PIEYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY. i. 71 Physiologieal Chemistry. The Comparative Concentrations of Alcohol in Human Blood and Urine at Intervals after Digestion. WALTER R. MILES (J. Pharm. Expt. Ther. 1922 20 265-319).-Estimations of the alcohol in the whole blood plasma and urine of men who had consumed a known quantity of alcohol show a greater con- centration in the plasma than in the whole blood. At first the concentrations in the blood and in the urine are approximately the same but soon that of the urine becomes appreciably greater and exceeds that of the plasma. Factors which Determine the Concentration of Calcium and of Inorganic Phosphorus in the Blood-serum of Rats. BENJ. KRAMER and JOEIN HOWLAND (Bull. Johns Hopln'ns Hosp. 1922 33 313-317).-The normal concentration of calcium in the serum of rats is from 9.5 to 10.5 mg.per 100 C.C. and that of phosphorus from 7 to 8.5 mg. per 100 C.C. These values were not increased by changes in the diet or by treatment with ultra-violet W. 0. K.i. 72 ABSTRACTS OF CHEMICAL PAPERS. light. By lowering the amount of calcium or phosphorus in the food sufficiently the concentration of the same in the serum could be diminished by as much as 50%. Subsequent addition of fish- liver oils to the food brought the values back t o normal. The same result could be obtained with phosphorus by illumination with light of wave-length less than 3000 A. A similar effect could be obtained by starvation for a few days. CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS. Sodium Chloride and Selective Diffusion in Living Organ- isms. JACQUES LOEB ( J .Cen. Physiol. 1922 5 231-254).- Sodium chloride calcium chloride and cerium chloride inhibit the diffusion of strong acids into the egg of Fundulus as shown by the decrease in the mortality among the eggs immersed in the acid on the addition of the chloride and also by the decrease in the rate of fall of the hydrogen-ion concentration. M / 8 sodium chloride corresponds with M/l,OOO calcium chloride or M/30,000 cerium chloride in producing this inhibition. Weak undissociated acids are buf feebly inhibited by these chlorides if a t all. The diffusion of strong alkalis is accelerated by sodium chloride and more so by calcium chloride. Sodium chloride in moderate con- centration accelerates also the diffusion of potassium chloride into the egg of Fundulus whilst calcium chloride does not.W. 0. K. Dextrose in Eggs of Vertebrates. G . GORI (Atti R. accad. fisiocrit. Siena 1920 21 711-716; from Chem. Zentr. 1922 iii 927).-Dextrose is absent from the yolks of eggs of Torpedo and of fishes the amount of urea present is insufficient to obscure the reaction. Using material dried first at 45" and then in a vacuum dextrose was found to be absent from mammalian ova present combined and free in birds' eggs and present in the free state in amphibian eggs. G. W. R. The Synthetic Formation of Kynurenic Acid in the Surviv- ing Liver. Z. MATSUORA and S. TAKEMURA ( J . Biochem. [Japan] 1922,1,175-180).-Kynurenic acid is produced by the perfused liver of dogs when either tryptophan or indolepyruvic acid is added to the blood.It is suggested that indolepyruvic acid is probably an intermediate step in the transformation of tryptophan into kynur- enic acid. This hypothesis is based on the fact that the same amount was produced (0.1285 and 0.1202 g.) with 1 g. of either the tryptophan or indolepyruvic acid in the perfusing mixture. CHEMICAL A~STRACTS. Some Compounds Extracted from Human Skeletal Muscles. R. ENGELAND and W. BIEHLER (2. physiol. Chem. 1922 123 29O-294) .-The following compounds have been isolated from human skeletal muscles ; carnitine C,H,,O,N ; neosine C,H1,O,N ; myokynine C,1H2,0,N ; and mirgeline isolated as the chloro- aurate CllH2203N2,HAuC14 light yellow nodular crystals. W. 0. K.PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTBY. i. 73 The Pharmacology of Cell Breathing. 11. The €"unction of Iron in Cell Breathing. 111.The Dependence of Cell Respiration on the Hydrogen-ion Concentration. PH. EILIN- GER and N. LANDSBERGER (2. physiol. Chem. 1922 123 246- 263 2 6 4 4 7 9 ) .-Amino-acids are oxidised by oxygen in presence of an emulsion of zinc sulphide-copper phosphor in a gelatin solution as they are in presence of charcoal (Warburg A. 1921 i 230; 1922 i 190) or by an emulsion of broken-up goose erythrocytes. Potassium cyanide decreases the velocity of oxidation in the case of the goose cells but at the same time i t is itself oxidised. The rate of absorption of oxygen shows a minimum a t a low concen- tration of potassium cyanide and the same phenomenon is observed in the case of isolated frog's muscle if potassium cyanide is applied. The oxidation is parallel to the fluorescence and phosphorescence of the cells under ultra-violet illumination.This is taken to indicate that the efficiency of the cells in catalysing oxidation is connected with the ability of the iron to lose an electron and so activate the oxidisable material. The rate of consumption of oxygen with charcoal or with cells depends on the hydrogen-ion concentration and this effect seems to be exerted primarily on the amino-acid which is being oxidised. W. 0. K. ROBERT FRICKE (2. physiol. Chem. 1922 124 1-7).-fUdol in the urine of diabetics is only partly detected by the " dimedon" method previously employed (A. 1922 i 300; ii 326). Improvements are described which render the method more sensitive and accurate. W. 0. K. The Presence of Aldol in the Urine of Diabetics.The Sugar Content of Cerebrospinal Fluids. K. MIFUJI ( J . Tokyo Med. SOC. 1921 35 No. 10; Japan Med. World 2 78).-The normal sugar content of the spinal fluid of the Japanese averages O*052yo. The factor obtained by dividing the blood- sugar content by the spinal fluid sugar content is largest in children and least in the senile cases. In the atrophic form of beri beri the sugar content of both liquids is practically the same as normal but in the oedematous form they are both increased. In epidemic cerebrospinal meningitis the blood-sugar content is as high as the maximum normal (0-114y0) but that of the spinal fluid is remark- ably decreased. In epilepsy the spinal fluid sugar content in the intermissions of an attack was low 0.021 yo but returned to normal eighteen hours zfter the attack.E. D. OSBORNE ( J . Amer. Med. Assoc. 1922 79 615-617; from Physiol. Abstr. 1922 7 453).-After the administration of sodium iodide by the mouth there is an increase in the concentration of sodium in the blood whilst only a trace of iodine was found in the serum proteins when these were precipitated by tungstic acid or alcohol. On the other hand after oral administration of potassium iodide there is no increase of potassium in the blood but an increase of sodium CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS. Pharmacolo,gy and Therapeutics of Iodides. whilst 7 to 26% 6f the iodine given was found in the serum proteins W. 0. K;i. 74 ABSTRACTS OF CHfEMZCAL PAPERS. Urea. A. MARIE (Compt. rend. Xoc. Bid. 1922 86 998; cf. ibid.1922 86 72).-Intravenous injections of adrenaline hydrochloride produce a considerable increase in the urea content both of the blood and of the parenchyma of the liver freed com- pletely from blood. Adrenaline has also been found to suppress the decomposition of urea in vitro when added t o a soja bean extract. Although the vegetable urease may be entirely unlike the hepatic urease the test-tube experiments lead to the con- clusion that the increase in urea content observed after an injection of adrenaline is likewise due to a suppression of the hydrolysis of urea. CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS. The Separation of Ethereal Sulphates in Rabbits after Administration of Phenol p-Bromophenol and Bromo- benzene. H. RHODE (2. physiol. Chem. 1922 124 15-36).- If phenol is administered to rabbits (0.2 g . per kg.) 12% is elimin- ated in the urine as the ethereal sulphate whereas if cystine taurine or sodium sulphite is administered at the same time 33% 17% and 27% respectively of the phenol is eliminated. Thiosulphate and sulphate are without influence on the elirnin- ation of the phenol. In the cases of p-bromophenol and of bromo- benzene the effect of the simultaneous administration of cystine is to decrease the output of ethereal sulphates the ex lanation cases. This indicates that the bromobenzene in the animal organism is first of all oxidised to p-bromophenol. Pharmacology of Benzyl Compounds. 11. CARL NIELSEN and JOHN A. HIGGINS ( J . Lab. Clin. Med. 1922 7 579-588; cf. ibid. 1921 6 388).-The observations suggest that the relaxing power of benzyl esters on the smooth muscle fibres of the intestine as a rule is dependent on the benzyl content and on the rate of hydrolysis of the benzyl compound. apparently being that phenylmercapturic acid is forme f in both W. 0. K. CHEMICAL ABSTRACTS.