Abstract
The anesthetic effects of aqueous solutions of the n-alkanes pentane to nonane on the propagated action potential of squid axons were investigated for a range of axon diameters. The mechanisms which may underly the increased sensitivity of small axons to impulse blockade by n-alkanes are discussed. A quantitative comparison is made between the effects of n-hexane, n-heptane and n-octane on the action potential. This supports the idea of a real decline in anesthetic potency on ascending the homologous series, rather than an effect due to long diffusion times and solution depletion.