L/rr 



/ 



THE BEGINNINGS OF IIEE. 



27 



to State that this contractility of the muscle can be ex- 



cited, for a time, after the death of the animal of which 



doubt hn ' ^^ formed part : the length of time during which the 



Mtions. 



\ 



c 



t^^rials of 

 ^^^y general 



the \ 



Thi 



IS 



t- 



ei! 



property persists being, generally, longer in proportion 

 as the animal is lower in the scale of organization. 

 During winter the muscles of certain fish and reptiles 

 have been known to contract for a 'week after death, 

 though in mammals and birds this property of the vo- 



;ubsequent 



iy tendt: luntary muscles disappears after a few hours. From the 



-produciiiP; 



researches of Nysten upon the bodies of decapitated 



capillaries of criminals^ it appears that in man, as in the lower am- 

 oved in anima! mals, a certain order is observed amongst the different 

 'cviously impit muscles of the body in the loss of this vital property, 

 y locked up ii Contractions^ from electrical stimuli^ ceased in the left 

 -owthofthepl ventricle of the heart after forty-five minutes^ in the 



muscles of the extremities after seven hours ; and^ last 

 of all, in the right auricle of the heart, which, on this 

 account, had been previously spoken of by Galen as 



instance, Nysten found 



mi 



imals. 



'm 



manifestatii 

 -we may,fc 

 .gents itself" 

 ch the move* 



ic 



t 



ultimum moriens.' In one 



definite 



strort' 



the essen 



tiaU 



that this portion of the human heart could be made to 

 contract i6| hours after the death of the individual. 



+ 



Contractility of the muscle cannot, therefore, be due 

 to any peculiar ^ vital principle ' which leaves the body 



I o^ the P^ when the organism dies. 



uire 



how 



fai 



Although the muscle is usually excited to contract by 

 abb ^^'i^^ ^^". ^ stimulus sent through a nerve, we have now learned 



lispi^-^y 



itse 



P 

 i 



principally through the phenomena observable in ani- 



j^ is iinf mals poisoned by woorara— that the contractility of the 



Lce, 



we '»"'' 

 ret, alrea . 



muscle may be called into play through the direct 



