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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![the HRtero-lateral tract. All that seems certain is that there is an ascending tract, long considered to be a part of the direct cerebellar tract, bnt in all probability quite distinct, which tract has been traced to the upper part of the mednlla, disappearing in the arciform fibres. 4. The grey matter may conduct sensory impressions of a painful character (Schiff). As regards previous experiments conducted upon animals with a view of deter- mining the paths of conduction in the spinal cord, I will refer first to those made upon Monkeys. They are limited in number, whereas the experiments upon Dogs, Rabbits, Pigs. Frogs, Pigeons, and other species of animals of a lower type than the Monkey are innumerable, and I cannot do more than allude to some of the more important work upon the subject. Professor Ferrier^’ states, “ When a hemisection of the cord is made, voluntary motion occurs on the side of lesion and paralysis of sensation on the opposite side. “ The following experiment which I made on a Monkey illustrates these propositions. The cord was cut on the left side between the 7th and 8th dorsal nerves, to the extent indicated in the accompanying figure, which is after a photo-micrograph of the first slice from the cord above the incision. The cord was intact except at the region of the lesion. Directly after this injury, and till death eighteen days subsequently, there was on the side of lesion absolute paralysis of motion, and perfect retention of sensibility, not a]jparently heightened, to every form of stimulation, tactile and pain- ful. The animal’s attention was immediately excited by a touch anywhere on the same side below the lesion, and it put its hand to, or rubbed the part touched or pinched. On the opposite side voluntary motion was unimpaired, and the animal was able to use its right leg freely and forcibly with perfect precision. There was, however, ahsolute insensibility to every form of sensory stimulation, such as contact, pinching of the toes and muscles, and a degree of heat which excited lively manifesta- tions of uneasiness and pain in the left leg or in tire hands. It was observed, also, that though the animal could move its right leg for volitional purposes with perfect precision when the eyes were open, it could not do so when the eyes were blindfolded, being evidently unaware of the position of its leg, and unable to extricate it from any obstruction. This, however, it readily effected when the eyes were freed. “ With the exception of certain statements made in reference to the muscular sense, which will be considered more at length subsequently, the results of this experiment agree with those obtained by Brown-Sequard, and with the facts of disease or injury of one-half of the spinal cord in Man. It has usually been found by other experi- menters, and also in cases of unilateral disease of the cord, that on the side of lesion there is a hypersensitiveness to sensory impressions, but this was not apparent in the experiment above recorded. What the cause of this hypersesthesia so frequently ‘ The Functions of the Brain,’ p. 51.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22297066_0034.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
