TWO CASES OF EPILEPSY. 
MUCH doubt is entertained by the 
majority of neurologists with 
regard to the efficacy of hypnotism or 
of the magnetic pass in cases of epilepsy. 
There is reason for this, it must be ad- 
mitted, in the recorded data of the his- 
tory and pathology of the disease, and I 
had myself been a doubter as to any 
benefit attending such treatment until 
observations of my own convinced me 
that some cases were amenable to this 
singular influence that seemed irremedia- 
ble by any treatment known to the 
authorities. Charcot, Fere, and others 
have noted instances of epileptiform 
attacks that yielded to hypnotic control. 
Hysterical, neurotic persons these were, 
for the most part, whose convulsive at- 
tacks it was difficult to distinguish from 
epilepsy, except by an examination of 
the history of the patients themselves, 
and a- minute inspection of the first 
movements attending a paroxysm. Mr. 
Gowers accords so little favor to such 
treatment of true epilepsy in his “Man- 
ual of Nervous Diseases” that we are 
■warranted in considering him decidedly 
skeptical as to any positive benefit to be 
derived from it. 
Two cases, within a year past, of a 
decided character, have yielded such re- 
sults that I consider them worthy of 
record. 
Mr. S. F. came to me with a history 
of petit mat of about fifteen years’ con- 
tinuance. He had received treatment 
from several physicians and specialists 
without more than temporary benefit, 
and had come to the conclusion that his 
malady, which had the unfortunate 
phase of seizing him without any pro- 
domal or warning signs and rendering 
him unconscious for variable times, was 
incurable. It was likely to appear at 
any time, yet was very irregular. He 
would not have an attack for weeks, 
then there would be a series occurring, 
perhaps, with more or less violence, 
bordering on grand mal, for several 
days in succession. This uncertain state 
of course debarred him from obtaining 
any settled or remunerative employ- 
ment. His mind v\as not seriously im- 
paired, aside from a shade of melancholy 
that brooded over it—a result natural 
enough. My first step was to obtain a degree of 
hypnotic control, and this proved suc- 
cessful. My object, it scarcely needs to 
be said, was to impress the mind of the 
patient with a strong sentiment of oppo- 
sition to the attack, to animate his will, 
and so arouse such nerve activity as 
would oppose or compensate in a physi- 
ological manner the abnormal condition 
of those centers that contributed to the 
recurrence of the fits. He complained 
of frequent sensations of dullness in his 
forehead, as if there were a want of 
blood in that part of the head, while • 
there was a feeling of heat and fullness 
in the side and back parts. It seemed 
to me that a newly awakened or rein- 
forced activity of the circulation in the 
anterior of the cerebrum, if it were pos- 
sible to induce it, would be productive 
of a better balance of the centers, and 
bring about a state of the brain that in 
itself would prove inhibitory of the 
dreaded seizures. 
This in brief was the principle on 
which I acted after the first interview. 
He came to me once or twice a week 
and I simply applied my hands in the 
magnetic fashion to his head, that being 
placed in an attitude of repose with the 
eyes shut. Meanwhile he observed such 
rules of eating, dressing, sleeping, etc., 
as I deemed it expedient to advise, as 
much for the purpose of giving him 
something to think of as to correct habits 
that were faulty in but a minor degree. 
The effects of this treatment exceeded 
my expectations. Mr. F. in a month 
began to improve. The attacks occurred 
less frequently, and his health in every 
respect showed amendment. After a 
time the treatment was given at irregu- 
lar intervals, two or three weeks being 
allowed to intervene between a sitting, 
and when the patient’s last report was 
made to me he had had no recurrence of 
the fits for three months, and had under- 
taken the transaction of business that 
required travel and exposure, a venture 
that previously would have been re- 
garded by his friends as entirely out of 
consideration. In the course of my ob- 
servation of this case there were devel- 
oped certain phenomena that will, I 
think, be considered extraordinary by 
the reader, even if familiar with hypnotic 
cases. I have said that when the patient 
first came, under notice his attacks oc- 
curred without warning. He would 
drop suddenly to the floor or ground as 
if struck by lightning, and on reviving 
usually a severe headache compelled 
him to rest awhile, if not to sleep. Dur- 
ing my treatment if an attack occurred he would be likely to come out of it with 
little more than a sensation of dullness 
that soon wore off. Twice the seizure 
occurred when I was within ready call, 
and then, to my surprise, I found that I 
could, in a few seconds, check the spas- 
modic jerks and restore him to con- 
sciousness. On one occasion he fell to 
the floor in the presence of several per- 
sons, and was struggling violently when 
I came to his side. A sweep of my 
hands from the head to the knee sus- 
pended the convulsions and at my com- 
mand he opened his eyes and rose to his 
feet, and within ten minutes was able to 
continue the business transaction he was 
engaged upon when he fell. 
Another noteworthy feature developed 
subsequently to the beginning of the 
treatment was that, previous to an at- 
tack, Mr. F. experienced peculiar sensa- 
tions, or an aura, which he could not 
describe definitely. These sensations 
were a general nervous unrest, with 
dullness and heaviness of the head, and 
perhaps some aching, which continued 
for a few minutes or longer, until the fit 
came on. If he came to me during this 
initial period, a few minutes’ application 
of my hands would dissipate the sensa- 
tions and prevent an attack. Fully six 
times this procedure was repeated with 
n successful result, so that little doubt 
on my own part and that of the patient 
and his family is entertained as to the 
efficacy of the magnetic influence in his 
case. Certainly, on the pathological 
side it is reasonable to infer that an im- 
proved circulatory relation had been 
produced in the brain, the perma- 
nency of which, however, could not be 
assured. 
SECOND CASE. 
Mr. P , a gentleman fifty years of 
age, came under my notice about a year 
ago as a sufferer from the grand mal 
type of epilepsy. He had ten years pre- 
viously sustained a severe injury by 
which the nasal, molar, and other bones 
contiguous to the inner canthus of the 
left eye had been driven inward, and 
the muscular attachments of the eyeball 
internally had been lacerated, so that, in 
healing, the co-ordination of the axis of 
vision was rendered permanently im- 
perfect. A few years after this acci- 
dent, the epilepsy developed itself, and 
at the time I first saw him it had as- 
sumed an aggravated form. He was 
then under the treatment of a distin- 
guished specialist of New York City, 
whose diagnosis of the case referred its 
origin to the accident and the abnormal- 
ity of the left eye. Mr. P liad learned to distinguish 
certain physical and mental symptoms 
as antecedent to an explosion of his 
malady, and therefore knew for at least 
ten minutes before that one was immi- 
nent. There was a metallic taste in his 
mouth, a sense of congestion in the 
head, and a play of color. This last 
phenomenon is by no means uncommon 
in epilepsy and oilier forms of nerve 
disease, and it is d* emed that some dis- 
turbance of the visual center produces it. 
Mr. P was very willing to try the 
magnetic passes, and as his attacks oc- 
curred frequently, for two or three 
months I saw him at least once a week. 
No attempt was made to induce the 
hypnotic trance, but simple hand manip- 
ulation was tried, the result being as 
successful in its way as in the first case 
I have described. Mr. P frequently 
declared, as stated by acquaintances, 
that, if he could only reach Dr. Dray- 
ton’s office in time, he would be saved 
from a fit. 
I have had him come to me in a dazed 
mental state, his face turgid with blood, 
his respiration and voice thick, his pulse 
rapid and bounding, and with an anx- 
ious, excited manner, all intimating a 
nervous crisis. Placing him in a chair, 
I have at once administered the manual 
tactics, and in a few minutes his excite- 
ment would subside, his skin clear up, 
his pulse become calm and moderate, 
and he would pronounce himself greatly 
relieved and ready to go out upon the 
street. After this treatment he would 
be safe from an attack certainly for a 
day or two, and as the spasms were of a 
severe character, the relief he experi- 
enced was most gratefully acknowl- 
edged, although the prognosis on my 
part from the first was unfavorable as 
regards a cure. 
An attempt to analyze the process by 
which the effect was obtained in this 
second case, if an attempt were made to 
be minute, would trend upon the specu- 
lative, especially if at the beginning it 
was assumed to define the peculiar 
“force” or effect that is called animal 
magnetism. That some derivative in- 
fluence is exercised by the hand move- 
ments no one at all familiar with mas- 
sage will deny, and that the consequent 
reduction of the pressure at the nerve 
centers may abort an attack whose pro- 
domal symptoms have become well 
marked, is not too much to claim. A mental impression well sustained 
exercises an important inhibitory effect. 
We know what the will accomplishes in 
suppressing a yawn, a sneeze, and the 
hiccoughs: why not in the disturbance 
of the centers that precedes an epileptic 
outbreak ? Why may not the hypnotic 
pass be potent, especially if, in connec- 
tion with its control, we can secure im- 
plicit observance of the rules, medical 
and hygienic, prescribed for the patient's 
every-day life ? Repeated cases of con- 
trol by mental impression over the 
paroxysms of emesis in sea sickness are 
recorded, the subject passing at a word 
from the spasm into a calm nervous 
state, and obtaining comparative gastric 
comfort, no trance being induced, 
merely an assuring, imperious word or 
two being spoken. So also in the his- 
tory of hysteria we have many positive 
cases of wonderful results obtained 
through suggestion, the will of the agent 
or physician appearing to reinforce the 
mental weakness of the hysterical, and 
enabling the depressed nerve centers to 
recover tone and to exert their normal 
compensation. But whether or not 
such reasoning as this may be accepted 
as applying to the pathology of epilepsy, 
these two cases, and others more recent, 
stand upon my note-book as encouraging 
testimony that this insidious and dreaded 
disease may lose much of its virulence 
and terror under the hand of 
the hypnotist. H. s. drayton.