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passing into the stomach, see the case of Mrs. F— , narrated
in the chapter upon Scurvy of the Gums. (See Koecker,
page 110.)
And, Thirdly,—Dyspepsia may be occasioned by the irrita-
tion of a diseased tooth being so great as to disturb the heal-
thy functions of the system, and of the stomach in particular.
It is a well known fact in the pathology of disease that ex-
cessive pain occurring in any part of the system will derange
all its healthy functions, and no organ is sooner affected than
the stomach, as it is the centre of sympathetic action in the
animal system. We have often noticed the deadly sickness
produced by a slight injury upon delicate parts. The appli-
cation of caustic to a wound will sometimes, in some individ-
uals, have this effect ; and hence, we can easily understand
that an acute inflammation of a tooth will disturb the action
of the stomach, as I have often witnessed. I will give one
case of this kind from Dr. Rush's paper on this subject. He
says, " soon after this I was consulted by Mrs. R , who
had been affected for several weeks with dyspepsia and tooth-
ache. Her tooth, though no mark of decay appeared in it,
was drawn by my advice. The next day she was relieved
from her distressing stomach complaints, and has continued
ever since to enjoy good health. From the soundness of the
external part of the tooth and the adjoining gums there was
no reason to suspect a discharge of matter from it, although
it had produced the disease in her stomach. It is not my de-
sire to protract the consideration of this subject any farther
than will be necessary for a correct understanding of it. I
have endeavoured to seize and display its principal points to
the physician. We have seen that three distinct effects of
diseased teeth and gums will, alone, and singly, produce dys-
pepsia, and how certainly will they do it when all these ef-
fects act upon the stomach in conjunction ; and 1 cannot for-