PLAIN DIRECTIONS,
&c.
FOR THE CURE OF THE VENEREAL DISEASE.
[Price Eighteen-pence.]
PLAIN DIRECTIONS,
&c.
FOR THE CURE OF THE VENEREAL DISEASE.
TOGETHER WITH Efficacious and approved Remedies, adapted to every Symptom of that DISORDER.
Sufficient to enable Persons to cure themselves, (even in the worst, and most obstinate Cases) without the Assistance of a Surgeon.
DESIGNED, Chiefly to rescue the Poor, and People of small Fortunes from the destructive Hands of unskillful APOTHECARIES and QUACK-DOCTORS.
By J. WALL, SURGEON.
LONDON: Printed and Sold by W. GRIFFIN, in Fetter-lane G. KEARSLY, opposite St. Martin's Church, in Ludgate-street, and E. ETHERINGTON, at York. MDCCLXIV.
To the READER.
THE following sheets are the result of a long experience, acquired from a frequent attendance upon the sick through every branch and stage of the Venereal Disease.
The medicines directed, though in general simple, and easily prepared, are of undoubted efficacy, the whole modern practice of curing the Venereal Disease being given without reserve in the course of this work; and though the Medicines here prescribed are to be got at almost every Chymist's shop, yet it is not to be supposed that persons of opulence will give themselves the trouble of mixing the several ingredients; I therefore, hope, my brethren of the faculty will not think themselves injured, since motives of humanity solely prompted me to this undertaking; which, I doubt not, will be found to answer the most sanguine expectations of the afflicted.
If this Pamphlet should answer the author's intentions, and prove a means of delivering the vast numbers of poor, unhappy creatures that are groaning under the vile nostrums of
Quack Doctors,
from sure destruction, I flatter myself the public will not think my time ill employed; at any rate, I hope the afflicted will not condemn the practice, here laid down, but suspend their judgments 'till they have given the medicines a fair trial.
J. WALL.
PLAIN DIRECTIONS,
&c.
FOR THE CURE OF THE VENEREAL DISEASE.
CHAP. I.
Of the Marks, Characters, and Symptoms, which distinguish that branch of the Venereal Disease, called a Virulent Gonorrhaea, or Clap.
AS this species of the Venereal Disease is very frequently met with in practice, I shall take all possible care to lay before the reader, every circumstance necessary to give him a just idea of the disease, since upon the right management of this branch may, perhaps, depend his future peace, happiness, and welfare.
A Virulent Gonorrhaea or Clap, is a discharge of corrupted matter, either from the glands of the urethra in men, or the vagina in women, occasioned from their having to do with an infected person. The quantity is always in proportion to the degree of the irritation, the quality, to the degree of malignity in the infectious matter, received from the infected person, in coition.
After a man has had to do with an infected person, he some time after perceives an itching in his yard, near the nut, and a kind of rotation of the testicles, a day or two after, the parts begin to shoot, and burn, most sensibly felt when he makes water, which is attended with a scalding heat, soon after, a running ensues, which is commonly of a cream colour. This is the first stage of a virulent gonorrhaea, and nothing can be easier of cure than a clap thus circumstanced; but when the foregoing symptoms are either suffered to continue, or the infection is extremely virulent, these additional symptoms ensue; small ulcers, called shancres, and pocky-warts, discover themselves upon the nut or fore-skin: the foreskin is so swelled that it cannot be forced back over the nut, which is called a phymosis. The running is discharged in larger quantities, and tinges the linnen of a yellow or green colour. The pain in making water becomes more violent, and a pain is felt in the yard at every erection, as if it were violently squeezed with the hand, which symptom happens chiefly when the person grows warm in bed, and is called a chordee. But when the running is restrained, or blocked up, either from the virulence of the infection, the patients catching cold, or the improper use of astringent medicines either internally, or by way of injection, the testicles become swelled, hard, and extremely painful, and sometimes an abscess is formed in the urinary passage, which becoming fistulous, discharges a very virulent sanies, and is called by surgeons a fistula in perinoeo.
CHAP. II.
Some considerations concerning the management of the diet, and exercise, in the cure of a virulent Gonorrhaea or Clap.
I SHALL distinguish the aliments most proper in the cure of a virulent Clap, into three kinds: first, those that are most proper to temperate the Venereal Virus, to abate the inflammation of the parts, and ease the scalding heat of urine: for this purpose I advise the patient for the first week or ten days to have for breakfast, thin milk-pottage, a mess of sego, or two or three dishes of tea, with a slice or two of bread and butter; for dinner a bread-pudding, chicken, veal, or mutton-broth; and of vegetables, turnips, potatoes, and parsnips; and by all means to avoid flesh meats for the first week at least: new milk from the cow affords excellent nourishment, and is both cleansing and cooling to the body, and therefore a mess in the evening will be a very proper supper. For constant drink, I advise weak wine and water, or small beer.
After the virulence is destroyed and the matter begins to be of a better colour and consistence, I then advise a more substantial diet,
viz.
chickens, veal, lamb, rabbits, rice-puddings, rice-milk, chocolate, hartshorn-jellies,
&c.
which cool the body, thicken the juices, and lessen the secretions, and consequently the discharge of the venereal running.
When the running is greatly lessened and become quite ropy, and the pain entirely abated, I add to the foregoing diet, sea biscuits, or Jew's cakes, jarr-raisins, milletpuddings, and hartshorn-jellies, which strengthen much; for a diet of this kind gives great assistance to the administration of strengthning medicines where they are judged proper to stop the running, as is sometimes the case in stubborn gleets; but if (as is frequently the case) the patient's situation in life will not allow him to adhere punctually to these rules, yet as he values his future health and welfare, let him avoid all salt meats, as pickled pork, hams, salt beef, and the like; for salts of all kinds heighten the inflammation, increase the virulency, and greatly lengthen the cure of the running, 'till the disease either changes into a Pox, or is attended with an incurable gleet, and for the same reasons he must avoid too great an indulgence of all relishing acids, rich sauces, and spirituous liquors, as things of the most pernicious nature to those that labour under a virulent clap.
Exercise in a clap while the disease is recent, must frequently be attended with very bad consequences, for by violent motion the body is heated, and the blood inflamed, whereby both the pain, scalding of the urine, and virulence of the running are increased; therefore I would advise the patient during the first fortnight or three weeks of his cure, to avoid riding, much walking, jumping, and the like, which exasperate the symptoms very much, and to keep himself as still as possible; for by this means the parts will recover their former tone, strength, and vigour, in a much shorter time.
Towards the close of the disease, when only a weakness of the parts, and a gleety weeping remains, I advise the moderate use of the cold-bath, which is a remedy I prefer to all others, for it braces up the nerves, consolidates the broken fibres of the urethra, and strengthens and restores the tone of the genitals.
Those who are desirous of experiencing the benefit of cold bathing, ought in the morning fasting to plunge over head, and to continue no longer under water than they can bear to hold their breath; for it is the first shock that gives the most vigorous contraction to all the muscular and nervous fibres, whereby their due springiness and action are restored. But before the patient makes trial of the efficacy of this remedy, he ought to be perfectly satisfied that the virulency of the clap is totally destroyed; otherwise, by unseasonable bracing up the fibres, he will only tie up the pocky venom upon the habit, which in time will get into the blood, taint the juices, and produce a confirmed pox.
But above all, the patient must be careful to moderate his passions, wanton pictures, lascivious books, and amorous dalliances with women, must be shunned, for the same ill effects will certainly follow these, as all other debauches, since they heat the body, raise the pulse, and occasion a larger discharge by the part affected.
CHAP. III.
To establish the cure of a virulent Clap, upon the clearest principles of practice: I propose to reduce the several curative indications under the three following heads: first, I shall lay down the most proper methods to asswage the venereal symptoms, by medicines that correct and purge off the infectious venom. Secondly, I shall attempt to restrain the running, by those means that I have always known to answer the purpose, even in the most obstinate cases: And lastly, I shall lay down the choicest rules to relieve the weakness of the constitution, and restore the affected parts to their former tone and vigour.
TO accomplish the first general indication, as an intense heat, pain, and inflammation of the yard, are always present symptoms of a fresh contracted clap, nothing is preferable to the following method, to correct the venom, and relieve the inflammation and other symptoms. The cure must be begun with bleeding plentifully in the arm, which may be repeated according to the strength of the patient, and the violence of the inflammation. After bleeding, the patient must take the following apozem every morning for five or six days.
Take Epsom water two pints and an half, scrape a little nutmeg into it, and boil it over a gentle fire 'till it comes to a quart, then dissolve in it an ounce of manna, and half an ounce of glaubers-salt, and strain it off for use: half a pint of this is to be taken milk-warm every half hour 'till the whole quantity is taken. During the use of the above medicine, the patient must drink plentifully between whiles, of barley-water, milk and water, capillaire, or any other cooling liquor. It is impossible to conceive how this innocent remedy cools the passages, and relieves the heat and smart of urine,
After having made use of the foregoing apozem for four or five days, I would recommend the patient to take two of the following mercurial pills, every night and morning, or according to the operation, one only every night and morning, for a week or ten days, unless the patient complains of his gums, or a sore mouth, in which case these pills must be left off for a few days, and the quantity of a nutmeg of the purging electuary, which I shall give the receipt of, must be taken in their room 'till the sore mouth is entirely removed, when the patient may again take two of the pills every night only, and the next morning a dose of the electuary, which method he must persist in 'till the quantity of the running grows less, and feels more thick and ropy, when he must leave off the pills and continue the use of the electuary only, every night and morning, for a few days longer.
Receipt for making the Mercurial Pills.
Take two drachms of quick-silver, and rub it with a sufficient quantity of turpentine 'till it is entirely killed, then add a drachm of powder of gum guaicum, and half a drachm of the colocynth pill with aloes, mix them well together, and divide the mass into twenty-four pills, two of which are to be taken every night and morning.
Receipt for the purging Electuary.
Take of the best honey an ounce and an half, balsam of copaiva three quarters of an ounce, powder of jalap, and salt prunella, of each a drachm, mix them together into an electuary: the dose of which is the quantity of a nutmeg, every night and morning. If this electuary purges too much, the powder of jalap must be left out, and a drachm of powder of rhubarb is to be substituted in its stead.
When by the use of the medicines already prescribed, the pain in making water and the chordee are entirely removed, and the running from a greenish or yellowish colour, has changed to a thick white matter, and is very ropy, and but in small quantity. The cure must be compleated by taking twenty drops of balsam copaiva in a tea spoonful of powdered sugar, three times in a day, or by taking two or three of the following strengthning pills, every night and morning.
Receipt for making the strengthning Pills.
Take boiled turpentine half an ounce, powder of rhubarb three drachms, balm of gilead twenty drops; beat them together, and divide the mass into middle sized pills, two or three of which are to be taken every night and morning.
Notwithstanding we have observed that the changing of the colour of the running from yellow to white, was a certain mark of the virulence being entirely destroyed, yet the reader is desired to take notice, that in persons advanced in years, and those who have had several claps; this change of colour can seldom be effected, so that the running continues of a pale yellow, or light green to the last, though you should continue the use of the purging medicines ever so long, you will never be able to change the colour of the running, but may very much impair the constitution by pursuing this method; in this case therefore, provided the running is of a good consistence, the inflammation, smart of urine, and chordee entirely gone off, and the yard so entirely free from all pain, that you can squeeze it somewhat roughly without more soreness than what is usual from a rude handling of this member naturally, you may safely proceed to suppress the gleet by the use of the balsam copaiva, and the strengthning pills, though the colour of the running does not appear altogether so favourable as might be wished.
If the means hitherto prescribed should prove insufficient, and though the virulency is perfectly cured, a running should still remain, even after having persisted in the use of the strengthning pills, for some time, the disorder is then called a gleet, and must be treated as will be shewn hereafter.
Of the cure of the Chordee.
If the chordee does not readily give way to the use of the mercurial pills and purging electuary, the relief will be most speedily effected by pursuing the following method,
Bleed in the arm to the amount of eight or ten ounces,
Take elder flowers one handful and an half, chamomile-flowers and mallow-leaves, each one handful, boil them over a gentle fire, in three pints of water to a pint and an half, which strain off for use. Foment the parts with this of a moderate warmth frequently, 'till the part grows supple, after which apply to the whole body of the yard a little warm, and carefully kept on with a proper bandage, the following pultice. Take linseed-flower and bean-flower, each half an handful, ointment of marshmallows half an ounce, make them into a pultice with a little of the fomentation liquor.
But if the patient cannot conveniently make use of the above fomentation, and pultice, a drachm of weak mercurial ointment must be well rubbed in on the whole under part of the yard, every other night.
Cure of the Phymosis and Paraphymosis.
The same fomentation and pultice must be used as were directed for the cure of the chordee, only a small quantity of spirits of wine and camphor, should be added to the fomentation: however, if this method fails of success, from the great virulence of the venereal venom, and the swelling encreases with very violent pain, it will be absolutely necessary to snip the foreskin, and give the nut of the yard more room to play.
Cure of the Hernia Humouralis, or swelling of the Testicles.
The cure of this disorder must be begun with bleeding to the amount of ten or twelve ounces, then let a bag truss, which may be had of Mr. White, Truss-maker in Fleet-street, be got, for the support of the swelled cods, and let the following pultice be applied every night and morning.
Take the crumb of stale rolls, and boil them with a sufficient quantity of new milk, to the consistence of a pultice, to which add half an ounce of ointment of elder-flowers.
When the pain is removed, the swelling very much abated, and there remains only a little hardness of the part, the pultice may be left off, and a mercurial plaister spread on leather, is to be applied to the part, and kept on with the bag-truss, which should be worn for some time after the disorder is removed, to prevent a relapse.
Cure of Venereal Chancres.
Chancres are little superficial eating ulcers, occasioned by the venereal venom on the nut of the yard, foreskin, or some other part near the private parts.
Dress the sores with the following ointment, spread on lint, every night and morning, first bathing them with a little warm milk.
Take a quarter of an ounce of hogs-lard, and mix therewith half a drachm of red praecipitate in fine powder.
The medicines proper to be taken inwardly are
The Mercurial Pill.
Take ten grains of calomel, and mix it with a little conserve of hips into a pill, for one dose, which must be taken for three nights together, and then is to be worked off with the following purging pills.
Take one scruple of Pill e Duobus, and divide it into three pills, to be taken in the morning early, and repeated every third morning.
These medicines must be continued 'till the chancres are quite healed, and indeed to prevent a relapse, it would be prudent to continue taking them a week or two longer: after each of the mercurial pills, a large draught of sassafras tea made very strong, should be taken warm, and the same should be repeated every morning, except on those days on which the purging pills are taken.
Cure of the Pocky Warts and Excrescences.
These, though not dangerous, are very troublesome companions, and chiefly appear on the nut, foreskin, or body of the yard. To remove them, nothing is preferable to the following method: first, bathe them with warm milk and water, then rub them gently with a piece of blue vitriol, commonly known by the name of bluestone, and apply a piece of dry lint to the warts at every dressing: this should be repeated 'till the warts are entirely wasted away: the same medicines which are directed under the article of Chancres, must likewise be taken internally.
Cure of the Bubo, or venereal swelling in the Groin.
The first sign of a venereal bubo, is a dull heavy pain in the groin, arising from an obstruction of the smallest vessels, which causes little knots and kernels at first, but the pain continuing to encrease, the swelling grows as large as a pidgeon's egg, sometimes much larger, and the part is sometimes inflamed, and the skin changes to a red colour.
There are two methods recommended for the cure of this symptom of the venereal disease, the one, by dispersing the bubo before it comes to suppurate, by the use of mercurials, and purges, which, as it requires no manual operation, is shorter, more free from pain, and equally safe, therefore has justly the preference.
The method is as follows.
First, let eight or ten ounces of blood be taken from the arm, then apply a mercurial plaister spread thick on leather, the size of the swelling: this need not be changed oftner than once in four days. Take inwardly the mercurial pill, directed under the article of chancres, every night going to rest, and continue the use of it 'till the mouth grows hot, and the gums begin to swell, and a spitting seems to be coming on; but as soon as this happens, the mercurial pill must be immediately left off, and the purging pills, directed under the article of chancres, must be taken every morning, or every other morning, according to the strength of the patient, 'till the soreness of the mouth and spitting are entirely gone off, after which you must take the mercurial pill in the manner already directed, 'till the mouth again grows sore, when the spitting must be restrained by the purging-pills as before. This course must be pursued 'till the swelling disappears. To prevent a relapse, a quart of strong sassafras-tea should be taken every day for a fortnight or three weeks. The diet should be very low and sparing, and the sick person should be very warmly cloathed, and great care taken to prevent catching cold. The other method of cure by promoting a suppuration, I shall omit giving any account of in this treatise, as in that case, it is absolutely necessary to have the assistance and advice of a skilful Surgeon.
CHAP. IV.
Cure of the false Clap, or virulent discharge of Matter from the Nut of the Yard.
THIS discharge is not so great as in the common venereal clap; but the nut of the yard is commonly inflamed and very painful, and if neglected or improperly treated, chancres, a phymosis, paraphymosis, or crystallines, are frequently the consequence.
To begin the cure, bleeding must be performed in the arm, to the amount of eight or ten ounces, to abate the inflammation. The fore-skin should be gently drawn back and the part washed with warm milk and water, two or three times in a day, and the nut of the yard should at each dressing be covered with a small bit of fine lint to suck up the virulent discharge, and if the pain and swelling be very violent, a pultice of white bread and milk may be applied to the part every night; the mercurial pills must be taken as directed under the article of the virulent Conorrhaea; by continuing this method a fortnight or three weeks, the running generally ceases of its own accord; but if after using this method for some time longer, any discharge should remain, it will be necessary to dab the parts with a little red wine, in which a red hot poker has been several times extinguished, in order to restore them to their natural tone.
But if from neglect or improper treatment, the inflammation should degenerate into chancres, and these should bring on a phymosis, paraphymosis,
&c.
recourse must then be had to the remedies directed under those respective articles.
CHAP. V.
Cure of Caruncles and Carnosities in the Urinary Passage, which hinder the free passage of the Urine, and sometimes occasion an entire suppression of Urine.
THESE can only be cured by the use of the Specifick Bougies, which are sold by W. GRIFFIN, Printer, in Fetterlane, with printed directions for their use, Price 10s. 6d. the dozen, or 5s. 3d. the half dozen.
CHAP. VI.
Cure of Gleets.
A Gleetis generally the consequence of a venereal clap ill-cured, and is very obstinate and troublesome to cure. Balsamic medicines are very seldom of any service in this disorder, and therefore being first well satisfied that the virulence is entirely removed, recourse must be had to the cold bath, and the following strengthning pills must be taken twice or three times in a day, four at each dose, with a glass of old red port wine mixed with water.
Receipt to make the Strengthning Pills.
Take roch allum three drachms, dragons-blood one drachm, melt them together over the fire, then powder them and add ten grains of sugar of lead, then make them into middle sized pills, with as much Chio turpentine as is sufficient to give the mass a proper consistence. If the gleet does not give way to the use of these pills, joined with cold bathing, a little of the following injection must be thrown up the yard with a syringe, night and morning.
Receipt to make the Injection.
Take three drachms of the compound ceruss powder, and one scruple of camphor, dissolve them in twelve ounces of lime-water for an injection.
N. B. Great care must be taken that the ceruss powder is reduced into as fine a powder as possible.
But whereas many persons after a perfect cure of the clap, and a total suppression of all gleety ouzings, are subject to a lankness of their testicles, whereby the left generally hangs lower than the right, and both of them much lower than their natural position requires they should. This is a certain indication of great weakness and feebleness in the constitution of these parts, for the relief of which, the following fomentation will be the most efficacious remedy that can possibly be made use of.
Receipt for making the Restringent Fomentation.
Take oak bark three ounces, roch allum half an ounce, boil them together in a quart of smith's forge-water 'till one half is wasted away, then strain off the liquor, and foment the parts with it twice a day as warm as it can be borne. It is almost impossible to conceive how much it will restore the tone of the testicles, and oblige the scrotum to purse up and contract its dimensions, especially if the strengthning pills are taken inwardly at the same time.
Another consequence of a virulent clap, which sometimes happens where the disorder has been very stubborn, is a shooting pain in the urinary passage, attended with a sensation in the nut of the yard, as if a drop of the gleety matter was actually falling from it; but upon looking there is not the least sign of any moisture whatsoever. This is occasioned from the extreme weakness, tenderness, and sensibility of the nerves distributed to the urinary passage, and if persons thus affected, will have but a little patience, they will in a very little time, perceive this uneasiness, by the assistance of the cold bath, daily decrease, and entirely vanish away, in three weeks or a month at farthest.
And thus I close the first part of this treatise, concerning the cause and cure of the virulent Gonorrhaea or Clap, under all its symptoms and degrees, 'till it vitiates the blood and juices, and produces all the various branches of the French Pox, the description and cure of which shall be the subject of the second part.
PART SECOND. OF THE GRAND OR FRENCH POX.
IN the former part I have so fully treated of every thing that relates to the cure of a virulent clap, that I cannot recollect any material circumstance omitted, which might be judged necessary in the cure of that branch of the venereal disease: For the reader will perceive, that I have not only given the proper methods to relieve the most inveterate symptoms of a clap, but also the most effectual means to restore the constitution to its former strength, and the suffering parts to their former tone and vigour.
Having therefore accomplished every thing necessary in the cure of a clap, I shall proceed to treat of all the particular circumstances of the Second Infection, or French Pox, from the first and slightest attack it makes upon the constitution, to its last and most deplorable symptoms, where the disease becomes universal, and the patient too frequently sinks under the most excruciating tortures.
When the venereal disease first appeared in Europe, it was reputed epidemic and contagious, but it is now known by undoubted experience, and the unanimous consent of physicians, that it can neither be contracted by any error in diet, the fault of the air, or any spontaneous corruption of the humours, but solely by infection, and the communication of it from one that is diseased. It is therefore mostly if not solely communicated by the immediate contact of one diseased, with some part of a sound person, as by coition, by the breast, by lewd kissing, by introducing the finger into the places infected by a venereal ulcer or flux, if there happens to be a hang-nail on the finger, or some little cut or erasement of the skin. It also often arises from the long continuance of a virulent clap, the unseasonable use of astringents, or the unskilful application of styptic injections, whereby the pocky venom that ought to discharge itself through the urinary passage in form of a running, is too hastily supprest, and the insectious matter is thrown upon the constitution, and infects the blood and juices.
The difference of the symptoms have a great dependance upon the influence of the pocky venom, whereby they are either mild, corrosive, or extremely malignant, though sometimes the vicious juices of the body occasion a variety of untoward symptoms, even in cases where originally the pocky venom was very mild; this happens in bodies highly scorbutic, that live much upon high seasoned meats, rich wines, and other hot inflammatory diet, which fire the blood, sharpen the humours, and render the pocky symptoms more corrosive and malignant.
The safety or danger of the patient very much depends upon the greatness or severity of the symptoms, the multitude of the parts affected, and the necessity of those parts to life. When the symptoms are few, and do not affect the parts essential to life, provided the venereal venom does not lay hold of the bones, we may judge the cure will be easily and speedily effected. A more favourable issue may be expected from a pox attended with a virulent running, than from a dry pox, without that circumstance attending it: as also from a pox contracted in youth, than in old people. It is always a good sign and promises well to the patient, where the scabs and breaking-out appear full on the habit, and their heads rise with an eminence above the skin, and the want of vital force is the sole reason why this disease so frequently terminates in the scurvy, asthma, or dropsy in aged people.
The cure of an hereditary pox is very difficult, but not impossible, the same may be concluded of an infant, that suckles an infected nurse. A pox of long standing in a strong, healthful young man, is easier to cure than a fresh pox in a weakly, scorbutic, or hectical constitution, though an inveterate pox is very troublesome and difficult to relieve, even under the best constitutions.
Signs of the second Infection or grand Pox.
Buboes in the groin, and chancres on the private parts make the first degree of this distemper. The skin especially about the neck and breast, and between the shoulders is covered with flat spots like freckles, of a yellow or livid colour, it is full of itchy pustules, tetters, ringworms and serpiginous eruptions. There are chaps in the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, with itching, from whence proceeds a clear liquor like water: it abounds with hard, callous, round pustules, rising a little at the top, generally dry, but sometimes moist, scaly, branny, and yellow, frequently on the corners of the lips, and the sides of the nostrils, but more especially on the forehead, temples, and behind the ears, where they appear in rows like a string of beads, and gradually creep among the hair. The inside of the mouth, throat, and nose, are also affected. The palate and glands of the throat become hot, painful, inflamed, and ulcerated; pustules appear in the roof of the mouth, which degenerate into round, malignant, phagaedenic ulcers, which rot the bone as far as the nostrils. The membrane which lines the inside of the nostrils is likewise liable to pustules, which produce ulcerations, that infect the bones of the nose with a caries, which being eaten away, the nose falls down having lost its support; the voice becomes hoarse and low, the gums ulcerate and rot, the teeth ach, grow rotten, and fall out, and the breath is very offensive. The miserable patient is tormented with pains in the night time, when in bed and covered warm with clothes, which become so intense that the patient cannot lie in bed, these are either tensive, pricking, pulsative, or rending, fixed or wandering, which sometimes occupy the muscular and tendious parts, like the rheumatism; sometimes the tendons and ligaments about the joints, resembling the gout, sometimes they are with swelling or inflammation, sometimes without. At the dawn of the morning these pains remit and become more tolerable, 'till the succeeding evening again exasperates the pains, and renews the tragedy, which circumstance distinguishes venereal, from all rheumatic, gouty, or scorbutic pains whatever. All these symptoms gradually encrease; afterwards nodes or exostoses arise on the skull, shin-bones, and bones of the arms, which being attended with constant pain and inflammation, at length grow carious and rotten. The lymphatic glands become hard and callous, and form in the neck, armpits, groin, and mesentery, hard moveable, circumscribed swellings, like the kings-evil. The lymphatic vessels being enlarged by a thick, stagnating lymph, form swellings, which are called Gummata; in the tendons it causes nodes, in the nerves ganglions, and in the ligaments of the joints tophs.
Neither do the eyes escape the fury of this disease, for they are externally affected with pain, redness, itching and lippitude, and internally being loaded with humours, suppuration sometimes happens and the sight is destroyed. The ears are affected with a singing noise, deafness and pain, while their internal substance is ulcerated and rendered carious.
Women have disorders peculiar to the sex, as cancers in the breast, a suppression or overflowing of the monthly courses, the whites, the hysteric passion, an inflammation, abscess, schirrus, gangrene, ulcer and cancer of the womb, they are either barren or subject to miscarry, or the children they bring into the world have an universal erysipelas, are half rotten, and covered with ulcers.
After this catalogue of symptoms, it is no wonder that all the animal, vital, and natural functions should be depraved, and that the unhappy sufferer should fall into a decay, and at last worn out with pain, die consumptive.
Management of the Patient, in relation to Diet, Exercise,
&c.
while under the cure of the Venereal Disease.
A thin, cooling, attenuating diet, is certainly the most proper to soften the blood, and resolve the scurfy scabs which defile the skin, and for this end nothing is preferable to ptisans, made of sarsaparilla with milk, in case the person is of a dry hectical constitution, or a decoction of guaicum, if he is cold or moist, and consequently inclinable to breed phlegm, he may eat milk, light puddings, eggs, either boiled or poached, chicken-broth, mutton or veal broth, chocolate, tea, water-gruel,
&c.
If any wine is drank it should be diluted with Bristol-water, and this method should be continued 'till the cure is fully compleated. Great care must be taken through the whole course of the cure, never to indulge in any excess, for a little error committed on this head will certainly prove of very pernicious consequence: all violent exercise ought to be avoided, as riding, jumping,
&c.
for though the pox is a chronic disease, and upon that account may seem to require some degree of motion or exercise, yet it is frequently attendwith violent symptoms of an inflammation; for which reason, I should advise the patient never to use more exercise, if it could possibly be avoided, than moderate walking, or gentle riding in a coach or chaise, for the benefit of the clear, serene air, which is of great efficacy in the cure of the venereal disease. The government of the passions is of the last consequence, for it is not possible to make any considerable progress in the cure, unless the sick person is resolved to prevent their breaking out in irregular excursions. It therefore highly concerns the patient above all other things not to suffer his fancy to rove after women, who should never come into sight, if possible, during the time he is under cure; for these irregular desires from wanton objects will retard the cure, and occasion those symptoms which some time before disappeared, to return with greater fury.
CHAP. VII.
Cure of venereal ulcers which affect the Nose, Palate, Throat, and parts adjoining.
HAVING in the preceding part of this treatise fully treated of the cure of venereal chancres, and buboes in the groins of either sex, we shall now consider the most proper method to relieve and thoroughly eradicate those ulcers which affect the throat, and parts adjoining: In these cases most authors have advised a strong salivation to be raised with all possible speed, and indeed this symptom of the venereal disease, seems much more likely to be relieved by a salivation than any other species of that disorder, since in this case the pocky ulcers, and scabs, being near the salival ducts, are immediately dissolved, and carried off by the salivation, without passing again into the blood and mixing with the juices; nevertheless, if the following method be carefully pursued, I am persuaded these symptoms may be as perfectly cured as if the patient underwent that disagreeable and tedious course.
To abate the inflammation of the parts, bleeding, to the amount of ten or twelve ounces will be necessary, and the parts affected should be washed frequently with the following gargle.
Receipt for the Gargle.
Take a quarter of an ounce of red rose leaves dired, and infuse them in a pint of boiling water, add ten drops of oil of vitriol, and when cold, sweeten it with three quarters of an ounce of loaf sugar.
Take half a pint of this infusion, one ounce and an half of honey of roses, and half an ounce of mel aegyptiacum, mix them all together for a gargle, to be used frequently as above directed.
Internally the mercurial pills directed under the article of the virulent clap, or gonorrhaea, must be taken night and morning, till the ulcers are entirely healed, drinking after each dose half a pint of the following diet drink mixt with a little milk lukewarm.
Receipt for preparing the Diet Drink.
Take sarsaparilla and guaicum shavings each two ounces, stick liquorice one ounce, boil them together in two quarts of lime water, till one half is wasted away, then strain off the residue for use.
Lime water is made by pouring a gallon of boiling water on a pound of quick lime, and letting it stand till the water is cold, when it must be carefully poured off from the lime, and kept in a stone bottle well corked.
After these measures have been taken some time, and the complaints are gone off, I would advise instead of the pills, the following electuary, to be taken the quantity of a nutmeg night and morning with half a pint of the diet drink, after each dose, to sweeten the blood, and prevent a return of the pocky complaints.
Receipt for the Alterative Electuary.
Take aethiops mineral, and gum guaicum each half an ounce, camphor a scruple, conserve of roses one ounce, mix them together into an electuary, with as much syrup of orange peels as is necessary to give it a proper consistence.
N. B. This electuary should be taken three weeks or a month.
These remedies generally effect a certain and successful cure, but in some stubborn cases, where the disorder is very malignant, and has taken deep root, the ulcers will be apt to spread notwithstanding all you have done for their relief, in which case the mouth, and throat, must be fumigated with the smoke of artificial cinnabar every night, at least, for four or five nights running, and then if no spitting ensues, and the ulcers seem likely to heal, the pills and diet drink must be made use of as above directed.
Receipt for the fumigating Powder.
Take vermillion and frankincense, each half an ounce, rub them together into a gross powder, and divide them into eight papers, one of which is sufficient for one fumigation. The method of fumigating is by putting a paper of this powder on a red hot iron, or heater, and placing a tin funnel inverted, on the heater, then the patient receives the smoke into his mouth, thro the small end of the funnel, which at first he may bear for six or eight minutes, at each time lengthning the time a little: after the fumigation is over, a glass of mulled wine is proper to support the spirits.
CHAP. VIII.
Cure of Venereal Eruptions, and Ulcers which affect the skin and flesh in different parts of the body.
WHEN the venereal disease is diffused through the whole habit, and taints the skin and flesh, with serpiginous eruptions; when pustules and pocky warts beset the forehead, sides of the face, lips, chin,
amp;c.
when scabbs, and spreading tettars, affect the arms, breast, shoulders, back, and thighs; when foul ulcers occupy the neck, loins and legs, attended with severe night pains, in the bones of the arms and legs, as if dogs were gnawing of them, which go off towards morning regularly; under these circumstances, nothing can be done better than to assist nature, to throw off the tainted juices, as much as possible by the cuticular discharges.
Gentle purges in the beginning of the cure are very serviceable, such as the following.
Take ten grains of calomel, and make it into a pill, with a little bit of conserve of roses. This should be taken over night, and workt off with the following purging draught.
Take three ounces of the infusion of senna, and half an ounce of syrup of buckthorn, mix them into a draught, this pill and draught may be repeated four or sive times, after which I recommend the mercurial pills, directed under the article of the Virulent Gonorrhaea, or Clap, to be taken night and morning, drinking after each dose, half a pint of the diet drink, prepared as directed in the preceding article, as warm as possible. Between whiles, the patient should make use of the warm bath, since nothing so powerfully moistens, and softens the fibres of the skin, and as warm bathing renders the perspiration freer and more full, it consequently removes the obstructions, and assists greatly the dissolution of the pocky matter, so that by the assistance of the warm bath, the time of cure is very much shortned: the method here laid down, if strictly attended to, and accompanied with a sparing regular way of living will, in the worst cases, effect a certain cure, without the least necessity of having recourse to that disagreeable and dangerous remedy, a salivation. Sometimes the eruptions, blotches, ulcers,
amp;c.
may require some topical application, the best is the following ointment, a little of which may be spread on a piece of fine rag and applied to the larger eruptions,
&c.
once in a day, which in a little time will disperse them.
Receipt for the Detergent Ointment.
Take a quarter of an ounce of quicksilver and dissolve it in as much spirit of nitre, as will serve for that purpose, then add, by degrees, a quarter of a pound of melted hogs lard, and mix them into an ointment.
When the cure is fully compleated, the patient must be very careful not to expose himself too suddenly to the cold air, if the weather is extreamly sharp, least from a too sudden constriction of the fibres of the skin, occasioned by the intense cold, he should be affected with rheumatic pains, frequently more tormenting, and more difficult to be removed, than those occasioned by the venereal disease. He must also be very careful of endangering his constitution, by running into excesses of eating, drinking,
&c.
least from a high way of living the scabs, blotches, eruptions,
&c.
that disappeared under the preceding course of medicine, should spring up again under the form of pustules and ulcers, equally troublesome to the patient, and more hard to be cured than those which arose from the effects of the venereal poison.
CHAP. IX.
Cure of nocturnal pains in the Head, Arms, Legs, and other parts of the body arising from a Venereal cause.
IF the patient will strictly confine himself to a slender and regular diet, the mercurial pills directed under the article of the Virulent Gonorrhaea or Clap, accompanied with the decoction of Sarsaparilla, prepared and given in the following manner, will relieve in a very short time venereal head-achs, and nocturnal pains, and if persisted in, I have great reason to think will always cure, without sweating or confinement, at all seasons of the year, even where a salivation, or long continued courses of the decoction of the woods have failed.
Receipt to prepare the Sarsaparilla Decoction
To three ounces of the sarsaparilla-root, as fresh as it can be procured, not spoiled with long keeping, worms, sea-water or moisture, add three quarts of river-water, and bring it to boil immediately in an open vessel, and let it boil away to two pints of the strained liquor, that is, to about two pounds averdupoize: I sometimes add a little liquorice-root, to make it more palatable. This quantity must be taken at two or three doses, either warm or cold, as is most agreeable, every twenty-four hours; every other day it must be made fresh, and what is not used the day it is boiled, must be kept in a cold cellar.
There is great reason to think, that those rheumatic complaints, which are so common and obstinate after a mercurial course, may be cured by taking regularly for some time the decoction of sarsaparilla, agreeable to the well known effects of that medicine, which is only to be depended on where mercury has failed, or when it is combined with it. I mention this, because few diseases resist more the power of medicine than this, so obstinate indeed they are, that often times they will not yield to a second salivation.
CHAP. X.
Cure of carious Bones from a Venereal cause.
THE proper way to relieve all cariated bones, is to lay them bare, and keep the wound open so long, 'till the rotten parts are, by proper applications brought to exfoliate or scale off, but as in this case it is impossible for the sick person to dispense with the attendance of a skilful surgeon, I shall not enter into farther particulars on this subject.
CHAP. XI.
Cure of a Consumption from a Venereal cause.
IN the first place, let the patient make choice of a fine, clear, soft air, a light, thin, spare diet, such as both contains a large quantity of nourishment in a little compass, and is at the same time easy of digestion; such as asses milk, jellies of hartshorn, calves feet, sago, &c. new-laid eggs, chocolate, welfleet oysters, viper broths, and craw-fish soops; for these thin, softning, and nourishing meats, attenuate the viscid juices, and give time for the medicines employed in the cure, to open the obstructions, and remove the hectic fever. The following is an excellent broth in consumptive cases.
Receipt for making the Restorative Broth.
Take two dried vipers sliced into small bits, three craw-fish bruised, two ounces of pearl barley, a crust of bread, a little mace and salt, and boil them together over a gentle fire in two quarts of water, 'till one half is wasted away, strain off the remainder for use. Of this broth half a pint may be taken every morning, at two of the clock in the afternoon, and at supper time. Nothing affords greater nourishment than this broth, though it is plain and simple, and not stuffed with a load of ingredients, which ofther pall the appetite, and load the stomach, than do any real service.
As the patient gathers strength, and his appetite encreases, half a chicken, or a bit of neck of mutton may be added to this broth. I would advise a couple of large issues to be made between the shoulders, just below the nape of the neck, which always prove of great service by draining the lungs of the pocky particles, which minister fresh supply for the foul expectoration. when by these means, the hectic fever is something abated, and the strength in some measure repaired; the cure must be attempted with the following gentle course. Two or three grains of calomel made into a bolus, with conserve of roses, must be taken night and morning, drinking half a pint of the sarsaparilla decoction, prepared as already directed, after each bolus; for sarsaparilla, in emaciated and consumptive habits from a venereal cause, is the greatest restorer of appetite, colour, flesh, and vigour, yet known: if the stomach will bear it, the other pint of the decoction should be taken, mixt with some new milk, at intermediate times every day. By pursuing these means with care, the patient will be restored to his former health again, without the least fear of a relapse.
CHAP. XI.
Means to restore a broken constitution, whether impaired by the severity of the Venereal Disease, or shattered by the violence of Quack-medicines.
THE signs of a broken constitution are a great weakness in the loins, with a pain in the small of the back, a wasting away, wandering pains in the head, back, and breast, under the ribs; cold, clammy sweats, frequently break out about the forehead, temples and neck, flushings in the face, especially after eating; a great weakness and frigidity of the private parts, tremblings and sudden twitchings often in a day seize the nerves, tendons, and muscles of the face, mouth, arms and legs, attended with a weakness in the joints; a dizziness and swimming of the head; a lowness and faintness of spirits; the body is generally costive, the stools are of a clay like nature, and come away in small pieces lik dogs turds; the urine is thick and foul, and lets fall a sediment which appears thro' the urine, as if threads were lying in the bottom of the chamber-pot; sometimes the surface of the urine is covered with a greasy scum which in cold weather will congeal like a thin cake of fat. This arises from the oily parts of the blood melting down, and discharging by the urinary passages; a profuse stubborn gleet attends some, a dribling of urine, accompanied with hot shooting pains others, the pulse is weak and soft, and from any slight motion beats quicker, more unequal, and as it were in an hurry. The digestion is bad, so that the patient is miserably opprest with wind, which if it does not go off by frequent belchings, occasions severe cholics.
To relieve the patient under these infirmities, we must first endeavour to restore the tone of the stomach, for which purpose I advise the following stomachic draught, to be taken every other day, from which I have often found wondesul effects.
Receipt for the Stomachic Draught.
Take tincture of rhubarb prepared with wine, and tincture of hiera picra, each ten drachms, lavender drops one drachm, mix them together into a draught.
After this has been taken some time, to compleat the cure, I recommend the use of the cold bath, and the following restorative tincture.
Receipt for the Restorative Tincture.
Take two ounces of the best Peruvian bark in gross powder, one ounce and an half of dried orange-peels, three drachms of Virginia snake-root, four scruples of saffron, two scruples of cochineal, infuse them together in a pint and a quarter of brandy, in a vessel close stopped, for a week, then strain off the tincture for use.
A large spoonful of this tincture may be taken two or three times in a day, drinking after each dose a glass of water, with ten drops of acid elixir of vitriol in it.
This Tincture tends to strengthen the solids, to prevent the further dissolution of the blood, restores its crasis, and in the end whether the nervous or vascular system be affected, is the most powerful restorative in nature, and most likely to compleat the cure in all broken constitutions.
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