416 Dr. F. Senion. On the Position of the 



accessible to me in the original, namely, Legallois,* Reid,f Longet,J 

 Traube,Rosenthal,|| Dalton,^[ Greorg Schmidt,** Schech,ft Steiner,JJ 

 Yierordt, jun., unanimously state that after such division the 

 glottis became narrower than it had been previously ; and this in 

 fact is a statement which will be found in every text-book of phy- 

 siology. 



This category of proofs, however, obviously again can only be used 

 with great restrictions for the decision of the point at issue. In the 

 first place, of the authors just named, only Legallois, Reid, Traube, 

 Schmidt, and Schech state distinctly and unmistakably that the 

 narrowing of the glottis of which they speak as a sequel to the divi- 

 sion of the pneumogastric and recurrent laryngeal nerves refers to 

 the difference of the position of the vocal cords thus obtained from 

 the one previously seen during quiet respiration. It can hardly be 

 doubted that, also, the other authors quoted above think of this dif- 

 ference when they speak of the narrowing resulting from the divi- 

 sion ; but, unfortunately, their statements on this important point 

 are not so unequivocal as to altogether exclude the objection that they 

 had intended to contrast the position resulting from the division 

 of the motor laryngeal nerves with that observed during deep 

 inspiration. 



Secondly, the conditions of quiet respiration in men and animals, 

 so far as my own observations during a long-continued series of ex- 

 periments on the functions of the motor laryngeal nerves and on the 

 central innervation of the larynx undertaken in conjunction with 

 Professor Victor Horsley permit me to conclude, are so different 

 from each other, in that the quiet respiration of animals is much 

 more usually accompanied by rhythmical excursions of the vocal 

 cords than in men, that too much stress must not be laid on experi- 

 ments in animals with regard to this point. 



Thirdly, there exist undoubtedly frequent and important anatomical 



* ' Experiences sur la principe de la Tie,' 1812, p. 197 ; and ' CEuvres,' 1830, 

 vol. 1, pp. 170, et seq. and p. 248. 



t ' Physiol., Anatom. and Pathol. Kesearches,' 1848, p. 118. His paper on this 

 subject was published in 1841. 



I ' Gazette Medicale de Paris,' 1841, p. 469, and ' Traite de Physiologic,' vol. 3, 

 p. 529. 



'Beitrage zur experimentellen Pathologie und Physiologic,' 1846, fasc. 1, 

 p. 95, et seq. 



|| ' Die Athembewegungen u. ihre Beziehungen zum Nervus Vagus,' 1862, 77. 



T[ ' A Treatise on Human Physiology,' 1867, p. 451. 



** ' Die Laryngoscopie an Thieren,' 1873, p. 31, et seq. 



ft ' Experimented Untersuchungen iiber die Functionen der Nerven u. Muskeln 

 des Kehlkopfs,' 1873, p 31. 



It ' Die Laryngoscopie der Thiere.' Eeprint from ' Verhandlungen des Natur. 

 hist. Med. Vereins zu Heidelberg,' N.S., vol. 11, Heft 4, p. 287. 



' Beitrage zur experiment. Laryngoscopie.' Diss. inaug., 1876, p. 39. 



