Adonis vernalis

Volume IV — Appendix

ADONIS.

Adbnti vemaUs, L. Nat. Ord,, Raminculaeea,

I. Provingi. — 1. Orville W, Lane, student j health good, takes no stimu. lants, tobacco, tea, or coffee. Feeling perfectly well, pulse 60 lying, 66 sitting, 73 standing, took lo gr. of crude plant at j 1.40 a.m. 5 p.m., pulse 54. sitting, t, >ilight glow of heat over surface ; abdomen bloated, hot and somewhat offensi** flatus paiised repeatedly in small quantity; head feels light; some aching in occipul and nape, with slight stiffness. 8, pain in abdomen just above umbilicus, cutting, not relieved by bending over sphincter ani feels somewhat lax, as if a purniivc had been taken. Later in e. some qualmishnes.s of stomach, with belching ofgM ; head aches from occiput around temples to orbits, and across forehead. At midnight, when he retired, these symptoms continued ; pulse was 80 sitting. 2nd d — Could not go to ileep for J h. after going to bed on account of rambling thought) (usually goes off immediately), and began to dream as soon as he closed his eye<. At 7.15 a.m. wuke with gnawmg hunger, also feeling of weariness and disinclination to rine. Got up at 7.30, but was obliged to lie down again on account of vertigo with faint sickness at stomach ; believes he would have fainted had he remained on his feet. Was able to get up at 7.45 ; took bath and dressed. Head heavy and dull in occiput (not aching), and scalp felt tight all over; tongue coated dirty yellow; slight pain in abdomen, eased by support of hands; temp, 98, pulse 54 lying, 60 sitting, 71 standing; eyes yellow, dark circles round them, 9.3 , a l»rge hard, dark-brown stool, expelled only with considerable exertion of abdominal muscles. Faint heavy gone feeling in epigastrium since a h. after breakfast, better out of doors. Had heavy dull headache in forenoon, also relieved in open air, and feeling of apprehension as if something would happen. Headache all e. ; anxiety proceeding from stomach ; noise disturbs him ; sense of load at eptgastrium and ■ickeniiig sensation from pressure j stiffness whole length of spine, with sore aching

fnm 7th dona] rertebra downwards to last lumbar and outwards to crest of ilium ;

front half of dorsum of tongoe feels $ore, as if scalded ; intestines feel as if they

ought break by bending, and bending forward caused pain across transverse colon,

» if due to fixed gas ; after lyine down for ( b. mouth has a nasty slimy bitter

txte ; lame, dull, aching pains m thighs, deep in muscles, better on moving about

Old out of doors. He had bad a tired languid feeling, or general malaise, all after>

"OOB ; worse now at 9 o'clock, especially when sitting or standing erect ; eves smart

*nd are sensitiTC to light ; no appetite for supper. Unusually susceptible to cold

^*> e. jrd d. — After retiring last n. kept awake an h. by distressing fulness just

below epigastrium, which pressure relieved ; when lying on side, abdomen felt as if

<^»m or pushed outwards. After getting off slept soundly till 6 a.m., but woke

^ith tirea aching alone entire spine and about shoulders and hips, and gnawing

hunorer y,\i^ heavy weight at stomach, which became better after breakfast. 9.50,

"^1^ brown stool, passed with difficulty because of its size. 10 p.m., has had few

'7*i>ptoms to-day, only slight dulness of head and general sense of languor. Appe.

^te not as good as usual, and he felt better during exercise out of doors or lying down.

'***' two mornings yet he awoke with same soreness and tiredness of back ; and weight

f^_ ^omach, with yellow.coated tongue, continued during day. By 6th d. he was

**""ly well. (Tnau. of Anur. Jnstit. if Hem., 1888, p. i4«.)

*. Geo. W. Pleasanton, student ; health good, but uses coffee habitually and

^^^^s tobacco. Took lame dose at 7 a.m., fasting. Towards e. experienced a

'*"^<»us restlessness, and passed a restless n. disturbed by horrible dreams. These

"**"« repeated on following n., but no further effects were observed. [Ibid., p. 145.)

. . I-lI.—i. The active principle of this plant is a glucoside called " Adonidin."

'^J^^^ted into the crural sheath of a frog, the heart being laid bare, the first effect

,|P|^*c:ed is a marked increase in the ventricular contractions, followed by slowing.

• '^^ ventricle looks pale, the auricular appendage and large veins are dilated, and

^***ly the heart stops in systole. The same effects have been observed in the case of

• .^ '^og and rabbit, a diminution in the number of heart-beats and elevation of the

"^^^^l-pressure first occurring, followed by an increase in the pulse.rate and blood>

v^T^^vre ; finally the heart Mats tumultuously, and the blood-pressure falls. {Brit.

**'«'. Jawm., April 10th, 1886.)