Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume VI.djvu/353

 DYSART nearly the site of the town known in Grecian history as Epidamnus. The latter is said to have been founded by the Corcyreans and by settlers from Corinth, about 627 B. C. Owing to its favorable situation, it soon became a wealthy and populous colony ; and the Pelo- ponnesian war arose in great part from a contest between Corinth and Corcyra brought about by appeals to them by the contend- ing factions of Epidamnus. About 310 the lllyrians made themselves masters of the place, and not long afterward the inhabitants put themselves under the protection of the Ro- mans, by whom its name was changed to Dyrrhachium. At a later period it was prom- inent in the contest between Caesar and Pom- pey, and in 1081-'2 became memorable for its siege and capture by Robert Guiscard, who defeated there the Greeks under their emperor Alexis. (See DUKAZZO.) DYSART, or Desart, a parliamentary borough and seaport town of Fifeshire, Scotland, 12 in. N. K E. of Edinburgh, on the N. side of the frith of Forth ; pop. in 1871, 8,920. The town is very old, and in former times was a place of much importance. It carries on ship build- ing, flax spinning, and manufactures of dam- asks and ticks. There are coal and iron mines in the vicinity. DYSENTERY (Gr. 6v$, ill, and evrepov, intes- tine), an inflammation of the large intestine, producing frequent straining efforts at stool, attended by small and painful mucous and bloody discharges. Dysentery is more com- mon in hot climates than in temperate ones ; in summer and autumn than in winter and spring. It is subject to epidemic influences, being in some seasons frequent and fatal over an extensive region, and then almost disap- pearing for years. It is more common and severe in malarious districts. It sometimes breaks out and is excessively fatal in public in- stitutions where the inmates have been sub- ject to a vitiated atmosphere and an improper and innutritious diet ; and it has often proved very destructive to armies. It is commonly at- tributed to the use of irritating and indiges- tible food, and to cold, particularly after the body has been debilitated by a prolonged ex- posure to heat. The milder cases are attended by little or no fever ; but when the disease is severe fever is always present, and may pre- cede though it more commonly follows the lo- cal manifestations. There is often much pain and soreness in the lower part of the abdomen or extending along the track of the colon, and frequent calls to stool, attended with painful and often violent straining ; the stools consist chiefly of mucus more or less tinged with blood, and sometimes mixed with membranous shreds, or they may consist of blood almost pure, or resemble the washings of flesh ; their odor is not feculent, but faint and peculiar, and sometimes fetid ; occasionally the neck of the bladder sympathizes with the neighboring bowel, and there is difficulty in passing urine. DYSPEPSIA 345 While mild cases of dysentery are attended with no danger, when severe the disease is al- ways serious and often fatal ; or it may become chronic, and slowly break down the constitu- tion. When death occurs, post mortem exam- ination reveals the existence of inflammation and ulceration in the large intestine. The ul- cers are often large, irregular in shape, laying bare the muscular and sometimes the peritone- al coat ; between them the mucous membrane is thickened, often lined with false membrane, sometimes appearing as if struck with gan- grene. When the pain and tenderness are very considerable, the treatment may be com- menced by the application of leeches over the track of the inflamed bowel ; if any constipa- tion has previously existed, a dose of castor oil, to which a few drops of laudanum have been added, may be given ; opiates and astrin- gents may be afterward administered. From the fact that the rectum is the part of the intestinal canal most affected, opiates in the form of suppositories or enemata are found particularly useful. Calomel has been highly recommended in the treatment of the dysen- tery of tropical climates, but in temperate regions it is rarely necessary to resort to it. The patient should be confined to his bed, and the diet should be of the mildest and most unirritating character. When the dysentery becomes chronic, the tenesmus subsides, the stools are more copious and loose, and contain pus ; the complaint is apt to be tedious and in- tractable, and when recovery takes pla'ce, the digestive organs remain for a long time feeble and irritable. A strictly regulated diet, with the use of opium, combined with a small dose of sulphate of copper or nitrate of silver, are the means commonly had recourse to in its treatment. DYSPEPSIA (Gr. dv$, ill, and Tre^f, diges- tion), or Indigestion, a designation under which are commonly grouped all those functional dis- orders of the stomach which are independent of organic disease, and are not symptomatic of disease of other parts of the economy. Its characteristic symptoms, as given by Cullen, are "want of appetite, nausea, vomiting, flat- ulence, eructations, and pain ; more or fewer of these symptoms concurring, together some- times with constipation." Many circumstances must concur to render digestion easy and per- fect. The mind should be free from any har- assing care or anxiety ; otherwise not only the appetite is impaired, but the food is digested with difficulty. The food should be thorough- ly masticated and insalivated. After recovery from wasting diseases, a larger quantity of food is required and will be digested than at ordi- nary times. It should be suited to the digestive capacity of the stomach ; if the quantity be too large or the quality too rich, a sense of fulness and weight in the region of the stomach, nau- sea, heartburn, and eructation of acid and gas- eous matters follow ; with these symptoms the tongue becomes furred, there is some feverish-