If the food does not stay upon the stomach, water is to be drunk, and a plentiful vomiting procured; and food must be given a second time, and then cucurbitals are to be applied two fingers breadth below the stomach, and kept there for two or three hours. If there is both a vomiting and pain at the same time, sordid wool, or sponge dipped in vinegar, or a cooling cataplasm, must be applied to the stomach. The arms and legs must be rubbed briskly, but not long, and heated.
If the pain is more severe, the cupping must be performed four fingers below the præcordia; bread dipped in cold vinegar and water must be given immediately; if it has not staid, then after the vomiting, some light thing not ungrateful to the stomach; if even that is not retained, a cyathus of wine every hour, till the stomach be settled. The juice of radishes is also a powerful medicine; but a stronger is the juice of the acid pomegranate, with an equal quantity of the juice of the sweet pomegranate, and an addition also of the juice of endive and mint, but the least proportion of this; with which it is very proper to mix as much cold water, as equals the quantity of them all together. For that is more efficacious for composing the stomach than wine. A vomiting, which comes of itself, is to be stopped, although there be a nausea.
But if the food has grown sour or putrid within the stomach, both which accidents are known by the eructations, it must be evacuated; and the stomach must be immediately recruited by taking the same kind of food, that I have just mentioned. When the present danger is removed, we must return to those things which have been prescribed before.
The stomach is surrounded by the sides; and in these there happen sometimes violent pains. They arise either from cold, or a blow, or from excessive running, or from a distemper. But sometimes the disorder goes no farther than a pain; which is sometimes slowly, and sometimes quickly removed. At other times it grows extremely dangerous; and there arises an acute distemper, which by the Greeks is called pleuriticus[CT]. To this pain of the side is added a fever and cough: and by the last is expectorated, if the distemper be tolerable phlegm; if severe, blood. Sometimes also the cough is dry, and brings up nothing, and this is worse than the first, but more tolerable than the second.