Voi. I. N. 20. — R. J. Anderson 



Presse Medicalo. Halluin found that strong solutions oi 

 potassium clitoride gave Ione io the heart. 



One should, perhaps, remember that Living structures are 

 sometimes, if noi always, found lo nave acquired a definite 

 rhythm. This rhythm once acquired is operative even when 

 the actual factors that promote or produce ilare stopped or 

 Impeded. This one Bnds in plants that act rhythmically 

 every day, owing, perhaps, to the light; sometimes it is found 

 that even when the darkness is prolonged the plani acts ai 

 the usuai time. li seems likely that a rhythm may be ac- 

 quired by muscles, the usuai resi may be succeeded by the 

 usuai activity even when no special stimulus takes place io 

 produce il. 1 have taken for illustration elsewhere the four 

 hours watch oì the sailor. Another factor in muscular acti- 

 vity is api to be overlooked, muscles act coordinately and 

 the activity of one is often associateci wilh the action of 

 some other musi Ics, it may be in sequence, or il may be 

 contemporary, bui we associate these with the centrai nervous 

 connections and noi with the muscle groups. li seems Irono 

 experiment thal we have no warrant l'or believing that a 

 single muscle is noi directly inlluenced by its neighbour che- 

 mically, or electrically ii you will, bui influènced by the 

 celi-, by preference, thal influence the fibres. We may refer 

 to the so-called conducted disturbance of Lucas. The interd- 

 esting point is that it is alì'ecled by l'aliane. 



Of the acida thal are found in the blood mosl attention 

 bas been paid to lactic acid. Oxalic acid has also been found 



Ihere and, of coursc, carbonio anhydride. and in cerlain 



tis-ii<-< various salta, or acida, are frequently found. Il is 

 interesting to noie limi M. Perrier has found amali quantitea 

 oi formo] in sausages, bams, &c. 



Garbonic OXide has been l'ound in blood, and il has been 



traced by Lepine and Boulud lo oxalic acid. 



The lactic acid in<|uiry has led lo exl raordinary results. 



The amouiii of oxygen consumed per gramme oi skeletal 

 muscle is lcs> ihan whai has been obaerved in other organa. 



Lactic acid is produce*! during reat, and its amounl seems 



Lo depend on the mode of treatmenl of the muscle. Ita origin 



