that begin to amend of themselves THose that are infected with the Pestilence in the beginning or first day thereof are taken with an extraordinary cold outwardly and a burning heate inwardly a great paine and girding about the stomacke a sluggishnesse and drousinesse of the whole body a losse of appetite a bitternesse in the throat with a desire to vomit sometimes they do vomit The disease continuing unto the second and third day the heate breaketh outwardly stronger and stronger so that there followeth a great paine in the head and a difficulty of breathing superfluous sleeps and sometimes superfluous watchings they grow frantike and light-headed and they looke very staringly And if there doth any swelling appear under the eares armes cheeks or groines and that these signes aforenamed doe begin to cease Then shall the sick recover immediatly without any medicine onely give him a plaster or pultesse to ripen the tumour which must be applyed the next day after the swelling appeareth but give him nothing inwardly except it be a warme Caudle or Ale-brue or Broth for for if you give him a vomit or purge you shall strike the swelling into the noble parts and the sick shall be in danger of his life and if you let him bloud you shall draw the venemous humour from the Soare into the veins and disperse it with the bloud through the whole body and thereby destroy the health of the patient and shorten his life as it came to passe with a good friend of mine Also if you give him any medicine to provoke sweat you shall restore the Fever again and so the sicke shall die without redemption yea and more miserably then those that never amended unlesse God be more mercifull unto him whereof I have had a sorrowfull experience Therefore bee carefull that you doe not tamper with those that do begin to amend for those very Medicines that are excellently available against any Fevers in the beginning or encrease of them being given in the declination or recovery will bring the patient into a Relapse which is worse then the former disease and which shall greatly endanger life For how many have died by the unseasonable taking of Treacle Mithridate and other good Medicines Wherefore I have often said that a skilfull Physician by watching his time shall doe more with à cup of warme drinke in the cure of the Plague or any Fever then the ignorant shall do with all the excellent Medicines that are in the Apothecaries Shop Now if the rising doe appear that the symptoms or signes aforenamed doe not begin to cease but rather encrease Then shortly after there will appeare some blains or spots so death ensueth unlesse you draw ten or twelve ounces of bloud according to the strength of the sick from the liver or middle vein of the arme on that side where the rising is But if so be that the sicknesse continueth unto the third and fourth day and the symptomes remaine in their full vigour then shortly will the spots come forth and then I know no medicine that can deliver from death except God be more mercifull to the sick But only on the third day before the spots appear it shall be greatly available to give him one of the cordial sweats prescribed in the ensuing Chapter CHAP. 3. 1 Here are prescribed certain approved remedies for the cure of the Pestilence 2 The order and manner how to use them WHosoever shal perceive their bodies infected with the Plague let them take on the first day of the sicknesse the vomit in that order and manner as it is laid down in the first Chapter And after it hath done working with them they shal find themselves as well as ever they were in their lives for it clenseth the stomack and bowels from al corrupt humours which is one of the chiefest causes of the sicknes But if the sick be weak and cannot bear a vomit it shall be good to give him one dram of the foresaid pillulae pestilentiales or instead thereof one dram of Aloes you may give it either in pill or in potion according as the sick can best take it and in the workking of it let him drink some warm broth But if it be so that this course hath been neglected the first day or beyond the time of 24 houres it will bee in vaine to use it the second day Yea it will bee dangerous seeing that the infection is dispersed by the bloud throughout all the Veines of the bodie Therefore on the second day of Visitation it shall bee good to draw from the Median Veine of the arme so much bloud as the patient can endure to bleed and if the sicke hath not gone to the stoole during the time of his sicknesse you shall give him either before or after bleeding this Clyster Take of Beets Violet leaves Burrage Buglosse Scabios of each one handfull French barley one ounce boyle all these in a sufficient quantitie of water untill it be halfe consumed then strain it and take three quarters of a pint of the decoction and put to it of the Electuary of Hierapicra five or sixe drams oile of Rue one dram red Sugar one ounce the yolk of an egge and a little salt so make you a Clyster thereof and administer it bloud warme Also you may administer to the sick this Clyster Boyle an handfull of Rue in a pint of posset drinke and put to it a piece of sweet butter a little honey the yolke of an egge and a thimble full of salt make a clyster and administer it bloud warme But if that the sick amend not upon this course taken the second day or that this means hath not been used but that hee continueth sick untill the third and fourth day so that the infection hath taken hold of the vitall spirits Then keeping him warme in his bed you shall use this Cordiall to sweat with all Take of the water of Scabios Burrage Buglosse and Angelica of each halfe an ounce the Electuary of egges two scruples or one dram of Bole Armoniak one scruple Syrrup of Roses halfe an ounce make it into a potion and let the sick drink it up at once or twice two or three spoonfuls hereof is sufficient for a child Or the poorer sort may take two peny-worth of Treacle or Mithridate in a quarter of a pint of Dragon water With either of these Medicines you may sweat the sick untill some tumour doth appeare or that he commeth to know himselfe amended For this is the last medicinall refuge we have in the cure of the Plague If you can keep the sick from drinking and sleeping for the space of three houres untill the medicine hath done workking But if you cannot let the patient drinke a little Limon posset made with some Marigold flowers and Harts horn And if signes of amendment doe appeare doe not take him out of his bed or let him coole suddenly But let him sweat on gently of his
own accord for it is natures sweat following the medicine which will doe him more good than a Kingdome In this last sweat you may give him some Caudle or Alebrue when the sweats begin to cease of themselves his skin grows dry and warme then let him sit up by a good fire Aire his cloathes and so let him give God thanks for his life Adde if any tumour appeare you may ripen it with this Emplaster Take six figs raisins of the Sun stoned half an ounce salt two drams honey one ounce beat them all together and heat it well with some oile of Camomill upon the fire so spread it upon some cloth and lay it warm to the tumour shifting it every twelve houres untill it look with a white head and when it is ripe if it be difficult to break lay to it some Goose dung made warme with some sweet butter or sallet oile also the root of a white Lilly rosted with some sorrell to which put a piece of sweet butter apply it very warm to the soare But if it will not break with this means then you must open it with a penknife or lancet else the corruption will rot the flesh even to the very bone and when you have opened it squeeze out the corruption with your hands and put into the soare a tent made with unguentum basilicon or Aegyptiacum mel rosarum and lay upon the tent a plaster made with Diachilon Continue your tents untill all the corruption be drawn out then the plaster of Diachilon will cure it perfectly If any that are ancient or weak shall be infected with the Pestilence it shall not be necessary to give them any purge vomit or sweat or to let them bloud because they cannot beare the losse of so many spirits as are spent by such evacuations Therefore you may lay upon the pit of the stomack of the sicke a young live puppy and if the sick can but sleep the space of three or foure houres they shall recover presently and the dog shall die of the Plague This I have known approved and I do believe that it will be a cure for all leane spare and weake bodies both yong and old provided that the dog be yonger then the sick Certaine Instructions for the cure of the Small Pox THe nature of the Smal Pox dispersed this yeer throughout many parts of this Kingdome I have found to bee more malignant then any that have reigned in my remembrance so that many of all ages and sexes but especially children have miserably died of them because for the most part the pestilence is joyned with them as it doth plainly appeare by those spots blains and risings that follow them I have likewise observed that those medicines as Mithridate Treacle Safforn and the like that formerly have cured the small Pox now availe nothing yea they are dangerous if inwardly taken especially if the Patient hath been long sick but if they be outwardly applyed as I shall shew eft-soons they will prove good remedies at this time But how many a tender hearted mother have I seen that out of an unhappie care of her sicke childe hath by rash counsel the unseasonable giving to it hot cordiall medicines encreased the Fever multiplyed the matter of the small pox and inflamed the Spirits so that the Pestilence hath many times followed But howsoever the child hath beene uncurable which otherwise if nothing at all or else some small thing of little strength had been administred might have recovered whereupon I observed the sundry ways and meanes practised by Physitians women and my selfe and seeing the diverse events of them I laboured to find out a certain and secure way for the cure of this disease which having found by experience I have together with this treatise of the Plague sent it to the Presse hoping that no man will either hate mee or envie mee for doing good and that those that find benefit by it will thank me for it The Primitive or externall causes of the Small Pox are all one with those which are of the Plague as an evill and corrupted aire a disorderly dyet that begets surfets as also for the antecedent causes which are corrupt humours heaped together in the body therefore those meanes that I have prescribed in the first Chapter to preserve the bodie from the infection of the Plague they will also bee a meanes to preserve from the Small Pox Those that are taken sick this yeere with the Small Pox are affected after the same manner as those that are infected with the pestilence in the beginning it can scarcely be discerned by an expert Physitian from it But only by these signes Those that are infected by the small Pox are not so violently affected with heat and cold nor pains in the stomack and head as those that are sick with the Pestilence Moreover those that will have the small Pox their skin is puft up and blown like a bladder so that their face and eyes doe shine they have a great itching in many parts of their bodies but chiefly about their Nose they yawn much also they finde a great paine and heavinesse in their back bone Now if you shall perceive by these signes that the sick will have the small Pox keep him warm but not too hot neither let him take cold but give him breathing room enough as he lyeth in his bed Then lay a plaster of Mithridate or Treacle to the pit of his stomack and if hee be at mans estate let him drinke up all this Cordiall by two or three spoonfuls at a time every houre but if it be a child the one halfe will be sufficient Take of the waters of Roses Burrage Buglosse and treacle-Treacle-water of each an ounce half of the syrrup of Limons and Clove-gilly-flowers of each one ounce mix them together and make thereof a potion Also the poorer sort may take Roses Burrage Carduus Marigold Flowers and Harts horn of each a like quantitie and boyle them in posset drinke turned with a Limon or white wine for one above twenty yeers of age let him drink three quarters of a pint at severall times sweetned with Sugar and for a child halfe the quantitie will suffice Let the sick sweat gently with either of these Medicines so long as hee can well endure it for the longer the better seeing the Medicines of themselves are no violent sweats during the sweat you may give him now and then to quench his thirst a very little Limon posset-drink by it self If he can you may let him sleep whilst he sweateth And if hee lie quiet during the sweat by Gods blessing within the space of eight or ten houres at the most he shall find himself finely recovered of his sicknesse Then give him no more of his Cordial or sweating posset drink but only of his Limō-posset drink if he be thirsty but let him lie warm in his bed til his skin grow dry
then shortly after the Pox will begin to shew themselves But they will not bee many although every one of them will be far greater then the small Pox do use to be yet none of them will pit except they be much tampered withal or picked with the nails But if so be that those which have white heads do burn and rage extreamly you may prick their heads with a Needle and let out the corruption there is nothing else to be done with those upon whom they are come out and the Fever abated but that they keepe themselves warm sit still and be quiet But if that the sick hath not gone to stool in a long time before you give him this Cordiall to sweat you shall cause him to goe to stoole by a clyster or else which is better by a Suppositor made with Honey and Salt or a Violet Comfit And if the sicke bee yong strong and full of bloud you shall without danger doe very well if you draw from him eight or ten ounces of bloud before you lay him to sweat for then the Cordiall will have more power room and liberty to play upon the disease and will the sooner and better drive out the Pox If the quintessentia vitae be given in the waters of Roses Burrage or Buglosse it will drive out the small Pox without sweating and cure the sick immediatly But if the small Pox be come forth and that the Fever continue in his full vigour still so that the sick doth not amend but grow worse and worse then you shall not give them any hot Medicines inwardly nor any thing that doth provoke sweat for now hot cordiall Medicines will encrease the Fever and in the beginning they would have quenched the Fever and turn all the humours of the body into the matter of the small Pox so that there is nothing but a miserable death likely to follow oftentimes accompanied with the Pestilence This evill is much practised by those women that pretēd they wil drive the smal Pox further out when they are come out already Wherefore they do but beget the Fever again and where there are but ten they will make a thousand Therefore be carefull in this case what you do and give to the sick every hower nothing else but two or three spoonefulls of Rose water sweetened with a little sugar This will coole the body quench the Fever cause rest and then a stoole and thereby the sick shall recover presently By these meanes I have cured many very suddenly that have been dangerously sick in all mens sight even to Death as many in the City can beare mee witnesse As I have warned you not to give many hot things when the small Pox are come forth so I would have you beware of giving those that are very cold as the waters of Plantane Letice Purslane Poppy and the like which as I have Knowne have relieved many for the present and wrought an admirable cure in the sight of the common people but by their cold qualities they have so congealed and setled the humours in the body that the sick will never be healthfull all the daies of their lives as I could instance in many THose that desire further information concerning any particulars not expressed at larg in this brief Treatise they shall be fully satisfied if they repaire to the Author living in Hony-suckle Court in Grubstreet where he hath by Chimicall Art prepared six Catholicall Medicines with which hee cureth the Pestilence small Pox and most curable diseases whatsoever 1 Vomitivum Benedictum This Medicine being taken from five graines to eight in some convenient distilled water or wine or else with some Conserve or Pill doth safely purge upwards and downwards so that it may be given to a Childe of three or foure yeeres of age it cureth all diseases that arise from the foulnesse of the stomack and is good in the beginning of the Pestilence small Pox or any Fever or Ague 2 Catharticum Catholicum The dose of it is from ten grains to twenty it purgeth gently by stoole and clenseth the lower belly from all offensive humours cureth the French Pox Scurvy Jaundis and Dropsie also it freeth children from Worms 3 Diureticum Aperitivum This openeth all obstructions of the body but chiefly of the Liver Spleen Reines and Bladder it cureth the Jaundis and the Rickets in children also it helpeth those that cannot make water 4 Diaphoreticum Cordiale This being given in a small dose doth gently provoke sweat expelleth all venomous humours from the heart outwardly and driveth out the small Pox thrusteth out the tumours in the Pestilence and some it cureth without bringing forth a Rising 5 Quinta Essentia vitae This reviveth the vitall spirits and hath an admirable vertue in fortifying the heart against all infectious venemous vapours so that it is good for those that have occasiō to visit sick people If ten or twelve drops thereof be taken in a mornings draught it preserveth the body from infection and if twenty or thirty drops of it bee given to the sicke of the Pestilence within the space of sixe houres after they are infected they shall be cured in one hour as I have often proved it driveth out the small Pox and cureth the sick without sweating 6 Iulapium Restaurativum By the vertue this Medicine hath in resisting the putrifaction of humours it doth cure all sorts of Fevers and Agues it may be given in any time of the disease but especially in the latter end of the sicknesse when no other Medicine can be administred without danger With it I have cured the Hectick Fever and those that have faln into the Relapse of the small Pox and such as have been nigh unto death by reason of violent Fevers Any of the aforesaid Medicines the Author administreth both outwardly and inwardly in many severall wayes and manners according to the age temperature complexion and disposition of the bodie and according to the nature degrees and time of the disease Artis Apollineae vis sola est numen Olympi Quo sine languenti Pharmaca frustra dabis If that our art from God receive not strength In vain we seek mans life for to prolength FINIS