1018 CHOLERA INFANTIUM, 



citing causes of cholera infantium and other 

 spasmodic diseases ; to which may be added, the 

 process of teething, irritation from worms, and 

 improper diet, all of which tend to diminish the 

 function of respiration, and to prevent the due 

 arterialization of the blood, as shewn by the fre- 

 quent coldness of the extremities, the pale or 

 livid* hue of the features, loss of appetite, general 

 debility, and derangement of all the secretions. 

 In the convulsive fits of new born infants, the 

 lungs should be inflated by blowing into the 

 mouth of the patient, with the nostrils closed, 

 and by compressing the thorax after each in- 

 flation, so as to imitate the natural process of 

 breathing. In this way the colour of the face 

 may be changed from purple to red, before the 

 voluntary action of the lungs is restored. 



The most frequent predisposing cause of hys- 

 teria is the influence of grief, anxiety, and other 

 depressing passions, by which respiration is dimi- 

 nished, as shewn by the difficulty of breathing, 



* In all such cases the violence of the spasms, and dangerous 

 condition of the patient, are in proportion to the difficulty of 

 respiration, and the purple hue of the features, which are anxious, 

 emaciated, and shrunken. Nor is there any chance of saving 

 life without restoring the free circulation of blood through the 

 lungs, which can generally be accomplished by an early and 

 judicious employment of the warm bath, frictions, diffusible 

 stimulants, and the application of dry heat, so as to maintain the 

 temperature of the body at the natural standard. But if this 

 point be exceeded, there is danger of exhaustion. 



