Note 152 — ON THE INHALATION OF CHLOROFORM, ETC. (continued 7)

Dr. Watson defends the original name of this complaint, delirium tremens. He says:—“But they who object to delirium tremens appear to see no harm in delirium ferox: whereas it is just as incorrect to say delirium is fierce, as to say that it trembles: it is the patient who is furious, even as it is the patient who trembles.” Now, in speaking of a patient, we may speak either of his mind or his body: we may say that a person is learned, or that he is fat. A patient may be fierce on account of the kind of delirium with which his mind is affected, and the term ferox applies both to him and the complaint; but the act of trembling affects only his body.