OF THE INFLUENCE OF THE DEATH OF THE BRAIN OVER THAT OF THE LUNGS.
As soon as the human brain ceases to act, the functions of
the lungs are suddenly interrupted; this phenomenon, which is
constantly observed in the red and warm-blooded animals, can happen
only in two ways. 1st, Because the action of the brain, is directly
necessary to that of the lungs, or 2dly, Because the latter
receives from the former, an indirect influence by means of the
intercostal muscles and diaphragm, an influence, which ceases with
the activity of the cerebral mass. Let us try to determine which of
these two modes is that of nature.
I. _Is it directly that the lungs cease to act upon the death of
the brain?_
I shall have proved that the death of the brain, is not immediately
the occasion of that of the lungs, if I can determine that there
is no immediate influence exercised by the first, upon the second
of these organs, now, this essential principle may be easily
demonstrated by experiment.
The brain can exercise an immediate influence on the lungs, only
by means of the par vagum or the great sympathetic nerve, the
only nerves, which according to the common opinion, establish
a communication between the two organs (an opinion however
which is erroneous, as the great sympathetic is only an agent of
communication between the organs and the ganglions of the system.)
Now 1st, The influence which is derived by the lungs from the par
vagum, is not actually necessary for them to act. The following
experiments will show the truth of this assertion.
1st, Irritate the par vagum on one or both sides, and the
respiration of the animal will be somewhat quickened; but such
appearance is no proof of an immediate influence, for any wound of
the neck, or any wound whatever, provided that it be the occasion
of considerable pain, will be the cause of a similar phenomenon.
2dly, Cut one of the nerves, and the respiration will be at once
affected, as when the nerve is irritated; but as soon as the pain
ceases, the embarrassment of the lungs will disappear; and at the
end of four and twenty hours, the phenomena of life be concatenated
with their accustomed regularity.
3dly, Divide these nerves on both sides. In this case the breathing
will be much more precipitated, and will not return to its ordinary
state, as in the preceding experiment; it continues laborious for
four or five days, and the animal perishes.[110]
From the two latter experiments it follows, that the par vagum is
indeed necessary to the phenomena of respiration, and that the
brain must exercise, of course, an influence over this function,
but at the same time, it may be seen, that without the immediate
influence of the brain, the lungs will continue in play, and
consequently that the interruption of such influence, as when
the brain is injured, will not be an immediate obstacle to the
continuation of the pulmonary actions.
The question whether the functions of the lungs are more
immediately connected with the influence derived from the
ganglions, may be decided by the following facts.
1st, If on the one and the other side of the neck, the nervous
thread be cut, which is usually regarded as the trunk of the great
sympathetic, there follows little or no alteration in the phenomena
of respiration.
2dly, If the par vagum and the great sympathetic be divided at the
same time on both sides of the neck, the animal will die after a
certain time, and much in the same way, as when only the par vagum
is divided.
3dly, When we divide the sympathetic nerve in the neck, we do
not deprive the lungs of the nerves which come from the first
thoracic ganglion; now these nerves may contribute to keep up the
action of the lungs, since, as I have said, each ganglion is a
nervous centre, capable of emitting its own peculiar irradiations,
independently of the other centres, with which it communicates.
But whether the nerves, which are derived from the first thoracic
ganglion, do really assist the functions of the lungs, I have not
been able to ascertain by experiments on the nerves themselves,
for such is the position of the first thoracic ganglion in most
animals, that it cannot be taken away without doing so much injury
to the parts as would kill the creature, or throw it into such
agitation, as wholly to confound the phenomena of which we are in
search, with those of a general distress and trouble. From analogy,
however, and from the destruction of other ganglions, by which
the internal organs are supplied, we should not have a right to
suppose that the lungs would cease to act, when the ganglion in
question is destroyed.
Besides, the following reasons appear to me to prove
unquestionably, the principle which I advance. If great lesions of
the brain have the effect of suddenly interrupting respiration,
because this organ can no longer influence the lungs by means
of the nerves, which come from the first thoracic ganglion, it
is evident that if all communication between the brain and this
ganglion be taken away, such influence must cease, and respiration
be suspended; but if we divide, as Cruikshanks has done, the
spinal marrow on a level with the last of the cervical vertebræ,
the animal will continue to live and breathe for a length of time,
notwithstanding the want of communication between the brain and
the lungs, by means of the first thoracic ganglion. From the above
experiments, we may conclude, that the brain does not exercise any
direct and actual influence over the lungs, and consequently that
other causes must be sought for, if we mean to account for that
sudden and instantaneous cessation of the functions of the latter
of these organs, when those of the former are suspended.
There exists, notwithstanding, a phenomenon which seems to cast
some doubt upon the conclusion which I have deduced, and in the
principle which it establishes. I speak of the sudden difficulty
of respiration, and that impeded circulation which are occasioned
by violent pain. This distress appears to indicate that the heart
and the lungs are dependent immediately upon the brain; for the
distress is in the brain, say the greater number of authors, and
the affection of the heart and lungs, a consequence of the reaction
of the brain; but here let it be remembered, that almost all pain
is made up, first of sensation, and secondly of some _emotion_,
_passion_ or _affection_.[111] Now as I have proved at length, in
the former part of this work, all passion and emotion have their
seat in the internal viscera, and thus it will appear, that the
trouble which in such case is felt in the heart and lungs, does not
depend upon the brain for its cause, but is the immediate effect
of the passion, or emotion, which accompanies the sensation. The
following considerations will bear me out in this conclusion.
1st, In many instances the dyspnœa and impeded circulation, precede
the pain. Examine the thorax, and place your hand upon the heart
of a man about to undergo an operation, and you will be easily
convinced of this truth.
2dly, There is sometimes a manifest disproportion between the
sensation of pain, and the distress which is experienced about the
heart, and in breathing. I have known the operation of cutting away
the prepuce immediately fatal. Now in this case, it surely could
not be pain which killed the man.
3dly, There are many persons who are capable of supporting
violent pain, with resolution. Place your hand upon the heart
of such persons, and no agitation whatever will be felt there.
Nevertheless, their perception of pain must be what it is in other
persons.
4thly, In the course of an operation, we are not to judge of the
patient’s state of mind, from his cries, or silence. This sign
is very deceitful; because a man may be sufficiently master of
himself to overpower the influence of his internal organs. We
must examine the heart and lungs; their functions, if I may allow
myself the expression, are the thermometer of the affections of
the mind. It is not without reason, that the actor who plays the
part of a courageous man, takes hold upon the hand of him whom
he wishes to set at ease, and lays it on his heart. The exterior
movements of the passions, are not a fair criterion of the inward
feelings of the individual, for these movements may be feigned as
well as real: feigned if they originate in the brain: real if they
have their sources in the heart;--in the first case voluntary, in
the second involuntary. Touch the pulse of the angry man, if you
wish to know whether he really is in anger. When I see a woman
weeping or convulsed at any distressing news, and find her pulse
in its natural state, I know what to judge of her affliction.--On
the contrary, if her grief be concentrated, but her heart beat
strongly, or her pulse have been suddenly depressed, I know that
she feigns a calm which she does not feel. To judge correctly,
we must always compare the external movement with the state of
the internal organs. There could be no deceit, were it possible
to distinguish the involuntary movements produced in a state of
passion, by the action of the heart upon the brain, and then by
the reaction of the brain upon the muscles, from the voluntary
movements which are occasioned by the simple action of the brain
upon the locomotive system.
However strong may be the pain which has been the occasion of the
dyspnœa, and impeded circulation, of which we have been speaking,
this dyspnœa and distress about the precordia, will cease, provided
only that the pain be continued. Nevertheless, if the reaction of
the brain were the real cause of the distress in question, the
contrary should be the case; for the continuation of the affection
of the brain, should continue also to cause its re-action. But here
the effect of habit is evident, though the pain subsists; the brain
indeed continues to be affected, but the internal organs cease to
be so. It may be easily perceived, that I am not here speaking
of those cases, where the action of the heart and lungs has been
deeply troubled by the effect of pain.
To the above considerations I might add many others, with the view
of proving, 1st, That although the brain be the seat of the pain,
it is not the source of those affections of the internal organs,
which are occasioned by such pain; 2dly, That these affections
depend upon an emotion, which is absolutely distinct from sensation
of whatever kind, both in its nature and effects.
II. _Is it indirectly that the lungs cease to act upon the death of
the brain?_
Since the death of the lungs, upon the cessation of the cerebral
action, is not direct, there must exist between the brain and the
lungs, some intermediate agents, the cessation of whose functions,
occasion the cessation of those of the lungs. These agents are the
diaphragm, and intercostal muscles; for they depend immediately
upon the brain by means of the nerves, which they receive from it,
and consequently become paralytic on the death of the brain; the
following experiments are a proof of the fact.[112]
1st, Cruikshanks divided the spinal marrow of a dog between the
last cervical, and the first dorsal vertebræ. The intercostal
muscles accordingly were immediately paralyzed, and the breathing
of the animal continued to be made by the diaphragm only, which
receives the phrenic nerve from a point above the section. In
this experiment, it is easy to judge of the strong action of the
diaphragm, by that of the abdominal muscles.
2dly, If the phrenic nerves only be divided, the diaphragm becomes
immoveable, and then the respiration of the animal is effected by
the intercostal muscles only.
3dly, After the two preceding experiments, the animal will live
for a considerable time, but if the phrenic nerves, and the spinal
marrow, towards the end of the neck, be divided at the same time,
or what comes to the same thing, if the spinal marrow be cut above
the origin of the phrenic nerves, then all communication between
the brain and the active agents of respiration is cut off, and
death follows of course.
4thly, I have frequently observed, that half an inch of difference
in the place where the spinal marrow is divided, produces such a
difference in its consequences, that in the one case the death is
sudden, and supervenes in the other only, after an interval of
fifteen or twenty hours. In dissecting the carcases of animals
killed in this manner, I have constantly observed that the
difference depended always upon the circumstance, of the phrenic
nerve being cut or not.
From these experiments then it is evident, that respiration
ceases on a sudden, and in the following manner, in all lesions
of that part of the nervous system, which is placed above the
origin of the phrenic nerves. 1st, There is an interruption
of action in the voluntary nerves, which are placed below the
point of lesion, and consequently in the phrenic and intercostal
nerves. 2dly, A paralysis of almost all the muscles of the animal
life, and particularly of the diaphragm and intercostal muscles.
3dly, A cessation of the mechanical phenomena of respiration.
4thly, A suspension of the chemical phenomena of respiration.
The interruption of all these movements, is as rapid as their
concatenation is prompt, in the natural order.
It is thus that those persons perish, who experience any great
lesion of the spinal marrow, between the brain and the origin of
the phrenic nerves. Physicians have been very much embarrassed,
in fixing with precision the spot, when a wound of the medulla
ceases to be mortal; from what I have advanced, the limit is easily
assigned.[113] From the same causes, concussion, and compression of
the brain, are also fatal.
We should observe notwithstanding, that these different causes of
death, may act with various degrees of intensity. If they act but
feebly, they affect the intellectual functions only, for these
functions are always the first to be altered, in all lesions of
the brain however small. If the lesion be greater, the affection
extends to the muscles of the limbs, and convulsion or palsy ensue.
Lastly, if the lesion be very great, the whole of the muscles of
the animal life, the intercostals and diaphragm, as well as the
others, are paralyzed, and death follows.
We now can reply to the question proposed at the beginning of this
section, and affirm that the death of the lungs is occasioned
indirectly, by the death of the brain.
It follows also, from the principles which are above established,
that respiration is a mixed function, a function placed as it were
between the two lives, to which it serves as a point of contact,
belonging to the animal life by its mechanical functions, and to
the organic life, by its chemical functions; and hence we have
the reason no doubt, why the existence of the lungs is as much
connected with that of the brain, as with that of the heart.
It may be observed in the series of animals, that in proportion
as the organization of the brain is straitened, a number of the
phenomena of respiration also are lost. In birds, and the mammalia,
this function as well as the brain, is much more developed than
it is in the classes of fish and reptiles. It is known, that the
nervous system of those animals which breathe by tracheæ, is less
perfect than in those which breathe by lungs; and that in those,
where there is no nervous system, that of respiration disappears
also.
In general, there is a reciprocal relation between the brain and
the lungs, especially in birds and the mammalia. The first of
these occasions the action of the second, by raising the ribs and
favouring the entrance of air into the bronchiæ; the second also
keeps up the activity of the first, by means of the red blood which
it sends thither.
It would be an interesting speculation to inquire into the relation
of the nervous system with that of respiration in the class of
insects, for as they receive the air by points, which open
externally, there seems to be no mechanical action in the process
of their breathing, and thus the function appears with them to
belong entirely to the organic life.
FOOTNOTES:
[110] The division of the nerves of the eighth pair in the
neck produces two kinds of effects, which should be carefully
distinguished; the one relates to the larynx and the other to
the lungs. Among the first, aphonia is one of the most striking
symptoms. We see a very good reason for this phenomenon, when we
recollect that the recurrent nerve is a branch of the eighth pair;
but besides the loss of voice, the division of the eighth pair
often produces such an approximation of the edges of the glottis
that the air cannot enter, and death immediately takes place.
Most usually, the approximation is not sufficient to prevent
entirely the entrance of the air into the thorax; but as the
glottis has lost its motions in relation with those of respiration,
this function is always performed in a more or less incomplete
manner.
When these observations were first made, it was hardly possible to
give an accurate explanation of them; but since I have ascertained
the manner in which the recurrent and laryngeal nerves are
distributed to the muscles of the larynx, there is no longer any
difficulty. By the division of the eighth pair at the inferior part
of the neck, the dilator muscles of the glottis are paralyzed;
this opening does not enlarge at the moment of inspiration, whilst
the constrictors, which receive their nerves from the superior
laryngeal, preserve their action entire, and shut more or less
completely the glottis.
When the division of the eighth pair does not close the glottis
so completely as to produce death immediately, another order of
phenomena is developed.
The respiration is at first embarrassed, and its rhythm often
experiences a remarkable alteration; the inspiration is slow, and
the expiration quick and short. The animal is averse to motion and
seems to be easily fatigued. At first the formation of the arterial
blood is not prevented, but soon its vermilion colour changes, it
becomes darker and approximates more and more that of the venous
blood. The temperature falls, and the very embarrassed respiration
is only made by the aid of all the muscular powers; the coldness
becomes evident, and the animal soon dies.
As this series of circumstances is developing, the animals, on
whom the experiments are made, consume less oxygen, and form less
carbonic acid.
We find, on opening the body, the bronchia filled with a frothy,
and sometimes a bloody fluid; the lungs are engorged, and the
divisions of the pulmonary artery are much distended with very
black blood.
From all that has now been stated, it is natural to conclude that,
in this last case, the animals die because respiration can no
longer be effected, the lungs being so altered that the air cannot
get into the bronchial cells. To this cause should be added also
the difficulty which the blood experiences in passing from the
arteries to the pulmonary veins.
[111] These words _passion_, _emotion_, _affection_, &c. have, I
know, real differences in the language of metaphysicians; but as
the general effect of the sensations which they express is always
the same on the organic life; as this general effect is what alone
concerns me, and as the secondary phenomena are of no importance, I
use these words indifferently for each other.
[112] We have said in a preceding note, that the division of the
nerves of the eighth pair could produce death in two ways; first,
by closing the glottis, and preventing the entrance of the air into
the air tubes; secondly, by altering the lungs and preventing the
production of the chemical phenomena. Of these two kinds of death
the first is in some measure accidental; it is an indirect effect
of the interruption of the action of the brain; but it is not so
with the second, and though it may not be instantaneous, it is not
less a direct effect of the division. It might be supposed that
the motions of the glottis being destroyed, and the entrance of
the air being rendered consequently more difficult, that it is in
consequence of this obstruction that respiration is embarrassed,
and that the alteration of the lungs is only a consecutive
phenomenon. But in the experiments made by M. Dupuy at Alfort,
a free passage was given to the air, by an opening made in the
trachea. Now it cannot be believed that the small wound necessary
for this opening, could contribute to produce the disturbance of
the respiration, for a similar operation is daily performed on
horses, without producing the slightest inconvenience.
[113] The experiments of Legallois have clearly proved, that this
point is at the origin of the nerves of the eighth pair.