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to some clinical observations upon gastric disease in its various forms, we have sought to regard it in its general relation to other parts of the system.

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The careful analysis of individual cases leads us spontaneously to follow that mode of grouping, which is both truthful in its character, and useful for diagnosis and treatment; and the experience of the author has led him thus to classify those forms of disease, which are naturally associated together.

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ON

DISEASES OF THE STOMACH.

THE VARIETIES OF DYSPEPSIA: THEIR DIAGNOSIS AND
TREATMENT.

ALTHOUGH nearly every year new works have appeared on diseases of the stomach, still the maladies affecting this organ are so numerous, and of a character so diversified, that there is ample scope for the records of individual experience. It is not my intention to enter into the scientific and pathological bearings of gastric disease; this I have already done to a great extent in my former work on 'Diseases of the Abdomen.' My object in the following pages is rather to direct attention to the practical consideration of the subject, and to those divisions of a common disease which are brought under the daily notice of the physician. The opinions advanced are based upon facts educed in the clinical study of disease; and, if it had been thought desirable numerous instances might have been appended in support of every statement: we have preferred simply

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recording the result of our own experience, leaving each one to test by individual practice the correctness of our deductions.

The organisation of the human frame is so nicely and delicately adjusted that every part maintains its harmonious relation to the whole; and, if the attention is called at any time to the performance of any of its functions, we may rest assured that the healthy state is disturbed, and that disease in some form, however mild, has already commenced, and demands the attention of the physician. Healthy digestion is performed unconsciously; and the physical movements, the chemical solution, and the subsequent absorption produce no sensory phenomena. The replenishment of the natural wants of the system excites a consciousness of healthy vigour, and of capacity for new exertion; and, as exercise produces waste, the demand for fresh material, by which the deficiency may be restored, is expressed by a healthy hunger, and by a thirst which is soon satisfied.

It is the function of the stomach to carry on the work of digestion; therefore, when indigestion arises we must trace it to some cause by which this natural process is impeded. To enumerate all the causes of dyspepsia we must trace the daily life of an individual from earliest years to advanced age; and not only must we note the external and physical conditions, but the subtle workings of the mind amidst its joys and sorrows, its

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