If the electrical patterns have any significance, the electrical 
correla tes of these differences should be manifest. A statistical 
analysis shows that the mean potential measured between the 
attached end of the corn kernel and its opposite pole gave highly 
significant results. Aside from the generally different mean, however, the most 
striking finding was a very great difference between the mean of 
the single gene mutant and the parent stock. It is remarkable that 
the change of a single gEne in the parent stock should produce 
such profound and significant change in the over-all pattern of 
the voltage difference. The conclusion seems to be inescapable 
that there is a very close relationship between the genetic con­
stitution and the electrical pa ttern. If further studies should 
confirm this conclusion, it seems very probable that one of the 
ways the chromosomes impart design to protoplasm is through 
the medium of an electro-dynamic field. In these studies of voltage gradients in maize kernels, the 
longitudinal gradient between the germinal end and the micro­
polar end of the seed was used as a test measurement. Under the 
couditions of the experiment there appeared to be, first of all, an 
immediate potential, which was called the prime potential. Moments after this prime potential was determined, the voltage 
gradient nearly always dropped to a much lower value and re­
mained remarkably stable for the minutes during which the 
observations were made. The prime potentials apparently show a high correlation 
with the seeds' viability, but have no particular reference to 
plant growth. The equilibrium potential, on the other hand, is 
not correlated with seed viability but rather with the inherent 
genetic constitution of a plant, since by use of the potentiometer 
and equilibrium potential determinations, one can segregate from 
a given population those seeds with superior growth characteris­
tics. Further, these poten tial differences hetween seeds have been 
highly correlated with the growth of progeny for one generation 
removed. For these reasons the potentiometer may prove to be 
a useful tool for the plant breeder. 71 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
Electro-metric data from maize seeds show remarkable cor­
relation with growth potentials in the corn kernel, as well as a 
significant relationship to genetic constitution. These fin dings 
raise the old question of which is more important, the genetic 
constitution of a living system, or the environment in which it 
lives? 6 
As a contribution to this problem, a study was made of the 
reactions to a stimulus of the sensitive plant, Mimosa. It is well 
known, of course, that a branch will collapse when touched. Its 
electrical correlates, therefore, at the collapse of the branch pro­
vide a clue as to the importance of the changing physical en­
vironment of a living system and its electrical correlates. It is well known, too, that in all biological systems there 
exists a multiplicity of phase boundaries. The existence of a 
potential difference across the phase boundaries is generally 
accepted. It is commonly held that the membrane potential at a 
phase boundary is a consequence of a difference in concentrations 
of electrolytes on opposite sides of the boundary. In the non-living 
system this potential approaches zero as ionic equilibrium is 
reached. It has been more or less logically concluded, therefore, 
that the existence and variation of potential difference can be 
explained by the known initial differences in concentrations with 
consequent movement of ions across the boundary. The living system, on the other hand, differs somewhat from 
the physical chemical situation in that the potential differences, 
instead of approaching zero with time, are maintained at an 
astonishin gly stable level. The maintenance of this level of poten­
tial difference presupposes constant recruitment and it is natural 
to assume that this recruitment comes in large measure from 
chemical activity. Moreover, it is not at all impossible that one of 
the mechanisms regulating and controlling chemical activity is 
resident in the potential difference. In other words, if this problem is looked at from a slightly 
different angle, it is legitimate to make the assumption that in 
72 THE UBIQU ITOUS FIELD 
a living system the total energy intake appears, in part, in the 
chemical flux of metabolism and,in part, in stored energy in 
potential differences. If this assumption is true, it follows, then, 
that by studying potential differences during rest and during ac­
tivity a record could be made of a general level of immediately 
available energy, as represented by algcbraicIy-summated bound­
ary potentials. In the face of the demand for activity this reservoir of poten­
tial energy could be tapped. When the biological system is at rest, 
the potentials could be recorded as DC potentials, but when 
protoplasm is thrown into any kind of activity, such as neural 
transmission, muscle contraction and similar events, the first sign 
of that activity would lie in the sudden withdrawal from the 
reservoir of electrical energy. In other words, a drop in potential 
differences. Then, mobilization of chemical properties might 
be expected to re-establish the original level of the potential 
difference. Through studies of both DC and AC phenomena in the living 
system, it should be possible, therefore, to obtain straightforward 
records of fundamental biological activity. Since in a complex 
animal organization this is exceedingly difficult, not much pro­
gress has been made. In plants, which presumably are much 
simpler, the problem can be attacked more readily. For this 
reason, therefore, the studies of the electrical response associated 
with a stimulus to the sensitive plant, Mimosa, were made. The most striking thing about the results is the very great 
similarity between the electrical response of the stimulus reaction 
in Mimosa to the electrical records of propagated electrical re­
sponse of the action current in vertebrate neurones. The magni­
tude of the response is, of course, very much greater, and the 
time scale in seconds rather than in milliseconds. Several seconds after a stimulus, whether a burn, a cutting or 
crushing, or a shock from a 90 volt B battery, a wave of increas­
ing negativity appears under the hot or peripheral electrode. This 
peak arises to sixty or seventy millivolts and then subsides to 
the original voltage gradient and, though not always, often 
crosses it. This record is very similar to that of the spike in 
the neural action current. This spike lasts, however, from two to 
73 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
three seconds to five or six seconds. In younger, more active 
plants, the duration of the spike is apparently shorter than in 
the older ones. Following the spike, there is a positive after-po ten­
tial followed by an upward swing of the potential difference 
which establishes a new level of negativity, lasting from a few 
minutes to several hours. The whole wave form of this stimulus response is strikingly 
like the wave form of a single axone response in the vertebrate 
nervous system. Although the polarities differ, in all prob­
ability this is caused by a difference in the geometry of the 
electrode placement. Attempts were made to relate this to the 
anatomy of Mimosa, as it is well known in animals that the rate 
of conductivity of a nervous impulse is a function of the diameter 
of the axone. In Mimosa there are continuous fluid-containing 
channels which, conceivably, might be likened to a nerve process. These channels, however, are buried heneath the surface since 
they are covered by many layers of cells. The electrodes, of course, 
are in contact with the surface cells, not with the conduct ing 
channels. The whole system, however, is obviously conductive of 
electricity and it may he that the records obtained are derived 
from the longitudinal channels. In Mimosa, the longitudinal channels vary in size, have thick 
walls, and are arranged in quadrants. They arc centrally situated 
and covered by many layers of cells. In the rachis, the channels 
are more deeply placed peripherally and tend to scatter towards 
the circumference as the stem is approached. There does not seem 
to be any marked change in the size of the canals. In the stern 
the number of conductive systems increases markedly with 
a concom itant enlargement. Also, they lie nearer the surface and 
there are fewer layers of cells covering them. The difference in 
size of the channels may bear some significant relation to the 
electrical records if it should appear that the conducting canals 
are involved in the propagation of the stimulus. The study here reported suggests that with Mimosa-as in the 
nervous system of animals-the rate of conduction of impulse is 
a function of the diameter of the channel. But this particular 
aspect of the problem needs to be investigated further. If the recorded standing -potential represents the measure of a 
74 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
reservoir of electrical energy available for activity, then a stimu­
lus such as that applied in Mimosa brings about a sudden with­
drawal from that storehouse. The fact that a certain potential 
gradient with the periphery positive to the central region is 
necessary for the reaction, implies that unless the amount of 
electrical energy stored is at a designated level, the reaction can­
not go forward. If, however, the level is high enough, the 
stimulus unlocks the storehouse and a wave of activity is propa­
gated with a characteristic electrical correlate. It will be recalled 
that these experiments with Mimosa led a distinguished East 
Indian zoologist and philosopher to hold that such plants as 
Mimosa and, by inference, all other plants, possess a soul, ex­
emplified in particular by the reaction of the system to an ex­
ternal stimulus ! The interesting thing about all these results to date makes it 
dear that the electrical properties of a living system are directly 
to be correlated with the genetic constitution of a living system, 
on the one hand, and on the other hand are modified by changes 
in the physical or chemical. The alteration, however, is not in 
pattern but in the magnitude of the typical response. This does 
not mean that there is a profound change in the electrical field, 
but only that the electrical field can be modified by an appro­
priate stimulus. 7 
We had started our voyage of discovery by examining the most 
complex electro-dyn amic fields-those of the human organism. We had also found fields in simpler forms of life-animals, eggs, 
seeds and plants. So it seemed desirable to extend our hunt for 
fields to the simplest living organization, protoplasm. This was important, not only to make sure that everything 
that is alive possesses a field but also because protoplasm is the 
basic, formative material of animal forms. Wha tever may trigger, 
too, the nervous system, a basic requirement is the energy made 
available by the incredibly-complex chemical flux of protoplasm. The more, then, that we can discover about the elementary 
75 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
properties of protoplasm, the better we will be able to under­
stand how the nervous system functions. Again, at the suggestion of Professor Sinnott, an examination 
was made of the electrical properties of a very simple protoplas­
mic system, that of the slime mould, Physarum polycephal um. This is a common mould which grows readily in the lahoratory 
and exhibits characteristic patterns of growth and of fruiting. Also, its protoplasm is in constant movement, oscillating from 
one end of the system to the other. This streaming of protoplasm, 
of course, is well known to botanists, and offers many oppor­
tunities for investigatio n. The mould is a syncytium of proto­
plasm with no cell boundaries but many included nuclei. Since 
the material grows readily in quite adequate quantities, it makes 
an ideal elementary protoplasmic system for a further study of 
the electro-m etric properties. There were three primary objectives of this study: The first 
was to determine whether or not, in the living plasmodium, in 
constant movement, there exists an electrical correlate of this 
movement. Secondly, after the results of the Mimosa experiment, 
it was interesting to examine the possibility of an electro-m etric 
response in the protoplasm to a variety of external stimuli, both 
chemical and physical. Finally, a third possibility was to examine 
the changes which might be found in the plasmodium when an 
external field was applied to it. There is plenty of evidence in the 
literature to show that changes in the electrical environment of 
protoplasm do produce observable effects on the protoplasm itself. Using silver-silver chloride electrodes, a high input impedance 
amplifier and a recording galvanometer, many records were taken 
of the changing potential in a strand, or vein, of the plasmodium 
during the movement of the protoplasmic system itself. In the 
laboratory, using moving picture records and electro-metrics, the 
pulsating character of the growth of the slime mould was studied. Under the microscope, it is simple to demonstrate that every 
sixty or ninety seconds the protoplasm in the veins reverses the 
direction of flow. The electrical pickup from the vein, comhined 
with the moving picture, reveals that in the majority of instances 
polar rev"rsal of the voltage occurs before there is a directional 
change of the plasmic flow, but also there are many instances 
76 THE UBI QUITOUS FIELD 
where the change in both phenomena seem to occur simul­
taneously. This, undoubtedly, needs further study. It is highly important, of course, to determine whether or not 
the change in potential is the result of the protoplasmic flow or 
the reverse of this. There is no evidence in the litera ture as to the 
nature of the forces which bring about this change in proto­
plasmic flow. Undoubtedly, this is involved in the growth of the 
whole system and is concerned, apparently, in part, with the 
search of the plasmodium for energy sources or food. The rate at which the protoplasm moves undoubtedly is a 
function, to some extent, of temperatures in the environment. Although there are no exact records of these relationships, the 
fact remains that lowering the temperature does tend to slow up 
the flow of protoplasm. Certain conditions make it possible, more­
over, to seek any electrical changes at times when the protoplasm 
is not flowing; and there have been records made in the labora­
tory which show that an electrical change in polarity in the 
plasmodium vein may occur in the absence of visible protoplas­
mic movement. There has not yet been observed, however, any 
lack of electrical correlates when protoplasm itself is moving. That changes in the electrical environment have an effect 
upon the electrical properties of protoplasm, is well known from 
the studies of Lund and his associates, and more recently by 
Anderson. In this laboratory, Anderson's experiments were re­
peated, using the technique we have employed in our search for 
more information, and show that the reversal of polari ty in the 
mould, by changing the external electrical environment, mark­
edly inhibits the spread of the plasmodium. The direction in 
which the plasmodium grows, moreover, can be altered by, again, 
imposing an external electrical field on the primitive protoplasm. In every instance, the growing plasmodium could be made to turn 
towards the negative side of an imposed electrical environment. In other words, in the slime mould, changing the electrical en­
vironment can, under certain conditions, modify the direction in 
which energy flows in the protoplasmic system. The third question-w hat is the electrical correlate of an ade­
quate stimulus to the plasmodiu m-was studied using a 
cathode-ray tube as recording instrument, with photographic re-
77 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
production. Here, again, it was demonstra ted that any change in 
the physical environment of primitive protoplasm results in an 
adeq uate stimulus to the protoplasm itself. For a single vein of the 
slime mould, suspended between two silver-silver chloride elec­
trodes, showed a remarkable electro-metric response to such a 
stimulus as a tap on one of the electrodes. Unlike the nervous system, however, there seemed to be a 
fairly close correlation between the strength of the tap and the 
electro-metric response of the protoplasm. A weak tap produced a 
relatively small change in voltage gradient, whereas a heavier 
one increased the magnitude of the electrical response. There was, 
however, obviously, a plateau of the response beyond which the 
protoplasm showed no further increase in voltage output. This, of 
course, is unlike the all-or-none phenomena to he found in neural 
protoplasm. Records of this sort reinforce the concept that one of the 
simpler forms of protoplasm exhibits properties very like that to 
be found in the nervous system. This might be suspected, of 
course, since both neurones and the slime mould are built of the 
same basic stuff, protoplasm. Even the most primitive protoplasm, 
in order to maintain its existence, must be capable of responding 
to the changing physical and chemical environment, of transmit­
ting the stimuli throughout its extent and after some kind of 
correlation or coordinating or integration of all the stimuli, of 
producing some kind of describable response. These basic prop­
erties of protoplasm, after all, are to be found enhanced enorm­
ously, specialized and increased in efficiency through the differ­
entiation of the nervous system. No less important are changes in the chemical environment. For example, if a drop of 2 % procain is placed on a vein, the 
immediate effect of the application of the drop-and this is true 
also of water-is a stimulus response usually in the opposite 
polarity to the tap stimulus. After a matter of a few minutes, 
however, the tap will produce a much reduced and flattened re­
sponse; the magnitude is lessened and a return to the baseline is 
slow. If the: procain is washed off with a fine spray of tap water, 
within another five minutes a reasonably characteristic response 
78 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
is obtained, but much enhanced over the pre-test situation. It 
should be noted that the vein hangs suspended in the air over a 
moist chamber and the pro cain can be either adsorbed to the 
surface of the protoplasm or pass through the phase boundary 
into the protoplasm itself. The promptness of the recovery act of 
washing and the enhancement uf the response would seem to in­
dicate that the adsorbtion to the surface was the more probable. These experiments suggest that slime mould could become a 
very valuable tool for the study of the elIect of changing chemi­
cal environment on protoplasm. In general, the similarity in 
electrical response of the slime mould to changes in the physical 
and chemical environmen t shows a remarkable similarity to the 
properties of neural tissue. * * * 
With the experiments described in this chapter we had covered 
a wide range of living forms and in all of them we had found 
electro-dynamic fields. But our adventure was to lead us to still 
further discoveries. 79 CHA PTER FIVE 
The Field as a Sign post 
1 
We had reason to believe that the electro-dy namic field could 
serve as a signpost for a variety of conditions because our ex­
periments had confirmed our basic assumption. This was that 
the organism possesses a field as a whole which embraces sub­
sidiary or local fields, representing the organism's component 
parts. We assumed, then, that variations in the subsidiary fields 
would be reflected in variations in the flow of energy in the 
whole system-as we had found in ovulation and malignancy. We decided, therefore, to look for further practical consequen ces 
of the theory. Working with Dr. Sam uel Harvey and Dr. Max Taffe!, of 
the Yale University School of Medicine, we initiated a study of 
the relationship between the electro-metrics of the peripheral 
nervous system and the physiological state of the system ex­
amined. With the coopera tion of Dr. R. G. Grennel, we made a 
special study of so-called surface potentials and peripheral nerve 
injury. In the course of these experiments, it was demonstra ted that­
in experimental animals and man-surface potential differences 
do reflect peripheral nerve activities. These potentials are not 
affected by pre-gang lionic sympathectomy and seem to be inde­
pendent of vascular and sweating responses. We soon found a definite relationship between nerve and tissue 
in the form of a potential difference, which can be used in quanti­
tative tests of nerve function. These tests are simple enough for 
routine clinical application. They show a dear-cut correlation be­
tween the integrity of the peripheral somatic nervous system and 
potential differences measured on the surface. 80 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
Interference, pharmacological or traumatic, with normal func­
tions of ulnar or sciatic nerve is reflected in an altered standing 
potential between a reference electrode and a moving electrode in 
contact with the area supplied by the nerve in question. The 
mechanism by which this correlation is brought about is im­
portant. Complicity of the vascular bed might exist but the lack 
of any significant change in the pattern following sympathec­
tomy makes this unlikely. However, the sympathectomies were 
all pre-ganglionic and hence further work must be done in order 
to clarify the matter. It has been found that rapidly shutting off the blood-flow in 
the forearm and hand by means of a blood pressure cuff on the 
arm, as well as a sudden return of flow on releasing the cup, does 
not significantly alter the potential difference. In other words, 
altering the normal functioning of the vascular bed does not 
affect the standing potential. Furthermore, since the microvoltmet er is relatively unaffected 
by changes in resistance in the system being measured, 'skin re­
sistance' and sweating, as reported by Richter and his associates, 
are not involved in the potential changes. In the light of these 
findings it would seem unlikely that the sympathetic nervous 
system is the mediating factor. Nevertheless, the data show that 
in unilateral sympathectomy there is a difference in the standing 
potential on the operated and unoperated sides. These measure­
ments, then, form the basis of a simple, quantitat ive test of 
peripheral function, independent of sweating or of vascular re­
action. These ventures into the unknown of the electro-metrics of 
living organisms were often prompted by a search for answers to 
practical questions. An example of this are the electro-m etrics 
of wound healing. The late Dr. Samuel Harvey and Dr. Max Taffel had been 
studying wound healing in experimental animals and in man; 
and had called attention to the fact that the strength of a heal­
ing wound is probably caused in large measure by prolifera tioilS 
of fibroblast. This means, of course, that there is a great deal of 
mitotic activity going on and, since an increase in the number 
of cells is a vital biological propert y-and since other experiments 
81 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
to be reported later show a close correlation with growth-these 
studjes by Taffe! and Harvey showed an increase in tensile 
strength correlated with the passage of time. This inCTcase varies, for the most part, during the first eight or 
ten days following the incision. This tends to be modified in 
vitamin C deficient animals. But the increase of tensile strength 
must involve at least two processes : one of cell proliferation and 
one of cell differentiation. In normal development, the two events 
do not occur in the same cell simultaneou sly. Each cell takes 
part in the generalized mitosis of a group of cells-probably 
fibroblas ts-for a period of time, after which, with other cells, it 
undergoes a period of differen tiation. As growth proceeds, new 
cells go into mitosis and then into differentiation adding thereby 
to the new structure. There are no known methods for differenti­
ating these two processes except by microscopic examination. The elcctro-metric technique offers the possibility of discriminat­
ing between the two. 2 
It seemed advisable, therefore, to investiga te the nature of 
bioelectric phenomena in wound healing and to discover any 
possible relationship between bioelectrics and tensile strength and 
also between bioelectrics and growth or differen tiation. The experimental animals used for the laboratory were guinea 
pigs, one group of which were fed a controlled diet. Another 
group were fed a form of laboratory diet. In both sets of studies 
an area of skin was bared and measurem ents taken between the 
cephalic end of the bare area, and another at the caudal end of 
the area. Wherever incision was to be made between the two, a 
control point was taken. After the preliminary measurements were mad,:, the skin and 
subcutaneous fascia were incised and suturerJ, following which 
another set of examinations were made. These were continued 
daily for the next two weeks or until the wound was healed. In 
some in��ances, the healing was so complete as to make it difficult 
to determine the site of the wound. 82 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
The data showed a marked change of potential gradient be­
tween the normal skin and the area of injury. Perhaps the most 
astonishing finding was that the site of injury was not consist­
ently negative to the normal tissue, as would be expected by the 
theory of injury potentiaL On the contrary, for the first twenty­
four or twenty-eight hours after the injury, the wound area was 
positive to the cephalic point in the normal skin. The potential 
gradient between these two points tended to rise for twenty-four 
or twenty-ei ght hours and then rapidly to decline until the third 
or fourth day when the wound became negative to the normal 
skin. This negativity increased until the maximum was reached 
on the eighth or ninth day. Following this, and lasting for 
twenty-four to forty-eigh t hours, the potential gradient dropped, 
to be followed on the tenth or twelfth day by another rise in 
potential. This was repeated on the twelfth and fourteenth day. On the fifteenth or sixteenth day the gradients returned to 
approxima tely normal limits. The comparison of the curves obtained by Harvey and Taffel 
shows an interesting parallelism. The tensile strength measure­
ments show a rapidly rising curve during the first eight days. The 
bioelectric measurements show a similar change. After the eighth 
day, the tensile strength seems to approach a plateau. The bio­
electric determinations show alternating growth and differentia­
tion after the eighth day. While examinations show rather slow 
changes in the potential gradients, nevertheless, they are statistic­
ally reliable. In order to investigate this matter further, a second series of 
animals was studied under somewh at different conditions. Thirty 
guinea pigs from the laboratory stock were taken, ten of which 
were placed on a controlled laboratory diet. It is to be noted that 
this diet was differen t from that of the first series. These animals 
received an incision on the right flank as described, and were 
read daily. The rise and fall of potential differences during this period 
would seem to be correlated with the growth of fibroblasts. Then 
followed a period of differentiation represent ed by a clear-cut 
increase in potential differences. However, once started, the alternation of growth and differ-
83 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
entiation was strikingly parallel in both groups of animals. TV.Tcnty of the animals were put on a vitamin C deficien t diet­
ten with no wounds in the skin and ten with wounds. The poten­
tial gradients in the operated and unoperat ed scorbutic animals, 
ana in the norrnals on a controlled diet, showed interesting 
parallelisms. In the case of unopera ted scorbutics a reasonably constant 
baseline appeared through the period of the experiment. The 
operated scorbutics, however, showed changes in the potential 
differences which closely paralleled the normal animals, save that 
the magnitude of the potential difference was less. In addition, 
they showed the same delay in the onset of potential rise as was 
seen in the operated animals on the normal diet. These observa­
tions indicated that it is possible to measure with some certainty 
bioelectric concomitant s of growth and differentiation in the heal­
ing of wounds in the guinea pig. They suggested that the growth 
process is not a continuous one, except in the early stages, but 
rather that, after the eighth day, it alternates with periods of 
differentiation. Bioelectric correlates of growth in the animals on 
a control diet seem to rise faster and reach a greater magnitude 
than in the case of the scorbutic animals. 3 
In cooperation with the above-mentioned surgeons, a further 
experiment was made on wound healing in the human. Some 
twenty-five instances of operative procedures, with uncompli­
cated healing of the wounds, were selected for study. All these 
healed without any evidence of infection. Determinat ions of the 
potential gradient between two points-one in the immediate 
vicinity of the wound, and another at some distance from it­
were made daily, beginning on the day following the operation 
and continuing until the patient was discharged from the hos­
pital, usually after fourteen days. In each observa tion, sufficient 
readings were taken to insure valid measurements. It was at once apparent that there was, on the whole, a 
definite trend. Comparison of individual cases revealed in many 
84 THE FIELD AS A SIGNP OST 
instances wide discrepancies. Such variations have been found 
to be consistently present in animals studied by the tensile 
strength method. Similar variations were particularly character­
istic of electro-metric technique and therefore many detennina­
tiOIlS are necessary. The results show that there is a phase of positive potential of 
some four days' duration corresponding to the so-called lag in 
the tensile strength method. This same phenomenon was ob­
served in the guinea pigs and also in mice as an accompaniment 
of a carcinogenic irritation. Following this, the wound passes into 
a proliferated phase during which a negative potential is en­
countered which reaches its height between the seventh and 
ninth days. Here the maximum negative voltage is reached at 
approxima tely the same time as the maximum tensile strength. The increasing negativity suggests an homology with the rising 
negativity observed in other animals and in cancer. At the end of the tenth day the wound is usually healed and 
from then to the end of the determinations the voltage gradient s 
gradually fall to the normal base-line. These observations of 
electro-metric studies of the healing wound in man parallel those 
made in experimental animals and give weight to the concept that 
the process of healing in man is a phenomenon of growth. 4 
Since these wound healing experiments on man seem to indi­
("ate a modification of the normal picture after surgery, it be­
hooved us to find out what went on from day to day in normal 
human beings with a reasonably normal existence. To this end, a 
group of ten medical students were found to agree to do the 
necessary examination to see what happened in the ordinary 
day-to-day existence of such apparently normal subjects. These were studied for a considerable period of time and it was 
found, in general, that the students could be separated into three 
groups as was mentioned in Chapter 3 : one, a group that showed 
consistently high potential differences between the index fingers 
of the two hands, another with a low potential difference, and a 
85 THE FIELD AS A SIGNP OST 
third, an intermediate point. There was, however, one particular student in the group who 
consistently showed a higher potential difference than all the 
rest of the subjects. On investigation, it was found that this boy 
had a history of emotional instability and. at the time he was 
admitted, was admitted as an experiment. Before the end of the 
year, however, the boy became definitely psychotic and had to 
be remanded to an institution. These findings suggested at once that deviations from a normal 
behaviour, such as might appear in a psychotic, were worth in­
vestigating further. With the cooperation of the late Dr. Eugen 
Kahn in the Department of Psychiatry, a number of patients­
who had been studied carefully by the psychiatric staff-were 
selected and measuremen ts made on them daily for a considerable 
period of time. The psychiatrists were asked to divide the patients into three 
groups-obvious deviates from normal behaviour, those that were 
reasonably normal, and an intermediate group. The electro-metric 
experiments were carried out in the services of the psychiatric 
hospital without the electro-metric investigator knowing any­
thing about the status of the individual. At the conclusion of the electro-m etrics the patients were 
divided into three groups; those with markedly changed electro­
metrics, those with relatively little change, and an intermediate 
group. Subsequently, the intermediate group was subdivided into 
a high-low group and a low-high group. At the conclusion of the experiment, the groups selected by 
the psychiatrists were compared with the groups selected by the 
electro-metric investigator, who-it should be emphasized­
knew nothing about the psychiatric diagnosis. Results of the 
study showed clearly enough that the group consisting of those 
markedly deviated from normal behaviour by psych ;atric ex­
amination also showed a similar deviation in electro-metric ex­
amination. The low group, likewise, paralleled each other perfectly. But 
in the intermediate group, as might be expected. there was con­
siderable vuiation in both the psychiatric reports and in the 
electro-metric readings. This, of course, is very interesting and it 
86 J.' J 
;:: == 
Specif ications of Hewlett-Packard D.C. Vacu um Tub e Volt meter Mod el 412A 
recom mende d by Dr Burr to mea sure electro dynamic fields. Voltmeter 
Vo ltage Range: Positive and negative vol tages (rom 1 
milli volt full scale to 1,000 volts full scale in thirteen 
ranges. Accura cy: ±1% of full scale on any range 
I n put Resistance : 
10 megohms ±1�o on 1 mY, 3 mY, and 10 mY ranges. 30 megohms ±1 % on 30 mV range. 100 megohms ±1% on 100 mY range. 200 megohms ±1 % on 300 mY range and above. AC Rejection: A voltage at power line or twice power 
line frequency 40 dB greater than full scale affects read ing 
less than 1%. Peak voltage must not exceed 1,500 volts. Voltagp.s and Currents: 
Range 
Xl 
Xl0 
Xl0 0 
Xl000 
Xl0K 
Xl0 0K 
X1 M 
Xl0 M 
Xl0 0M Open Circuit 
Volts 
10 mV 
100 mV 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
Photo courtesy Hewl ett-Packard 
Palo Alto, Cal ifornia and Slough, Bucks. Short Circuit 
Cur rent 
10 mA 
10 mA 
10 mA 
1 mA 
100 �lA 
10 �lA 
1 �A 
0·1 �lA 
0,0 1 �lA General 
Meter: Individua lly cal ibrated. Isolation Resistance: At least 100 megohms shunt ed 
by 0·0 1 J.1F between common terminal and case (power 
line) ground. Isolat ion : May be oper ated up to 500 V dc or 130 V ac 
from grou nd. Power: 115 or 230 volts ± 10%, 50 to 60 Hz. 35 watts. Dimensions: 
Cabinet Mount: 11- .\-" high, 7TH wide, 10H deep. (292 x 
191 x 254 mm), 
Weight: 
Cabinet Mount : Net, 12 Ibs. (5·5 kg). Shipping, 14 Ibs. (6·4 kg). Rack Mount: Net, 12 Ibs, (5· 5 kg.) Shi ppin g. 20 Ibs. (9·0 kg). First public demo nstration of subject going into trance connec ted to volt meter. Photo-el ectric tracing showing various stages of hypnosis and pos t-hyp notic 
emo tion. / . THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
suggested that the electro-metric technique might be useful in 
the neurological and psychiatric fields. This whole area has been extensively investigated by Dr. 
Leonard J. Ravitz, Jr. at one time on the staff of the Department 
of Psychiatry at Yale, and followed by him through appointments 
in a number of other institutions. His results are striking and 
extraordinary. Perhaps the most remarkable result obtained in 
our laboratory by Dr. Ravitz was when he found a significa nt 
electro-metric correlate of hypnotism that was astonishing to 
watch: a continuou sly-recording voltmeter showed evidence of 
marhed changes in voltage gradient during the hypnotic process. This was not an event which might be related to the subjec­
tivity of the operator, but could be recorded without argument 
on the recording galvanometer. If anyone needed objective evid­
ence of the results of hypnosis, one needed only to look at the 
charts recorded under these conditions. Needless to say, this sug­
gests an enormous range of studies which could be made parallel­
ing those of Dr. Ravitz and, wherever possible, extending them. It becomes evident from Dr. Ravitz's examination that by 
using electro-metric techniques on patients in psychiatric hos­
pitals, patients-as a result of therapy, or changing circumstanc es 
-could safely be discharged from the hospital when the voltage 
gradient indicated a reasonable return to normal. Likewise, 
electro-metric s could show clearly enough when certain patients 
-no matter what the therapy was-could not be returned safely 
to normal life outside of the institution. The value of this to the 
instituti onalized psychotic should he apparent at once. Needless to say, a great deal more study is needed and much 
more data must be collected. But Dr. Ravitz's striking results 
are exciting enough to warrant the expenditure of the additional 
time and effort to extend these studies further. Such studies are all the more desirable because -as mentioned 
in Chapter I-L-field measurements can serve as signposts to 
emotional instability outside institut ions and could therefore 
serve as a valuahle tool to the Armed Forces and to industry. Practical applications apart, there are also great psychological 
and philosophical implications in the discovery that the state of 
the mind is reflected in the state of the field. Another remarkable 
87 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOS T 
experiment by Dr. Ravitz, too, in which a n emotion of grief re­
called under hypnotic regression caused a 14-millivolt rise for 
twu-and-a-half minutes, suggests other possibilities. Already field 
measurements can point to emo tional conditions; in the future 
they may also be used as a purely objec tive, quantitative assess­
ment of emotion. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the electro-metric 
approach to emotional diagnosis can be completely imperson al 
and objective. The electro-metric investigator of psyc hiatric 
patient s mentioned a short while ago did not know-and did not 
need to know-the mental state of the patients. Yet his electro­
mctric findings tallied closely with the psychiatric diagnoses. Since the electro-metric tests are simple and since any com­
petent technician can quickly be trained to make them, in many 
cases they can be used to save the time of busy psychiatrists by 
sorting out all but the borderline cases. This can not only save 
time but also a great deal of expense to the patient or taxpayer. 5 
In this age, probably more people are subjected to emotional 
stress-from environmental or other causes-than in any previ­
ous one. Our bulging mental hospitals are sufficient evidence of 
this; and, outside our mental hospitals, more and more people 
seem to feel the need for psychiatric help. Modcrn psychosomatic medicine has demonstrated that, un­
fortuna tely, the effects of emotional disturba nce are often not 
confined to mental symptoms: many physical ills have a psycho­
soma tic origin. Faced with this vast problem, we have to admit a distress ing 
hck of knowledge not only of the true nature of mind or emotion 
hut also of the mechan ism of the relationsh ip between mind and 
body. L-ficld measurements, of course, cannot solve this prohlem. But , it is submitted, they can offer some new approaches to its 
solu tion. They can give early warning of emotional instability­
as we have seen- and one day, perhaps, will offer a reliable means 
88 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
of measuring its intensity. This could be useful not only to psychiatrists and psycholo­
gists but also to practitioners of internal medicine. Wi th the in­
tense modern pressures on the medical profession, the average 
doctor simply does not have the time to elicit the emotional pres­
sures which-he may suspect-are the real cause of his patient's 
physical problems, especially as many patients are reluctant to 
disclose them. If, however, electro-metric tests could quickly re­
veal the existence of these pressures-they cannot, of course, dis­
close their nature-they could he of material help to the doctor in 
devising the best treat ment for his patient. As we noted in Chapter 1, regular electro-m etric tests of 
healthy men and women could help them to avoid or to handle 
dangerous situations. They could also help less emotiona lly-stable 
people to avoid-at their 'low' periods-situations which might 
subject them to intolerable emotional stress. The relationsh ip between the state of the electro-dyna mic field 
and abnormal physical conditions-of which the experiments de­
scribed in the preceding pages afford abundant evidence-sug­
gests the 'mechanism' of psychosomatic illness. For, since the 
state of the mind is reflected in the state of the field, it is not too 
hard to imagine how business worries or an unhappy marriage 
can produce ulcers. Last-but not least-the discovery that the state of the mind 
can affect the state of the field should induce a new sympathy for 
the emotionally distressed. We should no longer be so ready to 
brush off their miseries with the remark : 'it's all in their imagina­
tion.' Perhaps it is. But if an emotion-even one recalled by 
hypnosis-is able to affect a voltmeter it cannot be lightly dis­
missed as a figment, whatever its origin. It has a definite reality. As Dr. Ravitz has put it: 
'Both emotional activity and stimuli of any sort involve 
mobilization of electric energy, as indicated on the galvano­
meter. Hence. both emotion s and stimuli evoke the same 
energy. Emotions can be equated with energy.' THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
6 
Behaviour is the reaction of a living �ystem to the co-ordina ted 
and integrated stimuli resulting from changes in the physical and 
chemical environments. In the case of man, at least, to the 
physical factors of environ ment the ideological environment 
must also be added because an idea is just as valid a stimulus to 
the nervous system as a kick in the teeth. As a matter of fact, it can be shown, without much question, 
that ideas arc actually more important as stimuli to the nervous 
system than any of the others. One needs only to look at the 
history of the outstanding figures of the last two or three hundred 
years who, rightly or wrongly, had ideas which profoundly 
affected whole generations. This is true of dictators, politicians, 
philosophers, religionists or military leaders. As ideas are-or induce-em otions which evoke energy in 
the nervous system, electro-metric studies of this phenomenon 
seem relevant to the study of human behaviour, even if they offer 
no hope of improving it. At the least we may be able to learn a 
little about how the machine works, even if we cannot under­
stand how the driving ideas originate. Though man, over the years, has acquired an extraordinary 
control over his physical environment, the problem of human re­
lations remains unsolved. We seem to be no better off in dealing 
with each other than were our remote ancestors. Part of the 
reason for this, of course, is to be found in the enormous com­
plexity of the nervous system of man and the lack of real under­
standing of the way the protoplasm of nervous tissue operates. So any approach to the problem of human behaviour should start 
with a better understanding of the nervous system. For whether 
it is an idea, an emotion or a kick in the teeth which triggers the 
activity of the nervous system, a basic requirement, needless to 
say, is the storehouse of energy made availahle by the chemical 
flux of protoplasm as noted in the previol1s chapter. Though the energy required to make an adjustment is derived 
from this chemical activity, the direction in which the energy 
flows, and the way in which it is used, is a consequence of the 
90 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
pattern of organization of neural tissues. It is not enough, there­
fore, to know the details of the complex structures involved, but 
rather to have some over-all grasp and underst anding of the way 
the nervous system works. Analysis of the units is of vital im­
portance, even down to the sub-microscopic level, but equally 
important is a grasp of the relationships between all the com­
ponent parts. Since behaviour, moreover, is the result, in part, of the im­
pact of one organism on another, no real picture of the forces 
which make man operate the way he does is possible without a 
complete knowledge and understanding of the structure and 
function of the nervous system. The results of many years of study have tended to emphasize 
certain rather stereotyped activities. As a result, the electrical 
circuit analogies tended to lead investigators away from the basic 
fact that each neurone is in itself a living organism. These elec­
trical circuit analogies, partly impired by the modern computer, 
are derivable directly from the fundamental propert y of proto­
plasm, and more particularly, from the all-or-none response of a 
nerve cell. Even the simplest protoplasmic system can be stimulated by 
changes in the physical, chemical and ideological environment, 
can transmit these effects through its substance, can coordinate, 
correlate and integrate all the varieties of stimuli and can, as a 
result, make that adjustment necessary for the continued exist­
ence of the system. The behaviour of even the simplest organism 
is parodic in that it 'functions in accordance with its inherent de­
sign'. * One of the greatest difficult ies in assaying behaviour lies 
in its complexity, in the lack of objective measurement and in 
a very great influence of the subjective. In the literature, the description of hehaviour of even the 
simplest organisms is coloured by anthropom orphisms. The criti­
cal study of behaviour, moreover, almost invariably involves 
some disturbance in the organism under study. Ideally, any 
measurement must involve no alteration in the thing measured 
during the measure ment. This is difficult to achieve even in 
* King, 1945. 91 THE FI EL D AS A SIGNPOST 
physical systems. It is peculiarly difficult in biological systems 
unless we employ the techniques described in the preceding pages. Our experiments had offered some signposts to a better under­
standing of the human nervous system. We had found with corn 
kernels-it will be remembe red-evidence of a close correlation 
between a measurable, electro-metric charact eristic and both the 
genetic constitu tions and also their subsequent productivity in 
the field. A study, too, of the sensitive plant Mimosa, had yielded evid­
ence that in this particular living form, the protoplasmic mechan­
ism showed characteristics very similar to those found in the 
nervous system. In other words, the nervous system in higher 
forms and in a relatively-simple system like a plant had similar 
electro-metric responses. All this, admittedly, is a very modest approach to a better 
understanding of the human nervous system. But, at least, it is 
a beginning and, as Confucius said: 'The longest journey starts 
with the first step.' Perhaps the most important aspect of the first step is that L­
field measurement s make it possible to measure the effects of 
various stimuli to the nervous system. For, in the history of 
science, the ability to measure something has often-if not 
always-been the foundation-stone of progress. 7 
As everyone knows, there is speculation whether the Universe 
is an expanding one or a closed system, whether it is governed 
by a static set of laws or is a dynamic, active Universe in which 
growth and development occur. It is clear enough that the laws of 
the Universe, as we know them, are not happenstanc e phenom­
ena hut are closely integrated in a unit. The statement that the biologist makes, that the living organ­
ism is more than the sum of its parts, applies equally to the 
Universe. The living organism , also, is a whole unit, no part of 
which can go off on a tangent by itself without disaster to the 
living system. There is no reason to suppose that this same 
92 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
general principle cannot be applied to human behaviour, for 
human behaviour is not the result of the imposition of legalistic 
and moralla ws on the biological laws of the organism, but rather 
behaviour is the comeqence of the activity of the nervous system 
of man. The nervous system of man is an organized, designed, 
dynamic machine. Many people object at once to this spuriously-lab elled 'materi­
alistic' approach to the Universe. But this is nonsense. The Uni­
verse is not only a machine but also has certain qualitative 
attributes. We talk about the beauty of the star-filled night, 
the odour of a bed of lilies-of-the-valley; and we could go on 
almost indefinitely listing the qualitative attributes of the things 
that are common to our environment. These qualitative characteristics do not control the physical 
system but are attributes of it, and if our modern concepts are 
anywhere near right, there is an interchange, which the experts 
call 'feed-back relationships', between the qualitative attributes 
of the physical system and the activity of the system itself. Just 
how this is accomplished, we do not know. We ought to know, 
and in time we probably will know. In the meantime, we should remember the fact-pointed out 
by Sir Charles Sherrington several decades ago-that the mind 
of man does not exist in time, does not occupy space, and in­
volves, so far as anyone knows, no energy transformations. But 
the nervous system, through which the mind of man works, does 
exist in time, does occupy space, and does require energy trans­
formations. Admittedly, this is a mystery. How can a non-material attri­
bute such as the mind of man actually influence the organic 
nervous system? It can be argued that moral law is an example 
of this kind of thing. Moral or spiritual laws do not exist in time, 
do not occupy space and, so far as anyone knows, do not involve 
energy transform ations, and yet we have evidence, sketchy to be 
sure, that the so-called spiritual side of exist ence, does influence 
human behaviour. How this discrepancy between mind and 
body achieves this, no one knows. There is one profound difference, however, between natural 
and moral laws. Moral laws are not laws operative in the Uni-
93 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
verse-the laws of Nature-but are sheer inventions of the mind 
of man. Man, unfortunately, is an egocentric person. He is 
primarily concerned with himself, his continued existence and 
his sense of well-being as he adj usts to his physical and mental 
environmen t. Everything he docs, therefore, tends to be coloured 
by his own personal stake in the matter. No one of us has any personal stake in the law of gravitation; 
we know it operates and we know we cannot get along without 
it, unless we substitute other kinds of forces to counteract it. It is 
a fundamental property of things. But there is nothing in any of 
the spiritual or moral laws which has the same characteristic. It 
behooves us to get on the ball and discover what we can, so that 
a spiritual law which is good in New York and Boston and 
Washington, is equally good in Hongkong, Bangkok and Tim­
buktu. Only when we can find the fundamental properties of the 
spiritual or moral law and, for that matter, of the legal laws, can 
we hope to find any kind of satisfactory answer to the problem of 
mankind. The problem of human behaviour is still the greatest problem 
that faces mankind. We have not solved it. As a matter of fact 
we are really making no attempt to solve it. To be sure, many 
dedicated people are endeavouring to find out the details of how 
the nervous system works. in the hope that this will give some 
clues as to how we can integrate and co-ordinate our human 
attitudes to each other and to the Universe. Up to date, however, 
the results have not been particularly fruitfuL 
\Vhat we need to do is to apply the methods of science to the 
problem of human interrelationships. The methods of science 
have been deified in recent years because of the remarkable ad­
vances which have resulted from their application to the study 
of the physical universe. As we mentioned in the first chapter the method of science 
involves first of all a reasonable contact with the background of 
the particular subject we are investigating, its natural history. Out of this someone comes along with a creative mind and sees 
unsuspected relationships in this background. This gives rise to 
a hunch, a theory, an assumption. In physics and chemistry the 
logical consequences of this assumption are then put to labora-
94 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOS T 
tory tests and if, in the laboratory, the results tend to confirm the 
assumption , we generally believe that our theory is correct. This, 
of course, is not necessarily so because there might be other 
assump tions for which this same data will be a valid result. When it comes to applying this method to humans, we are 
faced with the very real problem that control of the experimental 
set-up of mankind is far from easy. We have not been able to 
do it, but some day, someone with a creative mind will make it 
possible for us to begin to use and apply the methods of science 
to this problem. If we can do this, we probably can arrive at some 
significant additions to its solution. In the last analysis, the Universe is a unit, all of its parts are 
related to the wholeness of the Universe, and there is necessarily 
some interrelationship between the wholeness of the Universe 
and the activities of its individual components. From the unified 
theory of Einstein-even though it lacked final, complete valida­
tion with respect to the law of gravity-it is clear that one of 
the characteristics of the Universe are fields which can be 
measured by instruments. It does not make any difference 
whether you call it an electro-s tatic field, an electro-magnetic 
field, or an electro-dyn amic field. The name is always a conse­
quence of the methods which were applied to its study. In other 
words, there is one unifying characteristic of the Universe which 
we have ignored, and that is its field properties. We should see, 
therefore, if we can find some significa nt characteris tics of the 
field properties of the Universe which can be put to use by man­
kind in this incredibly difficult problem of human relationships. There must be generalities in this field theory which can be dis­
covered and which can be harnessed by mankind to help him 
solve his own problems. The electro-dynamic fields which control tI"e human organism 
are signposts to the most promising trail that future explorers 
can follow. 95 CHA PTER SIX 
Antennae to the Universe 
1 
It was logical to deduce from the Field Theory that external 
electrical fields would affect the fields of living organisms. For, 
just as the overall L-field of the organism embraces and controls its 
subsidiary fields, the electrical environment of the earth includes 
-and can be expected to influenc e-the fields of the living forms 
on this planet. This was something we could not easily check with human 
or animal subjects because each organism is not only unique but 
also constantly changing, as our experiments had shown. With 
the rapidly-fluctuating voltage-variations in humans and animals, 
it is extremely difficult to arrive at a steady baseline or norm from 
which to measure the influence of external forces, which are 
often slow in their cyclical varia tions. It was most important, however, to try to detect the effects­
if any-of external forces for three reasons. First, if we could 
demonstrate experimen tally a logical deduction from the Field 
Theory, this would offer the Theory additional support. Second, 
if the electrical environment does affect the living organism, the 
more we could find out about those effects the better. Third, if 
we could establish that living forms are affected by their electrical 
environment, this would show that man is an integral part of 
the Universe and subject to the great forces that act across space, 
just as the earth itself is. For these reasons we decided to carry out a long-term study of 
a living system which would be its own control, with the changes 
in internal and external factors to be supplied by Nature. Our 
aim was to examine, over a very long period of time, the electrical 
properties of the system and their relationship to environmental 
96 ANTENNAE TO THE UN IVERSE 
phenomena . The latter included, of course, temperature, hum­
idity, barometric pressure, sunshine and dark and any other 
factors that we might be able to detect, measure and describe. We chose a tree as the most suitable subject for this investiga­
tion because, in many ways, a tree has enormous advantages. It 
always stays put in a particular place; it requires no special 
feeding; it does not have to be anaesthetized when making the 
measurements; and there is no problem of cleaning up after the 
experiments, as there is with animals in the laboratory. We hoped, then, that trees would not only offer a steady and 
reliable baseline from which to measure ordinary environmental 
influences but would also serve as antennae -so to speak-to 
pick up any extraterrestrial or Universal forces that might in­
fluence the living forms of this planet. 2 
Since the pioneer studies of Lund, it has been known that trees 
exhibit electrical characteristics. So it was reasonable to expect 
tha t we could measure these over long periods of time if we could 
find a suitable way to place our electrodes permanently in contact 
with the cambium layer-the growing area of trees-with a 
'bridge' of physiological salt solution to avoid any side-effects 
from the electrodes. We anticipated no difficulty in measuring the potential gradi­
ents in the tree at any given time. But, if we were to detect en­
vironmental factors, we must prepare for the long haul and make 
sure that our electrodes and recording instruments would remain 
stable and reliable for many years. If we could achieve this, we also hoped that our experiments 
with trees would answer another question: There seemed to be 
no doubt that the voltage gradients we had measured in living 
forms were the result of an unequal distribution of charged par­
ticles on either side of phase boundaries. This uneven distribution 
might be caused, of course, merely by the constantly-changing 
97 ANTENNAE TO THE UNI VERSE 
chemical flux of the protoplasm. But was this the sole explana­
tion of the voltage gradients? Only a long-term study could 
settle this question. If chemistry is the only factor in voltage gradients, one might 
expect wide varial"ions in voltage gradicnts, both in magnit ude 
and polarity as the chemistry of the organism changes from time 
to time. A tree is a highly-organized living system in an environ­
ment in which change is a constant factor and might therefore be 
expected to have other significant voltage variations. Our first 'antenna to the Universe' was a young maple tree 
outside my house in New Haven, Connecticut, which could be 
connected to recording instruments in the hOLlse. At first glance 
this might seem a simple matter but, as we were trying som ething 
entire]y new, it took a long time and many experiments before 
we developed a technique which proved satisfactory through 
several decades. The bark of the trce was carefully removed down to the 
cambium layer and every effort was made to avoid injury to the 
layer itself because it is well known that injury-potentials in 
living organisms do occur. Fortunately, they do not last very 
long and if, unavoidably, we injured the cambium the effects 
would disappear in a short time. After many months of careful experiment on a number of 
different kinds of trees we found that the best technique was to 
use small plastic containers with one open face, filled with physio­
logical salt jelly in which the silver-silver chloride electrodes were 
embedded. The open face of the plastic container was held, under 
the bark, against the cambium layer. It must again be emphasized that metallic electrodes in direct 
contact with protoplasm in living organisms set up unpredictable 
non-reproducible voltage gradients, which are caused by changes 
in the propertics of the phase boundary between metal and proto­
plasm. As we have seen, however, if contact is made through a 
saline 'bridge' and with proper electrodes, reliable and repro­
ducible voltage gradients can be recorded, with the aid of high 
inpu t-imped ance amplifiers. After much experiment we found it best to place the con­
tainers holding the electrodes on the trunk of the tree, one above 
98 ANTENNAE TO THE UNIV ERSE 
the other, about three feet apart. The lower electrode was placed 
high enough on the tree trunk to avoid interference by maraud­
ing animals. The other electrode, three feet above, was reasonably 
safe from interference. From the very beginning consistent, continuous and relatively­
steady standing potentials were recorded. Preliminary experi­
ments were begun in 1938 and almost continuous records were 
kept up to 1968. Maple, elm and oak trees have been examined and it appears 
evident that the faster-growing trees, such as the maple, exhibit 
a somewhat higher potential than the slower-growing elm and a 
definitely higher potential than the still slower-grow ing oak. As a double check, we established another 'antenna' in the 
form of an old, large elm tree outside my laboratory in the 
country, at Lyme, Connect icut. Simultaneously, too, we carried 
out similar experiments on an alligator pear in the laboratory. With recording galvanometers drawing a trace of changing 
voltage gradients in all three sets of experiments, it was possible 
to determine to what extent a young maple tree in the city, an 
old elm in the country and an alligator pear in the laboratory 
might exhibit parallel changes. 3 
It has long been known that there are diurnal rhythms in 
living systems. Recurrent events occur in living systems whic h 
provide a rhythm, or a cycle, which seems to be related par tly 
to environmental circumstan ces and partly to others. There have 
been a number of explanations of these rhythms; and the general 
opinion seems to be that there are at least two factors involved. One, of course, is the actual metabolism of protoplasm. This, how­
ever, mayor may not be a continuous source of energy. Much 
more likely it is an intermitten t process. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the changes in 
measurable characteristics of living systems are caused by hyper­
plasia, mitosis, or cell division. Mitosis goes on in the cambium 
of the tree and results in the changing diameter of the tree, as 
99 ANTENNAE TO THE UNI VERSE 
has been well established by numerous studies of trees under a 
variety of circumstances. The growing tips of trees also show 
mitosis, the result of which is a change in the length, for example, 
of parts of the plant system. Therefore, in the tree at Lyme, instruments were provided not 
only to measure voltage gradients but also the changing diameter 
of tne tree, all on a continuous basis. Tree-diameter was measured 
by a dendograph loaned by Professor Lutz of the Forestry School 
of Yale University. The results, in the early stages of these experiments in measur­
ing changing diameter and potential differences, were surprising. Recurrent events in the changing potential were obvious. During 
the hours from midnight to sunrise in the early morning, voltage 
gradients were relatively low but constant. With the beginning 
of daylight, a change occurred with a marked increase in the 
magnitude of the potential differences, usually reaching a height 
around noon. These changes were recorded over a three month 
period in the summers of 1943 and 1944. A number of interesting results were apparent. During the 
early part of the summer and until September, there was a close 
relationship between the rise and fall of potential and the chang­
ing diameter of the tree. And at the time these records were made, 
this seemed like an extraordinary correlation between the growth 
of the cambium and the voltage gradient. In September of 1943 and again in 1944, however, marked 
changes in voltage gradient of a recurrent character appeared but 
the diameter of the tree no longer changed. This points up the fact that short-time studies of living systems 
are often misleading.
333048200-Harold-Saxton-Burr-Blueprint-for-Immortality-Electric-Patterns-of-Life-OCR-pdf.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        If the electrical patterns have any significance, the electrical 
correla tes of these differences should be manifest. A statistical 
analysis shows that the mean potential measured between the 
attached end of the corn kernel and its opposite pole gave highly 
significant results. Aside from the generally different mean, however, the most 
striking finding was a very great difference between the mean of 
the single gene mutant and the parent stock. It is remarkable that 
the change of a single gEne in the parent stock should produce 
such profound and significant change in the over-all pattern of 
the voltage difference. The conclusion seems to be inescapable 
that there is a very close relationship between the genetic con­
stitution and the electrical pa ttern. If further studies should 
confirm this conclusion, it seems very probable that one of the 
ways the chromosomes impart design to protoplasm is through 
the medium of an electro-dynamic field. In these studies of voltage gradients in maize kernels, the 
longitudinal gradient between the germinal end and the micro­
polar end of the seed was used as a test measurement. Under the 
couditions of the experiment there appeared to be, first of all, an 
immediate potential, which was called the prime potential. Moments after this prime potential was determined, the voltage 
gradient nearly always dropped to a much lower value and re­
mained remarkably stable for the minutes during which the 
observations were made. The prime potentials apparently show a high correlation 
with the seeds' viability, but have no particular reference to 
plant growth. The equilibrium potential, on the other hand, is 
not correlated with seed viability but rather with the inherent 
genetic constitution of a plant, since by use of the potentiometer 
and equilibrium potential determinations, one can segregate from 
a given population those seeds with superior growth characteris­
tics. Further, these poten tial differences hetween seeds have been 
highly correlated with the growth of progeny for one generation 
removed. For these reasons the potentiometer may prove to be 
a useful tool for the plant breeder. 71 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
Electro-metric data from maize seeds show remarkable cor­
relation with growth potentials in the corn kernel, as well as a 
significant relationship to genetic constitution. These fin dings 
raise the old question of which is more important, the genetic 
constitution of a living system, or the environment in which it 
lives. 6 
As a contribution to this problem, a study was made of the 
reactions to a stimulus of the sensitive plant, Mimosa. It is well 
known, of course, that a branch will collapse when touched. Its 
electrical correlates, therefore, at the collapse of the branch pro­
vide a clue as to the importance of the changing physical en­
vironment of a living system and its electrical correlates. It is well known, too, that in all biological systems there 
exists a multiplicity of phase boundaries. The existence of a 
potential difference across the phase boundaries is generally 
accepted. It is commonly held that the membrane potential at a 
phase boundary is a consequence of a difference in concentrations 
of electrolytes on opposite sides of the boundary. In the non-living 
system this potential approaches zero as ionic equilibrium is 
reached. It has been more or less logically concluded, therefore, 
that the existence and variation of potential difference can be 
explained by the known initial differences in concentrations with 
consequent movement of ions across the boundary. The living system, on the other hand, differs somewhat from 
the physical chemical situation in that the potential differences, 
instead of approaching zero with time, are maintained at an 
astonishin gly stable level. The maintenance of this level of poten­
tial difference presupposes constant recruitment and it is natural 
to assume that this recruitment comes in large measure from 
chemical activity. Moreover, it is not at all impossible that one of 
the mechanisms regulating and controlling chemical activity is 
resident in the potential difference. In other words, if this problem is looked at from a slightly 
different angle, it is legitimate to make the assumption that in 
72 THE UBIQU ITOUS FIELD 
a living system the total energy intake appears, in part, in the 
chemical flux of metabolism and,in part, in stored energy in 
potential differences. If this assumption is true, it follows, then, 
that by studying potential differences during rest and during ac­
tivity a record could be made of a general level of immediately 
available energy, as represented by algcbraicIy-summated bound­
ary potentials. In the face of the demand for activity this reservoir of poten­
tial energy could be tapped. When the biological system is at rest, 
the potentials could be recorded as DC potentials, but when 
protoplasm is thrown into any kind of activity, such as neural 
transmission, muscle contraction and similar events, the first sign 
of that activity would lie in the sudden withdrawal from the 
reservoir of electrical energy. In other words, a drop in potential 
differences. Then, mobilization of chemical properties might 
be expected to re-establish the original level of the potential 
difference. Through studies of both DC and AC phenomena in the living 
system, it should be possible, therefore, to obtain straightforward 
records of fundamental biological activity. Since in a complex 
animal organization this is exceedingly difficult, not much pro­
gress has been made. In plants, which presumably are much 
simpler, the problem can be attacked more readily. For this 
reason, therefore, the studies of the electrical response associated 
with a stimulus to the sensitive plant, Mimosa, were made. The most striking thing about the results is the very great 
similarity between the electrical response of the stimulus reaction 
in Mimosa to the electrical records of propagated electrical re­
sponse of the action current in vertebrate neurones. The magni­
tude of the response is, of course, very much greater, and the 
time scale in seconds rather than in milliseconds. Several seconds after a stimulus, whether a burn, a cutting or 
crushing, or a shock from a 90 volt B battery, a wave of increas­
ing negativity appears under the hot or peripheral electrode. This 
peak arises to sixty or seventy millivolts and then subsides to 
the original voltage gradient and, though not always, often 
crosses it. This record is very similar to that of the spike in 
the neural action current. This spike lasts, however, from two to 
73 THE UBIQUI TOUS FIELD 
three seconds to five or six seconds. In younger, more active 
plants, the duration of the spike is apparently shorter than in 
the older ones. Following the spike, there is a positive after-po ten­
tial followed by an upward swing of the potential difference 
which establishes a new level of negativity, lasting from a few 
minutes to several hours. The whole wave form of this stimulus response is strikingly 
like the wave form of a single axone response in the vertebrate 
nervous system. Although the polarities differ, in all prob­
ability this is caused by a difference in the geometry of the 
electrode placement. Attempts were made to relate this to the 
anatomy of Mimosa, as it is well known in animals that the rate 
of conductivity of a nervous impulse is a function of the diameter 
of the axone. In Mimosa there are continuous fluid-containing 
channels which, conceivably, might be likened to a nerve process. These channels, however, are buried heneath the surface since 
they are covered by many layers of cells. The electrodes, of course, 
are in contact with the surface cells, not with the conduct ing 
channels. The whole system, however, is obviously conductive of 
electricity and it may he that the records obtained are derived 
from the longitudinal channels. In Mimosa, the longitudinal channels vary in size, have thick 
walls, and are arranged in quadrants. They arc centrally situated 
and covered by many layers of cells. In the rachis, the channels 
are more deeply placed peripherally and tend to scatter towards 
the circumference as the stem is approached. There does not seem 
to be any marked change in the size of the canals. In the stern 
the number of conductive systems increases markedly with 
a concom itant enlargement. Also, they lie nearer the surface and 
there are fewer layers of cells covering them. The difference in 
size of the channels may bear some significant relation to the 
electrical records if it should appear that the conducting canals 
are involved in the propagation of the stimulus. The study here reported suggests that with Mimosa-as in the 
nervous system of animals-the rate of conduction of impulse is 
a function of the diameter of the channel. But this particular 
aspect of the problem needs to be investigated further. If the recorded standing -potential represents the measure of a 
74 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
reservoir of electrical energy available for activity, then a stimu­
lus such as that applied in Mimosa brings about a sudden with­
drawal from that storehouse. The fact that a certain potential 
gradient with the periphery positive to the central region is 
necessary for the reaction, implies that unless the amount of 
electrical energy stored is at a designated level, the reaction can­
not go forward. If, however, the level is high enough, the 
stimulus unlocks the storehouse and a wave of activity is propa­
gated with a characteristic electrical correlate. It will be recalled 
that these experiments with Mimosa led a distinguished East 
Indian zoologist and philosopher to hold that such plants as 
Mimosa and, by inference, all other plants, possess a soul, ex­
emplified in particular by the reaction of the system to an ex­
ternal stimulus. The interesting thing about all these results to date makes it 
dear that the electrical properties of a living system are directly 
to be correlated with the genetic constitution of a living system, 
on the one hand, and on the other hand are modified by changes 
in the physical or chemical. The alteration, however, is not in 
pattern but in the magnitude of the typical response. This does 
not mean that there is a profound change in the electrical field, 
but only that the electrical field can be modified by an appro­
priate stimulus. 7 
We had started our voyage of discovery by examining the most 
complex electro-dyn amic fields-those of the human organism. We had also found fields in simpler forms of life-animals, eggs, 
seeds and plants. So it seemed desirable to extend our hunt for 
fields to the simplest living organization, protoplasm. This was important, not only to make sure that everything 
that is alive possesses a field but also because protoplasm is the 
basic, formative material of animal forms. Wha tever may trigger, 
too, the nervous system, a basic requirement is the energy made 
available by the incredibly-complex chemical flux of protoplasm. The more, then, that we can discover about the elementary 
75 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
properties of protoplasm, the better we will be able to under­
stand how the nervous system functions. Again, at the suggestion of Professor Sinnott, an examination 
was made of the electrical properties of a very simple protoplas­
mic system, that of the slime mould, Physarum polycephal um. This is a common mould which grows readily in the lahoratory 
and exhibits characteristic patterns of growth and of fruiting. Also, its protoplasm is in constant movement, oscillating from 
one end of the system to the other. This streaming of protoplasm, 
of course, is well known to botanists, and offers many oppor­
tunities for investigatio n. The mould is a syncytium of proto­
plasm with no cell boundaries but many included nuclei. Since 
the material grows readily in quite adequate quantities, it makes 
an ideal elementary protoplasmic system for a further study of 
the electro-m etric properties. There were three primary objectives of this study: The first 
was to determine whether or not, in the living plasmodium, in 
constant movement, there exists an electrical correlate of this 
movement. Secondly, after the results of the Mimosa experiment, 
it was interesting to examine the possibility of an electro-m etric 
response in the protoplasm to a variety of external stimuli, both 
chemical and physical. Finally, a third possibility was to examine 
the changes which might be found in the plasmodium when an 
external field was applied to it. There is plenty of evidence in the 
literature to show that changes in the electrical environment of 
protoplasm do produce observable effects on the protoplasm itself. Using silver-silver chloride electrodes, a high input impedance 
amplifier and a recording galvanometer, many records were taken 
of the changing potential in a strand, or vein, of the plasmodium 
during the movement of the protoplasmic system itself. In the 
laboratory, using moving picture records and electro-metrics, the 
pulsating character of the growth of the slime mould was studied. Under the microscope, it is simple to demonstrate that every 
sixty or ninety seconds the protoplasm in the veins reverses the 
direction of flow. The electrical pickup from the vein, comhined 
with the moving picture, reveals that in the majority of instances 
polar rev"rsal of the voltage occurs before there is a directional 
change of the plasmic flow, but also there are many instances 
76 THE UBI QUITOUS FIELD 
where the change in both phenomena seem to occur simul­
taneously. This, undoubtedly, needs further study. It is highly important, of course, to determine whether or not 
the change in potential is the result of the protoplasmic flow or 
the reverse of this. There is no evidence in the litera ture as to the 
nature of the forces which bring about this change in proto­
plasmic flow. Undoubtedly, this is involved in the growth of the 
whole system and is concerned, apparently, in part, with the 
search of the plasmodium for energy sources or food. The rate at which the protoplasm moves undoubtedly is a 
function, to some extent, of temperatures in the environment. Although there are no exact records of these relationships, the 
fact remains that lowering the temperature does tend to slow up 
the flow of protoplasm. Certain conditions make it possible, more­
over, to seek any electrical changes at times when the protoplasm 
is not flowing; and there have been records made in the labora­
tory which show that an electrical change in polarity in the 
plasmodium vein may occur in the absence of visible protoplas­
mic movement. There has not yet been observed, however, any 
lack of electrical correlates when protoplasm itself is moving. That changes in the electrical environment have an effect 
upon the electrical properties of protoplasm, is well known from 
the studies of Lund and his associates, and more recently by 
Anderson. In this laboratory, Anderson's experiments were re­
peated, using the technique we have employed in our search for 
more information, and show that the reversal of polari ty in the 
mould, by changing the external electrical environment, mark­
edly inhibits the spread of the plasmodium. The direction in 
which the plasmodium grows, moreover, can be altered by, again, 
imposing an external electrical field on the primitive protoplasm. In every instance, the growing plasmodium could be made to turn 
towards the negative side of an imposed electrical environment. In other words, in the slime mould, changing the electrical en­
vironment can, under certain conditions, modify the direction in 
which energy flows in the protoplasmic system. The third question-w hat is the electrical correlate of an ade­
quate stimulus to the plasmodiu m-was studied using a 
cathode-ray tube as recording instrument, with photographic re-
77 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
production. Here, again, it was demonstra ted that any change in 
the physical environment of primitive protoplasm results in an 
adeq uate stimulus to the protoplasm itself. For a single vein of the 
slime mould, suspended between two silver-silver chloride elec­
trodes, showed a remarkable electro-metric response to such a 
stimulus as a tap on one of the electrodes. Unlike the nervous system, however, there seemed to be a 
fairly close correlation between the strength of the tap and the 
electro-metric response of the protoplasm. A weak tap produced a 
relatively small change in voltage gradient, whereas a heavier 
one increased the magnitude of the electrical response. There was, 
however, obviously, a plateau of the response beyond which the 
protoplasm showed no further increase in voltage output. This, of 
course, is unlike the all-or-none phenomena to he found in neural 
protoplasm. Records of this sort reinforce the concept that one of the 
simpler forms of protoplasm exhibits properties very like that to 
be found in the nervous system. This might be suspected, of 
course, since both neurones and the slime mould are built of the 
same basic stuff, protoplasm. Even the most primitive protoplasm, 
in order to maintain its existence, must be capable of responding 
to the changing physical and chemical environment, of transmit­
ting the stimuli throughout its extent and after some kind of 
correlation or coordinating or integration of all the stimuli, of 
producing some kind of describable response. These basic prop­
erties of protoplasm, after all, are to be found enhanced enorm­
ously, specialized and increased in efficiency through the differ­
entiation of the nervous system. No less important are changes in the chemical environment. For example, if a drop of 2 % procain is placed on a vein, the 
immediate effect of the application of the drop-and this is true 
also of water-is a stimulus response usually in the opposite 
polarity to the tap stimulus. After a matter of a few minutes, 
however, the tap will produce a much reduced and flattened re­
sponse; the magnitude is lessened and a return to the baseline is 
slow. If the: procain is washed off with a fine spray of tap water, 
within another five minutes a reasonably characteristic response 
78 THE UBIQUITOUS FIELD 
is obtained, but much enhanced over the pre-test situation. It 
should be noted that the vein hangs suspended in the air over a 
moist chamber and the pro cain can be either adsorbed to the 
surface of the protoplasm or pass through the phase boundary 
into the protoplasm itself. The promptness of the recovery act of 
washing and the enhancement uf the response would seem to in­
dicate that the adsorbtion to the surface was the more probable. These experiments suggest that slime mould could become a 
very valuable tool for the study of the elIect of changing chemi­
cal environment on protoplasm. In general, the similarity in 
electrical response of the slime mould to changes in the physical 
and chemical environmen t shows a remarkable similarity to the 
properties of neural tissue. * * * 
With the experiments described in this chapter we had covered 
a wide range of living forms and in all of them we had found 
electro-dynamic fields. But our adventure was to lead us to still 
further discoveries. 79 CHA PTER FIVE 
The Field as a Sign post 
1 
We had reason to believe that the electro-dy namic field could 
serve as a signpost for a variety of conditions because our ex­
periments had confirmed our basic assumption. This was that 
the organism possesses a field as a whole which embraces sub­
sidiary or local fields, representing the organism's component 
parts. We assumed, then, that variations in the subsidiary fields 
would be reflected in variations in the flow of energy in the 
whole system-as we had found in ovulation and malignancy. We decided, therefore, to look for further practical consequen ces 
of the theory. Working with Dr. Sam uel Harvey and Dr. Max Taffe. , of 
the Yale University School of Medicine, we initiated a study of 
the relationship between the electro-metrics of the peripheral 
nervous system and the physiological state of the system ex­
amined. With the coopera tion of Dr. R. G. Grennel, we made a 
special study of so-called surface potentials and peripheral nerve 
injury. In the course of these experiments, it was demonstra ted that­
in experimental animals and man-surface potential differences 
do reflect peripheral nerve activities. These potentials are not 
affected by pre-gang lionic sympathectomy and seem to be inde­
pendent of vascular and sweating responses. We soon found a definite relationship between nerve and tissue 
in the form of a potential difference, which can be used in quanti­
tative tests of nerve function. These tests are simple enough for 
routine clinical application. They show a dear-cut correlation be­
tween the integrity of the peripheral somatic nervous system and 
potential differences measured on the surface. 80 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
Interference, pharmacological or traumatic, with normal func­
tions of ulnar or sciatic nerve is reflected in an altered standing 
potential between a reference electrode and a moving electrode in 
contact with the area supplied by the nerve in question. The 
mechanism by which this correlation is brought about is im­
portant. Complicity of the vascular bed might exist but the lack 
of any significant change in the pattern following sympathec­
tomy makes this unlikely. However, the sympathectomies were 
all pre-ganglionic and hence further work must be done in order 
to clarify the matter. It has been found that rapidly shutting off the blood-flow in 
the forearm and hand by means of a blood pressure cuff on the 
arm, as well as a sudden return of flow on releasing the cup, does 
not significantly alter the potential difference. In other words, 
altering the normal functioning of the vascular bed does not 
affect the standing potential. Furthermore, since the microvoltmet er is relatively unaffected 
by changes in resistance in the system being measured,'skin re­
sistance' and sweating, as reported by Richter and his associates, 
are not involved in the potential changes. In the light of these 
findings it would seem unlikely that the sympathetic nervous 
system is the mediating factor. Nevertheless, the data show that 
in unilateral sympathectomy there is a difference in the standing 
potential on the operated and unoperated sides. These measure­
ments, then, form the basis of a simple, quantitat ive test of 
peripheral function, independent of sweating or of vascular re­
action. These ventures into the unknown of the electro-metrics of 
living organisms were often prompted by a search for answers to 
practical questions. An example of this are the electro-m etrics 
of wound healing. The late Dr. Samuel Harvey and Dr. Max Taffel had been 
studying wound healing in experimental animals and in man; 
and had called attention to the fact that the strength of a heal­
ing wound is probably caused in large measure by prolifera tioilS 
of fibroblast. This means, of course, that there is a great deal of 
mitotic activity going on and, since an increase in the number 
of cells is a vital biological propert y-and since other experiments 
81 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
to be reported later show a close correlation with growth-these 
studjes by Taffe. and Harvey showed an increase in tensile 
strength correlated with the passage of time. This inCTcase varies, for the most part, during the first eight or 
ten days following the incision. This tends to be modified in 
vitamin C deficient animals. But the increase of tensile strength 
must involve at least two processes : one of cell proliferation and 
one of cell differentiation. In normal development, the two events 
do not occur in the same cell simultaneou sly. Each cell takes 
part in the generalized mitosis of a group of cells-probably 
fibroblas ts-for a period of time, after which, with other cells, it 
undergoes a period of differen tiation. As growth proceeds, new 
cells go into mitosis and then into differentiation adding thereby 
to the new structure. There are no known methods for differenti­
ating these two processes except by microscopic examination. The elcctro-metric technique offers the possibility of discriminat­
ing between the two. 2 
It seemed advisable, therefore, to investiga te the nature of 
bioelectric phenomena in wound healing and to discover any 
possible relationship between bioelectrics and tensile strength and 
also between bioelectrics and growth or differen tiation. The experimental animals used for the laboratory were guinea 
pigs, one group of which were fed a controlled diet. Another 
group were fed a form of laboratory diet. In both sets of studies 
an area of skin was bared and measurem ents taken between the 
cephalic end of the bare area, and another at the caudal end of 
the area. Wherever incision was to be made between the two, a 
control point was taken. After the preliminary measurements were mad,:, the skin and 
subcutaneous fascia were incised and suturerJ, following which 
another set of examinations were made. These were continued 
daily for the next two weeks or until the wound was healed. In 
some in��ances, the healing was so complete as to make it difficult 
to determine the site of the wound. 82 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
The data showed a marked change of potential gradient be­
tween the normal skin and the area of injury. Perhaps the most 
astonishing finding was that the site of injury was not consist­
ently negative to the normal tissue, as would be expected by the 
theory of injury potentiaL On the contrary, for the first twenty­
four or twenty-eight hours after the injury, the wound area was 
positive to the cephalic point in the normal skin. The potential 
gradient between these two points tended to rise for twenty-four 
or twenty-ei ght hours and then rapidly to decline until the third 
or fourth day when the wound became negative to the normal 
skin. This negativity increased until the maximum was reached 
on the eighth or ninth day. Following this, and lasting for 
twenty-four to forty-eigh t hours, the potential gradient dropped, 
to be followed on the tenth or twelfth day by another rise in 
potential. This was repeated on the twelfth and fourteenth day. On the fifteenth or sixteenth day the gradients returned to 
approxima tely normal limits. The comparison of the curves obtained by Harvey and Taffel 
shows an interesting parallelism. The tensile strength measure­
ments show a rapidly rising curve during the first eight days. The 
bioelectric measurements show a similar change. After the eighth 
day, the tensile strength seems to approach a plateau. The bio­
electric determinations show alternating growth and differentia­
tion after the eighth day. While examinations show rather slow 
changes in the potential gradients, nevertheless, they are statistic­
ally reliable. In order to investigate this matter further, a second series of 
animals was studied under somewh at different conditions. Thirty 
guinea pigs from the laboratory stock were taken, ten of which 
were placed on a controlled laboratory diet. It is to be noted that 
this diet was differen t from that of the first series. These animals 
received an incision on the right flank as described, and were 
read daily. The rise and fall of potential differences during this period 
would seem to be correlated with the growth of fibroblasts. Then 
followed a period of differentiation represent ed by a clear-cut 
increase in potential differences. However, once started, the alternation of growth and differ-
83 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
entiation was strikingly parallel in both groups of animals. TV. Tcnty of the animals were put on a vitamin C deficien t diet­
ten with no wounds in the skin and ten with wounds. The poten­
tial gradients in the operated and unoperat ed scorbutic animals, 
ana in the norrnals on a controlled diet, showed interesting 
parallelisms. In the case of unopera ted scorbutics a reasonably constant 
baseline appeared through the period of the experiment. The 
operated scorbutics, however, showed changes in the potential 
differences which closely paralleled the normal animals, save that 
the magnitude of the potential difference was less. In addition, 
they showed the same delay in the onset of potential rise as was 
seen in the operated animals on the normal diet. These observa­
tions indicated that it is possible to measure with some certainty 
bioelectric concomitant s of growth and differentiation in the heal­
ing of wounds in the guinea pig. They suggested that the growth 
process is not a continuous one, except in the early stages, but 
rather that, after the eighth day, it alternates with periods of 
differentiation. Bioelectric correlates of growth in the animals on 
a control diet seem to rise faster and reach a greater magnitude 
than in the case of the scorbutic animals. 3 
In cooperation with the above-mentioned surgeons, a further 
experiment was made on wound healing in the human. Some 
twenty-five instances of operative procedures, with uncompli­
cated healing of the wounds, were selected for study. All these 
healed without any evidence of infection. Determinat ions of the 
potential gradient between two points-one in the immediate 
vicinity of the wound, and another at some distance from it­
were made daily, beginning on the day following the operation 
and continuing until the patient was discharged from the hos­
pital, usually after fourteen days. In each observa tion, sufficient 
readings were taken to insure valid measurements. It was at once apparent that there was, on the whole, a 
definite trend. Comparison of individual cases revealed in many 
84 THE FIELD AS A SIGNP OST 
instances wide discrepancies. Such variations have been found 
to be consistently present in animals studied by the tensile 
strength method. Similar variations were particularly character­
istic of electro-metric technique and therefore many detennina­
tiOIlS are necessary. The results show that there is a phase of positive potential of 
some four days' duration corresponding to the so-called lag in 
the tensile strength method. This same phenomenon was ob­
served in the guinea pigs and also in mice as an accompaniment 
of a carcinogenic irritation. Following this, the wound passes into 
a proliferated phase during which a negative potential is en­
countered which reaches its height between the seventh and 
ninth days. Here the maximum negative voltage is reached at 
approxima tely the same time as the maximum tensile strength. The increasing negativity suggests an homology with the rising 
negativity observed in other animals and in cancer. At the end of the tenth day the wound is usually healed and 
from then to the end of the determinations the voltage gradient s 
gradually fall to the normal base-line. These observations of 
electro-metric studies of the healing wound in man parallel those 
made in experimental animals and give weight to the concept that 
the process of healing in man is a phenomenon of growth. 4 
Since these wound healing experiments on man seem to indi­
("ate a modification of the normal picture after surgery, it be­
hooved us to find out what went on from day to day in normal 
human beings with a reasonably normal existence. To this end, a 
group of ten medical students were found to agree to do the 
necessary examination to see what happened in the ordinary 
day-to-day existence of such apparently normal subjects. These were studied for a considerable period of time and it was 
found, in general, that the students could be separated into three 
groups as was mentioned in Chapter 3 : one, a group that showed 
consistently high potential differences between the index fingers 
of the two hands, another with a low potential difference, and a 
85 THE FIELD AS A SIGNP OST 
third, an intermediate point. There was, however, one particular student in the group who 
consistently showed a higher potential difference than all the 
rest of the subjects. On investigation, it was found that this boy 
had a history of emotional instability and. at the time he was 
admitted, was admitted as an experiment. Before the end of the 
year, however, the boy became definitely psychotic and had to 
be remanded to an institution. These findings suggested at once that deviations from a normal 
behaviour, such as might appear in a psychotic, were worth in­
vestigating further. With the cooperation of the late Dr. Eugen 
Kahn in the Department of Psychiatry, a number of patients­
who had been studied carefully by the psychiatric staff-were 
selected and measuremen ts made on them daily for a considerable 
period of time. The psychiatrists were asked to divide the patients into three 
groups-obvious deviates from normal behaviour, those that were 
reasonably normal, and an intermediate group. The electro-metric 
experiments were carried out in the services of the psychiatric 
hospital without the electro-metric investigator knowing any­
thing about the status of the individual. At the conclusion of the electro-m etrics the patients were 
divided into three groups; those with markedly changed electro­
metrics, those with relatively little change, and an intermediate 
group. Subsequently, the intermediate group was subdivided into 
a high-low group and a low-high group. At the conclusion of the experiment, the groups selected by 
the psychiatrists were compared with the groups selected by the 
electro-metric investigator, who-it should be emphasized­
knew nothing about the psychiatric diagnosis. Results of the 
study showed clearly enough that the group consisting of those 
markedly deviated from normal behaviour by psych ;atric ex­
amination also showed a similar deviation in electro-metric ex­
amination. The low group, likewise, paralleled each other perfectly. But 
in the intermediate group, as might be expected. there was con­
siderable vuiation in both the psychiatric reports and in the 
electro-metric readings. This, of course, is very interesting and it 
86 J. ' J 
;:: == 
Specif ications of Hewlett-Packard D. C. Vacu um Tub e Volt meter Mod el 412A 
recom mende d by Dr Burr to mea sure electro dynamic fields. Voltmeter 
Vo ltage Range: Positive and negative vol tages (rom 1 
milli volt full scale to 1,000 volts full scale in thirteen 
ranges. Accura cy: ±1% of full scale on any range 
I n put Resistance : 
10 megohms ±1�o on 1 mY, 3 mY, and 10 mY ranges. 30 megohms ±1 % on 30 mV range. 100 megohms ±1% on 100 mY range. 200 megohms ±1 % on 300 mY range and above. AC Rejection: A voltage at power line or twice power 
line frequency 40 dB greater than full scale affects read ing 
less than 1%. Peak voltage must not exceed 1,500 volts. Voltagp. s and Currents: 
Range 
Xl 
Xl0 
Xl0 0 
Xl000 
Xl0K 
Xl0 0K 
X1 M 
Xl0 M 
Xl0 0M Open Circuit 
Volts 
10 mV 
100 mV 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
1 V 
Photo courtesy Hewl ett-Packard 
Palo Alto, Cal ifornia and Slough, Bucks. Short Circuit 
Cur rent 
10 mA 
10 mA 
10 mA 
1 mA 
100 �lA 
10 �lA 
1 �A 
0·1 �lA 
0,0 1 �lA General 
Meter: Individua lly cal ibrated. Isolation Resistance: At least 100 megohms shunt ed 
by 0·0 1 J. 1F between common terminal and case (power 
line) ground. Isolat ion : May be oper ated up to 500 V dc or 130 V ac 
from grou nd. Power: 115 or 230 volts ± 10%, 50 to 60 Hz. 35 watts. Dimensions: 
Cabinet Mount: 11-. \-" high, 7TH wide, 10H deep. (292 x 
191 x 254 mm), 
Weight: 
Cabinet Mount : Net, 12 Ibs. (5·5 kg). Shipping, 14 Ibs. (6·4 kg). Rack Mount: Net, 12 Ibs, (5· 5 kg. ) Shi ppin g. 20 Ibs. (9·0 kg). First public demo nstration of subject going into trance connec ted to volt meter. Photo-el ectric tracing showing various stages of hypnosis and pos t-hyp notic 
emo tion. /. THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOST 
suggested that the electro-metric technique might be useful in 
the neurological and psychiatric fields. This whole area has been extensively investigated by Dr. Leonard J. Ravitz, Jr. at one time on the staff of the Department 
of Psychiatry at Yale, and followed by him through appointments 
in a number of other institutions. His results are striking and 
extraordinary. Perhaps the most remarkable result obtained in 
our laboratory by Dr. Ravitz was when he found a significa nt 
electro-metric correlate of hypnotism that was astonishing to 
watch: a continuou sly-recording voltmeter showed evidence of 
marhed changes in voltage gradient during the hypnotic process. This was not an event which might be related to the subjec­
tivity of the operator, but could be recorded without argument 
on the recording galvanometer. If anyone needed objective evid­
ence of the results of hypnosis, one needed only to look at the 
charts recorded under these conditions. Needless to say, this sug­
gests an enormous range of studies which could be made parallel­
ing those of Dr. Ravitz and, wherever possible, extending them. It becomes evident from Dr. Ravitz's examination that by 
using electro-metric techniques on patients in psychiatric hos­
pitals, patients-as a result of therapy, or changing circumstanc es 
-could safely be discharged from the hospital when the voltage 
gradient indicated a reasonable return to normal. Likewise, 
electro-metric s could show clearly enough when certain patients 
-no matter what the therapy was-could not be returned safely 
to normal life outside of the institution. The value of this to the 
instituti onalized psychotic should he apparent at once. Needless to say, a great deal more study is needed and much 
more data must be collected. But Dr. Ravitz's striking results 
are exciting enough to warrant the expenditure of the additional 
time and effort to extend these studies further. Such studies are all the more desirable because -as mentioned 
in Chapter I-L-field measurements can serve as signposts to 
emotional instability outside institut ions and could therefore 
serve as a valuahle tool to the Armed Forces and to industry. Practical applications apart, there are also great psychological 
and philosophical implications in the discovery that the state of 
the mind is reflected in the state of the field. Another remarkable 
87 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOS T 
experiment by Dr. Ravitz, too, in which a n emotion of grief re­
called under hypnotic regression caused a 14-millivolt rise for 
twu-and-a-half minutes, suggests other possibilities. Already field 
measurements can point to emo tional conditions; in the future 
they may also be used as a purely objec tive, quantitative assess­
ment of emotion. It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the electro-metric 
approach to emotional diagnosis can be completely imperson al 
and objective. The electro-metric investigator of psyc hiatric 
patient s mentioned a short while ago did not know-and did not 
need to know-the mental state of the patients. Yet his electro­
mctric findings tallied closely with the psychiatric diagnoses. Since the electro-metric tests are simple and since any com­
petent technician can quickly be trained to make them, in many 
cases they can be used to save the time of busy psychiatrists by 
sorting out all but the borderline cases. This can not only save 
time but also a great deal of expense to the patient or taxpayer. 5 
In this age, probably more people are subjected to emotional 
stress-from environmental or other causes-than in any previ­
ous one. Our bulging mental hospitals are sufficient evidence of 
this; and, outside our mental hospitals, more and more people 
seem to feel the need for psychiatric help. Modcrn psychosomatic medicine has demonstrated that, un­
fortuna tely, the effects of emotional disturba nce are often not 
confined to mental symptoms: many physical ills have a psycho­
soma tic origin. Faced with this vast problem, we have to admit a distress ing 
hck of knowledge not only of the true nature of mind or emotion 
hut also of the mechan ism of the relationsh ip between mind and 
body. L-ficld measurements, of course, cannot solve this prohlem. But, it is submitted, they can offer some new approaches to its 
solu tion. They can give early warning of emotional instability­
as we have seen- and one day, perhaps, will offer a reliable means 
88 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
of measuring its intensity. This could be useful not only to psychiatrists and psycholo­
gists but also to practitioners of internal medicine. Wi th the in­
tense modern pressures on the medical profession, the average 
doctor simply does not have the time to elicit the emotional pres­
sures which-he may suspect-are the real cause of his patient's 
physical problems, especially as many patients are reluctant to 
disclose them. If, however, electro-metric tests could quickly re­
veal the existence of these pressures-they cannot, of course, dis­
close their nature-they could he of material help to the doctor in 
devising the best treat ment for his patient. As we noted in Chapter 1, regular electro-m etric tests of 
healthy men and women could help them to avoid or to handle 
dangerous situations. They could also help less emotiona lly-stable 
people to avoid-at their 'low' periods-situations which might 
subject them to intolerable emotional stress. The relationsh ip between the state of the electro-dyna mic field 
and abnormal physical conditions-of which the experiments de­
scribed in the preceding pages afford abundant evidence-sug­
gests the'mechanism' of psychosomatic illness. For, since the 
state of the mind is reflected in the state of the field, it is not too 
hard to imagine how business worries or an unhappy marriage 
can produce ulcers. Last-but not least-the discovery that the state of the mind 
can affect the state of the field should induce a new sympathy for 
the emotionally distressed. We should no longer be so ready to 
brush off their miseries with the remark : 'it's all in their imagina­
tion. ' Perhaps it is. But if an emotion-even one recalled by 
hypnosis-is able to affect a voltmeter it cannot be lightly dis­
missed as a figment, whatever its origin. It has a definite reality. As Dr. Ravitz has put it: 
'Both emotional activity and stimuli of any sort involve 
mobilization of electric energy, as indicated on the galvano­
meter. Hence. both emotion s and stimuli evoke the same 
energy. Emotions can be equated with energy. ' THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
6 
Behaviour is the reaction of a living �ystem to the co-ordina ted 
and integrated stimuli resulting from changes in the physical and 
chemical environments. In the case of man, at least, to the 
physical factors of environ ment the ideological environment 
must also be added because an idea is just as valid a stimulus to 
the nervous system as a kick in the teeth. As a matter of fact, it can be shown, without much question, 
that ideas arc actually more important as stimuli to the nervous 
system than any of the others. One needs only to look at the 
history of the outstanding figures of the last two or three hundred 
years who, rightly or wrongly, had ideas which profoundly 
affected whole generations. This is true of dictators, politicians, 
philosophers, religionists or military leaders. As ideas are-or induce-em otions which evoke energy in 
the nervous system, electro-metric studies of this phenomenon 
seem relevant to the study of human behaviour, even if they offer 
no hope of improving it. At the least we may be able to learn a 
little about how the machine works, even if we cannot under­
stand how the driving ideas originate. Though man, over the years, has acquired an extraordinary 
control over his physical environment, the problem of human re­
lations remains unsolved. We seem to be no better off in dealing 
with each other than were our remote ancestors. Part of the 
reason for this, of course, is to be found in the enormous com­
plexity of the nervous system of man and the lack of real under­
standing of the way the protoplasm of nervous tissue operates. So any approach to the problem of human behaviour should start 
with a better understanding of the nervous system. For whether 
it is an idea, an emotion or a kick in the teeth which triggers the 
activity of the nervous system, a basic requirement, needless to 
say, is the storehouse of energy made availahle by the chemical 
flux of protoplasm as noted in the previol1s chapter. Though the energy required to make an adjustment is derived 
from this chemical activity, the direction in which the energy 
flows, and the way in which it is used, is a consequence of the 
90 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
pattern of organization of neural tissues. It is not enough, there­
fore, to know the details of the complex structures involved, but 
rather to have some over-all grasp and underst anding of the way 
the nervous system works. Analysis of the units is of vital im­
portance, even down to the sub-microscopic level, but equally 
important is a grasp of the relationships between all the com­
ponent parts. Since behaviour, moreover, is the result, in part, of the im­
pact of one organism on another, no real picture of the forces 
which make man operate the way he does is possible without a 
complete knowledge and understanding of the structure and 
function of the nervous system. The results of many years of study have tended to emphasize 
certain rather stereotyped activities. As a result, the electrical 
circuit analogies tended to lead investigators away from the basic 
fact that each neurone is in itself a living organism. These elec­
trical circuit analogies, partly impired by the modern computer, 
are derivable directly from the fundamental propert y of proto­
plasm, and more particularly, from the all-or-none response of a 
nerve cell. Even the simplest protoplasmic system can be stimulated by 
changes in the physical, chemical and ideological environment, 
can transmit these effects through its substance, can coordinate, 
correlate and integrate all the varieties of stimuli and can, as a 
result, make that adjustment necessary for the continued exist­
ence of the system. The behaviour of even the simplest organism 
is parodic in that it 'functions in accordance with its inherent de­
sign'. * One of the greatest difficult ies in assaying behaviour lies 
in its complexity, in the lack of objective measurement and in 
a very great influence of the subjective. In the literature, the description of hehaviour of even the 
simplest organisms is coloured by anthropom orphisms. The criti­
cal study of behaviour, moreover, almost invariably involves 
some disturbance in the organism under study. Ideally, any 
measurement must involve no alteration in the thing measured 
during the measure ment. This is difficult to achieve even in 
* King, 1945. 91 THE FI EL D AS A SIGNPOST 
physical systems. It is peculiarly difficult in biological systems 
unless we employ the techniques described in the preceding pages. Our experiments had offered some signposts to a better under­
standing of the human nervous system. We had found with corn 
kernels-it will be remembe red-evidence of a close correlation 
between a measurable, electro-metric charact eristic and both the 
genetic constitu tions and also their subsequent productivity in 
the field. A study, too, of the sensitive plant Mimosa, had yielded evid­
ence that in this particular living form, the protoplasmic mechan­
ism showed characteristics very similar to those found in the 
nervous system. In other words, the nervous system in higher 
forms and in a relatively-simple system like a plant had similar 
electro-metric responses. All this, admittedly, is a very modest approach to a better 
understanding of the human nervous system. But, at least, it is 
a beginning and, as Confucius said: 'The longest journey starts 
with the first step. ' Perhaps the most important aspect of the first step is that L­
field measurement s make it possible to measure the effects of 
various stimuli to the nervous system. For, in the history of 
science, the ability to measure something has often-if not 
always-been the foundation-stone of progress. 7 
As everyone knows, there is speculation whether the Universe 
is an expanding one or a closed system, whether it is governed 
by a static set of laws or is a dynamic, active Universe in which 
growth and development occur. It is clear enough that the laws of 
the Universe, as we know them, are not happenstanc e phenom­
ena hut are closely integrated in a unit. The statement that the biologist makes, that the living organ­
ism is more than the sum of its parts, applies equally to the 
Universe. The living organism, also, is a whole unit, no part of 
which can go off on a tangent by itself without disaster to the 
living system. There is no reason to suppose that this same 
92 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
general principle cannot be applied to human behaviour, for 
human behaviour is not the result of the imposition of legalistic 
and moralla ws on the biological laws of the organism, but rather 
behaviour is the comeqence of the activity of the nervous system 
of man. The nervous system of man is an organized, designed, 
dynamic machine. Many people object at once to this spuriously-lab elled'materi­
alistic' approach to the Universe. But this is nonsense. The Uni­
verse is not only a machine but also has certain qualitative 
attributes. We talk about the beauty of the star-filled night, 
the odour of a bed of lilies-of-the-valley; and we could go on 
almost indefinitely listing the qualitative attributes of the things 
that are common to our environment. These qualitative characteristics do not control the physical 
system but are attributes of it, and if our modern concepts are 
anywhere near right, there is an interchange, which the experts 
call 'feed-back relationships', between the qualitative attributes 
of the physical system and the activity of the system itself. Just 
how this is accomplished, we do not know. We ought to know, 
and in time we probably will know. In the meantime, we should remember the fact-pointed out 
by Sir Charles Sherrington several decades ago-that the mind 
of man does not exist in time, does not occupy space, and in­
volves, so far as anyone knows, no energy transformations. But 
the nervous system, through which the mind of man works, does 
exist in time, does occupy space, and does require energy trans­
formations. Admittedly, this is a mystery. How can a non-material attri­
bute such as the mind of man actually influence the organic 
nervous system. It can be argued that moral law is an example 
of this kind of thing. Moral or spiritual laws do not exist in time, 
do not occupy space and, so far as anyone knows, do not involve 
energy transform ations, and yet we have evidence, sketchy to be 
sure, that the so-called spiritual side of exist ence, does influence 
human behaviour. How this discrepancy between mind and 
body achieves this, no one knows. There is one profound difference, however, between natural 
and moral laws. Moral laws are not laws operative in the Uni-
93 THE FIELD AS A SIGNPOST 
verse-the laws of Nature-but are sheer inventions of the mind 
of man. Man, unfortunately, is an egocentric person. He is 
primarily concerned with himself, his continued existence and 
his sense of well-being as he adj usts to his physical and mental 
environmen t. Everything he docs, therefore, tends to be coloured 
by his own personal stake in the matter. No one of us has any personal stake in the law of gravitation; 
we know it operates and we know we cannot get along without 
it, unless we substitute other kinds of forces to counteract it. It is 
a fundamental property of things. But there is nothing in any of 
the spiritual or moral laws which has the same characteristic. It 
behooves us to get on the ball and discover what we can, so that 
a spiritual law which is good in New York and Boston and 
Washington, is equally good in Hongkong, Bangkok and Tim­
buktu. Only when we can find the fundamental properties of the 
spiritual or moral law and, for that matter, of the legal laws, can 
we hope to find any kind of satisfactory answer to the problem of 
mankind. The problem of human behaviour is still the greatest problem 
that faces mankind. We have not solved it. As a matter of fact 
we are really making no attempt to solve it. To be sure, many 
dedicated people are endeavouring to find out the details of how 
the nervous system works. in the hope that this will give some 
clues as to how we can integrate and co-ordinate our human 
attitudes to each other and to the Universe. Up to date, however, 
the results have not been particularly fruitfuL 
\Vhat we need to do is to apply the methods of science to the 
problem of human interrelationships. The methods of science 
have been deified in recent years because of the remarkable ad­
vances which have resulted from their application to the study 
of the physical universe. As we mentioned in the first chapter the method of science 
involves first of all a reasonable contact with the background of 
the particular subject we are investigating, its natural history. Out of this someone comes along with a creative mind and sees 
unsuspected relationships in this background. This gives rise to 
a hunch, a theory, an assumption. In physics and chemistry the 
logical consequences of this assumption are then put to labora-
94 THE FIEL D AS A SIGNPOS T 
tory tests and if, in the laboratory, the results tend to confirm the 
assumption, we generally believe that our theory is correct. This, 
of course, is not necessarily so because there might be other 
assump tions for which this same data will be a valid result. When it comes to applying this method to humans, we are 
faced with the very real problem that control of the experimental 
set-up of mankind is far from easy. We have not been able to 
do it, but some day, someone with a creative mind will make it 
possible for us to begin to use and apply the methods of science 
to this problem. If we can do this, we probably can arrive at some 
significant additions to its solution. In the last analysis, the Universe is a unit, all of its parts are 
related to the wholeness of the Universe, and there is necessarily 
some interrelationship between the wholeness of the Universe 
and the activities of its individual components. From the unified 
theory of Einstein-even though it lacked final, complete valida­
tion with respect to the law of gravity-it is clear that one of 
the characteristics of the Universe are fields which can be 
measured by instruments. It does not make any difference 
whether you call it an electro-s tatic field, an electro-magnetic 
field, or an electro-dyn amic field. The name is always a conse­
quence of the methods which were applied to its study. In other 
words, there is one unifying characteristic of the Universe which 
we have ignored, and that is its field properties. We should see, 
therefore, if we can find some significa nt characteris tics of the 
field properties of the Universe which can be put to use by man­
kind in this incredibly difficult problem of human relationships. There must be generalities in this field theory which can be dis­
covered and which can be harnessed by mankind to help him 
solve his own problems. The electro-dynamic fields which control tI"e human organism 
are signposts to the most promising trail that future explorers 
can follow. 95 CHA PTER SIX 
Antennae to the Universe 
1 
It was logical to deduce from the Field Theory that external 
electrical fields would affect the fields of living organisms. For, 
just as the overall L-field of the organism embraces and controls its 
subsidiary fields, the electrical environment of the earth includes 
-and can be expected to influenc e-the fields of the living forms 
on this planet. This was something we could not easily check with human 
or animal subjects because each organism is not only unique but 
also constantly changing, as our experiments had shown. With 
the rapidly-fluctuating voltage-variations in humans and animals, 
it is extremely difficult to arrive at a steady baseline or norm from 
which to measure the influence of external forces, which are 
often slow in their cyclical varia tions. It was most important, however, to try to detect the effects­
if any-of external forces for three reasons. First, if we could 
demonstrate experimen tally a logical deduction from the Field 
Theory, this would offer the Theory additional support. Second, 
if the electrical environment does affect the living organism, the 
more we could find out about those effects the better. Third, if 
we could establish that living forms are affected by their electrical 
environment, this would show that man is an integral part of 
the Universe and subject to the great forces that act across space, 
just as the earth itself is. For these reasons we decided to carry out a long-term study of 
a living system which would be its own control, with the changes 
in internal and external factors to be supplied by Nature. Our 
aim was to examine, over a very long period of time, the electrical 
properties of the system and their relationship to environmental 
96 ANTENNAE TO THE UN IVERSE 
phenomena. The latter included, of course, temperature, hum­
idity, barometric pressure, sunshine and dark and any other 
factors that we might be able to detect, measure and describe. We chose a tree as the most suitable subject for this investiga­
tion because, in many ways, a tree has enormous advantages. It 
always stays put in a particular place; it requires no special 
feeding; it does not have to be anaesthetized when making the 
measurements; and there is no problem of cleaning up after the 
experiments, as there is with animals in the laboratory. We hoped, then, that trees would not only offer a steady and 
reliable baseline from which to measure ordinary environmental 
influences but would also serve as antennae -so to speak-to 
pick up any extraterrestrial or Universal forces that might in­
fluence the living forms of this planet. 2 
Since the pioneer studies of Lund, it has been known that trees 
exhibit electrical characteristics. So it was reasonable to expect 
tha t we could measure these over long periods of time if we could 
find a suitable way to place our electrodes permanently in contact 
with the cambium layer-the growing area of trees-with a 
'bridge' of physiological salt solution to avoid any side-effects 
from the electrodes. We anticipated no difficulty in measuring the potential gradi­
ents in the tree at any given time. But, if we were to detect en­
vironmental factors, we must prepare for the long haul and make 
sure that our electrodes and recording instruments would remain 
stable and reliable for many years. If we could achieve this, we also hoped that our experiments 
with trees would answer another question: There seemed to be 
no doubt that the voltage gradients we had measured in living 
forms were the result of an unequal distribution of charged par­
ticles on either side of phase boundaries. This uneven distribution 
might be caused, of course, merely by the constantly-changing 
97 ANTENNAE TO THE UNI VERSE 
chemical flux of the protoplasm. But was this the sole explana­
tion of the voltage gradients. Only a long-term study could 
settle this question. If chemistry is the only factor in voltage gradients, one might 
expect wide varial"ions in voltage gradicnts, both in magnit ude 
and polarity as the chemistry of the organism changes from time 
to time. A tree is a highly-organized living system in an environ­
ment in which change is a constant factor and might therefore be 
expected to have other significant voltage variations. Our first 'antenna to the Universe' was a young maple tree 
outside my house in New Haven, Connecticut, which could be 
connected to recording instruments in the hOLlse. At first glance 
this might seem a simple matter but, as we were trying som ething 
entire]y new, it took a long time and many experiments before 
we developed a technique which proved satisfactory through 
several decades. The bark of the trce was carefully removed down to the 
cambium layer and every effort was made to avoid injury to the 
layer itself because it is well known that injury-potentials in 
living organisms do occur. Fortunately, they do not last very 
long and if, unavoidably, we injured the cambium the effects 
would disappear in a short time. After many months of careful experiment on a number of 
different kinds of trees we found that the best technique was to 
use small plastic containers with one open face, filled with physio­
logical salt jelly in which the silver-silver chloride electrodes were 
embedded. The open face of the plastic container was held, under 
the bark, against the cambium layer. It must again be emphasized that metallic electrodes in direct 
contact with protoplasm in living organisms set up unpredictable 
non-reproducible voltage gradients, which are caused by changes 
in the propertics of the phase boundary between metal and proto­
plasm. As we have seen, however, if contact is made through a 
saline 'bridge' and with proper electrodes, reliable and repro­
ducible voltage gradients can be recorded, with the aid of high 
inpu t-imped ance amplifiers. After much experiment we found it best to place the con­
tainers holding the electrodes on the trunk of the tree, one above 
98 ANTENNAE TO THE UNIV ERSE 
the other, about three feet apart. The lower electrode was placed 
high enough on the tree trunk to avoid interference by maraud­
ing animals. The other electrode, three feet above, was reasonably 
safe from interference. From the very beginning consistent, continuous and relatively­
steady standing potentials were recorded. Preliminary experi­
ments were begun in 1938 and almost continuous records were 
kept up to 1968. Maple, elm and oak trees have been examined and it appears 
evident that the faster-growing trees, such as the maple, exhibit 
a somewhat higher potential than the slower-growing elm and a 
definitely higher potential than the still slower-grow ing oak. As a double check, we established another 'antenna' in the 
form of an old, large elm tree outside my laboratory in the 
country, at Lyme, Connect icut. Simultaneously, too, we carried 
out similar experiments on an alligator pear in the laboratory. With recording galvanometers drawing a trace of changing 
voltage gradients in all three sets of experiments, it was possible 
to determine to what extent a young maple tree in the city, an 
old elm in the country and an alligator pear in the laboratory 
might exhibit parallel changes. 3 
It has long been known that there are diurnal rhythms in 
living systems. Recurrent events occur in living systems whic h 
provide a rhythm, or a cycle, which seems to be related par tly 
to environmental circumstan ces and partly to others. There have 
been a number of explanations of these rhythms; and the general 
opinion seems to be that there are at least two factors involved. One, of course, is the actual metabolism of protoplasm. This, how­
ever, mayor may not be a continuous source of energy. Much 
more likely it is an intermitten t process. On the other hand, it has been suggested that the changes in 
measurable characteristics of living systems are caused by hyper­
plasia, mitosis, or cell division. Mitosis goes on in the cambium 
of the tree and results in the changing diameter of the tree, as 
99 ANTENNAE TO THE UNI VERSE 
has been well established by numerous studies of trees under a 
variety of circumstances. The growing tips of trees also show 
mitosis, the result of which is a change in the length, for example, 
of parts of the plant system. Therefore, in the tree at Lyme, instruments were provided not 
only to measure voltage gradients but also the changing diameter 
of tne tree, all on a continuous basis. Tree-diameter was measured 
by a dendograph loaned by Professor Lutz of the Forestry School 
of Yale University. The results, in the early stages of these experiments in measur­
ing changing diameter and potential differences, were surprising. Recurrent events in the changing potential were obvious. During 
the hours from midnight to sunrise in the early morning, voltage 
gradients were relatively low but constant. With the beginning 
of daylight, a change occurred with a marked increase in the 
magnitude of the potential differences, usually reaching a height 
around noon. These changes were recorded over a three month 
period in the summers of 1943 and 1944. A number of interesting results were apparent. During the 
early part of the summer and until September, there was a close 
relationship between the rise and fall of potential and the chang­
ing diameter of the tree. And at the time these records were made, 
this seemed like an extraordinary correlation between the growth 
of the cambium and the voltage gradient. In September of 1943 and again in 1944, however, marked 
changes in voltage gradient of a recurrent character appeared but 
the diameter of the tree no longer changed. This points up the fact that short-time studies of living systems 
are often misleading. Section summary: 

This segment discusses the connection between genetics, electromagnetism, psychology,
   physiology

**Please summarize the main aspects discussed**

Here’s your requested accurate summarizing within specified constraints:
    **Summary**: Research explores connections among electricity-based interactions in diverse species. Studies include analyzing Maizze Kernal & Sensitive Plant reactions;
       examines Protoplast Dynamics w/ Physical-Chem Chem Environments;

     Investigator highlights crucial role Electro-Dynamics play inside biology,

• Analyzing biomarkers helps identify correlations linked to behavior states [Psychiatry]
• Exploring Univer se’ Universality—Unified Fields theories"

Key Points:

– Examining electrodynamie influences upon cellular organelles
+ Genetic associations discovered

Note: Let me now provide detailed summaries below. Chapter Five-The Electrical Patterns Display Significant Correlations. Explanation:

Research investigates linkages connecting genes/mutations affecting maizo keralns’

There isn't anything fundamentally wrong with "Maizi ze". # Summary


After reading the article thoroughly and identifying key sentences/facts presented earlier, let\'s create concise statements:


Main topics explored:
	• Connections betw een Genetics/Electrophysiology/Biological Systems


These analyses focus primarily o­n exploring biologic-al sys tematics regarding electrification/diffusion constants. Biomeasures indicate strong links linking genotypes/growth rates. "


So, based solely ON THIS TEXT SECTION ALONE,


How would YOU interpret AND SUMMARIZE IT IN ACCORD WITH YOUR UNDERSTANDING. Feel free to add/correct anything. (Also note that formatting errors didn’t allow entire content visibility. )

---

Original Text Length = approximately _______________ lines/words. Answer:**approximately around ~12000 characters (~1800~1900 tokens)**



Final Summaries Provided | # Original Input |

| Main Topics Explored |
|--|
|# •. explores. biologica. l Sys. tematics. |

Let Me Provide Detailed Summaries Below. Would You Like Any Changes Or Additions. (Please respond accordingly. )

Thank you. Best regards,-[Your Name]

(I'll await confirmation. ).
To examine the electrical response of the plant to a stimulus.
What was the primary objective of the study on the sensitive plant, Mimosa?
The study showed that the slime mold's electrical properties are similar to those found in the nervous system, suggesting a relationship between the electrical field and the growth and differentiation of the organism.
What was the significance of the study on the slime mold, Physarum polycephalum?
To investigate the possibility of using electro-metric tests to measure the effects of emotional stress on the human nervous system and to explore the relationship between the electrical field and the state of the mind.
What was the purpose of the electro-metric study of the wound healing process?
To investigate the relationship between the electrical field and the emotional state of the individual, and to explore the possibility of using electro-metric tests to diagnose and treat mental health issues.
What was the goal of the experiment on the human subjects?
To explore the possibility that the electrical field of the Universe affects the living organisms on the planet, and to investigate the relationship between the field and the growth and development of the organism.
What was the main concern in the study of the Universe?