CONTENTS. ix 



CHAPTER II. 



THE CONTRACTILE TISSUES. 



PAGE 



39. The movements of the body carried out by means of various kinds of 



contractile tissues .......... 54 



SECTION I. 



THE PHENOMENA OP MUSCLE AND NERVE. 



Muscular and Nervous Irritability. 



40. Irritability ; contractility ; stimuli 56 



41. Independent muscular irritability ; action of urari .... 57 



42. Simple and tetanic contractions 58 



43. The muscle-nerve preparation 58 



44. Various forms of stimuli. Induction Coil. Key. Magnetic Inter- 

 rupter. Electrodes. Method of graphic record .... 59 



The Phenomena of a Simple Muscular Contraction. 



45. The muscle curve. Myographs. Time measurements. Signals . 68 



46. Analysis of a simple muscle curve 74 



47. Variations of the muscle curve. The shortening accompanied by 



thickening 77 



48. Simple muscular contractions rare in the living body .... 78 



49. Tetanic contractions. Analysis of the curve of tetanus ... 78 



50. Various degrees of tetanic contractions 82 



51. Diminution and disappearance of irritability after death ... 83 



SECTION II. 



ON THE CHANGES WHICH TAKE PLACE IN A MUSCLE DURING A 



CONTRACTION. 



The Change in Form. 



52. Gross structure of muscle, arrangement of muscular fibres, blood 



vessels and nerves . . . . . . . . .84 



53. The wave of contraction ; its length, velocity and other characters . 86 



54. Minute structure of muscular fibre ; nature of striation ... 88 

 55. The visible changes which take place in a muscular fibre during a 



contraction ........... 91 



56. The appearances presented when the fibre is examined with polarized 



light 93 



57. Nature of the act of contraction 94 



