Factors affecting the sodium and potassium contents of glycerinated frog muscle

¹ Department of Physiology, The University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York

Isolated frog muscles after extraction for varying periods in 50% glycerol were analyzed for Na and K. They were found to lose Na only slightly more rapidly than potassium. After the ability to concentrate potassium was lost there appeared to be no difference in the capacity for retaining K or Na. Such glycerinated muscles were also equilibrated in solutions containing known and equal amounts of NaCl and KCl and then analyzed. No significant differences were found in the ability of the muscle to bind these two cations.