SCOURING. 349 



Having so much enlarged upon this dis- 

 tinct kind of Lax or Scouring, proceeding 

 from repletion, it becomes necessary to ani- 

 madvert upon the same disorder, when origi- 

 nating in a different cause. A severe laxation, 

 or looseness, then is known frequently to 

 arise from a deprived state of the stomach, 

 and a debility or weakness of the powers ne- 

 cessary to the purposes of digestion. The 

 loss of appetite is occasioned by a relaxation 

 of the elasticity or natural tone of the sto- 

 mach ; the blood is impoverished by a de- 

 ficiency in its nutritious support of chyle 

 through the lacteals; and the bile becomes 

 equally defective, in being deprived of its 

 due proportion of stimulus, consequently in- 

 adequate to the task it is destined to per- 

 form. 



The chain of operation being thus ob- 

 structed, the whole system is in a great mea- 

 sure deranged, and the half-digested aliment 

 soon engenders fermentation by its acidity ; 

 and, in an effort of nature, prepares itself 

 for an approaching expulsion. The intes- 

 tines, from the crude indigested aliment, 

 and inert state of the bile, soon become re- 



