Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-10-09
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glands Of the mouth OF the tears from the mucus
membrane of the lachrymal glands, and the n.
mount of secretion cram either depends upon the
Quantity and quality of blood distributed to them,
and so Of the colon, the amount OF secretion from
its mucus membrane, that is, the quantity OF teces
that is lepnsited in the bowels depends upon the
quantity OF blood distributed to that membrane
. The books. am aware teach very different doc
! trinc but because Dr. this one or Dr. that one
says so in his book is no reason OF its beng true:
! Other Doctors in their books say differently, anu
when Doctors disagree, who shall decide. inc
books say aal it is the generally received opln-
ion among the profession, that after the food pas
scs into III. starn ,c 1t is by the muscular action
of the stonac, rolled and tumblcd about until it
becomes soft homogeneous mass. and then 1t IS
passed forward into the upper portion OF me DOW
/ els called the duodcnum, where by the action OF
the bile nrnn il portion or part Is extracted OF
separated for purposes of nutrition called chle
! and which is taken up by the small tubular YES
sells called hctcals and carried into the circulation
for the PURPOSES of nourishng the body; the other
! portion becoming useless after tho Chile IS cX-
traccd from it it is sent forward through the bow
els and expelled. Now, instead OF mart only OF
this mass being prepared and taken into the circu-
lation the whole of it is in health taken up. Now
let us see about this-let US see If part only IS
taken and carried into the circulation. How much
in weight does person inhcalth cat at meal
Saw two nounls-three meals day would make
! six pounds that he has taken into his stomach
! Now, according to the books part OF this say
half is taken up and carried into the clrcuia-
ton the other half then, according to our calcu-
latun would be one pound left in the bowels after
| each meal, or three pounds day to be carried
forward and expelled at the lower portion OF the
bowels. Now, bear in mind, that there IS each
day three pounds Of drOSS or residlum OF the lood
! that is not needed for the nutrition Of the body,
and is carried on through the bowels to be expcl-
! led Now, suppose this man happened to be trou.
. bled with constipation Of the bowels. and should
have no discharge from the bowels for one week,
q very frequent occurrence with dyspephcs anu
others troubled with Constipation, have known
persons to 20 weeks without having any opera.
! ton of the bowels and there are cases on record
| where patients have gone 6 and = months with
! out having had stool. Now, at the end OF one
week this constipatcd patient would, according to
our calculation, he carrying about him IN his bow
! els u pounds Of focal MATERIAL the end OF TWO
weeks he would carry about with him AZ pounds
at the end of three weeks CD pounds-and in
the case of those l have alluded to as going q and
! II months without STOOL one would carry 1l6
pounds, and the other 1892 pounds. What M ab-
surd idea, that person should carry about with
him thousand pounds or the hall OF 1t oil lecal
matter or even G3 or AZ, or the u pounds. Sup
pose the patient, at the end of the first week. who
is supposed to have , pou ds in store is weighed,
how much more will he actually weigh: will he
weigh 81 pounds more? No. Will he weigh the
half oft, or j pounds, or pound? No, not o"e
half ounce GoIr, anl the great probability IT, that
| he will not even weigh n much rs lie did the week
previous What has become OF the II pounds oi
refuse matter? That's question much easier
asked than answered, if we stick to the old doc
trine as laid down in the books. I'll tell you
what has become of it: the mhcle of tho food was
taken I'D and carried into the circulation, and
good portion has passed. Of through the bladder
in form of urine, and through the pores Of the
skin in the form inscnsibIe perspiration.
1t has come under the observation of almost ev.
cry one that \ patient iab2ring nnder some acute
disease, where 40 solid food has been taken for
weeks, vet the stools are a. well formed and CO.
pious as ever; anl in fact this same patient may
have. at the commencement Of his disease taken
strong anil purgativc medicine, which expelled,
every particle of frca matter, and before taking
! any nouii>llmcut with the exception, perhaps vi II
little tea he has had other stools almost as coplous.
and OF as much consistence rs the first This, OF
course, could not have hcen the rcsidnum Of the
| food, for the patient hal taken none. Patients
with lock Jaw, where it was aa mpossblty Tor
them to take any thing for days and weeks in
shape of nourishment, except liquid, and that OF
the thinest kind, yet have daily evacuation OF
! the usual consistcnce. Patients suffering from
cancer in the mouth, that prcclulcd the possibi!i-
ty Of taking any k:nl of nourislIment by the
mouth, have been nourishcd and kept alive by
cncmas, yet they have stools of mere OF less con
sistence Where could this fecal matter come
from-certaimly not from the fool?
Anain, persons subject to Constipation, general
| " have good, and sometimes enormous appctitcs,
| and cal large quantities, yet have movement Of
the bowels very seldom, and then very small i'll
quantity II it remained in the bowels, of course
there would be prntubcrsncc there giving eri-
dcncc that there was quantity Of matter lodged
there but, on the contrary instead Of there being
any protujelancc there, con*tiputed persons al
ways haze exceedingly f1i bellies, and moreover,
if there was quantity Of matter lodged there,
tie patient would weigh more but hc does not
weigh one half ounce more than lie did at the last
movement Of his bowels.
As an argument against this doctrine. it may
be said, that PARTICLES Of food, scc'ls, skins Of
dried fruit. cherry stones, &C., are found in the
stools. This, however, is no argument against It,,
fer they are found there either because they escape
the action Of the gastric Juice, or it was impossi-
bic for the gastric juice to dissolve them. Ii n
man swallow n cannon ball, / for one, would not
expect it to be dissolved by the gastric juice or
prepared by the stomach for its reception into the
circulation. If Il person swallow penny or a
cherry stone, it is hound to 20 through them, for
the gastric Juice will not dissolve them.
Now, what conceive to be about the right view
Of this whole matter is this: The food, anil Mc
rAole Of 4, is bv tile muscular action and the
Juices Of the stomach converted iiSo soft homo
gcncous ma$s, and then is passed along into the
uppcr bowels called the duodnnm. on the sides OF
which arc great number Of little orlfccs, which
are mouths of small vessels or tubes called tuci"'s,
whose Office it is to take up this food, now called
! cLIe, and carry it along and discharge it into a
large vein, aud by which it is carried to the heart;
from the heart it is forced into the lungs, when by
coming in contact with the atmosphere Is sconvcrt-
ell into coed healthy rcd blood and now fit (but
not previously for the purpose Of nutrition. 1t
now being made into good red blood is brought
back by large veins to the heart again, from whence
it is again propelled into the large arteries and
distributed to every portion of the system. The
blood pas sing OH through these arteries received
into another set Of vessels Of the very smallest
calibre called capHlary rrsscts. and which are III
every tissue Of the body, and so numerous that
the point Of small needle cannot enter the skl:I
without piercing them.
Now in these minute vessels the great functions
of nU'riitGa and secretion are carried en-, or, IN
other words, the dcposting Of al the solids, such
as bone sinew, muscle, nails, &c; this is n"'ro",
while the depositng Of the liquids, such rs bile,
gastric juice, saliva, tears, &C.. is cnllcl Secretion.
Every particle Of the solids aml liquids of the
body arc separated and deposited from the blood
by these small vessels. but Lcar n mMd Mm III"
dr,osity ore made o"iy .Iora ShoH time. As almost
every one is aware, there is Il constant change
going on in the system-cld solids arc being