6l4 PHILOSOPHICAL TRANSACTIONS. [aNNO 1755. 



nutes he laid the raised part of" the tendon in its natural direction, on the cor- 

 respondent fixed part, and they were both exactly congruous; so that the loose 

 part had not contracted itself, nor was at all shorter, after these repeated trials, 

 than its correspondent fixed part. He then put the creature on its legs, to see 

 whether it had suffered so much, that it could not use the leg; but it was found 

 to walk, though favouring greatly that side where so much had been done ; how- 

 ever, it walked fairly on all its legs. After about 5 minutes tonnent, the but- 

 cher ended all its pains, and he performed the same processes on a sheep just 

 destined to be slaughtered, in which the Dr. found all the appearances as above- 

 mentioned. 



He was induced to make 2 other very cruel experiments on different animals, 

 by laying bare their patella's of the knees; having cut off' all the skin round 

 about, he then pricked and touched with the afore-mentioned escharotics the 

 capsular ligaments of these joints, without discovering any tokens of pain ; but 

 as soon as the sharp fluids had spread over the surface, so as to reach the extre- 

 mity of the skin, the creature underwent as much pain as cutting before had 

 caused. 



He desired the butcher to take off as much skin from the forehead, as was 

 necessary to perform the operation of the trepan; and before he began to apply 

 the instrument to the sheep's forehead, he vellicated the pericranium with the 

 end of a knife, but could not observe the membrane sensible, or thrown into 

 contractions; and when the operation was over, and the bone taken from the 

 subjacent dura mater, he poured on this membrane dulcified spirit of nitre, and 

 diluted spirit of vitriol, and powdered common salt, but without perceiving any 

 agitations whatever, brought on by these substances acting on these living parts ; 

 though in some creatures he was dubious, whether sea-salt and nitre in powder 

 did not create some sense, though no manifest contractions of the dura mater. 



But every muscular part, which he cut while the animals were alive, discovered 

 little sensibility of pain, though great propensity to irregular spasms of the 

 fibres : and the muscles on the thorax, and especially the carneae columnae of the 

 heart, retained irritability last of all other muscular parts, even till long after the 

 animal's expiration. 



He laid the pungent liquors and salts, as above, on various parts of the animal, 

 yet alive; as on the fat, cellular membrane of the neck, leg, and other parts 

 within the skin, the liver, pancreas and spleen, and could not find them endowed 

 either with remarkable sensibility or irritability; nor had the bladder any remark- 

 able symptoms of irritability, further than might be occasioned by its muscular 

 fibres; though the well-known symptoms of the calculus show its great sen- 

 sibility. ^ 



He tried the effects of a strong aqueous solution of opium on the irritated 



