STRYCHNIA AS A REMEDY IN A SEVERE CASE OF NERVOUS HYPERÆSTHESIA.—Mr. H. A. Allbutt, of Leeds, writes to us:—“The following case may be of some interest to the readers of the _Practitioner_, as in some of its symptoms it presented some curious phenomena. Mrs. A——, a married lady, about thirty-six years of age, consulted me in last November for lameness, and great pain and difficulty in walking, with obscure pains in her back and sides, severe palpitation, restless nights, loss of appetite, and great nervousness. She often, too, complained of dimness of vision, and the thumb was at times flexed across the palm of the hand in a spasmodic manner. In addition to these symptoms, she suffered from prolapsus uteri and menorrhagia. The difficulty and pain in walking were, however, the most prominent features of the case. She could not raise her feet the height of a step, and her locomotion was most curious, consisting of a sort of corkscrew motion, or twisting of the foot and thigh each step that was taken. This had been going on for three years, sometimes better and sometimes worse, but on the whole she was gradually getting worse. I learned from her that when younger she had been of a strong, healthy nature, and suffered from little illness till her marriage. She seems to have suffered severely during her various confinements from floodings, &c., and from the time of her last confinement she has been affected more or less in the manner described. In regard to the cause of this condition, I am of opinion that her nervous system had been much weakened, and thrown into an excitable condition by the shocks of labour and by the floodings at those times. In this opinion I was borne out by Dr. Allbutt, of Leeds, who saw the case with me. The treatment at first consisted of the various preparations of steel, of which I found the ferri ammon. cit., combined with bromide of potassium, to be the best. Tannic acid pessaries were also ordered to be introduced into the vagina for the relief of the prolapsus uteri, and a hypodermic injection of morphia was given every night for three weeks. Under the influence of these remedies she improved in her general health, and the lameness was improved in a slight degree; in fact, she seemed to arrive at a certain standard of health and to advance no further. I was now induced to try strychnia, in the form of pills, combined with carbonate of iron. The dose was 1/20 gr. twice a day. The effects were marvellous. The lameness is fast disappearing, and she is able to walk out of doors, which she has not done for fifteen months. I firmly believe she will be quite cured if the treatment is persevered in.”