THE _Cure_ of this _Distemper_ ought to be well-weigh’d, and very cautiously perform’d, because the definite _Quantity_ of _BLOOD_ to be evacuated cannot be well or certainly known: And because if any Part of _That_ be stopped, which ought to be ejected, it of course flows to some _other Part_, and excites _Inflammations_ or other heavy _SYMPTOMS_. Wherefore this is only, in the Beginning, to be corrected by proper _DIET_, and some other convenient light Means: But afterwards by repeated _Venæ-Sections_ in the ARMS, if _Strength_ will permit; and proper _Astringents_ inwardly taken, as well as outwardly applied; continuing always a _Thickening_, _Cooling_, and _Astringent DIET_: But farther yet, as the Patient grows _weaker_, she ought also to have some _corroborative Remedies_, to enable her to stand out the _Cure_. _Fomentations_ for the _lower Belly_ of OXYCRAT, or an astringent _Decoction_; _Fumigations_ of the same _Decoction_, or of hot OXYCRAT, are very convenient and helpful on this Occasion, as are also _astringent Injections_. BUT however sometimes, and not seldom, it happens, that this _Case_ proceeds from the negligent or ignorant _MIDWIFE_, by her not duly _cleansing_ the WOMB; by which Means, some part (how small soever) of the _SECUNDINE_ or _Membrane_, or some _clotted BLOOD_, or perhaps a _MOLE_, miscall’d a _false Conception_, may be left behind in the WOMB; which distending that _Body_, occasions not only an immoderate FLUX, but also stirs up violent PAINS, not unlike to _those_ of LABOUR: In this pitiful _Condition_, all possible Diligence must be prudently used to fetch away and remove this _Cause_, which is only most effectually to be done by the _Hand-Cure_, in the manner already abundantly set forth. AFTER which, the _PATIENT_ is to be treated as _before_, laying her _equally flat upon her Back_, and keeping her very _still_ and _quiet_ in BED; which BED may however in this _Case_ be kept a little _Cool_, as well as her _Chamber_, lest HEAT should provoke and continue the _Course_ of the FLUX. MOREOVER, in fine, it also sometimes happens, that immoderate _Purgations_ proceed from some gross _Excrements_ contain’d in the RECTUM antecedent to the Time of LABOUR; which, as they puff up the _Belly_, so they also commonly occasion severe CHOLICKS; but these being discreetly evacuated by a pretty strong emollient CLYSTER, the FLOODING immediately ceases. [Illustration] CHAP. V. _Of the Acute Distempers incident to CHILD-BED-WOMEN._