46 



DYNAMICS OF NERVE CELLS. I 



trate the widest range of variation in experimental results, experi- 

 ments on eight different animals were selected arbitrarily. As was 

 expected the cardiac rate was slow when the ganglion was cooled and 

 fast when it was warmed. In the lower ranges of temperature the 

 temperature coefficient (Qio) is well above 2 and at very low tempera- 



TABLE IV. 

 Effects of Warming the Heart Ganglion Alone. 



tures may be as large as 9. This places the process upon which the 

 rate of the rhythmic gangHonic discharge depends unequivocally 

 within the class of chemical reactions. The decrease in the coefficient 

 at higher temperatures is the rule in both biological and chemical 

 reactions and does not militate against this interpretation. The results 

 in Tables III and IV are illustrated in Fig. 1 . 



