3 86 TEXT-BOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY 



recorded by means of a tambour and lever on a slowly revolving cylinder. In 

 A the fall of the curve indicates a diminution of volume, from contraction of 

 blood-vessels following a rate of stimulation of the sciatic nerve of 16 per 

 second for fifteen seconds. In B the rise of the curve indicates an increase 

 in volume from dilatation of the vessels following a rate of stimulation of i 

 per second for fifteen seconds. With different . rates of stimulation some- 

 what different results are obtained. 



After division of a mixed nerve the vaso-constrictors degenerate and lose 

 their influence over the blood-vessel in from four to five days, the vaso- 

 dilatators in from seven to ten days, as shown by the response to electrical 

 stimulation. 



When a nerve is cooled, the vaso-constrictors lose their irritability before 

 the vaso-dilatators. 



Vaso -constrictor Centers. The nerve-cells throughout the spinal 

 cord from which the vaso-constrictor nerves take their origin may be re- 

 garded as nerve-centers which through their related nerve-fibers cause a 

 varying degree of contraction of the arteriole muscle. In how far these 

 centers are independent in their activity it is difficult to state. From the 

 results of experiments that have been made with a view of isolating these 

 centers, such as division of the cord at different levels, it is fairly well proven 

 that they respond to nerve impulses transmitted to them from different regions 

 of the body, as shown by the contraction of blood-vessels. This is especially 

 true of lower animals such as the frog and it may possibly be true of 

 mammals. Though it is probable that the spinal vaso-constrictor cells 

 possess a certain degree of tonicity, nevertheless they are subordinate in 

 their activity to, and dominated by, a group of nerve-cells in the upper part 

 of the floor of the fourth ventricle, and termed for this reason the medullary 

 bulbar vaso-constrictor center. 



Though the blood-pressure falls to a very low level after the separa- 

 tion of the medulla from the spinal cord, the animal, if properly cared for, 

 may survive the operation and live for a considerable time. Under these 

 circumstances the arteries gradually recover their former degree of con- 

 traction. This is accepted as evidence that the nerve-cells in the spinal 

 cord have acquired an independent activity, or developed an activity that 

 had hitherto been dormant. After this, these nerve-centers can be excited 

 to activity by nerve impulses transmitted from the periphery. 



The Medullary or Bulbar Vaso-constrictor Center. The existence of 

 such a dominating center has been determined experimentally: thus if a 

 definite region of the medulla oblongata is punctured or in anyway destroyed 

 there is an immediate dilatation of the blood-vessels throughout the body 

 and a fall of blood-pressure below one-half or one-third of the normal value. 

 This region has a width of one and a half millimeters and extends longitudi- 

 nally for a distance of four or five millimeters, terminating at a point four 

 millimeters above the tip of the calamus scriptorius. Because of the effects 

 that follow the destruction of this area the anatomic existence of a general 

 vaso-constrictor center has been assumed. 



A transection of the medulla above the upper limit of this area is without 

 effect on the blood-pressure. A similar section below it, however, is at once 

 followed by vascular dilatation, a loss of vascular tone, and a general fall of 

 blood-pressure. Subsequent stimulation of the peripheral end of the divided 



