266 THE TREATMENT OF DISEASES. 



impostor generally selects some soft spot where lie is not likely to sustain much, 

 injury by tumbling down. He takes good care, too, not to fall in the fire, or with 

 his head on the stones. 



When one has the opportunity of seeing a fit, the difiiculties are not so great, 

 although even then the problem is not always an easy one to solve. In the first 

 place, in epilepsy the muscular power is very great, so that it requires three or four 

 people to hold the patient down ; the impostor can, of course, command no more 

 than his natural strength. In epilepsy the fits are seldom both long and violent, 

 whilst the impostor usually falls into the error of supposing that the longer he can 

 keep it up, and the more violent he is, the better. The result is that he very much 

 overdoes it. In epilepsy the eyes are partly opened, and the eyeballs are visibly 

 rolling and distorted. In feigned epilepsy the performer generally prefers to 

 close his eyes, but sometimes he cannot resist the temptation to open them for a 

 moment to see what success is attending his efforts, and to watch the effect on the 

 bystanders. In epilepsy the pupils are very large, and are insensitive to light ; but- 

 in the feigned disease they are, of course, perfectly natural in size. If you pull 

 up the eyelid and hold a candle just in front of the eye, you will find in the feigned 

 disease that it is perfectly sensitive. The pupils contract, and the eyes of the 

 malingerer blink in a manner that gives unmistakable evidence that he is not 

 insensible. In epilepsy the pulse is often irregular, but this is beyond the power of 

 the actor's art. Then, again, in a real fit the skin is usually pale and cold, but the 

 impostor gets hot and red with his exertions, and perspires freely. The true 

 epileptic often bites his tongue severely, but this is rather painful, and your impostor 

 generally finds it advisable to omit this symptom. Foaming at the mouth is no 

 criterion, for a piece of soap placed between the cheek and gums will furnish any 

 amount of foam. In epilepsy the patient is of course quite insensible, and feels 

 no pain. A very popular mode of detecting a shammer is founded on this fact. A 

 little hot sealing-wax dropped upon the hand or leg of a person who is not insensible 

 causes an involuntary start, whilst a man who was really in a fit would no more feel 

 it than if he was dead. A touch with a red-hot poker, or a drop of gin in the eye, 

 is said to answer admirably. A very good way of detecting an impostor is to 

 propose gravely in his hearing to pour boiling water on his legs, and then actually 

 to pour cold water on them. A favourite plan with police-constables and others 

 who see a good deal of the worst side of life, is to press their thumb-nail under that 

 of the supposed impostor. This, if done suddenly, gives rise to the most exquisite pain, 

 and few people can bear it without an exclamation. It is a test that can be applied 

 without any trouble and without inflicting the slightest injury on the sufferer or 

 performer, as the case may be. We do not recommend the method, but still we 

 must admit that its employment is perfectly justifiable when we suspect that a 

 person is trying to deceive us. A very ingenious plan was adopted with a soldier 

 who was pretending to have a fit. In the midst of his convulsions he was 

 laid on the upper of two tables placed one on top of the other. He was so 

 afraid of falling off that instantly his movements ceased. In another instance some 

 fine Scotch snuff was blown up the nostrils with a quill. In a moment the man 

 was sneezing violently and the imposture was detected. In true epilepsy na 



