CHAPTER XI. 



OPERATIONS ON THE NERVOUS 

 SYSTEM. 



PLANTAR NEUROTOMY. 



Altliough the word neurotomy, when correctly defined, means, 

 in a general sense, the dissection of nerves, it has In surgery an- 

 other signification, and is applied indifierently to describe the di- 

 vision, the resection or the amputation of a nerve, according to 

 the special manipulations of a given case. In veterinary surgery, 

 it is held to be strictly appUcable to the operation which consists 

 in the dissection and removal of a portion of a nerve, and as the 

 present chapter proposes to treat princiiDally of affections of the 

 foot, it is simply correct to employ the term i^lantar as a prefix to 

 the title, as we have done. The design of the operation is the 

 destruction of the susceptibility of the region or organ imphcated 

 in the treatment, and to subdue the pain, if not permanently, at 

 least for a period of time sufficient to restore a working animal to 

 his ability to labor, which, without such a relieving operation, 

 would have been lost to usefulness and comfort. 



This curious and important operation has a comparatively 

 recent history. It is of English origin, two British surgeons 

 claiming priority in its performance. These rival contestants are 

 Moorcrof t and Sewell, who put it in practice, the former in India, 

 and the latter in England, at about the same time. After its in- 

 troduction, it was frequently performed by EugHsh veterinarians, 

 among whose names occur those of Goodwyn, Coleman, Percivall, 

 Sj)Ooner and others. 



Its introduction on the continent was in France, and is credi- 

 ted to Gu'ard, Jr., who described it in 1824, and from that date it 

 continued to be a subject of experiment at the hands of many 

 veterinarians. We say ex])eri)iuut, because it was only after a 



