T Y U 



and llius fticw that they have fome efieft in relaxing the 

 fpadiis ot the inteftines, they ought to be repeated very 

 frequently. 



In order to take off the conftriftions of the inteftines, and 

 with fome view alfo to the carminative efFefts of the medi- 

 cines, various antifpafmodics have been propofed, and com- 

 monly employed ; but their effefls are feldom confiderablc ; 

 and it is alleged that their heating and inflammatory 

 powers have fometimes been hurtful. It is, however, always 

 proper to join fome of the milder kinds with both the pur- 

 gatives and glyllers that are employed ; and it has been 

 »ery properly advifed to give always the chief of antifpaf- 

 modics, that is, an opiate, after the operation of purgatives 

 is iinilhed. 



In coiifideration of the overftretched and tenfe ftate of the 

 inteltinLS, and efpecially of the fpafmodic conftriftions that 

 prevail, fomentations and warm bathing have been propofed 

 as a remedy ; and are faid to have been employed with ad- 

 vantage : but it has been remarked, that very warm baths 

 have not been found fo ufcful as tepid baths long con- 

 tinued. 



Upon the fuppofition that this difeafe depends efpecially 

 upon an atony of the alimentary canal, tonic remedies feem 

 to be properly indicated. Accordingly, chalybeates and 

 various bitters have been employed ; and, if any tonic, the 

 Peruvian bark might probably be ufeful. But as no tonic 

 remedy is more powerful than cold applied to the furface 

 of the body, and cold drink thrown into the ftomach ; fo 

 fuch a remedy has been thought of in this difeafe. Cold 

 drink has been conftantly prefcribed, and cold bathing has 

 been employed with advantage ; and there have been feveral 

 inftances of the difeafe being fuddenly and entirely cured by 

 the repeated application of fnow to the lower belly. 



It is hardly necefTary to remark, that, in the diet of tym- 

 panitic perfons, all forts of food difpofed to become flatulent 

 in the ftomach are to be avoided ; and it is probable, that 

 the mineral acids and neutral falts, as antizymics, may be 

 ufeful. 



In obftinate and defperate cafes of tympanites, the opera- 

 tion of the paracentefis (tapping) has been propofed ; but it 

 is a very hazardous remedy, and there is no fatisfaftory 

 teftimony of its having been praftifed with fuccefs. It muft 

 . be obvious, that this operation is a remedy fuited efpecially, 

 and almoll exclufively, to the tympanites abdominalis ; the 

 cxiftcnce of which, feparately from the inteftinalis, is very 

 doubtful, at leaft not eafily afcertained, yet it is not very 

 likely to be cured by this remedy : and how far the opera- 

 tion might be fafe in the tympanites inteftinalis, is not yet 

 determined by any proper experience. There would be a 

 danger, indeed, of converting the tympanites inteftinahs 

 into the tympanites abdominalis, by allowing the air to 

 efcape through the punfture of the inteftine into the fac of 

 the peritonxum, and thus of converting a lefs difeafe into a 

 greater, and, in fad, of producing irreparable mifchief. 



TYMPANOTRIBA, among the y^nn>n/j, a defignation 

 given to an effeminate perfon, who could do nothing but 

 plav on the tympanum. 



TYMPANUM, in Anatomy. See Ear. 



Tympanum, Difeafes of. The cavity of the drum 

 of the ear is fometimes affeded with a punform ichorous 



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matter, or when it is rendered impervious, and permanently 

 elofed by inflammation, the membrana tympani may not be 

 perfeft, and yet, it is clear, no air can in this ftate be forced 

 out of the external ear in the above manner. An examin- 

 ation with a blunt probe, or with the eye, while the rays of 

 the fun fall into the pafiage, fliould therefore not be omitted. 

 If the membrane have any aperture in it, the probe will 

 pafs into the cavity of the tympanum, and the furgeon feel 

 that his inftrument is in contaO; with the officula. 



In this manner the affeftion may be difcriminated from a 

 herpetic ulceration of the meatus auditorius externus. The 

 caufes are various : m fcarlatina maligna, the membrana 

 tympani occafionally inflames, and floughs ; all the oflicula 

 ai-e difcharged, and, if the patient hve, he continues quite 

 deaf. An ear-ache, in other words, acute inflammation of 

 the tympanum, is the moft common occafion of fuppuration 

 in this cavity, in which, and the cells of the maftoid procefs, 

 a good deal of pus collefts. At length, the membrana 

 tympani ulcerates, and a large quantity of matter is dif- 

 charged ; but, as the fecretion of pus ftill goes on, the dif- 

 charge continues to ooze out of the external ear. 



Inftead of ftimulating applications, inflammation of the 

 tympanum demands the rigorous employment of antiphlo- 

 giftic means. Unfortunately, it is a too common praftice, 

 in this cafe, to have recourfe to acrid fpirituous remedies. 

 Above all things, the repeated appUcation of leeches to the 

 ft<in behind the external ear, and over the maftoid procefs, 

 ftiould never be neglefted. As foon as the inflammation 

 ceafcs, the degree of deafnefs, occafioned by it, will alto 

 difappear. This, however, does not always happen. 



When an abfcefs is fituated in the cavity of the tympanum, 

 Mr. Saunders feems to think, that the membrana tympani 

 ftiould not be allowed to burft by ulceration, but be opened 

 by a fmall punfture. Sometimes the difeafe, of which we 

 are treating, is more infidious in its attack : (light paroxyfms 

 of pain occur, and are reheved by flight difcharges. The 

 cafe goes on in this way, until, at laft, a continual difc. 

 charge of matter from the ear takes place. The diforder is 

 deftruftive in its tendency to the faculty of hearing, and it 

 rarely ftops until it has fo much diforganized the tympanum 

 and Its contents, as to occafion total deafnefs. Hence Mr. 

 Saunders very properly defends the propriety of making at- 

 tempts to arreft its progrefs, — attempts which are free from 

 danger ; and he cenfures the foolifli fear of interfering with 

 the complaint, founded on the apprehenfion, that bad consti- 

 tutional eff"eas may originate from ftopping the difcharge. 



If the cafe be negleded, the tympanum is very hkely to 

 become carious ; before which change, the dileafe, fays 

 Mr. Saunders, is moft commonly curable. 



Mr. Saunders divides the complaint into three ftages : 

 I. A fimple puriform difcharge. 2. A punform difcharge 

 complicated with fungufesand polypi. 3_. A puriform dif- 



charge with caries of the tympanum. As the difeafe is a 



local one, dired applications to the parts aff"eaed are chiefly 



entitled to confidence. Blifters and fetons may be advan- 



tan-eoufly employed in aid of topical applications. Mr. 



Saiinders's pradice, in thefe cafes, confifts in adminiftering 



laxative medicines, and fomenting the ear while inflammatory 



fymptoms laft, and afterwards injeding a folution of zmcum 



vitriolatum, or ceruffa acetata. 



difcharc." attended with a lofs of hearing, proportionate to In the fecond ftage, when there are fungufes, he removes 



3^^ del;; o ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ - deftroys them with ^<^^.<^^V^^ -^'^^^-^X'^'fll^^Z 



me cearee oi oiiorKa: r ^^^^^ ^.^j^ ^^^ argentum nitratum, or injeas a lolution ot 



alum, zincum vitriolatum, or argentum nitratum. 

 Tympanum, in Architedure. See Tympan. 

 Tympani, Chorda. See Chorda. . r u i 



Tympanum, Tymban, in Mechanics, is a kind ot vvheel 



placed 



^..^ ^^-.^^ „. diforga 



fuftained. In general, on blowing the nofe, air is expelled 

 at the meatus auditorius externus : and, when this is the 

 cafe, it is evident that the difcharge is connefted with an 

 injury, or deftrudion of the membrana tympani. However, 

 when the Euftachian tube is obftruaed with mucus, or 



