ISO THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



diarrhoea, it may be associated with an accumulation of irritating matter in the 

 intestines. We shall presently have occasion to refer to a form of colic which is 

 known as painters' colic, and is due to the presence of lead in the system. Copper- 

 smiths, and especially the workers in copper at shipbuilding yards, often suffer from 

 a somewhat similar condition, which may be called copper colic. 



The essential and most characteristic symptom of colic is pain. This pain is marked 

 by the occurrence of exacerbations of very great and even intense severity. It is some- 

 times so severe as to cause even people usually but little prone to give utterance to 

 their feelings to utter loud cries and groans. Internal restlessness, and frequent 

 turning and twisting of the body, characterise the sufferer from colic. Often enough 

 he paces up and down the room, bending forwards and pressing his hands on his 

 belly. Sometimes he flings himself on his face on the bed or sofa. When lying 

 on his back, his knees are drawn up, and are often retained by the hands in this 

 position. By firm pressure the pain is sometimes mitigated, or even temporarily 

 removed. The attack is often accompanied by great general depression. The skin, 

 is cool, the face pale, and the pulse, instead of being quickened, is often slower than 

 natural. In severe cases, sickness and vomiting may supervene ; and when the 

 malady becomes intensified and the agony excessive, the entire surface may be 

 bedewed with a chill, clammy perspiration, the extremities becoming cold and of 

 venous hue, and the general aspect that of collapse. Much importance is usually 

 attributed to the slowness of the pulse in colic, for not unfrequently it enables us 

 to distinguish between this complaint and inflammation of the bowels. It should 

 always be remembered, however, that in very severe cases the latter condition is 

 not unapt to supervene upon the former. When wind is the cause of the colic, 

 the abdomen is often greatly distended ; and with the expulsion of the confined 

 gases not only does this disappear, but the sufferer obtains almost immediate relief. 

 A confined condition of the bowels is, as we have already shown, the usual accom- 

 paniment of colic, and not infrequently when the bowels have been efficiently acted 

 on by medicine the pain entirely disappears. This, however, is not always the case ; 

 for, notwithstanding the action of a laxative or purgative, the pain may be persistent. 

 In children, spasmodic pain in the bowels is often followed by digestive disturbances, 

 and the irritation may give rise to convulsions. 



The mode of onset of an attack of colic is very variable. It may come on quite 

 suddenly, and without any apparent cause, or it may be slow and gradual in its 

 establishment, the paroxysms being preceded by a sensation of uneasiness in the 

 abdomen. The progress and duration of the malady are equally variable ; it may, 

 however, be regarded as a fact, that the more severe the fit the shorter will be its 

 continuance. It may exist for days, or may last only for hours, or even minutes. 

 It is probable that these irregularities are dependent more or less on the nature of 

 the exciting cause. The attack is sometimes cut short by the advent of profuse 

 perspiration, the supervention of diarrhoea, or even the occurrence of menstruation. 

 It sometimes happens, when the affection occurs in women, that the discharge of a 

 large quantity of pale or almost colourless urine is at once succeeded by the 

 mitigation of the attack. 



We now pass on to the treatment of coiic. The great thing is to relieve the pain, 



