On the contractility or irritability of the muscles of paralysed limbs, and their excitability by the galvanic current, in comparison with the corresponding muscles of healthy limbs / by Robert Bentley Todd.

Date:
[1847]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the contractility or irritability of the muscles of paralysed limbs, and their excitability by the galvanic current, in comparison with the corresponding muscles of healthy limbs / by Robert Bentley Todd. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    Furthermore, it may be stated that strychnine is as apt to affect the paralytic limbs where the lesion is spinal as where it is cerebral. In conclusion, I will sum up the results of the preceding observations in the following propositions :— 1. The contractility or irritabdity of the muscles of para- lysed limbs bears a du’ect relation to their state of nutrition. 2. The excitability of tbe paralysed muscles to galvanism varies with the condition of their nerves, more than with that of the muscles themselves. 3. In the majority of cases of cerebral palsy, the conti’ac- tility or irritability of the paralysed muscles is less than those of the sound side, simply because their nutrition is impaired by want of exercise. 4. No diagnostic mark, to distinguish between cerebral and spinal palsy, can be based on any difference in the irri- tability of the paralysed muscles; for the muscles in spinal paralysis exhibit the same states as those in cerebral para- lysis. 5. The tendency of strychnine to affect the paralytic limbs before the healthy ones, is attributable to its being attracted in greater quantity to the seat of lesion in the brain than to the corresponding part on the other side. 6. The manner in which the muscles of a paralysed limb respond to the galvanic stimulus, assists us in forming an opinion as to the state of its nerves; if they respond feebly or not at all, the nerves are in a depressed state : if they re- spond vigorously, more so than the healthy muscle, the nerves are in a state of irritation. [From Transactiom of the Medico-Chmirgical Society, Vol, xxx.] Printed by Richard Kinder, Green Arbour Court, Old Railcy.