Results of hemisection of the spinal cord in monkeys / by Frederick W. Mott ; communicated by Professor Schäfer.
- Frederick Walker Mott
- Date:
- 1892
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Results of hemisection of the spinal cord in monkeys / by Frederick W. Mott ; communicated by Professor Schäfer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.
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![Tooth,' who performed liemisection of the spinal cord in Monkeys for the purpose of tracing the degenerations, considers that these fibres probably end in the nucleus lateralis. This observer does not state what effects as regards sensation, return of motility, &c., occurred after the operation.t EdingerI states that in Fishes, Reptiles, and Amphibians large numbers of fibres decussate from the base of the posterior horn to reach the anterior column in front of the central canal. He figures also a section of the spinal cord of a young Cat, which shows this decussation to some extent. In the human subject, Edinger remarks that they are very difficult to demonstrate, because they run forwards and upwards before passing over to the other side. .He considers that those fibres coming from the posterior root are connected with cells of the posterior horn, and from these arise fibres which pass across by an anterior commissure to the antero-lateral tract of the opposite side. Aderbach§ at the instigation of Professor Edinger, performed the following experiment. He destroyed the posterior horn, the posterior column, and the lateral column in that part where the posterior root fibres enter, for some considerable length of the cord, on one side and on both sides. Besides a sclerosis of the direct cerebellar tract there was also degeneration of the fibres in the anterior commissure. Bilateral injury produced bilateral degeneration of the anterior commissure. The number of sclerosed fibres in the antero-lateral tract diminished continually from below upwards. There are objections to the acceptance of these experiments as proving any- thing conclusive. I have performed a similar operation, viz., a longitudinal section of Clarke’s column, but it was impossible to avoid injury of the anterior comrnissui'e, and there was degeneration of the antero-lateral tr-act, but it was most marked on the same side as the degerrei’ated direct cerebellar tract. The observation of Rossolymo, quoted by Edinger, is simply explained thus: the sclerosis of the posterior horn had directly affected many posterior root fibres. Although Kolliker quotes Edinger, and figures diagrammatically the decussation of sensory fibres going to form the antero-lateral tract, he offers no histological evidence in support thereof. If the fibres take an upward and forward course, then hemisection in three places so as to destroy one half of the cord for half a centimetre, must cut through a considerable number of those fibres before they have decussated, and consequently we ought to see degenerated fibres in the antero-lateral of the opposite side. This I have been unable to observe, neither does Tootii§ mention it; so that I think there is, at * ‘ Degeneration of tlie Spinal Cord.’ Gulstonian Lecture, 1890. Howard Tooth. t [At a recent meeting of tlio Neurological Society, Tooth stated that his experiments agi’eed with mine as regards retention of sensation to pricking and heat on both sides after hemisection.—Note added, November 21, 1891.] I “ Einigcs vom Verlauf der Gefuhlsbahnen im Centralen Nervensystem,” von Dr. L. Edinger, in Frankfurt am Main. ‘ Deutsche Med. Wochenschrift,’ 1890. § Loc, cit.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22297066_0031.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
