SPASMODIC AFFECTIONS. 485 



and acrid form ; and may prove therefore considerably irritat- 

 ing. 



MCCCCLXXXVIII. Though the copious effusion of a 

 more liquid and acrid matter from the mucous excretories, be 

 probably owing to the matter being poured out immediately as 

 it is secreted from the blood into the mucous follicles, without 

 being allowed to stagnate in the latter, so as to acquire that 

 milder quality and thicker consistence we commonly find in the 

 mucus in its natural state ; and although we might suppose that 

 the excretions of a thin and acrid fluid should always be the 

 effect of every determination to the mucous follicles, and of 

 every stimulant applied to them ; yet it is certain, that the re- 

 verse is sometimes the case ; and that, from the mucous folli- 

 cles, there is frequently an increased excretion of a mucus, 

 which appears in its proper form of a mild, viscid, and thickish 

 matter. This commonly occurs in the case of dysentery ; and 

 it has been observed to give a species of diarrhoea, which has 

 been properly named the Diarrhcea mucosa. 



MCCCCLXXXIX. A third source of matter, poured 

 into the cavity of the intestines, and occasioning diarrhoea 

 (MCCCCLXXIV. 3.), is from those preternatural open- 

 ings produced by diseases in the intestines or neighbouring 

 parts. Thus the blood-vessels on the internal surface of the 

 intestines may be opened by erosion, rupture, or anastomosis, 

 and pour into the cavity their blood, which, either by its quan- 

 tity, or by its acrimony, whether inherent or acquired by stag- 

 nation, may sometimes give a diarrhoea evacuating bloody mat- 

 ter. This is what I think happens in that disease which has 

 been called the Melcena or Morbus Niger. 



MCCCCXC. Another preternatural source of matter poured 

 into the cavity of the intestines, is the rupture of abscesses seated 

 either in the coats of the intestines themselves, or in any of the 

 contiguous viscera, which, during an inflamed state, had formed 

 an adhesion with some part of the intestines. The matter thus 

 poured into their cavity may be various ; purulent, or sanious, 

 or both together, mixed at the same time with more or less of 

 blood ; and in each of these states may be a cause of diarrhoea. 

 MCCCCXCI. Amongst the stimuli that may be directly ap- 

 plied to the intestines, and which, by increasing their peristaltic 



