188 HENRY PICKERING BOWDITCH— CANNON. [B6ssr0IBS [ ^ 1 ^ 



place in those white glistening bands which are for us the only channels through which knowl- 

 edge of the physical universe can be obtained and which also enable us to impress upon the world 

 around us the evidence of our conscious personality?" Bernstein had concluded that a nerve 

 fiber could be exhausted by tetanic stimulation for 5 to 15 minutes. Widenski, however, had 

 not been able to demonstrate exhaustion during stimulation for several hours. Using curare 

 as a temporary block to nerve impulses, Bowditch stimulated the peripheral end of the cut 

 sciatic from one and a half to four hours and as the effect of the drug wore off saw the muscle 

 respond. Thus new evidence was obtained of the indefatigability of the nerve trunk — a funda- 

 mental fact in the physiology of the nervous system. 



Another research, on conditions modifying the knee jerk, conducted in cooperation with 

 Warren, brought out important new facts regarding the interaction of influences in the nervous 

 system. Voluntary contraction of another part of the body had been usid by clinicians for 

 some years as a means of reinforcing the patellar tendon reflex. In this research it was shown 

 that not only voluntary effort but also afferent stimuli applied to different parts of the body 

 could affect the degree of response, and furthermore that the reinforcement occurred only dur- 

 ing a fraction of a second and was commonly followed by a period of depression, lasting a second 

 or two, in which the jerk was diminished or abolished. Thus activity in one part of the nervous 

 system may first exalt and then depress the activity in another part. 



The foregoing review of Dr. Bowditch's contributions to physiology shows the variety of 

 interests which he entertained and the suggestive character of the work which he performed. 

 It was typical of his papers that they dealt very little with speculative features. This was not 

 due to lack of imagination, for many of the reports of his work promised further pursuit of the 

 subject, showing that he saw the interesting problems hinted at by the results that were 

 obtained. 



Aside from engaging in physiological research and stimulating young men to engage in it, 

 Dr. Bowditch for years wrote for the Boston Medical and Surgical Journal semiannual reports 

 on the progress of physiology. In these reports he summarized the results of a group of inves- 

 tigations on one or more broad topics, and commented upon them. It was a practice which 

 served to keep his interests extended and to suggest to him new lines of study and research. 



He was one of the principal founders of the American Physiological Society, in 18S7, and 

 succeeded S. Weir Mitchell in 1S8S as its second president. He was reelected president during 

 the years 1S91-1895, and served for many years besides as a member of the council. The tra- 

 ditions of the society, particularly its character as an association to encourage research, are 

 largely the result of his initiative. His attendance at its meetings was regular, and his example 

 and his genuine appreciation of new work as it was reported were a wholesome stimulus to 

 young men beginning physiological investigation. 



In 1S77, when Michael Foster started the English Journal of Physiology, Bowditch was 

 consulted and agreed to serve as one of the American editors. Until 189S the publications 

 from the Harvard Laboratory appeared in that Journal. When the activities of American 

 physiologists became sufficiently great to warrant the establishment of an American journal, 

 Dr. Bowditch gave support and encouragement to the efforts of Dr. W. T. Porter, a member 

 of his departmental staff, in establishing the American Journal of Physiology, and was on its 

 first editorial board. 



SERVICES TO PSYCHOLOGY. 



For many years, and especially in his later life, Dr. Bowditch was interested in the physiol- 

 ogy of the senses, an aspect of physiology which has since been taken over largely by the experi- 

 mental psychologist. In 1S81 ho published, in cooperation 'with W. F. Southard, an inves- 

 tigation into the relative accuracy of our knowledge of position in space as obtained by sight 

 and by touch. Evidence was adduced showing that direct vision gave the most accurate 

 special knowledge, with touch second, when tested by the hand which had been experienced in 



