§ 203. With some persons doses, which, in themselves, are insufficient to cause death, yet have a peculiar effect on the mental faculties. A case of great medico-legal interest is described by the patient himself, Dr. Manjot.[186] He took in three doses, hourly, 12 grms. of chloral hydrate. After the first dose the pain, for which he had recourse to chloral, vanished; but Manjot, although he had all the appearance of being perfectly conscious, yet had not the slightest knowledge of what he was doing or speaking. He took the other two doses, and sank into a deep sleep which lasted twelve hours. He then awoke and answered questions with difficulty, but could not move; he lay for the next twelve hours in a half slumber, and the following night slept soundly--to wake up recovered. [186] _Gaz. des Hôp._, 1875. § 204. The treatment of acute chloral poisoning which has been most successful is that by strychnine injections, and the application of warmth to counteract the loss of temperature which is so constant a phenomenon. As an illustration of the treatment by strychnine, an interesting case recorded by Levinstein[187] may be quoted. [187] _Vierteljahrsschr. f. ger. Med._, Bd. xx., 1874. A man, thirty-five years old, took at one dose, for the purpose of suicide, 24 grms. of chloral hydrate. In half an hour afterwards he was found in a deep sleep, with flushed face, swollen veins, and a pulse 160 in the minute. After a further half hour, the congestion of the head was still more striking; the temperature was 39·5°; the pulse hard and bounding 92; the breathing laboured, at times intermittent.