22* THE TREATMENT OP DISEASES. 



symptoms. The patient to whom we have referred assured us that he had drunk as 

 much as twenty-two quarts in the twenty-four hours. He had measured it 011 

 several occasions, when this had been the quantity. He seldom drank less than a 

 quart at a time. He went out as much as possible to " keep away from the water." 

 He generally .kept a little pebble in his mouth to check the sensation of thirst, 

 His sufferings when he was unable to get water were very great. He said he should 

 never forget one day when he was left alone in the house, without anything to drink. 

 He was laid up at the time, and too weak to get about. For about an hour he was 

 pretty comfortable, but then became very thirsty. He bore his thirst as well as he 

 could, hoping that some one would come to him, but it finally became so intolerable 

 that he suddenly caught up his chamber-pot and took a long, deep draught of his urine. 

 During the day he drank the urine he passed seven times. It was at last so salt 

 that it hardly quenched his thirst at all. 



The appetite is variable ; sometimes it is voracious, but more commonly moderate 

 or indifferent. Our patient often went for days together without touching meat. On 

 one occasion he stated that he had nothing to eat but half a half-penny biscuit for 

 four days. He had " no appetite, and could not eat anything." He was usually a 

 week or more without having a motion, and had sometimes gone from a month to six 

 weeks. The faeces were very hard, and were passed with great difficulty. 



As might be imagined, the skin is usually diy. Our patient could walk, as 

 fast as he liked, even in the hottest day in the summer, without perspiring about 

 the body. We remember a little boy who suffered in the same way, and whose 

 mother declared that she believed that he had perspired only once in all his life. 

 Diabetes insipidus is a complaint which is usually unattended with pain ; but this 

 little boy suffered greatly from cramps in the legs. He, like most diabetics, suffered 

 greatly from cold. He " was always over the kitchen fire, and you could not get 

 him away from it." Our man stated that " as soon as he got away from the fire 

 he was all of a shake." 



Loss of flesh, general weakness, and inaptitude for work are usually prominent 

 symptoms. 



Insipid diabetes occurs more commonly in men than in women. It may occur 

 at any age, but the majority of cases are met with in people below thirty. Tn one 

 or two instances the disease appears to have actually existed from birth. It is diffi- 

 cult to say what it arises from. In a very large proportion of cases no exciting 

 cause whatever could be assigned, and the patient had no idea what brought it on. 

 In some instances it seems to have followed exposure to cold, and in others to have 

 arisen from muscular exertion. The patient to whom we have so frequently re- 

 ferred was able to speak very definitely as to the origin of his complaint. On 

 a bitterly cold winter's day he had run as hard as he could for a distance of four 

 miles. He was " dripping wet " and the perspiration was running off him ; but 

 before he had time to get cool he had to drive a pony-chaise home a distance of 

 six miles. That was the commencement of his illness. 



Some patients suffering from diabetes insipidus have an intense dislike for 

 vegetable food, whilst others care for nothing else. Some are very sensitive to 

 alcoholic drinks, whilst others exhibit a remarkable tolerance of stimulants. The 



