INDIGESTION, or, to use the term of the day, A BILIOUS ATTACK,--_as often arises from over-exertion, or_ ANXIETY OF MIND,--as from refractory Food; it frequently produces FLATULENCE[76], and flatulence produces _Palpitation of the Heart_; which is most difficult to stop, when it comes on about an hour or two after a Meal;--the Stomach seems incapable of proceeding in its business, from being over-distended with wind, which pressing on the Heart and larger vessels, obstructs the Circulation:--as soon as this flatulence is dispelled, all goes well again:--inflating the Lungs to the utmost, _i. e._ taking in as much breath as you can, and holding it as long as you can, will sometimes act as a counterbalance, and produce relief. This is the first thing to do when this distressing Spasm attacks you,--if it is not immediately checked; take a strong _Peppermint_, or _Ginger Lozenge_, (see page 99,) sit,--or if possible lie down and loosen all ligatures; the horizontal posture and perfect quiet are grand Panaceas in this disorder;--if these do not soon settle it, drink some stimulus: sometimes a teacupful of _Hot water_, with a teaspoonful of common salt in it, will suffice,--or a couple of glasses of _Wine_,--or one of _Brandy_ in one of hot water: either of these will generally soon restore sufficient energy to the Stomach, to enable it to expel the enemy that offends it, and set the circulation to work freely again.--If these means are not immediately efficacious, take half an ounce of _Tincture of Rhubarb_ in a quarter pint of hot water,--or three or four _Peristaltic Persuaders_, with half a pint of hot water. If this complaint comes on when the Bowels are costive,--they must be put into motion as speedily as possible, by some of the means recommended in the following pages. It will sometimes come on during the collapsed state of the system, from FASTING TOO LONG. _Those who take no Food between an early_ BREAKFAST--_and a late_ DINNER,--for fear, as they term it, of spoiling the latter meal,--generally complain of _Flatulence_,--_Languor_, _Lowness of Spirits_, &c. (and those who are troubled by a _Cough_, have often a paroxysm of it,) for the hour or more before Dinner;--and _Heartburn_, &c. after it:--the former arising from fasting too long, the latter from indulging an Appetite so over excited, that a Baron of Beef, a Pail of Port Wine, and a Tubful of Tea, will hardly satisfy it. The languor of _Inanition_, and the fever of _Repletion_, may be easily avoided by eating a LUNCHEON,--solid and nutritive, in proportion as the DINNER is protracted, and the activity of the Exercise to be taken in the mean-time. The oftener you eat, the less ought to be eaten at a time; and the less you eat at a time, the oftener you ought to eat:--_a weak_ _Stomach_ has a much better chance of digesting two light meals, than one heavy one. The Stomach should be allowed time to empty itself, before we fill it again.