PHENOMENA OF MUSCLE AND NERVE. 297 



of currents whose anode coincided with an artificial cross-section. 

 The failure of the -f- phase of the after-current with a polarising 

 current directed from dead to living tissue, is therefore a new and 

 striking proof that this after-current is connected in the most intimate 

 manner with the breaking excitation. I may remark here incidentally, 

 that these experiments offer many opportunities for verifying- the 

 statements of Biedermann and Engelmann (with van Loon) as to 

 the excitatory effects of currents directed respectively from dead 

 to living- and from living to dead tissues, since there are here 

 two muscles in the circuit, in one of which the current is in 

 the first direction 'abmortal,' in the other or second direction 

 ' admortal V 



It has already been noted that the + phase sometimes appeared 

 with atterminal direction of current. As might be readily pre- 

 dicted, its appearance was more marked the nearer to the knee end 

 the leading-off electrode was placed ; the farther therefore, with 

 living to dead direction of current, this electrode was moved into 

 the region of anelectrotonus. 



Examples. Each experiment was made upon two sartorius 

 muscles arranged and led off in the manner just described. The 

 following schema shows the arrangement : 



The symphysis is marked S as before. AS, BS are the two sartorii ; 

 the shaded parts indicate the portions of the two muscles in heat 

 rigor. The electrodes of the polarising current are at A and B ; 

 and the positions of the pairs of leading-off electrodes in the several 

 experiments are indicated by cc', cc", dd'. 



1 The nomenclature, as bearing upon the direction of a current with reference to 

 the ends of the fibres (' Archiv,' vol. xvi. p. 193), is an adaptation of that used by 

 Biedermann, Engelmann, Griitzner, and others ; these writers describe as abterminal 

 a current directed from the ends of the fibres into the muscle when the end of the 

 fibre is an artificial cross-section ; such currents I term ' abmortal.' Biedermann's 

 facts make such a distinction desirable. For instance, I can thus shortly express 

 my results an abterminal current gives under certain conditions a + after-current 

 phase, an abinortal does not. [In the text the terms ' abmortal ' and ' admortal ' 

 used by Hermann are translated ' dead to living,' < living to dead.' Tr.] 



