AD 1843

Emil Du Bois-Reymond

Electically measured nerve impulses

Emil Du Bois-Reymond was able to show that an impulse travelled along a stimulated nerve and this impulse could be measured electronically. But the impulse traveled too slowly to be considered a current like one that runs along a wire.
His student,Julius Bernstein, purposed in 1868 the hypothesis that the impulse is not a current but a disturbance in ionic properties which travels along the nerve fiber. This hypothesis has been accepted although scientist cannot yet explain where the energy comes from to pump the ions back and forth.
Du Bois-Reymond built a Froschwecker (frog alarm). When the frog leg reacted to an electrical discharge from an electric fish it would contract, move a lever, and ring a bell.

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