568 JAMAICA. 



This diforder is a fpafii^iodic affedlion of. the bowels, which may 

 proceed from the irritation of fuch a corroding acid, or from a fudden 

 repulfe of the perfpiration after the body has been violently heated 



" ihc punch- Iriiikcrs alone ave meant, the doiflor has been mifinformcd ; for the people in the 

 " Well-Indies have plenty of wines irom all the countries producing that commoditv, and ale 

 •' and cyder from England, and are under no neceffity of drinking punch for want of other liquors. 

 " They make Madeira wine and water fcrve the common purpoles ot di inking, as .we do fmall 

 •' beer in England; nor is it to to be fu))pof;d that an opulent peop'e, whofe coinmcice obliges 

 " them to have dealings with al'iioft every country in Europe, would want any conveniency that 

 " Europe can allbrd ; nor can we imagine, without infulting the good (enfe ol thefe people, that 

 " they would indulge thcmfelves in a liquor fo poifonous and deftruftive to them, as the doctor 

 " defcribcs. punch to be, uhen they have fo great a variety ot other liquors that an'wer all the 

 " ends of drinking. The dry belly-ache, which is fo peculiar to tr,at part of the uorld, attacks 

 " the women as well as the men ; yet the women there are particularly remarkable for their 

 " temperance, a'.ul ablVmeuce from ftrong liquors; and many of both fexes, who never tailed 

 " punch, or indulged in any ih'ong liquor in their lives, are afflioled »vith this dilleir.per. Nor 

 " is it true that it is mortal; going to 'a colder climate never falls to produce a cure, without 

 " taking any other remedy; and this difeafe is fo far from cutting them off in a icw da^s, that 

 ■" they ^vho live foberly, uhen they are fo affliihled, generally recover in a very little time ; and it 

 " will hold thofe who continue the exceffive ufc of llrong lujuors many months, and even years, 

 " before they are either killed by it, or cured of it." The lall point is in legard to the fruit, 

 lemons and oranges, which, the tlo,51or fays, are found in the utmoll pcrfeftion in thofe places; 

 and of courfe he fuppofcd, they were ufed only in that Hate: but herein he was greatly millaken 

 again; for whatever mifchievous elFecIs thefe fruits have produced, have been owing entirely, 

 either to the eating too large a quantity ol them at a time, or to the ufe ot fuch as were not half 

 ripe, and cojifequently not in that flate of perfeftion which he has fuppofed. Dr. Trapham, in 

 remarking on this diforder, ingeniouily obferves, that the Eaft-Indians, though living under much 

 the fame temperament ot climate, are not afflic^tcd with it ; which exemption he afcribes to their 

 conllant ufe of baths and undions; by which the cutaneous pores are kept open tor a free 

 dii'charge of the perfpirable matter, and the origin of thele fpafms thus fet loofe, inftead of being 

 locked up. And upon this principle he llrnngly recommends the ufc of warm and relrefliing 

 baihs, Iweetened with orange- flowers and the aromatic leaves of the country; more particularly 

 titter a journey, or other hard exercife; to uhich may alio be joined dry-rubbing with H.inncl or 

 a coarfe towel. This advice is llrongly fuj)ported by an obfervation which every one here muft 

 have made, vi-z. that the Negroes, and the \\ hite natives, who bathe every day, are rarely or ever 

 iibjeft to this diforder; and that warm bathing has generally procured relief and eafe to patients 

 labouring under it, when other remedies have failed. Trapham mentions a fpecific for it, which 

 had been proved eihcacious by a vail number of trials ; this is a fpccies ot titby:)ja!its, Br. p. 234. 

 called by Pifo, CaJ.icJa, p. 102. fnake-weed, or creejjing-hairy-fpurge. Jt is a fmall, creeping, 

 milky plant; its leaves not unlike thole of mint, but longer and narrower, ot a <la!k-green colour; 

 its llalk inclining to a reddilhnefs, with fmall fibres or hairy radicles ; between its leaf, at the 

 joints of the llalk, the flowers come out in linall bunches, and of a green colour. ^It is common 

 in all the dry favannahs ot Jamaica. 



A drachm of the dried herb is given powdered in any convenient liqu; r, and repeated once in 

 three or four hours till the ufual fympton^s abate ; or it may he made into a fyrup, and given from 

 one ounce to three, f-o n nat.i; iikeu'ifc in decoftions and clyilers. lie recommends it alfo to 

 be iutufed or boiicd in the medicated baths prepared lor cafes cf tliis nature. 



with 



