(From constipo, to crowd together). Obstipatio, adstrictio. Costiveness. Dr. Cullen gives this disorder the name oiobstipatio. A person is said to be costive, not only when the contents of the intestines are not daily discharged, but also when what is discharged is too hard to receive its form from the impress of the rectum upon it. The daily discharge is, however, relative; for the constitution, accustomed only to this relief every four days, can scarcely be said to labour under disease, if a week should elapse between the pe-tiods. Sec Obstipatio.

Hoffman observes, that costiveness is generally owing to spasms in the intestines themselves, or is propagated by consent; but various causes conduce to this habit, particularly a want of irritability of the intestines and a sedentary life.

This habit of body is generally attended with headach, vertigo, disagreeable taste in the mouth, and want of appetite: it is a frequent cause of chronic complaints, which will be easily understood by what we have remarked respecting Cathartics; q. v.

The costiveness peculiar to studious people is much relieved by magnesia, with rhubarb, or the ol. ricini. Artificers who sit much, and work with their bodies leaning forward, are best relieved by the same medicines. In cases of melancholy, neutral salts, if long continued, are most effectual; for they leave no tendency to costiveness.

Women, during pregnancy, are sometimes costive; from the pressure of the child's head against the rectum. Care should be taken to prevent an accumulation of faeces by an early administration of mild purges, for harsher ones are dangerous. Old people, from the weakness of their muscles, have hard faeces collected in the rectum: and though laxative medicines procure a discharge of the thinner fluids, the indurated matter still lodges, except manual assistance is given. The late Dr. Warren employed, from an obvious connection, a marrow spoon.

Aloes, given in small doses, prove sufficiently laxative: and this effect is continued longer after its use, than is observed with respect to many other medicines. When flatulencies are very troublesome, if a little asa-ustida is joined with it, more considerable relief may be expected. Calomel also often prevents other purg-ing medicines from leaving costiveness behind. The extractum colocynthidis compos. united with calomel, and corrected by the addition of oleum carui, seu anisi, Forms an excellent remedy for relieving and preventing costiveness, if used occasionally. The utility of Dr. James's analeptic pills have led to a suspicion of the utility of the antimonials, joined to the more active forms of resinous purgatives; and we have already mentioned the advantages derived from adding a grain of emetic tartar to a drachm of the colocynth pills for this purpose. A form we have often employed with success, consists of half a drachm of the gum pill, as much pill Rufi, with ten grains of antimonial powder. Two or three of these pills approach very nearly in their effects to the analeptic pills of Dr. James. Habitual costiveness hath been much lessened both by the cold and hot baths, by early rising, and walking in the open air.

In the Lond. Med. Obs. and Inq. vol. iv. are two cases of costiveness which resemble diarrhoeas.