The Great Cerceris 



happens more or less quickly. Unless the 

 blow has been dealt quite recently, the motion 

 of the tarsi extends no farther and the legs 

 remain still. 



Ten days after an attack, I was unable to 

 obtain the least vestige of susceptibility by 

 the above process; and I then had recourse to 

 the Voltaic battery. This method is more 

 powerful and provokes muscular contractions 

 and movements where the benzine-vapour 

 fails. We have only therefore to apply the 

 current of one or two Bunsen cells through 

 the conductors of some slender needles. 

 Thrusting the point of one under the farthest 

 ring of the abdomen and the point of the 

 other under the neck, we obtain, each time the 

 current is established, not only a quivering of 

 the tarsi, but a strong reflexion of the legs, 

 which draw up under the abdomen and then 

 straighten out when the current is turned off. 

 These flutterings, which are very energetic 

 during the first few days, gradually diminish 

 in intensity and appear no more after a cer- 

 tain time. On the tenth day, I have still ob- 

 tained perceptible movements; on the fif- 

 teenth day, the battery was powerless to pro- 

 voke them, despite the suppleness of the limbs 

 and the freshness of the viscera. To effect 

 33 



