78 THE LAWS OF ORGANIC 



ingly illustrates my opinion than almost any 

 other which he adduces. Two full grown rab- 

 bits ate plentifully of parsley half an hour be- 

 fore the division of the eighth pair of nerves. 

 As soon as this operation was performed on one, 

 galvanism was applied, and continued to be so, 

 with varying degrees of intensity, for seven- 

 teen hours, at which time the rabbit died ; 

 the other, which had not been in any man- 

 ner interfered with, was then killed, and the 

 two were compared. He says, " The only 

 differences between the contents of the two 

 stomachs were the following : The food, which 

 the healthy rabbit had taken during the expe- 

 riment, was found in the cardiac portion of the 

 stomach, and digestion was going on rapidly in it ; 

 while that which the other had taken at the same 

 time was stilt in the oesophagus, and consequently 

 unchanged." It appears that the food which had 

 been taken previously to the experiment exhi- 

 bited in both an equal extent of the digestive 

 process ; and this is consistent with the state of 

 respiration during that time. After galvanism 

 had been employed twelve hours, he says, " The 

 animal seemed very composed, and breathed with 

 considerable freedom, the trough having acted 

 regularly for some hours." * Two hours after this 

 period the animal made an attempt to vomit, 

 and from this time the breathing became labo- 



* Dr WILSON PHILIP on the Vital Functions, p. 130. 



