On sclerosis of the spinal cord : including locomotor ataxy, spastic spinal paralysis, and other system-diseases of the spinal cord: their pathology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment / by Julius Althaus.

  • Althaus, Julius, 1833-1900.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On sclerosis of the spinal cord : including locomotor ataxy, spastic spinal paralysis, and other system-diseases of the spinal cord: their pathology, symptoms, diagnosis, and treatment / by Julius Althaus. 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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    patches in the pons and medulla oblongata, one of them being a quarter of an inch in diameter, while others varied in size from that of a pea to a mustard-seed. The white sub- stance of both hemispheres also showed small grey areas, none of which, however, implicated the grey substance of the cortex. Patches were also found on the surface and through different parts of the interior of both thalami, while the corpora striata and the cerebellum were free of them. The cord showed, after straining, small areas of degeneration in different portions of the lateral and posterior columns and the contiguous grey matter. Bastian has suggested that the absence of tremor in his case may have been owing to there having been, at an early period, considerable degeneration in the anterior pyramids, cutting off the cere- bral influence from below; but this explanation appears far from satisfactory. It is true that there was an early affection of the medulla oblongata, as shown by the presence of drawling speech ; but at this time the cerebral influence was by no means cut off, since the patient was still able to walk and stand, and to use his hands. While therefore variations in localisation are probably the cause of either absence or presence of tremor, the exact spot which is of influence in the production of this symptom has not yet been determined. Striimpell has suggested that the tremor of multiple sclerosis is owing to a pulling and stretching of tendons, which takes place as soon as a sudden or energetic move- ment is attempted, and that this causes reflex movements in the muscles corresponding to those tendons which inter- fere with the proper execution of the intended movement. If, for instance, the forearm be quickly flexed, there will be a contraction in the triceps, causing the forearm to be stretched for a short time, and thus the intended movement Avill appear irregular and tremulous. This explanation, however, appears likewise unsatisfactory; for if we were to accept it, we should expect to find sclerotic tremor even more