ABSORPTION AND EMISSION OF ENERGY IN RESPONSE 85 



condition of the tissue. When the absorbed stimulus is 

 wholly retained, response is positive, but by this absorption 

 the tonicity of the tissue and its excitability are both raised. 

 When the tonic condition of the tissue, on the other hand, is 

 already high, and its excitability great, a large proportion of 

 the energy finds outward expression, and we obtain the 

 normal negative response. Between these two extremes, we 

 may observe many effects of interference, due to the play 

 of the two antagonistic elements. If, then, the time-relations 

 be not coincident, variations will be induced which will find 

 expression in different types, diphasic response, positive 

 followed by negative, and vice versa. 



The question considered in the course of the present 

 chapter has been that of the energy received and given out 

 by the tissue, and the molecular work, positive and negative, 

 performed during these processes. Such work, however, is 

 itself the result of molecular distortions brought about by 

 stimulus, and the question of the amplitude of response, as 

 related to the degree of distortion, will be discussed in the 

 following chapter. 



