Indirect Nerve Force Brown- Scqitard. 



23 



thetics, other, chloroform, &e., act, not by altoi ins chem- 

 ically or otherwise the properties of the brain, hut by 

 an irritation in certain parts. Tin- irritation is propa- 

 ftated to others and stops the activity there. In hi* < x- 

 periinents chloroform did not ivarh any part of the 

 spinal eortl ; but tno sphiiil cord had, however, lost a 

 great deal of its power. So tnat it was Hear in HICM- 

 experiments that a na-sthotics acted just as galvanizaiion 

 prted on the par vuyuiit when it. stops the heart. Tho 

 irritation alTi-eis certain parts of tho luso of tlio brain 

 and tlius is extended io the cells all through the cerebro- 

 spinal system, producing a cessation ol 1 activity. Tucre 

 is a power lu us that seeuus to direct our niovomeuts. 

 That power may be stopped by tho irritation of certain 

 parts. There are three parts which, so Jar as I know. 

 are able to stop that power. It is a thing worth trying. 

 If you try lt> stand on one foot with your eyes closed you 

 will find that very soon you will totter. A state is pro- 

 duced very much like that of drunkenness. I '.vouht not 

 say that it will be so with all of yon. But I saw many 

 white heads Here, and I had these in ujy mind. It is 

 very natural when a person has turned fifty that his 

 power of directing movement is diminished, his power 

 of balancing i's diminished. When the eyes are closed it 

 is very difficult to stand on one foot. That power is 

 nlmost destroyed aud sometimes completely so by an 

 injury to certain parts. It is known that an injury to 

 the cerebellum hi animals destroys that power. In men 

 it is very rarely so. Injuries in men are quite diff -rent, 

 usually. I found that if a mere prietc of the finest 

 needle were made ou the part of the spinal cord in 

 birds where che gray matter in the center of the cord 

 comes to the surface, that the prick immediately pro- 

 duced a disorder of movement. Animals affected this 

 way go about as if they were intoxicated. Another 

 part may be the cause of this, aud this is very frequent, 

 unfortunately, in this country. When the posterior 

 columns of the spinal cord are diseased to a great ex- 

 tent, this is also what we cull locomotorataxv. In all 

 these cases, as my experiments oa birds, aud the experi- 

 ments of others on tue cerebellum have shown in all 

 tnose cases, tliere is an influence or irritation starting 

 from the cerebellum or posterior columns or the cord 

 which goes toward those ceils aud stops their activity 

 Of course we do not know the location of those parts 

 that serve to balance our movements. 



The phenomena jf arrest have been very well studied. 

 It is due to a Russian physician, SeUseheuom, who 

 studied the reflex power of the spinal cord to react and 

 produce a movement after cessation nas come to it, 

 that we know that this power is destroyed or dimin- 

 ished through an influence coming from the. brain. It is 

 not rare in cases of paralysis in man that tills reflex 

 powei is completely lost. In that case an influence is 

 exerted by an irritation starting from the brain, ou Uie 

 cells of gray matter in the spinal cord, destroying their 

 reflex action. This reflex power exists in a very great 

 degree in the spiual cord aud medulla oblonyitla in 

 Guinea pigs, on which I have readily produced an at- 

 tack of epilepsy by a simple process, consisting in ap- 

 pealing to tile excessive excitability in these animals 

 when the neck is touched. Sometimes a breath of air on 

 this part is enough to produce a tit. This refl y x action 

 of the spinal cord, however, may disappear, and epilepsy 

 bo cured by cutting a portion of the skin of tin; neck. A 

 cut of half an inch has been sufficient in a number of 

 cases. A physiologist by the name of Goitz adds to this 

 the assertion that tlin power thf sympathetic nerve 

 possesses to stop the heart's action, wbeu it is irritated, 

 may ho 



CONVCLSIONS. AND EXTRAORDINARY MEANS OF CHECK- 

 ING THKM. 



I pass now to a completely different kind of phe omena 

 of arrest. That is, the stoppage of convulsions of vari- 

 ous kinds. The first I will speak of is a kind of convul- 

 sions which we call eclampsia. Very frequently in this 

 case, on irritation of the slun in children, may produce a 

 cessation of the tit. Dipping a child in very hot water, 

 or throwing very cold water ou it, m i.v stop convulsions. 

 In other cases the introduction of acupuncture needles, 

 which the Japanese have employed lor centuries, and 

 which we unfortunately do not employ enough may 

 have an immense power on our nerves. By what 

 mechanism they act is unknown. It is certainly not 

 through chemical process, since, they are of platinum, 

 and have no chemical action. An irritation of the fauces 

 or top of the palate by uitrato of silver may stop convul- 

 sions. 



Ducros, a court physici.au for whom the Princess Adc- 

 lida had a great fancy, was an ingenious man it ho was 

 uot altogather honest. He succeeded in tho presence of 

 the physicians in sloping tits or convulsions in children 

 or men, merely by pressing the skin in the ueigborhood 

 of tne ear. A pressure in the neigborhood of the nostrils 

 may do this. If we are seized with cramps, and can put 

 one loot flat on a very cold floor, the cramps may disap- 

 pear at once. Or a drawing of tho muscled so affected 

 may acton the nerve-cells or spinal cord and stop it. 



Hysteria is one of the most singular afiections we are 

 subject to. I say we, because even men are so attacsed 

 sometimes. A remarkable aud successful treatment of 

 this, which I witnessed in Paris, is so peculiar and 

 strange, that if it were not before such a trustl'-ui au- 

 dience, hold aud daring as I am, when I am sure of the 

 truth, I should not dare to mention tho fact. The 

 daughter of a friend of iniaa was attacked with a tit of 

 hysteria every morning. I succeeded for a time in break- 

 ing up the tit by the use of violent means fur a half an 

 hour before the paroxysm was due. But after a time 

 the means I used completely failed. My friend then 

 went to see a gymnast in Paris, named Trial, who 

 was far more daring than I am, and was in the habit of 

 treating hysteria in a very bold and unique way. Ho 

 used to take his patients, as he did this lady, up a ladder, 

 aftefr having bandaged their eyes so that they could see 

 nothing. After they had ascended to the. height of about 

 20 feet, ho made them walk very carefully on a plank 

 that was about seven or eight inches iu width. He, of 

 course, was a gymnast, and accustomed to walk there. 

 so that he could easily lead the person forward. When the 

 young lady had reached the middle of the plank, which 

 was pretty long tor it was a large gymnasium no said 

 to bis patient, " Now, you are perfectly safe, and there 

 is no possibility of your fit coining on again." He had 

 previou.-ly assured her that this means was infallible ; 

 had referred to hundred of previous cases, and exagger- 

 ated his success in order to act on the mind of the patient. 

 "Now," said he, "after I fiave left you, you will not try to 

 lift up the piece of co ton-wool that is txed ou yo ir eyes 

 until one minute has elapsed." He started away and left 

 the patient there in great danger, as yon may imagine, of 

 tailing. After a miuu:e had passed tho patient removed 

 the bandage and opened her eyes. Fortunately for Mr. 

 Triat no accident has ever occurred there. How many 

 patients be cured that way, I don't know ; but I know 

 the daughter of uiy friend was certainly cured. The 

 next day there was no need of taking her up there. She 

 bad had enough of it. ILanghter.J 



There are many other menus that may cure an attack 

 of hybteria. The great point to be remembered is, that 



