530 EDWARD B. MEIGS 



of the preparations would be 0.4 X 0.15 or 0.06 per cent of the 

 weight of the whole fresh preparation. The total amount of 

 NaCl in such preparations as those used in Experiments 58 and 59 

 is about 0.19 per cent. Forty per cent of this would be 0.19 X 

 0.4, or 0.076 per cent of the weight of the whole fresh preparation. 

 It would seem, therefore, as if*more NaCl had been lost by the 

 preparation than could be accounted for by supposing that all 

 the NaCl contained in the connective tissue and interstitial 

 spaces had diffused out into the sugar solution; and that some 

 NaCl must, therefore, have been lost by the fibers. 



I realize that the results of this computation ought not to be 

 taken too seriously. The estimates of the relative volumes occu- 

 pied by the fibers and other parts of the preparations used are 

 rough, and the quantities of sodium dealt with in the analyses are 

 small. On the other hand, it is very unlikely that all the NaCl 

 would diffuse out from the connective tissue and interstitial spaces 

 under the conditions of Experiment 59, and the experiment may, 

 therefore, be regarded as prima facie evidence for the view that 

 NaCl diffuses through the surfaces of the living smooth muscle 

 fibers. 



The case for the diffusion of cane sugar into the muscle fibers 

 in Experiments 62 and 63 is much clearer. Experiment 62 shows 

 that the samples of smooth muscle used contained 17.82 per cent 

 of solid matter. It may be supposed, therefore, that the tissue 

 used in Experiment 63 contained 5.3976 X 0.1782, or 0.9619 

 grams of solid matter. But its dry weight after about six hours 

 stay in the 7.5 per cent sugar solution was 1.1422 grams, from 

 which it would appear that 1.1422' - 0.9619 or 0.1803 grams of 

 sugar had diffused into the muscle. 



The muscle treated with sugar solution contained at the end of 

 its treatment 6.1854 — 1.1422 or 5.0432 grams of water, into which 

 had diffused 0.1803 grams or 3.6 per cent of sugar. That is to 

 say, enough sugar had diffused into the muscle to bring the con- 

 centration of that substance in the muscle water up to 3.6 per 

 cent ; or, to look at the matter in another light, it may be said that 

 a little less than half the water of the muscle was made up to a 

 7.5 per cent sugar solution. It is inconceivable that all this sugar 



