ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE 



153 



Ley den jar. When connection was made the muscle 

 contracted and the disc was made to move. With two 

 muscles and two discs, battery power, and suitable means 

 for the rapid neutralisation of charge, an electro-mechanical 

 apparatus to exhibit signals in the Morse Code could easily 

 be made. 



I have no information as to the composition of Krause's 

 membrane, but if it does not exist and is not a bad con- 

 ductor of neuro- electricity, then the problem of muscular 

 contraction offers the most extraordinary series of coinci- 

 dences I ever heard of. In considering this point, how- 

 ever, it must be remembered that a good conductor of high 

 may not conduct low tension electricity at all. 



So far, in speaking of the clear spaces, I have used the 

 words " plates " and " discs, " but am by no means sure 

 that I am correct in doing so. Schaf er gives an illustration 

 in which the arrangement of the conducting elements 



Fig. 83. PORTION OF LEG-MUSCLE OF INSECT TREATED WITH DILUTE ACID. 

 S, sarcolemma ; D, dot-like enlargement of sarcoplasm ; K, Krause's 

 membrane. The sarcous elements are dissolved or at least rendered 

 invisible by the acid. (Schdfer.) 



appears to my mind to be more consistent with the 

 force exerted by muscle under what must be considered 



