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A Mechanical Ac­count of Poi­sons in Sev­er­al Es­says, by Rich­ard Mead (Second Edition, 1708).

A

Mechanical Account

OF

POISONS

In Several

ESSAYS.

BY

RICHARD MEAD, M.D.F.R.S.

And Physician to St. Thomas’s Hospital.

The Second Edition, Revised, with Additions.

LONDON:

Printed by J. M. for RALPH SMITH at the Bible, under the Piazza’s, of the Royal Exchange, Cornhill. 1708.

THE PREFACE

To give an exact and particular Account of the Nature and Manner of acting of Poisons, is no easie Matter; but to Discourse more intelligibly of Them than Authors have hitherto done, not very difficult. One may without much Pains shew their Effects to be owing to something more than the bare Qualities of Heat or Cold; and Discover the Footsteps of Mechanism in those surprizing Phænomena which are commonly ascribed to some Occult or Unknown Principle. But to Unravel the Springs of the several Motions upon which such Appearances do depend, and Trace up all the Symptoms to their First Causes, requires some Art as well as Labour; and that both upon the account of the Exquisite Fineness, and marvellous Composition, of the Animal Machine in which they are Transacted, and of the Minuteness of those Bodies which have the force to induce in it such Sudden and Violent Alterations.

I have attempted somewhat this way in the following Essays; in which I do not promise Methodical, and Finish’d Treatises, but only some short Hints of Natural History, and Rude Strokes of Reasoning; which, if put together, and rightly Improved, may perhaps serve to furnish out a more tolerable SPECIMEN of the DOCTRINE of POISONS, than has yet been Published.

The First Draught of this small Piece, I made some Years since, Entertaining my self at Leisure Hours, with Experiments on Vipers, and other Venomous Creatures; Examining now and then the Texture of Arsenic, Mercury Sublimate, and the like Malignant Substances; Turning over what Authors had said on the several Subjects, and making such Remarks as from Time to Time Occurr’d.

There continued Enquiries made up at last, Three or Four short Discourses; which, when I began to Digest into Order, the Increase of Business contracted the Intervals of my spare Time; and the Diversion of such Studies quickly giving way to the Severity of more Necessary Labours, They were quite thrown by, Till Talking not long since with Dr. Areskine, concerning the Viper, I took Occasion to review my scattered Papers, and confirm my Reasonings by New Experiments. He very readily offered Me His Anatomical Observations; These I have put at the End of the First Essay; Which do not promise a Complete Dissection of the Animal, but chiefly shew the Make of those Parts which are concern’d in the Poison.

My Design, in Thinking of These Matters, was, to Try how far I could carry Mechanical Considerations in Accounting for those Surprizing Changes, which Poisons make in an Animal Body; Concluding (as I think, fairly) that if so abstruse Phænomena as These did come under the known Laws of Motion, It might very well be taken for granted, that the more obvious Appearances in the same Fabrick are owing to such Causes as are within the Reach of Geometrical Reasoning; And that therefore as the first Step towards the Removal of a Disease is to know Its Origin, so he is likely to be the best Physician, who having the same assistance of Observations and Histories with Others, does best understand the Humane Oeconomy, the Texture of the Parts, Motions of the Fluids, and the Power which other Bodies have to make Alterations in any of These.

Nor indeed ought any One to Doubt of This, who considers that the Animal Compages is not an irregular Mass, and disorderly Jumble of Atoms, but the Contrivance of Infinite Wisdom, and Master-piece of that Creating Power, who has been pleased to do all Things by Establish’d Laws and Rules, and that Harmony and Proportion should be the Beauty of all his Works.

It were therefore heartily to be wish’d, that those Gentlemen who are so much afraid of Introducing Mathematical Studies, that is, Demonstration and Truth, into the Practice of Physick, were so far at least Instructed in the necessary Disciplines, as to be able to pass a true Judgment, what Progress and Advances may be made this way; They would not then perhaps Decry an Attempt of so much Moment to the Wellfare of Mankind, as vain and impossible, because it is difficult, and requires Application and Pains.

It is very evident, that all other Methods of Improving Medicine have been found Ineffectual, by the Stand it has been at these two or three Thousand Years; and that since of late Mathematicians have set Themselves to the Study of it, Men do already begin to Talk so Intelligibly and Comprehensibly, even about abstruse Matters, that it may be hop’d in a short time, if Those who are Design’d for this Profession, are early, while their Minds and Bodies are Patient of Labour and Toil, Initiated in the Knowledge of Numbers and Geometry, that Mathematical Learning will be the Distinguishing Mark of a Physician from a Quack; and that He who wants this necessary Qualification, will be as Ridiculous as one without Greek or Latin.

I have, as to what regards the Animal Oeconomy, Referr’d as much as I could to the Works of Bellini, which have brought great Light into the Dark Regions of Physick, and Taught Us to argue clearly and consistently, instead of Amusing our selves with Unintelligible Words or Precarious Hypotheses. The Dissertations of Dr. Pitcarne, who is the Honour of his Profession in Scotland, are a Convincing Proof of the Advantage of such a Mechanical Way of Reasoning; nor could Malice it self deny This, were not Ignorance in Confederacy with it, which will secure any One from being Benefitted by the most useful Demonstrations.

Notwithstanding This, I have been forced now and then to make Digressions from my Subject, to clear some Doctrines necessary to be known which have not been Explained by others. For indeed the Data from which We argue in these Matters are by many too few. Dr. Cheyne, the Author of the New Theory of Fevers, has enumerated several Particulars in which the Theoretic Part of Medicine still wants Improvement. If these Deficiencies were made good, We might with more Ease Proceed in our Enquiries into Human Nature, and should soon Convince the World, that the most useful of Arts, if duly Cultivated, is more than meer Conjecture, or base Empiricism.

As to the Authors I have made use of, who have Treated of Poisons, I have Quoted only those who Furnished me with Matter of Fact; For there are but few Originals; and very large Volumes on this Subject do many times contain little more than a Collection of Vulgar Errors.

I had once Thought to have carried these Searches farther; in Particular, besides what is occasionally mention’d in the last Essay concerning Infection in acute Diseases, to have enquired into the Nature of Contagious and Hereditary Distempers. But the Humour of Scribling would not hold out; And some perhaps will say, ’Tis well enough it didn’t; For I am not Ignorant how Few I am like to Please; If it be hard to Think and Write Justly, ’tis harder yet to Bring Others to one’s own Taste; Nor shall I be at all Angry, if to Many I have afforded Matter of Satyr and Invective; Less Wit suffices for These than for the Discovery of Useful Truths. They who have no Smattering of Mathematical Knowledge, are incompetent Judges of what Service I have done towards the Improvement of the Theory, or Practice of Medicine, and Those who are acquainted with these Matters, will, it may be, think it something to Talk Intelligibly on such difficult and abstruse Points. I neither want Applause, nor fear Censure; and therefore be the Fate of These Papers what it will, as they were first Penn’d for my own Satisfaction, and Innocent Entertainment; so I am resolved They shall never Ingage me in the Trouble of Quarrels or Disputes.

• THE CONTENTS.
  • ESSAY [I].
    • Of the Viper.
    • An [Appendix] con­tain­ing Ana­tom­i­cal Ob­ser­va­tions, and an [Ac­count] of some other Ve­no­mous An­i­mals.
  • ESSAY [II].
    • Of the Tarantula and Mad Dog.
  • ESSAY [III].
    • Of Poisonous Minerals and Plants.
  • ESSAY [IV].
    • Of Opium.
  • ESSAY [V].
    • Of Venomous Ex­ha­la­tions from the Earth, Poi­so­nous Airs and Wa­ters.

ESSAY. I.

OF THE VIPER.

The Viper has always been so Notorious for its Venom, that the most remote Antiquity made it an Emblem of what is Hurtful and Destructive. Nay, so terrible was the Nature of these Creatures, that they were very commonly thought to be sent as Executioners of Divine Vengeance upon Mankind for Enormous Crimes, which had escaped the Course of Common Justice. Thus Herodotus [(1)] and Ælian [(2)] do both take notice that Adders were sacred among the Ægyptians; that they affirmed of one sort of ’em particularly, that they were made to be Ministers of the Will of the Gods, by averting Evil from Good Men, and punishing the Bad. And Pausanias [(3)] observes of the Arabians, that they forbore to offer any Violence to the Vipers which were found near to the Balsam-Tree, as reputing ’em Holy. The Footsteps of which Superstition do still remain among these People to this very Day, for Veslingius [(4)] saw many of ’em take these Creatures into their Houses, feed ’em, and worship them as the Genii of the Place. The same odd Fancy obtains in the East-Indies, for the King of Calicut causes Cottages to be set up for Serpents to keep them from the Rain, and makes it Death to any that shall hurt one of ’em; thinking them to be Heavenly Spirits, because they can so suddenly Kill Men [(5)]. A Remarkable Instance of such an Opinion as this we have in the History of St. Paul [(6)], whom the People of Malta when they saw the Viper leap upon his Hand, presently concluded to be a Murderer, and as readily made a God of him, when instead of having his Hand Inflamed, or falling down Dead, (one or other of which is usually the Effect of those Bites) he without any harm shook the Beast into the Fire. It being Obvious enough to imagine, that He must stand in a near Relation at least to the Gods themselves, who could thus Command the Messengers of their Vengeance, and Counterwork the Effects of such powerful Agents.

And this, after the many Conjectures upon the Matter, seems to be the true Reason why Antiquity not only Represented the First Masters of Physick, Hermes, Æsculapius, Hippocrates, &c. in their Statues and Medals, with a Viper added to their Figure, but also Worshipped them under this Form, for Diseases in those Days, especially the most Violent, Plagues, Fevers, &c. were in like manner, as these Creatures, reputed the Commission’d Messengers of Divine Anger and Displeasure [(7)]. They therefore who by their Art could Cure and Stop the Course of these, as they were supposed to do this by the particular Leave and Assistance of Heaven, so had Honours paid to Them accordingly, and this Representation was in the Nature of an Hieroglyphick Character; for as the Learned Spanhem observes, [(8)] the Viper was a Symbol or Emblem of Divine Power.

Macrobius indeed gives us another account of this Custom, and that is from the Property which all Serpents have of casting their Exuviæ, or Upper-Skin, every Year, which makes ’em fit Emblems or Representations of Health; the Recovery of which from Sickness and Diseases may justly be looked upon as the beginning of a fresh Period of Life, and (as the throwing off the Senectus of these Creatures seems to be) the Renewing of Age [(9)].

Whether one or the other of these Reasons be allow’d of, or both thought good, certain it is that such fond and superstitious Fancies concerning the Viper, together with the mistaken Opinion that few of its Parts were exempt from Poison, did not suffer the Ancients to make any Curious Enquiries into its Nature by Anatomy and Experiments, and this is the Cause of the many Errors they have delivered down to us in these Points, which by gradual Advances have since been rectified, and the inward Make, Properties, and Generation of this Animal, largely treated of; more especially M. Redi [(10)], Charas [(11)], and Dr. Tyson in his Dissection of the Rattle-Snake [(12)], which is a larger Species of a Viper, have taken Pains on this Subject, to whose Discoveries, what is yet wanting, we shall add at the End of this Essay.

The Symptoms which follow upon the Bite of a Viper, when it fastens either one or both its greater Teeth in any Part of the Body, are an acute Pain in the Place Wounded, with a Swelling at first Red, but afterwards Livid, which by degrees spreads farther to the Neighbouring Parts with great Faintness, and a Quick, tho’ Low, and sometimes Interrupted Pulse, great Sickness at the Stomach, with Bilious, Convulsive Vomitings, Cold Sweats, and sometimes Pains about the Navel; and if the Cure be not speedy, Death it self, unless the Strength of Nature prove sufficient to overcome these Disorders; and tho’ it does, the Swelling still continues inflamed for some time; nay, in some Cases more considerably upon the abating of the other Symptoms, than at the beginning; and often from the small Wound runs a sanious Liquor, and little Pustules are raised about it; the colour of the whole Skin is changed Yellow, as if the Patient had the Jaundice.

These Mischiefs, altho’ different Climates, Season of the Year more or less Hot, the greater or lesser Rage of the Viper, the Beast it self of a larger or smaller Size, and consequently able to communicate more or less Venom, and the like Circumstances, may variously heighten or abate ’em, yet do usually discover themselves much after the same manner in all; unless the Bite happen not to be accompanied with the Effusion of that Liquor, which is the main Instrument and Cause of this violent and shocking Disturbance.

But before I proceed to enquire into the Nature and Manner of Acting of this Juice, it may be worth the while to take Notice, that this is not made on purpose to be deadly and destructive to Mankind; but that the true Design of it is (tho’ Authors have not regarded it) to perform an Office and Service of so great Moment, to the Preservation of the Individual, that without it this Creature could not subsist.

For Vipers live chiefly upon Lizzards, Frogs, Toads, Mice, Moles, and the like Animals, which they do not chew, but swallow down whole, and they lie in the Stomach; or if that be not big enough to receive them, partly in that, and partly in the Œsophagus, which is membranous and capable of great Distension, till by the Salival Juices of those Parts, together with the Help of the Fibres of the Stomach, and the Contraction of the Muscles of the Abdomen, they are gradually dissolved into a Fluid Substance, fit for the Nourishment of their Bodies, which is the Work of many Days; this is one Reason why these Creatures can live so long without taking any fresh Food, which I have known them to do Three or Four Months; as another is, that their Blood is a grosser and more viscid Fluid than that of most other Animals; so that there is but a very little expence of it by Transpiration, and consequently less need of Recruit; this not only Microscopes discover, but Reason teaches; because there is but very little Muscular Force in the Stomach to comminute the Food, and make a Chyle of fine Parts, and therefore the Blood must accordingly be of a Tough and Clammy Consistence. Besides, the Heart of a Viper has properly but one Ventricle, and the Circulation of the Blood is performed after the same Manner as it is in a Frog and Tortoise, in which not above one Third of it passes thro’ the Lungs; upon which Account its Comminution in them by the Air is proportionably lesser than in other Animals. Now such a manner of Feeding as this does necessarily require, that the Prey should upon the first Catching be immediately kill’d, otherwise it were by no means fit to be let into the Stomach; for we are not to think that the Force of this Part would be alone sufficient to destroy it, the Subtilty of a living Creature (besides the Consideration of the Weakness of the Fibres) being in a great Measure able to elude that, as indeed we do every Day find live Animals in the Ventricles of others; and therefore to do this is the proper Use both of the Teeth and their Poison; for which being designed and adapted, it is no wonder if the Viper, this same Way by which it destroys its Prey, proves sometimes mischievous to any other Creatures besides, when it happens to be enraged, or by any Provocation stirr’d up to bite.

The Description of the Poisonous Fangs, their Make, Articulation and Motion, as also of the Glands that separate the Yellowish Liquor, and the Bags that contain it; I shall give, together with some Anatomical Observations, at the End of this Discourse.

This Venomous Juice it self is of so inconsiderable a quantity, that it is no more than one good Drop that does the Execution; and for this reason Authors have contented themselves with Trials of the Bite upon several Animals, never Essaying to examine the Texture and Make of the Liquor it self; for which purpose I have oftentimes by holding a Viper advantageously, and inraging it till it struck out its Teeth, made it to bite upon somewhat solid, so as to void its Poison; which carefully putting upon a Glass Plate, I have with a Microscope, as nicely as I could, viewed its Parts and Composition.

Upon the first Sight I could discover nothing but a Parcel of small Salts nimbly floating in the Liquor, but in a very short time the Appearance was changed, and these saline Particles were now shot out as it were into Crystals of an incredible Tenuity and Sharpness, with something like Knots here and there, from which they seemed to proceed, so that the whole Texture did in a manner represent a Spider’s Webb, tho’ infinitely Finer, and more Minute; and yet withal so rigid were these pellucid Spicula, or Darts, that they remained unaltered upon my Glass for several Months [(13)].

I have made several Trials with this Juice in order to find out under what Tribe of Salts these Crystals are to be ranged; and not without some difficulty, by reason of the Minute Quantity of the Liquor, and the Hazard of Experiments of this Nature, have plainly seen that it does, as an Acid, turn the blue Tincture of Heliotropium to a Red Colour.

I did not succeed so well in mixing it with Syrup of Violets, and yet it did really seem to induce in this a Reddish Hue; but I am very certain it did not at all change it to a Greenish Colour, as it would have done if any ways Alcalious.

This may suffice in their own way of arguing, to convince those Gentlemen, who without the Assistance of any Experiments, meerly to serve an Hypothesis which they have too fondly taken up, have with great Assurance told the World, that the Viperine Venom is an Alcali, and consequently to be cured by Acid Remedies. But it is by far more easie to Spin out a false Notion into precarious Reasonings, than to make faithful Experiments, and fairly improve ’em by just and necessary Consequences.

To proceed, this Discovery agrees very well with a Relation communicated by an Ingenious Person to Dr. Tyson, which does so much illustrate this Matter, that I shall transcribe it in his own Words, out of the before cited Philosophical Transactions; he says then, That being in the Indies, there came to him an Indian with several Sorts of Serpents, offering to shew him some Experiments about the Force of their Poison; having therefore first pulled out a large One, the Indian told him this would do no Harm; and making a Ligature on his Arm as in letting Blood, he exposed it naked to the Serpent, being first irritated to make him bite it; the Blood that came out of the Wound made by his Teeth, he gathered with his Finger, and laid it on his Thigh, till he had got near a Spoonful, after this he takes out another called Cobra de Capelo, which was lesser, and inlarges much upon the Greatness of his Poison; to shew an Instance of it, grasping it out about the Neck, he expresses some of the Liquor in the Bags of the Gums, about the Quantity of half a Grain, and this he puts to the coagulated Bleed on his Thigh, which immediately put it into a great Fermentation, and working like Barme, changed it into a Yellowish Liquor.

This I say does well enough accord with what we have been advancing concerning the Nature of this Juice, for Mr. Boyle has long since proved by Experiments, that there is nothing of Acid in human Blood; and Dr. Pitcarn [(14)] has demonstrated, that the Acid Substances of Vegetables taken into the Stomach, are by the Action of this Part, the Lungs and Heart, when they come into the Blood-Vessels, turn’d to Alcalious; so that the Arterial Fluid must necessarily be considered as an Alcali; and therefore according to the known Principles of Chymistry, its mixture with such a Liquor as we have discovered the Viperine Sanies to be, will always exhibit some such appearance as this now related.

But not to engage any farther in these sort of Controversies, we may perhaps from the foregoing Observations receive some Light in order to understand the Nature and Reason of all those Symptoms which attend the Bite of this Creature. For the pungent Salts of this Venom, when with Force thrown into the Wound, will not only as so many Stimuli, irritate and fret the sensile Membranes, whereupon there necessarily follows a greater Afflux than ordinary of the Animal Juices that way, (as is manifest from the Bellinian Doctrine, De Stimulis) so that the wounded Part must be Swelled, Inflamed, Livid, &c. but also these Spicula being mixt with the Blood, will so disjoin and disunite the Parts of it, that its Mixture must be quite alter’d; and from the various Cohæsion of its Globules will arise such different Degrees of Fluidity and Impulse towards the Parts, &c. from what this Liquor had before, that its very Nature will be changed, or in the common way of speaking, it will be truly and really Fermented.

To understand aright how all this is done, it is necessary to hint somewhat concerning the Nature of Fluids in General, and those Alterations in them which we call Fermentations; for I shall retain this known Word, tho’ in the proper Sense in which ’tis commonly used, there can be no Fermenting of the Liquors in the Animal Body.

And here I must refer to the Treatise of Bellini de Fermentis, who has with great Clearness shewn, that there is in all Fluids not only a simple Contact of their Parts, but also a nisus in Contactum, or Cohæsion, and this of a certain Degree or Force, and besides, of a particular Direction; which is indeed, tho’ express’d in other words, the very same thing with the Attraction of the Particles one to another; This Mr. Newton has demonstrated to be the great Principle of Action in the Universe, has taught us the Laws of it in the greater Quantities and Collections of Matter; and he who rightly Studies his Philosophy will understand that the same obtains in the most Minute and Finest Corpuscles, which do unite into Bodies of different Solidity and Make, according to the Degree with which they do mutually attract each other, and to the Superficies, by which, when drawn, they do touch and adhere. To this if we add a Pression of the several Parts of the Fluid every way, and consider withal, that this Uniform Attraction of the Parts to one another must be variously changed by the different Attraction of Heterogeneous Bodies mixt with them, we have the great Principles of all Fluids, upon which their several Phænomena do depend.

And hence it follows, that whatsoever Power is sufficient to make a Change in this Attraction, or Cohæsion of the Parts, makes an Alteration of the Nature of the Fluid; that is, as the Chymists express it, puts it into a Fermentation. And if any one shall think it necessary to enquire into the particular Manner of producing such an Effect, we may perhaps in so abstruse a Matter not improbably Conjecture thus, That our Blood consisting chiefly of Two Parts, a simple Lymph, and an infinite Number of small Globules, containing a very subtle and elastic Fluid, these acute Salts, when mingled with it, do prick those Globules, or Vesiculæ, and so let out their imprisoned active Substance, which expanding it self every way, must necessarily be the Instrument of this speedy Alteration and Change [(15)]. From such an Hypothesis as this (and, it may be, not very easily from any other) we may account for many of the surprizing Phænomena in the Fermentations of Liquors; and as precarious as it seems, its Simplicity, and Plainness, and Agreement with the forementioned Doctrine, will, I believe, recommend it before any other to those who are not unacquainted with Geometrical Reasonings. But I wave these Considerations at present, and shall only add One Remark or Two with Relation to the purpose in Hand, and so proceed.

In the first place then, we may from this Theory, learn, how it comes to pass that so small a Portion of Juice should infect so great a quantity of Liquor; for in order to do this, it is not necessary that the Venom should be at the very first mixt with all its Parts; but it is sufficient that it prick some of the Bladders, and the elastic Matter of these being let out, will be a nimble Vehicle to the acute Salts, and not only by its activity disperse them thro’ the Fluid, but restore to them their decreasing Force, and thus continue their Effects, till a great part of the Liquor undergoes at least, in some Degree, the like Alteration.

And this will the more easily happen in the present Case, because the Force with which this Poison is thrown into the Blood, as appears from the Mechanism of the discharging Organs, is very great, and consequently its Effects will be proportionably violent, or the Mischief more large and diffused.

The want of this may be one Reason why the Experiment of first making a Wound in the Flesh with any sharp Instrument, and then dropping in the Sanies, may not always succeed so well in killing Animals, as one would from the preceeding Doctrine be ready to expect. Tho’ if some amends be made for this Defect, by taking a greater quantity of the Juice, and carefully instilling it, It proves equally Fatal this way, as when immediately discharg’d from the Viper it self. Thus it might happen that those Trials of this kind, which were happily made by S^r Redi, might not however convince M^r Charas, in as much as there is oftentimes a great deal of difference in the Event of Experiments, when made with Purpose, and a Design that they should succeed, and when Timorously and Cautiously managed, lest they should unluckily overthrow a darling Hypothesis.

The other Observation I shall draw from the foregoing Theory, is this, That it appears from hence what a vast variety there may be in the Fermentations even of one and the same Fluid; for these being no other than Changes made in the Cohæsion of the compounding Particles, are capable of as many Alterations as Motion in its Degrees and Directions can admit of, which are really Infinite.

This I mention with regard to some of the following Essays, in which, if we ascribe many Symptoms seemingly very different, to a Ferment rais’d in the Blood, it may be consider’d, that the Nature of this Cause is such, as according to the several Properties of the Primum Agens, or Fermenting Power, to bear by far more Varieties than any one can be aware of.

To return to the Viper; the Effects of such an Agitation of the Blood, as we have been describing, must not only be whatever are the Consequences of a disturbed Circulation, and irregular and interrupted Secretion of the Spirits, as low Pulse, Faintings, Sickness, Palpitation of the Heart, Convulsive Vomitings, Tremblings of the Body, &c. but also the Texture of this Fluid being thus broken, those Parts of it which are of the slowest Motion, and greatest Viscidity, will be easily separated from the others; such they are, which when united together do compound the Bile, and therefore these will tinge the Capillary Vessels, and fine Ducts in the Skin, with a Yellowish Colour; that is, will induce an Icterus, or Jaundice.

For it is not only (if at all Primarily) from an Obstruction of the Biliary Canals that this Symptom does proceed, but also from any Cause whatsoever, which either destroys the Saline Part of the Bile, by the means of which its Oil is kept mixt with the Water of the Blood, or else increases the Oily and Sulphureous Part to that Degree, that tho’ it be duly impregnated with Salt, yet the Watery Part of the Blood, which can only take up a certain Proportion of it, being already Saturated, can receive no more; or lastly, does, by disuniting the compounding Particles of the Blood, alter that Intestine Motion and Agitation which is necessary to carry along thro’ the Vessels, together with the more volatile Parts, those which are more Clammy and Glutinous. For in all these Cases ’tis plain that the Bilious Corpuscles must be præcipitated upon those Parts of the Body where there is least Motion, that is, upon the extreme Superficies.

And tho’ this Theory may perhaps appear extravagant, because new and uncommon, yet it will not, I believe, seem ill grounded or irrational to those who understand the Doctrine of the Mixture of Heterogene Fluids, and their Separation; and who withal know, that the Vessels are rarely obstructed, unless it be from the fault of the Liquid they carry, and consequently that a Defect in the Bile it self must be (excepting some extraordinary Cases) antecedent to the Obstruction of the Biliary Ducts.

In short, the different Cure of this Disease confirms these Notions; for an Icterus from the first Cause assign’d, which is generally owing to a sedentary Life, want of Exercise, &c. and attended with an extreme Costiveness and white Fæces, is cured by Volatile, Acrimonious, and Bitter Salts. From the Second produced oftentimes by drinking strong Liquors, Spirits, &c. and accompanied with a Diarrhœa, partly by Diluting and Temperating, partly by Stomachic and Strenghning Medicines. As the last Species of it (for the sake of which we have mention’d the other) is removed by such Antidotes as overcome and destroy the Venomous Ferment, corrupting the Blood, and breaking its Compages. But to have hinted these things may abundantly suffice for the present.

We must however take Notice, That tho’ the main Alterations made by this Poison be in the Fluid of the Arteries, yet that That of the Nerves may hereby be considerably changed too; for This consisting, as well as the Blood of differing Parts, and being dispersed in small Tubes all over the Body, is not only very capable of various Degrees of Force, Impulse, &c. but Undulating continually towards the Brain, and being the chief Instrument of Motion and Action, may perhaps sometimes more immediately convey the Mischief to the sensile Membranes, and thus be the Cause of those violent Pains, Convulsions, Sickness, &c with which Those who are Bitten are presently seiz’d.

Many are the Experiments I could relate to evince the Truth of this Reasoning concerning the Viperine Venom, which do entirely agree with those made by S^r Redi, whose Judgment and Sincerity in Observations of this Nature no Body ever called in Question, till Monsieur Charas having espous’d a Notion, that this Poison does not lie in the Yellow Liquor of the Gums, but in the enraged Spirits of the Viper, rais’d new Difficulties about the Success of some Trials made in France, endeavouring thereby to invalidate the Force and Authority of those made in Italy.

I shall therefore, in order to put this Matter out of all doubt, mention Two or Three Experiments made by Dr. Areskine, when at Paris, that it may appear how defective those of Mr. Charas are, and that the Difference of the Climate does not (as some began to imagine [(16)]) make any considerable Alteration in the Effects of this Venom, or its manner of Killing.

First then, having got a large Female Viper, he made it to Bite Six Pigeons, one after another; the First and Second that were bit, died within about half an Hour, one a little Time before the other; the third liv’d about two Hours; the Fourth seem’d to be very sick, but recovered; the Fifth and Sixth were no more hurt than if they had been prick’d with a Pin or Needle.

Then he cut off the Head of a brisk Viper, and let it lie twenty four Hours, with the Fangs of which he wounded One Pigeon in the Breast, and another in the Thigh, which both expired as soon after, as if they had been biten by a living Viper. After this, having got a great many Vipers together, he made them bite upon a peice of Glass of a Cylindrical Figure, by this means preserving the Yellow Juice which they emitted, and slightly wounding two Pigeons, he first let the Bleeding be stopt, then put some of this Liquor into the Wounds, upon which both the Pigeons died about two Hours after.

The same Ingenious Person tells me, that Monsieur du Verney made not only These, but also several other Experiments of the same Nature, in the Royal Acamy, with the like Success.

These Proofs are so convincing and full, that no one, I think, can desire more; but they will receive yet a farther Confirmation from the Apparatus or Mechanism of the Organs, with admirable Nicety contrived for the Discharge of this Venom, of which more by and by.

Nor is it any Objection against all This, that the Liquor is innocent and harmless in the Mouth or Stomach of any one, so as that it may be safely tasted or sucked out of the Wound, and swallowed; for, as we observ’d before, that many Acid Substances taken into the Stomach are by the Action of that Part turned to Alcalious, so there is no Question but these Saline Spicula are partly by the Muscular Force of the Fibres, partly by the Salival Juice, all broken and dissolved; or if any can pass into the Intestines, the Balsam of the Bile will be an Antidote for Them; the Reason of which will appear when we come to the Cure.

In the mean time it may not be amiss to Remark, That even the Ancients seem to have known thus much concerning the Nature of this Poison; of this Galen gives us Testimony in severl Places; particularly in his Book de Temperamentis [(17)], where he takes notice, that nothing has the same Power upon the human Body outwardly as inwardly; Thus (says he) neither the Venom of the Viper, nor of the Asp nor frothy Spittle of the Mad Dog, are alike Mischievous when they fall upon the Skin, or enter into the Stomach, as when outwardly communicated by a Wound.

The chief of the Latin Physicians [(18)], Celsus has elegantly express’d the Matter in few Words, when advising to Suck the Wound made by the Bite; he adds, Neq; Hercules Scientiam præcipuam habent hi qui Psilli nominantur, sed audaciam usu ipso confirmatam, nam Venenum Serpentis, ut quædam etiam Venatoria Venena, quibus Galli præcipuè utuntur, non gustu sed in vulnere nocent.

And therefore brave Cato, when marching the Remains of Pompey’s Army thro’ Africa, very wisely told the Soldiers, almost choak’d with Thirst, yet afraid to drink of a Spring they came to, because full of Serpents [(19)],

Noxia Serpentum est admisto sanguine Pestis,

Morsu Virus habent, & Fatum Dente minantur,

Pocula Morte carent——

In the like manner it was in those times also known, that the virulent Juice had the same bad Effects, when mixt with the Blood, by means of a common Wound, as when communicated by the Venomous Bite. This made Celsus [(20)] advise in sucking out the Poison, to take care there be no Ulcer in the Mouth; tho’ this Caution be rather slighted and ridiculed by Severinus [(21)], and others; who do hereby discover how little they understood of the Seat and Nature of this Poison. And Galen [(22)] mentioning the Story of Cleopatra, relates from other Authors, that she killed her self by pouring the Virus of an Asp into a Wound made in her Arm by her own Teeth.

In short, it is upon this Foundation, that Pliny [(23)] assures us, the Scythians Poison’d their Arrows with the Sanies of Vipers mixt with human Blood; the way of doing it Aristotle [(24)] has at large related; and the Tartars are said to use the like Trick to this Day. After the same manner the Indians make use of the Venom of the Lizard, called Gecco; this Creature they hang up by the Tail, and by Whipping exasperate till it discharge its Virus, in which they tinge their Darts; and a very slight Wound with these Weapons is speedy Death [(25)].

It is worth the while in the next Place to consider the Cure of this Mischief, which without all doubt ought to be by such External Mannagement of the Wound as may immediately destroy the infused Venom.

Mr. Boyle [(26)] experienced a hot Iron held as near the Place as the Patient could possibly endure it very effectual to this Purpose. But the same Method did not answer Expectation in the famous Case related by Monsieur Charas [(27)].

An extraordinary Virtue against this and other venomous Bites is ascribed to the Snake-stones brought from the East-Indies, one of which is to be presently apply’d to the Part, and let stick till it drop off; these are said to be taken out of the Head of the Serpent called by the Portugueze, Cobra de Capelo; and to suck the Poison out of the Wound. S^r Redi [(28)] made Trials with several of them, but found no Service from any. Yet Baglivi [(29)] tells us of a terrible Bite of a Scorpion cured this way. Monsieur Charas [(30)] his Pigeons all died, tho’ these were immediately clapped on, and stuck close to the Wound: But Dr. Havers saw a good Effect of one upon a Dog, who tho’ severely bitten, suffered no Harm, nor any farther Mark of the Poison than a livid Circle round the Place.

In plain Truth, as these celebrated Stones do not seem to be what it is pretended they are, but rather Factitious Bodies compounded, it may be, of Calcined Bones, and some Testaceous Matters mixt together; so by Reason of their spongy and porous Texture, they do very readily adhere to any moistened Part of the Flesh, and imbibe whatsoever humidity they meet with. This their Quality any one may experience by holding one of them to the Roof of his Mouth; and it is upon this Score, that when put into Water, Bubbles are raised by the Air in their Interstices, which some have too fondly thought to be the Effects of their throwing out the Venom they had sucked in.

Their make being thus, some Part at least of the Poisonous Juice may easily be drawn out of the Wound by such an Application, and yet so much of it may sometimes happen to remain in the Flesh, as may make the Bite however to prove Mortal. And thus it fared with a Pigeon, to the Thigh of which, first bitten by a Viper, I applied one of the Stones; for tho’ it stuck fast to the Wound, and thus saved the Life for about four Hours; (whereas others usually died in about half an Hour) yet after this the Mortification of the Part prevailed to that Degree as to become fatal to the tender Creature.

But our Viper-Catchers have a Remedy far beyond all these, in which They do place so great Confidence, as to be no more afraid of a Bite than of a common Puncture, immediately curing themselves by the Application of their Specifick.

This, tho’ they keep as a great Secret, I have however upon strict Enquiry found out to be no other than the Axungia Viperina presently rubbed into the Wound. And to convince my self of its good Effects, I inraged a Viper to bite a young Dog in the Nose; both the Teeth were struck deep in; he howled bitterly, and the Part began to swell; I diligently applied some of the Axungia I had ready at Hand, and he was very well the next Day.

But because some Gentlemen who saw this Experiment were apt to impute the Cure rather to the Dog’s Spittle, (he licking the Wound) than to the Virtue of the Fat, we made him to be bit again in the Tongue, forbearing the Use of our Remedy, and he died within four or five Hours.

At another time I made the like Trial with the same Success.

As this Axungia consists of Clammy and Viscid Parts, which are withal more Penetrating and Active than most other Oily Substances, so these, without all doubt, do involve, and as it were sheath the Volatile Salts of the Venemous Liquor, and thus prevent their Shooting out into those Crystalline Spicula, which we have observ’d to be the main Instruments of that deadly Mischief which attends the Bite.

By this means it comes to pass, that this Cure, if rightly manag’d, is so easie and certain, as not to need the help of any Internal Medicines to forward it; but These however must take place, where, thro’ Want of the other, the Poison is spread farther, and has tainted the whole Mass of Blood.

Nor yet is it necessary even in this Case to fatigue the Patient with a Farrago of Theriacas, Antidotes, &c. for the Volatile Salt of Vipers is alone sufficient to do the Work, if given in just Quantities, and duly repeated; provided moderate Sweats be incouraged in Bed; thus it succeeded with Monsieur Charas in the before cited Case, and in some others I could relate; in one of which the Mischief had gone so far as to induce an universal Icterus.

This leads me last of all to hint something concerning the Use of the Viper in Physick; because Authors are very large in enumerating its Virtues against many, and those too some of ’em very obstinate, Distempers.

One of the first whom we find in Antiquity to have made use of the Flesh of this Creature to Medicinal Purposes, was, I think, Antonius Musa, the Famons Physician to Octavius Cæsar; of whom Pliny [(31)] tells us, That when he met with incurable Ulcers, he ordered the eating of Vipers, and by this means they were quickly Healed.

It is not improbable that he might have learned this from the Great Greek Physician Craterus, mention’d often by Cicero in his Epistles to Atticus, who, as Porphyrius [(32)] relates, very happily cured a miserable Slave, whose Skin in a strange manner fell off from his Bones, by advising him to feed upon Vipers dressed after the manner of fish.

Be this as it will, in Galen’s time the profitable Qualities of the Viper were very commonly known; himself relating [(33)] very remarkable Stories of the Cures of the Elephantiasis, or Lepra, done by the Viper Wine.

Aretæus, who most probably liv’d about the same time with Galen, and of all the Ancients has most accurately described the Elephantiasis, commends, as Craterus did, the eating of Vipers instead of Fish in the same Diseases [(34)]. And to this purpose I remember, that as Lopes [(35)] in his Relations of the Kingdom of Congo in Africa, takes notice how greedily the Negroes eat Adders, roasting them, and esteeming them as the most delicious Food; so Dampier [(36)] also informs us, that the Natives of Tonquin in the East Indies do treat their Friends with Arack, in which Snakes and Scorpions have been infus’d, accounting this not only a great Cordial, but also an Antidote against the Leprosie, and all other sorts of Poison.

The Physicians in Italy and France do very commonly prescribe the Broth and Gelly of Vipers Flesh for much the same Uses, that is, to invigorate and purifie the Mass of Blood exhausted with Diseases, or tainted with some Vicious and Obstinate Ferment.

From all this it appears, That the main Efficacy of the Viperine Flesh is to quicken the Circle of the Blood, promote its due Mixture, and by this means cleanse and scoure the Glands of those stagnating Juices, which, turning to Acidity, are the Origine of many, at least, of those troublesome Distempers in the Surface of the Body, which go under the Names of Scrophulous, Leprous, &c.

These good Effects are owing to that penetrating, strong Salt, with which the Substance of these Creatures does, in a very great Proportion, abound; and the Reason of this is from the Food they live on, which we have observ’d before to be Lizzards, Moles, &c. whose Nature every one knows to be such as must necessarily, when they are dissolv’d in the Stomach, supply the Blood with a great Quantity of Active and Volatile Parts. And herein lies the Difference between the Flesh of Vipers, and that of other Innocent Serpents, which feeding upon Grass, Herbs, &c. do not recommend themselves to us by any of those Properties which are in so Eminent a Degree found in the former.

Whosoever reflects on what has been said on this Head, will very readily Acknowledge, That our Physicians deal too Cautiously or Sparingly with a Remedy which may be apply’d to very good Purposes, when they prescribe a few Grains of the Pouder of dried Vipers, or make up a small Quantity of their Flesh into Troches; whereas, if Service be really to be done this Way, the Patient ought to eat frequently of Viper-Gelly, or Broth; or rather, as the ancient manner was, to boil Vipers, and eat them like Fish; if this Food will not go down, (tho’ really very Good and Delicious Fare) to make use at least of Wine, in which Vipers have for a long time been infused, by which I know a very obstinate Lepra has been removed; or lastly, in some Cases, especially where Wine is not Convenient, to take good Quantities of their Volatile Salt, in which alone the Virtue of the before-named Medicines does principally reside.

An APPENDIX to the Foregoing Essay; Containing Some Anatomical Ob­ser­va­tions on the VIPER, and an Ac­count of some other Ve­no­mous An­i­mals.

In repeated Dissections of the Viper, comparing the Descriptions given Us by Authors with the Parts themselves, I have found them in many Particulars to be very Defective. I shall however at present confine my self to some Observations made chiefly on those Organs which serve to prepare and emit the Poison.

To begin therefore with the Head. The Skull ([Fig. 2.]) is composed of several Bones, joined together by Sutures, as in Man, but with this Difference, that the Os Frontis in the Viper consists of Two Bones united by a Rectilinear Suture, and the Parietal Bones are entire; whereas in Man the Parietal Bones have Sutures, and the Os Frontis is entire.

(a) Shews Two small Semicircular Bones, which form the inferior Part of the Nostrils.

(b) The Two Bones which make the upper Part of the Nose, from the latter pass down two thin Laminæ, which touching one another, and falling perpendicular upon the Ossa Palati, compose the Septum of the Nose.

(e e) Point out the Ossa Frontis, which form the upper Part of the Orbits of the Eyes. And (c c) the Orbits themselves.

The Parietal Bones (d) make a large Cavity, in which the greatest Part of the Brain is contained, and this we may call the Sinciput.

Behind this Bone are placed the Ossa Temporum (f f) in which lye the Organs of Hearring; and behind Them a Bone (g) which, we may call the Os Occipitis, covers the posterior Part of the Brain. This is joined to the first Vertebra of the Neck (h), by a Spherical Articulation, as all the Vertebræ are to one another; and this is the Reason why this Creature can turn its Head and Body so much, and so nimbly, every way.

To some of These there are Two other Bones Articulated for particular Uses.

The First of Them, which serves as a Basis to the Articulation of the Rest (a, [Fig. 4.]), is fastned by one Extremity to a small Proturberance (i, [Fig. 2.]) in the middle and lateral Part of the Os Sincipitis, and running back towards the Vertebræ, lyes in the same Plain with the Sinciput. This Bone has a Motion, tho’ very inconsiderable, both upwards and downwards. By means of This, the opening of the Mouth is somewhat inlarged in the Time of Deglutition.

That End of this Bone, which is next to the Vertebræ, is articulated at oblique Angles with Another (b) placed Horizontally, and whose Motion is forwards and backwards, being made chiefly for moving the Bones of the upper and lower Jaw, into which the Teeth are inserted. By reason of this kind of Articulation, It cannot contribute any thing towards widening the Mouth for Swallowing.

This Bone, and That with which it is joined, I call the Common Bones.

The Upper Jaw ([Fig. 3.]) is, besides the Teeth, composed on each side of three Bones. The First (a), into which the Poisonous Fangs are fixt, is articulated with the Anterior Protuberance of the Orbit of the Eye; and has a Motion of Flexion and Extension, that is, forwards and backwards, by which the Fangs are Erected or Depress’d. It is small at the Joint, but grows broader by degrees, to a pretty large Basis, the better to contain a considerable Number of Teeth. It is Spongy like the Substance of the Vertebræ, and no ways fit to be the immediate Organ of Hearing, as Mr. Charas and some others have imagined.

The Second (c), is a broad thin Bone, Articulated by one Extreme to the Former, (f), and by the other firmly fixt to the middle of the third Bone. When this is thrust forwards, it likewise pushes the First, and by this means the Erection of the Fangs is helped; and when it is pull’d backwards, they are depressed.

The third Bone (e d), is join’d by one Extremity (e), to the End of one of the Bones of the Lower Jaw (c, [Fig. 4.]), And being somewhat crooked, turns in a little towards the Basis of the Cranium, and running along the Inferior Part of it towards the Nose, terminates near the Internal and Anterior Part of the first Bone.

The Lower Jaw (c d e f g, [Fig. 4.]) on each side is made up of two Bones, but firmly united, the Extremity of the one entring within the other (f). The First (c d e) articulates with the Second of the Common Bones (b), where it is broad, and sends off an Apophysis, into which there is a Muscle inserted, which helps to open the Jaw. There is in this is a Hole (d), for the Entrance of the Branch of the Nerve, which passing thro’ a Canal in the middle of it, goes to the Extremity of the Second Bone, and in its way sends off several Branches which go to the Teeth; and also a very considerable one, which goes out at (e), and is wholly spent upon the Neighbouring Muscles.

The Second Bone (f g) serves chiefly to receive the small Teeth, which answer to those in the upper Jaw.

As for the Teeth, they are of two Sorts, the Great, or poisonous Fangs, and the Small.

The Great (b, [Fig. 3.]), being fixt in the First Bone of the Upper Jaw, are Crooked and Bent, like the Dentes Canini in most Carnivorous Animals. They are manifestly hollow from their Root a considerable way, not to the very Apex or Point, (which is solid and sharp, the better to pierce the Skin) but to a small distance from it, as is plainly seen by splitting the Tooth thro’ the middle (Vid. [Fig. 6.]). This Cavity ends at the Convex Part in a visible Slit, very well resembling the Nip or Cut of a Pen ([Fig. 9. d]), which is the Emissary or Outlet to the Poyson.

Galen [(37)] has given us a considerable Hint of this Make of the Tooth: For, The Mountebanks (He says) used to suffer themselves to be bit by Vipers, having first with some Pastes stopt the Holes of their Teeth, that the Venom being thus kept in, the Spectators might think they did by their Antidote secure themselves from its dangerous Effects.

The Reason why these Teeth are Crooked, is, That the Point of the Tooth, when the Viper bites, may be Perpendicular to the Part to be Wounded; for the Head being raised back in the Time of Biting, and the Tooth erected, if this were strait, It would not, by reason of its oblique Situation to the part, enter with so much Force, nor so deep into the Flesh.

As for the Number of the Poisonous Fangs, I have observed, that there are, for the most part, besides One, Two or Three on each side, fixt Perpendicularly to the first Bone of the Upper Jaw, some others which are Young, and of a smaller Size, adhering to the same Bone: Their Points are hardened, and they have their Fissures formed as in the other, but their Roots are Soft and Mucilaginous, like the Roots of the Teeth in Infants, and so they lye always depress’d at the Bottoms of the Former, as may be seen [Fig. 10. c].

They drop off from the Bone at the least Touch; and therefore some Anatomists have imagined them to be fastened to Muscles or Tendons, which would have rendred Them altogether Useless. For they are made to supply the Place of the Greater, when they fall away, or are pulled out by Accident, and in order to do this, they do by degrees harden, and rise more and more, till at last they stand upright, and come to a Perpendicular Situation in the Bone.

They are not all of the same Growth, for in some we can only discern the Shape of a Tooth without any Hardness, in others the Point, and in the next somewhat more is hardened, and so on to the greatest Fang.

Their Number is very uncertain, there being sometimes six or seven in each side of the Jaw, sometimes fewer.

These seem to have occasioned the Disputes among the Ancients concerning the Number of the Viperine Teeth.

The Poysonous Fangs have small Holes at the Internal Part of their Root, thro’ which the Vessels pass which carry their Nourishment ([Fig. 5. a]).

It is remarkable, that Nature has provided Young Vipers with Poisonous Teeth grown to their Perfection, that so they may kill their Prey as soon as they come into the World.

The Second Kind of Teeth, or the Small, are hooked, and bent, as well as the former, but without any Slit or Opening. Of These there are Four Rows, Two on each side of the Mouth. They are fixt in the third Bone of the Upper Jaw, and in the Second in the Lower, as exhibited to view in the Figures.

Their Use is to hold the Prey fast while Execution is done by the Bite, lest in struggling to get away, It should pull out the Fangs.

The Instruments that Emit the Venom being thus describ’d, we come next to those which serve to Prepare and Contain it.

This Liquor is separated from the Blood by a Gland on each side of the Head, placed in the Anterior and Lateral Part of the Os Sincipitis, just behind the Orbit of the Eye ([Fig. 9. a]); It lies immediately under that Muscle which helps to depress the Fangs, so that by the Action of this it is Press’d; which is an admirable Contrivance to forward the Secretion of the Juice out of it.

’Tis a Conglomerated Gland, composed of many smaller ones contained in a common Membrane; each of These sends off an Excretory Vessel, all which do afterwards Unite and Form one Duct (b), which running towards the Roots of the Fangs, discharges the Yellow Liquor into a Bag.

This Bag is fixt to the Basis of the first Bone of the Upper Jaw, and also to the Extremity of the Second, covering the Fangs near the Root (d, [Fig. 10.]). To the upper Part of this Vesicula there is joined another (a), in the Anterior Part of which there is a Passage for the Poisonous Teeth.

This consists of Muscular Fibres, both Longitudinal and Circular, by Means of which it can Contract it self when the Fangs are erected; and by this Contraction the Venom is press’d into the Hole at the Root of the Tooth, and forced out at the Fissure near the Point.

That this is so done, I have frequently observed with the naked Eye, having cut off the Head of a Viper, and immediately pinching the Neck to make it open the Mouth wide; for by this means the Venom was Squirted out as from a Syringe.

When the Viper lyes quiet with its Mouth shut, the Fangs are depress’d and covered with the External Bag; when it intends to bite, it opens the Mouth very wide, at the same time the lower Extremity of the Second of the Common Bones ([Fig. 4. b]) is moved forwards by proper Muscles, and turns as it were upon the fixt Centre (b), thus pushing forward the Upper and Lower Jaws, whose Extremes are united at (c). By this means the Lower Part of the First Bone of the Upper Jaw ([Fig. 3. a]) is thrust forwards, the other Extremity turning in the Cavity of its Articulation, where it is fastned by Ligaments; the Fangs being by this Mechanism Erected, the Bags which covered them, by the Contraction of their Longitudinal Fibres, are pulled back, and the Action of the Circular Ones does at the same Time straiten the Internal Bag, and force the Juice into the Teeth.

Besides this, when the Viper bites, It strikes in the Fangs to the very Root; and thus the Vesiculæ are still more squeezed for the Discharge of the Liquor.

It is worthy our Observation, that the Viper can move the Jaw Bones on one side without moving Those on the other, for they are not joined together at the Extremes as in other Animals; which Contrivance is very beneficial to it in the swallowing its Prey; in that, while the Teeth on one side stand unmoved, and fixt in the Flesh to hold it, Those on the other side are brought forward, to draw it in farther, then they keep it fast till the former Jaws advance again in their Turn. Thus they act successively, and force the Animal intire (there being no Dentes Incisivi or Molares to divide it) into the Œsophagus, whose Muscular Fibres are very Weak, and can help but little in the Business.

It may not be amiss to conclude these Remarks with a short Hint concerning the Organs of Hearing; Mr. Charas (who is however followed by others in it) having, as we mention’d before, Entertain’d a very absurd Opinion about Them.

These then are placed in the Temporal Bones, as in other Animals, and consist of One long, small Bone (Vid. [Fig. 11.]), like that of Birds, whose Extremity is broad, like the Basis of the Stapes in Man, and situated upon a little Hole which opens into the Labyrinth; and besides of three Demicircular Canals ([Fig. 12. a b]) which also open into the Labyrinth.

This Labyrinth ([Fig. 13.]) has a great many Eminencies in it of no determin’d Regular Figure ([Fig. 14.]), and is covered with a Membrane full of Nerves and Blood Vessels. The Nerve enters from the Brain at a Hole in the middle of this Cavity (a, [Fig. 15.]).

There is no Cochlea in the Ear of the Viper; but the Anterior Demicircular Canal opens into a Semicanal, which makes some Spiral Turns in the Fore-part of the Labyrinth; in like manner as it is in Fish.

The Passage for the Air to these Organs is not Outward, but, as in some Fish, thro’ the Mouth, between the Upper and Under Jaws, running below the Second of the Common Bones. But of This, and also of the True Mechanic Use of the aforesaid Parts, more hereafter.

Poisonous Animals.

As the Viper is Hurtful by Instilling a Liquid Poison into the Wound made by its Teeth; so likewise are all Venomous Creatures whatsoever, whether they Bite or Sting, tho’ there be some difference in the Contrivance of their Organs, Mischievous after much the same Manner; and mostly for the same good Use and Purpose, that is, in order to Kill their Prey.

This will fully appear, by Examining the Instruments of Death in several of Them.

First then, The Spider which lives upon Flies, Wasps, and the like Insects, is provided with a hooked Forceps, placed just by the Mouth, very sharp and fine; with this he pierces the Flesh of little Creatures caught in his Webb, and at the same time infuses a Juice into the Puncture, by which means the Animal being Killed, He sucks out the Moisture from the Body, and leaves it a dry husky Carkass.

M^r Van Leewenhoek, in his Account of Spiders, lately publish’d [(38)], has, together with the other Parts, by the help of his Glasses, describ’d these Weapons, which He finds to lie couched on each side the Mouth, in a Row of Teeth, till they are raised to do Execution. These Rows of Small Teeth are design’d to hold the Prey, that It may not escape the Force of the Bite. And in the Convex Part, towards the Point of each Claw, He has delineated a little Aperture or Slit, thro’ which he supposes the Poison issues out at the same time the Wound is made.

This Situation and Motion of these Parts, I have several times view’d; but was never able to discern the Exit or Opening; which, having a just Deference to the Industry and Application of so Nice an Observer in Things of this Nature, I, at first, imputed to my own Unskilfulness in such Enquiries, knowing my Microscope to be very good; till at last, after repeated Trials, I very plainly saw, That nothing dropt out of the Claws, which were always dry while the Spider Bit, but that a short, white Proboscis was at the same time thrust out of the Mouth, which instilled a Liquor into the Wound.

Then I concluded, That M^r Leewenhoek had Delineated the Apertures in these Weapons, only from the Analogy which he thought they must bear to the Viperine Fangs, the Sting of the Scorpion, Bee, &c. And I was confirmed in this Opinion by examining a Claw of the great American Spider, described (tho’ but lamely) by Piso [(39)], and called Nhamdu; this was given Me by M^r. Pettiver, and being above fifty Times bigger than that of the largest Europæan Spider [(40)], if there had been any Slit in it, my Glass would no doubt have discover’d it, but yet I found it to be quite Solid.

And indeed the Quantity of Liquor emitted by our common Spiders when they kill their Prey, is visibly so Great, and the wounding Weapons so Minute, that they could contain but a very inconsiderable Portion thereof, if it were to be discharged that Way.

To this purpose, I remember Mr. Boyle somewhere tells a Story of a Person blinded by a Spider dropping its Venom into his Eye, which tho’ it can hardly find Credit with some, is however confirmed by what Piso relates of his Nhamdu, Viz. That in catching it great heed is to be taken, lest its Poison fall into the Eye, This causing a total Loss of the Sight.

What Mr. Leewenhoek observes of the Enmity these Creatures bear to one another I have often seen; for if Four, Five, or more be put together into a Glass, they immediately fall to Fighting with all the Fury imaginable; Limbs struck off are usually the Præludes to the terrible Slaughter, which continues till all are killed, the Surviving Conqueror himself most commonly Dying of his Wounds.

The Weapons of Mischief in the Scolopendra are much the same with Those of the Spider, only larger. One of these Creatures I had brought to Me alive out of a Ship which came from the East-Indies, where Bontius [(41)] says, Their Bite is so painful, that it makes People almost mad; but it died before I had an opportunity of making Trial of its Poison; however, I very diligently looked upon the Claws [(42)], and found them to have no more Cavity than is necessary for the Insertion of their Muscles, nor any Exit or Out-let towards their Apex; these therefore serve only to pierce the Flesh, and the Venom is infused from a Proboscis out of the Mouth; tho’ This I could not very well discern, because the Parts had been kept too long dry before I examined Them.

The Case is much the same with Stinging Animals; of These the Scorpion is the Chief, whose Virus in different Countries is more or less dangerous, according as ’tis exalted by various Degrees of Heat; thus in Africa particularly its Effects are so dreadful, that as Joann. Leo [(43)] tells Us, the Town of Pescara there is in a manner left desolate by the Inhabitants in the Summer Time, by Reason of the great Abundance of these Creatures, certain Death following their Sting.

Some of this deadly kind (the same, tho’ not so large with That in the East-Indies, of which Swammerdam [(44)] has given a very accurate Description and Figure) S^r Redi had sent him from Tunis [(45)]; and it being November, irritated them to Sting Pigeons, Pullets, &c. without any bad Effect at all of their Poison; but upon the approaching Spring, One of them which had been kept all the Winter, nay, eight Months, without any Food, and the Wound of whose Sting before was harmless, stung to Death two Pigeons successively; but a Third and Fourth wounded in like manner, suffered no Hurt. Yet having let the Scorpion rest all Night, He killed another Pigeon the next Morning.

At the Point of the Sting he very often could discern a small drop of white Liquor, which when the Wound was made, entered into the Flesh.

As this Liquid Venom is either not separated from the Blood into the Cavity of the Sting, during the cold of Winter, or at least the Scorpion wants Strength at that Time to throw it out with Force and Energy. So even in the hot Months, after it is exhausted by two or three Attacks, the Sting is no longer hurtful, till the Expence of this Juice is recruited by Time.

’Tis very remarkable concerning this Insect, what an ingenious Gentleman who lived several Years in Barbary told Me, he had many times tried; That if it be surrounded with a Circle of Burning Coals, It does, upon the Sense of the Heat, turn it self violently every way to make an Escape; but finding it impossible, and the Pain from the Fire increasing, it strikes it self Twice or Thrice with the Sting on the Back, and immediately dies of the Wounds.

Others may make what Reflections They please on this Self-Murder, it is to Me beyond all Dispute sufficient to decide the Controversie between Writers, whether Poisonous Animals of the same Species can kill each other. Which is not only confirmed by what we before observed of the Spider, but is likewise true of Vipers; for D^r. Herman bringing from the Indies Three of the Cobras de Capelo all in one Glass, Two of them were killed in the Voyage by Fighting.

As the Viperine Venom is the Quintessence and most active Part of those Animal Juices with which the Viper is nourished, so is also That of the Scorpion; for this Insect lives chiefly upon Locusts, &c. and the same Person from Barbary inform’d Me, That seeing oftentimes Locusts sticking up in the Ground as if they were Set there, by looking he found that some Part of them was always eat away, and that these Places were the Holes of Scorpions, who had dragg’d their Prey thither, and fed on it as they had Occasion.

In like manner, as the Axungia Viperina cures the Bite of the Viper, so also the Oleum Scorpionum, or Oil in which Scorpions have been infused, is a present Remedy for the Sting of this Creature.

The Mechanism of the Sting of a Bee, D^r. Hooke has very accurately described [(46)]. One may with the naked Eye sometimes see it discharge the Venom; and in this, by the help of a Glass, I can easily discover a great Number of Minute Salts Floating.

And indeed this Apparatus or Contrivance is so universal, that we find even in Vegetables something Analogous hereunto; for the last mention’d Author [(47)], has shewn Us, That the pricking Points of Nettles do at the same time they pierce the Skin, instil a Venomous Juice into the Wound.

Footnotes to Essay I.

[(1)] Lib. 2. Cap. 74.

[(2)] De Animalib. lib. 17. c. 5.

[(3)] Bœotic. p. m. 303.

[(4)] Not. in Alpin. de Plant. Ægypt. Cap. 14.

[(5)] Purchase’s Pilgrimage, l. 5. c. 12.

[(6)] Act. Apost. Chap. 28.

[(7)] Leg. Cornel. Cels. præfat. in Medicin Morbos ait vetustissimis temporib. ad Iram Deorum immortalium relatos esse, & ab iisdem opem posci solitam.

[(8)] Divinæ Potentiæ Symbolum. Vid. Ezec. Spanhem. De Vsu Numismat. p. m. 125, 126, & 181, & seq;

[(9)] Saturnal. Lib. 1. c. 20. Ideo Simulachris Eorum (Æsculapii & Salutis) junguntur figuræ Draconum quia præstant ut humana Corpora velut infirmitatis pelle depositâ, ad pristinum revirescant vigorem, ut virescunt Dracones per annos singulos pelle senectutis exutâ.

[(10)] Osservazioni intorno alle Vipere.

[(11)] Nouvelles Experiences sur la Vipere.

[(12)] Philosophical Transactions, Vol. XII. No. 144.

[(13)] Vid. [Fig. 19.]

[(14)] Dissertatio de Opera quam præstant Corpora Acida vel Alcalica in Curatione Morborum.

[(15)] Vid. Bernoulli de Effervescentia & Fermentatione.

[(16)] Vid. Redi Lettera sopra alcune oppositioni, &c.

[(17)] Lib. 3. Cap. 2.

[(18)] Medicin. Lib. 5. c. 27.

[(19)] Lucan. Pharsal. 1. 9.

[(20)] Loc. ante citat.

[(21)] Vipera Pythia, p. 361.

[(22)] De Theriac. ad Pison. lib. 1. c. 8. Vid. etiam c. 10.

[(23)] Nat. Hist. lib. 11. c. 53. Scythæ Sagittas tingunt Viperinâ Sanie & humano Sanguine; irremediabile id Scelus.

[(24)] De Mirabilibus.

[(25)] Bontii Histor. Ind. lib. 5. c. 5.

[(26)] Usefulness of Experimental Philosophy, Part 2. p. 50.

[(27)] p. m. 66.

[(28)] Esperienze intorno a diverse Cose Naturali.

[(29)] Dissert. de Tarantula Histor. 5

[(30)] Pag. 88.

[(31)] Lib. 30. c. 13.

[(32)] De Abstinent. ab animal. lib. 1. p. m. 16.

[(33)] De simpl. Medit. Facult. lib. 11. c. 1.

[(34)] Curat. Diuturn. lib. 2. c. 13.

[(35)] Vid. Purchas. Pilgrims, Part 2. l. 7. c. 9.

[(36)] Voyages, Vol. 2. Part 1. p. 53.

[(37)] De Theriac. ad Pison. Cap. 12.

[(38)] Philos. Transact. N^o. 271.

[(39)] Nat. Hist. lib. 5. cap. 10.

[(40)] Vid. [Fig. 18.]

[(41)] Hist. Ind. p. m. 56.

[(42)] Vid. [Fig. 17.]

[(43)] Histor. Afric. lib. 6.

[(44)] Hist. Insect. p. 147.

[(45)] Generazione degli Inserti, p. 15.

[(46)] Micrograph. Observ. 34.

[(47)] Ibid. Obs. 25.

ESSAY II.

OF THE BITE OF THE TARANTULA AND MAD DOG.

I Join these Two Poisons together, because tho’ they differ very much in their Effects, yet both do agree in this, that they induce a particular Delirium sui generis, attended partly with Maniacal, partly with Melancholy Symptoms.

The Tarantula (of which the Figure may be seen in Baglivi’s Dissertation [(48)],) is a Spider of Apulia of the Octonocular kind; that is of that Species that has eight Eyes, and spins Webbs; it has eight Legs, four on each side, and in each Leg three Joints; from the Mouth proceed two Darts, in Shape just like to a hooked Forceps, or Crab’s Claws; these are solid, and very sharp, so that they can easily pierce the Skin; and between these and the Fore-Legs there are two little Horns, which I suppose do answer to those Bodies call’d from their Use in Flies the Feelers; because as they do, so this Creature is observed to move ’em very briskly when it approaches to its Prey.

This, as other Spiders do, propagates its Species by laying Eggs, which are very numerous; so that there are found sometimes in the Female, when dissected, a hundred or more; and these are hatched partly by the Heat of the Mother, partly by that of the Sun, in about twenty or thirty Days Time.

There is also a Spider of the like Nature with the Tarantula in the West-Indies, which Fr. Hernandez [(49)] describes by the Name of Hoitztocatl, or the Pricking Spider; and says, that its Bite induces Madness.

In the Summer Months, especially when the Heats are greatest, as in the Dog-Days, the Tarantula creeping among the Corn in the Fields, bites the Mowers and Passengers; in the Winter it lurks in Holes, and is scarcely seen; and if it does bite then, it is not venomous, neither does it induce any ill Symptoms.

But in the hot Weather, altho’ the Pain of its Bite is at first no greater than what is caused by the Sting of a Bee, yet the Part quickly after is discoloured with a Livid, Black, or Yellowish Circle, and raised to an inflam’d Swelling; the Patient within a few Hours is seized with a violent Sickness, Difficulty of Breathing, universal Faintness, and sometimes Trembling, with a Weakness of the Head; being asked what the Ail is, makes no Reply, or with a querulous Voice, and melancholy Look, points to his Breast, as if the Heart was most affected.

During this mournful Scene, all the usual Alexipharmick and Cordial Medicines are of no Service; for notwithstanding their repeated Use, the Patient growing by degrees more melancholy, stupid, and strangely timorous, in a short Time expires, unless Musick be called to his Assistance, which alone, without the Help of Medicine, performs the Cure.

For at the first Sound of the Musical Instrument, altho’ the Sick lie, as it were, in an Apoplectick Fit, they begin by Degrees to move their Hands and Feet, till at last they get up, and fall to Dancing with wonderful Vigour, at first for three or four Hours, then they are put to Bed, refreshed from their sweating, for a short time, and repeat the Exercise with the same Vehemence, perceiving no Weariness or Weakness from it, but professing they grow stronger and nimbler the more they dance.

At this Sport they usually spend Twelve Hours a Day, and it continues Three or Four Days; by which time they are generally freed from all their Symptoms, which do nevertheless attack ’em again about the same time the next Year; and if they do not take Care to prevent this Relapse by Musick, they fall into a Jaundice, Want of Appetite, universal Weakness, and such like Diseases; which are every Year increased, if Dancing be neglected, till at last they prove incurable.

As Musick is the common Cure, so they who are bitten are pleas’d some with one Sort of it, some with another; one is raised with a Pipe, another with a Tymbrel; one with a Harp, another with a Fiddle; so that the Musicians make sometimes several Essays before they can accommodate their Art to the Venom; but this is constant and certain, not withstanding this Variety, that they all require the quickest and briskest Tunes, and are never moved by a slow, dull Harmony.

While the Tarantati, or Affected, are Dancing, they lose in a manner the Use of all their Senses, like so many Drunkards, do many Ridiculous and Foolish Tricks, talk and act obscenely and rudely, take great Pleasure in playing with Vine-Leaves, with naked Swords, red Cloths, and the like; and on the other Hand can’t bear the Sight of any thing black; so that if any By-stander happen to appear in that Colour, he must immediately withdraw, otherwise they relapse into their Symptoms with as much Violence as ever.

It may afford some Light towards Understanding the Nature of this Poison, to observe that Apulia is the hottest Part of all Italy, lying Eastward, and having all the Summer long but very little Rain to temper the Heats, so that the Inhabitants, as one of that Country observes [(50)], do breath an Air, as it were, out of a fiery Furnace; hence their Temperament is dry, and adust, as appears by their being generally lean, passionate, impatient, ready to Action, quick-witted, very subject to inflammatory Distempers, Phrensies, Melancholy, and the like, upon which Account there are more mad People in this, than in all the other Parts of Italy; nay, what in other Countries is but a light Melancholy, arises here to a great Heigth; for Women in a Chlorosis do suffer almost the same Symptoms as Persons poisoned by the Tarantula do, and are cured the same Way; and in like manner the Venom of the Scorpion does here in Effects and Cure agree very much with that of this Spider.

From all this History it sufficiently appears, that those that are bitten by a Tarantula, do thereupon become Delirous, and that in order to account for their surprizing Symptoms; the Nature of a Delirium, from which many of them proceed, ought to be understood.

Such is the Constitution of the Human Œconomy, that as upon the Impression of outward Objects made upon the Organs, and by the Fluid of the Nerves conveyed to the Common Sensory; different Species are excited there, and represented to the Mind; so likewise upon this Representation, at the Command and Pleasure of the Soul, part of the same Fluid is determin’d into the Muscles, and mixing with the Arterial Blood there, performs all the Variety of Voluntary Motions and Actions.

This Order has been always so constant in Us, that at length by a kind of natural Habitude, without the Intervention of the Reasoning Faculty, Representations made to the Mind do immediately and necessarily produce suitable Motions in the Bodily Organs. When therefore these Representations are irregular, the Actions consequent to them must necessarily be so too.

This being premis’d, it may perhaps be probably said, that a Delirium is the Representation and various Composition of several Species to the Mind, without any Order or Coherence; together, at least most commonly, with irregular, or, as it were, undesigned Motions of the Body; that is, such a wandring and irregular Motion of the Nervous Fluid, whereby several Objects are represented to the Mind, and upon this Representation divers Operations perform’d by the Body, tho’ those Objects are not impress’d upon the Organs, nor those Operations or Motions deliberately commanded by the Soul.

The Mind indeed is the first Principle of all Muscular Motion; but in such Cases as these, its Promptitude to Action or Habit being so great, it is in a manner surpriz’d, and cannot recover it self after the Spirits are with violent Force determin’d pursuant to the Representation of the Species. For, as in the former State of Things a Man is said to act Rationally, so this latter Case is call’d a Perturbation of Mind, that is, a Delirium; tho’ it is very manifest, that in reality the Defect is not in the Rational, but Corporeal Part; such Species being really presented to the Mind, upon which by the Order of our Constitution such Motions ought to follow in the Body.

Thus, for Instance, if the Liquor of the Nerves is, without the Presence of any thing hurtful, put into a Motion like unto that which a painful Impression makes in it, the same Bodily Actions must insue as proceed from Fear, Anger, or the like Passion, determining the Spirits towards the Muscular Parts; and a By-stander, who sees no reason for such a Representation made to the Mind, will presently conclude that the Person thus acting acts without or besides his Reason, that is, is Delirous; especially if the Hurry and Confusion of the Spirits be such, that not only one, but several different Species be at the same time presented to the Mind; for a Man in this Case may act the Part of one Joyful, Angry, Timorous, or the like, without any appearing Reason, and all this almost in the same Moment of Time.

In one Word, Deliria are the Dreams of those who are Awake; and as these in Us Sleeping are infinitely various and wonderfully Compounded, and all from the same common Cause, diversely pressing the Orifices of the Nerves, and thus making different Repercussions of their Fluid; and as we all know that this Confusion making the Representation of several Species to the Mind, there do hereupon follow, tho’ the Body seem now at Rest and in perfect Repose, such Motions in the Organs as are usually the Effect of the Arbitrary Determination of the Spirits thither; so We are now to enquire what Alteration of the Body made by this Venom, can be the Occasion of this Disorder and Tumult in the Nervous Fluid, which excites in the Party infected such surprizing, and almost contradictory, Representations.

Most of the Symptoms of those who are bitten by the Tarantula are at the first, that is, before they rise to a Delirium, plainly the same with those which the Bite of a Viper induces; without doubt therefore, as we have before observed of the common Spider, that it pierces the Flesh with its hooked Forceps, and at the same time instils from the Proboscis in the Mouth a liquid Venom into the Wound; so the like Claws in This (of which I have taken the Figure [(51)] out of P. Bonanni, very much magnified [(52)],) do serve to make Way for an active and penetrating Juice emitted from the same Part.

Of the Nature of which we may probably conjecture, that it is, when mixed with the Blood, being exalted by the Heat of the Climate, of so great Force and Energy, that it immediately raises an extraordinary Fermentation in the whole Arterial Fluid, by which its Texture and Crasis is very considerably altered; the Consequent of which Alteration, when the Ebullition is over, must necessarily be a Change in the Cohæsion of its Parts, by which the Globules, which did before with equal Force press each other, have now a very differing and irregular Nisus or Action, so that some of ’em do so firmly cohere together, as to compose Moleculæ, or small Clusters; upon which Account there being now a greater number of Globules contained in the same Space than before, and besides, the Impulse of many of these when united together differing according to the Conditions of their Cohæsion, as to Magnitude, Figure, &c. not only will the Impetus, with which this Fluid is drove towards the Parts, be at some Strokes at least greater than ordinary; but the Pressure upon the Blood Vessels must be very unequal and irregular; and this more especially will be felt in them which are most easily distended; such are those of the Brain, &c. And hereupon the Fluid of the Nerves must necessarily be put into various Undulatory Motions, some of which will be like unto those which different Objects acting upon the Organs or Passions of the Mind, do naturally excite in It, whereupon such Actions must follow in the Body, as are usually the Consequents of the several Species of Sadns, Joy, Despair, or the like Determinations of the Thoughts; and we shall readily pronounce one in this Condition, Sad, Joyful, Timorous, &c. and all without any apparent Reason or Cause; that is, in one Word, we shall say he is Delirous.

This is in some Degree a Coagulation of the Blood, which will the more certainly, when attended with an extraordinary Heat, as in the present Case, produce such like Effects as these, because the Spirits separated from the Blood thus Inflamed, and Compounded of hard, fixt and dry Particles, must unavoidably share in this Alteration; that is, whereas their Fluid consists of two Parts, One more active and Volatile, the Other more Viscid and Glutinous, which is a kind of Vehicle to the former; their Active Part will bear too great a Proportion to the Viscid; and thus they must necessarily be of more than ordinary Volatility and Force, and will therefore, upon the least Occasion imaginable, be irregularly determin’d to every Part; and hereupon will follow Tremblings of the Body, Anger or Fear upon a light or no Cause, extream Pleasure at what is but a Trivial Entertainment, as Red, Green Colours, or the like; and on the other hand, wonderful Sadness at any thing not agreeable to the Eyes, as dark and black Things; nay, ridiculous Laughter, obscene Talk and Actions, and such like Symptoms; because in this Constitution of the Nervous Fluid, the most light Occasion will make as real a Reflux and Undulation of it to the Brain; that is, will present as lively and vivid Species there, as the strongest Cause and Impression can produce in its natural State and Condition; nay, in such a Confusion, the Spirits cannot but sometimes, without any manifest Cause at all, be hurried towards those Organs, to which at other times they have been most frequently determined; and every one knows which they are in hot Countries and Constitutions.

We must however here remember what in the former Essay we mention’d of the Fluid of the Nerves, being immediately altered by the venomous Juice.

It will perhaps make this Theory more than probable, to consider that Baglivi [(53)], in the Dissection of a Rabbit kill’d by a Tarantula, found the Blood Vessels of the Brain very turgid, and the Substance of the Brain it self, that is, the Beginning of the Nerves, lightly inflamed, and with livid Spots here and there, the Lungs and other Viscera distended, with concrete glotted Blood, and large Grumes of Blood with Polypous Branches in the Heart, a large Quantity of extravasated Serum upon the Brain, which is (as he takes Notice) mostly observed in those Subjects which died by a Coagulation of the Blood.

Neither is it amiss to remark, that in a Chlorosis there is nothing preternatural but an infarctus of the Arteries, and hence a retarded Circulation, from an Evacuation suppress’d; and in this Country too much Heat; that is, a beginning Coagulation, together with an Inflammatory Disposition.

In short, Bellini has at large demonstrated, how Deliria, as well as Melancholic as Manaical, do proceed from a State of the Blood and Spirits, not unlike to that I have here described.

But no less a Confirmation of these Notions may we have from the Cure; as to which it is observable, that the Tarantati have no Inclination to dance before they hear the Musick; for being ask’d to do it, they answer, it is impossible, they have no Strengh.

As for the Reason therefore of their starting up at the first Noise of the Instrument, we must reflect upon what we have just now been saying concerning the Cause of the Motions of the Body in a Delirium; and consider withal, that muscular Motion is no other than a Contraction of the Fibres from the Arterial Fluid making an Effervescence with the Nervous Juice, which by the light Vibration and Tremor of the Nerve, is derived into the Muscle.

And thus we have a twofold Effect and Operation of Musick, that is, both upon the Mind and Body. For a brisk Harmony excites lively Species of Joy and Gladness, which are always accompany’d with a more frequent and stronger Pulse, or an increased influx of the Liquor of the Nerves into the Muscles, upon which suitable Actions must immediately follow; and if we remember what we before hinted, that People in this Country are sprightly and ready to Exercise, and that in such a state of the Fluids as we have describ’d, a slight Occasion presents as strong Species, as a greater can at another time: The Influence of Musick on the Mind will appear to be so much the more powerful and certain.

As for the Body, since it is sufficient for the purpose of putting the Muscles into Action, to cause those Tremors of the Nerves by which their Fluid is alternately dropt into the moving Fibres; it is all one whether this be done by the determination of the Will, or the outward Impulsions of an Elastic Fluid; such is the Air; and that Sounds are the Vibrations of It, is beyond dispute.

These therefore rightly modulated may shake the Nerves as really as the Imperium Voluntatis can do, and consequently produce the like Effects.

That This is so, besides what we shall add anon, we may be convinced by a Story which M^r. Boyle [(54)] relates out of Scaliger, of a Knight of Gascony whom the sound of a Bagpipe would unavoidably force to make Water; for this Secretion we know is regularly the Effect of an Arbitrary Contraction of the Muscle of the Bladder.

The obstinate continuing of the Tarantati in this Exercise, is doubtless in a great Measure owing to the strong Opinion they have of receiving Advantage from it, being incouraged by the By-standers, and having always believed, and been told, that it was the only Cure in these Cases.

The Benefit from Musick is not only their Dancing to It, and so evacuating by Sweat a great Part of the Inflammatory Fluid; but besides this, the repeated Percussions of the Air hereby made, by immediate Contact shaking the Contractile Fibres of the Membranes of the Body, especially those of the Ear, which being continuous to the Brain, do communicate their Tremblings to its Membranes and Vessels; by these continued Succussions and Vibrations, the Cohæsion of the Parts of the Blood is perfectly broken, and its Coagulation prevented; so that the Heat being removed by Sweating, and the Coagulation by the Contraction of the Muscular Fibrillæ, the wounded Person is restored to his former Condition.

If any one doubts of this force of the Air, let him consider that it is in Mechanics [(55)] Demonstrated, that the smallest Percussion of the smallest Body, can overcome the resistance of any great Weight which is in Rest; and that the Languid Tremor of the Air, which is made by the Sound of a Drum or Trumpet, may shake the vastest and strongest Edifices.

But besides all this, We must allow a great deal to the determinate Force, and particular Modulation, of these trembling Percussions; for contractile Bodies may be acted upon by one certain Degree of Motion in the ambient Fluid, tho’ a greater Degree of it differently qualified may produce nothing at all of the like Effect; this is not only very apparent in the common Experiment of Two String’d Musical Instruments tuned both to the same Heigth, the Strings of the one being struck upon, those of the other will found, and yet a much greater Motion of the Air may not Cause any sensible Vibration at all in the same Chords; but also by the Trick which many have of finding the Tone or Note peculiarly belonging to any Wine Glass, and by accommodating their Voice exactly to that Tone, and yet making it loud and lasting, they will make the Vessel tho’ not touch’d, first to Tremble, and then Burst; which it will not do if their Voice be but a little eithet too low or too high.

This last Consideration makes it no very difficult matter to conceive the reason, why different Persons, infected with this Venom, do require oftentimes a different sort of Musick in order to their Cure, in as much as their Nerves and Distractile Membranes have differing Tensions, and consequently are not in like manner to be acted upon by the same Vibrations.

Nor are We to wonder at the Oddness of this Method and Practice; for Musick, altho’ it be Now-a-days applied to quite different Purposes, was anciently made great Use of for the removing of many, and those too some of the most difficult and obstinate Diseases.

For this we have a Famous Testimony in Galen himself, [(56)] who tells us, that Æsculapius used to recover Those in whom violent Motions of the Mind had induced a hot Temperament of Body, by Melody and Songs. Pindar [(57)] mentions the same thing; and indeed from hence not only the Notion, but the very Name of Charming [(58)] seems to have taken its Origine. Athenæus [(59)] relates that Theophrastus in his Book of Enthusiasm says, Ischiadic Pains are Cured by the Phrygian Harmony. This sort of Musick was upon a Pipe, and the most vehement and brisk, of all the Ancients knew; so that indeed it was said to raise those who heard it to downright Fury and Madness [(60)]: And such we have observed to be required to the Venom of the Tarantula.

But what is besides in this last Authority very observable to our Purpose, is the manner of using this Remedy, and that was [(61)] by Playing upon the part affected, which confirms what we have just now advanced concerning the Effect of the Percussion of the Air upon the Contractile Fibres of the Brain, for Piping upon any Member of the Body, cannot be suppos’d to do Service any other way, than by such Succussions and Modulated Vibrations as we before mention’d. And this indeed Cælius Aurelianus [(62)] agrees to, who calls this Practice, Decantare Loca dolentia; and says, that the Pain is mitigated and discuss’d by the Tremblings and Palpitations of the Part.

Aulus Gellius [(63)] not only relates this same Cure of Ischiadic Ails as a thing notorious enough, but adds besides out of Theophrastus, that the Musick of a Pipe rightly managed healed the Bites of Vipers.

And not only does Apollonius [(64)] mention the Cure of Distractions of the Mind, Epilepsies, and several other Distempers this same way; but Democritus [(65)] in his Treatise of Plagues, taught, that the Musick of Pipes was the Medicine for most Diseases; which Thales of Crete confirmed by his Practice, when sent for by the Lacedæmonians to remove from them the Pestilence, he did it by the help of Musick [(66)].

All which Instances do evince this Remedy to have been very ancient in many Cases; and indeed as Cælius-Aurelianus [(67)], takes notice that the first use of it was ascrib’d to Pythagoras himself, so He having settled and founded his Sect in those very Parts of Italy which are the Country of the Tarantulæ, going then under the Name of Græcia magna, now Calabria, it is not, I think, at all improbable that he may have been the Author and Inventor of this Practice there, which has continued ever since. Especially since Jamblichus affirms [(68)], not only that he made use of Musick in Physick, but particularly that he found out and contrived some Harmonies to ease the Passions of the Mind, and others for the Cure of Bites: But of Musick enough.

To conclude with this Poison, we may take notice that, as to the Return of the Symptomes the next Year, That is owing to the same excessive Heat in those Months, acting again upon the small remains of the Venomous Ferment; thus Bartholin [(69)] relates a Story of a Melancholy Physician at Venice who suffer’d the Attacks of his Disease only during the Dog-days, which yearly ended and return’d with them. A convincing proof how great a share Heat has in all these Cases.

Of the Mad DOG.

More difficult and terrifying are the Symptoms from the Bite of a Mad Dog, whose Venom has this also surprising in it, that the bad Effects do not appear oftentimes till the Cause of ’em is forgot; for the Wound is as easily cured as a common Bite is; but nevertheless a considerable time after, a melancholy Tragedy succeeds, sometimes sooner, sometimes later; for there are Instances of its being deferred to Two, [(70)] Six Months, nay, a Year, and longer, tho’ the attack is generally within Forty Days after the Wound; about that time, the Patient complains of Running Pains all over his Body, especially near the Part wounded, like unto those in a Rheumatism, grows pensive and sad, prone to Anger upon little or no Occasion, with an intermitting Pulse, Tremblings and Contractions of the Nerves, with a great inward Heat and Thirst; and yet in a few Days (when the Disease is come to its height) a Dread and Fear of Water, and any Liquor whatsoever; so that at the very sight of it he falls into dismal Convulsions and Agonies, and cannot drink the least drop; and this Hydrophobia, or Aquæ Timor, has been always accounted the surest Sign and Mark of this Poison, as distinguishing it from all others.

The Ancients have at large described these Symptoms, as Galen, Dioscorides, Aetius, Ægineta, but most particularly of all, Cælius Aurelianus [(71)]; and later Writers have given us several Instances of the Hydrophobia; Two Histories of it published, the one by Dr. Lister [(72)], the other by Dr. Howman [(73)], I shall more especially take Notice of, and refer to, as containing the most exact and large Account of any I have met with; he that desires more, may consult the several Authors cited by that diligent Observer, Stalpart van der Wiel [(74)].

That this Disease is accompany’d with a Delirium, is almost the common Opinion both of Ancients and Moderns; Damocrates called it the barking Phrensie [(75)]; but Dr. Lister agrees in this Point with Petrus Salius Diversus [(76)], and will not allow a Delirium to be the necessary consequent of this Venom; and yet at the same time he tells us, that his Patient barked like a Dog, and bit at the By-standers; that he threw into his Mouth what was given him more hastily and suddenly than it is Natural or Customary for Men to do.

From such Actions as these, together with those mentioned before in relating the Symptoms, it is obvious enough to conclude, that Persons thus affected are in a proper Sence Delirous. Tho’ at the same time I do think that the Hydrophobia it self (whatever is commonly believed) does not at all proceed from this Delirium, as will by and by appear.

I know indeed that the main and plausible Objection against a Delirium is this, that the Patient himself does Reason against his Timorousness, tho’ he cannot overcome it, forewarns the Standers-by of his Outrageous Fits, desires them to take care of themselves, and the like. Which from what I have already said concerning a Delirium, appears to be very consistent with it, nay, convinces that there is the greatest Degree of it in this Case; in as much as that it is not a Distemper of the Mind but of the Body. And to this purpose I remember to have seen my self an Instance of one in a Fever, who foretold some time before any signs of a Delirium were discovered, how raving and unruly He should be, and made good his Prognostick to that degree, that it was very hard Work to tame and master him; tho’, as he told me afterwards, he reason’d as much as he could against that groundless Jealousie of his Friends designing to Murder him, which put him upon his Mad Actions, but was not able to Conquer the prevailing Species of Fear and Anger.

This Delirium therefore, as Cælius Aurelianus [(77)] says, Proceeds intirely from an indisposition of the Body, which is without all doubt owing to the alteration made in the Blood by the Saliva of the Mad Dog, instill’d into the Wound inflicted by the Bite.

That we may rightly understand this, we must take Notice, that the Rabies or Madness in a Dog is the effect of a Violent Fever; and therefore it is most common in excessive Hot Weather, tho’ sometimes intense Cold maybe the Cause of it; That no Dog in this Case ever sweats; from whence it follows, that when his Blood is in a Ferment, it cannot, as in other Creatures, discharge it self upon the surface of the Body, and therefore must of necessity throw out a great many Saline and Active Particles upon those Parts, where there is the most constant and easie Secretion; and such, next to the Miliary in the Skin in Us, are the Salival Glands; for this reason much more Spittle is separated in a Dog when Mad, than at any other time, and that very frothy, or impregnated with Hot, Subtil Parts.

Now as we every Day observe, that what is thrown out from Liquors in a Ferment, is capable of inducing the like Motion in another Liquor of the same kind, when duly mixed with it; so we may very well suppose in the present Case, that the Saliva, which is it self one of the most Fermentative Juices in Nature, being turgid with Fiery, Saline Particles thrown into it out of the boiling Blood, when it comes by means of a Wound to be Incorporated with the Arterial Fluid of any One, does by Degrees raise a preternatural Effervescence in it; the Effects of which will necessarily be most felt in those Parts which being tender, are the least able to refill the distension of the Blood Vessels; such are the Stomach, and especially the Brain; and hereupon Deliria, with Maniacal, and such like Symptoms, will easily insue.

A Person thus affected may be said in a Degree to have put on the Canine Nature, tho’ his Reason be all this time untouch’d and intire, may Bite, Howl, &c. because the like violent Agitation of the Blood in Him as was in the Dog will present like Species, and consequently (so far as their different Natures will allow) produce like Actions; just as it has been observed, that Sheep bitten by a Mad Dog, have run at the Shepherd like so many Dogs to Bite him; so much can an Alteration of the Blood and Spirits do. And as a Timorous Creature may be imboldened, so we oftentimes see Persons Courageous enough by a change made in the Blood by Evacuations, that is, by want of Force and Motion in that Fluid, made sheepish Cowards, in despight of their Reason, so long as that Defect is continued.

But the main difficulties in this matter are, the Mischief discovering it self so long after the Bite, and the Hydrophobia.

As to the former, we are to consider, that Fermentation being a Change made in the Cohæsion of the compounding Parts of a Fluid, it is sometimes a longer, sometimes a shorter time before this Alteration is wrought; which variety may proceed either from the different Nature and Constitution of the Ferment, or of the Liquor Fermented, and a great Number of Circumstances besides. So that this Venom may be all the while doing its Work, tho’ the change made by it may not be so considerable as to be sensibly taken Notice of till a long time after.

Nay, it may so happen, that the Ferment being Weak may not raise in the Blood any remarkable Agitation at all, till some accidental Alteration in the Body unluckily gives it an additional Force. As we before observed, how much external Heat concurrs to heighten the Symptoms from the Bite of the Tarantula. And this probably may be the Case of Those in whom this Malignity has not appear’d till Six, or Twelve Months after the Wound.

That we may understand the Reason of the Hydrophobia, it is to be Remarked, that this dread of Water does not come on till the latter end of the Disease, Three or Four Days before Death; that is, not till this preternatural Fermentation in the Blood is come to its Heigth; and as in the Dog, so in the Patient, a great quantity of Fermentative Particles is thrown off upon the Glands of the Mouth and Stomach, as appears by his Foaming at the Mouth, &c.

As also, that this Fear is not from a sight of, or any imaginary appearance in the Water, for if the Vessel be close shut, and the Patient bid to suck thro’ a Quill, as soon as he has tasted, he falls into Anguish and Convulsions, as Dr. Lister observed. It is therefore highly probable, if not certain, that this surprising Symptom proceeds from the intolerable Pain which any Liquor at this time taken induces, partly by hurting the inflamed Membranes of the Fauces in Deglutition; partly by fermenting with these Active Particles discharged by the Blood upon the Stomachic Glands, and thus twitching and irritating the Nervous Membranes; the very memory of which grievous Sence, after it is once felt, is so terrible, that the affected Person chuses any thing rather than to undergo it a second time.

The Effects of this Irritation are manifest in the Convulsions of the Stomach, and frequent Singultus, with which the Patient is continually oppress’d. And we all know by how necessary a kind of Mechanism we do fly from and abhor those things which have proved disagreeable to the Animal Œconomy, to which nothing is so contrary and repugnant as Pain; at the first Approaches of which, Nature Starts and Recoils, tho’ Reason be arm’d with never so much Courage and Resolution to undergo the Shock.

Nor will any Body wonder how this Ferment should cause such Torment, who considers how often, even in Colical Cases, Persons are downright distracted by excessive Pain, from a Cause not unlike to this we are treating of, that is, from a corrosive Ferment in the Bowels, rarefying the Juices there into Flatus, and by this means irritating and stimulating those tender Membranes into Spasmodic and Convulsive Motions.

And indeed Dr. Lister’s Patient told him, that the very swallowing of his own Spittle put him to such Torture in his Stomach, that Death it self was not so Terrible as the Inexpressible Agony.

It may serve both to Illustrate and Confirm this Theory, to take Notice, that not only may (according to these Principles) other Bites besides that of a Dog happen to induce the like Symptoms; thus Malpighi [(78)] relates a Story of a Mother made Hydrophoba by the Bite of her Epileptic Daughter; but that there are other Cases, without any Bite at all, which are attended with an Hydrophobia.

Thus Schenkius [(79)], Salmuth [(80)] and others have observ’d a Dread of Water, without any Suspicion of a Bite, from Malignant Fevers. Now in These there is doubtless a Hot, Putrid Ferment in the Blood; and it is no wonder if Part of it be discharged upon the Throat and Stomach, which we do evidently find in these Distempers to be more particularly affected by It, especially towards the latter End, from the Aphthæ, Singultus, and the like usual Symptoms of a fatal Malignity.

Nay, Hippocrates [(81)] himself seems more than once to have remarked something like this Symptom in Fevers, and to call those who were thus affected Βραχυπόται, or little Drinkers; for I cannot assent to Dr. Lister, (tho’ Cælius Aurelianus be on his side) who thinks that the Βραχυπόται are ὑδροφόβοι, from the Bite of a Mad Dog; as well for other Reasons, as because Plutarch [(82)] assures Us, that the Hydrophobia and Elephantiasis were both first taken Notice of in the time of Asclepiades the Physician; who liv’d in the Days of Pompey the Great, many Years later than either Hippocrates or Aristotle.

Neither is it amiss to add, that Ioannes Faber [(83)] in the Dissection of one who dy’d at Rome of the Bite of a Mad Dog, and a Hydrophobia succeeding it, found the Blood Coagulated in the right Ventricle of the Heart, the Lungs wonderfully Red and Tumefied; but especially the Throat, Stomach, and Bowels, bearing the Marks of the Inflammatory Venom.

The same Observation has been made by others in Bodies Dead of this Disease. Thus the Acta Medica Hafniensia [(84)] relate one Case, in which, part of the Liver was Inflamed, the Lungs Parched and Dry, and the inner Coat of the Stomach so Mortified, that it might be abraded with one’s Fingers.

Bonetus [(85)] tells another, where all the Viscera were found quite arid, without any Juice at all.

And in a very particular History of an Hydrophobia, lately published at Ulm, [(86)] We are informed, that the Stomach, when opened, discover’d the Marks of an Erosion or Excoriation, with something like a Gangrene, and Suffusion of Blood here and there. Which does very well agree with the Observations in the German Ephemerides [(87)], where we find several Footsteps of a Sphacelus or Mortification in the Bodies of Those who died Hydrophobi.

The Cure of this Poison is either immediately upon the Wound made, or some Days after, before the Fear of Water is discover’d; for at that time all Authors do agree the Malady to be Incurable; and the Reason is plain from what has been already deliver’d.

As in other Venomous Bites, so in this, Galen [(88)] very wisely advises to inlarge the Wound, by making a round Incision about it, to Cauterise it with a hot Iron, and apply drawing Medicines, so as to keep it a running Ulcer at least Forty Days. [(89)] Scarifying and Cupping may answer where this Severity is not allow’d: And however, the Dressing it with Unguentum Ægyptiacum (or the like) Scalding Hot, must not be omitted; by which alone, timely applied, I am assured that one Bitten was happily preserved.

But where these Means of destroying the Ferment in the beginning are omitted, the dangerous Consequences of its being mixed with the Blood is by all possible Care to be prevented.

To this purpose, to say nothing of the many Inconsiderate Jumbles of Antidotes, Theriacas, &c. nor of such vulgar Trifles as the Liver of the Mad Dog, of which Galen [(90)] observed, that tho’ some who made use of it, together with other good Medicines, recover’d, yet that they who trusted to it alone died; one of the greatest Remedies commended to us by Antiquity, is the Cineres Cancrorum Fluviatilium; which Galen [(91)] says, no Body ever made use of, and miscarried; and before Him Dioscorides [(92)] assured, that ’tis a Medicine may be rely’d on. These were given in large Quantities, viz. a good Spoonful or Two every Day for Forty Days together, either alone, or rather mix’d with the Powder of Gentian Root and Frankincense. The Vehicle was either Water or Wine. In like manner at this Day the Remedy in the greatest Repute of any against most Poisons in the West-Indies, is a kind of a River-Craw-Fish, call’d Aratu [(93)].

This is manifestly an Absorbent, and very Diuretic Medicine, especially when prepared after the right manner, which was by Burning the Craw-Fish alive upon a Copper-Plate, with a Fire made of the Cuttings or Twigs of White Briony: For whether the latter part of the Management signifies much or no, the former most certainly does; and the Salt of the Copper, which powerfully provokes Urine, being mix’d with that of the Ashes, may very much exalt their Virtue.

And it is upon this same Score, that the Spongia of the Cynnorrhodos or Rosa Sylvestris is so Celebrated an Antidote, not only for this Poison, but also for that of the Viper, Tarantula, and others too, that ’tis call’d in Sicily Sanatodos, or All-heal; this being not a Vegetable, as P. Boccone [(94)] who has wrote a whole Letter of its wondrous Virtues, terms it, but an Animal Alkali, as well as the former; for as Mr. Ray [(95)] has observed, this Spongy Excrescence, if it be cut, is found full of White Worms; Being the Nest of these Insects, which lodging here all the Winter, do in the beginning of the Spring turn to Flies, and quit their Quarters. Indeed this Remedy was antiently too of so great Esteem, that Pliny recommends it as the only Cure of an Hydrophobia, divinely discovered by an Oracle [(96)].

As all Insects abound with a Diuretick Salt, so Cantharides more than any others; therefore the Learned Bacchius [(97)] goes farther, and from the Authority of Rhazes and Joannes Damascenus, advises to give these in Substance for many Days together. The Preparation of this Antidote, (so he calls it) is by infusing the Cantharides in Soure Butter-milk Twenty Four Hours, then drying them, and with the Flower of Lentils and Wine making them up into Troches of a Scruple Weight, of which one is to be taken every Day, By which means he assures us, that tho’ the Patient make bloody Urine, yet that Milk largely drank will abate that Symptom, and that an Hydrophobia will be happily prevented. Boccone [(98)] tells Us, That in Upper Hungary They give Cantharides to Men bitten by a Mad Dog, Five to a Dose; and to Beasts in greater Quantity. But of the inward Use of these Flies more in its proper Place.

In short, all the Specifics in this Case are such as do either absorb a peccant Acidity in the Stomach, or carry it off by Urine; as Terra Lemnia, highly commended by Galen [(99)], Garlick, Agrimony, Oxylapathum, and many others, of which a Catalogue may be seen in S. Ardoynus. So the Alyssum or Madwort, celebrated for this use by the Ancient Physicians, as well that described by Diascorides, which is a Species of Leucoium, as the other of Galen, which is a Marrubium, is very manifestly a Bitter, Stomachic, and Diuretic Plant [(100)]. The Lichen cinereus terrestris, recommended in the Philosophical Transactions [(101)], Operates the same way.

But the greatest and surest Cure of all, is frequent Submerging or Ducking the Patient in Water. The first mention I find of this is in Cornelius Celsus [(102)]; whether he had it from the Ancient Grecian Physicians, or it was the Discovery of his own Age, matters but little to our Purpose; certain it is, that he collected his Principal Rules of Bathing from Cleophantus, who, as Pliny says [(103)], did, besides many other delightful things, first introduce the Use of Baths; As appears by comparing the Writings of the One with the Fragments of the Other, preserv’d in the Works of Galen. And that from Asclepiades, who afterwards so far improved this Part of Physick, that he discarded almost all inward Medicines, he might learn this Management, is not improbable; for the Hydrophobia (as we before took Notice) having been first regarded in the time of this great Physician, ’tis very likely that among other Advantages of his new Method, he might commend it for the Cure of so deplorable a Malady.

However it be, This Practice was in this last Age with great Authority revived by the Ingenious Baron Van Helmont [(104)], who having in his own Country seen how great Service it did, has at large set down both the manner of the Operation; and, Consonant to the Principles of his own Philosophy, shewn the Reason of its good Effects. Since him Tulpius [(105)], an Observer of very good Credit, takes notice, that tho’ he saw many, yet that never one miscarry’d, where it was in time made use of.

As all Baths do chiefly act by the sensible Qualities of Heat and Cold, and the Gravity of their Fluid; so we need go no farther to fetch the Reason of the great Advantage of this Method in the present Case, than to the Pressure of the Water upon the Body of the Patient.

Every one knows how plentifully plunging into cold Water provokes Urine, which proceeds no doubt from the constriction hereby made of the Fibres of the Skin and Vessels. Thus this outward Cure differs not much in effect from the inward Medicines beforementioned, but must necessarily have the better of them in this Respect, that when the Fermenting Blood stretches its Vessels, the exceeding weight of the ambient Fluid resists and represses this Distension, and so prevents the Effects of It. For this Reason the Salt Water of the Sea is especially chosen for this Business, because its greater Gravity than that of Fresh does more powerfully do all this, and break the beginning Cohæsion of the Parts of the Blood.

Thus we may, without having recourse to the Fright and Terror, with which this Method, when rightly practis’d, (by keeping the Party under Water for a considerable time, till he is almost quite drowned) is usually accompanied, probably enough account for the Advantages of this Immersion. Tho’ it is not unlikely that this new Fear may have some good Effect in the Case too, for not only Convulsions, but Agues, and other Diseases, have oftentimes been happily Cured, merely by terrifying and surprising the Patient.

The Reason of this will easily be understood by him who knows what Alterations the Passions of the Mind do make in the Fluid of the Nerves and Arteries; of which in another Place.

It may for our present purpose suffice to take Notice, That as in Consideration of the last mentioned Effect upon the Mind, Van Helmont commends this same Practice in all Sorts of Madness, and Chronical Deliria; so upon the account of the before hinted Alterations on the Body, Bathing was, among the Ancients, the common Cure of Melancholy, and such like Distempers [(106)]. And as the younger Van Helmont [(107)] to confirm his Father’s Notions, tells Us, that one Dr. Richardson did with wonderful Success make use of this Management in these Cases, so in like manner Prosper Alpinus [(108)] takes Notice, that the Egyptians do at this Day perfectly recover Melancholy Persons by the same Method, only with this Difference, that they make their Baths warm.

He that compares what has been already advanc’d concerning Deliria, with the Bellinian Theory of Melancholy and Maniacal Distempers, and reflects upon the Nature of Baths, and their manner of Acting, will see so much Reason in this Practice, as to be sorry that ’tis now-a-days almost quite laid aside and neglected. For we must observe, that altho’ there be some Difference in the Treatment and Cure of Deliria, whether Maniacal or Melancholy, when they are Originally from the Mind, as the Effects of Care, Trouble, or the like, and when from an Indisposition of the Body; yet that both do agree in this, that they require an Alteration to be made in the Blood and Spirits; inasmuch as the Mind, by often, nay, almost continually, renewing to it self any one Idea, of Love, Sorrow, &c. does so constantly determine the Spirits and Blood, one and the same way, that the Body does at last as much share in the Alteration, as if it had been primarily affected, and consequently must have, in some manner, the same Amendment. Upon this Score Baccius [(109)] asserts the admirable Use of Temperate Baths, in all kind of Distractions; and assures us, that not only common Deliria, but even the Dæmoniaci, Phanatici, Lycanthropi themselves, &c. are cured by frequent Washings in fresh Water, and a moist and Nourishing Diet.