An inquiry into the nature and causes of epilepsy : with the function of the spleen; and the use of the thyroid body ... / John Jackson.

  • Jackson, John, -1855.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An inquiry into the nature and causes of epilepsy : with the function of the spleen; and the use of the thyroid body ... / John Jackson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    25/124 (page 13)
    porary paralysis, some degree of mental aberration, or even mania, supervenes. Death, during the paroxysm, is not of infrequent occurrence, especially amongst children ; when this takes place, the intervals between the respiratory acts are extremely prolonged. The symptoms of an epileptic paroxysm bear a close resemblance to those observed in asphyxia from suspension. When a criminal is executed, or an animal is hung, the following phenomena are produced :—unconsciousness—convulsions, chiefly of the face and upper extremities—turgescence and lividity of countenance—relaxation of sphincters— seminal emission—and death. Precisely the same group of symptoms, therefore, as occur in a fatal epileptic paroxysm. But suppose that a person at- tempts suicide by suspension, and is only half hung, —that he is cut down before life is extinct, and re- covers,—the analogy still holds ; he has no recollec- tion of having suffered during the suspension. The following quotation is from Dr. Elliotson’s Lectures : “ Although the individual may struggle, and al- though he may be all but dead, and may hang so long as to be insensible, it does not appear that there is any suffering. There is an account in Lord Bacon’s Works, of a person who was hung and all but killed, and yet he did not suffer. There is a short account written by * * *, the poet, from which it appears that he three times attempted to commit suicide, and one of these attempts was by suspension. He there mentions that he suspended