Literary Notices. iii 



be ill adapted to bring out the lesions of the cell body, though such an 

 instance as that shown in Fig. 1 1 proves that the changes are similar to 

 those ordinarily seen in alcoholic dementia where the cell body is exca- 

 vated or irregularly vacuolated. It is a pity that comparison was not 

 made with cells stained with- haematoxylin-sublimate-fuchsin or some 

 histological stain after complete hardening in chrom-acetic or sublimate. 

 In the cerebellum similar changes were found in Purkinje's cells 

 but of a more marked character. It is certainly placed beyond ques- 

 tion by this study that alcohol, in common with other irritants, pro- 

 duces a very definite destructive effect on the nerve cells and in particu- 

 lar upon those of the kinesodic system. c. l. h. 



Structure of Nerve Cells after Electrocution.^ 



The fatiguing effect of the prolonged action of weak electric cur- 

 rents on the cells of the nervous system is well known through the re- 

 searches of Hodge, Mann, and Vejas. Are these structural changes 

 increased by the shorter action of much stronger currents, is the ques- 

 tion which Dr. Fish set before himself for solution. The first speci- 

 men examined, a portion of the cervical spinal cord of a victim of an 

 electrocution at 1740 volts, exhibited a pronounced vacuolation of the 

 nerve cells not to be accounted for by any known conditions prior to 

 the execution. A second case in all essential respects similar and with 

 absolutely fresh material gave, however, negative results, there being 

 no observable lesions in the nerve cells of the same region of the spinal 

 cord under the same method of preparation. The latter case is re- 

 garded by Dr. Fish as the typical one and is verified by the results of 

 experimental electrocutions on the lower animals performed by Dr. 

 Krauss of Buffalo. Dr. Fish is inclined to the hypothesis that death 

 by electrocution is the result of the fixation of the cells of the central 

 nervous system, that is the cells are killed instantly in practically their 

 normal relations. c. j. h. 



Cortical Pathology of Permanent Dementia.^ 



Dr. Berkley has advanced a theory of the pathology of dementia 

 which is based on the recent advances in our knowledsre of the relation 



'Fish, Pierre A. The Action of Strong Currents of Electricity upon 

 Nerve Cells. Jour. Nerv. and Mental Disease, N. S., XXI, i, Jan., 1S96 ; Trans, 

 Am. Microscopical Soc, XXVII, 1896. 



^Berkley, H. J. A Theory of the Causation of Permanent Dementia. 

 Medical News, 9 Nov., 1895. 



