To sport in allegoric Truth;
Apollo, as we long have read since,
Was God of Music, and of Med'cines.
_In Prose_, APOLLO is the Sun,
And when he has his course begun,
The allegory then implies
'Tis Time for wise men to arise;
For ancient sages all commend
The morning, as the Muses friend;
But modern Wits are seldom able
To sift the moral of this fable;--
But give to Sleep's oblivious power
The treasures of the morning hour,
And leave reluctant, and with Pain,
With feeble nerve, and muddy Brain,
Their favorite couches late at noon,
And quit them then perhaps too soon,
Mistaking by a sunblind sight
The Night for Day--and Day for Night.
Quitting their healthful guide Apollo,
What fatal follies do they follow!
_Dinners_ at night--and in the Morn
_Suppers_, serv'd up as if in scorn
Of Nature's wholesome regulations,
Both in their Viands and Potations.
Besides, Apollo is M. D.
As all Mythologists agree,
And skill'd in Herbs and all their virtues,
As well as Ayton is, or Curtis.
No doubt his excellence would stoop
To dictate a Receipt for _Soup_,
Show as much skill in dressing _Salad_,
As in composing of a _Ballad_,
'Twixt Health and Riot draw a line,
And teach us How--and When--to dine.
The Stomach, that great Organ, soon,
If overcharg'd, is out of tune,
Blown up with Wind that sore annoys
The Ear with most unhallow'd noise!!
Now all these Sorrows and Diseases
A man may fly from if he pleases;
For rising early will restore
His powers to what they were before,
Teach him to Dine at Nature's call,
And to Sup lightly, if at all;
Teach him each morning to preserve
The active brain, and steady nerve;
Provide him with a share of Health
For the pursuit of fame, or wealth;
And leave the folly of _Night Dinners_
To Fools and Dandies, and Old Sinners!!!"
That distressing interruption of the Circulation, which is called
"NIGHTMARE," "Globus Hystericus," "Spasms," "Cramp," or "Gout," in the
Stomach, with which few who have passed the Meridian of Life[83], are so
fortunate as not to be too well acquainted, we believe to arise from the
same causes--which in the day produce Palpitation of the Heart.
The Editor is now in his forty-third year, and has been from his youth
occasionally afflicted with both these disorders; sometimes without
being able to imagine what has produced them:--sometimes he has not been
attacked with either of these complaints for many months; they have then
seized him for a week or more,--and as unaccountably ceased.
THE NIGHTMARE has generally come on about three o'clock in the
morning,--at the termination of the first, or rather at the commencement
of the second sleep;--quite as often when he has taken only a liquid or
very light supper,--as when he has eaten some solid food, and gone to
bed soon after;--and most frequently after he has Dined[84] out: not
from the quantity, but the quality of the food and drink he has taken,
the change of the time of taking it. The fatigue attending his
performance of Amphytrion at his own table, has also occasionally
produced it.
It appears to be occasioned by want of Action in the System, being
generally preceded by Languor--(which, if not removed, may proceed to
produce--_Palsy_--or _Death_,) caused either by depression of the power
of the Heart by anxiety,--obstruction of the peristaltic motion by the
oppression of indigestible matter,--or interruption of the performance
of the Restorative Process.
It is certainly not to be prevented by Abstinence, for during the time
that the Editor was trying the effect of a spare diet, he was most
frequently afflicted with it.--See _Obs._ on SLEEP, &c. It is only to be
relieved by Stimulants, and in an extreme case--by quickly acting
Aperients, &c. See following pages.
Some persons are peculiarly subject to it when they lie on their
back,--others if on their left side:--when the Editor has any
disposition to this malady, it is certainly exasperated if he lays upon
his right side,--especially during the first part of the Night,--it is a
good Custom to lay one half of the Night on one side, and the other half
on the other.
When this appalling pause of the Circulation takes place--he wakes, with
the idea that another minute of such suspended action will terminate
his Existence:--his first recourse is to force the action of the Lungs
by breathing as quick and as deep as possible.--He feels very
languid,--and to prevent a return of the fit, drinks a couple of glasses
of _White Wine_,--or half a wine-glass of _Brandy_, in a wine-glass of
_Peppermint Water_.
Sometimes the Disorder does not terminate with one paroxysm, but recurs
as soon as Sleep returns:--when this is the case, get half a tumbler of
Hot Water, add to it a wine-glass of _Peppermint Water_, and half that
quantity of _Tincture of Rhubarb_, or fifty drops of _Sal Volatile_, or
both.
The symptom of security from a repetition of the Fit, is a vermicular
sensation, betokening that the peristaltic motion, and the Circulation
is restored to its regular pace again.
His belief that many sudden and unaccountable Deaths in the night have
arisen from Invalids not knowing how to manage this Disorder, induces
the Editor to relate his own personal experience concerning it--and the
Remedies which he has found effectual to remove it.
"Non ignara mali, miseris succurrere disco."
The case is very similar to what Dr. WHYTT relates of himself, in his
_Observations on Nervous, Hysteric, and Hypochondriac Disorders_, 8vo.
1767[85]; by which, Dr. CULLEN, in p. 10 of his _Clinical Lectures_,
says, "he has done more than all his predecessors."
Mr. WALLER has written a very sensible Essay on the _Nightmare_--those
who are much afflicted with it, cannot lay out 3_s._ 6_d._ better, than
in buying his book--12mo. 1816. He says, "it most frequently proceeds
from acidity in the Stomach, and recommends _Carbonate of Soda_, to be
taken in the Beer you Drink at dinner." He tells us "he derived his
information, as to the cause, and cure of this distressing disorder,
from a personal acquaintance with it for many years."
How devoutly it is to be wished that all Authors would follow good old
SYDENHAM and Mr. WALLER'S example,--and give us a register of the
progress of those chronic complaints which they have themselves been
afflicted with, and the regimen, &c. which they have found most
effectual to alleviate and cure them;--and, instead of what they
think,--write only what they know,--as the pains-taking
SANCTORIUS--SPALLANZANI--BRYAN ROBINSON,--and the persevering and
minutely accurately observing Dr. STARK have in their _Dietetical
Experiments_.
Dr. WHYTT has immortalized himself by the candid relation of his own
infirmities, and his circumstantial account of the Regimen, &c. which
enabled him to bear up against them,--which forms the most valuable
collection of observations on _Nervous Complaints_, that experience and
liberality have yet presented to the public.
_One page of_ PERSONAL EXPERIENCE, _is worth folios of theoretic
Fancies_,--_or Clinical Cases_, which can only be illuminated by the
twilight of conjecture:--they may be faithful narratives of the accounts
given by Patients, yet, as these are very often imposed upon by their
imagination attributing effects to very different causes than those
which produce them, they are often very inaccurate deductions.
THE DELICATE AND THE NERVOUS, will derive the greatest advantage from
keeping _a Register of their Health_,--they should note, and avoid
whatever disagrees with them,--and endeavour to ascertain, what kind and
quantity of Food--Exercise--Occupation and Pleasures, &c. are most
agreeable to their constitution, and take them at those regular periods
which appear most convenient to them. However this advice may excite
the smiles of those who are swelling "in all the pride of superfluous
Health," such methodical movements will considerably improve the
enjoyment, and prolong the life of the Valetudinary and the Aged: for
whom, Instinct is the best Guide in the choice of Aliment.
None but the most obstinately ignorant Visionary, would dream of laying
down absolute Rules[86] for governing the caprice and whims of the
infirm Stomachs of Crazy Valetudinarians. Codes of Dietetics[87] are
almost useless,--the suggestions of Reason are often in direct
opposition to the desires of Appetite.
In most matters regarding the adjustment of that supreme organ of
existence,--the STOMACH,--"honest Instinct[88] comes a
Volunteer."--_Ventriloquism_ seldom falls to make out a fair title, to
be called "unerring." A due respect to the suggestions of Instinct,
every Invalid will find highly advantageous,--natural longing has
frequently pointed out Food--by which _Acute Diseases_ have been cured,
when the most consummate medical skill was at fault, and Life at its
lowest ebb.
It is needless to insist upon the importance of Diet and Regimen in
_Chronic Disorders_.
Be content with ONE[89] Dish,--from want of submission to this salutary
rule of Temperance--as many men dig their Grave with their _Teeth_, as
with the _Tankard_;--DRUNKENNESS is deplorably destructive, but her
demurer sister GLUTTONY destroys an hundred to her one.
_Instinct_ speaks pretty plainly to those whose instruments of Digestion
are in a delicate state--and is an infinitely surer guide than any
Dietetic rules that can be contrived.
That the Food which we fancy most--generally sits easiest on the
Stomach--is a fact which the experience of almost every individual can
confirm.
The functions of Digestion go on merrily when exercised by Aliment which
the Stomach asks for--they often labour in vain when we eat merely
because it is the usual hour of Dining--or out of necessity, to amuse
the Gastric juices, and "lull the grinding stomach's hungry rage."
To affirm that any thing is wholesome, or unwholesome,--without
considering the subject in all the circumstances to which it bears
relation, and the unaccountable peculiarities of different
Constitutions,--is, with submission, talking nonsense.
Let every Man consult his Stomach;--to eat and drink such things--and in
such quantities--as agree with that perfectly well, is wholesome for
him, whilst they continue to do so[90]:--that which satisfies and
refreshes us, and causes no uneasiness after, may safely be taken in
moderation--whenever the Appetite is keen--whether it be at Dinner or
Supper.
What we have been longest used to, is most likely to agree with us
best.
The wholesomeness, &c. of all Food, depends very much on the quality of
it--and the way in which it is cooked.
Those who are poor in Health, must live as they can;--certainly the less
Stimulus any of us use the better, provided it be sufficient to properly
carry on the Circulation:--I sometimes hold it lawful to excite Appetite
when it is feeble by Age, or debilitated by Indisposition.
Those Stimuli which excite the circulation at the least expense of
nervous irritation--and afford the greatest quantity of nutriment, must
be most acceptable to the Stomach, when it demands restorative diet.
A healthful impetus may be given to the System by a well seasoned
_Soup_, or a restorative _Ragout_, at half the expense to the machinery
of Life, than by the use of those Spirituous Stimuli--which fan a
feverish fire--exciting action without supplying the expenditure of the
principle producing it--and merely quicken the circulation for a few
minutes, without contributing any material to feed the Lamp of
Life--which, if it be originally or organically defective--or is
impaired by Time or Disease--will sometimes not burn brightly, unless it
be supplied with the best oil, and trimmed in the most skilful manner.
Good _Mock Turtle_, see (No. 246, or 247*,) will agree with weak
stomachs surprisingly well; so will that made by BIRCH _in Cornhill_,
and by KAY _at Albion House_, Aldersgate Street.--This excellent Soup,
is frequently ordered for Dyspeptic patients, by the senior Physician to
one of the largest hospitals in this Metropolis: as a man of science and
talent, certainly in as high estimation as any of his cotemporaries.
Ox-tail Soup (No. 240,) Giblet Soup (No. 244,) and (No. 87,) and (No.
89,) (No. 489,) and (No. 503,) are very agreeable extempore
Restoratives,--so easy of digestion, that they are a sinecure to the
Stomach, and give very little trouble to the chylopoietic organs--those
whose Teeth are defective--and those whose Circulation is below
_par_,--will find them acceptable Foods.
"_Experto crede_,"--the reader will remember _Baglivi's_ chapter "_de
Idolis Medicorum_," wherein he tells us, that "Physicians always
prescribe to others, what they like themselves." The learned MANDEVILLE
has favoured us with five pages on the incomparably invigorating virtues
of _Stock Fish_!! a kind of Cod which is dried without being salted. See
pages 316, &c. of his _Treatise on Hypochondriasis_.
The best Answers, to all inquiries about _The Wholesomes_, are the
following Questions;--"Do you like it?" "Does it agree with you?"--"then
eat in moderation, and you cannot do very wrong."
Those who have long lived luxuriously, to be sufficiently nourished,
must be regularly supplied with Food that is nutritive, and Drink that
is stimulating[91],--_Spice and_ _Wine_, are as needful to the "BON
VIVANT" of a certain Age--as its _Mother's Milk_, is to a NEW-BORN
BABE.
The decrease of the energy of Life arises from the decrease of the
action of the organs of the Body--especially those of Digestion,--which
in early life is so intense and perfect, that a Child, after its common
unexcitant meal of Bread and Milk, is as hilarious and frolicsome as an
Adult person is after a certain quantity of Roast Beef and Port.
The infirm stomachs of Invalids, require a little indulgence[92]--like
other bad instruments, they often want oiling, and screwing, and winding
up and adjusting with the utmost care, to keep them in tolerable
order;--and will receive the most salutary Stimulus, from now and then
making a full meal of a favourite dish. This is not a singular notion of
my own, though it may not exactly agree with the fastidious fancy of
_Dr. Sangrado's_ disciples,--that Starvation and Phlebotomy, are
Sovereign Remedies for all Disorders.
Those philanthropic Physicians, Dr. Diet,--Dr. Quiet,--and Dr.
Merryman,--hold the same doctrine as the _Magnus Coquus_--_i. e._ the
Author of "the Cook's Oracle," to whose culinary skill we have been so
repeatedly indebted in the composition of this work.
As excessive Eating and Drinking is certainly the most frequent cause of
the disorders of the Rich,--so privation is the common source of
complaints among the Poor;--the cause of the one, is the cure of the
other--but where one of the latter dies of Want, how many thousands of
the former are destroyed by Indigestion!
If strong Spices and savoury Herbs excite appetite--they (in an
increased ratio,) accelerate the action of the Bowels--and hurry the
food through the alimentary canal, too rapidly to allow the Absorbents
to do their work properly.
_Salt_ is the most salubrious and easily obtainable relish which Nature
has given us to give sapidity to other substances; and has this
advantage over all other Sauces, that if taken to excess--it carries its
remedy with it in its Aperient quality.
We suspect that most mischief is done by the immoderate and constant use
of the _Common Condiments_.--We have seen some puritanical folks, who
are for ever boasting that _They never touch_ MADE DISHES, &c. (one
would suppose they had the _Tongue of Pityllus_[93],) so be-devil every
morsel they put into their Mouth--with PEPPER, and MUSTARD, &c. that
they made their common food ten times more _piquante_--than the
burn-gullet _Bonne Bouche_ of an eastern Nabob, or _a Broiled Devil_,
enveloped in "veritable Sauce d'Enfer."--See (No. 355 and 538).
We do not condemn the moderate use of Spices, but the constant and
excessive abuse of them,--by which the papillary nerves of the tongue
become so blunted, that in a little time they lose all relish for useful
nourishing food, and the Epicure is punished with all the sufferings of
incessant and incurable Indigestion,--perturbed Sleep--and the horrors
of the Night-Mare, &c. &c.--However, enough has been written by a
thousand cautionists, to convince any rational creature of the advantage
resulting to both the Body and the Mind from a simple and frugal
fare:--the great secret of Health and Longevity is to keep up the
sensibility of the Stomach.
No Regimen[94] can be contrived that will suit every body.
"Try all the bounties of this fertile Globe,
There is not such a salutary Food
As suits with every Stomach."
Dr. ARMSTRONG'S _Art of Preserving
Health_, book ii. line 120.
"I knew a black servant of Mr. Pitt, an Indian Merchant in America, who
was fond of SOUP _made of_ RATTLE SNAKES,--in which the Head, without
any regard to the Poison, was boiled along with the rest of the
animal."--Dr. G. FORDYCE, _on Digestion_, &c. 8vo. 1791, p. 119.
No food is so delicious that it pleases all palates,--nothing can be
more correct than the old adage, "one man's meat is another man's
poison."
It would be as difficult for a Laplander, or an earth-eating Ottomaque,
to convince our good citizens that Train Oil, and gutter-mud, is a more
elegant relish than their favourite Turtle--as for the former to fancy
that Kay or Birch's Soup can be as agreeable as the Grease and Garbage
which custom has taught them to think delicious.
"Man differs more from Man
Than Man from Beast."--COLMAN.
_Celsus_[95] very sensibly says, that "a healthy man, under his own
government, ought not to tie himself up by strict rules,--nor to abstain
from any sort of food; that he ought sometimes to fast, and sometimes to
feast." _Sanis, sunt omnia Sana._
When the Stomach sends forth eructant signals of distress, for help
against Indigestion, the _Peristaltic Persuaders_ (see the end of this
Essay) are as agreeable and effectual assistance as can be offered; and
for delicate Constitutions, and those that are impaired by Age or
Intemperance, are a valuable Panacea.
They derive, and deserve this name, from the peculiar mildness of their
operation[96]. One or two very gently increase the action of the
principal viscera, help them to do their work a little faster,--and
enable the Stomach to serve with an ejectment whatever offends it,--and
move it into the Bowels.
Thus _Indigestion_ is easily and speedily removed,--_Appetite_
restored,--(the mouths of the absorbing vessels being cleansed)
_Nutrition_ is facilitated,--and _Strength_ of Body, and _Energy_ of
Mind[97], are the happy results.
If an immediate operation be desired, take some _Tincture of
Rhubarb_--as a _Pill_ is the most gentle and gradually operating form
for a drug--a _Tincture_ in which it is as it were ready digested, is
the most immediate in its action.
TO MAKE TINCTURE OF RHUBARB.--Steep three ounces of the best Rhubarb
(pounded) and half an ounce of Carraway Seeds, (pounded) in a bottle of
Brandy, for ten days. A table-spoonful in a wine-glass of hot water will
generally be enough.
_Compound Tincture of Senna_, has been recommended, especially to those
who have accustomed themselves to the use of spirituous Liquors and high
living. Several similar preparations are sold under the name of _Daffy's
Elixir_--or as much EPSOM SALT, in half a pint of _hot_ water, as
experience has informed you, will produce one motion,--a Tea-spoonful
(_i. e._ from one to two drachms) will generally do this--especially if
it be taken in the morning, fasting, _i. e._ at least half an hour
before Breakfast.
_The best way of covering the taste of_ SALT, is to put a lump of
_Sugar_ and a bit of thin-cut _Lemon Peel_[98] into the hot water, for a
few minutes before you stir the Salt into it,--to which you may add a
few grains of grated _Ginger_.
EPSOM SALT is _a very speedy laxative_, often operating within an
hour,--does the business required of it with great regularity,--and is
more uniform in what it does,--and when it does it,--than any
Aperient;--ten minutes after you have taken it, encourage its operation
by drinking half a pint, or more, of warm water--weak Broth--Tea--thin
Gruel (No. 572), with some salt and butter in it--or _Soda Water_ (No.
481.*) See Index.
"_Nil tam ad sanitatem, et longevitatem conducit, quam crebræ et
domesticæ purgationes._"--LORD BACON.--_i. e._ "Nothing contributes so
much to preserve Health, and prolong Life, as frequently cleansing the
alimentary canal with gentle laxatives."
We perfectly agree with Lord Bacon, and believe that in nine cases out
of ten, for which TONIC MEDICINES are administered, _Peristaltic
Persuaders_ will not only much more certainly improve Appetite,--but
invigorate the Constitution; by facilitating the absorption of
nutriment,--which, in aged and debilitated people, is often prevented by
the mouths of the vessels being half closed by the accumulation of
viscid mucus, &c.
APERIENT MEDICINE does enough, if it increases the customary
Evacuation,--and does too much,--if it does more,--than excite one
additional motion.
Bowels which are forced into double action to-day--must, consequently,
be costive to-morrow, and Constipation will be caused by the remedy you
have recourse to to remove it,--this has given rise to a _Vulgar
Error_,--that the use of even the mildest Laxative is followed by
Costiveness.
_Rhubarb_ is particularly under this prejudice,--because it has been
more frequently employed as a domestic remedy,--and unadvisedly
administered in either too little, or too large a Dose. It has, however,
been recommended by a Physician of acknowledged Ability, and extensive
Experience.
"If the Bowels are constipated, they should be kept regular by a Pill of
Rhubarb of five grains every morning."--PEMBERTON _on the Abdominal
Viscera_, p. 113.
People are often needlessly uneasy about the Action of their Bowels.--If
their general Health is good, and they have neither Head-ach nor other
deranged sensations, and they live temperately, during the second period
of Life, whether they have two motions in one day, or one in two days,
perhaps is not of much consequence;--however, that the Alvine
Exoneration should take place regularly is certainly most
desirable;--especially after _Thirty-Five_ years of age[99], when the
elasticity of the machinery of Life begins to diminish.
_To acquire a Habit of Regularity_, Mr. LOCKE, who was a Physician as
well as a Philosopher, advises that "if any person, as soon as he has
breakfasted, would presently solicit nature, so as to obtain a stool, he
might in time, by a constant application, bring it to be habitual." He
says "I have known none who have been steady in the prosecution of this
plan, who did not in a few months obtain the desired success."--_On
Education_, p. 23, &c.
"It is well known that the alvine evacuation is periodical, and
subjected to the power of habit; if the regular call is not obeyed, the
necessity for the evacuation passes away; and the call being again and
again neglected, habitual costiveness is the consequence."--HAMILTON _on
Purgatives_, p. 72.
It will facilitate the acquirement of this salutary evacuation,--to take
at night--such a dose of an Aperient medicine, as Experience has pointed
out, as just sufficient to assist nature to produce a Motion in the
Morning.
HABITUAL COSTIVENESS is not curable by Drugs alone,--and is most
agreeably corrected by _Diet and Regimen_, those most important, and
only effectual, although much neglected (because little understood)
means of permanently alleviating _Chronic Complaints_, for which
"Coquina est optima Medicina."
Strong Constitutions are generally _Costive_[100],--that perfect and
vigorous action of the absorbents, which is the cause of their strength,
is also the cause of their Constipation:--
"Oportet sanorum, sedes esse figuratas."
This ought to make them content,--but the Constipated are for ever
murmuring about a habit--which, if managed with moderate care,--is the
fundamental basis of Health and Long Life. A little attention to Regimen
will generally prevent it--a simple Laxative will suffice to remove
it--and neither will be often necessary, for those who observe a
deobstruent Diet--take proper Exercise in a pure Air--sufficient liquid
Food--and eat freely of Butter, Salt, and Sugar.
The peculiarity of most Constitutions is so convenient, that almost all
Costive persons--by attending to the effects which various things
produce upon their Bowels--may find, in their usual Food and Drink, the
means of persuading their sluggish Viscera to vibrate with healthful
celerity.