Hitherto we have only discovered to you the Ordinary Physici

Produced by The Online Distributed Proofreading Team at

http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images

generously made available by The Internet Archive/American

Libraries.)

_Medicina Flagellata_:

OR, THE DOCTOR SCARIFY'D.

----_AEgrescitque medendo._ Virg.

_Si tibi deficiant Medici, Medici, tibi fiant:

Haec tria, Mens laeta, requies, moderata dieta._

_LONDON:_

Printed for J. BATEMAN, at the _Hat_ and _Star_;

and J. NICKS, at the _Dolphin_ and _Crown_,

both in St. _Paul's Church-yard_. 1721.

_Medicina Flagellata_:

OR, THE Doctor Scarify'd.

Laying open the VICES of the Faculty, the

Insignificancy of a great Part of their

_Materia Medica_; with certain RULES to

discern the true Physician from the Emperick,

and the Useful Medicine from the Noxious and

Trading Physick.

WITH

An ESSAY on HEALTH,

Or the

POWER of a REGIMEN.

To which is added,

A Discovery of some Remarkable Errors in the

late Writings on the PLAGUE, by Dr. _Mead_,

_Quincey_, _Bradley_, &c. With some useful

and necessary RULES to be observed in the

Time of that Contagious Distemper.

_LONDON_:

Printed for J. BATEMAN, and J. NICKS.

M. DCC. XXI.

PREFACE.

_It being usual for Authors, in Prefaces, to render an Account of the

Occasion which gave Birth to their Writings, and to acquaint the Reader

with the Design and Scope of their Discourses; I thought it convenient to

continue a Custom approved by many illustrious Examples._

_The Motive of publishing this Tract, is not the Intercession of Friends,

for none had ever the View of any Part of it; and that it is not Design of

Applause that has engaged me in this Undertaking, the Care I have had to

conceal my Name will, I suppose, free me from such Suspicion: the chief

Inducement proceeds from an Inclination to Mankind, to instruct them to

preserve and prolong their Lives, thereby to prevent them from using

fraudulent Quack Medicines (which are now become so universally vendible

amongst them) or advising with such as are wholly ignorant; and I should

think my self sufficiently rewarded for my Pains, if I could arrive to

the Point of reforming the Abuses of the present, and restoring the

Simplicity of the ancient Practice, by laying open to the World my

Observations of the pretended and fallacious =Methodus Medendi=, and the

Insignificancy of a great Part of their =Materia Medica=._

_And here I will particularly address my self to all those Persons

concern'd with me, who are the People or Patients; and the Physicians with

their Followers, the Chirurgeons and Apothecaries: This Discourse is

chiefly intended for the first, it being they who are most highly injured

by the unwarrantable Practices of those we have therein accused; for

although many understanding Persons among the People are sufficiently

satisfied of the Abuses we have mentioned; and that it is of absolute

Necessity some Reformation should be made: Yet all are not thus perswaded;

for we may daily observe, that many who are less discerning, being

deceiv'd by an imaginary Good, covet their own Ruin; and unless they be

given to understand which is the Evil, and which is the Good, by Persons

they have Reason to confide in, they must necessarily run much Hazard._

_I have here endeavoured to undeceive them; which I should dispair of, did

I only foresee Inconveniencies afar off (the Vulgar being led by Sense,

and not by probable Conjectures); but since they do now actually labour

under many, and those obvious, Inconveniencies, how short sover their

sight be, the Senses of Feeling being no less acute in them than in

others, I persuade my self, they will readily assent to those Truths I

have largely discovered._

_And here must I venture through all the Barricadoes and the

Fortifications of popular Resentment; but Satires, like Incision, become

necessary when the Humour rankles, and the Wound threatens Mortification;

when Advice ceases to work; when Loss, Experience, and Disaster will not

convince, then Satire reforms, by making the Error we embrace ridiculous:

Shame works to make us forsake a Thing, which Instruction augments, or

Persuasion could have no Effect upon._

_Many and great Abuses, and of the last Importance to the People, have

urged my Duty and demanded my Assistance; and if in my Essay on Health, I

do persuade my Reader to the =Regimen= I have here laid down, he may assure

himself of that =Golden Panacea=, that =Elixir Salutis=, at no other Charge

but in =cura seipsum=._

_It would by many be expected, that I should make an Apology for the great

Liberties I have taken in my general Treatment of the whole Faculty; in

which I claim the allow'd Exception, that there are some few very Eminent,

and worthy of the first Honours and Dignity of Physick, and who by their

unwearied Labour of Body and Application of Mind, have run through the

Courses of =Anatomy, Botany, Chymistry=, and =Galenick Pharmacy=, and no

less acquainted with the Virtues, Faults, and Preparations, Compositions

and Doses of Vegetables, Animals, Minerals, and all the Shop Medicines._

_And yet nevertheless, the Profession of Physick (though arrived to much

greater Improvement than before) it's Dignity and Degrees are so

despicably fallen, that the very lowest of People, as well Women as Men,

usurp the Title; and how monstrous it is to see that Mob of Empericks, as

Barbers, Farriers, and Mountebanks, over-reach and bubble the People both

of their Lives and Money._

_As I would not arrogate to my self the Performance of another, I must not

here forget to acknowledge that I have borrowed from the judicious Author

of a late excellent Discourse concerning some few Passages of the State of

Physick, and the Regulation of it's Practice. I suppose it will be easily

imagined, that I could have spoken the same Things in other Words; but my

Respect to the Memory of that worthy Person, disposes me to believe, they

will sound better, and be more effectual in his own Language._

_The following Appendix receiv'd it's Birth in Answer to some the most

formidable of the many Pamphlets that were crowded upon the People at the

first Report we had of the miserable State of the =Marseillians= by the

Plague; which had not been but for the same plausible End, of being

serviceable to the Nation, by detecting their Errors, and setting aside

the clashing Opinions of those =Literati=, which has rather given Alarm,

than a Security to the People._

_To conclude: If in speaking the Truth there is no Blame, but rather

Commendation, I then need not Apologise for the Freedom I've used, in

exploding the great Varieties and Abuses in both the Theory and Practice

of Physick. And although the Attempt should not answer equal to the good

Intention I've had for the Publick; yet I shall demand that Justice of the

World, and with =Horace=,_

Quod Verum atque decens, curo, & rogo, & omnis in hoc sum.

_Medicina Flagellata_:

OR, The Doctor Scarify'd.

It is most certain that all Nations, even the most barbarous, have in all

Ages made use of Medicines, to ease their Pains, to regain or preserve

Health, the greatest among earthly Felicities; in the Absence whereof, we

cannot relish any of those numerous Enjoyments, which the bountiful

Creator hath plentifully bestow'd on us; so that the most sublime ancient

Philosophers who excluded all other external Good from being necessary, to

the well being of Man, placing Happiness only in the things whereof we

cannot be depriv'd; yet out of them they excepted Health, knowing there

was so near a Connexion between the Soul and Body, that the one could not

be disorder'd in its Functions, but the other would be disturb'd in its

Operations. Hence it is that no Part of human Knowledge can be of greater

Moment than what directs to Remedies, and Means of Relief under those

Infirmities to which the whole Race of Man is Heir to; so that even

amongst the wisest, that Science or Art whereby those Defects we call

Diseases were repair'd, was always accounted Divine; for that God is the

first and chief Physician, hath been the constant Faith of all Ages, and

that Physicians were accounted the Sons of Gods, was commendably asserted

by _Galen_, and therefore it was truly spoken, that Medicines were the

Hand of God, there meriting only such Names, as related to their divine

Original; thus a certain Antidote was called [Greek: Isytheo], equal to

God, another [Greek: Theodotos], given by God, another divine; several

Compositions had the Inscription [Greek: Iera], or Sacred; and 'twas the

common Belief among the Heathens, that so great a Knowledge in Physick

came by Inspiration: And St. _Austin_ is of the same Opinion in his _Civi.

Dei_, who saith, _Corporis Medicina (si altius rerum origines repetas) non

invenitur unde ad homines manare potuerit, nisi a Deo_. It cannot be

conceived whence Physick should come to Man but from God himself.

It is well known how great a Name _Hippocrates_ obtain'd, not only in

_Greece_ (which he deliver'd from the greatest Plague) but in remote

Parts; so that the greatest Monarchs of the _East_, and their Vice-Roys,

were Suitors to him, to free their Country from that devouring Disease,

which threatned to exhaust those populous Regions of their Inhabitants,

unless the same Person who freed _Greece_ interpos'd, whom they esteem'd

divine, and sent from the Gods, because successful in so great

Undertakings. Very certain it is, so Noble and Useful a Study were

encouraged, yea and practised by Kings, Princes, and Philosophers, by the

highest, wisest, and best of Men, whereof some were honour'd by Statues

erected to perpetuate their Memoirs, and by many other Instances of the

publick Gratitude. So that when I consider what Reverence has been paid to

this Profession, and the Professors thereof in all times whereof we have

any particular Account, I am amaz'd that in this latter Age wherein it

hath received greater Improvements than in Two thousand Years before, and

that nevertheless it should be by many neglected, by others slighted, and

by some even contemned. After a diligent Enquiry into the Causes of so

strange and sudden an Alteration, I could not, in my Opinion, so justly

ascribe it to Defects in the Profession, as to those of its Professors;

not that I deny that Physick may be capable of greater Improvements,

notwithstanding it might to this Day have been maintain'd at least in the

same Degree of Honour and Esteem which all Ages have justly had for it, if

the Avarice and Imprudence of the Real, the Ignorance and Baseness of the

pretended Artists had not interpos'd: Under the former I comprize the

Vulgar Physicians; under the latter, their Dependants the Apothecaries,

who, I am confident, have caused many of the great Inconveniences under

which the Practice of Physick now labours.

That the Sick are in all Cases oppressed with too many Medicines, and made

to loath, and complain of the very Cordials; that the Expence is made

greater, and more extravagant by the often Confederacy and Artifices

visible in the new Modes of prescribing: And the Deaths of the Patient I

would not say is frequently the Effect not of the Disease, but of the

numerous Doses obtruded in the same Proportions in every Sickness and Age,

pushing on declining, and even departing Life; which after its Exit makes

Pots and Glasses observed, with the same Passions and Concern, as the

bloody Sword is viewed as the Instrument of Death and Mischief. By whom,

or by what Means the Purity of Physick has sunk into this Degeneracy, let

us farther examine, and trace it from the first Steps of entring into this

great Abuse; let us then usher in the young Physician now come from the

University, and having spent a great Part of his Money (if not all) in his

Education, very wisely for himself considers, which are the most obvious

and practis'd Ways of making himself known, and by what Methods he may

more easily insinuate himself, and that he may recover the Fortune he has

lent the Publick in his Education, which he is resolved they shall now pay

him with Interest. He is inform'd, or presently observes, that most, or

all the Families are under the Directions of the Apothecary, who gives his

Physick 'till he fears the Patient will die, and then appoints a

Physician, who before is prepared to acquit him, by bearing the Reproach

with the most perfect Resignation. And to support this good Temper, he is

bid to cast his Eyes around the Kingdom, and consider how they flourish in

the common Fame, who had the good Luck to follow those Instructions at

their first Arrival.

Or if he has found out any more effectual Medicines, or more compendious

or grateful Methods of Cure, or would imitate the applauded Practice of

some few of the most eminent of that Profession, whose Prescriptions were

only to assist, not to overload, or suppress Nature; this is too bold a

Stroke, a too dangerous Reform in Physick; he must previously consider,

that the Number of Apothecaries are increas'd, and that their Dependance

lieth more on the Quantities of Medicines in suitable Proportions, and

notwithstanding a generous and liberal Education, by which he has learn'd

to explode the malevolent and useless Practice, from a great many

Prescriptions that are now in vogue; he must not dare to refute them, he

must obey that great Principle of Nature, to preserve himself; he must

conform to the Manners of the Age, and the general Practice; he must

dispence with his not knowing whether the Medicines are made up according

to his Prescription; he must wink at the Design, Ignorance, Carelessness,

or Unfaithfulness of the Apothecary; whom he must not any ways disgust,

tho' he in Revenge, as well in executing his own Interest, may make his

Dose up with worm-eaten superannuated Drugs, wherewith most of 'em are

well stor'd, which will not work according to the Physician's Promise, and

the Patient's Expectation: The Apothecary who here outwits the Doctor, and

assumes the Character, is here ready at hand to tell his Patient that this

was no ways accommodated to his Temper; nay, perhaps, he presages to him

that it will not work sufficiently, (as he may without Conjuring or

Astrology) by which he obtains a Reputation of a Person more judicious

than the Physician making way for his own Advantage, by telling the

Patient that he will prepare a Purge that shall work more effectually than

the former: This you need not doubt is the same the Physician before

prescrib'd, but assuredly made up of better Drugs, and so the Apothecary

executes his Design, which is to exclude the Physician, and prefer

himself.

The young Physician, tho' he has learn'd the Abuse, yet he has that Regard

to himself, to make use of that old Maxim, _Of the two Evils, to choose

the least_; and finding it best suiting his Interest, which otherwise

might be endanger'd by the clandestine and underhand Dealings of the

other, and now finds it necessary to close in with him, and such a one as

will join in a mutual Application and Advancement of each other: Now are

their Engines set at work, and the Doctor not to be behind-hand, gives a

new Form to his Bills, which he prescribes in Terms so obscure, that he

forces all chance Patients to repair to his own Apothecary, pretending a

particular Secret, which only they have a Key to unlock; whereas in effect

it is no other than the commonest of Medicines disguised under an unusual

Name, on design to direct you to that Apothecary, between whom and the

Physician there is a private Compact of going Snips out of the most

unreasonable Rates of the said Medicines; wherein if you seek a Redress,

by shewing the Bill to the Doctor, he shall most religiously aver it to be

the cheapest he ever read. The Consequence whereof, as to your Particular,

is a double Fraud; and as the Apothecaries in general, their Numbers

bearing the Proportion at least ten to one of noted Physicians; to whom

allowing his Covenant Apothecary, who constituting one Part of the ten,

the remaining nine Parts are compell'd either to sit still, or to quack

for a Livelihood, or at least eight of them, for we'll suppose one Part of

the nine a Possibility of acquiring competent Estates, in a Way more

honest than that of the Covenanters, by their wholsome Trade of fitting

out Chirurgeons Chests for Sea, and supplying Country Apothecaries with

Compositions: Lastly, all accomplish'd Physicians are likewise expos'd to

manifest Injuries from the Covenant Apothecaries, who being sent for by

Patients, after a short Essay of a Cordial, will overpower them by

Perswasions to call in a Doctor, who shall be no other than his Covenant

Physician; by which Means the former Physician, who by his extraordinary

Care and Skill had oblig'd the Family before, shall be passed by, and lose

the Practice of that Patient: And should it happen, the Sense of Gratitude

of the forementioned Patient, should engage him to continue the Use of his

former Physician, yet this Covenant Apothecary shall privately cavil at

every Bill, and impute the Appearance of every small Pain, or Symptom

(which necessarily in the Course of a Disease will happen) to his ill

Address in the Art of Physick, and shall not give over before he has

introduc'd his Covenanter, whose Authority in the Fraud of Physick he

supposes to be most necessary.

But least you should think me overbalanc'd with a Prejudice to those that

so much abuse that noble Profession, I'll conduct you into their usual

Road and Method of examining their Patients, and making Enquiry into their

Diseases, wherewith being acquainted, you may, without any farther

Conviction, pronounce a Verdict.

This Knack doth chiefly consist in three Notions; _viz._ _First_, That a

Patient's Grievance is either a discernible evident Disease, which his own

Confession makes known to you, what it is; or, _Secondly_, an inward Pain;

or, _Thirdly_, one of those two Endemic Diseases, a Scurvy, or

Consumption; or, a _Fourth_, the Pox. This is their Theory, which is so

deeply ingrafted on their _Dura Mater_, and may be acquired with less

Industry than fourteen Years Study at one of our Universities; for so

much Time is requir'd to make a Man grow up a Doctor, the Formality

whereof in most Places consists in this Elogy; _Accipiamus pecuniam, &

dimittamus asinum_.

If a sick Man makes his Address to a vulgar Physician, he demands his

Complaint; t'other replies, he is troubled either with a Vomiting,

Looseness, want of Stomach, Cough, bad Digesture, difficulty of Breathing,

a Phtisick, Faintness, Jaundice, Green-Sickness, Dropsy, Gout,

Convulsion-Fits, Palsy, Diziness, or Swimming in the Brain, Spitting of

Blood, an Ague, a continual great Heat or Fever, _&c._ These are all

evident Diseases the Party himself expresses he is troubled with; but his

Sickness not being an evident Disease, which he himself can explain, the

Vulgar Doctor concludes, it must be either an inward Pain, or an Endemick

Disease: The Patient then making complaint of an inward Pain, to his old

way of guessing t'other goes, enquiring first in what Part? If he answers,

he feels a Pain in the right Side, or under the short Ribs, he tells him

it is an Obstruction, or Stoppage in the Liver; if in the left Side, in

the opposite Part, then 'tis a Stoppage of the Spleen; if in the Belly, he

it may be calls it a Cholick, or Wind in the Guts; if in the Back, or

Loins, he perswades him it's Gravel, Stone, or some other Obstruction in

the Kidneys; if a Stitch in the Breast, he terms it Wind, or other times a

Pleurisy: Lastly, if the Party be reduc'd to a very lean Carcass, by

reason of a long tedious Cough, Spitting of Blood, or want of Stomach, or

Feebleness, or almost any other Disease, or Pain, then besure he tells

him he's in a Consumption, or at least falling into one: But being

troubled with several Diseases and Pains at once, as running Pains,

Faintness, want of Stomach, change of Complexion, so as to look a little

yellowish, duskish, or greenish; then t'other whispers him, he is troubled

with the Scurvy. If diseased with Ulcers or running Sores, red, yellow,

blue, or dark Spots, Pimples, or Blotches in the Face, Arms, Legs, or any

other Part of the Body, that's determin'd to be the Scurvy likewise,

supposing the Party to be a sober discreet Person: But if appearing

inclined to Wantonness by reason of his Youth, or sly Countenance, then

the fore-mention'd Disease is to be call'd the Pox. In most Diseases of

Women, they accuse the Mother. In Children, their Guess seems far more

fallible; for a Child within the six Months being taken ill, restless, and

froward, if there appear no evident Disease, he ever affirms it's troubled

with Gripes; upon which he prognosticates, that if not speedily remedied,

the Child will fall into Convulsion-Fits; but this not happening according

to his Prediction, to prevent the Forfeiture of his Skill and Repute,

endeavours to possess the Mother, and rest of the Gossips, it had inward

Fits. The Child being past six Months, and falling indispos'd, then

instead of Gripes, it is discompos'd by breeding of Teeth; but having bred

all his Teeth, and being surpriz'd with any kind of Illness, the Doctor

then avouches it is troubled with Worms: In short, take away these three

Words, Obstruction, Consumption, and Scurvy, and there will remain three

dumb Doctors, the Hackney Physician, the Prescribing Surgeon, and the

Practicing Apothecary.

Hitherto we have only discovered to you the Ordinary Physicians

conjecturing Compass, whereby he steers his Course, to arrive to the

Knowledge of his Patients Diseases: There yet remains we should unlock the

other Ventricle of his Brain, to behold the Subtilty of his Fancy in

groaping at the Causes of Diseases, which, tho' the Poet declares (_Felix

qui potuit rerum cognoscere causas_) to be cloathed with the darkest

Clouds, yet by the Virtue of this following Principle, aims at this Mark

immediately, _viz._ That most Diseases are caus'd by Choler, Phlegm,

Melancholy, or abundance of Blood: Of these, two are suppos'd to be hot,

namely, Choler, and abundance of Blood, and the other two cold, to wit,

Phlegm, and Melancholy, and consequently Causes of hot and cold Diseases:

These four Universals being reduced to two general Categories; under the

Notion of hot and cold, any one having but the Sense of distinguishing

Winter from Summer, may, in the Time of an _Hixius Doxius_, instantly

appoint a Cause for almost every Disease: So that a Patient discovering

his Trouble, it may be a want of Stomach, bad Digesture, Fainting, Cough,

Difficulty of breathing, Giddiness, Palsy, _&c._ his Vulgar Physician has

no more to do, but take him by the Fist, to feel whether he be hot or

cold; if he finds him cold, then summons in his old Causes, Phlegm, and

Melancholy; which ready, and quick pronouncing of the Cause upon a meer

Touch, doth almost stupify your Patient, thro' Admiration of _AEsculapian_

Oracle, hitting him in the right Vein to a hair's breadth: For, quoth he,

indeed, Mr. Doctor, I think you understand my Distemper exceedingly well,

and have infallibly found out the Cause; for every Morning as soon as I

awake, I spit such a deal of Phlegm, and moreover, I must confess my self

extreamly given to Melancholy. This jumping in Opinions between them,

makes Mr. Doctor swell with Expectation of a large Fee, which the Patient

most freely forces on him, and so the Fool and his Monies are soon parted.

Now it's two to one but both are disappointed, the one in his

unexperienced Judgment, t'other in his fond Belief; for, state the Case,

the Disease takes its Growth from Choler, or abundance of Blood, or any

other internal Cause; there is scarce one in a hundred that are

indispos'd, who is not subject to hauk and spit in the Morning, and being

reduc'd to Weakness, by reason of his Trouble, must necessarily be heavy

in the Passions of the Mind, and incident to melancholy Thoughts, through

the Memory of his Mortality, occasion'd by this Infirmity: So that, seldom

Mirth and Cheerfulness are housed in indispos'd Bodies, because they are

deficient of that abundance of Light, and clear Spirits, required to

produce them. No Wonder the Vulgar is so opinionated in the Affair of

their Temperament, when belabour'd with a Disease; since in their

healthful State, it's impossible for a Physician to engage their Opinion

otherwise, than to believe themselves phlegmatick and melancholy.

To return to the Point of declaring how the Vulgar strives even with

Violence to be cheated, not in their Purses only, but in their Fancies and

Opinion; and in this Particular, our Women are so violent eager, that if

the Vulgar Physician can but make a true Sound upon the Treble of their

Fancy, will produce such a Harmony as shall sound his Praise through City

and Country; and without those Female-Instruments, or She-Trumpets, it's

almost impossible for a Vulgarist to arrive to a famous Report, who having

once by his Tongue-Harmony inchanted the Woman, doth by the same Cheat

subject the Opinion of Man to his Advantage, Women generally usurping, and

impropriating the Affair of their Husbands Health to their own

Management; for if a Man chance to be surpriz'd with Sickness, he

presently asks his Wife what Doctor he shall send to, who instantly gives

her Direction to him that had her by the Nose last. In this Piece of

Subtilty, the Doctor shews him self no less cunning than the Serpent in

_Genesis_, who, to cheat _Adam_, thought it expedient first to deceive

_Eve_.

Now without any further Preamble, I must tell you the Humour many a sick

Woman delights to be coaks'd in by the Ordinary Physician, _viz._ She

loves to be told she is very melancholy, tho' of never so merry a

Composure, and in that Part of the Litany, Mr. Doctor is a perfect Reader;

for a Woman making Complaint she is troubled with Drowsiness, want of

Stomach, Cough, or any other Distemper; he answers her, she is in an ill

State, and troubled with great and dangerous Diseases, and all engender'd

by Melancholy; and then tells her over again, she is very melancholy, and,

saith he, probably occasion'd by coarse Treats at Home, or some Unkindness

of Friends, which makes the poor Heart put Fingers in her Eye, and force a

deep Sigh or two; and all this possibly for being deny'd the extravagant

Charge of a Tea-Equipage, or a new Gown on a _May_-Day; which being

refresh'd in her Memory, doth certainly assure her, the Impression of that

Melancholy to be the Original of her Trouble, tho' some Months or Years

past, especially since her Physician discovers to her so much: And for so

doing, admires him no less, intending withal to give him an ample

Testimony to the World of the Doctor's great Skill: But this is not all,

he pursues his Business, looks into her Eyes, where 'spying a small

Wrinkle or two in the inward or lesser Angle, he tells her, she has had a

Child or two, namely, a Boy, or a Girl, according to the Place of the

aforesaid Wrinkle in the right or left inward Angle; thence perswades her,

that at her last lying in, her Midwife did not perform her Office

skilfully, or did not lay her well, whereby she receiv'd a great deal of

Prejudice, as Cold, Wrenching, displacing of the _Matrix_, &c. Which

Instance squaring with the premeditated Sense and Opinion of his

She-Patient, (most Women, though never so well accommodated in their

Labour, being prone to call the Behaviour of their Midwife in Question)

he hath now produced a far greater Confidence than before: And last of

all, to compleat his Work now at the going off of his gull'd Patient, of

rendring her Thoughts, Opinion, and Confidence, Vassals to his Service,

Fame, and Advantage, makes one Overture more, of a great Cause of some of

her Symptoms, declaring to her, she is much subject to Fits of the Mother,

occasioning a Choaking in her Throat, and herein they also jump in their

Sentiments; scarce one Woman in an hundred but one time or other is

assaulted by those Uterin Steams, especially upon a Tempest of any of the

Passions of Fright, Fret, Anger, Love, _&c._

If I have reproached the Vulgar Physician for executing his Employ with so

little Ingenuity, far greater Reason may move me to condemn the

Water-gazer, who by the Steams of the Urine, pretends to gratify his

Patient's nice Curiosity, of being resolv'd what was, what is, and what

Disease is to come; and what is more, some by their great Cunning aiming

to discover as much by the Urinal, as the Astrologer by the Globe. The

Fame unto which the _English_ Doctor, who some Years ago residing at

_Leyden_, promoted himself by his wonderful Sagacity in Urins, is not

unworthy of your Note, hundreds, or rather thousands repairing to this

stupendious Oracle, to have the State of their Bodies describ'd by Urine.

But when I relate to you the first Means that gave Birth to our

Countryman's Repute, I shall soon remove your Passion of admiring him.

Upon his Arrival at the Place aforemention'd, he had in his Company a

bold Fellow, that haunted the most noted Taverns and Tap-houses, who by

way of Discourse divulg'd the good Fortune that was happened to the Town,

by the Arrival of an _English_ Doctor, whose great Learning, and

particular Skill in Urins, would soon render him famous to all the

Inhabitants. This being pronounced with a Confidence suitable to the

Subject, occasion'd three sick Scholars (two Hecticks, one Hydropical)

then present, to make Trial of the Truth of his Words; the next Morning,

agreeing to mix all their Urins in one Urinal, and commit the Carriage of

it to him that was dropsical. In the Interim, the Doctor advertis'd of it

by his Companion, which made him so skilful, that when the Hydropical

Scholar presented him with the Urinal, to know the State of his diseased

Body, he soon gravely reply'd, that he observed three Urins in this one

Urinal, whereof the two lowermost Parts of the Urin, appear'd to him to be

consumptive, and the third that floated at top dropsical, and with all,

that their Conditions were desperate, and at the Expiration of six Months

they should be all lodg'd in their Graves. This admirable Dexterity of

discerning Diseases by the Urinal, was soon proclaim'd by the Scholars

themselves, who all having finish'd the Course of their Lives, within the

Time prefix'd, proved an undoubted Argument of his unparallel'd Parts in

the Art of Physick, which immediately procur'd him an incredible Concourse

of People for many Years together.

Another Instance of a Woman whose Husband had a Bruise by a Fall down

Stairs, carry'd his Urin to the Urin casting Doctor in _Moor-fields_, who

pretended likewise to be a Conjurer; he (after shaking) seeing little

Specks of Blood float in it, had so much Understanding to tell her, that

the Party had receiv'd some internal Hurt; the Woman agreed to this as

Truth, but demanding by what Means he came by it: Upon this he erected a

Scheme, and in the mean time asked her so many Questions, that by the

Drift of her Discourse, he gather'd that he had tumbled down Stairs: The

Woman not minding well what she had said, (in the Consternation she was in

at the hard Words he had utter'd) suppossing he was conjuring up the

Devil, to be resolv'd in the Matter, told her own Words in a different

Title; the Woman acknowledged it true, with some Admiration, but desir'd

to know how many Pair of Stairs he might fall down? She had told him

before where she liv'd (and he considering the Place chiefly consisted of

low Buildings) answer'd, two Pair. Nay, now said she, you are out in your

Art, he fell three Story I'll promise. This put our Doctor to his Trumps,

when having mused a while for an Excuse, he shook the Urinal again, and

asked her if there was all the Water her Husband had made? No, reply'd

she, I spilt a little in pouring it in. O ho, did you so? said he: Why

that, Woman, was the Business that made me mistake, for there went away

the other Pair of Stairs in the Urin you spilt.

I shall but trouble you with another Instance, which explodes this Cheat,

of what happened in the early Practice of the fam'd Dr. _Radcliff_ when at

_Oxford_; of a Country Woman that brought to him her Husband's Urin in a

Glass-Bottle, very carefully cork'd up; and after a low Courtesy,

presented the Bottle, desiring the Doctor to send a Remedy for her

Husband, who then lay very ill: The Doctor observing the Simplicity of

this Woman, put no other Question, but of what Profession or Trade her

Husband was of? Who reply'd, a Shoemaker: At which he pours forth the Urin

in a Basin then by him, and after he had supply'd it with a like Quantity

of his own, he gives it her, and says, Good Woman, carry this to your

Husband, and bid him fit me with a Pair of Boots: but she replying, Her

Husband must first take Measure; to which he return'd, The Shoemaker

might as well judge by the Urinal the fitting of his Leg, as he in that of

his Distemper. That the Effects of Confederacy in promoting a Physician to

a popular Vogue, are as powerful as sinister and disingenuous, may not

only be deduced from the aforesaid Naratives, but from the common Design

of vulgar Empericks, who to raise their Fame as high as a Pyramid, send

forth several prating Fellows into all publick Places, Taverns,

Coffee-houses, and Ale-houses, to publish their vast Abilities, expecting

with that Bait to hook in as many Patients as will swallow it. Others are

no less skill'd in counterfeiting their great Practice, by causing their

Apothecaries, or others, to call them out of the Church at an Afternoon

Sermon, to hasten Post to a suborn'd Patient, to the Intent the World be

advertis'd of the weighty Business this Doctor is concern'd in. Others by

their Equipage, eminent Houses, and occasioning one and the same Patient,

to repair needlesly to them twenty or thirty times, manifest a Decoy even

taken Notice of by the Vulgar. These few disingenuous Ways, do here

purposely bring on Board, omitting many others, to convince the Publick,

that the only Means for a Physician to advance himself honourably to

Practice, is by discovering his real Abilities in curing Diseases, by

quick, certain, and pleasant Medicines; and therefore nothing should

render his Parts more suspicious than by attempting their Discovery by

such fallacious and ignoble Devices; for certainly the Conclusion is most

sophistical, that because this Doctor is drawn in his Coach, t'other

rides on Horseback, or another hath his Lacquey at his Heels, therefore he

must be excellently qualify'd in his Profession, but _Vulgus vult decipi_.

If I now describe, by way of Advice to those that are entering upon the

Study of this divine Art, the Method of attaining to a Point of Excellency

in it, and that may serve our Vulgar for a better Rule to distinguish

their Qualifications by the Course they have passed through; for it is

most necessarily requisite, our young Student should be perfectly

instructed in the _Latin_ and _Greek_ Tongues, being the Universal Keys to

unlock all those Arts and Sciences, and no less a Grace to the future

Physicians. In this Particular, many of our Embryonated Physicians, that

have of late Years transported themselves to _Leyden_, and _Utrecht_, to

purchase a Degree, have been found very defective; insomuch, that I have

heard the Professors condemn several of them for their shameful

Imperfection in that which is so great an Ornament, and of so absolute an

Use in the Study of Physick: Neither can less be suspected of some of the

more aged Vulgar Physicians, making Choice to manage their Consultations

in the Vulgar Tongue. _Secondly_, Being thus qualify'd for a Student, he

ought to apply himself close to the Study of Phylosophy, for which,

_Oxford_ and _Cambridge_ may justly challenge a Pre-eminence above other

Universities: Here it is our Student learns to speak like a Scholar, and

is inform'd in the Principles of Nature, and the Constitutions of Natural

Bodies; and so receiving a rough Draught in his Mind, is to be

accomplish'd by that excellent Science of Human Bodies. But because,

according to the first Aphorism of the first Master _Hippocrates_, Art is

long, and Life short, he ought to engage his Diligence to absolve his

Philosophical Course in two Years at longest, and in the interim, for his

Recreation and Divertisement, enter himself Scholar to the Gardiner of the

Physick-Garden, to be acquainted with the Foetures of Plants, but

particularly with those that are familiarly prescrib'd by Practitioners,

to prevent being outwitted by Herb-women in the Markets, and to enable him

to give a better Answer, than is said once of a Physician, who having

prescrib'd _Maiden-hair_ in his Bill, the Apothecary asked which Sort he

meant; t'other reply'd, some of the Locks of a Virgin. _Thirdly_,

Supposing our Student having made sufficient Progress in Philosophy, may

now pass to _Leyden_, and may enter himself into a _Collegium Anatomicum_,

Anatomy being the Basis and Foundation whereon the weighty Structure of

Physick is to be raised; and unless he acquires more than ordinary

Knowledge and Dexterity in this, will certainly be deceiv'd in the

Expectation of ever arriving to the Honour of an accomplish'd Physician: A

Proficiency in that Part fits him for a _Collegium Medicum Institutionum_,

and afterward for a _Collegium Practicum_, and then 'tis requisite he

should embrace the Opportunity of visiting the Sick in the Hospital twice

a Week with the Physick-Professor, where he shall examine those Patients

with all the Exactness imaginable, and point at every Disease, its

Symptoms, as it were, with his Fingers, and afterward propose several

Cases upon those Distempers, demanding from every young Student his

Opinion, and his Grounds, and his Reasons for it; withal requiring of him

what Course of Physick is best to be prescrib'd: This is the only Way for

a young Physician to attain a Habit of knowing Diseases when he seeth

them; and a confident Method of curing those that may repair to him,

without running the Hazard of being censured by Apothecaries, or derided

by them for his Bills, as too many are, that at _Oxford_ or _Cambridge_

have only imbib'd a Part of _Senuert_'s Institutions, and overlook'd

_Riverius_'s Practice, and thence attaining an imperfect and unhappy

Skill, by enlarging the Church-yards in the City or Country; but what is

more, he shall escape the Danger a young Student I formerly knew at

_Oxford_ precipitated himself into, by imagining every Disease he read was

his own. I must likewise advise our Student to take his Lodgings there at

an able Apothecary's House, to contract the Knowledge of Drugs, and of

preparing, dispensing, and mixing them in Compositions, and then by Means

of his own Qualifications, may boldly pretend to inform, correct, and

improve those Apothecaries which the Chance of his Practice shall conduct

him to; for it would be judged ridiculous, should a Physician undertake to

reprehend, and afterwards bend his Force to suppress and decry

Apothecaries privately or publickly, without having first acquired a

particular Experience in their Art. Hence it is again the Vulgar Physician

is wrapped up in a Cloud, and the Apothecaries dance round about him; he

prescribes Medicines he never saw; they prepare them according to their

own Will and Pleasure.

Neither is it over these alone the Physician claims a Superintendance, but

over Chirurgeons likewise; and therefore in this his Course of Study,

would contribute to his future Qualifications, in sojourning a Year with

some experienc'd manual Operator, without a Hindrance to his other Affair,

and there by an ocular Inspection, and handling of his Instruments,

demanding their Names, Uses, and Manner of using, withal by Insinuations

to visit the Chirurgical Patients, and see him dress them, would render

his Study in Chirurgery, so plain and easy, which otherwise might be

thought difficult, that it should enable him to give Laws to Chirurgeons

also, especially to those that execute their Office with that Rashness,

Indiscretion and Dishonesty as I have sometime discover'd amongst them.

These two Years giving occasion to our Student to acquire a System, or a

brief Comprehension of the Theory of Physick, and of the Practice

likewise: Nothing now remains than to amplify his commenc'd Knowledge and

Experience by his farther Travels; to which End, takes his Journey to

_Paris_, to be acquainted with the most famous Physicians, and to be

inform'd of their Way of Practice, by surveying their Prescripts at the

most frequented Apothecaries, to visit for a Year every Day the Hospitals

of _l'Hostel Dieu_, and _la Charite_; in which latter, it is customary,

for any three or four young Physicians to examine and overlook the new

enter'd Patients, to name the Distempers among themselves, and propose

their Cures, for to compare their Opinions afterwards with the Physicians

that are appointed for the Hospital, and where he may see most difficult

Operations perform'd in Chirurgery, as Trypaning, Amputating, Cutting for

the Stone, Tapping of the Belly and Breast with the greatest Dexterity.

Here he may also observe Wounds and Ulcers cured by Virtue of those famed

Waters, _viz._ the White Water, and the Yellow Water; the former being

_Aqua Calcis_, the latter the same, with an Addition of _Sublimate_.

The Art of preparing Medicines chymically, having merited a great Esteem

for its stupendious and admirable Effects in the most despair'd Diseases,

shews a Necessity of being instructed in it, in which he can not fail of

prying into, in the Course of his Travels.

Having attained his Scope in this Place, his Curiosity ought to direct him

to _Montpellier_, where he will meet with a Concourse of the greatest

Proficients in Physick in _Europe_, converse with the Professors and

Physicians of that Place, and out of 'em all, extract choice Observations,

Secrets, and most subtle Opinions upon several Diseases, which Design can

scarce be compassed in less than another Year. Now we must suppose our

Student to merit the Title of an experienc'd Physician, and raised far

above the Vulgar ones, that never felt the Cold beyond the Chimneys of

their own Homes: He is now render'd capable of understanding the greatest

Mysteries, and most acute Opinions in Physick, which he is chiefly to

expect from those reputed Professors of the _Albo_ at _Padua_, where he is

likewise to continue his Diligence in visiting the famed Hospital of _San

Lorenzo_, and observe the _Italian_ Method of curing Diseases by

alterative Broths, without purging or bleeding, that Climate seldom

suffering Plethories in those dry Bodies: He cannot but be wonderfully

pleased with the Variety and excellent Order of the Plants of their

Physick Garden, by them call'd _Horto di Sempleci_. Neither will he

receive less Satisfaction from the curious and most dextrous Dissections

perform'd by the artificial Hand of the Anatomy Professor. Having here

made his Abode for six Months, may justly aspire to a Degree of a Doctor

in Physick, which the Fame of the Place should persuade him to take here,

being the Imperial University for Physick of all others in the World, and

where Physicians do pass a very exact Scrutiny, and severe Test. Hence may

he transport himself to _Bologn_, and in three Months time add to his

Improvements what is possible by the Advantage of the Hospital, and the

Professors. Last of all, in the Imitation of the diligent Bee sucking

Honey out of all sweet Flowers, our Doctor must not neglect to extract

something that his Knowledge did not partake of before, out of the

eminentest Practitioners at _Rome_, examine the chief Apothecaries Files,

and still frequent those three renown'd Hospitals of _San Spirito_ in the

_Vatican_, _San Giovanni Laterano_ on the Mount _Celio_, and that of _San

Giacomo di Augusta_ in the Valley _Martia_, besides many others of less

Note.

Here may he see the Rarities and Antiquities of this once renowned Empress

of the World, from whence he may visit the renowned City of _Naples_, and

take a Survey of the Antiquities of the Nature of _Pazzoli_.

Having thus in all Particulars satisfied his Curiosity, may consult about

the most advantageous Ways homeward, which is to embark for _Leghorn_, or

_Genoa_, where he cannot fail of _English_ Shipping.

Or else may take a Tour by Land to _Milan_, where he will see the finest

Hospital, and the strongest Citadel in _Europe_. Hence passes the _Alpes_,

and that stupendous Mount St. _Godart_, through _Altorph_, and _Lucern_,

and thence to _Bazil_, the chief of the Protestant _Cantons_, so by Boat

down the River _Rhine_ to _Strasburgh_, and _Heydelbergh_, _Manheim_, and

so down the _Rhine_ to _Coblentz_, _Audernach_ and _Collen_, then by Land

to _Brussels_, _Ghant_, _Ostend_, _Newport_, and _Dunkirk_, _Gravelin_,

and _Calais_: And thence to the Place of his Inclinations for his future

Settlement, where, by his vast Experience and Knowledge, being render'd

conspicuous in the secure and certain Method of his Cures, will soon give

Occasion to the People to discern the Difference between him and the

ordinary vulgar Physicians, who by their sordid Deports, and dangerous

Practice, make it their Business to ease the blind People of the Weight in

their Pockets, and plague them in worse Diseases.

How very few go through this Course of Improvement, we too readily

discover, and may be reproved by the first beginning of the Practice among

the Ancients, where we find the Method then in use, to train up Youth to

the Profession, was to place them Apprentices with able Physicians, who

adjudged it necessary to take their Beginning from Surgery, the Subject

whereof being external Diseases, as Wounds, Swellings, Members out of

joint, and others that were visible, proved more facile and easy to their

inmate Capacities, and wherein they might suddenly become serviceable to

their Masters, in easing them of the Trouble of dressing and cleansing

stinking Ulcers, and applying Ointments and Plaisters, a nauseous Employ,

which they ever endeavour'd to abandon to their Scholars with what

Expedition possible: This as it was the easiest, so it was the first, and

ancientest Part of Physick, and from which those that exercised it were

anciently not called Surgeons, but Physicians, tho' they attempted no

other Diseases but what were external; according to which Sense

_AEsculapius_ the first Physician, or Inventor of Physick, and his Sons

_Podalyrius_ and _Machaon_, are by History asserted to have undertaken

only those that wanted external Help; internal Diseases being in those

Days unknown, and by Temperance in their Diet, wholly debarr'd; and if

accidentally an internal Distemper did surprize them, they apply'd a

general Remedy (having no other) of poisoning or killing themselves with a

Dagger or Sword, thereby chusing rather to die once, and finish their

Misery, than to survive the Objects of Peoples Pity, or to endure the

Shocks of Death by every Pain or Languor, especially since the sage

Judgment of that Age did esteem it a signal Virtue to despise and scorn

the vain World, by hurrying out of it in a Fury, a Maxim most of the

Philosophers were very eminent in observing; and was likewise extended to

Children that brought any Diseases external or internal with them into the

World, their Cure being perform'd immediately by strangling, or drowning

them; neither was this Art of external Physick of short Continuance;

_Pliny_ writing that Six hundred Years after the building of _Rome_, the

_Romans_ entertain'd Chyrurgical Physicians from _Peloponesus_: Idleness

and Gluttony at last exchang'd their Ease into a Disease, which soon put

them into a Necessity of experimenting such Remedies as might re-establish

them into that healthful Condition, which Exercise in War, and Temperance

in Diet had for so many Ages preserved their Ancestors in.