The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher eBook

The signs of this affection are as follows:—­The lower parts of the stomach, with the genitals, are swollen and painful; the feet swell, the natural colour of the face is lost, the appetite becomes depraved, and there is a consequent heaviness of the whole body.  If the woman turns over in bed a noise like flowing water is heard, and sometimes water is discharged from the womb.  If the swelling is caused by wind and the stomach feels hot, it sounds like a drum; the bowels rumble, and the wind escapes through the neck of the womb with a murmuring noise.  This affection may be distinguished from true conception in many ways, as will be shown in the chapter on conception.  It is distinguished from common dropsy, by the lower parts of the stomach being most swollen.  Again, it does not appear so injurious in this blood-producing capability, nor is the urine so pale, nor the face so altered.  The upper parts are also not so reduced, as in usual dropsy.

PROGNOSTICS.

This affection foretells the ruin of the natural functions, by that peculiar sympathy it has with the liver, and that, therefore, kathydria, or general dropsy will follow.

CURE.

In the cure of this disease, imitate the practice of Hippocrates, and first mitigate the pain with fomentations of melilot, dog’s mercury, mallows, linseed, camomiles and althoea.  Then let the womb be prepared with syrup of stoebis, hyssop, calamint, mugwort, with distilled water, a decoction of elder, marjoram, sage, origan, spearage, pennyroyal, and betony.  Purge with senna, agaric, rhubarb, and claterium.  Take spicierum hier, a scruple each of rhubarb, agaric lozenges, and make into pills with iris juice.

When diseases arise from moistness, purge with pills, and in those affections which are caused by emptiness or dryness, purge by means of a draught.  Apply cupping glasses to the stomach and also to the navel, especially if the swelling be flatulent.  Put a seton on to the inside of each leg, the width of a hand below the knee.  Take two drachms each of sparganium, diambrae, diamolet, diacaliminti, diacinamoni, myrrh lozenges, and a pound of sugar; make these into lozenges with betony water, and take them two hours before meals.  Apply a little bag of camomiles, cummin and melilot boiled in oil of rue, to the bottom of the stomach as hot as it can be borne; anoint the stomach and the privates with unguent agripp, and unguent aragon.  Mix iris oil with it, and cover the lower part of the stomach with a plaster of bay berries, or a cataplasm made of cummin, camomiles, briony root, adding cows’ and goats’ dung.

Our modern medical writers ascribe great virtues to tobacco-water, injected into the womb by means of a clyster.  Take a handful each of balm of southernwood, origanum, wormwood, calamint, bay berries and marjoram, and four drachms of juniper berries; make a decoction of these in water, and use this for fomentations and infusions.  Make pessaries of storax, aloes, with the roots of dictam, aristolochia and gentian, but instead of this you may use the pessary prescribed at the end of Chapter XVII.  Let her take aromatic electuary, disatyrion and candied eringo roots, every morning.