*__Chapter I.__*
_Of the most usual Causes of popular Maladies._
__Sect.__ 1.
The most frequent Causes of Diseases commonly incident to Country People
are, 1. Excessive Labour, continued for a very considerable Time.
Sometimes they sink down at once in a State of Exhaustion and Faintness,
from which they seldom recover: but they are oftener attacked with some
inflammatory Disease; as a Quinsey, a Pleurisy, or an Inflammation of
the Breast.
There are two Methods of preventing these Evils: one is, to avoid the
Cause which produces them; but this is frequently impossible. Another
is, when such excessive Labour has been unavoidable, to allay their
Fatigue, by a free Use of some temperate refreshing Drink; especially by
sweet Whey, by Butter-milk, or by [8] Water, to a Quart of which a
Wine-glass of Vinegar may be added; or, instead of that, the expressed
Juice of Grapes not fully ripe, or even of Goosberries or Cherries:
which wholesome and agreeable Liquors are refreshing and cordial. I
shall treat, a little lower, of inflammatory Disorders. The Inanition or
Emptiness, though accompanied with Symptoms different from the former,
have yet some Affinity to them with Respect to their Cause, which is a
kind of general Exsiccation or Dryness. I have known some cured from
this Cause by Whey, succeeded by tepid Baths, and afterwards by Cow's
Milk: for in such Cases hot Medicines and high Nourishment are fatal.
[8] This supposes they are not greatly heated, as well as fatigued, by
their Labour or Exercise, in which Circumstance free and sudden
Draughts of cooling Liquors might be very pernicious: and it
evidently also supposes these Drinks to be thus given, rather in
Summer, than in very cold Weather, as the Juice of the unripe
Grapes, and the other fresh Fruits sufficiently ascertain the
Season of the Year. We think the Addition of Vinegar to their Water
will scarcely ever be necessary in this or the adjoining Island, on
such Occasions. The Caution recommended in this Note is abundantly
enforced by Dr. _Tissot_, Sec. 4: but considering the Persons, to whom
this Work is more particularly addressed, we were willing to
prevent every Possibility of a Mistake, in so necessary, and
sometimes so vital a Point. _K._
Sec. 2. There is another Kind of Exhaustion or Emptiness, which may be
termed real Emptiness, and is the Consequence of great Poverty, the Want
of sufficient Nourishment, bad Food, unwholesome Drink, and excessive
Labour. In Cases thus circumstanced, good Soups and a little Wine are
very proper. Such happen however very seldom in this Country: I believe
they are frequent in some others, especially in many Provinces of
_France_.
Sec. 3. A second and very common Source of Disorders arises, from Peoples'
lying down and reposing, when very hot, in a cold Place. This at once
stops Perspiration, the Matter of which being thrown upon some internal
Part, proves the Cause of many violent Diseases, particularly of
Quinseys, Inflammations of the Breast, Pleurisies, and inflammatory
Cholics. These Evils, from this Cause, may always be avoided by avoiding
the Cause, which is one of those that destroy a great Number of People.
However, when it has occurred, as soon as the first Symptoms of the
Malady are perceiveable, which sometimes does not happen till several
Days after, the Patient should immediately be bled; his Legs should be
put into Water moderately hot, and he should drink plentifully of the
tepid Infusion marked No. 1. Such Assistances frequently prevent the
Increase of these Disorders; which, on the contrary, are greatly
aggravated, if hot Medicines are given to sweat the Patient.
Sec. 4. A third Cause is drinking cold Water, when a Person is extremely
hot. This acts in the same Manner with the second; but its Consequences
are commonly more sudden and violent. I have seen most terrible Examples
of it, in Quinseys, Inflammations of the Breast, Cholics, Inflammations
of the Liver, and all the Parts of the Belly, with prodigious Swellings,
Vomitings, Suppressions of Urine, and inexpressible Anguish. The most
available Remedies in such Cases, from this Cause, are, a plentiful
Bleeding at the Onset, a very copious Drinking of warm Water, to which
one fifth Part of Whey should be added; or of the Ptisan No. 2, or of an
Emulsion of Almonds, all taken warm. Fomentations of warm Water should
also be applied to the Throat, the Breast and Belly, with Glysters of
the same, and a little Milk. In this Case, as well as in the preceding
one, (Sec. 3.) a _Semicupium_, or Half-bath of warm Water has sometimes
been attended with immediate Relief. It seems really astonishing, that
labouring People should so often habituate themselves to this pernicious
Custom, which they know to be so very dangerous to their very Beasts.
There are none of them, who will not prevent their Horses from drinking
while they are hot, especially if they are just going to put them up.
Each of them knows, that if he lets them drink in that State, they might
possibly burst with it; nevertheless he is not afraid of incurring the
like Danger himself. However, this is not the only Case, in which the
Peasant seems to have more Attention to the Health of his Cattle, than
to his own.
Sec. 5. The fourth Cause, which indeed affects every Body, but more
particularly the Labourer, is, the Inconstancy of the Weather. We shift
all at once, many times a Day, from Hot to Cold, and from Cold to Hot,
in a more remarkable Manner, and more suddenly, than in most other
Countries. This makes Distempers from Defluxion and Cold so common with
us: and it should make us careful to go rather a little more warmly
cloathed, than the Season may seem to require; to have Recourse to our
Winter-cloathing early in Autumn, and not to part with it too early in
the Spring. Prudent Labourers, who strip while they are at Work, take
care to put on their Cloaths in the Evening when they return home. [9]
Those, who from Negligence, are satisfied with hanging them upon their
Country Tools, frequently experience, on their Return, the very unhappy
Effects of it. There are some, tho' not many Places, where the Air
itself is unwholsome, more from its particular Quality, than from its
Changes of Temperature, as at _Villeneuve_, and still more at _Noville_,
and in some other Villages situated among the Marshes which border on
the _Rhone_. These Countries are particularly subject to intermitting
Fevers; of which I shall treat briefly hereafter.
[9] This good Advice is enforced in a Note, by the Editor of _Lyons_,
who observes, it should be still more closely attended to, in
Places, where Rivers, Woods or Mountains retain, as it were, a
considerable Humidity; and where the Evenings are, in every Season,
cold and moist.--It is a very proper Caution too in our own
variable Climate, and in many of our Colonies in North _America_.
_K._
Sec. 6. Such sudden Changes are often attended with great Showers of Rain,
and even cold Rain, in the Middle of a very hot Day; when the Labourer
who was bathed, as it were, in a hot Sweat, is at once moistened in cold
Water; which occasions the same Distempers, as the sudden Transition
from Heat to Cold, and requires the same Remedies. If the Sun or a hot
Air succeed immediately to such a Shower, the Evil is considerably
lighter: but if the Cold continues, many are often greatly incommoded by
it.
A Traveller is sometimes thoroughly and unavoidably wet with Mud; the
ill Consequence of which is often inconsiderable, provided he changes
his Cloaths immediately, when he sets up. I have known fatal Pleurisies
ensue from omitting this Caution. Whenever the Body or the Limbs are
wet, nothing can be more useful than bathing them in warm Water. If the
Legs only have been wet, it may be sufficient to bath them. I have
radically, thoroughly, cured Persons subject to violent Cholics, as
often as their Feet were wet, by persuading them to pursue this Advice.
The Bath proves still more effectual, if a little Soap be dissolved in
it.
Sec. 7. A fifth Cause, which is seldom attended to, probably indeed because
it produces less violent Consequences, and yet is certainly hurtful, is
the common Custom in all Villages, of having their Ditches or Dunghills
directly under their Windows. Corrupted Vapours are continually exhaling
from them, which in Time cannot fail of being prejudicial, and must
contribute to produce putrid diseases. Those who are accustomed to the
Smell, become insensible of it: but the Cause, nevertheless, does not
cease to be unwholesomly active; and such as are unused to it perceive
the Impression in all its Force.
Sec. 8. There are some Villages, in which, after the Curtain Lines are
erased, watery marshy Places remain in the Room of them. The Effect of
this is still more dangerous, because that putrify'd Water, which
stagnates during the hot Season, suffers its Vapours to exhale more
easily, and more abundantly, than that in the Curtain Lines did. Having
set out for _Pully le Grand_, in 1759, on Account of an epidemical
putrid Fever which raged there, I was sensible, on traversing the
Village, of the Infection from those Marshes; nor could I doubt of their
being the Cause of this Disease, as well as of another like it, which
had prevailed there five Years before. In other Respects the Village is
wholesomly situated. It were to be wished such Accidents were obviated
by avoiding these stagnated Places; or, at least, by removing them and
the Dunghils, as far as possible from the Spot, where we live and lodge.
Sec. 9. To this Cause may also be added the Neglect of the Peasants to air
their Lodgings. It is well known that too close an Air occasions the
most perplexing malignant Fevers; and the poor Country People respire no
other in their own Houses. Their Lodgings, which are very small, and
which notwithstanding inclose, (both Day and Night) the Father, Mother,
and seven or eight Children, besides some Animals, are never kept open
during six Months in the Year, and very seldom during the other six. I
have found the Air so bad in many of these Houses, that I am persuaded,
if their Inhabitants did not often go out into the free open Air, they
must all perish in a little Time. It is easy, however, to prevent all
the Evils arising from this Source, by opening the Windows daily: so
very practicable a Precaution must be followed with the happiest
Consequences.
Sec. 10. I consider Drunkenness as a sixth Cause, not indeed as producing
epidemical Diseases, but which destroys, as it were, by Retail, at all
times, and every where. The poor Wretches, who abandon themselves to it,
are subject to frequent Inflammations of the Breast, and to Pleurisies,
which often carry them off in the Flower of their Age. If they sometimes
escape through these violent Maladies, they sink, a long Time before the
ordinary Approach of old Age, into all its Infirmities, and especially
into an Asthma, which terminates in a Dropsy of the Breast. Their
Bodies, worn out by Excess, do not comply and concur, as they ought,
with the Force or Operation of Remedies; and Diseases of Weakness,
resulting from this Cause, are almost always incurable. It seems happy
enough, that Society loses nothing in parting with these Subjects, who
are a Dishonour to it; and whose brutal Souls are, in some Measure,
dead, long before their Carcases.
Sec. 11. The Provisions of the common People are also frequently one Cause
of popular Maladies. This happens 1st, whenever the Corn, not well
ripened, or not well got in, in bad [10] _Harvests_, has contracted an
unwholesome Quality. Fortunately however this is seldom the Case; and
the Danger attending the Use of it, may be lessened by some Precautions,
such as those of washing and drying the Grain completely; of mixing a
little Wine with the Dough, in kneading it; by allowing it a little more
Time to swell or rise, and by baking it a little more. 2dly, The fairer
and better saved Part of the Wheat is sometimes damaged in the Farmers
House; either because he does not take due Care of it, or because he has
no convenient Place to preserve it, only from one Summer to the next. It
has often happened to me, on entering one of these bad Houses, to be
struck with the Smell of Wheat that has been spoiled. Nevertheless,
there are known and easy Methods to provide against this by a little
Care; though I shall not enter into a Detail of them. It is sufficient
to make the People sensible, that since their chief Sustenance consists
of Corn, their Health must necessarily be impaired by what is bad. 3dly,
That Wheat, which is good, is often made into bad Bread, by not letting
it rise sufficiently; by baking it too little, and by keeping it too
long. All these Errors have their troublesome Consequences on those who
eat it; but in a greater Degree on Children and Valetudinarians, or
weakly People.
[10] Thus I have ventured to translate _Etes_ (_Summers_) to apply it to
this and the neighbouring Islands. Their Harvests in _Swisserland_
perhaps are earlier, and may occur in _August_, and that of some
particular Grain, probably still earlier. _K._
Tarts or Cakes may be considered as an Abuse of Bread, and this in some
Villages is increased to a very pernicious Height. The Dough is almost
constantly bad, and often unleavened, ill baked, greasy, and stuffed
with either fat or sour Ingredients, which compound one of the most
indigestible Aliments imaginable. Women and Children consume the most of
this Food, and are the very Subjects for whom it is the most improper:
little Children especially, who live sometimes for many successive Days
on these Tarts, are, for the greater Part, unable to digest them
perfectly. Hence they receive a [11] Source of Obstructions in the
Bowels of the Belly, and of a slimy Viscidity or Thickishness,
throughout the Mass of Humours, which throws them into various Diseases
from Weakness; slow Fevers, a Hectic, the Rickets, the King's Evil, and
Feebleness; for the miserable Remainder of their Days. Probably indeed
there is nothing more unwholesome than Dough not sufficiently leavened,
ill-baked, greasy, and soured by the Addition of Fruits. Besides, if we
consider these Tarts in an oeconomical View, they must be found
inconvenient also for the Peasant on that Account.
[11] The Abuse just mentioned can scarcely be intended to forbid the
moderate Use of good Pastry, the Dough of which is well raised and
well baked, the Flower and other Ingredients sound, and the Paste
not overcharged with Butter, even though it were sweet and fresh.
But the Abuse of Alum and other pernicious Materials introduced by
our Bakers, may too justly be considered as one horrible Source of
those Diseases of Children, &c. which our humane and judicious
Author mentions here. What he adds, concerning the Pastries being
rendered still more unwholesome by the sour Fruits sometimes baked
in it, is true with Respect to those Children and others, who are
liable to Complaints from Acidities abounding in the Bowels; and
for all those who are ricketty or scrophulous, from a cold and
viscid State of their Humours. But as to healthy sanguine Children,
who are advanced and lively, and others of a sanguine or bilious
Temperament, we are not to suppose a moderate Variety of this Food
injurious to them; when we consider, that the Sharpness and Crudity
of the Fruit is considerably corrected by the long Application of
Fire; and that they are the Produce of Summer, when bilious
Diseases are most frequent. This suggests however no bad Hint
against making them immoderately sweet. _K._
Some other Causes of Maladies may also be referred to the Article of
Food, tho' less grievous and less frequent, into a full Detail of which
it is very difficult to enter: I shall therefore conclude that Article
with this general Remark; that it is the Care which Peasants usually
take in eating slowly, and in chewing very well, that very greatly
lessens the Dangers from a bad Regimen: and I am convinced they
constitute one of the greatest Causes of that Health they enjoy. We may
further add indeed the Exercise which the Peasant uses, his long abiding
in the open Air, where he passes three fourths of his Life; besides
(which are also considerable Advantages) his happy Custom of going soon
to Bed, and of rising very early. It were to be wished, that in these
Respects, and perhaps on many other Accounts, the Inhabitants of the
Country were effectually proposed as Models for reforming the Citizens.
Sec. 12. We should not omit, in enumerating the Causes of Maladies among
Country People, the Construction of their Houses, a great many of which
either lean, as it were, close to a higher Ground, or are sunk a little
in the Earth. Each of these Situations subjects them to considerable
Humidity; which is certain greatly to incommode the Inhabitants, and to
spoil their Provisions, if they have any Quantity in Store; which, as we
have observed, is another, and not the least important, Source of their
Diseases. A hardy Labourer is not immediately sensible of the bad
Influence of this moist and marshy Habitation; but they operate at the
long Run, and I have abundantly observed their most evident bad Effects,
especially on Women in Child-bed, on Children, and in Persons recovering
of a preceding Disease. It would be easy to prevent this Inconvenience,
by raising the Ground on which the House stood, some, or several, Inches
above the Level of the adjacent Soil, by a Bed of Gravel, of small
Flints, pounded Bricks, Coals, or such other Materials; and by avoiding
to build immediately close to, or, as it were, under a much higher Soil.
This Object, perhaps, may well deserve the Attention of the Publick; and
I earnestly advise as many as do build, to observe the necessary
Precautions on this Head. Another, which would cost still less Trouble,
is to give the Front of their Houses an Exposure to the South-East. This
Exposure, supposing all other Circumstances of the Building and its
Situation to be alike, is both the most wholesome and advantageous. I
have seen it, notwithstanding, very often neglected, without the least
Reason being assigned for not preferring it.
These Admonitions may possibly be thought of little Consequence by three
fourths of the People. I take the Liberty of reminding them, however,
that they are more important than they may be supposed; and so many
Causes concur to the Destruction of Men, that none of the Means should
be neglected, which may contribute to their Preservation.
Sec. 13. The Country People in _Swisserland_ drink, either 1, pure Water,
2, some Wine, 3, Perry, made from wild Pears, or sometimes Cyder from
Apples, and, 4, a small Liquor which they call _Piquette_, that is
Water, which has fermented with the Cake or Husks of the Grapes, after
their Juice has been expressed. Water however is their most general
Drink; Wine rarely falling in their Way, but when they are employed by
rich Folks; or when they can spare Money enough for a Debauch. Fruit
Wines and the [12] _Piquettes_ are not used in all Parts of the Country;
they are not made in all Years; and keep but for some Months.
[12] This Word's occurring in the plural Number will probably imply, the
_Swiss_ make more than one Species of this small Drink, by pouring
Water on the Cake or Remainder of their other Fruits, after they
have been expressed; as our People in the Cyder, and perhaps in the
Perry, Counties, make what they call _Cyderkin_, _Perkin_, _&c._ It
should seem too from this Section, that the laborious Countrymen in
_Swisserland_ drink no Malt Liquor, though the Ingredients may be
supposed to grow in their Climate. Now Beer, of different Strength,
making the greater Part of our most common Drink, it may be proper
to observe here, that when it is not strong and heady, but a
middling well-brewed Small-beer, neither too new, nor hard or sour,
it is full as wholesome a Drink for laborious People in Health as
any other, and perhaps generally preferable to Water for such;
which may be too thin and light for those who are unaccustomed to
it; and more dangerous too, when the labouring Man is very hot, as
well as thirsty. The holding a Mouthful of any weak cold Liquor in
the Mouth without swallowing 'till it becomes warm, there, and
spurting it out before a Draught is taken down would be prudent;
and in Case of great Heat, to take the requisite Quantity rather at
two Draughts, with a little Interval between them, than to swallow
the Whole precipitately at one, would be more safe, and equally
refreshing, though perhaps less grateful. _K._
Our Waters in general, are pretty good; so that we have little Occasion
to trouble ourselves about purifying them; and they are well known in
those Provinces where they are chiefly and necessarily used. [13] The
pernicious Methods taken to improve or meliorate, as it is falsely
called, bad Wines, are not as yet sufficiently practiced among us, for
me to treat of them here: and as our Wines are not hurtful, of
themselves, they become hurtful only from their Quantity. The
Consumption of made Wines and _Piquettes_ is but inconsiderable, and I
have not hitherto known of any ill Effects from them, so that our
Liquors cannot be considered as Causes of Distempers in our Country; but
in Proportion to our Abuse of them by Excess. The Case is differently
circumstanced in some [14] other Countries; and it is the Province of
Physicians who reside in them, to point out to their Country-Men the
Methods of preserving their Health; as well as the proper and necessary
Remedies in their Sickness.
[13] The bad Quality of Water is another common Cause of Country
Diseases; either where the Waters are unwholesome, from the Soils
in which they are found, as when they flow through, or settle, on
Banks of Shells; or where they become such, from the Neighbourhood
of, or Drainings from Dunghills and Marshes.
When Water is unclear and turbid, it is generally sufficient to let
it settle in order to clear itself, by dropping its Sediment. But
if that is not effected, or if it be slimy or muddy, it need only
be poured into a large Vessel, half filled with fine Sand, or, for
want of that, with Chalk; and then to shake and stir it about
heartily for some Minutes. When this Agitation is over, the Sand,
in falling to the Bottom of the Vessel, will attract some of the
Foulness suspended in the Water. Or, which is still better, and
very easy to do, two large Vessels may be set near together, one of
which should be placed considerably higher than the other. The
highest should be half filled with Sand. Into this the turbid, or
slimy muddy Water is to be poured; whence it will filter itself
through the Body of Sand, and pass off clear by an Opening or
Orifice made at the Bottom of the Vessel; and fall from thence into
the lower one, which serves as a Reservoir. When the Water is
impregnated with Particles from the Beds of Selenites, or of any
Spar (which Water we call hard, because Soap will not easily
dissolve in it, and Puls and other farinaceous Substances grow hard
instead of soft, after boiling in it) such Water should be exposed
to the Sun, or boiled with the Addition of some Puls, or leguminous
Vegetables, or Bread toasted, or untoasted. When Water is in its
putrid State, it may be kept till it recovers its natural sweet
one: but if this cannot be waited for, a little Sea Salt should be
dissolved in it, or some Vinegar may be added, in which some
grateful aromatic Plant has been infused. It frequently happens,
that the publick Wells are corrupted by foul Mud at the Bottom, and
by different Animals which tumble in and putrify there. Drinking
Snow-water should be avoided, when the Snow is but lately fallen,
as it seems to be the Cause of those swelling wenny Throats in the
Inhabitants of some Mountains; and of endemic Cholics in many
Persons. As Water is so continually used, great Care should be
taken to have what is good. Bad Water, like bad Air, is one of the
most general Causes of Diseases; that which produces the greater
Number of them, the most grieveous ones; and often introduces such
as are epidemical. _E. L. i.e._ the Editor of Lyons.
[14] Many Persons, With a Design to preserve their Wines, add Shot to
them, or Preparations of Lead, Alum, &c. The Government should
forbid, under the most severe Penalties, all such Adulterations, as
tend to introduce the most painful Cholics, Obstruction, and a long
Train of Evils, which it sometimes proves difficult to trace to
this peculiar Cause; while they shorten the lives of, or cruelly
torment, such over credulous Purchasers, as lay in a Stock of bad
Wines, or drink of them, without distinction, from every Wine
Merchant or Tavern. _E. L._
_This Note, from the Editor at_ Lyons, _we have sufficient Reason
for retaining here. K._
__Chapter II.__
_Of the Causes which aggravate the Diseases of the People. General
Considerations._
__Sect.__ 14.
The Causes already enumerated in the first Chapter occasion Diseases;
and the bad Regimen, or Conduct of the People, on the Invasion of them,
render them still more perplexing, and very often mortal.
There is a prevailing Prejudice among them, which is every Year attended
with the Death of some Hundreds in this Country, and it is this--That
all Distempers are cured by Sweat; and that to procure Sweat, they must
take Abundance of hot and heating things, and keep themselves very hot.
This is a Mistake in both Respects, very fatal to the Population of the
State; and it cannot be too much inculcated into Country People; that by
thus endeavouring to force Sweating, at the very Beginning of a Disease,
they are with great Probability, taking Pains to kill themselves. I have
seen some Cases, in which the continual Care to provoke this Sweating,
has as manifestly killed the Patient, as if a Ball had been shot through
his Brains; as such a precipitate and untimely Discharge carries off the
thinner Part of the Blood, leaving the Mass more dry, more viscid and
inflamed. Now as in all acute Diseases (if we except a very few, and
those too much less frequent) the Blood is already too thick; such a
Discharge must evidently increase the Disorder, by co-operating with its
Cause. Instead of forcing out the watery, the thinner Part of the Blood,
we should rather endeavour to increase it. There is not a single Peasant
perhaps, who does not say, when he has a Pleurisy, or an Inflammation of
his Breast, that his Blood is too thick, and that it cannot circulate.
On seeing it in the Bason after Bleeding, he finds it _black, dry,
burnt_; these are his very Words. How strange is it then, that common
Sense should not assure him, that, far from forcing out the _Serum_, the
watery Part, of such a Blood by sweating, there is a Necessity to
increase it?
Sec. 15. But supposing it were as certain, as it is erroneous, that
Sweating was beneficial at the Beginning of Diseases, the Means which
they use to excite it would not prove the less fatal. The first
Endeavour is, to stifle the Patient with the Heat of a close Apartment,
and a Load of Covering. Extraordinary Care is taken to prevent a Breath
of fresh Air's squeezing into the Room; from which Circumstance, the Air
already in it is speedily and extremely corrupted: and such a Degree of
Heat is procured by the Weight of the Patient's Bed-cloaths, that these
two Causes alone are sufficient to excite a most ardent Fever, and an
Inflammation of the Breast, even in a healthy Man. More than once have I
found myself seized with a Difficulty of breathing, on entering such
Chambers, from which I have been immediately relieved, on obliging them
to open all the Windows. Persons of Education must find a Pleasure, I
conceive, in making People understand, on these Occasions, which are so
frequent, that the Air being more indispensably necessary to us, if
possible, than Water is to a Fish, our Health must immediately suffer,
whenever that ceases to be pure; in assuring them also, that nothing
corrupts it sooner than those Vapours, which continually steam from the
Bodies of many Persons inclosed within a little Chamber, from which the
Air is excluded. The Absurdity of such Conduct is a self-evident
Certainty. Let in a little fresh Air on these miserable Patients, and
lessen the oppressing Burthen of their Coverings, and you generally see
upon the Spot, their Fever and Oppression, their Anguish and Raving, to
abate.
Sec. 16. The second Method taken to raise a Sweat in these Patients is, to
give them nothing but hot things, especially Venice Treacle, Wine, or
some [15] _Faltranc_, the greater Part of the Ingredients of which are
dangerous, whenever there is an evident Fever; besides Saffron, which is
still more pernicious. In all feverish Disorders we should gently cool,
and keep the Belly moderately open; while the Medicines just mentioned
both heat and bind; and hence we may easily judge of their inevitable
ill Consequences. A healthy Person would certainly be seized with an
inflammatory Fever, on taking the same Quantity of Wine, of Venice
Treacle, or of _Faltranc_, which the Peasant takes now and then, when he
is attacked by one of these Disorders. How then should a sick Person
escape dying by them? Die indeed he _generally_ does, and sometimes with
astonishing Speed. I have published some dreadful Instances of such
Fatality some Years since, in another Treatise. In fact they still daily
occur, and unhappily every Person may observe some of them in his own
Neighbourhood.
[15] This Word, which must be of German, not of French Extraction,
strictly signifies, _Drink for a Fall_, as we say _Pulvis ad
Casum_, &c. Powder for a Fall, or a supposed inward Bruise. Dr.
_Tissot_ informs me, it is otherwise called the vulnerary Herbs, or
the Swiss Tea; and that it is an injudicious _Farrago_ or Medley of
Herbs and Flowers, blended with Bitters, with stimulating, harsh
and astringent Ingredients, being employed indiscriminately in all
their Distempers by the Country People in _Swisserland_. _K._
Sec. 17. But I shall be told perhaps, that Diseases are often carried off
by Sweat, and that we ought to be guided by Experience. To this I
answer, it is very true, that Sweating cures some particular Disorders,
as it were, at their very Onset, for Instance, those Stitches that are
called spurious or false Pleurisies, some rheumatic Pains, and some
Colds or Defluxions. But this only happens when the Disorders depend
solely and simply on stopt or abated Perspiration, to which such Pain
instantly succeeds; where immediately, before the Fever has thickened
the Blood, and inflamed the Humours; and where before any internal
Infarction, any Load, is formed, some warm Drinks are given, such as
_Faltranc_ and Honey; which, by restoring Transpiration, remove the very
Cause of the Disorder. Nevertheless, even in such a Case, great Care
should be had not to raise too violent a Commotion in the Blood, which
would rather restrain, than promote, Sweat, to effect which
Elder-flowers are in my Opinion preferable to _Faltranc_. Sweating is
also of Service in Diseases, when their Causes are extinguished, as it
were, by plentiful Dilution: then indeed it relieves, by drawing off,
with itself, some Part of the distempered Humours; after which their
grosser Parts have passed off by Stool and by Urine: besides which, the
Sweat has also served to carry off that extraordinary Quantity of Water,
we were obliged to convey into the Blood, and which was become
superfluous there. Under such Circumstances, and at such a Juncture, it
is of the utmost Importance indeed, not to check the Sweat, whether by
Choice, or for Want of Care. There might often be as much Danger in
doing this, as there would have been in endeavouring to force a Sweat,
immediately upon the Invasion of the Disorder; since the arresting of
this Discharge, under the preceding Circumstances, might frequently
occasion a more dangerous Distemper, by repelling the Humour on some
inward vital Part. As much Care therefore should be taken not to check,
imprudently, that Evacuation by the Skin, which naturally occurs towards
the Conclusion of Diseases, as not to force it at their Beginning; the
former being almost constantly beneficial, the latter as constantly
pernicious. Besides, were it even necessary, it might be very dangerous
to force it violently; since by heating the Patients greatly, a vehement
Fever is excited; they become scorched up in a Manner, and the Skin
proves extremely dry. Warm Water, in short, is the best of Sudorifics.
If the Sick are sweated very plentifully for a Day or two, which may
make them easier for some Hours; these Sweats soon terminate, and cannot
be excited again by the same Medicines. The Dose thence is doubled, the
Inflammation is increased, and the Patient expires in terrible Anguish,
with all the Marks of a general Inflammation. His Death is ascribed to
his Want of Sweating; when it really was the Consequence of his Sweating
too much at first; and of his taking Wine and hot Sudorifics. An able
Swiss Physician had long since assured his Countrymen, that Wine was
fatal to them in Fevers; I take leave to repeat it again and again, and
wish it may not be with as little Success.
Our Country Folks, who in Health, naturally dislike red Wine, prefer it
when Sick; which is wrong, as it binds them up more than white Wine. It
does not promote Urine as well; but increases the Force of the
circulating Arteries, and the Thickness of the Blood, which were already
too considerable.
Sec. 18. Their Diseases are also further aggravated by the Food that is
generally given them. They must undoubtedly prove weak, in Consequence
of their being sick; and the ridiculous Fear of the Patients' dying of
Weakness, disposes their Friends to force them to eat; which, increasing
their Disorder, renders the Fever mortal. This Fear is absolutely
chimerical; never yet did a Person in a Fever die merely from Weakness.
They may be supported, even for some Weeks, by Water only; and are
stronger at the End of that Time, than if they had taken more solid
Nourishment; since, far from strengthening them, their Food increases
their Disease, and thence increases their Weakness.
Sec. 19. From the first Invasion of a Fever, Digestion ceases. Whatever
solid Food is taken corrupts, and proves a Source of Putridity, which
adds nothing to the Strength of the Sick, but greatly to that of the
Distemper. There are in fact a thousand Examples to prove, that it
becomes a real Poison: and we may sensibly perceive these poor
Creatures, who are thus compelled to eat, lose their Strength, and fall
into Anxiety and Ravings, in Proportion as they swallow.
Sec. 20. They are also further injured by the Quality, as well as the
Quantity, of their Food. They are forced to sup strong Gravey Soups,
Eggs, Biscuits, and even Flesh, if they have but just Strength and
Resolution to chew it. It seems absolutely impossible for them to
survive all this Trash. Should a Man in perfect Health be compelled to
eat stinking Meat, rotten Eggs, stale sour Broth, he is attacked with as
violent Symptoms, as if he had taken real Poison, which, in Effect, he
has. He is seized with Vomiting, Anguish, a violent Purging, and a
Fever, with Raving, and eruptive Spots, which we call the Purple Fever.
Now when the very same Articles of Food, in their soundest State, are
given to a Person in a Fever, the Heat, and the morbid Matter already in
his Stomach, quickly putrify them; and after a few Hours produce all the
abovementioned Effects. Let any Man judge then, if the least Service can
be expected from them.
Sec. 21. It is a Truth established by the first of Physicians, above two
thousand Years past, and still further ratified by his Successors, that
as long as a sick Person has a bad Humour or Ferment in his Stomach, his
Weakness increases, in Proportion to the Food he receives. For this
being corrupted by the infected Matter it meets there, proves incapable
of nourishing, and becomes a conjunct or additional Cause of the
Distemper.
The most observing Persons constantly remark, that whenever a feverish
Patient sups, what is commonly called some good Broth, the Fever gathers
Strength and the Patient Weakness. The giving such a Soup or Broth,
though of the freshest soundest Meat, to a Man who has a high Fever, or
putrid Humours in his Stomach, is to do him exactly the same service, as
if you had given him, two or three Hours later, stale putrid Soup.
Sec. 22. I must also affirm, that this fatal Prejudice, of keeping up the
Patients' Strength by Food, is still too much propagated, even among
those very Persons, whose Talents and whose Education might be expected
to exempt them from any such gross Error. It were happy for Mankind, and
the Duration of their Lives would generally be more extended, if they
could be thoroughly persuaded of this medical, and so very demonstrable,
Truth;--That the only things which can strengthen sick Persons are
those, which are able to weaken their Disease; but their Obstinacy in
this Respect is inconceivable: it is another Evil superadded to that of
the Disease, and sometimes the more grievous one. Out of twenty sick
Persons, who are lost in the Country, more than two Thirds might often
have been cured, if being only lodged in a Place defended from the
Injuries of the Air, they were supplied with Abundance of good Water.
But that most mistaken Care and Regimen I have been treating of,
scarcely suffers one of the twenty to survive them.
Sec. 23. What further increases our Horror at this enormous Propensity to
heat, dry up, and cram the sick is, that it is totally opposite to what
Nature herself indicates in such Circumstances. The burning Heat of
which they complain; the Dryness of the Lips, Tongue and Throat; the
flaming high Colour of their Urine; the great Longing they have for
cooling things; the Pleasure and sensible Benefit they enjoy from fresh
Air, are so many Signs, or rather Proofs, which cry out with a loud
Voice, that we ought to attemperate and cool them moderately, by all
means. Their foul Tongues, which shew the Stomach to be in the like
Condition; their Loathing, their Propensity to vomit, their utter
Aversion to all solid Food, and especially to Flesh; the disagreeable
Stench of their Breath; their Discharge of fetid Wind upwards and
downwards, and frequently the extraordinary Offensiveness of their
Excrements, demonstrate, that their Bowels are full of putrid Contents,
which must corrupt all the Aliments superadded to them; and that the
only thing, which can prudently be done, is to dilute and attemper them
by plentiful Draughts of refreshing cooling Drinks, which may promote an
easy Discharge of them. I affirm it again, and I heartily wish it may be
thoroughly attended to, that as long as there is any Taste of
Bitterness, or of Putrescence; as long as there is a _Nausea_ or
Loathing, a bad Breath, Heat and Feverishness with fetid Stools, and
little and high-coloured Urine; so long all flesh, and Flesh-Soup, Eggs,
and all kind of Food composed of them, or of any of them, and all Venice
Treacle, Wine, and all heating things are so many absolute Poisons.
Sec. 24. I may possibly be censured as extravagant and excessive on these
Heads by the Publick, and even by some Physicians: but the true and
enlightened Physicians, those who attend to the Effects of every
Particular, will find on the contrary, that far from exceeding in this
Respect, I have rather feebly expressed their own Judgment, in which
they agree with that of all the good ones, who have existed within more
than two thousand Years; that very Judgment which Reason approves, and
continual Experience confirms. The Prejudices I have been contending
against have cost _Europe_ some Millions of Lives.
Sec. 25. Neither should it be omitted, that even when a Patient has very
fortunately escaped Death, notwithstanding all this Care to obtain it,
the Mischief is not ended; the Consequences of the high Aliments and
heating Medicines being, to leave behind the Seed, the Principle, of
some low and chronical Disease; which increasing insensibly, bursts out
at length, and finally procures him the Death he has even wished for, to
put an End to his tedious Sufferings.
Sec. 26. I must also take Notice of another dangerous common Practice;
which is that of purging, or vomiting a Patient, at the very Beginning
of a Distemper. Infinite Mischiefs are occasioned by it. There are some
Cases indeed, in which evacuating Medicines, at the Beginning of a
Disease, are convenient and even necessary. Such Cases shall be
particularly mentioned in some other Chapters: but as long as we are
unacquainted with them, it should be considered as a general Rule, that
they are hurtful at the Beginning; this being true very often; and
always, when the Diseases are strictly inflammatory.
Sec. 27. It is hoped by their Assistance, at that Time, to remove the Load
and Oppression of the Stomach, the Cause of a Disposition to vomit, of a
dry Mouth, of Thirst, and of much Uneasiness; and to lessen the Leaven
or Ferment of the Fever. But in this Hope they are very often deceived;
since the Causes of these Symptoms are seldom of a Nature to yield to
these Evacuations. By the extraordinary Viscidity or Thickness of the
Humours, that foul the Tongue, we should form our Notions of those,
which line the Stomach and the Bowels. It may be washed, gargled and
even scraped to very little good Purpose. It does not happen, until the
Patient has drank for many Days, and the Heat, the Fever and the great
Siziness of the Humours are abated, that this Filth can he thoroughly
removed, which by Degrees separates of itself. The State of the Stomach
being conformable to that of the Tongue, no Method can effectually scour
and clean it at the Beginning: but by giving refreshing and diluting
Remedies plentifully, it gradually frees itself; and the Propensity to
vomit, with its other Effects and Uneasinesses, go off naturally, and
without Purges.
Sec. 28. Neither are these Evacuations only negatively wrong, merely from
doing no Good; for considerable Evil positively ensues from the
Application of those acrid irritating Medicines, which increase the Pain
and Inflammation; drawing the Humours upon those Parts that were already
overloaded with them; which by no means expel the Cause of the Disease,
that not being at this time fitted for Expulsion, as not sufficiently
concocted or ripe: and yet which, at the same Time, discharge the
thinnest Part of the Blood, whence the Remainder becomes more thick; in
short which carry off the useful, and leave the hurtful Humours behind.
Sec. 29. The Vomit especially, being given in an inflammatory Disease, and
even without any Distinction in all acute ones, before the Humours have
been diminished by Bleeding, and diluted by plentiful small Drinks, is
productive of the greatest Evils; of Inflammations of the Stomach, of
the Lungs and Liver, of Suffocations and Frenzies. Purges sometimes
occasion a general Inflammation of the Guts, which [16] terminates in
Death. Some Instances of each of these terrible Consequences have I
seen, from blundering Temerity, Imprudence and Ignorance. The Effect of
such Medicines, in these Circumstances, are much the same with those we
might reasonably expect, from the Application of Salt and Pepper to a
dry, inflamed and foul Tongue, in Order to moisten and clean it.
[16] It is pretty common to _hear_ of Persons recovering from
Inflammations of the Bowels, or Guts, which our Author more justly
and ingenuously considers as general Passports to Death: for it is
difficult to conceive, that a real and _considerable_ Inflammation
of such thin, membranous, irritable Parts, lined with such
putrescent Humours and Contents, and in so hot and close a
Situation, could be restored to a sound and healthy State _so
often_ as Rumour affirms it. This makes it so important a Point, to
avert every Tendency to an Inflammation of these feculent Parts, as
to justify a Bleeding directed, solely, from this Precaution, and
which might have been no otherwise indicated by a Disease, attended
with any Symptom, that threatened such an Inflammation. But when a
Person recovers, there can be no anatomical Search for such
Inflammations, or its Effects, the real or imaginary Cure of which
may well amaze the Patient, and must greatly redound to the Honour
of his Prescriber; so that there may be Policy sometimes in giving
a moderate Disease a very bad Name. _K._
Sec. 30. Every Person of sound plain Sense is capable of perceiving the
Truth of whatever I have advanced in this Chapter: and there would be
some Degree of Prudence, even in those who do not perceive the real good
Tendency of my Advice, not to defy nor oppose it too hardily. The
Question relates to a very important Object; and in a Matter quite
foreign to themselves, they undoubtedly owe some Deference to the
Judgment of Persons, who have made it the Study and Business of their
whole Lives. It is not to myself that I hope for their Attention, but to
the greatest Physicians, whose feeble Instrument and Eccho I am. What
Interest have any of us in forbidding sick People to eat, to be stifled,
or to drink such heating things as heighten their Fever? What Advantage
can accrue to us from opposing the fatal Torrent, which sweeps them off?
What Arguments can persuade People, that some thousand Men of Genius, of
Knowledge, and of Experience, who pass their Lives among a Croud and
Succession of Patients; who are entirely employed to take Care of them,
and to observe all that passes, have been only amusing and deceiving
themselves, on the Effects of Food, of Regimen and of Remedies? Can it
enter into any sensible Head, that a Nurse, who advises Soup, an Egg, or
a Biscuit, deserves a Patient's Confidence, better than a Physician who
forbids them? Nothing can be more disagreeable to the latter, than his
being obliged to dispute continually in Behalf of the poor Patients; and
to be in constant Terror, lest this mortally officious Attendance, by
giving such Food as augments all the Causes of the Disease, should
defeat the Efficacy of all the Remedies he administers to remove it; and
should fester and aggravate the Wound, in Proportion to the Pains he
takes to dress it. The more such absurd People love a Patient, the more
they urge him to eat, which, in Effect, verifies the Proverb of _killing
one with Kindness_.
__Chapter III.__
_Of the Means that ought to be used, at the Beginning of Diseases; and
of the Diet in acute Diseases._
__Sect.__ 31.
I have clearly shewn the great Dangers of the Regimen, or Diet, and of
the principal Medicines too generally made Use of by the Bulk of the
People, on these Occasions. I must now point out the actual Method they
may pursue, without any Risque, on the Invasion of some acute Diseases,
and the general Diet which agrees with them all. As many as are desirous
of reaping any Benefit from this Treatise, should attend particularly to
this Chapter; since, throughout the other Parts of it, in Order to avoid
Repetitions, I shall say nothing of the Diet, except the particular
Distemper shall require a different one, from that of which I am now to
give an exact Detail. And whenever I shall say in general, that a
Patient is to be put upon a Regimen, it will signify, that he is to be
treated according to the Method prescribed in this Chapter; and all such
Directions are to be observed, with Regard to Air, Food, Drink and
Glysters; except when I expressly order something else, as different
Ptisans, Glysters, &c.
Sec. 32. The greater Part of Diseases (by which I always understand acute
and feverish ones) often give some Notice of their Approach a few Weeks,
and, very commonly, some Days before their actual Invasion; such as a
light Lassitude, or Weariness, Stiffness or Numbness; less Activity than
usual, less Appetite, a small Load or Heaviness at Stomach; some
Complaint in the Head; a profounder Degree of Sleep, yet less composed,
and less refreshing than usual; less Gayety and Liveliness; sometimes a
light Oppression of the Breast, a less regular Pulse; a Propensity to be
Cold; an Aptness to sweat; and sometimes a Suppression of a former
Disposition to sweat. At such a Term it may be practicable to prevent,
or at least considerably to mitigate, the most perplexing Disorders, by
carefully observing the four following Points.
1. To omit all violent Work or Labour, but yet not so, as to discontinue
a gentle easy Degree of Exercise.
2. To bring the Complainant to content himself without any, or with very
little, solid Food; and especially to renounce all Flesh, Flesh-broth,
Eggs and Wine.
3. To drink plentifully, that is to say, at least three Pints, or even
four Pints daily, by small Glasses at a Time, from half hour to half
hour, of the Ptisans No. 1 and 2, or even of warm Water, to each Quart
of which may be added half a Glass of Vinegar. No Person can be
destitute of this very attainable Assistance. But should there be a Want
even of Vinegar, a few Grains of common [17] Salt may be added to a
Quart of warm Water for Drink. Those who have Honey will do well to add
two or three Spoonfuls of it to the Water. A light Infusion of Elder
Flowers, or of those of the Linden, the Lime-tree, may also be
advantageously used, and even well settled and clear sweet Whey.
[17] This Direction of our Author's, which may surprize some, probably
arises from his preferring a small Quantity of the marine Acid to
no Acid at all: For though a great Proportion of Salt, in saving
and seasoning Flesh and other Food, generally excites Thirst, yet a
little of it seems to have rather a different Effect, by gently
stimulating the salivary Glands: And we find that Nature very
seldom leaves the great diluting Element wholly void of this
quickening, antiputrescent Principle. _K._
4. Let the Person, affected with such previous Complaints, receive
Glysters of warm Water, or the Glyster No. 5. By pursuing these
Precautions some grievous Disorders have often been happily rooted out:
and although they should not prove so thoroughly efficacious, as to
prevent their Appearance, they may at least be rendered more gentle, and
much less dangerous.
Sec. 33. Very unhappily People have taken the directly contrary Method.
From the Moment these previous, these forerunning Complaints are
perceived, they allow themselves to eat nothing but gross Meat, Eggs, or
strong Meat-Soups. They leave off Garden-Stuff and Fruits, which would
be so proper for them; and they drink heartily (under a Notion of
strengthening the Stomach and expelling Wind) of Wine and other Liquors,
which strengthen nothing but the Fever, and expel what Degree of Health
might still remain. Hence all the Evacuations are restrained; the
Humours causing and nourishing the Diseases are not at all attempered,
diluted, nor rendered proper for Evacuation. Nay, on the very contrary,
they become more sharp, and more difficult to be discharged: while a
sufficient Quantity of diluting refreshing Liquor, asswages and
separates all Matters foreign to the Blood, which it purifies; and, at
the Expiration of some Days, all that was noxious in it is carried off
by Stool, by Urine, or by Sweat.
Sec. 34. When the Distemper is further advanced, and the Patient is already
seized with that Coldness or Shuddering, in a greater or less Degree,
which ushers in all Disease; and which is commonly attended with an
universal Oppression, and Pains over all the Surface of the Body; the
Patient, thus circumstanced, should be put to Bed, if he cannot keep up;
or should sit down as quietly as possible, with a little more Covering
than usual: he should drink every Quarter of an Hour a small Glass of
the Ptisan, No. 1 or 2, warm; or, if that is not at Hand, of some one of
those Liquids I have recommended Sec. 32.
Sec. 35. These Patients earnestly covet a great Load of covering, during
the Cold or Shivering; but we should be very careful to lighten them as
soon as it abates; so that when the succeeding Heat begins, they may
have no more than their usual Weight of Covering. It were to be wished
_perhaps_, they had rather less. The Country People lie upon a
Feather-bed, and under a downy Coverlet, or Quilt, that is commonly
extremely heavy; and the Heat which is heightened and retained by
Feathers, is particularly troublesome to Persons in a Fever.
Nevertheless, as it is what they are accustomed to, this Custom may be
complied with for one Season of the Year: but during our Heats, or
whenever the Fever is very violent, they should lie on a Pallet (which
will be infinitely better for them) and should throw away their
Coverings of Down, so as to remain covered only with Sheets, or
something else, less injurious than Feather-Coverings. A Person could
scarcely believe, who had not been, as I have, a Witness of it, how much
Comfort a Patient is sensible of, in being eased of his former
Coverings. The Distemper immediately puts on a different Appearance.
Sec. 36. As soon as the Heat after the _Rigor_, or Coldness and Shuddering,
approaches, and the Fever is manifestly advanced, we should provide for
the Patient's _Regimen_. And
1, Care should be taken that the Air, in the Room where he lies, should
not be too hot, the mildest Degree of Warmth being very sufficient; that
there be as little Noise as possible, and that no Person speak to the
Sick, without a Necessity for it. No external Circumstance heightens the
Fever more, nor inclines the Patient more to a _Delirium_ or Raving,
than the Persons in the Chamber, and especially about the Bed. They
lessen the Spring, the elastic and refreshing Power, of the Air; they
prevent a Succession of fresh Air; and the Variety of Objects occupies
the Brain too much. Whenever the Patient has been at Stool, or has made
Urine, these Excrements should be removed immediately. The Windows
should certainly be opened Night and Morning, at least for a Quarter of
an Hour each Time; when also a Door should be opened, to promote an
entire Renovation or Change of the Air in the Room. Nevertheless, as the
Patient should not be exposed at any Time to a Stream or Current of Air,
the Curtains of his Bed should be drawn on such Occasions; and, if he
lay without any, Chairs, with Blankets or Cloaths hung upon them, should
be substituted in the Place of Curtains, and surround the Bed; while the
Windows continued open, in Order to defend the Patient from the Force of
the rushing Air. If the Season, however, be rigidly cold, it will be
sufficient to keep the Windows open, but for a few Minutes, each Time.
In Summer, at least one Window should be set open Day and Night. The
pouring a little Vinegar upon a red-hot Shovel also greatly conduces to
restore the Spring, and correct the Putridity, of the Air. In our
greatest Heats, when that in the Room seems nearly scorching, and the
sick Person is sensibly and greatly incommoded by it, the Floor may be
sprinkled now and then; and Branches of Willow or Ash-trees dipt a
little in Pails of Water may be placed within the Room.
Sec. 37. 2. With Respect to the Patient's Nourishment, he must entirely
abstain from all Food; but he may always be allowed, and have daily
prepared, the following Sustenance, which is one of the wholesomest, and
indisputably the simplest one. Take half a Pound of Bread, a Morsel of
the freshest Butter about the Size only of a Hazel Nut (which may even
be omitted too) three Pints and one quarter of a Pint of Water. Boil
them 'till the Bread be entirely reduced to a thin Consistence. Then
strain it, and give the Patient one eighth Part of it every three, or
every four, Hours; but still more rarely, if the Fever be vehemently
high. Those who have Groats, Barley, Oatmeal, or Rice, may boil and
prepare them in the same Manner, with some Grains of Salt.
Sec. 38. The Sick may also be sometimes indulged, in lieu of these
different Spoon-Meats, with raw Fruits in Summer, or in Winter with
Apples baked or boiled, or Plumbs and Cherries dried and boiled. Persons
of Knowledge and Experience will be very little, or rather not at all,
surprized to see various Kinds of Fruit directed in acute Diseases; the
Benefit of which they may here have frequently seen. Such Advice can
only disgust those, who remain still obstinately attached to old
Prejudices. But could they prevail on themselves to reflect a little,
they must perceive, that these Fruits which allay Thirst; which cool and
abate the Fever; which correct and attemper the putrid and heated Bile;
which gently dispose the Belly to be rather open, and promote the
Secretion and Discharge of the Urine, must prove the properest
Nourishment for Persons in acute Fevers. Hence we see, as it were by a
strong Admonition from Nature herself, they express an ardent Longing
for them; and I have known several, who would not have recovered, but
for their eating secretly large Quantities of those Fruits they so
passionately desired, and were refused. As many however, as are not
convinced by my Reasoning in this Respect, may at least make a Tryal of
my Advice, on my Affirmation and Experience; when I have no doubt but
their own will speedily convince them of the real Benefit received from
this Sort of Nourishment. It will then be evident, that we may safely
and boldly allow, in all continual Fevers, Cherries red and black,
Strawberries, the best cured Raisins, Raspberries, and Mulberries;
provided that all of them be perfectly ripe. Apples, Pears and Plumbs
are less melting and diluting, less succulent, and rather less proper.
Some kinds of Pears however are extremely juicy, and even watery almost,
such as the Dean or Valentia Pear, different Kinds of the Buree Pear;
the St. Germain, the Virgoleuse; the green sugary Pear, and the Summer
Royal, which may all be allowed; as well as a little Juice of very ripe
Plumbs, with the Addition of Water to it. This last I have known to
asswage Thirst in a Fever, beyond any other Liquor. Care should be
taken, at the same Time, that the Sick should never be indulged in a
great Quantity of any of them at once, which would overload the Stomach,
and be injurious to them; but if they are given a little at a Time and
often, nothing can be more salutary. Those whose Circumstances will
afford them China Oranges, or Lemons, may be regaled with the Pulp and
Juice as successfully; but without eating any of their Peel, which is
hot and inflaming.
Sec. 39. 3. Their Drink should be such as allays Thirst, and abates the
Fever; such as dilutes, relaxes, and promotes the Evacuations by Stool,
Urine and Perspiration. All these which I have recommended in the
preceding Chapters, jointly and severally possess these Qualities. A
Glass or a Glass and a half of the Juice of such Fruits as I have just
mentioned, may also be added to three full Pints of Water.
Sec. 40. The Sick should drink at least twice or thrice that Quantity
daily, often, and a little at once, between three or four Ounces, every
Quarter of an Hour. The Coldness of the Drink should just be taken off.
Sec. 41. 4. If the Patient has not two Motions in the 24 Hours; if the
Urine be in small Quantity and high coloured; if he rave, the Fever
rage, the Pain of the Head and of the Loins be considerable, with a Pain
in the Belly, and a Propensity to vomit, the Glyster No. 5 should be
given at least once a Day. The People have generally an Aversion to this
kind of Remedy; notwithstanding there is not any more useful in feverish
Disorders, especially in those I have just recounted; and one Glyster
commonly gives more Relief, than if the Patient had drank four or five
Times the Quantity of his Drinks. The Use of Glysters, in different
Diseases, will be properly ascertained in the different Chapters, which
treat of them. But it may be observed in this Place, that they are never
to be given at the very Time the Patient is in a Sweat, which seems to
relieve him.
Sec. 42. 5. As long as the Patient has sufficient Strength for it, he
should sit up out of Bed one Hour daily, and longer if he can bear it;
but at least half an Hour. It has a Tendency to lessen the Fever, the
Head-ach, and a Light-headiness, or Raving. But he should not be raised,
while he has a hopeful Sweating; though such Sweats hardly ever occur,
but at the Conclusion of Diseases, and after the Sick has had several
other Evacuations.
Sec. 43. 6. His Bed should be made daily while he sits up; and the Sheets
of the Bed, as well as the Patient's Linen, should be changed every two
Days, if it can be done with Safety. An unhappy Prejudice has
established a contrary, and a really dangerous, Practice. The People
about the Patient dread the very Thought of his rising out of Bed; they
let him continue there in nasty Linen loaden with putrid Steams and
Humours; which contribute, not only to keep up the Distemper, but even
to heighten it into some Degree of Malignity. I do again repeat it here,
that nothing conduces more to continue the Fever and Raving, than
confining the Sick constantly to Bed, and witholding him from changing
his foul Linen: by relieving him from both of which Circumstances I
have, without the Assistance of any other Remedy, put a Stop to a
continual Delirium of twelve Days uninterrupted Duration. It is usually
said, the Patient is too weak, but this is a very weak Reason. He must
be in very nearly a dying Condition, not to be able to bear these small
Commotions, which, in the very Moment when he permits them, increase his
Strength, and immediately after abate his Complaints. One Advantage the
Sick gain by sitting up a little out of Bed, is the increased Quantity
of their Urine, with greater Facility in passing it. Some have been
observed to make none at all, if they did not rise out of Bed.
A very considerable Number of acute Diseases have been radically,
effectually, cured by this Method, which mitigates them all. Where it is
not used, as an Assistance at least, Medicines are very often of no
Advantage. It were to be wished the Patient and his Friends were made to
understand, that Distempers were not to be expelled at once with rough
and precipitate Usage; that they must have their certain Career or
Course; and that the Use of the violent Methods and Medicines they chuse
to employ, might indeed abridge the Course of them, by killing the
Patient; yet never otherwise shortened the Disease; but, on the
contrary, rendered it more perplexing, tedious and obstinate; and often
entailed such unhappy Consequences on the Sufferer, as left him feeble
and languid for the rest of his Life.
Sec. 44. But it is not sufficient to treat, and, as it were, to conduct the
Distemper properly. The Term of Recovery from a Disease requires
considerable Vigilance and Attention, as it is always a State of
Feebleness, and, thence, of Depression and Faintness. The same Kind of
Prejudice which destroys the Sick, by compelling them to eat, during the
Violence of the Disease, is extended also into the Stage of
Convalescence, or Recovery; and either renders it troublesome and
tedious; or produces fatal Relapses, and often chronical Distempers. In
Proportion to the Abatement, and in the Decline, of the Fever, the
Quantity of Nourishment may be gradually increased: but as long as there
are any Remains of it, their Qualities should be those I have already
recommended. Whenever the Fever is compleatly terminated, some different
Foods may be entered upon; so that the Patient may venture upon a little
white Meat, provided it be tender; some [18] Fish; a little Flesh-Soup,
a few Eggs at times, with Wine property diluted. It must be observed at
the same Time, that those very proper Aliments which restore the
Strength, when taken moderately, delay the perfect Cure, if they exceed
in Quantity, tho' but a little; because the Action of the Stomach being
extremely weakened by the Disease and the Remedies, is capable only, as
yet, of a small Degree of Digestion; and if the Quantity of its Extents
exceed its Powers, they do not digest, but become putrid. Frequent
Returns of the Fever supervene; a continual Faintishness; Head-achs; a
heavy Drowsiness without a Power of Sleeping comfortably; flying Pains
and Heats in the Arms and Legs; Inquietude; Peevishness; Propensity to
Vomit; Looseness; Obstructions, and sometimes a slow Fever, with a
Collection of Humours, that comes to Suppuration.
All these bad Consequences are prevented, by the recovering Sick
contenting themselves, for some Time, with a very moderate Share of
proper Food. We are not nourished in Proportion to the Quantity we
swallow, but to that we digest. A Person on the mending Hand, who eats
moderately, digests it and grows strong from it. He who swallows
abundantly does not digest it, and instead of being nourished and
strengthened, he withers insensibly away.
[18] The most allowable of these are Whitings, Flounders, Plaice, Dabbs,
or Gudgeons; especially such of the last as are taken out of clear
current Streams with gravelly Bottoms. Salmon, Eels, Carp, all the
Skate kind, Haddock, and the like, should not be permitted, before
the Sick return to their usual Diet when in Health. _K._
Sec. 45. We may reduce, within the few following Rules, all that is most
especially to be observed, in Order to procure a compleat, a perfect
Termination of acute Diseases; and to prevent their leaving behind them
any Impediments to Health.
1. Let these who are recovering, as well as those who are actually sick,
take very little Nourishment at a time, and take it often.
2. Let them take but one sort of Food at each Meal, and not change their
Food too often.