The blood may be in fault in
two ways, in quantity and in quality; in quantity, when it is so
consumed that no surplus is left over, as in viragoes or virile women,
who, through their heat and natural strength, consume it all in their
last nourishment; as Hippocrates writes of Prethusa, for when her
husband praised her overmuch, her courses were suppressed, her voice
changed and she got a beard with a manly face. But I think, rather that
these must be _Gynophagi_, or woman-eaters, rather than women-breeders,
because they consume one of the principles of generation, which gives a
being to the world, viz., the menstruous blood. The blood may likewise
be lost, and the courses checked by nosebleeding, by bleeding piles, by
dysentery, commonly called the bloody flux, by many other discharges,
and by chronic diseases. Secondly, the matter may be vitiated in
quality, and if it be sanguineous, sluggish, bilious or melancholy, and
any of these will cause an obstruction in the veins.
SIGNS.
Signs which manifest the disease are pains in the head, neck, back and
loins; weariness of the whole body (but especially of the hips and legs,
because the womb is near those parts); palpitation of the heart. The
following are particular signs:--If the suppression arises from a cold,
the woman becomes heavy, sluggish, pale and has a slow pulse; Venus'
combats are neglected, the urine is thick, the blood becomes watery and
great in quantity, and the bowels become constipated.
Pages:
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90