254 Oji Chronic Debility 



A gentleman having suffered the sebaceous matter which 

 is secreted under the prepuce, to remain till it had ac- 

 quired some acrimony, was affected as follows. A very 

 great increase took place inthe secretion, even tomore than 

 tv/enty times the usual quantity, and instead of its ordina- 

 ry mildness and consistency, it became highly acrid, thin 

 and of a pale colour. In spite of the utmost attention, it 

 continued many weeks, and was with great difficulty re- 

 moved, by the aid of very powerful stimulants. Now I 

 would ask, is there any greater difficulty in admitting 

 a morbid secretion of the gastric liquor, than there is in 

 admitting the existence of the facts abovementioned? It 

 may be remarked further, that when secreting vessels 

 have taken on wrong action, it is, in many instances, dif- 

 ficult to restore them, and that when relieved, they are 

 apt from very slight causes, to be disordered again. I 

 have dwelt the longer on this subject, because all the phy- 

 sicians with whom I have conversed, excepting one or 

 two, have been wholly unwilling to admit, even if the 

 gastric liquor were supposed to undergo any changes, 

 that it could be secreted in a morbid state ; but have sup- 

 posed that such changes must be owing to decomposi- 

 tion. If it is secreted in a morbid state, I cannot say 

 that it does, or does not undergo further changes in the 

 stomach. I have no facts in my possession, which will 

 warrant me to form a decisive opinion on this subject. 



What the nature of this acid is, I do not know. Dr. 

 Eli Ives, of this city, supposes it to be the phosphoric ; 

 from its strong resemblance to that in taste. No chem- 

 ical analj'sis of it has been made, within my knowledge. 

 Phosphoric acid has been discovered in the gastric juice 

 of the sheep, the calf, and the bullock, and from tliese 

 circumstances it is not impossible, that the conjecture is 

 right. 



The effects which the acidity in question produces, are, 

 many of those which have been already mentioned, as 

 symptoms of Chronic Debility of the Stomach. 1 say 

 that these are produced by acidity, because I have often 

 experienced many of them in my own case, and seen them 

 in other cases, taking place immediately on the com- 

 mencement of a paroxysm of acidity, and subsiding, and 



