and by sweat to thrust it out from the interriour Principal Parts For which purpose the following Drink is excellent good Take a quart of Posset-ale and a handful of Fennel-seed boil them together till a third part be consumed then strain it and add thereto one dram of Treacle and one scruple of Saffron in Powder mix them together and give two three or four ounces thereof to drink Mornings and Evenings as the case requireth But if the Child be so weak that it cannot expel the Disease in convenient time then Epithemate the heart with the following Epithemation â„ž Aquarum ros Melissae Card. B. 6. Bugloss Morsus Diaboli vini alb of each 4 ounces Aceti Ros two ounces and a half Pul. Ros Rub. Trium Sanal Cinamoni Elect. Diamorg frigid of each half a dram Mithridate one ounce Treacle four drams mix all these together and let them boil a little and so warm Epithemate the heart When you have done this give some expulsive Drink or Electuary as the Cause requires and cause him to sweat upon it When the Pox are come out to prevent Dis-figuring the Face as Pitting besure let them alone till they grow white and come to maturation and then open every Pustula on the top with a Pin and then thrust out the Matter very gently with a soft Linnen Cloth and if you perceive them to fill again open them as you did at first for if you suffer the Matter which is in them to remain overlong it will fret and corrode the Flesh which causes those Pits that remain after the small Pox is gone When you have done this anoint the place with the following Oyntment Take Elder-leaves one handful Marigolds two handfuls French Mallows one handful Barrows Grease six Ounces bruise the Herbs in a Morter and then boil them with the Grease in a Pewter Dish on a Chafing-dish of Coals until the Juice of the Herbs be consumed then strain it and anoint the face therewith The best time to make it is in the middle or latter end of May. You must anoint the place grieved with a Feather and as it drieth in anoint it again and so continue it and it will soon dry them up and keep the place from Pits and Holes Also if you annoint the Pox with the Oyl of Sweet-Almonds newly drawn three or four times a day which you must besure to do as soon as the Pocks are grown white and come to maturation it will Cure them without Pits or Spots and easeth the Pain and burning If after the Pocks are come out they do not grow to Maturation you may help it by this decoction Take Mallows one handful Figs twelve in Number Water a quart cut the Figs small and boil all together until half or more be Consumed and then wet a fine soft Linnen Cloth therein and touch the Place therewith oftentimes and it will soon bring them to Maturation CHAP. XX. Of Barrenness Shewing the Signs of Insufficiency in Men and Women and Remedies against it With other choice Secrets IF it be a Blessing to have Children as certainly it is then Barrenness must needs be a great Curse We will therefore enquire into the different kinds and occasions of it Barrenness is Natural and Accidental Natural Barrenness is that which happens to Women when there appears no visible obstruction either in her or her Husband Which may proceed from a Natural Cause for where both Men and Woman are of one Complexion or Constitution they rarely have any Children For if the Constitution of the Woman be hot and dry as well as of the Man there can be no Conception and if on the contrary the Man should be of a cold and moist Constitution as well as the Woman the effect would be the same And the way to help this is for Young People before they Marry to observe each others Constitutions if they design to have Children For Discordant Natures make the only harmony in the work of Generation There is another Cause of Natural Barrenness also which is occasion'd by letting Young Virgins Blood in the Arm before their Monthly Courses are come down which is usually in the fourteenth and fifteenth Years of their Age and sometimes perhaps before the thirteenth but never before the twelfth For being before those Purgations usually indisposed by fulness of Blood they commonly open a Vein in the Arm which being often repeated diverts the Blood from its proper Channel that it comes not down into the Womb which by that means dries up and the Young Woman is thereby rendred Barren The way to prevent which is to let no Virgin Blood in the Arm till her Courses are well come down but rather in the Foot which will be a means to draw the Courses downwards Another Cause of Barrenness is the Debility of Persons in Copulation if Persons perform not that Act with all the Heat and Ardour that Nature requires they may as well let it alone and expect to have Children without it For Frigidity and Coldness never produces Conception To help this such things are to be taken as do increase the Seed and stir up to Venery and further Conception viz. Eggs Milk Rice boil'd in Milk Sparrows Brains Flesh Bones and all the Stones and Pizzles of Bulls Bucks Rams Boars also Cock-stones Lamb-stones Partridge Quails and Pheasants Eggs. And take this for a Rule That whatever any Creature is addicted unto they stir up the same quality in the Man or Woman that Eats them And therefore Partridges Quails Sparrows c. being extreamly addicted to Venery work the same effect in those Men and Women that Eat them And in what part of the Body the Faculty which you wou'd strengthen lies take the same part of the Body of another Creature in whom that Faculty is strong as a Medicine As to the present purpose The Procreative Faculty lies in the Testicles therefore Cock-stones Lamb-stones c. are proper to stir up Venery This also is a choice Secret That all Creatures that are fruitful being eaten makes them fruitful that Eats them But that it may be known whether the Cause of Barrenness be in Man or Woman I shall briefly shew the signs of Insufficiency in either Signs and Causes of Insufficiency in Man may be the Vitiousness in the Yard by being Crooked distorted or broken whereby the ways and passages through which the Seed should flow come to be stopped Also the Weakness and Tenderness of the Yard whereby it is not strongly enough erected to inject the Seed into the Womb Also if the Stones are hurt so that they cann't perform their Office in producing Seed or if they be oppress'd with any Tumor or Inflamation or drawn up within the Belly not appearing outwardly These are Signs of Insufficiency and Causes of Barrenness Drunkenness and Gluttony and other Excesses do also hinder Men from Fruitfulness and make 'em unfit for Generation Signs and Causes of Insufficiency in Women are many Little Women are generally more apt to conceive than Great and Slender than Gross also those that are Black than those that are Pale and Wan To have the Veins very conspicuous and the Breasts large betokens Fruitfulness And the others are the contrary The Irregularity of the monthly Courses the straitness of the Pudenda or Privities whereby Women become Imperforate the Immoderate moisture of the Womb which destroys the Seed also the Immoderate heat of the Womb are all Signs of Insufficiency and Causes of Barrenness in Women If you would know whether the fault lies in the Man or the Woman Sprinkle the Mans Urine upon one Lettice Leaf and the Womans upon another and that which dries away first is unfruitful Also take five Wheat Corns and seven Beans put them into an Earthen Pot and let the Party make Water therein let this stand seven Days and if in that time they begin to Sprout then the Party is fruitful but if they Sprout not then the Party is Barren whether it be Man or Woman This is a certain Sign FINIS
ARISTOTLE's MANUAL Of Choice SECRETS SHEWING The Whole Mystery of GENERATION WITH Receipts to prevent BARRENNESS And Cause CONCEPTION Very Necessary to be Known and Practiced by all Midwives Nurses Young Married Women Translated out of Latin by J. P. LONDON Printed for John Back at the Black-Boy on London-Bridge 1699. Here the good Women do attend The Child-bed-womans Throws Till God a safe Deliverance sends And turns to Joy her Woes ARISTOTLE's MANUAL Of Choice SECRETS CHAP. I. The Office and Duty of an Expert Midwife in giving a right Judgment whether a Woman has Conceived or not A Midwife when she is required to give her Judgment must not do it hastily but be very Circumspect and Deliberate in determining whether a Woman has Conceived or no because many have Discredited themselves by Judging too Rashly in this Case which has been very detrimental to their Practice for there is nothing more Disappointing and Ridiculous than to assure a Woman she is with Child afterward it proves the contrary For though there may be some appearances by the rising of the Belly and a kind of motion yet this may proceed from something else as from Wind or Water c. which breaking away causes a sinking of the Belly and has indeed deceived many especially Women in years CHAP. II. Of True Conception with the Signs of it THe Signs of Conception are If the Woman Receive an Extraordinary Delight in the Company of her Husband and her Menses are stayed If she has a kind of Yauning and Stretching and feels within her at certain times a Shaking or Quivering with a kind of Chilliness felt chiefly between the Back and Shoulders attended with some Pains there and about the Navel a Rumbling or Disquietness about the Nether Belly which happens upon the closing of the Neck of the Matrix on Conception and the Shrinking of the whole Frame of it to Embrace the Closer and Warmer the Materials of Generation and thereupon she feels a kind of Tickling yet in few days is afflicted with Squeamishness much Spitting Dullness and a decay of Appetite if not with Reaching and Vomiting Longing for one sort of Diet more than another contrary to her wonted Inclination at other times If she finds her Belly fall or grow flat and soon after Swell again and grow bigger her Hips and Reins inlarge Then there is an undoubted Conception Again some indeed have in some Measure their Menses after Conception but these are of a very Cold and Moist Constitution yet over and above the other signs towards the second Month their Eyes grow hollow the Lids loose and Limber the Veins in the Corner of the Eyes more swelled and bigger then at other times the Whites of the Eyes turned Blewish the Veins and Arteries of the Neck puffed up and more apparent than usual the Brests grow Big Hard and are subject to small Pains and Prickings and contain Milk If the Urin be White and clear mingled with little Moats and on the top after setling it appears in colours Clouded as it were like a Rainbow or of an Opal colour and there appears at the bottom a thick sediment or setling which shaken spreads it self into particles Swiming up and down in the Urine like Carded Wool Towards the end the Urin thick Redish by reason of the long retention of their Natural Courses These Signs and Symptoms being seriously Enquired into by a Sober Judicious Midwife will give such a Light that Joyned with her own Experience she can't easily be mistaken because all the Learned in this Mystery aprove them as True Signs of Conception CHAP. III. Of False Conception and the Signs of it FAlse Conception hath deceived many sometimes proved more painful and dangerous than True ones Therefore I shall give an account what they are with their Signs c. viz. It is sometimes a Lump of Flesh gathered together like the Gizzard of a Fowl sometimes greater and sometimes lesser according to the continuance of it for Nature commonly Expelleth in the third or fourth if not the Second Month sometimes it is caused by a thing call'd a Mole exceeding the other in bigness with which some Women have been troubled a Year or two and sometimes more And of these there are two kinds The one is a Mass without Shape or Form though fleshy hard and firm bred within the Matrix cleaving to the side of it and this is called a true one The other called a false one is of three kinds viz. A gross collection of Windiness Water a massed in Films or a heaping together of Humours and have their Places within the Womb. These are often bred together with the Child and are frequently the Death of it because the Child is deceived of its Nourishment which is carryed to the Mole or being Incumbered cannot grow to Perfection There are in these some Common Signs with the True one as suppression of the Menses depraved Appetite Loathing of Meats Peukings Swellings of the Belly and Brests and thereby many even Midwives have been deceived However in these they differ viz. In a false Conception or Mole the Face is usually puffed up the Breasts fall after Swelling grow Limber and are without Milk The Thighs Arms and Leggs grow Lame the Face Wan Meagre though towards Night they puff out again suddenly and very hard the Belly being for the most part of an equal roundness with divers continuing Pricking Pains in the bottom of it an uneasiness in going and a Rumbling Windiness As to the Motion the false Conception not being animated when it moves which is heavily it proceeds rather from the Expulsive faculty of the Mother than of it self which having no Living Soul endeavoureth not to come forth If the Woman lies on her Back and Crushes her Belly it will lie in the same form without Touching CHAP. IV. Shewing by the Signs whether a Woman shall be delivered of a Boy or a Girl THe Midwife having given her Opinion the Woman is certainly with Child many times a Nice Question is started viz. Whether it be a Boy or a Girl For Mothers are very desirous to know what they carry if it be possible for them to be certified in it Then as before she must Deliberate and not Determine by Guess for so notwithstanding she may some times be in the right but oftener in the Wrong and be accounted of no knowing Experience in this Nice Point If it be a Boy the Nipple waxeth Red and sometimes Blackish especially about the third or fourth Month when the Woman begins to quicken and the colour in the Mothers Face rather grows more Lively and fresh than decreasing or declining to Paleness The right Breast is harder and firmer and the Milk grows whiter and thicker and being spirted against a Looking-glass or smooth Steel the small Sparkles continue round like Pearls and in Water mingles not but sinks directly to the bottom and if you make a Cake with Milk it will in
herb Mercury shread into Veal Broth. Great Noises are very hurtful as sound of Trumpets Bells beating of Drums and shooting of Artillery Also Thunder or the violent roaring of Water for upon any Frights or suddain Starts a Woman may easily Loose her Burthen especially the first Month for then the Embrio is not firmly fastened and tyed to the Womb and though in the succeeding Month it grows faster and bigger yet the weight may so press it on the Neck of the Womb that it may come forth untimely CHAP. VIII Of Purges to be Taken And of the Passions of the Mind A Gentle Purge may be convenient given on any occasion that requires it from the Fourth to the Seventh Month but after that it is neither Practicable nor by many held safe All things that violently provoke Urin and consequently will have an Influence in provoking the Courses are forbidden As also Phlebotomy or Blood Letting unless some great Necessity require it as the Woman being so full of Blood that it is feared it may stifle the Child with the over great quantity or in dangerous Diseases as the Plurisie c. For otherways the Blood being taken away when the Child is grown it causes a Leanness and decay of it for want of a due Nourishment it requiring now much more than when it was very little The Passions of the Mind are in this Case to be considered as either Good or Hurtful therefore the Childing Woman must prevail with herself as much as possibly she can to be Pleasant and Merry avoidding Melancholly Musing Thought or Vexing Grieving Freting falling into a suddain Anger Scolding or Exclaming neither ought she to be too violently Transported with Laughing Coughing Sneezing with suddain Joy at any surprizing News or Accident Or on the contrary Fear she must therefore have a setled and quiet Mind not subject to any Passions or Surprize that may be Injurious to what she carries in her Womb. She must not give Ear to Lamentable Tales sad and frightful Stories c. Nor see Fighting Fencing Bear-Baitings Executions or any Cruel and Unnatural Sights Avoid the Company as much as may be of Deformed Persons Antick Pictures c. Least the Imagination prove Strong and make some Impression or Similitude on the Faetus or Embrio And lastly as to these particulars when a Woman perceives herself with Child she must let out her Lacing and lay aside her Busk not only for her own ease which is proper enough but least the Child being straightened in the Womb become Writhed Crooked or Mis-shapen CHAP. IX How to prevent Diseases and other Griefs in a Childing Woman by Oyles Oyntments Fomentations and Internal Medicaments with the several Receipts to make and apply them HAving layed down Rules how a Childing Woman in sundry respects ought to mannage herself I now come to other particulars of as near a concern requisite to be taken notice of and done in the Ninth Month viz. To preserve Health Beauty and give a safe and easie Delivery In the first place then that her Breasts after her Delivery may not be too much puffed up and hang down like Bags hang during her Childing a little piece of Steel between them by a String or Chain fastened about her Neck and wash them with this Decoction or Fomentation pretty warm and often Take Sage Perriwinkle the herb Ground Ivy of each a handful Hemlock as much as you can hold between your fore-finger and Thumb bruise them and boil them in two quarts of water and one of Whitewine till a fourth part be consumed then put thereto a little Rose Vinegar and wash your Breasts This prevents them from Soreness and breaking after Delivery and from many other ill conveniencies That the Belly when the Child Quickens may be kept in order from Swelling or growing too Unweildy a Swathe is requisit made fit for the purpose to support it and to keep the Skin from Furrowing growing Knottey or full of broken Veins wrinkled Anoint it with this Pomander Take the Suet of a Young Kid and Hog's-Lard each three Ounces Goose-Grease and the Grease of a Capon each an Ounce and a Half melt them in an Earthen Vessel strain them when very hot into fair Water and Temper them in it till they become very White then melt them again adding an Ounce of Stags Marrow or Suet wash them in Rose-water and Anoint the Belly warm with it Or take Oyl of Roses an ounce and a half Oyle of St. John's Wort and sweet Almonds each two ounces May-butter and Oyl of Jessamin each half an ounce Sperma Ceti a quarter of an ounce melt these together and take a soft wash'd Leather Skin either Dog or Sheep made fit for the Belly Anoint it with these Oyntment This is usually required to be begun in the Fourth Month. In the Ninth Month The Woman being Healthy it is convenient that she walk gently before Meals for the first twelve or fifteen Days and after that undertake some moderate Business or convenient Exercise and if any Pains or Weakness happen make the following Bath viz. Take Marshmallows with their Roots and Motherwort each two handfuls white Lilly Roots three ounces Cammomile and Mellilot flowers each a handful Linseed Quince-seed and Fenigreek-seed each an Ounce Boil them in runing Water till a fifth part be consumed and let the Party Pattle in it and being well dryed put into a warm Bed her Belly about an hour after being supled with Oyl of Roses Cammomile and sweet Almonds CHAP. X. Of unreasonable Longings Hicup and Vomitings their Cause and Remedy Also Pains in the Stomach Belly Flanks c. Back Hips and Groin Difficulty of making Vrin Palpitation of the Heart and Swoonings Cough Sore Throat Costiveness and Laxativeness Swellings in the Legs and Thighs c. UNreasonable Longings are allayed frequently by eating Olives or Capers boiled Sallads Meats that are Fat and Sweet with Verjuce Orange Pomgranet Citron or any sharp Juice in their Sauces Some commend much Toasted Cheese and dryed Amillium and hot Spices in Meats or Drinks but no great quantity for then they are hurtful as also is much Drinking And for Drinks a Glass of Wormwood-Wine or Hidromel is very good And for this a gentle Purge may be given of Senna or Rhuebard boiled in White-wine about a quarter of a Pint being drunk warm Fasting The Hickup and distastefulness of Meats are very Incident to Women with Child and prove uneasie to the Child especially by weakening the Mother and thereby it being deprived of sufficient Nourishment causing her either to be Delivered Untimely or produce a Weakly Child Take to Prevent or Remedy these the Yolks of Eggs Veal Broth or Chicken Broth wherein Endive Succory and Lettuce have been shred with Beets and Winter-savory Anointing the Stomach and Belly with Oyl of Sweet Almonds and Oyl of Violets If the cause proceed from a sharp bitter Humour a gentle Purge is requisit to carry it downward that may occasion no
be done with Discretion least too much moisture loosen the Ligatures of the Womb and hasten the Delivery before it be convenient And among other Meats I recommend Veal Necks of Mutton Place Flounders Baked Apples Pruens Salads of Lettuce Pursleaine Endive and all strengthening Broths without Spice or Saltness Then Take half an ounce of the Tops of Senne bruize it with three Scruples of Antimony infuse them in half a Pint of Sherry over a gentle Fire and Drink it hot Laxativeness immoderately is as hurtful as the other for it puts the Woman very much in danger of Coming before her Time and if it be not in time stayed it is in likely-hood to turn to the Bloody-Flux and there it often proves fatal To stay this Take Conserve of Red-Roses half an ounce Baum and Mint tops Conserved each a quarter of an ounce Syrup of Sloes an ounce put these into a pint of Red-Wine mingle them well over a gentle Fire and drink it Morning Noon and Night pretty hot And for greater assureance Administer a moderately astringent Clyster viz. Of Plantain Camomile Mellilot Borrage and Burglos Decocted in Whey or Skim-milk adding two ounces of the Oyl of Violets Swelling in the Thighs and Leg are many times incident to Women with Child especially to those that before were wont to have strong Purgations for the Blood being more than is required for Nourishment alters and converts to Waterish or Dropsical Humours But Women of Chollerick Constitutions are seldom subject to this because their great Heat dries up this Moisture and these accidents usually happen the first four Months yet if not removed they many times remain to the Delivery A good wholesome moderate Diet in this case must be used rubbing the parts afflicted often with a warm Wollen-cloth wrap them up hard and warm with Ash Leaves or Vine Leaves applyed next Anointed with Oyl of Roses dissolved Camphire and the Juice of Sage Marjorum and Oyl of Rosemary CHAP. XI To prevent a Womans Coming before her Time Signs of Abortion or Miscarriage With proper Remedies against them COming before the Time is called a Shift or Sliping away and Abortion in many Cases though the Women call it a Mischance The Slip is before the Womb can properly be said to be shut or it may be afterwards till such time the Child receives some manner of Form or Shape Abortion is that which happeneth after Forty days and sometimes to the beginning of the Ninth Month it being a violent Expulsion or Exculsion of the Child Formed and possessed with Life before the time Nature has prefixed This happens sundry ways by Accidents as Agues Frights Flux of the Blood or Belly Vomitings violent Sickness over Stiring or the like Also from excess of Venery Passions of the Mind Choller Sadness excessive Longings or strong Potions or Purges or from the Weakness of the Child wanting Nourishment and sometimes from its being too Big and Unweildy so that the Womb can no longer contain it whose strugling causes the Womb to Relax and Dilate it self and so it forces it's Way Sometimes from Leanness and at other times from too much Fulness or Fatness a Medium being the best for Women in Child-bearing Signs of Abortion viz. When the Milk flows abundantly in the Breasts and comes much out without any Compression yet they remain Soft and Limber if there be a bad Colour on the Nipple as Blew Yellow Duskey c. When Water then Blood and Slimy matter and lastly Blood flows from Natures Secrets To Remedy these there must be a respect had to the Causes in Sickness of timely care must be taken for sutable Remedies all excess of Labour or Excercise must be avoided and wholesome Diet taken with some gentle Purges and if occasion require it especially in those that are Sanguine a moderate Bleeding for too much Blood or too much Nourishment is mainly Prejudicial as well as too little The Mother must be of as Merry a Temper as she can nay seek for occasions to Divert avoiding occasions of Grief Fretting or Pining especially near the time of her Delivery Let her keep her Chamber if not her Bed using Nourishing Meats easie of Digestion and drinking Cordials or strengthening Liquors Take Syrup of Borrage Burdocks and Roses in Red-Wine warm The The Syrup of Citron and Mirabolans in Milk sweetned with Sugar-Candy The distilled Water of Comfery Sage or Clary And Anoint the Belly with Oyl of Dill Lavender and some drops of Oyl of Cloves Binding or Swathing it moderately Oyl of Mirtle and Mastick is very good where the Party is of a Cold or Phlegmatick Complexion or Constitution A Sear-cloth of Oxcycrotium Diaculum sprinkled over with a little Mirrh and Nutmeg finely Powdered is a great Strengthener for the Back and Flanks helps the Womb to retain the Infant and prevents untimely Birth Thus having proceeded all along by such easie Methods as brings a Woman to the true time of her Delivery I shall now Treat of what is requisit in that Nature CHAP. XII How a Woman is to be Ordered when she comes to her Delivery and to know when it is Labour or not THE Time of Delivery hastening no delay must be made for such things as are convenient A Midwife ought to be attenting sometime of waiting is required before she can perform her Office there being many things to be done in order to cause an easie and safe Delivery The Woman must be kept waking for too much Sleep or Drousiness to which they are prone causes Nature to be less Active And this may be done if she be not weak by walking up and down her Chamber and lying down by turns to rest There being a good Fire and all things necessary to prevent her catching Cold and to Fortifie her to undergo the Travel Yet not so much but that she may Sleep moderatly to ease the tirements of Nature and waking take some refreshing Cordials and strengthening Broths The time of Delivery being come which is known by these Signs viz. The Midwife must consider whether the upper part of the Belly seem as it were Empty and the lower very Big and full stretched Enquire of the Childing Woman how she stands affected as to Pains and in what manner they come and go whether Little or Great or Frequent Whether they begin at the Back and proceed to run down the Belly not staying at the Navel but pass to the Groin and end in the bottom of the Belly inwardly or the inner Neck of the Womb and from these she may gather how near a Woman is to her Delivery for they are Signs of her speedy falling in Travel especially upon the dilating the outward and inward Orifice If the Water descends or there be any Flowings then the Midwife must place herself conveniently near the Woman and proceed in her Office in which for Manners sake I shall not give here Directions as knowing there are many Judicious Midwives who need them not my Main Scope
being rather to direct the order of a Woman in Child-bed for her own safety and that of her Child CHAP. XIII Of Natural and Difficult Births And how the Child ought to be Ordered when drawn forth With Receipts for many Cordials and Directions for other things useful on this Imergency IF there be a Natural Birth That is the Child coming with it's Head forward the Arms on the Side and the Throws encreasing there is little Difficulty or Danger Yet she must have great Courage herself and Encourage the Woman giving her Wine wherein Saffron has been infused or such things as Comfort the Heart as occasion requires yet in little Quantity Nothing must be done in Delivery hastily or rashly but Nature must have its course in a good measure it being the greatest helper in these Cases And because the Child doth come Naturally into the World with the Face downward when it is taken forth it must be turned on its Back to prevent Suffocation or drawing the Air too heavily And if the Navel-string as often happens be twisted about its Neck let her take it off gently If it be feeble or faint that it scarce can Breathe spurt a little Canary into the Mouth of it which by its striving will open the Pipes She may do the like into the Nose or Ears but very gently and but a very small quantity When it begins to Cry draw the Navel-string gently that the After-Birth may follow in its due time the Woman Coughing or Straining a little and holding Salt in her Hand fast grasped recollect her Breath and blowing hard the Midwife or her Assistant stroaking her Belly down gently And the Child being separated to prevent Fits give it a little Spoonful of Black-Cherry-Water with two or three drops of the Blood that proceeds from the Navel-string when cut which must be done about two handful from the Belly especially of a Boy making a Knot before the Incision Then dip Linnen cloaths in a warm Bath of Rose-Leaves Penny royal or any Comfortable Herbs or Flowers wrap it up warm and keep it near a Fire but not in a place where a free Air cannot come to it because the Lungs at first are weak and cannot draw strongly Cover the Head however with a thin Linnen Cloath and let it not come too near a great Light suddainly for fear of hurting and weakening the Sight Then Swathe it gently and give it some little Food or let it Suck some Woman whose Milk is of the same Sex but not the Mother because her's is not as yet proper for it for many Reasons which I willingly omit The Woman being thus safely Delivered her Legs must be layed gently straight and a fine Linnen Cloath or Rapper diped in warm Water and applyed all cold Airs excluded And after some Refreshment she may Slumber a little to recover Natures strength Then take Candle Panada Water-Gruel or what is most agreeable to stretch out the Bowells fill in some measure the Vacancy and prevent Windyness which is very offensive to Women new Delivered And if she find herself Faint and Uneasie let her take the following Cordial Drink Take the Syrup of Maid-hair one ounce Pellitory Water Cardus Water each half an ounce mingled in a quarter of a Pint of warm White-Wine And Anoint the parts with Oyl of Almonds drawn without Fire As for the Child when it has well Breathed and taken some refreshing Nourishment give it three scruples of Mithridate or Venice Treacle in a Spoonful of White-Wine or any proper Cordial Water If the Woman be weak in her Parts and Pains continue in her Back Flanks or Groin take a Sheepskin that is newly pulled off clap the Fleshy side about her and wrap her up warm in it and and it will wonderfully strengthen her if it be repeated every two days Or for want of this lay a Hares Skin or Rabits Skin taken off warm on her Belly But in my Opinion the former is a great deal better And to Lenify the distended parts Take Oyle of Hyperion and St. John's-wort each an ounce an ounce of the Oyl of Roses and two whites of Eggs finely beaten together and apply it as a Lineament and Pessary Then let her gently raise up her Thighs that her Knees may lie up to ease her Back When the Skin is taken off chafe her with Oyl of Roses Almonds and St. John's-wort Swathe her with soft Linnen three or four times doubled and beware she takes not Cold suppling het Breasts if given to Chaping Hardness or subject to Knots Tumours or the like with Oyl of Olives and Sweet Almonds And above all things keep the Chamber close and warm that she take not cold in any part for the parts distended by the force of Travel will easily contract Cold Airs And when she is desirous of Sleep before she goes to it let her take a refreshment of some strengthening Broths made of Veal Chickens or if she be more desirous of it a couple of Poached Eggs. Difficult Deliveries require something more than what I have mentioned and the Midwife must be yet more Careful herein because not only her Reputation but the Life of her Patient is mainly concerned in it There are many Births that require great Skill and Labour to bring them forth because they come Preposterously or contrary to the Natural one as lying side-ways in the Womb coming Stradling with the Feet forward or the Arms spread over the Head the Buttocks forward or the like and these must by the Midwifes Skill be reduced to their proper form if it may be and so drawn forth before the Woman be too far spent the Vital Spirits wasted or Nature enfeebled And if a Midwifes strength or Skill prevail not a Skillful Chirurgion must be sent for before it is too Late Some Midwives fancying in doing this their Reputations would suffer have kept their Patients in Pain and Hope till at last finding themselves Constrained to send when the Case was desperate they have been obliged to part with Woman or Child or both to the Grave CHAP. XIV What ought to be done if a Woman come before or after her Time and to bring away dead Children Also to stay the Flux and Remedy divers other Accidents happening to those newly Delivered TRavel may likewise prove Painful or Difficult when the Woman is Delivered Before or After her Time The First of these is when it comes in Six Seven or Eight Months which happens when the Womb is too Weak or Moist which softens the Neck of it and makes it dilate and Emit the Child before the due course of Natures Expired As also the Vessels to the Orifice whereof the After-Burthen is fastened begin to Relax by which means the Infant cannot be supported or remain in it's Natural Situation This Pain and Troublesome times happens when the Child grows so bigg that it stretches or Extends the Womb in every part by a great encrease or over-staying the time some times
great Straining and an hour after take Syrup of Violets an Ounce in a quarter of a Pint of warm new Milk Vomiting is another defect but must not however be too suddainly stopt because if it be not violent it doth some good by avoiding the abundance of humour amassed together in the Stomach which is indeed the cause of it or else some sharp and biting humour that does stir and provoke it But it happeneth oftentimes that this Vomiting is so violent that even the Sustenance that should Nourish the Mother and Child cannot remain a convenient time for digestion but is cast up and therefore to Remedy this Let the Person so afflicted see that she use wholesome Diets eat Moderately and by degrees not much nor over-hastily Take a gentle Purge but in it neither Diagridium nor Colloquintida but rather Rhue or Rhuebarb infused in White-wine over a gentle fire The compound Syrup of Cichory with Syrup of Rhuebarb which not only Evacuates but Strengthens or the Syrup of Damask Roses with Manna dissolved in it These are so harmless that the Niceness of the Dose need not be disputed Pains in the Stomach Flank or Belly often happens to Childing Women and therefore let them know these are in this case much occasioned by Windiness the parts being Lax or sometimes the Wind is shut up in the Womb. To take away this cause therefore the party must shun all manner of Moist and Windy Meats Take a grentle purge if it be requisite and then apply this Fomentation viz. Flowers of Cammomile and Featherfew each two handfuls Red-Roses half a handful Anniseeds and Fennelseeds each two Drams Lawrel-bark and Bay-berrys each a dram Bruise these grosly and Boil them in three Pints of Clarret till a fourth part be Consumed dip into the Liquor a Linnen Cloth and Foment the parts grieved as hot as may be and lay on the sollid matter Poultis-wise and let the Party chew Fennel Anniseeds and eat first in a Morning a Toast soaked in Hypocras or Drink a little Dram of the distilled Water of Citron or Limmon-Peels infused in good Spirits Pains of the Back Hips and Groine and difficulty of making Urin are likewise incident to Childing Women and this happens many times according to the carrying the Child in the Belly viz. High or low more backward forward or sidelings and indeed the carrying very low is the occasion of most of these Pains especially in the Hips and Groine they proceeding more from the heavyness of the Children than from any humour for the Womb then being great and thick on which side soever it resteth it draws and strains the Ligatures on the other Parts To prevent which the Party must not be extraordinary stirring especially not Jolted nor attempting to Jump Eat but little at a time though the oftener and of such Meats as are light and easie of Digestion for the Stomach being overpressed by fulness presses the Matrix by stretching the Belly In this Case Swathes Anointed with Oyl of Marsh-mallows and Cammomile are proper to shrink and keep up the Belly Anointing her Back with Vnguentum Comitissae or take Mastick and Mirtle-Berrys half an ounce each Powder of Red Corral a dram sealed Earth two drams beat them unto fine Powder then add three ounces of melted Bees-Wax and Oyl of Roses with Deers-Suet as much as will make them up into a Plaister and lay it to the Reins of the Back so that it may a little encline upon the Flaâ—ks and Bathe the Thighs and lower part of the Belly with the Decoction of Marsh-Mallows Water-Cresses Pellitory of the Wall Pimpernel and bruised Linseed each a little handful boild in a gallon of Water to the Consumption of a third part Palpitations of the Heart and Swoonings are to be considered in the next Place The first of these being extraordinary many times proceeds from Vapours arising from the Womb and other parts nearer inclosed in the Arteries and through them conveyed to the Heart whose offensiveness disorders the pure Spirits and causes those Unnatural Palpitations the Heart Labouring by motion to expel those Vapours that make it Sicken and occasion many Evils if not timely prevented or removed And this is to be perceived by laying your hand on the Womans Breast for if it rise strongly and the Ribs as it were are lifted up with it keeping time to the Palpitation then it proceeds from Vapours To remove them take a gentle Purge and Bleed moderately take such Powders or Cordials as fortifie the Heart fasting in a Morning as Aqua Mirabilis Dr. Stephens's Water Powder of Bezars-stone and the Powder of the Bone of a Stags Heart mixed together half a dram at a time and these will not only dissipate the Vapours but prevent Swoonings Faintings cold Sweats The Heart must likewise be outwardly Fortified by laying a soft quilted Stomacher to the Stomach and Region of the Heart and lay a cooling Cataplasme as Mallows Grounsil Cammomile and Orpin beaten together with Oyl of Roses and the white of an Egg. Then for a Fomentation let her use the Water of Bugloss Burrage Baum Orange-flower Roses Cardus Benedictus and Scordium infusing in them Saunder Coriander or Angellica seeds or any Cordial Flowers The Cough is a very troublesome thing to Women with Child and very dangerous if it be violent causing Pains in the Head Flanks Sides and Belly Vomitings Unrest and many other Miseries with frequent Miscarriages and Abortions And to keep from this Grievance all Salt Meats Spiced Meats and all sharp and biting things especially if the Cough be caused by Vapours or distillation of a thinn or serous Humour To Remedy this boil a quart of Ale that has well worked and setled till a third part be consumed then fill it up again with White-wine and put into it four or five slices of Licorice as many Blew-Figgs a few Cammomile Flowers Anniseed and Coriander seeds each a quarter of an ounce let them seeth about a quarter of an hour strain and press out the Liquid part and Drink a quarter of a pint three times a day very hot And to make it more Pallatable it may be sweetned with white-Sugar Candy If the Throat be Sore or Swelled with it take Oyl of sweet Almonds an ounce White-Sugar in Powder half an ounce Rose Water half an ounce mingle these over a gentle Fire with a quarter of an ounce of Allum disolved in the Rose-water Sleeping well without any Medicines to enforce it mainly contributes to the staying the Defluxion of Rheums that occasion the Cough And after you have taken the former going to Bed take of the Syrup of Jubebs and Violets each a quarter of an ounce mixed with two drams of Diascordium Costiveness is another accident afflicting Childing Women causing them to strain themselves and put themselves thereby in danger of Miscarriage To prevent or Remedy this a good Diet must be had eating Meats that moisten and keep the Bowels slippery and open But this must