The intra-cranial circulation and its relation to the physiology of the brain / by James Cappie, M.D.

  • Cappie, James.
Date:
1890
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The intra-cranial circulation and its relation to the physiology of the brain / by James Cappie, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

    64/204 (page 52)
    V. THE UNIFOEM MASS OF BLOOD WITHIN THE CEANIUM. That the mass of blood within the cranial cavity can be neither diminished nor increased directly, and that the extent to which it can be altered by ordinary physiological causes within short periods of time must be very limited,—such is the thesis I would now wish to submit and defend. At one time its truth was regarded as almost self-evident, but since the pub- lication by the late Sir George Burrows on The Cerebral Circulation, its soundness has not only been questioned, but physiologists and surgeons seem to agree in regarding it as an exploded and indefensible dogma. I am inclined to think, however, that the doctrine rests on a secure foundation, and that the last word in its defence has not yet been said. It has long been observed that in cases of decapita- tion, while the vessels of the scalp and face may have been completely emptied, those within the cranial cavity would be found as full as usual. The latter present no evidence of having been drained of any of their contents, notwithstanding the open condition of all the blood- vessels in the neck. On the other hand, in the case