Part 2
said to be in some Measure imperfect without it, there being some Cases in which the Use of Exercises will be absolutely necessary as long as Nature shall last._ _I have this more to add, that I did not take this Subject out of Choice but Necessity, ’tis not owing to Theory and Speculation, but Experience; the severest Experience, which my own Misfortunes have given me but too much occasion to make in a Distemper, which some Years ago I happen’d to be afflicted with, as I have related in the ~Appendix~ to this Treatise; ’twas under that severe Discipline I made most of the Observations of this Treatise; and tho’ mine was an Anomalous and singular Case, yet from what I perceiv’d to be the immediate Effects of that Exercise in common to all, and from the manner by which it caus’d my Distemper to give way, I could not but discern in what other Cases it was likely to be of the same Consequence, and I have had so very many Serious and Calm hours to confirm me in these Notions, that I cannot think I have extended ’em too far._ _As for what Reception these Papers are like to meet with, tho’ ~I~ have ventur’d abroad in a Cause so obsolete, in an Age so fruitful in Pharmacy, and abounding in Splendid Discoveries; and tho’ I am destitute of a New Hypothesis, that Specious Image of Truth, that Idol to which the Learned all bow down; yet, if what I have advanc’d be strictly Conformable to Truth, and of real Necessity in some few Extremities, I hope I may pass, upon the Merits of my Subject, tho’ without Flourish and Ornament._ _Medicina Gymnastica_: OR, A TREATISE Concerning the _Power of Exercise_ With Respect to the Animal Oeconomy. That the Use of Exercise does conduce very much to the Preservation of Health, that it promotes the Digestions, raises the Spirits, refreshes the Mind, and that it strengthens and relieves the whole Man, is scarce disputed by any; but that it should prove Curative in some particular Distempers, and that too when scarce any thing else will prevail, seems to obtain little Credit with most People, who tho’ they will give a Physician the hearing when he recommends the frequent Use of Riding, or any other sort of Exercise; yet at the bottom look upon it as a forlorn Method, and the Effect rather of his Inability to relieve ’em, than of his Belief that there is any great matter in what he advises: Thus by a negligent Diffidence they deceive themselves, and let slip the Golden Opportunities of recovering, by a diligent Struggle, what could not be procur’d by the Use of Medicine alone. Whether this proceeds from the Customs of these Northern Nations, so different from those of the Ancients, and of more Southern Countries, who seem to have plac’d almost as much in their Methods of Exercise, as in their internal Physick; or whether from the narrow Notions most People have conceiv’d of the Art of Physick, as if it imply’d little more than Internals only, without considering that External, Mechanical, and all other Means whatsoever, that give Relief, properly belong to it; this I shall not pretend to determine, but this I think I may venture to affirm, That most Men indulge themselves in the Expectation of more sudden Relief, than the Nature of the Case will admit of, as if they thought that Medicine was always to take like a Charm, without putting ’em to the Expence of much Time or Pains; they do not consider the wonderful Variety of the Disorders of Nature, and the Stubbornness of some Cases, which will not permit the Sick to be wholly passive, but indispensably oblige him to conspire with his Physician, and strive indefatigably to exalt his Constitution to a degree requisite to supply the Defect of internal Physick; which industrious striving on the part of the Sick, being what is here meant by Exercise, and which it is my purpose to represent, as more efficacious than it is generally believ’d to be; I think it proper, first to explain what I mean by it in this place. By _Exercise_ then, I understand all that Motion or Agitation of the Body, of what kind soever, whether voluntary or involuntary, and all Methods whatsoever, which without the Use of Internals, may (or without which Internals alone may not always) suffice to enable Nature to expel the Enemy which oppresses her; confining my self to the Consideration of it only as it may prove Curative, not as Palliative, or barely Preservative. And here, before I attempt to demonstrate how Exercise proves so beneficial in some few Cases, it may not be amiss to premise briefly some of the ways Nature takes to relieve her self, when in danger of being oppress’d, which may serve to illustrate my following Discourse; as likewise some Instances of the Efforts of Nature, caus’d by external Application, or at least by such Internals as cannot be suppos’d to be Cordial or Vinous, or to be assimilated with the Blood and Animal Spirits. _First_, then; We may observe how Nature acquits her self of what we commonly call a Cold, wherein a considerable quantity of the _Materia perspirabilis_ is detain’d, by a sudden Constriction of the Pores of the Skin, we shall find, that after some time the saline Particles growing turgid, vellicate some Fibres of the fifth Pair of Nerves dispers’d about the Nose, which by consent draw the Diaphragm into a Convulsive Motion, by which the Air is press’d out of the Lungs thro’ the Nose with some Violence; and by the shock the Glands of those Parts are open’d, and the Humour, which was detain’d, is let out. This is _Sneezing_; to which frequently is join’d _Gauping_ or _Retching_, another Method of Nature to shake off a Load that she finds growing upon her; this is more often repeated than _Sneezing_, and may be conceiv’d to dilate some internal Parts by those Stretchings out of the Limbs, and more plentiful Inspiration; _Sanctorius_ tells us in the 31st _Aphorism_ of his _fourth_ Section, that, _Corpora Oscitatione & Pandiculatione horæ dimidiæ spatio magis perspirant, quàm tribus horis alterius temporis_, and compares it to a Cock’s clapping his Wings after his Rest; so that it is manifest, that even in that vulgar Affect there is an Alteration caused in the Body, that is not Contemptible. To these may be added the _Singultus_ or Hiccough, by which the Ventricle, when too full, endeavours to relieve her self, either by throwing off some of the rarifi’d Contents by the Gullet, or perhaps by the _Pylorus_. _Lastly_, Let us consider how _Laughter_ affects us, and it will appear, that this Contrivance of Nature, wherein the Body does sympathize with the Mind, proves so beneficial, by the playing of the Muscles of the _Thorax_, and the pressing out of the saline Particles, so frequently and sensibly as it does in some chearful People, to whom it is more habitual than others, insomuch that it comes to be Proverbially, a Cause of Fatness. All these Instances shew, that Nature seems to receive more Relief from the Compression or acting of the containing Parts strictly taken, than most Men easily imagine. As to extraordinary Efforts of Nature, to pass by what happens upon a sudden Surprize, Fear, Passion, or the like; it is certain, that Torture will raise the Spirits for some time very much, and there are as great Effects follow upon Irritation, which does not come up to the perfect Notion of Torture. What wonderful Effects do we see produc’d by strong Emeticks given by Surgeons in some Cases of the Limbs and extreme Parts? Where a Person so griev’d has oftentimes a robust Constitution and perfect Health, there the Medicines, tho’ given inwardly, cannot be suppos’d to act after the common manner of Alteratives, by passing into the Blood, by the Spirituousness of their Parts, or the like; for the Person being in Health needs no Alteration to be made in the Blood, and other Juices, which are as good as they can be desir’d to be; but by the Irritation of the Fibres in the Ventricle, the Spirits are rais’d to the highest pitch they are capable of, and brought to communicate that Elasticity to the whole Body, all the Springs of Life are wound up, all the Pumps of Nature (if I may so speak) set a playing, and by these means the Agony is extended to the extreme Part affected, and the Matter fixt there is attenuated and brought to flow, that it may be absorb’d by the Blood, and discharg’d in the Circulation; Nay, we may take notice of the great Power of a more gentle Irritation of those Fibres in those weaker _Hysterical_ People, whose Spirits are of so fine a Make, or so scatter’d and weakened, that they can’t long bear Fasting, without very troublesome Symptoms following upon it, for they, we may perceive, are in a sense strengthen’d at those times that the Contents of the Stomach happen to be so rarifi’d, as to cause a gentle _Ægritudo_, a lingring Sickness and Nauseousness, tho’ not sufficient to cause ’em to vomit, for they shall then dispense with the want of that Food, without which at other times they could not possibly subsist with any tolerable Ease, and find themselves as strong and as free from their Tremors, Shiverings, and other ill Symptomes, as if they had eat and drank plentifully; and likewise during that Sickness the Salts shall come off plentifully in the Urine, which will then recover its proper Colour, tho’ it was before as limpid as common Water; from hence it is manifest, that the Animal Spirits may be made to expand, dilate, or in some ways act upon themselves, without the encreasing their quantity by such internal Medicines as may be suppos’d to be converted into their Substance. Having premis’d these things, I shall proceed to enquire, after what manner Nature endeavours to clear her self of some few Distempers, which I shall consider in their proper place, and likewise how she may the more easily succeed in those Endeavours, if duly assisted by moderate Exercise; which Assistance, if it at first View may seem too slow and gentle to produce so great Effects, will yet with the Allowance justly due to all sorts of Alterative Physick, _viz._ of a Habit or frequent Repetition, appear to be sufficient to procure those Ends I shall assign to it. There is this Difference between the most compleat Productions of Humane Artifice, and that Divine Piece of Mechanism, the Body of Man, that the former are always the worse for wearing, and decay by Use and Motion; the latter, notwithstanding the Tenderness of its Contexture, improves by Exercise, and acquires by frequent Motion an Ability to last the longer; and tho’ the Circulation, and continual and infinite Succession of Particles, are the immediate Cause of Life, yet the Health, the Strength, the Well-being of the Individual, is in great part owing to the Effects of a General Motion superinduc’d to these internal Motions; which it is so far from disordering, that it aids and assists ’em to a greater degree than we are wont to imagine; for in our Considerations of the Animal Oeconomy, we seem to regard Nature only as in a quiescent State, without a due Allowance for the Alterations caus’d by the Motion of the whole, which yet are confess’d by all to be sometimes of great Consequence: for that General Motion acting both on the Fluids and Solids of the Body, may sometimes prove the last and best Resort for the Restoring the _Æquilibrium_ between ’em. As for the Fluids; One would think the Shape and Make of the Blood-Vessels were sufficient alone to lead us into an Opinion of the Necessity of Exercise; by reason they all terminate in a Cone, they must needs resist the Passage of the Blood incomparably more than they would have done if they had been Cylindrical; and tho’ all the Branches of the Capillary Arteries, would, if taken Collectively, make a greater Diameter than that of the great Artery, yet the Consistence of the Blood, and the extreme Fineness of those invisible Meanders, require the frequent Pressure and Assistance of the Muscles to encrease the Circulation, which accordingly we always find very much augmented by those Means; yet ’tis the Result of this swifter Current of the Blood, which should be most valuable to us, I mean the better Digestion and Mixture of the various Particles convey’d into the Blood. I believe it will be allowed on all hands, that the best way to bring an Animal Fluid to a greater degree of Perfection, is Digestion; and the Excellency of that Operation consists in the just Degree of Heat which causes it; or, to speak perhaps more properly, in the just Agitation or intestine Motion of the Particles which may be suppos’d to occasion that Heat. The Standard or Measure of this Heat or Agitation in the Animal Oeconomy, is to be taken from what we observe in a Man in perfect Health, and in the Prime of his Age; when his Blood flows with its due Velocity, when there is an uninterrupted Secretion of all that is disagreeable to it, and it is wrought up to its florid Consistence, and a just proportion between the Serous and Grumous parts. Now this we may successfully imitate by repeated Exercise, when the Blood happens to be impoverish’d and Languid, we may encrease the Velocity of the Circulation, and consequently the Heat following upon it, by which a great many crude Particles will be attenuated and ripen’d, either for Mixture or Secretion, and there will be an equal Distribution of the attenuated Particles to the several Emunctories of the whole Body, by reason of the Solids co-operating with the Fluids; whereas it is often quite otherwise, when an internal Medicine is given design’d for one Secretion only, which may promote that, and perhaps hinder another; as a Medicine which agrees with the Stomach, sometimes offends the Head; for the Nervous Parts being, as it were, Passive in the Case, the Secretions cannot be so equally performed as when the whole Body is exercis’d. I would not be here mis-understood, as if I suppos’d that this first Effect of Motion, this Digestion, would avail in many Cases, as where an ill Ferment is lodg’d in the Glands, or where the Morbifick Particles have been long a forming, and are strongly combin’d in the Blood, but this may take place where a greater degree of Agitation is absolutely necessary; as when the Blood is Effete and Languid, when the Chyle comes into it dispirited, and when even a proper Medicine proves offensive and burthensome, and there is scarce Power enough left in the Blood to master its Particles, and apply ’em to their proper Uses; then, I say, ’tis time to make the Solids assist the Fluids in the dispensing of this Load which lies so hard upon ’em, which by gentle and close Exercise may be more easily done than many imagine; besides there may be a Distemper occasion’d by Particles of a looser Texture in the Blood, than is usual in most Cases, where Nature may contend and struggle with the hostile Particles, and yet not be able to get the Victory; where there may not be a perfect Fever, nor yet a quiet Coalition between the Blood and those foreign Particles. In such a Distemper as this, it must needs be very proper to give a due Agitation to the Blood, to prepare those Particles for the several Emunctories that are ready to receive ’em: and this may be perform’d by a just Digestion, if we do but consider how much the Body is adapted to it, and how much more Noble the Digestions are in the Animal Oeconomy, than those produc’d by humane Contrivance. In all artificial Digestions the Particles which are to be separated by the Agitation of the Liquor, must either evaporate, or subside; but in the Body there are a multitude of excretory Ducts ready to receive the Particles, of such a determinate Figure, as renders ’em excrementitious, and proper to be cast off; so that nothing is left but what is proper to the Animal Fluids, and which the Vehemence of the Motion mixes and unites at the same time that it breaks and moulds the others for their proper excretory Chanels; so that the Agitation is in this Case (as Dr. _Grew_ very well expresses it in his Treatise of _Mixture_) as “_carrying the Key to and fro, till it hit the Lock; or within the Lock, till it hit the Wards_.” How do we know the exact Degree of Agitation, that is requisite to unite the Particles of the Fat, which are continually flowing in a very great quantity into the Blood, with the Aqueous, by the Means of sulphureous or saline Particles? Do we not frequently observe in scorbutick Persons, who have lead a sedentary Life, that their Urines are cover’d with an oily Film of several Colours? and is it not very natural to suppose from thence, that the Blood wants a due Motion to keep those oily Parts united with the others? But it is no wonder, if these things are not well consider’d, when there is scarce any who makes Allowance enough for the quantity of the fat Particles, which are continually passing into the Blood, which must needs be very great, seeing the whole Skin is lin’d with its Vessels, besides what is heap’d up about the _Omentum_ and the Kidneys; so that Unctuous Medicines are copiously intruded upon the Habit of the Body when there is a great Wasting of the Flesh, without regarding that the Blood