THE CAUSES OF DYSPEPSIA. 79 



the other hand, tohacco stands in no want of facts or of able advocates 

 in its favor. 



It has been proved, beyond question, that, where men have been 

 exposed to the combined influences of cold and want of food, those 

 who smoked displayed m9st endurance. Dr. Hammond states that 

 smoking in moderation, if the food be at the same time sufficient, 

 increases the weight of the body. 1 The author of a clever work on 

 physiology states that a cigar after dinner notably assists his diges- 

 tion. 2 I am often told by patients that the sense of oppression felt after 

 meals is relieved by smoking. The explanation depends on the strong 

 sympathy which exists between the stomach and the salivary glands. 

 One proof of this dependence is that sickness of stomach is commonly 

 attended by salivation. This makes it probable that, when the salivary 

 glands are stimulated by smoking, the gastric glands, in obedience to 

 a sympathetic action, pour out their secretion more freely. But, if a 

 depressing effect on the nervous system is induced by smoking too 

 much, digestion is certain to be impeded. On the whole, smoking is 

 the cause of more harm than good to digestion. That kind of chronic 

 nervous depression which belongs to hard and inveterate smokers is 

 always accompanied by dyspepsia. 



The effects of taking snuff are more insidious, as no warning is given 

 by immediate bad consequences. Great snuff-takers are often sufferers 

 in the stomach. .In addition to the specific effects of tobacco, the con- 

 tinued stimulating and mechanical action of snuff on the mucous mem- 

 brane of the nose is injurious. Irritation is directly transmitted from 

 the nasal surface to that of the stomach, with which it is continuous. 

 Dry snuffs are more hurtful than moist, as they penetrate farther. 



The difficulty of breaking off or even moderating this habit is well 

 known, and the following plan, practised with success by an inveterate 

 snuff-taker, is worth mention : Instead of pure snuff, he kept in his box 

 a mixture in equal parts of snuff and powdered valerian-root. His 

 theory was, that the valerian repaired the ravages of the snuff upon his 

 nerves, but the more probable explanation of the benefit is, that he con- 

 sumed much less of the disagreeable compound than he did of pure 

 snuff. 



Persons engaged in offices are exposed to a directly-exciting cause 

 of indigestion. The stooping posture in which they write, mechanically 

 interferes with the stomach's action. I have even traced well-marked 

 dyspepsia to sitting immediately after dinner in a low arm-chair, so 

 that the body was curved forward and the stomach compressed. In 

 some trades, the pressure of certain implements upon the pit of the 

 stomach, as in the case of curriers, bootmakers, and weavers, produces 

 severe dyspepsia. Many bad cases, attended with water-brash, occur 

 among the weavers of Spitalfields. 



1 " Physiological Memoirs." By W. Hammond, M. D. Philadelphia, 1863. 

 " The Physiology of Common Li r e." By G. H. Lewes, M. D. 



