fO THE PRINCIPLE OP THE DIRECT Chap. III. 



cries or groans. Almost every muscle of the body is 

 brought into strong action. With man the mouth may 

 be closely compressed, or more commonly the lips are 

 retracted, with the teeth clenched or ground together. 

 There is said to be " gnashing of teeth " in hell; and I 

 have plainly heard the grinding of the molar teeth of 

 a cow which was suffering acutely from inflammation 

 of the bowels. The female hippopotamus in the Zoo- 

 logical Gardens, when she produced her young, suf- 

 fered greatly; she incessantly walked about, or rolled 

 on her sides, opening and closing her jaws, and clatter- 

 ing her teeth together. 4 With man the eyes stare wildly 

 as in horrified astonishment, or the brows are heavily 

 contracted. Perspiration bathes the body, and drops 

 trickle down the face. The circulation and respiration 

 are much affected. Hence the nostrils are generally 

 dilated and often quiver; or the breath may be held 

 until the blood stagnates in the purple face. If the 

 agony be severe and prolonged, these signs all change; 

 utter prostration follows, with fainting or convulsions. 



A sensitive nerve when irritated transmits some in- 

 fluence to the nerve-cell, whence it proceeds; and this 

 transmits its influence, first to the corresponding nerve- 

 cell on the opposite side of the body, and then upwards 

 and downwards along the cerebro-spinal column to other 

 nerve-cells, to a greater or less extent, according to the 

 strength of the excitement; so that, ultimately, the whole 

 nervous system may be affected. 5 This involuntary trans- 

 mission of nerve-force may or may not be accompa- 



4 Mr. Bartlett, " Notes on the Birth of a Hippopota- 

 mus," Proe. Zoolog-. Soc. 1871, p. 255. 



5 See, on this subject, Claude Bernard, ' Tissus Vivants,' 

 1866, pp. 316, 337, 358. Virchow expresses himself to al- 

 most exactly the same effect in his essay " Ueber das 

 Riickenmark " (Sammlung- wissenschaft. Vortrlige, 1871, 

 s. 28). 



