The old man may be so far his own doctor, as to amend the general distemperature of his body; and often he may prevent those diseases: but if he fall into them, whether by neglect of these cautions, or in spite of their force, let him then call in a physician.
We can advise him how to preserve health when he has it; and how to remedy general disorders, so as to prevent more particular ones; so far as a due regimen may do that: but he is a very ill judge of the human frame, who will pretend to remedy its diseases without a knowledge both of its structure, and of the qualities of remedies: and he would be a bad member of society who gave such advice to any. It were as easy to teach some other art by writing; and as rational to attempt making a watchmaker, or a shipbuilder, by a description of the tools. The whole life of a physician, spent in attention and experience, hardly qualifies him for the undertaking: how then should a few light words give sufficient information?
CHAP. XI.
Of a fulness of blood.
An overfulness of blood naturally brings on a redundance of the other humours: for as they are separated from the blood, they naturally encrease with it in quantity. The one or the other of these excesses may, and naturally will, occasion disorders; much more both.
The old man may know when he has too much blood in his veins from these plain symptoms: his pulse will be full and strong, and somewhat quicker than it should; his complexion will be more florid; and his urine higher coloured. The veins also will be swelled, and his breathing will grow difficult.
The occasion of all this has probably been too high feeding, and too little exercise; therefore the plain method to abate the symptoms, and prevent the mischief which they threaten, is by more motion; and an abstemious diet.
This is plainly the change which should be made: but it must not be too sudden. We have observed before, that all hasty alterations are dangerous: but as this is slowly, let it be also determinately and regularly brought on. If therefore no disease be come on as yet from the fulness, there will not any come during a gradual course of emptying the vessels by this practice. Nature will be relieved in a satisfactory manner; whereas she would have been too violently disturbed by any sudden shock.
The first rule is to retrench one third part from the flesh eaten at dinner, of whatever kind that be. We have advised the abstaining from beef and pork, but in this case mutton should be also let alone, or very rarely eaten; and the dinner being made solely of the tender and young meats in this reduced quantity, the next care must be, that these are always well and thoroughly dress’d. It is a fashion to eat meat almost raw, and doctors have advis’d it; but they would be better physicians for bears and wolves, than men.
Let the person rise an hour before his usual time in a morning; and every day encrease the quantity of exercise a little; but great care must be taken not to go out at improper hours, to endanger getting cold. In getting rid of one evil, let us not run into another. This fulness is a state in which diseases are most easily brought on, and they will be most violent in it. Colds are most dangerous of all, to people in this condition, and therefore are very carefully to be avoided.
The pulse will shew whether or not this method reduces the redundance of blood: if it do not take a visible effect in four days, it will be proper to be blooded. After this the same regimen will probably complete the business; and there will be no need for medicines.