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312 NATURE AND LIFE. 
after their execution, can be of use in the investigation of 
what takes place immediately after the stopping of the 
living machine. If the heart is uncovered a few minutes 
after execution, pulsations are remarked which continue 
during an hour or longer, at the rate of forty to forty-five 
a minute, even after the removal of the liver, the stomach, 
and the intestines. For several hours the muscles retain 
their excitability, and undergo reflex contractions from the 
effect of pinching. Robin noted the following phenomenon 
in the case of a criminal an hour after his execution: “ The 
right arm,’ to quote his description, “ being placed ob- 
liquely extended at the side,of the trunk, with the hand 
about ten inches away from the hip, I scratched the skin 
of the chest, at about the height of the nipple, with the 
point of a scalpel, over a space of nearly four inches, with- 
out making any pressure on the muscles lying beneath, 
We immediately saw the great pectoral muscle, then the 
biceps, then the anterior brachial, successively and quickly 
contract. The result was a movement of approach of the 
whole arm toward the trunk, with rotation inward of the 
limb, and half flexion of the forearm upon the arm, a true 
defensive movement, which threw the hand forward toward 
the chest as far as the pit of the stomach.” 
These spontaneous exhibitions of life in a corpse are 
trifles compared with those excited by means of certain 
stimulants, particularly of electricity. Aldini, in 1802, 
subjected two criminals, beheaded at Bologna, to the action 
of a powerful battery. Influenced by the current, the 
facial muscles contracted, producing the effect of horrid 
grimaces. All the limbs were seized with convulsive 
movements; the bodies seemed to feel the stir of resur- 
rection, and to make efforts to rise. The springs of the 
system retained the power of answering the electric stimu- 
lus for several hours after beheading. A few years later, 
at Glasgow, Ure made some equally noted experiments on 
