460 EPILEPSY. 



section of a lateral half of the spinal cord, convulsions take 

 place everywhere, except only the posterior limb on the 

 side of the injury. If the lesion consists of the section of 

 the two posterior columns and a part of the lateral columns, 

 and of the gray matter, convulsions take place everywhere 

 without exception, but with much more violence in the 

 anterior parts of the body. When the lesion exists at the 

 level of the last dorsal vertebrae, and consists in a trans- 

 versal section of the two anterior or of the two lateral 

 columns, convulsions are ordinarily limited to the anterior 

 parts of the body ; but it is a very interesting fact that they 

 are not always confined to these parts, the two posterior 

 limbs having sometimes very strong tetanic spasms, at the 

 same time that there are clonic convulsions in the anterior 

 limbs. After a transversal section of the central grey 

 matter, or of the whole spinal cord in the dorsal region, 

 convulsions are limited to either the anterior or the posterior 

 parts of the body. 



" Convulsions may come either spontaneously, or after 

 certain excitations. The most interesting fact concerning 

 these fits is, that it is possible, and even very easy, to pro- 

 duce them by two modes of irritation. If we take two 

 guinea-pigs, one not having been submitted to any injury 

 of the spinal cord, and the other having had this organ 

 injured, we find, in preventing them from breathing for 

 two minutes, that convulsions come in both ; but if we allow 

 them to breathe again, the first one recovers almost at 

 once, while the second continues to have violent convul- 

 sions for two or three minutes and sometimes more. There 

 is another mode of giving fits to the animals which have 

 had an injury to the spinal cord. Pinching of the skin in 

 certain parts of the face and neck is always followed by 

 a fit. If the injury to the spinal cord consists only in a 



