Madame Young's Guide to Health / Her experience and practice for nearly forty years; a true family herbal, wherein is displayed the true properties and medical virtues of all the roots, herbs, &c., indigenous to the United States, and their combination in all the diseases the human body is heir to; also, an explanation of the human body, its liability to injuries through ignorance of its structure. Dedicated exclusively to her sex.

by Amelia Young

THE GULLET.

The gullet is the food pipe; it passes through the chest, from the back part of the mouth, along the back bone; its shape is tolerably regular, until it passes the contents of the chest; then it opens into a spacious apartment, called the stomach; it lies across the body, leaning to the left side; it is more like a bag, than anything I can describe; it is very close to the diaphragm, and one would suppose the diaphragm rested on it. The stomach of an adult, will hold from one to three pints.

THE LIVER.

This is the largest gland in the human body. It lies on the right side, under the right breast; the gall bladder is attached to the liver, and there is also a communication with the stomach; the gall bladder is the size of your thumb, and is called secretion, or bile; if we have too much, it overflows, and causes jaundice, sick headache, gall-stones, and many other diseases, which cannot be cured, unless you commence by cleansing your blood. As the liver is a gland it can be diseased in various ways; it can be ulcerated, and may contain grubs, or worms.

THE ABDOMEN.

This contains the intestines, and commences from the stomach; that part the ancients used to call the second stomach, is now termed duodenum; this turns downward and backward, toward the right side, there it turns again to the left, and I may say, zig-zags, until it joins the larger intestines; both ends of the large intestines, are tied to the back bone, to keep them from floating; the lower end passes through the basket of the hips, to the end of the back bone, to keep it in its right place; this forms the back passage, and the end of the back bone is called the rectum. The bowels move; and if so, how often you injure yourself by not obeying the calls of nature to evacuate them; you put it off to some more convenient time; but nature will not be baffled with impunity—you must suffer for your omission the next day, or day after; the head is afflicted, and you go to your closet, force and strain to accomplish what you refused nature at the suitable time; as the intestines float, will you not cause debility and disease? Yes, surely you will; then, of course, you have recourse to physic, and this makes you worse, as the intestines become coated. Now for the results; as I said before, the large intestines pass through the basket of the hips; they are straight along the bone, when in a healthy condition, but by this forcing and straining, they become drawn down, in a wrinkled condition, and there is no action; thence arises costiveness, constipation, piles, ulcers, fistulas, and numerous other diseases, which assail these parts, through neglecting the calls of nature. And here I would observe, in regard to your children, be watchful; I have been told by girls from six to twelve years old, how they have been so costive, that they would have to force themselves to such a degree, that every object around them appeared black. O! what poor miserable beings will they be all their lives, through a mother’s neglect. Never let a young child sit too long on a vessel or chair; it weakens the intestines, and brings on general debility. I have known many to die in fits, and to have the relaxation of the fundament, merely by sitting too long on a stool chair.

THE KIDNEYS.

The kidneys are not in the box of the hips, but above it, in the small of the back, on each side of the back bone. Their office is to separate the salt, earth, and surplus water, from the blood; there is a chamber to each kidney, into which the water is first poured; from each of these chambers, there is a pipe, or tube, that passes downward to the bladder; this tube is called, in physiology, the ureter. The kidneys seem to be a sort of sieve, or filter, with this difference, however: while a sieve permits only the finest and best part to pass through it, the kidneys filter out the worse, or coarser parts; these are carried to the bladder, whence they are conveyed immediately out of the system. In a natural and healthy state, the proper time when the bowels should be evacuated, is indicated by nature; should the water be retained, and the voice of nature disobeyed, the effects are these: as in the bowels, it will lessen the action of the bladder and kidneys, and what you retain, does more injury than you can possibly imagine; your kidneys become coated by retention—thence come gravel, stone, stoppage of the urine, and various other diseases of the kidneys and bladder.

Never trifle with nature. What pain and suffering might be averted, if all would obey the first call of nature! By retention of the urine, a bad odor arises from the body; what you retain in the bladder, is emitted from the pores in a measure, and your perspiration is very offensive. Mothers ought to instruct their children in regard to this important call of nature. I have found, in my practice, a great number who habituated themselves to retain the water in the bladder all day, that is, from morning to bed time; and what miserable looking objects they were; their countenances were sallow, and the skin dry and withered, although young in years.

The kidney may be ulcerated, and contain grubs, as well as the liver, it being likewise a gland, but much smaller than the liver. You can injure the kidneys by food, as all water or liquids go immediately to the kidneys; sweet spices and all acids should be avoided, as they coat the kidneys, and cause the gravel; the ureter, or pipe which takes the water to the bladder, finally gets filled and obstructed, so the water cannot pass thence.