Chapter 142

142. The Discovery of Electricity (4)

***

The Academy café was peaceful. Was this normally a dead time, or had the Imperial Princess rented out the whole place? Both seemed equally plausible.

Mint, perhaps emboldened by the lack of people around, was closer than usual—so close that her chest nearly pressed against me. Mint then pulled me even closer and began rubbing her cheek against mine.

“Teacher, it feels like I haven’t seen you in ages. Are you busy?”

“I saw you yesterday.”

“That was in the morning!”

“True…”

Mint stopped rubbing her cheek and instead closed her eyes, pressing her lips softly against mine. I brushed her hair behind her shoulder afterward…

“It’s strange… Even though I should be used to seeing you by now, every time I do, I just want to hold you.”

Mint wiped her mouth but couldn’t hide her smile.

I tightly gripped the Imperial Princess’s hand…

They weren’t exaggerating when they called her the most beautiful woman in the Empire. Though she didn’t look drastically different from usual, Mint’s smiling face was so breathtakingly gorgeous that if I hadn’t met her before, I wouldn’t have been able to imagine such beauty.

As always…

Mint crossed her arms and sat close beside me, her faint minty floral scent almost distracting me from thought.

I wrapped my arms around Mint’s waist…

She let out a soft sigh.

“Lately, all I see in the newspapers around the Imperial Capital is talk about you. You might be more famous than me now.”

“Excessive praise, Your Highness.”

“Well, even if that wasn’t true, I’d still love you immensely! But it would be nice if Father gave his blessing easily…”

I opened my mouth to respond, but Mint kissed me again before I could speak. Seriously, at least give me some time to talk!

It took Mint a while to fully relax. How did I know she was tense? Because I could feel it directly since we were so close.

Anyway…

After a moment, Mint spoke up.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I actually summoned you here for an official matter, but I got distracted thinking about our date.”

This was news to me.

“An official matter?”

“The Imperial Palace wants me to inform you: the medicine development is almost complete and will soon be sent experimentally to hospitals across the Empire.”

Ah, not groundbreaking news, but it’s reassuring that things are progressing as planned.

I nodded, and the Imperial Princess stretched her legs out while sitting.

“Let’s go on another trip once winter comes! Whether it’s to the southern countries or just the greenhouse inside the palace—it apparently grows flowers year-round.”

“I look forward to it.”

Mint beamed with joy.

***

The catalyst for my lab discovering electricity came from studying how muscles and nerve signals in the human body are transmitted via electrical impulses.

The battery was part of the package.

So, physiologically speaking, the key focus is understanding the structure and function of nerves. Ideally, we’d locate the neuromuscular junction under a microscope, but whether that’s possible remains uncertain.

What’s important is defining the macroscopic structure of nerves and proving their role in controlling the body.

Dissection is, of course, the method to achieve this.

The dissection room was chilly as usual.

Istina and Amy stood wearing plague doctor masks, looking down at the cadaver on the table.

“Let’s begin.”

“Yes.”

“Do you know what our goal is today?”

Amy held her sketchbook.

“Yes, we’re supposed to draw the structure of the nerves, right?”

“Exactly.”

Today’s objective is to map the structure of nerves. Before presenting a paper on their mechanisms, we need to identify and prove their physiological functions within the human body.

I looked at Amy.

“Do you know what nerves do?”

“They’re organs that come from the brain and control the body. In ancient texts, it says the brain holds the soul of animals, while the heart contains human emotions and personality.”

While incorrect, I understood where she was coming from.

“Got it. What do you think?”

“Hmm… Well, the heart only has muscles, doesn’t it? That seems odd.”

Amy’s getting smarter.

“True.”

Aristotle believed the brain was an organ that dissipated heat, collecting warmth through nerves and releasing it.

We started preparing the cadaver with a scalpel. Hopefully, there won’t be too much coagulated blood, but we won’t know until we open it up.

“Senior, Aristotle thought nerves gathered heat and dissipated it through the brain. Though wrong, can you guess why he might’ve thought that? Do you know why?”

Istina pondered for a moment before answering.

“Because the brain’s wrinkled structure increases surface area, making it ideal for heat exchange! And because cerebrospinal fluid circulates like coolant to manage heat.”

“Correct.”

Though cerebrospinal fluid does help cool the brain, Aristotle was mistaken about other aspects.

The brain produces heat rather than collects it—despite accounting for only 2% of body weight, it generates 20% of the body’s heat.

“Let’s summarize what we know: nerves converge entirely in the brain, transmit signals, and consist of neural tissue. The heart lacks significant neural tissue.”

Istina nodded.

“Yes.”

“The heart is controlled by the brain, and all nerves lead to it. The brain commands muscles and receives sensory input.”

With that, the cadaver’s preparation was complete. I lifted my scalpel and began cutting into one arm to find where the muscles connect to nerves.

Where are they?

“You two, cut open the opposite arm too. We’ll look for where the nerves connect to muscles.”

It sounds simple, but the body is full of bizarre fibers and connective tissues. It’s easy to miss them unless you know what you’re looking for.

Ah, there it is.

I grabbed the ulnar nerve with forceps.

“This is it. This nerve connects to the muscle here. This is the neuromuscular junction.”

“If we apply an electric shock to it, will the muscle move?”

This idea originated from Frankenstein’s backstory. It’s a good question, but no.

I shook my head.

“This person has been dead too long. Applying electricity won’t make the muscles move. It might work on someone who just died?”

“Yes.”

Still, Mary Shelley’s concept of reviving the dead with electricity led to the invention of the defibrillator, so she wasn’t entirely wrong.

The method mattered.

I picked up surgical scissors and carefully cut out the tissue containing the neuromuscular junction. If we’re lucky, we might observe its structure under a microscope. Or not…

Perhaps dissecting a frog or another animal, whose neuromuscular junctions are nearly alive, would allow observation under an optical microscope.

Anyway, we only briefly opened the arm since the truly important nerves are elsewhere. We also need to examine the peripheral nerves running through limbs and spinal nerves.

Next step: the thickest nerve in the human body is undoubtedly the sciatic nerve, thicker than a thumb.

“Come over here.”

Finding the sciatic nerve wasn’t difficult—it’s a large structure immediately visible when opening the leg. I showed it to them.

“Is this the nerve that controls the leg?”

“Yes.”

I carefully excised the sciatic nerve. Under a microscope, we might discover something meaningful—or just fiber patterns.

“Do you understand the structure? Nerves branch out in many directions, eventually connecting to the spine and reaching the brain.”

“I understand.”

Amy and Istina sketched the appearance of the nerves in their notebooks. I waited briefly.

***

Finally, the last thing to show them.

“Let’s flip this person over.”

We struggled a bit but managed to turn the cadaver over quickly enough. Dead bodies inexplicably seem heavier than living ones, but it didn’t take long.

I pressed down on the cadaver’s spine.

“Alright, take a look.”

Finding the spinal nerves could be laborious, but there’s an easy spot to observe them. Remember meningitis patients?

“Amy, a few days ago, when we examined the meningitis patient, where did we insert the needle to extract cerebrospinal fluid? Do you remember?”

“Oh, the lower back vertebrae.”

Correct.

The incision didn’t take long.

Using a knife and scissors, I quickly exposed the lower lumbar vertebrae. A saw was necessary to open the spinal canal, but it didn’t take much effort.

I removed fragments of the vertebrae…

“There it is.”

“What is this…?”

This is what’s called “horse’s tail” in Chinese characters due to its resemblance.

Istina scratched her head.

“It looks weird.”

“To put it simply, this is a tangled cluster of spinal nerves. They resemble a horse’s tail. If you think of the body as a machine, this is like a bundle of wires that hasn’t been neatly organized.”

If you don’t know what wires are, this analogy might not resonate much. Nonetheless, this is the clearest way to demonstrate what nerves are.

“Since spinal nerves only transmit signals, there are sections where they float freely wherever there’s space.”

“Amazing…”

Istina gasped softly.

This dissection achieved its purpose. By finding necessary structures in samples and presenting them at a symposium, our work will be complete.

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