Absinthium
By Timothy F. Allen — The Encyclopedia of Pure Materia Medica
Artemisia absinthium, Linn.
Common name , Wormwood.
Nat. order , Compositæ.
Preparation , Tincture from the fresh young leaves and flowers. The Swiss "Extrait d'Absinthe" (from the effects of which a few toxicological symptoms are obtained) is prepared from various species of Artemisia, viz., rupestris, mutillina, glacialis, valeriaca, spicata, etc.
Authorities.
1 , Gatchell's provings; t , Toxicological.
MIND
- Intoxication, [t].
- Frightful visions, [t].
- Soothed, as if going into a beautiful dream, 1.
- Very tranquil, as if brain were rounded and symmetrical, 1.
- Wants nothing to do with anybody, 1.
- Idiotic manner; don't care whether she dies or not, 1.
- After recovering, he had no recollection of taking the poison, nor of the cause of his doing so, 1.
- Sudden loss of consciousness, [t].
- Stupor, [t].
- Idiocy, [t].
- Kleptomania, [t].
- Insensibility (with convulsions), [t].
HEAD
EYE
FACE
- Looks foolish, 1.
MOUTH
- Jaws firmly fixed, [t].
- Tongue protrudes, feels thick; can't talk distinctly, 1.
- Complains that tongue (and larynx) are paralyzed, 1.
- Foaming at the mouth, 1.
THROAT
- Scalded feeling in throat, 1.
STOMACH
- No appetite; loathed food (next day), 1.
- Eructations; stomach and bowels distended, 1.
- Sick in stomach and liver, 1.
- Tendency to vomit, [t].
- Nausea, apparently in region of gall-bladder, 1.
- Food lies heavy, 1.
- Stomach feels cold and oppressed; thinks it would not absorb much, 1.
- Uncomfortable, irritated feeling of stomach, 1.
ABDOMEN
- Thinks liver and spleen thickened, 1.
- Thinks liver and spleen have become thin and pale, 1.
- Bloated around the waist and in the abdomen, as after ague, 1.
- Bowels distended, 1.
- Very much bloated, 1.
- Immense accumulation of flatulence; wind-colic, 1.
URINARY ORGANS
- Constant desire to urinate, 1.
- Urine of a deep yellow orange color, and strong, horse-like smell, 1.
SEXUAL ORGANS
- Darting pain in right ovary, 1.
HEART AND PULSE
- Tremor of the heart, felt towards the back, 1.
- Heart thumps; can be heard in the scapular region, 1.
LOWER EXTREMITIES
- Feet very cold, 1.
GENERALITIES
- Falling down, as in epilepsy, with distortion of the features, spasms of the limbs, bloody foam at mouth and biting of the tongue, [t].
- Epileptiform convulsions, 1.
- Next day very weak, 1.
- No muscle; great lassitude, 1.
- Very rapid prostration, [t].
PATHOLOGICAL APPEARANCES
- The autopsies of animals poisoned by absinthe showed, besides a penetrating odor of wormwood in various organs of the body, great congestion of the cerebro-spinal vessels, of the meninges of the brain, and extreme hyperæmia of the medulla oblongata. The brain and spinal cord presented, upon transverse section, a uniform rosy coloring, with injection of the vessels; occasionally the stomach, more frequently the endocardium and pericardium, showed small ecchymoses. (Journ. of Psycholog. Med., 9, 525.)
SUPPLEMENT: ABSINTHIUM. Authority.
1 , Dr. Th Ch. Challand, Étude expér. et clin. sur L'Absinthisine et L'Alcoolisine, Paris, 1871; 2 , general statement; 3 to 13 , detailed cases.
MIND
- Delirium, with trembling of the hands and feet, 9.
- After drinking Absinthe began to scream, called out, with frothing from the mouth; convulsions, with tetanic spasms like electric shocks, 7.
- Terrifying hallucinations, 11.
- Hallucinations, 9.
- Terrifying hallucinations of persons pursuing him, 6.
- Terrifying hallucinations, he sees all kinds of animals, cats and rats of all colors, grotesque animals, fancies that he is pursued by soldiers, etc., 4.
- Hallucinations of vision and of hearing, that he is pursued by imaginary enemies; hallucinations of various kinds, of naked women, etc., 5.
- Visions of animals, 10. [60.]
- Fear of assassination, 10.
- Loquacity, 9.
- Irritability, 3.
- General mental incoherence, 6.
- Memory feeble, 11.
- Unconsciousness in convulsions, 3.
- Coma, followed by death, 8 . (The autopsy demonstrated subpericranial ecchymosis, very recent meningeal hæmorrhages, blood black, liquid, very abundant false membranes on the inner surface of the dura mater, superficial inflammation of the left hemisphere of the brain, pulmonary emphysema, heart fatty, flabby, etc.).
HEAD
- Frequent vertigo, 8.
EYE
FACE
- Pallor of the face, 3.
MOUTH
STOMACH
- Loss of appetite, 3.
- Symptoms of indigestion, with at times vomiting, 3.
- Oppression of the epigastrium and chest, 13.
- Liver enlarged, 8.
STOOL
- Constipation, 3.
URINARY ORGANS. [80.]
- Urine red, albuminous, 3.
RESPIRATORY ORGANS
- Cough, with some expectoration and crepitant râles (due very likely to some œdema of the lungs dependent, on the albuminuria), 3.
- Voice feeble, speech hesitating, 3.
HEART AND PULSE
EXTREMITIES
GENERALITIES
- Attacks resembling hysteria, 13.
- Hysterical spasms; general rigidity of the limbs, followed by irregular convulsions, accompanied by acute sensation of oppression, obliging the patient to put the hand to the chest, as though there was a heavy weight there; at the same time he tossed about, cried out, and wished to die; the convulsive spasm was generally succeeded by a momentary calm, and so on in alternations for more than an hour, 12.
- Epileptiform spasms, followed by delirium, 6. [90.]
- The effects observed from intoxication by Absinthe are dependent upon disturbance of motility. These are convulsive phenomena. The epilepsy develops itself in a relatively short time, the reverse of which is true of the effects of Alcohol. The epilepsy of Absinthe differs again from the epilepsy of Alcohol in its character. While the epilepsy of Alcohol becomes analogous to true epilepsy only at a very advanced stage of the disease, that of Absinthe assumes at once and completely all the characteristics of that disease. The person becomes pale, loses consciousness, falls, sometimes utters cries, the face is convulsed; this is followed by tonic convulsions, with tetanic rigidity of the limbs and of the trunk, which is raised up, followed by clonic convulsions of the limbs; the face becomes violet and cyanotic, respiration rapid, irregular, stertorous, froth from the lips, sometimes bloody, the individual bites the tongue, at last falls into a comatose state, with stertorous respiration, which lasts a longer or shorter time. After the person recovers consciousness he seems stupid, dazed, and recollects nothing of what has passed. Sensibility is very obtuse, and during the attack anæsthesia is complete. Sometimes the epilepsy of Absinthe is not characterized by a complete attack, but has only vertigo or loss of consciousness; symptoms which are found in true epilepsy. The third characteristic of the epilepsy of Absinthe is its short duration. The violent attacks cease completely as long as the patient remains sober, but when he begins to drink again he has new premonitions of an attack, which is not slow in coming on. There may by one attack or several during the day or following days, but usually there are three or four. Is this epilepsy of Absinthe the effect of acute or chronic intoxication? We believe that it is an acute symptom manifested during the course of chronic intoxication, found more often in those who drink to excess habitually; its appearance is never delayed after the person has begun to drink Absinthe to excess. After drinking for six months or a year, some day the person drinks to excess and the spasms come on. Acute alcoholic mania or delirium tremens is equally an acute symptom during chronic alcoholism, and the epileptiform spasms of alcoholism show themselves at a very advanced period. Persons who are attacked by the epilepsy of Absinthe, drink generally eight, twelve, or even twenty glasses of Absinthe a day. Others drink three or four, and are awaiting the attacks. A circumstance of great importance is the predisposition. We find a large number of drinkers who have never had spasms, or only slight symptoms. There are others, on the contrary, who are attacked on their first excess. A large number of person habitually sober, who drink occasionally a glass of Absinthe, become affected by a kind of intoxication, with pains in the head and sensation of constriction in the temples, and they therefore rarely drink Absinthe. Such persons tolerate, without the least trouble, a large quantity of Alcohol, and experience no symptoms from it. This is a very common occurrence, but difficult to explain, unless we admit the presence of a special agent in Absinthe. Dr. Voisin, in Nouv. Dict. de Méd. et de Chir. Prat., art.
Epilepsie , 1870, p. 604 et 628, says that the epilepsy produced by wine, alcohol, etc., is usually characterized by long intervals between the attacks, the epilepsy of Absinthe by the very large number of attacks in a very short space of time. I have reported a case of epilepsy of Absinthe in which there were from on hundred and fifty to two hundred attacks in twenty-four hours. Drs. Mace and Magnan have observed the same effects, 2.
- Epileptic spasms, with cyanosis, frothing from the mouth, etc, 10.
- Epileptic attacks, lasting twenty or thirty minutes, after which the hallucinations continue, 4.
- Epileptic spasms repeatedly, 5.
- Was suddenly seized with a convulsion, during which he lost consciousness; there were convulsive movements of the limbs face distorted, frothing from the mouth, biting the tongue, 3.
- Convulsions and violent color of the face, frothing from the mouth, etc., 8.
- Irregular intermittent spasms, without absolute loss of consciousness, 13.
- Very great agitation, 6.
- Trembling, 4.
- General trembling, 10. [100.]
- Trembling of the lips, hands and tongue, 6.
- Trembling of the limbs, lips, tongue, 3.
- Symptoms of general paralysis, 9.
- Very marked anæsthesia, 13.
- General exaltation of sensibility, 3.
- General anæsthesia, 8.
SKIN
- Eruption of furuncles over the whole body, 9.