These Men’s Reasonings, and the Vanity of such Immechanical Theories.
And here I would put a Period to this Part of the Discourse, were
it not that these Distempers being sometimes _Contagious_, and
_Contagion_ being justly reputed a real _Poison_, it may be worth the
while to examine a little what This is, and wherein it consists; more
especially, because some may perhaps be apt to think This to be an
Argument of an _Occult Venom_’s being the First and Original Cause.
We are therefore to take Notice, that when a _Fever_ is communicated
by way of _Infection_ from one already Diseased, this most commonly
happens in the latter End of the Distemper, that is, (as we before
discoursed concerning the Hydrophobia) when the Fermenting Blood is
throwing off great quantities of its Active Fermentative Particles
upon the Glands of the most constant and easie Secretion; such are
those in the Surface of the Body, and the Mouth and Stomach; By this
means therefore the Liquid of insensible Perspiration, and the Sweat
is impregnated with these μιάσματα, and thus the ambient Air becomes
fill’d with ’em; so that not only, (as _Bellini_ Argues (173),) may some
of these _Effluvia_ insinuate themselves into the Blood of a sound
Person thro’ the Pores of the outward Skin, but also in Inspiration
thro’ the Membrane of the Lungs; for He has in another Place (174)
demonstrated how the Air, or something from It, may this way come to
be mix’d with the Arterial Fluid; And thus the like _Ferment_ will be
rais’d Here, as was in the Originally Distemper’d Subject.
This may be _One_, but there is perhaps _another_ yet more dangerous
manner of _Infection_, and that is, by the Breath of the Diseased
taken in by a By-stander, especially in the last Moments, seizing the
_Stomach_, and fixing a _Malignity_ There. For it is upon this Score,
that Those who are _Infected_ do presently complain of an extreme Pain
and _Nausea_ in the upper Orifice of the Stomach; and that all Authors
do agree in the admirable Use of _Vomits_ timely given in this Case;
These by their Stimulating Force removing the very _Minera_ of the
Disease; and likewise that, oftentimes in _Pestilential_ Illnesses,
the _Stomach_ when open’d has been found Gangren’d and Mortify’d. This
made _Van Helmont_ (175), who had observ’d this Part in one kill’d by
a _Plague Infection_, perforated and eroded in several Places, no
otherwise than He had seen in one Poison’d by _Arsenick_, conclude,
that the Plague for the most Part begins in the Stomach from a
coagulated _Tartar_ there.
Herein lies the difference of _Contagion_, from the first Invasion
of Malignant Distempers; The Effects of the _One_ are the Cause and
Beginning of the _Other_; and therefore it is no wonder, if tho’ the
Symptoms in the former are by a gradual Increase wrought up to their
height, they do however in the latter, even at the very first, discover
their ill Nature and Violence, and, like a reinforc’d Enemy, by surer
Strokes make quicker Dispatch. And this also is the Reason of the great
Increase of _Funerals_ in Plague Time, in that One Death is thus added
to Another.
If it be difficult to explain the particular manner how the _Stomach_
comes to be thus affected, We must not therefore deny Matter of Fact;
and may however probably Conjecture, that the last _Breath_ of one
Dying of a Malignant Distemper, proves thus pernicious, in that Those
fermenting active Particles, which, as we just now observ’d, the Blood
discharges upon the Glands of the _Mouth_, _Stomach_, _Lungs_, &c.
impregnating the Air in its Passage thro’ these; when the same happens
to be immediately inspired by a sound Person, it may easily taint
the _Salival_ Juices in the Mouth, which are very Glutinous, and of
a fermenting Nature, and therefore susceptible enough of _Contagious
Effluvia_, but especially of such as proceed from the same Liquor
infected in the Sick Party. Now the _Spittle_ is continually swallow’d
down into the Stomach, and so will quickly impress its _Labes_, or
ill Quality, on so tender and sensible a Part; that is, will lodge
these Corrosive _Salts_, (for such We may suppose the Particles
of Infection) in the Secretory Ducts; whereupon the Glands being
obstructed, little _Tumors_ are by the Afflux of their Fluid rais’d
here and there, which breaking become small _Ulcers_, and produce that
dismal Train of Symptoms which we have already related.
And here it may not be amiss to take notice, that all Authors do agree,
One great Cause of _Pestilential_ Distempers, especially in Armies and
Camps, to be dead Bodies lying expos’d and rotting in the open Air; The
Reason of which is plain from what we have been advancing; For Battels
being generally fought in the Summer Time, it is no wonder, if the Heat
acting upon the unbury’d _Carcasses_, and _Fermenting_ the Juices,
draws forth those active Particles, which in great quantities filling
the Atmosphere, when they are inspired and let into the Stomach, do
affect It after the manner already described.
To illustrate this Matter, I shall relate a remarkable Story told Me
by the learned Dr. _Baynard_. The Body of a Malefactor was Hung up
in Chains in the Country; after a few Months, in very hot Weather it
was Sport and Pastime to some Boys, Playing thereabouts to Swing the
Carcass up and down; One more bold than the Rest struck It with his
Fist upon the naked Belly, which being outwardly parch’d and dry, and
from the falling down of the Humours Swell’d and Tense, was easily
burst by the Blow; out gush’d a Water so Corrosive and Fiery, that
running down the poor Lad’s Arm, it caus’d a Violent _Excoriation_, and
a very hard Matter it was to preserve It from being truly mortified.
What this _Serum_ could do upon the outward Skin, the more Volatile
Parts of It would, without all doubt, Effect upon the more tender and
sensible Membranes of the _Stomach_, if a considerable number of them
were fixt there. The Fluids of Humane Bodies being Ranker and more
abounding in active Salts than those of other Creatures, which are not
continually repaired and nourish’d by the Juices of Animals.
The Way by which _Bad Food_, _ill ripened Fruits_ of the Earth, _&c._
do oftentimes produce _Malignant_ and _Pestilential_ Diseases, is not
very different from _That_ by which We have observ’d Unwholesome Airs
to be the Cause of the like Effects. For the Juices with which Those
do supply the Blood being Corrupted, must necessarily make a Fluid of
quite other Properties than what the Animal Œconomy requires, that
is, neither Fit for Nutrition, nor for the Secretion of those Liquors
which in the several Organs are to be derived from It; whereupon the
small _Tubes_ are obstructed by an unequally Glutinous _Slime_; and it
is therefore no wonder, if besides the other Symptoms insuing, _Sore
Pustules_, _Inflammations_, _Ulcers_, &c. (more common in Fevers from
this Cause than in any other,) are raised in the Surface of the Body.
This is the Ground of the common Observation, that a _Famine_ is very
often succeeded by a _Pestilence_. And This _Calamity_ generally begins
among the Poorer sort of People, whose Diet to be sure is the worst.
The City of _Surat_ in the _East-Indies_ is seldom or never free from
the Plague; and yet it is observ’d, that the _English_ who Trade
there are in no danger of being Infected thereby. Now the Chief of
the Natives in this Place are _Banians_, who neither Eat Flesh, nor
Drink Wine, but Live very Poorly upon _Herbs_, _Rice_, _Water_, &c.
and most of the Inhabitants do the like, except Foreigners; This Poor
Fare, together with the Heat of the Climate, makes them so liable to
Malignant Distempers; from the Attacks of which Those who Feed well
are more Safe and Secure.
* * * * *
Thus much concerning _Poisonous Exhalations and Airs_, so far as the
Consideration of the _Grotta de’ Cani_ has led Us on to enquire into
their Effects; for tho’ there may be other Alterations of this same
Element, differing in their Nature from this we have insisted upon,
and yet equally Pernicious and Hurtful, yet We take no Notice of any
of them, in regard that those which are from _Arsenical_, _Mercurial_,
and the like _Fumes_, are reducible to a foregoing _Essay_; and those
which are owing to a Change of the known Properties of the Air, may be
easily explain’d by what has been already delivered in _This_. I shall
therefore rather chuse to make some Remarks on the Mischief of another
_Fluid_, which _as_ It is the next in use to This we have been treating
of, _so_ the bad Qualities of it, when it comes to be altered, must
necessarily be almost equally Fatal and Dangerous.
I mean _Water_, which is of so constant Service, not only for our
Drinks, but also in preparing of our Flesh and Bread, that it may
justly be said to be the _Vehicle_ of all our Nourishment; so that
whenever this happens to put on other Properties than are necessary to
fit it for this Purpose, it is no wonder if in its Passage thro’ the
Body these do make suitable Impressions there.
Thus at _Paris_ (176), where the Water of the River _Seine_ is so full
of Stony Corpuscles, that even the Pipes through which it is carried,
in time are incrusted and stopt up by ’em, The Inhabitants are more
Subject to the _Stone_ in the Bladder than in most other Cities. The
same I observed in the _Baths_ of _Abano_, a few Miles from _Padua_, to
that Degree, that it is necessary very frequently to clear the Wheel of
a Mill driven by the Current of these Springs, from the great quantity
of _petrify’d_ Matter with which it is from time to time incumbered.
In like manner, let the gross Particles with which the _Water_ is
saturated be of any other Nature, _Metallick_, _Salts_, &c. these,
according to their various Gravity, the Capacity of Canals, and such
like Circumstances, will, when they come to circulate in the Animal
Body, be by the Laws of Motion deposited in one Part or other. So
those Mineral Bodies, and Nitrous Salts, which abound in the Snowy
Waters of the _Alps_, do so certainly Stuff and Inlarge the Glands of
the Throat in Those who Drink ’em, that scarce any who live there are
exempted from this Inconvenience (177).
For this Reason, the Choice of _Water_ for Drink among the Ancients
was by Weight, the lightest being preferr’d, as, most free from all
Heterogeneous Bodies.
The Case therefore of _Poisonous Springs_ is, their having Corrosive
Corpuscles mixt with their Water, which cannot fail when forsaken in
the Canals of the Body of their Vehicle, to do the same mischief as
they would if taken by themselves undiluted; only with this difference,
that they may in this form be carried sometimes farther into the Animal
Œconomy, and so having pass’d the _Primæ Viæ_, discover their Malignity
in some of the inmost Recesses. Thus the _Fons Ruber_ in _Æthiopia_,
mention’d by _Pliny_ (178), about which abundance of native _Minium_ or
_Cinnabar_ was found, shew’d its ill Effects chiefly on the Brain; and
therefore _Ovid_ (179) says of it,
――_Si quis Faucibus hausit
Aut Furit aut patitur mirum gravitate Soporem._
We shall not need then to inlarge on this Matter, since any of the
foremention’d _Mineral Poisons_ may thus impart their deadly quality
to Waters; and accordingly there are Instances of _Arsenical_,
_Mercurial_, &c. Fountains, of which the Histories may be seen in the
Collections of the Learned _Baccius_ (180). And one very remarkable in
the _Philosophical Transactions_ (181).
But as We before took Notice concerning _Airs_, so it may be worth the
while to observe of _Waters_; that there are some Alterations of them,
which tho’ not properly _Poisonous_, yet are of so great Consequence in
their Effects, that they may very well deserve to be regarded.
This I shall do with respect to a great Abuse, committed in this kind
about the City; and that is, In the chusing of stagnating impure
_Well-Water_ for the _Brewing_ of _Beer_, and making other Drinks. Such
a Fluid indeed has oftentimes a greater Force and Aptness to extract
the Tincture out of _Malt_, than is to be had in the more innocent and
soft Liquor of Rivers; but for this very Reason it ought not, unless
upon meer Necessity, to be made use of; this quality being owing to the
_Mineral_ Particles and _Aluminous_ Salts with which it is impregnated.
A late _Author_ (182) by searching into the first Accounts of the
Distemper we call the _Scurvy_, describ’d by _Pliny_ (183) and
_Strabo_ (184), under the promiscuous Names of _Stomacace_ and
_Scelotyrbe_; and examining the Authentick Histories of It in later
Years, made by the most observing Physicians in those Countries where
it was unhappily revived, as _Olaus Magnus_, _Balduinus Ronseus_, _J.
Wierus_, _Solomon Albertus_, &c. finds that the Origine of It was in
all times and places charged upon the use of unwholesome stagnating
_Waters_. Then by comparing together the _Clayie Strata_ of the Earth
about the Cities of _London_, _Paris_, and _Amsterdam_, He shews that
where the Water is worst, there this Malady is most rife. So that He
has put it out of all doubt, that most of the perplex’d and complicated
Symptoms which are ranged under this one general Name, if they do not
entirely owe their Birth to the Malignity of this Element, do however
acknowledge it to be their main and principal Cause.
And indeed _Hippocrates_ himself, as He has very plainly decipher’d
this Disease (185), by the Title of σπλῆνες μέγαλοι, or _great Milts_;
so he does very particularly in another _Treatise_ (186), take notice,
that Drinking of _Stagnating Well-Waters_ must necessarily induce an
ill Disposition both of the _Milt_ and Belly.
If we enquire into the Reason of such ill Effects, we must consider,
that _Clay_ is a _Mineral Glebe_, and that the gross Particles and
Metallick Salts with which Waters passing thro’ such a Bottom do
abound, are, as Dr. _Lister_ (187) observes, not to be mastered, that
is, indigestible in the Humane Body. Not only therefore will these
Cause, as He very well Argues, calculous Concretions in the _Kidneys_,
_Bladder_, and _Joints_; and as _Hippocrates_ experienced, hard
Swellings in the _Spleen_; but they must necessarily oftentimes by
their Corrosive quality twitch and irritate the sensible Membranes of
the Stomach and Bowels, and thus hinder and interrupt the Digestion
of our Food. Nay, besides all this, when they come into the Blood,
it is no wonder if the small Canals of insensible Perspiration are
frequently stopt and obstructed by ’em; for it is upon this Score that
_Sanctorius_ (188) teaches Us, that _heavy Water converts the Matter of
Transpiration into an_ Ichor, _which being retained, induces a_ Cachexy.
What Mischiefs will insue hereupon every one sees; not only Pains
in the Limbs, livid Spots in the Surface of the Body, Ulcers, _&c._
from the Acrimony of the undischarged Moisture; but many besides of
those perplexing Symptoms which go by the Name of _Hysterical_ and
_Hypochondriacal_, may take their rise from the same Source; for
the before cited _Sanctorius_ (189) has remark’d, that the _Flatus or
Wind_ so inseparable from those Cases, is no other than _the Fluid of
Perspiration rude and unfinished_.
If these Inconveniencies are oftentimes not felt, at least not till
towards the declining Age, in strong and active Habits of Body; yet I
am, from very good Experience, assured, that they deserve Consideration
in weaker Constitutions, and a Sedentary Life, especially of the more
tender Sex.
I have the honour to be nearly related to a worthy Person, who led
formerly an afflicted Life from the frequent returns of Violent _Colick
Pains_, till she was with happy Success advised by the Noble _Van
Helmont_ not to Drink (as she then did) Beer Brewed with _Well-Water_;
and her Health is even now so far owing to this Management, that an
Error in It is unavoidably follow’d with the wonted Complaints.
For these Reasons _Pliny_ (190) tells Us, that _Those Waters are
Condemn’d in the first Place, which when Boiled do incrustate the sides
of the Vessels_; And that our _Well-Waters_ do this, no Body who looks
into the _Tea-Kettles_ of our Gentlewomen can be Ignorant.
And indeed in Ancient Times, when Physick was more a Science, which is
now more a Trade, as that Part of It, which relates to _Diet_ was more
carefully studied, than it is Now-a-days; so this Point particularly of
which we are Treating was of so great Moment, that _Hippocrates_, who
wrote the best Book (191) on the Subject that ever was Publish’d, has
in a great Measure accounted not only for the Diseases, but even for
the Temper and Disposition of the People of several Countries, from the
Difference of the _Waters_ with which Nature has supplied Them.
FOOTNOTES to ESSAY V.
(152) _Virgil_ Æn. 7. v. 8.
―― _Sævamq; exhalat. opaca Mephitim._ _Vid. Servium, ibid._
(153) _Scaliger. Conject. in Varron._
(154) Lib. 13.
(155) _De Situ Orb._ l. 1. c. 13.
(156) Ἐιν Ἀρίμοις ὅθι φασὶ Τυφώεος ἔμμθυαι ἐυνάς. Il. Β. v. 783.
(157) _Nat. Quæst._ l. 6. c. 28.
(158) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 93.
(159) _L. di Capoa delle Mofet._ pag. 37.
(160) Vid. _Malpigh. de Pulmon._
(161) _Vid. L. di Capoa Mofet._ pag. 40.
(162) Pag. 128.
(163) _Epidem._ l. 2, & 3.
(164) _De Temperament._ l. 1. c. 4. & _Commentar. in Epidem._ l. 3.
(165) L. 6. v. 1098.
(166) Histor. Afric. _l._ 1. _c._ 1. Vid. Purchas’s _Pilgrims_, _l._ 6.
_c._ 1.
(167) _Prognostic._ 1. & _Galen. Comment_.
(168) Sect. 3. Aph. 11.
(169) _De Febre Malign_ l. 1. c. 11.
(170) _De Aere, Locis, & Aquis._
(171) Φύσιες Νούσων ἰητροἰ. _Hippocr._ Epid. 6.
(172) _Dissertatio de opera quam præstant corpora acida vel alcalica in
Curatione Morborum._
(173) _De Febrib._ Prop. 27.
(174) _De Motu Cordis_, Prop. 9.
(175) _Tumulus Pestis_, pag. m. 163, & 172.
(176) _Vid. Lister_’s Voyage to _Paris_.
(177) _Quis tumidum Guttur miratur in Alpibus._ Juvenal Satyr. 13.
(178) Lib. 31. cap. 2.
(179) _Metam._ lib. 15.
(180) _De Therm._ lib. 6.
(181) _N^o. 8._
(182) Dr. _J. H. Scelera Aquarum_: Or, a Supplement to Mr. _Graunt_ on
the Bills of Mortality.
(183) Lib. 25. c. 3.
(184) _Geogr._ lib. 6.
(185) _Prorrhet._ l. 2. c. 16.
(186) _De Aere Aquis & Locis_, _sub finem_.
(187) _De Fontib. Med. Angl._ _P._ 2. pag. 75. _At fossilia sive
Metallica salix aliæ atq; alia sunt, & nobis & pene igni dixeram
indomabilia._
(188) _Medicin. Static._ Sect. 2. Aphor. 6.
(189) _Ibid._ Sect. 3. Ap. 13. _Flatus nil aliud est quam rude
perspirabile._
(190) _Lib._ 31. c. 3. _Damnantur imprimis Fontes quorum Aquæ decoctæ
crassis obducunt Vasa crustis._
(191) _De Aere, Locis, & Aquis._
_FINIS._
_The Explication of Those Figures which are not Explained in the
Treatise._
[Illustration: Figs. 1–19. _M. Vander Gucht Sculp._]
_Fig. 1._ Represents the Head of the _Viper_ in its Natural Bigness,
with the Mouth open, and Fangs Erected.
(_a_) Marks the Poisonous _Fang_.
(_b_) The Eye.
(_c_) The Hole of one Nostril.
(_d_) The _Larynx_.
(_e_) The Forked Tongue.
_All the Other Figures relating to the 〈Viper〉 are drawn larger than
the Life._
_Fig. 7, & 8._ Exhibit some Muscles, which serve for the Motion of the
Jaws.
(_a, Fig. 7._) _Elevator Maxillæ Inferioris._
(_b_) _Depressor ejusdem._
(_c_) _Depressor Dentis Venenosi._
(_d_) A Strong Ligament fastened by one Extremity to the Spinal
_Apophysis_ of the Second _Vertebra_ of the Neck, and by the other to
the end of the _Elevator Maxillæ Inferioris_.
(_a, Fig. 8._) A Muscle, which being fixt to the Extremity of both
Jaws, serves to pull them backwards, and may be call’d _Retractor_.
(_b_) The Internal side of the _Depressor Dentis Venenosi_.
(_c_) _Elevator Dentis Venenosi._
(_d_) The Extremity of the Lower Jaw.
(_e e_) _Flexores Capitis._
(_f_) The Internal Part of the Skin covered with some Muscular Fibres.
_Fig. 17._ Shews the Head of the _Scolopendra_.
(_a a_) The Wounding Claws.
(_b_) The Mouth.
(_c c_) The Two First Feet.
_Fig. 18._ The Weapons of the _Nhamdu_ in their Natural Bigness.
[Illustration]
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
Footnotes were moved to the ends of chapters and renumbered 1–191.
Original spelling and grammar are generally retained, with a few
exceptions noted below.
Page viii. The phrase "Which do no not promise a" was changed to "Which
do not promise a".
Page 19. Changed _impregdated_ to _impregnated_ in the phrase “tho’ it
be duly impregdated with Salt”.
Page 20. “Strenghning” is retained.
Page 23. “Royal Acamy” is retained.
Page 26n. “Sanie & hnmano Sanguine” to “Sanie & humano Sanguine”.
Page 83. In this discussion, the footnote designators are the original
printed ones, which have been changed to numbers in this edition. There
were four footnote anchors [a, b, c, c] on the page, which begins with
“Nerves, with a great inward”, and four distinct footnotes labeled [a
b c c]. The fourth has been herein given its own distinct anchor and
label. Then on page 84, which begins “That this Disease is accompany’d
with a _Delirium_”, there were two printed footnote anchors [e, f],
and three footnotes [d, e, f]. The footnote originally labeled “d” is
herein eliminated from page 84; it said “_Vid. Galen. de Theriac. ad
Pison_, l. 1. cap. 16.”.
Page 94. The third footnote (now numbered 89) originally read
approximately thus: “(f) _Vid. Aetium._ .6: c. 24.” but there is a
smudge preceding the “.6:”, possibly a number or some other character.
Page 97. There were three footnotes [f g h] on this page, which begins
with “this Spongy Excrescence, if it be”, and only two footnote anchors
[g h]. The first footnote (f) is a duplicate of the third and last
footnote from page 96, and so has been removed from this edition.
Page 120. Changed _Treament_ to _Treatment_, in “Symptoms from so
severe a Treament”.
Page 122. The phrase “found in Mines of God” is retained, but is
perhaps wrong. The first footnote, now labeled 130, beginning “(f)
_Lib._ [smudge]” is partly illegible.
Page 127. Changed “substitued” to “substituted”.