126 ANIMAL ELECTRICITY. LECTURE VI. 



(i) That the most prominent and unmistakable 

 modifications have been : an augmentation of Kat. by 

 sHght acidification ; a diminution of Kat. by slight 

 basification. 



(2) That An. has been sometimes augmented, 

 usually diminished, but sometimes augmented by weak 

 acidification, and 



(3) That An. has been but little affected by weak 

 basification. 



These results do not sound particularly har- 

 monious intei'- se, nor seem to be held together under 

 any very obvious law. That depends, I think, upon 

 the somewhat narrow range of concentration within 

 which an acid or alkaline reagent effects what we 

 may be entitled to designate as characteristic acid 

 or alkaline changes. Still we may even at this 

 stage pick out as characteristic the augmentation and 

 diminution of Kat. by acidification and basification 

 respectively ; and we may remark that the augmenta- 

 tion of An. has always been effected by weaker 

 acidification than the diminution of An. 



A distinct step forward will be taken by the 

 examination of records in which both An. and Kat. 

 have been observed on the same nerve before and 

 after its treatment with acid or with alkali. Within 

 a certain range these reagents will have acted in 

 opposite directions upon the two effects, or in the 

 same direction but unequally, so that the ratio 

 between their magnitudes is altered. We shall now 



