danger because the Medicines we vse in these dayes as Rubarbe Manna Cassia and Tamarinds are not so violent as those that were vsed by our Ancients which were Hellebor Scammony Turbith Coloquintida or the like and wee must take especiall care of giuing them any opening things which may either prouoke vrine or their naturall courses for as the same Author saith It is impossible for the child to be healthfull if the mother haue her naturall sicknes Bloud-letting is forbid them vnlesse it be very needefull especially if the child be growne any thing big because he hath more neede of foode and nourishment then at the beginning when he was little for take away his sustenance and he will waxe leane and feeble being oftentimes driuen for want thereof to seeke a passage forth Notwithstanding there are some women so sanguine and full of bloud that we are forced to take some of it away least the child be stifled with the ouer-great quantitie thereof or when they fall into diseases where it is necessary to open a veine The fittest time if it be not in case of necessitie is from the fourth to the seuenth moneth I haue seene a woman with child who for a Pleurisie was let bloud eleuen seuerall times and yet stayed her full terme and was well deliuered Now concerning the passions of the minde a woman with child must be pleasant and merrie shunning all melancholike and troublesome things that may vexe or molest her mind for as Aristotle saith A woman with child must haue a setled and quiet mind which Auicen also counselleth that those which haue conceiued ought to be preserued from all feare sadnesse and disquietnes of mind without speaking or doing any thing that may offend or vexe them so that discreet women and such as desire to haue children will not giue eare vnto lamentable and fearefull tales or storyes nor cast their eyes vpon pictures or persons which are vglie or deformed least the imagination imprint on the child the similitude of the said person or picture which doing women shall be sure to be well and happily deliuered and that With the help of God they shall beare their burthen to the full terme which shall be sent into the world without much paine promising them a happie and speedie deliuerie To conclude they must leaue off their Busks as soone as they perceiue themselues with child not lacing themselues too straight or crushing themselues together for feare least the child be mishapen and crooked or haue not his naturall growth and their garments must be rather light and thin then heauie and cumbersome How a woman must gouerne her selfe the nine moneths she goeth with child CHAP. VI. NOw I haue prescribed what manner of life a woman ought to leade while she is with child she may obserue if it please her this that followeth though not so necessary yet commodious and profitable both for the maintaining of her health and preseruation of her beauty To the end then that her breasts after her deliuery be neither too big and pust vp nor yet hanging downe like bags and to preuent the danger that might happen vnto her by the too great quantity of bloud that is turned into milke which may be curdled and so suppurate and putrifie As soone therefore as she knowes her selfe to be with child as in the second or third moneth let her weare a chaine of gold about her necke Some preferre a chaine of steele or else a little gad of steele put betweene the two breasts as likewise to put a piece of corke there and to weare vnder her arme-pits two little pieces more of the same This Fomentation also is very good Take of Periwinckle Sage and ground-Iuy of each a handfull Hemlocke halfe a small handfull boyle them in wine and water and when you haue taken it from the fire put thereto a little rose-vineger And with this decoction warme bath your breasts in the morning with a cloth or spung dipt therein a quarter of an houre wiping and drying them afterwards with reasonable warme clothes The like may be done with the waters of the same hearbs and about the third or fourth moneth when she feeles her selfe quicke about which time her belly begins to swell and grow big she must weare a Swathe made fit for the purpose to support her belly being first annointed with this Liniment or Pomade which she shall continue till the ninth moneth to keepe her belly from being full of knottie and broken vaines furrow'd and wrinckled making it grow deformed vnseemely and hanging downe lower then is fit which hapneth by reason of the great burthen and weight of the child that stretcheth and inlargeth the skinne thereof and causeth them to indure great paine in their belly and groine The Pomade or Liniment approued Take of Kids sewet and the fat of a Sow of each three ounces of Capons and Goose-grease of each an ounce and halfe cut them small and melt them in an earthen pot putting thereto as much water as will suffise then straine them through a cloth and wash them in water till they waxe very white and haue lost their sauour Afterward melt them againe in a double vessell adding thereto anounce of the marrow of a Hart or Stag then wash it againe with rose-Rose-water or other sweet smelling water mingling therewithall if you thinke fit or that it will not be hurtfull to the wombe two or three graines of Muske or Ciuet. Some vse this oyntment Take dogs grease and the fat about a sheepes kidney of each two ounces Spermaceti one ounce oyle of sweet Almonds an ounce and a halfe the fats must be melted prepared and washed as before then melted againe with the rest and washed with rose or sweet water Some take good store of Sheepes-feet well brused and broken in pieces to the number of thirty or forty and boyle them well in water then taking off the fat and marrow that swimmeth on the top which they wash well in common water and take therof two ounces of Ducks-grease as much Spermaceti one ounce white Waxe sixe drams melt them altogether in a double vessel and wash them in the aboue named waters Some Ladyes and Gentlewomen which loue not to rub their bellies euery morning with any of these liniments weare thereon a Dog-skin or some other wel prepared and dressed as followeth and change it euery fifteene dayes or according as it will last and continue not taking it off except it shriuell and grow wrinckled Take a Dog-skin or some other skin ready dressed to make gloues of wash it often in common water afterward in rose-Rose-water and dry it in the shade and being thus drest and dryed lay it in soke in these oyles and fats following Take of Mesues oyntment of Roses an ounce and halfe oyle of Saint Iohns wort and of sweet Alamonds of each an ounce fresh Butter and Spermaceti of each halfe an
ounce melt all these together in a double vessel and let the skin lie and soke in it three or foure daies mouing stirring them together daily then take it foorth and spred it in the aire and let it lie there two or three daies till it haue sok't in all the oile become drie then cut it to the forme bignesse of the belly and so apply it The daintie and curious may vse the former liniments and skin they that haue not the meanes to do either let them Take of fresh Butter well wash't in common water and then in rose-Rose-water three ounces oile of sweet Almonds one ounce Spermaceti halfe an ounce and with these melted together rub their belly These Ointments must be kept in a gally pot and couered with Rose water to keepe them from being mustie When the Woman is come to the ninth Moneth hauing been in good health all the time of her going with child she must continue the vse of the aforesaid Ointments and must begin to vse more exercise then she did before walking gently before meales the first twelue or fifteene daies and then afterward it will be good to vse stronger exercise It will be very profitable for her especially after the ten or twelue first daies of the ninth moneth be past to sit in the decoction following after the maner of a halfe Bath some quarter or halfe an hower in the morning and then being well dried and laid to bed let her be annointed behind all along the lower part of her backe and before from the Nauill downward and chiefly vpon Os Pubis and the groine with the ointment following Take of Mallowes Althaea with their roots Motherwort of each two handfull white Lilly roots three ounces Chamomill and Melilot flowers of each a good handfull Lin-seed Quince-seed and Foenigreeke of each an ounce Boyle them all in sufficient quantitie of running water for the Bath Take of Hensfat three ounces Duckes fat an ounce and a halfe fresh Butter two ounces Linseed oile an ounce and a halfe Melt them all together then wash them verie well in Parietarie and Mugwort water adding thereto two ounces of the Muccilage of Althaea Roots In which space let her take this drinke euery morning fasting Take of Oile of sweet Almonds newly drawen without fire an ounce white Wine halfe an ounce Parietarie water one ounce mingle them together Some haue found good by taking the yelke of an Egge and drinking a draught of Hypocras after it Others take a little Wine and water wherein Lin-seed hath been stieped Let this or the like order and gouernment be obserued for a Woman that is of a good habit of body and who in her going with Child hath not been subiect to any sicknesse or accident of moment bearing her Children well without much paine But because there be many which are troubled with diuers accidents which happen in their Child-bearing I thought good heere to treat thereof briefly before I speake of their Deliuerie Of many infirmities which trouble Women while they are great with Child CHAP. VII IT becomes a Woman well at all times and chiefly in her Child-bearing and after her Deliuerie to haue a care as much as she can possiblie of the preseruation of her Beautie since there is nothing that sooner decaies and spoileth it then the often bearing of Children But as Health is more precious and recommendable then Beautie and seeing that a woman with Child may be troubled and oppressed with many accidents and infirmities during the nine Moneths she beares her child it will be therefore verie necessary and profitable to seeke out the meanes to free and deliuer them thereof For in loosing the Mother the life of the Child is also hazarded Aristotle in his booke De generatione Animalium is of opinion That bruit beastes going with young are not subiect to any diseases and contrariwise that Women are verie often sicke Hippocrates saith That they be pale and wan to shew that they are subiect to many infirmities In times past when men and women were sold like slaues if there were any found that were with child she was not warranted for whole and sound by him that fold her as Vitruuius writes in his second book because they were troubled and subiect to so many diseases In the first three or foure Moneths such infirmities chiefly happen for many causes First because they liue as Aristotle saith for the most part in idlenesse and eate ill meates which are turned into excrements and breed many obstructions the fountaine and beginning of all diseases the second is the great suppression and stopping of bloud whereof they were wont to be purged euery Moneth before their being with Child which runs to the Matrice to be voided find that accustomed passage which it had woont to haue but being not able to get forth and much lesse to be spent and digested by the Child which is as yet but little it returnes backe into the vaines chiefly those which are neere the stomacke and through the long continuance is there corrupted and changed to be of a bad qualitie whereof proceeds this depraued and disordinate appetite which the Latins call Pica or Malacia Loathing of meat Hicket Vomiting Paines of the stomacke Flanckes and Belly Ache of the backe Hips and Groine difficultie of making water Panting and beating of the heart with Sounning the Cough binding and Fluxe of the belly swelling of the Thighs and Feet and sometimes Abortment not being able to beare their Children the full time together with many other accidents whereof we will speake hereafter beginning with the Pica which troubleth them oftnest and longest Of the disordinate longing called Pica CHAP. VIII WEe commonly say the appetite is depraued when beyond measure we couet to eate and drinke too much in respect of what hunger naturally requireth Or when we desire or long after meats which are vnusuall and offend in qualitie and are not drest and prepared as they ought Of this depraued Appetite there be diuers sorts The first is called Boulimos of the Greeks and of the Latins Fames vaccina appetētia immodica When they eate more then is requisite not being able to satisfie themselues And if hunger vrge them farther and grow greater then it is called of the Latins Appetitus caninus or Fames insatiabilis and the partie eates till he be full euen to the throat that he is constrained to vomit his stomacke being so ouercharged But then presently he is driuen to eat againe and then to vomit from whence the Prouerbe is taken He is returned like a Dog to his vomit The like hapneth for drinking as for eating which the Latins call Sitis immodica which is so great that the tongue cleaues to the roofe of the mouth not being able to eate or speake except the mouth be first moistned and the
dried in women with child through the great heate that is in the intrailes which makes them that they cannot easily flow The sedentary life also that women leade is cause that their excrements are stayed and gather themselues together by little and little and at the length stoppe vp the passage This accident brings vnto them flushing in the face headach beating of the Arteries yea and oftentimes an Ague For the curing of this disease a good order in dyet is verie needfull vsing meates that doe moisten and keepe the guts supple and slipperie and withall soften the excrements which must bee done with very great discretion for too much moysture may at length ouer much relaxe the ligaments of the the wombe and of the child and thereby hasten the deliuery Notwitstanding a woman with child being too costiue may vse tender meats as Veale wherewith they may make Brothes with Lettuce Purcelane Sorrell Spinach Beets Buglosse Violet leaues and sometime a little of the herbe called Mercurie Let them vse Prunes and bak't Apples Some take two or three gulps of fresh water before their meales but let them vse gentle exercise to make their excrement follow the more freely It is also verie fit for a woman with child in the morning when she riseth and at night when she goeth to bed to make proffer to vnburthen nature without straining her selfe but verie gently If for all this her belly will not be correspondent it will not be amisse to giue her Clysters Clyster â„ž Malu Bismal Parietar Matric an m. ij flor Chamoem Melilot an p. ij sem Anisi Foenicul an Ê’ ij coquantur in iure pulli vel capit veruec aut vituli in colatur ad quart iij. dissolue Sacch albi olei Violat Butyr recent an â„¥ j. ss vitell ouor numero ij fiat Clyster this may be giuen at twise She may also take some broth wherein is put a spoonfull or two of the water or wine of Seny which is made after this maner Seny wine Take halfe an ounce of Seny well cleansed sixe cloues brused put them into a dish and poure vpon them halfe a pint of wine or water redy to boyle and so let them soke all night and in the morning take two or three spoonfull which must be put into your broth keeping the rest to serue you afterward at your need Of the Fluxe or loosenesse of the Belly which troubleth women with child CHAP. XVI THe Laske in what maner soeuer it be doth put the woman in danger of comming before her time and that for diuers reasons First because thereby the meat they take for their nourishment is voided too soone which should haue staied and been turned into bloud for the nourishing and sustaining both of the Mother and the child And therefore they both remaine weake and feeble which compelleth the child to come foorth and seeke for food else where For as the Prouerbe saith Hunger makes the Wolfe come foorth of the wood Beside the Mother is so troubled with rising out of her bedde as also with much straining her selfe especially if it bee the bloudie Flixe that the wombe oftentimes is ouerturned and relaxed and causeth the childe to bee cast foorth of his place by reason of the moistnesse which runneth continually along the great gut vpon which the wombe is placed Women with great bellies are commonly subiect thereto because of the meats they eat which are of ill iuice whereby the stomacke being weakned and not able to concoct them the expulsiue faculty is compel'd to thrust them downward halfe concocted and indigested otherwise they are corrupted and turned into some maligne sharpe and biting humours as into fretting choller rotten flegme or melancholie which doe corrode and stir vp the bowels and so cause the fluxe of the belly Concerning the cure of it many considerations must be had And first it will be verie fit to know of what kind the fluxe is and what may be cause thereof Now all Fluxes of the belly must needs be one of these three either Diarrhaea Lienteria or Dysenteria which soeuer it be of these if it proceed of a maligne and putride humour it must not be suddainly stopped by astringent medicines least it happen vnto the woman with child as it did vnto Smyrnia as Hippocrat saith who hauing a fluxe of the belly suddainly stopt was deliuered in the the fourth moneth Now to know what kind of fluxe it may be the stooles will shew and testifie If it be not violent it may be suffered to flow gently and for a good while not omitting in the meane time the vse of some Clysters that may asswage the paine if there be any But if it continue that it bee bred of some sharpe and biting humours which knaw the guts and prouoke the expulsiue facultie of which kind are fretting and biting choller or salt flegme and that the Mother seeme to grow weake and faint then must it be remedied with as much speed and care as may be otherwise the woman hauing diuers pangs and prouocations is in danger to be deliuered Wherefore the humour offending must be purged with Rubarb compound sirup of Cichorie and the like which haue been alreadie prescribed in the former Chapters as also the like humours hindred from breeding And therefore she must abstaine from all vnholsome meats especially if the cause thereof proceed from thence Besides the said humors must be allaied and made more gentle that they may not any more prouoke or stir vp the expulssiue vertue the which may be easily done by a good dyet which shall breed as little choller or other bad humours as may be vsing broths made with Purcelance Sorrell Buglosse and the cold seeds adding thereto a little Rise or French Barley The vse of new laid Egges is much commended which must be poched in water Her meat must be rather rost then boiled All spices are to be eschewed Let her drinke be red Wine or steeled water wherein a piece of bread hath been soked This drinke is verie fit and pleasant Take of French Barly dried in a pan a handfull Fennill-seed Coriander-seed and Licorise of each two drams boile them in a quart of water adding thereto an ounce of Berberis or two ounces of the iuice of Pomgranats A little before meales let her eat a slice of Marmilade And seeing there often happens paine and gripings together with pangs and throwes because the guts are moued and prouoked therefore they must be washed and the paine mitigated with this Clyster Clister â„ž Hord. integ m.i. chamâ—mel melilot an m.s. Plantag Borag Buglos an m.i. Bulliant in iure capâ—t veruec aut vituli de quo cape quart iij. in quibus dissolue ol violar â„¥ iij. vitell duor ouor sachar rub â„¥ is fiat clyster But if the woman bee further molested with gripings and that she haue great and often prouocations then this Clister will be very fit
we see oftener then we would that the small Pocks do fall euen vpon the bones and corrupt them The signes to iudge of the euent of them are these If the Ague be but little and diminisheth as the Pocks come foorth if they be but few in number and those scattered here and there if they come foorth easily without much paine and that the child is not much disquieted if they grow white and ripen quickly these are signes of recouerie But if the Ague continue and increase at the comming foorth of them if they thrust foorth in great quantitie one vpon another and if they run as it were all into one scab not ripening speedily if the child be verie hoarse and not able to speake or fall into a bloudie flixe these are ill signes The first sheweth that it hath seized vpon the Lungs and the second that it fretteth the guts Againe the small Pocks is verie dangerous when it comes foorth with paine and griefe though they be white When they be small greene blewish or blacke and that they sinke downe and grow drie on the suddaine not comming to maturation and suppuration if the child pisse bloud and then by and by after his vrine turnes to be blacke it is signe of death Concerning the Measels if they be but reasonable red and haue no ill accidents ioined with them but go away suddainly they are not to be feared But when they are high colour'd or if they be blewish or greenish accompanied with vomiting paine of the heart weaknesse the bloudie Flixe and the like they are verie dangerous Of the cure of the Measels and small Pockes CHAP. XXXVI IN all diseases that happen vnto little Children and especiallie in the cure of this present sicknesse the Chirurgion must not be too hasty nor do any thing rashly For there be many oftentimes deceiued which think that the child will not haue the Pocks or Measels because at the first they haue but a little Ague or Head-ach or some other light signe of it seeing that this disease lyeth long in the bodie before it makes any shew And therefore not without good cause haue the ancient writers obserued that sometimes it is better to do nothing than to begin amisse oftentimes altering thereby natures course Neuerthelesse you cannot do amisse in giuing the child some little preseruatiues as Vnicornes horne Bezoard stone and Cordiall waters causing him to be kept quiet without taking the aire especially if it be cold weather But as soone as the Chirurgion perceiueth that the child is taken with an Ague and that he hath the signes heretofore mentioned he must proceed in this manner to the cure of them First he must haue a care in what place the child is laid seeing that this disease doth partly proceed of a maligne and contagious aire which after that it hath beene drawne and carried by the Lungs to the hart and other parts of the body it leaues there an impression of his bad quality in that part of the menstruall bloud wherewith the child was nourished in the mothers womb wherefore let the child be kept in good aire that is neither too hot nor too cold For being too hot it may cause the childe to haue faintings and swounings and being too cold as the Pockes or Measels are comming foorth it may keepe them backe and driue them in againe and so hinder nature from expelling and putting foorth the impurities that are in the body And therefore he must be kept warme in his bedde and reasonably well couered Such as are more nice and curious doe hang the bed round with red couerlets If it be winter it will be good to haue a fire in the Chamber to rectifie the Ayre which perhaps is of the coldest and also to correct some ill quality which it may haue as Rhasis and Auicen write If it bee in heate of Summer it will not bee needfull to make so much fire nor to keep the child couered so warme Concerning his meate and drinke if the childe sucke then must the Nurse keepe a good diet as wee haue heeretofore prescribed and as if she her selfe had an Ague If the child be weaned he must absteine from eating all manner of flesh no not so much as of a little Chicken till the pocks be whollie come foorth But as Auicen saith he may vse Broths made with Capons or Chickens wherein you must put good store of Sorrel Cichory Buglosse Borage and Lettuce Hee may also vse the strained broth of Pease Lentils and Barley waters made with Figs Dates Raysings of the sunne also Gelly Prunes and rosted apples well sugred For his drinke let him vse a Ptisane made of Barley and Licorise adding thereunto some Raysings of the sunne Figs and Dates but in small quantity If that drinke please him not then let him vse this drinke following An excellent Drinke Take of French Barley a handfull shauings of Iuory and Harts horne tied in a little linnen cloth of each two drammes Boyle them in a quart of water and when it is almost sodden put to it halfe an ounce of Licorise halfe a Citron peal'd and cut in slices then straine it and let him drinke of it at his Meales and when hee is thirsty When the Pockes are quite come foorth and begin to looke white and that the Ague grows lesse lesse then he may eate a little stronger meate and drinke a little water and Wine his meate and drinke must not be actually cold And because the pockes do come in the mouth tongue and throat as also all along the wind-pipe you may put to his drinke a little suger or sirup of Violets Iuiubes or Cherries and chiefly to that he drinketh betweene meales This drinke lenifieth suppleth the roughnesse and excoriations it is good for the Lungs and the hoarsenesse wherewith they are troubled and also it cleanseth gently For his sleepe that must be moderate if at the first hee bee very drowsie and heauie he must bee wakened forfeare least his head be filled with vapors But it is also fit if he cannot take his rest to giue him somwhat to make him sleepe For sleepe doth well concoct the humors and maketh the Pockes come foorth the better And for this purpose you may giue him some fine Barley waters and put into his Broths some Lettuce and the cold seeds and at night you may giue him a little spoonfull of sirup of Iuiubes Nenuphar and Violets mingled together absteining from all Narcoticall or stupifying medicines If he be bound and cannot go to the stoole you may giue him inwardly a little Oile of sweete Almonds newly drawne or a little Hony as Auicen appointeth which Auenzoar allows not of because he had taken some of it as he saith when hee had the Pockes where with he thought he should haue died It will not be amisse to giue him a spoonfull of Cassia and if his belly be
child may not stay so long there for danger to be stifled and die it being oftentimes verie weake The midwife shall first tye and then cut the childs Nauel-string to seperat him from the after-burthen Which must be done in this manner She must haue in readynesse a good double thread and a paire of sharpe Scissors with the thread she must tye the Nauell a good inch from the childs belly with a double knot or oftner this knot must be neither too hard and straite neither too loose for too straite tying beside the extreame paine it causeth makes that which is tyed fall off too soone and that before the scar be growen betweene the liue and the dead part And if it be tyed too loose thereof proceeds a fluxe of bloud from the vmbilicall vessels which are not exactly closed and stopp't by the said ligature and therefore a meane must be obserued in doing it Then being thus tyed the Nauel-string must be cut off an inch beneath the knot And that the knot may not slip nor the thred slide away she must take a little fine linnen rowler dip't in oile of Roses wherewith she must wrap the rest of the Nauell and with a little fine bumbast moistned in the same oyle she must lay it vpon the belly that it be not crusht when they dresse and swath the child By this ligature that which is tyed will come to wither and drie of it selfe and some foure or fiue daies after more or lesse the dead part will fall from the quicke which must not be forc'd or pluckt off in any case Some do obserue that the Nauell must be tyed longer or shorter according to the difference of the sexe allowing more measure to the males because this length doth make their tongue and priuie membres the longer whereby they may both speake the plainer and be more seruiceable to Ladies And that by tying it short and almost close to the belly in females their tongue is lesse free and their naturall part more straite And to speake the truth the Gossips commonly say merrily to the Midwife if it be a boy Make him good measure but if it be a wench Tye it short Hippocrates would haue them in tying the Nauell obserue this that followeth If a woman saith he be deliuered with paine and the child stay long in the wombe and comes not foorth easily but with trouble and chiefly if it be by the Chirurgians help and instruments such children are not long liued and therefore there Nauell-string must not be cut before they haue either sneez'd piss'd or cried Anone after the Midwife hath cut the Nauell she must wipe and make clean the child not onely his face but his whole bodie and the wrinkles and folds of the arme-pits buttocks and ioints either with fresh Butter or oyle of sweet Almonds Some do it with oyle of Roses others with oyle of Nuts thereby to make the skin more firme and to stop the pores that the outward ayre may not hurt him and likewise to strengthen all his parts Auicen boyleth Roses and Sage in wine and washeth the child with a fine soft Spung dipt therein and so continues it three or foure mornings when he is shifted The child being thus shifted and annoynted and then well dried and wrap't vp by the Midwife or others they must presently giue him a little wine and Suger in a spoone or else the bignesse of a pease of Mithridate or Triacle dissolued in a little wine if it be Winter and in Summer by reason of the heat with a little Carduus Benedictus or some other Cordiall water Auicen doth thinke it sufficient to giue them a little Hony and to rub the top and bottome of the tongue with ones finger dip't in hony And by this meanes to see whether they be tongue tyed and so to cut the string if it be needfull of the Care that must be had of a Woman in Child bed CHAP. VII WHile the Midwife doth cut the childs Nauell and make him cleane the Nurse or some other that is present must haue an especiall Care of two things The first is To giue the woman in child-bed this drinke A Drinke for a woman in child-bed Take oyle of sweet Almonds newly drawen two ounces Syrup of Maidenhayre one ounce white Wine water of Parietarie of the wall and Carduus Benedictus of each halfe an ounce Mingle them verie well together with much shaking and so let her drinke it This medicine will mitigate and lenifie the passage of the throat and Trachaea Arteria which haue been heated and stretched with crying and groning And likewise it will help to prouoke the purgings and hinder the pangs and gripings from being so violent 2. The second is to cause a sheep to be fleaed and to wrap the womans backe and belly in the skin yet warme thereby to strengthen and comfort all those parts which haue been as it were disiointed and pull'd one from another with much striuing in her trauaile Auicen thinks it enough to lay vpon the womans belly a Hares skin newly stript from the Hare being aliue Then the Midwife if she be not busied about the Child or some other that looketh to the woman shall applie beneath to the entrance of the naturall part and about the bottome of her belly this medicine A strengthening Medicine Take oyle of Hypericum Saint Iohns Wart two ounces Oyle of Roses an ounce Two whole egges Mingle them well together and let them be applied as I shewd before with finelinnen clothes or flaxe likewise there must be laid vnder her hams a little pillow doubled to make her keepe her knees vp a little and that her thighs legs lie not straight down Let her neither lye along nor sit vpright but keepe her selfe betweene both hauing her heade and body rather a little raised then laidlow that her purgings may the easier come away After the skinne hath layen there two or three daies the Midwife or her nurse shall take it away and swath her belly rubbing and anointing it first with oile of Saint Iohns wort sweet Almonds and Roses mingled together For this swathing serues to keepe the Matrice in his place and to driue downe gently her after-purgings and also is a meanes to keepe out the aire which otherwise might cause the woman to haue great paines and gripings The fashion of the swath The swath must bee made of linnen cloth foure times doubled of the bredth of all ber belly which must be put round about her backe belly smooth without any pleat and wrinkle And while they be about this they must take an especial care that the woman catch not cold nor that the aire get not into her wombe which being emptied of such a burthen will easily receiue it and this might bee a meanes to make it swell and puffe vp and to shut the orifices of the veines by which her purgings should flow the
the parts of his bodie are not strong and able enough to draw vnto them sufficient nourishment This difficultie of deliuerie happens also when the child is either sicke or dead and is not able to help it selfe as likewise when he is too big in all his bodie and chiefly in the head or if he be a Monster hauing two heads two bodies foure armes or legs or if they be Twins th' one hindring the others comming foorth which will be euident by the bignesse of the Mother or if he be ill placed to come foorth putting formost an arme or a leg or both the shoulder buttockes side or belly comming formost 4 Now concerning that which is annexed to the child the deliuerie proues difficult if the membranes that containes the water wheron the child doth floate and swim be firme solide and hard that it cannot but verie hardly be broken or that the said membrane be so thin that it breakes too soone and before the child be well turned and ready to follow the said water which serues to carrie him and make him come foorth the easier For the child that remaines drie commeth into the world with much paine Likewise if the after-burthen offer it selfe first and that it stop the passage or if there be a Mole or false Conception As also if the woman haue not been lately at stoole or made water the which is cause that the great gut being full may close the necke of the wombe as likewise the bladder being full may presse it downe because it is placed betweene them both Whence it is commonly said in the prouerb Que l'enfant est situé enter le boire le manger which is That the child is seated between the meat and the drinke And therefore all the aforesaid accidents must be remedied accordingly The meanes to help Women that are deliuered with difficultie CHAP. IX THat a Woman which is deliuered with difficultie and much paine may be help'd the Chirurgian ought to know what is the cause thereof and from whence this difficultie doth proceed that he may the better cure it If it be because the Mother is to grosse or fat and chiefly in her naturall parts as also if there be any store of fat offer it selfe as I haue seen it oftentimes happen in great striuing and throwes yea and that in such sort that it did euen stop the passage of the child Then the Chirurgion as gently as he can possibly must thrust backe and put aside with one hand the said fat not tearing or hurting it least it be spoiled and corrupted afterwards holding it still downe on the one side till the child be come foorth of the wombe keeping it alwaies from falling downe into the passage and among the bones when the child is readdy to come foorth But when part of the bladder is sunke downe and relaxed and is manifestly perceiued in the entrance of the wombe then must he do the like as he did to the fat holding it aside vpward with the flat of two or three of his fingers vntill the childs head be past the Os Pubis If he find then as it may so come to passe that the said bladder be full of vrine the woman in trauaile not hauing made water a good while before then must he cause her to make water by putting a fit instrument gently into the bladder For it is seen in some that the fibres which doe contract the bladder and make it driue out the vrine are so weakned and also the whole bodie thereof that the vrine cannot come foorth Some women haue been deceiued by taking the said bladder thus full with vrine for the waters which come before the child causing the said bladder to be broken the which is worthy of great consideration Also the said necke of the bladder may be stop't by reason of some Carnositie Inflammation or stone which I haue seen an honest woman there being a stone fallen down into the necke in her bladder that stopt her vrine which being put aside by the probe she made water Neuerthelesse when the child was ready to come foorth the stone returning in to the said necke of the bladder againe did so fret and hurt it through the long stay that the childs head made in the passage that it grew to an Impostume and suppuration which made a little hole through the which she hath long time made her water not being able to hold or retaine it which is a storie worthy to be mark'd But as the vrine may be sometimes stop't so likewise the excrements of the great gut may be retained which hapning it will be more then necessarie for the cure thereof to giue the woman a Clyster that may both vnload her of her excrements and likewise help and make her deliuerie the more easie I my selfe was present at the trauaile of a poore sicke woman that had not been at stoole in ten daies before whose great gut was so fild and stuft with excrements as hard as a stone that it was impossible for her to receiue a Clyster and we were constrain'd before she could be deliuered to get out all the said excrements otherwise it had been impossible to haue taken foorth the child To help and succour one that is lean and barren or else of little stature as also such as are either too old or too young they must haue recourse long before hand vnto medicines that shall mollifie moisten and relaxe not onely the membranes which ought to be dilated and stretch'd that they may be made more souple and gentle But likewise you must annoint the Cartilages and Ligaments that ioine the Os pubis Sacrum Os Coccygis and Ilium which must be done with oyntments already set downe and euen in the verie houre of the deliuerie annoynt all the said parts therewith Some mislike not about the end of the ninth moneth to bathe the woman either with a generall or particular bath as we haue heretofore appointed as likewise to giue her euery morning eight or ten daies before her lying in this Drinke A Drinke to make easie the deliuerie Take Oile of sweet Almonds drawen without fire an ounce water of Parietary two ounces mingle thâ—m together and let her drinke it The which I haue oftentimes tried in many women and among the rest in Madame Capp who before had been many times deliuered with much paine and sorrow of her children dead But since I counsell'd her to vse this medicine she hath been deliuered thankes be to God verie fortunately of many children liuing The same remedies do likewise serue for them that haue any Callositie or hardnesse in the passage of Nature The weake and dainty women must be fed with yelkes of egges cullis a tost with wine and sugar or Hyppocras and that a little at a time and often you may also giue them a little confection of Alhermes dissolued either
that onely which they call simple but also that which hath a contusion ioyned with it For in that great striuing and passing of the child many membranes are not onely bruised and hurt but also broken and torne as it hapneth in young women and in others that are farre in yeares and neuer had any child before Nay sometimes in these the passage of the Matrice and that of Anus are brought into one yea and some suffer great excoriations and hurts in those parts which beeing neglected in some haue come to putrifaction and Gangrenes And heere I must admonish women in childbed not to regard the words of their nurses or keepers which continually preach to them to make much of themselues saying that they had need to fil their bellies which haue been so much emptyed telling them how much bloud they haue lost and do daily loose and that at last they will grow so weake that they will not be able to helpe themselues But these are friuolous reasons for the greatest part of the bloud which a woman voideth then and all her month is but superfluous bloud and is good for nothing which hath beene kept in the body a long time euen the nine moneths that she hath gone with child it beeing now necessary for her health to haue it voided out of her Matrice that so her belly which is swolne and puft vp with the aboundance of bloud like a sponge that is full of water may be quitted discharged and returne to the naturall proportion and bignesse And therefore for their healths sake they must not feede so plentifully the first daies as the vulgar thinke that by this abstinence may hinder the Ague which may happen vnto them and likewise keepe downe the aboundance of bloud which would flow to their breasts and be conuerted into milke and by reason of the store there of grow clotty and curdle and in the end apostumate Wherefore the fiue first daies let her vse Broths panades new egges and gelly not glutting her selfe as commonly they doe either with flesh or Almonds In the morning let her take a supping or broth and so likewise at dinner with a couple of new laid egges and some panade and again at supper let her haue the like closing her stomacke with a little gelly but yet if she mean to nurse her child herselfe shee must feede more plentifully Let her drinke barley water wherein a little Cinamon and a few coriander seeds haue been boyled The great Ladies of Italy doe vse a water made of Capons which is this Take two Capons ready pul'd and dressed boyle them in an earthen pot with a sufficient quantity of faire water till they bee halfe sodden then take them foorth and cut them into small peeces to be vsed as followeth Take of Buglosse Borage and Balme of each two good handfuls whereof you must make a lay in a glasse Limbicke and vpon that another of the saide Capons flesh and so vppon that a lay of leafe gold with a dramme of the powder of pearle then poure in some of the broth on the top which you shall do vntill all be bestowed in the same manner This being done you must distill it in a double vessel or Balneo Mariae and draw a quart of water or thereabouts which must be reitterated so often till you thinke that you haue enough to serue the woman in child bed for tenne or twelue daies But this Curiosity is for Princesses and great Ladies The saide water must bee drawne sixe weeks or two moneths before it bee vsed and set in the sunne in sommer and ouer an ouen in winter to take away the rawnesse that remaines in it If the woman haue not an ague in my opinion she may drinke a little white or claret wine with twice as much boyled water But there bee some women that cannot endrue wine and therefore let them drink water and hony boiled together or else boiled water if they desire to drink in the day time between their meals or else in the night giue them a little syrop of Maiden haire with boiled water or any other syrop so it be not astringent because of their purgings When her paines the feare of the ague and the burning of her breasts bee past then may she feed more liberally and then she may eat at dinner a little meat with her broth as Capon Pullet Pigeon or a bit of Veale and at supper beside her broth a slise of Veale Mutton Chicken or any other good meate The eight day beeing past about which time commonly the wombe is well purged and cleansed it will not bee amisse to nourish her better giuing her more solide meat and in greater quantity that she may grow strong againe the sooner All the which time she must keepe her selfe very quiet not much mouing or stirring herselfe nor so much as once looking into the Aire Let her speake as little as may be and haue no noise made about her nor suffer her to be much visited but by her friends and kinsfolks excluding all such tatling Gossips as may tell her any thing to trouble her or make her sad Let her sleepe rather in the night then in the day time yet if she haue not rested in the night by reason of some paines then let her sleepe when soeuer it comes vpon her And because most women in that case are Costiue and cannot void their excrements therefore it will bee very fit to giue her some such gentle Glister A Clyster â„ž Fol. Malu Parietar Bismal totius an m. i. flor Chamemel Melilot an p. i. sem Anis foenicul an Ê’ ij Coquant in decoct Capitis veruec de quo accipe quart iij. in quibus dissol sacchar rub Mel. Mercurial an â„¥ ij Butyr recent â„¥ iij. fiat Clister You may also adde thereto sometimes an ounce of Diacatholicon If she dislike Clisters let her take a little broth or decoction of Sene. I am of opinion that the Athenian women while they were in Child-bed did take the broth of Cabbage or Coleworts rather to be loose bellied then to driue away witchcraft as Athenaeus would haue it For heretofore the Cabbage was Catoes Phisick and all his houshold And therefore when the Romanes banisht the Phisitions Cato saide that the Cabbage alone was Phisicke enough to cure all their diseases and besides hee made a little Commentary vpon that subiect Let her banish all griefe and heauinesse hauing regard only of her health and to be merry praising God for her deliuery What must be done to the Womans Breasts Belly and nether parts that is newly deliuered CHAP. II. NOW I haue set downe the manner of dyet a Woman in Child bedde should obserue it will not be amisse to shew what is fit to bee done vnto her before she sit vp or rise endeauouring heerein to bring all the parts of her body which haue beene strayned and as it were quite changed
been deafe and dull of hearing Others haue had their nose and mouth shrunke together or else puffed vp and some haue been hoarse afterwards all their life time The least accident of all is that many haue remained disfigured with pits and holes in their faces So that if they could be preserued from them it would both be a great contentment to their Parents and an ease to themselues Now as this disease is caused as we haue said of the reliques of the menstruall bloud wherewith the child hath been nourished stirr'd vp by the malignitie of the aire which it is impossible to shun or auoid So to go about to preserue a child from it we must do two things The first shall be to shun and auoid this corrupted Aire and to rectifie it the best we can possiblie The second is to euacuate and purge away the reliques of this humour and to make them lesse hurtfull Wherefore both the Nurse and the child must liue in a house that stands in a good aire far from any sinkes priuies or Church-yards from whence there arise many vnholsome vapours and exhalations Her chamber must haue a good aire rather standing high then low Let the window looke rather toward the North or the East then to the South or the West If the weather be not too cold let the casements stand open to aire the chamber If it bee verie colde they must bee shutte and you must make a good fire burning some Iuniper Rosemarie or Cypres vsing also sometimes a little sweet perfume If the chamber be too hote you must strew it with Rushes a few Vine leaues Violet leaues Nenuphar and Roses sprinkling it with coole water and a little Vineger The Nurse must keep a good diet such as we haue heretofore prescribed she must drinke water a little coloured with wine and if the childe bee weaned he must keepe the same kind of diet His meate must bee seasoned with the iuice of an Orenge and you shall also put some iuice of Lemons into his Broths but you must parboyle it a little that it hurt not his stomacke Both the Nurse and the child must sleepe moderately she must not sleepe after dinner vnlesse she haue not rested in the night by reason her childe hath beene froward who may sleepe a little in the day time after dinner if he be not weaned The Nurse also and the child if he be any thing big may be gently purged with Cassia Rubarbe Senay sirup of Cichory with Rubarbe and sirup of Damaske Roses If you perceiue that both their bodies bee plethoricall or full it will be fit to draw a little bloud which must be vnderstood if the child be three or foure yeeres old And concerning medicines either Generall or Topicall I refer you to the former chapter which haue as much power and vertue to preserue one from the disease as to cure it after it is come Of the French Pocks which happeneth vnto Children CHAP. XXXVIII THe French Pocks may happen to a child either from his mothers womb or else by the Nurses fault who may be defiled and infected with it The signes are like vnto those which are obserued in elder persons but the most common are Pustules Vlcers and Excoriations which appeare chiefly about the childs buttockes and thighs As for the Cure we must haue a respect both to the nurse and the child If the child hath taken it of the Nurse shee must be put away and hee must haue another who must take such a dyet as is commonly prescribed for those that are infected with this disease First shee shall bee purged and let bloud shee must keepe a good diet and eate rather boyled meat than rosted because the decoctions she must vse will dry her the better to breed sufficiently as also milke to nourish the child Let her drinke euery morning of this or the like decoction hauing a care to make it either weaker or stronger according to her temper and the time of the yeare But before shee takes it you must giue her some of the Opiate following Both of them haue power to make her milke medicinall and to hinder the child from imparting the disease vnto her so soone as otherwise he might do if she tooke no preseruatiue The Decoction â„ž Rasur interior lign sanct â„¥ i. radic sarsae Chinae an â„¥ i ss lign sassafras â„¥ i. sem Cardui â—ened Ê’ ij Trium flor Cordial an m. i. rasur Eboris Cornu cerui an Ê’ iij. Macerentur omnia in Balneo Mariae spatio xxiiij horar. in aq fontan lib. x. deinde fiat Colatura per manicam Hippocraticam dulcoretur sacchari albi lib. ss ad vsum The Opiate â„ž Opiatae Fernel â„¥ i ss Cons. Rosar Boragin Buglos seorzoner an â„¥ i. spec Diamargarit frigid Ê’ i. eum syrup Conseruation Citri fiat Opiata Capiat Ê’ ij ante decoctum vt dictum est She must first take the Opiate and then drinke some of the decoction or infusion after it and keep her bed and sweat an howre or two without forcing her selfe After she hath sweat she must not giue her child sucke presently but shee must rest and coole her selfe a little and then giue him the teate But first she shall rub it with a little Aqua Theriacalis to resist and hinder the infection If you cannot find a Nurse that will venter to giue the child sucke in stoede thereof you shall cause him to sucke a Goate which I haue caused some to doe A Treacle water for the little child â„ž Theriac veter â„¥ i. Cons. Rosar anthos Borag Buglos an â„¥ ij Rasur interior lign Indi â„¥ i. Rad. sarsae par Chinae an â„¥ ss Rad. scorzoner Ê’ vi flor Cordial Calendul Genist an m. ij Aquar Cardui Benedict Scabios Borag Buglos Melissae an lib. 3. ponantur omnia in Alembico vitreo posteà macerentur spatio xxiiij horar. deinde fiat destillatio vt artis est Let the child take a spoonfull of this water three times a day in the morning at noone and at night adding thereto a little suger Candy or sirup of Limons The nurses may also take two ounces of it in the morning And because the true Antidote against this disease is Quicksiluer therefore will it be very fit to annoint the childs pustules with some such Ointment not bringing him to a fluxe of the mouth The Ointment â„ž Vng. Rosat Mes. â„¥ iiij Hydrargiri cum succo limonum extincti â„¥ s. misce fiat vng pro litu If the child bee elder let him bee purged twice with a little Sene and sirup of Cichory with Rubarb neither will it be amisse if hee be bigger and stronger to open a veine and take away a saucer full of bloud He may also vse the foresaid decoction and Opiate some eight or ten daies onely diminishing the doses of the Ingredients Of the breeding and comming foorth of Haires on childrens