198 CHRONIC INFLAMMATION OF THE GASTRIC COMPARTMENTS. 



ipecacuanha in doses of 1 to 2 drams per day, tincture of nux vomica in 

 similar doses, powdered nux vomica in doses of 45 to 75 grains, and 

 laxatives like Carlsbad salts in doses of 8 to 10 drams. 



Little by little peristalsis returns, becomes regular, and the chronic 

 tympanites disappears for good. This is frequently the case during 

 gestation, when the condition simply consists in motor dyspepsia without 

 anaemia. 



(b) If, on the contrary, chronic tympanites is accompanied by 

 constipation, and the faeces are hard or, as is usually the case, covered 

 with mucus, suggesting the probability of excess of hydrochloric acid, 

 salines are indicated — not to the point of producing purgation, which 

 would not lead to any lasting improvement, but still as laxatives, con- 

 tinued daily for ten, fifteen, or twenty days, or, if necessary, even longer. 



Carlsbad salts in doses of 8 to 10 drams, or one-ounce doses of sulphate 

 of sodium associated with 2J drams of bicarbonate of potash after each 

 meal, are to be recommended in preference to bicarbonate of soda alone, 

 because they act on the secretions, on the muscular system, and also on 

 the liver. 



(c) Finally, when chronic tympanites is accompanied by diarrhoea, 

 a condition which usually indicates insufficient secretion of hydrochloric 

 acid, the administration of that acid tends to arrest or check organic 

 fermentation and to facilitate digestion in the abomasum by supple- 

 menting the diminished physiological secretion. The dosage is an 

 important point. At first small quantities should be given, 2J drams 

 per day, divided into two doses and freely diluted in the drinking water ; 

 but this amount may, if necessary, afterwards be doubled or trebled. The 

 drinking water is not rendered irritant by these doses, for it is admitted, 

 and Moussu has confirmed the fact by analysis, that the quantity of 

 HCl in the gastric juice may rise as high as '2 to '3 per cent. Chloride 

 of sodium, the excito-secretory action of which on the gastric mucous 

 membrane is well known, may be given for long periods in doses of 

 1 to 1^ ounces per day. 



In these various chemico-pathological states the food should receive 

 the closest attention. The forage, w^hich should be good, may be supple- 

 mented by the addition of cooked roots, demulcent drinks, and, if 

 possible, milk. 



GASTRIC DISTURBANCE DUE TO FOREIGN BODIES. 



These morbid conditions are extremely complex, but the facts that 

 they are due only to one cause, and that they possess certain symptoms 

 in common, permit of a certain grouping. It would obviously be 

 illogical to speak of traumatic indigestion of the rumen, reticulum, and 

 abomasum, as has been done in more than one book on this subject ; for 



