Picture - Cosmic Polymath

THE MUSCULAR MOVEMENTS 253
the involuntary movements occxirring in plants and animals. To these are assigned what may be designated the
mechanical as opposed to the intellectual functions of living beings. They make sure that the so-called vegetative
functions are duly performed, and that the great races of plants and animals do not die out and disappear for want
of necessary and proper apparatus to carry on the ordinary business of hfe.
Ehythms are part of the original eqmpment of hfe. They are conferred at the outset by the Creator, and afiord
irrefutable proof of design. No plant or animal could of itself and unaided assume the rhythmic structures, or carry
on the rhythmic functions. It is here that the Master Designer, Director, and Controller asserts Himself. The
rhythms are His immediate handiwork, and through them He controls the incomings and outgoings of plants
and animals and the great bulk of their movements. He makes sure that the really essential functions of hfe shall
be duly performed, and in this we have an explanation of the so-called instinctive acts of the lower animals.
Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as instinct. All those acts which imply reason and are means to ends,
but which are bUndly performed, are in reality the work of an intelligent Creator. If a spider and a bee work geo-
metrically in constructing the spider's web and the honeycomb, and the ant and bird build their nests as highly-
skilled architects would, it is because the Creator works in and through them. He alone can see the end from the
beginning. He provides the rhythms and the intelligence, be it httle or great, required by His creatures to fulfil
their mission in hfe. To the spider, the bee, the ant, and the bird He guarantees the precise amount of intelhgence
for the due discharge of the duties assigned to them. Instinct always impUes reason, and there must be a master
mind behind animals to make sure that their acts never miscarry.
The rhythms and so-called instinctive acts furnish the key to the situation as far as plants and the lower animals
are concerned. To the higher animals, and to man, a greater measure of inteUigence has been graciously vouch-
safed, and they are free (within limits) to exercise their higher powers ;
but, even in their case, care is taken that the
vegetative functions shall not be neglected. Man, therefore, shares with the lower animals the rhythms, and what
I venture to designate the mis-named instinctive acts.
§ 51. The Muscular Movements, Inherent, Spontaneous, and Independent—Not Caused by Nerve Action.
Of late years there has been a growing tendency on the part of physiologists to refer the rhythmic movements
of the heart and other structures to rhythmic discharges of nerve force from the gangha situated on and in the sub-
stance of the heart and the tissues in which they occur. Sir James Paget attributed them to the nutritive processes
going on in the heart, and Dr. Komanes was of opinion that they were due to periods of activity and exhaustion ;
the active period necessitating a period of inactivity or rest. None of the above explanations are, of themselves,
sufficient to explain the phenomenon, and for the following reasons :
(a) Rhythmic movements occur in organisms where no traces of nerve ganglia can be detected, such as
Infusoria, Antherozoids, Spermatozoa ; in certain Algse, Oscillatorise, and Diatomaceae ; in the vacuoles of Volvox
glohator, Chlamydomonas in cihary action, in the petioles of Hedysarum gyrans, the heart of the chick, &c.
(&) The processes of nutrition go on in all hving structures, but only a portion of these structures exhibit
rhythmic movements, at least characteristic rhythmic movements.
(c) The activities of all Uving structures involve exhaustion and consequent rest, but this fact throws no hght
upon the rhythmic nature of the activities themselves ; it does not explain why the heart, or the compartments
thereof, act regularly at intervals, and only at intervals, during the entire life of the individual, while other structures
act continiiously, but only for given periods.
The illustrious Haller inaugurated (1760-1766) ^ what proved to be a virulent discussion regarding the nature
of muscular movement. Having made numerous experiments and carefully considered the subject, he came to the
conclusion that muscle moved independently and spontaneously in virtue of a power which inhered in its substance
—in other words, that its power of movement was in no instance traceable to nerve action either in the cerebro-
spinal, sympathetic, or gangUonic system of nerves. His followers were designated " Hallerians " or " Animists."
Those who opposed Haller and were in favour of the intervention of nerves in some shape were known as " Neuro-
logists." I, personally, am wholly in favour of Haller's views ; for facts known to me, and revealed by experiment,
have convinced me that certain structures move to given ends where no nerves are present, and what is more, where
not even muscular fibres exist. The opening and closing movements of the heart, and the opening and closing move-
ments of the stomach, bladder, rectum, and uterus also make this abundantly clear. It is not possible that the
closure of any one of the viscera mentioned can forcibly dilate or open its sphincter. This powerful structure opens
of its own accord. The opening and closing movements are rhythmic in character ; that is, they are irregular,
interrupted movements, and such as no system of nerves could inaugurate or keep going.
1 "1
' M^moires
sur les Parties Sensibles et Irritables." Lausanne, 1760. " Eleraenta Physiologife, " torn. iv. lib. xi. Lausanne, 1766.