INDIGESTION, OR DYSPEPSIA. 365 



its crude condition, it acts as an irritant, and sets up diarrhoea. Patients suffering- 

 from this disorder have a constant feeling of emptiness in the stomach ; this is 

 relieved by food, but no sooner is the meal finished than it returns, and they feel 

 hungry again. There is in this disorder always an evacuation of half-digested 

 food immediately after a meal, and sometimes even before it is finished. This 

 complaint is very common in children from six to twelve years of age. It can 

 m-urly always be cured by giving from two to five drops of laudanum in a little 

 water a few minutes before each meal. This small quantity of opium received into 

 the stomach before digestion has commenced is sufficient to quiet and regulate its 

 muscular movements, upon the inordinate extent of which the symptoms are 

 dependent. If a larger dose be given, it not only arrests the muscular movements, 

 but also the secretion of the gastric juice, and so increases instead of calming the 

 disturbed state of the digestive organs. Trousseau attached so much importance to 

 the small dose that he always commenced with a single drop of laudanum, 

 augmenting it if necessary. Should the laudanum fail, a tea-spoonful of the 

 arsenic mixture (Pr. 40) may be taken immediately preceding each meal. 

 Belladonna, too, is undoubtedly useful in this form of dyspepsia, although 

 its beneficial effect is less marked than that of opium. As in the case 

 of opium, it is essential that it should be given in small doses three drops of 

 the tincture of belladonna just before the commencement of each meal. Many 

 people, especially those advanced in life, suffer from a sensation of sinking or 

 craving at the pit of the stomach. This may depend on want of tone in the 

 stomach or on the general condition of health. If the intestines are not in an 

 irritable condition, cod- liver oil may be given with advantage say a tea-spoonful three 

 times a day. 



In the so-called irritative dyspepsia, where the tongue is furred and covered 

 with scattered red points, a tea-spoonful of the arsenic mixture (Pr. 40) taken 

 shortly before food acts like a charm. This mode of treatment often cures pain 

 after food, vomiting, and other dyspeptic symptoms. It is a valuable remedy. 



Dyspepsia is often complicated with constipation, and little benefit would be 

 obtained from treatment until this is removed. In remedying constipation in these 

 cases much care is required to avoid irritation, and only the gentlest and least 

 irritating laxatives are admissible. When possible even these should be dispensed 

 with, and the action of the bowels, when not occurring spontaneously, should be 

 daily solicited by an enema of cold water. Friction over the stomach, the wet 

 compress worn at night, protected by a piece of mackintosh, or the use of the cold 

 douche to the abdomen, will often prove useful adjuncts. When medicines are 

 given, rhubarb and aloes are to be preferred to others. The dinner pills (Pr. 65) 

 not only act on the bowels, but considerably increase the digestive powers. 

 Recourse should be had as little as possible to purgative remedies, for it may 

 afterwards become difficult to dispense with their assistance, and their habitual use 

 tends further to exhaust the muscular and nervous power of the stomach and 

 intestines. 



Nux vomica is a drug which is frequently used in the treatment of dyspepsia, 

 caused by taking indigestible food. It is indicated when the symptoms are pain, 



