Proceedings of the Royal Society of London/Volume 2/Some additional Experiments and Observations on the Relation which subsists between the Nervous and Sanguiferous Systems
This paper comprises a series of very numerous experiments on the effects of various stimuli applied to the brain and nerves of rabbits and frogs, in exciting the voluntary muscles, the heart, and the blood-vessels; from which the author infers,— That the laws which regulate their effects on the muscles of voluntary and involuntary motion are different.
That both mechanical and chemical stimuli applied to any part of the nervous system tend to increase the action of the heart.
That neither mechanical nor chemical stimuli applied excite the muscles of voluntary motion, unless they are applied near the origin of the spinal marrow.
That mechanical stimuli have more effect than chemical on voluntary muscles, but the reverse with respect to those of involuntary motion.
That all stimuli continue to affect the heart long after they have failed to excite the muscles of voluntary motion.
That the motions thus excited in voluntary muscles are irregular, but those of the heart more regular.
That the former occur chiefly at the first moment of application, but those of the latter as long as the stimulus is applied.
That the former depend on intensity of the stimulus, the latter on the extent of surface to which it is applied.
That the power of the blood-vessels, like that of the heart, is independent of the nervous system, though they may be influenced through that system, as the heart is.
That the actions thus excited are regular, as those of the heart, and that their power, like that of the heart, may be destroyed through the nervous system.