WAT
W A T
examined by the microfcope, is found to confift of oblique parallellopiped parts; and if they are evaporated wholly to drynefs, there is found at the bottom a finning duft, which, when examined in the fame manner, is found to contain many particles of the fame kind, ail bright as fragments of the pureft fpars.
As to the ufe of thinetat-walets the learned Heifter a obferves, that in general they are found to agree much better with per- fons in the middle ftages of life, than with the very old or very young. If any general rule can be given in this cafe, it is, that people fhould not take them when younger than eighteen, or when older than fixty. Young people, efpe- cia'lly fuch as are under ten years old, fhould by no means be allowed to drink the chalybeate zvaters, becaufe of the tender ftate of their v'rfcera ; and older people than thofe of fixty are never found to receive any benefit from them, un- lefs they are of very robufl constitutions, or have been long accuftomed to the drinking them : in fome cafes however, particularly in hectics, young people may be allowed to drink the milder kinds mixed with an equal quantity of milk, and often find great benefit from them. — [ a Compend. Medic. Pra£. cap. 20.J
In confirmed confumptions and ulcers of the lungs, the Wronger chalybeate waters are found to do no fort of fervice, but rather hurt; but in cafes where the ulcers are but be- ginning, the drinking the weaker ones with milk has been known to do great good. In ("pitting? of blood arifing from ulcerations of the lungs, the ftronger cold chalybeate waters do nothing hut harm; but in the fame cafes, where the milder kinds are taken warm, and mixed with an equal "quantity of milk, they are found to be very beneficial. They muft never be taken in cafes of dyfenteries in confirmed dropfies, nor where there is a ftone in the bladder or kid- neys ; but in cedematous fwe'lings of the legs and feet, they are often found highly ufeful. In venereal cafes, whether recent, or of long Handing, they 'do not cure, but they dif- pofe the body the more readily to be cured : but in a fimple gonorrhoea, where there is no venereal taint, they have been often known to cure, when all other methods have failed.
Method of taking them. All people who are of a plethoric habit ought to be blooded before they begin to take them, for by this means there is a freer accefs given them into the vef- fels, and they become much more able to correct the whole mafs. Perfons who are not of a plethoric habit have no oc- cafton to bleed before they take them, but all ought to take a gentle purge to clear the prims vise; and to this purpofe nothing is more proper than the common purging falts of Epfom, or Glauber's: but all the draftic purges are carefully to be avoided on this occafion, fuch 2s fcammony, refin of jalap, and the like. If there be indications for vomit- ing in the patient, fuch as pains, and a fenfation of weight at the ftomach, with bitternefs in the mouth, naufeas, and Teachings to vomit, then it is extremely proper to give, a day or two before the beginning the courfes of the waters, a gentle dofe of ipecacoanha.
Time moft -proper. The bed hour of drinking them is early in the morning ; fix or feven o'clock is very proper, becaufe they then have time to rinifh their operation before dinner, but earlier than this is not fo proper ; and thofe who go to the wells or fprings at three or four in a morning, are ex- pofed to all the injuries of a cold and damp air, which pre- vents perfpiration, and often brings on coughs and other diforders of the breaft and head. It was formerly a cuftom to drink them in an afternoon, but this is at prcfent left off, as found to produce many diforders of the ftomach ; and fuch as arc defirous of having the utmoft effects of the •waters, content themfelves at this time of the day with drinking them at home in fmall quantities, and mixed with wine.
Seafon moft proper. The fummer is the feafon in which the mineral-waters are to be drank with the greatcft advantage. The months of June, July and Auguft, are more proper for the taking them than any other time of the year j but upon urgent occafions, the courfe of them may be begun in May, and continued till September; and in fome extra- ordinary cafes, the ufe of them may be allowed even in winter. »
Method of drinking them. It is always proper to begin the ufe of them by fmall quantities, and gradually increafe them to larger. Thus the firft day it may be proper to drink about a pint and half at four draughts, the fecond day a quart may be drank, and on the third or fourth three pints : after this the quantity may be increafed to two quarts a day, and more than this it is not proper to take, unlefs the perfon be of a very robufl habit ; for many people have injured themfelves by taking too large quantities. The quantity that is taken as the moft the ftrength will bear, whether it be two, three or four pints, is to be continued every day for a fortnight or three weeks, or longer, if the nature of the difeafe requires it ; and when the courfe is to be finifh- ed, it muft be done in the fame manner in which it was begun, by taking lefs and lefs every day, till the ufe is gra- dually worn off, and no purge or other medicine is ne- ceiiary afterwards.
The mineral-waters in general operate in fome conftitutions by ftool, and in others by urine fingly ; but in moft- they operate both ways together. Thefe are both very proper ways of excretion, and whichever nature choofes the waters fhould pais oft" by, it is to be judged proper and falutary, and by no means to be checked. If the difcharge by urine be plentiful, and the bowels are moved but once a day, it is very well in many conftitutions ; but where, as in fome conftitutions, it happens that the waters actually a& as aftringents in the bowels, this is to be prevented, and a fmall dofe of the common purging falts is to be taken in the firft draught of the xuaters every morning. In the taking them it is to be obferved, that they are not to be poured down as it were all at once, for the fromach is often loaded and injured by this, but the firft glafs fhould be fuffered to pafs off, and then, after walking about for ten minutes or longer, a fecond is to be taken, and fo on ; and no draught fhould exceed half a pint in quantity ; fo that the taking the whole quantity in this manner fhould be the bufmefs of an hour and half, or two hours. After this it is proper to ufe moderate exercife by walking, or otherwife, till dinner time ; and in the mean time, if the waters would pafs off by urine or ftool, this muft be by no means re- preffed. People who have very weak and tender ltomachs, or who have diforders of the breaft, and drink the waters in a rainy feafon, fhould have them gently warmed before they take them : this is beft done by fetting a glais of them in a vefTel of hot water, and they are only to be fuffered to ftand thus til! moderately hot, and then immediately drank off; for if heated to too high a degree, they eafily lofe their vir- tues by evaporation.
All perfons are to regulate the quantity of the waters they drink to the ftrength of their own conftitution ; however fmail a quantity they perceive to be enough, and to operate in the manner they expeel, they are to be contented with that, and never to teize nature to make her bear more. It is a certain rule, in regard to all mineral-waters, that they are much the beft when drank at the place, though fome of them bear carriage much better than others. It is a ne- ceffary caution, that the motion of the body be never vio- lent in the time of taking the waters, for if it produce fweat it always obftruc~rs, in fome degree, their operation by urine or ftool ; and if flatulences are troublcfome at the time, it will be proper to take candied orange-peel, or fome other carminative at the time. In order to have all the good ef- fects of the tuaters, a regulation of diet is extremely nc- ceffary ; it is proper to dine and fup early, and the dinner fhould not be too heavy. It is a good rule indeed, under fuch a courfe as this, never to eat or drink fo much as one can, but always to rife with an appetite. The foods prin- cipally to be avoided, during fuch a courfe, are fuch as are dried in the fmoak, or have been long kept in fait, and the flefh of young animals is in general to be greatly preferred to that of old ones; and in general, a too great quantity of vegetables, efpecially of the flatulent ones, is to be avoided. Lamb, chickens, veal, and the like, are moft proper for the diet at this time ; and to thefe are to be added the tender river fifh, as trout and pike : broths alfo of all kinds are good; and peas, kidney-beans, fpinach, and afparagus, are all very proper. The bread that is eaten under the courfe fhould never be ftale ; the moft proper drink at the time is good wine, and if the perfon is not over thirfty, it is beft to drink this pure, not mixed with water : but in this cafe it is only to be allowed within the bounds of moderation ; half a pint, at the utmoft, at a meal to thofe who have not been habituated to it; and to thofe who have, fomewhat lefs than their cuftomary quantity. The liquor next proper after wine, is found and well-bodied ale; but fuch as is ei- ther new and fermenting, or fo old as to be ftale, is by- no means to be ufed.
Violent exercife is wrong, but different conftitutions will bear different degrees of it, and thofe of cold and pituitous habits fhould ufe confiderably more than others. The feafon of the year is alio to be regarded, for the fame degree of exercife that is good in a cooler, is too much in a hotter air. The greateft caution, in the courfe of the taking thefe vjaters, is to avoid too much fitting frill, either after the taking them, or after meals ; for the waters re- maining in the body, or the food remaining undigefted, from thefe caufes the confequence is, that the patient is fubjecl: to flatulencies, colics, diarrhoeas, and pains of the ftomach. Sleeping immediately after meals is alfo improper, as it oc- cafions at this time diforders of the head, and many other complaints.
There are fome cafes, however, in which the ?mneral-wa~ ters may be drank with great advantages by perfons confined to their bed : thus gouty, paralytic, and other extremely emaciated, or weak perfons, have often found great benefit by this method. Slare even goes fo far, as to advife this as the beft method of taking them in all cafes; but the more judicious writers all judge him in an error in this, becaufe there are very many reafons why motion and bodily exercife, after the drinking them, muft be beneficial. It- is proper to abftain, as much as pofiible, from all forts of
pafll-
