coagulation CHAP. V. The difference of the bitter Purging Salt from Nitrous and Calcarious Salts NOR does this Salt differ less from all kinds of Nitrous Salts from which by its bitter tast alone it s enough distinguish'd Nor less by its Figure for the Chrystals of Nitre shoot not into four corner'd Parallel Planes but always into six nor into right Angles but obtuse and their tops seldom terminate in 4 sloping Planes but mostly in 2 and sometimes in 6 and those more equal than in the Purging bitter Salt The Purging bitter Salt thrown into the Fire is not at all inflamable but Nitre burns with a bright flame and roaring noise till the most part of it evaporates I have said the most part of it nor do I retract my assertion for in the 3d Chapter we have observ'd about a 20th part to remain after the deflagration which is in no wise Nitrous but Lixivial from Wood-Ashes mix'd with it by the Nitre-Makers But further the bitter Salt in a Spoon held over the flame of a Candle will melt in a moment and bubble up as if thrown in to the fire but Nitre with such a heat will scarcely melt but take up at least 8 times the space of the other and emits a most resplendent flame On the contrary tho' Nitre melts with difficulty 't is when melted much more fluid for in a Crucible in a strong fire it boils not like Allom or the bitter Salt but flows like Rosin or melted Metals From Nitre melted in a Crucible arise thick Exhalations which you never see from the bitter Salt tho' in the strongest Fire Add likewise that they differ from one another in their power of coagulating Milk For half a Dram of the Purging Salt thrown into half a Pint of Milk will turn it very gray but Nitre mix'd after the same manner tho' in much greater proportion has no such effect The solubility of Nitre as we have before prov'd is two parts in three less than the Purging Salt for half an Ounce of common Water will in the Winter by agitation and a warm hand dissolve not above a Dram and half of Nitre It s gravity is likewise very different which appears by the following Experiment I put Oil of Turpentine into a Cylindar to the height of 3 Fingers I then put in two Ounces of the Purging Salt which rais'd the Oil a Finger higher but from an equal weight of depurated Nitre the Oil was elevated not higher than 3 fourths of a Finger therefore the bitter Purging Salt is a 4th part lighter than Nitre But Water impregnated with the Purging Salt occupies a less space its bulk considered than the same quantity with as much Sal Nitri dissolved in it That is Water instead of Oil mix'd with the Salts in a Vial when they are dissolv'd the former subsides lower than the latter Lastly I Distill'd Dantzick Vitriol Sal Armoniack and a like quantity of the bitter Salt instead of Nitre in order to make the Aqua Regia Now if this had been a Nitrous Salt this Water wou'd like Aqua Regia have dissolv'd Gold but we could find no such power in this Water Nor is it the Nitre of the Ancients for 't is nothing like that of the Egyptians so often mention'd by Hypocrates something like which is describ'd by Dioscorides and Pliny to be of a purple colour and biting nor that of Etius like Earth calcin'd and quench'd with Wine Nor lastly can it be reckon'd with the Sal Calcarius for the Purging Salt or Water only coagulates Milk with a much harder Curd and greater plenty of Serum than the Lime Water will And if that Power of Coagulation were equal how many Liquors have we mention'd that curdle Milk which are neither Calcarious nor Aluminous Spirit of Nitre dropt into the Cream that swims atop of the Lime-Water or upon Lime it self will cause a visible Ebullition but the same Spirit will have no such Effect upon the Purging Salt There can be no where more difference in the taste of Things than between the Purging Salt and the Calcarious for the one is Lixivial and Sweet the other as it were Cold and Bitter Lime will by pouring a little Water upon it presently fall to Powder On the contrary the Calx of the Purging Salt powder'd will by the same means run immediately into a hard Substance and in a few Moments be like a Stone Lamb's-Conduit Water mixt with Lime-Water will in a very little time grow white with a dark clowdy Curdling as it will with the Purging Waters But if you mix it with Water impregnated with the Calx of the Purging Salt no Muddiness nor Colour will follow Common Water impregnated with this Salt and afterwards evaporated will restore you the whole quantity you dissolv'd without any waste but Lime-Water evaporated the Salt is for the most part transmuted into a stony and tastless Substance The Cause of which is that the Saline Parts of the Aqu. Calcis do so intimately imbrace and unite with any other Aerial Salt that they make a third Nurtral Salt as in Oil of Anisseeds and Vitriol shaken together you have a Refine properly so call'd which if you wash will yield you no manner of taste This may be illustrated by the following Experiment I kept Lime-Water in a Glass close stopt with a Cork and as much in an open Vessel for a Week or longer that in the stopt Vial had no Cream upon it but that in the open Vessel where the Air could freely arrive at the Water was cover'd with an insipid and stony Cream But Water in which the Purging Salt is dissolv'd kept in an open Vessel and many Days expos'd to the Air will have no Cream at all on its surface And that which appears in boiling the Purging Waters is not in the least Calcarious as we have formerly prov'd Add also the very different solubility of these Salts for half an Ounce of the Bitter Purging Salt will be easily and without Heat or much Agitation presently dissolv'd in six times its quantity of Water But to the dissolution of so much of the Calcarious Salt is required two Gallons and a half of Water which is 640 times its weight For so much common Water is necessary to edulcorate an Ounce of Calx Vivens which done there remains in the bottom of the Vessel about half an Ounce of pure white and Insipid Calx But the Bitter Purging Salt is eminently distinguish'd from the fore-mention'd if there were no other way by its Medicinal Virtues as we shall evidently demonstrate in the latter Part of this Tract where we speak of its Use In the mean time we do not deny a small Portion as well of Nitre and common Salt as of a stony Substance may be contained not only in the Purging Waters but even in the Salt it self And indeed 't is probable that no Body existent in Nature is purely simple Silver every one knows is mixt with Copper or
is likewise totally free from the Malignant Quality of most Catharticks it does never violently agitate the Humours nor cause Sickness Faintings or Pains in the Bowels It never fails a Physicians design in Purging the Patient nor ever puts him in fear of a Hypercatharsis Besides the strength of the Waters is not at all times alike for 't is either encreas'd by a dry Season or diminish'd by a wet 't is stronger in Summer weaker in Winter and 't is common for those that fell them upon occasion to mix 'em with common Water From whence the Physician prescribing the usual Dose frequently fails of success But the Salt of this Water purely and rightly prepar'd is every Particle alike and endued with the same Purging Virtue Add to this That the London Physicians do not prescribe the Waters crude but for the most part boiled For taken this way the Dose being lessen'd and the Strength increas'd they slip easier through the Stomach and Guts In Summer you boil to the consumption of a third but in Winter to half the quantity which will require two or three Hours But the Purging Salt of the Water dissolv'd in any convenient Liquor and once boil'd is a Medicine always in a readiness accommodated to Apothecaries chiefly to sick Persons who in urgent Cases suffer much Pain and Uneasiness while the Waters are so long a boiling and may often times be in danger The last tho' not the least considerable is That the Water kept a little too long especially in Summer or hot Weather will stink but the Salt of this Water neither Age nor Place can corrupt But some I foresee will Question the wholsomness of this Salt from the Acid Spirit it yields in Distillation but this Objection does as much oppose the Use of the Water as of the Salt contained in them For the same Reason we may as well pretend to leave off the Use of Honey Sugar or White-Bread every one of which by the help of Fire will yield a Distill'd Spirit violently Acid and Biting Wine also and the wholsomest Food when its Principles are let loose by Fermentation or any other way do obtain Noxious and sometimes Poysonous Qualities Nay even the Food of Infants their Mothers Milk will in a warm place presently turn Acid but by dissolving the Purging Salt in a proper Vehicle its Principles are neither deprav'd nor divided but 't is given in its compact Body or united Essence as we are fed with the forementioned Eatables For as the Salt it self so also the Water we drink from which this Salt is prepar'd is sensibly tho' moderately bitter and without any mixture of Acidity CHAP. II. Of the Method of prescribing the Bitter Purging Salt THis Salt may be taken Dissolv'd in any Vehicle agreeable to the Palate or grateful to the Taste of the Patient such as Spring-Waters Barley-Water Water-Gruel Posset-Drink Whey c. I do most commonly prescribe common Water Boil'd and Aromatiz'd with a little Mace to two three or four Pints of which I add half an Ounce or an Ounce or a greater Dose of the Salt As for Example Take of spring-Spring-Water two Quarts Mace a Dram boil a little and strain it then dissolve in the strain'd Liquor an Ounce or 10 Drams of the Salt for an Apozem to be taken in the Morning in the space of two hours hot warm and sometimes cold with a little Exercise This Apozem you may give by it self or during the Working of other Purging Physick It is proper also when there is occasion to add Senna Manna or both to the Mace to promote the efficacy of the Salt in this or the like Form Take spring-Spring-Water four Pints Mace a Dram Senna three Drams boil them gently and add of the Bitter Purging Salt an Ounce Flakey-Manna an Ounce and half or two Ounces and strain it The Lord Dudley North was the first that drank the Purging-Waters with Milk which did not at all agree with his Stomach because he mix'd them cold but Physicians afterwards altered the Waters by adding Milk when they were boiling which way if you please you may also most safely take the Salt it self For Example Take of the Salt an Ounce or 10 Drams dissolve it in 3 Pints and half or 4 of common Water and when it boils pour in half a Pint of Milk and strain the Curd from it In the Summer when Medicinal Waters are every where frequented the Chalybeate or the Purging-Waters taken immediately from their Springs is the best Vehicle A Dram or a Dram and half of this Salt taken in 3 or 4 of the first Glasses of Tunbridge or any other Chalybeate Water for the three or four first days will render the Humours and first Passages better prepared for the design of Drinking Chalybeate-Waters do frequently bind which will be prevented by a small quantity of this Salt dissolv'd in the first and last Glass But 't is best of all taken in its own Waters for a Dram of it dissolv'd in every Draught does Purge with more certainty and a less quantity of Water and by consequence is less burdensom to the Stomach 't is sometimes also very proper in Glisters to mix 3 or 4 Drams of it instead of Sal Gem. CHAP. III. Of the more particular Use of this Salt and first of all of its Use in Diseases of the Ventricle WHat I shall now insert of the Purging-Waters and their Salt is not from uncertain conjectures but is demonstrable by the daily Experience of other Learned Men as well as my own all whom have us'd both the Salt and the Water in the following Diseases with happy success And first of all this Purging-Water or its Salt is a most Amicable Medicine to the Stomach exciting an Appetite and promoting a good Digestion which it does partly by its Acid Principle partly by the bitterness of the whole or its Alkaline Mixture But chiefly from the former because it affords a Spirit in some sort Analagous to the Spirit of the Salt with which all Meats are season'd and also from the latter for we do every day Experience the Stomach to be strengthned by this and most other Bitters 'T is also well known that the Appetite is chiefly strengthned by the Use of Compound Salts for almost all Pickles are prepar'd not with Salts alone but with Salt and Vinegar French Red-Wine we allow to be very wholsom with our Food because of its Tartarous Salt of all others the most Compound and Salt of Steel a very Compound Salt is as Famous among Stomach-Medicines The two Universal Digestives Bread and Spittle do one of them contain an Acid and the other an Alkaline Salt and mix'd supply the place of a Compound Salt And the Natural ferment of the Stomach consists of Acid and Alkaline Particles the first from the Arteries or the Blood the latter from the Nerves or the Excrement of the Animal Spirits which may be prov'd by very many Arguments not here to be insisted
A TREATISE OF THE Nature and Use Of the Bitter Purging Salt Contain'd in EPSOM And such other VVATERS By NEHEMIAH GREW M. D. Fellow of the College of PHYSICIANS and of the ROYAL SOCIETY LONDON Printed in the Year 1697. ADVERTISEMENT THat this Salt is made and sold in greater or lesser Quantities by Francis Moult Chymist at the Sign of Glaubers-Head in Watling-Street And this Translation at no other Place 〈◊〉 TO THE READER THE Reason of my publishing this Book in English is the general Use I observe to be made of the Bitter Purging Salt in this Town and elsewhere by all sorts of Persons and that promiscuously in all Cases as Peoples Fancies or Humours prompt 'em without any Advice beyond Publick Fame or the good Woman that last visited The Sellers of this Salt are likewise such as use to dispose of other Catholick or Universal Medicines who neither know how to direct the Buyer nor care what becomes of the Taker so as they attain their End their part of the Profit There is indeed this difference That other Medicines that have grown Popular were always usher'd out with printed Directions or Certificates of it's Virtues and numberless Cures as Daffy's Elixir Spirit of Scurvy-Grass Atkins 's Oil for the Gout c. Nay the very Disciples of Ponteus afford for publick Benefit a printed Encomium for a Voucher to the Twelve-Penny Packet This I thought sufficient to Vindicate my Translation of Dr. Grew's Nature Use of the Bitter Purging Salt which I intend to give to those who buy any quantities of the Salt And I 'd have the Reader take notice That this is no Quack-Bill no boasting Rhodomontado of any Ignorant Pretender no guilded Bush to set off bad Wine but the Observations of an Ingenious Physician Fellow of both Societies and publish'd by him in Latin for the Information of the Practicers of Physick and for no Private Interest or Profit But I can scarce believe the Doctor ever foresaw the Consequence of his Commendations wou'd be the pushing every Body upon the Use of it Hand over Head therefore I doubt not his Pardon for my Translating it without his Knowledge my Design being not to discover the secret Method of its Preparation but to prevent by these Directions the Mischiefs he tells us may ensue the Abuse of so good a Medicine Farewell Part the First OF THE NATURE OF THE Bitter Purging Salt CHAP. I. How the bitter Purging Waters were first Discovered THE Mineral Waters arising near Epsom in Surrey the chief of all the bitter Purging Waters were found out by a Country Man in or about the Year 1620. For near the first Ten Years none but the Country People made use of them and they only to wash External Ulcers Afterwards the Lord Dudley North Father to Francis the late Lord-Keeper labouring under a Melancholy Disposition for which he had formerly Drank the Spaw-Waters in Germany was resolv'd to try the Vertue of these Epsom Waters flattering himself I suppose that he had found Chalybeate-Waters at his own Door However tho' they answer'd not his desire and expectation as to their Nature yet he did not repent of his Experiment but from that time drank these Purging Waters as a Medicine sent from Heaven with abundance of success Many others encouraged by his Example try'd the operation of these Waters and amongst the first Maria de Medicis Mother to the Wife of King Charles I. the Right Honourable George Lord Goring Earl of Norwich and many other Persons of Quality These and all others who drank the Epsom-Waters came not for Pleasure but Health and therefore always consulted their own or some Neighboring Physician for the Rules they were to observe In a little while Physicians came of their own accord to these Waters by whose Authority they acquir'd so great a Reputation that 2000 Persons have been there in one Day to drink or divert themselves About 30 Years since many of the Inhabitants of London whose Business or Poverty obstructed their going to Epsom had the Waters sent to them Thus the Ice being broke others brought great quantities to Town which they sold as well to Sick Persons as Apothecaries and continue still to do so No wonder then that so few sick People go to these Waters 't is not that the Modern Physicians esteem them less but because the Numbers of such as Drink at home and at other Wells of the same Nature do every Day mightily encrease For a few Years after the Discovery of the Epsom-Waters was publish'd others of the same sort found out by Enquiry or Chance grew into tolerable Repute and Use The Names of the Principal are Barnet in Hertfordshire North-Hall in Hertfordshire Acton in Middlesex Cobham in Surrey Dullidge in Surrey Strettham in Kent Besides these the Curious and Inquisitive may discover very many more to us unknown especially if they take along with them this Direction that sweet Waters generally arise from the tops of Hills but these from the Bottoms CHAP. II. Of the Nature of the Bitter Purging Waters THese Waters have no taste but a moderate bitterness which is very sensible Some that have Travelled into Syria and Egypt mention bitter Waters in those Countries and St. James in his Epistle takes notice of sweet and bitter Waters as very common things in the Eastern Parts all which bitter Waters 't is probable are of this sort These Fountains are not of an equal Strength nor Vertue but some are much stronger than others with the strongest Dullidge is justly reckon'd with the gentler Epsom These Waters in their Springs are without smell but kept some Days or Weeks in Vessels close stopp'd they putrifie and stink especially in Summer time which will happen to all Waters and sometimes also to the clearest Spring Water as we are told by those that Sail near the Equator Pour a little of this Water to Sirrup of Violets and 't will remain blue and unchang'd as if 't were mix'd with common Spring-water By the adding Lime water it gives a whitish Muddy colour as if some drops of Milk were mix'd with it and the white parts will in about an hours time subside in the form of a cloudy curdling produc'd from the Union of the chalky Lexivial and the acidity of the Cathartick Salts All these Waters will curdle Milk if it be added to them when they are hot or boiling but not at all if mix'd when they are cold The Waters of any of these Wells evaporated in a glazed Earthen or any other proper Vessel will yield a kind of a Cream a top and a sediment at the bottom of the Vessel of both together 6 8 or 10 Drams from a Gallon This Cream is of an Ash colour Stony substance and resembles Plaister but certainly not at all Lixivial for every one knows that the Lapis Calcarius or Lime-Stone calcin'd altho' actually cold will grow very hot by pouring Water upon them and emit a very great and thick
upon Therefore while there is the Natural proportion of either Salt in the Stomach Concoction is duly performed but when either prevail sometimes the Acid sometimes the Alkaline are necessary to restore it to its Office When the Concoction of the Stomach is Vitiated by too much or improper Meat and Drink Vomiting often follows for the quieting which the Bitter Purging Salt or Waters is a most excellent Remedy for the same reason that the Salt of Wormwood and Juice of Lemons is so Famous tho' this Salt is highly preferrable to it with one stroke destroying and carrying off the Peccant Salts Also in the Cardialgia or Heart-burning and other pains of that kind no Medicines can be more safe and efficacious nor in a hot Hypocondriack Disposition In the fore-mentioned Cases I have sometimes prescribed the Purging Waters or Salt without any other Medicine but more often with the assistance of other Remedies as Bleeding Vomiting and the like for 't is not the part of a prudent Physician in dangerous Diseases to trust his Patients Health and his own Reputation to one only Medicine tho' never so Famous Remedies of this kind may be infinitely varied according to the Indications Some Forms of which I shall here add For a lost Appetite Take of Spaw or any other Chalybeate-Water or if not to be had Spring-Water Aromatiz'd with Mace a Quart or three Pints of the Bitter Salt half an Ounce six Drams or an Ounce drink it warm and fasting And all sorts of Chalybeate-Waters may be drank warm which is better and without the loss of its subtile Spirit by dipping a Bottle close stopt into hot Water for a few Moments and after pouring out a Glass stopping it as before While you take these Waters an hour before Dinner take also 20 30 or 40 drops of Elixir Proprietatis in a Spoonful of Sherry or Hock and Wormwood and continue their Use every Day or every other Day for four five or six times Or Take of the Conserve of Roman Wormwood two Ounces Garden-Scurvy-Grass an Ounce Candid-Ginger half an Ounce Aromatick-Powder of Cloves a Dram and half of Winters Bark of the true Salt of Wormwood of each a Dram with Sirrup of Cloves make an Electuary and take the quantity of a Nutmeg every Night going to Rest and of a small Wall-Nut every Day an hour before Dinner with a little Wormwood-Wine if the Patient be not subject to the Head-Ach Or Take of the Filings of Steel new and shining 3 Ounces Roman Wormwood half a handful Roman Cypress-Roots Calamus Aromaticus of each a Dram Galangall the less Cinnamon and Saffron of each half a Dram White-Wine or Sherry a Quart digest in a Vessel close stopt with a gentle heat for 3 Days shaking the Glass every Day and take two or three or four Spoonfuls two hours before Dinner In Vomitings Take of any Chalybeate-Water or Maced-Water three or four Pints and dissolve in it six eight or ten Drams of the Purging Salt to be drank in the Morning hot or cold as you please and repeat it three or four Days following or every other Day if there be occasion And to this joyn the Use of the following Pills Take of red Roses of Cinnamon of each a Dram Cloves Salt of Steell of each a Scruple Saffron half a Scruple Chimical Oil of Mint eight Drops with Sirrup of Steell make 24 Pills Take three every Day two Hours before Dinner and at Night going to rest Sometimes a Fomentation of red Wine with Venice Treacle red Roses and Mint infus'd in it hot is very profitable In a Bastard Collick Take Senna two Drams Macea Dram boil in Spring Water to three or four Pints Add to the strain'd Liquor six eight or ten Drams of the Purging Salt Take this Apozem as there is occasion either with or without Senna and by it self or with the following Pills Take of Stomach Pills with Gums 25 Grains of Steell-Filings powder'd ten Grains with Syrup of Steel make four Pills to be taken going to rest and the Apozem as above the following Morning and repeat 'em for three Days successively or longer Sometimes 't is necessary to mix Extract of Gentian or some other Bitter with the Pills and also a little Laudanum if the Pain be violent In a hot Hypocondriack Distemper Take of any chalybeate-Chalybeate-Water three or four Pints dissolve in every draught half a Dram or a Dram to eight times and drink it cold Or instead of Chalybeate-Waters use simple Milk-Water or distill'd from Borrage or Pimpernel In the Heart-Burning In this Disease the Salt taken as in the former will have very good success CHAP. IV. Of the Use of the Bitter Purging Salt in Diseases of the Intestines and Parts adjacent And first of the Collick IN this Disease there is no need to advise the Learned and Experienc'd Physician in the first place to let Blood and seldom or never to omit it Then 't is most Advisable to give this or the like Glister Take of the common Decoction for Glisters one pound with the addition of 3 Drams or half an Ounce of Senna to the Ingredients to it strain'd add half an Ounce or more of the Bitter Purging Salt Species of Hiera Picra a Dram and half or two Drams brown Sugar two Ounces From the Use of these and the like Glisters Chollick Pains are often dissipated at least by their passing up the Intestines the way is opened Oftentimes Pill Rudii one Scruple or half a Dram with a Grain of Laudanum is given with good success And sometimes crude Mercury if the Patient will swallow a sufficient quantity that is four five or six Ounces Especially if taken with two Ounces of the Tincture of Hiera Picra in White-Wine or any other proper Purging Medicine But the most Noble of all Remedies is the Purging Water or the Salt taken in this or the like manner Take of Spring or River Water aromatiz'd Lib. iij Chamomile Flower or Mint-Water six Ounces Bitter Purging Salt an Ounce or ten Drams Flakey-Manna an Ounce and half or two Ounces make an Apozem and let the Patient take about 17 Ounces at a time hot so often that the whole may be taken in an hour or an hour and half yea tho' some part of it be Vomited The force of this Medicine may be sometimes increas'd by the addition of the following Take one or two Spoonfuls of the Tincture of Hiera Picra before every draught of the Apozem In Worms This Salt if the Nurse give the Child a Dram and half or two Drams in its Pap 't will exterminate the Worms especially if the Physician will give before it in any proper Vehicle a Grain or two or three of Mercurius Dulcis according to the Age of the Patient or Chrystals of Silver Or if the Purging Salt be given in Bitter Glisters in the Stone Here also as well as in the Chollick we must begin with Bleeding which very often requires a repetition To this a