The phenomenon of "narcosis progression" in mammals

Abstract

At present the subject of “reflex walking” is one almost entirely neglected by physiologists, yet it is of fundamental importance in the physiology of the nervous system. For this reason it is desired to lay stress upon it by means of the present paper, which is to be regarded as a preliminary account of a phenomenon which will later be described in greater detail. The present author has already described certain movements of progression which occur in rabbits while subjected to the state of ether or chloroform narcosis. These movements are of interest in that they exactly resemble the peculiar form of locomotion in that animal—simultaneous movements of the hind limbs (“hopping”) and alternate movements of the fore limbs. An additional point of interest is that scratching movements may occur also in narcosis, and the phenomena of narcosis movements may slide, as it were, from the one type into the other.