258 



IRRITABILITY 



the same process, which is expressed in the oxydative suppres- 

 sion, is connected with other alterations in the living substance, 

 of which we are as yet ignorant. As far as the effects of larger 

 doses of narcotics are concerned, the assumption that other 

 alterations take place in the living substance can in any case 

 hardly be avoided. An application of larger quantities of nar- 

 cotics brings about destruction of the living system with great 



Fig. 63. 

 Rhizoplasma Kaiseri. Effect of chloroform. 



rapidity. Here the alterations in the optical properties of the 

 cell are of such magnitude that the changes are directly percep- 

 tible under the microscope. Bins'^ has observed such alterations 

 in the nerve cell and looked upon them as coagulation. In uni- 

 cellular organisms these optical alterations can readily be fol- 

 lowed. If amoebae, sea rhizopods or infusoria are narcotized 

 with stronger doses of ether or chloroform, the protoplasm be- 



1 Bins: "Vorlesungen uber Pharmakologie fiir Aerzte und Studierende." II Aufl. 

 Berlin 1891. 



