THE MUSCULAR MOVEMENTS 255 



From the foregoing it will be seen that it is a mistake to speak of the rhythmic movements of the heart and 

 chest in the higher animals as isolated phenomena — as something per se. 



As a matter of fact, they form part of a great rhythmic system, which, so far as plants and animals are con- 

 cerned, has for its object the appropriation, incorporation, and circulation of inorganic matters, and the expulsion 

 of its innutritious portions at stated intervals. The rhythms of the organic kingdom are in turn to be regarded 

 as repetitions of the greater rhythms occurring in the inorganic kingdom. 



If we grasp the idea that rhythms are necessary to and form part of life, we shall have no difficulty in 

 realising that they are of necessity outside the pale of inherent irritability and extraneous stimulation as known 

 to modern physiology. As rhythmic movements are themselves the origin of the numerous activities of plants 

 and animals it is a waste of time to attempt to prove that they are inaugurated and kept going by outside 

 influences. The rhythmic movements are to be accepted as ultimate factors in physiology, behind which it is 

 impossible to get. They are of the very essence of life, and wherever there is hfe there is rhythm, in a 

 more or less pronounced form. The addition of matter to, and the subtraction of matter from, plants and animals 

 can only be accomplished by give-and-take, rhythmic movements. Without them there would be universal stasis. 

 Plants and animals could not grow, reach maturity, or reproduce themselves. There would be no circulation of 

 atoms and molecules either of the gases, the fluids, or the solids of plants and animals. Everything would be at 

 a deadlock. The interaction of the vital and physical forces, and of the organic and inorganic kingdoms, would 

 cease and determine, and the whole scheme of the universe, as we know it, would be practically a dead-letter. The 

 universality of rhythms in the organic and inorganic kingdoms invests them with the force of laws. The fact that 

 they are present in the lowest and highest Hving forms unequivocally proclaims their fundamental and important 

 character. The more I ponder the subject the more strongly am I convinced that the modern theory of irritability 

 and stimulation, as apphed to the organs of respiration, circulation, alimentation, &c., is fallacious, misleading, and 

 mischievous. The time has now come when hfe must be Uberated from thraldom and leading-strings, and especially 

 from trammels which prevent its moving unless when goaded into activity by something outside of itself. Life in 

 the physiology of the future must be given a free role, and plants and animals must be allowed opportunities of 

 working out their own destinies according to unalterable laws which dominate the inorganic and organic kingdoms 

 alike. The meddlesome physiology of modern times has complicated and confused the issues of hfe ; has destroyed 

 its oneness, so to speak, by attributing piecemeal functions to organs which act as wholes, designedly and inten- 

 tionally. This is especially true of muscles, voluntary and involimtary. The involuntary hollow muscles (chest, 

 heart, stomach, rectum, bladder, uterus, &c.) are spoken of as if they had only the power to close or contract, and 

 similar remarks are made of the voluntary muscles, which are grouped as antagonists and are made to war against 

 each other. 



As I have already explained, muscles have a double power (centrifugal and centripetal), whereby they open, 

 elongate, or dilate the one instant, and close, shorten, or contract the next. Nothing short of the double power 

 now claimed will account for the opening and closing movements of the involuntary hollow muscles, and for the 

 elongating and shortening movements of the voluntary muscles as seen in the different parts of the body. While 

 the origins and insertions of voluntary muscles have been described with great care, and the actions of separate 

 muscles indicated, comparatively httle has unfortunately been done in describing the grouping and combined action of 

 muscles, which, in some respects, is the most important. Muscles rarely if ever act alone. As a rule, they act in 

 spiral muscular masses and cycles, as their spiral distribution round spiral and other bones, and spiral and other 

 joints, clearly indicates. The muscular masses and cycles are co-ordinated, and work in groups to given ends, and it is 

 this circumstance which makes muscular movements in very young animals so very difficult. All the voluntary 

 movements have to be taught — that is, the muscles have to be trained to co-operate and act in concert ; hence the 

 trouble experienced in learning to walk, swim, skate, &c., in ourselves ; to walk and fly in the case of birds ; to swim 

 in the case of fishes, &c. The voluntary muscular systems in man, in the horse, in the fish, seal, walrus, &c., are 

 fully discussed further on (see Plate Ixxxiii. p. 320 ; Plate Ixxxiv. p. 3.32). 



A glance at these Figures proves beyond doubt that muscles and muscular action cannot be treated separately 

 or in an isolated way, and that to get natural results muscles must be allowed to act according to the laws which 

 govern moving bodies generally : the flexors and extensors must be permitted to act simultaneously and in harmony, 

 and so of the pronators and supinators, abductors and adductors, &c. ; the flexors when they contract or shorten 

 must not be called upon to drag out and forcibly extend and elongate the extensors ; the pronators the supinators ; 

 the abductors the adductors, &c. Neither must the extensors, the supinators, and adductors be called upon in turn 

 to drag out and forcibly extend and elongate the flexors, the pronators, and abductors. The flexors and extensors, 

 the pronators and supinators, the abductors and adductors move synchronously, and when the one set contracts 

 or shortens, the corresponding set dilates or elongates, and so muscular energy is conserved to the utmost. The 



