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Sneezing, for example, is a specific response made by the motor mechanism to stimulation of nociceptors in the nose, while stimulation of the larynx does not produce a sneeze, but a cough; stimulation of the nociceptors of the stomach does not produce cough, but vomiting; stimulation of the nociceptors of the intestine does not produce vomiting, but increased peristaltic action.

Is not the peristaltic movement of the bowels, by which the solid matter is removed, also a vital phenomenon? Is not the conception of a pipe or a tube that forces semi-fluid matter along its hollow interior, by the contraction of its walls, quite beyond the reach of mechanics?

Such deep and tranquil delight nourishes the whole man, it purifies and ennobles. I surrendered myself, I was all gratitude and docility. April 21, 1855. I have been reading a great deal: ethnography, comparative anatomy, cosmical systems. I have traversed the universe from the deepest depths of the empyrean to the peristaltic movements of the atoms in the elementary cell.

Distention, with the straining of the walls from peristaltic onrushes as described above, and the infection that this part of the alimentary canal is subjected to because of the decomposition of food that is going on to a greater or less extent in all victims of constipation, are the causes of inflammation in the cecum.

The sensorial power, or spirit of animation, used in giving perpetual and strong motion to the heart, which overcomes the elasticity and vis inertiæ of the whole arterial system; next the expense of sensorial power in moving with great force and velocity the innumerable trunks and ramifications of the arterial system; the expense of sensorial power in circulating the whole mass of blood through the long and intricate intortions of the very fine vessels, which compose the glands and capillaries; then the expense of sensorial power in the exertions of the absorbent extremities of all the lacteals, and of all the lymphatics, which open their mouths on the external surface of the skin, and on the internal surfaces of every cell or interstice of the body; then the expense of sensorial power in the venous absorption, by which the blood is received from the capillary vessels, or glands, where the arterial power ceases, and is drank up, and returned to the heart; next the expense of sensorial power used by the muscles of respiration in their office of perpetually expanding the bronchia, or air-vessels, of the lungs; and lastly in the unceasing peristaltic motions of the stomach and whole system of intestines, and in all the secretions of bile, gastric juice, mucus, perspirable matter, and the various excretions from the system.

The digestion is more complete, absorption becomes more rapid, the peristaltic movements of the bowels are promoted, and the circulation through the liver is more vigorous. More food is taken to supply the force necessary for the maintenance of the mechanical movements.

The intention of nature, as manifested in the healthy state, obviously is to withdraw from our notice all the vital motions, such as the circulation of the blood, the expansion and contraction of the lungs, the peristaltic action of the stomach, &c., and opium, it seems, is able in this, as in other instances, to counteract her purposes. By the advice of the surgeon I tried bitters.

See Sect. For as the peristaltic motions of the stomach are lessened, when the pain of hunger is great, so the action of the cutaneous capillaries are lessened during the pain of cold; as appears by the paleness of the skin, as explained in Sect. XIV. 6. on the production of ideas.

This gives the digestive tract a good scouring and starts the peristaltic action of the bowels better than any other food. The popcorn may advantageously be followed in about two hours with a tablespoonful of cooked rice and one or two cooked prunes or a small quantity of some other stewed fruit.

The bran, which consists of several minute layers covering the wheat berry, has a distinct value in stimulating peristaltic action, and when it is removed, the resulting white flour must be a defective food. One of the first dietetic changes required in remedying constipation, therefore, is to eliminate white-flour products from the diet.