312 NATURE AND LIFE. 



after their execution, can be of use in the investigation of 

 what takes place immediately after the stopping of the 

 living machine. If the heart is uncovered a few minutes 

 after execution, pulsations are remarked which continue 

 during an hour or longer, at the rate of forty to forty-five 

 a minute, even after the removal of the liver, the stomach, 

 and the intestines. For several hours the muscles retain 

 their excitability, and undergo reflex contractions from the 

 effect of pinching. Robin noted the following phenomenon 

 in the case of a criminal an hour after his execution : " The 

 right arm," to quote his description, " being placed ob- 

 liquely extended at the side of the trunk, with the hand 

 about ten inches away from the hip, I scratched the skin 

 of the chest, at about the height of the nipple, with the 

 point of a scalpel, over a space of nearly four inches, with- 

 out making any pressure on the muscles lying beneath. 

 We immediately saw the great pectoral muscle, then the 

 biceps, then the anterior brachial, successively and quickly 

 contract. The result was a movement of approach of the 

 whole arm toward the trunk, with rotation inward of the 

 limb, and half flexion of the forearm upon the arm, a true 

 defensive movement, which threw the hand forward toward 

 the chest as far as the pit of the stomach." 



These spontaneous exhibitions of life in a corpse are 

 trifles compared with those excited by means of certain 

 stimulants, particularly of electricity. Aldini, in 1802, 

 subjected two criminals, beheaded at Bologna, to the action 

 of a powerful battery. Influenced by the current, the 

 facial muscles contracted, producing the effect of horrid 

 grimaces. All the limbs were seized with convulsive 

 movements ; the bodies seemed to feel the stir of resur- 

 rection, and to make efforts to rise. The springs of the 

 system retained the power of answering the electric stimu- 

 lus for several hours after beheading. A few years later, 

 at Glasgow, Ure made some equally noted experiments on 



