Encyclopaedia Britannica, or, a Dictionary of arts, sciences, and miscellaneous literature : enlarged and improved. Illustrated with nearly six hundred engravings > Volume 13, MAT-MIC

MEDICINE.
’radice.
.pocenofes. charge might be continued by the force of habit, though
—-V ' the original caufe no longer remained.
It feemed, therefore, expedient to introduce fome
other habit, in the place of the increafed fecretion of
faliva ; which habit might afterwards be gradually left
off. With this intention, he prevailed on the patient
to chew perpetually a little dry bread, and to fwallow
it with her fpittle. In a few weeks, it became necef-
fary for her to chew the bread only at certain hours in
the day ; and thus, after two months, (lie became en¬
tirely free from a molt difguftful and tedious difor-
der.
It is worthy of obfervation, that, at firft, the fwallow-
ing of fo much faliva frequently occafioned a naufea ;
and that then, for a few hours, Hie was obliged to fpit
it out as ufual ; and that during the greateft* part of
the time, Avhen {he chewed the bread, Ihe had a {tool
or two every day more than common.
,9, Genus CXX. ENURESIS.
An involuntary FLUX of URINE.
Enurefis, Sauv. gen. 264. Lin. 195. Vog. 113.
Sag. 200.
This is a diftemper which frequently affe£ts chil¬
dren, otherwife healthy, when alleep •, and is extreme¬
ly difagreeable. Often it is merely the effect of lazi-
nefs, and may be driven off by proper correction ; but
fometimes it proceeds from an atony or weaknefs of
the fphindter of the bladder. Many ridiculous cures
have been prefcribed for it, and among the reft field-
mice dried and powdered. Tonics are frequently of
ufe; but fometimes the diftemper proves obftinate, in
fpite of every thing we can ufe. In the London Me¬
dical Obfervations we find blifters much recommend¬
ed in this difeafe when applied to the region of the os
facrum. A girl of 13 years of age had been fubjeCt
to an enurefis for four years. She could retain her
water but a very little while in the day-time, but it
flowed continually in the night. She had taken Peru¬
vian bark and elixir of vitriol in confiderable quantities j
alfo valerian and the volatile julep, without effeCl.
She was feverely threatened, as the phyfician fufpefted
it might arife from a bad habit 5 but this producing no
effeft, a blifter was applied to the os facrum, which in
24 hours totally removed the difeafe. A man aged 3 2,
having been feized with an incontinence of urine and
palfy of the lower extremities in confequence of tak¬
ing a quack medicine, was cured of the incontinence
of urine in 24 hours by one blifter, and of the palfy it-
felf by another. A woman of 50 having been feized
with an enurefis and paralytic affeftion of the right
thigh and leg in confequence of a fprain, was cured of
both by a fingle blifter. Several other cafes are men¬
tioned, by which the power of blifters in removing this
diftemper feems to exceed that of every other medi¬
cine whatever.
591 Genus CXXI. GONORRHOEA.
Gonorrhoea, Sauv. gen 208. Lin. 200. Vog. 118.
Sag. 204.
The gonorrhoea is a flux of vifcid matter of various
colours, from the urethra in men and the vagina in wo-
A
men. It commonly proceeds from coition with a
perfon infefted with the venereal difeafe, and is one of
the moft common forms under which that difeafe ftiows
itfelf.
Defcription. The firft fymptoms of the difeafe in
men are commonly a fenfation at the end of the penis
not unlike a flea-bite, together with a fulnefs of the
lips of the urethra, and fome degree of tenfion in the
penis, the urinary canal feeling as if tightened, and-
the urine flowing in a fmall and unequal ftream : a
little whitifti mucus is to be feen about the orifice of
the urethra, and oozing from it when {lightly preffed,
efpecially if the preffure be made on the fpot where the
forenefs is moft felt. The difcharge foon inereafes in
quantity, and varies in its colour according to the
degree of inflammation. The patient feels a fenfation
of heat and pain in evacuating his urine, particularly
at certain fpots of the urethra, and above all towards
its orifice \ and the involuntary ere£1 ions to which he
is fubjefted from the ftimulus, particularly when warm
in bed, occafion a diftortion or curvature of the penis,
attended with exquifite pain. When the inflammation
is violent, the glans appears tumid and tranfparent,
the tenfion extends through the whole of the penis,
the perinaeum is affefted with fwelling and rednefs, and
even the loins, buttocks, and anus, ft npathize and af¬
ford a very uneafy fenfation. Someumes the prepuce
inflames about the end of the penis, and cannot be
drawn back, occafioning wThat is called a phymqfis ; at
other times, as in the paraphymojis, it remains in an
inflamed ftate below the glans, fo that it cannot be
drawn forwards; and, if the ftridture and inflammation
be violent, may terminate in gangrene. Now and
then, efpecially when there is a phymofis, we may
perceive a hard chord extending along the back of the
penis. This is an inflamed lymphatic, and may be
confidered as a prelude to a bubo. When, however,
a bubo does appear, almoft univerfally fome ulceration
is previoufly to be difcovered about the prseputium,
or glans penis •, which gives ground to prefume that
fome other contagious matter befides that of gonor-
rhoea may have been applied to the urethra. For it is
certain that matter capable of communicating the con¬
tagion of gonorrhoea to a female, is often copioufly
applied to the whole glans penis of a male for feveral
days together, Avithout giving either ulceration or
bubo.
In mild cafes, the feat of the difeafe is in the urethra,
not far from its orifice *, but it frequently happens that
the virus infinuates itfelf much higher up, fo as to affedt
CoAvper’s glands, the proftate, and parts very near to the
neck of the bladder.
In the generality of cafes, the inflammation goes
on increafing for feveral days, commonly for a Aveek
or a fortnight ; after Avhich the fymptoms begin to
abate; and the running, Avhen left to itfelf, gradually
leffens in quantity, and becomes Arbiter and thicker,
till at length it totally flops. The colour of the mucus,
however, is by no means a certain guide in thefe cafes :
for in many patients it is of a yellowifli, and fome¬
times of a greenifti hue to the very laft ; but in gene¬
ral it becomes more confiftent toAvards the clofe of the
difeafe.
In Avomen, the external parts of generation being ,
fewer and more Ample, the difeafe is lefts complicated
than