Several spasms followed, in one of which she died asphyxiated.
The effects produced by the action of Strychnia manifestly proceed from its action on the spinal column, and this is not generally of such a nature as to exhibit any visible alteration, even to the scrutinizing examination of the microscope. The muscular system is thrown into violent tetanic action, resulting in decided opisthotonos, and, notwithstanding this, the cerebrum seems but slightly affected, since the mind of the person, laboring under these violent convulsions, may b e clear and undisturbed. His intellectual faculties will be unimpaired by the action of the Strychnia, and rational answers will be quickly given in reply to all question propounded to him. The effect must be slight on the cerebrum, but the whole force of the poison is expended on the medulla oblongata and the medulla spinalis.
During the tetanic fits the body was stiffened and straightened, the neck violently drawn back, the chest fixed, the eyes protruding from their sockets in a horrible manner, the legs pushed out and widely separated, the muscles of t he face convulsed; pulse imperceptible, and no breathing could be perceived; the face was livid, more particularly the lips, and froth issued from the mouth. During the paroxysm the pupils was much dilated, becoming contracted after the violence of the fit had subsided. Lying upon the bed in a complete tetanic convulsion, his head somewhat drawn back, countenance completely livid, with some frothy matter issuing from his mouth, with frequent moans; the palpebra in constant motion; this first paroxysm may have lasted some five minutes, which was succeeded by an interval of partial calm; this interval lasted perhaps five minutes, when another paroxysm commenced by a little starting and stiffening of the extremities, and immediately the whole body was thrown into a tetanic paroxysm, in appearance like the first, and lasted two or three minutes, when death ended the struggle. The time of taking the article till death ensued could not have been over twenty minutes. Extremely violent tetanic shocks. Very violent tetanic convulsions; the extremities, upper and lower, were perfectly rigid and extended. The patient trembled violently, and was one shaking mass in constant motion.
Violent tetanic spasms in rapid succession, like the effect of shocks from an electrical battery; occasionally they would relax for a moment, but the slightest touch upon the surface, or an attempt to present anything to his mouth, seemed to redouble their violence; the convulsive movements precluded the possibility of deglutition of an emetic. An attempt to give emetics produced a most severe tetanic spasm. The jaw was firmly fixed, the extremities stiff, and the body bent back in a state of complete opisthotonos. On rising up that the spine might be examined, he was seized with a violent tetanic convulsion, in which there was complete opisthotonos and great difficulty in breathing, as well as severe trismus. The fit continued for about four minutes. Violent fit of tetanus. Violent tetanic convulsions. Violent tetanic spasm, the limbs extended and rigid, the jaws firmly fixed, and the body in a state of opisthotonos.
Violent tetanic spasms, peculiar in that they were produced whenever any one approached the bed, whenever she was spoken to, whenever the covers were lifted, and on the slightest touch, as from feeling the pulse; the spasms lasted several minutes; did not completely relax in the masseter muscles; those of the upper arms and calves remained rigid and contracted; the convulsions were ushered in by screaming; there was no impairment of consciousness. On raising the eyelids, in order to ascertain the state of the pupils, a violent tetanic paroxysm was induced; just as the spasm commenced, the patient shrieked out, “Hold my legs; I am dying, I know I am!” The attacks rapidly succeeded each other, and gradually increased in severity. In about one hour she was seized with terrific tetanic convulsions, which lasted several hours. Violent tetanic spasms, lasting each of them for about half a minute; they lasted altogether about a quarter of an hour (after two hours). Violent tetanic spasms of almost all the muscles; the head thrown back; respiration difficult from the spasms of the respiratory muscles; congested appearance of the face, with a wild or anxious look; eyeballs prominent and staring; pupils dilated; pulse, in time of the most violent spasms, quick and hardly perceptible at the wrists; in intermission, full, regular, and 100 to the minute. Severe tetanic convulsion, involving nearly all the muscles of the body and extremities, which lasted for about one minute and a half.
The chest was fixed; respiration became difficult; the body was bent backwards (opisthotonos). This was followed by an interval of rest and relaxation of all the muscles, but the patient seemed to be much prostrated. Slight convulsive starts and twitching of the hands, followed at various intervals. After the attack the patient became so sensitive that the slightest touch or movement of the bed, or a sudden noise, would cause a spasmodic jerking of the whole body. Frightful periodical tetanic convulsions of the voluntary muscles and congestion of the face. At first opisthotonos was so severe as to force him off the bed on to the floor. During the attack the feet were inverted, the soles of the feet arched, the fingers clenched (not forcibly), the elbows flexed, the arms bent over the chest, the eyeballs fixed and protruding, pupils dilated, the neck stretched backwards and twisted. The attacks occurred at intervals of half an hour, more or less, and were so violent as to shake not only the bed but even the house. In about twenty minutes he was seized with a most violent tetanic convulsion, which lasted for about a minute, with wellmarked opisthotonos. The intercostal muscles were so rigid, and his face was so blue and swollen, that it seemed as it suffocation must ensue. He appeared to suffer intense agony, and uttered most heart-rending cries. The extremities began to move spasmodically, and the whole system seemed to be under the influence of a potent poison; a violent tetanic convulsion occurred, in which the body became quite rigid, the extremities violently extended, the hands firmly clenched, the lips puffed out and frothy mucus protruded, driven out as it seemed by some enormous force which was producing the total expulsion of air from the lungs; the hands were dark blue, nails blue, face livid, and features horribly distorted; the pulse was very feeble and hardly perceptible. The convulsion soon passed off, with, however, no decided freedom from the tetanoid condition. On endeavoring to remove his boots, so as to plunge his feet into hot water, violent convulsions were produced, and every indication of agony was manifest on his countenance; his limbs were so firmly and stiffly extended, that it was impossible to do more than semiflex them, although the toes were somewhat limber; after the feet were in the hot water some five or six minutes, there was a relaxation of the spasms, but the tetanoid condition gradually came on again, and most violent paroxysm ensued. There was considerable frothing at the mouth, complete opisthotonos, lividity of the face, entire cessation of respiration and movements of the heart; he was thought dead for the moment by all around him; gradually, however, the circulation seemed to be re- established, and the respiration to become easy and regular.
Soon, however, the tetanic symptoms again presented themselves, and another, though less violent, attack was experienced. There would be slight intervals, lasting for a few minutes, of freedom from spasmodic action, and then a recurrence of spasm, until, finally, a violent convulsion ensued in which the body became very rigid, the extremities violently extended, face livid, changing to a pale and bloodless hue, eyelids opened widely, and the pupils dilated; the paroxysm was protracted longer than any preceding it. All efforts to overcome the spasm were in vain.
Death ensued in somewhat less than three hours and a half after the poison had entered the stomach. Seized with a violent tetanic spasm, affecting the legs and muscles of respiration, and had only time to call out for assistance before the sensation amounted to that of absolute suffocation (ten minutes after second dose). Spasms now followed each other in rapid succession, the intervals being about a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes, and the affection was confined principally to the legs, back, and respiratory muscles, the arms being comparatively unaffected. The numbness and dragging of the muscles, which had been continuous during the first five hours, disappeared entirely during the intervals of the spasms, and the patient was left without any uneasy sensations, excepting the exhaustion of the previous fits and the apprehension of its successor. During the whole of this time he was not only perfectly conscious, but his senses were preternaturally exalted, and he distinctly heard a variety of whispered observations of the physicians and his friends. The paroxysms, after continuing for some time, began gradually to diminish, the intervals became longer, and the duration of each spasm shorter, and it was hoped that they were about to pass off, when all at once they returned in their original violence. This proved, however, to be the last expiring effort of the poison, for the symptoms now entirely ceased, about thirteen hours after the first dose was taken. At the conclusion of the spasms, the patient was left in an excessively exhausted state; from this, however, he recruited with great rapidity. The spasms ceased at times, during which the circulation improved, the cyanosis disappeared, and consciousness returned. Whole body rigid.
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.