ALCOHOLS AS FACTORS ALTERING FATIGUE 
PROCESSES IN FROG MUSCLE ^ 
FRANCIS MARSH BALDWIN 
INTRODUCTION 
In a recent paper ^ experiments were cited which indicate that 
developing sea-urchin eggs when subjected to suitable concentra- 
tions of various liquid-soluble substances, i.e., the higher alcohols, 
show unmistakable rhythms of susceptibility and resistance ac- 
cording to the phase of physiological activity at the specific time 
of treatment. Such observations constitute additional evidence 
that a very intimate relation or correlation exists between the gen- 
eral physiological condition of the egg, and the physical state of 
its plasma-membrane. The present, paper is a preliminary report 
of experiments conducted in the light of recent advances to an- 
alyze the effects of various concentrations of the alcohols upon 
the resulting fatigue curves of excised frog muscles so immersed. 
The bearing such a study has on the theoretical and practical as- 
pects of responses is apparent when one recalls that in any proto- 
plasmic system, an increased (sensitization) or decreased irrita- 
bility or spontaneous activity (anaesthesia) may be brought about 
by the conditions of concentration, temperature, and the physio- 
logical state of the system. 
In the case of substances, in proper concentrations, producing 
increased irritability, numerous examples might be cited both in 
plants and animals. It is well known that general nervous ex- 
citability is increased by weak doses of ether, alcohol and other 
active substances. Rhythmical activity such as that which takes 
place in cilia, or the heart beat, etc., is increased in weak solu- 
tions of alcohol and other narcotics. Carlson^ has demonstrated 
that the nerve-cells controlling the heart beat of Limulus are in- 
duced to faster rhythmical action in weak solutions of alcohol, 
chloral hydrate, chlorotone and chloroform. In experiments by 
Tashiro and Adams^ similar responses in excitability in the nerve 
and its output of carbon-dioxide were noted when it was treated 
with low concentrations of urethane and chloral hydrate. In 
muscle-nerve physiology, the phenomenon of “treppe” exibited by 
contracting muscle is probably due, as has been shown by Lee®, 
