lB 
Mr. Home’s Lecture 
riments. When it had contracted to 11 ■§-, a strong electric 
shock was passed along its substance, from one end to the 
other ; but, when measured again, the length was exactly the 
same. The portion of nerve was then dissected out, and laid 
upon a piece of glass; in its detached state, it measured 11 -§. 
Several strong electric shocks were passed through it, in the 
direction of its fibres ; but they did not produce the smallest 
effect upon it. 
This experiment was repeated upon another horse, and the 
result was the same. 
Exper. 8. Half an hour after a horse had been knocked down, 
24 inches in length of the nerve called par vagum were laid 
bare, and a portion of it detached from its lateral connections, 
so that a piece of glass, 1 2 inches long, was admitted under it, 
without dividing the nerve from the trunk ; in this state, elec- 
tric sparks were drawn from it, and several strong electric 
shocks passed through it ; but there was not the smallest change 
to be perceived, either in its length or appearance. 
From these experiments it appeared, that when the nerve 
had contracted itself; in consequence of being divided, no 
increase of that contraction was produced by the electric fluid. 
To ascertain whether electricity was capable of exciting 
contraction in a nerve that had not been previously irritated, the 
following experiment was made. 
Exper. g. Twelve inches of the phrenic nerve were measured ; 
and the limits of that portion marked, by pins stuck through 
the nerve. This portion of nerve, in its relaxed undisturbed 
state, had electric shocks passed along its substance ; but these 
were found, upon measuring the portion of nerve, to have 
produced no contraction in its length. When this portion was 
