ACUTE INTESTINAL INDIGESTION
This is quite a common incoördination and is very much more prevalent in hot weather. It is found often in very young infants, but more often in children during their second summer. There are many forms and degrees of acute intestinal indigestion among infants and small children. The attacks come on usually very abruptly and may be severe from the beginning. The most outstanding feature of the incoördination is the characteristic diarrhea. In the mild form the symptoms develop suddenly with marked gastric disturbances. At the beginning there is colicky pain and tympanites. There is great restlessness and typical symptoms of colic. The diarrhea appears in a very short time. The color of the stool is at first yellow, then it becomes a yellowish green and finally a grass green. It will usually contain undigested foods. The odor is very foul, grass green, and very much thinner than normal. This mild form may develop into the more severe type or the more severe form may develop suddenly from the very beginning. The temperature rises rapidly. The skin is hot and dry. At the beginning the child is very restless and cries a great deal, but later he lies in a stupor, the eyes are sunken, pulse is weak and there is all the appearance of an attack of serious illness. There may be anorexia. There is usually great thirst and nausea and vomiting. In a few hours there is marked diarrhea. The stools are yellow and of a thin consistency with a very offensive odor. There is usually much gas expelled. There may be as many as four or five stools an hour. This incoördination is responsible for a great many deaths among children. They respond, however, very quickly to chiropractic adjustments.