HACTENUS INAUDITA: OR, ANIMADVERSIONS Upon the new found way of Curing the Small Pox.  — Etenim si dare vitam proprium Dei munus est, certè datam tueri, jam ue fugientem retinere, Deo proximum fateamur oportet. (& è contra) Eras. in laud. Artis Med. 
LONDON, Printed by I M. for Io. Martin, and ja. Allestry, at the Bell in Saint Paul's Churchyard, 1663.   

IMPRIMATUR,  
Ex Aed. Sab. 7 Octob. 1662. Geo. straddling, S. T. P. Rev. in Christo Pat. Gilb. Episc. Lond. à Sac. Domestic.   

FOR His highly Honoured Friend Mr. N. N.  
SIR,  
THere is herewith sent you the Case of your lately deceased Friend, which you may perceive was stated by one Physician, and resolved by another: If there be any thing else wherein I may serve you, pray spare not to command,  
Sir, Yours, etc.   

SIR,  
YOu know it is grown to an Adage, Medico & judici hominem occidere impunè licet: What need than is there of all this trouble about one particular, may those say who understand not the full drift and scope of the Proverb? But let the Interpretation thereof be what you please, yet I am, for mine own part throughly persuaded, that if 
a cap. 83. de vanit. Scien.  Agrippa his scoff— Saepissimè, & ferè semper plus periculi sit à Medico ac Medicinâ, quàm ipso morbo— have any truth in it, 'tis as often evidenced in the case of the Small Pox as in any other whatsoever: If therefore I present you with such a Method for the curing of them as perhaps till now you never heard of, pray in lieu thereof give me leave to beg a view of your judgement concerning it, that so I may see how far the lash of Agrippa's Censure reaches myself: For I do here ingenuously protest, that some have died under mine hands of the same disease, whose lives possibly might have been preserved, if this Method, and such Medicines be indeed so very proper in the foresaid Malady, as is pretended.  
My presumption without dispute is very great, but your Candour is so well known to me, that that I'll venture; it would be improper in the highest degree to appeal to any of those who are by 
b lib. 7. Epist. cap. 2.  Manardus called Medici ex Commentario, or by 
c lib. 3. de Comp. Med. per Gen. c. 2.  Galen 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉: Not, not, recourse must be had to a true Son of the Art, who walks the Via Regia on the Legs of Reason and Experience (to use 
d lib. 8. de Comp. Phar. Secund. Loc. cap. 6.  Galen's similitude) and knows how to make use of the Crutch of Analogisme, when the other two are at a nè plus ultrà. This, Sir, was it which pitched my thoughts upon you, whom though it has been mine honour to know for divers years, yet could I never discern which of your foresaid Legs craved the Crutch: Your Reason and Experience being so equally paired, that, without the lest arrogancy, what was said by him of old may be said by you: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉.  
On Tuesday the third of june last a Gentleman sending for his usual Apothecary, 
june 3.  acquainted him that he had got cold (as he conceived) by leaving of some clotheses, and desired something that might dispose him to sweated, hoping thereby his distemper might be removed, as formerly, in in like cases, he had experienced. The Apothecary being willing to serve his friend, and understanding he was very costive, advised him to admit of a familiar Clyster in the afternoon, and to bedward he should be furnished according to his desire; whereupon an ordinary Clyster was given, which moved twice, and at night this Draught— Rec. aqu. card. ben. rutae an ℥ i ss aqu. cordial. Saxon. ℥ i aqu. theriacal. ʒvi. spiritus croci gut. iv. syrupi Lujul. papav. erratici ā. ʒvi. Toward morning he fell into a breathing sweat, and found much ease; but supposing that more stools would do him the more good, he took (of his own accord) some Infusion of Damask-Roses in Whey, and had two motions more. That afternoon he sent for the Apothecary again, 
june 4.  told him that he was somewhat better, but withal desired to have what he further judged proper in that case; who presently perceiving that the Small Pox were coming forth very fast, wished him to go into bed, and sand for a Physician; to both which motions of his the Patient forthwith yielded, and did accordingly: I must here only tell you, that the Gentleman was about 39 or 40 years of age, of a good (save somewhat inclining to a full) habit of body; very temperate he was, one that used much and moderate exercise in overseeing his great store of business: In short, his constitution, before this distemper, came as nigh to that they call Temper amentum temperatum, as at such an age, and in such an habit, you usually meet with.  
The Physician finding him in this condition, 
june 4.  prescribes as followeth;— Rec. aqu. papav. rhead. lactuc. ā. ℥ i ss. syrupi garyophil. diacod. ā. ʒuj. olei vitrioli parum, misce, capiat per partes hâc nocte. Rec. aqu. cord. frig. saxon. ros. damasc. ā. ℥ i vini albi. ℥ iij. syrupi garyophyll. violarum. ā. ℥ i ss. confect. alkermes. ℈ ij. olei vitrioli ad aciditatem intensiorem. Capiat cras ad libitum.  
On Thursday nothing else was directed; 
june 5.  but on Friday these things were ordered;— 
june 6.  Rec. Vini Hispanici ℥ iiij Aqu. Papau. rhead. fragror. ā. ℥ i ss. ros. damasc. ℥ i aqu. theriacal. ʒvi. syrupi garyophyll. diacodii. ā. ℥ ij. confect. alkermes. ʒi. olei vitriol. ad aciditatem intensam, capiat per cochlearia: And because great store of sleep was conceived very useful, Rec. diacodii ℥ iiij. olei vitrioli ad aciditatem, misce, capiat cochlearia duo in berâ horâ somni, & sic augendo per cochlearia, si minus dormierit.  
Rec. herb. salviae. fragr. aquileae, pentaphyll. ros. rub. ā. Þ iij. Coqu. in aqu. f. qu. s. Col ᵃ lb i. ss. add diamor. mell. ros. ā. ℥ iiij. alumin. pi●l. ʒij. M. F. Garg. Cap. saepe, & diglutiat aliquantum.  
That day and night all the julap, and the fou● ounces of Diacodium, wer● taken; but not finding him the next day to have slep● as was expected, 
june 7.  the Iula● was renewed with tw● ounces of Diacodium, an● four ounces of Diacodiu● more, with Oil of Vitriol as before; which four ounces, a mischance happening (if you'll call it so) wa● lost in the carriage; so tha● having nothing all that day besides the julap, but ● common Poisan, and no● yet sleeping as was desired the Pox began to flat, (surely it was for want of th● four ounces of Diacodium and all things else run t● loss and ruin.  
To retrieve which, on Sunday this Prescript was given, 
june 8.  Rec. Diacodii: ℥ iiij Ol. Vitriol. ad aciditatem intensam; with Directions likewise to drink Sack now and than, to sand them forth again: But that being likely to prove more days work than one, expectation was patiently had till Wednesday, (the great business of procuring sleep being by this four ounces likely to be obtained,) save that on Tuesday the former gargoyle was repeated. 
june 10.  On Wednesday therefore to do his work effectually, 
june 11.  the Oracle dictated thus; Rec. Diacodii: ℥ iiij Ol. Vitriol. qu. s. this was to be used as formerly: There went than also Diamori. mell. Rosac. ā ℥ ij. and the next thing sent for was a Coffin; for on Thursday he fell into a Delirium, 
june 12.  and on Friday about twelve at night he died. 
june 13.   
This, Sr, is the Case I implore your Judgement in; and to it shall only add, That there was neither decay of strength, nor bad symptoms concomitant, other than are before spoke of, which I humbly conceive are not so horrid as in the foresaid disease (at such an Age) Physicians very familiarly meet with in their practice.  
I should here, Sr, have put a period to your present trouble, but that I have a scruple or two more to propose to you; the first is, concerning something that was done before the Physician came; and the next will be a Quaere or two, concerning what happened after.  
Much blame there was laid upon procuring of Stools by the Clyster, and Infusion, because purging in this case cannot but be dangerous, as well as Bleeding or Vomiting; witness all the goodwives in a whole Country: What wonder than if the Doctor's Prescripts failed, when the Patient was so strangely Physick'd ere he came at him?  
It is not my design to vex you with craving satisfaction to all the questions which are put about Bleeding, Purging, and even Vomiting in this Disease, (the Judgement of all the Learned Physicians, whose Practice I ever conversed with, hath fully convinced me, that it is possible for Indications to be so strong as that all three may by a skilful Artist be sometimes profitably used,) but I pray, Sr, tell me whether such Purging, at such a time, and in such a case as this, could be indeed so very hurtful?  
He had about four Stools in those two days before the Pox appeared, and one in about forty hours after, throughout his whole sickness; now what great injury that could do is in my opinion as hard to be imagined, as what good it did, or might have done, is obvious. However I think it may be questioned, whether those Stools (if they did any harm) were not more occasioned by the great quantity of Narcotiques, than by the Clyster, and Infusion, as we shall hear anon from the Learned Mercurialis? And the same may be proposed concerning sleep; it seeming rational to me, that he must have rested better if the Pox had been thrown out, than he possibly could with all this Diacodium, which kept that within his body which must inevitably 'cause all manner of bad symptoms; and if Sanctorius made his observations aright, this cannot be otherwise, it being one of his 
e Stat. Medicine. Sect. 4. Aph. 10.  Aphorisms, That Acrimonia perspirabilis retenti, vel saepissimè petit caput, turbat somnum, & partium superiorum perspirationem divertit.  
I take it at present for granted, that our Variolae, and Morbilli, were, in general, known to the Greeks under the names of Exanthemata, and Ecthymata, (as Foesius, Gorraeus, Manardus, and indeed almost all agreed,) and to Celsus, Pliny, and other Ancients, by Papulae, Pustulae, Pituitae Eruptiones, etc. Now upon search it will appear, that what their Judgement was is summed up thus by 
f Lib. 7. Synops. ad Eustath. cap. 7.  Oribasius,— Qui hoc morbo vexantur, per cutem sunt vacuandi: nec procul est in altum attrahendum, ut per alvum aut vomitus fiat evacuatio. Sed nemo cogitet me id consilii dare, hujusmodi humores non esse per alvum evacuandos, quia in quibus humorum plenitudo infixa est, primùm est adhibenda purgatio; quod si quis non faciet, sed priùs discutere aggredietur, humores obstruet potiùs quàm per cutem eva●uabit. And that this was Galen's judgement also, will appear, if one consult the Case of 
g Lib. 6. Epidem. Comment. Secundo T. 30.  Simon, who laboured under the 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 there he tells us plainly, that if there be any matter redundant it must be taken of by bleeding, or purging, before any discussing Medicines be at all used: Nay, when the 
h Lib. 5. Meth. Med. cap. 12.  Exanthemata were pestilential, all his Patients recovered who purged (and some who vomited,) before the Pustulae appeared.  
My next scruple is concerning the manner of Nature's throwing out these humours, viz. Whether it be not by way of Crisis? I stand not upon the terms of Ebullitio, Fermentatio, Fusio, Coagulatio, or any other whatever, but only Quaere if there be not from the Principium (Eruptionis) to the Status one continued Crisis? Hipocrates tells us in the foresaid case of Simon (Textu 22. See. Foesium) that 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, and Henricus gives the Reason,— 
i In Aph. 20. lib. 1.  Quia illa Simonis Exanthemata nihil aliud erant quàm Crisis quaedam in cute vestigia. Fracastorius tells me it is,— 
k Lib. 2. De Morb. Cont. cap. 2.  Quaedam quasi Crisis à naturâ facta: And Amatus Lusitanus quotes Avicen thus,— 
l Cent. 3. Curate. 18. in Sehol.  Avicenna inquit, & post eum caeteri Medici testati sunt, quòd Variolarum, & Morbillorum ad cutem eruptio, quaedam à naturâ non solùm constituta, sed destinata Crisis sit: Well than, if this be true, will it not rationally follow, still to use his words,— Quòd quando natura eam (Crisin) conficere tentat, tunc Medicus materiam fluere dispositam, condensare, aut à viâ suâ cohibere non debet, sed magis ipsam disponere, ut per eam viam incedat, per quam natura conatur expellere juxta illud Hippocratis, Quò Natura maximè vergit, per loca conferentia, eò ducere oportet; which same Aphorism, saith Cardan, may be understood two ways, 
m In Aph. 21. lib. 1.  Vel de materiâ quae jam excerni incepit, vel quae solùm est in motu; which, if I mistake not, reaches the present Case very fully.  
If than Nature aught not to be hindered in this Critical Evacuation, what need could there be imagined of so vast a quantity of Diacodium? (except it were to lull him into a fools Paradise, like the 
n Alpius de Med. Egypt. lib. 4. c. 1.  Egyptians upon eating Affion, or Opium) to pass by the medley of simple and compound Waters, Wine, Alum, etc. where the coupling seems something to resemble that of Mezentius, whose Cruelty it was to yoke the living with the dead. And if it be as true, that Instant Crisi nihil temerè movendum (which is to be understood, as I humbly conceive, of any preposterously superinduced motion, and not only of purging, vomiting, or bleeding) but at that time the Physician should rather be a Spectator than an Actor; what great need could be than of White-Wine, Sack and Alkermes, when Nature was doing her own work as well as could be desired?  
What use there may be made of Wine in Fevers is not now the question; they who altogether condemn it are as much, I think, beside the Cushion as Helmont is, when he cracks how in few days, nay in few hours, he was want to cure all Fevers, 
o de victus Ratione.  Continuatas & Intermittentes, by rejecting Phlebotomy and giving wine; for there is a time for every thing— Et data non apto tempore, vina nocent: But I would know of you, whether Forestus hit not right when he thu● determined it in this particular disease?— Vinum 
p lib. 6. Observ. 64. in Scholar  aliquo modo concedi debet, i● ne quaquam rubrum sit: imò propter febrem, licèt etiam sit album, in principio dandum non est, nisi post tres aut quatuor dies, cùm jam inceperint Variolae apparere. Ac hoc us que tempus (inquit Guainerius, capite proprio) Vinum omninò vitandum est▪ Et si Vinum dandum est in delicatis ac divitibus post apparitionem Variolarum, debet esse album, aqueum▪ atque lymphatum (eodem sic dicente) potiùs medicinaliter quàm cibaliter, ut Variolarum juvet egressum, idque in paruâ quantitate. Vbi tamen febr is vehemens est, & dolour capit is insignis, ab eo abstinendum, nè in delirium aegri rapiantur.  
But what now to quaere concerning the Diacodion I do not well know, there appearing nothing, in my mind, urgent enough to require so much of it: 'Twas conceived he did not sleep enough, that is, he did not sleep always, and what wonder in that? 
q Galen. in Aph. 71. Come. 4.  Vigilant enim magnà ex parte, & graviter se habent, ac febriunt vehementiùs aegri, quanto propiùs ad judicationem accedunt: Nay, pray tell me if it be not much better for the Patient to sleep somewhat lesle than usual, whilst this disease is in Augmento, than on the contrary?  
Hypocrates hath rendered Drowsiness very suspicious to me in acute Fevers; there are but few cases, and those must be well timed, in which I can afford it a good word, because I found that he gives it so many bad ones: 
r in Coac. & alias.  〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, I should think was ill enough, (especially in his sense) and yet it seems to be but a favourable expression in his mouth, who frequently calls it 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉, yea and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 too; so that I ever judged it so far from laudable, that I never durst procure it on set purpose: Not that I am one of those who decry Anodynes; for Opium is, in mine esteem, the best of Medicines (you have heard what a courtesy four grains of Laudanum Paracelsi did me some years since) in some cases, if given in due time and dose; but Corruptio optimi pessima holds here too; for the sharper a sword is, there's the more danger when it comes to be wielded by the hand of a mad man: But shall we hear Galen treating how to order Symptoms? After a large and learned Discourse the result is this— 
s lib. 12. Meth. Med. cap. 1.  Si fas est iis remediis, quae morbum sanent, utendo, quod optamus, efficere, abstinendum à sapientibus medicamentis est, quae vocant 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉. Sin ex vigiliis, & viribus resolvendis, ad mortis discrimen aeger tendat, tum profectò tempestiuè ejus modi medicamentis utare▪ scilicet non ignarus corporis habitum nonnihil ex his laedendum: laesionem tamen, quam mortem, potiùs elègendam. And soon after— Hâc nimirum persuasione ipse quoque, tametsi omnium maximè ab usu graviter sopientium abhorrens (
t consul lib. 5. de simple. Med. Facult. cap. 19  for it is of this kind of Anodynes he now talks) aliquando tamen ea & Colicis exhibeo, & iis qui vel oculorum, vel aurium, vel aliarum partium vehementissimo dolore cruciantur. Interim verò & cùm aeger ex tenui destillatione, vigiliis, & vehementi tussi urgetur, Pauxillulum ejusmodi medicamenti offero, etc. And what they are, he there tells us, viz. Quae ex papaveris succo, Styrace, etc. But elsewhere he gives us the Dose of this Diacodion, and the manner of using it, as well as how to prepare it: He approves of Crito and Soranus, their Compositions, one whereof allows ten Heads to every Sextary of water, and the other fifteen Heads to two Sextaries; as also of the middle way, wherein eight or nine Heads are to be macerated in each Sextary: He shows us how he made it both with Sapa and Mel, and the different use thereof; and than adds, 
u de Comp. Pharm. sec. Loc. lib. 7. cop. 2.  Opus habent maximè hujusmodi Pharmacis two, quibus tenuis fluxus à Capite ad asperam Arteriam destillat, non permittens dormire ob consequentem tussim: He tells us it is never to be given but when the symptom is urgent; and that is Vrgens, quod majori auxilio opus habet; and in such a case Diacodion nay be given to the quantity of two large spoonfuls,— Augebis autem, & minues hanc copiam ad magnitudinem corporis cui exhibiturus es, respiciens item âd aetatem, & anni horam, etc.  
But what, I pray, might Galen's largest spoon contain? The reason why I ask, is, because I cannot yet found that it held more than two drachms: To wave many places, consider a little 
w Libr. 7. Meth. M●d. cap. 11.  one, where discoursing of Hiera Picra, and its use, he tells us,— Vtiliusque est eo (Pharmaco) sicco ex aquâ uti duorum parvorum Cochleariorum mensurâ, ubi mediocriter, & medio quodam modo, eo uti studemus; nam maximus ejus modus, ac Absolutissimus, est duorum non utique Parvorum, sed Magnorum, potio in aquae temperatae Cyathis tribus: Minimus unius parvi: Whence, I think, this inference may be made, That if Galen's largest spoon contained four drachms, than he gave of Hiera Picra an ounce at a dose; which I never yet could see proved; but if four drachms of it was the most he used to give, than his largest spoon contained but two drachms: You must excuse me for calling it Galen's greatest spoon, (though I think indeed it was his greatest,) whereas he uses only these three, Magnum, Parvum, Minimum. Silvius, Lacuna, and others, will have it to hold but one drachm, half a scruple, two grains, and two fifths of a grain; others set it at two drachms; but there are none that I see put it er.  
Paulus Aegineta, Trallianus, Actuarius, and many more, do follow Galen, both in the manner of preparing Diacodion, and in the dose; only Aetius (after he hath also told us,— Datur moderata mensura duorum cochleariorum; and that we may increase or take from that dose, according to the condition of the Patient, etc.) is something more positive, proceeding thus,— 
x Tetrabib. 2. Serm. 1. cap. 133.  Certè ex eo quod ex capitibus Papaveris Thebaici praeparatur datur ad summum uncia una, talis est descriptio Galeni hujus Pharmaci. Exhibeo autem ipsum non solum somno indigentibus ad vesperam, & ad tussim; sed etiam insaniâ labor antibus post venaesectionem, & febrientibus vehementer, & quibus os ventris intolerabiliter perustum est, etc. Et non solùm semel, sed iterum; & non solùm in febrium vigore, sed etiam ante vigorem, & ante manifestam concoctionem, in quibus Vigiliae, aut caliditas acris & magna hominem affligunt; and than tells us, how he tempered it with Acetum, Mulsum simplex, Mel Rosaceum, Omphacomeli, etc. as he judged fitting.  

y De Antid. lib. 3.  Mesue prepares it somewhat otherwise, (and his composition we do mostly follow,) allowing sixty drachms of each kind of the heads, black and white, to four pounds of rain-water: We allow eight ounces of the white, and six ounces of the black, so that there is but the difference of eight drachms in the whole composition, in case that defect be not made up again in the preparation: Compare out two Dispensatories: Mesue tells us only that it is, Syrupus ad catarrhum, & tussim, causam insomnii; but 
z Annotat. in Mesu.  Silvius is more particular,— Somnum quoque conciliat, tum per se refrigerando & humectando, sumptus unciiduabus horâ somni; which is the largest dose I have yet read of.  
Sir, I have traced thi● Diacodion thorough so many Ages, on purpose to ask you this one question, viz. Whether you judge it warrantable and safe to give six drachms of it, (in such a Patient as is before described,) with such other things as are before spoke of, the first day the Pox appear; and on the third day to give six ounces of it; and two ounces every day, for five or six days following? So much was taken at lest, and more intended; for of twenty ounces and six drachms which were directed, four ounces miscarried. Might it not have been the safer way of the two to have closed with Galen, treating of this very symptom?— 
a lib. 13. Meth. M. cap. ●1.  jure ergò, cùm in summo incremento sunt, iis vitiis, quae Pervigilio, & Delirio infestant, Perfufiones ex papaverum capitibus applicabimus.  
But there is one thing must needs be spoke to, which I foresee may be objected; much of what is aforesaid is grounded upon the supposition that our Variolae, and Morbilli, were known to the Greeks under the Exanthemata, etc. which Mercurialis hath learnedly endeavoured to disprove, (to pass by the contest betwixt Manardus and Valeriola about the Herpetes veterum, whether they be our Morbilli; and that betwixt Marcianus and Valesius, concerning the Peticulae) 'Tis true he has so, and therefore we will not fall out about the name, it being readily confessed that the knowledge we borrow from the Ancients in this Disease, is as small as, almost, in any other: But yet if I make it appear that Mercurialis his judgement, as to the Nature and Cure of them, was the same with other men's whom I have cited, than certainly that Objection signifies the very next to nothing; Let us therefore hear that most learned man speak for himself; 
b lib. 1. de Morb. Puer. cap. 2.  Variolae & Morbilli solent plerunque ad salutem terminari, eò quòd plerunque etiam est veluti Criticus Naturae Motus: than discoursing about Phlebotomy, and approving of it, he at length comes to pharmacy in this manner— Nequaquam utendum est medicamentis vehementioribus, tum quia Medicus semper vocatur, quando jam fervour & ebullitio est in sanguine: tum quia medicamenti operatio turbat materiam ab opere; Cùm enim motus ille sit penè totus criticus, praeceptum habemus à Medicis omnibus, Movente Naturâ nihil agendum esse, nisi ipsa imperfectè moveat; intelligere verò an perfectè moveat in initio non possumus.— Vtor autem Clysteribus, & Glandibus, ad alvum ipsam subducendam. Soon after thus, Reliquum curationis horum morborum totum videtur esse positum in auxiliandâ Natura expellente, which is agreeable to what he said before— Quandoquidem Cardo hujus Curationis est hic, ut à partibus internis ad externas revellantur ichores morbidi. Nay he goes higher, Caeterùm si rem exactè aestimemus, multum abest, ut ulla praeservatio his morbis debeatur, quandoquidem statim atque praecognoscitur hoc genus morbi, duos tantùm scopos solent habere Medici; unum, ut auxilientur Naturae expellenti: ut praeservent quominùs in hâc expulsione parts internae, & externae corporis, aliquid patiantur,— A vino abstinendum erit, donec penitùs finita sit febris, & omnia accidentia: quod si Pueri, ut morosi esse solent, vinum velint, concedendum est parcissimè, pauciferum, atque in ipso immaceranda sunt olera refrigerantia, ut Endivia, etc.— Moderatus somnus esse debet, & potiùs vigilandum, quàm dormiendum: Abstinendum autem maximè ab owl is omnibus, à Narcoticis, atque etiam ab emplasticis: A Narcoticis, à Refrigerantibus, quia repellunt materiam intrò, & consequenter Fluxibus Intestinorum (might he not also have said Vigiliis?) occasionem praebent; which scattered pieces being laid together seem to bespeak the Author's free consent, that the Ancients and he agreed in the Thing, only some difference they had about the Name of it.  
But a Caution, or two, will be here requisite: First, I do acknowledge that 
† vid. Arist. in Probl. Sect. 2. 16.  sleep promotes sweated, and insensible Perspiration, and consequently that Narcotiques, if rightly used, do also prove Diaphoretiques: Sanctorius hath observed, as indeed all do, that 
c Sect. 4. ●ph. 46.  Somno concentrantur humores, unitur calor influens innato, etc. Nay, that Perspiration is so furthered by placide sleep, that in seven hours' space not lesle than 
d ●●h. 1. Sect. ejusd.  fifty ounces may exhale insensibly through the pores of a man's body; And Platerus his reasons, beside every days experience, do so sufficiently evidence the truth of the latter, that I shall not need appeal to the famous Compositions of Theriaca, Mithridatium, Philonium, Diascordium, etc.  
In the next place I am apt to yield that Narcotiques are, as they call it, corrected by Vinegar, and those things that are Acide; which is done, (as some phrase it) Sulphuris narcotici vim infringendo, by breaking the strength of, and as it were, fixing the Narcotic Sulphur: but whether Oil of Vitriol have the same effect I much question, especially if 
e de Atram. descript. 6. cap. 15. & 17  Caneparius saith true; he tells us that Vitriolum est integra Medicinae Officina, and that its Spirit Vniversale est remedium, quod maximè ad omnia ferè conducit, and amongst others this for one,— Spiritus acidus vitrioli (which comes of betwixt the Phlegma and the Corresive Oil) vigilias aufert, conciliatque somnum; and I dare say he was as well skilled in the Spagyrical Art as our present Doctor: But pray than tell me, whether the giving of Narcotiques with wine doth not very much quicken their operation? I am sure Diascorides saith, that Hemlock given with wine works stronger, that is, kills sooner; perhaps as much because Wine itself is a Narcotic, as for any other reason; and this conceit seems to be favoured by those who are the greatest Patrons of Wine; for Whitaker saith that— Vinum dilutum (I suppose he means the truly 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 of the Ancients, by Praedominat cum naturali aquositate in se) videtur remedium febri specificè ordinatum— 
f de sanguine. Uvae. pa. 71. 72, 73.  Nam ejus qualitate Narcoticâ colligat sensus, & somnum reconciliat, etc. However, it may be asked, I think, upon very good grounds, whether soporiferous Medicines given disorderly do not sometimes occasion Deliria and Madness? Observators show some examples; and, if I mistake not, this is of the same Nature.  
The Oil of Vitriol you see was given in no small Doses, it was directed ad Aciditatem intensam, & intensiorem: I can indeed subscribe to a great deal of Caneparius his Encomium, Siaequè administretur Spiritus acidus vitrioli, omnibus ferè corporis praepurgati affectibus medetur, putredinem enim aciditate suâ arcet, ac summà partium tenuitate obstructiones pellit, sanguinemque impurum reficit, humiditates superfluas absumit, etc. But than may not some question be made concerning his— Si aequè administretur? I cannot in this case say (though I wish I could) that too much of it doth make way for an Hectic; but considering what 
g lib. de vict. rat. in Aeut●.  Hypocrates and 
h Comment. 3. in eundem Text. 24. etc. ad 38.  Galen judge of Oxymel, and its use, me thinks this scruple may be proposed;  
If it be true that the more diluted Oxymel be most proper in acute Fevers, and that which is lesle sharp (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) be the best— Os faucesque humectare, sputum educere, sitim sedare, flatum discutere, urinas movere, and least hurtful to the Intestines, Lungs, etc. (parts, of all other, most subject to inconveniences in this particular Disease) And if the stronger Oxymel, being more intensely Acide (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) doth in some cases do hurt by hindering expectoration (notwithstanding that in the general it is a great Incider, and even in stufling of the Lungs may be very useful, 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) and rendering the humour viscous, glutinous, tenacious, or what you'll call it, (〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉) being it doth more potently dry, bind up as it were, and straighten: Nay, considering that even 
i de Victus rat one.  Helmont tells us how he suffocated Fevers by but giving some of these penetrating drops (aliquot guttas) in the Patient's drink, (not in so large measure as Crollius would have it, whose only boundary is, quòd Dentes non stupefaciant) and that all Acidity, save that in the stomach, is 
k Blas hum.  preternatural and inimicous as infallibly curdling the Cruor, especially when it is extravasated, as in Pleurisies, Inflammations of the Lungs, etc. (I think he might have added the small Pox too) and that no Remedies in such cases are proper but those which take of this adventitious Acidity (peregrinam aciditatem conceptam in Archeo, as he 
l Pleur. Fur.  there calls it) Quae tollunt acorem, & ad diaphoresin disponunt cruorem, dolorem pacant, quia aciditatem extinguunt; And withal remembering that Non Calidum, aut Frigidum, etc. sunt Morbi: sed Acidum, Acre, Acerbum, etc. according to Hypocrates; may not I say, upon those and the like considerations, this Scruple be proposed, viz. whether Septalius his Caution be not here of some use, 
m Lib. 2. Sect. 37.  who in Acute, and Malignant Fevers, advises that acide medicines should be given moderately, to the end they may cool, attenuate, absterge, resist putrefaction, promote sweated, and by penetrating, make the more way for other apt Medicaments; but if taken over liberally, do they not by their too much austerity, binding and drying, frequently pervert the designs of Nature, and (amongst other bad effects) occasion incurable obstructions, etc.  
There are some other particulars in the abovesaid Case, which might not improperly be taken notice of, but as the learned Casaubonus (animadverting upon Athenaeus) seems not much to mind the description of Hercules his greedy eating till he comes to the shaking of his ears, and there fixes a Notemius,— 
n Lib. 10.  Pingit autem Epicharmus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Herculem tuburcinantem: qui prae vorandi aviditate faucibus, maxillâ dentibus omnibus & naso quoque sonum edat: Sed Notemus quod ait, postremò: 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 nam reliqua plus 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habent quàm miraculi, So shall I at present pass by things of lesle remark, which would be troublesome to you in making me the more tedious, contenting myself with the expectation of your definitive sentence in those which do not altogether seem to be lesle than wondered.  
You see, Sir, how easy a thing it was to have patched this Rhapsody (if you'll not play the Critic) up to the form of a set Discourse, which yet on purpose I have declined; not that I am of the number of those who (as Sennertus somewhere has it) had rather tell tales with the Ancients, than speak truth with Moderns, (profiteri non erubuerunt, Se malle cum Aristotele, vel Galeno, errare: quàm cum Recentiorum aliquo verum dicere) but that if it be my fortune to be out of the way, I ever loved to have good Company: However, for fear of being hit with Loqui nescit, at tacere non potest, I shall but once more beg your pardon, and than take leave to subscribe myself,  
july 10. 1662. Sir, Your etc.   

SIR,  
NOthing but Obedience can excuse my meddling with a Province that has been already by you so perfectly administered: It being as much as to say, to offer to water the Sea, or light a Candle to the Sun. Indeed you, having forestalled the Market, have saved me the labour of speaking any thing to the purpose; so that no impertinence of mine can want a colourable plea, I being enjoined to deliver my opinion, and yet nothing left me to discourse on. Otherwise though it be justly questioned whether Hypocrates, Galen, and the rest of the truly ancient, had any explicit knowledge of the Small Pox and Measles; yet because Nurses and old women do pretend to speak Aphorisms of them, and to be able to cure them as dextrously as the best Physicians, I might make bold to put in with that crowd, and venture my rude and crude conceptions of this subject amongst the true Idiotae, the vulgar of the vulgar. And, I know not by what fate, Physicians of late have more lost their credit in these diseases than ever: witness the severe judgement of the world in the cases of the Duke of Gloucester and the Princess Royal; so that now they stick not to say, with your Agrippa, that at lest in these a Physician is more dangerous than the malady: And I wish this late scandal by you related have not strongly helped to confirm them in their misprision. Neither the shortness of my reading and memory, nor the thinness of my Library will suffer me to deal in Quotations so plentifully as you have done, nor is it your desire: I shall therefore only follow your Commission, and briefly and plainly deliver my thoughts concerning the method that was observed in the cure by you related, regulating myself more by my own small reason, and the experience of these latter Ages, than by the Authority of the Ancients, who seem in no diseases so obscure and imperfect as in these.  
As to my opinion of the Doctor's Prescripts, in general, truth forces me to say, that they are extremely confused; a mere Chaos of Medicines, immethodically thrown together: Frigida ubi certant calidis, humentia siccis, Mollia cum duris, sine pondere habentia pondus. For cooling you have, Aqu. pap. lactuc. frag. ros. dam. diacod. for heating, Alkermes, sufficiently bridled by the coolers, for fear it should do good; and, that they may want nothing, there is Syr. Violar. for a purger. For the rest, I shall Answer according to your Queries particularly.  
First, You demand whether Variolarum eruptio be not a critical motion of Nature, and therefore to be promoted, not hindered. I answer in the affirmative; and if I err in this, I think I err with all mankind; I am sure, with all that I ever heard or read: What can it be lesle, when it is evidently that evacuation by which, if it rightly proceeds, Nature constantly terminates the disease, and clears the mass of blood in its malign putredinous ferment, and without which it never fails to sink into ruin?  
The next Quaere consequent to this is about the use of Diacodion in this case: Truly, though I am so far convinced by Plater's arguments, and experience, that I cannot wholly condemn it, because, at lest with other Medicines, it provokes sweated egregiously; yet this I humbly conceive it does not as proper sudorifiques do, by its heat and tenuity of parts, but by accident; that is, partly by giving truee to Nature in easing pain, and procuring sleep, by which the spirits are recruited, and so better enabled to separate and throw of the matter by the pores; partly by uniting and concentring the same spirits, and, not a little, by stopping all other evacuations, as Purging, Vomiting, etc. besides that, it is a known and confessed truth, That sleep itself, which it procureth, quâ sleep, hinders all other evacuations but those by the skin; only transpiration and sweated it increases.  
This is certain, that Diacodion does extremely thicken, and, as it were, quag the humours; and this appears, first by its consistence, and modus substantiae; for it is Mucilaginous and Unctuous, next to Emplastic: Secondly, from its use amongst all men; hence it is given in suffocative Catarrhs, and all manner of violent Fluxes, where the indication is to condense an over-thin and turgent humour. You have very learnedly and largely proved, That all the Ancients, (you might have added, all the Moderns that are in their wits) never use it but sparingly, and urgente symptomate plusquam morbo: but here, by your relation, was no such necessity, no tendency to a Delirium or Phrenitis, no intense Fever, but his eruptions at first kindly and hopeful, only that he did not, it seems, sleep altogether so sound as when he was in health. And though I commend not the Doctor's giving six drachms of it, at the beginning, upon so small an account, yet it might better have been endured, if he had not joined it in Commission with other vehement coolers, which yet more restrained and precipitated that perfective and depurative ebullition and fermentation, by which Nature is enabled first to separate, and than to exclude the peccant humour: Nay, though that might be excused, yet after that, to make it his Patients constant diet for some days together, and that in those extravagant doses, I cannot imagine from whom he should learn it, unless from the Turks, when he was at Constantinople; and they, you know, make Opium, Diacodions' elder brother, their daily bread.  
As to your next Quaere, of the use of Wine in this Fever, I found all that I meet afraid of it, because it increases the Fever, and incites the ebullition too much, and withal drives the humours and vapours to the head, to the great endangering of a furious Delirium or Phrenitis, to which this disease is very subject, it being its most usual Catastrophe, when it proves fatal. Those that speak most favourably of it, do rather indulge than commend it, and that, as you judiciously observe, only after the eruption, very small wine, and very little of it, much diluted, and that too most in respect of the custom of the Patient, according to that Aphorism in Hypocrates, Consueta licèt paulò deteriora melioribus non consuetis minùs molesta sunt. Nor is your conjecture improbable, that Wine, partly by its proper narcotickness, and partly by its thinness of parts, serving it instead of a vehicle, may make Diacodion more stupefying than it is by its self; and possibly upon that account the old Athenians poisoned their condemned persons with Hemlock mixed with a little Wine; though on the other side Author's report, that good store of Wine is Hemlocks proper Antidote: But we will not blame the Doctor for this, seeing it was his principal scope to stupefy and procure rest.  
As to your Quaere of this Oil of Vitriol, (I hope he meant the Spirit, for there is great difference) I cannot believe Caneparius that Spiritus virioli acidus doth cause sleep: If that were so, it would be seen every day, its use being so ordinary; and, I could never see any thing in practice to favour such a conceit▪ Perhaps Caneparius (and, you know, Chemists love to speak mystically) means Extractum Vit. Narcoticum, or Sulphur Vit. Narcoticum, or the like preparations of it; Nor do I think the Doctor so much a Chemist as to add this Spirit for a corrector of Opium; I suspect him of no such subtlety, nor possibly would so rude and imperfect a mixture be able to do it: However, if that were his design, he may thank himself that his Patient never slept quietly till he slept his last; for, it seems, by this he so over-corrected his Narcotic, that he totally disarmed it, and pulled down with one hand what he built with the other. Nor can I absolutely prohibit the use of Acid things in this Fever, because, as Willis saith, they coagulate the blood; for, if so, how could they be permitted in other pestilent Fevers, which all, as well as this, depend upon coagulation, according to him; and what more ordinary in those fevers, than the use of Acids, as Succus, Limon. Citri, Lujulae, Aurant: Spiritus Diatrion, etc. Nay, he himself with great success uses Spiritus Corn: cerv. Nay, if Acids produced this sad effect, they would not be safe in any kind of Fever, not not in state of health. Nor doth his experiment evince, that, because these Acid Spirits being poured upon blood reaking hot, and newly taken from the vein, do produce first an Ebullition, than a Coagulation of it, therefore they must have the same operation upon the mass of blood, being taken inward; for, as Helmont pertinently observes, they come to the blood much broken and altered by the concoctions and ferments of the parts that they pass through in their long journey. Nor do I, with the Chemists, deify these Acid spirits and Liquors though on the other side, I cannot persuade myself to believe what Galen, and the rest, say contrary to all experience and themselves, that the stronger Oxymel doth (as you cite them) as it were curdle the Serum sanguinis, and tender it viscous and tenacious; for besides that Oxymel is reckoned by themselves, and all men, a great incider and attenuater (which is just contrary to curdling) if it had that faculty, both they and we were made to give it in Asthmas and other stuff of the Lungs by tough humours, besides all contumacious obstructions of the Viscera, which I conceive depend upon nothing else but viscous and coagulated serum. Nay more, we see Vinegar not to coagulate, but to attenuate serum out of the body; we see how it dissolves other viscous bodies, as the most tenacious gums that are: Nay more, how it and its Spirit dissolve the hardest stones, and other cognate Acid Liquors, as Spiritus salis, Nitri, Aq: Reg: Fort: etc. open and dissolve the closest metals: Yet I do not deny, but that over much Acidity by accident may thicken the serum and phlegm, that is, by streightening of the Lungs, so occasioning the retention of it so long, that by the heat of the part it is made thick and viscous. In sum, my quarrel to the use of Spirit of vitriol in this great quantity is, That being aded to cool Liquors, by its pierceingness and subtlety of parts it renders them far more cooling, and withal, by its astringency (which is eminent in Vitriol, and more or lesle in all Acids) it beats down and praecipitates that defaecative fermentation of the blood before mentioned, and moreover hinders Expectoration, which is so necessary in this Disease, the Lungs being here always much oppressed and afflicted, as appears by the dyspnoea almost always accompanying it, and the Cough which for the most part doth both attend it, and long survive it▪ not neglecting your other Exceptions against it, as its galling and exulcerating the stomach, Guts, and other parts, etc. but passing them over as by you pre-occupied.  
No wonder than if they flatted and sunk in, I mean the Pox, and the matter running to the head, there ensued first deliria, and than death, there being so much industry used by Narcoticks, Coolers, and Stypticks, to thicken the humours, restrain the perfective Ebullition, and bind in the Spirits, the only way to hinder Eruption; No wonder, I say, that the humours thus retained caused first continued watching, than Deliria or Frenzy, etc. Nor can he clear himself by charging it upon the Clyster; for, in the time of Ebullition, clysters are commended and used by all men, both to keep the Fever from immoderate increasing, and to rid away part of the matter, that nature may be the better able to expel the rest; besides that, it is Nature's proper Method; for we see, for the most part, this Fever gins with Vomiting, Stools, or both, which, if they cease before the Eruption, make the Disease the shorter and easier, and the Pox the fewer. Moreover if this Clyster, or the Patients own Purge of Whey and Roses, had done this mischief, it must have been by causing a looseness (which never ensued) and the Pox would presently after have flatted, not at so great a distance of time, whereas than they came out pretty well, and never sunk in till the Doctor had for some days tried his experiments on him.  
Thus I have furnished you with Narcotick Bumfodder, fit to be preferred to the same Physical place that Mr Doctors Prescriptions richly deserve: I must pled a just excuse from your command, and my own, and your want of time; and rest  
Your affectionate and devoted Brother.