The Second Distemper which I shall consider as subject to these Measures,
is one _Species_ of the _Dropsie_; that is, the _Anasarcous_ Kind, from
which likewise I except those, which are attended with a hard Liver, or a
remarkable Obstruction of some of the _Viscera_.
This kind of _Dropsie_, thus circumstantiated, does at first View, seem
not to need the Assistance of any extraordinary means to help towards
a Cure, it being the most Curable of all Dropsies; and we have daily
Instances of its giving way to Common Medicines, nevertheless there are
such exceptions in this most Favourable Case, as give trouble enough
to a Physician sometimes, and requires more than usual Application; as
for Instance; sometimes a Person happens to be brought so low by an
Unseasonable Purge, that afterwards Diureticks and Corroboratives will
have no effect upon him, but the Case becomes deplorable, without the
Rupture of any _Lympheducts_ or other the like Difficulty.
_Secondly_, when People decline in Years, there are some extraordinary
means requisite to make the Remedies exert themselves with like Success,
as they do in Younger Persons.
_Thirdly_, in Hysterick Women it is difficult to carry off the load of
Water by common means, without some such Method as I shall hereafter
mention; because their Spirits are so low, that they can bear no
considerable Evacuation.
_Fourthly_, when a Dropsie comes upon an _Asthmatick_ Person, there are
particular Difficulties arise, and the singular Advantages of constant
and gentle Exercise in this Case are universally known.
These four different Circumstances of this Distemper, may suffice to shew
that I have Colour enough for my calling in the Gymnastick Method into
this Case, and ’tis the first of the Exceptions, I mean the ill Effects,
which sometimes follow upon the Use of Purgatives, which have chiefly
occasion’d me to inquire, whether we ought in this plain Case, thus
circumstantiated to halt between two Opinions, between Purgatives and
Diureticks, without endeavouring to establish a certain Praxis upon Just
Foundations.
There are none will deny, but Diureticks are the most proper and natural
Remedies in this Case, if they would always succeed, because directed to
the proper Emunctory, the Kidneys, and because they can go hand in hand,
with the Corroborative Medicines to be given at the same time; I take it
for granted therefore, that whenever Purgatives are us’d in this Case,
it is because the Diureticks don’t take quick enough, or in order to
carry off the load of _Serum_, that the Diureticks may the sooner display
their good effects, because it will be alledg’d that the _Serum_ becomes
so Ropy and Glutinous in the Passages and Capillary Parts, that the
Diuretick cannot always act upon it. But tho’ this is granted, it will
not suffice to warrant the Use of the stronger Purgatives, because their
manner of Acting cannot agree with this Distemper, and because those
difficulties objected, may be overcome by other means.
_First_, the very Nature of strong Purgers, makes against this Case, it
seems very preposterous, to have recourse to such Deleterious Drugs, to
those _Mortis Catapultæ_ (as _Ludovicus_ calls the _Esula’s_ and such
like Purgatives) in Order to the Restoring an impoverish’d Blood; if
they acted only by Stimulating the Intestines, something might be said;
but since it is indisputable that they pass into the Blood, and act
powerfully upon it, there is no doubt to be made, but they fuze and
divide it, and break its Globules, and consequently make as much Water as
they carry off, which is the very Reason why Sweating is laid aside, and
Salivation, tho’ they both seem so proper to carry off Watery Humours; I
know it may be alledg’d in Defence of these Medicaments, that the _36th_
and _37th Aphorisms_, of the _Second Section_ seem to imply, that a Sick
Person would receive less Harm from ’em, than one that is in Health;
but yet this will not excuse their Use in our Case, because tho’ the
Viscousness of the _Serum_, may blunt the Particles of those Drugs for
a time, and hinder ’em from working so quickly, yet when once they are
throughly imbib’d, and begin to exert their Force, they ravage the very
Principles of Life, and can by no means be fit for a Person in so low a
condition. But admit that the Water is carry’d off by these means, the
Blood will be left as poor at least as it was before the Dropsie first
appear’d; and then how can we be sure the Waters will not rise again?
Suppose an _Anasarca_ follows upon an _Hæmorrhage_, which is very common,
and you draw off the Water by Purging; will not the Person be just in
_Statu quo_, upon supposition that the Medicines in their working did not
impair Nature? but that is not to be granted, because it is impossible
to suppose, that such _Drastick_ Medicines, should not prey upon Nature,
even while they are assisting her; and can we be assur’d that the Blood
will not run into the same Colliquation it did before? Besides, may there
not be some reason to suspect that the very quantity of the _Serum_,
supposing it is not too Turgid indeed, may sometimes be serviceable,
to the promoting the activity of the Diuretick, even as we find in the
true _Ascites_, it is of some use in the Cavity of those Persons, because
they often can’t spare it, without certain Ruine? We don’t know how much
the confidence of the Fluid may conduce to the keeping its homogeneous
Particles combin’d, and we ought to be very tender of doing any thing,
that might tend to dissolve the _Crassamentum_, the Globules, which are
as it were the very _Semen Sanguinis_ (if I may so speak); for how far
Nature would endure such measures, before the Sanguification would be
totally subverted, would require a Dissertation, longer than my Scope
will permit; but that this is sometimes done is not improbable, and I
take this to be the Case of a Young Fellow I knew, who falling into a
slight Dropsie, goes to an _Empirick_ somewhere about _White-Chappel_,
from whom he had a Dose of Pills, which gave him about 30 Stools, which
sunk him so much that his Nails turn’d black, and he died in two or three
days time; Here ’tis very likely the Signification was entirely extinct,
and the Blood chang’d into a Preternatural Fluid, and all by the great
Power of these Deleterious Drugs; and tho’ ’tis likely the Quack did not
know the proper Dose of his Medicines, yet one would think, this was no
more than what might be expected from Ten Grains of _Elaterium_, which
yet has been allow’d by an Eminent Writer.
Besides the weak State of the Blood, the Ventricle is always more or less
impair’d in this Distemper, and consequently unable to be put to bear
the violent _Stimuli_ of the stronger Purgers, without Danger of having
its Tone irrecoverably ruin’d.
It may likewise be Prudent to forbear Purging in this Case, left happily
there should be some greater Obstruction in the Liver, than we are
aware on, for then it might be follow’d with ill Consequences; ’tis
true, if that Bowel is really _Schirrous_, it may be discern’d, or a
great Tendency toward it, will shew it self sometimes in the Greeness
and Virulency of the Bile mixt in the Excrements, together with other
Indications; but a slight disorder there, is not always regarded, and
Brick-colour’d turbid Urines are so common in all kind of Dropsies, that
we may not discern that the Blood does abound too much with Bile, and
so a Purge given at such a time may do a great deal of Mischief, for
the Bile is of a light Nature in Comparison of the _Phlegm_, and moves
easily, and no Man knows what he does when he rouzes it; I knew an ill
accident happen once upon a Purge, given by a very Eminent Physician, to
a Gentleman in a _Jaundice_, which put him into the most extravagant and
fatal _Hypercatharsis_: thus bold Administrations to such weak Subjects,
may be attended with Tragical Accidents, but the milder and gradual
measures may succeed, without such dangerous Risks, if we consider what
have been the Difficulties which have lay in the way, and hindred the
Operation of our Diureticks.
The ill Success of our Diuretick Method in this Distemper, is very much
owing to our giving those Medicines in so small a Quantity, and to our
not changing ’em for some of a quite different Nature, when one sort
us’d pertinaciously does not take; that the quantity must be encreas’d,
there needs no better Argument, than what is brought for the use of
Purgers; for if the Blood can dispense with the Particles of a Purgative,
it will certainly bear a great quantity of those which are Diuretick
only. What Wonders has that Golden Remedy of _Pythagoras_ done, the
_Acetum Scylliticum_, when given to a proper quantity? And what may not
be expected from the _Sal Succini_, which may be given to a Dose large
enough to irritate the Fibres of the Stomach, and in some measure supply
the place of a gentle Purger; but when it is come into the Blood it may
prove Cordial as well as inciding? And now I am speaking of augmenting
the Quantity of our Diureticks, I can here affirm a very strange Effect
that follow’d upon an excessive Dose of _Millepedes_ in an odd kind of
a Rheumatick Case, for the Cure of which, several things had been try’d
in Vain, by very good Advice; the _Millepedes_ were given to a quantity
scarce credible, to several Ounces, and gave a Relief in a little time
that exceeded all expectation. This with other instances something of the
like nature, every where to be met with, may convince, us that we ought
to advance the quantity of these Medicines, to which if we apply the Use
of Exercise, the highest Advantages may be expected: For to grant as much
as the favourers of the Purging Method can demand, that by reason of the
foremention’d Ropiness of the _Serum_, the Diureticks and Chalybeates
will but distend the parts, and make the Juices grow Turgid. Is there no
way to remove the Dam, but by shaking all Nature at the same time? Must
we blow up the House to get the Enemy out? To what purpose do we talk
so much of the Animal Oeconomy, if we reduce its Rules to Practice no
more than we do? We are taught the Benefit arising from the Constriction
of the Muscles upon the Vessels; and can there be any Case which does
more apparently call for it than this? When it is hazardous to attempt
by inward Violence to dislodge the Viscous Concretions, certainly it
is high time to do it by Muscular Force. This _Hippocrates_ seems to
be experimentally convinc’d of, by his frequent inculcating the Use of
Exercises in this Distemper, Δεῖ ταλαιπωρέειν _you must labour_, is his
constant Expression, whenever he speaks of the Dropsie; which, whoever
considers the Conciseness that is in all the Writings of that Great Man,
will be apt to imagine that it carries its Weight with it, and implies
the absolute necessity of acting upon the Lentor of the Phlegm, by the
playing of the Muscles. Besides Exercise will help to restore the Tone
of the Parts, which is sometimes spoil’d by too great a Distension, even
so much as to be in a manner benum’d, which _Helmont_ seems to lay much
stress on, when he, according to his odd fantastick way, calls it the
_Anger of the Archæus_, that won’t let the Waters pass; and if there
is this kind of Spasmodick Affect in the Parts leading to the Kidneys,
then certainly there is as much Reason for one in a Dropsie to get into
a Coach upon his taking his Medicines, that the frequent jolting may
assist their Operation, as there is for one in a Fit of the Gravel so
to do. The Heat that is acquir’d by the Motion of the Body, must needs
comfort the Parts, and rarifie a great deal of the Moisture, so that it
may the more easily pass the Membranes, as they are dilated by Exercise;
and if we can by squeezing, make Water pass through Leather, the whole
Skin dry’d and prepar’d, may it not much more easily pass the Membranes
of a living Animal, when work’d and stretch’d by Motion, and assisted
by the Warmth which that Motion produces? These may be thought little
things by some, but they will be found to be of great Consequence; by
such minute Measures, Nature can produce great Effects; and by a Neglect
of these things, many a great Life has been lost, in Dependence upon
something of a greater Name, that has had no Relation to the Genuine
proceedings of Nature.
These are some of the Reasons which have convinc’d me of the Preference
of the Diuretick Course, and which I think can’t be overthrown, by all
the Examples of the Success of Purgers, because if we compute the Ill
Effects of ’em likewise, and set ’em to balance the good, the very Cures
done by ’em, will seem but as so many _Splendida Peccata_. We ought not
hastily to quit safe Means for those which are dangerous, only because
they are a little more expeditious; when a Case is within our Reach,
we ought to Establish our Prognosticks upon sure ground, tho’ they may
not be so quick as could be wish’d; we have other Dropsies that are
dubious enough, but in this Case we ought to study to bring things to
a certainty as much as possible; which how can we do unless our Methods
are Uniform? It behoves the Patrons of Purgatives to assign some certain
Rule, to render the Use of ’em alwayes safe, which seems impossible to
be done; and it behoves those who are for insisting on Diureticks, to
find out some such Measures, as may make these milder Medicines always
Efficacious; which is what I have been attempting to do; and which, if I
don’t flatter my self, I think I have made to appear plain and obvious;
for if we can’t arrive at some comfortable certainty in this Case, I
don’t know in what we can do so; for we are so happy as to have those
things as will certainly act upon such a Crasis of the Blood, as will
revive and enrich it, when decay’d, tho’ not always in the like space
of time; and when they act too slowly, we can enforce their Virtue, by
these ways I have been speaking of.
These things are no Figment of mine, they have been the Practice of
Ancient Times, and are so natural a Result from a due Consideration
of the Animal Oeconomy, that I cannot enough wonder that in so many
Discourses upon those Fundamental Rules, there has been so little
Notice taken of the Effects of the Motion of the whole individual, as
superinduc’d to the internal Motions, that make up the Oeconomy; for
if this had been duly regarded, it could not but have been reduc’d to
Practice, and apply’d particularly to the Cure of this Distemper.
_Lastly_, I know these are hard Sayings to some People, who send for
a Physician, as for one that deals in Charms, and can remove all their
Afflictions, while they are wholly Passive; and they would take it very
ill that they should be compell’d to a sort of Labour, while they carry
about ’em a Load in their Limbs; but yet for all this, Nature will be
Nature still; and if this be her Voice it must be obey’d. He that is in
a Dropsie ought to be Alarm’d, and look upon himself as in something the
like Case with those Criminals whom the _Dutch_, upon their refusing to
Work, confine to a Cellar, and let the Water in upon ’em, that they may
be in a Necessity either of Pumping or Drowning. And I believe there are
but few, but who, upon their being convinc’d of the real and surprising
Benefit of these Means, would readily undergo the Fatigue of ’em; and
things may be so manag’d, that Exercise may not be so troublesome as the
Sick imagine; an easie Pad will quickly grow familiar; and where the Legs
happen to be so very much distended, that there may be some danger, lest
the Skin should be rub’d off, a Chaise may serve the turn.
OF THE _Hypochondriacal DISTEMPER_.
The third and last Case, which I shall expresly consider, is the
_Hysterick_ or _Hypochondriacal_ Case; in the Cure of which the several
Exercises, which I shall hereafter Recommend, may all be us’d. This
Distemper falls the most under a Gymnastick Method, because the least
proper to be treated with much Internal Physick; this is a Distemper
which will not drive, as we say, but if kindly treated will lead, that
is, will not be expell’d by Purging, Bleeding, Sweating or the like, but
must be treated by more gentle and leisurely Methods; ’tis a Distemper of
the Spirits, and the Vessels which immediately convey ’em; and therefore
those means by which they are more immediately affected, are the most
likely to prove beneficial. Here it is, if ever, strictly true, that a
little Matter gives the turn, but then that little matter must be equally
apply’d; we must give an equal lift to all the Parts of the Oeconomy at
the same time, we must not apply to the Fluids, and neglect the Solids.
’Tis the want of this Distinction, which I take to be the Ground of
all our mistakes in the Cure of this Distemper; we cure but half the
Man, When I meet with a Languid Hysterick Pulse, I can easily raise it,
and give a full Beat to the Artery, by Anti-Hysterick Medicines; but
then what becomes of the Nerves, they are not much help’d by this, But
sometimes impair’d by it? but then let the same Person have Recourse
to some moderate Exercise, his Pulse shall rife as high as upon the
use of Internals, but with this Difference, that the Nerves as well as
the Blood partake of the Benefit. For we may distinguish between this
natural advance of the Bodily heat, which is procur’d by Exercises, and
that which is acquir’d by Medicines, just as we may between the Effects
of the Kindly Heat of the Sun, and those of an Artificial Fire: Now in
the matter of the Vegetation of Plants, and the Management of some sorts
of nicer Workmanship, tho’ the greatest Care and Industry be us’d to
raise a gentle heat, which to our Senses and even to the Measure of the
Thermometer, may seem equal to that of the Sun, yet it shall never be
able to produce the same exquisite effects, as the heat of the Sun does.
And so we see in this Case the mildest and seemingly most agreeable Gumms
prove Purgers to some of these People, others again can’t bear _Castor_,
without some troublesome inconveniences; and how much soever some People
may be Rapt up with their _Sal Volatile_, and such like Preparations,
I can perhaps give an instance of more wonderful Relief given in this
Case, by a more Common Cordial, than ever those splendid Medicines could
produce; it may not be amiss to relate it in this place, because it
serves to illustrate my Design in shewing that nothing that has the least
seeming Violence in it, or rather that nothing, which is not very mild
and agreeable to Nature, can be of very great moment in the Cure of
this Distemper. The Instance then I mean, was communicated to me by an
Eminent Physician, and very Learned Writer, and is this; He was call’d
to see a Maid which had been severely Tormented with Hysterick Fits for
several days, and had taken plenty of the Remedies usual in that Case,
without any effect; upon which he was resolv’d to try, what a good large
Dose of a true generous Wine would do, considering she was a Servant, and
consequently could not be suppos’d to be accustom’d to that Liquor, which
would have render’d his attempt fruitless; he therefore prescrib’d some
Pouders of no Efficacy, to obviate the Phancy of the By-standers, and
order’d the Apothecary to ply her with some Wine of his own procuring,
that he could depend upon, till she had taken a quantity, which to her
might be reckon’d very large; this succeeded like a Charm, after a good
Sleep, she was freed of all her terrible Symptoms the next Morning, tho’
before she could scarce stir her head from the Pillow, but she fell into
a Fit. And I have twice had the Occasion, to see something of the like
nature my self; the first was, where a large Dose of Wine took off some
very ill Symptoms, occasion’d by strong Purgers, erroneously repeated in
a certain Nervous Case. But the Person had not been us’d to drink Wine,
otherwise it could not have produc’d such a happy effect. I instance in
these things only to shew, that the Remedies which are most proper and
adequate to this Case, must be such as have something of an inimitable
Mediocrity in ’em; and that Exercises do produce Alterations in the
Body, which resemble the effects of such a singular and Noble Mean, is
not improbable, in regard they act so equally (as I observ’d before)
both upon the Solids and Fluids. And one would think the Ill Success of
any thing, but like Violence, should lead us to some such Measures as
these. One would be apt to think that when a Distemper, which carries as
little, or may be, the least danger of Life in it, of any whatsoever,
tho’ so very troublesome, when this nevertheless becomes one of the most
difficult to be perfectly rooted out, one would think, I say, that this
odd Circumstance, so like to Contradiction, should prompt us to look out
for the real Reason of it.
Upon these Considerations I can’t but admire, that the same
Administrations, or with very little difference, (excepting the
Chalybeates which may be allow’d in both Cases) are thought proper for
Temperate Women, and Men of Intemperance, when they happen to fall into
the Hypochondriacal Affect, as is frequently enough known; one would
think that when the Disorder in these latter is owing to the excess of
a Liquor, both wholsom enough and Cordial enough in it self, which by
its too frequent use has relax’d the Nerves, and consequently impair’d
the Spirits, there should be little likelyhood it should be remov’d, and
taken off by hot Medicines in a Solid form, which perhaps don’t differ so
much as most People imagine, in their real intrinsick Energy from that
Noble Liquid, to which these Gentlemen owe their Malady; I say, one would
think that some such surmises as these, should naturally lead us to an
immediate attempt, upon the parts affected, _viz._ the Nerves, which must
be done by means suitable to ’em, that is by Exercise.
Wherever there is a Dejection of the Mind, and a Propensity to
Phantastick and Imaginary Fears, there is reason to suspect the Solids,
that is, the Nerves are more in fault than we think for; we may consider
that when a Man is Drunk, he seldom loses his intellectual Faculties
to any great degree, till the Nerves are quite stress’d with the Load
of Wine, and his Feet go commonly before his Reason; and if this were
a proper place, perhaps, I could shew some Reasons for us to suspect
the same, in the Deliriums of People in a Feaver, that the intense heat
must first evidently impair the whole body of the Nerves, before the
Understanding will be quite lost. We don’t know what a great deal of
Rotation and irregular Agitation the Spirits strictly taken will bear,
without any Damage receiv’d; but when the Nerves, the Container of those
Spirits, are considerably affected, the Spirits contain’d must partake
of the Mischief. We know but little of that inconceivable connexion of
Soul and Body, but the wonderful Bond of Union, seems to terminate very
much in the Fibre. For we may observe, that those Poisonous Vegetables
which intoxicate, and attack the Rational Faculty, do chiefly display
their Power on the Nerves, ’tis in their very Nature, and in the
least quantity to hurt the Nerves; and when Wine, tho’ in its Quality
most agreeable, is by the Quantity and Repetition of it, made to be
prejudicial to the Nervous System, I can’t imagine, how other Cordial
Medicines, which must still in some Measure keep up the Stress upon the
weakned Nerves can be the adequate Remedy of this Disease, but that the
Nerves, must be assisted after their own way, after a manner suitable to
their Nature, that is by Exercises; for it is, and ever will be one of
the Properties of a Fibre, to be the stronger for Motion, the better for
wearing; and it is but a Law of Nature, arising from the Necessity of the
Constitution, that while the Fluids are continually wasting and running
off the faster, for the Motion of the whole Individual, the other part of
the Constitution, the Solids, the Fibres should by the same Means reap
some Advantages proper, and in some measure sufficient to Balance the
Consequences of such a _Dispendium_.
All this receives certain weight from the Argument which is so Naturally
suggested to us, by the familiar and daily Observations, which every one
cannot but make on the Health of the Poorer sort of People, especially
their immunity from this Distemper. That it is matter of wonder that the
Spasms, the Tremors, the Shiverings, the Watchings, and all the very
numerous Plagues of an Hysterick Person, should not be able to rouze
People into a Quest of Health, upon Measures suitable to the Causes of
things; that such Painful experience should not animate ’em, into a
Resolution to exchange the Pains of a sedentary, for the Indolence at
least, not to say, the Pleasures of an Active Life. I am confident no one
could forbear making these Inferences, and reducing ’em to practice, who
has been any considerable time infested with this Distemper, were it not
for the present Comfort and false Hope, which are conceiv’d from some
Palliative Remedies, in too much use in this Case; I mean Vinous Spirits,
and Compositions Distill’d upon ’em, which because in the beginning of
this Distemper, they are found to be comfortable and really useful,
entice People to have recourse to the use of ’em, oftner than they
ought to do, and in time seduce ’em so much by that Delusive flash of
Ease, which they give in the first Moments of their Drinking, that they
cannot have a due Regard to the Evil Consequences of such a Practice;
these Liquors prove a meet Charm, they creep into the Understanding,
and teach People to impose upon themselves, and fansie Excuses for the
use of ’em, till they come to be so blinded as to think that Health it
self, is scarce an equivalent for the Pleasures which must be deny’d,
in the Abstinence from ’em. They who have brought themselves to such a
Custom, are not unlike some of our Debtors, who after they have been some
time in a Prison, and learn’d the way, of living an Idle Life upon other
Folks Cost, tho’ under Confinement, they lose all sense of Liberty, and
never desire to subsist again, upon the severe Conditions of Industry and
Labour; and so those who have learn’d to sip of this Spirituous _Lethe_,
quite forget the value of Health and Strength; they can drown their
Vapours, blunt their Pains, and rub on without great danger a good while,
and therefore as for brisk Exercise, the Cold Bath, and the like, they
desire to be excus’d; there’s too much Danger in the Practice, there’s
a _Lyon in the Way_; and thus a sickly complaining Life they lead,
because they will not take Courage, to use the Just endeavours after a
real State of Health. These I take to be some of the Reasons, why this
Distemper is so seldom totally extirpated, and is become the _Opprobrium_
both of the Patient and Physician; for else it would be impossible, that
People should generally resist the Consequence of that Observation which
I hinted before: For if the Labour of the Poor generally secures ’em
from this Distemper, and if this Distemper, whenever it seizes, is of so
nice and tender a Nature, that it will scarce allow of any of the common
Methods us’d in the Cure of other Distempers, certainly it behoves the
Persons so griev’d, to try whether those Means which are Preservative
to others, may not prove Curative to them; which, by reason that the
Subject of the Distemper, _viz._ the Spirits and Nerves are primarily
affected by Exercise, proves highly probable. For why there should be
such dependance on Internals universally, and even in this Case, I can’t
see; to me it seems almost as Ridiculous, as if a Workman should use
but one sort of Tool in working on Wood, Stone, Brass, and all other
Materials.
I need not here take Notice of any of the particular Symptoms of this
variable Disease, they all being liable to the same Regimen; I have
already in another place hinted what Relief may be procur’d by this
Method in the Hysterick Colick, and in the obstinate Watchings, which
will scarce submit to the use of _Laudanum_, or at least without ill
Consequences. Therefore I shall conclude they all fall under the Power
of a Resolute COURSE of EXERCISE.
The Exercises most proper here are _Riding_, and the use of the _Cold
Bath_; the first prepares for the second; which Rule if some People, who
are the most weakly, wou’d observe, they might secure themselves, from
some of those few Accidents that have befel the too rash entrance into
the Cold Bath. Instead of Riding on horse-back, Women may take a Chaise,
which will allow of swift Motion, and comes little short of the Horse
for Agitation of the Body; tho’ I can’t see any breach of _Decorum_, if
a Lady, attended with a Servant, should ride on Horse-back daily for
Health, if she like it best; as for those, who upon the Account of their
being very Fat, have some Reason to be cautious, how they go into the
Cold Bath, lest some Apoplectick Symptoms should ensue, they may have
recourse to another of those Exercises, which I shall treat of, _viz._
the use of the _Brush_, or _Chafing_, which if us’d in good earnest, will
not prove so trivial as perhaps some People imagine it to be.
These are the Chief Exercises which I would recommend in this Case, and
which if us’d with Prudence and Application, I doubt not are able to
effect a compleat and Eradicative Cure of this Distemper, as certainly as
more violent internal Means are expected to succeed in any other Case,
the Spirits and Nerves being not so much more untractable, than the Blood
and Humours, if treated after a manner suitable to their Nature.
What I have said of these three Cases, may serve to illustrate the
necessity of this Method in some few other Cases, which I need only
Name; as the _Scorbutick Rheumatism_, which being a Nervous Case, will
admit of the three Exercises I have mention’d, which if strenuously put
in Practice at proper Seasons, will do Wonders in the removing of those
Pains. The _Nervous Atrophy_ is another Case, which may be remov’d by a
Gymnastick Method, when all the Pompous Internal Medicines will not avail.
_Lastly_, there is one more Case, to which Riding seems to be in a
peculiar manner appropriated, and that is, that Decay of Nature which is
occasion’d by Passions of the Mind, which we commonly call, Breaking
the Heart; here the Spirits are broke, and ruined by the stress of
Thought, the Mind drinks up the Vital Fluids, and the Ravage proceeds
so fast, that nothing can avail, but what can in some Measure interrupt
the Eagerness of Thought, and repair in Proportion to the wast of the
Spirits, which Riding seems most likely to do, because it gives an
Alacrity beyond that of Wine; because the Briskness of the Motion, must
take a Man off from close thinking, and such Exercise continued long,
even to some Journeys, must by Tiring incline to Rest, and break off
those voluntary Wakings and anxious Thoughts, which are so pernicious;
and if some intervals of Ease can be gain’d in this Case, there is hopes
that Reason or Religion may take place, and the Passions may be laid:
For ’tis the first Fury that is the most Dangerous and Violent; if that
can be manag’d, the Point is gain’d, and there is nothing like Hurrying
the Body, to divert the Hurry of the Mind.
These are most of, if not all, the Cases which fall under the Power
of Exercise as Curative; as for the Benefit which may be obtain’d by
Exercise, in the Gravel, the Gout, and the like, it is purely Palliative,
and therefore out of the Scope of my intention in this Treatise: I shall
now proceed to consider briefly, those several Sorts of Exercise, which
seem proper to my Design.
And here I shall not insist upon the various Exercises of the Ancients,
or all those in Use now in our Days, but shall make choice of but a
few, that seem most Compatible with the Weakness and Infirmities of Sick
People, and the particular Circumstances of those Distempers which I have
already mention’d, and I shall begin with the chief of ’em, which is that
of RIDING.