Rest and pain : a course of lectures on the influence of mechanical and physiological rest in the treatment of accidents and surgical diseases, and the diagnostic value of pain / by the late John Hilton ; edited by W.H.A. Jacobson.

  • John Hilton
Date:
1896
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Rest and pain : a course of lectures on the influence of mechanical and physiological rest in the treatment of accidents and surgical diseases, and the diagnostic value of pain / by the late John Hilton ; edited by W.H.A. Jacobson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    coffee and cocoa seemed to affect his head and derange his stomach; and he had an instinctive dislike to alcoholic stimulants of every kind. Though subject to coldness of the extremities, he could not bear a warm room, as it made him feel faint. Both winter and cold always affected him injuriously. He said himself he only half lived in the winter; he seemed torpid, and would drop into a deep sleep after a meal, from which it was often difficult to rouse him at bed-time, when he seemed scarcely to know where he was. Excitement frequently brought on an impediment in his speech. For many years he was subject to head- ache, derangement of stomach, and occasional deafness.” We have here, if we may so term it, a most important and valuable living experiment. Here is a man who can- not bear any accumulation of blood in his brain, because there is no possibility for the compensatory fluid to escape from the pressure or state of congestion of the organs in the interior of the skull. I conclude that we find the cause of the stomach affection and the deafness in the great dis- tention of the fourth ventricle, and the consequent pressure upon the pneumogastric and auditory nerves on its floor. If the fourth ventricle be filled with fluid, it must for the time exert-some pressure upon the auditory nerve, thus explaining the temporary deafness. “ His pulse was usually extremely weak, irregular, and slow, from 50 to 60 beats per minute. He was thought to be sufiering from heart disease. A peculiar restless, uneasy look of the eyes and stare, with dilated puj^ils, and a muddiness of the conjunctivas, afforded a ready indica- tion of any temporary derangement of his health. For the last year of his life, he was gradually losing flesh ; he became more feeble, too, and acquired a slight stoop in his gait. He also carried his head peculiarly, as if affected with slight stiffness of the neck.” [This is the way in which hydrocephalic patients carry their heads.] “ A few months before his death, while in the country, he had a severe attack of vomiting, with great prostration, without any apparent cause. The last month or two were marked by a morbid activity and restlessness. Amongst other things, he became greatly excited about the prepara- tion for a scientific meeting; and this was followed by E
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