On life and its lessons : being the inaugural address delivered to the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society, in the session 1882-83 / by James George Davey.

  • Davey, James George, 1813-1895.
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On life and its lessons : being the inaugural address delivered to the Bristol Medico-Chirurgical Society, in the session 1882-83 / by James George Davey. 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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    elaboration of the foetus in utero. ^Vliilst in former times it was taught that the brain was the root, or starting point, of the nen-ous system—that, in fact, the brain took precedence of every form of nerve-tissue in man, and the higher orders of vertebrates —it is now conceded that the formation of the brain occurs subsequently to the spinal cord and the nerves issuing from it, and after the gangUa of the sympathetic nervous system. In fact, this last named structure it is which precedes every other in the whole organism of man and animals. Seen in its origin—as a single cell—the multiplication and development thereof realise in due course so many ganglia—each one of which is endowed with an especial function, or force of its own — and these (ganglia), with the solar plexus as their great centre, may be well said to hold a precisely similar relation to the otherwise inert and insensible frame—to the othen\-ise dull and unmoving organism, as the '•'vital fire did to the animated statue of Prometheus. The preceding facts being accepted, the mon- strosities here recorded are duly explained, and their creation well understood. The late Dr. M. Hall records the birth of a child in which there was found neither a brain, nor a spinal cord ; but the absence of these two important organs did not, in the least, affect or influence the creation, growth, and maturity of the child. Dr. M. Hall wrote thus, the child, such as it was, was perfectly developed; in other words—the circulation, nutrition, and secretion were duly performed, without a cerebrospinal system. The late Sir William Lawrence recorded the case of a child born with no vestige of a brain—an acephalous monstrosity. In reference to it wc are told that not only were the excito-motory functions performed, and that the child gave evidence of pain, . and at first moved briskly—and that the sphincters performed their offices; but, what is a very material point, the child's breathing and temperature were natural. Moreover, it discharged urine and foeces. These two cases of monstrosity afford in themselves the most conclusive evidence in favor of the independence of the organic, or ganglionic nervous structure; they prove, beyond all doubt, not