THE PHENOMENON OF CONTRACTION. 



33 



muscle relaxes slowly from fatigue. Toward the end of such a series the muscle 

 is often practically in a state of continuous contraction, a condition which would 

 nullify its ordinary use in locomotion. It seems possible that certain con- 

 ditions of tonic spasm or cramps which occur during life may involve this 



for example, the temporary cramp that sometimes attacks a player 

 in athletic games, or the curious spasmodic condition known as intermittent 

 claudication, in which the muscles on exercise are thrown into a state of 

 tonic contraction. From the physiological standpoint the phenomenon of 



3 



