A topographical atlas of the spinal cord.

  • Bruce, Alexander, 1854-1911.
Date:
1901
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: A topographical atlas of the spinal cord. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Leeds Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Leeds Library.

    11/156
    INTRODUCTION. 'T^HE Spinal Cord which was employed in the investigation was obtained from a young adult female. It was the last of a series of five that had been completely examined and was the only one of these that satisfactorily fulfilled the requirements of being free from flaw and from evidence of any morbid condition. The fixing re-agent finally selected, on the recommendation of Dr Ford Robertson, the Director of the Laboratory of the Scottish Asylums, was Weigert's chrome-alum-copper solution.* The stain for the myelin sheath of the nerve fibres was Ford Robertson's modification of Heller's method.f In staining the nerve cells, toluidin and polychrome blue were employed,| care being taken not to push the decolorisation beyond the stage at which there was still a distinct indication of the difference between the grey and white matter, and at the same time a complete staining of the nerve cells. The Spinal Cord, which was in a state of good preservation, was removed along with its dural sheath twenty-four hours after death, and was placed immediately in the chrome-alum-copper solution. After a few days it was divided into its segments, and replaced in the solution for fourteen days in order to complete the hardening process. The upper boundary of each segment was made by a transverse incision immediately below the most inferior of the roots which entered the segment above. The lower boundary was formed by a transverse incision immediately below the lowest root which entered the segment itself Care was taken to determine each segment b}- tracing its roots from their opening in the dura mater. Each segment, after being * Weigert's chrome-alum-copper solution is prepared as follows:—21 grammes of chrome alum are dissolved by boiling in a loo c.c. of water. The solution is filtered when cold and 5 grammes of acetate of copper, .5 c.c. of acetic acid, and 10 c.c. of formalin are added. t Ford Robertson's modification of Heller's method :— 1. Place the section in i per cent osinic acid for one hour (in the dark). Wash in water. 2. Then in 5 per cent of pyrogallic acid for half an hour. W^ash in water. 3. Then in j per cent potassium permanganate for four minutes. Wash in water. 4. Then in i per cent oxalic acid for three to five minutes. Wash in water, dehydrate, clear, and mount in balsam. :J: Ford Robertson's Toluidin blue method :— Stain from 15 to 60 minutes in ^ per cent aqueous solution of Toluidin blue. Decolorise and dehydrate in absolute alcohol, clear first in benzole, then in turpentine and benzole. After heating to drive off all water of condensation, apply a drop of balsam and a coverglass, which should be also warm. The warming of the section and coverglass are, according to Robertson, essential to the permanence of the stain.