ly Pressure of the Carotids, 107 



in the ear of the affected side, and felt a sort of rushing or 

 tingling in the fingers of the left hand, which led her to 

 conclude that " the blood went too forcibly there." 



Though the coldness went off, what she called numbness 

 still continued, but without the least diniinulion of the 

 power of motion in the side afiected. Tn about six weeks, 

 the numbness extended it«:elf to the right side. 



Aniong vari<nis ineffectual remedies for the^e complaints, 

 blisters were applied to the back, and the inside of the left 

 arm above the elbow. The former drew well. The latter 

 intlamed without discharging; so that a poultice of bread 

 and milk was put on the blistered part. After this period, 

 the muscles of the humerus began to feel as if contracted 

 aad stiff; and these sensations gradually spread themselves 

 to the neck and head, and all across the body, so as to 

 make it unconiforiable for her to lie on either side, .though 

 there was no inability of motion. 



She now began to be affected with violent occasional 

 flusliings of her face and head, v\hich occurred even while 

 her feet and legs were, cold, together with a rushing noise 

 in the back of the head, especially in hot weather, or from 

 any of those causes which usually produce the feelincs of 

 heat. 



It IS difficult to Efive intelliirible names to sensations of a 

 new and uncommon kind. That which this lady deno- 

 minated numbness, diminished neither the motion nor the 

 sensibility of the parts affected. Il was more a perception 

 of tightness and constriction, in which the susceptibility of 

 feeling in the parts was in fact increased ; and the skin of 

 the extremities was so tender, that the cold air produced a 

 sense of uneasiness, the finest flannel or worsted felt dis- 

 agreeably coarse, and the allempl to stick a pin with her 

 iingers caused intolerable pain. 



In the month of September 1803, not long after the ap- 

 plication of the blisters, she experienced, in certain parts of 

 the left arm and thigh, that sensatinn of twitchinii which 

 is vulgarly called the '* life blood," and v\hch soon ex- 

 tended itself to the right side. Shortly alterwards, she be- 

 gan to perceive an actual vibration or startioii up of certain 

 pi^rtioiis of the flexor muscles of the fore-arm, and of the 

 deltoid on the leit side; not so, however, as to move the 

 arm or hand. 



This disorder had continued with little varialicm to the 

 period <A my first visit. The vibrations constautlv existed 

 \Aliile the anil was in the common posture, the fore-arm 



and 



