the first day after a difficult Labour and is accompanied with a long train of Hysteric Symptoms and as it happens only on the first days so usually does not last long for if a thickning diet be order'd it soon abates The following Drink may be also used Take of Plantain water and Red wine each one Pint boil them till a third part be consumed sweeten it with a sufficient quantity of white Sugar and let her take half a pint twice or thrice a day and in the mean while the following Medicine tyed up in a rag may be often held to her Nose Take of Galbanum and Assa foetida each two Drams of Castor one Dram and half of Volatile Salt of Amber half a Dram mingle them Or instead of it Spirit of Sal armoniac may be used But as to the Flux which happens out of Child-bed you must bleed in the Arm and eight Ounces of Blood must be taken away the next Morning the following Purge must be given Take of Tamarinds half an Ounce of Sena two Drams of Rubarb one Dram and an half infuse them in a sufficient quantity of Fountain water in three Ounces of the strain'd Liquor disolve of Manna and Syrup of Roses solutive each an Ounce make a Purging Potion which is to be repeated every third day for twice Every Night at bedtime through the whole course of the Disease give an Ounce of Diacodium mixt with two Ounces of Black Cherry water Take of the Conserve of dried Roses two Ounces of the Troches of Lemnian Earth a Dram and an half of Pomgranate peel and of red Coral prepared each two Scruples of Blood Stone Dragons Blood and Bole-armenic each two Scruples with a sufficient quantity of Simple Syrup of Coral make an Electuary whereof let her take the quantity of a large Nutmeg in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon drinking upon it six Spoonfuls of the following Julip Take of the waters of Oakbuds and of Plantain each three Ounces of Cinnamon water hordeated and of Syrup of dried Roses each one Ounce of Spirit of Vitriol a sufficient quantity to make it pleasantly acid Take of the Leaves of Plantain and Nettles each a sufficient quantity beat them together in a Marble Mortar and press out the juice clarifie it and give six Spoonfuls of it cold three or four times in a day after the first Purge apply the following Plaister to the region of the Loins Take of the Plasters of Diapalma and ad herniam each equal parts mix them and spread them on Leather A cooling and thickening Diet must be order'd only it may be proper to allow once or twice a day a small glass of Claret to recover the strength CHAP. XII Of the Whites THis obstinate and lasting Disease may be cured by bleeding once and by Purging with two Scruples of Pill Coch-Major four times and by the following strengthening Medicines Take of Venice Treacle one Ounce and an half of the Conserve of the Yellow Peel of Oranges one Ounce of Diascordium half an Ounce of Ginger candied and Nutmegs candied each three Drams of compound Powder of Crabs eyes one Dram and an half of the outward Peel of Pomgranats of the roots of Spanish Angelica and of the troches of Lemnian Earth each one Dram of Bole-Armenic two Scruples of Gun-arabic half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of dried Roses make an Electuary whereof let her take the quantity of a large Nutmeg in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon and at Night drinking upon it six Spoonfuls of the following infusion Take of the roots of Elecampane Masterwort Angelica and Gentian each half an Ounce of the Leaves of Roman Wormwood white Horehound the lesser Centory and Calaminth each one handful of Juniper-berries one Ounce cut them small and infuse them in five pints of Canary Wine let them stand in infusion and strain them only as you use them CHAP. XIII Of Barrenness BArrenness proceeds from many causes but they may be reduced to four Heads according to the four Natural Operations which are required to perfect Conception The first is that the Woman in Copulation receive the Mans seed Secondly that it 's retain'd a due time Thirdly that it is nourished in the Womb Fourthly that the Woman afford due Matter for the forming and necessary increase of the Embroy and hence four impediments of Conception arise First The Reception of the Seed is hindered by many causes as immature Age when by reason of the narrowness of the Genital passages the Woman cannot admit the Mans Yard or at least not without great pain which makes her dislike Copulation and Old Age has the same effect for in elderly Virgins the Genital parts for want of use are rendr'd so strait that they can't easily receive the virile Member and such as are lame or have their Limbs distorted or their Hips depressed can scarce lye in such a posture as is necessary for a fit Reception of the Seed too much fat also stops the passages and makes the Copulation incommodious And lastly a cold intemperies of the Womb makes the Woman dull so that she scarce injoys any pleasure in Copulation or is so flowly moved that the inward Orifice of the Womb does not open seasonably to receive the Mans Seed The Passions of the Mind also are a great hinderance especially hatred between Man and Wife whereby the Woman having an aversion for such pleasure does not supply Spirits sufficient to make the Genital parts turgent at the time of Copulation nor does the Womb kindly meet the Seed and draw it into its Cavity from whence and from mixture of both the Seeds Conception arises The Reception of the Seed may be also hinder'd by Swellings Ulcers Obstructions Narrowness or Distorsions of the Genital parts or of the Neighbouring parts or by a stone in the Bladder or the like Conception may be also hindred by reason the Seed is not retained upon the account of too great moisture of the Womb namely when it s fill'd with many excrementitious humours whereby being render'd too laxe it cannot be contracted as it ought to retain the Seed received but this chiefly happens by reason of miscarriage or hard labour whereby the Fibres of the Womb and its inner Orifice are torn but the Whites are the most common cause of Barrenness Conception is also hindred when the Seed is not sufficiently nourished in the Womb as when the Intemperies of the Womb is so very cold that it extinguishes the Seed or so hot as that it dissipates it or over-moist or dry The Age fit for Conception is from fourteen to fifty and therefore those Women that are younger or older do not conceive by reason of a defect of Seed and menstruous Blood yet it must be confessed that some Women have conceived who never had their Courses A disproportion betwixt the Mans and Womans Seed is also the occasion of Barrenness tho there is no sensible defect in
is near her time for such Exercises often cause Miscarriage But she may Walk gently or be carried in a Chair She must not carry or lift heavy Burdens or lift up her Arms too high and therefore ought not to dress her own Head Let her Exercise be gentle walking in low-heel'd Shoes but she had better Rest too much than Exercise too much for more hard Labours are occasioned by violent Exercise than by any other thing Moreover it is convenient that the Woman should abstain from Copulation the last two months for the Body is very much moved and the Belly compressed in the action which causes the Child to take a wrong posture If the Belly be bound as it is often at this time Prunes stewed or Veal Broath may be often used or the following Glister may be used Boyl an Handful of Mallow Leaves in three quarters of a Pint of Milk let the Milk just boyl up add to it two Ounces of brown Sugar and a little fresh Butter strain it for use She must moderate her Passions and great care must be taken that she be not Frighted and that Melancholy News be not suddenly told her but you must endeavour to keep her as chearful as possibly you can the sudden surprizes of joy must be also avoided for excesses on either hand are prejudicial The Cloaths of a Woman with Child should sit easie for any immoderate pressure is apt to make the Child deformed and hurts the Breasts and very often causes miscarriage Unnecessary Bleeding must be avoided so must all strong Purges but if Purging is requisite only such things as Purge gently must be used as Cassia Rubarb and Manna The Cassia is best sucked out of the Canes the Rubarb may be chewed and an Ounce and a half or two Ounces of Manna may be dissolved in Posset-drink and used upon occasion in the Morning Vomiting often afflicts Women with Child but if it be moderate and at the beginning and without great straining it is beneficial if it continues longer than the third or fourth Month it ought to be remedied in order to which let the Woman use good food and a little at a time and let her use with her meat the juice of Oranges she may eat now and then Broth mixed with the yolk of an Egg for it 's very nourishing and of easie digestion and after meals let her eat a little Marmalade of Quinces and she may drink a Glass of Claret she must forbear fat meat and Sauces and sweet and sugar'd Sauces But if the Vomiting continues notwithstanding this regular Diet till the Woman is above half gon she must take the following Purge Take of Tamarinds half an Ounce of Sena one Dram of Rubarb one Dram and an half boyl them in a sufficient quantity of water in three Ounces of the strained Liquor dissolve an Ounce of Manna and an Ounce of Syrup of Succory with Rubarb make a purging potion to be taken in the Morning It may be repeated once or oftener upon occasion And it may be proper for the Woman in the Winter time to were a Lambskin or the like upon her Stomach and Belly If pains of the Back Reins and Hips are violent the Woman must be blooded and take at bed-time sixteen drops of the Liquid Laudanum mentioned at the latter end of the Chapter of Hysteric Diseases in a glass of Canary Wine or in any thing else she likes and she must keep her Bed till the pain abates if the pain is continual the Belly must be supported with a Swaith fitted for the purpose If after the third or fourth Month the Breasts are very painful 't is convenient the Woman shou'd bleed in the Arm if she be full of blood and use a Diet that is moderately cooling and nourishing but if the pain comes at the beginning we ought to leave the whole business to nature only the Woman must have a care that she receives no blows on those parts nor must she be strait laced for fear the Breasts shou'd impostumate If incontinence or difficulty of Urin be occasion'd by the weight and bigness of the Belly the Woman may remedy it and ease her self if when she wou'd make water she lift up with both her hands the bottom of her Belly or she may wear a large Swaith fitted for this use to bear up the Belly but the best way is to keep her in Bed If a sharpness of Urin causes an Inflammation on the Neck of the Bladder it may be appeased by a regular cooling Diet and emulsions of the cold Seeds used Morning and Evening Take of blanched Almonds number twelve of the four greater cold Seeds each one Dram and an half of the Seeds of Lettice and white Poppies each half a Dram beat them in a Marble Mortar and pour on them gently three quarters of a pint of Poppy Water make an emulsion for two doses add one Ounce of Syrup of Violets and half a Dram of Sal Prunella If the Inflammation and Sharpness of Urine be not removed by the things above-mention'd a little Blood may be taken from the Arm and the neck of the Bladder may be bathed with the following Decoction with Flannels dipt in it and pressed out Take of the roots of Marsh-mallows one Ounce of the Leaves of Mallows Marsh-mallows Pellitory and Violets each one handful of the Flowers of Melilote one handful of the Seeds of Flax and Fenugreek each two Drams boyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water to a pint and half But if the Woman notwithstanding she observes these directions cannot make water it must be drawn out with a Catheter by an Artist If the Woman be troubled with a violent Cough she must be blooded in the Arm at any time of her being with Child for this is apt to occasion miscarriage and all salted and spiced meat and sharp things must be forborn She may now and then use juice of Liquorish Sugar Candy and Syrup of Violets and if the Body be bound a Glister of Milk and Sugar may be injected The following Syrup is very proper in this case Take half a pint of Claret Wine one Dram of Cinnamon half a Dozen Cloves and four Ounces of Sugar burn the Wine and boyl it to the consistence of a Syrup whereof let the Woman take three spoonfuls at Bedtime The Woman must go loose in her Clothes and if the Rheum be very thin and the Cough tickles much Sixteen drops of the Liquid Laudanum mentioned in the Chapter of Hysteric Diseases must be now and then taken at bedtime in some liquor she uses to drink If the Legs and Thighs swell and are painful they must be swaithed with a Swaith three or four Fingers broad beginning to swaith from the bottom but in this case 't is best for the Woman to be kept in Bed if there be signs of fulness of blood she must be blooded in the Arm. If the big bellied Woman be troubled with the Piles and abound
with Blood she must be blooded in the Arm and if her Body is Costive the emollient Glyster mentioned above must be used and afterwards to ease the Pain they must be anointed often with Populean Ointment mixt with a few Grains of Opium For instance Take of Populean Ointment one Dram of Opium five Grains beat them well together in a Mortar and anoint the Piles with it twice or thrice a day But if the Inflammation and the swelling are much you must apply Leeches to the part affected and let her keep her Bed If the Piles bleed of themselves immoderately for if the Flux be moderate at this time the Woman being full of Blood she may be relieved thereby a cooling and thickening course of Diet must be order'd as three parts of Fountain water and one of Milk boyl'd together and drank cold roasted Apples Barly-broths and the like also thickning and cooling Juleps and Emulsions Take of the Waters of Plantain and Cinnamon hordeated each four Ounces of distilled Vinegar half an Ounce of True-bole and Dragons-blood each half a Dram of the Liquid Laudanum mentioned in the Chapter of Hysteric Fits thirty drops of Syrup of Myrtles one Ounce and an half mix them and make a Julep let her take four or five Spoonfuls every night at Bed-time Take of the four greater cold Seeds each one Dram and an half of sweet Almonds number four of the Seeds of white Poppies two Drams Plantain Water eight Ounces of red Poppy Water four Ounces of Cinnamon Water hordeated one Ounce and an half make an Emulsion to which add three Drams of pearled Sugar and half an Ounce of the Juice of Cevil Orange mingle them let her take four Ounces thrice a day Bleeding in the Arm is also proper in this case to turn the Flux If a loosness comes upon a Woman with Child and continues above five days she must use Food of easie digestion and little at a time and let her Drink be Claret Wine mixt with Water wherein Iron has been quenched and now and then Milk boyl'd with thrice the quantity of Water or the white Decoction made in the following manner Take of Calcined Harts-horn powder'd two Ounces of Fountain water two quarts boyl it till half is consumed strain it gently through a linnen rag and add to it three Ounces of Syrup of Quinces And before Meals she may eat a little Marmalade of Quinces But note that before she uses these astringents it will be convenient to purge off the ill humours with the following Potion Take of Rubarb one Dram and a half of Sena two Drams boyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water to three Ounces of strain'd Liquor add one Ounce of Syrup of Succory with Rubarb and two Drams of cinnamon-Cinnamon-water Let it be taken in the Morning But if the Loosness turn to the Bloody-flux the case is very dangerous and therefore after the use of the purging Potion above mention'd if the Woman has strength enough to bear it you must immediately give sixteen drops of the Liquid Laudanum so often mentioned in this Treatise in two or three Spoonfuls of Cinnamon-water hordeated or the like which must be repeated every night at bedtime and in the Morning too if the Flux continue violent and to keep up the strength four or five Spoonfuls of the following Julep may be taken often Take of the Waters of Black-cherries and Strawberries each four Ounces of Epidemic water and Compound scordium-Scordium-water and of cinnamon-Cinnamon-water hordeated each one Ounce of Pearls prepared one Dram and an half of Chrystaline Sugar a Sufficient quantity make a Julep The VVomans Drink in this case must be the Milk water or the white Decoction above described and when she is very weak she may take for her ordinary Drink a quart of Fountain water boyl'd with half a pint of Sack and she may eat sometimes Panada and sometimes Broth made of lean Mutton and she must be kept in Bed Moreover a Glister made of half a pint of Cows Milk and an Ounce and an half of Venice-treacle must be injected daily If the VVoman has her Courses after the fourth or fifth Month of her being with Child for some VVomen have them till the Fifth Month without any manner of prejudice to themselves or their Children you must endeavour to stop them then and before too if you suppose they slow by reason of the heat and acrimony of the Blood or the weakness of the Vessels and not from an abundance of Blood which may be known by her having her Courses much when she was not with Child To stop this Flux the VVoman must be kept in bed and forbear all things that may heat the Blood especially anger she must use a strengthening and cooling Diet feeding on Meat that breeds good blood and thickens it as Broths made of Poultry Necks of Mutton Knuckles of Veal wherein may be boyl'd cooling Herbs she may eat new lay'd Eggs Gellies Rice-milk Barly-broth and the like and Iron must be quenched in her Beer and she must forbear Copulation and the Belly must be bathed about the region of the VVomb with Tent wherein Pomegranate-peel Provence Roses and Cinnamon has been boyl'd But if the VVoman be taken with Flooding the case is extreamly hazardous and if it continues violent she must be deliver'd without delay for otherwise death will necessarily follow Yet it is to be noted that it must not be done presently as soon as the Flux is perceived because some small Floodings have been sometimes suppressed by keeping quiet in bed by bleeding in the Arm and the use of Remedies above mention'd If therefore the Blood flows but in a small quantity and continues but a little while she must not be delivered but if it flows in so great abundance that she falls into Convulsions and Faintings the Operation must not be deferred whether she has pains and throws or not And because in Floodings weakness and faintings ever follow we must endeavour to preserve that little strength the VVoman has left and to increase it if possible that so she may be able to bear the Operation to which purpose there ought to be given her from time to time good strengthening Broths Gellies and a little good VVine she must always smell to Vinegar and have a warm toast dipt in VVine and Cinnamon appli'd to the region of her heart which do her more good than solid Food and to prevent the Blood from flooding in great abundance before she can be delivered a Vein in her Arm may be open'd to turn the course of it and Napkins dipt in VVater and Vinegar may be apply'd all along her Reins If the Woman be troubled with a bearing down of the Womb her best way is to keep in Bed but if she cannot conveniently do so she must wear a broad Swaith to keep up her Belly but if the bearing down proceeds from humours that relax the Ligaments of the VVomb she must be kept to a drying Diet
and a very considerable abscess follows in which Case it must be opened just below the Swelling in the most convenient place and after the Matter is evacuated a detersive Decoction must be injected into the Cavity made of Barly-water and Oyl of Roses to which Spirit of Wine may be added if there be any danger of Corruption and afterwards the Ulcer must be Dressed according to Art Sometimes it happens that the Perineum is so rent that the Privities and the Fundament is all in one in this case having cleansed the Womb from such Excrements as may be there with Red-wine let the Rent be strongly stitched together with three or four stiches or more according to the length of the separation taking at each stich good hold of the Flesh that so it may not break out and then dress it with Linimentum Arcaei or the like claping a Plaister on and some Linnen above to prevent as much as may be the falling of the Urine and other Excrements upon it because the acrimony of them would make it smart and cause Pain and that these parts may close together with more ease let the Woman keep her Thighs close together without the least spreading until the Cure be perfected but if afterwards she happens to be with Child she will be obliged to prevent the like mischief to anoint those parts with Emollient Oyls and Oyntments and when she is in Labour she must forbear helping her Throws too strongly at once but leave Nature to perform it by degrees together with the help of a Midwife well Instructed in her Art for usually when these parts have been once rent it is very difficult to prevent the like in the following Travail because the Scar there made does straighten the parts yet more wherefore it were to be wished for greater security against the like accidents that the Woman should have no more Children CHAP. XXII Of hard Labour MAny Causes may be assigned that occasion hard Labour as the natural weakness of the Mothers Body or her Age she being too Young or too Old or it may be occasioned by Diseases that she had with her big Belly leanness or too much dryness of the Body or Fat compressing the passages of the Womb the ill conformation of the Bones encompassing the Womb as in those that are Lame may also occasion it Wind swelling the Bowels a Stone or Preternatural Tumour in the Bladder that presses the Womb may be the occasion so may the ill constitution of the Lungs or of the parts serving respiration for the holding of the Breath conduceth much to the Exclusion of the Child Various Diseases of the VVomb may also render the Delivery difficult as swellings Ulcers Obstructions and the like The hard Labour is occasioned by the Child when by reason it is Dead or Putrified or any way Diseased it cannot confer any thing to its own exclusion also when the Body or Head is too large or when there are more than one so Twins most commonly cause hard Labour or the ill situation of the Child is the cause or when the Hands or the Feet offer first or when one Hand or one Foot comes out first or when it is doubled or when the Membranes break too soon so that the VVater flows out and leaves the Orifice of the VVomb dry at the time of Exclusion or when the Membranes are too thick so that they cannot be easily broken by the Child Cold and dry Air and a North-wind are very injurious to VVomen in Labour because they bind the Body and drive the Blood and Spirits to the inner parts and they are very injurious to the Child coming from so warm a place And hot Weather dissipates the Spirits and weakens the Child Crude Nourishment and such as is difficultly concocted and binds taken in a great quantity before Labours renders it difficult the Stomach being weakned and the common passages contracted which ought to be open in this Case Drowsiness hinders the action of the Mother The unseasonable motion of the VVoman much retards the Delivery as when she refuses upon occasion to stand walk lie or sit or slings her self about unadvisedly so that the Child cannot be Born the right way being turned preposterously by the restlesness of the Mother Urine in the Bladder or Excrements in the right Gut or the Piles when they are much swell'd hinder Natures endeavours by narrowing the Neck of the VVomb Fear Sorrow Anger make the Labour difficult A Blow a Fall or a Wound may also much obstruct the Labour Want of good assistance to lift the Woman up just at the time of Delivery and an Ignorant Midwife who orders the Woman to endeavour an expulsion and to stop her breath when the ligaments of the Fetus stick firmly to the Womb so that the Woman is tired before the time of her Delivery In hard Labour Women commonly give a Spoonful or two of Cinamon-water or Cinnamon powder'd with a little Saffron or half a Dram of Confection of Alkermes in Broth or half a Scruple of Saffron alone in some Broth or every hour a lit-VVine If these things are not sufficient the following may be used which have been frequently found very effectual Take of Dittany of Creet and both the Birthworts and of Troaches of Mirrh each half a Scruple of Saffron and Cinnamon each Twelve Grains of confection of Alkermes half a Dram of cinnamon-Cinnamon-water half an Ounce of orange-flower-Orange-flower-water and of mugwort-Mugwort-water each one Ounce make a Potion Oyl of Amber and of Cinnamon and extract of Saffron are very effectual in a small quantity namely five Grains of extract of Saffron four or five drops of Oyl of Cinnamon twelve or fifteen drops of Oyl of Amber in Wine Broth or some other Liquor and let the Woman take Sneesing Powder for it hastens delivery The Midwife must frequently anoint the Womb with the Oyls of Lilies or of Sweet Almonds and the Belly must be fomented with a Decoction of the Roots of Marshmallows and Lilies of the Leaves of Mallows Violets Mugwort of the Seeds of Fenugreek and Flax of the Flowers of Camomile and Melilote Sharp Glisters must be also injected to stimulate the Womb and to carry off the Excrements Anoint the Navel with Oyl of Amber If the Child begins to come forth preposterously as with one Arm or Foot the Midwife must thrust them back and turn the Child right which may be done by placing the Woman on her Back upon a Bed with her Head low and Feet high CHAP. XXIII Of a dead Child WHEN the Child is dead the motion of it ceases which either the Woman felt before in the Womb or the Midwife with her Hand a sense of weight with pain afflicts the Belly and the Child falls like a Stone from side to side the Belly feels cold the Eyes are Hollow the Face and Lips pale the extream parts cold and livid the Breasts flaccid and at length the Child putrifying stinking matter Flows from the Womb
of Mallows and Ducks meat each one handful of Flax Seeds one Ounce boyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water and let six Ounces be injected in the manner of a Vterine Glister and anoint the part affected with the Oyntment of Ceruse with Camphor and if the pain and heat be much anoint it with the following Oyntment Take of the Populeon Oyntment one Ounce of Camphor two Scruples of Ceruss washed in Rose Water one Scruple and the white of one Egg mingle them Oyl of Flax hot is also good for Chaps of the Anus and Womb so is Pomatum Oyl of the Yolks of Eggs or of Flax Seeds stir'd about in a Leaden Mortar is also proper and if they are occasioned by driness Barly boyled in Water in Linnen Baggs and applyed for nine days are very beneficial But if the Chaps are malignant apply the following Take of good Aqua vitae one point of Sublimate powdered one Scruple of Verdegrease half a Scruple the Whites of three Eggs stir them well together and anoint the part every other day and apply over a Plaster of Diachylon CHAP. XLI Of the Melancholy of Virgins and Widows MElancholy befalls Virgins Widdows and Barren VVomen oftner than other VVomen there are two Causes of it First the Nature of a Woman which is tender and the Mind easily dejected Secondly Gross Blood The signs of it are a Pulsation about the Back which is a Symptom almost perpetual in VVomen so affected the Skin is sometime squalid wrinkley and rough especially in the Arms Knees and joints of the Fingers much Cogitation Suspicion Shame-facedness Dejection of Mind disturbed Sleep frightful Dreams a preposterous Judgment the Breast is often very Hot and hath a Pulsation in it and when the Vapour rises upwards there is a Palpitation of the Heart or Fainting there is a rising in the Throat as in Mother-fits the Belly is most commonly Bound they are Thirsty and subject to VVatchings to Despair and to VVeeping and Sorrow and sometimes the Melancholy is so high as that they grow almost Distracted and are ready to make away with themselves There are three Degrees of this Disease according to which the Danger is more or less and the Cure is to be varied accordingly The First Is when the Signs are small The Second when the Disease has lasted a long while and has disordered the VVomans Mind so as that she is continually Sorrowful and Sad. The Third Is when the VVoman is so overcome with it that she will not speak nor give any answers and this is near to Madness The First Degree of this may be removed by a sparing Diet by Exercise and by variety of pleasant Company and if she be not Married she must be Blooded in the Arm every third or fourth Month in the middle of the Month But if she be most Melancholy at the time of her Courses she must be Blooded in the Foot two or three days before or after them But if the Disease be in the Second Degree the Curative Indications are principally four The First to hinder the Congestion of the Blood in the VVomb by such things as force the Courses The Second is to expel the Melancholy that is heapt up The Third Is to discuss the VVind The Fourth To provide for the Head Heart Womb and the whole Body It is to be Cured therefore by five sorts of Remedies First By a moistning Diet as let the Dinner be of a boyl'd Chicken with the Roots of Fennel Parsley red Vetches and Saffron And the Supper of new-laid Eggs roasted and stewed Prunes or Borrage prepared with Almond-milk by reason of Watchings wherewith they are much troubled or a Ptisan with a little Anniseeds and Cinnamon to expel the Wind. Let the Drink be Rhenish or VVhite-wine with Borrage flowers in it midling Beer medicated with Elecampane or Balm or water boyled with the Herb Maiden-hair with the Roots of Scorzonera Lemon-peel and Citron-seeds If the Belly be bound use the following Glister Take of the Roots of Fennel and Parsley each one Ounce of the Leaves of Mallows one Handful of Polypody of the Oak one Ounce of the Seeds of Bastard Saffron Flax and Fenugreek each one Dram boyl them to a Pint to the strained Liquor add of the Oyls of Dill Camomile Violets and of Brown-Sugar each one Ounce of Diacatholicon half an Ounce Secondly Evacuations must be used and if there be a plenitude Bleeding must be ordered and purging Medicines frequently but the Humour must be first prepared by the following Medicines or the like Take of Syrups of Borrage of Apples and of Epithymum each one Ounce of the waters of Borrage and Balm each two Ounces mingle them and when the Woman has used this six or eight Days let her take every other Week one Dram of the Pills of Aloes of Mastick or of Agarick or rather because the Pills dry and heat let her take three or four times in a Year a Bolus made with an Ounce of the pulp of Cassia and two Drams of the Powder of Sena The following Syrup is much commended Take of the waters of Borrage Succory and Hops each ten Ounces of the juice of Borrage clarified eight Ounces of the juice of fragrant Apples six Ounces of the Leaves of Sena three Ounces of the Cordial Flowers each one Pugil of the Roots of Scorzonera cut small or of Angelica two Ounces boyl them over a gentle Fire till the twentieth part is consumed to the strained Liquor add of choice Rubarb and of Agarick trothiscated each four Drams and an half after it has boyled gently strain it out and add of the powder of the Stone called Lazulus prepared and tied up in a rag two Drams of Sugar a sufficient quantity make a Syrup of a moderate consistence The Dose is three or four Ounces The following Medicine is much commended Take of the Leaves of Spleen-wort Penny-royal Maiden-hair Thym Fumitory Borrage Mugwort and Agrimony each half an Handful of the Roots of Succory Endive Smallage Angelica Fennel Asparagus and Eringo each one Ounce of the flowers of Borrage Stechas Rosemary Violets each one Pugil and an half of Epithymum and of the leaves of Sena each half an Ounce of Doronicum of the Seeds of Anise Fenel Basil and Citron each two Drams and an half of Cinnamon half an Ounce of all the Sanders each half a Dram boyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water to a Quart at the end add of the Bark of the Root of black Hellibore and of choice Rubarb each four Scruples of the stone called Lazulus tied up in a rag one Dram of sweet smelling Flag of Zedoary and of the Seeds of Peony decortiated each half a Scruple strain it and with a sufficient quantity of white Sugar make a clear Potion aromatize it with one Dram of Diamosh The Dose is five or six Ounces But if these things do no good four Grains of Stybium prepared may be safely given but it is best to
fall together but it being opened they are like the utmost Orifice of a Brass Trumpet These Tubes according to Dr. Harvey are the same in VVomen that the horns of the VVomb are in other creatures for they answer to those both in situation connexion amplitude perforation likeness and also Office The capacity of these Ducts varies very much for in the beginning as it goes out of the VVomb it only admits a Bristle but in its progress where it is largest it will receive ones little finger but in the outmost extremity where it is divided into jaggs it is but about a quarter so wide They are very uncertain also in their length for from four or five they sometimes increase to eight or nine fingers breadth long Their use is in a fruitful Copulation to grant a passage to a more subtile part of the Masculine Seed or to a Seminal Air towards the Testes to bedew the Eggs contained in them which Eggs one or more being by that means fecundated and dropping off from the Testes are received by the extremity of the Tubes and carried along the inner Cavity to the Womb. But it may be objected that the narrowness of the Tubes are not fit for such a use yet â—e that considers the straitness of the inner Orifice of the Womb both in Maids and in Women with Child and yet observes it to dilate so much upon occasion as to make way for the Birth of a Child cannot wonder that to serve a necessary end of Nature the small duct of the Tubes should be so far widened as to allow passage to an Egg seeing its proportion to their duct is many times less than of the Child to the usual largness of the said Orifice CHAP. XV. Of Conception COnception is nothing else but an action of the Womb whereby the prolifie Seeds of the Man and Woman are there received and retained that an Infant may be engendered and formed out of it There are two sorts of Conception the one true according to Nature to which succeeds the Generation of the Infant in the Womb the other false as a false Conception Mole or any other strange Matter It is not absolutely necessary that the Mans Seed should be received and retained entire for a small quantity of it may be sufficient nay a meer steam of it to impregnat Conception may be known by the more than ordinary delight in the act and some few Months after the Woman perceives a small pain about her Navel and some little Commotions in the bottom of her belly The inward Orifice of the Womb is exactly closed she longs for strange things she is often troubled with Nauseating and Vomiting her Courses are stopt the Navel starts her Nipples are very obscure or dark coloured with a yellowish circle round about her eyes are dejected and hollow the Whites of them dull and troubled her Blood when she has Conceived some time is always bad the Belly is flat Yet it must be acknowledged that some of these signs are also to be found upon an Obstruction of the Courses in Virgins wherefore judgment upon Conception must not be too positive especially when the Woman is upon tryal for her life for some upon having their Courses have been judged not with Child and yet after Execution have been found to be so The Infant moves it self manifestly about the forth Month sooner or later as the Woman is strong or weak Some Women feel it from the second others about the third Month and some before that time At the beginning the first motions are very small but grow greater proportionably as the Infant grows bigger and stronger CHAP. XVI Of a Mole A Mole is deformed and useless Flesh contained in the Womb and is occasioned by the corrupted Seed of the Man and Woman for it is never generated without the use of Copulation it is covered with a Membrane and sticks to the Womb the longer it is retained in the Womb the harder it grows and is more difficultly expelled Most commonly there is but one yet sometimes more when it is ejected in the second Month it 's called a false Conception It 's difficult to distinguish a Mole from being with Child for the Courses are stopt the Belly grows big by degrees and the Breasts are increased But the first sign of it is a leaden colour in the Face the Belly is harder and sorer than when a Woman is with Child and it is very troublesome and painful to go with and it falls on whatsoever side she turns there is a great weariness in her Legs and Thighs she finds a great heaviness at the bottom of her Belly and her Urin is obstructed but it may be certainly known if no motion be felt after four or five Months or when her Reckoning is out Some have a Mole two or three Years and sometimes much longer As to the Cure I shall speak only of that part of it which may be performed by Medicines for if it stick much to the bottom of the Womb or is very large it will scarce be expelled unless a Chyrurgeon extract it Give the Woman a Spoonful of Syrup of Mugwort Morning and Evening for three days following either by it self or mixt with an Ounce of Penny-royal-water afterwards Purge her every other day or every third day with the fetid Pill two Scruples or a Dram may be taken at a time early in the Morning and let her sleep if she can till they begin to work let her be purged in this manner five times Things that loosen must be also applied frequently to the Womb to open the passages likewise to the Belly Groins Loins and Hips with Spunges and Flannels the following Fomentation is of excellent use Take of the leaves of Marsh-mallows and Mallows each one handful of the roots of round and long Birthwort each one handful of the leaves of Mugwort Mercury Feverfew Sage Hysop and Calaminth each half an handful of the Seeds of Flax Marshmallows Fenugreek Anise Lovage each half an Ounce of the Flowers of Camomile Melilote Rosemary Broom Mugwort each one Pugil of Bran one Pugil hoyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water to five quarts add of Oyl of Olives half a pint of the Oyls of Camomile and sweet Almonds each four Ounces of the Oyl of Lillies two Ounces foment the parts as above directed and afterwards anoint them with Ointment of Marshmallows CHAP. XVII Of Superfoetation THere is a great dispute whether a Woman who hath two or more Children at once conceived of them at one or several coitions Some will have this to be superfoetation but there are signs whereby we may know the difference whether both Children were begotten at once or successively one after another Supefoetation according to Hippocrates is a reiterated Conception when a Woman being already with Child conceives again the second time That which makes many believe that there can be no Superfoetation is because as soon as a Woman has Conceived
her Food being rather roasted than boyl'd and must refrain from Copulation and must not be strait Laced If the lips of the Privities are much swelled by reason of watery humours falling upon them you must scarifie with a Lancet all along the Lips that the humours may distil out and you must foment the Parts with the following Decoction Take of the leaves of Bays Sage Rosemary and of the Flowers of Camomile each one handful boyl them in a Sufficient quantity of Fountain water to a pint and half of the strain'd Liquor add a quarter of a pint of Brandy and bath the parts affected often with a Spunge dipt in the hot Liquor CHAP. XX. Of Miscarriage TO prevent Miscarriage all indispositions of the Body which are wont to occasion it must be removed as fulness of Blood ill humours and peculiar Diseases of the VVomb as Swellings Ulcers and the like Fulness of Blood opens the Veins of the VVomb or Strangles the Infant and therefore the VVoman must be Blooded and so much Blood must be taken away as will sufficiently discharge nature If an ill habit of body and ill humours are the cause of Miscarriage the VVoman must be frequently purged and a small quantity of Blood may be taken away and betwixt the Purges such things must be used as correct the indisposition of the Bowels and the sharpness of the humours and the humours must be thickened if they are too thin And if Flegmatick humours abound they must be carried off by Sweats and such things as force Urin Issues in the Arms and Thighs are also very proper to prevent Miscarriage whatever ill humours abound in the body The peculiar Diseases of the VVomb as over great Moisture Swellings Ulcers and such like must be cured by their proper Remedies And first if Moisture abound let the Woman be purged with two Scruples of the Pill Coch-major twice a week and when she does not Purge let her drink Morning and Evening of the following Decoction Take of the roots of Sarsaparilla four Ounces of China two Ounces of white and red Sanders each half an Ounce of the rasping of Harts-horn and Ivory each three Drams infuse them and boyl them in eight pints of Fountain water till half is consumed add a quarter of pound of Raisins of the Sun and if the Woman be of a Flegmatick constitution instead of China add two Ounces of Guiacum rasped Let her drink half a pint Morning and Evening Take of Franckincense Myrrh Mastich Storax Calamite Gum of Juniper Ladanum each one Ounce with a sufficient quantity of Turpentine make Troches and let one or more of them be cast on live Coals and let the fume be received into the Privities through a Funnel If a Swelling be the cause you must make application according to the nature of the humour and the time and other Circumstances of the swelling if it be hot and made by fluxion which may be known by the pain and suddenness of the swelling as also by the Tension and Pulsation and by being accompanied with a Fever Bleeding must be used in the first place and the Woman must be frequently purged with the purging Potion mention'd in the foregoing Chapter made of Tamarinds Sena Manna and the like and after Evacuations you must apply cooling and repelling things to the Reins and the lower part of the Belly as Oyl of Roses washed in Vinegar and the like and the following Decoction may be injected into the Womb. Take of the leaves of Plantain Water Lillies Night-shade and Endive each one handful of red Roses two Pugils boyl them in three pints of Fountain water till a pint is consumed add to it of Oyl of Myrtles one Ounce of Vinegar half an Ounce But note you must not use cooling and repelling things too long lest the Tumour be hardened thereby and turn to a Scirrhus and therefore soon after the beginning of the Swelling emollient and resolving things must be mixt with Repellents Mallows Marshmallows Mugwort Fenugreek Camomile and Melilote and if the pain be violent you must inject into the Womb Goat or Sheeps milk with Opium and Saffron each three or four Grains to which may be added a little Rose Water But if the swelling cannot be resolved and tends to Suppuration it must be furthered by the application of the following Pultis Take of the roots of Marshmallows of the Flowers of Camomile and Melilote of the Seeds of Flax and Fenugreek each one Ounce of fat Figs number eight boyl them to the consistence of a Pultis then add the yolks of four Eggs of Saffron half a Scruple of Oyl of Lillies and fresh butter each one Ounce make a Cataplasm If the Swelling be made by congestion it is slow and without pain and generally cold and the matter of it is either thin and serous or thick and flegmatick and apt to grow hard In this case Steel Medicines used as directed in the Chapter of Hysteric Diseases do good but purging must go before Issues in the Legs are also proper and emollient and resolving Medicines must be apply'd outwardly in the following manner Take of the Roots of Marshmallows and Lillies each two Ounces of the leaves of Mallows Violets Marshmallows and Bears-breech each one handful of the Seeds of Flax and Fenugreek each one Ounce of the leaves of Mugwort and Calamint half a handful of the Flowers of Camomile and Melilote each one Pugil boyl them in three pints of Fountain water till a third be consumed and foment the region of the Pubes and Groin with a Spunge dipt in it and pressed out Of the same Decoction the dose of the Simples being increased a bath may be made which is very effectual in this case and more powerful than the Fomentation Glisters also and Injections may be made of the same Decoction and frequently used whereunto may be added the Oyls of Lillies Camomile and sweet Almonds But these Medicines must be used with great caution lest the swelling shou'd degenerate into a Cancer and indeed 't is to no purpose to use Medicines when the Swelling is without pain and of a stony nature But if an Ulcer be the cause the cure of it must be performed by stopping the Fluxion of the humours and by cleansing and conglutinating the Ulcer and first if the Body abound with Blood or if the Ulcer be accompanied with an Inflammation a Vein must be opened in the Arm and Bleeding must be repeated as often as there is danger of a new Fluxion especially at the times of the Courses to lessen them for they are wont to increase the matter of the Ulcer and to promote the Flux of other humours to the Womb. Purging is also very necessary to cleanse the Body from ill humours but it ought to consist of gentle Catharticks as of Sena Rhubarb Tamarinds Myrobolans and the like or the Purging Potion of Tamarinds may be used but if the Woman Vomits easily she may take the following Vomit or the like
Take of Vinum benedictum six Drams of the Water of Carduus Benedictus one Ounce of Oxymel of squills half an Ounce mingle them make a Vomit let it be taken about four in the afternoon and she must drink a large draught of Posset Drink after every time she Vomits The days the Sick does not Purge a Vulnerary Decoction must be used a long while in the following manner Take of the leaves of Agrimony Knot-grass Burnet and Plantine each one handful of the roots of China three Drams of Coriander one Dram of Raisins half an Ounce of red Sanders one Scruple boyl them in Chicken broth strain it let the Sick drink it Morning and Evening If there be a Fever and if a great quantity of matter be evacuated Whey is very proper half a pint or more being taken in a Morning with a little Honey of Roses and if there is an Hectick Fever and the Body begins to wast Asses milk must be taken with Sugar of Roses for a whole Month. Turpentine washed in some proper water for the Womb as in Mugwort or Feverfew water or in some water proper for the Ulcer as Plantain or Rose water and taken with Sugar of Roses cleanses and heals the Ulcer To cleanse dry and heal the Ulcer various injections are proposed but they must not be used till the Inflammation is taken off and till the pain is quieted and therefore upon account of the Inflammation an Emulsion of the cold Seeds or the Whey of Goats Milk or Milk it self may be injected first and if necessity requires a Decoction of Poppy heads and tops of Mallows may be injected Some Practitioners say the Sick may be much relieved by injecting frequently warm water and when the heat and pain is quieted we may use such things as cleanse beginning with the gentle and proceeding gradually to the stronger The gentle are Whey with Sugar a Decoction of Barly with Sugar or Honey of Roses but Simple Hydromel cleanses most But if the Ulcer be very sordid the following Decoction may be used Take of the roots of Gentian Rhaponticum Zedoary and round Birthwort each one Ounce of White-wine three pints boyl them to the consumption of a third part in the strain'd Liquor dissolve half a pound of Sugar and keep it for use a little Vnguentum Aegyptiacum may be added to it if there be occasion to cleanse more If the Ulcer be deep the fume mention'd above may be used when the Ulcer is very obstinate Cinnabar must be added which is of excellent use If these Diseases happen when a Woman is with Child the difficulty is greater because bigbellied Women cannot so easily bear all kind of remedies yet lest being destitute of all help they shou'd remain in extream danger of Miscarriage and Death some kind of Remedies are to be used therefore if she be too full of Blood she must have a Vein opened tho she be with Child especially in the first Month and so twice or thrice if need be but much Blood must not be taken away at a time And when there is abundanee of ill humours gentle purging must be used and repeated especially in the middle Months and in the mean while those astringent and strengthening Medicines must be used all the time the Woman is with Child that are proper to hinder Miscarriage Take of Kermes Berries and Tormentil roots each three Ounces of Mastich one Dram and an half make a Powder whereof give now and then half a Dram or as much as will lie on the point of a knife or let her take every Morning some grains of Mastich Or Take of conserve of Roses two Ounces of Citron Peel Candied six Drams of Myrobolans candied of the Pulp of Dates each half an Ounce of Coral prepared Pearl prepared and shavings of Harts-horn each one Dram with Syrup of Quinces make an Electuary of which let the Woman take often the quantity of a Nutmeg The following Lozenges are very good for they strengthen and by little and little free the Body from Excrements tho they do not sensibly purge sometimes Take of Mace of the three Sorts of Sanders Rubarb Sena Coral Pearl each one Scruple of Sugar dissolved in rose-Rose-water four Ounces make all into Lozenges weighing three Drams apeece let her take one twice a Week by it self or dissolved in a little Broth. The following Plaster may be apply'd to the Reins Take of the Plaster ad Herniam and de Minio each equal parts spread it on Leather and apply it to the small of the Back But Plasters must not be worn long together lest they should cause an heat of Urin and the Stone in the Kidnies In the use of these things the Woman must keep her self as quiet as possibly she can both in Body and Mind and must abstain from Copulation But if notwithstanding the Medicines aforesaid by reason of the Vehemence of the cause whether it be outward or inward the Sick be ready to miscarry we must do the best we can with the following remedies and in the first place so soon as Pains and Throws shall be perceived in the lower part of the Belly and in the Loins we must endeavour to allay them both by Medicines taken inwardly and outwardly apply'd according to the variety of the Causes and if Crudities and Wind are the cause as they are most usually when the cause is within a Powder must be given made of Aromaticum Rosatum and Coriander Seeds and we may give of the Imperial Water if Flegm and Wind abound At the same time let Carminative Medicines be apply'd below the Navel of the Patient such are Bags of Anise Seeds Fennel Seeds Fenugreek Seeds Flowers of Camomile Elder Rosemary and Stechas mixt together or a Rose Cake fryed in a Pan with rich Canary and sprinkled with Powder of Nutmegs and Coriander Seeds or the Gaul of a Wether new kill'd or his Lungs lay'd on warm If by these means the pains cease not let a Glister be injected made of Wine and Oyl wherein two Drams of Philonium Romanum may be dissolved or Narcoticks may be given inwardly in a small quantity to allay the Violence of the humours and wind as we are wont to do in pains of the Colick But if Blood begins to come away Frictions and painful Ligatures of the upper parts must be used to turn the course of the Blood and if the Woman be full of Blood it will not be amiss to take some Blood from her especially before it begins to low but it must be taken away at several times a little at once And if the Flux of Blood continues we must proceed to an astringent and thickening Diet and Medicines as mentioned above Astringent Fomentations may be also used outwardly made of Pomgranate-peels Cypress Nuts Acorn Cups Balaustines and the like boyl'd in Smiths water and Red wine Or a little bag full of Red Roses and Balaustines may be boyl'd in Red Wine and apply'd hot to the
Lotion to fortifie and settle those parts which have been much relaxed as well by the great extension they received as by the Humours wherewith they have been so long time soak'd this Remedy may be composed with an Ounce and an half of Pomgranat Peel an Ounce of Cypress Nuts half an Ounce of Accorns an Ounce of seal'd Earth an Handful of Provence Roses and two Drachms of Roch-allom all which being infused in a Quart and half a Pint of strong Red-wine or that it may not be too sharp some Smiths water may be mixed with the Wine afterwards boil it to a Quart then strain it squeezing it strongly and with this Decoction Foment the inferior parts Night and Morning to strengthen and confirm them But they will never be reduced to the same state they were in before the Woman had Children A small Plaister of Galbanum with a little Civit in the middle may be also applyed to the Womans Navel As for Swaiths they need not be used the first Day or at least very loosly especially if there has been hard Labour because the least compression of the Womans Belly which is then very sore as the Womb also is proves a great inconvenience to her wherefore let her not be swaithed until the second Day and that very gently at the beginning The use of Swaiths and of a good large square Bolster over the whole Belly may be continued the first seven or eight Days to keep it a little steady but they must be taken off and removed often to anoint the Womans Belly all over if it be sore and if she has After-Pains with Oils of sweet Almonds and St. Johns-wort mixed together which may be done every Day But after that time they may be degrees begin to swaith her straiter to contract and gather together the parts which are greatly extended during her going with Child which may be then safely done because the Womb by these former cleansings is so diminished that it cannot be too much compressed by the Swaiths Proper Remedies may be applied to the Breasts to drive back the Milk if the Woman will not be a Nurse but if she intends to be a Nurse it will be sufficient to keep her Breasts very close and well covered with gentle and soft Cloaths to keep them warm and to prevent the curdling of the Milk and if there be danger of too much Milk being carried thither anoint the Breasts with Oyl of Roses and a little Vinegar beat together and put upon them some fine Linnen dipt in it observing that if the Woman do Suckle the Child she give not the Breast the same day she is brought to Bed because then all her Humours are extreamly moved with the pains and agitation of the Labour therefore let her defer it at least till the next day and it would be yet better to stay four or five days or longer to the end the fury of the Milk and the abundance of the Humours which flow to the Breast at the beginning may be spent in which time another Woman may give it Suck Although a Woman be naturally Delivered yet notwithstanding she must observe a good Diet to prevent many ill accidents which may happen to her during her Child-bed at the beginning whereof she must be directed in her Meat and Drink almost in the same manner as if she had a Fever that so it may be prevented in as much as she is then very subject to it for this reason she must be regular in her Diet especially the three or four first Days in which time she must be nourished only with good Broaths new-laid Eggs and Gellies without using at the beginning more solid Meats but when the great abundance of her Milk is a little past she may with more safety eat a little Broath at Dinner or a small piece of boyl'd Chicken or Mutton afterwards if no accident happens she may be degrees be nourished more plentifully provided that it be a third part less than she was accustomed to take in her perfect health and that her Food be of good and easie Digestion as for her Drink let it be a Ptisan made of Liquorish Figs and Anniseeds boyled in Water She may also if she be not Feverish drink a little white Wine well mixed with Water but not till after the fifth or sixth Day But it is to be noted that laborious Women of a strong Constitution require a more plentiful feeding yet notwithstanding if they do not change the quality they must at least retrench the quantity of their ordinary Food The Child-bed Woman must likewise keep her self very quiet in her Bed lying on her Back with her Head raised and not turning often from side to side that so the Womb may be the better settled in its first Situation She must free her self at that time from all care of Business let her talk as little as may be and that with a low Voice and let no ill News be brought to her which may affect her because all these things do cause so great a commotion of the Humours that Nature not being able to overcome them cannot make the necessary Evacuation of them which has been the Death of many The Woman ought always to keep her Body open with Glisters taking one once in two Days which not only evacuate the gross Excrements but also by drawing downwards cause her to Cleanse the better When she has observed this Rule a Fortnight or three Weeks which is very near the time of having Cleansed sufficiently that those Parts may be throughly cleansed before she goes abroad and begin upon a new Score let her take a gentle Purge of Senna Cassia and Syrup of Cichory with Rubarb which is good to Purge the Stomach and Bowels of those ill Humours Nature could not evacuate by the Womb This Purge may be repeated upon occasion Women in their first Labours have many times bruises and rents of the outward parts of the Womb and they must never be neglected lest they degenerate into malignant Ulcers for the heat and moisture of these Parts besides the filth which continually flows thence easily contributes to it if convenient Remedies be not timely applied wherefore as soon as the Woman is laid if there be only simple contusions and excoriations apply a Pultiss made of yolks and whites of new-laid Eggs and Oil of Roses seethed a little over warm Embers continually stirring till it be mixed and then spread it upon a fine Cloath and apply it very warm for five or six Hours when being taken away lay some fine Rags dipt in Oil of St. Johns-wort on each side the bearing place and renew them twice or thrice a Day Foment these parts with Barly-water and Honey of Roses to cleanse them from the Excrements which pass and when the VVoman makes water let them be defended with fine Rags to hinder the Urine from causing pain and smarting Sometimes the bruises are so great that the Bearing-place is inflamed
abide in such a posture or use such endeavours as are requisite the weight of the Child whereby the Navel is broken the After-birth remaining within the unskilfulness of the Midwife who cuts the Vessels of the Navel too soon or does not hold them in her Left Hand as she ought for if she let them go they are drawn back into the Womb and are hid there with the Secundine It is easie to know when the Secundine is retained in the VVomb but sometimes a piece of it is separated and remains in the Womb which is not so easily perceived yet it may be known because the Womb after Delivery endeavours to eject something but tho its endeavours are but small a sense of heat and pain is perceived in the Womb and after a few days a cadaverous smell exhales from the Womb. The retention of the Secundine is very dangerous and if it continues some days an acute Fever Nauseousness Faintings difficulty of Breathing Coldness of the extream Parts Convulsive Fits and at length Death follows The Secundine retained is expelled by the same remedies which are proposed for a dead Child to which may be added some Specificks deliver'd by Authors Rulandus says he has given with success thirty drops of Oyl of Juniper Some order the Woman to bite an Onion three or four times and to swallow the Juice and presently after to drink a small draught of Wine The Juice of green Lovage drank in Rhenish-wine is also commended Sneesing is also good but the best way is to have it drawn out by a skilful Chyrurgeon before the Inflammation is increased If the Secundine cannot be ejected by any means but sticks firmly to the Womb and putrifies there Suppuraratives must be injected to this purpose Basilicon may be dissolved in the following Decoction Take of the Leaves of Mallows with the roots three handfuls of the roots of both the Birthworts each six Drams of Flax Seeds and Fenugreek Seeds each half an Ounce of Violets one handful of the Flowers of Camomile and the lesser Centory each half an handful make a Decoction in Water mingled with Oyl if you would have it suppurate much but to cleanse add a little Vngentum Aegyptiacum CHAP. XXVI Of the Flooding of a Woman new laid FLooding is a more dangerous accident than any other which may happen to a Woman newly laid and which dispatches her so soon if it be in a great quantity that there is not often time to prevent it wherefore in this case convenient Remedies must be speedily applied to stop it to which purpose it is fit to consider what causes the Flooding and if it be a false Conception a piece of the burthen or clodded Blood remaining behind all diligence must be used to fetch them away or to cause a speedy expulsion of them But if when nothing remains behind in the Womb the Blood notwithstanding continues to flow you must Blood in the Arm to make diversion and let her Body be laid flat and not raised that so the Blood may not be sent down to the lower Parts Let her keep her self very quiet and not turn from side to side the upper part of her Belly must not be Swathed or Bolstered and her Chamber must be kept a little cool and the Coverings of the Bed must not be many that so the Flooding may not be promoted by the heat But if notwithstanding all this the Blood flows continually the last remedies must be tryed which is to lay the Woman upon fresh Straw with a single Cloath on it and no Quilt that so her Reins may not be heated applying along her Loins Cloaths wet in cold Vinegar and Water unless it be Winter and then it must be a little warmed and to the end her strength may be preserved which is extreamly wasted let her take every half Hour a little good strong Broath with a few Spoonfuls of Gelly and between whiles the Yolk of a new laid Egg but too much Food must not be given at a time because her Stomach cannot digest it Her Drink must be Red Wine with a little Water wherein Iron has been quenched and if there is the least appearance of Excrements contained in the Guts make no Scruple to give a Glister to evacuate them But if notwithstanding the Blood continues Flooding then the Woman will often have Fainting Fits and be in great danger of losing her Life because we cannot apply in those places the Remedies fit to stop the opening of the Vessels as we can in another CHAP. XXVII Of a Suppression of the Child-bed Purgations and After-pains THE Suppression of the Lochia is one of the worst Symptoms that can befall a Woman in Child-bed especially if they happen to be totally and suddenly stopt the first three or four days which is the time they should come down plentifully To bring the Lochia well down let the Woman avoid Passion and all disturbances of the Mind which may stop them let her lie in Bed with her Head and Breast a little raised keeping her self quiet that so the Humours may be carried downwards by their natural tendency Let her observe a good Diet somewhat hot and moist and apply an Hysteric Plaster to her Navel Take of the Conserves of Roman Wormwood and Rue each one Ounce of the Troches of Myrrh two Drams of Castor English Saffron Volatile Salt of Armoniac and of Assa fetida each half a Dram with a sufficient quantity of the Syrup of the five opening Roots make an Electuary Let her take the quantity of a Large Nutmeg every third Hour drinking upon it three or four Spoonfuls of the following mixture Take of the Water of Penny royal and Balm each three Ounces of Compound Briony water two Ounces of Syrup of Mugwort three Ounces and an half of Saffron two Drams of Castor tied up in a rag and hanged in a Glass one Scruple mingle them If these things are used presently upon the Suppression they generally take it off but if they have been used so long that all the quantity is taken and the Lochia are still stopt in this case we may use Laudanum for once but it is best to mix it with Hesterick things For instance take sixteen drops of Liquid Laudanum in a Spoonful of Compound Briony or Water But it must be carfully noted that if after having once taken it the business is not done Opium must not be repeated again but having waited a while to see what it will do we must return again to Emmenagoges mixt with Hystericks and afterwards we must inject a Glister but what was said before of Opium is to be taken notice of in respect of Glisters for unless the first bring down the Lochia nothing is to be hoped for from more These things therefore being done it is safest and the duty of a prudent Physician to wait and see what time will do for if the Woman live over the twentieth day she will be in a manner out of danger
for God never gave them Breasts full of Milk to no purpose But if they have not Milk enough which is the only real excuse a Nurse must be chosen who ought to be of an age betwixt twenty and thirty she ought to be of a strong Constitution well Coloured not too Fat nor too Lean she must not have rotten Teeth nor a stinking Breath nor be affected with Scabs Ulcers the French-Pox Gout Consumption or any other Disease Thirdly Her Manners are to be considered for the Child sucks them in with the Milk whereof the Nurse ought to be good tempered she must not be subject to violent Passions nor wholly without Passion nor of a weak Judgment she must not be squint eyed lest the Child should be so she must be Chast and not have Conversation with her Husband lest her Courses should flow or the Blood be disturbed and consequently the Milk or be with Child whereby the Milk would be lessened and become vitious but some think that the Courses flowing moderately does not vitiate the Milk but rather cleanses the rest of the Blood Fourthly we must consider the time from Delivery for she must not give suck too near Delivery nor too long from the time of it She must not give suck until she be free of the Child-bed Purgations the time most approved of is from the Second Month to the Sixth and she should have Nursed a Child before Fifthly The Breasts are to be considered which ought to be moderately full not loose and hanging down but solid and firm of a moderate bigness and hardness and the Veins of them should look blew and dispersed into many streams moderately elevated that they may contain the more Milk for if they are dense and the Milk is bound up in them and as it were suffocated the Child can scarce draw it and so either takes a distaste or if it suck on the Nose is flattened by the pressure Sixthly The Paps must not be so short as that the Child cannot take hold of them with his Lips nor so long and thick as to fill the Infants Mouth so that it cannot readily use its Tongue to suck or swallow Seventhly The nature of the Milk must be considered which besides the clearness and sweetness of it which are the first requisits must be also sweet-sented not too thick nor too thin which may be tried by dipping a hair in the Milk hanging it up if the Milk slide off it is naught but if it compass the whole hair it is good Eightly chuse a Nurse which was last delivered of a Male child Ninethly Such an one as is not wont to miscarry Tenthly She must not be with Child The Nurse so described on the first days she begins to suckle must use a simple Diet lest too much Milk should overwhelm the tender Infant Afterwards let her have good Meats She must not Drink excessively she must abstain from Wine and from salt sharp and a stringent Meats and Leeks Onions Garlick Rocket and Spices She must avoid all perturbations of Mind and Copulation let her moderately exercise her Arms and upper Parts Lastly Her Diet must be such as the Nature and Constitution of the Infant requires if the Child be of a hot Constitution she must use a cooling Diet but if the Infant be of a cold Constitution a little Wine and Spices must be allowed and stronger exercise and if the Nurse be not well she must be purged and Diet must be ordered according to the faults of the Milk and the disorders of the Child The Nurse must be always chearful and laughing and singing with the Child She must keep it clean She must speak distinctly She must assist the Child in sucking by pressing gently her Breasts but she must not let the Child suck too much at once CHAP. XXXIII Of Wrinkles in the Belly and Breasts after Delivery WHen the Child in the Womb grows big it stretches the Belly or maks it chap so that after Delivery Wrinkles remain in the Belly and her Breasts grow small after the Milk goes away for the same reason The Chaps may be prevented if after the fourth Month of being with Child a Linnen cloath dipt in the Oyl of sweet Almonds be applied to the Belly The Wrinkles left after Delivery may be taken off by two sorts of Remedies First therefore If the Womans Month be not out apply to the Belly the following Oyntment Take of Sperma Ceti two Drams of Oyl of Sweet Almonds and St. Johns Wort each one Ounce and an half of Goats Suet one Ounce of new Wax a sufficient quantity make an Oyntment Secondly After the Womans lying in such things may be used as gently bind and render the Belly solid and firm Take of the distilled Water of Mallows and Marsh-mallow each one Quart of Rose-Water a Pint and half two Lemons peeled and sliced of unripe Sloes one Pound infuse them together two days and then distil them in a Glass Alembick with a gentle fire and bath the Womans Belly with it But the following makes the Belly more solid Take of Figs one Pound of the Meal of Barley and Beans each half an Ounce of the Meal of Rice two Ounces of Galls and Cypress Nuts each one Dram of Mastich and Myrrh each one Dram and half of the Seeds of Fennel one Dram boyl them all in Smiths Water till they are a little thick then apply them to the Belly or after bathing with a Decoction of the foresaid things apply the following Pultiss to the Belly Take of the Meal of Beans Rice Acorns and Almonds each two Ounces of Bricks powdered one Ounce of Bole-armenick two Drams of Dragons Blood one Dram of Cypress Nuts half an Ounce of Kermes three Drams of Galls half an Ounce of Oyl of Myrtles six Ounces of the Waters of Medlars and Sloes each one Pint of rose-Rose-water one Pint and an half boyl them to the consistence of a Pultiss apply it to the Belly It also makes the Breasts solid But lest the Breast and Bowels should be offended by its frigidity and binding quality add of Mastick two Drams of Nutmegs three Drams of Florentine Orris half an Ounce Myrrh mixed with these the Decoction of it or used any other way renders the Belly smooth and firm and the Breasts hard compact and small and narrows the Privities and is accounted a great secret in this case CHAP. XXXIV Of straitning the Privities after Delivery AFter Delivery the Privities are lax and hence Barreness and a falling of the Womb are sometimes occasioned The Cure is performed by two sorts of Remedies First if the Privities are too moist such things must be used as dry the following Uterine Glister is very proper Take of Galls number four of Spodium two Spoonfuls powder them very fine and add Six Ounces of Stiptic-wine afterwards put up the following Pessary Take of the Bark of the Pine two Drams Allom one Dram of Cyprus one Pugil boyl them in Wine
Poppy Heads Flowers of Roses and tops of Mellilot and apply the following Oyntment Take of Old Treacle one Ounce of the Juice of River Crabs half an Ounce of the Juice of Lettice and of Oyl of Roses each one Ounce and an half of the Yolks of Eggs roasted under the Embers number two of Camphor half a Dram beat them in a Leaden Mortar The Discutients are Ceterach Agrimony Ducksmeat Scabious Thorn-apple the Juice of Coriander Frogs Snails River Crabs Raisins of the Sun stoned and beaten with Rue and Garden Night-shade made into a Pultits are proper to resolve them Many such Medicines are designed to this purpose Cancers requiring variety of Applications If notwithstanding all your Endeavours the Tumour increases and is like to ulcerate you may do well to forewarn the Patient of the danger and if it be loose propose the extirpation of it propose it to them lest afterwards they desire it when it is too late But to undergo this Operation Successfully the Patient ought to be of a strong Constitution and of a pretty good habit of Body and not in declining Age when the Courses are ceased It were also to be wished that the Cancer took its original from some Accident or Bruise and the like and the Operation ought to be performed in the Spring or Autumn of the Year For a Cancer of the Womb Topicks must be applyed which moderately Bind and Cool Take of Oyl of Myrtles and of Roses each two Ounces of the Juice of Night-shade and of Housleek each one Ounce beat them all in a Leaden Mortar with a Leaden Pestle till they grow black then add of Lytharge and of Ceruss washed in Scabious water each three Ounces of Tutty prepared two Drams of Camphir ten Grains make a Liniment wherewith Anoint the Part three or four times a-day The following is said to be better and with it the Tumours of the Paps which are counted Cancerous may be Cured Take of the Oyl of Yolks of Eggs two Ounces of the Juice of Night-shade and Speedwel or of Housleek each half an Ounce of crude Mercury two Drams stir them about in a Leaden Mortar with a Leaden Pestle till they acquire the consistence of a Liniment The foresaid Liniments are to be applyed to the Womb with a long Tent or with a Wax Candle wrapt round with a Rag But Injections may be much easier used Take of Barley water half a Pint of the waters of Night-shade and Plantain each two Ounces of the water of speedwel one Ounce of the white Troches of Rhasis two Drams of Sacharum Saturni one Dram make an Injection If the Pain be very violent add to four Oounces of the Injection one Ounce of Syrup of Poppies If the Cancer be Ulcerated the Dose of the Mercury to be added to the foresaid Liniment must be increased and the Ashes of River Crabs may be conveniently added But all these things are not sometimes sufficient to appease the violent Pain which sometimes will not suffer the Sick to sleep or rest so that we are forced sometimes to use Narcoticks and indeed they are not injurious in this Disease I knew a Woman that was affected with a Cancer in her Breast who took every Night for four Months two or three Grains of Laudanum and was much relieved thereby If much Blood flow from a Cancer ulcerated as it often happens inject into the Womb the Juice of Plantain with a little Frankincense Lastly Seeing a perfect Cure cannot be expected whether the Cancer be ulcerated or not we must endeavour to hinder the breaking of it and the increase of it when it is broken and in both we must qualifie the violence of the Pain by such things as evacuate the whole Body and by other Remedies which alter and evacuate the melancholy Humour and hinder its growth as by Bleeding in the Arm the Hemorrhodial Veins in the Foot by the use of Potions Apozems Juleps Broath Milk Whey Mineral Waters and the like which are commonly prescribed but Purging must more especially be repeated CHAP. XXXIX Of Worms and of the Stone of the Womb. THough many are of the Opinion that Worms are Generated only in the Intestines yet it is manifest by Experience and the Testimony of Learned Men that they are Bred in many other parts of the Body as in putrid Ulcers in the Teeth in the Ears in the Reins and in the Bladder tho' rarely by reason of the acrimony and saltness of the Urine In the Womb also Worms are sometimes generated tho' it be rare because the passages of it are so open that they will not suffer the Humours tho' they are gross and crude to continue there so long as to generate Worms They are most commonly Ascarides and they are most commonly in the Privities or in the Neck of the Womb they are very like those that are in the right Gut perhaps they creep thither from the Anus The material cause of Worms is a cold phlegmatick and crude Humour which is apt to putrifie When there are Worms in the Womb the whole Body is restless and uneasie the Mouth of the Womb is always moist the Women are thin and weak and sometimes the Worms are expelled with the Courses and sometimes they may be seen the Lips of the Privities being opened Women so afflicted sleep disturbedly and often wake in a fright they have disorderly Fevers and all other Symptoms which appear in Worms of the Intestines As to the Cure we must endeavour to hinder the generation of them and to kill them when they are generated this may be done by three sorts of Remedies First By a thin hot and drying Dyet by acid and bitter Meats yet they must consist of good Nourishment and be easily concocted and that are free from all crudity the flesh of Chickens of Hens of small Mountain Birds and the Broath of them with the juice of a Lemon are good Among Fruits Oranges Cappares Olives with Vinegar Among Herbs Endive Sow-thistle and Groundsel Let her Drink be a Decoction of Cinnamon Rubarb the Seeds of Purslain the Roots of China Scorzonera or Sarsaparilla All Meats of Milk Fish and whatever generates Flegmatick Humours must be avoided and full Feeding and a disorderly course of Dyet Secondly Those things must be used which Concoct and Purge off Phlegmatick Humours as Syrup of Wormwood Succory Succory with Rhubarb of the acid juice of Citron with the waters of the same Herbs or of Grass Purslain and Sorrel and the Flegm must be constantly Purged off with Pills of Mastick of Agarick or the like Thirdly Such things must be used as kill Worms and uterine Glisters to that purpose must be injected made of a Decoction of Wormwood Southernwood and Centaury with Allom. Or Take of Mint Calaminth Penny-royal each one Handful boyl them till the third part of the Water is consumed mingle Honey with it and inject it Or Take of the Decoction of Lupins six Ounces of Aloes three Drams
Privities The First are Acrocordones which hang as by a Thred Secondly Thymus which is a rough and oblong Tumour and without pain if it be gentle and white or redish but if it be Malignant it is livid and painful Thirdly Ficus or Mariscae which differ from a Thymus only in bigness The Fourth is Clavus which is a hard white and round prominence like the Heads of Corns These Tumours in general are of a Scirrhous nature and come by immoderate Copulation and are sometimes Malignant by reason of the French-Pox The gentle are known by their white or redish colour and by the absence of pain the Malignant by their hardness leaden colour and pain They are Cured by four sorts of Remedies First By a Diet that is not apt to breed gross Humours and by Catharticks to Purge such Humours off and by Sweats if they are obstinate Secondly By discussing Medicines which are most proper for the Thymus and Clavus as by dried Sage with fat Figs or Old-shoes burnt and powdered and mixed with Wine and applyed But the Soles of Shoes and a dried Gourd powdered by themselves and afterwards mixed and applied with Wine to Warts do very well or you may take of Rue and Pennyroyal each equal parts let them be burnt and powdered the Bark of Frankincense the Leaves of Basil Wine and Vinegar Shoomakers Ink boyl them in the VVater that drops out of a Vine cut moisten the part with this Decoction this is reckoned an excellent Medicine Prick with a Needle the Eye of a Goat newly killed and anoint daily the part with the Liquor that flows from it and within Six Days as Aetius writes Myrmecies will be extirpated which consist of broad Roots and they itch Thirdly Things that burn and eat are proper for Myrmecies and Acrocordos as the juice of wild Cucumber with Salt or the like But corroding things must not continue long upon the part for when they have been applied an hour or thereabout the part must be washed twice or thrice with Astringent Wine and the Neighbouring parts must be defended by an Oyntment made with Bolearmenick sealed Earth Rose-water and Vinegar Fourthly If they may be cut off they ought to be so but some bind the root of these with a Horse-hair and straighten it daily till they fall off In the Privities and Mouth of the Womb especially in such Women as have the French-Pox Pustles arise they often itch they are occasioned by the abundance and grossness of a bilious and adust Humour or by the French-Pox they may be easily seen by a Speculum Matricis They are to be cured by four sorts of Remedies First By Meats of good juice and by abstaining from all acrid acid and salt things Secondly By Universal Evacuations as by Bleeding and Purging and such things as attemperate the Humour must be used as Syrup of Borrage Violets Fumitory and Succory and the like Decoctions of Sarsa or of Guiacum with Sweating are also very proper and Purges and Sudorificks must be often repeated Thirdly Topicks must be applyed and if the Pustles are gentle bathing is proper and afterwards wash the part with hot Wine and Nitre For Pustles and Scabs the following Oyntment of has bin found very successful Take of the Roots Elecampane Burnet and sharp pointed Dock each three Ounces of Fumitory Water Six Ounces of the sharpest Vinegar or of the best Wine for Diseases of the Womb two Ounces having bruised the roots well infuse them a day and a night then boyl them and press them strongly to the strained Liquor add half a pound of Turpentine of Oyl of Roses three Ounces of Wax half an Ounce boyl them again to the Consumption of half and add of Sulphur one Ounce and an half of Cerus five Ounces of Roch-allom half an Ounce of Sal Gemma two drams of Oyl of Eggs six Drams mix them by beating of them well together then wash the whole Composition in Fumitory Water But if the Pustles are Malignant and Obstinate you must use stronger Desiccatives which correct the Venom of the Pustles and at the same time you must use sudorific decoctions Take of Plantain and Rose Water each four Ounces of Sal Gemma Nitre and Allom each two Drams of Sublimate one Dram and an half boyl them till a third part is consumed to the strained Liquor add of Verde-greese one Scruple after you have used this two or three dayes you must forbear a while and use gentler things and return again to the use of it till the Pustles are quite taken off This moreover must be added which is of excellent use having first bathed with a decoction of Fumitory Lupins Beans and a little Salt Take of the Roots of Elecampane cut small four Ounces boyl them well in a sufficient quantity of Water with a little Vinegar or Wine then beat them in a Mortar and Pulp them through a Sieve and add of fresh Lard three Ounces of Juice of ground Elder and of Fumitory each one Ounce and an half of Quick-Silver extinguished in fasting Spittle or in the Yolk of an Egg half an Ounce of Ceruss and Lytharge each one Ounce of Brimstone one Dram and an half stir them about for an hour and mix the Powders by degrees But because Pustles continue sometimes a long while you must make an Issue in the Leg before they are quite dryed up Clefts and Chaps are sometimes in the Mouth of the Womb as in the Anus Hands Lips and Nipples by reason of violent Cold a North Wind and the like they are small long and narrow Ulcers sometimes deep and sometimes only superficial they are also ocasioned by hard labour by Acrid and Corroding Humours or by a great dryness in the Womb. They are to be cured by five sorts of Remedies by a moistening and smoothening Diet avoiding such things as are acrid and stop the Belly therefore let the Woman eat Chicken Mutton Veal and Broaths made of Succory Bugloss Burrage Spinage and the like let her Drink be rather Beer than Wine she must avoid Cheese and Spices Violent Exercise and Copulation And if Acrid humours be the cause she must be blooded if there be a plenitude afterwards she must be Purged with Cassia Manna and the like and the Humours must be attemperated with the Syrups of Succory Roses Violets Borrage Fumitory and with the Waters of the same Herbs If they are occasioned by hard labour and Bleed the Blood must be stop'd by the following Uterine Glister Take of the leaves of Plantain one handfull of Roses four Pugils boyl them in a sufficient quantity of Water till half is consumed To six Ounces of the strained Liquor add of the Powders of Dragons Blood Bole armenick Myrrh Frankincense Birthwort each half a Dram. If the Chaps are dry hot and itch the part must be Fomented with things that moisten as the following Decoction Take of the flesh of Frogs Snails and River Crabs each two Drams of Barley two Pugils
the assaults of this Disease tho they are not hollow and tho there is no apparent Defluction that may occasion the pain yet it is no whit gentler nor shorter nor easier Cured But the pain of the Back is most common which most certainly all feel how little soever they are afflicted with this Disease Moreover this is common to the foresaid pains that the place whereon they were is tender and akes as if it were soundly beaten but this tenderness goes off by degrees And this is worth observing that often a notable coldness of the outward parts makes way for these Symptoms which for the most part does not go off till the fit ends which coldness is almost like that wherewith a Carcass grows stiff yet the Pulse is good Moreover all Hysteric Women complain of a dejection and sinking of the Spirits and sometimes laugh excessively and at other times cry as much without any real cause for either But the most proper and almost inseparable Symptom is a Urin as clear as Rock-water Sometimes ill fumes are belched up and sometimes the Wind that comes from the Stomach is sower just like Vinegar But their Minds are more affected than their Bodies for an incurable Desperation is mixt with the very nature of the Disease A day would scarce be sufficient to reckon up all the Symptoms belonging to this Disease and I think Demetrius reckn'd pretty right tho he mistook the cause of the Disease when he said in an Epistle to Hippocrates that the Womb was the cause of Six hundred Miseries and of innumerable Calamities The external causes of this Disease are either violent motions of the Body or which is much oftner vehement disturbances of the Mind to these disorders of the Mind which are usually the occasion of this Disease is to be added emptiness of the Stomach by reason of long fasting inmmoderate Bleeding a Vomit or Purge that works too much In order to the cure I order that eight Ounces of Blood be taken from the right Arm and that the following Plaister be apply'd to the Navel Take of Galbanum dissolved in Tincture of Castor and strain'd three Drachms of Tacamahaca two Drams mix them make a Plaister The next Morning let her use the following Pills Take of the Pill Coch-major two Scruples of Castor powder'd two Grains of Peruvian Balsam four drops make four Pills let her take them at five in the Morning and sleep after repeat them twice or thrice every Morning or every other Morning according to the Womans strength and as they work Take of the Waters of Black-Cherries Rhue and Compound Briony each three Ounces of Castor ty'd up in a rag and hanged in the Viol half a Dram of Fine Sugar a Sufficient quantity make a Julep whereof let her take four or five Spoonfulls when she is faint dropping into the first dose if the fit is violent twenty drops of the Spirit of Harts-horn After the Purging Pills just described are taken let her use the following Take of the filings of Steel eight Grains with a sufficient quantity of extract of Wormwood make two Pills let her take them early in the Morning and at five in the Afternoon for Thirty days drinking upon them a draught of Wormwood Wine Or if she like a Bolus better Take of the Conserves of Roman Wormwood and of the yellow peel of Oranges each one Ounce of Angelica and Nutmegs candied and of Venice Treacle each half an Ounce of candied Ginger two Drachms make an electuary with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Oranges Take of this electuary one Drachm and an half of the filings of Steel well rub'd eight Grains make a Bolus with a sufficient quantity of Syrup of Oranges to be taken in the Morning and at five in the Evening drinking upon it a Glass of Wormwood-wine Take of choice Myrrh and Galbanum each one Drachm and an half of Castor fifteen Grains with a sufficient quantity of Balsam Peru make twelve Pills of every Drachm let her take three every Night and drink upon them three or four Spoonfuls of Compound Briony Water through the whole course of this process But if these Pills move the Body which sometimes they do in Bodies that are very easily purged the following may be used instead of them Take of Castor one Drachm of Volatile Salt of Amber half a Drachm with a sufficient quantity of extract of Rue make twenty-four small Pills let her take three every Night But Steel Medicines which must be noted occasion sometimes in Women great disorders both of Body and Mind and not only on the first days which is usual almost in every body but also all the time they are taken In this case the use of Steel must not presently be interrupted but Laudanum must be given every night for some time in some Hysteric water that they may the better bear it But when the Symptoms are mild and it seems the business may be done without Steel I think it sufficient to Bleed and to Purge three or four times and then to give the altering Hysteric Pills above-mentioned morning and evening for ten days which method seldom fails when the Disease is not violent yea the Pills alone Bleeding and Purging being omitted do often a great deal of good But some Women can't bear Hysteric Medicines and are much injured thereby therefore they must not be given to such If the Blood is so very feeble and the confusion of the Spirits so great that Steel ordered to be used according to the method prescribed is not sufficient to cure the Disease the Sick must drink Tunbridge-waters or the like for they cure Diseases more efectually than any preparation of Iron but if in drinking of them any Sickness happen that belongs to Hysteric Symptoms the Sick must forbear drinking them a day or two till that Symptom that hindred their passage is quite gon And it is to be noted that Purging must be avoided all the time the Woman drinks these waters But if this Disease does not yeild to Steel-waters the Sick must go to the Bath and when she has used the waters of it three mornings following the next day let her go into the Bath and the day following let her drink them again and so let her do by turns for two months for in these and others of what kind soever they are the Patient must persist in the use of them till she is quite well Venice-treacle used often and a long time is a great remedy in this Disease Spanish-wine with Gentian Angelica Worm-wood Centory and other strengthening things infus'd in it does a great deal of good some spoonfuls of it being taken thrice a day if the Woman be not thin and of a cholerick habit of Body And truly a large draught of Spanish-wine taken by it self at bed-time for some nights has been very beneficial to some Women Jesuits-powder also wonderfully comforts and invigorates the Blood and Spirits a Scruple of it being taken morning and
and an ill and strong smell exhales from the Womans Body and her Breath stinks If the Secundine be excluded first it is a certain sign that the Child is dead The whole cure consists in the exclusion or extraction of the Child Take of the Leaves of Savine dryed of the roots of round Birthwort of the Troches of Myrrh and of Castor each one Dram of Cinnamon half a Dram of Saffron one Scruple mingle them make a Powder whereof let her take one Dram in Savine Water Foment the Pubes Privities and Perineum with an Emollient Decoction made of the Leaves of Mallows and Marsh-mallows and the like and let a Pessary be put up the Privities Take of the Roots of round Birthwort Orris Black Hellebore of Coloquintida and Myrrh each one Dram of Galbanum and Opopanax each half a Dram with Ox Gall make a Pessary If after having tried Medicines a long while the Child cannot be ejected it must be extracted by a Surgeon either with Instruments or with the Hand alone CHAP. XXIV Of the Caesarian Delivery THE Caesarian Delivery is a dextrous extraction of a Living or Dead Child from the Mothers Womb which cannot be other ways excluded and that without endangering the Life of both or of either and without spoiling the Faculty of conceiving and by this Art the first Scipio Africanus of the Romans was cut out of his Mothers Womb and therefore was called Caesar This Caesarian Section is thought to be necessary when the Mother and the Child are so weak that they cannot be preserved any other way The use of it is twofold one that a living Child may be extracted the other that the Mother may be preserved alive and tho' it is very hazardous yet in a desperate case it is better to do something than nothing especially when a confederacy is like to be broken by the death of a Wife or when a Family is like to be extinguished or some Kingdom or Principality is like to be lost In this manner we find in the Annals of Spain the King of Navar was preserved for his Mother being wounded in the Belly by the Saracens as she was Hunting a Noble Man coming to her help saw the Child put its hand out of the Wound and drew it forth and educated it privately and afterwards when the Nobility was contending about the Election of a Prince he brought out the young King and so the Controversie ended The causes which require this operation are a too great Child or Twins or more that endeavour to be born together or if a fleshy Mole join to the Child the ill posture of it and if it cannot be reduced to a better either by its own help or the help of others or because it is dead or so much swell'd by a Disease that the Naturall passage is too narrow But in this case it is best to take it away peece-meal The causes on the Mothers part are the narrowness of the passages either naturally by reason she is too young or too old or because the VVomb is shut either by a Cicatrix or a Callous Moreover many tumours in the Womb or the Mouth of it may be the cause In these cases tho it be very dangerous yet it is very necessary to use Section and the operation may be happily performed as may appear by several Experiments to him that reads Rousel But before you enter upon this Operation you must consider whether the Child can be Extracted any other way that is safer and easier You must moreover consider whether there are Signs of Death and if so you must not enter upon the Operation lest the Womans Death be laid upon the Section and your rashness But when you have througly weighed all things if the Woman be of a strong Nature tho by reason of the Labour she is weak you may venture upon the Operation Most Authors would have it made on the left side of the Belly because it is more free from the Liver but I says Mauriceau think it will be better and more skilfully made just in the middle of the Belly between the two right Muscles because in this place there is only the coverings and the white line to cut To dispatch then with more ease and speed the Chyrugeon having placed the Woman so that the Belly may be a little raised let him take a good sharp incision Knife very sharp on one side with which he must quickly make an Incision just in the middle of the Belly between the two right Muscles unto the Peritoneum of the length and extent of the Womb or thereabouts after that he must only peirce the Peritoneum with the point of his Knife to make an Orifice for one or two of the Fingers of his left hand into which he must immediately thrust them to cut it lifting it up with them and conducting the Instrument for fear of pricking the Guts in proportion to the first incision of the coverings which having done the Womb will soon appear into which he must make an Incision in the same manner as he did in the Peritoneum being careful not to thrust his Instrument at once too far in having then so opened the VVomb he must likewise make an incision in the Infants Membranes taking care not to wound it with the Instrument and then he will soon see it and must immediatly take it out of the burthen which he must nimbly separate from the bottom of the VVomb and finding it to be yet living let him praise God for having so blessed and prospered his Operation But the Children so delivered are usually so weak if not quite dead as it often happens that it is hard to know whether it is alive or dead yet one may be confident the Child is living if by touching the Navel-string the Umbilical Arteries are perceived to move as also the Heart by laying the Hand on the Breast and if it prove so means must be used to fetch it to it self by spouting some VVine into the Nose and Mouth and by warming it until it begins to stir of it self But it is to be noted that Mauriceau much disapproves this cruel Operation and says it ought not to be performed until the VVoman is dead for that the VVoman always dies in the operation or presently after CHAP. XXV Of the Secundine retained IN a natural Birth the Secundine is usually excluded presently after the Child and when it is not the Life of the Woman is much indangered It is retained by the too great thickness of the Coats the swelling of them and by an afflux of Humours occasion'd by hard Labour also by the strutting of the Mouth of the Womb after the exclusion of the Child The External Causes are Coldness of the Air whereby the Secundine is repelled and the Orifice of the Womb shut Certain perfumes whereby the Womb is allured upwards violent passions of the Mind as Fear and sudden Frights the perverseness of the Woman who will not
to the consistence of a Pultiss apply them often with a rag Or infuse Galls in Rain-water eight days and with soft Wool sprinkled with Sulphur and dipt in this Water and dried without pressing make a Pessary But Secondly And chiefly you must use Astringents Foment the Genitals with the Water or Decoction of Acorns unripe Sloes and of Horse-tail or Foment the Parts with Allom-water or with Stiptic-Wine that is red and rough Wine boyl'd with Galls Leaves of Myrtles Red Roses Pomgranet-peel Balaustines and Cypress Nuts Or Take of Cypress Nuts and Galls each one Pound of Roch-allom and the filings of Iron prepared in Vinegar each half a Pound boyl them in a sufficient quantity of the Waters of Galls which Tanners use and Foment the Parts often with it The following Water is counted excellent Take of Galls and of Cypress Nuts each half a Pound of Allom six Drams Bole-armonick half a Pound of the Meal of Acorns and of old Beans each half a Pound the Whites of twelve Eggs of Powder of Brick one Pound let them be all finely powdered and infuse them three Days in Smiths Water or in a decoction of Sloes Medlars or Horse-tail with half a Pint of Rose Vinegar then Distill them in a cold Still with a gentle Fire add to the Water that comes off of the Powders of Mastick Myrrh and Dragons Blood each two Drams Set the water in the Sun in the Summer for ten days this straitens the Privities smoothens the Belly and makes the Breasts solid CHAP. XXXV Of Abscesses and Corrosive Vlcers arising from Distempers of the Womb in Childbed THE Womb is sometimes terribly affected in Child-bed and produces Fevers of very Malignant and Venomous Natures which soon cause Phlegmons and worse Tumours in the Womb it self and sometimes in other parts of the Body there being none of them on which the Uterine Ferment has not an influence The Exhorbitances or Degenerations of that whether from an hurt in Labour from part of the After-birth left behind from cold taken or the Lochia stopt soon produce such Virulent Distempers in the Blood as make it cast out a Tumor either upon the part it self or else outwardly upon the Muscles of the Body where when they light they prove corrosive sometimes eating out the Flesh in which they lodge which falls off in whole pieces without that change of colour in the Skin which is in Gangreens so that sometimes the Bone it self is laid bare by them The Causes are hard Labour the Womb hurt or part of the Secundine left behind Cold taken in Child-bed and a predisposition in the Humours by reason of their peccancy in quantity or quality The Prognostick may be taken from the largness or other qualifications of the Abscess and the Symptoms that happen to the Body thereupon If the Tumor happens only from some little disturbance in the Womb of a Person otherwise of a good habit of Body the cure is hopeful If part of the After-birth be retained there is no hope 's of Cure till that be removed nay if it stay so long as to induce Putrefaction of the part it will be too late then to remove it If the Body be of an ill Habit the Tumours are apt to Degenerate into very Venomous and Malignant Abscesses which if they do not suddenly kill do at least produce ill conditoned Ulcers hard of Cure and for the most part mortal in the long course of the Disease In the Cure of these Abscesses you are to inform your self how the Womb is disturbed and appease that and if any part of the After-birth be left behind to endeavour the bringing that away and by good Sudorificks Cordials and the like to expel the Venom and fortifie the Spirits against the Malignity that is thereby contracted and to attemperate the heat and the Acrimony by Julips and Emulsions The Swellings arising from these require to be treated in their beginning with moderate Repellents and Discutients afterward according as the Matter prepredominates make way for its discharge A young Woman after Child-bed was seized with a great Pain and Swelling in her Groin with a Fever Bleeding and Lenient Purgatives to Evacuate the Humours were prescribed also Cordial Juleps and the like to attemperate the Heat and fortifie the Spirits and Moderate Repellents mixed with Discutients in Fomentations and Plasters with Bandage were used which dispersed the Humor in the Thigh and restored that part to its former temper But in the mean time the Tumor increased in the Groin and was suppurated after the manner of a Bubo it was opened and a detersion was endeavoured but the Sinus reaching down the Twist the Matter could not be discharged without laying it more open as in Sinous Ulcers by which method it was cured A Gentlewoman in Child-bed was seized with a Fever and the Ninth Day complained of a pain in her Foot Discutients were prescribed together with things proper for the Fever to breath out the impacted Matter in her Foot but the pain increasing the upper part of the Foot from the Instep to the Toes were Oedematous but from the inside of the Ancle to the middle of the Sole of her Foot inflamed and seeming to apostumate The ill consequences of an Apostumation in that part amongst the Tendons and Bones and where the Skin is usually so hard and tough that our strongest Causticks could difficultly penetrate being feared It was resolved to endeavour the restraint of the Influx and so to dry up the Humour affecting the part to which purpose was applied the following Plaster Take of Barley Meal Six Ounces of Flax Seeds powdered Six Drams of the Flowers of Camomile and Elder each three Drams of the Flowers of Red Roses and Balaustins each one Ounce these with the addition of Honey of Roses and Oyl of Myrtles were boyled to the consistence of a Plaster in red Wine and at Bed-time an Anodyne Draught was given to cause rest The next Morning the Patient was somewhat relieved and when the Dressings were taken off the Tumor and Inflammation seemed less This way of dressing was continued with Compress and Bandage and the Humour was in few Days dried up and the Foot seemed well but there appeared again a Swelling on the Foot and Apostumated in the Sole of the Foot in three several places which were opened with a Caustick to prevent the increase of the Matter and the Eschars were divided to give a vent and they were dressed with Basilicon and the Plaster as before and the flowing of the Matter was indeavoured to be hindred dayly by Compress and Bandage but the Position of the Foot gave way and it sunk lower so that there was a necessity of applying another Caustick which proved effectual to the Discharge of it so that the upper Orifices healed but this last Eschar separated slowly and left the great Tendon bare the Separation was furthered by the use of Oyl of Turpentine with Basilicon applied warm and the