432 Mr. J. S. R. Russell. Circumstances under which [May 18, 



Westphal* connected for the first time the absence of the phe- 

 nomenon with sclerosis of the posterior region of the lumbar cord, 

 and Petitclercf showed that it is also absent when the anterior- 

 roots of the spinal nerves are affected. It was about this time that 

 BuzzardJ called attention to the fact that in conditions where the 

 knee jerk is absent the response of the vastus internus muscle to 

 direct percussion may be actually more brisk than in health. 



Exaltation of the tendon reflexes was recognised by numerous ob- 

 servers as existing where muscular spasm, contracture, and " epi- 

 leptoid trepidation " are present, and that these conditions are asso- 

 ciated with sclerosis of the pyramidal tracts of the spinal cord. 



In the investigation of afferent nerves in tendons and such as 

 would form the first part of a reflex loop, Tschiriew§ is generally 

 supposed to be the first observer who discovered nerve fibres, without 

 myeline, which terminate in the aponeuroses in the neighbourhood of 

 tendons, which he looked on as the organs of transmission of the 

 muscular sense. These centripetal nerves had, however, previously 

 been noticed, but imperfectly described, by Sachs. And Golgi|| and 

 his pupil Cattaneo^f fully described the nerve endings in tendons ; 

 and, although Golgi's completed work did not appear until 1880, his 

 first publication on the subject was three years prior to this. 



Nothnagel** found that when clonus existed it could be arrested 

 instantly by pressure on the anterior crural or sciatic nerve, and that 

 pressure on the former nerve stopped the movements in the territory 

 of the sciatic as well as in its own, and that pressure on the nerves of 

 one side puts an end to the phenomenon on the opposite side. 

 Lewinskiff further showed that in cases of contracture with exalted 

 reflexes increase of the tendon of the tension of the contracted muscle, 

 however brought about, would evoke clonus, as would excitation of 

 the nerve supplying the muscle with a moderate induced current ; 

 while cutaneous stimulation by pinching the skin, or by squeezing the 

 toes or fingers, would arrest it, as would excitation of the nerve sup- 

 plying the muscle with a strong induced current. If the tendon was 

 first rendered lax, none of the methods which formerly evoked the 

 clonus would do so. 



* ' Arch. f. Psych.,' vol. 8, p. 514. 



f " Des Reflexes tendineux," ' Theses de Paris,' 18S0. 



% ' Lancet,' July, 1878. 



§ ' Arch. d. Physiol.,' Series II, vol. 6, p. 89, 1879. 



|| ' Rendiconti del Reale Istituto Lombardo,' fasc. IX, p. 445 ; ' Gaz. Lomb.,' 

 vol. 7, s. Y, p. 23; ' Atti d. Soc. Ital. di Scienz. Nat. a Milano,' vol. 21, p. 464 ; 

 and 1 Memorie della R. Accad. d. Scienz. d. Torino,' vol. 32, 1880, 28 Stu., 2 

 Tafeln. 



% ' Arch. Ital. de Biol.,' vol. 10, fasc. Ill, p. 337 

 ** ' Arch. f. Psych.,' vol. 6, p. 332, 1876. 

 ft Ibid., vol. 7, p. 327, 1877. 



