Synopsis of cerebral and spinal seizures of inorganic origin and of paroxysmal form as a class; and of their pathology as involved in the structures and actions of the neck.

  • Hall, Marshall, 1790-1857.
Date:
1851
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Synopsis of cerebral and spinal seizures of inorganic origin and of paroxysmal form as a class; and of their pathology as involved in the structures and actions of the neck. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    The application of Physiology to Pathology, to Diagnosis, to the establishment of a Class of Diseases, and to their Prevention and Treatment, has never, I imagine, been so made before. Man lives a life of Emotion. No moment of that life is passed in absolute tranquillity of mind. Every emotion has its influence on every muscle of his frame. It is written on the countenance, on the posture, on the very hands. The muscles of the neck do not escape; grief and anger choke; shame and indignation flush the face and neck. But what we term expression, as it affects the neck, is the first stage of trachelismus ; and blushing and flushing are forms of phlebismus. Extremes of these become cerebral or spinal seizures! Similar remarks may be made with regard to the Irritations. Errors in diet and deranged states of the alimentary canal, and excited conditions of the uterine system, are causes of disease to which mankind is most subject in a state of civilisation. I have explained the manner in which these and other causes of irritation act diastaltically on the neck, its nerves, its muscles, and its veins. I beg, once for all, to state that I have excluded from the following pages, as from the Lectures themselves, all that did not bear on my argu- ment. I propose in due time to put my subject into a more systematic form. The present state of the inquiry will be at once known by adding to this little work my Synopsis of the Diastaltic Nervous System, constituting the Croonian Lectures for 1850. The series of these Lectures for the years 1850, 1851, and 1852, present, together, a tolerably complete view of the argument. The ample Outline requires filling up.