Epilepsy : in what class of cases, and under what circumstances, may we reasonably hope for cure in epilepsy? / by William Camps.

  • Camps, William.
Date:
1866
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Epilepsy : in what class of cases, and under what circumstances, may we reasonably hope for cure in epilepsy? / by William Camps. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    similar epileptiform convulsions; and the presence of a cal- culus-stone in the urinary bladder, has been known to produce attacks of tetanic spasms, a form of convulsions pathologically almost akin to epilepsy. After all, the organs situated in the abdominal cavity, which, next to the stomach and intestines, are more commonly productive of epilex^tic paroxysms, are the organs of generation, those organs concerned in the reproduc- tion of the species, both in the male and in the female sex ; and disturbances in the proper functions of these parts or organs of either sex, and from whatever cause, are, I appre- hend, amongst the more frequent sources of origin of very many cases of symptomatic or sympathetic epilepsy; without, however, entering into detail, it may at present suffice to say that all, or nearly aU, in this class of cases of epilepsy, may be explained with tolerable, if not with sufficient clearness, upon the physiological principles enunciated and illustrated by modern observers and experimenters in the domain of nerve physiology, especially, by the scientific researches of Brown- Sequard and Schroeder Van der Kolk. We may occasionally witness attacks of epilepsy in animals, and very frequently attacks of convulsions in them. I have myself seen epilepsy m the horse, the particulars of which I forwarded to the Veterinarian, a montlily journal devoted to veterinary science; and it is well known that we may produce at pleasure epileptiform attacks or seizures in guinea-pigs ; yet, notwithstanding these observations of convulsive affections in animals, no one I apprehend would assert that, in any animal lower in the scale of being than the human animal, he had seen attacks or paroxysms of hysteria; this disease, as it appears to me, puts forward its claims for dominion only over poor suffering human nature, leaving brute nature totally exempt from its con- trol and authority. Comparative pathology may doubtless throw considerable light upon many of the diseases that affect our common humanity; but' I fear that it will not contribute directly very much to our stock of knowledge in regard to epilepsy, although indirectly, in regard to convulsive diseases, it may pos- sibly hereafter aid in removing some portion of that error and ignorance concerning these, which, unhappily, still becloud our understanding, and thus too successfully baffle, and sometimes altogether interpose between our well-intentioned effoi-ts and our patient’s welfare and restoration to health. Park Street, Grosvenor Square, W., 1866.