136 PHYSIC 



realised, and which afford a biological picture seemingly 

 complete in tout ensemble and minutiae of detail; but 

 underlying all this, we contend that we have hitherto 

 failed to recognise the chief factor in the origin, progress, 

 and decline of the processes involved in the experiment. 

 The stages of circulatory acceleration, retardation, oscilla- 

 tion, stasis, and thrombosis are preceded by what is usually 

 described as a momentary contraction of the local arterioles, 

 "a thing," or phenomenon, we are assured, that is "of no 

 known significance " (the italics are ours) in connection with 

 this series of events. This thing of" no known significance" 

 we claim to be the most significant of the whole series of 

 events comprising the experiment, inasmuch as it clearly 

 (to us) indicates, if it does not show it microscopically, 

 that the etiological irritant first appeals to, and is realised 

 by, the nervous system albeit both systemic and sym- 

 pathetic and that the nervous system throughout rules 

 and regulates the evolution of the entire sequence of 

 experimental events and results, and, by inference, those 

 of all idiopathic inflammations as well. 



This momentary contraction of the involved arterioles 

 is the lethal or traumatic result of nerve irritation, or 

 shock, however produced, and is followed by what is 

 equivalent to a paralysis of the musculature controlling the 

 lumina of these arterioles, in proportion to the intensity 

 and duration of the influence of the irritant ; if that irri- 

 tant be mild and short in the manner and time of its 

 application, or intense and prolonged, we should expect the 

 respective results to be quite in accordance with the nature 

 of their cause, and, therefore, that these results would 

 afford an exact measurement of the intensity and duration 

 of the inflammatory sequels and irritant causation. 



Holding the opinion that every so-called non-nerve cell 

 is controlled by sympathetic nerve influence, and that it is 

 related to, and, in fact, continuous to some extent histo- 

 logically with the processes of the true, or so-called proper, 

 nerve cells, or, in other words, that it is in reality a true 

 nerve cell, we have in all cases to deal with it in the inflam- 

 matory as well as all other diseased processes. We con- 

 tend that, therefore, we have primarily and throughout to 

 recognise the fact that we have at all such times to deal 



