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Studies have been made by a number of workers on the level of the outflow from the spinal cord, of vasomotor nerves to the hind limbs in the dog (Bayliss & Bradford, 1894), and in the monkey (Geogehan, Wolf, Adair, Hare & Hinsey, 1941 It was considered that a study of the foot blood flow responses to raising body temperature in a series of patients with complete lesions of the spinal cord at various levels would provide evidence of the level of vasomotor outflow to the foot in the conscious subject. The vasomotor impulses concerned would be those derived from neurones whose activity is modified by thermal change. The level of outflow thus determined would not necessarily be identical with that demonstrated by direct stimulation of the pre-or post-ganglionic trunks, or with that deduced from histological surveys of the sympathetic efferent pathways.At the same time it was possible to determine whether the impulses arising from the isolated cord could be modified by changes in temperature which were larger than the increments in temperature known to affect the central temperature regulating mechanism. METHODSSubject&. The subjects were twenty-one paraplegic patients of both sexes at the National Spinal Injuries Centre, who were free from active infections of the urinary tract or other disorders, such as bedsores. Nineteen had complete lesions of the spinal cord at levels ranging from C5 to L2, and two cauda equina lesions below L3-5 and L4 respectively. The lesions were the result of

The existence of a hemi-hydrotic effect was shown by Kuno in 1934(Kuno, 1956, who found that when a man lies on one side there is a remarkable increase in sweating universally over the upper side of the body, very sharply bordered by the median line of the face and of the trunk. This response is not affected by turning the head so that the face is upwards.Ogata & Ichihashi (1935) considered this effect to be due to posture. It has been attributed by Takagi & Sakurai (1950) to the effect of pressure applied on the skin, even to such pressure as with the finger or the end of a pencil on one side of the body. Watkins (1956), working with West Africans, found frequent changes, of the same order as these, due to chance without any application of pressure. He also tried the effect of applying pressure by leaning against a wall or by pressing on the pectoral region with a cork of 2-5 cm diameter. The occurrence of apparent 'responses' was no more frequent than the chance effects without pressure.The aims of the experiments described in this paper were to determine whether the hemi-hydrotic effect was due to either pressure or posture. It is difficult to vary one without the other but by using the human centrifuge it was possible to vary the pressure upon the under surface of the body without (a) change in posture, or (b) applying pressure to any other part of the body.The investigation can be separated into three parts: (i) quantitative mea,tarement of the hemi-hydrotic effect; (ii) to determine whether moderate pressure (5 kg weight) on the side of the chest would cause a hemi-hydrotic response; and (iii) to determine, by using the human centrifuge, if pressure equivalent to a man's own weight would occasion a hemi-hydrotic response.METHODS The subjects were healthy young men, and wore only trousers or shorts.Quantitative measurement of hemi-hydrotic effect. The subjects lay in a comfortable position on nylon netting (1 cm mesh) which was stretched over a frame to allow free circulation of air. The sweat collection area was not in contact with the netting. The dry bulb temperature varied between 37-8 and 38 5°C; wet bulb temperature between 20-2 and 22.70 C. Air movement was less than 20 ft. (6*1 m)/min. The sweat was measured over the lower ribs in the

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