SECT. XIX. PHYSIOLOGY. 167 
the pulp of the mutton was observed escaping 
through the lips of the incision, and on exami- 
nation it was discovered that the whole of the 
mutton was already decomposed, and changed 
into a soft saponaceous mass, in which no trace 
of fibrous texture could be detected. The differ- 
ence between these two experiments was at first 
inexplicable, but by repeating them it appeared, 
that when slices of beef or mutton are put into 
recent wounds, adhesion is extremely apt to take 
place between the living and dead parts, and no 
decomposition is effected where adhesion is formed. 
But when a wound becomes considerably inflamed, 
no adhesion ensues, and the decomposition of the 
dead parts by the living is more rapid. 
ceccrx. 6th. A slice of raw flesh was allowed 
to remain twelve hours in a wound, the side 
applied to the muscles of the dog was covered 
with a stratum of pulp; the whole had a parboiled 
appearance, and was very tender. 
ccccx. The slices of meat put into the 
wounds weighed from fifteen to twenty grains, 
and the decomposition appeared generally most 
successful when it was cut in the direction of its 
fibres. The boiled meat was found to adhere 
more readily to living muscles than the raw; a cir- 
cumstance which, @ priori, would appear unlikely. 
coccxt. The third experiment does not permit 
denying that the gastric juice exercises a slight 
