C. D., a gentleman resident in the country, and far advanced in life, was seized with a violent pain in the gastric region at two o'clock in the morning: he arose from his bed, walked for some time about his room; and at length, the pain having left him, he again retired to rest, and awoke in the morning perfectly well. The paroxysm returned every morning, at about the same hour, for several weeks: his medical attendant administered large doses of calomel, from a conviction that the disease arose from some hardened faeces in the colon; but this treatment aggravated the complaint. He afterwards gave him five grains of pil hydrargyri every night, and a dose of neutral salt in the morning; but the disease continued to harass him with more or less violence every successive morning. Under these circumstances, he proceeded to London for advice, and placed himself under the care of a physician of celebrity, who decided at once that the liver was the seat of the disease. The patient was accordingly subjected to a course of mercury; his gums were affected, but still no alleviation of the pain was experienced. It was several weeks after this event that I first saw him, and the effects of the mercury had subsided.

My first object was to inquire into the state of his digestive functions, with a view to ascertain the length of time which his organs required for the completion of their operations. It appeared that his digestion was unusually slow, and that one meal in the day was amply sufficient to satisfy his wants. He dined at six o'clock, and I therefore thought it probable, that at the period when he was usually awoke out of his sleep by pain, the food might be undergoing its ulterior changes in the duodenum. I carefully examined the seat of this complaint; there was evidently a puffiness in the region of the duodenum, and, by pressure, he experienced a slight pain, which extended into the lumbar region. I directed him to change his dinner-hour from six to three o'clock, and I laid down for his guidance such a plan of diet and exercise as would be best calculated to insure a perfect digestion. I also prescribed the following mixture: -

℞ Mist. Camphorse, f ℥vas. Vini Colchici, fƷij. Magnesiae Carbonatis, ƷJ. Spir. Juniper. Co. fƷij. Fiat mistura, de qua sumantur cochlearia duo ampla, mane nocteque.

I saw him after the interval of a week: he informed me that he had entirely lost the pain, and that his bowels had been gently relaxed by the medicine. His tongue, which was previously furred, had become clean, and no pain was now produced on pressure. He called upon me several times, and left London perfectly cured.