62 TURNBULL ON RANUNCULACE. 
from ether. One could not expect a man to continue swallowing 
more than an ounce of iron every four hours. He would have taken 
itin any quantity, but it was necessary to consider his stomach, not- 
withstanding his good will to take the medicine. I therefore gave 
him another form of iron also, the sulphate. Ido not know that 
the carbonate is superior to the sulphate in this disease, or in cho- 
rea, and the latter may frequently be taken the most easily. He 
began with five grains, in conjunction with the carbonate of iron, 
and took both every three hours. His agony was still extreme, and 
the sulphate was, therefore, increased to ten grains, and afterwards — 
to fifteen. He received some degree of benefit, but it was only 
temporary. | 
66 thought now that the iron had had a very fair trial, and it was 
only relinquished on the 26th of July, he having begun to take it 
on the 8th of March, so that he had continued it for three months. 
This was a very fair trial, both with respect to the quantity of the 
dose, and the long continuance of its exhibition. * * * 
“J then relinquished the iron altogether, and endeavoured to 
apply strychnine to the finger. We attempted to blister the finger, 
and then sprinkled half a grain of the strychnine upon it. It was, 
however, with very great difficulty that we produced vesication ; 
very imperfect vesication was effected, and therefore it was not 
very well managed. I still determined on trying whether. the 
strychnine would do him good or not, and I therefore exhibited the 
twelfth of a{grain internally. As strychnine is so powerful an 
agent, I never like to begin with a larger quantity than that. It 
was then increased gradually to the eleventh, tenth, ninth, eighth, 
and so on, of a grain. Still he was no better, and I was obliged to 
increasé the muriate of morphia.to two grains every night, one grain 
being said to be equal to four grains of opium. The man told me, 
with tears in his eyes, that the agony was such that he never slept. 
“The strychnine was increased now to half a grain three times 
a-day, and I had the finger smeared with croton oil. He could not 
bear to have it rubbed in, and therefore it was gently smeared on 
the part, but produced no great irritation. His health now began to 
decline. He was taking on the 7th of August three-fifths of a grain 
of strychnine three times a-day, and two grains and a half of mu- 
riate of morphia, but he began to take the iron again. I gave it 
him without any hopes of its producing benefit, but for the purpose 
of improving his general health. He began with half an ounce 
three times a-day, which was increased to an ounce, and then to 
four times a-day. His health soon improved again, but the pain 
continued unabated, and the muriate of morphia was increased to 
three grains twice a-day. His pain was such, that I was obliged to 
give him an opiate in the day time as well as at night. The strych- 
nine was not increased beyond three-fifths of a grain three times 
Arday, and as it did him no good, merely produced some twitching 
of the limbs, it was relinquished on the 21st of August, never 
having been of the slightest service. Arsenic has been known to 
