. . per multos dies ponderosissimum caput circumgestasse."
Convulsions are said to be observed after medicinal doses of
opium. Albers states that twitching in the tendons tremors of the
hands, and even paralysis, have been noticed after the ingestion
of opium in even ordinary doses. The "pruritus opii," so familiar
to physicians, is spoken of in the older writings. Dioscorides,
Paulus Aegineta, and nearly all the writers of the last century
describe this symptom as an annoying and unbearable affection. In
some instances the ingestion of opium provokes an eruption in the
form of small, isolated red spots, which, in their general
character, resemble roseola. Rieken remarks that when these spots
spread over all the body they present a scarlatiniform
appearance, and he adds that even the mucous membranes of the
mouth and throat may be attacked with erethematous inflammation.
Behrend observed an opium exanthem, which was attended by
intolerable itching, after the exhibition of a quarter of a
grain. It was seen on the chest, on the inner surfaces of the
arms, on the flexor surfaces of the forearms and wrists, on the
thighs, and posterior and inner surfaces of the legs, terminating
at the ankles in a stripe-like discoloration about the breadth of
three fingers.
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