The physiology and pathology of the cerebellum / by William A. Hammond.

  • Hammond, William A. (William Alexander), 1828-1900.
Date:
1869
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The physiology and pathology of the cerebellum / by William A. Hammond. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.

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    I have witnessed three cases of injury of the spinal cord, in which there were painful and frequent erec- tions, and two in which the faculty seemed to be alto- gether lost. The usual influence of disease of the cord, such as congestion, nieningitis, and myelitis, is in the early stages to produce frequent erections; later in the course of these affections, the symptom disappears. In white softening of the cord, the power of erection is lost very soon. In two cases of general paralysis under my care, in which there was no reason to susj)ect any cerebellar lesion, erections, accompanied with strong sexual de- sires, occurred among the first symptoms. As the disease advanced toward a fatal termination, these symptoms became absent. Gall asserts that the loss of the testicles causes atrophy of the cerebellum. This ojDinion has not been sustained. Leuret' made many investigations relative to the point, and found that in geldings the average weight of the cerebellum was 7 0 grammes; in stallions, 61, and in mares, 61. The proportionate weight of the cerebellum to the cerebrum was in geldings as 1 to 5.97; in mares, as 1 to 6.59, and in stallions as 1 to 7.07. So far from the cerebellum decreasing from cas- tration, it was found that the cerebrum lost weis'ht from this cause. Now, if the cerebellum were the sole or even the chief originator of the sexnal impulse, it ought, judging by analogy, to have decreased in size after castration. Instances of the dependence of structural integrity upon the excitation due to functional activity are so frequent, that it is scarcely necessary to cite them. The other hypothesis relative to the function of the ' Anatomie Compar6e du Syst^me Norveux, t. i., p. 425, et seq.