On paralytic, neuralgic, and other nervous diseases of the eye / [Arthur Jacob].

  • Jacob, Arthur, 1790-1874
Date:
[1841]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On paralytic, neuralgic, and other nervous diseases of the eye / [Arthur Jacob]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    sense of smell is perfect in both nostrils, but sensa¬ tion is lost on the right side of the tongue. Saline and bitter substances, placed on the right side of the tongue, at the tip, were not perceived, but were in¬ stantly recognized when applied to the left. Various odoriferous substances held to the right nostril, the left being closed, were instantly recognized. A quill passed up the right nostril, was not felt in the slight¬ est degree. Fumes of ammonia were not perceived, till they reached the soft palate and larynx. The case was treated with local applications of tobacco, in the form of stupe, smoking, and snuff, without relief. Belladonna plasters seemed to afford tempo¬ rary improvement; and iodide of iron and subse¬ quently the carbonate were given internally. As there was no amendment, he left the hospital, and has not since been heard of. PARALYSIS FROM DISEASE OF THE SEVENTH NERVE. Sudden paralysis confined to the orbicularis palpe¬ brarum, and other muscles of the face supplied by the seventh nerve, or portio dura, from disease within the skull, does not appear to be a frequent occurrence. In what proportion of cases of common hemiplegia it occurs, I cannot tell. Slight distortion of the mouth, with loss of expression, is not uncommon; but com¬ plete paralysis of the orbicularis palpebrarum, causing exposure of the eye, does not appear to accompany such attacks so frequently. Cases are occasionally met with in which the mischief is to be traced to ce¬ rebral disease, and in which the “head symptoms*’ are unequivocal, but, in the majority, there is nothing of the kind. Even in cases of total blindness, with paralysis of the muscles supplied by the third and sixth nerves, or loss of sensibility from disease of the fifth, paralysis of the muscles of the side of the face and eyelids from implication of the seventh, is com¬ paratively rare. The great cause of this paralytic affection is inflammation, involving the seventh nerve in its passage through the temporal bone and parotid gland. Persons are suddenly seized with it from ex¬ posure to currents of cold air when travelling in a coach or sitting in an open window; but here it is accompanied by pain of the ear, some deafness, and