414 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



The major portion of even the obvious muscular movements of the 

 higher animals, such as the vertebrates, is made either independently of the 

 will of the individual, or quite unconsciously, like the automatic motions of 

 the organs of speech in reading aloud when the mind is distracted, etc. 



Thus breathing is carried on by the action of muscles which in ordinary 

 respiration are not voluntarily exerted. The action of the heart is another 

 example of muscular motion entirely independent of our will. The peri- 

 staltic action of the intestines, the action of the sphincters, and the co- 

 ordination of muscles to retain us in an upright position, are other 

 examples. 



Muscular contraction and relaxation are therefore going on continuously 

 during life, as are the ciliary movements of some of the mucous mem- 

 branes. 



Motion, therefore, is one of the invariable concomitants of life. But 

 it may be said that this is merely the result of the conversion of other 

 forces into motion. 



I. There are two arguments which seem to me conclusive against this 

 view. The first is that organic motion is carried on to a large extent hi 

 opposition to the other forces, especially to gravity, cohesion, and chemical 

 affinity. 



Many of the higher Yertebrata afford striking examples of the opposition 

 between the action of the muscles and gravity. The usual position of these 

 animals when living and awake is rarely maintained if they are suddenly killed. 

 It may be said that this arises from relaxation of the muscles of the limbs. 

 But when an ox is pithed — that is, suddenly killed by dividing the spinal cord 

 as it issues from the skull — the muscles are not relaxed, but are thrown into 

 violent tetanic convulsions — yet the animal drops instantly. In the same 

 way if a fowl is killed by suddenly beheading it, the headless trunk flutters 

 and springs about for several minutes, but it never stands upright for a 

 moment. You could not make a human skeleton stand upright even if all 

 the joints were stiffened by the ligaments being allowed to dry on them. 



The fact that even when we are standing upright we are unconsciously 

 balancing ourselves is shown in certain cases of disease of the spinal cord, by 

 blindfolding the patient and then asking him to step out a few paces. He 

 will fall if not supported, because he cannot see where to place his feet. In 

 the healthy state the coordination of the muscles required for balancing 

 ourselves takes place unconsciously. 



II. In considering the question whether the force which endows proto- 

 plasm with these powers is of a special kind, or merely a combination of 

 the other forces or energies of nature, we must remember that a mere blind 

 or unintelligent combination of forces would never produce the results we 



