The origin of convulsions and paralysis following the intravenous injections of the hypertonic solution of sodium chloride

Abstract

In our experiments on the comparative toxicity of chlorides in which, among others, we studied the effects of intravenous injections of a molecular solution of sodium chloride in dogs we observed that after a certain quantity of the solution runs in, twitchings of the muscles of the entire body begin which gradually develop into more or less strong convulsions. Later these gradually grow weaker and finally subside completely, at which time also the respiration stops. The heart continues to beat for several minutes longer. This chain of events is ascribed by pharmacologists to the osmotic action of the hypertonic solution and is generally termed salt action. Loeb however demonstrated that sodium chloride exerts on the living tissue a chemical action also. In the paper embodying the above mentioned experiments we made the following two suggestions: (1) that the twitchings and convulsions are perhaps comparable to the twitching of frog muscles which develop when they are immersed in solutions of sodium chloride; the convulsive movements would be then of peripheral origin; (2) that the subsidence of the convulsions and the paralysis might be due to the curare-like action of the sodium chloride, i. e., to the paralysis of the motor nerve endings.