Part 7

Upon several Accounts, this may be esteem’d the best and Noblest of all _Exercises_ for a Sick Person; whether we consider it with Respect to the Body or the Mind; if we Enquire after what manner it affects the Body, we shall find that it is a kind of mixt Exercise, partly _Active_ and partly _Passive_; the lower parts of the Body, being in some measure employ’d, while the upper parts are almost wholly Remiss or Relax’d; nay, where a Man is easie, is sure of his Horse, and rides loose, there is very little Action on his Part, but he may give himself to be as careless almost as if he were Seated on a Moving Chair; so that he may be said to be Exercis’d rather than to Exercise himself; which makes the Case widely different from almost all other sorts of Exercise, as Walking, Running, Stooping, or the like; all which require some Labour, and consequently more Strength for their Performance; in all which, the Muscular Parts must be put to some Stress, and some of the Secretory Vessels made to throw off too much, while others throw off too little; whereas in Riding, the Parts being incomparably more relax’d, there is a better Disposition towards an equal Secretion of the Morbisick Particles, and a less Expence of the Animal Spirits, the chief Agents in all regular Secretions; so that a Sick Person may by this means be greatly reliev’d and not tir’d, whereas by other more violent ones, it is possible he may be tir’d and not reliev’d.

As for the Parts which are more immediately acted upon by this Exercise; it is very plain they are the whole Contents of the Lower Belly, so that the Glands of the _Mesentery_ and the Intestines, so frequently accus’d of Obstructions, may in a special manner be clear’d, and their Tone recovered by such repeated Agitation; which is a thing so manifest and allow’d, that it would be needless to multiply Words in the explaining of it. But there is another sort of Assistance communicated to the Intestines, which is not so much heeded, and that is the great Alteration, which is made by this Agitation, in some of the Morbifick Particles, as they come to be squeez’d out of their several Glands into the Intestines, which in the time of Riding is doubtless in a much greater quantity than at other times. These Particles must not be suppos’d to be barely carryed off as Excrementitious, but to undergo a Change in their Texture, to be several times in a manner Cohobated, from Acid and Acrimonious, to be Volatiliz’d, and in some measure render’d inflammable; that there is some such Alteration made in the more liquid part of the Contents of the Intestines, before they come to grow hard in a true State of Health is easie to prove, and I believe agreed on by most Enquirers into the Oeconomy of Nature, and that there is some Defect in these Operations of the Bowels, in some sick People, is evident from the Consistence, Smell, and other Qualities of these Contents, different from what they are found in a State of Health; and that this Defect may be remov’d by this Exercise, seems not improbable, if we consider how immediately Riding affects those parts, that it acts as a Topick, by those infinite Succussions coming close upon one another, which must needs cause a greater Heat than ordinarily, and a better Mixture of some of the Similar Particles, and a Rarefaction of others, which after they are thus differently Modefi’d and alter’d, are many of ’em as it were chaf’d in again by that continual Agitation, and the Steam of their inflammable Parts is of Use, to keep Nature even under the Exercise; that there is something like this to be observ’d in the actions of the Bowels might be confirm’d, by what Glysters are known to do. I would not willingly verge towards the Fraud of an Hypothesis; I may be allow’d to have had some more than Common Occasion, to put me upon making these Observations, having some time ago been so unhappy as to labour under as severe a Flux, as perhaps ever was known, which held me about a Year and a Half, attended with Vomitings, and most unsupportable Nervous Symptoms; during all which time nothing reliev’d me, in the greatest Paroxisms of it, like gentle Riding, in so much that at last I was forc’d to be in a manner always on Horseback, to have the Pressure on my Bowels rebated, and my Spirits a little refresh’d. The Comfort which I found by that means, I think must be attributed to some such _Phænomena_ as I have above mention’d; for tho’ I will grant, that Riding was more beneficial to me under those Circumstances, than it would be to another, because of those Nervous Symptoms; yet how Particles so exquisitely Pungent and Acrimonious, should be retain’d and blunted and made useful, as appears from the Evil Consequences of too many Evacuations; how this should come about, but after such a manner as I have above hinted, I cannot understand; ’tis easie for those who think in hast and superficially, to be deceiv’d with the first appearance of things; but when once Men are calm enough, or under a Necessity to think closer, they are more likely to come to the Truth of such _Phænomena_ as these; and to those who do allow themselves to deliberate before they are Positive, I doubt not but what I have asserted, will appear reasonable; and perhaps I should not be so much out of the way, if I should add, that some of the _Stercoraceous_ parts of the Contents of the Intestines, are not in a strict Sence to be reckon’d Excrementitious or useless, since tho’ I don’t believe Digestion is perform’d by Putrefaction, yet I believe Putrefaction is a great Medium for the opening of Bodies, and the extracting inflammable Parts out of ’em; as we see a little Greenish _Hay_, when it comes to be Putrefi’d, shall become inflammable; and there being inflammable Particles in the Intestines, ’tis probable they may owe their Origine to some such Cause, and not to the first Chylification in the Ventricle. I would not be thought to bring these Reasons, as if I believ’d Riding would Cure a Flux, I don’t believe any such thing, unless upon some very singular Circumstances, and therefore I have not plac’d it among those Distempers, which appear to be Curable by Exercise; but I only draw this Consequence from the Palliative Relief, which Riding will afford in the time of a long Flux, that some pernicious and disagreeable Particles, may receive such an Alteration while in the Intestines, as to become fit to be re-absorb’d by the several Vessels of those parts, and convey’d with great Advantage into the Blood again, which is making things to go on in a Round towards a Cure; Nature her self doing the Work, without forcible Evacuations, which tho’ never so gentle in some fine Constitutions, can scarce be born, and without much Physick, the very Morbifick Matter being so alter’d and dispos’d in one part of the Body, as to be useful in another. I have insisted the longer on this Point, that I might make it as plain as possible, because I think it is of so great Moment in some Distempers and some Constitutions.

What relates to the Breast, I have had occasion to Explain before; and for the Head, tho’ I can’t say it is immediately affected by this Exercise as the Lower Belly is, yet there is one Benefit accrues to it from Riding, which by reason of the Disuse of Exercise in Cases of Sickness, is not taken Notice of, and it is this, the great inclination to Sleep, which a Sick Man finds if he lies down on his Bed as soon as he comes off his Horse; for as the Motion of a Coach does more or less dispose all People to Sleep, and the swifter it goes, the more we are inclin’d to Doze; So the Motion of a Horse being swifter, and the Posture relax’d as to the Head and upper Parts, tho’ a Man does not perceive any thing of such an inclination, while he is Riding and upon his Guard, without any thing to lean on, yet there is so much of the Impression of that Motion remains upon him, for sometime after he lights off his Horse, that if he throws himself presently upon his Bed, especially if he drinks some small Draught of wholsom Ale or Wine first, he will quickly be in a Sleep, which upon several Accounts must then be very Beneficial; this is a Truth so certain and so valuable to distressed, infirm People, whose Nights are often more troublesome than the Days, that it is a wonder what should keep Men from attending to Nature, and falling into such just Measures that Art it self cannot afford. What can be more applicable to all the Circumstances of Consumptive People, than after that by Moderate Riding, they have dispos’d the Humours for each Secretion, they should by such short and Refreshing Sleeps compleat those Secretions? When moreover by these Means, they may be enabled to deny themselves those latter or Morning Sleeps, in which they are so apt to run into Colliquations; I know some may please to be so witty as to call this Nursery, rather than a Management worthy of a Physician; but yet I will appeal to any that are Sober, Calm, and free from Prejudice, whether if they allow that this Exercise, does dispose to Sleep as I affirm, upon this Supposal, any thing can more exactly hit the miserable Circumstances of those Persons. To the Sick, these little things are of great Moment, and in such seemingly little things as these, the Accurate Management of the Ancients consisted, by which they were sometimes enabled to accomplish, that which we, for want of those Measures, do sometimes fall short of.

As to the other Property of this Exercise, it may be convenient for me to make some Apology, before I enter upon the Mention of it, because it is such, as cannot be well understood, but by those who are Conversant with _Sanctorius_, upon one of whose above-mention’d Maxims it does depend, _viz._ Upon that which shews the great Increase of the insensible Perspiration by _Pandiculation_ and Gauping; now I hope the taking Notice of this, will not be thought odd in an Age, of which it is one of the Good Qualities, that Men will not take up with the old superficial Way of accounting for things by Occult Qualities, _Putredo_’s, and the like, but enquire into the _Modus_ of the more Abstruse Actions of Nature, and will be convinc’d, that whatever are the legitimate Measures that she takes, they cannot be thought little or uncouth, seeing ’tis by such _Minima_, that she comes to be able to compleat her great Things. If therefore by Gauping, this Perspiration is so very much promoted, as has been discovered, and adjusted by the Experiments of that Admirable Author, we may reflect upon how little things our Deliverance from Feavers, and other Inconveniences, does depend; nothing being more common upon taking Cold, Surfeits, or the like, than for People to Gaup often, till the offensive Matter is let out, and consequently it is very apparent, that whatsoever will promote the Pandiculation must be beneficial, when the Perspiration is obstructed; and this, tho’ it cannot be effected by any Internal, may be done by Riding, which will dispose all People, the Healthy as well the Sick, more or less to it. I know it may be alledg’d, that all People when they are tyr’d, are more or less apt to Gaup and Retch, but yet it cannot be said, that Thirty Miles Riding is a Tyring to a Healthy Man; and yet let any one observe, if that or less will not dispose all People to this Affect, unless they over-rule it by Drinking of great Quantities of good Liquor, which I believe will not always suppress it neither; but for those who are Sickly, the least Use of this Exercise disposes ’em to this Method of Nature, which perhaps no other Exercise will do, unless they are tyr’d by it; which shews how much Riding is preferable to other Exercises for Sick People, because it does some way or other act upon the Secret Springs of Nature, after a more peculiar manner, and therefore more proper for the promoting that easie and even Evacuation.

There is another Property of Riding, that it always gives a Freshness to the Countenance of those who use it, which lasts for some time, and will appear upon but once Riding, and the weakest and most infirm Person shall discover something of this in his Cheeks after this Exercise; now I would fain know, what Noble Cordial, whether Solid or Liquid, can do thus? They may cause a Flushing, but can produce nothing of this Natural Aspect; and what can more plainly discover to us, that there is something inimitable which results from the equal and gentle Pressures of the innumerable and invisible _Vascula_ of the whole Body together, and that that Action which can produce such an Appearance upon but one single Application to it, may be sufficient to display the greatest and most wholsome effects when continued on gradually, as it ought to be; and to object against the Certainty of these Measures, because they must be slow, is just as Wise as it would be to assert, that the hand of the Dial does not move, or the Budding Leaf encrease, because we cannot discern the Motion of either of ’em. Nothing certainly could keep us from Regarding these Tendencies of Nature, but the excessive Variety of Medicines, with which we are so gloz’d, that we over look Her gradual Progressions, either to Sickness or Health, and think to force Her in all Cases by the Power of Art; whereas in a great many Cases, she will baffle the boldest Administrators, when by gentle and suitable means she may be reduc’d, to her true State. The Famous _Cornaro_’s Case, and many others might be alledg’d to shew how great Changes may be procur’d, by a strict attendance to the demands of Nature, and that it is seldom too late to aid Her in a Natural way, agreeable to her Weakness and without the Oppression as I may call it at such a time, instead of the Assistance of much Physick.

Add to all this the Vivacity, the Gayety which does alwayes more or less result from brisk Motion, whether it is caus’d by the spirits expanding themselves, or the Fibres dilating themselves to take in a greater quantity of the Spirits, it is hard to determine, and perhaps of no great consequence if we could; but that I may represent the Sense we may conceive of this, I think I have no reason to be asham’d to borrow for once more an Illustration from that Noble Beast, to which this Exercise I am treating of is owing; It is a known Case then, that if you take a Horse of the best Spirit, and of the best Keeping, provided he is not Vicious, as they call it; if you mount this Horse, and walk him or keep him to a pretty slow pace, you’ll find him quiet enough, but if you once put him on to a larger Pace, he can’t contain himself, but will grow troublesome, and press for a swifter Career, than perhaps his Rider would desire; which plainly shews, that there is something in the Animal Oeconomy, which _crescit eundo_, which gathers by Motion, and which can’t perhaps be made to display it self so well any other way; for this must not be thought to be wholly owing to high Feeding, but to the degree of the Motion; for the same Sprightliness or Courage will appear proportionally in any sort of Motion: And but a slow Motion in some Cases does not want its good Effects; those who are Judges of the Art of War, tell us that it is not best for a Body of Men to stand still and expect the Enemy, but to keep in Motion while they are drawing to the Battle; and in the time of a Siege, they make it a Rule, to remove their Men from one Post to another; that their Spirits may be kept up by their being in a continual Diversion. We are as subject to the Impressions of Motion, as to those of Sound and Harmony, and both are able sometimes to inspire a Flash of Courage into the Mind, that is not to be despis’d; and as one was of Use to drive away the Evil Spirit of Old, so the other may be of Service, to dispel the Hypochondriack Cloud, the desponding imaginations of Sick Persons; a Man may be able by this means to rouze himself, and shake off that _Incubus_ of the Brain, that lies brooding of Causeless Fears and Doubts, to the great hindrance of all his Endeavours after Health; it is no small matter for a Person to hope and believe that he shall do well, it is some Advance towards a Cure to have so much Courage, Ἤν φόβος καὶ δυθυμὶη, &c. _Si Metus & Tristitia multo tempopore perseverent, Melancholicum hoc ipsum_; As _Hippocrates_ observes in one of his _Aphorisms_ of his _fifth Section_, Fear and Sadness are sufficient to create a Distemper, and therefore may be very well thought to obstruct greatly the Cure of one; those Passions cause the Motion of the Heart, and the Beat of the _Artery_ to be weaker and consequently must proportionably lessen insensible Perspiration, which depends so much upon the Vigour of that Motion: We see a more than usual Application to Business and Intensness of Thought for but a few Days, shall cause an Alteration in the Countenance of a Healthful Man, and make him begin to look Pale and Wan; how much more then must it prejudice a Sick Man, to be always musing on his Distemper, which he can hardly well forbear neither, when he knows there is real Danger in this Case? but all this Anxiety will be very much prevented and interrupted by Riding, and a Man will naturally come to take heart and think well of his Case, when he finds he can procure such Temporary or Periodical Relief, if I may so call it, such intervals of Ease, as in the time of Riding, he is sure more or less to enjoy.

These things are so agreeable to Nature and Reason, that I am confident they can’t but gain reception with those who are acquainted with this Exercise; no Man can be an Enemy to Riding, but he who is ignorant of it; and the generality of Men are by their Employments and Affairs kept so much from the Practice of it, that they for the most part judge of it by what they have experienc’d on a Journey, where an indifferent Horse, bad Ways, and other Inconveniencies, make Riding rather a Toil than a Pleasure: Whereas he who designs to make his Riding turn to account, must make it a Pleasure; he must retire to some Place, where he can have the open Field for his Range, he must find out a Horse that entirely suits his Humour, and then it will not be easie for him not to delight in a Creature which will perform all he expects from him, that takes Pleasure in what he is put upon, and delights in his Rider; a Creature, which (considering the many other Beasts that are Serviceable for Draught or Burden) seems to be made almost only for the Defence, the Pleasure and Health of his Master; and which has so many excellent Qualities above all other Beasts, that there is no Man upon Earth, whose Gravity or Dignity is so great, as not to allow him with some Pleasure to take Notice of ’em, if the Exercise alone will not satisfie; there is Variety of the Pleasures of the Field, some of which any Man may make agreeable to his Humour; there is variety of Chace, both Violent and Moderate, a variety so great, that Providence seems to have appointed it to be subservient to this Exercise, that Men may divert themselves with Pleasures, that will keep up the Vigour of the Mind, instead of those soft Effeminate ones, which generally take place more or less, where this is laid aside; add to all this the pleasure a Man conceives when he finds his Health returning, which will make him delight in the means of his Recovery, and persue with Cheerfulness that which before perhaps seem’d indifferent to him; so that an Active Life, when a Man has laid aside his timorous Prejudices, and is let into the tast of it, will be found not only to have its Advantages, but its Charms too; and he who indulges himself long in it, will think it not a Paradox, that there should be an Active Luxury, which may exceed all the Passive Enjoyments of Sloth and Indolence. I have insisted the more on the Pleasure as well as the Benefit of this Exercise, because there are some Constitutions of so fine a Make, or else so impair’d by some Hereditary Stain, that it must be slow and gentle means that can Act upon ’em to any purpose, and the taking Pleasure in those Means must greatly contribute to the Relief they are intended to give.

Tho’ what I have said, may I hope carry weight enough with if, to convince any that will give themselves leave to enquire into the Causes of things; yet because Examples have so great a sway with some I shall add a few instances of the Effects of this Exercise, and I shall first relate the History of the Cure of Dr. _Seth Ward_, then Bishop of _Salisbury_, which I have Translated from Dr. _Sydenham_.

_Nostrorum quidem in Sacris Antistes, Vir Prudentia, &c._ “One of our Prelates, a Man Eminent for Wisdom and Learning, after that he had for a long time given himself intemperately to his Studies, and with the whole Stress of his Mind, which in him is very great, apply’d himself too much to close Thinking; he fell at length into the Hypochondriacal Distemper, which continuing a good while, all the Ferments of his Body were vitiated, and all the Digestions quite subverted. He had more than once gone thro’ the Chalybeate Course, He had try’d almost all the Mineral Waters, with Purgings often repeated; as likewise Antiscorbuticks of all kinds, and Testaceous Powders, in order to the Sweetning of his Blood. Thus what with the Disease, and what with the Cure, continu’d for so many Years together, being just not quite destroy’d, he was seiz’d with the Colliquative _Diarrhœa_, which in the Consumption, and other Chronical Distempers, when all the Digestions are quite spoil’d, is wont to be the Forerunner of Death: When he at length consulted me, I presently consider’d, that there was no more place left for Medicines, since he had taken so many, and those so efficacious to so little purpose; I advis’d him therefore for the Reasons above-mention’d, to commit himself wholly to Riding for a Cure, beginning first with small Stages, such as were most suitable with so weak a Condition; in so much, that if he had not been of a piercing Judgment, that could discern the Reason of things, he would not have been induc’d, to try that sort of Exercise. I desir’d him to persist daily in that Practice, till in his own Opinion he was well, encreasing his Stages gradually every day, till he could come to Ride as many Miles in a Day, as the more Prudent and Moderate Travellers usually do in one day, when upon the account of their Affairs, they set out on a long Journey; that he should not be sollicitous as to what he Eat or Drank, or have any regard to the Weather; but that he should like a Traveller, take up with whatsoever he met with. To be short, he set upon this Course gradually, Augmenting the Distance of his Ridings, till at length he came to ride twenty, nay thirty Miles a Day and as soon as he perceiv’d himself better after a few days tryal, he was Animated with the wonderfulness of the Event, and persever’d in the same Course for some Months; in which space of Time, he rode several Thousand Miles, as he told me himself, until he was not only well, but had acquired a strong and robust Habit of Body.”

And Dr. _Sydenham_, tells us in the same place, that he Cur’d some of his Relations of Consumptions, by putting ’em upon Riding much, of whom he says, that it was altogether out of the Power of Medicine to help ’em. _Cum certò sciam me, vel Medicamentis quantivis pretii, aut aliâ Methodo, quæcunque demum ea fuerit, nihil magis iisdem proficere potuisse, quam si multis verbis hortatus fueram ut recte valerent._