igis] Max Kahn 403 



in 6 to 7 days. During fasting, slightly smaller doses were fatal 

 to some rabbits. Resistance was considerably increased when the 

 diet was changed to carrots. Animals on a carrot diet stood i.o 

 gm. per k. by subcutaneous injection, but 1.2 to 1.5 gm. per k. was 

 toxic. A moderate degree of tolerance for tartrates was induced 

 in animals fed on oats and cabbage. By gradually increasing the 

 dose, a large proportion (6 out of 9) of the rabbits survived 0.8 

 gm. per k., which is twice the fatal dose. Rabbits which were 

 receiving carrots did not acquire tolerance for tartrates. Sodium 

 tartrate was much less toxic when given by mouth. The minimum 

 fatal dose was 5 gm. per k. Cats are less susceptible to tartrates 

 than rabbits, as has long been known. Subcutaneous injection of 

 I gm. per k. into cats induced slight diarrhea in some individuals, 

 and had no effect whatever in others. One and one-half gm. per 

 k. proved fatal to one cat, but was without action in another. Of 

 four cats that received 2 gm. per k., three died and one survived. 

 When sodium tartrate was given by mouth, vomiting frequently 

 occurred. In one case, however, when 10 gm. per k. were fed, 

 diarrhea was the only effect observed. 



Upon infusoria and algae, tartaric acid acts very destructively. 

 Bokorny^^ noticed that tartaric acid, at a concentration of 0.05 per- 

 cent, kills Spirogyra and Spharoplea in 34 min; o.oi percent was 

 fatal in several days. Neutral salts of this acid have no toxic 

 effect on these organisms. Vietinghoff-Scheel came to the same 

 conclusion. He found that concentrations less than i percent of 

 the neutral salts were without effect on infusoria. 



Experimental pharmacology. . Several observers have in- 

 vestigated the changes in the hlood due to the administration of 

 tartaric acid or its salts. Freudberg^^ found that 5 to 10 gm. of 

 the acid administered per os to dogs, caused reduction in the al- 

 kalinity of the blood, amounting to 16 percent. Wallace and 

 Cushny^'^ observed that sodium tartrate is absorbed at about the 

 same rate as the sulfate. 



Vietinghoff-Scheel did not observe any effect of neutral sodium 



35 Bokorny : Pflüger's Arch., 1896, Ixiv, p. 278. 



36 Freudberg : Virchow's Arch., 1891, cxxv, p. 566. 

 ^''Wallace and Cushny: Amer. Jour. Physiol., 1898, i, p. 411. 



