Part 8

XIII. AS to her _Appetite_, she ought to set the _Delphick Oracle_ before her (_Nil nimium cupito_) and _desire_ nothing but what _she can have_ to her Satisfaction.

XIV. SHE must carefully avoid all strong _purging Medicines_,[56] especially before the _fourth_, and after the _sixth Month_: And even _Then_ also, unless a Necessity of turgid _Matter_, or unfix’d _Humours_, oblige her to it, or require _Evacuation_. She is also likewise to abstain from all PHLEBOTOMY[57], especially in the _latter Months_.

XV. AS to her _Exercise_, of what kind soever, the following general _Rule_ may suffice; _viz._ the _first Month_ she ought not to _exercise_ herself at all: The _second_, but seldom and slowly: The _third_, oftner and briskly: The _fourth_, _fifth_, and _sixth_, moderately and boldly: The _seventh_, _eighth_, and to the middle of the _ninth_, she should study by degrees to reduce Herself discreetly, and abstain from all her wonted _Exercise_, and act very circumspectly in all Regards; especially[58] the _eighth Month_, which is the most dangerous and troublesome of all the Time of _Pregnancy_.

XVI. LASTLY, Let her _State of Health_ be never so good, she ought to take proper _Medicines_ to strengthen the WOMB, as well as the FŒTUS, in order to prevent _Accidents_, which may happen to the _strongest Woman_.

BUT as to _Women_ of more _tender Constitutions_, they are not only subject to the _common Symptoms_, but often liable also to _acute Diseases_; such as _Fevers_, _Pleurisies_, _Squincies_, _Inflammations_, _Epilepsies_, _Apoplexies_, _Convulsions_, _Contractions_ of the Limbs, Joints, _&c._ In which _Cases_, I may reasonably recommend the PATIENT to the ablest _Physician_; since none but the most Judicious ought to undertake them in such critical Conjunctures. Because it is no ways SAFE to use the _same Means_ and _Medicines_ with the _Pregnant Woman_ (which those incident _Diseases_ would otherways regularly require;) without a due _Distinction_ and a nice _Regard_ had to her other HABITS of _Body_.

THESE _tender Women_ are also sometimes seiz’d with _Chronical Distempers_; such as _intermitting Fevers_, _lingring Coughs_, &c: But, in those _Cases_, PRESCRIPTIONS are not so Proper or Convenient, unless the _Distemper_ be very severe and extremely prejudicial to the FOETUS, because they commonly wear off before the DELIVERY.

HOWEVER, be the _Constitution_, or Condition, of the _Woman_ as it will, I mean, _Strong_ or _Weak_, _Healthy_ or _Sickly_, all prudent PARENTS, who desire to be bless’d with comely, tractable, and hopeful _Children_, ought not only to perform their _Nuptial Duties_ with great _Serenity of Mind_, but also to take mutual _Care_ to prevent and suppress all _Family-Tumults_ or _Domestick Storms_: For there never ought so much as a _Cloud_ to appear in their _Conjugal Society_; since all such unhappy _Accidents_ strongly affect the growing INFANT, and intail the same _Qualities_ of DISPOSITION almost indelibly imprinted upon it.

CHAP. IV. _Of the SYMPTOMS of the first three Months._

THE _Prolifick Seed_ being duly coagulated by a gentle _Ebullition_ of its own _vegetative Faculty_, by the Power of the _Plastick Virtue_ of the vital _Spirits_, and by the peculiar innate _Quality_ of the MATRIX; this inlivened Substance produceth an _Organical Body_, of a perfectly form’d, and delineated FOETUS: Which FOETUS, according to the various _Steps_ of its Progression in _Formation_, _Animation_, and _Maturation_, occasions as many various and different _Effects_ upon the BEARING WOMAN; as necessary _Consequences_ of the said three principal ACTS of the _Infant’s_ Constitution.

NOW these consequential _Effects_ may be properly divided into _Three_ CLASSES; which are accordingly call’d SYMPTOMS of the _First_, _Second_, or _Middle_; and of the last _Three Months_.

BUT it is to be observ’d by the Way, that all _Women_ are not alike subjected to them; SOME being more troubled with _Those_ of the _First_; OTHERS also with _Those_ of the _Second_; and OTHERS again with the SYMPTOMS of the _last Three Months_. But there are _some Women_, in fine, that continue to be troubled, in the _Middle Months_, with the SYMPTOMS of the _First_; and in the _Latter_, with some of _Those_ of the _Second_: All which happens according to their various _Regimens_, _Dispositions_ and _Habits_ of Body.

HOWEVER, to proceed methodically, with all Submission, according to what competent _Knowledge_ and _Experience_ I have of the CONCEIV’D WOMAN; the SYMPTOMS most common to _Her_, in the _First Three Months_, may be briefly reduced to the following principal _Eight_ in Number; namely, (1.) _Vomiting or Nauseating_. (2.) _Fastidy_ or _Loathing_. (3.) _Pica_ or _Longing_. (4.) _Painful Cholicks_ or _Gripes_. (5.) _Diarrhea_ or _Looseness_. (6.) _Tooth-Aches_. (7.) _Head-Aches_. And, (8.) _Swimmings of the Head_. Of all which, I shall now separately treat in their Order.

CHAP. V. _Of VOMITING, or NAUSEATING._

VOMITING is a strong and sudden _Contraction_ of the whole _Stomach_, occasion’d by the _Animal Spirit’s_ being preternaturally _expanded_ in its _orbicular_ as well as _oblong Fibres_, and the too quick and violent _Exertion_ of their _Elastick Power_: Or otherwise, it is a _Convulsive Motion_ of the _Stomach_, whereby, when the _Fibres_, which compose its middle or _muscular Tunick_, are all at once strongly contracted, it endeavours to eject through the _Oesophagus_ and _Mouth_ the Contents of its _Cavity_; to which the _Gullet_ itself (being of a piece with the _Stomach_) and the _Muscles_ of the _Belly_ contribute not a little.

WHICH _Definition_ comprehends the _immediate Cause_ of all _Vomitings_; and tho’ there be many external and internal _mediate Causes_, yet, I think, in the present Case of the _pregnant Woman_, the Cause of this SYMPTOM proceeds chiefly from the _Vapours_ of the exhaled HUMOURS, and the worse Part of the BLOOD; infesting the _Tunicks_ of the _Orifice_ of the VENTRICLE, and flying into the _Cavity_ of the STOMACH.

WHICH, if _slightly_ affected, occasions only a _nauseous Spitting_, or _gentle Vomiting_; but if more _severely_, it excites a far worse _Vomiting_, with a certain grievous _Pain_ and _Torment_ of the Person afflicted. Now if those _Vapours_ be of a _calid Quality_, they commonly occasion a stinking and burning kind of _Belching_; but if _frigid_, perhaps, on the contrary, a troublesome sour, acid, _breaking of Wind_: Both of which promote _frequent Vomiting_, that carries off the _vicious Juices_; so that the SYMPTOM commonly ceases (of itself) in the _second_ or _third Month_. Wherefore this ill _Habit_ need not be industriously restrain’d, unless very _Troublesome_; as in the above-mention’d _Case_, when attended with extreme _Severity of Pain_: For _then_ it is not without _Danger_, and therefore requires immediate _Remedy_ or CURE.

WHICH _Cure_, I humbly conceive, maybe judiciously effected by expelling the _Cause_, and strengthening the _Ventricle_; so that it may be capable to repel those _Vapours_, or _Humours_, ascending from the WOMB; and may either entirely subvert or repress _Those_ previously receiv’d.

CHAP. VI. _Of FASTIDY, or LOATHING._

THE _Cause_ of this SYMPTOM proceeds from the worse Sort and more ignoble Part of the BLOOD; which, in concert with the _Humours_, perverts the _Temperature_ of the STOMACH, by flowing towards its Orifice: And _This_, upon emitting _Vapours_ to the _same_, strongly impresseth such _vicious Qualities_ upon it, as doth occasion sometimes a LOATHING of _All Meats_, and sometimes only an _Aversion_ to some certain _particular Dishes of Meat_.

WHICH last _Case_ happens most commonly, and especially at the Time of _New_ and _Full-Moon_. Now this LOATHING may be _thus_ distinguished: To wit; if it rises from _bilous_ or _cholerick Humours_, the WOMAN feels a gnawing or biting of the _Ventricle_, and is afflicted with a frequent _great Thirst_: If from _putrid Humours_, she is (at several Times) _feverishly inclined_: And if from _moderate gross Humours_, the only SIGN is a _frequent Spitting_.

THIS _Symptom_ ceases (of itself) in due Progress of Time: For as the FOETUS (which as yet is only _sustain’d_ by the better and nobler Part of the BLOOD) grows _bigger_, it requires the _larger Quantity_, and at last the WHOLE of the _Menstruous_ BLOOD for its _Sustenance_; at which Time also the accumulated _Humours_ likewise are lodg’d in their proper Place: _Both_ which _Causes_ being thus remov’d, the _Effect_ ceases of course by degrees. However it is prudent, to prevent this _Evil_, from the beginning of Conception, by proper _Medicines_; but otherways (whenever it happens) unless the FOETUS be endanger’d for want of sufficient Aliment, Time and Patience are the fitted _Remedies_.

CHAP. VII. _Of the PICA or LONGING._

WOMEN subject to this SYMPTOM, are indeed desirous of _Meat_ and _Drink_; yet commonly of _such_, as is not only _disagreeable_, but also _offensive_ and _prejudicial_ to NATURE.

THE violent _Excess_ of this _vicious_ or _degenerate Appetite_ is wonderful; as frequently appears by many _unnatural Instances_, which I shall forbear mentioning in this Place, for fear of ill Consequences; so that I can only recommend the _Curious_ to the[59]_Authorities_ of the MARGIN.

THE _Cause_ of this _SYMPTOM_ proceeds from the various _Humours_ of deprav’d _Qualities_, inherent in the _Tunicks_ of the _STOMACH_, vitiating the _Ferment_ of the _VENTRICLE_; and so affecting the _Orifice_, that it becomes the very _Seat_ and _Source_ of this _Evil_: from whence arises the _Variety_ of the _Humours_, exciting a strange and uncommon _Variety_ of APPETITE.

THE _Nature_ and _Quality_ of these _HUMOURS_, have occasion’d many learned _Disputes_, which yet remain undecided. But tho’ _Platerus_ takes upon himself to call them _Malignant_ and _Poisonous_, yet it is the _Opinion_ of many _learned Men_, and as excellent _Authors_, that _They_ are not to be justly accounted for, any farther than that they are of an _occult perverse Quality_, generated in the _STOMACH_, from irregular _Diet_, improper _Food_, and bad _Concoction_, attended with an _erroneous Regimen_ in other Cases.

THIS _Symptom_ begins commonly about the 40th _Day_ from _Conception_, and continues to the 4th _Month_: Against which time, part of the _vitious Humours_ are excreted or thrown up by _Vomiting_, and the Remainder (by degrees) imbib’d by the _growing Infant_; which _Humours_ being so consum’d, the _Distemper_ ceases of Course.

THIS _Effect_ is more extreme and disorderly in bearing a GIRL than a BOY; the _pituitous Humours_ having less _Concoction_, because of the want of requisite _Heat_: Which for the same Reason also occasions disagreeable _Flatulencies_, _Belchings_, and _Fluctuations_.

I have, in the Course of my Experience, observ’d this _Evil_ to be most common in _Holland_; partly because of the _thick_ condensed _Air_ of the Country, and partly because the _Commonalty_ of the _Women_ live but on gross and cold Food, Fruit, Acids, _&c._ and are consequently of a cold humid _Temperature_, very subject to this Evil.

THE _Diagnostick Signs_ of this _SYMPTOM_, are Weakness of _Body_, Dissolution of _Limbs_, Gnawing of _Stomach_, Loathing of _wholesome Food_, (and even _That_ very often which the _Party_ lov’d before) _Anxiety_, _Pensiveness_, frequent _Spittings_, and (at several times) _Vomitings_.

IF the _Ventricle_ or _Stomach_ is only slightly affected with some sort of _viscous_ and _frigid Humours_, the _Party_ generally _longs_ for _sharp_ and _tart Meats_; if with _calid_ and _hot_ ones, she craves for those which are _bitter_ and _biting_: But if more severely affected, with _Humours_ of some perverse _occult Quality_, she longs for _strange unaccountable Matters_; and hence it is that all _monstrous APPETITES_ proceed.

BUT if such _Humours_ become _Connatural_ to the _Woman_, by the _deep Impression_ of Diuturnity, she longs for things _resembling_ the very same _Nature_ of the _Humours_: As for Example, if they be of a _burning_ or _parching Nature_, she covets to eat _COALS_, _CINDERS_, &c. if of a _gross_ and _thick Quality_, _CHALK_, _LIME_, &c. if of a _Saltish_ Kind, _SALT_ itself: if of a _Melancholick_ Temper, _EARTH_, _CLAY_, _DUST_, &c. For because, as the Thing _containing_ changes the _Contents_, so the _Contents_ (in process of time, by Force of _constant Impression_) change the Thing _containing_. In like manner as _deprav’d Wine_ imparts a vitious _Taste_ or _Savour_ to the _CASK_, so those _Humours_ convert the Temperature of the _STOMACH_ into their own _Natural Qualities_.

THE Similitude and Dissimilitude of _Humours_ and _Temperature_, may be thus known and distinguished, _viz._ The APPETITE, longing for things of a _like_ or _resembling Nature_ (as above), remains still _unsatisfy’d_, tho’ plentifully indulg’d with the Thing desir’d: Whereas the APPETITE of _different_ or[60]_discording_ Things, having obtain’d the Thing _long’d_ for, is easily _satiated_, and immediately ceaseth.

THIS _Malicious_ or _Lusting SYMPTOM_, is most _dangerous_; degenerating commonly into a _Cacochymy_, _Dropsy_, _Phthisick_, or some other heavy _Disease_.

BUT the greatest Hardship or Misfortune, after All, is _This_; that, if the _Woman_ doth not indulge her corrupt _APPETITE_, she _languishes_ and _pines_ to such a degree, that her[61]Life is often endanger’d, together with the FOETUS, by the Disappointment: and if she does so gratify herself, _This_ often proves of the worst of Consequences, even sometimes to a mortal Fatality.

HOWEVER, in short, this _SYMPTOM_ is like many _Others_, more easily _prevented_, than _cur’d_: Wherefore all _Women_, as soon as they _conceive_, ought (at repeated Times) to use proper _Anti-kittean Medicines_ (that is, against _PICA_ or _Longing_) and be very careful of their _Regimen_ and _Diet_: But when, perhaps, by neglect of those _Means_, the _Distemper_ appears inordinate, the Method of CURE consists in evacuating the Humours, and in absterging, alterating, and corroborating the STOMACH.

CHAP. VIII. _Of CHOLICKS and GRIPES._

THO’ the _Cholick_ derives its Name from the Gut _Colon_, I mean by it not precisely that _Pain_ which affects _This_ only, but that also which usually invades other _Guts_, whether thin or thick; because one _Gut_ seems not to be more subject than another to this Pain; the _Contexture_ of all of _them_ being the same every where. So that the _Cholick_ is nothing else than a sorrowful _Sensation_ of a very sharp _Pain_, infesting the _Guts_, or the Nervous _Plexus_, or _Membranes_ in their Neighbourhood, proceeding from wandering _Winds_ and _Flatulencies_ in the ABDOMEN, or lower Belly; arising from the _Humours_ aggregated about the WOMB: which, dissipating themselves, distend the _Intestines_, and excite most severe _Pains_ about the NAVEL.

THESE _Effects_ may also proceed from indurated _Excrements_ in the RECTUM; or from any _other Matter_, which either compresses, obstructs, or erodes the _Intestines_: Hence _Physicians_ commonly take notice of _Three_ different Sorts of _Cholicks_; namely, the _Flatulent_, the _Bilous_, and the _Pituitous_.

NOW _These_ are All thus distinguished: The _Wind-Cholick_ traverses the Belly, and gives an excruciating wandring _Pain_ in the VISCERA, or _Bowels_, &c. The _Bilous_ induces a certain Pain, with a very sensible _Mordacity_; and is generally attended with _Thirst_ and a _Bitterness_ in the MOUTH: The _Pituitous_ gives a most sharp penetrating fixed _Pain_, resembling (as it were) a driven _Stake_, or perforating _Instrument_; attended with a _Nausea_, _Vomiting_, and _Retention_ of Excrements, _&c._ This last Sort _Galen_ calls the most cruel CHOLICK.

HOWEVER I take it to be the _First_ of these, which most commonly afflicts the _Conceiv’d Woman_; generated of improper _Diet_, or proceeding from an irregular _Regimen_: And _This_ is also sometimes so excessive, that I’ve seen the _PATIENT_ fall by its Extremity into a _Lipothymia_, or _Swooning-Fit_, which generally presages _ABORTION_, if not seasonably prevented by proper _Discutients_, and convenient _Diet_, _&c._

CHAP. IX. _Of a DIARRHEA, or LOOSENESS._

A _Looseness_, in my Sense, is an immoderate, frequent and sudden going to STOOL: in which the _liquid_ and _diluted_, as well as _sharp_ and _peccant_, _Excrements_ are voided, which is commonly preceded by the _Belly-ach_ and _Gripes_.

IT differs from a LIENTERIA, in that the _Excrements_ are not indigested, unaltered, or _Chylous_, nor the STOOLS so quick after Meals: As it also differs from the _bloody Hepatick_, and _Hemorrhoidal Flux_, in that no _Blood_, _Matter_, or _Liquor_ like that, in which Meat may have been wash’d, is voided with the _Excrements_.

SOME _Loosenesses_ are call’d _Bilous_, when so much of the sharp _Gall_ is expell’d as tinges the _Excrements Yellow_, however mix’d with other _serous Matter_: _Others_ are call’d _serous_ and _pituitous_, in which viscous watery _Humours_, less impregnated with GALL, are frequently and copiously voided.

THIS _Symptom_ may proceed from a great Variety of _Causes_: For an _Error_ committed accidentally in _eating_ or _drinking_, or any _Irregularity_ in the way of Living may occasion it. [62] _HIPPOCRATES_ and many _others_, justly observe this _Case_ to be dangerous; because it not only relaxes and debilitates the _Body_ of the WOMAN, and _Ligaments_ of the INFANT; but also necessarily impairs its requisite _Nourishment_, and provokes _Nature_ to an _untimely Expulsion_ of the tender Fruit. Which unhappy _Consequence_ ought (by all means) to be prevented, if possible, and the grievous _Affection_ to be cured without any Loss of Time: Now I presume _That_ may be done _first_, by gentle _Abstergents_ and _Corroborants_; and _Then_ afterwards by proper _Restringents_ and _Strengthners_.

CHAP. X. _Of the TOOTH-ACH._

THE _Cause_ of this SYMPTOM, proceeds from the sharper part of the _Humours_; which, ascending to the _Head_, vitiates the BLOOD, and thence occasions a _effluxion_ of _Rheum_ upon the TEETH: So that _This_ vitious _Rheum_ fixing itself at some of their _Roots_, affects the _Membranous Parts_ so sensibly, that instead of a small _Ach_, it proves a great _Pain_, and almost intolerable _Torment_ to the SUFFERER.

THIS ill _Affection_ may also proceed from some _Frigid_ or _Calid_, _Serous_ or _Salt-Humour_, falling down upon the _Membrane_ of the JAWS, or _Nerves_ of the TEETH: Where, if it corrupts and lies putrefying, it commonly engenders WORMS.

IN all which _Cases_, I humbly conceive, it may be _cur’d_ by Variety of respective _Means_, according to the different Quality of the CAUSE, whether _Frigid_, _Calid_, _Serous_, _Saltish_, or _Acrimonious_: Otherways it ceases (of itself) in process of Time, by good Conduct and keeping warm, &c.

CHAP. XI. _Of the HEAD-ACH._

OF all the _Parts_ of the Body, the HEAD is most expos’d to _Pains_; that is, to a troublesome and grievous _Sensation_ of the _Membranous Parts_; proceeding from _Vapours_ of the noxious _Humours_; which ascending to the HEAD, distend and rend, in a manner, the _Membranes_ of the BRAIN.

THE _Parts_ most commonly affected, are the _Hairy Scalp_, the _Pericranium_, and the _Diploe_; That is, the medullous _Duplicature_ of the CRANIUM, otherways call’d the _Meditullium_: For these _Parts_, by a continual _Solution_, when it happens so, are always most severely pain’d. But besides, in a _Woman_ that has conceiv’d, the _Pains_ commonly shift and move from one Place, to another, of the HEAD; and take certain _Intervals_, longer or shorter, betwixt their _Access_ and _Recess_.

BUT as the _Infant_ grows, and exhausts a greater Quantity, or at last the _whole_ of the BLOOD; and as the _Humours_ fix in their proper Place: So this SYMPTOM gradually goes off, and quite ceases.

HOWEVER, in case the _Accesses_ be long and violent, they may be discreetly _cur’d_ by repelling and mitigating _Applications_, or by peculiar _Corroboratives_ and _Discutients_, or proper _Alteratives_, according to the _Nature_ and _Quality_ of the CAUSE. I refer what may be farther added on this Head, to _Sect._ IX. _Chap._ 3.

CHAP. XII. _Of the MEGRIM, or VERTIGO._

THIS _Symptom_ begins with a _Swimming_, _Giddiness_, or _Dizziness_ of the HEAD, and proceeds (in the _conceiv’d Woman_) from _Vapours_ of the _Humours_; which, ascending partly thro’ the _Veins_ and _Arteries_ tending to the BRAIN, and partly thro’ the OESOPHAGUS or _Gullet_, disturb the Animal Spirits.

NOW This _Distemper_ is _Two-fold_, and distinguished by the Words VERTIGO and TENEBRICOSA; which last the _Arabian Physicians_ have call’d _Scotomia_, I suppose from the _Greek_ Word Σκοτος, _Tenebræ_, Darkness; and is now generally receiv’d by that Name.

BUT because this sad _Affection_ is too common to both _Sexes_, young and old, I shall proceed to a farther Dilucidation of it, for the universal Good and Benefit of All.

FIRST then, the[63]_VERTIGO_ is a deprav’d _Imagination_, attended with the vitiated SENSES of _Hearing_ and _Seeing_; proceeding from the violent Commotion of the _Animal Spirits_. _Secondly_, The _SCOTOMIA_ is also a deprav’d _Imagination_, accompany’d with loss of _Sight_, and sometimes of the _Motion_ of the _Animals_ affected with it, because of some _Interruption_ in their circular Passage. In the _first Case_, the _PATIENT_ imagines his Head only to be turn’d round, or winded about: In the _other_, he thinks that _circular Motion_ to consist in the _external Objects_.

NOW the _VERTIGO_ is attended with the vitiated SENSE of _Hearing_, as well as _Seeing_: Because, as something like a _Cloud_, _Smoak_, or _Web_, seems to appear before the PATIENT’s _Eyes_; so there is a certain _Whistling_, _Hissing_, or Tinkling always in his _Ears_. The SCOTOMIA, in like manner, is attended with Loss of _Sight_, and _Motion_; because of some _Disorder_ of the _Ventricles_ of the BRAIN obstructing or impeding the _Transition_ of the SPIRITS.

IN the VERTIGO, an _Agitation_ happens in the _Membranes_ of the VEINS and ARTERIES, as also in the _Membranes_ of the BRAIN; by which violent _Motion_, the very _Continent Parts_ are vehemently shaken and concuss’d, and at length so disquieted, that the PATIENT thinks his HEAD wheels round about.

IN the SCOTOMIA, the _Animal Spirits_ having in themselves the _Species_ of all Sensibles, and those _Species_ being presented to the _Imagination_: As such _Images_ of external _Objects_ are moved in it, so the _Party_ thinks the same _real Objects_ to be moved. For, according to _Avicen_, it is the same thing, whether that which is _seen_, or that by which we _see_, is moved: As seeing _Land_ from on board a _Ship_, in a smooth Sea, being insensible of the _Ship’s Way_, we imagine (and sometimes very strongly too) that the LAND is in _Motion_.

THAT by which we _see_, is the _visible Species_ reserved in the _Spirit_: Hence when this _Species_ is moved, the _external Object_ seems also to be _moved_.