STUDIES IN DENERVATION: I.-THE CONTRACTILITY AND EXCITABILITY OF DENERVATED MUSCLE.

THE electrical reactions of denervated muscles form an integral part of the clinical picture associated with lesions of peripheral nerves. These reactions consist of changes in contractility and changes in excitability, both of which were stressed by Erb (1 883a). He considered, however, that the former as revealed by the slow contraction was the more important indication of denervation, and this opinion was reaffirmed by Athanassio-Benisty (1918) and by Pollock (1920). In recent years greater stress has come to be placed on the changes in excitability, possibly because technical developments have them lead two types muscle.