TRANSACTIONS OF THE SECTIONS. 151 
put not in the child nor young subject. These apertures, which in 
their general appearance might be compared to the opening of the 
pupil in the iris, are visible with the unassisted eye, and more easily with 
a lens of half an inch focus: the vesicles in which they exist are gene- 
rally empty, or nearly so, of the gray granular matter with which the 
closed ones are filled. In the pig some of the patches exhibit no open 
vesicles; others contain entirely open ones ; and a third set of patches, 
which are those most favourable to the observation, contain open vesi- 
cles mixed with the closed ones. The open vesicles are more fre- 
quently found towards the lower part of the ilium than in its upper 
part or in the jejunum. The author regards the zone of apertures 
which surrounds each vesicle of the aggregated glands as merely the 
openings of the small mucous tubes, and not as excretory ducts of the 
vesicles, between which and the apertures of the zone he has not been 
able to trace any communication. 
The author entered into various details regarding the minute struc- 
ture of these glands, and concluded by directing the attention of the 
Section to the three distinct points which had been the subject of his 
inquiry, viz. 
Ist. The closed vesicular origin in the child, and occasional vesicular 
condition of the gastric glands at a more advanced period of life. 
Qnd. The closed vesicular condition of the solitary glands of the 
large intestine at the period of their origin, and the occasional occur- 
rence of this condition at a more advanced stage. 
3rd. The occasional open condition of the vesicles of Peyer's glands. 
The author further adverted to the bearing of these observations on 
the theory of secretion in general, on the probable uses of the glandu- 
lar secretions of the intestine in the ceconomy, and on the changes of 
these glands in the diseased state. 
On the Manner in which the Vital Actions are arrested in Asphyxia. 
By Dr. Joun Re. 
The two points in the physiology of asphyxia which have of late 
years principally attracted attention, are the nature of the impediment 
to the circulation of the blood through the lungs, and the consequent 
stagnation of that fluid in the right side of the heart, and the large 
veins leading to it, and the cause of the arrestment of the sensorial 
functions. 
The following experiments were made on this subject. A tube, 
with a stopcock on it, was fixed into the trachea, and one of Poiseuille’s 
hzemodynamometers was introduced into the femoral artery, for the 
purpose of obtaining definite information of the force with which the 
blood was transmitted along the arterial system. The stopcock of the 
tracheal tube was then turned, and when the state of asphyxia was in- 
duced, and the mercury had begun to fall in the hemodynamometer, 
a bladder full of pure nitrogen gas was fixed upon the tube secured in 
the trachea, and the stopcock turned. After the effect of this gas had 
