240 On tJte M^ans generally used 



windpipe was now pressed down, or almost doubled on itself. 

 As soon as this took place (and it was almost immediate on 

 the attempt to sit up without the collar,) the patient was seized 

 with such a sense of suffocation, as to be obliged to throw 

 himself on his back. As he was able to breathe with ease as 

 he lay on his back, his advisers were led to believe that it was 

 the weight of the head which pressed down the windpipe. To 

 counteract this pressure, various contrivances had been pro- 

 posed to support the head. Indeed, the patient himself 

 was so convinced, from what he had heard, that it was the 

 weight of the head which pressed down the windpipe, and so 

 alarmed had he become from the certainty of having a fit of 

 suffocation when the head was left unsupported, that there was 

 much difficulty in persuading him to believe that if the head 

 could be made heavier, the sense of suffocation would be re-^ 

 lieved. He was at length induced, although with great «dread 

 of the consequence, to allow about fourteen pounds of shot to 

 be placed on the top of his head. He was very much alarmed, 

 but it was highly gratifying to witness his surprise and plea^ 

 sure in finding that, instead of his head being weighed down, 

 he could support it, and could breathe with ease while in the 

 upright posture. The following is the principle on v.'hich this 

 plan was proposed :— the muscles of the back part of the 

 neck had been brought into such a state, that their ordinary 

 stimulus was not sufficient to excite them to the action neces- 

 sary to counteract the efforts of those on the fore-part of the 

 neck, which had been evidently increased in strength. The 

 placing a weight on a certain spot on the head formed an addi- 

 jtional stimulus to the muscles of the back part of the neck ; a 

 fact which the reader may prove by an experiment on himself. 



By proceeding on this principle, by combining a variety of 

 lexercises, and by gradually diminishing the weight carried on 

 the head, this gentleman was soon able to walk and sit in a 

 state of great comfort, without being obliged to use any arti- 

 :pcial support. 



It is well known, that the neck-collars support almost the 

 whole weight of the head and shoulders by the strap which 

 passes under the chin. It must also have been observed, that 

 the wearer very frequently pushes down the head against the 



