A TREATISE OF A Consumption, AND THE VENEREAL DISEASE: THE Signs or Symptoms OF THE VENEREAL INFECTION; WITH Various Methods of Cure. By T. NEDHAM, Surgeon.  Experientia est Medicina Anima. 
LONDON: Printed for the Author, and are to be Sold at his House, the Surgeon's Sign, in Martlet-Court, in Bow-street, in Covent-Garden; and Eliz. Harris, at the Harrow, in Little-Britain. 1700.   

To the HONOURED, Capt. THO. WARREN, One of His Majesty's Commanders, FOR THE SEA-SERVICE.  
Good SIR,  
HAving had the Honour, as well as the Happiness, for these Four Years past, all the Time I was at Sea, to be your Surgeon, in His Majesty's Ships, the Monk, and Windsor, as an Acknowledgement of the many Favours, I have received from you, I humbly beg leave to Dedicated this small Treatise to you.  
Sir, It is a difficult Matter, for all that know you, to say, whether your Goodness, Courage, or Care be greatest.  
As to your Goodness, your Friends, Relations, Officers, Sailor's, Prisoners, Menial Servants, and private Enemies, I have seen and known, sufficiently to taste thereof.  
As to your Courage among others, that Action at Camarett Bay, where you Commanded the Monk, will for ever speak for you; when all your Decks were covered with Blood, and the poor shattered Remains of dead Bodies: Your inimitable Courage than, like Lightning, struck such a Spirit and Life through all your Men, as made them eager, even to engage the Stonewalls, which secured the Enemy from them: And you like a Second Alexander, as one of the Admirals was pleased to style you, for that Day's Action; or rather Hannibal, would have broke your Way through Rocks and Piles of Stone, to serve your Country.  
As to your Care, you have been pleased to make yourself a perfect Slave to it, early and late; remarking still all Action, during our tedious Voyage.  
In a Word, His Majesty can never want a Faithful, Good, Brave, and Careful Commander while you live, to serve him. And that all I have here mentioned of you, is perfect Truth, and not Flattery; the frequent Subject of other men's Dedications, I defy, Envy itself, to maintain the Contrary.  
Go on, Good Sir, and may you be prosperous in all your Undertake; may you meet with a suitable Reward here for all your just, useful and painful Services, and in Heaven hereafter, an immortal and incorruptible Seat of Glory, is the hearty Wish of,  
Your most Humble, and most Obliged Servant, to Command, T. NEDHAM.   

TO THE READER.  
THE ensuing Lines, on a Consumption, are the Subject of what I have drawn from Ten Years Experience and Observation.  
I am sensible, that there must be many Errors contained therein, there being not a Syllable in the whole Peice corrected by any Person whatsoever.  
I expect no Quarter from the Generality of the Physicians, Surgeons, and Apothecaries, on the Account of my publicly telling the World, that I had a Medicine, a few Doses whereof would Cure the Venereal Distemper, when confirmed, without Fluxing: However, what I say, is Truth, and Matter of Fact, as is confirmed by daily Experience.  
The industrious Dr. Colbatch tells us, in one of his Books, that he designs to publish a particular Tract of Consumptions; and that he hath cured many with Acids, either manifest or enveloped; but, I believe, mostly with the latter: For, I found by Experience, that most hot Ingredients, either temperate or extreme, as Symptoms and Constitutions indicate, are most effectual in a Pthisis or Consumption.  
Whereas, in the Flying Post, I have often mentioned a Medicine, about Six Doses whereof would Cure the Venereal Distemper, when confirmed as effectually, as with the most strict and regular Course of Salivation; and often where that should fail, drinking a Diet-drink afterwards, without Fluxing, Danger, or Confinement, I resolved to writ something of it here, in order to give a short Account of the Medicine, and in what other Distempers it is most effectual.  
It works chief upwards, and often downwards by Stool; sometimes by Sweat, at other times again plentifully by Urine; in about Two Hours time the Operation of the Medicine is generally over, and the Person that takes it may go Abroad, if the Wether be any thing favourable.  
It cures all manner of Scabs, or inveterateBreakings out of the Body, old Ulcers, or running Sores in any part of the Body; it takes away most Pains of the Limbs, tho' of many Years continuance; cures the King's Evil, the Scurvy in its highest degree, the Dropsy, and ill Habits of Body; for it cleanses and purifies the whole Mass of Blood in a most powerful manner, and cures many lasting and languishing Distempers, not yielding to most other Medicines.  
I would not be understood, that I looked upon Fluxing as an ineffectual Course for the Cure of the Venereal Distemper when confirmed, but daily take the same Measures myself, with those whose Affairs will permit them to be closely confined, and are desirous of it; on the other Hand, I daily Cure People without Fluxing, or Confinement, and some few where once or twice Fluxing hath failed.  
When very Young, my Genius inclined me to the Study and Practice of Physic and Surgery, and early met with great Advantages from the plentiful Practice of both, under an Experienced Master, late Surgeon of St. Thomas' Hospital; and if Surgeons may not be allowed to employ their Thoughts and Study in the Practice of Physic, I would than know how His MAJESTY's Ships, and our Merchants theirs, must be taken Care of, on which the Wealth and Glory of this Kingdom depends.  
To make a truly Accomplished and Thorough-paced Physician, he ought to live Two Years in the House of some Apothecary, to acquaint himself with all Manner of Drugs and Medicines, Simple and Compound, and the dispensative Part of Physic, before he goes to the University; so will his Study there, and Reading on Diseases and Medicines, be more useful and advantageous to him: For want of such an Introduction thither, when they come from thence at first amongst us to Practise, what odd and indifferent Prescripts do they generally form for their Patients; such as a Concordantia Discordantiarum, that every Apothecary's Boy, behind their Backs, shall smile, and readily point at.  
The Life of Man is too short, especially for a Physician, that would be useful and serviceable to Mankind in his Practice, to expend his Time on any Thing else, but the Knowledge of the Fabric of Human Bodies, Diseases, Medicines, and strict Observations thereon: 'Tis not the Extremity of Learning, or being a great Philosopher, that makes a Man the better Physician. The most learned Man bred up in the Law, is not always the best Lawyer; or in Divinity, the best Divine; and he that values himself on that alone, in my Opinion, is no better than a learned Blockhead, and well-read Fool.  
I would not be thought to undervalue Learning, but with due Reverence and Submission bow my Head to every Master thereof; of all that want it, I admire it most; and that very small Portion I have of School-Learning myself, teaches me better Manners than to speak irreverently of it. I should never enough lament the Want of a greater Perfection therein, did I consolate myself with the Thoughts, that what I missed of in that, I had abundantly made use in the Practice and Experience in my Profession.  
The most Learned Man bred up in the Study of Physic, without a true Notion of Method in Practice, Medicines and Diseases joined with Experience, is but the greater Instrument of Mischief; for his Learning gives him an unquestionable Character, and whole Droves of Miscarriages shall not be able to lessen it.  
The Management of Chronic Distempers is the true Touchstone of a Physician, to be well acquainted with the Force and Virtue of Antimony, Steel, Opium, Mercury, Vitriol, Jesuits Powder, Spices, and other Eastern Drugs, to be thoroughly Experienced in the Knowledge of what they will do, and what they will not do: All which are like Violins in the Hands of several Men, where all are not equally alike Masters. Among the unquainted Error will be endless, the Distemper, Indication, Constitution, Medicine, Preparation, Quantity and Time, being of so great Moment. The Ingenuity of a good Physician is not so evident in his Treatment of Acute Diseases, many of which have a usual Stage and Termination, either in Health or Death, whether there be any Physic administered or not; but in Chronic or Languishing Distempers, of a long Continuance, the Case is otherwise; and whatever Physician (though never so Learned) is not generally successful therein, where the Disease shall be curable, may be reputed to be an ingenious, well-bred Gentleman, and know almost every Thing, but his own Business.   

A TREATISE OF Consumption, etc. The INTRODUCTION.  
IF to save a Roman Citizen of old was esteemed so meritorious, as to be gratified with Freedom of the Empire, and those glorious Immunities of those famed SOCIETIES, as the Roman Historians relate at large, it cannot be lesle deserving for Physicians, at all times, to redeem the Captived from the Chains of Diseases, and lose them from those Bonds, which have been ever inveterate Oppressors of Human Nature. I do not believe any Man so intentionally mischievous in Practice; and am unwilling to think any Man so negligent, as to pick Straws; or with Domitian, to catch Flies, when the Screecks of a Distressed calls to withhold the ready and prepared Hand, from cutting his Throat: Not, it rather proceeds from those various Hypotheses, and different Theorems Men make to themselves, in all Ages; and thereby erect too frequently the Structure on a Foundation of Blood, and the Sculls of Men, than any Proficiency in that Science, that has the Body of Man for its Object, in order to the Preservation of the same: For, certainly the Doctrines of so many Volumes of Ages are so insufficient from answering the Phaenomena of Nature, that they are rather Promoters of Quarrels, and made the Philosophers die old in Controversy; than produce the lest Peace or Ease to Nature, to tell us of Four Elements and those Principia quibus nihil est Prius; and at the same time to allow a Transmutation, viz. one Element to be changeable into another, is to allow of one only Element; which if it may be yet changed into something else, it is not before; it is not than certainly a Principium, the Mutability arguing some other Original besides itself. Principles by the known Rules of the Schools, are not to be multiplied; nor can they, since they must be found abroad, and existing otherwhere than in the Brains of fanciful Men: Why, without torturing of our Brains, may we not take one for all? Why not with Thales Milesius, may we not as well think Water the Cause and Fountain of all Things, because, even like the Soul of the World, it pervades the Universe, and penetrates the most intimate Recesses of Nature? If you say 'tis too much a Fluid to constitute such concreted Bodies as we see, and the various Species that are in the World, you may know that the most refined Water is not without a Capacity of producing a solid Body and Concrescence; for you cannot distil it so long, but it shall show you Sabulous and Topaceous Grains; which by the Rule of Addition, may make Mountains, or Rocks, or Gems, or any solid Body, you can imagine, to be compact, or substantial in the vulgar Account. What may not be said of Fire next quick to Lightning? What stupendious and amazing Effects does it produce, making a crass Body, as Gold, and other solid Metals fluid. And than again, a Fluid by its Power on many Objects become compact, and firm, and solid to a Resistance of the Touch; to Infects, it renews Life, and restores Nature; and a thousand Advantages it brings to the Being of Things, which are not very easily intelligible. Wherhfore, Plato allows it a Pyranide Form always aspiring to the Gods from whence it came. And Cicero will have the Soul Light like Fire, that it may ascend to Heaven; yet, glorious as it is, and how wondered soever it is in its Operations; yet we know for certain, there is no such stated Species in the World: It is a Creature of every Day and Moment, and nothing more than a Confluence of Minute Parts put into a quick and nimble Motion. The many Objections against the other remaining Elements, are as irresistible as Sense and Demonstration can make them: And no lesle material are the Scruples about the Four first Qualities and Temperaments arising from them; which Qualities have, it seems, been substantial enough for the Galenists to erect their Quaternion of Humours, and by a successive Mistake imposed upon the World their own Habits, acting by such Notions only as might by Speculative Deductions arise there from. Hence it is, that your Specificks have had their Value, being looked on as the only Adequate to cope with those various Humours in the Body, which by reason of their several assigned Apartments, have gotten distinct Appellations, when, in Truth, it is one and the same Thing presented in a different Figure and Change of Shape, occasioned by the Shape of the Receptacle, in which it lies, or else the Figure of the Ducts through which it passes: Nor is it any wonder, that the Blood in the Large and Capillary Vessels should present itself under the Aspect of Purple or Read; and yet by Virtue of several Percolations become Phlegm or Choler, or the like; when thereby the Figure of the Fibres thereof are changed, and consequently reflect a Colour far different from what it was before. I say, we need wonder at this not more, than in the Consecutive Colours of Leaves that run the several Stages of Nature; or of  that have the Advantage of Art to make them what they are. 'Tis not without good Authority attested, that a blind Man with a Touch of his Finger, could distinguish the Niceties of Colours, on the Superficies of any Body; and was abundantly recompensed in the Loss of his Retina, by the Excellency of another Sensory. We are sure, whatever may be thought of this Man, that in the Ant of Dying such Things are used as contract or dilate, without speaking of any other Division, and thereby making more or lesle room, or space between the Threads of the Cloth, must thereby 'cause a Smoothness or Roughness, and consequently afford more or lesle place to Shade and Light, as the Figure of the Thing necessarily requires. And therefore, since Nature is one entire undivided Being, though on the account of Place, she acquires different Aspects; the Mangling of her in Speculation must be Butcherly in Practice, and very hazardous to the Being of Man. As for Instance, were I to prescribe according to those Rules a Phlegmagogue, I must consider the Passages to the Head are tedious, and the Burden to be brought from thence heavy and difficult; in order whereunto I order Coloquintida, Scammony, or some other Elaterious Medicine, which I must be sure is stout enough to bring thence the Oppressor, against which the Complaint is made; and what, after all the Catalogue of those Things we call Phlegm-purgers, do we see but a violent Contortion of the Membranes, which by reason of their Twist and Straining, pour forth great Quantities of Serum, the better part of Life, the Viscous Phlegm still remaining behind, and may have this Motto infixed on it, Vestigia nulla retrorsum. True it is, that in headaches that proceed from Plethoras, or any violent Impulse of the Blood through the Carotidae, where the Serum is not much changed, nor grown lentiscent, 'tis very usual to receive Benefit and Ease only by Depletion of the Vessels; which amounts to no more than the thrusting away the most necessary Force out of a besieged City; because, forsooth, they make too much Noise, and disturb those who would die sleeping and unawares: For, as 'tis said before, the Serum being so precious a Part of Life leaves being purged forth all other Parts, to which it was a Vehicle  and defenceless, and Funus Tacitum behind it: And by too sad Experience, 'tis known many, even after moderate Purgation, have not only been left too obnoxious to the Circumambient, but altogether uncapable of Cure for those Distempers they laboured under, 'twere too great a Task for me to oppose myself against all the Sons of Art; That were for a single Person to wage War with the whole World but in the Name of Peace; would I know since that a Diarrhaea is in itself a Disease, and that very often irrefragable and fatal: How it comes to be a Remedy by Art, and where those Humours are to be found, which we pretend to bring forth of the Body by such Operations; the not considering this has slain his Thousands and Ten Thousands: And 'twere to be wished, the whole Tribe of Purgers, some few for the first Passages excepted, were by common Consent, either banished the World, or destined only to the Use of Brutes, which are lesle dear to Heaven, than Mankind is; nor does the Error terminate in the Hydragogues, and those other Boutefeus' to the Body, but diffuses itself in the Alterants, and whole Course of Practice. That Diseases are to be cured by Contraries, is neither true, nor intelligible, though the constant Maxim of almost all Ages, nay; though we should be content to take the immediate Cause for the Effect, 'tis not reconcilable to Reason or Experience; for we are not only ignorant in the Ratio formalis of Diseases, but as much, if not more, in the Energetical Power of Medicines that are Relatives to them: For, as a good Author says, We know not the Virtue of the smallest Herb that grows, nor the Reason of that which is a common Life among us; for Heat, and Cold, and Dryness, and Moisture, which are Degrees given to Herbs, as well as Temperaments of Bodies, are the ultimate Effects. And so far remote Qualities from the first Cause, as that we want Ariadne's Clew to lead us through the Meander, and to the Primary Causes, from whence those said Qualities do proceed; and for that Reason alone, and because of such an Indication as is perceptible only by Sense: For any Man to direct the Antidote contrary, and diametrically opposite in the first Notion to that Quality represented, is not only the Way to run the Risque of Disreputation, with a Re infecta, as to the Cure, but very often the Hazard of the Patient's Wellbeing and Life.  
And that this may yet more appear, let us argue it in a Case or two that are obvious, and illustrating this Point to the meanest and most ordinary Capacity. And,  
First, As to Manual Operations, a Phlegmon is a Tumour with Inflammation, where, by reason of the great Plenty of Blood restrained, we perceive an unusual Heat, even like Burning; as when a Member is too near a Fire, the first Sign here of Indication is Heat, affecting the Sense; for, we cannot only see the Inflammation, and angry Colour, but at the lest Touch perceive an extravagant and most intense Heat, and, that before we consider any other Quality of the Tumour: Wherhfore, according to the said Position in this Case, we ought to apply such Things as are directly opposite to this Inflammation; and those in an abstracted Notion must be Coolers, and nothing else, and than the Energy of those Coolers must appear, either by repelling this Humour into the Vessels, that it may not more affect our Senses with the Quality, which we call Heat, in the aforesaid Part. Or,  
Secondly, It must appear in digesting and extracting this included Matter, and so leave the Part ulcerous, which requires all the Intentions to heal and unite again, which yet answers not the Position, because the Digestion required for this Purpose increaseth the Heat to some Degrees, there remaining no other possible Means besides evacuating this Humour by Evaporation, which cannot be done by cold Stupes and Baths, other than what we have mentioned before, we must conclude, that reiterating this Tumour, is in answer to the first Indication. Now if I repel back, or reiterate into the Vessels this before stagnating Humour, I taint the Blood with Corruption, and entail a soft Destruction at lest on the Patient; for, with the Blood it fares as with the Limbs, Pars vivens mortuae consortis impatiens esse solet; there can be no Agreement, no intimate Mixture betwixt them: The wounded Deer shall not mix with the Herd, lest it hazard the Destruction of the whole Body. There are Thousands now living, that own their Cachexies to such a male Treatment and Practice; if they remove the present Evil, they bring in far worse Inhabitants than before: And like cruel Statesmen in a Commonwealth, multiply a grievous Burden, and diffuse it as an equal Torture to all, which before was very containable and supportable enough by any one Member or Person. 'Tis no lesle Art in a Physician to provide for a future Health, than to deliver from the Jaws of a present impending Death; nay, it is more desirable to die at once, than see Death and feel it every Day, and that for sore lingering Years together, Vivens vidensque perit, sets the House always in Mourning, and brings that not overloved Spectacle, a Coffin, into their Sight many Years before the Grave: These Ignoramus's, however they came to have the Liberty of Killing, have yet no Licence for Torture and Cruelty: 'Tis far beyond their Commission thus to play the boundless Executioners, and Curst-like Indians, that poison for Months and Years at their Pleasure: I say, most of the Cachexies own themselves to this sort of Practice, which is a Possession like that of other Devils, to be cured by our Prayers, that they may enter into Swine only, and be hurried to their Exit by choking.  
The next Instance, concerning this Position of curing Diseases by their Contraries, shall be Physiological, viz. a preternatural Heat of the Body, I mean such as is perceived by us in Fevers, etc. where it is usually attended by Vomitings, Diarrhaea's, great Drought, Inquietudes, and Soreness of Bones, and the like: Notwithstanding which dismal Concomitants, which have one and the same Cause and Parent, though more immediate with the Heat, and very often appear as soon and as manifest as the Heat itself; yet, because upon the Touch of the Flesh, we found some intense Warmness, and upon the Touch of the Pulse, we found the Strokes nimbler and faster than before; we presently conclude, the Blood enkindled, the House is on fire; and therefore, by all means, this Fire ought to be extinguished, and put out by its contrary, a (Cooler) this Pathognommick of Heat has made so great an Impress on almost all Men, that this far-fetched Accident of Heat is admitted into all their Definitions of Fevers; 'tis a Calor accensus, cries one; 'tis Calor praeternaturalis in cord, cries another; a Sanguis ebbulliens, says the third, and a Luctus internus, such an Effervency as is caused between Spirit of Wine and Aqua fortis, or between Vegetatives and Acids, which causes a Hissing, a Smoke and a Heat, the Chemist defines it to be. Now, for Mercy's sake, what Satisfaction can this be for an enquiring Man, when he finds a Definition made up of poor Accidents, and such too as are common and incident to many other Causes; and not only to Diseases, but to the State of Health and Encrasie: For, certainly a Man that walks stoutly at any time, but the space of few Hours, shall be unavoidably attended with many Symptoms common to a Feverish Body, his Pulse shall be far more rapid, his Flesh extremely hot, his Muscles much fatigued, and his Colour for the most part increased to the Degree of Beauty; and yet this Man is most improperly said to be in a Fever: Not, not so much as a Diary-again-immersion in a Bath will frequently procure an extraordinary Heat, a rapid Pulse, mighty Flushings, not any ways unlike those Accidents we found in a Febricitant Man, in his Discumbiture; yet were this Person to be treated as a Febricitant, viz. with Bleeding and Blistering, and the like, as is the common Practice in Feverish Cases, his Life would be most miserable, since his Physician must attend him always as close as the Shadow does his Body, for the curing those supposed Devils, which the innocent Non-naturals inevitably bring upon him. Now if this Definition be so deficient and unaccountable, what must the Practice on this Definition be but pernicious, or else useless, either destroying the Body, or emptying the Purse; and so leaving him fuller of the Disease than before: On this Definition, the Indication for the Pharmaceutick part requires such Things as refrigerate, and mitigate, and overcome this Heat which is thus enkindled and preternatural, and so depraving the Actions of Life and Motion. The thorough Nature and Energy of those Things we call Coolers, we are ignorant of; and therefore, if after the Use of those Things we reckon so the Patient survives, 'tis no Fault of the Doctor's. I say, poor Man, 'tis not his Fault if the Patiented lives, for he, good Soul, with his Notion of Coolers, does as much as in him lies, to stop the Motion of the Blood, and that because the immediate Origin of Life itself is naught. But Heat procured from Motion, this certainly is shooting at the Deer, and killing the Man; for let such an Arrow fly as this should be, he wants for a Cooler, you'd see it fledged with Death, as sure as the Sun shines at Noonday: 'Tis a Mercy than he knows not a right Cooler; if he did, he would be mischievous as a Plague, and fatal as the Biting of a Serpent. I remember a remarkable Observation of Hildanus, of a robust, labouring-like Fellow, who, when a Town was a fire, employed himself amongst the rest, to quench the Rage, which was so violent, that to the great Hazard of perishing by the Flames did these Men venture; that were thus employed to prevent their being catched by the Flames, care was taken to plant Engines to that Advantage, as might spout Water on the Labourers, to cool their  and Flesh; this Person, of whom the Observation is made, being in an excessive Heat and Sweated, was from the Engines plied with their Coolers to the Purpose; for, not sooner was this Person from his Labour, but went Home to Bed, and next Morning had throughout his Body a Gangreen and Cadaverous Flesh; and all this from the cooling Water alone, chaining up the Blood in the Muscular Fibres, and hindering it from Circulation. This Observation is too notorious to omit any Evasion; and I bring it to show every Man is a Sufferer in some like measure, that is under the Misfortune of such an Hypothesis; only, perhaps, there is not always such an Ocular Demonstration for it, nor so plain and manifest a Prophasis in every Circumstance, to prove the apparent Danger, and dolorous Consequence of such Means and Maxims: For, if we consider the Quickness of the Pulse in Fevers, together with Pains of of the Head, and Soreness in every Part of the Body, and all the Effects besides of a Febricitant Body, we found Stoppages enough, and to too many without their Coolers, to make us fear great Danger, and always suspicious of the worst of Evils, even Death itself. As for the Celerity of the Pulse, that certainly must be from some Straitness and Contraction of the Vessels, quoad Latera, by reason of some Heterogeneous Body, from the fluid Blood, got into those Vessels, and by their Bulk forcing the Fluid into a narrower Channel; as Dirt or Sand on the Banks of Rivers restrain the Current; or like the Rays of Light in a Burning-glass, which by more intimate Unition become mighty powerful and dextrous; as by the wondered Effects we may easily discover this must be allowed, unless you'll grant some greater Quantity of Blood, full ' twice as much, suitable to the Ryshmus of the Pulse in Feverish Bodies, as was before in the same Bodies when sane and uncorrupted, which no Physician can allow; for, upon Supposition that the Pores of the Body are than shut up, for which Cause the Miasmatas and Habitus of the Body are recoiled upon the Blood, and consequently augment it, and swell it as Rain does Rivers; though no manner of Sense can or must persuade us to believe all this, yet considering the usually large and sensible Evacuations, as Diarrhaea's, Vomitings, Sweats, etc. which in those Cases hap; those Evacuations we say are equivalent to the Halitus, detained by the Pores of the Body, being shut up; nay, they must be far superant (Maugre all the Observations of the Staticks) and the imprisoned Halitus; and that for this Reason, because there is no Universal Swelling, nor any sensible Action of the Bulk of the Body observed in any Fevers, either Acute or Cronick, except Malignants and Pestilential, which belong not to this Treatise, whatever may be pretended by some Eagle-eyed Men to have observed in those Cases, or gathered by Consequence, by the Soreness and Load that than seems to be upon the Muscles: Yet, be they pleased to consider that what is spent upon the Flesh, is lost in the Channel of Blood, like the Sea, what it gain in one place, it must loose in another, being not able to afford Spring-Tides in all places at one and the same Hour; Let their Pretensions be what they please, they cannot deny, but many Parts in the Increment grow flaggy and lose, and in Articulo Mortis a seeming loss of Substance appears, as the Sharpness of the Nose, the Hollowness of the Orbit of the Eye, do most woefully demonstrate: So if this be observed, the Blood seems rather diminished, and abundantly lessened, and is perverted into somewhat different from its former Mode and Figure, viz. of a Fluid, which requires Extension; 'tis become a thick, heavy Lump, compact and solid, which takes up and requires lesser room and space than before. The true Aitiology of the Celerity of the Pulse is a Work for the greatest Philosophers; 'tis enough for me to consider, that as Death is naught, but the grand and ultimate Bar to Motion; so must every Disease agreed in the Genus, with Death itself, and differ only in Point of Time and Degree, from the grand and ultimate Bar to Motion, even Death itself: And now I hope by this time, we know what their Coolers mean, and what in abstracted Notion, we must conclude of their Energy, even an Explotion from all Hypotheses, wherein the Life of Man is concerned. Let the Philosophers take the Dispute to themselves, and be content innocently to bandy it in the Schools, where there is no Blood spilt, nor any thing else but Time: For, already innumerable are the Errors and Evils that have been brought upon the World, by allowing the Principles of the Schools, in the Schools of Physic: The World, though five thousand Years old and more, had the pretence of Physic almost coeval with its self; yet has not shown a true Foundation of it scarce more than fifty or sixty Years. The Builders which are the Chemists alone, have not squared to the Basis; but have bewildered us with their Principles and Divisions, as much as the Peripatetics did before. But we shall now content ourselves with the best Reasonings and Observation we can make on this present Treatise of a Consumption: Which is, Definition.— A wasting of the whole Body, by some sensible Evacuation from the Lungs.  
A Fever, and a great Ptyalismus; together with an Inveterate Cough, are the almost constant con commitants & propria quarti modi of this Distemper, and shall be considered in their due Places: Mean while we are to examine the Genus and Difference of this Definition, in Opposition to the Description other Men have given of it: 'Tis very rare to be found in any Author, without a heavy Charge and Complaint against the Lungs, as if those Parts, by reason of some Male Conformation, gave Rise to the present Malady: Whereas the Lungs in many Bodies Dissected on this Occasion, have been found innocent and free from that Ulcer pretended to be generated there in Consumptive Bodies: Sometimes, indeed, we may allow a Laceration of the Vesicles of those Parts, as in case of a direful Hemoptisis, it many times happens, which proceeds from an over Plethora of those Lodgments of the Blood;— but not always attending the present Case, is to be exploded from the Difference already given.  
The wondered Expectoration, and that for so long a Time, seems to indicate an over Distension of those Vessels, caused by somewhat very Troublesome and Mischievous, till it be thrown of by frequent Coughing through the Ductus of the Trachea, whereby the Part is eased and relieved for a Time, by a Truce only, and not by Peace; for there is a continuum Generans left behind, which as soon as it is recruited with a fresh Supply, renews the Assault, and ceases not till it be forced out by Trachea Ductus, as before.  
By Expectoration alone, frequently more than the weight of the Body is expended; and this is not hard to be understood, when we consider Expectoration, and that very large is the Work of every Day for six or eight, some few Months more, or lesle, without Intermission or Abatement; yet are we not to understand thereby, as if the Lungs were the only Passives in this Case; for all the Parts suffer and waste alike, the Head and the Feet partake of the middle of the Body, and the dyscrasy of the Blood, is the same in all, only by reason of some proportion of Figure, it has to the Pores of the Air-Vessels, it follows the Course of its Fibres, and Lodges where it finds the most agreeable Rest, and Necessity.  
'Tis a worthy Query, why a putrid Synochus, where the small Vessels are most affected, (the Lungs, where usually the greatest Vessels are, remaining free) should kill in seven, fourteen, or one and twenty Days, and why in a Pthisis, the great Vessels as well as small, being affected, the Patient should survive so many Months, as we usually found they do? To this we answer, That the continual Evacuation, through the Lungs, is the alone Cause of the Tabid's Duration, and Life.— For, because, by this Expectoration, the Lungs are discharged from the Burden, they groaned under before: The Travelling Blood therefore, has now more room, and is lesle obnoxious to Entanglements, and Stoppages, than it would have been, had the Expectoration not been made, whereas in a putrid Synochus, the lesser Vessels, being affected, as those of the Head and Limbs, and the Lungs being free, as we observed before, Nature has no such Emunctuary in those Parts, through which, she can so certainly, and easily, discharge enough for the Preservation of Life, and Continuance of the Motion of the Blood; But yet, if at any time, a Parotis, or other Critical Swelling arises, in a putrid Synochus, 'tis great hope, the Bitterness of Death is past, and all Clouds for that time are blown over, and away.  
As Expectoration only, is the Cause of Continuance of Life, in Tabid Bodies; so does it continually require, a new Expense of Blood, for the Perpetuity of the Work; even to the last Drop, that is capable of Motion. There cannot be supposed any intimate Mixture of Chyle and Blood, because the Blood throws of every thing, so soon after its being taken into the Body, either by a Diarrhaea, or Vomiting, or dreadful Sweatings, at Night, which ways exceed the Tant-a-mount, by some Degrees, of what we introsumed, but a few Hours before; so that the Blood spends somewhat of its own Stock every Day, and lives upon the wasting Remainder; (some very little part of the Aliment excepted) till it be swallowed up in that Gulf of Phlegm, that gives a Quietus, to its Motion, for evermore. How far the Blood is corrupted, or perverted, in this Case, will allow different Reasonings, and fine Arguments, by reason of the various Degrees of Gluten, that is thrown of through the Aspera arteria, by Expectoration: Withal, we must allow, though the Course of a Phthisis be usually short of a Year, by some Months; yet, we must observe on t'other hand, that it will take of some Persons, some considerable Portion of Time, sooner than the usual Course, or Stage, of the Distemper, is by virtue of the first Impetus of Corruption, or Degree of Violence, it first seizes them withal.  
And of an extraordinary Degree of Violence, in the Corruption of the Blood, in this Case, I have seen a most demonstrative Instance: A Man of Thirty Years of Age, and upwards, was through too much neglect of himself, seized with so violent a Cold, that immediately, though of an Athletic Body, he became enervate; and withal, laboured under all the Symptoms of a Tabid Body, to a Degree, beyond all the Observations, I ever yet could make of Consumptive Bodies, even when they were in the Jaws of Death; for, besides all the rest of the Maladies he underwent, in a high Measure, his Expectoration was extreme, and so intolerably , as no inveterate Ulcer could exceed it, though near a Gangreen, and utmost Peril of Life: I need not conclude, it was from any Ulcer so suddenly produced in the Lungs, but rather from a bore Perversion of the Blood, and other Humours of the Body; as we found in Cadaverous Flesh, when 'tis exposed to some Tempers of Air, easily contracts an ungrateful Odour, which our Sensories cannot well undergo.— I scarce remember a more ungrateful Smell from a dead Body, and though I certainly know pestilential and malignant Distempers, (those Thunderbolts to Nature, that cut Men of presently) 'cause the Blood to suffer in the highest Degree of Degeneracy; yet, scarce is the Author to be found, that relates more of a Faetor in those Cases, than this Example mentions to us.  
What we were want to call, the Recrements of the Blood, (amongst which Phlegm is reckoned) is here the Blood itself, in Substance and Quantity, under this dyscrasy and Disaster; which, indeed, is in so great a measure perverted and degenerated to such a Degree, as far exceeds all your celebrated Receipts, and Practice that is ordinarily shown, in this Case, to make a Regress, to the Habit of the Body, from that almost Privation, the suffering part, to wit, the Blood undergoes, in this Perplexity.  
I would not be understood, as if this Case were incurable, but I mean, that this hardened Phlegm cannot be comminuted by the highest List of Practice, that has now obtained amongst all the Pretenders, to the Cure of this Evil;— Not so comminuted, I say, as to remix with the more fluid part of the Blood, but is by them sent away, as a Pepasmus, pretending, by the same Expectoration, to preserve that part of the Blood, that is yet capable of Motion and Life, from striking on the same Rocks and Shelves, the other parts had done before. Whereas by this Pepasmus, they pretend we see nothing lesle, than perfect Life, exhausted and diminished, the Weight of the Body, many times over-spent, and the last Drop ready, and necessitated to the same Corruption, and Expectoration as the first.  
Of the Inefficacy of this Method, by way of Expectoration, is sufficiently evident, and we persuade ourselves, that notwithstanding this Faetor, and those other direful Symptoms we speak of, we see no Impossibility at all, why this unhappy Man was not as capable of a Cure, as one that has a cutaneous Ulcer, or has in any Limb contracted a Faetor, treatible by Manual Operation, and bore Surgeons Art.  
The several Degrees of Corruptions, in the various Species of Things, is no lesle curious a Speculation, than the Ways of Preservation of Bodies, if not the same; for, without the one, we can but blindly, and fortuitously perform the other, nor preserve the Body, on which we are concerned, but at the greatest Uncertainty and Random.— 'Tis the Work of many Tomes and Years, to consider the several Degrees of Corruption and Perfection, as they all deserve; and I wish, I may live to see it done, by the Hands of some few Men, who I'm sure will make Demonstration of most of what they writ, and satisfy the Knowing part of the World, that Democritus' Well is not bottomless to the industrious and sedulous Enquirer of Nature's Treasures;— of this we may be abundantly satisfied, that the Qualities we are now speaking of, are as comprehensive, as the Objects of that Sense can be, which they effect in their Generas, and far more delightful in their Speculation, since we are assured, that the ultimate Corruption in some Species of Things, is as grateful and pleasing, as the most odoriferous Drug; while on the contrary, other Things in their Putrefaction are detestable, to an utter Aversion and Abhorrency, as most unpleasing and intolerable to our tender Sensory, and Nature.  
The Fever that accompanies this Distemper, is called Hectical, ab 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 habitus, having enkindled the whole Mass of Blood, and other Juices of the Body, even all the Stamina's of Life and Nature:— But by the Learned's leave, this is obtruding upon the World verba pro farinis;— here's Authority instead of demonstrative Reason, and Bunches of Multitudes for revealed Truths: For, though I should grant and allow, a Fever in this Case, yet I hope, they'll be pleased to let us know, what an Hectic is, and whether by any means, it may not be adapted to any other sort of Fever, to be called Hectical, more properly, and Specifically, than to this: For, in this sort of a Fever, we call a Consumption, we found People for the most part Cold and Languid, and abundantly wanting the pleasing Comforts of Heat and Warmth; as we shall see by and by: Most true it is, while the extreme parts suffer, under a Fit of Exhorrency, the middle Region, like Fire in a reverberatory Furnace, can only reflect upon itself, to grow thereby the more intensely Hot, not being able by reason of its Clausure, to extend itself any way, either for its own Liberty, or Refreshment of other parts, that stand so much in need thereof; and by this Straitness, and this Imprisonment of the Blood, in the middle Region, they may apprehended some Cause for a Hectic, the Inflammation being so extreme, and sensible in that part: Which, yet methinks, argues no more a Hectic, than a Phlegmon, or an Erysipelas, in any Member, or Part, could do; for, in both those Cases, there is almost an intolerable Inflammation, there is the Blood chained up, with a non ultra, citrave; and yet, he that should pretend to be such an Alpheist in Physic, as to call either of those Hectic, might be rightly concluded, to have an Inflammation in his Brain, great enough to amount to a Frenzy, and wants the Air, and Hellebore of the Anticyra's to cure him.  
Besides, I look on Hectic, as importing somewhat Habitual, to be Universal like the Soul, all in all, and all in every part, and not Topical, as is this our Instance, where the Blood being penned in a straight part, is forced to defraud all other places of its benign Streams, and pleasing Reflections. But however, a Fever we allow it, and as such, it differs from a Synochus, not only in the Duration of time, but likewise, because it has long Intermissions of Heat; and than again, it differs from intermitting Fevers, because it is wholly free from the Fit of Exhorrency; and besides, is not obliged to the strict Paroxisms of Heat, and Cold, and Sweated, at certain Hours, as the Intermitting essentially is.  
Whether the Paroxisms of an Intermitting Fever depends on the Succus Nutritius, is not easily proved, nor credited: But thus much is certain, in our Case;— Our Paroxisms of Heat, own their Original, for the most part, to Things introsumed, or other of the Non-naturals and Accidents, from without. 'Tis observable, that after eating, though a small Pittance, which is as much as their poor Stomaches can dispense withal, the Blood seems troubled, and appears in Scarlet Flushings, and greater Quantities in the extreme Parts, than at other times it usually does, not lesle is observed, in Drinking, or Motion, the lest of which, is some Violence to Tabid Bodies; the drowsy Blood is awakened, and shows a mighty Muster, and a more seeming numerous Force, than in Sane Bodies is commonly to be found: Now this Heat, and those Flushings, which continued a considerable time, are very rarely followed by any such Sweats, as we see are the constant Concomitants, and eternal Periods of intermittent Fevers, and Agues.  
'Tis true, there are Sweats in Consumptive Bodies, more certain and constant, than any Paroxysm again that belongs to this deplorable Evil; but as we said before, those Sweats are no ways depending, nor by any means consequent to those Heats, or Flushings we spoke of just now, but due purely to Sleep and Discumbiture; for, in Sleep, the Pulse moves not only faster than in vigilant Bodies, and consequently drives more Blood to the Habit of the Body; but the Weight and Warmth of the Stragulae press the Muscles extremely, all which contributes to that Expression, we call Sweated, and this as constant and periodical as Night itself. After which Deluge of Sweat, (for 'tis in extreme) the Body grows cold, and languid, and enervate, being so great a Sufferer, by the Loss of so much Strength and Spirit; so that the extreme Parts, seem to be left even Bloodless, till refreshed by means of the Non-naturals, or the like, it gins the Dance of Heat and Fury, as we said before.  
Those are the constant Scenes, and this the usual Prophasis, during the whole Stage of this grievous Malady: As to that part of it, which respects the Fever; which, indeed, by reason of its Expense, and mighty Profusion, were enough of itself, to 'cause a Phthisis, (though here it be only as a Concomitant, or somewhat Symptomatical,) as it frequently happens in long Quartane Agues; but yet, as if this were not enough to precipitate the Body to the Grave; beside this mighty Expense and Profusion, we have been talking of, there is frequently a Diarrhaea Colliquativa, and sometimes a Lientery; wherein 'tis observable, that this Diarrhaea does not tread on the Heels, nor follow so close the Introsumption of Meats, and Drinks, and the like, as the Feverish Heat and Flushings, we have been just speaking of, certainly does, but has the Intermission of some Hours, sometimes four or five; the Time Dr. Glisson allows after Refection, for natural Stools, before it follows; yet, than the Mischief is, 'tis more than ordinary fluid, and lose, as if it were caused by Elaterium, or some poisonous Purgation, inwardly taken.  
This Diarrhaea disheartens more Physicians, than all the other Symptoms, attending this Case, and makes them cry out with a Conclamatum est, all's in Despair, and irrevocably lost and gone: Certain it is, the whole oeconomy is disturbed thereby, especially, if we go the old Way of Reckoning, three Digestions, than we must conclude an Error in the first Concoction cannot be corrected in the other two that follow; and therefore, the Blood is too much burdened with an ungrateful Load, it knows not how to dispose of, nor discharge; but suffers a Secession of Parts, which is ever pernicious, in the Consequence, to the suffering Creature, in its well-being of Life and Health;— pernicious, and sometimes fatal it is, when it is a Disease of itself, without the Adjuncts of any other dyscrasy; But when 'tis the Consequence of a greater Disease than itself, as in this Case it is, it carries an Ilias malorum with it, and portends the greatest Difficulty, if not Despair and Ruin; for it does not only accompany those other expensive Evacuations, we mentioned before, but through want of Appetite, the Body is denied the Recruits and Refreshments, which should supply the Place of the aforesaid Profusion; And no Wonder is it than, if those Rivers of Blood and Juices are at last dried up, since the Sea upon the same Occasion, would become dry Land.  
In a Word, a Diarrhaea is not only as mischievous in this Confederacy, but somewhat more unnatural than any of the rest; for here we have Water for Solid, we have Faintness instead of Appetite, we have a Deluge instead of the natural Flow of Life and Wellbeing: If you compare it with Expectoration and Sweeting, you'll found it more unnatural; for by Expectoration, of what soever it be, we found the Recrement much of the same Consistence and Texture; we observe that Sweeting is no more than Transpiration precipitated, and the Fugitive Miasmatas being now collected, become obvious to Sense, as much as the Miasmatas of Transpiration were to reason before: But in this of a Diarrhaea, those Excrements that usually were solid and compact, are now thin and fluid as Water. Neither is the Frame of the Lungs such, nor the curious Texture of the Skin any way so made, as to comminute a thick Body into a Fluid; but on the contrary, their Frame is such, as to elaborate those Recrements they receive from a Fluid, to a Consistence, before they sand them forth by Excretion.  
To those Sallies of Life, and almost constant Sluices of Tabid Bodies, we may add, as a Catastrophe, an Haemoptysis, which though it happens usually not till the last Stages of this Distemper, yet equals them all in a direful Aspect and Prognostic: In the other Profusions, we mentioned even now, there are Recrements and elaborated Corruption, but in this, downright Blood and Life, Strength, Nectar and Spirit alone; as if Nature, giving up all for lost, came forth unattended, and blushed at the cruel Deal of its offending and mortal Enemy. 'Tis than commonly it appears, when all its Channels are crammed with Corruption, and itself forced (not without strong Palpitations) to take that Passage, Qua data porta.— Those are the Profusions of Life, and those, the usual Ways, by which Nature decays and flies away in Consumptive Bodies, which we see are little inferior, to what we found in the most fatal and pestilential Distempers; for in the Enumeration of the Evils that attend the Pestilence, none seem more direful than Haemoptysis, and Haemorrhages, strong Palpitations, and Syncopes, which sometimes in this Case, may likewise be found, which if Nature alone, the Subject of Sense; viz. of Pains and Ease, were to be consulted, might pass for Mercy, since they take away Ex improviso, without the Warnings of Pains and Torture, while Tabid Bodies die by Peicemeals, and see themselves cut down alive, by the Cruelty of those Executioners.  
Thus much of the Disease itself, together with the Concomitants, and usual Adjuncts which we meet with in the Course of this Disaster: We will next consider the several Causes, both procatarctick and evident, from which this Malady may have its Origin, or Beginning:— But first, we may understand, that 'tis either Primary, without the Precedence of another Distemper, or else consequential to some Distemper that has produced it, and by its Tyranny so perverted the Blood, as to 'cause this Malady in the Body, we call a Consumption.  
If we consider it as Primary, without the Precedence of another manifest Distemper, it proceeds from these following Causes:  
First, From a natural dyscrasy of the Blood itself, such as is ex traduce, or in the Elements of Generation from the Parents, and is what we call a natural Consumption:— And this is so apparent, that whole Families have been prostrated, and that to a certain Number of Years, which was a non ultra, they could not by reason of the Infirmities of their Constitution pass over, and leave behind them: And this without any evident Cause, as is required, to the Reducing of an Athletic Body, to the like Case and Misery.  
A Person of a macilent, but laborious Constitution, was seized without any evident Sign of Error in the Non-naturals (which usually are the Causes in other Persons that labour under this Disease) with a horrid Haemoptysis, as affrighted all the Spectators and Friends that were about him, and continued by Periods for some Days in that bloody Condition, with loss of Appetite, etc. By the repeated Instances of some of his Companions, he addressed himself to an old Woman, who stops the bleeding, which was presently succeeded by a Hoarseness, and small Cough; for which he takes the Country Air, where he was delivered from those troublesome Companions; but returning again to London, he brought those troublesome Companions again with him, and relapsed to much the same Condition as before he went, bleeding excepted, he declined all further Means; for, that he too freshly remembered the lamented Exits of Three or Four of his near Relations, who from Athletic Bodies, were reduced by an unhappy Constitution, even to Shadows of Human Bodies, before they reached the Grave.  
Indeed, this sort of Consumption, which is a traduce, is accountable to nothing but a slender, and a very weak Contexture of the Blood, either positively as to the Fibres, which being brittle and too terrene, after the exhausting of so many Years, not only diminish themselves, but become insociable to all other Parts; or respectively in regard of the Mixture, are forced through length of Time, to forge that Contract, and Association irrecoverably, which before they had with other Parts, and to which they were united.  
Secondly, This Distemper is produced from an evident adventitious Cause, and that usually by the Air, or Meats, or Drinks, or Passions of the Mind: That 'tis produced by the Air, is known and acknowledged by the most vulgar and meanest sort: The Frigus Susceptum is a Stranger in no Country, nor Nation under the Sun.— We live in a State of War not only among ourselves, but even with the Elements; as if they (if any such be allowable) do with one another those very Things that incur our Senses, viz. Earth, Water and Air, allowing them only for variety of Being's, that make up a Part of the World, those very Things enjoy every one their respective Places only by Force and blind Necessity, and prey upon one another, as professed and irreconcilable Enemies; and on all other Things, as well as themselves, taking Advantages of thrusting out, or pressing too hard all such Bodies as are within their Sphere.  
Of the Elastic Power of the Air, such stupendious Things are related, as now the poor, unhappy Philosopher, of whom Cicero speaks, is more pitied than blamed, for esteeming it a God;— for it like a Deity, can kill as well as make alive; witness the wondered Effects of the Pneumonick Engines, and Neighbourhood of great Warlike Instruments of Death; and like a mighty Empire, were it not poised by its own Weight, there is nothing in the World, but it would precipitate to Death and Destruction, quick as Lightning, or the Thoughts of the most active Soul in the World: And, although the wise Architect has confined it, and said to it like the Sea; Thus far shalt thou go, and no further:— Yet such is the Extensiveness and Struggling of its very Being and Essence (and the Essences of Things we know GOD will never destroy) that through the minutest, and (to all other Things) imperviable Passages it extends self, and rejoices in the Expansion and Liberty it can procure, though to the Ruin of other Bodies: And since it lies in wait, like a slumbering Lion, to seize that Body, which, by reason of the Tenderness of its Texture and Weakness of Frame, must either shrink, or give way to its Springiness and Force; no wonder, if very often the Blood of Human Bodies, that by reason of its Fluidity, cannot be very compact and resisting, couch under the Load of a Force much greater than its own.  
We have already said, the Air has its Aequilibrium, as a Circumambient of Bodies, and nothing else to keep it from destroying those Bodies to which it is a place; and therefore, if at any time, either side, or part of the Circumambient be pantherous and violent; as we found 'tis in the Case of Gunpowder, etc. we see all Bodies set in any Neighbouring Parallel, suffer thereby, and seem to complain of an unwonted Violence done unto them. And though, when the Cold does seize us, as often it will, when after great Agitation and Fatigue, the Body shall be exposed, or by bore Session in an Evening-Air, or by putting of , or by walking in malevolent Winds; of which Hypocrates speaks so Divinely: I say, in those and many other Cases, though in that instant we found no Alteration; yet shortly after, in a few Hours or Days, we may digitate the Cause, by complaining of Soreness and Thickness, and a thorough Indisposition of the whole Body, and by recalling our Thoughts, point out that unhappy Moment which first began the Dance and Torture we at present feel:— We found this so general, and to that degree, that the most Pancratick Bodies are not exempted, but frequently become the lamented Subjects of the Tyranny of this Circumambient, which we justly have made, and proved to be a Cause of this deplorable Evil.  
Thirdly, Besides the Air, there is another of the Non-naturals, viz. Aliments, Meat and Drink, that's very frequently an evident and most manifest Cause of this Consumption: As 'tis said by the Philosophers, we are nourished by Things of like nature with our Consistence; so sure it is, we perish and die daily by what we are nourished.— There is no Person, but after a Refection finds himself not only not so lightsome as before, but withal, very much in heat (except cold Wether be the Hindrance) that seems to proceed from some Reluctancy and Contention that is within, some difficulty the Blood finds in receiving the gross Fibres of those Foods we usually eat. 'Tis the Observation of some very learned Men, that all the World, before the Flood, abstained from the Flesh of Animals, dedicating they to a more noble Deity than what dwells in the Belly, and temperating themselves to a more delicious Variety of what the Earth, either of herself, or by being cultivated, did produce, outlived the now Wonder of half Decades of a Thousand Years, even to that time, when the Thread of Life not wounded nor cut, but quite worn by Age and Time, brought them to the Grave in a good old Age, and Peace.— This was the Golden Age, of which the Poets speak of no acute Distemper than like a Chained Shot, to cut a Man in two, no Chronic to torment him, his Body was the lest of his Care, and Ease and Peace were inseparable Jewels of his Life, because he knew not how to destroy himself, and that Gluttony was a stranger to him.  
Not only to the Quantity of Things introsumed, but to the Quality, is imputable a great part of those Miseries, we  found Human Nature oppressed withal; there are your Dyspepta served up to the Table every Day, and Death garnished round in many disguises.— There are but few that can digest Blood, and not many more that can away with the inherent Crudities, that are inseparable from the Constitution and Being of Multitudes of Things, we daily use.  
I know not why Antipathy should be reckoned an occult Quality, when a Person shall be sensible of the Vicinity of some disagreeable Body, though nothing shall appear to Sight, or trouble him: Doubtless, from some former Injury received, either by himself or Parent, by this very thing which now by its diffused Miasmatas alarms the Blood again, a dangerous and irreconcilable Enemy:— Seldom, indeed, is there any greater hurt done in this Case of Antipathy, than raising some Disorder and Disquietude in the Blood, which by this means is sufficiently forewarned of meddling with what it knows is averse to its Nature and Wellbeing; the Danger is than only when we either greedily take in such Things as are either crude of themselves, or by some present unhappy Circumstance of our Bodies, becomes so to us in that juncture of time only.  
A young beautiful Virgin, the Child of most robust and hail Parents, feeding one Night on Pigeons, somewhat too green, fell into a grievous Vomiting and Looseness, and soon after grew Tabid irretrievably, notwithstanding the best Application of Means could be procured for her.  
A Man of a moderate Constitution, by eating hearty of Eels (though well prepared) greatly hazarded the Tone of his Blood, and with very great difficulty was saved from an Atrophy caused thereby.  
Those are Instances to be pitied and deplored, because those were but single Acts, not voluntary Habits of Gluttony and Luxury, and would have been avoided, either by a Pre-experiment, or present Counsel of Abstinence therefrom, while others, rich and luxurious, set no Boundaries to their Desires, but satiate with the present Dainties, are quick in the Pursuit, and daring in the Entertainment of other Novelties, they are altogether ignorant of.  
'Tis in this Case, methinks, a great Advantage to be poor and needy, to eat the Bread with Care, and digest it with Labour; the Savoury Appetite is a greater Mark of the Deity's Favour, than the mighty Treasure of the luxurious Man; who like Tantalus is set in the midst of Viands, but cannot taste, he is beset with Delicacies, but for a Curse and Reproach, as no way belonging to him; — Nulla aconita bibuntur fictilibus, tunc illa time cum pocula sumis gemmata, etc. The Cottage fears no Poison, the Earthen Pot is filled from the Fountain, whilst their Bowls of embossed Gold carry Death with them; and every Draught is as much Poison taken into the Body, in very deed.  
This Crapula has destroyed more than Wars or Plague; and though the Mischiefs that arise from Edibles are very many; yet, what arise from Drinks are innumerably many more; they are like the Caterpillar and Locust, what the one spares the other devours, if they are let lose on the Subject of their Prey. Every one that has subjected himself thus miserably to a boundless Luxury, endangers his Health as well as Reputation.  
When this languishing Distemper, a Consumption, is consequential to some other Disease, it is to be duly considered accordingly, that we may strike at the Root of it, on which it grows. Sic quoniam variant Morbi variabimus arts.  
Melancholy is often a Cause of this Distemper: For, a troubled Spirit, who can bear? Sad Thoughts gather together in anxious Troops, to afflict the Distressed; every Person being just as unhappy as Thoughts suggest: We found our blessed Saviour himself complaining of it: But be what will the Parent of it, Obstructions are the constant Concomitants, or Introductives of it, evident from Reason and Experience. It is observable, some very few Days before Consumptive Persons expire, their Coughing and Spitting ceases; for, the Blood than being extremely lessened by several Profusions, heretofore mentioned, can now sand not further Supply, for a Maintenance thereof; so soon after the immortal Soul takes a Departure from its corruptible Mansion.  
A Person taking Cold, by lying on the Grass, soon after was seized with a violent Coughing and Spitting, which continued for some Weeks; he had likewise expensive Sweats in his Sleep, together with Loss of Appetite, and a visible Wasting of his Flesh: He was treated as followeth;  
℞ Sulphuris Antimonii, gr. v. Elect. ● Sassaphras, ʒj. M. ut fiat Bolus uno vice Sumendus.  
It gave him Three Vomits, and Two Stools.  
The next Day he had about Eight Ounces of Blood taken from his Arm; and the Day following he began to take Pills Morning and Night, and a restorative Drink afterwards.  
℞ Pulu. Piperis albi, ʒiij. Vitrioli Martis, ʒ ss. Balsami Sulphuris anisati, ℈ j Laudani Liquidi, Cydoniat. gut. xl. Extract. Gentianae, q s. ut fiat massa pro Pil. Medietat. Magnitud. Does. Nᵒ iv. bis in die.  
℞ Rad. Sarsaparillae ℥ iij. Fol. hederae Terrestris Manip. Nᵒ iij. coq. in Aquae fontis lb vj. ad Dimid. partis Consumptionem, does. lb ss. omni mane & nocte post Pilulas.  
He continued taking the Pills and Drink for the Space of Three Weeks, during which time he daily grew better: And was at last restored to his former Health.  
A young Man was taken with an Acute Consumption, by over-heating his Blood with too much Exercise, and exposing his Body soon after to the Air, by sleeping on a Bench: He was first taken with a Fever, afterwards with a violent Coughing and Spitting, which held him for some time, and daily increased upon him. He requiring my Assistance, I first advised him to part with about Ten Ounces of Blood; and at Night to take the following Sudorisick Draught:  
℞ Aq. Theriacalis, ℥ iij. Syr. de Meconio, ʒuj. M. hora somni Sumend.  
The next Day he appeared to be somewhat better, and his Cough somewhat palliated.  
Repetatur haustus hac nocte sumendus.  
After which, being apparently amended, I advised the following:  
℞ Entis Veneris, ʒij. Extract. Centaur. minor. q. s. ut fiat massa pro Pil. Nᵒ xij. Cap. iij. Omni mane & nocte.  
℞ Decoct. Amari sine Senna, lb j. add. Tartari Vitriolati, ℈ ij. Does. ℥ iv. bis in die post Pilulas.  
℞ Syrup. de Meconio papar. Errattie ana, ℥ jss. Ol. Amygdal. dulc. ℥ j Sacchari penidiati, ʒij. Spr. Sulphuris p. Campan. q. s. ad Gratum Saporem M. Cochleatim Sumend. Vrgente tusse.  
This Method was continued about a Fortnight, to his great Relief; about which time, being taken with a violent Looseness, he took the following Clyster:  
℞ Lactis Vacc. ℥ xiv. Confect. Fracastorii, ℥ j M. ut fiat enema tepid. injiciend. hora quarta Pameridiana.  
℞ Confect. de Hyacinth. ℈ ij. Terrae Japonicae, croci Martis astring. cum, ℈ ss. Theriac. Venet. q. s. ut fiat Bolus hora somni Sumendus.  
℞ Spr. Cinnamomi, ℥ ss. Aquae Germ. Quercus, ℥ i ss. M. ut fiat haustus post bolum sumendus. Repetatur enema Pomeridiana sequente injiciend. etiamq. Bolus & haustus hora somni sumend. Bibat pro potu ordinar. Decoct. Alb. sequent.  
℞ Decoct. Alb. lb iij. Spr. Cinnamomi. ℥ iv. Syr. è Succo Cydoniorum, ℥ iij. M. ad usum dictum.  
℞ Croci Martis astring. ʒij. Balsami Peru. ʒss. Conservae fructi Cynosbati q. s. ut fiat massa pro pil.. Nᵒ xviij. capiat, iij ss. ter in die horis medicinalibus.  
℞ Cortic. Granat. confract. ℥ j flor. ballast. ʒj. rosar. rubrar. M. j Cinamomi acuti contus. ℥ j coquantur simul in Aquae fontis, q. s. ad lb ij. colaturae ad Syr. de Rosis siccis Myrtin. ana, ℥ i ss. Spr. Cinnamomi, ℥ iiij. M. & capiat, ℥ iiij. ter in die post pilulas.  
℞ Laudani Liquidi Cydoniatiʒij. capiat gut. viij. nocte maneq. in haust. potus ordinarij.  
By this Method, his Looseness was taken away in some few Days. I than Advised the following:  
℞ Salis Martis, ℈ iiij. Aquae Rosarum dam. lb ss. M. does. Cochlear. j omni mane in haust. fortis decoctionis Centaurij minoris.  
℞ Laudani Lond. ℈ j Balsami Peru. ʒ ss. Balsami Sulphuris anisat. ℈ ij. pulr. cubeb. piperis long. ana, ʒj. extract. Gentianae, q. s. ut fiat massa pro pil.. Nᵒ lx. capiat, ivo. quaque nocte.  
I also advised him to the Country Air. Accordingly he went, and in some Time after, returned to Town in perfect Health. About Eight Years since, a Gentleman, living at Peterborough, in Northamptonshire, from Melancholy and great Anxiety of Spirit, had brought on himself a Consumption; some few Things he had taken in London, by the Advice of a Physician, but daily grew worse and worse. I meeting with him here, advised him to go into Northamptonshire (which if I mistake not) was his Native Place, assuring him, that Medicines would have much better Effect on him there, than in London; a Place, which when well, he did confess, did never agreed with him: Having at that Time myself a Dwellinghouse within Sixteen Miles of him. He desired me to take Care of him; accordingly he went into the Country, where I soon visited him: He had a most violent Cough, especially in the Night time, and spit great Quantities of purulent viscous Phlegm; and when ever he slept or slumbered, he fell into faint and expensive Sweats, was for the most part Cold and Languid in the extreme Parts, as Hands and Feet, a Pain in his Side; was much wasted, and had a Hippocratick Face. I begun with him, as followeth:  
℞ Pulr. Corticis Winteravi cubebar. piperis longi ana, ʒj. Salis Martisʒ ss. Balsami Sulphuris anisat, ℈ ij. Laudani Liquidi Cydoniat. guit. xl. extr. Gentianae, q. s. ut fiat Massa pro Pilulis Medietatis magnitudinis Capiat, iv. bis in die.  
After taking of which he was somewhat better.  
Repet. Pil. Specific. sine sale Martis sumend. ut antea.  
℞ Limatur. Martis crudi, ℥ iv. Caryophillorum, Macis, Zinziberis incis. ana, ʒj. Radic. Gentianae incis. ʒiij. Vini albi, lb ij. Macer. in Balneo Maria spatio Septimanae saepe agitando, post residentiam filtra ad usum. Does. Cochlear. vj. Nocte Maneque post Pilulas.  
The Pills and Steel-Wine he continued taking for a Month, or Five Weeks, and was recovered thereby to a great Degree; but presently returning to London again, his former Symptoms increased daily, which soon obliged him to leave the Town, in hopes the Country Air alone might relieve him: As I remember Norfolk was the Place, where he stayed about a Month; and in his return to Peterborough, called upon me, at my House in Wisbich, in a very weak and bad Condition; he again implored my Assistance, I endeavoured to do him all the Service I could, by the frequent Administration of Spices, Chalybeates, Opiates, Sarsaparilla Drinks, Milk-waters, etc. as I saw occasion; but not finding any thing to avail, I declared my Opinion of his Case, to be incurable: He afterwards confulted the ingenious Dr. Denham, the younger, of Stamford, in Lincolnshire, who remarking the extreme weak Condition he was in, advised him to lay aside all Medicinal Compositions, and betake himself to the drinking of the Germane Spaw-water; but growing weaker and weaker, he left of the Use of the Spaw-water, and drunk Ass' Milk to his dying Day, which was soon after.  
This Gentleman, on whom this Observation is made lived under this Distemper about Eleven Months, which was longer than I ever could observe any one to continued, where the Disease terminated in Death. I remember, that he told me, that he had been troubled with a Cough, and frequent Spitting of purulent Matter for several Years; but without any evident Decay, or Diminution of his Strength or Flesh, or Loss of Appetite, except within the aforesaid time; and, until that appears, I think, we cannot properly pronounce any Person to be in a Consumption.  
A Country Farmer, near Wisbich, in the Isle of Ely, upon the going of of a Fever, fell into a Cachexia, and soon afterwards grew Tabid: I gave him some Pills composed of Spices, Balsam of Sulphur, Anisated, Ens Veneris, Liquid Laudanum, and Extract of Gentian, drinking a Decoction of Sarsaparilla, and Hedera Terrestris after them. Likewise, I ordered him a middling sort of Drink, to be brewed for him, with good store of Hedera Terrestris, to be put into the Copper with the Malt; and in a small time, he regained his former Health.  
A poor Woman at Boston, in Lincolnshire, by taking Cold, was seized with a great Pain in her Side, and Difficulty of Breathing, which was soon followed with a great Coughing, Spitting and Sweeting at Night, in her Sleep; she was much altered in her Countenance, and evidently decayed, and wasted every Day: She took much the same Pills as the other, drinking after them an Infusion of Semen Sinapi in Stale-beer, which soon took of her Pain in her Side, and much abated the other Symptoms. Lastly, I gave her the following Electuary:  
℞ Pulu. Herbae Rorismarini in Clibano siccat, ℥ ss. Mellis Despumati, q. s. ut fiat Electuarium Capiat quantit. nucis Moschatae ter quaterve in die.  
By which, her Coughing, Spitting, and Shortness of Breathing, was totally taken away.  
A Husbandman near Dounham, about Ten Miles distant from Wisbich, in the Isle of Ely, from frequent taking Cold, at last grew Consumptive; he coughed, and spit purulent Phlegm very much, especially in the Night time; had faint Sweats in his Sleep; complained also of a Stoppage at his Stomach, and Pain in his Side; he was much wasted when first I saw him. I advised the following:  
℞ Pulu. Piperis albi, ʒiij. Balsami Peru. ʒ ss. Laudani Liquid. gut. xl. Extract. Gentianae, q. s. ut fiat Massa pro Pilulis, Nᵒ xxxuj. Capiat iv. quaq mane & nocte superbibendo Cochlear. vj. Vint Chalybeati cum Aromattie. parat.  
Upon this he mended apace; for his ordinary Drink, he made use of a plain Decoction of Sarsaparilla, and Hedera Terrestris, without the Adjunct of any other Ingredient; and, in about Six Weeks time, he was restored to his former Health. For a Restorative Diet, I advised him to a strong Broth, made of the Lean of a Leg of Pork, and seasoned very high with a great Quantity of Pepper, and moderately with Salt.  
A near Neighbour of mine, now living, about Ten Years ago, was far gone in a Consumption, he was cured by a strong Decoction of Spices, Cortex Peru intermixed with Chalybeates, and Opiates.  
I could insert more of the like Nature, and cured much after the same Manner; but, for Brevity sake, I shall omit them.  
We shall next insert a Materia Medica, from which an experienced Person may form such Compositions, as are suitable to the Cause, Symptoms, and Constitution of his Patient, viz.  
Radix Jalapae, vel Mechocannae nigrae, Rhabarbari, allii, Sarsaparillae, Chinae, Enulae Campanae, symphyti, eringii, Capparum, ari, Raphani sylvestris, Gentianae, Zinziberis.  
Folia Satureiae, Cardui benedicti, Centaurii Minoris, absinthii vulgaris, Thymi, Majoranae, Salviae, anthos, Hyssopi, Tussilaginis, Capillorum Veneris, Hederae Terrestris Pulegii.  
Cortex Peru; Tamarisci. Balsam. Peru, Crocus Britanicus, limaces, Icthiocolla, Viperae, Ambragisea, Terra Japonica, Aloes, Succotrina, capita papaverum alborum. Piper nigrum, Macis, Mars crud. Flores Rosarum Rubrarum. Balaustiarum, Semina Anisi, cannabis, recentis, sinapi. Aquae Minerales, vinum Scillitticum, Oxymel Scillitticum, Pil. de Cynoglossa, Laudanum Londinensis, Elixir Proprietatis, Balsamum Sulphuris Anisatum Tinctura Balsami Sulphuris Anisati, Spiritus Sanguinis Humani, Sulphur Antimonii auratum, Sal Martis ens Veneris, Sal Nitri, Tartarum Vitriolatum, etc.  
But, before we take our leave of this Treatise, we cannot omit taking Notice of a general Error among many People, as to the Duration of a Pthisis, or Consumption, which they allege often to be of many Years continuance; and are not wanting, in relating Instances and Examples of that Kind: But, as we said before, the usual Stage of it is (for the most part) short of a Year, but never beyond, as ever we could observe on many Instances, but what terminated within that time, either in a State of Health or Mortality; for, though some People may cough and spit a Quantity of Phlegm for several Years together, yet, while their Appetite remains reasonably good, their Digestion laudable, and are free from any of the other Profusions and Expenses of Nature, incident to this Case, without any sensible Decay of the Body, as to Bulk or Strength, they can in no wise be properly said to be in a Consumption, although inclinable thereto, and on the lest Occasion may slide into a Confirmation of it.  
In a Word, Consumptions are to be cured (where the Party is not too far gone) by Measures far different to those of the Ancients, by a Method absolutely free from all nauseous Sweets, which clogs and vitiates the Stomach, and destroys the Appetite; and more fatal Coolers, which created Stoppages in the Blood, and 'cause it to suffer in the highest Degree of Degeneracy and Corruption. Brisk, active, attenuating Medicines, being the only Adequates, to cope with this Distemper; and shall often (contrary to all reasonable Expectation) effect a Cure.  
FINIS.   

ADVERTISEMENT.  
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Diet-drink at Eighteen-pences the Quart; or Papers of Ingredients to make it, at Eighteen-pences each Paper, which will keep without losing their Virtue a long Time; the Drink is pleasant and grateful to the Palate, cleanses and sweetens the whole Mass of Blood, from the Scurvy and Venereal Infection: Also, the immoderate Use of Mercury, with Directions; such as cannot be Confined, may be Cured without Fluxing, Danger, or Confinement. Those who desire it, may have it performed after the safest and most effectual Manner, by T. Nedham, at his House, the Surgeon's Sign, in Windsor-Court, in Drury-Lane, near the Dog-Tavern.  
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