The practice of physick in seventeen several books wherein is plainly set forth the nature, cause, differences, and several sorts of signs : together with the cure of all diseases in the body of man / by Nicholas Culpeper ... Abdiah Cole ... and William Rowland ; being chiefly a translation of the works of that learned and renowned doctor, Lazarus Riverius ...

The PREFACE.

THE Diseases of the Eyes are so divers, that it is very hard to lay them down cleerly and plainly, and to distinguish one from the other: which that we may endeavor as much as may be, and cleer up our Treatise for Practice, we will so divide them, the Diseases by which the sight is immediately hurt, may first be expounded, and after∣wards the rest which happen to the Parts of which the Eyes are Compounded, or which are neer unto them, without any, or very little hurt to the sight. The sight is hurt when it is diminished, abolished, or depraved. Sight abolished is called 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉 in Greek: in Latine Caecitas. But sight dimished hath divers Names according to the degree and manner of the diminution: of which the chief are Amblyopia, Myopia, Nyctalopia, and Acies Vespertina.

Caecitas blindness, comes either from an absotute Obstruction of the Optick Nerves (and then it is called Amaurosis) or from a total Suffusion, or from some great fault in the Tunicles and Hu∣mors.

Amblyopia, in Latin Obscuritas, Hebetudo, or Caligo, dark or dim sight, when the Object is not cleerly seen at what distance soever placed; comes from the same Causes, but more light and im∣perfect, as an imperfect Obstruction of the Optick Nerves, a light suffusion, want of spirits or gross∣ness of the same, and the like.

Myopia, in Latin Lusciositas, or Pur-blindness in which the Objects are not perceived, except they be very nigh, and close to the Eyes, but not at all a far off, or very little; and imperfectly: so that they perceive not their known Friends passing by: And according to the Opinion of Galen, and all Modern Physitians, from the thinness and smalness of the visour spirits which stand not in need of a medium, much enlightned to make a perfect sight, but is thereby dissipated. On the con∣trary, they which have gross and thick spirits, see things best at a distance, because that gross spi∣rits needs more enlightning which is brought by the larger illumination of the medium: But this Doctrine is demonstrated to be false, and to spring from ignorance in Opticks whose Principles de∣clare, that these diversities of sight proceed from the diversity of the scituation of the Crystalline hu∣mor. For when the species of the Objects are received into the Crystalline humor by a Pyramis or sharp Point thereof called Conus; if the Crystalline humor be too much inward towards the pupil

of the Eye, the remote Objects are better seen, because it is necessary that the Objects should be at a farther distance, that the Conus, or point of the Pyramis may come to the Crystalline bumor, and there be terminated: But if the Objects come neerer the Eye, the Conus goeth by the Crystalline, and they are seen more obscurely: Again, If the Crystalline lie too low and too far from the Tunicle called Uuea, the Objects must be neerer to the Eyes, that the Conus or point of the Pyramid may come to it: whence it appears that Myopia comes no other wayes then from the Crystall me lying too low; and so this Disease becometh connatural, and not to be cured. But the affect of Myopia is contrary in which the Object is better seen at a distance; and this happens for the most part in Old Men, in whom some of the portion of the watery Hamor is spent, so that the Crystalline goes to the Pupil of the Eye: Farther, By long holding down of the Head either with Reading, Wri∣ting, or otherwise, the Crystalline Humor comes by degrees forward: This is demonstrated by the use of Spectacles; because that they who have Myopia, or are Pur-blind, see best with hollow or concave spectacles, by which the rayes or beams of the visible species are dispersed, whereby it comes to pass, that the Conus of the Pyramis is more long, and so that thing which by reason of the great distance could not be seen, is now plainly perceived; because the Conus of the Pyramis is extended as far as the Crystalline, which before ended in the Pupilla, or in the watery Humor, or in the white Humor: On the contrary, Old Men are helped with Convex Spectacles, by which the beams are united, and the Conus of the Pyramis is made shorter, and so things are better perceived whose Conus before passed by the Crystalline, which was too neer to the Pupilla.

Nyctalopia, or Nocturna Caecitas, is when men see well enough at day time; at Sun-set worse; and at Night not at all: and it comes from the over thickness of the spirits, or Humors, or Tunicles; or the straightness of the Pupilla. For in these Cases a greater light is necessary for true sight, which being wanting, at Sun-setting, or at Night by a Candle, they see little, or not at all.

Vespertina Acies, is when men see worse by day, and better by night; and this somtimes is called Nyctalopia, as we see in Hippocrates, 2. Prorrhet. but the Modern Greeks have from long Custom used the word Nyctalopia only for Night blindness: it comes from the thinness of the spirits which are spread abroad by too much light: or from the enlarging of the Pupilla, by which too much light goes into the Eye, and hurts the sight, for a little light at night doth more illustrate and shine to them, than to those who have the Pupilla enlarged.

After what manner the sight is hurt by diminishing, abolishing, and depraving, we shall lay down more plain when we explain the Diseases of all parts of the Eyes by themselves. For when all the parts of the Eye do conduce to the action of it, namely Sight, when any part is distempered, the sight must also suffer.

The Eye is compounded of Tunicles, Humors, and the Optick Nerve, for the action of which parts, the Animal Spirit doth concur as a principal and universal Agent.

And therefore that we may run through the Diseases of those parts, we will begin from the di∣stemper of the constitution of the optick Nerve; next we will proceed to the Disease of the Humors and Tunicles. But the faults of the Spirits either depend upon the distemper of the Brain, and then other Sences are also hurt; or from the distemper of the Eye it self, which being cured the spi∣rits receive their ancient and due constitution, so that we need not make a particular tractate of them. But in curing Diseases of the Eyes, when sight is hurt, we must alwaies mingle those things which comfort the visive spirits with other Medicines.