Secondary degeneration following unilateral lesions of the cerebral motor cortex / by Sutherland Simpson.

  • Simpson, Sutherland, 1863-1926.
Date:
1902
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Secondary degeneration following unilateral lesions of the cerebral motor cortex / by Sutherland Simpson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    limb. Tu test the graaping power (in monkeys) a small stick, or pre- ferably the observer's finger, was held out to the animal, and its power of hanging on to any object which it had seized, such as the wire netting of the cage, was also noted. In testing gi neral sensibility the part to be examined wa,s touch- ed or stroked lightly (not pricked) with a needle at the end of a long stick, while the attention of the animal was attracted by an- other person, so that it might not see that it was being touched. If tactile sensation is not impaired the animal looks round and with- draws the limb, or indicates by some gesture that it feels the touch. To test whether pain was felt it was pricked with the needle. The plan generally adopted was to test for pain fii-st, for after an animal has been pricked once or twice, it responds more readily to a simple touch probably from apprehension of a prick. The clip-test intro- duced by Schiff, and relied on by Mott [4] and others, was also em- ployed, but as pointed out by Scliafer [5], it is misleading, and want of response to this test indicates motor rather than sensory paralysis. If a steel clip is applied to the skin while the animal does not see what is being done, an attempt will be made instantly to remove it from a sound limb, but if the limb is paralysed no notice may be taken of it. Often it was found that an animal would respond to a simple touch, while it would take no notice of a clip. In examining as to whether the sensations of heat and cold were affected, the animal was suspended in a sling-jacket, and when per- fectlj'^ quiet, a vessel containing hot oi' cold water was brought up underneath it until the fingers or toes dipped into the water. If sensation was present the limb was withdrawn, or if there was vol- untary paralysis of that limb the animal indicated by struggling or otherwise that it felt the hot or cold water. It was found in every case that the animal responded when hot water was applied to the foot or hand, but on the paralysed side the sensation Avas often delayed for a surprisingly long time, — in some cases as long at twenty se- conds. The knee-jerks were tested in the usual way. The temperature of the rectum, axilla, anticubital fossa, groin and popliteal space was taken from time to time, and the condition of the pupils and of vis-