SUPPLEMENT. ABIES NIGRA. Authority. 4, Contributed to this work by Dr. J. B. Bell. August 10th, at 11.30 P.M., I took ten drops of 18th potency; after about half an hour I felt a severe pain in or about the left meatus auditorius externus, which continued to increase for five minutes or more, and then gradually subsided. The pain was quite peculiar and different from anything I ever before experienced. This was followed by slight dyspnoea, which was increased by lying down. It soon subsided, however, and I slept immediately after retiring, which I think was soon after midnight. I felt no symptoms on the following day, and at 10.30 P.M., I took 10 drops more, and retired in about half an hour. Soon after lying down I felt a choking suffocating sensation, as though my lungs were compressed, so that I could not fully expand them. (I had experienced a similar sensation several years ago, when laboring under some disorder of the chest.) There was some increased action of the heart; it did not beat faster than usual, but harder, that is, the volume of blood which entered it seemed to be greater. The pain in the meatus of the left ear was not so marked as on the evening previous, but still it was plainly present. It seemed on this occasion to flit about, not settling down on a single point. As on the evening previous these symptoms continued for fifteen or twenty minutes, and then subsided and did not return. On the succeeding days I took 5 drops three times a day, but did not develop any new symptoms. The symptoms before mentioned were present, but were not so marked as on the former occasions. August 18th I took 6 drops of the 9th potency, in the evening, but did not perceive any symptoms. The next evening I took 12 drops of the 9th, and developed in a marked degree the same symptoms as after 10 drops of the 18th. Nothing new, however, appeared. I followed this up by taking 6 to 15 drops of the 9th, but I think I got the plainest results from about 12 drops of this potency. I have taken various potencies from the tincture up to the 30th, and have invariably confirmed the proving, to wit, pain in the left external meatus, heavy slow beating of the heart, dyspnea, and, finally, sharp cutting pains in the heart. This last was very severe from the 30th, so severe that I was obliged to take Aconite to antidote it. I have always got the most marked symptoms from the high potencies, or at least the higher they have been the more marked have been the symptoms,*. VOL. X.-16 ABSINTHIUM. Authority. Dr. Th― Ch. Challand, Etude exper. et clin. sur. L'Absinthisine et L'Alcoolisine, Paris, 1871; 2, general statement; 3 to 13 detailed cases. Mind.-Delirium, with trembling of the hands and feet,".-After drinking Absinthe began to scream, called out, with frothing from the mouth; convulsions, with tetanic spasms like electric shocks,.-Terrifying hallucinations,".-Hallucinations,".-Terrifying hallucinations of persons pursuing him,.-Terrifying hallucinations, he sees all kinds of animals, cats and rats of all colors, grotesque animals, fancies that he is pursued by soldiers, etc.,.-Hallucinations of vision and of hearing, that he is pursued by imaginary enemies; hallucinations of various kinds, of naked women, etc.,.-Visions of animals,.-[60.] Fear of assassination,".-Loquacity,. -Irritability,.-General mental incoherence,.-Memory feeble,".-Unconsciousness in convulsions,.-Coma, followed by death,*.† Head.-Frequent vertigo,. Eye.-Eyes brilliant,3.-Dilated pupils,.-[70.] Pupils unequally di lated,3. Face.-Pallor of the face,. Mouth.-Trembling of the tongue,§.-Fibrillar twitching of the tongue,-Incoherent speech,". Stomach.-Loss of appetite,.-Symptoms of indigestion, with at times vomiting,".-Oppression of the epigastrium and chest,.-Liver enlarged,". Stool.-Constipation,3. Urinary Organs.-[80.] Urine red, albuminous,3. Respiratory Organs.-Cough, with some expectoration and crepitant râles (due very likely to some cedema of the lungs dependent, on the albuminuria),.-Voice feeble, speech hesitating,". Heart and Pulse.-Beat of the heart irregular,.-Pulse rapid,. Extremities.-Trembling of the hands,; especially in the morning,3. -Pain along the sciatic nerve,. Generalities.-Attacks resembling hysteria,".-Hysterical spasms; general rigidity of the limbs, followed by irregular convulsions, accompanied by acute sensation of oppression, obliging the patient to put the hand to the chest, as though there was a heavy weight there; at the same time he tossed about, cried out, and wished to die; the convulsive spasm was generally succeeded by a momentary calm, and so on in alternations for more than an hour,12.-Epileptiform spasms, followed by delirium,.[90.] The effects observed from intoxication by Absinthe are dependent upon disturbance of motility. These are convulsive phenomena. The epilepsy develops itself in a relatively short time, the reverse of which is true of the effects of Alcohol. The epilepsy of Absinthe differs again from the epilepsy of Alcohol in its character. While the epilepsy of Alcohol becomes analogous to true epilepsy only at a very advanced stage of the disease, that of Absinthe assumes at once and completely all the characteristics of that disease. The person becomes pale, loses consciousness, falls, The autopsy demonstrated subpericranial ecchymosis, very recent meningeal hæmorrhages, blood black, liquid, very abundant false membranes on the inner surface of the dura mater, superficial inflamination of the left hemisphere of the brain, pulmonary emphysema, heart fatty, flabby, etc. sometimes utters cries, the face is convulsed; this is followed by tonic convulsions, with tetanic rigidity of the limbs and of the trunk, which is raised up, followed by clonic convulsions of the limbs; the face becomes violet and cyanotic, respiration rapid, irregular, stertorous, froth from the lips, sometimes bloody, the individual bites the tongue, at last falls into a comatose state, with stertorous respiration, which lasts a longer or shorter time. After the person recovers consciousness he seems stupid, dazed, and recollects nothing of what has passed. Sensibility is very obtuse, and during the attack anesthesia is complete. Sometimes the epilepsy of Absinthe is not characterized by a complete attack, but has only vertigo or loss of consciousness; symptoms which are found in true epilepsy. The third characteristic of the epilepsy of Absinthe is its short duration. The violent attacks cease completely as long as the patient remains sober, but when he begins to drink again he has new premonitions of an attack, which is not slow in coming on. There may be one attack or several during the day or following days, but usually there are three or four. Is this epilepsy of Absinthe the effect of acute or chronic intoxication? We believe that it is an acute symptom manifested during the course of chronic intoxication, found more often in those who drink to excess habitually; its appearance is never delayed after the person has begun to drink Absinthe to excess. After drinking for six months or a year, some day the person drinks to excess and the spasms come on. Acute alcoholic mania or delirium tremens is equally an acute symptom during chronic alcoholism, and the epileptiform spasms of alcoholism show themselves at a very advanced period. Persons who are attacked by the epilepsy of Absinthe, drink generally eight, twelve, or even twenty glasses of Absinthe a day. Others drink three or four, and are awaiting the attacks. A circumstance of great importance is the predisposition. We find a large number of drinkers who have never had spasms, or ouly slight symptoms. There are others, on the contrary, who are attacked on their first excess. A large number of person habitually sober, who drink occasionally a glass of Absinthe, become affected by a kind of intoxication, with pains in the head and sensation of constriction in the temples, and they therefore rarely drink Absinthe. Such persons tolerate, without the least trouble, a large quantity of Alcohol, and experience no symptoms from it. This is a very common occurrence, but difficult to explain, unless we admit the presence of a special agent in Absinthe. Dr. Voisin, in Nouv Dict. de Méd. et de Chir. Prat., art. Epilepsie, 1870, p. 604 et 628, says that the epilepsy produced by wine, alcohol, etc., is usually characterized by long intervals between the attacks, the epilepsy of Absinthe by the very large number of attacks in a very short space of time. I have reported a case of epilepsy of Absinthe in which there were from one hundred and fifty to two hundred attacks in twenty-four hours. Drs. Marce and Magnan have observed the same effects,.-Epileptic spasms, with cyanosis, frothing from the mouth, etc.,.-Epileptic attacks, lasting twenty or thirty minutes, after which the hallucinations continue,.-Epileptic spasms repeatedly,.Was suddenly seized with a convulsion, during which he lost consciousness; there were convulsive movements of the limbs, face distorted, frothing from the mouth, biting the tongue,.-Convulsions and violent color of the face,. frothing from the mouth, etc.,.-Irregular intermittent spasms, without absolute loss of consciousness,13-Very great agitation,.-Trembling,.General trembling,".-[100] Trembling of the lips, hands, and tongue,. -Trembling of the limbs, lips, tongue,.-Symptoms of general paralysis,.. |