MUSCULAR SYSTEM. 231 



tf. We do, as in the gravid uterus and aneurismatic 

 heart. It is in these the result of nutrition, where thick- 

 ness of parietes is added to extension. 



Q. When is contractility of texture most obvious in 

 these muscles? 



.#. When they are empty. 



Q. What property or power empties them of their con- 

 tents? 



t#. Organic contractility; and after this has emptied 

 the hollow muscles, then contractility of texture closes 

 them. 



Q. What regulates the degree of organic contractility 

 in the organic muscles? 



.#. It is in proportion to the fleshy fibres; hence it is 

 in such activity in the left ventricle of the heart, in the 

 O3sophagus, and in the rectum. 



2. Vital Properties. 



Q. Have the muscles of organic life much animal sen- 

 sibility? 



t/2. It is slight. Harvey found the heart insensible, the 

 bladder is so in living animals. 



Q. Is lassitude felt in these muscles? 



t#. It is probable that hunger may be partly owing to 

 this. The sensation in the bladder when permanently 

 contracted may be that of lassitude. Perhaps the feeble 

 pulse after long fevers may result from a lassitude of the 

 fleshy fibres of the heart. 



Q. What have you to say of the animal contractility of 

 these muscles of organic life? 



*#. That from the nature of the property it is foreign 



