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HEAD-ACII.

dysentery. In all obstinate fluxes of the belly, the cure must beattempted, by first cleansing the stomach and bowels with gentlevomits and purges ; afterwards such a diet as has a tendency toheal and strengthen the bowels, with opiates and astringent medi-cines, will generally complete the cure.

The same observation holds with respect to a Tenesmus, or fre-quent desire of going to stool. This disease resembles the dysen-tery so much, both in its symptoms and method of cure, that wethink it needless to insist upon it.

CHAP. XXVI.

HEAD-ACH. (Cephalalgia.)

Aches and pains proceed from very different causes, and mayaffect any part of the body ; but we shall point out those onlywhich occur most frequently, and are attended with the greatestdanger.

When the head-ach is slight, and affects a particular part of thehead only, it is called cephalalgia ; when the whole head is affect-ed, cephalœa ; and when one side only, hemicrania. A fixed painin the forehead, which may be covered with the end of the thumb,is called the clavis hystericus.

There are also other distinctions. Sometimes the pain is inter-nal, sometimes external ; sometimes it is an original disease, andat other times only symptomatic. When the head-ach proceedsfrom a hot bilious habit, the pain is very acute and throbbing, witha considerable heat of the part affected. When from a coldphlegmatic habit, the patient complains of a dull heavy pain, andhas a sense of coldness in the part. This kind of head-ach issometimes attended with a degree of stupidity or folly.

Causes. — Whatever obstructs the free circulation of the bloodthrough the vessels of the head, may occasion a head-ach. Inpersons of a full habit, who abound with blood, the head-ach oftenproceeds from the suppression of customary evacuations ; as bleed-ing at the nose, sweating of the feet, &c. It may likewise pro-ceed from any cause that determines a great flux of blood towardsthe head ; as coldness of the extremities, or hanging down the headfor a long time. Whatever prevents the return of the bloodfrom the head, will likewise occasion a head-ach ; as lookinglong obliquely at any object, wearing any thing tight about theneck, a new hat, or the like.

When a head-ach proceeds from the stoppage of a running atthe nose, there is a heavy, obtuse, pressing pain in the fore-partof the head, in which there seems to be such a weight, that the pa-tient can scarcely hold it up. When it is occasioned by the caus-tic matter of the venereal disease, it generally affects the skull, andoften produces a caries of the bones.

Sometimes the head-ach proceeds from the repulsion or retro-cession'of the gout, the erysipelas, the small-pox, measles, itch, or