Upon several Accounts, this may be esteem’d the best and Noblest of all
_Exercises_ for a Sick Person; whether we consider it with Respect to the
Body or the Mind; if we Enquire after what manner it affects the Body, we
shall find that it is a kind of mixt Exercise, partly _Active_ and partly
_Passive_; the lower parts of the Body, being in some measure employ’d,
while the upper parts are almost wholly Remiss or Relax’d; nay, where a
Man is easie, is sure of his Horse, and rides loose, there is very little
Action on his Part, but he may give himself to be as careless almost
as if he were Seated on a Moving Chair; so that he may be said to be
Exercis’d rather than to Exercise himself; which makes the Case widely
different from almost all other sorts of Exercise, as Walking, Running,
Stooping, or the like; all which require some Labour, and consequently
more Strength for their Performance; in all which, the Muscular Parts
must be put to some Stress, and some of the Secretory Vessels made
to throw off too much, while others throw off too little; whereas in
Riding, the Parts being incomparably more relax’d, there is a better
Disposition towards an equal Secretion of the Morbisick Particles, and
a less Expence of the Animal Spirits, the chief Agents in all regular
Secretions; so that a Sick Person may by this means be greatly reliev’d
and not tir’d, whereas by other more violent ones, it is possible he may
be tir’d and not reliev’d.
As for the Parts which are more immediately acted upon by this Exercise;
it is very plain they are the whole Contents of the Lower Belly, so
that the Glands of the _Mesentery_ and the Intestines, so frequently
accus’d of Obstructions, may in a special manner be clear’d, and
their Tone recovered by such repeated Agitation; which is a thing so
manifest and allow’d, that it would be needless to multiply Words in the
explaining of it. But there is another sort of Assistance communicated
to the Intestines, which is not so much heeded, and that is the great
Alteration, which is made by this Agitation, in some of the Morbifick
Particles, as they come to be squeez’d out of their several Glands
into the Intestines, which in the time of Riding is doubtless in a
much greater quantity than at other times. These Particles must not be
suppos’d to be barely carryed off as Excrementitious, but to undergo a
Change in their Texture, to be several times in a manner Cohobated, from
Acid and Acrimonious, to be Volatiliz’d, and in some measure render’d
inflammable; that there is some such Alteration made in the more liquid
part of the Contents of the Intestines, before they come to grow hard in
a true State of Health is easie to prove, and I believe agreed on by most
Enquirers into the Oeconomy of Nature, and that there is some Defect
in these Operations of the Bowels, in some sick People, is evident from
the Consistence, Smell, and other Qualities of these Contents, different
from what they are found in a State of Health; and that this Defect may
be remov’d by this Exercise, seems not improbable, if we consider how
immediately Riding affects those parts, that it acts as a Topick, by
those infinite Succussions coming close upon one another, which must
needs cause a greater Heat than ordinarily, and a better Mixture of some
of the Similar Particles, and a Rarefaction of others, which after they
are thus differently Modefi’d and alter’d, are many of ’em as it were
chaf’d in again by that continual Agitation, and the Steam of their
inflammable Parts is of Use, to keep Nature even under the Exercise;
that there is something like this to be observ’d in the actions of the
Bowels might be confirm’d, by what Glysters are known to do. I would not
willingly verge towards the Fraud of an Hypothesis; I may be allow’d to
have had some more than Common Occasion, to put me upon making these
Observations, having some time ago been so unhappy as to labour under as
severe a Flux, as perhaps ever was known, which held me about a Year and
a Half, attended with Vomitings, and most unsupportable Nervous Symptoms;
during all which time nothing reliev’d me, in the greatest Paroxisms of
it, like gentle Riding, in so much that at last I was forc’d to be in a
manner always on Horseback, to have the Pressure on my Bowels rebated,
and my Spirits a little refresh’d. The Comfort which I found by that
means, I think must be attributed to some such _Phænomena_ as I have
above mention’d; for tho’ I will grant, that Riding was more beneficial
to me under those Circumstances, than it would be to another, because
of those Nervous Symptoms; yet how Particles so exquisitely Pungent and
Acrimonious, should be retain’d and blunted and made useful, as appears
from the Evil Consequences of too many Evacuations; how this should
come about, but after such a manner as I have above hinted, I cannot
understand; ’tis easie for those who think in hast and superficially, to
be deceiv’d with the first appearance of things; but when once Men are
calm enough, or under a Necessity to think closer, they are more likely
to come to the Truth of such _Phænomena_ as these; and to those who do
allow themselves to deliberate before they are Positive, I doubt not but
what I have asserted, will appear reasonable; and perhaps I should not be
so much out of the way, if I should add, that some of the _Stercoraceous_
parts of the Contents of the Intestines, are not in a strict Sence to
be reckon’d Excrementitious or useless, since tho’ I don’t believe
Digestion is perform’d by Putrefaction, yet I believe Putrefaction is a
great Medium for the opening of Bodies, and the extracting inflammable
Parts out of ’em; as we see a little Greenish _Hay_, when it comes to
be Putrefi’d, shall become inflammable; and there being inflammable
Particles in the Intestines, ’tis probable they may owe their Origine to
some such Cause, and not to the first Chylification in the Ventricle. I
would not be thought to bring these Reasons, as if I believ’d Riding
would Cure a Flux, I don’t believe any such thing, unless upon some very
singular Circumstances, and therefore I have not plac’d it among those
Distempers, which appear to be Curable by Exercise; but I only draw this
Consequence from the Palliative Relief, which Riding will afford in the
time of a long Flux, that some pernicious and disagreeable Particles, may
receive such an Alteration while in the Intestines, as to become fit to
be re-absorb’d by the several Vessels of those parts, and convey’d with
great Advantage into the Blood again, which is making things to go on in
a Round towards a Cure; Nature her self doing the Work, without forcible
Evacuations, which tho’ never so gentle in some fine Constitutions, can
scarce be born, and without much Physick, the very Morbifick Matter
being so alter’d and dispos’d in one part of the Body, as to be useful in
another. I have insisted the longer on this Point, that I might make it
as plain as possible, because I think it is of so great Moment in some
Distempers and some Constitutions.
What relates to the Breast, I have had occasion to Explain before;
and for the Head, tho’ I can’t say it is immediately affected by this
Exercise as the Lower Belly is, yet there is one Benefit accrues to
it from Riding, which by reason of the Disuse of Exercise in Cases of
Sickness, is not taken Notice of, and it is this, the great inclination
to Sleep, which a Sick Man finds if he lies down on his Bed as soon as
he comes off his Horse; for as the Motion of a Coach does more or less
dispose all People to Sleep, and the swifter it goes, the more we are
inclin’d to Doze; So the Motion of a Horse being swifter, and the Posture
relax’d as to the Head and upper Parts, tho’ a Man does not perceive any
thing of such an inclination, while he is Riding and upon his Guard,
without any thing to lean on, yet there is so much of the Impression of
that Motion remains upon him, for sometime after he lights off his Horse,
that if he throws himself presently upon his Bed, especially if he drinks
some small Draught of wholsom Ale or Wine first, he will quickly be in a
Sleep, which upon several Accounts must then be very Beneficial; this is
a Truth so certain and so valuable to distressed, infirm People, whose
Nights are often more troublesome than the Days, that it is a wonder
what should keep Men from attending to Nature, and falling into such just
Measures that Art it self cannot afford. What can be more applicable to
all the Circumstances of Consumptive People, than after that by Moderate
Riding, they have dispos’d the Humours for each Secretion, they should by
such short and Refreshing Sleeps compleat those Secretions? When moreover
by these Means, they may be enabled to deny themselves those latter or
Morning Sleeps, in which they are so apt to run into Colliquations; I
know some may please to be so witty as to call this Nursery, rather than
a Management worthy of a Physician; but yet I will appeal to any that are
Sober, Calm, and free from Prejudice, whether if they allow that this
Exercise, does dispose to Sleep as I affirm, upon this Supposal, any
thing can more exactly hit the miserable Circumstances of those Persons.
To the Sick, these little things are of great Moment, and in such
seemingly little things as these, the Accurate Management of the Ancients
consisted, by which they were sometimes enabled to accomplish, that which
we, for want of those Measures, do sometimes fall short of.
As to the other Property of this Exercise, it may be convenient for me
to make some Apology, before I enter upon the Mention of it, because it
is such, as cannot be well understood, but by those who are Conversant
with _Sanctorius_, upon one of whose above-mention’d Maxims it does
depend, _viz._ Upon that which shews the great Increase of the insensible
Perspiration by _Pandiculation_ and Gauping; now I hope the taking
Notice of this, will not be thought odd in an Age, of which it is one of
the Good Qualities, that Men will not take up with the old superficial
Way of accounting for things by Occult Qualities, _Putredo_’s, and the
like, but enquire into the _Modus_ of the more Abstruse Actions of
Nature, and will be convinc’d, that whatever are the legitimate Measures
that she takes, they cannot be thought little or uncouth, seeing ’tis by
such _Minima_, that she comes to be able to compleat her great Things.
If therefore by Gauping, this Perspiration is so very much promoted, as
has been discovered, and adjusted by the Experiments of that Admirable
Author, we may reflect upon how little things our Deliverance from
Feavers, and other Inconveniences, does depend; nothing being more
common upon taking Cold, Surfeits, or the like, than for People to Gaup
often, till the offensive Matter is let out, and consequently it is
very apparent, that whatsoever will promote the Pandiculation must be
beneficial, when the Perspiration is obstructed; and this, tho’ it cannot
be effected by any Internal, may be done by Riding, which will dispose
all People, the Healthy as well the Sick, more or less to it. I know it
may be alledg’d, that all People when they are tyr’d, are more or less
apt to Gaup and Retch, but yet it cannot be said, that Thirty Miles
Riding is a Tyring to a Healthy Man; and yet let any one observe, if that
or less will not dispose all People to this Affect, unless they over-rule
it by Drinking of great Quantities of good Liquor, which I believe will
not always suppress it neither; but for those who are Sickly, the least
Use of this Exercise disposes ’em to this Method of Nature, which perhaps
no other Exercise will do, unless they are tyr’d by it; which shews how
much Riding is preferable to other Exercises for Sick People, because it
does some way or other act upon the Secret Springs of Nature, after a
more peculiar manner, and therefore more proper for the promoting that
easie and even Evacuation.
There is another Property of Riding, that it always gives a Freshness
to the Countenance of those who use it, which lasts for some time, and
will appear upon but once Riding, and the weakest and most infirm Person
shall discover something of this in his Cheeks after this Exercise; now
I would fain know, what Noble Cordial, whether Solid or Liquid, can
do thus? They may cause a Flushing, but can produce nothing of this
Natural Aspect; and what can more plainly discover to us, that there is
something inimitable which results from the equal and gentle Pressures
of the innumerable and invisible _Vascula_ of the whole Body together,
and that that Action which can produce such an Appearance upon but one
single Application to it, may be sufficient to display the greatest and
most wholsome effects when continued on gradually, as it ought to be;
and to object against the Certainty of these Measures, because they must
be slow, is just as Wise as it would be to assert, that the hand of the
Dial does not move, or the Budding Leaf encrease, because we cannot
discern the Motion of either of ’em. Nothing certainly could keep us
from Regarding these Tendencies of Nature, but the excessive Variety of
Medicines, with which we are so gloz’d, that we over look Her gradual
Progressions, either to Sickness or Health, and think to force Her in
all Cases by the Power of Art; whereas in a great many Cases, she will
baffle the boldest Administrators, when by gentle and suitable means she
may be reduc’d, to her true State. The Famous _Cornaro_’s Case, and many
others might be alledg’d to shew how great Changes may be procur’d, by
a strict attendance to the demands of Nature, and that it is seldom too
late to aid Her in a Natural way, agreeable to her Weakness and without
the Oppression as I may call it at such a time, instead of the Assistance
of much Physick.
Add to all this the Vivacity, the Gayety which does alwayes more or less
result from brisk Motion, whether it is caus’d by the spirits expanding
themselves, or the Fibres dilating themselves to take in a greater
quantity of the Spirits, it is hard to determine, and perhaps of no
great consequence if we could; but that I may represent the Sense we may
conceive of this, I think I have no reason to be asham’d to borrow for
once more an Illustration from that Noble Beast, to which this Exercise
I am treating of is owing; It is a known Case then, that if you take
a Horse of the best Spirit, and of the best Keeping, provided he is
not Vicious, as they call it; if you mount this Horse, and walk him or
keep him to a pretty slow pace, you’ll find him quiet enough, but if
you once put him on to a larger Pace, he can’t contain himself, but
will grow troublesome, and press for a swifter Career, than perhaps his
Rider would desire; which plainly shews, that there is something in the
Animal Oeconomy, which _crescit eundo_, which gathers by Motion, and
which can’t perhaps be made to display it self so well any other way;
for this must not be thought to be wholly owing to high Feeding, but to
the degree of the Motion; for the same Sprightliness or Courage will
appear proportionally in any sort of Motion: And but a slow Motion in
some Cases does not want its good Effects; those who are Judges of the
Art of War, tell us that it is not best for a Body of Men to stand still
and expect the Enemy, but to keep in Motion while they are drawing to
the Battle; and in the time of a Siege, they make it a Rule, to remove
their Men from one Post to another; that their Spirits may be kept
up by their being in a continual Diversion. We are as subject to the
Impressions of Motion, as to those of Sound and Harmony, and both are
able sometimes to inspire a Flash of Courage into the Mind, that is not
to be despis’d; and as one was of Use to drive away the Evil Spirit of
Old, so the other may be of Service, to dispel the Hypochondriack Cloud,
the desponding imaginations of Sick Persons; a Man may be able by this
means to rouze himself, and shake off that _Incubus_ of the Brain, that
lies brooding of Causeless Fears and Doubts, to the great hindrance of
all his Endeavours after Health; it is no small matter for a Person to
hope and believe that he shall do well, it is some Advance towards a Cure
to have so much Courage, Ἤν φόβος καὶ δυθυμὶη, &c. _Si Metus & Tristitia
multo tempopore perseverent, Melancholicum hoc ipsum_; As _Hippocrates_
observes in one of his _Aphorisms_ of his _fifth Section_, Fear and
Sadness are sufficient to create a Distemper, and therefore may be very
well thought to obstruct greatly the Cure of one; those Passions cause
the Motion of the Heart, and the Beat of the _Artery_ to be weaker and
consequently must proportionably lessen insensible Perspiration, which
depends so much upon the Vigour of that Motion: We see a more than usual
Application to Business and Intensness of Thought for but a few Days,
shall cause an Alteration in the Countenance of a Healthful Man, and make
him begin to look Pale and Wan; how much more then must it prejudice a
Sick Man, to be always musing on his Distemper, which he can hardly well
forbear neither, when he knows there is real Danger in this Case? but
all this Anxiety will be very much prevented and interrupted by Riding,
and a Man will naturally come to take heart and think well of his Case,
when he finds he can procure such Temporary or Periodical Relief, if I
may so call it, such intervals of Ease, as in the time of Riding, he is
sure more or less to enjoy.
These things are so agreeable to Nature and Reason, that I am confident
they can’t but gain reception with those who are acquainted with this
Exercise; no Man can be an Enemy to Riding, but he who is ignorant of
it; and the generality of Men are by their Employments and Affairs kept
so much from the Practice of it, that they for the most part judge of it
by what they have experienc’d on a Journey, where an indifferent Horse,
bad Ways, and other Inconveniencies, make Riding rather a Toil than a
Pleasure: Whereas he who designs to make his Riding turn to account, must
make it a Pleasure; he must retire to some Place, where he can have the
open Field for his Range, he must find out a Horse that entirely suits
his Humour, and then it will not be easie for him not to delight in a
Creature which will perform all he expects from him, that takes Pleasure
in what he is put upon, and delights in his Rider; a Creature, which
(considering the many other Beasts that are Serviceable for Draught or
Burden) seems to be made almost only for the Defence, the Pleasure and
Health of his Master; and which has so many excellent Qualities above all
other Beasts, that there is no Man upon Earth, whose Gravity or Dignity
is so great, as not to allow him with some Pleasure to take Notice of
’em, if the Exercise alone will not satisfie; there is Variety of the
Pleasures of the Field, some of which any Man may make agreeable to his
Humour; there is variety of Chace, both Violent and Moderate, a variety
so great, that Providence seems to have appointed it to be subservient to
this Exercise, that Men may divert themselves with Pleasures, that will
keep up the Vigour of the Mind, instead of those soft Effeminate ones,
which generally take place more or less, where this is laid aside; add to
all this the pleasure a Man conceives when he finds his Health returning,
which will make him delight in the means of his Recovery, and persue with
Cheerfulness that which before perhaps seem’d indifferent to him; so
that an Active Life, when a Man has laid aside his timorous Prejudices,
and is let into the tast of it, will be found not only to have its
Advantages, but its Charms too; and he who indulges himself long in it,
will think it not a Paradox, that there should be an Active Luxury,
which may exceed all the Passive Enjoyments of Sloth and Indolence. I
have insisted the more on the Pleasure as well as the Benefit of this
Exercise, because there are some Constitutions of so fine a Make, or else
so impair’d by some Hereditary Stain, that it must be slow and gentle
means that can Act upon ’em to any purpose, and the taking Pleasure in
those Means must greatly contribute to the Relief they are intended to
give.
Tho’ what I have said, may I hope carry weight enough with if, to
convince any that will give themselves leave to enquire into the Causes
of things; yet because Examples have so great a sway with some I shall
add a few instances of the Effects of this Exercise, and I shall first
relate the History of the Cure of Dr. _Seth Ward_, then Bishop of
_Salisbury_, which I have Translated from Dr. _Sydenham_.
_Nostrorum quidem in Sacris Antistes, Vir Prudentia, &c._ “One of our
Prelates, a Man Eminent for Wisdom and Learning, after that he had for a
long time given himself intemperately to his Studies, and with the whole
Stress of his Mind, which in him is very great, apply’d himself too much
to close Thinking; he fell at length into the Hypochondriacal Distemper,
which continuing a good while, all the Ferments of his Body were
vitiated, and all the Digestions quite subverted. He had more than once
gone thro’ the Chalybeate Course, He had try’d almost all the Mineral
Waters, with Purgings often repeated; as likewise Antiscorbuticks of all
kinds, and Testaceous Powders, in order to the Sweetning of his Blood.
Thus what with the Disease, and what with the Cure, continu’d for so many
Years together, being just not quite destroy’d, he was seiz’d with the
Colliquative _Diarrhœa_, which in the Consumption, and other Chronical
Distempers, when all the Digestions are quite spoil’d, is wont to be
the Forerunner of Death: When he at length consulted me, I presently
consider’d, that there was no more place left for Medicines, since he had
taken so many, and those so efficacious to so little purpose; I advis’d
him therefore for the Reasons above-mention’d, to commit himself wholly
to Riding for a Cure, beginning first with small Stages, such as were
most suitable with so weak a Condition; in so much, that if he had not
been of a piercing Judgment, that could discern the Reason of things,
he would not have been induc’d, to try that sort of Exercise. I desir’d
him to persist daily in that Practice, till in his own Opinion he was
well, encreasing his Stages gradually every day, till he could come to
Ride as many Miles in a Day, as the more Prudent and Moderate Travellers
usually do in one day, when upon the account of their Affairs, they set
out on a long Journey; that he should not be sollicitous as to what he
Eat or Drank, or have any regard to the Weather; but that he should like
a Traveller, take up with whatsoever he met with. To be short, he set
upon this Course gradually, Augmenting the Distance of his Ridings, till
at length he came to ride twenty, nay thirty Miles a Day and as soon as
he perceiv’d himself better after a few days tryal, he was Animated with
the wonderfulness of the Event, and persever’d in the same Course for
some Months; in which space of Time, he rode several Thousand Miles, as
he told me himself, until he was not only well, but had acquired a strong
and robust Habit of Body.”
And Dr. _Sydenham_, tells us in the same place, that he Cur’d some of his
Relations of Consumptions, by putting ’em upon Riding much, of whom he
says, that it was altogether out of the Power of Medicine to help ’em.
_Cum certò sciam me, vel Medicamentis quantivis pretii, aut aliâ Methodo,
quæcunque demum ea fuerit, nihil magis iisdem proficere potuisse, quam si
multis verbis hortatus fueram ut recte valerent._
A Clergyman, with whom I am acquainted, living in the Country, happen’d
some years ago, to fall into a lingring _Diarrhœa_, which hung upon him
some Years, and eluded the force of the best Medicines of all sorts,
and brought him so low, that he had no hopes of Recovery left; when he
was in this Condition, a Physician of the City advis’d him to try what
Riding would do, not a slight tryal or two, but a close application to
it; and his Physician told me himself, that he charg’d him to keep to a
brisk Motion, and gallop as much as he could, enjoyning withal a very
strict Diet, that if the Disease should be check’d by the Exercise, it
might not by any improper Food, have occasion to break out again. He set
upon this Course in his own Grounds, which are very large and spatious,
and by these means was restor’d to perfect Health again. ’Tis manifest,
this Case was a Colliquative _Diarrhœa_, which at long run had sunk all
the Digestions and brought Nature into a kind of Universal Gleet, so that
it came to be properly and solely the Object of Exercise; whereas a New
_Diarrhœa_ or Dysentery, when the Humours are Turgid and Acrimonious, is
solely the Object of Medicine, and so far from being to be Cur’d this
way, that nothing would be more absurd than to attempt it; for ’tis the
debilitated Fibres that Exercise restores, and immediately affects; and
whenever Exercise makes an Alteration in the Fluids, it does so by
the frequent Working and Constriction of the Fibres, which in a fresh
_Diarrhœa_, before the Genuine Acrimony that occasions it is spent, would
be to no purpose.
A _Northamptonshire_ Gentleman, who about two Years and a half ago, came
up to Town, and liv’d in _Hogsdon_ Square, was taken Ill and sent for me;
I found the chief thing he complain’d of was a Colick, but he had other
Symptoms, which made me suspect he was beginning to be Cachectick. He was
averse to much Physick, and took nothing but the _Elixir Salutis_, which
gave him Ease, but he continued indispos’d; and seeing he was unwilling
to take any more things, I advis’d him to ride out a little, he having
a good Pad of his own breeding in the Town; he told me, if he rode at
all, he would ride Forty Mile; I reply’d, I thought a much less distance
would serve, and indeed as much as I was for that Exercise, I thought
five or six Miles would have tyr’d him; for he was much weakned, and his
Arms trembled exceedingly, when he lifted ’em up, which was caus’d purely
by the Distemper, for he was not given to drink. However, after I had
started that Advice, he persisted in his Design, and in two or three days
set out and rode I think to _Bedford_, or thereabouts, Forty Mile in a
Day, which, as he told me afterwards, made him so stiff, that he was laid
up for five or six days; but it stav’d off all those Cachectick Symptoms
that appear’d before, and in about a Month he return’d well to Town, and
with so Florid a Countenance, that it could be owing to nothing but that
Exercise; and he continu’d so for near a Twelvemonth, when these Symptoms
of an ill Habit of Body, which I clearly discern’d was begun, broke out
again, and continue upon him still. This Example may suffice to shew,
that the Weakness which People commonly alledge for a Reason against
Riding, is no Reason at all; it being, in some Sense, their Weakness
which makes it requisite.
I will here likewise mention an Instance of the good Effects of Walking,
the most common and unpromising Exercise; which I had from Dr. _Baynard_.
About Twenty Years agoe a certain Gentleman came from the _West-Indies_
for the sake of our Hot Bath, for the Cure of a Sort of Palsie, which
was occasion’d by the Dry-Gripes of that Countrey, kind of _Colica
Pictonum_, which if not cur’d in time, usually terminates in a Palsie;
This Gentleman got a Calash to carry him to the Bath; but it came into
his Head, that he would by the way try to walk as much as he could, and
when he found himself tir’d would get into his Calash; upon this Attempt
he found his Limbs come to him more and more every day; and before he
quite reach’d the Bath, he was perfectly well. And here it is remarkable,
that _Bontius_, as great an Admirer as he was of fragrant Exoticks, in
his _Medicina Indorum_, treating of a Sort of Palsie which some of the
_Indians_ call _Beriberii_, not much unlike to, if not the same with that
I have lately mention’d, he makes it his first Rule in the Cure of that
Distemper, That the Sick shouldn’t give way to it, but set upon vigorous
Exercise, _Sed hoc imprimis curandum est, ne (si ullo modo fieri possit)
te lecto affigas decumbendo; sed vel ambulando, vel equitando, vel simili
aliquo motu validiore omni conatu te exerceas_.
Dr. _Baynard_ has likewise given me, in the following Letter, an Account
of his Recovery from a Consumption, some Years agoe.