70 Intracdlular Water [Sept. 



circulatory System and (C) the water in the secretions and excre- 

 tions. Any disturbance of this eqiiilibrium, particularly by special 

 loss from the whole organism, is speedily feit in the individual cells. 



Much of the intracellular water is consumed to local advantage 

 in the chemical processes characteristic of any given type of cell. 

 Some of the water in a cell appears to unite molecularly, especially 

 with colloids, in forms comparable to water of crystallization 

 (hydration). Water is directly involved in various intracellular 

 processes of hydrolytic dissociation, hydrolysis (hydrolases), and 

 oxidation (oxidases). Free water is also produced in cells, espe- 

 cially by intracellular processes of dehydration and oxidation. 



Water is certainly an important factor in essential intracellular 

 phenomena of surface tension. It seems to participate in complex 

 intracellular unions of masses and molecules which are peculiar to 

 protoplasm. That there are many gaps in our knowledge of the 

 relations between intracellular water and many other cell conditions 

 and phenomena, is veiy evident to all who interest themselves in 

 this perplexing subject. What a fruitful field for research! 



II. INTRACELLULAR SALINS 

 William H. Welker 



The ash that results from the incineration of cellular matter is 

 neither a true qualitative nor an exact quantitative representation of 

 the inorganic matter occurring in the material. Incineration causes 

 volatile inorganic substances, such as chlorid, to disappear in part. 

 On the other band, Clements such as iron, carbon, and sulfur, in 

 true organic combinations, are oxidized in great degree to non- 

 volatile inorganic products. Then, too, incineration induces de- 

 composition of and reactions among intracellular inorganic con- 

 stituents. Such changes may cause loss by volatilization and also 

 induce alterations in the nature of some of the residual inorganic 

 radicals. 



Aqueous extracts of cellular matter yield less ash than the cor- 

 responding amounts of the tissue itself. Dialysis experiments now 

 in progress in this laboratory (by Erpf-Lefkovics under Dr. Gies' 

 direction) indicate that the quantities of inorganic matter which 

 can be removed from cellular materials by long continued diffusion 



