Elmer J. Lund
Lund worked on how simple organisms respond to their surroundings and on the electrical side of form. He studied food rejection in a ciliate1, regeneration in the hydroid Obelia2, and the orientation of Fucus eggs in an electric field4. A 1953 paper with Rosene on tree voltage patterns is later cited as a key source56.
- Born
- 13 December 1884
- Died
- 1 January 1969
- Country
- United States
- Field
- physiologist
- In the library
- 1 work, named in 9 passages elsewhere
- Facts from
- Wikidata · Wikipedia · Open Library
Ciliates and hydroids
Washburn's textbook cites Lund for work on the ciliate Bursaria. In that work the animal rejected yolk of egg particles after they had been treated with certain substances1. The passage is cut off, so the substances are not named here. Child discusses a separate paper by Lund on regeneration in the hydroid Obelia. Lund held that the stem showed no difference in rate of regeneration at different levels. He found instead a difference in the time between cutting and the start of regeneration2.
Child's reading of Obelia
Child disagreed with part of this. He said Lund counted regeneration only from the visible start of the hydranth. He said Lund ignored the cell activity that earlier authors treated as part of the process2. Child still took Lund's data as clear evidence of a physiological gradient in the stem. He added that Lund's curves do show a difference in rate, even though Child expected the rate to be alike once the cells were ready3.
Electric fields and form
Crile quotes Wilson's summary that Lund showed Fucus eggs have a polarity oriented to an applied electric field. Wilson set this beside axial potential differences in hydroids and animals4. Tyler's 2017 review cites Rosene and Lund (1953) as showing that voltage patterns follow tree form. Tyler notes that the bioelectric properties of tree wound calli are still unknown5.
On the other hand Lund (446), observing another ciliate named Bursaria, finds that this organism will reject yolk of egg particles if they have been treated with cer
Washburn, M. F., 1908 · The Animal Mind: A Textbook of Comparative Psychology · open at passage 119In this paper Lund maintains that in Obelia there is no difference in rate of regeneration at different levels of the stem, but rather a difference in length of time between section and the initiation of regeneration.
Child, C. M., 1924 · Physiological Foundations of Behavior · open at passage 206After they have attained the condition in which, hydranth development becomes possible, they are probably much alike and morphogenesis may go on at the same rate at all levels, though Lund’s curves indicate a difference in rate.
Child, C. M., 1924 · Physiological Foundations of Behavior · open at passage 208Lund has demonstrated that in the alga Fucus the polarity of the eggs shows a distinct orientation with respect to the electric field.
Crile, G. W., 1926 · A Bipolar Theory of Living Processes · open at passage 308voltage patterns conform to complex tree morphology (Rosene and Lund, 1953); and yet the bioelectric parameters of tree wound calli (which appear to regulate their development in relation to the natural form of the tree) remain unknown
Tyler SEB, 2017 · Nature's Electric Potential: A Systematic Review of the Role of Bioelectricity… · open at passage 39papers of historical importance not indexed in the above databases were obtained by study of key publications cited in this review, such as Levin (2003), Nuccitelli (1988), and Rosene and Lund (1953).
Tyler SEB, 2017 · Nature's Electric Potential: A Systematic Review of the Role of Bioelectricity… · open at passage 5