AUXETICS 25 



Hence we say that atropine augments the auxetic 

 fivefold ; and these augmented divisions are 

 frequently of the asymmetrical variety. 



Among those dyes which previously were not 

 effective, 



Artificial : neutral red . . (0'4 c.c., 1 per cent) 

 eosin 1 . . . (1 c.c. ) 



induced divisions in the presence of atropine; 

 gentian violet and methyl violet, however, were 

 not effective at all. 



There appears to be no chemical principle 

 common to all these dyes. 



With regard to the natural auxetics, it has been 

 shown that extract of suprarenal gland is a power- 

 ful excitor of cell-division by itself; and that if 

 atropine is present, extracts of muscle, spleen, 

 liver, testis, etc., are also auxetics. Creatine 

 (4 c.c., 1 per cent), which is contained in some 

 of these extracts, readily induces divisions by 

 itself, and so will xanthine (1 c.c., 1 per cent) if 

 its action is augmented by atropine. Up to the 

 time of writing the former publication, however, 

 we had not succeeded in obtaining the auxetic 

 effect with creatinine. 



At this stage we consulted Dr. Titherley, 

 Lecturer in Organic Chemistry at the Liverpool 

 University, in the hope of finding out whether 

 there was any principle common to these sub- 

 stances. He suggested that creatinine should 

 again be tried, pointing out the fact, of which 

 we were unaware, that alkali in the hot converts 

 creatinine into the sodium salt of creatine, thereby 



1 Eosin is a very feeble auxetic. It does not stain the living cells. 



