Remarks on the history and treatment of delirium tremens / [John Ware].

  • Ware, John, 1795-1864
Date:
1831
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Remarks on the history and treatment of delirium tremens / [John Ware]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the attempt; at another, he is in an agony of terror, trembling in every limb at the fear of murder or fire, and beseeching in the most piteous accents for assist¬ ance ; again, perhaps, we may visit him when he is tranquil and comparatively calm, and ready to enter¬ tain us with a long and solemn narrative of the dan¬ gers and adventures of the night before. But strong as must be the impressions upon the mind, which are thus exhibited, they are very eva¬ nescent, and with few exceptions, continue for but a short time after recovery. It seems to the recol¬ lection of the patient as if the imaginations of his diseased state were the occurrences of a troubled dream. There is the same kind of mistiness and un¬ certainty about the former that there is about the latter. In short, the state of the mind in Delirium Tremens very closely resembles that which exists in dreaming, whilst the state of the body differs. Not only is the imagination of the patient filled with the objects which form the subjects of his delirium, but the perceptive powers partake in the same unnatural state. With his senses open to external impressions, he sees, hears, and speaks to and of, persons and things, which in his sleep he sees, hears, and speaks to only in imagination. There is in each case the same want of the corrective power of the judgment. The mind follows on passively in the train of its asso¬ ciations, without any attempt to correct their incon¬ gruity. In corroboration of this view, it may be remarked,