Human Limbs

169
Sudden attacks, which one calls under those weak vessels, Rising, or the Marsh-puddle in the Walk. It is believed that in these cramps, the muscles of the abdomen tightly press the bowels and hinder inhalation, which causes this condition often to present with a weak pulse, as if dead. And because in this distress the muscles of the throat also do not go freely, there is discomfort which sometimes causes them to fly up and scream or faint. Many physicians believe that the discomfort known as Night-Mare, which frequently rides upon people in sleep, does not differ much from this. For when the said abdominal muscles, against one's will and gratitude, are so retracted that the diaphragm through its natural movement cannot resist their pressing, the person becomes very distressed and burdened, as if weighed down by hundreds of pounds on the body, so they cannot move nor make any sound. Sneezing is also largely caused by the sudden contraction of the abdominal and chest muscles. For when we nearly start to sneeze, those muscles contract swiftly inward, to perform a purer expulsion of air, similar to the shaking out of a cloth; and sometimes so violently and with such a noise that snot and saliva spatter out of the nose and mouth, and occasionally, unfortunately, a little break-wind from behind slips out.
That excessively laughing sometimes causes great pain in the abdomen happens only because in that act the diaphragm is driven inward with great force, and our bowels too strongly.

Translation Notes:
- 'Ingestie' should be understood as intake of food or air.
- 'Snot en quijl' can refer to nasal mucus and saliva respectively.
- The term 'Break-wind' is a historical expression for what is colloquially known as passing gas.