105 



corresponding to the circumference of the cornea.* In one case 

 I have found four times in fifteen minutes the same rhythm ex- 

 isting in one part of the ciliary muscle. At each of these four 

 examinations I have found sixteen contractions in one minute. 



5. Spontaneous Contractions of the Uterus. I have seen 

 hundreds of times the uterus or its cornua, full or empty, contract- 

 ing to appearance spontaneously, after the death of rabbits and 

 other animals, at a time when the spinal cord had entirely lost, 

 not only its reflex power, but also the power of acting on mus- 

 cles when directly excited by galvanism, by warmth or mechani. 

 cally.f 



I have also seen movements taking place in the uterus and in 

 its cornua, in recently dead animals, the spinal cord of which I 

 had destroyed in all its length. The same movements I have 

 found after I had taken out from the abdomen of a living animal 

 the whole uterine apparatus. I have found sometimes that after 

 I had put a ligature around the trachea of guinea pigs, which 

 were at the end of gestation, parturition took place and was pro- 

 duced by three causes : 1st, a direct excitation of the spinal cord 

 by the venous blood ; 2d, a direct excitation of the uterus by that 

 blood ; 3d, a reflex action of the spinal cord. In two cases I 

 have seen delivery taking place after the action of one only of 

 these three cases, namely, the direct influence of black blood on 

 the uterus of the Guinea pigs, the spinal cord of which I had de- 

 stroyed from the sixth costal vertebra to the sacrum. The more 

 complete and sudden is the asphyxia, in a rabbit or a Guinea pig, 

 during labor, the more certain will the delivery take place. 



Dr. Tyler Smith speaks of a peristaltic action of the uterus, 

 which may expel the child when the mother has died during la- 

 bor, undelivered. He has not attempted at all to explain that con- 



* The eyes had not been opened. 



-|-Dr. Tyler Smith, in his very original book on Parturition, (London, 

 1849, p. 40,) says that "a slow reflex action of the uterus may possibly con- 

 tinue long after the rhythmic respiratory actions have ceased ; as long, in- 

 deed, as the body retains its warmth." There is a great error in these lines, 

 about the relation between the warmth of the body and reflex action. We 

 may observe reflex actions even in animals that have lost 10, 12 or 15 Cents., 

 (18, 22 or 27 Fahr.,) of their temperature, and, in certain circumstances, 

 these actions may be, then, more powerful than if the temperature of the 

 body was normal. For instance, if we decapitate an animal after having 



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