Activation Heat in Frog Sartorius Muscle

Abstract

Upon excitation of a muscle with two stimuli and variation of the interval between them up to the end of the period of full mechanical fusion, an increment of the isometric heat over that found in a single twitch is obtained. This is a good approximation to the activation heat, directly at 0°C, or after certain corrections which become important at higher temperature. The activation heat so found is independent of the muscle length and nearly independent of temperature. It is increased by nitrate and caffeine.