EPILEPSY 



200-1 



EPISCOPAL CHURCH 



Here lies our sovereign lord, the king. 



Whose word no man relies on, 

 Who never said a foolish thing, 



And never did a wise one, 



wrote the courtier, to which Charles replied, 

 "True, for my words are my own; my actions 

 are my ministers'." 



If the word be considered in its wider mean- 

 ing, any of the proverbs are epigrams. The 

 following are excellent examples: 



All that glisters is not gold. Shakespeare. 

 Hope deferred maketh the heart sick. Bible. 

 A soft answer turneth away wrath. Bible. 



EPILEPSY, ep'ilepsi, or FALLING SICK- 

 NESS, is a nervous disease which manifests 

 itself in several forms. The epileptic who suf- 

 fers from the most common type, called grand 

 mal, falls insensible, uttering a wild scream, 

 and immediately afterward undergoes convul- 

 sions of the whole body. Attending symptoms 

 are foaming at the mouth and spasmodic move- 

 ments of the lips, nostrils and eyes. The dura- 

 tion of such an attack varies from five to 

 twenty minutes. As the convulsions gradually 

 diminish in severity the patient passes into a 

 condition of deep stupor, during which the 

 breathing sometimes becomes very noisy. This 

 state is followed by natural slumber, of vary- 

 ing duration. While such an attack may seem 

 very alarming to the onlooker, it is not neces- 

 sarily dangerous unless the patient injures him- 

 self in falling or bites his tongue during the 

 convulsions. It is not wise to attempt restora- 

 tion by means of powerful stimulants. The 

 clothing may be loosened around the chest, 

 and the head be raised a little, and the pa- 

 tient should have plenty of air. Sometimes 

 an epileptic is warned of an approaching fit by 

 noise in the ears, a feeling of nausea or faint- 

 ness, loss of breath, or other sensation, but in 

 many cases the attack comes on with no warn- 

 ing whatsoever. 



In petit mal, a less common form of epilepsy, 

 the patient does not fall, but is unconscious 

 for two or three seconds, and when he comes 

 to himself he may not know that he has had an 

 attack. Persons who suffer from grand mal 

 sometimes have mild seizures that are of brief 

 duration and are characterized only by slight 

 twitchings of the body. Another form of epi- 

 lepsy is the psychic type, some of the manifes- 

 tations of which resemble those of insanity. 

 Crimes are often committed by victims of 

 psychic epilepsy. In some instances tumor of 

 the brain,- meningitis and similar disturbances 

 cause spasmodic movements of a limited area. 



There are many epileptics who have lived 

 long and useful lives, and in history the names 

 of a few victims of the disease shine brilliantly 

 Julius Caesar, Petrarch, Mohammed, Peter 

 the Great and Napoleon. Impairment of the 

 mental powers, however, is usually the outcome 

 of petit mal. Frequency of attacks is a more 

 serious feature of grand mal than severity. 

 Recovery from epilepsy is rare, and the exact 

 cause of the malady has long baffled physicians. 

 It is supposed to be due to disease of the gray 

 matter of the brain. Attention to hygiene and 

 dieting is preferable to the use of curative 

 drugs. Any drug powerful enough to control 

 the spasms is sure to be demoralizing in its 

 general effect. The disease is hereditary, and 

 epileptics should not be allowed to marry. 

 Several states have provided for colonies of 

 epileptics, where rational treatment is resulting 

 in lasting benefit to patients. W.A.E. 



EPIPHANY, epij'ani, a festival observed 

 on January 6 by the Roman Catholic, Anglican 

 and Eastern churches in honor of the manifes- 

 tation or presentation of Christ. Originally it 

 commemorated the birth and baptism of Christ, 

 but since the year 813 it has been celebrated 

 as a special festival in honor of the manifesta- 

 tion of the Infant Jesus to the three magi, or 

 wise men from the East, who were guided by 

 the star to Bethlehem. 



EPIPHYTES, ep'ijytz. See AIR PLANTS; 

 PARASITES. 



EPIRUS, epi'rus, meaning mainland, was in 

 ancient geography the extreme northwestern 

 division of Greece. The kingdom of Epirus 

 reached the zenith of its glory under Pyrrhus, 

 in 295 B. c. It was invaded by the Albanians 

 in the fourteenth 

 century, was con- 

 quered by the 

 Turks in the fif- 

 t e e n t h century, 

 and now forms 

 part of the terri- 

 tory ceded to 

 Greece in 1881 

 and 1913. The 

 modern province 

 of Epirus is 

 bounded on the 

 south by the Gulf of Arta and on the west by 

 the Ionian Sea. Its capital, Janina, has a 

 population of about 25,000. 



EPISCOPAL, e pis' ko pal, CHURCH, a reli- 

 gious sect in America, known as the Protestant 

 Episcopal Church, which separated from the 



EPIRUS 



