Visible muscular conditions as expressive of states of the brain and nerve centres / by Francis Warner.

  • Warner, Francis, 1847-1926.
Date:
[1881?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Visible muscular conditions as expressive of states of the brain and nerve centres / by Francis Warner. 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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    protruded, it may present much movement, but still be kept out a fairly long time. 7. Eyes. Upper eyelids often strongly retracted. 8. Head in the active stage is often moved much. During convalescence, and when the active movements have passed off, a lolling of the head to one side is com- mon ; i.e. inclination with rotation to the same side, combined with slight flexion. 9. Spinal muscles and trunk are often affected, but how to describe their condition I do not know. The child often balances itself very ill, throwing the scapular and upper dorsal region too far back, and thrusting the pelvis too forward, the spine still remaining symmetrical. It has sometimes seemed to me that the awkward appearance was due to want of adapt- ability of the proper compensations in the movements of different muscles. 10. The respiratory muscles. These may be affected much or little; the aim nasi muscles may be affected also. 11. The vascular centres. The heart’s action is sometimes irregular. 12. Varieties.—Hemiplegic. Paralytic. Local chorea; in Nerves IX., V., &c. The significance of the action of muscles as indicating brain conditions has long been dwelt upon by writers. Camper, who wrote in 1821, has shown how the Laocoon presents evidence as to how deeply the ancients had investigated the influence of pain as expressed in the figure and the muscles. In this group, “ not merely does the face, but the arms, legs— in short, all the muscles of the body indicate anguish.” Further on he cpiotes from the words of Paulo Somazzo’s work, ‘ Dell’ Arte della Pittura,’ published 1531, in which he describes the influence of the passions upon the muscles of the face, and still imore minutely the different postures and contortions of the ibody. Camper there complains that authors have usually • either confined themselves to appearances, or have “reasoned ;metaphysically concerning the operations of the mind, without