ACHES AND PAINS.

RUB a little opodeldoch upon the part af­fected, two or three times a day, and wear a flannel upon it; if this does not give re­lief, take twenty drops of volatile tincture of guaicum, (prepared as directed in the Appendix,) every night and morning, in a glass of spring water.

AFTER-PAINS.

TAKE one scruple of sperma-ceti, five grains of vo­latile salt of hartshorn, five drops of balsam of Peru, and half a dracham of Venice treacle; mix them into a bolus, with as much syrup of white poppies as is suffi­cient to make a bolus; to be repeated every six hours till the pains abate. Cover the woman up warm, and let her drink plentifully of caudle.

Lying-inn women should on no account be permitted to quit their bed before the end of the first fortnight after delivery, since nothing so effectually prevents a milk fever and other dangerous disorders (at the same time that the necessary cleansings are thereby encouraged) as warmth [Page 2] and a spare diet, with drinking plentifully of warm dilu­ting liquors. Getting up too soon is always productive of bad consequences.

AGUE, or INTERMITTING FEVER, Signs of.

A violent head-ach, a weariness of the limbs, a pain in the loins, a coldness of the external parts, a shivering and shaking, sometimes so much as to make the very bed shake under them; a great thirst and burning heat, and frequent inclination to vomit. Afterwards the symptoms begin to abate, the skin becomes moist, the urine is of a flame colour but without a sediment, and a sweat break­ing out terminates the fit.

SAINT ANTHONY's FIRE. Signs of.

This disease affects every part of the body, but most frequently the face, and it happens at all times of the [Page 3] year. But whatever part is affected, a chillness and shivering generally attend the disorder, with great thirst, restlessness, and other signs of a fever; the face swells of a sudden, with great pain and redness, and abundance of small pimples appear, which often rise up into small blis­ters, and spread over the forehead and head, the eyes be­ing quite closed by the largeness of the swelling. This, in the country, is usually called a Blast.

APPOPLEXY. The immediate preceeding Signs are,

Tremblings, staggering, a giddiness in the head, dim­ness of sight, sleepiness, loss of memory, noise in the ears, and deep and laborious breathing. The disease it­self is a total deprivation of sense and motion, except that of respiration, which is performed with difficulty, and snoring. It usually ends in a paralytic disorder, and is seldom curable, but always leaves behind it a great de­fect of memory, judgment and motion.

APPETITE, Want of.

DRINK chamomile tea every day an hour before din­ner, or take ten drops of acid elixir of vitriol in a glass of water, about two hours before, and about two hours after, dinner every day. A gentle puke should precede the use of these remedies, for which purpose no­thing is preferable to the powder of ipecacoanha, a scru­ple of which is sufficient for a dose, and should be worked off with weak chamomile tea.

ASTHMA OR PHTHISICK. Signs of.

An obstructed and very laborious breathing, attended with unspeakable anxiety, and a straitness about the breast.

BALDNESS.

RUB the part frequently with an onion till it looks red; the use of bears greese is also recommended as particu­larly [Page 5] serviceable in this case, being more subtle and pene­trating than any other animal fat hitherto known.

BITE of a MAD DOG.

DR. MEAD's powder, and the Tonquin remedy; for both which receipts see the Appendix.

BITE of an ADDER or VIPER.

THE fat of this animal rubbed well into the part bit­ten, prevents the ill consequences of such a wound. Where this fat cannot be procured the same good effects will be produced by bathing the part well with warm sallad oil.

Spitting of BLOOD.

TAKE red rose leaves dried, half an ounce, twenty drop of oil of vitriol, one ounce and an half of refined sugar, and pour two pints and an half of boiling water on these ingredients in an earthen vessel; let it stand to be cold, and take half a quarter of a pint frequently. In this disorder, frequent bleeding in small quantities is pro­per, not exceeding four, or at the most six ounces at each time, according to the strength of the sick person.

BLEEDING at the Nose.

APPLY to the back part and the sides of the neck, a linnen cloth dipt in cold water, in which salt prunella has been dissolved. In very obstinate cases bleeding in the foot is useful. Internally, the quantity of a nutmeg of the following electuary may be taken three or four times in a day. Take the seeds of white henbane, and white poppies, each half an ounce, conserve of roses three ounces, and mix them into an electuary with syrup of diacodion.

BLOODY FLUX. Signs of.

Generally begins with coldness and shivering, suc­ceeded by a quick pulse, and intense thirst. The stools are greasy, and sometimes frothy mixt with blood, with filaments intermixt, which have the appearance of mel­ted suet, and are attended with intolerable gripings, and a painful descent as it were of the bowels.

BOILS.

APPLY a plaister of diachylon with the gums, once every day, till they are cured. To prevent their return a few doses of cooling physic are proper.

BRUISES, Internal.

TAKE a large spoonful of cold drawn linseed oil, two or three times in a day. The patient must also be blooded to the quantity of eight or ten ounces. And if the symptoms are violent the bleeding must be repeated at discretion.

BRUISES, External.

BATHE the part with a little spirits of wine and camphire, which in slight cases will effect a cure, but if [Page 7] that fails it will be necessary to apply a pultice of stale beer grounds, and oatmeal, with a little hog's lard, which must be applied fresh every day till the bruise is en­tirely cured.

BURNS AND SCALDS.

TAKE May butter unsalted, and white wax, of each six ounces, oil of olives half a pint, lapis calaminaris one ounce and an half; melt the wax and butter with the oil, and stir in the lapis calaminaris finely powdered, till it is too hard to let it settle. This is an excellent oint­ment for the above purposes, and is to be applied once a day spread on a fine linen rag.

CANCER. Signs of.

Begins at first with a small tumour, about the size of a nut, which does not change the colour of the skin, and sometimes remains for several years without encreasing. But as soon as the virulent humour becomes more active, the small hard swelling becomes all of a sudden a large, round, lived, unequal tumour, and is attended with an intense shooting pain: at length it breaks, and turns into a sharp stinking sanies, which eating away the sound parts, the lips of the wound become offensive to the sight, and the patient being worn out with intolerable pain, at last ensues death. This disorder may infest any part of the body, but most frequently the breasts, armpits, be­hind the ears, the lips, nose, and private parts.

CHILBLAINS

Are swellings on the hands or feet from violent cold, accompanied with heat, redness, pricking pains, and intolerable itching. On their first appearance bathe them with snow water, or hold them over the steam of boiling vinegar; but when they break and become sores they must be fomented with a fomentation, the receipt for making whereof is given in the Appendix, and a dressing applied of yellow baselicon mixed with a few drops of spirits of turpentine and spread on fine lint; the limb must be kept warm, and if they are obstinate a sparing diet must be observed.

CHOLICK.

TAKE two ounces of Daffy's elixir, and repeat it as occasion may require; or half a drachm of powder of rhubarb toasted a little before the fire.

COLDS.

COLDS may be cured by lying much in bed, by drinking plentifully of warm sack whey, with a few drops of spirits of hartshorn in it, or any other warm small liquor; living upon puddings, spoon meats, chick­ens, &c. and drinking every thing warm. In short, it must at first be treated as a small fever, with gentle diaphoretics, such as half a drachm of the compound powder of contrayerva, taken night and morning, or half an ounce of Mindererus's spirit, may be given every night going to rest, drinking a plentiful draught of weak sack whey after it. If any cough should remain, after using this method a few days, the medicines directed un­der the article of Coughs, must be taken.

This is a much more easy, natural and certain method, than the common practice by balsamics, linctuss's, and the like, which spoil the stomach, destroy the appetite, and hurt the constitution.

CONSUMPTION. Signs of.

A dry cough, a disposition to vomit after eating, as uneasy straitness of the breast, spitting of blood, a quick­ness of the pulse after meals, and flushing of the cheeks; as the disease advances, and matter brought up by the cough, if spit into the fire, yields an offensive smell; if into a glass of water, it sinks to the bottom; profuse night sweats, looseness, and wasting away of the whole body.

CONVULSIONS in Children. Signs of.

The mouth is drawn awry, the eyes are distorted, and the face turns blackish, the child's fist is clenched, and the globes of the eyes seem immoveable; when these symptoms give way, the child is sleepy till another fit comes on.

CORNS.

After soaking them for a considerable time in warm water, pare away carefully with a penknife the uppermost and hardest surface, then apply a plaister of green wax, or diachylon with the gums, spread on thin leather; repeat this method (which is perfectly safe) a few times, and it will seldom fail to extirpate them entirely.

COSTIVENESS.

TAKE the size of a nutmeg of lenitive electuary every morning, or as often as occasion requires.

COUGH.

TAKE oil of sweet almonds and syrup of balsam, of each two ounces, four ounces of barley water, and thirty drops of spirit of sal volatile; shake them well together, and take two large spoonfuls when the cough is troublesome: if this medicine does not remove the cough: in a few days, it will be absolutely necessary to be blooded.

DECAYS, see CONSUMPTIONS.

DEAFNESS.

SYRINGE the ears well with some warm milk and oil, then take a quarter of an ounce of liquid opodel­doch, and as much oil of almonds; mix them well, and drop a few drops into each ear, stopping them with a little cotton or wool; repeat this every night going to rest.

DELIVERY, to promote.

DIVIDE one grain of purified opium into two pills, to be taken one six hours after the other. Or take a scru­ple of borax with a few grains of toasted nutmeg made into a bolus with conserve of roses.

DIABETES. Signs of.

Is an excessive discharge of urine, of the taste, smell, and colour of honey, attended with an intense thirst, and a wasting away of the whole body.

DROPSY. Signs of.

Difficulty of breathing, making very small quantities of urine, costiveness, great thirst, swelling of the feet and ancles, which when prest with the fingers will pit; swelling of the belly, and falling away of the other parts.

ASSISTANCES for DROWNED PERSONS. Directions with respect to drowned persons.

As several circumstances may happen to have continued life in such an unfortunate situation, beyond the usual term, we should always endeavour to afford them the most effec­tual relief, and not give them up as irrecoverable too soon; since it has been often known that, till after the expiration of several hours, such bodies have shewn some apparent tokens of life. First, the wet cloaths should be stripped off, and the body strongly rubbed with dry coarse cloths, and put as soon as possible into a well heated bed; and this rubbing must be continued a considerable time to­gether. Some person should force his own warm breath into the drowned person's lungs, and also the smoke of tobacco by means of a pipe or funnel introduced into the mouth, stopping the sufferer's nostrils close at the same time. If a surgeon can be procured, the jugular vein, or any large vein in the neck, should be opened, and ten or [Page 13] twelve ounces of blood taken away. This vein is to be preferred, because it is seldom that any other vein will af­ford any quantity of blood under these circumstances. The smoke of tobacco should also be thrown up into the bowels by the fundament, by introducing the small end of a tobacco pipe well lighted up, the bowl of it wrapped up in a paper in which several holes are pricked, and through these the breath is to be strongly forced. Two pipes, may be thus lighted and applied, the one to the anus, and the other to the mouth, at the same time. The strongest volatiles should also be applied to the patient's nostrils. It is useless, and even dangerous, to pour much liquid of any kind into the mouth, as long as the patient shews no signs of life; but as soon as he discovers any motion, he should take five or six spoonfuls of a strong decoction of carduus benedictus sweetned with honey; and, if nothing else can be had, some warm water, with the addition of a little common salt. Lastly, notwithstanding we discover some tokens of life, we should not cease to continue our assist­ance, since they sometimes irrecoverably expire after these first appearances of recovering.

Having pointed out the most effectual means of reco­vering drowned persons, I shall just mention those which it is the general custom to use in the first hurry. Drowned persons are sometimes wrapped up in a sheep's skin imme­diately flead off. but this is less efficacious than a bed well warmed and long continued rubbing with hot flannels. The method of rolling them in an empty hogshead is dangerous, and loses a deal of important time. The hanging them up by the feet is also dangerous, and should be discontinued, since the froth, which is one of the causes of their death, is too thick and viscid to discharge itself by its own weight, and this posture tends to increase the over-fulness of the head and lungs. The covering the person with hot ashes, hot sand, or hot salt, has often succeeded, and may be tried, but should not make the assistants less attentive to the other methods already directed to be used for the recovery of the drowned person.

Dry BELLY-ACH, or Nervous Cholic. Signs of.

Extreme costiveness, a most violent pain in the bowels, coldness of the hands and feet, trembling, extreme anxiety, and a disposition to fainting, which is frequently succeeded by the palsy.

EAR-ACH.

The smoke of tobacco blown into the ear is excel­lent.

EXCORIATIONS in Children.

DISSOLVE a little white vitriol in spring water, and dab the part with it, which will heal them presently.

DISORDERS of the EYES.

AN excellent eye-water. Take two grains of sugar of lead, dissolve it in a quarter of a pint of spring water.

An OINTMENT for the EYES.

DIP a feather in a little ointment of tutty, and gently rub it across the eyes every night going to sleep.

FAINTING.

APPLY to the nostrils and temples some spirits of sal armoniac, and give a few drops in a wine glass of water inwardly.

FALLING SICKNESS. Signs of.

A weariness of the whole body, an heavy pain of the head, unquiet sleep, dimness of sight, a noise in the ears, a violent palpitation of the heart, a coldness of the joints, and a sense. as it were, of a cold air ascending from the extreme parts to the heart and brain; then they fall sud­denly on the ground, the thumbs are shut up close in the palms of the hands, the eyes are distorted, and all sensa­tion is lost, so that by no noise, nor even by pinching the body, can they be brought to themselves: they also froth at the mouth.

FEVERS Inflammatory. Signs of.

The breath is very hot, and there is a dryness of the whole skin, and sense of heat; the respiration is thick, difficult and quick, the tongue is dry, yellow, parched and rough, the thirst is unquenchable, a vast anxiety, restlesness, and weariness, frequent inclinations to vomit, and sometimes light-headedness and convulsions.

NERVOUS FEVERS. Signs of.

Slight chillinesses often in a day, with uncertain flushes of heat, a vast dejection and anxiety of the spirits, a giddiness and pain of the head, an inclination to yawn and dose, a dryness of the lips and tongue without any considerable thirst; the countenance heavy, pale and de­jected; frequent sick fits, the urine is pale and made often and suddenly, the pulse is low, quick and unequal.

PUTRID OR SPOTTED FEVERS. Signs of.

The head aches and is hot, dull, and attended with a dejection of mind from the very beginning; a constant [Page 17] watchfulness, the countenance is dejected, the pulse is languid small and low. A pain in the back and loins, a great load at the pit of the stomach, a perpetual vomit­ing of black bile: the thirst is commonly very great, and all drinks seem bitter and maukish: the tongue at the be­ginning is white, but grows daily more dark and dry, with a kind of dark bubble on the top, and livid or brown spots appear over the whole surface of the skin.

FISTULA.

TAKE a quarter of a pound of elecampane root, three quarters of a pound of fennel seeds, and a quarter of a pound of black pepper; pound these separately and sift them through a fine sieve; take half a pound of honey, and half a pound of powder sugar, melt the honey and the sugar together over the fire, scumming them continually till they become bright as amber; when they are cool, mix and knead them into your powder, in the form of a soft paste. The dose is the size of a nutmeg, morning, noon, and night, drinking a glass of wine or water after it.

This is Dr. WARD'S receipt for curing Fistula's; and, if it does not succeed, immediate recourse must be had to a skilful surgeon.

GIDDINESS.

TAKE twenty drops of tincture of castor in a glass of water two or three times in a day; or from a scruple to a drachm of powder of valerian root, three or four times in a day: when this disorder proceeds from too great a fulness of the vessels of the head, bleeding will certainly give relief.

GOUT. Signs of.

A pain resembling that of a dislocated bone, succeeded by a chillness, shivering and slight fever, usually seizes the great toe, heel, the calf of the leg or ancle, which be­comes so exquisitely painful as not to endure even the weight of the bed cloaths; the part looks red and is very much swelled; the urine is high coloured, and lets fall a kind of red gravelly sediment.

GRAVEL AND STONE. Signs of.

A pain in the loins, bloody urine, numbness of the thigh or leg on the side affected, a sickness at the stomach, and frequent vomitings.

GREEN SICKNESS. Signs of.

A pale complexion, swelling of the ancles, weariness of the whole body, difficulty of breathing, a palpitation of the heart, drowsiness, a desire of eating coals, chalk, &c. and a suppression of the monthly courses.

GRIPES.

TAKE half a drachm of powdered rhubarb, and toast it a little before the fire, then add a little powder of ginger to it, and mix it for one dose, to be repeated as oc­casion requires, or take a wine glass of Daffy's elixir.

HEAD-ACH.

APPLY leeches behind the ears, and take twenty drops of tincture of castor in a glass of water frequently: if this fail take a scruple of pil. Rufi every night going to rest for a week or ten days.

HEART-BURN.

TAKE a little chalk scraped in a glass of water, or a tea-cup full of chamomile tea.

HOARSENESS.

TAKE the medicines directed under the article of Coughs, or as much as will lie on a shilling of the following powder, three or four times in a day: take sperma ceti and sugar-candy, of each equal parts, and make them into a fine powder, or a tea-spoonful of Barbados tar in a glass of old rum, every night going to rest. Three or four Well­fleet oysters swallowed early in the morning fasting, afford surprising relief in this complaint.

HYSTERICS. Signs of.

An intercepted breathing, almost to suffocation, faint­ing, loss of speech, great drowsiness, exceeding costive­ness, and making large quantities of urine, almost as clear as water.

Hard SWELLINGS.

APPLY a plaister of diachylon with the gums, spread thick on leather, or a mercurial plaister.

HIP-GOUT. Signs of.

A violent pain in the joint of the thigh, and lower [Page 21] part of the loins, which sometimes reaches to the leg, and even the extremity of the foot, without any swelling or change of colour of the skin.

HOOPING COUGH.

BOIL a good handful of dried coltsfoot leaves cut small in a pint of spring water till about one half is boiled away, strain the liquor through a cloth and squeeze the herbs as dry as you can; dissolve in the liquor an ounce of brown sugar-candy, and give the child (if it be but three or four years old, and so in proportion) a spoonful of it cold or warm. according to the season of the year, three or four times a day, or oftener, till the violence of the distemper is abated; or the child may take from five to twenty drops, according to its age, of elixir asthmaticum three or four times a day; a gentle vomit should precede the use of ei­ther of these remedies; and, in very bad cases, a blister ap­plied to the nape of the neck will be necessary; bleeding is highly improper in this disorder.

JAUNDICE. Signs of.

A yellowishness of the whites of the eyes, and of the whole body, bitterness of the tongue, heaviness, and las­situde, vomiting of gall, the st [...]'s almost white, and the urine of a saffron colour, tinging linen dipt therein yellow.

INDIGESTION. Signs of.

Pain, and sense of weight in the stomach, attended with frequent belchings, heart-burn, &c.

INFLAMATIONS.

TAKE away ten or twelve ounces of blood, and re­peat it if necessary; give cooling purges, and apply to the part a pultice of bread and milk, with some ointment of elder in it.

ITCH. Signs of.

Watery pimples, attended with intollerable itching between the fingers, under the hams, on the arms, and on the thighs.

INFLAMMATION of the BOWELS. Signs of.

A burning pain in the belly, attended with a fever, vomiting, and frequently an obstinate costiveness.

INTERMITTING FEVER, see AGUE.

KING's EVIL. Signs of.

Hard swellings in the neck, armpits, and groin, and tumours on the joints and fingers, attended with a swell­ing, rottenness of the bones, and soreness of the eye­lids. In short there is no part of the human body which may not be affected with tumours, abscesses, or ulcers, by this disease.

LEPROSY. Signs of.

Red pimples, or postules, commonly first break out in the elbows and knees, which gradually increase in such a manner, that the whole body is covered with a leprous scurf.

LETHARGY, see APOPLEXY.

LIMBS FROZEN.

In very sharp winters, it is too common for persons to be pierced with so violent a degree of cold, that their hands or feet, or sometimes both, are frozen at once, like a piece of flesh meat exposed to the air. If a person in this situation attempts to warm the frozen parts before a fire, his case proves irrecoverable; intollerable pains, and at length a mortification, are the consequence of his im­prudence. The only certain remedy is to convey the per­son affected into some place where it does not freeze, but where, however, it is but very moderately warm, and there continually to apply to the frozen parts snow, if it can be procured; if not to keep washing them incessant­ly, but very gently, with ice water, as the ice thaws in the chamber: by this application the patient will be very sensible of his feelings returning very gradually to the part, [Page 25] and of their beginning to recover their motion. In this state the person may be safely moved into a place a little warmer, and drink some balm tea, or any other mild di­luting liquid. Many persons have been revived, who had remained in the snow, or been exposed to the freezing air for several days, and who had discovered no one sign of life for several hours: we should therefore use our utmost endeavours for the recovery of persons in the like situa­tion, by using every method.

LOOSENESS.

TAKE half a drachm of ipecacoanha for a vomit; and work it off with chamomile tea. Abstain from malt liquors. If this does not entirely remove the looseness, take half a drachm of powder of rhubarb, made into a bolus, with a little diascordium, and repeat it every day, 'till the looseness is entirely stopped.

For common drink the sick person may take hartshorn drink, or rice boiled in water with a little cinnamon.

MADNESS. Signs of.

A redness of the eyes, grinding of the teeth, strange malice to particular persons, want of sleep, singing in the ears, incredible strength, insensibility to cold, and an ex­cessive rage when provoked to anger.

MEASLES. Signs of.

A chillness and shivering, which is succeeded by a fever, accompanied with great sickness, thirst, a conti­nual [Page 26] drowsiness, slight cough, and an effusion of tears, which is the most certain sign of the measles. About the fourth day little red spots like flea-bites appear over the whole body, which do not rise above the surface of the skin.

MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE, Excessive. Signs of.

Loss of strength and appetite, bad habit of body, sal­low complexion, and swelling of the feet.

MENSTRUAL DISCHARGE, Suppression of. Signs of.

A swelling in the belly, pain in the loins and groin, difficulty of breathing, cold sweats, frequent faintings, and sometimes hysteric fits.

MISCARRIAGE.

TO prevent miscarriage, bleeding is useful and ne­cessary, about the third month of pregnancy, more or less, according to the constitution of the woman with child. The body should also be kept open with manna or rhubarb, in the first months especially: and all violent exercise must be shunned, and the passions must be kept under.

MORTIFICATION, or GANGRENE. Signs of.

The pain and inflammation abate, the parts which were before swelled and tight, become soft and flaccid; and upon pressing with the finger, its impression remains; blisters rise up, like those of burns, filled with a yellowish, red­dish, or black humour. The limb loses its feeling, and power of motion; the colour of the part turns black, and becomes intollerably offensive.

NERVOUS DISORDERS.

COUNTRY air, exercise, and the cold bath, with the mixture directed under the article of hysterics, will prove a certain cure for every species of these disorders.

MILK FEVER.

THIS disorder happens about the third or fourth day after delivery, and is owing to the congestion of milk in the breasts; it is attended with shivering fits like an ague, tension and swelling in the breasts, that extends to the arm-pits, which parts are often extremely painful. This fever continues a day or two, and sometime goes off of itself, by the benefit of nature, in plentiful sweats, pro­portionable to the preceding cold fits.

DISORDERS of the BREASTS.

IF there is a tumour and inflammation of the breasts after delivery, from the stagnation of the milk, it is proper to apply brandy or rum, hot, with linen cloths; or a white diachylon plaister, with a little camphor mixed with it; and the milk should be drawn by the nurse.

If the stagnation of the milk does not occasion great heat, the breasts may be bathed with warm red wine, spirits of wine and camphor, or a pultice of white bread and red wine, to which add a little spirits of wine and camphor.

If the breast seems likely to break, apply a pultice of white bread and milk, or a plaister of diachylon with the gums, spread thick on leather. When the swelling breaks, the wound must be dressed with yellow basilicon, every night and morning, till the disorder is cured.

CHAPT NIPPLES.

ANOINT them with oil and bees-wax, equal parts of each; or dab them with a little Hungary-water.

NOISE in the EARS,

MAY be cured by the vapour of a decoction of rose­mary flowers prepared with wine, being conveyed to the ear by a funnel.

A safe OPIATE for a Grown Person.

TAKE twenty drops of liquid laudanum in a glass of wine and water going to rest. The quantity must be porportionably lessened for children, according to their different ages.

OBSTRUCTIONS in either Sex.

TAKE species hiera picra half an ounce, salt of steel one drachm, make into pills of a moderate size with a little syrup of saffron: the dose is five pills twice a day.

OLD ULCERS.

When an ulcer is of long standing, it is dangerous to dry it up, without substituting in the place of a discharge, which is become almost natural, some other; such as purg­ing from time to time, or cutting an issue near the dis­eased part. To forward the cure, salt meats, spices, and strong liquors must be most avoided; the usual quantity of flesh meat should be lessened, and the body kept mode­rately open by a vegetable or milk diet; and if the ulcers are in the legs, it is of great importance to keep in a ly­ing posture; for negligence in this material point changes the slightest wounds into ulcers, and the most trifling ul­cers into obstinate and incurable ones.

PAIN in the STOMACH, see HEART­BURN.

PAINS in the JOINTS, see HIP-GOUT.

PILES. Signs of.

A violent pain at the time of going to stool, the ex­crements streak'd with blood, and small swellings like warts on the verge of the anus.

PALSY.

PERPETUAL blisters are serviceable, and the fol­lowing drops have frequently afforded great benefit: Take sal volatile drops half an ounce; lavender drops, and tincture [...], a quarter of an ounce each; mix them together: the dose is forty drops frequently in a glass of wine and water; or half a dram of wild valerian root in powder, may be taken three times in a day.

The diet should be warm and attenuating.

PLEURISY. Signs of.

A violent pain in the side, accompanied with heat, thirst, and other usual symptoms of a fever, and a trou­blesome [Page 30] cough; if the sick person is bled, the blood, when cold, looks like melted tallow.

POISON, to expel.

MILK mixed with sallad oil, or either of them alone, drank in large quantities, so as to occasion a plentiful dis­charge by vomit, yield the most certain relief, and there­fore should be administered to persons who are suspected to have taken any kind of poison, as soon as possible, and must be continued to be drank plentifully, 'till the violence of the symptoms are abated, and the sooner it is given the better.

QUINSEY, or SORE THROAT. Signs of.

A swelling of the parts concerned in deglutition, ac­companied with great pain, inflammation, and a fever, so as to hinder the swallowing any solid meats, and almost stop breathing.

RHEUMATISM. Signs of.

It begins with chillness and shivering, heaviness of the joints, and coldness of the extreme parts. The ap­petite [Page 31] is lost, the body is costive, and feverish, and a racking pain is felt sometimes in one part, sometimes in another; frequently shifting from place to place, and leaving a redness and swelling in the part visited last.

RICKETS in CHILDREN. Signs of.

A swelling of the belly, and constant desire of sitting still; the bones are crooked, and the joints seem very large, as if knotted; the head is over large, and the child's under­standing exceeds its years.

RETENTION of URINE.

TAKE a quarter of an ounce of nitre, a drachm of volatile salt of amber, a quarter of an ounce of powder of egg-shells, and half an ounce of fine sugar; mix them to­gether: the dose is as much as will lie on a shilling, two or three times a day, drinking a draught of marshmallow tea after each dose.

RUPTURES,

ARE cured in children and young persons by applying a strengthning plaister spread on leather, ( the composition [Page 32] of which is set down in our Appendix,) and a truss, which may be had at any truss-makers in London.

SCALD-HEAD.

FIRST shave, then cover the head with a pitch plaister spread on leather, and give inwardly one grain of calomel, made into a pill, with a little conserve of roses, every night going to rest, and a dose of cooling physick twice in a week.

STRANGURY.

TAKE half a drachm of camphor, a scruple of pow­dered gum arabic, liquid laudanum five drops, with a sufficient quantity of turpentine to make it into a bolus, to be taken night and morning, drinking a draught of marshmallow tea after each dose.

STITCH in the SIDE, see PLEURISY

SCURVY. Signs of.

A sallow complexion, difficulty of breathing after exer­cise, spongy gums subject to bleed with the slightest touch, frequent bleeding at the nose, a swelling of the legs, ac­companied with livid spots, and unusual laziness, and pains over the whole body, resembling the rheumatism.

SLOW FEVER, see NERVOUS FEVER.

SMALL-POX. Signs of.

A chillness, shivering, and other usual symptoms of a fever, attended with a violent pain in the head and back, and an inclination to vomit, and great propensity to sweat. In children, a dulness, and drowsiness, and sometimes epileptic fits; about the third or fourth day, red spots a­bout the size of a pin's head appear on the breast, face, and the whole body, which increase in size every day, till they are of the size of a large pea, and are filled with matter.

SHINGLES. Signs of.

An eruption of watery pustules, about the size of mil­let seeds, which encircle the body like a belt, of an hand's breadth, and occasion an intolerable itching and soreness.

SPRAINS.

AFTER fomenting with warm vinegar, apply a pultice of stale beer grounds, and oatmeal, with a little hog's lard, every day till the pain and swelling are abated; then apply the strengthening plaister directed in our Appendix. Observing the following rules, will much shorten the cure: let the person stand three or four minutes at a time on both his feet, and sometimes move the strained foot; and when sitting with his foot on a low stool, let him move it this way or that as he can bear it; let the strained part be gently rubbed with a warm hand several times in a day, which will contribute very much to contract the over­stretched vessels, and recover a due circulation of their fluids through them.

TEETH, Difficult cutting of,

IF the child is costive, a few grains of rhubarb mixed with an equal quantity of magnesia alba, according to its age and strength, must be given every night in a little pap; hartshorn drops in the quantity of three or four drops in a spoonful of water, are proper three or four times in a day: if this method does not give relief, the gums must be lanced to give opportunity for the tooth to make its way.

STONE, see GRAVEL.

SWEATING, Excessive.

TAKE twenty drops of acid elixir of vitriol, in a glass of water, two or three times a day.

SWELLED LEGS.

TAKE the same medicines which are advised under the article of the Dropsy.

TOOTH-ACH.

THE root of yellow water flower de luce rubbed on the tooth which is painful, or chewed in the mouth, in an in­stant, as if by a charm, drives away the pains of the teeth, arising from what cause soever. Or take camphor and opium of each as much as a large pin's head, and put it in the hollow tooth; a blister may also be applied behind the ear.

THROAT SORE, see QUINSEY.

Putrid SORE THROAT. Signs of.

A giddiness, chillness, and shivering, like that of an ague fit, followed by an intense heat, a violent head-ach, heat and soreness in the throat, stiffness of the neck, great sickness, vomiting or purging, or both; the face looks red and swelled, the eyes inflamed and watery, with restlessness, anxiety and faintness; frequently a great num­ber of small pimples appear on the neck, breast, and hands, which are sensibly swelled; the inside of the mouth and throat are swelled, and appear of a florid red colour, sometimes of a pale white, surrounded with red.

TETTARS.

TAKE four ounces of sweet oil, one ounce of white wax, one ounce of sperma ceti, and twenty-five grains of camphor; mix them together for a liniment, with which gently touch the tettars three or four times in a day.

THIRST, unquenchable.

A quart of water mixed with an ounce or two of white wine vinegar will make an agreeable drink, and has been known to extinguish the most violent thirst after other liquors have in vain been tried for that purpose.

THRUSH. Signs of.

Little white ulcers affect the lips, gums, cheeks, tongue, palate, and the whole inside of the mouth.

TYMPANY. Signs of.

A great swelling in the belly, which being occasioned by air pent up in the cavity of the belly, gives a hollow sound when struck by the hand.

VIOLENT PAINS after DELIVERY, See AFTER-PAINS.

VOMITING.

TAKE mint water one ounce, lemon-juice half an ounce, a scruple of salt of wormwood, mix them for one dose, to be repeated as occasion may require.

ULCER of the LUNGS.

REQUIRES the same treatment as is directed under the article of Consumptions.

ULCER of the KIDNEYS. Signs of.

Fleshy excrescences are voided by urine. The heat and pain in making water comes by intervals; the matter that comes from the kidneys is more plentiful, white and thin, than in an ulcer of the bladder, and is not foetid; the urine looks like milk when first made, but after standing some hours, the matter separates from it, and falls to the bottom.

ULCER of the BLADDER. Signs of.

A voiding of stinking matter or blood, and sometimes scales, or a membranous skin along with the urine, and a continual heat and pains in the urinary passages.

ULCER of the WOMB. Signs of.

A flux of purulent matter, or matter mixt with blood, which is more viscid and foetid than the whites, and at­tended with a fixed pain.

WARTS,

MAY be mov'd by rubbing them with the juice of celandine, or milk of spurge; but when they are situated about the eye-lids, to prevent hurting the eyes, it is pro­per to surround the wart with a ring of wax, or a piece of plaister with a hole in the middle, so that the wart may come through, by which means the warts will be destroyed, without hurting any other part.

WATERY GRIPES in Children.

TAKE half a drachm of magnesia alba, and half a drachm of rhubarb, mix them together, and give the child three or four grains in its pap every morning and [Page 39] evening. Or take a spoonful of hemp seed, and boil it in half a pint of water, sweetened with sugar. This will also cure the cholic in grown persons.

WHITES. Signs of.

A flux of matter from the womb, attended with a pain and weight in the loins, loss of appetite, pale complexion, difficulty of breathing, a liableness to miscarriage, and a swelling of the eyes and feet.

WIND.

TAKE the powder of angelica seeds, carraway seeds, and parsley seeds, of each a quarter of an ounce; make them into an electuary with the syrup of clove gilliflowers; the dose is the quantity of a nutmeg at discretion.

WHITE SWELLINGS of the Joints.

ANOINT the part with Barbados tar, before a good fire, two or three times in a day, covering it with a bladder, and drink half a pint of sea-water every morning fasting.

WASTING AWAY of Children.

TAKE salt of tartar, nitre and arcanum duplicatum, of each a quarter of an ounce; sal armoniac three drachms; [Page 40] mix them together; a very little of this must be put into the child's drink, according to its age.

WHITLOES.

THIS disorder begins with a slow heavy pain; but in a little time the pain, heat and throbbing become intolerable; the part swells and grows red, and sometimes the whole hand is inflamed and swelled: on its first appearance the finger affected should be plunged in hot water or held over the steam of boiling water; and by doing this frequently for the first day, a cure has been often obtained; but when the disorder is further advanced, a pultice of white bread and milk must be applied.

WORMS. Signs of.

Paleness of the countenance, itching of the nose, vo­raciousness, startings, and grinding the teeth in sleep, loosenesses, stinking breath, hard swelled belly, and sometimes epileptic fits.

GREEN WOUNDS.

DRESS them every day, with yellow basilicon spread on fine lint, after fomenting them well with the fomentation, the receipt for making which is inserted in the Appendix.

Directions for preserving Health, and attaining long Life.

HEALTH has been ever esteemed the first of bles­sings, and consequently every endeavour towards its preservation, deserves encouragement. This considera­tion induces me to publish the following remarks, from a thorough conviction of the truth they contain; which ought, with every honest man, to outweigh every timi­dity of its reception, and give him courage to offer, at all risques, what, by well-grounded experience, appears to him, (from its nature) of general utility to mankind.

The air, which is a fluid elastic substance that surrounds us on all sides, penetrates our bodies, and yet is so fine, that it escapes the sight, is rarified by heat, and con­densed by cold: it is so necessary, that an animal cannot live a moment without it; it serves for respiration or breathing, and is susceptible of different qualities; it may be hot, moist, cold, dry, serene, pure, and temperate. It is subject to variations more or less sudden, and to be mixed with impure, corrupted, infectious vapours, which are prejudicial to health. The sudden changes of the air are dangerous; whence proceed a great number of dis­eases which reign in the spring and autumn. Towards the approach of winter, hospitals, prisons, places where armies are encamped, places where lead is melted, and the earth just thrown up, near dunghills, &c. are unhealthy, on account of the bad exhalations. Too hot an air occasions malignant and putrid fevers: a cold and moist constitu­tion of the air produces coughs, pleurisies, rheumatisms, agues, &c. for instance, agues are common in the Fens of Cambridgeshire and Lincolnshire, and the Hundreds of Essex, on account of their marshy situation, and the moist vapours which weaken the fibres of the body, and ob­struct the pores of the skin, and consequently diminish the discharge of the skin, called insensible perspiration. Hence it appears, that, to preserve health, dunghills should never be placed too near the dwelling-house, since the cor­rupted vapours which are continually exhaling from them, cannot sail being in time prejudicial, and causing malig­nant fevers; for though those who are used to them, do [Page 42] not preceive their offensiveness, yet the cause does not cease its unwholsome activity.

From what has been observed with respect to hospitals and jails, the necessity of daily opening the windows of a bedchamber must clearly appear, to prevent the bad con­sequences which arise from soul and confined air; and why houses should be built rather raised above the level of the earth, than sunk beneath its surface; and the exposure of the front should be to the south-east, this being the most wholesome aspect.

Our constitution, from the loss it daily sustains, re­quires to be repaired by aliment and drink; hence a know­ledge of their general kinds and qualities is necessary, in order to make a proper choice thereof.

The principal and most general food is bread, made of wheat, barley, rye, or oats: wheaten bread is most nou­rishing; barley is dry; rye and oats laxative. The crust is most easy of digestion; the crumb more oily and heavy; though other mealy substances, beans, pease, potatoes, &c. nourish much, but are windy, heavy, and viscid, and their constant use is apt to cause obstructions, unless a great deal of exercise is used. Rice is emollient and nou­rishing; but nuts, almonds, and chesnuts, &c. though they abound with nutritious particles, are hard of di­gestion.

Pulpy, tart fruits, which abound with juice, eaten ripe, are refreshing, cooling, quench thirst, and are easy of di­gestion; such as strawberries, rasberries, currants, mul­berries, gooseberries, cherries, apples, pears, appricots, peaches, nectarines, &c. Remark, contrary to the com­mon prejudice which generally prevails, that fruits are hurtful in the bloody flux, and even occasion this disor­der, they may be eaten with great safety in the bloody flux, and are indeed the real preservatives against it, as is confirmed by the experience of the most eminent physi­cians: the cause of this disorder being an excess of flesh meats, too moist a state of the air, a succession of cold showers to violent heats, and uncleanliness. In fact, this disorder has been observed less frequent, and less dan­gerous, when fruits were plenty and cheap; so that to escape this distemper when it is rise, ripe fruits are to be eaten in plenty, and the quantity of flesh meats are to be lessened considerably.

[Page 43] Pot herbs and roots are less nourishing than the mealy substances. Lettice, succor [...], endive, sorrel, purslain, &c. [...] moisten, and are laxative. Artichokes, cellery, cresses, asparagus, parsley, &c. are a little heating. Truffles, mushrooms, onions, garlic, pepper, mustard, and the other spices, heat very much, and are therefore less whole­some in particular constitutions.

Animal food differs very much with regard to its kind, [...] manner of living and substance. Fish nourish the [...] animals. Young animals have the greatest [...] nourishing juice, but that of the older is [...] and nourishing. Yet though the juices of [...] animals are most gelatinous, and agreeable to the taste, their flesh is the hardest, and most difficult of di­gestion. Wild animals are more light, and easier of di­gestion, than the [...]; their white parts contain a very juicy substance of tender fibres, yield a soft food, and are easy of digestion.

Liquid aliments, are milk, eggs, chocolate, soups, broths, &c. Milk, requiring but little preparation in the stomach, is a good [...] for persons whose stomachs are weak, and children; new-laid eggs are very nourish­ing, and easy of digestion, therefore agree with exhausted and old persons. Chocolate nourishes greatly, strengthens the stomach, helps digestion, and softens sharp humours; whence it is proper for weak stomachs and consumptive persons. Broths and soups abound with a soft, moistning, nutritious jelly, whence they are great restoratives. Meat that is roasted, contains an excellent nourishing juice, the moist parts being dissipated by the fire. Things that are tried, are only proper for strong stomachs.

Drink restores the fluid parts of the body, and helps di­gestion; the principal and most salutary is water, of which the softest is best, which is known by its lathering easily with soap; but taken in too great quantities, it re­laxes and weakens the stomach, and causes many disor­ders. Wine in moderation strengthens the solids, and promotes digestion; but if used in excess, as well as bran­dy, rum, and all other spirituous liquors, hardens the fi­bres, weakens the nerves, destroys the appetite, and causes gout, stone, and other chronic diseases; that malt liquor is the wholesomest which is the lightest and clearest; for then it does not offend the stomach, but passes readily [Page 44] through the emunctories or strainers of the body, and particularly by urine; whence the best beer does not make the head ach nor grow sour on the stomach, nor cause wind. The making wholesome beer depends greatly on the softness of the water, the proper boiling of the ingredients, and a due working of the wo [...]t; for all thick, muddy, or stale beer, not sufficiently boiled, dis­orders the head, causes wind in the stomach, obstructions, the strangury, asthmas, cholics, and ulcers in the legs. Tea, used in moderation, promotes perspiration, or the discharge by the skin, strengthens the stomach, and helps digestion; but that kind of tea which is called hyson, is improper for persons who have weak nerves or subject to hysteric disorders. Coffee, drank after dinner, is thought to quicken digestion, and allay the fumes of wine; but if used in excess, it agitates the blood, causes watching, and promotes hemorrhages or bleedings from the nose, or other parts.

Spices, pepper, &c. are pernicious, when used to create an appetite; whence made dishes are bad; for the appe­tite caused by the quality and difference of the victuals, in­cites persons to eat more than the stomach can well di­gest; which causes indigestion, and frequently dangerous and fatal disorders. With respect to diet, the surest me­thod of preserving health, is to live on plain, simple food, lightly season'd, in that quantity which, by experience, nature has been found to require. Perfect digestion is the best rule for regulating a meal, which is known from per­sons being more lively and brisk after a meal than before. History furnishes us with many examples of persons, who, by temperance, has lived to a very advanced age, though of weakly constitutions naturally; wherefore those that are desirous of life and health, should imitate their man­ner of living; since excesses in eating and drinking are both extremely dangerous.

Strong, robust, young people, who use much exercise, ought to eat more than others, and may be free with the grosser kinds of food; for their stomachs being strong, the lighter foods would digest too easily, and be dissipated too soon. Persons of a weak constitution, or who are just recovered from a disease, should use soft, light foods, agreeable to the stomach. Children, whose stomachs are weak, and vessels fine, ought to use a light, thin, soft [Page 45] food, easy of digestion; wherefore infants should be fed with a fl [...]d milk, to avoid causing obstructions in their fine and delicate vessels; consequently the milk of a nurse newly brought to bed, is more proper for a new born in­fant, than the milk of a nurse who has been delivered five or six months, because her milk begins to have too great a consistence. Nurses should observe an exact diet, and shun violent passions of all kinds; for they disturb diges­tion, and communicate their bad effects to the child. When children are weaned, they should not be accusto­med to spirituous liquors, or strong food, especially salt or [...] provisions, because they are hard of digestion, and [...] bad nourishment. Their diet should consist of light animal food, taken in a small quantity at a time, but often. At all times of life, but especially in old age, the constant use of salt and smoaked meats tends to harden and stiffen the solid parts of the body, instead of afford­ing good nourishment; being hard of digestion: in old age the fluids are more thick, secretious, more slow, and the solids harder than in youth; therefore they require a more soft, moistning diet, easy of digestion, and not too much at a time, especially of a night.

All great changes ought to be brought about insensibly, for custom is a second nature, and an acquired habit is hard to be left off. Many persons enjoy a good state of health when their meat and drink are very indifferent, by being accustomed thereto; and are apt to be sick, when they attempt to change their manner of life. Custom confines us to certain hours, but hunger points out the best time of eating. In age, where strength is wanting, and in youth, wherein there is a great dissipation, when much is not eaten at a time, something taken between the [...] is not improper. It is necessary to observe, that when the stomach is bad, persons should not begin to eat again, till the last meal is digested.

Persons who are much fatigued should rest before eating; and, in cases of distress and sorrow, the food should be now light, and small in quantity, because the stomach is weak at those times.

The stomach will admit of grosser food in winter than summer. Those who eat in a hurry, without much chew­ing, are subject to indigestion; for digestion depends in part on well chewing the food, and thereby intimately [Page 46] mixing it with the spittle; for this reason light foods are most proper for children, and old persons who have lost their teeth.

Vegetables are more difficult of digestion than animal food, therefore improper for weak stomachs. On this ac­count, light food, such as veal, lamb, chicken, fish, are the food which best agree with delicate constitutions. On the contrary, stronger habits are most subject to be [...] with tender and young meats, than with beef, and mutton; because the degree of heat which convert beef and mutton into the true state it ought to have in the stomach, carry the tender aliment of lamb, pig, chickens, &c. into a stercorous or excremental state, before it leaves the stomach; whence fluxes, &c. In such strong stomachs, it is necessary to mix vegetables with the animal food, that the fermentation of the one may oppose the too pre­cipitate digestion of the other by its acidity. Hence it is obvious, that weak stomachs should abstain from vegeta­bles, which require a greater degree of vital heat than even beef or mutton, to be converted into proper nourish­ment. This, I hope, will satisfactorily explain the terms of easy and difficult digestion. The stomach, which can bear beef and water, cannot bear roasted pig and water, from too great a power of digestion, not from any defici­ency in those faculties; therefore beef and mutton are more easy of digestion than lamb, or any of the white meats; and the contrary in weak stomachs. Surfeits, from lobsters, crabs, &c. are of the kind which rise from a too sudden change of these substances in the stomach; therefore they should be always eaten with vinegar or lemon juice. In fact, butter is no bad preservative against surfeits in this instance; the oil blending with the [...] salts, forms a soap of that which would otherwise be a more acrimonious, inflammatory, and offensive substance.

Sleep restores the strength, and repairs and replaces the wastes which are made by the labour and exercise of the day. The proper time for sleep is the night when dark­ness and silence invite and brings it on; day sleep is less re­freshing, exercise and custom should regulate its duration; six or seven hours at a time is generally thought sufficient, for excessive sleeping is attended with great inconveniencies; it [...] the senses, and renders them less fit for the duties of life.

[Page 47] It is beneficial to vary the scenes of life; to be sometimes in the country, some-times in town; to go to sea, to hunt, to be at rest now and then; but more frequently to use exercise, because a sedentary life brings on many indisposi­tions, and renders the body weak and inactive; while, on the other hand, exercise and labour strengthen it. But moderation is to be observed in all these things, and too much fatigue to be avoided; for too frequent and violent exercise [...] powers the natural strength, and wastes the body. Of all kinds of exercise, riding on horseback is the most [...]. I have known many instances of per­sons recovering thereby from the most [...] state, in consumptions, dropsies, cholics and nervous disorders.

In old age there is seldom sufficient strength to use bodily exercise, though so very requisite for health; wherefore frictions with the flesh-brush are necessary, at this time of life, to promote perspiration, which should be done by the person himself if possible.

I have already taken notice, that cold stops the pores of the skin, and diminishes both sweat and perspiration. To avoid this inconvenience, the winter cloathing should be put on pretty early in the season, and be left off late; besides care must be taken not to pass too suddenly from hot into a cold air, and to forbear drinking any thing cold, when the body has been violently heated.

The passions and affections of the mind, viz. joy, fear, anger, &c. produce very sensible effects, and when too much given way to, have a very bad effect on health, for they affect the stomach, hinder digestion, and chylification; whence arise many terrible disorders: wherefore it is best to keep them in bounds as much as possible, and to pre­serve an inward serenity, calmness, and tranquility.

Excessive venery must be avoided, since the action of coition is very impetuous, and comes near to a convulsion. The animal heat is greatly lessened thereby, the habit of body weakened wonderfully, and the whole nervous system largely injured.

RULES for nursing SICK PERSONS.

It is a great mistake, to suppose that all distempers are cured by sweating; and that, to procure sweat, sick per­sons [Page 48] must take hot medicines, and keep themselves very hot; for sweating carries off the thinner part of the blood, leaving the remainder more dry, thick and inflamed, which must evidently increase the disorder; for, instead of forcing out the watery part of the blood, we should rather endeavour to increase it, by drinking freely of barley-wa­ter, balm tea, lemonade, or any other diluting liquor made luke warm. What has been already said on the head of soul confined air, shews the absurdity of stifling the sick person with the heat of a close apartment, and a load of bed-cloaths; for these two causes are sufficient alone to pro­duce a fever, even in an healthy person. By letting in a little fresh air now and then into a sick person's room, and lessening the bed-cloaths, you will almost always perceive the fever and oppression in some measure abate. Instead of venice treacle, saffron, gascoign powder, and other heating medicines, in all feverish disorders, the belly should be kept moderately open; whilst those medicines just mentioned render the body costive, and must necessarily have a bad effect.

Fevers are aggravated by giving the sick persons food through fear of their dying of weakness; which food in­creases the disorder, and renders it fatal. This fear is groundless; persons in a fever may be supported, even for some weeks, with liquids only; and are stronger at the expiration of that time than if they had taken more solid nourishment; for, from the first attack of a fever, what­ever solid food is taken, even soup, eggs, biscuit, &c. corrupts in the stomach. If a man in perfect health was to eat stinking meat, rotten eggs, four broths, &c. he would be seized with vomiting, load at the stomach, a purging, fever, and eruptions of the skin.

The same articles, even in the soundest state, given to a person in a fever, are quickly putrified, by the heat and diseased matter already in his stomach, and in a few hours produce the same effects. Is it then possible to expect the least service from them? No: as long as a sick person has a bad humour in his stomach, his weakness increases, in proportion to the food he receives; for this food being corrupted by the infected matter already there, proves in­capable of affording the least nourishment; on the contrary, becomes an additional cause of the distemper. Besides, to heat and cram the sick person, is wholly opposite to what [Page 49] nature herself indicates: the burning heat of which they complain, the dryness of the lips, tongue, and throat, the high colour of their urine, their earnest longing after cooling things, the pleasure and benefit they receive from the admission of fresh air into their chamber, are so many proofs that we ought to cool them moderately, by refresh­ing and diluting liquors, such as balm tea, lemonade, &c. to promote an easy discharge of the vitiated humours. Those who have the care of sick persons, should particu­larly attend to this observation, that as long as there is any taste of bitterness, sickness, or desire of reaching; bad breath, heat, and feverishness, with offensive stools, and high-coloured urine made in a small quantity only; so long all flesh meats, soups, eggs, and all kind of food composed of any of them, and all heating medicines, wine, &c. are so many absolute poisons.

If the sick person has not two motions for stool in the twenty four hours; if the urine is high coloured, the fever runs high, the pain of the head and loins considerable, a glyster of warm water with sweet oil, and a little common salt, should be given once in a day. As long as the patient has strength for it, he should fit up out of bed an hour daily, and longer if he can bear it; but he should not be raised whilst in a sweat. His linen should be changed every other day, taking care that the clean linen is well aired; for nothing conduces more to continue the fever and light­headedness, than confining the sick constantly to their bed, and preventing their changing their foul linen.

Persons recovering from distempers, require great care and attention; in proportion to the abatement and decline of the fever, their quantity of food may be gradually in­creased; and when the fever is entirely gone, the sick person may venture on a little white meat, such as chicken, rabbit, whitings, flounders, or other flat fish; but salmon, eels, carp, skait, haddock, and the like, are not to be ventured on 'till the recovery is absolutely perfected: Soups, new-laid eggs, and a little wine diluted with water; but these are to be used with great moderation, because the stomach, being extremely weakened by the disease, is ca­pable only as yet of a small degree of digestion; and if the quantity of nourishment exceeds its power ever so little, it will not digest, but become putrid, and delay the recovery.

[Page 50] To procure a compleat and perfect termination of acute diseases, observe the following rules:

Let persons recovering, as well as those who are sick, take very little food at a time, and take it often.

Let their meal consist of one kind of food only, and let them chew their food well.

Lessen their quantity of drink; the best in general is wine and water; three parts water, to one part wine; for too great a quantity of liquids prevent the stomach from recovering its tone, and increases the tendency to a swell­ing of the legs.

Riding on horseback, as often as they are able, is abso­lutely necessary: the properest time for this exercise is in the forenoon.

They should eat nothing, or at most but very little, in the evening, as persons in this state are seldom quite so well towards night. Their sleep will be the less disturb­ed for this caution: seven or eight hours, at most, are as much as should be allotted for lying in bed.

A stool is not absolutely necessary every day; but if the costiveness exceeds the second day, a glyster should be ad­ministered; or sooner, if the person feels uneasy, is rest­less, or has the head-ach.

If after some time they still continue very weak, and their stomach is disordered, and they have, from time to time, a little irregular fever, they should take a tea-cup full of the decoction of the Peruvian bark, three or four times in a day, which may be prepared by boiling an ounce of the best bark in powder, in a quart of water, 'till two thirds are wasted away, and then adding to the remainder a gill of red wine.

Labouring men must by no means return to work too soon after their recovery, left it prevent their ever getting perfectly well, and entirely recovering their lost strength.

DIRECTIONS concerning BLEEDING.

THOUGH bleeding has been directed in many disor­ders in the course of this work; yet, as the improper use of it is attended frequently with the most fatal consequen­ces, it has been judged necessary to bring into one point of view all those cases in which bleeding may be admini­stered [Page 51] with advantage, as well as those in which it is highly prejudicial. In all inflammatory diseases, it should by no means be omitted, as in the pleurisy, and peripneumony, during the first days; but so soon as the symptoms of sup­puration appear, expectorating medicines are the most pro­per means from which to expect relief, and the use of the lancet must be totally forbid. In the apoplexy, epilepsy, bloody-flux and inflammation of the bowels, bleeding must be repeated according to the exigence of the symp­toms: it is also useful, sometimes to promote suppuration in large abcesses, where nature is too much opprest by the violence of the inflammation. In inflammations of the eyes, bladder, or womb, ischiatic pains, rheumatisms, coughs, pleurisy, head-achs, quinseys, asthmas, hemorr­hages, and nephritic complaints, bleeding is of the ut­most service; but in every disorder proceeding from a relaxed state of the solid parts, and impoverished state of the blood, attended with a cachectic habit of body, such as dropsies, jaundice, gout, &c. bleeding must be ab­stained from with the utmost caution, as it will, instead of relieving, greatly aggravate those distempers.