stirring with a Silver Spoon till quite cold Give a Spoonful or two Morning and Evening It stops Fluxes of all sorts as the Bloody-Flux the Running call'd Gonorrhoea spitting of Blood c. In a word it may be call'd a general Syrup for all Weaknesses and may be taken in soft Ale or Small-Beer Upon Flooding or even in Women with Child I have let Blood very often with good success and have given this Syrup of Corals with some drops of Laudanam Liquidam and so set 'em to Bed to lie as still as they can In some Constitutions eight Grains of Pilulae de Styrace or the Pills of Storax are very successful they stop Coughs or Fluxes and may be given every Night or every other Night 'T is to be had at most Apothecaries ready prepar'd so I shall not give my self the trouble to transcribe its Composition I could easily give a thousand Recipe's but I mention nothing but what I have often prov'd to be successful For the Whites and all sorts of Weaknesses that may occasion Miscarriage you may purge once or twice as the Condition of the Patient requires and then give the following Receipt Take of the whitest and best Isinglass cut into bits and well bruis'd two Ounces and a Pint or two of Water put all over the Fire let it simmer then take it off cover it close all Night The next Day boil it gently till it be all dissolv'd Then strain it and add one Pint of New Milk and an Ounce or two of white Sugar-candy powder'd and melted in the Milk over the Fire gently then mix all together This makes an excellent Gelly Ye may take half a Pint or a Pint Night and Morning in distill'd Milk-water for a Fortnight together or longer If ye will ye may every time add Powder of Cinnamon as much as a Six-pence will hold SECT III. The Character and Duty of a Nurse with reference to the Child from the Time of its Birth to its removal from her Conduct Together with an Essay upon what Influence Moral Abuses may have upon its Health I Hope none will deny that the Health and Welfare of Children depends much upon the Condition of the Nurse therefore I thought it not amiss to assist you a little in the choice of one First Let her be Young and Healthy for if ye give very stale Milk and from an infirm Woman the Child for ever may suffer Let her feed upon such Food as she was accustom'd to before If ye follow the way of our City Dames in taking her into the House and feeding her high this makes the Milk rampant the Child Humoursom and Fanciful always crying for Slops and such like corrupting Food Hippocrates affirms That the Nurse ought to take the Child from its Mothers Womb and inure it to eat such like course Food as she gives to her own at Home this makes the Child brisk and hardy and fit for launching into an ill World In the next place choose one Lively Witty and of a meek Temper Galen and other Greek Physicians were very curious in this particular to make choice of a Nurse of good Education and Wit Some Nurses are Humoursom still complaining Peevish and Fretful crying perhaps to have their Wages rais'd to be better Entertain'd c. Others are better Condition'd easie in their Humour and not so difficult to please Now since the Child partakes much of a Nurses Complexion and Humour by sucking her Milk we ought to be very cautious in choosing a Nurse endow'd with the same Qualities as we wish to our Children If they are Immoral Debauch'd Cursing Swearing c. their very Example and Company is influencive upon Children who are generally more led by the Eye than the Ear and retain those Impressions fastest which are stamp'd upon 'em in their Young and Tender Years For the Moisture and pliableness of their tender Brains makes way for deeper Furrows than when of a firmer and compacter consistency Besides they are liable to be infected not only by their external Words and Actions but by the internal Byass and Inclinations of their Minds be what they will by reason of the Affinity intercedes betwixt the Qualities of the Milk and the Disposition of the Person that gives it A Nurse also ought to be diligent and careful some are huffing and bouncing about and do not mind the poor Child but let it sit or lie half a Day in a wet Condition starving and cripling 't is a great abuse too frequent and common among 'em Mothers ought to take care to surprize Nurses at their own Houses when they are not aware and find out the Miscarriage of these She Murderers that they may not go unpunish'd In the beginning the Child must not Suck too much nor too often that his Stomach not yet accustom'd to concoct the Milk may be brought on by degrees and so enabled to digest it afterwards Let its Portions be augmented every Day by little and little till it be in a capacity to take its Belly full Some when they find a Nurses Milk very good do allow the Child nothing for the first two Months but what it sucks from the Breasts after that the Child must have stronger Nourishment as Pap Fine Gruels Milk-Water and Oatmeal with Canary or what else the Child's Friends or the Nurse thinks fit When the Child's Belly is full it must be put into the Cradle and turn'd towards the Fire The Nurse may sing with a soft Voice to lull it asleep rocking gently all the while If the Nurse be cleanly and mind her Business she will shift the Child three or four times a Day or oftener Every thing about it ought to be clean and sweet clean soft Rags behind the Child's Ears and under the Armpits every time she opens it The Nurse must be very careful the Navel-String fall not off too soon before the Vessels be quite closed She ought always to keep a Bolster on the top of it with a Cloath wet in Vinegar and Water till it be wholly depress'd and as it were sunk inwards She ought to put upon the Mould of the Head under the Biggin another Compress to keep the Brain warm Above all let her be very careful not to suffer the Child to â—ry too much at first lest the Navel be forc'd outwards or a Rupture happen in the Groyn she may prevent it â—rying as much as possible by often turning it clean and dry and removing what may fright or grieve it which very often occasions fits of Convulsions in Children These Fits are so common among Children that no Nurse ought to be ignorant of their Symptoms and Method of Cure perhaps the following Account thâ—â—rief may be of use to those that are willing to learn The Signs of Convulsion-Fits are the hanging backward of the Head insomuch that the hinder part of the Head seemeth to touch the Shoulders sometimes the Child's Head bends forward all of a sudden If the Child be
humours that undigested Milk must needs produce They 'll take occasion when the child is disorder'd to squeeze a drop or two out of their Breasts and cry Look ye the Child cares not for sucking A careful and observing Mother ought to pry into these Abuses which are by so much of the deeper dye as they are committed against an innocent Babe It looks so brutish and unchristian like to be slack in a duty of this Nature that 't is highly unsufferable if not unpardonable 'T is the Duty of Nurses to read the Holy Scriptures for their instruction in what they ought to do either in reference to God or their Neighbour the Family they live in or the Child they have in charge They ought to keep good hours and be of an even unmuddied temper otherwise they corrupt and pervert their Milk by the boyling and ferment of any passion they 're liable to A froward Woman is the worst qualified Woman in the World for a Nurse she is generally ill inclin'd never easy but after mischief like the foaming of the Sea in a storm never at rest till a wrack appear Such as can govern and bridle their own passions and move with an equal steddy temper are justly entitled to a preference upon this score and seem to be much allied to Heaven it self whilst Pride Envy Malice and Vexation of Spirit are natural and fit Guests for Hell The Apostle observes that such as will not be govern'd nor controul their undutiful envious and spiteful humours the Spirit of the Air watches for their Souls and then what revenge have they when humbled into the Pit of Sorrow or what satisfaction for their Lustful raving desires Whereas the Complaisant easy temper entails Joy and Satisfaction to its owner both in the Conversation of this World and in the well grounded hopes of a future Felicity May we never be at rest till we conquer and overcome all our confus'd and impious passions that murder the Education of Children both in the Persons of Parents and Nurses The Savagest of Beasts are never hurried with such Passion as to relent in their care and tenderness towards their young which may serve to reproach and condemn all Parents or Nurses that are at any time liable to such unnatural excesses as to forget their Infants And while I am speaking of the Duty of Nurses I may be allow'd to include Parents since they are the Nurses nature at first design'd before our hireling Hackney method obtain'd Nor do I think my self much mistaken when I affirm that no Passion Desire nor any other irregular humour ought to Anticipate the Duty of Parents to their Children How far short many Women come of this Rule in denying to nourish and suckle their own Children I leave ' emselves to Judge Indeed the case is alter'd when Sickness Weakness or any natural Impediment lies in the way for nature ought to be obey'd and follow'd not forc'd But if her Health abundance of Milk and other favourable Circumstances do all Counsel her to suckle her own Child Methinks she neither weighs the Dictates of her own Conscience nor the infinite advantages would redound to her poor child that would be guilty of such an omission 'T is both unjustifiable and horrid that Christians should make the good and benefit of their children truckle to their own sloth and niceness Doubtless if Nature had not oblig'd 'em with stronger Tyes such Women would have declin'd carrying and nourishing their Children in their Wombs I think I do not stretch the Parallel a bit when I account it as unnatural for a woman fit for suckling to deny her Milk for nourishment to her child till it be able to digest other Food as it would be to decline nourishing it in the Womb supposing Nature had left a Possibility of avoiding it The child is by Nature equally entitled to both Solomon when speaking of his brother he does not say He that lay in the same Womb with me but he that suck'd the Breasts of my Mother Had he liv'd in this Age he had been oblig'd to forge another Character for a Brother Besides this early care of nourishing their bodies in a discreet cleanly regular manner there is yet another Duty incumbent upon Nurses or rather Parents if ye will which requires almost as early a Commencement as t'other viz. The care of their Souls The first step of it is to initiate them in the Religion of their Fathers by the Sacrament of Baptism a Duty now a days too much neglected and slighted The Life of so tender a Creature is but a blast and in danger of being gone every moment by reason of the infinite dangers it is obnoxious to which adult People are not troubled with Doubtless therefore 't is a superlative Crime either in Minister or Parent to be backward in so necessary a thing not that I think we are to despair of Gods Mercy to poor Children that dye without Baptism but that I esteem it a considerable advantage which Parents unjustly deny them Baptism is the Lavre of Regeneration which contributes to the washing away and cleansing us from the innate Affections and Propensions to do Evil that have stuck to our Race ever since our Common Mother's Converse with the Serpent and 't were well for us all that we were more sensible of the use and obligation of our Baptismal Vows The just sense of that would make us more active in reforming our own Lives and in forming those of our children They ought to be early acquainted with the Principles of our Religion and while they are not capable to understand they come under obligations by their Baptism tho they are not sensible of it And 't is the Parents Duty to see them put their Baptismal Vows in Practice As soon as they are capable to know they ought to be well and carefully instructed in their Religion A child ought to be train'd up when young in the way he should go according to the Wise Mans advice that he may not be carried away with every pretended new Religion which is like a gay Ribbon fine in its Colours till the Air have made it fade The Propagaters of new Doctrines use all possible Intrigues to duckoy a child into their Communion they have Publick Shops of Envy and Interest where they decry all the World but themselves and rail against Monarchy and Magistracy which is a very agreeable sound to unruly Tempers that hate to be Curb'd They are like a Jaded Horse that shews his Teeth and kicks and spurns and frets at the spurs of his Rider They 're daily firing Granado's against the Catholick Church of England under the pretence of greater Purity of Doctrine and Sanctity of Life They gnaw at her Pillars till their Teeth look black bursting with Envy and Malice that sully's and imbitters their very Countenances just like a Confectioners Boy not half out of his time that by idly devouring his Masters Sugar comes to have
Bound give it a Clyster of Milk with half an Ounce of Maâ—â—â—s dissolv'd in it Ye may give it inwardly some Mint-water dissolving in it five or 〈◊〉 Grains of Mithridate with some drops of Spirit of Hartshorn This is good also against all kind of Worms if ye add a sufficient quantity of the Spirit Outwardly ye may anoint the Back-bone with Oyl of Amber from the Head quite down to the Hips every Night If the Fits continue ye may give two or three drops inwardly elder Persons can take more Let the Nurse boil Water and Bread very well then add Milk to it and give it to the Child sometimes she may add a little Câ—â—â—ry and at Night if the Child prove very froward add a little Diascordium every other Night Now and then if the Child prove Restless the Nurse that gives Suck may drink a good Draught of White-wine Posset with a Dram of Diascordium mix'd with it She ought to keep her self stirring and bustling up and down that the Milk may be the steâ—r A moderate Exercise and a temperate way of Living are very useful Companions for a good Nurse We see that Persons of Quality and Honour generally Bury two or three out of four Children whilst the Country Labourer sayes seven out of eight The reason of the Dâ—â—â—â—â—ence is too evident Whâ—â— the Child is New Born it is sometimes extreamly afflicted with Throws and Violent Pains To remove so dangerous a Symptom I counsel you immediately upon its coming into the World to rub 〈◊〉 all over with hot Canary or White-wine and fresh Butter or Lard and dry the Child with hot Flannel To some â—hildren if their Circumstances require ye must presently give a Clyster of 〈◊〉 Milk with a Spoonful of the Syrup of Cowslips and a Spoonful or two to the Mother as soon as she is in Bed After that she may take in her Mouth a Spoonful of Sugar with some Nutmegs And sometimes a little of the Tincture of Saffron 'T is made thus Take Saffron two Drams Cochineil powder'd a Dram Treacle-water half a Pint shaking it three or four times a Day at first then let it stand in your Closet as the best of Cordials It chears the Heart resists Melancholy expels Poyson and carries off a Feaver if ye take two or three Ounces of it It may be given also to such Children as are troubled with Phlegm You ought to have Syrup of Violets by you and put up a Violet Comfit for the Child 's Gripes or a Suppository of a Marshmallow Root dipt in Oyl or fresh Butter or Lard stroaking the Stomach Sometimes Infants are troubled with a Sore mouth or as some will have it a Cancer in their mouths In this case take of Borax finely powdered a little in a Quill and blow it into the Child's mouth Let it take often of the Syrup of Mulberries Barberries or Slows or of the Syrup of Woodsorrel If the child be troubled with Fits as it frequently happens take Syrup of single Piony one Ounce Spirit of Castor a Dram Treacle Water two Ounces mix all very well and let the child take it often And ye may add sometimes five drops of liquid Laudanum If the child be afflicted with Worms or be Pot-belly'd let it take 3 of the following Powders every change of the Moon The Pouder is to be kept in a Glass and is to be taken in Broth in the morning 'T is as follows Take Crabs Eyes Scammony finely pouder'd of each an Ounce of Sweet Mercury half an Ounce They must be first well levigated and then mix'd The child may take according to its strength from ten Grains to fifteen or sixteen Sometimes children are born with their Cods full of Wind then ye must bathe them with hot White Wine and Fresh Butter then truss up the child with hot Flannel and give it a spoonful as often as ye will of this Infusion Take one Ounce of Anniseeds one Ounce of Ginger steep 'em in one pint of good Canary and keep it for use If the Infant be troubled with the Fall of the Fundament ye must take the upper Leather of an Old Shooe cut it small and lay it upon the coals in a chafing dish in a close stool and set the child right over the smoak of it and keep the part warm with hot Flannel This will certainly cure it Sometimes the Thighs and Legs of children are so weak and feeble that they ought to be artificially strengthned I can be very positive in commending the following Ointment on such occasions Take Neatsfoot Oyl one Gallon fine Brandy two Pound Fresh Butter eight Pound Green Wheat in Iune twenty Pound Bay Leaves one Pound Bruise all in a Mortar very well then put it into a large well-glaz'd Pot and stir it very well then cover it with Paste very close all round the top put it into an Oven to bake as long as a good big Loaf then draw it out before it be cold strain it out into a good Pot and if ye will add one pound of the Marrow of Oxe Bones it will be the better You must rub the hinder parts of the Thighs and Legs by a fire morning and night 'T is a wonderful strengthener of the Legs I have cured a child in three months with the bare using of it after it had been given over by an Eminent Physician that had it in hand three years and at last said it would never be able to go in this world This Ointment has a wonderful Vertue in asswaging the hardness of Breasts or curdling of the Milk if ye add to every ounce of it two Drams of Sperma Coeti I anoint 'em with it twice a day and draw the Nipple very well and meet with extraordinary success in it For sore Nipples it is incomparable Dry the Nipple with a Rag before ye anoint and after anointing keep the Rag close to the Nipple Whilst I am discoursing of Young Children I 'll take occasion to communicate to you the Composition of another Ointment that is of extraordinary Service in healing all manner of out-breakings in childrens Faces or Heads The Composition is this Take the Fat End of the best Breast of Mutton you can get spit it and roast it all the while it is at the fire baste it extraordinary well with Tar and put one ounce of Cinamon and half an ounce of Cloves grossly pouder'd into the Dripping-Pan so let it drop on the Pouders while it roasts Let it stand all night the next day strain it out into a Pot for use And withal give the child every day of the Syrup of Rhubarb in Drink or Broth with Syrup of Violets The Woman that observes these Rules and manages her Infants neatly is in a fair way of having Lusty Children Some Women are over-careless in not giving the child to suck when it needs it though by the bye 't is as great a Fault to over-suckle a child and choak it with crude raw
more they are so plaguy troublesome that tho' taken away they commonly return again After Delivery indeed they use to vanish of their own accord But this Patient was so extreamly afflicted that I never saw a Woman in the like Condition I directed her to the following Ointment Take one Dram of Sperma Ceti half an Ounce of Ointment of Roses two Drams of the Spirit of Vinegar Melt all over the Fire and use it Night and Morning after the Skin is well cleansed CHAP. VIII Of the Cesarean Section or Cutting the Child out of the Mother 's Womb. WHen the Woman dies and the Child is alive in her Belly we sometimes open her up and take out the Child Some foolish People talk of performing this Operation upon living Women in a dangerous Labour to save the Child's Life and therefore would call it Cesarean Section in imitation of Cesar's Birth 't is true there would be some pretext of excuse to make Martyrs of poor Women to bring a second Cesar or some great and new Prophet into our Western World but 't is not known that ever there was any Law Christian or Civil which countenanc'd the Martyrdom of the Mother to save the Child Some Country Gossips will tell you they know such yet living whose Sides have been opened to make way for the Child But such Stories as these are only fit Entertainment for Fools and Children A Surgeon must never practise this cruel Operation whilst the Mother is alive but when she is dead he ought not to neglect it and what he does he must do it quickly because delay will certainly be the Death of the Child The Greeks were acquainted with this Operation and call'd it Embriulie Most Authors would have it made on the left side of the Belly it being more free from the Liver which is on the right Some are for opening just in the middle of the Belly between the two right Muscles because in this place there is only the covering and the white Line to cut To dispatch then with more ease and speed the Surgeon having plac'd himself the dead Body may be a little rais'd Let him take a good sharp Incision-Knife make one or two stroaks into the Peritonaeum and then gently take out the Child CHAP. IX Of the Various Symptoms happening to Women in Childbed and the Methods of Cure THE Womb may be fitly compared to a rough Sea in which the Child floats for the space of nine Months The Labour of Delivery is the only Port but full of dangerous Rocks The Woman after she has arriv'd at the desired Port of Delivery and has disengag'd her self of her Loading has yet much need of help to defend her self against a great many Inconveniencies which may ensue upon her Travel In the first place she must keep a Temperate Diet having a great care not to over-fill her self after so great an Evacuation Indeed her Diet must be like that of Wounded Persons Neither are Nurses Tales to be believed who exhort 'em to fill after so great an emptiness telling them that the loss of Blood must be restor'd These are mere Fooleries for that Blood which she has lost is but unnecessary and useless Blood dam'd up in the Womb for the space of nine Months the Efflux of which must needs be conducive to Health Her Nourishment therefore for the first Days must be but slender for fear of falling into a Feaver and hastening the Milk too fast into the Breasts where 't is in danger of Curding or Apostematising Upon this account she ought to confine her self for some time to Panada's Broths Gellies Potch'd Eggs c. If she be very strong and hearty and can Nurse her Child she may feed a little more plentifully and drink often Barly Water wherein some Coriander or Caraway or Fennel Seeds may be boil'd This will partly add to the Childs Health keeping it free of Gripes Throws and sowre Belchings Some Women after Delivery are troubled with a Tentigo when the Clitoris encreases to an over great measure 't is a Nervous piece of Flesh which the Lips or Wings of the Privities do embrace and which undergoes Erection in the Act of Venery In some 't is as big as the Neck of a Goose and hangs below the Orifice of the Privities Sometimes this may be occasion'd by the Midwife's hurting the part Or it may become loose and porous by often handling which may cause a great concourse of Humours and so the Nervous Body is enlarged to an extraordinary bigness I have oftentimes cur'd this Symptom by cutting it away but so as to avoid Inflammation Some are troubled with Hemorrhoids of the Womb which are little Protuberancies like those of the Fundament produced in the Neck of the VVomb by the abundance of Feculent Blood that resorts thither where the Veins end They are cur'd by revulsion of Humours by mitigating asswaging Insessions and Purging if other Circumstances do not forbid Oftentimes the VVoman receives prejudice from the Bruises and Rents of the outward parts of the VVomb occasion'd by hard Labour The Childs Head in passing makes a violent Distention and Separation of the four Caruncles And those parts having once given way to an Infant are ever after easily relax'd and extended and so every Travel comes with less pain than the preceding Sometimes it happens that the Midwife's Nails have scratch'd and rent the parts through Carelesness and Inadvertency But whenever such Contusions or Rents happen they must not be neglected lest they degenerate into malignant Ulcers After pains are the common Bane of the Welfare of Women in Childbed They say they are not so much troubled with 'em of their first Child as of the following But that is no certain Rule Experience confirms that they happen indifferently after first or last Labours according as their various Dispositions are Let the Nurse lay on a Galbanum Plaister and keep the Belly very hot and then give her some Cinnamon Water with Mithridate and a few drops of the Spirit of Hartshorn or liquid Laudanum This will very often carry off their Gripings Collicks and other After-pains Commonly they go away of themselves in 2 or 3 Days time If they be sharp and obstinate and threaten to continue longer you must give frome one Ounce to two or three of Aqua Bryoniae Composita with some drops of the Spirit of Hartshorn and a Dram of Confectio Alkermes Some give this same Draught to hasten and facilitate the Birth or to bring away the After-birth and cleanse the Womb. As to the Lochia which flow from the Womb in Childbed Galen says They are only Vicious Humours and the residue of the Blood with which the Child was nourished in the Womb which flows out when the Womb is open'd by the Birth Perhaps 't is the same Blood as us'd to be purg'd out every Month before Conception It may proceed from a Wound made by loosening the Burthen from the Womb for when it comes
the Child is gone and in Old Age they are Contracted again The fundus or Bottom is deriv'd from the Spermatick Vessels or those by which the Vassa Praeparantia are constituted as also from the Hemorrhoidal Branch whence is the great consent between the Womb and the Spleen In Women not with Child the Menstrual Blood always flows through the Arteries What is not thus evacuated returns back again to the heart by the Veins which are join'd to the Arteries In the time of flowing they are opened and gape They resemble Cups or Saucers call'd Acetabula or Cotyledones To these when a Woman is with Child the Placenta is join'd which receive the Blood for its Nourishment The Womb is furnish'd with many Nerves from the Par Vagum and the Nerves of the Os Sacrum which run all along the Mouth of the Womb and the Vulva for quickning the Sense of Pleasure The use of the Womb is to attract receive retain preserve and cherish the Seed in order to Conception and after Conception to contain and nourish the Faetus till the time of Birth The Cavity of the Neck is rough by reason of the wrinkles whose edges tend inwards least the Seed when thrown in should slip out again as we see in Barren Women whose slipperiness prevents Conception At the upper part near the Vulva is the insertion of the Bladder to sight it is like a straw Thence the Urine is voided by the Meatus Vrinarius which is short and straight but dilatable so as to give Passage to a large stone It is cover'd without by a fleshy Muscle call'd Spincter The Membrane call'd Hymen is a Sign or Note of Virginity because 't is not to be found in any but Virgins That there is such a thing 't is not to be doubted we have such great Authorities for it But in Sickly young Girls or such as are of a wanton temper 't is not so perfect as in a Healthy young Maid that is Vertuous in Thought and in Deed. It was taken notice of as an undoubted Sign of Virginity among the Hebrews as Moses has at large declar'd Deut. 22. It is situated in the Neck of the Womb just behind the Insertion of the Neck of the Bladder or a little more inwards This membrane goes cross the Cavity like a Diaphragma or Midriff In the first coition Pain and Bloodshed ensues upon breaking it It s use is to defend the Internal Parts As to the Vulva or External Parts the more Noted are the Pubes or Mons Veneris which is the part where the hair grows and is properly term'd the Privity a soft substance partly skin partly spongy flesh plac'd upon a Portion of hard fat The like of which is not to be seen in the whole Body CHAP. II. Of the Membranes enfolding the Child in the Womb. THE first thing bred in the Womb after Conception is the membranes enfolding the Child which are but two in human kind viz. The Amnios and Chorion to which Last belongs the Placenta or Womb-Cake All these together make what we call the Secundine or After-Birth 't is so call'd by reason 't is the second Habitation of the Child next to the Womb and also because it comes away by a second Birth after the Child or the first Birth The Amnios from its softness and thinness is the first membrane 't is call'd also Agnina Indusium Charta Virginea It is the thinnest of the Tunicles white soft and transparent and furnish'd with some few veins and Arteries which are disperst within its foldings It compasses the Child immediately and cleaves almost every where to the Chorion especially at the ends It is united to it at the middle above the Placenta where the Vasa Vmbilicalia or Navel-string comes forth But 't is easily separated from it It contains within it plenty of humidity and humours in which the child swims that by its floating therein it might be the lighter and less burthensome to the Mother and might avoid striking against any of the Neighbouring hard parts and that the Membranes being broke and the humour running out at the time of Birth the child's way thro the Neck of the womb might be rendered smooth slippery and easy When this humour flows out the Midwives call it the breaking of the waters Part of the Amnios does now and then hang about the head of the child thence the Infant is said to be born with a cawl Some take this for a presage of Good some of Evil some of Short Life some of Long but it has relation to none of these things for it hath been found on the head of both happy and miserable short and long liv'd persons Chorion is the Second membrane and compasses the child like a circle It immediately compasses the former and lies beneath it whose inner and hollow part â—t covers and invellops extending it self according to the magnitude thereof It is with some difficulty separated from the Amnios and strongly bears up and unites the Vessels to the Placenta that side next to the child is smooth and slippery except where it is fastned to the Placenta which is for the most part on the upper and foreside The Placenta Vteri or Womb-Cake because of its shape called also Hepar Vteri the Womb-Liver from its Nature and Office is a round Mass of Flesh furnished with Divers Vessels through which the Child receives its Nutriment it is in Number but one even in those who bear two or more Children at once so many Cells are inserted into it in Divers places its magnitude is various yet it is generally found about ten or twelve Inches Diameter It 's constituted of an Infinite Number of little Fibres with congealed Blood interposed but its Parenchyma is not every where alike for in some parts it is glandulous and thicker being variously Interwoven with Capillary Veins joyn'd together by various Anastomoses through which the Blood in the Child runs back out of the Arteries into the Veins to nourish the Child as the true Liver does in grown Persons This Blood it sucks out of the Veins of the Womb and prepares it for use It sends it through the greater Umbilical Vein to the Liver of the Child that so it may be carried to the Heart out of which it is sent by the Arteries into the whole Body of the Child for Nourishment Vena Vmbilicalis passing through the two Coats of the Peritonaeum is inserted into the Liver by a cleft going thro the Navel it is variously rouled or twisted about that its length might not prove troublesome From the Navel it goes over the right and left sides of the Throat and Neck turning it self back at the hinder part of the head and so over the middle of the Forehead to the Placenta sometimes it encompasses the Neck like a Chain The Child being born this Navel-string must be tyed with a strong thread wound often about the distance of two or three Inches from the belly of
seven or eight Ounces of Blood from the Arm If she be weak I would recommend to her the following Prescription which I value as a Jewel and have always found very successful in such Cases Take a Quart of fine Caraway Water two Ounces of fine Rhubarb an Ounce of the Syrop of Clove-Gilliflowers Mix altogether in a bottle and shake it three or four times a Day for one Week then strain it off as ye make use of it take two or three Spoonfuls Some that are very weak may take it once in two Days all the time of their being with Child I value it as an incomparable Medicine If ye please ye may distil the following Water Take of fresh Eringo Roots one Pound Dates half a Pound Sweet Almonds four Ounces bruise and pound 'em all to a Pulp Then add Nutmegs three Ounces Mace half an Ounce Barly and Cinnamon water of each a Quart Canary and Balm-water of each a Quart mix and distil adding to every Quart when drawn off four Ounces of fine powder'd Sugar This daily taken nourishes the Child in the VVomb and prevents Miscarriages The following Decoction of Rhubarb is very good in such cases Take two Ounces of Rhubarb four Ounces of Corants bruis'd three Ounces of the Roots of Sorrel half an Ounce of sweet Fennel-seed three Pound of Fountain-water boyl all to two Pound then strain and add of white Sugar clarified three Ounces You may take from two Spoonfuls to three in Milk Water or White-wine or Ale If in case of a sudden Indisposition ye prove Feaverish and Bound and cannot get the abovementioned things made ye may send to the Apothecaries for one Ounce of Diaprunum Lenitive and ten Grains of Sal Prunellae and take the one half of it going to Bed and the other half next Morning drink warm Ale after it 'T is a delicate thing to cool and loosen the Belly to quench Thirst and refresh the Body in Consumptions Hectick Feavers c. if taken often On the other hand 't is as bad to have too great a Looseness as to be Bound too long For once or twice a Day is sufficient If therefore ye be subject to be over loose you may at Night take half an Ounce of Conserve of Red Roses with half a Dram of Diascordium and qualify your Drink with a piece of Steel made red hot I would recommend the following Electuary for stopping of Vomiting expelling Wind removing the Cholick and in general against all cold Diseases in the Head which is also very effectual in stopping a Looseness and strengthening the Child in the Mothers Womb. Take Conserve of Red Roses Green Ginger preserved of each two Ounces Spirit of Vitriol two Drams Work 'em very well in a Mortar then add half an Ounce of the Powder of Cinnamon one Dram of the Powder of Cloves and as much of the Syrup of Violets as is necessary for the Consistency of an Electuary Take one Dram of it as often as ye have occasion now and then a Draught of Cinnamon-water upon it is extraordinary good If the Woman with Child be troubled with a Singultus or Hickup Take three Grains of Musk powder'd in a Glass Mortar Add to it two Ounces of strong Cinnamon-water and ten or fifteen Grains of the Oyl of Cloves and take a Spoonful of it at a time till it be stop'd The Sugar of Tormentil is extraordinary good for strengthening and fastening the Foetus in the Womb if taken twice or thrice a Day in half an Ounce or more of Distill'd Milk-water 'T is made after this manner Take of Tormentil Roots powder'd one Ounce and a half Cinnamon Powder half an Ounce of white Sugar-candy one Pound Cinnamon-water one Pint add all together put 'em in an Earthen Pan over the Fire stirring it gently with a Silver Spoon till it become dry Keep it for use in a Gallypot ty'd down close If you will you may take a Dram of Confectio Alkermes with it or the Syrup of the Juice of Alkermes The following is also very useful 't is call'd Pulvis Griseus or the Gray Powder Take Crabs-Eyes Sage of each two Ounces finely powder'd white Chalk one Ounce Nutmegs powder'd two Drams Mix all very well in a Mortar and tie it down in a Glass 'T is an admirable thing against Looseness pains of the Stomach tho never so vehement and Heart-burning You may take half a Dram or a Dram in Barly Cream or Milk twice a Day Ye may give to a Child as much as will lie upon a Six-pence If she be troubled with Swooning or Fainting Fits the following Corallated Powder is admirable good Take of Red Coral finely powder'd Sugar treble refin'd of each two Ounces Oyl of Cinnamon ten Drops or Powder of Cinnamon two Drams finely powder'd and mix'd in a Mortar very well Then take half a Dram or a Dram in any Cordial Water If she be troubled with Coughs Asthma's Obstructions of the Lungs c. which are all very apt to procure Abortion she may make use of the following Powder Take fine Benjamin an Ounce and an half Sulphur Vive three Ounces Anniseeâ—s one Ounce Sugar of Roses two Ounces powder all very finely then mix 'em The Dose is half a Dram twice a Day in a soft boil'd Egg Morning and Night Or ye may take it three times a Day in Syrup of Hyssop or Liquorice Or Take Spanish Juice of Liquorice slic'd thin three Ounces put it in two Pound of Canary let it be shak'd three or four times a day then add Elecampain-Roots slic'd one Ounce After one Week ye may take from three to four Spoonfuls often If ye please ye may add to it some Syrup of Hyssop or some Syrup of Jujubes I have seen wonderful success with it Sometimes Women with Child are very subject to Pains in the Stomach and loathing of Meat I use to give on such occasions the following Electuary Take Conserve of Clovegilliflowers and Conserve of Red Roses of each two Ounces Syrup of Citron one Ounce Cloves in gross Powder one Ounce mix it in a Mortar for an Electuary You may take the quantity of a Nutmeg in a morning and as much at Night As to the Fluxes of whatever sort that may occasion Abortion or Miscarriage I advise you to take fifteen or thirty drops of Laudanum Liquidum Cydoniatum in a Glass of Canary going to Bed and repeat it often It wonderfully eases all Pains procures Sleep stops all Fluxes in a short time removes Colick Pains or any sort of Disturbance in the Body and comforts the Spirits Or she may take two or three Spoonfuls of a Pearl Cordial or the same quantity of the Syrup of Corals which I choose to prepare after this manner Take of Juice of Limons or Lime-Juice or extraordinary good Vinegar one Pint white Sugar-candy finely powdered one Pound gently melt it over the Fire and add of the Powder of Red Corals finely powder'd two Ounces then continue still to keep it