The anatomy of drunkenness / By Robert Macnish.

  • Robert Macnish
Date:
1832
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The anatomy of drunkenness / By Robert Macnish. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    shaken, or excited any way, the person sometimes re- covers for a short period from his stupor, and stares wildly around him, but only to relapse into lethargy. At last death ensues, but shortly before this event, a deceitful show of animation occasionally makes its ap- pearance, and may impose upon superficial observers. I extract the following- interesting case of opiuin- eating from a London paper:— “ An inquest was held at Walpole lately, on the body of Rebecca Eason, aged five years, who had been diseased from her birth, was unable to walk or articulate, and, from her size, did not appear to be more than five weeks old. The mother had for many years been in the habit of talcing opium in large quantities, (nearly a quarter of an ounce a-day; *) and, it is supposed, had entailed a disease on her child which caused its death; it was reduced to a mere skeleton, and had been in that state from birth. Verdict; ‘ Died by the visitation of God; but from the great quantity of opium taken by the mother during her pregnancy of the said child, and of suckling it, she had greatly injured its health.’ It appeared that the mother of the deceased had had five children; that she began to take opium after the birth Equal to nearly three thousand drops of laudanum.
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