THE PHYSIOLOGIGAL EFFECTS OF IONS 481 
bring about approximately the same change in weight as a 
NaCl solution of the same osmotic pressure.’ 
7. Sodium and potassium carbonate bring about an 
absorption of water by the muscle in consequence of the 
hydroxyl ions contained in the solution of these salts. 
8. The relative toxicity of the group of ions Li, Na, K, 
Rb, Cs for muscle runs parallel with the velocities of the 
migration of these ions and not with their atomic weights. 
A similar parallelism exists between the velocity of the ion 
and its relative toxicity in the group Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, and 
Ba. Such a relation is, of course, to be expected only 
between ions which belong to the same narrow group in the 
periodic system. 
1 When the duration of the experiment is short. [1903] 
Digitized by Microsoft® 
