SOME RECENT WORK UPON MUSCLE 



AND NERVE. 



THE appearance of an excellent English translation of 

 the work of Prof. Biedermann affords an opportunity 

 both for a brief notice of the book and for directing attention 

 to some recent work in connection with the physiology of 

 muscle and nerve. 1 The title of the book is somewhat 

 misleading since the author comprises under the heading 

 " Electro-physiology " not only the electromotive changes 

 which under certain conditions present themselves in living 

 tissues, but all the excitatory phenomena capable of being 

 called forth by the action upon these of electrical currents. 



Now the functional characteristics of such structures 

 as muscle and nerve have been chiefly studied by acting 

 upon these tissues through the medium of definite stimu- 

 lating agencies and noting what changes are thus evoked. 

 For this purpose the stimulating agency generally employed 

 has been that of a brief electrical current and it thus follows 

 that the study of the action of currents comprehends almost 

 all the known phenomena of muscle and nerve activity. 

 Prof. Biedermann's book, although entitled " electro-physio- 

 logy," deals in reality with a far more extensive range of 

 phenomena than that which the name suggests, and the 

 scope of the work would be more correctly indicated by 

 the phrase " phenomena of the excitable tissues ". The 

 treatise is the most comprehensive and most valuable 

 contribution to the literature of the subject which has yet 

 appeared, and since it deals with fundamental questions 

 it acquires an importance in connection with the study of 

 vital phenomena which cannot fail to be appreciated by 

 all those who are interested in biological science. 



It may be asked on what grounds the term " funda- 

 mental ' : is here used. Its employment will be justified 

 if we briefly consider what are the essential characters of 



1 Electro-physiology, by W. Biedermann, translated by Frances A. 

 Welby. London : Macmillan, 1898. 2 vols. 



