466 CULPEPER R’s ENGUISH (PHYSICIAN, 
the fofteft which can.be had, and feldom.or never remove it till the fit be entirely © 
gone off. All external applications that repel the matter are to be avoided as death, 
They do: not cure the difeafe, but remove it from a fafer toa more dangerous part 
of the body, where it often proves fatal. Many things will fhorten a fit of the gour, 
and fome will drive it off altogether 5 but nothing has yet been found which will do 
this with fafety to the patient. In pain we eagerly grafp at any thing that promifes 
immediate eafe, and even hazard life itfelf for a temporary relief. This is the true 
reafon why fo many infallible remedies have been’ propofed for the gout, and why 
fuch numbers have loft their lives by the ufe of them: It would be as prudent to 
flop the fmall-pox from rifing, and to drive it into the blood, as to attempt to 
repel the gouty matter after i it has been thrown upon the extremities. | The latter is 
asmuch an effort of nature to free herfelf from an offending caufe as the former, 
and ought equally to be promoted. When the pain however is very great, and the 
- patient is reftlefs, thirty or forty drops of laudanum, more or lefs, according to the 
violence of the fymptoms, may be taken at bed-time. This will eafe the pain, 
procure reft, promote perfpiration, and forward the crifis of the difeafe. : Though 
it may be dangerous to {top a fit of the gout by medicine, yet, if the conftitution can 
be fo changed by diet and exercife, as to leffen or totally prevent its return, there 
tertainly can be no danger in following fuch a courfe. It is well known that the 
whole ‘habit may be fo altered, by a proper regimen, as nearly to eradicate this dif- 
‘eafes ‘and thofe only who have fufficient refolution to perfift in fuch a courte have 
reafon to expect 2 a cure. ‘The courfe which we would recommend for’ preventing 
the gout is as follows: in the firft place, univerfal tem perance; in the next place, : 
fufficient exercife. By this we do not mean fauntering about in an indolent manner; 
but labour, fweat, and toil. Thefe only can render the humours wholefome, and 
keep them fo. Going early to bed, and rifing betimes, are alfo of great impor- 
~ tance. When the'gout attacks the head or lungs, every method muft be'taken to 
= a the feet. They muft be frequently bathed in warm water, and acrid « cata- 
plafins ns applied t to the foles. Blifters ought likewife to be applied to the ancles or 
-alves “ Bleeding in the feet or ancles is alfo neceffary, and warm ‘{to- 
THe patient ought 1 to keep in bed for the moit part, if there be 
snp and fhould be very ca “ful not to‘catch cold. Ifi it at- , 
ac with a fenfé of cold, the moft warm cordials are neceflary ; as 5 
{trong wine be iled‘Gp with cinnamon or other fpices, cinnamon- water, peppermint- 
water, and even b ly or rum. The patient fhould keep his bed, and endeavour 
to promote a fweat by di ir cing warm Yiquors ; ‘and, if he fhould be troubled with 
‘a naufea, or inclination to vomit,’he may drink camomi tea, or any thing that 
will make him vomit Tey ‘Thofe’ who'never had the gout, *but who, from ‘theit 
conftitution 
