638 FUNCTIONS OF THE CEREBRO - SPIN AL NERVOUS SYSTEM. 



retention of urine, and involuntary evacuation of the feces. Recovery took 

 place very gradually ; and during its progress, several remarkable phenomena 

 of reflex action were observed. At first, tickling one sole excited to move- 

 ment that limb only which was acted upon ; afterwards, tickling either sole 

 excited both legs, and, on the 26th day, not only the lower extremities, but 

 the trunk and upper extremities also. Irritating the soles, by tickling or 

 otherwise, was at first the only method, and always the most efficient one, by 

 which convulsions could be excited. From the 26th to the 69th day, iu- 

 voluutary movements in all the palsied parts continued powerful and ex- 

 tensive, and were excited by the following causes: in the lower extremities 

 only, by the passage of flatus from the bowels, or by the contact of a cold 

 urinal with the penis ; convulsions in the upper extremities and trunk, at- 

 tended with sighing, by plucking the hair of the pubes. On the 41st day, a 

 hot plate of metal was applied to the soles, and was found to be a more power- 

 ful excitor of movement than any before tried. The movements continued 

 as long as the hot plate was kept applied ; but the same plate r at the common 

 temperature, excited no movements after the first contact. Though the con- 

 tact was distinctly felt by the patient, no sensation of heat was perceived by 

 him, even when the plate was applied hot enough to cause vesication. At 

 three different intervals the patient took one-eighth of a grain of strychnia 

 three times a day. Great increase of susceptibility to involuntary movements 

 immediately followed, and they were excited by the slightest causes. No con- 

 vulsions of the upper extremities could ever be produced, however, by irri- 

 tating their integument ; though, under the influence of strychnia, pulling the 

 hair of the head or tickling the chin would occasion violent spasmodic actions 

 in them. Spontaneous convulsions of the palsied parts, which occurred at 

 other times, were more frequent and more powerful after the use of strychnia. 

 On the first return of voluntary power, the patient was enabled to restrain in 

 some measure the excited movements ; but this required a distinct effort of the 

 will ; and his first attempts to walk were curiously affected by the persistence 

 of the susceptibility to excited involuntary movements. When he first at- 

 tempted to stand, the knees immediately became forcibly bent under him ; 

 this action of the legs being excited by contact of the soles with the ground. 

 On the 95th day this effect did not take place until the patient had made a 

 few steps; the legs then had a tendency to bend up, a movement which he 

 counteracted by rubbing the surface of the belly ; this rubbing excited the 

 extensors to action, and the legs became extended with a jerk. A few more 

 steps were then made, the manoeuvre was repeated, and so on. This suscepti- 

 bility to involuntary movements from impressions on the soles gradually 

 diminished ; and on the 141st day the patient was able to walk about, sup- 

 porting himself on the back of a chair which he pushed before him ; but his 

 gait was unsteady, and much resembled that of chorea. Sensation improved 

 very slowly : it was on the 53d day that he first slightly perceived the heat 

 of the metal plate. Now, in this case, the abolition of common sensation was 

 not so complete as in the former instance ; but of the peculiar kin'd of impres- 

 sion which was found most efficacious in exciting reflex movements, no con- 

 sciousness /r/m/V/vr im* experienced. Not less interesting was the circumstance, 

 that convulsions could be readily excited by impressions on surfaces above the 

 scat of injury : us by pulling the hair of the scalp, a sudden noise, and so on. 

 This proves two important points: first, that a lesion of the Cord may be 

 such as to intercept the transmission of voluntary influence, and yet may 

 allow the transmission of that reflected from incident nerves. Secondly, 

 thai all influences from impressions on incident nerves are diffused through 

 the Cord ; for, in the instance adduced, the reflected influence was undoubtedly 

 not made to deviate into the Cord by the morbid condition of that organ, but 



