1805.] 



Report of Difeafcs. 



369 



Early in the lad month the Reporter 

 was roufe 1 fiom his repofe at a noSurnal 

 houi- by a call to a patiert labouring under 

 a violent attack, of internal pain, which 

 was accompanied by every other circum- 

 ftancethat coukl concur to menace the ap- 

 proaching danger of inflammation in the 

 ftomach, or I'ome pait of the intellinal 

 canal. 



This was a cafe of peculiar rielicacy 

 and danger. The extreme degree of ge- 

 neral debility ftrikingly indicated by a de- 

 prefTion of the fpirits and pulfe, as well as 

 other circumftances, when occuning 

 fimultaneoufly with local irritation, or a 

 partial excels of excitement, often involve 

 the Prailitioner in embarrafl.nent with re- 

 gard to the meafuries which ought to be 

 jnftantaneoiifly adopted. The evacuation 

 of blood which tlic inflammatit n !eems to 

 leqi.iire, is calculated to exaggerate that 

 debility which is a flill more important 

 and alarming fymptom. 



In fuch inftances of exigence and peril, 

 purgatives, efpecially ii-. the form of Ene- 

 ma, vvhiKt they in a great degree anAver 

 the purpcfe of ven?efe6>ion, are not at- 

 tended by th. fe rllks and inconveniences 

 that are apt to foU'jw the latter procefs. 



By a powerful and efficacious applica- 

 tion of this kind, the patient in the inftance 

 alluded to, was relieved not long after the 

 mooient of it» adminiliratiin. 



A military officer who h.td been repeat- 

 edly in the Welt-Indies, and t*o cam- 

 paigns in Holland during thefift war, ap- 

 plied lately to the Reporter. He was 

 ftrongly affected with a diforder of the 

 nervous lyilcm, net in'erd amounting to, 

 but i.i fome degree partaking of the na- 

 ture, of nient.'.l c'eran^emf nt. He had 

 been what is called a high liver, and in 

 other refpefts iicentiotifly luxurious. He 

 has fince acquired more accurate ami bet- 

 ter regulated habits. But his dihpidated 

 coniti uti.n ftill continues to fuffer from 

 the refuiis of juvenile diffipation. Some 

 tonics of a medicinal nature were pre- 

 fcrihed, connefted with the hibitual ufe 

 of xht ibifvuer bath, which, wi h a proper 

 attention to phylical and moral regimen, 

 appeared n 't unlikely, in the courfe of 

 tune, t ) invigorate and reftore, in a cer- 

 tain degree, the decayed energies of his 

 fiame. 



A cafe has recently occurred of a 1 er- 

 fon afflirtcd with dyCpepfia paiticulaily 

 marked with a had heath. This laft 

 MonthlyMac. Ni>. 135. 



fymptsm he lamented as having eflTentially 

 jnterfeied with his molt important pro- 

 fpefts and purpofes in li^e. As is ufiial 

 where the ftomach is ill qualified to dif- 

 charge its duty, there appeared an hypo- 

 chondriacal irritability and (ieprelfion of 

 the nei vous fyftem, which not improbably 

 indued the patient to exaggerate his 

 difeafe, as well as the unfortunate and 

 unpleafant conftquences arifing from it.— • 

 The Reporter ctnvinced the patient that 

 his ailment was not in his mouth, but in 

 the ftomach, and that by correfting the 

 depiaved condition of that import mt or- 

 gan by certain regulatio-s of diet and 

 pharmaceutical preparations, he mif ht be 

 relieved in time from that offenfive exhala- 

 tion, the aflual or fancied exifleuce of 

 which he fo feelingly deplored. In con- 

 neftion with this caie, it is wjithy of re- 

 mark, how much the date of the breath 

 is affected by that of the fpirits- 



Hovv long will it be before even the ap- 

 pointed and profefiional guaidians of the 

 phyfisal conftiiut'on (hall be brought duly 

 to ap|,ieciate the almoft immenfurable in- 

 fluence which the mental part of our 

 frame, in an advanced ard ameliorated 

 (fate of foc'ety, uriintermittin£,lv exercife3 

 over its health, its prefervation, and de- 

 cay ? 



The fivage, the rullic, the mechanical 

 drudge, or the infant wh fe facu'tie' have 

 not had time to unfold ihemiclves, cr 

 which, in phvfiol >gical language, have 

 not as yet been fecreted, may for the molt 

 part he regarded as machines regulated 

 principally by phyfical agents. But man, 

 matured, civilizird, and bv due culture 

 lifted to his (^eltine^ level in the fcale of 

 being, partakes more ^f a m ral than of 

 an animal character, and is in comequence 

 to be worked upon bv remedies that aprly 

 themfclves to his imagination, his paf- 

 lions, or his judgment, (till more than by 

 ihofe that are directed immeiliately to the 

 pans and functions of his material orga- 

 nization. ' 



Nearly every mon'h the writer of this 

 article has been incfiHibly led to tiiicli 

 xipi-'n this ful'jeft, hecaule every moiith 

 he has met wiih frefli and friqi'eiit in- 

 ftapces confirming the tru'h, and «p( n 

 his ov\n mind iniprefTing more deeply tne 

 importance of his fentimcnts witii legaid 

 to ii, J Reid. 



Crcnville (ireet, B>-iinfvi:uk fquare, 

 6(1. 27, 1S05. 

 3 A INCIDENTS, 



