J 239 



this experimental fact unexplained for (he present. Por this reason 

 I thought I was right in not rejecting absolutely the supposition 

 that the s^MTipalhctic nerve would partially influence the tonus of 

 the striped muscles. Since that time two communications by E. Th. 

 VON Buückk/) have been published from which it appears that he 

 too has been able to observe initial hypotonns of the same kind 

 in the acute experiment as was evident in my animals; but only 

 during some days, after which the hypotonns disappeared altogether. 



If this result should prove lo be right in the greater number 

 of the cases, the long duration of that initial hypotonns in my 

 experiments would certainly have to be made dependent on other 

 factors, which however would have nothing to do with the tonus as 

 such. 



With this the last support of dh Boer's theory would drop. 



For not only it has been proved that neither rigor mortis nor 

 decerebrate rigidity are due to the sympathetic ner\ous system but 

 besides this it has become evident lo me that another pheiiomenon 

 — mentioned by dk Bokk as being governed by the sympathetic — 

 has nothing to do with it. 



The "nose of Punke" occurring again and again in the muscle 

 contraction curve was to disappear after extirpation of the sympa- 

 thetic nerve chain. 



After this resection 1 very often distinctly observed the "nose of 

 Funke" in the muscle nerve of the frog, both with electrical and 

 mechanical stimulation of the spinal cord, not only in the acute 

 experiment, but also if the extirpation of the sympathetic chain, 

 was done 2 months before the actual experiment and the post-gan- 

 glion ic sympathetic nervefibres had degenerated. 



This positive fact is of course decisive in face of the negative 

 one of DE Boer. 



Three curves stating this experimental fact follow below. ') 



J. Negrin y. Lopez and E. Th. von Brücke. Zur Frage nach der Bedeutung 

 des Sympatliicus fur den Tonus der Skeletlmuskulalur. Pfliiger's Arcliiv, Band 166. 

 1916, p. 55. 



E. Th. von Brücke. Neuere Anschauungen iiber den Muskeltonus. Deutsche 

 medizinisclie Wochenschrift, 1918, N'\ 5 and 6. 



2) In order to prevent a possible misunderstanding, I want to make the following 

 remarks. The appearance of the "nose of Funke" in the muscle curve is often 

 very variable. Sometimes it appears very distinctly as a second top in the curve. 

 As is visibla in fig. 1, very often its presence is only obvious from the I'acl that 

 the duration of the muscle contraction curve is much longer than the duration of 

 tbe single muscle conlraction as in fig. 2 and 3. Between these all kinds of tran- 

 sition forms are lo be found, also with respect to the place in the curve, where 



80* 



