A treatise on indigestion and its consequenses, called nervous and bilious complaints : with observations on the organic diseases in which they sometimes terminate / by A.P.W. Philip.

  • Philip, Alexander Philip Wilson, 1770-1847.
Date:
1833
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on indigestion and its consequenses, called nervous and bilious complaints : with observations on the organic diseases in which they sometimes terminate / by A.P.W. Philip. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    is quite dry, is frequently oppressive if taken alone, and in considerable quantity. It still forms a mass not very readily pervaded. The sailor’s biscuit, or bread toasted till it is hard, often agree better with a weak stomach than bread in other states. Food is often rendered more indigestible by processes em- ployctl with a view to assist the stomach. All articles com- posed of strong jellies, and food carefully mashed, are oppressive. Tlie coarser division which our food undergoes in mastication is better suited to assist digestion. Most dyspeptics find, that ])otatoes, for example, finely mashed, although without any ad- mixture, are more difficult of digestion than when properly mas- ticated. During mastication the saliva is freely mixed with them, and a loose mass is formed. When they are mashed, they resist admixture with the saliva, as well as the gastric juice. The same observation applies more or less to sops of all kinds. Bread sopped in tea is much less digestible than when only mixed with it in chewing. Our food is rendered more easy of digestion by simple roast- ing or boiling, provided it is not too much done. All meat twice cooked is less digestible, both from its being over-done, and from the sauces with which it is mixed. Beyond a proper degree of roasting and boiling, the art of cookery is nothing, but that of pleasing the palate at the expense of the stomach. There are a few circumstances under which it is proper to bribe the patient to eat; under all others, the refinements of the cook are at variance with the objects of the physician. However imposing the plans of concentrating much nutriment in small compass may at first view appear, w'e may be well assured, that in such concentration something is taken away from what nature designed for our food, which is useful to us. It is not generally known, that the most concentrated de- coction of beef, so far from affording mucb nutriment, will not, if unraixed with something solid, even allay the calls of hunger. A person under my care was attacked with severe pain of the face, when even the smallest quantity of any solid food was put on the stomach ; a single mouthful of bread never failed to bring on the attack ; and, as he at length re- fused all solid food, he was confined for some weeks to a