8o POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



bility, in view of the fact that some muscles, especially those of the 

 wings of insects, are capable of relaxing and contracting a large num- 

 ber of times in a second. The facts mentioned at the beginning of this 

 paper point distinctly towards the possibility that part of the chemical 

 energy in our body is transformed into electrical energy, or, in other 

 terms, the ions formed in metabolism seem to play a role in the 

 dynamics of life phenomena. From the facts mentioned in this paper 

 we can see that these ions, or rather, their electrical charges, may be 

 responsible for such physical manifestations of life as the muscular 

 contractions and others. It remains to be explained how the electrical 

 energy of the ions may be transformed into the mechanical energy 

 produced by the contracting muscle. This will be discussed in the 

 second paper, but I will point out here that I believe that the electrical 

 energy of the ions is transformed into surface energy. It will now 

 become necessary to pay more attention to the production of ions in 

 metabolism than has been done before. The C0 3 and P0 4 ions, as well 

 as the H ions, can no longer be considered as mere waste products of 

 metabolism. 



3. The fact that ions may act toxically through their electrical 

 charges, and that ions with the opposite charge may act antitoxically, 

 may open a new and very fertile field for pathology and therapeutics. 

 As I have stated in previous papers, especially certain neuroses, and 

 perhaps certain mental diseases, may now find their explanation. 

 Two years ago I pointed out that we must realize the existence of 

 physiologically balanced salt solutions, that means salt solutions in 

 which the ions are so combined that the toxic effects of the one are 

 counteracted by the antitoxic effects of some other ion. Any disturb- 

 ance in the right proportion of monovalent ions and ions of higher 

 valency must lead to more or less pronounced modifications of the 

 life phenomena. 



