re more
aggravated in character, and the evacuations are chiefly mucus
streaked with blood. As a local remedy hot flannels or a stone jar
filled with hot water and wrapped in flannel, should be applied to the
abdomen.

_Medicines_. Colocynthis and Mercurius in alternation.

946. Dyspepsia

Dyspepsia or Indigestion arises from weakness of the digestive organs.

Symptoms. Chief among these are habitual costiveness, heartburn and
nausea, disinclination to eat, listlessness and weakness, accompanied
with fatigue after walking, &c., restlessness and disturbed sleep at
night, bad taste in the mouth, with white tongue, especially in the
morning, accompanied at times with fulness in the region of the
stomach, and flatulence which causes disturbance of the heart.

The causes of indigestion are too numerous to be mentioned here, but
they may be inferred when it is said that scrupulous attention must be
paid to diet (see _par_. 961); that meals should be taken at regular
and not too long intervals; that warm drinks, stimulants, and tobacco
should be avoided; that early and regular hours should be kept, with a
cold or chilled sponge bath every morning; and that measures should be
taken to obtain a fair amount of exercise, and to provide suitable
occupation for both body and mind during the day.

_Medicines_. Arnica montana for persons who are nervous and irritable,
and suffer much from headache; Bryonia for persons who are bilious and
subject to rheumatism, and those who are listless, disinclined to eat,
and have an unpleasant bitter taste in the mouth; Hepar sulphuris for
chronic indigestion and costiveness, attended with tendency to vomit
in the morning; Mercurius in cases of flatulence, combined with
costiveness; Nux vomica for indigestion that makes itself felt from 2
a.m. to 4 a.m., or thereabouts, with loss of appetite and nausea in
the morning, and for persons with a tendency to piles, and those who
are engaged in sedentary occupations; Pulsatilla for women generally,
and Chamomilla for children.

947. Fevers.

For all fevers of a serious character, such as scarlet fever, typhus
fever, typhoid fever, gastric fever, intermittent fever, or ague, &c.,
it is better to send at once for a medical man. In cases of ordinary
fever, indicated by alternate flushes and shivering, a hot dry skin,
rapid pulse, and dry foul tongue, the patient should have