22 
J. D. FAIR. 
made an examination, and, from the history and symptoms, 
concluded that she was not suffering with azoturia, but had 
some spinal trouble. Pressure of some kind, degeneration, scir- 
rhosis, some disease of the spinal cord, the exact nature of 
which I did not know. Temperature and pulse normal, good 
appetite, urine a little scanty, high colored, containing lots of 
sediment and a little flakey; a chemical test showed no albu¬ 
men nor sugar. I made an examination per rectum and vagina, 
thought she might have an aneurism of the posterior aorta or 
melanotic deposit pressing on the sacro-lumbar flexus, or a sup¬ 
purative kidney; but, as far as I could feel, everything seemed 
normal, except that the left iliac artery did not pulsate as 
strongly as the right, and the left extremity was a little oede- 
matous. We noticed small melanotic deposits around the anus 
and vulvae, but from my examination I could not make a posi¬ 
tive diagnosis. I had an opinion of the case, but what are you 
going to say to the family ? They were very anxious to know 
whether Flora would get well again, and how soon. In this 
case I advised treatment, and thought that there were some 
chances of recovery. I gave her a mild cathartic, diuretics, and 
placed her in slings. After the cathartic had operated, I placed 
her under strychnia and iodide of potash. 
This treatment was continned for two months, gradually in¬ 
creasing the strychina until their physiological actions were 
observed. At the end of two month’s treatment, there was very 
little improvement. The treatment was then discontinued for 
one week, and by that time she had lost all control of her pos¬ 
terior extremities. I then advised the old lady to have her de¬ 
stroyed. This was done, and a post-mortem made. On removing 
the anterior extremity and exposing the viscera, I found a num¬ 
ber of melanotic tumors, none of them causing any particular 
trouble. The kidneys, liver and spleen seemed all right; no 
pressure on the sacro-lumbar flexus. In the left iliac I found a 
melanotic deposit that partly cut off the circulation; this ac¬ 
counted for the limited pulsation and the oedema of the leg. I 
made sections of the spinal column and anterior to the sacro- 
