Observations on the Hofmeister series in smoth muscle

Abstract

Experiments on the effect of various anions in regard to the automaticity of smooth muscle obtained from cold and warm blooded animals are described. After the preparations had lost their automaticity in isotonic solutions of Ringer and glucose, Ringer solution was replaced by various isotonic Na-salt solutions, the glucose concentration remaining constant throughout. It was shown: 1. That various Na-salts possess the ability to restore automaticity to smooth muscle of both cold blooded and warm blooded animals according to the position of their anions in theHofmeister series. 2. That these specific effects are observed when the pH is held constant, obviating the contention ofLoeb that the effect of the series was one of pH. 3. That the “reversal” experiments indicate theHofmeister series to be definitely of the established order Citrate <SO4<Cl<I<SCN, as shown by the failure of the members lower in the series to restore automaticity when interposed between the higher anions. 4. And, finally, from the above, that the validity of theHofmeister series already established for striated and cardiac muscle is here shown to also hold for the automaticity of smooth muscle.