DIETETICS. 
lids, and frequently a jaundiced tint ap- 
pears from obstruction to the free secretion 
or passaje of the bile, and all the common 
dyspeptic symptoms occur. 
It is obvious, in all these cases, when the 
occupation of the patient will allow of avoid- 
ing that posture, which is the sole cause of 
bis malady, that this is all which is necessary 
to prevent its return : from the force of 
habit, however, directions to this effect are 
seldom sufficiently obeyed : where the case 
has been of long standing, or there have 
been frequent repetitions of the attacks, 
and the lungs, liver, and other viscera, some 
or all of them become affected, the treat- 
ment must be adapted to the state of those 
parts : riding on horseback daily will do 
much service ; and many a working trades- 
man, having lately entered into some corps 
of volunteers, has learned to carry his per- 
son better, and been afterwards free from 
this complaint ; whilst, before he had the 
drill-seijeant’s assistance, it was difficult to 
make him stand erect at any time. 
The overfilled stomach, which brings the 
patient into an apoplectic state, is a case 
which requires the instantaneous exhibition 
of the most powerful emetics. A strong 
solution of vitriolated zinc is the most pro- 
per medicine for this purpose ; it is pre- 
ferable to any form of antimony, because 
the latter, even in a very large dose, will 
commonly have no emetic effect at all in 
the torpid state of the stomach, which is 
here the alarming symptom, but the patient 
will be thrown by it into a violent debili- 
tating perspiration, and the time for re- 
lieving his stomach and saving his life will 
be lost for ever. As soon as the stomach is 
relieved, and the efforts to vomit have 
ceased, a large dose of some purgative me- 
dicine, and especially of the mercurial 
■class may be advantageously exhibited : and 
the exhaustion of the power of tlse stomach 
must afterwards be attempted to be re- 
covered by a regimen of warm and acrid 
stimulants, especially horse-radish, mustard, 
garlic, and onions ; with the occasional use, 
as well in the former, as in the present 
consequence of the impletion, of gum pill 
with aloes, or a very small quantity of ca- 
lomel. 
HYPOCHONDRIASIS AND SICK HEAD-ACH : 
the disease of erudition and study. 
The elegant and accurate Aretaeus ex- 
presses himself to the following effect, in 
this very valuable chapter on diseases of the 
stomach. 
“ The stomach is a grand sect of plearar • 
able feelings and of disquietude. When 
its action is perfect, firmness and elasticity 
of fibre in conjunction with a ruddy com- 
plexion indicate health, and the digestion is 
easy. On the contrary, when the stomach 
is disquieted, there is an aversion to food ; 
not only when it is placed on the table, but 
to the very thought of it, and dejection of 
mind is the consequence of insufficient 
nourishment ; nausea, anxiety, collections 
of fluid in the stomach, and cardialgia en- 
sue, and sometimes increased flow of sali- 
va and vomiting. Though the whole body 
suffers while the stomach remains empty, 
yet greater suffering is produced when 
necessity has required food to be taken, 
and it is masticated with aversion, and 
sw'allowed with still greater disgust, and 
pain more intolerable than hunger ensues, 
and the pain between the shoulders in- 
creases; dimness of sight, tingling of the 
ears, and heaviness of the head take place, 
with torpor of the limbs, feebleness of tlie 
extremities, and sensations of palpitation 
about the praecordia ; patients feel them- 
selves agitated, and as it were driven to and 
fro like reeds or trees by a gust of wind ; 
they are .sleepless, though heavy and ready 
to fall asleep in a state resembling coma ; 
they are meagre, pale, languid, deprived of 
strength, inactive, inanimate, and indolent, 
but they are suddenly excited to anger : 
their situation much resembles that of me- 
lancholia, with which disease they frequent- 
ly become affected.” 
Aretaeus proceeds to state the causes of 
the affection he has described : it attacks 
those, he says, who from necessity have 
lived on thin and spare diet, and those of 
laborious and patient erudition, who are so 
absorbed in the precepts and practice of 
philosophy as to hold in contempt a plenty 
and variety of nourishment ; they never 
change the scene, or take exercise, or in- 
dulge in ally relaxation of mind ; their love 
of learning detaches them from every other 
consideration, from their country, their pa- 
rents, their kindred, from themselves for the 
whole of their lives ; pale and wan at all 
times ; in youth they have all the infirmities 
of age ; their mind, from exhaustion, be- 
comes enervated and cloudy, and they sel- 
dom indulge in cheerfulness, and laughter 
and mirth are strangei’s to them. 
Such is a faint and very indiflerent sketch 
of the admirable picture drawn by Are- 
taeus, so far as it applies to modern hypo- 
chondriasis, as proceeding chiefly from un- 
I 
