insufficient and unwholesome food, and sedentary pursuits, tend to it.

Among tlie more exciting causes are exposure to cold or

damp, especially after the body has been heated, intemperance of any kind,

profuse evacuations, and exposure to the reception of dust into the lungs, as in

the case of certain artificers, needle-pointers, stonecutters, and the like.

Remedy, pages 101, 109, 110, 112, 113, 117, 118, 125, 184.

—

CONVULSION PITS OP CHILDIIEN„—

When we speak of convulsions, or convulsion fits, we most commonly mean epilepsy and principally

it which occurs in very young children.

Symptoms.— In some cases convulsions come on suddenly, at other times

the attack is gradual, and the first symptoms elude the observation of the

that species of

attendants.

livid in a

In the sudden attack, the child, previously quite well, becomes

his eyes and features are contorted, and the limbs and

moment;

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES.

11

These symptoms end by the patient falling

some cases proves fatal, and in others

goes gradually off. In those cases where the attack is milder and more gradual,

the child shows some degree of uneasiness; he suddenly changes color, his lips

quiver, his eyes are turned upwards, and he stretches himself out, or his hands

become clenched. Sometimes there is a rapid succession of fits; sometimes

the intervals between them are long. Convulsions vary also in their degree of

Before the fatal termination of many of the diseases of infancy,

violence.

convulsions occur, and appear to be the cause of death. Hence, their taking

place after long or serious illness, may be considered as an indication of

approaching death. But a single fit may destroy an infant. When the return

of the convulsions is not suspended within forty-eight hours after active treatment has been adopted, there is reason to dread either a sudden fatal termination, or a long protraction of the disease. In this latter case, if the infant does

not become emaciated, there is a probability of his eventual recovery, even

although he had been blind and insensible for days or weeks. In some rare

If emaciacases, though the health be restored, imbecility of mind remains.

tion attend the protraction of fits, the living powers at last give way.

Causes.

Convulsions arise from any thing capable of strongly irritating

the nervous system; hence infants and young children, whose nervous system is

whole body are violently agitated.

into a state of insensibility, which in

—

so very delicate, and who are exposed to so many causes of irritation, are by far

These may arise from worms

the most frequently affected with convulsions.

in the Intestines, from certain kinds of food disagreeing with the child, from

acidity, from wind; and, with remarkable frequency, from teething.

Another

cause of convulsions in children is the too sudden disappearance or going in of

a rash or eruptive disorder. Children very frequently are seized with convulsions just before the appearance of small-pox; and in some cases, though very

rarely, they occur before the

appearance of measles.

arising from want of cleanliness, living in foul

The general irritation

air, etc.,

may give rise to con-

Sometimes they are only the symptoms of a more deep and violent

disease, as of water in the head, or growth of bone within the skull.

In this

case GUI attention is to be directed to the original disease; the symptoms and

treatment of water in the head will be detailed in their proper place

Remedy, page 232.

vulsions.

CKOUP. —

—

Symptomg: In what is known as false croup the child coughs

for two or three days, running at the nose, slight cold at first; or these symp-

toms may be absent.

Between 10 and 12 o'clock at night may occur a sudden,

loud, barking cough, whistling breathing, breathing hard, face flushed, great

restlessness, skin

hot and dry, pulse

generally gets well,

fast, lasts

from 1

to 3 hours; patient

—subject to return ot disease.

In true croup the symptoms are: cold in head; hoarse, dry cough; voice

hoarse, spittle frothy, membrane comes off when child vomits, breathing rapid,

and the chest is quiet, the breathing being done by the bowel muscles; nostrils

dilated, spasms of throat, and child throws itself from side to side; eyes wild;

face anxious, fingers and jlips blue, between spasms of throat, child is quiet;

DR. CEASE'S RECIPES.

12

pulse, 110 to 190.

If symptoms

they will recommence.

lull,

do not think child is better, for usually

Disease lasts from 2 to 14 days, and 19 out of 20 die.

Remedy, pages 105, 106, 107, 210.

DELIRIUM TREMENS.— -%mpi!<wM.— This is a disease consisting

and exhaustion of the nervine functions.

Physicians 'term it Delirium Tremens, from the abberation of mind and the

universal shaking of the body which characterise it.

It is generally caused by

essentially of excessive irritability

excessive and long continued abuse of ardent spirits; or by their sudden withdrawal; but it may arise from any cause which exhausts the brain, or excites

the nervous system for a length of time.

Symptoms. —The attack of this complaint is more or less sudden in differ-

For a few days at its commencement, the patient is merely

incapable of his ordinary duties and exertion; a constant restlessness, debility,

ent instances.

and inappetency, and occasional vomiting take place, with dullness and dejection of spirits, and headache.

Vague suspicions are entertained of approaching

danger, and he is haunted by visions and figures. Delirium generally accompanies these hallucinations, and the patient is always looking about, apprehen

sive of being seized, and distrusting every one who approaches.

for a

He is sensible

The

moment when reasoned with, but soon reverts to his delusions.

pulse is quick, but soft, the skin cool or perspiring, and the pupil dilated.

Remedy, page 190.

DIABETES. —Symptoms. — The name of a disease in which the urine is

The normal amount of urine passed every

twenty-four hours is about fifty fluid ounces, while in diabetes the patient will

exceedingly increased in quantity.

often pass from three to five gallons of pale colored urine within that time, and

contains a great portion of sugar.

There is great thirst and a voracious

appetite, with wasting of the body; and the quantity of the urine far exceeds the

food and drink taken in. Young persons are rarely attacked with this disorder.

The most frequent subjects of it are those in middle age or in the decline of life,

or who have made a free use of wine in their earlier years. It happens to persons

of both sexes, and it is not easy to point out any particular constitution that is

subject to it, or to say that any other disease is a forerunner of it. Dissection

throws little light on the nature of this complaint; but it is now believed to be

owing to a distinct lesion of the nervous system. Diabetes comes on insidiously

without any previous disorder;

it may continue for a long time without much

emaciation, and it is commonly the great thirst and voracious appetite that first

call attention to the disorder that is goin^ on in the system.

is also a

symptom of some importance.

Severe headache

The emaciation is probably connected

with increased metamorphosis, as indicated by the increased secretion of urea

and phosphates. Sometimes, in the progress of the disease, the stomach is

considerably deranged, the skin becomes dry, parched and scaly, and there is

a sense of weight and pain in the urinary passages. When the disease has

continued long, there is extreme emaciation, debility, and the usual symptom*

of hectic fever. Remedy, pages 176, 177, 184, 178-180.

I

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES

13

DIARRHCEA, OR LOOSENESS OP THE BOWELS.—A disand liquid evacuations by stool than usual,

It is distinguished from dysentery by

the absence of painful and ineffectual straining, and by the stools not consisting of blood and mucus.

Causes.— The causes of diarrhoea are many and various. 1. Cold applied

to the whole body is not an unfrequent cause, and cold applied to the feet

ease consisting of more frequent

with griping and occasional vomiting.

alone, in very

many cases, produces diarrhoea.

2.

Diseases of other parts of

the body give rise to diarrhoea, as happens to infants while teething, and to

persons who have a paroxysm of gout. 3. Certain emotions of the mind, par4. Certain articles of food taken

ticularly fear, are known to cause diarrhoea.

stomach produce looseness. 5. Certain secretions of the body itself

poured into the intestines, cause a laxity of them. In this way, heat is probably a cause of diarrhoea by first stimulating the liver; the increased secretion

from which excites that from the small intestines, and looseness is the result.

into the

Looseness sTwuld not be rasMy checked. From the great variety of causes

inducing diarrhoea, it must be obvious that it would be impossible to lay down

any plan of cure that would apply to all cases, and it is often a matter of doubt

whether it should be meddled with at all; thus, when from a surfeit, either in

quantity, or from taking improper articles of food, a diarrhoea is produced, a

wise physician will consider it as a salutary effort of nature to get rid of what

would be noxious if retained; and he will allow it to go on for a time, taking

Remedy, pages 60, 127,

care to watch that it does not come to excess.

128, 138, 139, 277.

DIPHTHERIA.—The disease begins in the foi-m of a whitish spot on

one or both tonsils, unaccompanied at first by fever, and attended with only a

trifling degree of

uneasiness in swallowing.

By and by this spot enlarges; its

edges become of a florid color, fever steals on, and the act of swallowing

slough gradually forms, with evident ulceration at its

becomes painful.

edges; the fever increases, and headache and restlessness supervene. The partial

A

separation of the slough, together with the rosy color of the edges of the ulcer,

with the moderate degree of fever for some days, promise a favorable issue.

But very unexpectedly, slowness of breathing, without either difficulty or

wheezing takes place, with excessive and sudden sinking of the living powers;

and it generally happens that within a day from this change the fatal event

occurs; the breathing at first falls to eighteen respirations in the minute, then

to sixteen, to twelve, and finally to ten or eight.

Two other symptoms occa-

sionally attend the disease; the one is a most offensive smell of the breath, and

The disease attacks people of

the other is the sudden appearance of croup.

various ages.

Remedy, pages 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 107.

DROPSY.— -S'ymp<<w^s.— A disease, of which a very conspicuous symptom is the effusion of a watery fluid in certain cavities and cells, where it is

not perceptible in the healthy state. Thus water may be accumulated in the

ventricles of the brain, in the chest, in the belly, and the cellular texture generally, giving rise to a train of symptoms, different in each particular case, and

requiring particular modes of cure.

Water effused in the ventricles of the

DR. CJASWS RECIPES.

14

brain is commonly the consequence of previous inflammation; and gives rise

Remedy,

to a variety of distressing symptoms, which generally prove fatal.

pages 45, 46, 161.

DYSENTERY, OR BLOODY FLUX.—This is an inflammation of

the mucous or lining membrane of

tlie large intestine,

of which the symptoms

are frequent calls to stool, with a scanty discharge of mucus, alone or

with blood.

mixed

The stools are accompanied with copious discharges of wind, they

generally exhibit a frothy appearance, and are often attended with a sense of

scalding about the anus; the patient, after each evacuation, feels considerably

relieved, and hopes, but in vain, to enjoy an interval of ease.

Along with this

affection of the bowels, there is great dejection of spirits, prostration of strength,

thirst,

griping pains, and loss of appetite, with fever in very acute cases.

The

disease varies in its duration; sometimes the patient sinks very rapidly, at other

times lingers on for a long period, the slimy stools continuing, and being mixed

with purulent and bloody matter from the ulceration of the bowels.

Causes.

It is a disease very common in warm climates, and is to be

ascribed to exposure to heat, alternated with cold and moisture, especially in

—

swampy localities, or the banks of rivers.

Whatever tends to congestion of

the liver, such as intemperance, exposure, etc., in hot climates, will predispose

to dysentery, by obstructing the return of the blood from the large intestines to

Sometimes dysentery attacks soldiers epidemically, when they are

encamped on marshy ground, with a burning sun over-head, and having hard

the liver.

night duty to perform; and the disease may prevail with such virulence that

there is good reason for supposing it infectious under these circumstances.

In

At the same time, every precaution should be taken

to promote cleanliness, to remove from the sick every thing putrid and ofEensive, and to give as little unnecessary disturbance as possible.

Remedy, pages

60, 139, 195, 234.

ordinary cases it is not so.

DYSPEPSIA OR INDIGESTION.— *Symj9to?ns.— These vary very

much in different stages of the disease, and in different persons.

In general

the complaint begins with a sense of fullness, tightness, and weight in the

stomach, sooner or later, after meals, and a changeable, diminished, or lost

appetite.

Occasionally, the appetite is craving, and when, in obedience to its

promptings, a large meal

distress and nervousness,

is

taken, there is pain in the stomach, with general

and sometimes vomiting.

Flatulency and acidity are

common, with sour and offensive belching of wind; and very often there is a

water-brash, or vomiting of a clear, glairy fluid when the stomach is empty.

Dizziness is a prominent symptom.

There is a great deal of what patients call

an "all-gone" feeling at the pit of the stomach,— a weakness so great at that

particular spot that it is very hard to sit up straight.

There is a bad taste in

the mouth; the tongue is covered with a whitish fur; there is headache, heartburn, palpitation at times, high-colored urine, and tenderness, now and then,

at the pit of the stomach.

The bowels are generally irregular, sometimes very

costive, at other times loose, when portions of food are passed off undigested.

Such are the symptoms in a case of simple disorder of the stomach, when

;

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES

15

no other part of the system is materially involved. This is iTidigestion, welL

marked, and distressing enough but it is only a part of what is understood by

a case of modern dyspepsia. In this, either the indigestion, in its course, disturbs and involves the nervous system, or the nerves become themselves disSometimes one happens, sometimes the

ordered, and produce the indigestion.

other, it matters not which both are present,

the affection of the stomach and

;

—

;

of the nerves, in a case of thorough dyspepsia.

To make out a full .case, in its

tormenting completeness, we must add to the above symptoms, great depression

of spirits, amounting at times to complete hopelessness and despondency; a

dread and fear of some impending evil; a lack of interest in passing events;

unwillingness to see company or to move about; an irritable and fretful temper;

a desire to talk of one's troubles, and nothing else; a sallow, haggard, sunken,

and sometimes wild expression of countenance; a dry, wrinkled, and harsh

skin, with unrefreshing sleep, disturbed by all sorts of annoyances and difficulties, such as shipwrecks, falls down precipices, and nightmare.

The man who has all these symptoms, or any considerable portion of them,

has dyspepsia, and is about as miserable as if all the sorrows of life were

electrical currents, and were running through him continually.

Accidental fits of indigestion are of frequent occurrence, and

Causes.

arise for the most part from overloading the stomach with food, and indulging

Confirmed or chronic

freely in wines, spirits, or other intoxicating liquors.

indigestion may depend on debility or want of tone of the stomach, or it may

be caused by the lining or mucous membrane of this organ being in a state of

Drinking large quantities of cold water

irritation or chronic inflammation.

while eating is a prevalent cause. Over indulgence of the sexual act is a

One of the most frequent causes of indigestion

predisposing cause.

is

not masticating the food we eat properly, by which such food is

—

bolted, instead of being reduced to a natural pulp, thereby presenting to the

digestive organs a hardened mass, which

it

has the greatest difficulty to oper-

Another cause is habitual inattention to diet, both as regards

the quality and quantity of food, irregularity in the times of eating, drinking

large quantities of warm, relaxing fluids, and using malt liquors too freely.

A third cause is insufficient exercise; a fourth cause, impure air; and, beside

these, there are numberless other causes, which in a greater or less degree

exercise their baneful influence upon this vital and all-important function of

our natures. Remedy pages 59, 61, 135, 147, 148, 149.

ate upon.

ECZEMA, OR HUMID TETTER. — This is a cutaneous disease,

which is characterized by an eruption of small vesicles on various parts of the

skin.

These arise principally from some irritation, as from the heat of the sun

or air in the summer season and in warm climates, as we see on the back of the

hands and on the face; also on the neck and forearms in women. The eruption

continues for two or three weeks, and there is not much internal disorder.

Little can be done by medicine; much washing and rubbing is hurtful, and

ointments and stimulants are to be avoided. Simple washing with tepid water

Some persons have an eruption of this kind

relieves the smarting and tingling.

and even more severe, by the application of acrid substances; thus it occurs

sometimes in grocers from handling sugar, and is then called the grocers' itch

JOE CEASE'S RECIPES.

16

and masons and bricklayers may have it from the touching of lime.

Similar

eruptions are also produced by the irritation of blistering ointment, not only

where the blister has been applied, but at some distance from it, and the erupnumber of bard swellings and boils intermixed with it. The

irritating cause must be removed, and emollient poultices applied to diminish

the heat and uneasiness, and to bring the boils to a suppuration. Even a common bread and milk poultice often or long applied to a place, has sometimes a

similar effect.

In this case, the poultice must be left off, and simple dressing

applied.

A course of alteratives and gentle laxatives will do much good, and

Remedy, pages 97, 227.

the diet should generally be good and nourishing.

tion has a

EPILEPSY, CONVULSIONS, OR FALLING SICKNESS.—

A disease of frequent occurrence, and arising from many various causes, consisting of convulsions of more or fewer of the muscles of voluntary motion,

accompanied with a loss of sense, and ending in a state resembling deep sleep.

Epilepsy suddenly attacks persons seemingly in perfect health; and going off

after a certain time, the patients are left in their usual state.

In some patients

there is a very curious wnrning of the approach of an epileptic fit.

From some

point on the surface of the body, perhaps one of the fingers or toes, a sensation

begins, as of a cold wind, or the creeping of an insect; which appears to proceed to the head, and when it reaches that part, the patient is convulsed. This

is called the aura epileptioa.

In other cases, the patient fancies he sees a spectre

approaching him, and the contact of this figure is the commencement of the

convulsions. Whether there be any warning or not, a person thus attacked

loses all power of sense and motion, and either falls or is thrown with convul-

In '^hat situation, violent convulsions variously move the

limbs and the trunk of the body, and frequently with more violence on one

side than the other.

In almost all cases, the muscles of the face and eyes are

much affected, giving a very distressing and alarming distortion to the countenance. The tongue is often affected, and thrust out of the mouth; and by the

convulsive action of the muscles which shut the jaw, the tongue is not unfrequently severely wounded, and has been known to be almost bitten through.

During the continuance of the convulsions, as the patient has not the power of

swallowing, the spittle issues from the mouth, worked into a frothy state by the

sions to the ground.

action of respiration.

it is

Tfiis is always an unseemly appearance, though by itself

not to be greatly regarded. The convulsions remit for a few minutes, and

are then renewed, perhaps with increased violence.

In a little time, the convulsions cease altogether, and the person is in a state of complete insensibility,

which remains for a considerable time. Gradually he recovers his senses, but

has no distinct remembrance of what has passed from the first attack of the

paroxysm. The pulse and breathing are somewhat irregular and hurried during the fit, but soon return to their natural state.

Causes.— In this, as in all nervous diseases, the explanation of causes is

very diflicult. The opposite causes of over-excitement and of debility are both

known to produce epilepsy.

faculties, which we, in

Every thing that irritates the brain, or the mental

our imperfect knowledge, believe to be dependent on

SYMPTOMS OF DISEASES.

17

the actions of the brain, has been known to produce epilepsy; thus an injury

done to the skull, the growth of tumors in the internal parts of that cavity,

splinters of bone scaling off in consequence of disease, and various alterationsof structure which have been discovered after death in patients afflicted with

epilepsy, give us just

grounds for reckoning mechanical irritation among the

causes of epilepsy.

Remarks

excitement.

—Persons subject to epileptic

fits

should be very careful to avoid

Remedy, pages 165, 212.

ERYSIPELAS, ROSE, OR ST. ANTHONY'S FIRE.— An

inflammation of the skin, often spreading rapidly, and extending to the cellular

The disease comes on with shivering, thirst, and other

tissue below the skin.

feverish symptoms, and soon affects some part of the skin with swelling, and

redness of an uncertain extent, on which blisters very commonly rise. It

At the beginattacks various parts of the body, and very frequently the face.

ning of the disease, there is confusion of head, and some degree of delirium;

and there is not unfrequently considerable drowsiness. About the second or

third day, a slight redness appears, which gradually spreads till it has occupied

the whole of the face, and from the face it extends to the scalp, and down the

neck. The redness does not continue equally bright on all the parts affected,

but fades a little on those where it began. The swelling is considerable, and

sometimes so great as to disfigure the countenance, and to shut up the eyes.

Blisters of various sizes, containing a thin yellowish liquor, rise on several

Where blisters do not rise, the skin scales off at the conThe fever and inflammation usually continue from

eight to ten days.

The severity and danger of the disease is to be judged from

If there is much delirium and drowsiness, it portenda

its effects on the brain.

great danger, especially when they appear early in the disease; but the absence

of these symptoms is to be accounted favorable. Remedy, pages 58, 175,

parts of the face.

clusion of the disease.

176, 183.

FELON.— This is an abscess of the fingers, of which there are three

kinds,

—the

first

situated

upon the surface of the skin, the second under the

skin, the third within the sheath which contains the tendons of the fingers, and

sometimes involving the covering of the bone.

The latter form of the disease is the most terrible, and begins with redness,

swelling, and a deep-seated and throbbing pain, which gradually becomes so

excruciating as to banish all sleep, and nearly drive the patient to distraction.

Finally, matter forms and burrows in the deeper parts of the finger, and at

length finds an opening which brings relief. Remedy, pages 130, 164.

GALL-STONES.— Concretions which form in the gafl-bladder, and by

from it to the intestines, prevent the bile

from getting into them; hence jaundice is frequently produced. These gallstones, when the obstruction is overcome, get down into the bowels, and are

discharged by stool; then the disease abates, provided there is no other cause

for it

The pain which gall-stones cause during their passage through the gallduct into the bowels is very intense, and is felt in the region of the liver, some-

their obstructing the passage leading

8

—

—

DR. CHASE'S RECIPES.

18

times also extending to the right shoulder.

The pain Is generally sharp, but it

may be dull and aching; it comes on in paroxysms, is relieved by pressure, and

is

unaccompanied by fever.

There is often vomiting of sour mattei, and if

the flow of bile is completely obstructed by the stone, jaundice comes on, and

the urine becomes very highly-colored. The best way to relieve these symptoms,

which often appear very suddenly, is to apply hot bran poultices assiduously,

and to give a pill containing a grain of opium and J^ of a grain of tartar emetic,

every 3 hours until relief is obtained. If there is much retching or vomiting,

Remedy, page 191.

the tartar emetic may be omitted.

GANGRENE (Mortification.) — Gangrene

is the first stage of

morti-

from its eating away the flesh. Gangrene may be considered

as a partial death the death of one part of the body while the other parts are