NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILADELPHIA. 383 



periphery of the efferent nerves, I think that the following experi- 

 ment (one of four, all giving similar results) must put an end to 

 all doubts. 



Exp. 41. Killed a cat with chloroform, and then cut off both 

 posterior extremities at the hip-joint. Into the left femoral artery 

 I injected a one-grain solution of conia, while into the right ordi- 

 nary water was injected. In thirty seconds the application of the 

 galvanic current to the left sciatic nerve causes no response, while 

 its application to the right sciatic caused contractions in its tribu- 

 tary muscles. 



The same results were obtained in the following experiments 

 in which conia and strychnia were given simultaneously. 



Exp. 42. Injected conia and strychnia into the abdomen of a 

 frog from whose posterior extremities direct access of the poison 

 had been cut off by tying the abdominal aorta; by their conjoint 

 action they produced a commingling of paralysis in all other parts 

 of the body with violent tetanic spasms in the protected limbs. 

 This commingling would have been impossible if the paralysis 

 was spinal or cerebral, and can only be explained on the supposi- 

 tion that conia paratyzes all the motor nerves with which it 

 comes in contact. 



Exp. 43. Severed in a frog all the tissues at the upper part of 

 the right thigh except the nerve, and then injected one-twentieth 

 drop of conia with one-sixtieth grain of strychina. In seven 

 minutes paralysis in all other parts of the body with the peculiar 

 strychnia convulsions in the right leg. 



The two experiments of D3 T ce-Brown and Davidson (previously 

 given in full), seemingly prove that the paralysis is either spinal 

 or cerebral and not peripheral ; there can, however, be but little 

 importance attached to them, as the effect of galvanism on the 

 spine and on the nerve of the ligatured limb was not observed. 

 In a single experiment I obtained results similar to those obtain- 

 ed by these experimenters, but the reason for this was soon made 

 clear by finding an anomaly in the external iliac artery ; this 

 vessel, instead of being solely continuous with the femoral, gave 

 rise to a large branch which passed directly to the back of the leg, 

 becoming popliteal. I have observed the same anomaly in five 

 dogs, seven cats, and two mice, and in frogs this anomalous distri- 

 bution occurs so often that it is probably the rule with them and 

 not the exception. In several dissections of various animals I 



