Chapter IV: Part 4

As to the other Property of this Exercise, it may be convenient for me to make some Apology, before I enter upon the Mention of it, because it is such, as cannot be well understood, but by those who are Conversant with _Sanctorius_, upon one of whose above-mention’d Maxims it does depend, _viz._ Upon that which shews the great Increase of the insensible Perspiration by _Pandiculation_ and Gauping; now I hope the taking Notice of this, will not be thought odd in an Age, of which it is one of the Good Qualities, that Men will not take up with the old superficial Way of accounting for things by Occult Qualities, _Putredo_’s, and the like, but enquire into the _Modus_ of the more Abstruse Actions of Nature, and will be convinc’d, that whatever are the legitimate Measures that she takes, they cannot be thought little or uncouth, seeing ’tis by such _Minima_, that she comes to be able to compleat her great Things. If therefore by Gauping, this Perspiration is so very much promoted, as has been discovered, and adjusted by the Experiments of that Admirable Author, we may reflect upon how little things our Deliverance from Feavers, and other Inconveniences, does depend; nothing being more common upon taking Cold, Surfeits, or the like, than for People to Gaup often, till the offensive Matter is let out, and consequently it is very apparent, that whatsoever will promote the Pandiculation must be beneficial, when the Perspiration is obstructed; and this, tho’ it cannot be effected by any Internal, may be done by Riding, which will dispose all People, the Healthy as well the Sick, more or less to it. I know it may be alledg’d, that all People when they are tyr’d, are more or less apt to Gaup and Retch, but yet it cannot be said, that Thirty Miles Riding is a Tyring to a Healthy Man; and yet let any one observe, if that or less will not dispose all People to this Affect, unless they over-rule it by Drinking of great Quantities of good Liquor, which I believe will not always suppress it neither; but for those who are Sickly, the least Use of this Exercise disposes ’em to this Method of Nature, which perhaps no other Exercise will do, unless they are tyr’d by it; which shews how much Riding is preferable to other Exercises for Sick People, because it does some way or other act upon the Secret Springs of Nature, after a more peculiar manner, and therefore more proper for the promoting that easie and even Evacuation.

There is another Property of Riding, that it always gives a Freshness to the Countenance of those who use it, which lasts for some time, and will appear upon but once Riding, and the weakest and most infirm Person shall discover something of this in his Cheeks after this Exercise; now I would fain know, what Noble Cordial, whether Solid or Liquid, can do thus? They may cause a Flushing, but can produce nothing of this Natural Aspect; and what can more plainly discover to us, that there is something inimitable which results from the equal and gentle Pressures of the innumerable and invisible _Vascula_ of the whole Body together, and that that Action which can produce such an Appearance upon but one single Application to it, may be sufficient to display the greatest and most wholsome effects when continued on gradually, as it ought to be; and to object against the Certainty of these Measures, because they must be slow, is just as Wise as it would be to assert, that the hand of the Dial does not move, or the Budding Leaf encrease, because we cannot discern the Motion of either of ’em. Nothing certainly could keep us from Regarding these Tendencies of Nature, but the excessive Variety of Medicines, with which we are so gloz’d, that we over look Her gradual Progressions, either to Sickness or Health, and think to force Her in all Cases by the Power of Art; whereas in a great many Cases, she will baffle the boldest Administrators, when by gentle and suitable means she may be reduc’d, to her true State. The Famous _Cornaro_’s Case, and many others might be alledg’d to shew how great Changes may be procur’d, by a strict attendance to the demands of Nature, and that it is seldom too late to aid Her in a Natural way, agreeable to her Weakness and without the Oppression as I may call it at such a time, instead of the Assistance of much Physick.

Add to all this the Vivacity, the Gayety which does alwayes more or less result from brisk Motion, whether it is caus’d by the spirits expanding themselves, or the Fibres dilating themselves to take in a greater quantity of the Spirits, it is hard to determine, and perhaps of no great consequence if we could; but that I may represent the Sense we may conceive of this, I think I have no reason to be asham’d to borrow for once more an Illustration from that Noble Beast, to which this Exercise I am treating of is owing; It is a known Case then, that if you take a Horse of the best Spirit, and of the best Keeping, provided he is not Vicious, as they call it; if you mount this Horse, and walk him or keep him to a pretty slow pace, you’ll find him quiet enough, but if you once put him on to a larger Pace, he can’t contain himself, but will grow troublesome, and press for a swifter Career, than perhaps his Rider would desire; which plainly shews, that there is something in the Animal Oeconomy, which _crescit eundo_, which gathers by Motion, and which can’t perhaps be made to display it self so well any other way; for this must not be thought to be wholly owing to high Feeding, but to the degree of the Motion; for the same Sprightliness or Courage will appear proportionally in any sort of Motion: And but a slow Motion in some Cases does not want its good Effects; those who are Judges of the Art of War, tell us that it is not best for a Body of Men to stand still and expect the Enemy, but to keep in Motion while they are drawing to the Battle; and in the time of a Siege, they make it a Rule, to remove their Men from one Post to another; that their Spirits may be kept up by their being in a continual Diversion. We are as subject to the Impressions of Motion, as to those of Sound and Harmony, and both are able sometimes to inspire a Flash of Courage into the Mind, that is not to be despis’d; and as one was of Use to drive away the Evil Spirit of Old, so the other may be of Service, to dispel the Hypochondriack Cloud, the desponding imaginations of Sick Persons; a Man may be able by this means to rouze himself, and shake off that _Incubus_ of the Brain, that lies brooding of Causeless Fears and Doubts, to the great hindrance of all his Endeavours after Health; it is no small matter for a Person to hope and believe that he shall do well, it is some Advance towards a Cure to have so much Courage, Ἤν φόβος καὶ δυθυμὶη, &c. _Si Metus & Tristitia multo tempopore perseverent, Melancholicum hoc ipsum_; As _Hippocrates_ observes in one of his _Aphorisms_ of his _fifth Section_, Fear and Sadness are sufficient to create a Distemper, and therefore may be very well thought to obstruct greatly the Cure of one; those Passions cause the Motion of the Heart, and the Beat of the _Artery_ to be weaker and consequently must proportionably lessen insensible Perspiration, which depends so much upon the Vigour of that Motion: We see a more than usual Application to Business and Intensness of Thought for but a few Days, shall cause an Alteration in the Countenance of a Healthful Man, and make him begin to look Pale and Wan; how much more then must it prejudice a Sick Man, to be always musing on his Distemper, which he can hardly well forbear neither, when he knows there is real Danger in this Case? but all this Anxiety will be very much prevented and interrupted by Riding, and a Man will naturally come to take heart and think well of his Case, when he finds he can procure such Temporary or Periodical Relief, if I may so call it, such intervals of Ease, as in the time of Riding, he is sure more or less to enjoy.

These things are so agreeable to Nature and Reason, that I am confident they can’t but gain reception with those who are acquainted with this Exercise; no Man can be an Enemy to Riding, but he who is ignorant of it; and the generality of Men are by their Employments and Affairs kept so much from the Practice of it, that they for the most part judge of it by what they have experienc’d on a Journey, where an indifferent Horse, bad Ways, and other Inconveniencies, make Riding rather a Toil than a Pleasure: Whereas he who designs to make his Riding turn to account, must make it a Pleasure; he must retire to some Place, where he can have the open Field for his Range, he must find out a Horse that entirely suits his Humour, and then it will not be easie for him not to delight in a Creature which will perform all he expects from him, that takes Pleasure in what he is put upon, and delights in his Rider; a Creature, which (considering the many other Beasts that are Serviceable for Draught or Burden) seems to be made almost only for the Defence, the Pleasure and Health of his Master; and which has so many excellent Qualities above all other Beasts, that there is no Man upon Earth, whose Gravity or Dignity is so great, as not to allow him with some Pleasure to take Notice of ’em, if the Exercise alone will not satisfie; there is Variety of the Pleasures of the Field, some of which any Man may make agreeable to his Humour; there is variety of Chace, both Violent and Moderate, a variety so great, that Providence seems to have appointed it to be subservient to this Exercise, that Men may divert themselves with Pleasures, that will keep up the Vigour of the Mind, instead of those soft Effeminate ones, which generally take place more or less, where this is laid aside; add to all this the pleasure a Man conceives when he finds his Health returning, which will make him delight in the means of his Recovery, and persue with Cheerfulness that which before perhaps seem’d indifferent to him; so that an Active Life, when a Man has laid aside his timorous Prejudices, and is let into the tast of it, will be found not only to have its Advantages, but its Charms too; and he who indulges himself long in it, will think it not a Paradox, that there should be an Active Luxury, which may exceed all the Passive Enjoyments of Sloth and Indolence. I have insisted the more on the Pleasure as well as the Benefit of this Exercise, because there are some Constitutions of so fine a Make, or else so impair’d by some Hereditary Stain, that it must be slow and gentle means that can Act upon ’em to any purpose, and the taking Pleasure in those Means must greatly contribute to the Relief they are intended to give.

Tho’ what I have said, may I hope carry weight enough with if, to convince any that will give themselves leave to enquire into the Causes of things; yet because Examples have so great a sway with some I shall add a few instances of the Effects of this Exercise, and I shall first relate the History of the Cure of Dr. _Seth Ward_, then Bishop of _Salisbury_, which I have Translated from Dr. _Sydenham_.

_Nostrorum quidem in Sacris Antistes, Vir Prudentia, &c._ “One of our Prelates, a Man Eminent for Wisdom and Learning, after that he had for a long time given himself intemperately to his Studies, and with the whole Stress of his Mind, which in him is very great, apply’d himself too much to close Thinking; he fell at length into the Hypochondriacal Distemper, which continuing a good while, all the Ferments of his Body were vitiated, and all the Digestions quite subverted. He had more than once gone thro’ the Chalybeate Course, He had try’d almost all the Mineral Waters, with Purgings often repeated; as likewise Antiscorbuticks of all kinds, and Testaceous Powders, in order to the Sweetning of his Blood. Thus what with the Disease, and what with the Cure, continu’d for so many Years together, being just not quite destroy’d, he was seiz’d with the Colliquative _Diarrhœa_, which in the Consumption, and other Chronical Distempers, when all the Digestions are quite spoil’d, is wont to be the Forerunner of Death: When he at length consulted me, I presently consider’d, that there was no more place left for Medicines, since he had taken so many, and those so efficacious to so little purpose; I advis’d him therefore for the Reasons above-mention’d, to commit himself wholly to Riding for a Cure, beginning first with small Stages, such as were most suitable with so weak a Condition; in so much, that if he had not been of a piercing Judgment, that could discern the Reason of things, he would not have been induc’d, to try that sort of Exercise. I desir’d him to persist daily in that Practice, till in his own Opinion he was well, encreasing his Stages gradually every day, till he could come to Ride as many Miles in a Day, as the more Prudent and Moderate Travellers usually do in one day, when upon the account of their Affairs, they set out on a long Journey; that he should not be sollicitous as to what he Eat or Drank, or have any regard to the Weather; but that he should like a Traveller, take up with whatsoever he met with. To be short, he set upon this Course gradually, Augmenting the Distance of his Ridings, till at length he came to ride twenty, nay thirty Miles a Day and as soon as he perceiv’d himself better after a few days tryal, he was Animated with the wonderfulness of the Event, and persever’d in the same Course for some Months; in which space of Time, he rode several Thousand Miles, as he told me himself, until he was not only well, but had acquired a strong and robust Habit of Body.”

And Dr. _Sydenham_, tells us in the same place, that he Cur’d some of his Relations of Consumptions, by putting ’em upon Riding much, of whom he says, that it was altogether out of the Power of Medicine to help ’em. _Cum certò sciam me, vel Medicamentis quantivis pretii, aut aliâ Methodo, quæcunque demum ea fuerit, nihil magis iisdem proficere potuisse, quam si multis verbis hortatus fueram ut recte valerent._

A Clergyman, with whom I am acquainted, living in the Country, happen’d some years ago, to fall into a lingring _Diarrhœa_, which hung upon him some Years, and eluded the force of the best Medicines of all sorts, and brought him so low, that he had no hopes of Recovery left; when he was in this Condition, a Physician of the City advis’d him to try what Riding would do, not a slight tryal or two, but a close application to it; and his Physician told me himself, that he charg’d him to keep to a brisk Motion, and gallop as much as he could, enjoyning withal a very strict Diet, that if the Disease should be check’d by the Exercise, it might not by any improper Food, have occasion to break out again. He set upon this Course in his own Grounds, which are very large and spatious, and by these means was restor’d to perfect Health again. ’Tis manifest, this Case was a Colliquative _Diarrhœa_, which at long run had sunk all the Digestions and brought Nature into a kind of Universal Gleet, so that it came to be properly and solely the Object of Exercise; whereas a New _Diarrhœa_ or Dysentery, when the Humours are Turgid and Acrimonious, is solely the Object of Medicine, and so far from being to be Cur’d this way, that nothing would be more absurd than to attempt it; for ’tis the debilitated Fibres that Exercise restores, and immediately affects; and whenever Exercise makes an Alteration in the Fluids, it does so by the frequent Working and Constriction of the Fibres, which in a fresh _Diarrhœa_, before the Genuine Acrimony that occasions it is spent, would be to no purpose.

A _Northamptonshire_ Gentleman, who about two Years and a half ago, came up to Town, and liv’d in _Hogsdon_ Square, was taken Ill and sent for me; I found the chief thing he complain’d of was a Colick, but he had other Symptoms, which made me suspect he was beginning to be Cachectick. He was averse to much Physick, and took nothing but the _Elixir Salutis_, which gave him Ease, but he continued indispos’d; and seeing he was unwilling to take any more things, I advis’d him to ride out a little, he having a good Pad of his own breeding in the Town; he told me, if he rode at all, he would ride Forty Mile; I reply’d, I thought a much less distance would serve, and indeed as much as I was for that Exercise, I thought five or six Miles would have tyr’d him; for he was much weakned, and his Arms trembled exceedingly, when he lifted ’em up, which was caus’d purely by the Distemper, for he was not given to drink. However, after I had started that Advice, he persisted in his Design, and in two or three days set out and rode I think to _Bedford_, or thereabouts, Forty Mile in a Day, which, as he told me afterwards, made him so stiff, that he was laid up for five or six days; but it stav’d off all those Cachectick Symptoms that appear’d before, and in about a Month he return’d well to Town, and with so Florid a Countenance, that it could be owing to nothing but that Exercise; and he continu’d so for near a Twelvemonth, when these Symptoms of an ill Habit of Body, which I clearly discern’d was begun, broke out again, and continue upon him still. This Example may suffice to shew, that the Weakness which People commonly alledge for a Reason against Riding, is no Reason at all; it being, in some Sense, their Weakness which makes it requisite.

I will here likewise mention an Instance of the good Effects of Walking, the most common and unpromising Exercise; which I had from Dr. _Baynard_. About Twenty Years agoe a certain Gentleman came from the _West-Indies_ for the sake of our Hot Bath, for the Cure of a Sort of Palsie, which was occasion’d by the Dry-Gripes of that Countrey, kind of _Colica Pictonum_, which if not cur’d in time, usually terminates in a Palsie; This Gentleman got a Calash to carry him to the Bath; but it came into his Head, that he would by the way try to walk as much as he could, and when he found himself tir’d would get into his Calash; upon this Attempt he found his Limbs come to him more and more every day; and before he quite reach’d the Bath, he was perfectly well. And here it is remarkable, that _Bontius_, as great an Admirer as he was of fragrant Exoticks, in his _Medicina Indorum_, treating of a Sort of Palsie which some of the _Indians_ call _Beriberii_, not much unlike to, if not the same with that I have lately mention’d, he makes it his first Rule in the Cure of that Distemper, That the Sick shouldn’t give way to it, but set upon vigorous Exercise, _Sed hoc imprimis curandum est, ne (si ullo modo fieri possit) te lecto affigas decumbendo; sed vel ambulando, vel equitando, vel simili aliquo motu validiore omni conatu te exerceas_.

Dr. _Baynard_ has likewise given me, in the following Letter, an Account of his Recovery from a Consumption, some Years agoe.

SIR,

_In Answer to your Request, concerning my Illness, as near as
I can remember, I here give you in short the Matter of Fact.
In the Month of ~October, Anno 1694~, I was sent for to my
old Friend and Acquaintance, Colonel ~Warwick Bamfield~, at
~Hardington~ in ~Somersetshire~; I being then in ~London~, and
had been very ill all the Summer at ~Bath~; my Case was, as I
and other Physicians thought, a true and confirm’d ~Phthisis~;
for I had an habitual Heat and continual Cough, Night and Day,
a very quick and frequent Pulse; I spit Blood, and exputed a
viscous tough Matter, sometimes Green, Yellow, Ash-colour’d,
and that in great Quantity. It would sink in Water, and smell
ill and fœtid when cast upon live Coals. My Flesh went off,
my Stomach decay’d, and I had that ~Livor Genarum~, as tabid
People usually have, Night-Sweats, &c. so that every Body gave
me over as lost and gone; but through a constant and cool
Regimen in Dyet, chiefly Milk and Apples, sometimes with Honey
and Sugar of Roses, and a distill’d Milk, with the temperate
and cool Pectorals, together with constant Riding Night and
Morning in the Air, and that on the highest Hills and Places I
could find. I thank God, in two Months time my Hectic abated,
Cough ceas’d, Flesh came on, and my Stomach return’d; and by
continuing Riding, and other Field-Exercises, I recovered to
a Miracle: And this present Year 1705, falling into the same
Distemper, I was cured by the same Means, but chiefly Riding.
This is very well known, and observed by all that knew me at
the ~Bath~; And I wish others, in my Case and Circumstances,
may find the like happy Success. I am_,

DEAR SIR,

Your humble Servant,

_Edw. Baynard_.

I shall here insert a Relation of a very strange Cure by Riding, which was communicated to me by Dr. _Sydenham_, the Son of the Eminent Writer of that Name; who was likewise pleas’d to acquaint me, That he himself took a Journey into _Scotland_, that he might get rid of a Cough, which seem’d to threaten a Consumption, and that his Journey took it off. But the Cure I am going to mention, was of a Gentleman who is related to the Dr. and now living in _Dorsetshire_, who was brought so low by a Consumption, that there seem’d to be no Possibility of a Recovery, either by Medicine or Exercise; but it being too late for the first to do any good, all that was to be done, was to be expected from the latter, tho’ the Dr. did not think that Riding would then do. However the poor Gentleman, seeing there were no other Hopes left, was resolv’d to attempt to ride into the Country; but was so extremely far gone, that at his setting out of Town, he was forc’d to be held up upon his Horse by two Porters; and when he got to _Branford_ or _Hounslow_, the People of the Inn, into which he put, were unwilling to receive him, as thinking he would die there, and they should have the Trouble of a Funeral; but notwithstanding, he persisted in his Riding by small Journeys to _Exeter_, and got so much Strength by the way, that tho’ one Day his Horse as he was drinking, lay down with him in the Water, and he was forc’d to ride part of the Day in that wet Condition, yet he got no Harm by it, but came to the abovemention’d place considerably recovered; where thinking he had then gain’d his Point, he neglected to ride any more for some time; but finding himself relapsing, he remember’d the Caution which Dr. _Sydenham_ had given him at his setting out, That if he should be so happy as to begin to recover, he should not leave off Riding too soon, for he would infallibly relapse and die, if he did not carry on those Measures long enough; so he betook himself to his Horse again, and rode till he obtain’d a perfect Recovery.

And I have lately met with a Gentleman of this City, who upon the Advice of the same Physician, set upon a Course of Riding, and recovered of a Consumption, in which he was very far advanc’d; and had try’d a Milk-Diet, and other proper means to no purpose, and all along spit Blood very much. This Gentleman set out on a Journey to _York_, and by Riding close Day after Day for about Ten Weeks; in which space of time, he rode by Computation a Thousand Mile, he return’d healthy and well to Town.

It is to be consider’d from these two last Cases, that the Riding through Variety of Airs in a long journey, is of great Consequence to Consumptive People, and is much better than riding constantly in one Air; besides the new Scenes that appear every Day in a long Journey, create some sort of Amusement in the Minds of Sick Persons, that is not to be thought altogether contemptible.

But I have been the more willing to insert these two last Cases, because they do manifestly justifie that well-grounded Distinction, or as I think, I may rather call it, Discovery of that Excellent Physician, whom I have so often cited, _viz._ That it may be too late to force any one Secretion to good purpose; and yet it may not be too late to move all the Secretions of the Body at once, equally and gently by moderate Riding; which I doubt not will be found, by all who shall try it, to be a real Truth, and of the greatest Importance, tho’ it happens to be so difficult of Access to the Understandings of some People, and so cross to the Expectations of this Age, that there are Thousands of _Naaman_’s Opinion to be found, who will choose to suffer any thing, rather than be convinc’d, that there can be so much Healing in the _Waters of Jordan_.

I could give several more Instances of this Nature; I could bring the Example of a Young Lady, the Heiress of a very Eminent Family, who ow’d what ease she had under a certain Distemper, chiefly to frequent Riding on Horseback, and to whom the being put out of that Method prov’d Fatal, when Her ordinary Physician being out of the way, another, who mistook her Case, took wrong Measures. But I only mention this, to shew that it may not be so incongruous a thing, and altogether without Precedent, to recommend these Measures in some pressing Circumstances, even to that tender Sex; who if they knew the surprising Advantages, that may sometimes be obtain’d by this Exercise, would I doubt not break through the Mode to come at ’em: No Woman living would bear some of the severer Hysterick Symptoms, if she knew any way to get rid of ’em; and I am widely mistaken if some of those Symptoms, do not as it were point out to us the clearest Indications for these Measures; as in those Women who have been long distress’d and broke with this Distemper, we may observe sometimes, that their Spirits are so scatter’d, or the Nerves so impair’d, that they can’t well bear any thing that pleases, or displeases very much, without some disorder; if they happen to desire a Thing very earnestly, they can’t wait a little while for it, without some visible uneasiness; and tho’ they are sensible of this, and their Reason is as strong as ever, yet they can’t command themselves, because the Animal Spirits, the _Medium_ by which the Rational Soul exerts it self, are so broke and confounded. The same is likewise indicated by those intense Hysterick Shiverings, which sometimes tho’ more rarely are to be met with. Now if Women, who happen to be thus Tormented, believ’d that a Recourse to this Exercise would relieve ’em, I leave it to any one to judge, whether they would dispute the putting it in Practice.

What I have said concerning Exercise, I hope may suffice to convince any Man, that the Power of Healing is not confin’d to the Drug only, but that this course may come in for a share also, and be esteem’d upon a Level in due place with common Physick. And if I should venture to say something greater of it, I should not speak my own Fondness or Phancy, but the Opinion of one who is known to have been a very Ample Judge of the Demands of Nature, I mean Dr. _Sydenham_, with whose Encomium on this very Exercise, as he has given it us in his _Dissertatio Epistolaris_, and his Treatise of the Gout, I shall conclude. In the first of those abovecited Places he has these Words. _At verò nihil ex omnibus quæ mihi hactenus innotuere, adeo impensè sanguinem spiritusque fovet firmatque, ac diu multumque singulis fere diebus Equo Vehi. Cum enim in hac Gymnasticæ specie impetus fermè omnis in Ventrem inferiorem fiat, in quo Vasa Excretoria (quotquot fœculentiis, in sanguinis massa stabulantibus, educendis à naturâ instituuntur) sita sint, quæ tanta functionum perversio, aliáve Organorum Naturalis impotentia vel fingi potest, cui tot succussionum millia eodem die ingeminata, idque, sub dio, opem non attulerint? Cujus Calidum innatum usq; adeò deferbuerit, ut hoc motu non excitetur & denuo effervescat? Quæ verò sive præternaturalis substantia, sive succus depravatus in aliquo harum partium sinu recondi potest, qui non hoc Corporis Exercitio, vel in statum naturæ consentaneum perducatur, vel quaquaversùm dissipetur elimineturque? Quid quod sanguis perpetuo hoc motu indefinenter agitatus ac permistus quasi renovatur ac vigescit._ And in his Treatise of the Gout, he thus expresses himself with some Exultation. _Sanè diu multumq; mecum reputavi, quod si cui innotesceret Medicamentum, quòd & celare vellet, æquè efficax in hoc Morbo_ (scilicet Podagrâ) _ut & in Chronicis plerisque, ac est Equitatio constans & assidua, opes ille exinde amplissimas facilè accumulare posset._

OF CHAFING.

The next I shall recommend, is a Cutaneous Exercise; _Chafing of the Skin_, or as we usually call it, the Use of the _Flesh-Brush_. It is very strange that this Exercise, which was in such universal request among the Ancients, of which they have wrote so copiously, have given us so many Rules and Distinctions for the use of it, which they put in Practice, in almost all Distempers, and without which, scarce any Man of tolerable Circumstances pass’d a day, either in Sickness or in Health; I say, it is strange, that what was so much esteem’d by them, should be so totally neglected and slighted by us, especially when we consider that their Experience agrees so exactly with our Modern Discoveries in the Oeconomy of Nature, _viz._ That there is so great a disproportion between the Evacuations perform’d by the Skin insensibly, and all the others put together; that the first exceeds all the rest by many Ounces. One would be apt to think, that this Theory should convince us, that the Ancients did find their Account in those diligent Frictions, and that they really answer’d their Expectations in the several Cases, in which they made use of ’em; and that we, who live in a Colder Climate, have much more reason to expect great advantages from this Method, if we would use it to some purpose, with Continuation and close Repetition. If a Person happens to be a little more costive than ordinary, what a Concern is he in for it? What Doses of Purging Physick are repeated to take off this suppos’d Evil; which at the same time is frequently obviated by a larger _Diaphoresis_, which at such times is often sensible in the Palms of the Hands, and very often not sensible, but yet real, and to the greater Benefit of the Person, than a Laxity of the Intestines would have been. But if six or eight Ounces of the _Materia Perspirabilis_ is kept in, which is of far worse Consequence, than the like Weight of the _Fæces_; no body is very solicitous about that: and if it discover it self in a Cold or Headach, presently there is Recourse to Purgatives; and if it be the Summer time, perhaps the Purging Waters are drank so long _de die in diem_, till Nature lose the way she has been accustom’d to; and perhaps never comes to be able to make the same Discharges for Quantity by insensible Perspiration, as she did before she was thus violently forc’d out of her way. This was not the way of the Ancients, they were for stimulating and soliciting that part, which was primarily defective, that they might reduce it to an Ability to make its wonted Discharges; so that where there is a great Lett of insensible Perspiration, which in some Cases is easily discover’d by the Smoothness and Dryness of the Hands, it is certainly most natural to endeavour to stimulate the Glands of the Skin by rubbing; which by the Colour it brings into the Skin, Sufficiently shews what it is able to do, if us’d long enough. And certainly we ought to have regard to this sort of Discharge above others, because it can supply the Defect of others, better than any of the others can supply the Defect of this; and because it is perform’d by those Vessels, which are by all now allowed to be the grand Emunctory of the Body, that is, by the true Skin, and all its innumerable Glands.

These Reasons are so Natural, that I can’t imagine what should have hinder’d the putting this Method in Practice in some Cases at least, unless it be, what I have somewhere observ’d before, the general Impatience of most People, who can’t be brought to think well of a Method which does not surprize with some present Alteration, without considering, that if such a Method will after a time cause a good Alteration, it is worth their while to wait for it, and perhaps the best Course that the Nature of the Case will admit of. Now that the Efficacy of a _general Chafing_ may be made to appear so valuable, as to encourage any one to wait for the Effects of it, let us but consider it in a particular familiar Case, which is the Cure of a _Ganglion_, a Tumour in a Tendon, occasion’d by some extravasated Juices between the Coats. This little white Swelling is commonly taken off by frequent Rubbing; and tho’ no Alteration appear for a Week or two, yet if you persist longer, it certainly vanishes; which plainly shews, that if _Chafing_ can produce such an Effect, in a Part which is cold, and comparatively exanguous, what may we not expert from it, when apply’d to the _Cutis_, which is so warm and succulent, and ready to give forth such copious Exhalations? This Instance, in my Opinion, does sufficiently illustrate the thing, tho’ we see the good Effect of it in another Case too, _viz._ The _Rickets_, which is caus’d by the neglect of exercising and _Chafing_ the Limbs of the Child, and which every Nurse knows may be Cur’d by so doing, if it has not been of long Continuance; or at least that those Exercises are equally prevalent with all the Internal Administrations.

If these things are so, why should not we carry on this Method to some of the other Cases too? Why should not we go to work even in a true Rheumatism, after the Inflammation is abated; to fetch out the _Mucous Gelatinous_ Substance, which has been thrown put into the _Interstices_ of the Muscles? This course would mould and break that Viscous Matter, and render it more fit to be absorb’d and carry’d off, or discuss’d, by dilating the Membranes, and making ’em more fit for a Transpiration; and withal would secure the Cutaneous Parts, from too great a Flaccidity, by keeping up the Spring of the small Fibres; whereas warm Fomentations, tho’ they procure a wonderful Transpiration, yet they are apt to leave the part relaxed, and sodden in a manner, if they are apply’d too often; and thus it is easie to imagine, how proper this Course is in the other Nervous Scorbutick Rheumatism, and what good Effect it will produce, if us’d with Discretion, at proper Seasons; with other Exercises likewise.

There are moreover some _Atrophies_ where this is like to prove of singular Use, by reason of the στεγνωσις (as _Galen_ calls it, in his third Book, _de Sanitate Tuendâ_) the dryness and stiffness of the Skin, which at that time, seems to be fix’d to the part that it covers, and not to fit loose as at other times, and the Pores are obstructed, and the Skin of a different Hue, from what it is in most other Cases. Here it’s easie to perceive that _Chafing_ must be of wonderful consequence, the reason of which _Galen_ gives us in a Chapter or two in the abovementioned Book, where he Treats expresly of this very Affect.

_Lastly_, it must needs be very beneficial to those Hysterical and Hypochondriacal People, who are very Fat; and upon that account, cannot use much Exercise, and have reason to be cautious, how they venture into the Cold Bath, and therefore I have not perfunctorily advanc’d this Method, where I have already treated of that Case, but upon good grounds; as these People can’t well bear any of the sensible _Evacuations_, it is but necessary we should have recourse to the promotion of the insensible one; and perhaps if we knew the true cause of that Distemper, it would be found to arise in great part, from some Lett in that insensible Perspiration, and therefore it would be proper to endeavour the Removal of such an Obstruction by outward Means, because so few internal ones are agreeable; and if any one thinks the Breathing, that is caus’d by _Chafing_, too trivial to be call’d an Evacuation, they may be fully inform’d out of _Hippocrates_ and _Galen_, that they thought it to deserve that Name, and therefore they distinguish’d one degree of it for attenuating of gross Bodies. If therefore this can be brought to appear a sufficient Evacuation for these People, it is certain it is most conducive upon other accounts; because it raises and cherishes the Spirits at the same time. Upon this account of refreshing the Spirits, the Ancients made it a great part of their Ἀποθεραπία, that is, their Method for refreshing _Athleticks_, after their violent Exercises; and every Old Woman now among us, falls to rubbing the Limbs of any body that happens to be taken with an Hysterick Fit, for it diverts the Spirits from flowing too much to the Parts affected, and long acting upon the Extremity of those most sensible Fibres of the Skin, must needs agitate the Spirits considerably, and give some Strength likewise to those Parts that are so _Chafed_.

A great deal more might be added on this neglected Subject; but I think I have said enough to prove what I above asserted, _viz._ The exquisite Agreement, between the Practice of the Ancients, and our Theory of the _Cutaneous_ Parts; and if this will not encourage any to hope for the like Advantage from the same Methods now in our days, nothing that I can say more will avail.

_Of being Exercis’d to bear_ COLD.

The next and last _Gymnastick_ Method I proceed to, is the Use of the _Cold Bath_; if any should wonder to find me rank this, among the several sorts of Exercise, they may consider, that it was ever reputed for one among the Ancients, and not without Reason; since it makes the Spirits recoil, and act with more united Vigour, upon the Subject-matter of the Disease, and so a Cure may be made by them alone, without any Medicinal Virtue, receiv’d through the Pores, as in other outward and Topical Applications; this comes up to the Notion of an Exercise, because it enables Nature to accomplish the Work of Healing her self.

I shall not attempt to account for the Advantages of this Practice, because that has been done already so copiously by Sir _John Floyer_ and Dr. _Baynard_, and the World has already begun to experience the good Effects of it, and there are Examples enough, every where known, to justifie the recourse to it, in the Cases to which I apply it; and ’tis to be hop’d now, that Men will begin to consider the Folly and Mischief of the too warm Regimen, which in health does often prepare ’em for Sickness, and in Sickness does often increase the Disease, and hasten Death, a Regimen which would be much more proper, for one that is to have a sudden passage into a warm Country, than for us who are to prepare our selves for the bearing of the Cold; a thing which we cannot fly from, and therefore ought to resist it; and which is not so formidable or dangerous, as for a great while has been thought. The Inhabitants of this Nation formerly went Naked, and were more Healthy than we are now; and the People of _Canada_, and all the Cold Continent behind _Newfoundland_, go much after the same manner, without any Inconvenience from it, but are rather fortifi’d against the Accidents they would be subject to, if their Pores were too much open’d and relax’d by too much warmth; and we may very well distinguish the Rational, from the Savage Part, by as thin a Habit as Decency will permit. It is a strange thing, that People should be fond of suppling their Skins, and keeping their Pores too open; as if a Man did not as really perspire, when there is no sensible Moisture upon the Skin, tho’ not so much, as when he is all bedew’d with Exhalations, which should not be sent out in so great Quantity, but upon brisk Exercise. If Men knew how much Sweat impairs the Skin, and inclines it to wrinkle, as _Sanctorius_ tells us in one of his _Aphorisms_, they would be fully perswaded, that Nature can make her Discharges by finer and better ways, than those which are so perceptible, and that Flannel is scarce necessary or convenient on this side Old Age. The nervous parts of the Skin have certainly a very great Elasticity, and are capable of being strengthned by good and suitable Management, even to a Habit, as well as those of other Parts; and we see, that when the Glands of the Skin do throw out a very sensible quantity of Sweat in some particular Parts, these Parts grow accustom’d to the Air, or other Moisture, and receive little or no hinderance in their discharges from it; as we see the Palms of the Hands shall sweat copiously, notwithstanding the External Air immediately striking upon ’em; and none are more Strong and Healthy, than those who are wont to have their Feet wet without changing their Shooes and Stockings for it. The Stomach plac’d in the midst of the Body, and consequently exquisitely warm, is so adapted, as to bear large Draughts of the Coldest Liquor, without the least Damage, unless the Body has been extremely heated; and tho’ its Office seems to require great and continual Heat, yet it is not obstructed in it, by the admission of Cold things, nor are its Glands benumn’d or constring’d, so as to hinder the Secretion of digesting Juices; and can we suppose the Fabrick of the Skin less perfect, and exquisite, when by its position it is to be immediately subject to the effects of the External Air? Can we think its Vessels are not endu’d with a strength sufficient to answer the Force and Weight of the incumbent Air? And its Glands of such a make, as that the Particles they strain shall be of so fine a Texture as to pass the Skin, when it seems to us to be too close to permit any transition? We make but indifferent use of a very good Theory, that _Sanctorius_ has furnish’d us with, if we give way to these Thoughts, and encourage too frequently the promoting of Sensible Perspirations; which, be they in never so small a degree, are the effect of some Violence upon Nature, and consequently not to be compar’d with the other more Even and Regular Secretion.

Besides, we may argue from the Effects of too much Heat, and from the Distempers of Hot Countries, to instance but in one Disease (which when it seizes any one among us, their chiefest Care is to be secur’d from the Cold,) and that is the Colick, which is the Epidemical Distemper of Hot Countries, not of Cold, and so common at _Surat_, that about Noon the whole Town shall smell of _Assa Fœtida_, which they mix in most of their Dishes, to preserve ’em from that Tormenting Distemper, which the Heat of the Air does not exempt ’em from, but exposes ’em to it, by rarefying the Blood and Humours, and opening their Pores; by which Method I don’t doubt but many a one among us has brought an Accidental Colick to be habitual; for being scar’d by the first Fit, they have endeavour’d to secure themselves from another, by these very Means which prove most likely to bring it on. If any one thinks this strange, let ’em remember what hapned when Muffs were worn universally, some Men were wont to let ’em hang upon their Bellies for the most part; and I have heard a Healthy Man complain, that upon leaving off his Muff for a day or two after such a Custom, he has been grip’d; from which any one in the World will infer, that the keeping the Part too warm, prepar’d it for the Ill Effect of the Air, and that the same may happen in any part of the whole Body; so that it is a Folly for People, in most Cases where the Lungs are not concern’d, to nurse up a Distemper, which was at first perhaps in great part owing to a tender way of living, and by continuing that Course of Life, must be rather encreas’d than perfectly rooted out. A great deal more might be urg’d, if my Scope would permit me, to induce People to believe the good effects that will follow upon the Exercising themselves in bearing _Cold_.

I shall proceed next to shew, what was the Opinion of the Antients, concerning Exercise in the Cure of several Distempers, and shall collect their Sentiments as briefly as possible; that as in a Sketch they may appear at one View.

_The PRACTICE of the ANCIENTS._

We find then that much about the time of _Hippocrates_, the _Gymnastick_ Method began to be introduc’d into the Art of Physick; whether it was brought up by the School of the _Cnidians_, or any other Society of Physicians, or whether _Herodicus_ first joyn’d it to the Dietetick, and so brought it into Request, I shall not undertake to determine; but we find by _Hippocrates_, in his _third_ Book, _de Dietâ_, _Sect. 12._ That with some sort of Glory he assumes to himself the Honour of bringing that Method to a Perfection, so as to be able to distinguish Πότερον τὸ σιτίον κρατέει τοὺς πόνους, ἤ ὁι πόνοι τὰ σιτία, ἢ μετρίως ἔχει πρὸς ἄλληλα. _Utrum cibus superat labores, aut labores cibos, aut moderatè inter se habeant_; as he expresses it. Pursuant to this, we find him in several places of his Works, recommending several Sorts of Exercises upon proper Occasions; as _first_, Friction or _Chafing_, the Effects of which he explains in his _Second_ Book, _de Diæta_, _Sect. 42._ And tells us, that as in some Cases it will bring down the Bloatedness of the Solid Parts, in other Cases it will incarn and cause an Increase of Flesh, and make the part Thrive; for, says he, _Carnes Calefactæ ac siccatæ alimentum in seipsas per venas trahunt, deinde augescunt_. He advises Walking, of which they had two Sorts, their round and streight Courses. He gives his Opinion of the Ἀνακίνηματα or Preparatory Exercises, which serv’d to warm and fit the Wrestlers for the more vehement ones. In some Cases he advises, the Παλὴ, or common Wrestling, and the Ἀκροκείρησις, or Wrestling by the Hands only, without coming close. The Κωρυχμαχία, or the Exercise of the _Corycus_, or the hanging Ball. The Χειρονομίη, a Sort of dextrous and regular Motion of the Hands, and upper parts of the Body, something after a Military manner. The Ἀλίνδησις, or rowling in Sand; and once we find mention’d with some Approbation the Ἤπειροι Ἵπποι, _Equi Indefiniti_, by which I suppose he means Galloping, long Courses in the open Field. These various Exercises are more amply describ’d by several Authors, and _Mercurialis_ has Collected a very good account of ’em; they may seem strange to those who don’t consider what great Expences the Ancients were at in Building Academies, or Places every way convenient for these purposes; and as odd as some of these may be thought by us now, they were as commonly practis’d in those days, as Cupping is now in our _Bagnio’s_. And tho’ _Hippocrates_ gives his Direction concerning these things, after his usual manner, in short Terms, yet ’tis plain he depended much on ’em, because he so frequently inculcates the Distinction of this or that sort of Exercise, to such and such a Distemper; and the People of those Times might find greater Benefit from those Exercises, than we do now from some of ours, which I doubt not are altogether as good; because they apply’d the Exercise to such or such a Medicine as the Physician thought fit, which gave it a greater Energy; and after its Operation had recourse to another milder Method, to take off the Heat or Disorder which might have been caus’d by the Medicine. In these Practices they were so dexterous and successful, that tho’ their Ætiology strictly taken, was wrong, yet if a Man diligently attends to their Reasoning from Effects, he may be satisfi’d, that they were able by these Methods to do some wonderful Cures; and indeed they sometimes had such surprizing Success, that the abovemention’d _Herodicus_, an Eminent Master of Exercises, thought he could Cure all Distempers by those Means, and went Empirically to work upon the Bodies of those who put themselves under his Care, and was so extravagant, as to attempt to Cure Fevers by such Methods, for which he is ridicul’d by _Hippocrates_, in the _Sixth Book_ of his _Epidemicks_, and the _Third Section_.

As for _Galen_, he follows _Hippocrates_ in this, as close as in other things, and declares his Opinion of the Benefit of Exercises in several places; his _Second_ Book, _de Sanitate Tuendâ_, is wholly upon the Use of the _Strigil_, or the Advantage of Regular _Chafing_; he has wrote a little Tract, _de Parvâ Pilâ_, wherein he recommends an Exercise, by which the Body and Mind are both at the same time affected. In his Discourse to _Thrasibulus_, which is a Dispute, whether the Preservation of the Health properly belongs to the Art of Physick, or to the Gymnastick Art, he inveighs against the _Athletick_, and other violent Practices of the _Gymnasium_, but approves of the more moderate Exercises, as subservient to the Ends of a Physician, and consequently part of that Art.