311 



ANALEPTIC8. 



ANALOGY. 



Ill 



remote relation than the filial one, as we say children of Israel for the 

 whole noe eren at the praeeot time. Hebron and Debir, moreover, 

 are the Hebrew name* of town* built on the site* of Kerjath-arlw and 

 Kirjath-sepher, the proper names of the Analum towns, Anab has 

 disappeared. 



\ LKPTIC8. from a Oreek rerb which aignifie* to ratort, ooui- 

 priae all the mean*, whether medicine*, diet, or regimen, which are 

 generally employed to restore the vigour of the system when it baa 

 fallen below the healthy ctandard. either from previoua disease or any 

 other oaiue. The term analeptic wan formerly applied indiscriminately 

 to any medicine which increased the powers of the system, whether it 

 belonged to the das* of stimulant* or to the clan* of tonic* ; but as the 

 progl'e** of chemistry, anatomy, and physiology has enabled us to 

 recognise a difference in the chemical com|K>ition of members of these 

 two fliaieu of medicinal agents, as well as in their manner of acting 

 upon the human frame, we propose to limit the application of the 

 word to the Utter of them, or to tonics, reserving the consideration of 

 the other till we come to the word stimulant. The following brief 

 explanation of their effects will suffice to justify thU proceeding. 

 Stimulants act primarily on the nervous system, while tonics act 

 primarily on the muscles and blood-vessels. Stimulants render the 

 movements more frequent ; tonics render them stronger. Stimulants, 

 as we see with wine, exhaust the excitability ; tonics, within a certain 

 limit, maintain it. The action of the one is immediate and transitory, 

 that of the other is slow and progressive, but more permanent, as is 

 the case from cinchona bark, or food. To take an example from their 

 effects on the stomach, excitants quicken the digestion, as we see with 

 capsicum or cayenne i>epper, which we take with articles difficult to 

 digest, as salmon ; while tonics render the digestion more perfect, aa 

 occurs when we use cinchona in convalescence from disease. Though 

 the most perceptible effect of tonics be upon the muscular system, aa 

 it is by a display of its powers that we judge of strength, yet the 

 whole system feels the benefit of them when appropriately adminis- 

 tered. Every person knows that he can, at one time, lift a weight 

 with ease which, at another time, he cannot move but with difficulty 

 and exertion. In the former case, he is pronounced strvmj ; in the 

 Utter, ma*. 



The nature of the muscular fibre need not be discussed here ; it is 

 enough for us to remark, that to execute its functions properly, it 

 must be in a certain state of tension, that it may be possessed of suffi- 

 cient elasticity. A cord proceeding from a fixed point cannot influence 

 a moveable body till it be drawn tight ; HO a muscle cannot raise a 

 limb unless it possess a certain degree of tightness. The difference of 

 the power of muscles varies greatly, according to the state of health or 

 disease of the individual. If a muscle be taken from an animal in 

 good health, it will not only bear a greater weight than the same 

 muscle taken from an animal which has long been sick, but the former 

 will be many days before it goes to decay and allows the weight to 

 drop, while the latter will decay very speedily. 



To maintain the muscular fibres in this condition, a due supply of 

 blood and of nervous energy ia requisite. The sources of these are in 

 a healthful and vigorous digestion, and as this rarely goes on when the 

 system is much disordered, or suffering under general or considerable 

 local disease, scarcely any morbid action, or even the natural exercise 

 of mind or body, if pushed to an extreme, can continue without pro- 

 ducing debility. Tonics are, sooner or later, required, seldom, indeed, 

 to remove disease, but to obviate its effects, or that of the treatment it 

 has been necessary to employ. The use of these requires the greatest 

 circumspection, for, till we have removed the cause of the disease, 

 they can rarely be of service ; on the contrary, they often do harm. 



We have above pointed out the connection between the state of the 

 digestive functions and the energy of the other functions, and it is 

 important to bear in mind that anything loading and oppressing the 

 stomach and bowels will lessen the tone of the system, diminish the 

 disposition for exertion, and clog alike the action of mind and body. 

 A judicious practitioner will here give, according to circumstances, an 

 emetic or a purgative, and repeat this last for three or four days 

 successively ; in proportion as these act well, the languor and listless- 

 ness disappear, the mind resumes it* wonted activity, for the cloud 

 which had obscured the mental faculties is dissipated, and all again is 

 energy, elasticity, and strength. An unskilful practitioner, and still 

 more frequently the patient or his friends, would recommend some 

 stimulant, a little brandy, or some bitters, under the influence of which 

 all the symptoms become aggravated. It is a still worse case when the 

 debility which occurs at the commencement of fevers, ]>articularly 

 ague and typhus, is so treated, though this is not so common an 

 occurrence. A state of great irritation (morbid sensibility), or sub- 

 acute inflammation of the mucous or inner membrane of the stomach, 

 is a frequent condition of that organ with the inhabitants of towns, 

 particularly among merchants and other* engaged in extensive business 

 which engrosses their whole attention, giving rise to much anxiety and 

 leaving little time for exercise or food at proper times. The employ- 

 ment here of tonics, in the first instance, will only r, invert a 

 manageable cue into a difficult and serious one. It is, therefore, 

 rather in the stage of convalescence from acute disease that tonics are 

 required, and a* a sequence to other medicines, than article* to be 

 employed in the commencement, if we except some affections of the 

 nervous nyntcm. 



We need not enter into details respecting the particular action of 

 tonics upon each set of organ* of the body, a* it may be stated gene- 

 rally that they all, sooner or Uter, begin to execute their fin: 

 more vigorously, the stomach fint feeling the beneficial effects. But 

 this state of improved action follow* their use (that U, when they are 

 medi. -inal or material tonics) only for a time; for their continued 

 employment leave* the stomach in a state of debility, perhaps greater 

 than at first a fact of which we should never low light* These 

 remarks will, we trust, induce all to observe caution both in taking 

 upon themselves to use the article* termed analoptics merely because 

 they feel weak, without knowing what is the cause of the weakness, or 

 in urging their friends to have recourse to them at the commencement 

 of diseibw, or even when it is subsiding, as more relapses are occ.i 

 by a premature employment of tonics, whether medicinal ><i di 

 than by all other causes combiiuil. 



It is impossible to enumerate here, and give directions for the 

 all the analeptics, comprising, as they do, medicine*, food, and ivgimcn. 

 The medicines are either from the mineral or vegetable kingdoms; 

 when the former, they arc chiefly |'M].Mi,iti"iis of the metals, as th<: 

 salts of iron and flowers of nine (oxide of zinc) ; from tli. 

 are invariably bitter substances, as cinchona bark, calumba, quassia, 

 chamoinile, Ac. The aualeptic means which fall mid. -r 

 regimen are, bathing, exercise, and the diversion of tlie mind. 



The employment of the medicines will be stated under the disease* 

 to which they are suited ; bathing will be treated of under that head : 

 it is, therefore, only upon the last two means that we will make any 

 remarks here. 



An examination of the human frame demonstrates that H 

 intended for motion, alternately with repose, and not for a state of 

 absolute quiescence. Nor is the mind, which is furnished with .-<> 

 many faculties and provided with so many organs of sense, whir! 

 to connect it with the external world, less calculated for 

 tion. Any attempt to contravene the law of nature which enjoins > 

 reasonable exercise of mind and body, brings a punishment upon the 

 individual; the mind which he allows to tie inactive loses the c 

 for exertion, when required, and the body becomes a prey to disease in 

 some shape or fonu. The action of the muscles is necessary to aid in 

 circulating the blood and in completing the process of digest: 

 well as to ensure a regular motion of the bowels. Where the muscles 

 are not exercised, the blood, instead of reaching the surface and the 

 extreme vessels, accumulates in the large internal trunks, leaving the 

 skin dry and bloodless, as seen in young chlorotic females, who, instead 

 of appearing buoyant with life in every limb, are as pale, and almost as 

 inanimate, as a statue. Disorders of the nervous system, such as 

 hysteria, likewise show themselves. These states can only be warded 

 off by regular exercise. The rising generation would 1m much bene- 

 fitted, if instruction in any branch of natural history formed a i 

 their education ; young persons would then be furnished with motives 

 for taking exercise out of doors to the manifest advantage of the 

 figure of the body and the tendencies of the mind. 



Where older people have neglected exercise, it is more difficult to 

 find means to induce them to resume ita use ; but some such de\ 

 the following may be tried: "Ogul, a voluptuary, who could Iv 

 managed but with difficulty by his physician, on finding him-i-li 

 extremely ill from indolence and intemperance, requested advice : Ivit 

 a basilisk stewed in rose-water,' replied the physician. In vain did the 

 slaves search for a Itatilitl-, until they met with Zadig, who. approaching 

 Ogul, exclaimed, 'Behold that which thou desirest ! But. m\ 

 continued he, ' it is not to be eaten ; all ita virtues must enter through 

 thy pores; I have, therefore, inclosed it in a little ball, blown up. and 

 covered with a line skin ; thou must strike this ball with all thy might, 

 and I must strike it back again, for a considerable time, ami l>\ 

 observing this regimen and taking no other drink than rose-w.iter 

 for a few days, thou wilt see and acknowledge the effect of my art .' 

 The first day Ogul was out of breath, and thought he should have died 

 of fatigue; the second he was less fatigued, and .-lept letter : in eight 

 days he recovered all his strength ; Zadig then said to him, ' There in 

 no such thing in nature as a basilisk ! but thuit hat ltd-: , n /,-/> and 

 been temperate, and hat, therefore, recoreri'l iliii Innlih ."" 



The Indian-rubber, or caoutchouc balls, will be found as useful for 

 those confined by the weather within doors during the winter months, 

 as the ball of Zadig. 



It is possible to fatigue the body beyond a proper point, in which 

 case repose becomes necessary ; but this is a rare occurrence compared 

 with the instances where the mind U stretched beyond ita natural 

 power to bear by the ambitious student, the covetous and care-worn 



merchant, or the adventurer in political life. If. in t 



long-continued exertion, the balance of the mind ) not il],,i. 

 abstraction from his books for the one, and a withdrawing from their 

 pursuits for the others, with change of scene and occupation, must 

 be enjoined; by doing this before it is too late, each may, in tim. , 

 return to his usual station, to be useful in his sphere to himself and 

 others, and may still be |>ermitted to enjoy the greatest of earthly 

 blowings, a sound mind in a healthy body. 



ANALOGY is the similarity of ratios or relations. A mlin. or 

 relation, mean* that two objects (which are called the term* of the rniii,\ 

 are considered together in reference either to some quality which they 

 h ive in U" manner in whHi one has affected the other. 



