Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/908

 HYS

violent, arc dangerous in the higheft degree. Strong purges are alfo liable to the fame objections, and are never to be meddled with. All hot medicines are alfo prejudicial, and the common uterine elixirs, with the diffcillcd oils, and volatile falts, are liable to the fame objections. Some give the com- mon tcrreftrial alkalies and abforbents, but they give no relief in thefe cafes ; becaufe an acid either is no caufe, or, at the utmoft, is not the eflential caufe of thefe diforders. Steel medicines are alfo given by many; but they are to be ufed with great caution ; and, in general, they fcldom do any good, but very often a great deal of harm. As there are, hawever, fome cafes of this kind in which they excel all other medicines, it is always proper to give them a fair trial, under the proper regulations.

The common chalybeate waters often prove of more fervice in this difeafe than all the medicines in the world ; but they are to be taken with the proper cautions, and a due regimen. It is neceflary to bleed in the foot before entering on a courfe of them, and then they are to be drank in moderate quantities, and always a little warmed, ufing a moderate exerc'tfe during the time of drinking them. See the article Mineral Wa- ters* 8

HYS

Hystericus Lapis, in natural hiftory, a name given to an American ftone, called alfo lapis uterim/s, famous for it vir- tues againft diforders of the womb, externally applied. It is black, and capable of a fine poliih.

Hystericus Clavus. See the article Clavus.

HYSTEROPHORUS, in botany, the name of a genus of plants, defcribed by Vaillant in the Acta Germanica, the cha- racters of which are the fame with thofe of the common par- thenium. Vaillant, A. G. 1720. See the article Par- thenium.

HYSTKROPOTMI, Jr ipowoV'*, in antiquity, pcrfons who had returned fafe to their own homes, after having (bid fo long in foreign countries that they were believed to be dead. Thefe were not allowed to be prefent at the celebration of any reli- gious rites, till they had been purified by being let thro' the lap of a woman's gown, that fo they might feem to be new born. Potter, Archgeol. Grsec. 1. 2. c. 4. T. 1. p. 223.

HYSTRIX, the Porcupine. In the Linnsean fyftem of zoology, this makes a diftincT: genus of animals ; the characters of which are, that the creatures of it have cars refembling thofe of the human fpedes, and their body armed with thorns. Lima* Syftem. Natur, p. 38.

I