symptomatick from the weakness of her Stomach and will vanish as soon as it is fortified which may be promoted if she take before and after meals some of that burnt wine spoke of before for the Cough or a little good Hippocras or right Canary or eat a little Marmalade of quinces before meals and wear a Lamb-skin upon the pit of her Stomach be sure to give no purge for this is only caused by weakness If it be a Diarrhea simply voiding such excrements as are in the Guts and some superfluous humors which nature hath sent to be expelled and it be gentle and continue not long she will feel no damage by it and so 't is good to leave it to nature without interrupting it in the beginning but if it continue above 4 or 5 days 't is a sign there are ill humors cleaven to the inside of the Guts and ought to be expell'd by some light purge after which it will certainly cease But if for all fit purges it changes into a Dysentery she is then in danger of miscarrying which must be prevented if possible therefore having purged the ill humor and hindering that no more be engendred by Chicken or Veal broths c. with cooling herbs pap with the yelk of an Egg well boild let her quench Iron or Steel in her drink which must be small beer or water with a little strong or wine if she be not Feaverish for then half a spoonful of syrup of Quinces or Pomgranates is better and she may eat a little Marmalade of Quince or other strengtheners if she was purg'd before and because there is always great gripes they must be appeas'd by Clysters made of the broth of a Calves or Sheeps head well boild with 2 ounces of oil of Violets or good Milk and the yelk of an Egg after the use of these as long as is judged necessary which she must keep as long as she can you must proceed to clensers made with Mallows and Marsh-mallows with hony of Roses and then binding ones in which must be neither oil nor hony beginning first with gentlest made of Rose-water with Lettice and Plantain water then to stronger of the roots and leaves of Plantain tapsus barbatus horse-tail province Roses rind of Pomgranates in Smiths water adding of sealed earth and Dragons blood of each 2 drams you may also foment the Fundament Of the monthly blood before and if it be from to much blood 't wil do her a kindness SECT XI Of Fluddings THe Courses come at accustomed times without pain distilling by little and little from the Wombs Neck during pregnancy and then wholly ceaseth but these come with pain from the Wombs bottom and almost on a sudden in great abundance and continue without intermission except some clods formed there seem sometimes to lessen the accident by stopping for a small time the place whence they flow but it soon returns with greater violence and after follows death to the Mother and Child if not prevented by delivering the Woman If the Fludding happen when young with Child it 's usually because of some false Conception or Mole of which the Womb endeavours to discharge it self by which it opens some of the Vessels in its bottom whence the blood ceases not to flow till it hath cast out the strange bodies it contain'd the subtiller the blood is the more it flows but when this happens to one truely Conceiv'd at whatever time it proceeds likewise from the opening of the Vessels of the Womb's fund caused by some blow slip c. and chiefly because the secundine separating in part if not wholly from the inside of the Wombs bottom to which it ought to stick to receive the Mothers blood for the Childs nouriture leaves open all the Orifices of the Vessels where it joyned and so follows a great flux of blood which never ceases till she be brought a Bed yet I do not intend it should be done as soon as perceiv'd for some small fluddings have been stop'd by lying quietly in Bed bleeding i' th Arm and the use of Remedies mention'd in the menstruous Flux and it may be but an ordinary monthly Flux and then 't is good leaving the Labor to nature provided she hath strength and accompanied with no other ill accident but when she falls into Convulsions and Faintings 't is absolutely necessary she be deliver'd whether she be at her count or no pains or throws or no for there is no other way to save both their Lives You must not always expect pains and throws to force and forward Labor in these dangerous accidents for though they come at the beginning they usually cease as soon as it comes to Faintings and Convulsions neither must it be put off till the Womb be opened enough for this Flux moistens and the weakness loosens it so that it may then be as easily widen'd as if there had been abundance of strong throws Wherefore let the Midwife introduce her Fingers anointed with Oil or Butter 2 or 3 at a time and all by degrees and at last her whole Hand and if she find the waters not broke break them and then whatever part of the Child presents though the head provided it be not i' th Birth let her search for the Feet and draw it forth by them observing the circumstances in delivery of a Child with the Feet first because there 's better hold so that if the Feet lye not ready seek for them which is easier done at that time then another because the Fluddings make the Womb slippery then fetch the after-burthen which in these cases cleaves but little being careful not to leave so much as a clod i' th Womb lest it continue the Fludding In this case many Women and Children have perished for want of this operation and many escaped death by being timely succor'd Guilemeau a Famous French Chirurgion mentions 6 or 7 Histories to confirm this and Moriceau by his experience avers it and in the case of his own Sister too long here to relate You are always here to give good strengthning broths gellies and a little good Wine and smell to rose Vinegar and to prevent the blood Fludding in great quantity open a vein i' th Arm or bind her Arm with fillets above her Elbow and lay cloaths upon her Reins wet in water and Vinegar but if this proceeds from the parting of the after-burden she must be delivered as soon as may be though she were but 3 or 4 months gone because all must be broughâ— away whether false Conception Mole or Child SECT XII Of the Weight of the Womb c. THis is often caused by the stretching of the large Cords of the Womb and this will cause an hinderance of Copulation and a numness in her Hips sleepiness in her Thighs and difficulty of Urine and going to stool chiefly towards her latter reckonings because it presseth down the Bladder and great Gut being seated between both But she may be easier
take Nutmegs Cloves Cubebs each a scruple Calamus Aromaticus Frankincense bark each half a dram Majoram water 3 ounces If in 20 days this doth not the cure then you must consult with the able Surgeon for the opening it SECT VI. Of Frights in the Sleep and Watching YOu must see to cure this presently for 't is the fore-runner of the Falling-sickness give good Milk and not too much to overcharge the Stomach let not the Child sleep presently after food but carry it about and Jog it to the bottom of the Stomach give it 2 or 3 spoonfuls of oil of Sweet Almonds or Honey of Roses If it come from a Feaver Teeth or Worms they are treated of a part As for the Childs watching you must take notice that a new born one sleeps more then it wakes because its brain is very moist and it slept in the Womb. If you cannot make it sleep by singing or rocking c. 't is a Disease and if not cur'd will produce Catarrhs Convulsions Feavers c. If it proceed from bad Milk that must be amended if from a Feaver or pain remove them and give sleeping Medicines to the Nurse if that will not do you may venture a little Lettice or Purcelan water SECT VII Of the Falling-sickness and Convulsion THe first is either by consent from parts below when the Milk corrupts in the Stomach or from its ill quality from the Nurses bad dyet or from Worms or Vapors or from the brain first when humors are bred there that cause it or from Tooth-ach or sudden fright To prevent it give the Child as soon as 't is born oil of Sweet Almonds Sugar-Candy and Anniseeds powdered The Florentines apply a Caustick to the hinder part of the Head the best part of the cure is the Nurses dyet If from corrupt Milk provoke vomit by holding down the Tongue and pour some Oil of sweet Almonds down the Throat The same means may be used in Convulsions only anointing the spine of the back with Oil of Chamomil St. John's wort Worms Goose-grease Foxes Oil c. SECT VIII Of pain in the Ears Moisture Ulcers and Worms THe first is allayed by using warm Milk to them or Oil of Violets or the decoction of Poppies for the moisture take Honey of Roses and Aqua Mellis and drop them into the Ears for Worms they are kil'd by washing the Ears with white Wine wherein Wormwood hath been boiled or drop in Hemp Oil with a little Wine SECT IX Of the Thrush bladders of the Gums and Inflammation of the Tonsils FOr the first wash the Mouth with Plantain water and Syrup of Mulberries with a little Sal Prunella the Bladders are cured by taking the powder of Lentils husked and laid upon them If the Tonsils of Infants chance to be inflam'd give them Honey of Roses Myrtles Pomegranates and Diamoron inwardly and oil of sweet Almonds Camomil and St. John's wort outwardly SECT X. Of the breeding of Teeth HEre the pain is great and many time kills the Child it happens about the 7th Month they breed first the fore Teeth then the Eye-Teeth and last of all the grinders 't is known by the Child 's often putting its Fingers to its Mouth by holding the Nipple faster then before and the Gum is white where the Tooth begins to come If the Teeth are long a breeding it causes Feavers and Convulsions of which many dye Their hard breeding is from thickness and hardness of the Gums therefore soften and loosen them by rubing them with your Fingers dipt in Honey and Butter or with the mucilage of Quinces made with Mallow water If the Gums be inflam'd add the juice of Houseleek and cream and let the Nurse keep a temperate dyet SECT XI Of a Catarrh Cough and difficult breathing THese proceed from much Milk that burthens the Stomach and many vapors from thence filling the Brain and if the brain be full of excrements they are dissolved either by inward heat or outward cold and so distill upon the Nose Jaws or Lungs which causes a Cough or short breathing moreover much food makes crudities in the first passages and Phlegmatick humors are bred by the Liver of crudity and thick humors whence unconcocted blood is sent by the Arterial Veins into the Lungs and pressing the pipes of the Lungs causeth difficult Breathing First let the Nurse keep a good dyet and fill not the Childs Stomach too full with Milk or other dyet and let the Nurse forbear all hot sharp salt sour things and such as fill the Head with Vapors and give her a pectoral decoction such as this take Figs and Jujubes each 10 Sebestens 30 Raisins stoned 10 drams Liquorice 2 drams Maiden hair and Violets each an ounce and half boil them in 3 pints of water till the 3d part be boiled away let her take 6 or 8 ounces of this every morning keep the belly open with Syrup of Roses Cassia or a Clyster or hold down the Tongue to provoke vomiting give syrup of Jujubes Maiden hair if the matter be thick give syrup of Hysop or Hore hound or an emulsion of oil of sweet Almonds and Pine-nuts made with Scabions water or make a Lohoc of diarios Diatragacanth frigid penids and syrup of jujubes If it be hot give Emulsions of the 4 great cold Seeds made with Barley-water and Almonds SECT XII Of the Hiccup and Vomiting THey come from corruption of the food in the Stomach or over fulness of milk or cold Air these hurt the expulsive faculty which stirs it self up to expel what offends it If from fulness of Milk the belly swells and there follows Vomiting if from corruption of Milk it may be the Nurse hath bad Milk the Child cryes and is in pain and the excrements smell of stinking Milk If from corruption put a feather dipt in oil to cause Vomiting then strengthen the Stomach with syrup of Mints Quinces or Betony c. Vomiting is from too much or bad Milk or from a moist Stomach for as dryness retains so moistness loosens If from much Milk they are better after vomiting if from corruption of milk what 's vomited is yellow green c. and stinks worms are known by their signs they that vomit from their birth are the lustiest for the Stomach not being used to meat and taking too much Milk breeds crudities or corrupts the Milk and 't is better to vomit these up but if it last long it causes a washing If from too much Milk give it less if corrupted amend it as before and cleanse the Child with Honey of Roses and then strengthen the Stomach as before and if the humor be sharp and hot give syrup of Pomegranates Currans Coral Apply Emplastrum crusta panis or the stomach cerat to the Stomach SECT XIII Of the pains and puffing of the Belly PAins are often with a Flux from corrupt Milk which breeds wind and sharp humors which gnaws the inward parts so do Worms The Child cryes
to explain this more clearly consider the Infant is naturally seated in the Womb with Head uppermost and the Feet downwards with its Face towards the Mothers belly just till it hath attained the 8th Month at which time and sometimes sooner and sometimes later its head being very great and heavy it turns over its Head downward and its heels upward which is the sole and true posture in which it ought to come into the World Now just when the Child is about to turn according to custome into its intended posture instead of giving her self rest she fall a jumping walking running up and down staires and exercising her self more then ordinary which very often causes it to turn cross and not right as it ought to be and sometimes the Womb is depressed to low and engaged in such sort towards the last Month in cavity of the flanks by those joltings that there is no liberty left the Infant to turn it self naturally wherefore it is constrained to come in its first posture to wit by the Feet or some other worser moreover it would be very convenient that the Woman should abstain from having to do with a Man carnally during the 2 last months of her reckoning forasmuch as the body is thereby much moved and the belly pressed in the action which likewise causeth the Child to take a wrong posture Now I believe that those that will seriously reflect and confider of these things will be ready to quit this their old error which hath certainly caused the death of many Women and Children and much pain to divers others Thirdly let her beware of sharp and cold winds of excessive heat anger troubles of the mind affrights and terrors over-much venery and of intemperancy of eating and drinking Fourthly let her diet be frugal and moderate abstaining from gross meats hard of digestion let her eat Eggs Chickens Land-fowl birds of the Mountains c. variety of broths grewels panadoes Mutton Veal Lamb Kid Rabbets she may use in her meats Nutmeg and Cinnamon she may drink wine moderately Fifthly in the first four Months let her open no vein use no cupping or scarrifications fontanells nor use any pills or other Physick without the advice of a prudent Physitian for in these Months the ligaments of the Child are very tender soft and feeble and therefore the easier destroyed and the nourishment kept from it Sixthly if it shall happen that the Woman be too costive by which many miscarry let her boyl Spinage and Lettuce in Veal broth well buttered with salt or wine which if they will not move the belly let her use suppositories with honey and salt or of Castile-soap and if these common things will not do let her advise with an expert Physitian Seventhly if it happen that she conceive with grievous symptoms and after conception is troubled with faintings let her take this Cordial following Take of sorrel-Sorrel-water and red-rose-red-Rose-water of each one ounce of cinamon-Cinamon-water one ounce of Manus Christi pearled half an ounce or as much Diamargariton this may be taken as need requires Eighthly if she fear that she may come before her time as in the seventh Month or some other unseasonable time and feels throws as of Child-bearing let her sit over a fume of Frankincense for that contributes no small strength both to the Womb and to the Infant also Ninthly if she nauseate her meat she may use a plaister of Mastich to her Stomach and take this following Cordial every morning fasting to strengthen her Stomach Take Syrup of Pomegranates one ounce and half of Mosch and Ambergreece of each two grains of Lignum Aloes finely powdered one scruple of Cinamon half a scruple the water of Sorrel three ounces let these be mingled and drank off blood-warm Lastly if whilst she go with Child she perceive her terms let her eat milk made boyl with red-hot steel and in that let Plantain and Comfrey be boyled But in all these cases let her advise with learned Physitians which will direct her with medicines from time to time I shall hereafter treat of some distempers incident to Child-bed and leave you some choice Remedies in the following Sections and then wind up all SECT VI. A Dialogue between the Midwife and the Doctor concerning Midwifes and the delivery of Women in Child-birth MId A good morning to you good Mr. Dr. Sir I am come according to my promise to give you an account of the event of the directions you was pleased to give me last Night concerning Mrs. Styles the which indeed Sir have succeeded marveilous prosperously and she now thinks her self in Paradise to what she was before and hath sent you Sir a small gratuity according to her ability in acknowledgment of the great benefit she hath received by your Counsel And for my own part Sir I so well approve of your last Nights discourse that I must humbly entreat you that you would be pleased to afford me your Instructions in the safe performance of my Art Dr. Very willingly good Mrs. and truly your name bespeaks you a fit Woman for your Employ as being a well bred Woman therefore I shall in the first place take occasion to tell you what kind of person a Midwife ought to be and that in the subsequent description The best Midwife is she that is ingenious knowing letters and having a good memory is studious neat and cleanly over the whole body healthful strong and laborious and well instructed in Womens conditions not soon angry nor turbulent or hasty unsober unchaste but pleasant quiet prudent not covetous but like the Hebrew Midwives such as fear God that God may deal with them and that people may multiply and increase after their hands and that the Lord may build them Houses By this description I tell you only how the best Midwife must be qualified now let me hear somewhat of your skill that I may the better judge thereof First then let me know how Women are delivered A Naturall Birth As to the washing of the Child and swathing I need not give you any account I suppose you take it for granted that most women understand that I only here shew you the shape of the stool I use which I hope you will not disapprove of though few Midwives have them or use them B. the Back of the Stoole oooo the feete aa rests for the hands rr the ring in shape like the Moone cccc the Cloth round the ring to keepe out the Aire etc AA Shews the parts of the Chorion dissected and removed from their proper place B a Portion of the Membrane Amnios CC The Membrane of the Womb dissected DD The placenta Vteri or hepar uterinum being a fleshy substance full of many Vessels by which the Infant receives its nourishment E The varication of the Vessels which makes up the Navil string FF The Navil string by which the Vmbilick vessels are carried from the placenta to the Navil GG The Infant as it lies perfect
Milk let her not be Melancholy but merry and chearful smiling often to divert it She must be sober not given to Wine or other strong Liquors and yet less to the excess of Venus but she may moderately use the first and not wholly abstain from the 2d if her nature require it so it be with her Husband which liberty is freely given then by the great Physitian Jubertus in the 7th chap. of the 5th book of his Popular Errors being founded upon the Experience of alâ— poor Women who bring up their Children very well notwithstanding they lye every Night with their Husbands and from his own alleging that his Wife had Nursed his Children all very well although he lay with her every Night and carressed her as he said like a good and faithful Husband but she must forbear at least an hour or two after to give the Child suck In fine if a Nurse hath all or most of thesâ— Conditions as well respecting her Person aâ— manners and that she maintains this condition by a dyet sit for the Childs temper anâ— not contrary to her own there is then greaâ— reason to believe she is very sit to make a very good Nurse of and to bring up the Soâ— of a Prince in perfect health And now good Mrs. Midwife proceed to shew your skill concerning the diseases of little Children SECT II. Of the Diseases and Symptoms which happen to Children and first of their Diseases in general Mid. SIr withal my heart I shall gladly unfold to you the very depth of my skill and knowledge in this affair and would humbly entreat you that you would be pleased to correct me if I shall at any time offer to utter any thing that may not be according to the rules of art and the practice of learned Physitians for truly Sir we Midwifes must needs acknowledge our selves to have received most of our skill and knowledge from the writings conferences and directions of learned Physitians Now then Sir I have read that Hippocrates divides Childrens diseases according to their ages When he like an Oracle lays down that in new-born Children there are Vlcers in the Mouth Vomitings Coughs Watchings Fears Inflammation of the Navil moistness of the Ears at breeding of their Teeth their Gums itch and they fall into Feavers and Convulsions and a loosness of the belly when they breed their Eye Teeth When they grow older their Tonsils are inflam'd the joints of the Neck are sprained inwardly their breath 's short they have the stone and round Worms Warts standing Yards Strangury Kings-Evil and other swellings then besides these here mentioned by the divine Hippocrates they have other Diseases at other times as that they are generally infected with the Small-Pox and Meazels none or few escaping Tongue tyed Chafing c. concerning which I shall now in particular give you my method of cure beginning first with Feavers Small-Pox and Meazels as the most general SECT III. Of Feavers Meazels and Small-Pox in little Children CHildren are subject to all sorts of Feavers but chiefly that of corrupt Milk which is commonly from Choler 1st therefore give cooling and moistening things to the Nurse as Lettice Endive Succory c. and Emulsions of Barley-water with the four cold seeds Barley cream then purge her gently with Manna Cassia Fistularis Lenitive Electuary c. then give altering remedies to the Infant as Syrup of Violets Lemons Citrons c. dissolv'd in Endive or Cichory or Borage or Bugloss water 4 ounces of water to one of Syrup to which you may add a little white Rose water to make it the more pallatable If the Feaver proceed from breeding Teeth abate the pain of which hereafter and give alterers as abovesaid In the Small-Pox and Meazels you have nothing to do but to observe Natures motions in the driving them forth and to assist her if you see her any ways weak or obstructed by giving the Child a little Claret with Syrup of Clove Gilly-flowers and a little Treacle water but be sure have a care that you encrease not the Feaver Cochenele and Bezoar and Saffron are excellent likewise SECT IV. Of the milky scab Achores Scald-Head and Lice THe milky Scab is at first sucking the Achores after the Achores are not white but the other are and possess the whole body the Achores only Head and Face but are cur'd a like They are commonly thought to be healthful when they run because they prevent Convulsions c. and they often cure of themselves in time but if the matter be very sharp they peirce the Skull Dry these up not rashly so they disfigure not the Face or endanger the Eyes but first try to drive them forth with such things as you were told in the Small Pox let the Nurse forbear sharp salt things prepare her Body with Borrage Succory Endive Bugloss Fumetory Polypody and Dock roots and then purge her with Sena Polypody Epithymum c. If you fear it will turn to a scald Head foment it with a decoction of Mallows Barley Celandine Wormwood Marsh-mallows boild in Boys urine and Barley water and then anoint with Oil of Roses and Lytharge of Gold and if the Scull come to be bare dress it with Honey of Roses and Brandy and after with Powder of round birth-wort and Balsome of Peru Turpentine and Tobacco water If you have occasion to use stronger Medicines for a scald Head take sulphur 2 drams Mustard seed half a dram Stavesacre bryony roots each 1 dram Vinegar 1 ounce Turpentine half an ounce with as much Bears Grease as will make it into an Oyntment or beat water-Cresses with Hogs Grease When the Scab is fallen off pull the hair out by the roots with instruments or Medicines commonly they use a pitch'd cap and pull it violently to bring away the Hair or take Starch or Wheat-flower 2 ounces Rosin half an ounce boil them in water to the consistence of a pultis lay it upon the several Scalds let it stick some days then pluck it off violently For Lice to prevent them let them not eat food of ill juice as Figs c. let her Head be often comb'd and wash'd and purge the Nurse or Child then give things to draw the humor out as you have been taught and then consume the superfluous moisture as with this take Elacampana 2 ounces Briony roots half an ounce Beets herb Mercury Soap-wort each an handful Nitre half an ounce Lupines 2 drams boil them for a Lotion then anoint them with this following take powder of Stavesacre 3 drams Lupines half an ounce Agaric 2 drams quick Sulphur a dram and half Oxe gaul half an ounce with oil of Wormwood as much as will suffice to make it into an Ointment SECT V. Of the watry swelling of the Head WE speake here of the water without the Scul for which take 30 snails with their shels Marjoram Mugwort each an handful with oil of Chamomil make a pultis and snuff up this water often
let it slip out of the mouth and cannot handsomely hold it so that the infant being frustrated of suck and yet still exercising suckling hurts the cheek and attracts some kind of humors thither which oftentimes become unnatural Tumors and oftentimes the cheeks of the infant seem as if they were moved out of their places Thirdly by the consent of all the Nurse must have a large breast though some think that not so material because there is more milk collected together in great breasts than ought and being there is corrupted to the prejudice of the Nurse Wherefore lest the milk should continue there too long it is best to have a young lusty child to suck it away or else to use it some other way as by the use of young whelps whom I have seen dye with sucking Womens milk surely the reason must be because the milk was of another nature or else because curdled and corrupted or milked out some other way especially when the Nurse perceives her self prejudiced by it But it is ever best that she abound rather than want Milk and then in this case it is best they be big though all Nurses need not have big breasts for there may be as much Milk if not more in a lesser breast than in a great one The next enquiry will be into the manners and behaviour of a Nurse The best Nurse then is she that is mild chaste sober courteous chearful lively neat cleanly and handy because bad conditions as well as good are suck'd in with the milk and so radicated that it is a hard matter to pull out the bad conditions and leave the good behind but that there will be a remainder of the bad conditions perhaps so long as they live wherefore let not the Nurse be of an angry malepert and saucy disposition shameless scolding or quarrelsome not gluttonous but so careful of her Nursery that she neither eat or drink that which may be hurtful to the Infant That she do nothing to anger her self to grieve or sad her self for such passions will presently distribute themselves to the prejudice of the Infant than which there is nothing of more efficacy to destroy the goodness of the Milk Neither is it sufficient that they abstain from the use of their husbands but when they have wanton thoughts and lascivious minds wholly upon Luxury and Venery they cast off all care of the Nurseries and dreaming at night of that which their minds run on in the day and by other filthy pollutions they infect the milk So also by the use of their Husbands the Courses are stirred up by which both the plenty and goodness of milk is derived another way and so the Child robbed of its nutriment or else the Nurse conceiveth with Child and so the Infant becometh diseased and Ricketty by sucking curdy and unwholsome milk and is worse for it during life Therefore let all those things be avoided that either do or are supposed to provoke lust as junkets made with spices also Onions Leeks Garlick and all salt meats are to be avoided Persly and Smallage some say have a peculiar malice to the increase of milk besides that it doth increase lust and is an enemy to the growth of Infants Again that Nurse were best that hath lately been brought to bed of a Boy if to Nurse a Boy the milk of such a Nurse being better tempered For the milk of a Male Child will make a Female Nursery more spritely and a man like Virago and the milk of a girl will make a boy the more effeminate As to the milk let it be a mean betwixt thick and thin which you may perceive by dropping it upon the Thumb-Nails for if it be too thin it will run off the sooner but if thicker it will stay the longer let it be sweet and pleasant both to the smell and taste not offending the palate with rancidness sourness sharpness or saltness or the nostrils with any strange quality Let it be candid to the sight in it self equal in each particles not infested with brown yellow green blue or any other evil colour or as sometimes with various colours and substance as with lines and streaks upon it but let that milk be most praise-worthy that makes as much curd as whey which may be tryed by this Experiment viz. Put some of this milk into a glass and puâ— in some Myrrh or Rennet which being stirred together will curd and then may the contents be separated the tryal is that iâ— there be most whey then is the milk thinneâ— in its substance but if most of curd 't is thicker yet all these may be corrected and amended for that which is too thick may be mended by an extenuating diet and the flegmatick matter may be avoided by a vomit of Oxymel and Exercise before meat the better to consume and attenuate the thickness of it The thinness of Milk is amended by contrary food such as doth incrassate it as Fromenty of Wheat and Rice Hogs-feet Calves-feet Trotters and sweet Wine unless somewhat else be in the way to hinder it Sometimes it happens that the Milk is more tart than it ought to be wherefore then all diligence must be had to feed upon such meats as are of the best juice till that acrimony at least be attempered Sometimes there is little or no milk in the breasts as after some sickness or notable distemper now turned into a bad habit or any other of what kind soever that possesseth those parts or is the cause but that shall not be our business to consider of now Now if these be not the causes let the Nurse use supping meats as Broths Possets c. and eat plentifully and use rubbings to her Breasts and Duggs exercising her hands and her Arms by domestick Employments or instead thereof let her dance the Child by which the aliment may be recalled into those parts Sometimes cupping-glasses to the Breasts with a fomentation of emollient herbs boiled in water and applied warm either with sponges or wollen-clothes after which chafe them with oyl of Lillies The seeds of Fennel and the roots of Parsnips boiled in Barley-water and buttered The broth of Hens or Capons with Cinnamon and Mace Or Poch'd-eggs with the seeds of Annis and Dill and all things else that are hot in the first and second degree are good Earth Worms not dung-hill ones six or seven of them dried and powdered and drank in Barley-water sugared for a fortnight together All these may be of good use in the defect of Milk As to the inconveniency if there be any in too much Milk If the Milk abound too much which sometimes is though seldome blamable Then use the decoction of Myrtleberries and red Roses and with clothes dipped in it lay them on the Breasts Or else clothes imbibed in Vinegar wherein Cummin-seeds bruised have been infused with Myrrh and Camphire By reason of the thickness of the Milk all those excrements that the Child
continually refuses the Breast tosses too and fro if from wind it breaks wind and is gone if from humors 't is constant from tough Flegm the Belly 's bound and dung slimy from sharp humors there 's sign of them if the pain last long Convulsions or Falling-sickness follow If from crude humors and wind give first a Clyster of Chicken Mutton or Veal broth 3 or 4 ounces adding Honey of Roses one ounce with the yelk of an Egg or give it some Oil of sweet Almonds with Sugar-candy and a few Anniseeds powdered a scuple or so which purges new born Babes from green choler and stinking Flegm if given with Sugar pap it allays the pains of the Belly Anoint the Belly with Oil of Dil and foment it with a decoction of Camomil flowers Dil tops and Bays twice a day If pain be from corrupt sharp Milk give Honey of Roses or syrup of Succory with Rubarb or a Clyster of the decoction of bran with Honey or syrup of Roses and anoint as before The puffing comes from too much sucking and not concocting which is cured by a thinner dyet that crudities may be concocted and purging with Honey of Roses SECT XIV Of the Flux of the Belly IF from breeding of Teeth see the signs if from outward cold there are signs of no other causes if from crude humors there 's wind belching and flegmatick excrements but if they be yellow green c. 't is from a hot and sharp humor If it last long stop it if black excrements be voided with a Feaver 't is bad The Child needs not cure so much as the Nurse mend the Milk or change the Nurse and let her not eat green fruit and things of hard concoction If it suck not take away the causes with Honey of Roses then if the cause be hot give syrup of Quinces dry'd Roses Myrtles with a little fine Bole-Armonack Sanguis Draconis or terra sigillata If the cause be cold and excrements white give syrup of Mastick and Mints SECT XV. Of Costiveness IT is from a cold and dry distemper in some from the Birth or from slimy Flegm that wraps the dung which sticks in the Guts this is from bad Milk when the Nurse eats gross food slimy and binding or drinks little or from an hot distemper of the Liver or Kidneys that dryes the excrements or if Choler stirs not up the expulsive faculty then the dung is white and the body yellow Children are more healthful with a loose Belly 't is cured by observing contraries as all other Diseases are from slimy Flegm give Honey of Roses correct the distemper of the Liver c. with syrup of Violets and cooling Emulsions as before In want of Choler the decoction of Grass roots Fennel Sparagus Maiden-hair In all which you may give sometimes Clysters and Suppositories SECT XVI Of Worms THey are known by a stinking Breath troublesome sleep gnashing of Teeth bawling dry Cough Vomiting Hiccups great thirst swell'd Belly or bound or too loose when the Belly is empty and they want food there 's a cold sweat over the Face and an high color with sudden paleness sometimes a Feaver and Convulsion which ceaseth presently First 'T is best to prevent them by eating meats of good juice with Oranges and Lemons c. and avoiding sweet clammy meats Flesh and Fruits If there be Worms kill them with powder of Corraline Wormseed Harts horn or infuse 8 or 10 grains of Mercurius dulcis all Night in Grass Borage or Bugloss water pouring them from the Mercury and give the Child the water The waters with the juices are very good Some apply a Plaister of Aloes to the Navil There is no better thing under the Sun then to infuse a dram or 2 of Sena in water and put some of the juices to it when 't is strain'd Use varieties that the Worms may not be to familiar with one SECT XVII Of the Rupture IF this be from a Gut keep the Belly open keep the Child from crying avoiding motion lay it upon its back thrust it up gently then apply an Emplaster of ad Herniam or Casaris If from water anoint with oil of Elder Bays Rue c. or apply a pultis of powder of Beans Linseed Fenugreek Camomil flowers with these Oils SECT XVIII Of Bunching out and Inflammation of the Navil IF the Midwife left too much of it that it bunches out it is more troublesome then dangerous if the rim of the Belly be loose it starts not much out and is not bigger by crying and wind stretches it out then use a pultis of Cummin Bay-berries Lupines powdered with red Wine then use an Astringent Plaister as in Ruptures and roul it If the rim be broken first put in the Gut then bind it close after you have apply'd an astringent Plaister and given Medicines as against Ruptures The Inflammation is from pain when 't is not well tyed which draws blood to it There 's redness hardness heat and beating if it turn to an Impostume and breaks the Guts come forth and the Child usually dyes if not presently hope by a skilful Chyrurgeon First abate the Inflammation with Vnguentum album and Populeon c. and repel the blood with a dram of Frankincense Acacia and Fleabean seed of each half a dram made into a pultis with some white of an Egg. SECT XIX Of the falling out of the Fundament WHen the Muscle that shuts it is loose then it comes forth if it come from moisture 't is hard to be cur'd especially if there be a looseness for then Medicines cannot lye on If with streining if it be swel'd foment it with a decoction of Mallow and Marsh-mallows or anoint with oil of Lillies then keep it in with astringents as take red Roses Pomegranate pills and flowers Cypress Nuts each half an ounce Sumach Frankincense Mastick each 2 drams boil'd in red Wine foment it with spunge then sprinkle on this powder red Roses and Pomegranates flowers each half a dram Frankincense Mastick each a dram laid upon a clout and kept to the Fundament SECT XX. Of difficulty and stopping of Urine 'T Is caused from thick humors and the Stone that stops the Bladder it s voided by drops and is thick then let a Surgeon try with a Catheter if there be a Stone and if it be not presently cured it turns to one and all natural evacuation in Children being stopt is dangerous Evacuate the humors with Honey of Roses Cassia white Wine and water or take the blood of an Hare dry'd to powder 1 ounce Saxifrage roots powdered 6 drams give from a scruple to half a dram in white Wine or Saxifrage water SECT XXI Of not holding Urine THis comes from a cold and moist distemper which weakens the Muscle that should close the orifice of the Bladder and when much water pricks it it suffers it to come forth sometimes a stone hurts it that it cannot do its duty First then alter the distemper dry and consume the Flegm let the Nurse have a Dyet with Sage Hysop Marjoram c. â—et not the Child drink much SECT XXII Of Leanness and Betwitching IF from little or bad Milk remedy it or from Worms or Worms in the Skin which is known by putting the Child into a Bath and rubbing it with Honey and Bread and then you will see they will put forth their heads like Ash coloured and black hairs in the Back Arms or Legs and all Musculous parts and stick in the Skin and they breed of slimy Matter shut up in the Capillar veins which turns to Worms from transpiration hindred If you find no other outward or inward cause you may suspect a venomous vapour or Witch-craft If for want of Milk change your Nurse or if she have any disease or be contrary to the constitution of the Child If from worms in the Skin when you see their heads appear by rubbing and as before kill them with a Rasor or Crust of Bread If from an occult quality or Witchcraft 't is hard to be cured because we know not the nature of the malignity There are many superstitious things carried about against Witchcraft some having Amber and Coral about the Childs neck If it be from a dry distemper of the whole body there is no better remedy then bathing often in a decoction of Mallows Marsh-Mallows Brankustine Sheeps-head c. anointing after with Oil of sweet Almonds and if it be hot and dry add Lettice Endive Violets Poppy-heads and Onions and after with Oil of Roses and Violets FINIS P. 265 P. 247 P. 95 P. 95 P. 99 P. 46