A comparative volumetric study of the gray and white substance of the spinal cord

✍ Scribed by Arthur M. Lassek

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1935
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 648 KB
• Volume: 62
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0021-9967
• DOI: 10.1002/cne.900620206

✦ Synopsis

Only a few investigations have been conducted involving exact volumetric measurements of any kind on the gray and white matter of the spinal cord. Since such quantitative determinations of this nature as do exist have brought to light numerous fundamental and comparative relations, it was held desirable to extend this type of research by making a volumetric study of the gray and white substance of the spinal cord in various representatives of the vertebrate groups.

The group of animals chosen for the present investigation comprised a primate (monkey), a carnivore (cat), an ungulate (horse), a rodent (rabbit), a marsupial (opossum), a bird (pigeon), a reptile (alligator), and an amphibian (Necturus). All were mature with the exception of the alligator which measured 12 inches from tip of nose to end of tail.

All the spinal cord segments were treated identically. They were hardened in situ from 3 to 5 days in 20 per cent formalin and then carefully removed with the nerve roots intact. Because this procedure was impossible in the horse, its cord was dissected out before fixation occurred. A ner.ve segment was Contribution no. 199. This publication constitutes part of a thesis submitted toward the fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Northwestern University.