44 THE TONER LECTURES. 



I have, therefore, endeavored to deterniiue whether, hi 

 pyaemia, the chemical nerve-centre is affected, but my experi- 

 ments have not been pushed far enough to be absolutely con- 

 clusive. Since, in pyaemic fever in the rabbit, the tempera- 

 ture — at least in my experience — never goes above 10G° F., it 

 is evident that there cannot be a complete paralysis of the 

 inhibitory chemical centre, for if such paralysis existed, the 

 fever would be much more intense. The results in my experi- 

 ments, already detailed, coincide with this view of the case, 

 and thereby corroborate the truth of our deductions. They 

 are, however, at variance with those of Heidenhain. I found 

 that the temperature in pysemic fever was profoundly affected 

 by peripheral irritations, whilst he found that it was not in- 

 fluenced. 



Without doubt, the experiments were in each case accurately 

 performed and correctly reported ; the diversity, in all proba- 

 bilitj', depends upon his having employed feeble irritations — 

 such as he had found would influence the temperature in the 

 normal animal, whilst I applied veiy intense faradaic currents 

 directly to large nerve-trunks. It is an almost necessary 

 inference that, in septic fever, the inhibitory or chemical centre 

 has lost, in part, its susceptibility, but is still capable of 

 responding to very powerful stimulation ; or, in other words, 

 that the inhibitory chemical centre is, in pyaemia, in ,a condi- 

 tion of paresis, but not of paralysis. 



That the centre is not paralj'zed is shown by the compara- 

 tively low temperature attained in pyaemia. After section of 

 the medulla, the temperature in the dog rose rapidly to 108", 

 and was still rising when the animal was killed ; whilst in the 

 rabbit, whose natural temperature is higher than that of the 

 dog in pyaemia, I have never seen the thermometer mark 

 higher than 106°. 



In bringing this long lecture to a close, there are many 

 thoughts in regard to pathological and especially therapeutical 



