On stammering and squinting, and on the methods for their removal / [Edwin Lee].

  • Edwin Lee
Date:
1841
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On stammering and squinting, and on the methods for their removal / [Edwin Lee]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    30/108 (page 18)
    in certain states of cerebral congestion, inebriety, or weakness from disease, must also be distin- guished from stammering. Stammering, then, as may be inferred from what has preceded, may be considered as a spasmodic affection in the great majority of cases; not, however, of that kind which is caused by irritation of the surface, or of internal parts, or by lesions of the nerves or spinal cord, but of a cerebral origin, and depending upon a temporary disorder or a faulty action of the faculty of volition, as far as certain muscles employed in respiration and articulation are concerned, which induces a want of consent or harmony of action between these muscles and others, which are more directly under the influence of this faculty*. In the peculiarities which it presents it has great analogy with other nervous affections, especially chorea. It seldom occurs before the age at which children possess consciousness, and are able to pronounce words with facility, viz. about four or five years. Like chorea, it may be acquired by imitation ; is almost always increased by agitation, or when it is re- marked by others ; and affects, for the most part, individuals who are endowed with a high degree of susceptibility. It may be frequently stopped * Stammerers, when not attempting to speak, can, like other people, move their lips and tongue freely in all directions, except in those cases where the tongue is larger, or more bound down, than natural.