Epileptic and other convulsive affections of the nervous system, their pathology and treatment.

  • Radcliffe, Charles Bland, 1822-1889.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epileptic and other convulsive affections of the nervous system, their pathology and treatment. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by UCL Library Services. The original may be consulted at UCL (University College London)

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    1G6 of uric acid, or some analogous impurity which has in- creased the danger of a fit by rendering the blood less stimulating. But however beneficial these stimulants may be in many cases, and in all cases at one time or other, it is necessary to confess that they will not do all that is wanted. They will contribute important aid in bringing about the cure, but, like the ordinary tonics which have been already con- sidered—steel, quinine, and cod-liver oil—they seem to have no special claim to be considered as specific remedies for epilepsy. — But, it may be asked, what is to be said of the thou- sand and one remedies which have been recommended from time to time, as having a special influence ? What, among others, must be said of bromide of potassium, and of cer- tain preparations of zinc, copper, and silver? What of strychnia, belladonna, conium, digitalis, indigo, cotyledon umbilicus, selinum palustre, poudre de Neufchatel, com- pression of the carotids, tracheotomy, cauterization of the larynx and other parts ? About fourteen months ago, wrote Sir Charles Lo- cock in 1853,* I was applied to by the parents of a lady who had hysterical epilepsy for nine years, and had tried all the remedies that could be thought of by various medical men (myself among the number) without effect. This patient began to take bromide of potassium last March twelvemonth, having just passed one of her menstrual periods, in which she had two attacks. She took ten grains three times a day for three months; then the same dose for a fortnight previous to each menstrual period ; and for the last three or four months, she has taken them for only a week before menstruation. The result has been that she has not had an attack during the whole of this period. I have only tried the remedy in fourteen or