B14 EXPERIMENT STATION EECOED. [Vol. 86 



of para-cresol. A very small percentage of au aromatic and nonphenolic oil of 

 agreeable odor, having the composition CioHieO, was also present with the oil. 

 This substance was found to be present in larger amounts during the summer 

 months than during the winter, and the oils eliminated at the two seasons not 

 to be chemically identical. It is indicated that the nature of these substances 

 apparently depends upon the nature of the terpene-like bodies contained in the 

 feed which the animals obtain. 



The terms " urogon " and " urogol," used by Mooser,^ have been shown to be 

 identical with the mixture of para-cresol and the nonphenolic oil described. 



II. The nonphenolic volatile oils of goat urine. — Experimental data presented 

 show that the neutral oil obtained from goat urine which has been previously 

 described " under the name of " urogon " is not a chemical entity but a mixture. 

 The substances isolated are identical with the oils isolated from cow urine. 



III. The nonphenolic volatile oils of horse and human urine. — A neutral alkali- 

 insoluble oil which had the composition corresponding to the formula C7H12O 

 was isolated from horse urine. An oil of similar composition and properties was 

 found in human urine. On account of the very small yield obtained the oils 

 could not be identified. It is deemed probable that " the kind of neutral alkali- 

 insoluble oils excreted in the urine of different animals will be found to depend 

 to a large extent upon the nature of the terpene-like bodies contained in the 

 food, and for this reason the nature of the oil will vary in accordance with 

 season and the available food supply." 



The chemistry of the vitamins, R. R. Williams (Philippine Jour. Sci., Sect. 

 A, 11 (1916), No. 2, pp. 4^-57). — The author describes a method for separating 

 the vitamin of rice polishings and reports the preparation of several derivatives 

 of nicotinic acid, the curative property of these derivatives being tested by feed- 

 ing per OS to neuritic fowls. 



The chemical nature of the "vitamins ". — II, Isomerism, in natural anti- 

 neuritic substances, R. R. Williams and A. Seidell (Jour. Biol. Chem., 26 

 (1916), No. 2, pp. 431-456, pi. 1, figs. 5). — Continuing the work previously noted 

 (E. S. R., 35, p. 711), the authors have found that the physiological properties 

 of autolyzed yeast are not appreciably altered by treatment with relatively con- 

 centrated caustic alkali. Aqueous alkali in contact with fullers' earth "acti- 

 vated" by contact with autolyzed yeast filtrate modified the physiological action 

 of the yeast filtrate in respect to its power to maintain the weight of pigeons 

 on a deficient diet, but did not sensibly affect its antineuritic function. 



A crystalline antineuritic substance was obtained by alkaline extraction of 

 " activated " fullers' earth, the physiological action of which was apparently not 

 due to adhering mother liquor. Attempts to purify this substance by recrystal- 

 lization resulted in a loss of its antineuritic properties. The resulting product 

 was found to be identical with adenin, and by suitable treatment again ac- 

 quired antineuritic properties. From the results thus obtained it is deemed 

 probable that an isomer of adenin is the chemical entity responsible for the 

 characteristic physiological properties of the vitamin investigated. 



The experimental data are described in detail and the chemical nature of the 

 vitamins discussed. In connection with the latter it is suggested that "the 

 vitamins contain one or more groups of atoms constituting nuclei in which the 

 physiological properties are resident. In a free state these nuclei possess the 

 vitamin activity, but under ordinary conditions are spontaneously transformed 

 into isomers which do not possess antineuritic power. The complementary sub- 

 stances or substituent groups with which these nuclei are more or less firmly 



1 Hoppe-Seyler's Ztschr. Physiol. Chem., 63 (1909), No. 2-3, pp. 155-200. 

 sPflUger's Arch. Physiol., 156 (1914), pp. 225-252. 



