D Y S
D Y T
DWALE, a name fometimes given to the deadly nightfhad'e, or belladonna. See the article Belladonna, Suppl.
DYER's broom, in botany, the name of a Species of gcnijla. See the article Genista, Suppl.
DYNA, in commerce, a kind of Eaft-Indian com, worth about thirty Shillings of Englifh money.
DY^ ENTERY (Cydl'mA Suppl) — The dyfentery is owing to cau'es little different from thofe which produce the bilious or putrid fever. Accordingly it is agreed on all hands, that it proceeds chiefly from two caufes, different in appearance, but in effect the fame ; one from acrimony generated within the body, and the other from foul fleams, which being received into it, act as a ferment, and fuddenly produces the fame dis- order that arifes more flowly from an internal caufe. As^o t'he acrimony, it appears to be of the putrid kind, the dyfentery being moft frequent in hot, clofe, and moift feafons, when bodies are moft fubject to putrefaction ; and, befidcs, prevails chiefly among thofe of a Scorbutic habit, or the meaneft arid pooreft people, who, from foul air, bad diet, and nafti- nefs, are moil liable to putrid difeafes.
There is likewife an old obfervation, that fuch feafons as pro- duce moft flies, caterpillars, and other infects (the increafe whereof depends fo much upon heat, moifture, and confe- quently upon corruption) have likewife been the moft produc- tive of dyfenteries.
Laftly, it is beyond difpute, that the infection is communi- cated by putrid effluvia from the bodies, but more efpecially the feces of thofe who are ill of the diftemper. See Prxngle, Obfervations on the Difeafes of the Army, p. 224, feq. This difeafe is the fame in camps as in other places j its greater fatality in the former ariling more from want of necef- faries than from any extraordinary virulence in the dyfentery it- fclf.
Phyficians diitinguifh three ftates of the dyfentery; the firft, when recent, the Second, when it has continued fome time, and has much impaired the Strength, weakened the tone of the inteftines, and abraded their villous coat; and the third, when, either from the putrid fumes Within the body, or the foul air of an hofpital, a malignant fever is joined, and a mortification threatened.
In the firft ftage bleeding rs proper, though not in the Subfe- quentones; alfo vomiting with ipecacuhana, in Small quanti- ties, and repeated Several times. Vitrwn oration anthnonii is
alSo recommended as the moft efficacious emetic for relieving the ftomach and bowels, provided it be given in the begin- ning of the diftemper. After vomiting, a purge of rhubarb,- to which are added a few grains of fait of wormwood, may be given. In winter, indeed, and vernal fluxes, bleeding and rhubarb have been found fufficient, without vomits. In regard to diet, the common practice is to confine the patient in the beginning to rice-gruel, panado, mutton-broth, and the like ; and for drink rice or barley-water, or the white decoction are recommended. In the convalescent State they may be allowed meat, but no Small beer, and never any milk unlcfs diluted with lime-water. Pringle, ObServ. on the Dif- eafes of the Army, p. 230, feq.
In the Second ftage, the Same diet, with Small dofes of the bark, to which has been added the extract of logwood, or the ttnclura'Japonica, is recommended.
The dyfentery, after a feeming cure, is apt to recur upon any cold, or error in diet : however, it is to be obferved, that, for the moft part, relapfes are not attended with fuch acri- mony as at firft. When relapfes are apprehended, or the cure imperfect, the patient mult itill ufe a foft mucilaginous diet, and continue' to take fome mild aftringent ; which laft intention may be anfwered by lime-water, given to a pint a day, and Softened with half that quantity of boiled milk. Sometimes imall dofes of the bark have been no leSs effectual.
id. ibid.
Gripes always attend the dyfentery, and are relieved by opiates, by fomenting the belly, and by drinking chamemile-tea ; for carminatives, in this cafe, inftead of mitigating, increafe the pains. The tea produces this effect not only by its antifpaf- modic but antifeptic virtue. The fomentations, which are made of herbs, adding fome Spirits, mull be Srequemly re- peated ; and when thefe are found ineffectual, the pains mav be relieved with a blifter, or only a warm plafter with a fourth or fifth part of the emplajlrum eptfpaflicum added to it. As to the third ftage of this diftemper, it coincides with the malignant or hofpital fever. See the article Hospital fe- ver, Append, DYTISCUS, in zoology, the name of a genus of four-winged flies, the antennas of which are (lender and fetaceous. They have likewife feet formed for Swimming, and their habitation is generally in the water, whence they have been called in Englifh, water-beetles.
E C L
E F F
"1 "*■ ADISH, among Sarmers. See the article Eddish, ri Append.
-* — ' EAGLE (Suppl.) — £a7-Eagle, in ichthyology, the
Englifh name of the aquila marina, a fpecies of raja. See the
articles Raja and Aquila marina, Suppl. 'EAGLE-bat, the Englifh name of an animal of the bat-kind.
See the article Vespertilio, Suppl. ■ JLAGLE-ftczver, the name by which fome call the haifamma, a
diftinct genus of plants. See the article Balsamina,
Suppl EAGRASS. See the article Eddish, Append.' Y.AR-wig, forficula, a well known infect, very fwift, with two
Small horns on its head, and fix Seet ; its tail is forked ; its
body is abcut the thicknefs of a Small worm, and very
Smooth.
It is a very troublefbme creature, frequently introducing itfelf
into the ears, and caufiiig a great deal of pain by its biting :
it likewife burrows in other parts of the body, which it bites
in the fame manner.
The dried powder of ear-wigs is efteemed good for deafnefs ;
and the oil prepared from them, in convulsions and Spafms.
Vide Lemery, Diet, des Drog. in voc. Forficula. EARNING, or Yearning, a name ufed in Several parts of
the kingdom for rennet. EARSH. See the article Eddish, Append. EARTH (Suppl) —Fuller 7 ! Earth, terra fullonica, the Eng- lifh name of a fpecies of marie. Seethe articles Marle and
YuLLER'seartb, Suppl. RARTH-m/t, in botany, theEnglifh name oS a genus oS plants
called by authors bulhocajianum. See the article Bulbocas-
TANUM, Suppl.
F,ARTH-nut-pcas, in botany, the name of a genus of plants call- ed by authors Jaihyrus. See the article Lathyrus, Suppl
African E art H-?ntt-peas, in botany, a name fometimes given to the aracbis of authors. Seethe article Arachis, Append.
ECHINI marini. See the article Centronia, Append.
ECLIPTIC (Cycl) —The obliquity of the ecliptic is not con- ftant. The mean obliquity is, according to Dr. Bradley,
2 3° 2 S' 30". Whether this obliquity be the refuk only of the nutation of the earth's axis from the caufe mentioned in the article Star, Append, or whether there be befides fome caufe producing a gradual approach of the ecliptic to the equator, ei- ther at the rate of 1 in 100 years, or at any other rate, is not yet afcertained.
EDDISH, or Eadish, among farmers, denotes the latter pa- fture, or grafs, which comes after mowing or reaping, and is" othcrwife called casrafs, earfh, and etch.
EJLL-bachd, a term ufe by dealers in horfes, for thofe which have black lifts along their backs.
EFFLUVIA, (Suppl) in medicine, are alTignedas the caufe of va- rious diforders, efpecially of the contagious kind. Thus, when a confiderable quantity of putrid effluvia has been admitted into the blood, befides acting thereupon flowly, by way of inqui- namentum, or ferment, they Seem immediately to affect the nerves, and thereby to bring on Some extraordinary diforder of the whole frame. Hence arife fpafms, obstructions, pal- pitations, a high degree of fever, or a languid circulation, chillnefs, orintcnSe heat, and a variety of contrary fymptoms, according to the different affection of the nerves. To putrid effluvia is likewife owing the jail diftemper, which is tUe fame with the hofpital fever. See the article HosPiTAL-_/hw, Append.
Some, indeed, unacquainted with the dangerous nature of pu- trid effluvia, have afcribed the mortality occasioned by them, to a cold, or other the like caufe ; but, in this, they have en- tirely miltaken the caufe. Vide Pringle, Obferv. on the Dif- eafes of the Army, p. 186, feq.
Effluvia iffuing from corrupted fubftances chiefly confift of the phlogiston or fulphur principle, fince they fo readily unite with, and volatilize acids, as appears from the increafe and particular change of the Smell. But it is proper to remark, that from a Simple putrid fubftance the phlogifton does not arife alone, but combined with the Saline parts of the body ; for this principle, when Single, is perhaps imperceptible to the Smell ; and, when diverted of thefe falts, is never, fofar as is known, peftilential : fo that the deleterious particles of rotten
fubftances
