TRANSLATIONS FROM CONTINENTAL JOURNALS. 281 
mustard, &c., is also very useful by creating slight inflamma¬ 
tion of the skin. The enteritis which might precede or follow 
this affection is to be combated by the usual remedies. In 
one case no internal medicine was given, but in the two 
other sudorifics and diuretics were had recourse to. In the 
case complicated with arthritis the usual external applica¬ 
tions were made to the parts. 
Annales cle Medecine Veierinaire , Bruxelles, Jan., 1859- 
ON CONGESTION. 
By M. S. Verheyen, Professor, &c. 
( Continued from page 161.) 
Contractility is a vital power, governed by the nervous 
system. Its manifestations cease as soon as the irritation is 
lost or withdrawn. In the dead body, w 7 hen contraction does 
not assume the form of a motive power, it acts as an elastic 
force, and opposes the resistance of the lateral pressure of the 
blood. It does not discontinue to exert its power over elas¬ 
ticity in the same ratio as the blood progresses ; but this vital 
function ceases at the capillaries, where the physical force of 
elasticity reappears. The parietes of the capillaries are 
formed of a very thin amorphous membrane, and are merely 
elastic. The contractility which pervades the minute branches 
of the arteries and veins, is completely lost in them. The 
experiments of the Brothers Weber have placed this question 
beyond all doubt. The capillaries dilate and return to their 
former calibre in consequence of the modifications which the 
heart, the arteries, and veins communicate to the circulation. 
The dilatation which this order of vessels receive in con¬ 
gestion is uniform and passive. The muscular fibres are 
very abundant in the small arterial divisions; nevertheless 
they are not susceptible of active expansion, but they con¬ 
tract and expand according to the actual state of nervous ex¬ 
citement; thus their tonicity may vary accordingly. The 
contraction of an artery lessens its capacity, thereby 
giving passage to a less quantity of blood, but the excess 
which has been propelled by the heart must find its way 
somewhere, by some collateral road which offers less resis¬ 
tance to its course. This phenomenon is illustrated by 
placing a ligature on an artery, in which case the collateral 
vessels become dilated from the pressure. Whenever there 
is a diminution of tonicity of the fibre, the coats of the 
xxxii. 38 
