Introduction
Plumbum metallicum, aceticum, carbonicum. Preparation: Triturations.
Mind
Delirium, etc. Most violent delirium, with screaming and running about the room, succeeded the epileptiform spasm. Delirium, resembling the most frightful kind of madness, and impelling them to tear themselves and bite their own fingers. Furious delirium, resembling tremens. Raging, alternating with quiet, delirium; the former came in paroxysms; no fever. Delirium, with violent raging, so that he had to be put into a strait-jacket, with hallucinations of vision. Raging delirium. Furious delirium.
Violent delirium, at night. Violent delirium set in and continued for some days. As the delirium declined, the mind did not recover its clearness and integrity, on the contrary, his sensations and perceptions were vitiated and erroneous. Various morbid ideas took possession of him, and some of the, remained, and continued to manifest themselves for many months after his apparent restoration to health. The delirium tranquil during the day, furious at night.
Complete rage. Delirium, with bewildered expression. Delirium, with very violent convulsions. During the third day of delirium, he was awake, sometimes quiet, sometimes violent, but almost totally irrational. Pulse, 80; skin rather hot. Delirium, for three days (in a previous attack). Delirium, with trembling of the tongue and hands. At times delirious.
Nightly delirium, alternating with sopor. He was at times delirious, very restless, and manifested great concern for his affairs. Delirium, alternating with sopor. Tranquil delirium.
Appeared to be rapidly recovering, when he was suddenly seized, about 11 A.M., with furious delirium, attended at intervals, by general spasms. It was astonishing to see him, who, three hours before, could only pronounce with difficulty a limited number of words, whose voice was weak, and whose utterance was faint and drawling, now talking incessantly, and pouring forth shouts, screams, and abuse against all who approached him. His voice was loud and clear. His delirium turned chiefly upon the idea that his life was in danger from assassination or poisoning, and that every one about him was a murderer. His muscular strength was increased to such a degree, that, with one hand, he could lift all his mattresses at once with the greatest ease. He left his bed, and walked about briskly, knocking against every obstacle at random. His face was flushed; his eyes sparkling and fierce. At last a strait- waistcoat was put on him, which heightened his fury. Pulse, 65; heat of body rather increased. The delirium lasted about half an hour, when it was succeeded by coma, during which he lay stretched out and motionless, with closed eyes and somewhat pale face. Strong stimulation could only draw forth a few unmeaning grunts. An hour later, the delirium suddenly returned, to be followed again by coma, and thus, all that day and night, the opposing conditions alternated. Sudden attack of delirium, in the evening, accompanied by extreme restlessness; he railed, threatened, and then fell into a deep sleep. This alternation of delirium and somnolency continued until morning; next day, face flushed and covered with sweat.
Eyes fixed and expressionless; bloodshot; lids swollen; pupils. especially the right one, extremely dilated. but moderately sensitive to light. Expression of face decidedly dull.
Frequent movements, more or less forcible, of the head, limbs, and whole body; so that he had to be put into a strait- waistcoat. Did not close his eyes for a minute all night; sometimes was silent and quiet, sometimes hurried out of bed, wanted to dress himself. and went about looking for his clothes; talked incoherently; abused the nurses and patients. In the morning, to prevent him from disturbing the ward, he was put into a strait-waistcoat. He resisted violently; struggled, called for help, screamed, bawled, and even bit an assistant who had hold of him. After this, he became quiet and silent, and his limbs ceased trembling. When I entered the room, he called to me, and begged to be released. He had an astonished look; something unusual seemed to have altered his expression of face.
During the paroxysms of colic, he tosses and rolls about in bed, weeps and laments; his pinched-up face denotes the sharpest pain; he is so distracted by the agony he endures, that he can pay no attention to what passes around him, nor when asked a question. During the paroxysms, the face expresses acute pain; he is restless, rolling about in bed, screams out, etc. During the paroxysms, he lay flat on his belly, dug his fingers into his navel, tied himself tightly in the cravat, uttered dismal screams, declared that he had to go to stool; sometimes got up and walked the room hurriedly, his hands pressed to his abdomen; we have seen the poor fellow leaning on his belly against the iron railing of his bed. During the paroxysms, a condition approaching to frenzy; constant restlessness; lying on abdomen; he knelt down and crouched together in his bed, etc. During the paroxysms, which occurred almost every ten minutes, the patient, suffering the greatest anxiety, his face all distorted, rolled about in bed uttering dismal groans; he laid his pillow over his abdomen and begged the bystanders to press upon it with all their force; this afforded temporary relief. He bit the sheets, his limbs writhed; at times he might have been taken for a furious madman. During the paroxysms, screaming, tossing about, and assuming the strangest attitudes. During the paroxysms, the face is contracted; he screams aloud, sticks his legs suddenly out of bed, etc. Between the paroxysms, mind often much affected. Would leave home without knowing where he was going; became enraged with persons he met; and generally remembered nothing of what had occurred. When brought home, he would shut himself up until he got right again. One day, he left home to enter the Hospital Beaujon; got lost, and was quite surprised to find himself at La Pitie. Although naturally patient of suffering, he was importunate, nay clamorous for relief, expressing himself in terms of agony, far stronger than his general appearance and symptoms seemed to warrant. When admitted he refused to go to bed, tore his shirt off, and spoke disconnectedly. With loud cries, he insists upon going to stool. Bites his garments and bedclothes. Begged and prayed to be released from the strait-waistcoat, “for,” he said, “I am not mad; but the idea of being forcibly restrained is enough to drive me crazy. At times, the pains became so violent that he weeps and laments; and his whole frame is agitated. Difficulty in putting him to bed; he tore off the clothes, and spoke incoherently. Started out of bed as if beside himself, compressing his abdomen with his hands. Hung on to the bed post, and kept swaying himself with a convulsive movement. He keeps thrusting his limbs out of bed, and then covering them up again. Frightful screams, with general convulsions. Screaming out, at intervals. Uttered piercing cries. Screaming. Screaming incessantly. Utters doleful groans, and screams loudly for relief. During the aggravations, he screams draws himself together under the bedclothes, suddenly gets out of bed, then gets in again, and doubles himself up, etc. During the intervals of quietude, which were very brief, he kept up a sort of continual grumbling, closed his eyes, and shrunk down under the bedclothes. In the night, began to talk to himself quite incoherently, about all sorts of things; then left his bed, and wanted to lie down in another bed in the room. The nurse easily got him back to his own quarters; his gait was firm, and he had no tremor; his eyes were wide open, somewhat projecting and fixed. His face had an expression of astonishment. During the rest of the night, he talked much to himself; his delirium was mild and quiet. Next day, his expression was natural, and he had the use of all his faculties, but he seemed to take little interest in conversation, and his manner was remarkably listless. About 5 P.M., he began fairly to rave; would keep chattering for several minutes, and then be silent for a while.
His face had a wild expression, which struck the house surgeon on duty. Pulse, 85; no fever. Worse at night; took part in all the conversation he heard, or fancied he heard. On the fifth day of the delirium, in the afternoon, he had a sudden attack of epilepsy, characterized by violent convulsive movements of the whole body, bloody froth at the mouth, biting the tongue, interrupted breathing, etc. After an attack, which lasts about half an hour, he becomes slightly comatose, but soon rouses, and enters again into delirium. On the sixth day of the delirium, the general aspect of the countenance was more unnatural than before. There was less of that harmony of expression which is indicative of a well-balanced mind.
Sometimes the eyes were fixed and the features concentrated; sometimes the former seemed to roll about, under the influence of serious thought, and the whole face to partake of this meditative look. He would still sometimes burst into laughter at the most unexpected moments. The limbs trembled, or rather, were shaken by slight spasms, which also ran over the face in different directions, coming and going at irregular intervals. The tongue was considerably swollen, from having been bitten during the epileptic seizures of the preceding day; utterance also was impeded, being stammering, hurried, and abrupt; an effect to which the slight spasms above spoken of also contributed. He was sometimes conscious of his condition, and said that he was insane. His talk became irrational more frequently, and continued so longer than on the day before. Yet even now, his intellectual aberration could only be discovered by very attentive observation. On the seventh day of the delirium, he talked much to himself, and tried to get into the neighboring beds; he wandered more in his speech; wanted to strike the nurse. without provocation; when threatened with the strait-waistcoat. he quieted down somewhat. He often talked to himself at night; what he said was incongruous, disconnected, and about all sorts of things. He got up three or four times, and tried to fold his bedstead together, under the impression that he was working some sort of machine; then he laid down again. Twice he rose from bed, walked about with bare feet, and urinated in the middle of the floor; next minute, he fancied one of the patients called to him, ran headlong to help him, and got into another bed at the opposite side of the room.
Born in 1837in Westminster, Vermont. . He was an orthodox doctor who converted to homeopathy
Dr. Allen compiled the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica over the course of 10 years.
In 1881 Allen published A Critical Revision of the Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica.