Diseases > Domestic medicine

DOMESTIC MEDICINE. 445
The general intentions of cure, in this disease, are
to strengthen the alimentary canal, and to promote
the secretions. These intentions will be best answered
by the different preparations of iron and the Peruvian
bark, which after proper evacuations, may be taken
in the same manner as directed in the preceeding
disease.
If the patient be costive, it will be necessary to
make use of some gentle opening medicine, as pills
composed of equal parts of aloes, rhubarb, and asa-
foetida, with as much of the elixir proprietatis as is
necessary to form the ingredients into pills. Two,
or three, or four of these may be taken as often as it
shall be found needful, to keep the body gently open.
Such as cannot bear the asafoetida may substitute
Spanish soap in its place.
Though a cheerful glass may have good effects in
this disease, yet all manner of excess is hurtful. In¬
tense study and every thing that depresses the spirits
are likewise pernicious,
Though the general symptoms and treatment of
nervous disorders were pointed out in the beginning
of this chapter: yet, for the benefit of the unhappy
persons afflicted with those obstinate and complicated
malidies, 1 have treated several of their capital symp¬
toms under distinct or separate heads. These how¬
ever are not to be considered as different diseases,
but as various modifications of the same disease.
They all arise from the same general causes, and re¬
quire nearly the same method of treatment. There
are many other symptoms that merit particular atten¬
tion, which the nature of my plan will not permit me
to treat of at full length. I shall therefore omit them
altogether, and conclude this chapter with a few ge¬
neral remarks on the most obvious means of prevent¬
ing or avoiding nervous disorders.