- est contraction. The work done depends in like manner
upon the strength of the stimulus. During contraction certain sounds are given off called muscle sounds, which can be heard with the stethoscope but have no special significance.
The muscles which have the greatest power of rapid contraction are generally attached to levers. Indeed, striated muscle is characterized by the rapidity and strength with which it works, though its rhythmic motion is slight. Smooth muscle, on the other hand, is characterized by its great force, considerable rhythm, considerable tone, and slight rapidity, that is, its contraction is slower and lasts longer than that of striated muscle. Cardiac muscle is characterized by great rhythm and force, fair rapidity, and slight tonicity, tonicity being the amount of tone or readiness to work. For even in sleep muscle is always in tone, that is, ready to do its work. It is this that makes the difference in appearance between a living and a dead person and enables one to spring to his feet at night if he hears a noise, a thing he could not do if his muscles were wholly relaxed. Thus, rapidity is the great function of striated, tonicity of smooth, and rhythm of cardiac muscle. In paralysis the muscles droop and lose their tone. Muscles are frequently the seat of rheumatic disorders.
When set free, potential energy accomplishes work. In muscle there is a good deal of potential energy, which is set free as heat and as work accomplished. Even when the muscles are at rest, chemical changes are going on and heat is being produced, though more heat is produced when they are functioning. If the body depended upon its gross motions for all its heat it would grow cold while a person rested. The respiratory organs, however, and the heart are always working and chemical changes are constantly taking place.
Ordinarily a muscle has some object in contracting, such as the raising of a load, and it contracts voluntarily more or less according to the weight of the load. The
