AND ANIMAL LIFE. 233 



crepitant throughout. The liver was very large, and di- 

 minished the capacity of the thorax. The stomach was of 

 the usual dimension, and contained a small quantity of air. 

 The contents appeared homogeneous ; but when examin- 

 ed, there were here and there the remains of vegetable fibre ; 

 yet the whole mass was minutely divided, and exhibited a 

 more advanced progress towards perfect digestion than 

 that of the two preceding. The contents of the large in- 

 testines seemed to be well concocted ; the small intestines 

 were distended with air to a great extent. 



EXPERIMENT IV. 



In this rabbit the trachea only was divided. Tempera- 

 ture 105. At five o'clock the respiration was natural, and 

 the rabbit was inclined to eat. At seven it appeared per- 

 fectly well, and had great avidity for food ; in ten minutes 

 after it jumped out of the box in which it was kept, ran 

 once half round a large room, and in a few seconds expired 

 in struggles. The frequency and suddenness of this cir- 

 cumstance was mortifying, as it interfered with the train of 

 experiments, but more so from my not being able to account 

 for it. It is so natural for the mind to attribute extraor- 

 dinary effects to extraordinary causes, that I did not ima- 

 gine, till the present instance occurred, that the phenome- 

 iion might arise from the stoppage of the tube, which I 

 found to be the case ; and the knowledge of this fact 

 enabled me to save the life of the following rabbit ; and it 

 also accounts for the previous accidents of the same kind. 

 The tube is so liable to become partly or completely im- 

 pervious, that the experiment is rendered delicate, and 

 sometimes unsatisfactory. 



Dissection. The lungs were somewhat congested, of a 

 deeper colour than natural, and, although perfectly crepi- 

 tant, did not collapse so completely as in the former in- 

 stance. The stomach, of its usual size, was filled with 



