I9I4] Alfred P. Lothrop 463 



alcoholic fermentation. The effect produced by potassium selenocy- 

 anate seemed to be variable, although in general the inhibition pro- 

 duced by conc. lower than 2.5 percent was slight. 



(The details of this research will be included in the author's 

 Ph.D. dissertation, soon to be published. Ed.) 



125. Reduction of selenium Compounds in the living organ- 

 ism. Victor E. Levine. Plant materials (apple pulp and potato 

 pulp) reduce sodium selenite to brick-red selenium; an alkalin reac- 

 tion favors the process. Boiled material is practically devoid of re- 

 ducing influence. Yeast reduces selenious acid, selenic acid and 

 sodium selenite to elemental selenium, but it does not reduce sodium 

 selenate. Reduction is observed, even when there is no production 

 of carbon dioxid, a f act which suggests that, in addition to the alcho- 

 lase, zymase, yeast contains a specific reducing enzyme, which with- 

 stands the toxic action of the Compounds of selenium better 

 than zymase itself. The red selenium is deposited in the cell- 

 body, the surrounding liquid remaining colorless. The cells can 

 be decolorized by washing with potassium Cyanid. 



Unboiled milk containing a small proportion of sodium selenite 

 (room temp.) shows reduction within 1-3 days; boiled milk shows 

 no evidence of reduction in that time. Unboiled milk protected with 

 toluene does not reduce as readily as milk exposed to the air. 



Animal tissues also reduce sodium selenite. Fresh liver, spieen, 

 heart, lung, kidney, pancreas, small intestine, large intestine and 

 stomach, preserved with toluene and incubated at 37.5° C, reduced 

 a 0.5 percent alkalin sol. of sodium selenite. The liver and spieen 

 caused most reduction. Portions of striped muscle, testicle, thy- 

 roid, submaxillary gland and sublingual gland gave negative results. 

 Tissues heated on a water-bath for about 10 min. failed to effect re- 

 duction. Fresh liver, however, heated or unheated, reduced sodium 

 selenite. Tissues to which Chloroform had been added had no re- 

 ducing power. Filtered Chloroform extracts also did not reduce, 

 although liver extract did so on the first or second day, and the 

 spieen on the third or fourth day. The other extracts failed to 

 effect reduction even after two weeks. Toluene-preserved, unfil- 

 tered extracts, kept at room temp. for 24-36 hr., showed reduction 

 at the end of 24 hr. only in the cases of liver, pancreas and small 



