262 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



was at once dissolved, all public business being suspended for that day, and from this 

 circumstance the disease was called morbus comitialis. 



Nothing can be more startling than the onset of an epileptic seizure. It comes 

 on suddenly, often when least expected by the sufferer or those about him. In a 

 moment, with a loud cry or groan, he falls struggling, foaming, and insensible upon 

 the earth. He strains and struggles violently; his breathing is embarrassed or 

 suspended ; his face, which at the very instant of the fall had assumed a corpse-like 

 pallor, soon becomes turgid and livid ; he foams at the mouth ; a choking sensation 

 is heard in the windpipe, and for the moment he appears to be on the point of death. 

 In a little while these alarming symptoms abate, and at length cease, leaving the 

 patient heavy, exhausted, and stupid. After an interval this, too, passes away r 

 and he to all appearance is perfectly well. 



As we have said, the attack occurs suddenly. Sometimes there is a distinct 

 warning, but even then it is of the shortest possible duration. The symptoms con- 

 stituting the warning, when it does occur, are widely different in character and 

 intensity. One patient had always before an attack the idea of a man shooting 

 pigeons. He said distinctly that he saw nothing of the kind, but simply the idea 

 came into his head, and then he knew that he was on the point of having a fit. In 

 another case, the patient stated that when a fit was approaching he fancied he saw 

 a little old woman in a red cloak advance towards him, and strike him a blow 011 

 the head, when he at once lost all recollection, and fell down. A gentleman who 

 was epileptic said that just before a fit he always heard "an infernal noise something 

 like the outside of a booth at a country fair," whilst another had a vision of " a 

 hideous donkey." Sometimes there is a distinct " aura," as it is called. The patient 

 experiences a sensation of blowing, or something like it, which commences in the 

 extremities and passes upwards to the head, insensibility ensuing when it reaches 

 that point. The aura varies somewhat in character in different individuals. In one 

 it is a distinct pain in the limbs, which runs up towards the head ; in another there 

 are twitching movements, and the legs are drawn up, or the arm becomes contracted ;.. 

 whilst in a third there is a vague uneasiness about the pit of the stomach, which 

 seems to pass up through the chest. One very peculiar circumstance about the aura 

 is the facility with which it may be removed and the attack averted. When it 

 consists of pain, it may be stopped by rubbing, or by the pressure of the hand, or by 

 a piece of string or tape drawn tightly round the affected part. When there are 

 contractions, they may be removed by getting some one to draw the affected limbs 

 out straight. When it assumes the form of uneasiness in the stomach, it is advisable 

 to take a little sal volatile, or spirits of chloroform, or spirits of ether, or some similar 

 aromatic draught. Suddenly dashing cold water in the face, or pressing the thumb 

 forcibly backwards, will often succeed in averting the aura better than anything. 

 The duration of the aura is always short, never if left to itself exceeding a few 

 minutes. Sometimes, however, if stopped in the manner we have indicated, it may 

 keep coming and going for hours, being arrested each time by appropriate measures. 

 Some people, although they have no distinct warning, are dull, heavy, and depressed 

 in spirits before each attack, so that their friends often guess what is going to happen. 

 Very often this dulness and heaviness is removed by an attack, so that it seems- 



