Principles of medicine : an elementary view of the causes, nature, treatment, diagnosis and prognosis of disease : with brief remarks on hygienics, or the preservation of health / by Charles J.B. Williams.

Date:
1856
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Principles of medicine : an elementary view of the causes, nature, treatment, diagnosis and prognosis of disease : with brief remarks on hygienics, or the preservation of health / by Charles J.B. Williams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    58G is too much exhausted for the work of digestion, so that stimu- lants are needed to aid in the process, which they can only do irregularly and imperfectly. 663. The weaker or more delicate the individual is, the more necessary are the above-mentioned cautions against excessive or ill-timed exercise. The interval that should be devoted to bodily recreation varies considerably with the strength and habits, and with the kind of exercise used. Females and delicate persons will rarely benefit by more than half an hour or three-quarters of an hour’s walk, or double those periods of gentle horse exer- cise : but robust males may find advantage in a considerably greater amount. 664. Exercise varies in effect according to its kind. Walking, although it gives some action to most of the muscles of the body, chiefly exercises those of the lower extremities; and by increasing the circulation and perspiration especially in their direction, it tends to derive from the head and chest, and to relieve con- gestions of those cavities. Riding on horseback causes more exertion to the loins, and by the regular movements which it communicates to the viscera of the abdomen, pelvis, and thoi’ax, promotes circulation and functional activity in them: it is not equally effectual with walking in equalizing the circulation in the head and extremities, and in cold weather especially it often causes headache, but this may generally be prevented by taking measures to keep the feet warm. Some sorts of exercise which include alternate stooping and raising the body, such as are involved in digging and other occu- pations of the garden, are serviceable in promoting the action of the bowels and kidneys; the same remark applies to various games of bowls. Rowing has the advantage of very generally and uniformly exercising the muscles of the whole body; but unless it be practised with moderation, the simultaneous pressure which it exerts on every part may prove injurious by overstraining the organs of circulation and respiration (§ 64) ; and many instances have come within my observation of the evil conse- quences of boat-racing.