COMATA. 



359 



tion rather than from its force, and that it is particularly suited 

 to the cure of those palsies which have beenjproduced by the 

 application of narcotic powers. 



MCLXVIII. Amongst the remedies of palsy, the use of ex- 

 ercise is not to be omitted. In a hemiplegia, bodily exercise 

 cannot be employed ; and in a more limited affection, if depend- 

 ing upon a compression of some part of the brain, it would be 

 an ambiguous remedy ; but in all cases where the exercises of 

 gestation can be employed, they are proper ; as, even in cases of 

 compression, the stimulus of such exercise is moderate, and 

 therefore safe ; and, as it always determines to the surface of 

 the body, it is a remedy in all cases of internal congestion. 



MCLXIX. The internal stimulants employed in palsy are 

 various, but chiefly the following : 



1. The volatile alkaline salts, or spirits, as they are called, 

 are very powerful and diffusive stimulants, operating especially 

 on the nervous system ; and even although they operate on the 

 sanguiferous, yet, if given in frequently repeated small rather 

 than in large doses, their operation being transitory, is tolerably 

 safe. 



2. The vegetables of the class named Tetradynamia are many 

 of them powerful diffusive stimulants ; and at the same time, 

 as quickly passing out of the body, and therefore of transitory 

 operation, they are often employed with safety. As they com- 

 monly prove diuretic, they may in this way also be of service in 

 some cases of serous palsy. " Mustard as well as horseradish 

 may be given in great quantities, in the form of syrup, without 

 producing the smallest inflammatory symptom. A practice, so 

 far as I can learn, first began in this city about fifty years ago 

 (1739), and has been since very frequent. It consists in giving 

 the mustard seed entire and unbruised, to the quantity of half 

 an ounce, or as much as an ordinary tablespoon will contain. 

 This does not prove heating in the stomach, but stimulates the 

 intestinal canal, and commonly proves laxative, or at least sup- 

 ports the usual daily excretion. It commonly also increases the 

 secretion of urine ; but in this I have found it frequently to fail. 

 In giving it twice a-day, as our common practice is, I have not 

 found it to stimulate the system, or to heat the body ; but it 

 must certainly have that effect if it answers in the Swedish 



