Ars chirurgica a compendium of the theory and practice of chirurgery in seven books ... shewing the names, causes, signs, differences, prognosticks, and various intentions of curing all kinds of chirurgick diseases ... : to which is added Pharmacopoeia chirurgica, or, The medical store, Latin and English ... / by William Salmon ...

CHAP. XXXI. Of WORMS in the FEET.

I. THEY are called in Greek, 〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉〈 in non-Latin alphabet 〉, i. e. very small Worms; in Latin, Sirones, & Chirones; in English, Worms in the Feet; and by some, Barbadoes-Worms, or Chego's.

II. They are Pustules in the soles of the Feet, and palms of the Hands, full of little Animals or Worms, exceeding small, and hid under the Scarf-skin.

III. Signs. They are known by a kind of Itch, which is felt in the Pustule at first; but after∣wards causes a kind of smarting pain: and if they be in the Feet, they will cause the party to go lame.

IV. They are usual in hot Coun∣tries, near the Tropicks, and under the Line, as in Barbadoes, Caribee-Islands, and possibly in

Aegypt, and other hot places in Africa; and I am very apt to believe, are the very same kind of kind of Worms which the Barbadians call Chego's; which that you may the better understand, we will here give you the description of them from the Ingenious Ligon; as you may find it in his History of Barbadoes, pag. 65.

V. These harmful Animals (says he) we call Chego's, and these are so little, that you would hardly think them able to do any harm at all, and yet they will do more mischief than Ants; and if they were as numerous as they are harmful, there would be no enduring them: they are of shape not much unlike a Louse, but no bigger than a Mite which breeds in Cheese, and its colour blewish.

VI. An Indian laid one of them upon a sheet of white Paper, and with my Spectacles on (says he) I could hardly discern it; yet this very little Enemy, can and will do much mischief to Mankind.

VII. The Cause. They arise from much Cholerick Sweat, re∣strained within the Skin; and this Affect comes in these places chiefly: because that the more thick and gross ichorous or ulcerous Excrements are in eve∣ry Scabbiness, detained and held under the Skin; which in the aforesaid places are more thick than elsewhere.

VIII. This is the cause, ac∣cording to the Opinion of such Authors as have wrote thereof: but Ligon gives us another Cause, which is external, and is from the Worm it self, in these words: This Vermin will (says he) get thro' your Stockin or Hose, and (lodge it self) in a Pore of the Skin, in some part of your Feet, commonly under the nail of one of your Toes, and there make a habitation to lay its (eggs, or) off-spring; making a Pustule as big as a small Tare, or the Bag of a Bee; which will cause you to go very lame, and give you much smarting pain.

IX. It is of a blewish colour, as aforesaid, and is seen thro' the Skin; but the Negro's, whose Skins are of that colour, (or near it, or black) are in an ill case, for they cannot find where they are: by which means they are many of them very lame.

X. The Cure. These Worms lying hid in the Pustules, the places affected are discerned by the exceeding Itch, which is felt more than at other times.

XI. In order to the Cure, these Worms are to be picked out with a Needle, or other fit Instrument: then, (that they may not breed anew) the places are to be washed with Wine or Vinegar, in which Salt, Alum, or Nitre has been dissolved.

XII. Or, in a Decoction of Oak-leaves with Alum: or, in a Lixivium of Broom and Oak∣ashes: or, in Tincture of Sul∣phur, made by boiling in Oil of Tartar; and then after to anoint with Ʋnguentum Mercu∣riale, or Cosmeticum.

XIII. The Indian Women (says Ligon) have the best skill to take them out; which they d•• by putting in a Pin or sharp∣pointed Needle, at the hole where

they first came in, and winding the point about the Bag, to loosen it from the Flesh, and so to take it out.

XIV. Some of these Chego's (says he) are poisonous, and after they are taken out, the orifice in which they lay, will fester and rankle for a fortnight after they are gone: I have had ten taken out of my Feet in a morning, by an Indian Woman.

XV. In Barbadoes these Worms breed in the dust of the Earth, in great numbers; and so easily get into the Skin, in such as go barefoot, or are careless of themselves; where making their nests, they many times breed in vast numbers, to the very great detriment of the Pa∣tient.

XVI. And in their taking out, there ought to be great care taken, that the Cistis be not broken: for should they in the taking of it forth break it, so as that any of the Worms should be left behind, it would not only be troublesom to extirpate and clear the Part of them; but they would increase to such prodigious quantities, as to ha∣zard sometimes the losing of a Toe, or cause some other great mischief, not easy to be retrieved.

XVII. In Davies Translation of the History of the Caribee Islands, lib. 1. cap. 24. it is said, that these Worms breed in the dust and sweepings, cast out into the dung∣hill and such unclean places; and that getting into the Feet and Toes, if they are not taken away in time, they will get farther, and so go into all other parts of the Body.

XVIII. At first they only cause a litte itching, as aforesaid, but having once got thro' the Skin, they cause an Inflammation in the place affected; and mightily increase by the abundance of their nits or eggs which they lay: by which means, Ulcers are bred in the places they seize on.

XIX. The best time to attempt the Cure, is as soon as the least itching is felt, picking them out with a Needle: but if there are Ulcers bred, either thro' un∣skilfully taking them out, by breaking the bag, or thro' not taking them forth in time, tho' they seem to be little or no∣thing at first, yet afterwards they grow to be as big as the palm of a mans hand, because the Ulcer will have its course: and some of these Ulcers, tho' little, are very hard to be cured.

XX. Of these Ʋlcers there are two sorts, the one round, the other uneven; of which the former is the harder to cure, because it is encompassed with dead flesh: for till that dead and loose flesh is taken away, the Ulcer can never be healed: for which cause as oft as it is dressed, the dead flesh must be cut away till it is quite removed, which is very painful to be done.

XXI. For the curing of these Ʋlcers, they ought first to be washt with the Spiritus Univer∣salis, then burnt Alum, or Our Pulvis ad Hypersarcosin must be applied; that therewith the

dead flesh may be taken away: and they must be often washt with Lime-juice, the juice of Limons, or juice of the les∣ser Citron, tho' indeed these things are extreamly sharp: they certainly kill all the little Worms contained in the Ul∣cers, of which there are store, making them clean, and to look well.

XXII. Then you may anoint with Unguentum ad Scabiem, Ung. Nicotianae, Cosmeticum, or Mercuriale: or with this; ℞ Honey ℥ ij. Aloes ℥ ss. dis∣solved in a little Vinegar, puri∣fied Verdigrise ʒ j. mix them: which being used for some time, at length perfect the Cure with Balsamum Gummi Elemi, or some other thing of like nature.