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DISSERTATION,           //
            \ja THE


  IMPORTANCE AND ASSOC!ABILITY





     ^umatt  &tQmadb


   BOTH IN HEALTH AND DISEAbl*


        DELIVERED BRFORJS TttE


VERMONT MEDICAL SOCIETY,


            AT THEIR
ANNUAL MEETING IN MONTPELIE^
         Oct. 17, 18 it.
BY SELAH GRLDLEY, M. ©.. !
     MONTPELIER, Vt.

PRINTED ST WALTON \ND GOSS; OQTOBS^i

          18l«. 
                     MoufPBLisR,  October  IV, 1816.
£1R,
   THE undersigned committee are charged by this .society,
to express to you the high sense they entertain  of your dis-
sertation, just delivered;  to thank  you in  their behalf, ami
to request a copy for the p*«ea.
                    Yours with high esteem,
                      JOS. 1).  FARNS WORTH,? Com*
                      JOHiN POMEROY,        5 mittes.
   Dr. Selah Gridley, President
     of the Vermont Stat? Medical Society.
GENTLEMEN,  .
         1 DULY appreciate the  flattering note you have
presented in behalf of our Society.  Nothing but a desire to
yield obedience  to the association, which prompted this pro-
duction, cau induce me to  assent  to  its publication.    The
candor of my known  friends, will accept it, not  as the result
of scientthc leisure,  and research,  but  as au assemblage  of
facts and deductions, hastily arranged amidst the active pur-
suits of
                        Their obedient servant,
                            #    S! LAH GRIDLEY,
   Jos. D. Farnsworth, ? Committee for
   John Pomeroy,       $   V. S. Medical Society.
  Montpelier, Oct. 18,1810, 
A DISSERTATION,  $c.
 BRETHREN $ FRIENDS,

        W E are assooiatcdjfor the purpose of medical im-
provement.  Our honorable Legislature have  sanctioned the
propriety  of this  association, by a law,  which  confers the
right of m aking our own  Bye-laws.   In conformity to these
Bye-laws, it now becomes my duty to addrcssyou, by "Adisser-
tation, relative to the healicg art."  The subject I have chos-
en may excite surpi.e.  I shall endeavor to prove the impor-
tance and  associability of the human  STOMACH, both is,
health and disease.
   This essential organ in the living system,  all admit to U
necessary, as areceplacle of food to nourish the body. Asane
cessary cavity it: an organized body, it is viewed, by many as
 an insensible space, like the hole of a vessel, or the hopper of
 a •ristmill.  Like the one, it is considered to contain stores
 in ballast,  and like the other, to supply and feed  this ma-
chinery with which it is  connected.   Anatomy and Physiol-
ogy have often exhibited  this viscus, merely  as an organ es-
 sential to the process of digestion.  To illustrate this, they
have been particular in deieribing its structure,  and its vascu-
lar connection with the surrounding viscera.    The illustri-
 ous Barron Haller, whose work on physiology, for a  long
 time  stood unrivalled, although he very  miautely ^describes 
4
the peritoneal,  the muscular, the nervous, the villous, and
the cellular coats of this organ ; he says, "By the stomach,
ve  understand a  membranous vessel, or bag, of a  peculiar
figure,  destined for the reception and further dissolution of
the food."
   But I shall assign to this wonderful part of the human sys-
tem, another, and a nobler office.  I shall consider the stom-
ach as the seat of sensation, which, by its pains, and its pleas-
ures, is communicated to every part of the system, by means
of sympathy and association.  Does any  one ask, what con-
stitutes the pleasure of existence ? 1 answer, it consists of a
pleasant  and easy actiou  of the stomach, and other organs
immediately associated with  it.   Do any  doubt the  truth
of the position ?  I  reply, when the stomach  is duly excited
by food, by wine,  by opium,  and  by  tea, the highest degree
of corporeal, moral and  mental happiness is  enjoyed.  It is
in this state only, that the person feels social pleasure, or
exercises,  in perfection, the faculties  of taste, judgment and
reason. In this state only, man delights in action and  business,
or reclines  himself into  rest and  sleep.  On the  contrary,
every action, defective from  hunger  or thirst, or  deranged
in the functions of the stomaeh, by diseases or  medicines, pro-
duces a proportional  degree of misery in the mind, and in
many parts of the body.  Hence hunger " breaks  through
Btone walls ;" and hypochondriacs hang themselves.
   Every strong emotion of the mind is felt most powerfully at
the stomach. An intelligent friend, who was in several battles
during our revolutionary war, assured me, that in those aw-
ful moments,  when drawn  up  in battle array,  he felt (to use
his own expression) " a dreadful whirling at  the stomach.15
He further assured me that the bravest soldiers in the army
fcnifonnly  told him  that they experienced this distressing 
5
sensation, and felt as  though the stomach  was rolling over,
till they became engaged in battle ; when this sensation en-
tirely ceased.
   Similar sensations, are experienced, I believe,by everyone,
who has felt the sudden impulse of love, fear or terror.

   The more settled  and gloomy passions, are felt in a dif-
ferent way.  Grief and sorrow produce a powerless weight
and oppression at the stomach, for  which  nature  seeks  re-
lief by raising sighs and sobs.
   That   unceasing sadness—that  mourning without  hope,
which often succeeds the loss of dear and  beloved  friends,
discovers its depressive effects upon the stomach, by impair-
ing digestion, by diminishing its secretions, by enervating its
force, and, consequently, by reducing the vigour of the  whole
 system, until the lamp of life burns but dimly in its socket.
 Hence the propriety of that expression of Ossian.  « Sorrow
 wastes away the mournful, and their days are few."  It is
 now easy to  perceive how a peculiar state of the  stomach
 produces the soldier's courage, the mourner's  sobs, and the
 lover's sighs.-                                             *
    When I contemplate the stomach as an organ, susceptible
 of every sensation that can affect the human system,  I  feel
 more disposed  to assign  to it the seat of the soul,  than to af-
 fix this seat in  the pineal gland of des-cartes.   From  a view
 of the sensibility of  this wonderful organ, I am ready to ex-
 claim, as Sterne did  on sensibility itself, " Source inexhausti-
 ble of all that is precious in our joys, or costly in  our  sor-
 rows, it is here we trace thee !"
    From time immemorial the sensibility  of the stomach has
 been imputed  to the heart.   Solomon says, " Hope deferred
 msketh the heart sick ; but ivhen desire cometh,  it is  *  tree 
6
   of life."   Similar expressions, relative to the influence of the
   passions, are to be found in the earliest,  and  in the latest
   writers.
      It has been necessary,  even in men divinely  inspired,  iri
   their addresses to the human understanding, to adapt the lan-
   guage to the perceptions of those who are addressed.  Hence
   we are told, in the language of scripture,  that at the com-
   mand of JosJiua, " the sun stood still, and the mcon stayed, wn-
   til the people Iwd  avenged themselves upon their tiunnies.,i
   With the  imperfect knowledge of the solar system iu those
   times, is it probable that any of the twelve tribes could com-
   prehend the idea, that this miracle was efl'ected by a suspen*
   sion of the  earth's motion, in  performing its diurnal revolt^-
   tihn, and that  the moon belonged exclusively to  the earth ?  It
   is not probable, that  any of the children of Israol  had the
   least conception, that the sun was  a fixed luminary, around
   which the earth, with the  other planets, was continually re-
   volving, as first suggested by  Copernicus,  and afterwards
   demonstrated  by Sir Isaac  Newton.  The defect  of language
m  will ever be commensurate with the  imperfection of knowl-
   edge.  Hence, for ages to come, as in  ages  past, it may be
   necessary to speak of the heart, as the seat of every  passion,
   as an organ most immediately connected with the soul.

    It may be necessary, even for mc, should I fail  of convinc-
   ing you by my reasoning,  of the truth of the principles ad-
   vanced, to acknowledge, with  humility, that  it  affects my
   heart  from a disappoiutment.

    I shall ever bow with deference to the usage of language,
   and to your decisions.

    Will any accuse me of enthusiasm, in support of false phi-*-
   losophy ? Permit me, in defence of sueh an accusation, to call 
7
your attention for a  moment to a subject, on which atir  wr2*
ters on diseases, are  very silent.   I allude to the peculiar an-
atomical  structure   of the  stomach.   Modern anatomy  and
physiology, universally assign to the stomach, a nervous coat.
Is this said of any  other  internal viscus ?  I know this must
he answered in the negative.  The eye, alone, has such a coat,
the retina, formed by " the expansion of the optic nerve; the
immediate seat of sensation."  [Charles Bell.]  This external
organ obeys the stimulus of light, as the sfomach, an internal
orgau, obeys the stimulus of food and the impulse of passion.
The one perceives external objects, and the other  feels the
effects, which those objects produce, upon the brain, or senso-
r«utn.  Hence the sight of frightful objects produces  deliquum
animi.  The stomach first  indicates  approaching faintness,
by sickness and distress, in those frequent  swoonings, which
occur from copious blood-letting.
   It appears that every organ in the human system, so "fear-
fully and wonderfully made,"  possesses  sensibility in  propor-
tion to its supply of nerves.  Mr.  Munroe  observes, " as all
" the nerves bestowed on   this  viscus, enter at  the superior
" orifice  of it, the sensation  here must be very acute, whence
" Helmont imagined the mouth of the stomach, to be the  seat
" of the soul."
   Haller  assures us  that,(l the  nerves  of  the stomach, are
both large and numerous,  produced from  the  eighth pair,
forming two complications about the oesapbagus, of which
the anterior and less plexus descends  through  the upper or
outer side of the stomach to its greater curve and the posteri-
or plexus, which  is larger, is  distributed through the lesser
arch of the stomach; from whence it  passes,  together  with
tLe arteries, to the  liver, pau.creas, and diaphragm itself.—; 
*
These nerves may be traced into the seeond cellular stratum
of the stomach, that surrounds its nervous tunic;  in which,
but more especially in the papillae, they  become  obscure  or
lost.  From their number, the stomach is extremely sensible,
insomuch,  that things, which  make no  impression  upon
the tongue,  will  nauseate and  pervert  this organ, which
is capable of much  severer pain than the intestine*;  as  we
know from infallible experience in diseases; even  the skiu it-
self, when naked by  a  blister, is less sensible than (he  stom-
ach.  By making a  ligature upon the nerves  of the eighth
pair, both the action of the stomach, and the digestion of  the
fooii eease.
  In perfect consonance with  this illustrious  physiologist,
that accurate anatomist, Mr. Charles Bell, makes the flow-
ing remark.   " The eardiae orifice is the chief seat  of all
sensations of the stomach, both natural and unusual, as i* is
the most sensible part of the stomach.   Indeed we might pre-
sume this much by turning to the description and plates  of
the nerves; for we shall  find that  this upper  part of the
stomach is provided, in a peculiar manner,  with nerves, the
branches of the parvagum."
  After these quotations, from such high  authority, it  seems
unnecessary for me, to  detain my learnt d auditors, a moment,
in describing the particular nerves which  supply this  sensi-
ble organ with sensibility.   But, with  a  view of explaining
the associability of the stomach, with other important organs,
I claim your indulgence, while  I recite the  remarks of Ar.
Charles Bell, on the distribution of the eighth pair oi' nprves.
On the principal branch of this pair, the par vagum, this dis-
tinguished anatomist has bestowed more labour and language,
than  on any other nerve in the human system.  After desorib- 
§
ing its origin,  its recurrent braneh, its various divisions and
destinations, he remarks, " Thus we see that the par vagum
has a most appropriate name, and that  it is nearly as exten-
sive in its connections as the  sympathetic itself.   It is dis-
t'iuuted to the oesaphagus, pharynx and larynx ; to the thy-
roid glaud, vessels of the neck and heart; to the lungs, liv-
*r and spleen, stomach, duadenuin, and sometimes to the dia-
phragm.   The recollection Of this distribution will explain
to us  many sympathies.  For example, the hysterical affec-
tiou of the throat,  when the stomach is distended with flatus,
the exciting of vomiting  by tickling the throat,  the  effect
which vomiting has  in diminishing the sense of suffocation,
that state of the stomach which is found, upon dissection, to
accompany hydrophobia, whether spontaneous, or from the
bite of a dog."
   Who will now  dare assert, that any organ in the  living
system, possesses  equal sensation and sympathy with  the
stomach ? What other viscus derives such immense  nervous
influence, directly from the brain, as  does the stomach, by
means of that important branch of the eighth pair of nerves,
the par vagum ?
   The heart itself, so often styled the seat of life, is compell-
ed to obey every impulse upon the stomach,  whether  it be
from  foreign stimuli, or the force of passion.    The heart is
a muscle ; and Mr. John Bell asserts,  that " there is not  in
the human body any part in which the  muscular substance is
so dense and  strong."   " In  all creatures it survives, for  a
long  time, the death of the body ;  for when the creature is
dead, and the breathing and pulse  have  long ceased, and  the
body  is cold, wheu the other muscles of the body are  rigid,
when the stomach has ceased to feel, when the bowels, which
preserve their contractile power the longest, have ceased to 
10
 roll, and they also feel uo more,  still  the heart preserves its
 irritability ;  it preserves it When  torn from the body and laid
 out upon the table ; heat, caustics^ sharp points excite it to
 move agaiu." (p. 25—vol. 8d.)

   Xavier  Bichat, iu his physiological researches, remarks',
 CI Every observation appears to prove, that there is no  direct
 influence exercised by the brain  over  this organ (the heart,)
 but that, on the contrary, as we have seen, it  holds the form-
 er orgau uuder its immediate controul, by means of the mo-
 tion which it communicates to it." (page 270.)
   " Iu palpitations, and in  various  irregular motions of the
 heart, the principle of these derangements is  not observed to
 exist in the brain, which is then perfectly unaffected, and con-
 tinues its action as usual.   Cullen was deceived in  this, as
 on the subject oi syncope,   (page 271.)
   Every organ subject to  (he  direct influence of the brain,
 is of cousequence voluntary.  But I believe, notwithstanding
 the observation of ^(ahl.  no person  ranks the heart amoii"
 this  kind  of  organs.  What  would life.be, if we could sus-
 pon<l, at will, the motion  of the organ whieh animates it."
 [page 271.]

   From these, and many  other  high  authorities, we  per-
 ceive, that the lif'o.vt is the  most  independent of any organ of
 the body?  in  its relation to the brain ; that it  has  no direct
 communication by any particular nerve, or pair of nerves,
 and thr-rcfore  not under the influence of the will ; that it acts
 by a vis iusita peculiar to  itself, and being  supplied  with
 small branches of nerves, from sundry pairs, it  is actuated less
 by the brain, than by the blood in its ventricles.

   On the contrary, the stomach being supplied with nervous
 influence, by sources almost as various and numerous as the
heart itself, has in  addition,  a direct intercourse  with the
brain, by means of that important n-rve, the par va nm.  In
 this way  every painful and pleasurable sensation iu  the stom-
 ach, is  felt i.i the  brain.   These two  iunortant  organs  in
 the living system, appear  to act  aud react  upon each other,. 
11
as 6teadily and constantly, as is consistent with the la.» of
matter and motion.   The brain reciprocates to  the stomach,
every effect produced by  plenty and fulness, or poverty aud
want.
  In a state of easy health, a suitable degree  of stimulus on
the stomach, affords cheerfulness, joy and  tranquility.  A
still higher degree of stimulus, such as wine and ardent spir-
it,  inspires gaiety, hilarity and merriment;  and  the excess
of diffusible stimuli on the stomach, produces, by a direct in-
fluence on  the brain, those ideas of extravagance and absurd-
ity, which are manifested by folly and madness.  Hence in-
temperance, united with vile company and conversation, per-
vert the understanding,  while fasting and solitude, by lower-
ing the excitement of the stomach, and of course, diminishing
the force of depraved passions upon the  brain, improve the
 moral principles of mankind.
   If, Brethren, the foregoing facts, and my  reasoning upon
them, be correct; if such are the wonderful functions,  and
amazing influences of the stomach upon the system, in a state
of health, how vast must be its influence and derangement in
 a state of disease.
   To demonstrate  this immense influence and derangement,
iu general diseases, I have adduced  these preliminary obser-
vations,  which, to you, may probably  appear equally tedious
 and useless.
   But I  claim your indulgence while I endeavour to  elucidate
the manner in which this vital organ discovers its sufferings,
 in various diseases.
   I shall, firstly, make  some remarks on  those diseases, in
 which the stomach  appears to be the seat of suffering and
distress. 
12
  Secondly, aim to establish the principle that the i/o,?., A
is an organ primarily affected, in most diseases  where  other
organs, usually deemed the seat of morbid action, are princi-
pally affected by means of sympathy and association, as may
appear both from the causes and the cures.
  Thirdly, state a few facts relative to the analogous effVels
of certain substances, on the stomach, and on remote parts
as employed in surgery   Some of the diseases, in which the
stomach itself is the seat of distress, are Cardialgia, Gastro-
dyuia, Hiccup, Incubus, Dyspepsia and Hypochondriasis.
  It is somewhat remarkable that Cardialgia,should, by ma-
ny, be called heart-burn.   The intelligent people,  who  ar«;
neither influenecd by finespun  theories, nor nice  anatomical
distinctions, appear to consider  the heart and  the stomach, as
synonymous.  Hence that burning sensation  at the stomach,
produced by activity and indigestion .is styled  heart-burn, and
that pain at the stomach,  occasioned by mental distress, is
termed heart-ache.

   In  gasfrodynia and hiccup,  a peculiar debility  occurs at
 the stomach.   The hiccup  is often relieved by a sudden emo-
 tion of the mind.  This fact illustrates the direct  and power-
 ful influence of the brain upon tbe stomach, through (he me-
 dium of the passion.  The incubus, or night-mare is, by al-
 most every writer, supposed to  be occasioned at  times by  a
 Leavy supper, and by indigestible food, and yet many of them
 believe it to be an affection of the heart and  lungs.  Doctor
 Darwin remarks, " Now as the action of respiration is partly
 " voluntary, this ccmplaint may be owing to the irritability
  ' of the system being loo small to carry on the circulation of
Li* the blood through the lungs, during sleep,  when the volun- 
                            13

*•' tary  power is suspended."  Doctor Rush, on this subject,
has the follow ing observations,  " This  disease is induced by
" a stagnation of the blood in the brain, lungs, or heart.  It
" occurs when sleep is more profound than  natural.  Its re-
"mote causes are the same as  of dreams.  To these may be
"added sleeping upon the back, by which  means  the bluod
"is disposed to stagnate in the  places above mentioned, froni
" an excess or diminution of the force that moves it."   These
high and respectable authors, however, may be incorrect in
opiniou.   The pulsation of the  arteries should be noticed dur-
ing a fit of the night mare, with a view  to  prove  a  suspen-
sion of the circulation ©f blood, through the heart  and lungs.
I have no know ledge that any one ever fell for the pulse dur-
ing one of these paroxysms.  Humauiiy would seem to for-
bid the inquiry, because waking the sufferer affords  speedy
relief.  Motherby, in bis dictionary, gives a different view of
the nature of this  disease.  He says,  " 'Ibis disorder hath
''generally been supposed to  proceed from  a stagnation of
"blood in the brain  and lungs; but it is a nervous affection,
S'and rises chiefly from indigestion.  Hence we observe, that
                                                   l
 '.'those with weak nerves, who  lead sedentary lives, and feed
 "heartily, are the most  commonly affected with it.   Dr.
elWhytt says that he generally found a glass  of brandy  a
"cure, if taken at bed time."   See  Incubus.
   Almost all diseases, when termed  nervous affections, are
 accompanied by a weakened state  of the stomach.  It is, iu
 my opinion, an impaired action of the stomach alone, that con-
 stitutes night-mare.  Perhaps  the  most eligible  method of
discovering  unknown cause, is from  known  effect.    Dr.
 Whytt relieved the sufferer by brandy.  I have done the same
 by spirits of turpentine.   Does a heavy supper occasion iu-
 ^ubus ?  So does a full meal produce drowsiness.   The cause 
                            u

 is the same in both cases.   AH the sensorial power is direct-
 ed to the stomach, to carry on those secretions necessary  to
 digest the food, and too little is left to supply the Iocomatire
 muscles.  In the one case, there is  a temporary suspension
 of the  sensorial principle  to the muscles, moved by volition ;
 and in the other a diminution of it.  The moment you rouse
 this principle powerfully to the voluntary muscles, as by sur-
 prise, relief is 6btained.   If a person who  has a weak stom-
 ach, indulges that drowsioeis  produced by  a full meal,  iQ
sleep for one hour, he usually feels, on waking, an oppression
 at the stomaeh, resembling that indiscribable distress  which
 is felt  on being roused from the night-mare.
  But  this distress may be prevented  in  either  case, by  a-
 voiding the causes producing it, and by keeping the stomach
 suitably excited by food and  stimulus, and tonic remedies.
 I will not assertjlhat incubus never ends in death.  If it does,
 however, it demonstrates,  what immense controul the stom-
 ach holds over the heart and lungs.   I trust no one will deny
 that dispepsia is a disease  of the stomach.  The  extreme  ca-
 ses of  this disease, arc  ever attended with extreme debility of
 the whole nervous and vascular system.  The sufferers have
 uniformly a weak pulse.

   This fact furnishes  another proof, among a thousand that
 might be adduced,  of the amazing  sympathy existing be-
 tween  the stomach, the brain, and the heart.
   I have  seen many   deplorable cases  of dispepsia, from
 large draughts of cold  water, taken when the  body was ex-
 cessively  heated in  the  summer months.    Who  does not
 know that this imprudence has often occasioned sudden death ?
 Who does not know, that  these fatal effects  have often been
 prevented, by  previously stimulating the. stomach highly with 
15
ardent spirit ? AH of you know the value of that important
direction  of  our illustrious  countryman, Professor Bush, in
these awful cases, attended with  dreadful spasms upon the
stomach, to give " a large dose of liquid Laudanum." When
these spasms are overcome, by the highest  stimulant reme-
dies on the stomaeh, a sad scene succeeds.  All the effects of
debility are felt in every part  of the system.   A similar de-
bility  of the stomach, and  of course, upon the nervous sys-
tem,  and upon the heart  and arteries, is experienced,  when
a man suffers the united effects of extreme heat and fatigue.
When a man so suffers, the people usually say," he has melt-
ed himself."   I wish not to spend a moment in confuting the
absurdity  of this idea, but I mourn  over that' wretchedness
which these debilitating causes produce. So languid are the
body and  mind in  these cases, that  the unhappy sufferers,
probably feel, at times, as though nature itself were  dissolv-
ing.   Hence some may have believed, that  they had been
 melted, and of course, incurable.
   The  best remedy with which I am acquainted, in these
 cases, is the American  Bloodroot. I learnt this practice from
 my learned  preceptor  in medicine,  the late Doct.  Lemuel
 Hopkins.  He commonly prescribed an infusion of the fresh
 root in t ririts,  with some  castor, and directed  a  sufficient
 quantity to produce  some nausea  three  times a day.  He
 used to observe, that  this  medicine created au uncommon
 thrilling through every nerve of the body.
   More than twenty years  experience, confirms my judgment
 in the superior efficacy of this remedy.  I have often employ^
 ed the tineturc of bloodroot alone, with the same happy re-
 sult.  Believing in the  peculiar properties of  this root  to
 rouse the torpor of the stomach in dispepsia, I have of tea 
                             1$

 Added a small portion of  it, will) some bark,  to common and
 Aromatic hitlers.
   30 very case of extreme debility of  the  stomach, whether
 produced by  hurtful  causts, directly  applied to this organ,
 or to the sjstem generally, affects the  bowels,  necessarily,
 from their immediate connexion.   Hence  dispeplic patients,
 are usually troubled either with costirveness, or diarrhoea, or
 with both alternately.
   The hypochondriasis, appears to me, to be a disease of the
 stomach.   Like dispepsia and hysteria, it is often denominat-
 ed the spleen.    This idea appears to  be derived  from  the
 ancients.   And why ?  They discovered this viscus lying con-
 tiguous to the  stomach, and connected with it, by blood-ves-
 sels.   Mankind have ever been prone to ascribe the  source
 of their sufferings  to almost anything, but the true cause.
 The ancients were puzzled to ascertain the  use of the spleen,
 and therefore viewed it as the  cause  of much evil, and  the
 seat of many diseases.  And what is this wonderful spleen ?
 It is a vascular substance, with few nerves, and little sensi-
 bility.  It is a reservojr of  blood, subservient  to the stomach
 in its varying state of emptiness and fulness.   By parti* pa-
 ting with the stomach, in its sufferings, it may  become diseas-
 ed in hypochondriasis.
   If this is not a disease of the stomach, then what and where
 is it r Is it wholly a disease of the  mind ? Then reason
 ought to be the  cure.  Now  we  all know,  that, like other
diseases, it is dependent on, and removed by, physical causes.
 l'.s cii'.ise is  similar to that  of dispepsia.   The one affects
 the sanguine,  ar.li!;  other, the melancholic temperament.
Thicure of course  must be different.   Doctor Cullen  has
 made a nice and just  distinction  between these  diseas  s. 
17
While the one consists ef debility, the other is a fixed torpor
of the stomach and adjaeent and dependant viscera.  1 have
endeavored to shew, that emotions of the mind have  a pow-
erful influence on the stomach.   In this way, the stomach is
often roused from its torpor, and the hypochandriac is reliev-
ed.   Van Sweitan relates   some pleasing  anecdotes of this
kind.  His story of the  man  who  imagined his  legs were
straw,  is not the least amusing and  instructive.   The  poor
hypochondriac, being impelled by fear, to use bis straw  legs
in running to escape from supposed highway-robbers, placed
there by his sagacious physician, for that purpose, had  this
torpor, and this insane idea  removed together, which  returned
no more.  In this way, I apprehend, many  cases of insanity
have been cured by the influence of fear and terror, as in our
hospitals and work bouses,  and  by half drowning.   We are
compelled  to accomplish the  same thing, in country practice
principally, by overcoming  this torpor, with emetic  and ca-
thartic remedies.
  It now becomes my duty to shew how the stomach is pri-
marily affected, in many diseases, supposed to have their seat
in other organs, which appear to suffer chiefly by  sympathy
and association, with this organ.
  Some of these are  the nervous  and sick  head-ache;  the
gout, the gravel,  and some cases  of  asthma, diabetes, aud
palpitation of the heart.
  The nervous head-ache is usually attended v, ith  a weaken-
ed and torpid stale of the stomach, and of course, with a weak
pulse.   It often comes on with a pain over one eye, especial-
ly iu the morning, after the person  suffers some exhaustion
from fatigue, before the stomach js.jsuifably supported by the
morning repast,   When the .system is refreshed by sleep and 
18
rest, some  relief is obtained.   But the same scene is again
repeated the next day, and often  continues  for many days or
weeks.
  The sick head-ache is often  induced  by  extreme  fatigue,
and abstinence fiom food.   The fluids ef the stomach are of-
ten of an acid nature, but sometimes become bitter by contin-
ual puking, which sometimes iccurs. In both these forms  of
head-ache, the stomach appears  to  suffer much less than the
head.
  The gout, we  know, is most frequently  produced  by  that
intemperance in fomented liquors only, which of necessity,
affects firstly ibe stomach.  Although the feet and hands first
announce the existeuce of this  disease, by twinging paius, the
stomach, at last, unable to shew its sufferings by paius in the
extremities, is overpowered by pain and  distress in itself,
when the disease terminates in death.
   The asthma is sometimes induced suddenly by a full  meal
and by hysteria.   In all eases of hysteria, the  stomach  is
much affected.

   A temporary diabetes is often occasioned by taking certain
 substances into  the stomach, sueh as acids, and sweet articles
 which soon run  into the acid fermentation.  Maple  sap and
 maple sugar, have this peculiar effect on many persons.  Iu
 these cases, an increased secretion occurs  too suddenly to  be
 accounted for in any other way, but by  the laws  of associa-
 tion.  The diabetes hystericus,  has been well  understood,
 from the dajs of Sydenham to Doctor Rush.

   Many eases of palpitation of the heart, appear to  be  noth-
 ing but an associate acrion with the stomach  from  debility.
 Mr. John Bell  ridicules fcertain  practitioners,  who,  in  some 
19
 eases he cites, gave over their patients te death, because they
 failed of relieving palpitation, by blood-lettirg.  The present
 celebrated Burns, states some eases of palpitation, suddenly
 induced by that debility occasioned by  abortion.
   The gravel bears-some analogy to the gout.   Both seem
 to be produced by taking fermented liquors into the stomach.
 Those who drink eold water, or even spirit and  water only,
 are seldom affected by either.  These diseases seldom or nev-
 er occur with the aborigines of America, who  use neither
 beer, cider, nor wine.
   Having mentioned these  diseases, with some reference to
 the  causes which  produce them, I shall endeavour to show
 how far they are, primarily, diseases of the stomach, by  the
 effect of remedies, hest adapted to their cure.
   The nervous headache, or as our citizens sometimes style
 it, the sun head-ache,  is easily, and certainly cured by a mild
 emetic, and the justly celebrated Fowler's mineral  solution.
 This last medicine, has never failed, in my hands, to effect a
 cure in five days.   I have employed it several years, with a
 weak solution of either vegetable  or mineral alkali,  and as
 soon as permanent nausea is produced, the pain  abates in the
 head, and returns no more, for a long time, and  if it ever oc-
 curs again, it manifestly  appears  t© be the effect of those
 «auses which debilitate the stomach.
   The sick head-ache is best  relieved,  during a paroxysm,
 &s I believe, by taking into the stomach, bitter and alkaline
 substances, by tea, by rest and sleep.   On  its first approach,
 a paroxysm has sometimes been suspended by a dose of opium
 or black pepper.  It is best prevented by avoiding its occa-
sional  eauses, and  by invigorating the stomach, by means of 
                            20

 the tincture of blood-root, and ciuchona, by alkalies, by Fow-
 ler's solution, and by long journeys.
   The gout and the gravel are oftener prevented than cured.
 I shall therefore say but little on these diseases.   But  I l«\'?
 leave to remark, that the peculiar stimulus of opium on the
stomach, affords immediate relief to the most  excruciating
tortures of the foot, iu  some paroxysms of tbe gout.  If any
doubt this, let them consult John Brown's elements of medi-
cine.   If there be auy permanent cure for  the gravel, it will
probably be found in alkali.  The aerated vegetable alkali,
and soda have long  been  tried  w ith success.   Experience
confirms  the propriety of abstaining from the use of ferment-
ed liquors in this disease.   Now, if we reject the old humo-
ral pathology from  our thecry of  diseases, bow shall we ac-
count for  these facts P  To me,  it appears plain, that a pe-
culiar state of the fluids of the stomach, favors the  produc-
tion and removal of this disease.
  The asthma is  sometimes  relieved, very suddenly, by au
emetic.  It will  be recollected that  the par vagum supplies
both the stomach and lungs with nerves.   Hence sweet  oil,
demulcent drinks, lobelia,  squills, digitalis, antimouials, calo-
mel, opium, and fifty  other articles, of different and opposite
qualities, relieve both cough and asthma.   I have seen a hys-
terical asthma, overcome  in  a moment,  by a dose of ether.
Some cases of asthma have yielded at once, to  the powerful
influence of Fowler's solution.
  The diabetes is sometimes cured. I have known more than
 one instance, of long dura'iou, radically cured by tinctu e of
 cantharides.   One of the cases, soon changed to a  fatal pul-
 monary cousumptiou.
   The justly celebrated Doctor Samuel L. Milchel, whose
 fame is  extensive as the  world, for his researches and r«a- 
21
souing, on the use of alkalies, in neutralizing the septic acid
in the stomach,  and correcting other noxious fluids,  assures
us that lime water has cured the diabetes. He alludes particu-
larly to that species, which, in the western part of the State
of Newyork,  is occasioned by the use of maple sugar.   Dur-
ing the year past, I gave a pill composed of fel suillae and
extract of gentian, to  the great advantage and satisfaction of
a severe sufferer, in this disease.
   The diabetes hystericus is overcome, the moment you tran-
quilize the stomach and nervous system, by anti-hysteric rem-
edies.   Palpitation of the heart is often  cured  by remedies,
which  invigorate  the stomach and nervous system.  I had
the pleasure of affording  relief to one, a few years since, in
a way, perhaps, peculiar to myself.  The patient had suffer-
 ed a long  time, was  unable  to do  any business, and several
 physicians had declared her  case incurable.   I gave her
 nothing but the oxyde of  zine, made into a pill with castile
 soap.   After taking  this medicine a few weeks, she resumed
 her laborious pursuits, and I believe, has continued them ever
  since.   It is worthy  of remark, however, that hard labour, or
  a sudden  fright, has  since induced a return of the complaint,
  for a short time.
    Let it not be understood,  that I view the stomaeh as the
  only important organ iu the living system.   The  heart, and
  the lungs are equally essential to our existence, but endowed
  with very different functions.   While  the heart distributes,
  and receives blood to and from every part  of the body, and
  the lun«s absorb both oxygens  and caloric from the atmos-
  phere, yet both have an associate action  with the stomach.
  The stomach, in fact, by means of its vast  nervous influence
  and connection, exercises a sort of dominion over all the oth-
  er viscera.    Like the heart, which acts as the centre of cii- 
22
 ?ulation through the blood vessels, the stomach sits enthron-
 ed in the nervous system, and is  the centre of association.
 These are dependent  on the  brain and lungs, and the brain
 and lungs,  are dependent on these.   When we eontemplate
 this mutual dependence and influence, and the agency of the
 epirit which animates the whole, we are astonished at the in-
 comprehensible  nature of  ourselves, we "  stand still, and
 consider the wondrous works of God."  We pereeive that this
 nice balance must have been adjusted by Him who alone gov-
 erns the " balancings of the clouds."  " Whostretcheth  out th»
 north over the empty  place, and hangeth  the  earth upon noth-
 ing."

   While  we cherish the love of life, we ought to be  inspired
 with  gratitude and devotion to Him  who formed  the heart
 and stomach, with snch  wonderful powers,  and yet so little
 liable to orgauie derangement from diseasei I

   I have said, the stomach exercises a sort of dominion over
 the surrounding viscera.   But, like a king amidst a suffering
 people, it is compelled to partake  of the sufferings around it.
 This is remarkaldy  exemplified in  hysteria.  Whenever the
 nterine system suffers, whether from plethora, or local debil-
 ity, the stomach suffers also.   Hence the throat, and  whole
 nervous system, are often drawn into spasmodic convulsions.
 1 derive efreat consolation, however, from the effect of a new
 discovered remedy for this disease.   This remedy is the er-
 got.    By a quick operation upon the stomach, it produces an
 immediate calm, amidst these dreadful hurricanes of the del-
 icate  female system.  This remedy should be  in the bauds of
 every practitioner.  It is a valuable acquisition to our materia
 inedica.   Hitherto, it has  been employed, principally, to ac-
 celerate parturition.   But its use,  is liable to much  abuse.
A large dose of it in hysteria is less  dangerous, hut it com-
monly creates some distress and nausea.   1 have employed
it in this way about six years.   In all forms  of hysteria,  it
proves equally efficacious.   I know of no  other specific to
produce uterine excitements.   In some cases, this excitement
must be kept up till a suitable tone is established in the stom-
ach aud nervous system, by tonic remedies, so as to prevent a . 
23
recurrence of the disease.  With this object in view, I  have
given two or three doses a  day, in some cases,  for several
weeks.   1 could never perceive any  deleterious effects  iroin
its continued use.   This fact is better lhan a  thousand ar-
guments, to  confute the absurdity of some of our  New-bng-
ian.l philosophers, who have ascribed our late epidemic fever
to tins substauce, when it happens to  be in bread.  Such wide
spread terror,  has pervaded our land, by these strange con-
jectures, that I should not be surprised, if some panic struck
legislature,  should pass  a law  prohibiting the sale of grain,
containing this article.   The government  of Portugal  once
issued an edict, prohibiting any physician from letting blood
in pleuriiy from  the side affected.   Wilson p. 234.  There
has been  a time, when he who  gave an  antimonial emetic, in
Home, was  punishable  with  death.   I  trust,  brethren, we
feel a grateful sm*e of the liberality of our honorable legis-
lature, and  that  their patronage of  medical science, in  this
state, will ever command both our homage and  our gratitude.

   Although the preceding remarks have occupied much more
time than I had  intended, 1 beg leave  to  close, by stating a
few fads relative to the analogons effects of certain substan-
ces, on the stomach, and on remote parts, as employed in sur*
SeI7-

   In every case  of external inflammation, cold water, when
 applied, affords the most agreeable  sensations, and in mod-
 ern practice, is often successful  in the cure.   Nothing need
 be said on  the internal  use of cold  water in relieving thirst
 and  fever.   When inflammation advances to suppuration, no
application is more pleasant than warm bread and milk.
   I say nothing on the  internal use of this first food of mor-
tals.  When  suppuration terminates in open ulcer, the  ace-
tate of lead, aud sulphate of copper, have long proved useful,
in promoting  absorption, in restoring action, and effecting a
 eure.
   Both these  remedies, by their tonic effect on the stomach,
have cured epilepsy.    In recent wounds,  some surgeons ap-
ply spirit and water with the best success.   Perhaps, if more
of this remedy were  te be applied externally, and  le9s upon
the stomach,  it  might  be more conducive to the moral and
 physical happiness »f mankind.  The oil of cloves, when ap-
5died to recent  wounds, has proved the most useful remedy,
  i have ever employed.   However pungent it  appears upon
 the tongue, it gives little er uo uneasiness, when dropped in- 
24
to a wound.  If the divided parts be nicely adjusted and sc-
cured, a union  is commonly  effected  without  inflammation.
Both this, and the oil of cinnamon,  relieve many cases of
too h ache.  Every one kuows the universal pleasant effects
of these essential  oils, upou the tongue aud  stomach.   Our
intelligent citizens take away " thegriefofa wound," fiom
a rusty nail, by applying/at pork.  When the remedy can be
obtained, you all know the use of it, in taking away the pain
of hunger.  They sometimes apply animal gall, for the same
purpose.  Uuless this bitter principle, be in  the alimentary
caaal, health  decays, and life  departs.   Do  we sometimes
prevent a lockjaw, by the internal use ef mercury, when the
tendous are wounded ? I have accomplished the  same thing,
by applying mercury, to the wounded tendon itself.
  In many parts of New-England, the discerning people ap-
ply to almost every  recent  wound, a  portion of sugjar. moist-
ened  with  ardent spirit.   J  have  witnessed  the effect in
wound* of considerable extent, and have seen a  union of the
diviicd parts, with very little i-flammation. or  suppuration.
  My  philosophic hea;;j;s. .ie'd not   be  informed of the a-
greeable sensations which arise, when the stomach i* suitably
stimulated by  sugar and  rum.  fsu<?)u my brethren, is tho
beautiful symmetry of ibe human form 1

  We every where  discover a unity of action,  and a  unity of
effect.  We perceive a system of nerves, which ha*  a circle
and a centre.   The brain  and the surface constitute the cir-
cumference, and  the stomach the centre.  Here we see the
principal seat of every pus-,ion, aud, by means  of sympathy,
of every pleasure, and of every pain.  To preserve and  pro-
long this pleasure, during the will of Him  who made "  man
in hit own image,'''' and to alleviate the pains, which,  in His
providence, He inflicts, is the  business of our profession.  To
increase our skill in this important knowledge, we  are asso-
ciated by a law of our laud.

   May onr liberal  patrons be repaid, by a wise application
of our skill, and  may our own reward be as  lasting,   as our
efforts are laudable.