The Wichita daily eagle., 1894-10-25
LIFE AND s. EClKlCITY.

Aside from the anaIogies and iguTes
of speech. and not counting the so
called animal magnetism" OF Mesmer,
not physiological phenomenon. there
seems TO be some curiously intimate re-
| lation between life and electricity,
which biol gists have been investi at
ing for forty or fifty years. A recent
review Of these inquiries in Science
Progress shows that there is some dis.
agreement as 10 facts, and still more as
10 explanation: but even in this incom-
plete state of development the subject
Is an interesting one.
Experiment thus far has been chiefly
confined to the glands OF the skin Of
frogs and other animals. 70 saliyarv
glands, the stomach lining and vario 5
ether mucous membranes; but these
tests have been quite numerous. and
carried on with many notifications.
In the first place. it appears that dur
ing great part OF the time various
glands, while in what may be regarded
as state of comparative rest. never
theless generate enough electricity 10
be discernible with delicate instru-
ments. and this current usually has an
inward direction. Ii, though. some
external stimulus be applied to the
gland. there is apt To be a reversal of
direction, or lessening of the intens-
ity of the current of rest" Abstrac-
tion OF heat, inhibition of water, paint
ing with various drugs, interference in
blood supply TO the organ, and changes
in the kind and quantity of the stim-
ulus vary the result. In human sub
jects tickling, mental effort, sound,
the expectation of sound. and pungent
odors produce sensible effects. if cleo
trical connections be made between
some part of the skin, like the palm of
the hand, relatively rich in sweat
glands, and regions poor therein.
Two theories have been advanced as
to the cause of this occurrence. Bay
liss and Bradford attribute the phe-
nomenon to the flow of fluid in ths
secreting mechanism, which is scarcely
more than friction. II is known that
the movement of water in cells and
duets does produce current in other
cases, with porous diaphragms and in
plants: but some of the observed facts
apparently contradict this snpposition
when applied to animals The other
principal explanation is that changes
in metabolism. electrical variation in
life. "Metabolism is a word which
biologists use to designate two classes
of action in the protoplasm OF the cells
which make up animal tissue. One,
Il . -.l-
material out of the blood aud builds up
the cells Herewith. 1t stores and
strengthens. katabolism, on the other
hand. converts this accumulated and
manufactured life material into
separate substance-sweat, saliva or
something else-to be thrown off.
This process is destructive of protop-
lasm. Biedermann regards the process
of secretion in gland as kotabblic,
and as explaining the ingoing current
of rest" while anabolism he regards
the cause of the outgoing current.
For further elucidation of this SUBJ
iect it would be natural 10 look TO
those marine creatures which develop
electricity to such degree as to para
lyze their prey with a shock or success
sion of shocks. Little headway has yet
been made, though, in that direction.
Fritsch, says the Science Progress"
reviewer, held that the organ of the
electrical shad, found in certain Afri-
can rivers. is composed of giandular
cells derived from the overlying skin. (
In this fish, as also in the electrical ray
and eel. moreover, the action of the or
gan is voluntary and under the control
OF the possessor. The activity, being
more intense. is susceptible OF more
careful study. while the part which
th- viii plays in the manifestation
gives the latter new value. IL is hard /
to avoid the belief that further explor- |
alton of these phenomena may reveal
something regarding the higher func-
tiOns of life, volitiOn, mentality and
perhaps moral operations III addition
TO the purely physical