i68 ^ Treatise on 
and changed into an ethereal Spirit ; they ftill re- 
tain the peculiar Nature which belongs to them, that 
is, their Bitternefs and Property of irritating the 
Nerves, as appears from what has been above ob^ 
lerved. 
The IJfe of Colocynth in Medicine is as anci- 
ent as the Art of Phyfic, it being well known to 
Hippocrates , Dio/corides , Galen , Pliny , and in fine 
both to the Greeks and Arabians . It is a ftrong and 
violent Cathartick. It is commended by all Phy- 
ficians for evacuating thick tough Humours, efpe^ 
dally fuch as are pituitous, which they reckon 
that it draws from the remotefi: Parts, and the mL 
jiuteft: Recedes of the Body ; infomuch that P. 
AZgineta fays, it purges the Nerves more than the 
Blood. It is greatly extolled in old and ftubborn 
DiftemperSjWhen Agarick and Turpeth have proved 
ineffe&ua] *, as in Aflredions of the Nerves, Ob- 
ftrudions of the Bowels, Head- Ache, inveterate 
Hemicrania, Apoplexy, Epilepfy, Giddinefs, Afth- 
ma, Dyfpnasa, cold Diforders of the Joints, Scia- 
tick Pains, flatulent Cplick, Dropfy, Leprofy, Scab ; 
and in fhort, fays C. Hoffman , wherever an obfti- 
nate Difeafe requires a churlifh Remedy. And he 
adds, after Maffarias , that we feldom cure fome 
of the word Difeafes, becaufe we never give over 
trifling with Lenitives. Befides its purgative Vir- 
tue, Phyficians feem to allow it a certain fpecifick 
and merely alterative Quality : For Scribonius Lar- 
gus commends it much for provoking the Menfes , 
removing Pains of thp Loins, and curing Epilep- 
sies •, and Helmont tells us it is excellent in chrono- 
cal Difeafes on Account of its refolving Property. 
Phyficians likewife agree that Colocynth has a 
deleterious, or, at lead, a very dangerous Qua- 
lity, whereby, it greatly diforders the Stomach, 
Bowels, and the whole Body ^ is hurtful to the 
Nerves, 
