206 Mr H. F. Baxter on Muscular Power. 
animal is no true indication of its muscular power. They 
also establish this important fact, that during muscular 
exertion there is a tendency on the part of the muscle to 
increase in weight and consequently in power. I shall 
allude to this circumstance again, and will now merely 
draw the attention of those who consider the animal body 
as bearing a strong resemblance to a steam-engine, that we 
have here, in the animal machine, the paradoxical fact of 
a machine increasing its power whilst doing work. The in- 
creased vascularity may be due, in part, to the division of 
the vaso-motor nerves. 
There can be no doubt that age would have an important 
influence over the results ; at present I know of no character 
by which the age of the animal may be ascertained, and 
consequently unable to obtain any evidence to decide this 
point satisfactorily. 
To show the importance of the healthy condition of the 
animal, I will draw up in a tabular form the results of a 
few experiments in which the frogs had been kept without 
food for three weeks, and in a comparatively warm situation. 
Tasie IIT. 
No. Weight of F Weight of| Weight 
of | Date. Frog be- Weey Frog after of Sex. 
Expt. fore Expt. eae Expt. | Muscle.| / 
fis i 
drs. grs, | 0Z. drs.| drs. _— gs. 
| “lL jdulyT6i-S,, 184.1 07 3; 52 10 23 M. 
| 2 i 2 10 | 0 Gol 1 2 Fy") 
| 3 4 15) 1 2) 405-8) 28h) ee 
Pa 7 Dil & BG 54 8 F, 
| 5 6 + ee 2 |.5 89 73 M 
RP s 
Table III. will not require any analysis, as the facts will 
speak for themselves. The frogs were flabby, and the 
muscles pale and soft. 
In the following experiments the limb was separated from 
the body to ascertain the influence of the circulation of the 
blood. The spine was divided in the lumbar region, and 
the whole of the viscera, together with the upper part of 
the animal, removed, leaving the pelvis and the two lower 
