It may be enquired how it comes to pass, that a Person cured by this
Diet shall continue free from the Gout, though he return to his former
Method of living, provided he take every Morning a small Quantity of
warm Milk. The Reason of this I take to be, that the Milk, by long
Use, during the Time of the Cure, hath either changed or expelled all
the sharp Acrimony of the Blood and Humours, and rendred the Fibres and
Membranes more loose, so that there is an easier Circulation of the
Juices; new acid Salts are not so easily formed and thrown upon the
Membranes so as to occasion the Gout, especially if the Diet be of a
good Kind, and a certain Quantity of Milk taken every Morning, which
by its plentiful oily Parts, and soft serous ones, prevents the Salts
from uniting. I am sensible I may have omitted some Doubts that might
arise against the Use of this Diet, but whatever they be, they may
easily be answered from what was said before, and the Use thereof fully
cleared up; for lesser Difficulties, it is not worth while to spend
Time about them. I shall only add, that several People have expected
the Cure of the Gout in the Use of Gruels and Water. As to Water, it
is evident from Experience, as _Poterius_ and _Hoffman_ have observed,
that it is frequently serviceable in removing this Distemper. Since
gouty Persons are of a saline Constitution, there cannot be a better
drink used than pure light Water, that will make its way both by the
Skin and by Urine; for such drank freely drives forth the foreign
Salts, and makes the Juices fluid. I have seen Persons cured of the
Gout, whose Joints were contracting, by drinking only pure Spring Water
in large Quantities. The Case of a Man, who was a Cripple for nine
Years successively, from an ill cured Tertian, deserves Observation. He
drank of the Water of this Place, which is very wholesome and something
Vitriolick, for a Month together, sometimes to the Quantity of eight
Quarts; he made Urine plentifully, and came gradually to the Use of
his Hands and Feet; so that he could both walk and gripe any thing with
his Hands in a short Time, to the Admiration of all those who knew his
Condition before. From hence it appears, that large Quantities of Water
do no Mischief, but by the Pressure are most powerfully deobstruent. I
knew a gouty Gentleman who drank warm Beer with great Success in the
Gout; and the _Chinese_, who drink their Water warm, are not subject
to this Distemper. There are various Ways of removing Obstructions,
and tempering the Acrimony of the Juices, but we are very much in
doubt, whether by these Methods the very Cause of the Gout can be so
thoroughly extirpated and conveniently cured, as by the Use of Milk;
for Water drank in too great Quantities (as it is not endowed with any
nutritious Particles) weakens the Tone of the Bowels, and damps the
vital heat; though if it be used with Caution, in Distempers arising
from an Acrimony of the Juices, it is very often of great Efficacy.
_FINIS._
BOOKS printed for _J. Smith_ and _W. Bruce_ on the _Blind-Key_ in
_Dublin_: And Sold by _J. Osborn_ and _T. Longman_, at the Ship and
Black Swan in _Pater-noster-Row, London_.
1. An ESSAY on the TRADE and IMPROVEMENT of _IRELAND_. In two
Parts. By _Arthur Dobbs_, Esq;
2. The NATURE and CONSEQUENCES of the SACRAMENTAL TEST
considered. With REASONS humbly offered for the REPEAL of it.