ACTION OF GALVANISM ON MUSCLES. 409 



neither of which any blood flowed. A pointed rod, connected with one 

 end of a galvanic battery, of two hundred and seventy pairs of four- 

 inch plates, was now placed in contact with the spinal marrow, whilst 

 another rod, connected with the other end, was applied to the sciatic 

 nerve. Every muscle of the body was immediately agitated with con- 

 vulsive movements, resembling a violent shuddering from cold. The 

 left side was most powerfully convulsed at each renewal of the electric 

 contact. On removing the second rod from the hip to the heel, the 

 knee being previously bent, the leg was thrown out with such violence 

 as nearly to overturn one of the assistants, who in vain attempted to 

 prevent its extension. 



In the next experiment, the left phrenic nerve was exposed at the 

 outer edge of the sterno-thyroideus muscle. As this nerve is distributed 

 to the diaphragm, and communicates with the heart through the pneu- 

 mogastric nerves, it was expected that, by transmitting the galvanic 

 fluid along it, the respiratory process might be renewed. Accordingly, 

 a small incision having been made under the cartilage of the seventh 

 rib, the point of one rod was brought into contact with the great head 

 of the diaphragm, whilst that of the other was applied to the phrenic 

 nerve in the neck. The diaphragm, which is a main agent in respira- 

 tion, was instantly contracted, but with less force than was expected. 

 "Satisfied," says Dr. Ure, "from ample experience on the living body, 

 that more powerful effects can be produced in galvanic excitation by 

 leaving the extreme communicating rods in close contact with the parts 

 to be operated on, while the electric chain or circuit is completed by 

 running the end of the wires along the top of the plates in the last 

 trough of either pole, the other wire being steadily immersed in the 

 last cell of the opposite pole, I had immediate recourse to this method. 

 The success of it was truly wonderful. Full, nay laborious breathing 

 instantly commenced. The chest heaved and fell; the belly was pro- 

 truded and again collapsed, with the relaxing and retiring diaphragm. 

 This process was continued, without interruption, as long as I continued 

 the electric discharges. In the judgment of many scientific gentlemen 

 who witnessed the scene, this respiratory experiment was perhaps the 

 most striking ever made with a philosophical apparatus. Let it also be 

 remembered, that for full half an hour before this period, the body had 

 been well-nigh drained of its blood, and the spinal marrow severely 

 lacerated. No pulsation could be perceived, meanwhile, at the heart or 

 wrist; but it may be supposed, that but for the evacuation of the blood, 

 the essential stimulus of that organ, this phenomenon might also haVe 

 occurred." 



In a third experiment, the supra-orbital nerve was laid bare in the 

 forehead. The one conducting rod being applied to it, and the other 

 to the heel, most extraordinary grimaces were exhibited. Every muscle 

 in the face was simultaneously thrown into fearful action. " Kage, 

 horror, despair, anguish, and ghastly smiles, united their hideous ex- 

 pression in the murderer's face, surpassing far the wildest representa- 



a nerve towards its centre. See Bell's Select Medical Library, for Oct., 1839 ; Amer. Journ. 

 of Med. Sciences, May, 1840, p. 13; and Medical Examiner, Jan. 23d and 30th, 1841. 



