed also and this from beneath upward because the inward fire sends up its smoak all along as it were that chimney which like soot sticks to it drying and blackning the same But there is another Inflammation much more dangerous which taketh its rise about the Heart and therefore is call'd the Inflammation of the Heart which proceeds from the great inflammation of the orifice of the Stomach situate near the Heart in which is inserted the sixth pair of Nerves which maketh the said orifice very sensible of any pain This part being seized by so great an inflammation which is venomous withall it must in a manner harden and shrink and this heat is of that extent that the inner Membrane of the Stomach and that of the Tongue being one and the same what befalls the Stomach the Tongue must needs be sensible of it Whence it comes to pass that if the Gall overflows and passeth into the Stomach the Tongue presently finds the bitterness of it or if the Stomach be full of slime or foul or the like the Tongue is soon affected therewith There is another kind of Inflammation by the Latins called Prunella alba This is of the same kind with the rest but not of the same degree for 't is not of so dry a nature as the others are but commonly is moist yet overlays all the Gums the Throat and the Weasand with such a tough white slime like a kind of leather and so covers the Almonds with the same that sometimes it can hardly be removed even with Instruments The Tongue is as if it were crusted over with dough the Gums like an Oven that by the heat of fire is burnt white the Almonds cover'd as 't were with white leather and the Palate of the Mouth likewise And in this case if the Patient will speak he lalls and stutters his Tongue being burthen'd with a load of slime or if he make his Tongue wagg the slime spins out like a thred and so invades the Teeth as if they were laid over with varnish And when this varnish on the Teeth grows black as I have often observ'd it to do and drieth on them 't is a mortal sign of which Hippocrates saith Quibus in febribus livores circum dentes nascuntur his fortes fiunt febres 4. Aph. 53. These are the three sorts of Inflammation for which let us now seek out the Remedies beginning from the last the White This is not to be master'd by gargarisms alone but the hand must be employed also Take therefore Cotton-wool or Flax and wind it about a stick or rod and dip this in Vinegar and rake his Throat and Gums therewith yet taking care not to make it raw let him gargarise between and wash well his Mouth with Water and Vinegar or Mul-berry-juyce Privet that grows in the hedges or the middle rind of Hawthorn boiled in Water and a little Vinegar then strained with a little Sal-armoniack put into it is in this case an excellent gargarism but if there be blisters upon the Tongue or elsewhere then take instead of Sal-armoniack a little un-burnt Allom and mix it therewith If you can have the Juyce of Turnips or the Juyce of fresh House-leek dissolve therein also a little Sal-armoniack and use it to wet the stick wherewith thou cleansest the Throat of the Patient dipping it often therein and carrying it about the Uvula or Palate of the Mouth and you will see lumps come away as big as Pease The skin is under this Prunella alba fair and red but tender Whilst thou art cleansing the Patients Mouth let him often gargarise with the Waters above-specified and he will clear his Mouth of the loosen'd lumps If thou canst get Mulberry-juyce mixt with Honey of Roses the Mouth will heal the better for upon this sort of Inflammation there usually follows a Putrefaction of the
Mouth and in case thou perceivest any such thing take Wood-sorrel and the abovesaid rind of Hawthorn make a Decoction of it and put in it a little Allom and often gargarise with it Clean thy Teeth from the slime with Water well sharpened with Vitriol The common Inflammation of the Mouth may be cured with frequent washing of the Mouth taking a gargarism made of House-leek Lettice Night-shade or Self-heal Water mixing a little Honey of Roses and Mul-berry-juyce with it Of this gargarism the Patient is also to swallow a little thereby to moisten the Throat Some take House-leek and beat it and put to a pound of it half an ounce of Sal-armoniack mixing it well together And so they put it for some days in an earthen pot glased under ground then they distill of it a Water in Balneo or in Sand Which is excellent both to drink and to gargarise though the Sal-armoniack make it a little unpleasant But there is nothing better to allay this Inflammation than Niter which is so well known amongst Souldiers that they are wont to give one another Gunpowder to drink which Powder performs this effect not upon the account of the Coals or Brimstone but the Saltpeter For this cause Experienced Physitians and Chirurgions endeavour to purifie Niter for this use that it may have the greater effect and this they do in manner following They take of the purest Niter they can get as much as they think fit they beat it to a fine powder and melt it in a large Crucible and whilst it boils up and foameth they pour into it a little powdered Sulphur and so let it boil together till the blew Sulphur-flame ceaseth then they cast in more fresh Sulphur Which they repeat often and then pour out the Niter into an earthen vessel glased making Lozenges of it of which they put one pulverised into a quart of limpid water and so give the Patient to drink of it as much as he needs to quench his thirst Or they give of this purified Niter to their Patients labouring under this Inflammation the quantity of a ducat or half a ducat weight in Broath or in Ptisan till they find the Tongue cleared of its slime The use of Salt-peter thus prepared removeth also the Inflammation of the Heart especially if it be melted upon Lead and then proceeded with as before For Lead is a considerable cooler of which cooling quality the Niter whilst it is melting upon it taketh in not a little Let then your Lead melt and when 't is melted dissolve the Niter upon it and then to purifie it cast some Brimstone into it as was said above till it be cleansed from all impurity and then give of it to thy Patient two or three times a day according as need shall require Otherwise take live Crafishes and fresh House-leek beat them together in a mortar squeeze out the Juyce with it mix a little Sal-armoniack or a pretty deal of thy prepared Niter make a Potion of it and give of it even cold to thy Patient repeating this several times every eight or ten hours once according as you shall see occasion Or take fresh Lard if it be salted draw it through hot water to unsalt it and cut a slice of it two fingers large and of the thickness of a knives back put this into the Mouth of thy Patient it is an excellent remedy against this Inflammation of which I shall give the reason hereafter I have seen wonders done with it But if thy Patient do rave then fasten this slice of Lard with a thred and needle to his shirt or doublet lest he swallow it Or take fresh Butter and put it in cold water and of it give thy Patient at a time the quantity of a hasel-nut to hold it upon his Tongue and let it melt there which will keep the Tongue always moist And if thou work among this Butter some of thy prepared Niter it hath a wonderful effect though the taste be not pleasant I promised above to explain the Reason of the Cure of these Inflammations When you take a gargarism of the Waters of Night-shade Wood-sorrel Knot-grass Endive House-leek and the like mingled with Vinegar you do well but this is not enough the reason is If you wet a piece of Leather you make it indeed limber but when it comes to be dry it grows hard and shrinks except you grease it over with some fatty matter and then it will remain smooth So it is with the Tongue though it be made clean with gargarisms yet will it become again rough and untoward unless some fatness be used For which cause I have directed to use Lard or Butter mixt with Niter If the Almonds be swelled thou must abstain from all sowr things and prepare a gargarism of Figgs St. Johns Bread Mallows-flowers Liquorice Elder-canes mixing with it some Rose-honey or Juyce of Walnuts or the Rob Diamorom gargling often with it seeing that this symptom is a dangerous thing for when the Throat swells of it few Patients do escape death especially if it be a Pestilential Squinancy And in case there appear any Tumour outwardly take fine Flower Milk and Saffron making a Pulse of it and to keep it from growing hard mix with it Althea-salve or Houndstongue-salve the Oyl of blew Violets Mullein white Lillies Camomile or the like adding a little Oyl of Scorpions to it and applying this outwardly Make also a Scraper of Alder-wood if it may be had if not other wood will serve though Alder be best Throw it into cold water and let it lye there using it as often as there is need yet take heed of making thy Tongue sore or raw CHAP. VI. Of Fevers Belly-aches Tumors of the Belly Yellow Jaundise and Distempers of the Liver IN Camps there is nothing more frequent than Fevers of the Stomach arising from ill dyet which Souldiers are often put to for want of better eating what they can get Cheese Herbs Flesh half boiled stale and musty Bread and the like Hence is gather'd a morbifick matter in the Stomack which causeth putrefaction and consequently Stomack-feavers In this case thou art first to purge And for that purpose make use of the Pulvis solutivus de tribus recommended above taking the weight of a ducat or a ducat and an half in warm broath and fasting two or three hours after it Or fetch from the Apothecary of the Tabulatum Diaturbith cum Rhubarbaro or the Diaphoenicon in tabulis taking half an ounce at a time and keeping thy Chamber Or infuse Sena-leaves in Wormwood-wine and drink a small glass-full of it an hour before thy break-fast This will also serve very well especially if some Carduus benedictus have also been fermented in the Wormwood-wine If thou art troubled with Gripings or Inflation of the Belly take of Zedoar or Angelica-roots or Orange-peels cut them small and take at a time the weight of a ducat in hot broath If the Inflation be much
middle rinds Again Yolks of Eggs and Linseed-oyl equal quantities mixt together and spread over the burning is also very good Egg-oyl likewise used by it self and Vernice employed by Joyners do well also but the latter of these two if it be mixed with Oyl of Spicanard or Petroleum is to be mingled amongst Linseed-oyl Spread fresh Butter upon Cabbage-leaves having first fryed the Butter with some blossoms or the middle rind of Elder and so lay them to the burning Elder being a great resister of Inflammations and therefore very good to allay St. Antonies fire if you pull its mild green rinds from the stem and lay them on without moistening them Else they use against the said Fire Flower mixed with the powder of Licorice to be clapt on with a ragg done over with red Saunders My way is to take the shavings of some fresh and juycy Licorice and to fry them in new Butter then to strain the Butter from it and to fry the like fresh Licorice therein and to strain the Butter from that again repeating this five or six times Among this strained Butter I stir some pure and fine Cerusse Whites of Eggs and a little Camphire And with this Ointment I have by the assistance of God done much good in the said inflammation of St. Antonies fire and the common people do to this very day call this Ointment by no other name than that of Doctor Minderer's Licorice-ointment But to return to the quenching of Burnings If you can have Milk-cream mingle it with Cow-dung freshly made and so clap it on though fresh Cow-dung alone allays burning Crafishes pounded alive and fryed in fresh Butter or in common Suet the Butter strained herefrom is also a good Ointment against burnings Unsalted Lard melted by a Wax-candle or an hot Iron and dropp'd upon fresh cold water and then gather'd up from the water and carefully rubbed from the same hath the like operation Take one of the cooling Oyls above-named and fresh Butter boil the middle rind of Elder in it and with a sufficient quantity of Wax make of it a Salve and this also will cure burning You ought also to be provided with a fit apparatus Lints Swathing-clouts c. and to take Deer-suet Oyl of Roses or Elder and white Wax and melt them over the fire yet so as that you melt the Wax by it self and add of it no more to the rest than to make it a thin plaister Into this compound you must dip some fine lint and you 'l find it very useful for any angry part as also when one limb presses or otherwise incommodes another as happens in hydropical and other swollen people whose belly so sinks down that the thighs suffer by it in which case such lints are to be put between the parts to keep them from immediately touching and pressing one another A Gangrene is cured with Sal-armoniac boiled in Urine especially in that of the Patient and clapping such Urine upon the part affected The quantity of the Sal-armoniac may be six drachms For frozen Feet take Gander-suet and Deer-suet dissolve them together and pour them into a white excavated Turnip and expose this for a while to the Air Rain Wind Hoar-frost Snow according as the season shall be Then mince the Turnip and fry it in the same Suet which you had poured into it that done squeese it out and let the fat fall upon cold water and being there brought to consistence take it off and bring it over the helm from burned Wine and decant this carefully from it again and 't is duely prepared You may also recover frozen Feet with white rotten Turnips beaten with Butter or Tallow and so clapt on CHAP. X. Of several promiscuous Medical Practises for the Service of the honest Souldier THis Chapter I have annexed to the former as an Appendix for the ease and good of Souldiers wherein some things will occurr not inferiour to those that have preceded But herein I have kept no order but set them down promiscuously yet faithfully to supply what may have been omitted before If you be troubled with the Tooth-ach coming from the cold in winter take the root of Pyrethrum Pellitory of Spain and boil it in Vineger and hold this Vineger warm in your mouth and it will draw out the phlegm that causes the pain Or take the root of Elder boil it in half Wine and half Water and hold it warm upon the Teeth But what you take of this Decoction must be often spit out and other fresh taken into your mouth of which I have found wonderful Effects The root of Heath boiled together with the same herb in wine and laid on is esteem'd to be powerful in drawing out thorns and splinters You may make a good Ointment against the Itch and Scabbs of Savin stale Fat Brimstone and Juniper-berries Oyl If your Limbs after a long sickness be weak boil Valerian-roots in Camomil-oyl and anoint such Limbs therewith Also the Oyl of Lillies in the valley and that of yellow Violets is good for the same purpose For worms in the Fingers bruise Persicaria Arsmart and lay it on or take of a Piggs Bladder of Gall and put it on the affected Finger like a Thimble If you have any coagulated or congealed blood in your Breast make a Decoction of Scabious Chervil and Germander in two parts of wine and one part of water strain it and drink of it mornings and evenings Against the putrefaction of the Mouth make a Decoction of Privet in water adding afterwards a little Allum to it and use it for a gargarism Also a Decoction of the middle rind of Hawthorn with a little Allum is of great effect in the same case Cabbage and Colewort-leaves burnt to ashes and a Lixivium made of it and clapp'd on cureth a Gangrene and the wild Fire especially if you mingle a little Oyl of Elder therewith If you can have no Elder-blossoms for this Oyl take the green middle rind of Elder and boil it in Oyl Olive and then strain the Oyl which done take fresh rind of Elder and proceed with it as before repeating it three or four times to make the Oyl the stronger You may add a little wine to it whilst 't is boiling but that must all boil away and so long till the Oyl cracks no more in the fire Southern-wood stamped with grease and laid on draweth out splinters If you have the Itch or are scabby and can light upon some water standing in the hollowness of a Beech-tree wash your self with it Or make a Decoction of the brown rind of Alder which is under the gray in Butter and anoint your self with it mixing if you will a little Brimstone therewith If you be troubled with the Ring-worm or any running Scab infuse Litharge in Vineger and let it stand a night infused or make a Decoction of the same in Vineger But your pan or vessel must be of brass This Vineger mingle with Oyl of Elder or of Roses