Part 12
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. The other _Greek_ Writers speak much the same thing, and the Sense of most of ’em in this matter is contracted in _Oribasius_’s Collections. I shall only take Notice that they rely’d much on Exercise in the Cure of the _Dropsie_, wherein we almost totally neglect it; _Porrò motus, si quid aliud_ (says _Trallian_, one of the latest of ’em) _Hydropicis conducit, præcipuè qui fit per Mare, Equum, & Lecticam iis autem qui viribus constant, etiam Itio est utilissima_; which is no more than what _Hippocrates_ has advis’d before, in his _de internis Affection_. _Sect. 28._ He orders for one that has a Dropsie ταλαιπωρεέτω περιόδοισι πολλισι δι’ ἡμήρης, _Laboret circuitus multos de die._ And he makes use of the same Word in his Epidemicks, and almost always when he speaks of the Regimen of a Dropical Person, implying that tho’ it be a labour for such People to move, yet they must undergo it; and this is so much the Sense of _Hippocrates_, that Mons. _Spon_ has Collected it into one of the New _Aphorisms_, which he has drawn out of his Works. _Celsus_ says of this Case, _Concutiendum multâ Gestatione Corpus est_; and in another place, _Facilius in Servis quàm in Liberis tollitur, quia cum desideret famem, sitim, mille alia tædia, longamq; patientiam, promptius his succurritur, qui facilè coguntur, quam quibus inutilis libertas est_. I have made choice of these Citations, that I may not be thought to have apply’d the Use of Exercise to the Cure of the Dropsie, without Precedent; and if the Ancients in their Practice found the good Effects of it, we have much more reason to expect greater Advantage from such Measures, since we have a Medicine we use in this Case, which seems particularly to demand it; I mean the Chalybeate, of which I have already spoke elsewhere. But to return to my former Design; not only the _Greeks_ but the _Latin_ Writers also, are full of these Methods. The _Romans_ rather exceeded, than came short of the _Greeks_, in the Prosecution of _Gymnastick_ Courses; and _Asclepiades_, who liv’d in the Time of _Pompey_ the Great, was the Man who brought them into the most Universal Request. He call’d Exercises _the common Aids of Physick_, and wrote a Treatise, _de Frictione, & Gestatione_, which is mention’d by _Celsus_, in his Chapter _de Frictione_, but the Book is lost. He carry’d these Notions so far, that he invented the _Lecti Pensiles_, or Hanging Beds, that the Sick might be rock’d to sleep; which took so much at that time, that they came afterwards to make these Beds of Silver, and they were a great part of the Luxury of that People; he had so many particular ways to make Physick agreeable, understood so well the Τὸ Βέλπον of his Profession, was so exquisite in the invention of Exercises to supply the Place of much Physick, that perhaps no Man in any Age ever had the happiness to obtain so general an Applause; and _Pliny_ says, he by these means made himself the Delight of Mankind. About his Time the _Roman_ Physicians sent their Consumptive Patients to _Alexandria_ in _Ægypt_, and with very good Success, as we find by both the _Pliny’s_; this was done partly for the Change of Air, but chiefly for the Sake of the Exercise by the Motion of the Ship, and therefore _Celsus_ says, _Si vera a Phthisis est, opus est longâ Navigatione_; and a little after he makes _Vehiculum & Navis_ to be two of the chiefest Remedies; and I am apt to believe they were the more inclin’d to make use of the Sea-Carriage, as an Exercise, for the sake of the Vomiting, which happens at the Beginning of it, that they might thereby supply their Want of gentle Emeticks, which at times are so beneficial in that Distemper, in which scarce any of the Emeticks which they then knew, can be us’d with Safety,