Paralysis, or Palsy.

Paralysis, or Palsy.

Paralysis is a weakness or cessation of the muscular contraction by diminution of loss of the conducting power or stimulation of the motor nerves. Paralytic affections are of two kinds, the complete and the incomplete. The former includes those in which both motion and sensibility are affected; the latter those in which only one or the other is lost or diminished. Paralysis may be general or partial. The latter is divided into hemiplegia and paraplegia. When only a small portion of the body is affected, as the face, a limb, the tail, it is designated by the term local paralysis. When the irritation extends from the periphery of the center it is termed reflex paralysis.