712 EXPEKIMENT STATION EEOOED. [Vol.35 



The results from tests made on pigeons with these forms of o-hydroxy- 

 pyridine in general approximated very closely those obtained with hydrolyzed 

 extract of rice polishings, both in rapidity and completeness of action of the 

 paralytic symptoms. Boiling temperature destroyed the curative power of the 

 needle form, and in solutions more than five or six days old it was no longer 

 detectable. 



The granular form obtained by prolonged standing of the needles was tested 

 on a number of birds in various quantities and under various conditions, but 

 in no case was there the slightest evidence of any benefit. " This absolute lack 

 of curative properties is striking and suggestive. If the isomeric forms exist 

 in equilibrium and there is fairly rapid transformation in any direction, one 

 would suppose that the granular form would, when injected into the body, 

 rapidly convert itself into the curative form as the latter was removed from 

 solution by absorption in the tissues or fluids requiring it. That such is not 

 the case suggests strongly that the pathological conditions of polyneuritis are 

 not due to a deficiency of a substance per se, but to a lack of a certain type of 

 potential energy which only certain substances can supply. In other words 

 ... it is the potentiality of isomeric change that produces the desired result. 

 In this connection it is interesting to note that many purin and pyrimidin 

 derivatives, some of which Funk [E. S. R., 27, p. 868; 29, p. 664] has reported 

 to be partially curative for polyneuritis are also theoretically capable of a 

 similar isomerism. That these substances are to a greater or less degree enol- 

 keto tautomers is strongly indicated, by well-known reactions of uric acid for 

 example. The existence of a third isomer is not excluded by theoretical con- 

 siderations, but lacks the support of any considerable experimental evidence." 



It is indicated that the antineuritic properties of these substances " suggest 

 that an isomerism is at least partially responsible for the instability of vitamins 

 in foodstuffs, and that the antineuritic property may be inherent in the poten- 

 tiality of this type of isomerism. We may not conclude that vitamins are 

 necessarily hydroxypyridines, since a similar isomerism may exist in substances 

 containing other heterocyclic nitrogenous nuclei which are known to occur 

 widely as constituents of animal tissue." 



Separation and hydrolysis of albuminous substances from the seeds of 

 Arachis hypogasa, I. S. IAichnikov (Jainschnikow) (In RezuVt. Veget. Opytov 

 Lah. Rahot (Rec. Trav. Lab. Agron.), 9 (WIS), pp. 378-385).— Proteins from 

 UiQ seeds of A. hypogcca were extracted by means of water, 70 per cent alcohol, 

 a 10 per cent solution of sodium chlorid, and a 0.25 per cent solution of potas- 

 sium hydroxid. The total amount of nitrogen in the seeds was found to be 9.1 

 per cent, of which as much as 8.74 per cent occurred as albuminous substance, 

 including albumin, glutin, and globulin. Glutin and globulin were hydrolyzed 

 with the subsequent separation of histidin, arginin, and lysin. The work and 

 the methods employed are described in detail. 



The influence of alkali and alkaline earth salts upon the rate of solution 

 of casein by sodium hydroxid, T. B. Robertson and K. Miyake (Jour. Biol. 

 Cliem., 25 (1916), No. 3, pp. 351-361). — Analytical data submitted show that 

 " the presence of alkali or alkaline earth chlorids in the sodium hydroxid solu- 

 tions employed as solvent . . . decreases the rate of solution of casein by dilute 

 sodium hydroxid. The retardation increases with the concentration of salt em- 

 ployed. The alkaline earth chlorids in 5/1,000-normal concentration retard 

 the rate of solution of casein approximately to the same extent as 100 times 

 this concentration of a chlorid of an alkali." The amount of casein dissolved 

 (X) is expressed by the formula X=Kt^; K and m being constants and t ex- 

 pressing the time. The constants depend on the concentration and kind of 

 alkaline solution employed as solvent. 



