Part 9

And here I might, by Reflecting on the Use and Necessity of _Respiration_, and the particular manner of performing It, (of which I have hinted something already) and considering withal the true Nature of _Fevers_, easily shew how such a Constitution of the Air, as this is, must necessarily produce such Effects; might run over the _Propositions_ of _Bellini_; which _as_ they do plainly evince _Malignant_ and _Pestilential Fevers_ to be owing to a viscid and tenacious _Lentor_ or Slime, which at first obstructs the Capillary Arteries, and afterwards being dissolved by Heat, Ferments with the Blood, and changes it into a Mass unequally Fluid and Glutinous, and therefore unfit for all the Operations of the Animal OEconomy; _so_ it would be no uneasie Task to prove, that Air at the same time _Hot_ and _Moist_, being less able to comminute and break the Arterial Fluid in the _Lungs_ than is necessary, in order to prepare it for Secretions, it is no wonder, if when the Blood passing thro’ the Capillary Vessels arrives at the Secretory Organs, the Cohæsion of its Parts not being sufficiently removed, instead of deriving several Juices out of it into the Glands, it leaves its most Glutinous and Viscid Parts sticking about the Orifices of these Vessels; which tho’ they may at first be wash’d away by the repeated Impulses of the succeeding Blood, yet the Cause continuing, and these Strokes growing still Weaker and Weaker, (from a lesser quantity of Spirits being separated, and hence a more languid Contraction of the Heart) These Obstructions are increas’d to that Degree as not to be remov’d, till by the Violent Agitation of a greater Heat, this _Slimy Mucus_ is thrown into the Blood again, and there in the Nature of a _Ferment_ so disturbs its _Mixture_, and changes its _Compages_, as to make it a Fluid of quite different Properties, that is, altogether unfit for the same Functions or Offices.

This Effect will be the more certain, because a damp Air upon the surface of the Body checks insensible Perspiration, so that a great quantity of this being detained, the Obstructions are still greater in the small Tubes; whereas indeed upon the Account of a more than ordinary Heat, this Discharge ought now to be in an increased Proportion.

Such a Disposition of the Blood as this the Ancients call’d _Putrid_; and to speak plainly, it is a Beginning Stagnation, with a Succeeding Heat and Fermentation.

Nor would it be amiss here to take notice, how unjustly some Authors, having quitted the Consideration of _plain Causes_, for _Occult Venoms_ and _Deleterium quid_, have brought in the θεῖον τὶ (_something Divine_) of _Hippocrates_ (167) to favour their fond _Hypothesis_; tho’ His best Interpreter _Galen_, understood by this Expression no such thing as they mean; but on the other Hand, only the _manifest Constitution of the ambient Air_, such as himself has described in his _Aphorisms_ (168), and which is exactly the same with That We have been discoursing of.

And therefore not only does _Minadous_ (169) rightly Remark, that in his whole _Epidemics, Hippocrates_ never once mentions any _Venom_ or Poison as the Cause of _Malignant_ Diseases; But the Divine Old Man himself in another _Treatise_ (170) expresly teaches Us, that _All Maladies do equally, or one as much as another, proceed from the Gods, there being nothing more Divine in this than in that, each acknowledging its own Natural and Manifest Cause_.

But I willingly wave insisting upon these Heads, as well as the Hints which might be taken from this Theory, of some Use perhaps in the Cure of these Distempers; and leave it to our Physicians to judge upon how good Grounds They do, in Cases of this Nature, under the Notion of _Alexipharmics_, give such Medicines as raise a great Heat both in the Stomach and Blood; only praying Them to take Care, least while They are ingaging the Animal Spirits in War with _Malignities_, They do send Treacherous _Auxiliaries_ to the supposed weak _Party_; that is, that they either raise new Tumults and Disorders of worse Consequence than the Original Mischief; or at least, by clogging the Wheels, and throwing Dust upon the Springs of the finest Machine in the Creation, do check and interrupt the Action of Nature (171), when ’tis imploy’d about the most Nice and _Critical_ Work.

Neither can I, tho’ an occasion be fairly offer’d, by any means be induced to intermeddle in the Controversie of those Gentlemen, who by the help of Two Words are made Masters both of Philosophy and Physick; I mean, the Violent Assertors of _Acid_ and _Alkali_. These scanty Principles fall infinitely short of that vast Variety there is in the Works of Nature; However, for Their Sakes who are as yet Advanc’d no farther, I will advise the Contending Parties, (because little good is got by Quarrelling) to Think of an Union, and if They can find no Remedies but out of these Two Tribes, to make Use of such as result from a prudent Mixture of some out of Each. If this _Project_ does not take, to Resolve however on both sides, To Distinguish the differing Times of the same Disease, and know, that _as_, on the one Hand, _Acid_ Medicines are oftentimes as certainly hurtful in the latter End, as they do service in the Beginning of the Fever; _so_, on the other, those which are _Alcalious_ must necessarily for the same Reason do mischief in the first Periods, for which they are profitable in the last Days of the Distemper.

By what Mechanism this comes to pass, They will easily understand, when they have learn’d what Alteration such things as these are do make in the humane Body; nor will it then be a difficult Matter to convince Them, That He is equally a fond Slave to an _Hypothesis_, who because _Acids_ are sometimes of great Service in Fevers, concludes that their Origine is _Alcalious_; as He who knowing that Stagnating and Fermenting Juices do easily turn to _Acidity_, from thence Argues that _Alcalies_ are the only Cure of this Stagnation and Ferment.

But Dr. _Pitcarne_ (172) has abundantly demonstrated the Weakness of These Men’s Reasonings, and the Vanity of such Immechanical Theories.

And here I would put a Period to this Part of the Discourse, were it not that these Distempers being sometimes _Contagious_, and _Contagion_ being justly reputed a real _Poison_, it may be worth the while to examine a little what This is, and wherein it consists; more especially, because some may perhaps be apt to think This to be an Argument of an _Occult Venom_’s being the First and Original Cause.

We are therefore to take Notice, that when a _Fever_ is communicated by way of _Infection_ from one already Diseased, this most commonly happens in the latter End of the Distemper, that is, (as we before discoursed concerning the Hydrophobia) when the Fermenting Blood is throwing off great quantities of its Active Fermentative Particles upon the Glands of the most constant and easie Secretion; such are those in the Surface of the Body, and the Mouth and Stomach; By this means therefore the Liquid of insensible Perspiration, and the Sweat is impregnated with these μιάσματα, and thus the ambient Air becomes fill’d with ’em; so that not only, (as _Bellini_ Argues (173),) may some of these _Effluvia_ insinuate themselves into the Blood of a sound Person thro’ the Pores of the outward Skin, but also in Inspiration thro’ the Membrane of the Lungs; for He has in another Place (174) demonstrated how the Air, or something from It, may this way come to be mix’d with the Arterial Fluid; And thus the like _Ferment_ will be rais’d Here, as was in the Originally Distemper’d Subject.

This may be _One_, but there is perhaps _another_ yet more dangerous manner of _Infection_, and that is, by the Breath of the Diseased taken in by a By-stander, especially in the last Moments, seizing the _Stomach_, and fixing a _Malignity_ There. For it is upon this Score, that Those who are _Infected_ do presently complain of an extreme Pain and _Nausea_ in the upper Orifice of the Stomach; and that all Authors do agree in the admirable Use of _Vomits_ timely given in this Case; These by their Stimulating Force removing the very _Minera_ of the Disease; and likewise that, oftentimes in _Pestilential_ Illnesses, the _Stomach_ when open’d has been found Gangren’d and Mortify’d. This made _Van Helmont_ (175), who had observ’d this Part in one kill’d by a _Plague Infection_, perforated and eroded in several Places, no otherwise than He had seen in one Poison’d by _Arsenick_, conclude, that the Plague for the most Part begins in the Stomach from a coagulated _Tartar_ there.

Herein lies the difference of _Contagion_, from the first Invasion of Malignant Distempers; The Effects of the _One_ are the Cause and Beginning of the _Other_; and therefore it is no wonder, if tho’ the Symptoms in the former are by a gradual Increase wrought up to their height, they do however in the latter, even at the very first, discover their ill Nature and Violence, and, like a reinforc’d Enemy, by surer Strokes make quicker Dispatch. And this also is the Reason of the great Increase of _Funerals_ in Plague Time, in that One Death is thus added to Another.

If it be difficult to explain the particular manner how the _Stomach_ comes to be thus affected, We must not therefore deny Matter of Fact; and may however probably Conjecture, that the last _Breath_ of one Dying of a Malignant Distemper, proves thus pernicious, in that Those fermenting active Particles, which, as we just now observ’d, the Blood discharges upon the Glands of the _Mouth_, _Stomach_, _Lungs_, &c. impregnating the Air in its Passage thro’ these; when the same happens to be immediately inspired by a sound Person, it may easily taint the _Salival_ Juices in the Mouth, which are very Glutinous, and of a fermenting Nature, and therefore susceptible enough of _Contagious Effluvia_, but especially of such as proceed from the same Liquor infected in the Sick Party. Now the _Spittle_ is continually swallow’d down into the Stomach, and so will quickly impress its _Labes_, or ill Quality, on so tender and sensible a Part; that is, will lodge these Corrosive _Salts_, (for such We may suppose the Particles of Infection) in the Secretory Ducts; whereupon the Glands being obstructed, little _Tumors_ are by the Afflux of their Fluid rais’d here and there, which breaking become small _Ulcers_, and produce that dismal Train of Symptoms which we have already related.

And here it may not be amiss to take notice, that all Authors do agree, One great Cause of _Pestilential_ Distempers, especially in Armies and Camps, to be dead Bodies lying expos’d and rotting in the open Air; The Reason of which is plain from what we have been advancing; For Battels being generally fought in the Summer Time, it is no wonder, if the Heat acting upon the unbury’d _Carcasses_, and _Fermenting_ the Juices, draws forth those active Particles, which in great quantities filling the Atmosphere, when they are inspired and let into the Stomach, do affect It after the manner already described.

To illustrate this Matter, I shall relate a remarkable Story told Me by the learned Dr. _Baynard_. The Body of a Malefactor was Hung up in Chains in the Country; after a few Months, in very hot Weather it was Sport and Pastime to some Boys, Playing thereabouts to Swing the Carcass up and down; One more bold than the Rest struck It with his Fist upon the naked Belly, which being outwardly parch’d and dry, and from the falling down of the Humours Swell’d and Tense, was easily burst by the Blow; out gush’d a Water so Corrosive and Fiery, that running down the poor Lad’s Arm, it caus’d a Violent _Excoriation_, and a very hard Matter it was to preserve It from being truly mortified. What this _Serum_ could do upon the outward Skin, the more Volatile Parts of It would, without all doubt, Effect upon the more tender and sensible Membranes of the _Stomach_, if a considerable number of them were fixt there. The Fluids of Humane Bodies being Ranker and more abounding in active Salts than those of other Creatures, which are not continually repaired and nourish’d by the Juices of Animals.

The Way by which _Bad Food_, _ill ripened Fruits_ of the Earth, _&c._ do oftentimes produce _Malignant_ and _Pestilential_ Diseases, is not very different from _That_ by which We have observ’d Unwholesome Airs to be the Cause of the like Effects. For the Juices with which Those do supply the Blood being Corrupted, must necessarily make a Fluid of quite other Properties than what the Animal Œconomy requires, that is, neither Fit for Nutrition, nor for the Secretion of those Liquors which in the several Organs are to be derived from It; whereupon the small _Tubes_ are obstructed by an unequally Glutinous _Slime_; and it is therefore no wonder, if besides the other Symptoms insuing, _Sore Pustules_, _Inflammations_, _Ulcers_, &c. (more common in Fevers from this Cause than in any other,) are raised in the Surface of the Body.

This is the Ground of the common Observation, that a _Famine_ is very often succeeded by a _Pestilence_. And This _Calamity_ generally begins among the Poorer sort of People, whose Diet to be sure is the worst.

The City of _Surat_ in the _East-Indies_ is seldom or never free from the Plague; and yet it is observ’d, that the _English_ who Trade there are in no danger of being Infected thereby. Now the Chief of the Natives in this Place are _Banians_, who neither Eat Flesh, nor Drink Wine, but Live very Poorly upon _Herbs_, _Rice_, _Water_, &c. and most of the Inhabitants do the like, except Foreigners; This Poor Fare, together with the Heat of the Climate, makes them so liable to Malignant Distempers; from the Attacks of which Those who Feed well are more Safe and Secure.

* * * * *

Thus much concerning _Poisonous Exhalations and Airs_, so far as the Consideration of the _Grotta de’ Cani_ has led Us on to enquire into their Effects; for tho’ there may be other Alterations of this same Element, differing in their Nature from this we have insisted upon, and yet equally Pernicious and Hurtful, yet We take no Notice of any of them, in regard that those which are from _Arsenical_, _Mercurial_, and the like _Fumes_, are reducible to a foregoing _Essay_; and those which are owing to a Change of the known Properties of the Air, may be easily explain’d by what has been already delivered in _This_. I shall therefore rather chuse to make some Remarks on the Mischief of another _Fluid_, which _as_ It is the next in use to This we have been treating of, _so_ the bad Qualities of it, when it comes to be altered, must necessarily be almost equally Fatal and Dangerous.

I mean _Water_, which is of so constant Service, not only for our Drinks, but also in preparing of our Flesh and Bread, that it may justly be said to be the _Vehicle_ of all our Nourishment; so that whenever this happens to put on other Properties than are necessary to fit it for this Purpose, it is no wonder if in its Passage thro’ the Body these do make suitable Impressions there.

Thus at _Paris_ (176), where the Water of the River _Seine_ is so full of Stony Corpuscles, that even the Pipes through which it is carried, in time are incrusted and stopt up by ’em, The Inhabitants are more Subject to the _Stone_ in the Bladder than in most other Cities. The same I observed in the _Baths_ of _Abano_, a few Miles from _Padua_, to that Degree, that it is necessary very frequently to clear the Wheel of a Mill driven by the Current of these Springs, from the great quantity of _petrify’d_ Matter with which it is from time to time incumbered.

In like manner, let the gross Particles with which the _Water_ is saturated be of any other Nature, _Metallick_, _Salts_, &c. these, according to their various Gravity, the Capacity of Canals, and such like Circumstances, will, when they come to circulate in the Animal Body, be by the Laws of Motion deposited in one Part or other. So those Mineral Bodies, and Nitrous Salts, which abound in the Snowy Waters of the _Alps_, do so certainly Stuff and Inlarge the Glands of the Throat in Those who Drink ’em, that scarce any who live there are exempted from this Inconvenience (177).

For this Reason, the Choice of _Water_ for Drink among the Ancients was by Weight, the lightest being preferr’d, as, most free from all Heterogeneous Bodies.

The Case therefore of _Poisonous Springs_ is, their having Corrosive Corpuscles mixt with their Water, which cannot fail when forsaken in the Canals of the Body of their Vehicle, to do the same mischief as they would if taken by themselves undiluted; only with this difference, that they may in this form be carried sometimes farther into the Animal Œconomy, and so having pass’d the _Primæ Viæ_, discover their Malignity in some of the inmost Recesses. Thus the _Fons Ruber_ in _Æthiopia_, mention’d by _Pliny_ (178), about which abundance of native _Minium_ or _Cinnabar_ was found, shew’d its ill Effects chiefly on the Brain; and therefore _Ovid_ (179) says of it,

――_Si quis Faucibus hausit Aut Furit aut patitur mirum gravitate Soporem._

We shall not need then to inlarge on this Matter, since any of the foremention’d _Mineral Poisons_ may thus impart their deadly quality to Waters; and accordingly there are Instances of _Arsenical_, _Mercurial_, &c. Fountains, of which the Histories may be seen in the Collections of the Learned _Baccius_ (180). And one very remarkable in the _Philosophical Transactions_ (181).

But as We before took Notice concerning _Airs_, so it may be worth the while to observe of _Waters_; that there are some Alterations of them, which tho’ not properly _Poisonous_, yet are of so great Consequence in their Effects, that they may very well deserve to be regarded.

This I shall do with respect to a great Abuse, committed in this kind about the City; and that is, In the chusing of stagnating impure _Well-Water_ for the _Brewing_ of _Beer_, and making other Drinks. Such a Fluid indeed has oftentimes a greater Force and Aptness to extract the Tincture out of _Malt_, than is to be had in the more innocent and soft Liquor of Rivers; but for this very Reason it ought not, unless upon meer Necessity, to be made use of; this quality being owing to the _Mineral_ Particles and _Aluminous_ Salts with which it is impregnated.

A late _Author_ (182) by searching into the first Accounts of the Distemper we call the _Scurvy_, describ’d by _Pliny_ (183) and _Strabo_ (184), under the promiscuous Names of _Stomacace_ and _Scelotyrbe_; and examining the Authentick Histories of It in later Years, made by the most observing Physicians in those Countries where it was unhappily revived, as _Olaus Magnus_, _Balduinus Ronseus_, _J. Wierus_, _Solomon Albertus_, &c. finds that the Origine of It was in all times and places charged upon the use of unwholesome stagnating _Waters_. Then by comparing together the _Clayie Strata_ of the Earth about the Cities of _London_, _Paris_, and _Amsterdam_, He shews that where the Water is worst, there this Malady is most rife. So that He has put it out of all doubt, that most of the perplex’d and complicated Symptoms which are ranged under this one general Name, if they do not entirely owe their Birth to the Malignity of this Element, do however acknowledge it to be their main and principal Cause.

And indeed _Hippocrates_ himself, as He has very plainly decipher’d this Disease (185), by the Title of σπλῆνες μέγαλοι, or _great Milts_; so he does very particularly in another _Treatise_ (186), take notice, that Drinking of _Stagnating Well-Waters_ must necessarily induce an ill Disposition both of the _Milt_ and Belly.

If we enquire into the Reason of such ill Effects, we must consider, that _Clay_ is a _Mineral Glebe_, and that the gross Particles and Metallick Salts with which Waters passing thro’ such a Bottom do abound, are, as Dr. _Lister_ (187) observes, not to be mastered, that is, indigestible in the Humane Body. Not only therefore will these Cause, as He very well Argues, calculous Concretions in the _Kidneys_, _Bladder_, and _Joints_; and as _Hippocrates_ experienced, hard Swellings in the _Spleen_; but they must necessarily oftentimes by their Corrosive quality twitch and irritate the sensible Membranes of the Stomach and Bowels, and thus hinder and interrupt the Digestion of our Food. Nay, besides all this, when they come into the Blood, it is no wonder if the small Canals of insensible Perspiration are frequently stopt and obstructed by ’em; for it is upon this Score that _Sanctorius_ (188) teaches Us, that _heavy Water converts the Matter of Transpiration into an_ Ichor, _which being retained, induces a_ Cachexy.

What Mischiefs will insue hereupon every one sees; not only Pains in the Limbs, livid Spots in the Surface of the Body, Ulcers, _&c._ from the Acrimony of the undischarged Moisture; but many besides of those perplexing Symptoms which go by the Name of _Hysterical_ and _Hypochondriacal_, may take their rise from the same Source; for the before cited _Sanctorius_ (189) has remark’d, that the _Flatus or Wind_ so inseparable from those Cases, is no other than _the Fluid of Perspiration rude and unfinished_.

If these Inconveniencies are oftentimes not felt, at least not till towards the declining Age, in strong and active Habits of Body; yet I am, from very good Experience, assured, that they deserve Consideration in weaker Constitutions, and a Sedentary Life, especially of the more tender Sex.

I have the honour to be nearly related to a worthy Person, who led formerly an afflicted Life from the frequent returns of Violent _Colick Pains_, till she was with happy Success advised by the Noble _Van Helmont_ not to Drink (as she then did) Beer Brewed with _Well-Water_; and her Health is even now so far owing to this Management, that an Error in It is unavoidably follow’d with the wonted Complaints.

For these Reasons _Pliny_ (190) tells Us, that _Those Waters are Condemn’d in the first Place, which when Boiled do incrustate the sides of the Vessels_; And that our _Well-Waters_ do this, no Body who looks into the _Tea-Kettles_ of our Gentlewomen can be Ignorant.

And indeed in Ancient Times, when Physick was more a Science, which is now more a Trade, as that Part of It, which relates to _Diet_ was more carefully studied, than it is Now-a-days; so this Point particularly of which we are Treating was of so great Moment, that _Hippocrates_, who wrote the best Book (191) on the Subject that ever was Publish’d, has in a great Measure accounted not only for the Diseases, but even for the Temper and Disposition of the People of several Countries, from the Difference of the _Waters_ with which Nature has supplied Them.

FOOTNOTES to ESSAY V.

(152) _Virgil_ Æn. 7. v. 8.

―― _Sævamq; exhalat. opaca Mephitim._ _Vid. Servium, ibid._

(153) _Scaliger. Conject. in Varron._

(154) Lib. 13.

(155) _De Situ Orb._ l. 1. c. 13.

(156) Ἐιν Ἀρίμοις ὅθι φασὶ Τυφώεος ἔμμθυαι ἐυνάς. Il. Β. v. 783.

(157) _Nat. Quæst._ l. 6. c. 28.

(158) Nat. Hist. l. 2. c. 93.

(159) _L. di Capoa delle Mofet._ pag. 37.

(160) Vid. _Malpigh. de Pulmon._

(161) _Vid. L. di Capoa Mofet._ pag. 40.

(162) Pag. 128.

(163) _Epidem._ l. 2, & 3.

(164) _De Temperament._ l. 1. c. 4. & _Commentar. in Epidem._ l. 3.

(165) L. 6. v. 1098.

(166) Histor. Afric. _l._ 1. _c._ 1. Vid. Purchas’s _Pilgrims_, _l._ 6. _c._ 1.

(167) _Prognostic._ 1. & _Galen. Comment_.

(168) Sect. 3. Aph. 11.

(169) _De Febre Malign_ l. 1. c. 11.

(170) _De Aere, Locis, & Aquis._

(171) Φύσιες Νούσων ἰητροἰ. _Hippocr._ Epid. 6.

(172) _Dissertatio de opera quam præstant corpora acida vel alcalica in Curatione Morborum._

(173) _De Febrib._ Prop. 27.

(174) _De Motu Cordis_, Prop. 9.

(175) _Tumulus Pestis_, pag. m. 163, & 172.

(176) _Vid. Lister_’s Voyage to _Paris_.

(177) _Quis tumidum Guttur miratur in Alpibus._ Juvenal Satyr. 13.

(178) Lib. 31. cap. 2.