Page 324
CHAP. XXIII. How to performe the residue of the cure of the amputated member.
* 1.1NOw must we shew what medicins are fitting to be applyed after the amputation of a member; which are Emplasticks, as those which exceedingly conduce to green wounds. As, ℞. boli arm. ℥iiij. farin. vol. ℥iij. picis, resinae, an. ℥ij. pulverisentur omnia subtiliss. & simul mixtis fiat pulvis; herewith let the wound be strewed, and lay thereupon dry Lint; but let the following repercussive or defensitive be applyed to the member.* 1.2 ℞. Album ovorum vj. boli are••. sang. drac. gypsi, terrae sigill. aloes, mastiches, gallar. com••ust. an. ℥ij. in pollinem redigantur omnia, & bene agitentur, addendo olei rosarum & myrtil. an. ℥ij. fiat defensitivum ad formam mellis. This oint∣ment must be applyed upon stoops dipped in Oxycrate, and that so that it may not only cover the cut member, but also be spread further and cover the neighbouring parts; as when the Leg is cut off, it must be laid upon the joint, and spread higher than the knee, some four fingers upon the thigh,* 1.3 for it hath not only a repercussive faculty, but it also strengthens the part, hinders de∣fluxion by tempering the blood, asswaging pain, and hindring inflammation. It will also be good to moisten your double cloths and bandages in Oxycrate; then must you place the member in an indifferent posture upon a pillow stuffed with oaten huskes or chaffe, Stags hair, or wheat bran. It must not be stirred after the first dressing (unless great necessity urge) for four dayes in win∣ter, but somewhat sooner in summer. For the ligatures wherewith the vessels are bound, they must not be loosed, or otherwise taken away, before the mouthes of the vessells are covered with their glue or flesh, lest by too much haste you cause a new flux of blood. This agglutination will be performed by applying refrigerating, astringent, and emplastick medicins, such as this follow∣ing powder.* 1.4 ℞. boli. arm. farin. hord. picis. res. gypsi, an. ℥iiij. Aloes, nucum cup. cort. granat. an ℥j. incorporentur omnia simul, fiat pulvis subtilis: herewith let the whole ulcer be strewed over for three or four dayes space; which being ended, let only the seats of the vessels be powdred therewith, and that for eight or ten dayes, so that we need no further doubt of the agglutination of the ves∣sels. In the mean space let the digestive be applyed to the rest of the Ulcer untill it be come to suppuration; for then you shall give over your digestive, and betake you to detersive and mun∣dificative medicins:* 1.5 As ℞. terebinth. ven. lotae in aqua vitae ℥vj. mellis ros. colati ℥iiij. succi plantag. Apii, cent••••r. minoris, an. ℥ij. bulliant omnia simul usque ad consumptionem succorum, auferantur ab ig∣ne, addendo farinae fab. & hord. an. ℥j. theriac. Gal. ℥ ss. aloes, myrrhae, aristolech. an. ℥iij. croci ℈j. fiat mundificativum.* 1.6 But seeing the case stands so that the Patients imagin they have their members yet entire, and yet do complain thereof (which I imagin to come to pass, for that the cutt nerves retire themselves towards their originall, and thereby cause a pain like to convulsions; for as Galen writes in his book, De motu muscul••rum, that contraction is the true and proper action of a nerve and muscle: and again, extension is not so much an action as a motion:) now we must in∣deavour to give remedy to this symptome. Which may be done by anointing the spine of the back and all the affected part with the following Liniment, which is very powerful against Convulsi∣ons, the Palsie, numness and all cold effects of the nervous bodies. ℞. salviae, chamaepytheos, majo∣rana,* 1.7 rorismar. menth. rutae, lavendulae, an. m. j. flor. chamaemel. melilot. summit. aneth. & hyperici, an. p. ij. baccarum lauri & juniperi an. ℥ij. radicis pyrethri ʒij. mastic. assae odorat. an. ℥ i ss. terebinth. ve∣net. lb. j. olei lum••r. aeneth. catell. an. ℥vj. olei tere••inth: ℥iij. axung. hum. ℥ij. croci ʒj. vini albi odo∣riferi lb j. c••rae quantum sufficit, contundenda contundantur, pulverisanda pulverisentur, deinde maceren∣tur omnia in vino per noctem, postea coquantur cum oleis & axungia praedictis in vase duplici, fiat linimen∣tum secundum artem. in fine adde. aquae vitae ℥iiij. Besides, in dressing these wounds, the Chirurgeon must use diligence to procure the falling away of the ends or scales of the bones, which the saw and the appulse of the air never before coming hereto, have tainted; which may be done by ap∣plying to their ends actual Cauteries, that is, hot irons; in using of which you must have a speci∣al care that you touch not the sensible parts with fire; neither must the bones themselves be for∣cibly pluckt off, but gently moved by little and little, so that you shall think you and the Patient have exceedingly well performed your parts if they fall away at the thirtieth day after the Am∣putation. All these things being performed, you shall hinder the growth of proud flesh with the cathaereticks, such as are burnt Vitriol, the powder of Mercury, and other things, amongst which is Alum burnt and powdered,* 1.8 which is excellent in these kinds of Wounds, whether by it self or mixed with others. You shall use these and such like, even unto the perfect agglutination and cicatrization of the wound, and you may of your self devise other things, such as these; as occa∣sion shall offer its self.