EPILEPSY. 459 



" oth, A simple puncture. 



" Of all these injuries, the first, the second, and the fourth 

 seern to have more power to produce epilepsy than the 

 others. The first particularly, i.e., the section of a lateral 

 half of the spinal cord, seems to produce constantly this 

 disease in animals that live longer than three or four weeks 

 after the operation. After a section of either the lateral, 

 the anterior, or the posterior columns alone, epilepsy rarely 

 appears, and it seems that in the cases where it has been 

 produced, there has been a deeper incision than usual, and 

 that part of the gray matter has been attained. In other 

 experiments, few in number, the section of the central gray 

 matter (the white being hardly injured) has been followed 

 by this convulsive disease. I have seen it but rarely after 

 a simple puncture of the cord. 



" It is particularly after injuries to the part of the spinal 

 cord which extends from the seventh or eighth dorsal 

 vertebra to the third lumbar, that epilepsy appears. 



" Usually this affection begins during the third or fourth 

 week after the injury. In some cases I have seen it begin- 

 ning during the second week, and even one or two days 

 before. At first the fit consists only in a spasm of the 

 muscles of the face and neck, either on one or the two 

 sides, according to the transversal extent of the injury. 

 One eye or both are forcibly shut, the head is drawn towards 

 one of the shoulders, and the mouth opened by the spasm 

 of some of the muscles of the neck. This spasmodic attack 

 quickly disappears. 



" After a few days the fit is more complete, and all parts 

 of the body, which are not paralyzed, have convulsions. 

 According to the seat of the injury, the parts that have 

 convulsions greatly vary. When the lesion is near the last 

 dorsal vertebrae or the first lumbar, and consisting of a 



