The most excellent workes of chirurgerye, made and set forth by maister John Vigon, heed chirurgie[n] of our tyme in Italie, translated into english. Whereunto is added an exposition of straunge termes [and] vnknowen symples, belongyng to the arte

¶The fyrst chap. of brusynge through a fal, & of the brusyng of the muscyls, and attrition of lacertes.

AFter the doctrine of aū∣cient & later doctours, there is difference be∣twene fallynge, & stom∣blynge & lykewyse cōtu∣sion & attritiō. We wyl speake bryefly of thys differēce. Fyrst a fall, is to be vnderstande from an hye place, and then attrition of many par∣tes is caused in y^e body. Offēsion or stō∣blyng, is whē one hurteth him selfe, by occasion of some thynge lyenge in hys way. Now I wil declare y^e differēce of contution, & attrition whyche is onely in the place. A contusion is when hurt happeneth in a fleshie place, & atrition is in the heades of the lacertes. As for the cure of them, we wyl speake therof

in the next chap. In thys present chap. we wyl make mention, of the hurte of inwarde membres, & also wyll speake somethynge concernynge the cure of cō¦tusion, & attrition in y^e outward part. Yf ye perceaue that some bone be broke besyde the attrition, ye shall resorte to y^e chap. whych treat peculiarly therof.

To come to a certayne doctrine, we say y^t a fal & stomblynge are more daū∣gerous, then contusion & attrition, by∣cause of the priuie hurt of the inwarde membres, as of the guttes, of the pan∣nicles, of the belly of the ligamētes, of the great veynes, & the small, cōteyned in noble mēbers. And therfore it chaū∣seth often, y^t the patiētes dye, through fallynge or stomblynge.

The signes of death in this case are these, vometynge, bledyng at the nose, for then it is a sygne that some veyne is brokē in the heade. Sometyme ther chaunseth vomytynge wyth bloode, & that is a sygne that some veyne is bro∣ken in the stomake, the lyuer or the mylte. And when fluxe of the bely, shor¦tenes of breath, diminution of y^e voyce, wyth grypynge in the bely, and soun∣dynge chaunce, the patiēt is nye death. And therfore Auicenne sayeth, when the patient hath lost hys speche & han∣geth downe hys heade wyth swete of hys foreheade, not beynge able to lyfte it vp, then he dyeth forthwyth, chiefly, when the swete is colde. whych thyng is generall, as well in stomblynge, as in attrition and contusion.

The same auctour sayeth moreouer y^t somtimes y^e lacert of y^e hart is brokē, & therfore y^e patiēt dieth incontinently.

Furthermore when the vryne is re∣teyned, & the excremētes of the bely is∣sue out agaynst the wyl of the patiēt, it is sygne of deth. The cure of a fal, shall be accōplyshed by .iiij. intentions. The fyrst is ordinaunce of dyete, the .ij. eua∣cuatiō of matters antecedēt, & turnyng away of y^e same, y^t it maye not be dery∣ued to the sore place. The .iij. is admi∣nistratiō of local medecines, the .iiij. is correction of accidentes. The fyrst, y^t is to say ordinaūce of diete, must be slēder at the begynnyng, for Auicēne sayeth y^t we muste gyue but lytle to the patient, at the begynnyng, or rather nothynge at al y^e fyrst day. wherfore vntil y^e tyme that we be sure & w^tout feare of aposte¦mation, the patient muste absteyne frō wyue & fleshe, so y^t he be not to weake. And he muste eate almande mylke w^t sugger, & w^t cōmune sedes or gruell of soddē grated bred. And whē .vij. dayes be passed ye shal permyt to the patient, a grosser dyete, as y^e broth of cycers, & rybes, y^t the nutritiue mēbres maye be strēgthned, & successiuely, ye may gyue hī flesh, wyne & other meates of good nouryshmēt. The .ij. ententiō, which cō¦systeth, in euacuatiō of y^e matter antece¦dent, shalbe accōplyshed by .ij. thynges, namely by phlebotomy dyuersiue, yf it be nedful, y^t is to say, by cutting a veine to turne away y^e matter, & by lousynge the belly. Fyrst, ye may louse y^e belly, w^t cassia, māna, & diacatholicon, or w^t this potion. ℞. of chosen māna, of diacassia, & diacatholicon. ana .℥. ss. of water of en∣diue, buglosse, & sorel. ana .℥. i. mēgle thē together, & put to it of syrupe of roses .℥. i. or make it thus. R. diacatholicon, & māna. ana .ʒ. vi. of reubarbe, ʒ. i. & w^t the water of endiue, nyghtshade, & sorell, make a small potion. Rasis & Mesue saye in y^e chap. of reubarbe, y^t it healeth inwarde breakynges, & therfore it is a souerayne medecyne in thys case.

The thyrde intention, whych consi∣steth in y^e administratiō of local medeci¦nes, shalbe accōplyshed as it foloweth Fyrst yf ye perceaue, y^t there be any ble¦dyng in y^e body, ye must geue y^e patiēt, thinges y^t haue vertue to staūche blood and whych defende apostemation, vn∣to the .vij. day. In whych case, we haue

often vsed thys ordinaunce. ℞. of bole armenie, terre sigillate, of mūmie. ana .ʒ. i. of reubarbe, of mader. ana. ℈. ij. the recepte is .ʒ. ss. w^t water of plantayne, nyght shade, & a litle wyne of pomegra¦nades. Here foloweth an other ordi∣naunce to resolue bloode mēgled wyth in the bodye, & it muste be administred iij. or .iiij. dayes after the hurte. ℞. of reubarbe, of madder, of coste, of centau¦ry of sarcocoll. ana .ʒ. i. of auence, hēpe, stabiose. ana .ʒ. ij. of the syrupe de dua∣bus radicibus .℥. ij. of annys, of corian∣der, of saffran. ana .ʒ. ss. mengle them to¦gether, & make thē in maner of an elec∣tuarye. The receyt of thys electuarye, is the quātitie of a sponeful euery mor¦nynge & ye muste vse therof the space of ten dayes. To thys entention the po¦tion of gariofilatum, wryttē in y^e chap. of woūdes of the brest, is cōmendable. Seynge that we haue spoken of medi∣cines conuenient for the inwarde par∣tes, it is tyme to come to remedyes for the outwarde partes. Fyrst, at y^e begyn¦nynge of the cure, yf ye perceyue y^t the guttes or nutritiue mēbres ben hurte, ther is no surer remedye then to rubbe the patientes body w^t oyle of roses, & wyth oyle of myrte, hote from the bre∣stes to the thighes, & after the vnction, ye shall incōtinently applye, vpon the annoynted partes the pouder of roses & of myrtilles. Also immediatlye after the sayd vnction, ye muste wrappe the sore places of the bodye, from the canel bone to the flankes in a shepes skynne newly flayne, & let it be as hote as is possible, for we haue oftē proued thys thyng to our worshyp & profyte to the patientes. And for asmuche as in fal∣lyng & stōblyng, ther chaūceth oft bru∣syng of muscules, & attritiō of lacertes, we wyl declare certen remedies for the same. To heale cōtusion caused in y^e la∣certes & y^e ioītes, we haue proued this playster to be of good operatiō. ℞. of y^e rotes & leues of holihoc, ana. m̄. i. of sa∣lomōs seale, & lyllie rotes. ana .℥. ij. seth them al in water, stāpe them & streyne them, & adde thervnto of oyle of camo¦mil, roses, & dil. ana .℥. ss. of whyte waxe ℥. ij. ss. of saffrā .ʒ. i. mēgle them & make a cerote. It chaūceth somtyme, y^t the bru¦synge can not be resolued, but cōmeth to maturation & to a cācreus dyspositi¦on, & then for the cure therof, ye shal re∣sorte to the chap. of cācrena & phlegmō. Furthermore there chaunceth somety∣mes, hardnes, & vneasy mouynge of y^e muscules & lacertes, chiefly, in thextre∣mitie of the ioyntes, & the cause is, that the subtyle matter is resolued, and the grosse remayneth. For the cure where of, ye shal resorte, to the cure of y^e hard∣nes of ioyntes, and thus we make an ende. &c.

Notes

• Of cōfusion & attrition.
• The cure.
• Dyete.
• Purgation.
• To staunche bloode.
• An electuary to resolue bloode.
• Playster.