THE CAUSES OF DYSPEPSIA. 75 



ture-room, and I can testify to the attention of some among them. I 

 own I was happy to see the attention they gave to these exalted ques- 

 tions. It would give me great pleasure to see at the Jardin dea 

 Plantes some of my audience at Vincennes. 







THE CAUSES OF DYSPEPSIA. 



By AKTHUR LEAKED, M. D. 



THE digestive power may be compared to the physical strength. 

 Every individual can without inconvenience carry a certain 

 weight, while any addition to it is accompanied by a proportionate 

 sense of oppression. In the same way, what is called indigestion is 

 often simply a result of excess. The amount of food which each man 

 is capable of digesting with ease has always a limit. This limit bears 

 relation to his age, constitution, state of health, and habits. 



For undisturbed digestion two conditions are essential : a proper 

 relation of the aliment to the digestive organs, and a healthy state of 

 the organs themselves. The first is generally within direct control ; 

 but, obviously, with the second, this is not the case ; and when, as fre- 

 quently happens, both conditions are imperfectly fulfilled in the same 

 person, more or less dyspepsia ensues. 



Bearing in mind these general views, let us examine the influence 

 of particular causes ; and first, as regards age. Appetite, or the natural 

 feeling that food is wanted, indicates that the waste of the body re- 

 quires to be replenished that the outlay begins to exceed the income. 

 From birth to the moment of dissolution, waste and supply are in 

 active operation. The infant, in consequence of its rapid growth, re- 

 quires food at short intervals, and the energy of the wasting process 

 is shown by the activity of his excreting organs. So long as growth 

 continues, the same conditions may be observed, but in a lessening 

 degree. When the stature and form of the body are matured, the 

 demands for nutrition are less urgent, and, after middle age, are dimin- 

 ished still more. The practical inference is, that the man of advanced 

 years does not require, and should not take, as much food as the young 

 man. 



How this was recognized by a profound thinker, may be read in 

 Cicero's "Essay on Old Age." He expresses himself gratefully that, 

 while advancing years increased his desire for conversation, they had 

 diminished the necessity for food and drink. But such reflections are 

 seldom made, and still more rarely acted upon. At all stages of adult 

 dfe, but particularly during its decline, the appetite is over-stimulated 



