_Mineral_ as _Vegetable_; yet they do all of ’em seem to agree in their
Primary Effects, and Manner of Operation; and as the Teeth or Stings
of _Venomous_ Animals do constantly infuse a Juice into the Wound they
make, by which the Mass of Blood is infected; so the Force of _These_
is chiefly confined to the Stomach and _Primæ Viæ_; and tho’ it may in
some Cases be Communicated Farther, yet the Principal Mischief is done
in These Parts.
_Deleterious Medicines_, says Dioscorides, _are many, but the
Alterations made by them in the Body, common, and but few_ (110).
Of all this kind, those of a _Mineral_ Nature are the most violent
and deadly, the greater Gravity and Solidity of their Parts giving
to these a Force and Action surpassing the mischief of _Vegetable_
Juices; and therefore whereas noxious Plants do vary their Effects in
different Creatures, so as to prove harmless, nay, perhaps Beneficial
and Nutritive to some, as Hemlock they say is to Goats (111) and
Starlings (112), and Henbane to Hogs (113), the Strength of the Stomach
in These Animals being sufficient to Conquer and Divide such Corrosive
Substances, and their Blood perhaps requiring to be recruited by such
warm and active Particles; A Mineral Malignity is not, at least so far
as we know, conquerable by any, but becomes universally hurtful and
destructive.
We shall here give the first Place to _Mercury Sublimate_.
This is no other than a Mixture of _Quicksilver_ with _common Salt_.
The way of preparing it, as ’tis made at _Venice_, from whence great
quantities are sent into other Countries, _Tachenius_ has given Us in
his _Hippocrates Chymicus_ (114); as to which we must observe, that
tho’ there be always added a proportion of _Salt-Petre_, and _Calcin’d
Vitriol_ to the other Ingredients, yet these do not enter into the
Composition, but only serve to facilitate the Work; as abundantly
appears from this Experiment, That Mercury sublim’d with the same
Proportion of Nitre and Vitriol without _Marine Salt_, neither receives
any increase of its Weight, nor acquires any malignant Quality.
The Effects of this _Poison_ when taken are, violent Griping Pains,
with a Distension of the Belly, Vomiting of a slimy, frothy Matter,
sometimes mixt with Blood, and Stools of the same, an intolerable Heat
and Thirst, with cold Sweats, Tremblings, Convulsions, _&c._ as will
appear from the following History (115).
To a large Dog was given a Drachm of _Mercury Sublimate_, mixt with
a little Bread; within a quarter of an Hour He fell into terrible
Vomitings, casting up frequently a Viscid, frothy _Mucus_, every time
more and more Bloody, and purged the same downwards; till tired and
spent with this hard Service, He lay down quietly as it were to Sleep,
but Died the next Morning.
The _Abdomen_ being opened, a great quantity of extravasated Blood was
found between the Liver and Stomach, and between the duplicature of
the _Omentum_ about the Stomach; the Guts as well as the Stomach were
distended, and full of a frothy Bloody _Mucus_; on the outside they
were of a livid Colour, within all over red, and inflamed down to the
very _Rectum_; The Fibrous Coat of the Stomach being taken off, between
that and the Nervous one, grumous Blood was found in several Places;
the like was discovered here and there in the Intestins between the
same Coats.
The same _Symptoms_ with these, and manifest Signs of a burning
Corrosion followed with _Ulcers_ in the Bowels, _Baccius_ (116) observ’d
in a young Man Poison’d by _Sublimate_, mixt with his Meat.
What we are here chiefly to examine is, how from Ingredients singly
Innocent and Harmless, so Mischievous a Compound can result; for as
the Case is very plain with respect to _Salt_, so is it likewise now
Notorious enough, that _Quick-silver_ it self, which the Ancients,
_Dioscorides_, _Galen_, _Pliny_, &c. have unjustly rank’d among
Poisons, is in many Diseases inwardly taken of very safe and beneficial
Use; and that not only when disguised with _Sulphur_, _Sugar_, &c. but
_Crude_, without any Correction, or vainly pretended Mortification.
This the _Arabian_ Physicians first gave the hint of; _Avicen_, (117)
having observ’d, that _They who drink It in a large quantity receive
no hurt, its weight making a free Passage thro’ the Body_. This was
Incouragement enough for the Practice of giving whole Pounds of It
in the _Iliac Passion_; which is oftentimes done with good Success,
without any frightful Symptom accompanying the Advantage receiv’d from
its Ponderosity.
Afterwards it plainly appear’d that this Mineral, tho’ not taken
in so great a Dose as could immediately force its way thro’ the
Intestins, even when it was lodged for some time in this or that
Part, was not at all hurtful by any Corrosive or Malignant Quality.
And _Fallopius_ (118), _Brasavolus_ (119), with others of great Note,
confirmed its harmless Efficacy in the Cure of the _Worms_, not only in
adult Persons, but even in the more tender Constitutions of Children.
Nor are these the only Cases in which good Service may be had from
this Weighty Fluid; he that rightly considers the State of the Animal
_Oeconomy_, the various Alterations it suffers from the Stagnation of
its more Viscid Juices in the smallest Canals, and how much the Impulse
and Force of the Circling Blood, by which Obstructions are to be
removed, must be increased by its carrying along with it such Particles
as the _Mercurial Globuli_, will perhaps see good Reason to allow,
that the prudent and cautious Management of _Quicksilver_ may do that
in some obstinate and dangerous Diseases, which we cannot promise our
selves from any other of our known Medicines whatsoever.
But I am not to insist on this Head; and the learned _Author_ of the
_New Theory of Fevers_ (120), has already most ingeniously explain’d the
_Mechanism_ by which such Effects as these are produced in the humane
Body. It suffices to my present purpose, to have proved that pure
_Mercury_ is not Poisonous or Corrosive; and therefore not only have I
seen Two Ounces of It given every Day for One and Twenty Days together,
without any Inconvenience at all; but found once some quantity of It in
the _Perinæum_ of a Subject I took from the Gallows for a Dissection
(whose rotten Bones quickly discovered what Disease it was had required
the Use of it, and that I suppose chiefly in External Application by
Unction) without any Marks of Corrosion of the Part where it was lodged.
Tho’ withal we may upon this Occasion remark, that the extreme Gravity
of this Mineral alone, however serviceable it may be in other Respects;
yet when it happens in so great a Quantity to Obstruct the Capillary
Ducts, as that the Force of the Circling Fluid is not sufficient
to Wash it away, must necessarily induce Symptoms troublesome and
bad enough, as _Spasms_, _Contractions_, _Palsies_, &c. which They
do commonly Experience, who have either been too often dawbed with
_Mercurial Ointments_, or for a long time imploy’d in rubbing the
_Quicksilver_ upon _Looking-Glasses_; for the Internal Use of It will
never produce any such Mischiefs.
As for _Sublimate_ then, most certain it is, that the _Saline_
Particles do impart to the _Mercury_ this Malignant Quality; or to
speak more properly, That the _Salt_ receives from the _Mercurial
Corpuscles_ such an Increase of its Gravity and _Momentum_, as renders
its Cutting Corrosion more Effectual and Penetrating; for the manner
after which this Matter is done, is plainly this.
The _Globules_ of the _Mercury_, tho’ so minutely divided by the
Action of the Fire, as to rise in the form of a _Fume_, yet are still
Solid and Ponderous Bodies; ’tis all one to the present purpose,
whether We suppose ’em perfectly _Sphærical_, or with the Learned
_Gulielmini_ (121) _Sphæroidical_, for in both Cases, by reason of
their extreme Parvity, being perhaps Simple and Elementary Bodies,
they will easily be lodg’d in the Pores and Interstices of the _Saline
Crystals_; which being compos’d of the _Atoms_ of _Salt_, variously by
_Sublimation_ combin’d and united, are a kind of Cutting _Lamellæ_ or
Blades; the force of which could never have been very penetrating, upon
the account of their Lightness and easie Dissolution, if the _Mercury_,
without blunting their Edge, or breaking their Figure, did not lend
’em an Additional Weight, and thus at the same time strengthen their
Action, and prevent their quick Solution by the Juices of the Stomach;
which cannot now disjoin their Compounding Parts, because the Vacuities
into which they should, in order to do this, insinuate themselves, are
already possess’d, and taken up by the _Mercurial Globules_.
In short, These _Crystals_, which are to be considered as so many sharp
Knives or Daggers, Wounding and Stabbing the tender Coats of the
Stomach, and thus causing excessive Pains, with an Abrasion of their
Natural _Mucus_, and (upon the constant Sense of Irritation) continual
Vomitings, _&c._ must of necessity, sticking here and there in the
capillary Vessels, stop the Passage of the Blood in several Places,
whereupon it Stagnates, and there follow little Inflammations, which
growing higher and higher, terminate quickly in perfect Ulcers and
Gangrenes; and these though singly very small, yet many in number, do
all together make up one continued and incurable Mortification.
This being the Nature of _Sublim’d Mercury_, it may not be amiss to
enquire, how it comes to pass, That This same Compound resublim’d
with _live Mercury_ in the Proportion of Four Parts to Three, (for
the _Sublimate_ will not take up an equal quantity) especially if the
work be repeated Three or Four times, looses its Corrosiveness to
that Degree as to become not only a Safe, but in many Cases, a Noble
_Medicine_. For I do not see that any of the Chymical Writers have hit
upon the true Solution of this _Phænomenon_.
Here then it is to be considered, That the Action of the _Saline
Crystals_ depending upon their Solidity and Largeness, these must
necessarily, by every subsequent Sublimation, be broken into smaller
and smaller Parts; the _Mercurial Globules_ (for the Reasons given by
the _Author_ (122) of the forementioned _Theory of Fevers_) arising more
quickly and easily than the _Salts_, quit the Interstices in which
they were lodged, and the _Crystalline_ Blades are divided every time
more and more by the force of the Fire; whereupon a new Combination
of Parts succeeds; and although there be a greater Proportion of the
_Mineral_ to the _Salts_ than before, which makes _Dulcify’d Mercury_
Specifically heavier than the _Corrosive_; yet the broken pieces of
the _Crystals_ uniting into little Masses of differing Figures from
their former Make, those Cutting _Points_ which were before so sharp,
are now either quite lost, or at least, by reason of their Bluntness,
cannot make Wounds deep enough to be equally mischievous and deadly;
and therefore do only Vellicate and Twitch the sensible Membranes of
the Stomach to that Degree, as excites them to an Excretion of their
Contents and Glandular Juices, upwards or downwards, according as the
force of Irritation is greater or less.
Thus a violent _Poison_ is mitigated into a _Vomit_ or _Purge_;
nay, it may easily happen (especially in Robust Constitutions, and
if the Bowels be at the same time by any means defended against the
Stimulating Power of the Medicine) that this Twitching may be so
slight, as to be almost insensible, and hardly troublesome; and then
the _Mercurial Globules_ being freed indeed from most of the _Saline
Parts_ in their Passage thro’ the _Primæ Viæ_, but still having a
mixture of some few of them, are quickly conveyed into the Blood,
where by their Motion and Weight they must necessarily dissolve the
Preternatural Cohæsions of all the Liquors, particularly of Those which
Circulate in the smallest Canals, and are most Viscid and Tenacious,
making ’em more Fluxile and Thin, or of more easie Secretion; whereupon
all the Glands of the Body are, as it were, set to Work, and Scoured
of their Contents; but the _Salival_ Ones especially, being many in
Number, very large and wide, and the Juice they separate of a Tough and
Ropy Substance, so that a considerable quantity of It is accumulated
before it is forced out at the Orifices of the Ducts. These Effects
will be most remarkable in _Them_, and a _Salivation_ or Spitting must
continue so long, till the Active Mineral Particles are thro’ these and
the other Passages discharged out of the Body.
As the Difference between Mercury _Corrosive_ and _Dulcified_ lies
in a greater and lesser Degree of Operation and Force, so this same
Consideration distinguishes the several _Preparations_ of this Mineral
from each other; which tho’ very many, yet do all vary their Effects in
the Body, only according as the _Mercurial Globules_ are differently
combined with _Salts_, and the _Points_ of _These_ more or less broken
by the Action of the Fire, in the Burning of Spirits upon Them, and
such like Managements: And therefore however dignified with the great
Names of _Arcana_, _Panacææ_, _Princes Powders_, &c. They do not afford
Us any thing Singular and Extraordinary, beyond what we may with equal
Advantage promise our selves from some or other of the most common and
usual _Processes_.
We may also fairly conclude from this Reasoning, that the safest way
of raising a _Salivation_ is by _Internal_ Medicines; since whatever
Mischiefs can be apprehended from _These_, may in a greater degree
follow from the _External_ Use of _Mercury_; not only because, as We
have already hinted, the Mineral _Globules_ being intimately combined
with Salts in the several Preparations given inwardly, will by the
Irritation of These, be easily and fully thrown out at the Organs of
Secretions, till the Blood is quite discharged of its Load; whereas,
in all the Dawbings with Mercurial Ointments, We can never be certain
that none of the heavy Particles are left lodg’d in the _Interstices_
of the _Fibres_ or _Cells_ of the _Bones_; But also, in as much as by
computing the Portion of _Mercury_ in all the Doses necessarily to
promote a Spitting, and the Weight of the same Mineral usually apply’d
when this is done by Unction, it will appear, that the quantity in the
latter Case vastly exceeds that in the former, and consequently that
the Inconveniencies to be feared will be in the same proportion.
Therefore this External Management of _Mercury_ is only to be allow’d
of, where either the Case will bear the Violence of such a Method, or
outward _Ulcers_ and _Tumors_ require a particular Cure by _Liniments_,
&c.
Nor is it improper to Remark that, We do hereby see how the Use of this
Mineral comes to produce that Effect so often complain’d of, (tho’
not always with Reason) of making the Bones Foul or Carious. For,
if the _Laminæ_ or _Fibres_ of These are already so much broken and
spoiled by a Disease, as that the Circulation of the Fluids thro’ ’em
can’t be maintain’d, they must necessarily be corrupted more by the
Weight of the _Mercurial Globules_; tho’ here also it is plain, that
the _outward_ Use of this Remedy will be more to be blamed than the
_inward_.
And indeed, as the earliest Use of _Mercury_ was in _Unguents_ and
_Emplasters_, so most of the Prejudices and Out-cries against It are
owing to Effects produced this way. For the first attempts of the
Cure of _Venereal Maladies_ by this Remedy, were learned from the
_Arabians_ (123), who having recommended _Mercurial_ Ointments in the
_Lepra_ or _Scabies_, gave a handle to the _Italian_ Physicians to
try their Efficacy, in removing the Foulness of the Skin from a new
and terrible Contagion; neither were they sparing of their Liniments,
which they continued to rub in for 12, 15, nay, sometimes for above
30 Days together (124). So that it is no wonder if they often met with
very untoward Symptoms from so severe a Treatment, and if, (as some of
them (125) do affirm) they now and then found _Mercury_ in the rotten
Bones of their Patients, who had, it may be, suffered too much both
from their Disease and their Physician.
* * * * *
Thus much of _Mercury_. Let Us in the next place examine _Arsenick_,
about the Nature and Composition of which Authors are very much puzzled.
This, in short, is either _Native_ or _Factitious_, and each of Three
sorts, _Yellow_, _Red_, and _White_. The _Native Yellow_ is what the
Latins call’d _Auripigmentum_; and this _Olaus Wormius_ (126) makes
Threefold. The _Red_ is the _Sandaracha_ of the _Greeks_. The _White_
was not known to the Ancients; and indeed _Theophrastus_ seems only
to have known the _Red_; but _Dioscorides_ describes both _Red_ and
_Yellow_; _Nicander_ had no Knowledge of either; The only Mineral
Poisons He mentions are _Litharge_ and _Ceruss_.
_Orpiment_ and _Sandaracha_ differ only by their greater or lesser
Concoction in the Earth; and therefore from _Orpiment_ Boiled in
a close Pot Five Hours in a Furnace Fire, is made the _Factitious
Sandaracha_, as perfect as the _Natural_ (127).
The _Factitious Yellow_ is made from the Crusts of the _Natural
Orpiment_ (128).
The _Native White_ is more rare, but found plentifully in some Silver
Mines in _Germany_ (129).
But the _White Factitious_ is of the most common Use of all; and it
is, as _Agricola_ tells us, no other than _Orpiment_ again and again
sublimed with an equal part of _Fossile Salt_, till it is brought to a
Whiteness.
_Orpiment_ and _Sandaracha_ are mostly found in Mines of God; and all
Metallic Writers do agree them to be the best Signs of the Richness
of the Vein. This is Ground sufficient for the _Chymists_ to take
_Arsenick_ for the Subject Matter of their great Work, as they call It;
and they have very fondly accommodated some Ænigmatical Lines in the
_Sibylline Oracles_ (130) to this _Mineral_. Tho’ the Interpretation
be strained, and not fairly made out, (the _Author_ of these Verses,
whatever he might mean, being indeed Discoursing of the Name of
the _Divine Power_ it self) yet very true it is, that this great
Expectation from _Arsenick_ is as old at least as _Caligula_; that is,
of more ancient Date considerably than the far greatest part of those
Suppositious and Ill-contrived Compositions which do now bear the Name
of _Oracles_: For that Covetous Emperor, as _Pliny_ relates (131),
ordered a great quantity of _Orpiment_ to be wrought upon, that He
might extract _Gold_ out of It, and made some; but as it usually
happens in such like Attempts, the quantity did not answer the Expence.
It is more to our purpose to take notice, that the later _Pretenders_
to this _Philosophy_, by finding their three _Principles_, _Salt_,
_Sulphur_, and _Mercury_ in this Body, will lead Us into its true
Nature and Composition.
For whether We take _Orpiment_ or _Sandaracha_, either of them will
afford a _Regulus_ or Mercurial Substance, more pure than that of
_Antimony_. The manner of extracting It _Lemery_ (132) has taught; and
to This indeed the Mineral owes its great Ponderosity.
The Inflammability and Smell of _Arsenick_ are sufficient Proofs of its
abounding _Sulphur_, which may without much difficulty be separated
from It (133).
That it consists of some _Saline Parts_ we are assured by Its Solution
in common Water (134); and it is upon the account of These that It
does more happily promote the _Flowing_ of Metals than any other
_Salt-Pouders_ which the Workmen make use of: Wherefore some have
called It a coagulated _Aqua Fortis_.
From all this it appears, that Authors do vainly Dispute wherein the
Noxious quality of _Arsenick_ resides, since the Case here is plainly
much the same with that of _Sublimate Corrosive_; and as the Salts
there, together with the Mercurial Particles, do compose pungent
_Crystals_, so without all doubt the _Regulus_ of this Mineral gives a
like force to the _Saline Bodies_, which without this weight could be
but of small Effect. The main difference is, that in _Arsenick_ we have
an addition of _Sulphur_, which does not only strengthen the Action of
the other Parts, in that as a _Vinculum_ it keeps them united together;
but consisting besides of many hot and fiery Corpuscles, promotes the
Inflammation of those Wounds which the Crystalline _Spicula_ make in
the Membranes of the Stomach.
Upon the Score of such a Texture and Make as this, _Arsenick_ makes
no Ebullition either with _Alcalies_ or _Acids_ (135); and _as_ the
_Regulus_ of It being cleared from most of its Salts, is by much less
hurtful than the crude Mineral it self; _so_ on the other Hand, the
_Factitious White_, in which there is a much greater Proportion of the
Saline to the Metallic Parts, is the most Violent of all the kinds,
superiour in Force to _Mercury Sublimate_.
The several Histories related by _Wepfer_ (136) do put this out of
Question; It is sufficient to our Purpose to mention One.
A Dog having eat some Fat mixt with _White Arsenic_, died the next
Day; The upper Part of the Stomach, when opened, was red and inflamed,
the Coats thinner than ordinary, the bottom of It was covered with a
fætid Slime, and some Pieces of Fat; the Thin Guts were so Corroded as
to be Pervious in Three Places, Two of the Ulcers so large that they
would easily admit a _Bean_. The Cavity of the _Abdomen_ contained a
yellowish _Ichor_ tinged with Blood.
The Case being thus, one would wonder what should induce Authors
to prescribe so Corrosive a Mineral to be worn upon the Pit of the
Stomach, as an _Amulet_ against the Plague. This Trick we may well
believe to be Dangerous, when _Lionardo di Capo_ (137) tells Us of a
Child a kill’d by the Violent Vomiting and Purging, occasion’d from
a slight Wound made in the Head by a _Comb_ wet with Oil in which
_Arsenick_ had been infused; for the Pores of the Body being opened by
Heat and Exercise, some of the Noxious _Effluvia_ may easily Insinuate
themselvs into the Part; accordingly _Crato_ (138) observ’d an Ulcer of
the Breast caused by this Application; _Verzascha_ (139) Violent Pains,
and fainting Fits; _Diemerbrock_ (140), and Dr. _Hodges_ (141), Death it
self.
The Truth of the Matter is, This Practice seems to owe its Origine to a
Mistake (142), some of the _Arabian_ Physicians had commended _Darsini_
worn in a Bag for a Preservative in Plague time; This in their Language
signifies _Cinnamom_; but the _Latin_ Interpreters retaining the same
Word in their Translations (as was frequently done), one or other
afterwards not understanding its meaning, and deceived by the likeness
of the sound, substituted in its Place _De Arsenico_, as if _Darsini_
were all one with _Zarnich_. The Authority of the first Author served
to propagate the Error; nor were Those wanting who reason’d upon the
Matter, and found it agreable to their Philosophy, that this Mineral
should draw to it self and concenter the _Arsenical Effluvia_ out of
the Air, and thus secure the Body from their Infection; These being, as
they imagined, the Common Cause of Pestilential Diseases.
Having thus particularly Discoursed of the Nature of these Two Poisons,
I shall not need to insist upon any more out of the _Mineral Kingdom_.
All of _Them_ bear some Analogy to the former, and are more or less
Dangerous, according as their _Salts_ receive a differing Force from
the _Metallic_ Particles. For this Reason as we have observed, that the
most Virulent may be mitigated by breaking the _Points_ of the _Saline
Crystals_; so on the other Hand, the most Innocent Minerals may become
Corrosive, by combining Them with _Salts_, as we see in the several
Preparations of _Silver_, _Antimony_, _Iron_, &c.
Poisonous Plants.
To Proceed therefore to _Vegetables_; the most Notorious of _These_ for
Venomous Juices among the Ancients were _Cicuta_ and _Aconitum_.
Our _Œnanthe Cicutæ facie_, _succo viroso_, which _Wepfer_ has
described by the Name of _Cicuta Aquatica_, and of the dismal Effects
of which in some Children, who by mistake did Eat of It, He has wrote
a large Volume, was very probably the _Cicuta_ so much in use of old,
especially at _Athens_, for _Killing_. At least the Violence of _This_
makes It a much fitter Instrument of Death than the common _Hemlock_,
which is not by far of so Malignant a quality.