CHAP. V. _Of VOMITING, or NAUSEATING._ VOMITING is a strong and sudden _Contraction_ of the whole _Stomach_, occasion’d by the _Animal Spirit’s_ being preternaturally _expanded_ in its _orbicular_ as well as _oblong Fibres_, and the too quick and violent _Exertion_ of their _Elastick Power_: Or otherwise, it is a _Convulsive Motion_ of the _Stomach_, whereby, when the _Fibres_, which compose its middle or _muscular Tunick_, are all at once strongly contracted, it endeavours to eject through the _Oesophagus_ and _Mouth_ the Contents of its _Cavity_; to which the _Gullet_ itself (being of a piece with the _Stomach_) and the _Muscles_ of the _Belly_ contribute not a little. WHICH _Definition_ comprehends the _immediate Cause_ of all _Vomitings_; and tho’ there be many external and internal _mediate Causes_, yet, I think, in the present Case of the _pregnant Woman_, the Cause of this SYMPTOM proceeds chiefly from the _Vapours_ of the exhaled HUMOURS, and the worse Part of the BLOOD; infesting the _Tunicks_ of the _Orifice_ of the VENTRICLE, and flying into the _Cavity_ of the STOMACH. WHICH, if _slightly_ affected, occasions only a _nauseous Spitting_, or _gentle Vomiting_; but if more _severely_, it excites a far worse _Vomiting_, with a certain grievous _Pain_ and _Torment_ of the Person afflicted. Now if those _Vapours_ be of a _calid Quality_, they commonly occasion a stinking and burning kind of _Belching_; but if _frigid_, perhaps, on the contrary, a troublesome sour, acid, _breaking of Wind_: Both of which promote _frequent Vomiting_, that carries off the _vicious Juices_; so that the SYMPTOM commonly ceases (of itself) in the _second_ or _third Month_. Wherefore this ill _Habit_ need not be industriously restrain’d, unless very _Troublesome_; as in the above-mention’d _Case_, when attended with extreme _Severity of Pain_: For _then_ it is not without _Danger_, and therefore requires immediate _Remedy_ or CURE. WHICH _Cure_, I humbly conceive, maybe judiciously effected by expelling the _Cause_, and strengthening the _Ventricle_; so that it may be capable to repel those _Vapours_, or _Humours_, ascending from the WOMB; and may either entirely subvert or repress _Those_ previously receiv’d. [Illustration] CHAP. VI. _Of FASTIDY, or LOATHING._ THE _Cause_ of this SYMPTOM proceeds from the worse Sort and more ignoble Part of the BLOOD; which, in concert with the _Humours_, perverts the _Temperature_ of the STOMACH, by flowing towards its Orifice: And _This_, upon emitting _Vapours_ to the _same_, strongly impresseth such _vicious Qualities_ upon it, as doth occasion sometimes a LOATHING of _All Meats_, and sometimes only an _Aversion_ to some certain _particular Dishes of Meat_.