The Effect of Various Factors on Experimentally Produced Convulsions

Since Wilder,1in 1921, suggested the use of a ketogenic diet in the treatment for epilepsy, this procedure has taken a definite place in the treatment for this type of convulsion. The mechanism of the action of this diet, however, is not yet clear. It was suggested by Wilder that the anesthetic action of the ketones produced in the body was the controlling factor. It was also suggested by McQuarrie2that the dehydrating effect of the ketone bodies decreased the susceptibility of the nervous tissue, thereby lessening the frequency of the convulsive attacks. In order to study the effect of various factors on experimentally produced convulsions, I selected as an active convulsing agent the drug thujone, C10H16O, the chief constituent of the volatile oil of absinthe (wormwood), which has been used by various investigators3since it was first mentioned by Marce4in