C ( rfl from l!i, • ■h'-.i <>r wind- pipe ; thus irritating the throat, and
- i ig . The
[nuance of such efforts to ex- po] superfluous matter, generates another cause of the complaint; i hen this humour glides down into the air-vessels of the asngfj It tills many of their cavities, and becomes, in B manner, inspissated, by the continual exhalation of its minutest parts in respiration. The saliv.il humour, thus thicl. by the joint a&ioo <>i~ the lungs and the air in breathing, is oc- laUy raised and brought into the mouth, so that in its pas- 5 it exeites a fit of coughing. hi this situation, especially after catching cold, and, with a view to prevent, rather than to cure, a catarrhal cou^h, the late Dr. Lobb
- sted a remedy, which simply
consists in chewing any kind of dry aliment. As the action of the muscles, in mastication, excites (he salival glands, and all other i ent glandules, to discharge their contained humour, and to mix it with dry food, before it is a nvrved to the stomach, where it cannot fail to promote digestion, he concludes that, in this manner, a much smaller quantity of the salival humour will fall into the nii-vessels of the lungs, and thus the proximate cause of the cough be gradually counteracted. Hence Dr. Lobb advised his patients to use biscuits of all sorts, though hard bread or crust will answer the same purpose : 1 . To eat some mouthful* of dry food previously to going to bed, which often pre- vents tho.^e fits of coughing that orherwise would disturb their sleep. 2. To resort to the same remedy in the morning, when it will con- KO. V. VOL. II. co v 183 |] humour into thr StonQach, J. To repeat it i time during the d.i , when, tickling in the throat, they appre- hend the approach of a fit of cough- ing. By such practices, he observes; great benefit has been derived by him- If and others. We are, how- inclined to think, that it will be uvl'ul only at the commence- ment of the complaint. And the Doctor likewise adds, that to a pa- tient long afflicted with it, totally deprived of his appetite, and per- haps sunk down into a consump- tion, it is not so effectual, th always of some service. Those who cannot possibly swallow any kind of solid food, he advises, at least, to chew dry aliment, at the times before specified, and again to part "with it : this expedient will consi- derably lessen the quantity of sali- val humour, and thus prevent, or shorten, many fits of coughing. It is a common error, that all coughs may be cured by the usuai mode of administering oily, diluent, and demulcent remedies. At first, indeed, such medicines may be ser- viceable, to sweeten the acrid hu- mours then secreted, and to allay the irritation. But, as the com- pounds of oil, spermaceli, &c. easi- ly turn rancid, and even in a fresh state impair die appetite, and affect the breast, we consider them as extremely precarious : hence we would prefer the chewing of the extract of liquorice, gum arabic. and similar substances, to all liquid preparations. If, however, the cough has made such progress, as not to yield to the treatment here alluded to, in this case we can con- fid; ntly recommend the use of the following acid juiep : Three ounces of sweet olive oil, two ounces of ■ of capiliahe, one ounce of ti conserve
