IN the FIT, Revulsive and Repressing Remedies are most apposite, together with Corroboratives for the HEART and VENTRICLE, as well as for the Womb it self. But because Revulsives are of many and different kinds, they are to be discreetly us’d, according to the Nature of the Cause from whence the Evil proceeds: For if suppressed Blood be the Cause, in that Case, Galen agrees with Hippocrates that an Inferiour Vene-Section is convenient, and that even tho’ a Syncope join the SUFFOCATION, because the One is but the Effect of the Other[[250]]: Remembring always that such Bleedings must be done with great Prudence and Caution, because of the present Prostration of the Strength and Spirits, and Refrigeration of the PATIENT’s whole Body.
WHEREAS if the PAROXYSM proceeds from venenated SEED, or depraved Humours, no VEIN is to be open’d; but instead of That, I would lay the Woman supine in her BED, for breathing the freer, and loose all her Laces, Garters, &c. Then if Strong Sternutatories, Fœtid Smells, Vellication of her Ears, Nostrils, Pilorumve Pudendi, did not help her Condition; I would use dolorifick Ligatures, and Frictions of THIGHS, LEGS, and FEET; or apply Cupping Glasses without Scarification to the THIGHS and GROIN it self: As also proper Liniments, Clysters, Suppositories, Pessaries, &c. are convenient Means: And sometimes Suffumigations of GALBANUM, ASSAFOETIDA, Old Leather, Cloth, Sulphur, Partridge Feathers, Horse-Tetters or Warts, &c. Or (which is reckon’d Best of all) a few of the PATIENT’s Hairs of her Head, burnt, and held to her NOSE. Or, while I should often tickle the NOSTRILS with a Feather, or my Finger dipp’d in the sharpest Vinegar, Oleum Succini, or the like, I would anoint the PALLET with Triacle, Mithridate, or such other Things dissolv’d in pleasant WINE.
HOWEVER, in such Cases, as well as in all others, à mitioribus adhibitis, progrediendum est ad valentiora; I say, we are to begin with the more gentle, and proceed gradually to the more strong and powerful REMEDIES; using all proper Means with the utmost Prudence and Discretion, and that only according to the absolute Necessity and imminent Danger of the incident Case. Now moreover, I would add for such as lose both PULSE and BREATH, that some of the above REMEDIES are not only requisite; but also, according to the excellent Horatius Augenius, a little generous WINE with Nutmeg, Cinnamon and Cloves, adding five Grains of MUSK, is altogether proper for this PATIENT[[251]]: Tho’ for others, who have not quite lost all Sense and Motion, nothing is perhaps more pernicious than the USE of such Odoriferous Matters, since I have known several Women to have been immediately suffocated, even by the very Smell of MUSK, CIVET, AMBER, &c. But when the Sick PATIENT lies (as above) for dead, if such Odours can excite the WOMB, they can likewise move the Arteries, and give Hopes of Recovery; upon which occasion also, I would apply hot Sear-Cloths to the Regions of the HEART and WOMB: Or, if I suspected the HEAD to abound with frigid Humours, I would moreover apply Vesicatories behind the EARS, or an Issue, or drawing Plaister to the NAPE of the Neck, always cherishing the STOMACH with proper Fomentations: As also according to some, the Hoof of an ELK, is a present REMEDY in all such Suffocations or FITS of the Mother[[252]].
BY the above-mentioned, which are all the most prevalent Means in the ACCESS, we will now suppose the PATIENT to be recover’d; in which Case, the next step needful, is to guard against, and prevent the Return of the FIT, and consequently to Cure the DISEASE; which can only be effected by removing the Cause, whatever it may be: And This, in my Opinion, may be most effectually perform’d in manner following, viz.——
IF the Distemper proceeds from the suppressed BLOOD or MENSTRUA, This is by proper Means to be reduced to its Natural Course and Condition. If from a retain’d Seminal Matter in the Uterine Vessels, the Cure depends chiefly upon a proper Regimen of Diet and Exercise; frequent gentle Purges, and repeated inferiour Venæ-Sections: Whereas if already collected and venenated in the WOMB, and the Body consequently refrigerated, no VEIN may properly be touch’d or open’d; but in this Case, as if the Evil proceeded from vitious putrid HUMOURS, it is to be evacuated in the same manner, as in other Conditions of the humid Intemperature of the WOMB; always corroborating and fortifying the more affected or debilitated Parts.
NOW this Method of Cure, in short, being taken from the wisest of the Ancients[[253]], I shall farther add one singular and essential Step towards the perfecting of it; namely, if it be so, that the most severe and dangerous Symptoms of this DISTEMPER proceed from the Retention of the vitiated SEED; then of Course and without Controversy, the HYSTERICK PASSION must needs be most familiar to WIDOWS and marriageable VIRGINS; to whom I must finally say, Let them Marry.
Si tales etenim pruriginosas, Connubio destinari contingat, ac Semen subdito virili Pessulo elici, in usumq, procreandæ Sobolis depromi, protinus illas efflorescere videas, ac faciem roseo, nitidóq; colore perfundi, blandas denique atque Amabiles, minúsq; tetricas ac morosas. Quod etiam docet GALENUS, Exemplo viduæ cujusdam, quæ multo Semine effuso, à Symptomatibus integrè est liberata[[254]]. Itaq; dico, tales dissuetæ maturæve viro sunt tempestive elocandæ. In fine, MARRIAGE will very much help such indisposed Persons, according to the Wise Judgment, Advice and Direction of the best Antient WRITERS.
CONCLUSION.
BEFORE I close this finishing Chapter, I must entreat the READER’s Patience, and finally observe (by way of Recapitulation upon it, which will also serve to Answer the same End upon divers places interspers’d throughout this whole Book) that I am very Sensible before hand, that some considerate Readers, even among the Learned themselves, will be ready to stop or cavil at some of my Sentiments, and say, Quo te Mœri Pedes? Et quæ te Dementia cepit?