tonicity (tonisiti)

[ elasticity of living parts-a property of the muscles which is distinct from true irritability, and determines the general tone of the solids. In virtue of this power the dilators of the lar ynx keep this organ open, the face is kept symmetrical, the sphincters are kept closed, etc. 2. In music . See the quotation. Pleasantne of harmony is due to what he [Oettingen] calls the tonicity and phon i city of certain intervals and combined notes. Tonicity is the property of being recognized as a constituent of a single fundamental tone which is designated by the name tonic. G. T. Ladd , Physiol. Psychology, p. 324. Arterial tonicity, the contractility of the muscular fibers in the walls of the arteries in response to a stimulus, in contradistinction to the normal elasticity of the blood ve els. 6378