The Mechanism of Injury and Recovery

During the process of death the electrical conductivity of many tissues undergoes a change in electrical resistance by means of which the process may be followed with considerable precision. This may be utilized to measure injury and recovery. 1 An illustration of this is seen in Fig. 1, which shows the gradual fall in resistance 2 of Lamlnaria placed in 0.52 ~t NaC1. 8 After an exposure of 5.2 minutes the resistance has fallen to 94.6 per cent of the resistance it had in sea water. 4 If the tissue is then replaced in sea water the resistance rises (uppermost dotted line) and returns to practically normal value. This rise of resistance may be spoken of as recovery.