POLIOMYELITIS is generally considered to be primarily a disease of the motor neurons of
the anterior horns of the spinal cord. The loss of muscle substance and of power which often
follows the acute stage of this virus infection are explained on the basis of atrophy and
fibrosis resulting from denervation, similar to the pathologic changes observed after section
of a peripheral nerve or damage to a ventral root (O'Leary, Heinbecker and Bishop 1). This
study gives evidence that destruction of the cell bodies of somatic motor neurons is not the …