PARATHYKOID GLANDS 609 



Henry M. Thomas, of Baltimore, has made a similar observation, the 

 stimulation ending in tetanus. He believes this increased reaction on 

 excitation to be due to the production of kathelectrotonus in the nerves 

 and suggests that it may be called "kathelectrotonic tetanus (K. ELT. 

 TE.). It could be demonstrated in all the nerves of Thomas's patient, 

 who thus offered an excellent opportunity for the study of the muscular 

 distribution of different nerves. 



4. The Increased Excitability of the Peripheral Sensory 



Nerves in Tetany 



Hoffmann's Phenomenon 



Increased excitability on electrical stimulation of the peripheral sen- 

 sory nerves in tetany was discovered by Hoffmann (a") (b) andeis known in 

 the literature as "Hoffmann's phenomenon." Hoffmann found that, both 

 before and after attacks of tetany, the excitability of sensory nerves 

 for the f aradic and the galvanic currents is increased, and that the sensory 

 formula on electric stimulation is changed very much as is the contraction 

 formula on stimulation of the motor nerves in tetany. 



Still more exact studies of this phenomenon have been made by 

 Chvostek junior and by von Frankl-Hochwart. The subject is, however, 

 chiefly of academic interest, since, for diagnostic purposes, the demonstra- 

 tion of hyperexcitability of the motor nerves is much more important. 



5. The Increased Excitability of the Nerves of Special 



Sense in Tetany 



Hyperexcitability of the nerves of special sense has also been demon- 

 strated in tetany. 



Thus, galvanic hyperexcitability of the nervus acusticus was found 

 to exist by Chvostek junior, and his observation has been confirmed by von 

 Frankl-Hochwart and by Schwartz. 



The optic nerves and the nerves of taste have been examined for hyper- 

 excitability also, but it is so difficult to be sure of the existence of any 

 hyperexcitability in them that observers have been reluctant to commit 

 themselves to any definite statement on the subject. 



6. Disturbances in Autonomic Domains in Tetany 



Various vasomotor, trophic, secretory and leiomyospastic phenomena 

 have been observed by clinicians in patients presenting the tetany syn- 



