Ralph H. Major ^73 



One of his experiments, reported in the Medical Examiner of Philadelphia, 

 August, 1852, was of especial interest: 



"My friend, Dr. Claude Bernaid, has recently discovered the curious fact, 

 that after the section of the sympathetic nerve in the neck, the face on the 

 same side and more particularly the ear, becomes warmer and more sensible 

 than the other side. The blood vessels are much enlarged and a great many are 

 visible which were not so before the operation . . . 



"If galvanism is applied to the superior portion of the sympathetic after it 

 has been cut in the neck, the vessels of the face and of the ear after a certain 

 time, begin to contract; their contraction increases slowly, but at last it is 

 evident that they resume their normal condition, if they are not even smaller. 

 Then the temperature and the sensibility diminish in the face and the ear, 

 and they become in the palsied side the same as in the sound side. 



"When the galvanic current ceases to act, the vessels begin to dilate again 

 and all the phenomena discovered by Dr. Bernard reappear." 



This experiment was subsequently carried out and published by Claude 

 Bernard, who was apparently not aware of Brown-Sequard's experiments. 

 Since, however, this observation of Brown-Sequard was a natural corollary 

 of Bernard's work, no controvei sy over priority developed. 



In 1 856 Brown-Sequard published one of his earliest excursions into the field 

 of endocrinology, an article with the title, "Recherches experimentales sur la 

 physiologie des capsules surrenales." In this paper, he describes removal of the 

 suprarenals in dogs, cats, rabbits, and guinea pigs, and concludes that "death 

 is due to the absence of the suprarenal capsules" and that "the functions of 

 the suprarenal capsules are essential to life." The importance of this work 

 apparently did not impress his colleagues, for, some ten years later, when 

 Claude Bernard read his "Report on the Progi^ess and Achievements of Gen- 

 eral Physiology in France," a report praising the contributions of France to 

 the science of physiology, he made no mention of this work. "It is curious," 

 Olmsted remarks, "that he seems to have missed the significance of Brown- 

 Sequard's work on the adrenal glands in 1856-58, choosing to mention his very 

 much less important work on transfusion." 



In 1858, Brown-Sequard accepted an invitation to deliver a series of lectures 

 before the Royal College of Surgeons in London. This event was one of the 

 landmarks in his career. He discussed in great detail the anatomy, physiology, 

 and pathology of the nervous system. These lectiaes were published in the 

 Lancet. Their success was phenomenal and established the fame of Brown- 

 Sequard in English-speaking countries. The Lancet of March 12, 1859, notes: 



"We are gratified to be able to say that our prophecy concerning Dr. Brown- 

 Sequard will be fulfilled. We maintained that his course of lectures 'On the 

 Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System' which lately ap- 

 peared in these columns, was calculated to produce a greater effect in a very 

 large portion of the wide field of medical practice than any course of prelec- 

 tions we had ever before published ... It has happened as wc prophesied, for 



