100 HENRY O. FEISS 
INTRODUCTION 
Reasons for the research 
The present series of experiments was begun in the spring of 
1908 with the production of mechanical lesions in the lumbar 
spinal cords of dogs. The object was to bring about distinct 
motor paralyses. After the animals had reached permanent 
stages in the paralysis, so that there was no question about degen- 
eration in the roots and peripheral nerves, it was planned to 
attempt to distort the nerve-patterns in these structures, using for 
this purpose a method heretofore apparently untried. This 
method is referred to as nerve ‘fusion,’ and consists simply in 
uniting two or more nerves by tying them together with absorb- 
able ligatures. 
In carrying out the plan given, it early became apparent that 
the subject of nerve ‘fusion’ was a research in itself, requiring 
many special experiments. Fusions were therefore attempted 
on normal nerves where no central lesions had been produced. 
A preliminary report of this work has already appeared', and 
we have been able to offer some evidence that after nerves are 
united by this method, a certain amount of distortion of pat- 
tern may take place. 
However, even if changes in nerve-pattern are obtainable by 
the union of nerves which are normal, it does not follow that the 
same changes may be expected where there has been a central 
lesion. Fatty degeneration takes place in the paralyzed muscles 
and in the nerve trunks themselves, the degenerated tracts close 
up and become replaced by new connective tissue. 
Therefore, the original design of producing central lesions and 
later trying nerve fusions has been carried out. In the course 
of this research two other issues have developed which proved to 
be of equal if not greater interest. It was shown that after a 
lesion was produced in the spinal cord by the method which will 
be outlined, a very characteristic spontaneous recovery took 
place similar to the early recovery often seen in infantile 
| Feiss: Boston Medical and Surgical Journ., May 11, 1911. 
