306 Broughtou on the Injluence 



day the horse continued to all appearance perfectly well, eat 

 his hay, but refused to drink, and walked about. The pulse 

 and the respirations were natural during the day. Early the 

 following morning he exhibited signs of uiieasiness, and re- 

 fused to eat or drink. The pulse became rapid and weak. The 

 respirations were only six in a minute. In this state he died, at 

 ten P.M., without any violent efforts to vomit, or any struggles 

 to breathe, having survived the operation fifty hours, twenty-four 

 of which he passed entirely free from symptoms. In the stomach 

 was found some hay in a masticated state, hut considerably less 

 than the horse had eaten. The duodenum was empty. In the 

 colon there was some hay, the remnant of former meals, and 

 some of that eaten since the operation. There was no distention 

 of (he stomachy nor was there any redness of its surface. 



The foregoing experiments are sufficient for the object which 

 I had principally in view in making them. Since I brought 

 these experiments to a close, Mr. Field junior (son of Mr. Field 

 the veterinary surgeon, to whose liberal zeal in the cause of 

 science I am indebted for the experiments on horses) has 

 favoured me with the following accurate narration of the effects 

 of dividing the eighth pair of nerves in a third horse. I much 

 regret that I had not an opportunity of witnessing this experi- 

 ment ; but, as it is the only one which has come under my 

 notice in which digestion appears to have been entirely arrested, 

 I feel myself bound in candour to add it to those cited, in 

 which the function of digestion was continued after the division 

 of the par vagum. 



The subject of this experiment was a bay gelding, twelve 

 years old, and in good health. The nerves were divided as 

 before, at seven p.m., and immediately the slow breathing, as 

 in the last case, came on, with slight perspiration about the 

 head and ears. The respirations shortly fell to six in a minute, 

 and the pulse was at eighty. The animal eat some hay at 

 intervals, and was not apparently much disturbed. The following 

 morning the breathing was as the night before, and continued 



