428 
Notes. 
alive. Absence of the effect is strong presumptive evidence that the 
object is ‘ dead/ or rather not-living. It may be in that paradoxical 
state of immobility which we characterize as latent life, and which we 
may not characterize as the living state, inasmuch as no sign of life 
is manifested, nor as dead, inasmuch as the living state can be resumed. 
An object in this dormant state exhibits no ‘ blaze current ' or other 
sign of life. And although it has capacity of life, and cannot therefore 
be classed in the category of ‘ dead * things, it is not actually living, 
and must therefore logically be classed in the more extensive category 
of not-living things. 
Limiting ourselves to the unequivocal blaze current as the criterion 
between the living and not-living states, we may formulate the 
following practical rule for a summary interrogation of any given 
object : — 
If the after -currents aroused by single induced currents of both direc- 
tions are in the same direction , the object investigated is alive. 
Typical Experiment . — A freshly shelled out and unbruised bean set 
up laterally between unpolarizable electrodes gives — 
1. Blaze currents in the positive direction in response to an induc- 
tion shock in the positive direction ; and in the negative direction in 
response to an induction shock in the negative direction. 
2. The same bean, after removal of a horizontal slice from its under- 
surface B (giving therefore current of injury of positive direction), 
gives blaze currents in the negative direction in response to an induc- 
tion shock in the positive direction (== an equivocal blaze in the 
polarization direction) and to an induction shock in the negative direc- 
tion (= an unequivocal blaze in the homodrome direction). If the 
bean is horizontally sliced at the upper surface A instead of at the 
lower surface B, the current of injury is negative and the blaze currents 
positive in response to both directions of excitation. 
3. A boiled bean gives no blaze currents in either direction, but only 
small polarization counter-currents, in the positive direction after 
a negative current and in the negative direction after a positive 
current. 
The next obvious point to be tested is the effect of anaesthetics 
upon the response. The results depend upon strength of excitation 
employed, and duration of anaesthetization. Caeteris paribus , the 
strong effect of a strong stimulus is far more refractory to the action 
of an anaesthetic than the smaller effect of a weaker stimulus, and in 
