On chronic alcoholic intoxication, or Alcoholic stimulants in connexion with the nervous system; with a synoptical table of cases

Front matter

! -Mi j ' I

1 ^»-

■ - 8* * i gp*f

Introduction

The therapeutical properties of zinc having become during the last few years a subject of much medical interest, I was induced to commence in 1855 a series of comparative inquiries respecting the action of oxide of zinc in epilepsy, chorea, mild hysteria, paralysis and lead palsy, cases of exhaustion from excessive mental exertions, and in another peculiar chronic disorder of the nervous system which is the subject of the present treatise. It soon became obvious that in certain of the above diseases the treatment adopted effected a complete recovery, or was attended by a very marked improvement, that in others it was followed bv no material benefit, and even in a few instances of hysteria was open to objection. I observed that this substance was most remarkably beneficial when given to patients suffering; from a chronic disorder of the nervous

VI INTRODUCTION.

system, characterised by sleeplessness, giddiness, headache, flying specks passing before the eyes (muscae volitantes), noises in the ears (tinnitus aurium), hallucinations, trembling, and want of co-ordination of the voluntary motions; the disease being frequently accompanied by a morbid condition of the organs of digestion. It then appeared to me probable, and I soon afterwards discovered, that these symptoms were owing to one and the same cause, viz., the excessive use of alcoholic stimulants.

I now commenced a series of investigations as to the property of oxide of zinc in controlling and curing the disorder in question, taking notes of the symptoms and other particulars of the cases of this affection admitted under my care at the Westminster Hospital. In January, of the present year, I communicated to the London Western Medical Society a paper, showing that oxide of zinc was exceedingly eificacious in the treatment of chronic alcoholic intoxication ; and abstracts of this paper were published shortly afterwards

INTRODUCTION. Vll

in the ' Medical Times and Gazette/ 1 and in the ' Lancet.' 2

Subsequent observations having fully confirmed the correctness of the above-mentioned results, I have thought it might be useful to publish in its present form an account of the chronic functional disturbance of the nervous system brought on by the abuse of spirituous stimulants, and of the treatment adopted in these cases.

I was engaged in the preparation of this treatise for the press, when the valuable publication on chronic alcoholism, by Magnus Huss of Stockholm, came under my notice. In this work the author has fully and accurately described the disease now under consideration. It may be observed, however, that his attention has been more particularly directed to the symptoms and pathology of the disorder, while in the present volume comparatively great stress has been laid on the predisposing and immediate causes of the illness, and especially

1 12th February, 1859.

Vlll INTRODUCTION.

on its mode of treatment. In order to be assured of the correctness of my statements, I have confined myself almost exclusively to the results of my own experience, avoiding as much as possible filling up omissions by borrowing from the writings of others. The following, therefore, is a mere sketch of a vast and important subject ; but, however incomplete it may be, it will, I trust, be found not altogether devoid of interest and usefulness.

The reader will not meet in the present work with any account of the physiological properties of alcohol, and is referred for information on this subject to Dr. Carpenter's treatise on the use and abuse of alcoholic liquors. 1

1 See also a paper communicated by the author in 1859 to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, on ' An Experimental Inquiry into the action of Alcohol on the Nervous System.'