  OF THE BITE OF THE TARANTULA AND MAD DOG.I Join these Two Poisons together, because tho’ they differ very much in their Effects, yet both do agree in this, that they induce a particular Delirium sui generis, attended partly with Maniacal, partly with Melancholy Symptoms. The Tarantula (of which the Figure may be seen in Baglivi’s Dissertation This, as other Spiders do, propagates its Species by laying Eggs, which are very numerous; so that there are found sometimes in the Female, when dissected, a hundred or more; and these are hatched partly by the Heat of the Mother, partly by that of the Sun, in about twenty or thirty Days Time. There is also a Spider of the like Nature with the Tarantula in the West-Indies, which Fr. Hernandez In the Summer Months, especially when the Heats are greatest, as in the Dog-Days, the Tarantula creeping among the Corn in the Fields, bites the Mowers and Passengers; in the Winter it lurks in Holes, and is scarcely seen; and if it does bite then, it is not venomous, neither does it induce any ill Symptoms. But in the hot Weather, altho’ the Pain of its Bite is at first no greater than what is caused by the Sting of a Bee, yet the Part quickly after is discoloured with a Livid, Black, or Yellowish Circle, and raised to an inflam’d Swelling; the Patient within a few Hours is seized with a violent Sickness, Difficulty of Breathing, universal Faintness, and sometimes Trembling, with a Weakness of the Head; being asked what the Ail is, makes no Reply, or with a querulous Voice, and melancholy Look, points to his Breast, as if the Heart was most affected. During this mournful Scene, all the usual Alexipharmick and Cordial Medicines are of no Service; for notwithstanding their repeated Use, the Patient growing by degrees more melancholy, stupid, and strangely timorous, in a short Time expires, unless Musick be called to his Assistance, which alone, without the Help of Medicine, performs the Cure. For at the first Sound of the Musical Instrument, altho’ the Sick lie, as it were, in an Apoplectick Fit, they begin by Degrees to move their Hands and Feet, till at last they get up, and fall to Dancing with wonderful Vigour, at first for three or four Hours, then they are put to Bed, refreshed from their sweating, for a short time, and repeat the Exercise with the same Vehemence, perceiving no Weariness or Weakness from it, but professing they grow stronger and nimbler the more they dance. At this Sport they usually spend Twelve Hours a Day, and it continues Three or Four Days; by which time they are generally freed from all their Symptoms, which do nevertheless attack ’em again about the same time the next Year; and if they do not take Care to prevent this Relapse by Musick, they fall into a Jaundice, Want of Appetite, universal Weakness, and such like Diseases; which are every Year increased, if Dancing be neglected, till at last they prove incurable. As Musick is the common Cure, so they who are bitten are pleas’d some with one Sort of it, some with another; one is raised with a Pipe, another with a Tymbrel; one with a Harp, another with a Fiddle; so that the Musicians make sometimes several Essays before they can accommodate their Art to the Venom; but this is constant and certain, not withstanding this Variety, that they all require the quickest and briskest Tunes, and are never moved by a slow, dull Harmony. While the Tarantati, or Affected, are Dancing, they lose in a manner the Use of all their Senses, like so many Drunkards, do many Ridiculous and Foolish Tricks, talk and act obscenely and rudely, take great Pleasure in playing with Vine-Leaves, with naked Swords, red Cloths, and the like; and on the other Hand can’t bear the Sight of any thing black; so that if any By-stander happen to appear in that Colour, he must immediately withdraw, otherwise they relapse into their Symptoms with as much Violence as ever. It may afford some Light towards Understanding the Nature of this Poison, to observe that Apulia is the hottest Part of all Italy, lying Eastward, and having all the Summer long but very little Rain to temper the Heats, so that the Inhabitants, as one of that Country observes From all this History it sufficiently appears, that those that are bitten by a Tarantula, do thereupon become Delirous, and that in order to account for their surprizing Symptoms; the Nature of a Delirium, from which many of them proceed, ought to be understood. Such is the Constitution of the Human Œconomy, that as upon the Impression of outward Objects made upon the Organs, and by the Fluid of the Nerves conveyed to the Common Sensory; different Species are excited there, and represented to the Mind; so likewise upon this Representation, at the Command and Pleasure of the Soul, part of the same Fluid is determin’d into the Muscles, and mixing with the Arterial Blood there, performs all the Variety of Voluntary Motions and Actions. This Order has been always so constant in Us, that at length by a kind of natural Habitude, without the Intervention of the Reasoning Faculty, Representations made to the Mind do immediately and necessarily produce suitable Motions in the Bodily Organs. When therefore these Representations are irregular, the Actions consequent to them must necessarily be so too. This being premis’d, it may perhaps be probably said, that a Delirium is the Representation and various Composition of several Species to the Mind, without any Order or Coherence; together, at least most commonly, with irregular, or, as it were, undesigned Motions of the Body; that is, such a wandring and irregular Motion of the Nervous Fluid, whereby several Objects are represented to the Mind, and upon this Representation divers Operations perform’d by the Body, tho’ those Objects are not impress’d upon the Organs, nor those Operations or Motions deliberately commanded by the Soul. The Mind indeed is the first Principle of all Muscular Motion; but in such Cases as these, its Promptitude to Action or Habit being so great, it is in a manner surpriz’d, and cannot recover it self after the Spirits are with violent Force determin’d pursuant to the Representation of the Species. For, as in the former State of Things a Man is said to act Rationally, so this latter Case is call’d a Perturbation of Mind, that is, a Delirium; tho’ it is very manifest, that in reality the Defect is not in the Rational, but Corporeal Part; such Species being really presented to the Mind, upon which by the Order of our Constitution such Motions ought to follow in the Body. Thus, for Instance, if the Liquor of the Nerves is, without the Presence of any thing hurtful, put into a Motion like unto that which a painful Impression makes in it, the same Bodily Actions must insue as proceed from Fear, Anger, or the like Passion, determining the Spirits towards the Muscular Parts; and a By-stander, who sees no reason for such a Representation made to the Mind, will presently conclude that the Person thus acting acts without or besides his Reason, that is, is Delirous; especially if the Hurry and Confusion of the Spirits be such, that not only one, but several different Species be at the same time presented to the Mind; for a Man in this Case may act the Part of one Joyful, Angry, Timorous, or the like, without any appearing Reason, and all this almost in the same Moment of Time. In one Word, Deliria are the Dreams of those who are Awake; and as these in Us Sleeping are infinitely various and wonderfully Compounded, and all from the same common Cause, diversely pressing the Orifices of the Nerves, and thus making different Repercussions of their Fluid; and as we all know that this Confusion making the Representation of several Species to the Mind, there do hereupon follow, tho’ the Body seem now at Rest and in perfect Repose, such Motions in the Organs as are usually the Effect of the Arbitrary Determination of the Spirits thither; so We are now to enquire what Alteration of the Body made by this Venom, can be the Occasion of this Disorder and Tumult in the Nervous Fluid, which excites in the Party infected such surprizing, and almost contradictory, Representations. Most of the Symptoms of those who are bitten by the Tarantula are at the first, that is, before they rise to a Delirium, plainly the same with those which the Bite of a Viper induces; without doubt therefore, as we have before observed of the common Spider, that it pierces the Flesh with its hooked Forceps, and at the same time instils from the Proboscis in the Mouth a liquid Venom into the Wound; so the like Claws in This (of which I have taken the Figure Of the Nature of which we may probably conjecture, that it is, when mixed with the Blood, being exalted by the Heat of the Climate, of so great Force and Energy, that it immediately raises an extraordinary Fermentation in the whole Arterial Fluid, by which its Texture and Crasis is very considerably altered; the Consequent of which Alteration, when the Ebullition is over, must necessarily be a Change in the CohÆsion of its Parts, by which the Globules, which did before with equal Force press each other, have now a very differing and irregular Nisus or Action, so that some of ’em do so firmly cohere together, as to compose MoleculÆ, or small Clusters; upon which Account there being now a greater number of Globules contained in the same Space than before, and besides, the Impulse of many of these when united together differing according to the Conditions of their CohÆsion, as to Magnitude, Figure, &c. not only will the Impetus, with which this Fluid is drove towards the Parts, be at some Strokes at least greater than ordinary; but the Pressure upon the Blood Vessels must be very unequal and irregular; and this more especially will be felt in them which are most easily distended; such are those of the Brain, &c. And hereupon the Fluid of the Nerves must necessarily be put into various Undulatory Motions, some of which will be like unto those which different Objects acting upon the Organs or Passions of the Mind, do naturally excite in It, whereupon such Actions must follow in the Body, as are usually the Consequents of the several Species of Sadns, Joy, Despair, or the like Determinations of the Thoughts; and we shall readily pronounce one in this Condition, Sad, Joyful, Timorous, &c. and all without any apparent Reason or Cause; that is, in one Word, we shall say he is Delirous. This is in some Degree a Coagulation of the Blood, which will the more certainly, when attended with an extraordinary Heat, as in the present Case, produce such like Effects as these, because the Spirits separated from the Blood thus Inflamed, and Compounded of hard, fixt and dry Particles, must unavoidably share in this Alteration; that is, whereas their Fluid consists of two Parts, One more active and Volatile, the Other more Viscid and Glutinous, which is a kind of Vehicle to the former; their Active Part will bear too great a Proportion to the Viscid; and thus they must necessarily be of more than ordinary Volatility and Force, and will therefore, upon the least Occasion imaginable, be irregularly determin’d to every Part; and hereupon will follow Tremblings of the Body, Anger or Fear upon a light or no Cause, extream Pleasure at what is but a Trivial Entertainment, as Red, Green Colours, or the like; and on the other hand, wonderful Sadness at any thing not agreeable to the Eyes, as dark and black Things; nay, ridiculous Laughter, obscene Talk and Actions, and such like Symptoms; because in this Constitution of the Nervous Fluid, the most light Occasion will make as real a Reflux and Undulation of it to the Brain; that is, will present as lively and vivid Species there, as the strongest Cause and Impression can produce in its natural State and Condition; nay, in such a Confusion, the Spirits cannot but sometimes, without any manifest Cause at all, be hurried towards those Organs, to which at other times they have been most frequently determined; and every one knows which they are in hot Countries and Constitutions. We must however here remember what in the former Essay we mention’d of the Fluid of the Nerves, being immediately altered by the venomous Juice. It will perhaps make this Theory more than probable, to consider that Baglivi Neither is it amiss to remark, that in a Chlorosis there is nothing preternatural but an infarctus of the Arteries, and hence a retarded Circulation, from an Evacuation suppress’d; and in this Country too much Heat; that is, a beginning Coagulation, together with an Inflammatory Disposition. In short, Bellini has at large demonstrated, how Deliria, as well as Melancholic as Manaical, do proceed from a State of the Blood and Spirits, not unlike to that I have here described. But no less a Confirmation of these Notions may we have from the Cure; as to which it is observable, that the Tarantati have no Inclination to dance before they hear the Musick; for being ask’d to do it, they answer, it is impossible, they have no Strengh. As for the Reason therefore of their starting up at the first Noise of the Instrument, we must reflect upon what we have just now been saying concerning the Cause of the Motions of the Body in a Delirium; and consider withal, that muscular Motion is no other than a Contraction of the Fibres from the Arterial Fluid making an Effervescence with the Nervous Juice, which by the light Vibration and Tremor of the Nerve, is derived into the Muscle. And thus we have a twofold Effect and Operation of Musick, that is, both upon the Mind and Body. For a brisk Harmony excites lively Species of Joy and Gladness, which are always accompany’d with a more frequent and stronger Pulse, or an increased influx of the Liquor of the Nerves into the Muscles, upon which suitable Actions must immediately follow; and if we remember what we before hinted, that People in this Country are sprightly and ready to Exercise, and that in such a state of the Fluids as we have describ’d, a slight Occasion presents as strong Species, as a greater can at another time: The Influence of Musick on the Mind will appear to be so much the more powerful and certain. As for the Body, since it is sufficient for the purpose of putting the Muscles into Action, to cause those Tremors of the Nerves by which their Fluid is alternately dropt into the moving Fibres; it is all one whether this be done by the determination of the Will, or the outward Impulsions of an Elastic Fluid; such is the Air; and that Sounds are the Vibrations of It, is beyond dispute. These therefore rightly modulated may shake the Nerves as really as the Imperium Voluntatis can do, and consequently produce the like Effects. That This is so, besides what we shall add anon, we may be convinced by a Story which Mr. Boyle The obstinate continuing of the Tarantati in this Exercise, is doubtless in a great Measure owing to the strong Opinion they have of receiving Advantage from it, being incouraged by the By-standers, and having always believed, and been told, that it was the only Cure in these Cases. The Benefit from Musick is not only their Dancing to It, and so evacuating by Sweat a great Part of the Inflammatory Fluid; but besides this, the repeated Percussions of the Air hereby made, by immediate Contact shaking the Contractile Fibres of the Membranes of the Body, especially those of the Ear, which being continuous to the Brain, do communicate their Tremblings to its Membranes and Vessels; by these continued Succussions and Vibrations, the CohÆsion of the Parts of the Blood is perfectly broken, and its Coagulation prevented; so that the Heat being removed by Sweating, and the Coagulation by the Contraction of the Muscular FibrillÆ, the wounded Person is restored to his former Condition. If any one doubts of this force of the Air, let him consider that it is in Mechanics But besides all this, We must allow a great deal to the determinate Force, and particular Modulation, of these trembling Percussions; for contractile Bodies may be acted upon by one certain Degree of Motion in the ambient Fluid, tho’ a greater Degree of it differently qualified may produce nothing at all of the like Effect; this is not only very apparent in the common Experiment of Two String’d Musical Instruments tuned both to the same Heigth, the Strings of the one being struck upon, those of the other will found, and yet a much greater Motion of the Air may not Cause any sensible Vibration at all in the same Chords; but also by the Trick which many have of finding the Tone or Note peculiarly belonging to any Wine Glass, and by accommodating their Voice exactly to that Tone, and yet making it loud and lasting, they will make the Vessel tho’ not touch’d, first to Tremble, and then Burst; which it will not do if their Voice be but a little eithet too low or too high. This last Consideration makes it no very difficult matter to conceive the reason, why different Persons, infected with this Venom, do require oftentimes a different sort of Musick in order to their Cure, in as much as their Nerves and Distractile Membranes have differing Tensions, and consequently are not in like manner to be acted upon by the same Vibrations. Nor are We to wonder at the Oddness of this Method and Practice; for Musick, altho’ it be Now-a-days applied to quite different Purposes, was anciently made great Use of for the removing of many, and those too some of the most difficult and obstinate Diseases. For this we have a Famous Testimony in Galen himself, But what is besides in this last Authority very observable to our Purpose, is the manner of using this Remedy, and that was Aulus Gellius And not only does Apollonius All which Instances do evince this Remedy to have been very ancient in many Cases; and indeed as CÆlius-Aurelianus To conclude with this Poison, we may take notice that, as to the Return of the Symptomes the next Year, That is owing to the same excessive Heat in those Months, acting again upon the small remains of the Venomous Ferment; thus Bartholin More difficult and terrifying are the Symptoms from the Bite of a Mad Dog, whose Venom has this also surprising in it, that the bad Effects do not appear oftentimes till the Cause of ’em is forgot; for the Wound is as easily cured as a common Bite is; but nevertheless a considerable time after, a melancholy Tragedy succeeds, sometimes sooner, sometimes later; for there are Instances of its being deferred to Two, The Ancients have at large described these Symptoms, as Galen, Dioscorides, Aetius, Ægineta, but most particularly of all, CÆlius Aurelianus That this Disease is accompany’d with a Delirium, is almost the common Opinion both of Ancients and Moderns; Damocrates called it the barking Phrensie From such Actions as these, together with those mentioned before in relating the Symptoms, it is obvious enough to conclude, that Persons thus affected are in a proper Sence Delirous. Tho’ at the same time I do think that the Hydrophobia it self (whatever is commonly believed) does not at all proceed from this Delirium, as will by and by appear. I know indeed that the main and plausible Objection against a Delirium is this, that the Patient himself does Reason against his Timorousness, tho’ he cannot overcome it, forewarns the Standers-by of his Outrageous Fits, desires them to take care of themselves, and the like. Which from what I have already said concerning a Delirium, appears to be very consistent with it, nay, convinces that there is the greatest Degree of it in this Case; in as much as that it is not a Distemper of the Mind but of the Body. And to this purpose I remember to have seen my self an Instance of one in a Fever, who foretold some time before any signs of a Delirium were discovered, how raving and unruly He should be, and made good his Prognostick to that degree, that it was very hard Work to tame and master him; tho’, as he told me afterwards, he reason’d as much as he could against that groundless Jealousie of his Friends designing to Murder him, which put him upon his Mad Actions, but was not able to Conquer the prevailing Species of Fear and Anger. This Delirium therefore, as CÆlius Aurelianus That we may rightly understand this, we must take Notice, that the Rabies or Madness in a Dog is the effect of a Violent Fever; and therefore it is most common in excessive Hot Weather, tho’ sometimes intense Cold maybe the Cause of it; That no Dog in this Case ever sweats; from whence it follows, that when his Blood is in a Ferment, it cannot, as in other Creatures, discharge it self upon the surface of the Body, and therefore must of necessity throw out a great many Saline and Active Particles upon those Parts, where there is the most constant and easie Secretion; and such, next to the Miliary in the Skin in Us, are the Salival Glands; for this reason much more Spittle is separated in a Dog when Mad, than at any other time, and that very frothy, or impregnated with Hot, Subtil Parts. Now as we every Day observe, that what is thrown out from Liquors in a Ferment, is capable of inducing the like Motion in another Liquor of the same kind, when duly mixed with it; so we may very well suppose in the present Case, that the Saliva, which is it self one of the most Fermentative Juices in Nature, being turgid with Fiery, Saline Particles thrown into it out of the boiling Blood, when it comes by means of a Wound to be Incorporated with the Arterial Fluid of any One, does by Degrees raise a preternatural Effervescence in it; the Effects of which will necessarily be most felt in those Parts which being tender, are the least able to refill the distension of the Blood Vessels; such are the Stomach, and especially the Brain; and hereupon Deliria, with Maniacal, and such like Symptoms, will easily insue. A Person thus affected may be said in a Degree to have put on the Canine Nature, tho’ his Reason be all this time untouch’d and intire, may Bite, Howl, &c. because the like violent Agitation of the Blood in Him as was in the Dog will present like Species, and consequently (so far as their different Natures will allow) produce like Actions; just as it has been observed, that Sheep bitten by a Mad Dog, have run at the Shepherd like so many Dogs to Bite him; so much can an Alteration of the Blood and Spirits do. And as a Timorous Creature may be imboldened, so we oftentimes see Persons Courageous enough by a change made in the Blood by Evacuations, that is, by want of Force and Motion in that Fluid, made sheepish Cowards, in despight of their Reason, so long as that Defect is continued. But the main difficulties in this matter are, the Mischief discovering it self so long after the Bite, and the Hydrophobia. As to the former, we are to consider, that Fermentation being a Change made in the CohÆsion of the compounding Parts of a Fluid, it is sometimes a longer, sometimes a shorter time before this Alteration is wrought; which variety may proceed either from the different Nature and Constitution of the Ferment, or of the Liquor Fermented, and a great Number of Circumstances besides. So that this Venom may be all the while doing its Work, tho’ the change made by it may not be so considerable as to be sensibly taken Notice of till a long time after. Nay, it may so happen, that the Ferment being Weak may not raise in the Blood any remarkable Agitation at all, till some accidental Alteration in the Body unluckily gives it an additional Force. As we before observed, how much external Heat concurrs to heighten the Symptoms from the Bite of the Tarantula. And this probably may be the Case of Those in whom this Malignity has not appear’d till Six, or Twelve Months after the Wound. That we may understand the Reason of the Hydrophobia, it is to be Remarked, that this dread of Water does not come on till the latter end of the Disease, Three or Four Days before Death; that is, not till this preternatural Fermentation in the Blood is come to its Heigth; and as in the Dog, so in the Patient, a great quantity of Fermentative Particles is thrown off upon the Glands of the Mouth and Stomach, as appears by his Foaming at the Mouth, &c. As also, that this Fear is not from a sight of, or any imaginary appearance in the Water, for if the Vessel be close shut, and the Patient bid to suck thro’ a Quill, as soon as he has tasted, he falls into Anguish and Convulsions, as Dr. Lister observed. It is therefore highly probable, if not certain, that this surprising Symptom proceeds from the intolerable Pain which any Liquor at this time taken induces, partly by hurting the inflamed Membranes of the Fauces in Deglutition; partly by fermenting with these Active Particles discharged by the Blood upon the Stomachic Glands, and thus twitching and irritating the Nervous Membranes; the very memory of which grievous Sence, after it is once felt, is so terrible, that the affected Person chuses any thing rather than to undergo it a second time. The Effects of this Irritation are manifest in the Convulsions of the Stomach, and frequent Singultus, with which the Patient is continually oppress’d. And we all know by how necessary a kind of Mechanism we do fly from and abhor those things which have proved disagreeable to the Animal Œconomy, to which nothing is so contrary and repugnant as Pain; at the first Approaches of which, Nature Starts and Recoils, tho’ Reason be arm’d with never so much Courage and Resolution to undergo the Shock. Nor will any Body wonder how this Ferment should cause such Torment, who considers how often, even in Colical Cases, Persons are downright distracted by excessive Pain, from a Cause not unlike to this we are treating of, that is, from a corrosive Ferment in the Bowels, rarefying the Juices there into Flatus, and by this means irritating and stimulating those tender Membranes into Spasmodic and Convulsive Motions. And indeed Dr. Lister’s Patient told him, that the very swallowing of his own Spittle put him to such Torture in his Stomach, that Death it self was not so Terrible as the Inexpressible Agony. It may serve both to Illustrate and Confirm this Theory, to take Notice, that not only may (according to these Principles) other Bites besides that of a Dog happen to induce the like Symptoms; thus Malpighi Thus Schenkius Nay, Hippocrates Neither is it amiss to add, that Ioannes Faber The same Observation has been made by others in Bodies Dead of this Disease. Thus the Acta Medica Hafniensia Bonetus And in a very particular History of an Hydrophobia, lately published at Ulm, The Cure of this Poison is either immediately upon the Wound made, or some Days after, before the Fear of Water is discover’d; for at that time all Authors do agree the Malady to be Incurable; and the Reason is plain from what has been already deliver’d. As in other Venomous Bites, so in this, Galen But where these Means of destroying the Ferment in the beginning are omitted, the dangerous Consequences of its being mixed with the Blood is by all possible Care to be prevented. To this purpose, to say nothing of the many Inconsiderate Jumbles of Antidotes, Theriacas, &c. nor of such vulgar Trifles as the Liver of the Mad Dog, of which Galen This is manifestly an Absorbent, and very Diuretic Medicine, especially when prepared after the right manner, which was by Burning the Craw-Fish alive upon a Copper-Plate, with a Fire made of the Cuttings or Twigs of White Briony: For whether the latter part of the Management signifies much or no, the former most certainly does; and the Salt of the Copper, which powerfully provokes Urine, being mix’d with that of the Ashes, may very much exalt their Virtue. And it is upon this same Score, that the Spongia of the Cynnorrhodos or Rosa Sylvestris is so Celebrated an Antidote, not only for this Poison, but also for that of the Viper, Tarantula, and others too, that ’tis call’d in Sicily Sanatodos, or All-heal; this being not a Vegetable, as P. Boccone As all Insects abound with a Diuretick Salt, so Cantharides more than any others; therefore the Learned Bacchius In short, all the Specifics in this Case are such as do either absorb a peccant Acidity in the Stomach, or carry it off by Urine; as Terra Lemnia, highly commended by Galen But the greatest and surest Cure of all, is frequent Submerging or Ducking the Patient in Water. The first mention I find of this is in Cornelius Celsus However it be, This Practice was in this last Age with great Authority revived by the Ingenious Baron Van Helmont As all Baths do chiefly act by the sensible Qualities of Heat and Cold, and the Gravity of their Fluid; so we need go no farther to fetch the Reason of the great Advantage of this Method in the present Case, than to the Pressure of the Water upon the Body of the Patient. Every one knows how plentifully plunging into cold Water provokes Urine, which proceeds no doubt from the constriction hereby made of the Fibres of the Skin and Vessels. Thus this outward Cure differs not much in effect from the inward Medicines beforementioned, but must necessarily have the better of them in this Respect, that when the Fermenting Blood stretches its Vessels, the exceeding weight of the ambient Fluid resists and represses this Distension, and so prevents the Effects of It. For this Reason the Salt Water of the Sea is especially chosen for this Business, because its greater Gravity than that of Fresh does more powerfully do all this, and break the beginning CohÆsion of the Parts of the Blood. Thus we may, without having recourse to the Fright and Terror, with which this Method, when rightly practis’d, (by keeping the Party under Water for a considerable time, till he is almost quite drowned) is usually accompanied, probably enough account for the Advantages of this Immersion. Tho’ it is not unlikely that this new Fear may have some good Effect in the Case too, for not only Convulsions, but Agues, and other Diseases, have oftentimes been happily Cured, merely by terrifying and surprising the Patient. The Reason of this will easily be understood by him who knows what Alterations the Passions of the Mind do make in the Fluid of the Nerves and Arteries; of which in another Place. It may for our present purpose suffice to take Notice, That as in Consideration of the last mentioned Effect upon the Mind, Van Helmont commends this same Practice in all Sorts of Madness, and Chronical Deliria; so upon the account of the before hinted Alterations on the Body, Bathing was, among the Ancients, the common Cure of Melancholy, and such like Distempers He that compares what has been already advanc’d concerning Deliria, with the Bellinian Theory of Melancholy and Maniacal Distempers, and reflects upon the Nature of Baths, and their manner of Acting, will see so much Reason in this Practice, as to be sorry that ’tis now-a-days almost quite laid aside and neglected. For we must observe, that altho’ there be some Difference in the Treatment and Cure of Deliria, whether Maniacal or Melancholy, when they are Originally from the Mind, as the Effects of Care, Trouble, or the like, and when from an Indisposition of the Body; yet that both do agree in this, that they require an Alteration to be made in the Blood and Spirits; inasmuch as the Mind, by often, nay, almost continually, renewing to it self any one Idea, of Love, Sorrow, &c. does so constantly determine the Spirits and Blood, one and the same way, that the Body does at last as much share in the Alteration, as if it had been primarily affected, and consequently must have, in some manner, the same Amendment. Upon this Score Baccius But to insist upon this Subject is foreign to our purpose; only in regard that the most usual Methods of Cure in these Cases are so very tedious, and oftentimes unsuccessful at the last, I thought it not amiss to hint thus much, in order to the advancing something more Certain and Effectual towards the Removal of the greatest Unhappiness to which Mankind is liable. To conclude with the Hydrophobia; where these Remedies fail, or are Administred too late, the Patient, from the prevailing inflammatory Disposition of the Blood, grows more and more Delirous, and by Degrees downright raving Mad, at last (as it most commonly happens in Maniacal People) suffers a total Resolution of Strength, and Dies. Thus Dr. Howna’s Case ended in a perfect universal Paralysis. |
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