142 J. F. MCCLENDOX. 



and their charactersitic action on the permeability of the living 

 cell may be due to their action on proteids. In other words, the 

 plasma membrane may be entirely proteid. 



It is well known that during narcosis little or no oxygen is 

 absorbed by nerve tissue. Yerworn and his pupils assumed that 

 the narcotic directly suppressed oxidation. On the other hand 

 Mansfeld 1 supposed that the narcotic dissolving in a lipoid plasma 

 membrane made it less permeable to oxygen. It would be more 

 in harmony with the phenomena considered in previous chapters, 

 to suppose that the narcotic in low concentration decreased the 

 permeability of the plasma membrane to the anions and molecules 

 of some acid end product of oxidation, and thus stopped the 

 combustion. An objection to this hypothesis is made by War- 

 burg 2 who found that phenylurethan, which only slightly re- 

 duces oxidation in certain cells, fertilized eggs, delayed cell 

 division enormously. With greater concentration of the narcotic, 

 oxidation was greatly reduced. 



V. OSMOTIC PROPERTIES OF THE BLOOD CORPUSCLES. 



Hamburger and Bubonavik 3 have concluded that the ery- 

 throcytes are permeable to K, Na, Ca and Mg. However, the 

 opposite conclusion was reached by previous workers. 



Gyrn'?, 4 Hedin, 8 Traube 6 and others observed that the ery- 

 throcytes are relatively impermeable to neutral salts (exc. NH.1 

 salts) amino acids, various sugars and hexite, slowly permeable 

 to erythrite, more permeable to glycerine, and easily permeable 

 to monovalent alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, esters, ether, and 

 urea. In general, it may be said that the erythrocyte is perme- 

 able to lipoid-soluble substances or those that lower the surface 

 tension of water. Such substances (for instance, ether) become 

 more concentrated in the corpuscle than in the serum. Saponin 

 becomes 120, and ammonia 880 times more concentrated in 

 corpuscle than in serum. 7 



1 PJliiger's Arch., 1909, CXXIX., 69. 



2 Zeit. physiol. Chem.. LXVI., 305. 



3 Arch, internal, de Physiol., 1910. X., I. 



' 1'flitger's Arch., 1896, LXIII., 86, and Koninkl. Akad. von Wetensch. Amsterdam, 

 1910, p. 347. 



''PJliiger's Arch., 1897. LXVIII., 229; 1898, LXX.. 525. 



Biochem. Zeit., 1908, X., 371. 



7 Arrhcnius, Biochem. Zeit., iQofi, XI., 161. 



