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-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-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-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
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
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
by the Matrice The qualitie of the bloud is cause heerof when it is too sharpe piercing thin watrie putride or venimous so that Nature desires to be rid of it As for the Cure you must fit that according to the cause and yet there be some generall remedies which may serue for all immoderate euacuations and of this kind is Diet which must be cooling and moderately drying Let her feed vpon good meats not salt nor spiced nor of strong tast rather roast then boiled and of boiled meats let her chuse to eat of the heads feet She may vse french Barley new laid Egges and Gellies made with astringent herbes If she take any Broth 's let them be prepared with Borage Buglosse Le tuce Purcelaine Barley and the cold seeds Let her shun anger melancholie griefe and other such passions of the mind Let her keep her selfe quiet not much stirring or troubling her bodie Let her drinke Barley water or water wherein Steel hath been quenched You may giue her also if she haue not an Ague a little Wine allaied with the said waters Let her make her abode in a temperate place not too hote Let her lie vpon a Mattresse or straw bed and not vpon a feather-bed It will be good to bind her armes hard toward the shoulders but not the thigh 's although Auicen prescribe it Cupping glasses applied vnder the paps and vpon the region of the Liuer will be verie sit as Hippocrates teacheth and likewise vpon the arme-pits and shoulders as Auicen counsaileth The most singular and presentest remedie is to let bloud in the arme which I haue seen tried by the most learned Physitions of our age with very good successe For there is no meanes that makes better revulsion and drawes the bloud sooner from the place to which it floweth then opening of a veine You shall applie vpon the raines the Os sacrum and the parts thereabouts a cloth dip'd in Vineger and water and likewise betweene the legs but first vse this Cataplasme A Cataplasme ℞ Bol. Armen sang Dracon an ℥ j. Gummi Tragacanth ℥ ss pul Myrtill Rosar an ʒ vj. succ Plantag Taps barbat vrtic mort an q. s. ad formandum Cataplasma adde vnguent Comitiss ℥ j ss Vnguentum Comitissae of it selfe is verie good as likewise this Ointment following which is approued An Ointment ℞ Succor Lactuc Plantag an ℥ j ss Gum. Tragacanth in aq Rosar Macerat ℥ iij. Muccagin sem Cydonior extract in aq solani ℥ ss ol Rosar Myrtill an ℥ j ss Corall vtriusque Sumach an ʒ j. far Hordei ℥ ss Cerae parum fiat vng adde Aceti tantillum You shall giue her to drinke a dram of Trochisques of Spodium with Plantaine water or a decoction made with Horse-tayle Roses Knotgrasse and Balaustia Hollerius giues this as a singuler medicine Hollerius h◠medicine ℞ Scoriae ferri crematae in aq Plantag sepius extinctae pul lapid aematitid triti an ℈ j. Terrae sigillat ℈ ss sirup Myrtillor Resar siccar an ℥ ss aq Plantag ℥ iij. fiat potus Another ℞ Sang. Dracon Corall rub vsti Terr sigillat an ℈ j. semin Rosar rub ℈ ss spodij Carab Citrin an gr xij aq Myrtillor vel Plantag ℥ iiij fiat potus Some in this case giue three or foure ounces of the iuice of Plantaine Galen affirmeth that he hath staid the immoderate flowing of the monthly sicknesse with the foresaid iuice of Plantaine when nothing else would do good Ludouicus Mercatus commends these two medicines aboue all other Mercatus his medicines ℞ far Hord. Oryz. Amili an q. s ad formandum panem ponderis ℥ vj. recent coct proijce in libr. viij aq Chaly beatae quibus adde Rosar rub siccar p. ij succi Plantag lb. j. Rad. consolid Maior ℥ ij Caudae equin m. j. carnis Prunor syluest Cidonior an ℥ ij Portulac m. ij Bol. Armen ℥ j. Balaust santal omnium an ℥ ss fiat omnium distilatio de qua cape mané ℥ ij addendo sirup Portulac aut Rosar siccar ℥ ss He likewise commendeth this medicine following as being verie certaine and approued and of great vertue to stay the sicknesse ℞ Rad. Filipendul ℥ ij fiat puluis cape ʒ j. cum vitello oui singulis diebus An Electuarie ℞ Cons Rosar antiq ℥ j. carnis Cydon cond cons Rad. symphit an ℥ ss pul Diamargar frig Trochis é Carab an ℈ j. Bol. Armen ʒ j. sang Dracon ℈ ij cum sirup Rosar siccar fiat opiata exhibenda ad ʒ j. per se vel cum aqua Plantag Galen teacheth vs this medicine which may be both iniected and also taken inwardly ℞ Mucag. gummi Tragacanth Arabic in aq Plantag extract ℥ iij. succi Plantag ℥ iiij fiat iniectio inijciatur in vterum ℥ j. potui praebe This iniection following may also be verie good Another ℞ Succ. Polygan ℥ iiij Mucilag gummi Tragacanth extract in aqua Centinod Chalybeat ℥ iij. Amyl ℥ j. misce fiat iniectio You shall also make vse of this pessarie if there be need An Astringent Pessarie ℞ Bol. Armen Terrae sigillat an ℥ j. Litargir ℥ ss cum albumine oui fiat astringens pessarium With this you may annoint your Pessarie made fit for the purpose either of cotton or linnen cloth Of the Retention and stopping of the After-purgings in Women newly deliuered CHAP. VIII AS a Woman newly deliuer'd is subiect to many accidents by the ouermuch flowing of her naturall courses So is she likewise subiect to more dangerous and deadly chances if they be suppressed and staid Galen saith that these after-purgings which he calleth Lechia are purgings of ill humors which haue been gathered in the bodie all the time that the woman went with child For the child drawing to it selfe the sweetest and most familiar part of the bloud leaues the worst which otherwise if the woman were not with child should be voided out euery Moneth And if the monthly sicknesse stai'd doth bring manie inconueniences to a woman then much more these Lochia being suppressed must breed much more danger Hippocrates in his first booke De morbis Mulier witnesseth this plainly saying That when the After-purgings come in lesse quantitie then is fit then the woman in child-bed fals into a sharpe Ague she is troubled with a paine in her stomacke she finds her selfe ill through all her bodie she feeles a paine in the ioints of her hands in her thigh 's and hips the places about her necke backe and groine are sore and there is a weaknesse in euery part She fals into a vomiting of fleame and also of bitter and sharpe matter and finally she is in danger to be lame and impotent of some of her members For the Matrice hath an affinitie and connexion with many parts of the bodie as with the head and stomacke And if this matter be transported and carried to the head breast and lungs and there make an abode
℞ Rad. Buglos ℥ is Plantag Agrimon an m. i. Hord. integ p. i. Rosar Rub. m. s. Balaustior ʒ ij Dactilos n. iiij glycyrrhiz ʒ is fiat decoctio in Colatura dissolue syrup Granator è Rosis siccis an ℥ i. fiat Gargarismus After they haue vsed this let them touch the part often with the medicine following ℞ Succi Granator Cydonior an ℥ s. succi Berber Portulac an ʒ ij cum tantillo decoctionis lentium Rosarum Rubrarum fiat Medicamentum This medicine hath power to bind and strengthen the part and to make the tumor resolue Oftentimes the said Epoulis groweth so big that we are constrained to tye it not being able eyther to resolue it or bring it to suppuration Some of them also are of an ill malignant quality which must not bee touched or medled with but with great discretion Of the two strings or ligaments that a child hath vnder his tongue CHAP. XVIII IN Children that are newly borne there are commonlie found two strings the one comes from the bottome of the tongue and reacheth to the very tip and end therof This string is very slender and soft and it hindreth the childe from putting it out at length and from taking the nipple as they say that he cannot sucke well This string must be cut with a sizzer within a few daies after he is borne and then the nurse must thrust her finger vnder the childs tongue and lay there at the first a little chaw'd salt to keepe it from growing together againe There is also another string which is both harder bigger and more firme then the former which begins at the root of the tongue and stretcheth it selfe almost through the middle thereof the which string is oftentimes so short that it hinders the child from stretching it and putting it foorth of his mouth and also from turning and wagging it therby to bring backe the meat hee hath chaw'd that hee may swallow it This may easily be perceiued for if you bid the childe to put out his tongue hee cannot doe it for when he goes about to doe it it binds and folds double in his mouth hee not being able to make it come farther then his lips which much hindereth him in his speech and in the deliuery of his words making him commonly to stammer The cure of this is onely to bee done by the Chirurgian and that after two manners the first is thus you must cause the childes tongue to bee lifted vp and held stiffe on both sides as well by your owne finger as by some others which shall hold the other side of the tongue to keepe it stiffe and then let the string be cut with a sharpe instrument thrusting in the point as deepe as shall be fit The second way also is by lifting vp the tongue and holding it fast as hath beene already saide and then with a needle with a double thred in it you shall draw the thred crosse the said string or ligament to wit as farre as you would cut it and tye it hard cutting away the ends of the thred somwhat neere the knot and so let it stay there till it hath separated that part of the string or ligament thus tyed But this way in my opinion is more painfull then the former But whether it be cut or tyed it will leaue an vlcer which must be healed as wee haue shewed before taking care that the string grow not together againe Of the Cough which happeneth to little Children CHAP. XIX WE see that little Children are often troubled with a Cough which happens vnto them because their lungs are weake and tender which for euery little thing that troubleth them they endeuour to discharge and rid themselues of it with some striuing agitation They may also catch this disease by lying vncouered or by being carried abroad in the cold or in the euening which makes them to cough bringing vp little or nothing They may also cough with sucking too eagerly drawing the milke faster then they can swallow it and so some few drops by chance get into the Trachaea Arteria which makes them neuer leaue coughing till they haue brought it all vp againe The cough may likewise proceede from the distillation of some sharpe thin humor which commeth from the braine and falleth downe vpon the lungs by the Trachea Arteria There may also bee gathered some humor in the Pipes or Passages of the lungs which Nature at length striueth to expell and thrust foorth Of what occasion soeuer it proceede it is very dangerous especially if it be of long continuance For feare least through continuall reaching and coughing the child get a rupture or bursting or else an Ague by reason hee cannot sleepe nor take his rest onely some headach paine of the sides and stomacke and vomiting Concerning the cure of it we must haue a respect to the cause so accordingly it must be remedied If the Cough proceed of Cold let the little one bee kept reasonable warme and giue him a little oyle of sweet Almonds mingled with suger Candy let his breast be rub'd all ouer with fresh butter and oyle of sweet Almonds and then lay vpon it some warme cloth if his nose be stuffed let it be vnstopped with a little ointment of Roses or some of the liquor you boyle your meate in whereof you may put a little vp into his nose for that purpose If it proceed of some sharpe humor then it must be mitigated and thickned by giuing him a little syrup of Violets and of Iuiubes mingled together As also let him vse Iuice of Licorise Oile of sweete Almonds and suger Candy and Lozenges of Diatragacant hum frigidum If the childe bee any thing big you may giue Barley Cream with a few white Poppy seeds and let him drink a Ptisane made with Barley and Licorise Let all his brest and throat bee annointed with Oile of Violets washed in Barley water Apply to the nape of his necke a tost of bread hot or else halfe a loafe new out of the ouen If the Cough hinders him from sleeping you may giue him a little Sirup of Iuiubes and Violets with asmuch Diacodium sine speciebus mingled altogether Let him also vse Conserue of Roses If the Cough come by reason of some fleagme or grosse and slimie humour that is gather'd together in the breast You must giue the child a little Sirup of Maidenhaire with as much Sirup or Licorise and Hyssope or Hony of Narbone mingled together Rasis addeth in this case a little Fennell water Annoint his breast also with this Ointment An ointment for the breast ℞ Ol. Amygdal dulc ℥ j. Vnguent Resumpt ℥ ss axung Anseris Gallinae an ʒ ij liquesiant simul lento igne pro litu vt dictum est I haue already set downe diuers other medicines in my former booke speaking of the Cough which hapneth vnto women with child to which place I refer you for
not loose you may giue him this gentle Clister A Clyster â„ž Sacchar rub â„¥ s. Ol. Violat â„¥ j. Mell. Mercur. Ê’ iij. cum Decoct Vituli vel pulli â„¥ v. fiat enima cum quo intestina abluantur Concerning bloud-letting if the child bee somwhat bigge as of three or foure yeare old or if he be of a very sanguine complexion and that the Ague bee accompanied with vnquietnesse tossing to and fro rauing difficulty of breathing and inflammation of the eyes I would aduise you to draw a little bloud from him which I haue seene practized in the first daies of the sicknesse by the best Phisicions of this Citty Rhasis and Auicen commaund that at the beginning we doe open the veine of the Nose and they say moreouer that many haue very happily beene freed of this disease by bleeding at the Nose because the matter that breedeth the pockes hath beene diminished thereby and also it hindreth the violent ebullition of the bloud that it ascends not in so great quantity vp into the head and face or keepes it from taking hold on any part as the lungs or guts So that nature being disburdened of part of this humour expelleth and thrusteth out the rest more easily The same Authors for the bringing of them foorth the sooner and with the lesse paine doe appoint that the child should take this drinke A Drinke â„ž Caricar ping â„¥ j. Lentium excort â„¥ s. Gâ—m Lacca Ê’ ij Tragacanth sem foenicul an Ê’ ij ss fiat decoct in aqua font ad lib. ij percoletur Colatura dulcoretur saccharo vel syrupo Capill Vener de hac in potu exhibeatur vt aetas consenties manè ieiuno stomacho serò cubitum ituro If the child be so little that hee cannot take this drinke then the Nurse must be carefull to drinke a good draught of it her selfe morning and euening Whilest that this diet is obserued and the foresaid medicines vsed you may giue the child some of this cordiall Iulep A Cordiall Iulep â„ž Aqu. Cordiall an â„¥ ij sirup de Limonibus â„¥ j. misce vtatur sape Besides he may take foure or fiue daies together the quantity of foure or fiue graines of Bezoards stone and as much Vnicornes horne But because for the most part this maligne humor seazeth vpon the eies nose eares throate and lungs it will bee very good to defend and fortifie them that they may be as little offended as may bee For the eies they take commonly a little saffron mingled with Plantane and Rosewater and therewith they rub the eyelids round about Auicen appointeth the lids to bee washed with the iuice of a Pomegranate If there be a great inflammation and rednesse then this Collyrium shall be applied to the eye A water for the Eies â„ž Aq. Rosar Plantag Eufâ—as an â„¥ ij Album oui â„¥ s. Troch Albor. Rhas sine Opio ℈ j Corcigrana vi Agitentur diu omnia simul deinde colentur per filtrum de quo oculi saepius tangantur illinantur The Collyrium must be applied alwaies warme It will be also verie good to put a little Vnguentum Tutiae into the corners and lids of the Eyes That nothing may happen vnto the Nose you must vse this medicine An Errhinon â„ž Aq. Rosar Betonicae an â„¥ j. Aceti â„¥ ss succi Granator Ê’ vj. in quibus macerentur Santal Citrin subtiliter pul Ê’ ij Croci gr vj. fiat Errhinum You must cause the child to smell often to this water and sometimes put a little of it into his nostrils The like medicine may be vsed to his Eares with a little cotton Let him vse this Gargarisme to preserue his Mouth Tongue and Throat â„ž Hord. integ m. j. fol. Plantag oxalid Arnogloss Agrimon Verbenae an m. ss fiat decoct ad â„¥ vj. in quibus dissolue syrup Granator è Rosis siccis an â„¥ ss Croci ℈ j. fiat Gargaris The Lungs must be preserued with medicines that do lenifie and souple the Trachea arteria which may be done with Syrup of Iuiubes Nenuphar and Violets Also let him hold in his mouth Suger Candie Lozenges of Diatragacanthum frigidum and Trochisa bechici Three or foure daies after the Pocks are come foorth you must rub the face with Oile of sweet Almonds drawne without fire to make them ripen the sooner or else with this Liniment Take old Lard and cut it into pieces and melt it when it is melted straine it through a cloth then wash and beat it well with water and annoint the face with it When the Pocks are come to maturation and are ripe enough which you may know by their whitenesse as also when they feel them begin to itch which happens commonly toward the eighth or ninth day that they may be the sooner dried and leaue no marks or pits behind them the face must be annointed with this medicine which I haue vsed and found to haue done much good Take two drams of Chalke and two ounces of thin Creame mingle them well together and herewith shall you rub all the face ouer with a feather or else a linnen cloth tyed at the end of a sticke for the space of two or three daies This medicine doth kill and drie vp the Pustules which will fall away of themselues without pulling them off and the skin vnderneath will be smooth and euen without any dent or hollownesse Some do onely vse the foresaid Ointment made with Lard and continue it till the Pocks be wholy dried of themselues Auicen vseth this medicine Auicens medicine â„ž Farin Hord. Fabar. Lentium excorticat an Ê’ j. Thuris Myrrh Lytargir an Ê’ ss lactis Nutricis q. s fiat linimentum satis liquidum quo illinantur pustulae And if there be any excoriation you shall vse this Ointment Another Ointment â„ž Litharg Auri Cerus an Ê’ ss Myrrh ℈ ss Ol. Mastich â„¥ j. ss agitentur omnia simul in mortario fiat Linimentum And for the beautifying and making the skin smooth vse the Oile drawne out of Pompion or Citrull seeds and of Pistaces Oile of Egges maketh the skin looke yellow Fresh Butter-milke is excellent good but you must warme it that the little pieces of butter which stay behind may be melted and with this liquor must you wash or rub the face The meanes to preserue little Children from the Measels and the Pockes CHAP. XXXVII THe small Pockes and the Measels do much annoy and bring many inconueniences vnto children For dailie experience sheweth vs that many die thereof and those which escape do oftentimes beare the marks and badges of this vile disease I haue seene diuers children that haue been lame and maymed both of their armes and legges through the verie malignitie of the humour that fell downe vpon their tender ioints and bones Others haue lost their eyes or at the least there hath remayned some pearle or spot vpon them Others haue had their eyes staring red or watring Some haue
his scull clâ—ft by a wound is in danger of death if the bloud that is shed vpon the Membrane be not taken foorth by the meanes of the Trepan For this bloud would be wholly putrified and withall corrupt the braine the chiefe instrument of life and whose vse is more then necessary Notwithstanding wee see that in many the filth and maâ—ter comes foorth by the Nose Eares and mouth without being trepanned yea that it passeth euen through their bones Wee may say the like of such which haue the Dropsie or Empyema the breast of the one is full of Corruption the others belly full of water they both choake and stifle vnlesse the Chirurgion make incision in the one making a Paracentosis in the other opening the Pleura Yet neuerthelesse we see that he which hath an Empyema or suppuration doth oftentimes expell the matter and filth by the mouth or vrine the waies beeing manifest by which nature doth vnburthen her selfe and he that hath the Dropsie auoideth the water eyther by vrine or stoole yea and by sweat or by some little vent which Nature makes in some part of the body as in the Nauell or legges which we obserue by daily experience in many men and therefore wee may perceiue that these practises are not alwaies so necessary and requisite For letting bloud you will say that hee hazards his life and that sodainely who beeing oppressed and troubled with a great paine of his head or side is not speedily let bloud because the bloud that boyleth in his veines striueth onely to come foorth I will answere that Nature very often sends it foorth by the Nose Mouth Eies and Eares by stoole also and other parts disburthening her selfe to the sicke Mans ease and profit But It is not so in the deliuery of women for if the entrance of the wombe be closed as it is seene in diuers whether it be naturally by reason of a strong and thicke membrane which shutteth vp the passage or other wise because some scarre happening there hath hardned and shrunke vp the sides of the necke of the said wombe it would be impossible that nature should euer be able to separate and breake through thâ—se impediments for as for the one it is hard for a penne or quill to passe there and for the other you cannot put in a small probe through the little hole which is in the middest of the membrane And yet I haue had the experience thereof in two women which were neuer the lesse with child as I will shew more at large heereafter So that either the Chirurgions helpe must bee vsed or else both the Mother and the child would die miserablie Some may obiect vnto mee that the Mother might open the passage her selfe by tearing the parts so bound by the scarre breaking through the said membrane But what will you answere me for her which hath her child turned awry and lies double in her wombe and falleth into a Convulsion or fluxe of bloud or both together The Mother not being able eyther to turne it or pull it foorth especially if the head of it bee intangled and fastned betweene the bones of os Pubis so that it is impossible to turne it safe and sound except the Chirurgion vse his industry and skill Now for the dexteritie there is no comparison betweene this and other practises for there be no workes to be done in Chirurgery where it is not necessary to haue the benefit either of daylight or candle light and the part which is to be handled and dressed must be apparent and laid open to the eye Whereas contrariwise in this worke as well by reason of the company present as also least the woman should be afraid the very entrance whereby hee should put in his hand they are constrained to hide and then his hand being there he must search for the child howsoeuer it be placed not being able to see it And if there be found two three or foure Children yea sometime fiue as Albertus Magnus reporteth hee saw in Germanie a Woman that brought foorth to the number of threescore and fiue children beeing deliuered euerie yeare of fiue then I say I leaue you to iudge what skill and dexteritie the Chirurgion ought to vse in seeking them one after another if they come amisse On the other side as often as a woman is well deliuered by the helpe and hand of the Chirurgion there life is giuen to two to wit to the Mother and the childe And therfore as this worthy man saith In partu inuocatur dei auxilium quaeritur enim parturientis nascentis salus When a woman is in trauaile they call vppon God for helpe because they desire to saue both the Mother and the child Now in all other practises though they attaine to their wished end yet can there bee but one onely saued at once Whereby it may be iudged that this practise is both for the Antiquitie Necessitie and dexterity thereof the most laudable and commendable of all others To make the which more easie and the better to instruct the young Chirurgion I haue gathered together all that I could possibly out of that which I haue obserued this forty yeares and aboue wherein I haue practised it and seene it practised in the greatest families both within and without this Kingdom where thanks be to God good vse hath beene made of me And withall I haue not refused nor disdained to go vnto the meanest mooued partly by Charity and partly to make my selfe more and more experienced therein Hauing then conferred together what eyther the Graecians and Latines both ancient and Moderne haue written with that I haue beene able to obserue and hauing reduced it all into one I haue put it into French in fauour of those who are not so well learned and haue not the knowledge of the Greeke or Latine tongues Some will say to diminish that little honor which I might get by this my labour that the Ancients haue written the greatest part heereof But they shall learne from the mouth of this great Oracle That there is no lesse witte and vnderstanding required to bee able to iudge of Sciences formerly written then to bee the first Authors of them I know Moreouer that in the Doctrine and much more in the phrase some will find many things to be reprehended But I intreat the Reader that he would receiue it in as good part as I offer it him and likewise exhort others that are more experienced then I am to doe better Let them shew me my faults friendly and I will not refuse willingly to retract them after the example of that diuine Hipocrates who freely confessed his saying openly that he had gotten more dishonor then either glory or credit by practising of Phisicke The Translators Preface THus far hath the Authour pleaded for him selfe whom while I Translate least the fault be translated vpon me I will speake somewhat for my selfe before I be accused least
of the belly and breasts so that it is very hard to distinguish the one from the other But these that follow are more proper to the false then the true birth for as Hippocrates saith In false conception or Mola the face is commonly puft vp their breasts which were swollen at the beginning doe fall and dayly wax soft limber and lanke and without milke In the end the face breasts armes thighes and legs grow leane and thin true it is that they swell towards night like those that haue the dropsie the belly riseth and groweth quickly and withall very hard for the most part of an equall roundnesse with diuers pricking paines in the bottome of the belly that neuer cease which makes them that they can hardly walke being hindred as it were with a heauie burthen and hauing oftentimes a windinesse in the wombe as Ahasis reporteth The said Hippocrates obserueth how that by the motion it may easily be knowne for in true conception the male child beginneth to stirre at the end of the third moneth or sooner and the female at the third or fourth moneth and where there is no such quickning we must obserue whether there be any milke in the brests if there be none found it is a signe that it is a Mole Beside the mother feeleth the child moue euery way both on the right side and on the left as much aboue as below and in the middle without any helpe But in false conception though there be some motion it is not animall but proceedeth rather from the expulsiue facultie of the Mother then of the Mole which hauing no liuing soule endeuoureth not of it selfe to come forth neither prouoketh the wombe as the child doth who hauing neede of aire to breath in seekes after it But this is a most euident signe when the woman lyes downe on either side for then she feeles it fall like a boule and is not able to vphold or stay it yea and being laid on her backe if her belly be pressed or crushed it will remaine in the place whither it is thrust without comming backe againe Now that which most assureth vs is when the nine moneths are past and the woman not deliuered but her belly growes bigger and swelleth more and more and all the other parts grow leane and lesse this is a sure signe of a Mole though there be some women that haue borne their children ten yea eleuen moneths The signes of the windy Mole are these the belly is equally swollen and stretched like a bladder softer then in the fleshy Mole and chiefely neere the groine and neather belly which being struck vpon soundeth like a Tabour sometime it decreaseth and otherwhile it swelleth more it is sooner bred and increased then the fleshy or watery and stretches the belly as though it would teare it which is not proper to the fleshy As for the watery and humorall the signes are almost alike the belly growes big and riseth by little and little If you touch it with your finger sometimes the print thereof will remaine behind it is euen without any hardnesse It is true that the woman lying on her backe her flancks are fuller and bigger then the middle and bottome of the belly which waxe flat the water and humor running frō one side to the other and in shaking the belly they feele a swimming and floting of water This difference may be also added that in the the watrish the flancks groine and sometime the thighes are more distended and swollen then in the humorall because the waterish substance stealeth thither soonest besides that which passeth forth and bloweth below is cleare like water without any ill smell but that which floweth in the humorall is reddish and like to the washing of flesh and of a bad sent This also is to be obserued that in the false conception the naturall courses flow not and that the Nauell doth shew it selfe but little or not at all as it commonly doth when the Mother is with child Concerning the cure thereof I meane god-willing to handle it hereafter What dyet and order a woman with child ought to keepe CHAP. V. THat a woman with child may enioy her perfect health she must diligently obserue that which consisteth in the vse of the sixe things not naturall which are the Aire Meate and Drinke Exercise and Rest Sleeping and Waking Fulnesse and Emptinesse and the Passions of the Minde First therefore she must dwell and liue in a good and well tempered Aire which is neither too hote nor too cold or waterish not subiect to any foggie mists or winds and especially the South-wind For as Hippocrates saith when those winds doe blow vpon euery light occasion women miscarrie The Northwind also is hurtfull vnto them for those winds breed thin rheumes distillations troublesome Coughs in great-bellyed women causing them oftentimes to abort or be deliuered before their due time Likewise such winds as bring with them ill smells and vapours which being drawne in together with the Aire we breathe into the Lungs do many times breed very dangerous and troublesome diseases Aristotle saith that the smell of a Candle put forth may cause a woman to abort or loose her fruite wherefore she must beware of all ill Aire and make her abode in houses well and pleasantly seated shunning as much as may be possible all bad sauours Concerning her Dyet she must vse meates which be of good nourishment and breede good iuice moderately drying The quantitie must be sufficient both for her selfe and for her child and therefore they are to be dispenced withall from fasting at any time for sometime too much abstinence makes the child weake and sickly and causeth him often to be borne before his time seeking after nourishment which he cannot find within his Mothers body As also the too great quantity of meate his Mother takes may often stifle him or else make him grow so big that he cannot keepe himselfe in his place which constraines him either to come forth or else makes him sickly seeing that those meates are corrupted wherewith he is nourished a fed Hippocrates writeth in Epidem that the Sister of Caius Duellius after she had eate her fill aborted All meates which are either too hote cold or too moist are to be auoided and chiefely in the beginning of meales as also those which are too salt or ouer-much spiced and likewise all baked meates are vtterly forbidden Aristotle and Plinie write that if a woman with child eate much salt meate her childe will be borne without nayles which shewes that he will not be long liued Her Bread must be of good Wheate well kneaded light and also well baked For her meate she may vse Henne Chicken Capon yong Pigeons Turtle Pheasants Larks Partridge Veale Mutton and for Herbs let her take Lettuse Endiue Borage Buglosse and Sorrell abstaining from all raw Sallads She may
purgations with Diagredium or Coloquint and also from such as do much soften and moisten as Cassia Electuar Lenitiuum and the like because through their moisture they relaxe the stomacke and so consequently all the meanes which haue correspondence and traficke with the Matrice for the similitude of their neruous substance Their purges therefore must be of Rubart infusion and also in substance of the compound syrup of Cichory with Rubarbe which besides that they euacuate doe likewise coroborate and strengthen as also of the Syrup of Damaske Roses Maâ—na and other which with drawing away the water doe dry withall But aboue all pills are very fit for them because they dry both for their forme and also for the drying ingredients whereof they are compounded as those of Rubarb and Sene made with a little conserue of roses adding thereto if there be any suspition of some maligne or bad quality a little of the confection of Hyacinthvs This rule must be obserued in the purging of women with child and hereof must be had the counsel of the learned Phisitian If some maligne vapour be the cause they must vse cordials as a little confection of Hyacinthe the electuary of Gemmis these cordiall Lozenges or the like Cordiall Lorenges â„ž Corali vtriusque Ê’ s. lapid bezoard rasura vnic an ℈ s. pulu electuar diarrh abbat ℈ i. confect de Hiacintho Ê’ s. saccar cum aqua card bened dissol â„¥ ij fiant tabellae ponder Ê’ i. capiat singulis dicbus vnam mane alteram à prandio longe à pastu While they shall vse the aforesaid remedies it will be very necessarie to comfort the stomacke as also if the vomiting proceed through some weakenesse the stomacke not being able to retaine and hold the meate the fore mentioned Lozenges are very good as also Lozenges of Diarrhodon if they should prooue distasteful let them vse Codigniack or some Citron pill condited They may likewise take some digestiue powder after meales Let there be prouided some such fomentation for their stomacke as this Fomentation â„ž Mentae Ab sinthij rosar rub an m. s balaust Ê’ ij gariophilor santalor an Ê’ s. carnis cidoniorum â„¥ i. corticis citri Ê’ i. fiat decoct in vino austero profotu Then let them haue this ointment Liniment â„ž Olei mastich cidonior an â„¥ s. olei de absinthio Ê’ ij pulueris coralli rub gariophil an ℈ i. croci parum fiat litus admoueatur praemisso fotu This Emplaster is very fit which must be applied after the ointment and remain there a good space â„ž crustae panis assati â„¥ iiij macerent in vino rubro succo cidonior pul rosar rub absinthij an Ê’ i. ligni aloes gariophilor an Ê’ s. pul coralli rubri ℈ iiij olei de absinthio â„¥ i. fiat cataplasma If all these forenamed medicines helpe not the patient Master Mercator doth set downe a remedy very easie to be practised and of incredible vertue as he saith which cannot bring hauing often tried it any danger nor cause the woman to be deliuered out of her time which is to let her blood in the Saluatella of the right hand CHAP. X. Of the paine of the sto acke stancks and belly which happens to a woman with child THere is great store of grosse winds bred not onely in the stomacke and guts but also about the Liuer Spleene Mesenterium and Nauell by meanes of a weake and feeble heat which is not able wholly to consume and scatter them from whence proceedeth a great distention of the belly and other parts neere and chiefly about the Nauell which in some oftentimes stands out and is as big as a goose egge The which winds being thus inclosed and not hauing free passage cause such intollerable paine that euen the breathing is thereby hindred and the pulse almost lost which at length might cause the woman to be deliuered Sometime also the wind is shut vp within the womb for I haue knowen some women that haue voided them with such a sound noise as though it had bene by the fondament and this must be remedied after this sort First shee must shunne all manner of moist and windy meats liue after the order before prescribed If it bee needfull to purge her let it be done as is already set down Then let there be applied some dry fomentations to the place affected as this Quilt â„ž flor camo anethi an m. ij rosar rub p. ij se minis annisi foenicul an Ê’ ij baccar lauri Ê’ i. fiat omnium puluis grossus de quibus fi aut sacculi duo irrorati cum vino rub tepide admoueantur parti affectae The same quilts may be boyled in wine and fomitations made of the said wine with soft spunges But you must obserue that the too long vse of moist fomentations oyles and fats is forbidden women with child for feare least by too much moisture and oylinesse the ligaments and vessels of the matrice bee made too loose and soft which at length may cause the woman to abort Apply vnto her belly and to me parts pained in forme of a Pultesse this that followeth Pultesse â„ž Vitell. ouorum n. iiij puluis anisi foeniculi dulcis an Ê’ s. pul absinthii Ê’ s. cum oleo anethino camomil q. s fiat fricatum Let them chaw Fennil or Anniseed or a little Cinamon and take a tost dipt in Hippocras Some haue tolde mee that the distilled water of Citron Pills drunke is very singular good And it will not be amisse sometimes to take a spoonfull or two of this water A Claret water â„ž Aquae vitae â„¥ s. cinamo Ê’ i. macerent spatio xiiij hor. deinde affunde aque rosar â„¥ iii. saccari candi â„¥ s. fiat aqua clareta capiat coclear vnum If ye perceiue that shee is much troubled with paine you may giue her a Clister as this A Glister â„ž Folior maluae matrica an m. i. flor camom meliloti et summitat aneti an M. ss seminis anisi foenic. an Ê’ iii. bulliant in iure capit veruec vel vituli de quo accipe quart iij. in quibus dissolue Ol. Aneth Chamamel an â„¥ ij Sachar eub. â„¥ j. s Butyr recent â„¥ j. Vitell. duor ouor fiat Clyster Neuerthelesse I am of opinion if it may be done possibly that they should abstaine from Clysters because I haue seene women sometimes through as small a Clyster as this fall into great torments yea and euen into throwes nature being thereto prepared and ready which turned to the Chirurgions disgrace Wherefore let her vse these Lozenges following Lozenges â„ž sem Anis foenic. dulc an Ê’ s nucis Mosch ℈ j. spec Diacumin Diarrhod Abbat ana ℈ s sacchar in aq Cinamon dissolut â„¥ ij fiant tabulae capiat vnam singulis auroris She may vse Sugar of Roses which to euery ounce hath two or three drops of the oile
the heart and matrice are delighted with pleasant odors let those that are troubled with this disease vse good smels sweet but neither strong nor piercing CHAP. XIIII Of the Cough ONe of the most grieuous and almost insupportable accidents that can happen to a woman with childe is the Cough the which being violent oftentimes causeth head-ach pain of the sides flanks and belly vomiting watching the woman not being able to sleepe or take any rest for the great concussion and agitation which is made through the whole body which oftentimes puts the woman in danger to be deliuered before her ordinary time For the most part it proceedeth of some sharpe and biting vapours which arise from the nether parts or else by the distillation of some thinne humor that comes from the braine and falleth trickling vpon the Trachea Arteria or wind pipe the lungs which prouokes them to cough yet bringing vp little or nothing the distilation may also be of some thicker humor which falleth downe vpon the said parts Therefore wee must haue respect to the antecedent cause by hindering such vapors and humors from breeding then staying those which may flow or fal downe if there be any cause or matter ioined with it already fallen and impacted in the lungs brest then must it be brought vp by spetting For the helping hereof they must auoide all salt and spiced meates as also those that are sharp and biting especially if it be caused by some vapours or destillation of a thinne or serous humour Concerning generall medicines if it bee accompanied with a feuer or some great heat it will not be amisse to draw a little bloud then the better to turne the course of the distillation which causeth the cough to apply cupping glasses vpon the shoulders with some light scarification And if the cough should bee of so long continuance I would counsell you to lay a cautery in the hollownesse of the nape of the neck which I haue practised with good successe but it must not be done before you haue tried the medicines following and when the cough is great and violent The rubbing of the armes shoulders and backe must not bee omitted as also when the haire is shauen away to apply Emplasterum de Betonica vpon the head to stay the Rhume If the cough be dry proceeding from some thin and sharpe humor or vapour it must bee thickned contrariwise if the humour be tough and thicke it must be cut and attenuated by concocting both and therefore in this case the vse of Medicines that do dull the sence therof are very profitable to mittigate violent Coughs of which kind are these that follow If the humor bee thin and sharpe this Iulep taken twice or thrice is very fitte â„ž Syrup rosarum sicar de iuiubis an Ê’ vi syrupi de nenuph. â„¥ s. aquae cardui vngulae cabalinae an â„¥ ij s. fiat Iulap reiteretur ter quater-ue vt artis est If the humor be slimy thicke and tough she may vse this Iulep Iulep â„ž Syrupi capill veneris de liquirit an Ê’ vi oximelit simplic â„¥ s. aquae betonicae vngul cabal an â„¥ ij s. fiat Iulap reiteretur vt supra Let them often hold in their mouth suger candy especially that which gathers about the pot side wherein sirop of Violets or the like hath beene put Let them vse Trochiscks iuice of Licorise and sometime chawe a peece of Lichorise in their mouth The Lozenges of Diatragacanthum frigidum Diairis simplex and suger of Roses are very good The vse of Lohocs is very distastfull but in steed thereof let them vse Syrup of Iuiubes of dryed Roses and a little diacodium mingled together I haue seene this medicine doe much good especially when the cough is great and that they feele some excoriation and roughnes in the throat â„ž olei amigd dul sine igne recent extract â„¥ i. s. saccari canda subtilit pulueris â„¥ s. mucag. seminis psilij cydoniorum cum aqua rosar leuiter extract an Ê’ ij misce omnia diligenter Let them take of this medicine in a spoone swallowing it down verie gently that so some of it may the better slide downe the sides of the windpipe It will be very fit to rub their breast all ouer with fresh butter or oyle of sweet Almonds and if they finde any heat let them vse oyle of Violets washed with Barley water well boyled And because there is nothing that stayeth destillations better then sleepe and that those who haue the cough sleepe little it will be very good to make the patient sleepe without giuing any violent sleeping medicine this Iulep may bee giuen very safely Drink to stay the Rheume â„ž Syrupi de Iuiubis violati diacodij sine specieb an â„¥ s. cum decocto portulacae lactucae boraginis betonicae trium flor cordial fiat potus capiat hora somni This remedy procureth sleepe and so by consequence stayeth the Rheume If you haue any good Laudanum you may giue safely three or four grains thereof which I haue seene practised with prosperous successe CHAP. XV. of Costiuenes wherwith women with child are troubled AMongst many other accidents wherewith women with child are troubled there are two the one contrary to the other whereunto they be much subiect that is either they are bound and cannot go to the stoole but with much inconuenience and very seldome or else they are alwaies loose and subiect to the fluxe Both may put the woman in danger of miscarrying For when she is bound with much strayning and that violently to vnburthen nature the ligaments may bee loosened or some veine opened and cause fluxe of bloud which may make her fall into trauaile and therefore it is fit to prouide for it The retention of the excrements and costiuenes of the belly may happen either because they haue vsed to be so naturally or by alteration and change of yeares for as Hippocrates saith they who haue their belly moist in their youth in their age will haue it hard and drie and so contrariwise This accident happens to others because the guts are not prouoked stirred vp by the clister of nature which is the gall that they may expell and thrust foorth their excrements There might bee alledged many more reasons which at this time I will leaue to speake of and onely frame my selfe to that which most commonly is the cause of it in women with child which is referred to two points either because the guts are pressed by the vneuennes of the wombe which is too full and beeing placed vpon them and chiefly vpon the great gut crushes and thrusts them one against another in such sort that they haue no meanes to inlarge and dilate themselues thereby to uoid the excrements contained within them The other is because the guts and the excrements within them are commonly very hard and
they haue taken vpon them authority to iudge of the virginity of maids Neuerthelesse all the famous Vniuersities of Italy haue reiected and condemned the opinion of such Mid-wiues who say they can iudge thereof And Master Cuiacius hath done the like for the French saying that it is very difficult yea impossible to know whether a maide be a virgin or no And that this power was neuer giuen vnto Midwiues by the Ciuill Law to iudge thereof What manner of Woman a Midwife ought to be MAny things are requisite and needefull in a Midwife but they are all referred to her person to her Manners and to her mind First concerning her person she must bee of an indifferent age neither too yong nor too olde well composed of body not being subiect to any diseases nor mishapen or deformed in any part therof neat in her apparell and person especially hauing little hands not thicke cleane and her nailes pared very neere and euen neither must shee weare rings vppon her fingers nor bracelets vpon her armes when shee is about her businesse She must bee pleasant merry of good discourse strong painfull and accustomed to labour that shee may bee able if neede bee to watch two or three nights by the woman Concerning her behauiour she must bee mild gentle courteous patient sober chast not quarrelsome nor chollericke neither proud or couetous nor a blabber or reporter of any thing she shall either heare or see in secret in the house or person of her she hath deliuered For as Terence saith It is not fit to commit her into the hands of a drunken or rash woman that is in trauaile of her first child As for her mind she must bee wise discreet and witty able to make vse sometime of faire and flattering speeches as Plato reporteth Midwiues were wont to doe in times past which was done to no other end but onely to busie and beguile the poore apprehensiue women And it is a commendable deceipt allowed also in a Chirurgion when it is done for the patients good For as the same Terence saith Deceipt doth serue oftentimes for a good medicine in extreame diseases Now aboue all things the said Midwife ought to know that nature the handmaid of this great God hath giuen to euery thing a beginning increase state perfection declining which he doth manifestly and chiefely shew saith Galen in the birth of a child when the mother brings him into the world For Nature surpasseth all and in that she doth is wiser then either Art or the Midwife whosoeuer shee bee yea then the best or most cunning workeman that may bee found as Galen witnesseth For it is she that hath set downe the day of the childs conformation and the houre of his birth And certainly it is a thing worthy of consideration to see how in a little space yea euen in the twinckling of an eye the necke of the wombe which all the time of the nine moneths was so perfectly and exactly closed and shut that the point of a needle could not enter therin how I say in an instant it is dilated and inlarged to giue passage and way for the child the which cannot bee comprehended as the same Galen saith but only wondred at and admired The same Author in his fifteenth booke de vsu partium desirous to shew the prouidence of Nature saith that the faults of Nature are very rare and that she worketh alwaies and in such order and measure that of a thousand births there is scarce one found that is amisse Wherefore neither the Midwife nor any of the Womans kinsfolkes or assistants ought to doe any thing rashly but suffer nature to worke helping her notwithstanding in that which shall bee needfull as heereafter shall be declared deuiding the worke of their deliuery into three seueral times and seasons What must bee obserued when the woman feeles her selfe neare her time CHAP. III. THe time of deliuery being at hand the woman is to prepare her selfe in this manner She must presently send for the Midwife and her keeper it being better to haue them about her too soon then too late for there be some women that are deliuered sodainely without the helpe of any one although they haue beene long in their first labour In the meane time she must haue a little bedde prouided her like a pallet which must bee of a reasonable bignes strong and firme and also of an indifferent height as well for her owne commodity as the Midwiues and others that shal be present about her to helpe her in her labour and it must be so set placed that they may conueniently come and go round about her it must be placed far from any doore and somwhat neere the fire Let it also be conueniently furnished with beds good store of linnen that they may be often changed as neede shall require And likewise there must bee laid crosse the beds feete a peece of wood for the woman to rest her feete vpon that so she may haue the more strength when she bendeth her legs as we will shew heereafter As soone as she feeles her selfe stirred and prouoked with throwes and paines which are vsuall in this case it were good for her to walke vp and down the chamber and then lay her selfe down warm in her bed and then again afterwards to rise walk vp and downe the chamber and then lay her down warme in her bed and then againe afterwards to rise vp and walke expecting till the water bee gathered and the Matrice be opened for to keep her selfe so long in her bed would bee very tedious and painfull Yet it may chance that being in bed shee may take some rest and haue a little slumber and so by this meanes the mother may gather more strength the child be the better inabled to come at the time which God hath appointed it and also the waters will be the better prepared gathered They may giue her if the labour be long a little broth or the yelke of an egge with some butter and bread and also a little wine and water It is very certaine that all women are not deliuered after one fashion for some are deliuered in their bed others sitting in a chaire some standing being supported and held vp by the standers by or else leaning vpon the side of a bed table or chaire others kneeling being held vp by the armes But the best and safest way is to be deliuered in their bed the which I aduise them to the midwife and assistants as her kinsfolkes friends and keepers obseruing this that followes First the woman must be laid flat vpon her back hauing her head raised somwhat high with a pillow vnder her backe that it bow not and vnder her buttocks and os sacrum let her haue another pretty big pillow that thereby those parts may bee somewhat lifted vp for a woman that sinketh
down into the bed can neuer be well deliuered and therefore the well placing of them is of great consequence Let her thighs and knees be stretcht forth and laide abroad one from another and her legs bowed and drawn vpward hauing her heels the soles of her feet leaning hard against the peece of wood which is laid crosse the bedde for this purpose About some they put a swath foure times doubled vnder their backe and hinder parts which comes round about them this swath must be a foot broad better and so long that it may be held by two women standing on each side of the bed there with to lift vp the woman in trauaile a litle pulling it gently towards them chiefly when her throws come vpon her For this raising or lifting vp doth much refresh her and makes her endure her throws with more ease Beside the two women that hold the swath there must be two more of her friends or kinsfolks to take her by the hands thereby to clinsh or crush them when her throws come and the other hand they must hold on the top of her shoulders that she rise not vpward too much and that she may the better straine her selfe for oftentimes as shee thrusts her feete hard against the peece of wood which is put crosse the bed she raiseth her selfe vpward Sometime I haue bid one of the women that stand by to presse gently with the palme of her hand the vpper parts of the belly stroking the child downward by little and little the which pressing did hasten the deliuery and made them endure the throws better and with more ease The woman in trauaile being thus placed must take a good heart and straine her selfe as much as she can when her throws come vpon her making them double and increase by holding in her breath and stopping her mouth and forming her selfe as though she would go to the stoole which is much fitter for her to doe then to lye crying and lamenting Aristotle hath well obserued that those women which draw their breath vpward are deliuered with much paine because they make the Midrife rise vp which in this businesse should rather be depressed and kept downe It is very fit indeede that she take some ease and respite not forcing her selfe much for euery little pang that happens which she may gather all into one thereby to make them auaileable when time shall serue If she weare about her necke an Eagles stone loadstone the skinne of an Vrus or wild Oxe or the like which might keepe backe the child let them be taken away and tied to her thighs But aboue all things she must be obedient to all that is commanded her either by her kinsfolks and friends or by the Midwife Likewise she must be patient in her sicknesse calling vppon God for helpe since it concernes both her own life and the childs and shee must call to mind that hee hath said with his owne mouth That the woman should bring forth with labour and paine For it would bee a rare thing to see a woman deliuered without any paine Medea in Euripides saith That shee had rather dye twice in the warres then to be once deliuered of a child Neuerthelesse we read in histories of a certaine Country wherein women are deliuered without any paine And Aristotle in his wonderfull Narrations reporteth that the women of Ligustria doe bring forth without paine and that they returne to their businesse as soone as they are deliuered They that write the History of America doe tell the like of the women in that country which is That as soone as they be deliuered they are so kind to their husbands which tooke the paines to beget the child that they presently rise vp and lay their husbands in their roome who are vsed and attended like women in childbed And in this manner they be visited of all their friends and kinsfolk who bring them gifts and presents The office and duty of a Midwife for the first time she must obserue in the trauaile Chap. IIII. THe Woman that is ready to be deliuered being thus placed and laid in her bedde must haue the Midwife neere vnto her who ought first to aske of her woman whether shee hath gone her full time and bee ready to bee deliuered and at what time shee conceiued then must shee handle her belly and marking it well consider diligently whether the vpper parts seeme as if they were empty and fallen and the nether parts very bigge and full which sheweth that the child is sunke downe Beside shee must aske her whether shee haue any paines and in what manner they bee where they begin and where they end and whether they bee little or great and frequent whether they begin at the backe running downe all along the belly without staying at the Nauell and chiefly if they run along the groine and end in the bottom of the belly inwardly that is in the inner necke of the womb then it is a signe that she begins to fall in trauaile And for the more assurance let the Midwife thrust vp her hand being first annointed either with fresh butter hogs grease or some other ointment which heere after shall be set downe And if she perceiue that both the inner and outward orifice of the wombe be dilated and opened it is a signe she begins to be in trauail especially if there flow or come forth by the said passage any slime or water the which doe foreshew that the birth is at hand as Hippocrat saith which if they be pale it signifies for the most part it will be a wench and if it be reddish that it is a sonne Now this slime commeth by the dilatation of the inner orifice and from the membrane that doth wrap and infold the child which begins to breake And also by reason of the vessels and tyes which are loosened from the sides of the wombe the which may be perceiued by the waters which will swell shewing like a bubble or rather like a bladder full of water And when the water begins to be thus gathered there is no doubt to be made but that the woman is in trauail Hippocrates doth obserue three sorts of humors that flow in the time of their trauaile the first is slimy the second reddish the third is the water wherein the child swimmeth and heere endeth the first time which the midwife must oberue Of the Second time that the Midwife must obserue CHAP. V. WHen the waters are in this sort gathered together by meanes of the throwes which come by little and little then the Midwife must place her selfe conueniently neere vnto the woman sitting in a chaire somewhat lower then the bed and she must sit in such manner that she may easily put vp her hand being first annointed into those parts when need requires And by this meanes she may know whether the child come naturally or no for
in feeling gently crosse the membrane that containes the waters she shall find either the roundnesse of the childs head or else some vneuennesse If in feeling she perceiue that there is any hard and equall roundnesse it is most likely to be the childs head and that he comes naturally but if she feele any vneuennesse the contrarie may be imagined When she perceiueth that all comes well and according to nature the throwes increasing vpon the woman and that the child doth striue and endeuour to come forth and the wombe doth straine it selfe to be freed of this burthen Then the Midwife must incourage the woman entreating her to hold in her breath by stopping her mouth and to straine downward as though she would go to the stoole Assuring her that she shall be quickly eased of her paine and that her child is euen ready to come into the world exhorting her to be patient and promising that she shall haue either a goodly sonne or a faire daughter according as she knoweth her affection inclined And the Midwiues greatest charge must be that she doe nothing hastily or rashly or by force to inlarge the passage of the child and much lesse to let foorth the water or to breake and teare the membranes that containe it but she must expect till it breake of it selfe Some Midwiues either through ignorance or impatience or else by being hastned to go to some other womans labour do teare the membranes with their nayles and let foorth the water to the great hurt and danger both of the poore woman and her child who remaines drie the water being issued and voided before the appointed time yea oftentimes before the child be well turned which hath been the death of many women and children But when the water both by the indeuour of the Mother and likewise of the child shall be newly broken then aswell the Midwife as the rest of the women present must more and more incourage the woman especially when her throwes increase beseeching her in the name of God that she would farther them as much as she can possibly In the meane time the Midwife must continually annoint the neather parts with butter or some other fats And when the head doth offer it selfe to come foorth she must receiue it gently with both her hands which being come soorth and the womans throwes increasing she must draw out the shoulders handsomely sliding downe her finger vnder the childs arme-pits taking the oportunitie and time when her throwes come fastest And it is to be noted that the throwes cease verie little or not at all after the head and shoulders be once come forth Neuerthelesse it will be very fit to giue the poore woman a little breathing intreating her that she would be of as good cheare as she can After this the Midwife hauing drawen out the shoulders may easily draw forth the rest of the body which must not be done either hastily or rashly But because the child naturally doth come into the world with the face downward therefore when he is quite taken foorth he must be turned vpon his backe for feare lest hee be stifled or chok't And if his nauell-string be woond about his necke as many times it happens then must it be vnwoond Oftentimes likewise the child is so feeble and faint that there can scarsely be perceiued any breath or life in him and therefore he must haue a little wine spirted into his mouth nose and eares in that quantitie as shall be needfull When he is come to himselfe and begins to crie then the Midwife must follow the string wagging and shaking it thereby to draw and bring foorth gently the after-birth to which it is tyed bidding the woman to cough and likewise to hold some salt in her hands fast shut together and then blow in them In the meane time the Midwife or some other woman must presse gently with her hand the top of the womans belly stroking it lightly downward the after-burthen being come it must be laid vpon the childs belly and the child together with the after-birth must be wrapp'd vp handsomely in a bed and a blanket to be carried nearer the fire couering the head with a linnen cloth fiue or sixe times double and yet not exposing him sodainly either to the fire-light day-light or candle-light lest by this sodaine change his sight might be hurt but his eies must be couered that by little and little he may open them and acquaint them with the light But as I said before the woman must be incouraged when the water doth issue foorth and caused to straine her selfe to be deliuered that the child may follow the foresaid water And they must likewise obserue diligently whether the paines be the paines of trauaile or no and whether the water be that wherein the child swimmeth For there be some women that haue these waters issue out and come away long before they are ready to lie downe Which I haue seen happen vnto diuers women and of late memorie to Mad. Arnault who hauing gone sixe or seuen moneths and troubled with a great Colique that had held her almost two moneths and tooke her euery day at certaine howres She being at her house in the Countrey intreated me that I would come and see her and to haue my aduise and counsell whether it were fit for her to come into the Citie which I adiused her to do both because of the great paines she had as also for her exceeding greatnesse being of opinion that she might haue two children as she had had not aboue a yeare before Being come to Paris her Colique was somewhat mitigated and a little while after she voided two or three gallons of water without any paine thinking verily then that she was not with child yet fiue daies after she was deliuered very happily and with little paine of a faire daughter there following very little water or none at all I saw another Ladie in whom these waters came away aboue ten daies before her deliuerie yet she kept not her bed but followed her ordinarie businesse And this is worth marking that they may be carefull not to hasten the deliuerie except the paines be proper for trauaile and such as I haue already described The Third time that must be obserued by the Midwife CHAP. VI. AS soone as the child is borne and that the Mother is deliuered of her after-birth the Midwife shall cause her legs to be gently laid downe taking away the peece of wood that lay at her feet and put a fine linnen cloth or rather a cleane spunge washed in warme water and wrung out betweene her thigh 's neare vnto her naturall parts that the cold ayre may not get therein and then must she take the child together with the after-burthen and carrie them to the fire as hath been said already And if it happen that the after-burthen be long ere it come or be drawen foorth and that the
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
following First he shall giue these Pilles â„ž Myrrh Ê’ i. Rad. Aristol rotund Dictam an ℈ ij Castor assae foetid Croci an ℈ i. Gentian Ê’ s. cum succo sabinae Mercurial fiat Massa addendo Confect Al Kâ—rmes ℈ iiij capiat pro dosi Ê’ s. vel ℈ ij You may mingle with the saide Dose halfe a Dragme of Pilulae Cochiae to prouoke and stirre vp the expulsiue faculty of the belly so consequentlie that also of the wombe You must likewise prouoke her to sneese which may bee done according as Aëcius appointeth with Castoreum and Pepper made into powder you may also vse which is stronger â„ž Hellebor alb Ê’ s. piper albi nigri an ℈ i. Casto ℈ ij Cinamon Ê’ i. fiat omnium puluis subtilanijciantur aliquot grana in nares But ye must note that when her sneesing is readie to come shee must stop her nose and mouth with her hand that the breath in sneesing may not goe foorth all at once and that it may thrust the more violently downeward There must bee vsed also this fomentation and iniection to the Matrice An Iniection and fomentation for the wombe â„ž Quatuor Emoll Matricar an m. iiij flor Chamaemel Melilot an p.i. Sem. Lini foenugraec an â„¥ s. Bulliant iniure vituli vel Capi Colaturae adde Ol. Amygdal dul cheirini tertiam partem fiat iniectio Ex magnate fiat fotus cum spongia This fomentation and iniection hath power to heate and comfort the Matrice and also to make it more moist and fit to loosen the after-burthen At the same time you shall giue her this Clister A Clyster â„ž Rad. Lilior albor Bryon recent an â„¥ ij Maluae Bismal totius Caulium Matricar Mercur. an m. sem Lini foenugr an â„¥ s. flor Chamaem Melilot an m.i. fol. Senae Mund. â„¥ s. fiat decoct de qua cape quartar iij. in quibus dissolui Diaphoenic Hierae an Ê’ iij. Mell. Mercur. Ol. Lilior Aneth an â„¥ ij fiat Clyster You must also cause the Woman to smell vnto bad and stinking odors as old shoes and Partridge feathers burnt Assa faetida Rue Some after the child is borne haue the veynes of the Matrice so swolne that the after-birth cannot come foorth by reason of the bignes thereof and the narrownesse of the passage then it will bee good to let them bloud in the foote which is a medicine very often tried by Massaria a great practitioner and a professor at Padua as he writes in his booke of womens diseases If the after-burthen come not away withall the foresaid medicines then will it be necessary to suppurate and putrifye it which I haue seen somtimes come to passe But in the suppurating of it you must haue a care of two things the first is to strengthen the Woman and to preserue her from malignant vapors that may ascend and take hold of the principall parts as the Heart Braine and chiefly the stomacke vsing other medicines beside those that haue beene formerly set downe And therfore she must be comforted with these medicines â„ž Cons. Borag Buglos Rosar an â„¥ i. Cons. Anthos â„¥ s. Confect Alkerm de Hyacinth an Ê’ is spec laetificant Galen Ê’ s. cum syrup Conser Citri q. s. fiat opiata Let her take Lozenges of Diamargarit frigidum and likewise of Piachodon Abbatis She must also haue all kind of pleasant and sweet sauours to smell to which may recreate the spirits The second thing that the Chirurgion shall obserue is that in helping it to come to suppuration hee haue a care that there bee not bred too much corruption and therefore it will be fit to vse mundifying and cleansing iniections adding therby also medicines that will comfort the womb as those that are of a good smell A comforting and cleansing Iniection â„ž Maluae Parietar senecion Matricar Apij an m. i. Radic Lilior Bryon Cucumer agrest an â„¥ i. flor Chamaemel Melilot Hyperic Centaur Vtriusque an P. i. Aristol nostr Agrimon Veronic Herbae Robert Mercurial an m. i. s. sem foenugraec Cydon an â„¥ s. fiat decoctio ad lb ' i. s. in quibus dissolue Myrrh Aloes Ireos florent an â„¥ s. mellis Mercurial â„¥ iij. addendo Aq Rosar vini albi an â„¥ ij fiat Iniectio Hippocrates to this purpose writes a memorable story of a Carriers wife who had a peece of her after-birth left behind in the wombe that caused her to haue the Strangury which continued there euen till she was deliuered of an other child For at the end of foure months she conceiued again and bore her fruit to the full time which History hath imboldened me to relate this that follows Mary Beaurin yet liuing Wife vnto William Prat a Glasier dwelling in Saint Andrews street sent for me it is some sixe and twenty yeare since to shew me a tumor that came foorth of her Womb which was as bigge as ones fist and more and was like vnto a bladder as firme and hard as strong parchment full of cleare water wherein one might perceiue a pretty hardnesse the said tumor or bladder would slip vp easily when shee lay vpon her backe and lifted her thighs a little vpward crushing it a little with her hand as they commonly doe when they put backe a rupture which shee did in my presence and I demaunding of her how long this accident had troubled her she told mee it had beene so aboue two yeares and begun at the birth of her second child and yet notwithstanding shee said she had had a little young daughter about sixe Moneths since to which she then gaue sucke and that all the time that she went with child shee said this bladder fell not downe at all as it was wont before her last beeing with child I counselled her to call Mon. Paraeus the Kings chiefe Chirurgion and other Chirurgions to giue their iudgement what this bladder might be And perceiuing when they had handled it that it was without pain they were all of opinion after it was drawne foorth as farre as it could possibly to haue it tyed at the top and then to pierce it the which I did leauing the thred wherewith I tyed it somwhat long that thereby I might draw it foorth when I thought fit The incision being made there followed great store offaire and cleere water and presently we perceiued a little foeuus or Pantye child of a fingers bignesse somwhat firme and hard without any bad smell fastned by the Náuell which was as firme and big as a pretty string About sixe daies after with shaking the saide thred which had beene likewise gently stirred euery day from one side to the other he rest came foorth hauing applied in the meane time many mollifying iniections to the wombe for the loosning of it from the parts whereto it was fastned Iohn Schenekius in his obseruations among diuers other stories tells a very strange one of a Woman named Ludouica who
as followeth Take a great tub or hogshed and fill it full of riuer water made somewhat hot adding thereto as much white Wine as you think fit wherein you shall stiepe the space of a day and a night of Fennill Marierom Mugwort Motherwort Penny-royall Agrimonie Chamamill and Meliot flowers of Rose leaues of each two handfuls put them into a strong linnen bag that is large enough quenching oftentimes in the said liquor a barre of Iron red hot Then ouer-night you shall take out three or foure kettels full of the said water and set them ouer the fire to seeth and then poure it into the tub againe and couer it close that it may keep in the heat all night and warme the tub then in the morning you must put in more hot water vntill you haue made the bath temperate which must be neither too hot nor too cold In the morning when the bath is thus prepared the woman shall go into it sitting vpon the bag of herbes aforesaid and stay there an howre or two without forcing her selfe and a little before her comming foorth let her take this Electuarie An Electuary â„ž Cons Bugloss Rosar an â„¥ ss cortic Citri condit Ê’ ij fiat Condium capiat vt dictum est Some women cannot away with this Electuarie but content themselues with a little Citron pill canded She may also sweat a little in her bed and then cause her selfe to bee gently rub'd with linnen cloths to take away any spots or staines that haue hapned vpon her skin in the time of her child-bed Her sweat being past and she somewhat cool'd her selfe in her bed then she must not eat any meat but such as is easie of digestion and that breeds good bloud Now this first Bath doth but only serue to prepare her for a Second which shall be made as followeth Take riuer water and quench in it hote Iron as you did in the former baths wherin you shall boile two great Bags which shall containe these Ingredients Second Bath for Summer â„ž Farin Orob Fabar. Lupinor an lb. ij Farin glandium lb. ss Rosar rub flor Chamaemil Melilot an pug iiij Alumin glacial Roch. crud an â„¥ iij. cortic Querc Nucum Cupress an â„¥ ij Balaust â„¥ j. Caryophyl Nucis Mosch an Ê’ vj. Granor. Tinctor â„¥ ij s. conquassantur omnia simul fiant sacculi cum panno lineo bulliant in aqua Balnei primi vt dictum est sit Balneum secundum This second Bath must be made as the first without being either too hot or too cold Wherein she shall stay an howre or two sitting vpon the bags and before her going foorth let her take the former Electuarie or a piece of Citron pill condited This Bath will serue for twice it being onely new heated againe In Winter time you shall make these Bath's Bath for wâ—â—ter â„ž Maioran Artemis Menth. Rorismar Heder terrest an M. iij. farin Hord. fabar Auenac Orobi Lupinor an lb. ij flor Rorismar Chamaemel Melilot Lauandul an M.i.s. Rosar rub m. ij Caryophil Nucis Mosch Cinamon Benzoin styrac calam an â„¥ i. Alumni lb. s. granor tinctor Balaust an â„¥ iij. omnia conquassentur fiant sacculi duo Coquantur in aqua Chalybeata in qua sape extinctum sit ferrum candens fiat Balneum vt praecedens In winter the woman in Child-bed shal vse this in stead of the former hauing washed her selfe in the first bath that was prescribed for summer and taking it her comming forth the electuary formerly set downe And besides while she is in the bath whether it bee in summer or winter it will be very fit and conuenient to rub all her body ouer with little bagges filled with Almonds beaten very small thereby to make her skinne smooth and slicke After she hath beene thus bathed she shall vse below such Fomentations as may close and strengthen those parts and bring them to their former state A fomentatioÌ„ for the lower parts â„ž Fol. Plantag Tapsi Barbat CeÌ„tinod Caudae equin an M.i. Fol. Cupres m.i.s. Rosar â—ub flor Chamaem Melilot an P.i. Balaust Sumach Nuc. Cupressi Gallar an â„¥ i. Maioran Thym. Puleg Origan an m.s. Alumin Ê’ vi fiat decoctio in aequis partibus vini austeri aquae Calibeatae profotu partium inferior When she hath done with the fomentation she must receiue beneath this perfume A perfume â„ž Benzoini styrac calam ligni Aloes an â„¥ s. Cortic citri Nuc. Cupressi Balaust an Ê’ iij. Nucis mosach Caryophil an Ê’ ij Carab Mastich an Ê’ i s. Rosa rub P.i. fiat omnium puluis excipiatur cum muccagine gummi tragacanthi fiant trochisci The Woman must sit in a hollow chaire that hath a hole in the bottom and vnderneath it a chasing dish of coles whereupon there shall bee put one or two of the said Trochiscks and so shee must receiue the fume thereof And because not onely the said parts doe continue limber and wrinkled but likewise the belly and breasts doe also remaine almost as big as they were before she was deliuered It will therfore not bee amisse to take some order that this exceeding greatnesse of her belly and breasts may bee diminished and they hardned withall endeuouring by all meanes to bring them againe to their naturall constitution And since that this swelling and puffing vp proceeds commonly from some humors or wind that is got in and gathered together in those parts hauing beene too much relaxed therefore it will bee very necessary before you apply any outward thing thereto that shee bee purged keeping a good diet and auoiding all meates that shall breed any ill humors or windines Which being done you may apply this that followeth â„ž Farin fabar Hord. lupinor an â„¥ ij farin Oryz. Glandium an â„¥ ij s. Coquantur perfectè in aequis partibus Aq. Mirtillor Caudae equin Centinod Plantag Rosar addendo Pul. Nuc. Cupres Balaust Mirtil. an â„¥ i. Pul. flor Camaemel melilot sem foenicul an â„¥ s. Sang. dracon Alumin an Ê’ ij Ol. Mirtillor vng Rosat Mes. an â„¥ iij. Mellis â„¥ i s. fiat Cataplasma ad formam pultis satis liquidae post coctionem poteris addere Albumina ouor Ventri applicentur mammis This Cataplasme must lye on xxiiij howers and then bee renewed In steed of a second Cataplasme you may vse this water A water for the brests c. â„ž Prunor. syluest Mespilor Cor. nor Nuc. Cupress Balaust Glandium cum suis cupulis si desint fructus sume cortices arborum an lb. s. flor Rosar syluest rubrar an â„¥ iiij Albumin duor ouor Aluminis Crud â„¥ ij Caryophil Nucis mosch an â„¥ s. BeÌ„zoini styrac Calamit an â„¥ i. Calam. Arom Frid. flor an Ê’ vi Macerentur omnia in lb. xij aquae fabrorum post infusionem 4. dierum ponantur omnia in Alembicum plumbeum fiat distillatio seruetur ad vsum In this water you shal dip and soak
Carab an Ê’ ss Cinamon Nuc. Mosch an ℈ ij Ambrae chrys gr iiij folia auri nu vj. fiat omnium puluis capiat Ê’ j. cum ouo sorbili vel vino Hippocratico vel iusculo pulli Some in this case take halfe a spoonfull of Cinamon water with the yelke of an egge others with the saide yelke of an egge take two graines of Amber greese If the paines continue vse the Cataplasme following A Pultesse â„ž Vitellos ouor nu xij Pul. sem Anis Fenicul an Ê’ ij Farin sem Lini â„¥ ij Pul flor Chamaemel Meliot an Ê’ j. ss Calamint Ê’ j. ol Aneth q. sa fiat Cataplasma Applicetur ventricalidé auferatur antequam refrigeretur iteretur saepius Of the falling downe of the Fundament and Matrice CHAP. IIII. THere are some Women which are deliuer'd with so much difficultie and are so long in trauaile that to free themues from this miserie and anguish they are constrained to straine and force themselues in such sort that the Fundament or the end of the great gut commeth foorth for a woman in her deliuerie must straine and force her selfe euen as one doth at the stoole It may happen also that the Matrice may follow the child and after-birth which is the precipitation or comming downe of the wombe the ligaments being loosened and sometimes broken either through much striuing or because that the Midwife or Chirurgion in drawing foorth the child or after-birth draw the Matrice together with it which may be done and yet not they in fault When the Fundament commeth foorth it is to be put vp after this manner First the Chirurgion must put vp the gut with a fine linnen cloth warme as gently as possiblie he can But if he find any difficultie herein because of some humour with is come to it by abiding in the Aire all the time of the trauaile or by any fluxe of humours which the paine hath caused then must he bath and foment it with a little Milke wherein Red Roses white Mullen Camomile and Meliot haue been boiled and when he shall see that the swelling is gone and it is come to it selfe then by little and little he shall put it vp not vsing any force or violence at all He may also if the paine be asswaged foment it with red Wine in which Plantaine white Mullen Red Roses and Balausts haue been boiled and then presently he shall gently put it vp The Matrice also being fallen downe shall be put vp after the same manner but we will speake more at large of this and of the causes thereof in an other place Of the hurts and Excoriations which happen in the lower parts by Child-bearing CHAP. V. ALthough neither the Midwife in the naturall birth vse any violence in bringing the child into the world nor the Chirurgion either in turning or drawing foorth the child handle or touch the woman but with all gentlenesse and tendernesse that may be yet oftentimes do some contusions or other hurts happen in the lower parts of the woman yea and excoriations together with chaps and clifts about the part called â—inaeum in respect that so great a morsell hath â—s'd through so narrow a place Besides that some women are verie straight and close either being verie young or verie old or because they haue vsed medicines to make those parts straite and narrow besides that in some women the child proues verie big For all these accidents it is good to vse at first as we haue said before Oile of St Iohns wort and Oile of Roses beaten with whole Egges all together If the sides of those parts be brused you may vse this Fomentation which will resolue it gently A Fomentation for the contusion of the lower parts â„ž Maluae Bismalu an m. j. Matricar m. ss Rosar rub flor Chamaem Melilot an m.j. fiant sacculi duo parui coquantur in aequis partibus vini aquae fontis admoueatur parti This Fomentation must be applied onely to the entrance and orifice of the Matrice lest the ordinarie courses be hindred and the foresaid medicine of Oile of St Iohns wort shall be prepar'd without the whites of Egges and applied vpon fine lint or cotton leauing the passage of the wombe open both to giue way to the purgings and venâ— to such vapors as may proceed out of the Matrice For the excoriations and chaps you may vse this Ointment â„ž Cerae alb â„¥ ss ol Amygd dulc â„¥ j. ss liquefiant simul fiat linimenium Although these kind of vlcers are easilie healed as being but small as Hippocrates noteth notwithstanding they must be carefully handled being in a part of delicate and exquisite sence and full of Nerues Of the medicine last described you shall make small plasters and applie them fitly vpon the excoriations and chaps And because as I haue noted there often happens a rent or breach about the Perinaeum neare to the fundament and that when the woman makes water she feeles there a great pricking and paine it is necessarie that her Nurse or keeper applie to that part two or three little linnen clouts spred with the aforesaid Ointment to keep the vrine from touching and galling there But if the breach or clift be great you shall applie there little boulsters of lint dipt ' and dress'd with this baulme A balme foâ— the lower parts â„ž Ol. Hyperic â„¥ s. Axung porc recent â„¥ ij Ol. é vitellis ouor Ê’ iij. Terebinth venet Ê’ i. fiat Balsamum ad vsum After that you haue applied this Balm you shall lay vpon it the plaster before described of waxe and oyle of sweet Almonds Somtimes it happens that the whole Perinaeum is diuided and rifted euen vnto the fundament and that both the passages are brought into one which accident I haue seene and for want of help the sides of the wound being hardned with a scarre both the passages haue continued as one For remedy wherof I being once called and finding the Woman to bee with child I gaue her counsell to stay till shee were brought a bed and about sixe weekes after she was deliuered being sent for to cure her I proceeded in this manner First with a crooked rasor very sharpe I cut away way the scarre and skinne which was growne on both sides as the common practise is for an hare lip which I haue showne in my workes of Chirurgery which worke I began from the naturall parts and so went on to the fundament not taking away much flesh but onely the skinne which beeing taken off and as it were flead away I suffered the part to bleed well both to shun an inflammation and also to make the stitches with my needle more conueniently About the midst of the clift or diuision I passed my needle through both sides thereof hauing first laid them euen as well aboue and below as in the middle and I tooke good hold of the flesh on both sides there leauing my needle about which I did turne
take away such things as shall offend him playing with him kissing him dancing him gently in her armes and singing withall and she must likewise open him often to lay and keep him drie and cleane Of the conditions which are required in good Milke THe choise of good Milke is that it be of a middle substance that is to say such as shal be neither too watrish nor too thicke For that which is too watrish and thin may cause the child to haue a scowring and besides it yeeldeth no good nutriment And the Milke which is too thicke is easily crudled and not so soone digested and so causeth obstructions from whence the matter of the stone is bred As for the quantitie of Milke a Nurse should rather haue too much then too little because when there is but little it will be hard for the child to draw it when as if there be plentie it will come the easier and euen thrust out it selfe Moreouer if the child should sucke the breast drie then that which shall come in the roome of it cannot be well concocted so soone Besides if the child should chance to haue an Ague then would he sucke and consume a great deale Againe the Nurse besides a sufficient quantitie for the nourisâ—ing of the child must haue some to milâ— to 〈◊〉 eyes if he should chance to haue any iâ—â—feâ— toâ— there as either heat pimples or itchâ— that so it may be cooled As for the colour it must be white according to the common saying As white as Milke for the Milke which is blewish makes shew of Melancholy as the yellow doth of Choller and the reddish that it is not well concocted and signifies either that there is a weaknesse in the breasts or else an ill qualitie of the bloud whereof it is made which hath not been concocted and corrected by the naturall heat of the paps Besides good Milke ought not to haue any strong smell but rather a sweet sent which smelleth neither hote nor sower nor yet adust for such smels shew that the bloud of which it is made is ouerheated or putride And concerning the Tast that Milke which hath a sweet sauour is much commended as contrarywise that which is either sharp sower or bitter is to be refused and therefore not chosen for good Now the triall there of may be made in this sort as to know whether it be of a good substance let the nurse milke some few drops of it vpon a looking glasse or other sleeke thing and if in holding it gently aside it flows and runs presently and keepe not together a little then it is a signe that the milke is watrish and too thinne If it stand still and will not runne at all then it shews that the milke is too thicke and fat But if it runne leasurely not staying eyther too long or flowing too soone vpon the said smooth body it sheweth that the milke is of a middle substance and ought to bee reckoned and chosen for the best The quantity of the milke may be knowne thus if there remaine some in the breast after the childe hath done sucking and againe if in opening the child you find him bepissed But you must haue an eye that your nurse be none of these Cooseners for there be some that giue the child water to drinke in secret and others which wet the childs bed But such Nurses deserue to be whipt and their knauery may be easily descried both by the eye and the sent and likewise discerned by the tast Now the obseruation which is taken from the Nurses child for the choice of a fit Nurse is concerning his age For if her child be aboue seuen or eight months old then her milke will bee too stale afterwards and besides it would be a doubt whether shee would haue milke enough to nurse him that should be put vnto her Againe if the childe be but fifteene daies or a moneth olde that shews that her milke is too new and that it is not as yet well purified because the mother is not wholly purged and clensed So Auicen commands that a child should not be put to sucke a Woman till at least two moneths after her deliuery and at the farthest not after eight And because the sexe of the Nurses child must likewise bee obserued Aegineta wisheth that it should be rather a man child then a maid child because the milke is hotter better concocted and not so excrementitious And he addeth farther that it is fit whether it be a boy or a wench that the mother haue born her burthen the full time For those that are commonly deliuered before their time for the most part are not sound but sickly though there be many healthfull women which goe with their children but seuen Moneths How a Nurse ought to order her selfe concerning her Dyet and manner of life CHAP. II. IT is not enough that a Nurse be indowed with the conditions and qualities aforesaid but it is very fit also that shee maintaine and preserue them wherefore wee will set downe briefely how and in what manner she ought to gouerne her selfe First of all therefore let her shun and auoide all bad ayre and all kind of ill and stinking smels for such sents as are too strong are naught and hurtfull for her because they infect and ouer-heat the spirits and bloud whereof the milke is made Shee must likewise auoide all meats that are eyther too much salted or spiced or of a strong tast as Onions Leekes Garlicke Mustard and all kind of Baked Meates and old cheese Let her eate Veale Mutton Chicken Kid Partridge and such like meates which are of good iuice and of easy digestion and she must vse them in moderate sort without glutting her selfe All sorts of fish are hurtfull for her except it bee in small quantity shee may eate Iacke Sole and Quauluer and if she eat no fish let her vse new laid egges Her meate must be rather boyled then rosted but yet there must be had a respect to the habitude and complexion of the child For if hee bee very moist and flegmaticke then the Nurse shall rather vse rostmeat and so of other complexions Her bread shall be of good wheate well made light and baked as it ought to be Let her put into her pottages Lettuce Sorrell Purcelaine Borage Buglosse and Succory Shee shall refraine from all kind of raw fruits For her drinke let her take Ale or Beere and where that cannot be had Barley water or water sodden or else a small kind of Hydromel or meade which hath but a little Cinamon in it But I would rather counsaile them to drinke Wine and Water together Aristotle forbids wine both to the nurse and the child except it be as they say well christned She must vse moderate exercise and chiefly before meales For moderate exercise doth strengthen the naturall heate and consumeth all superfluities
The parts which ought to be most exercised should be rather the vppermost as the shoulders and armes because that the exercising of them makes the bloud spirits the sooner ascend into the breasts For her sleepe that cannot bee either limited or prescribed because the Nurse is oftentimes constrained to watch when the child is eyther froward or sicke And therefore she must take her rest when she may whether it be in the day or in the night as the child will giue her leaue Her belly must be alwaies loose and if it chance to be bound shee may take a Clister Let her vse Broths Prunes and Apples well sodden that so she may keepe her selfe soluble She must shun all disquietnes of mind and shee must bee merry and pleasant neyther vexing nor grieuing nor too chollericke The care which a Nature must haue of all the parts of the childs body CHAP. III. THe Nurse should be chosen a month or two before the woman be deliuered that she may alwaies haue an eye ouer her and her child and then as soone as the Woman shall bee brought a-bed and that the childe hath passed through the hands of the Midwife or keeper and is swathed by them he shall be deliuered to the nurse to giue him sucke and haue a care of him First of all let the Nurse consider and view al the parts of the childs body beginning at the head obseruing whether it be well fashioned or no that if it chance to haue any ill forme or figure that then it may be mended as well as it may which shall be done by bringing the said head vnto the forme of a boule a little pressed and made flat on both sides in such sort that neyther the forepart nor hinder-part of the head stand too farre out nor yet be too flat which shall be done with such head-cloths as they vse commonly to weare stroking it by little and little without much pressing or crushing it as some Nurses do but onely handling it in a milde and gentle fashion Vpon the Mould of the head you shal lay a peece of kotton orkersey some vse to lay a peece of scarlet The eares must bee cleansed with little rags made like tents and the Nurse must looke whether the holes be well made that there may not remain any filth eyther within or in the wrinkles and folds behind them And as Rhasis saith the eares must be a little pressed to the head that they may not hang downe Let the eares also bee wrapped about with fine linnen clouts that they may not bee ouer heated and so sticke to the head by the meanes of some grosse matter or sweat which commonly is bredde there But aboue all the eyes must be looked vnto and wiped with a fine linnen cloth especially about both the corners that if there should chance to be any filth gathered in those places it may be taken away Auicen puts there a little virgin oyle because it mitigateth and taketh away the roughnesse and nitrosity which might remaine about the childs eyes through his long swimming and lying in his owne sweat and Vrine while he was in his mothers wombe I haue seene in some children that after they haue bene borne there hath runne out of the corner of the eye many daies together thick drops of bloud which congealed presently There are many children likewise borne bleare ey'd for the helping whereof the Nurse shall vse to annoint the corners of the eyes with a little Vnguentum Tutiae and likewise spirt a little of her milke into them Now concerning the childs nose it is fit that it should be opened and dilated gently washing and cleansing it with a little warme water The same Auicen bids that it should bee annointed with a little Virgin Oyle which must bee done with the top of ones finger the nayles being pared very neer and euen And if you chaunce to find some little membrane or skinne that stops vp the holes and passage thereof it shall be cut asunder that there may bee a passage for the excrements of the braine And for as much as the head of a childe aboundeth with store of moisture as Galen writeth which is purged and voided by the mouth nose and other passages therefore it will be very fit that the Nurse haue a care to the taking of them away for feare lest by their stay they eyther fall down vpon the lungs or into the stomacke or else grow to be dryed which happening the Nurse must put her finger being annointed with honey to the bottom of the childs mouth and rub it aboue and vnder the tongue which shee may doe also with Sirup of Violets Besides shee shall looke whether the fundament bee well opened and whether there bee any filth bred there or no as also whether the passage of the yard be free and if it be a wench whether there be any membrane that doth stop vp the entrance Not long since I made a new passage in a little childe who had the hole of his yard growne and as it were glued together and an other boy which had the string of his yard so short and straight that it made the head of it called Balanus bow downward and seemed as though it had no passage but as soone as I had cut the string the yard came to the right fashion And concerning the membrane which somtimes stops the passage I haue made incision of the like membrans in three girles and lately in the daughter of M. Iames Boyzard As for the armes and legges if they bee either crooked or stand awry they must bee set straight with little swaths fit boulsters made for the purpose as likewise if eyther the back bone or the belly do stand out But for these they must repaire vnto a Chirurgion who must shew and instruct the Nurse how she ought to proceed herein when she shifts the child Galen would haue vs to looke to these deformities betimes because the bones through their softnes tendernes are more easily made straight and are apter to be set in their right place forme then when they are growne dryer it being then very hard to amend such errors as the same Galen saith How the Nurse must shift the child CHAP. IIII. WE must not onely haue a regard to such defects of Nature as the child may bring with him from his mothers wombe and cure them but we must also looke and haue an eye that the Nurse or shee that swathes and dresseth him doe not make him worse and of a well fashioned child in all the parts of his body do not make him deformed or mishapen and so spoile him For in swathing the child most commonly they bind and crush him so hard that they make him grow crooked Some swath all the childs body hard to make him haue a goodly necke and to make him seeme the fatter but this crushing makes his
by resolution as Master Pietrae I my selfe saw a Chirurgion who was very confident and did assure himselfe to make it resolue only with new waxe spread and laid vpon it But in the end we were constrained to launce the humor and in few daies it was perfectly healed vnder my hands Of the greatnesse and swelling of the head which happens to little Children CHAP. XIII IT chaunceth oftentimes that the childs head after he is born is bigger then naturally it ought to bee an accident which is very dangerous and hard to be cured whereof there bee three kinds The first is called of the Greekes Macrocephalos which is when the head is bigger then naturally it should be and yet this comes naturally as when the bones of the head bee large and of great compasse containing great store of brayne and proportioned to the compasse and circuit of them there being neither winde nor waters nor any other humors that are the cause thereof Nature hauing thus proportioned it and it is so heauy and vnwildy that the child cannot hold it vpright his necke beeing constrained to bow vnder it with the very waight so that it had neede to bee prop't vp with some thing or other Now there is contrary to this another which is called Microcephalos that is a little head such a one had Thersites the Grecian and one Triboulet who was a French man Both these accidents are very hard to bee cured yea almost impossible The second kind is called Hydrocephalos which is when the head becomes big by reason of some waters therein contained Of the which there are diuers sorts for either the waters are contained betweene the skin and the Pericraneum or betwixt the Pericraneum and the bone or betweene the bone and the membranes called Dura mater and Pia mater Some of them are particular and possesse but onely one part of the head others are generall and affect it wholy Some of them haue their spring and beginning euen from the Mothers wombe which hapneth when the Mother while shee was with childe through an ill Diet gathered store of crudities and raw humours whereof there is bred a watrish and flegmatike bloud with the which the child being fed and not being able to digest or consume it much lesse to euacuate and void it by the passages appointed by nature the watrish matter gathers it selfe together in the head It may also proceed from the child being not well purg'd of the superfluities which are gathered in his braine and diffused ouer all the head or part thereof whereunto we may adde the ill nourishment which the child receiueth from his Nurse whose milke is either serous and watrish or ouer-heated which causeth diuers vapours to ascend vp into the braine which are there conuerted into watrish humors The third kind is called Phisocephalos when there chanceth to be a wind which runneth betweene the skin of the head and the bone and also betweene the skull and dura mater which causeth the head to be so swolne and puft vp as Auicen saith that there haue been diuers children which haue dyed of it the bones of the head being verie much thrust outward which is verie painfull And certainly there is nothing that causeth greater distention or more paine then when there is some wind inclosed in what part soeuer it be of the bodie The watrie swelling hath almost the like causes by reason of some watrish matter that is bred in the braine which through the weaknesse of the naturall heat cannot well be dispersed and so it is turned into wind or else through some vapours which arise from the neather parts which do also distend and stretch out the parts of the head They are all of them different one from another for the Macrocephalos or great headed yeelds not any impression when it is crush'd because it is the bones which make it so big and swolne but in the watrish swelling the finger enters easily and leaues an impression as an O Edema doth But if you presse the windy swelling it leaues no marke or print but presently it riseth vp againe like a foot-ball Now to know whether the water be contained betwixt the bones of the head and the membranes of the braine it may easilie be discerned by the paine and by the accidents as if there happen any Vertigo or Epilepsy to the child and that he sleep little or not at all as also his continuall crying doth witnesse it The Cure of the windie swelling shall be performed by appointing the Nurse to keep a good Diet vsing meates that shall neither breed wind nor crudities Concerning outward medicines it is good to vse Fomentations for such kind of medicines surely may do him verie much good if the wind be contain'd between the skin and the Pericraneum or betwixt the Pericraneum and the skull But if the said wind be inclosed betweene the skull and dura mater it will be a verie difficult disease to be cured except the wind be but in small quantitie The Fomentation is this A Fomentation ℞ Fol. Salu. Betonic Agrimon Calaminth Origan an m. j. sem Anis Foenicul an ʒ ij flor Chamoemel Melilot Rosar rubr an m. j. Coquantur in aqua communi addendo Vini parum fiat fotus And with this Fomentation warme you shall bath all his head with fine spunges and then applie this Plaster afterwards An Emplaster ℞ Ol. Aneth Amygdal amar an ℥ j. Ol. Chamaemel ℥ j. ss Baccar Lauri Iuniper an ʒ ij sem Anis Foenicul an ʒ j. ss Vini alb lib. j. Bulliant omnia simul ad vini consumpt passaturae adde Terebinth Venet. ℥ ss Ceraeq s. vt inde fiat Emplastrum extendatur portio admoueatur capiti As for the watrish swelling according to the quantitie and qualitie of the humour that makes it and the place where in the said humour is contained it will be either easie or hard to be cured for if the humour be thin and in small quantitie and that it be contained betweene the skin and the Pericraneum or else betweene the Pericraneum and the skull or betweene the membranes of the skull then Auicen makes a doubt whether it can be cured But if it be curable the best way will be to vse the Fomentations and Plasters following which haue power to digest and drie vp the said watrishnesse A Fomentation ℞ Fol. Absinth Puleg Serpil Betonic an m. j. Rosar rub flor Stoechad an pug j. Nucum cupress Balaustior Irid. florent an ʒ ij Coquantur perfectè in lixiuio ciner sarment caulium fiat fotus cumspongia After the Fomentation shall be applied this emplaster An Emplaster ℞ Pul. Betonic Salui Absinth an ʒ ij Ol. Chamaem Rosar an ℥ ij vng comitiss ℥ j. Cerae q. s. fiat emplastrum You must likewise applie the Magistrall emplaster de Bettonica Some take Snayles shels and all and beat them putting vnto them a little powder of
Bettonie and of the rootes of Ireos And if these medicines profit not as indeed it is verie hard they should then must you determine to open it The ancient Writers as Rhasis makes no question to applie thereto some gentle Cautery others do rather counsaile that it should be open'd with a launcet For mine owne part I haue practiz'd both waies without any ill accident when that the waters haue been contained betweene the skin and the Pericranium or betweene the Pericranium and the skull But to say the truth when the waters is betweene the bones and the membranes of the braine though my selfe I haue been verie carefull in dressing of it and not long since being ioined with Mons Pietre a sworne Chirurgion of Paris yet the successe hath not been according as we desir'd And therefore the cure of it must not be taken in hand but with foretelling of the danger Other imperfections that accompanie the Child when he is borne as excrescences of flesh the roofe of the mouth cleft a hare lip and supernumerarie fingers CHAP. XIIII WEe see many times that the Child brings with him into the world diuers other imperfections and effects As I saw a child of one Peter Ferot who had a little piece of flesh which hung in the middle of his chin like vnto a little sausage of the bignesse of a quill and halfe as long and I tyed it about with a thread and cured it quickly I did the like also another time being accompanied with Mons Portall to a sonne of Mons de Saint Gille who had as it were a little cherrie hanging at the end of his eare I haue seen three little children newly borne and among the rest I saw one being with Mons Hautin of Paris ordinarie Physicion to the King who was the sonne of Mons de Cheary all these three children had the roofe of their mouth cleft and diuided euen to the bottome of the Nose by meanes whereof they could not sucke because it is necessarie for one that will sucke well to haue the aire closed in the mouth and not to be dissipated and lost which a child that hath a cleft pallet cannot do because the aire doth spread it selfe abroad and gets out by the pallet ot the mouth and the nose Neuerthelesse I haue seen little children that haue been nourish'd by a sucking bottle the space of two or three moneths but at length they haue died because the milke ran out by the nose it being a verie hard thing to make an artificiall pallet that should keep it from going foorth Neuerthelesse I would counsaile the Chirurgion to make one and to fit it with a little spunge tyed to it which shall be put handsomely into the said cleft with the pallet and it must be put in when the child would sucke and then taken out againe when he hath done And this haue I practized with good successe The clouen Lip called a hare lip doth often happen vnto children but the chiefest point is to know whether it should be cured betimes or else stay longer before it be taken in hand I was once present at a Consultation for a great Lords sonne who was brought hither from beyond the Sea for me to take him in hand and cure him Sixe Physicions and Chirurgions were of opinion that the cure should be defer'd longer because the child was not aboue foure or fiue moneths old Notwithstanding it was put in practize contrarie to their opinion but the childs life was indangered thereby And to say the truth it is fitter to prolong and defer the practize of it vntill the child haue some more discretion for otherwise there is danger least the points of the needles be broken either by the childs crying or sucking or else in rubbing himselfe as I haue knowen it happen vnto some their flesh being verie soft and tender Besides the operation is hard to be done by reason of the childs impatience hauing no discretion or knowledge the which hapned to the foresaid Lord And also for that it growes not a whit the worse for the deferring it till the child haue more vnderstanding and iudgement If the child should haue a finger or a toe aboue the ordinarie number as there be some which haue sixe whether it be in the hand or on the feet this deformitie hapning I thinke it best that it be taken away as soone as the child is growen any thing big Which I haue done to an honest Gentle-womans sonne who had two thumbes which came vnto him as his Mother told me by marking and beholding earnestly her Vintager who had two thumbes as he told money into her hand when she reckoned with him whereat she tooke an exceeding pleasure and delight to see him wagge the said thumbes in that manner Of the diseases which happen in the Eies Eares and Nose of little Children CHAP. XV. MOST commonly little Children when they are newly borne are subiect to diuers diseases which chaunce in their eies eares nose mouth Nauell and other parts of their bodies as we will shew heereafter in briefe Concerning those that happen in their eies I referre the young Chirurgion to my booke of the diseases of the eies which I wrote on that subiect But because that for the most part they are troubled with watering and bloud-shot eies it will not bee amisse in this case that the Nurse sprinkle him some of her milke to make him open his eies and take away the gumme that holdeth them together She may likewise wash them with a little rose water and Plantaine water warm'd and shall annoint the lids and corners of his eies morning and euening with a little Vnguentum Tutiae well made prepared for this ointment hath power through his oylines to keepe the eyelids from sticking and gluing together to strengthen them and take away any inflammation that may happen there Oftentimes the Nose of little Children is so stopped with filth and matter which is dryed that they can scarcely fetch breath thereby This accident doth much trouble them especially when they sucke and it makes them oftentimes swallow their spittle and breath with paine when this chanceth the Nurse must moisten the inside of the nose with fine soft linnen tents rubd ouer with some Vnguentum Rosatum or Pomatum or for want of these she shall take a little of the seething of the pot and make him snift it vp into his nose if he haue discretion to do it Likewise the eares of little children do commonly runne as well within as without which happeneth because naturally their braine is very moist and besides there arise many vapors from the entrailes into the head which fills their braine with moisture and that runne and flows by the eares and therefore the Nurse must haue a care to keepe cleane the childs eares as well within as without and behind them dropping into them gently now and then two or three
drops of oile of bitter Almonds with a little Honey of Roses a little warm'd And if there be any fretting or excoriation behind and about the eares then the nurse shal lay on them handsomely fine linnen plasters handsomely fine little plasters made with an ointment composed of white waxe and oyle of Nuts Towards the hinder part of the eares about the bottome of them there happens oftentimes swellings which the Ancients call Parotides and the French Orillons when these happen they must bee rub'd with oyle of sweet Almonds laying vppon it a little quilt made of carden cotten or fatty wooll basted betweene fine linnen clothes And the better to resolue the said swelling you may adde to it a little oyle of Chamomile and Lillies If these swellings come to suppuration they must be dressed as other impostumes be not vsing thereto any repercussiue medicines Of the soares and vlcers which happen in the childs mouth called Aphthae CHAP. XVI MOst commonly in the mouths of children there arise little pustules and vlcers which possesse not only the sides of the mouth the tongue and the gums but euen the very almonds pallet of the mouth and they were called of the Ancients Aphthae Of these vlcers there bee some that are malignant and creeping which spread abroad as the Herpes doth and according to the malignity of the humor which breeds them they are eyther the easier or harder to be cured those which come of some salt flegme which are neither deepe nor painfull nor of an ill colour nor placed at the bottome of the throat But are onely about the gums the tongue and the sides of the mouth which neyther grow bigger nor spread farther they are easie to be healed But those which creep farther are very painful blackish and which possesse the bottome of the throat hauing an Ague ioyned with them they as Hippocrates saith are malignant and hard to be cured I haue seene some that for all the care and diligence that could be vsed to them haue fallen into a Gangrene Which hath happened to diuers and of late to a Cutlers child who was looked vnto by Mons Habigot a Master Barber Chirurgion of Paris although hee had sought and vsed all the meanes both skilfully and faithfully that Art could require For the helping of them that are curable it is fit that the Nurse keepe a good dyet let the vlcers be gently rubbed a little with Hony of Roses and syrup of Violets But if they will not yeeld to this then the Chirurgion shall touch them with a little Aqua fortis but to euery drop of the said water he must adde twelue of Plantaine water according as he would haue it to be in strength then with a little clout tyed to the end of a sticke the vlcers shall be touched gently They may also vse this Gargarisme The vlcers must be dried vp ℞ Hord. integ Pug. j. Agrimon Plantag Rosar rub an m. j. Coquantur perfect in aqua commuri in colat ad ℥ vj. dissolue Mellis Rosat ℥ i s. Piamor ℥ s. Alumni ʒ s. fiat gargarismus vtatur vt dixi After they haue vsed this Gargarisine a while let there be added to it of Berberis flowers of pomgranats and a little of the iuice of the said pomgranates For the vlcers of the mouth require medicines to dry them vp which do their operation speedily But if you perceiue that they spread or creep farther abroad vse this medicine which I my selfe vse very often and find it to be very singular good which is to take halfe an ounce of Rosewater or Plantaine water adding thereto halfe a dragme of oyle of Vitroil and to touch the sores with it And this medicine did neuer deceiue mee but the Chirurgion ought to tast it first with his tongue to see that it be neither too strong nor too sharpe Of the Inflammation swelling and superfluous flesh which happens in the Gums called Paroulis and Epoules CHAP. XVII IT is seene oftentimes that the gummes of little Children are swolne and inflammed though their teeth bee not ready to come foorth which accident the Ancients called Paroulis and Epoulis The Paroulis is a little swelling red and angry which is either bred of a cholericke hot and adust bloud or else of some sharp and salt flegme which falleth out of the brain vpon the gums It may proceede also from some vapor that riseth out of the stomacke which causeth not onely the gums to be swolne and inflammed but oftentimes the iaw the cheeke and the necke to be also affected with it bringing also with it an Ague and paine which is the occasion that these tumors doe often suppurate and chiefly when there is any grosse bloud mingled therewithall otherwise it will resolue and be digested well enough For the Cure of it you must vse at the beginning gentle Lotions and Gargarismes that are cooling and not much repelling adding thereto towards the end some things that may resolue You may vse this Gargarisme ℞ Hord. integ m. j. Plantag Portulac Acetos Agrimon an m. i. Flor. violar p. i. fiat decoctio in colatura ad ℥ vj. dissolue syr violac ℥ j. syrup è Rosis siccis ℥ s. fiat Gargarisma Herewith shall you cause the child to wash and Gargarise his mouth if he be able if not then you must often rub his gummes therewith Or else you shall annoint his gummes with the Mucilage of Psyllium and Quince seeds drawne with Rose and Plantaine water adding thereto a little syrup of Iuiubes If the iaw bone cheekes and necke be inflamed the Ancients counsaile vs to rub them with a little oyle of Roses warmed adding thereto some iuice of Nightshade Mesues Ointment of Roses is also very good for it If the child bee any thing big let him take this drinke ℞ Rasur Eboris in nodulo inclus ʒ ij sem Portulac ℥ ss fiat decoctio ad lb. ij in colatura dissol syr Granat è Limonibus an ℥ j. vtatur If the tumor cannot bee resolued but rather grows to suppuration then you shall make him a Gargarisme with Figs Raisings Iuiubes Licorise and french barley well boyled Let him hold in his mouth a little warm milke and sometimes lay halfe a fat figge hot to the gummes When it is come to suppuration the tumor shal be lanced yet sometimes it breakes of it selfe then let it be mundified with Mil Rosatum syrup of dry Roses or Cherries or the like As for the Epoulis it is a little excrescence of flesh rising like a blister vpon the gums and most commonly betwixt the teeth but chiefly among the hindermost sometimes it is painfull and causeth an Ague The cause therof is almost the same as we haue said of the Paroulis For the cure at the beginning you must vse some such Gargarisme as followeth because it is needfull to vse more astringent medicines in this then in the Paroulis A Drinke A Gargarism for the Epoulis
your farther satisfaction Of the inflammation and swelling of the childs Nauill CHAP. XX. OFtentimes after the childs Nauell is tyed there commeth some inflammation swelling or vlcer and especially this hapneth when that which hath been tyed is diuided and fallen away it being not perfectly suppurated The same Nauell may swell also either through the childes eager crying or when he coughes much the tumor and swelling being full of wind and sometimes also of water The inflammation may be cur'd by the vse of Vnguentum Rosatum or with a little Vnguentum Refrigerans Galeni The bathing it also with Oile of Roses and a little Vnguentum Populeon may do verie much good As for the Vlcer if it be but small you may put vpon it some fine Flower or the powder of a rotten post or else a little plaster of Diapompholigos and Vnguentum desiccatiuum mingled together You may also sometimes touch it with a little Allome water and so cicatrize it As for the swelling you must haue a care that the Nauell stand not foorth too far and swell not more then it ought Now to hinder that you shall lay vpon it a cloth eight or ten times doubled and then swath it gently that the said Nauell stand not foorth too much which ought to be done if there be neither wind nor water contained within it But when either of them are there Auicen vseth this medicine Auicenus medicine ℞ Spicae Nard pul ℥ ss Terebinth ℥ iij. Ol. Amygdal dulc parum fiat vnguentum But mee thinkes to giue it a forme and consistence it were not amisse to adde vnto it a little waxe I vse commonly this plaster whether there be any wind or water which hath power to resolue consume and drie vp the said wind or water An approued medicine ℞ Vnguent Comitiss desiccat rubr an ℥ j. stercor Columb ʒ ij pul Irid. florent ʒ iij. Sulphur viui ʒ j. Ol. Nard ℥ ss Cerae Terebinth q. s. fiat Ceratum But the onely thing is to keep it downe with a boulster and swathing that it swell not or stand foorth the more Some vse Emplastrum contra Rupturum for it Of Gripings and Fretting in the belly which troubleth little Children CHAP. XXI THese gripings do trouble little children verie much the causes are two For either they come because the excrement called Meconium is retained in the guts This humour is black and slimy like melted pitch which pricketh and wringeth their guts and puts them to paine to void it Or else these Gripings are bred of the abundance of milke which the child taketh or of the ill qualitie thereof the which being not digested doth putrifie and corrupt and turnes either into choller or into sharpe and salt fleagme Or else there is bred some wind which causeth a distention of the stomacke and guts The cold aire and the wormes also may cause it which I leaue to be handled in another place Concerning the cure if the said excrement called Meconium be the cause of the said gripings it must be euacuated by little suppositaries made of the rib of a Beete leafe or of Sope and also by Clysters to draw away this humour and make it come foorth If too much milke be the cause then the Nurse shall not giue the child sucke so often nor in such plentie If it proceed from wind and that do cause the child to be thus troubled it shall be discussed with Fomentations applied to the belly and Nauell and with Carminatiue Clisters which shall be giuen him as this A Clister for the wind ℞ Malu Bismal Parietar an M. j. flor Chamaem Melilot summitat Aneth an p. j. semin Anis Foenicul an ij coquantur perfectè in iure pulli vel capitis veruec in colatum ad ℥ vj. dissolue Diacatholic Mellis Anthosat Saccar rubr an ℥ ss Ol. Chamaemel Aneth an ʒ vj. fiat Clyster Of the foresaid decoction you may also make a fomentation with fine spunges and then let his bellie be rub'd and annointed with oyle of Camomile Melilot and Dill mingled together Parietary of the wall with a few Camomile flowers and tops of Dill fryed with Oile of Lillies and Dill and then layd to the belly hot are very good If you perceiue that these gripings proceed of some sharpe biting or chollericke humor that gnaws and gripes the stomack and the guts which may be knowne both by feeling his belly which will be hotter then ordinary and also by the stooles which will be yellow and greenish then shall you giue him little Clisters of milke or else of the broth of Veale Capon or of a sheeps head wherein you shall dissolue two drams of Benedicta Lanatiua and as much Oyle of Violets and red suger Let his belly be rubbed with Oyle of Roses and Violets or else with Mesues Ointment of Roses You may giue him to take inwardly some Oyle of sweet Almonds newly drawne and mingled with Suger candy And if the child be any thing big it will be very fit to giue him an ounce of the compound sirup of Cichory with Rubarbe dissolued into Agrimony water or of Carduus Benedictus you may also mingle amongst his pappe or gruell a little Cassia drawne the better to make him take it Of the Wormes CHAP. XXII THe Wormes doe trouble little children very cruelly and therefore not without good reason did Hippocrates call them Theriodigastros as cruell beasts in the belly There be of them of diuers formes and bignes Some of them are round and long named Elminthes which breed in the small guts they ascend somtimes into the stomacke and come foorth at the mouth There be others that are long and flat called Teniae which are as it were a band couched and placed all along the great guts Some are little and slender as the point of a needle and are called Ascarides by reason of the itching which they cause in the great gut the fundament in which place they are bred and oftentimes they are inclosed as it were with a little purse I haue seene diuers that haue voided a million which haue bene al of them fastned together Touching their generation Hippocrates obserueth that little children doe bring the wormes euen from their Mothers belly but most commonly they are bred of putride corrupted flegm as also of other ill humors which lye in the guts When children are troubled with the wormes they waxe leane they haue no desire to eate their belly aketh swels and grows bigger they start in their sleepe and doe sometimes swoune and haue a little drye Cough the colour of their face is pale and wanne and their eies great they rub their nose commonly and when they are troubled with small wormes their fundament itcheth But the surest signe that a child hath the wormes of what nature soeuer they be is when hee voides them with his excrements by stoole or that they come vp by the mouth or through the
that the teeth are euen ready to cut the flesh The Nurses themselues shew vs that this practise is very necessary and fit for oftentimes they do scratch and tear the gumme with their nailes which turneth to the childs great profit and ease and keepes him from lying languishing so long in paine And I can assure the young Chirurgion that I haue practiz'd it and caused it to bee practized with very good successe aboue twenty times Now when you perceiue that the teeth begin to come foorth whether it be by the foresaid Medicines by the lancing of the gums Auicen would haue the Nurse to hold a peece of an Ireos roote in her hand and let the childe champe vpon it or insteede thereof she may vse a sticke of Licorise bruised at the one end or else a peece of an Althaea root For this remedy doth asswage the paine because it maketh the moisture which is about the childs gums breast and roote of the tongue to come away and cause the rest of the teeth to come forward And therefore they doe vse commonly for this purpose to hang about the childs necke either a wolfes tooth or a branch of red Corall set in siluer for the child to hold in his hand and to rub his gums with it Of the Convulsions which happen to little Children CHAP. XXIIII IT is not my intent in this place to handle particularly all the kinds and differences of Convulsions but onely I will content my selfe to speak of that which commonly troubleth little children and is called by Hippocrates Morbus Puerilis the childs disease and by Auicen Mater Puerorum the mother of little children Hippocrates calleth this disease Sacer and therefore it is easie to be coniectured that it is an Epilepticall Convulsion The cause proceedeth as Auicen saith either because that the milke wherewith the chid is nourished is easily corrupted though hee sucke but little or by reason of the great quantity that the child taketh which because of his weake and dainty stomacke cannot be well concocted and digested or through the il quality of the milk which the child sucks daily or through the weaknes of the sinews which do receiue easily the moisture that is bred in the childs body whereof Nature doth vnburthen her selfe vpon them which happeneth chiefly as Hippocrates saith to children that are fat and haue full bodies and are bound in their bellies This Convulsion oftentimes chanceth through the childs breeding of teeth and especially of his dog teeth by meanes of the paine inflammation feuers and watchings which do commonly follow vpon it The cold aire also may be a cause and likewise the Wormes which the child may haue or some ill vapor that striketh vp and offends the braine which may arise out of the stomacke by reason of some putrifaction or else from that which is bred by meanes of the wormes As for the Prognosticke hereof Hippocrates saith that the Children which haue cleane heads are subiect to Convulsions And contrariwise that those which haue scabs on their head and breake forth are commonly in good health For by them they are purged clensed of all the ill humors that they had gathered in their mothers wombe Galen saith that the danger is easily perceiued by the childs shortnes of breath Auicen Paulus Aegineta doe assure vs that the continuance of this disease long doth oftentimes kill the child Areteus saith that one violent fit only is enough to kill him they that are younger are in greater danger of death then the elder as Caelius Aurelius writeth because they cannot so easily beare out the fits as the elder Therefore we must take great heede in the cure of it not thinking that this disease may bee helped by the childs growing older The Cure must be varied according to the cause of the disease As if it proceed of repletion and fulnesse of humors then must the Nurse eat lesse and not giue the child sucke so often in both which she must obserue a meane and therfore the Nurse shall rather vse meates that are somwhat drying then such as are too moist And not without good reason doth Auicen allow the vse of Wine well tempeted rather then Water alone If the little one haue neede to be purged it will bee fitter to giue the Nurse a purgation then the child which must neither be very strong nor with any Diagridium but gentle and easie such as Cassia Manna and the like If the child be subiect to vomit especially if he be very big the vomiting may do him much good When he comes to be 2. or 3. yeres old you may apply cupping glasses vpon his neck and shoulders which is much commended by Auicen thereby to draw the moisture of the braine to the lower parts And concerning particular medicines they must not be too hot as some appoint for the affections of the Nerues because those heate too much and as Rhasis saith they doe onely resolue the thinner part But we must rather vse in the beginning such as mollifye and soften and do moderately resolue comforting withall Among many other medicines Dioscorides saith that Oleum Irinum cureth the convulsion which troubleth little children and it is likewise commended by the ancient Practicioners This Oile is described by Mesue Auicen approueth Oleum Irinum Keyrinum and Liliorum He saith moreouer that he hath made triall of this medicine Auicens medicine â„ž Maioran m. ij macerentur in olei Amygdalar dulc vel Zezamin â„¥ vj. vini generosi totidem in Balneo Mariae vel bulliant lento igne ad consumption vini coletur seruetur vsui You may also vse verie safely this Balme A Balme for the Convulsion â„ž Axung Anser Gallin Anat. Cunicul an â„¥ j. Medul cruris vitul â„¥ j. ss Medul Cerui Ê’ vj. fol. Salu. Maioran Ebuli an m. j. flor Chamaemel Melilot Hyperic an p. ij flor Rosismar p. j. Mastich Myrrh Irid. florent an Ê’ ij Olei Lilior Lumbric an â„¥ ij macerentur omnia in balneo Mariae spatio trium dierum Deinde lento igne fiat decoctio coletur seruetur vsui The ancient Practicioners do verie much commend the Balme made of a Goose stuffed with the foresaid ingredients and rosted and then vse the dripping of it in steed of a Balme which I haue seen practised Galen doth attribute much to the hanging of a little chaplet made of the male Piony roote about the childs necke Oribasius much commendeth the Smaradge or Emerauld that lookes greenish which is found either in the stomacke or neast of a Swallow But the safest medicine of all is to lay a Cauterie to the hinder part of the childs head in the nape of the necke betweene the first and second Vertebra or ioint which I haue done to some And at Florence it is practiz'd to all children as soone as they are borne yea they do it euen with an
by Aristotle who saith that young infants are not subiect to dreames experience teaching vs that those who as yet haue not discretion to know good from bad are not feared with terrible and fearefull sights but contrariwise doe laugh at them and are well pleased For the Cure of this accident both the Nurse and also the child when he comes to eate must auoide all meates which do corrupt the stomacke and such as are apt to breede grosse and malignant vapors such as Pease Beanes Leekes Onions Coleworts which as Dioscorides reporteth doe procure sadde and Melancholike dreames Let them feede vpon good meates and in a moderate quantity that so the stomacke may not bee ouercharged and that the concoction may bee the more easie Rhasis wisheth the Nurse to drink a cup of good wine After that the child hath sucked and the Nurse hath eaten they must not according to the precept of Auicen go to sleepe presently because the meate can not descend so soone to the bottome of the stomacke there to bee embraced and perfectly concocted And when part thereof stayes at the vpper Orifice of the stomacke then the fumes and vapours thereof doe easily rise and ascend to the braine If there be any bad humors abiding within the stomacke guts or mesentery let them be purged out Auicen giueth to the child a little hony fasting If hee bee somwhat big you may giue him a little Cassia a spoonefull of sirup of Cichory and sirup of Damaske roses or some Manna in broth If his stomacke be weake let it be strengthened with this Liniment A liniment for the stomacke ℞ Olei de absynth et mastich qu. ʒ s. puluer ganophyl gr vj. cerae ʒ s. liquefiant simul et fiat litus But especially let the Nurse and those that come about the child embolden him taking heede that they put him not in feare of any thing by shewing him any picture or beast or other thing which may breed any feare or terror Of the rupture or falling downe of the gut in young Children CHAP. XXVII CHildren and chiefly male-Children are much troubled at this day with the rupture of which though there be many kinds yet will I treat at this present onely of the falling downe of the gut and caule and of the watery and windie rupture for those which are called Camosa and Varicosa doe seldome or neuer happen to young children I haue obserued that many children are born with these ruptures which happen because the child beeing in the Mothers wombe doth often striue in turning and winding himselfe or else doth so straine himselfe that the guts and caule do beare downe vppon the production of the Peritonaeum which beeing inlarged giueth occasion of a rupture As for those which are called Hydrocele and Physocele which is the watery and windy rupture it cannot be denied but that the child before hee be borne if he draw bad humors from the mother breedes these waters and winds which may flow downe into the purses of the cod Neuerthelesse most commonly these kindes of ruptures are bred after the child is borne and come into the World which happens vpon diuers occasions either because the child hath cryed much or through a long Cough or by filling himselfe too full of milke or victualls or by leaping stretching or straining himselfe too much going to ride astride vpon somthing As for the watry and windy ruptures they proceede for the most part of the bad nourishment which the child takes either of his Nurse or else of himselfe after he is wained whereupon grows infinite Crudities and Winds which steale by the production of the Peritonaeum into the cods For the cure of the falling downe of the gut if the child bee very young keepe him quiet and still him from crying and if he eate pap put into it this powder A pouder ℞ Radic consolid maior ʒ ij radic sigilli beatae Mari. et salomonis an ʒ is herniar ʒ ij puluer limacum rubror ʒ i. fiat omnium puluis Euery time that you make him pap put a dram or thereabout into it and when you vnswath him to make him cleane vse this fomentation to the part Afomentatiō ℞ Radic consolid maior osmund regal cortic vlmi fraxini an ℥ s. folior plantag tapsi barbati centinodiae herniariae caudae equinae flor chamom meliloti rosar rubr an m. i. s balaustor nucum cupressi calic gland an ℥ ij fiant sacculi parui coquantur in aequis partibus vini austeri aquae fabrorum pro fotu partis After that you haue vsed this fomentation a quarter of an houre dry the part and then lay vpon it this plaster following An emplaster ℞ Vnguentum de siccat rubr ℥ ij puluer Mastich olibani sarcocollae nucum cupressi an ʒ i. cum tantillo cerae et olei Mastich fiat Emplastrum satis molle Let this Emplaster be laid vpon the part and vpon that a little bolster to keep all fast together that nothing slip of you shall bind it on or else vse a trusse but it will be fitter for the child to haue it bound on and then to be swathed vp This fomentation and plaster must be vsed for the space of thirtie or fortie daies and if the child be somewhat big let him be kept quiet in his bed for fortie daies together taking the powder before discribed with broath or with a little water of Myrtels or else making the said powder into small Lozenges The fomentations must be made for him as is alreadie described wherewith he must be bathed halfe an houre euery morning and then the plaster laide on and fastned with a trusse or cloth bound on it He must forsake all windie meats as Pease Beanes raw fruits Salades and white meats feeding vpon good meats that are rosted and of them but in small quantitie Let him drinke a little Red wine mingled with boyled water if his bellie be bound giue him a little clyster or else some broaths with Sene in it And you must remember that the Fomentation must not be vsed nor the plaster laid on nor the trusse or swathes applied before the gut or caule be put vp if so be that they be fallen downe And especially you must haue a care that his head be laid somewhat low and his buttockes high as he lyeth in his bed that by this meanes nothing may come downe Concerning the watrie and windie ruptures the child must keep the same Diet as hath been alreadie prescribed And as for locall medicines they must be such in both as haue power to attenuate drie vp discusse and resolue the waters and wind which is within the purse of the cod For the watrie rupture I haue often tried this medicine A Plaster ℞ Vnguent comitiss desiccatiui rubr an ℥ ij stercor Columbi ℥ ss Sulphuris viui ʒ iij. puluer baccar Lauri semin Sinapi an ʒ j. olei Aneth
Terebinth Venetae an Ê’ iij. Cerae q. s fiat Emplastrum This Emplaster also is of good vse for a windie rupture vnlesse you can heal it with this fomentation A Fomentation â„ž Rosar rubr flor Chamaemel Meliot Aneth an m. j. semin Foenicul Anis an â„¥ s folior Origani Calamenth an m. j. baccar Lauri Ireos florent pulueris an Ê’ ij fiant sacculi duo Coquantur in aequis partibus vini albi aquae pro fotu But when these watrie ruptures grow so hard that they cannot be dissolued by the medicines aforesaid then must they be opened Which I haue practized vpon young Infants and amongst others vpon a child of Mons de Vilantry being not aboue two moneths old and this I did by the counsaile of Mr Hautin and Mr Duret the Kings Physicions in ordinarie and Physicions of Paris The maner of making this Incision I haue set downe in my booke Of the practizes of Chirurgerie to which I refer the Reader where he may find all the particularities set downe Of the difficultie of making of Water wherewith young Children are troubled CHAP. XXVIII IT happens oftentimes that young Children can not make water and that vpon diuers occasions but chieflie through the fault of vrine which offends either in quantitie or qualitie The ill qualitie of the Vrine is when it is hote sharpe and pricking which makes the child afraid to pisse because of the paine which they feele when their water comes The Vrine offends in quantitie when it is in so great abundance and doth so ouer-charge the bladder that the Fibres being ouer-stretched can not draw themselues together to expect the vrine which happens to them which haue kept their water too long And for this cause children must oft be called vpon to pisse both when they awake and when they are changed to be laid downe to sleep And when they grow bigger let them make water both before and after they eate for since they abound with moistures and haue their bladder but small they must in no wise keep their water long and therefore if some-times they bepisse themselues in their sleep they must not be much chidden or beaten for feare least if they hold their water by force they fall into this difficultie of voiding it If there be any fleagme or slime or bloud mingled with the water or if there breed any sand or stone this may be the cause to hinder the childs vrine And this may happen to young children as Hippocrates noteth because they eat much which procures much cruditie and breeds the matter of the Stone For the Cure heerof you must proceed according to the cause which if it be because the vrine is sharpe and pricking or too hote then if it be a sucking child it will be good to prescribe the Nurse a dyet to temper her bloud which it may be is too hote Let her also be purged let bloud and bathed and let her vse broaths made with coole herbes If the child be somewhat big you may giue him this medicine A medicine for the grauel in the bladder â„ž Ol. Amygdal dulc â„¥ j. ss aquae Parietar â„¥ j. succi Limo Ê’ j. fiat potus Set him also in a little bath Galen and Auicen do much commend the water of Rapes or Turneps which you may giue with a little decoction of Parsley roots Dogs tooth and Dandelion But it happens oftentimes that the child can not pisse by reason of some slime that stickes in the passage of the yard which makes it swell and puffe vp and shew as cleare as a bladder For the help heerof you must bring foorth the stone by the help of a little instrument like to this heere described in the fashion of an eare-picker which you shall vse in this maner You must hold downe the child fast that he stir not and then the Chirurgion must take the yard betweene the fore-finger and the thumbe with his left hand by that part which is next toward the groine that is beyond the stone for feare least in the performance of the worke it slip vp and goe backe againe Then holding the little instrument in his right hand let him put it vp into the passage of the the vrine so far till he meete with the stone which when he hath found let him beare downe the instrument to make it slip vnder the stone for to catch hold of it behind and when he hath hold of it let him draw it foorth in such maner as shall be needfull And it will be necessarie to draw it out somewhat strongly because oftentimes it stickes verie hard Sometimes it happens that the Stone is so big that it cannot be taken away by this meanes and then we are constrained to make an incision in the yard which must be done in this manner You must hold the yard fast with the left hand taking it by the midst so that halfe the thicknesse of it may be betweene you finger and thumbe and the other halfe out that so the Stone may rise and swell vp the more on that side Then on that side that the Stone swels vp right ouer and against the Stone let an incision be made so deep till you come to the Stone which when you find you shal put vnder it such a small instrument as hath been before described therewith to draw it foorth And afterward let the wound be healed as an other ordinarie wound taking care that there grow no little excrescence of flesh in the passage of the water I haue practized this with verie good successe and amongst others vpon the sonne of Mons Robert of Chartres The meanes to helpe children that pisse in their bed in the night and cannot holde their water CHAP. XXIX LIttle children doe commonly pisse a bed that for many reasons As because they breed and abound as wee haue already shewed with store of Vrine which commeth downe into the bladder and that is so little that it is not able to retaine and keepe it being in so great quantity besides the Sphincter muscle is very soft and weake by reason of the childs tendernesse Againe they doe so go about all the day long that when are laid to bed they sleepe so soundly that they cannot easily be wakened wherto may be added that they vse to dreame often in the night which makes them pisse thinking that they are awake Some thinke that wenches are more subiect heereto then boyes Now for the deliuering and freeing them of this accident diuers Phisicions are of opinion that it is best to let them alone til they are grown bigger and not to trouble them with many medicines For the fibers of the Sphincter muscle which keepe the necke of the bladder shut together grow dry and stronger and besides then the child abounds not so much with moisture and by consequence neither with vrine but yet they must be hindred from drinking so much as they
vse in France cleere water and also kept from eating so much raw fruite and moist meats and the like which prouoke Vrine You must also endeuour to keepe children alwaies loose bellied which will make them pisse the lesse as well in the night time as in the day And you must warne them to make water before they go to bed and somtimes also you may waken them out of their sleepe to put them in minde thereof You must also threaten them that you wil whip them and likewise make them ashamed of doing it But yet for all this you must not correct them too much for I haue knowne some children fearing to bee beaten if they pissed a bed that haue tyed their yard themselues whereof hath followed a Gangrene which hapned to Mons Paraeus when he was a child as he himselfe hath told me When the child is growne somwhat big let him eate rosted Chestnuts Filberds and A cornes and drinke stil'd water and a little Claret wine well allayed Auicen commendeth the braines of a hare boyled with thicke Wine Some hold that the inner skin of a Capons gizzard dryed and made into pouder is singular good Rhasis sets it downe for a secret that the combe of a Cocke dryed and made into powder as also the bladder of a Bull or a Goat is very good which Gordonius approoueth of You may giue him a little water of Mirtills with Conserue of Roses and sirup of drie Roses It wil be very fit to bath the part of the child called Perinaeum with astringent Fomentations such as we haue set downe for the Rupture or Hernia Of the Gallings and fretting of the skin which happens in the groine and betweene the thighs of little Children CHAP. XXX LIttle children by reason of the sharpnesse of their vrine and lying in their excrements are much troubled with galling and fretting which weares away the thinne skin called Epidermis and chiefly about their thighs and groyne which vnlesse the nurse take the better heede may grow to some foule and malignant vlcer Which that it may be the better helped it will bee very fit that the Nurse keepe the little one as cleane as shee can and that in making him cleane and shifting him she wash his buttocks and thighs gently with a little water of Plantaine Roses or Nightshade Some adde thereto a little wine Others make a decoction of Barley Roses and Plantaine I vse to prescribe a little Pomatum wherewith I mingle sometimes a little Lime well quenched and powdered Vnguentum Refrigerans Galeni wel washed in Plantaine and Rose water is much commended Both these medicines by reason of their oylines doe hinder the Vrine and excrements from making the place to smart Women doe commonly be sprinkle those parts with meale dust or with Barley or Beane flower Some vse the powder of a rotten post or else a little Ireos and Roses beaten into fine powder Rhasis vseth this medicine â„ž Amyl spoelij Rosar Mirtillor farin Hordei an fiat omnium pul subtiliss asperge excoriationes post Balneum Of the accidents which happen to the childs yard either before or after his birth CHAP. XXXI THere may happen seuen accidents about the top and end of the childs yard euen from his birth to witte three in the Praputium or foreskin and foure in the Glans or top thereof Touching those of the Praeputium the first is when it is so straight and the hole so little that the vrine beeing come foorth of the Glans cannot passe through the skinne but drop by drop by reason it is shut so close together which makes part of the Vrine remaine betwixt the top of the yard and the Preputium The second is when the passage of the Preputium is not altogether so narrow but yet it cannot be put backe neither can the Glans bee vncouered which the Ancients haue called Phimosis The third is when the Praeputium cannot couer the Glans because it is slipped ouer and drawne backward called by the Ancients Paraphimosis Concerning these of the Glans the first is when there is no passage at all in the end thereof the second is when there is a passage but the hole is too little The third is when the hole is not in the place where it ought to be which is at the end but is placed at the bottom or lower part of the Glans The fourth is when the top of the yard bendeth downward and makes the yard stand crooked and awry Aristotle hath obserued another kinde more strange then those where he saith that there haue beene some male children which naturally haue had no passage made at the end of the yard but the hole hath bene lower in the Perinaeum so that they were constrained to pisse as it were sitting when they held vp their Cods or Scrotum they seemed to be both man and woman I haue heeretofore for all the other accidents aboue named aduised the Nurse to haue a care and looke to them But because the cure of these belong properly to the Chirurgion to haue set it downe more at large and specified it more particularly in this place that they may the better helpe it considering the inconueniences that may follow as we will shew you For the first which is when the skin of the yard is so straight that the water cannot come foorth but drop by drop this imperfection causeth a great deale of filth to be gatherd betwixt the Praeputium and the Glans whereof proceedeth many troublesome and dangerous vlcers yea and sometimes a Gangrene I haue obserued it in some young children that the top of the yard hath become blacke and blew with pissing through the very paine they endured The best way to remedie it is to cut off the verie top and end of the Praeputium thereby to take away a piece of it as they doe in the Circumcision For the performance whereof there be diuers meanes but the safest and least painfull way is this First it is to be consider'd that the Praeputium is double so that when one thinks to cut both the skins he cuts but one for the second leaps away especially from betweene the Sizzers Besides in cutting them both together oftentimes you may cut more of the vppermost skin then of the nethermost which is next to the Glans which causeth it to remaine bare and vncouered whereof followeth great paine it being fitter for that occasion to cut away lesse of the first then of the second I haue learned this manner of practise of Mons de Maverne the Kings Physition in Ordinary who hath caused it to bee done after this fashion and it is the order and Methode which the Iewes at this day doe obserue in their circumcision If you haue not such an instrument you may take two little flat peeces of wood and tye them both together at one end and then put the
fundament shut vp After she was born she was deliuered vnto the Nurse to be carried into the country where she continued seuen or eight daies without voiding any thing by stowle which made her belly swel extreamely Wherupon she was brought vnto this Citty and Mons Rabigois a Master Barber Chirurgion and sworn at Paris a very diligent and painfull man was sent for to see what might be the cause of this swelling and he inquiring whether the child went to stoole or no it was answered him by the nurse she had neuer purged her selfe as yet that way since she was born then by by he searched the fundament and found it to be closed and stopped vp and therefore he did counsell the childs father to let him make an incision of the membrane that stopped vp the passage whereunto the Father and Mother would not consent till the morrow But while the matter was debated and argued vpon the child dyed And she was opened by the saide Master Rabigois who found all her guts filled with the humor called Meconium and other filthie matter Of the scabbe which comes on the childs head and face CHAP. XXXIIII OFtentimes there commeth vppon the childs head and face a hard crusty scab which couereth all the head quite ouer and therefore it is called the Cappe and sometimes the face also so that you can see nothing but the childs eyes as though hee had a maske on The Latines call this scabbe Lactumen or Lactitium as being an excrement of the Milke And because it is of a yellow colour like vnto waxe it is also called Cerium The cause heereof is two fold for eyther it is engendred of the reliques of the womens courses or purgings or else of the Nurses milke which being of an ill quality doth easily corrupt in the childs stomacke and cannot bee turned into good iuice and much lesse bee corrected by the Liuer it being sent thither to bee turned into bloud which makes it that being carried vnto the head and face it cannot be assimilated in those parts Least this scab might corrode and eat into the skinne and afterwards the very bone of the head and face and at length Gangrene the eies it will be very good to remedy it For which purpose the Nurse must keepe a good dyet as we haue formerly shewne Concerning Topicall or outward medicines you must haue an especiall care that you vse none that do repell and driue backe but rather such as gently draw You may bath the crusts especially those of the face with gentle Fomentations made of Mallowes Althaea Violet leaues Chamomile and Melilot flowers and Linseed boyled in milke and with this decoction you may foment the crusts and afterwards annoint them with Oile of sweet Almonds Fresh Butter well beaten with Parietary water and Oile of Violets washed with Barley water I am wont to vse an Ointment of Lard melted and then well beaten and washed with Parietary water and so annoint the crusts with it If there be any vlcer and that the scabs are fallen off you may lay vpon it a Cabbidge or a Beete leafe a little heated on a Gridyron The Ointment made of white Waxe and oile of sweet Almonds is very good when there is any rawnesse or excoriation Of the Meazels and the small Pockes what they are and how they doe differ CHAP. XXXV IT remaineth now that we speake of the Measells and the small Pockes and because there bee few children but haue them eyther first or last I haue thought good heere to say a word or two of them briefly The Measels and the Pocks are little risings or pustules which appeare most commonly in great number vpon the outside of the skinne and at the first they are so like one another that you can hardly discerne whether of them it is But yet the Measels come more suddenly and the face and skinne of the whole body lookes redder and the rednesse continues longer without rising there beeing ioined with it most commonly a greater itching and pricking But the small pockes comes not foorth so suddenly neither is the skinne so red nor doth the colour stay so long the pustules or pimples rise higher neither itching nor pricking so much and at length grow white The cause of both of them are the reliques of the impurer part of the bloud wherewith the child was nourished in his Mothers wombe which now is separated and thrust to the skin through the help and strength of nature because the childs bloud boileth in the veines of euery part of the bodie as Auicen saith No otherwise then new wine doth in a vessell which boyleth casting vp his froath or scum and separating it from it selfe And as Auenzoar saith though the child be nourished with the best part of the menstruall bloud yet there remaines some little portion behind which is of an ill qualitie and after the child is borne and is growne strong he gathering together his forces and naturall heat thrusts it foorth by the pores of the skin nature being willing to acquite and rid her selfe of this superfluitie Besides there is a certaine disposition of time caused through the malignitie of the aire which raiseth and stirreth vp the reliques of the said menstruall bloud in the childs bodie wherewith he hath been nourished vnto which the corrupt aire that we breath and which we cannot auoide doth adde an impression of a second bad qualitie wherewith nature being ouer-charg'd and offended she thrusts them out to the skin which receiueth the filth and vncleannesse of the bodie Now the fuller the bodie is of this menstruall bloud the deeper impression doth the outward aire make in it which is the reason that some haue them in greater quantitie and are fuller of them then others And so according to the malignitie of the humour it is also more or lesse dangerous to some then to others The marks and signes whereby you may know that the child will haue the Pockes are these Headach together with an Ague rednesse of the eyes which water verie often itching of the nose a drie Cough gaping wearinesse of the bodie paine of the Hart desire to vomit the vrine red a pricking and shiuering through all the bodie and sometimes convulsions and rauings When it is the Measels the face growes red and ariseth all at once but when it is the Pocks neither the face nor the rest of the bodie looke so red but you may perceiue some little risings here and there in the face backe breast and thigh 's which afterwards increase and grow bigger And when the Pocks begin to shew themselues then there happens heauinesse of the head the face swelleth the eyes are setled all the bodie becomes as it were puff'd vp the voice growes hoarse with difficultie of fetching breath and sorenesse of the throat For it is the propertie of this vile disease to take hold of the Lungs and yet
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