THE NOtf-CO^TAGIOUS DISEASES. 197 



enter the circulation, and gradually the individual is 

 overcome. The nervous system is bathed with impuri- 

 ties and loses its sensitiveness and power to control, 

 the brain becomes clouded and dull, a sense of languor 

 and indisposition pervades the whole being, the activity 

 of the tissues or cells is diminished, their power to select 

 nourishment is lessened, the blood lacks the normal 

 elements, and the most shattered state of the vital 

 forces exists. Ambition and energy are gone, and that 

 "tired feeling," so dear to the patent-medicine shark, 

 takes possession. This condition may exist for months 

 in a mild form, the individual keeping about his work, 

 or may explode suddenly, producing great prostration. 



The trouble usually commences in the stomach. The 

 irritation paralyzes more or less the delicate nerves 

 supplying the blood vessels. They lose control, the 

 vessels dilate and too much blood is the result. The 

 mucous membrane lining the stomach is thickened and 

 swollen, the digestive fluid becomes changed in quality^ 

 it lacks the digestive power, and the secretions become 

 thick and tenacious, the result of catarrh of the stom- 

 ach. 



The septic condition of the digestive tract may result 

 in appendicitis, typhoid fever, or peritonitis. It may 

 cause chronic catarrh, tuberculosis, or cancer of the 

 stomach. Tuberculosis of the digestive tract in adults 

 rarely occurs unless other parts of the body are invaded 

 first. 



In nearly all cases of fatal chronic diseases of the 

 heart, brain, lungs, kidneys, rheumatism, etc., we are 

 told that a careful examination of the mucous mem- 



