THE CAUSES OF DYSPEPSIA. 81 



impure atmosphere of assemblies and public places of amusement among 

 the better classes, are constantly-acting causes of dyspepsia. 



Many invalids are affected by changes of weather, especially if 

 these changes occur suddenly. Even in the healthy a general feeling 

 of discomfort is caused by easterly winds ; and various disorders are 

 greatly aggravated by them. Rheumatic patients are especially sus- 

 ceptible of bad effects from damp or cold winds, and many dyspeptics 

 are hardly less so ; an unusually dry atmosphere is equally injurious 

 to others. 



As in the case of a change of climate, the quantity and kind of food 

 required are much influenced by season and temperature, and the agency 

 of these in causing dyspepsia is, therefore, not to be wondered at. 

 Some dyspeptics are always better in summer than in autumn or win- 

 ter, others the reverse ; while a great many tell us they suffer more in 

 spring than at any other season. 



Our bodies are at all times pervaded by electricity, the condition 

 of which often completely changes. The clear, serene atmosphere is 

 usually charged with positive electricity, and this, by induction, causes 

 our bodies, as well as the earth itself, to be negative. In wet or 

 stormy weather the opposite of this state of things is usual ; the atmos- 

 phere is negative while our bodies are positive. We are unable in 

 health to detect these electrical changes ; but we might reasonably 

 look for their effects when disease had rendered the body less capable 

 of resisting external impressions. The probable effects of electricity, 

 when the health is susceptible, Mill be again referred to. 



We have still to consider instances in which, although the food 

 may be suitable, and the digestive organs healthy, dyspepsia may be 

 induced by an immediate and accidental effect upon the organs, 

 through the influence of the nerves. There are certain sensations, of 

 which nausea is a remarkable instance, not obviously assignable to any 

 of the five senses ; and all these sensations seem capable of being ex- 

 cited by mental influence. We are all conscious that the stomach is 

 a region of sympathy ; and here Van Helmont places the seat of the 

 soul itself. With the stomach, or with the bowels, easily confounded 

 with it, various passions as joy, sorrow, compassion, and indignation 

 have been in all times associated. 



It is universally known that bad news received at or preceding a 

 meal will spoil the best appetite. A disagreeable mental impression 

 sometimes even produces severe dyspepsia, with epigastric pain and 

 sense of oppression, nausea, or vomiting. The intimate nervous con- 

 nection between the stomach and the brain leaves us at no loss to 

 explain this ; and probably an arrest of the secretion of gastric juice 

 is the immediate cause ; for in the same way the mouth will become 

 dry from a diminished secretion of saliva. Dyspepsia is also produced 

 or aggravated by severe mental exertion immediately after meals, be- 

 cause of the untimely expenditure of nervous power. 

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