A Disorder Due to Exposure to Intense Heat, Characterized Clinically Chiefly by Violent Muscular Spasms and Excessive Irritability of the Muscles. Preliminary Note.

In 1904 I described1two cases that I saw in the men's wards at the Episcopal Hospital, in which remarkable muscular spasms occurred after exposure to severe heat. These patients presented none of the conditions ordinarily recognized as due to heat; there were, indeed, no symptoms of any moment, aside from the extremely striking muscular disturbance, except that both patients were slightly constipated and one had nausea and slight vomiting. The muscular spasms, however, were of a remarkable character, and in some of their details they appeared to be sufficient to distinguish the cases from other conditions of spasm that are recognized, whatever their cause. One of the most striking features was a very conspicuous degree of fibrillary contraction, particularly in the muscles of the calf. This was of continuous occurrence, except during the frequent interruptions caused by the most marked of all the symptoms, namely, severe tonic spasms. The