Mr. Haskell was allowed to speak, and acknowledged to the Court that he had no acquaintance with Mrs. Livezey, and that he had applied for this writ on the statement of some third party who had told him that he did not think there was anything the matter with the lady in question. Judge Paxson, in disposing of the case, made some excellent remarks in reference to the duties of counsel in such cases. While the Court was compelled to issue its writ, under the new law, it was the duty of counsel to know something about the merits of the case before enforcing the writ. He complimented Mr. Chipman for the proper course he had pursued in withdrawing from the case as soon as its real nature was made known. He concluded by remanding the patient to the care of the Hospital.-Philadelphia Bulletin of May 21st, 1870. TREATMENT OF EPILEPSY BY THE HYPODERMIC INJECTION of ATROPIA.-M. G. Brocca records two cases treated in this manner : one, a boy aged six, who was attacked with epilepsy in consequence of a fright. He had been treated with bromide of potassium, quinine, valerianate of zinc, and valerianate of quinine, and leeches to the neck, without benefit. The injection of sulphate of atropia, in doses rising from one-half to five milligrammes, was now commenced; but the patient became progressively worse during the first thirteen days, the attacks ultimately numbering thirty per diem, and the mental powers becoming more enfeebled. On the fourteenth the first symptoms of atropia poisoning were exhibited; nevertheless the use of the atropia, though in diminished doses (two milligrammes,) was steadily continued. The symptoms at once began to improve, the attacks became more and more rare, and less and less violent, till after eighteen days they entirely ceased. The boy soon after left the hospital, and has remained since perfectly well. Altogether twenty injections were made; on four days two were given; the whole amount of atropia used amounted to 65 milligrammes (about one grain;) the injections were usually made in the thigh and arm. The second case was that of a girl of 22 years of age, in whom the attacks had commenced at the age of 20, and had become more and more frequent and violent. As precursors of the attack she experienced violent pains in the ring and little fingers, which extended up the arm and shoulder to the neck; then a feeling of suffocation was experienced, followed by the convulsions. Careful examination of the little finger showed a small cicatrix, consequent on a squeeze, two months after receiv ing which the attacks began. Bromide of potassium internally, the extract of belladonna externally, were equally useless. Laying the hand in ice, when the aura commenced, arrested the attack, but was too inconvenient to be carried out at home. A solution of sulphate of atropia was made, containing one part in 250 of water, and about 13 drops were injected. The severe attacks ceased after the fifth injection, and the aura without the fits after the tenth. The injections were, however, continued for the space of six weeks, when, having had no return of them, she was considered to be cured. A relapse, however, occurred, in consequence of a domestic affliction; but from this she soon rallied. The author recommends that small doses should be administered in the first instance, and that the quantity should never exceed the 14th of a grain for one injection.—Medizin-Chirurg. Rundschau. Jahrgang. xi. p. 35. THE DOSE OF BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM.-During the last few weeks our attention has several times been called to the failures and disappointments which are experienced in the use of bromides for nervous affections, on account of the too small dose that has been employed. The most striking of these is a case that we shall probably publish at length elsewhere: but the heads of it may be interesting here. A young lady of great intellectual activity suffered from a severe cervico-occipital and triguinal neuralgia, attended with cerebral excitement and intractable insomnia, the chief cause of which was very obviously mental, but which was greatly aggravated by the cold weather. 10, 15, and 20-grain doses of bromide did nothing for her. The dose was raised to 30 grains thrice daily, and after four of them she fell into a sleep that lasted 14 hours, and awoke almost entirely cured; the pain not returning at all, and the mental excitement completely subsiding. In a second case, a girl at the Westminster Hospital suffered from the most frightful and frequently recurring epileptic fits, which were threatening speedily to reduce her to dementia. It was only when the allowance of bromide was raised to 120 grains daily that any impression was produced; but then the improvement was speedy and decided, the fits becoming only one-third as frequent as they had been.-Ed. Practitioner. THE POISONOUS DOSE OF CHLORAL.-Two remarkable instances of very large doses of chloral being taken with only transient effect have come under our notice within the last two months, and, singularly enough, in the same house. A lady was attacked with acute mania; sleep could only be procured by chloral; and a mixture was provided, of which four tablespoonfuls (containing 30 grains) were to be taken every night. Against the plainest orders, the attendants gave four times this quantity (containing 120 grains) one night. Continuous sleep for twelve hours followed, but no evil effects occurred. Singularly enough, the husband of the lady was attacked with delirium tremens, and took, by mistake, either 150 or 180 grains of chloral. He slept continuously for about twenty-four hours, and even after this could only very gradually be roused-falling asleep in walking, and even on horseback. But his delirium tremens was cured.-Ed. Practitioner. The Twenty-Fifth Meeting of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane, will be held at the "ROSSIN HOUSE," in the city of Toronto, Canada, commencing at 10 A. M., of June 6, 1871. The report of the Committee on Statistics will be the first business before the Association. Then the paper of Dr. Curwen on "Proper Treatment of the Insane," that of Dr. Jarvis on "Proper Provision for the Insane," and the resolutions of Dr. Kirkbride will be in order. Your attention is particularly called to the following resolution: "Resolved, That the Secretary, when giving notice of the time and place of the next meeting, be requested to urge on members the importance of prompt attendance at the organization, and of remaining with the Association till the close of its sessions." By a standing resolution of the Association, the trustees of the different institutions for the insane are invited to attend the meeting. Very respectfully, JOHN CURWEN, Secretary. HARRISBURG, Pa., March 15, 1871. The following resolutions, are the resolutions referred to, which were ordered to be printed for the use of the members, and their discussion postponed to the next meeting of the Association: Resolved, That this Association re-affirm, in the most emphatic manner, its former declarations in regard to the construction and organization of hospitals for the insane; and it would take the present occasion to add, that, at no time since these declarations were originally made, has anything been said or done to change in any respect its frequently expressed and unequivocal convictions on the following points-derived, as they have been, from the patient, varied and long-continued observations of most of its members: First. That a very large majority of those suffering from mental disease can no where else be as well or as successfully cared for, for the cure of their maladies, or be made as comfortable, if not curable, with equal protection to the patients and the community, as in well arranged hospitals specially provided for the treatment of the insane. Second. That neither humanity, economy or expediency can make it desirable that the care of the recent and chronic insane should be in separate institutions. Third. That those institutions-especially if provided at the public cost-should always be of a plain but substantial character; and while characterized by good taste, and furnished with everything essential to the health, comfort and successful treatment of the patient, should avoid all extravagant embellishment and every unnecessary expenditure. Fourth. That no expense that is required to provide just as many of these hospitals as may be necessary to give the most enlightened care to all their insane can properly be regarded as either unwise, inexpedient or beyond the means of any one of the United States. The Faculty of Medicine of Dalhousie College, Halifax, N. S., have appointed James P. DeWolf, M. D., to the chair of Medical Jurisprudence, with a legal adjunct professor. INDEX TO VOL. XXVII. PAGE. Andrews, J. B., M. D., Exophthalmic Goitre with Insanity,. 1 ...... Annual Address before the Medical Society of the State of New York,....... 124 124 Address (Valedictory) to the Graduating Class of Jefferson Medical College,... 124 125 Alden March, M. D.,. . . . . . . . . 125 Address (Valedictory) to the Graduating Class of the Nat. Medical College,.......... 125 ...... 126, 872 .128, 129 258 500 Atropia, Hypodermic Injection of, for Epilepsy, · Boismont, (A. Brierre de,) on the Legal Responsibility of the Insane, Boismont, (A. Brierre de,) on the Criminal Insane of England, Barstow, J. W., M. D., on Asylum Schools in Ireland,. ..... Browne, J. H. B., on Moral Mania, Browne, J. H. B., on the Causes of Insanity,. 444 499 Bromide of Potassium, Dose of,.... Consanguineous Marriages, (Report on,). . . . . . . . . . 502 109 Chloroform and Ether, (Relative danger of Anesthesia by,) Dependence of Insanity on Physical Disease, by John P. Gray, M. D., Superin- Exophthalmic Goitre with Insanity, by J. B. Andrews, M. D., Epilepsy, Treatment of, by the Hypodermic Injection of Atropia,.. 501 ... German Psychology, 104 Gray, John P., M. D., Supt., &c., on the Dependence of Insanity on Physical Disease, .877 |