Tanacetum

Tanacetum vulgare, Linn.

Natural order, Compositae,

Common names, Tansy; (G.), Rainfarn ; (F.), Tanaisie.

Preparation, Tincture of the plant.

Authorities. 1, Hering, Archiv., 13, pr. 1, p. 170, a boy, set. twelve years, took H ounces of extract for worms ; 2, Ely Van de Warker, M.D., The Detection of Criminal Abortion, p. 75, 10 minims of oil of Tansy in simple syrup; 3, same, two 15-minim doses at intervals of four hours; 4, same, another case; 5, W., Bost. Med. and Surg. Jour., vol. 10, 1834, p. 30, a woman took a large dose of the oil ; 6, same, X. Y. Z., took repeated doses of 10 to 20 drops; 7, same, took 209 drops in one hour and thirt}r-six minutes; 8. Charles T. Hildreth, M.D., Med. Mag., 1834 (Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., 1835, p. 256), a woman took i ounce of the oil, death in two hours; 9, Dr. H. C. Raymond, Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., 1841 (2), p. 514, a woman took an overdose of same; 10, W. W. Ely, M.D., Am. Journ. of Med. Sci., 1852 (1), p. 279, a young lady took a tablespoonful of same, death in an hour and a quarter; 11, John C. Dalton, Jr., M.D., ibid., p. 136, a girl, get. twenty-one years, took 11 drachms of same to procure an abortion, death in three hours and a half; 12, Dr. Chapin, Bost. Med. and Surg. Journ., vol. 57, 1857, p. 383, a woman took ^ fluid ounce of same; 13, Dr. Underwood, ibid., a young woman took the oil to produce abortion ; 14, John E. Pendleton, M.D., Am. Med. Times, vol. 2, 1861, p. 177, a girl, set. twenty-one years, took a strong decoction of Tansy to procure abortion, death in tweutv-six hours; 15, E. M. Hale, North Am. Journ. of Horn., vol. 13, 1865 ; 16, William H. Burt, M.D., Med. Invest., March, 1865, p. 63, took the pure oil, 4 drops (first day), 6 drops (second day), 10 drops (fourth day), 25 drops (sixth day) ; 17, A. C. Lodged, M.D., Buffalo Med. and Surg. Journ., 1868, p. 136, Mrs. O., set. thirty years, about three months pregnant, took 3 drachms of oil ; 18, E. M. Hale, M.D., West. Horn. Obs., vol. 6, 1869, p. 345, a young woman took two tablespoon fu Is to procure abortion ; 19, W. Affright, M.D., Canada Med. Journ., vol. 6, 1870, p. 212, Miss , pregnant, took half a teaspoonful ; 20, A. D. Binkerd, M.D., Med. and Surg. Rep., vol. 22, 1870, p. 538, Mrs. B., set, twenty-eight years, accustomed to take 5-drop doses without inconvenience, now took 1 5 or 20 drops; 21, Dr. Henry Flood, Med. Rec, vol. 11, 1876, p. 339, Mrs. S., set. twenty-five years, took a teaspoonful of the oil to procure abortion, and Mrs. D., in second mouth of pregnancy, took a strong decoction with like results; 22, Dr. Welch, Med. Rec, vol. 12, p. 348, a young girl, to procure abortion, took small doses of the oil for two weeks, aud then a heavier dose.

Mind p. 504

Slight exhilaration from some cause

Nervousness

Moaning and general appearance of distress (after three-quarters of an hour)

Great confusion of mind

Fatigue of mind after the least mental exertion

Intellect enfeebled, with tendency to stupor (after three-quarters of an hour) ; completely unconscious (after one hour and a quarter)

Upon questioning her, I detected an indifference to my interrogatories and incoherence in her replies to the point inquired after (after two hours)

Unable to fix my attention on anything, and it seemed as though the next instant my reason would leave me

Dulness of all the senses

Partially unconscious

Loss of consciousness

Total unconsciousness

Uttered a shriek and fell senseless to the ground ; she continued in this comatose condition over an hour, when she vomited again and recovered consciousness

Perfectly unconscious, though not profoundly comatose

Perfectly comatose (after six hours)

Head p. 504

Dizziness,3 10 20.

Dizziness and confusion of mind continuing to increase, particularly the latter

Slight giddiness (in half an hour)

When first attacked, her condition, judging from the description of those who saw her, was very similar to a person in apoplexy

Sense of weariness, but not pain in the head (after three hours and a half )

Strange fulness and sense of pressure within the head, amounting to pain (after one hour)

Very unpleasant sense of fulness within the head (in fifteen minutes)

Sense of fulness of the head and face (after fifteen minutes)

Agonizing pain in head

Constant dull heavy headache for a number of days

Severe frontal headache, with great fulness of the head

Dull frontal headache, with cutting pain in the temples

Eyes p. 504

The sclerotic coat of the eye was so congested that it had a dark-purple glassy appearance, and was so badly swollen that the cornea seemed to be depressed (after two weeks)

Eyes open and very brilliant ; pupils of equal size, widely dilated, and immovable; sclerotics injected

A little inward strabismus of the right eye

Occasionally a slow, lateral, rolling motion of the eyeballs

Agglutination of the lids, in the morning

Dull aching pains in the eyeballs

Pupils slightly dilated

Pupils contracted (after two hours)

Pupils, during the first hour, very closely contracted, afterwards very much dilated

Ears p. 504

Stitches in the internal ear

A sensation as if something closed the ears very suddenly

Roaring in the ears

Ringing in ears (in twenty minutes)

Nose p. 504

Profuse secretion of mucus in the nose, with frequent coryza

Dryness of the nostrils

Face p. 504

Features seemed fixed, giving to the physiognomy an expression of deep solemnity (after two hours)

Duskiness of the countenance (after two hours)

Face flushed

Cheeks flushed, of a bright-red color

Mouth p. 504

Tongue feels rough, with a white coating ou it

Mouth and nose drawn a little to the right side

Frothing at the mouth

Bloodstained mouth

Flat insipid taste

Throat p. 504

Roughness of the throat

Feeling in the throat as if I would cough all the time, without being able to cough through the whole proving

Unable to swallow

Stomach p. 505

Thirst, Thirst (after two hours)

Eructations. Constant eructations, tasting of the oil for twenty-four hours after taking it

Eructations of sour air, at night

Repeated Tansy eructations and borborygmus (after three hours and a quarter)

Flatulent eructations from the stomach, tasting intensely of Tansy (after half an hour)

Nausea and Vomiting, Some nausea

Suffering from nausea and vomiting, which, having been promoted by copious draughts of warm water, had continued freely for the last twenty minutes (after threequarters of an hour)

Vomiting

Vomited freely twice

Vomiting; the matter ejected had the odor of Tansy

Faint and sick at the stomach (after ten minutes)

Stomach. Slight glow in the stomach

Burning in stomach

Burning sensation in the stomach

Great heat of stomach and bowels

Immediate sense of heat in the stomach

Weight at the stomach (after three hours and a half)

Drawing-cutting pains in the epigastrium many times

Abdomen p. 505

Dull pains in the right hypochondrium ; sharp pains in the left

Frequent colicky pains in the umbilical region through the day, and especially at 4 a.m., for two weeks

Sharp sticking pains in the whole umbilical region

Hard, dull, aching pains in the whole of the bowels, constant symptom

Feeling as though the bowels were full of limpid secretion from taking a cathartic (second morning)

Constant hard drawing pains in the left groin

The pains are mostly all in the region of the small intestines ; from small doses, they are of a cuttingstitching character; from large doses, constant dull, heavy, aching pains, with frequent spells of sharp, cutting, colicky pains, worse at night, and especially after midnight

Stool p. 505

Soft papescent stools, preceded by sharp cutting pains in the umbilicus

A loose stool, and a second about half an hour after

Two loose evacuations from the bowels, and a feeling as though he would have more

Constipation (secondary) ; (primary), diarrhoea, from large doses

Urinary Organs p. 505

Urine produced a slight scalding (after one hour)

Constant inclination to urinate, with dull heavy pains in the small of the back (secondary)

Desire to urinate constantly present, but not strangury (after one hour and twenty minutes)

Constant desire to urinate still present (after three hours and a half)

Marked diuretic action ; obliged to rise and urinate, a very unusual occurrence; the urine strongly impregnated with the Tansy odor

Urinated three times in four hours

At first, suppression of urine, followed by profuse flow of urine

Urine very fetid

Urine very high-colored (primary) ; very light-colored (secondary)

Urine passed in increased quantity, high-colored, and of strong odor of the drug (after half an hour)

Sexual Organs p. 505

There was inflammation of the vaginal walls of the internal and external labia, which resulted in an enormous abscess in one labia (after two weeks)

(1st.) It will cause abortion in the early months of pregnancy ; I have known one case at the second, one at the third, and one in the fourth month of gestation, the two former from large quantities of the warm infusion, the latter from the oil (how much I could not ascertain). (2d.) I have known it to bring back the menses after a suppression of several days, not naturally, but very profusely, with severe laborlike pains (from large draughts of the infusion). (3d.) Cases have come under my observation where its use, in moderate doses of the infusion, had the effect of preventing a threatened abortion (it was taken to hasten the abortion)

At full term a child was born, not larger than a rat; the child lived three weeks

Respiratory Organs p. 506

Mucus had collected in the larynx and fauces, which very much disturbed respiration (after six hours)

Constant tickling sensation in the larynx and fauces, that produces a constant inclination to cough, but no coughing

My voice had a strange sound to my ears

Breathing slightly oppressed (after three hours aud a half)

Respiration disturbed

Breathing much distressed (after threequarters of an hour); labored (after one hour and a quarter)

Strong desire to draw a full breath, which did not give relief to the oppression in the chest when drawn (after two hours)

Laborious respiration

Respiration 14 to the minute, with some labor of the respiratory muscles (after two hours) ; 12 to the minute (after six hours)

Respiration hurried, labored, stertorous, aud obstructed by an abundance of frothy mucus, which filled the air-passages, and was blown from between the lips in expiration; the breath had a strong odor of Tansy

Respiration laborious, not stertorous ; blowing the mucus and saliva from her fauces and mouth, but the saliva did not appear to enter the larynx ; this respiration was more marked after each spasm, but not very unlike that of sound sleep a part of the time when most quiet

Heart and Pulse p. 506

Feeble cardiac action, and all the signs of impending dissolution

Pulse 115 (after two hours and three-quarters)

Pulse 110, small and feeble (after three-quarters of an hour); almost extinct (after one hour and a quarter)

Pulse 98 (after half an hour)

Pulse decidedly increased in force and a little in frequency (soon)

Pulse slightly increased, but a little slower than natural (after two hours) ; 60, with a peculiar measured beat (after six hours)

Pulse quite full, forcible, 128,11.

Pulse fuller and more incompressible

Pulse feeble and somewhat frequent

Irregular pulse

Pulseless

Back p. 506

Severe attack of lumbago one evening, lasted all the evening

Constant dull aching pains in the lumbar region, for ten days

Upper Extremities p. 506

Feeling of numbness, with a sensation as though her arms and legs were suddenly swelling (after ten minutes)

A sense of cold numbness crept over her limbs (after three hours) ; the numbness increased till it amounted almost to paralysis

Pricking sensation coming and going over the extremities and along the spine (after three hours and a half)

Prickling sensation in extremities, with flashes of heat (after one hour)

Superior Extremities p. 506

Left wrist very lame and sore, in the morning

Inferior Extremities p. 506

Great weakness of the legs, with general prostration of strength

Unsteadiness of step, with a feeling I cannot describe, but far worse than pain

Generalities p. 506

Trembling

Paroxysms

Convulsions

Convulsions, supposed from the description given by those around her to be epileptic, in which the shoulder was dislocated

A succession of convulsions supervened, with frothing at the mouth, laborious respiration, and irregular pulse

Convulsions of a severe and dangerous character

She was seized with convulsions, after which she vomited freely, then was carried in a state of catalepsy to bed

Violent convulsions

Clonic spasms (after three-quarters of an hourV7.

Violent clonic spasm

Spasms occurred once in about twelve minutes. They were the most violent rigid kind of clonic spasms, but not convulsive; they came on instantaneously and generally, and continued about one minute. They were attended with slight, if any, motion of the arms; it might, be called a trembling. The arms were peculiarly affected, and invariably in the same way; they were thrown out, forward of, and at right angles with the body; the hands, at the wrists, bent at right angles, with the forearm supinated, the points of the fingers nearly in contact, the fingers straight, and slightly bent at the joint which united them with the hand. The muscles of respiration were strongly affected during each paroxysm ; air was forced from the chest slowly but steadily, and made a slight hissing noise as it escaped groin between the patient's lips. During the intermission of spasm, the muscles were perfectly flexible, and the transition seemed very sudden. The jaws were the only exception to this rule; they were for the first hour and a quarter rigidly closed, and were with difficulty opened, but after that, were subjected to the same action as the rest of the body ; when the spasms were on, they were rigid, and when they were off, they were relaxed. After the patient grew weaker, the spasms were more frequent, but had about the same severity and length

At intervals of five or ten minutes the body was convulsed by strong spasms, in which the head was thrown back, the respiration suspended, the arms raised and kept rigidly extended, and the fingers contracted. After this state of rigidity had continued for about half a minute, it was usually succeeded by a tremulous motion, often sufficient to shake the room, together with very faint and imperfect attempts at inspiration. The whole interval, from the commencement of the convulsion to the first full inspiration, varied from a minute to a minute and a half. Occasionally, the tongue was wounded by the teeth, and the saliva slightly tinged with blood. Immediately after a convulsion, the countenance was very pallid and livid, from the suspension of respiration, and the pulse exceedingly reduced in strength and frequency. The pulse and color then gradually returned until the occurrence of the next spasm. It was very common, a few seconds after the termination of a convulsion, for the head to be drawn slowly backward, and the eyelids, at the same time, stretched wide open. In the intervals of the convulsion, the limbs were mostly relaxed, but the jaws remained clenched

General paralysis of all voluntary motion, including the muscles of deglutition (after six hours)

Great immobility; he made extraordinary movements and remarkable gestures, stretching, drawing up the feet, standing ou his head, and when spoken to concerning it, he said : "Let me do as I wish ; I cannot do anything else;" so he drew up the legs, and when the muscles would not draw them farther, he pulled them up with his hands, and then suddenly stretched them out; throughout this there were no pains; it lasted half an hour, recurring several times (after several doses)

Few rheumatic symptoms

A sensation approaching a thrill through the whole frame

Sleep p. 507

Somewhat drowsy (after three hours and a quarter)

Went to bed drowsy, but not restless (after three hours and a half)

Fever p. 507

Surface cool and moist (after three-quarters of an hour) ; cold and clammy (after one hour and a quarter)

Surface below its normal temperature, still cooler towards the extremities (after two hours)

Temperature 100.5° F. (after two hours and three-quarters)

Temperature 99.5° F. (after half an hour)

Feeling of warmth diffused over whole abdomen (after fifteen minutes)

Skin warm, but not remarkable as to moisture

Cold clammy perspiration covered the surface (after six hours)

Conditions p. 508

Aggravation.

(Night), Sour eructations; 4 a.m., colicky pains in umbilical region.