On the pathology of the pneumogastric nerve : being the Lumleian lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1876 ; also, Cold shock in its action on the pneumogastric nerve / by S.O. Habershon.

  • Habershon, S. O. (Samuel Osborne), 1825-1889.
Date:
1885
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the pathology of the pneumogastric nerve : being the Lumleian lectures delivered at the Royal College of Physicians of London, 1876 ; also, Cold shock in its action on the pneumogastric nerve / by S.O. Habershon. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University Libraries/Information Services, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the the Augustus C. Long Health Sciences Library at Columbia University and Columbia University.

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    some difficulty in swallowing; there was partial deafness on the left side. The symptoms came on gradually, and steadily increased in severity. The appearance of the patient was very peculiar; the vacant expressionless countenance, with the mouth partially open, was very characteristic of the disease. The symptom which first attracted attention was the diminished power of the muscles of mastication, and this was associated with gradually increasing weak- ness. At length, one month before admission, he could only take fluid food; the facial nerve was greatly diminished in power, but was not completely paralysed, for he could close the eye and partially distend the cheeks; the mouth was half open. The left auditory was affected, but the sensory portion of the fifth was unaffected; for there was no loss of sensation of the face. The appearance of the tongue was most distinctive; it remained powerless at the floor of the mouth, and the soft palate was motionless. This state led to the most prominent of the symptoms of disease, the inability to swallow or to masticate food properly, and also to pronounce those sounds which require the action of the tongue and of the lips j deglutition could not be performed, the move- ments could not be executed, and the attempt was followed by choking; food reached the edges of the epiglottis, and was violently ejected by the nostrils, and the patient was nearly asphyxiatedby the attempt. He coughed up a good deal of phlegm, but he did not seem to have power to clear his throat thoroughly.