38C Proceedings of the British Association. 



Section E. — Anatomy and Medicine. 



Chairman. — Dr Abergrombie. 

 Depvty'Chairmen. — Sir Charles Bell. Professor Clarke. 



Secretaries — Dr Roget. Dr William Thomson. 

 Committee, — Dr Alison, Dr Arnott, Sir G. Ballingall, S. D. 

 Broughton, Esq., Dr J. Campbell, Professor Clark, William Clift, 

 Esq., Dr Davidson, Dr Hodgkin, Dr Holme, Dr Home, Dr Mac- 

 lagan, Dr Roget, James Russell, Esq., Dr Thomson, Dr A. T. 

 Thomson, Dr William Thomson, Prof. Treviranus, Dr Turner, 

 Dr Yelloly. 



The Medical Section met this day at eleven o'clock, when, on 

 the motion* of Dr Yelloly, Dr Abercrombie was requested to take 

 the Chair. Dr Yelloly then proposed that the Section should ap- 

 point Dr Abercrombie Chairman for the ensuing meeting, and Sir 

 Charles Bell, and Professor Clarke of Cambridge, Deputy- Chair- 

 men ; which proposal was unanimously agreed to, and Dr Aber- 

 crombie took the chair accordingly. 



A letter from Dr Roupell was laid before the meeting, express- 

 ing his regret, that circumstances had interfered with his pursuing 

 the subject of the Operation of Poisons introduced into the animal 

 economy, of which he had been appointed at the last meeting to 

 undertake the investigation, in conjunction with Dr Hodgkin ; but 

 assuring the Section that he had not neglected the subject, and that 

 he trusts next year to exhibit the drawings he has made, and 

 to lay before the Section a joint memoir on the subject. It was 

 proposed and unanimously agi'eed to, that Dr Roupell and Dr 

 Hodgkin should be requested to prosecute their investigations, and 

 lay the results of them before the next meeting of the Association. 



Mr Broughton read to the Section the results of the experimental 

 inquiry respecting the sensibilities of the nerves of the brain, which, 

 at the last meeting of the Association, Dr Marshall Hall and he 

 had been requested to undertake. The most important new fact 

 Btated in this paper was, that the 8th pair of nerves, in several ex- 

 periments on horses and asses, appeared quite insensible to ordinary 

 irritations, and no muscular contraction was observed to succeed its 

 irritation ; but when the trunk of the horse was compressed with 

 the forceps, or when it was cut tlu*ougli, and the lower portion of 

 the upper segment compressed in that way, a struggle, an inspira- 

 tion, a cough, and effort to swallow, were always observed. At 



