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L— P— Commander of his Majesties Ship the — was taken ill with a want of Appetite, a difficulty in digesting his Victuals, his Excrements were White, ne∣ver tinctur'd with Bile, his Urin was very high colour'd, and his Eyes yel∣low.
'Tis almost plain that in this weaker secretion of the Bile from the Blood, its want of conveyance into the Intestines, and by its fre∣quent and repeated Circulations with the Blood, that this extraordinary thickness of the Blood, and Bile is
to be mended, without having any respect or consideration to the par∣ticular ferment, which some Authors fancy, contributes towards the se∣paration of the Bile, in a healthy state, and to be now defective upon this occasion; and because I have prov'd that Vomiting does contri∣bute powerfully, towards making the Blood more Fluxil, and resolv∣ing obstructives especially in the Li∣ver; I order'd him this Vomit next Morning.
℞ Tartar. emetic. gr. v. solv. in vin. alb. cochl. unic. ac bibat cum Regi∣mine.
It wrought seven times with him, and made him go twice to Stool; and the Day after he took the follow∣ing Purge.
℞ decoct. amar. purgant. cum dupli∣ci s••nna ℥vj. syr. de rhamn. ʒij. M. ac bibat cum Regimine; ac inter jecto die 〈◊〉〈◊〉 vel altero, repetatur ad aliam vi∣••••m.
The success answering our expe∣ctation, he began to Drink of an Infusion I order'd to be ready for him, against he had taken his Vo∣mit and Purge; and 'twas made thus.
℞ rad. gentian. rub. tinctor. an ℥ij. summitat. centaur. minor. absynth. an M. ij. fl. Chamomil. sambuc. genist. an M. j. cortic. aurant. sicc. ℥ss. bac∣car. junip. ℥ij. croc. ℈ij. In••un. bid. in vin. alb. lb. iv. bibat. cochl. v. bis in die.
By all which, and drinking fifteen drops of Elix. proprietat. in a Glass of White Wine, before Dinner, he recover'd perfectly in a fortnight.
But as I was saying before, it is most pleasant and diverting, to see what absurdities, these patrons of an unreasonable ferment suppos'd to be lodg'd in a certain and pecu∣liar part, are brought into; for be∣sides the Chimerical Existence of this Notion evidently made out in the mention'd Book, they are not on∣ly oblig'd to maintain a ferment to se∣parate
every one of these ferments in Infinitum in every one of these Solutions; or else to fix upon some single one that was implanted in eve∣ry one of these Parts, in the begin∣ing, and at the first minute of Gene∣ration; which nevertheless must be diminish'd in part, by its action up∣on these Liquors it dissolves, melts down and precipitates; and yet it must never be intirely wasted; and if it is intirely exhausted, there can no way be assign'd how it is to be recruited and rapair'd; but even, if we be sick by any of these Ferments falling from their natural state, they are never to be repair'd by the force of any remedy, except it be separated from the Blood, without the help of any ferment, for if no solution can be in the Blood, without the help of a Fer∣ment, neither will any specifick Med'cin give its force to the lan∣guishing Ferment; because it is re∣quisite that the specifick Med'cin of every one of these Ferments be de∣riv'd into their Cells, and that this may be done, it must be mixt with the Blood, and separated from
the Blood into these different Cells, and so be mixt with the languish∣ing Ferment; but, by the suppo∣sition, there can be no secretion, without a Ferment, and, because the Ferment is decay'd, wasted or spent; therefore this specifick remedy for recovering this Fer∣ment, cannot be separated from the Blood and mixt with it; where∣fore the languishing Ferment can never be repair'd by 〈◊〉〈◊〉 specifick Med'cin that is transmitted to the Blood.
And if it be true, that our Pati∣ents by the taking of such Med'∣cins do recover their Health, we may conclude from hence, that such peculiar and specifick Ferments are meer Chimera's, and have no real being, and that the cause of the Disease was not thro' the de∣fect of any decay'd Ferment; since the sick Person does recover his Health, without the Med'cins that they suppos'd to be the recruiter of the languishing Ferment, arriv∣ing at the Ferment it self; and therefore the conclusion is evident, that there are Secretions without a
Ferment, and that peculiar Fer∣ments are no less confidently than weakly establish'd by their Pa∣trons. I might have easily pass'd by this, in perfect silence, but that this supposition of a Ferment is such among the Chymists, and of that consequence, that they make the whole Art of Physick turn up∣on it; and yet 'tis plain to any one how great difficulties they put themselves upon, who main∣tain and suppose these specifick or peculiar Ferments; and with how weak and uncertain a Foundation he's contented with, who sets up with a dependance upon this Do∣ctrin of Ferments.
The more I reflect upon the way of making Secretions from the diffe∣rent Velocities of the Blood, as it is found asserted in my Oecon. Animal. I do not only think it infinitely to be prefer'd before this precarious way by specifick ferments, but ev'n before any other hitherto alledged, as I have prov'd at great length: But it seems the most natural in re∣solving Phaenomena of the Secreti∣ons; and the more so, if we consi∣der
that it is sufficient and only neces∣sary that the make of a Glandul is such, that the parts of any Liquor that ••lows mixt, but loose, into its Cavity may be deriv'd into the dis∣charging duct; not entirely and in the confus'd mass, but such and such parts only as come nearer to their separation, by consequence of the different velocities the Liquor has in its departure from the Heart: And we must still more readily assent to this, that we bring into our Memo∣ry the common accidents that hap∣pen to Blood every Day, by Phlebo∣tomy. The red part of the Blood that seem'd to fill up all the Porren∣ger in time of the Operation, does as 'twere contract it self by degrees towards the centre, and removes peace-meal tho' sensibly from the sur∣face, and the growing space which it leaves a'top, is fill'd with a clear Li∣quor, that congeals upon the Fire, and we commonly call the Serum of the Blood. All this while, the redder part of the Blood which thus con∣tracts it self in the centre of the Ves∣sel, becomes Hard or grows toge∣ther; and if we hold our Nose and
opened Mouth over these Liquors, they send up such steams that affect our smelling very ungratefully, and create in us a very unpleasant and nauseous Taste. We see here what secretions are perform'd, without a Ferment? And that That which affects our Tongue, and Nostrils, rises out of the same very Vessel, and offends both these senses with its ungrateful touch; yet this Li∣quor (which by the bye cannot be thought Homogeneous) is separated from the other Liquors, and with∣out a Ferment to••••; but this Liquor was contain'd in the Blood, and if it had been brought into a Glan∣dul, fit to receive this invisible steam, it might have been as easily seperated in this Glandul without a Ferment, as we see it is separated in the Vessel. And so we might reason about the other parts. But if we conceive 〈◊〉〈◊〉 we ought to do, that this effect of the different ve∣locity can 〈…〉〈…〉 the same things that the 〈◊〉〈◊〉 degrees of Heat do in a 〈◊〉〈◊〉 Vessel, (for it must not be 〈◊〉〈◊〉 I think that it can make any Ch••mical preparation,
but that these different velocities can dispose the Blood for several Secretions, as the different degrees of Heat can produce several Bodies in the same Vessel:) I say that all this will be most evident and plain to such as can run this Paralell to its proper length.
From my Lodgings in Great-Suf∣folk-street near Charin-Cross, Sep. 28. 1696.