By. Dr. Leon Simon, Paris.
Last year I was called to see merchant M.L., forty-one years of age. I found an intelligent, robust man with a large head, dark complexion and brown hair, which was very thick. He had up to this time enjoyed good health; though he had sometimes suffered from meg rim, which alternated with the profuse perspiration of the feet. On April, 1905, he had, as he stated, drawn off a cask of wine into bottles, and afterwards suffered from a paralysis of the lower limbs, which in the course of a few weeks yielded to the use of Arnica 6., 12., and 18. It was plain that when drawing off the wine he had drunk more of it than was good for his health; for his family acknowledged that excesses of this kind were customary with him.
For several days he was nervous, excited, and passed bad nights. In the night from the 21 to the 22 he had an actual attack of delirium tremens; complete insomnia, delirium, phantastic visions: he had seemed to see insects and various animals that crawled and ran around on his coverlet; the patterns of the wall-paper and of the walls of his room seemed to him to be alive, and he desired to chase these living beings. His furniture and the pictures in his room were pursuing him. It was lucky that he recognized his surroundings and is not very violent, but talked incessantly. When I came in, he recognized me right away, though he had not seen me for a year and a half, and then only three times. His limbs and the muscles of his face were trembling; the pupils were unchanged and he had fever.
Treatment: Belladonna 6. Three drops in 125 grams of water, a spoonful every hur. Light diet, for beverage, milk; absolute abstinence from wine, beer and every kind of liquor. After a very brief improvement, he again grew worse, the night from the 23 to the 24 of October was dreadful and the morning that followed was not much better. The patient was in a constant delirium, his crazy notions at one time referring to his business, then again turning to other matters; the patient thought he was on the Sartre river he wanted to go hunting and kept looking for his gun, but luckily they had drawn the load and had hidden it; then he become violent. He had then some more serious imaginations which might easily have had ill consequences; he thought he was pursued by people who were armed to the teeth. He could not keep quiet, but wanted to run away; finally he took the unfortunate notion that his wife was flirting with a soldier. I first prescribed Cannabis Indica 3., five drops in 125 grams to water, at first every half hour, then every hour, one spoonful.
The effect was very prompt; even after the second dose there was improvement, quiet and reason gradually returned and the following night was quiet. The patient called on me on the fifth of November. His intelligence was not disturbed and his memory extremely accurate, so that he told me at great length the crazy notions which had passed through his head. His only complaint now was an obstinate constipation. In view of this I gave him Nux vom. 30., five globules in 125 grams of water, two spoonful every day. I expect a favorable result from this medicine, and the patient will probably feel well so long as he remains sober.
