Samples of minced mouse forebrain were treated in a way that resulted in a high ratio of false cholinergic transmitter (acetylhomocholine) to true transmitter (acetylcholine) in a synaptic vesicle fraction, and a low ratio of false to true transmitter in the nerve terminal cytoplasm. The spontaneous release of cholinergic transmitters from this minced tissue occurred independently of calcium and had a ratio of false to true transmitter similar to that of the cytoplasm, whereas the evoked transmitter release required calcium and had a ratio of false to true transmitter similar to that of the vesicular fraction.