Ranson, fibers in Lesions of the Brain. 189 
connections within the cord; but no microscopic examination 
was made. 
A case of injury to the human spinal cord asa result of 
spinal fracture in the thoracic region, has been described by 
Borst and Nicorarer (3) (1897). Here the scar contained 
numerous nerve fibers which were considered as ingrowths from 
peripheral nerves, that is, of course, from the dorsal roots. 
It is worth noticing that fibers in the cicatrix are described 
by Eicuorst, STROEBE, and Borst and NIcOLAIEgR, as arising 
from the spinal ganglia, or, what amounts to the same thing, 
from the dorsal roots of the spinal nerves. This may also be 
inferred from the results of BAER, Dawson and MarsHatt. 
Since it is known that the spinal ganglia always contain many 
undeveloped neurones (17), it is possible that these fibers are 
not regenerated fibers but represent neurones which have com- 
pleted their development under the stimulus of the injury. 
Kun (21) (1901) has made an observation quite analogous to 
this. He found that depriving an area of skin on a frog’s back 
of its sensory supply by sectioning one of the cutaneous 
nerves caused fibers to grow into that area from uninjured 
nerves. These, since they were not regenerating fibers, must 
represent axones which, being more or less incompletely devel- 
oped before the experiment, have been stimulated to complete 
their growth as a result of the injury. 
A large number of careful investigators have reported 
entirely negative results on the mammalian cord. ScHIEFFER- 
DECKER (28) (1876) practicing transection of the cord in dogs a 
few months old, was unable to demonstrate any nerve fibers in 
the resultant scar. WesrpeHaL (37) (1870) bored a small hole 
in the vertebral column and spinal cord but found no evidence 
of regeneration. KerkEszTszeGHyY (20) (1892), Scosso (29) 
(1891) and Marinesco (22) (1894) have also obtained negative 
results. 
It will be seen that the evidence does not encourage the 
belief that the fiber columns of the cord are capable of regen- 
ration, although fibers may grow into the scar from the dorsal 
roots. Masrus, however, found fibers which seemed to arise 
