278 Cc. U. ARIENS KAPPERS 
The large quantity of KCl then present around its colloidal 
substance will favor (according to the experiments of Gassner, 
Schellenberg, and others) the anodo-tropic character of the axis- 
' cylinder. 
The phenomenon of the formation of the axis-cylinder and its 
collaterals in the direction of the anodic field, may thus be so 
expressed that we say that the neuroblast embedded in a solu- 
tion containing a good deal of potassium and of chloride ex- 
hibits, in harmony with the experiments of Loeb, Budgett, 
Coehn and Barratt, a tropism at the anodal side of the neuro- 
blast and that the KCl constituents of the neuroblast gathering 
on this side thus increase (besides its conductivity) the anodo- 
tropic character of its colloidal substance. This anodo-tropic 
character of the colloidal substance of the axis-cylinder is, more- 
over, in harmony with Hardy’s experiments on the kataphoresis 
of albuminoids. 
Considering the fact, that the kataphoresis which genuine 
albumen and lecithin show is already generally an anodic one 
(Hober, loc. cit.) it is clear that the additional composition of the 
neurone and its surroundings still favors this, since the colloid 
particles of the young axon are embedded in a medium contain- 
ing a quantity of KCl, that makes its preponderating reaction 
alkaline. Moreover the greater conductivity which KCl gives 
it, may cause the greater quantity of electricity to be led 
through it. 
That the constituents of a peripheral nerve are strongly con- 
veyed to the anode is also experimentally shown by Hermann, to 
whose experiments I return later (see p. 291). 
From every standpoint indeed it seems that the conditions for 
the primary outgrowth of the axon along with the kathodic cur- 
rent to the anodic field have been realized in the nervous system. 
chen Forschung. Ergebnisse der Physiologie von Asher und Spiro, Jahrg. VIT, 
1908. 
Aleock and Lynch. On the relation between the physical, chemical and 
electrical properties of the nerves. PartIV: Potassium, chlorine and potassium 
chloride. Journal of Physiology, vol. 42, 1910. 
Macallum. Surface tension and vital phenomena. University of Toronto 
Studies, No. 8, Physiological Series, 1912. 
