ON THE ACCELERATION OF THE OXIDATION OF 

 ALUMINIUM BY MEANS OF MERCURY 



J. F. McCLENDON 

 (Laboratory of Physiology, University of Minnesota) 



Our knowledge of oxidations in the body is so meagre that any 

 observations on rapid oxidations at room temperatures outside the 

 body may be of interest. Although many accelerators (enzymes) 

 have been extracted from living cells, such extracts, after being cen- 

 trifuged, are incapable of oxidizing any of the ordinary food stuffs 

 to carbon dioxid and water. With the aid of adsorption surfaces, 

 carbon dioxid may be produced by some tissue extracts, but the 

 complicated relations involved are very difficult to investigate. Un- 

 saturated fatty acids and their Compounds (such as lecithin) oxidize 

 spontaneously in the air but no carbon dioxid is produced. OxaHc 

 acid is completely oxidized by blood charcoal and oxygen in water ; 

 but in this case one active oxygen atom is sufficient to oxidize a 

 whole molecule of the acid, or the molecule of formic acid, if it 

 is split into carbon dioxid and formic acid. A less complete oxida- 

 tion would hardly be expected. 



A number of inorganic accelerators have been found and I wish 

 to add one to the list. If a trace of mercury is driven into a piece 

 of aluminium by means of an electric spark, the aluminium will burn 

 in dry air (humidity lo percent at 20° C.) at a rapid rate. A volu- 

 minous oxid is formed so fast that its increase may be easily de- 

 tected by continuous Observation for a few seconds with the naked 

 eye or a low-power lens. The masses of white oxid grow out 

 of the metal as plants grow out of the ground, attaining the height 

 of a millimeter in a few minutes. In this process, the energy liber- 

 ated by oxidation is partly expended in lifting the weight of the 

 oxid against gravi ty, in the same way that part of the energy of 

 oxidations in the body is ultimately expended in lifting the body 

 during growth. 



96 



