Potentials and Effective Ionic Mobilities in Frog Skin

Abstract

Frog skin has been used by many workers in the study of bioelectric phenomena of living membranes. The isolated living skin mounted with Ringer’s solution on both sides maintains a potential of from 10 to 100 mV., the inside of the skin being positive. This potential can be modified by changing the chemical or physical conditions. Many workers have attempted to interpret the results of such changes in terms of simple membrane potentials but without much success. Dean & Gatty (1937) point out some of the difficulties of such interpretation and review the literature. There is evidence of at least two sources of potential in the skin which may at times be opposed (Steinbach, 1933), and also that the active surfaces are not uniform but present a mosaic structure (see also Dean, 1938).