ANTAGONISM BETWEEN SALTS AND ANESTHETICS 



IV. INACTIVATION OF SALT SOLUTIONS AND HYPERTONIC SEA-WATER 



BY ANESTHETICS 



RALPH S. LILLIE 



From the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, and the Physiological 

 Laboratory, Clark University 



The physiological antagonism about to be described forms a 

 special instance of the class discussed in my three recent papers 

 on the interference of anesthetics with the stimulating and toxic 

 action of salt-solutions.^ In the second paper I described experi- 

 ments showing that the cytolytic action of isotonic solutions of 

 various neutral salts on the unfertilized eggs of sea-urchins and 

 starfish was retarded or prevented in the presence of certain 

 anesthetics. The eggs were thus enabled to withstand more pro- 

 longed exposures to the anesthetic-containing than to the pure 

 solutions without losing their power of development. Sub- 

 stances of this class may thus exhibit a well-marked protective 

 or anti-cytolytic action similar to that of calcium or magnesium 

 chloride, although as a rule less pronounced. 



I have also shown in former papers that the initiation of cleav- 

 age by pure isotonic solutions of sodium or potassium salts may 

 be prevented by calcium or magnesium chloride. ^ This effect 

 is a typical instance of salt-antagonism. There is every indi- 

 cation that the pure or unbalanced salt-solution acts primarily 

 on the plasma-membrane or surface-layer of the egg, causing 

 among other effects a rapid and well-marked increase of permea- 

 bihty, with which is probably associated an electrical depolari- 

 zation.^ The antagonistic salt counteracts this permeability- 

 increasing action; hence it also prevents the cleavage-initiating 



1 .\in. Jour. Physiol., 1912, vol. 29, p. 372; vol. 30, p. 1; 1913, vol. 31, p. 255. 



2 Am. Jour. Physiol., 1911, vol, 27, p. 289; Jour. Morph., 1911, vol. 22, p. 695. 



3 Cf. Am. Jour. Physiol., 1910, vol. 26, p. 106. 



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