ANALYSIS OF BELLOSTE's PILLS, AND THEIR Manner of operating in the Human Body, by the Author himſelf; with full DIRECTIONS for Uſing of this Remedy.

IT is a Thing univerſally known, that England has, of old, been the Nurſery of Men of Learn⯑ing, and that ſhe is ſtill, this very Day, the Mother of Arts and Sciences; and amongſt thoſe that this flouriſhing Kingdom has cultivated with an inimi⯑table Care, Phyſick is placed in the firſt [2]Rank. It is to the celebrated Profeſſors of theſe famous Univerſities, as well as to the Knowledge and Experience of the excellent Practitioners of this Country, that it owes its fineſt Luſtre: Therefore all the World ought to preſerve a reſpect⯑ful and grateful Memory for thoſe great Men who have publiſh'd ſo many learned Works, and have made Diſcoveries upon the human Body of a prodigious Utility for the Preſervation of Mankind, and the Cure of the Sick.

Yet one cannot deny that there has been, in foreign Countries, conſummated Prac⯑titioners, who having exerciſed their Pro⯑feſſion, during a great Number of Years, and who having had favourable Oppor⯑tunities of employing the happy Talents which Providence had beſtow'd upon them, with a ſound Judgment and par⯑ticular Lights, have, upon a long Expe⯑rience, made Diſcoveries, and found out Remedies unknown to the preceding Ages; whereby the Glory they have ac⯑quired by their Art, is not leſs conſider⯑able than the infinite Service done to the Publick by their Studies, and indefati⯑gable Aſſiduity.

I think I may be allow'd to ſpeak par⯑ticularly on this Subject, as being the Son [3]of a Father ſo much diſtinguiſh'd in Sur⯑gery, by a ſucceſsful Practice of Sixty Years, which made him worthy of the moſt eminent Employments, that a Man of his Profeſſion could aſpire to, and whoſe Writings are tranſlated into moſt of the Languages of Europe; who hav⯑ing found out the ſalutary Effects that Mercury produceth in the Human Body, ſpent three Quarter Parts of his Life in diſcovering the ſafeſt Manner of taking it ſucceſsfully, and without the Danger of any Accident, be it ever ſo ſmall.

He has been ſo lucky in his Search, that he has performed with this Mineral a vaſt Number of Cures, moſt of them of a different Nature, which, in the Be⯑ginning, have even ſurpaſſed his Expecta⯑tion; and he has obſerv'd, that all theſe good Effects could be attained only by crude Mercury, being firſt very well cleanſed of all its terreſtial and arſenical Parts whereof it is loaded, coming from the Mine, ty'd by a Curb that hinders it from ſublimating, and mix'd only with gentle and ſuitable Purgatives, without any Preparation by Fire, which is always very dangerous, as he has judiciouſly ex⯑preſs'd it in his ſecond Volume.

He has had the moſt favourable Op⯑portunities to try it, having been, for a long Time, Surgeon Major of the Hoſ⯑pitals of the French King's Army in Italy, and afterwards firſt Surgeon to Madam Royal at Turin, during twenty-ſix Years, till that Princeſs died; where he has made, with the Mercury thus prepared, ſeveral Cures, which have been admired by all the Court; and where his Per⯑ſon, and what he did, will not ſoon be forgotten.

He was ſufficiently ſatisfied that Mer⯑cury (whereof he alone has found the true Preparation) is a rare Gift of Pro⯑vidence, capable to obviate ſo many dif⯑ferent Diſtempers; ſince (in the Manner he gives it) it has the principal Quali⯑fications required for curing all the Diſ⯑orders occaſioned by the bad Conſtitution of the Blood, which are to evacuate ſu⯑perfluous and peccant Humours, to abſorbe the Sharpneſs of the Blood, and of the Humours, and to diſſolve the Thickneſs thereof. It tempers beſides the Ferments of the Stomach, when they are in a manner viciated, and puts them again in a Condi⯑tion to make a good and perfect Digeſtion, which is the Spring of Life and Health; and, on the contrary, when it is adulte⯑rated, [5]it is the firſt Cauſe of moſt Diſtem⯑pers that attack the Human Bodies.

In effect, when this vital Function comes to be diſordered by the Miſuſage that is made of Food, which is the moſt common, How many Diſeaſes is it not ſubject to breed? When there can only reſult, from the Concoction of bad Ail⯑ments, a ſharp or viſcous Chylus, and ſometimes both, which can only produce a Blood of the like or ſame Nature.

From the Thickneſs of the Blood and of the Humours, comes a great Number of Infirmities; as the Obſtructions in the Entrails and the Kernels, a Slowneſs in the Circulation; from thence the Re⯑tardment, and ſometimes the Stoppage of the Secretions, and of the Diſtribu⯑tions of the nutricious and other neceſſary Juices, for the Preſervation of the animal Oeconomy.

Their Sharpneſs is not leſs dangerous, as being very often the Occaſion of the Diſorders above-mention'd, and the Cauſe of Overflowings, and the Thickenings of the Lymph in the different Parts of the Body, the Irritations of the Nerves, and the Contractions of the Fibres.

Theſe two Cauſes, well conſider'd, it is eaſy to conceive, that from them pro⯑ceed [6]moſt of the Diſorders that afflict Human Body; as the Tumours in the Liver, the overflowing of the Choler in the Surface of the Body, or its ſpilling in the Ventricle; the Obſtructions of the Kernels in the Meſentery, or in Womens Breaſts, Schirrus or Cancers, Oppilations, Green-ſickneſs, ſtopping of the Courſes, hyſterical Vapours, ſpilling of Milk in Women after their Lyings-in, Pains in the Head, Swimmings in the ſame, Me⯑grim, Scurvy, Fevers, St. Anthony's Fire, Surfeits, Conſumption, Oppreſſions in the Breaſt, and Shortneſs of Breath, Sciatica, Rheumatiſm, the Gout, the Griping of the Guts, Nephretick Cholick, the Gra⯑vel, the Strangury, the Hypochondriac Diſeaſe or Melancholy; as likewiſe, the King's Evil.

All this, at firſt Sight, ſeems to be a Paradox; yet every thing rightly conſi⯑dered, and weighed with Judgment, and without Prejudice, it ſhall plainly be found, that one and the ſame Cauſe pro⯑duces many different Effects, if it be ob⯑ſerv'd, that all theſe Diſtempers are oc⯑caſion'd by the Sharpneſs or the Viſcoſity of the Humours, which ſlide into diffe⯑rent Parts of the Body, as they find them diſpoſed to receive them.

The Worms, to which Children more particularly are very ſubject, by the ill Uſe that one allows them to make of Fruit and Sweat-Meats: There periſhes a pro⯑digious Number of theſe innocent Crea⯑tures, by Cauſes very often unknown, and for want of giving them the proper Reme⯑dies to deſtroy thoſe dangerous Inſects.

There are alſo Diſorders which the De⯑pravation and the Licentiouſneſs of the Age have render'd too common, produc'd by a Ferment, which is extraneous, ſharp and malignant, and on which, tho' there be much to be ſaid, I chuſe to be ſilent.

As my Father has labour'd all his Life for the publick Good, in the firſt Volume of his Book, intitled, The Hoſpital Sur⯑geon; he has given a ſhort and eaſy Me⯑thod of Curing, in a ſhort Time, all Sorts of Wounds: In the ſecond Volume, he has mechanically explain'd the Virtues of Mercury, and its Manner of operating on the Maſs of Blood in the Human Bodies. Thoſe that ſhall think fit to read it, they ſhall find an Account of a Diſtemper of each Specie of thoſe that he cured with this Remedy. The Learned and the Cu⯑rious may have Recourſe to it; my In⯑tention being only to give an Idea or a general Notion of the Effect which this [8]Remedy produces, to thoſe that are not at hand for to provide themſelves with the ſaid Book, or who will not give themſelves the Trouble of reading an en⯑tire Volume.

This Remedy ought not to be conſider'd ſeparately, neither as a ſingle Purgative, ſoft and gentle, nor ſingly, as a Mineral Liquid, and penetrating; but as a ſpeci⯑fick Remedy compounded of both, in a Manner which renders it almoſt univerſal, ſince it perfectly tempers the bad Quality of the Blood, and of the Lymph, and that it evacuates without Trouble or Al⯑teration, the ſuperfluous and peccant Hu⯑mours by the uſual Ways of Nature.

It is certain, that the Roundneſs of Mercury, and its Activity, are the two main Qualities that we are to conſider in the Effect which it produces on the Maſs of Humours, ſince its Weight is only of ſome Conſequence, when it is united in a certain Volume, as it is given in the Twiſting of the Guts.

When it comes then to diſſolve in the Stomach, the moſt volatile Part of Mer⯑cury that ſeparates by Means of the Fer⯑ments and the Heat of the Stomach, ſlips, with the Chylus, into the lacteal Veins, that are carried together, and by [9]the ſame Way into the Maſs of the Blood; there, by its Roundneſs, and its natural Motion, which is augmented by the Vi⯑bration of the Arteries, it circulates into the Blood and lymphatick Veſſels, di⯑viding it ſelf, as we conceive it, into in⯑finite ſmall Parts, it runs through all the capillary Veins: If it meets in its Way any Obſtacle in the Glands or Entrails, it ſtrikes and beats againſt it, it looſens Part of it, until at laſt, by often repeating the ſame Action, it makes it ſelf a free Paſ⯑ſage, and thereby procures to the Hu⯑mours a clear Way, which, to them, for a long Time, was become impracticable: By its continual and ſucceſſive Rubbings, it blunts the Points and Edges of the Acids that it meets with, it waſtes and divides them, it drags and hurries them out of the Body, partly by Tranſpiration, by Urine, and by Stools, by aſſiſtance of the proper Purgatives, fit to diſſolve and eva⯑cuate the ſlimy and ropy Matters, and all extraneous Bodies out of the Stomach and Inteſtines, apt to breed various Diſtempers, which, though ſlight and inſignificant in their Beginning, are ſometimes of a very dangerous Conſequence.

Thus it is that I have often ſeen Per⯑ſons cured which were afflicted with in⯑veterate [10]Obſtructions in the Entrails of the lower Belly, and in the Meſenterick Glands, which were become ſchirrous, and which permitted the Paſſage only to the Part of the Chylus, the moſt wateriſh and leſs nouriſhing; and the Blood not receiving ſufficient Reparation, in pro⯑portion to the Loſſes it makes by the Tranſpiration, the Urine, and other Eva⯑cuations, there had enſued a total Lean⯑neſs in the Body, which evidently tended to a Conſumption.

It is after the ſame manner of operating that this Medicine has often cured old Ulcers, Tetters over all the Body, hyſte⯑rical Convulſions, with ſeventeen Relapſes in a Day, old Stoppages of the Courſes, ſpilling of Milk after Delivery, which had obliged the Woman to keep her Bed for Eight Years, Looſeneſs and Diſenteries, Gripings of the Guts, Nephretick Cho⯑licks, with Loſs of Blood by Urine, Hypo⯑chondriack Diſeaſes three Years old, Gouts, Rheumatiſms all over the Body, and ve⯑nereal Diſtempers ſo old and obſtinate, as to have reſiſted all the other uſual Reme⯑dies: Theſe are Cures publickly known, which have been performed in France by the Help of my Pills, even with the Know⯑ledge of the Phyſicians of the Court.

It is to be obſerved, that when theſe Sorts of Diſtempers are new, they are cured with an admirable Quickneſs and Facility; but when they are of an old Date, and inveterate, one muſt not flatter one's ſelf; they cannot be cured but by a long Courſe of Phyſick, more or leſs, according to the Age and the Conſtitution of the Patient, who, rather than to diſ⯑continue, ought to go on with a very moderate Doſe, which purging him only three Times, or thereabouts, may not give him any Trouble, or diſcourage him, the Diſtemper, at laſt, will be conquer'd: For it is ridiculous and abſurd, to imagine that one Doſe or two of any Phyſick what⯑ſoever, may cure a Chronical Diſeaſe.

How can one expect to render, in a ſhort Time, fluid, a thick and viſcous Blood, to diſſipate old Tumours, to melt inveterate Obſtructions, to render bal⯑ſamick ſharp Humours, to reſtore the animal Secretions, return to the Fibres their natural Springineſs; in ſhort, to re⯑ſtore all the Parts of the Body in a per⯑fect State of Health? Which can only be performed by a good Diſſolvant and Abſorbent, taken in a ſuitable Doſe, du⯑ring a ſufficient Time, for to fulfil theſe Indications.

It only belongs to Quacks to promiſe very ſpeedy Cures; and therefore the Succeſs never, or ſeldom anſwers; that is, the right Name and Character of thoſe Impoſtors, who, by dint of Untruths, gather Riches, deceiving the eaſy Cre⯑dulity of an ignorant Publick, ſo far as to falſify good Remedies, and to ſell them under the Name of the true Author: So that one cannot take Precaution enough in making uſe of Remedies, and eſpe⯑cially ſpecifick ones; one ought to get them from the Author himſelf, or from Perſons of Probity, who are in Correſpon⯑dence with him.

Thoſe that ſhall make Uſe of this Re⯑medy, ſhall find by Experience, that in⯑ſenſibly it expels out of the Body all that is foul, malignant, and extraneous, and that it averts the Infirmities of Old Age.

It is by that Means that my Father has lived above eighty Years, without feeling thoſe Ailments to which one is ſubject at that Age: But, at laſt being dead, if he could not leave me his Learning, and his happy Talents, he has made me the Heir of his Secret, of his Honeſty, and of his unalterable Uprightneſs, as well as an invincible Hatred for Fraud and Falſ⯑hood.

The whole Doſe, which is one Pill, is not to ſerve for a Rule to every Body; for it muſt be alter'd and proportion'd to the Age, and to the Conſtitution of the Patient, as well as to the Effect it pro⯑duces: For an Inſtance; if it purges four or five Times, it is enough; if eight or ten times, it muſt be leſſen'd one Quar⯑ter, one third Part, or one Half; and if it purges only two or three Times, and but little at a Time, then the Doſe muſt be increaſed in Proportion: Yet, if it ſhould ſometimes happen in luſty Perſons, full of groſs Humours, that a common Doſe ſhould occaſion a plentiful Evacua⯑tion, one muſt not be diſcouraged; for then, the more the Phyſick operates, the more one feels the Illneſs decreaſing, and one's Strength augmenting. But as there are likewiſe ſome Conſtitutions, the Hu⯑mours whereof are difficult to be evacua⯑ted, and that even one Doſe and a half purges them but little, the Patient then muſt take a Gliſter the Day of a ſecond taking, or the Day following; it ſoftens the viſcous and clammy Humours, it looſens the Fibres of the Inteſtines, and empties what has been put in Motion by the Pills; and it is very proper to make Uſe, now and then, of ſuch a Remedy.

In Caſes of extraordinary Cholick, as the Twiſting of the Guts, the Doſe muſt be doubled, and even trebled; but in this laſt Caſe, if the Inteſtine ſhould be fallen into the Scrotum, the taking of the Pills muſt be ſuſpended, until it be reduced again into the Abdomen.

If the Gout be newly come, or juſt growing upon one, it radically cures it: But if it be of a long Standing, it puts off the Fit, and leſſens the Violence of the Pains.

As this Remedy is very ſafe in its Ope⯑ration, it is given with Succeſs, and with⯑out the leaſt Danger to Child-bearing Women, and to Nurſes, in a moderate Doſe; for it increaſes and cools their Milk.

Thoſe Perſons that uſe to take a Purge by Precaution, will be entirely ſatisfied with the Effect of this Remedy; for it evacuates the Flegm and the Choler to Admiration, without Pains, Gripes, or any Alterations; it creates an Appetite, and promotes Sleep.

A Proof that it is no violent Medicine is, that it has cured Children under a Twelve-month old, of a Fever, cauſed by bad Food, and Convulſions, occaſion'd by the Worms; obſerving to give them [15]only a little Doſe proportion'd to their Age, divided into ſmall Parts, that they may ſwallow it in Lumps or Grains, without being diſſolv'd before taking (for the Diſſolution of this Phyſick muſt ab⯑ſolutely be made in the Stomach) and to that Purpoſe one may wrap the Pills into Wafer-Paper, roaſted Apples, Sweet-Meats, or the like.

They are taken every other Night, two or three Hours after a very light Supper, with Mutton-Broath, Water-Gruel, or Tea, as hot as one can drink it. The next Day one may take again ſome ſuch hot Liquid, in order to help the Opera⯑tion of the Medicine. It alſo may be taken in the Morning faſting, which is better than at Night.

One is not obliged to keep in Bed nor the Chamber, nor to obſerve a very rigo⯑rous Diet; but only to take Care not to catch Cold; to forbear all Acids, unripe Fruit, all Things made of Milk, Pork Fleſh, and ſalt Meat.

Theſe Pills will never ſpoil, if kept in a Box, in a temperate Place.

They are to be Sold only at Mrs. Clocker's, a Packer, at the Blue Flower-Pot, in Great Bell Alley, Coleman-ſtreet, [16]and at Mrs. Giles's, a Milliner, at the Blue Ball near the Temple-Gate in Fleet-ſtreet, at twenty Shillings per Box with eight Doſes, or ten Shillings the half Box with four Doſes, with theſe Directions.

N. B. All Sold at any other Places are Counterfeits.

The HOSPITAL SURGEON, by Auguſtine Belloſte, &c. is Sold by John Clarke, Bookſeller, under the Piazza of the Royal Exchange, Cornhill.