Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/868

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lirivc, as it will in fome years, the- growth is rank, and yields much ftraw, but little ear.

It is over-moift, and to that is principally to be attributed this ranknefs of the crop in forne years ; and the occafion of its re- taining fo much moifture is, that it ufually has a bed of a ftiff clay, which will not let the water run off into the under ftrata.

In Tome places they alfo give this name to a black, rich, and "denfe earth, with ftreaks of a whitifh mould in many parts. This fort of Hen-mould is ufually found very rich and fertile. Mercian's Northamp. p. 37. "HENNA, in botany, a name given by Ludwig to a genus of plants, called alben by Dr. Shaw and others, and fince named by LiniiEeus lawfonia. Sec the article Lawsoni a. HENOTHRIX, in natural hiftory, the name of a fly of the feticauda or hair-tail'd kind. This is diftinguifhed from the others by having only one hair, and is called alfo by fome uuifeta. The whole body of this fpecies is black, except the middle of the back and belly, which are red ; the wings are iilvery, and the antenna? very fmall and black, It "is very common in the warm climates, and is ufually found fitting on the ammi, or bifhop's-weed ; whence it is called by fome the ammi-ffy. HENRICUS rubenss in the affected language of fome chemifts,

a name given to vitriol when calcined to a rednefs. HENTINGS, in agriculture, a term ufed by the farmers for a particular method of fowing before the plough ; the corn be- ing caft in a {trait line juft where the plough is to come, is by this means prefently ploughed in. By this way of fowing they think they fave a great deal of feed and other charge, a dexterous boy being as capable of fowing this way out of his hat, as the moft dexterous feeds-man. Plot's Oxfordfhire, p. 251. Renting is alfo a term ufed by the plowmen, and others, to (ignify the two furrows that are turned from one another at the bottom, in the plowing a ridge ; the word feems to be a corruption of ending, becaufe thofe furrows make an end of plowing the ridges. The tops of the ridges they call veerings. HEORDPENNY, in our old writers, the fame with what at firft was called Rome/cot, and afterwards Peter-pence, See Romescot, and Peter-pence, Cycl. The word is Saxon, from Hearth, focus, a hearth, and penning, denarius, a penny. HEPAR {Cycl.)— He par fulphuris, brimftone melted with half the quantity of a fixed alkali. A like fubftance may alfo be pro- duced by tartarum vitriolatum, fandivcr, or other of the neu- tral falts containing the vitriolic acid, if when they are red- hot in the fire there be added to them powder of charcoal: or any other more fixed phlogifHc ; but the Hepar fulphuris is not fo ftrong, as otherwife, when it is made with nitre fixed with coals, or with the alkali compofed of tartar and nitre, or with neutral falts with an addition of fulphur already containing the vitriolic acid. The Hepar fulphuris runs earths and ftones into fufiou over the fire ; and when melted with the metals it makes them eafily fufe, but renders them brittle, and in fome degree foluble in water. Hoffman's Ob- fcrv. Phyf. Chem. HEPATICA, in botany, a name given by Michel! to certain fpecies of the marchantia, a kind of lichen. Thefe have the male cup of a conic figure, and divided into five fegments which wrap round the flowers ; whereas thofe which he calls marchantia have eight or ten fegments in the cup, and thofe plain, not curled or bent downwards Muheli Nov. Gen. Plant. 55. See the article Marchantia. HEPATIC Flux, Fluxus Hepaticus, a flux of the belly of a very Angular kind, and fo rarely met with, that many au- thors have confounded the accounts of it with thofe of dy- fenteries and hemorrhoidal fluxes. The figns by which it is known, are thefe: The patient voids by the anus a liquid f matter, refembling water in which raw flefh had been warn- ed ; this is attended with pains and a fenfe of weight and tendon in the abdomen, and fpaftic motions about the loins, which fomctimes extend themfclves to the right fide toward the region of the liver. In fome patients there is no fenfa- tion of any pain, or any particular fymptom, and in fome a tenefmus is joined continually with this voiding of a bloody fluid.

The perfons principally fubjeft to this difeafc are men, and thofe between the age of eighteen and forty for the moft part, as alfo fuch as are of a fanguineo-phlegmatic habit, and of a fedentary life. This difeafe is obvioufly diftinguifhed from a dyfentcry, in that there is always in that difeafe blood mixed with a mucous matter voided, which is not at all the cafe in this, And in that there always is more or lefs of a fever at- tending, whereas in this there is none. Caufes of it. The antients fuppofed this to be owing to a de- bility of the liver, which was not able in this cafe properly to attract or retain the blood. But it feems rather to belong to the hemorrhoidal difcharges ; and as in the menfes, when the pure and proper blood is not difcharged, a bloody water is ; To in thefe cafes when true blood is not voided, this fluid comes in its place. This fiux is never dangerous at the ' timcj but when it is long continued it will at length wear

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down the ftrength, and bring on bad habits. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 50. Method of Cure— This is to be treated in the fame manner as a hemorrhoidal difcharge when obftrudted, and attemperat- ing and abftergent medicines are to be given, with gentle purges. Rhubarb, in dofes from a fcruple to two or more, is to be given every day for a long time ; after this nitre, tartarum vitriolatum, the alkaline falts of plants, as of worm- wood, with the abforbent powders, fuch as crabs-eyes ; and to thefe may be added decoctions of fmall centaury, and the like herbs. Id. ibid. HEPATIS Znfarilus, in medicine, the name of a difeafe con- fiding in a ftagnatory congeftion of the blood in the liver. This is of two kinds, the one owing to an inordinate con- traflion of the liver, which is ufually the cafe when this hap- pens to adults j the other is owing to a too great expanfion of this vifcus, which is the cafe more frequently in youths. Either of thefe diftemperatures of this organ prevent the free paflage of the blood through it, and by that means lay the bafis of this infarction, junker's Confp. Med. p. 204. Signs of it. — Thefe are a flraitnefs of the precordia, efpccially about the right hypocondrium, and a difficulty of breathing, a heavy and obtufe pain in the fame part, which fometimes becomes pulfatile, an uncertain and irregular heat of the whole body, and frequent flufhings of the face, a violent thirft at times but not continual, a drynefs of the mouth and often a bitter tafte in it, a glutinous texture of the fpittle, a dry cough, a lofs of appetite, ajid laffitude of the limbs ; uneafy and not found ileep, frequent toffing about while in bed, a flaccid habit of body ; and to all thefe it is to be added, that the urine is thin and limpid at firft, but as the heflic that always attends, increafes, it becomes of a deep orange co- lour, and finally depofits a deep red fediment ; and in cafe of an expanfion of the liver being the caufe, the right hypo- chondrium is fenfibly fwelled. Perfons fubjeB to this diforder are principally fuch as are of a itudious and fedentary, or idle life ; fuch as have omitted ufual bleedings, or have had fuppreffions of the natural dif- charges by the haemorrhoids or menfes, and fuch as ufe too thick a diet. Junker's Confp. Med. p. 204. Caufes of it. — 1 hefe are a plethora joined with a too great thicknefs of the blood, and this occafionally increafed by im- proper treatment in different difeafes, as in intermittents with too powerful aftringents ; and in acute fevers with too cooling a regimen, or the abufe of the volatile falts in large dofes. To thefe may be added violent paffions of the mind } and the fudden chilling the body when very hot. Prognofiics. — This is a difeafe that when recent admits of a cure under the proper methods of treatment ; but when neglected, it very eafily degenerates into a fchirrus, and finally into a hectic and a dropfy. Method of Cure. — This differs greatly in regard to the different caufes of the difeafe, which as before obferved are exact con- traries : It fometimes arifing from an over contraction, fome- times from an over expanfion of the liver. In cafes arifing from the expanfion, the fame method is to be ufed as in infarctions of the fpleen. See Spleen. But on the con- trary, when it arifes from a contraflion of this vifcus, the method muft be this : The prima: via; muft be firft cleanfed and evacuated by gentle purges ; after this bleeding in the foot is to be ordered, and then the matter impacted in the liver is to be incided and attenuated by decoctions of dan- delion and pimpernel roots, with maiden hair, forrel, dodder, and daify flowers ; after this the gums, as ammoniacum, and the reft, are to be taken ; and after thefe the digeitive falts, as tartarum vitriolatum, nitre, and the like : And during the taking thefe, all the external medicines of the emollient kind are -to be applied to the right hypocondrium ; but this not continually, but at different intervals, left they fhould bring on a fuppuration in the liver. Id. ibid. HEPATITIS, in medicine, the name of an acute continuous and inflammatory fever, in which nature frequently and for- cibly propels the humours through the liver, feemingly with intent to refolye and abfterge congeftions and ftafes of the ■ blood in that vifcus. The Hepatitis is diftinguifhed from all other fevers by the feat of it in the liver, and by its being of all other fevers the moft fatal. It differs however in degree, fome cafes depend- ing on a more fuperficial, fome on a deeper and more in- ternal inflammation of the liver. Junker's Confp. Med. p.

Signs of it.— This dangerous fever ufually feizes the patient with a chillnefs, which lafts a confidcrable time ; this is at length fucceeded by a violent heat, which is much more in- tenfe at fome times than at others, and is attended with an infupportable thirft. The patient perceives a fevere and heavy pain in the right fide about the feventh or eighth rib, and is afflicted with a violent flraitnefs of the breaft and diffi- culty of breathing, and the extremities are very apt to be- come cold. After drinking any thing they ufually belch, and the narrownefs of the breaft and difficulty of breathing always increafe upon this, tho' not the pain. Often alfo there are naufeas and Teachings to vomit, and a bilious matter is thrown up, and fometimes fpaftic motions of the throat are

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