Synopsis of apoplexy and epilepsy, with observations on trachelismus, laryngismus, and tracheotomy; and the proposal for a hospital for epileptics / by Marshall Hall.

  • Hall, Marshall, 1790-1857.
Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Synopsis of apoplexy and epilepsy, with observations on trachelismus, laryngismus, and tracheotomy; and the proposal for a hospital for epileptics / by Marshall Hall. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    spasmodic affection of the face, and general convulsion. Is not this an example of disease at the base of the brain, compressing the nerves and irritating the dura mater 1 307. On the 11th of May, 1845, I witnessed a most dreadful case of puerperal convulsion, admirably, though I fear unsuccessfully, treated by Dr. Bossi, of Havre. 308. The eve-lids were wide open, the eyes distorted, the pupil excessively dilated; the tongue protruded, swollen, and deeply livid, and only prevented from being bitten by a cork steadily kept between the teeth; the saliva flowed abundantly. There was absolute insensibility. 309. This state of things was fearfully aggravated from time to time by general convulsion, distorting every feature still more than before and contorting the limbs; the face becoming livid, and the tongue still more livid and tumid than before; the larynx being closed. 310. As the blood flowed, the countenance gradually lost its colour, the tongue its tumidity, and the pulse its power ; whilst the paroxysms of convulsion became less frequent and severe, and the convulsive actions gradually passed into a state of apoplexy: the eye-lids closed, and the patient appeared as in sleep; the tongue was pushed by the nurse into the mouth, within the teeth; and the teeth were kept partly closed by gentle pressure on the chin, by which means the patient was enabled also to swallow the saliva, which had previously, if not allowed to flow from the mouth, obstructed the respiration at the larynx. 311. Let the reader compare this slight detail with that of the experiment, § 294— ; and he will be struck with the precise similarity in the phenomena, and he will perceive the advantage of experimental phy- siology in its relation to clinical medicine. 312. After several hours, I saw the patient again. She had con-