Abstract
The biological condition, referred to by Prof. Conway, means that he is considering the case of a cell where the semipermeable cell-membrane does not act like an elastic envelope, the distension of which, when the cell volume increases, produces an increase of hydrostatic pressure inside the cell, but like an inelastic surface-layer, the superficial area of which can vary with variation of the cell volume without affecting the internal hydrostatic pressure, the latter remaining sensibly equal to the hydrostatic pressure in the fluid environment. Prof. Conway has made this point quite clear in the investigation published in the Journal of Physiology, to which he refers. In this publication Prof. Conway has deduced a remarkable cell-volume relation, which he has experimentally verified in the much more complicated case of the muscle fibre - plasma equilibrium. I hope Prof. Conway will not consider it an intrusion if I indicate briefly how his reasoning can be easily applied to the simpler case considered in his communication (the symbolism and equations of which I shall use).
Similar content being viewed by others
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DONNAN, F. Linkage of Physico-Chemical Processes in Biological Systems. Nature 149, 383 (1942). https://doi.org/10.1038/149383b0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/149383b0
This article is cited by
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.