HOMŒOPATHIC TREATMENT OF THE POTATO-ROT.

Human pathology is not the only field of the homœopathist. He should take an interest in every species of suffering, and endeavor to restore the harmony of the organic kingdom wherever it has been disturbed by some accidental cause. Homœopathy is a vast, unitary science. The healing art is one; there is no such thing as one healing art for man and another for the animal, though it is on man that we should prove our drugs because he is the complex of the various kingdoms of nature.

The question now occurs, how is the potato-rot to be treated? It is evident that the great point is to prevent the disease, and, for this purpose, we must endeavor to remove the cause. Principiis obsta, has ever been the fundamental rule of medical treatment.

In order to attain this end, we have deemed it necessary first to ascertain the effects which the diseased potato would produce on a healthy person and afterwards to find out what drugs produce similar effects. We might have instituted our provings on the potato itself, and, among a number of drugs, might have discovered the one that would produce a disease similar to the rot. But this mode of investigation would have been too long and uncertain, whereas the proving on the human body is simple and direct, and is, we think, the true mode which Providence has designed we should pursue even in regard to the potato-rot.

It is true, man cannot be assimilated to the myriads of organized beings that surround us; man constitutes the highest link in the chain of beings; he is the complex of the animal life on our globe, and the most perfect type to which all inferior existences can be referred; he is a microcosm containing all the wonders of the universe; he is the responsible administrator of this earth. Man alone is able to produce a true pathogenesis by revealing the most evanescent as well as the most characteristic and most permanent symptoms, or lesions of sensation. On plants and animals we can only perceive disordered functions, disorganizations of tissues, or acute pains as manifested by gestures or cries; but the truly dynamic action can only be properly perceived and described by man.

The veterinary homœopathist does very well in selecting his remedy by the human pathogenesis. Why should not the same mode be applicable to vegetables? We have invited our fellow-beings to try it; we have not only invited them to teach, and to cure, and to make themselves sick, in order to discover the true means of healing; but we have encouraged them to suffer themselves to be persecuted, and even imprisoned, as a reward for their labors of love, we have said to them; whilst the world is hesitating whether it should accept or reject the blessing offered by Hahnemann, let us lose no time; there are other regions where the evil is still triumphant, and where truth is not even known by name; let us expel error from its last hiding-places. And we have never failed in meeting corresponding souls that would hear us and follow us. And thus it is that homœopathy, this physical reflex of the Christian redemption, combats evil by itself, pursuing it from region to region until it shall have been exterminated from the world.

Now let us describe the practical part of our proving.

From the first, frontal headaches, with pressure above the orbits, have been observed with much regularity not only by the three provers whose symptoms are published, but also by other provers who continued the proving only for a few days.

Until the 20th day, these headaches were often accompanied by fever, with chill, heat, sweat, shudderings followed by sore throat, cough and greenish mucous expectoration.

The palpitation of the heart which occurs during the whole period of the proving, and with particular violence at the end of the third proving, appears to be represented in the case of the second prover by violent muscular pulsations occurring in the same chronological order. The hard, large-sized, fragmentary stools, and their painful expulsion which sometimes caused a falling of the rectum; the frequent emission of flatulence preceded or accompanied by colic, with sensitiveness of the abdominal integuments in the case of the first prover, are very constant symptoms of this drug; they were observed from the first and increased until the last days of the proving.

We will likewise point to the general or partial weakness, which, in the case of the third prover, were followed by violent pains in the loins.

The white coating of the tongue which was observed on the first day, gradually limited itself to a yellow line along the middle. Among the less general symptoms which were observed during the whole time of the proving, we may note the want of appetite, the bitter taste of food, the cutaneous eruptions, the swelling of the mucous membrane of the palate, the thick urine, and lastly the pain in the groin or the right ileo-femoral articulation.

In the emotive sphere the drug induced a great irritability. The dreams about a change of form occurred very generally to the three provers. The second prover had the same dreams on two successive nights.

After a careful comparison of the symptoms of the Solanum tuberosum ægrotans with those of the other known remedies of our Materia Medica, we have found them to agree with the symptoms of the following drugs which we enumerate in the order of their importance:

We have no doubt that Bryonia and Arsenicum will prevent the rot; but, to be frank, we believe that, in this case at least, the isopathic method of treatment will prove more successful than the homœopathic. It is well known that the mode of preparing our drugs for medicinal purposes, modifies their action a good deal. This result is principally obtained by rubbing them down with sugar of milk, which is not an inert substance as Hahnemann believed, but is on the contrary endowed with the most useful powers of action. The sugar of milk effects a preliminary digestion of the drug, and, by imparting to it vital qualities, fits it for medicinal purposes. Do we not know that certain animal products are preferable to corresponding mineral substances? Is not the calcarea prepared from the oyster-shell preferable to the chemically prepared carbonates and phosphates of lime? Are not the poisons of serpents destined to occupy the first rank among the polychrests?

To return to our subject, the medicinal preparation obtained from the diseased potato is not the original poison as used by nature, but the poison modified in consequence of its having been previously engrafted on a living tubercle.

Our mode of inoculating either the isopathic or homœopathic preparation is as follows. Before putting the potato in the ground we perforate it with a big needle, and into this hole we insert a single globule of the third attenuation.

This operation is simple and easy. It can be applied on a large scale and we think that by its means the potato will be preserved for a long time yet to the European continent.

First prover: Van-Dyck, 26 years old, of a sanguine nervous temperament and a robust constitution.

First day.—1. Painful stitch in the right side, a few moments after taking the drug. Acidity and eructations, at 9 in the evening.

Second day.—On waking, weight above the eyes and in the forehead, as the morning after being intoxicated. Shuddering and sensation of cold internally, at noon. 5. Scanty and difficult stool, in the shape of small hard balls, in the evening.

Third day.—He dreams that he is to dress and draw the body of a drowned man; this body bounded up every moment and fell back either on his clothes or on his drawing board. The mucous membrane of the palate seems to detach itself here and there. Cross; he blames every thing, and cannot bear that any thing near him should be disturbed.

Fourth day.—Difficult stool in small red balls.

Fifth day.—10. Stool as above.

Sixth day.—Horrid colic, as if the bowels were violently twisted; 15 minutes after, hard and copious stool, followed by two almost liquid stools (at night).

Seventh day.—Copious and liquid diarrhœa, of a greenish yellow, in the morning. Prickling around the eyelids; on their internal surface they are red and congested. Tongue coated white. 15. White sordes on the teeth. (Profuse lachrymation). Little appetite. Pulse rather agitated.

Eighth day.—The median line of the abdomen from the sternum to the hypogastrium is painful to the touch. 20. Thirst. Little appetite. Sensation of warmth about the head, at 4 in the evening.

Ninth day.—Dreams about magic, men being transformed into speaking animals, changes at night, &c. Heat in the canal of the urethra, after urinating. 25. The urine deposits a yellowish sediment. Small pimples on the back, causing a violent itching. Sneezing in going up-stairs.

Tenth day.—Heaviness on the eyes. Slight beating in the temples. 30. Mounting of heat to the head from time to time.

Eleventh day.—Pricking around the eyelids, on waking. Itching of the back. Sweat on doing the least work. Heaviness of the head.

Twelfth day.—35. Heaviness in the head which is at times very violent, especially when raising the head again after stooping. Smarting and prickling in the eyes. No stool for five days past.

Thirteenth day.—Heaviness of the head, worse in the morning than evening. Ordinary stool. 40. Difficult digestion. Sneezing after going up-stairs. Likes to loiter about.

Fourteenth day.—Heaviness of the head. Ordinary stool. 45. He would like to go to bed, but is too lazy, at 10 in the evening. Pains in the thighs, above the knee-pan.

Fifteenth day.—(Lachrymation on waking). Slight heaviness of the head. Greenish yellow coating on the tongue, along the middle. 50. White slime on the teeth. Headache at noon. Lancinations in the region of the heart. Chilliness with chattering of the teeth. Smarting at the eyes, in the evening. 55. Not much appetite. Sneezing. Lips cracked, bleeding and almost raw.

Sixteenth day.—Smarting at the eyelids. Tongue slightly coated white. 60. White mucus on the teeth. Dreams about his daily business. Flatulence and eructations. Agitated pulse. Sneezing at 4 in the afternoon. 65. Smarting and prickling at the eyes.

Seventeenth day.—Colic followed by two stools at 4 in the morning. The right umbilical region is painful to contact.

Eighteenth day.—Colic. Not much appetite. 70. Sneezing at 5 in the evening.

Nineteenth day.—Prickling in the throat, inducing cough. Dry cough.

Twenty-third day.—Heaviness of the head on waking.

Twenty-fourth day.—Headache aggravated by the smell of alcohol and disappearing at 3 in the evening.

Twenty-fifth day.—75. Colic on waking. Frequent emission of flatulence. Pains between the shoulders (at 10 in the evening).

Twenty-sixth day.—He dreams that his hands are cut in pieces. Tickling in the throat causing a cough.

Second prover: Charles Dieudonné Jolly, 24 years old, nervous-sanguine temperament, robust constitution.

First day.—80. Pressure at the root of the nose. Dreams about religious things.

Second day.—Heaviness of the head, in the morning. The head and especially the forehead, feel dull as during a catarrh, all the afternoon. Colic after eating. 85. Sexual dream, followed by a dream about women that are changed to animals.

Third day.—Frequent emission of flatulence, in the morning. Tongue slightly coated white, in the morning. Colic and twisting in the stomach after eating. Salt taste in the throat. 90. Pressure in the forehead and above the orbits.

Fifth day.—Slight yellowish-white coating on the tongue, in the morning. Heat in the face, at half past 4 in the afternoon. Pain as if sprained at the right coxo-femoral articulation, posteriorly. Flow of ideas, at 5. 95. Beating at the middle portion of the triceps brachialis, at 8.

Seventh day.—Wakes very early since the third day. Itching at the ball of the thumb, at 9 in the evening.

Eighth day.—Wakes very early. Thin yellowish coating on the tongue, in the morning. 100. Prickling in the lumbar muscles, at 6 in the afternoon.

Ninth day.—Stitch in the left ring-finger, at 7 in the morning. Stitch and sharp pinching in the right groin, near the inguinal ring; this pain was felt shortly after an ordinary stool, while raising one leg as if one would mount three steps at once, at 11 in the morning. Beating in the left thigh at 4 in the afternoon, while sitting. Drowsy at half past 7, waking very early.

Tenth day.—105. Beating under the right shoulder, at 9 in the evening. Drowsy at 8 o’clock in the evening.

Eleventh day.—Weight in the left testicle, the whole day, also in the evening while sitting.

Twelfth day.—Violent pulsations at the lower part of the vastus internus muscle, in a demi-circle, for an hour and a half, in the morning.

Thirteenth day.—Beating in the lumbar muscles at 4 in the afternoon.

Fourteenth day.—110. Headache. Repeated sneezing, at half past 8 in the evening.

Fifteenth day.—Sense of weariness in the muscles of the right thigh, after walking. Involuntary crowding of heterogenous ideas on one’s mind while listening to a discourse or attending to some work; frequently during the proving.

Sixteenth day.—Tongue coated white, in the morning. 115. Contraction and beating at the left superior eyelid, at 7 in the evening. Slight colic and copious flatulence all night.

Seventeenth day.—Restless sleep. Flatulence in the evening. Hard and scanty stool.

Eighteenth day.—120. He dreams that he will fall from a tower. Violent beating of the heart in raising himself. Pricking in the right side of the tongue, from noon until 3. Roughness in the throat, with thirst, in the evening. Cough and yellowish mucous expectoration, at night.

Nineteenth day.—125. He dreams that he is in danger of falling from the roof of a house. Swelling of the mucous membrane of the internal alveolar margin of the two incisores and the left canine tooth. Violent frontal headache and coryza all day. Pain as if sprained at the right scapulo-humeral articulation, after having rested on the elbow, in the evening, in bed. Restless night.

Twentieth day.—130. Confused dreams. Agitated pulse in the morning. Coryza.

Twenty-first day.—Confused dreams. Frontal headache. 135. Coryza. Agitated pulse. Sweats all over, in the morning, in bed. Strong pulsations at the perineum, loins and right ring-finger, at half past 4. Violent frontal headache at 5 in the afternoon, while walking. 140. Large, hard, fragmentary stool. Urinates all the time during stool.

Twenty-third day.—Strong pulsations in the vertebral region, in the morning while lying. Whizzing in the left ear, at 5 in the evening. Disposed to remember past journeys; flow of ideas about theories, &c.

Twenty-fourth day.—145. Aching pain in the right hypogastric region, towards the ring, after a long walk.

Twenty-fifth day.—Reddish urine, with mucus floating in it.

Third prover: Mme Al. J—, 26 years old, of sanguine temperament, good constitution.

First day.—Tearing in the chest and throat, immediately.

Second day.—Sexual dream. Dull colic in the hypogastric region, at night.

Third day.—150. Dream about witchcraft. Difficult digestion accompanied by twisting in the stomach, after breakfast and dinner. Hard and knotty stool; after stool, renewed urging, with smarting at the anus. Falling of the rectum. Sense of contraction at the sphincter. 155. After stool, the rectum alternately descends and returns again. The falling of the rectum is accompanied by shuddering all over, for ten minutes.

Fifth day.—Palpitation of the heart, at 11 in the evening, while lying.

Sixth day.—Palpitation of the heart, at 7 in the morning. Colic at the stomach, after eating, at 6 in the evening.

Seventh day.—160. Tearing in the throat, at 8 in the morning. Tongue coated white.

Eighth day.—Restless sleep, she dreams that she is eating human flesh. The least thing puts her out of humor. Palpitation of the heart, at noon. 165. Palpitation of the heart, at 11 in the evening, at three different periods.

Ninth day.—Thick tongue, at 2 in the morning.

Eleventh day.—Restless sleep. Cold sweat at night, while lying.

Twelfth day.—Sense of spraining in the ileo-femoral articulation, causing a pain in the womb; while making a trifling exertion. 170. Flatulence; sometimes is unable to expel them. Headache. Contraction of the sphincter ani. Lancinating pain at the forehead, until 9 in the evening. Twisting colic. 175. Stool always hard and difficult. Heat at the anus, after stool. Weeping of the right eye, for some minutes. Frequent urging to stool. Shuddering all over, every moment, at 9 in the evening. 180. Eructations in the evening. Flatulence in the evening. Quarrelsome mood.

Thirteenth day.—No sleep. Heat all over, with sweat. 185. Agitated pulse. She dreams that she is floating in a river and cannot get out. Flushes of heat in the face, now and then, especially while eating. These flushes are followed by chilliness. (Is unable to close her hand). 190. Irregular pulse, at times feeble, at others strong. Frontal headache with dulness, and disposition to incline forwards. Lazy. Weary all over, she has to lie down, at noon. Little appetite. 195. Pressure at the chest. Thirst. Shivering while drinking cold water, or washing her face with it. Headache ceasing for a while and then recommencing again. Lancinations with sensation as if the brain would fly to pieces, in going up-stairs. 200. Vivid redness on the right malar eminence. Small red pimples on the cheeks. Shuddering now and then. Congestion of the sclerotica. Red face at three in the evening. 205. Flush of heat all over, at half past 3. Sensation, while stooping as if the brain would bound in the skull. Heat at the vertex, which spreads all over, at 4. Sensation in the left hypochondrium as if a spring were rolled out. Sense of fainting, she has to stand still. 210. Acute pain in the right pectoralis major when drawing breath. Borborygmi. Twisting of the bowels, at half past 10. Colic and shuddering. Dry cough in the evening. 215. Headache decreases in the evening. Flatulence. Red and hot face. The skin of the face peels slightly.

Fourteenth day.—Heat at night, disturbing the sleep. 220. Sense of weariness in the limbs, on waking. Dulness of the forehead. Tongue coated white. In the morning, taste of raw potatoes. Menstrual blood rose-colored, at 9 in the morning. 225. Borborygmi, in the morning. At the least movement she feels as if a hollow body were turning rapidly round in the chest, with a rattling noise; she then fancies she will faint, at 8 in the morning. Frontal headache all day. Smarting and painful sensation at the fifth dorsal vertebra, when the clothes rub against the part. Little appetite. 230. Stiffness of the posterior cervical muscles. Dark redness and warmth of the cheeks. Heat all over in cold and damp weather. The menstrual flow is interrupted. Repeated sneezing, followed by a slight cough, every evening at 5, from the tenth day. 235. Smell of blood, as if nosebleed would take place, at 7 in the morning.

Fifteenth day.—Restless sleep. Last evening’s dinner does not sit well on her stomach, with acidity at night. Doughy mouth, in the morning. Weariness all over, when rising. 240. Drawing pain in the right lower limb, posteriorly, from the gluteus maximus to the heel. The menstrual flow is interrupted. When bending the knee, pulling pain in the posterior and internal muscles of the thigh. Hypochondria. Sadness. 245. Every thing is disagreeable to her, she would like to go far away. Small pimples on the lower part of the neck and on the right knee, they are very red at the base, with a white point in the centre; they disappear in an hour. Sense of weight in the nape of the neck, at half past 11. The head feels heavy, she can scarcely keep it erect. Pain as from weariness in the back and the posterior muscles of the thighs and arms. 250. Dulness of the head. Pain as if bruised, hindering her movements in bed. Very hot hands. Slight nosebleed, at 11 in the morning. She walks with difficulty, she fears, she will lose her muscular powers. 255. The pain is worse in the day-time and less in the evening. The menstrual flow is interrupted. The epidermis of the face peels off. Numerous small pimples on the face. Desire to stretch.

Sixteenth day.—260. No sleep; disturbed sleep. Oppression, owing to the dinner of last evening not sitting well on her stomach, she has to rise at 3 in the morning. Eructations followed by rumbling in the stomach, ceasing after drinking a glass of water with sugar. Tongue coated white, with a yellow line along the middle. (She would like to break every thing, on account of not being able to understand a certain phrase). 265. Doughy mouth, in the night. Alternate heat and shuddering, in the night. (Has the taste of potatoes in the mouth, all night, from last evening’s dinner). Beating in the left temple. Stiffness in the posterior cervical muscles. 270. The sacrum is painful when touched or during a walk. After eating, choking and difficulty of breathing, caused by dryness of the mouth. Very fine pimples and intolerable itching at the labia majora.

Seventeenth day.—Restless sleep. Is roused at 4 in the morning by a stomach-ache with eructations, for an hour. 275. Headache during a half-slumber. Heaviness at the vertex in the evening. Shuddering and burning, in the evening, in bed. Palpitation of the heart, while lying down. Ringing in the ears as if she would faint. 280. Acute stitch-like pain in the left side, preventing her from turning about in bed. The hair in the axilla sticks together.

Eighteenth day.—Heaviness at the vertex. Disturbed sleep. Pain at the stomach and redness of the face after breakfast.

Nineteenth day.—285. Feels well all over. Prickings at the right internal surface of the sternum.

Twentieth day.—Sore throat; she is unable to swallow her saliva, in the evening. Distressing pain in the lumbar region, she cannot keep herself erect.

Twenty-first day.—She feels as if a piece of flesh had grown out in her throat. 290. Lancinating pain in the left iliac region, less in the right. Good appetite. Is unable to walk erect. Complains a good deal about her pain in the loins.

Twenty-second day.—She is waked by a violent shrill cough which last five hours. 295. The pains in the loins are worse when stooping. Acute pain as if the sacrum were out of place. The pain in the loins causes her to cry out; she walks bent forward, at 11. The least movement causes her an acute pain in the sacro-lumbar articulation. Pain in the posterior part of the right thigh as if a penknife were thrust in. 300. Pain in the left gluteus muscle, accompanied by nausea. Sensation as if something would become detached from the sacrum. She can neither remain standing nor sitting. Pressure as from an iron bar at the sacro-lumbar articulation, obliging her to lie down when she feels better. Formication at the sacrum. 305. Cough as from obstruction of the pharynx.

Twenty-third day.—Restless sleep. Acute lancinating pain above the right breast, for two hours, in the morning. Pain as if sprained all along the vertebral column, and extending down the posterior muscles of the lower limbs to the heels. The face is dark red. 310. She walks inclined forwards. Heaviness in the stomach, her dinner does not sit well on her stomach, at 9 in the evening. Walking is hindered by the pain in the lumbar vertebræ. Desire for coffee.

Twenty-fourth day.—Her dinner hurts her all night. 315. Palpitation of the heart, in the night, three different times. Colic with loud emission of flatulence. Incoherent dreams. The pain in the loins is less. Twisting pain through the uterus, at nine in the evening.

Twenty-fifth day.—320. Itching wakes her at four in the morning. Dreams about a witch, actors changing to yellow and black. Sense of spraining in the right groin. Slight nosebleed, at six in the evening. Thick urine, with appearance of white mucus some time after standing.

Twenty-sixth day.—325. Dreams about fire, then a comedy. The urine continues to show white flocks after standing.

Twenty-seventh-day.—Slight nosebleed after supper. Violent itching at the labia majora, at two.

Twenty-ninth day.—Hard, difficult and large stool.

Thirtieth day.—330. Dreams about a revolution, about a city being destroyed by fire and the sword. Sour eructations exciting her cough. Smarting and itching at the vulva, at two in the afternoon.

Thirty-second day.—Canine hunger at dinner. Acidity, bitterness and regurgitations after dinner, 335. Hard and large stool. Difficult, fragmentary stool. Painful stool, making the tears rush to her eyes; the sclerotica becomes red in consequence of the efforts she is obliged to make. Soapy pale-yellow urine. Colic along the large gut, at nine in the evening.

Thirty-third day.—340. Pulling at the stomach, at two in the morning. Mouth dry. Large, dry, hard, difficult stool. Stool breaking off after one half is expelled. Pain and smarting at the rectum, caused by the violent efforts required to expel the stool. 345. Not disposed to work, at eight in the evening. Irresistible drowsiness. Turbid urine, of a dingy-yellow, and covered with an oily pellicle. Dreams about persecutions. Stitches during sleep as though needles were stuck in the spinal marrow; this wakes her. 350. Starting during sleep. Dry mouth with tearing sensation in the chest, at two in the morning. She rises in the night, imagining that thieves are hidden behind the curtains, but she dares not look behind and begs somebody else to do it.

Thirty-fourth day.—Restless sleep. Anxiety on waking. 355. Cracked tongue, in the morning. Violent palpitations and pulsations with sensation as though the heart were turning about very briskly. The flatulence presses on the uterus. Hard, dry, large stool, expelled with difficulty, and causing the tears to rush to her eyes. Regurgitations and eructations at three. 360. Noisy flatulence, at nine in the evening.

Thirty-fifth day.—Light sleep. Hoarseness on waking. White-coated tongue. Desire for liquor and oranges.

Thirty-sixth day.—365. Dry cough day and night.

Thirty-seventh day.—Dry cough on waking. Burning in the hand and all over. Hard and tense pulse. Tongue white in the middle and red at the tip. 370. Pain at the vertex. Sensation as of water splashing in the head. The posterior cervical muscles are stiff. Scarlet-redness of the cheeks. Headache aggravated by work. 375. In bed the sweat smells like potatoes. Tongue very red. Burning hands, with somewhat uneasy pulse.

Thirty-eighth day.—The breasts have been painful during the whole time of the proving, the pain is worse when moving the arms, it then seems to become seated at the external border of the pectoralis major. Feels chilly all over, cannot get warm, at half past five in the evening. 380. Scarlet-redness of the cheeks. After dinner, her clothes feel too tight. Dry cough for six minutes, at half past ten in the evening. Her thoughts dwell upon her future, which she imagines will be wretched.

Fortieth day.—Dry cough, in the evening. 385. Dull colic in the lower abdomen.

Forty-first day.—Premature menses. Discharge of black coagulated blood. For five days the menstrual blood has a very fetid smell, similar to the smell of spoiled fish. Turbid urine of a dingy yellow, depositing a copious whitish sediment.

Forty-second day.—390. Burning thirst, as though her mouth were salt. Twitching of the right lower limb. Sensitiveness of the hairy scalp and of the roots of the hairs. Tearing at the vertex; she cannot bear the least covering on her head.

Forty-third day.—Hoarseness on rising which disappears immediately. The same hoarseness in the evening, not long.

Forty-fourth day.—395. Tearing sensation in the throat, with accumulation of phlegm which it is difficult to get loose. Expectoration consisting of yellowish lumps. The phlegm seems to cover the whole anterior portion of the throat. The pain in the throat disappears after talking and stirring about. Sensitiveness of the hairy scalp, every day; she feels a pulling in it which does not allow her to bear the comb. 400. In the morning, raising of black coagulated blood. In the morning she blows bloody mucus from the nose. Nosebleed every morning, from forty-second to forty-fourth day. She dreams of battles, dead bodies and an immense pool of blood.

Forty-fifth day.—She dreams about green men, covered with moss and living in the water; these men were changed to dogs.

Forty-sixth day.—405. At dinner, the dishes taste to her bitter as gall.

Forty-seventh day.—Sensation as of some obstacle in her throat which she is unable to expel, followed by the expectoration of a small, hard, yellowish-gray lump. The urine deposits less, though still turbid. When attempting to sing, violent palpitations of the heart prevent her from articulating the sound; her breathing is stopped, she feels as though she would faint. (Her face is scarlet-red.)

Fiftieth day.—410. Strong palpitations of the heart, with oppression, and disposition to faint. She is on the point of fainting, a glass of water brings her to.

Fifty-first day.—Palpitation of the heart.

Fifty-second day.—Heat on the malar eminences and forehead, when going out to the open air. Palpitations of the heart, after supper. 415. The palpitation was irregular, stopped for a moment, and then reappeared with redoubled vigor. These palpitations are accompanied by oppressions, less when lying down. Alternate subcutaneous pulsations or beatings above the knee-pan, in the two legs. She does not wish to hear anything in explanation and is out of humor. Red face, and congestion of blood to the sclerotica.

Fifty-third day.—420. Palpitation of the heart the whole day. It is caused by the act of swallowing. The palpitation is instantaneous and corresponds to the superior portions of the thorax. (Her lower limbs tremble on account of the hunger.)