Part 6

(57) _Pythior. Od._ 3. μαλακαῖς ἐπαοιδαῖς. _Vid. ibid. Scholia._

(58) _A Carmine._

(59) _Deipnosoph._ l. 14. p. m. 624.

(60) _Vid. Bartholin. de Tibiis Veter._ l. 1. c. 9.

(61) εἰ καταυλήσοι τις τοῦ τόπου τῇ φρυγιστὶ ἁρμονίᾳ.

(62) _Morb. chronic._ l. 5. c. 1. _Qua cum saltum sumerent palpitando discusso dolore mitescerent._

(63) _Nect. Atticar._ l. 4. c. 13.

(64) _Histor. Mirabil._

(65) _Apud Aul. Gell. loc. citat. Plurimis hominum Morbis Medicinam suisse Incentiones Tibiarum._

(66) _Plutarc. de Musica._

(67) _Loc. ante cit._

(68) _De Vit. Pythagor. cap._ 25. πρὸς δηγμοὺς Βοηθητικώτατα μέλη.

(69) _Histor. Anatom._ Cent. 2. H. 26.

(70) _S. Ardoyn de Venen._ pag. 381.

(71) _De Morb. Acut._ lib. 3.

(72) _Exercitat. de Hydrophob._

(73) Philosoph. Transact. N^o. 169.

(74) _Observ. Rarior. Centur._ 2. _obs._ 100.

(75) Παρακοπὰν ὑλακτικὰν, _apud Galen de Antidot._ lib. 2. cap. 15.

(76) _De Hydroph._

(77) _Loc. citat. Tota oritur ex Corporis ipsius mala Affectione._

(78) _Oper. Posthum._ p. 55.

(79) _Obser. de Venen. Animal._

(80) _Obser._ Cent. 2. Obs. 52.

(81) _In Prorrhetic. & coac. & alibi._

(82) _Sympiosiac._ 5. 9.

(83) _Apud Hernand. & Recch. Plantar. & Anim. Mexicanor. Histor._ p. 494.

(84) Vol. 5. Obs. 114.

(85) _Sepulcret._ Lib. 1. Sect. 8. Obs. 8.

(86) _Rossini Lentilii Dissertatio de Hydrophobiæ Causa & Cura._

(87) _Eph. Cur._ Dec. 3. Ann. 2. Obs. 104.

(88) _De Theriac. ad Pison._ l. 1. c. 16.

(89) _Vid. Aetium._ .6: c. 24.

(90) _Simpl. Medic. Facult._ l. 11. c. 1.

(91) _Ibid._ l. 11. c. 34.

(92) _Theriac._ Cap. 2.

(93) _Vid. Pison. Histor. Nat. & Med. Ind._ lib. 5. c. 16.

(94) _Museo di Piante rare_, Osservaz. 2.

(95) _Hist. Plant. Tom._ 2. p. 1471.

(96) _Histor. Natur._ l. 8. c. 41. & l. 25. cap. 2.

(97) _De Venen._ p. 80.

(98) _Museo di Fisica_, Osservaz. 21.

(99) _Medicam. facult._ lib. 9. C. 1.

(100) _Fab. column. Phytobasan._ pag. 27.

(101) No. 237.

(102) _Lib._ 5. c. 27.

(103) _Nat. Hist._ l. 26. c. 3.

(104) _Tr. Demens_ Idea.

(105) Observ. 20.

(106) Vid. _Aretæum Cappad. Cur. Diut._ lib. 1. cap. 5. Et _Aetium_ l. 6. c. 11.

(107) Tr. Man and his Diseases.

(108) _Medicin. Ægyptior._ l. 3. c. 19.

(109) De Therm. _l. 7. c._ 22.

ESSAY III. of Poisonous Minerals and PLANTS.

Altho’ there be a great Variety of Internal _Poisons_, as well _Mineral_ as _Vegetable_; yet they do all of ’em seem to agree in their Primary Effects, and Manner of Operation; and as the Teeth or Stings of _Venomous_ Animals do constantly infuse a Juice into the Wound they make, by which the Mass of Blood is infected; so the Force of _These_ is chiefly confined to the Stomach and _Primæ Viæ_; and tho’ it may in some Cases be Communicated Farther, yet the Principal Mischief is done in These Parts.

_Deleterious Medicines_, says Dioscorides, _are many, but the Alterations made by them in the Body, common, and but few_ (110).

Of all this kind, those of a _Mineral_ Nature are the most violent and deadly, the greater Gravity and Solidity of their Parts giving to these a Force and Action surpassing the mischief of _Vegetable_ Juices; and therefore whereas noxious Plants do vary their Effects in different Creatures, so as to prove harmless, nay, perhaps Beneficial and Nutritive to some, as Hemlock they say is to Goats (111) and Starlings (112), and Henbane to Hogs (113), the Strength of the Stomach in These Animals being sufficient to Conquer and Divide such Corrosive Substances, and their Blood perhaps requiring to be recruited by such warm and active Particles; A Mineral Malignity is not, at least so far as we know, conquerable by any, but becomes universally hurtful and destructive.

We shall here give the first Place to _Mercury Sublimate_.

This is no other than a Mixture of _Quicksilver_ with _common Salt_. The way of preparing it, as ’tis made at _Venice_, from whence great quantities are sent into other Countries, _Tachenius_ has given Us in his _Hippocrates Chymicus_ (114); as to which we must observe, that tho’ there be always added a proportion of _Salt-Petre_, and _Calcin’d Vitriol_ to the other Ingredients, yet these do not enter into the Composition, but only serve to facilitate the Work; as abundantly appears from this Experiment, That Mercury sublim’d with the same Proportion of Nitre and Vitriol without _Marine Salt_, neither receives any increase of its Weight, nor acquires any malignant Quality.

The Effects of this _Poison_ when taken are, violent Griping Pains, with a Distension of the Belly, Vomiting of a slimy, frothy Matter, sometimes mixt with Blood, and Stools of the same, an intolerable Heat and Thirst, with cold Sweats, Tremblings, Convulsions, _&c._ as will appear from the following History (115).

To a large Dog was given a Drachm of _Mercury Sublimate_, mixt with a little Bread; within a quarter of an Hour He fell into terrible Vomitings, casting up frequently a Viscid, frothy _Mucus_, every time more and more Bloody, and purged the same downwards; till tired and spent with this hard Service, He lay down quietly as it were to Sleep, but Died the next Morning.

The _Abdomen_ being opened, a great quantity of extravasated Blood was found between the Liver and Stomach, and between the duplicature of the _Omentum_ about the Stomach; the Guts as well as the Stomach were distended, and full of a frothy Bloody _Mucus_; on the outside they were of a livid Colour, within all over red, and inflamed down to the very _Rectum_; The Fibrous Coat of the Stomach being taken off, between that and the Nervous one, grumous Blood was found in several Places; the like was discovered here and there in the Intestins between the same Coats.

The same _Symptoms_ with these, and manifest Signs of a burning Corrosion followed with _Ulcers_ in the Bowels, _Baccius_ (116) observ’d in a young Man Poison’d by _Sublimate_, mixt with his Meat.

What we are here chiefly to examine is, how from Ingredients singly Innocent and Harmless, so Mischievous a Compound can result; for as the Case is very plain with respect to _Salt_, so is it likewise now Notorious enough, that _Quick-silver_ it self, which the Ancients, _Dioscorides_, _Galen_, _Pliny_, &c. have unjustly rank’d among Poisons, is in many Diseases inwardly taken of very safe and beneficial Use; and that not only when disguised with _Sulphur_, _Sugar_, &c. but _Crude_, without any Correction, or vainly pretended Mortification.

This the _Arabian_ Physicians first gave the hint of; _Avicen_, (117) having observ’d, that _They who drink It in a large quantity receive no hurt, its weight making a free Passage thro’ the Body_. This was Incouragement enough for the Practice of giving whole Pounds of It in the _Iliac Passion_; which is oftentimes done with good Success, without any frightful Symptom accompanying the Advantage receiv’d from its Ponderosity.

Afterwards it plainly appear’d that this Mineral, tho’ not taken in so great a Dose as could immediately force its way thro’ the Intestins, even when it was lodged for some time in this or that Part, was not at all hurtful by any Corrosive or Malignant Quality. And _Fallopius_ (118), _Brasavolus_ (119), with others of great Note, confirmed its harmless Efficacy in the Cure of the _Worms_, not only in adult Persons, but even in the more tender Constitutions of Children.

Nor are these the only Cases in which good Service may be had from this Weighty Fluid; he that rightly considers the State of the Animal _Oeconomy_, the various Alterations it suffers from the Stagnation of its more Viscid Juices in the smallest Canals, and how much the Impulse and Force of the Circling Blood, by which Obstructions are to be removed, must be increased by its carrying along with it such Particles as the _Mercurial Globuli_, will perhaps see good Reason to allow, that the prudent and cautious Management of _Quicksilver_ may do that in some obstinate and dangerous Diseases, which we cannot promise our selves from any other of our known Medicines whatsoever.

But I am not to insist on this Head; and the learned _Author_ of the _New Theory of Fevers_ (120), has already most ingeniously explain’d the _Mechanism_ by which such Effects as these are produced in the humane Body. It suffices to my present purpose, to have proved that pure _Mercury_ is not Poisonous or Corrosive; and therefore not only have I seen Two Ounces of It given every Day for One and Twenty Days together, without any Inconvenience at all; but found once some quantity of It in the _Perinæum_ of a Subject I took from the Gallows for a Dissection (whose rotten Bones quickly discovered what Disease it was had required the Use of it, and that I suppose chiefly in External Application by Unction) without any Marks of Corrosion of the Part where it was lodged.

Tho’ withal we may upon this Occasion remark, that the extreme Gravity of this Mineral alone, however serviceable it may be in other Respects; yet when it happens in so great a Quantity to Obstruct the Capillary Ducts, as that the Force of the Circling Fluid is not sufficient to Wash it away, must necessarily induce Symptoms troublesome and bad enough, as _Spasms_, _Contractions_, _Palsies_, &c. which They do commonly Experience, who have either been too often dawbed with _Mercurial Ointments_, or for a long time imploy’d in rubbing the _Quicksilver_ upon _Looking-Glasses_; for the Internal Use of It will never produce any such Mischiefs.

As for _Sublimate_ then, most certain it is, that the _Saline_ Particles do impart to the _Mercury_ this Malignant Quality; or to speak more properly, That the _Salt_ receives from the _Mercurial Corpuscles_ such an Increase of its Gravity and _Momentum_, as renders its Cutting Corrosion more Effectual and Penetrating; for the manner after which this Matter is done, is plainly this.

The _Globules_ of the _Mercury_, tho’ so minutely divided by the Action of the Fire, as to rise in the form of a _Fume_, yet are still Solid and Ponderous Bodies; ’tis all one to the present purpose, whether We suppose ’em perfectly _Sphærical_, or with the Learned _Gulielmini_ (121) _Sphæroidical_, for in both Cases, by reason of their extreme Parvity, being perhaps Simple and Elementary Bodies, they will easily be lodg’d in the Pores and Interstices of the _Saline Crystals_; which being compos’d of the _Atoms_ of _Salt_, variously by _Sublimation_ combin’d and united, are a kind of Cutting _Lamellæ_ or Blades; the force of which could never have been very penetrating, upon the account of their Lightness and easie Dissolution, if the _Mercury_, without blunting their Edge, or breaking their Figure, did not lend ’em an Additional Weight, and thus at the same time strengthen their Action, and prevent their quick Solution by the Juices of the Stomach; which cannot now disjoin their Compounding Parts, because the Vacuities into which they should, in order to do this, insinuate themselves, are already possess’d, and taken up by the _Mercurial Globules_.

In short, These _Crystals_, which are to be considered as so many sharp Knives or Daggers, Wounding and Stabbing the tender Coats of the Stomach, and thus causing excessive Pains, with an Abrasion of their Natural _Mucus_, and (upon the constant Sense of Irritation) continual Vomitings, _&c._ must of necessity, sticking here and there in the capillary Vessels, stop the Passage of the Blood in several Places, whereupon it Stagnates, and there follow little Inflammations, which growing higher and higher, terminate quickly in perfect Ulcers and Gangrenes; and these though singly very small, yet many in number, do all together make up one continued and incurable Mortification.

This being the Nature of _Sublim’d Mercury_, it may not be amiss to enquire, how it comes to pass, That This same Compound resublim’d with _live Mercury_ in the Proportion of Four Parts to Three, (for the _Sublimate_ will not take up an equal quantity) especially if the work be repeated Three or Four times, looses its Corrosiveness to that Degree as to become not only a Safe, but in many Cases, a Noble _Medicine_. For I do not see that any of the Chymical Writers have hit upon the true Solution of this _Phænomenon_.

Here then it is to be considered, That the Action of the _Saline Crystals_ depending upon their Solidity and Largeness, these must necessarily, by every subsequent Sublimation, be broken into smaller and smaller Parts; the _Mercurial Globules_ (for the Reasons given by the _Author_ (122) of the forementioned _Theory of Fevers_) arising more quickly and easily than the _Salts_, quit the Interstices in which they were lodged, and the _Crystalline_ Blades are divided every time more and more by the force of the Fire; whereupon a new Combination of Parts succeeds; and although there be a greater Proportion of the _Mineral_ to the _Salts_ than before, which makes _Dulcify’d Mercury_ Specifically heavier than the _Corrosive_; yet the broken pieces of the _Crystals_ uniting into little Masses of differing Figures from their former Make, those Cutting _Points_ which were before so sharp, are now either quite lost, or at least, by reason of their Bluntness, cannot make Wounds deep enough to be equally mischievous and deadly; and therefore do only Vellicate and Twitch the sensible Membranes of the Stomach to that Degree, as excites them to an Excretion of their Contents and Glandular Juices, upwards or downwards, according as the force of Irritation is greater or less.

Thus a violent _Poison_ is mitigated into a _Vomit_ or _Purge_; nay, it may easily happen (especially in Robust Constitutions, and if the Bowels be at the same time by any means defended against the Stimulating Power of the Medicine) that this Twitching may be so slight, as to be almost insensible, and hardly troublesome; and then the _Mercurial Globules_ being freed indeed from most of the _Saline Parts_ in their Passage thro’ the _Primæ Viæ_, but still having a mixture of some few of them, are quickly conveyed into the Blood, where by their Motion and Weight they must necessarily dissolve the Preternatural Cohæsions of all the Liquors, particularly of Those which Circulate in the smallest Canals, and are most Viscid and Tenacious, making ’em more Fluxile and Thin, or of more easie Secretion; whereupon all the Glands of the Body are, as it were, set to Work, and Scoured of their Contents; but the _Salival_ Ones especially, being many in Number, very large and wide, and the Juice they separate of a Tough and Ropy Substance, so that a considerable quantity of It is accumulated before it is forced out at the Orifices of the Ducts. These Effects will be most remarkable in _Them_, and a _Salivation_ or Spitting must continue so long, till the Active Mineral Particles are thro’ these and the other Passages discharged out of the Body.

As the Difference between Mercury _Corrosive_ and _Dulcified_ lies in a greater and lesser Degree of Operation and Force, so this same Consideration distinguishes the several _Preparations_ of this Mineral from each other; which tho’ very many, yet do all vary their Effects in the Body, only according as the _Mercurial Globules_ are differently combined with _Salts_, and the _Points_ of _These_ more or less broken by the Action of the Fire, in the Burning of Spirits upon Them, and such like Managements: And therefore however dignified with the great Names of _Arcana_, _Panacææ_, _Princes Powders_, &c. They do not afford Us any thing Singular and Extraordinary, beyond what we may with equal Advantage promise our selves from some or other of the most common and usual _Processes_.

We may also fairly conclude from this Reasoning, that the safest way of raising a _Salivation_ is by _Internal_ Medicines; since whatever Mischiefs can be apprehended from _These_, may in a greater degree follow from the _External_ Use of _Mercury_; not only because, as We have already hinted, the Mineral _Globules_ being intimately combined with Salts in the several Preparations given inwardly, will by the Irritation of These, be easily and fully thrown out at the Organs of Secretions, till the Blood is quite discharged of its Load; whereas, in all the Dawbings with Mercurial Ointments, We can never be certain that none of the heavy Particles are left lodg’d in the _Interstices_ of the _Fibres_ or _Cells_ of the _Bones_; But also, in as much as by computing the Portion of _Mercury_ in all the Doses necessarily to promote a Spitting, and the Weight of the same Mineral usually apply’d when this is done by Unction, it will appear, that the quantity in the latter Case vastly exceeds that in the former, and consequently that the Inconveniencies to be feared will be in the same proportion.

Therefore this External Management of _Mercury_ is only to be allow’d of, where either the Case will bear the Violence of such a Method, or outward _Ulcers_ and _Tumors_ require a particular Cure by _Liniments_, &c.

Nor is it improper to Remark that, We do hereby see how the Use of this Mineral comes to produce that Effect so often complain’d of, (tho’ not always with Reason) of making the Bones Foul or Carious. For, if the _Laminæ_ or _Fibres_ of These are already so much broken and spoiled by a Disease, as that the Circulation of the Fluids thro’ ’em can’t be maintain’d, they must necessarily be corrupted more by the Weight of the _Mercurial Globules_; tho’ here also it is plain, that the _outward_ Use of this Remedy will be more to be blamed than the _inward_.

And indeed, as the earliest Use of _Mercury_ was in _Unguents_ and _Emplasters_, so most of the Prejudices and Out-cries against It are owing to Effects produced this way. For the first attempts of the Cure of _Venereal Maladies_ by this Remedy, were learned from the _Arabians_ (123), who having recommended _Mercurial_ Ointments in the _Lepra_ or _Scabies_, gave a handle to the _Italian_ Physicians to try their Efficacy, in removing the Foulness of the Skin from a new and terrible Contagion; neither were they sparing of their Liniments, which they continued to rub in for 12, 15, nay, sometimes for above 30 Days together (124). So that it is no wonder if they often met with very untoward Symptoms from so severe a Treatment, and if, (as some of them (125) do affirm) they now and then found _Mercury_ in the rotten Bones of their Patients, who had, it may be, suffered too much both from their Disease and their Physician.

* * * * *

Thus much of _Mercury_. Let Us in the next place examine _Arsenick_, about the Nature and Composition of which Authors are very much puzzled.

This, in short, is either _Native_ or _Factitious_, and each of Three sorts, _Yellow_, _Red_, and _White_. The _Native Yellow_ is what the Latins call’d _Auripigmentum_; and this _Olaus Wormius_ (126) makes Threefold. The _Red_ is the _Sandaracha_ of the _Greeks_. The _White_ was not known to the Ancients; and indeed _Theophrastus_ seems only to have known the _Red_; but _Dioscorides_ describes both _Red_ and _Yellow_; _Nicander_ had no Knowledge of either; The only Mineral Poisons He mentions are _Litharge_ and _Ceruss_.

_Orpiment_ and _Sandaracha_ differ only by their greater or lesser Concoction in the Earth; and therefore from _Orpiment_ Boiled in a close Pot Five Hours in a Furnace Fire, is made the _Factitious Sandaracha_, as perfect as the _Natural_ (127).

The _Factitious Yellow_ is made from the Crusts of the _Natural Orpiment_ (128).

The _Native White_ is more rare, but found plentifully in some Silver Mines in _Germany_ (129).

But the _White Factitious_ is of the most common Use of all; and it is, as _Agricola_ tells us, no other than _Orpiment_ again and again sublimed with an equal part of _Fossile Salt_, till it is brought to a Whiteness.

_Orpiment_ and _Sandaracha_ are mostly found in Mines of God; and all Metallic Writers do agree them to be the best Signs of the Richness of the Vein. This is Ground sufficient for the _Chymists_ to take _Arsenick_ for the Subject Matter of their great Work, as they call It; and they have very fondly accommodated some Ænigmatical Lines in the _Sibylline Oracles_ (130) to this _Mineral_. Tho’ the Interpretation be strained, and not fairly made out, (the _Author_ of these Verses, whatever he might mean, being indeed Discoursing of the Name of the _Divine Power_ it self) yet very true it is, that this great Expectation from _Arsenick_ is as old at least as _Caligula_; that is, of more ancient Date considerably than the far greatest part of those Suppositious and Ill-contrived Compositions which do now bear the Name of _Oracles_: For that Covetous Emperor, as _Pliny_ relates (131), ordered a great quantity of _Orpiment_ to be wrought upon, that He might extract _Gold_ out of It, and made some; but as it usually happens in such like Attempts, the quantity did not answer the Expence.

It is more to our purpose to take notice, that the later _Pretenders_ to this _Philosophy_, by finding their three _Principles_, _Salt_, _Sulphur_, and _Mercury_ in this Body, will lead Us into its true Nature and Composition.

For whether We take _Orpiment_ or _Sandaracha_, either of them will afford a _Regulus_ or Mercurial Substance, more pure than that of _Antimony_. The manner of extracting It _Lemery_ (132) has taught; and to This indeed the Mineral owes its great Ponderosity.

The Inflammability and Smell of _Arsenick_ are sufficient Proofs of its abounding _Sulphur_, which may without much difficulty be separated from It (133).

That it consists of some _Saline Parts_ we are assured by Its Solution in common Water (134); and it is upon the account of These that It does more happily promote the _Flowing_ of Metals than any other _Salt-Pouders_ which the Workmen make use of: Wherefore some have called It a coagulated _Aqua Fortis_.

From all this it appears, that Authors do vainly Dispute wherein the Noxious quality of _Arsenick_ resides, since the Case here is plainly much the same with that of _Sublimate Corrosive_; and as the Salts there, together with the Mercurial Particles, do compose pungent _Crystals_, so without all doubt the _Regulus_ of this Mineral gives a like force to the _Saline Bodies_, which without this weight could be but of small Effect. The main difference is, that in _Arsenick_ we have an addition of _Sulphur_, which does not only strengthen the Action of the other Parts, in that as a _Vinculum_ it keeps them united together; but consisting besides of many hot and fiery Corpuscles, promotes the Inflammation of those Wounds which the Crystalline _Spicula_ make in the Membranes of the Stomach.

Upon the Score of such a Texture and Make as this, _Arsenick_ makes no Ebullition either with _Alcalies_ or _Acids_ (135); and _as_ the _Regulus_ of It being cleared from most of its Salts, is by much less hurtful than the crude Mineral it self; _so_ on the other Hand, the _Factitious White_, in which there is a much greater Proportion of the Saline to the Metallic Parts, is the most Violent of all the kinds, superiour in Force to _Mercury Sublimate_.

The several Histories related by _Wepfer_ (136) do put this out of Question; It is sufficient to our Purpose to mention One.

A Dog having eat some Fat mixt with _White Arsenic_, died the next Day; The upper Part of the Stomach, when opened, was red and inflamed, the Coats thinner than ordinary, the bottom of It was covered with a fætid Slime, and some Pieces of Fat; the Thin Guts were so Corroded as to be Pervious in Three Places, Two of the Ulcers so large that they would easily admit a _Bean_. The Cavity of the _Abdomen_ contained a yellowish _Ichor_ tinged with Blood.