Paper, 'The effects of certain modifying influences on the latent period of muscle contraction' by Gerald F [Francis] Yeo and J [John] Theodore Cash

Description

Yeo and Cash write: 'Although the labour of many physiologists has been directed towards the consideration of Latency, it seemed to us desirable that the subject should receive a little addition in some of its details, and it was with the object of thus filling up deficiencies, and at the same time of studying systematically the effect of some of the agents which modify the time of latency, that we undertook the investigations, the results of which we desire to lay before the Society. In 1867 Helmholtz and Baxt published the results of experiments they had instituted touching the speed of conduction in motor nerves as measured by the relative latencies obtained in a nearer and more distant stimulation of a nerve-trunk (frog) or of the skin above it, and in publishing their experiments of 1870 they drew attention to the modifying influence of temperature upon such conduction. Thus they saw the speed decreased to a great, extent when the nerve was laid upon ice, and even slight variations in the room temperature sufficed to produce material changes. Troitzky came to the conclusion that conduction is the most rapid in the frog s nerve between 10 and 20°C., and diminishes both by higher and lower temperatures. The influence of temperature could, however, he, concluded be subordinated to a certain extent by increasing the strength of the stimulation.'

Annotations in pencil and ink throughout. Includes nine pages of charts.

Subject: Physiology

Received 16 March 1882. Read 30 March 1882.

A version of this paper was published in volume 33 of the Proceedings of the Royal Society as 'The effects of certain modifying influences on the latent period of muscle contraction'.

Reference number

PP/1/41

Earliest possible date

1882

Physical description

Ink and graphite pencil on paper

Page extent

33 pages

Format

Manuscript
Diagram