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Amblyopia in a Young Monkey
334
GENERAL ARTICLES.
uterus contained a small fcetus with one leg and the tail protruding from the vulva. The fcetus was normal in size. There was a large amount of free blood in ,the uterine cavity and extensive extravasation into the myometrium. The placenta was completely detached. The last case of dystocia to be reported here is one of inversion of the uterus. A Japanese waltzing mouse (mus wagnerii rotans) o. 3024) died a few hours after an uneventful labour. On autopsy the entire uterus was found inverted and prolapsed, and the organ the seat of a violent congestion, the animal having died of shock. This brief resume is sufficient merely to outline the wide variety of <:onditions to be met with in such a laboratory as this, and to suggest some of the very many lines of thought which may be followed by the further application of comparative pathology to the art of medicine.
eN
AMBLYOPIA
IN
A
YOUNG
MONKEY.
(From the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Philadelphia .Zoological Garden). By Dr H. M. LANGDON and Dr \V. B. CADWALLADER. PIG-TAILED macaque ( macacus nemestrinus) (No. 3333), was born 9th June 1913 in cage NO.7 in the monkey house, a nell-developed baby. He thrived, and was as good as any for his age. He was never known to have anything wrong with him until the morning of 3rd June 1914, when he was found on the bottom of the cage in the monkey house. He had clenched hands and feet, jaws tightly closed. lips drawn back, eyes starey and glassy, with convulsive shaking of the extremities. At intervals he would become limp, with fists still clenched, and with only occasional jerks in the extremities. This would last about a minute. and then convulsive movements would be resumed. The entire "fit" lasted about ten minutes. He was immediately removed from the large cage in the monkey house to a small one in the back room of the laboratory. 'When put in the small cage he staggered as if dazed. and groped about apparently blind. He never recovered his sight entirely, but at times seemed to see better than at others. He was not seen in a " Ii t " in the laboratory. On 24th June a small piece of banana was offered by a person who stood directly in the sunlight. The monkey came to the front of the cage, reached out and grasped very firmly the thumb of the hand holding the banana. but did not take the banana, although he very plainly wanted it. The banana was thrown into the cage, hitting the monkey on the back. He turned very quickly, then smelled over the floor of the cage until he found the banana. On 30th June he was examined by one of us ( Langdon), and the following condition was noted. Pupils react to the light of the ophthalmoscope. Optic discs are normal. Arteries possibly a little small. No other fundus changes. On 1st July. a cloudy day, he was laid facing a window. A coat sleeve was laid uver his eyes for a minute, and then quickly removed. His pupils were seen to react slowly but distinctly to the light. His gaze would not follow a finger moved in front of his eyes. When
GENERAL ARTICLES.
335
put back in the cage he climbed up on the wire at the back, and then tried to clim b the plain sheet-iron side. He groped and felt for a support, and then fell. This he did several times. About 1st August, when the eyes were examined, there seemed to be more visual perception, and very distinctly prompter pupillary reflex, which condition remained about the same when examined 1st October. He died lOth October 1914 of a compound fracture of the right femur inflicted by a monkey in the adjoining cage. Autopsy.-Viscera apparently normal throughout. Animal fairly well nourished. There is about 5 cc. clear pale-yellow fluid under the dura. It escaped upon removal of the brain. There are .adhesions of the dura over the temporal lobe (inferior surface), posterior and external to the optic tract, so firm a8 to remove some periosteum and superficial bone. Rest of dura seems normal. Examination of the Brain.-Sections were made from different parts of the cerebral cortex, all of which were more or less alike. There was swelling of the endothelium of the pial lymph spaces, with some separation of the fibres of the pia itself which extended into the sulci. The perivascular lymph spaces of the larger arteries of the cortex were dilated, and the adjacent cerebral tissue was cedematous. A well-marked endothelial swelling and hyperplasia affected a number of the arteries and capillaries, producing marked general or nodular thickenings in some places. Accompanying these hyperplastic changes there was a marked calcification of some of the arteries. This was not confined to one tunic, but in some instances it extended almost completely through the vessel wall, and here and there the lumen of a vessel was nearly ·obliterated. The main features were endothelial hyperplasia, cedema of the pia and of the subpial cortex, with some calcification of the vessels. I t was perhaps less well marked in the occipital lobes than in other parts. The optic nerve and other portions of the brain appeared to be normal.
REMARKS ON EXAMINATIONS OF A SERIES OF BRAINS.
(From the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Philadelphia Zoological Garden.) By W. B. CADWALLADER, M.D. AFTER having examined the spinal cord and brain of thirty-nine wild animals, I have arrived at certain general conclusions which may be of interest. Seventeen of the cases examined had not shown signs or symptoms indicative of cerebral disease, and in each instance, as might have been expected, microscopic examination of the brain proved negative. The remaining twenty-two cases, however, did exhibit symptoms referable to central nervous disease, yet these signs were, as a rul~, very difficult to determine with precision. Convulsions or fits were frequently observed, resembling closely
GENERAL ARTICLES.
uterus contained a small fcetus with one leg and the tail protruding from the vulva. The fcetus was normal in size. There was a large amount of free blood in ,the uterine cavity and extensive extravasation into the myometrium. The placenta was completely detached. The last case of dystocia to be reported here is one of inversion of the uterus. A Japanese waltzing mouse (mus wagnerii rotans) o. 3024) died a few hours after an uneventful labour. On autopsy the entire uterus was found inverted and prolapsed, and the organ the seat of a violent congestion, the animal having died of shock. This brief resume is sufficient merely to outline the wide variety of <:onditions to be met with in such a laboratory as this, and to suggest some of the very many lines of thought which may be followed by the further application of comparative pathology to the art of medicine.
eN
AMBLYOPIA
IN
A
YOUNG
MONKEY.
(From the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Philadelphia .Zoological Garden). By Dr H. M. LANGDON and Dr \V. B. CADWALLADER. PIG-TAILED macaque ( macacus nemestrinus) (No. 3333), was born 9th June 1913 in cage NO.7 in the monkey house, a nell-developed baby. He thrived, and was as good as any for his age. He was never known to have anything wrong with him until the morning of 3rd June 1914, when he was found on the bottom of the cage in the monkey house. He had clenched hands and feet, jaws tightly closed. lips drawn back, eyes starey and glassy, with convulsive shaking of the extremities. At intervals he would become limp, with fists still clenched, and with only occasional jerks in the extremities. This would last about a minute. and then convulsive movements would be resumed. The entire "fit" lasted about ten minutes. He was immediately removed from the large cage in the monkey house to a small one in the back room of the laboratory. 'When put in the small cage he staggered as if dazed. and groped about apparently blind. He never recovered his sight entirely, but at times seemed to see better than at others. He was not seen in a " Ii t " in the laboratory. On 24th June a small piece of banana was offered by a person who stood directly in the sunlight. The monkey came to the front of the cage, reached out and grasped very firmly the thumb of the hand holding the banana. but did not take the banana, although he very plainly wanted it. The banana was thrown into the cage, hitting the monkey on the back. He turned very quickly, then smelled over the floor of the cage until he found the banana. On 30th June he was examined by one of us ( Langdon), and the following condition was noted. Pupils react to the light of the ophthalmoscope. Optic discs are normal. Arteries possibly a little small. No other fundus changes. On 1st July. a cloudy day, he was laid facing a window. A coat sleeve was laid uver his eyes for a minute, and then quickly removed. His pupils were seen to react slowly but distinctly to the light. His gaze would not follow a finger moved in front of his eyes. When
GENERAL ARTICLES.
335
put back in the cage he climbed up on the wire at the back, and then tried to clim b the plain sheet-iron side. He groped and felt for a support, and then fell. This he did several times. About 1st August, when the eyes were examined, there seemed to be more visual perception, and very distinctly prompter pupillary reflex, which condition remained about the same when examined 1st October. He died lOth October 1914 of a compound fracture of the right femur inflicted by a monkey in the adjoining cage. Autopsy.-Viscera apparently normal throughout. Animal fairly well nourished. There is about 5 cc. clear pale-yellow fluid under the dura. It escaped upon removal of the brain. There are .adhesions of the dura over the temporal lobe (inferior surface), posterior and external to the optic tract, so firm a8 to remove some periosteum and superficial bone. Rest of dura seems normal. Examination of the Brain.-Sections were made from different parts of the cerebral cortex, all of which were more or less alike. There was swelling of the endothelium of the pial lymph spaces, with some separation of the fibres of the pia itself which extended into the sulci. The perivascular lymph spaces of the larger arteries of the cortex were dilated, and the adjacent cerebral tissue was cedematous. A well-marked endothelial swelling and hyperplasia affected a number of the arteries and capillaries, producing marked general or nodular thickenings in some places. Accompanying these hyperplastic changes there was a marked calcification of some of the arteries. This was not confined to one tunic, but in some instances it extended almost completely through the vessel wall, and here and there the lumen of a vessel was nearly ·obliterated. The main features were endothelial hyperplasia, cedema of the pia and of the subpial cortex, with some calcification of the vessels. I t was perhaps less well marked in the occipital lobes than in other parts. The optic nerve and other portions of the brain appeared to be normal.
REMARKS ON EXAMINATIONS OF A SERIES OF BRAINS.
(From the Laboratory of Comparative Pathology, Philadelphia Zoological Garden.) By W. B. CADWALLADER, M.D. AFTER having examined the spinal cord and brain of thirty-nine wild animals, I have arrived at certain general conclusions which may be of interest. Seventeen of the cases examined had not shown signs or symptoms indicative of cerebral disease, and in each instance, as might have been expected, microscopic examination of the brain proved negative. The remaining twenty-two cases, however, did exhibit symptoms referable to central nervous disease, yet these signs were, as a rul~, very difficult to determine with precision. Convulsions or fits were frequently observed, resembling closely