“Experiments on animals of a different species, so far from leading to useful results as regarded human beings, had a tendency to mislead us. In seeking to benefit mankind by vivisections, it would be necessary to have recourse to pathological facts founded on experiments on human beings.”—Longet, quoted in Fleming’s Essay, p. 42.
Lovèn, Christian. M.D., Prof. Med. Chir. Inst. Stockholm.
Author of “Erweiterung von Arterien durch Nervenerregung,” Ludwig’s Arbeiten, 1866, p. 1.
“I now come to the results of stimulation of the central nerves. When a powerful unnarcotised animal was submitted to the experiment, I observed that in most cases, the arteria auricularis became smaller at the commencement of the stimulation. This occurred more surely and quickly as the animal expressed its sufferings more violently by cries and struggles. This narrowing of the artery lasted for different, but always very short periods of time, and then gave place to an enlargement even during continued stimulation.… This is, however, not always the case when a great number of experiments are made.… Once it happened that in an unnarcotised animal, immediately at the commencement of the stimulation without any signs of narrowing a very powerful distention occurred. This result appeared in the same animal as long as the sensitiveness of the nerves remained sufficient to allow the experiment to be continued.”—Erweiterung von Arterien durch Nervenerregung, Ludwig’s Arbeiten, 1866, pp. 9-10.
Luchsinger, B. Prof. Physiology Vet. School, Berne, formerly Asst. Physiol. Lab. Zurich; Prof. Exper. Pharmacol. Gen. Physiol. Med. Fac. Univ. Berne.
Author of: “Zur Kenntniss der Functionen des Rückenmarkes,” Pflüger’s Archiv., Vol. XVI.; “Neue Versuche zu einer Lehre von der Schweiss secretion, ein Beitrag zur Physiologic der Nervencentren,” Ibid., Vol. XIV., p. 869; “Zur Physiologie der Schweiss secretion,” Virchow’s Arch., Vol. LXXVI., p. 529; “Zur Allgemeinen Physiologie der irritabeln Substanzen,” Bonn, 1879; “Ueber gekreutzte Reflexe,” Pflüger’s Archiv., Vol. XXII., p. 179, etc., etc.
Made experiments in the Physiological Laboratory of Zurich (jointly with Drs. von Borosnyai, Steger, and Pestalozzi) on electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex. Also experiments on dogs, horses, cats, pigs, oxen, and goats. Cut the nervus ischiadicus to study the action of muscarin and pilocarpin on the excretory glands. Also experiments on cats and kittens with Miss J. A. Kendall.
“At the sight of a strange dog, still more so on being bound to the vivisecting table, the cat often breaks out in a violent perspiration on all four feet. It strikes us naturally that the first thing to do is to remove totally all these psychical influences, if it is wished to study thoroughly other causes which may have the effect of stimulating the perspiratory centres. A method frequently employed—narcosis—I have purposely never used; indeed, I never make use of it except for preliminary operations. If the brain is really narcotised, the other nerve centres must also have lost much of their excitability, lesser degrees of narcotisation seem to me to offer very little advantage for the purpose we have in view.”—Pflüger’s Archiv., Vol. XIII., p. 375.
“By the following experiments Luchsinger believes himself to have found the most irrefutable proof of the existence of a really antagonistic action of atropin and pilocarpin on the excretory glands, and to have finally disposed of my thesis on physiological antagonism. When he had fully convinced himself of the functions performed by the sweat glands on the hind feet of chloroformed cats, by cutting both hip nerves, and stimulating their peripheral ends, and also by injecting 0·01 grs. of pilocarpin under the skin of the back; when he had succeeded in completely arresting all secretion of sweat by the injection of 0·001-0·003 grs. of atropin under the skin of the back, so that the very strongest stimulation of the hip nerves remained entirely without effect, he always succeeded in causing a spontaneous secretion of sweat in the balls of the toes by the injection of 0·301 grs. of pilocarpin either into the feet or under the skin of the back. If he injected less than 0·001 grains of pilocarpin, the natural secretion of sweat might not result, but could be excited by stimulation of the nerves which had been without effect before. The feet into which no pilocarpin had been injected remained dry and could not be brought to perspire by electrical stimulation of the nerves. Luchsinger considers these experiments to be practically the most simple and theoretically the most explicit, and hence he believes that I shall also allow myself to be convinced by them of the fallacy of my third thesis. Our experiments on the same subject have shown us however on the contrary that Luchsinger’s theories are only partially founded on correct observation, also that the conclusiveness of his experiments only appears to him so simple and clear because he has not thoroughly worked out the whole question, and has allowed himself to be duped too rapidly by the surprising results which happened at first.”—Rossbach, “Neue studien ueber den Physiologischen Antagonismus der Gifte,” Pflüger’s Archiv., Vol. XXI., pp. 2-3.