148 F. A. BAIN BRIDGE AND H. H. DALE. 



stimulating the right splanchnic nerve (Fig. 12). The possible effect of 

 the rise of blood-pressure must be borne in mind, though in one such 

 case exposure and cooling of the intestines had rendered this very small : 

 but such a consideration will not account for the fact that stimulation 

 of the left splanchnic, in the same experiment, while more effective on 

 the blood-pressure, had no such effect on the gall-bladder. Again, it 

 was stated by Freese that this motor effect was obtainable by stimu- 

 lation of the splanchnics after bleeding the animal to death. The 

 tracing he reproduces in illustration shows the effect of stimulating with 

 the electrodes applied to the cystic duct ; so that the contraction 

 obtained might, with great probability, be attributed, as we shall show, 

 to stimulation of fibres from the vagi. We have, however, repeated the 

 experiment, and confirmed the result, stimulating the splanchnics them- 

 selves : but we must add that, in our experience, the right splanchnic 

 alone gives the result. Direct application of adrenalin to the gall-bladder, 

 which, under normal conditions of tone, causes inhibition, has sometimes 

 a very marked motor effect after bleeding to death (Fig. 13). This con- 

 traction was, in one experiment, of sufficient vigour for detection by the 



Fig. 13. x J. Effect of directly applying adrenalin to gall-bladder of an animal bled to 

 death. The solution used was 1 in 1000 pure adrenalin chloride, without preservative. 



naked eye, and had the appearance of being limited to about one-fifth of 

 the gall-bladder ; the part affected being that adjoining the cystic duct. 

 To this point we hope to give further investigation, and it will suffice now 

 to point out that the conditions under which the result is obtained 

 complete anaemia, leading to intense inhibition of the fundus of the gall- 

 bladder are just those which would enable a localised motor effect to 

 be recorded by the balloon or similar mechanical contrivance for regis- 

 tration. Whether the distribution be thus localised or not, we cannot 



