OF THE BRAIN, ETC. 3 



a tube of elastic gum, to which was connected 

 a small pair of bellows, so constructed that 

 the lungs might be inflated, and then allowed 

 to empty themselves. By repeating this pro- 

 cess once in five seconds, the lungs being each 

 time fully inflated with fresh atmospheric air, 

 an artificial respiration was maintained, I then 

 secured the blood-vessels in the neck, and re- 

 moved the head, by cutting through the soft 

 parts above the ligature, and separating the oc- 

 ciput from the atlas. The heart continued to 

 contract apparently with as much strength and 

 frequency as in a living animal. I examined 

 the blood in the different sets of vessels, and 

 found it dark-coloured in the venae cavaa and 

 pulmonary artery, and of the usual florid red 

 colour in the pulmonary veins and aorta. At 

 the end of 25 minutes from the time of the 

 spinal chord being divided, the action of the 

 heart became fainter, and the experimenws 

 put an end to. 



With a view to promote the enquiry instituted 

 by the Society for promoting the Knowledge of 

 Animal Chemistry respecting the influence of 

 the nerves on the secretions*, 1 endeavoured to 

 ascertain whether they continued after the in- 

 fluence of the brain was removed. In the com- 

 mencement of the experiment I emptied the 

 bladder of its contents by pressure. At the end 

 of the experiment the bladder continued empty. 



* Philosophical Transactions for 1809. 



B 2 



