Volume 1

A medicinal dictionary; including physic, surgery, anatomy, chymistry, and botany, in all their branches relative to medicine. Together with a history of drugs ... and an introductory preface, tracing the progress of physic, and explaining the theories which have ... prevail'd in all ages / By R. James.

James, R. (Robert), 1703?-1776.

Date:: 1743-1745

Credit: A medicinal dictionary; including physic, surgery, anatomy, chymistry, and botany, in all their branches relative to medicine. Together with a history of drugs ... and an introductory preface, tracing the progress of physic, and explaining the theories which have ... prevail'd in all ages / By R. James. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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$TUefc Words of Erafiftratus, quoted by Galen, Ihcw us, that tho’ he did not abfoluteiy condemn Exetcife, V 1„ nrnv’d of it as a Remedy to be praftis’d by thofe who were confcious of their Veffels being too full> E tul &ely u'feKs to fuch Is enjoyed a good Late of Health. In this Partictdar his Sentiments Were '°Ti» informs us, At Erafiftratus attributed fo much to Succory in Difeafes of the Vifcera and lower Belly, f r Ji XThofe of the Liver that he took particular Pains to defenbe the Method of preparing it; which was, and elpecially ... . ’ d tlw„ to put it a fecond time into boiling Water, in order to deftroy its I toem f • and aft^ ds » uket out of the kter, and preferveit in a VelTel with Oil - and laftly when Bitternels, ana Vinegar to it. ” So minute and circumftantiate was Erafiftratus, with regard tis to be usid, . • Succory, that, if we may believeGafoi, he gave Orders to tie feveral of the Plants toge- Method ./boiling them; « Xsif, fays Galen.Cooks and Kttchen-mads - hH no known how to boil a Bunch of Succory. ” What induc’d Erafiftratus to this was probably that the had not Known confided almoft entirely in Regimen, to which this Phyucian added feme &ch » Fmentations, Cataplafms, and Unions. He alfo approv’d of the mod fimp.e Me- topical Remedies Compofitions and Antidotes, which his contemporary Phyficians call d dicines, and exclaim d aginlt fhe Koya P and Subftul^ Thin taken from the Sea^and*rHib°'S^omduc dLy^the Earth, ftiould be mixed together It would, laid he, be muds better to ufe Sea, and l hin s p o y Citruls he underftood the Diet, and by Hydrelaum, or w!fte andbn:1 htmeant effen, OintnLts, and Fomentations. Thus he reduc’d Phyfic to a wry f,tuple and “XM^fwas no lefs implacable an Enemy to fuperfiuous and fine-fpun Reafonings, than to too compound Medidhes He was afraid, left the Errors he (hoi,Id fall into, m reafonmg Upon thei Caufes of Difeafes, might Hfluence his Praftice and deceive him in the Cure of Diforders. Erafiftratus and HeropMus fays Galen, were buthdfDosmato; they would only treat with the Remedies fuggefted by Reafon the Difeafes of the orgamcal OT It were m'be^wifo’dwehad (fill a Book, wrote by Erafiftratus, intituled. Of Caufes ; ifTve had, wc Ihould, m all probability find fomething curious enough upon this Subjeft. This Book is quoted by Dtoftondes, who in¬ forms us, th7t this Phyfician las not fo much in the Empirical way of Thinking, as to believe ,t unneceflary toTnq ire into the Caufes . of other Diforders, befides thofe of the orgamcal Parts which 6aim would infinuate. ’Tis true, he ferns to agree with the Empiric Seft which began almoft in his own Time that we canhot always difeover the fpecific or particular Caufes of feveral Difoiders. But, laid he, it does not follow, that it is fo with the general Caufes, which are apparent fenfible, and fupply us with fore Indi¬ cations. In order to Uluftrate this, h? brought the Example of thofe who had taken Poifon, or were bitten by feme Venomous Animal. This Poifon, continu’d he, does not turn,fir us with a curative Indication drawn from its fpecific Nature, which is unknown to us. But this does not hinder us from drawing a general Indication from the Effects produc’d by the Poifon, upon which we may conduct ourfelves m the Cuie of this Diforder, by reafoning thus: The Caufe of the Eftefts, we fee, depends upon a venomous Matter, which, in a Ihort time, deftroys the Parts it touches, and caufes Death, by quickly inf,minting itfelf into all the Pam of the Body We mult, therefore, try to extrad it as foon as, pofiible, and prevent its penetrating faither and deepei. I? order to anfwer this Intention, if any one has taken Poifon, we muft forthwith make him drink a great deal of Water, and afterwards caufe him to vomit, that the Poifon may be difeharged from his Stomach If, on the ccntrary, any one his been wounded by a venomous Animal, theWound muft forthwith be dilated, fockd, and Cuppmg-Ja es muft be apply’d ; the Part muft alfo be fcarify’d, cauteriz’d, and drawing Medicines muft be apply d to it; a8d, if there is an abfolute Neceftity for it, the whole Member muft be cut off; and all this with an Intention to draw out the Matter of the Poifon, and prevent its fpreading. . . A ., It may, perhaps, be afk’d, whether Erafiftratus, to the Medicines already mention d, did not join Antidotes It is probable he did •, tho’, at the fame time, he did not approve of fuch as were very compound, and omy ufed them as Remedies authoriz’d by Experience, without having, in that Particular, any Regard to the Caufe of the Difeafe, or the Manner in which Antidotes adted •, otherwife he muft have reafon d a great deal, and had lecourfe to fpecific and particular Caufes, a thing as contrary to his Principles as to thofe of the Empirics. -Not that he entirely negledted thefe laft-mention’d Caufes, fince he fearch’d for that of a Fever, the molt difficult of all others to be difeover’d. But, in all Probability, tho’ this Phyfician thought it allowable to give a Loofe to the Imagination in Refearches of this kind, yet he did not look upon them as efiential to the Practice of Phyfic, fince he did not fcruple to affirm, that we could only reafon folidly upon fenfible Caufes, and that thefe alone could furnifh us with certain and infallible curative Indications. . There are feveral Difeafes on which Erafiftratus wrote nothing, perhaps for want of an Opportunity of making fufficient Obfervations upon them. This appears fo much the more probable, becaufe, as Galen obferves, it was reported of this Phyfician, that he neglefted Pradtice, kept himfelf at home, and rarely faw any Patients. He, neverthelefs, apply’d himfelf to all the Parts of Medicine, and cultivated Surgery with as much Care as the Phyficians who preceded him : He appears to have been a bold Surgeon, and a cruel Anatomift, if ’tis true, that he differed Men alive. In a feirrhous Liver, or in Tumors of that Organ, Ccelius Aurelianusobfaves, that Erafiftratus made an Incifion thro’ the Skin and Integuments, and, having open d the Abaomen, he apply d Medicines immediately to the Part affedled; but, left it fhouid be thought, that this is not the real Meaning of the Paffage, the Words in the Original run thus: Erafiftratus in jecorofis pr<ecidens fuperpofitas jecori cutes atque membranam, utitur medicaminibus qua ipfum jecur late ample bl an tur \ turn ventrem deducit, audadler partem patien- tem nudans. _ . run Tho’ Erafiftratus was thus bold in performing Operations on the Liver, yet he did not approve of the Para- centefis, or Tapping, intheDropfy j becaufe, faid he, the Waters being evacuated, the Liver, which is inflam e, and become hard like a Stone, is more prefled by the adjacent Parts, which the Waters kept at a Diftance from it, fo that by this means the Patient dies. . . This Phyfician alfo declar’d againft drawing Teeth which were not loofe. He ufed to tell thofe who talk d with him on this Operation, “ That, in the Temple of Apollo, there was to be feen an Inftrument of Lead for drawing “ Teeth ; in order to infinuate, that we muft not attempt the Extirpation of any but fuch as are kiofe, and ca “ for no greater Force for their Extirpation, than what may be fuppofed in an Inftrument of^Lead.^ Erafiftratus wrote feveral Books, the Titles and Fragments of fome of which are preferv’d in Galen ant a ms Aurelianus. The former of thefe Authors informs us, that he wrote very accurately on the Dropfy. e a o quotes the following Books •, that in which Erafiftratus treated of the Difeafes of the Belly •, that on the PreJervaLon^ n$

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