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

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MEDICINE.
D’feafes of ancl ftomach, render tlie milk of a (limy confiftence, by
t t:^1^ren- -which means it is not fo readily abforbed into the lac-
teals ; and as in moft infants there is too great an aci¬
dity in the ftomach, the milk is thereby curdled, which
adds to the load ; hence ticknefs and fpafms, which,
being communicated by fympathy to the nerves of the
gullet and fauces, produce the convulfive motions above
defended, which go commonly by the name of inward
fits. The air, Jikewife, which is drawn in during fric¬
tion mixing with the milk, &c. in the ftomach, per¬
haps contributes towards increafing the fpafms above
mentioned. Dr Armftrong is the more induced to
attribute thefe fits to the caufes now affigned, that they
always appear immediately after fucking cr feeding j
efpecinliy if the child has been long at the breaft, or
fed heartily, and has been laid dowm to fleep without
having ftrft broken wind. Another reafon is, that
nothing relieves them fo foon as belching or vomiting;
and the milk or food they throw up is generally either
curdled, or mixed -with a large quantity of heavy
phlegm. If they be not relieved by belching or vomit¬
ing, the fits fometimes continue a good while, and gra¬
dually abate, according as the contents of the ftomach
are puftied into the inteftines *, and as foon as the former
is pretty well emptied, the child is waked by hunger,
cries, and wants the breaft ; he fucks, and the fame
procefs is repeated.—Thus, feme children for the firft
w'eeks are kept almoil always in a doze, or feemingly
fo } cfpecially if the nurfes, either through lazinefs or
want of {kill, do not take care to roufe them when
they perceive that it is not a right deep, and keep them
awake at proper intervals. This dozing is reckoned a
bad fign amongft experienced nurfes %7 who look upon
it as a forerunner of the thrufh, as indeed it often is j
and therefore, when it happens, wre ought to be upon
our guard to ufe the neceffary precautions for prevent¬
ing that diforder.
For thefe diforders, the only remedy recommended
by Dr Armftrong is antimonial wine, given in a few
drops according to the age of the infant. By this
means the fuperabundant mucus will no doubt be eva¬
cuated ; but at the fame time wre muft remember, that
this evacuation can only palliate, and not cure the dif-
eafe. This can only be effected by tonics 5 and, when
from inward fits and other fymptoms it appears that the
tone of the ftomach is very weak, a decoftion of cin¬
chona, made into a fyrup, will readily be taken by in¬
fants, and may be fafely exhibited from the very day
they come into the world, or as foon as their bowels
are emptied of the meconium by the mother’s milk or
any other means.
Dr Clarke obferves, that fra&ures of the limbs and
eomprejjions of the brain, often happen in difficult la¬
bours ; and that the latter are often followed by con-
vulfions foon after delivery. In thefe cafes, he fays, it
will be advifable to let the ravel-ftring bleed two or
three fpoonfuls before it be tied. Thus the oppreffion
of the brain will be relieved, and the difagreeable eon-
fequences juft mentioned will be prevented. But if
this has been negledled, and fits have adtually come
on, we muft endeavour to make a revulfion by all the
means in our power •, as by opening the jugular vein,
procuring an immediate difeharge of the urine and me¬
conium, and applying fmall blifters to the back, legs,
*r behind the ears. The femicupium, too, would feem
Appendix.
to be ufeful in this cafe, by driving the oppreffive load Difeafesof
of fluids from the head and upper parts. Children.
It fometimes happens after a tedious labour, that the ^
child is fo faint and weak as to difeover little or no
figns of life. In fuch a cafe, after the ufual cleanfing,
the body ftiould be immediately wrapped in warm flan¬
nel, and brifkly toffed about in the nurfe’s arms, in
order, if poffible, to excite the languid circulation.
If this fail, the breaft and temples may be rubbed with
brandy or other fpirits ; or the child may be provoked
to cry, by whipping, or other ftimulating methods, as
the application of onion, or fait and fpirit of bartfhorn,
to the mouth and noftrils. But after all thefe expe¬
dients have been tried in vain, and the recovery of the
child abfolutely defpaired of, it has fometimes been
happily revived by introducing a fliort catheter or
blowpipe into the mouth, and gently blowing into
the lungs at different intervals. Such children, how¬
ever, are apt to remain weak for a confiderable time,
fo that it is often no eafy matter to rear them ; and
therefore particular care and tendernefs will be required
in their management, that nothing may be omitted
which can contribute either to their prefervation or
the improvement of their ftrength and vigour.
All the diforders which arife from a retention of the
meconium, fuch as the red gum, may eafily be removed
by the ufe of gentle laxatives ; but the great fource of
mortality among children is the breeding of their teeth.
The ufual fymptoms produced by this are fretting ;
reftleffnefs ; frequent and hidden iiartings, efpecially in
deep ; coftivenefs; and fometimes a violent diarrhoea,
fever, cr convulfions. In general, thofe children breed
their teeth with the greateft eafe, who have a moderate
laxity of the bowels, or a plentiful flow of faliva dur¬
ing that time.
In mild cafes, we need only, when neeeffary, endea¬
vour to promote the means by which nature is obferved
to carry on the bufinefs of dentition in the tafitft man¬
ner. For this purpofe, if a coftivenefs be threatened,
it muft be prevented, and the body kept always gently
open 5 the gums ftiould be relaxed by rubbing them
frequently with fweet oils, or other foftening remedies
of that kind, which will greatly diminilh the tenfion
and pain. At the fame time, as children about this
period are generally difpofed to chew whatever they get
into their hands, they ought never to be without fome-
thing that will yield a little to the preffure of their
gums, as a cruft of bread, a wax candle, a bit of li¬
quorice root, or fueh like ; for the repeated mufcular
aclion, occafioned by the conftant biting and gnawing
at fuch a fubftance, will increafe the difeharge from the
falivary glands, while the gums will be fo forcibly pref-
fed againft the advancing teeth, as to make them break
out much fooner, and with lefs uneafinefs, than would-
otherwife happen. Some likewife recommend a flice of
the rind of freffi bacon, as a proper mafticatory for the
child, in order to bring mfeifture into its mouth, and
facilitate the eruption of the teeth by exercifing the
gums. If thefe means, however, prove ineffedlual, and
bad fymptoms begin to appear, the patient will often
be relieved immediately by cutting the inflamed gum
down to the tooth, where a fmall white point {hows
the latter to be coming forward. When the pulfe is
quick, the Ikin hot and dry, and the child of a fuffi-
cient age and ftrength, emptying the veffels by bleed¬
ing.