373 



directed by Professor Goodsir to a paper by Dr. O. Spiegelberg, 

 published last year, in which he shows that the movement of the 

 intestines is increased by mechanical irritation of the cord. His 

 results are particularly satisfactory, as having been obtained inci- 

 dentally during an inquiry into the movements of the uterus, and so 

 without any preconceived theory*. Spiegelberg also attributes the 

 increased peristaltic action after death to arrest of the circulation ; 

 having found that the same thing occurs during life, when the aorta 

 or vena cava is compressed above the origin of the mesenteric 



To proceed to the experiments upon the cardiac movements : 

 some of these consisted in irritation of the vagus in rabbits, and this 

 was followed by different results in different instances : thus, on one 

 occasion the pinching of the cardiac end of the left nerve, divided in 

 the neck, was followed by considerable increase in the number of 

 beats as felt through the walls of the chest, but similar treatment 

 of the right nerve afterwards caused great depression of the heart's 

 action. Again, in one animal the evidence obtained from mechanical 

 irritation of the vagus was almost entirely negative. In another 

 case, the left vagus having been exposed, feeble galvanic currents 

 transmitted through the nerve, isolated by a plate of glass placed 

 beneath it, were succeeded by slight increase in the number of con- 

 tractions. The strength of the battery having been then increased 

 by introducing the rods into the helix, it produced first irregularity, 

 and then complete arrest of the action of the heart, which had been 

 previously exposed. No sign of recurrence of contraction appearing, 

 I filled the jar to the top with acid solution, and sent powerful 

 currents through the vagus, with the instantaneous effect of reviving 

 the action of the heart, which, on their immediate discontinuance, 

 continued to beat, though feebly, for several minutes. During this 

 time I again applied the galvanism very mildly, and the result was 

 great increase in the number of beats on several successive trials. 

 The apparent discordance of these facts is, I believe, partly owing 

 to differences in the state of the nerves in different cases as respects 

 irritability and exhaustion, as will be better understood from the 

 sequel ; and, on the whole, the experiments appear to show that, in a 



* Henle and Pfeufer's Zeitschrift, 3rd series, vol. ii. pt. 1. 



