1923] SEIFRIZ— SALTS 399 



The concentrations of sodium chloride and calcium chloride 

 used with alcohol were the 0.128 M ones employed in the earlier 

 experiments. While these concentrations of the two salts always 

 prevented the death of all cells, yet all the cells were not always 

 normal in appearance. With the idea that some other proportion 

 might prove to be a more perfectly balanced solution, the quantity 

 of calcium chloride was gradually reduced, keeping the amount of 

 sodium chloride constant; and in another series the amount of 

 sodium chloride was reduced, while the concentration of calcium 

 chloride was kept constant. Two other solutions were prepared, 

 in which the amounts of sodium chloride and calcium chloride in 

 one solution were reduced to half, and in the other doubled. Of all 

 these various combinations, only one proved to be less toxic than 

 the original proportion. Doubling the amount of sodium chloride 

 and calcium chloride (that is, 0.256 M NaCl+0.256 M CaCl 2 ) gave 

 a combination of salts which more perfectly antagonized the alcohol, 

 since not only were there no cells killed (when the percentage of 

 cells killed in alcohol alone was 95 per cent), but all the cells were 

 more normal in appearance, with only one apparent slight abnormal- 

 ity, namely an unusually high viscosity as evidenced by the irregular 

 shape maintained by many of the plasmolyzed protoplasts. 



Discussion 



Three prominent facts stand out as a result of the foregoing 

 experiments: first, calcium chloride never opposes the ill effect of 

 ethyl alcohol on protoplasm; second, sodium chloride usually does 

 act as an antagonizer, sometimes completely (so far as preventing 

 death goes), but sometimes with very slight effect; and third, a 

 combination of sodium chloride and calcium chloride acts unfailingly 

 as an almost perfect inhibitor of the toxic influence of 10 per cent 

 alcohol. 



The effect of sodium on the toxicity of alcohol is in harmony, 

 in part, with the other results obtained by the plasmolytic method. 

 It was found (9) that alcohol lowers the critical plasmolytic con- 

 centration, and therefore decreases osmotic pressure (due to 

 increase in permeability). It was further found that sodium 

 chloride raises the critical concentration, at times to exceedingly 



