PATHOLOGY. 
102 
into the fauces ; an altered ftate of the gaftric or of the 
pancreatic juices; the prefence of an increafed or dimi- 
niftied quantity of thefe fluids ; an altered ftate of the 
bile; an infuflicient quantity of that fluid, whether ari- 
fing from diminifhed fecretion, or from fome obftrudtion 
to its influx into the duodenum ; the prefence of too 
great a quantity of bile; the flow of too great a quantity 
of that fluid into the ftomach ; dileafed condition of the 
ftomach, whether confiding of Ample plethora, of inflam¬ 
mation, diminifhed capacity, inordinate diftenfion, thick¬ 
ening of its coats, partial rupture, ulceration, or dif- 
placement; difordered conditions of the cardiac or py¬ 
loric orifices ; obftrudied ftates of the inteftines; hurried 
adlion of the bowels; increafed fecretion of enteric 
juice ; diminifhed or depraved fecretion of that fluid; col¬ 
lections of fteces; worms; diminifhed fenfibility of the 
nerves of the ftomach, whence may enfue diminifhed fe¬ 
cretion of gaftric juice, and diminifhed adlion of the 
mufcular fibres of that cavity; an interruption of the 
communication between the cerebral and the anti-cere¬ 
bral extremities of thofe nerves; increafed fenfibility of 
the nerves of the ftomach, whence may enfue, increafed 
fecretion of gaftric fluid, pain referred to the ftomach, 
and the production of vomiting; altered ftates of the 
cranial and fpinal brain; deficiency of nervous power ; 
longabfence offleep; an increafe ora diminution of tem¬ 
perature, generally or locally ; powerful fenfations; paf- 
fions, efpecially thofe of the deprefling kind; powerful 
exertion of the faculties, &c. &c. 
The firft caufe of difeafe, then, which we have to 
treat of, is the food. On this fubjeCt we propofe to fpeak 
fomewhat fully, becaufe it regards one of the princi¬ 
pal agents in therapeutics. The difeafed aCtions of the 
alimentary canal, of the collatitious vifcera, and laltly of 
the ftate of the nervous,power, will conllitute the next 
fubjedls of difcuflion. 
That the natural food of man is equally theprodudl of 
the animal and vegetable kingdom; that his digeftive 
powers accommodate themfelves, in a certain degree, to 
various kinds of fuftenance; that, ceteris paribus, vege¬ 
tables and water are capable of nouriftiing men of the 
rnoft powerful mufcular and ienforial developments ; and 
that the oppofite practice is attended with equally good 
effedls ; are truths fo generally admitted and firmly 
founded on the hiftorical records of every country, that 
they need form no part ofourprefent difcuflion. On the 
other hand, that the partially-refined and half-civilized 
ftate in which we now live, our frequent meals, their 
quantity difproportioned to our exercife, and the various 
combinations which the culinary art affords us, may be 
faid fully to counteract the ufeful and accommodating 
conftitution with which we are endowed, are remarks 
fo trite and familiar, that nothing but their importance, 
ancl the want of attention paid to them, excufes our re¬ 
petition of them. The diet of man requires a certain 
adaptation to the varieties of climate ; and here injlind , 
(or, as fome call it, nature,) untutored by education and 
refinement, feems the bell guide ; for we find moft fa- 
vages preferring in hot climates the vegetable fufte¬ 
nance, in colder regions animal food: and this me¬ 
thod of life experience proves to be moft conducive to 
longevity and ftrength. Not that we are very favourable 
to the mode of life called natural, being fully perfuaded 
that man’s natural ftate is that of the higheft civilization, 
fince to that he is continually tending; and hence we 
ftiould not have ufed this faft as an argument unlefs it 
had been fupported by our own experience. 
The fubjeCt of diet, in reference to our own climate, 
and in cafes of difeafe, has occupied very general atten¬ 
tion ; but the difficulty with which this fubjedt is at¬ 
tended, precludes us from prefenting our readers with any 
•philofophical view of it; for moft writers have been occu¬ 
pied withdetailingthegoodorbad effedlsof particular fub- 
ftances, founded, it is to be feared, in too many inftances, 
on partial views or individual feelings. Thus we are 
continually hearing, even from medical men, that fuch a 
thing is eafy of digeftion, and another difficult, and fo 
on; while our indiferiminate application of thefe rules 
foon teaches their fallacy : it foon fhows that what agrees 
with one perfon produces violent effedls on another, and 
that different ftates of diforder in the ftomach require 
regimen of very oppofite powers. 
In the natural and healthy ftate of the body, we mull 
regard in fome meafure the Hippocratic advice; not to 
carry our dietetic arrangements to a too great degree 
of refinement, becaufe any occafional irregularity will 
produce the more unpleafant effedls ; but at any rate the 
ftate of health is bell confulted by partaking of few 
articles at a meal. The proportion of exercife, too, be¬ 
comes a matter of conlideration ; but inftindl points out 
the true path ; for, as lefs exercife is taken, lefs appetite 
is experienced. The habit of meeting our friends at 
meals, the variety of provifions which kindnefs and hof- 
pitality prefent to and urge on us, are perhaps the moll 
frequent caufes why thele inftindlive calls are fo feldom 
attended to. But, though to thofe who take frequent 
exercife, this relaxation and enjoyment is productive of 
fcarcely any inconvenience, yet it is feverely felt by the 
fedentary and the ftudious ; and hence to the latter are 
rules and regulations more generally addreffed. 
It has been held of late years that drinking at meals is 
an unneceffary, and indeed improper, cuftom. This opi¬ 
nion receives fupport from obferving the habits of ani¬ 
mals, few of which drink while digeftion is going on in 
the ftomach. In Greece, this cuftom of dry feeding is 
faid to prevail; and Xenophon fays, that the ancients did 
not drink till the repaft was finilhed. We have not fuffi- 
cient proofs to enable us to engage in proving or difpro- 
ving this dogma; but we may obferve, that its applica¬ 
tion fhould of courfe be fomewhat regulated by habit and 
inclination, and by the nature of the food and the ftate 
of the atmofphere. In the Didlionnaire des Sciences 
Medicales, the fentiments of Halle and Nyften on this 
fubjedl are thus expreffed : “ La quantite de boiffon k 
prendre pendant le repas doit etre en proportion d’autant 
plus grande ou moindre, que les alimens eux-memes 
font plus fees ou plus humides ; qu’ils fe laiffent plus ou 
moins aifement penetrer par les liquides falivaires et gaf- 
triques ; qu’ils forment, par leur vifeofite, une maffe 
plus ou moins tenace; qu’ils ont plus ou moins la pro- 
priete de diftendre l’eftomac et d’y fejourner uncertain 
temps. Les boiffons doivent aufli etre prifes en quantite 
plus ou moins grande, fuivant les conftitutions indivi- 
duelles qui, en raifon de leur degre de fechereffe ou d’hu- 
midite, prefentent des differences tres-grandes relative- 
ment a la quantite et au degre de liquidite des fucs fali¬ 
vaires et gallriques. Les perfonnes feches et bilieufes, 
dont les organes font tres-irritables et dont la chaleur 
propre eft plus ardente, dont les evacuations inteftinales 
font plus habituellement dures et feches, qui font ordi- 
nairement conftipees, ont befoin d’une plus grande quan¬ 
tite de liquides aqueux et frais. La proportion des boif¬ 
fons aux alimens doit enfin varier felon 1’influence des 
faifons et de l’etat de l’atmofphere. On peut cependant 
pofer en principe, i°, qu’une quantite de boiffon qui 
excede trop la mefure des befoins naturels, cnerve les \ 
digeftions, et favorife les alterations fpontanees des ali¬ 
mens qui fejournent dans l’eftomac, furtout quand ce 
wifeere a peu adlivite ; 2 0 , qu’une quantite de boiffon 
infuffifante prolonge le fejour des alimens dans la cavitc 
galtrique, et entretient le fentiment de plenitude qui en 
eft la fuite. Mais il faut furtout, a cet egard, fe mettre 
en garde contre l’habitude qui outrepaffe plus fouvent 
la mefure qu’elle ne refte en-de$a; connaitre, par fon 
experience, quelle quantite de liquide eft ia plus favora¬ 
ble ; favoir que la foif que donne l’ufage des fubilances 
feches, en epuifant fur-le-champ les organes falivaires, 
n’eft fouvent que momentanee, et fe difiipe en peu d’in- 
ftans par le renouvellement de la falive. Ces oblervr.tions 
font importantes pour ceux dont les digeftions font lentes, 
1 imparfaites; 
