THEORETICAL POTASSIUM LOSS FROM SQUID AXONS AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE.

Theoretical net ionic movements have been calculated for the propagated impulse of the squid axon from the Hodgkin-Huxley equations. The computed potassium movements agree approximately with the experimental data of Shanes, but vary too much with temperature (Q(10) = 1/2.75 from computation, 1/1.91 from experiment). Theoretical corrections providing higher ionic conductances increasing with temperature (according to J. W. Moore's experiments) give a Q(10) of 1/2.24, but the incorporation of the higher values of the maximum conductances, as observed under improved environmental conditions, leads to potassium movements that are considerably higher than Shanes's values.