Structure and Polarity of Electric Motor Nerve-Cell in Torpedoes. 243 



Stronger direct currents were then tried by modifying the 110- volt 

 current to a strength that "cooked" the tissue, and some interesting 

 results were attained which as yet it has not been possible to interpret 

 in an entirely satisfactory way. Nor did they seem to throw a very 

 definite light upon the question of orientation. They probably, how- 

 ever, do give some basis for deduction and will be described. These 

 experiments, in the order of the amount of current passed through the 

 tissue, were on torpedoes Nos. 3, 10, 5, and 4. These four experiments 

 resolve themselves rather easily into two types, the strong and the 

 very strong current experiments. Torpedo No. 3 will represent the 

 first and torpedo No. 5 the second. Exact measures of these currents 

 are unfortunately lacking. 



The first experiment (see fig. 19, plate 4) shows the following 

 results: The outline of the entire cell was not changed in shape, nor 

 were any of the processes modified. The nucleus was displaced bodily 

 in the direction of the kathode, and its kathodal end, which was some- 

 what more than half of the whole nucleus, was considerably swollen, 

 especially in a lateral (with reference to direction of current) direction. 

 The anodal end was smaller and sharply set off from the other end by 

 an inset that can best be seen in the figure. 



The total displacement of the nucleus in the kathodal direction 

 appears to have resulted in an almost vacant space on its anodal side, 

 a space that corresponds to the original position of the nucleus in shape 

 and size. This space is almost filled with a delicate clot which is 

 thinnest and most delicate at its center, or next to the nucleus. 



Bulging out from the anodal point of the nucleus is a very peculiar 

 bag or sac-like structure with a sharp and somewhat flattened outline. 

 It contains nothing in the sectioned and stained condition. Apparently 

 it is the result of an electrolysis through the anodal end of the nuclear 

 membrane and its bounding membrane appears to have been formerly 

 a layer or part of the nuclear membrane, or else it is a new membrane 

 formed by the material that has passed out of the nucleus. The 

 shrinkage of the anodal half of the nucleus may be accounted for by 

 the escape of some fluid constituent. 



On the kathodal side of the nucleus a sector of the cytoplasm, whose 

 sides radiate slightly from the two edges of the inset mentioned above, 

 is filled with some deeper-staining material, not composed of visible 

 granules. Between it and the surface of the nucleus one sees a narrow 

 region which is thin in texture and does not stain readily. 



Inside the nucleus we find that the anodal and contracted half of the 

 nucleus is filled with a homogeneous mass of dark-staining material, 

 which I take to be a modified form of the perichromatin. In this 

 material the plasmosome and the several karyosomes are to be seen 

 "floating." The karyosomes appear to be distributed very evenly 

 through the dark-staining mass and not to either "float" or "sink" 



