CONVULSION (Lat. conmasio, convulsion). A symptom of disease occurring in sudden at tacks during which the patient generally loses consciousnesS; the muscles of a part or of much of the body are contracted and relaxed involun tarily, in spasmodic and irregular movements; the eyes are generally open, the eyeballs turned up or to one side; the teeth are set tight to gether; the tongue or cheeks are frequently bit ten; the breathing is at first arrested, then labored and deep; the face is generally red, and the saliva oozes from the mouth as froth. ln epilepsy (q.v.) the convulsions are as just described and the patient generally sleeps immediately after them before regaining consciousness. In hys teria (q.v.) there is less writhing and more rigidity, the patient is not entirely unconscious in most cases, her cheeks remain pale, and she regains consciousness after a period of confusion, without sinking into a sleep; the tongue is not bitten and froth does not issue from the mouth. Urmmic convulsions are very similar to those of epilepsy. Convulsions are also caused by irri tation of the brain and spinal cord from other sources than those mentioned, such as anfemia of the brain, tumors of the brain, alcoholic intoxication, acute indigestion, Bright's disease, intestinal worms, etc., as well as certain acute
diseases with an initial rise of temperature.
In all cases of convulsions, except when oc curring in a mother who has just given birth or is about to give birth to a child, the clothing should be removed and the patient immersed in a hot bath up to the neck for ten or fifteen minutes or till the limbs relax. An enema of soapsuds containing twenty drops of turpentine will always be of advantage to an adult, and an enema of water to a child. The patient should never be grasped and held by any one. hut should be protected from falling from the bed with cushions and pillows. In epileptiform convul sions, the tongue should be protected from being bitten by being thrust back into the mouth, or by a rubber eraser inserted between the teeth. The patient should not be allowed to bury the nose and mouth in the pillows.