244 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



sician it is a matter of great importance to determine the precise 

 source of the affection and the means of contending with it. 



One of the most common neuralgias is a pain in the eyes ; 

 it is felt in the region of the trigeminal nerve, and frequently 

 becomes almost unendurable and very obstinate. It occurs usu- 

 ally in single attacks, which return at various intervals and 

 last sometimes only a few minutes, and sometimes a quarter 

 of an hour or more. The painful feeling, which may be de- 

 scribed as that of a boring, piercing, stretching, or tearing, gen- 

 erally radiates from a circumscribed spot in the neighborhood 

 of the nervous ramifications, in the region of the eyes, face, and 

 lower jaw, and may extend to the neighboring nervous regions, 

 to the back of the head, the arms, and the breast. It not rarely 

 becomes so fearfully intense and rasping that persons afflicted with 

 it act as if mad, tossing themselves violently around and crying 

 out in the most heart-rending manner. To this are added disor- 

 ders of sensation. The eyes become red, vision is troubled with 

 specks and spots, the flow of tears becomes excessive, the hearing 

 is dulled or vexed with hummings, and the patient suffers from 

 an unpleasant taste and burning in the nostrils. Companion 

 afflictions set in, like twitchings and cramps of the facial muscles, 

 eruptions on the skin, swellings, and a whole list of other disorders. 

 To these bodily woes are added mental depression, life becomes a 

 burden, and the sufferers are sometimes tempted to suicide. 



This neuralgia may arise from a variety of causes ; from a cold, 

 an unsound tooth, from general sickness, or from debility or ex- 

 haustion. It is sometimes connected with disorders of remote 

 organs, as of the digestive system, and by reflex action from pains 

 prevailing there. 



Sciatica, or hip-gout, is another frequently occurring neural- 

 gia, which has its seat in the hip-nerve and its branches, and is 

 thence transmitted through the whole lower part of the system, 

 from the pelvis to the toes. The pain is usually confined to cer- 

 tain points, and rises on motion, and often at night, to great 

 heights. It is a disease of middle age, prevailing with men and 

 women, and originates from a variety of causes. The hip-nerve is 

 exposed by its situation to be easily injured by cold and accidents ; 

 and the affection is often brought on from stagnation of blood, 

 disorders of the lower body, and internal diseases. It is very per- 

 sistent, and may interfere with business activity and occasion 

 sickness through many years. 



These diseases are cited as examples. Many other nerves are 

 the seat and starting-points of pains which after long continuance 

 give rise to an exaggerated sensitiveness of the whole nervous sys- 

 tem, to increased acuteness in all the nervous regions, by which 

 sound thought and feeling are deeply disturbed. It is evident 



