On the electrical phenomena accompanying secretion in the skin of the frog / by W.M. Bayliss and J. Rose Bradford.

  • Bayliss, William Maddock, Sir, 1860-1924.
Date:
[1885?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the electrical phenomena accompanying secretion in the skin of the frog / by W.M. Bayliss and J. Rose Bradford. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    is quite conceivable that, owing to various causes, possibly fatigue, amongst others at present unknown, the gland cells may not be ex- citable and hence the negative variation alone may exist, as we have so frequently found. At first sight this hypothesis appears somewhat artificial and im- probable; it is supported, however, by the results of the action of corrosive sublimate and cauterization, to which we shall presently have to refer. For our own part we feel neither in the position to accept one of these hypotheses nor to suggest another, the processes going on in secretion being of so complicated a nature that to do so would be premature. In all probability the electrical phenomena connected with osmosis have a share in the excitatory change. We do not think that the muscular sheath of the gland contributes to it, for, in the first place, Hermann has shown that totally tetanized muscle in the living subject is equipotential, and secondly our experiments on the salivary glands, as mentioned in our communication to the Physiological Society and described more fully in a recent communication to the Koyal Society, have demonstrated that atropin in small doses totally abolishes the chorda variation in the submaxillary gland of the dog, although, as is well known, it leaves the vascular muscles intact. Further, the lateral glands of the salamander give a very powerful excitatory change, whereas, according to Leydig1, they possess no muscular sheath; we are inclined to doubt this statement of Leydig, however, owing to the marked and rapid manner in which the secretion is extruded on stimulation of the spinal cord, but have not yet been able to decide the question by microscopic examination. Action of Corrosive Sublimate. Hermann2 states that immersion of the frog in saturated solution of corrosive sublimate for 6—8 destroys the vitality of the epidermis, abolishing thus the current of rest, while leaving the excitatory change intact, thus confirming his hypothesis as to the nature of the current of rest. We are able only partially to confirm this result; we find the current of rest greatly diminished, but not entirely annihilated, as already mentioned. But the most interesting fact about this action is the extraordinary effect of corrosive sublimate on the pure negative