MECHANORECEPTION 



33 



— 6 



—6 



O"— 2 



TlH 



^ nl— ?U- 



c • 



}5 



T 



• 1.} 





B« - • 5 



T O 



.?' 



I 



A • 



Receptor Potential M V 



Fig. 23. Impulse size plotted against receptor potential for a mechano- 

 sensory hair on the outer clasper of a male Phormia. Points are average 

 values; bars denote extreme values. (Redrawn from Wolbarsht, 1960.) 



acea, and the mechanosensory hair on the claspers of male flies 

 (Fig. 18) (Wolbarsht, 1960) exhibit slow potentials that are main- 

 tained above threshold for a considerable period of time. It has been 

 assumed, at least in some cases, that depolarization is a consequence 

 of the unfolding of the cell membrane (Katz, 1950; Gray and Sato, 

 1953). Lowenstein (1956) has suggested that the degree to which the 



