Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1856-10-09
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
AND CURE.

o. oftnn written to. and consulted from every "ec
ton of the United States, and called upon to pre-
scribe for rs Constipation of the Bowels. 1t wouid
seem to be the disease Of the country, and ike
most other chronic disases, / find has been treat
cd under n total misapprehension rs regards the
true cause of the disease. will in my advertise
mcnt of this week give what l conceive to be the
corrctt view of its cauScS-a view, am aware
that is opposed by the great mass of the profess
sion. but which, Is strcnuousy advocated bya few,
and those few from their research and close study
stand nj the head of their profession, and from
whom am indebted to having been converted
from the old beaten track aS laid down in the books
and led to embrace my present belief. with n view
n making the matter Ineligible to the general
reader. (Which is very difficult thing to do)
shall enieavor to simplify the matter as much as
possible, in the hope that may be followed with
out difficulty.
Constipation is Of two kinds, or perhaps ought
rather to sav that it arises from two and entirely
dssimilar states of the system, viz: in those that
arc lean and Of spare habit and in those of ro-
bust and healthy appearance. We viii first take
into consideration the former, and the first 4ues-
ton to be propoundcd and answered is.
! Uhy are hc do,rels uregUlar as regards tier ac-
| Goa-riy do Mey not mocc rih more regularity
and ndftegueacy-rLy the dcly in The .fecal matter De-
ing Jecicd?
For the very good reason that the natural slim
ulus to action or the contraction of the parIetieS
! of the bowels upon their contents is absent-thcy
do not act because that which sets them in motion,
that which stimulates them to contraction, and the
consequent cXpelling of their contents is not pres
ent to excite or bring about this action or contrac-
tion.
UAat is this Hdt.rm Stimulus or ctcjior Of The ac-
F., ton oftte d0icetS!
Their contcnts-the fccal matter, and which
must be of n certain bulk, or Of some0 or ounces
in weight before it can become an cxcitor Of the
contraction of the bowels. The reason then, why
no evacuation takes placc-why the bowels are
irregular is because there is no tecal matter there
! To excite cOntraction-there is no focal matter
there to be expelled and of course if there is no.
thing there to be expelled, nothing can be cxpell-
| oil Fccal matter cannot be sent out Of the bow
els. because it is not in them; it is not because
bowels arc unable to discharge their contents, but
because they have no contents to discharge.
| said there was nothing, no fecal matter there;
there NAV be small quantity, not enough at any
rate from its bulk wei ght to excite contraction,
but as soon as some five or six ounces are present
in the bowels, their muscular coats will just so cer-
taiuly, by the weight of their contents be stimu-
lated and forced into contraction and the expell-
ipc Of their contents as the womb will, at the end
of nine months from the weight of its contents ex-
mel tho fetus or as the bladder will cxpcl its COLI
tents when q certain quantity shall have been Sc
creted there. 1t is law of the economy, and un-
til there is sufficient weight OF bulk within the III
testines, sufficient to stimulate them to contract,
there will be no evacuation, aud Of course no erac-
] uuii9n is Aeeded.
At this point will take occasion TO remark,
that under this view Of the cause of irreguarty Of
the bowels one can very readily sec how perfectly
ridiculous and nonsenSical and how entirely use
! ~ ,l,,;,
in Constipation. You take purgatiye or laxative
medicines and for what--why to cxpel from the
bowels that which is not thereto force them to
contract and eXpcl when there is nothing to eXpel
Purrative medicines in Constipation arc not only
useless, but very injurious, as We shall sec, and
their administration is the height Of cmpyricisn
Let the bowels alone until the proper time arrives
for their evacuation, until they need to be eyac-
mated. and rest assured they will perform their
functions without the help of any drugs. Let
them alone, and when the faces shallllavc accum-
ulated to the amount of some or ounces they
will most certainly contract upon and expe! their
contents.
The next question in order is
Vhyis not ttcdt matter ircScEL-'rhy has not
bcea trih mare rCgUiGrity ant 'cdh more Frequency
dpoStcd so as become an "fcor 10 c"nir"ct'oH "t
Mr bo,ccis nnd tie consequent c2P"fS'on 81 the" con-
tWt$?
the reason lllul us tHC lcCeS aIC Il ~ ' ''''t-
Hon from tie Glood, and the patient from his lean,
lank, lantern iawed appearance shows very plain
ly that he has but very little blood inside OF him,
and what there is, Of the thincst, poorest and
mcanest quality, it is very easy to imagine that
there will not be much secretion; it is an impossl-
bility that there should be much for the blood is
not there ont Of mhich the fecal secrct!ons can be
, manuracturcd the manufacturers arc ready to do
the work-thcy are ready to manufacture the tecal
matter, but they are short of material, they have
nothing to work with, no material to work into
fecal matter. Like the cotton factory, where
everything is ready to do the work, all the hands
employed, all the machinery in good order and
| eady for action, but the spun thread Is wanting
it isn't to be had and can not be got, and the
consequence is no homespun is made, rs there is
nothing TO make it out OF. So it is with the colon
and rcctum, the lower bowels, they are ready to
manufacture and deposit the fecal secretion, but
good rich blood, and plenty of it being wanting,
they are'left without any material to work with,
and Of course not having this all important mate
rial, the blood, they cannot manufacture the Sc
cretion
Now. am aware, that this doctrine OF teclhca-
: ton is at variance with large mass OF the pro,
fession and not only the profession, but those out
of it. and the latter as well as large majority OF
the former, regard the feces as the residluHl VI
the food, as that portion of the food which moi
taken up by the circulation, and not needed 1or
the purposes of nourshing the body, or as the re-
fuse of the food after all the nutritious part OF II
has been extracted, but this is entirely o wrong