NERVOUS ACTION 



with the chemical reactions measured. Although the heat production 

 observed in ordinary nerves is of the same order of magnitude as the 

 energy evolved during the discharge of the electric fish, direct correla- 

 tion would be desirable. Another important problem is the nature 

 of the physicochemical events occurring at the neuronal surface which 

 change the permeability. At present we do not even know in which 

 way acetylcholine is released. 



It is needless to enumerate all the problems which still remain 

 unsolved. A great deal of information may still be obtained from 

 further studies which are being carried out on the enzyme systems 

 involved. But the use of more methods will be required until a satis- 

 factory picture is obtained. 



Needham (18) stated that "science is the study of the quanti- 

 tative relationships in the world we live in." Pasteur called Lavoisier 

 the founder of modern chemistry on the ground that he has introduced 

 in chemistry the use of the balance, i. e., the notion of quantity. But 

 since living cells are amazingly complex systems, the interpretation 

 even of quantitative data requires caution. A great teacher, Sir 

 Frederick Gowland-Hopkins (9), has warned us: "All dogmatic teach- 

 ing about any aspect of the phenomena of life is apt to be checked 

 by the ultimate discovery that the living cell is before all things a here- 

 tic." For the ultimate goal, which is that of explaining the mechanism 

 of living cells in terms of physics and chemistry, research based on the 

 combination of a great number of devices will be necessary. Thus 

 far, enzyme chemistry has proved itself repeatedly to be one of the most 

 powerful tools in transforming our approach from pure description of 

 the phenomena of the living cell into scientific analysis. The history 

 of the problem of the mechanism of nervous action adds another illus- 

 tration of this development. 



References 



(1) Boell, E. F., and Nachinansohn, D., Science, 92, 513 (1940). 



(2) Clark, A. J., The Mode of Action of Drugs nn Cells. Arnold, London, 

 1933. 



(3) Cole, K. S., and Curtis, H. T., J. (rcn. PhyswL, 22, 619 (1939). 



(4) Cox, R. T., Coalcs, C. W., and Brown, U. V., J. Gen. Physiol., 28, 187 

 (1945). 



355 



