Book III OT 'FHF PLAGUE 245

As for the drugs called solvents, I must repeat what I said
above about lenticular fevers. For in these fevers, also, doc—
tors disagree, and some prescribe very violent, others very mild
drugs to produce evacuation. In agreement with my general
principles, I prefer the latter, for the substance needs only a
slight stimulus, since it is abnormally corrupt, and also because
acute purgatives cause great disturbance of the humors and only
a trifling evacuation of the germs. In dealing with the sub—
stance that becomes corrupt from day to day and needs to be
evacuated, it will be sufficient for you to use either clysters or
some mild drug to purify the body; for example the so—called
common pills, or cassia pods, or rhubarb, or solvent rose syrup,
which in this disease I prefer to all other purgatives. 'These
or others you may use according to the age of the patient, the
season and the character of the illness, either daily, or every
third or fourth day, as you may think expedient.

After due consideration of these points, devote all your efforts
and attention to the extinction of the contagion. — Do not employ
the common digestives, but prepare what doctors eall long?'
syrups, and compel the patient to drink them, night and day.
Nou should employ in these cases, not only those remedies
which have been mentioned for lenticular fevers, but also select
some that are more powerful, especially those which assist
nature by both kinds of antipathy, for example: waters made
of oxalis, luiula, dodder, chicory, water—lily, French oxalis,
fragrant trefoil, and lichen, to which their proper syrups should
be added. 'The following is also very efficacious: lemon juice
2 Ibs., vinegar 4 oz., Armenian bole 1 oz.; mix these and let them
soak for a day, then distil them by means of an alembic. Admin—
ister 4 oz., either alone or with some syrup. But when you
observe that the fever is very high, and your patient is young
and robust and in the habit of drinking water, and the other
conditions do not forbid it, I should approve of his drinking
cold water mixed with acetose syrup, or citron juice. As regards
powders, be sure not to forget those which are potent chiefly
by means of spiritual antipathy, and which, being themselves
incapable of putrefaction, prevent the putrefaction from being
conveyed to the neighboring humors.

When a carbuncle has broken out anywhere or a bubo has
settled on the sexual organs, or a parotitis below the ears, be
most careful not to repress anything of this sort, but rather