226 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



Ought you to go to a doctor ? Certainly, or you may possibly make some 

 mistake as to the complaint from which you are suffering. Only, if you are sure 

 that you have diabetes insipidus, and have not tried the ergot, we advise you 

 to do so. 



DIARRHCEA, OR LOOSENESS OF THE BOWELS. 



There is no complaint more common, and none which requires greater care for its 

 successful treatment, than diarrhoea. It may be dependent on so many different 

 causes, that it is absolutely necessary that the individual case should be thoroughly 

 investigated befove any treatment is commenced. People often ask, " What is the 

 best thing for diarrhoea ] " and in answer to this question we can only say that there 

 is no best remedy, and that the treatment must depend entirely upon the nature of 

 the case. It is quite true that a general diarrhoea mixture is kept at most of our 

 hospitals, and is given away during the summer months, but this necessarily fails in 

 a large number of cases. A remedy which would prove beneficial in one instance, 

 or in one form of diarrhoea, might in another prove utterly useless, 



In examining a bad case of diarrhoea, either in a child or in an adult, we must 

 learn all we possibly can, either from the patient or the friends, respecting the onset- 

 of the attack and its subsequent progress. We must try to find out what was the 

 exciting cause, and from what other symptoms the patient is suffering, as a con- 

 sideration of these circumstances will do much to enable us to arrive at a correct 

 conclusion in the choice of our remedy. The motions should be seen, so that their 

 characters may be determined, and as much information as possible derived from 

 this source. 



There is so great a diversity in the symptoms which accompany diarrhoea, that 

 there is scarcely any phenomenon common to all the varieties, except that the stools 

 are more liquid, frequent, and copious than in health. The evacuations may be very 

 few, not exceeding two or three daily, or so frequent that the patient scarcely satis- 

 fies one call before he experiences another. There is generally more or less pain 

 before the evacuations, which are almost always followed by relief; but in some 

 cases, no pain whatever is experienced throughout. Along with the discharge is 

 occasionally a very disagreeable sinking sensation in the abdomen, with a general 

 feeling of exhaustion or faintness, a cold skin, and a feeble, irregular pulse. Diarrhoea 

 is sometimes attended with fever, but in most cases it is absent. The skin is usually 

 dry and the urine scanty. Every possible diversity exists in the degree, duration, 

 and danger of the complaint. It may be quite trivial, getting well in a day or two 

 without aid, or it may run on for months, or even years, resisting every variety of 

 treatment. In some cases death ensues rapidly from great exhaustion ; but more 

 commonly a fatal termination is preceded by slow emaciation and gradual loss of 

 strength. In the large majority of cases the attendance of a medical man is un- 

 necessary, and a little judicious treatment is followed by a rapid cure. At the same 

 time, it must be remembered that simple diarrhoea passes almost insensibly into the 

 graver form. It is a golden rule that if you are in any doubt about sending for 

 the doctor, you had better do so. If you err, err on the right side. 



Diarrhoea is a prominent symptom of many diseases. It is an essential part of 



