1887.] 



and its Relation to Putrefaction. 



441 



muscles were getting soft, and bacteria, plentif ul in the muscles around 

 the body-cavity, were extending into the caudal region. 



In this case death occurred about 35 minutes after the fish was 

 taken from the water : muscular irritability disappeared and rigor 

 began to appear 2 hours 15 minutes after death, the rigor was com- 

 pleted in 25 minutes after it set in, and it had vanished about 

 21 hours after death. 



(2.) Zoological Laboratory, Edinburgh, 25th March, 10 a.m. — A 

 common eel (Anguilla vulgaris) 18 inches in length, was killed by 

 knocking on the head. At 6 p.m. (8 hours after death) the whole 

 trunk responded freely to mechanical stimulation and the heart was 

 still beating. At 10 a.m. of the 26th (24 hours after death) there 

 was only a feeble response to mechanical stimulation, but strong con- 

 tractions were produced when the electrodes from an induction coil 

 were applied to the skin, — the secondary coil at 15 cm. At 1 p.m. the 

 muscular irritability had slightly diminished in the anterior third, at 

 6 p.m. it was still less marked, and at 10 a.m. of the 27th (48 hours after 

 death), with the secondary coil at zero, the muscles of the anterior 

 third contracted very slightly. At 12 noon the muscles of the anterior 

 5 inches gave no response, but those of the middle third still con- 

 tracted readily, and the muscular irritability increased towards the 

 tail end. Two hours afterwards (i.e., 52 hours after death) the 

 greater portion of the anterior third had become rigid — the rigor 

 beginning in the lower jaw and passing backwards affecting the gill- 

 covers and pectoral fins and then the muscles of the trunk. At 

 4 p.m. the muscles of the anterior portion of the middle third of the 

 eel no longer responded to electrical stimulation, and at 8 p.m., the 

 anterior half (about 9 inches in length) was rigid while the posterior 

 half still responded when stimulated — the strength of the contractions 

 still increasing from before backwards. The muscles of the rigid half 

 had a distinctly acid reaction, those of the posterior half were neutral 

 or very faintly alkaline — a narrow zone near the centre being amphi- 

 croic. The muscles of the anterior third immediately under the skin 

 were neutral and contained no bacteria, but those next the peritoneum 

 had a few bacilli and micrococci, and were alkaline in reaction. 



On the morning of the 28th (9 a.m.) the rigor had all but dis- 

 appeared from the anterior third, the middle third was quite stiff, and 

 the posterior third, except near the tail end, contracted very feebly 

 with the secondary coil at zero. 



At 1 p.m. rigor had passed from the anterior half, but the 

 muscles of the posterior third were still irritable. The reaction of 

 the muscles in the anterior third was now slightly alkaline, and they 

 contained a few bacilli and micrococci similar to those found on the 

 previous day in the muscles around the body-cavity. At 5 P.M. only 

 the terminal 3 inches responded when the electrodes were introduced 



