58 FUNCTIONAL INERTIA 



from Difflugia * for a time secrete lime, but ultimately 

 die, and even an isolated nucleus does not instantly 

 die : it cannot assimilate, however, in the absence of 

 cytoplasm. 



(The nucleus is more resistant towards phagocytic 

 absorption than is the cytoplasm.) 



We all know that, e.g., the cilia are active or many 

 hours after death if kept from drying : in the trachea 

 of man Virchow t found them living 38 to 48 hours 

 post-mortem : the cilium therefore must be regarded 

 as the " ultimum moriens." Valentin says it can live 

 three days p.m. hominis. Ciliary action is notably 

 rhythmic, 10 to 20 times a second (maximum) ; it is 

 notoriously independent of nervous control, even the 

 co-ordination of the movements not being carried 

 out by the nervous system ; it has a period of latency 

 after stimulation, as we have seen, and it has a 

 long period of post-mortem activity, so that it 

 possesses in a high degree the property of functional 

 inertia. 



Mitotic changes are known to occur in the nuclei of 

 cells of the human cadaver. The sphincter iridis 

 lives for five hours post-mortem. The epidermis 

 lives for a day or two after " somatic " death, and 

 hairs and nails as epidermal products can still grow. 

 The bronchial muscles are alive half an hour after 

 somatic death. According to Halliburton and Mott, 

 nerves isolated from their trophic cells retain their 

 conductivity for some days. There is no question 



* Verworn, "General Physiology," p. 513. (Macmillan.) 



f Virchow, " Cellular Pathology," p. 293. (London : Churchill.) 



