PHARMACOLOGICAL STUDIES ON THE HEART OF TAPES WATLINGI: A MOLLUSC OF THE FAMILY VENERIDAE

Abstract

The extreme sensitivity to acetylcholine of the heart of Venus mercenaria, a lamellibranch mollusc, was first reported by Acetylcholine has since been shown to duplicate the actions of the endogenously released cardioinhibitory transmitter, with which it is considered identical (Prosser, 1940; Welsh & Slocombe, 1952). Since both the sensitivity and specificity of the heart of Venus mercenaria towards acetylcholine are of a high order, the preparation has been extensively used as a test object for the bioassay of this substance (Smith & Levin, 1938; Wait, 1943; Tower and McEachern, 1948).