Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-02-26

! q J
There is not, among the whole catalogue of Chronic
Diseases one concerning which am often written
and consulted Eom every section OF the United States and
called on TO prescribe for as Constipation Of the Bowels
1t would to ne the disease o; the country; like
most other Chronic Diseases fni has been treated
der total Misrepresentation regards the true Of
the Disease. will in my advertisement Of this week,
give what conceive to be correct view Of the
view that is opposed nv the great mass OF
the profession, bus which is srenu6usy advocated by
few and those few from their research and close study
stand at the head of his profession, and from whom
indebted to having been converted from the cid beaten
track lsd down the books and led to embrace ny
present belief With view to making the matter iptelli-
gible to the general reader (Which is a very difficult
thing to do) shall endeaVor simplify the matter as
much az possible in the hope that 1 may be followed
without difficulty.
Constipation is Of two kinds or perhaps ght rather
to say that it arises from two and entirely dssimiar
states OF the SYSTEM viz: 10 those that lean and
spare habit, and in those Of robust and healthy appear
auce. We will first take into consideration the former;
and the FIRST question propounded and ans Eered is
Way are the bowels irregular regards thei7 action
| why do they not move with more regularity and fre
quency-why the delay in the focal matter being eject
| edf
For the very good reason that the natural stimulus to
action the contracons of the p2rees of the bowels
upon their conteuts is absent-they do ac
that which sets them iG molon-that which stimulates
them to contraction and the consequent expeng their
contents is not present TO excite bring about this
! ton or contraction.
What this natural stimulus or EXETER of the action
! Of the bowels?
Their contents-the focal matter, and which must be
OF certain bulk, or in weight before
cAn become EXETER of the contraction of the bowels
The reason then, why evacuation takes place-why
the bowels are Irregular is because there mat
Ter there to be expelled and of course there is moth
ing to be expelled, nothing caHba expelled Foe sal mat
ter cannot be sent out of the bowels because it in
them; it is not because the bowels unable to dis
charge their contents but because hy have contents
| to discharge
said there nothing focal matter there; there
may be small quantity, and but small quantity not
enough at any rate, from its bulk weight, to excite
| 8 or e ures
ent in the bowels their muscular will Just SO GER
tainy, by the weight Of their contentsbe stimulated and
forced into contraction and the expellng of their
tents as the womb will, at the end of nine months from
the weight of its contents, expel the lus, the
bladder will expel its contents wheu cert ain quantity
shall have been secreted there 1t is law the ecouo
my and until there is sufficient weight within the
intestnes, sufficient them to contract there
viii be no evacuation, and of course evacuation is
| needed.
At this point, will occasion to remark that uu-
der this view Of the Of rreguary of the bowels
one can readily how perfectly ridiculous and non
sensical, and how entirely useless is the administration
of purgave medicines in Constipation. You take pur.
gatve and laxative medicines, and fol what?-why to
pefrom the bowels that which is not thereto force them
to contract and expe when there is nothing expel.
Purgative medicines in Constipation only useless,
but very injurious as we shall see, and their admintra
ton is the height OF empyrcism. Let the bowels alone
until the proper time arrives for their evacuation
til they need to be evacuated and assured that they
will perform their functions without help any drugs
Let them aoue and when the eces shall have accumuat
ed to the AMOUNT of ounces, they will most
certainly contract upon and expe their contents
The next question in order is
Why is focal matter present why has it not been
withmore regularity and with frequency deposited
become EXETER to contraction Of the bowels and
| the consequent expulsion of their contents?
For the reason, that the eces are true secretion
from me blood, and the patient from his lean ank, Ian
tern awed appearance shows very plainly that he has
but very little blood inside of him and what there is
of the thineet, rest and meanest quality, it is very
easy to imagine that there will not be secretion;
is an inpossibty that there shnul be mucl for the
blood is not there out of which the eol be
manufacturers the m Anufacturers ready to do the
work-they ready to acture the fecal natter
but they are short Of material they have nothing work
with no meeria TO work into ieca matter Like the
ten iactory where everything is ready do the work.
all the hands employed all the machinery good order
and ready for action the spun thread is Yantinq
is MT to be had and cannot be got and the
no homespun is made, there is nothing make it
out Of 20 it with the colon and recum the lower bow
els; they Sre ready to manufacture and depose the
cal secretion but good, rich blood and penty of it, be-
ing wanting, they left without any material work
with, and of course not having this all important
rialthe blood, they cannot manufacture the secretion
Now am that this doctrine Of iecf ation is at
variance with large of the profession and not
only the profession but those out of it, and the latter
well as large msjory of tie former regard the
the Tesiduum of the food, that portion the food
which 10 not taken up by the circulation and needed
for the purposes of nourshug the body the refuse
OF the food after all the nutritious part of it has been
extracted; but this is entirely idea for the feces
are as true secret from the membrane of the
coon as is the gastric Juice from the membrane
of the stomach, the saliva from the mucus brane
of the glands tn mouth the from the mucus
membrane Of the lachrymal glands; and the amount u
secretion from ether depends upou the quantity and
quality of brood distributed to them; Of the colon
the amount Of secretion from its membrane, that
is the qlantity of eces that deposited in the bowels
depends upon the quantity of blood distributed to that
| membrane. The books, aware teach very differ
en doctrine, but because DR. this one, Dr. that
says in his book Is les being true Other
Doctors their books say differently, aGd when Doctors
disagree who shall deeidei The say and it the
generally received opinion among the profession, that
after the fool passes into the stomach by mus
culAr action of the stomach rolled umbed aeout till
it becomes sofG, homogeneous mass and then it is
pressed forward into the upper portion of the bowels
called the du0denum, where portion part is ex-
traced separated for purposes Of nutrition, called
chile, and which is taken by the ss tubular vessels
idcteaS, and carried into the circulation for the
purposes of nourishing the bodyj the other portion
becoming useless after the chile is IRON it, it
is cent forward through the bowels ami expelled. Now
instead part only Of this mass ing prepared and
taken into the circulation, the 0kOte OF it is 10 cath
taken up. Now let about thset US see if part
only is taken and carried into the circulation. How
much in weight does person ia health at a meal!
| Say two pounds-three meals day, would make six
pounds that he has taken into his stomach Now &C.
cording to the books, part Of this oneha is taken
up and carried into the ecuaton; the other half them
according to our calculation would be pound left
the bowels after each meal three pounds day to be
carried forward and expelled at the PORTION Of The
bowels Now bear in mind that there is each day three
pounds of dross resduum of the food that is not
needed for the nutrition OF the body, and ia carried on
through the bowels to be expelled. Now suppose this
bowels, and should haze discharge from the bowels
for week, very frequent with dyspeptcs
and others troubled with Constipation have known
persons to go three weeks without having any operation
of the bowels, and there record where pa
tents have gone six and twelve months without having
had stool. Nov, at the end Of week. this consti-
pated gatient would, &C ording to calculation, be
carrying about him, in his bowels II pounds of ecal
MATERIAL the end of two weeks he would carry about
with him AZ poundsat the end weeks So pounds
and in the Of those have alluded 10 as going six
and twelve months without stool, one would carry 5l6
pounds, and the other 1902 pounds What an absurd
idea, that person Should carry about with him thou
sand pounds the half IL, Of eca matter or even 49,
or AZ or the Il pounds Suppose the patient the end
OF the first week. who is supposed to have 81 pounds in
store, is weighed how much wilfhe actually weight
will Ia weigh u morei No. Win no weigh the half Of
IT, OF pounds, l pound? No; not ole half ounce
morei ami the great probability is, that he viii
| weigh as much as he did week previous. What has
become OF the Il pounds Of refuse materl That's
question much easier asked than answered. If stick
the old doctrine laid down 10 the books I'll tell you
what has become Of it, The whole Of the food taken
up and carried into the circulation, and good portion
has passed through the bladder In the form Of urine and
through the pores Of the skin in the form nsensibe
| Precipitation
1t has under the observation Of almost every one
that patient laborng under acute disease. where no
solid food has been taken for weeks yet the sOos
well formed and copous as ever; and in fact this
patient may have at the " his disease
taken strong and purgaye medicine, which expelled
every particle OF iecal matter, and before taking
any nourshment, with the exception perhaps Of little
teA he has had other stools almost eopious aud of
much c0nsstence the hrs This OF COURSE could
have been the resduum Of the food the patient had
taken none Patients with lockaw, where II i'm.
possibility for them to take anything for days and
weeks In the shape Of n0urahment except liquid aud
that Of the thnnes kind, yet have daily evacuation
OF the usual consisence Patients suffering from cancer
IN the mouth that preuded the possibility Of taking any
kind Of nourshment by the mouth have nourshed
and kept alive by enemas they have stools OF more