is in epilepsy, but there is some
convulsion, but that without any violent agitation. In syncope both
breathing and the pulse fail, the face grows pale, and the woman faints
suddenly; but in hysterical attacks there are usually both breathing
and pulse, though these are indistinct; the face is red and she has a
forewarning of the approaching fit. It cannot, however, be denied that
syncope may accompany this feeling of suffocation. Lastly, it can be
distinguished from lethargy by the pulse, which is rapid in the former,
but weak in the latter.

CURE.

In the cure of this affection, two things must be taken care of:--_In
the first place_, nature must be stimulated to expel these hurtful
humours which obscure the senses, so that the woman may be brought back
from that sleepy fit. _Secondly_, during the intervals of the attack,
proper remedies must be employed, in order to remove the cause.

To stimulate nature, apply cupping-glasses to the hips and navel: apply
ligatures to the thighs, rub the extremities with salt, mustard and
vinegar, and shout and make a great noise in her ears. Hold asafoetida
to the nose, or sacopenium steeped in vinegar; make her sneeze by
blowing castor-powder, white pepper and hellebore up her nose; hold
burnt feathers, hair, leather, or anything else with a strong, stinking
smell under her nose, for bad odours are unpleasant to nature, and the
animal spirits so strive against them, that the natural heat is restored
by their means. The brain is sometimes so oppressed, that it becomes
necessary to burn the outer skin of the head with hot oil, or with a hot
iron, and strong injections and suppositories are useful. Take a handful
each of sage, calamint, horehound, feverfew, marjoram, betony and
hyssop; half an ounce of aniseed; two drachma each of coloquintida,
white hellebore and salgem; boil these in two quarts of water till
reduced to half; add two ounces of castor oil and two drachms of hiera
piera and make an injection of it. Or take two ounces of boiled honey,
half a scruple of spurge, four grains of coloquint, two grains of
hellebore and drachm of salt; make a suppository. Hippocrates mentions a
hysterical woman who could only be relieved of the paroxysms by pouring
cold water on her: yet this is a strange cure, and should only be
administered in the heat of summer, when the sun is in the tropic of
Cancer.

If it be caused by the retention and corruption of the seed, let the
mid-wife