One woman to whom the vapour had often been administered asserted that,
as soon as she grew hot, she grew MUDDLED. With persons just
commencing to blush it appears, judging from their bright eyes and
lively behaviour, that their mental powers are somewhat stimulated.
It is only when the blushing is excessive that the mind grows confused.
Therefore it would seem that the capillaries of the face
are affected, both during the inhalation of the nitrite of amyl
and during blushing, before that part of the brain is affected
on which the mental powers depend.
Conversely when the brain is primarily affected;
the circulation of the skin is so in a secondary manner.
Dr. Browne has frequently observed, as he informs me, scattered red
blotches and mottlings on the chests of epileptic patients.
In these cases, when the skin on the thorax or abdomen is gently
rubbed with a pencil or other object, or, in strongly-marked cases,
is merely touched by the finger, the surface becomes
suffused in less than half a minute with bright red marks,
which spread to some distance on each side of the touched point,
and persist for several minutes. These are the _cerebral
maculae_ of Trousseau; and they indicate, as Dr.
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