iQis] Max Kahn 405 



alone being decreased in some experiments, in others the decrease 

 affected the diastole as well as the Systole. This may be regarded as 

 the minimum concentration which can produce any effect, since a 

 n/400 sol. proved to be without any action. . . . A very noticeable 

 difference in the action of sodium tartrate was also obtained by 

 varying the perfusion time." They also found that the citrate was 

 more depressant than the tartrate. 



Brion^^ found that the various stereoisomeres of tartaric acid 

 are differently cataholised in the animal organism. He observed, 

 as Chabrie did before, that the four tartaric acids are differently 

 oxidized in the body. The /- and w-acids are oxidized more rapidly 

 and more completely than the c?-acid and still more so than the in- 

 active />-acid (racemic). However, Brion's results have not been 

 corroborated. Neuberg and Saneyoschi^^ found that, in the same 

 dog, there is a difference in the amount of oxidation of a given 

 tartaric acid at various times. They did not notice any difference 

 in the oxidation of the various tartaric acids. They also found 

 that administration of p-tartaric (racemic) acid resulted in the ex- 

 cretion of this inactive acid in the urine. Underhill, Wells and 

 Goldschmidt/^ found that sodium tartrate administered subcutane- 

 ously to rabbits (dose 0.5 to 0.765 gm.) could not be recovered in 

 the urine, and concluded that the disintegrative influence of the salt 

 upon the convoluted tubules is sufficient to account for the failure 

 of the salt to appear in the urine. 



The amount of tartaric acid that may be oxidized in the body 

 has been variously estimated. Freudberg found that the greater 

 portion is oxidized. Vietinghoff-Scheel stated that the acid " is 

 very easily burnt " in the animal organism. Both Piotrowsky^^ 

 and Magawly^^ found that tartaric acid is almost completely con- 

 sumed when given per os, only slight traces of alkali or calcium 

 salt being excreted in the urine. Pohl^^ administered sodium tar- 

 trate per OS to dogs and rabbits, and found that only about 33 per- 



*4 Brion : Zeit f. physiol. Chem., 1898, xxxv, p. 283. 



*5 Neuberg and Saneyoschi: Biochem. Zeit., 191 1, xxxvi, p. 32. 



46 Underhill, Wells and Goldschmidt : Jour. Exp. Med., 1913, xviii, p. 317. 



•^^ Piotrowsky : Dissertation, Dorpat, 1856. 



■*s Magawly : Dissertation, Dorpat, 1856 ; cited by Vietinghoflf-Scheel. 



49 Pohl : Arch. exp. Path., 1896, xxxvii, p. 424. 



