32 



THE PHYSIOLOGY OF MUSCLE AND NERVE. 



the veratrin is therefore antagonized seemingly by the chemical 

 products formed during contraction. 



Fig. 15. Effect of repeated stimulation; complete curve, showing late contracture. 

 The muscle was stimulated by induction shocks at the rate of 50 per minute. The separate 

 contractions are so close together that they can not be distinguished. 



Contracture. The prolonged relaxation that is so character- 

 istic of the veratrinized muscle may be observed in frog's muscle 

 under other circumstances, and is described usually as a condition 

 of contracture. By contracture, therefore, we mean a state of con- 



Fig. 16. Effect of repeated stimulation, curve showing no contracture or very little. 

 The muscle was stimulated by induction shocks at the rate of 50 per minute. A very 

 slight contracture is shown in the beginning, but subsequently the contractions show 

 only a diminished extent, the rate of relaxation remaining apparently unchanged. 



tinuous contraction, or, looking at it from the other point of view, 

 a state of retarded relaxation. This condition is apparent in 

 muscles that have been cooled to a low temperature, and is shown 

 also as a result of repeated stimulations. In Fig. 14 the phe- 



