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.

  • Philip, Alexander Philip Wilson, 1770-1847.
Date:
1815
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: 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. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Gallois, occasion a loss of power in the heart. He remarks that till the above explanation occurred to him, he had resolved to abandon this part of the inquiry. “ Apres bien “ des efforts inutiles pour porter la lumi&re dans cette ten£- “ breuse question, je pris le parti de l’abandonner, non sans “ regret d’y avoir Sacrifi^ un grand nombre d’animaux, et “ perdu beaucoup de temps.” Just before, he observes, “ En “ un mot, j’eus presque autant de r^sultats diflferens que d’ex- “ p6riences.” This may be easily accounted for, as he was not aware that the rapidity with which any portion of the spinal marrow is destroyed, influences the result. We also see why the sudden destruction of one half of the spinal mar- row, after it had been divided, not only brought death to that part of the animal to which it belonged, but to the other also; a fact which seems in direct opposition to M. le Gallois’ explanation of that we have just been considering. In M. le Gallois’ experiments, the spinal marrow was always crushed by a stilet, of precisely the same dimensions with the cavity of the spine. In the foregoing experiments, the spinal marrow was either removed or destroyed by a comparatively small wire moved about in it till all its func- tions ceased. The reader will easily understand, from W'hat has been said, why this apparently slight circumstance occa- sions so essential a difference in the result of the experiments. We have just seen the difference of the result when any por- tion of the spinal marrow is successively destroyed by parts, or crushed at once, and when the brain is crushed at once or wholly removed. We have every reason to believe, from the experiments which have been related, that the peristaltic motion of the