oj tlie otomacli, id45 



cannot be owing, it appears to me, to fermentation. The 

 cause assigned does not appear adequate to the produc- 

 tion of evils, so suddenly induced, and attended with such 

 distressing consequences. 



3. Strong passions of the mind often produce an influx 

 and accumulation of acid in the stomach, in a very short 

 time ; much sooner than we are authorized from ac-^ 

 knowledged facts, to attribute to fermentation. A person, 

 who has not been attentive to this subject, would be 

 greatly surprized to witness the efiects, which sometimes 

 result from this cause. Any unusual agitation of mind 

 produces a similar effect. A lady, who suffered a sudden 

 and violent fright, perceived an immediate and copious 

 influx of acid into her stomach. She was previously free 

 from this evil, 



4. This opinion derives no small support from the ef- 

 fects which are in some instances produced on the stom- 

 ach, by a blow on the head, or a concussion of the brain, 

 or a general concussion of the body, occasioned by falling 

 from a height. One of the effects of such violence done 

 to the system is, often, the sudden production of nausea 

 and vomiting. The matter ejected by vomiting is frequent- 

 acid to a high degree, and this too in stomachs, where 

 acid before was rarely or not at all experienced, in per- 

 sons of very robust habits, persons accustomed to eat all 

 sorts of food with impunity, hard labouring men, such as 

 \vould ridicule the idea of acidity or debility of the stom- 

 ach as applied to themselves. How shall this be ac- 

 counted for ? In my own opinion, only in the following 

 manner : The stomach becomes either primarily, or sym- 

 pathetically, or in both v.^ays, immediately disordered, 

 and to such a degree as to occasion great alterations in 

 the secretion of its fluids, both in their nature and quan- 

 tity. Every one who has Ijcen conversant with subjects 

 of this nature, must have noticed that, in cases where the 

 violence done to the system is considerable, the pulse 

 immediately ceases to beat, and a universal torpor and 

 coldness, like the coldness of death, comes on as sudden- 

 ly, over the whole surface of the bod3^ This state of 

 things greatly increases the disorder of the stomach, and 

 the acid flows forth from all its secreting vessels. The 



