HYGIENIC TREATMENT. 119 



formidable and irremediable group of symptoms ; in this 

 stage the degeneration of the hepatic cells is far advanced ; 

 the secreting and excreting functions of the organ are in a 

 great measure destroyed ; the floodgates are closed, the 

 canals blocked up, and the current of the circulation is 

 diverted through other and new channels, followed by 

 ascites and anasarca, haemorrhage from the nose, stomach, 

 and bowels, and general emaciation a group of symp- 

 toms as painful and harassing to the patient, as they are 

 unyielding to the action of medicine, and the best efforts 

 of the anxious physician. It is at this stage, unfortunately 

 for the patient, that the physician is but too often consulted 

 for the first time when a radical cure is in the majority of 

 cases beyond the confines of medicine, and the power of 

 man, for there does not exist a drug in the materia medica 

 of any nation whose records extend back to nearly two 

 thousand years, which is capable of removing the morbid 

 deposit of an organized tissue, or restoring the lost 

 functions of a cirrhotic liver ; we do, however, possess 

 remedies of great value, capable of checking the peri- 

 hepatitis which supervenes from time to time ; of remov- 

 ing the dropsical effusions, of checking the haemorrhages, 

 prolonging life, and making that life bearable ; and when 

 the filial crisis comes, of smoothing the rugged path of 



gently and softly into the grave. 

 THE MIXKKAL ACIDS. The nitro-hydrochloric and 

 nitric acid are both valuable remedies in this stage of 

 the disease ; they should be administered both internally, 

 and externally in the form of baths, and continued for 

 some weeks, with an occasional dose of Aconite, when 

 any feverish symptoms crop up, and Nux Voinica to 

 correct stomach derangement and constipation ; and 



