ON THE PREPARATION OE CONIUM. 
r>04. 
seemed to want power in my eyes in order to fix my gaze firmly enoiigli to 
get a good definition. I could not follow the rapidly shifting flames so as 
to clearly define one from another. I felt clumsy in my movements. I was 
quite sure of them, but I felt that I needed to make an effort to control my 
legs. By the time I had finished my visit (1 p.m.) these effects had com¬ 
pletely passed off, and I walked away briskly a distance of two miles. The 
maximum effect was manifest about an hour and a quarter after taking the 
lieraloek. 
Dec. 13, at 11 a.m. —Took f 5 iii of succus, and experienced the above- 
mentioned effects in only a very slight degree. The pulse and pupils re¬ 
mained natural. I was pretty actively engaged the hour following the dose. 
Dec. 15, at 10.15 a.m. —Took f5iv and immediately walked a distance of 
three miles. Felt a repetition of the symptoms which I experienced on the 
11th, after 5iii of the juice. Three hours after taking the drug the symp¬ 
toms had entirely passed off, and I felt as strong and active as I ever did. 
Dec. 17, at 10.45 a.m. —Took f5vss of the succus, having previously ob¬ 
served the pupils and the pulse, and continued moving about in a small room, 
arranging certain matters. I had forgotten the conium altogether, but was 
suddenly reminded of it by the occurrence of the following disorder of vision, 
which would, probably, be loosely called giddiness. It was wliat I might 
term voluntary giddiness,—a giddiness within my own control. So long as 
my eyes were fixed upon a given object, the definition and capacity of vision 
for the minutest objects were unimpaired ; but the instant I directed the eyes 
to another object, all was haze and confusion, and, if standing, I felt giddy. 
As soon, however, as the eyes again rested upon an object, the confusion 
of vision and sense of giddiness instantly disappeared. It was clear to me 
that the adjusting muscular apparatus of the eye was enfeebled and its con¬ 
tractions so sluggishly performed, that they could no longer keep pace with 
those of the external muscles of the eye. Three-quarters of an hour after 
taking the conium this symptom suddenly appeared. At 11.45 (an hour after 
the dose) it was much increased: a general muscular lethargy affected me; 
the eyelids became so heavy that it required a considerable effort to raise 
them, and the implication of the third nerve was still further indicated by 
widely dilated pupils. I sat down to make these observations, and began to 
feel so oppressed with rapidly increasing muscular lethargy, that I got up 
and tried to shake it off. 
At 12, noon, I first felt weakness in my legs, and then, as these symp¬ 
toms were rapidly increasing and my vision was very much puzzled, I felt 
some alarm; at the same time the earliest beginning of the sensations of 
squeamishness and faintness, which tobacco produces on those unaccustomed 
to its use, came on. 1 sat down again once or twice, but I was afraid of 
maintaining this posture, for I felt that it would so much encourage the 
lethargy that it might get the better of me. I therefore walked about and 
tested the muscular power of my legs. At this time I was cold, pale, and 
tottering. The pulse, which had been considerably excited by the sudden 
accession of the foregoing symptoms, was now sixty-eight and quite regular. 
The sensation of nausea soon passed off, but the diminution of muscular power 
increased, and I felt that if this continued, my legs would soon be unequal 
to support me. I could still go upstairs awkwardly, but the legs felt strangely 
light and powerless. The weakness was especially felt in the hamstring 
muscles. The mind remained perfectly clear and calm and the braii^active, 
while the body seemed heavy and well-nigh asleep. There was, in fact, a 
direct diminution of power in all the voluntary muscles, almost amounting to 
paralysis; and of all the motor-nerves, the third was the earliest and 
most deeply implicated. The greatest exertion was at one time required to 
elevate the eyelids. 
