The dynamics of living matter dynamicsofliving1906loeb2 Year: 1906 FiG. 18. — The secretion of mucus on the skin of Amblystoma under the influence of a constant current. The animals were kept in a trough of water through which a current passed. The current lines were straight and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the animal. The black dots indicate the spots where the secretion of mucus appeared. The drawing shows that the glands secrete at the anode side of the animal where the current lines cut its surface. contractile elements which result in the contents of the mucous glands being
The dynamics of living matter dynamicsofliving1906loeb2 Year: 1906 FiG. 18. — The secretion of mucus on the skin of Amblystoma under the influence of a constant current. The animals were kept in a trough of water through which a current passed. The current lines were straight and parallel with the longitudinal axis of the animal. The black dots indicate the spots where the secretion of mucus appeared. The drawing shows that the glands secrete at the anode side of the animal where the current lines cut its surface. contractile elements which result in the contents of the mucous glands being squeezed out. The secretion is partly, however, a direct effect of the current on the skin, and results finally in the disintegration of the latter. In this case we may be dealing with an electrolytic effect due to secondary chemical reactions. Budgett and I found that these anodic effects of the current on Infusorians and Amblystoma can be imitated by applying NaHO to these organisms. Whatever the cause of the secretion may be, we are not justified in identifying the disintegration of an Infusorian or the skin of an Amblystoma with the tetanus of a muscle. It is not our intention to give more than the general idea of irritability and stimulation. Besides chemical and electrical stimulation, mechanical stimu- lation plays an important r6le. When a nerve has been put into a decalcifying solution for some time, or has lost water, it becomes extremely sensitive to slight mechanical agitation. When a nerve reaches the climax of its sensitiveness, it suffices to knock on the table that
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