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FEUILLANS FEVER. 



barbarity and disorder, and rested on principles and 

 circumstances which no longer exist. Vet there are, 

 particularly among the Germans, visionary men, who, 

 seduced by the glowing descriptions of old ballads, 

 or the fine structure <>t' a Gothic cathedral, tell us, 

 tliat the feudal times were the very model of an age 

 of honour and religion. It is well for them that they 

 cannot test the truth of their opinions by their own 

 experience. 



FEUILLANS, in ecclesiastical history ; an order 

 of religious clothed in white, and going barefoot, 

 who live under the strict observance of the rule of St 

 Bernard. The name was occasioned by a reform 

 of the order of Beniardins, first made in the abbey 

 of Feuillans, near Toulouse, established in 1580. 

 There are also convents of nuns who follow the same 

 reform, called Feuzllanfes. The first of them was 

 established near Toulouse in 1590. 



FEVER j a disease characterized by an increase of 

 heat, an accelerated pulse, a foul tongue, and an im- 

 paired state of several functions of the body. The 

 varieties are numerous. The principal divisions are 

 into continued and intermittent fevers. Continued 

 fevers have no intermission, but exacerbations come 

 on usually twice in one day. 



Intermittent fevers are known by cold, hot, and 

 sweating stages, in succession, attending each par- 

 oxysm, and followed by an intermission or remission. 

 There are three genera of intermitting fevers, and 

 several varieties : 1. Quotidiana; a quotidian ague. 

 The paroxysms return in the morning, at an interval 

 of about twenty-four hours. 2. Tertiana ; a tertian 

 ague. The paroxysms commonly come on at mid- 

 day, at an interval of about forty-eight hours. 3. 

 Quartana ; a quartan ague. The paroxysms come 

 on in the afternoon, with an interval of about seven- 

 ty-two hours. The tertian ague is most apt to pre- 

 vail in the spring, and the quartan in autumn. When 

 these fevers arise in the spring, they are called ver- 

 nal ; and when in the autumn, they are known by 

 the name of autumnal. 



Intermittents often prove obstinate, and are of 

 long duration in warm climates ; and they not unfre- 

 quently resist every mode of cure, so as to become 

 very distressing to the patient, and, by the extreme 

 debility which they thereby induce, often give rise to 

 other chronic complaints. It seems to be pretty 

 generally acknowledged, that marsh miasmata, or the 

 effluvia arising from stagnant water, or marshy 

 ground, when acted upon by heat, are the most fre- 

 quent exciting cause of this fever. A watery, poor 

 diet, great fatigue, long watching, grief, much anx- 

 iety, exposure to cold, lying in damp rooms or beds, 

 wearing damp linen, the suppression of some long 

 accustomed evacuation, or the recession of eruptions, 

 have been ranked among the exciting causes of inter- 

 mittents ; but it is more reasonable to suppose that 

 these circumstances act only by inducing that state 

 of the body which predisposes to these complaints. 

 One peculiarity of this fever is its great susceptibility 

 of a renewal from very slight causes, as from the 

 prevalence of an easterly wind, even without the 

 repetition of the original exciting cause. In this 

 circumstance, intermittents differ from most other 

 fevers, as it is well known that, after a continued 

 fever has once occurred, and been removed, the per- 

 son so affected is by no means so liable to a fresh 

 attack of the disorder, as one in whom it had never 

 taken place. 



We have not yet attained a certain knowledge of 

 the proximate cause of an intermittent fever, but a 

 deranged state of the stomach and primae via? is that 

 which is most generally alleged. Each paroxysm of 

 an intermittent fever is divided into three different 

 stages, which are called the cold, the hot, and the 



siveating stages, or fits. The cold stage commences 

 with languor, a sense of debility and sluggishness in 

 motion, frequent yawning and stretching, and an 

 aversion to food. The face and extremities become 

 pale, the features shrink, the bulk of every external 

 part is diminished, and the skin over the whole body 

 appears constricted, as if cold had been applied to it. 

 At length the patient feels very cold, and universal 

 rigors come on, with pains in the head, back, loins, 

 and joints, nausea, and vomiting of bilious matter ; 

 the respiration is small, frequent, and anxious ; the 

 urine is almost colourless ; sensibility is greatly im- 

 paired ; the thoughts are somewhat confused ; and 

 the pulse is small, frequent, and often irregular. In 

 a few instances, drowsiness and stupor have prevailed 

 in so high a degree as to resemble coma or apoplexy; 

 but this is by no means usual. These symptoms 

 abating after a short time, the second stage com- 

 mences with an increase of heat over the whole body, 

 redness of the face, dryness of the skin, thirst, pain 

 in the head, throbbing in the temples, anxiety, and 

 restlessness ; the respiration is fuller and more free, 

 but still frequent ; the tongue is furred, and the pulse 

 has become regular, hard, and full. If the attack 

 has been very severe, then perhaps delirium will 

 arise. When these symptoms have continued for 

 some time, a moisture breaks out on the forehead, 

 and by degrees becomes a sweat, and this, at length, 

 extends over the whole body. As this sweat con- 

 tinues to flow, the heat of the body abates, the thirst 

 ceases, and most of the functions are restored to 

 their ordinary state. This constitutes the third stage. 

 When intermittents continue for any length of time, 

 they are apt to induce other complaints, such as a loss 

 of appetite, flatulency, scirrhus of the liver, dropsi- 

 cal swellings, and general debility, which, in the end, 

 now and then prove fatal, particularly in warm cli- 

 mates ; and, in some cases, they degenerate into 

 continued fevers. Relapses are very common to this 

 fever at the distance of five or six months, or even a 

 year. Autumnal intermittents are more difficult to 

 remove than vernal ones, and quartans more so than 

 the other types. 



It is always desirable to suspend a paroxysm, if 

 possible, not only to prevent mischief, but also that 

 there may be more time for the use of the most effec- 

 tual remedies. When, therefore, a fit is commencing, 

 or shortly expected, we may try to obviate it by some 

 of those means which excite movements of an oppo- 

 site description in the system : an emetic will gener- 

 ally answer the purpose, determining the blood power- 

 fully to the surface of the body ; or a full dose of 

 opium, assisted by the pediluvium, &c. ; ether also, 

 and various stimulant remedies, will often succeed ; 

 but these may perhaps aggravate, should they not 

 prevent the fit; the cold bath, violent exercise, 

 strong impressions on the mind, &c., have likewise 

 been occasionally employed with effect. Should the 

 paroxysm have already come on, and the cold stage 

 be very severe, the warm bath, and cordial diaphor- 

 etics in repeated moderate doses, may assist in bring- 

 ing warmth to the surface : when, on the contrary, 

 great heat prevails, the antiphlogistic plan is to be 

 pursued. In the intermissions, in conjunction with a 

 generous diet, moderate exercise, and other means 

 calculated to improve the vigour of the system, tonics 

 are the remedies especially relied upon. At the head 

 of these we must certainly place the cinchona, 

 which, taken largely in substance, will seldom fail to 

 cure the disease, where it is not complicated with 

 visceral affection. 



Synocha (from avn^u, to continue). Febris synncha ; 

 inflammatory fever ; a species of continued fever, 

 characterized by increased heat ; pulse frequent, 

 strong, hard ; urine high-coloured ; senses not im- 



