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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    that is in the gi-eat hospital of the world at large, many of these cases of affections of the nervous system present themselves to our notice under most troublesome, and frequently under very unsatisfactory conditions ; in fact, they occasionally, and espe- cially in very civilized life, are amongst the most intractable disorders that the practitioner can have to do with. In my judgment, it is mainly by observing and recording such and similar facts and observations, that we can at all hope to imravel with success the almost inextricable perplexity in which at present many nervous diseases still remain. Nothing, I am convinced, will tend more to draw aside the curtain which as yet conceals from our clear, distinct perception of the true causation of nervous diseases, than a careful, patient, laborious observation and record of these symptoms and phenomena, as they present themselves to our notice, as medical observers and practitioners. Be it observed, that very few, even of the worst cases, although attended 'with distressing and painful concomitants, are but sel- dom attended with immediate fatal results ; and even if it were so, in my opinion, the ordinary after-death examinations of the body would do but little towards revealing to us the true causa- tion of the diseases themselves, except in comparatively few instances : and, even in the living subject, whilst under medical care and treatment, the application of organic chemistry, and the use of the microscope from time to time will, I fear, likewise but in few instances, be productive of very fruitful and satis- factory results. Stni, however, these valuable aids to diagnosis and treatment must not be neglected, and a proper value should be assigned to any pathological facts with which their applica-; tion may happily furnish us. We must gladly avail ourselves of any and of every adjunct that may be reasonably expected to throw additional light upon our present obscurity, and so to rescue us from error and from ignorance, the two worst enemies to human health and happiness. A better acquaintance with diseases of the nervous system, or, in other words, the removal of error and ignorance in regard to them, will do more than almost anything else to rescue many of our suffering and afflicted fellow human beings from the relentless hands of the pretenders to medical science and prac- tice scattered up and down throughout the metropolis and the country at large The foregoing practical and suggestive question is the title of a paper read at a late meeting of the Harveian Medical Society of London. Iliat paper, now very considerably abbreviated, con- stitutes the substance of the present communication to the Medi- cal Mirkok ; and although thus condensed and shorn, as now, of