Chapter VI: HOW far Clysters, Diureticks, and Diaphoreticks are convenient

on such Occasions?_

HAVING, thus, now, in fine, briefly hinted upon the _sundry_ HEADS of this _Chapter_, I shall, in the next Place, offer a few Words upon THAT, which (I think) is the most common Consequence of the foregoing EFFECTS, _viz._

CHAP. XXIX.
_Of the DEBILITY and WEAKNESS of the_ Fœtus.

BESIDES all the enumerated SYMPTOMS, _Acute_ and _Chronical Distempers_, to which the _Child-bearing Woman_ is subject; it also happens over and above (too frequently) that the INFANT becomes _Weak_ and _Sick_ in the WOMB.

THE _Cause_ of which unhappy _Accident_ I take to be _fourfold_: As it proceeds, either from a _Debility_ and _Insufficiency_ of the _Parental_ SEED, or from a _Scarcity_ or _Want_ of requisite _Sustenance_, or from a certain _Depravation_ of that _Sustenance_, or from some immediate _Procatarctick Cause_ of the MOTHER; which may all be thus rationally distinguished, and severally accounted for; _viz._

THE _Cause_ certainly lies in the SEED, if the _Woman_ has continued always _healthy_, eating, drinking, and living regularly.

IT may be imputed to the _Scarcity_ of ALIMENT, if she has often laboured under _Diseases_, or been exposed to _Hunger_, _Want_, _Penury_, or any such like manifest retrenching CAUSE.

IT may be adjudged to a _Depravity_ of ALIMENT, when the _Woman_ (by a vitiated Constitution of Body) is subject to some certain _Distempers_; and, besides, in short, any _Procatarctick Cause_ is discoverable from the _Relation_ of the PATIENT.

BUT whatever the _Cause_ may be, the _Diagnostick Signs_ of this unhappy _Affection_, are commonly _One_ or _more_ of the following SIX; _viz._

1. THE turgid swell’d BREASTS of the _Pregnant Woman_, all on a sudden[91], fall and extenuate into a _Flabbiness_.

2.[92]THEY diffuse copiously a thin _Waterish Milk_, not half digested to its due Perfection.

3. THE _Menstrua_ return at an uncommon _Rate_, and in an irregular _Manner_.

4. THE _Woman_ personally is either very frequently _Sick_, or long expos’d to a lasting _Sickness_. Or,

5. SHE is either subject to a very frequent, or long continu’d _Looseness_, and constant _Diarrhæa_.

6. THE _Infant_ which used (as it ought) to _move briskly_, is now but very _seldom_, and more _faintly_ perceiv’d in _Motion_.

ON the other hand, the _Prognosticks_ of this CASE, are briefly _Two_: For either _Abortion_ follows, or (which is worse) the _Infant_ dies; if not timely prevented, by removing the _Efficient Cause_ of it, upon _comforting_ and _strengthening_ both the WOMAN and the CHILD.

IN a Word, the _Latter_ of these tragical _Events_ I shall refer to SECT. V. _Chap._ last. But the _Former_ leads me more immediately to consider it in the proper Method of my Discourse.

CHAP. XXX.
_Of ABORTION._

WOMEN _miscarry_ so frequently, that if any curious Persons will diligently observe and examine that _Matter_, they will find the Number of MISCARRIAGES to exceed _That_ of _timely_ BIRTHS: Wherefore I have reason to think, that this _Head_ deserves to be handled more at large, and to be more particularly insisted upon, in the following manner.

THE _Modern Practisers_ in _MIDWIFERY_, distinguish MISCARRIAGES, by _four_ different _Appellations_; according to the _four_ different _Times_ of the _Constitution_ of the _CONCEPTION_. viz.

A MISCARRIAGE happening in the Time of _Spumification_, is call’d an _Effluxion of the GENITURA_: That which happeneth in the _Vegetation_, or Time of _Ramification_, or (as some will have it) before the 40th _Day_, is call’d a _Deperdition_ of the EMBRYO: _That_ which falls out in the _sensitive_ Progression, or Time of _Carnification_, or (as others will have it) before the _90th Day_ from _CONCEPTION_, they call an _Abortion_ of the FOETUS. But what so happens afterwards preceding the _7th Month_, is properly call’d an entire _Abortion_ of the INFANT.

HOWEVER, _Others_ will have a _fifth Distinction_ made; namely, what so happens in the 7th, 8th, and preceding the 20th Day of the 9th _Month_, to be call’d an untimely _BIRTH_; because tho’ born with _Life_, they alledge it to be very seldom, or never really _Vital_, or likely to _Live_: Upon which I shall, in good Time, introduce my own _Sentiment_ in the subsequent Chapters of this _Section_.

NOTWITHSTANDING, this _Definition_ signifies but little to the Purpose; let the _MISCARRIAGE_ happen when it will, and under whatsoever _Name_ or _Denomination_, It is nothing else in general, than an untimely _Exclusion_ of an imperfect and immature BIRTH; which unhappy _Accident_ may proceed from a vast Variety of _Causes_, stimulating NATURE to such a violent _Expulsion_.

IN treating therefore of this _Accidental BIRTH_, I shall make use of none of those _Distinctions_; but rather (to prevent Mistakes) shall call all its several SPECIES, of whatsoever _Time_, by the general (and most common) Name of _ABORTION_.

AND of this _ABORTION_, happen when it will, the _proximous Cause_ is always the _Expulsive Faculty_ of the WOMB; which being _hurt_, or violently _disorder’d_ in any respect, irritates and debilitates the _Retentive Power_: And then again, on the other hand, this _Retentive Faculty_ (tho’ not the _proximous Cause_) is sometimes _first hurt_ or _injur’d_, and by that means incapacitated to _retain_ the _INFANT_; which (in that Case) offends and provokes the _Expulsive Power_[93], which is the proper _proximous Cause_ of all _ABORTIONS_.

BUT most commonly the _Expulsive_ receives the _First Hurt_; from whence the _Retentive_ is oblig’d to _Sympathize_, and yield to its over-ruling _Motions_. And, according to _Galen_[94], the _Expulsive Faculty_ may be injur’d and irritated by _Three_ different _Causes_; viz. 1. By the _Bulk_ of the INFANT, when the WOMB cannot distend itself far enough to contain it: 2. By its _Weight_, when heavier than the WOMB and _Ligaments_ can bear: And, 3. By the _Humours_ (when the _Membranes_ break) flowing into the WOMB; occasioning a _Mordacious Itching_ there, or _putrefying_ the INFANT in its Place.

TO which _three Efficients_, some Modern Authors have thought it sufficient to add the _similar_, _organical_, and _common Diseases_ of the WOMB; together with some _Procatarctick Causes_.

HOWEVER, because I have generally observ’d _Those_, to be very promiscuously and confusedly treated of, I shall (according to my best Ability) endeavour to reduce the many different _Causes_ of _ABORTION_ to such plain _Heads_, and set them in such a clear _Light_, that they shall prove evident and manifest to the meanest _Capacity_: That _Women_ (whose peculiar _Good_ I have only at Heart in the Performance of this Work) may readily conceive them, and thereby be enabled (in most _Cases_) to prevent their greatest _Misfortunes_. And that whether the _Cause_ happens proximously and immediately from a _stimulated Expulsive_, or mediately from a _læs’d_ and _injur’d Retentive Faculty_.

WHEREFORE I shall now reduce those _Causes_ to the following _Four general Heads_; namely, 1. To the _Constitution_ of the MOTHER: 2. The _Constitution_ of the INFANT: 3. The _Symptoms_ of the MONTHS: And, 4. To the various _Procatarctick Causes_ of this Tragical Case.

FIRST the _Causes of ABORTION_, proceeding from the _Constitution_ of the MOTHER, are _Three-fold_, and respect either her _whole Body_, her WOMB only, or its _neighbouring Parts_. THOSE respecting her _whole Body_, are,

I. THE _four Intemperatures_ of the Body; as the CALID, which, by its _Hot Quality_, exhausts the _Humours_ (that are naturally necessary) to the Prejudice and Loss of the INFANT.

II. THE FRIGID; which, by its _Cold Quality_, vitiates and attenuates the INFANT’S _Aliment_, to a starving Condition.

III. THE SICCID; which, by its _adust dry Quality_, scorches and consumes the _Ligaments_, that they break, like so many _Strings_ that snap before the _Sun_: Upon which the INFANT (being deprived of those _Mediums_, through which NATURE has appointed its _Sustenance_) corrupts and decays, like a _PLANT_ in _Arid Sandy Ground_.

IV. THE HUMID _Intemperature_; which, by its _moist Quality_, debilitates the _Retentive Faculty_, hinders the _Ligaments_ to consolidate and close firmly, and opens the shut _Orifice_ of the WOMB. But besides all This also, by filling the _ACETABULA_ with _superfluous Humours_, it may suffocate and stifle the _INFANT_.

V. A _nimious_ and too great an _Obesity_ or _Fatness_, and too great a _Gracility_ or _Leanness_ of the _Woman_’s Body: For the _One_ converts the _CHILD_’s _Nourishment_ to itself; and the _Other_ starves the _INFANT_ for want of its _natural Requisites_.

VI. A _PLETHORY_, or too great a _Repletion_ of BLOOD in her Body; which frequently choaks and suffocates the _INFANT_.

VII. ALL _Corporeal Causes_, exagitating the _Spirits_ and _Humours_; which have the same _Effect_ and _Force_ to irritate the _Expulsive Faculty_.

VIII. ALL _Diseases_ incident to the Body, whether they be _Acute_, _Remiss_, or _Diuturnal_; which may easily effect _ABORTION_. But

SECONDLY, The _Causes_ on the part of the WOMB, are not to be lightly or slightly considered; because if it be not both naturally well _constituted_, and carefully well _dispos’d_, it can neither foment, cherish, nor retain the INFANT. For the least _Flaw_ of its _morbifick Causes_, stimulates to a great Degree the _expulsive Faculty_: which _Causes_ are, in my Opinion, as follow; viz.

I. THE WOMB’s _Præternatural SIZE_, either in _Magnitude_, or _Exiguity_: The _one_ giving room for the _Infant_’s too much tumbling or too frequent Motion; and the _other_ restraining the _CHILD_ too much, even to the _suppressing_ and _stifling_ of it.

II. ITS _præternatural_ _CONSTRICTION_ or _Coarctation_; which may resist its necessary due _Extension_, for containing the growing INFANT.

III. ITS _præternatural_ _DENSITY_; which may not only hinder the requisite _Distention_, but also prevent the SECUNDINE[95] from being firmly connected to the _Vessels_.

IV. ITS _LAXITY_ of the _Orifice_, or _Lavity_ of the interiour _Surface_; proceeding from _pituitous_[96] or _viscous Humours_, which slacken the _Ligaments_, and give way to the FOETUS.

V. THE WOMB’S too _frigid_ and _siccid Intemperature_; which Qualities are the greatest Enemies to _Nature_ and all the _Actions_ of _Female LIFE_.

VI. ITS _frigid_ and _humid Intemperature_; which (abounding with _Mucosities_ or _slimy Humours_) so relaxes the _Ligaments_, that they cannot hold or detain the _INFANT_.

VII. ALL obdurated and confirmed _Tumours_ and _Ulcers_, all _Erysipelas_ and _Inflammations_ of the WOMB: Which often prove the _Causes_ of the same _Effect_.

VIII. A _præternatural Situation_, or an _oblique Position_ may become the _8th_ and _last Cause_ of _ABORTION_, which I shall mention on part of the WOMB.

FROM hence I come, _Thirdly_, in a due Method, to _Those Causes_ respecting the _neighbouring Parts_; which I humbly conceive to be as follow.

I. ALL _Diseases_, _Pains_, and what _Causes_ soever of those _Parts_, may tend much to deject or affect the _Spirits_, and stir up the _Humours_ with unusual Alteration.

II. ALL _Causes_ and bad _Affections_ compressing the _lower Belly_, and exagitating or straining its MUSCLES.

III. A _præternatural Site_ and inapt _CONFORMATION_[97] of the _Umbilical Vessels_, for their due Operation.

BUT then again, _Secondly_, It also often happens that, tho’ the _pregnant Woman_ labours under no _Disease_ or _Misfortune_, either in BODY, WOMB, or _neighbouring_ PARTS, yet notwithstanding the _Expulsive Faculty_ is irritated to EJECTION by several _Causes_ of the _Constitution_ of the _INFANT_ itself, as follow; _viz._

I. ITS _præternatural_ BULK, or vitious _Conformation_, oppressing and straining the WOMB, either in _Whole_ or in _Part_.

II. ITS _Debility_ and _Weakness_, or contracted, infirm, feeble _Constitution_, as mentioned in the preceding _Chapter_.

III. THE _Death_ of the _INFANT_, emitting nauseous _Vapours_ and putrefy’d _Matter_, stimulates the WOMB sooner or later to _Expulsion_: And (in this _tragical Case_) the _sooner_ the _Better_; as will hereafter appear.

AND moreover, _Thirdly_, the _SYMPTOMS_ of the _Months_, frequently prove _Causes_ of _ABORTION_; of which _SYMPTOMS_, having already treated particularly, I shall in this place repeat little or nothing, only refer the READER to their respective _Chapters_ in the preceding _Part_ of this SECTION: And yet under this present _Head_, may be also comprehended all _Acute Diseases_, which (too often) prove of the same bad _Consequence_; as is evident from Chap. 28.

FOURTHLY, There is a great _Variety_ of _Procatarctick Causes_, distinct from all _those_ above-mentioned, which most frequently occasion _ABORTION_: And _Those_ are _Two-fold_, _INTERNAL_ and _EXTERNAL_. Of which the _Internal_ are as follow, in my Judgment.

I. THE _Passions_ of the Mind (mentioned in SECT. I. _Chap._ 5.) because such immoderate _Affections_ too much excite the _Humours_, and incense the _Spirits_.

II. VICTUALS; if taken _too much_ at a time, suffocate the _INFANT_; if _too little_, it is _starved_, and the _MOTHER_ brought to a very low Condition of Life; and if _improper_, or of ill _Concoction_, the _CHILD_ is thereby either much _weaken’d_, or (which is worse) it dies of course.

III. DRINKING immoderately, extinguisheth the _natural Calidity_ of the WOMB and the _INFANT_; as certainly _strong_ or _hot Liquors_ impress a vitious _Intemperature_ upon _Both_.

IV. WATCHINGS a-Nights, too much exhaust and dissipate the _Spirits_; as too much SLEEP, on the other hand, dulls, lessens, and obtunds the _natural Heat_.

V. ALL inward disorderly _Causes_ dissolving the _Uterine_ ACETABULA, _Ligaments_, or _Vessels_, by which the _INFANT_ attracts its _Nourishment_.

VI. ALL _Venenated_, _Cathartick_, and _Diaphoretick MEDICINES_, _Acrimonious Clysters_, _Venæ-Sections_, _Baths_, &c: Which partly by exagitating the _Spirits_ and _Humours_, and partly by diminishing the _Aliment_, occasion frequent _ABORTIONS_. Again

THE _external Procatarctick Causes_ are These, which ensue in their due Order.

I. ALL inclement _Constitutions_ or bad _Influences_ of the WEATHER, WINDS,[98]and AIR; such as _Cold_, which pinches; or as _Heat_, which intercepts the _Breath_, and stifles the _INFANT_, &c.

II. SMELLING or _Touching_, _Sitting_, or _Treading_ upon some Sorts of pernicious HERBS.

III. ALL violent MOTIONS, immoderate _Exercises_, &c. such as _Running_, _Leaping_, _Dancing_, _Riding_, or _Coaching_, _Lifting_, or _Carrying a heavy Weight_, also _long Fasting_, _strait Lacing_, a _Fall_, a _Blow_ on the _Back_ or the _Belly_, &c. as I hinted before occasionally.

IV. ALL _frightful_ OBJECTS, and _sudden Surprizes_ by hasty NEWS, FIRE, or such like terrifying Accidents.

V. ALL _astonishing_ and terrible affecting _NOISES_; such as sudden Claps of _Thunder_, _Cannons_, _Guns_ &c.