AND ANIMAL LIFE. 83 



flammatory tendency is subdued by local blood- 

 letting." * It was found most beneficial in 

 those cases " which were least complicated with 

 other diseases, the chief complaint being a sense 

 of tightness across the region of the stomach, im~ 

 peding the breathing." 



Are the oppressed breathing and collection of 

 phlegm prevented by galvanism acting in a pe- 

 culiar manner upon the nerves, or in removing 

 the physical causes which produce these symptoms ? 

 Do oppressed breathing and collection of phlegm 

 arise from an affection of the nerves, or from a 

 condition of the system incompatible with the free 

 circulation and oxygenation of the blood? The 

 reason that galvanism is injurious in those cases 

 of habitual asthma characterised by a tendency 

 to inflammation, is, that inflammation is itself 

 an over-excited state of the capillary vessels of 

 the affected part ; and if we apply this agent, it 

 excites still more, according to its universal in- 

 fluence, and therefore will augment the disease, 

 It is beneficial in cases of congestion, because it 

 stimulates the vessels engorged, and enables 

 them to overcome the burden by which they 

 are oppressed. 



LXXIV. This explanation does not prove the 

 identity of the nervous and galvanic power, be- 

 cause the office of the eighth pair of nerves is 



* Ibid. 525. 

 F 2 



