Decembek 10, 1920] 



SCIENCE 



565 



The nutritive value of the 'proteins of tomato 

 seed: Cakl O. Johns and A. J. Pinks. Nutrition 

 experiments with albino rats have shown that nor- 

 mal growth can be obtained when the sole source 

 of protein in a diet is furnished by tomato seed 

 press cake. The protein content of the diet was 

 approximately 18 per cent, and it was made ade- 

 quate with respect to the non-protein dietary con- 

 stituents. 



Sydrolysis of the globulin of the coconut, Cocos 

 Nudfera: T>. Breese Jones and Caul O. Johns. 

 The globulin of the coconut has been hydrolyzed, 

 and the resulting amino acids determined. By 

 changing the order of procedure usually followed 

 in connection with protein hydrolysis, and by ap- 

 plying several rather recently described methods, 

 78.15 per cent, of the hydrolysis products of the 

 protein used has been identified and determined. 

 The order of procedure followed in the isolation 

 and determination of the amino acids was as fol- 

 lows: removal of the hexone bases with phospho- 

 tungstic acid : separation of most of the glutaminie 

 acid as the hydrochloride: precipitation of the re- 

 maining dibasic amino acids as their calcium salts : 

 extraction of proline and peptide anhydrides with 

 absolute alcohol; esterfication of the remaining 

 amino acids by means of the lead salt method of 

 F. W. Foreman: fractional distillation of the 

 esters under reduced pressure, and finally, regene- 

 ration and isolation of the amino acids in the 

 usual manner. 



The glotulin of the cohune nut, Attalea Co- 

 hune: Gael O. Johns and C. E. F. Gersdoepf. 

 The globulin has been extracted and analyzed- Its 

 analysis reveals a similarity to that of the co- 

 conut globulin. Like the coconut globulin it con- 

 tains relatively high percentages of arginine and 

 lysine, one half of the latter as determined by 

 the Van Slyke method agrees fairly well with the 

 free amino nitrogen of the protein. The globulin 

 gives a strong test for tryptophane. A trace of 

 albumin has been shown to be present. 



Some proteins from the rmmg hean, Phaseolus 

 Aureus {Roxburgh) : C. O. Johns and H. C. Wat- 

 EEMAN. The Mung bean contains about 21.74 

 per cent, of protein (N X 6.25). Experiments 

 with sodium chloride in various concentrations in- 

 dicated a 5 per cent, solution as the most effec- 

 tive extractant; it dissolved 19.0 per cent, of pro- 

 tein from the finely ground seed. The saline 

 extract yielded two globulins, designated the o- 

 and /3-globulins, by fractional precipitation with 



ammonium sulfate and by subsequent purification 

 of the fractions as described. The yields were 

 0.35 per cent, and 5.75 per cent., respectively, of 

 the dry material extracted. Traces of an albu- 

 min, also, were obtained from extracts from which 

 aU the globulin had been precipitated by pro- 

 longed and repeated dialysis. The albumin re- 

 mained in solution during the dialysis and was 

 separated by slightly acidifying and coagulating 

 at 45° C. The yield was from 0.02 to 0.05 per 

 cent, of the bean meal. Analyses showed marked 

 differences in the nitrogen- and sulfur-content of 

 the three proteins. The globulins were still fur- 

 ther distinguished from each other by considerable 

 differences in their percentages of the basic amino- 

 acids, detsrmined by Van Slyke 's method. The 

 |8-globuliu contained so little cystine that remain- 

 ing undeeomposed after hydrolysis escaped pre- 

 cipitation by phosphotungstic acid and could not 

 be determined by Van Slyke 's method. 



The effect of the fat-soluble vitamine content of 

 a feed on the fat-soluble vitamine content of adi- 

 pose tissue: J. S. Hughes. The high fat-soluble 

 vitamine content of beef fat as compared to lard 

 has been explained on the grounds that the ordi- 

 nary feeds used for steers contain more of this 

 vitamine than the feed usually used for hogs. 

 This explanation implies the assumption that the 

 fat-soluble vitamine content of the tissue can be 

 changed by varying the content of this vitamine 

 in the feed. In order to secure some experimental 

 data on this subject, a number of animals includ- 

 ing rabbits, hogs, dogs, hens and ducks were fat- 

 tened on feed both high and low in the fat-soluble 

 vitamine content. The adipose tissues from these 

 animals were rendered, care being taken not to 

 allow the temperature to go much above the melt- 

 ing point of the fats. The relative fat-soluble 

 vitamine content of the fat from each animal was 

 determined by using it as the only source of this 

 vitamine in an otherwise adequate diet. In no 

 case did the results indicate that the fat-soluble 

 vitamine content of the adipose tissue could be in- 

 creased by increasing the amount of this vitamine 

 in the feed. 



Further studies upon the local anesthetic and 

 antiseptic action of saligenin and its mercury de- 

 rivatives and allied compounds: Aethue D. 

 HiRSCHPELDEB, Meeeill C. Habt, and F. J. 

 KUCEEA. Strong solutions of saligenin can be 

 used as a local anesthetic in cystoscopy and dila- 

 tation of the male and female urethra. Saligenin 

 is a mild antiseptic and is an analgesic in chronic 



