CONTAINING
^The Caufes both remote and immediate. The
Indications, Counter-Indications, and
the P
ROGNOSTICK.
>An exact ANALYSISof the different Prk- parations of Ml'S. Stephen’s MEDICik ES, to prove that it cannot be a Specific for the STONE
# L O N D O N :
Printed for J. Br ett, oppofite St;. Ckmenfy i Church, in the Strand,,
C .(Price One Shilling,)
By the CHEVJL IERde COET LOGON,
Knight of St. Lazare, and Member of the Royal Academy of Angers,
' - - - — — — —
ANEW
r R E AT I
N THE
Virtues, Properties, Effe&s, &c. of all the Ingredients, whereof Mrs. Ste¬ phens's Medicine is compofed 5 to prove it can’t be a S pecifick for the Stone ( and to
r-B-1 « * -t . • •
nder, at the fame Time, my Readers capable,, of them Ives, to judge pertinently ol it, or hinder them from (cujfing me of Partiality ) I think it not improper, to ve them a general Idea of the Caufes, Indications, Cod- Si- Indications, &c. of a Malady, attended with inch
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' ... _ i fife ...» — i— _ a- — I- _ «-* •- w r-«r fl-v S -T.r-v
ruciating Pains, that it is not furprizing, if the Pa lien
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be
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4 A New T r e a tise on the S TO N E.
he forced to have Recourfeeven to themoftinf gnilicanf NoftrumSj which are reprefented to him as capable ol relieving him ; and that I may proceed with fomg Or¬ der, I’ll begin by a fhort anatomical Defcription of a]] the Parts chiefly afflicted by the Stone, or Gravel, which are the Kidneys, Veffels, and Bladder.
Anatomical Description of the KIDNEYS.
rip H E RE are two Kidneys in an human Body^ 1 both placed in the lower Belly, or Abdomen ; the right Kidney is fituated tinder the Liver, the left between the Spleen and Mufculus Lumbaris, and both under the Duplicature of the Peritonaeum.
They have each two Membranes, one common from the Peritonaeum, and the other proper from the ex¬ terior Coat of the Blood- Veffels. By their external Membrane they adhere to the Loins; by the Blood* Veflels to the Cava and Aorta; and by the Ureters to the Subftance of the Kidneys, which are aT exture, or ra¬ ther Congeries of Blood- Veflels, Glands, and excretory
D ufts. They receive their Blood- Velfels from the • /
Cava and Aorta, by Means of the Emulgents. The emulgent Artery, by its numberlefs Ramifications throughout the whole Subftance of the Kidneys, fupplies it with Blood from the Aorta and, after infinite Con¬ vulsions, terminate itfelf in Glands of a globular Figure, which compofe the cortical Part of the Kidney of about half an Inch thick, and of a Liver Colour. From each of thefe Gbnds ilfue out the Tubuli Beliiniani, which extend themfelves toward the Pelvis of the Kidneys, form the Papillre, adjoining to which is the Fiftula Membranacea, through which the Urine is emptied into the Pelvis, that it might be diicharged by tire Ureters into the Bladder.
The Blood remaining after the Secretion of the U- rine, is tarried back to the Heart, by the minute capil¬ lary Veins, which ariie from the Extremities of the:
arterial!
A New Treatise on the ST ONE* 5
irterial Branches, being inclofed in the fame Cap¬ illar with the Artery, going out where it ent'ers, and :erminating at the Cava.
There are likewife a great Number of mulcular Fi- >ers in the Mechanifm of the Kidneys j which is a plain 3emonftration, that they are not appointed by Nature br the Secretion of the Urine only $ but alio for the Ex- mlfion, or Difcharge of any concreted Matter that may odge in their Subftance, even without the Help of Medicine; and which is an evident Proof that the Kid- leys are as well adive as paffive Machines in an human Jody •, contrary to the erroneous Opinions of thole who relieve them placed there only for to give a Vent to he lerous Part of the Blood *, having no Power to open :s Treafure, or extrad its Principles, othprwife than f Filtration.
~)efcription of the Pelvis, and of the Ureters.
HI R O M the Subftance of the Kidneys, and without tf mentioning the other Parts, which have no Re¬ gion to our preient Purpofes, as the Glandula Renalis, iV. I proceed to the Defcription of the Pelvis, which a Bafon, or Cavity in the Middle of the Kidney, hich ariles from a Dilfention of the Ureter.
There are two Ureters, or long, final I, and mera- ‘anous Pipes, of the Bignefs of a Goofe-Quill, tho’
' an unequal Diameter in their Cavity, to convey the rine from the Pelvis *, into which they pierce, on each de its Neck, with oblique Infertions. Their Obftruc- Dn will caufe a Suppreffion of Urine, and either being hefted, will excite a Strangury.
■ Tbt
B
n
6
A New Treatise on the STONE.
\ » '
^Thc Description of the Vesica Urinaria* o\
Bladder.
npHE Medea Urinaria, or Bladder, is compoled c I three Membranes, the uttermoft Common, froi the Peritonaeum, and the two others Propel* Th middle one is compoled of carnous Fibres, both Long tudinal and Circular ; by the Aftion or the Longitud nal, the Fund of the Bladder is prefs’d forward towarc the Os Pubis, from whofe lower Part they arile, as we as from the fore Part of the Proftat while the Circi lar ones, by leffening its Dimenfions, procure the Di
charge of Urine. ^
The inward. Membrane is nervous, and of an exqumtn Senfe; and therefore it would be fubjeT to many mo; Accidents, was it not fenced on all Sides, with a va Number of Glands, againft the Acrimony of the Urin The Sphincter Fefica, is a Mufcle placed at the Neck < the Bladder, which by keeping it conftandy ciofed, hi) ders the unvoluntary Emiffion of Urine.
The Bladder is a Kind of Referyoir, which receiv the Urine of the Kidneys, that it might not be^evacuat* againft our Content; for which Purpofe, Nature h joined to it the main excretory Veffel, or Pipe, calf Urethra j which being as tender as the inward Membra] of the Biadder,fhe has lined it in the fame Manner wii finall Glands, to avoid the frequent Dangers it othe
wife might be expofed to.
'The Bladder and Urethra receive into their Comp fltion Veins and Arteries from the Epiga ft ricks and 1 Hack Nerves and from the Pelvis of the Abdomen .
This fhort, though very neceiTary anatomical B
feription of the urinary Organs, thus eftablifhed,
will not be improper, before we attempt to dilcover t|
Caufes of the Maladies which aft eft thole Parts, eft
cial’ly of the Stone and Gravel, to give likewife an Id
of the Nature of the Urine; its Properties, Qualm.
and its conftituent Principles ; Once from the Depravatu
a
A New Treatise on the STONE. *7
d ill Habit of that Fluid, after its Separation from e Blood in the Kidneys, proceed all Stones, Gravel, d fabulous Concretions.
Definition of the URINE.
r HE Urine is an elementary Water, leparated from the Blood in the Kidneys, and impregnated with ith acid and alkaline Salts. The Accuratenefs of this efinition is evidently demonftrated, by the daily Ex- iriments of our Chymifts upon that Fluid, from hence is extrafted-, ift, a fiegmatick and in fipld ympha. 2d. A volatile Spirit. 3^ T n acid Salt, h. Sulphur. 5th. Very little Oil, except in a Caco- imous Conllitution. 6th. And lorae fixed Salt, hieh afford its earthly Sediments.
Reafon alone, without the Affiftance of Chymiftry, ay convince us that Urine is Elementary 3 fince its •inciples are inclofed in thofe Mixtures, which ferve for ir Aliments, and which participate likewife of the ur Elements 3 and the more one of thole Elements is edominant in the Aliments we like mod, the more is ir Urine impregnated with the Principles of that Ele- ent, viz. If we prefer Pickles, Roots, Fruits, &V.
any other Food 3 or Cyder, Water, or any_ other :gmittick Liquor, to fpirituous ones, our Urine is ien clear, limpid, and, if put to the Alembick, affords :ry little Spirits, or volatile Salt, a great Deal of hlegm, and a confiderable Quantity of fixed Salt, or ther what the Chymifts call Caput Mortuum.
However, it would be a grols Error, to pretend, that ie differentQualities o :' theUrine, proceed entirely from e dilferent Qualities of the Elements^ fince when the erment of the Stomach, is more or lets capable to per- irm its Functions, the different Qualities of the Pan- eatick Juice, and of the ocher Juices, employed by Na- ire to perfect the Chyle, the different Changes, or Ma¬ rions the Blood acquires in its Circulation; but,
above
I
8 A New Treatise on the STON E.
above all, the Imbecillity, or the juft Harmony ful lifting between the urinary Organs, alter the Urine.
Another Error no left to be condemned, is to believ that the Quantity of the Urine proceeds always fror the Quantity of the Liquor we drink ; ftnce Experienc convinces us of the contrary. The more is our Con ftitution weak or ftrong, hot or phiegmatick, th Urine is more or left abundant* In a weak Conft tution the Pores of the Body being more open’d an relaxed, Part of the Lympha, which ftiould have lep; rated from the Blood in the Kidneys, is evacuated b Sweat, or infenfible Perlpiration, even in a hoc Conft: tution , though perhaps very ftrong, Parts of tha Lympha is confumed by the excefftve Heat of th Body*
I am not of the Opinion of fome Phyficians, wh pretend that the Evacuation of the Serum by excefliv Sweats, diminifhes always the Quantity of the Urine lincel have feen, in fome Suhje&s, a very la rgeE vacua tion of Urine, after an exceftive Sweat ; neither wouL their frivolous Reafons,that theBlood being impoverifh’ and Ipoiled of the Spirits which nmft facilitate itsregu far Circulation, and, coniequently, % they, depriv it of the Strength necelTary to force its PalTage throng] the complicated arterial Branches of the Kidneys, wil ever make me alter my Sentiments, fince the Veffel of the urinary Organs admit of a Relaxation in thei Parts, though not fo fenfible a one as the Cuta neons Glands 5 and that it is agreeable to the ft ridel Rules of Anatomy* to thi :k that, in fuch exceffive Secre tions of the Serum from the Blood, it muft flow in ; greater Quantity through its ordinary and natural Con duin , or Pipes, than otherwife, efpecially when th Serum is fuper abundant .
That the Serum , evacuated by Urine, or Sweats, i the fame with that of the Blood, is apparent by th< Serum which fwims upon the Blood extracted bi Phlebotomy of the lame Confidence, Colour and Tafte <
Urine.
P
A New Treatise on the S T O N E.
9
Caufes of the different Colours of the Urine*
iHE different Colours of the Urine have different Caufes *, the Crudity, or Watery Colour of the le, without either Sediment or Cloud on the Sur- , proceeds from the Crudity and Imbeciility of the blvent of the Stomach, in the Co&ion of the Ali- ts^ which being imperfedly feparated, a confidera- Part of their molt fulphurous and volatile Particles, eft and carried off with the grofs Excrements . The le of a deep Orange Colour, with a brickiih Se~ mt, proceeds from an imperfedt Separation of different Fluids wherewith the Subftance of the )d is compofed ; or a Diffolution of the nourifhing 2S, which through the Relaxation of the urinary ms are evacuated together with the Serum through Drdinary Pahage of the Urine', that Colour ariling t the oleaginous Particles of thole Juices, wherewith rarified Pores of the Urine are ftIPd, which caufes nperfeCl: Separation, and changes the Refraction into clique Reflection.
different Qualities of the Urine, from the . Difference of the Confitution of the Body ;
1 H O S E are not entirely miftaken, who pretend to difcover the Conflitudon of the Rady, by the ?£tion of the Urine *, though I would not pretend to ove the ridiculous, knavifh, and monftrous Con- of thofe Quacks, who the better to impale on the lulity of the Vulgar, and cozen them of their Mo- pretend to judge pertinently of the Conftitution Perfon, or to form a juft Prognoilick of a Malady the InfpeClion of Urine, poured into diafe- Vdfels, and carried often many Miles in a Bottle, s the Urine being an Excrement divdled of thofe
io A New Treatise on the STONE,
Spires which Should keep its Motion, and the Trie vola tile Salt ic contains, being wrapt in a predorainar Quantity of Phlegm and terreftrial Particles, itmuftne reffu'ilv tend to Corruption and acquire by thoie Tran: Sons and Motions, the fame Qualities with tha which has been kept for the Space of tour and twent Hours in a Glals f rom which no Body would attemj to form a Prognoftick. Befides, this is rather wort Pnce the Sediment, if there be any, is irregular, and.tt Texture of the Particles, without which no Indicator can be expeded, entirely broken •, therefore nothing moi can be discerned than the moll terreftrial Particles, an theother Bodies it might contain, which by their natur Gravity are carried to the Bottom of the Glafs, fuc
as Sand, Gravel, 13c, _ ,
The fame cannot be Said of the Urine, which h excerienced no other Motion than from the Urethra in the Velfel; which fettles gradually by the gradual Ev poration of the Spirits, which kept the different Pri ciples it is compol'ed with, in a Ferment } for then Phylician, by the Inspection of fuch Urine, can eali judge of the Constitution of his Patient, and of t. Nature ofhisDiftemper.
General Rules to difeover the Conjiitution of Patient by his U sine.
THE general Rules to difeover the Constitution a Pei'Son by his Urine, are theie. . ^ ]
i. A thin, clear, and flameous Urine, overstock’d w Salts denote a bilious Constitution •, fince the Bile, c of the Substances, which enter into the Composition the Blood, the molt impregnated, with igneous Pai dgs where it predominates^ lntullibly cornmunicstcs the ’Blood a greater Volatility, without a Rare faff of the Phlegm, and an extraordinary Exaltation of feline Particle, diSfufed thro’ the whole Mafs of Bio Part of which can’t avoid being carried away by Secretion of the Urine. 2- "
A IFew Treatise on the STONE, n
2. Perfons of a languine, healthy Conftitution make, ;enerally an U rine of a deep amber Colour, with a red- aih Menfruum, and a fulphurous Sediment full of right fandy Gravel.
3. TheUrine of a phlegmatick Constitution, is thick na heavy , with a whitiih, earthy Sediment, occasion'd >y the Scarcity of the Spirits fo absolutely necelTary 0 give a regular Morion to the Fluids. Such Con- tit union is more fubjecl to the Stone, or Gravel, than he tw7o other \ hecaufe the Coolnefs of the Sto- nach, leaves the Chile overloaded with earthy and ihelgmatick Particles, which fhould have been car- ied with the grofs Excrements, in the firfk Separation, nd blunt the Activity of the Bile, and of the Pancre ci¬ te Juice The Fluids, render’d flow in their Motions, >y teing over burthen ’d with that Phlegm, flop in the hffage j and tu.e Kidneys, render'd likewile Ada ft by be repeated Efforts they make for the Excretion of the erum , condenfe it to fuch a Degree, as to reduce it to Tandy and graveilcus Confidence.
This brings me naturally into a ferieb Inquiry of le efficient Caufe of the Concretion, of the comtituent 'rinciples of the Gravel and Stone, and of the mail¬ er of their Formation in both the Kidneys and ladder.
he Caufes of the Stone and Gravel, and their ■ Formation in the Kidneys and Bladder*
D IV R R 2 US admits for the two remote Caufes of fandy 2nd gravellous Subfiance in the Kidneys, the loldnefs of the Stomach and the Heat of the Reins, fhich Opinion I have mentioned in the preceeding Arti- and in that he feems to agree with fbme modern hyfeians, with this Difference, that they find that aufe, which they call predi-ipof ng, in the Imbeciility, ■Relaxation of the Fibres of the urinary Organs, and %n for Reafon thereof that k would be impoffible
C * * that
12 A New Treatise on the STONE.
that Stonesor Gravel fhould be generated in the Kidney or Bladder, were not the Tone of thole Organs impaire. by their Fibres being depriv’d of their natural Elafticit^ which render them incapable of expelling that phlea malic and glutinous Matter which has lodged itlelf 1 their Cavity, and oppofe their Concretion : For, fa they, while tne whole Microcofm continues in its jir Hai mony, while the whole Machine preferves the fair regular Motion, all its Springs will be equally capable t refill: or oppofe, all that could didurb their OEconomj Others rejeft that Opinion, and fearch the remot Caufes ol the Stone and Gravel in the Quality an Quantities o ' the Aliments, and believe that an Epicur who minded nothing elfe, but how to load his Stomacl with the mod delicious Viands, is more commonly fut jecl to the Stone and Gravel, than thole that eat an drink with Difcretion, and Frugality. To fnpport th: Sentiment, they alledge, that the more delicious our Al: anents are, the more they are charged with earthy an fahne Particles, which meeting in the Blood, with thi igneous Arcanum the firft Principle of itsAfliviry, are cor denied together, and form aKind of Coagulum,or tenacl ous Phlegm, which retards itsCirculation,and which bein with rmiJr difficulty feparated by the Secretion, fror its Subdance, and wanting the Fluidity neceilary for fpeedy Evacuation, flops in the Pailage fo long as tob concreted or obdurated, by the Heat of the Reins. 1 ipnd nut be iuppoied that this glutinous Matter, whicl ibi-Jes in the unnaryOrgansis very volunimous, for thei in a very ihoit Space of lime it would catile a total Ob iti U'-iiou, it incieales only byDegrees, and even Parte it is earned oil by the Fluidity of the Serum, efpeeiall when it Jews with fome Impetuofity, thro’ the natura Evacuation, often without the lead Pain * for that fandl Subitance is iomeTime almoft impalpable, or of fo littli Volume that it rolls with the Urine without the leal 1 enfion of the Veiiel, Some of them larger, cautes morae taneous ObftrotHon attended with fome Pair by being forced thro the Padage, by the Impetuofit of the Urine, which Sentiment dedroys entirely the Sy *:fXm o: who place the immediate Caufc of tbl
» Gravel
A New Treatise on the SToNE. 13
Gravel in 1 the attractive Faculty of the faline Particles, bf Corpuicles of our Aliments, therewith the Urine is impregnated: Por if thofe Corpuicles have that mag- netick Virtue, it mud be an occjult one, which is the fame as nothing, or by Effluviums. But how can it be by Effluvium, fince the Atmofphere abfolutely necefiary betwixt the two Bodies for the Concatenation of the Corpufcles flowing from each of them, to create the Attraction, muft be unadvoidably broken , by the overflowing of the Urine 3 and if that Salt has :hat attractive Quality, why fo often a fandy Sub- ftance in the Kidneys, and evacuated by the Urine, without being ever conglomerated, into a Gravel or otone ? Is then that attractive Quality, ad Libitum^ or latuially inhcient in that Salt? If it benaturally inherent t mud always produce the fame EffeCl 3 if ad Libitum 3 L foppofe it often Dorment as well as its Affertors.
. J?emor^rate more evidently that dippofed attrac¬ tive Virtue in their Salt, they have Recourfe to fome Experiment to prove, r.That there are laline Corpul- ies in the Texture of the Gravel, or Stone 3 which no jody has ever objected againd, fince there are no Mixs n the whole Creation without its Salt, both volatile ind fixed ^ but above all our Subdance whi oh abounds yith laline Corpufcles. 2. I hat it has really an attract aye faculty 3 which is evidently apparent in the Did’ olution of the Gravel or Stone reduced into an impalpable owder, in warm Water, which Water is immediately mpiegnated with faline Corpufcles, from whence they onclude, that every gravelly Corpufcle, has a iaiine ✓oipukde for its Center 3 no doubt but it may have uch Center 3 but how will this Experiment prove he attractive Faculty of that Center? Mud not that ery fame faline Corpufcle, be diffufed thro’ the whole ubdance^of the Urine, fince they cannot be brought ito die Kidney, otherwife than by that Vehicle? If fb, oy fhould not that attractive faline Corpufcle left £ri the ^ have the fame Activity towards all the
chcr Corpufcles homogeneous to them? Why does theUrine .mam impregnated with inch Quantity qf the very fame " V 'l fallow
14 A New Treatise on the STONE.
laline Corpufcles, afcer the Evacuation, as its evident b} its brakilh Tafte, and its Analyfis in the Akmbick ? O is it becanle that centrical Corpulcule, borrowsits Acti vity from its different Pofitions, and directed toward it Poles, like the Loadftone, before it might be able to ill that attractive Faculty 5 but if the Pcfition is of n Signification towards it, which muft be thofe refracta' ones which fcornfuliy delpife intimate Affinity ; and wh is not the whole faline Subftance of the Urine petri
lied ;
The real immediate Caufe of the G ravel inth
KIDNEYS
H E Gravel in the K idneys proceed from a vifcon
1 and tenacious Phlegm, Separated from the Sub ftance of the Blood, and lecreted with the Serum thrc the Vefiels of the Kidneys, and carried from the Tubul Belliani and the Papilla into the Pelvis, where, by it Adhefion to the internal Membrane and by the Heat 0 theReins, its obduratedand concreted fometimes into ai almoft impalpable Sandy Subftance, eafily carried awa] by Urine, and without the Icaft Pain; and fometime into a Gravel or Sand of a bigger Volume, which Gra vel being of a vifcous Subftance in their firft Formation when in fome Quantity, by their Collifion occafionk by the Pluidityof the Urine, are often conglomeratec together, and form that voluminous one, call'd Stone.
I fit be ask’d why that vifcous and earthy Subftance does not follow the Rapidity of the Urine, in its en- tire Evacuation through the Ureters, Bladder and Ure; thra, as well as its Secretion through the Veffielsof th<i Kidneys ? I anfwer, that they are forced in the Se; ci etion by a ftrong Impulfion of the Arcanum , diffufee through the whole Mdfs of the Blood, from which it i fepa rated, and by the Compreffion of the fecretan Vefiels; that finding a larger Capacity in the Pelvis1 and deprived of that Impulfion which could likewif
forci
A New Treatise on the ST.ONE. jg
brceit through the Ureters , it is carried by its natural gravity, like any other heavy Body thrown into a Vefc el full of Water, to the Bottom of the Pelvis , or rat¬ her like litmus Fluviatilis , adhere to the Side of that fart where it acquires its Concretion.
If it be ask'd likewife, why that Mattefr, being in he fame Quantity, is not always concreted in the lame Vlanner ? I’ll anfwer again* that though* m all Ap~ )earance, the fame Subftance, it has, however, very >ften different Qualities 5 and that the lefs vifcous, pro- luces always a lefs voluminous Tandy Subfiance, which Subftance is often fo friable, that by their Collifion, in )eing continually roll’d by the Fluidity of the Urine, hey are refolved into almofl impalpable Sand: But vhen, on the contrary they furabund with glutinous md tenacious Corpufcles, they are, by that Collifion* oined tagether, as I have already mentioned 5 and, in h'ocefs of Time, form a Stone of a confiderable Bigneft, hough feldom exceeding in its Volume a fin all Bean § ndis often reduced to its former State of Sand or Gra¬ vel by the fame Means they had been accumulated or :oncreted together^ for when the cataneous Texture >f the glutinous Corpufcles which had been the efficient ^aufe of the Concretion, is broken, which happens vhen thofe Corpufcles are in fuch oppofite Portions* is to leave Intervals for any ftronger Body to lodge it- elf in thofe Intervals, and by its frequent Secoufes^ of Jhakings, caufe at laft a Diffolution , the Overpowering >r Rapidity of the Urine giving often the finifbing itroke. In that Wreck of the Stone in the Kidneys, *art of it is always forced thro’ theUreters, which Parts )eing rough, flrarp and acute, from the Inequality of heir Angles, caufe fbmetimes an Excoriation, with :xquifite Pains, and which is apparent by the Urine ieing dyed with Blood.
This Opinion upon the immediate Caufes of the travel, or Stone in the Kidneys, does not feem to me >therwife repugnant, to that of thofe who place the >aufe in the Salts, than by depriving that Salt of its Pretended magnetkk Virtue % for I’ll agree with them,
. : . - ' . if
t6 A Neiv Treatise on the STONE.
if they pleafe, that the faline Corpufcles are the chie Foundation of the Gravel or Scone; but Ill deny no only their attractive Faculty, but likewife that the are capable ol being fo intimately united together, as t form to hard a Goneietion as is the Gravel or Stone without the Help of vifeous and earthly Corpufck obdurated by fume Heat. The Urine itfelf, by it continually flowing through the urinary Veffels, woul hinder that Concretion coming to any Solidity as i appears in the Saline x/Iarches in France, where th fmallefl: Rain will deftroy the belt Concretion of Salt and by daily Experience, when a fmall Quantity c Water will deftroy a greater Quantity of Salt withou the Coipuicles of that Sale feDarated by the conti aual Rotation of the globular Corpufcles of the Water being capable to attract each other for a Concretion
fire, by an Evaporation which reunite thole Salts, in their Condenfation, witl iome Earth and Phlegm.
Neither can it be objected, that this Magnetick Salt which ferns for the Formation of the Gravel or Stone is entirely different from our common Salt i for it is given pro Confefl'oy that it is alnioft the fame as oui common Salt Armoniack, and we know that it fuffen
nvrf Chai?ges 0Lir common Salt, and admit oi & IJiiTolution into Water.
The Generation of the Stone in the Bladdes
SOM E of our modern Authors, efpecially the Gt
tlvmpn nf „r _ i . , J ^
tlemen of the Magnet , charmed to have fo favc rable an Occahon to let the World know they ha ttudied des Cartes and Newton, are refolved to’ folk no other 1 nnciples, right or wrong, or fpeak any oth Dialer, than that of thofe two famous Philofophers. wnh tuey could likewde forbear laming the Principles thole two iJ uftrious Men, or depriving them of the natural Light by thtir prolix Difcourles and tedio • * Repetitia
A New Treatise m the STONE. at*?
4r
Repetitions 5 for what fign'fies making three or four 'hapters of a Snbjeft, which might be treated in tw& r three Pages? They know no other Cauie oi the Generation of the Stone in the Bladder, than the fame lagnetick Salt, which caufes it in the Kidneys j and hey employ hair a Book to endeavour to convince us f that ridiculous Opinion, which is entirely repugnant o our Reafon and our common Experience. That at- rattive Salt might have pals’d, perhaps, at lead with lore Appearance of Truth, for the Center, or the ircanurn of the Gravel in the Kidneys, fince thofe ^arts being a great deal narrower than the Bladder, a k>rpulcle of that Salt being left in the VefTeis of the Sidneys for a Center for the Gravel ; might chance to 100k in en pajfent fome of its Kindred j but in the {ladder, which is of a far greater Capacity, and leidom r never without a tolerable Quantity of Urine, which sft there without any Motion, till dilcharged through ie Urethra , how can that laline Corpufcle efcapc a ) i Ablution, in fo large a Quantity of Fluid? ' Bit; bofe Gentlmen dent mind it 5 they will have that lagnetick laline Carpulcle for the Center, or rather, ie immediate Cauie of the Stone in the Bladder, as rell as in the Kidneys ; but how can they be able to x that Corpulcule in a Place fo that it might attract all ie other Corpufcles homogeneous to itfelf, to form of it Concret of the Figure of a Stone, fince it is a com¬ monly received Truth, confirm'd by Experience, as I ave already demonftrated, that thofe faline Corpufcles re not only diffufed through the whole Subftance of ie Wafer, but alfb are leen like a Cream upon its uperficies, efpecially if the Water be without Motion, id continue fo till it is agitated by the Wind, or fome fher Accident, which it’s impoffible to be effe&ed in ie Bladder.
! They’ll fay, perhaps, that it is done by the E vacua- on of the Urine, which, if not entirely evacuated, ie final l Quantity left afterwards is not capable to hin- "r the. Concretion ; but is the Interval between the vacuaticn through the Urethra and the Supply the
Bladder
1 8 A New Treatise on the STONE.
Bladder receives from theUreters, long enough to alio1 a fufficient Time to thole i a line Corpuicles for the; Concretion* or rather Petrifaction ? Or does not chi frefh Supply of Urine difiolve, or dellroy the Textui of the hril Concretion, which cannot be accomphftf €> foon in the Bladder, where efpecially it cannot be a filled in that Concretion, where the Coolnefs of the Or g a ©r by its natural Warmth, or by that of the vicir Parts? Thofe learned Authors provide, neverthelef againft all thofe Inconveniences, by marfhalling contrar to the Order of N ature, and the true Principles of a n tional Philofophy, thofe homogeneous faline Corpu cles into many Battalions, making feme march to fori the Body, and the others the different Coats of tb Stone j as if it was poffible for the Corpufcle, place by them for the Center, to have an attractive and re pulfive Faculty both, and at the fame Time, towarc the fame homogeneous Corpufcle ? In vain to confirr this Opinion do they alledge, that were not tlfe Corpu: cuies of the Urine to obferve fuch exaCl Difcipline i their Separation, they could never form the differer Coats of the Stone in fo exad a Manner ; fince we fin every Day Stone and Pebbles, whofe Coats far furpafi in their Exa&nefs and Cy merry, the Stones of th Kidneys or Bladdery though our Authors would nc pretend to advance that fuch Stones orPebbies are form cd otherwife than per Cemgeriemy or by the natural Gra Vity or Propensity of the Corpufcles to their Center.
Without the magnetick Virtue of the Center, am the exadl Bifciplke which the Corpufcles, defigne< for the Formation of the Stone, muft obferve in thei March, thofe Gentlemen would fain make us believe that it would be impoffible to account for the differen
viz. Why fome of its Coat feem thinner than others, or not fp clofely attach’d t< the Nucleus? For my Party I think it might bean fwer’d without the leaft Hefitation, and according t< e® Principles y that as it cannot he fuppofed that th( Stone is formed all at once, or that our Urine isalway impregnated with an equal Quantity of vifcous, phleg
made)
A New Treatise of the STONE, ip
Siiatick and earthy Corpufdes ; therefore, as at each Evacuation of the Urine, a new Coat is added to the Nucleus , the lefs the Urine evacuated is loaded with thofe Corpufdes, the Coat or Strata muft be cohfe- quently thinner ; and when the glutinoiis Matter is dried and condenfed by the Beat of the Kidneys, the lefs vehement is that Beat, the lefs are the Corpufdes fcondenfed, and the lefs is the Texture of the Strata or Coat,
Befides, it cannot be imagined, that Nature would take fo mhch Pains, orufe fo much Art, in th6 Forma¬ tion of a ftrange Body, which ie a Burthen t6 the or- ganick Parts, difturbs the Harmony which fhouid fubfift between them, obftruds their Functions, and threatens the whole Microfcofm with its entire Diflblution.
It refults, from what I have faid already, that the Srone in the Bladder proceeds from two Principles, or Caufes : ift. From the Nucleus , or rather Gravel, form¬ ed in the Kidneys, and by the Impetuofity of the Urine, and the Impulfion of the Column of Air, forced ihrough the Ureters into the Bladder. 2d. From the vif- :ous and earthy Corpufdes which have efcaped the Separatidfi in the Kidneys, which, by flaying longer in :he Bladder than in other urinary yeflfels, have Time :o conglomerate themfelves with the Nucleus , and to iorm out of it a far more voluminous Body.
It might be objeded that if the Stones proceed from :he Vifcofity of the Urine, when once a Stone has been ^xtraded,, another would food fupply its Place ; and :onfequently it would be needlefs for the Patient to ex- aole himfelf to the dangerous Accidents, or undergo' :he excruciating Tortures of the Operation ? 7k> whidh anfwer, ift, That the Extraction of the Stone feldom nilfes being fucceeded by the Generation of another; ind whert it happens otherwjfe, it proceeds from the 'Xtfaordinary Dilatation of the urinary Veftels in the irflf Evacuation of the Stone *7 in which the Canine nice 3 apllares , are often, broken, leaving thereby a more fee Paftage to the vifeous and tenacious Limph of the driney which, through the lyfbecilliry of the Organs,
20 A New Treatise on the STONE,
admit of no Separation. 2. Tisfuppofed the momcn taneous Torture of the Operation is neverthelefs pre ferable to the too frequent excruciating Fains of th< Stone, and the fubfequent Accidents not quite fo dan gerous as thofe of an entire Obftrudtion of the PaiTage which mult infallibly happen, if the Operation be neg¬ lected. Befides, the Interval between the Extradtior of a Stone, and the Generation of another, fo as to grov equally dolorous, -muft be of great Eafe to the Patient.
it cannot be reafonably expedted that the Patien fhould always be entirely cured by the Extradtion o the Stone, till proper Remedies are found to take of the remote Caufes of the Diftemper, by reftoring th< Tone of the Stomach, and cooling the vehement Hea of the Reins ; unlefs, alfo, the VefFels have been fc dilated, as to be render’d quite imbeciles for the Secre¬ tion ; for then, altho’ the remoteft Caufes or Focus o: the Stone remain, and the Urine continues to be impreg¬ nated with the fame Quantity of vifcous and earth) Corpufcles, being no more interrupted in their March, by the Narrownefs of the Organs, they follow the Im- petuofity of the Urine in the Evacuation: And if, by the Urine haying longer in the Bladder, than in any other of the urinary Organs, there happens a C oncretion, it is but a fandy and almoft impalpable one, eafily eva¬ cuated without the lead; Pain 5 which Phenomenum de- ftroys entirely the whole Syftem of thofe who admit oi a magnetick Vertuein the faline Corpufcles of the Urine for the Formation of the Stone in the Kidneys or Blad¬ der * for if the Secretion is hinder’d in the Kidneys, by the extraordinary Diflocation of the Organs, and there¬ by the faline Corpufcles, which ufed to form the Nu¬ cleus, are left intheUrine,they are not however deprived of their Qualities, and have Time enough, while the Urine flays in the Bladder, before it can be evacuated through the Urethra , to diredl themfelves to their Poles, and work each other fo as to form a Nucleus Bails, for another Stone; and therefore a Patient would never be free from it, till the Tone of the Stomach could be entirely repaired. Neither can it be objedted,
A New Treatise on the STONE* 21
lat the fame might be faid of my Syftem 5 fince, by my imitting the vifcous Flegm of the Urine for the im¬ mediate Caufe of the Stone, when once, for Want of ecretion, that Phlegm is left mixt with the Limph of ie Urine, and deprived of that extraordinary Heat ad¬ mitted by me as abfolutely neceffary for its Condenfa- on, not to be met with but in the Reins, it is impof- ble it fhould form a Nucleus in the Bladder, which is temperate Body, little fufceptible of any extraordinary I eat ; and if thofe vifcous and earthy Corpufcles are, y their Gravity, diredted to any Part of the Bladder, ae continual Motion of the limphatick Corpufcles, oc- afion’d by their globular .Form, hinders them from onglomerating together, fo as to form a Nucleus .
"he Caufe s of the Differences of the Stone, as to their Volume , Denfity > Colour , Number , &c*
[If T E are convinced, by a continual Experience, V \ that the Stones differ in their Denfity, Volume, r Magnitude, in their Form, Colour and Number $ id all the Authors who have wrote on the Subjedt ave endeavour’d to affign a Reafon, true or apparent >r that Difference.
Thofe who have fixed the immediate Caufes of the :ones in the Attraction, Direction, and Repreflion of le faline Corpufcles fecreted from the Urine, aflign’d >r the different Denfity of the Stones, the different ofition of the Corpufcles thus attracted to their Center, r Nucleus , arifing from their different Gravity or Ve¬ rity with which they meet each other in their various >ccurfion$, pretending that their Contradl or Cohefion
lefs, where the Rapidity of their Motion is greater * lat there is a continual Repulfion, and therefore never in meet together fo as to form a Concert of any Den^ i wherever their Motion, or that of the Acjueous lenftruum, wherein they are fufpended, over-baliance leirPropenfity to contract; and if their attractive over¬ ly 2 ballancc
2% A New Treatise on the STONE.
ballance their repulfive Principles, even then the Den fity acquired by their f.w Contacts is fo loofe, as nc to be properly call’d Denfity } fince by the Rapidit} or overflowing of the Urine it might be diffolved.
The different Denfity of the Stones, is by others ai tributed to the different Figures of their conftituer Parts} in fo much that the Parts which afford a greatt Number of Contacts, as thofe of a Cubic Figure prc duce the harder Scpne $ fince where there are a gre; Number of Contacts there is a greater Clofenefs of tb Corpufcles, and therefore a greater Firmnefs and Der fity in the Body they compofe 5 which cannot be fai of the Corpufcles of a fpherical Figure, which havin but very few Contadts, render the Texture of the Stori lefs compadt and more brifly.
Thofe two Sentiments, tho’ of a modern Xnventior and fo little different from each other, fee m to meer tirely oppofite to the received Rules of Gravitatior Attradlidn, Diredtion, and Repulfion; for it muff t fuppofed that thofe Corpufcles have their Gravity ( themfelves, or borrow it from the Impulsion of the ac jacent P res 3 if from themfelves they muff be carrie by a natural Propenfity to their Center} if from tf adjacent Parts, it is by the Compreffion of the Colum of Air perpendicular to them, or by the ImpuJfion prc creeding fi cm the Fluidity of the globulous Corpufcl of the watery Mcnftmum , in which they fhould Twin If by the Impulfion pf the Column of the Air perpend cuiar to them, they muff be precipitated to their Cent: with no lefs Velocity, than they fhould be by their n tural Gravity, fince it cannot be fuppofed that the G lumn of Water oppofite to it could refift the Compreffio: ef ecially fo far as to keep the Corpufcles long enoug Appended in the watery Menfiruum , as to give the: Time to diiedt themfelves to their Poles, for their fi tradlion and Repulfion. Since we fee daily that tl fmalleff Body, indued with the leaft Gravity falling as confiderable a Body of Water, as can be fuppofed the Bladder, and with as little Motion, is immediate precipitated to the Bottom ; But fiippofe even that the
Corpufc;
A New Treatise on the STONE.J 23
Corpufcles could be kept long enough on the Surface to iredf themfelves to their Poles, as they cannot adt but y the Effluviums 9 as well from the attradled, as from le attracting Parts, which muft form an Atmoftphere etween both, how can that Atmoftphere fnbfift in a eatery Menftruum, which, by its Fluidity, muft break le Continuity, without which it cannot be either Lttradlion, Direction, or Repuifion $ befides, the glo¬ rious Corpufcles of the Water muft fill the Pores of lofe Bodies, and hinder the Emiffion of the Efflu- iums.
leal Caufes of the different Denjlty of the Stones.
rHE Denfity of the Stones proceeds from the Equa¬ lity of their compounding Parts, as well as from ie Graduation of the Peat in the Part they are form’d 5 >r if the vifcous and Tenacious Corpufcles which enter to the Compofition of the Stone, exceed in Quantity le falineand earthy ones, if the Heat is moderate, the one being indurated by Degrees, grows harder than rat formed with Precipitation by the extraordinary ehem ncy of the l eat 5 therefore we have no Need to iok for any other Reafon of the different Denfity of e Stone form'd in the Kidneys, from that form’d in e Bladder, fince the Vehemency of the Peat of the iidneys evaporating with too much Precipitation the imph of the vifcous Corpufcles, fill the Vacancy with sneous Particles, which caufes a great Inequality in je Tadfsof the compounding Parts of the Stone, and hereby render it lighter and more brittle than that irm’d in the Bladder, whofe Beat being always tern- rated by fome Quantity of watery Menftruum, a6ts adually, and makes no other ufe of its igneous Cor- fcieSj than as of fo many Hammers, which work- 15 always at one equal Diftance, draw iikewife the Impounding Parts of the Stone to anEquality of Tadfs,
and
24 'A New Treatise on the STONE.
and leaving no Intervales betwixt, the Stone grows han ffer, and more compaft.
The Weight of & STONES. *
TH E Weight of the Stones does not proceed from their Bignels, or the Largenefs of their Volume, but from the Clofenefs of their companding Parts, and the Exa&nefs of their Ta&s. There is as much Dif ference in their Weight as there is in their Volume: the bigger they are, the more difficult and dangerous is the Operation $ and the more frequent and excruciating are the Paroxifms they occafiom The biggeft I ever law. is one kept at the Charity , an Hofpitai at Paris 5 it weighed, when extra&ed, one and fifty Ounces. It cannot be realonably expected, that the Stones Should be always of the fame Size and Weight 5 their Diffe¬ rence, in that, proceeds often from the Capacity of the Parts wherein they are formed, or from the Abundance or Scarcity of the Matter they are form’d with. Ir Children, for Example, whole urinary Organs are of r narrower Compafs, and whofe Stomach is not 16 much imbecillitated as to load the Blood with a vaft Quantity of vifcous Phlegm, the Stones never exceed the Bignels of an Apricock Stone : In Men they often exceed a large Egg 5 and what’s the more furprizing, is, that in feme Constitutions they are not long before they grow to that Bignefs. I knew a Taylor, in Holies-ftreet Clan- Market^ who had a Stone extracted which weigh’d fix Ounces; and, four Years after, had another weigh’d eight; which cannot be attributed but to tne digeftive Faculty being entirely imbecillitated,
A New Treatise on the STONE. 2$
The different Colours of the ST ONE.
rHE different Arrangement, Pofition, or Order of the conftituent Parts of the Stone caufes their f erent Colours 5 but efpecially the Clofenefs of the exture of their outward Coat j for the more the Cor- tfcles which enter in the Com pofition, or rather form at Coat, are uniform in their Angles, they are the }fer joined together, provided the too great Imperu- ity of the igneous Particles, proceeding from a vehem¬ ent Heat, don’t disorder their Cimetry, by working at Texture with too much Precipitation: The clofer ey are joined together, the more compact is their irface 3 the more compadl is their Face, the greater the Reftedtion of the Light, and the lighter is the alour of the Stone j for if on the contrary, the Stones e fpongious, as it happens, when their conftituent irts have been affembled together, tumultuoufly and ith too great a Precipitation, by the Impetuolity of e igneous Particles, the Rays of the Light, lodge emfelves in the Intervals loft between thofe conftitu- it karts, which giving but an imperfedl and obliquous eflexion, make the Stone appear of a darker Colour, r their are no real Colours but what proceed from the efledtion of the Light, and its a grofs Error to believe .at each Body has its identical One ?
c the Number of the STONES in the Kidneys
and Bladder*
rH E Intemperance of the Organs wherein the Stones are formed, render their Number greater lefs* for ifthe Reins, for Example, are affedted with iVxternatural and immoderate Heat, from thence flow tttimually and with Impetuolity a vaft Number of ig- aus Corpufcles, which feize the vifcous, earthy and
glutinous
26 A New Treatise on the STONE.
glutinous fecreted Phlegm, and as they are quick in th< Operation , they formed a Stone or Gravel, befo a new Secretion can fupply with . other Phieg to enlarge their Volume; but, if on the contrary, tl Heat is moderate, and furnifhes but a moderate Quan ty of igneous Corpufcles, and likewife thofe tefnperati in their Action by the watry Menftruum, as does t! Refrigeratory of an Alembick, they leave Time for ther Phlegm, to come and conglomerate itfelf with tf they are working upon, and thereby encreafe the V fume of the Stone. The Multiplicity of the Ston< proceed likewife often, from theThinnefs and Friabili of their Texture broken into feveral Pieces, by the verflowing of the Urine, or fome violent Concuffion the Body ?
A daily Experience confirm our Opinion, that the it a confiderable Quantity of Stones in the urinary Par; but I’ll never believe thole who pretend to have void Stones by Eunderds, unlefs they will confels that th< are almoft imperceptible, or at leaft very little bigg than the fandy Sediment of the Urine.
When there is a Number of Stones in the BJadde theirSurface is thick or lefs Spongeous than wh en then but one ; for being continually roll’d againft each otht by the Fludity of the watry Menftruum, they poli their Surface and appear like a Piece of Marble.
/ iv * -t/- *••*•>•* *''**9*
1 ) « . .
Symptoms of ^Paroxisms of the Nephr
tick, when the Stone or Gravel does n
pafs from the Kidneys to the Bladder.
HAving taken a general View of the urinary C gans (as I judge it neceffary for my intended Pu pofe) and eftablidi’d the Caufes both remote and irnrr; drate of the Gravel and Stone ^ it is ft I fhould ipe: at prefent of the different Symptoms of the- cruel' an dangerous Maladies, but to. proceed likewife with for Order, in that neceffary and ufeful Enquiry, I'll beg by the Djapnoftick of the Gravel and Stone, whenji does not pafs from the Kidneys into the Bladdc
A AT^Treatise on the STONE. 27
t thereby, we might be more capable to relieve ef- :ua!iy the Patient in his excruciating Tortures 3 for efs we know perfectly well the different Symptoms ich accompany the Gravel or Stone in their diife- x Paroxifms, it is impoffible we fhould form a juft )gnoftick, and apply the neceffary Remedies.
The Paroxifm of the Stone, happens, or at the anges of the Seafon of the Year, or after fome vio- t Exercile, or fome Excels of Drinking or Eating, of fome immoderate Fleafure, dnee thole Accidents, changing the Pofition of the Stone, caufes an ex¬ ordinary or unnatural Tendon in the Parts, and letimes an Excoriation where it is the moll: adherent, was the Stone to keep always the lame Situation, let dc ever of lb large aVolume, provided it leaves Room the Evacuation of Urine, it caufes little or no Pain,
1 the Patient Icarcely knowTs when he is afflifled irewith, but by feeling a conliderable Weight in the rt.
By the fudden Rarefaflion of the Air in the Spring s Atoms of the Atmofphere being more intimate in dr Approaches and more coadnuated together^ give greater Strength to the Column perpendicular to each rpulcle, of the watry Menftruum, which being for- 1, by their globuious Figure, to give Way to Com- >ffion, and by a more precipitate Rotation, in fupply- ; continually each others Place, cauling a greater A- :ation in the Urine, may thereby give fome Secuufes the Stones, and caufes a Paroxifm, which might alio occalioned by the Air alone, without the watry enftruum, by its extraordinary Compreffion on the >dy of the Stone itfelf.
That the fudden Agitation of the Urine, might give ne ftrong Secoufes to the Stone, is evident, by what : fee in the fmalleft Brook, whole Waters when calm i tranquil, are not capable to move the Imalleff: >nes ; but when agitated by the Wind, or otherwile, 'ry all before them.
In the Winter, when the Air does not enjoy that ijmperature of the other Seafons, but on the contrary,
E is
a8 A New Treatise on the STONE.
as fubjeri: to continual Changes and Variations. Tin Paroxifms of the Stones fhould be more frequent, anc confequently excruciating, iince the Intervals are tO( final 1, to give Time , to the Farts affefled, toflrengthei themfelves againft a new Attack or Fit.
Some Authors pretend, that the Air puts no other wile the Stone in Motion, than by enforcing the Circu lation of the Blood, and the Secretion of the juices which encreaies the Adtion of the moft intimate Fibre of the Kidneys and Bladder, we fhould be much obli ged to thole Gentlemen, if they would make thei Words good, and give us fome Reafon of their After tion, fince, thereby a Patient troubled with the Stone would never be (object to its Paroxifms, but every Be ginning of the Spring or Autumn, when we are cor vinced by Experience, that it happens other wife, an that the Paroxifms are as frequent, if not more, in tb Winter, than in the Spring or Autumn. Befides, I don fee, why the Action of the Fibres fhould be encreafec by the Increafe of the Circulation of the Blood, fine that Increafe muft be fuppofed to proceed from the V vacity of the vital Spirits, which the greater it is, tb eafier the Blood unburthens itlelf of its Superfluity: and therefore the eafier the organick Parts perform the Functions. I’ll agree with them, if they pleafe, that tb Pores of the Veffels having been ceas'd by the Inch mency of the Winter, the Blood by the Return ( the Spring, acquires a new Vivacity, which by rend< ring it more precipitate in its March, makes it fore with feme Impetuonty the Obftacles, which could b met in the final left Veffels, and that Impefcuofit giving an extraordinary Motion to thofe Veffels, migl caule an Ebranlement of the Stone and confequently Paroxi&i, but however that fhould happen, but one for the Blood circulates, and the Secretion is mac more eafy, when its Subfiance is impregnated with greater. Quantity of Spirits, than when continually of fir ufted by the Craffitv of the Air, which muft can a greater Embarrafrnent of the Fibres in the Secretioi than by its impetuous Fludity, iince the frequent E forts the Blood makes, for the Seperation of the phlei
mati;
A New Treatise on the STONE. 29
idek Limpbdj cannot be without a great Commotion the organick Parts, and confequently of the Stone, tich happens oftner in the Winter, than in any other hbn of the Year *
A vaft- Quantity of phlegmatick, earthy, and windy .iments, not io entirely or perfectly digefted in the Dniach,or elaborated in the Chilification, enter the Mafs the Blood, loaded with earthy and vifcous CorpuF :s, which by obftruSing the Circulation, caule a snfion in the Veffels, and which Tenfion cannot be thout an extraordinary Commotion of the Fibres, d of the Stone.
All Sort of violent Exercife, fuch as Riding, Run- ig, Jumping, &c. capable to caule a Hidden ConcuE m of the Body as to alter the Pofition of the Stone to put it in Motion, occaiion a paroxifro, fince r thole violent Agitations, the Stone grates againflthe rvous Tunick of the Bladder, and if it be rough its Surface, by wounding the tender Membrane ot .e Tunick, caule Inflammation and Excoriation, ah lys attended with excruciating Pains.
A bloody Urine, a fcalding Heat in the Evacuation, e Indications of an Inflammation and Excoriation of e inner Membrane of the Bladder, and if in Proceis 7 Time, the Urine comes mixed with a foetid Pus , ie Part mud; be ulcerated.
The Paroxifm of the Stone proceeds often, without ly previous Accident, from the Efforts of Nature, id from the mechanical Faculty of the Fibres, that >mpole the Kidneys, which, in Concert exert them- lves to diilodge lo troubled >me a Gueft, which obftrult heir Functions. Therefore it is a general Opinion rat the Fibres of the Kidneys, like the Membranes of le Womb, contrail their Maniculas , for the Difcharge f all little Stones, that lodge tbemfelves in the Gr¬ ins, eipecially when they are of fo large a Volume, 3 to dbftrufl’ their A II ion, which Obflrullion is on fat Occaflon, the Caule of their Motion, for the me Harmony whi h fubffl between the integrants arts of our Body, for the Relief or Eale of each her, is to be met with betwixt the interne organick nes. F ^ DiAQ-
3°
A New Treatise on the STONE.
Diagnostics of the different Paroxisms < the Gravel and Stone.
npHE Difference of the Volume of the Grav f and of their Polition, render the Paroxifm longer or fhorter, and more or Ids vehement •, fl while there is only Sand or Gravel in the Kidney if aoy of thole Accidents heretofore mentioned, or tJ overflowing of the Urine, happens to caufe a Paro: ifm, as their V olumes are not large enough to can in their Paflage, an extraordinary Dilatation of t] 1 ahull Ueimrri , the Paroxifm is of a very fhort D ration, and very little Dolorous * but rif on the co trary, that fandy Matter happens to be concreted in a Stone, and that Stone put into Motion or forced 1 either the Impetuofity of the Urine or fome Ac< dent, thro" the urinary Organs, as it occafions then, extraordinary Dilation of thofe Organs, the Pain violent and felt efpecially in the Small of the Back, t wards the Region of the Loins, aftefling often all t vicineous Parts, but thofe only by Companion.
There is a very great Difference between the Pai Of the Paroxifm of the Stone, when lodged, in t. Subftanceof the Kidneys, and when in the 1’ubuli U ndrii, or Caruncula Papillares *, for as there is alwa a greater Senlation, in the Parts which receive mo Nerves into their Compofition, and there arenoNerv in the P aranchifme of the Kidneys, while the Sto continues in it, let it be ever fo often altered in tj Pofition, or iubjett to many different Motions, the P* is never fharp, but on the contrary, dull, heavy, ai attended with a Weight upon the Part. The fameca not be laid of the other urinary Organs, which bei nervous, are fubjefl to the moff excruciating Pains.
People are often mifhken in the Symptoms of a A phritick and a common Cholick, when the Difference lo eafily made, as well as to the Seat of the Mai dy (the one affeclipg the Inteftines, and the other br
beis
A New Treatise on the STONE. 31
ing lodg’d in the urinary Organs) as to the Sharpnefs of the Fain, which is far greater in the Paroxiim of the Stone, for the Reafons heretofore mention’d, than in a Fit of common Cholick.
It might be obje&ed, that I have but juft now, faid that the Paroxifms of the Stone, while lodg’d in Subftance of the Kidneys, are attended but with ob~ i tufe and dull Pains, which might hinder them from be- j ing differencied, from thole of a common Cholick ? To 1 which I anfwer, that the Difference then coniifts in e that a Nephritick Cholick, when it affe&s the Subftance
I of the Kidneys, or any other urinary Organs, the Blad¬ der excepted, is always attended with a vomiting, which does not happen in a common Cholick of the Inteftines, except in the llliac Paffion or Mifere- re , thofe Vomitings in the Nephritick , which hap¬ pen efpecially after a full Meal, proceed from the ex- traordinay Bignefs of the Stone, in the Subftance of the Kidneys, by diffracting the Fibres of the Organs it poffelfes, far above their natural Capacity of Con¬ traction, and thereby the Tone of the Stomach is fb impaired, that that Fife era cannot be eafy, till by Vomiting, it has unburthen’d itfelf of the ingefted Meats; It happens likewife fome reaching, tho’ the ■ Nephritick proceeds but from the Gravel, efpecially when it obftrudfs the Caruncula P apt Hares otTubuli Bah diani , and is of fo rough a Surface as to caufe an Exco¬ riation in the Texture of the Fibres, as it will be plainly demonftrated in the following Article.
m > ' ■
I Of the Indications and Symptoms that af I fett the fever al Organs in the Pa jj age of the ; STONE in the Kidneys and Bladder.
T is evident by what we have already mentioned, that from the Bignefs of the Stone proceeds the Vehemency of its Symptoms, for when it is put in Motion, the natural Pr open fit y it has in Common with
ail
3Z A New Treatise on the S TO N E.
all heavy Bodies, force it downwards, and confequen ly can fes an extraordinary Dilatation of the Fibres which endeavouring to reaffimie their natural 'Situatior contract themfelves and force the Stone through th Otruncula Papillares and Tubuli Urinarii , into the Pel vis ; the Pains become very iharp and encreafes whe the Stone is arrived at the Head of the Ureter } muci more if it is of fo large a Volume, as to be impolhbl to pals the Cavity of the Ureter without a Laceratio of the nervous Membrane of that Organ ; for then th Nerves being drawn into Spalfms and Convulfions, th Torture becomes exquifite and a'moft intolerable, at tended with Retchings and Vomitings, and fucceeded by a violent Heat and inflammation about the Regioi of the Loyns, a Difficulty of walking or handing Upright, from the Convullion and Contradlion of thi Nerves of the Ureter, and a Numbnefs of the Thigf and Leggs, from the Stone prefling againffc the pfoa; Mufcle^or tne fame Side of the Ureter affedted by it.
V he I efticles and Scrotum , are likewife affefled ir the Paroxifms of the Stone ; the Tefticles fuffera Re- t raff ion from tne Convullion of their Nerves, and the Scrotum a Contraction. Phefe lad Symptoms happer ike wife in a common Cholick, with this Difference, tnat m the Nephritic k, there’s but one Teiticle re* t rafted, and that on the Side of the Stone, while in a common Cholick, both Pedicles are drawn up-, be¬ tides in a windy Cholick, for Example, the Pain is neve1 hxed in the lame Place, but varies; fomeiimes in tne Back j fometimes in the Belly or Sides : But in ti e Nepbtitick the Pain moves gradually downward, and when the Parts are lacerated, is attended with a moody Urine, with a thick, turbid, and Tandy Sedi¬ ment, and a more exquifite Torture, which is always gieatei at tne Beginning of the Paroxifm, than after- wa ids, lor this Reafon ; that at the Beginning of! irie ^arox^m* L'ie Stone forces its Pafiage with fiich: violence thro* the narrow Orifices of the Tubuli Uri~ an'^ Ureters, that what with fiich extraordinary, Dilatation, and often theLaceration of The Membranes,; t*lw mult I lifter inexpreilible Pains, which ceafei
being!
;• A New Treatise on the STONE. 33
jeing fo accute,wben once, by the extraordinary Dilatati¬ on of the Cavity of thofe Farts, the Stone meets with |els Opposition in its Paffage.
■j ; A Strangury is another Symptom, which happens du¬ ring the Paroxifm, and which fome are plealed to at¬ tribute to the Obftru&ion caufed by the Stone in the ■Ureter; and others to the Convulfion of the SphinBer of the Bladder. For my Part, I would be aptto think pat it proceeds from both ; for tho’ I acknowledge* ■hat the Urine can have its Courfe through the Ureter* which is not affe&ed by the Stone, I deny that Nature oaving appointed two Canals for the Evacuation of the Fluid, its natural Courfe is not intercepted by the Ubftrudions of one of thofe Canals, and the one left ree is capable to fupply entirely the Deficiency of he other ; or that the Urine forgetting all on a fud- len, its natural Courfe, will carry itfelf to that Part without endeavouring to force the Obftacles, it meets with in the Ureter obftruded by the Stone.’
Diagnostic.*: of the STONE in the Blad-
$ 15 ER from the Symptoms of its 'Paroxisms.
'J? OME Authors are of Opinion that it is almoft 3 impoffible to difcover, if the Stone be in the Blad¬ der, or the Kidneys, without the Help of the Cathe- .er. Others pretend to difcover it in the Bladder, by ’hrufting a Finger up the Anus: For, fay they, if ime prelfes towards the Bladder, if a Stone be lodg’d here, it will feel hard. As for the Ufe of the Catbe- ,er, I’ll agree that it is the fire ft Method to difcover he Stone m the Bladder but I rejeff that Invention )f. the Finger, as utterly ridiculous ; for a Stone might be lodg d in the Bladder, and not to be felt by he Finger. I would rather have Rccourfe to iomc Symptoms, which are as fure almoft as the Catheter , uch (as if the Stone belittle and light) a certain Un- fahnefs and Itching at the Region of the Pubis , and at he Gland of the Penis, and a thin, pale, and watery
Urine
34 A New Treatise on the STONE.
Urine, if a Scone grow bigger, a Weight is felt toward the Region of the Loins, or affetl the Pirerueum .
If the Stone by having (laid for a confiderable Time in the Bladder, has acquired a large Volume, that Uneafinefs changes into Pains, and the Weight becomes dolorous. The Patient is afflicted with a Tenefmus , or 2 continual Inclination to go to Stool, proceeding from the Irritation or the Branches of the Nerve, equally in¬ ferred in the Bladder, Inteftinum Rectum and Sophintter j4ni\s The Patient is alfo troubled at the lame Time with a Strangury , and tho* at each Motion of the Stone, which are then very frequent, he finds ‘Inclina¬ tion to make Water, he is too often fruftated in his Attempt % and when he does it, it is in a very little Quantity and great Dfficulty, attended with a violent Heat and Pain towards the Perforation of the Gland.
A fandy Sediment which fubfide, and barkens at the Bottom and Sides of the Urinal \ is another ftrong Di - 'agnoftick of the Stone in the Bladder, fince it is an evi¬ dent Sign that the fabulous Matter is much impregnated with a large Quantity of vifeous and tenacious Corpuf cles, and therefore inclinable to Concretion,
Diagnostics of the U'LCERS in the Kid¬ neys or Bladder, occafeoned by the Rough- nefs of the Gravel or Stone.
rpH E mod [skiful and Experienced Phyficians 1 have often been miftaken in the " Diagnoftick ol the Ulcer in the Kidneys or Bladder, from the Analogy or Simili ude of the Symptoms. Thole oi an Ulcer in the Inteftines, being often the fame, with thole of an Ulcer in the Kidneys or Bladder it gene¬ rally is dlfterencied from that in the Inteftines, by being attended with a violent Heat, a Fever and ex¬ cruciating Pain, which if felt in the Back, indicates the: Ulcer in the Kidneys, if near the Os Pubis , in the: Bladder. Thefe Brit Symptoms are fucceeded (if not timely remedied) by a Tumour, with an Inflammation: proceeding from the Obftruction of the arterial Bran-:
ches
A New Treatise of the STONE, 3^
schesof the Organs, that jcaules a Beating and an extra¬ ordinary Tenfion of the Part, which continues, till the JAbces (occafioned by the Accumulation of the Matter in die Texture of the Fibres) break; for immediately af¬ ter the Patient feels his Fain confiderably abated, ffnall Flakes or Fileaments, not much unlike the thin Parings bf Leather, are evacuated with the Urine, iucceeded afterwards |by a Purulent Pus , which if the Ulcer be lin the Bladder, fmells ftronger and more offenfive, than iwhen in the Kidneys.
Thofe Symptoms are lels dangerous, and eafier to be Remedied in a Patient of a found Condi tution, and mo¬ derate in his Diet, than in a cacochimous , or a Man that Can’t refrain his Appetite, and abandon himfeif to all tKind of Excefs whatfbever $ for by thofe Diforders, find the evil Habit of the Solid and Fluids, the Tex- •lure of the Organs is fo impaired, that they are ren¬ der’d incapable to refill the Virulency of the Matter ),f the Inflammation, which thereby turns to an Ulcer, Jhat Ulcer to a Gangreen , and that Gangreen to a Spba+ tele, from thence enlue an inevitable Death.
The grating of the Stone (when rough and pointed in its Surface) againft the nervous Coat of the Bladder,
1 hrow its fphinder Mulclq into Convulhon, arid thereby mccafion very dangerous Symptoms 9 for without men¬ tioning the Pain, which is intolerable, the Patient by (.total and continual Suppreffion of the Urine, which werheats the Body, is leiz’d with a violent Fever, hith Deliriums, Phrenzy, and Third: } and which, if if along Continuance, mull: be attended with Death, dnee it is Galen s Opinion, that a total Suppreffion of SJrine, could hold no longer than fourteenDays, without imminent Danger for the Life of the Patient.
op no sticks cf the Stones from the hit enj* fiefs and Frequency of its Paroxi s m s«
E have made the proceeding general Oblervah dons on the different Cauies, Progrels, and of the Gravel and Stone* with no other
^6 A New Treatise on the STONE,
jDefign, than to render us capable to form a juft Prog noftick of that tedious and violent Malady, which, 1 hereditary, muft be almoft incurable*, for the Mafs e the Blood, being impregnated or rather vitiated fror the iirft Inftant of Sui Salintis Punhli, with tha vi Icons Phlegm, which is the immediate Caufe of th Gravel and Stone, its impoflible for that Focus to b entirely eradicated $ it cannot be reafonably expe&ec that any Diffolvent, or even the Lithloiomy itfelf coif be a Specifick for that Diftemper } for than a Stone c Gravel is no fooner extra£fed,butanotherfupplys itsPlac( If I be asked, how this Sentiment agree, with nay havin admitted the Imbecility of the Tone of the Stomach for the remote Caufe of the Stone: I’ll anfwer, tha the one does not deftfoy the other} fence the Bloo which is the firft Principle of our Animal Life, am the firft Motor of all our organick Parts, being vitiate in its Origin, render confequently the Funftions of th organick Parts imperfect } neither can the Stomachbe fup pofed to elcape the common Fate \ therefore I think it needlefs and infignificant, for a Patient, who has recei ved fiich awful Inheritance from his Parents to under go the Operation of the Lithotomy , in Hopes of a per fe&Cure, fince it cannot avail him otherwife, than t( give ’him feme Relief for a very fhort Space of Time And I woifd never advile him to fubmit to a feconc Operation, which would be far more dangerous thar the firft, from the C alio fit yy the Operator fliou’d hi obliged to cut near, or perhaps upon. Some Remedy may be adminiftred to give a temporary Eafe, but one can never expect a Specifick, and all thofe whopre* tend to have found one, are Charlat ns , or Impoftors.
Women are leis fubject to the Stone than Men 5 for this Reafon, that their Organs admitting of a greater dilatation, the fabulous Matter is carried off with the Urine, before it can be formed into a Concretion , not that I would pretend, that all Womenkind are free from; Gravel and Stone } but even thofe affected with it, have ^his Advantage, that by the Largenefs of their urinary Paflages, they can void all finall Stones and Gravel before they have acquired any confiderable Volume, anci
droid
J New Treatise on the STONE. 37
1 hofe might be extracted with a proper Inllrument, l without having Recourfc to the Seffion, which is at all I Times, and on all Occafions^ dangerous.
When the dangerous Symptoms, fuch as an Mamma- ) fcory Fever, Delirium, Phrenzy, excruciating Pains, &c. * which accompany the Paroxilmof the Stone, arenotto ( be affuag’d \ and the Patient receive no vifible Relief 1 from the Remedies adminiftred to him by a learned ? Phyfician 5 his Cafe is dangerous, and there remain if little Hopes of his Recovery.
A Phyfician can form a very favourable Prognoftiqjc, when his Patient, after a copious Evacuation of Sand or Gravel, with the Urine, feel the Violence of the Symp¬ toms abated * for it is a Sign that there is no Concreti¬ on, or if there is, that it mull be fh frivilous, as not i to be capable to refill the Impctuofity of the Urine.
All Stones of an extraordinary Bignefs or Volume are dangerous, even when attempted by the moil skilful Lithotomifi, fince it cannot be extracted without a great Dilatation of the Orifice of the Wound, which breaks the Continuity of the Texture of the Fibres, and render the Re- union almofl impoffibie.
A Stone of an extraordinary polifhed • Surface, or lb wrapt up in a Caplule, as to adhere to the Mem¬ branes, is not to be touch’d, fince it is ihipoffible, it jfliould be dilfoived by the ftrongeft Difiblvent, that Pharmacy could invent, and to attempt the Operation is to carry the Patient to an unadvoidable Death.
The Number of the Stones, provided they be fraall ones, is never dangerous, fince they can be diffolved or forced thro9 the urinary Palfage, or eafily extracted tby the Operation.
| If a Stone be thought to adhere to the Urether in its jPaffage from the Kidneys to the Bladder, or cannot be Idifiolved, or forced from thence, nothing but Death can be expected.
An Ulcer in the Kidneys or Bladder is always dan¬ gerous, but feldom mortal} unlefs m old Men, and thole of a crcochimous Conftitutioa, fince their Strength being already defoliated by Age, or the ill Habit of the’ir Bo¬ dy, cannot refill long to the Vehemency and Frequency
^8 A New Treatise on the STONE.
of the Paroxifms, befides their Blood being diveftedc a vatt Quantity of thofe Spirits, To abfoiutely necefiar to give it a Vivacity, capable to refill to the Morbific Matter*, the Fart muft befoon Iphaceled, it is likewij very dangerous, and almofl needlefs for Perions muc advanced in Years to undergo the Operation ^ for the or ly Benefit they can expert from it, is a tranfitory Eali of few Months, perhaps not fo Jong, which is fbo fucceeded by their Death, if it does not happen in few Days after the Operation, fince their exhaufte Strength and impaired Con flitution deprive the lacerate Parts of the glutinous and nutritive Juices, abfblute! sieceiTary for their Re-union0
2 rhe Manner how to proceed in the Cure of th Stone, with an exatf ANALYSIS of Mr. Stephen’s Medicines * ' f
THE more difficult if the Cure of a Maladj the more occult are Its Caufes, and the more a experienced Phyfician is puzzled to difcover its Pro giefs, the more the Phyfical Stage fwarms with Quacl and impoflors, who with an uncommon Impudence an Ai rogance, vend their poifonousA Toflruws^ as an infallibl Specefjck for it, adminifired by them without Learning Experience, or Judgment, to the Detriment of the Pa tnent s Health, and but too often to the Danger of hi
5 if arn noc furpriz’d that thofe Knaves, under thof fiile i retences, endeavour to cozen People out of thei Money ; but i cannot imagine, rhow Perions of Send Inner Jiemielves to be entrapp’d bv them; let it h granted that there are Specefides for all Chronick, , am the moft dangerous Malady, but even thofe fhouid neve: be admifliftred, but by theDireaion of a skilful Phyfician capable to judge pertinently of the different Conftituti- of then Patients^ and of the Temperature of tht -innate, order their Diet, draw juft Inferences or fo gnolhexs from the Symptoms, and oreicribe iudief o-niiy tnc Doles of the Remedies.
tha?
;
A New Tretaise on tie ST ON E.
•r
That it is abfolutely neceffary for a Phyfician, before ihe adminifters his Remedies, to know as well as pof- cfible, the Conftitution of his Patient, is evident from i.the different Operations of the fame Remedy, and ad- iminiftred for the fame Malady, in Perfons of different cConftitutions ^ that the fame Remedy which has cured ifome Perfons, prove ineffectual in others, and fometimes nencreafed the Malady, it was adminiftred for 3 even the iLength and Tedioufnefs of the Liftemper, or the Dlf- iference in its Symptoms, changes the Qualities of the Remedies: The Stone or Gravel caa be rank’d among thole Maladies, on which the moll infallible Nodrum , of the moft famous Empyriek has feldom any Effe&* unlefs it be a contrary one to what was expelled: The Vulgar allured by the Cheapness of thofe poyfbnoos Ripopees $ or. by the Sanction of fome ignorant or fen- dalous Phyfician, who divide the Prey With the Retailer, or frighted at the exorbitant Fees of a learned one, flock to thofe Poyfoners of tjie human Race, and put their Let halts Potto in Vogue 7 but thofe of a fuperior Rank, and who pretend to foar above the Commonal tyM for Senfe apd Judgment, had always, till lately, con¬ demned ordefpifed Inch vile PraCllces. Our Anceftors Jiad been afhamed to be thought capable to give tgn open Sanction in E orm of Law, or to purchafe f^dut the publick Lunds. A iliam Seciet, compofed 1'pf a pernicious ^ Mixture of naufeons Drugs, part of (which, if adminiffed a funder cannot be thought, or e- iver be fufpeffed, by PenofTs who claim any Pretence to Senfe or Keafon, much jels by thofe who have the lead ITinfture of Chymnhy, to contain any Virtue or Qua- Jlity of what Kind fbever, neither can they acquire any “by being mixed together, or 'by Fermentation, unlefs it is fome evil ones, and deftructive of our Conftitution,
I as I am going to make appear by the impartial and ex- 1 au Analyfis , or a Secret whole infign'ifjcant JDifcovery 1 has been purchafed at fo dear a Rate, and publickly ap¬ proved by a learned Phyliaan, lor Reaions beft known to hixnfelf.
A N A L Y SIS
4© A New Treatise on the STONE,
ANALYSIS of Mrs. Sti phes’s MED I CINE fo
the STONE.
Efore we examine the different Ingredient which enter into the Compofition of thi mifterious and dearly bought Remedy, v, muff remember, firft, that fo often repeal ed Aphorifm, Sublata caufa tollitur Effei
ins } that it is impoflible to cure radically any Mala dy, without eradicating the Caufe ; 2dly, What n have mentioned heretofore, that it is impoflible to era dicate entirely the Caufe of the Stone, efpecially whei there is in the Mals of Blood, a Focus for its Genera tion •, _ as it happens, when the Stone is hereditary 3oly, That there are iome Stones of foch Bigneis and it compaft in their Texture, that it is impoflibie for tht ftrongeft Diifolvent to make the leaft Impreffion upor it, much leis to diifolve it entirely : Let us confider firft how Mrs. Stephens’s Medicine can eradirare rhp nj
A New Treatise on the STONE. 41
he contrary, fuch a naufeous Mixture is not rather 1 Bane to the digeftive Faculty, a heavy clogg to the piffolverit, and capable by the exceflive Irritation it cau- es in the Membranes, to break the Texture of their Fibres, and thereby rather Increafe the Imbecillicy of ?he Stomach, than ftrengthen its Faculty* thisldefign to make appear, in the following Examen, Article by Article, of that Medicine.
My Medicines, fays Mrs. Stephens are aTowder, a Oecodtion and Pills } but why different Preparations or a Diffolvent? Are not one or two medicinal Prepa¬ rations naufeous enough, considering our natural reluc- ancy to take Phyfick, without burthening the Stomach, pith a greater Number} or is it to make the Vul- ;ar believe5that they have fomething for their Money ? for in fadl there are People ftiipid and ignorant enough^ So believe that they cou’d never be cured, without taking a vaft Quantity of Phyfick } and it would be a tfind of a Crime in a Phyfician, to do it other wife, therefore Mrs. Stephens , to obviate to fuch Inconve- piency, and to humour the Fools (aslfuppofe) has nunningly divided her Diffolvent into three different preparations } for fhe muff be forced to confefs, that ae could have reduced it at leaft, to two ; and made bfthe Powder and Pills but one Compofition } but the pretended Cure had not been attended with fo much
! ‘reparation and Ceremony, and therefore had appear-
dtooealy, and confequentiy not fo much taken Notice
r
§1*
~\ This is a Remedy by Excellence, and fuch a one, ds had never been thought poffible before } for even dole who had pretended, that a Stone could be diffolv- 3 in the Bladder or Kidneys, had always excepted >me Cafes, in which fuch DifTolution was not to be roedted } foch as old Age, a Complication of Diftem- iers, the extraordinary Volume of the Stones, the I'ompaftnefs of their Texture &c. But here there re no Obffacles which might not be furmounted ^ :!ige, Complication, Dyet, Excels, nothing can hinder le Fffedt of this fovereign Remedy * it would be in ain, if Nature itlelf fhould attempt to ffruggle againft it
But
i
jp A New Treatise on the STONE.
But however, lee’s Confider, if Mrs. Stephens might no be miftaken in her CalcuiatiotL and does not want t
impole upon us j or if the Worthy . who ha
took fo much Pains to compile together the marvellou Cures She has operated, without favouring us with th leaft of his learned Reflections on the Manner the Me dicing operates, is not dome near Relation of that fa inous Surgeon, who fbme Years ago, was fo fortunate t< divide the Cafh with the Rabbet Woman; I hop hell not take it amifs , if without contenting myfel of a Negative, ,as he has done of an Affirmative, II proceed to make my Negative good, by Rehe&inj on his Diflblvent* and as his Friend Mrs. Stephen begun her Secret by the Powder* well begin our Am Ijfis by the laid Powder,
Analysis of Mrs* Stephens!? POWDER
•• ; ; ? • i • 'L-
MRS. Stephens’s Powder confifts of Egg-Shelh and Snails, both calcined, and thus prepared. Ci Take Hen’s Egg-Shells, well drained from the u Whites, dry and clean j ernfh them fmail with youi S£ Hands, and fill a Crucible of the twelfth Size (which contains near three Pints) with them lightly place it to a wheel Fire, and cover it with a Tile, till the Egg-fhels be calcined to a greyiOi White, ec and acquire an acid fait Tafte \ this will take up eight a Hours at leaft. After they are thus calcined, put c£ them into a dry, clean earthen Fan, which muft be "c bove th ree Parts full, that there may be Room for C£ the Swelling of the Egg-fhells in flaking. Let the Pan Hand uncover’d in a dry Room for two Months and i€ no longer i in this Time the Egg-lhells will become pf a milder Tafte, and that Part which is fufficiently sc calcined will fall into Powder of fiich a Finenefs, a^! a to pais through a common Hair Sieve, which is' to) be done accordingly.
ANALYSIS!
A iVke; Treatise on the STONE, 43
NALYSIS of this Preparation of the Egg-Shells, and of its Virtues .
Will admit with the Chymifts , that Egg-fhells are of a eorrofive Quality, not while the Texture of, :ir coftituent Parts lubfifi, and are left to themfelves,
; when broken by fome ftrong Menftruum, whole d Corpufcles, penetrating their Subfiance, unfold the ts which enter into their Compofition from off the aginous Particles they were wrapp’d in* put them in jtion, and dired them to Adion > for an Egg-fhell ; to itfelf, without Fermentation, or any other Pre- •ation has no Virtue, elfe fhou Id corrode the Pelliculey :e there is a great Difference, betwixt Salts wrapt in ir Capfules, and thofe direded to Ad ion * neither ild it be expeded, that a Stone wrapt ever fo long art Egg-fhell, could be difiolved, let the Egg-iheli never fb eorrofive.
But however, why ihonld the Shell of an Egg be ferr’d in that Operation ? Since its eorrofive Facul- cannot be attributed to any T hing elle, but its Salts, l the more the Egg-fheli abounds in faline Corpufcles*
* greater muft be its Virtue: Therefore I mofl: be Opinion that the Shell of a Turkey or a Duck’s re abundant in Salts, fhon’d aniwer better the De- a of the Jrtifty or of the Phyfician, who is to pre- ibe the Remedy. To dry and clean the Shells, is, my Opinion* a needlefs Ci ream fiance, as well as filing them (mail with the Hands, lince this laft Cir- nftance is only to reduce them into a narrower Cona¬ ns, therefore bruiting them in a Mortar would anfwer ; fame End. The Bignefs of a Crucible, me thinks, is as little Signification, fince bigger or leffer, it cannot other wife than full, neither can I believe that the eration fhould be ibofter or later ended* from the piefs of the Crucible.
44 A New Treatise on the STONE.
Mrs. Stephens has no need to caution'us about the E gree of Fire, fince there are very few Calcinations ma* without a clear Phey but the Length of Time for h Calcination of a few Egg-Shells, feems to me prodigiou the Calcination of Antimony , for a Purification^ whi is made in the fame Manner, is accomplifhed in a i lefler Time , the Precaution ufed in it of Covering t Crucible wtth a Tile, is more reafonable, fince withe it, the mold Volatile Corpufcles ( the whole being p in a vehement Agitation, by the Vivacity of the ignec Particles ) would be evaporated with the fuliginous on< which meeting with that Obftacle in their afeent, s precipitated, and form on the Surface of the Matter Calcination, a kind of Nets, in whofe interftites the! line Corpufcles coming to lodge themfelves more large, are thereby more directed to their Adtion j 1 I cannot conceive how fuch a long Time (hould be quilite for to form that new Texture, if ever it was be fuppofed that fuch a one fhould be formed at all j 2 if on the contrary, fuch violent Fire, and of fo lon£ Duration, fhould not be capable to Confume and : nihilate the few oleaginous Corpufcles to be met w in the Shell of an Egg, without which fuch a Texti is not to be formed : i am apt to think, that the Acridi found in the Matter when the Calcination is perfebb proceeds from the igneous Particles diffufed thro’ lince almoft all Calcinations have the fame Acridi Dime is Acrid till it has been flaken, the Preparation .Antimony for to make it Diapbretick is Acrid, till af its Lotions. Old Leather calcined is Acrid, and in f Acridity, proceeding from the continual Motion of] igneous Particles, which direct the Salts to Abtion, c< fids its cauftick Virtue: But what Virtue can an El Shell have,? Which after a tedious Calcination, the b ter as I have fuppofed already, to unfold its Principl fharpen the Points of its Salts and direbt them to Acric is put afterwards to a ftill more tedious Digefiion, wh by the enfuing phenomenons, muff destroy the Pd of the Calcination* for, fays — Mrs. Stephens — * Egg-Shells fwell in Slaking, which is an evident I mond ration of the Conflict of the igneous Particlelo<|
A New Treatise on the STONE.
i ftp r*ie 'nterftiftes or diffufed throughout the whole. | u ftance of the Egg Shells, agsinft the watery Men- 3 Jirmm, to which the Fire is forced at fall to leave the “Lee, as it appears by the Slaking of the Matter.
\ ?VQ 0 that this long Digeftion of two
) Months, muft infallibly fruftrate the Intention of the « Calcination, which is to open and unfold the Princi- , pies, tiil then confounded together in the Eee- Shells,
*j /l ^ _ | " y ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Action con-
I fils chiefly m their fahne Corpufcles, thofe Corpufcles
i* are oy the Calcination, freed from the earthly Capfules,
I wh.Ich ,d]d kee? them lns^ive 5 their Points fharp ened ] arid Jndued with more Vivacity. If after this firft Ope- 1 ration, the Egg-Shells were only to undergo two or 1 £hrce L°tJOns> like the Diaphoretick of Antimony y to J'free it rrom the igneous Particles it might contain; and
: which might render it a Cauftick 3 I fhould be perhaps i! more apt to beleive, that there is iome corroffive Vir- |tue,^ in fuch Preparation of the Egg-bhells, for by thofe ILoJons, the Texture of the feline Corpufcles cannot be | broken, 01 their Points or Angles blunted 5 but a long fermentation, muft not only oilorder, but deftroy the Ci merry and Arrangement of the laiine Corpufcles, and 101 k.e them to return i'nto their former Principles, great deal weaker than they were before the Operatic jon, as it appears by the Powder being precipitated .At laft to the bocrom of the Pan, which kept on the Sun ace ot the watery Menftruunt, as long as the Texture of the faline Corpufcles, cou’d refift the Diffolution of its Parts - Therefore ’tis my Opinion, that there is not ithe leaft V irtue left, in that Powder found at the bot¬ tom of the Pan, as being destitute or di veiled of all fa- line Corpufcles,
Analysis oj the Preparation of the SNAILS.
^ aere is nothing in the whole Creation, from the moil mfignificant Reptile, to the MafterpiSce of he Divine Jrchitett, which has not fome Virtue or tv conducive to the Prefervation or Reffauration
G 2 of
46 j! New Treatise on the STONE.
of our He Iths. By a curious and affidous Labour, ) have found the Secret to draw Cardiacs and Antido from the ranked Poifons.: The Viper which is one the mod dangerous Reptiles, furnifhes a skillful Ari with Antidotes, Cardiacs , Sudorific ksy Refioratives ,& And why not the lead offensive among them, fuch the Snails ? daily adminidred with fuch vad Succefs lead in fome People’s Opinion ) in the Peripneurm Confumpdons, or any other Afledtions of the Lunj tinder the Suppodtion, that the Snails abounding witl vad Quantity of oleaginous, fulphureous and glutinc Corpuicles, little or no Acid, but a great deal of 1 Alkaly , which being carried with the Chyle into t Blood, break or oluntthe Anglesof thofe acrimonic Salts, therewith it mod abounds, dops the Vehemen of their Motion, and hinders them from irritating, cerating or breaking the Continuity of the Texture the Fibres, and thereby become a Specifick ( as p; tended ) for all Affedtions of the Lungs : But we m confid r, that the Preparation of the Snails, in fu Cafes, is a very Simple one, never exceeding a dm Decoction in Milkor fome oleaginous Menfiruum : A: I cannot conceive, how they fhou’d retain any of th Yertues, after an Hour’s Calcination at a clear Fij fince their Vermes mud confid in their faline Corpufc (as Mrs. Stephen $ feems to intimate by ordering them be chofe in the Spring, when their common Food a the mod impregnated with Salts.) Thofe faline Q pufcles, at lead the mod V olatiles, being evaporat with the fuliginous ones 3 and what’s left in the Cru< ble, cannot be reckon’d any thing elfe but a kind oi Caput iViortuum or ablfnt vilcous Matter, aboundii with a vad Quantity of earthly Corpufcles, impregn; ed with fome fixed Salts, which for ought I kno1 might have a feeble aiurkickVertue 3 but the Obtufn of its Angles, renders it incapable of making the te Impreffion on the Stones. Thus far on the Preparatio of Mrs. Stephen's Powder for a Diffolvent for the Stone which, by what we have obferved, can be of noU in that Malady, far from being a Specified Lets pr ceed to her Decoftioru
ana lysi
ANew Treatise on the STONE. 4*7
ANALYSIS of the Decoction.
TP ^ fa^s ^rs* S'fyphws) four Ounces and a A . "a^ °* c^e beft AiicaacSo p, beat it in a Mor- L teVfirh a large Spoonful of Swines Creffes, burnt to L a bEcknefs, and as much t oney as will make the
I whole of the Confidence of Pafte 5 let this be formed JfC into a Ball.
r. * Take this Ball and Green Camomile Flowers, fweet I Fennel, Parfley ^ and Burdock L eaveo, of each one
I gjunce : ^ien t^iere are not Greens, take the fame . of Roots, cut the Herbs or Roots, Bice the
i Fall and boil them in two Quarts of foft Water, half I an Hour, then drain it off and mix it with i oney. f Sure this is not a Medicine to repair the Tone of the jstomach, to ftrengthen its Membranes or to. help the pigeftion P Quite contrary : Since the Kerbs or Roots fcxcepted, the reft is known by the frequent Ruthis it allies, to be a Bane to the digelfive Faculty, and by irritating the Texture of the Fibres, of the nervous Membiane, capable to throve it into Con vulfions, and |Ven break the Continuity of its Texture.
I Bul ( fays Mrs. Stephen or he from whom fhe ha? leceived that Secret ) nothing that enters in that De¬ tection, is adminiftred in Suhflance, fince the Alicant toap, for Example, is made life of only to have the Vbtgruum impregnated with its lixivious Salts, which miting themlelvcs with the Chile in the Stomach, are" hereby conveyed to the Blood, which they accorm >any in its Circulation, till it comes to the fecretory j/eiiels of the Kidnies, were they take their leave I nd following the Lymph a In the Secretion, meet with be gone in the Urinary Organs, on which they fix nem (elves in order for its Diflolution. All that would !|e very well and I would not pretend to fufLeci in 1 e ea^t ^ie Operation of Mrs, Stephens Medicine, if le ^ccAila warrant me that thofe lixivious Salts, are bilged to follow the Road preferibed to them by lCr s cr c,ou!d it without meeting with any Ob-
4
8 A New Treatise on the STONE,
ftacle, capable to diftapoint her Defign 3 or if could perfuade me , that they are not fo mi weakened by the Fatigues of a long Journey, that tl want Strength to operate, when they come to the PI appointed 3 without mentioning thofe which have b< loft on the Road : Since the S tephenifts muft be foi to confefs, that thofe Salts are either fixed or Volatil if they be fixed. Part of them muft be evacuated w the grofs Excrements 5 fince it would be ridiculous think, that they arefo much under Mrs. Stephens's, Cc mand, as to be all incorporated in the Subftance of Chile , unlefs the S tephenifts admit likewife a Magnet Virtue in the Chile for the attraction of thofe Sa. Therefore if Part of them ( and even the greateft evacuated with the grofs Excrements, the few efca] in the Chile, are not capable to perform fo difficult Operation, as the Diftbiution of fo compaCt and har< Body, as is the Stone in the Kidneys or Bladder. 1 fixed Salts, beftdes, having feldom any other Virt than the clearing les Premieres Votes, it is true, t they might be volatilifed by the natural Feat, and different Juices, which work on the Perfection of Blood 3 but even m that Volatifation, feme of th muft be evaporated, or with the infenfible Perfpirat of the Humours, or with the Sweat, force very mi weakened, or entirely annihilated 3 and thole remain f , ln ' little a Quantity, that it ern’t be fuppo iuffident, let them be ever ifoCorroffives, to difto ae Stone, and if they were, they cannot have Time hemielves to Action, before they might
is
direct tl
waftKTl away by the continual flowing of the Uri They may oe, his true, reinplaced by others, 1
more otners a? e Subject to the fame Inconvenient and weie they even, to make each of them fome : p^effion on the Stone, its entire diftbiution coil’d not expected before the Diftbiution of the Patient himf
efpecially it the Stone was oi any confiderable Bign 1 will likewfie 1 uppofe their Co heft on- to the Stone, ;
tnatrney are in a Quantity fufficient to operate 3 h: they any Activity of themlelves ? And if not 3 h are they to be put into Motion, or directed to A 6th
4 Nm Treatises* the STONE. 4g
Vheies the Menfiruum, to caufe 3. new Fermentation ,r the nece fiery Pleat, without which they muft re* main Inadive ? The Urine palling but in a very (mail Quantity at once, efpecialiy through the Kidneys and ijreers ; and its hay being but a very fhort in thole arts, cannot be accounted a fulficient Nlenjlruum on t hat Occafion, or the Heat of the Reins, intercepted )J the Frigidity of the Stone, a lufficient Heat: There- sore thole Lixivious Salts ( if it cou’d be reafonably fun- 1). led that Mrs. Stephens Deco&ion conld be impregna- •d with any ) cannot have Force or Virtue to operate yhen they arrive at the Place appointed for their Ac- ron j 1 fay, if there are any in the Decodtion, for I annot be perfuaded that a Ball made of Alicant Soap and iwines Creffes, beaten together in a Mortar, cou’d be :apable to communicate any extraordinary Quality to a /atery Menfiruum „ in which it has been boiled for lalf an Hour, for it muft be granted that the diflblvent j/irtue^ expected fiom that Ball, fhould confift cheifiy 1 the faline Corpufcles of the Alhes, which enter in- P the compofition of the Soap; but how can thefe fa- ;ite Corpufcles be unfolded from that vaft Quantity of pe oleaginous Ones, they are wrapt in ? Efpecialiy af- •pr the Compofition, by being beat in a Mortar, is be- ome more compadt in its Parts, and thereby lefs eafy b be penetrated. y
The Stepbemfis expeft perhaps, that their lixivious )eco£tion will produce the lame effed in the Kidneys tr Budda, it has upon foul Lumen, dtJc , But they jiuft confider, that in a wafhing Tub the whole fub- ■ ance of the Soap is applyed, which foil could have no fiffea, without ftrong and repeated Fixations, i’ll a- tree that in a running Lixivium, the lixivious Salts feem r perform fomething near what Airs. Steobens would lave her Decodtion operate in the Kidneys and Biad- :ei ; bu l flie mult confider, tnat there is a yrcat deal F Difference ; for in a running Lixivium, the° lixivious Fits h ive not only been put m Motion, by a violent ueat? but are iikewife continued fuch by a graduate ne, till the whole Operation is arcomplifhed, and fcn then> *ey have no other Efieft chan to relax and
1 * r
n}! nrat' *
J A UA A -i. a 4* w.
A New Treatise on the S T O N E.
difunite the conflituent Parts of the Body they work up on, that it might be theeafier diffolved, by a quite dif ferent and itronger Operation $ fo that if that Bod] was kept a Year under the lixivious one, it could neve be diffolved without the Help of the other : Tho’ th< lixivious Salts are not only applyed immediately anc well diredted to the Body, which is to be diffolved, bu likewife receive continually a frelii Supply of new anc homogeneous Corpufcles of equal ftrength, and as well di redted , which cannot be faid of thofe Salts, in the humai Body, where they are fubjedl to fo many Changement or Viciffitudes , were they meet with fo many Obftacle and Oppofitions from heterogeneous Bodies, that the] muft be fuppofed entirely exhaufted when they come t the Place of their Deftination.
I’ll confefs however, that, tho’ Mrs. Stephen's De codfion cannot be accounted, in Concert with her Pow der, a Diffolvent for the Stone, it might hive a ftrom diuretick Quality, not from the lixivious Salts of th Soap and Swines Creflfes, but from the Simples whicl enter into it, and which abounding with volatile Salts proper to procure a more perfedt and quicker Seperati on of the Serum, and consequently a more abundan Secretion, The Impetuofity of the Urine at that Time might force the Gravel or fmall Stones it could mee with in its Paflage, thro’ the Urinary Organs 5 but it i my Opinion, that the Operation fhould be attributec to the volatile Salts of the Simples, wherewith the wa tery Menflruum is ftrongly impregnated, and not at al, to the Ball of Soap and Swines Crefles, which I don’i fuppofe to be of any other Service on that Occafion than was the Flint Stone to the Jefuit, with which he would have perfuaded fome Country People, he could make fome exellent Soupe, if they would furnifl him with the other neceffary Ingredients*
ANALYSIS
A New Treatise of the STONE. f|r
ANALYSIS of Mr So Stephens’s Pills,
• ■ •• ■ ■ " *
’ .• t ( ■ ■ n \ aWii -- - . . it ... 1 «t -
AM convinced at prefent, that, my OhfetYations o^
Mrs. Stephen's Medicine in general, are juft, and at (he could have reduced them to one or two Com- fitions, fince her Pills are nothing elfe than a Com- ndium of the two others, as .it- plainly appears by 3 following Recipe.
<c Take ( concludes Madam Stephens ) an equal Quantity by Meafure of Snails calcined as before, of wild Carrot Seeds, Burdock Seeds, Afh Keys, Hipps and Hawes, all burnt to a Blacknefs, or which is the fame thiiig, till they have done Smqaking, mix them together, rub them in a Mdrter, and pais them thro’ a Cyprefs Sieve, then take a large Spoonful of this Mixture and four Ounces of the beft Alicant Soap, and beat them in a Morter with as much Boil ey as will make the Whole of a proper Confiftance for Pills, Sixty of which are to be made out of every Ounce of the Compofitioni
This is then, Mrs-. 'Stephen's fimfhijag upon the me, and fuch a heavy one as to reduce 'it go Ato ms. id as the Snails have begun the Operation, they mu ft ewife finifh it, tho’ drefs’d in another Habit, and 'sp¬ iring under another Figure or Shape. j iihan’t at- apt to examine their Virtues in the Pills, 'fince i donh >pofe them a greater Specinck thus prepared, than ten in Powder. Therefore I’ll proceed to feme Re? Tons on the Vegetables or . Simples, which fine or-. y to be burnt to a" Blacknefs, I can fcarcely under- id, what is meant by burning thofe Vegetables to ilacknefs, unlefs. it 'is by breaking the Texture of their ares to render the Salts they contain more fat for a end Operation, which Operation mult be accom* h’d in the Stomach, before thofe Saks can be thought •per for any Adfion whatfoever, fince they muft be irely freed from their Scores or Drofs, and the Sub- ice of the Chile entirely impregnated therewith, be- 3 they can be dire&ed to Motibn: Thofe Vegetables ! LI being
g2 A New Treatise on the S T O K fi.
being of a nutritive Quality, might undergo the fan* Mutations in the Stomach with the other Aliments, an< perhaps a more perfect and eafier Digeftion, becaul the Fire has effe&ed, what th eDjjfolvent or the Fermer of the Stomach muft have done, the breaking the Tex ture of their Fibres ; but are thofe faline Corpufck thus freed from their Capfules which hinder their Me tjon of a Corrofive Quality ? and if they could be fuj pofed fuch, while inclofed iri the Plant or Seed, do the not acquire fome other Propreties , when in fome Met fure fublimated in the Stomach, and as they are divide betwixt the Acid and Alkaly, the Alkaly being eve fuppofed Predominant by the Effect of the Calcinatioi which muft have infallibly evaporated the moft volatii Corpufcles, and fixed the reft : Why fhould they nc be thought Diaphoretick, Sudorificks, &c. as well t Corrofives or Diureticks $ why fhou’d they be fuppofe inaftive through the whole Courfe of the Circulation till they come to the Stone, and if they are put in Me tion and directed to Action, as loon as they are mixe with the Chyle, why fhould they not make fome fenf ble Imprefiion on the differentia mours Which enter int the Compofition of the Blood, by fixing them, an thereby catifing fome dangerous Accident throughoi the Whole Afafs ? Since its porous Subftance is eafier t be penetrated, than the Texture of the Stone, it can not be obje&ed, that they are mdreat Liberty toa<f after the Secretion, than whilft driven in the who! Mafs df the Blood 5 fince nothing is more proper to di redt them to Adtion than the Vehicle of the Blood, an<: thatgtaduate Heat which accompanies it in its Circula; tion i If it is faid, that in the Blood the acute Angles c thofe faline Corpufcles , are blunted in their Encounter With fo many different heterogeneous Bodies they mee With* Fil ask, how they can be fharpened again in thi Secretion ? And if they are, why don’t they make the: firft Operation ori the Membranes of the urinary Oil ga'ns ? Wihat Reafon Can be alledged for their nature Antipathy to the Stone* rather than to any other Parc Bdt Experience convinces us, that thofe Salts fixed i iTid Calcination have no other than a Diaphoretick, St1
cforifid
'A New Treatise on the STONE. 53
>rifick or Diuretick Virtue *, and that evert often but :er a Lixivation, Filtration and Evaporation ; perhaps ey acquire that Virtue by being mixed with the o~ er Ingredients, the Pills are compofed with fuch as e Alicant Soap and Honey ; Soap and Honey when plied in Subftance are both Deterfives, and are both ccefTively adminiftred to clear the Ptmterps Fous+ e Honey is 16 loaded with vifcous and glutinous Cor- ifcles, and its Principles 16 well united together, that is with the greateft Difficulty they are feperated in e Stomach, therefore the whole Operation of the fer- enc and of the native Warmth on its Subftance is to blimate its moft fulphureous Particles, which are ther Anodynes than Corrofives, and more proper to eeten the Mals of the Blood, than to be fecre ed th the Serum, for the CorroCton of the Gravel Or one: The constituent Principles of the Soap are lb mpaft, that I’ll never believe when taken in Subftance, ey can be difimiced j or that it can produce any o- ter Effeft, than by irritating theFibresof the Stomach, nfes a Vomiting. TJ^ere ore the whole Virtue of e GrancJ Preparation ponfift in the Deco&ion, and is > odher than a (imple Diuretick •, from whence I con- nde that it is ridiculous to believe a Diifolvent for ie Stone.
selections on the Method of adminijiring the Preceding MEDICINES.
WHEN there is a Stone in the Bladder, the Powder is to be taken three times a Day, viz. in a Morning after Breakfaft, in the Afternoon about Five or Six, and at going to Bed *, the Dole is a Drachm Averdtipois or fifty fix Grains, which is to be mixed in a large Tea Cup, full of White Wine, Cyder or Imall Punch \ and half a Pint of the Deco&ion is to be drank either Cold or Milk Warm,
| after every Dole.
| The Method which Mrs. Stephens Sbferves in the idmiaiftracion of her Medicine confirms almoft what
h % i
M A. Mew Tbeati.se on the STONE.
% have fa id already, that there is very little or no Vir: tue in any of her three Preparations, but in the De» co&ion, fince hal a Pint of it muff be taken after every Dofe of the Powder, as a Vehicle to it 5 ( as I fuppofe ) neither does ihe think that Vehicle lufficient, fince fhe orders the Powder to be mixed in a large Glafs of an¬ other Diuretick) fuch as White V/ine^ Cyder or fmah Punch \ and I really believe, that was a Patient to leave off the Powder, and confine himfelf to the Glafs oJ White Wine or Punch, and to the half Pint of the De* coffion, he would receive as much Benefit from it, as if he had took both Preparations j which confirms like- wife that the three Preparations might have been very well reduced to two, or that the Powder could lx taken in the Decoftion, without making too nauieous a Draught of it *, un{e Is the Stephemfts be plea fed to in¬ form us if the taking the Powder in a Diuretick, dif ferent from the Decoction, ftrengthens its Virtues oi adds fome new Qualifies^ to it y or if it fiiould lofelom? of it, if taken in the Deco&ion : Which laft cannot be iuppofed, fince half a Pint of the Deco&Ion muff be taken immediately after the Powder, as if they were both to act in Concert $ or rather, as if in Faff, that one of them had no other Virtue, than to ferve as * Vehicle to the other.
Three Drenches of the Powder, and three half Pints of the Decoction muff be taken every Day, one in the jMormng after Breakfaft* for I find it muff not be taken Faffing, tho' I would be apt to believe, that drown¬ ing the Stomach with fo confiderabie a Quantity oi Phyfick, immediately after the taking of the Aliments would diforder the Ferment, render the Coffion itn- per fePc, and inffead of being a Remedy for the Stone, helps towards increafing its Focus. , Mrs.. Stephen’s does it perhaps, onPurpofe to have the firft Co&ion impregi nated with, the fuppofed Corrofive Salts of her Medi¬ cine ^ but f that Corrofive Virtue always iuppofed J it would be a great deal better for the juft Oeconom}i of the whole Mechanifm, if the Blood was not vifiteci at his Petit Levee by fuch troublefome Gueffs, whd could perhaps furprife the Spirits when they are ficara
aw'atc ,
A New T ret a is e on the ST O N E. 55
twake, and caufe fome Biforder in the Circulation 5 jut however, there is nothing to be feared on that Side, ince, metEinks that I have fufficiently demonftrated, hat there is not the leaf!: Corrofive Corpufcles in :ither of Mrs. Stephen? s Preparations*, and therefore, l Patient might in all Safety, after Breakfaft, or Fadi¬ ng, as he fhall think fit, take Mrs. Stephen’s Powder md Decotiion *, tho9 for my own Part, I fhould rather :hufe to take it Falling, fince the Decoftion which I lave already acknowledged to be a good Diuretick, neeting at that Time little or no Obftruflions ( the Callage being pretty free) would force its Way with greater Eafe, towards facilitating the Separation of the arum, itsiSecretion through the urinary Organs, force )erhaps fome Gravel or fmall Stones through the Jxeters into the Bladder, or from the Bladder through he Urethra , but never make the lead Imprefhon on a tone of a larger Volume, otherwife than ( if it be of ; friable Texture, by increafing the Impetuofity of the Urine, thereby the Stone is extraordinarily agitated ) b. break that Texture, and reduce that large Stone in- b leveral fmall ones. " f
j Thfle Medicines ( fays again Mr^ Stephen’s ) cauies hitch Pain at fird ; and well they may, when they l>rove to be a Bane to the digeftive Faculty, a Clogg b the Stomach, and to irritate the Fibres of its Mem¬ branes fo far, as to caufe often a Convylfion in thole |*arts ; Mrs. Stephen’s would then have, her Patient lake fome Opiates or other, without mentioning what Sort of Opiate, if Purgative or Corroborative ; unlcls m means by an Opiate, a Narcotick to eafe the Pain, tupify the Part, and take away the Sen fe thereof i j1 or I know one Leicefler , a very learned Apothecary,
I Native of Ireland , who had the Impudence to face ae, that there are no other Opiates in the Pharmacy , han the different Preparations of the Opium , from * 'hence, fays he, the name of Opiates is derived. I lay perhaps find fome other Occafion to give the Aiblick fome new Inftances of his Ignorance.
1 he Lenitive; Ele&uary prefcribed by Mrs. Stephens ji Cafe fome of her Patients were to be Codive, during
the
si
56 A New Treatise on the STOhT E.
the Uie of her Medicine, is a Secret not worth much Money, and fuch Advice is not worth the Fee of that famous French Quack, hifpe&or of Urine, fo well known: fome Years ago among the French themfeives, by the nick Name of Doctor Piffcurey the Dodor of Pi Is or Urine ; tor every body knows without the Advice of a Phyfjci'.n, that they muft take fome Laxative, when they are Coftive, but can they grow Coftive, whem they take her Medicines? Since fhe confeffes, that* tho’ the Powder is aftringent, the Decoftion is laxative, therefore by being taken both at the fame Time, they muft keep each other in a juft Equality of Qualities, and Virtue^ but however, fays fhe, if one is more pre¬ dominant, you muft increafe the Dole of the other$j and if neither will do, we muft take the Advice of Phyfieians : We are pretty well off, truly, to give fo: much Money for the Diicovery of a Secret, whole Sue- cefs is fo uncertain, and whofe Operation by Confeffi- on of the Perfon from whom it has been purchafed,, might be attended with fo many Accidents, that infteadi of curing the Patient of cne, it might phance to in- create the Number of his Diftempers. But, however,, Mrs. Stephen's has fome Conning, and for what the French ca1! One Ecbapatrire, and the Engltjhy a back: Poor open to lave herfelf, fhe cautions, as againft a Loofenels, which fhe pretends, would carry off the: Medicine, and hinder their Efficacy $ and as fuchi naufeous ripopeey muft infallibly, unlefs when adminiftre- ed to a very ftrong Conftitution, by impairing the Sto¬ mach, precipitating the Digeftion, and rendering it imperfeft, occafion a Loofenefs } Mrs. Stephen's ex¬ perts to appeafe the Clamours of the People againft her,, tor the Inefficacy of her Medicine, by alledging tha: : fuch' Loofenefs has been the Occafion of it} but will I fuch an Excule prevail with the moft ienfible Part of I Mankind ? Will they believe that Remedies, with 1 which the Subftance of the Chile muft be impregnated and conveyed by it, thro’ its different Meatus into the : Subftance of the Blood, before they can produce any i good Effeft, might be carried away with the grofs Ex- 1 crements by a Loofenels ? Unlefs thole Remedies, by
impairing j
A New Treatise on the STONE.
impairing the Tone of the Stomach, caule themfelves that Loofenefs, and like wile fuch txceflive a one, as to be a ftrong Indication of the digeftive Faculty being entirely extinft j for altho’ a Loofenefs be a fure Di- agnoftick of the Imperfefition of the CoRion of the A- liments in the Stomach, it is not always a Sign that there is no Seperation made of fbme Chile from the 'grofs Excrements, or that the whole Subftance of the Aliments are carried away by Stoplsy for then a Loofe- tnefs fhould always prove Mortal; therefore I ihould Ithink, that it would be more agreeable to the Principles of Phyfick, to believe that a J -ooicnels ( not an im¬ moderate One ) would rather help than hinder the Eg. ficaey of Mrs. Stephen's Medicine, fince the longer a Remedy ftays in the Stomach, the more it loofesof its (Virtue ; for by its Conflict with the Ferment, which endeavours to change ic into Aliments, Part of its la- line Corpufcles are entirely deftroyed, or by being e- yaporated, or by being really changed into Aliments, and the reft remaining fb weak as not to be capable of making the leaft Impreflion on the Humours.
“ Mrs. Stephens orders her Patients to abftain, d«- ‘ r*nS the Ule of her Medicines from SaltMeats, Red Wines, and Milk, to drink few Liquids, and ufe little Exercife, that fb the Urine may he moreftrong- j* ly impregnated with the Medicines, and the long- er retained in the Bladder.
j l am of Mrs. Stephen's Opinion, that Salt Meats or ill other Aliments, capable to overheat the Mals of •he Blood, are not proper for a Perfonaffl fled with the gravel or Stone $ but I cannot put Red Wine in the ame Rank ; for tho’ it is the common Opinion, that tied is not fb diuretick as White Wine, I believe haw-
:!er». If* R,cd. WOuld rerve better Mrs. Stephen's Turn t Jeciallyit being a Cardirc and Aftringent, to prevent
r » °°,ieneCs> which lhe feems to be fb much afraid ” : "endes, as her Remedy is not only a Diuretick. mt mull be a Diflolvent likewile, methinks that Red ^Vine being more impregnated with tartarous Particles han White it might fipply Mrs. Stephen's Medicines Vkh tome Corrofive Corpufcles, of very great- Service
in
^8 A JV^Treatise on the STON E.
in the Diffolution of the Stone ; fhe forbids likewif her Patients drinking but few Liquids, and ' fifing bu little Ekercife, that the Urine might be rtibre impreg nated with the Medicines, and the longer retained 11 the Bladder : The drinking but few Liquids ( and ii, Fa<5l I don’t know, what ene we could Drink but Li ^uids ) and uhng but little Exercife, is not always fure Expedient to hinder the too frequent Evacuatioi; of the Urine, fiince it is not always the Quantity o Urine, but its Acrimony irritating the Sphincter yejica which Ca ules a frequent Evacuation : Tt is not alway the Quantity of Drink that occafions the Quantity o; Urine, but often the Conftitution of the Body; a Per; Ion of an excefhve hot Conftitution evacuates a lefts Quantity of Urine, than thole of a cooler, the grea; Part of the Serum of a hot Conftitution being abforbec: by native Heat, and the great Effervency of the Hui mours it circulates with } the Urine of a weak Conftitu; tion is irkewifc in a leffer Quantity, becaufe the Pore of the Body being much opened, Part of the Serum i i evacuated through Sweats or infenlible Peripiration.
Ridiculous Precautions ufed by Mrs. Stephens it - 1 ’ ^ring her MEDICINES.
acimmi
<<
HERE thePerfony fays fhe, is aged, of a wea y , Conftitution, or much reduced by lois of Ap f petite or Pain, the Powder muft have a greater, Prc “ portion of the calcined Snails, than according to th fbregoi ng Direction, and this Proportion may be in <f - cfeaftd fuitable to the Nature of the Cafe, till ther 46 be enufi Parts of the two Ingredients.
The ridiculous Notion which has fo long prevails among the Vulgar, and of which we have not feen ye any good Effect, has certainly induced Mrs. Stephen to add a greater Quantity of Snails to her Pc\vrde;r vulien her Patient is of a weak Conftitution, withou conftcfering that by the Calcination, this muft haV changed their Qualities, and that by a different Poftf'
on ot the AjigJ.es of theirr Mine .Corpiifdes f thole whic!
wet'
A iVkoTREATisE on the STONE. £9
•were Alkalines, muft have Corrofive, or elfe wou’d be of no Efficacy in her Medicine, adminiftred not as an Anodyne, but as a ftroiig Diffolvent; If ffie could find a Vehicle to her Powder which could hinder its Cor¬ rofive Quality, till it comes to the Secretion, fuch ex¬ pedient would be of fome Service in a weak Conftituti- on ; but to fay, that by leffening the Quantity of a Diffolvent and encreafing the other, is a judicious Pre¬ caution ; it is trifflng with the Publick, unlefs fhe will confefs, that there is no corrofive Quality but in her Egg-Shell, and that the Snails are added to it as a Cor¬ rective, to hinder the too great impetuofity of its cor¬ rofive Corpufcles : Befides, ffie does not confider, that this Precaution deftroys her Syftem ; for if the Cor¬ pufcles can effeft the Conftitution of the Patient, they muft be Aftive on the fubftance of the Blood, thro’ which they pafs to the Kidneys ; and if they are, what elfe can be expected from it, but inprocefsof Time, a fixation of theHumours, and ftrange diforders throu<>h- outthe whole MafsPP'or my part, 1 had thought tillnow, that thofe Corpufcles were kept inactive, till they came to the Stone, to which they were directed,
" Inftead of thefe Herbs and Roots ( continues Mrs.
•c Stephens ) I have fometimes ufed others, as Mallows,
!t Marffi-Mallows, Yarrow, red and white. Dandelion, l" Water Creffes and Hoiffe Reddiffi Root, but do 1“ not know of any material Difference.
| Really I believe her, fince every body that has the ileaft Knowledge of Simples, will agree/ that thefe are jis good Diureticks to the full as thofe before-mention- ?d; ; and I’ll infift again in this Place, that the Decoction ' the Ball of Soap excepted ) is the only good Prepara- uon m her whole Medicine ; for if there is any Thing .apable to caufe that immoderate Loofenefs, fome feem o be afraid of, it muft be the Soap.
This is Mrs. Stephens’s manner of giving the Powder
tnd Decodtion,
"As to the Pills, fays ffie, their chief Ufe is in Fits
of the Gravel, attended with Pains in the Back, and ( Vomiting, and in fuppreffion of Urine from a ftop- : Page m the Ureters j in thele Cafes the Perfon is to
I “ take
6o A New Treatise on the STONE.
<c take five Pills every Hour Day and Night when a- wake, till the Pain be removed.
I would ask Mrs. Stephens , or her Patrons, if there is: ever any Fit of the Gravel without being attended: her the greateft Part, if not always, with all the fore- mentioned Symptoms ? That fhe ufes that Reftridtion, attended with Pains in the Back, &c • And if there was, would then her Pills be of no Ufe in fuch Fits, or would any of her other Preparations eafe the Pati¬ ent ? For it is what fhe is indifpenfahly obliged to let us know 5 but however, when the Fit is attended with thofe Symptoms, the Perfon is to take five Pills every. Hour Day and Night. She fuppofes then, that not one; or even three or five, or perhaps tweny Dofes, are fufficient to give Eafe. _
One thing worthy of our Notice in Mr . Stephen fi Direction, is, that fhe would have us take thof< Pills only when awake. Take five Pills every Hour Da\ and Night, fays fhe, when awake $ a very reafonabk Precaution ! Has then Mrs. Stephens ever heard of anj body taking any Thing, efpecially Phyfick, when ai fleep ? or has fhe ever known any of her Patients tha;, could deep in the violent Tortures of the Gravel, fuel as flie is pleafed to reprefent j for my part, I have a! ways believed that the Fit was over, when the Patien could take fome Repofe, and if that whole Cargo o Pills are adminifired to appeafe the Fit, I don’t fee why he would be awaken’d to take them, when he i no more in need of them } for if they are adminiftret like wife, to prevent the Formation of the Gravel an Stone, as fhe pretends, methinks the Patient fhoul. not be obliged to difturb his Reft, and might chufe more convenient Time for it.
COROLLARIUM.
IT refults from what I have laid, of the Difpofiti on of the urinary Organs, of the Manner of Secre¬ tion, Filtration, Evacuation, and the different Qjrah ties of the Urine > of the Caufes both remote and irn
imediateofthe Gravel and Stone, of their Formation s
• -- - - - — - dJ
i
A New Treatise on the STONE* 61
;he Kidneys and Bladder, of their condituent Parts, of ;heir different Texture, Bignefs and Number, of the Fit or Paroxifm, of the different Symptoms, the Di- ignodick and Prognodick, of that cruel and dangerous Malady, fcjV. That it is impoffible to find out a Me¬ dicine, or a Diifolvent for a Stone in the Kidneys and Bladder, efpecially if the Stone is of any confiderable Bignefs, and fo compact in its Texture, as to be ca¬ pable to refid the Impetuofity of the Urine : That therefore Mrs. Stephens *s Medicine is an Impofitlon on die Publick 5 for if aDiflolvent for the Stone could be [ound, her’s, after the exafi: Analyfls we have made of It, will never be accounted inch by any judicious Per- [bn. It is true, an ingenious Phyfician has been fo :omplaifant to prefent the Publick with a Compilation >f a hundred and fifty five Cafes, which he^calls, a View of the prefent Evidences, for and again ft Mrs . Stephen s’j Medicine as a Solvent for the Stone: But it is
very eafy to difcern through his affefted Impartiality, diat he favours the Lady as much as poffible *, tho’, a- riong ib vaft a Number of Evidences he is pleafed to produce in her Defence, very few of them pronounce aff¬ irmatively } but fuppofe, that even ten in twenty were :o pronounce affirmatively, and declare that they have iecn cured by ufing Mrs. Stephens's Medicine 5 are not he ten others left Uncured a fufficient Evidence a gain ft the infallible Efficacy of her Medicines, and therefore b Specifick ? Since a Specifick mud cure in all Cabs, iven the mod difficult, as it was h t forth at fird. t That Mrs. Stephens's Medicine is not a Specifick, and ioes not cure in all Cafes, is evident by her own Friend’s Confeffion of an infinite Number of Cafes, in tjvhich it has mi learned, and which, were I to relate rare, would render my Work too voluminous ; there- ore I’ll content myfelf with a few of them extracted rom Dr. Hartley1 s Vie w of the prefent Evidence,
bz A JVew Treatise on the ST ON E.
CASE XII.
Mr. Cutler in Wapping-Dock-Street, Trapping.
HE fays in a Letter dated February i, 17 38-9* cc That he has taken feven of Mrs. Stephens' 1s « Balls (and Powders in Proportion I fuppofe ) is nei- cc ther better nor worfe, has voided neither Grit nor <c Stone, and that his Illnefs was ftill a violent Pain in cc his Back and in making of Water.
This is a direct Negative, which proves plainly that Mrs. Stephens s Medicine is not a Specifick for the Stone, fmce the Patient declares, that he received not Benefit from it. Let us examine the following one, which might chance to prove more favourable to the Stephenifis *
CASE XIII.
Mrs. KUlick , Wife to Mr. Killick a Surgeon, in
Great RuJJel Street .
<c A BOUT five Years ago fhe was much affli&ec jTx with Pains in the Neck of the Bladder, fhe made bloody Matter two or three times, once had 2 C£ SupprefiiOn of Urine for two Days} Mr. Killick then cf paifed the Catheter and found a Stone in the Bladder ihe took Mrs. Stephens’s Powders for about a Month; and her Water about that Time depofited much Set Ci diment, which became very hard when dry} Sh(| •tc was much better, tho’ not quite free from Pains, for <c about two Months after the ufe of the Powders $ ano iC then died of a hever.
This Cate does likewife very little for Mrs .Stephens \ for it does not prove that the Patient voided, during the vtte of the Powders, any gravel lous or petrified Sub! fiance, but only that the Urine depofited much Sedii meat, which is a common Phcenomen^n* and might
havi
A New Treatise on the STONE. 63
■ave happened without the help of the Powders ; fhich Evacuation eafed the Patient, but not freed her uite from Pains*, and fhe died in two Months after, of ♦'ever : Some ill minded Perlons wou’d perhaps* lay er Death to Mrs. Stephens's Charge, and pretend that ie Fever was occafioned by the frequent ufe of the 'owders, which had fo difordered the Tone of the tomach andimbecillitated he digeftive Faculty, as to ender the Co&ion of the Aliments imperfect, and hereby lb infe&ed the Mafs of the Blood by an ex- raordinary Quantity of heterogeneous Corpulcle, as ) caufe fuch an extraordinary Effecency of the Hu- lours, not to be conqured by the moll proper Re¬ adies $ tho’ Mr. Hartley pretends, That this Cafe fav¬ ours the Medicines in the firft Enquiry } which is, that 4rs. Stephens’s Medicines do not generate the Stone, or my Fart, l am apt to think,that if fuchThings were cflible, and it c.uid be fuppoled, that rhofe Powders :com-any the Serum in the Secretion, when it U once iparated from thole Spirits, which keep it in a perpe- lal Agi.aticn, while ic circu’ated w th the Blood, it ;iight chance, when ic acquires moreRepofe to concrete felf, or form the Gravel or Stone, or at leaft a ndy Subftance, which might have caufed the thick Se~ iment in this Cale.
5 The f llowing Cale is another very (Irong Negative
f the Efficacy of Mrs. Stephens's Medicines.
.
CASE. XIX.
? ikfr.Bl enclave of Marfton, near BrkckleVj,
Northamptonlhire.
IT" N June , 1755, I ha ! a Stoppage of Urine with JL Pain and Wreatching, afterwards became fubjecr. to make b'oody Matter upon Riding, confalted an eminent Phyfician, who judged that he h d a Stone- in the Kidney, too large to pafs \ took his Me¬ dicines for a Year. About Cbriflma r, 173^, took t MrstStepbenCs Powders wit an Herb Tea for a Week
* ■ “ they
r-jt
E a t is E on
: ...
cs they were fo diwretick, and m3.de him lb coffive <€ that lie was forced to leave them off without any
Benefit, and has had greater Sharpnefs of Urine tc and Pain in his Kidney s ever lince. Mr. Hartley ex cofes the Inefficacy of Mrs. Stephens in this Cafe , or Mr. BlencUvc* s not taking the Liquids with thePdw.1 ders, while in other Cafes he feems to triumph for th: Powders alone without the Help of the Liquids.
The XCI Id does more againft Mrs. Stephen? s Med: einethan any heretofore mention’d, and is as follows
CASE. xcir. |
Mr* Floydh in Maggot’s Court over-againft Si Jamesh Churchy Piccadilly.
C€ 17 Ourteen Years old, had Pains in making Water u Jk violent preffing upon the Neck of the Bladder u frequently has taken Mrs. Stephens Medicines foAi €i months, but continues to have the fame Complaint In this Cafe the Patient neither voids thick Sedimei Gravel, or Scales of. the Stones, but quite the contrary for tho’ he has taken for fo long as thirtee Months Mrs. Stephens' s Medicine, continues in tl feme Pains without any,. Relief; neither was M Hartley , who relates this Cafe amongfi the reft, pleas to inform us of the Reafcn of fuch Inefficacy, for 1 cannot excufe it, as he has done in fome other Caiftl on the Preparations notjj having been taken \ f nee t: Patient declares, that he has took Mrs. Stephens ’s Mec cines without Exception.
Upon the whole, it manifeffly appeals, that Ml Stephens9 s Medicines are not to be depended upjx aid therefore, if fuch People are encouraged, we m: foon expefl to fee the Nation fwarm with Fetal' Quicks, and Noftrum Importers*