270 Journal of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



but on the other hand Friedi.ander and Krause ('86) state that 

 they are normal and that the atrophy must be due to a decrease in 

 their number. There can be no doubt that some disappear since 

 the Marchi stain reveals a certain number in the stages of dis- 

 integration (human material, Flatau, '97; animal material, Mos- 

 CHAEW '93, Cassirer '98, Ceni '99). The degeneration does 

 not appear to affect more than a small part of the fibers of the funi- 

 culus. 



In all the cases of amputation reported since 1875 there is 

 essential uniformity as regards the changes in the ventral cornu on 

 the side of the amputation in the segments associated w^ith the 

 injured nerves. The area of the cross-section of the cornu as a 

 whole is considerably decreased, sometime^ by as much as one- 

 third its normal dimensions. The number of motor cells has been 

 determined in a number of cases and found below that of the nor- 

 mal side. It is especially the dorsolateral group of cells that is 

 most affected; here there may be no more than two-thirds the 

 original number (Marinesco '92). The remaining cells are 

 often shrunken, and devoid of processes. 



In none of the amputation cases of the last thirty years has the 

 dorsal cornu of the operated side been reported normal. The de- 

 crease in the area of the cross-section, which may amount to one- 

 half the original area (Switalski '01, case 4), is due in large part to 

 the loss of medullated fibers (Knope '01). The substantia gelati- 

 nosa and the column of Clarke are also markedly atrophied. 

 The decrease in the size of the column of Clarke is due to a loss 

 of both fibers and cells, and is found in the segments some distance 

 removed from those primarily affected (Friedlander and 

 Krause '86, Homen '90, and others). 



By far the most interesting point for us is the lack of data on the 

 spinal ganglia; most observers have failed to take any note of them 

 at all, or have overlooked the essential changes. Reynolds ('87) 

 found an increased amount of connective tissue. Marjnesco 

 ('92) states that although many nerve fibers had disappeared the 

 spinal ganglion cells were intact. That these are the only in- 

 stances where the spinal ganglia were studied in the autopsy 

 cases is due, no doubt, to the difl&culty of securing these structures 

 in the hurry of the autopsy room. 



Homen ('90), in his extensive series of animal experiments, gave 

 special attention to this subject, but failed to find any change except 



