The latest and best determination of the quantitative relation of the two chief phases of heat production in frog's nerve is that of Bronk (1931) who found the average ratio of total to initial heat to be 11. More recently Hill (1932) has given reason to believe that even Bronk's ratio is probably too low, and in the same paper (p. 148) has suggested an alternative method of estimating it based on the principle of the steady state. the present work arose from this suggestion and has led to the discovery of the profound effect of steady activity on the “efficiency” of the recovery process. The steady state of nerve activity during continual stimulation has been discussed in a preceding paper. Its nature is such that the rate of recovery heat production at any moment corresponds to the rate of initial heat production at that moment. the total heat rate can easily be measured. The initial heat rate can be determined by omitting the stimulus for a short interval, when an analysis of the resulting defection allows an estimate of the heat which immediately drops out as a result of omitting the stimulus, i. e., of the initial heat.
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Feng et al. (1933) studied this question.