The molar concentration of various electrolytes isotonic with liver or with kidney tissue immediately after its removal from the body is determined by the molecular weight, valency, and ion-dissociation of these electrolytes in accordance with the well known conditions of osmosis.

The plasma membranes of liver and of kidney cells are imperfectly semipermeable to electrolytes, and those that enter the cell, though retarded in so doing, bring about injury which increases permeability to water.

The osmotic activity of cells of mammalian liver and kidney immediately after their removal from the body resembles that of plant cells, egg cells of marine invertebrates, and mammalian red blood corpuscles and presumably represents a basic property of living cells by which osmotic pressure may be adjusted to functional need.