Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 1.djvu/941

 .INT

I N T

ends of the Intefilnes grew to the peritoneum, new flefh was extended along this membrane, and joined the extremities to- gether. The foldered part of the gut is always ftraitned. and therefore thofe who arc cured in this cafe ought to guard againft too full meals and indigeftion. See Mem. del 1 Acad. deChirurg. Tom. r. Intestines of Fijhes. The guts in fifh.es are very different in the feveral kinds in length, proportion, and figure ; in fome fifh the Intejline is {trait and fimple, and is carried di- rectly from the ftomach to the anus, as in the conger, fyn- gnathus and petromyzon j in others it is only once returned upwards, as in the cyprini, falmons, pearch, and many others. In others it is variously contorted and revoluted, in the fame manner as in land animals. We have inftances of this in the fparus, dolphin, mullet, and fword-fifh. Artedi Ichthyolog.

In length there are many very eminent differences. In the petromyza, caV. the whole Intejlinal canal is not fo long as the body of the fiih. In the cyprini of many kinds it is about the fame length with the body of the full ; and in others it is greatly longer, as in the fpari, mullets, fcfe. Intestinal Fever, Febris Intejlinalis, in medicine, a name given by Heifter to a peculiar fpecies of acute fever pafled over in filence by the generality of authors ; but by fome called the mefenteric fever, and by our Sydenham the new fever, nova febris. This differs from other acute fevers, in that it is at- tended always with a diarrhoea, which however is falutary, and which it is very dangerous to flop, and in that it is not relieved by the attemperating or diaphoretic medicines ufeful in other fevers, much lefs by the hot fudorifics ; ail thefe things exafperate and make it worfe, and the only things that give relief in it, are gentle cathartics, and vomits that operate without violence. This fever, therefore, evidently fhews the error of thofe hafty reafoners, who declare, that all acute fevers are to be cured by diaphoretics. This peculiar fpecies of fever, tho' unknown to many of the late writers, and called by Sydenham a new diftemper, was not unknown to the ant'ients. Hippocrates has left many things concerning it ; as have alfo the later Greeks, and Celfus : And among the moderns, Duret, Sennertus, Foreftus, Riverius, EtmuIIer, Baglivi, Stahl, Hoffman, and Lancifci, have all met with it, tho' they have given but very fhort and imperfect defcriptions of it in their writings. The generality of thofe who have written of this fever have refer'd it to the malignant kinds, from its being ufually at- tended with fevere and uncommon fymptoms from the be- ginning, or from fuch being brought on in the courfe of an irregular treatment. The common method of curing fevers by diaphoretic medicines bringing on in this, anxieties and ftraitnefs of the pracordia, with pains about the ftomach, lofs of appetite and deliriums, with efRorefcences of various kinds, particularly petechial fpots ; and thefe fymptoms are not tinfrequently attended with death. But it is to be obferved, that difeafes are to be carefully diftinguifhed in their own fymptoms, thofe which the phyiician brings on being often very different from what nature would offer. Thefe fevers have their feat in the ftomach and Intefimes ; or if they have it any where elfe, it appears at leaf! that their origin, which is in a putrid colluvies, is always much more eafily educed and evacuated by thefe, than by any other paf- fages, Many of the diftempers mentioned by authors under peculiar names, are properly to be refer'd as to their caufes to this fpecies of fever. The dyfenteric fever is abfolutely of this kind, and many of the petechial ones. The catarrhal fevers alfo, are referable to this kind j and the continual quo- tidian and tertian, with the fevers defcribed by the antients under the names of hemitritesus, affbdes, elodes, epiala, and lipyria, with the tritopbya nearly allied to the bemitriiai and by fome authors confounded together, the words beinj ufed as fynonymous. Hdftef-% Compend. Med. p. 83. feq. Symptoms of 'Intestinal Fevers. Thefe are frequent fhiverino-s when the patient is firft fiezed with the diftemper, which re- turn at different and irregular intervals. After thefe the tongue. teeth, and fauces are covered with a foul and vifcid phlegm;, the tongue in particular often looking yellowifh, and blackifh with it ; the patient perceives a continual dtfagrecable tafte in his mouth from this, and the people who are about him an ill fmell. There is always a diarrhoea attending thefe fevers, and the fasces voided in it have a peculiarly offenfive fmell. The hypochondria are always diftended, and often in pain ; the patients are attended with violent trembling in their fleep, fo that they are frequently waked in terrors and uneafmefs j and in tenderer fubjects thefe alfo are very frequent, while waking. Pains in the head and neck are alfo a conflant attendant of this diftemper, and feem to take their origin from fpafms. The urine in the beginning of the difeafe is of a natural ftate and colour, and afterwards be- comes turbid, and depofits a muddy fediment during the whole courfe of the diftemper.

Thefe are the conftant fymptoms of thefe fevers ; but be- fide thefe there are fometimes other very violent ones, fuch as violent anxieties of the prascordia, pains in the ftomach and in the fide refembling thofe of a pleurify, a lofs of ftrength, a violent internal heat, and a continual convulftve SvPPL. Vol. I.

I or tremulous motion of the hands, with a fubfultus tendinum, hiccough, and cold fweats ; which are all extremely dan- gerous fymptoms, and prefage a fatal period to the dif- temper.

Befide thefe, which are the common and the additional fymptoms of thefe fevers, there are yet fome others often feen in them, which are merely accidental, and are owing to the improper management of the patient. It is a common error to give hot and fudorific medicines in thefe cafes, the confequence of which is, that the peccant matter which was lodged before in the primaevise is propelled into the blood, and not being able to make its way through the pores it appears under the Ikin in form of petechia or pur- ple fpots, or of papulae of a purple or reddifh colour ; fome- times of a livid or blackifh. Under this circumftance, which is wholly owing to the ignorance of the prefcriber, the dif- temper gets the name of a petechial or a purple fever. Sometimes the fame methods fend the matter to the ears, where it occafions deafnefs ; fometimes to the parotids and maxillary glands, where it forms tumors, inflammations, and abfcefles of a very bad fort ; and, finally, if it be tranf- ferred to the brain, violent deliriums and phrenitis are the certain confequence. Thus, according as this matter hap- pens to be driven by this improper treatment to a more or lefs noble part of the body, it gives the fymptoms of a more or lefs dangerous difeafe ; and very frequently the patient feems to have a pleurify, or peripneumony, or an inflamma- tion of the liver, fplecn, or late/lines, while in reality the caufe of the difeafe is all the while the fame ; and there is no difference, but that of the matters fettling on one or ano- ther part. Heifer's Compend. Med. p. 97.

The Method of Cure. All hot medicines mult be avoided, and the difcharge of the peccant matter by the diarrhcea pro- moted by glyfters and by purging medicines. Some ad- vile aloes, and other medicines of that kind ; others fena and manna j fome the purging falts ; but molt prefer rhu- barb, given in often repeated fmall dofes. Large draughts of the lubricating decoctions, fuch as barley-water and wa- ter-gruel, are to be given, and emuliions of fweet almonds and of the cold feeds. Small quantities of oil of fweet al- monds are alf© to be given at times, and juleps of the cool- ing waters and fyrups moderately acidulated, and powders of nitre, cinnabar, and the common abforbents, as crabs-eves and the like, are to be given to take off the pains and fpafms, and to attemperate the acrid matter. Bleeding in this fever is not neceffary, unlefs in plethoric habits, and in thofe cafes it muft be done on the accefs of the difeafe, for if done after the third or fourth day it is ufually found to do more harm than good.

The diet in thefe fevers is not to be fo very thin and weak, as in other acute fevers, but moderate nourifhment is to be allowed, that the patient may hold his ftrength fufficiently to go through it ; in the beginning of the difeafe however, the patient has ufually an averfion for food, and then it is not to be forced upon him ; but when the ftomach begins* to require it, then it is to be given in moderate quantity ; and great care muft be taken that nothing aftringent or dif- ficult of digeftion be allowed, but light and innocent meats, and with thefe a little good wine to promote digeftion. Some alio have given frequent vomits, by fmall dofes of ipe- cacuanha in thefe fevers, and that with very good fuccefs ; and it is remarkable, thot the purple fever mentioned by Stahl, and others, as peculiarly affecting lying-in women, and being very frequent in Saxony for along time, was by Dr. Wagner, and others, cured by this method : Its origin being found to be a vifcous matter putrifying in the ftomach and Intefihes ; and therefore the diftemper being properly one of thefe miejlinal fevers, was curable by the fame me- thods with them, that is by emptying the primas via - ;. Some, as Baglivi and Burchard, have called thefe fevers me- fenteric fevers ; but improperly, according to Heifter, L. c. p. 85.

Intestinalis Spbincler, in anatomy, a name given by Win- flow to a mufcle of the anus, called by Albums fpbincler in- terna* ani. It is called by Riolan, and others, fphincler cu- taneus, and fphincler fupcrfieialis.

Intestinum Cacum. The fifh kinds have in general a great number of thefe c&ca ; they are called by the ichthyologifts Inteflinula caca, and appendices pylori. They are always placed about the pylorus, and the beginning of the intejlinal canal, and feem by their number and appearance to contri- bute not a little to the digeftion of the food. They are very different in the feveral kinds of fifh, in number, figure, and proportion. 1. In fome fifh there are none of them. The cetaceous fifties in general are without them, and the cartilaginous of many kinds alfo want them. In the ammo- dytes or fand-eel there is only one cacum, and this feems the only fifh that has it fingle. In many of the pleuronecti they are two in number, and very fhort. The pearch, fpari, 6fa. have five, fix or feven of them, and all confiderably large ones. In fome fifh there are eight, ten, or twelve of them, as in the catti, and fome of the ligyri. In the her- ring and anchovy, there are feventeen or eighteen of them. Some, but not many fifh, have twenty or more, not arriving 14 I at