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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![On p. 41, loc. cit., Brown-Sequard states: “We will then try to show the disagreement between these results and a theory recently proposed by M, Moritz ScHiFF,* according to which the posterior columns of the spinal cord are the channels for tactile impressions, and the grey matter the conductor of painful impressions.” “We will now say a few words on the decussation of the conductors of tactile im- pressions. If a latent half of the spinal cord has been divided transversely in the dorsal region, we find that when we touch the sole of the foot of the posterior limb on the side operated upon, the animal raises its head and tries to look at the place irri- tated (in which attempt it cannot succeed, as its eyes are covered). On the opposite side, the touching of the skin of the toes does not produce the least effect. It seems, therefore, that the conductors of the tactile impressions decussate in the sp>incd cord as well as those of painful impressions, so that the right side of this organ transmits to the sensorium the impressions which come from the left aide of the body, and vice versd.” [As I have previously remarked, there is considerable evidence in favour of Schiff’s views, with regard to tactile sensation, and when the pathological cases are referred to, we shall see that cases have occurred which support them.—F. W. M.]. M. Brown-Sequard, in a footnote on p. 42, states: “ I must say that it is absolutely impossible to know, while we make a section of part of the spinal cord, Avhat is the precise depth of the injury ; it is mere guess work,” and he adds, it is necessary to remove the spinal cord and harden it in alcohol. I would add that it is also necessary to cut microscopical sections of the lesion, and the spinal cord above and below, and to note the degeneration. With regard to the production of hypercBsthesia, M. Brown-Sequard made a number of experiments tending to show— 1. Hyperassthesia in all parts of the body behind deep injuries to the posterior column of the spinal cord. 2. After transverse incision of the restiform bodies, the cerebellum, the processus cerebelli ad testes, and in the tubercula quadrigemina. 3. After a section of either the anterior or the lateral columns. 4. Hyperaesthesia greater after a section of the posterior columns and the posterior horns of grey matter and the neighbouring parts of the lateral columns and central grey matter than after a section of any other part of the cord. M. Brown-Sequard does not refer in these lectures to some curious phenomena he discovered after unilateral section of roots of spinal nerves in the lower dorsal and upper lumbar region; as they seem to be of importance in the explanation of hyper- sesthesia, I will briefly relate what M. Brown-Sequard states in a paper entitled “ Becherches Experimentales sur les Voies de Transmission des Impressions Sensitives * ‘ Untersuchungen zur Naturlelire des Menschen und der Thiere.’ Von J. Moleschott ; vol. 4, pp. 84-87, 1858.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b22297066_0044.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
