XVIII 

 ON THE THEORY OF GALVANOTROPISM 



ON THE POLAR STIMULATION BY THE CONSTANT CURRENT OF 

 THE GLANDS OF THE SKIN OF AMBLYSTOMA 1 



1. IN experiments on the galvanotropism of adult Am- 

 blystomse I noticed a polar stimulation of the glands of 

 the skin which soon interested me more than the galvano- 

 tropic reactions themselves ; for I found that the glands were 

 always stimulated on the anodal side of the animal, and that 

 there exists here a similar exception to Pfltiger's law as that 

 which Ktihne discovered in Actinosphserium. The phenomena 

 were, however, of great interest in another direction. The 

 activity of the glands of the skin was determined in part 

 through a polar stimulation of the central nervous system by 

 the galvanic current. It could easily be shown that in this 

 case the central nervous system behaves as a homogeneous 

 whole. Both facts, the stimulation at the anode as also the 

 behavior of the central nervous system just mentioned, are, 

 of course, of significance for the theory of galvanotropic 

 phenomena. 



The skin of the fully developed Amblystoma contains a 

 large number of glands which give out a mucoid secretion 

 when stimulated in certain ways. The secretion forms a 

 white layer upon the black skin. If a descending constant 

 current of about 3 milliamperes, having a density of about 

 3S, is sent through the animal, a secretion is formed upon 

 the anterior half oi; the head (Fig. 126, ab). Small white 

 dots appear, which become more distinct the longer the cur- 



iPflilgers Archiv, Vol. LXV (1896), p. 308. This paper was the third in a series 

 of communications on galvanotropism which, however, are not reprinted in these 

 volumes. [1903] 



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