14 



Absorption of Liquids by Animal Tissues 



VI. EFFECTS OF ELECTROLYTES 



a. Halogen Salts. — In selecting the salts to be used in this investigation, atten- 

 tion was paid to the results previously obtained by Loeb. He had shown that the 

 effect of the halogens was, practically, the same for any given metal, although the 

 absorption increased slightly in the order: chlorides, bromides, iodides, and fluorides. 

 It seemed unnecessary, therefore, to use in these experiments solutions of all the 

 haloids. As the type of halogen salt, sodium chloride, was selected, and the solutions 

 of other salts were made equimolar with the NaCl solutions. The concentrations of 

 these solutions were, as previously stated, graded from |-m to gV^i, in order to permit 

 of study of variations due to differences of osmotic pressure of same salt. 



At the outset of the work on the influence of electrolytes, the importance of the 

 third factor, mentioned above as influencing the process of absorption, viz., the nature 

 of the substance in solution, was observed. Van Bemmelen, it will be remembered, 

 found that the absorption by Si02 depended, to a great extent, on the solution to be 

 absorbed. In our work the nature of the cation, as well as of the anion of the salt used, 

 influenced the absorption. 



These facts are seen from the following table: 



TABLE V 



It is noted from above that in a solution of NaCl the muscle gains only 7 per 

 cent., in isosmotic KCl it gains 39 per cent., while in CaCl2 solution it loses 18 per cent. 

 The influence of the cation is seen when one compares the absorption under Na2S04 

 and K2SO4 with that under NaCl and KCl. While the direct absorption under 

 influence of the SO4 ion is not, in itself, so marked, there must be some strong anion 

 effect to offset the marked cation effect noted under action of KCL 



From the data of above table we see that the halogens of the alkali and of the 

 alkaline-earth group are divided into two classes, according to their power of hindering 

 or facilitating absorption of liquid by animal tissues. Ca ions stand out, prominently, 

 as the one inhibiting absorption, while Na shows a slight effect only, and K, NH4, Mg, 

 SO4, all have a favoring effect. 



The following table gives a complete list of the various halogens used, together 

 with their concentration and time effects. The flgures given under each concentration 

 are the average figures of six experiments each: 



116 



