Abstract
While there is good evidence to show that the virus travels along the axis cylinder of the nerve fibers of the spinal cord, particularly from recent work of Fairbrother and Hurst, 1 dissemination by the cerebrospinal fluid has been invoked in explanation by other authors. (Flexner and associates. 2 , 2 ) A crucial experiment to settle the question would be found in an attempt to recover virus from the cervical cord and from the lumbar cord of a monkey, inoculated intracerebrally, after complete transsection of the spinal cord above the lumbar region. Incidentally, further information might be adduced by histological examination of the 2 separate cord sections for the presence or absence of specific lesions.
Accordingly, we have carried out a complete transsection of the spinal cord in 2 monkeys, severing the structure at the level of the first lumbar vertebra. In the first animal (Monkey 144), 2 silk ligatures were tied tightly around the unopened dural sac, crushing the cord. The whole structure was then cut between the ligatures, the stumps retracting about 1 cm. apart. In the second animal (Monkey 165), the dural sac was opened, but not severed, and the cord was totally divided, leaving a gap of about 3 mm. The operative procedure in the first animal was adopted in order to test the possibility of dissemination by routes other than either the nervous substance or the cerebrospinal fluid, such as the general circulation or the lymphatics. In the second animal our main interest lay in distinguishing between transmission by the cerebrospinal fluid and through the cord itself.
The 2 transsected monkeys, which immediately after the operation showed a complete paraplegia of the lower extremities, including paralysis of the bladder and rectum, were infected intracerebrally the following day, together with 2 normal controls.
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