3 d. Jan. 10th. Better; head much relieved by the leeches; passed a restless night, her sleep, she says, being disturbed by “miserable phantoms;” bowels have been relieved two or three times, and urine has been excreted copiously; skin moist; pulse 100; slight thirst; pupils still unaffected by light; complains of the trembling of her muscles, but has lost the sensation of her head and throat being enlarged.
3 e. Jan. 11th. Improved in every respect; pupils not so widely dilated, are now slightly affected by light. From the above date gradual amendment took place, and the power of vision slowly returned. It was, however, some days before she was able to walk, even with the assistance of a person on each side of her. This inability to walk did not arise from weakness, but she appeared to have lost all power of controlling the action of the legs. (EDWARD, Lancet, 1851, i, 568.)
4. A mother, with her four children and a maid-servant, ate one e. of the ripe berries of B.; the mother and maid had each eaten about six bunches. In the course of a few hours the symptoms of poisoning manifested themselves in all of them; these were nausea, double vision, sense of constriction of the throat, giddiness, and sleepiness. On the following d., 15 h. after the poison had been taken, Dr. T. saw the patients. The operation of the poison displayed itself in four degrees.
4 a. The first and slightest was in the maid-servant, who produced vomiting in herself by drinking warm water and tickling her throat. She complained only of headache and weariness. The pupils were enlarged, the face red, and the pulse somewhat quickened.
4 b. The second degree was observed in two of the girls, one of whom was 4, the other 8 years old. It displayed itself in a tottering gait, incoherent talk, protruding of eyes, dilated pupils staring look, very quick pulse, and increased temperature of the skin.
4 c. The third degree was exhibited by the mother. She fell into a delirious state in the morning, attempted to bite and strike her attendant, broke into fits of laughter, and gnashed her teeth. The head was hot, the face red, the look wild and fierce, the tongue dry, the abdomen swollen, the pulse small and frequent.
4 d. The fourth degree showed itself in the two boys, the one of whom was 2 1/2, the other 6 years old. They lay in a soporose condition, with violent convulsions of the extremities; the head was very hot, the face red, the eyes protruding. They were also affected with a croupy cough.
The cases were all treated with emetics, purgatives, and stimulants; and the patients recovered in the course of twenty four hours (TESCHENMACHER, Casper’s Wochenschrift, 1843, p. 515.)
5. A child of 4, of feeble constitution, but otherwise well, ate, at 11 a.m., a quantity of the berries of B. The following symptoms set in:-want of appetite, nausea, vomiting, symptoms of intoxication and slight delirium, inextinguishable thirst; 6 hours afterwards, tumefaction and redness of face and lips, raising of eyelids, dilatation of pupils, insensibility of eyes to light, convulsive closing of jaws and contraction of muscles of face and extremities, very feeble pulse and irregular respiration. Next d. increase of convulsive movements with redness of the face and profuse perspiration; pupils remained dilated; there was also rigidity down spine, tumefaction of abdomen, which was very tender to touch, constipation, and weak pulse. On 3rd d., in m., child was better, but at noon delirium returned with swelling of the abdomen and aphthae in mouth; in evening there was fever with agitation; he complained of great pain in his teeth. From the next d. all symptoms speedily disappeared. (ORFILA, Toxicologie, 4th ed., ii, 392.)
6. A little girl of 3, enjoying excellent health, spending the afternoon at another house, returned home in the evening refusing all food, anxiously seeking drink, perpetually trying to sleep without success. In the middle of the (sleepless) n., she vomited some of the food which she had taken during the day. Being then attacked by excessive convulsions, simulating true epilepsy, she began to rave. Being called to this unfortunate child in the early m. I found her in the following astonishing condition:-her respiration was violent, short, hurried and anxious; the pulse was very quick and feeble, scarcely to be felt; a burning thirst, with great heat in all parts, tormented the patient, who now craved for drink and now repelled it when offered. At this time she neither vomited, nor did the bowels act. The moist hair stood on end; the countenance was red and swollen (the rest of the surface being pale) the eyes were sparkling, rolling about, and projecting. Her agitated little frame perspired, yet not so as to be profusely sweating. There was frequent and copious emission of thin, pale, watery urine. She was talkative, and laughed loudly; but the mind was disordered, so that speech did not correspond to thought, nor thought to sense, nor sense to the objects present. Her tender little frame was racked with horrible spasms and frequent convulsions, the flexor muscles being chiefly involved. In the intervals between the spasms she uttered cries audible far and wide, evidencing the pain she felt. [It was found that she had eaten freely of the berries.] (GRIMM., Nov. Actea Acad. Nat. Cur., vol. ii.)
7. On July 1st, 1798, at 4 p.m., I was desired by the master-dyer, Baptiste Schwerber, of Allensbach, to visit his little daughter of 6 years old, who was seized with spasms. Ere I could reach the house, a barber-surgeon, who lived near, gave her a dose of Hoffmann’s anodyne, after which the patient grew worse till 8 o’clock, at which time I saw her. I found this naturally healthy girl tossing about in her bed in a perfect rage, with blood-red countenance, and full pulse, and altogether without reason. The whole body was swollen and red; she spoke constantly and rapidly, talking nonsense; tried to tear her night-dress and her clothes; in short, she resembled one mad to the utmost degree. I immediately suspected a poisoning; but the narrative of the parents gave me little enlightenment thereupon. They said that up to noon the little maiden had been quite lively, and bounding about, but at dinner-time she was already strange, and did foolish things; in the afternoon she tore her bonnet, pulled stones out of the ground and threw them at the passers-by, sprang into the water, and so at last reached the frightful height of frenzy above described. The widely-dilated pupils, however, satisfied me that I had to deal with a case of poisoning by B. [The rest of the narrative tells how the suspicion was confirmed, and the poison antidoted.] (SAUTER, Hufeland’s Journal, vol. xi.)
8 a. J. G-, et. 75, of spare habit, took by mistake, at 6 p.m., 5 or 6 grs. of extract given him for external application. In a short time effect became manifest, and by 7 he had lost power of articulation, and presented general appearance of a person seized with slight paralysis. He was quite unable to stand or walk, and his limbs were in a state of tremor and agitation. He became cold, and nearly approaching a state of insensibility; the eyes had a wild, vacant appearance; the respiration was laborious and occasionally stertorous, and he moved the body incessantly backward and forward, as if his inward suffering (not otherwise expressed) was very great. At 10 temperature of the body had increased, face swollen, mouth and throat extremely dry, and insensibility more complete. Castor-oil had been given, but was rejected. One of the attendants stated the nausea prevailed at various times. No active delirium was manifested, but from the general appearance of the eye and features, no doubt that peculiar derangement existed, subdued partially by the pressure on the cerebral, organ, so as more nearly to approach the character of apoplexy.
8 b. At 6 the following m. he appeared considerably exhausted, but had still sufficient power to take some wine and water, and for the first time indistinctly uttered a few words. His mouth and fauces at this time (to use the words of an attendant) were as dry as a chip. His face was so much swollen and red as quite to change his natural appearance. His daughter remarked that the wrinkles of old age had disappeared and he appeared much fatter than usual. Between 9 and 10 he appeared quite exhausted, and died at 11, being 17 hours after swallowing extract.
8 c. The P. M. examination showed great congestion of brain, particularly at base, and of medulla oblongata, together with considerable serous effusion. There was also congestion of lungs, and dark discoloration of part of greater curvature of stomach. (JACKSON, Medorrhinum Times, Sept. 16, 1848.)
9. M. N-, aet. 46, took by mistake 44 grs. of powdered plant. About 1 h. afterwards he was attacked with violent headache, seated chiefly about orbital fossa, and soon followed by excessive redness of eyes and face, which gradually extended over whole surface of body, so that it presented a uniformly red colour, exactly resembling that observed in scarlatina; moreover, his throat was of a deep red colour, and the seat of an acute sensation of heat, which appeared to extend throughout the alimentary canal. There was great irritation of (apparently) the neck of the bladder; the patient, in the midst of a loquacious delirium, which turned principally on the pain which he experienced in this part, was continually making efforts to evacuate his urine, which was very red and bloody, and came away guttatim. After antiphlogistic and emollient measures he was better, save for the vesical irritation, this yielding after 20 leeches had been applied to hypogastrium. He slept well, and next m. had only some malaise, which soon disappeared. (JOLLY, Nouv. Bibl. Medorrhinum, 1828.)
Hughes was a great writer and a scholar. He actively cooperated with Dr. T.F. Allen to compile his 'Encyclopedia' and rendered immeasurable aid to Dr. Dudgeon in translating Hahnemann's 'Materia Medica Pura' into English. In 1889 he was appointed an Editor of the 'British Homoeopathic Journal' and continued in that capacity until his demise. In 1876, Dr. Hughes was appointed as the Permanent Secretary of the Organization of the International Congress of Homoeopathy Physicians in Philadelphia. He also presided over the International Congress in London.