436 



COUGH COUMASSIK. 



w liich take place within the chest, the disorders 

 of the lungs themselves are the most common , '-- 

 specially tnfc inflammation of the mucous membranes, 

 which excites the catarrlial cough, or common cold. 

 This disease is generally considered unimportant, 

 particularly if there be no fever connected with it. 

 But every cough, lasting longer than a fortnight or 

 three weeks, is suspicious, and ought to be medically 

 treated. 



Another common cause of cough, which lias its 

 M-:U in tin- lungs, is inflammation of those organs, 

 whether in the form of pleurisy or peripneumony. 

 (q. v.) These diseases do not differ very essential- 

 ly, except in violence and extent, from the acute 

 catarrh, but are more dangerous, and more rapid in 

 their progress, and the constitution is excited to a 

 highly febrile condition. Even after the acute state 

 or inflammation may have subsided, a cough, attend- 

 ed with extreme danger, sometimes continues to be 

 excited by collections of pus, or abscesses, which en- 

 Mie in the substance of the lungs, and either termi- 

 nate in consumption, or suffocate the patient by sud- 

 denly bursting; more rarely the pus is discharged 

 gradually from a small aperture, anil the patient re- 

 covers. In such cases, the fever, originally acute, is 

 (inverted into a hectic, with daily chills, succeeded 

 by heat and flushing of the face, night sweats, and 

 emaciation. Another frequent origin of cough is the 

 rupture of some of the blood-vessels of the lungs, 

 and tlie consequent effusion of blood into the cells, 

 which is expelled by the cough that its irritation ex- 

 cites, constituting what is technically termed hcemop- 

 (oe, haemoptysis, or spitting of blood. When the 

 vessels of the lungs are thus ruptured, they seldom 

 heal readily, but degenerate into ulcers, which pour 

 out a purulent matter ; and, by this discharge, the 

 vital powers are gradually worn down and destroyed. 

 This is a common scource of consumption, or phthisis 

 yulmonalis. (See Consumption.) A cough is excit- 

 ed, and the same fatal disorder is also induced, by 

 the existence of tubercles in the lungs. These are 

 little tumours, which gradually inflame and ulcerate, 

 and produce the same consequences as the ulcera- 

 tions from hemoptysis. Calculi, or stony concretions, 

 are sometimes formed in the lungs, and the irritation 

 which they produce necessarily excites a cough, 

 which is liable to terminate in consumption. 



There is yet another scource of irritation within 

 the lungs, of which cough is an attendant, namely, 

 an effusion of serum into the parenchymatous sub- 

 stance of the lungs, or into the cellular membrane, 

 which connects the cells and blood-vessels together. 

 This has been called anasarca pulmonum, or dropsy 

 of the lungs, and is marked by great difficulty of 

 breathing, with a sense of weight and oppression in 

 the chest, occasioned by the compression of the air- 

 cells and vessels by the accumulated water ; hence 

 also great irregularity of pulse, frightful dreams, im- 

 perfect sleep, &c., are among its symptoms. Inflam- 

 mation of the heart, and of the pericardium, or mem- 

 brane surrounding it, is also accompanied by cough, 

 and other symptoms not easily distinguishable from 

 those of pleurisy and peripneumony. Where a cough 

 is excited by disorders of parts external to the cavity 

 of the chest, it is generally dry, as the irritating 

 cause is external, and not any obstructing matter in 

 the lungs themselves. Disorders of the viscera of 

 the abdomen, especially of those which lie in contact 

 with the diaphragm (the muscular curtain separating 

 the cavities of the belly and chest), frequently induce 

 a cough. A short, dry cough invariably attends in- 

 flammation of the liver, whether acute or chronic, 

 and accompanies the various tubercular and other 

 obstructions in that organ. Hence inflammation of 

 the liver is not unfrequently mistaken for inflamma- 



tion in the lungs ; and, in some of the thronic dis- 

 eases of the liver, the cough is occasionally com- 

 plained of as the most urgent symptom. The pre- 

 sence of pain in the right side, shooting up to the top 

 of the shoulder, the dryness of the cough, and pain, 

 enlargement, hardness, or uneasiness oii pressure be- 

 low the ribs of that side, will afford the best means 

 of distinguislu'ng whether a disease of the liver is 

 the origin of the cough. Disorders of the stomach 

 are, also, often accompanied with a cough of the 

 same dry and teasing nature, especially when that 

 organ is over distended with food, or is in the op- 

 posite condition of emptiness. A short cough is. 

 therefore, a frequent symptom of indigestion and hy- 

 pochondriasis, or of that weakness of the stomach 

 which is popularly termed bilious. In short, there is 

 scarcely any one of the viscera, in the cavity of the 

 alxlomen, the irritation of which, in a state of dis- 

 ease, has not excited cough. Disorders of the 

 spleen, pancreas, and even the kidneys, have all 

 given rise to this symptom ; and external tumours, at- 

 tached to them, iiave had the same effect. Any dis- 

 tension of the abdomen, which, by its pressure up- 

 wards, impedes the descent of the diapliragm, and 

 consequently the expansion of the lungs, occasions 

 cough. Thus, in the ascites, or dropsy of the belly, 

 the water in tympanites, the air in corpulency, the, 

 fat in the omentum and, in pregnancy, the gravid 

 uterus, all have the effect of exciting cough in many 

 constitutions. The variety of causes from which 

 coughs may arise, must convince every reader of the 

 absurdity of attempting to cure all kinds of cough by 

 the same remedy. 



COULOMB, CHARLES AUGUSTIN DE ; born 173(>, 

 at Angoule'me ; entered the corps of engineers ; was 

 sent to Martinique, where he constructed fort Bour- 

 bon. In 1779, his theory of simple machines obtain- 

 ed the prize offered by the academy ; and, in 1781, 

 he was unanimously chosen a member of that body. 

 In all difficult cases of mechanics, his judgment was 

 appealed to, and invariably proved correct. A plan 

 had been proposed to the estates of Brittany for mak- 

 ing navigable canals in their province, and Coulomb, 

 as commissioner of the government, was to give his 

 opinion of the scheme. Convinced that the ultimate 

 benefit would by no means be proportioned to the 

 immense cost of the work, he decided against it. As 

 this interfered with the plans of certain of the minis- 

 try, he was obliged to do penance in the Abbaye. 

 Coulomb requested permission to resign his office. 

 His request was denied, and he was sent again to 

 Brittany. His second decision was the same as the 

 former, and the estates of Brittany honoured his 

 judgment by the present of a watch bearing the arms 

 of the province. On the breaking out of tne revolu- 

 tion, Coulomb was knight of the order of St Louis, 

 and lieutenant-colonel in the corps of engineers. He 

 gave np all his offices to devote himself to the edu- 

 cation of his children. This leisure was useful to 

 the cause of science ; for he was led, by experiments 

 on the elastic force of bent metal rods, to discover 

 secrets of magnetism, and the principles of electrici- 

 ty, which he ascertained with the more precision frons 

 his habit of combining, in all his inquiries, calcula- 

 tion with observation. On the restoration of the in- 

 stitute, he was made a member, and appointed in- 

 spector-general of public instruction. He was 

 actively employed in this department, which he was 

 constantly elevating by his writings, and was in the 

 enjoyment of much domestic happiness, when he 

 died, Aug. 23, 1806. 



COUMASSIE; a town in Upper Guinea, the 

 capital of the kingdom of the Ashantees. Bowdich 

 estimates its inhabitants at 18,000. Lat. 0" SO- 50" 

 N. ; Icn. 2" 11' 45'' W. 



