IMPROVED. :toi 



and expels fach Vapours, muft be reckonjsd of great 

 Service to thofe Parts. 



A great many People feem to be Strangers to this Carmina- 

 Term, I mean the Word Carminative, which docs tiv^c ^ledi- 

 not appear to carry in it any Thing expreifive of the pj^fj^^^^i^ ' 

 Medicinal Efficacies of thofe Simples, which p-ifs 

 under its Denomination. 



This Term certainly had its Rife as thus apply'd, 

 when Medicine was too m.iich in the Hands of thofe 

 Jugglers, who, for want of a true Knowledge in 

 their Profeffion, brought Religion into their Party ; 

 and what through Ignorance they were unable to do 

 ,by rational Prefcription, and the Ufe of proper Me- 

 dicines, they pretended to effect by Invocations, and 

 the Correfpondence they kept with Heaven : Which 

 Cant being generally, for the furprize-fake, couch'd 

 in fome fhort Verfes ; the Word Carmen, which fig- 

 nifies a Verfe, was made alfo to mean an Inchant- 

 ment : Which, as it was a very good Cover for 

 .their Ignorance as well as their Knavery, was fre- 

 quently made ufe of to fatisfie the People of the Ope- 

 ration of a Medicine they themfelves could not ac- 

 count for ; and as thofe Medicines now under this 

 Name are of fome quick Efficacy, and the Confe- 

 quences thereof in many Inftances very great and 

 furprizing, the moft violent Pains fometinies arifmg 

 from pent-up Wind, which immediately ceafe upon 

 ijs being difperfed ^ for thefe Reafons, I fay, fuch 

 Medicines as give Relief in this Cafe are more par- 

 ticularly filled Carminatives, as if they cured by In- 

 ehantment ; the Complaint removed by them being 

 fo fudden, that the ordinary Manner of Operation 

 of a natural Caufe, is not eafiiy imagined to take 

 place fo foon. 



But howfoever thi? Term came into the Profef- 

 fion, its common Ufe has fafficiently determined its 

 Meaning ; to wit, that vvhatfoever Medicines in- 

 wardly, or Applications outwardly, expel or dif- 

 perfe Wind, fuch I fay are ranked under the Clafs 

 of Carminatives. 



K 5 Hew 



