a discourse concerning the spiral, instead of the supposed annular, structure of the fibres of the...

A Discourse Concerning the Spiral, Instead of the Supposed Annular, Structure of the Fibresof the Intestins; Discover'd and Shewn by the Learn'd and Inquisitive Dr. William Cole to theR.SocietyAuthor(s): William ColeSource: Philosophical Transactions (1665-1678), Vol. 11 (1676), pp. 603-609Published by: The Royal SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/101711 .

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(603 ) msing Water, in Seas, and in Clouds, and in Pickle ; yet not fo fre- quent,as to efcape always the fufpicion of being Prodigies. But in the forefaid references more is faid of Light, than I am able to exprefs; I fhall only add, That I gave full warning to obferve, whether the Light in my two Infances had any blewvifl or green- ifh tindure; all that aw both, affirmed the Light to be as clear as the brightelI Moon fhine,and to it appeared to my own eyes; and I can perfeLtly remember, that I really thought the beams whicl came from the Mackrel,and the ftirred pickle,to be bright Moon- fhine,till a Servant brought me to the Veflel,to fe the contrary.

PojfSript. We had the report here(whether true or falfe,yo6 may beft know) of the fhining Beef in the Strand, about the fame time,when the Neck of Veal, firlt mention'd, fhined here. And it was here obferved, That the Stars had that night a glaring bright- nefs and lagerefs,more than ordinary, and f:r omne moneths before, and ever intce, the weather hath been nore gentle,warin,and dry, than is ufual in thofe months 5 but 'tis above my skill to de- monftrate, how this be'ongs'ro the iraterin hand. Note, that the Mackrel-pickle was thick and not tranfparent, till it was ftirred and flaming; the Pork-pickle was clear,or tranfparenr,yec fnined not in any part. A Difcourfe concerning the Spiral, infiead of the fiippofed Annular,

ftru rare of the Fibres of the Intflins ; diftover'd andJbewn by the Learn'd and Inluifitive Dr. Williaml Coletothe R.Society.

)lsFcourfirig (,ear two years fince) with a very ingenious Per- fon, concerning the Mechanical reafon of the Periflaltick

moti3n of the Inreflines, which is by Anatomifts deduced princi- pally fromt Anntlar fibres,contituting,according to the rec ived doarine(with the right fibres immediately invefting thenmthough, by the by, I rake thefe to make a diftin& coat) one of the coats of them ; his fence \was (which he told me was that likewife of fome others of his acqtaintance ) that they might be rather nuamerous, though finall, Slphinter-mufcles, than fingle fibres, to which that motion is tc be attributed; Mufcles being in moft, ifnot all,other itances owned to be the adequate inftrumen:s of nlotions analo- gous to this and fibres, though abfolutely neceffary, yet being no otherwife fo, than as (a number of them being colleAed, and fitly (difpofed) they conflitute a Mufcle,

The Coaj)eOure fTemed to me more probabkl than the vulgarly received

(603 ) msing Water, in Seas, and in Clouds, and in Pickle ; yet not fo fre- quent,as to efcape always the fufpicion of being Prodigies. But in the forefaid references more is faid of Light, than I am able to exprefs; I fhall only add, That I gave full warning to obferve, whether the Light in my two Infances had any blewvifl or green- ifh tindure; all that aw both, affirmed the Light to be as clear as the brightelI Moon fhine,and to it appeared to my own eyes; and I can perfeLtly remember, that I really thought the beams whicl came from the Mackrel,and the ftirred pickle,to be bright Moon- fhine,till a Servant brought me to the Veflel,to fe the contrary.

PojfSript. We had the report here(whether true or falfe,yo6 may beft know) of the fhining Beef in the Strand, about the fame time,when the Neck of Veal, firlt mention'd, fhined here. And it was here obferved, That the Stars had that night a glaring bright- nefs and lagerefs,more than ordinary, and f:r omne moneths before, and ever intce, the weather hath been nore gentle,warin,and dry, than is ufual in thofe months 5 but 'tis above my skill to de- monftrate, how this be'ongs'ro the iraterin hand. Note, that the Mackrel-pickle was thick and not tranfparent, till it was ftirred and flaming; the Pork-pickle was clear,or tranfparenr,yec fnined not in any part. A Difcourfe concerning the Spiral, infiead of the fiippofed Annular,

ftru rare of the Fibres of the Intflins ; diftover'd andJbewn by the Learn'd and Inluifitive Dr. Williaml Coletothe R.Society.

)lsFcourfirig (,ear two years fince) with a very ingenious Per- fon, concerning the Mechanical reafon of the Periflaltick

moti3n of the Inreflines, which is by Anatomifts deduced princi- pally fromt Anntlar fibres,contituting,according to the rec ived doarine(with the right fibres immediately invefting thenmthough, by the by, I rake thefe to make a diftin& coat) one of the coats of them ; his fence \was (which he told me was that likewife of fome others of his acqtaintance ) that they might be rather nuamerous, though finall, Slphinter-mufcles, than fingle fibres, to which that motion is tc be attributed; Mufcles being in moft, ifnot all,other itances owned to be the adequate inftrumen:s of nlotions analo- gous to this and fibres, though abfolutely neceffary, yet being no otherwife fo, than as (a number of them being colleAed, and fitly (difpofed) they conflitute a Mufcle,

The Coaj)eOure fTemed to me more probabkl than the vulgarly received



(6o04) received opinion:- but yet (with all refpe&t to the abettors of either ) feveral difficulties occurred to mie, whether of the two~ fuppofitilons foever were allowed.

For,firft, I conceived it might be doubted (each of thefe,whether fingle fibre3S, or miufclies, being fuppofcd ditiD i&, as 1 think they generally are, and, if annular, I coniceive, miull be) how thie aatuating matter,or impreflion (according to the opinion of fumle learned meni) flhould be tranfrlitted fromi one to another down along the whole tra& of the Inteffines - tince Natures ui'ual w ay ,for the propagation of Aiinial motion,is by a Continuation of veffel.,;, (or at leaft fibres, whether they be concave or not) fromi the part where it beginis to that to which *tis imiparted, either for the con- ve-yance of fonme af1ating fubfiance, oir (according to the other

IJvoteis) the commiiunicating an impreflion. BuIt there being, in theAdnnular f'uppofition, no fuch conitinuation of veffels or fi. bres, a lateral cont'iguity beinig all that can be pretended, it might perhaps be urged,that the influent and moiving miatter (according to that notilon ) miight be traDfmitted byl mUtLual inofcular ions between the contiguous fibres along their fides - which, if there Le no Comilunicat ion by veffels, was the only wayjI couild ghefs at, to folve the doubt ; for,the no~tioni of an 1mpre//i,(7n would hardly lIo the bufinefs, fince it feemed not evidenr,that there couild be,,in that fuippofition of a Continuity of fibretz, ten{ity enough in the Inteftins to carry on fuch a miotion. BuIt to t his I confidered,

secon4/y, That fuch a fuppofition f~eeitd not ve,ry agreeable to Natures m:.-thods, which ordinarily miakies tire of Veffels (and thofe bothclofe, and as direa as the det?ign anidorg-anization of the part will bear,) for the tranfmiifrion of che- fluid fubdances in the bodies of animials, not lateral emifftaries ; except where fomne great iniconvenience is defigned to be prevented by the helip of'

fuc coveynce ; s, or infl-ance, by the Anaflomofesdicvr ed to be betwN,een veins and veins, arteries and arteries, in which vefi'els the bloud running with a large and rapid dlream, f'hould any of them chance to be obllru&ld, the Circulation, fo neceffary 'to life,muat needs be intercepted,without fomie l'ateral conveyance of it into others of the famne kind: Which inconvenience yet I fuippofed would hardly be alledged in the prefent caf'e ; that fabrick of thofe veffels feem'ing to be defigned for extraordinary emnergencies,but the'fe being,according to the prefenc fupporition, the conflant and necefTary duds of this attuat'ing matter. But :nevertechelefs, hr~y



( 601 ) 2'irl, It fcerned diflcult(ro meat Ieat) to fletisIr(i

inal contra8ion, though there lateral apertures were fuppofed:- For, if fibres (whether contidered as tingle, or asconftituting a rDufcle) be contra&cd according to the:ir length from fomieilnflu- ent mat rer,it muitff be(according to miy fence) from a diftenrion of theni in breadch ; 'and, in order to that, th'is miatter iiiufi undergo fome confincuient in the part to be diftended ; but if they have lateral perforatilons (and thore in the opporite part proportionate to thof'e in that which admilts this miatter, which miuff, I conceive, begranted,tince the contra&tion is all along the Inteffines propor-s t ionate,) how can it be ruppor'ed, a d iftenfio n (a t Ileaft ruch a one a s is here required) can happen, when the miatter derigned to effeCt it has foready a paffage forth, erpecially its determiination fromi tlke impelling caufe being in right lines downward ? If it were objeCl- ed', that the miotion of this fubftance miight be fuppored to be lateral as well as direCt, in regird there wouild be a pafThge for i t'in- to the fibres as well as throuigh the Anaftomiofes, and that in proportion larger than through thefe, whience nothing fieems to hinder but that a diftenfion Of Ehemn miight follow;- I fuppofed, it miight be rep!ayed, that, by reafon of fuch a difforfion of part of the imnpelled mlatter, it Feems,that the imprefThd motion would be foon loft (according to the laws of motion) unlers the impelling caufe were more violent than [free rea%on in this cart to imiagine it to be. But indeed I thin k,no Anaromifits have obferved,thar miur. cles (fruppofing thefe~ fuch ) receive their a6tuating miatter in at theilr fides, or.when their miotionl ceafes,fend it forth that way;- but all, fo f'ar as has been obfe~rved., are fenced wi'th a confideravbly compaCt, and (conmparatively) imipervious miembrane.

Fourth/y, I conifidered, that all mufcies'are obferved to have two tendons, one at. each extremiity, by the approach o'f one whereof toward the other, its motion, which is contraLI'o n, i s performned ; but it feemis hard to conceive, that thefe tendons Thould coincide (as in,this fuppofition they miuft) and,if ithey do, I prefumed 'it would be difficult to determitne, what part of thefe circular mufcles (if Cu'ch) :the tendons are,and where the motion Thould begin in each;it being obferved,that all1mufcles are fafined to Come, either rin ply or coiiparatively, unmovable parr,toward which (ordinarily) they mc)ve, and by whi'ch the inftin& of motion is fronm the nerves conveyed to them: But no Anatomifts., (fo far as I had obferved ) having difcovered, -that any one -part of

t h. f r



( 6o6) thiefe imurcles, or miovingfibres, whichfotver they be, has any fhiri Lter cohefion than other with any of the adjacent parts, I conceived, I miight be allow'd the liberty to dottr of theH~vpotbJisf,efPe- Cial iy if I could fat'isfie miy felf bettLer by ;oher.

Fcor inffead of thefie fol ions thr 'uu red to mly thoughts a thiird way, which ( provided eXperAenice would couintenance it) feetned imere mnechan ical ly adjuftcd tofo'~,e thle Pb~enornenan; viz, That thofefibres, which have bceni efh-cc:n%,d 4nVUl.r , miight ptr- lhaps be fpira/, and fo be continued down naone tract to the lowett extretniicyof the int-eftiines ; withal, that their fillalne's,cowlpared wiab the comipafs they fetch about the initftine,,might very eafily, I coniceived, imipofe upon any, who iiade nOE thofe rcfleLtions, or tried not to uinravel themi -their declina rion being, for that reafon, flot eafily difcernible : Which if truec, it fccumed probable to me, that when either a bare mioti)on fhall be imipreffed on themi at their beginning, or ainy, f-ibfance impeEIed-irio themn, they being to be

fuppo ~fi4ijaieMnaturali moderatly renfe , lb lungastemvn caufiecontinuies,themotion mufl be fuccefliv&jy conti nued all along their tra(&s and, that beilng in a4mbitum, miuft thierefore, whilft it lafis, by abbreviating trhefefi'bres , dirairen thie intetl'iine, and fo thruf'c forward what is contained in it,. efpeciaily if they proved to have amufcularfabrick. The coniedure as 'tvas not difrelifhed by the perfon to whomi I propofed it, fog-ratifled mne the more for the feemiir g eafinefs of the Perfortrance;- Natuire's operationS bDe- ing the moa. eafy and fimple that can be imag"ned , though for that reaf,n,very often, I doubt, overlook'd. But the notion Jay afterward long dormant, till, about half a year fince,being revived by I

knwnot what occafion, I confider'd 'twas too unphilofophical to acquiiefce in bare fpectulation, when aatop5' m,ght be confuirted; and t herefore I fet upon the experitment , v. hich I firif muade in a I)orrion in the uipper intefbines of an Ox. which, bjy reafon of their largenefs of proportion to thofe of twoft other fpecies o f a nimnalIs, f&erWid fittedt for the tryal;afterwards in thofe of 'Sheep and Calves', Lefride the repetition of it in Oxen, and not only in the ftmaller in- teflines, but in the c/ol, and cawcumalfo. The circumiftances and refu !t of whbich) tryals are as follows.

To effed a due disjun(ion of the membranes andfibres(which I found -twas hard,. if not inmpoffible, for mie to miake while 'twas raw,) was fain to caufe the inteftine of Oxen to be boiled 5 or

6bours, of SheeP 4 ; whereby the comnpages of the parts was fo

loofned'I



( 60o7 ) looffled, that the two outward coats) 'viz.the common one, and that COnfidtingof rightfibrei were eafily feparated (if it wvere attempted foon after it was taken out of the water) from that to which imy fearch was deftined,1 and left thofe reputed trnnuiar ones naked;- (though, by the way,too long co Won would prove prejudicial ooi the other hand, by too mluch inrtenerating thefibres.) Th,efe at the too of the inreft,ine I attempted to) feparare from one another- ancj, whcn thofe, which ha'd been decurtrated by the unequal cuttirng of the knife, were taken off; I found,

Firjt,~ that I could not feparate a finglefibre from hi's felllow~s ta any corufiderable diftance, all of them (to my obrervation ) beiri~ very final], and in rhe feparation ruinning f'naller and ftinaller, a: .d withal by reafon of their iimplication or ftridter cohefiIo n o n I~ another eafily breaking; but a ct.ngeries of them (to be .a1(d

efpecially,though no:L precifily alw,aies,in thofe piaces, vx ter- by gently extending the inteffdnes feveral timies, and then'ietrl1g Lr

retuirn aglin, the cohefion of the.feveral Jerie'sof them became ~ii ,oi nedwhiha fiftview would ref'eDble a pretty'argefibre,wou'd

w ithou t muLch. d Iffi culIty ri fe coge ther ; t he very finial!1 confr,Itiu tirig fibres of which clu ffers yet, if the boil ing had been very logc.ii- cinu--d,whereby the compages was very much relaxed,would in t he raifing be very apt to feparate from) one another, and app-ear di. (biaa, by reafon of their infertions, by and by to be mentioned.

Secondl7, that when, beginning at the top, I attempted the fe- parat ion of one of thefe (fuppofed annular) clutters offitbres towards my right hand (on thjat fide of the inreftine, I miean, w-hich was turned towards mie) a Whol'e ring woI uld come off togethe.r.~ (exceptingt~hatfornefibri1he, which ,rifing fr'om contrary p;arr,,-. decufTated one aniother at the top in thatph4ifs, would a bIe rI- tamn it) " hich at flrft dtagger'd mie as to miy forementioined COn je- cure ; but endeavouring it towards my left, I found, for the 111oft part) I could eafily enough unravel that clutt er to a confidcrable !ength,'viz. that of fomietimes more than two or three fparis,before rU ption (of the whole cluttfer!I mean,) wlhich yet at ladt 3twould be fubje& to. For , Tbirdly,though thofe convolutions,as to the grearcff part of themi

appeared diffin(jtye I found,that: from every one of themi at fMort d'iftances fomie gbres did obliquely, and the moft of them), to my, beft obfervation, according to thbe courfe, of thofe I have ncicntio'- ned, infert themfelvts intothe next convolution, and becomle a part of it; though withal fomelIobferved t-obave acorn rary ten.~

I{kkk ~~~dency,



( 6o3 ) dericy,or ratber feenV'd to af'cend from the lower to the upper coa- volut-ion, and help roconrtitute it, andfotoobferve thecourfe mentioned; nay,fometimes would go farther Ihan the- next convo- lutit on, and, rUnniDg under it, apply thetnfeilves obliquely to famle higher, which yet beiDg in afiuallIer number than the refi that lay int~he orde:rcontrary to them, did not very much hinder the diffo- ciati6n of the imainones ; whichfibres breaking ofT, and that in Wine places in greater numibers than in others, would at laft (and tt-ilC fooner if the intefhine began to grow dry, whbch 'twould quickIly do) caufe the whole clufter to break off,

Poxrtb{y, I e,bferved , that as themiiofi of there fibres wouldA I1v dJegrees according to the or-der of the convolutions, infert

zu4~ve~into the next,fo fomne Jfthem xwouid (in the faw4e order) p,,f-s over it, and more%. (fu, far as I ave obferved ) wou Id run under it and either ad')yn theinifeives tol fonme more remote,ore eude miy fcarchingby hiding thennfeives under theni. This infertion of t hefefrbres feemst ~o be the rea fon of the 4wnuIar phafis, t hat I rnen- tione-.d even now, inthe contrary way offeparatbon: For, the at- rempting it contrary to their order, miufi hinder in fome meafure -the ready cliffociation of the next convolutions upwards efpecially near the fevered exrrenm,ity,w here'ther-e is lefs refiflance of the adijacent parts ; the nmentionedfibres alfo feeming fumiewhat big.w ger, and confequentily ftronger, Iin the uipper, than after their infertion into the lower cornxolutio-n- Though indeed Fifdiby found,that if I began at a lower part of the inteffine,and

itry'd to uinravel upwards,there was not much more diffi'culty in f'o doing, than when beginning above, I attemipted it downwards;- of which the reafon,I fuppofe,might be%- the tendernefs of the part oc- ca fioned by long boil ing,whereby J could not perhaps )udg of the (Jegreesor'renite,ncyintlhofe fiiallfibres. In this contrary way of Ieparation too,the operation, I obferv'd,would not fucceed,unlefs I attempted it in the contrary order,vi'z.towards miy right hand.

Sixthti'y, when before boiling I caufed the infide of the inteftine to be turned outward, as I did in two tryals, and afterward b,.y taking off the giandulous and vafcular coats('which I think to bediffin& frorm one another, as I faid before of thofe confifting of rightfibre;, and the fuppofedw47mM/r onesj)endeavoured to unravel the fibres., I found they would come off i'n the contrary order, viz,. from my left hand toward my right; wh'ich, I conceive,con- firms the obfervation above deliver'd, in regard the intefline being inverted, the- order of feparatiorin uft be fo too;- though f

fou ndC



( 6og ) found(or thought) the operation more difficult,by reafon of ronme fibres lying in the oppofite order (mentionedl under the third par. ticular) and in-this appearance lyi'ng uppermioft.

Seventhly, in one of thefe attemnpts of'unravelling the fibres of heinteftine of anOx, fo inverted,lIfound, that though the fibres

1 took up camie off in the order I juft now mientioned) ye[ rurt- fIng over fon -tes they miade a more oblique excurfion, and

for two or three convolutions 'left betwixt themn a conFiderable. area of fibres j, amiounting (according to my conjeaure ) to five or fix times, or m-ore, the bredth of thofe that fo came off,) tI gongr deeper and deeper amiong the otherfibres , and at laft runnintg un- dcr them,. they co-ild be no longer traced, but bra'ke off. W.thethcI th'is be ufual, or only Iafui natura, I cannot determnine.

,Ei,ghtb/y I found it mouch miore difficult ( in that one try-ai made to nravl thfibres of the Gecam, than the other i nteftire

which feeiied miore intLerwoven than thofe of the reft, and to havfe, contrary tendencies one among another.

This is thle futi of miy obfervations hitherto concernin'h: coat,which I take 'rave to think one concave andHelical mufcle(;F I may fo flyle it:) And that it milght be fuppofed fuch , the fore- mentioned infertions feemi'd to evidence, they appearing to iiet in the feparating appofiteliy enouigh to reprefent the fabrick of a mufcle delivered by the accurateSteno. Where the tendons of it are fixed,Iis not evident ; but, if I may have the liberty to conje&re I fhould think the upper of them to be radicated ( at leaft ) at the pyloria ("if not as high as the,bbintlergu/e ( if this be not it,) fince, the carneous coat of the fiomach being by the Learned Dr,. W/I,i' found to be a miufcular contextrue, aind there being a continuation of motion between that part and the inteftines, it (heens to nec not altogether improbable they miay be but one inufle ; and tie other at the- anus. Whether the fuppofed atnnularfibres of the veins and arteries may

not have the fame fabrick as thofe of th-e lnte.ftines,fince both thefe kinds of veffels feemi to have a perJifaitick conrradion of thelir own , and not to be bare conduit- Pipes to trarnfmit the 'impell1ed bloud, J propofe to be confidered and examined by perfons of more acute hands and udgmenr;as I do all what I have here delivered, not dar'ing tootmuch to tru ft even the inform-ations 'f my owni hands and eyes, till I find them confirmed b-y thofe of oaiers,mort judkioius-as well as dextrous in w)aking experiments.

Kkkk 2Mofex



a discourse concerning the spiral, instead of the supposed annular, structure of the fibres of the...

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