In all this
there was no mention made of St. Vitus, or any of the other
mediatory saints, which is accounted for by the circumstance that
at this time an open rebellion against the Romish Church had
begun, and the worship of saints was by many rejected as
idolatrous. For the second kind of St. Vitus's dance, arising
from sensual irritation, with which women were far more frequently
affected than men, Paracelsus recommended harsh treatment and
strict fasting. He directed that the patients should be deprived
of their liberty; placed in solitary confinement, and made to sit
in an uncomfortable place, until their misery brought them to
their senses and to a feeling of penitence. He then permitted
them gradually to return to their accustomed habits. Severe
corporal chastisement was not omitted; but, on the other hand,
angry resistance on the part of the patient was to be sedulously
avoided, on the ground that it might increase his malady, or even
destroy him: moreover, where it seemed proper, Paracelsus allayed
the excitement of the nerves by immersion in cold water. On the
treatment of the third kind we shall not here enlarge. It was to
be effected by all sorts of wonderful remedies, composed of the
quintessences; and it would require, to render it intelligible, a
more extended exposition of peculiar principles than suits our
present purpose.
Pages:
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147