Page:Of the Gout - Stukeley - 1734.djvu/21

Rh gouty matter, white-wine posset-drink with spirit of hartshorn prudently introduc'd for sweating, and the oyls us'd upon the part affected at the same time, will have a happy event. I look upon it as a sure axiom in the affair we are treating of, that by all possible and safe means, the matter of the gout ought to be hinder'd from spending its self upon a joynt: for it certainly leaves an irreparable stroke thereon. It so spoils the texture of the oyl-glands that they never recover themselves intirely. A frequent use of milk must needs be good, for the oleous particles that abound in that fine animal fluid, sheath and subjugate the fiery particles of the gouty matter, much as our oyls are suppos'd to do.

It does not appear in history, that the old Romans were much troubled with this distemper after luxury became universal among them. And it seems owing to another practice, which prov'd a remedy introduced by the same luxury, the frequent custom of oyling their bodies. And those oyls were used immediately after bathing, which open'd the pores and admitted them thro' the skin. The oyls likewise were impregnate with the virtues of hot barks, spices and herbs, such as cinamon, marjoram, lavender, florentin iris, serpillum, and the like aromatics. So that they must be very Rh