There was no
intermission in the paroxysm, which increased in force until
general convulsions ensued. The patient said that the paroxysm
could be stopped by firm pressure on the upper part of the
external genital organs. Dexter applied firm pressure on her
clitoris, and the convulsions subsided, and the patient fell
asleep. They could be excited by firm pressure on the lower
vertebrae. Corson speaks of a man of fifty-seven who, after
exposure to cold, suffered exhausting hiccough for nine days; and
also records the case of an Irish servant who suffered hiccough
for four months; the cause was ascribed to fright. Stevenson
cites a fatal instance of hiccough in a stone-mason of forty-four
who suffered continuously from May 14th to May 28th. The only
remedy that seemed to have any effect in this case was castor-oil
in strong purgative doses.
Willard speaks of a man of thirty-four who began to hiccough
after an attack of pneumonia, and continued for eighty-six hours.
The treatment consisted of the application of belladonna and
cantharides plasters, bismuth, and lime-water, camphor, and salts
of white hellebore inhaled through the nose in finest powder. Two
other cases are mentioned by the same author.
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