Curiosities of Medical Experience Part 36

There can be but little doubt that the wonders of magnetism may be referred to the imagination; yet some of the phenomena must excite our surprise, and may occasion some degree of hesitation in invariably attributing its results to fancy. The Academy of Medicine of Paris having appointed a commission of twelve members to examine and report upon it, their inferences were as follow:

1. The effects of magnetism were not evident in healthy persons, and in _some_ invalids.

2. They were _scarcely_ apparent in others.

3. They _often_ appeared to be the result of ennui, monotony, and the influence of imagination.

4. Lastly, _they are developed independently of these causes, very probably by the effects of magnetism alone_.

The points of this report that I have printed in italics prove most clearly that the members of the commission, all of whom were decidedly adverse to the doctrine, were convinced, at least to a certain extent, by the experiments they had witnessed, of some singular powers residing in this mysterious science. Such must have been the case, since we find three members seceding from their a.s.sociates, Laennec, Double, and Magendie, all well known as distinguished physiologists, somewhat inclined to pure materialism, and what may be termed _matter-of-fact_ men, who would hesitate in yielding their belief to any a.s.sertion that the scalpel could not demonstrate. Notwithstanding the protest of these gentlemen, the following were the conclusions of the commission:

1. Contact of the thumbs and magnetic movements are the means of relative influence employed to transmit magnetic action.

2. Magnetism acts on persons of different age and s.e.x.

3. Many effects appear to depend on magnetism alone, and are not reproduced without it.

4. These effects are various. Sometimes magnetism agitates, at other times it calms. It generally causes acceleration of the pulse and respiration, slight convulsive movements, somnolency, and, in a few cases, somnambulism.

5. The existence of peculiar characters of somnambulism has not yet been proved.

6. It may, however, be inferred that this state of somnambulism prevails when we notice the development of new faculties, such as _clairvoyance_ and intuitive foresight, or when it produces changes in the physiological condition of the individual, such as insensibility, sudden increase of strength, since these effects cannot be attributed to any other cause.

7. When the effects of magnetism have been produced, there is no occasion on subsequent trials to have recourse to _pa.s.ses_.[42] The look of the magnetizer and his will have the same influence.

8. Various changes are effected in the perceptions and faculties of those persons in whom somnambulism has been induced.

9. Somnambulists have distinguished with closed eyes objects placed before them. They have, then, read words, recognised colours, named cards, &c.

10. In two somnambulists we witnessed the faculty of foreseeing acts of the organism to take place at periods more or less distant. One announced the day, the hour, and the minute of the invasion and recurrence of an epileptic fit; the other foresaw the period of his recovery. Their antic.i.p.ations were realized.

11. We have only seen one somnambulist who had described the symptoms of the diseases in three individuals presented to her.

12. In order to establish justly the relations of magnetism with therapeutics, one must have observed the effects on a number of individuals, and have made experiments on sick persons. Not having done this, the commissioners can only say, they have seen too few cases to enable them to form a decisive opinion.

13. Considered as an agent of physiological phenomena, or of therapeutics, magnetism should find a place in the range of medical science, and be either practised, or its employment superintended by a physician.

14. From the want of sufficient opportunities, the commission could not verify the existence of any other faculties in somnambulists; but its reports contain facts sufficiently important to conclude that the Academy ought to encourage researches in animal magnetism, as a curious fact of psychology and natural history.

This report was impugned by Mr. Dubois, in what he calls his rational conclusions, which of course maintain that those of the commission were irrational. However, in this paper he merely affirms his own incredulity, without supporting it upon any grounds of experiment or observation; and therefore his observations must be considered an individual attempt to refute the a.s.sertions of a body of scientific men, who, after diligently and maturely weighing the arguments in favour of a doctrine that they were previously disposed to condemn as unworthy of research, came to the conclusions that we have seen.

While the French Academy did not consider it beneath their dignity to investigate this doctrine, in other parts of Europe it attracted the attention both of the reigning monarchs and the most distinguished physicians. In Prussia, Hufeland, who had been one of the warmest opponents of magnetism, became a convert; and a clinical hospital was established in Berlin, by order of the government, to observe and record its phenomena. At Frankfort and Groningen, Drs. Pa.s.savant and Bosker published works on the subject; the latter having translated the critical history of Deleuze. At Petersburg, Dr. Stoffreghen, first physician of the Emperor, p.r.o.nounced himself with several colleagues in its favour; and most of these distinguished men seemed to partake of the opinion of the justly celebrated Orfila, who certainly may be considered as an authority, and who thus expressed himself on the subject:

"If there exists trickery and quackery in animal magnetism, its adversaries are too hasty in refusing to admit all that has been a.s.serted in regard to its effects. The testimony of enlightened physicians should be considered as proofs. If the magnetic phenomena appear extraordinary, the phenomena of electricity appeared equally marvellous in its origin.

Was Franklin to be considered a quack when he announced that with a pointed metal he could command thunder? Whether magnetism acts in good or in evil, it is clearly a therapeutic agent, and it behoves both the honour and the duty of the Academy to examine it."

Such is the present state of this curious science. To what credit it may be ent.i.tled, and how far it may become a useful medical agent, experience alone can decide. At the same time, it would be unjust to a.s.sert, in our present ignorance, that all the learned and independent men who support it are either fools or knaves.[43]

POISONOUS FISHES.

The deleterious qualities of certain fishes have long been the subject of medical conjectures. It is somewhat singular, and most difficult to account for, that the same fish should be wholesome in some waters, and deadly in others, although under the same lat.i.tude, and when, to all appearance at least, no local cause can be discovered to which we might reasonably attribute this fatal property. So powerful and prompt moreover, it is in its action that rapid death will ensue whenever a small portion of the fish has been eaten. Such, for instance, is generally the case with the yellow-bill sprat, the _clypea thrissa_.

Some naturalists attribute this poison to copper banks, on or near which the fish may feed. The absurdity of this opinion has been fully demonstrated; in the first instance, no such copper banks have been discovered in the West Indies, and these fish abound on the coasts of islands of coral formation. Moreover, it is not likely that this mineral should saturate the animal; and, even if it could produce this effect, the entire body would in all probability be affected, whereas the poison seems to lie in particular parts, chiefly in the intestines, the liver, the fat, &c. This is evident from the practice of fishermen, who can eat poisonous fish with impunity if they have taken the precaution to draw them carefully and salt them. In addition to these observations, the symptoms of the disease thus produced, by no means resemble those of mineral poisons. Dr. Chisholm, who pretends that copper banks do exist in the Windward Islands, is of this opinion. Admitting the facts, it may be asked, have the waters of these seas been impregnated by the copper? if they are not, how can its influence extend to its inhabitants? and why are particular fish only affected? Moreover, although it is well known that certain substances are deleterious to some animals and harmless to others, yet one might fancy that, if the coppery princ.i.p.al of an animal's flesh could poison, it is not irrational to think that the same deadly substance would also destroy the animal. The presence of this mineral has never been detected by any chemical test; and, if the poison consisted in copper, how could salting the fish destroy it? In opposition to these objections, it has been maintained that fish may be rendered poisonous by feeding on the marine plants that grow upon these deadly banks. Now, unless it could be proved that copper is not injurious to fish, these same lithophyta and zoophyta would no doubt poison them.

However, it is more than probable that it is to a certain injurious food that these dangerous qualities are to be referred. Various plants that grow in these regions are of a poisonous nature to man, although, as I have just observed, they may not be so destructive to fish. The circ.u.mstance of the alimentary tube being more poisonous than any other part seems to warrant the conclusion; and I have observed in the West Indies, that the crabs that feed upon banks where the manchineel is to be found, frequently occasion serious, and sometimes fatal accidents. On the coast of Malabar, crabs are poisonous in the month of October, when the _blue t.i.thymale_ abounds.

Whatever may be the causes of this deadly principle, the effects are most rapid. When a large quant.i.ty has been taken, the patient soon dies in strong convulsions; but frequently, when the quant.i.ty and the nature of the poison have not been sufficient to occasion death, the body becomes emaciated, the cuticle peels off, particularly on the palms of the hands and the soles of the feet, the hair drops, acute pains shoot through every joint, and the sufferer not unfrequently sinks under a lingering disease.

In these cases change of climate has been found the most effectual remedy, and a return to Europe becomes indispensable.

The usual symptoms that denote the presence of the poison, are languor, heaviness, drowsiness, great restlessness, flus.h.i.+ng of the face, nausea, griping, a burning sensation, at first experienced in the face and eyes, and then extending over the whole body; the pulse, at first hard and frequent, soon sinks, and becomes slow and feeble. In some cases the salivary glands become tumefied with a profuse salivation; and the body, and its perspiration, are as yellow as in the jaundice. These peculiar symptoms have frequently been known to arise after eating the _rock-fish_.

The remedies that are usually resorted to are stimulants. Capsic.u.m has been considered a powerful antidote; and the use of ardent spirits or cordials has also been strongly urged. It has been observed, that persons who had drunk freely, or who had taken a dram after eating fish that had disordered others, were, comparatively speaking, exempt from the severity of the disease. A decoction of the root of the _sour-sop_, and an infusion of the flowers of the _white cedar_ and the _sensitive plant_ have also been advised by several West India pract.i.tioners.

The practice of putting a silver spoon in the water in which fish is boiled, to ascertain its salubrity, is a popular test that cannot be depended on. Fishermen have observed that fish that have no scales are more apt to prove injurious; and those of uncommon size are looked upon as the most dangerous.

To ascertain whether the nature of the fishes' food could thus render them poisonous, Mr. Moreau de Jonnes had recourse to many curious experiments.

He took portions of polypes found in the waters reputed dangerous, more particularly the _liriozoa Caribaea_, the _millepora polymorpha_, the _gorgonia pinnata_, the _actinia anemone_, &c., and, having enveloped them in paste, he fed fishes with them; but in no one instance was any prejudicial result observed. He tried in the same manner the _physalis pelagica_ of Lamark, which contains an acrid and caustic fluid; but the fish invariably refused it, nor would they touch fragments of the manchineel apple.

Oysters have been known to produce various accidents; and, when they were of a green colour, it has been supposed that this peculiarity was also due to copper banks. This is an absurdity; the green tinge is as natural to some varieties as to the _esox belone_, whose bones are invariably of the same hue as verdigrise. Muscles frequently occasion feverish symptoms, attended with a red, and sometimes a copper-coloured, efflorescence over the whole body. These accidents appear to arise from some peculiar circ.u.mstances. In Boulogne I attended a family in which all the children who had eaten muscles were labouring under this affection, while not another instance of it was observed in the place. In the Bahama Islands I witnessed a fatal case in a young girl who had eaten crabs; she was the only sufferer, although every individual in the family had shared in the meal. The idea of the testaceous mollusca avoiding copper-bottomed vessels, while they are found in abundance on those that are not sheathed, is absurd; this circ.u.mstance can be easily explained by the greater facility these creatures find in adhering to wood. There is every reason to believe, that the supposed poisonous oysters found adhering to the copper bottom of a s.h.i.+p in the Virgin Isles, and the occasional accidents amongst the men that ate them, were only so in the observer's imagination, and that part of the s.h.i.+p's company were affected by some other causes.

Another report, equally absurd, was that of the fish having gradually quitted the Thames and Medway since coppering s.h.i.+ps' bottoms has been introduced! The following may be considered the fish that should be avoided:

The Spanish mackerel, _s...o...b..r caeruleo-argenteus_.

The yellow-billed sprat, _Clupea thrissa_.

The baracuta, _Esox baracuta_.

Grey snapper, _Coracinus fuscus_.

The porgie, _Sparus chrysops_.

The king-fish, _s...o...b..r maximus_.

The hyne, _Coracinus minor_.

Bottle-nosed cavallo, _s...o...b..r_.

Old wife, _Balistes monoceros_.

Conger eel, _Muraena major_.

Sword-fish, _Xiphias gladius_.

Smooth bottle-fish, _Ostracion globellum_.

Rock-fish, _Perca manna_.

I have known accidents arise from the use of the dolphin on the high seas; and, while I was in the West Indies, a melancholy instance of the kind occurred, when the captain, mate, and three seamen of a trading vessel died from the poison; a pa.s.senger, his wife, and a boy, were the only survivors, and were fortunately picked up in the unmanageable vessel.

The above catalogue of poisonous fishes is extracted from Dr. Dancer's "Jamaica Practice of Physic," and its correctness fell under my own observation in the Wrest Indies. The different systems and cla.s.sifications of ichthyologists have produced much confusion, and may lead to fatal errors; I think it therefore advisable to submit to travellers, who may have to visit these unhealthy regions, the names of the _toxicophorous_ fishes according to the French momenclature.

Le poisson arme, _Diodon orbicularis_.

La lune, _Tetraodon mola_.--LINN.

Le tetraodon ocelle, _T. ocellatus_.

Le t. scelerat, _T. scelreatus_.

La vieille, _Balistes vetula_.