238 EXPERIMENTS relating ta 
6. As an animal does not feel nor act by the medium of 
a nerve which has been divided tranfverfely, although its 
divided parts are placed contiguous, or tied together; as the 
mufcles fupplied by nerves above the place coated are not 
thrown into a¢tion; the above experiments, or thofe of GaAt- 
vANI and VALLI, inftead of proving, as they have fuppofed, 
that the matter which is‘excited is electrical, and the fluid of 
the nerves the fame with it, appear to fhow, that the electrical 
fluid, or matter put in motion by the different metals, is quite 
different in its nature from the nervous fluid, as the courfe of 
the nervous fluid, but not that of the electrical, can be inter- 
cepted by ligature or incifion of the nerve. 
7. As the action of the mufcles, in the above experiments, is 
not produced, nor even increafed, by connecting the coating of 
the nerve with the mufcle by means of a wire, there is no 
foundation for the opinion of Gatyani and VALLI, that the 
nerve is electrified plus, and the mufcle minus, or that the e- 
lectricity of the one is pofitive, and that of the other ne-_ 
gative. 
_8. We feem therefore to be led to the conclufion, that the 
matter or fluid which is excited or put in motion by the ap- 
plication of the different metals to each other, and to the nerve, , 
ferves merely as a powerful ftimulus to that energy or fluid 
which is lodged in the nerves. 
To fupport this way of reafoning, we may obferve, that in 
a warm blooded animal, the rabbit, although convulfions were 
repeated for a confiderable length of time when the nerve was 
entire, yet, after dividing the nerve and intercepting the fur- 
ther fupply of nervous energy from the brain, the action of 
the mufcles ceafed in a few feconds, by keeping the two metals 
contiguous; which is readily explained on the fuppofition, that 
the nervous energy or fluid, lodged in the nerve beyond the 
3 place 
