Lectures on auto-intoxication in disease, or, Self-poisoning of the individual / by Ch. Bouchard ; translated, with a preface, by Thomas Oliver.

Date:
1894
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Lectures on auto-intoxication in disease, or, Self-poisoning of the individual / by Ch. Bouchard ; translated, with a preface, by Thomas Oliver. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    number of their faults and vices of h3^giene. But I have little hope in convincing the generation to which I belong. When one has taken up a certain line of study he does not care to leave it to undertake another. I address myself, therefore, chiefly to those who are now receiving their education, and I ask them to alflrm my statements. It is not bj’’ immediate dis- cussion that one can settle such questions, but only by facts. And yet, amongst those who attack my manner of viewing them, how many of them are there who have ever thought of seeking for dilatation of the stomach amongst all patients ? Amongst those who may wish to do so, how many of them know how to do it? And, amongst those who can seek for the existence of a dilata- tion, how few are preoccupied with the greatness of the question ? If we now examine under what appearances dilata- tion of the stomach is presented to us, we are led to recognize several clinical t^qies of it. There exists a latent form; it is tlie most frequent, since it constitutes two-thirds of the cases. No abnormal sensation is complained of by the patient; no functional trouble is revealed on his being interrogated. Only a careful examination of all the organs can alone enable us to recognize the ph}sical signs of dilatation of the stomach. In the dyspeptic form^ the patient complains of pains, of slowness of digestion, and often of constipation. The hepatic form is constituted by congestion of the liver, which shows itself by increased size in the volume of this organ and sensation of weight in the right hypochondrium. It is sometimes accompanied by jaundice, and frequently appears in young subjects, which is, perhaps, the explanation of the chronic jaundice of infanc}\ There exists a form which simulates biliary lithiasis; pseudo- gastralgic pains, which are often really gastralgic, show them- selves slowly, when intestinal digestion commences. Owing to the hydrochloric acid being deficient, acetic acid is produced in excess, and irritates the mucosa of the intestinal tract. We should include movable kidne}^ rather in the renal form, although it depends upon repeated congestions of the liver. To the neurosal type belong vertigoes, depression in the mornings, migraine, vascular spasms of the fingers, spinal irrita-* X I 1