The earliest manifestation of the mechanical response of striated muscle

Abstract

If a rapid stretch is applied to a stimulated muscle (frog or toad) during the latent period, the tension record begins to diverge very early from that produced by a similar stretch without stimulus, thus confirming the results of previous experiments on tortoise muscles. The decrease of extensibility due to stimulation begins to appear after about a quarter to a third of the latent period has elapsed. The reason why shortening apparently starts so much later is discussed.