Pathological and practical researches on diseases of the brain and the spinal cord / by John Abercrombie.
- Date:
- 1845
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Pathological and practical researches on diseases of the brain and the spinal cord / by John Abercrombie. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
451/488 page 427
![•''^SERVe, ' tiiT ‘•^5 of anen'fi’^'.Li ,nn^:r?'N3 wlijM,V--' •* '■1 ^:lk , _ _ '’frainet.‘rttciv«la pm ot a jirorii oj tlie inferior jre arm. It retr Hc-n tealed, iDtinneil in the fo-ara, vnist, W conTtifee mfitki of tie )!'n'a;T])fiTO(if lie ivriii anil n'4-tT'l every nt'A of treat- Itkiijot ipedilytttll after tie I'l cantciytotlericaMoftle lailv. meniioneii ly Jlr- . tlnml rv.i5 foiorveiilyMM’ nations of tlearni.anif* ^■ .Itleafetionseem- ' 1'^* ' ' Li (fren ■(jiesiniel''''-’ , uamputa- *''* Jl**It*’ F OUTLINE OF TUB DISEASES OF NERVES. 427 hour. The attacks returned frequently in the arm, but it vas found that the pressure of a tourniquet prevented the insensibility. A nerve in this case was divided without success. The tourniquet lost its effect in arrest- ing the spasms, and he died suddenly after three months, hut there was no examination of the body. In the ]\Iedical and Physical .Journal, Mr. Jeffries has described a remarkable case of a violent neuralgia of the face, which was cured by the extraction of a small fragment of china, which had been lodging there for fourteen years; and I\I. Descot mentions a case in which a very severe affection of ten years’ standing was remov- ed by the extraction of a carious tooth. A young lady, mentioned b}' Mr. Pearson, was seized, without any obvious cause, with pain in the thumb,- accompanied by a morbid sensibility of the part; the affection gradually spread over the arm, and was accompanied by loss of nearly the whole muscular yiower of the extremity, with morbid sensibility of the integuments, and a strong contraction of the fingers, so that the points of the nails were forcibly pressed against the palm of the hand. The fingers were not under the control of the will, and every attempt made to extend them was accompanied by insupportable pain. The joint of the elbow w’as also contracted, and voluntary motion was nearly lost over the whble extremity. It was also very much diminished in size, while the morbid sensibility of it was inexpress- ibly distressing. After some time the other arm was slightly aflected in the same manner, and she had like- wise pain and great debility of both the lower extremi- ties. After this affection bad continued about a year, it got well under the use of a liniment composed of olive oil, turpentine, and sulphuric acid. This ]iroduced most severe erysipelatous inflammation, which, beginning upon the affected arm, extended afterwards over the whole body.* Ijittle has hitherto been done on this curious and in- teiesting subject, but it certainly promises most import- * Med. Chirurg. Trans, vol. viii.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21959432_0451.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
