An essay on muscular action and its conditions : the ninth of a series of articles published in the Saint Louis medical journal on "life" / by J.H. Watters.

  • Watters, J. H. (John H.)
Date:
[1857]
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An essay on muscular action and its conditions : the ninth of a series of articles published in the Saint Louis medical journal on "life" / by J.H. Watters. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    the physical sciences have nothing to do, but the proximate cause or immediate antecedent with which the action is re- ciprocal as the effect. Now, with clear ideas of the meaning of the terms prop- erty, cause and irritability ; having determined that the cause of muscular action is not derived from the nervous sys- tem, let us consider the doctrine that the cause is a property which the muscle possesses in and by itself, with the facts in the case. It is a fact of observation, that in the animal eco- nomy muscular contraction is followed by relaxation ; this whole rhythm must be taken into the account. Your theory of muscular action must embrace not only the contraction, but the relaxation also. If the contraction be due to the pro- perty of motility, what becomes of this property in relaxa- tion ? Dr. Carpenter, continues,— the property is subjected to excitement and control from the nervous system, the agency of which is one of the stimuli that can call it into operation.'''' This is the manner he accounts for the fact that the property (according to his hypothesis) is not all the time in operation. In regard to the rhythmical movements of the heart, he says : Now just as the Leyden jar may be so charged with electri- city as to discharge itself spontaneously, so it is easy to con- ceive that the muscle may be so charged with motility (or mo- tor force) as to excite spontaneous contractions.* Again, It is not very difficult, then, to conceive, that the ordinary rhythmical movements of the heart may be due to a simple excess of this motility, which is continually being supplied by the nutritive operations, and as continually discharging itself in contractile action.f Let us put this and that together. The force or proximate cause of muscular contraction is a property which the muscle possesses in and by itself; this force and this property is subjected to excitement and control from the nervous svstem; the muscle is supplied or charged with this motility, this force, this property, as the Leyden jar is charged with electricity ;,and as the Leyden jar is discharged, the muscle is discharged of this motility—this property, in contractile action. I claim that all this is contrary to first * Hainan Phys. \ 499. t Ibid-