No. 2, December, 1921] PHYSIOLOGY 119 



METABOLISM (GENERAL) 



757. Baxcroft, Wilder D. [Rev. of : Harvey, E. Nbwto.v. The nature of animal light. 

 X + 182 p. J. B. Lippincott Co.: Philadelphia, 1920. $2.50.] Jour. Phys. Chem. 25: 82-87. 

 1921. 



758. Dezani, S. Ricerche sulla diffusione dell' acido solfocianico nei vegetal!. Nota 

 II. [The distribution of thiocyanic acid in plants. Second contribution.] Staz. Sper. Agrarie 

 Ital. 53: 43S— 150. 1920. — The jiresent contribution is a continuation of an earlier paper 

 (Biochimica e Terapia Sperimentale Fasc. III. 1919). The work of \Veren.skiold, Pollacci, 

 and of Kooper is here severely criticized on the ground that the methods used by these authors 

 for the detection of SCNH (precipitation of Hg from PlgjC^ and the green coloration in 

 presence of CuSO^) are not reliable when used upon plant extracts which have not been pre- 

 viously purified. — In a study of Allium cepah., Castanea vesca Gaertn., Phaseolus vulgaris 

 L., and Pisum sativumL., Dezani could obtain the same results as were obtained by the above 

 mentioned investigators only when the tests were made upon the pressed juices and extracts, 

 but he failed to obtain positive results when these plant materials were made alkaline, evap- 

 orated to small volume, acidified, extracted with ether, the ether extract thus obtained 

 washed with weak ammonia, and the washings in turn evaporated to small volume and tested 

 for SCNH. In the present investigation the method of extraction was as follows: The fresh 

 material, after crushing, was immediately dropped into boiling water and allowed to stand for 

 24 hours, after which period the extracts were removed by pressure. The results, given in 

 tabular form, show that, of all the families examined, only members of the Cruciferae appear 

 to contain SCNH, although by no means all the members of this family contain this compound. 

 The author concludes that SCNH is a normal product of metabolism and not one resulting 

 from the breakdown of glucosides of the sinigrin type, nor yet one formed by the post-mortem 

 decomposition of esters of isothiocyanic acid. — A. Bonazzi. 



759. Hardex, a. [Rev. of: Euler, H., und P. Lindner. Cheniie der Hefe und der 

 alkoholischen Garung. (Chemistry of yeast and of alcoholic fermentation.) x + 350 p., 2 pi. 

 Akad. Verlagsges. Gustav Fock: Leipzig, 1915.] Nature 107: 485-486. 1921. 



760. Klason, P. Beitrage zur Kenntnis der Konstitution des Fichtenholz-Lignins. [The 

 constitution of pine wood lignin.] Ber. Deutsch. Chem. Ges. 53: 1864-1873. 1920. — Two 

 distinct complexes are recognized in the lignin molecule. One of these contains the acrolein 

 group and is called a-lignin, the other contains a carboxyl group and is called /3-lignin. 

 The former has the general formula C22 H22 O7, the latter C19 His O9. It is believed that lignin 

 is not a secondary product of cellulose, but that it is formed directly in the assimilation 

 process. — Henry Schmilz. 



761. Klason, p. tJber Lignin und Lignin-Reactionen II. [Concerning lignin and lignin 

 reactions II.] Ber. Deutsch. Chem. Ges. 53 : 18G2-18C4. 1920. — Working with lignin obtained 

 from various woods, Klason finds that the lignin molecule is not necessarily always the same, 

 but it always contains the acrolein complex, RCH:CHCHO, and that the various color reac- 

 tions are dependent upon the presence of this complex. — Henry Schmitz. 



762. KoHLER, D. Etude de la variation des acides organiques au cours de la pigmentation 

 anthocyanique. [The variation of organic acids during anthocyanic pigmentation.] Rev. G6n. 

 Bot. 33 : 295-315, 337-356. Fig. 1 . 1921. — The author first considered plant organs in which the 

 pigmentation occurred normally. She found that in the corolla of Cobaea scandens, as well 

 as in the leaves of Ampelopsis tricuspidata, the formation of anthocj'an is correlative with an 

 increase in the amount of organic acids. It was noted that as long as the organ in question was 

 not pigmented, the amount of organic acids did not vary appreciably, and that the increase 

 was produced only at the moment of pigmentation (corollas of Cobaea scandens). Further, 

 the amount of acid increased regularly as the pigmentation became more intense (leaves of 

 Ampelopsis tricuspidata). In the hypocotyl axes of buckwheat, however, the formation of 



