'Six Hundred Miseries': The Seventeenth Century Womb : Book 15 of the 'Practice of Physick'Lazare Riviere (called Lazarus Riverius in Latin), born in 1589, practiced medicine in Montpellier, France, and eventually became physician to the French king. He wrote 17 books, each covering the diseases of a separate part of the body, and his collected works were published in Latin in 1655 in a single volume, The Practice of Physick. There were many subsequent editions, including several editions of the English translation by the famous London herbalist Nicholas Culpeper. Riviere's Book 15, Of the Diseases of Women, gives a good insight into the way 17th century medicine was practised, with its great emphasis on the regulation of the 'humours' by the use of herbal and other natural remedies. It also provides a marvellous view of the miseries which most medieval women, rich and poor, would have had to suffer during the ordeals of pregnancy and childbirth at that time. This is one of the first textbooks of obstetrics and gynaecology ever to be translated from Latin into English. Enough of the original text is retained to convey the flavour of the work, repetition and verbosity has been ruthlessly removed and the technical jargon has been translated into simple modern terms. The text is thus accessible to both the medical and the general reader. |
Contents
Of the Stoppage of the Terms | 49 |
Chapter 3 | 55 |
Chapter 5 | 64 |
Of an Ulcer of the Womb | 81 |
Of a Cancer of the Womb | 87 |
Of the Womb Shut | 98 |
Of Diseases of Women with Child | 107 |
Of Hard ChildBirth | 116 |
Glossary of herbs used by Rivière | 139 |
Glossary of medical and pharmaceutical terms used by Rivière | 184 |
Glossary of animal products used by Rivière | 201 |
Bibliography | 214 |
Common terms and phrases
17th century abortion after-birth applied aromatic astringent baby belly bleeding blood blood-letting boiled called cancer Castoreum cause CHAPTER child child-bed purgations choler cold Culpeper cure dangerous dead decoction Diagnosis discharge disease distemper Doctrine of Signatures dram dried dropsy emollient enema epilepsy evacuation excessive excrements fever flow flowers fluid flux four humours Galen gonorrhoea Greek haemorrhoids hard herb herbal herbalists Hippocrates honey humours hysteria immoderate inflammation juice kidneys known labour laxative leaves liver medicine menstrual midwife Modern herbalists mother Mugwort natural heat neck Nicholas Culpeper Nymphomania obstruction officinalis ointment opium ounce pain patient periods pessary phlegm physicians plant poisonous powder pregnancy Prognosis provoke purging quantity remedies Rivière Rivière's roots seed sickness skin smell sometimes sperm stinking stomach stones sugar sweating sweet swelling symptoms syphilis syrup Treatment tree ulcer urine vagina vapours veins vessels vinegar violent vomiting whole body wine woman womb women Wormwood