Peristalsis in the rabbit distal colon.

1. The motility of the distal colon of the rabbit has been examined by the conventional Trendelenburg method and by an isometric, isovolumic modification of this method.2. The colon shows a range of movements, and tetrodotoxin and cold-storage have been used in an attempt to differentiate between myogenic and neurally integrated activities.3. The observable myogenic movements are pendulum movements, ;tone rings' and ;tone waves'; the last of these can be weakly propulsive. The rabbit colon also shows a neurally organized and powerfully propulsive movement which corresponds to the peristaltic wave.4. The implication of a role for nervous structures in the propulsive activity of the rabbit distal colon is at variance with the view of Lee (1960).5. The myenteric reflex arc in the colon has been examined pharmacologically. Cholinergic neural transmission has been implicated at the ganglionic-synaptic and neuroeffector junctions, but additional noncholinergic mechanisms of chemical transmission have not been excluded.