312 ASCORBIC ACID 



interest is the relation between the ascorbic acid content and state of ac- 

 tivity of the organ. Giroud et al?^^ reported finding 17 mg. % in cow ovaries 

 without corpora hi tea, and in the corpora lutea there was considerably more. 

 The maximum found was 103 mg. % in the fully developed periodic corpus 

 luteum and 162 mg. % in the corpus luteum of pregnancy. During regression 

 of the corpus luteum the ascorbic acid content was found to decrease. Other 

 reports have supported these findings.^-" • ^^^ Similarly, in the testes an es- 

 pecially high content has been found in the interstitial tissue by the use of 

 histochemical methods. ^^s Click and Biskind--" found 21 to 30 mg. % in the 

 entire glands whereas in the interstitial tissue the content was four to twelve 

 times this amount. In both the ovary and testes there appears to be a rela- 

 tionship between the high content and state of activity of the tissue. A 

 connection with hormonal functions is suggested. 



Roe et alP^ made a study of the relation of ascorbic acid to gastric func- 

 tion. Guinea pigs maintained on a scorbutigenic diet were used. Histamine 

 was injected every 15 minutes into a fasted animal, and at half -hour inter- 

 vals for a period of 2 hours the stomach contents were removed, and the 

 volume, total acidity, and free hydrochloric acid determined. Up to the 

 time of onset of severe scurvy symptoms there was little change in secretory 

 function, but with the development of acute symptoms there was a marked 

 reduction in volume of secretion and a decrease in acidity. 



4. Relation to Metabolism 



Several investigations have shown diurnal fluctuations in the ascorbic 

 acid content of rapidly growing plants, with the vitamin increasing during 

 the day and decreasing at night .2'^^""''-^" The loss in ascorbic acid content is 

 associated with growth. If, however, the plants are kept in darkness at 

 temperatures too low for growth, a loss of ascorbic acid does not occur. -^''' 

 These nightly losses of the vitamin may be chiefly, but not necessarily, 

 caused by respiratory processes similar to the respiratory losses of this 

 substance in animals as shown by Burns et alP 



A close relation exists between growth and the ascorbic acid content of 



236 A. Giroud, I. Cesa, R. Ratsimamanga, andM. Rabinowicz, Compt. rend. soc. hiol- 



122,899 (1936). 

 2" A. A. Policard and M. Ferrand, Compt. rend. soc. hiol. 123, 1081 (1936). 

 "8 E. Tonut.ti, Z. Vitaminforsch. 9, 349 (1939). 

 "9 H. G. Moldtmaim, Planta 30, 297 (1939). 

 2*0 M. E. Reid, 134th Meeting, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 



Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 1939. 

 "I E. F. Kohman and D. R. Porter, Science 92, 561 (1940). 

 "2 A. M. Smith and J. Gillies, Biochem. J. 34, 1312 (1940). 

 2«a M. E. Reid, Bull. Torrcy Botan. Club 68, 359 (1941). 

 2«b M. E. Reid, Bidl. Torrey Botan. Club 68, 519 (1941). 



