624 GASTRITIS. 



priate to these several agents, never lose siglit of this chief in- 

 dication, the soothing and rest absolutely needful for restora- 

 tion of health. 



In gastritis, not the result of the action of any specific 

 poisonous agent, these ends are best attained by the exhibition 

 of such demulcents as hnseed-tea, or well-boiled oatmeal-gruel, 

 with full doses of some preparation of opium, as the tincture, 

 or, probably better still, the watery solution or extract. . These 

 ought to be repeated every two or three hours ; and while I 

 should advise the administration of the gruel or linseed-tea as 

 indicated, and probably with the first draught a dose of opium 

 in whatever form determined upon, the others, or at least some 

 of the other administrations of the medicine, might with benefit 

 be carried out hypodermically. 



Should an alleviation of symptoms appear, it is advisable, 

 after an interval of some hours, to administer a little oil, which 

 will assist in unloading the canal of retained material. When 

 we believe the cause of the inflammation to be such an irritant 

 as yew foliage, or where the original morbid action in the viscus 

 is likely to be complicated with cerebral disturbance, the opium 

 had better be left out, and belladonna extract employed instead. 

 When mineral irritants are suspected as the operating cause, 

 such agents as raw eggs well-broken down and mixed with 

 gruel, or oleaginous materials, or lime-water, ought to be given 

 every half-hour for some time ; not in excessive quantities, it 

 being better to exhibit a full dose at first, and afterwards follow 

 it by smaller ones at short intervals. As the horse cannot, 

 like some animals, rid his stomach of offending material by 

 the exercise of the act of vomition, our endeavours must, Avith- 

 out losing sight of securing quietude and rest for the organ, 

 be directed to neutralizing or rendering innocuous, and by 

 causing to pass along the canal, those substances believed to be 

 operating thus prejudicially. Whether we can manage to 

 obtain in an emergency a sufficient amount of hydrated per- 

 oxide of iron, of charcoal, or of albumen, or any other of the 

 recognised chemical antidotes for arsenic and other mineral 

 poisons, we ought never to forget that oil and gruel, or mucilage, 

 are useful, if not essentials, in the treatment of the most of 

 these cases. The former of these certainly acts more than 

 merely favouring the ])assage of the hritant along the canal ; it 



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