I N C 



order, and troubled with wind. As t!ie weight of the 

 ftomach, even when filled witli food, can have fcarct-Iy any. 

 cffeft upon the motion of the blood in the aoyta, fo the 

 prefTure of the heart is by much too fniall to be able feniibly 

 to retard the motion of that fluid in the pulmonary veins, 

 otheruife, people exhauftcd by tedious difeafes, who gene- 

 rally lie on their back, would be conftantly alfedlcd with the 

 incubus. 



We know that certain medicines or poifons, woi-ms, and 

 even corrupted bile, or other humours, by difagreeably af- 

 feftiiig the nerves of the ftomach, produce an opprefiion 

 about the bread, wild imaginations, frightful dreams, raving, 

 and infenljbility ; and there is no doubt that low fpirits, 

 melancholy, and difturbed ilecp, often proceed from a dif- 

 ordcrcd ihUeoFthe ftomach. It fecms, therefore, more pro- 

 bable that the feat of the night-mare is principally in that 

 organ. It is well afcertained that fome forms of epilepfy, 

 and of hyllerical fits, originate from diforder in tliat v'tfcus ; 

 and Galen confidered the incnbu^ as a nocturnal or flighter 

 epilepfy. People troubled with nervous and hypochondriac 

 alFedtions, and v.'ho liave delicate or flatulent llomachs, are 

 more peculiarly fubieA to tliis diforder ; and it is obfervcd, 

 that a heavy or flatulent fupper greatly aggravates the 

 night-marc, in thofe who are predifpofed to it. The fym- 

 pathy of the ftomach with the head, heart, lungs, and dia- 

 phragm, is fo remarkable, that tlicre can be no difficulty 

 in referring the feveral fymptoms of the incubus to a dif- 

 agreeable irritation of the nerves of the ftomach. 



The incubus is raoft apt to feize pcrfons when lying on 

 their back, becaufe, in this polition, on accoimt of the fto- 

 mach and other abdominal vifcera prefTmg more upon the 

 diaphragm, we cannot infpire with the fame eafe as when 

 we fit up or lie on one fide. Further, in that fituation of 

 the body the food feems to lie heavier on the ftomach, "and 

 wind in it does not feparate fo readily by the ccfophagus and 

 pylorus, as in an erccl pofture, when thefe orifices are higher 

 than the other parts of the ftomach. The night-mare only 

 occurs in the time of fleep, becaufe the ftrange ideas excited 

 in the mind, in confequence of the difordcred feelings of 

 the ftomach, are not then correfted by the external fenfes 

 as they are when we are awake ; nor do we, by an increafed 

 refpiration or other motions of the body, endeavour to ftiake 

 oft" any beginning uneafy fenfation about the ftomach or 

 breait. Tlie incubus generally occurs in tlie firft ileep, and 

 feldoni towards morning, becaufe at the earlier period 

 the ftomach i« more loaded with food, and that in a more 

 triide and indigelled ftate than in the morning. A lefFcr 

 degree, amounting only to frightful dreams, is ahnofl; a 

 tonilant concomitant of overloaded llomacli in fome habits, 

 aee Dkh.a.m. 



In fa6t, if the night-mare were owing to a ftagnation of 

 the blood in the lungs from the weight c^f the heart, or in 

 tlie finufes and otiier veftils of the brain from the horizontal 

 pofture of the body, it would become greater the longer it 

 continued, and would fcarcely ever go off fpontaneoufly. 

 But we know that this difcafe, after affetling people for 

 lome time, often gradually ceafes, and is fuccecded by re- 

 trelhing fleep ; for as fooii as tlie load of meat, or wind, or 

 other caufe difagreeably afi'ecting the nerves of the ftomach 

 is len'TJved, the oppreflion arid weight on the breaft, wild 

 iriiaginations, frightful dreams, &c. vanifti ; as all thefe pro- 

 ceed originally from the diforder of the ftomach. It may 

 be remarked, however, that, as neither flatulency, phlegm, 

 nor crudities in the ftomach, ever produce the fymptoms of 

 hypochondiiafis, unlefs the nerves of that organ be indifpofed ; 

 fo neither a liorizontal pofture, fleep, nor lieavy fuppers, ever 



I N D 



produce the night-mare, at leaft in any confiderable de- 

 gree, unlefs the perfon be already predifpofed to the com* 

 plaint, from the particular condition of the nerves of the 

 ftomach. 



But although the ftomach is the part; commonly aff"c(l;ted 

 primarily in tht- cafe of incuJ.us ; yet fymptoms hke thofe of 

 the night mare may fometimes arife without any fault c£ 

 llie ftor.iach, when the lungs, or even the brain, are afFedcd. 

 Thus Dr. Whytt obferves, that afthmatic patients, whofe 

 lungs are much obftrucled, are fometimes difturbed, in time 

 of fleep, with diftrefling dreams, and oppreflcd with a fenfe of 

 fuftocation. Startings and oppreflions about the prjecordia, 

 with painful dreams, are indeed common occurrences from 

 hyilrolhorax, chronic coughs, and other pulmonary obitruc- 

 tio:!3 ; but they are not ftridly analogous to the common, 

 night -mare. Dr. Lower mentions a patient, who, though he 

 could fleep pretty eafily with his liead inclined forward ; yet, 

 in the oppofite ittuation, he was always foon awaked witli 

 horrid dreams and tremors ;. the caufe of which appeared^ 

 after his death, to have been a great quantity of water in the 

 ventricles of the brain. At all events, a pletlioric ftate of 

 habit, by rendering the circulation through the lungs lefs 

 free, may help to produce, or at leall increafe, the op.pref- 

 fion of the breaft in the night-mare. 



The Cure. — As incubus, then, is only a fymptom of dif- 

 ordered or loaded ftomach, and arifes out of the irritation and 

 morbid feelings which are tlnis produced during fleep, the 

 relief of the difeafe, generally fpeaking, lies within a nar- 

 row compafs. Temperarme in eating and drinking, efpecialiy 

 at late hours \ taking, in faft, either extremely light fuppers 

 or none at all ; and when the dinner is fo late as to be only 

 a fupper with another name, being cautious that that alfo 

 fliould he moderate in quantity, and eafily digeftible and un- 

 ftimulating iu its nature ; drinking thin, fub-aeid liquors, 

 where thefe arc agreeable to the conilitution, — thefe are the 

 principal remedies required. Briftc adlivc exercife, by which 

 the digeftive powers may be aided and the ftomach ftrength- 

 ened, is alfo advifable. It were ufeful, too, to fleep with 

 high pillows, and to lie on the fide as much as poffible, in 

 preference to the back. If the funftions of the ftomach 

 are much difordered with flatulency, heart-biu-n, acidity, or 

 oppreflion, with pain, or naufea, after taking food, the re- 

 medies rccoramended for indigejlinn (which fee) muft be refort- 

 ed to. The bowels ihould be kept open. See Whytt on Ner- 

 vous Diforders, chap. vi. (i 18. 



INCUMBENT, in La^w, a clerk refident on his benefice, 

 with cure. 



He is called incumbent of fuch church, becaufe he 

 ought to bend his whole ftudy to difcharge his cure. See 

 Rector and Vicar. 



INCUMBRAVIT. See Quare incumhravit. 



INCURABILI, the name of one of the celebrated con- 

 fervatorios or muflc-fchools at Venice, whe.-e orphan girls, 

 or girls of worthy parents in indigence, ufed to be well 

 educated and regularly bred to muilc as a profeflion. Ga- 

 luppi was matter of this confervatorio in 1770, when the 

 conipofition and performance were exquiiite. 



INCURVATION, the ad of bending a bone, or other 

 body, from its natural fliape. 



Incurvation of the Rays of Light. See Light, aod 

 Retuactig-k. 



INCUS, in Anatomy, one of the fmall bones contained in 

 the cavity of the tympanum. See Ear. 



INCUSSU, in Geography, a town of y\frica, in the king> 

 dom of Congo ; 80 miles S. of St. Salvador. 



INDAL, a town of Sweden, in the province of Medel- 



pad. 



