Comments on convulsive diseases / by Charles Bland Radcliffe.

  • Radcliffe, Charles Bland, 1822-1889.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Comments on convulsive diseases / by Charles Bland Radcliffe. 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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    to be taught is this, namely, that it is a serious error—so serious, indeed, as to threaten to negative a practice otherwise beneficial —to withhold animalized and generous food in the treatment of convulsive maladies. Of this we may be satisfied, if we reflect patiently upon any individual form of the malady, but more especially upon the one last mentioned, in which, indeed, there cannot be two opinions as to the principle to be carried out. The question as to the expediency or inexpediency of stimu- lants is to be discussed in the same manner, namely, by pro- ceeding from what is plain and obvious to what is obscure and doubtful. Beginning, then, where we began before, it is well known that a glass of wine is an excellent remedy for the shivering occasioned by cold, and that it is of great efficacy in the shaking tremulousness of old age. A glass of wine, moreover, is very likely to afford relief in a paroxysm of chorea. It would appear, also, as one of the results of the investigations of sanitary commissions, that the dram-drinking habits of the lower orders, though productive of incalculable evils when car- r'-'d to excess, are of use (when restrained within the bounds of moderation) in counteracting the pestiferous atmosphere of close and ill-drained habitations. It is clearly established, also, that wine and fermented liquors are necessary to health in the case of persons engaged in fever hospitals : so that, from this considera- tion, as well as from that which has preceded, we should argue that stimulants are necessary to prevent the convulsive symp- toms which usher in febrile affections. At any rate, wine must be poured into the system in liberal quantities when subsultus supervenes, and thus this conjecture receives some confirmation. It is well known also, that the peculiar and distressing move- ments of delirium tremens are to be relieved by these means. In tetanus and hydrophobia the testimony is of a negative character, but what we may gather is in harmony with what has pre- ceded. At any rate, large quantities of wine have been given, in both affections, without aggravating the spasmodic condition, and, in some instances, with sensible benefit; and that this latter result has not been more constant, is possibly to be accounted for by the fact, that opium has generally been admi- nistered at the same time, and in large quantities. In the con- vulsive affections induced by certain mineral poisons, there can be little or no doubt as to the expediency of stimulants. In an in- teresting case of mercurial trembling recorded by Dr. Watson, the patient stated that he could not attend to his work except lie prepared himself by taking a small quantity of gin, and that