1. The effect of acetylcholine (ACh) on the frequency of spontaneous action potentials, recorded with glass microelectrodes from small preparations of the sino-atrial node of the rabbit, has been investigated. 2. On application of ACh there was a rapid increase in cycle length (the interval between successive action potentials) but then, despite the continued presence of the ACh, cycle length decreased once again; i.e. the response to ACh 'faded' in the presence of ACh. This fade of the chronotropic response to ACh has been characterized. 3. To observe fade it was found to be important to use a fast flow bath in order to increase the ACh concentration at the preparation abruptly. In other words, the response to ACh was sensitive to the rate of increase in the ACh concentration at the tissue. This may explain why in one study of the sino-atrial node of the guinea-pig the authors failed to observe fade. 4. The concentration dependence of fade was studied in two ways: either as the fade in the response with different doses of ACh, or as the decrease in the response to a fixed test dose applied after a variable conditioning dose. Both methods indicated that fade increased with concentration over the range of roughly 10(-7) to 10(-5) M-ACh. 5. The onset of fade, i.e. the decline in cycle length during an exposure to ACh, was monophasic with low doses of ACh and biphasic (with fast and slow phases) with higher doses. The mean half-times of the fast and slow phases of fade were 10 +/- 2 s and 240 +/- 30 s (mean +/- S.E.M.; n = 5). However, in some preparations, rather than a smooth decrease in cycle length, there were discontinuities and cycle length could decrease in a stepwise fashion or even transiently alternate between two distinct states. 6. Time was required for recovery from fade because a response to a test dose applied soon after a conditioning dose was depressed. Recovery was studied by applying test doses at different times after conditioning doses. Recovery occurred with a half-time of 40 +/- 8 s (mean +/- S.D.; n = 8) after a short exposure (30 s) to ACh, but was slower (half-time, 250 +/- 20 s; n = 6) after a longer exposure (5 min). 7. Immediately after washing off ACh, cycle length decreased below its original value, although it then returned to this value over several minutes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)