DISEASES OF THE DIGESTIVE SYSTEM. 67 



Dysentery. 



The term dysentery is used to denote an inflammation of the large intes- 

 tine accompanied by mucous and bloody discharges from the bowels. 



In mild cases the inflammation is not severe and may be confined to the 

 rectum. In severe attacks of the disease, the inflammation is not only 

 intense but extensive, involving the greater part of the large intestines, 

 the mucous membrane of which becomes reddened, swollen, and ulcera- 

 ted. The ulcers are greater or less in number, some being small and 

 others of considerable size. 



Causation. — Excesses in eating, food decomposed or improperly 

 cooked, foul drinking water, exposure to cold and rain storms are among 

 the generally recognized causes. In many cases it is not easy to trace 

 the origin of the disease under consideration to any obvious agency. 



Symptoms. —The affection is generally preceded by a diarrhoea of a 

 variable duration, with which some pain has been associated. The appe- 

 tite is lessened and the manner dull and listless. 



The development of the disease is denoted by characteristic discharges 

 consisting of mucus with which more or less blood is commingled. The 

 effort to move the bowels is frequently made and the quantity passed at 

 each act is generally small. Slight evacuations may take place every hour 

 and even much oftener. 



The quantity of mucus expelled is in some instances quite abundant and 

 appears in a jelly-like mass, for which the popular term applied is slime. 

 Sometimes fecal matter is mingled with the discharges but they are more 

 commonly dysenteric in character, consisting of mucus and blood. At 

 times the evacuations present a greenish color. The amount of mucus 

 and blood voided constitutes measurably a standard forjudging the extent 

 of the intestinal surface affected. 



Pus sometimes appears in the discharges in the acute form of the disease, 

 but more commonly it is observed in the chronic stage. The inflammation 

 of the rectum occasions a sensation as if the bowel were filled causing a 

 frequent desire to evacuate ; the effort is strained and painful. 



The abdominal walls are usually retracted and the back arched. The 

 pulse is not materially changed excepting in extreme cases. Great fre- 

 quency of the pulse denotes gravity and danger, but the reverse does not 

 hold good as sometimes in fatal cases it is but little quickened. 



Fever is exceptional although at times it may run very high. The nose 

 is hot and dry, the tongue often coated. Thirst is a prominent symptom. 

 Yomiting may occur and a greenish matter be expelled. The loss of 

 strength varies according to the intensity of the intestinal inflammation. 

 In extreme cases running to a fatal termination, the discharges become 



