136 



DR RUTHERFORD ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE VAGUS 



EXPERIMENT XXXVIIL— Strong Retriever Dog which had Fasted for Seventeen 

 Hours. Trachea open. Canula in Femoral Artery. 



Time. 



Pulse in 10". 



Mean Pressure in inches 

 ofHg. 



General Notes. 



1223' 



28 



53 



Animal sobbing. 



25' 20" 



24 



5-4 



Animal sobbing. 



40" 







3 milligrammes atropia sulpbate 

 injected into vein. 



26' 50" 



28 



5-4 



The animal is now quiet. 



49' 20" 



27 



5-2 





51' 45" 







Botb vagi divided. 



56' 10" 



22 



5-9 





58' 



22 



6 





1- 1'40" 



20 



5-6 





6' 



22 



6 





16' 



22 



5-9 





17' 







Cardio-inhibitory nerves still para- 

 lysed. 



Result. — Division of vagi, followed by increased blood-pressure and dimin- 

 ished frequency of the pulse. 



TABLE II. — General Results of the Foregoing Experiments on Dogs. 



No. of Experiment. 



Vagi divided during 



Blood-Pressure. 



Pulse. 



XXXII. 



Digestion. 



Increased. 



Accelerated. 



XXXIII. 



n 



>> 



Unaltered. 



XXXIV. 



» 



n 



ii 



XXXV. 



» 



>) 



» 



XXXVI. 



Fasting. 



Unaltered. 



>> 



XXXVII. 



>> 



» 



ii 



XXXVIII. 



>) 



Slightly increased. 



Retarded. 



In all tbese experiments tbe cardio-inhibitory nerves were paralysed previous to the division 



of tbe 



vagi. 





When these experiments were performed, I was too much influenced by the 

 fact that Ludwig and Cyon * had always failed to find the depressor nerve 

 in action ; I therefore fancied that although it is impossible to divide the vagi 

 in dogs without at the same time dividing the nervi-depressores, such experi- 

 ments might nevertheless serve to show whether or not the gastric and vaso- 

 inhibitory fibres of the vagi are thrown into action during digestion. But, on 

 several occasions in experimenting on rabbits and cats, I have, as before stated 

 (see page 109), had the good fortune to find the nervi-depressores in action — as 

 shown by the rise in the blood-pressure which followed their section. I am 

 therefore convinced that the depressor branches of the vagus are by no 



* Lib. cit. 



