HYSTERIA, AND EPILEPSY. 1019 



palpitation of the heart, coldness of the extremi- 

 ties, flatulence, nausea, constipation of the bowels, 

 lowness of spirits, and in some cases a feeling of 

 suffocation, attended with stupor, faintness, loss of 

 sensibility, a spasmodic condition of the muscles 

 about the throat, alternations of sobbing and laugh- 

 ter, and general convulsions of the whole body. 

 That the disease is often brought on by exposure 

 to cold and a stoppage of perspiration, is equally 

 evident from the copious discharges of limpid 

 urine between the paroxysms. Some pathologists 

 have referred the above symptoms to a congested 

 state of the uterus, and suppression of the men- 

 strual secretion. But like all the other morbid 

 phenomena, this last condition must be regarded 

 as a concomitant effect of the same causes which 

 diminish the process of respiration, and impair 

 the vital properties of the blood. Nor is it pos- 

 sible that any spasmodic disease can exist as 

 long as the brain and general system are supplied 

 with an abundance of good arterial blood, which 

 is the fountain of life and health to all parts of 

 the body. 



According to the best writers on the practice 

 of medicine, epilepsy is brought on by loss of 

 blood, the mephitic gases, intemperance in the 

 use of ardent spirits, violent emotions of terror, 

 or whatever tends to diminish the power of the 

 brain. And that the immediate cause of the 

 frightful spasms which characterize the fit is the 



