Thomas Laycock and a trophic nervous system

Abstract

A short introduction is given to Thomas Laycock (1812-1876), and attention drawn to the development of neurological understanding in the nineteenth century. The main text describes a postulated part of the nervous system, the trophic, which was thought to govern nutritive functions of the body. Thomas Laycock appears as a lone figure in British medicine in giving serious consideration to a trophic nervous system. His discussions are based on clinical observations but his theories are speculative. He devised an instrument (an aesthesiometer) which he hoped would identify abnormalities of the trophic nervous system. The demise of a trophic nervous system is described with quotations from Charcot and Gowers and the use of the word trophic in current practice is mentioned.