Part 7

The Case being thus, one would wonder what should induce Authors to prescribe so Corrosive a Mineral to be worn upon the Pit of the Stomach, as an _Amulet_ against the Plague. This Trick we may well believe to be Dangerous, when _Lionardo di Capo_ (137) tells Us of a Child a kill’d by the Violent Vomiting and Purging, occasion’d from a slight Wound made in the Head by a _Comb_ wet with Oil in which _Arsenick_ had been infused; for the Pores of the Body being opened by Heat and Exercise, some of the Noxious _Effluvia_ may easily Insinuate themselvs into the Part; accordingly _Crato_ (138) observ’d an Ulcer of the Breast caused by this Application; _Verzascha_ (139) Violent Pains, and fainting Fits; _Diemerbrock_ (140), and Dr. _Hodges_ (141), Death it self.

The Truth of the Matter is, This Practice seems to owe its Origine to a Mistake (142), some of the _Arabian_ Physicians had commended _Darsini_ worn in a Bag for a Preservative in Plague time; This in their Language signifies _Cinnamom_; but the _Latin_ Interpreters retaining the same Word in their Translations (as was frequently done), one or other afterwards not understanding its meaning, and deceived by the likeness of the sound, substituted in its Place _De Arsenico_, as if _Darsini_ were all one with _Zarnich_. The Authority of the first Author served to propagate the Error; nor were Those wanting who reason’d upon the Matter, and found it agreable to their Philosophy, that this Mineral should draw to it self and concenter the _Arsenical Effluvia_ out of the Air, and thus secure the Body from their Infection; These being, as they imagined, the Common Cause of Pestilential Diseases.

Having thus particularly Discoursed of the Nature of these Two Poisons, I shall not need to insist upon any more out of the _Mineral Kingdom_.

All of _Them_ bear some Analogy to the former, and are more or less Dangerous, according as their _Salts_ receive a differing Force from the _Metallic_ Particles. For this Reason as we have observed, that the most Virulent may be mitigated by breaking the _Points_ of the _Saline Crystals_; so on the other Hand, the most Innocent Minerals may become Corrosive, by combining Them with _Salts_, as we see in the several Preparations of _Silver_, _Antimony_, _Iron_, &c.

Poisonous Plants.

To Proceed therefore to _Vegetables_; the most Notorious of _These_ for Venomous Juices among the Ancients were _Cicuta_ and _Aconitum_.

Our _Œnanthe Cicutæ facie_, _succo viroso_, which _Wepfer_ has described by the Name of _Cicuta Aquatica_, and of the dismal Effects of which in some Children, who by mistake did Eat of It, He has wrote a large Volume, was very probably the _Cicuta_ so much in use of old, especially at _Athens_, for _Killing_. At least the Violence of _This_ makes It a much fitter Instrument of Death than the common _Hemlock_, which is not by far of so Malignant a quality.

Tho’ we must withal allow differing _Climates_ very considerably to heighten or abate the _Virtues_ of _Plants_. And it is not altogether Improbable, that the Poison with which the _Athenians_ took away the Lives of Malefactors was an inspissated Juice compounded of _That_ of _Cicuta_ and other Corrosive Herbs (143).

But be this as it will; The Alterations which _Wepfer_ observed the Roots of _Œnanthe_ to make in the Body, were a Violent Pain and Heat in the Stomach, Terrible Convulsions, with the Loss of all the Senses, Distorsion of the Eyes, and flowing of Blood out at the Ears, the Mouth so fast shut that no Art could open It, Efforts to Vomit, but nothing thrown up, frequent Hick-Coughs, with a great Distension and Swelling, especially at the Pit of the Stomach; and when Death had concluded the Tragedy, a continued Running of green Froth at the Mouth.

_Stalpart van der Wiel_ gives Us the like account of Two Persons kill’d at the _Hague_ by the same _Roots_ (144).

In a _Dog_, who for Experiment’s sake died by this _Poison_, The Stomach when opened was found quite _Constringed_, and shut up at both _Orifices_, Its inward Surface red, with livid Spots here and there; The Intestines were empty; only the _Rectum_ contained a little greenish _Mucus_.

Thus it appears, that this Plant consists of Hot, Acrious and Corrosive Parts, which by Rarefying the Juices of the Stomach, and Wounding Its Nervous Membrane, are the Cause of all those Disorders which do immediately follow.

For upon the Sense of a violent _Irritation_ and _Pain_, the Fluid of the Nerves is presently in large quantities determined to the Part affected; and this, if the _Stimulus_ be not over great, will be only to such a Degree as is sufficient, by contracting the Fibres of the Stomach, and Muscles of the _Abdomen_, to throw off the Cause of the Disagreable _Sensation_; but the uneasie _Twitching_ being too terrible to be born, the Mind, by a kind of surprize, does with _Haste_ and _Fury_ as it were Command the Spirits thither; Thus the Business is over-done, and the Action of the Fibres becomes so strong, that the Orifices of the Stomach are quite closed; so that instead of discharging the Noxious Matter, The _Torment_ is made greater, and the whole _Œconomy_ put into Confusion.

This forcible Contraction of the Muscles was the Reason that one of the Children which _Wepfer_ saw, made _Urine_ in the midst of the Agony, to the height of Five or Six Foot, with a strength and violence Surprising to the Spectators.

Nor is it any wonder, if in these _Circumstances_ all Sense be lost, Blood gush out at the _Ears_, _Nostrils_, &c. the Parts being all torn and broke by the Violence of the _Convulsions_; which tho’ they began in the Muscles of the Belly, must at last prevail in the Members too, till the whole Fabrick is shock’d and overturn’d; and some of the _Corrosive Salts_ perhaps getting into the Blood, and by the Rarefaction of It Distending the Vessels, The Membranous Coats of which being already overstretched, will the more easily give way, and let out their Fluid.

The Case of _Aconitum_ is much the same; this is our _Napellus_ or _Monkshood_; and its Effects do so nearly agree with those now related of _Œnanthe_, that I shall not need to recite Them; the Experiments of _Wepfer_ (145) are full and convincing. And indeed _as_ all the _Histories_ which this same _Author_ has so carefully given Us of Trials made with several Vegetable Poisons, _Solanum_, _Nux Vomica_, _Coculus Indicus_, &c. on different Creatures, do put it out of all doubt, that the common Mischief of _These_ is a Twitching and Inflammation of the Stomach; _so_ it appears from hence, that _Virulent Plants_, although they may be distinguished even from one another by _particular Virtues_, do however _Kill_ by a like Operation and Force, which differs chiefly in Degree from _That_ of Noxious Minerals.

And therefore in order to know what the _Specifick Qualities_ of any such _Herbs_ are, they must be given only in very small _Doses_; and then perhaps it would appear, that they are not made (as some do imagine) to be Deleterious and Destructive, but for very Good and Beneficial Uses; as we do particularly Experience in the Case of _Opium_.

Nor is it at all strange, that the _Symptoms_ from a _Vegetable_, and from a _Mineral_ Virulency, should be so different, although of the same kind, and only of unequal force; for the more solid Parts of _Minerals_, eroding the Coats of the Stomach, induce a perfect Mortification and Gangrene, and thus do their Work at once; whereas the weaker Salts of _Plants_ can make but a slighter _Excoriation_, upon the painful Sense of which those Agonies and Convulsions that follow do rather gradually exhaust the Strength; and thus the Animal is not kill’d so speedily, nor with the same _Appearances_.

Upon this Score, tho’ Mineral Poisons do not pass the _Primæ Viæ_, Vegetable ones in some Cases possibly may; just as We find Those Medicines which have a great Degree of Irritation presently to induce a _Vomiting_; whereas the same _Twitching_ a little weakened suffers them to pass into the Intestines, and _Work_ downwards by Stools.

By this We may perhaps give some Guess at the Nature of those _Poisons_, with which They tell Us the _Natives_ in some Parts of _Africa_ and _India_ are so expert at Killing, that they can do It in a longer or shorter time as they please. These are most probably either the _Fruits_, or the Inspissated _Juices_ of Corrosive Plants, which inflaming the Bowels, may cause little Ulcers there, whose Fatal Consequences, we know, may very well be slow and lingering.

This I am the rather induced to believe, because an Ingenious _Surgeon_, who liv’d in _Guinea_, told Me, that the _Antidote_ by which the _Negroes_ would sometimes Cure Those who were _poisoned_, was the _Leaf_ of an _Herb_ which purged both upwards and downwards. For by this means the Stomach might be cleared from the adhering Corrosive Parts of the Venom. Yet I can hardly think it possible at the same time that they should be able, by varying the Composition or Quantity of the _Dose_, to ascertain the Time in which It shall Kill, to a Week, Month, _&c._ nor indeed have I ever met with any Person who could Attest This, to be Matter of Fact.

Tho’ repeated Trials and Observations may help one well practised in such Tricks to give notable Conjectures in this Point.

The Ancients indeed pretended much the same thing with their _Aconitum_, of which They seem to have made a kind of Secret and Mystery; as we learn from _Theophrastus_ (146), who says, _The ordering of this Poison was different, according as It was designed to Kill in Two, Three Months, or a Year_: But this he relates only as a common _Tale_ or _Opinion_, and not as a Story to which Himself gave any manner of Credit.

It is very plain; that the common _Cure_ of all _Poisons_ of this kind, must be by freeing the Stomach, as soon as possible, from the Corrosive Vellicating Particles, and defending the Membranes from their Acrimony, by such Things as are of a a Smooth, Oily and Lubricating Substance.

FOOTNOTES to Essay III.

(110) Ποικίλα μὲν γὰρ τὰ δηλητήρια φάρμακα, κοιναὶ δὲ καὶ οὐ πολλαὶ ἐξ ἀυτῶν γινόμεναι διαθέσεις. _Alexiph._ pag. 399.

(111) _Lucret._ lib. 5.

(112) _Galen. Simp. Medic._ l. 3. cap. 18.

(113) _Sext. Empiric. Hypoth. Empiric._ 1.

(114) _Cap. 24._

(115) _Wepfer de Cicut. Aquatic._ pag. 300.

(116) _De Venen._ pag. 21.

(117) _Can. Medic._ l. 4. Fen. 6. _Argentum Vivum plurimum qui bibunt non læduntur eo; egreditur enim cum dissositione suâ per inferiorem regionem._

(118) _De Morb. Gallic. cap._ 76.

(119) _De Morb. Gall. inter Autores de Morb. Gall._ pag. 599.

(120) Pag. 91. _& seq._

(121) _Trattato de Fiumi._ Cap. 1.

(122) Pag. 93.

(123) _Vid. Jaan. Baptist. Montan. Tract. de Morb. Gallic. inter Autor. de Morb. Gall._ p. m. 482. _Et Fallop. de Morb. Gall. Cap. 76._

(124) _Nicol. Mass. de Morb. Gall. Tract. 4. Cap. 2._

(125) _Argentum vivum accepi ex Osse Cujusdam corrupto, quem perunctum ab Empyricis plus decies ferebant, non semel emanavisse._ Anton. Gall. in Lib. de Ligno Sancto non permiscendo.

_Non semel in Sepulchris Argentum Vivum in Mortuorum Capitibus reperi._ Anton. Musa Brasavolus in Tract. de Morb. Gallic.

(126) _Museum_, p. 28.

(127) _Agricola de Natura Fossil._ p. m. 592.

(128) _Idem, Ibid._

(129) _Block Scrutinum Arsenici_, §. XIV.

(130) _Lib._ [smudge]. Εννέα γράμματ᾽ ἔχω, τετρασυλλαβός είμι, νόει με. Αἱ τρεῖς αἱ πρῶται δύο γράμματ᾽ ἔχουσιν ἐκάση, Η λοιπὴ δὲ τὰ λοιπὰ, καὶ εἰσὶν ἄφωνα τά πέντε. Τοῦ παντός δ᾽ ἀριθμοῦ ἑκατοντάδες εἰσὶ δὶς ὀκτω, Καὶ τρεῖς τρὶς δεκάδες.

(131) Nat. Hist. _l. 33. c. 4._

(132) _Cours de Chymie_, Part 1. Chap. 10.

(133) _Lemery_, ibid.

(134) _Vid. Eman. Konig Regn. Mineral._ and _Boyle_ History of Mineral Waters.

(135) _Grew_ of Mixture, _pag. m._ 246.

(136) _Cicut. aquat._ pag. 274. _& seq._

(137) _Incertezza de Medicament_, p. m. 82.

(138) _Epistol._ 68.

(139) Observation 66.

(140) _De Peste_, Histor. 99.

(141) _De Peste Londinens._ p. 239.

(142) _A. Deusingius de Peste_, Part 4. Sect. 3. c. 3.

(143) _Vide_ Wepfer, _Pag. 60._

(144) _Observat. Centur._ 1. Obs. 43.

(145) Pag. 176. _seq._

(146) _Hist. Plant._ l. 9. c. 16.

ESSAY IV.

OF OPIUM.

The Ancients having Experienced that _Opium_ would oftentimes Kill, though taken in no large quantity, ranked It with _Poisons_, and gave It the first place among Those, which from their Stupefying Quality They call’d _Narcotic_.

True indeed it is, that We do every Day find This to be, in a small Dose, one of the most Noble Remedies in the World. But it is not worth the while to engage in the Controversie warmly debated by some _Authors_, how far _Poisons_ are Medicinal; since it is notorious enough, that Medicines do sometimes prove _Poisonous_. And take the Matter as We please, it may serve to very good Purposes to understand the manner of Operation of so Celebrated a _Drug_, and help Us in a great Measure to ascertain Its Use in different Cases, if we are beforehand rightly apprised of Its Nature and Way of Acting.

In order hereunto, it is necessary, besides some other _Præcognita_, since one of the chief Virtues of this Medicine Is _Hypnotic_, to Define distinctly what _Sleep_ is, or rather, (to avoid Confusion and Disputes about Words) what Difference there is between an Animal Body when _asleep_ and when _awake_. For I suppose the _History_, _Manner of Preparing_, &c. of _Opium_, to be already sufficiently known.

First then, There is no One but knows that in _Sleep_ there is a Cessation from Action. When _Waking_, We Walk, Discourse, Move this or that Limb, _&c._ but in natural and undisturbed _Rest_ there is nothing of all These; that is, whereas being awake, We do perform several Motions by the _voluntary_ Contraction of our Muscles; when asleep, those Muscles only are Contracted, whose Action is in a manner _Involuntary_, or to which the Mind has always so constantly determin’d the Spirits, that It does it by a _Habit_, without the Intervention of the Reasoning Faculty; such are _Those_ of the Heart and Breast.

So that there is at this time a kind of _Relaxation_ or Loosness of the moving Fibres of the several Members; or at least such a quiet Position and State of them, by which all the _Antagonist_ Muscles are in an _Æquilbrium_ and Equality of Action, not overpowering one another. For this indeed seems to be one great Design of Sleep, to recover to the Parts overstretched by Labour their former _Tone_ and Force; and therefore we do naturally, when composing our selves to _Rest_, put our Body into that Posture which does most Favour the _particularly_ wearied Limbs, and conduce to this end.

In the next place, it is very plain that there is in _Sleep_ not only a Rest and Suspension from Acting of most of our Bodily Organs, but even of our _Thinking Faculty_ too. That is (for I would prevent Cavils) a ceasing from such _Thoughts_ as when Waking We are exercised about, which we do _Reflect_ upon, and _Will_ to employ our Mind with. For though _Dreams_ are Thoughts, yet they are but imperfect and incoherent Ones, and are indeed either so faint and languid _Representations_, as to be consistent with our _Sleep_, as some may be; or else if they be strong and lively, they are, as every one knows, the _Interruption_ and Disturbance of It.

From hence It will follow, That the _Motion_ of the Arterial Fluid must be, _Ceteris Paribus_, more sedate, even and regular, in the time of _Sleeping_ than _Waking_; For, besides the various Alterations which in the latter State this receives from the several _Passions_ of the Mind, the very _Contractions_ of the Muscles themselves in Exercises of the Body do differently forward its Course; whereas in _Sleep_ the force of the Heart and Pectoral Muscles being more constant and uniform, gives it a more calm and equally continued Impulse.

Hence also it will come to pass, that the _Influx_ of the _Liquor_ of the Nerves into the Organs of the Body, as also Its _Reflux_ towards the _Brain_, is in Sleep either none, or very inconsiderable; that is, that this Fluid has at this time but little or no _Motion_. For ’tis Muscular _Action_ and _Sensation_ that require It to be thus determin’d, this way or that, which are now hardly any. And yet by the arrival of Blood at the Brain, this _Juice_ will still be separated there, fit to be derived into its Canals or Tubes. So that by this means there will be a kind of _Accumulation_, or laying up in Store, of _Spirits_ for the Offices and Requirements of _Waking_.

Thus We may in short look upon the time of _Watching_, as the time of Wearing out, or the Destruction of the Animal Fabrick; and the time of _Sleep_, as that in which it is repaired and recruited; not only upon the account of what We have just mentioned concerning the _Nervous Liquor_, but also with respect to all the other Parts, as well Fluid as Solid. For _Action_ does necessarily by Degrees impair the Springs and Organs; and in _Motion_ something is continually abraded and struck off from the Distractile Fibres, which cannot otherwise be restored than by their being at rest from _Tension_. Besides that, such a regular and steady _Course_ of the Blood, as we have observed to be in _Sleep_, is by far more fit and proper for Nutrition, or an Apposition of Parts to the Vessels, which an uneven _Hurry_ of It is more apt to tear off and wash away.

The Case being thus, it is very plain that whatsoever can induce such a Disposition of the Fluids and Muscular Parts of the Body, as this We have described, will so far cause _Sleepiness_. And in like manner, when any thing interposes and hinders this Composedness and Tranquillity, the removing of the _Impediment_ will be the causing of _Sleep_; inasmuch as this is only reducing the Animal _Œconomy_ to its right State, in which by natural Order there must be a Succession of Sleeping and Waking.

Thus it appears how necessarily continued Exercises do make Us _Sleepy_, since These do exhaust the Juice of the Nerves; that is, both lessen its Influx into the Organs of Motion, and incline the Mind not to determine it any longer that way, upon the account of the Pain and Uneasiness, with which too violent a Tension of the Parst is always attended; which therefore we must needs desire to Relax, or lay to _Rest_.

That _Sleepiness_ which follows upon a fulness of the Stomach after Eating or Drinking, is owing to a different Cause; and does indeed so nearly fall in with the Effects of _Opiate_ Medicines, that it requires a particular Consideration.

As _Hunger_, or the Emptiness of the Stomach, is a painful Sensation; so the satisfying or removing of _This_, is a pleasing or agreeable One. Now all _Pain_ is a _Stimulus_ upon the Part affected; and This, we all know, being attended with Contractions of the pained Membranes, causes a greater Afflux than ordinary of the Nervous Juice that way. On the other Hand, _Pleasure_, or a delightful Sensation in any part, is accompanied with a smooth Undulation, and easie Reflux of the Liquor of the Nerves towards the Brain. This is, as it were, the _Entertainment_ of the Mind, with which being _Taken up_, it does not Determine the Spirits to the Organs of Motion; That is, there is such a _Relaxation_ of the Muscular Fibres, and such a Disposition of the Nervous Fluid, as we have observed to be necessary to Sleep.

This is the Reason of that _Chilliness_ in the Limbs, which we commonly Complain of after a good Feast.

If it seem strange that a Pleasure in the Stomach should so powerfully Influence the Mind; let it be considered, on the other Hand, how violent Effects, an uneasie and disagreeable Sense in the same Part does produce; what a terrible Agony Two or Three Grains of _Crocus Metallorum_ throws the whole Fabrick into; how readily the Fluid of the Nerves is with a more than Ordinary _Impetus_ determin’d and commanded into the Muscles of the Stomach and _Abdomen_, in order to throw off the Enemy, and remove the ungrateful Sensation.

Now the Consequences which we have ascribed to a pleasing Sense in this Part, are only just the contrary of these we find the opposite Affection of Pain induces. And indeed _Pleasure_ and _Pain_ are Two great Springs of Action in the Animal Œconomy; The Changes they make in the Fabrick are the Causes of many Effects which seem surprising, because we do not regard the Mechanism by which they are produced: but these must be more considerable in the Stomach than any where else; This Part being, for very wise Purposes, of so acute a _Feeling_, that some Philosophers have for this Reason thought It to be the Seat of the Soul.

Besides this Consideration, We must take notice that, the Stomach being distended with Food, presses upon the descending _Trunk_ of the _Aorta_, and thus causes a greater Fulness of the Vessels in the upper Parts; whereupon the Brain is loaded, or the Derivation of Spirits into the Nerves diminished, and _Unactivity_ or _Drowsiness_ insues. From hence proceed Those _Flushings_ in the Face, Redness, _&c._ after plentiful Eating or Drinking, most Visible in Those whose Vessels are Lax and Weak, as in Exhausted and Hectick Persons they more especially are.

Thus we may, without the Assistance of the _New Chyle_ entring into the Vessels, account for that Inclination to Sleep which follows upon a full Stomach; Tho’ we must also allow the Distension from _This_ to be a considerable Cause of the same Effect; But this does not happen immediately, nay, sometimes perhaps not within Two or Three Hours after Eating; and therefore the sudden _Drowsiness_ must (as well as the present Refreshment and Reviving which Meat gives) be chiefly owing to some more speedy Alteration.

We come then in the next Place to _Opium_ it self; The Chymical _Analysis_ of which (147) does out of One Pound afford of a Volatile _Spirit_ of the like Nature with that drawn from Harts-horn, Five Ounces and Five Drachms; of a fætid _Oil_, One Ounce Two Drachms and a half; of _Caput Mortuum_, smelling like Spirit of Harts-horn, Seven Ounces and Six Drachms.

The Virtues therefore of _Opium_ are owing to a volatile _Alcaline_ Salt, intimately mixt and combin’d with an Oily, Sulphureous Substance. The Effects of which We must consider, first of all upon the Stomach, and afterwards, when they have passed the _Primæ Viæ_, upon the Arterial Fluid it self.

An agreeable Sensation produced in the Stomach, together with a Distension of Its Membranes, we observed before to be the Cause of that Sleepiness to which we are so prone after Eating. The _One_ of These ingages the Mind, the _Other_ acts upon the Body. For Pleasure amuses the Soul, as it were, so that It does not Think, or exercise it self about any outward Objects; that is, Is inclined to Rest. And the Fulness of the Vessels in the Brain Checks and Hinders, in some Measure, the Derivation of the Nervous Juice into the Organs, _&c._

Now They who take a moderate Dose of _Opium_, especially if not long accustomed to It, are so Transported with the pleasing Sense It induces, that They are, as They oftentimes express themselves, in Heaven; and tho’ They do not always Sleep, (which proceeds from the Presentation of pleasing Images to the Mind being so strong, that like Dreams they do over-ingage the Fancy, and so interrupt the State of Rest) yet they do however injoy so perfect an Indolence and Quiet, that no Happiness in the World can surpass the Charms of this agreable Extasie.