Methods of staining the nervous system / by Bernhard Pollack ; translated from the 2nd German ed. by William R. Jack.

  • Pollack, B. (Bernhard)
Date:
1899
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Methods of staining the nervous system / by Bernhard Pollack ; translated from the 2nd German ed. by William R. Jack. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

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    mining the choice. In cerebral affections, especially in the so-called focal lesions, the points of importance are the seat and the extent of the lesion. Bearing this in mind, the incisions must be made so as to give the greatest facilities for its ultimate localisation. Moreover, since the recent progress in neurology- has been attained only by the aid of the highest developments of microscopic methods, it is desirable to keep in mind the possibility of an extensive microscopic examination of the brain. The postulate of Virchow, now i?iore than fifty years old, that the individual peculiarities of the case must determine the method of examination, applies to no organ more forcibly than to the brain. Accepting the view that the macroscopic section of the brain must be adapted to the microscopic examination to follow, we may deduce the general law, that no one form of section can be considered as the best adapted to every case, but that certain special features must be kept in mind. Virchow's method, indeed, permits of an accurate view of all the parts, but the division into small portions, hanging together only loosely by their connection with the pia mater, makes an accurate microscopic examination almost impossible. Serial sections, in any case, are completely excluded. But the division of the cortex by incisions, the direction of which is constantly changing, also increases, not infrequently, the difficulty of determining the seat of a lesion. The approximate certainty obtained by this method, that the internal parts of a brain are free from gross lesion, is no longer sufficient for the class of cases under consideration. Meynert's method is better adapted for normal anatomy, and for the weighing of the various parts of the brain, as also for cases where the cortex and the rest of the brain have to be separately examined. The method of Pitres-Nothnagel is that chiefly employed for the majority of internal organic lesions. The importance of care hi the removal of the brain and cord and all later procedures cannot be sufficiently emphasised, for many cases, which are recorded as abnormalities, have been artificially produced.