268 NERVOUS FORCE. LiECT. XIV. XV. 



washed repeatedly until they no longer reddened the tinc- 

 ture of litmus. The pile being formed, and the circuit 

 completed, the direction of the current obtained was that 

 of the muscular current, but only from 6 to 7 at the first 

 deviation, and the needle stopped at 0. I rapidly divided 

 the half thighs with scissors, in order to renew the internal 

 surface of the muscle ; and the pile, thus renewed, gave 

 rise to one first deviation, which was also weaker than that 

 before indicated. 



Being induced to think that the effects of the acid solu- 

 tion upon the muscular elements, had been that of diminish- 

 ing the conducting power, I made a muscular pile with 

 eight half thighs taken from untouched frogs, to which 

 halves I added four thighs taken from others also untouched. 

 I obtained a current of 46. Instead of employing four 

 entire frogs, I used four also entire, but which had been 

 plunged in sulphuric acid, and then washed: the current 

 was 44. The conducting power had not, therefore, been 

 modified in the muscular masses which had been subjected 

 to the acid solution. 



In order to have more absolute certainty of the accuracy 

 of this result, I made the experiment, which I am about to 

 describe, by using, in order to prolong the current, not 

 entire thighs but eight halves of thighs, washed with the 

 acid solution, and which I then had re-united upon their in- 

 ternal surfaces in such a manner as to form a pile altogether 

 similar to the preceding: the result was the same. 



I likewise repeated this experiment, by using a concen- 

 trated solution of potash, in order to immerse for a few 

 instants the muscular elements, or the half-thighs ; the latter 

 were then washed in pure water, in order to remove every 

 trace of alkali. With the pile, thus formed, of sixteen 

 elements, and the circuit being closed, I obtained a current 

 of 10 to 12 in the direction of the muscular current, and 



