valuable than sweating in all eclamptic cases and in all nephritic
convulsions. Profuse sweating does little more than take the water
out of the blood, and even concentrates the poisons in the blood.

Hirst causes purging by 2 ounces of castor oil and a few minims of
croton oil. He also advises large doses of magnesium sulphate. In
such serious disturbances as eclampsia, it is not necessary to give
a magnesium salt, which, it has been shown, can have unpleasant
action on the nervous system. Sodium sulphate is as valuable and is
not open to this danger.

Hirst urges that whatever the blood pressure, with albuminuria, as
soon as persistent headache occurs, and especially if there are
disturbances of vision, the pregnancy must be terminated at once. On
this there can be no other opinion. Temporizing with such a case is
inexcusable.

After labor has been induced there is an immediate fall of blood
pressure, which lasts some hours. The pressure will again rise, and
usually is the last sign of toxemia to disappear, and he finds that
this increased pressure may last from two to three weeks when there
is not much nephritis, and several months when there is nephritis.

Although he says he has found no bad action from ergot, either by
the mouth or hypodermically in these eclamptic cases, it would seem
inadvisable to use ergot, which may raise the blood pressure. He
finds that pituitary extract "can cause dangerous rise of blood
pressure."

Pelissier [Footnote: Pelissier: Archiv. mens., d'obst. et de gynec.,