THE ABORTIVE TREATMENT OF CHOLERA. 165 



" When cholera is known to be at hand, there cannot he an excuse 

 for neglecting to attend to this peculiar warning, and not discerning 

 its significance." 



"The powers of life appear, indeed, often to be almost annihilated 

 immediately after this premonitory stage, and sometimes eyen before 

 the state has had time to be fairly developed, and deafness and weak- 

 ness of the voice may be remarked even from the first appearance of 

 perturbation in the countenance." 



Dr. Poznanski, in a communication to the Academy of Sciences, in 

 1857, makes the following propositions : — ■ 



" 1. That, during the prevalence of cholera, it frequently happens 

 that the pulse is extremely low, and reduced to 45, or even 42, in 

 persons apparently in perfect health. 



" 2. That this symptom is unaccompanied by any other denoting a 

 morbid state. 



"3. That, when the pulse is low, the blood becomes dark and vis- 

 cous ; while, in persons whose pulse is in a normal state during the 

 epidemic, the blood is perfectly healthy. 



"4. The cholera only attacks those that have previously experi- 

 enced a diminution in their pulse. 



" 5. That this diminution, which often occurs weeks before the 

 regular attack, may be considered a pathognomonic symptom of the 

 approach of cholera. 



" 6. That those who have experienced the diminution in question 

 had always escaped the disease whenever they have followed a regi- 

 men calculated to accelerate the circulation. 



" 7. That the falling-off of the pulse and, therefore, the predispo- 

 sition to the disease, are, in general, proportional to the want of en- 

 ergy in the circulation of the blood, and to the excess of atmospheric 

 pressure. 



" 8. That this diminution of the pulse does not occur in healthy 

 subjects, when the epidemic has ceased." 



In reference to these propositions, it may be observed that, if the 

 3rd one is true, it cannot be correct to say that a diminution of the 

 pulse is " unaccompanied by any other symptom denoting a morbid 

 state," for the blood changes here noticed must necessarily be atten- 

 ded by other phenomena, which, though probably not obvious to t 

 superficial observer, would be discoverable to careful enquiry. 



Cases of confirmed cholera have been known to occur in which 



