FAIN 



291 



poorness of the blood. It is very common in young ladies who take very little 

 out-door .-ind spend most of tln-ir time on the sofa reading novels. 



of active occupation powerfully pmli spoors to fainting. People who are 

 not \ i ig are most likely to faint after some unusual fatigue, or after long 



alistiiK-nre from food. A liability to fainting seems almost to be hereditary, so 

 common i me families. Sometimes it is associated with heart disease, but in 



tin- vast majority of cases it is purely functional, and there is nothing wrong 

 that <T 



The tl.-t. -running causes of a faint are very variable in character. In susceptible 



subjects it may be brought on by any sudden impression on the nervous sv 



This nc< (I not of necessity be painful or unpleasant, for people may faint from 



-Mil-lit or excess of joy. For instance, the sudden announcement of the 



i of some long-lost relative, or of the favourable termination of a protracted 



lawsuit, may be the exciting cause. The sight of certain animals, such as a frog, 



or a black-beetle, or even a mouse, is quite enough to send some people off, 



whilst others faint immediately at the sight of blood, and even feel sick and 



fiint if they read of an accident in the papers. We have all heard the story 



of the young curate who fainted on having to read the account of one of the 



s ingiiinary battles in the Old Testament. Medical students sometimes faint at 



first operation. Such a trivial accident as pricking the finger will make 



some people feel sick and faint. 



A fainting-fit is so sudden in its occurrence that it is not easy to describe 

 it. Usually there is at first a feeling of faintness, then of sickness and giddiness, 

 there is a blank before the eyes, and everything seems as if it were swimming 

 about or going round and round, the face becomes deadly pale, the hands and 

 feet get cold, the teeth chatter, and the patient feels as if she were sinking 

 backwards, or going down and down ever so far. As the faint passes off and 

 consciousness returns there may be a deep sigh. 



There are one or two complaints from which a fainting-fit has to be distin- 

 guished. In the first place, from epilepsy. There is not the slightest difficulty 

 in distinguishing it from an ordinary epileptic fit, but from attacks of epileptic 

 40 or petit mal, as we call it, there is often very great difficulty, for they 

 run so very closely together. In attacks of petit mal the fit comes on more suddenly, 

 and the loss of consciousness is distinctly marked. In fainting the insensibility 

 is not absolute, and when it is over the patient can often tell what occurred, 

 although at the time she was unable to speak. Then again, people rarely faint 

 without some definite cause. If a young woman sitting or lying down in a 

 room with plenty of fresh air suddenly becomes insensible, without having received 

 bad news or anything of that kind, it is something more than a mere faint, and 

 is probably a fit. 



There is usually little difficulty in distinguishing a faint from an attack of 



TICS. In the latter case the patient will be found sighing, laughing, or crying, 



cr endeavouring to attract attention in some way or other. Moreover, if you feel 



her pulse you will find that it is beating strongly, affording positive proof that 



the heart has not ceased beating. Of course a person who is habitually hysterical 



