of the Eighth Pair of Nerves. 301 



that digestion was put a stop to by the division of the nerves. 

 It must be premised that I found some embarrassment at first, 

 in making myself acquainted with the peculiar appearances of 

 the contents of the stomach, so as to discriminate nicely the 

 different indications of digestion ; but, repeated observations 

 and comparisons soon led me to comprehend the several states 

 *^ the food, and the stages of the digestive process. My ex- 

 periments were conducted with careful observation, and wit- 

 nessed by gentlemen, from time to time, whose professional 

 talents and acquirements render them fully competent judges 

 of the results. 



Experiment 1. 



The par vagum was divided in the neck of an healthy 

 full grown rabbit, at half-past three p. m. No symptoms 

 had been observed so late as eleven o'clock, but the ani- 

 mal was found dead in the morning. It had fed on oats 

 prior, and parsley subsequent, to the operation. Dark spots 

 were observed in the lungs, and the heart was full of coa- 

 gulum. The urinary and gall bladders were full. The 

 oesophagus was filled with bright-green chopped parsley, and 

 the bronchifle were full of mucus. The oats were partially 

 digested, and the partley was of a brownish colour, very 

 moist towards the cardiac portion of the stomach, and covered 

 with a white semi-fluid layer of mucus resembling the usual 

 appearance of chyme. The parsley lying uppermost approached 

 more to the bright green of that in the gullet and was much less 

 moist. Some slight redness appeared on the surface of the 

 stomach. 



Experiment 2. 



After fasting sixteen hours, a young rabbit was fed with 

 parsley, and the par vagum was immediately divided as before, 

 at three p.m. At half-past ten the animal was lying on its side, 

 and drawing its breath with difficulty. In the morning it was 

 found dead. The appearances resembled those of the first 

 Tabbit, excepting that there was less redness on its surface. 

 The parsley was very moist and brown. 



