78 ELECTBIC CONDITEON OF THE CHAP. VHI. 



consider of some importance, were repeated several 

 times upon the muscles and nerves of frogs, guinea- 

 pigs, and rabbits; care being taken to have the 

 portions of nerve and muscle, as far as possible, of 

 the same size,, and from the same nerve or muscle. 

 They go far to shew, that the muscular or nerve fibre 

 does not indicate any manifestation of polarity in 

 regard to its length ; there is no fact or evidence of 

 any kind to shew either that the nerve fibre or the 

 muscular fibre presents a condition at one extremity 

 opposed to that of the other extremity; there is no 

 antithetical or diial condition made manifest indi- 

 cative of polarity; whatever indication of polarity 

 exists, shews it to be manifested in the transverse 

 direction, or rather that the muscular fibre or nerve 

 fibre presents one condition, and perhaps the sarco- 

 lemma or the neurilemma the other ; and we are now 

 brought to the consideration of our original question, 

 Can this state be dependent entirely upon the 

 changes which occur during nutrition ? And where 

 is the cation ? Or can we suppose the sarcolemma 

 or the neurilemma to act as an acid? or might not 

 the effect (the current) be due to the electrical 

 condition of the muscular or nerve fibre, its negatively 

 electric state being maintained so long as the vital 

 conditions of the tissue continue ? 



Under the supposition that the effects might be 

 due to the heterogeneity of the parts, the sarcolemma 

 or the neurilemma acting as an acid, I now repeated 

 the experiment, employing the following dUute 



