DIETETICS. 



teers, has learned to carry his person bet- 

 ter, and been afterwards free from this 

 complaint ; whilst, before he had the drill- 

 serjeant's assistance, it was difficult to 

 make him stand erect at any time. 



The overfilled stomach, which brings 

 the patient into an apoplectic state, is a 

 case which requires the instantaneous 

 exhibition of the most powerful emetics. 

 A strong solution of vitriolated zinc is the 

 most proper medicine for this purpose ; it 

 is preferable to any form of antimony, be- 

 cause the latter, even in a very large dose, 

 will commonly have no emetic effect at 

 all in the torpid state of the stomach, 

 which is here the alarming symptom, but 

 the patient will be thrown by it into a vio- 

 lent debilitating perspiration, and the 

 time for relieving his stomach and saving 

 his life will be lost for ever. As soon as 

 the stomach is relieved, and the efforts to 

 vomit have ceased, a large dose of some 

 purgative medicine, and especially of the 

 mercurial class, may be advantageously ex- 

 hibited : and the exhaustion of the power 

 of the stomach must afterwards be at- 

 tempted to be recovered by a regimen of 

 warm and acrid stimulants, especially 

 horse-radish, mustard, garlic, and onions ; 

 with the occasional use, as well id the 

 former, as in the present consequence of 

 the impletion, of gum pill with aloes, or 

 a very small quantity of calomel. 



HTI'OCHONDRIASIS AND SICK HEAD-ACH : 



the disease of erudition and study. 



The elegant and accurate Aretaeus ex- 

 presses himself to the following effect, in 

 his very valuable chapter on diseases of 

 the stomach. 



" The stomach is a grand seat of plea- 

 surable feelings and of disquietude. When 

 its action is perfect, firmness and elastici- 

 ty of fibre in conjunction with a ruddy 

 complexion indicate health, and the diges- 

 tion is easy. On the contrary, when the 

 stomach is disquieted, there is an aversion 

 to food ; not only when it is placed on 

 the table, but to the very thought of it, 

 and dejection of mind is the consequence 

 of insufficent nourishment; nausea, anx- 

 iety, collections of fluid in the stomach, 

 and cardialgia, ensue, and sometimes in- 

 creased flow of saliva and vomiting. 

 Though the whole body suffers while 4 the 

 stomach remains empty, yet greater suf- 

 fering is produced when necessity has 

 required food to be taken, and it is masti- 

 cated with aversion, and swallowed with 

 still greater disgust, and pain nxJre intol- 

 erable than hunger ensues, and the pain 



between the shoulders increases ; dim- 

 ness of sight, tingling of the ears, and 

 heaviness of the head, take place, with 

 torpor of the limbs, feebleness of the ex- 

 tremities, and sensations of palpitation 

 about the prsecordia ; patients feel them- 

 selves agitated, and as it were driven to 

 and fro like reeds or trees by a gust of 

 wind ; they are sleepless, though heavy 

 and ready to fall asleep in a state resem- 

 bling coma ; they are meagre, pale, lan- 

 guid, deprived of strength, inactive, inani- 

 mate, and indolent, but they are sudden- 

 ly excited to anger : their situation much 

 resembles that of melancholia, with which 

 disease they frequently become affected." 



Aretseus proceeds to state the causes 

 of the affection he has described ; it at- 

 tacks those, he says, who from necessity 

 have lived on thin and spare diet, and 

 those of laborious and patient erudition, 

 who are so absorbed in the precepts and 

 practice of philosophy, as to hold in con- 

 tempt a plenty and variety of nourish- 

 ment; they never change the scene, or 

 take exercise, or indulge in any relaxation 

 of mind ; their love of learning detaches 

 them from every other consideration, 

 from their country, their parents, their 

 kindred, from themselves, for the whole 

 of their lives; pale and wan at all times, 

 in youth they have all the infirmities of 

 age; their mind, from exhaustion, be- 

 comes enervated and cloudy, and they 

 seldom indulge in cheerfulness, and 

 laughter and mirth are strangers t 

 them. 



Such is a faint and very indifferent 

 sketch of the admirable picture drawn by 

 Aretaeus, so far as it applies to modern 

 hypochondriasis, as proceeding chiefly 

 from undue mental labour and exertion. 

 To persons of this character it does not 

 often happen, that the symptoms they 

 experience are the sole result of poor 

 feeding from necessity : yet it certainly 

 does occur to hypochondriacs, to have 

 their complaints aggravated from want 

 of regular meals, and many persons fall 

 into this disease, in a great measure, from 

 nerer thinking of taking any sustenance 

 till their very late hour of dinner; and 

 when the disease has prevailed for some 

 time, they frequently form rules of diet 

 for themselves, or derive them from the 

 advice of all whom they may have oc- 

 casionally consulted, and they very com- 

 monly attend more to the cautions they 

 have received against the tedentia, than to 

 any encouragement as to the juvantia ; 

 depend for restitution of health on 

 avoiding all that has been pointed out to 



