TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 107 



thirty years infinitely the most effectual remedy, as also for those acids 

 which soften the bones and occasion rickets and debility. This fluid 

 is exempt from the danger of forming concretions in the interior cavi- 

 ties, as was so often the case when crude magnesia was taken. 



The fluid magnesia was then tested, and gave the greatest satisfac- 

 tion to the Section. Sir James appealed to many members then pre- 

 sent, from Dublin, Belfast, Edinburgh, and Glasgow, to testify that he 

 had spent thirty years in bringing this elegant preparation into perfect 

 condensation, and into a state exempt from all impurities. 



On Alkaline Indigestion. By R. D. Thomson, M.D. 



The author stated that he had brought this subject before the 

 British Association at Bristol, but that since that period he had not 

 only from ample experience confirmed the results of his former in- 

 quiries, but had elicited several other conclusions of importance. In 

 the healthy state, there is no doubt that during a portion at least of the 

 process of digestion, the contents of the stomach are in an acid state. 

 Whatever this acid may be, there is no doubt that when it accumulates 

 to a certain extent, the stomach can no longer sustain it, and disease 

 ensues in the form of heartburn, acid eructations, &c. Where the 

 contents of the stomach assume any condition offensive to that organ, 

 either from too much acid or from too small a proportion, the stomach, 

 in many cases, ejects a clear fluid, which Dr. Thomson has found to 

 be accompanied by different symptoms, according to the chemical 

 re-action of the fluid : thus in heartburn an acid fluid is ejected, but 

 without any cessation of pain in the stomach ; while, on the con- 

 trary, if a neutral fluid be ejected, according to the experience of the 

 author, the pain is alleviated on the instant that the fluid is got rid of. 

 This is a more rare case of indigestion, but the author has met with it 

 several times. It may be termed Neutral Indigestion. The third form 

 of indigestion which Dr. Thomson has met with is the alkaline state 

 of the fluid ejected. He terms it Alkaline Indigestion. The pecu- 

 liar features of this disease are a violent pain in the region of the 

 stomach, accompanied sometimes with a feeling of fainting, head- 

 ache, and more rarely an inclination to vomit. Suddenly a sensation 

 of spasm comes on, as if some contraction were taking place, and the 

 patient speedily finds his mouth full of water, which he is obliged to 

 empty. This operation he has no sooner performed, than he requires 

 to repeat it, and at last a continuous stream flows from his mouth, 

 which endures for some time, when it ceases, and along with it the 

 pain of the stomach. This, together with the chemical re-action of 

 the fluid ejected, appears to distinguish, in a very complete manner, 

 alkaline and neutral indigestion from the acid state. The distinction 

 is the more important, because these diff"erent forms require, in some 

 measure, opposite modes of treatment. With regard to the cause of 

 the alkaline re-action, Dr. Thomson stated, that after evaporating the 



