KINETICS IN SOOT 45 



do not contain any augmenting kinetics which, 

 from previous work, appear to he the cause of 

 pathological (unsymmetrical) cell-division. We 

 submit, therefore, that this is strong evidence 

 that the chemical agents which cause augmented 

 cell-division of lymphocytes under the microscope 

 have something to do with the causation of cancer, 

 because, in addition to other evidence already 

 published, these agents appear to exist only in 

 the one form of tar and pitch which causes the 

 larger incidence of the disease in the industries 

 where it is employed. The gasworks tar and 

 pitch are among the most effective substances we 

 have yet found for inducing mitotic figures in 

 lymphocytes. 



The experiments have been repeated with a 

 20-per-cent solution of ordinary soot, and both 

 auxetics (1 c.c. with atropine) and kinetics 

 (0*2 c.c.) can be extracted from it, although it 

 is not so effective as gasworks tar for inducing 

 mitosis. Lastly, it may be mentioned that these 

 auxetics can also be extracted by water instead 

 of hydrochloric acid, but cannot be extracted by 

 alkali. What their exact nature is we do not 

 yet know. 



The question now arises: Can these principles 

 be eliminated from the tar without injuring the 

 pitch; and, if so, will the pitch then no longer 

 be dangerous to the workmen other than those 

 who deal with it prior to such treatment ? We 

 have tried to answer the first question by experi- 

 ment on a small scale in the laboratory by washing 

 the pitch, and then again mixing it with water 

 to see if more auxetics and kinetics can be ex- 



