Vol XI, No 4 (1903)

Before we go to the presentation of their experiences with education n. sympathicolaryngei inf., we will first give a description of the operation, experience and the method of histological examination of nerves after the experiment that we used. The preparation for the operation is the same as in the experiments with the c. sympathico-vago; the neurovascular bundle was found, usually on the right side, and in the middle of the neck it was isolated in. sympathicus; between the trachea and the esophagus, n was found in the groove. laryngeus inf. and was also released at a certain length from the surrounding tissues; temporary ligatures were brought under both nerves, pulling on which facilitated the suture; a thin needle with a silk thread was passed through the lateral edge of the nerves in order to traumatize them as little as possible, the nerves were darkly cut, and c. sympathicus was transferred to the tracheal bed; the ends of the nerves were treated in the same way as in the previous experiments; central branch in. laryngei inf. either just resected, or turned downwards, where it was sometimes sutured

The desire to find means to combat the excitement of the mentally ill, as Pfister rightly notes, has long been the cherished dream of psychiatrists, since this symptom is of the greatest importance, especially an uncomfortable complication, from all manifestations of mental disorder; the propensity of patients to self-harm, outbursts of anger of maniacs and paralytics, impulsive actions of catatonic and hallucinants in acute confusion, raptus melancholicus, persistent sleeplessness — all these phenomena are too serious not to stop doctors' attention.

In September last year, we had the opportunity to report to the Society of Neuropathologists and Psychiatrists on the operations we performed to cut the optic nerve inside the skull in mammals (rabbit and cat) and demonstrate the phenomena observed after such an operation on the movements of the iris. The starting point of our experiments were the observations of Marenhi, demonstrating at the Turin Congress of Physiologists in 1900 the phenomenon of pupillary reaction to light in rabbits after the transection of the optic nerve inside the skull.

The mutual relations between the public and psychiatrists make one wish for the best that, without exaggeration, we can say that hardly any other branch of medicine encounters such discontent from the public as psychiatry. The reason for this is partly to be found in the comparatively fewer favorable therapeutic results in the treatment of mental illnesses, partly in the gloomy depressing environment that your patients find themselves in. The author of the book being analyzed set out to shed light on the relationship that exists between the public and psychiatrists, as well as to find out the view of our society, at the heart of the sick and caring for them.

Chaired by prof. N.A.Mislavskiy, under the secretary of V.V. Nikolaev. Attended by: honorary member of the Island K.A. X. Orlov, I.A. guests: prof. Kulyabko, Kolotinskiy, Osokin, Panormov, Gimmel, Zenkovich, Ovchinnikov, Maksimovich, Chirkovskiy.