Syiuptoms. (587 



voluntary passage of feces and urine, without incontinence, in 

 other cases persistent retention of feces and urine, and some- 

 times priapismus may be observed. The pupils are equally or 

 unequally dilated, but they react to light. 



Injury to the dorsal portion of the cord leads to paralysis 

 of the posterior half of the l)ody. The reflexes are either nor- 

 mal or exaggerated, and the same disturbances of function of 

 the bladder and rectum are observed as in the previous case. 

 In exceptional cases, the contusion is limited to the anterior 

 portion of the dorsal cord, in which case there may be dia- 

 phragmatic respiration. 



Injury to the anterior portion of the lumbar segment of 

 the cord causes paralysis and anesthesia of the croup, hind legs 

 and tail. If the injury be in the middle portion 

 of this region the symptoms are the same except that 

 there is no patellar reflex owing to injury to the nucleus of 

 the femoral nerve; the reflexes of the paralyzed portions 

 of the body posterior to this are normal or increased. 

 The same alDnormalities with regard to the passage of urine 

 and feces are observed as before. Destruction of the pos- 

 terior third of the lumbar portion of the cord is generally 

 associated with injury to the sacral cord and results in sensory 

 and motor paralysis of the area supplied liy the sciatic nerve, 

 the nerves of the croup and tail, and the nerves supplying the 

 sphincters of the anus and bladder. The anus remains open 

 and stimulation of the sphincter does not close it. The urine 

 trickles away. 



At the moment of the injury^ there are observed convulsive 

 muscular spasms, which at first pass off very rapidly, but af- 

 terwards the contractions persist for a somewhat longer time. 

 These are obviously due to a stimulation of the central motor 

 path immediately before it is divided. Muscular contractions 

 are observed either continuously or at intervals in the neigh- 

 borhood of the injury owing to stimulation of the nerve roots, 

 but in cases of extensive meningeal hemorrhage the contrac- 

 tions are for the most part observed in various parts of the 

 body and the limbs. 



In small animals, there is frequently demonstrable painful- 

 ness of the spine, in the larger animals, however, this is not 

 as a rule observed. In cases of extensive meningeal hemor- 

 rhage, the areas showing increased sensibility vary in size be- 

 cause the sensory nerve roots are stimulated by the extravasated 

 blood and the stimulus is carried towards the center by the 

 uninjured cord. In a proportion of cases, there is a circum- 

 scribed swelling and crepitation, and very slight passive move- 

 ment of the vertebra can be noticed. 



In the very rare cases of unilateral injury to the spinal 

 cord, there is motor paralysis on the same side as the injury 

 and sensory paralysis on the other. 



