... Disputatio De pleuritide

...and therefore it could be called worm-like original: "vermicularis", just as that which is joined with the plague is called pestilential.

Having now understood the causes and signs, we shall proceed to the treatment, first of the true form, which we will accomplish through a legitimate diet, surgery, and pharmacy.

Diet: The air should be temperate. Food ought to be light, thin, and cooling. In place of drink, let there be a decoction of barley with cinnamon and anise, as well as licorice, or distilled water of chamomile, or a decoction made from barley, chamomile, and scabious.

Rest of the body is to be commanded, and sleep should be prolonged longer than usual; if it is lacking, it must be induced by medications.

Once these have been established, first the vein of the elbow on the same side that is affected must be bled. However, if the body is quite plethoric overfull of bodily fluids, we decree that for the sake of revulsion drawing humors away from the affected site, the salvatella a vein in the hand of the opposite side must be opened, and shortly thereafter, the vein of the elbow on the affected side.

If any accustomed evacuation, such as hemorrhoids or menstruation, has been suppressed, then the lower veins must be opened, such as the saphenous vein of the leg or the popliteal or crural vein, just as the most distinguished Master Bauhin advises in his Anatomical Institutes, page 110.

To soften the bowels, a suitable clyster an enema can be prepared; for example: Take of hulled barley, one handful; of the leaves of mallow and violet, one and a half handfuls; of Damask plums, twelve in number. Let them be boiled in a sufficient quantity of water to one pound; add to the strained liquid the fresh extract of cassia.