The Croonian lecture on muscular motion / by George Fordyce.

  • Fordyce, George, 1736-1802.
Date:
[1788]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Croonian lecture on muscular motion / by George Fordyce. 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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    being conftantly covered with mucus, which the vapour could not penetrate without diflblving it, which it had not time to do, and, if it had, would have united with it, fo as to form a foap, void of any Simulating power. If, therefore, the original motion began in the end of the nerves of the noftril, it muft be excited by a fubftance at a diftance from the end of that nerve, without any communica- tion of motion between the Simulus, that is, application pro- ducing the motion, and the end of the nerve in which it is excited; therefore, on any fuppolition, a Simulus Is capable of exciting a motion, in a part at a diftance, without any communication of' motion; and it is therefore not neceflary, that the nerves (hould be at all employed in the motions of the body excited by a Simulus, as it can a£t at a diSance without their intervening. Further, that the nerves are not employed in the motions excited by Simuli, is evident from this experiment t take the heart out of a living animal, cut all the nerves off as clofe as poflible, lay it in nearly the heat of the body of the animal, it will continue to contradl for fome time. As foon as it has ceafed contra£ling, prick a fibre in one of the ventricles ; both ventricles, and all their fibres, will contradl inSantly, although there be now no communication by the nerved, between many of the contradling fibres, and the fibre Simulated. It might be fufpedled, that the motion of the fibre Simulated might affedt the others: In this cafe the contradlions would be pro- greflive ; but, on the contrary, the wliole contradl at once. 1 cannot help bringing -another in Sauce, where Slmuli produce adllon in parts at a dlSance, without any communica- tion of motion by the nerves. When infufion of cantharides is applied to the Ikin, as we fay vulgarly, it is not applied im- mediately to the Ikin ; but in the firS inSance to the mucous B 2 and