The Electrical Response of Muscle 227 



The following table shows the frequencies which obtained, and the 

 relative length of time for which each obtained, in eleven successive records, 

 seven of which were taken when he was squeezing the dynamometer as 

 hard as he could, the four others when he was purposely doing less : — 



Dynamo- 

 meter Frequencies per second obtaining for the lengths of time indicated hy the lengths of line, 

 reading. 



.57 67 86 58 115 



15 ; 1 1 ! 1 > 



83 60 78 62 115 62 74 60 66 



21 1 1 1 i ^ 1 1 , 



59 115 70 60 115 87 74 50 



14 



81 55 100 57 88 72 84 74 



' 1 1 1 1 1 1 



60 74 100 



18 -^- 



42 100 77 ? 66 'I 60 80 



1 j 1 1 ' 1 1 



? 65 74 80 52 75 60 



20 < , 1 i 1 1 1 



53 76 54 80 



20 < 



0-1 .-^ec. 



-I 1- 



As his reaction time was extraordinarily long (3 to 5 tenths of a second), he 

 was given the signal to clench before the trolley had quite reached the break 

 key when all but three of these particular records were taken. The etiect 

 however, must have onl}- just begun when the plate began to pass the 

 slit. In two of the records which show the start the frequency is certainly 

 lower than it ever seems to be subsequently, i.e. during the length of time 

 the plate took to pass (a little over a second). I have noticed such a slow 

 beginning in records taken with a few other people, but it is not universal, 

 nor did the attempt to give a slow instead of a sharp contraction to the 

 maximum make it appear when it was not otherwise so. In the present 

 instance, as in most others, the attempt was made to bring the pointer of 

 the dynamometer up to whatever was intended to be its maximum reading 

 as quickly as possible after the signal had been given. I can tind no 

 evidence in the measured records of any definite relation between strength 

 VOL. I., NO. 3. — 1908. 10 



