A Briefe Discovrse of a Disease called the Suffocation of the MotherJorden, Edward
History
A Briefe Discovrse of a Disease called the Suffocation of the Mother
Jorden, Edward
Hysteria -- Early works to 1900; Uterus -- Displacements -- Early works to 1800
[Sidenote: _Ga. loc. affect. 6 Felix Platerus de causis febrium. pag.
63. 65 66. &c. Mercatus. Fernel. patholog. li. 6, cap. 16_]
_Galen_ in the former place declareth this by the example of a mad
dogge, whose venom being receiued of us, although but by the foame
of his mouth, will remaine sometimes sixe moneths within our bodies
vndiscouered, and then hauing gotten more strength and ripenes vnto it
selfe, and opportunitie of conuaying his euil quallity vnto the parts,
breaketh forth to open view by diminishing or peruerting the faculties
of those parts. I had once a patient in Kent who feeding vpon a mad
hogge which hee had killed for couetousnesse sake, found himselfe
distempered therewith at the first, but within fiue or sixe moneths
after grew suddenly to be starke madde, and before his death, being
by Phisicke restored to some reasonable vnderstanding, he confessed
the eating of that hogge to haue beene the true cause of his disease.
Diuers reasons may be yeelded of this as well as of the fits of
intermittent agues of _Epilepsies_, of sweating, &c. which oftentimes
haue their due recourse by the yeare, moneth, weeke, day or houre,
according to the nature of the humor: which being crude expecteth his
concoction in our bodies and giues no signe of his presence vntill
such a proportion of it be digested and resolued into vapours, as for
the offẽce therof the part affected is not able to brooke and for
the weaknesse of the expulsiue facultie not able to auoide out of the
bodie: but filling the vaines, arteries, and the habit of the body, is
communicated to the principall parts; diminishing or deprauing their
functions so long, vntill that portion of vapours be discussed through
naturall heate: and ceasing againe so long vntill by fermentation and
concoction, another portion of the corrupt humor shall be digested.
[Sidenote: _Quia multum. Quia prauum. Quia insuetũ._]
The vniformitie of this humor and of the heate of concoction causeth
the vniformitie of fits. And this is the cause of the due periods or
circuites which oftentimes are obserued in this disease, whereof wee
haue spoken before: 2 according also to the condition of the part
affected, which seruing as an euacuatorie to the whole bodie, is
accustomed to such kind of humors and therefore can endure them better
then other parts can. And this is another cause why this humor giues
no signe of his presence vntill it may communicate with the principall
partes: which are soone offended either with the plenty of those
vapours, or with the malignity, or with the vnwonted and vnaccustomed
approach of them.
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