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VI. Experiments made with a view to ascertain the principle on 
which the action of the heart depends, and the relation which 
subsists between that organ and the nervous system. By A. P. 
Wilson Philip, Physician in Worcester. Communicated by 
Andrew Knight, Esq. F. R. S . 
Read February 9, 1815. 
The following experiments were begun with a view to as- 
certain the manner in which certain poisons act in destroying 
life. I soon found that, in order to make any considerable 
progress in such an inquiry, it is necessary to ascertain how 
far the powers of the nervous and sanguiferous systems di- 
rectly depend on each other. There seems never to have 
been any difference of opinion respecting the direct depend- 
ence of the nervous on the sanguiferous system. When 
the powers of circulation are increased or diminished, the 
nervous system always suffers a corresponding change, nor 
can the latter, under any circumstances, continue to perform 
its functions after the former are destroyed. I speak of the 
warm blooded animals. In cold blooded animals the process 
of dying is so slow, that the functions of the nervous system 
abate very gradually, after the circulation has wholly ceased. 
The converse of the above proposition is by no means so 
generally admitted. It is evident that certain changes of the 
nervous, produce corresponding changes in the sanguiferous, 
system ; yet, while some assert, that the action of the heart 
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