1016 VARIOUS CAUSES OF SPASM. 



bath. The pulsations of the heart are exceed- 

 ingly weak, and the circulation through the lungs 

 is so far diminished, that the blood loses its florid 

 hue even in the arterial capillaries, as shewn by 

 the livid hue of the skin. In malignant cholera, 

 the inspirations have been so few as seven per 

 minute, and the temperature of the blood from 

 10 to 25 below the normal standard, attended 

 with a spasmodic state of the stomach, bowels, 

 and abdominal muscles, including the flexors of 

 the extremities. In short, whenever the tem- 

 perature is reduced below the natural standard, 

 whether by the abstraction of animal heat from 

 the surface, or by diminished respiration, owing 

 to the influence of an impure atmosphere, the 

 vital properties of the blood are impaired, and a 

 tendency to spasmodic action induced. Dr. John- 

 son tells us, that " men die of cholera in precisely 

 the same way as from hemorrhage, with shrink- 

 ing, paleness, and coldness of all the external 

 parts, diminished circulation, (the most universal 

 and essential symptom of cholera,) and spasms. 

 It is therefore evident that the proximate cause 

 is a deficient supply of animal heat and of good 

 arterial blood. 



5. Convulsions are produced by strangulation, 

 as in hanging and drowning, or by whatever arrests 

 or greatly diminishes the process of respiration, 

 whether it be exposure to the mephitic gases, the 

 rarefied atmosphere of high mountains, a blow on 



