There are no Historys in Physick which we may more safely take upon the
Credit of the Authors who relate 'em, than such as we are now going to
mention. In some Cases a Point may perhaps be strained to serve a
darling Hypothesis which the Writer has taken up, but here we are much
more likely to have pure Matter of Fact, because hitherto no one has
pretended the Appearances of this kind to be within the Reach of any
Scheme of Philosophy.
Epileptical Diseases besides the other Difficultys with which they are
attended, have this also surprizing, that in some the Fits do constantly
return every New and Full Moon; _the Moon_ (says Galen[25]) _governs the
Periods of Epileptic Cases_. Upon this score, They who were thus
affected were called Σεληνιακοὶ[26] and in the Historys of the Gospel
Σεληνιαζόμενοι[27] by some of the Latins afterwards, _Lunatici_[28].
_Bartholin_[29] tells a Story of one Epileptic who had apparent Spots in
her Face, which according to the Time of the Moon, varyed both their
Colour and Magnitude.
But no greater Consent in such Cases was perhaps ever Observed than what
I saw some time since in a Child about 5 years old, in which the
Convulsions were so strong and frequent, that life was almost despair'd
of, and by Evacuations and other Medicines very difficultly saved. The
Girl, who was of a lusty full habit of Body, continued well for a few
days, but was at Full Moon again seized with a most violent Fit, after
which, the Disease kept its Periods constant and regular with the Tides;
She lay always Speechless during the whole time of Flood, and Recovered
upon the Ebb. The Father who lives by the _Thames_ side, and does
business upon the River, observed these Returns to be so punctual, that
not only coming home He knew how the Child was before he saw it, but in
the night has risen to his Employ, being warned by Cries when coming out
of her Fit, of the turning of the Water. This continued 14 days, that
is, to the next great Change of the Moon, and then a dry Scab on the
Crown of the Head, (the effect of an Epispastic Plaister, with which I
had covered the whole _Occiput_ in the beginning of the Illness) broke,
and from the Sore, tho' there had been no sensible Discharge this way
for above a Fortnight, ran a considerable quantity of limpid Serum; upon
which, the Fits returning no more, I took great care to promote this new
Evacuation by proper Applications, with desired Success, for some time;
and when it ceased, besides two or three Purges with _Mercurius Dulcis_,
&c. ordered an Issue in the Neck, which being thought troublesome, was
made in the Arm; the Patient however has never since felt any Attacks of
those frightful Symptoms.
Whether or no it be thro' want of due Heed and Enquiry that we have not
in all the Collections of Histories and Cases, any Instance of the like
Nature so particular as this is, I know not; this is certain, that as
the _Vertigo_ is a Disease nearly related to the _Epilepsy_, and the
_Hysterical Symptoms_ do partake of the same Nature; so both one and the
other are frequently observed to obey the Lunar Influence. In like
manner, the raving Fits of Mad People, which keep Lunar Periods, are
generally in some degree Epileptic too.
_Tulpius_[30] and _Piso_[31] afford us remarkable Instances of
Periodical _Palseys_.
Every one knows how great a share the Moon has in forwarding those
Evacuations of the weaker Sex, which have their Name from the constant
Regularity they keep in their Returns; and there is no question to be
made, but the Correspondency we here observe, would be greater still,
and even Universal, did not many Accidents, and the infinite Varieties
in particular Constitutions one way or other concur to make a
difference. It is very observable that in Countries nearest to the
Æquator, where we have proved the Lunar Action to be strongest; these
Monthly Secretions are in much greater quantity than in those near the
Poles, where this force is weakest. This _Hippocrates_[32] takes notice
of, and gives it as one Reason why the Women in _Scythia_ are not very
fruitful.
The Case being thus with Females, it is no wonder if we sometimes meet
with Periodical Hæmorrhages answering to the times of the Moon in Males
also. For as a greater quantity of Blood in proportion to the bulk in
_one_ Sex, is the reason of its discharging it self thro' proper Ducts,
at certain Intervals, when the pressure of the external Air being
diminish'd, the internal _Aura_ can exert its Elasticity; so in the
_other_, if at any time there happens to be a Superabundancy of the same
Fluid, together with a weak Tone of the Fibres; it is plain that the
Vessels will be most easily burst, when the Resistance of the Atmosphere
is least. And this more especially, if any accidental hurt, or rarefying
Force has first given occasion to the other Causes to take effect.
I know a Gentleman of a tender frame of Body, who having once, by over
reaching, strained the parts about the Breast; fell thereupon into a
spitting of Blood, which for a Year and half constantly return'd every
New Moon, and decreasing gradually, continued always 4 or 5 days. The
Fits being more or less considerable, according as his management about
that time, contributed to a greater or lesser fullness of the Vessels.
We have two notable Instances of the like nature in our Philosophical
Transactions; the one[33] of a Person, who from his Infancy to the 24th
Year of his Age, had every full Moon an Eruption of Blood on the right
side of the Nail of his left Thumb, at first to 3 or 4 Ounces, and after
his sixteenth Year, to half a Pound each time; which when by searing the
part with a hot Iron, he stopp'd, he fell into a _Sputum Sanguinis_, and
by frequent Bleeding, _&c._ was very difficultly saved from a
Consumption. The other[34] is a Story of an _Inn-Keeper_ in _Ireland_,
who from the 43rd Year of his Life, to the 55th (in which it killed him)
suffered a Periodical Evacuation at the point of the Fore-Finger of his
Right-hand; and altho the Fits here kept not their returns so certain as
in the forementioned Case, (it may be either from the irregular way of
living of the Patient, or the mighty change every Effusion made in his
habit of Body, the quantity seldom amounting to less than four Pounds at
a time) yet there is this remarkable Circumstance in the Relation, that
the first beginning of this _Hæmorrhage_ was at _Easter_, that is, the
next Full Moon after the Vernal Equinox, which is one of the two Seasons
of the Year, at which we have proved the attraction of the Air, or
lessening of its Pressure, to be greater than at any other time
whatsoever.
But we are besides this to consider, That the Static Chair, and nice
Observation taught _Sanctorius_,[35] That _Men do increase a Pound or
two in their weight every Month, which overplus is discharged at the
Months end, by a Crisis of copious, or thick turbid Urine_.
It is not therefore at all strange that we should once a Month be liable
to the returns of such Distempers as depend upon a Fullness of the
Vessels, that these should take place at those times especially, when
the ambient Air is least able to repress the Turgency; and that tho' New
and Full Moon are both of equal Force, yet that sometimes one, and
sometimes the other only should Influence the Periods, according as this
or that happens to fall in with the inward Repletion.
The Afflux of Humours to Ulcers is sometimes manifestly altered by this
Power; [36] _Baglivi_ was acquainted with a Learned Young Man at _Rome_,
who labour'd under a _Fistula_ in the _Abdomen_, penetrating to the
_Colon_, which discharged so plentifully in the Increase, and so
sparingly in the Decrease of the Moon, that he could make a very true
judgment of the Periods and Quadratures of the Planet, from the
different quantity of the _Matter_ that came from Him.
_Nephritic_ Paroxysms have frequently been observed to obey the Lunar
Attraction: _Tulpius_[37] relates the Case of Mr. _Ainsworth_, an
_English_ Minister at _Amsterdam_, who had a Fit of the Gravel and
suppression of Urine every Full Moon, of which he found no relief till
the Moon decreased, unless by Bleeding at the Arm. After his death two
large Stones were taken out of his Bladder, and the _Pelvis_ of the left
Kidney was enlarged to that degree by the quantity of Urine so often
stopt there, as to contain almost as much as the Bladder it self.
I was present, not long since, at the Dissection of a Child about 5 or 6
Year old, who dyed of the frequent returns of _Nephritic_ Fits, attended
with Vomitings and a _Diarrhæa_. The Kidneys and Ureters were quite
stuffed with a slimy calculous Matter, and it was very instructive to
see the different degrees of Concretion in the several parts of it, from
a clear limpid Water, to a hard friable Substance. Dr. _Groenvelt_, who
had tended the Boy in his Illness, observed him to be seized with his
Pains at every Full Moon for several Months together, which generally
ended with the voiding of a Stone.
What Influence the Moon has in _Asthma's_,[38] _van Helmont_ takes
Notice, _Exacerbatur Paroxysmus_ (says he) _Lunæ Stationibus, & ævi
tempestatibus quas ideo præsentit & præsagit_.[39] And Sir _John
Floyer_, who has given us a more particular History of this Disease than
any Author, observes, that _The Fits usually return once in a Fortnight,
and frequently happen near the Change of the Moon_.
'Tis a more uncommon Effect of this Attractive Power that is related by
the Learned _Kerckringius_.[40] He knew a Young Gentlewoman, whose
Beauty depended upon the Lunar Force, insomuch that at Full Moon she was
Plump and very Handsome, but in the decrease of the Planet so Wan and
ill Favoured, that she was asham'd to go abroad till the return of the
New Moon gave _Fullness_ to her Face, and _Attraction_ to her Charms.
Tho' this is indeed no more than an Influence of the same kind, with
that the Moon has always been observed to have upon Shell-Fish, and some
other living Creatures. For as the old _Latin_ Poet _Lucilius_ says,[41]
_Luna alit Ostrea & implet Echinos, Muribu' fibras
Et Pecui addit---- ---- ----_