ESSAY V.
Besidesthese already treated of, there is yet another way of beingPoisoned, and that is byVenomous SteamsandExhalations, or aPoisonous Airtaken into the Body by the Breath.
This is notorious enough, and Authors do upon many Occasions make mention of it; but when they come to explain the particular manner how this Kills, they most commonly reduce it to some of thePoisonswhich prove destructive by being admitted into the Stomach, alledging that Malignant Fumes and Airs are therefore fatal, because impregnated withArsenical Mercurial, and the like, Deleterious Μιάσματα or Particles, they do convey these into the Blood; which being of a very Corrosive Nature, must necessarily do hurt both to the Fluid and Solid Parts.
And indeed that theFumesof these same Minerals are very pernicious, and Air fill’d with their Atoms very unfit for Respiration, is most certain; but to argue from hence, that all deadlyVapoursand MalignantAirsowe their Mischief to these only, is too fond and ill-grounded a Conceit; since upon a due Enquiry it will appear, that there may be, and are,Mortiferous Exhalationsfrom the Earth, infecting the Air, of a Nature so different from any of thosePoisons, that the very Substance from which they arise may not be at all hurtful, tho’ taken into the Stomach it self.
Venomous Steams and Dampsfrom the Earth theLatinsin one Word call’dMephites(152).
This, as many otherTuscanWords, comes from aSyriacTheme, which signifies to blow or breathe(153).
And in ancient times several Places were notorious for ’em; so theMephitisofHierapoliswas very Famous, of whichCicero,Galen, but more particularly, and from his own Sight and KnowledgeStrabo(154)makes mention.
Such another was theSpecus CoryciusinCilicia, which upon the account of its stinking deadly Air, such as is thought to proceed from the Mouth ofDragons, which the Poets give toTyphon, was call’dCubile Typhonis. ThisPompon. Mela(155)describes; and it is indeed as ancient asHomer(156); forArima, in which he places it, was, asEustathiussays, a Mountain ofCilicia.
Neither are suchFumesas these infrequent Now-a-days; and though mostly taken notice of in Mines, Pits, and other Subterraneous Places, yet they are sometimes met with in the Surface of the Earth too, especially in Countries fruitful of Minerals, or pregnant with Imbowelled Fires; such areHungaryandItaly, which latter (asSeneca(157)observes) has always been more than any other remarkable for ’em.
I shall therefore, having had the opportunity of making some Remarks upon One the most Famous of all in those Parts, give as good an account as I can ofThat, and its manner of Killing; which tho’ I dare not affirm to be universally applicable to anyMephitiswhatsoever, yet seems plainly to be the Case of most of ’em; and where it is not, this simple Mischief will only be found to be complicated with another; and then some extraordinary Symptoms or Appearances in the Animals kill’d, will easily make a Discovery of the Additional Venom and Malignity.
This CelebratedMofetataken notice of, (or at least some other hereabouts) even in the time ofPliny(158), is about Two Miles distant fromNaples, just by theLago d’ Agnano, in the way toPozzoliorPuteoli, and is commonly call’dla Grotta de Cani, because the Experiment of its deadly Nature is frequently made uponDogs; tho’ it be as certainly fatal to any other Animal, if it come within the reach of its Vapour; forCharles the Eighth ofFrance prov’d it so upon anAss; and twoSlavesput into it by order ofD. Pietro di Toledo, Viceroy ofNaples, with their Heads held down to the Earth, were both kill’d(159).
’Tis a smallGrottaat the Foot of a little Hill, about Eight Foot high, Twelve long, and Six broad; from the Ground arises a thin, subtle, warmFume, visible enough to a discerning Eye, which does not spring up in little parcels here and there, but is one continued Steam, covering the whole Surface of the bottom of the Cave; and has this remarkable difference from common Vapours, that it does not, like Smoak, disperse it self into the Air, but quickly after its rise falls back again, and returns to the Earth; the Colour of the sides of theGrottabeing the measure of its Ascent; for so far it is of a darkish Green, but higher, only common Earth, and this is about Ten Inches. And therefore as my self found no Inconvenience by standing in it, so no Animal if its Head be kept above this Mark is in the least injured: But when (as the manner is) a Dog, or any other Creature, is forcibly held below it, or by reason of its smalness can’t hold its Head above it, It presently, like one stunn’d, loses all Motion, falls down as Dead, or in a Swoon, the Limbs convuls’d and trembling, till at last no more sign of Life appears than a very weak and almost Insensible beating of the Heart and Arteries, which if the Animal be left there a little longer, quickly ceases too, and then the Case is Irrecoverable; But if snatch’d out, and laid in the open Air, soon comes to Life again, and sooner if thrown into the adjacentLake.
In this short, but accurate, History of theGrotta de Cani, I have set dow those Particulars which do not only distinguishMephiticalExhalations from common and innocent Fumes, but also give hints sufficient, I think, Mechanically to determine the Reason and Manner of their surprising Effects.
And not to spend time in refuting the Opinions of Others, I shall only take Notice, that here can be no suspicion of any trueVenomor real Poison; if there was, it were impossible that Animals taken out of theGrotta, should so immediately recover the Effects of it, without any remaining appearance of Faintness and Sickness, or such like Symptoms as those suffer who have been breathing in an Air impregnated with malignant corrosiveEffluvia. Besides, that the Venomous Corpuscles would certainly, in some Degree at least, infect the Air in the upper Part of the Cave, which continues pure, and fit for Respiration. Neither indeed after what manner soever this Poison be imagin’d to Act, whether by dissolving or coagulating the Blood, could its Efficacy be so sudden and momentaneous, without some Marks of it in the Creatures kill’d, when opened, which yet do discover nothing of this Nature extraordinary, neither in the Fluid, nor in the Solid Parts.
In order therefore to understand wherein this deadly quality Consists; I say in the first Place, that Life, so far as it respects the Body, is, in one Word, theCirculationof the Blood; that is, its Motion inConicalDistractile Vessels from the Heart to the Extreme Parts, and its Return to the Heart again by the same Canals inverted; For ’tis upon this that all Animal Functions, all Sense and Motion Voluntary and Involuntary, do depend; so that the Regularity of this Course is the Measure of Health, or the most perfect Life, as its various Irregularities are the Occasions of Sickness and Diseases, or a beginning Death.
Now all the Animal Operations and Offices which proceed from this Circulation, are the Effects of several Secretions of Liquors of very different Natures out of the same Fluid Mass; It was therefore absolutely necessary that the Blood, before It be distributed to the Organs, should be so comminuted and broken, as that no Cohæsion of its Parts should hinder the Separation of theseJuicesfrom It, when it Arrives with a determinate Force at the Orifices of the Secretory Vessels.
This Work is done in Its Passage thro’ theLungs, by the repeated Compression of the Air in thoseBladdersupon the Arteries, with wonderful Contrivance dispers’d among ’em(160). Herein lies the Use and Necessity ofRespiration; and the sudden Mischief of Stopping it, in that the whole Mass of Blood being to pass this way, upon a Check here, there presently insues a Stagnation, that is, a Cessation of all Animal Functions, or Death; Which will be the more speedy, if not only no Air is inspired, but a Fluid of a quite different Nature from It succeeds in its Place.
Wherefore it must be observed, that this good Effect of the Air is performed by itsElasticity; And that no Fluid whatsoever, that we know besides, isElastic, at least to any considerable Degree, that is, has a faculty of expanding and dilating it self when compressed; No, notWater, as near as That is thought to approach to Air in its Nature.
And now as to the present Case, I took notice before that thisVapouris one continued and uninterruptedSteam, and that quickly after Its rise it falls down again; that is, that it has little or no mixture of Air with It, or no Elasticity; and is, on the other Hand, very heavy, when forsaken by the Force ofHeatthat drove it upwards.
So that I make no Question, but that Animals in this Place do instead of Air inspireMineral Fumes, that is, a thin watery Vapour, impregnated with such Particles as do, when united together, compose solid and heavy Masses; which is so far from helping the Course of the Blood thro’ theLungs, that it rather expels the Air out of theVesiculæ, and straitens the Passage of the Blood Vessels, by its too great Gravity; whereupon theBladdersare relaxed and subside, and the Circulation is immediately Interrupted. But if the Animal be in time removed out of thisSteam, that small Portion of Air which does after every Exspiration remain in theVesiculæ, may be powerful enough to drive out this Noxious Fluid; especially if the Head of the Creature be held downwards, that so its Gravity may forward its Expulsion; or It be thrown into Water, which by assisting, upon the account of its Coldness, the Contraction of the Fibres, promotes the retarded Circle of the Blood; as we every Day experience in aDeliquium Animi, or Swooning Fit.
Tho’ if this Stagnation be continued too long, no Art can renew Life, no more than in One perfectly strangled; nor will theLake of Agnanoit self be of any Service; which shews that there is no singular Virtue in That Water beyond any other; nor is it, as some have fondly Imagin’d, a Peculiar Antidote to the Poison of theGrotta.
The bad Effects of suchFumesas This will be the more certain, because the inspired Mineral Particles twitch and irritate the Membranes, which are hereupon contracted to that Degree, as not to be able to recover their Tone, and so the Force and Action of theLungsis quite lost.
It appears from all This not to be at all necessary to make any farther Enquiry into the particular Nature of these Mineral Particles, since they do in this Case act chiefly by theirGravity, which is common to ’em all. Tho’ indeed theGreenishColour of the Earth, together with itsSubacidTaste, very much (asL. di Capoaobserves) like to that of thePhlegmofVitriol, seem to declare them, if not altogether, yet principally at least, to beVitriolick.
To conclude this Part of our Discourse; I think it a sufficient Confirmation of this Reasoning, that inFrogskill’d in thisGrotta, theBladdersof the Lungs (more visible otherwise and distinct in these Creatures than in most others), were found subsided, and quite empty of Air(161). But if any one desires a farther Proof, he may, according to these Principles, make (asLionardo di Capoa(162)did) an ArtificialMephitis; for ifAntimony,Bismuth, or any other such Mineral be finely powdered, and moistened withAqua Fortis, orSpiritofNitre, there will arise a great Heat, and a thick dark Smoak, in which, as in theGrotta de Cani, Torches are extinguish’d, and Animals, tho’ but slowly, stifled and kill’d. And this Effect will be more sensible, and equal to the most ViolentMephites, if theAntimonyorMarcasitebe mix’d withBitumen, and theSpiritofNitre, orAqua Fortis, intirely depurated from all itsPhlegm.
And thus I have shewn how Death may enter at the Nostrils, tho’ nothing properlyVenomousbe inspired. It were perhaps no difficult Matter to make it appear, how a lesser Degree of this Mischief may produce Effects, tho’ seemingly very different from these now mention’d, yet in reality of the same Pernicious Nature; I mean, how such an alteration of the common Air as renders it in a mannerMephitical, that is, increases itsGravity, and lessens itsElasticity, (which is done by too much Heat, and at the same time too great a Proportion of watery and other grosser Particles mixt with it) may be the Cause ofEpidemicDiseases, and, it may be, more especially of those, which by Reason of their untoward Symptoms, are usually call’dMalignant.
For it is very Remarkable, thatHippocrates(163)observ’d the Constitution of the Air, which precededPestilentialFevers, to be greatHeats, attended with muchRainand Southern Winds; andGalen(164)takes Notice, that no other than amoistandhotTemperament of the Air brings thePlagueit self; and that the Duration of this Constitution is the Measure of the Violence of the Pestilence.Lucretius(165)is of the same Mind, for in his admirable Description of thePlagueofAthens, TheseDiseases, says He,either come from the Air, or arise from the Earth,
——UbiPutrorem humidanacta estIntempestivisPluviisq;&Solibusicta.
——UbiPutrorem humidanacta est
IntempestivisPluviisq;&Solibusicta.
In short, the generalHistoriesofEpidemicDistempers, do almost constantly Confirm thus much, and would have done it more, if the vain Notion ofOccult Venomshad not prepossess’d the Minds of Authors, and made Them regardless of the manifest Causes.
And this is notorious enough in those Countries whereMalignantDiseases are most rife; Thus it is a very common Observation in theEast-Indies, that during the dry Heats the Season is Healthful, but when the Rains fall immediately upon the Hot Weather, thenuntoward Feversbegin to threaten.
The same is observ’d inAfrica; for (asJoan,Leo(166)relates) ifShowersfall there during the SultryHeatsofJulyandAugust, thePlagueand Pestilential Fevers insue thereupon, with which whosoever is infected hardly escapes.
And here I might, by Reflecting on the Use and Necessity ofRespiration, and the particular manner of performing It, (of which I have hinted something already) and considering withal the true Nature ofFevers, easily shew how such a Constitution of the Air, as this is, must necessarily produce such Effects; might run over thePropositionsofBellini; whichasthey do plainly evinceMalignantandPestilential Feversto be owing to a viscid and tenaciousLentoror Slime, which at first obstructs the Capillary Arteries, and afterwards being dissolved by Heat, Ferments with the Blood, and changes it into a Mass unequally Fluid and Glutinous, and therefore unfit for all the Operations of the Animal OEconomy;soit would be no uneasie Task to prove, that Air at the same timeHotandMoist, being less able to comminute and break the Arterial Fluid in theLungsthan is necessary, in order to prepare it for Secretions, it is no wonder, if when the Blood passing thro’ the Capillary Vessels arrives at the Secretory Organs, the Cohæsion of its Parts not being sufficiently removed, instead of deriving several Juices out of it into the Glands, it leaves its most Glutinous and Viscid Parts sticking about the Orifices of these Vessels; which tho’ they may at first be wash’d away by the repeated Impulses of the succeeding Blood, yet the Cause continuing, and these Strokes growing still Weaker and Weaker, (from a lesser quantity of Spirits being separated, and hence a more languid Contraction of the Heart) These Obstructions are increas’d to that Degree as not to be remov’d, till by the Violent Agitation of a greater Heat, thisSlimy Mucusis thrown into the Blood again, and there in the Nature of aFermentso disturbs itsMixture, and changes itsCompages, as to make it a Fluid of quite different Properties, that is, altogether unfit for the same Functions or Offices.
This Effect will be the more certain, because a damp Air upon the surface of the Body checks insensible Perspiration, so that a great quantity of this being detained, the Obstructions are still greater in the small Tubes; whereas indeed upon the Account of a more than ordinary Heat, this Discharge ought now to be in an increased Proportion.
Such a Disposition of the Blood as this the Ancients call’dPutrid; and to speak plainly, it is a Beginning Stagnation, with a Succeeding Heat and Fermentation.
Nor would it be amiss here to take notice, how unjustly some Authors, having quitted the Consideration ofplain Causes, forOccult VenomsandDeleterium quid, have brought in the θεῖον τὶ (something Divine) ofHippocrates(167)to favour their fondHypothesis; tho’ His best InterpreterGalen, understood by this Expression no such thing as they mean; but on the other Hand, only themanifest Constitution of the ambient Air, such as himself has described in hisAphorisms(168), and which is exactly the same with That We have been discoursing of.
And therefore not only doesMinadous(169)rightly Remark, that in his wholeEpidemics, Hippocratesnever once mentions anyVenomor Poison as the Cause ofMalignantDiseases; But the Divine Old Man himself in anotherTreatise(170)expresly teaches Us, thatAll Maladies do equally, or one as much as another, proceed from the Gods, there being nothing more Divine in this than in that, each acknowledging its own Natural and Manifest Cause.
But I willingly wave insisting upon these Heads, as well as the Hints which might be taken from this Theory, of some Use perhaps in the Cure of these Distempers; and leave it to our Physicians to judge upon how good Grounds They do, in Cases of this Nature, under the Notion ofAlexipharmics, give such Medicines as raise a great Heat both in the Stomach and Blood; only praying Them to take Care, least while They are ingaging the Animal Spirits in War withMalignities, They do send TreacherousAuxiliariesto the supposed weakParty; that is, that they either raise new Tumults and Disorders of worse Consequence than the Original Mischief; or at least, by clogging the Wheels, and throwing Dust upon the Springs of the finest Machine in the Creation, do check and interrupt the Action of Nature(171), when ’tis imploy’d about the most Nice andCriticalWork.
Neither can I, tho’ an occasion be fairly offer’d, by any means be induced to intermeddle in the Controversie of those Gentlemen, who by the help of Two Words are made Masters both of Philosophy and Physick; I mean, the Violent Assertors ofAcidandAlkali. These scanty Principles fall infinitely short of that vast Variety there is in the Works of Nature; However, for Their Sakes who are as yet Advanc’d no farther, I will advise the Contending Parties, (because little good is got by Quarrelling) to Think of an Union, and if They can find no Remedies but out of these Two Tribes, to make Use of such as result from a prudent Mixture of some out of Each. If thisProjectdoes not take, to Resolve however on both sides, To Distinguish the differing Times of the same Disease, and know, thatas, on the one Hand,AcidMedicines are oftentimes as certainly hurtful in the latter End, as they do service in the Beginning of the Fever;so, on the other, those which areAlcaliousmust necessarily for the same Reason do mischief in the first Periods, for which they are profitable in the last Days of the Distemper.
By what Mechanism this comes to pass, They will easily understand, when they have learn’d what Alteration such things as these are do make in the humane Body; nor will it then be a difficult Matter to convince Them, That He is equally a fond Slave to anHypothesis, who becauseAcidsare sometimes of great Service in Fevers, concludes that their Origine isAlcalious; as He who knowing that Stagnating and Fermenting Juices do easily turn toAcidity, from thence Argues thatAlcaliesare the only Cure of this Stagnation and Ferment.
But Dr.Pitcarne(172)has abundantly demonstrated the Weakness of These Men’s Reasonings, and the Vanity of such Immechanical Theories.
And here I would put a Period to this Part of the Discourse, were it not that these Distempers being sometimesContagious, andContagionbeing justly reputed a realPoison, it may be worth the while to examine a little what This is, and wherein it consists; more especially, because some may perhaps be apt to think This to be an Argument of anOccult Venom’s being the First and Original Cause.
We are therefore to take Notice, that when aFeveris communicated by way ofInfectionfrom one already Diseased, this most commonly happens in the latter End of the Distemper, that is, (as we before discoursed concerning the Hydrophobia) when the Fermenting Blood is throwing off great quantities of its Active Fermentative Particles upon the Glands of the most constant and easie Secretion; such are those in the Surface of the Body, and the Mouth and Stomach; By this means therefore the Liquid of insensible Perspiration, and the Sweat is impregnated with these μιάσματα, and thus the ambient Air becomes fill’d with ’em; so that not only, (asBelliniArgues(173),) may some of theseEffluviainsinuate themselves into the Blood of a sound Person thro’ the Pores of the outward Skin, but also in Inspiration thro’ the Membrane of the Lungs; for He has in another Place(174)demonstrated how the Air, or something from It, may this way come to be mix’d with the Arterial Fluid; And thus the likeFermentwill be rais’d Here, as was in the Originally Distemper’d Subject.
This may beOne, but there is perhapsanotheryet more dangerous manner ofInfection, and that is, by the Breath of the Diseased taken in by a By-stander, especially in the last Moments, seizing theStomach, and fixing aMalignityThere. For it is upon this Score, that Those who areInfecteddo presently complain of an extreme Pain andNauseain the upper Orifice of the Stomach; and that all Authors do agree in the admirable Use ofVomitstimely given in this Case; These by their Stimulating Force removing the veryMineraof the Disease; and likewise that, oftentimes inPestilentialIllnesses, theStomachwhen open’d has been found Gangren’d and Mortify’d. This madeVan Helmont(175), who had observ’d this Part in one kill’d by aPlague Infection, perforated and eroded in several Places, no otherwise than He had seen in one Poison’d byArsenick, conclude, that the Plague for the most Part begins in the Stomach from a coagulatedTartarthere.
Herein lies the difference ofContagion, from the first Invasion of Malignant Distempers; The Effects of theOneare the Cause and Beginning of theOther; and therefore it is no wonder, if tho’ the Symptoms in the former are by a gradual Increase wrought up to their height, they do however in the latter, even at the very first, discover their ill Nature and Violence, and, like a reinforc’d Enemy, by surer Strokes make quicker Dispatch. And this also is the Reason of the great Increase ofFuneralsin Plague Time, in that One Death is thus added to Another.
If it be difficult to explain the particular manner how theStomachcomes to be thus affected, We must not therefore deny Matter of Fact; and may however probably Conjecture, that the lastBreathof one Dying of a Malignant Distemper, proves thus pernicious, in that Those fermenting active Particles, which, as we just now observ’d, the Blood discharges upon the Glands of theMouth,Stomach,Lungs, &c. impregnating the Air in its Passage thro’ these; when the same happens to be immediately inspired by a sound Person, it may easily taint theSalivalJuices in the Mouth, which are very Glutinous, and of a fermenting Nature, and therefore susceptible enough ofContagious Effluvia, but especially of such as proceed from the same Liquor infected in the Sick Party. Now theSpittleis continually swallow’d down into the Stomach, and so will quickly impress itsLabes, or ill Quality, on so tender and sensible a Part; that is, will lodge these CorrosiveSalts, (for such We may suppose the Particles of Infection) in the Secretory Ducts; whereupon the Glands being obstructed, littleTumorsare by the Afflux of their Fluid rais’d here and there, which breaking become smallUlcers, and produce that dismal Train of Symptoms which we have already related.
And here it may not be amiss to take notice, that all Authors do agree, One great Cause ofPestilentialDistempers, especially in Armies and Camps, to be dead Bodies lying expos’d and rotting in the open Air; The Reason of which is plain from what we have been advancing; For Battels being generally fought in the Summer Time, it is no wonder, if the Heat acting upon the unbury’dCarcasses, andFermentingthe Juices, draws forth those active Particles, which in great quantities filling the Atmosphere, when they are inspired and let into the Stomach, do affect It after the manner already described.
To illustrate this Matter, I shall relate a remarkable Story told Me by the learned Dr.Baynard. The Body of a Malefactor was Hung up in Chains in the Country; after a few Months, in very hot Weather it was Sport and Pastime to some Boys, Playing thereabouts to Swing the Carcass up and down; One more bold than the Rest struck It with his Fist upon the naked Belly, which being outwardly parch’d and dry, and from the falling down of the Humours Swell’d and Tense, was easily burst by the Blow; out gush’d a Water so Corrosive and Fiery, that running down the poor Lad’s Arm, it caus’d a ViolentExcoriation, and a very hard Matter it was to preserve It from being truly mortified. What thisSerumcould do upon the outward Skin, the more Volatile Parts of It would, without all doubt, Effect upon the more tender and sensible Membranes of theStomach, if a considerable number of them were fixt there. The Fluids of Humane Bodies being Ranker and more abounding in active Salts than those of other Creatures, which are not continually repaired and nourish’d by the Juices of Animals.
The Way by whichBad Food,ill ripened Fruitsof the Earth,&c.do oftentimes produceMalignantandPestilentialDiseases, is not very different fromThatby which We have observ’d Unwholesome Airs to be the Cause of the like Effects. For the Juices with which Those do supply the Blood being Corrupted, must necessarily make a Fluid of quite other Properties than what the Animal Œconomy requires, that is, neither Fit for Nutrition, nor for the Secretion of those Liquors which in the several Organs are to be derived from It; whereupon the smallTubesare obstructed by an unequally GlutinousSlime; and it is therefore no wonder, if besides the other Symptoms insuing,Sore Pustules,Inflammations,Ulcers, &c. (more common in Fevers from this Cause than in any other,) are raised in the Surface of the Body.
This is the Ground of the common Observation, that aFamineis very often succeeded by aPestilence. And ThisCalamitygenerally begins among the Poorer sort of People, whose Diet to be sure is the worst.
The City ofSuratin theEast-Indiesis seldom or never free from the Plague; and yet it is observ’d, that theEnglishwho Trade there are in no danger of being Infected thereby. Now the Chief of the Natives in this Place areBanians, who neither Eat Flesh, nor Drink Wine, but Live very Poorly uponHerbs,Rice,Water, &c. and most of the Inhabitants do the like, except Foreigners; This Poor Fare, together with the Heat of the Climate, makes them so liable to Malignant Distempers; from the Attacks of which Those who Feed well are more Safe and Secure.
Thus much concerningPoisonous Exhalations and Airs, so far as the Consideration of theGrotta de’ Canihas led Us on to enquire into their Effects; for tho’ there may be other Alterations of this same Element, differing in their Nature from this we have insisted upon, and yet equally Pernicious and Hurtful, yet We take no Notice of any of them, in regard that those which are fromArsenical,Mercurial, and the likeFumes, are reducible to a foregoingEssay; and those which are owing to a Change of the known Properties of the Air, may be easily explain’d by what has been already delivered inThis. I shall therefore rather chuse to make some Remarks on the Mischief of anotherFluid, whichasIt is the next in use to This we have been treating of,sothe bad Qualities of it, when it comes to be altered, must necessarily be almost equally Fatal and Dangerous.
I meanWater, which is of so constant Service, not only for our Drinks, but also in preparing of our Flesh and Bread, that it may justly be said to be theVehicleof all our Nourishment; so that whenever this happens to put on other Properties than are necessary to fit it for this Purpose, it is no wonder if in its Passage thro’ the Body these do make suitable Impressions there.
Thus atParis(176), where the Water of the RiverSeineis so full of Stony Corpuscles, that even the Pipes through which it is carried, in time are incrusted and stopt up by ’em, The Inhabitants are more Subject to theStonein the Bladder than in most other Cities. The same I observed in theBathsofAbano, a few Miles fromPadua, to that Degree, that it is necessary very frequently to clear the Wheel of a Mill driven by the Current of these Springs, from the great quantity ofpetrify’dMatter with which it is from time to time incumbered.
In like manner, let the gross Particles with which theWateris saturated be of any other Nature,Metallick,Salts, &c. these, according to their various Gravity, the Capacity of Canals, and such like Circumstances, will, when they come to circulate in the Animal Body, be by the Laws of Motion deposited in one Part or other. So those Mineral Bodies, and Nitrous Salts, which abound in the Snowy Waters of theAlps, do so certainly Stuff and Inlarge the Glands of the Throat in Those who Drink ’em, that scarce any who live there are exempted from this Inconvenience(177).
For this Reason, the Choice ofWaterfor Drink among the Ancients was by Weight, the lightest being preferr’d, as, most free from all Heterogeneous Bodies.
The Case therefore ofPoisonous Springsis, their having Corrosive Corpuscles mixt with their Water, which cannot fail when forsaken in the Canals of the Body of their Vehicle, to do the same mischief as they would if taken by themselves undiluted; only with this difference, that they may in this form be carried sometimes farther into the Animal Œconomy, and so having pass’d thePrimæ Viæ, discover their Malignity in some of the inmost Recesses. Thus theFons RuberinÆthiopia, mention’d byPliny(178), about which abundance of nativeMiniumorCinnabarwas found, shew’d its ill Effects chiefly on the Brain; and thereforeOvid(179)says of it,
——Si quis Faucibus hausitAut Furit aut patitur mirum gravitate Soporem.
——Si quis Faucibus hausit
Aut Furit aut patitur mirum gravitate Soporem.
We shall not need then to inlarge on this Matter, since any of the foremention’dMineral Poisonsmay thus impart their deadly quality to Waters; and accordingly there are Instances ofArsenical,Mercurial, &c. Fountains, of which the Histories may be seen in the Collections of the LearnedBaccius(180). And one very remarkable in thePhilosophical Transactions(181).
But as We before took Notice concerningAirs, so it may be worth the while to observe ofWaters; that there are some Alterations of them, which tho’ not properlyPoisonous, yet are of so great Consequence in their Effects, that they may very well deserve to be regarded.
This I shall do with respect to a great Abuse, committed in this kind about the City; and that is, In the chusing of stagnating impureWell-Waterfor theBrewingofBeer, and making other Drinks. Such a Fluid indeed has oftentimes a greater Force and Aptness to extract the Tincture out ofMalt, than is to be had in the more innocent and soft Liquor of Rivers; but for this very Reason it ought not, unless upon meer Necessity, to be made use of; this quality being owing to theMineralParticles andAluminousSalts with which it is impregnated.
A lateAuthor(182)by searching into the first Accounts of the Distemper we call theScurvy, describ’d byPliny(183)andStrabo(184), under the promiscuous Names ofStomacaceandScelotyrbe; and examining the Authentick Histories of It in later Years, made by the most observing Physicians in those Countries where it was unhappily revived, asOlaus Magnus,Balduinus Ronseus,J. Wierus,Solomon Albertus, &c. finds that the Origine of It was in all times and places charged upon the use of unwholesome stagnatingWaters. Then by comparing together theClayie Strataof the Earth about the Cities ofLondon,Paris, andAmsterdam, He shews that where the Water is worst, there this Malady is most rife. So that He has put it out of all doubt, that most of the perplex’d and complicated Symptoms which are ranged under this one general Name, if they do not entirely owe their Birth to the Malignity of this Element, do however acknowledge it to be their main and principal Cause.
And indeedHippocrateshimself, as He has very plainly decipher’d this Disease(185), by the Title of σπλῆνες μέγαλοι, orgreat Milts; so he does very particularly in anotherTreatise(186), take notice, that Drinking ofStagnating Well-Watersmust necessarily induce an ill Disposition both of theMiltand Belly.
If we enquire into the Reason of such ill Effects, we must consider, thatClayis aMineral Glebe, and that the gross Particles and Metallick Salts with which Waters passing thro’ such a Bottom do abound, are, as Dr.Lister(187)observes, not to be mastered, that is, indigestible in the Humane Body. Not only therefore will these Cause, as He very well Argues, calculous Concretions in theKidneys,Bladder, andJoints; and asHippocratesexperienced, hard Swellings in theSpleen; but they must necessarily oftentimes by their Corrosive quality twitch and irritate the sensible Membranes of the Stomach and Bowels, and thus hinder and interrupt the Digestion of our Food. Nay, besides all this, when they come into the Blood, it is no wonder if the small Canals of insensible Perspiration are frequently stopt and obstructed by ’em; for it is upon this Score thatSanctorius(188)teaches Us, thatheavy Water converts the Matter of Transpiration into anIchor,which being retained, induces aCachexy.
What Mischiefs will insue hereupon every one sees; not only Pains in the Limbs, livid Spots in the Surface of the Body, Ulcers,&c.from the Acrimony of the undischarged Moisture; but many besides of those perplexing Symptoms which go by the Name ofHystericalandHypochondriacal, may take their rise from the same Source; for the before citedSanctorius(189)has remark’d, that theFlatus or Windso inseparable from those Cases, is no other thanthe Fluid of Perspiration rude and unfinished.
If these Inconveniencies are oftentimes not felt, at least not till towards the declining Age, in strong and active Habits of Body; yet I am, from very good Experience, assured, that they deserve Consideration in weaker Constitutions, and a Sedentary Life, especially of the more tender Sex.
I have the honour to be nearly related to a worthy Person, who led formerly an afflicted Life from the frequent returns of ViolentColick Pains, till she was with happy Success advised by the NobleVan Helmontnot to Drink (as she then did) Beer Brewed withWell-Water; and her Health is even now so far owing to this Management, that an Error in It is unavoidably follow’d with the wonted Complaints.
For these ReasonsPliny(190)tells Us, thatThose Waters are Condemn’d in the first Place, which when Boiled do incrustate the sides of the Vessels; And that ourWell-Watersdo this, no Body who looks into theTea-Kettlesof our Gentlewomen can be Ignorant.
And indeed in Ancient Times, when Physick was more a Science, which is now more a Trade, as that Part of It, which relates toDietwas more carefully studied, than it is Now-a-days; so this Point particularly of which we are Treating was of so great Moment, thatHippocrates, who wrote the best Book(191)on the Subject that ever was Publish’d, has in a great Measure accounted not only for the Diseases, but even for the Temper and Disposition of the People of several Countries, from the Difference of theWaterswith which Nature has supplied Them.