Nov. 7.—A cat was etherized at 1.55 under excitement and with tail hairs erect. At 2.13 the animal was showing reflexes. The figures show the course of the experiment:
| 2.15 | 1.5 | minutes |
| .21 | 1 | “ |
| .26 | 1 | “ |
| .31 | 1 | “ |
| .36 | 1 | “ |
| .41 | 1 | “ |
| .46 | 2 | “ |
| .51 | 2 | “ |
| 3.06 | 2 | “ |
| .11 | 2.5 | “ |
| .26 | Cut left splanchnic in thorax. | |
| .35 | Cut right splanchnic in thorax. | |
| .40 | 5 | minutes |
| .45 | 5 | “ |
| .51 | 5.5 | “ |
In this instance the subsequent stimulation of the splanchnic nerves resulted again in faster clotting—a reduction from 5.5 minutes to 3.5 minutes (see experiment Nov. 7, [p. 164]). The results from this experiment are expressed graphically in Fig. 35.
Figure 35.—Rapid clotting after emotional excitement, with slowing of the process when the splanchnic nerves were cut in the thorax (the left at 3:26, the right at 3:35).
The data presented in this chapter show that such stimulation as in the unanesthetized animal would cause pain, and also such emotions as fear and rage, are capable of greatly shortening the coagulation time of blood. These results are quite in harmony with the evidence previously offered that injected adrenin and secretion from the adrenal glands induced by splanchnic stimulation hasten clotting, for painful stimulation and emotional excitement also evoke activity of the adrenals. Here, then, is another fundamental change in the body, a change tending to the conservation of its most important fluid, wrought through the adrenal glands in times of great perturbation. This bodily change and the others which occur under the same circumstances are next to be examined with reference to their significance.
REFERENCES
[1] Cannon and Mendenhall: American Journal of Physiology, 1914, xxxiv, p. 251.
[2] Macleod: Diabetes: its Pathological Physiology, London, 1913, pp. 68–72.
[3] Gautrelet and Thomas: Comptes Rendus, Société de Biologie, 1909, lxvii, p. 233.