On the successful treatment of epilepsy by the administration of hydrate of chloral with bromide of potassium : being a paper read ... 1880.

  • Duncan, Eben.
Date:
1880
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the successful treatment of epilepsy by the administration of hydrate of chloral with bromide of potassium : being a paper read ... 1880. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    ON THE SUCCESSFUL TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY, CASE I. On the evening of the 12th of April, 1877, I was called hurriedly to see a gentleman who had been brought home from business in a state of insensibility. I was told that he had been subject to epileptic attacks for some years, and that he had three severe fits in his place of business during the afternoon. He was quite comatose, and I found, on examination, a large ecchymosed swelling on his head, apparently the result of an injury received during one of these epileptic seizures. His tongue had not been bitten. During my examination, he was again seized with violent epileptic con- vulsions. I administered chloroform. The attack speedily passed off, and he again lapsed into the comatose state. I drew off the urine from his bladder, but found on boiling it no trace of albumen. I prescribed an evaporating lotion to be applied to his head, and a draught containing 30 grs. of Chloral Hydrate, with 30 grs. of Bromide of Potassium to be administered by the mouth. He began to recover consciousness on the following day, and within 24 hours of my visit his intellect became quite clear. I learned that he was 34 years of age, unmarried, and of healthy parentage. He was a strong-looking man, and informed me that he was very temperate and regular in his habits, and had, all his life, freely enjoyed outdoor sports. His health, apart from the epileptic attacks, had always been good. The history he gave me of his epilepsy was as follows : — When 24 years of age, one evening about 9 o’clock, while he sat upon a sofa reading, without any premonitory symptom or apparent cause, he lost consciousness, and in a few minutes after, he was found lying upon the floor unconscious. As he had bit his tongue, it was inferred that he had had an epileptic fit. Next morning he was quite well, and returned to