Page:Cyclopaedia, Chambers - Supplement, Volume 2.djvu/741

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as have power to repfefs its diforderly motions ; of this kind are the oil of mint, nutmeg, and the like, with balfam of Peru : thefe oils may be reduced to a proper confiftencc, with this balfam, for the fpreading on leather, and lying on for fome time. Hungary-water, and other the like (pints, are of great ufe alfo, rubbed on with the hand ; and to thefe may be added yeaflr, and the ftrongeft wine-vinegar applied hot to the part. Finally, an excellent application is balfani of Peru alone, re- duced to the confidence of a cataplafm, with crumb of bread.

The methods to be ufed to remove the material caufes of the VoMvting^ are next to be conlidered : If it be of the pituitous kind, and owing to crudities in the prime via?, and a vifcid mucus flicking to them, it is belt cured by an emetic : if the •vomiting of itfelf be found not fufficient to carry off the fordes which occafioned it, and the patient continues, after the fits of vomiting, afflicted with a naufea and heart-burn j in this cafe, a large quantity of warm water, with a little butter, may fervc the purpofe ; or if this be found infufficient, a dofe of ipecacuanha is to be given. Hoffm. Oper. T. 3. When infants are afflicted with vomiting, from milk coagu- lated upon their tender ftomachs, which is a very frequent cafe, the beft medicine is a mixture of oxymel of fquills, and fyrup of rhubarb. See the article Infant. In cafes of bilious Vomitings, which arife from a weakened digeflion, and have their fomes in the duodenum, the cure is to be begun with the abforbent and teftaceous powders ; after thefe, gentle purges of rhubarb and manna are to be given ; and finally, the cure is to be perfected by reftoring the ftrength of the ftomach and interlines.

In Vomitings which arife from an acrid matter adhering to the nerves of the ftomach, from the retropulfion of the gout, an erifipelas, or other fuch diforder, the mild fedatives are' to be given, and with them fuch medicines as promote the ex- puliion of the matter ; and all means are to be ufed to remove it to the furface of the fkin, or to the extremities again. All fweating medicines are good in this intention, as they carry the matter to the furface. Camphor, taken internally in mo- derate dofes, is alfo of great fervice; and warm baths for the feet often prove highly ufeful. In Vomitings excited by poi- fonous fubftances, nothing gives fuch immediate relief as the taking largo quantities of warm milk, and pinguious liquors; for by means of thefe the fpicula of the poifon are blunted, and afterwards vomited up with the liquors. And hence in contagious and peftilential cafes, where there is no inflamma- tion of the ftomach, many pbyficians have very fuccefsfully given vomits of ipecacuanha, and after thefe acid liquors with diaphoretics.

Acrid, acid, and bilious fordes falling upon the inteftines, often occafion a vomiting, attended with colic pains ; in this cafe, fmall dofes of oil of fweet almonds and manna, with large draughts of barley-water between the dofes, are found of great fervice; and fmall dofes of laudanum, at proper times, ferve to compleat the cure. In perfons of hot habits, fpirit of vitriol, and mild laxatives, are found of moil certain relief.

The too frequent method of attempting to flop a Vomiting by aftringents and anodynes, before the peccant matter is re- moved, is highly blameable; for when the fpafrnodic motions ace allayed, which nature ufed to free herfelf from this mat- ter, and that yet remains behind, there mult follow worfe fymptoms. Thefe remedies which affecl the motion only, and not the matter, are only to be ufed when the motion fub- fifts, after the matter is difcharged, or when the motion is very violent, and the matter to be thrown off but very fmall in quantity.

Hence in Vomitings exited by the chin-cough in children, fedatives and anodynes are very proper, fuch as the fyrup of red poppies, or diacodiurri, and a little oil of fweet al- monds.

The Vomitings of pregnant women, arifing from a regurgita- tion of the blood to the flomach, which is alfo obferved in women afflicted with a retention of the menfes, and in men who have a floppage of habitual hemorrhoidal difcharges, are beft removed by temperating medicines, mild laxatives, emol- lient clyfters ; and beft of all, by bleeding, or recalling the na- tural fecretions of blood, in the two latter cafes. On fuch oc- cafions it is highly improper to give emetics, for they fome- times bring on a Vomiting of blood, and fometimes an inflam- mation of the ftomach.

In cafes of efforts to vomit, or actual Vomitings, in the morning, which frequently happen to thofe who ufe too much ftrong liquors over night, the teftaceous powders are to be given, and all other things which will abforb acidities; and after thefe the grateful ftomacbics, fuch as candied orange- peel, and the like.

Chronical Vomitings fometimes affect perfons who have been in a long continued ftate of grief; in this cafe the beft relief is found in analeptics, and the ufe of cinnamon-water, im- pregnated with quinces, and of the generous wines. In Vomitings, which are a fymptom of fevers coming on, the ufe of a gentle emetic, fuch as the ipecacuanha is very proper. In the fmall poXj the Vomiting ufually ceafes Suppl. Vol.. IIi

fponraneoufly after the eruption of the puftulcs, and in thefe and many other cafes, great relief is to be obtained in Vomit- ings, by a mixture of fait of wormwood and juice of le- mons.

In Vomitings arifing from fits of the ftone± the fpiritus nitri dulcis often proves of great fervice ; and oily glyfters, and oil of fweet-almonds, taken internally, are alfo of great fervice. The Vomiting of perfons in hernias* or the iliaca-paffio, rarely remits till the caufc ceafes. Reft, and lying in bed, contri- bute greatly to the flopping immoderate Vomitings, for all motion of the body excites in thefe cafes a freih tendency to vomiting* In the beginnings of eryfipelas's, and the like dis- orders, Vomitings often happen, and thefe are by no means to be checked ; but the appearance of the dfleafe externally is to be forwarded by diaphoretics ; for as foon as the eruptions appear, the Vomiting flops of itfelf.

The obftinate Vomitings of hyfterical patients are not to be flopped by opiates or aftringents ; for the confequence of this is ufually violent convulfions in the limbs, and anxieties and pain in the precordia ; all which fymptoms difappear again, as foon as the Vomiting returns.

The immoderate and long-continued Vomitings of pregnant women, which principally happen in the firft months of the time, efpccially in thofe who indulge themfelves too much in venery, and are plethoric, are by no means to be cured by aftringents, opiates, or fpirituous medicines ; but are to be removed by repeated bleeding in the ankle, reft of the body, and tranquillity of the mind. And when Vomiting of this kind is fo violent as to threaten abortion, it is often Hopped more effectually by the drinking cold water, than by any medicine whatfoever. When an analeptic is neceflary, one fpoonful of cinnamon- water, taken after meals, is fufficient. Hoffman^ Op. T. 3.

Vomitings in Infants* See the article Infant.

Vomiting of Blood, Vonntus Cruentus, a very dangerous kind of hemorrhage, confiding in a bringing up by Vomit of pura and unmixed blood from the ftomach, and being a method^ ufed by nature to throw off a portion of the blood, which molefts the whole in the vena porta, and by that means to fa- cilitate the circulation of the reft of the mafs. This diftemper fometimes arifes from internal caufes, and is regularly periodical, obferving the ftated times of the erup- tions of the menfes, or other natural difcharges; fometimes it arifes from accidents, fuch as the giving of violent purging or emetic medicines, or corrofive ones.

'Preceding Signs of it. Among thefe are to be reckoned a fenfa- tion of ftra'itnefs and anxiety in the precordia, with tenfion, and involuntary fighs ; with a naufea or ficknefs of the fto- mach, and a ftraining to vomit ; which is more violent than in vomiting on any other occafion ; after this the blood is thrown up pure, and the Vomiting then ceafes, till, after a plain fenfation of more blood being collected in the flomach, the efforts to difcharge it in the fame manner are again renewed. The quicker the blood is thrown up, after its being difcharged into the flomach, the more fluid and more florid it appears ; the longer it is detained there, the blacker and thicker it ap- pears.

Perfons mojlfubjefl to it. A vomiting cf blood is but an uncommon diforder. It more frequently attacks women than men ; amon°- the female fex it is principally feen in thofe whom the menfes have left too early in life, or who have had violent fuppreffions of them for a long time. In men, this diftemper feldom feizes any but thofe who have been ufed to periodical difcharges from the hemorrhoidal veffels, and who have had them fuddenly flop- ped ; and they are then ufually firft attacked with violent pains in the left hypochondrium. People of fcorbutic habits, and fuch as have had quartan agues of long Handing, have been fometimes thus affected. And, befide thefe natural caufes, people of all ages and fexes may vomit blood, from external injuries.

Prognojiics from it. A Vomiting of blood Is ever a dangerous diforder ; for tho' the quantity of blood thrown up is feldom fo great as to occafion immediate death, yet it generally degene- rates into a tabes in men, and into a cachectic habit in wo- men. It is lefs dangerous to young women, than to any other perfons; and when it is periodical, efpecially when it obferves the times of the menftrual difcharges, is much lefs dangerous than under any other circumftances.

Method of Cure. During the paroxyfm, the proper medicines are powders of nitre, cinnabar, and the abforbent fubftances, fuch as crab's-eyes, or the like, and afterwards bleeding, cup- ping, and gentle purges, and diaphoretics are to be given for fome time. Junker's Confp. Med. 35.

VORTEX (Cycl.)— We have, in the Philofophical Tran- fadlions, a phyfico-mathematical demonftration a of the impof- fibility and infufficiency of Vortices to account for the cceleftial phenomena. — [* By Monf. de Sigorne. See N°. 457. Seel. 6. p. 409. feq.]

This author endeavours to fhew, that the mechanical genera- tion of a Vortex is impoffible ; that it has only an axifugal, and not a centrifugal and centripetal force ; that it is not fufficient for explaining gravity and its properties ; that it deftroys Kep- ler's aftronomical laws ; and therefore concludes with Sir 5 N ifaw