Epilepsy : its symptoms, treatment, and relation to other chronic convulsive diseases / by J. Russell Reynolds.

  • Reynolds J. Russell (John Russell), Sir, 1828-1896.
Date:
1861
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epilepsy : its symptoms, treatment, and relation to other chronic convulsive diseases / by J. Russell Reynolds. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    convulsions attending upon diseases or lesions of the nervous centres, of the other organs of the body, and of the blood. Regarding a chronic paroxysmal affection as one which, in some form or another, must exist dui-ing the intervals of attack, and of which the latter is but the occasional although cha- racteristic expression; it is of importance to examine minutely the condition of the patient diu-ing the interparoxysmal period, in order to discover whether the morbid state, which underlies the conTulsion, and is capable of developing that formidable series of phenomena, has other features than those of the paroxysm. The epileptics, therefore, which have been under my care, I have examined, during the intervals of their attacks, in regard of their mental state; their sensorial and emotional condition; their state in. so far as motility is con- cerned ; and also their condition in respect of general health. The features of the attacks are then described in their several forms; and, under the head of Natural History, I have given information upon such points as the prevalence of epilepsy, its proportion to diseases generally, to affections of the nervous system, and to convulsive diseases. I have examined the causes of epUepsy, both the unavoidable and accidental; and have traced the relations between its several phenomena. By the latter process I have endeavoured to show in what way, and how far changes of mind, of motility, and of the general health, are related to one another; to the duration of the disease; to the nature of its cause; and to the frequency, severity, and form of the attacks. The consequences and complications of epilepsy are then considered, and its pathology investigated. I have then furnished the materials for its diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment; occasionally illustrating points of special in- terest by the introduction of cases. In the first chapter I have given, so far as it was necessary for my present purpose, an outline of the existing state of physiology and pathology as applied to the interpretation of diseases of the nervous system. I have occasionally quoted authorities for the sake of enforcing particular points; and a list has been furnished of the editions