166 L- J- MULLINS 



that if you plot the rate of entry of one ion at different concentrations in the 

 presence of another, also at varying concentration, then they should exhibit 

 the characteristics of the Michaelis-Menton equation for competitive inhibition. 

 The results with many isotopes have borne out this postulate. In other words, 

 ions do not simply go in by going through a uniform surface but seem to asso- 

 ciate and disassociate with these charges. 



With this in mind, I think I will just go back to the original argument that I 

 would like to raise as to whether to call a phase like that liquid or not. If you 

 have these highly charged particles situated on it, both positive and negative, 

 there will be considerable tendency for these charges to repel and attract each 

 other, and the situation, of course, is very similar to our macromolecules. It is 

 rather difficult to think that their forces of cohesion are entirely dependent 

 upon the van der Waals forces at the same time when they are acted on by 

 much stronger forces between the molecules. In other words, I am not funda- 

 mentally differing with it, but I would say there might be possibilities that these 

 cylindrical molecules as Dr. Mullins presented them in his picture might be 

 joined by stronger bonds than the comparatively weaker ones. 



Dr. Mullins: To answer Dr. Reynolds' question about the rare gases, es- 

 pecially xenon, since it is a good anesthetic at a partial pressure of about 500 

 millimeters of mercury, it is of course very small and it is subject only to dis- 

 persion forces for its binding, but that simply means that it will occupy a little 

 niche or cranny somewhere around the surface and you may require two of 

 them or three of them at a given site in order to produce block. 



In the second case, I think that there is very good evidence that when you 

 have distorted a site by some of these excitatory substances that I mentioned 

 then large molecules which would be excitatory will now develop an inhibitory 

 action. 



