Richard Mead

“ Nor is it at all strange, that the Symptoms from a Vegetable, and from a Mineral Virulency, should be so different, although of the same kind, and only of unequal force; for the more solid Parts of Minerals, eroding the Coats of the Stomach, induce a perfect Mortification and Gangrene, and thus do their Work at once; whereas the weaker Salts of Plants can make but a slighter Excoriation, upon the painful Sense of which those Agonies and Convulsions that follow do rather gradually exhaust the Strength; and thus the Animal is not kill’d so speedily, nor with the same Appearances. ”

“ Now They who take a moderate Dose of Opium, especially if not long accustomed to It, are so Transported with the pleasing Sense It induces, that They are, as They oftentimes express themselves, in Heaven; and tho’ They do not always Sleep, (which proceeds from the Presentation of pleasing Images to the Mind being so strong, that like Dreams they do over-ingage the Fancy, and so interrupt the State of Rest) yet they do however injoy so perfect an Indolence and Quiet, that no Happiness in the World can surpass the Charms of this agreable Extasie. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The City of Surat in the East-Indies is seldom or never free from the Plague; and yet it is observ’d, that the English who Trade there are in no danger of being Infected thereby. Now the Chief of the Natives in this Place are Banians, who neither Eat Flesh, nor Drink Wine, but Live very Poorly upon Herbs, Rice, Water, &c. and most of the Inhabitants do the like, except Foreigners; This Poor Fare, together with the Heat of the Climate, makes them so liable to Malignant Distempers; from the Attacks of which Those who Feed well are more Safe and Secure. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ The Way by which Bad Food, ill ripened Fruits of the Earth, &c. do oftentimes produce Malignant and Pestilential Diseases, is not very different from That by which We have observ’d Unwholesome Airs to be the Cause of the like Effects. For the Juices with which Those do supply the Blood being Corrupted, must necessarily make a Fluid of quite other Properties than what the Animal Œconomy requires, that is, neither Fit for Nutrition, nor for the Secretion of those Liquors which in the several Organs are to be derived from It ”

“ 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 ”

“ I mean, how such an alteration of the common Air as renders it in a manner Mephitical, that is, increases its Gravity, and lessens its Elasticity, (which is done by too much Heat, and at the same time too great a Proportion of watery and other grosser Particles mixt with it) may be the Cause of Epidemic Diseases, and, it may be, more especially of those, which by Reason of their untoward Symptoms, are usually call’d Malignant. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ So that I make no Question, but that Animals in this Place do instead of Air inspire Mineral Fumes, that is, a thin watery Vapour, impregnated with such Particles as do, when united together, compose solid and heavy Masses; which is so far from helping the Course of the Blood thro’ the Lungs, that it rather expels the Air out of the Vesiculæ, and straitens the Passage of the Blood Vessels, by its too great Gravity; whereupon the Bladders are relaxed and subside, and the Circulation is immediately Interrupted. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ Now in Persons so affected, the Mind is deeply ingaged and taken up with some Images or other, as Love, Anger, &c. so that it is not to be so easily moved or diverted by those pleasing Representations which it would attend to at another time, and upon which the Virtues of this Medicine do in a great measure depend. Besides this, those who are Maniacal do to a Wonder bear the Injuries of Cold, Hunger, &c. and have a prodigious degree of Muscular Force, which argues the Texture of their Blood to be very strong, and the Cohæsion of its Globules great ”

“ For no Bodies are so fit and able pleasingly to affect our sensile Membranes, as Those which consist of Volatile Parts, whose activity is tempered and allayed by the smoothness of some Lubricating and Oily ones; which by lightly Rarefying the Juices of the Stomach, and causing a pleasant Titillation of Its Nervous Coat, will induce an agreable Plenitude, and entertain the Mind with Ideas of Satisfaction and Delight. ”

“ This Work is done in Its Passage thro’ the Lungs, by the repeated Compression of the Air in those Bladders upon the Arteries, with wonderful Contrivance dispers’d among ’em (160) . Herein lies the Use and Necessity of Respiration; and the sudden Mischief of Stopping it, in that the whole Mass of Blood being to pass this way, upon a Check here, there presently insues a Stagnation, that is, a Cessation of all Animal Functions, or Death; Which will be the more speedy, if not only no Air is inspired, but a Fluid of a quite different Nature from It succeeds in its Place. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 ”

“ First then, There is no One but knows that in Sleep there is a Cessation from Action. When Waking, We Walk, Discourse, Move this or that Limb, &c. but in natural and undisturbed Rest there is nothing of all These; that is, whereas being awake, We do perform several Motions by the voluntary Contraction of our Muscles; when asleep, those Muscles only are Contracted, whose Action is in a manner Involuntary, or to which the Mind has always so constantly determin’d the Spirits, that It does it by a Habit, without the Intervention of the Reasoning Faculty ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ By what Mechanism this comes to pass, They will easily understand, when they have learn’d what Alteration such things as these are do make in the humane Body; nor will it then be a difficult Matter to convince Them, That He is equally a fond Slave to an Hypothesis, who because Acids are sometimes of great Service in Fevers, concludes that their Origine is Alcalious; as He who knowing that Stagnating and Fermenting Juices do easily turn to Acidity, from thence Argues that Alcalies are the only Cure of this Stagnation and Ferment. ”

“ 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 ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ But the White Factitious is of the most common Use of all; and it is, as Agricola tells us, no other than Orpiment again and again sublimed with an equal part of Fossile Salt, till it is brought to a Whiteness.
Orpiment and Sandaracha are mostly found in Mines of God; and all Metallic Writers do agree them to be the best Signs of the Richness of the Vein. This is Ground sufficient for the Chymists to take Arsenick for the Subject Matter of their great Work, as they call It; and they have very fondly accommodated some Ænigmatical Lines in the Sibylline Oracles (130) to this Mineral. ”

“ What Mischiefs will insue hereupon every one sees; not only Pains in the Limbs, livid Spots in the Surface of the Body, Ulcers, &c. from the Acrimony of the undischarged Moisture; but many besides of those perplexing Symptoms which go by the Name of Hysterical and Hypochondriacal, may take their rise from the same Source; for the before cited Sanctorius (189) has remark’d, that the Flatus or Wind so inseparable from those Cases, is no other than the Fluid of Perspiration rude and unfinished. ”