MONOBROMATED CAMPHOR

Abstract

The experimental production of fits by drugs has been a particularly interesting branch of research in epilepsy. Many workers, especially Magnan, 1 Horsley, Boyce, Russell, Turck, Turtschaninow, Purkinje and Muskens 2 have used various drugs and attempted to explain epileptiform phenomena on the basis of the effects produced by these drugs. However, these researches have failed to reveal any one drug that will cause effects exactly comparable with genuine epilepsy. Of all the drugs used, camphor or its derivatives appears to be the substance best suited for the experimental study of fits. For many years, camphor has been known to produce convulsions in warm-blooded animals, and not infrequently in man through an overdose. Alexander, in 1829, and later Wiedemann 3 (1877) described the convulsive effects of the drug as epileptiform. Later. Schwartz (1871). Gubler (1874), Pathault 4 (1876) and Lawson 5 (1897), described its effects on the nervous systems of