A very notable Instance of this we have in the Life ofLewis Cornaro, a nobleVenetian, who though of a weakly Constitution, increas’d by a voluptuous Life, yet at the Age of thirty five or forty Years, he was resolv’d to practice in all the Rules of Sobriety and Temperance, and to withdraw from those Excesses that had brought upon him those usual Ills the Gout and the Cholick, fatal Attendants to an indolent and luxurious Life, and which reduc’d him to so low a State, that his Recovery was despair’d of by the wisest Physician: And here he tells you that hewas born very cholerick and hasty, and flew out into a Passion for the least Trifle, that he huffed all Mankind, and was so intolerable, that a great many Persons of Repute avoided his Company: He apprehended the Injury which he did to himself, he knew that Anger is a real Frenzy, that it disturbs our Judgment, that it transports us beyond our selves, and that the Difference between a passionate and a mad Man is only this, that the latter has lost his Reason, and the former is only depriv’d of it by fits. A sober Life cured him of his Frenzy; by its Assistance he became so moderate, and so much a Master of his Passions, that no body could perceive it was born with him.
How great and valuable must Temperance then be, which carries that soveraign Aid, and canrelieve the Passions of the Mind, and not only to expel the bad Humours of the Body, but also to restore it to a due Tone, and a full State of Health.
Now let any one upon a serious Reflection consider which is most eligible, a sober and regular, or an intemperate, and disorderly Course of Life: This is certain, that if all Men would live regularly and frugally, there would be so few sick Persons, that there would hardly be any Occasion for Remedies,
Si tibi deficiant Medici, Medici tibi fiant.Hæc tria, Mens læta, requies moderata dieta.The best and safest Physician is Doctor Diet,Doctor Merryman, and Doctor Quiet.
every one would become his own Physician, and would be convinced that he never met with a better.
It would be to little Purpose to study the Constitution of other Men; every one, if he would but apply himself to it, would always be better acquainted with his own than that of another; every one would be capable of making those Experiments for himself which another could not do for him, and would be the best Judge of the Strength of his own Stomach, and of the Food which is agreeable thereto; for in one Word, ’tis next to impossible to know exactly the Constitution of another, their Constitutions being as different as their Complexions.
Since no Man therefore can have a better Physician than himself, nor a more soveraign Antidote than a Regimen, that is tostudy his own Constitution, and to regulate his Life according to the Rules of right Reason.
I own, indeed, the disinterested Physician may be some time necessary, since there are some Distempers, which all human Prudence cannot provide against, there happen some unavoidable Accidents which seize us after such a Manner, as to deprive our Judgment of the Liberty it ought to have to be a Comfort to us; it may then be a Mistake wholly to rely upon Nature, it must be assisted, and Recourse must be had to some one or another for it; and in this we have much the Advantage of the irregular Man, his Vices having heaped Fewel to the Distemper; but on the contrary, by a regular Course of Life, the very Cause is not to be found, and the Disease retreats from you.
And here the fam’dCornaro, who being at Seventy Years of Age, had another Experiment of the Usefulness of a Regimen, and ’twas this; A Business of extraordinary Consequence drawing him into the Country, and being in the Coach, the Horses ran away with him, and was overthrown, and dragg’d a long away before they could stay the Horses; they took him out of the Coach with his Head broke, a Leg and Arm out of joint, and in a Word, in a very lamentable Condition. As soon as they brought him Home again, they sent for the Physicians, who did not expect he should live three Days to an end: However, they resolv’d upon letting of him Blood, to prevent the coming of a Fever, which usually happens upon such Cases. He was so confident that the regular Life whichhe had led, had prevented the contracting of any ill Humours, of which he might be afraid, that he rejected their Prescription, and ordered them to dress his Head, to set his Leg and Arm, and to rub him with some Specifick Oils proper for Bruises, and without any other Remedies he was soon cured, to the Amazement of the Physicians and of all those that knew him. From hence he did infer, that a regular Life is an excellent Preservative against all natural Ills; and that Intemperance produces quite contrary Effects.
What a Difference then between a sober and an intemperate Life? the one shortens and the other prolongs our Days, and makes us enjoy a perfect Health, and withJuvenal,Mens sana in Corpore sano. I cannot understand how it comesto pass, that so many People, otherwise prudent and rational, cannot resolve upon laying a Restraint upon their insatiable Appetites at fifty or sixty Years of Age, or at least when they begin to feel the Infirmities of old Age coming upon them they might rid themselves of them by a strict Diet and a due Regimen.
I do not wonder so much that young People are so hardly brought to such a Resolution; they are not capable enough of reflecting; and their Judgment is not solid enough to resist the Charms of Sense: But at Fifty a Man ought to be govern’d by his Reason, which would convince us if we would hearken to it, that to gratify all our Appetites without any Rule or Measure, is the Way to become infirm and die young. Nor doesthe Pleasure of Taste last long, it hardly begins but ’tis gone and past; the more one eats, the more one may, and the Distempers which it brings along with it, last us to our Graves.
Now should not a sober Man be very well satisfied when he is at Table, upon the Assurance, that as often as he rises from it, what he eats will do him no harm: Who then would not perfectly enjoy the Pleasures of this mortal Life so perfectly? Who will not court and win Sobriety, which is so grateful to God, as being the Guardian to Virtue, and irreconcileable Enemy to Vice.
Surely the Example of this wise and good Man deserves our Imitation, that since old Age may be made so useful and pleasant to Men, I should have fail’d in Pointof Charity to inform Mankind by what Methods they might prolong their Days.
A great Assistant to that of Sobriety, and which is highly conducive to the Preservation of the whole Man, is to renew with us that habitual and beneficial Custom of the Antients in promotingExercise, as one great Instrument to the Conservation of Health, and which no one can deny who has given himself the Experience of a Trial.
That it promotes the Digestion, raises the Spirits, refreshes the Mind, and that it strengthens and relieves the whole Man, is scarce disputed by any; but that it should prove curative in some particular Distempers, and that too when scarce any thing else will prevail, seems to obtain little Credit with most People, who though theywill give the Physician the hearing when he recommends the Use of Rideing, or any other Sort of Exercise, yet at the Bottom, look upon it as a forlorn Method, and rather the Effects of his Inability to relieve them, than a Belief that there is any great Matter in what he advises: Thus by a negligent Diffidence they deceive themselves and let slip the golden Opportunities of recovering by a diligent Struggle what could not be cur’d by the Use of Medicine alone.
But to give you a just and rational Idea of its Power of moving and actuating upon the Body, let us consider the whole human System as a Compound of Tubes and Glands, or to use a more rustick Phrase, a Bundle of Pipes and Strainers, fitted to one another after so wonderful a Manner as to make a properEngine for the Soul to work with. This Description does not only comprehend the Bowels, Bones, Tendons, Veins, Nerves, and Arteries, but every Muscle and every Ligature, which is a Composition of Fibres, that are so many imperceptable Tubes or Pipes interwoven on all Sides with invisible Glands and Strainers.
This general Idea of a human Body, without considering it in the Niceties of Anatomy; let us see how absolutely necessary Labour is for the right Preservation of it. There must be frequent Motions and Agitations to mix, digest, and separate the Juices contained in it, as well as to clear and cleanse that Infinitude of Pipes and Strainers of which it is composed, and to give their solid Parts a more firm and lasting Tone; Exercise ferments the Humours,casts them into their proper Channels, throws off Redundancies, and helps Nature in those secret Distributions, without which the Body cannot subsist in Vigour, nor act with Chearfulness. I might here mention the Effects which this has upon the Soul, upon all the Faculties of the Mind, by keeping the Understanding clear, the Imagination untroubled, and refining those Spirits that are necessary for the proper Execution of our intellectual Faculties, during the present Laws of Union between Soul and Body.
It is a Neglect in this Particular, that we must ascribe the Spleen, which is so frequent in Men of studious and sedentary Tempers; as well as the Vapours, to which those of the other Sex are so often subject.
Had not Exercise been absolutely necessary for our Well-being, Nature would not have made the Body so proper for it, by giving such an Activity to the Limbs, and such a Pliancy to every Part, as necessarily produce those Compressions, Extensions, Contortions, Dilatations, and all other Kind of Motions that are necessary for the Preservation ofsucha System of Tubes and Glands as has been before mentioned.
And that we might not want Inducements to engage us in such an Exercise of the Body as is proper for its Welfare, it is so ordered, that nothing valuable can be procur’d without it. Not to mention Riches and Honour, even Food and Raiment are not to be come at without the Toil of the Hands, and Sweat of the Brows.
Providence furnishes us with Materials, but expects we should work them up ourselves. The Earth must be labour’d before it gives Encrease; and when it is forced into its several Products, how many Hands must they pass thro’ before they are fit for Use? Manufactures, Trade, and Agriculture naturally employ more than nineteen Parts of the Species in twenty; and as for those who are not obliged to labour, by the Condition in which they are born, they are more miserable than the rest of Mankind,unlessthey indulge themselves in that voluntary Labour call’d Exercise, of which there is no Kind I would so recommend to both Sexes, as that of Rideing; as there is none that conduces so much to Health, and is every Way accommodated to the Body. Dr.Sydenhamis verylavish in its Praises, and if you would learn the mechanical Effects of it described at length, you may find it learnedly treated of by Dr.Fuller, in a late Treatise, intituled,Medicina Gymnastica, or,The Power of Exercise. And here Mr.Dryden:
The first Physicians by Debauch were made;Excess began, and Sloth sustain’d the Trade.By Chase our long-liv’d Fathers earn’d their Food,Toil strung the Nerves, and purified the Blood;But we their Sons, a pamper’d Race of Men,Are dwindled down to threescore Years and ten.Better to hunt in Fields for Health unbought,Than fee the Doctor for a nauseous Draught.The Wise for Cure on Exercise depend;God never made his Work for Man to mend.
OR,
RULESto preserve the Body to a good old Age.
I.IT is not good to eat too much, or fast too long, or do any thing else that is preternatural.II.Whoever eats or drinks too much, will be sick.III.If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it’s a Sign thou hast exceeded the due Measure, for Meat and Drink ought to refresh the Body, and make it chearful, not to dull and oppress it.IV.If thou findest those ill Symptoms, consider whether too much Meat or Drink occasions it, or both, and abate by little and little, ’till thou findest the Inconveniency remov’d.V.Pass not immediately from a disorder’d Life, to a strict and precise Life, but by degrees abate the Excess, for ill Customs arrive by degrees, and so must be wore off.VI.As to the Quality of the Food, if the Body be of a healthful Constitution, and the Meat does thee no Harm, it matters little what it is; but all Sorts must be avoided that does Prejudice, though it please the Taste never so much.VII.After Diet is obtain’d, the Appetite will require no more than Nature hath need of, it will desire as Nature desires.VIII.Old Men can fast easily; Men of ripe Age can fast almost as much, but young People and Children can hardly fast at all.IX.Let ancient People eat Panada, made of Bread, and Flesh Broth, which is of light Digestion; an Egg now and then will do well.X.Growing Persons have a great deal of Natural Heat, which requires a great deal of Nourishment, else the Body will pine.XI.It must be examin’d what Sort of Persons ought to feed once or twice a Day, more or less; Allowance being always made to the Person, to the Season of the Year, to the Place where one lives, and to Custom.XII.The more you feed foul Bodies, the more you hurt your selves.XIII.He that studies much, ought not to eat so much as those that work hard, his Digestion being not so good.XIV.The near Quantity and Quality being found out, it is safest to be kept to.XV.Excess in all other things whatever, as well as in Meat and drink, are to be avoided; excessive Heats and Colds, violent Exercises, late Hours, and Women, unwholsome Air, violent Winds, the Passions,&c.XVI.Youth, Age, and Sick require a different Quantity.XVII.And so do those of different Complexions, for that which is too much for a Phlegmatick Man, is not sufficient for the Cholerick.XVIII.The Measure of the Food ought to be proportionable to the Quality and Condition of the Stomach, because the Stomach is to digest it.XIX.The Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can perfectly concoct, and answers to the due Nourishment of the Body.XX.Hence it appears we may eat a greater Quantity of some Viands than of others of a more hard Digestion.XXI.The Difficulty lies in finding out an exact Measure; but eat for Necessity not Pleasure; for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.XXII.Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful Works of God, labour in the first Place to bring thy Appetite to Reason.XXIII.Beware of Variety of Meats, and such as are curiously and daintily drest, which destroy a multitude of People; they prolong Appetite four times beyond what Nature requires, and different Meats are of different Natures, some are sooner digested thanothers, whence Crudities proceed, and the whole Digestion depraved.XXIV.Keep out of the Sight of Feasts and Banquets as much as may be, for it is more difficult to retain good Cheer, when in Presence, than from the Desire of it when it is away; the like you may observe in all the other Senses.XXV.Fancy that Gluttony is not good and pleasant, but filthy, evil, and detestable; as it really is.XXVI.The richest Food, when concocted, yields the most noisom Smells; and he that works and fares hard, hath a sweeter and pleasanter Body than the other.XXVII.Winter requires somewhat a larger Quantity than Summer; hot and dry Meats agree best with Winter, cold and moist with Summer; in Summer abate a little of your Meat and add to your Drink, and in Winter substract from your Drink and add to your Meat.XXVIII.If a Man casually exceeds, let him fast the next Meal and all may be well again, provided it be not often done; or if he exceed at Dinner, let him rest from, or make a slight Supper.XXIX.Use now and then a little Exercise a Quarter of an Hour before Meals, or swing your Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand, to leap, and the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast.XXX.Shooting in the long Bow, for the Breast and Arms.XXXI.Bowling, for the Reins, Stone and Gravel,&c.XXXII.Walking, for the Stomach: And the greatDrusushaving weak and small Thighs and Legs, strengthened them by Riding, and especially after Dinner.XXXIII.Squinting and a dull Sight are amended by Shooting.XXXIV.Crookedness, by Swinging and hanging upon the Arms.XXXV.A temperate Diet frees from Diseases; such are seldom ill, but if they are surprized with Sickness, they bear it better, and recover it sooner, for all Distempers have their Original from Repletion.XXXVI.A temperate Diet arms the Body against all external Accidents, so that they are not so easily hurt by Heat, Cold, or Labour; if they at any Time should be prejudiced, they are more easily cured, either of Wounds, Dislocations, or Bruises; it also resists Epidemical Diseases.XXXVII.It makes Mens Bodies fitter for any Employments; it makes Men to live long;Galen, with many others, lived by it a Hundred Years.XXXVIII.Galensaith, That those that are weak-complexioned from their Mothers Womb, may (by the Help of this Art, which prescribes the coarse Diet) attain to extreme old Age, and that without Diminution of Senses or Sickness of Body; and he saith, that though he never had a healthful Constitution of Body from his Birth, yet by using a good Diet after the Twenty-seventh Year of his Age, he never fell into Sickness, unless now and then into a One Days Fever, taken by One Days Weariness.XXXIX.A sober Diet makes a Man die without Pain; it maintains the Senses in Vigour; it mitigates the Violence of Passions and Affections.XL.It preserves the Memory; it helps the Understanding; it allays the Heat of Lust; it brings a Man to that weighty Consideration of his latter End.
I.
IT is not good to eat too much, or fast too long, or do any thing else that is preternatural.
II.
Whoever eats or drinks too much, will be sick.
III.
If thou art dull and heavy after Meat, it’s a Sign thou hast exceeded the due Measure, for Meat and Drink ought to refresh the Body, and make it chearful, not to dull and oppress it.
IV.
If thou findest those ill Symptoms, consider whether too much Meat or Drink occasions it, or both, and abate by little and little, ’till thou findest the Inconveniency remov’d.
V.
Pass not immediately from a disorder’d Life, to a strict and precise Life, but by degrees abate the Excess, for ill Customs arrive by degrees, and so must be wore off.
VI.
As to the Quality of the Food, if the Body be of a healthful Constitution, and the Meat does thee no Harm, it matters little what it is; but all Sorts must be avoided that does Prejudice, though it please the Taste never so much.
VII.
After Diet is obtain’d, the Appetite will require no more than Nature hath need of, it will desire as Nature desires.
VIII.
Old Men can fast easily; Men of ripe Age can fast almost as much, but young People and Children can hardly fast at all.
IX.
Let ancient People eat Panada, made of Bread, and Flesh Broth, which is of light Digestion; an Egg now and then will do well.
X.
Growing Persons have a great deal of Natural Heat, which requires a great deal of Nourishment, else the Body will pine.
XI.
It must be examin’d what Sort of Persons ought to feed once or twice a Day, more or less; Allowance being always made to the Person, to the Season of the Year, to the Place where one lives, and to Custom.
XII.
The more you feed foul Bodies, the more you hurt your selves.
XIII.
He that studies much, ought not to eat so much as those that work hard, his Digestion being not so good.
XIV.
The near Quantity and Quality being found out, it is safest to be kept to.
XV.
Excess in all other things whatever, as well as in Meat and drink, are to be avoided; excessive Heats and Colds, violent Exercises, late Hours, and Women, unwholsome Air, violent Winds, the Passions,&c.
XVI.
Youth, Age, and Sick require a different Quantity.
XVII.
And so do those of different Complexions, for that which is too much for a Phlegmatick Man, is not sufficient for the Cholerick.
XVIII.
The Measure of the Food ought to be proportionable to the Quality and Condition of the Stomach, because the Stomach is to digest it.
XIX.
The Quantity that is sufficient, the Stomach can perfectly concoct, and answers to the due Nourishment of the Body.
XX.
Hence it appears we may eat a greater Quantity of some Viands than of others of a more hard Digestion.
XXI.
The Difficulty lies in finding out an exact Measure; but eat for Necessity not Pleasure; for Lust knows not where Necessity ends.
XXII.
Wouldst thou enjoy a long Life, a healthy Body, and a vigorous Mind, and be acquainted also with the wonderful Works of God, labour in the first Place to bring thy Appetite to Reason.
XXIII.
Beware of Variety of Meats, and such as are curiously and daintily drest, which destroy a multitude of People; they prolong Appetite four times beyond what Nature requires, and different Meats are of different Natures, some are sooner digested thanothers, whence Crudities proceed, and the whole Digestion depraved.
XXIV.
Keep out of the Sight of Feasts and Banquets as much as may be, for it is more difficult to retain good Cheer, when in Presence, than from the Desire of it when it is away; the like you may observe in all the other Senses.
XXV.
Fancy that Gluttony is not good and pleasant, but filthy, evil, and detestable; as it really is.
XXVI.
The richest Food, when concocted, yields the most noisom Smells; and he that works and fares hard, hath a sweeter and pleasanter Body than the other.
XXVII.
Winter requires somewhat a larger Quantity than Summer; hot and dry Meats agree best with Winter, cold and moist with Summer; in Summer abate a little of your Meat and add to your Drink, and in Winter substract from your Drink and add to your Meat.
XXVIII.
If a Man casually exceeds, let him fast the next Meal and all may be well again, provided it be not often done; or if he exceed at Dinner, let him rest from, or make a slight Supper.
XXIX.
Use now and then a little Exercise a Quarter of an Hour before Meals, or swing your Arms about with a small Weight in each Hand, to leap, and the like, for that stirs the Muscles of the Breast.
XXX.
Shooting in the long Bow, for the Breast and Arms.
XXXI.
Bowling, for the Reins, Stone and Gravel,&c.
XXXII.
Walking, for the Stomach: And the greatDrusushaving weak and small Thighs and Legs, strengthened them by Riding, and especially after Dinner.
XXXIII.
Squinting and a dull Sight are amended by Shooting.
XXXIV.
Crookedness, by Swinging and hanging upon the Arms.
XXXV.
A temperate Diet frees from Diseases; such are seldom ill, but if they are surprized with Sickness, they bear it better, and recover it sooner, for all Distempers have their Original from Repletion.
XXXVI.
A temperate Diet arms the Body against all external Accidents, so that they are not so easily hurt by Heat, Cold, or Labour; if they at any Time should be prejudiced, they are more easily cured, either of Wounds, Dislocations, or Bruises; it also resists Epidemical Diseases.
XXXVII.
It makes Mens Bodies fitter for any Employments; it makes Men to live long;Galen, with many others, lived by it a Hundred Years.
XXXVIII.
Galensaith, That those that are weak-complexioned from their Mothers Womb, may (by the Help of this Art, which prescribes the coarse Diet) attain to extreme old Age, and that without Diminution of Senses or Sickness of Body; and he saith, that though he never had a healthful Constitution of Body from his Birth, yet by using a good Diet after the Twenty-seventh Year of his Age, he never fell into Sickness, unless now and then into a One Days Fever, taken by One Days Weariness.
XXXIX.
A sober Diet makes a Man die without Pain; it maintains the Senses in Vigour; it mitigates the Violence of Passions and Affections.
XL.
It preserves the Memory; it helps the Understanding; it allays the Heat of Lust; it brings a Man to that weighty Consideration of his latter End.
The great Apprehensions that allEuropehas received from the dreadful and raging Plague which has lately destroyed the greatest Part of the Inhabitants ofMarseilles,has given that just Alarm to our Ministry, who under the Direction of His Majesty, by their wise and prudent Management, to the Duty of Publick Prayers, with that of a General and Solemn Fast throughout the Kingdom, have not been wanting, as much as possible, to prevent that direful Contagion which now threatens, and might be brought amongst us by the Sailors, or by Merchandize comeing from Places that are infected; and have ordered a strict Quarentine to be observed by all Ships in all the Maritime Ports liable to that Invasion.
And to be Assistant to so great a Work, the Neglect of which the Lives of the Nation being at stake, we have some the most eminent of the Physicians now in Vogue, who from that Duty to their Profession, and their Zeal tothe Publick Good, have publish’d some Essays, not only of the Nature, Cause, Symptoms, Prognosticks, and Affections of this fatal Distemper; but likewise of the proper Means to be used in preventing, and fortifying against, with the proper Applications of recovering those that are seiz’d by this fatal Enemy to Mankind. Books of this kind lately published are, a short Discourse concerning Pestilential Contagion, by Dr.Mead. The Plague ofMarseillesconsider’d by Dr.Bradley. Dr.Hodges’s Loimologia of the Plague inLondon,Anno1665; reprinted by Dr.Quincy: To which is added, an Essay of his own, with Remarks of the Infection now inFrance. To those worthy Gentlemen are we indebted for their ready Help, to their philosophical Enquiries, their learned and analytical Explanations inall the Stages of this raging Ill; and farther, by what physical Power it corrupts the Blood, destroys the Spirits, and is follow’d by Death at the last.
The Apologies that are made in their Preface,viz.of a short Warning, of their little Leisure, the Uncorrectness of Style, and the Typographical Errors should be favourably construed from so great an Aim of doing the Publick so great a Good; and it would be esteemed a base Ingratitude, meerly for the sake of Contradiction, to quarrel with the Hand that directs, and may support us in the greatest Extremity.
But where there may be a sufficient Reason to undeceive, or amend such Errors, as might otherwise be prejudicial to their intended Purpose of preserving the Common Weal, or advancingsome other necessary Instructions which they have omitted; I can’t but perswade myself that I shall have their Approbation, if not their Thanks in prosecuting the Advancement of that good End they so greatly have desired in their Publications.
It is very certain, that Essay of DoctorHodges de Peste, is the best of any hitherto publish’d of that Kind; and if the Gentleman who has annex’d his Treatise to that of his own, has taken Care to remove the most affected Peculiarities, and Luxuriances of his Enthusiastick Strain, he should have avoided that Contagion himself, which are discover’d in his crabbed and dogmatical Terms ofFormulæ,Miasms,Miasmata,Nexus,Moleculæ,Spicula,Pabulum, &c. Such Terms being too abstruse and difficult to be understoodby the People in general, for whose Instruction and Benefit we have the Charity to believe he undertook his Publication. Nay, it cannot be doubted, and will need no Confirmation by those that carefully peruse Dr.Hodges, but will find that there is scarcely any advanced Method in what they have writ, or but what may be found in his Treatise, unless in this one Hint ofQuincy, from the Use ofPulvis Fluminansin dispersing the stagnate Air instead of the fucing of great Guns,&c.And he is no ways out in his Policy by tacking his own Remarks with those of the good old Doctors, which are the best Recommendations of their passing to his own Advantage.
Hodgesin his Introduction tells you, “That the first Discoveries of the late Plague began inWestminster, about the Close of the Year 1664, for at that Season two or three Persons died there, attended with like Symptoms as manifestly declar’d their Origin; that in the Months ofAugustandSeptember, the Contagion chang’d its former slow and languid Pace, having, as it were, got Master of all, made a most terrible Slaughter, so that three, four or five thousand died in a Week, and once eight thousand: Who can express the Calamities of those Times! None surely in more pathetick and bewailing Accents than himself, who gives us so melancholly a Description of their dismal Misery, as affects the Mind with the same Passions and despairing Sorrow they were then overloaded with; and asVirgilhas it,
Horror ubique Animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent.Hærent in fixi pectore Vultus.
TheBritishNation wept for the Miseries of her Metropolis. In some Houses Carcases lay waiting for Burial; and in others, Persons in their last Agonies; in one Room might be heard dying Groans, in another the Raveings of a Delirium, and not far off Relations and Friends bewailing both their Loss and the dismal Prospect of their own sudden Departure; Death was the sure Midwife to all Children, and Infants passed immediately from the Womb to the Grave; Who would not burst with Grief to see the Stock of a future Generation hang upon the Breasts of a dead Mother? or the Marriage-Bed changed the first Night into a Sepulchre, and the unhappy Pair meet with Death in the first Embraces? Some of the Infected run about staggering like drunken Men, and fall andexpire in the Streets; while others lie half dead and comatous, but never to be waked but by the last Trumpet; some lie vomiting, as if they had drank Poison; and others fall dead in the Market while they are buying Necessaries for the Support of Life.
Not much unlike was it in the following Conflagration; where the Altars themselves became so many Victims, and the finest Churches in the whole World carried up to Heaven Supplications in Flames, while their marble Pillars, wet with Tears, melted like Wax; nor were Monuments secure from the inexorable Flames, where many of their venerable Remains passed a second Martyrdom; the most august Palaces were soon laid waste, and the Flames seem’d to be in a fatal Engagement to destroy the greatOrnament of Commerce; and the burning of all the Commodities of the World together, seem’d a proper Epitome of this Conflagration: Neither confederate Crowns, nor the drawn Swords of Kings could restrain its phanatick and rebellious Rage; large Halls, stately Houses, and the Sheds of the Poor, were together reduced to Ashes; the Sun blush’d to see himself set, and envied those Flames the Government of the Night which had rivall’d him so many Days: As the City, I say, was afterwards burnt without any Distinction, in like Manner did this Plague spare no Order, Age, or Sex; the Divine was taken in the very Exercise of his priestly Office, to be inroll’d amongst the Saints above; and some Physicians, as before intimated, could not find Assistance in their own Antidotes, but diedin the Administration of them to others; and although the Soldiery retreated from the Field of Death, and encamped out of the City, the Contagion followed and vanquished them; many in their old Age, others in their Prime, sunk under its Cruelties; of the female Sex, most died; and hardly any Children escaped; and it was not uncommon to see an Inheritance pass successively to three or four Heirs in as many Days; the Number of Sextons were not sufficient to bury the Dead; the Bells seem’d hoarse with continual tolling, until at last they quite ceased; the Burying-places would not hold the Dead, but they were thrown into large Pits dug in waste Grounds in Heaps, thirty or forty together; and it often happened, that those who attended the Funerals of their Friends oneEvening, were carried the next to their own long Home.”
———Quis talia fundotemperet à lacrymis?——
About the Beginning ofSeptemberthe Disease was at the Height, in the Course of which Month more than Twelve thousand died in a Week[4]but from this Time its Force began to relax; and about the Close of the Year, that is, at the Beginning ofNovember, People grew more healthful, and such a different Face was put upon the Publick, that although the Funerals were yet frequent, yet many who had made most haste in retiring, made the most to return, and came into the City without Fear; insomuch that inDecemberthey crowded back as thick as they fled; and although the Contagion had carried off, as some computed, about One hundred thousand People; after a few Months this Loss was hardly discernable.
The Doctor himself comes to no determinate Number of those that died of this Distemper, but in the Table that he has writ of the Funerals in the several Parishes within the Bills of Mortality of the Cities ofLondonandWestminsterfor the Year 1665, he tells you, 68596 died of the Plague. Dr.Meadin the same Year 1665, that it continued in this City about ten Months, and swept away 97306 Persons. Dr.Bradley, in his Table from the 27th ofDecember, 1664/5, takes no notice of any buried of that Distemper, but of one on the 14th ofFebruaryfollowing, and two onAprilthe 25th, and inall, to the 7th ofJune, 89. The next following Months, toOctoberthe 3d, there were buried 49932, in all 50021. Why he should here break up from giving any further Account may be from the Weakness of his Intelligence, which so widely differs from all other Accounts; and in this one, with Dr.Hodges, who tells you, that about the Beginning ofSeptember, at which Time the Disease was at the Height, in the Course of which Month, more than 12000 Persons died in a Week: Whereas inBradley, the most that were buried in oneWeek,i. e.from the 12th ofSeptemberto the 19th, amounted to no more than 7165. But computing after the Manner of Dr.Hodges, we find (taking one Week with another, fromAugustthe 29th to the 27th ofSeptember, the Time of its greatest Fury) the exactNumber of 6555; which falls short very near to one half of the Number accounted to be buried of that Distemper by Dr.Hodges; and we have abundant Reason to believe, that the greatest Account hitherto mentioned, may be short of the Number dying of that Distemper. If we do but observe the strict Order then published to shut up all infected Houses, to keep a Guard upon them Day and Night, to withhold from them all Manner of Correspondence from without; and that after their Recovery, to perform a Quarentine of 40 Days, in which Space if anyone else of the Family should be taken with that Distemper, the Work to be renewed again; by which tedious Confinement of the Sick and Well together, it often proved the Cause of the Loss of the Whole.
These, besides many other great Inconveniencies, were sufficient to affright the People from making the Discovery, and we may be certain, that many died of the Plague which were returned to the Magistracy under another Denomination, which might easily be obtained from the Nurses and Searchers, whether from their Ignorance, Respect, Love of Money,&c.
And if they vary so much in their Computation of those that died; we shall find them as widely different in the Time when ’tis said the Plague first began.
The great Dr.Meadon this important Subject, may establish by his Name whatever he lays down, with the same Force and Authority as the Ancients held of thatipse dixitofAristotle; but as that great Master of Nature was notexempt from slipping into some Errors,& humanum est errare, it can be no Shock to the Reputation of this Gentleman, if we shall find him no less fallible than of some others of the Faculty who has treated on this Subject; and to this part of the time when ’tis said the Plague first began. DoctorMead, by what Information he has not thought fit to tell us, does affirm, That its Beginning was inAutumnbefore the Year 1664/5; whereas Dr.Hodgessays, in the very first Page of hisLiomologia, that it was not till the Close of the Year 1664; at that Season two or three Persons died suddenly in one Family atWestminster, of which he gives a further Light from his visiting the first Patient in theChristmasHolidays, and fully confirmed by the Weekly Bills of Mortality, whose first Account ofthose who died of the Plague were fromDecemberthe 27th, 1664/5.
As those Gentlemen have forfeited their Infallibility by what I have proved hitherto against them, we have further Reason to suspect, whether or not the late Plague in 1665 was occasioned by that Bale of Cotton imported fromTurkeytoHolland, and thence toEngland, as Dr.Hodgesmakes irrefregable, and Dr.Mead’s Authority indisputable; which is no less a Subject of Wonder and Admiration how many Years we have escaped from the Plagues that have happened and are frequent in so many Parts ofTurkey; as atGrand Cairo, which is seldome or never free from that Distemper, atAlexandria,Rosetta,Constantinople,Smyrna,Scanderoon, andAleppo, from which Places we have the most considerable Import of any of ourNeighbours, and of such Goods as are most receptive of those infectious Seeds, such as Cotton, Raw Silk, Mohair,&c.And though Coffee may seem less dangerous, from its Quality of being more able to resist its pestilential Effluvia, yet from the many Coverings the Bales are wrapped in, it is not hard to conceive the contagious Power might be latent in some Part of the Packidge; which Escape is the more surprising and to be wondred at from the great Encrease of our Trade and Shipping which yearly arrive from those Countries; and yet to be preserved from the like Misfortune near to this 60 Years.
Gockeliusinforms us,[5]“That the Contagion in the same Year 1665 was brought intoGermanyby a Body of Soldiers returning from the Wars inHungaryagainst theTurks, spread the Infection aboutUlmandAusburgh, where he then lived, and besides the Plague, they brought along with them theHungarianand other malignant Fevers, which diffused themselves about the Neighbourhood, whereof many died.[6]
And with Submission to the wise Judgment and Opinion of these learnedTriumviri, who have cited no fuller Authority for this Assertion than a bare Relation of it fromHodges de Peste; it may be no unreasonable Conjecture to have its first Progress fromHungary,Germany, and toHolland, from which last Place they all have agreed we certainly received the Contagion; and that we have hadthe Plague convey’d to us by the like Means may be found in theBibliotheca Anotomica, being brought to us by some Troops fromHungarysent thither against theTurksbyHenryVI. King ofEngland.
Dr.Mead, who thinks it necessary to premise somewhat in general concerning the Propagation of the Plague, might, to the three Causes he has laid down, of a bad Air, diseased Persons, and Goods transported from Abroad, have added the Aliment or Diet, because affording Matter to the Juices it does not less contribute to the Generation of Diseases: And it may be observed, that in the Year before the pestilential Sickness, there was a great Mortality amongst the Cattel from a very wet Autumn, and their Carcasses being sold amongst the ordinary People at a very mean Price, agreat many putred Humours might proceed from thence; and this, in the Opinion of many, was the Source of our late Calamities, when it was observed this fatal Destroyer raged with greater Triumph over the common People: And the feeding on unripened and unsound Fruits are frequently charged with a Share in Mischiefs of this Kind.Galen[7]is very positive in this Matter, and in one Place accuses[8]his great Master toHippocrateswith neglecting the Consequence of too mean a Diet: From this ’tis generally observed, that a Dearth or Famine is the Harbinger to a following Plague. And we have an Account from our Merchants trading toSurat,Bencoli, and some other Parts of theEast-Indies, that the Natives arenever free from that Distemper, which is imputed to their low and pitiful Fare. TheEuropeans, especially theEnglish, escaping by their better Diet, by feeding on good Flesh, and drinking of strong generous Wine, which secures them from the Power of that Malignancy.
Their Hypotheses as widely differ in the very Substance or Nature of the Pestilence; and Dr.[9]Hodges,[10]Mead, and[11]Quincey, have asserted, that it proceeds from a Corruption of the Volatile Salts, or the Nitrous Spirit in the Air.
Dr.[12]Bradley, from the Number of poisonous Animals, Insects, or Maggots which at that Time are swimming or driving in the circumambient Air; and beingsucked into our Bodies along with our Breath, are sufficiently capable of causing those direful Depredations on Mankind called the Plague. Both these Opinions are supported by the Authorities of Learned Men.
And ifHodges,&c.have the Suffrages of the greatest of the ancient Physicians, with those ofWolfius,Agricola,Forestus,Fernelius,Belini,Carolus de là Font,&c.Bradleymay challenge to him the famedKirchir,Malhigius,Leeuwenhooch,Morgagni,Redi, andMangetus.
It is almost endless as well as altogether needless, to cite all the Authorities for the different Opinions, that might be collected from the most remote Antiquity down to the present Age.
And although it is yet to be contested, and might be held an occult Quality with those learnedGentlemen, we shall find, each Doctor passes his favourite Opinion upon the World with as much Infallibility as a Demonstration inEuclid.
[13]And for that Opinion of the famousKirchir, about animated Worms, (saysHodges) ‘I must confess I could never come at any such Discovery with the Help of the best Glasses, nor ever found the same discovered by any other; but perhaps in our cloudy Island we are not so sharp-sighted as in the serene Air ofItaly; and with Submission to so great a Name, it seems to me very disconsonant to Reason, that such a pestilential Seminium, which is both of a nitrous and poisonous Nature, should produce a livingCreature.’ And he is well assured, that he is in the right, when he says, ‘[14]Every one of those Particulars are as clear as the Light at Noon-Day; and those Explications are so obvious to be met with in the Writings of the Learned, that it would be lost Labour to insist upon any such Thing here.’
[15]Dr.Meadchimes in here very tuneably withHodges, and is pleased to say, ‘That some Authors have imagined Infection to be performed by the Means of Insects, the Eggs of which may be conveyed from Place to Place, and make the Disease when it comes to be hatch’d. As this is a Supposition grounded upon no Manner of Observation, so I think there is no need to have Recourse to it.’
Dr.Bradley, who hatches this Distemper by the smaller Kind of Insects floating in the Air, is greatly jealous of his favourite Egg, from which that fatal Cockatrice breaks forth and disperses Death in every Quarter: He may be seen to promote this Hypothesis in that Discourse of his new Improvement of Planting,&c.and with no less Pursuit in his late Pamphlet on the Plague atMarseilles; where in his Preface,p.13, he tells you, ‘That to suppose this malignant Distemper is occasioned by Vapours only arising from the Earth, is to lay aside our Reason,&c.’
And it may be farther observed, That they are as remote from their Consent to one another, as in the distant Place from whence they would trace its Origin.
[16]Dr.Mead, from a bare Transcription ofMatthæus Villanus, does affirm, That the Plague in the Year 1346, had its first Rise inChina, advancing through theEast-Indies,Syria,Turkey,&c.and by Shipping from theLevant, brought intoEurope, which in the Year 1349. seizedEngland. This is directly against Dr.Bradley,[17]who suggests the Plague is no where to be found inIndia,China, the South Parts ofAfricaandAmerica, and has taken the Pains in filling up three Pages in the Defence of this Assertion.
It would be well if their Opposition ended here; but when it affects us more near, when their Difference becomes more wide in the very Means of our Preservation, and what by one is laiddown as a soveraign and real Good, to be returned by another as the most fatal and destructive, is a Weight of no small Consequence, nor a less melancholly Reflection, if it should please God to inflict us with the same Calamities.
And as to those preservative Means which the Government have only a Power to direct, the making of large Fires in the Streets, as has been practised in the Times of Contagion, is a Point largely contested.
Dr.Hodges[18]seems inveterate against this Custom, and tells us, ‘That before three Days were expired after the Fires made in 1665, the most fatal Night ensued, wherein more than 4000 expired; the Heavens bothmourn’d so many Funerals, and wept for the fatal Mistake, so as to extinguish even the Fires with their Showers. May Posterity, (says he) be warned by this Mistake, and not like Empericks, apply a Remedy where they are ignorant of the Cause.’
And Dr.Mead[19]has an Eye to this Remark, when he tells us, ‘The fatal Success of the Trials in the last Plague is more than sufficient to discourage any farther Attempts of this Nature.’ Whereas on the contrary, the making of Fires in the Streets were practised from the greatest Antiquity, and supported byMayerne,Butler, andHarveyin the two great Plagues before the Year 1665, and recommended by Dr.Quincey[20]for the Dissipation ofPestilential Vapours,&c.And without all manner of Dispute, Dr.Bradley[21]must be wholly on his Side, when he tells us, ‘That the Year 1665, was the last that we can say raged inLondon, which might happen from the Destruction of the City by Fire the following Year 1666, and besides the destroying of the Eggs or Seeds of those poisonous Animals that were then in the stagnating Air, might likewise purifie the Air in such a Manner as to make it unfit for the Nourishment of others of the same kind, which were swimming or driving in the circumambient Air.’
What has been said of Fires is likewise to be understood of firing of Guns, which some have toorashly advised. Says Dr.Mead[22], ‘The proper Correction of the Air would be to make it fresh and cool.’ And here quotes from the Practice of theArabiansout ofRhazes de re Medica, &c. Dr.Quincey[23]‘That as the Air being still and as it were stagnate at such Times, and as it favours the Collection of poisonous Effluvia, and aggravates Infection, thinks it more effectual to let off small Parcels of the commonPulvis Fulminans, which must afford a greater Shock to the Air by its Explosion than by the largest Pieces of Ordnance.’ In favour of which last Assertion, the Experience both of Soldiers, will justifie the firing of great Guns and Ordnance, which is frequently used in Camps, for the Dissipationof the collected pestilential Atoms, which by Concussion as well as its constituent Parts of Nitre and Sulphur, tend greatly to the Purification of the grosser Atmosphere within the Compass of their Activity; and by the Seamen in their Voyages in the Southern Parts of the World, when sometimes the Air is so gross, and hangs so low upon them, as to be almost suffocated. And in the late Plague atMarseillesthe constant firing of great Guns at Morning and Evening, by the Appointment ofMonsieur le Marquis de Langerontheir Governour, was esteemed of great Relief to the Inhabitants.
Nay, their Contest will not end in a Pipe of Tobacco, against which Dr.Hodges[24]declareshimself a profess’d Enemy: ‘But whether (says he) we regard the narcotick Quality of thisAmericanHenbane; or the poisonous Oil which exhales from it in Smoaking, or that prodigious Discharge of Spittle which it occasions, and which Nature wants for many other important Occasions, besides the Aptitude of the pestilential Poison to be taken down along with it; he chose rather to supply its Place with Sack.’
Dr.Bradley[25]redeems it from this low Character, and represents it as a great Antidote in the last PlagueAnno1665. ‘The Distemper did not reach those who smoak’d Tobacco every Day, but particularly it was judged best to smoak in a Morning:He farther gives you an Account of a famous Physician, who in the pestilential Time took every Morning a Cordial to guard his Stomach, and after that a Pipe or two, before he went to visit his Patients; at the same time he had an Issue in his Arm, by which, when it begun to smart, he knew he had received some Infection (as he says) and then had recourse to his Cordial and his Pipe.’ By this Means only he preserved himself, as several others did at that Time by the same Method.
I could heartily wish those worthy Gentlemen had struck in with greater Harmony to the Satisfaction and Security of the People, whose Expectations were greatly raised by the Hopes of their Assistance, by gaining a greater Light into the Nature, Quality,Symptoms, and Affections of this definitive Ill, to have promoted their Safety, by giving the necessary Indications relating to the Cure, as well as the necessary Precautions in order to guard us from that secret Attack which may approach us by very minute and unheeded Causes; the which, from their different Notions and positive Contradictions, lay too deep from the narrow Re-searches of those Philosophizing and Learned Gentlemen, and for the Manner whereby it kills, its Approaches are generally so secret, that Persons seiz’d with it seem to be fallen into an Ambuscade or a Snare, of which there was no Manner of Suspicion. And there are very few Discourses relating to the Pestilence but what abound in many Instances of this kind: And the LearnedBoccace, in his Admirable Description of the Plague atFlorence(quoted by Dr.Mead[26]Anno1348) relates what himself saw, ‘That two Hogs finding in the Streets some Rags which had been thrown off from a poor Man dead of the Disease, after snuffling upon them, and tearing them with their Teeth, fell into Convulsions, and died in less than an Hour.’
The Misfortune which happened in the Island ofBermudasabout 25 Years since, which Account is from Dr.Halley; A Sack of Cotton put ashore by Stealth, lay above a Month without any Prejudice to the People of the House where it was hid; but when it came to be distributed among the Inhabitants, it carried such a Contagion along with it, that the Living scarce sufficed to bury the Dead.
And Dr.Quincey[27]has somewhere read a strange Story inBaker’s Chronicle, ‘of a great Rot amongst Sheep, which was not quite rooted out until about Fourteen Years time, that was brought intoEnglandby a Sheep bought for its uncommon Largeness, in a Country then infected with the same Distemper.’
Fracastorius[28], an eminentItalianPhysician, tells us, ‘That in the Year 1511, when theGermanswere in Possession ofVerona, there arose a deadly Disease amongst the Soldiers, from the wearing only of a Coat purchased for a small Value; for it was observed, that every Owner of it soon sickned and died; until at last the Cause of it was so manifestly known from some Infection in the Coat, that it was ordered to be burned.’ Ten thousand Persons, he says, were computed to fall by this Plague before it ceased.
AndKephale, in hisMedela Pestilentiæ, printedAnno1665, acquaints us, That the following Plagues were produced from the following Causes.
That in the Year 1603, the contagious Seeds were brought toEnglandamongst Seamens Clothes inWhite-Chappel; and in that Year there died of the Plague 30561.
That in the Year 1625, was bred and produced by rotten Mutton atStepney; of which died 35403 Persons.
That in the Year 1630, was brought to us by a Bale of Carpets fromTurkey, of which died 1317 Persons.
That in the Year 1636, was brought over to us by a Dog fromAmsterdam; of which died 10400 Persons.
That in the Year 1665, was brought fromTurkeyin a Bale of Cotton toHolland, thence toEngland; in this great Plague died no less than 100,000 People.
And atMarseilles, in this present Year 1720, the Plague has swept away more than 70000 Persons, which was brought in Goods fromSidon, a fam’d and ancient City and Sea-port inPhœnicia, and the same which sometimes is mentioned in Holy Writ.
From the Neighbourhood of this last Contagion, the frightful Apprehensions of the People are rais’d to the greatest Height; and when every one is consulting his own Security, how to guard and preserve himself from that dreadful Enemy, nothing can come more seasonably to their Relief, than to lay before them aCompendiumof the best and approved Rules for their Conduct; to which End I have carefully collected, from the successful Practice of Dr.Glisson, SirThomas Millington, Dr.Charlton, and otherLearned Physicians in the last Plague, with what only may be of Use from the abounding Prescripts of those who have lately published, and as this Evil is supported throughout the general Practice, it appears to be the Result of the Reasoning of some of the Learned Sons ofÆsculapius, to marshal into the Field as many Compositions as if only by their Number they might be able to pull down the Tyranny of this fatal Destroyer.
It would be a Work insuperable, and altogether foreign to the Method I have gone by, to extract all the Medicines which some Writers abound with for this End; it is our Business here chiefly to take Notice of that savingRegimen, that Rule of Self-governing, which proved more successful in the Preservation of the People in the late Plague, than all the aboundingNostrumsthat have been crouded into the Practice, thewhich has become a due Reproach to the Faculty.
Turpe est Doctori, quem culpa redarguit ipsum.
And it is here worthy of our first Remark, That the last Plague, in the Year 1665, as well from the late Accounts we have of that atMarseilles, the poorer Sort of People were those that mostly suffered, which can only be attributed to their mean and low Fare, whereas the most nutritive and generous Diet should be promoted, and such as generate a warm and rich Blood, Plenty of Spirits, and what easily perspires, which otherwise would be apt to ferment and generate Corruption.
Your greatest Care is, to have your Meat sweet and good, neither too moist nor flashy, having a certain Regard to such as may create an easy Digestion, and observing that roasted Meats on those Occasions should be preferred; asBeef, Mutton, Lamb, Venison, Turkey, Capon, Pullet, Chicken, Pheasant, and Partridge: But Pidgeon, and most Sort of Wild and Sea Fowl to be rejected: Salt Meats to be cautiously used; all hot, dry, and spicey Seasonings to be avoided; most Pickles and rich Sauces to be encouraged, with the often Use of Garlick, Onion, and Shallot; the cool, acid, and acrid Herbs and Roots, as Lettuce, Spinnage, Cresses, Sorrel, Endive, and Sellery; all windy Things, which are subject to Putrefaction, to be refrained, as all kind of Pulse, Cabbage, Colliflower, Sprouts, Melons, Cucumbers,&c.as also most Summer Fruits, excepting Mulberries, Quinces, Pomegranates, Raspers, Cherries, Currants, and Strawberries, which are of Service when moderately eat of.
All light and viscid Substances to be avoided, as Pork, most Sortsof Fish, of the latter that may be eat, are Soles, Plaise, Flounder, Trout, Gudgeon, Lobster, Cray-fish, and Shrimps, no Sort of Pond-Fish being good; and for your Sauce, fresh melted Butter, or Oil mixed with Vinegar or Verjuice, the Juice of Sorrel, Pomegranates, Barberries, of Lemon orSevilleOrange, which two last are to be preferred, from their Power of resisting all Manner of Putrefaction, as well to cool the violent Heat of the Stomach, Liver,&c.
For your Bread, to be light, and rather stale than new, not to drink much of Malt Liquors, avoiding that which is greatly Hopped, or too much on the ferment, Mead and Metheglin are of excellent Use, and good Wines taken moderately are a strong Preservative, Sack especially being accounted the most Soveraign and the greatest Alexipharmick: Excess is dangerous to the mosthealthy Constitution, which may beget Inflammations of fatal Consequence in pestilential Cases.
Let none go Home fasting, every one, as they can procure, to take something as may resist Putrefaction; some may take Garlick with Bread and Butter, a Clove two or three, or with Rue, Sage, Sorrel, dipt in Vinegar, the Spirit of Oil of Turpentine frequently drank in small Doses is of great Use; as also to lay in steep over-Night, of Sage well bruis’d two Handfuls, of Wormwood one Handful, of Rue half a Handful, put to them in an Earthen Vessel four Quarts of Mild Beer; which in the Morning to be drank fasting.
The Custom that prevails now of drinking Coffee, Bohea-Tea, or Chocolate, with Bread and Butter, is very good; at their going abroad ’tis proper to carry Rue, Angelica, Masterwort, Myrtle,Scordianumor Water-Germander, Wormwood, Valerian or Setwal-Root,VirginianSnake-Root, or Zedoary in their Hands to smell to, or of Rue one Handful stampt in a Mortar, put thereto Vinegar enough to moisten it, mix them well, then strain out the Juice, wet a Piece of Sponge or a Toast of brown Bread therein, tie it in a Bit of thin Cloth to smell to.
But there is nothing more grateful and efficacious than the volatileSal Armoniac, well impregnated with the essential Oils of aromatick Ingredients, which may be procured dry, and kept in small Bottles, from a careful Distillation of the commonSal Volatile Oleosum.
Sometimes more fœtid Substances agree better with some Persons than the more grateful Scents, of which the most useful Compositions may be made of Rue, Featherfew,Galbanum,Assafœtida, and the like, with the Oilof Wormwood, the Spirit or Oil drawn and dropt upon Cotton, so kept in a close Ivory Box, though with Caution to be used, the often smelling to, dilating the Pores of the Olfactory Organs, which may give greater Liberty for the pestilential Air to go along with it. A Piece of Orris Root kept in the Mouth in passing along the Streets, or of Garlick, Orange or Lemon Peel, or Clove, are of very great Service. As also Lozenges of the following Composition, which are always profitable to be used fasting; of Citron Peel two Drams, Zedoary, Angelica, of each, prepar’d in Rose Vinegar, half a Dram, Citron Seeds, Wood of Aloes, Orris, of each two Scruples, Saffron, Cloves, Nutmeg, one Scruple, Myrrh, Ambergrease, of each six Grains, Sugarcandy one Ounce; make into Lozenges with Gum Traganth and Rose-water.
I know not indeed a greater Neglect than not keeping the Body clean, and the keeping at a distance any thing superfluous and offensive, to keep the House airy and fresh, and moderately cool, and to strew it with Herbs, Rushes, and Boughs, which yield refreshing Scents, and contribute much to the purifying of the Air, and resisting the Infection; of this kind all Sorts of Rushes and Water Flags, Mint, Balm, Camomil Grass, Hyssop, Thyme, Pennyroyal, Rue, Wormwood, Southernwood, Tansy, Costmary, Lime-tree, Oak, Beech, Walnut, Poplar, Ash, Willow,&c.A frequent Change of Clothes, and a careful drying or airing them abroad, with whisking and cleaning of them from all Manner of Filth and Dust, which may harbour Infection, as it is likewise to keep the Windows open at Sun-Rise till the Setting, especially to the North and East, for the cold Blasts from those Quarters temper the Malignity of pestilential Airs.
Preservative Fumigations are largely talked of by all on those Occasions, and they with good Reason deserve to be practised. And of the great Number of Aromatick Roots and Woods, I should chiefly prefer Storax, Benjamin, Frankinsense, Myrrh, and Amber, the Wood of Juniper, Cypress and Cedar, the Leaves of Bays and Rosemary, and the Smell of Tarr and Pitch is no ways inferior to any of the rest, where its Scent is not particularly offensive, observing the burning of any or more of those Ingredients at such proper Distances of Time from each other, that the Air may always be sensibly impregnated therewith.
Amongst the Simples of the Vegitable Kind,VirginianSnake-Root cannot be too much admired, and is deservedly accounted the most Diaphoretick and Alexipharmick for expelling the pestilential Poison; its Dose, finely powder’d, is from four or six Grainsto two Scruples, in a proper Vehicle; due Regard being had to the Strength and Age of the Patient.
The next is generally given to the Contrayerva Root, (from which also a Compound Medicine is admirably contrived, and made famous by its Success in the last Plague;) the Dose of this in fine Powder is from one Scruple to a Dram, in Angelica or Scordium Water, or in Wine,&c.
There are other Roots likewise of which many valuable Compounds are form’d in order to effect that with an united Force which they could not do singly; in this Class are the Roots of Angelica, Scorzonera, Butterbur, Masterwort, Tormentil, Zedoary, Garlick, Elicampane, Valerian, Birthwort, Gentian, Bitany, and many others, which may be found in other Writings.
Ginger, whether in the Root, powder’d, and candy’d deserve our Regard; for it is very powerful both to raise a breathing Sweat and defendthe Spirits against the pestilential Impression.
From these Roots may be made Extracts, either with Spirit of Wine or Vinegar, for it is agreed by all, that the most subtil Particles collected together, and divested of their grosser and unprofitable Parts, become more efficacious in Medicinal Cases.
The Leaves of Vegetables most us’d in Practice are Scordiam, Rue, Sage, Veronica, the lesser Cataury, Scabious, Pimpinel, Marygolds, and Baum, from which, on Occasion, severalFormulæare contrived.
Good Vehicles to wash down and to facilitate the taking of many other Medicines, should be made of the Waters distilled from those Herbs while they are fresh and fragrant (having not yet lost their volatile Salt) for those which are commonly kept in the Shop, are insipid and of little Use.
FINIS.
Footnotes:
[1]AnÆgyptian, and the first Inventor of Physick;
[2]The Son ofApollo, begotten uponCoronis, the Daughter ofPhlegia.
[3]The two eldest Daughters ofÆsculapius.
[4]SeeHodges of the Plague,reprintedper Qincey, p. 19.
[5]Vid.Gockelius de peste, p. 25.
[6]Vid.Gockelius de peste, p. 25.
[7]Lib. 1. de differ. Feb. Cap. 3. & de cibis mali & boni succi.
[8]Lib. 6. Obser. 9. 26.
[9]Liomologia, p. 32, 33, 34, 35, 37, 42, 44, 52, 53, 54, 75.
[10]Short Discourse, p. 11, 17.
[11]Different Causes, p. 266.
[12]Plague, Marseilles, p. 17, 30, 31, 36, 41.
[13]Hodges’s Limologia, p. 64.
[14]Hodges’sLimilogia, p. 32.
[15]Short Discourse, p. 16.