Electrocyte physiology: I. Temperature dependence of membrane excitability.

Some membrane characteristics of the isolated electrocyte of the Sachs organ are presented as function of temperature. Excitability curves are shown for electrocytes kept in standard saline at different temperatures. It is shown that rheobase varies directly with temperature. Apparently membrane resistance varies from 4.9 omega . cm2at 20 degrees C to 11.4 omega . cm2 at 5 degrees C and membrane capacity from 51,0 muF/cm2 to 48.4 muF/cm2 respectively. The relatively low resistance and high capacitance of this membrane may be due to an incorrect assessment of surface area owing to infolding.