THE JOURNAL <>F PHARMACOLOGY. 7 q 



In a few minutes a small measure of relief from the asthmatic difficulty 

 and distress was experienced, but in a lew more minutes there was note< 

 extreme muscular weakness, which quickly progressed to a state of genera 

 relaxation, with loss of consciousness. The face was markedly Hushed am 

 the vessels extremely prominent. The action of the heart was excited, al- 

 though the rhythm was not disturbed, and no adventitious sounds were 

 audible. The pulse was hard, tense and full, and the beat about 120 tc 

 tho. minute.. The respirations were noisy and labored, and about 40 to 

 the minute. The pupils wcv^ of ordinary size. The patient could not Lit 

 recumbent, and attempts to get him into bed were desisted from in con- 

 sequence of the resulting apparent discomfort. There was occasionally 

 slight twitching of the hands, and the knee-jerks were irritable and, per- 

 haps, a little increased. The patient could be aroused to partial conscious- 

 ness, but he was not able to speak. At times he made certain inco- 

 ordinate movements and gestures, apparently indicative of his distress and 

 ids wishes, lie could not be induced to swallow, and his teeth were found 

 clenched when an effort was made to introduce bits of ice into his mouth. 

 The skin was moist and cool, and free perspiration followed. 



As the patient had on former occasions received without ill results as 

 much as one-fourth of a grain of morphine sulphate hypodermically, and 

 as tin' symptoms were unlike those of strychnine poisoning (the dose of 

 strychnine being a small, even medicinal one)- and corresponded with thos< 

 to be expected from hyoscine intoxication, a further dose of one-eighth of a 

 grain of morphine sulphate was injected beneath the skin, and a third 

 dose several hours later. An addition, amy] nitrite was administered by 

 inhalation. The patient gradually improved, consciousness and power of 

 speech and motor capability slowly returning. 



At seven o'clock in the morning, nine hours after the injection, the 

 patient was unable to recall anything that had taken place during tin 

 night, and expressed himself as having passed through a comfortable 

 period. He was yet unsteady upon his fee.,, and was unable to pass mon 

 +han a drachm or two of urine. A specimen from a larger quantity passed 

 during the subsequent day had a specific gravity of 1,024, and. although 

 failing to respond to the heat and contact (nitric acid) tests for albumen, 

 contained numerous hyaline and granular casts. Albumen and casts had 

 also been found previously. The patient had on former occasions taken 

 by the mouth, without unpleasant manifestations, as much as 1-S0 grain 

 of hyoscine thrice in the course of a night. The pronounced symptoms thai 

 thus developed from the hypodermic employment of so small a dose as 

 1-100 grain of hyoscine hydrobromate must be attributed to idiosyncrasy, 

 the undue susceptibility being perhaps intensified by the somewhat de- 



