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

452 M E D T
Epifcheies. f]our# ^ The befl bread for keeping the belly foluble is
ivhat in fome parts of England they call tnejlin. It is
made of a mixture of wheat and rye, and is very agree¬
able to thofe who are accuitomed to it.
Coftivenefs is increafed by keeping the body too
warm, and by every thing that promotes the perfpira-
tion 5 as wearing flannel, lying too long in bed, &c.
Jntenfe thought, and a fedentary life, are likewife hurt¬
ful. All the fecretions and excretions are promoted by
moderate exercife without doors, and by a gay, cheer¬
ful, fprightly temper of mind.
'1 he drink fliould be of an opening quality. All ar¬
dent fpirits, auftere and aftringent wines, as port, cla¬
ret, &c. ought to be avoided. Malt liquor that is fine
and of a moderate ftrength is very proper. Butter-milk,
whey, and other watery liquors, are likewife proper,
and may be drank in turns, as the patient’s inclination
dir efts.
Thofe who are troubled with coftivenefs ought, if
poflible, to remedy it by diet, as the conftant ufe of me¬
dicines for that purpofe is attended with many incon¬
veniences, and often with bad confequences. In time
the cuftom becomes neceflary, and generally ends in a
total relaxation of the bowels, indigeftion, lofs of appe¬
tite, wafting of the ftrength, and death.
The learned Dr Arbuthnot advifes thofe who are
troubled with coftivenefs to ufe animal oils, as frefti-
buttcr, cream, marrow, fat broths, &c. fie likewife
recommends the exprefled oils of mild vegetables, as
olives, almonds, piftaches, and the fruits themfelves ;
all oily and mild fruits, as figs; decoftions of mealy ve¬
getables ; thefe lubricate the inteftines ; fome faponace-
ous fubftances which ftimulate gently, as honey, hydro-
mel, or boiled honey and water, unrefined fugar, &c.
are ufeful.
The doftor obferves, that fuch lenitive fubftances
are proper for perfons of dry atrabiliarian conftitutions,
who are fubjeft to aftriftion of the belly and the piles,
and will operate when ftronger medicinal fubftances are
fometimes ineffeftual; but that fuch lenitive diet hurts
thofe whofe bowels are weak and lax. He likewife ob¬
ferves, that all wTatery fubftances are lenitive ; and that
even common water, whey, four milk, and butter-milk,
have that effeft :—That new milk, efpecially alfes milkj
ftimulates ftill more when it fours on the ftomach; and
that whey, turned four, will purge ftrongly :—That
moft part of fruits are likewife laxative ; and that fome
of them, as grapes, will throw fuch as take them im¬
moderately, into a cholera morbus, or incurable diar¬
rhoea.
When the body cannot be kept open without medi-
cine, gentle dofes of rhubarb may be taken twice or
thrice a-week. This is not near fo injurious to the fto¬
mach as aloes, jalap, or the other draftic purgatives fo
much in ufe. Infufions of fenna and manna may like¬
wife be taken, or half an ounce of tartarifed alkali dif-
folved in water gruel. About the fize of a nutmeg of
lenitive eleftuary taken twice or thrice a-day, generally
anfwers the purpofe very well.
354 Genus CXXIII. ISCHURIA.
Suppression of Urine.
Ifchuria, Sauv. gen. 293. Lin. 167. Vog. 129.
Sag. 212. Home's Clinical Experiments, feft. xv.
3
CINE.
R his difeafe is diftinguilhed
according as the feat of it is
ureters, the bladder, or the urethra; and hence .
fpecies are named renalis, are l eric a, vejica/is, and
thralis.
Pra&ice.
into various fpecies, Ifchuria.
in the kidneys, the
thefe
urc-
1. Ifchuria renalis, or a fuppreflion of urine from an 39c
afteftion of the kidneys, happens but rarely ; however.
Dr Home in his Clinical Experiments deferibes fuch
a cafe. In the end of December 1774, a man of a
full habit, aged 33, was feized with fhivering, cold-
nefs, and feverc cough. Three days after, his urine
appeared high-coloured, was paffed with pain, and
in fmall quantity. About the 8th of January I77<j,
he was attacked with violent pains in the fmall of his
back, oyer the whole abdomen, and in the ankles,
■with pain in the region of the liver when prefled. A
general fwelling wras afterwards obferved all over the
body, but chiefly in the ankles and abdomen, which
laft was tenfe and hard. Ihele were attended with
vomiting, bad appetite, and confiderable thirft. When
he entered the clinical ward (January 21ft), .the cough,
ficknefs, and vomiting, had gone off, but the fuppref-
fion of urine remained. The little which he made was
paffed with his ftools, fo that Dr Home faw it but
once ; and then it was pale, and had a white powder
at bottom. The pains and fwellings which retained
the impreflion of the finger, continued ; he had a
headach, and a very flow pulfe, beating only 48 ftrokes
in a. minute. He had taken a great many diuretic
medicines before his admiflion. The day after his re-
ception, he was feized with a fpontaneous diarrhoea,
which continued during the remainder of his life.
Cryftals of tartar were exhibited in dofes of half an
ounce each morning; at bed-time he took 20 drops
of tinfture of opium with a fcruple of nitre, and con¬
tinued this courfe for eight days without any increafe
of urine. Ihe ftronger and heating diuretics were
then tried, as an infufion of juniper berries and pills
of garlic ; but they were attended with no manifeft
advantage. Whenever the pulfe became fo ftrong that
he could bear bleeding, eight ounces of blood were
taken away, which was fizy. This was thrice repeat¬
ed ; he appeared eafier after each bleeding, his pulfe
bore it well, and the fwellings and other fymptoms
abated. The heating diuretics, in this ftate, were
given up, . and a mixture of vinegar and nitre was
fubftituted in their place, in each dofe of which, taken
every two hours, there was a fcruple of nitre. Fo¬
mentations were applied to the region of the kidneys,
and camphorated oil was afterwards rubbed on the
part. He wras ordered the femicupium, whjch, from
a deficiency of water in the hofpital at that time, he
got only once; and which then feemed to have a good
effeft, as he palled a gill of urine when he was in it.
Notwithftanding this, however, the difeafe continually
gained ground ; he became comatofe, delirious, and
died ten days after his admiflion. On diffeftion, the
kidneys were found of an irregular form ; fome watery
veficles appeared on their furface, containing black
gritty particles like fine fand ; and the lower part of
the right kidney was confiderably inflamed. The
pylorus, part of the duodenum, and a confiderable
part of the fmall inteftines, were much inflamed. In
the abdomen were found about five pounds of fluid,
and in the cavities of the thorax about half a pound.
The