On the seat of headache in the sympathetic nerve, and on some of the rules of treatment, drawn from its connexion with chronic ill health / by William Seller.

Date:
1848
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the seat of headache in the sympathetic nerve, and on some of the rules of treatment, drawn from its connexion with chronic ill health / by William Seller. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    which event the means of correction ai-e best understood; though even here, perhaps, a nicer adjustment than what the ordinary anti- phlogistic treatment affords might be made, by a careful study of each instance in accordance with the principle just laid down. In this case, as well as in the less sanguine and the anemic states of chronic ill health, there may be iiTitating matters to be evacuated, neutra- Hzed, or sheathed, before any progress can be made; for which piu'- poses piu'gatives, even emetics, antacids, diluents, and demulcents, may be requisite. It is no doubt true, as these irritating matters ai*e' continually reproduced while this state of health continues, that evacuants in former times have often been tqo freely, and even detrimentally, employed, and that diluents and demulcents are of safer use. But it is only the frequent repetition of purgatives that can be hmtful; and the example of trainers for the ring may be re- tarded as conclusive in favour of the utility of such evacuants as a rst step, when the health is to be improved. And though a feeling begins to lise in the profession against strong pm'gatives, owdng to the abuse of these remedies in the earlier part of the century, it is undeniable that some of those, when used with moderate frequency, have the power at once of evacuating acrid matters, and of promot- ing a more healthy action and secretion in the abdominal organs. Of this description are croton oil, oil of tm'pentine, and colchicum. The Hquor potassse is the best of the antacids. To their diluent effect is probably owing, in a principal measure, the reputation, in health impaired by dissipation, of some of the less active thermal waters,—witness the Bath water, so much extolled by Heberden in such cases. And it is not impossible that the far-famed repute of the decoction of sarsaparilla for the correction of ill health, which I firmly believe to be well founded, may be owing to no higher quality than its demulcent effect. I just now referred to the practice of trainers for the ring; and I would now instance their success in impro\'ing the respiration, and also the strength and resistance of the muscular system, and, in par- ticular, the^ action of the skin, as an encouragement to attempt,' liardly on similar, yet on parallel principles, the restoration of vigour to the vegetative functions, when impaired by the progress of chronic ill health. ^ The case which comes mider the managen.ent of the modem trainer, is cormnonly that of a naturally \Tgoious young man, whose wind has become impaired, his belly protuberant, his muscles flabby, by all kinds of excesses. A few doses of ]iurga- tive medicine suffice to relieve the digestive oi-gans from any inmie- diate impediment. After being kept for some time on a rccrulated diet of^ plain food, with alternate exercise and rest, he can draw a fuller inspiration, hold his breatli longer, and recover it sooner when lost; the muscles become firmer, and contract with force; he is less easily stunned by a blow, and the skin becomes clear, smooth, well coloured, and elastic. B