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records have been kept on this. There is reason to believe that in 

 man, too, myotonia is but a localized expression of a more general- 

 ized disturbance affecting some basic process of cell life. As is 

 generally known, myotonia is often accompanied by cataract, which 

 almost belongs to the classical symptoms of this disease. The dis- 

 turbance thus strikes even such a relatively inactive organ as the 

 lens. It is worth noting in this connection that 2,4-dinitronaphthol, 

 which does disturb the energy household, also causes cataract;^ 

 this is the more remarkable since the lens, as I have shown, con- 

 tains strongly fluorescent proteins. Buchthal and Clemensen, as 

 well as de Jong, found in dystrophic forms of myotonia that the 

 central nervous system was involved, many patients showing a 

 certain dullness which often bordered on idiocy. 



Myotonia is a rare disease, is not fatal, and has, consequently, 

 been neglected by medical research, however fascinating it may be. 

 What may lend a major practical importance to it is its close rela- 

 tion to myasthenia gravis. The symptoms of the two diseases are 

 almost identical, only the sign is opposite: what is positive in the 

 one is negative in the other. The two are mirror images. The myo- 

 tonic muscle does more than it should, the myasthenic less. The 

 myotonic one is worst when starting activity and symptoms fade 

 out with exercise, while the myasthenic muscle does best after rest 

 and tire rapidly. So the two diseases may be expressions of a dis- 

 turbance of the same basic process, disturbed in the two cases in 

 opposite direction. 



The experiments reported in this chapter leave the problem of 



^ This cataract is known for its whimsical character. Sometimes it appeared 

 after a light medication while it was often missing after a prolonged and 

 heavy one. Personal disposition seems to decide. In collecting bullocks' lenses 

 in great numbers from the slaughterhouse, I found most of them colorless. 

 A small number, however, about 2-3%, were yellow, which color seemed to 

 be due to the oxidized state of the flavines present. This color may indicate 

 a sluggishness of the energy household, which might be in connection with 

 the ease by which cataract is contracted under influence of a dinitrophenol 

 medication. 



