Review, July 1, 1897.

home. The knee jerks, you see, are both present and, as he sits here, if I tell him to close his legs and with his out-stretched arm quickly to touch his nose you see the wavy unsteady movement in the arms. Also you will observe that his head is not kept steady but is frequently jerking. Notice also that the pupils are semi-dilated and react to both light and accommodation. You see he is in no pain and takes his troubles lightly.

Now as regards the treatment. We gave him gels. 1x when he first came in and this he has continued to take; in addition, as he is somewhat excitable at times, he has had bell. 3x and he has certainly improved.

The prognosis is not hopeful as regards recovery, but the disease does not seem to shorten life greatly. I can find no other case in homoeopathic literature, but since this boy has already improved let us hope the outlook for him will be more favourable.

PHOSPHORUS CASES.

By ANDREW M. NEATBY, L.R.C.P., etc.
1. Dyspepsia.

MRS. P., aged between 55 and 60, a widow. 14th
March, 1896. This patient complains of very severe
vertigo on rising in the morning. She has pain over
the front of the chest immediately on taking food.
There is at times tenderness over the stomach. No
swelling has been noticed, but she is very intolerant of
pressure round the waist, and there is a sense of reple-
tion after even a small quantity of food. She is subject
to constipation and piles. Defæcation causes smarting,
and is followed by exhaustion. There is considerable
nausea. She has a decided taste for animal food. She
has taken hot water to relieve the symptoms, and thinks
it has had some effect. There is nothing conspicuous
about the tongue, but there is a sour taste in the mouth
on waking. She is very far from robust, and complains
of faintness, exhaustion and coldness of the extremities.
She is drowsy by day. She is not much troubled with
headache now, but has been so formerly. She com-
plains of palpitation. Phosph. 6 pil. iii. n. and m.
17th March. There is less vertigo. The pain after
food is less frequent. There is less tenderness of the

stomach and less faintness and exhaustion, and less drowsiness. Very little fulness after food. Continue.

21st March. The improvement continues steadily. There is now less distress after defæcation, though the bowels are not yet acting freely. The nausea and the palpitation have disappeared. The patient complains of some pain between the shoulders. Continue.

24th March. Great improvement. The bowels are acting better and the distress after defæcation is much less. Continue,

28th March. There is still a steady improvement in the dyspeptic symptoms. Sulph. 12 pil. iii n. and m.

In about ten days from the last date the patient was quite free from dyspeptic symptoms, and now (27th May, 1897) has continued free from them ever since, with the exception (if such it can be called) of a threatening of relapse a few months ago. Phosphorus was promptly administered, with a perfectly satisfactory result.

2. Præcordial pain and dyspnoea.

Miss R., aged 12. 11th May, 1896. The patient has been suffering from præcordial pain for three weeks. Some time ago she used to be subject to such attacks. There is aggravation on making exertion, but no immunity during rest. There is aggravation on deep inspiration. She has been troubled with dyspnoea for four years. The appetite is good, the bowels regular, there are no dyspeptic symptoms, and she sleeps well. She is subject to a throbbing headache over the left eye, which is worse. on going to school. There is some palpitation after taking hot tea. She has suffered from prolonged weakness. Has never had rheumatic fever. There is no morbus cordis. Phosph. 3 n. and m.

14th May. Much less pain and dyspnoea. No headache since beginning the medicine. Feels a little stronger. Continue.

21st May. Improvement continues. Feels stronger. No dyspnoea. Continue once a day.

25th May. Quite well.

3. Threatened phthisis.

Miss C., aged about 12. 22nd May, 1896. This patient has had a cough for about three months. Coughing is provoked by some irritation under the Vol. 41, No. 7.

2 E

There is no expec

For

upper part of the sternum. toration. Pain is felt in the right side of the chest on coughing or on taking a deep inspiration. two or three months she has been losing flesh and strength, and her friends have noticed that she has been feverish at night. There is some pallor noticeable now, but the patient has been observed to be flushed late in the evening when asleep. There has been no night sweating. Patient has been growing rapidly, and catches cold easily. One of her sisters died of phthisis. The appetite is poor, the bowels slightly confined, and there is some headache on the vertex which is aggravated by the cough. There is some falling in of the chest wall under the right clavicle, otherwise physical examination is negative. Phosph. 6 pil. iii n. and m.

27th May. The pain has disappeared. The cough, the irritation provoking the cough, and the headache are better. Continue.

3rd June. No pain. Cough better. The face is filling out and the patient is stronger. Continue.

18th June. Has been away for a week. Before leaving the cough had nearly disappeared, and during absence she has not coughed at all. The patient feels stronger, and her friends have noticed a very marked improvement in general health. Phosph. 6 pil. iii once a day.

27th May, 1897. No return of symptoms.

4. Nervous exhaustion.

P. N., a lad of about 14. 29th May, 1896. Patient fainted in chapel on Sunday, owing to pain in the spinal column about the level of the waist. He only feels this pain on Sunday, and it is especially severe when standing in chapel. He has had it from four to six weeks. Appetite good. Sleeps all night, but his sleep is not thoroughly refreshing. The bowels act regularly. He complains of headache, generally situated in the forehead, as if a great weight were pressing it. He studies hard, and is growing fast-2 inches in five months. Sulph. 6 gr. i. n. and m.

5th June. Patient better. Feels little inclination to faint. No cephalalgia since last visit. Still troubled with pain in the back. Phosph. 3 n. and m.

12th June. Quite free from pain in the back and faintness. Continue.

27th July. I was again consulted, as the patient seemed to be going back. There has been no fainting, but he often feels faint, as if he were going to lose consciousness. There is a sense of weariness and loss of energy and cheerfulness. He gets tired very easily. Though not timid, he shows some aversion to solitude. There is pain in the lower part of the back as if the spine were broken. This pain is worse on moving. He also complains of a weary aching in the back and sometimes in the knees. He feels as if the popliteal tendons were drawing the leg up. There is a marked deterioration of memory. There is an occasional sensation as if something burst in his head, followed by a taste of blood in the mouth. He is always worse on Sundays. There is dull aching over the vertex, aggravated by movement and disappearing altogether when lying down. He sleeps all night, but is unrefreshed. He does not dream much. He is listless and irritable without any cause that his friends can discover. Phosph. 30 pil. iii n. and m. It was ascertained that the boy practised masturbation, which, it is believed, he discontinued.

3rd August, 1896. Decidedly better. Repeat.

17th August.- Scarcely any backache or other symptoms now. Repeat. The improvement seemed too prompt to be due simply to the discontinuance of the habit.

My attendance ceased here, but on attending another member of the family some time later I learned that he was keeping quite well.

5. Marasmus.

J. F., girl aged 15 months. 9th July, 1896. Has been wasting for about a month. Previously she had never had a day's illness. Has been noticed to pick her nose very much. The respiration is laboured and sixty per minute. She has had measles, from which which she is said to have made a good recovery. There is now a good deal of bronchitis. The cough is loose. The bowels act irregularly and the motions are offensive, the smell being described as earthy. The appetite is poor. The child sleeps fairly

well.

She seems very exhausted after the cough. Phos. 4x ter.

16th July. Yesterday the child began walking again after four or five weeks' interval. There is less picking of the nose. The appetite is improved. The bowels are acting regularly. The cough is less frequent and less exhausting. Continue.

20th July. Does not cough more than once or twice a day, and then not very violently. Does not seem exhausted after the cough as she did. The motions are getting more healthy in colour. Continue.

The

27th July. Coughs very seldom indeed. exhausting character of the cough is entirely gone. The motions are less offensive. Phos. 4x n. and m.

6th August.

regular. Sutton.

The cough is gone and the bowels are

"POLY-HYDRAMNIOS."

By T. E. PURDOM, M.D.

A BRIEF note on the above condition may be interesting, as it certainly is not very common, judging from my own practice.

Mrs. W., æt. about 30, had a normal first pregnancy which ended in July, 1896. The second pregnancy commenced three or four months after the birth of the first child, and while still nursing. The catamenia had returned as usual.

On the 13th May I was sent for, and found Mrs. W. in the following condition: Pregnancy advanced just over six months. The patient had an anxious, distressed look, and the reason was not far to seek. The abdomen was distended to its utmost capacity, specially on the right side, where the superficial veins were seen much distended. Respiration was difficult, and there was considerable pain in the chest.

The right leg was very much swollen in its whole length; the left slightly so.

The appearance suggested a rapidly growing ovarian cyst, complicating pregnancy, or a possible ascites. There was no albumen in the urine.