PROGRESSIVE DETERIORATION OF MUSCLE FINE STRUCTURE IN RINGER SOLUTION.

Frog sartorius muscles were washed in standard Ringer solution for periods from one to eight hours after dissection, fixed in osmic acid, and sectioned longitudinally for electron microscope examination. Increasing deterioration with time of soaking was observed in the morphology of the sarcolemma (plasma membrane, basement membrane, and extracellular fibrous network), the myofilaments, and the mitochondria, but little or no change in the sarcoplasmic reticulum. In spite of extensive structural degradation after 8 hours soaking, muscles remained excitable and contractile. (auth)