AMONGST all the Diseases incident to Hu­mane Bodies, there is none more predomi­nant (tho' least regarded) than the Scurvy, a Disease that seems incident to this Cli­mate, and which spares none of any Age, Sex or Constitution, being a general Malady scarcely ta­ken Notice of, because it seldom kills, tho at the same time it introduces many direful Distempers, and proves the principal and efficient Occasion thereof.

The cause of the Scurvy, is from an acid corrosive Humour tainting the Blood and Juices of the Body, incumbred with Earthy Sulphurs of a Nature rebel­lious and stubborn, and attended sometimes (especially when inveterate) with a very strong Smell or Stench; which Volatile Saline Acid, irritates the Nerves and Membranes, sharpens the Lymph, debauches the in­nate Spirits of the Parts, and perverts the equal Tem­perature of the Blood; this is the immediate cause of the Scurvy: But the remote Causes, are the Sea-Air, and the Specifick Malignity of the Stagnated Waters and the Earth, affecting, by their corrosive Effluvium's, also [Page 2] by infection, an hereditary conveyance from the Pa­rent, and from gross, faeculent and obstructive Dyet, especially if over-charged with Salt, or render'd hard and compact with Smoke, as dry'd Neats Tongues, Bacon, Sawcages, red Herrings, dry'd Salmon, hung Beef, &c. do not only contribute Matter, but obtain also a peculiar faculty of impressing a Scorbutick Idea on it: Of the same Nature are Melancholick Meats, as Beef, Pork, Geese, Ducks, Salt-fish, and all other Fish that are bred in Standing Waters, as Eeles and others; also pickled and marinaded Fish, as pickled Her­rings, Anchovies, and the like, which bears a great part in this Morbifick Production; also a Salin Air render'd thick and constipative by Vapours and Damps, Nitrous Evaporations out of the Earth, filled with pu­trid Steams of Sinks, Gutters, Ditches, muddy and dirty Streets, and Sulphurous Smokes of Chimneys, stagnating and pent up between narrow Lanes and Corners, and seldom or but little serenated, or putrify'd, by the Rays of a clear shining Sun, nor frequently ven­tilated with Easterly Breezes, and such is the Clime of London, where the Air is experienced close, dull, damp, salin and muddy, over-spread with dense, dark, salin Clouds (attracted out of the Sea) for two Thirds, if not three Fourth Parts of the Year, during which time the Winds seldom blow Easterly, or is fa­vour'd with a smiling Sun; the two, viz. Dyet and State of the Air, &c. are accounted by all, the princi­pal, external and internal Agents or Causes of the Scurvy, agressing the Body both within and without; the first by making its efforts on the Stomach and its Ferment, thereby assaulting the Blood and animal Li­quor; and the latter, by entring the external Pores by their subtle effluvium's, as is most certainly and at large set forth in a late ingenious Tract, entituled, Scelera Aquarum; Wherein the Author tells us,

However, the Scurvy; whether from immediate or remote Causes, is certainly a Corruption and Putre­faction of the Blood and Humours; whence the Con­coction being hurt, the Stomach (which is the Index of Diseases) is depraved, Obstructions of the Liver and Spleen, &c. are occasion'd, bringing, by degrees, a general Cachexie, or evil Habit of Body; whereby ma­nifold and complicated Distempers are at length intro­duced, which affects all Persons according to their va­rious and different Tempers and Constitutions.

Such I say is the Scurvy, that grand Enemy to Health, and only reigning Disease of this Kingdom, which Per­sons of all Ranks, Ages and Sexes are more or less af­flicted with, it being the original and productive Cause of almost all the Distempers incident to Humane Bodies; and from which alone Disease (if not timely removed) more especially proceed Rheumatisms, Gouts, Fevers, Agues, Jaundice, Green-sickness, Dropsies, Cholicks, Stone and Gravel, Phtysicks, Consumptions, Convul­sions, Apoplexies, Palfies, Hectick Fevers, Hypochon­driack Melancholly, Hysterick Passion, Vapours, Fits of the Mother, Rickets in Children, Kings-evil, Fall­ing Sickness, and the like, which these Pills, if taken, both prevents and Cures; their Reputation having, by their manifold Vertues, been kept up for many Years, and accounted the only Sovereign Medicine in the whole Art of Physick, against all Scorbutick Distem­pers whatsoever; they penetrating, in a very short space, the whole Humane Body from Head to Foot; [Page 6] and tho' they never till now were made publick to the World, yet many Thousands of Boxes have been dispersed with wonderful Success, not only here in England, but also in Germany, Holland, and other remote Countries, where that devouring Disease, the Scurvy, hath likewise predominated, they being so cer­tain a Cure for that stubborn and rebellious Disease, that Thousands have been cured, when the Distemper has grown so inveterate and deplorable, as to become a shame and scandal to those that have had it, and which hath been taken by many to be some bad Distemper; for the Scurvy often causes great Pains in the Head, Nose, Shoulders, Arms, Hips, Legs, and Bones, with the Sciatick and other tormenting Pains all over the whole Body, whereby they sleep ill, and tumble and toss in the Night with great uneasiness and trouble, and are attended with a heaviness and weari­ness, having reddish or blueish Spots or Breakings out on the Skin, weakness in the Back, Loyns and Knees, a bad Stomach, and sometimes loss of Appetite, strong or stinking Breath, looseness or foreness of the Teeth and Gums, Throat and Mouth, with Itchings, Pim­ples, Blotches, Boiles, Ulcers, Morphews, Scabs, Scurf, a general Weakness and Faintness over the whole Body; the Scurvy most commonly afflicting People after va­rious means, and sometimes with Vomitings, Loose­nesses, and the disguise of almost innumerable Distem­pers, according to their Constitutions, different Situa­tions and Places where they dwell, and so resemble all manner of Illess, too tedious here to enumerate, as that its no wonder their Diseases are so frequently mi­staken, and doth, with so much violence and force, of­tentimes wander about the Body and affect it, that if it be neglected, it will at last get into the Bones, and infect the very Marrow thereof, yet notwithstanding (so famous are these most excellent Pills) the Cure then will be performed, by only a few times more than or­dinary taking of them.

Tho' it is advised, that upon the appearance of any of those Symptoms, you have speedy recourse to these Pills, which will prevent their increase, and carry them [Page 7] off with less trouble and difficulty; there being scarce one Disease which People are afflicted with here in this Climate, but the principal and efficient Cause thereof is the Scurvy, that Disease carrying Thousands to their Graves, when it scarcely has been known-of what Di­stempers they have dy'd, there being very few that discerns, or indeed will give, themselves the trouble to consider what the original Cause or occasion thereof is, tho' it too manifestly appears (as every judicious Phy­sician may discover, if he will,) that it is the Scurvy. Therefore be well advis'd about your Distemper, and run not into the Hands of inconsiderate Practitioners, who take not due Thoughts about the original Cause; for how many, both Old and Young, are daily carri­ed off by Fevers, Rheumatisins, Apoplexies, Con­sumptions, Convulsions, Rickets, King's-evil, and the like; which, if the original Cause had been con­sulted, and timely recourse had to these famous Pills, might in all probability have been alive to this day; these Pills being very harmless and safe, and proves the only Universal, Purgative, Preservative, Preventative and Curative Remedy, in the whole Republick of Me­dicine.

They wonderfully, so far as any Purging Medicine can▪ prevent and cure the Dropsy and Gout speedily (those Diseases being the product of the Scurvy) taking away the Water in one, and the Pain in the other, tho' never so great, and not only gives present Ease, Relief, and Comfort in the Gout, and that beyond expectati­on, but also very much lessens, if not totally prevents the Pains returning for the future, they working gent­ly by Stool and Urine, and sometimes by Vomit, if the Stomach be very foul, without the least Griping or ma­king sick; thereby curing most curable Diseases, by stirring up and discharging those lurking, offending Humours, sweetning the Mass of Blood and Juices, and bringing the ill and untoward Habit of Body into a good, sound and firm Disposition: These Pills having cured numbers of Persons both of Dropsies and Gouts, and that in a very short time; some of which have been given over as incurable, others have gone above [Page 8] a dozen Years upon Crutches, and never heard to this Day, that they ever mist the Cure of one Person al­though they have been used in Practice for above Twenty Years.

These Pills are admirably good against Consumpti­ons of all sorts, that disheartning Disease so daily and apparently dwindling a Person to the Grave (and is the manifest product of the Scurvy) not so much from their adding of Matter, as by taking away the Obstru­ctions, which hinder the Nourishment from going to its respective Parts; in which Disease, whether in Old or Young, they have done Miracles, making the Per­sons grow plump and full, who but a while before were reduced to nothing but Skin and Bones; and this they have generally performed, and scarcely been ever known to fail.

Also in that rebellious, troublesome and oftentimes loathsome Disease, the King's-evil, whether hereditary or not, which numbers of Persons of different Ages and Sexes are infested with; they are a wonderful Help and Cure, whether in the Swellings or running Sores, disposing the vitiated and scorbutick Blood and Hu­mours into such a state, that the Disease is as it were pulled up by the Roots as never to return again.

These famous Pills are the most excellent Head-purge in Nature, and that for all Diseases therein, as Head­ach, Megrim or Swimming, Vertigo or Giddiness, Le­thargy, Frenzy, Madness, Melancholy, Diseases of the Spleen, Dimness of Sight, Rheums and all other Di­stempers in the Eyes, Deasness, Noise in the Ears, Drowsiness, Heaviness or Dulness of the Spirits, &c. (all these Distempers proceeding originally from Scor­butick habits) and is a Medicine beyond any ever yet known, being of so Amicable a Property, that none can pretend to a greater Secret to extirpate the Scurvy and all the effects thereof; there being no Disease so remote or abstruse soever in the Body of Man, but these Pills will find out, insinuate into, and potently and universally expel or throw out.

These Pills are an admirable help for such Persons, who are unhappily afflicted with the Scurvy to that [Page 9] degree, as to be exercised with Hypochondriack Disaffe­ctions, Hysterick Passions, risings in the Throat, the frightful, and as it were dying Disease, the Vapours of all sorts, Fits of the Mother, Cloggings, Stuffings, Gnawings or Illness at Stomach, whether from Wind, Humours, or the like; also for such as grow too fat, sweat much, and have nauseous spittings in the Morn­ing, Bleeding at Nose, Cachexies, have costive or hot Bodies, and for all as have lost their Complexions by the Green-sickness, Jaundice or otherwise, and such as are overtaken with lingring Diseases, growing worse and worse every Year than other, not knowing well what they ail, having ill Digestions, Stoppages in the Head and Breast, shortness of Breath, &c. till such time as they fall into Dropsies, Hectick Fevers, or deep Consumptions, pining and wasting away with dry Coughs, Wheesings, faint Sweats in the Day or Night, Weakness, fainting Fits, and the like. These admira­bly Pills carry off all those Diseases the right way, by taking them twice or thrice in a Month, or oftner if you find occasion.

They are the best Physick in Nature for to take Spring and Fall, as a Preventative Remedy and to preserve Health, as most People that have any regard to the welfare and security thereof, are mindful to take; and likewise from any Disorder or Indisposition, whether from Heats or Colds, Surfeits by eating or drinking, or the like. If taken as soon as your perceive your self ill, they most assuredly prevent any Fever or other Disease from invading you; and there is as much pru­dence in taking Physick Spring and Fall, twice or three times in each Season, to discharge the peccant Humours which are heap'd up in the Stomach and lodge there (tho' at the same time you seem to be very well in Health) thereby to preserve from, and prevent Diseases which all Persons are liable to every Moment, as there is to take Physick for curing those Diseases when they have seized you; and no Person that desires a happy and healthy State of Body, will be so imprudent to neglect that which is so absolutely and undeniably ne­cessary for for the preservation thereof; and I can assure [Page 10] them, from a very large Experience, that no Physick under the Sun will answer such a purpose beyond these famous English Pills.

These Pills purge by Stool, Phlegm, Choller and Me­lancholy, disposing all old Ulcers, Fistula's, running Sores, Sore Breasts, Sore Eyes, Scald Head, King's evil, Swellings or Sores, Wounds, Gangreens, Cankers, Cancers, Tettars, Ring-worms, Scabs, Salt Humours, or any other Breakings out, as Pushes, Boils, Wheals, &c. to a speedy healing, by purging away the evil Humours which feed them; and perfectly removes the cause of the Elephantiasis or Leprosy.

These Pills are of wonderful use for all Travellers, Seamen and such like Persons who live on bad Dyet,in ill Airs and moist Places,and near the Sea Coast; and for all such as have spoiled their Bodies, and surfeited their Heats and Colds, hard and excessive Drinking in their young Days; and for such as cannot attend upon a Cure, but are forced to go about their Business: They may take them to Sea with them, because they keep their Vertues many Years, nor do Sea Voyages spoil them. They will will be found to stand them in great stead in all Sea-sicknesses, sickly Climates or Seasons; Ca­lentures, Fevers, Fluxes, Poysons, Agues, Surfeits, and the like Scorbutick Diseases, which so commonly afflict such as go to Sea; as that scarcely any but are afflicted in one or more of these Diseases, so excellent are these Pills, that more cannot possibly be done by a purging Medicine.

These Pills are incomparable against all manner of Coughs, Colds, Rheums or Distillations, difficulty of Breathing, Vomiting, weakness of the Stomach, want of Appetite, Pleurisies, Pains of the side, spitting of Blood, &c. performing every thing of this kind to ad­miration, suddenly and strangely easing of Pains, pro­ceeding from Wind, Humours, Colds, Surfeits or any other Cause whatsoever.

They cure Fevers and Agues of all sorts, sometimes in three Weeks, sometimes in fourteen Days, and sometimes in less time, altho' of 2 or 3 Years standing, and given over by all Physicians, and when almost [Page 11] every one thought the hopes of Recovery had been past.

These Pills kill all sorts of Worms in Old or Young, altho' the Patient has been almost destroyed with them; they bringing away not only the Worms, dead or alive, but also Slime, Filthiness, or wormy Matter, both from the Stomach and Bowels, which ge­nerates and breeds them; bring down the great Bellies of Children and others, which Worms occasions, cau­sing a strong Digestion and a sanative Constitution; and I cannot forbear repeating them to be, as they are indeed (and which every one that make tryal will find) the very best Remedy in the World against the Dropsy and the Gout; taking away all Swellings from the Belly, Thighs and Legs, and all manner of Pains, tho' fixed in the very Bones; and that in Rheu­matisms when the Pains have been so cruel and intolle­rable as not to be born without violent Roarings and Cryings out, they have done wonders, and that when no other means whatsoever would any thing a­vail.

They also dissolve the Stone, as much as any Medi­cine in the Universe is able to do, bringing away, Slime, Sand and Gravel from the Reins and Bladder, taking away Stoppage of Urine, and causing those to make Water plentifully and easily, who could not do it in some Days before; this they have done in numbers of People to admiration.

These Pills are a certain Cure for the Falling-sickness, Convulsions (that deplorable and fatal Disease to In­fants, whereby several Thousands, and that from a Scorbutick Cause, are carried off in a Year) Apoplexies, Palsies, Cramps, Lamenesses, weakness of Limbs, loss of Memory, Sciatica's and all manner of fixed or run­ning Pains whatsoever in any part of the Body, all which does most certainly proceed from the Scurvy, that Bane and distroyer of Health and Life; inso­much, that many Bed-rid Persons, given over in ail ap­pearance as incurable, have, under God, unexpectedly met with a Cure almost to a Miracle; so that many [Page 12] learned Physicians could not but admire at their won­derful Vertues.

These samous English Pills Cure Barrenness effectu­ally, whether the fault be in the Man or Woman; they exalting the Generative Faculty, cleansing and strength­ning the Spermatick Vessels, resisting all Foulness and In­fection in the Act of Generation; bring down the Terms in Women and Maids, strengthen a weak Back, cure Ulcers and Stoppages in the Womb, and are wonderful in all other Diseases belonging to the Female Sex; they expel Wind, carry off the Wind Cholick to admirati­on, and so speedily Cure the Griping of the Guts, that many who seemingly were at the point of Death, have found them a present Remedy, when all other means have failed.

They are the most powerful Pills in Nature against the Rickets in Children, the pale and wan Countenance, whether from the Green-sickness or otherwise in Vir­gins, all manner of Stoppages and Pains in the Sto­mach, Head and Brain, Liver, Spleen, Reins, Womb and Bowels; they purify, cleanse and sweeten the whole Mass of Blood, rectify all the Distempers of the Head, quicken the Senses, add a good Colour to the Face, strengthen the Sight, and so wonderfully recre­ate the Natural, Vital and Animal Spirits, as that the Body thereby is made perfectly able to withstand and resist all its Diseases.

They cleanse the Body of Wind, Water and ill Hu­mours, without the least Griping or making Sick, (un­less, as was said before, the Stomach be very foul) or any way weakning the Body; which done, they cease working; for they will work no longer than there is Diseasy Matter to work upon, but contrarywise will help all inward wastings or decays of Nature, caused through Pains, Wrenches, Bruises or over-strainings; they stopping all Weepings, Moistures, Whites, Fluxes, &c. by carrying off the Humours another way, thereby strengthning the Vessels, fortifying Nature, and resto­ring the decay'd Parts even to a wonder.

In fine, these Pills are the chief and real Medicine now used for the Scurvy, and the aforesaid Diseases, [Page 13] which are produc'd there-from, and found to be such from long Experience, not only here in England, but in many Foreign Countries and Kingdoms; they being cryed up and prized above all Remedies whatsoever; insomuch, that in some Thousands of Families, on most occasions, they are their only Physick; and indeed no Person living, from the highest to the lowest, can have a better Purging Medicine in the World, let the Pati­ents condition be from what cause or occasion soever, they being known to be safe in Operation, and certain in the end proposed; for no Person curable, troubled with the aforesaid Diseases ever failed of a Cure, espe­cially if they continued them (without delay of time, or taking of other Physick) according to the Directi­ons; and all Persons that have been known to take these Pills, have found good at the first taking, and se­veral Hundreds, yea Thousands of People who have taken them, have given them as great Commen­dations as it was ever possible any Medicine could de­serve.

Their safety, and the success that has followed upon the use of them, has brought them into the great esti­mation they have have acquired in many parts of the World; for as much as they that take these Pills need not go under long, dangerous and chargeable Courses of Physick, nor suffer by bad Medicines, or be driven time after time from one Physician to another, as ma­ny hundreds daily are, not knowing where to apply themselves safe, when only a Box or two of these Pills will do more notable Cures than twenty times that Mo­ney expended upon Doctors.

These Pills are the only Antidote in Nature against all infectious Diseases, contagious Airs, and preserves from the mischief of Fogs, and unwholesome and suf­focated Vapours in Marshy or Fenny Countries, which arise from the Earth or Water; they making old Age comely, and the Countenance of all that take them to be chearful and Sanguine; they mundify and cleanse the Skin of all its Impurities, restores and increase Beauty; and abound with more Vertues than any one Medicine besides; for altho' many Diseases have been [Page 14] mentioned, the labour might have been saved; for as they are Pills of an universal Tendency, and I verily believe the only Purging Medicine in the World, it might only have been said they are good for every Dis­ease; and not only for the Distempers herein inserted, but also for many others, known or unknown, with­out name or number, even when they are so unaccoun­tably afflicted, as not knowing what they ail. These Pills being endowed with such excellent Properties, and are so full and effectual a healer, that they deservedly merit the Title of the only universal Pills in the World.

And although they are of such admirable Vertues, yet I must inform you, that when the Disease is of long continuance and stubborn, a perfect Cure cannot be expected in a few times taking them, in those Cases you may take them in the largest Dose, and that at least for ten or fifteen times or more, as need requires, omitting them a day or two, as you shall see cause; but if any shall presume, upon the commendation of these Pills, that any Disease, in whatsoever condition the Patient is in, must be infallibly cured, he is mista­ken; for I speak here only of such Diseases as by God's Blessing, and the very best of Means (as these Pills un­doubtedly are) they may receive cure for; for in some Cases no Medicine in the World can prevail, for some­times the Lungs themselves, or the Liver or the Reins are ulcerated and putrefy'd, and sometimes other inter­nal Parts are consumed; and what Medicine in Nature can repair such Ruins, or make new Viscera when the old are perished?

These Pills operate extreamly pleasant, safe and gen­tle, and is Physick fit to be taken by Persons of the greatest Rank and Dignity, and that by all Ages and Sexes from Two Years old to Fourscore and upwards at any Season of the Year; and it is observable that these Pills after four or five times taking, keep the Bow­els open for a Month together, and leave not the Body costive and bound, as is the Property of all other Phy­sick, by which good Property, Diseases seem to melt a­way insensible.

[Page 15] These Pills are of an admirable and friendly quality, performing all its Operations as-Nature-her self re­quires, and is disposed to the Action, tho' chiefly by Stool and Urine, so that they are bound to that way of Operation as best serves Nature's end in restoring Health: Hence it is, that they cure Diseases with so great safety, speed and ease, and that without almost any other Medicine, they being (as was said before) fit­ted for all Ages, Sexes and Constitutions whatsoever; and that if there but little Corruption in the Body, they bring forth but little, if much, they bring forth much, and in Persons perfectly well, they will scarcely work at all, because in such they have no Enemy to meet or contend withal.

These Pills are not only the surest and most certain Medicine, as well as cheapest, for the Scurvy and all the asoresaid Diseases, which are the consequents or pro­ductions thereof, of any ever yet published or admini­stred, but doth a thousand times more excel the best prepared and most celebrated sorts of Spirit of Scurvy­grass, so highly applauded for the Scurvy; they affect­ing what is herein proposed so stupendiously and be­yond the power of any other Remedy, whether ordina­ry or extraordinary, as that they never can be vallued or esteemed enough; for what Reachings, Strainings, Vomitings, Gripings, illness at the Stomach, sickness at Heart, Faintings and other very unpleasing Effects, many Medicines occasion, which are here avoided; this single Medicine gently cleansing the Stomach and Bowels of their drossy, mucilaginous Dregs, saluting the Vital Powers like an Angel of Peace, and piercing the whole Body like Lightning, doth, as it were by its Character and benign Beams, subdue the Malignant Powers of Diseases, and throughly overcome the mor­bisick Matter thereof, and that without the least per­turbution of Humours, alteration of Body, change of Countenance, impair of Health, or any ill attend­ance, they gently removing Obstructions of all kinds, exciting an Appetite, and rendering the Body vigorous, active and sprightly to the admiration of all.

[Page 16] And this they do not only by fighting or contending with the Disease after a rugged and robust manner, but in a passive way, by glancing, as it were, and piercing of it with the subtilty of their Effluviums, and as it were by charming of it, undoes it in its very Root and Essence, whereby the Diseasy Matter being melted and changed in its Nature, Diseases and the very Seeds of of them insensibly vanish away, thereby curing those Distempers which are almost incredible to relate.

But no more need to be said of their Vertues, only give me leave to add, that these Pills are cheap, easy approved helps, free from the least danger upon any account whatsoever; are safe and benign in their Com­position, rational in their Preparation, amicable and a­dapted to all Constitutions, most powerful against those Diseases to which they are appropriated; able to stand the test of all Tryals, and have an uncontroul­able Probatum est continually attending them, they be­ing made of nothing that neither nauseates the Stomach, or tortures the Patient, but operates Cito, Tuto & Fu­cunde, even when many other Medicines of far greater Names, have wofully failed: Their gratefulness to the Senses and Animal Spirits are such, as will invite as well as assist all the Powers of Nature to withstand the Diseases, and by the subtilty of their Temper, pe­metrate into those close Recesses where the Roots of Distempers usually lodge, and into which the common, dull and earthy Preparations, so frequently used in practice can never possibly enter or reach into; but as Experience is the best Schoolmaster, I leave every one to make Tryal and judge as they find, and accordingly to commend or dispraise them to their Neighbours and Friends, not doubting but they will perform what is herein asserted, without hazard of Body, Purse or Ex­pectation, as some Thousands in this Kingdom can, upon their own Knowledge, testify, what is said of them, being no Rhodomontade Story to raise a Penny, nor guilded Bush to set off bad Wine, but Matter of Fact, back'd with such number of Experiences, as not to leave the least umbrage or shadow of Falsity or Pre­tence.

[Page 17] For these Pills are no fallacious, emperical Medicine, repugnant to Art or inconsistent with Reason, but a regularly prepared Arcanum, much in vogue for their Vertues, being homogene to Nature, and so peculiarly adapted against the Scurvy and its Consequents, as that no Medicine in the Universe can possibly transcend them, they being a Medicine, tho' very difficult, ex­pensive and tedious in preparing, yet are of such Pro­perties, as to retain their Vertues for numbers of Years, and that to work all good effects, as well after a length of time as at their first preparing. I shall now close all with Advice that you take your Disease in time, and not render it incurable by delay, an Error daily com­mitted, tho' contrary to the wholesome Dictates of the Poet.

The way and manner of taking these Pills are as follows, viz. From Two Years old to Three or Four Years, you may give one Pill; from Four Years old to Ten Years, you may give two or three Pills; from Ten Years old to Sixteen Years, you may give three or four Pills; and from Sixteen Years old to Threescore and up­wards, you may safely give five or six Pills. You may begin with a little Dose first, and so encrease it as you find the Body is in strength. They may be either swal­low'd down alone, or taken in a Spoonful of Ale, Beer, Posset-drink or Water-gruel, of wrapp'd up in a Wafer, the Pap of an Apple, or Honey, or in a stew'd Prune, or in a little Syrup; and such as cannot swallow Pills, may bruise them and take them mixed with a little Beer, Ale, Wine or Broth, as every one likes best, and so take them early in the Morning, or late at Night going to Bed, drinking in the Morning Posset­drink or Water-gruel, as they operate, or you may o­mit [Page 18] drinking any thing if you had rather, and that without observation of any other order whatsoever, on­ly taking heed that you get no Cold.

The price of a Box of these famous English Pills (each containing six Doses) is Three Shillings and Six Pence, and are sold only at the Places aforemen­tioned, and which for prevention of Counterfeits, are to be had at no other Place in the Kingdom be­sides, whatever may be pretended by any to the con­trary.

IT is not my design to write any thing here concern­ing Cancers in any part of the Body, save only those that happen in the Breasts of Women, wherein I shall to the meanest Capacity, shew the dif­ference between those that really are, and those that are only imagined, or reputed to be Cancerous; where­by the Mistakes too common, may be prevented, and Ruine to the Patient saved; when the Name is now so frequent, and the fear of it so dreadful, that not one swell'd or pained Breast in Twenty, but is presently [Page 20] thought so, and every Goody Nurse, Doctress or Mid­wife, will pronounce so right or wrong, and consequent­ly has a never failing Remedy for Cure, which upon applying, produces a Cancer, where no such thing per­haps had been.

A Cancer is as much as to a Crab, and is a hard pain­ful Tumour, either Whole or Ulcerous, and is said to have its rise from many Causes; some say from ill Diet, Meats of ill Juice, of a hot quality, and thick and glutinous substance, and that Onions, Leeks, Gar­lick, Venison and hot Spic'd Meats, eat too plentifully, and hot fiery Liquors, that burn and make adust the Blood and Humours, such as Brandy, strong Wines, &c. immoderately drank, breed them. Others, that the Air, perturbations of the Mind, Melancholly, ill Habits of Body, hot, sharp Humours, where there is a discrassys of the Blood and Lympha, being fill'd with an Acrimonious Salt, and a malign Sulphur is their occasion. Others, that they seldom proceed but from Blows, Strokes, Punches, or such external Violence, ill handling, Tumours from curdled Milk upon Ly­ings in, Imposthumes, &c. by which means there be­ing an acid Ferment in the Blood, or it may be Ob­structions of the Terms, or some other illness, which oftentimes causes Humours to flow thither, where co­agulating, is capable to produce a Cancerous Germen, especially upon ill management, so as in time it increases and arrives to to that degree of inveteracy, which we sometimes find them to be.

Having now accounted for the cause of Cancers in the Breasts, we come to their Definitions, and are preter­natural Tumours of a hard, lumpy, round or unequal Substance; of a livid or black Colour, having great Veins every way round it, which the Blood extends and makes turgid and visible, resembling the Feet of a Crab, from whence it took its Name, and is full of Pain, and very hot, and of a cruel and horrid Aspect; and sometimes rises to such a hight of Malignity, that the Matter it contains when it is broke, is as sharp and as corrosive as Aqua Fortis.

[Page 21] They are, as said at first, Whole or Ulcerous; in the beginning, growing or increasing, they are generally whole, but when come to ripeness, they break, run or gleet, and are then called Cancer Ulceratus, or Ulcus Canceratum. This Humour being fixt upon some one or more of the Glands of the Breast, from ei­ther of the Causes mentioned, and being sharp and corrosive, is apt to convert whatever comes to it of Blood, into the same Acrimony with it self, and so in­creases apace, while the Skin is whole; but much more when upon the breaking of the Skin, for then the ac­cession of the Airs adds to the vigour of the Ferment, when it grows fierce or enraged, and so shoots forth it self in the nature of a Fungus, or Excrescences, or Tubercles, &c. This part being deprav'd, and a vi­tious Ferment therein, the Humours that flow thither, are still farther changed, till at length they partake of a malign and poisonous Nature, vehemently delete­rious, consisting of a stinking Arsenical Sulphur, and a Catheretick, or highly corrosive Salt, extreamly subtle and penetrating.

This malign Humour, when so from whatever Causes, chiefly take up its seat in parts that are Glandulous, beginning in the Glandule of a Part, and most often affects Womens Breasts, by reason of their looseness, great Humidities, and strong Ferment they contain, and at first is very difficult to be known; for it at first exceeds not the bigness of a Pea or a Bean, which in time increases slowly to the bigness of an Egg or a Melon, or as sometimes it has been known as big as a Pompion, tho again in some, according as is the Cause, it grows big of a sudden, and discovers its evil Nature by the grievous Symptoms that appear, and a [...] it increases in bigness, it increases in malignity.

In the Cure of Cancers, various Successes have hap­pen'd, which have divided the Opinions of Practitio­ners concerning the Causes of them. The Ancients ob­serv'd, that Women were most troubled with Cancers, upon the stopping of their Monthly Visits, and that when at any time they had swellings in their Breasts, upon the provocation of that Evacuation, the swel­lings [Page 22] either sunk or left thin, from whence they con­cluded, that the stopping of that Course in Women, was the only Cause thereof; and this they endeavour'd to explain, by saying that the Blood, by such stoppages being not purify'd from the Atribilious Humour or Acids, which separate themselves from it, by the re­gular flowing of the Courses, discharge themselves up­on some one of the Glandulous Parts, and those of the Breast, more generally, from the Communication there is between them and the Womb, which Communicati­on Experience confirms, because we see that just upon, or a little before the coming down of the Courses, the Breasts of Women are tender; that is, the Glandules or Kernels of them, so as not to be handled or press'd with ease, which upon the flowing of the Courses, that ten­derness leaves them, and they may be felt and handled without any manner of uneasiness, so that it is plain, that upon the stoppage of the Courses in Women, Can­cers are oftentimes occasion'd, especially where the Blood abounds with Atrabilious Humours or Acids. I say sometimes it is so, for it must not be said to be al­ways so, because we have instances without number, of Women that have had them by Blows, Bruises, &c. as before we have made mention of; and as was the case of a Gentlewoman, whose Husband after a Drunken Bout was thrown into a Fever, and being delirious, upon her giving him something to drink, he hit her Left Breast with his Hand, which caus'd it to Cancerate, of which she soon after dy'd. We are as­sur'd by many observations, that Cancers sometimes have proceeded from the stopping of the Monthly Visits, by Frights, violent Grief, and by letting of Blood un­seasonably at the times of the Courses actually running, which are dangerous stopping them, and care should be forthwith taken to bring them to flow again, or else the Breasts may be affected, especially if the Blood a­bounds with Atrabilious Humours or Acids as before-mentioned.

The hardness of Cancers is from the thickness of the Humour; the pain of them is from the conjoyn'd Cause, it being sharp and corrosive; the Heat of them pro­ceeds [Page 23] from the extremity of Pain; the livid or blacksh colour is from the Malignity and Poison, which even discolours the purest Metals, if touch'd with it; the roundness of the Cancers is from the thickness of the Matter, which cannot spread it self abroad as Humours do that are more fluid; the inequality of shape of the Cancerous Tumour, as sometimes 3 or 4 square, or longish proceeds from the Ferment of the Humour, and because sometimes it is contain'd in several little Glands; and its turgid Veins, like to Crab's Claws, is caused from the Recrements of the Blood filling those Parts, which by reason of Matter obstructing or pressing upon them, hinders its getting forth.

Cancers are known in part by the Places they fix on, which are the Glands, tho' they may breed in almost all parts of the Body; and this Aegineta confirms, who says, a Cancer may happen to sundry Places, as the Lips, Tongue, Cheeks, Womb, and other loose Glan­dulous Parts; but were One has a Cancer in any part besides, Twenty have them in their Breasts; and so says Galen, That Cancerous Tumours are chiefly in Women's Breasts, which have not their Purgations according to Nature, and the reason seems to be from the consent of the Parts, as before observed; for that the Mammariae Veins, or Veins of the Breasts, meet with the Uterinae, or Veins of the Womb under the Musculi recti of the Belly, by which means there is a translation of the Matter from the Womb to the Breasts.

Where Cancers in the Breasts are painful, there is also attending a Pulsation, or beating like a Pulse, together with a Heat more than ordinary; and where the Pains are very sharp, so as if the Part was struck with a Dart, [...] the Matter is very corrosive, and will certainly in a little time break forth in a Gleeting or some dangerous stinking Ulcer; and when they are Ulcerated, as frequently they are, from the breaking of some of the Tubercls lying under the Skin, whether the Matter that runs be much or little, the Ulcer is painful and very stinking, and not only discharge a stinking Gleety Humour, but also there thrusts forth [Page 24] hard and painful Lips, which in time, if not rightly managed, fixes to the Ribs (that is, if the Cancer be in the Breast or side of it) becoming, by the quick progress it makes, of a horrible and frightful appear­ance.

Such Cancers sometimes bleed, either through the e­ruption of some Vessels, or from the sharp corrosive Nature of the Humour, which gnaws the Vessels asun­der; tho' I have known them to bleed while they have been whole, the Blood issuing through the Nipple, or some small Pin-hole. Some Cancers again, that are Ulcerated, send forth a Fungus or fleshy Excrescencies; other consume and eat away all the Flesh about them, after a wonderful, and indeed dreadful manner; and both these often bleed, and that in great quanties some­time, because the Capillary Vessels are by the corroding quality of a Cancer, eaten asunder, whence the flux of Blood is so great, that the strength of the Patient is quickly spent, and the Spirits being exhausted and con­sumed, they soon dye; as a poor Woman did that I knew, after labouring under a Cancerated Breast very painful, for near two Years, and could all that while have no Remedy; for indeed such are very rarely to be cur'd, and if at all, it is by Surgery; that is, by cut­ting off the Breast in time, which the Woman I men­tion was by many Surgeons advis'd to, but would not submit to the Operation.

Those inveterate and dangerous Cancers but seldom happen, and is frequently more from want of timely and proper Applications than the Nature of them; for they are oftentimes aggravated and enraged, and the Humour, by wrong Applications inwardly and out­wardly, made corrosive and sharp, as we frequently find it to be; and the Humour is [...] corrosive, it is as subtle, quick and penetrating as Poison it self, as will appear from the following Relation, which a Sur­geon tells us happened upon himself, who was by Name Mr. Samuel Smith, one of the Surgeons of St Thomas's Hospital in Southwark, who at the cutting off of a large Cancerated Breast, had (after the Breast was off) a Curiosity to taste the Juice, or Matter con­tain'd [Page 25] in one of the little Cystis's or Glands of the same, which he did by touching it with one of his Fingers, and then tasting it from the same with his Tongue, the Taste of which he protested did immediately like a Gass, pierce through the whole substance of his Tongue, and passed down his Throat not less sharp or biting than Oyl of Vitriol, Spirit of Nitre, or Aquae Fortis, or some vehement Catheretick, or Caustick Salt, and al­tho' he presently spit out, and wash'd his Mouth with Water, and that oftentimes, and also with Wine, and drank presently very freely of Wine after it, yet could not get rid of the Taste thereof, but it continued with him, and brought him (who was a very strong Man) into a Consumption, or wasting pining Condition, attended with several other ill Symptoms, which in a few Months after killed him, the Taste thereof never going off from his Tongue to his dying Hour; and that the Taste of the Juice, or Matter of that Cancerated Breast, he declared upon his Death-bed, and near the last Moments of his Life, to be the true and only Cause of his languishing Condition and Death.

Galen tells us, and the same is confirmed by daily Experience, that Cancers in the outward Parts, as in the Breast, may in the beginning be cur'd, but when they are come to a considerable bigness, oftentimes will yield to no Remedy but extirpation; indeed a palliative Cure may be prescrib'd, which, if the Cancer be not Ulcerated, may make the Patient easy, and prolong Life, so as not to dye the sooner, because of that Can­cer; but when it is Ulcerated, it can never be cica­trised, but as long as it so remains, the Patient will live in continual Pain and Filthiness, and at last dye miserably, unless it is cur'd by Ustion, Cautry, or Extirpation, and then may prove but a doubtful Cure.

If a Cancer in the Breast proceeds from malignant Humours or corrosive Salts in the Blood, it is generally incurable, by reason of its malignant and poysonous Ferment, which seldom yields to any internal and ex­ternal Remedies, whether Vomiting, Purging, Bleed­ing, Sweating, Dyet-drink; nay Salivations, or ap­plication [Page 26] of Annodines, Suppuratives, or any other kind of Medicine; or if in some it should seem to yield, or indeed seem to be cur'd, while it proceeds from those corrosive Humours, they many times breed again, and break forth afresh, either in the same place, or in some other parts of the Body.

But if a Cancer proceeds from external Causes, as Bruises, Blows, &c. and be taken in time, and the hurt lies not very deep, a Cure, with good Success, may be undertaken, yea oftentimes tho' they lie deep; but then must be with proper Applications; for wrong Medicines apply'd, tho' the Injury be but small, is in­creas'd to what, of it self it might never have came to, therefore is a caution worthy to be taken notice of; many Women, by undue tampering, and ill advice and Medicines, having been ruin'd, and lost their Lives, which otherwise, in all likelihood, might have been preserv'd: Therefore before external Applications be made to a Cancerated Breast, or supposed Cancerated Breasts, it ought to be consider'd whether it be recent and small, or inveterate and great; if the first, it will by proper Applications, admit of Cure, (I say proper Applications, because by and by I shall come to relate what is the most proper to apply to a true Cancer, or an imagin'd Cancer of the Breast) if the second, it ne­ver will admit of Cure without cutting. A pallative Cure may be had, if it be not ulcerated, as said before, where, by proper Remedies, Ease may be had and Life prolong'd, and that done by divers Medicines, at least every Nurse, or good Woman has a Medicine, and that if you will believe them, they say will cure; but those hap-hazzard Remedies I have known fatal, and there­fore advise none to give Ear to them. But I would not have it understood, that I design here to direct to the Cure of Cancerated Breasts of all sorts, I mean those that are running and ulcerate, which require a skilful Surgeon's attendance and care; but only those that are Swell'd and Tumefy'd, as well such as are con­tinually, or only intermittingly painful, and whether proceeding from Blows, Falls, Strokes, ill Habits of Body, Tumours from Milk, hardnesses of the Breasts, [Page 27] by Imposthumes after Lyings-in, &c. which oftentimes by ill management, and pressing and handling, turn to Cancers; I say from what ever cause they proceed from, so they be whole and taken in time, may be cur'd by proper Applications; and if they be broken or ulcera­ted, to prevent its increase, and remove the hardness and swelling about it; a Medicine or two may be di­rected, that will (if any thing will) not fail of proving successful: But as I said before, every swell'd Breast being not always Cancerous, it may be necessary in two or three Words more to explain which hard or painful Breasts can justly be said to be Cancerous, and which not so.

A Cancer in the Breast at its first appearance looks like a small round swelling, more or less deep in the Glandulous Substance of the Part, with little or no Pain; and when the hardness increases, the Pain be­comes sharp, and its observ'd to be uneven, and as the swelling increases, it becomes of a livid, or blueish, or blackish Colour, the Nipples at the same time often sinking in, round about which also there arises hard, uneven, heavy Protuberances, or little Swellings, which, as they grow big, do at last pierce the Skin, and discover the Cancerous Mass, from whence an Ul­ceration proceeds in its Substance; the running Hu­mour of which is reddish, the edges of the Sore broken or ragged, the tops spungy, and when it comes to a cadaverous Smell or Stench, it shews the utmost state of a Cancer in the Breast, which will not yield for Cure to the best Remedies in Practice.

Now in order to compass the Cure of a Cancer, re­quires a good Understanding in the nature of them, without which nothing can rightly be done; and if every hard, swel'd, tumify'd or painful Breast were known at first whether Cancerous or not, many succeeding mischiefs might be prevented; but it is so common a thing for almost every Practitioner, and every tatling Gossip, presently to declare upon sight of a hard or swell'd Breast, that it is Cancerous, and according­ly make Applications to it as such, that scarce one Breast in twenty they look upon or manage, but is made [Page 28] Cancerous, tho' it had at first no manner of relation to it: Therefore that none may be deceiv'd that reads this in time, and fall a Sacrifice to the Ignorance, or Avarice of such and many others abroad, that undertake what they know nothing of; and to set People in a clear light, as to the Matter of a Concern so dangerous in it self, as is a Cancer, was the occasion of this Tract, recommending to them a Medicine for outward Use, and another for inward, that will soon discover whe­the Swelling, &c. be Cancerous or not; for if not Cancerous, by the use of this it will soon disappear, and the Patient be well; and if it be truly Cancerous, the continuing them, if not too far gone, will effectu­ally cure; almost wonders having been done by them, by others as well as by my self, in my Practice in Can­cers, with only using them as directed, and as by and by shall be related, and as the following instances of Cures perform'd make appear.

A young Lass of about Fifteen Years old, by a Blow which she receiv'd upon one of her Breasts, had a great hardness and Pain, which was cur'd by the Liniment I shall by and by mention, altho' the hardness and Pain was so great, that she was in the utmost danger of a Cancer, tho' it was not a Cancer, as she was told by others that she apply'd to before she came to me, it was. I order'd her to bathe her Breast warm with the Liniment every Night and Morning, applying a piece of Flannel over it; by which means, and before she used all of what I gave her, she was perfectly cur'd, which might be in Three Weeks time, and never then, or after did any thing else to it.

A poor Working-Woman, by a Blow upon her Right Breast with the Key of a Door, which she run against, had a great Pain in it that she could not Rest Night not Day; the Bruise inflam'd and Swell'd, she ran from one to another for help, till at length she was told it was a Cancer, and must be cut off, she was ad­vis'd by one that had us'd the Liniment in a Swell'd Breast, to come to me, which she did. The Symptoms were so bad, that I very much question'd her Cure, yet I undertook her, and order'd her to anoint with [Page 29] the Liniment, which she had not us'd above a Week, but the Pain much abated, and Swelling began to a­bate, and she continued it constantly Night and Morn­ing, and in about Two Months time, was at well as ever she was in her Life.

A Gentlewoman, a particular Friend of mine, up­on a Lying-in had a sore Breast, which, altho' broke, continued hard and sometimes painful, at length is turn'd to a Gleety Humour, running out at a place near the Nipple like a Fistula, the Humour that run being sometimes yellow, and sometimes of other Co­lours; and sometimes thick, at other times thin, some­times it did not run at all, at other times burst our again, still continuing hard, tender and something painful, which put her in fear of a Cancer, and in­deed did something resemble a Fistulous Cancer; but notwithstanding, upon bathing all the Swelling with the Liniment before spoken of, she in about Sixteen Weeks got cur'd of it, and is now perfectly well, tho' it be Four Years since it was perform'd, only at times some of the English Pills before-mentioned, were given her inwardly to purge a little, which are most proper, when Humours abound, and the Body be gross, or foul, to purge now and then, in order to the quicker and more certain amendment.

A Gentlewoman by a punch upon her Breast by a Man's rushing by her in the Street, had such a Pain, throbbing, and at length Inflamation and Swelling, that she was told it was a Cancer, and had divers things of divers Persons for Cure, but all to no pur­pose, rather aggravating than abating the Symptoms. She took inwardly Wood-lice, for a Month together us'd Bleeding, Purging, and to the Breast Poultices, Ointments, Oyls, Suphs, and even every thing she had heard commended: At length some Body told her of my Liniment, she came to my House and had it, by the use of which, and now and then purging with the English Pills aforesaid, she became, perfect­ly well in about Nine Weeks time, tho' I was at first jealous, whether ever it would be cured or not.

[Page 30] I could give many other instances, were it not needless; these two or three I think sufficient to con­vince, if not, more will not do it; which however, the use of the Liniment will, that it is really the only Medicine I believe upon the Earth, for all man­ner of Swellings on the Breasts of Women, whether Cancerous or not, and whether broken or whole, to anoint the hardness or Swelling; but to the Sores it must not be apply'd, but must be manag'd by some Surgeon; either do I believe any Medicine whatso­ever will do like it; for it disperses all the hard and tumify'd Kernels, takes off all Pain, Bruises and In­flammations; for if inflam'd, it presently abates it, if the Breast be cold, as some have observ'd it to be, it warms and comforts it; and in fine, does every thing Nature in that Matter requires to be done, curing all Indispositions of the Breasts curable. Therefore for the sakes of those that stand in need, I wish they were as sensible of its Effects as I am, and then none under that Calamity but would use it, and where now there are Twenty Cancerated Breasts, there would not be Three, as I am verily perswaded; such is the great force, power and vertue of this Liniment, which is so innocent that it may be eat, and yet of such wonderful Effects, that if any sore Breast be to be cur'd, 'twill infallibly do it, and if incurable, will no more injure it than applying upon it only a piece of Flannel or Cloth.

By this time the Reader may be in expectation, or at least wise desirous of knowing what this Liniment is compounded of, which I must beg pardon for con­cealing; and shall proceed to direct the way and man­ner of using it, which is thus; Anoint the Swell'd or Pain'd Breast with a little of it, with a warm Hand every Night and Morning, for almost a quar­ter of an Hour together, applying a Piece of Flannel over; and this must be done daily for a considerable time; for it is frequently observ'd, that the Glands in the Breasts are very hard, and it cannot be expe­cted they should soften presently; but this every Pa­tient [Page 31] may depend upon, that if they continue using it, without once omitting it, it will infallibly cure; some People are cur'd sooner by it, in others it is longer first, according to the Condition of the Breast and Consti­tution of the Patient; but the Rule must be this, to persist in the use of it, till the Pain, Swelling, Hard­ness, &c. are all gone, which infallibly will be, sometimes in a Month (as have been done in very bad Breasts) have been cured by it, and some sooner; others again have taken up two or three Months be­fore they have been well; but then they have con­stantly found an Amendment, which I affirm by Ex­perience, under God, every one, that keeps strictly to its use, without wavering, or being weary, and I think none should be tired on such an account; for what would one give to be cur'd of an incurable Cancer? Let every one but consider that, and they will not be a weary of doing that which will restore them to their Health, and preserve their Lives, which, I say, under God, this Liniment will do, if used ac­cording as is directed.

But, as said before, it is necessary in some Consti­tutions to use a little Purging also, during the use of the Liniment, especially in Bodies that are gross or soul, and where the Humours flow to the Breast to cause Inflammation, Pain or more Swelling, or if the Habit of the Body be but indifferent; in such Cases, and indeed most cases of sore Breasts, it is pro­per to Purge, to do which, nothing can be more pre­valent or more adapted to correct or carry off those sort of Humours, whether Cancerous or otherwise, than the English Scorbutick Pill, so largely before spoken of, the taking of two, three, four, five or six of which, according as is the strength of the Patient, every third or fourth Morning, oftner or seldomer, as there may be occasion, keeping warm those days, and drinking Pos­set-drink, Broth or Gruel warm as they operate, and as is directed in the account given, will be of excellent use, and contribute greatly to the benefit of the Patient; so that the Pills inwardly and the Liniment outward­ly, [Page 32] will do more I verily believe in Cancerated, Swell'd, Sore or hard Breasts, than any sort of Medicines or Methods, that can by all the Physicians in the World be prescrib'd or advis'd to; for I speak it from large Ex­perience, and where it not so, I should not be so po­sitive in the Matter as I am; therefore all People may depend upon it, which when they have tryed, will esteem it, as many others do, to be the only Remedies in that case in the whole World.

The Price of this Liniment is Five Shillings the Gallipot. To be had only at the Place aforementi­oned.

HAD I not more than ordinary Reason and Ex­perience for many Years of being acquainted with those Diseases, and consequently of their Cure, I should not take upon me to be so absolute as you will find me to be in the Matter; but they being Diseases which do very frequently deceive numbers of Persons that are afflicted therewith, so as that they know not what they aile; I shall for their sakes and benefits, before I come to treat of the abovesaid Me­dicine for the Cure, describe the Symptoms and Causes thereof, and begin first with the Vapours.

First then, the Vapours, otherwise called Hysterick Fits, or Fits of the Mother, is a Disease which more generally afflicts Humane Kind than any other what­soever, and Proteus like, transforms it self into the Shape and Representation of almost all Distempers, those who are troubled therewith, generally perceiving them approach in the following manner: First, they feel a heaviness upon their Breast, a grumbling in their Bel­ly, they belch up, and sometimes Vomit sowr, sharp, insipid, or bitter Humour; they have a difficulty in breathing, and think they feel something come up in­to their Throat, which is ready to choak them, they [Page 34] struggle, cry out, make odd and inarticulate Sounds or Mutterings, they perceive a Swimming in their Heads, a Dimness come over their Eyes, they turn Pale, are scarce able to stand, their Pulse is weak, they shut their Eyes, cry, shriek out, groan, foam at the Mouth, and remain Senseless for some time, afterwards by little and little their Pulse returns, their Face re­gains its natural colour, their Body grows hot, as be­fore, they open their Eyes, and by degrees come to themselves.

Some moreover, have their Bellies swell'd and stretched like a Drum, their Hypochondria's distend­ed, and they fancy they feel somewhat within them rowl from place to place, which the Ancients ima­gin'd to be the Womb changing from place to place, whereas the Ligaments which tye it down render that impossible; besides that, Men are also afflicted with this Symptom as well as Women; their Pulse is almost imperceptible, they feel a violent Cold run up their Backs, which afterwards strikes through their whole Body, their Head-achs, and sometimes there ensues a Palpitation of the Heart and a faint­ing away; there are many, who when these acci­dents are over, come quietly to themselves by de­grees, and in others when the violent cold is ended a no less violent Heat succeeds, which casts them again into many of the former accidents, as Palpitation of the Heart, Head-achs, Giddiness, difficulty in Breath­ing; and into some new ones, as Flushings of the Face, Raving, Convulsions, foaming at the Mouth, violent beating of the Muscles and Arteries, and a tingling Sen­sation in the Thighs, which are Paralitick, during the cold Fit; nay, sometimes the Palsie will continue in the hot Fit too, sometimes the cold with which the Fit begins is hardly perceptible, and then the Patient has no remarkable accidents whilst the cold lasts; but when the hot Fit comes on, it is accompanied with several of the above-numbred accidents, but the Pulse beats high­er and quicker than in the foregoing state, and if no coldness was to be perceived at all before the hot Fit, then many of the same accidents will happen, but only [Page 35] in a more violent degree, and still more frequent and beats higher.

Sometimes the Patients in this Distemper fall into such violent Fits of Struggling, that they can hardly be held; they mutter odd and inarticulate Sounds, grate their Teeth, foam at their Mouths, and strike their Breasts; others suffer much violent, and long continued Contractions of the Diaphragm and Int [...] ­costal Muscles, that their Breast and lower Belly re­main elevated for a long time together, so that they cannot draw their Breath all that while; nay, some have lain for three whole days without the least sign of breathing perceivable by those that were about them.

One complains of a violent Pain on the top of her Head, which is frequently accompanied with Vo­miting.

Another is troubled with a Pain under her Heart, and a reaching to Vomit, or Vomits a mixture of Porraceous and Cholerick Humours, and it ends in a Jaundice.

A third lyes with her Jaws press'd together with all the violence imaginable, and her Nostrils drawn toge­ther so close that she is in danger of being suffocated, and sometimes remains for a considerable while as if she were dead.

A fourth upon the smell of Civit, Musk, Am­bergrease, or any such sweet Scent, shall fall into Fits.

A fifth shall be molested with them upon any Anger, Passion or Disturbance of Mind, which is immediately followed with great quantity of pale Urine.

A sixth is very thoughtful, blushes or grows pale on a sudden, has a deprav'd Appetite, sometimes to craving, at other times to loathing all sorts of usual Meats, and is pleased only with the eating of absurd things, as Chalk, Charcole, &c.

A seventh will on a sudden fall into extravagant Fits of Crying or Laughing, without being provok'd by any external Cause.

[Page 36] Besides all these, several other accidents happen to People troubled with this Disease, as a Pain in the Bladder and Kidneys, like that of the Stone and Gravel, violent Cholicks, Swellings in the Jaws, Shoulders, Legs, Hands or Thighs, which yield not to the Finger that presses, nor retain any Mark; Pain in the Back, which all feel more or less, as also in several Parts of the Body so violent, that the Place affected cannot en­dure touching for a long while afterwards; they breath short and with Pain, yawn and stretch, their Sleep is disturb'd, and their Dreams are frightful, their Eyes are fixt and staring, sometimes they remember what happen'd in their Fit, sometimes they do not, they cough without intermission, spit in vast quantities for several Weeks, as if they were in a Salivation, with many other accidents too tedious to enumerate.

Lastly, we observe that those who have labour'd long under this Distempe are oppress'd with a dread­ful Anguish of Mind, and a deep Melancholly, always reflecting on what can perplex, terrifie and disorder them most, so that at least they think their Recovery impossible, and are very angry with those that pretend there is any hopes of it; the least contradiction to their will, cast them into violent Passions; they are fickle, wavering and unconstant, now resolving on one thing, and immediately changing to something else, which they as presently quit, and by indulging their Distem­per, decline all sorts of Diversions.

But Note, that all these accidents do not happen to every one that has Vapours, or Hysterick Fits, but some to one some to another: This Person shall be molested with a great many, that with but a few of those Symp­toms, and it suffices, that any two or three of them return by intervals, to have them term'd Vapours.

It is also observ'd, that this Distemper comes by Fits, and has its intervals like an Ague, tho' the return be not exactly Periodical like it, and that in every Pa­roxism the same accidents happen as did in the prece­dent, provided the Patient committed no excess in the interval.

[Page 37] Thus much for the Symptoms, the next thing to be consider'd, is the Cause of this Disease, which is necessary to be taken notice of, the better to be avoid­ed as much as is possible, and which some assign to this, others to that, and others different to both, which, tho' all plausible Notions, fall short of the real cause, wanting Reason back'd by Experience and Matter of Fact to support them; but forbearing to enumerate their several imaginary Notions, I shall in short, con­tent my self to shew the true and only Causes thereof, which are Crudities and Indigestions of the Stomach, nothing else being to be found within the Stomach and the Guts capable of producing those Symptoms, unless it be the Aliments we take, but these we know when well concocted and digested, are so far from producing any ill effects upon Humane Bodies, that they alone su­stain and preserve them in a capacity of exercising their Natural and Animal Functions: However, if they by any vitious Concoction turn into Crudities and Indi­gestions, then their laudable Qualities are chang'd into quite opposite ones, and they produce the many Acci­dents and Symptoms of this Distemper; for when by the vitious qualification of the Ferment of the Stomach, the Aliments are not well digested, they turn into Crudities, these Crudities by little and little gather to­gether in the wrinkles and solds of the Stomach and Guts, where they lye for some time without much sen­sible motion or fermentation within themselves, till at last by the Circumjacent Parts, their grosser Salts are divided and put into motion, which Fermentation is augmented by the various Juices that flow into the Guts, from the many Glands which are placed in the lower Belly, and by this means they are dissolv'd and liqui­fy'd as to enter by the Milky Veins into the Blood, where they produce all the accidents of this Distemper, which the only way to prevent in all Persons, and e­specially in such where the Vapours are fear'd, is to cleanse the Stomach and Bowels of the Saburra which lies in them; and that frequently, viz. once in a Month, oftner or seldomer, as there may be occasion, with some proper, gentle, abstersive Vomit or Purge, [Page 38] than which nothing can exceed the famous English Pills aforegoing, taking them as you see occasion; thus much for the Symptoms, Causes, and Prevention of the Disease.

But perfectly to cure the Vapours or Hysterick Fits, or Fits of the Mother, in such that are so unhappily afflicted, the Cause must be eradicated, and the Blood restored to its Natural Constitution, without which the effect can never cease, and that the common Medicines in Practice are not capable of performing it, is daily seen by the few (if any) that are cured therewith, they only being sufficient, and sometimes not that, to appease the Symptom [...] and palliate the Disease; but such is the pre­valency of the aforesaid English Pills and this Suffumi­gation, that they immediately strike at the Root of the Disease, and never leave (if reiterated) till the whole Oeco­nomy of the Body is chang'd, which will soon be per­ceiv'd by the [...], or not return of the usual Symptoms, or Paroxisms, the manner of taking which Pills, with observations to be heeded as to Diet, &c. is at large before set forth, with which and this Suf­fumigation (they observing Rules as to Diet, &c.) num­bers of Hysterick Persons have been cured, when they have lain some Months in violent Ravings, and other Symptoms, almost suppos'd irretrievable.

Secondly, of Hypochondriack Melancholly, or Fla­tus in Men, which is a sort of Cachexie that frequent­ly reigns in our Northern Climates, whose Symptoms appearing mostly in the Hypochondria, is term'd the Hypochondriack Disease, and when its Symptoms are very fierce and exalted, 'tis entitule the Scurvy, a Name given it by the Saxons in Nor [...] Germany, who are most liable to it; the better part of Authors upon this Subject being amus'd with its Symptoms and Ef­fects, have vainly fancy'd to establish its Original Seat in several Bowels that are only accidentally concern'd; but if they trac'd it to its state of Infancy and first begin­ning, they must have pitch'd upon the Stomach for the Place of its Nativity, and upon the Acid viscous Cruditie, that a faulty digestion occasion for its Causes.

[Page 39] For our further satisfaction in this matter, we shall briefly run over its Symptoms, and if we find that they owe their Being to an Acid Crudity in the Stomach, shall reckon that we have made our point good. In the first place then, the Appetite is over-keen in Hypochon­driack Persons, their Digestion being weak, and follow'd by Convulsive or weighty Pains in the Stomach, belching Wind and Noise, especially in the left side of the Bel­ly, where the Gut-Colon is straitned; they are al­ways Costive, and Laxatives operate better in them than Purgatives; if an Artificial or Natural Vomiting happen, they throw up Acid Matter, which stupfiies, or sets the Teeth on edge, and which will corrode a Copper Vessel so as to render it rusty. After Eating, they are oft-times seiz'd with a gnawing Pain in the Stomach, reaching along the Back from the lower part to the Neck of the Gullet (which some miscal Ne­phritick Pains) as also with sudden flushings in the Face, wringing Pains in the Guts, palpitation of the Heart, perturbation of Mind, and a difficulty of breath­ing, occasion'd either by viscous Crudities distending the Stomach or Convulsions of the Midriff, and Muscles of the Breast, or Wind in the Abdomen, hindring the descent of the Midriff; while their Stomach is empty, they are apt to be giddy and dull, they are liable to periodical Exasperations; frequently they are sensible (as it were) of Fumes rising up from the Belly, and the Paroxism resembles an Hysterical Fit, in the Paroxism the colour and consistence of their Urine is inconstant, but when 'tis over, returns to a Natural order. These are the Symptoms of Hypochondriack Person, but all of them are rarely to be seen in one Person, the most certain Symptoms that always attend, are Gripings and Wind in the Guts, a weak Stomach, Costiveness, and Perturbation of the Head.

The Symptoms being thus premis'd, we come now to enquire after▪ the Cause of this Disease, the first and original of which is a vicious Acid in the Stomach en­larging the Appetite, but unfit for Digestion, hence ensues an Acid Crudity in the first Passages, which de­praves the crasis of the Blood, prevents the due separa­tion [Page 40] of volatil Spirits, upon which the Lymph becomes Acid, and the Bile inactive.

These are the Sources of all the preceding Symptoms, since Wind, Noise, Griping of the Guts and Costive­ness are the natural result of a vicious Acid in the first Passages, as flushings in the Face arise from its effer­vescence with the Bile, the Convulsions of the nervous Membranes in several Parts of the Body are the effect of its Iritation; its Crudity impairs the due Fermenta­tion of the Blood, and causes a palpitation of the Heart, and difficulty of Breathing; it depraves the Nutritious Juice of the Bowels which settles into hard Swellings, and occasions a degeneracy and austerity in the Spirits; hence Fear, Melancholly, irregular Thoughts and uncouth emotions ensue.

The remote Causes that promote Crudities are Acid Liquors or Salt Victuals, or such as are dried in the Smoak, since both partake of the Acid Spirit of Salt or Soot; also want of motion to promote digestion, and the speedy assimilation of the Chyle; likewise Noctur­nal Study and over thoughtfulness and care, exhaust the Spirits, impoverish the Blood, and render the Lymph acid; Thus much for the Symptoms and Cause of this Disease.

Now as to the Cure, its consists in correcting and evacuating the Crudities of the first Passages, forti­fying the Stomach, retrieving the due crasis of the Blood, and restoring all wonted Evacuations to their former course, in order to compass which ends, let the following Rules be heedfully minded.

1st, That a Dose of the English Pills aforemention­ed be taken so often as you find occasion, with a care­ful regular Diet, and using a moderate quantity of true natural red Wine mix'd with Water instead of Malt­drinks, which, with the use of the Suffumigating Powder I shall by and by give directions about, never fails setting them to rights, as numbers in very deplora­ble conditions have happily experienced.

2dly, Their way of living both in the Vapours and Hypochondriack Melancholly, as to Dyet, ought to con­sist chiefly of cooling refreshing Nourishments, Food of [Page 41] good Juyce, eating Water-gruel, Barley and Rice-Broths, Rice-milk, boil'd and roast Veal and Mutton, Veal or Chicken-Broths not made so strong as usually, eating no Salt or spiced Meats.

3dly, They must sleep not too much, neither in­dulge Melancholly or thoughtfulness, but be cheerful and use diversions, keeping in company that is mirthful and talkative, ride and take the fresh Air; which, with the variety of different Company and Objects which they see, concur to pleasure the Mind and remove all anxious Thoughts, and thereby contribute much towards the Cure.

And for all Diseases of the Nerves, Fits of all sorts, whether Convulsions, Falling Sickness, Apoplexies, Lethargies, Palsies or other Disorders of the Animal Spirits and Brain, Spasms, Tremblings, Contractions, Relaxations of the Limbs, Numbness, Coldness, or the like, a Dose now and then of the aforesaid English Pills, and using the Suffumigating Powder, as I shall presently direct, nothing will be found more efficaci­ous, especially if the contracted or relaxed Limbs be anointed every Night with Oil of Amber, and the fol­lowing Diet-drink be made and drank constantly of, which is also excellent in Vapours and Melancholly.

Take Mustard Seeds, 4 Ounces buised, Horse-radish Roots two Ounces, Scurvy-grass two Handfuls, Aaron Roots half an Ounce, Bryony Roots two Ounces, boil all in a Gallon of Spring Water till a Quart be boil'd a­way, then strain it, and drink half a Pint three times a day.

Use the Suffumigating Powder thus, put a Paper of it upon some live Coals in a Chasing-dish or some such a thing, and put in under a Chair with a Hole in it, clapping a Funnel upon the Coals, so that the Smoak will go through the Funnel, and the Patient sit­ting upon the Chair bare, will receive it up the Funda­ment, which must be so done every Night going to Bed, or once in 2 or 3 Nights, according as there is occasion, whereby in Fits, Vapours, &c. there is instant Relief. The Price of this Powder is 3 s. 6 d. the four Papers. To be had at the Place aforementioned.

THO' I shall say something concerning the Gout, before I speak so particularly of the Poultice for its ease; yet the Reader is not to expect any learned account of it, that being sufficiently Done by divers Authors, but only just so much as to inform those that are afflicted with that Distemper, how far they may preserve themselves from its fury by a regular mode of living, and how thereby those that ever had any touch of it, may certainly nip it in its Bud, so as never after to be afflicted with it:

But the Publishing a Medicine (tho' the most cele­brated one) and crying up its virtues without giving a Rationale of the Disease, looks so rank Quackish, that every Man of Sense will (and with very good reason) account it all bombast and splutter, and for that very reason decry it, as coming from some illeterate Pre­tender, [Page 43] for the sake only of getting a little Money; for which reason, to convince the World, that the Author of this Medicine is not altogether unacquaint­ed with the Nature and Cause of the Gout [...] as the way to Remedy its excruciating Pains, [...] not recommend this Medicine but from a well g [...] ­ed Experience, he here offers to every ones con [...] ­ration, a short hint of the Blood, its changes A nalitically prov'd, and the Rationale of the Gout, its Nature and Causes from thence explicately de­duc'd.

The Blood of Man is made up of a mixture of di­vers Principles, to wit, a Bitter, a Sweet, a Salt, an Acid, &c. the mixture and temperaments of which, while mutual, preserves the Body in a state of Health, and consequently creates no trouble or uneasiness: But when any one of these Principles is divided or sepera­ted from the rest, and exists by it self, then the effects plainly shew what great Trouble, Perplexity, and Pain it creates in the Body.

Now nothing more conduces to the separation of those Homogene Principles of of the Blood, than a fault in either some, or all of the six Non-naturals, as Air; Meat and Drink; Sleep and want of Sleep; the Motion and Rest of the Body; the retaining and discharging of the Excrements; and the Passions of the Mind; but the chief error is in Meat and Drink, in pampering the Body with more plenty than is needful; by which means the Particles of the Blood are not so exactly mix'd with the rest of the Mass, but are blended and con­founded, so as to become Heterogeneous (the Principles jarring one with another) occasioning such a perturba­tion and preternatural Fermentation, as evidently shew Sanguification to be vitiated, and the whose Mass cor­rupted, thereby forcing the Sharp and Foreign Juices, together with part of the Serum, by what way it finds; as for instance, if they get into the Guts, they are eva­cuated by a watery Looseness; if into the Kidneys, by plenty of Urine; if into the habit of the Body, by the Pores of the Skin; but if they fall upon the Joynts, they pierce into the innermost recesles and interstices of [Page 44] the Nervous Parts, and cause the Gout; and as the Salt in the Serum is the thicker or thinner, it much alters its Nature; so that when the Extremities of the Muscles, Tendons, Ligaments, Fibres, and other Nervous parts of the Joynts are twitched by them, more or less Pain, Heat and Violence are occasion'd, and it proves to be a Fit of a longer or shorter duration.

This Serum, tho' it be thin and sharp, is at first but very small, occasioning but little Pain; but that little Pain, if the Cause of it be timely remov'd, grows great­er at every Fit, and the more violent the Pain is, greater store of Serum abounds, and very often a flood of other Humours is carried along with it; which causes that Swelling, Heat, Throbbing and Uneasiness every one afflicted with it feels, which leaves not the Pa­tient till the Humour is spent, at which time that Fit of the Gout is at end.

I said before that a fault in some of the six Non-Na­turals nam'd, was the cause of the Gout, and that pam­pering the Body with plenty, was the Chief, I mean thereby Gluttony and Drunkenness, especially upon eating such Meats as are stor'd with sharp Matter, not to be sufficiently separated or discharg'd, or that can be easily mix'd or temper'd with the other Juices of our Bodies; as also drinking too plentifully of Wines which have much Tartar in them: For not only that Tartar, but the Spiritous part breeds the Gout; which Spirit consists of an Oil, an Acid and a Volatile Salt, in which the strength of Wine consists. Yet as Excess therein hurts, so Temperance preserves the Health: For those Wines which most abound with Tartar, are much more homogene to our Bodies, than other Wines that have little Tartar in them, and should be made choice of; and are the best with Moderation for all Constitutions and Temperaments, and the Red of all sorts, is far more preferrable than the White.

And not only is it manifest that the Gout is bred by Gluttony and Drunkenness, but also other innumerable inconveniencies are caus'd thereby, for by that means the Appetite is destroy'd, the Digestions vitiated, &c. the consequences of which every one may easily con­sider, [Page 45] and time, (if not prevented) will most certainly and fatally determine: For a good Appetite and per­fect Digestions, are so indispensably necessary to the support and preservation of Humane Life, that we can no more well subsist without the one, than we can long without the other; the one indicates Diseases present, the other threatens Diseases to come, and frequently brings the whole Humane Oeconomy into disorder and confusion: For when there is a depravitty of the Pri­mae Viae, the Chyle into which the Food is converted in the Stomach, is deprav'd also; and according as is the Chyle, so must the Blood of necessity be, whether it be good or whether it be bad, and according to which the Body suffers more or less.

And as some forts of Meats and Drinks, and Intem­perance therein are hurtful, so also the Eating of Sup­pers are more than ordinary pernicious, for they per­vert the functions of the Body, and injure the mind; and then at those Seasons to eat too plentifully, con­tributes much more to the spoiling of the Blood, as every one that has for any time followed the Practice has observ'd; few things being more detrimental and ruinous to the Health, as all Physicians allow; and as in Schola Salerni it is well noted, where it is said,

Also over hard Study, especially in the Night time, which in this Case is the worst, and afflicting Cares, hinders Sanguification and breed the Gout; so that the sharp part in the Aliment receiv'd, is either not well mix'd, or not well separated, and therefore cannot be well discharged. Likewise Anger and Passion very much injure: For,

Also immoderate and unseasonable Venery conduces not a little; for it weakens the Strength, hurts the Brain, extinguishes Radical Moisture, and hastens old Age and Death; the Sperm, or Seed of Generation, being the only Comfort of Nature, which willfully shed or lost, injures a Man more than the loss of forty times that quanty of Blood; wherefore Virgil well says,

Levinus Lemnius likewise says, if a Man intends to Live Long and happy during the Life he leads, he should, ‘Vesci citra saturitatem, non refugere laborem, vitale se­men conservare.’

That is, make light Meals, use Exercise, and preserve his Seed, which is the vital and principal Part of Life, and certainly nothing more assuredly breeds the Gout than immmoderate Venery.

Thus the Causes of the Gout being sufficiently expli­cated, I shall next give a definition of it, its Nature and Remedy.

The Gout then is a most intense, sensible Pain of the Tendonous Membranous Parts about the Joints, caused by a Serous, Pungent and exceeding sharp Humour, forced suddenly out of the Vessels from an inward dispe­sition, [Page 47] and led thither by the interstices of the Nervous Parts.

The sign of its coming, or being present, are sometimes wandring Pains, especially in the Joynts of the Feet or Hands: That it is at hand, is shewn by a stretching, yawning, painful weariness; Catarrhs, Pains in the Limbs and Joints, and sometimes a heaviness in the Head, a kind of Feverish heat, a pricking Pain in the Joints, causing starting, with inability to move; and after that comes a Swelling, usually red, attended with Watching, loss of Strength, stiffness of the Parts, and several other complaints, not alike to all at all times, yet is what Gouty People well know, and are more acquainted with than is consistent with their Ease.

The way to remedy this untoward Evil, is first to remove the Cause, that is, that which aggravates the Paroxism; and secondly to preserve the Patient from the return of a Fit, or at leastwise to render it when it comes, more easy, and not so intollerable as we fre­quently find it to be; for when it has once feiz'd a Man, it will (if not prevented by proper Medicines) return a­gain at certain seasons and distances of Time, as the Gouty Matter in the Blood is a fresh increas'd, gather'd and led down to the Joints, which distances are longer or shorter, and the Paroxisms greater or lesser, according as the Patient live Regular or Irregular, and according as is the strength or weakness of his Constitution; for if it be weak or broke, or the Patient in Mala Stamina Vitae, it occasions its coming oftener, pains him worser, and holds him longer than if the same Constitution was stronger, and the Patient in Bona Stamina Vitae; and also acccording as he takes proper Medicines to evacu­ate that Humour, by leading it away by the proper Passages.

I know some Physician's Doctrine is to let Na­ture take her free Course, advising their Patients to bear under the burden of that intolerable Misery as well as they can. Indeed, in the Knotted Gout the Advice may hold good, for there, no Cure can be [Page 48] expected, according to that known ancient, but true Axiom, ‘Solvere nodosam nescit Medicina Podagram.’

Against the knotted Gout no Medicine can prevail.

But even there a Cure, as to the Fit, may be obtain'd, as well as in other Fits of the Gout; for the longer a Patient lies under its severity the more the Humours of the Body flow down, which keeps the Part more lax and weaker, and the Patient longer confin'd, which may be prevented; and when a Remedy to Ease, by carrying those Hu­mours away by Urine and Perspiration, which would crowd down upon those weakned Joints, may so easi­ly be had; for a Patient to reject it, and not to hearken to such a Remedy, shews his willingness to retain his Misery, and is like suffering an Ague to shake him for a Year, or some certain time, before he'll prevail'd with to take Medicines to cure it.

But the common saying among all being, That there's no Cure for the Gout, makes every one's Proposals look Preposterous, even where there is but the bare menti­oning of doing it: But if any thing I say be found out that manifestly carries off the Gouty Cause by Urine and Perspiration, which would otherwise flow down to the Joints, so that the Patient is sav'd from the Pain, I fee not why any should be offended, or that a Gouty Patient would rather bear his Pain than be so incre­dulous, as not to make experiment of it, when the Na­ture of the Medicine is such, and the Operation so safe, that every one that has any knowledge of things, must allow that it cannot possible be hurtful, for that no E­vacuation is more to advantage than by Urine and Peripiration, and that with such a Medicine as makes a regular separation by the strainers, by first carrying them away smoothly and freely throughly the Uteters, which always of necessity would have been thrown upon the Joints and consequently cause a Fit, pro­per Dieureticks being what all Physicians allow to be the most effectual Evacuations to divest the Blood of [Page 49] those peccant Salts, which, if not remov'd, would prove injurious to the Patient.

And to do this, nothing is more prevalent than the English Pills aforemention'd, whose admirable Virtues are such, that those who never try'd them, will scarce believe; who yet after taking them, will to every one of their Friends recommend them. Therefore to say more would be needless; nothing being so like to con­vince a Man of their Efficacy, as making tryal, which is the trust Test; and by whose Success the Reputation both of the Medicine and the Author desires to depend, and by which he is content either to stand or to fall.

The Pills are taken as directed in the Account be­fore given of them, and that oftener or seldomer, as there may be occasion. And to give present Ease and remove wholly the Pain, the Cataplasm is to be apply'd warm to the Part every Night and Morning, till the Pain is quite gone, which will soon be.

The Price of the Ingredients is Five Shillings the Gallipot, which are to be boiled with fix Ounces of Crumbs of White Bread and a Pint of Milk, to the consistence of a Cataplasm, or Poultice, which is to be spread upon Linnen Cloath, as thick as two Crown Pieces put together, and applyed I say as warm as can well be borne to the Gouty Part, renewing it very Night and Morning. The Pot of Ingredients are to be had only at the Place aforementioned.

THIS is such a wonderful Medicine that I think it cannot be equal'd, its Vertues being such in the Distempers to which it is appropri­ated, as every one that shall take it must own are not ordinary, it being a far different thing than what by its appearance may be taken for by most, or the Medicine makers now adays, would have it to be; being an Electuary which has done, and (by the Bles­sing of God) will do much more benefit in the follow­ing particular Cases, than any other Medicine of what kind soever, numbers of both Sexes having with won­der observ'd its Effects, and been cured by it, who for many Months together have been under Courses of Physick, by Advice of Eminent Practitioners to no purpose.

It infallibly and expeditiously cures Weaknesses of the Back in both Sexes, and all Pains of the Back whatsoever, whether occasioned from Bruises, Falls, Wrenches, Strains by lifting, carrying, or by Sickness and Weakness, or from Womens Miscarriages, Lyings­in, Frights, Grief, or the like. And for Bearings down, or falling down of the Womb, by weakness or relaxa­tion [Page 51] of the Lagaments, caus'd by hard Travel, or by violent occasions, as Blows, Falls, lifting or carrying heavy Burdens, Over-walking, Running, or the like; 'tis a present Remedy, by comforting, easing, healing and strengthning the Parts.

It effectually prevents Miscarriages, tho' you have miscarried never so many times; and this it does by strengthening and nourishing the Womb and weak Foetus therein; for it corrects the Blood and Humours that affords Nourishment, and if the Symptoms or danger at any time of Miscarrying appears, the taking immediately of this Electuary, certainly secures you, if not too far let alone before you begin.

It wonderfully corrects and alters the heat, thin­ness and sharpness of the Blood, which occasions im­moderate or over-flowing of the Courses of Nature, by which many are reduc'd to a very low and dangerous condition, and that more especially in Elderly Wo­men, upon whom, they ought naturally to stop, which if neglected, and not timely remedied, will occasion Bearings down, bring the Whites, and other weak­nesses and soulness of the Womb, introducing in time Ulcers, Cancers, &c. for prevention of which, the E­lectuary is a most admirable Remedy, only the better to correct and thoroughly to evacuate the vitious Hu­mours, 'twill be necessary that you Purge twice or thrice in the time of taking it with our English Pills aforegoing

And also for the Whites, a Disease very troublesome and spending, and which most Women are incident to, both Old and Young, but more especially Elderly Women, after their Courses have left them, or are a­bout to leave them, and that generally more than or­dinary for want of taking proper Medicines to settle their Bodies at the time of their Termes leaving them▪ 'tis an excellent Remedy, perfecting the Cure, tho' of never so many Years standing, and the Patient re­duc'd by the length of time and greatness of the Flux, to so weak a condition as scarcely able to go about, only twice or thrice, in the time of taking the Electuary, you must also Purge with our Pills aforesaid; but [Page 52] if the Whites be neglected or not timely cured, they will bring great pain and weakness in the Back and whole Body, and occasion many other dangerous Maladies, as Cachexies, Dropsies, Consumptions, &c, which may prove fatal.

Such Women therefore that have regard to their own welfare, will have recourse to this Electuary at such time as the Courses of Nature are about to leave them, and not as many do, take little or no care concerning it, notwithstanding Nature is always so kind to let them know, that she wants the help of Art at that Juncture, by their Courses dodging them, and their flowing but poorly, and sometimes not at all, ebbing and flowing untimely and irregular, sometimes paler and thinner, at other times in smaller quantity and foul, which is warning sufficient, that she stands in need of help, and that they ought at that time to be settled and dispo­sed after a particular manner, and not be neglected as many Women to their Sorrow have done, who for want of such care, are now complaining of either Va­pour, Flushings all over the Body, the Whites in a­bundance, pursiness at Stomach, loss of Appetite, Cho­licks, Faintings, or other the like Weaknesses and In­dispositions, which if not timely remedied, brings Ulcers or Cancers in the Womb, Dropsies, Consump­tions or other fatal Distempers; but Women that are wife will in time prevent those inconveniencies, by making use of this Electuary, which will be of un­speakable advantage; who in the time of taking it (if Plethorick or full of Blood and not much reduc'd) must once be let Blood, and purge with our English Pills aforegoing, once, just before you begin with the Electuary, and twice or thrice more in the time that your are taking it, by which means they will assuredly be preserved and secured from those Dangers.

Also for such Women that are afflicted with a Flux of their Courses and the Whites together, as numbers of them are, and reduc'd extreamly low with the same, this Electuary is a Remedy that cannot be equall'd; only for correction of Humours and the better to cleanse [Page 53] the Womb, 'tis convenient to Purge also once or twice with our Pills aforegoing.

And likewise for all Loosnesses, Bloody-fluxes, in­ward Bleedings, Bleedings at Nose, Spitting or Vomi­ting of Blood, bloody Urine, and the like, whether from the sharpness of the Blood, a Vein broke, Falls, Bruises, or any manner of cause or occasion, there is hard­ly the like present Remedy in the whole Republick of Medicine, it retrieving in such cases, many times when all hopes of Life have been dispair'd of, and dissolves congeal'd or coagulated Blood remaining in any part of the Body; tho' indeed in all those cases (if strength will permit) 'twill also be necessary to Purge now and then with our English Pills aforesaid.

And as this Electuary has cured many in the aforego­ing Distempers, so likewise has it perfectly cured seve­ral Children and others of riper Years of incontinency of Urine, Pissing in Bed, and the Diabetes, and that after the continuance of the Distemper for several Years, and when multitudes of Medicines have been used to no purpose; and has also cured several Children and others of the falling down of the Fundament and Ruptures where the Rim or Peritonaeum has not been broken, it being a Medicine which so admirably and potently strengthens the inward Parts, as never to fail, tho' sometimes I have been oblig'd for the better facili­tating and making lasting the Cure, so as that the Di­stemper may never return again) to exhibit our English Pills (so often mentioned) for correcting of the Hu­mours, administring them in proportion to the Age and Strength of the Patient.

In fine, 'tis so excellent a Medicine, that it corrects and amends all ill Vices, Weaknesses, Foulnesses and disorders of the Womb, Bowels and Reins, that tend to corrupt and destroy them, whether it be from any preternatural Fluxes, or abounding of virious Hu­mours, &c. and which happening upon the Womb, is most times the cause or occasion of Barenness, and will (and that more especially with the use also of our afore­said Pills) preserve the Womb truly clean and fine, and make it apt for Conception (as by many has been ex­perienc'd) [Page 54] and prevent the many Inconveniencies and Mischiefs which Women are daily complaining of; and therefore do recommend it as one of the most useful and necessary Medicines hitherto discover'd, for the several particulars occasions before menti­oned.

THE Causes of Fistula's proceed chiefly from Plegmons and Hemorrhoids, or Piles, broken or ill cur'd, or that are not cur'd in a long time; as also from the application of Horse-leeches to the Piles, which are commonly done, and not well cur'd, they leaving some Venemous Matter behind them, which in time creates a malignant or corrosive Indisposition, that in time makes a Sinus, or Hollowness, becoming, if neg­lected, Callous; also Bruises or Hurts on those Parts cause Swellings and Fistula's. I say often those are the causes of Fistula's in the Fundament; but there is ano­ther Cause not much taken notice of, or at least wise is what few People care to own, and that is, proceeding from, an ill cur'd Clap, which is more frequently the cause of Fistula's than any other, I having observ'd [Page 56] that where one Fistula is occasion'd by any other means, ten proceeds from that, tho' it may be so many Years after, as to give reasons to the contrary, yet is certain­ly so; especially if the Patient had been for Cure of that Clap in the Hands of some Pretender, or was too hastily cur'd, which is what now adays, tho' very wrongful to the Patient, most endeavour to be valu'd upon, when a true Cure is gradatium, and ought to be no more hudled up, than it should be prolong'd, as all true Artists in such Cures well know.

The Fistula generally comes on gradually, its Mat­ter passing at first between the Tunicles of the Intestinum Rectum, and is of a thin gleety Nature, which makes its way out near the verge of the Fundament, through as it were at first of a small Pin-hole, and is perceiv'd by its staining the Shirt or Shift of the Patient without any Pain, and is thought (tho' mistakenly) to be rather a kind of Sweating Moisture than a real Fistulous Matter.

But in time, if not remedied, this Humour occasions an itching, and subjects the Patient to excoriation or galling of the Part by it continual moistness and sharp­ness of the Humour, which also in longer time causes several kinds of small Pimples or Pustles to break out; and sometimes Rhagades, Fissurae or Chops, which at length causes the Sinus to spread outwards, and the ex­tremity of the Orifice to grow hard, callous and so contracted, as not to admit the passing in of a small Probe.

Sometimes those Fistula's pass deep among the In­terstitia of the Muscles, according to the sharp Matter can make its way; sometimes they penetrate through the Intestinum Rectum to the very neck of the Bladder, may, sometimes into the Pelvis, or amongst the Musculi Glut [...]i and other Parts, being then very painful, and sends forth a purulent sanious Matter, sharp, ugly and stinking, and that in greater or less quantity, as the hollowness reaches, which in time grows very Callcus, and makes its twisting and twining like a Coney Bur­vow, which are the very worst sort of Fistula's.

[Page 57] There are two sorts of Fistula's in Ano, one pierces through the Intestinum Rectum, or Gut, into the Fun­dament, and the other not, and both of them are ei­ther shallow or deep, which you may easily come to find out. If it passes into the Fundament, you will, upon breaking Wind, find part of it make its way through the Sinus of the Fistula; also if the Excrements appear mingled with the Quittour of the Fistula, or if the Quittour that comes from the outer Orifice of the Fistula smells like the Excrements, it is a certain sign it passes into the Fundament. If by injecting any Li­quor at the outer Orifice of the Fistula, part of it passes through into the Fundament, or if by passing a pliable Probe into the outer Orifice of the Fistula, you can feel the end of the Probe bare to your Finger put in­to the Fundament, they are infallible signs the Fistula goes into the Fundament.

As for the Presages or Prognosticks of Fistula's, it is allow'd by all that they are not easy of Cure; for the Parts being depending, and as it were the Sink of the Body, so great plenty of Humours and Impurities, and much superfluous Moisture slows naturally down, and always hinders the Cure.

The Curative part of Fistula's, Authors tell us, de­pend on five means, viz. Diet, internal Medicaments, Incision, Deligation, and Topical Applications. As for Diet and internal Medicaments, they are what is absolutely necessary, as also some Topical means; but for Incision or Cutting, or applying Causticks or Cor­rosives, so frequently now adays advis'd, and almost as frequently perform'd (but with what Success the Patients themselves are best able to relate) I by no means agree to, unless in some particular Cases, where the Patients Life is in danger, and where no other means whatso­ever will avail. Such I say, for to save Life, cutting or applying Causticks &c. are and ought to be us'd, as al­so in some superficial Fistula's that run upwards by the Intestinum Rectum; but to make Incisien in all promis­cuously, has been the ruine of many, and the one cut­ting, which the Patient was told would be sufficient for Cure, has occasioned more Sinus's by the Inflama­tion [Page 58] and Pain, and the f [...]uxion of Humours thereby upon those depending Parts, so that cutting again and again has been done, to the utter spoiling of the Patient, causing the Fistula to be inveterate, to run much, to the exten­uating the Body, decaying the Strength, whence loss or debilitation of Stomach ensues, and at length Faint­ness, cold Sweats, &c. which brings the Fistula and whole Body into such a State, as that all hopes of Cure are past, especially if the Fistula was deep, or penetrated beyond the Musculi Ani, for by cutting such, if they are cur'd, the Patients will scarcely ever retain their Ex­crements but with great difficulty, if no worse accidents happen; and if they reach beyond the Sphincter, the re­tention of the excrements will be impossible, so that great care ought to be taken, and a Skilful Surgeon ad­vis'd with, before the Patient submits to be cut at all.

It is allow'd by all, that Fistula's that are very Sinous, and have been of long standing, are dangerous and of difficult Cure, especially if they discharge a large quan­tity of Pus, and lie so far distant, as that there is no coming at the bottom, but the nearer they are to the Anus, the more easie they are of Cure.

The Anus, or Fundament, is more subject to Fistula's than any other part in the whole Body, because the great quantity of Fat, with which the Intestinum Re­ctum is loaded, and the Evacuation of the Excrements (this being the common Sink where all the filth of the Body is brought down to be carried off) from its con­tinual Humidity and numerous Vessels, as Branches of the Hypogastrick Arteries and Veins; a Branch of the Aorta; another of the Inferior or Mesenterick Artery; the Hemoirrhoidal Veins; the vast number of Lympha­ticks; the Glands also seperating a white Glairy Vis­cous Liquor; I say those meeting there and Humours from internal Causes, whether Obstructions, Inflam­mations, Ascesses, Ulcers, Piles; or external, as Blows, Contusions, impure Embraces, Falls, Leeches ill ap­plied, &c. which happening more or less to meet there, as being a Part more dispos'd, it is no wonder to find [Page 59] Fistula's so soon form'd and so frequent as we observe them to be.

There are some Fistula's that are not noisome nor ve­ry troublesome or painful, and that sometimes are open and run, at other times close, and the Patient is dry, and thus they do for many Years without any great inconveniency, and is what is found expedient for the Health of the Patient; for thereby the Body is dis­charg'd of superfluous Humours, which otherwise might breed great disorders, and endanger the Patient's Life. I have known many People have such Fistula's which have contributed greatly to their Health, and continued on them to the end of their Lives.

But enough has been said as to the Nature, Cause and Consequence of this troublesome and oftentimes dangerous Indisposition. I shall now come to speakof its Cure, which is what was chiefly at first aim'd at, and what I presume is by the Patient expected.

I have said already that cutting is not necessary in all, and shew'd wherein it is, and is not for the Patients safety, and where it is not I shall recommend a Me­thod, which if follow'd according to directions, will be found more beneficial than many Physicians and Sur­geons will be ready or willing to believe.

In the first place, the Patient is gently to purge with the English Pills herein recommended, and to repeat them oncein a Week, oftner or seldomer as the Body is gross, or Humours abound, but not to take too large a Dose; for gentle Purging is best; and he is also at the same time to make the following Dyet-drink, which he is constantly to drink of till he is perfectly well; and is this.

Take Burdock Roots 8 Ounces; Elecampane Roots 3 Ounces; Tormentil and Bistort Roots, of each an Ounce; Sanicle 2 handfuls; Germander, Ground-Ivy and Agrimony, of each 2 handfuls; Sarsaparilla 6 Ounces; China Roots 3 Ounces; Sassaphras 3 Ounces; Guaiacum 4 Ounces; Raisons of the Sun and Figs, of each 4 Ounces, Liquorish 3 Ounces; boil all in 12 Pints of Lime Water, till 2 Pints are boil'd away, then strain it and drink half a Pint every Morning, and 4 or 5 [Page 60] in the Evening, and at Night going to Bed, a little warm'd.

Upon the use of this Dyet-drink, and now and then, (but not too often) purging with the aforesaid Pills, and using at the same time the Injection into the Fistula, the Patient will find the Cure will come on; for the Purg­ing gently carries off the Humonrs, the Dyet-drink dries up the superfluous Moisture, and nourishes and strength­ens the Body, and the Injection, which I am now go­ing to mention, will cleanse and cicatrize the Fistula, that the Patient, if he continues the Course long e­nough, which he must be sure to do, if he expects to be well (for those things will take up time, in some more in some less, according as is the Indisposition) will find it to answer his expectation, without the pain and danger of cutting, which has ruin'd many.

The Injection for this purpose is neither corrosive or will cause pain; it is to be injected into the Fistula eve­ry Night and Morning warm with a Syringe, two Sy­ringes full each time, which upon casting in, he will find (if the Fistula goes into the Fundament) to come some of it out at the Fundament; but he is not to put the point of the Syringe into the Fistula too far, but just so much in, as that the Liquor will be forc'd into the Orifice;

By this means I have cur'd several, and most, if not all that use the method, will have the same suc­cess; for the Injection takes away all Callosity; and yet I say, without pain, cleanses, astringes, dries up and cicatrizes the Part, that by degrees the Fistula will close and heal up from end to end to the great pleasure and satisfaction of the before terrify'd Patient, who cou'd hear nothing from his Surgeon but Cutting, Cut­ting, which News is receiv'd by some as unwelcome as an Old-Baily Sentence to a Criminal.

The Price of the Injection is 5s. the Bottle. To be had only at the Place before-mentioned.

THE most incomparable and appropriated Medi­cine that can possibly be made use of for pre­venting and curing all Distempers of the Head and Brain, as Head-achs, Megrim, Vertigo, Epilepsies, Palsies, Apoplexies, Lethargies, Convulsions, Phren­sies, Carus, Coma, trembling of the Nerves, Numb­ness, loss of Memory, dulness and heaviness of the Senses, Drowsiness, tasting and smelling hurt, weakness, glim­mering or dulness of the Sight, thickness of Hearing, noises in the Head, beating or shooting Pains, &c. which numbers of Persons are sorely afflicted with, and which very often seizes such as are over thought­ful and studious, &c. those Diseases (amongst the num­bers that afflict Mankind) being generally the most un­comfortable, lasting and dangerous.

It truly and most stupendously repairs weak Me­mories, bad Eye-sight and Hearing, being inwardly taken, and outwardly made use of, and strengthens and preserves the same, removing dulness, drowsiness and heaviness from the Spirits and Senses, rendring the Intellectuals lively, quick and apprehensive, &c. being peculiarly adapted to remove all Head-diseases, even to help such that are craz'd, whose Senses are almost gone, occasioned from over-whelming Perplexities; for which, and all Discontents, vain Fears, foolish Fan­tas [...]es and Imaginations, which discompose and enslave [Page 62] the Mind, hurry and disorder the Spirits, thereby hurt­ing the Brain, impairing the Memory, Sight, Hearing, &c. it has been experienc'd, to do more than many other Medicines of greater repute.

It comforts and strengthens the Brain and Nerves powerfully, refreshes the Sensitive Faculties, relieves the Animal Spirits, being excellent also in several other Diseases of the Head, whether recent or inveterate; as Stuffings of the Head, Colds, Catarrhs or defluxi­ons of Rheum, whether upon, the Eyes, Nose, Teeth, Palate, &c. cures the Palsie of the Tongue, running Sores or Imposthumes in the Ears, being admirable a­gainst Deafness or thickness of Hearing, noise and pains in the Ears, &c. swellings of the Throat, Jaws, and the like, from a defluxion of Humours.

It is a certain Remedy in the Apoplexy both for Prevention and Cure (that Distemper of late be­ing very frequent and fatal) and will do more in that case than any Person is aware, if it be inward­ly taken, and outwardly us'd in the beginning of the Disease, and reiterated in the Intervals of time, as necessity requires; it discussing Flatulencies, ab­sorbing the Acid Humour, which are many times the original Causes of the Disease, attracting or draw­ing away the Morbifick Matter from the Parts affected, destroying and carrying it off the right way, that the the like can scarcely be done by any other Medi­cines.

In the Megrim, Vertigo, Giddiness or Swimming in the Head, and in the most cruel, vehement and in­veterate Head-achs, they do wonders, taking away the Pain in many Persons in 3 or 4 minutes time, and that with the use of it inwardly taken, and a little snuft up the Nostrils, and the Head, Temples, Forehead and behind the Ears being bathed there­with, and that so perfectly, as never to return more from that present Cause: This I can assure you upon my own Experience; for they radically cure after all other things have been found ineffectual, and when the hope of Cure has been past, by removing the cause or occasion thereof; without doubt in the cases of an [Page 63] old and vehement Head-ach, Giddiness, Swimming &c. whether continual, or coming by Fits, it has no equal in the whole World. This Tincture, and the English Pills before mentioned, cured a Woman that had the Head-ach from her Minority, so violently sometimes, that it was thought she would be distract­ed, and at all times so extream, as to make Life very uncomfortable and unfit for the doing of any Business, and, this was done with only two Boxes of Pills and two Bottles of the Tincture, tho' she had gone through Courses of Physick, with Blistering, Cupping, Sha­ving, &c. for near 20 Years together to little or no purpose.

In the Palsie and Dead-Palsie, as some call it, it is the greatest and noblest Medicament known; for being taken inwardly, and also used outwardly, it takes a­way the benumedness of the Parts, and restores its Sense and feeling; curing the shaking or trembling of the Head and Members, arising from weakness and relaxation of the Nerves, caused either by old Age or a coldness of Humours, and so strengthens those Parts affected, that they seem to put new life into them again.

Nor do know, or believe there can be, any equal to it for the Cure of the Epilepsie, or Falling Sickness, and that not only in Children (proceeding from Faults of the Stomach, Wind, corrupted Food, Worms, &c.) but also in elder Persons, it having cured in both Sexes of 20, 30 and 40 Years of Age, having done so great Cures of that kind, which should they be related, they would not easily be believed, except by those who were Eye-witnesses of the same; and likewise it cures Convul­sion Fits almost to a Miracle; for it digests that pitui­tous Humour which so much abounds in such Persons, by exciting their inward heat and strengthening the Brain, which is in many Persons the cause of this Dis­ease, it separating, and consuming in the Stomach and Bowels those Acrid and Malign Vapours which ascend to the Brain, and which by pricking with their sharp Points the Membranes and Nervous Filaments, excite and induce this terrible Disease.

[Page 64] This Medicine by its subtle and penetrative Particles enter into the very substance of the Nerves, opens their Pores, removes their Obstructions, refreshes and causes a free course and circulation of the Animal Spirits, it acuates or sharpens all the Senses, both internal and external, facilitates and expedites the motions of the Members thro' the whole Body.

And by taking this Tincture inwardly, and using it at the same time outwardly, warms, comforts and strengthens the Brain and Nerves after a very wonder­ful manner, thereby helping the weakness of the Sight, strengthning the Eyes, fortifying the visive Faculties and Nerves, and multiplies and clears the Animal and Visive Spirits, taking away Darkness, Clouds, Va­pours, &c. which obfuscates the Sight, or obstructs the Optick Nerves.

But during taking the Tincture in all the several cases before spoken of, it is necessary now and then to purge gently with the English Pills aforemention'd; which, together with the Tincture, performs after a wonder­ful manner, and proves thereby the most absolute and exquisite Method that the World can afford.

BEING a wonderful rich and pleasant Medicine of stupendious Effects, it admirably strengthens the Lungs, being the very Life or Balsam thereof, cleansing the Pipes of tough foul Spittings, thickned by a preternatural Heat, helps shortness of Breath, eases and remedies Coughs, tho' never so violent and perplexing, all Asthmatick Stoppages of the Lungs, Hoarseness, Distillations or Defluxious of Rheum, all Wheesings, straitness of the Chest, not to be reach by Syrups, Oils, Licks, Slops, or Lozenges, which oftend the Stomach and feed the unnatural Fire; it comforts Nature, nourishes and enriches the Blood, chears the Heart, recreats and revives the Spirits and Vitals, tho' never so low and drooping, being an exceeding ge­nerous Cordial; it takes off your spending, faint, pro­fuse Night-sweats, strikes at the root or cause of all Consumptions, and so restores and renews the whole habit of Body and Blood, as that in the most spending and languishing Cases, even when the Patient is re­duced to a pining emaciated Condition, contributes [Page 68] more towards the Cure, than it is possible for any other single Medicine to do; and is a Specifick Cure for Hooping and Chin-coughs in Children.

And for weakly and Consumptive People, whose Lungs are Ulcerated, spitting up foul, purulent, bloody Matter, with tedious hollow Coughs, Hectick Fever, &c. 'tis an admirable thing, it supporting the Body wonderfully; and will be found much more prevalent and restoring in all Cafes of the Lungs, if it be taken 4 or 5 times in a Day, 2 or 3 Dishes at a time, in Tea made of Ground-Ivy and Liquorish, two handfuls of the former and two Ounces of the latter to a Quart of boiling Water, sweetned with Sugar-Candy: And if at any time the Body be pursy or stopt up, or the Sto­mach be foul, and Digestion bad, or are hot and co­stive Bodied, it may be also convenient (if Strength will permit) to take now and then a Dose of our En­glish Pills aforementioned, of whose Vertues in Con­sumptive Habits you may read in its place.

A certain Woman, among others, was cured with this Elixir of an inveterate pineing and wasting, sup­pos'd to be an incurable Consumption, and that after two Years despair, when she was so weak she could not stand without two to hold her, looking like (as it were) the Picture of Death, and given over as past all hopes by several very able and learned Men, the alone taking of this Medicine in Sack or Milk, and sometimes in Ale sweetned, but most commonly in Milk, Morning, Noon and Night, and in Extremities of Faintings, &c. oftner, continuing the same for about 5 or 6 Weeks time, restored her through the Blessing of God, to the won­der of all that knew her, and in all probability will perform the same in others, when greater Remedies and Methods may be ineffectual.

You will find it sensibly raise your Spirits, and give Relief after a little while taking it, and will correct and destroy every irregular Humour in the Body, and prevent Consumptious beyond any thing known; twill assist Nature in all her declinings and decays, e­ven when the radical Moisture is consuming, and the Vital flame almost spent or worn out, provided the [Page 69] Lungs themselves, Liver, &c. be not putrify'd, for then no Medicine can repair those Ruines, or make new Viscera when the old are perish'd, tho' it has performed marvellous Cures in Cases that have been so reported, which are too tedious here to be in­certed.

THERE are divers sorts of Agues, which are di­stinguish'd according to the difference there is in their intermission, &c. Some are Quotidian Agues, or Simple Quotidian, that come daily, and that not with vehemen [...] Cold at the first, but cold and colder by degrees, nor is the hot Fit very excessive: The Thirst in such is but small, the Urine white or thin, and watery, or thick and troubled; and the hot Fit generally lasts eighteen Hours, and sometimes with Vomiting of Phlegm. These Fits oftentimes seize the Patient in the Night-time, and is frequently dangerous, because its continuance being long, is more subject to degenerate into a Cachexie, Dropsy or Lethargy. Hippocrates says, That it is more dangerous if it comes in the Day-time, than if it comes in the Night. It is the Stomach that is for the most part afflicted in these Agues, because, as said before, the Patient in the Fit is sometimes inclin'd to Vomit, which when done, gives relief.

Others are double Quotidian Agues, or eve­ry Day Agues, returning twice in Twenty-four Hours, with Coldness of the extream Parts; but there is went to be no shivering Fit, or but very little; the Symptoms are otherwise the same as in the Simple [Page 71] Quotidian afore spoken of, and caus'd also chiefly from the Stomach, but reduplicate and stronger, holding commonly longer and more tedious, unless some emi­nent Critical Evacuation intervene; and as the Causes are reduplicate, so do they shew more danger than the Simple Quotidian; and if it continues long, does rare­ly fail degenerating into some other chronick and tedi­ous Disease, and more particularly into a Dropsy.

Others are Tertian Agues, or Agues of the third Day, and comes with vehement cold or rigorous shaking Fit, as tho' the Patient were pricked, follow'd with a hot Fit and other Symptoms; the Pulse is equal, and anon a violent heat increaseth, with great Thirst, and some­times vomiting of Choler, with reddish Urine; giving the Patient very great uneasiness, dreading every Fit, which oftetimes is more than other, shifting as to times, keeping no periodical Paroxisms, but comes so uncer­tainly, that the Patient knows not in that Day what time to expect it. The shaking coldness at first com­ing is vehement and sharp, the heat and burning in the hot Fit is also violent and strong, spreading it self over the whole Body in the heigtht of the Fit; and towards the end of the hot Fit, the whole Body is in a gentle Sweat. These sort of Agues holding not above the fourth Fit, other times not above the seventh, each Fit holding not above Twelve Hours, and is without much danger, unless Malignity be joyn'd with it; and if breakings out on the Lips, Scabs or a Loosness happens, it is very healthful, because they are critical, tho' these are Malign and Pestilential Tertians, which, tho' they have evident Intermissions as the others, yet do often kill the Patient; besides, many accidents may fall in upon a Tertian Ague, such as a Surfeit, violent Cold, &c. which may breed danger, tho' the Ague may have none of it self.

Other Agues there are called Semi-tertian, which whether they be exquisite, that is, where Choler and Phlegm equally abound, vexing the Patient continually, but the third Day with a shaking Fit, or Spurious, wherein either Choler or Phlegm most abounds; if the first, represent chiefly a Tertian, if the latter, a Quoti­dian, [Page 72] of which we have spoken before; yet these cause no great Thirst or Burning, but sometimes is attended with an inflamation of some Viscera, or Bowels, as Stomach, Liver, Spleen, or Parts adjacent, which is caus'd when the Feverish Matter is carried thither with the Blood. The Semiter-tian Ague, both exquisite and spurious (for they differ chiefly in degree) are both dangerous, because thereby the Stomach and Nervous Parts are very much affected, and is attended with al­most a continuil burning Fever; but especially the exquisite, being there is a dryness of the Tongue, Thirst, Swooning, Watching, and sometimes raving and dead Sleep, and is what Hippocrates account amongst acute Diseases, and continues long; Avicen says seven Months, and at last ends frequently in a Hectick.

There is also the double Tertian Ague, which comes once or twice a Day, two Days together, leaving the Patient free one Day between. Some Authors menti­on a triple Tertian, where there are three Fits in two Days, and one Day clear between; but is reckon'd to be seldom seen, and less easie to be discover'd by a Phy­sician, tho' he had Argus's Eyes. These Agues are chiefly of Humours gather'd together in the Liver, Gall, Stomach, Mesentery, Pancreas, or in the Veins of those Parts. In this Ague it is a hard Matter to get a con­venient time for the giving Medicine to Cure, because oftentimes there is no long; space beetween the two Fits; for sometimes the Fits hold so long, that the one begins before the other is ended, being thereby much more dangerous than a Semi-tertian, because it comes from a reduplication of the Cause.

The next is the Quarian Ague, or Ague that comes every fourth Day, and is accompanied with vehement Cold▪ as if it would nip and break the Bones; the Pulle is flow in the beginning of the Fit, and afterwards the Melancholly Humour by little and little is inflam'd, whence comes a burning or hot Fit; the Urine is white, thin and watery, with two Days intermission each Fit; and when the Fit is coming, it causes reachings and yawning, with a shaking Fit: at first small, but after­wards extream, yet not so much pricking, as rendring the [Page 73] Patient as if he were beat or bruisel; the Cause is from Melancholly and adult Humours, known by de­caying the Appetite, causing great Chirsts, and Head and Back ach. These sort of Agues are of all of them, of longest continuance, handling a Patient sometimes half a Year or a Year, or if it happen in the fall of the Leaf, two Years or longer; and is sometimes dangerous, especially if it degenerates into a continual Quartan, or happens to afflict People of Sixty Years of Age or up­wards

There is also the Compound Quartan Ague, which is either double or triple: in the double, the Fit leaves the Patient two Days free, and comes the next two Days; in the triple, the Paroxism returns three Days together, leaving two Days free after them, as in a Quotidian and double Tertian; these come of Melan­cholly. Putrifying in divers parts of the Body, and are dangerous, if not in time cured, being else apt to de­generate into chronick, inveterate and incurable Dis­eases, and that because the Fit so often returns; it ema­ciates and wastes the Body exceedingly, consuming the radical Moisture, depressing the Spirits, obstructing the Natural, Vital and Animal Functions, and at last brings the Body into an incurable Hectick, Consump­tion or Dropsy: But if the Ague be taken in time, and it happens to a young strong Person, and proper Medicines be exhibited, there may be no great doubt of a Cure; but if it happens to an old Person, who is weak of Nature, and that in the Winter also, it is des­perate, and if cannot soon be got off, but contiues long, will prove Mortal.

Thus have I run through the Nature and Causes of the distinct sorts of Agues, and which, as all Authors observe, are generally to be cured by the same Class of Medicines, only regarding the Strength and Constitu­tion of the Patient.

The English Vegetable and Plaisters, at first menti­oned, seldom or never fail, if us'd together, to cure the most inveterate and chronick sort, provided they both be made use of in time, before Nature is too much depress'd by the severity of the Disease, and yet [Page 74] even in People that were Young, and not Old, they have effected the Cure, which before had baffled Jesuits Powder, the Bitters, Alteratives, &c. And in those Agues of late standing, the Vegetable alone has cured without the Plaister, and in some the Plaister without the Vegetable; but where the Case is severe, to expedite the Cure, I generally use both; but some, (especially Children) cannot be gotten to take any inward Medicine at all, and there the applying the Plaisters most commonly does, only must be renewed more times than there would be occasion, if the Vege­table was taken also at the same time.

BEFORE I speak of the excellent Vertues of these Drops, I shall say something of the several spe­cies of Dropsies, which, as they affect diversly, so go under divers appellations, as the Ascites, Tym­panites and Anasarca.

The Ascites, or Hydrops Abdominis, is in English, the Watery Dropsy in the Belly, and is always attended with a stretching of the Belly, by reason of the super­abounding of ferous, watery and salt Humours, cast forth into the capacity of the Abdomen, through fault of the Liver, Spleen and Reins, causing also the Feet, Thigh [...], and in Men sometimes the Cods to swell, and is known by the swelling of the Belly, a difficulty of Breathing, and the hoarse sound of the Belly if struck, like as if a Bladder half full was struck upon; also up­on compressing the Belly with the Fingers, it pits and leaves the print of them thereon; and if the Patient turns from side to side, a Noise like the murmuring or waving of Water is heard, and the Water by conti­nuance there, will in time putrify and corrupt the Bowele, cause a Fever and Thirst, and waste the Pa­tients [Page 77] Strength and Spirits: Therefore all imaginable care ought to be taken to evacuate the Water in time, both by Stool and Urine, or else the Patient will dye; and if let alone so long as that the Patient's Strength be spent, not being able to bear Purging Medicines; then Tapping must be used, as the only present way to secure the Patient, if that Method will do it.

The Tympanites, or Windy Dropsy, shews it self also by a distention or stretching of the Belly; but as the other contains Water within the capacity of the Abdomen, this contains only Wind, which so di­stends the Belly, that it being struck upon with the Hand, sounds like a Drum, and is rather more swell'd than the watery Dropsies, and the Navel hangs out, but will not leave any impression upon pressing it with the Fingers; the Patient is most afflicted with Pain about the Navel and Loins in Windy Drop­sies like a Cholick, when there is no such Pain in a watery one, and is easier to be cured, and of less danger.

The Anasarca, or Leucophlegmatia, is a Dropsy of the whole Habit of the Body, the Water being dis­persed, so that all the Flesh appears moist, swoln and wet, wherein not only the Hands, Arms; Breast, Face, Thighs, Legs and Feet swell, but the whole Body al­so, whereby, if you make a pressure with your Finger into the Flesh in any part, it will pit and leave an im­pression.

The cause of this Disease is chiefly Cold, or by very plentifully drinking cold Water, or Small Beer, or else proceeds from a defect of the Liver, or defect of Natural Heat, Obstructions and imbicility of the Sto­mach, from whence a collection of pituitous and wa­tery Humours is produced, and universal Cachexy.

If this Disease be recent, and in a young Person, it is not difficult to cure: In Persons aged, it is very doubtful, if not desperate▪ and indeed such as are much in Years seldom find a Cure for it: But yet the Vertues of the Hydragogue Tincture are such, as that it has cured several Elderly People by being follow'd for [Page 78] some continuance, which they must, tho' it is what some will not be prevail'd upon to do, being soon wea­ry of the best of Medicines, if [...]ey find not immedi­ate Relief, when the continuance of the Medicine would to all appearance have cured them: Therefore it is advised, that all People that have the Dropsy, or are Dropsically inclin'd, take the Drops constantly as di­rected, and then a Cure may be expected.

THE Eye is a tender part, and is soon injur'd by extraneous Bodies, as also by Humours flowing upon them from within the Body; and as those injure them one way, so oftentimes does wrong Medi­cines the other, nay, make the Case more desperate, so that the Remedy proves worse than the Disease, whence comes Cataracts and Blindness; for many People grow dim-sighted and dark by Humours upon the Eyes, which at length breed Spots, Films, Skins, Clouds, Webs, and the like, which grow over the Sight, the fore-runners of which are Atoms, Flys, Gnats, H [...]irs, Threads, &c. flying or swimming before them, and which if not remedied in time, increase to Cataracts, the couching of which sometimes cures, but oftner [...]ot nay, frequently ruins the Sight for ever, as many can too truly Witness; now these Spots, Films, Skins, etc. tho' said by Oculists to be incurable but by Couching; they telling their Patients they must wait till they come to ripe Cataracts to be couch'd, are to be cur'd without, even tho' grown to ripe Cataracts, and that by blow­ing a little of a safe Powder, and using a Water into the Eyes, the continual using of which will soften and wear a way gradually that Skinny or filmy Substance, which is a Humour congeal'd; and dissolves and ab­forbs [Page 80] the gross viscid Humours that supplies and gives rise to those Films, &c. to the perfect restoration of the Sight, whereby not one in a hundred that uses it, would ever stand in need of being couch'd, or would ever have their Sight impair'd or injur'd by Humours, Spots, Skins, Films, or the like; but to the contrary, keep off Hu­mours, clears and strengthens the Sight, that all that once use them, will recommend to all they know; for they are such innocent Medicines, as that they may be taken inwardly, and have done such notable Cures, as are to be wonder'd at, even in all sorts of Indispositions of the Eyes, whether they before, running, hot or inflam'd, and that when Purgings, Bleedings, Blisterings, Cup­pings, Issues and Seatons have been us'd to no purpose.

THE most famous Medicine for the expelling of Wind, ever known, they keep the Wind out of the Stomach, if one of them be held in the Mouth in a Morning or any other time in the Day, and are more ready and much more wholesome, as well as beneficial, than Cordial Drams; for these break a­way the Wind pent up in the Stomach and Bowels, and strengthen them, creating an Appetite, and not destroying it as Drams do; besides, they keep the Bo­dy so solutive, as those that take them will never be costive; but always open. In the Cholick, Gripes, Stitches in the Sides, Windy Vapours that oppress the Head, sowr Belchings, Hiccups, &c. they are admi­rable; if taken after Eating, they cause good Dige­stion, and rectify all Indigestions and Disorders of the Stomach; purifying the Blood, curing Heart-burn, making the Breath sweet, and do render the whole Body and Mind, chearful, lightsome and easy; be­ing really a pretty necessary Companion, in case of [Page 82] ill Scents, bad Air, &c. and so delightful and plea­sant to the Taste, as well well as helpful to the health, that none that once try them, will ever be without them.

It is only putting one of them into the Mouth at a time, and swallowing it as it dissolves, and so do as often in a Day as you please. The Price is Two Shillings and Six Pence a Box, which will last a long time, and are only to be had at the Place afore­mentioned.

THIS Medicine is fit and necessary for all Families, on the acccout of Hurts, Sores, Wounds, Ulcers, &c. as for the making Issues run; for if a little of it be spread upon Linit or Tow, and applied to the Sore Place, it wonderfully cleanses it, that a little Diachylon Plaister afterwards will be sufficient to heal it. But for to make Issues run, it is not to be parallell'd, removing all Inflamations about them, taking away proud Flesh, and causing the Pea to keep in, and this only by smearing some of it all round the Orifice, and moistning the Pea with it, putting it in, and doing it so every time the Issue is drest, which is once a Day, that being sufficient, and applying o­ver it Oil Cloth or Plaister, as usual. But if there be much proud Flesh, you may anoint that with it twice a Day, but if not much, once a Day will be sufficient. It is indeed an excellent thing to keep Issues easy, sweet [...]