Another collection of philosophical conferences of the French virtuosi upon questions of all sorts for the improving of natural knowledg made in the assembly of the Beaux Esprits at Paris by the most ingenious persons of that nation / render'd into English by G. Havers, Gent. & J. Davies ..., Gent.

CONFERENCE CXXVI. Of the Causes of the Small Pox. (Book 126)

THe variety wherewith this Malady afflicts, or that which it causes in the body, hath given it the name of Variolae (Variolles or Vairolles) as its resemblance to the blisters, and to the manner wherewith the Venereous Disease invades the Indi∣ans (to whom the same is Epidemical, being caused by the cor∣ruption of the air) causes it to be called the Small Pox. These are efflorescences or pustules appearing upon the body, especi∣ally those of Children by reason of the softness of their skin, with a Feaver, pain, scabbiness, and purulent matter. This ma∣lady comprizes three sorts of Diseases; Namely, Intemperature, in its feaver and inflammation; Bad conformation, in the little Emi∣nencies; and solution of continuity, in the Ulcers. Its prece∣dent signs are commonly, hoarsness of the voice, pain of the head, inflammation of the whole face, yawnings, distentions, trembling of the whole body, sneezings, and stitches. Its con∣comitant, essential, and pathognomonical signs are, Deliration, frightful Dreams, pains of the Breast and Throat, difficulty of Respiration, and a Continual Feaver, which is sometimes pu∣trid, sometimes not. All which signs proceed from the violent ebulition and agitation of the humours, the conjunct cause of this Malady an effect of the natural heat; which being irritated by their Malignity, drives them outwards to the surface where they raise those little Tumours; which, if red and less high, make the Meazles; and when more eminent, the Small Pox: the Pimples whereof at first appear very small, afterwards in time wax red, and grow bigger from day to day till they become white; then they suppurate and dry, and lastly, falling off com∣monly leave marks behind them, not to be got away, because they have consumed the skin which is never generated anew.

The second said, A common effect must have a common cause. Now the Small Pox and Meazles (which differ only, in that the former is produc'd of thinner, and the latter of thicker blood) are diseases not only common to many; but so few escape them that a general rule here scarce admits any exceptions. Two Causes there are, the Material, or the Efficient. The former is the impurity of the Menstrual blood which serves for nourish∣ing the foetus in the womb; where at first it attracts the purest and sweetest blood, but when grown bigger the gross together with the thin. So that as Horses once in their lives cast the Strangles, so men must also once purge and void that menstrual impurity, which being equally dispers'd over all the body and in small quantity, hinders not its functions. The efficient Cause, common likewise to all men, is the Natural Heat, which drives these impurities outwards, and so they come to appear upon the

skin, (which is the Universal Emunctory of the whole body) but especially upon the face by reason of its tenderness, and be∣cause being the place where all the Organs of Sense terminate, 'tis fuller of spirits then any other, and consequently there is a greater attraction thither of those malignant Vapors. Now that it seizes some in their childhood, others in their youth, some very few in old age, and all after a different manner; this depends upon our particular Constitutions, either natural or acquisititious by custom, and a long use of the things not natu∣ral. For, according as the humours reign in the body, they give occasion to the eruption of that Venemous quality which be∣fore lay hid; as Madness and Leprosie sometimes appear not till after divers years. Our diet also contributes thereunto; for when it symboliseth with that malignant humour, it en∣creases the quantity thereof; as on the contrary, it corrects the same, and retards its motion, if it be of a laudable temper, or exceed in contrary qualities.

The Third said, What Original Sin is to the state of the Soul, that the Small Pox seems to be to the state of the Body; for this Disease commonly invades children, who never committed any fault in their course of living, and whose nature should be so much healthier by how much 'tis more vigorous and nearer the principles of their Nativity; wherefore it seems rather to proceed from the vitiosity of the Parents. And as many here∣ditary diseases come from the bad disposition of the seed; so from the impurity of the blood (the material principle of our bodies) some may also arise; as Tettars, Kibes, Corns, and other deformities of the skin, which happen to children, very like this. Moreover, this disease usually breaks forth in the se∣venth and ninth, which are the first climacterical years; when Nature endeavours the perfection of her work by purging and cleansing it of all impurities. And as New Wine, when it comes to work, casts forth all the heterogeneous impurities in it's body; so doth the natural heat attempt the like by causing an ebullition of the blood and spirits: whether this Fermenta∣tion happens by the universal spirit of the world, as those in other natural bodies; or whether (as 'tis most probable) it proceeds from the very strength of nature, whose motions, although regular and certain, are yet unknown to any other besides it self, which produces them according to the dispositi∣ons of the Subject wherein it resides.

The Fourth said, That being our bodies were always form'd of the maternal blood, and indu'd with one and the same na∣tural heat, (which two are held the material and efficient causes of the Small Pox) this Disease should have been in all times and places; and yet it was unknown before the Arabians, in whose time it began to appear. For the little red round pustules, and those other like flea-bitings, mention'd by Hippocrates, Aetius, and some other Ancients, are nothing less then the Small Pox;

to which not only Women during their Suppressions, but even brute Beasts, which have also their purgations, (as among others, the Bitch, the Mare, and the Shee-Ass) ought to be subject. On the contrary, such as have burning Feavers should be free from it; if it be true, that the seed and leven of this malady is dissipated by the ebullition of the blood, which is vehement in a Feaver. But 'tis impossible to conceive, how a venemous and pernicious matter, (as that impure part of the blood is said to be) can be preserv'd for many years in its Mass; for being the blood serves for continual aliment to all the parts, these ought to resent something of that malignity; yet those that are taken with this disease are usually the most healthy, and of a sanguine constitution, which is the most laudable. For this were to accuse Nature either of Imprudence or Weakness; but she is good, wise, powerful, and solicitous for nothing so much as to purifie the body, which she doth not only while the child is in the Womb, where she wraps it up in two membranes, which receive the Urine, Sweat, and other Excrements of san∣guification (as the Intestines do the grosser excrements) but as∣soon as it is born, she expells its immundicities by blisters, scurfs, scabs, tumors of the head and other purgations, which Hippocrates saith, preserve from diseases, especially from the falling sickness. Nor can the Malignity of the Air be the Cause, as Fernelius holds, alledging that the difficulty of respiration, heaviness of the head, inflammation of the face, and such other concomi∣tant symptoms, seem to be caus'd by the viciousness of the air, which infects the heart, and by that means hurts the other Fun∣ctions. For then the Small Pox would be as Epidemical as the Pestilence, or any other contagious maladies, and seize upon all men indifferently, not excepting such as have once had them. Wherefore the matter of this disease is a serosity accompanied with the humours, which make the Pox appear of several co∣lours, sometimes Red, Yellow, Black, or White, according as the Blood, Choler, Melancholy, or Flegm flow thither; Wind or Water only cause bladders or blisters. Nevertheless it must be confessed that this serosity acquires some particular maligni∣ty; as appears by the deformity caused by the pustules, which not only pit the skin and flesh, but sometimes even corrode and rot the bones.

The Fifth said, That the Small Pox is a new and hereditary disease, and that as all other new maladies of these last ages, have always had their causes, but only wanted fitting dispositi∣ons (without which nothing is produced) so the causes of the Small Pox have always been existent, but the particular disposi∣tions of bodies not lighting upon the point requisite for its pro∣duction, it hath not appeared till these late times; whether through the influence of Heaven, or through the Malignity of the Air, or the intemperance of men (the most apparent cause of most diseases formerly unknown) or else through contagion

and contact, by which way the great Pox is communicated. For the Small is likewise contagious, and (which is remarkable) more amongst Kindred than Strangers; because they, being issu∣ed of the same blood, have greater affinity of dispositions than Strangers.