Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1893-06-02
EXPERIMENTS IN BRAIN SURGERY.

OF Ine DOuS, beginning III the arm anu
spreading to the leg and face, and
followed rapidly in four days by eight
other convulsions and paralysis of
the entire right side OF the body.
Most of my readers would unhesitat
ingIy attribute the convulsions and
paralysis to this blow from the tongs.
But it must be remembered that the
right side of the brain supplies the
left side OF the body, and rice rerSa.
Hence Mr.. James Harrison suspect
ed that the paralysis Of the right side
of the body indicated trouble in the
left half of the br8in. Examining his
head, he found on the left side a small
scar at the junction of the arm and
leg centres. Inquiry elected the fact
that, ten years before, he had re-
ceived a severe blow there, which,
however, had not been followed by
any serious symptoms Could this
old injury, after so long a time as ten
years, possibly be the cause of his
present serious trouble ; Further in
quiry brought out the fact that for
about year before his admission the
boy had had repeated twitching OF
his right arm. So convinced was Mr..
HARRISON that modern cerebral local
ization was right that he opened the
boys skull, not where most people
would suppose would be natural,
namely, on the right side OF the head,
where he had received the blow from
the pair Of tongs eight days before,
but on the left side, at the site OF the
blow ten years before, and at a def
mite point, namely, over the tissure OF
Rolando, at the place corresponding
to the motor centre for the arm as es-
tablished by experiments on animals
the first injury was received
so long before, yet the paralysis
that it was the left side of the
brain that was involved, and the
twtching of the arm showed that this
was the particular part OF the left side
of the brain where the injury proba-
bly, existed Mr.. HARRISON punctured
what seemed on the surface to be u
normal brain, and opened an absceSs,
and this boy, otherwise absolutely
doomed to death, made an uninter
rupted recovery. This is only one in
stance out Of probably more than one
hundred and fifty cases OF abscess in
the brain which have been reported
within the last seven or eight years
which have been diagnosticated with
the same accuracy and by the same
means.
The last case to which | shall refer
has not been published, but can be
found in the records of the Orthoped-
ic Hospital and Inlirmary for Nervous
Diseases in Philadelphia. A young
girl of about twenty-one was admitted
to the infrmary in October, 1891. She
said that her attacks of epilepsy, from
which she had suffered for two years
and a-half, always began in the right
thumb. This fact having been veri-
fed, it was decided to remove the cen
trc for the thumb, TO stop the very
beginning Of the fit. 1t was especial
" desired to remove only the centre
for the thumb, and not that for the
hand. IN order not to interfere more
than was necessary with the useful
ness of her hand, upon which she de
pended for her support, as she was
mil girl On October s, 1891, the fis-
sure Of Rolando was first located, and
a disk OF bone an inch and a-half in
diameter was removed, the center OF
it being two and five-eighths inches to
the left of the middle line. By the
battery the brain was stimulated at
certain definite points until 1.-THE thumb
centre was recognized, and also the
face centre, which lay somewhat be
low ii, and the wrist centre, which lay
as it ought by experiments on the
monkeys brain-a little above 1t.
Each Of these centres was recognized
by the movement of the part supplied
by it (thumb, face, wrist when the
centre was touched by the poles OF
the battery. Stimulation OF the
thumb centre produced typical cpl
leptic fit. such as she had suffered
since her admission, beginning In the
thumb, as she had asserted. The
portion Of brain corresponding TO the
thumb centre, a piece about half an
inch in diameter, was removed, and
by the battery it was determined that
the portion removed was the whole
of,the thumb centre.
1t was necessary in this case to be
unusually accurate, and not to re-
move any portion OF the brain other
than the centre for the thumb, and
for three reasons First, il too much
were removed upward and backward,
the wrist and fingers would be para
lived second, if too much were re-
moved forward, the muscles OF the
face would be involved third, little
further down lies the centre for
speech. and had this part OF the brain
been injured. this important faculty
would have been destroyed.
As soon as the patient had reeov-
cred from the ether and was IN a suit
able condition, her ability to move
the face and hand was tested. All the
muscles of the face were entirely IN