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cjTioLi or niovulis of the glamhiltc mucofn, as has been lately 

 tlioii;^ht, but may equally alike atlaclc any part of the 

 urethra not beyond tiic reach o' the impellctl malignant mat- 

 ter. The heat bs fore deferibed, whieli thefe perfons are 

 icnfible of, as well now as foim-rly, is a coiifequent of tlie 

 excor'ated nrcthra ; for tlie falts contaijied in the nrinc muft 

 ncctilarily prick and irritate the ncrvons fibrili^c, and excite a 

 heat in thole parts of the nnthra which are divt lied of its 

 :iatiiral membrane ; which heat will always- be obfervcd to be 

 more or lef-^, as the falts are diluted with a greater or lefs 

 ciu:intlty of urine ; a tiling I have often obferved in perfons 

 who have laboured under this infirmity in liot weather, 

 when the perlpirable matter being thrown off in greater 

 qmntities, the lalts bear a greater proportion to the quan- 

 tity of urine, and thereby n^ake its dileharge at that time fo 

 much the more painful and troablefome. 



" Thus we lee this very early and plain defcription of 

 this dileafe among us to be entirely conformable to the 

 lateft and mofl exact anatomical difcoverie?. Here is no tone 

 of the ttfticles depraved, according to Trajanus Petronius ; 

 no exulceration of i\\e parnjlatu:, according to Rondeletius ; 

 no ulceration of the leminal vt-flels, according to Platerus ; 

 no feat of the difeafe in the -ueficulic fcm'inaks, or projlntu, 

 according to Bartholin ; nor in thofe parts and the tellicles 

 at the fame time, according to our countryman Wharton, 

 and others, who have falftly fixed the feat of this difeafe, and 

 whofe notions, in this refpcft, are now juftly exploded ; but 

 a fmgle and true defcription of it, and its fituation, about 

 ijO years before any of thofe gentlemen obliged the world 

 with their learned labours. 



" Having, I hope, fufTiciently made it appear, the burning 

 was a d'.feaie very early among us, and given the defcription 

 of it, I ihali proceed to fay fomething of th.e ancient method 

 that was made ule of to cure it. We are not to expecl 

 the meafures our prcdeceffors in thofe early times made ufe 

 of (hould be calculated for the removing any malignity in 

 the mafs of blood, or other juices, according to the praClice 

 ii) venereal cafes at tins time ; becaufe they looked upon 

 the d'.feafe to be entirely local, and the whole of the cure 

 to depend upon the removal of the fymptoms. Hence it 

 was tliey recommended fuch remedies as were accommodated 

 to the taking off the inward heat of the part, and cure the 

 excoriations or ulcerations of the urethra. The proccfs for 

 tlie accomphfliing of this, I fliall fet down from the before- 

 nr.entiontd John Arden, who wrote about the year 1380. 

 His words are as follow ; " Contra incendium. Item con- 

 tra incendiunn virgx virilis interius ex calore & cxcoriatione, 

 tlat talis fyringa (i.e.- inje&io) lenitiva. Accipe lac mulieris 

 mafcclum nutricntis, & parum zucarium, oleum violx & 

 ptifana:, quibns commixtis per fyringam infuudatur, & fi 

 piiuiclis admifcueris lac amigdalarnm melior crit medicina." 

 There is r.o doubt b'.it this remedy, being ufed to our pa- 

 tients at this time, vould infallibly take off the inward heat 

 of the part, and cure the excoriations or ulcerations of the 

 urtthra, by which means what iflued from thence would be 

 entirely ftopt ; and this was all they expeiffcd from their 

 niedicints, for as much as they were entirely unacquainted 

 with the nature of the diftemper ; and did not in the leaft 

 imagine, but if the fymptoms that firft attacked the part 

 were removed, the patient was entirely cured. 



" I fliall now, as a farther confirmation of what I have 

 advanced, proceed to prove, that by iWnJin-iitiirig or biiniiiig 

 is meant the venereal difeafe, by demonflrating that fucceed- 

 ing hiftorians, phyfical and chirurgical writers, and others, 

 have all along with us in England ufed the very fame word 

 to iignify the venereal malady. In an old manufcript I 

 have, written about the year iJ90, is a receipt for " breii- 



VOL. V. 



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ning of the pynty!, yat men clcpe ye apegalk ;" gslle bein^ 

 an old Ent^lifli word for a running fore. They wlio know 

 the etymology of tlic word up 011, cannot be ignorant of this. 

 And in another manufcript, written about 5c years after, is 

 a receipt for burning in that part by a woman.' Simon Fifli, 

 a zealous promoter of the reformation, in the reign of 

 Hen. VIII. in liis fupplication of beggars, prtfented to iIil- 

 king, in 1530, fays as follows : " Thefe be thev," fpeak- 

 ing of the Romifli priells, " that corrupt the whole gene- 

 ration of mankind in your realm ; that catch the pockes of 

 one woman and bear them to another; i!;at be burnt with one 

 woman and bear it to another ; tliat catch the lepry of one 

 woman and bear it unto another." But to make this mat- 

 ter flill more evident, I am to obferve, that Andrew Boord, 

 M. D. and Roniidi pricft, in the fame reign, in a book he 

 wrote, entitled " The Breviaiy of Health," printed in 1 '■^^6, 

 fpeaks very particularly of this fort of burning; one of his 

 chapters begins thus : " The 19th chapter doth (lu-w of 

 burning of an harlot ;" where his notion of communicating 

 the burning is very particular. He adds, that if a man be 

 burnt with an harlot, and do meddle with another woman 

 within a day, he (hall burn her : and as an immediate re- 

 medy againll the burning, he recommends the wafliing the 

 pudenda two or three times with white wine, or elfe with 

 lack and water ; but if the matter have continued long, to 

 go to an expert furgeon for help. Li his Sad chapter, lie 

 fpeaks of two forts of burning, the one by fire, and the 

 other by a woman, through carnal copulation, and refer* 

 the perfon that is burnt of a hnilot to another chapter of his 

 for advice, " yf he get a dorfer or two," fo called from its 

 protuberancy or. bunching out : for I find about that time 

 the word bubo was moltly made ufe of to fignify that fort 

 of fwelling which ufually happens in pcftilential dif- 

 eafes. 



" From hence it appears, the burning by its confequents, 

 was venereal, fince every day's experie::ce makes it evident, 

 that the ill treatment of the firft fymptoms of the difeafe, 

 either by aflringent medicines, or the removing tlum by 

 cooling and healing the excoriated parts, will g'cnerally be 

 attended with fuch fvvellings in the groin, which we rarely 

 obferve to happen from any other caufe whatfoever. 



" I fliall give a few more inftances of this dileafe being 

 called the biiniing, and conclude. In a manufcript I have 

 of the vocation of John Bale to the biflioprick of OlFory in 

 Ireland, written by himfelf, he fpeaks of Dr. Hugh Weilon, 

 who was dean of Windfor, in 1556, but deprived by cardinal 

 Pole for adultery, as follows, " At this day is lecherous 

 " Weftou, who is more pracftiltd in the art of brech-burn- 

 " ing than all the whores of the flews." And again, 

 fpcaking of the fame perfon, he fays, " He not long ago 

 " brent a beggar in St. Botolph's parifli." The fame 

 author fays of him clfewhere, " He had been fore bitten 

 with a Wincheller goofe, and was not yet healed thereof ;" 

 which was a common phrafe for the pox at that time, be- 

 caufe the flews were under the the jurifdidion of the bifliop 

 of Wincheller. Mich. Wood, in his cpilUe before Stephen 

 Gardiner's oration, " De vera Obedientia," printed at 

 Rhoan, 155 J, gives another evidence of the burning. And 

 William BuUein, a phyfician in the reign of queen Elizabeth, 

 in a book he publilhed, called " The Bulwark of Defence, 

 &c." printed in 1562, bringing in Sicknefs demanding of 

 Health what he fliould do with a difeafe called the " French 

 Pockes," Health anfwers, " He would not that any fhould 

 " fifhe for this difeafe, or to be bold when he is bitten, to 

 " thynke thereby to be helped, bvt rather to efchcwe the 

 " caufe of thys iulirmity, and filthy rotten burning of 

 " harlots." 



4C la 



