Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 3, 1802).djvu/161

M A D ^'ise their animal spirits. The vio- lence of the disease depends on the different subjects that prey upon the raind, which is extremely va- riable ; inquiring after the most trivial matters : the habit is cos- tive, the face pale, the pulse small and weak, wliile the stomach is distended with fiatuhncy, and the appetite is uncommonly voracious. With respeft to those strittly de- nominated maniacs, their condition may be ascertained by their bold and resolute aspeft, while their eyes are suffused with blood ; by the tremulous motion of the eye- Jids ; an unaccountable aversion to particular persons or things ; acute- Jiess in hearing] and by their al- most continual wakefulness. Those hapless individvals who have be- come raving vmd, in consequence of fear, generally continue under the inliuence of that passion, — Such are the more striking symp- toms, which vary tov/ards the de- cline of the disorder : the victims of which are dull and stupid ; or sorrowful, melancholy, and sensi- ble of their mental derangement. Causes : — ^lliese are various, and often complicated, but may be aptly divided into two classes, namely, mental and. corporeal. To the former belong love, fear, ter- ror, pride, hope, joy ; too ardent enthusiasm for liberty, or other pas- sion that absorbs every faculty of the mind ; too intense or too long- continued meditation upon any person or subjert; an ill-founded dread of the divine ven.geance, oc- casioned by superstition, or false principles of religion, ike. Among the corporeal causes are blows, wounds, ulcers, bruises, or water in the head ; congestions of blood in the brain j phrensy, or infiam- aiatign of that part, fromwliatcver MAD LH^ accident ; too sedentary a life ; tli^ taking of poisons possessed of nar- cotic powers ; suppression of tiie proper or natural evacuations, of cutaneous or other disorders ; sen- sual excesses ; schirrous or glan- dular obstructions of the mesen- tery, Sec. — Madness is in certain families hereditar)' : and a slight degree of it is gometimci percep- tible aftLf the sniail-pox, intermu- tcnt, nervous, or other fevers. Peculiarities : Uncommon strength of limbs 3 almost total in- sensibility not only to cold, but likewise to stripes, however se- vere ; and an inability to support the exhalations, of aromatic sub- stances. As thedisea-ie is j>eriodi- cal, the patient is particularly af- fci^ed during certain clianges of the moon, and in- the spring. Far- ther, maniacs are not liable to l>e attacked by any of the prevailing epidemics ; on the contrary, they are frequently cured of their former complaints, or the progress oi' such disorders is at least suspended, during the continuance of their in- sanity. Cure : — If madness be the conse- quence of any other malady, its removal should be attempted by- nourishing diet : clear air ; gentle exercise, and the moderate use of wine. But, where this disease is hereditary, or has gradually in- creased from the patient's infancv, it becomes incurable : a similar fate generally awaits those persons, whose violent attacks, from what- ever cause they may originate, have resisted every effort of art, beyond the s^^ace of tvelve months. In the earlier stages of madness, blood-letting, cither in the arm or jugular vein, according to the strength of the patient, has been found eminently serviceable; but, if