93 



Glisson, Gorter, and all the experimenters of the two last centu- 

 ries, I mean by mechanical excitation. I did not use galvanism, 

 as it exhausts muscular irritability too much, as Autenrieth, 

 Pfaff and many other observers have shown long ago. Being 

 aware of this fact, I have always, in my preceding experiments, 

 made use of galvanism for a very short time only. 



Three hours after the death of the rabbit, irritability still 

 existed in the right limb (the injected one,) while the left was 

 perfectly rigid and had not the slightest irritability. Half an 

 hour later, rigidity had begun again in the right limb ; blood 

 was injected anew, rigidity disappeared, and local life returned. 

 From this moment until 11 o'clock, P. M., (death liad occurred 

 at 6 o'clock, A. M. of the same day,) blood was injected many 

 times. Rigidity did not return, and the vital property of the 

 muscles was maintained. Of course the left limb, during that 

 time, remained rigid, and had not the slightest irritability. 



From 11 o'clock, P. M. until 6 o'clock, A. M. the succeeding 

 day, an abundant injection of blood was made every twenty or 

 twenty-five minutes. The irritability was not powerful, but it 

 existed in all the muscles of the limb. There was no rigidity 

 at all. 



The injections were then made more frequently once in each 

 quarter of an hour until three o'clock, P. M., at which time I 

 was obliged to stop them for an hour and a half. 



At half past four I found the limb rigid, and only a few 

 bundles of muscular fibres still irritable. A very abundant 

 injection was then practised, and rigidity soon disappeared, 

 giving way to irritability. From this time to 11 P. M., a great 

 many injections were made, and irritability was maintained. I 

 was then obliged to give up the experiment. At that moment 

 irritability was strong in all the muscles of the injected limb, 

 except some parts of their pelvic extremities that had not 

 received a sufficient quantity of blood. 



The next morning that limb was in full and energetic rigidity. 

 The other limb had already lost its rigidity, and had an evident 

 smell of putrefaction. The third day after the death of the 

 animal, rigidity was strong in the injected limb, while the other 

 was in an advanced state of putrefaction. 



If we compare these two limbs, we find, 1, That the injected 



