Response in the Living and Non-Living

by Jagadis Chandra Bose

As to the confusion arising from our present terminology, we must remember that the term positive or negative is used with regard to a current of reference—the so-called current of injury.

Fig. 95. Retinal Response To Light

The current of response is from the nerve to the retina.

When the two galvanometric contacts are made, one with the cut end of the nerve, and the other on the uninjured cornea, a current of injury is found which in the eye is from the nerve to the retina. In the normal freshly excised eye, the current of response due to the action of light on the retina is always from the nerve, which is not directly stimulated by light, to the retina, that is, from the less excited to the more excited ([fig. 95]). This current of response flows, then, in the same direction as the existing current of reference—the current of injury—and may therefore be called positive. Unfortunately the current of injury is very often apt to change its sign; it then flows through the eye from the cornea to the nerve. And now, though the current of response due to light may remain unchanged in direction, still, owing to the reversal of the current of reference, it will appear as negative. That is to say, though its absolute direction is the same as before, its relative direction is altered.

I have already advocated the use of the term positive for currents which flow towards the stimulated, and negative for those whose flow is away from the stimulated. If such a convention be adopted, no confusion can arise, even when, as in the given cases, the currents of injury undergo a change of direction.

Normal response positive.—The normal effect of light on the retina, as noticed by all the observers already mentioned, is a positive variation, during exposure to light of not too long duration. Cessation of light is followed by recovery. On these points there is general agreement amongst investigators. Deviations are regarded as due to abnormal conditions of the eye, owing to rough usage, or to the rapid approach of death. For just as in the dying plant we found occasional reversals from negative to positive response, so in the dying retina the response may undergo changes from the normal positive to negative.

The sign of response, as we have already seen in numerous cases, depends very much on the molecular condition of the sensitive substance, and if this condition be in any way changed, it is not surprising that the character of the response should also undergo alteration.

Unlike muscle in this, successive retinal responses exhibit little change, for, generally speaking, fatigue is very slight, the retina recovering quickly even under strong light if the exposure be not too long. In exceptional cases, however, fatigue, or its converse, the staircase effect, may be observed.