From the Keeping Things in perspective Department

3 comments on “From the Keeping Things in perspective Department”

1. robroy says:

   March 4, 2009 at 6:53 pm

   One of my favorite words is formication. No, not fornication, you prurient readers…formication:
   [blockquote]
   forâ‹…miâ‹…caâ‹…tion
      /ˌfɔrmɪˈkeɪʃən/ [fawr-mi-key-shuhn]
   –noun
   a tactile hallucination involving the belief that something is crawling on the body or under the skin.
   Origin:
   1700–10; < L (Pliny) formīcātiōn-, s. of formīcātiō a sensation that ants are crawling on one's skin, equiv. to formicā(re) to have such a sensation (v. deriv. of formīca ant) + -tiōn- -tion[/blockquote] It is basically pathognomonic for amphetamine abuse. The first patient I saw with it, presented to the ER complaining that she and her kids "were crawling with lice" (or [i]pediculosis[/i]). She was basically poisoning herself and her kids with Permethrin. I was only a medical student, but when I didn't see any lice, myself, we drug tested the mom. Sure enough...amphetamines. My attending was quite impressed! Kids got hauled off to CPS.

2. Jeffersonian says:

   March 4, 2009 at 9:14 pm

   I miss Ogden Nash.

3. Frances Scott says:

   March 4, 2009 at 11:49 pm

   Thanks for the laugh…love Ogden Nash! On a high school chemistry test I once got extra credit by answering a question that required knowing the formula for formic acid by stating that one could make formic acid by distilling ants…using my Latin to cover my lapse of memory.