PHYSIOLOGY OF UTERINE CONTRACTIONS.

Our readers are probably familiar with the observations of the Russian physiologists on the possibility of "revival" of the activity of the mammalian heart, by transfusion through its vessels of nutrient saline solutions even after astonishingly long periods of quiesence or "death." These experiments formed the basis for most remarkable newspaper articles on "resurrection of the dead," at the time of their publication.

In Pawlow's laboratory experiments of similar nature on the uterus have recently yielded interesting if less sensational results.¹ By removing the uterus and its adnexa, together with the broad and round ligaments, the cellular tissues, and a piece of the aorta and vena cava of rabbits, after having previously washed out all the blood with a saline solution (Locke's), it is possible to secure the organ in a condition for study independently of the action of the central nervous system. When such a uterus is kept