3S4 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF 



have seen the internal iliac pass down the back of the leg while 

 there was a very small femoral in front. It is very probable, had 

 a dissection been made, that the unusual results obtained by 

 Brown and Davidson would have been explained by some anoma- 

 lous distribution of the arteries. 



The two following experiments I am unable to explain except 

 on the supposition that conia has a double action on the motor 

 nervous system ; a paralyzing action on the peripheral ende of the 

 efferent or motor nerves, and a depressing action on the motor 

 tract of the spinal cord ; that in almost all cases the former occurs 

 first and predominates, the paralysis of the spinal cord not occur- 

 ring until the period of death, yet in a few instances the former 

 does not occur at all and the latter becomes more marked than 

 usual. The experiments to which I allude are the following : 



Exp. 44. Tied the left femoral artery of a young cat. 12.05, 

 injected five drops of conia into the peritoneum. 12. IT, paral3 T sis all 

 over the body, not even excepting the ligatured limb ; the applica- 

 tion of the galvanic current to either sciatic causes as strong 

 contractions in the tributary muscles, as it did previous to inject- 

 ing the conia (showing that the peripheral ends of the motor 

 nerves were not paralyzed). I then opened the spine and galvan- 

 ized the cord without producing any movements in the extremi- 

 ties. 



Exp. 45. Tied the left external iliac of a young cat. 5.10, inject- 

 ed three-quarters of a drop of conia into the femoral vein. 5.25, 

 no paralysis. 5.25^-, injected one drop into the femoral vein. 

 5.36^, no paralysis. 5.3H, injected two drops. 5.51, slight pare- 

 sis, equally marked in the ligatured as in the uninjured extremi- 

 ties. 5.52, injected two drops. 5.55, complete paralysis all over 

 the bod}*, not excepting the ligatured limb. Galvanization of 

 either sciatic causes strong contractions in the tributary muscles, 

 while galvanization of the spine produces no effect. 



Action on the Periiohery of the Afferent Nerves. Except the 

 loss of irritability of the eyes the sensory nervous system has 

 alwaj's been supposed to remain unaffected in conia-poisoning. In 

 some of the earlier experiments made by the writer evidences were 

 seen which threw doubts on this supposition, but, later, when the 

 following experiments were made, especially to determine this 

 point, these doubts became certainties. 



Exp. 46. Tied the abdominal aorta and left axillary artery of a 



