little with the Spirit of Vitriol or Sulphur if it be per campanam which is drawn from a Bell Still it is the better which is a singular Medicine to allay and correct the inordinate Thirst and Heat in Fevers Medera Fial French or Sherry Wines you may use Malaga or any Sweet Wine is not so good neither Syrups or any Sugared or Honeyed Meat or Drink And when they begin to recover 〈◊〉 plainest Broths and Gruels are the best till then a little is too much and if you did use Salt and Vinegar instead of Spices and Sugar the sick would like it the better and it would be better for them a few Prunes and Currants if the sick like them may be used But some may say How shall we do that live far up the Country where we have no Wines nor can get neither of those Spirits the best that I can advise you to is Milk boiled and turned with some Vinegar or Verjuice the Curd being taken away whereof he may drink freely but he is to take it alway hot and the hotter the better This course is to be taken after the cause is removed by my powder or something else but I know not what otherwise this or any other is like to do but little good Bleeding Purging Clysters Cordials Juleps c. are but Trifles in curing a Fever they do at best but correct the Symptoms or Effects I will do more good with one dose of my Powder and one of my Pills than they with all those in a Month. If the Fever be continual and come by a Surfeit or otherwise so that the Patient feel a Load or Weight at his Stomach or hath a propensity to vomit the first thing to be done is to give a Vomit whereby the Stomach and first passages may be freed of the grossest of the Diseasie Matter wherein the Fever sits or hath taken up its Inn to which purpose you may give half an ounce of the Infusion of Crocus Metallorum or six Drams or a whole Ounce according to the age and strength of the Patient in a small Draught of warm Posset-drink but if you know any better Antimonial Preparation then give it That being done ℞ Tartar Vitriolat six Grains Volatile Salt of Amber and Harts-horn each seven or eight Grains mix them and give the mixture twice a day in a little thin Broth or Water Gruel This is abstersive and Diuretick and will cleanse the Stomach and Intestines of the remaining Sordes and expel them by Urine For the Feverish Thirst give the dulcified Spirit of Nitre or of Salt in Posset drink and all the Liquids they take from five or six to ten or twelve drops at a time Keep the Patient in a small breathing Sweat either with the Posset-drink before-mentioned by Mr. Couch or with Treacle-water and Powder or rather the Tincture of Virginia Snake-root or which is most excellent if you can get it the Aqua Prophylactica of Sylvius de le Boe of which Take three Ounces Water of Carduus and Borrage each one Ounce Syrrup of Citron Peels an ounce and an half mix them and take it often by a spoonful or two at a time But instead of this if the Fever be malignant give Bezoardicum minerale to eight or ten Grains every third or fourth hour in a spoonful or two of good Canary But because the Aqua Prophylactica mentioned is rarely to be had at any shop I will here describe the making thereof for the sakes of those who are willing to make it ℞ Roots of Angelica Zedoary of each an ounce Butterbur two ounces the leaves of Rue four ounces of Balm Scabious and Marygold Flowers each two ounces unripe Walnuts cut two pounds fresh Citrons cut one pound Let them be all beaten together and pour upon them six quarts of the best distilled Wine-Vinegar let them stand in digestion all night and then distil them by a very easie fire without burning till they be dry and keep the distilled liquor for use It is very profitable in all Fevers especially in those which are malignant and the Plague In the declining of the Fever if sleep be wanting this following mixture will much avail both to cause rest and refresh the Spirits ℞ of Treacle water an ounce the thin Syrup of Corn Poppies an ounce or an ounce and a half Laudanum Londinens or rather that of Paracelsus two grains mix them and let the Patient drink it at the hour of Sleep But give nothing wherein there is Opium or Poppies in the beginning of a Fever because they tie up the Archaeus of the Stomach and first passages thereby hindering him from separating and expelling the occasional cause of the Disease For Agues or intermitting Fevers whether they be Quotidians Tertians or Quartans proceed as followeth ℞ Of Salt of Amber twenty grains Tartarum Vitriolatum six grains Diagridium seven eight nine or ten grains according to the strength of the Patient mix them into a Powder and give it in a little Posset-drink or thin Broth four or five hours before the time of the Fit Repeat it two or three times if need be but if the Ague be not then gone give the following mixture about an hour or an hour and an half before the Fit comes the Patient being in Bed and disposing himself to sweat ℞ of Carduus Water two ounces Treacle Water two drams Salt of Wormwood half a dram Spirit of Salt Armoniac ten grains Syrup of Corn Poppies half on ounce mix This if the Patient sweat well with it frequently removes the Ague This following also hath cured many without any other Medicine ℞ of the Salt of Wormwood and Carduus each fifteen grains Tartar Vitriolat six grains Sugar of Pearls half a dram powder and mix them and give it half an hour or an hour before the Fits access The Juice of Featherfew being drank about half an ounce in a glass of Wormwood Wine is profitable against the Quartan or fourth Ague These Remedies I have used with good success but never found any thing so certain and effectual in Fevers as my Species Febrifuga and Pillula Balsamica A Dropsie There are three sorts of Dropsies viz. Anasarca Ascites and Timpanites the two first are most from Water The last Timpany is more from Wind. Anasarca is when the extreme parts swell but when the Belly then it is Ascites The Cause I do not believe as hath generally been received that it proceeds from a Distemper of the Liver and that to be the principal part affected but I have more reason to think it to proceed from an obstruction or impediment in one of the Kidneys for commonly they that are troubled with Gravel and Stone in the Kidneys are Hydropical and seldom any that have been affected with either Anasarca or Ascites but they have observed a Dolor in their Reins to precede it and so that Water which should be transferred through the Kidneys to be evacuated by the Bladder is forced out
one may judge it to be an Arcanum Catholicum or an universal Remedy which I know this Powder I tell you of hath perfectly effected as I have well experienced And in this last I commonly give my Balsamical Pills the next night to consolidate the Excoriations which the morbifick matter hath caused In all Fluxes of the Belly whether bloody or not you may do as followeth First give half a dram or two scruples or a dram of the Powder of Toasted Rhubarb mixed with a little Conserve of Red Roses and made into a Bolus Then â„ž of the Conserve of Red Roses Mint of each an ounce Orange Pill candied six drams Red Coral in fine Powder a dram Diascordium two drams Syrup of Myrtles sufficient to make a soft Electuary let the Patient take it often about a dram at once Or this â„ž of Mint Water and Cinnamon Water each an Ounce Plantane Water two ounces Syrup of Comfrey an ounce and an half Laudanum two grains mix them and let the sick take it by a spoonful every half hour In the Flux with the Griping of Guts as also in others this following is very good â„ž of the best Cinnamon Water three ounce of Diascordium three drams let them be well mixed and give it by two spoonfuls at a time pretty often Either this or the former will both stay the Vomiting and bridle the Flux The following Clyster is also good to alleviate the sharpness of the matter and ease the excoriated Guts â„ž of new Milk half a pint or better in which quench a piece of red hot steel once or twice to which add half an ounce of Venice Turpentine dissolved in the yolk of an Egg Honey of Roses an ounce common Balsam of Sulphur ten or twelve drops mix and make a Clyster The Pill alone will cure any Flux or Loosness whatsoever presently yea the Bloody Flux in two three or four days according to its magnitude but in that case it is good to continue the use of it a day or two after the Flux is stayed lest the Acrimonious Ferment not being quite destroyed should reassume its force and cause the Disease to return Therefore in such Countries where this Malady is in a manner Epidemical as Ireland and perhaps some other places did they but know the worth of this Pill they would undoubtedly prize it at a high rate and rescue many a miserable person from the devouring jaws of death Calculus Renum or Stone or Gravel in the Reins or Kidneys THe Stone or Gravel in the Reins or Kidneys as it is the sharpest of Diseases so it hath been the longest in curing though the present Fit or Pain is soon remedied I never knew any Man or Woman that was past forty five or forty six years of age that was ever perfectly cured but once or twice a year after they have been troubled with it more or less though I knew a Gentlewoman that was free from any Fit nigh two years and then assaulted her again as violently as at first Cause Those Paroxysms or Fits that come by Intervals which are so dolorous do not proceed from the Gravel or Stone generated but from the Kidney generating which may be affected either primarily from a debility or vitiousness of its own Ferment or casually from an excess in quantity or being too sharp or salt in quality and in regard it is so sensible a part must needs stir up an inflammation which maketh those cruel Tortures And should all the Gravel and Stone come away the pain would not be the less until the Kidney it self be reduced to its right temper For we see how vain and useless all those things have proved that have been given to absterge and force away the Gravel and Stone nay they have much more exasperated the pain and made it more And besides that the Gravel and Stone are not the cause of those Tortures I find by this Powder which hath perfectly freed them from all their pain in two or three hours and no Gravel or Stone hath come from them neither that day nor the next Again how many have I seen in perfect health that have voided a great quantity of Gravel at a time without the least pain it would be in one as well as in another By any Weakness Consumption Inflammation or any Distemper of the Kidney Gravel may be caused so that Gravel is the product not the producer or primitive cause of this pain In this Disease the Belly is to be kept loose which may be well performed by this following â„ž of the Pulp of Cassia newly drawn four ounces Tartar Vitriolated two drams powder it and mix to the mixture add ten or twelve drops of oil of Juniper Take of it once in three or four days at night going to Bed at each time six drams or an ounce which will give two or three Stools the next day Then give the following Powder Take of Tartar Vitriolated a dram and a half Crabs-eyes Salt of Bean-stalks of Broom of Restharra and Pidgeons dung each two scruples mix and make a Powder The Dose is a scruple or more twice a day in Parsley or Saxifrage Water When the pain is very great and the Urine stopped the following potion may be given to the comfort of the sick Take of fine Venice Turpentine washed a scruple dissolve it in the yolk of a new laid Egg by beating them well together then put them to a quarter of a pint or half a pint of new Milk and let the patient drink it off at once Wild Carrot Seed being boiled in Ale and the Ale drank two or three times a day is good both to hinder the increase of the Stone by resisting the putrefactive stonyfying odour or Ferment and also to diminish it being grown but its use must be continued a Month together at the least The German Academ Curios in their first Volumn published in the Year 1670 observat 107. highly commend the Decoction of Paul's Bettony for expelling the Stone being drank in a large quantity and continued for some time an example of which is there set down at large of a certain Woman who was freed from a Stone in the left Kidney by the use of the said Decoction after it had been her miserable Companion for sixteen years The Pill being taken in a full Dose and dissolved in a Glass of well warmed White or Rhenish Wine or where that cannot be had Ale and so drank gives present ease in the most grievous pains occasioned by Stone or Gravel in the Kidneys when all other Remedies fail and I remember once a Gentlewoman that I gave it to either at the first or second Dose voided three Stones of an untoward Figure with much pain and remained free from that tormenting dolor with which she was wont to be often exercised for the space of three years But for the Stone in the Bladder I do not know that either the Powder or Pill will do any thing as to
soon suppurates which makes an Imposthume or Empyema and although an eruption by those means may be prevented yet there may be some of that aqueous matter transpired through the Pleura which may be tinctured with a sanguine complexion and cause that colour which is seen in expectoration so that I conceive the essence of this Malady is not blood with submission to sounder Judgments Now you may ask me which of those two ways I think the surest for Hippocrates saith a Plurisie not perfectly cured before the fourth day the party becometh consumptive Answ I judge the morbisick matter to be evacuated by transpiration through the Cutis or Skin to be the directest Course REASONS 1. For so there is nothing exhausted but the matter offending 2. Those that are cured by Phlebotomy or Blood-letting are more liable to that Distemper again 3. The Blood is not so depurated from this offensive matter as by a powerful Sweat 4. The party affected may be in that condition that letting Blood may prove prejudicial as women with child young women obstructed c. I am not averse to Blood-letting but I had rather make use of my Balsamical Pill which effects it singularly and not hurtful in any condition Now I am speaking of letting out blood I shall give my judgment in that great question which hath been and is to this day controverted amongst our great Doctors whether it be proper in Fevers Hollerius Forrestus Sennertus Galen Avicen with the rest of the Schoolmen press it of a necessity to be done in the beginning Paracelsus Helmont with the rest of the Quicksilver Wits condemn it as not convenient at any time Betwixt Scylla and Charybdis there is a safe Channel but he must be an experienced Mariner that can sail through As Practice is the best part of Physick so observation is the surest Errors being sometimes admitted do instruct judicious erring persons as good Remedies do confirm good Operators From my observation I shall speak something to those two extremes If I could think the School definition of a Fever true that it is heat besides nature being kindled in the heart first and throughout the whole Body I should think nothing could more clearly indicate Phlebotomy but I hold the contrary and no necessity for it in the beginning but rather prejudicial I have been an observer in this Intention about twenty two years and have had many hundreds under my consideration at once and almost some of all Diseases and those in Fevers some have been let Blood and others not and for the most part those that were not let blood were well before those that were In any contagious pestilential malignant Fever to let blood is very destructive Detracto sanguine licet impuro impurior multo succedit Fernel as experience well teacheth In a continual Fever as Synochus or burning c. it prolongs their sickness and commonly strikes them into an intermitting Ague or some other Disease In a Fever intermitting or determinated into Paroxysms or Fits it strongly confirms them In a word to let blood in any Fever in the beginning I have found to do much hurt several times good hardly at any time so that I am inforced to shew my dislike of letting blood in the beginning of this Disease Neither do I consent with great Helmont the Calciner of Physick and laudable Paracelsus that Blood-letting doth exhaust the spirit of life because the life is seated in the blood nor that it may be convenient at any time but I have reason to believe the contrary 'T is true Letting-blood doth never cure a Disease properly but it doth mightily refresh and cherish a weak nature that hath almost spent her self through freeing her from her mortal Enemy As we see often after a tedious sickness nature her self stirs it up as a Crisis Quo natura verget ad locum conferentem to ducere oportet and then to take a little blood from her doth much revive and strengthen her I have cured a man that had a Quartan Ague above a year and four months only by once letting blood who never had a Fit after The drawing blood was but the occasion nature was the efficient cause for she was much more elevated and strengthened by it whereby she expunged the morbifick Reliques with a greater facility I have cured a man that had laboured with an Atrophia or Consumption for a long time wholly become a meer Skelleton only by letting blood three times about six ounces at a time in the space of ten days without the use of any other means he became perfectly well to the admiration of all his Neighbours I have several times since experienced it in an Hectick Fever and although this nor any thing else that I know of will cure it yet they have been more refreshed by it than by all the things took and whosoever practiseth it will find it so I could instance in several more but let this suffice to evidence the truth though a Paradox that Phlebotomy is very disgustful to nature in the beginning of a Disease but very grateful in the latter end The Pleurisie is cured by Diaphoreticks and Diureticks being mixed with such things as have power to concentrate acidity as this following mixture â„ž of the Syrup of Marsh-mallows an ounce Syrup of Corn-Poppies an ounce and an half Crabs-eyes prepared and Mineral Bezoar of each a dram mix them and make a Linctus of which let the Patient lick very often till he come to sweat Or if he had rather have it in a liquid form add to this Mixture Triacle and carduus-Carduus-Water of each two ounces shake them well in a Glass and take it by spoonfuls till sweat proceed For an outward application this following is excellent â„ž of the compound ointment of Marsh-mallows an ounce oil of sweet Almonds and Roses of each a quarter of an ounce oil of white Lillies Poppies and Henbane strained each a dram and a half Chymical Oil of Cammomile Cummin-Seeds and Bricks of each a scruple Camphire half a dram mix them and make a Liniment With which anoint the pained side as hot as it may be suffered It would grieve any pitiful heart to see how many persons lives in this Disease as well as some others expire with their Blood some being blooded five or six times over and yet receiving no ease while they live as I have divers times known About three or four years since I was sent for to a Gentlewoman lying under this Disease she had been let blood three times but yet had no ease and was plyed with Lohochs and Linctus's and such like broken Reeds and while I was in her Chamber the Apothecary came in with a Commission to draw more blood if he found her not eased She was Patient to one of the oldest Doctors in London upon which and the consideration of her weakness I wholly declined to meddle with her not without much reluctancy and regret of mind since
in a thousand that you will use it twice without it be a deep thrust or shot in the Thigh where it may not reach the bottom but for any ordinary hurt though it be never so broad or torn it cures it at the first dressing and takes away all pain and swelling in half an hour and immediately stops the bleeding Remember the sooner you apply it the better But if you are at Sea where the white of an Egg is not to be had then take the powder and cast it upon the hurt or wound and take a fine linnen cloth or ragg dip it in salt water and then wring out the water well and lay the cloth several times double upon the place hurt and bind it on gently as before and it will prove as effectual as the other way If any shall desire it for an Ulcer I shall so make it that it shall cure any cureable Ulcer in a very short time This is to be kept in some dry place or carried about one for against moist and rainy weather it will be a little moist wherefore keep it near the fire and if it should be moist at any time dry it at the fire and it will be as good as at the first It will not decay you may keep all the Powder twenty years and be as good as at first The Stomachical Pills you may keep seven years I am fully perswaded and I have reason to think that there is not any Disease either in the West or East-Indies nor any where in the World but this Powder will take off I should not question to cure the Plague with my Arcanum Vniversale and my Aurum Vitae If any Practitioner shall desire any of those Arcanums I shall accommodate him with them upon reasonable terms I will engage that any Chyrurgion that hath once found the worth of them he would rather have one Dragme than a Chest of ten pounds worth of the laudablest Cathartical Medicines he can chuse My Pillula Balsamica or Balsamick Pill is to settle the Body and to restore it into a good temper for a House that hath been fired though the fire be out yet there may be a great heat and smoke which I give the next Night after my Powder If you take the Powder in the Morning take the Pill at Night if there be occasion that is if he find his Body much disordered or out of temper or feels any pain then it is good to take one of those Pills otherwise not If you please you may drink after it In the Summer give after it a Glass of White Wine Cider or Ale in the Winter a draught of warm Posset-Drink or warm Ale or a Glass of Sack My Aurum Vitae is when the Malignity of the Disease hath tainted the Spirits and that is known by this though the Cause be gone and the Effect removed yet the Party doth not become well but continues in a lingring condition then give him a Dose of this in the Morning in his Bed let him drink it in a glass of Sack or warm Posset-Drink and it will drive it out by sweating and let him continue sweating for three or four hours never fear it it will not weaken but make stronger My Pill Stomachica or Stomack Pill is to be taken at Night as any other Pill without taking any thing after it Thus I have directed you as plain as I could And a good success shall be ever prayed for unto that God that alone can give it by Thy Friend R. C. POSTSCRIPT THe Dose of the Balsamick Pill for one of full years is twelve fourteen or fifteen grains yea sometimes twenty in robust bodies and extream pains a Child new born may take a grain of it dissolved in breast milk or other A Child of my own being born with the gripes began to take it the next day it was likely to die all the Moneth and very weakly for the first quarter so that if the Pill were omitted but one Night it were even at deaths door so that the use thereof was continued with happy success till it was a year and a quarter old for the Teeth sake at which time it was weaned from the Breast and Pill both together without the least inconveniency or alteration when it left it and blessed be God of a poor weakly Child became lusty strong and forward as any Child of its Age whatsoever and so remains being now in its third year of Age. The Powder for Old Sores or Ulcers mentioned by Mr. Couch I also prepare and sell by the name of Species Phagadenica at the same price with that for wounds and blood-stopping and is to be used thus Take a full pint or better of fair water set it over the fire in an Earthen Pipkin till it be scalding hot then put in an ounce of this Powder by degrees stirring it with a wooden Spatula then cover the pipkin and let it stand half a quarter of an hour over the fire without boyling then take it off and let it stand till the water be clear the which keep in a Glass or Earthen bottle when you use it to any Old Ulcer or Fistula put a little into an Earthen Sawcer warm it as hot as it may be endured then wash the Sore by dipping a fine rag in it and at length double the rag three or four times and let it be well wet with the warm Liquor and apply it to the Sore if the Ulcer be hollow or fistulous so that you cannot come at it to wash it then inject the Liquor warm with a Syringe let it be dressed twice a day and I dare assure you that there is no curable Ulcer whatsoever that this will not cure if you desire to have the water yet stronger in stead of fair water infuse the Powder in Lime-water This water is not only a Cure for Old Sores but for Ring-worms Tetters Manginess Itch Scabs and such like Curaneous Distempers they being washed therewith and linnen clothes wet therein laid upon the place The way of using the Powder or Balsom for Wounds and Blood-stopping is sufficiently taught by Mr. Couch that I call by the name of Species Vidneraria The Dose of the Aurum Vitae for one of full years is ten or twelve grains and sometimes more it may be taken in a little Sack Ale or Posset drink or made into a Rolus with a little Conserve of Roses or any Cordial Syrup it may as well be taken at Night going to Bed as in the Morning provided the Patient hath eat but a light Supper and that two or three hours before This is a powerful Remedy in any Malignant Fever Small-Pox or Measels Surfeit Scurvy French-Pox c. It mightily purifies the Blood and refresheth the Spirits All those Medicines mentioned in this Book may be had at my House except the Water mentioned for Embrocation in the Gout which I know not at the same prices that Mr. Couch sold them but
and whosoever shall recover all this matter is to be brought out and whoever goes about to stop it in the beginning works against nature What a vain thing therefore is it to think to take away the Gripings before the matter be gone that causes it and to corroborate the stomach or to refresh its Spirits so long as the Enemy beareth sway To give the Child Mithridate or lay a plaister of it to the stomach which is worse becomes another Disease or any thing else that is nauseous whilst Nature the Disease are struggling and to give cooling things to correct the hear is to weaken nature and strengthen the Disease Obj. But you will tell me many have recovered by the use of those means Answ And many more had been had they never been used with submission to providence but quoad homines after the manner of men I admire that any should recover that ever was affected with this Disease for they are ever giving and all to hurt it seeing the best Friends become the worst Enemies which makes good that old Saying When God cuts off man's thread of life His dearest Friends do bring the knife But many things are wrought by accident as we have known many have been recovered from a Fever by drinking cold water Obj. From whence some have asserted that this Heat is of the Essence of the Disease Answ But this Cure is not wrought by the Water as it is cold and moist for Sack or strong Beer would have performed it and a great deal better but it is from the great quantity of it which doth so replete the stomach that some of the peccant matter which doth adhere unto the Fibres thereof the Water hath loosened and so it s brought away with it I suppose whosoever hath been cured by Water it hath been when the Disease hath been on him some considerable time and not in the beginning I have prescribed Water several times in the end of a Fever to this intent and I ever found it very successful but I suppose the parties that have taken it upon their own sensual inclination it was hap-hazard with them for to take Water in the beginning of a Fever either kills them or strikes them into an Ague or some other long Sickness To drink it in a contagious pestilential Fever or any Fever that tends much to putrefaction hastens death I do not speak this as not approving of the use of Water but I declare the contrary for I have found as strange events by drinking Water as ever I saw by any Physick I have known a man cured very soon of an Atrophia or Consumption only by the drinking of pure Rock Watar and in many other cases have I used it but great consideration is to be had in the giving of it But to return by applying a nauseous or foetid Medicine to the Stomach whilst the morbifick matter resides there nature thinking she is assaulted by another Distemper unites all her strength and force and desperately attempts both her Enemies with this resolution to extirpate them or sink her self whereby she may by exasperating of her new Enemy cast forth the old and then this amongst the ignorant is cryed up for a laudable Medicine when as such things are done by chance for where one hath recovered by this means twenty have died Thus you see what a blind course hath been taken for the curing this or any other Disease The meer pity that I bear to poor Infants hath extorted this from me to whom I have often been sent for to see them die when their spirits have been so far spent that I have not dared to give them any thing to take off the Disease to the great grief of my spirit for without the Disease be taken away to small purpose do we use Cordial Means to refresh their Spirits DIRECTIONS I shall now direct you to a better way viz. 1. When you are assured this Disease is on them which is known first by a scouring away of a slimy matter then a discolouring of the Excremenrs as yellow green c. and a griping in the Belly being very hot and cold by Intervals press not any manner of Meat upon them Impura corporae quo plus nutrieris eo majus laeseris as you tender their lives this very thing hath destroyed thousands For to give Meat whilst the Disease is on them when the stomach is not fit to receive it nor hath strength to digest it without it be speedily vomited up again it becomes a Recruit or supply to the Disease 2. Neither administer nor apply any thing external or internal that is any way nauseous or ungrateful to the stomach for nature hates and abhors such things for though it be laid upon the stomach yet the taste of it is in the stomach as though it were contained there especially in young and tender Skins for to have a thing that is nauseous to the stomach and ungrateful to the smell constantly to lie on would be troublesome to one that is in health much more to him that is sick Give not the Child any Milk and if it suck wean it for Milk is the first matter and foundation this Disease is raised on and it bears still an affinity with it and is presently converted into its poisonous nature and likewise let it forbear Water and Beer either cold or warm keep the sick party either Child or otherwise in a breathing sweat which is done by drinking warm Posset-drink the Milk being turn'd with White Wine or Sack or Beer sharpened with Vinegar let the party drink of it as warm as he can take it this is far better than any Cordial or Julip whatsoever in a putrid Disease between whiles the Child may drink a good draught of Sack raw and without Sugar is best and if it tends to coldness either in Face Nose Hands or Feet you may safely give it a liberal draught of Brandy with a little white Sugar though the Child be not two months old and likewise make a Toast of old stale Bread or a piece of Rose-Cake and soak it in warm Brandy wherein a little white Sugar hath been dissolved and put it to the Child's Stomach and let it lie on for twenty four hours and if the coldness is not removed you may reiterate it I have a specifick Water for that end which doth much revive and cherrish nature What though it exasperateth and maketh more hot That is well recompensed for it mightily strengthens and refresheth nature Observe that a hot and feverish temper is the most laudable and best temper the Child can be in whilst the Disease remains When the morbifick matter is gone you may give a little salt of Pearls Corral Amber or Wormwood which are very good in a Cordial Electuary to kill that putrefactive Ferment in the place where the Disease lay that may lie behind lurking which is the cause of most Relapses and long and tedious Sicknesses and
that Maxim of the Ancients Ejusdem partis atque potestatis sit functio sana cujus est vitiata ac vicissim i. e. There is a sound function of the same part and power whereof there is a vicious one and on the contrary I could speak much in defence of the Dignity of this noble part but at present shall conclude with this the great Offices that proceed from it and that rich and noble Retinue that attends it speaks it no less than the pallace where the sensitive soul keeps her Residence Of the Liver I shall but only hint at this because I shall speak more largely of it when I come to treat about Dropsies and other Diseases that are falsely fathered on it what a common complaint is there about a hot Liver and a cold Stomach when as I shall demonstrate that the Liver is never hotter than is necessary nor the Stomach never colder though it may seem so by imperfect or weak digestion And although Sanguification is not begun in it yet it is the perfecter and rectifier of it whereby the Blood is assimilated and conveyed into every part through the Veins In a word the Liver is the Administrator to all the natural parts in man Of the Gaul In the first Disease that I shall speak unto I shall be enforced to anatomize this Bowel only by the way take notice that this Gall is the great Balsom of Nature as well for preventing and destroying of Diseases as the curing our Wounds Understand that whatsoever is done by nature in any thing of this kind is performed by this great Balsom nor hath this as well as the rest been free from the Calumniations of the ignorant in making it guilty of causing several sharp Diseases c. But more of this in the next Of Fevers I Shall speak a word in general then come to particulars all Fevers are of the same essence and name and differ not so much in the matter as place Place The Place it acts in is the Stomach mostly The Cause is from the error and estranging of the Faculties or from things undigested and untransmuted or else from Excrements not being rightly subdued or separated and orderly evacuated Division there are two sorts continual and intermitting From the first there are several Species viz. some very malign others accompanied with less Malignity others with none at all Intermitting ones are of three sorts Legitimate Quotidian Tertian and Quartan Not to trouble you to treat of any contagious and pestilential Fevers none hath yet been amongst us God still keep them from us and remedy them where they are I shall therefore begin with malignant Fevers which are very rife in this Country especially amongst Children A malignant Fever differs from a Synochus or Burning or any other Fever in this that it draws its putrefaction immediately from its own matter for indeed putrefaction is joyned with it A burning Fever and other Fevers do not derive their putrefaction immediately from their matter but gradually and casually either from the peccancy of the matter or debility of the Ferment where it resides those are of a less malignity and bound in a less quantity of the matter offending Ephemera or an one days Fever is more from a disposition or inclination to a Disease for that morbifick matter in the stomach is soon cast up by Vomit or digested I rather call it a Distemper than a Disease But more particularly A Malignant Fever in Children AS I have shewed that a Malignant Fever is from the present putrefaction of its own matter Parvae Febres quandoque valde malignae Hipp. Diagnost so this violent Disease in Children is of that nature which is clearly demonstrated from the Symptoms in the first assault that within forty eight hours putrefaction hath been nigh perfected as is perceived by a coldness in the extreme parts and cold sweats c. Cause It is from some thing received which may contain some vicious quality or abounding in quantity or from an ill disposition of the digestive Ferment for it often happens that when the season is most hot then the digestion is weakest and then crude Fruits and things hard to digest take advantage of the stomach But above all I look at Milk and Sugar to be the greatest cause for Milk is the general Food of Children and there is such a propensity in its own nature to curdle that if it be not quickly digested it obeyeth the acid Ferment of the place which soon is coagulated and a Curd made like new tough Cheese which doth strongly resist digestion especially in a weak and tender stomach and if it be not speedily vomited up it soon begets a putrefactive Ferment and then soon after those terrible Symptoms are produced as Vomiting Scouring Griping c. Natura morborum est medicus medicus naturae minister Now Nature which is the Physician to Diseases unites her force and takes with her a quantity of this Gaul-balsom to rectifie this Malignity and eradicate the Morbifick Matter and whatsoever this Balsom doth incorporate with it hinders its putrefaction as Salt doth in Flesh or Fish and seasons it with its taste and colours it with its tincture as a little Wormwood doth any thing it is commixt with and a little Saffron doth Milk c. and what part of it is separated for its putrefactive Body nature endeavours to cast forth and by reason it still retains its acquired sharpness from the putrefactive Ferment falling down upon the Pylorus or lower mouth of the stomach stirreth up those violent motions and what part of it passeth through the Intestines it abstergeth and scoureth away that mucous or phlegmatick matter which nature hath lined the Guts withal for a twofold end first to hinder Obstructions that the Chyle may have a more speedy and slippery passage Secondly to defend them from any sharp or corrosive quality that may be in the Chyle which is transferred through them Which slimy matter is commonly seen to scour from them in this Disease and this being gone this excrementitious matter doth easily corrode by its sharpness which is the cause of those Tortures and Gripings And in regard that this peccant matter which is cast forth is tinctured by this Balsom it hath deceived many who have taken it to be the Gaul itself 'T is true there are Excrements in Children from eating Milk not perfectly digested which are of this Tincture but of no bitterish Taste it is brownish in the stomach yellow in the Ilion and green in the blind Gut yet they may not be sick And no marvel that there is little or none of this Balsom found in its Receptacle or Bladder in dead Children for if this be spent Death immediately follows according to that Proverb When the Gaul is broken the drowned Carcase riseth to the top of the Water when it can no longer withstand putrefaction Those Sacrilegious Jews knew that this Gaul was a great Cordial for the preserving
and continuing life wherefore they gave our Saviour Vinegar and Gaul Vinegar to excite the faculties of the stomach for the Gauls quicker passage into the vital spirits to prolong his life that they might the longer torment him under his pains before death But to stay no longer here it follows in the next place to treat about the great Heat and Cold which happens by Intervals as well in most other Fevers as in this and likewise of that inordinate Thirst Of Heat THough Heat and Fever are counted Synonyma's of one and the same name individual companions c. yet I say this Heat is not of the Quiddity or Essence of the Disease neither is it the cause of any Disease but is caused by the stirring up of that vital aiery spirit the directoress of life which spirit it is that makes the assault Archaeus Paracels 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Hippoc. now this spirit being provoked by the Disease allarms all the Faculties Virtues and Powers both Vital and Natural which it doth unite unto it self and so furiously assault his mortal Enemy as many Coals of Fire raked together and blown up make a great heat so doth this heat proceed from this inflamed Spirit EXAMPLE A Thorn or Splinter being got into the Finger or Hand presently a heat pain and pulsation is felt which this spirit or Archaeus stirreth up for the expelling of that extraneous Body now this heat is not a product of the Thorn but casually from this spirit and occasionally only from the Thorn therefore heat is a latter accident and subsequent upon the essence of a Fever Cold. COld is the Diseases Colours or Banner under which it fights but it is not either the Disease nor Cause but a product and effect of the Disease Calorem frigus non esse morbus ut neque borum causas Hipp. putrefaction brings in coldness the Ferment of Putrefaction is sharp and cold as we have an ocular Demonstration in Gangrenes and Mortifications whilst it is but in fieri a Gangrene what a hard task it is to revive it by the hottest and most penetrating Medicines we can get nay and fain to scarrifie deeply too lest it should hinder their operation or if it fouls a bone no less than a Medicine that is hot in the highest degree can effect it and when a Sphacelus or Mortification is confirmed without natures Second comes in speedily to her rescue A Chyrurgion Chyrurg naturae minister and dismember it it would soon run her to the heart and did not putrefaction work by a cold a Body would be hotter after it was dead than it was before but we see the contrary when putrefaction grows stronger the Body grows colder I could evidence by many demonstrations more that the Heat is not of the essence neither the cause nor occasion of a Fever and likewise that Cold is meerly the effect of the Disease but I think this sufficient Thirst This great Thirst in Fevers doth not proceed from Heat and driness as in a true and natural Thirst for this will not be allayed by drinking as that will but this Thirst is deceitful and is produced by some excrementitious matter which adheres to that sensitive faculty and deludes the Organ Nec sitis est extincta prius quam vita bibâ—ndo as if a great dryness had suddenly come unto it as I have observed in a very malignant Fever which the Army in Flanders was infected with being always cold and very thirsty as likewise in the cold Fit of an Ague c. and so this is evident that heat in Fevers is not the cause of that inordinate Thirst besides I have extinguished this Thirst by those things which have been virtually hot Contraria contrariis curantur which if heat had been the cause would rather have exasperated Thus you have the matter manner and Concomitants of this Disease The Schools have observed some Heads from whence they have derived many Species of Fevers which I shall not insist on because they depend upon one and the same way and means of Cure without mention of an Hectick or intermitting Fever which differ only in the place they reside which I shall speak to in their proper places It is my chief design to do good unto my Countrymen who I know would rather have something to ease them and be rid of their Diseases than to hear curious and learned Discourses or quaint Distinctions and in pleasing them I care not whom I displease As I have put the knowledge of the cause into your Heads so I shall put a remedy into your Hands Cure You may clearly see what first is to be done and wherein the Cure doth consist which is in removing the cause or matter offending the neglect whereof hath suffered such an infinite Slaughter which gives me reason to think that either the cause is not known or a fit Remedy not yet found for unless there be a proportion between the Remedy and the Disease It will do but little good Diseases which come suddenly if they are rightly understood they are soon gone Extrema non permanent though they may be extreme sharp whilst they continue I know it is the practice here to look more unto the Effect than the Cause in correcting the Symptoms than the matter whereof they are produced Si ta tollantur quae conveniunt aeger melius se habet facile sert Sublata causa tolletur effectus which is a very pernicious course and contrary unto reason and all principles in Healing And that you may the better understand your error I shall recite your practice When first any one is taken with this or the like Distemper either Child or those of full Growth first you run and fetch Mint Water and a little Syrup to stay the Vomiting Secondly then Cinnamon Water and Syrup of Quinces or Myrtle Berries to stay the scouring Then it may be you give a Carmiâ—tive or Clyster to expel Wind and correct the Griping That done you give some cooling Julep to allay its Heat and to quench in Thirst And when it is cold you give a little Mithridate or Theriack of Andronica oâ— London Treacle and lay a Plaister of it to his Stomach And then lay a Spell against the Fever to the Wrists c. And so you keep doing till you can do no more just as a man who hath lost himself in a Wood he keeps going but whither he knows not You see all those things do but respect the effect here is nothing hath any regard at all unto the Cause And should things answer the intention for which they were given the party either Child or Man would presently die To hinder the evacuating of this morbifick matter is directly against the intention of nature Quo natura verget ad locum conferentem â—eo ducere oportet Hippoc. for the evacuation of this matter is to be looked at as the Crisis of Nature