546 ' Intelligence and Miscellaneous Articles. 



no oxidation due to the action of the atmosphere, for the same things 

 occur in operating under a bath of mercury or oil. 



Recent experiments made by M. Kiihne in M. du Bois-Reymond's 

 laboratory, show that the opinion put forward by Briicke as to 

 the cause of the rigor mortis is perfectly well founded. It a])pears 

 that this rigidity is the result of a spontaneous coagulation of a pro- 

 teine substance which is contained in the muscles, but of which it is 

 impossible to say whether it is identical with the muscular fibrine of 

 Liebig, or with the syntonine of Lehmann. The question may there- 

 fore be raised, whether there is any causal relation between the 

 plisenomenon of the coagulation of this substance and the formation 

 of acid in the muscles. It does not appear, however, that there is 

 any necessary relation between these two phenomena. In fact iVI. du 

 Bois-lleymond shows that heat may cause the coagulation of the 

 muscular substance, that is to say rigidity, without producing acidity. 



The investigations of which the preceding is an analysis, were 

 directed to the striated muscles. M. du Bois-Reymond has extended 

 his studies to the non-striated mtiscles, and has arrived at the sur- 

 prising result that these fibres pass from life to death, and lastly 

 become decomposed, without passing through any acid pha^ ; their 

 reaction is always alkaline. 



M. du Bois-Reymond lastly set himself to prove that the effect of 

 the prolonged activity of a muscle is to set acid at liberty in its 

 interior. With this view he irritated in succession by galvanism all 

 the parts of the nervous system of a frog, from the spinal cord to the 

 muscles of the leg, and continued the irritation until the effects ceased. 

 It may certainly be objected that the acid M'hich is produced during 

 this tetanization may result from electrolytic actions induced by the 

 voltaic current in the muscular substance ; but the author has found 

 a mode of operation which places his results out of the reach of 

 this objection. He has also varied his experiments so as to keep 

 the animal alive during the operation. In operating upon rabbits, 

 he has even succeeded in demonstrating the correctness of his theory 

 without having recourse to galvanism. For this purpose he c\its 

 the sciatic nerve on one side only, and then poisons the animal with 

 strychnine. The rabbit dies in a state of general tetanus, in which 

 the muscles of the leg operated upon alone take no part. If the 

 muscles of the two hind legs be then cut transversely, an acid 

 reaction is detected in the tetanized leg, whilst those of the leg 

 operated upon present no reaction. 



The heart, notwithstanding its constant activity, presents the same 

 reactions as the other muscles, except that it becomes acid rather 

 more rapidly after death. 



The fact that tetanus is attended by a production of acid in the 

 muscles, proves, moreover, that the acidity of the muscles is not 

 necessarily accompanied by 7-igor mortis. 



M. du Bois-Reymond is inclined to regard the acid of the muscles 

 as a lactic acid. — Bibl. de Geneve, 1859, Hull. Scient. p. 70. 



