ACTEON

n. A%k’shun. Lat., actio, act us (from agere). Gr., mpôtis, évépyua. Fr., action, acte.’ Ger. Wirkung, Bewegung. It. azione. Sp., acc iôn. 1. In mechanics, the effect of a force, whether apparent or concealed. [B.] 2 Any chemical change. Cf. REaction. 3 In physiology, the performance of a function. 4 In thology, a morbid proce (e. g., febrile a.). 5, In therapeutics, The operation of a drug. eurrent. See under CURRENT.—A. of arrest. See INHIBITION.—Animal. Lat., actiones an i males, Fr., a’s an i males. Ger., See len ver rich tun gen. The operations of the mind and the voluntary movements of the body. [A, 322, 343.] Automatic a. See Reflex a.—Capillary a. See Capillary ATTRACTION.—Catalytic a., Contact a. See CATALYSIS.— Convulsive a. See Convutsive.—Cumulative a. See CUMULAqive.—Diastaltle a. See Reflex a—Electro-capillary a. The development of electrical phenomena as the result of chemical reaction taking place between two di imilar liquids connected with each other by a capillary space the walls of which act to a certain extent as a conducting agent, and complete the circuit between the two liquids considered as a galvanic couple. When one of the liquids is a solution of a metallic salt, the metal set free by the reduction of the latter is deposited on the walls of the capillary space, often in sufficient quantity to shatter the containing medium. Electro-capillary a. has been thought by Becquerel and by Wartmann to play an important part in facilitating the proce es of ti ue-respiration and in the development of electrical currents in muscles and nerves. [B, 2.]—Inhibitory a. See INHIBITION.— Local a. 1. Chemical a. producing currents hetween different parts of the same cell of a galvanic battery, and detracting from the efficiency of the current external to the cells. [B.] 2. The a. of a remedy upon the parts with which it comes in contact, as distinguished from its a. on the system at large.—Natural. Lat., actiones natura les. Fr., actions naturelles. Ger., natürtiche Ver rich tun gen. Those that server the needs of organic life. like the ingestion and digestion of food. [A, 322, 343.|—Peristaltic a. See PrrisTatsis.—Private. An old term for those which concern only individual ere LA, 343.]—Pseudo-motor a. Ger., pseudo motor is che Wirkung, A term applied by Heidenhain to the phenomena observed as the result of stimulation of the chorda tympani after section of the hypoglo al nerve. Movements of the tongue result which he regards as due to increased secretion of the intramuscular lymphatics: [Landois (K).]—Public. An old term for those that concern the body as a whole, as opposed to private a’s. [A, 343.)—Reflex a. Lat., actio reflex a. Fr., acte (ou mouvement, ou Pec scuiey 9) réflere, Ger., Reflex be we gung. It., azione rifle a, Sp., acc iôn reflex a. Syn.: automatic a., diastaltic a. [M. Hall], reflex, An a. (usually an involuntary muscular movement) which takes place as the result of an impre ion made upon a (ay nerve, conveyed to the central nervous system, and thence reflected along an efferent or motor nerve to the part in which the a. occurs. [A, 321.]—Respective. Those peculiar to one organ. [A, 316.]Safety-valve a. A condition described by Hunter, in which the tricuspid valve does not close completely, but allows a certain amount of blood to regurgitate from the ventricle into the auricle. The phenomenon occurs especially in cases of resistance in the pulmonary circulation. [K.]—Sexual a. The operation of the generative apparatus. [A, 886.1—VItal. Lat., actiones vitales, Fr., actes (ou mouvements) vitaux. Ger., Lebens ver rich tun gen. A’s which, like those of the brain, the heart, and the lungs, are e ential to the continuance of life. [A, 322.] Cf. REACTION.