1906.] Nervous System in a Case of Chronic Dourine, etc. 



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Previous Observations on the Changes in the Nervous System in Dourine. 



It is unfortunate that nerves of the hinder extremities were not sent, for 

 Laveran et Mesnil* thus refer to the histological examination by Marck : 

 " He showed a degeneration of the nerve fibres of the posterior columns ; the 

 other parts of the spinal cord (grey substance and other bundles of white 

 substance) are in a healthy state. Some nerve fibres, especially on the 

 sensory side, are degenerated at different points ; the nerves of the fore-limbs 

 are less altered. Having ascertained these facts Marck calls Dourine 

 infective polyneuritis of the horse." 



Methods of Examination. — Some portions of the tissues were embedded in 

 paraffin and sections cut 10 /u, thickness and stained by the following 

 methods : — Polychrome and Eosin, Azure Blue, Van Gieson and Leishman's 

 stain. Other portions were embedded in celloidin and sections of 20 fj, 

 thickness were cut and stained by the new Weigert method, modified Mallory 

 and by Van Gieson's fluid. The sections by this method were thicker, but I 

 was enabled to obtain sections of uniform thickness of the cord and 

 membranes together with the roots, inflammatory material and attached 

 vessels. 



Description of Histological Changes in Dourine. 



Throughout the grey matter of the spinal cord the ganglion cells show 

 marked chromolytic changes and the vessels exhibit evidence of chronic 

 inflammation with scattered capillary haemorrhages. 



The small vessels show lymphocyte infiltration around, but there is nothing 

 resembling the marked perivascular lymphatic infiltration met with through- 

 out the grey matter in all cases of well-marked Sleeping Sickness. The 

 ganglion cells for the most part retain their normal outlines, but are stained 

 a uniform bluish purple with a badly defined and imperfectly stained pattern 

 of Nissl granules. {Vide Photomicrograph 1.) The most marked change 

 is observed in the lumbar region. 



Sections of the lumbo-sacral cord with attached roots, after embedding in 

 oelloidin and staining with Van Gieson's fluid and by the Weigert method, 

 exhibited the following changes. The roots, anterior and posterior, are 

 • infiltrated with lymphocytes, also all the vessels are surrounded and their 

 walls infiltrated with small round cells. The connective tissue septa 

 carrying the vessels as well as the perineurion and endoneurion are thickened 

 and infiltrated with lymphocytes, also the loose connective tissue outside the 

 dura mater ; the dura mater itself and the vessels and tissues in the sub- 

 dural space show signs of chronic inflammation. The condition simulates an 

 * ' Trypanosomas et Trypanosomiasis,' p. 283. 



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