160 REPORT— 1866. ■ ,\ 



found ordinarily sensitive to galvanism." It is necessary to state that the 

 limb exhibiting these effects had been paralyzed, so far as nervous influence 

 is concerned, for 63 houi-s, and deprived of blood for at least 6. 



We have here, then, three examples in which this phenomenon has been _ 

 produced artificially, and one iu which it occurred naturally. In all of them • 

 the leadinrj feature is, that the nervous and vascular functions ceased to e,vi^ 

 long prior to the production of the exalted state of the muscular system — i]lj#^ 

 case 13, in another 15, and in a third 36 hours ; and in the last example 

 nervous influence had been absent for 63 houi'S, and blood for 6 hom-s. We 

 must not hastily infer from these experiments that it is simply necessary to 

 destroy these functions iu order to secure this hyper-irritable condition of 

 the muscular system. 



It is needless to say that cold-bloods may be destroyed in numerous ways 

 which altogether prevent the exhibition of this peculiarity. Thus, if the head 

 be cru-ihed, the condition of the nei-vous system, which arrests suddenly the 

 action of the heart, appears also to impair the powers of the general system of 

 muscles, and causes rigor to supervene at a comparatively early period. 



Again, in death by stiychnia the irritability of the muscles is diminished 

 and they pass quickly into the state of rigor, the flexors of the lund limbs 

 prior to the extensors. 



In death by CO" the irritability is depressed and rigor comes on quickly. 



Muscles subjected to chlorine lose their irritabiUty very quickly indeed, 

 and the state of rigor follows more rapidly than in any of the other cases. 



Prolonged action of weak ether vapour removes every trace of irritability, 

 and paves the way to early rigor. 



Again, if after the section of the spinal cord at the junction of the atlas 

 and occiput the creature can still control his limbs (as frequently happens 

 with frogs), the post mortem exaltation of the muscles will be much less 

 likely to occur than if the section was lower down, so as to completely 

 paralyze them*. 



* In the existing condition of neural physiology it may perhaps be desirable to offer some 

 explanation of the above remarks. To those who are pi-actically engaged in physiological 

 experiment, it must be apparent that our present views of the functions of the cerebro- 

 spinal system await considerable modification, if not reconstruction. Certain it is that to 

 deprive" some vertebrates of their entire cerebral organs is by no means to destroy their 

 capacity for wilHng and feeling. To Mr. Gr. H. Lewes belongs the credit of having first 

 prominently brought forward this highly important fact, in an admirable and logical essay 

 on the nervous system, to be found in his second volume of ' The Physiology of Common 

 Life.' Since perusing this essay I have repeatedly made experiments upon the matter, both 

 in private and publicly before my class and colleagues, with the most unequivocal results. 

 The matter is so important that I may be pardoned the insertion of an illustrative experi- 

 ment. On March 30, 1863, 9.50 a.m.', I struck ofi', with a sharp chisel, the head of a frog. 

 At 10 o'clock the creature spontaneously drew up its extended limbs into the normal flexed 

 position beneath its body, and then moved itself round in a circular manner three or four 

 times. It then remained quite stUl for five minutes, and then again turned round a fourth 

 of a circle after the fashion of the unmutilated animal. At 10.8 made another turn, and 

 afterwards commenced to r/iove freely about the table as ifveri/ little had happened. " 10.40. 

 This frog has executed several S2)ontaneous leaps. At 11.45 I found it still crawling about. 

 If in leaping it came down on its back, which it seemed liable to do, by struggling it soon 

 righted itself. 1.20. This frog is even more vigorous, and leaps and moves about more 

 freelv than before." I now cut off the upper portion of the spinal column and included cord; 

 the trog was tremulously convulsed, but after a short time drew up its limbs, and moved 

 again spontaneously. The removal of the last portion put a stop to the action of the 

 larynx. Of such experiments as these I possess numerous records ; but the above is suffi- 

 cient for our purpose. It will'occur to the reader that Marshall Hall laid particular stress 

 upon what he deemed to be a cardinal fact in neural physiology, viz. that no spontaneous 

 movements ever occurred in decapitated animals. On the truth of this observation he based 



