On the cure of squinting, by the division of one of the straight muscles of the eye, &c. &c. &c. : being the half-yearly report laid before the Governors of the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, Charing Cross, at their general meeting on the 25th July, 1840 / by Charles W.G. Guthrie.

  • Guthrie, Charles W. Gardiner, 1817-1859.
Date:
1840
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the cure of squinting, by the division of one of the straight muscles of the eye, &c. &c. &c. : being the half-yearly report laid before the Governors of the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital, Charing Cross, at their general meeting on the 25th July, 1840 / by Charles W.G. Guthrie. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    of nerves sent to it alone, after communicating with the great sympathetic. 1 he inferior oblique muscle receives also a communicating branch from the lenticular ganglion, constituted itself from the great sympathetic, and the nasal branch of the fifth pair, which are intrinsically nerves of sensation, in conjunction with a branch of the third pair, a nerve of motion. The third, the fourth, and the sixth pairs of nerves are then directed almost ex- clusively to the muscles of the eyeball, which receive also communications from the filth pair and the great sympathetic. The muscle which raises the upper lid receives its nervous influence from the branch of the third pair, which supplies the rectus superior muscle, and thus connects them more closely in action in raising the lid and turning the eyeball directly upwards, whilst the orbicular muscle of the eyelids which closes them and .shuts the eye, receives its nervous influence, inducing motion, from the portio dura of the seventh pair, and its sensation from the sensitive part of the fifth pair. The third pair of nerves, essentially a nerve of volun- tary motion, has been, however, lately supposed, when minutely traced to its extreme originating points, to possess also an involuntary influence over the muscles and parts it supplies. It is known to every one that strong stimulants applied to the nose cause uneasiness to the eye, and a considerable flow of tears, which not only run over the cheek, hut pass through the regular lachrymal channel from the inner angle of the eyelids to the nose, probably with the view of washing away the matter which is unduly irritating the sense of smell residing in the first pair of nerves. The second pair or the optic nerves are alone the seat of vision, as the first pair are that of smell; they are, however, indirectly connected with the nerves of motion going to the muscles of the eye, through the lenticu- lar or ophthalmic ganglion, which supplies the treble influence of the great sympathetic, of the third pair and of the fifth to the eyeball, through the long and short ciliary nerves it sends to the internal parts of the globe. But the sympathy between them is rendered very evident in many states of disease of the eye, and particularly when its muscles become paralytic, and the upper eyelid falls. The first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh pairs of nerves from the brain and the great sympathetic are all then more or less directly connected with the action and motions of the eyeball. It is very diffi- cult in particular to indicate why the third pair of nerves should supply three of the straight muscles, and not the fourth ; or why the external rectus muscle should have the sixth pair of nerves to itself; why the su- perior oblique muscle should have the fourth pair of nerves sent to it alone, whilst the inferior oblique muscle is supplied both by the third pair and the lenticular ganglion, which is itself in direct connexion also with