UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PUBLICATIONS 



IN 



ZOOLOGY 



Vol. 18, No. 7, pp. 103-134, 14 figures in text January 7, 1918 



THE TRANSMISSION OF NERVOUS IMPULSES 



IN RELATION TO LOCOMOTION 



IN THE EARTHWORM 



BY 



JOHN F. BOVAKD 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Introduction 104 



I. Work of Friedliinder 104 



II. Anesthesia experiments of Krukenberg 105 



III. Work of Biedermann 105 



Materials and methods 106 



I. Materials 106 



II. Methods 106 



1. Biedermann 's method 106 



2. Anesthesia method by ether and nitric acid 107 



State of anesthetized area 107 



The problem 108 



Acknowledgments 108 



Experiments with anesthetized worms 108 



I. Free moving animals 109 



II. The tension factor 109 



III. Autotomy : Ill 



IV. Free nerve preparations 112 



1. Dissection experiments 113 



2. Graphic records 114 



3. Effects of stovaine 116 



V. Limits of transmission 118 



VI. Dependence on the nervous system for transmission 120 



VII. Eate of transmission of locomotor impulses 122 



VIII. Eate of transmission of giant fiber impulses 125 



Theoretical considerations 128 



I. Eeview of anatomy 129 



II. Theory of reinforced stimuli 131 



Summary 132 



Literature cited .. .. 134 



