But we may discern, that the very Interruption of Pain is some degree
of Pleasure; and that the lesser degrees both of Pain and Pleasure have
something of a Relative Nature in ’em; a Person that is afflicted with
some Pain, finds some Alleviation of it by tumbling and tossing in his
Bed; which tumbling and tossing, at another time, would be a sort of
Pain; and if any one thinks this ought to be imputed to Phancy, rather
than Reality, I answer, ’Tis such a Phancy as none can be free from; and
the denying a Person, in such Circumstances, the Liberty of gratifying
it, would be the greatest Cruelty, and a high Aggravation of the Pain:
Besides, in Pains of the Membranes, proceeding from the Corrosion of
Sharp Humours thrown upon ’em, where the Part cannot but be very sensible
of the Pain those Particles cause; yet even in this Case, the Spirits
may be interrupted or diverted from the performing so acutely their
Office of Sensation, by being put into different Motions. I knew a hardy
labouring Man, who hapning to be seiz’d with a violent Pain in his Hip,
for two or three Nights, as soon as he came to Bed, kept beating his bare
Hip with a Bed-staff a great while together, before he could get any
Rest, and by that Means blunted the Pain, and tired himself into Sleep;
(tho’ afterwards he removed both the Pain and the Cause, by running a
Packneedle himself thro’ part of his Hip); now if thus much may be done
in the Membranous Parts, where the Cause of the Pain is _ab extra_, what
may not be done in Nervous Cases, where the Disorders of the Spirits are
the prime Occasion of the Pains, if we can communicate to those Spirits,
a Motion contrary to that Motion which occasions the Pains, which
certainly may be done, by moderate and agreeable Exercise?
From these Considerations I cannot but be induc’d to think, that in all
obstinate Pains, caus’d by the irregular Motions of the Spirits, and in
the true Hysterick Colick, one of the most frequent of those sort of
Pains; it would be more natural, and in no wise absurd, to recommend
to the Patient, the Use of a Chaise, or light Calash, even in the
Paroxysm it self, than the Fatigue of Medicines; the best of which,
except Opiates, so often prove delusive. That Exercise is convenient
for Women, with Liberty to sit or lie; and tho’ the Motion at first may
seem a little troublesome, and the Shocks too rude; yet I think, upon
what I have hinted before, there is great Reason to expect, that after
a little Patience the Spirits would be brought to relent, and disengage
themselves from the _Plexus’s_, where they occasion so great Pain. I am
the more confirm’d in this Opinion, because there is a Pain which seems
more deeply rooted, even in the Tendons of the Muscles, _viz._ the Cramp,
which will frequently go off, by changing the Posture the Part was in,
when it was first seiz’d; and especially by getting out of the Bed, and
walking a little while, when no Pressure or Ligature will remove it,
unless the Person rise; by which undoubtedly the Spirits are call’d back
into some of the superiour Muscles, or some way or other put into a new
sort of Motion.
This Opinion may be corroborated likewise by what has been experienc’d
by some Hysterick People, who when they have lain perhaps half a Night
restless and disturb’d, and without the least Inclination to Sleep,
upon getting out of their Beds, and walking a turn or two about the
Room, shall find themselves quite alter’d, and when they come into the
Bed again, sleep well; so that if so sudden and short an Alteration of
the Posture of the Body, can produce so good an Effect, much more may
be expected from the Exercise I have above mention’d; wherein the sick
Person may at once enjoy the Convenience of a Cradle, and the Vehemence
of a Exercise.
I might pursue this Notion, in considering the _Scorbutick Rheumatism_;
in which Case the Persons afflicted are generally strong, and able to
undergo any sort of Exercise; and therefore all the sorts of Exercise
which I shall hereafter mention, will agree with ’em: But it will be
needless to multiply words, that Distemper being chiefly seated in the
Nerves, what I have said already will serve to illustrate the Advantage,
which Persons griev’d with that Distemper might receive from a resolute
and prudent Use of Exercise.
I hope these Observations on the Solids, will suffice to shew the Power
of Exercise on this part of our Bodies; and if any of these Speculations
may seem too nice, I would be understood, that I consider ’em as brought
to a Habit, as frequently and closely repeated; not as the Use of
Exercise is generally abus’d, being frequently undertaken, but seldom
gone thro’ with. ’Tis the want of a due Notion of a Habit, which has
occasion’d the Neglect of this valuable Medium in Physick: Did People
allow but the same regard to this, as they do to all other Alterative
Physick, it would soon appear, how great Effects it could produce.
How ridiculous would a Man seem, who, when his Physician had recommended
some Medicine to be taken to the quantity of a Drachm, or half a Drachm,
should go and take half an Ounce of it, and then exclaim against the
Medicine, that it disturb’d him, and did him a great deal of Mischief,
and that he would never take it more: Or if instead of taking a moderate
Quantity twice a day, for a considerable time, he should take that
moderate Quantity but once in two or three days, and then exclaim that
the Medicine was ineffectual? He that should act thus, would be thought
to be a very unreasonable Person; and yet after this manner most sick
People set upon the Use of Exercise. You shall have a Man ride fifteen
or twenty Mile, when he should ride seven or eight, come home very much
tyr’d, resolve never to be so serv’d again; and so perfectly lay aside
all hopes of any good from the more moderate Use of that Exercise:
Another shall ride out five or six Mile once in two or three days, finds
no great matter of Relief, despairs of any Success from that Course,
thinks it a trivial Thing, a meer Phancy, when the Physician does not
know what to do, and so he wholly leaves off too: Now allowing moderate
Exercise to be a Medium for the Recovering our Health, this is a very
unfair way of making use of it; for when once a Distemper will not be
driven out by rough Means, by Purging and Vomits, but we must come to
Alterative Physick, the Work must go on gradually, and that Physick must
be us’d without Intermission. What is the difference between Aliment
and a Medicament, but this? The first is chang’d into our Nature; the
last changes our Nature. Now it would be as ridiculous for a Man to
expect that gentle Drugs or gentle Means should alter his Constitution,
if taken with great Intervals, as it would be for a Man to expect that
the Bulk of his Body should keep up or encrease, tho’ he eat but once
in two or three Days; and whatever Regard is due to internal Alterative
Physick, the same is due to the moderate Use of Exercise; for if by
it the Secretions are equally promoted, and the Subject-Matter of the
Disease brought to despume slowly; it is highly requisite, that these
Means should be closely repeated, with Moderation; that Nature may not
be confounded and weakned, instead of being reliev’d; and without any
irregular Intermission, lest the Springs should run down again; lest the
Disease should have time to ruine faster than the Means of Cure can build
up.
We see, by continual dropping, so soft a Body as Water can act upon a
Stone; we see by incessantly following his Blow, the Smith can bring Heat
into his Bar of Iron; so that where the Act it self, simply consider’d,
is weak and trivial, yet the Habit is of the greatest Efficacy.
Neither ought this to discourage any, who will give themselves leave
to consider, how slow, and yet how sure, some of the Despumations of
general Secretions of Nature; are wherein, if the Certainty and Security
will compensate for the Slowness of the Progress, they have Reason to
acquiesce and submit, when there is no other Remedy left. How often has
it been observ’d, that in some Paralytick Cases, after a considerable
Use of the Hot Baths, the sick Person has gone away disconsolate,
without any present sensible relief, and yet found himself cur’d in a
Month or two after; the Morbifick Matter being just mov’d and brought to
flow, when he left off Bathing, and yet not perceptible to himself; and
if Nature can be enabled to make such real tho’ flow, and for a time,
insensible Advances towards Health, in a Subject half dead; may not we,
with a great deal more Reason, expect the same and much more in a Person
who has his Nerves free, the Use of his Limbs; and who, notwithstanding
his Decay, is able to set upon a Course of Exercise? If Men were not
wanting to themselves in a Resolution to undergo with Patience the
Fatigue of Reducing Nature indispos’d to its former State, by slow
Measures, when violent are absolutely to be omitted; they would at last
be really convinc’d, that Health, as well as Sickness, may approach
insensibly; and that their tedious Struggles, and seemingly fruitless
Endeavours did gain ground upon the secret and intimate Springs of the
Oeconomy, before they come to be sensible of any the least Relief: for
when once upon the use of such gradual Means, there appears a sensible
Amendment, the Point is almost gain’d, and the Work more than half done:
As we see that upon the Return of the Sun, after Winter, towards us, ’tis
some Months before the Earth shews any great Signs of his Influence;
yet when once it displays the Effects of it, we can very well discern,
that they are such as must have been brooding long before we perceiv’d
’em. And why should not some Distempers go off leisurely, when we see
so many come upon us so? There seems to be a Parity of Reason for it,
tho’ it is no very comfortable Consideration. We know the Poison of a mad
Dog encreases in the Body for a Month or more, before it displays its
fatal Symptomes; and there is a great deal of Reason to believe, that a
Cancerous Humour is some Years ripening, before it creates any Trouble
to the Person in whose Body it is bred; Why should it seem strange then,
that some Diseases require a gentle and gradual Conflict of two or three
Months, when perhaps they have been a longer Time growing upon the
Patient?
What I have said would make the greater Impression, could we but have a
History of the fatal Miscarriages which have hapned upon preposterous
Methods of Cure; an History, which, I doubt, would prove a very
Voluminous one; that Rashness being too usual in both Acute and Chronical
cases; In the first, Many are apt to force an Indication, rather than
wait for one. In the latter, The World abounds with Examples of the
Folly and Impatience of Mankind. To instance but in the Dropsie; Who is
there almost, who cannot furnish you with the Story of one, who, from a
hopeful Condition in the use of Diureticks, and Corroborative Things,
cast himself into the Grave, by violent Purgatives, recommended by some
compassionate Friend or other, to carry off the Waters at once, with a
Beadroll of Stories to vouch its Success; when the other Method, with
a little Patience, had certainly brought him to his former Health,
and perhaps in much less time than his Disease was contracted. So
difficult it is for unhappy Man to bear the Penalty of some Months, for
the Demerits of some Years; and by Manly Consideration to keep from
entangling himself in his Chain, instead of getting out of it.
I am not unaware here, how hard it is to frame Arguments that can have
Force enough to prevail against the Apprehensions of the Pain and Trouble
to be undergone in the first Attempt of Exercise, which most sick People
have conceiv’d; and which are oftentimes so strong, as to blind the
Mind, or bribe the Will and there is no way to deal with those People,
but by Precedents; by shewing ’em, that those Difficulties have in many
Cases been easily overcome: And here the Cold Bath offers it self, a
severe Method of Cure taken up lately among us, and which upon the
first Consideration carries Terrour enough in it; which if anyone had
presum’d to recommend some Years ago, he would have been thought one of
the most Wild and Barbarous of Men; and yet we see now the tenderest of
the fair Sex dares commit her self to that terrible Element; and upon
the first Experiment the Fears and Amusements vanish. How severe is the
Sickness upon a Man’s first going to Sea; equal seemingly to the Effects
of any strong Poison; and yet Nature soon accustomes her self to that
Motion which is the Cause of it, and the Sailor quickly grows well! And
here it must not be suppos’d, that any salt Vapours arising from the
Sun, do contribute to this Vomiting, for it is now well known to every
one, who had but the least smattering in Distillations, That Salt will
not rise with a much greater Heat than that of the Sun; besides it is
observable that the oldest or most accustomed Sailors shall Vomit in bad
Weather, when the Ship is put into an unusual and irregular Motion; so
that it is plain, that the Motion of the Ship is the only cause of that
Sea-sickness: if therefore Nature can so soon suit her self to a Motion
that can cause such terrible Symptomes, how unreasonable, how Childish
it is for any one to object against the Use of Exercise, because of the
common and (in comparison of Sea-sickness) trivial inconveniencies which
must be born in the first Tryals! Some strong People shall be confounded
with a very few Glasses of Wine; and yet if those very People fall to
keeping of Company, and addict themselves to Wine but a little while,
they shall drink vast quantities without any Disorder. The first Pipe
of Tabacco disturbs Nature to the utmost, but after two or three more,
she becomes pleas’d with that, which before disturb’d her. In the Animal
Oeconomy, every thing is so wonderfully contriv’d, and made to conspire
for the Preservation of Life, that Nature can adapt her self to all
Circumstances; she can expand her self to bear the Luxury of a Palace,
and contract her self to the short Allowance, the Bread and Water of a
Prison; she can be easie under a Bloated Habit of Body, and she can make
a shift to suit her self to the Expence of Fluxes and other Evacuations;
accustoming her self so to bear ’em, that the longer they last, they
may be in some Proportion the more familiar. But above all, she, with
the most Ease, accustoms her self to the Use of Exercise; she may be
said to delight her self in that, it being in a manner, _de Essentiâ
Naturiæ_, and therefore it is in vain, when Exercise is really necessary,
for a Person to complain after the first Tryal, and say, I’m tyr’d, my
Bones are sore, my Head akes, I’m ready to faint, or the like; for all
this must be endur’d, and upon patiently repeating the Motion, tho’ no
Abatement appear for some Days, yet the Reward will come At last: and as
these Symptomes go off, the strength of the sick Person will encrease.
From these Considerations I think it sufficiently appears, that what I
have before hinted, is not at all unlikely, _viz._ That in some Cases, a
distemper’d Person may acquire, by suitable Exercise habitually us’d, a
degree of Strength, as much greater, than that of other sick People in
the same Circumstances, who wholly neglect all Exercise, as the Strength
and Agility of Robust Men, bred up to Violent Motions, is greater than
the Strength of other People, who tho’ Healthy, yet are not us’d to such
Things, and therefore incomparably Weaker.
Having thus Explain’d the Power of Motion, both on the Solids and Fluids,
and having shew’d how necessary it is, that such Motion or Exercise
should be continued to a Habit, that it may be render’d sufficient to
procure those Ends it is directed to; I hope after these Considerations,
it will appear pretty plain, that Exercise may deserve to be taken as a
_common Aid_ to Physick, (to use the Term which _Asclepiades_ gave it)
and ’tis under that Notion, that I propose it as so Beneficial a Medium
in the Art of Curing; so that Exercise in this Sence is to Physick, as
Bandage is to Surgery, an Assistance or Medium, without which, many other
Administrations, tho’ ever so Noble, will not succeed. It is a kind
of Reserve, but yet of that Efficacy, that the thing you most depend
upon, and tho’ in it self very powerful, may yet receive its _Derniere
Puissance_ from this Reserve. And to this it is that we most undoubtedly
attribute the wonderful Success which the Antients had in their Curing
with such indifferent Materials, as their Pharmacy afforded ’em.
This will prove an Aid in a double Respect, _viz._ both of the Distemper,
and of the Medicine.
In Respect of the Medicine; It is to be consider’d, that some Medicines
may require it, to enhance their Virtue; others to remove some
Inconvenience attending their Operation, which may deter People from
using ’em so liberally as they ought to do.
As to the Former, the ordinary Circulation of the Blood, may not suffice
to Answer the Nature of some Medicaments, and call out their utmost
Efficacy; just as we see the heat of our Sun will cherish and keep alive
some Exotick Plants, but yet will not suffice to bring ’em to their
utmost Perfection, to flower and seed; so that Exercise in this Case, is
like the just and exact Incubation to the Egg; that which Animates the
Drug, and gives it a Power to produce the Effect it is directed to. A
Medicine may not avail any more without Exercise, than Exercise without a
Medicine, and yet when both are us’d together, there may be a Result from
that Union, of the greatest Importance.
Therefore, before I come to speak of the Distempers, most liable to the
Power of Exercise, I shall take Notice of two or three Remedies, which
seem to demand this sort of Assistance.
The First, is the Decoctions of Woods; it is the general Complaint of
those who take these for any Time, that they pall their Stomachs; to
obviate which, if it be requisite that a Person should persist in this
Course, nothing can be more proper than Riding, or some other gentle
Exercise, because it will keep up the Vigour of the Spirits; and how
much the Appetite depends upon that, is easie to imagine, besides that
the Intention, the _Diaphoresis_, is likewise promoted thereby.
Another Medicine which should be followed with Exercise, is the
Chalybeate, especially in Dropical Subjects; not for fear it should
lye heavy upon the Stomach, as the Vulgar think, but because in these
People, the Contents of the Stomach are much rarefi’d and flatulent, and
the Steel is apt to cause Distentions and Gripes, and other troublesome
Symptomes; so that it is necessary, the whole Body should be well warm’d,
that those Particles may be discuss’d, and the Stomach qualifi’d to bear
the Chalybeate; besides, that acquired Heat will enable it, after it
comes into the Blood, to display its Effects the sooner, either as a
Corroborative, or a Diuretick. In Hysterick and Hypochondriacal Persons,
this Medicine, gives trouble after another manner, by Costiveness, by
Head-ach, and Heating the whole Body too much; now all these are much
qualifi’d by Exercise, for it will procure a Ventilation of many of those
Particles, which the Medicine agitates and throws upon the Membranes.
I might proceed to enquire into the Nature of _Balsamicks_, but that I
shall have occasion, as I proceed, rather to say something against their
Use, in one of the Distempers, which I shall consider; but if they are
to be us’d, what I have already said in Relation to the Fluids, will
shew that a great deal depends upon a proper degree of Agitation in the
Blood, for the uniting and throughly mixing the Particles, of a Medicine
of this Nature, that it may be transmitted to the designed Part to some
Purpose; and as it would be convenient a Balsamick should be taken in a
larger quantity, if the Stomach of sick People could bear it; so during
the Time of Exercise, while the Body is heated, the Stomach can bear a
greater quantity than at other times, without any Sense of Irritation,
or Inclination to throw it up. But I shall forbear to enlarge any more
on these things, and go on to the Distempers, which seem most Naturally
to demand this kind of Assistance; in Treating of which it will be easie
to discern in every several Case, how the Gymnastick Part will agree, or
fall in with the Pharmaceutick.