228 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



going up for an examination, or the thoughts of a surgical operation, may induce 

 diarrhoea. A sudden panic will operate on the bowels of some persons as surely as 

 a black dose, and much more speedily. Sudden atmospheric changes, or the removal 

 from a warm to a temperate climate, will often bring on an attack of diarrhoea. In 

 women it is sometimes induced bj getting chilled in damp, cold places. Standing 

 for some time on stone flags has been known to excite it. 



Summer diaiThoea, or choleraic diarrhoea, or English cholera, as it is often called, 

 is prevalent in this country from June till the end of September. It is as constantly 

 observed when the temperature rises above 60 as are coughs and colds when it falls 

 below 32. The attack is generally sudden. At first the ordinary contents of the 

 bowels are discharged, and then a large quantity of fluid is expelled, both by 

 purging and vomiting. The stools are copious and watery, dark-brown or green in 

 colour, and are often shot out with a considerable amount of force. The seizure is 

 often accompanied by colic and pain in the region of the navel Exhaustion may 

 ensue very rapidly, so that in a few hours the pulse becomes weak, the voice feeble, 

 the temperature of the body reduced, and the patient passes into a very critical 

 condition. Sometimes the disease resembles in its intensity Asiatic cholera, and 

 death may ensue rapidly. 



Sometimes diarrhoea is met with in the chronic form, and this is by no means 

 uncommon in " old Indians," whose health has deteriorated from a long residence in 

 a tropical climate. There is one form which is commonly known as " white flux," 

 from the paleness of the stools. This complaint usually begins without any particular 

 symptoms beyond those of relaxed bowels. Sometimes there are two or three 

 motions in the twenty-four hours, the stools being liquid and frothy, and having the 

 appearance of chalk and dirty water, or being of the consistence of thick gruel. The 

 health is gradually undermined, the motions increase in size and frequency, and 

 unless treatment proves successful in arresting the complaint the most serious 

 consequences may follow. 



There is another form of diarrhoea which, although not very common, we should 

 be loth to pass over in silence. Many unquestionable instances are recorded, both 

 in ancient and modern literature, of persons who, while suffering from diarrhoea, have 

 voided oil or fat. In one instance a woman discharged every day for fourteen 

 months a considerable quantity of yellow fat, that lay upon the motions like melted 

 butter. We are told that when voided into a vessel of water it floated like oil upon 

 the surface, and when cold it assumed the consistence and appearance of fat. Like 

 fat, it was inflammable and burned with a bright flame. In another case a portion 

 of the substance was analysed, and was found to consist of true fat. In several cases 

 this condition has been found after death to be associated with disease of the 

 pancreas, or sweetbread. ^We know nothing about the treatment ; but a lady who 

 suffered from this complaint recovered after swallowing a pint of sweet oil. A late 

 distinguished physician, upon this hint, gave his patient, who was labouring at the 

 same time under diabetes, a quarter of a pint of olive oil, and from that time the 

 voiding of fat diminished and soon after ceased. 



In cases of chronic diarrhoea the possibility of slow poisoning must be taken into 

 consideration. Even if the symptoms have been caused by the introduction of 



