Ax old lady, seventy-five years of age, swallowed by mistake a large tablespoonful of a mixture of equal parts of aconite and belladonna liniments. She vomited almost immediately, and an emetic of salt-and-water was administered by her friends. On the arrival of myself and my friend Dr. Hunt Cooke at 10 P.M. (three-quarters of an hour after the liniment had been swallowed), she was retching and vomiting, and complaining of a curious sensation in her throat and of tightness across her chest, which prevented her lying down. Pulse 98, slightly irregular, small and weak ; pupils equal, not dilated. I washed her stomach out with warm water and gave her two drachms of brandy at once, and afterwards the white of an egg beaten up with two drachms of brandy and half an ounce of water every hour, in small quantities at a time. This appeared to relieve the vomiting, which was almost incessant. Thepulsegrewweaker and weaker, slower and more irregular, until an attack of faintness came on at 10.30 P.M. The pulse was then 64, and imperceptible at the wrist; when felt at the elbow it was weak, extremely irregular, and intermittent. The extremities were cold. Respiration ceased, and the patient became quite rigid, the jaws being firmly closed, with conjugate deviation of the eyes to the left. This attack was relieved by ten minims of brandy given hypodermically. The pulse improved slightly, but gradually failed again, until at 10.50 P.M. she had a second attack, similar in all respects, which was relieved in the same way. From this time there was a gradual though tardy improvement in the pulse and marked diminution of retching, so that at 1 A.M. I was able to leave her fairly comfortable. During the greater part of the time she was slightly delirious. The following day she had great abdominal soreness and occipital headache, but had otherwise quite recovered. The symptoms seem to have been almost entirely due to aconite, the delirium alone being possibly assignable to belladonna. The effect of the brandy was so marked each time it was given that I considered it unnecessary to use digitalis or any other drug.Llanwddyn. SURGEON TO THE THROAT AND EAR HOSPITAL, NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE. THE following cases, although not of exceptional interest, supply sufficient proof of the advisability, as a matter of routine, of the use of the post-nasal mirror in every case of the description referred to.The first case is that of Mr. R——, who came to me complaining of deafness of four years' duration. A watch was heard on contact only, and, with the exception of some cerumen in both meatus, the case further presented very little evidence of disease to the ordinary methods of investigation. The pharynx was healthy, and the nose remarkably free from catarrh or stenosis. The history was that lie had suffered from a chancre four years ago, that subsequently he became deaf, and had remained so ever since. On arriving in England, he had consulted various medical men, all of whom failed to make out any cause for the deafness. With the help of the ...
