EFFECT OF PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL AGENTS 



57 



rhenius constant being of the order of 100 kilocalories (Krueger, 

 1932). The only known reaction with such a high coefficient 

 at laboratory temperatures is the heat denaturation of proteins. 

 Presumably heat inactivation of phages is the result of denatura- 

 tion of this kind. Some data from the literature on Arrhenius 

 constants and the temperature range tested are given in Table 

 IV. 



TABLE IV 

 Arrhenius Constants for Heat Inactivation of Phages 



From the table it may be noted that two values for the Ar- 

 rhenius constant are given for phage T5 by Foster, Johnson and 

 Miller (1949) and for a staphylococcus phage by Chang, Willner, 



