\ In 50 post-mortem examinations I on the bodies of ■ individuals who ". died suddenly, and whose death had , been attributed, wrongly as it turn ed out, to heart-disease, or to the ■ rupture of a blood vessel, M. Lau , cereaux was surprised to find we glean from a report in the ' Lancet' , that all the organs were perfectly healthy, particularly the heart, which was empty, as is observed in physiological experiments in the , production of death by anaemia. Ho therefore, had to seek further r , for the cause of death occurring while the patient was apparently perfectly well; and he attributes it to nervous action due to the stom ' ach which has been observed chiefly in gouty dyspeptics. This form of c dyspepsia brings about great irrita bility of the heart even when it is otherwise normal, but especially s when the heart is at all dilated or 1 much overlaid with fat; it is well '' known that indigestion may easily ' produce heart palpitation, weakness 0 or even fainting. e A sharp blow on the pit of the 1 stomach or the ingestion of ice -11 water is able to bring about sudden ! death by arrest of the heart owing y to a redox shock originating in the '• Btomach. ft Most sudden deaths occur at very 'i significant times of the day, that is >f to say, from four to five hours af ter mid-day or between two and d three in the morning? They how ever rarely occur in the morning be tween 10 and 11 o'clock—that is to say, they occur at such a distance after a meal that digestive troubles begin to be felt in dyspeptics who s suffer from dilated stomach. The way lo ward off this catas * trophc is to limit dyspeptics to an' appropriate diet, such as grilled " meat, eggs, and green vegetables; } they should drink nothing but wat " er or should live entirely on milk, 1 and they should have their meals at "■■ regular intervals. All acid, sub ' stances should be forbidden, and a e '.little bi-carbonate of soda should be a taken. If there is much palpitation life must be taken quietly. n ■'■■'■■

THE WEST INDIES DIS ASTER.
