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other fishes do — a conclusive proof that the convulsions are 

 not the result of the pain of leaving a watery element. 



" A dog, when placed under water, struggles in the same 

 way, and from a similar cause, the stagnation of blood in its 

 lungs, and the consequent circulation of venous blood through 

 its nervous system. 



" Again, it is well known, that the whale, in its death-throes, 

 moves its tail with considerable force, as if it were trying a 

 last resort to sweep away its foes ; but this is nothing beyond 

 a convulsion, unattended with any pain, and analogous to that 

 which affects those who die from excessive bleeding. 



" I have been informed, too, that it is dangerous to remove 

 the skin from a recently killed horse or other animal, as, on 

 certain parts being touched, the legs are launched out, as in 

 the act of kicking, with such force as to do serious injury 

 to any one who is standing too close. 



"Writhing, contortions, and even convulsions — the generally 

 presumed evidences of pain — having been thus proved to be 

 fallacious, let us consider, whether shrinking from any irri- 

 tation, inflicted by nature or by the hand of man, affords 

 us any stronger proofs. I will assume, in the first place, that 

 the brain is the seat of all true sensation, and that when it has 

 been separated from the body no sensation can be felt therein, 

 a position to be established hereafter. 



" In this part of our enquiry two sources are open to us 

 from which we may derive information — direct experiments on 

 the lower animals, and observations on man in diseased con- 

 ditions. 



" The former we will pass by at present, as inconclusive, and 

 refer to the latter solely, as our observations can be then estab- 

 lished by direct testimony. 



" Dr. Budd, in his lectures on the Practice of Medicine, 

 related the following case, as occurring at one of the Hospitals 

 in London, which is a most forcible illustration that the 

 shrinking from any irritating agent is not necessarily accompa- 







