122 



quarter, keeping the animal for days in a comatous condition in 

 which signs of life could hardly be noticed. The drop in basal 

 metabolic rate was accompanied by a steep drop in body tempera- 

 ture to 22°C or so, the whole condition resembling hibernation. 

 The drop in the body temperature made it difficult to say how far 

 the low basal metabolic rate and coma were due directly to the 

 action of the drug. The gravity of the symptoms depended to a 



Table IV 



Basal Metabolic Rate and Myotonic Symptoms in 2,4D 



Poisoning in Mice 



great extent on the outside temperature. If the animals were kept 

 warm the symptoms accompanying myotonia were less severe and 

 so the myotonic behavior could more clearly be observed. In any 

 case, the symptoms indicated that the action of the drug was not 

 limited to muscle, and that the drug affected some basic process 

 which is common to all cells, as is energy transmission. The table 

 even shows that the drop in basal metabolic rate (overlooked by 

 earlier workers) is a more sensitive indicator of the drug action 

 than the myotonic syndrome. 



Since 200 mg per kg corresponds to a random concentration of 

 10"^ Ai our next question is whether 2,4D can afiPect £* /'« vitro 

 in 10"^ Al concentration.^ 



It has been shown in Chapter 8 that 10"^ Al concentration of 

 2,4D shifts the absorption spectrum of rhodamin towards the 

 longer wavelength. It introduced thus some disturbance in the en- 



