A treatise on headache and neuralgia : including spinal irritation and a disquisition on normal and morbid sleep / by J. Leonard Corning ; with an appendix, Eye strain, a cause of headache, by David Webster.

  • Corning, J. Leonard (James Leonard), 1855-1923.
Date:
1890 [©1888]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A treatise on headache and neuralgia : including spinal irritation and a disquisition on normal and morbid sleep / by J. Leonard Corning ; with an appendix, Eye strain, a cause of headache, by David Webster. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    On examination his muscular system was found to be weak and flabby, his heart's action feeble and irreg- ular and his general condition one of pronounced anaemia. Pressure along the spinal column revealed two points of marked soreness, the one in the dorsal, the other at the level of the second lumbar vertebrae. From the first of these tender spots radiated, especially on sudden changes in temperature, intercostal pains of considerable intensity. Having placed the patient on a tonic regimen and prescribed the iodide and bromide of potash, the latter to be taken in cumulative doses during the afternoon and evening, I directed my attention to the poinfs of tenderness in the spine. Instead of treating them by the long and tedious method of local galvanization, I decided to try the efficacy of local injections of a coca- ine solution of low percentage (1$). I had already somewhat developed this mode of treatment by exper- iments on animals (dogs and rabbits), and on one occa- sion I had already made use of it in the case of a man suffering from spinal irritation. The injections were made with an ordinary hypodermic syringe and needle, thirty minims of a 1$ solution of the hydrochlorate of cocaine being deposited in the painful zone. Owing to the possible danger of wounding the cord, I did not make these injections as deeply as I desired, for at that time I had not developed the technique of the procedure sufficiently to admit of this. Later, how- ever, I discovered a method of performing this part of the operation in the most perfect manner, without either danger or inconvenience to the patient.1 This perfected technique has already been thoroughly de- scribed in the previous chapter; and its efficacy abun- 'See previous chapter. Also Scientific American Supplement for Sept. 24th, 1887, and the Medical Record for March 17th, 1888.