190 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



from the sedentary nature of their habits, seldom have the bowels relieved oftener 

 than once a week. 



Travelling has usually the effect of discouraging the action of the bowels, and 

 not unfrequently it gives rise to considerable inconvenience by the production of 

 constipation. A confined state of the bowels always increases the sensation of 

 feverish heat which many people experience when making a prolonged journey in a 

 close railway carriage. 



The abuse of purgatives may lead to constipation. The number of aperient 

 pills which some people are in the habit of taking is very great. Instead of passing 

 away with the action of the bowels they have been taken to accelerate, they some- 

 times stick together and form a considerable obstruction. 



The consequences of habitual constipation are often most serious. They, of 

 course, vary somewhat in different cases, and depend materially on the length of 

 time the constipation has existed, and on its degree. Habitual confinement of the 

 bowels extending over a period of some years, will naturally generate a train of 

 evils more serious in character than when the habit has existed for only a few weeks 

 or months. At first, the inconveniences experienced are comparatively trivial, and 

 are not of such a nature as to cause anxiety or to attract much attention. Even 

 when the general health has distinctly suffered, the indisposition is usually attri- 

 buted to anything but the true cause. Among the earliest symptoms are drowsiness, 

 and heaviness of the head. A dark rim appears under the eyes, and by-and-by the 

 patient suffers from an aching, or beating, or throbbing pain in the forehead or 

 temples, or over one eye. with a sense of weight or giddiness. Flushings of the face 

 occur, and transient sensations of heat are experienced over the whole body, though 

 the feet are at the same time cold. The drowsiness after a time increases, and the 

 sufferers usually find it difficult to rouse themselves to any kind of exertion. On going 

 to bed they fall instantly into a sound sleep which proves heavy but not refreshing, 

 for on awaking in the morning they feel tired, and unwilling to leave the bed, and if 

 they do not at once get up sleep quickly overcomes them, only to increase the sense 

 of fatigue on again awaking. The menstrual functions may become deranged, and 

 there is often a copious white discharge. The appetite is not usually impaired, 

 although flatulence is a frequent consequence. These symptoms quickly subside 

 when the cause is removed, and it is only necessary to restore the action of the bowels 

 in order to re-establish the health. 



When constipation has existed for a longer period, the symptoms assume a more 

 serious character, and are less amenable to treatment. The general health suffers 

 more seriously, the mind becomes irritable and apprehensive, noises jar and distract 

 the brain, and strong light overpowers the eye, while, at the same time, the delicate 

 sensibility of these organs is dulled, and the senses, though morbidly alive to power- 

 ful impressions, are no longer adapted to acute and nice perception. The pain in 

 the head increases, it assumes a distracting character, and is often compared by 

 sufferers to the opening and shutting of the brain. In some cases this has ended in 

 apoplexy. 



Among the more remote consequences of constipation are sick headache, in- 

 digestion, pain in the stomach, waterbrash, colic, irritation of the sexual organs, 



