A REFUTATION OF Dr. Olyphant's DEFENCE OF His Short DISCOURSE Of the Usefulness of Vomiting in Fevers.  Turpe est Doctori cum culpa redarguit ipsum. 
EDINBURGH, Printed by J. W. for John Vallange, and Sold at his Shop a little above the across. M. DC. XC. IX.   

A Refutation, &c.  
SINCE this Defence has little or nothing in it, but what was fully answered before, to the satisfaction of every Impartial Reader, except a Mistake about the Matter of Fact, and two or three New Authorities: Therefore I shall insist chiefly on these; not for the Conviction of the Wise, but the undeceiving of some well-meaning half-witted People who catch at shadows. And that I may cut off all Occasions of Scolding, which is the poor Refuge of a routed Argument, and the weak Defence of a desperat Cause, I shall shun every thing that may either startle a Wise-Man or give Umbrage to a very Fool, and leave every Man of common Sense to Judge whose Discourses or Conduct in the whole Affair, savours most either of the Lees or Scum and Froth of the People, or of a mean Education and far meaner Spirit.  
The First Thing the Dr. takes notice of for disproving the true Account of the Matter of Fact, is, That a Gentleman of undoubted Credit, who was by when the Dr. was called,  told, That when Vomiting was first proposed to the Patient, he so far disowned the getting of several Vomits before, that he  told the Dr. he was sure it was the only thing would do him good, and that he was sorry he had not called him sooner. Now, tho this has no Relation more or less to the Account of the Matter of Fact given in the Answer, yet I shall touch a little upon it.  
If the Patient disowned the getting of any Antimonial Vomits, he had Reason: But he never disowned that he was Vomited several times with Whey and warm Water drunk in a large quantity; yea the Gentleman of undoubted Credit was present when he took one of those Vomits. So that this Gentleman's Credit, which was laid out for the Dr. must turn to my Account, since this he saw, and the other he only heard: For one Eye-Witness is better than Ten Ear ones. If he  told the Dr. he was sure it was the only thing would do him good; I can tell the Dr. that he is very sensible, and I very sure, that it was the only thing did him hurt. And if he was sorry that he sent not for him sooner; I am sorry he had so soon Reason to change his Opinion.  
He appeals next to the Files, Consults the Apothecary and his Man, and finds, as is evident by the Receipts he has Printed, that the Patient was only twice Purged, twice Clistered, and got two Emulsions, but nothing of Vomits at all. Which was no very great wonder, since a Thing can hardly be found where it is not. For whoever put Vomits of warm Water and Whey on An Apothecaries File: But he Appeals to the File, says the Dr. for to prove the Vomits; but I say no such Appeal is made. For I Appeal to a great many Credible Witnesses, and to the File together, for the Proof of the Patients being Vomited, Purged and Clystered. The Witnesses prove the First, and both the Witnesses and File prove the two last. And is not this a great mystery, which neither the Dr. nor Apothecary could Comprehend: And therefore they publish the Receipts on design to Defame the Ordinary; but they have missed their Mark, and the Dr. is catched in his own Trap. For by Publishing those Receipts, he tells the World that his Account of the Matter of Fact is false and Disingenuous, and that no Credit is due to a Man's Testimony, who was not ashamed to Publish so manifest an Untruth as, That one who had been twice Purged and twice Clistered with Purgative clysters, &c. in so short a time, had got no Medicine but a Clyster of Milk and Sugar, and then to have nothing to say for himself, but that those were not worth the mentioning( large as much I am sure as a Clister of Milk and Sugar) because they were no way proportioned to the greatness of the Disease, and that a Man might as reasonably expect to take a Fort with no better Artillery than Pen Guns, as to think to make such Evacuations as were evidently necessary by such ineffectual Medicines. But such ineffectual Medicines had carried off a Disease much of the same Nature before in the Patient; I confess indeed they are but Pen-Guns in respect of the Dr's Artillery, the Discharging of which had in stead of taking the Fort, almost split the Cannon: which was no great Mark of a very good Gunner. But I go on.  
Those Frightful Symptoms( says he) as want of Pulse, Spasms, &c. which we are  told followed the taking of the Vomit, are as false as that the Answerer had given one himself. Just as false, neither more nor loss for both are very true, if we may believe either the Patients nearest Relations, or Strangers who were Eye Witnesses, who, if they speak any thing but Truth, especially in Relation to those Frightful Symptoms, are very far to blame. But the Symptoms which followed, and continued five days together, were but too evident Marks, that what was said on that Head, was not only a Truth, but a very sad one too.  
That the Dr.( as he says himself) was not in any great Apprehension, I very easily believe; for there is nothing so Stout as a Blind mere in a Mire. But when he and the other Physician came together, they found him in so Soft and Sound a Sleep, that they stayed a considerable time before they would disturb him. This indeed was very Civilly done, for he had been but too much disturbed before. But if this Sound Sleep was not a Swoon,( which I shrewdly suspect) I suppose it could not be either very Soft or Sound, since the violent Purging continued till eleven a Clock at Night. But if he Slept so well that Night, what Necessity was there of giving him a Quieting draft the Forenoon of the next Day, which the Ordinary proposed, and the Dr. consented to, because he had Slept none the Night before. But the Dr. forgot that. Let him even mind it better the next time, and remember who it is should have a good Memory. As for the Dr's leaving the Patient before he saw the Effects of the Vomit,( says he) it is of the same Piece with the rest, seing he was actually by him the most part of that Day: And so he might, and the most part of that Night too, and yet have left him before he saw the Effects of the Vomit. For he went away, and was sent for again in all hast, when the Alarm grew so hot, that it was Noised over the City and Suburbs, that the Patient was Agonizing. And is not this a Witty Evasion?  
At last,( says the Dr.) That this is the true Matter of Fact, any Man who will give himself the Trouble to inquire, may be satisfied either from the Apothecary, the Gentleman himself, or the Assistants. And I say, that there is nothing true in this Matter of Fact but the Receipts, and those prove the Dr. to be Disingenuous, and that his first Account of the Matter of Fact was false, and that no Credit ought to be given to the second. For what Credit is due to a Man who is not ashamed to contradict himself flatly? For qui sibi nequam cvi bonus.  
But if the Dr. will needs have the Matter tried by Witnesses, let them be lawfully Summoned to declare the Truth. But I must tell him, that I will cast both the Patient, and the Apothecary. The former, because( if we may believe himself) he remembers nothing that passed for four or five Days together after the taking the Vomit, and so cannot be sustained as a Witness. And the latter, because he cannot purge himself of Partial Counsel. But there is Abundance besides.  
The Dr. having done with the Matter of Fact, comes on with a very heavy Charge, viz. That he is accused of Bantering the Scripture, and calling it a Syrophenician Story. Now since I am altogether ignorant where those Expressions are to be found, I should be glad the Dr. would tell me. For all that the Author of the Answer says on that Head, is, That he will not Dispute with the Dr. Whether the telling of a Stale Jest, or an Antiquated Story, or the breaking of a Dull Jest on the Scripture, and calling it a Syrophenician Story, throws most Dirt on the Faculty. But, says the Dr, I am the Man you mean. I would gladly know who  told him so? Not his Conscience I hope. Truly Good Dr. I mean none but the Guilty; and if you be such, it is none of my Fault, and if you be Innocent, no Body accuses you; but if you will needs accuse yourself, that is none of my Business. But if you believe( as you say) those Sacred Truths upon more solid Grounds than any of your Accusers; Show your Faith by your Works, and every Body will believe you: For Words are but Wind, and the Testimony of a Friend is always to be suspected.  
But that he may discover this to be a mere Calumny, he says, That the like has not only been said of him, but of others who he believes are equally Innocent. And I believe the same thing: and so the Dr. and I in this Point are agreed.  
I am now come to the Authorities, where I shall not concern myself with those I have fully Answered already, but refer the Reader( if he think it worth the while) to the Authors themselves, particularly Fernel's 11 cap. De Caratione Febrium. Which Chapter, tho it treats only of a Tertian Ague, the Dr: with an unparalelled Confidence asserts, that it treats of other kinds of Fevers: After which he may say any thing. That the Word Accessio is applicable both to Continual and Intermittent Fevers I easily grant; but deny that the Word Intermissio which Fernel uses in this Chapter, is applicable to any but the latter. By what I have said here of Fernel, let the Reader judge of the rest.  
The first New Authority Cited, is Dr. Tournfort's. But since the Design of it is only to show, That some Passages of hip. ill explained has cost many their Lives, it has nothing to do with the present Debate. And if it be so, the good Old Man is no more to blame for it, than the Scripture is, which many Wrest and Banter to their own Damnation. The Dr. indeed has wrung a Syllogism out of the poor Old Man, which is not to be found in his Works, which was very ill done, for it is a Sin to lye of the Dead.  
The next Authority is Celsus, Cap. 7. Lib. 3. Which is so far from favouring the Dr's practise, that it favours his Adversary's more. The Matter in short is this, The Ancients, particularly hip.( from whom this Passage of Celsus Cited by the Dr. is taken) Galen, Paulus, Aegineta, &c. allowed, when a Burning Fever was about the Height, the Patient to Drink his Belly full of could Water, and if he had a Bitterness in his Mouth, to force himself to Vomit: And whether he did Vomit, or retain the Water, to cover himself well, that he might Sleep and Sweat: So that the principal Design of this was, not for a Vomit, but to procure a Sweat( otherways they would have given Warm Water) as may be seen at large in Galen: And which Celsus expressly owns in the very Words which follow the Dr's Citation. Quidam ne Vomitum quidem exigunt, said ipsa aqua frigida tantum ad satietatem data, pro Medicamento utuntur. Ubi utrumlibet factum est,( i.e. either the one or the other) multa vest operiendus est & collocandus ut dormiat. Fereque post longam sitim & vigiliam, post multam satietatem, post infractum calorem plenus somnus venit, ingensque sudor effunditur. All which has no more Relation to a Vomit which Purged violently eight or ten Hours, than an Apple has to an Oyster.  
At last( says the Dr.) I am now safely come to Dr. Sydenam( who I am afraid will not Shelter him long) For the very Reference he has made to the Schedula Monitoria decides the Controversy: For page. 62. he has those Words, Has itaque ob causas, & prudenti uti spero fiducia affirmare lubet, quod dicta methodus curationis per venae sectionem & purgationem expediendae plus alia quavis( N.B.) praestabit in febribus quamplurimarum specierum expugnandis. Here is not one Word of Vomiting; but he only tells us, that he was confident that this Method of Curing by Blooding and Purging, was more effectual than any other in Curing the most part of Fevers.  
But why should I trouble myself any more with those Authorities, which I might justly have slighted altogether: For allowing them the largest Sense they are capable of, they prove nothing but that Vomits, even Antimonial ones, may be given in Fevers, which I do not deny, but only say that the Dr's Vomit was neither seasonably nor reasonably given, and that all the Authorities he has brought, or can bring, can neither Justify nor Excuse it: For tho he should produce Ten Thousand Authorities to prove, That not only one Ounce of Emitick Wine, but two if he pleases, has been given not only in the Ninth day of a Fever, but after, they will all tend to his own Condemnation: For they were either given with Safety, Ease and Sucess to the Patient, or they were accompanied with great Hazard and Danger, or followed with Death. If the former, then the Physician acted warily according to the Temper, Constitution, and all the other Circumstances of the Patient; and so condemns the Dr's rashness. If the latter, then they were left on record, not for Imitation, but to prevent the like mistakes, as Beakons are set upon blind Rocks to prevent shipwrecks, which yet condemns him more. And it was upon this Consideration of the Patients Temper and Constitution, and all other Circumstances, that I said, that two Drahms would have been a fitter Dose than an Ounce; and the Event proves into be true.  
At last he comes to Dr. P's Opinion, which he will needs Reconcile with his own( tho they flatly Contradict one another) by telling us that the Dr. in that Discourse only maintains, That if the weal-public Matter to be evacuated be actually mixed with the Blood, and circulating in the Blood Vessels, it will be Ten times sooner Evacuated by sweeting than Purging. Now, that this is not the Dr's Opinion, any who will be at the trouble to red the Discourse( which in the Preface prefixed to it, is proved to be Ten times greater Nonsense than ever any thing was writ before) will be easily Convinced: For there sweeting is proposed as the best and readiest Evacuation for curing all Fevers, without any respect to the Seat of the weal-public Matter; and it could not be otherways, since it was writ on design to Refute the Purging Method. And therefore, since this Vomit of the Dr's was also a very violent Purge( having wrought ad animi diliquium) it must still fall under the Censure. And so I leave them to determine the Matter between themselves, being altogether indifferent what way it goes.  
Now I have done, and have endeavoured all along, as much as possible I could, to keep within the Limits of a just Defence; and if in any thing I have transgressed, my Adversary is to blame, who Attacked me both unjustly and irregularly, and every Man must defend as he is Attacked. And it is very hard to determine just to a Mathematical Point, how far defensive Arms may go without becoming Offensive. But one thing I am sure of, that if a Thrust cannot be put by without putting home another, the Defender is Innocent whatever the event of the War be.  
FINIS.