VIII. BIOELECTRIC MEASUREMENTS 269 



The membrane resistance has been measured with reasonable ac- 

 ('ura(\y for several single cells. Cole and Ilodgkin (7) measured the 

 longitudinal impedance of the single nerve fiber from sijuid when im- 

 mersed in mineral oil and Hodgkin and Rushton obtained reliable 

 values in much the same wa}' for a single nerve filjcr from the crab. 

 Blinks (J) has obtained values of the membrane resistance of single 

 plant cells by impaling them on a microelectrode and measuring the 

 resistance directly across the cell membrane. Thus impedance meas- 

 urements can be used in very special circumstances for the estimation 

 of ionic permeability. 



Membrane Inductance. Under very special conditions it has 

 been possible to measure an inductance associated with the cell 

 membrane of the giant nerve fiber of squid. Whether inductance 

 is associated with other cell membranes is not known. Even if it 

 were, the problem of measuring it would present such difficulties 

 that it is doubtful if it could ever be measured except in very special 

 instances {10). 



References 



1 . Abramson, H., Electrokinetic Phenomena. Chemical Catalog Co., New 



York, 1934. 



2. Abramson, H., L. S. Moyer, and M. H. Goriu, Electrophoresis of Proteins 



and the Chemistry of Cell Surfaces. Reinhold, New York, 1942. 



3. Bayliss, W. M., Principles of General Physiology. Longmans, Green, 



New York, 1927. 



If.. Bearden, J. A., Rev. Sci. Instruments, 4, 271 (1933). 



,0. Blinks, L. R., J. Gen. Physiol, 13, 495 (1930). 



6. Cole, K. S., and H. J. Curtis, Rev. Sci. Instruments, 8, 333 (1937). 



7. Cole, K. S., and L. A. Hodgkin, J. Gen. Physiol, 22, 671 (1939). 



8. Cole, K. S., and H. J. Cm'tis, /. Gen. Physiol, 22, 649 (1939). 



9. Cole, K. S., Cold Spring Harbor Symposia Quant. Biol, 8, 110 (1940). 



10. Cole, K. S., /. Gen. Physiol, 25, 29 (1941). 



1 1 . Cole, K. S., and H. J. Curtis, Cold Spring Harbor Symposia Quant. Biol, 



4, 73 (1936). 



12. Curtis, H. J., and K. S. Cole, J. Cellular Comp. Physiol, 19, 135 (1942). 



13. DuBridge, L. A., and H. Brown, Rev. Sd. Instruments, 4, 532 (1933). 

 14- Fricke, H., Cold Spring Harbor Symposia Quant. Biol, I, 117 (1933). 

 14a- Getman, F. H., Outlines of Theoretical Chemistry. 4th rev. ed., Wiley, 



, New York, 1927. 

 15. Glasstone, S., Textbook of Physical Chemistry. Van Nostrand, New 

 York, 1946. 



