330

OF WORMS.

i!

be destroyed, or expelled by such means as are re-commended in the following- section.

When the stomach is greatly relaxed, and the diges-tion bad, which often occasions flatulencies, theelixir of vitriol will be of singular service. Fifteenor twenty drops of it may be taken in a glass of wineor water twice or thrice a day

Persons afflicted with flatulency are generally un-happy, unless they be taking some purgative medi-cines : these, though they may give immediate ease,tend to weaken and relax the stomach and bowels, andconsequently increase the disorder. Their best me-thod is to mix purgatives and stomachics together.Equal parts of Peruvian bark and rhubarb may be in-fused in brandy or wine, and taken in such quantityas to keep the body gently open.

Although it is difficult to prescribe a general medi-cine for a disorder proceeding from such a diversity ofcauses; a plaster may be recommended, which will giverelief in most cases. Let it be made of any adhesiveplaster, with the addition of a drachm and a half, ortwo drachms, of powdered opium when warm, andspread on a piece of leather large enough to cover thewhole stomach, where it should be kept as long as itwill stick.

CHAP. XXXV.OF WORMS.

THESE are chiefly of three kinds, viz. the iesnia,or tape-worm; the teres, or round and longworm; and the uscarides, or round and short worm.There are many other kinds of worms found in thehuman body; but as they proceed, in a great measure,from similar causes, have nearly the same symptoms,and require almost the same method of treatment asthose already mentioned, we shall not spend time inenumerating them.

The tape-worm is white, very long and full of joints.It is generally bred either in the stomach or small in-