An enquiry into the formation of habit in man / by Alfred T. Schofield.

  • Schofield, A. T. (Alfred Taylor), 1846-1929.
Date:
[1893]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An enquiry into the formation of habit in man / by Alfred T. Schofield. 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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    under a very high power is seen to be traversed in every direction with very fine white fibres less than -nr<J-w of an inch in diameter, dhe nerve cells seem to be the starting point, and the centres of nutrition for the nerve fibres, the nutrition of the attached fibres is indeed a more obvious part of their work than the projection of impulses, which was formerly thought to be their main function. Any fibre cut off from its nutrient cell soon wastes away. In early child- hood the cells are ot a spherical, fusiform, or pyramidal form with. few. 01 no interlacing nerve fibres. Nerve impulses, starting in infancy and increasing in numbers and com- plexity till adult life is reached, are believed to form inter- communicating nerve fibres between the cells in every direction, until in manhood though there are still left many unbranched cells, the greater number have fibres given off m every direction. In old age again a good many of them appear to be broken off and the cells blunted. Blood supply. The grey matter containing cells is, to a limited extent, analogous to an electric battery, of which the wires are thenerve fibres. The vitality of these nerve structures is maintained by a constant supply of fresh arterial blood B v this means when the battery has discharged its nerve force.it is speedily recharged, and as this occurs most often in the grey matter, there is about five times as much blood circu- lating there as m the white or fibre matter. The great res°tP°f +in ?f l) 0°d USed })y the brain compared with the n i ol th® bod7 is certainly, remarkable. While the brain is on y about part the weight of the body, the supply of blood is about one-eighth of the whole of that require/by ie rest of the body. The system of circulation is arranged so as to ensure the most constant and rapid change. The thin dePfldence of mmd and bodyisnowhere more clfarlyseen than in the question of blood supply. If it be suddenlv out if the blood W]’ can no !on&er be used voluntarily; the blood be deficient m quantity the thoughts often dNooshf aiKl Sense,le88 5 if ^ be defective in quality the vSry 1 seems changed, and the person gets gloomy and lt. e ’ 1' 10 temperature gets raised, delirium sets in • if effusion takes place, and the blood Dress* Z tbel“!- * 00ftSrneSf 1S bst ^together in an apoplectic fit. al“’ A 2