napoleon's health

 Napoleon could never remain still, would feel in his waistcoat for snuff, take out his watch, file his nails or get up to throw pebbles at the invariably roaring fire or kick at the embers. When in a rage he would smash furniture and even when not angry would often fiddle with rare porcelain figures until he broke off the arms and legs; then he would scoff at those, like Josephine, saddened by the damage. When dictating, he would twitch his right shoulder and keep on twisting his right arm so as to pull down the cuff of his coat with his hand. Bourrienne reported that there would often be an involuntary shrug of Napoleon's right shoulder, accompanied

by a movement of the mouth from left to right, especially when absorbed. Students of Napoleon have often speculated on the possible medical or psychological causes of his many quirks and oddities. An investigation in this area is not helped by the tense relationship that existed between Napoleon and his medical advisers. Although the Bonaparte family in general had a tendency to hypochondria, Napoleon himself took a Shavian attitude to medicine and regarded all doctors as quacks or impostors. He had long-running relationships with many physicians, but never cared for any of them. The surgeon Larrey was the one he respected most (although Dr Yvan, in attendance from 1796-r8r4, was the longest -serving) but he never liked him, for Larrey combined three qualities Napoleon despised: he was introverted, sycophantic and moneygrubbing. Larrey, like a later doctor, Antommarchi, always took the view that Napoleon's health problems stemmed from the liver. The most obvious aspect of Napoleon's medical profile is that he suffered from fits. The seizure he had while in bed with Mlle George was the most dramatic example, and he never really forgave her for making this widely known through her panic and thus bringing him into ridicule and contempt. Medical opinion is divided on whether Napoleon suffered from petit mal, a minor form of epilepsy, or whether, like Julius Caesar, he was a victim of the full-blown variety; still others have claimed that the fits were the result of a disorder of the pituitary gland or (bearing in mind also that he suffered from urinary disorders) were a symptom of venereal disease. Yet another theory is that the temporary loss of consciousness