206 The Philippine Journal of Science i9i6 



different stages of the poisoning, and we consider it interesting 

 to reproduce them in detail. 



CASE 1 



Mr. 0. had been taking infusions of Illicium anisatum for 

 diarrhoea. Having used his provision, he ordered more Illicium 

 anisatum from a drug store, on October 6, but his servant 

 went to a Hindu grocery and obtained Illicium religiosum. Mr. 

 O. took of it in the form of an infusion about 7.30 of the same 

 morning. At 9 o'clock he began to have repeated vomitings, 

 profuse diarrhoea, and cramps in the legs. 



Convulsions set in at 11 o'clock. The patient became sud- 

 denly restless and unconscious after giving a loud cry. During 

 the convulsion the breathing stopped, the eyeballs rotated later- 

 ally, the face expressed fear, the muscles of the trunk contracted, 

 the head was retracted toward the back, the forearms were 

 flexed, the hands were clinched, and the limbs were rigid, giving 

 occasional jerks. This paroxysm lasted one or two minutes 

 and resembled that of the classical idiopathic epilepsy. After 

 ten minutes consciousness suddenly returned, the respiration was 

 quite, and the patient complained of cramps in the legs. 



Between 11 o'clock in the forenoon and 9 o'clock in the evening 

 this convulsive paroxysm was repeated five times. The patient, 

 at the interparoxysmal periods, was exhausted, complained of 

 severe headache, was restless in bed, and assumed a Z-position. 

 He was thirsty and drank a large quantity of Vichy water, 

 which he vomited. The vomiting was frequent; it lasted till 

 3 o'clock in the afternoon. There were anuria, carphology, and 

 clouding of consciousness ; the patient was not able to recognize 

 the persons surrounding him. The pulse was 120 beats per 

 minute and was small. 



The patient was given 0.5 gram of caffeine, 1 cubic centimeter 

 of camphorated oil injected hypodermically, and a little anti- 

 pyrine which seemed to alleviate the headache. He was also 

 injected with physiological salt solution, 500 cubic centimeters 

 at noon and another 500 cubic centimeters at 10 o'clock in the 

 evening. After the second injection the general condition was 

 improved and the convulsions did not return. At night he 

 passed urine and slept. 



On the morning of October 7 he urinated again and slept 

 a little. The headache disappeared, but there were still mental 

 dullness and physical weakness. In the afternoon the tem- 

 perature was 38.7° C, the pulse was 106 beats per minute, 

 •^nd there were asthenia and somnolence. The temperature rose 



