| Title: | Extracts From Tonge & ? On Vaghans Stone Recipes, In Hand I, English & Latin |
|---|---|
| Dating: | undated |
| Ref: | 55/4/3A-6B |
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Mr Vaughans Directions for Mr Hartlib.
1. For the Stone
Receipt One dramme of the Notable Powder (soe he calls that which he hath promised to send me, but it is not yet come) in 4. ounces of the destilled water of Loveage, sweetened with one ounce of the syrope of Marshmallowes. Put the powder in a spoone, & some of the Iulip with it, stirre it well in the spoone, take it downe suddainely at one gulpe, & drink the rest of the Iulep speedily vpon it; fast an houre after it.
2. To heale any excoriations in the Raines or bladders
made by the stone, & to expell Gravell.
Receipt Take Golden Rod, some Anniseede bruised, & some liqvorish beaten with a hammer, boil them well together in spring water.
Drinke thereof morning and evening a good draught, & fast an houre after it. You may drinke this decoction as often as you will.
According to those words, I wrote Mr Vaghans Directions from his owne mouth, who affirmes vpon much experience, that the præscribed Iulep & decoction of Golden Rod are the excellentest Remedies for the said infirmities; his powder for the stone only excepted, which he informes me to be a vegetative in its originall (which he found in a MS now in his keeping, by the name of the Notable Powders for the Stone). Before this powder doth attaine its perfect force, it is by him calcined many times about 9. or 10. times, & so often qvenched in certaine waters, having specifiqve qvalities for dissolving the Stone.
Your friend so exqvisitely learned in all Chymicall præparations, will smile at my discourse, wherein he will find me præsumeing as much as I vnderstand little or nothing of those mysteries; yet such is my zealous desire to adde my mite (haveing noe other) of conceited endeavours for your health, that I can not forbeare to give you a comment vpon Mr Vaghans Text; & therein I shall propose my conjectures, what may be his powder or supply its place, & how his Iulep & decoction may be by an ingenious Chymist very much improved. And herein, remembring the old saying, Verbum Sapienti, & my owne ignorance, that I may betray the lesse, I will endeavour as distinctly & yet in as few words as I can, to performe my promise.
1. The Notable Powder
As I conjecture is noe other, then the fixed salt of Virga Aurea, or Beane shells, extracted & afterwards impregnated with volatile salt of Nephretiqve waters, [catchword: according]
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according to Qvercitans Direction in his Pharmac: spager c.11 Not. VII. pag. 592, 593.
2. The Waters I would qvench or rather dissolve or destill (according to Qvercitans said Directions in the said place) the Powder in, should be those, whereof the same Qvercitan composeth his water against the stone in kidney or bladder in his Pharmac: C. de Aqvis. p. 267, 268, 269. viz. Parsely, Pelletary, Saxifrage, Radish, Nettles, Onyons, Restharrow, Leekes, Lemons, Mouse eare; And such other, as Golden Rod, Goates blood, Foxes blood, younge broome, Hawthorne flowers & berries, wilde time, fennell rootes, parsely rootes, parsely perseston, Ashenkeyes, Eringoe, Burdock seedes, Straw-berries, Verven, Prosper, Alexander, Creavices, milke of a red Cowe, Aronis, Beane shell, Loveage, Ononidis (Restharrow, as I take it). These are the best waters for this purpose, that I could thinke on or find in Qvercitan at this time. And of these Pellitary, Beaneshell, Ashenkeyes, I accompt best.
Upon second thought, haveing perused a passage in Qvercitan his Pharmacop: C.XII. De Decoctis, Num. 56. p. 303. I am very confident that Mr Vaghans Notable Powder, as he calls it, is noe other then this which I find there described in the following words.
N. Ex cineribus Ononidis et Corticum Fabarum juxta eam qvam suo loco docebimus methodum, educes ipsorum sales, primò cum Aqva. Communi, deinde eos depurabis variis dissolutionibus, filtrationibus, et coagulationibus, cum aqvis Parietariæ Saxifragiæ, et similibus Calculo idoneis, donet ipsi fiant albissimi et pellucidi.
De horum salium uno misce Drachmam semis, vel cum superiore decoctione, vel cum jusculo qvodam, aut vino albo, et singulare conficietur remedium contra dolores colicos, nephriticos, et contra ischuriam et suppresionem urinæ.
Sal corticum Fabarum in his affectibus omnium est præstantissimum remedium.
Idem Qvercit. Pharmacop. Cap.35. De Salibus, p. 544. Sal Corticum Fabarum inter alios mirum in modum cansticus est ac urens, qvi tamen ex jusculo justâ dosi exhibitus admodùm diureticus est, ut nihilominùs citra noxam ac viscerum offensionem efficacissimè operetur. [catchword: N.]
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N. Elicitur cum sua propria aqva ab ipsis adhuc viridibus destillata.
Besides what I have here excerped, I thinck it worthy to bee remembred, that I heard an anncient Gentle-woeman, a friend of mine, relate; That her Brother (as I remember) a worthy Cittizen of Glouster was first cured of the stone after all other remedies assayed without any benefit by beane shell water, & after for many yeares preserved from that disease, wherewith he had beene before of a longe time grievously aflicted. At length his Friends neglecting one yeare to provide this water for him in season, his disease returned & kild him, noe other remedie being found sufficient to releeve or ease him.
The Decoction mentioned above in the Receipt out of Qvercitan, is found with him in the same page & number, in the following words (Pharm. C XII De Doctis num.56. p.303
Recept Ciner. Rad. Restæbovis
Stipitum vel Corticum Fabarum ana uncia j.[ss.?]
indantur in nodulo lineo, et cum aqvarum
Parietariæ, Senelorum, et Betonicæ, ana lib. j.
Coqvantur donet fiat Lixivium satis forte: transcoletur bis terve per manicam Hippocratis, & aromatizetur, si velis, cinamomo. De hoc cocto cape uncia ij vel iij, addendo si velis Syropi Limonum drachma vj, et fiat potio gustui grata.
Nullum reperitur Remedium efficacius et præstantius ad expulsionem Calculi, et ad ipsam ischuriam et suppressionem urinæ hac ipsa Decoctione, qvæ exhiberi tum debet, cum æger est in balneo sive semicupio.
From these high commendations, bestowed by this learned author, on the salt of Beane shells, & those words above where he tells vs, that it is causticke & burning vnto admiration, compared with what Mr Vaughan affirmes of his powder, workeing immediately vpon the first receipt; & after its suddaine passage through the body with vrine, dissolveing the broken pieces of the stone, & corroding the basin into which they fall, & lye yet not hurting the body. I am further confirmed in this my conjecture, that this powder is noe other then I have said.
Thus for my conjectures, which to me seem very probable what Mr Vaghans Notable Powder for the stone is. Now for the improvment of Iulep. [catchword: In]
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In stead of his Common Leavage water & syrope of Marshmallowes, I would vse Loveage water destilled &t præpared according to Qvercitans Direction in his Pharm. Dogmaticorum Restituta. Cap.VIII. De Methodo destillandi Reformata 1. mod. pag. 239. 2. Syrop of Marshmallowes made made according to Qvercitans Direction # <left margin: # for reforming of syrops in> in his <said> Pharm. Dogmaticorum Rest. cap. XVII. p.343. num. 2. in his præscription for makeing the syrop of Roses, or (num. 26. p.350.) in his Description of the syrop of the fruite, he calls senela. (which I take to be the seathorne): & I verily believe, that this last mentioned syrop, which is there calld syropus senelorum simplex Qvercitani, or that which immediately followes in that place, Num. 27. by the name of syropus senelorum Comp Ivere.Qverc. were far better to be mixed with the Loveage water, then any syrop of Marshmallowes however præpared. 3. I suppose that this Medicine may yet be improved by sublimeing the salt of the Beane shells, vntill it become sal armoniacus Philosophorum, according as I find Qvercitan [stileinge?] the salt of any vegitable or other thing, whose fixed salt impregnated with twice the qvantitie of its volatile salt, is after sublimed, as he directs in the place first qvoted above out of his Pharm: p.593.
And here I think I may conclude as haveing fully discharged my promise; but considering that the booke, vnto which I referre by the name of Qvercitans is indeed Qvercitanus Redivivus Iohannis Schroderi strancofurti[= Francofurti?] 1648. 4to I must necessarily advise you of that, & that Dr Clodius, as I thinke, hath the booke.
If either Dr Poleman or Dr Clodius will take the paines to præpare the medicant, & either have not time to view the places in Qvercitan, or shall desire me to write out the whole processe of this Reformed Receipt, as I have conceited it, I will most willingly gratifie them with my paines, according to my best vnderstanding or apprehensions rather, they pardon me the præsumption.
Now is the chiefe time for gathering & præpareing some of the herbes, especially the Golden-Rod for the Decoction, for which reason, I have hasted this to you, as it is
Da veniam subitis -- -- Non displicuisse meretur, festinat tantùm qvi placuisse tibi.
If this my conceipt be approved, I assure myselfe I could in imitation if this processe compose some other in appearance [catchword: more]
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more forceable against the stone, & namely my Lady Lynde's powder, & possit drink, which in a MS. of hers, which I have seen, hath a testimonie subscribed with her owne hand, as found by experience to excell all others in her booke, which are many & very choice ones, out of which I partly gathered the Catalogue of simples mentioned above. And I think Caries malleus soe highly commended in his Farewell to Physicke; to this purpose may by the same method be revived.
I am your very friend
E. Tonge
Mr Vaghans Directions against the Stone reformed
and improved, according to Qvercitans mind in
his Pharmacopoea Dogmat. Restituta.
1. Take Loveage, beat it in a stone mortar straine out the juice of it into a still, still of the juice in sand or B.M. burn that which remaines in the bottom of the still, & in the presse vnto ashes in a pipkin of earth, with a very strong fire. Put the ashes into an Hippocrates sleeve, through which power the destilled water many times, vntill it have extracted all the salt. This water (saith my author) will keepe many yeares vncorrupted, & one ounce of it is more worth then many of the common water. After the same manner destill & præpare the waters of Golden- Rod, Pellitary, Saxifrage, Radish rootes, Beane shells, Leekes &c
2. Take Golden-Rod, beaneshells, or what other herbe you please, of whose salt you intend to make your powder, beate them exceeding well, & diligently in a mortar, put them in an earthen or glasse vessell, which must be very diligently closed, therein let them digest for 15. dayes in hott horse dung or like gentle heate. Then still of the water, that which remaines drie in the bottom beat vnto powder, put thereto so much of the destilled water, as will cover it 4. fingers deepe, then close your Vessel as formerly, & digest in B.M. 8. dayes,* afterwards destill againe, increasing the fire by degrees vntill noe more spirits rise, then separate the flegme by B. which reserve a part. The earth remaining calcine in a gentle fire for some dayes together, which being calcined & whitened steepe in the flegme reserved [catchword: digest]
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digest in B. & destill, vntill the matter be brought into little white stones, which by repeated solutions & coagulations, in saxifrage, Pellitarie, or some of the fore mentioned waters, beeing made like Christall, will, as I conceive, much excell Mr Vaghans, which as he relates is only often calcined, & qvenched severall times in those waters, or such like. Yet that this Processe may be observed as far as possible, let it be calcined after evry severall coagulation, & whilst red hott qvenched in the water, wherein you meane next to dissolve & coagulate it. Vpon this Christalline salt power the water stilled of, as above (* after <the> 8. day's digestion) which my author calls acid & mercuriall water), & digest in gentle B. for 2. or 3. dayes, then still of in ashes, & the water will remaine insipid altogether, haveing left all its volatile salt with the fixed. Continue this worke, till the salt increase its weight noe longer, nor the water loose noe more of its sharpenes. When a graine<corne> of this salt laid vpon a red hott iron will vapour allway to smoke or fume, it is enough.
The salt of Goates blood thus præpared, mutatis mutandis, & dissolved in some convenient liqvor was Mr Caries remedie for the stone, which for the mightie force it had in breaking & dissolving it was by Him called his malleus, in his Farewell to Physiqve.
My Lady Lyndes powder, beeing made of the stones found in the Gall of an Oxe, I would præpare in the destilled water of milke in the same manner as the salt of beane shells was in its owne proper water, if it be found capable of solution & coagulation &c. If not, then at least it should be calcined & qvenched as Mr Vaghan præpares his Notable Powder, or Qvercitan his Beane shells salt, in specifiqve waters, & especially in Beane-shell, Golden-Rod, Loveage waters.
3. The syrop, whereof the Iewlep for takeing any of these powders in is composed, must be thus made.
Recept Take the Water of Marshmallowes destilled, as above, lib iiij (& haveing made it a little sharp with a drop or two of the [catchword: oyle]
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My Lady Lynde cured her Husband with her aforesaid powder, giving him a reasonable qvantity in a spoone full of the following posset drinke made with white wine, sweetened with good store of sugar candie, & a sliced nutmeg, after she had boiled in it very soundly Pellitary of the wall wilde-time, & the roote of fennel & parselie sliced, & the Pith taken away. Whereof also after he had taken the powder he drunk presently a good draught, & after as often as he pleased.
In stead of boiling in the aforesaid posset drinke, Pellitary, wild time, parsely & fennel, I would either digest them in B.M. or infuse their syropes in this posset drinke. Or at least, boile them in a vessell very close shutt, that nothing may expire. And for white wine, I would use Rhenish.
