Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 2, 1802).djvu/68

50&#93; ^o] CON pears (o ba doubtful; and they may be (Considered as the effect, father than the cause of tlie com- plain! which pervades the whole system. Syniptonis of Atrophy : General languor of. body and mind ; an un- healthy look of the face; a light and unsettled sleep; the appetite now voracious,, now nauseating, but usually most desirous of cold food; straitness of the ; breast, and uneasiness after eating; great inter- nal heal and dryness of the tongue y gradual wasting of the body ; con- tinual fevorishness and thirst, espe- cially during the night ; at length, a fever nearly resembling a hectic, and a total privation of strength and spirits. Children and young persons are very liable to this disease : the for- mer, from the unhealthy milk of a Burse addicted to passions, parti- cularly grief and anger; the latter, from the use of improper food; heavy and feculent malt-liquors; the suppression of night-sweats, . specially when occasioned by draughts of cold beverage; by eating voraciously of crude, thick, heavy and obstruent food ; drinking spirituous liquors 5 long continuance of worms, &tv — Scro- phuious adults, and those who have lost large quantities of bl are also subject to atrophy. Although this s one of the least srOUS species of consumption. yet* when neglected in its com- mencement, it frequently proves fatal! Hence the evacuatioi 1 q] ought to be strictly attended to, and If the stomach be foul, a gentle emetic previously adminis- tered. A diluent and nourishing diet, as circumstances may re- quire ; country air; but particu- larly sweet whey, and the mucila- CON ginous bitters, such as deeoc* of the eryngo-leaved liverwort, and the wood of quassia, will be of eminent service. No remedy what- ever is, in tins complaint, equal to the warm bath, which should be gradually reduced to a coo!, and at length to a co W temperature, as soon as the patient is able to bear it. — (See vol. i. p. 1.QO and 1.Q1). — Among the various domestic me- dicines, which have been oeca* sionally employed for the cure of what is called a nervous atrophy, we are from experience convinced, that none are letter calculated to restore an emaciated frame, than the conjoined use. of the Salep-roof, vulgarly denominated Female fool- stones, or Meadow Orchis (Or- chis Mario, L.), and the jelly ob- tained from the red garden-snail (Helix Pomatin, I,.} ; Two drams of the former, in powder, boiled in a pint of whey to the consist- ence of a thick mucilage, ought to be taken twice a day ; a-nd from six to eight of the latter dissolved over a slow lire, in equal quanti- ties of milk and water, with the addition of a little cinnamon and sugar, should be used every morn- ing. But, if the patient's appe- tite be considerably impaired, he may begin the course of these re- medies in much smaller dose-, which might be imperceptibly i ■ creased. All symptomatical conskmphbni . hpwc ver, are so far incurable, as they depend upon the partii disorders from which they origi- nate : and, if tlx- latter can be re- medied by aft, there is no da'ngi r be apprehended from the forrnei hence it is of the utmost impbrt- • ance to distinguish a simple atro- phy from a confirmed hectic, or a pulmonary consumption. In tin- last