Page:Brain Volume 31 Part 3.pdf/13

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A Human Experiment in Nerve Division
335

By September 9 (137 days after the operation), the whole forearm had become sensitive to cold, and cold-spots were discovered not only in the upper patch on the forearm and in the terminal phalanx of the thumb, but also over the more distal portions of the affected area. The forearm still remained insensitive to heat, except in as far as temperatures above 50° C. produced a peculiar form of painful sensation, usually called "burning."

In spite of the complete absence of any change in the behaviour of the affected parts to cotton wool, sensibility to prick continued to return steadily, and by September 24 (152 days after the operation) a small area only on the back of the hand remained insensitive to this stimulus (fig. 11).

Fig. 11: To show tho condition on September 24, 1903 (152 days after the operation). Over the small irregular area on tho back of tho hand sensibility to cutaneous painful stimuli was greatly diminished and in places was absent. The area occupied by the trophic sore is marked with a circle.

Since July 10, when the back of the hand had been too energetically frozen with ethyl chloride, an indolent sore had existed in the centre of the affected area. It tended to heal if protected, but would break down again under the influence of the slight accidents of ordinary life. On September 23, attention was attracted to its condition by the presence of tingling, which had never been noticed before. This led to the discovery that painful sensation, of a dull and ill-defined character,