The next case was also noticed casually in the street. The subject of
it was a man of about sixty-five years of age, of a remarkable
athletic frame. The agitation of the limbs, and indeed of the head and
of the whole body, was too vehement to allow it to be designated as
trembling. He was entirely unable to walk; the body being so bowed,
and the head thrown so forward, as to oblige him to go on a continued
run, and to employ his stick every five or six steps to force him more
into an upright posture, by projecting the point of it with great
force against the pavement. He stated, that he had been a sailor, and
attributed his complaints to having been for several months confined
in a Spanish prison, where he had, during the whole period of his
confinement, lain upon the bare damp earth. The disease had here
continued so long, and made such a progress, as to afford little or no
prospect of relief. He besides was a poor mendicant, requiring as well
as the means of medical experiment, those collateral aids which he
could only obtain in an hospital. He was therefore recommended to make
trial if any relief could, in that mode, be yielded him. The poor man,
however, appeared to be by no means disposed to make the experiment.
CASE IV.
The next case which presented itself was that of a gentleman about
fifty-five years, who had first experienced the trembling of the arms
about five years before. His application was on account of a
considerable degree of inflammation over the lower ribs on the left
side, which terminated in the formation of matter beneath the fascia.
About a pint was removed on making the necessary opening; and a
considerable quantity discharged daily for two or three weeks. On his
recovery from this, no change appeared to have taken place in his
original complaint; and the opportunity of learning its future
progress was lost by his removal to a distant part of the country.
CASE V.
In another case, the particulars of which could not be obtained, and
the gentleman, the lamented subject of which was only seen at a
distance, one of the characteristic symptoms of this malady, the
inability for motion, except in a running pace, appeared to exist in
an extraordinary degree. It seemed to be necessary that the gentleman
should be supported by his attendant, standing before him with a hand
placed on each shoulder, until, by gently swaying backward and
forward, he had placed himself in equipoise; when, giving the word, he
would start in a running pace, the attendant sliding from before him
and running forward, being ready to receive him and prevent his
falling, after his having run about twenty paces.
CASE VI.
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