3 
portion of tissue, that when freezing begins, there is little obstacle to the 
process; whilst, with rhigolene, the suddenly congealed layer of skin acts 
at once as a bad conductor, and interferes with the deeper action which we 
desire to obtain during the latter stages of the process. Dr. Richardson 
noticed certain phenomena during the stage of preaction, whilst chilling 
the spine or brain, which I myself did not observe—possibly because of 
the speed with which rhigolene acts. 
After reading his very interesting lectures, I repeated my experiments, 
with the view of obtaining the very symptoms of this pi;eactive stage to 
which he refers ; and in this series of observations I was led to notice 
facts which in themselves are valuable, and which cast a curious light upon 
some of the most obscure pathological and therapeutical questions of the 
present day. 
If, as I first stated in my former paper, we throw a spray of ether or 
rhigolene anywhere upon the cervical spine from the skull to the fourteenth 
vertebra, the bird, on being released, runs forward as if confused and 
alarmed ; then assumes his natural motions ; and, after a varying interval, 
begins to have spells of backward movement, and even of somersaults, 
alternating with fits of stupor. 
Below the fourteenth vertebra, this treatment gives rise, in the same 
way and time, to attacks of uncertainty of movement, loss of equilibrium, 
singular stamping motions of the feet, and partial palsy of the legs. All 
of these symptoms appear to me to belong to the stage of reaction, in 
which there is excess of blood in the spine, and consequent irritation of 
this organ. I was, indeed, fortunate enough to get like results by placing 
on the bare cord a drop of tincture of capsicum, but the congestion and 
motor phenomena which resulted did not appear for a much longer period 
of time than under the former process. With these facts as a basis, I 
began to study the symptoms of Richardson’s stage of preaction. In it, 
as he states when speaking of freezing the cerebrum, the pigeon becomes 
excited, and attempts to fly forwards or backwards, the stage of reaction 
being marked by like phenomena. The point which chiefly attracted my 
notice in Dr. Richardson’s statement was this production of constrained 
movements so soon after the jet struck the skin. I felt doubtful, on reflec¬ 
tion, as to the possibility of the centres being thus early affected by any 
direct influence of the cold. With this uncertainty in my mind, I sought 
a decision by the aid of the following experiments, and these led me out 
upon a more interesting track than that upon which I had at first entered. 
Expt. 1.—I threw a jet of rhigolene, for a few seconds, on the cervical region 
of a well-grown pigeon, long enough to freeze the skin very slightly. The sole 
effect, at first, was to cause deep and frequent respiration. On releasing the 
bird it ran about uneasily, and in twent.y-6ve seconds had backward movements. 
Of course, this was due to reaction only, but 1 was surprised that the spine 
should have been chilled enough to occasion a result so well marked. 
