2 S. E. Henschen, 



When so many different opinions have been pronounced concer- 

 ning the seat of the pathological process in arsenical paralysis, a descrip- 

 tion of the case in question may be of interest. 



The history of the illness is as follows: 



A Case of Arsenical Paralysis. 



Maja Lisa Blomster, (married.) age 49. Taken into my clinie 

 in the Academical Hospital ^^U 1883, died ^Vt 1883. 



History. Amongst the patient's relations an aunt when young had 

 epileptic fits, which however gradually ceased with advancing years. The- 

 patient's condition of life has been fairly good, in her youth she worked 

 hard but she has not of late years done any fatiguing work. At the 

 age of 8 or 10 she had her first epileptic fit, at 14 the next and 

 from that time the one followed the other àt intervals of either 1 or IV2 

 years. Menstruation commenced when she was 19, then ceased for a 

 few months, but has always since been regular and normal. 



Since her marriage at the age of 25 the patient has had 3 chil- 

 dren of which the eldest lives and like the Mother suffers from epilepsy. 

 The patient seems to have observed that since her marriage the attacks 

 have been more frequent and taken place in connexion with menstruation. 

 Of later years they have succeeded each other with only a month's inter- 

 mission, occasionally even once or twice a day during the course of a. 

 week or ten days. The patient has not been venereally infected. 



On Jan: 27"" 1883 she procured from a traveller a white tasteless 

 powder, which was declared to be a splendid cure for epilepsy. (Every- 

 thing points to the fact that the powder contained arsenic; the same 

 pedlar having in neighbouring houses offered a similar powder under 

 the name of »fly food»). That evening between 6 and 7 the patient 

 took about half a tea spoon ful of this powder. About 12 o'clock she 

 awoke feeling very sick and vomited several times during the night com- 

 plaining of a burning heat in the throat. The following day (28"") she 

 passed several ver}^ diarrhoic stools mixed with blood and which finally 

 contained lumps resembling clotted blood. After that the patient experi- 

 enced a prickly sensation or shght pains in the inside of the hands and 

 soles of the feet, and when she walked she thought she felt something 

 like needles between her feet and the floor. The following morning 

 (29"*) she noticed on waking that the feet refused to do service. She 

 tried in vain to bend and stretch out the foot joints and on trying ta 



