Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1886-10-22
MADNESS FROM DRINK.
A WRETCH IN THE AGoNles OF DE-
lIRiUM TREMENS.
Shocking Scene at a Hospltai-Hailuei-
About the Cause and Treatment of the

Shocking Scene at Hospltal-Hailuei-
nations of u Fatient-A Physician Tells
About the Cause and Treatment of the
Disease.
"Ile's got mania potu, was the short dag
| it2,is Of the Young doctor. "Put him in the
strong roon.r
1t wasn't SD easily done, however. He
| fought like devil incarnate, and the fends
which rose up around him at every turn
seemed 20 lend strength to resist his supposed
! prosecutors In the awful struggle he re
| leased one of his hands and struck viciouslY
at one of the men holding him But he was
at last overpowered He would probably have
| killed the attendants enc by one, but they
Were too many, and IL fifteen minutes he was
| strapped down to cot. HOrrid reptiles
cr2"led over the helpless body, which was
at their mercy. a great poisonous snake
which had found its way into the hospital
was slowly creeping upon him to end his
miserable existence There was terrible,
despairing cry, which was deadened within
those four padded walls, and the exhausted
man fell back painting, breathless, and ap-
parently dead He soon revived to new and
H'dlfsOi1e nnlluI11aIlnnS.
That horrd snake came back again rein
forced by an alligator, while tiger stuck his
hungry jaws within the little room and
gritted his teeth and opened his capacious
| jaws i'll anticipation of IL palatablc feast on
the poor wretch tied to his bed All this, and
much more, the maddened man saw in his de-
lirium The transition was rapid from one
| horror TO another, but there at last came a
rest from the sickening spectacle
| QUIETING THE SHATTERED NERVES.
A doctor entered with potion of choral,
| which the frantic patient was forced to swal-
low. Presently the effect became noticeable.
The sick man grew less violent, and the glaI-
ing eyes, resembling two balls of fire, gre"
calm and closed as if in slumber The choral
did its work well, and sustained its reputation
as q soporific specific The raging lion is trans
formed into peaceful, sleeping lamb, and
| immediate danger is over. In the morning
the patient aHolic comparatively refreshed,
but he feels an mcunquerablc thirst for
whisky He Is almost crazy for drink. and
declares he Will have it or die A very little
| Is given him, which Iuiets the shattered nerves
for a little while By slow stages he was
brought around all right, and in tour or five
| days lie was discharged cured of that attack
hut he IS liable to 90 through the same thing
again before long.
1t is a strange disease. y said prominent
| hospital physician, but modern scienre is
| ahle to control 1t better than formerly. The
proper name for what is vulsarly called the
| Jim Jams is mania potu, or ina lness from
drink. 1t is produced by excessive use of al
cohoEc stimulantS The nervous system be-
| &.
circulation of the blood which produces more
| or less congestion Of the brain \ mans
ideas flow with the utmost PROPULSION, hut
| there is no regulation or will power, and the
sufferer is affected by Illusions and halluci-
nations-falSe sensations of a real object, or
intellectual pelN er5oa without any relation
| to a real object In the former case the I'M
| fortunate man would think ball rolling on
| the floor was a rat or a bat, or crouchiug
| bear The man affected with halucinations
sees things which have no actual existence
| around bin
~ PAROXYSMS OF TERROR
| The great feature of mania potu is the loss
| of voluntary or will power 1t is ALWAYS very
difficult TO control delirium tremens patients,
because they can net be convinced by reason,
and in former days they often died in
paroxysms of terror. They gain superhuman
| strength, and men who, i'll their normal CON
| dItion, could be easily handled by single
strong man are too much for three or four
| powerful attendants. The treatment formerly
was to exhaust the patient by emetics. Now
choral or bromide of potassium are the sover-
eign remedies Very few men die of tlelirium
tremeils, hut they suffer ten thousand deaths
while in the horrors of the delirium think
| periodical drinkers are more liable to mania
potu than the steady topers. There are two
classes of cases of the disease In one the
afflicted is possessed of high fever, hot skin.
and Is inclined to violence, while in the other
the skin is cool sweaty and there is no mani
testatlon of violence. Old Dr. Tolliver once
had fight for his life with a man who had
ielirium tremenS, and they are often ex-
tremely dangerous TO handle"
Many of the deni3cns of Vine street are fa-
miliar with the symptoms and tarrors of the
Jim jams, and have been in the hospital fight
ing monsters which the eye of a sane man has
never yet bcheld The man who laughs at
delirium temens has never been through il.
An old topar shiv1rs every time he hears the
expression and the most callous wretch feels
pity for a fellow sufferer who has been tortured
by the imaginary demons and reptiles which
he himself has seen in his attacks of alcohol
ism, mid term for the most intense suffer
ing TO which the human brain can he sub
jccte1L-Cncinnati Enquirer.