ALLOCATION OF ELECTRICAL RESPONSES FROM THE COMPOUND EYE OF GRASSHOPPERS

1. The effect of extirpation of the optic ganglion on the ERG and on electrical oscillations recorded from the compound eye was determined. 2. Extirpation of the optic ganglion prevents the occurrence of oscillations, and it is concluded that they originate in the ganglion. 3. Extirpation of the optic ganglion changes the wave form of the ERG. The sharpness of the b-wave is decreased, the relative magnitude of the c-wave is increased, and the d-wave is obliterated. These changes can be explained by assuming that the ERG is the algebraic sum of two potential changes, one in the compound eye, and another, of opposite sign in the ganglion. This assumption is supported by data from a number of experiments in which the electrode positions were varied. 4. The explanation of the present data (which indicates two sites of origin of the ERG) is similar to the three-component theory which accounts for the complex wave form of the vertebrate ERG.