Absinthium

Artemisia absinthium. Linn. Common name, Wormwood. Nat. order, Compositse. Preparation, Tincture from the fresh young leaves and flowers.

The Swiss " Extrait d' Absinthe" (from the effects of which a few toxicological symptoms are obtained) is prepared from various species of Artemisia, viz., rupestris, mutillina, glacialis, valeriana, spicata, etc.

Authorities. 1, Gatchell's provings ; f, Toxicological.

Mind p. 3

Intoxication, t.

Frightful visions, t.

Soothed, as if going into a beautiful dream

Very tranquil, as if brain were rounded and symmetrical

Wants nothing to do with anybody

Idiotic manner; don't care whether she dies or not

After recovering, he had no recollection of talcing the poison, nor of the cause of his doing so

Sudden loss of consciousness, t.

Stupor, t.

Idiocy, f.

Kleptomania, t.

Insensibility (with convulsions), t.

Head p. 3

Vertigo, tt.

Headache, t.

Dizzy when she rises up

Wants to lie with the head low

Eyes p. 3

Injected conjunctiva, f.

Pain in the eyes

Eyes itch

Eyelids heavy

Face p. 3

Looks foolish

Mouth p. 3

Jaws firmly fixed

Tongue protrudes, feels thick; can't talk distinctly

Complains that tongue (and larynx) are paralyzed

Foaming at the mouth, t.

Throat p. 3

Scalded feeling in throat

Stomach p. 3

No appetite; loathed food (next day)

Eructations; stomach and bowels distended

Sick in stomach and liver

Tendency to vomit

Nausea, apparently in region of gall-bladder

Food lies heavy

Stomach feels cold and oppressed ; thinks it would not absorb much

Uncomfortable, irritated feeling of stomach

Abdomen p. 3

Thinks liver and spleen thickened

Thinks liver and spleen have become thin and pale

Bloated around the waist and in the abdomen, as after ague

Bowels distended

Very much bloated

Immense accumulation of flatulence ; wind-colic

Urinary Organs p. 3

Constant desire to urinate

Urine of a deep yellow orange color, and strong, horse-like smell

Sexual Organs p. 3

Darting pain in right ovary

Heart and Pulse p. 3

Tremor of the heart, felt towards the back

Heart thumps ; can be heard in the scapular region

Lower Extremities p. 3

Feet very cold

Generalities p. 3

Falling down, as in epilepsy, with distortion of the features, spasms of the limbs, bloody foam at mouth and biting of the tongue, t.

Epileptiform convulsions

Next day very weak

No muscle; great lassitude

Very rapid prostration, t.

Pathological Appearances.

The autopsies of animals poisoned by absinthe showed, besides a penetrating odor of wormwood in various organs of the body, great congestion of the cerebro-spinal vessels, of the meninges of the brain, and extreme hyperemia of the medulla oblongata. The brain and spinal cord presented, upon transverse section, a uniform rosy coloring, with injection of the vessels; occasionally the stomach, more frequently the endocardium and pericardium, showed small ecchymoses. (Journ. of Psycholog. Med., 9, 525.)