Paramyoclonus multiplex : a clinical lecture / by F.W. Langdon.

  • Langdon, Frank Warren, 1852-1933.
Date:
[1896]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Paramyoclonus multiplex : a clinical lecture / by F.W. Langdon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    7/10 (page 147)
    EE. Ft.E Fig. i.—Fields for white—good daylight. business of the same kind on their own account. Ambition, that excellent ser- vant but merciless master, seized upon his soul. He listened to the voice of the tempter and fell. We may surmise, to his credit, that his ambition was of an altruistic form; perhaps he had visions of the six bairns at home, some of whom might yet tread the marble halls of Congress, or even cross the portals of the White House itself. So far as his ambition was concerned, it was as worthy as that of Napoleon him- self—even more so. But these pleasant anticipations were doomed to a sad ending. He tells us that he was greatly “ worried in his mind” over the important step he had taken. Two days after resigning his desirable situation, and before entering upon the proposed partnership, he was taken ill with his present malady. No injury, fright, shock, or physical strain of any kind is traceable; and, while the recently preceding attack of influenza was probably a predisposing factor in some degree, yet it is to be noted that it was a mild one, which did not deter him from his work during its progress. The disease is said to be “often hereditary,” which does not appear to be the case here. Males are usually affected, very few cases in women being recorded. Youth and adult life are the usual periods of occurrence. The neu- rasthenic state probably predisposes. The onset of his present disease was sudden. While lying in bed he was seized with vomiting, followed in a few moments by the shock-like muscular contractions (which you now notice), and which appeared first in the anterior abdominal wall and in the flexors of the thighs. At first the contractions were even more severe than they now are, and produced violent and repeated flexions at the hips, raising his legs completely from the bed. The duration of these early attacks was about half a minute, and they recurred two or three times a day for two weeks. There was no unconsciousness, no mental confusion, no paralysis. The shock-like clonic con- tractions continued to recur in parox- ysms twice, thrice, many times daily. Their violence mitigated somewhat with time, but they have disabled him so that he has been able to do but about