Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/858

 H E A

H E A

violence to the pain as foon as drank ; and in cafes of this kind where a fcorbutic habit is at the bottom, frequent' and violent bleedings at the nofe happen, which give no lafting relief but only an abatement of the pain for the time. Women are generally more fubject to this terrible pain than men, thefe being rarely afflicted with it, unlefs when there is fome violent difordcr in regard to the haemorrhoids j or when there is a venereal taint in the blood. Among Women, thole are,moft fubject to it who live high, and lead fedentary lives, and who are of a melancholy difpofition, or fubject to ob- structions of the menfes. Caufes of it. — The general caufe of this, as well as of all other Head-achs is a violent congeftion of blood directed to the head ; and the peculiar caufes which determine the Head-ach to this terrible kind, are ulcerofe or exulcerated difpofitions of the body ; thefe principally are owing to the fcurvy, the venereal difeafe, or any violent cutaneous eruptions driven in, or to external injuries, as blows and wounds of the head, ill- treated. The antients fuppofed this owing to impoftumes or collections of a vifcid matter in the head, and therefore al- ways prefcribed blifters, fetons, and the like, and fometirnes the piercing the fkull in the part where the pain was moft vio- lent. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 116.

In the inoft favourable cafes this is a diftemper that with dif- ficulty admits of a cure. Where there is a fimple ulcera- tion in the cafe, the cure becomes yet more difficult, but not quite to be defpaired of; but where a venereal taint is at the bottom, a cure is fcarce to be expected. For tho* the caufe be removed, yet in this or any other kind of Cepbalaa attended with a caries of the bones, the pain will afterwards often return, and that with little Iefs violence than before. Thofe Cephal&as which fometirnes are relieved by nature, by copious difcharges of ferous humours, are more difficult of cure than others ; and thofe which happen to perfons of re- markably plethoric habits, threaten an approaching apo-

feihod of Cure. — The fame general method is to be obferved, as in the common Head-acb ; which fee above. But in this there are to be added to the medicines there prefcri- bed, fuch as powerfully diffolve mucous humours ; fuch are the roots of pimpernel], arum, and maflerwort, with the bitter herbs, fafiafras, gum arnmoniacum, tartarum vi- triblatum, and the like. After thefe, purging is proper ; and in cafes where the fcurvy or any venereal taint is joined, there muft be always regard had to thofe complaints in the whole method of cure. And indeed the fcorbutic Cepbalaa mould always be treated as the fcurvy itfelf, and the venereal Cephalaa as the pox. And where any old ulcers have been dried up, or any other habitual difcharge flopped, and the complaint is owing to that ; the making ifiues or fe- tons muft be premis'd to any other attempt of a cure. Some inveterate complaints of this kind have been happily cured by mercury, whether they had or had not any thing venereal in their foundation ; and in general, a falivation is a fort of lait refource, be the origin what it will.

Head, in the manege, is to give a horfe Head. SeeEscHAPER.

Head in, and likewife the hips, is a phrafe importing that you muft paffage your horfe with his Head and Croupe in, i. e. work htm fide-ways upon two parallel lines, at ffep or trot, fo that when the horfe makes a ftep or volt, his moulders mark a pijie, or tread, at the fame time that his haunches give the tract of another ; and the horfe plying or bending his neck, turns his head a little within the volt, and fo looks upon the ground he is to go over.

We. ad -Land, in the fea language. See Land.

He AD-Lines in a fhip, thofe ropes of all fails which are next to the yards, and by which the fails are made faft to the yards.

HEAn-Pence,zr\ exaction of a certain fum formerly collected by the fheriff of Northumberland from the inhabitants of that county, without any account to be made to the king. This was aholifbcd by the ftatute 23 Hen. VI. c. 7. Blount.

Heads, a term ufed by builders for that kind of tile, which they ufe to lay at the eaves of a houfe ; being the full breadth , of a common tile, and but half a tile in length.

HEAD-Sails in a fhip, thofe which belong to the foremaft and holtfprit ; for it is by thefe that the Head of the fhip is go- verned, and by which it is made to fall off, and keep out of the wind. And thefe in quarter-winds are the chief drawing- fails.

HzAD-Stall, among antient muficians. See Phorbjea.

Head-T/;;, in metallurgy, is a preparation of tin ore toward the fitting it for working into metal. When the ore has been pounded and twicewafhed, that part of it which lies uppermoft, or makes the furface of the mafs in the tub, is called the Head- tin ; this is feparated from the reft, and after a little more wafhing becomes fit for the blowing houfe. Ray's Englifh words, p. 122.

HEARING (Cyci.)— Difficulty a/Hearing. In common cafes of difficulty of Hearing fuddenly coming on, the following is an excellent remedy : Take cifence of amber a dram, of caitor a Icruple, oil of chamomile half a fcruple, oil of am- ber one drop ; mix thefe together, and three or four times a day put into the car a piece of cotton wetted in them.

This is a complaint frequently happening to young women, from a fuppreffion of the menfes ; and, in that cafe, there is no more requir'd for a cure, than barely to reftore that dif- charge to its natural and proper courfe. It fometirnes alia happens to men, from a ftoppage of the hemorrhoidal dif- charges, and is then to be cured by recalling them, and ap- plying leeches to the part ; or if the patient is averfe to that, bleeding or cupping often prove an immediate cure. When this difficulty of Hearing arifes from any obftruction in the auditory paffage, the matter that caufes the obftruction is to be carefully removed by a furgeon. Heifer's Comp. Med. p. 174.

Old men often have a difficulty of Hearing from mere debility and lofs of the due Strength and tone of the parts. In this cafe medicines can give no affiftance, but all applications ufually render the cafe worfe. And the fame is to be obferved in all cafes where the diforder is very inveterate, or is hereditary ; or owing to external injuries by which the tympanum has been broke, or any other of the principal parts are deftroyed : The total lofs of Hearing after having held a perfon for many years, and not been at all relieved by the common me- thods of cure, has been fometirnes known to go off of itfelf, and the patient to hear as perfectly as ever ; fo that we are not to del pair of relief even in the worft cafes of this kind, and fuch as have refuted all remedies. Perfons who are fub- ject to returns of this complaint fhould ufe frequent bleeding or cupping, be moderate in diet, and fhun all excelfes of ftrong liquors, and ufe moderate exercife. Heifter alfo affirms, on his own experience, that the drinking the mineral wa- ters every fpring in a proper and regular manner is of tha utmoft fervice in preferving the patient from returns of this diforder during the year. Heifer's Compend. Med. p. 180. Mr, Le Cat, in his trcatife on the organ of found, propofes an inftrument as of his own invention, to affift dull Hearing. It confifts of a fhell or cornet of copper, into which a fmall funnel-like tube is fixed, fo as its narrow end is at the center of the cornet. Dr. Parfons fays, this inftrument is common in England. See Philof. Tranf. N°. 466. §. 9.

HEART {Cyci. ) — The French anatomifts have difputed, whether or not the Heart is Shortened in its fyftole, though all allow that it is then ftraitned. Vid. Hift. de l'Acad. des Scienc. 1731.

The proportion of the weight of the Heart to that of the body is greater in the males than in the females of birds, both wild and tame. But this proportion differs lefs in the males and females of wild birds, than of tame birds ; which may probably be owing to the exercife of the former being more nearly equal than that of the latter. Ibid. p. 106. The proportion of the Heart to the body is much greater in birds than in fifh ; at a medium about 8 to r. Dr. Robinfon thinks this great difference owing to the vaftly fuperior heat of birds. lb. p. 108.

Dr. Bryan Robinfon has given us a table of the mean weights of the bodies, Hearts, and livers of feveral fpecies of birds and fifhes, as alfo of the proportions of the Hearts and livers to the weight of the body, and of the liver to the weight of the Heart. It appears from thefe tables, that the proportion of the weight of the Heart to the weight of the body is greater in wild birds than in tame birds. The former ufe more exercife, or move their mufcles more than the latter. And it is known that the motions of the Heart and blood are much increafed by the motion of the mufcles. On the con- trary, when the quantity of motion in the mufcular fyftem is greatly diminifhed by the inactivity of bodies, the force of the Heart and motion of the blood will likewife be diminifhed in the fame proportion. But mufcles which are much mov- ed, always increafe in magnitude, weight, and ftrength ; and yet bodies which ufe much mufcular motion, are feldom ob- ferved to* grow fat, or increafe in weight ; and therefore the weight of the Heart in proportion to the weight of the body will be greater in wild animals than in tame ; and in bodies which ufe much exercife, than in bodies which are inactive. The weight of the Heart in proportion to the weight of the body, is greater in final] birds than in large ones. It is like-

■ wife greater in a moufe than in an ox, in a child than in a man ; and probably greater in litttle men, than in large men. Now fince fmall animals are generally more active than great animals, we may allow the activity of the body to depend much on the proportion of the weight of the Heart to the weight of the body. DilTert. on the food and difch. of hum. bod. p. 103, 104.

The proportion of the weight of the Heart to the weight of the body, is lefs in fat bodies than in lean. As animals grow fat, the weight of their bodies increafe, and their quantity of blood and weight of Heart lefiens ; for the fat in the membranes comprefles the blood vcffels, and lefTens the quantity of blood ; and as this lefTens, the weight of the Heart lefTens, the weight of the Heart and quantity of blood always increafing and decreafing together. lb, p. 105. Various unnatural accidents happen to the Heart, and are the caufes of diforders, which never are underftood till too late, on the diflection of the body. Of this kind Mr. Hu- nauld fhewed the Paris academy a remarkable inftance in the Heart of a woman of thirty years old j in this the valves of 2 the